Mini Strawberry Cheese Tarts

Anyone who love cheesecakes, would love this cheese tarts. I got this recipe from Masam Manis food blog. She's the most intricate home baker and loving mother I've ever seen. She is my inspiration in the kitchen.

Cheese Tarts was getting popular in FaceBook. I saw so many people selling them. When I was visiting relatives and friends places, during the last Hari Raya celebration, these was quite a hit.

I'm not the type of person who adores cheesecakes as I find them a little too heavy for me. I would have half a slice or even lesser and surrender it to my hubby.

But these Cheese Tarts are small, bite-size, not sweet and the filling you choose are endless. I love that the crust are crunchy even after I refrigerate them. The only additional tools you need to have are the mini tart molds. And here in Singapore, these are easily found at any bakery supplies shop selling at 50s or 100s.

I had so much fun baking these. My little girl have slighty grown and she loves "helping" me clearing the dough.

There she is! Ready for bed but too busy helping Mummy.

Honestly, now I usually bake at night after my baby's gone to bed. But some things just needed an early start so I could wrap up early too. But above all, I enjoyed her company the most. She made me feel like, I've taught her something.

So here is the recipe , I promised to share. But if you need a more detailed step by step photos, please refer to the to this link. (It's in Malay language though)

Strawberry Cheese Tart

from Masam Manis

Tart Shells

170gm margarine or butter ( I always use butter )
50gm icing sugar
1 egg Grade C
290gm plain flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Tart molds - about 50 depending on the size you have.

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Beat butter and sugar with a wooden spoon or spatula. Do not beat them for too long, just until all incorporated..
Add egg and vanilla essence. Beat with a wooden spoon.
Stir in the flour bit by bit. Once it's all lumped up.
Knead to form a soft dough.

The quantity of your tart shells depends on the softness of the dough.
To get a good dough put the dough in a plastic bag and store in the fridge overnight otherwise, refrigerate it for about at least half hour.

Once chilling is done, take some dough and press into the tart mold.

Prick them with a fork before baking them.

Bake at 170C temperature for about 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked and slightly golden.

For the shells, you are able to prepare them upto 2 weeks ahead.You have to wait till the crust to really cool down and you may store it in an airtight container.

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Start preparing fillings that you love. Commonly blueberry, strawberry, chocolate, kiwi, orange or pineapple jam can be used for this tart.

Fill the fillings in a piping bag to facilitate the process and pipe it out in the shells. The more fillings you fill, the tastier your tarts gonna be. But if you prefer more cheese than fill in moderately.

Cream Cheese Fillings

250gm cream cheese
50gm caster sugar
1 egg Size B
½ teaspoon of vanilla essence / lemon essence

Remove cream cheese 20 ~ 30 minutes before use. DO NOT let the cream cheese reach room temperature.
Beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy.
Add egg and vanilla essence and beat till well blended.

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Enter the cheese fillings into the tart shell.  To simplify this step we use the same method as filling the jam. Pour the cheese filling in a  piping bag and squeeze them into the shell till all jam are covered and the tarts are full.

Then we can start decorating the top of the tarts. The process required some coloring but I just pipe put some leftover jam filling at the top to create the gel like marble design.

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Bake for 5 - 7 minutes at 170C. Touch the cream cheese with your sfingertips. If it does not sticks to your finger, means that your cream cheese are cooked. Otherwise, bake further for another minute.

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For this recipe, the dough mixture can give you about 40 - 50 shells. Still it depends on the size of your molds and the thickness of your shells. 
For the cream cheese mixture, it's able to filled up about 70 to 80 shells.
To stabilize you can make 2 batches of the crust and 1 batch of Cream cheese mixture or versi versa.

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Once all the Cheese tarts are cooled, stored in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator which could last up for 2 weeks or for my case till the container is empty.

Happy trying!!



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Rainbow Cat's Tongue

I was looking around google for new inspirations for my Eid 2012 bakes. Visited blogs by blogs , looking for something special cookies, where I CANNOT find them in Geylang bazaar or uncommon in our relatives home. When it comes to visiting, we kinda get tired when we keep eating the same type of goodies.

