f.k.a. misoplays

your local auntie 🍵 she/her | 30 | maxis-match gameplay slowly coming back to write again! 😌🍸

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Stollen

Guten tag, tombler!

The second dish from the German cuisine Vienna is making is stollen. Traditionally a Christmas bread, stollen is a variant of fruitcake made from nuts, spices and dried/candied fruits coated with icing sugar.

The history of stollen is closely related to Christmas and the Advent season, and this early version of stollen is different from the modern version we enjoy now. As the Advent was a period of fasting, bakers were not allowed to use butter, so oil was used as replacement. It resulted in hard and tasteless bread. The Saxon Royal Court wrote a letter to the Catholic Church asking for leniency use butter and other rich ingredients--this letter is known as the "Butter Letter". Nowadays, stollen is more known as a Christmas fruit bread wrapped with clothes, symbolizing baby Jesus who was born on Christmas day.

The stollen custom content recipe Vienna is baking today is made by Oni28 (you can download the recipe here). Please be aware that Oni's Recipe Pack Mod (the latest version can be found here) installed in order for this recipe to appear in your game. And one extra note from me: This recipe requires level 9 Baking, so for a while I can't figure out why I can't find this recipe even though everything is already installed properly--turned out Vienna's Baking level just wasn't high enough. 😭

The ingredients for stollen is divided into three groups: For the dough, we'll need all-purpose flour, milk, active dry yeast, granulated sugar, eggs, unsalted butter, vanilla extract, spices (ground cardamom, ground mace or nutmeg, ground cinnamon), and marzipan/almond paste. For the fruits and nuts: raisins, candied lemon peel, candied orange peel, almonds, and dark rum. Lastly, for the glazing, you'll need melted butter and powdered sugar.

Soak the raisins, candied citrus peels and almonds in a bowl of dark rum. Set aside and let the fruit mixture soak while the dough rises. Activate the dough by stirring it into a bowl of lukewarm milk and let sit for 10-15 minutes until frothy.

Combine the all-purpose flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and spices in a bowl. Mix well before adding the activated yeast mixture.

Knead the dough for 7-8 minutes, then wrap it and let rest in a warm place until the size doubled (at least one hour).

By this time, the fruits and nuts soaking in rum must've soaked the whole liquid. If there's excess rum, pour it away before adding the fruits and nuts into the dough. Knead the dough until the fruits and nuts are evenly combined. Gently press the marzipan (or almond paste) into the middle of the dough. Pinch the ends of the dough together to seal them around the marzipan, then mold into a long, thin loaf.

Bake the log-shaped dough in a 180C (350F) for around 30-40 minutes until golden. Vienna's little helper is here to lighten up the mood!

Best part of baking in this game, always.🤤

After it's done baking, let the stollen cool down for 5 minutes before brushing the surface with melted butter, followed by sprinkling with powdered sugar once the bread completely cooled.

The next recipe would be more of the savory one, so 'til then, dag dag!

P.S. Guten tag means “good day”, another common greetings in Deutsch. P.S.S. Detailed cooking process for stollen is taken from this article and this article, while the history of stollen is summarized from this article and this Wikipedia page.

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Baumkuchen

Guten morgen, tombler!

Celebrating a late Oktoberfest, Vienna got this idea to cook some German food, starting with a German spit cake, baumkuchen (Note: we're aware that even though baumkuchen is a variant of German cakes, it's not actually celebrated during Oktoberfest). Baumkuchen literally translates to "tree cake" in Germany for its resemblance to tree rings. This cake is labor-intensive to make, as the traditional to make baumkuchen is by brushing each layer of batter onto a rotating spit.

This custom content recipe we're making today is made by Oni28 (click here to download it). You would also need to have Oni's Recipe Pack Mod installed in your mods folder (click here to download the latest version) in order for the recipe to appear on your game.

Vienna starts by preparing the ingredients. To bake baumkuchen, you'll need almond paste (can be substituted with almond flour mixed with honey and pure almond extract), all-purpose flour, cornstarch, unsalted butter, eggs, rum, vanilla extract, sugar, and apricot jam.

