Passion... fruits

Hi, friends! I have been away taking my time practicing sugar flowers and yet felt so much wanting to go back to blogging. Yes, after a couple of years blogging has become a habit or a ritual or a lifestyle... yes, everyone?

Well, as much as I wanted to be a regularly posting blogger, I am juggling between a full-time job, a relationship, and this new calling of fondant world. No no no can't use those as an excuse... Well, in that case let me say "I'll do my best!"



However I do want to keep baking and posting something that everyone would love to see, read, or to my wishes, bake following the recipe. I have thought about Joconde challenge and decided to give it another shot since it was quite a wonderful challenge last time.

This round I gave the Joconde a tint of orange color complete with the, as usual, my favorite passion-fruit flavor. And I just couldn't resist the passion fruits so here I go messing up with passion fruit mousse. Sour and tangy, just the way I like the mousse cake. And I also wanted to give that wooden-pattern scraper which has been sitting in my drawer a go on chocolate decoration.



So before you can see the orchard fondant creation as what I promised in my previous post, I hope you are happy and enjoy this Joconde creation! Have a great week ahead :-)

JOCONDE PASSION FRUIT MOUSSE
Makes one 7 inch mousse cake



1. Joconde

A.Patterned Joconde Décor Paste
Needs one 13inch x 13inch baking pan

Ingredients:
- Unsalted butter – soften > 50g
- Icing sugar> 50g
- Egg whites > 50g
- Cake flour> 55g
- Orange coloring > adequate (If chocolate color is desired, reduce cake flour to 43g and add 15g cocoa powder. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together before adding to creamed mixture).

Method:
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (use stand mixer with blade, hand held mixer, or by hand)
- Gradually add egg whites. Beat continuously.
- Fold in sifted flour.
- Tint batter with coloring (or cocoa variation) to desired color.

Preparing the Joconde- How to make the pattern:
- Prepate 13inch x 13inch baking pan. Place upside down. Upside down pan makes spreading easier with no lip from the pan.
- Spread silpat on the reversed side baking pan. Place imprint stencil on it.
- Spread a thin even layer of décor paste approximately 5 mm thick across the imprint stencil on silpat with a spatula. Level up the décor and lift the stencil away.
- Keep the colored décor paste leftover (approx.. 125-155g) aside. Use later.
- Slide the baking pan with décor on silpat into the freezer. Freeze hard. Approx 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare joconde sponge.
- Preheat oven to 250C.



B. Joconde Sponge
Needs one 13inch x 13inch baking pan, reverse upside down

Ingredients:
- Unsalted butter- melt > 15g
- Egg whites > 45g
- Granulated sugar > 5g
- Almond meal (if use hazelnut flour, omit butter) > 43g
- Icing sugar > 38g
- Cake flour > 13g
- Eggs > 75g

Method:
- Melt butter. Leave to cool.
- Dust the reversed side of baking pan with icing sugar.
- In a clean mixing bowl whip egg whites and granulated sugar to firm, glossy peaks. Reserve in a separate clean bowl to use later.
- Sift almond meal, icing sugar, and cake flour. Set aside
- On medium speed, add eggs into almond mixture a little at a time. Mix well after each addition. Mix until smooth and light. (If using a stand mixer use blade attachment. If hand held a whisk attachment is fine, or by hand. )
- Fold in one third reserved whipped egg whites to almond mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining whipped egg whites. Do not over mix.
- Fold in melted butter. Mix well.
- Remove décor paste baking pan from freezer. Quickly pour the Joconde sponge batter over the design. Spread evenly to completely cover the pattern of the Décor paste.
- Bake at 250C until the joconde bounces back when slightly pressed, approx. 8-10 minutes. You can bake it as is on the upside down pan. Yes, it is a very quick bake, so watch carefully.
- Leave the oven at 250C.
- Cool joconde. Do not leave too long, or you will have difficulty removing it from silpat.
- Flip cooled cake on to the sugar dusted reversed baking pan. Remove silpat. Cake should be right side up, and pattern showing! (The icing sugar helps the cake from sticking when cutting.)
- Set aside. (If you are not going to cut the joconde décor into strips on the same day, put it inside an air-proof container or a closed box.

C. Joconde base
Needs: one 9inch x 9inch baking tray and one 7inch cake ring.
-Place silpat or parchment paper on baking tray.
- Use a 7inch cake ring as a guide to spread the colored décor paste leftover on silpat or parchment paper.
- Bake at 250C for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Peel away the parchment paper if used. Cool.

Preparing the mold for mousse:
Needs: one 7 inch cake ring.