And then I came across a colorful picture of cookies in a website based in Indonesia. I saw the name of the cookies in Bahasa Indonesia, but I could not find any recipe of that particular cookies - for days. I didn't give up yet.

Then one Ramadhan night, i was blog-hopping my favorite blogs, reading at their posts and looking at the delicious Iftar pictures they took, I DISCOVERED! Lucky for me and everyone else, our most favorite blogger, Kak Rima from Bisousatoi posted this much looked for recipe by me.

Then I found out that these cookies exact name was Rainbow Cat's Tongue. The name is cat's tongue is because of the shape after it's been baked. Cat's Tongue or in malay "Lidah Kucing" is very popular during the Eid, Chinese New Year and Christmas back in Indonesia. It is pretty much a crunchy sweet cookie made from butter and egg whites. They have came up with the variations to make it in Rainbow. It's the "IN" thing now.. right....

So I just couldn't resist myself that I tried to bake these on Ramadhan Day 7. It is so buttery, crunchy , light and ultimately delicious.

Rainbow Cat's Tongue

Ingredients:
250g margarine - i used Buttercup250g butter - i used Salted Anchor
350g caster sugar
500g all purpose flour
150ml egg white
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp lemon oil/extract
zest of one lemon

6 different food colourings - i used Electric Americolors
Directions:

- Beat butter, margarine and sugar till creamy with a mixer.

- Add in egg white, lemon oil and also lemon zest and continue to mix

- Add in sifted flour/baking powder and continue to mix well

- Divide batter into 6 parts ( you can weigh them to be more exact - I divide everything into 6 bowls )

- Colour each part according to ur preference. ( The vibrant the better ) Place each part in piping bags or those white food bags and cut the tips about 1/4 inches.

- Pipe each colour onto cat's tongue mould - I do not have a Cat's Tongue mould, but I just pipe it in line. See picture.

- Bake it in a preheated oven of 150C for abt 20 mins - i used 140C and baked it for 15mins.. pls keep a look out on ur cookies as it will get brown easily

- Once baked, let it sit for 5 mins before placing it on a wire rack. Cool and keep it in an air tight container. It can last for upto 3 - 4 weeks or till finish earlier!

These cookies are really light and airy m crunchy and the citrus flavor is simply yummy!

Happy trying!

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Six-Layer Chocolate Cake with Demystified Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This is a back dated post which I should have done on June. I'm so sorry for the delay. It's the fasting month right now and in betwenn I manage to save some time for this.

I was chosen to bake for a friend's surprise birthday party. A very close friend of ours. They are newly weds and her hubby wanted to throw a private party for her at Marina Bay Sands. It was sweet. I was honoured and was more than happy to bake Ziana her 27th birthday cake. I even decided to make a mini Paris theme party for her since they had their memorable honeymoon in the city of love, Paris.

What could be more awesome than to eat a rich and tall chocolate cake with delicious buttercream for your birthday - I thought. She was a chocolate lover and a red velvet crazy. I decided to do both. A 6 layer chocolate cake and Red velvet cupcakes. Apart from that, I also did Rose Meringue cookies and Fruit Loops Mallow Pops to go with the Sweet Paris Theme . Anything for this couple who had wen through so much thick and thins. I will share the recipe for 1 cake today. Red Velvet- another day please.

Back to the cake - I was a huge fan of Sweetapolita Rich and Dark Chocolate Cake paired with her Swiss Meringue Buttercream Demystified. She always have great tips and techniques for you to never go wrong.

Rich Chocolate Cake ( since I do not have dark chocolate cocoa )

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup  Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder–Extra Dark - I used Valhorna Cocoa Powder - bought at Ghim Hin

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup strong black coffee (can be hot)

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 3 x 8″ cake pans with butter and flour or parchment paper.

In bowl of electric mixer, sift all dry ingredients. Add all remaning ingredients to bowl with the dry ingredients and with paddle attachment on mixer, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed (you may need the plastic splashguard that comes with mixer) and pour into prepared pans. Batter will be liquidy.

Bake for 20 minutes and rotate pans in oven ( My oven was big enough for me to fit all 3 round pans in ). Cakes are done when toothpick or skewer comes clean–approximately 35 minutes. Try not to overbake.

Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes then gently invert onto racks until completely cool.

I had totally forgotten to take pics of the cake unfrosted. But here is the frosted cake.

I love the taste of the swiss meringue buttercream with this cake. Creamy and not too sweet. Here is the recipe. For a more detailed tutorial, please click here

Sweetapolita’s Swiss Meringue Buttercream     

Yield: 15 cups (enough to frost and fill approximately three 8″ round cakes) I was left with some left overs

Ingredients

16 large egg whites (30g each–total 450g, or 2 cups)

4 cups granulated sugar (800g)

5 cups (2.5 lbs, 10 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened but cool, cut into cubes

30 ml (2 tablespoons) pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

Method

Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk attachment, small bowl, and whisk with paper towel and lemon juice (or vinegar), to remove any trace of grease.

Add egg whites and sugar,  and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently, until temperature reaches 140 degrees F ( I used  a candy thermometer ), or if you don’t have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot (you can feel a drop in between your fingers to ensure no granules.).

Take off of stove, and place bowl back on electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, begin to whip until the mixture is thick, glossy, and neutral (you can feel outside of the bowl to test temperature).

Switch over to paddle attachment and, while mixing on low speed continously, add butter one cube at a time until incorporated, and mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture (if curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth). 

Add vanilla and salt, mix well. 

Mine turned out perfect & satiny. Like this!

Frosting takes patience for me. And it's funny how, I love to just frost & frost. It was "Zen" moment for me.

It was a successful suprise and an awesome party. MBS sucks though and thank god we've got great company!

Now anyone can make a birthday cake. ;-)


Baking a lil' magic,

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Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownie squares

Red Velvet has started to be a Hoo Hah thing here now. Though red velvet is a very old recipe for Southern foods, here in Singapore, it only started like maybe 2 years ago. Now it seems like everybody goes 'Awwww' if you presented a red velvet cake.

Well i had some red velvet and it's not very much my kind of cake. It only has a slight taste of chocolate but rich on coloring with cream cheese frosting. So I thought I ould prefer it if it was more chocolatey and then I came across David Lebovitz Cheesecake Brownies and I thought that recipe could definitely be turned red.

And so I search the engine and met with Sweet Pea's Kitchen version of Red Velvet cheesecake brownies which she got her sources from Baking Bites.

And since I have recently bought an expensive bar of Valhorna dark chocolate, I tried the recipe out. My verdict was right, it was red velvet at its best. Moist, chocolatey and rich.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
Adapted from Sweet Peas Kitchen

Ingredients:

For the Brownie

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2-oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs ( room temperature )
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp red food coloring
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour ( Sifted )
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder ( for additional fluffyness )
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the Cheesecake

• 8-oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 8 inch metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment or spray with non-stick vegetable spray.
2. In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until combined and very smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring. Add chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
4. Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
5. To prepare cheesecake mixture, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until smooth. Distribute the cheesecake mixture in 8 dollops over batter in the pan. Swirl in with a knife or spatula.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set. A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned.
7. Let cool completely in pan on a cooling rack before lifting out the parchment paper to remove the brownies.

This is what I got and it is decadent! These brownies were gone before the day ends. So for all red velvet lovers out there, this is a must try. A MUST i swear. Remember that this is coming from the word of someone who don't adore chocolate and red velvet so much. But I say that this is a go to red velvet recipe.

I hope you try it. And enjoy it as much as my family, frends and myself do.

Baking a lil Magic,

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Creamy Berries Cakelettes

Have I ever told you that my husband is a BIG fan of berries. Here in Singapore the price of berries can be super costly as my country is never cold. And that is also one of the reason why that I will get my hands on them everytime the supermarket is selling them at a reasonable price.

When he is a fan of berries, I'm a huge fan of teacakes. I ever did pay SGD$22 for a teacake at Cookie Museam which I find that it taste awesome. My search for teacakes was endless. But as always, I needed to try a few different recipes to get to the, 'what I call perfect teacake'. Thank you to Wendy Inkk for sharing this recipe.

The good thing about teacakes to me is, you can eat it warm or cold. If you are like me who like warm cakes, then this recipe can be easily be popped in the microwave for 20 secs and its as good and soft.