One important rule about baking baumkuchen is to always be generous with sugar! Sugar provides structure and tenderness in a cake--discounting the amount of sugar used in the recipe might result in a flat pancake instead.

There are three mixing bowls needed in total. In the first bowl, blend the almond paste and butter together until it's smooth and fluffy. Then, separate the egg whites and yolks into two separate bowls. Add one egg yolk at a time to the first bowl, then slowly add rum, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix until everything is incorporated nicely, and set aside.

On another bowl, beat the egg whites while gradually adding sugar until the mixture is thick, smooth, and glossy. Scoop out ¼ of the beaten egg whites and stir them one scoop at a time into the first mixing bowl (the one with egg yolks mixture). Make sure the mixture is incorporated evenly as you fold the batter.

On the third bowl, sift together all-purpose flour and cornstarch. Combine the egg yolk mixture to the beaten egg whites while gradually adding the flour mixture. Another great tip Vienna found is not to over-fold the batter--the batter would deflate if you over-fold it.

The realistic way to make baumkuchen at home is by layering the batter (using the apricot jam between each layers) and baking around 45-60 seconds in a 180C (350F) broiler oven before adding a new layer, but this custom content recipe features the miniature of a spit, which is used to make a big baumkuchen--the kind that German bakeries sells.

As a final touch, Vienna adds sugar icing by combining powdered sugar and a little bit of milk.

"You can have one slice after dinner," Vienna offered. "We had so much treats this week only, and I'm on a mission to make some more, so we have to pace things out."

P.S. Guten morgen means "good morning" in Deutsch. P.S.S. Detailed cooking process for baumkuchen is taken from this article and this article.

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Gyeran-ppang

Annyeonghaseyo, tombler!

This recipe is going to be the last East Asian breads for a while, as Vienna will be start exploring Bavarian cuisine after this one--which was supposed to be for Oktoberfest, but well, time is a concept, I guess 🥴. Today we're making gyeran-ppang, a South Korean muffin bread consisted of a whole egg on top of a fluffy bread. Based on Wikipedia, this popular street food snack was first developed as a meal replacement sold at the back gate of Inha University in the 1980s for the budget-conscious students but remained popular even 40 years later. A more modern take to gyeran-ppang may be topped with cheese, bacon, or both.

The name gyeran-ppang itself is pretty self-explanatory--a combination of 'gyeran' ("egg" in Korean) and 'ppang' ("bread" in Korean). Today's gyeran-ppang recipe is made by Oni28 (you can download the recipe here). Gentle reminder that Oni’s Recipe Pack Mod needs to be installed on your mods folder (the latest version can be download here) for the recipe to appear on your game.

Gyeran-ppang's batter is pretty much a muffin batter. Vienna starts by combining self-raising flour, sugar, salt, eggs, milk, and salted butter together in a medium bowl. Whisk until everything is mixed perfectly.

Prepare the muffin mold by brushing some melted butter, then scoop out the muffin batter into the mold. Top each batter with one whole egg and an extra topping of your choice (or in Vienna's case--she didn't add anything else).

Bake the gyeran-ppang for about 20 minutes in a 180C oven, or until the eggs look golden brown and scrumptiously shiny.

It's a simple, easy-to-make self-indulgent treat for Vienna--perfect for a lazy Saturday morning breakfast!

Speaking about Saturday--you know who's the king of the couch today! Frejr spent his morning glued in front of the TV watching cartoons, and a plate (or two!) of gyeran-ppang is compact enough for Vienna to allow eating on the couch. Win win solution! 🤝

This recipe is a simple one, so see you next time! Dag dag!

P.S. Annyeonghaseyo (안녕하세요) means "hello" in Korean, it literally translates to "please be in peace" and is the most common formal greeting. P.S.S. Detailed recipe for gyeran-ppang is taken from this article while brief history of the snack is translated from this Naver page.

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Bungeo-ppang

Orenmanieyo, tombler!

With some leftover red bean paste she religiously made for the Japanese red bean bun anpan, Vienna traveled to another East Asian country with its red bean pastries. Today we're making bungeo-ppang, a Korean fish-shaped waffle stuffed with red bean paste. The pastry originated from the Japanese taiyaki, with the similarity being the carp-shaped metal mold used to achieve that fish shape and the sweet red bean fillings. Bungeo-ppang's was introduced to Korea in the 1930s when Korea was under Japanese rule, but became more popular and high demand during in the 1990s during the retro craze in South Korea.

