Marmalade! Marmalade! Cumquat Marmalade!

Whenever blood orange is in season, I felt the need to make the blood orange/cumquat/leek fish that we love so much.  However, the thing with cumquat is... you must buy a container of it when you only need 4.  There are people whom will insist on HOW sweet & great cumquats are, but I just simply hate them.  I blame it on my mother, I was forever scarred from my childhood memories of being forced to eat it every Chinese New Year!  After 4 days on the counter, I decided to make marmalade.  It's a very simple formula where you can easily substitute the cumquat with orange or even blood orange (great color for marmalade).

In this recipe, it's 1:1:1 ration with fruit, sugar, and water by WEIGHT.  Yes, by weight!  I know it's a hassle to break out your scale even if you do have one, but trust me.. you don't want to wing it as you go with jam/jelly/marmalade!  Since we are keeping the rind (contains pectin), I would recommend organic fruits if you can find them, so you don't have to worry about funky chemicals.


Cumquat Marmalade

100 g    Cumquat
100 g    Sugar
100 g    Water

• Wash & thinly slice the cumquat.  Pick out seeds
• Place cumquat, sugar, and water into a pot.  Bring to a boil, stir constantly so it doesn't burn
• Turn the heat down so it is just simmering for another 1/2 hour or so, until the rind is soft and the liquid is thin.  
• To check for "gel-ness" by place a small drop on a plate & place in the fridge for a couple minutes.  If the marmalade is ready, it will "gel" like soft jam.
• Can & lid.  Let cool on the counter top then store in the freezer up to 12 months!

Sesame Croissants

Croissants are great breakfast items, as long you can find a bakery that actually do make it w/ actual butter, otherwise, it is not worth having.  Since Dad is coming for a visit tomorrow, I decided to make croissants, sesame croissant to be exact.


I must say, I ABSOLUTELY hate making bread, especially croissant & puff pastry, because I didn't have the upper body strength & the fact that our kitchen counter is a bit too tall for me to do the work.  At a professional work shop, we have sheeters to help w/ the rolling of the dough & also prevent the dough & butter get too warm & became too soft to work.  Sesame croissants are done by simply press the sesame seeds into the butter block & proceed w/ the normal folding process.  For those whom has never attempt this before, I had found a video on youtube that can be of help.



Croissant

225g  Milk
5g      Instant Yeast
15g    Sugar
8g      Salt
40g    Soften Butter
400g  Bread Flour (AP will work if you don't have Bread Flour)

225g  Butter
          Black Sesame

1. Combine 1st part of the ingredients in a mixing bowl w/ dough hook, mix it until all ingredients are combined.  Mix for another 5 min, until the dough is pulled away from the side of bowl & no longer sticky.
2. Spray the bowl & the dough, cover & let sit until double.
3. Pound the butter between 2 sheets of plastic until it is pliable & firmly press the sesame seed into it. wrap & chill until ready to use.  Make sure to shape it into a rectangular for easy incorporating.
4. Lightly flour work table & roll the dough out to a rectangular shape, wrap & chill in the fridge for 30 minute.
5. Pat dough into a 14 x 8 inch rectangle. Place butter on the 1/2 of the dough, leaving 1/4 inch margin all around, fold & make sure all sides are well sealed. If the dough feel warm, chill another 30 minutes before proceed to the rolling & folding of the dough. 
6. Roll the croissant dough out to about 1" thick & do a tri-fold.  Wrap & chill for another 30 min.
7. Turn the dough 90 degrees, so that folds are to left and right. Roll out to a 14 x 6 inch rectangle. Fold in three again. Sprinkle lightly with flour, wrap & refrigerate for 30 min. Turn 90 degrees, and repeat. Wrap, and chill 30 min.  
8. To shape, roll dough out to a 20 x 5 inch rectangle. Cut in half crosswise, and chill half while shaping the other half. Roll out to a 15 x 5 inch rectangle. Cut into three 5 x 5 inch squares. Cut each square in half diagonally. Roll each triangle lightly to elongate the point, and make it 7 inches long. Grab the other 2 points, and stretch them out slightly as you roll it up. Place on a baking sheet, curving slightly. 
9. Spray & cover w/ plastic & let the shaped croissant to double.
10. Egg wash & bake at 400 F oven for about 10 - 12 minutes, depends on your oven.

