Quiche Lorraine

Hmmm what is a quiche? In French, a quiche is an oven-baked dish made with eggs, milk or cream in a pastry crust. Quiche is generally an open pie and it may be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is a savoury pie and you can use any meat for its fillings. This was my second time making this pie and I find its good for using up leftover chicken meat or ham.

The recipe is taken from "In the mood for Pastries & Tarts" by Alan Ooi and published by Seashore.

You can use any short crust recipe. The one I used was also taken from the same book.

Short Crust Pastry
200g Plain Flour
110g Butter
1/4 tsp Salt
21/2 tbsp Water

Mix all ingredients except water till crumbly. Slowly add water to form a dough. Wrap it in a plastic and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Quiche Loraine
1 portion short crust pastry

(A) 25g cooking oil
      150g onions, sliced

(B) 100g Chicken meat, cubed (I used ham & chicken franks)
      1 Egg
      100g Fresh Milk

(C) 60g Cheddar Cheese, grated
      50g Parmesan Cheese Powder

(D) 2 Eggs
      200ml Whipping Cream
      70g Fresh Milk
      1/4 tsp salt
      1/2 tsp pepper

Dough: Rest the short crust pastry for 20 mins. Roll into 3 mm thickness. Press dough into pie mould. Prick some holes in it. Rest for 20 mins. Bake in preheated oven of 175 degree C for 20 - 25 mins.

Fillings: Fry (A) till fragrant. Add (B) and fry until chicken turns white. Remove and set aside to cool.
            Place into the baked pie pastry. Place (C) and pour (D).
            Bake in preheated oven at 180 degree C for 25-30 mins or until fillings turn golden brown.

Oreo Ice Cream 'Cake'

Hmmm Oreo again. Who doesnt love oreos. I think I've used Oreos countless times in baking as crust, fillings, decorations, etc.

I was thumbling through you tube searching for clips on making ice cream cake and found this easy recipe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOecLVgUTZ8 . The ingredients are very easy to get and my children loved it so much that it was gone in seconds..(^.^)

1 tub of Vanilla flavour ice cream
2- 3 pacts Oreo cookies
Caramel Syrup/ Maple syrup, optional

- Leave the ice cream in room temperature to soften it for easy handling.
- Line a spring form pan with plastic wrap and place the oreo cookies around the sides and bottom of the pan.
- Crumble few oreo cookies and mix into the ice cream.
- Squeeze some caramel syrup and mix to combine.
- Pour the ice cream mixture into the pan and freeze for at least 4-6 hours.

Irish Coffee Caramel Cake

Irish Coffee Caramel Cake..Hmmm thats a mouthful. If you are a coffee lover and like caramel, this one is for you. When my brother from USA came back for a short trip end of last year, he brought some baking stuffs for me and one of them is the Jell-O Mousse Caramel flavour.

While cleaning up the pantry, I noticed that it was nearing the expiry date and rather than making it as a mousse by itself, I decided to use it as a cake filling. I was deciding between a chocolate or a coffee cake and since I have a recipe for an Irish coffee cake from my baking class which I attended last year, I decided to give it a try....Hence the "Irish Coffee Caramel Cake.(^.^)

Sponge Cake
(A) 9 Egg yolks                                                        (B) 9 Egg Whites
     110g Cake Flour                                                       150g Castor Sugar
     30g Cornflour                                                            1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
     70g Optima Flour
     40g Cappuccino Powder
     3 tbsp Nescafe
     1/4 tsp Salt
     1/4 tsp Baking Soda
     80g Water
     80g Corn Oil

-Mix all ingredients (A). Set aside.
- Whisk Egg White & cream of tartar of (B) till foamy. Add Sugar and beat until stiff.
- Fold in Egg white mixture to Egg yolk mixture & mix well. Pour into an 11' round pan.
- Bake at 150 degree C for 45 - 50 mins.
-Let cool and slice into 2/3 layers.

* I halved the recipe and used a 9' round pan.

** Prepare the Jell-O mousse as directed. Lay a piece of sponge cake and pour the caramel over it. Top with another layer of sponge cake.
    Chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before frosting with fresh cream.

Apple Pie

Okay, I've tried pastries like sardine rolls, curry puffs & choux pastries so now to Pies! Who dont love pies but making pies seems like a hastle. You have to make the crust, let it rest in fridge and prepare filling, etc. So I thought I give it a trylah...(^.^)

I found this quite easy recipe but had a disaster on making the crust. With some 'patchwork' I manage to come out with one pie..My 1st pie He..he..

Crust: 220g Flour
          80g Margarine/Butter
         35g Lard/Shortening
         2 tbsp cold water

- Mix Flour, Butter/Margarine & Lard/Shortening into crumbs. Add water and form into a soft dough. refrigerate for at least 30 mins before rolling into 2 pcs.

Filling: 500g apples, sliced
          2 tbsp lemon juice
          1/2 cup sugar

- Mix apples with lemon juice & sugar. Transfer apples without juice to pie crust.

Topping: 1 1/2 cups sugar
              1/4 cup flour
              2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
              some cinnamon
             30g butter
             some milk (for glaze)

- Mix sugar, cinnamon, flour & cornstarch in a bowl. Pour over the apples in the pie pan. Dot with butter
- Cover with another crust. trim down the edges.
- Bruch top with milk bake at preheated oven of 175 degree C for about 1 hour.