Bungeo-ppang is most often sold at street stalls in winter time, with toppings varies from the traditional red bean paste, to a more modern ones like chocolate, custard, and even ice cream. The name bungeo-ppang came from the combination of 'bungeo' ('carp' in Korean) and 'ppang' ('bread' in Japanese). Outside of the carp shape for the waffle mold, the pastry itself doesn't contain actual fish.

Today's bungeo-ppang recipe is made by Oni28 (the recipe can be downloaded here). Please remember that Oni’s Recipe Pack Mod needs to be installed on your mods folder (the latest version can be download here) for the recipe to appear on your game.

To make bungeo-ppang, one of the tips Vienna found is to use glutinous rice flour (also known as sweet rice flour or mochiko). This kind of flour is high on starch content which adds a soft and chewy texture to the dough. The ratio between all-purpose flour and glutinous rice flour should be 4:1.

Whisk together all-purpose flour, glutinous rice flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Whisk the egg and milk into the dry ingredients and stir until everything is nicely incorporated.

While she let the batter refrigerated for at least one hour, Vienna prepares the namesake "carp fish" bungeo-ppang mold. Heat the bungeo-ppang mold over medium heat and brush the interior with neutral oil. I personally adore this bungeo-ppang mold--the level of detail Oni28 made for this recipe is chef's kiss! 👩‍🍳🤌

Fill the mold halfway with the batter and let it cook for 30 seconds before adding the filling.

The star of today's recipe is the leftover sweet red bean paste from making anpan last time. Add a spoonful of the red bean paste, and cover again with the batter until the mold is full. Close the bungeo-ppang mold and immediately flip it so the batter spreads evenly. Let it continue cooking for 2-3 minutes before flipping again and cook for 2-3 more minutes until the surface is golden brown.

The bungeo-ppang with sweet red bean paste filling is ready to serve! The animation of throwing food into the plate in this game is always funny--reminded me of this other post where Aria also did some yoinking. 😅

Bungeo-ppang is not meant to be enjoyed alone, but while Vienna's husband doesn't necessarily need food to sustain--well, it's the thought that matters, I guess? See you another time (finger's crossed it's not another month-soon), and dag dag!

P.S. Oraenmanieyo (오랜만이에요) means "long time no see" in Korean, it's used when greeting someone you haven't seen in a while. P.S.S. Detailed recipe for bungeo-ppang is taken from this article and this article, while brief history of the snack is taken from this Wikipedia page.

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Anpan

Konnichiwa, tombler!

Following the previous post where Vienna baked some melonpan in the morning, today's post is its immediate continuation where she decided to bake anpan--a Japanese sweet bun commonly filled with red bean paste with black sesame decorated on top. The name anpan came from the combination of 'an' from 'anko' ('sweet bean paste' in Japanese) and 'pan' ('bread' in Japanese). The bread was founded by Yasube Kimura, a former samurai turned baker in 1874. His combination of Western style of bread-making and traditional flavors quickly became a cultural icon in Japan.

Today's anpan custom content recipe is made by oni28 (you can download the recipe here). Gentle reminder that Oni’s Recipe Pack Mod needs to be installed on your mods folder (the latest version can be download here) for the recipe to appear on your game.

To make anpan, prepare bread flour, milk, eggs, sugar, salt, unsalted butter, instant dry yeast, azuki beans (red mung beans) for the fillings, and some black sesame seeds (can also be substituted with poppy seeds) for decoration. You can use all-purpose flour, but as the percentage of protein affects the texture of the bread, using bread flour would be better as it absorbs moisture better and supports bread expansion.

To make the dough, Vienna combines the regular dough and the dough made using the yudane method--a technique of mixing bread flour and hot boiling water. Adding hot water gelatinises the starch, which gives a softness and sweetness to the final product. The yudane roux made up around 20% of the dough, and the rest of the dough is made with normal temperature liquid (in this case, milk is used). After making the regular dough (which we did not document as it was nothing out of the ordinary), both dough is mixed and let rise until the size doubles.