- Press 7 inch cake ring into joconde base to cut out a 7 inch base. Remove the excessive bits.
- Line the inside of cake ring with a curled piece of parchment paper with the height same as cake ring.Stick the top part of paper with paper tape.
- Bring joconde base to press into the bottom of the mold. Measure the height of cake ring deducted with the thickness of joconde base.
- Cut décor joconde into strips following this height.
- Press décor joconde strips inside of the mold, decorative side facing the ring wall. Meet the ends together.
- The mold is done, and ready to fill.



2. Passion Fruit Mousse

Ingredients:
-Passion fruit juice > 125g
- Granulated sugar > 75g
- Egg whites > 90g
- Granulated sugar > 60g
- Gelatine powder > 20g
- Water> 5 tbsp
- Whipping cream > 270g
- Orange coloring > a few drops
- Passionfruit flesh and seeds > 22g

Method:
- Combine passionfruit juice and sugar in a blender. Blitz until fine. Leave aside.
- Beat egg whites until frothly. Fold in sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Set aside.
- Heat gelatine powder and water on double boiler until gelatine is completely dissolved. Leave until just warm.
- Meanwhile beat whipping cream until soft peaks form.
- Pour passionfruit mixture into whipping cream mixture and mix moderately. Fold in meringue, a few drops of orange coloring, and passionfruit flesh and seeds, combine them well.
- Pour mousse mixture into cake ring.
- Pour into the cake ring until the brim of the décor joconde strips.
- Refrigerate overnight. Remove from cake ring and peel away the curled paper.

3. Passion Fruit Glaze

Ingredients:
- Passion fruit juice > 60ml
- Passion flesh and seeds > adequate
- Granulated sugar > 2 tbsp
- Corn flour > 1 tsp
- Gelatine powder > 1 tsp

Method:
-Combine all the ingredients except gelatine in the saucepan. Cook at medium heat until glaze is boiled and thickened.
- Remove from fire. Fold in gelatine powder and stir until it is fully dissolved.
- Cool. Spread on mousse cake. Refrigerate for one hour.
- Decorate.

Daring Bakers' Chocolate Pavlova with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.



Pavlova topped with fruits is something that is so pretty to look at. And that is just something that I have been laying my eyes to in baking books and blogs. Always have the reservation that this dessert might be too too sweet for my taste buds. So obviously to bake it in real takes a push. Something only this challenge could do!



The irregular, sometimes organic shape of pavlova - most of what I have seen - has triggered me to think of my own in the opposite way. I prefer to have the look that is neat - a plain and flat disc would do. And I would definitely want to have the mousse of a plain layer that I could just stack on top of the pavlova disc. Sounds simple ha? For that I have to use cake rings for piping the meringue and forming the mousse layer. Gosh, baking Pavlova at 95 degree Celsius took four and a half hours instead of 2-3 hours mentioned in the challenge. That was a long wait!



As I had imagined, these 2 simplified layers provided an abundant creativity space to play around with fruits for the topping. As if the colourful and various shapes of strawberries, papayas, mangoes, green apples, and grapes were being liberated to take the mousse stage and do the pray-for-rain kind of ritual dance, these fruits were so playful on my finger tips. I just loved working with the irregular shapes of fruit cuts and pair them up with chocolate decorations.



Before too long, besides the 7 inch pavlova, I had created a smaller version of 6 inch one. Creating two different sizes made it possible for me to display them side by side and take more interesting pictures. So I hope you enjoy all these pictures..

Meanwhile someone has emailed me regarding placing an ad in my blog and asked how much I would charge for it. I replied back and requested more details regarding the scope of his business, the url of the banner link, and his ad requirements such as number of ads, the length of the ad period, number of ad updates, etc. Well, it seems that the time has come to monetize this blog, what do you think?



Last but not least, there are 96 entries into June's DMBLGIT!!! Thanks to all of you for participating (especially those first timers who participated with the kind intention of saving the event, thanks!!). I should get down to my judging quickly and have my greatest time!

Grateful

I should admit that I am pretty happy with the way a couple of things are going in my life. For one I know this blog has been fun and I am challenged of creating nice baking/cooking content and taking better photos for hopefully more frequent posts. Just the right moment for me to express my gratitude to Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! for passing me a very nice Over The Top award. Do visit her blog and explore her great recipes with beautiful pictures. You will definitely love it....