Cranberry Scones

Scones should be soft & fluffy, unlike the ice pock that you normally see at some of the local coffee shops/bakeries. Since MD loves to have scones for breakfast (or just as a snack at any time of day), so I normally make a large batch & freeze some of the unbaked, portioned scones for later as quick breakfast or snack w/ my afternoon tea, along with a little bit of homemade lemon curd & strawberry jam! Yum!

A lot of people tend to think scone is hard to master since it often refer to a method similar to biscuit/pie dough, which tends to scare a lot of people. But this is a drop scones so it requires none of the messy, scary business of cutting butter into flour! This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled as well.



Cranberry Scone

50g Butter
42g Sugar
2g Salt

1 Yolk

200g Flour
10g Baking Powder
116g Milk

1. Combine all dry together & set aside
2. Cream butter, sugar, and salt until life & fluffy.
3. Add yolk, mix well
4. Add the dry mix in 3 portions, just until combine. Don't over mix!
5. Scoop, brush w/ milk & sprinkle w/ sugar.
6. Bake at 375 F oven until done, toothpick should be clean when inserted. Roughly about 15 - 20 min, depends on size.
   

Bread pudding! Breakfast & dessert all in one...

Whenever I have leftover bread, I will make bread pudding. It is a great way to use up those harden/dried up bread that you have sit around. Personally, I don't recommend sour dough bread or any strong taste bread such as pumpernickel, or thinly slice sandwiches bread, since you want to be able to see chunk of bread "peeping" through the custards.

Bread pudding can be make w/ fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate, or dried fruits, so basically, ANYTHING! Not to mention, it is very versatile & forgiving, as long you have eggs, milk/cream/heavy cream, even coconut milk! I had a half loaf of brioche leftover from a few days ago and a half container of homemade mini marshmallow left from X'mas, so I decided to make bread pudding - S'mores w/ coconut!


S'mores Bread Pudding w/ Coconut

1 loaf Brioche/french bread/hard crust bread

5 Eggs, Beaten
2 C Milk/Heavy Cream/Half & Half
2 t Vanilla Extract

8 oz Dark Chocolate Chip
4 oz Mini Marshmallow
3 oz unsweetened coconut

• Cut bread into 1.5" cube, place it in 9 x 13 baking dish.
• Combine eggs, milk, and vanilla extract; pour over cubed bread.
  
• Push the bread down into the mixture & make sure the breads are covered. Pour in a little more milk/cream if necessary.
• Mix in chocolate chip, marshmallow, and HALF of coconut
• Bake at 300 F for about 30 min, sprinkle the remaining coconut on the top of bread pudding. Bake until the center is clean when the tooth pick entered, about 20 minute.
• Let cool. Serve warm w/ chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, or even a scoop of ice cream!
  

Dutch Baby!

Dutch Baby, sometimes called a German pancake or a Bismarck. It is basically an oven puffed pancake that make with eggs, milk, and flour. Traditionally, it is baked in mental pan or cast iron pan & serve immediately with fresh squeezed lemon, butter, and powdered sugar or fruit toppings. They are easy to make, fun to watch, and definitely a change of scenery for your breakfast table!



Dutch Baby

3/4 C Milk
2 Eggs
1 1/2 T Sugar
1 1/2 t Vanilla Extract
1 pinch Salt

1/2 C AP

• Whisk eggs and sugar together until combine
• Whisk in milk, salt, and vanilla extract.
• Slowly whisk in the flour, no lumps.

Serving

• Preheat oven to 450 F, and heat your serving dish (I used Pyrax pie pan) for at least 5 min.
  
• Sray the pan then slowly pour the batter into the heated dish, bake for 5-10 min, until the sides risen
  
• Turn the heat down to 380 F and bake for another 10 - 15 min, until the center puffed.
• Dust with powered sugar & serve (I had served w/ homemade berry sauce)
  

Berry Sauce

1 C Mix Berries
2 T Sugar
1 t Cinnamon

• If you are using frozen berries, like I do, please thaw the berries 1st.
  
• Toss the berries w/ sugar & cinnamon, and let sit in room temp for about 20 min. Use immediately.
  
• If you prefer to have a thicker sauce, drain the juice and cook it to thicken, about 10 min. Let cool & add the berries back to the thicken juice.