For the sweet bean paste, Vienna mixed the red beans that she had previously cooked using a pressure cooker for 20 minutes with castor sugar. Mix well until the sugar dissolves, then divide the sweet bean paste into 12 equal-sized balls. Side note, Vienna would also make some bunggeo-ppang with this sweet red bean fillings.

Next, divide the bread dough into 12 equal-sized balls. Flatten the dough balls and place the sweet bean paste balls in the center. Cover the red bean-filled dough balls with kitchen cloth and rest for about 20-30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C (or 350F).

Before putting the dough in the oven, brush the top with beaten egg and stamp with black sesame seeds. Bake the anpan dough in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, and there you have it! Warm, soft, filled with gooey sweet bean paste--your anpan is ready to enjoy!

As the bread finished baking, it was around the same time Vienna's son Frejr came home from school. As usual, it's Mama's little taster's time to shine! How's the verdict?

Vienna thought the crumbly cookie part of the melonpan would steal the thunder, but turned out that Frejr prefer the sweet, warm azuki paste more. The fact that the anpan bread was still warm from the oven could also add to the equation, but who cares, right? At the end of the day, Frejr would love everything Vienna cooked him it because it was Mama's. Anyway, until next time, dag dag!

P.S. Konnichiwa (こんにちは) means "good day", a daytime greeting in Japanese. P.S.S. Detailed recipe for anpan is taken from this article and this article (including this article for yudane method and this article for red bean paste), and short history of anpan is taken from this Wikipedia page.

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Melonpan

Ohayou, tombler!

It seems like the month of September will be full of baked goods on this blog. Today we're baking melonpan, a Japanese sweet bread with a crunchy, sugar-sprinkled topping that resembles the appearance of a melon. Despite its name, melonpan sadly does not contain any part nor taste of the actual melon fruit--a sad revelation when I first came in contact with this bread years ago.

The melonpan custom content recipe is made by oni28 (you can download the recipe here). Please be aware that you would need to have Oni's Recipe Pack Mod on your mods folder, the latest version can be download here. Imomiso's note: I'm sad to read that Oni28 will no longer be creating food cc for The Sims 4. It's very understandable that creating cc should be enjoyable, and it's time to stop when it's no longer fun for the creator. Wishing all the best for their future cc-making journey! As for me, I'm yet to explore even half of Oni's recipes, so I will continue to enjoy their creation. 🫶

Hisashiburi, Vienna! If you're new to this blog, this is Vienna Ito, Stella's twin sister and Kiyoshi and Aria's daughter who lives in Willow Creek with her family. Vienna works as a food critic and she's arguably more culinary adventurous compared to Stella. Vienna is not a morning person (her spouse is a vampire, who is she kidding), so this melonpan is going to be baked in her pajamas.

The ingredient for melonpan is divided into two sections: the bread dough and the cookie dough (attached to the top part of the bread). For the bread dough, prepare all-purpose flour, milk, instant yeast, salt, sugar, and unsalted butter. For the cookie dough, use cake flour, egg, sugar, butter, baking powder, and granulated sugar for sprinkles. A great tip Vienna found on the internet is to make the cookie dough before we get started with the bread dough to give it enough time to chill in the refrigerator.

To make the cookie dough, whisk together butter and sugar until fluffy before adding beaten egg, followed by cake flour and baking powder. Stir until everything is mixed properly, then chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator until firm.

Meanwhile, let's make the bread dough. Whisk together warm milk, yeast, and sugar until frothy. Add all-purpose flour and salt, and mix using a stand mixer (not pictured) on low speed until incorporated. Let the dough rest for about 5 minutes before adding butter and start mixing again. Cover the bread dough to let the dough rise, for about 2 hours.

When the bread dough is done rising, divide the dough into several equal pieces. Shape the dough into balls, and rest again at room temperature while we roll out and divide the cookie dough (previously stored in the refrigerator) into the same number of the dough balls. Cover each dough ball with a flattened cookie dough disc, and sprinkle each cookie top with granulated sugar. Finally, to create that melon skin pattern, use a bench scraper or knife to score a cross-patch pattern into each cookie top. Don't score too deeply, a little goes a long way!

