Oh wow, Year 2015 is almost coming to an end soon! And Meg's Pastry Studio is officially closed for the holidays :) No Christmas bakes at all this year as I'm setting off for a vacation, yippeeeeeeee!

For the last quarter of the year, once again I'm blessed with a comfortable number of cake orders. Most of the orders were from referrals and existing customers who have ordered my cakes before, as well as a couple of new customers. And once again, they are all rainbow and ombre cakes, considered my niche now? LOL!

Really appreciate their trust in me, an amateur homebaker :) Apologies to a number of customers whom I had to turn away because of my travels :p

While I enjoy baking cakes, making sure each and every order turns out nicely, there are times when I doubt myself whether I should continue doing it, especially when the cakes didn't turn out well, accidents occurred or I'm dissatisfied in general and I simply had to re-work the cake or part of the cake.

Then again, all these are part of a learning experience and even though I have baked so many of these cakes, every time I still learn something new. Every cake still excites me. I'm always more relieved than happy when customers tell me they enjoyed my cakes. So I guess the stress during baking, decorating and delivery is worth it? Oh well, we shall see how things go next year, perhaps rainbow/ombre cakes will go out of fashion, probably I will get sick of it?

Anyways, here's a summary of my orders for the 4th Q :)



This was an order by a lady celebrating her friend's Bachelorette Party. She specifically requested for green ombre colours for the cake layers as well as buttercream rosette decoration. Same design as a previous order that was in pink and very well-received. I think green shades turned out just as lovely as pink!


Ordered by a friend for her daughter's 2th birthday, and last year I did the 1st birthday cake too! Really appreciate her continual support.


This must be my craziest and largest cake ever! Customer had specifically requested for bright rainbow cake, 2 tiers of 7 layers each, that's 14 layers in total, as well as rosette buttercream piping! Thinking back, couldn't imagine how I did it. It was really challenging, glad that the cake didn't topple and turned out decent enough, visually appealing albeit the cake layers didn't taste as nice (because this was white cake, not sponge cake). Not sure if I will ever do it again, though it was a good learning experience.


Repeat order from a customer. Her family preferred cakes that are less sweet with less cream, and enjoyed the cake done previously. So this time, we went for minimal rosette buttercream (less sweet) decoration.


This is a small size cake suitable for small family of 4-6. Smallest cake available is 4.5", good for 3-5 pax. I love petite size cakes, but actually the effort to bake and decorate is not much difference from larger cakes. Haha.



More customers are requesting for this design/look and I may considering increasing the price due to additional ingredients and effort involved.

Last but not least, this cake was ordered by a friend's sister who had tried my cake previously and enjoyed it. She requested for this marshmallow decoration as her son liked the texture of the marshmallow. I like this marshmallow too, it's sold at Phoon Huat :)

Few days ago, I had this huge craving for egg tarts. While it's easy to just hit the stores and buy them off the shelf, I know I should make them on my own so as to customise to my taste and size.


Since I'm feeling lazy busy, I wanted something quick and easy, so decided to stick to my tried and tasted recipes (tart pastry from Hokkaido Bake Cheese Tart and fresh milk egg filling from Hong Kong Flaky Egg Tart) which I'm very familiar by now.


Using the exact recipes, managed to yield 13 mini egg tarts, with a little bit of egg filling left. Probably coz my tart pastry was a little thicker, could probably make 14 or even 15 tarts.

Borrowed the below pictures of making tart pastry from my Hokkaido Bake Cheese Tart page coz I was rushing and didn't have time to take photos.

 (A) Tart Pastry

• 100g plain/cake flour
• 20g icing sugar
• 50g salted butter, cut into cubes, cold
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp fresh milk

1. Sift flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add cold salted butter cubes.
2. Using finger tips, break the butter and rub the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Add an egg yolk to the mixture.
4. Use a scrapper to mix the egg yolk.
5. The mixture will come together and thereafter, use the hands to form the mixture into a dough.
6. Add fresh milk, the dough will become very soft and pliable.
7. Knead the dough gently into a ball. Place on a piece of clingwrap.
8. Wrap the dough and place in fridge to rest for about 1 hour.

 (B) Egg tart filling

• 100g Fresh Milk
• 50g Caster Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 drop Vanilla Extract

While the dough is resting in the fridge, prepare the egg tart filling. Mix all the ingredients together till the sugar is melted. Sieve the mixture.