And trust me on this that NOBODY could resist this cake. Its bite size, creamy & sweetly delicious. It was so easy to make.

Creamy Berries Cakelettes

Adapted from WendyInkk

Cake Batter

120 gram butter ( unsalted - out from the refrigerator for about 30 mins)

60 gram white sugar (can be granulated/caster or fine -  i tried all before) 

60 grams brown sugar

2 eggs ( room temperature )

140 grams all Purpose flour ( I used cake flour coz I had left overs - the cake was lighter )

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla essence

100 grams Strawberries ( cut into quarters )

100 grams blueberries

Cream cheese Mixture

125 grams cream cheese

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Directions

(A)

- Rinse fruits, drain it and set aside to dry. Do not cut the strawberries first till all batter are done.

- Get ready your tart tins, or mini muffin pans, line with butter or you may spray with non-stick vegetable oil.

- Preheat your oven to 175 degrees.

(B)

- Sift flour with baking powder - then set aside

- Beat cream cheese, vanilla essence and sugar until creamy, put into a plastic bag. A normal transparent food bag will do if you do not have any disposable pastry bag.

(C)

- Cream the butter , sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. I used a hand mixer to do this.

- Add in eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.

- Beat in Vanilla essence

- Put in half or the sifted flour and beat until just combine and then beat in the balance of flour.

- Set aside

(D)

- Cut the strawberries into quarters

- Fill 2/3 full of the cake batter into your tart tins. Spread it around evenly.

- Snip a corner ( about 6mm ) off the plastic bag of cream cheese. Squirt the cream cheese on the cake batter to create a ripple effect or in circles of every tart tins. ( Ensure that the tip of the plastic bag touches the batter so that you can also get the taste of cream cheese inside that cake too.)

- Squirt evenly to divide the cream cheese into all tart tins. It might look a little to you but it is ENOUGH. Don't be afraid.

- Arrange the strawberries and blueberries according to your liking on the top. Press them in gently into the batter.

(E)

- Bake all the cakes ( if your oven can accomodate ) for about 25 - 30 mins or until your skewer comes out clean or your cakes have bowned on the sides.

Next thing to do...

Enjoy this very soft and moist cakelette with your favourite cup of tea or coffee. The cream cheese toppings will make your cake over the top!

All berries, will naturally turned tarter after being bake but as I keep the cake overnight and enjoy it for next day, the tartness mellowed and no longer sharp. Just sweet and tasty.

Point to Note ( As advised by Wendy ):

Do not keep this cake at room temparature for more that 24 hours. It has cream cheese. Anyway this cake taste better chill too. You may warm it in the microwave for 20 sec to make it moist and warm.

Enjoy your cakelette !

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The Perfect Sugar Cookie

A few months back, I did quite a number of orders for decorated cookies. If you can guess that was for Valentine's Day of course. It was so fun just making those love cuties.

Here was some cookie pops and love cookies I made that time.



Cookie Pops

My Love Cookies

Let me tell you, before I got to this stage of making these delicious cookies, I went through a lot of phases finding the perfect Sugar Cookie recipe. I really mean A LOT! Some cookies recipes looks nice on the outside but soft inside, some was like hard rock! I simply hate soft cookie but hard rock was too much!

And then , like as if heaven sent , it showed me the perfect recipe at Sweetapolita. Though I was a little hesitant yet another fail recipe, hers look so promising. The details she gave was meticulous and I followed every step of it and YES!!!!!  She named it Steps to Making the Perfect Sugar Cookie, The title itself is already so assuring.

I FINALLY found the PERFECT sugar cookie recipe. It taste buttery, slight lemony. amd most importantly crunchy. I have made these more that 10 time already only these year. It was that good!

I am sharing these with you then. The recipe she gave was for big batches and I divide accordingly as I do not need so many most of the time. The number of Yield still depends on what size cookie cutter you are using.

Perfect Sugar Cookie

By Sweetapolita

Yield : Approx 25, 3 inch cookies or 40 small ones.