Bake the dough in a 180C or 350F oven until the tops are golden brown, or about 20 minutes.

A little history session, one theory stated that melonpan was invented by an Armenian baker who worked in Japan, having influences from Russian, French, and Viennese baking techniques. Other source stated that melonpan was invented by a Japanese baker in the 1930s. Melonpan has a similarity to Mexican pastry concha and German pastry streuselkuchen, which were introduced to Japan during the World War II.

Oh, but wait! Vienna ended up making one more Japanese bread right after this one. There's even a children superhero character based on that bread! Can you guess? Hint: 🍞🔴🦸‍♂️.

'Till next time, dag dag!

P.S. Ohayou (おはよう) means "good morning", and hisashiburi (お久しぶりですね) means "long time no see", both in Japanese. P.S.S. Detailed recipe for melonpan is taken from this article and this article, while the history of melonpan is taken from melonpan Wikipedia page and this article.

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Palmier

Bonsoir, tombler!

I hope you're not bored yet with Parisian sweets because Stella got one more treat to bake! Palmier (pronounced "pahl-me-ay"), a short of 'feuille de palmier' in French or 'palm tree leaf' in English, is a French pastry made from laminated dough similarly used to make croissants, but without yeast. There are quite varieties of palmier around the world -- in Spain, this pastry is known as 'palmeras' and is sometimes topped with chocolate or coconut; in Puerto Rican, it is topped with honey. Mexico and other Latin American countries known this pastry as 'orejas' ("ears"), meanwhile Colombian called this 'mariposas' ("butterflies"). In Japan, and coincidentally also where Imomiso lives (which is not Japan), palmier is known as 'Genji Pie', which apparently was named after the main protagonist of a famous Japanese historical drama.

The palmier custom content recipe Stella will be baking today is a part of Parisian-inspired pastries cc made by @littlbowbub (click here to download the collection). You know the drill, folks -- please make sure to also install Grannies Cookbook in your mods folder for the recipe to show up in your game.

This classic French pastry is made mainly with two simple ingredients: sugar and puff pastry (a type of laminated dough). A great tip Stella found on the internet is to use a high-quality coarse sugar. The texture of natural sugar will amplify the taste and give the cookies a nice bite. Although you can easily purchase a ready-to-bake puff pastry from a grocery store, Stella challenged herself to make it from scratch (the same puff pastry is also used on kouign-amann).

The base dough of puff pastry is composed of flour and water. The dough is then repeatedly rolled and folded with layers of butter added onto each layers. These layers will crisp up during baking as a result of the water content on the dough expanding and the fat on the butter melting, creating a puffy layers.

To actually start with the palmier itself, roll out the puff pastry and sprinkle sugar over the dough. Roll the dough inward from both sides and stop in the middle of the dough, creating a heart shape. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before cutting off pieces of the dough log about a centimeter in thickness. Pinch the two rolls together to prevent the shape to unroll during the baking, and sprinkle more sugar on top of each heart-shaped pieces.

Bake the palmier cookies at 220C for about 7 minutes or until the sugar has caramelized, flip them and continue to bake for about 6 minutes. A view from inside the oven as the palmiers are baked into perfection (no cameraperson was hurt on the process).

The smell of this pastry was heavenly! It was a well-earned treat for Stella who just finished a cardio session before deciding to bake.

P.S. Bonsoir means "good evening" in French, a commonly used greetings. P.S.S. Detailed recipe for palmier is taken from this article, this article, and this article. Detailed process of making puff pastry is taken from this Wikipedia page.

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Kouign-amann

Salud deoc'h, tombler!

Originated from Britanny, a region in northwest France, kouign-amann (pronounced "queen-a-man") is dubbed as the world's fattiest pastry by New York Times because the amount of butter used in this recipe. The name 'kouign-amann' came the Breton language, literally translating to 'cake' ('kouign') and 'butter' ('amann') in English. Kouign-amann are similar to croissants in terms that they're both made from laminated dough, but the higher ratio of butter to sugar ratio and a abundance of sugar sprinkled on top make kouign-amann a more buttery, caramelized, and incredibly flaky pastry.