Now for the making of the egg tarts. Roll the dough to desired thickness, mine was about 3mm. Stamp a piece of dough using a fluted cutter (7cm). Repeat till all the dough is used up.

Place a piece of cut dough onto a tart case (5cm). Push it downwards and using finger tips to mould the dough into the tart case. It's not necessary to brush the tart case as the dough itself is quite buttery so no problem in removing the egg tart from the case once baked.

Use a small fork to prick some holes at the base (not too hard else filling will leak) of the dough. Fill with the egg tart filling almost to the brim.

 Before and after.
 

I adore these cute little pop-in-the-mouth egg tarts! Although it's small enough to pop in the mouth, I still take it in two bites, more ladylike :p. To satisfy my craving, I ate three at one go. My kiddo loves it as well and ate two at one go after dinner!

These are best served warm. The tart pastry is the "short" and slightly crisp type and not the cookie crunchy type, I like it this way. The filling is fragrant and not too sweet. The tarts will turn slightly soft the next day, I just pop them into the oven for a few minutes and they are good to eat again.

Mini Egg Tarts
(yield 13-15 mini egg tarts)

(A) Tart Pastry

• 100g plain/cake flour
• 20g icing sugar
• 50g salted butter, cut into cubes, cold
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp fresh milk

1. Sift flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add cold salted butter cubes.
2. Using finger tips, break the butter and rub the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Add an egg yolk to the mixture.
4. Use a scrapper to mix the egg yolk.
5. The mixture will come together and thereafter, use the hands to form the mixture into a dough.
6. Add fresh milk, the dough will become very soft and pliable.
7. Knead the dough gently into a ball. Place on a piece of clingwrap.
8. Wrap the dough and place in fridge to rest for about 1 hour.

 (B) Egg tart filling

• 100g Fresh Milk
• 50g Caster Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 drop Vanilla Extract

1. While the dough is resting in the fridge, prepare the egg tart filling.
2.  Mix all the ingredients together till the sugar is melted. Sieve the mixture.

 (C) Assembly

1. Preheat oven to 220C, top and bottom heat.
2. Remove dough from the fridge, roll to desired thickness, about 2-3mm.
3. Stamp the dough using a fluted cutter (7cm). Repeat till all dough is used up.
4. Place a piece of cut dough onto a tart case (5cm). Push it downwards and using finger tips to mould the dough into the tart case.
5. Use a small fork to prick some holes at the base of the dough. Fill the tart with the egg tart filling almost to the brim.
6. Place the tray of egg tarts at the bottom most rack of the oven.
7. Bake at 200C for 15 mins.
8. After 15 mins, bake at 180C for 10 mins.
9. After 10 mins, slightly open the oven door, slip a cloth or oven mitt by the door and let egg tart bake in residual heat for another 10 mins.
10. After 10 mins, remove the tray from the oven and let egg tarts cool slightly before removing the tarts from the casing.
11. Best served warm.

The weather is certainly turning chilly as we approached the end of the year with frequent thunder storms. At times like this, I would crave for a hot bowl of hearty soup that's creamy yet not too heavy.

I'm a big fan of Soup Stock Tokyo and it's a must to dine at least one meal there when in I'm in Tokyo. This time, I even bought the soup bowl and spoon :p Unfortunately there are only 2 shops in SG and both are far from where I stay and frequent :(


Anyways, this particular soup is inspired by the one I had in Tokyo last year, the Scallop and Napa Cabbage Yuzu Kosho Chowder. It was creamy and sweetness came from the napa cabbage and scallop, yet light and refreshing because of the cabbage and Yuzu Kosho flavouring.


Key ingredients are napa cabbage, scallop and Yuzu Kosho. I didn't have Yuzu Kosho and had to omit that. Came up with my own version with clam, dried scallop, streaky bacon, baby cabbage, carrot, onion, chicken stock and clam stock. To replace the Yuzu Kosho, I added a tiny splash of lemon juice and a few shreds of lemon peel just before serving. I must remember to get hold of Yuzu Kosho the next trip to a Japanese supermarket or Japan.

