Microplane
Tool of refinement: Microplane. A lot of people think that a microplane’s sole purpose is to zest or grate. What about cleaning the less than perfect edges of a pate sucree, as shown with the half pipes here?
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Making Chocolate Moulds (Using a 3D printer and Mayku Formbox)
The idea for these chocolate bars came from Rachel and Jess at Hailed Coffee. In order for us to push forward and strive to be better, we need to be uniquely different. It’s important that we keep thinking and inventing. More often than not though, these ideas go straight to the bin and don’t ever get to the implementation/testing phase. This one was different! It started from our work on creating new flavours of chocolate bars. We had recently started testing a lemon crunch bar which led to a lemon, blueberry and meringue bar. Throughout the iterations, we thought about separating the crunch component and the flavour component. This led to the idea of making bars with ice cream flavours and crunchy, cone-like components. Better yet, what if these chocolate bars actually resembled an ice cream cone? Eureka!
Read MoreCalamansi Tart
When we moved into our first house in September of 2017, we were gift a calamansi tree from Queenie’s breeder. Admittedly, after falling into our care the tree didn’t bare any fruits for several years, and when it did, they only grew to the size of dimes, rotted, and then fell to the ground. With a little time and TLC, we got a better handle on caring for our tree. This year, we had our first true “harvest” and were able to make something with it for the first time.
Read MoreSourdough Waffles
I am guilty of many things in life – one of which has been, until recently, neglecting my sourdough starter with varying degrees of severity. I mean, if wild yeast abuse was an actual thing, hoo-boy would I be in trouble! Sure, there were weeks at a time when Chad (my starter) would be happy, healthy, and well-fed. Unfortunately, equally frequent were the spurts when I just didn’t have time to make or think about bread, and Chad (as we like to call him) would become lost to the oblivion that is the back of our fridge. When I did eventually rediscover his existence, I would find him in a sad state indeed: slumped, sour, and malnourished. I would then nurse him back from the clutches of death – only to repeat this rather demented cycle a short time later. Now, it’s not like I’m a bad person. This wasn’t intentional torture, it’s just that sometimes Chad just didn’t make it onto my priority list – life, amirite? Well, let me tell you – these sourdough waffles have changed all that!
Siu Hao Jo (Laughing Sesame Balls)
Last week, we wrote about making peanut puffs, a treat from Royce’s childhood. Siu hao jo, or “laughing balls” are another snack traditionally enjoyed around Lunar New Year. These balls are basically sesame fried dough, and are so-named because they split open when fried, which I guess someone decided looked like a laughing mouth. We first made these a few years ago, with a recipe passed along from a friend’s dad, and we were thrilled with how they turned out. It was particularly rewarding, as that year we had experimented with several other treats without much success. Read More
Smoothies & Sundaes 