This custom content recipe is made by @littlbowbub (click here to download the recipe). It's another recipe from the French/Parisian cafe inspired collection -- because yes, Stella still can't get enough of those buttery goodness! You would also need Grannies Cookbook installed in your mods folder for the recipe to show up in your game.

To bake kouign-amann, you would need all-purpose flour, dry yeast, sea salt, sugar, and salted butter. A tip Stella found from browsing the internet is to use the best salted butter you could find. Breton salted butter would be the best choice, but you can add few grains of coarse sea salt before folding the dough in layers and across the top before baking.

Before starting, dissolve the yeast in a bowl of water with a pinch of sugar. Let it bloom for 10 minutes until foamy. On a mixing bowl, combine the yeast, flour, and salt.

Transfer the dough to your countertop -- or in this case, Stella uses a wooden tray. Sprinkle the surface with some flour as the dough is considerably sticky. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes until smooth and elastic. Brush the dough with melted butter and let rest in a warm place for 1 hour. After the dough has risen, put in the refrigerator to chill for around 30 minutes.

After the dough has been chilled, roll the dough and gently spread the cool but pliable butter on the left side of the dough. Fold the other unbuttered side over the buttered side, and fold back the buttered side like a letter. Chill the lightly floured and folded dough in the refrigerator for 45 minutes. Be careful not too let the dough get too cold or the butter will harden and destroy the layers when folded. While the dough is chilling, Stella preheats the oven and prepares the muffin tins. Generously butter and arrange the tins on a baking tray.

Sprinkle some sugar and drizzle melted butter on top of the tinned dough and bake on a 189C oven for around 40-45 minutes or until the top is deeply caramelized. Let the pastry cool briefly before removing the kouign-amann from the muffin tins.

One of the joys of baking pastries in this game is I get to watch as the dough transform into baked goods 🥧

You definitely need to wipe clean your hands after eating kouign-amann, but Leia and Sol loved it!

'Til next time, dag dag!

P.S. Salud deoc'h means "hello" in Breton, a language used by ethnic group native to Brittany. P.S.S. Detailed recipe for kouign-amann is taken from this, this and this article. P.S.S.S. Dear littlbowbub, if you see this post, thank you for liking and reblogging the previous post. It was an honor. Your cc creations are amazing and I have yet to explore them. Thank you for your contribution to the community! 🫶

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Religieuse

Bonjour, tombler!

Imomiso's note: It has been so long since I write a new post. To be completely honest, I feel so rusty. First, I picked a bad timing to start playing, as it was patch day and my game automatically updates too. 🥹 I have to go through my mods one by one -- that's a nine months of outdated mods! 🪦 When I was choosing the pictures for this post, I also belatedly realized that I didn't turn on the light on my sims' house, so everything is bit dark. Noob mistake, rusty aunty! I can't even use the "salt air and the rust on your door" lyrics because it's no longer August. Anyway, few days ago I randomly saw this Parisian Sweet Corner collab on Twitter. It acted as a catalyst that made me want to play Sims 4 again (I have been playing a lot of other games in the meantime). Nevertheless, it's been so long and in general I've been planning to write here again. Oh, and also! a happy news is I got my old tombler (https://misoplays.tumblr.com) back! I still haven't decide whether to just continue using 'imomisoplays', or should I come back to 'misoplays' again? Aaaanyway, this note is getting too long so let's just get into the real post. 😌

Stella is feeling a bit sweet tooth-y today, and with the new cookbook she inherited from a distant Granny, she decided to try baking some Parisian delicacies! Today's recipe is religieuse, a French dessert made by stacking a smaller choux bun on top of a larger choux bun, both filled with chocolate or mocha-flavored pastry cream (crème pâtissière in French) and topped with a ganache followed with piped buttercream icing. The name 'religieuse' itself translates to "nun" in English, as the top of the pastry is supposed resembles the nun's habit.