Meanwhile, I like to pass this award on to:
- Julia of Melanger :: to Mix
- Jo of Sugar & Everything Nice
- Barbara of Barbara Bakes
- Simone of Junglefrog Cooking
- Anncoo of Anncoo's Hobby. These 5 bloggers, with each individual, unique and distinctive style of blogging, have truly inspired me. A visit to their blogs is a must! Again, a must! :-)



Second, I am so glad that coming into the sixth month, T has always been there for me. The connection is getting stronger and we seem to be inseparable. And he is getting more involved into things that I like for instance now if we go for shopping, he will keep an eye on photo props for me, like plates, cups, cake stands, and all. And I reciprocated with picking up an interest in gardening everytime I am in his garden.



Third, I am grateful to be in Bangkok for my seventh year. Things have been good here and people are friendly and kind. All I can hope for is that I don't have to leave...... forever. That can only happen if I have the Thai Permanent Residence in hand. Will I have it soon? That is still a curious question mark? I have been trying... and waiting!



To celebrate this particular grateful moment of my life, I like to post Pink Lychee Mousse Cake that I baked recently for my colleague's birthday. I have kept the photos for a special occasion. Apparently January has been a perfect month for everything especially making new plans and keeping people who are close to me even closer to my heart. And my beloved sister's birthday also fell on this month. So.... to all the good things in my life and to people who made them happen, thank you!



PINK LYCHEE MOUSSE CAKE
Makes a 7 inch cake or five 2.5 inch mini cakes

1. Chocolate Base

Ingredients:
- Couscous > 135 grams
- Water > 400 ml
- Dark chocolate > 35 grams
- Granulated sugar > 160 grams
- Vanilla essence > 2 teaspoons

Method:
- Cover the bottom and sides of a 7 inch cake ring or five 2.5 inch cake rings with aluminium foil.
- Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan. Bring to boil and stir constantly.
- Once boiled, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the mixture becomes a thick paste. Keep stirring to avoid burnt mixture.
- Once the mixture is warm to touch, press it into the base of the cake rings.
- Refrigerate.



2. Lychee Yogurt Mousse

Ingredients :
- Canned lychee > 2 cans (each net weight 575 grams)
- Egg white > 60 grams
- Sugar > 60 grams
- Whipping cream > 140 grams
- Plain yogurt > 100 grams
- Gelatin powder > 20 grams
- Hot water > 30 grams

Preparation:
- Open 2 lychee cans and separate 8 pieces of lychees for decoration.
- Weight the rest of lychees plus syrup to 700 grams. Puree them until fine.
- Separate 400 grams for mousse, and 300 grams for jelly topping.
- For jelly topping, strain lychee puree into fine juice. Set aside for later use.
- Make meringue by beating egg white at medium speed until foamy.
- Add in sugar gradually and whisk until soft peaks form. Leave aside in mixing bowl.
- Beat whipping cream at medium speed until soft peaks form. Set aside.
- Melt gelatin in hot water. Leave it to cool for a while.
- Mix lychee puree with yogurt.
- Fold lychee mixture into meringue bowl and mix well at low speed.
- Then fold in whipping cream. Finally add gelatin.
- Pour into cake rings and refrigerate for 2 hours.



3. Jelly Topping

Ingredients:
- The above strained lychee puree > 300 grams
- Gelatin powder > 20 grams
- Hot water > 20 grams
- Pink rose coloring > 2 drops

Method:
- Melt gelatin powder in hot water. Leave to cool.
- Mix with lychee puree. Add pink coloring. Pour on top of lychee mousse layer.
- Refrigerate overnight.



4. Composition

- Take out lychee mousse from fridge.
- Decorate with whipping cream, lychees (that have been set aside earlier), and decorative chocolate pieces.

A Very Special Birthday

It is a special month with many celebrations. My auntie's visit in the beginning of the month was considered the first celebration I had in December. Then today, Dec 24 is T's birthday. "Happy Birthday, T !!!". I am so glad I can share the special day of his existense in this world with him. And tomorrow's Christmas, and it is also R, my cousin's birthday. Yes, it is very special to be born on a Christmas day. "Happy Birthday, R !!!"



And also I just got an Award from Anncoo of Anncoo's Hobby after receiving another Award early on from Sue Sparks of Munchkin Munchies. I love this festive season with lots of joy. "Thanks, guys for considering me to accept these Awards!" Visit Anncoo's Hobby and Munchkin Munchies to explore the wonderful world of both cooking and baking!

To you all "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!"



Today is a working day, so I and T don't really have any special thing to do except dinner tonight. We will go to have his favorite Vietnamese food. Last night I had prepared a surprise at my place waiting for him to turn on the light and see later tonight. And a birthday is not complete without a home-made birthday cake, right?