Ingredients 

3 cups (375 grams) sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) salt

1 cups unsalted butter, (225 grams) softened for about 30 minutes at room temperature

1 cups (200 grams/14 ounces) sugar

1 large eggs (straight from refrigerator)

1 teaspoons (5 mL) pure vanilla extract - I use vanilla essence

1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) pure lemon extract - I use lemon essence.

Directions

1. In large bowl, sift together flour and salt. Set aside.

2. Use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs.

3. Add flour mixture and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla and lemon extract.

Steps to the perfect rolled dough :

4. Remove 1/2 of dough from bowl, make a ball, and place on a large piece of plastic wrap on counter.

5. Wrap the sides of wrap over the ball, then press down with the palm of your hand and make a disc about 2" thick. Finish wrapping the disc with the plastic wrap. Repeat with 2nd half of dough.

6. Chill both discs of dough for about at least 45 minutes. - I chill mine over night or even 1 week in the freezer

7. Remove one disc and remove plastic wrap. Place on top of a large piece of parchment paper (you can dampen counter so the parchment sticks a bit.), then place 2 wooden dowels on either side of your dough, then another sheet of parchment paper.

8. Roll dough evenly to the dowels-they will ensure that your dough is even thickness.

9. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Slide your parchment paper and dough onto a board, then place in refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

10. Remove from fridge, and cut your shapes using the cutters of your choice, placing them on a baker's half sheet lined with a Silpat Mat, parchmanet paper will do, with 2" clearance around each one and the edge of sheet.

11. Place sheet with cookies into freezer for 15 minutes before baking. Then bake 15-20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

12. Cool sheets on wire racks for 10 minutes, then gently remove cookies and place on wire racks to finish cooling.

May be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. They also freeze well.

You may decorate these cookies with royal icing or fondant. And the sky is the limit on what you can design on.

I hope you try and agree with me.

Love,

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Scone-aholic!

I love scones. Eat it on it's own, eat with butter (which I love the most!),eat with whipped cream, drink it with tea, have it for breakfast, have it during high tea. I can go on..

I love it when the scones recipe calls for buttermilk. This recipe I'm going to share is a basic scone recipe but I had strawberries in refrigerator from my last Creamy Berries Cakelets. (I have yet to share that !)

I took the recipe from Confession of a Tart , her pictures in her blog is so pretty especially that yellow rose. Ok, I'm side tracking a lil bit here. Maybe 1 day, I might buy fresh flowers for my pictures too. But first, I need a good camera! Recommend me what type for food taking please..

And so I only had like 10 strawberries left but to me that was enough for the whole scone dough as too much will make the scone too tard. With that little strawberries here and there, it looks really pretty.

And here goes the recipe.


Strawberry Scones
Adapted from Confessions of a Tart
(makes 8 large wedge scones or 12 mini circles)1/2 cup strawberries

3 tablespoons sugar (granulated)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt ( I did not use these as I use salted butter )
6 tablespoons butter, in cubes, slightly softened
2/3 cup cold buttermilk

Topping:

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

If using larger fruit (peaches/apricots), cut into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle fruit with 1/2 tablespoon sugar; set aside. Cut these fruits to small cubes so that it will not fall out of the dough.

Combine remaining sugar with flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter,  you may want to use your fingers to rub these lightly to be sure butter is evenly mixed into flour. Do not overwork the butter.

 Stir in fruit; then add buttermilk all at once. Use spatula to gently stir dough until it holds together.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to incorporate dry ingredients. Be gentle so you don't break up the berries and don't overwork the dough. The buttermilk is enough to make the dough sticks together. If it looks a little dry - it's OK! trust me.

Press (pat) the dough into a circle 3/4 inch thick. If any berries peek out, push them into dough. Cut circle into 8 wedges, then transfer wedges to the cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/2 inch of space between them.

I brush the whatever is left buttermilk on top of the scones for a little shine and for the sugar to stick on it. Sprinkle the granulated sugar on top of the wedges.


Bake 15 minutes.

Check your scone and bake till tops are beginning to brown and spring back when you push them (this took another 15 minutes in my oven, but keep a careful watch and check every 5 minutes - you do not want dry scones!).


Lastly, enjoy your scones as it is. Warm and buttery! Love it!

I hope you try it and let me know how did yours turn out!

Thank you for reading!

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