Cabbage and Seafood Chowder
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients

• 450ml clam broth (made using 1L water and 500g clam)
• 250ml chicken broth (made using chicken carcass, chicken feet, scraps of vegetables like onion, spring onion, celery, white radish, carrot etc)
• 1 small onion or 1/2 big onion, finely chopped
• 80g streaky bacon, diced
• 30g dried scallop, soaked in hot water for at least 30 mins, then shredded
• 40g clam meat, precooked (from the clam broth)
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 100g baby napa cabbage (wa wa cai), cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 pc small carrot, thinly sliced
• 100ml cooking cream
• Lemon juice, lemon peel 

Steps

1.  Heat up a pot with 1 tbsp olive oil, add the chopped onion and fry till translucent.
2. Add the bacon and fry till fragrant.
3. Next add the shredded scallop and clam meat, stir fry to mix.
4. Add the plain flour and stir till mixed with the ingredients.
5. Add the chicken stock and clam broth, let the soup come to a boil.
6. Add the cabbage and carrot. Boil on low heat till tender, remove any scums on the surface of the soup.
7. Stir in cooking cream slowly. 
8. Just before serving, add a splash of lemon juice and a few shreds of lemon peel.
9. Best served warm.

Hmmmmm, this is like a comfort soup to me. Surprisingly adding the lemon juice and lemon peel enhanced the overall taste of the soup, I like! Of course I believe yuzu will be better, next time when I get hold of some fresh yuzu. I added lesser amount of cream than the usual chowder soups because I wanted to keep the soup lighter. Feel free to add more cream.


To pair with the chowder, I made a simple chicken and veggies wrap. At Soup Stock Tokyo, soups are typically paired with bun or barley rice. But since I have some ready ingredients, decided to go luxe and have a wrap.

Ingredients are 6 grains tortilla wrap from Missions Food (won in a lucky draw), coral lettuce, carrot, cucumber, small pieces of chicken thigh and some Japanese mayonnaise. The chicken thighs are lightly marinated with sea salt and black pepper and grilled with some olive oil. The wrap is also grilled before wrapping the ingredients.

Yums! Wraps make a wholesome and hearty meal as well!


?????? Itadakimasu!

Continuing with my sandwich/panini craze, this time a different version, open-faced sandwich!

I had some baby portobello mushroom and cherry tomatoes leftover in the fridge and this idea of making open-faced sandwich just came up. Thought it would be virtually appealing, although quite cumbersome to eat (bits and pieces dropping all over).


Mushroom, tomato and bread on their own would be a bit too dry, so I got some avocado to add a creamy texture to the sandwich. The avocado cream could also help hold the toppings together.

Actually making the mushroom and tomato toppings as well as the avocado cream is really simple. For the bread, too lazy to make so I bought some wholemeal walnut bread. Actually any bread is fine, whether rustic country loaf or sourdough.

The baby portobello mushroom is sliced and mixed with minced garlic, olive oil, sea salt, balsamic vinegar and some fresh thyme. Then I simply used the air-fryer to cook them for about 6-7 mins.


Same goes for the cherry tomato toppings.

The avocado cream is even simpler, just blend ripened avocado with Greek Yogurt.



Do they look like cafe-style food? I always thought food that looks good, help the food itself taste good. LOL. Actually cafe-style food can be easily made at home.

Portobello Mushroom & Cherry Tomato with Yogurt Avocado Open-faced Sandwich

Ingredients

• 2 slices of wholemeal walnut bread (rustic, sourdough)

Portobello Mushroom topping

• 3 baby portobello mushroom, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, remove leaves from stem and tear into tiny pieces

Cherry Tomato topping

• 8-10 cherry tomato
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, remove leaves from stem and tear into tiny pieces

Avocado cream

• 1/2 avocado
• 1 tbsp greek yogurt (I use Farmer's Union)

Steps

1. Mix all ingredients for mushroom topping and air-fry for 6-7 mins at 180C. Set aside.
2. Mix all ingredients for tomato topping and air-fry for 5-6 mins at 180C. Set aside.
3. Blend avocado with greek yogurt till creamy. Set aside.
4. Heat grill pan at low heat and place a slice of bread in it. Cover with glass top for 30s. Off heat, remove cover.
5. Spread avocado cream, followed by the mushroom topping.
6. Repeat with tomato topping.
7. Best served warm.

I must say the open-faced sandwich taste really really yummy!

Really love the mushroom one!! Thought the toppings would drop all over the place with each bite, but didn't! The avocado cream helped hold everything together and really enhanced the overall taste of the sandwich. The portobello mushroom was meaty, sweet and juicy, spiced with bits of garlic and aromatic with the tiny bits of thyme. The balsamic vinegar was a little more subtle, probably more could be added for an enhanced flavour.