So for this special day, I have picked to bake Chocolate Mousse Cake from Dean Brettschneider's Global Bakinglast night. It was practical and didn't take up a lot of time. And let's see how it tastes tonight.



CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE
Adapted from Dean Brettschneider's Global Baking
Makes a 20cm-diameter heart shaped cake

1. Base

Ingredients:
- Couscous > 150 grams
- Water > 450 ml
- Dark chocolate > 40 grams
- Granulated sugar > 180 grams
- Vanilla essence > 2 teaspoons

Method:
- Cover the bottom and sides of a 20cm-diameter heart shaped cake ring with aluminium foil.
- Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan. Bring to boil and stir constantly.
- Once boiled, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the mixture becomes a thick paste. Keep stirring to avoid burnt mixture.
- Once the mixture is warm to touch, press it into the base of the cake ring.
- Refrigerate.



2. Mousse

Ingredients:
- Dark chocolate - chop into small pieces > 285 grams
- Silken soft egg tofu > 600 grams
- Corn syrup > 45 ml
- Icing sugar > 3 teaspoons
- Kahlua > 45 ml



Method:
- Melt chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan with simmering water.
- Set aside to cool.
- Place silken tofu, corn syrup and kahlua in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Add melted chocolate and continue blending for 2 minutes more.
- Remove the base from the refrigerator and pour mousse mixture over it.
- Cover with cling film and refrigerate. Allow to set overnight.
- Decorate the next day.

Don't Worry, Everything is Fine!

Tasting the softness and smoothness of this mousse reminds me so much of that particular moment when I feel safe and everything is alright - an exact perception when I hear someone expresses "Don't worry, everything is fine!"

Never experimented with egg whites in a mousse recipe until now. And it was so amazing how great the texture turned out. Come to think about it, I would recommend this recipe for an afternoon tea during friends gathering. It is sweet, tasty, and who could actually resist lychees, right?

LYCHEE MOUSSE
Serves 10 persons
Prepare:
- 1 big comma-shaped cake ring size 11"x7"x2"
- Aluminium foil

1. Crust

Ingredients:
- Oreo cookies - mash cookies together with the sandwiched cream > 190 gram
- Salted butter - melt > 60 gram

Method:
- Cover the side and base of cake ring with aluminium foil.
- Mix mashed Oreo cookies with melted butter to form paste.
- Press Oreo paste to cover base of the cake ring.
- Refrigerate for an hour.

2. Lychee Yogurt Mousse, Topping Jelly and Decoration

Ingredients :
- Canned lychees > 2 cans (each can is about 485 grams)
- Egg white > 60 grams
- Sugar > 60 grams
- Whipping cream > 140 grams
- Plain yogurt > 100 grams
- Gelatine powder > 30 grams
- Hot Water > 50 grams
- Cherries or other fruits available > partially coat with white chocolate
- Carved orange peel
- Chocolate curls

Preparation:
- Open 2 lychee cans and separate 10 pieces of lychees for decoration.
- Weight the rest of lychees plus syrup to 700 grams. Puree them until fine.
- Separate 400 grams for mousse, and 300 grams for jelly topping.
- For jelly topping, strain lychee puree into fine juice.
- Refrigerate both.

Lychee Mousse :
- with electric cake mixer, whip egg white at medium speed until frothy.
- Gradually add in sugar and continue whipping until soft peaks form. Leave meringue aside in the mixing bowl.
- Whip cream at medium speed until soft peaks form. Set aside.
- Melt 20 grams of gelatine powder in 30 grams of hot water. Dissolve it and set aside for a while until it is just warm.
- Mix lychee puree with yogurt.
- Fold lychee mixture into meringue bowl and mix well at low speed.
- Then fold in whipping cream. Finally add warm gelatine. Mix well.
- Remove cake ring from refrigerator.
- Pour lychee mousse into cake ring and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Lychee Jelly Topping :
- Halve and slice 8 lychees lengthwise.
- Prepare white chocolate coated cherries for decoration.
- Melt 10 grams of gelatine powder in 20 grams of hot water. Dissolve it and leave to just warm.
- Mix gelatine with the strained lychee mixture.

Composition:
- Take out the firm lychee mousse from fridge.
- Arrange lychee slices on top of the mousse.
- Gently strain lychee jelly onto the surface of lychee mousse to the level where cake ring is 95% full. Straining avoids bubble forming on the jelly surface.
- Decorate with white chocolate coated cherries while jelly is still runny.
- Refrigerate overnite.
- Decorate with carved orange peel and chocolate curls before serving.