Today's religieuse recipe custom content recipe is made by @littlbowbub (you can download the recipe here). The recipe was a part of a collab between littlbowbub and SixamCC, two amazing CC creators in Sims 4, but I'm less a BuildBuy mode enjoyer than a cooking recipe enjoyer, so in the meantime I'm just covering littlbowbub's part of the collab. As usual, you would also need Grannies Cookbook installed in your mods folder for the recipe to show up in your game.

The ingredients are divided into three different parts of the recipe. The choux pastry (From this interesting article I found that choux pastry is not puff pastry) needs butter, plain flour and eggs. The crème pâtissière filling uses milk, vanilla seeds, egg yolk, sugar, plain flour and cornflour. Lastly, the ganache icing needs double cream and chocolate.

As the process of making choux pastry will be covered in another recipe, today Stella gets directly started with the pastry cream, also known as crème pâtissière in French. First, pour milk and vanilla seeds into a pan and gradually bring it into a boil.

Whisk together egg yolks and sugar until pale before adding plain flour and cornflour. Pour the vanilla-infused milk onto the eggs and pour back the mixture into the pan.

Bring the mixture back into a boil while whisking continuously over medium heat. Pour the crème pâtissière into a bowl, let it cool and transfer into the refrigerator to chill.

Stella takes out the batch of a ready-to-use batch of choux pastry from the refrigerator. Pipe round discs into the baking tray, use a damp finger to smooth over the top of each discs to prevent a pointy top.

Bake the choux buns in a temperature of 190C for 10-15 minutes, then remove from the oven to pierce each bun with a skewer to allow the steam to escape. Return the buns to the oven and bake again for 4-5 minutes to dry out. After removing from the oven for the second time, leave the choux buns on a rack to cool.

For the ganache icing, as this particular recipe is a chocolate ganache, Stella boils the double cream before adding chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted and shiny. Chill it on the refrigerator until the ganache has thickened into a spreadable consistency.

Finally, the assembling of a religieuse. Use a piping bag to fill the choux buns with crème pâtissière, then dip the filled buns into the chocolate ganache. Place the smaller choux bun on top of the bigger choux bun. Lastly, pipe a buttercream icing around the join where the smaller choux bun meets the bigger choux buns to form a collar, forming a ruffled collar that resembled the habit of nuns. The cherry on top -- is in fact not a cherry but another buttercream icing on this pastry -- is not mandatory on a regligieuse, but this recipe demands another buttercream puff on top of the smaller choux bun. And voilà! The religieuse is ready to enjoy!

Stella brought the finished pastry to her husband's study room for him to try it out too. As expected, another successful day for another yummy recipe today. 'Till next post, dag dag!

P.S. Bonjour means "good day" in French, a commonly used greetings. P.S.S. Detailed recipe for religieuse is taken from this article and this article.

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Yakitori

Ohayou, tombler!

With the snow starting to melt, Aria thought it's a good time to clean and use the outdoor grill. Today's menu is a simple grilled goods that came from Japan -- yakitori! The recipe is made by @oni28 (click here to download it). Please be aware that you would need to install Oni’s Recipe Pack Mod which is updated regularly on their Patreon page.

Yakitori refers to grilled chicken skewers, literally translating to 'grilled' ('yaki') and 'chicken' ('tori'). It's traditionally cooked over Japanese charcoal binchotan, but you can basically grill it on anything or even under the broiler oven.

There are two kinds of yakitori we're grilling with Aria today: traditional chicken and green onion skewer and mushroom skewer. The ray of sunlight projecting into the bamboo fence behind the grill is so nice.

For the sauce, Aria mixed soy sauce, mirin, sake, water, and brown sugar to a saucepan, then reduce it in low heat for about 30 minutes.

(I'm gonna sound weird but I took this picture more than seven months ago and the current-me is amazed of how big-brained past-me was when choosing this angle. So aesthetic?!)

Nanami Ito -- Kiyoshi's younger sister, came over to give new year's greetings. She now lives in Oasis Spring and has a twin toddler sons (which I think is very prophetic because it means that the Ito siblings Kiyoshi and Nanami both have twins). As for Nanami's husband... It's complicated, but kind of juicy if you ask for my personal opinion. But that's for another story!

Until then (pinky promise we're really moving on this time), dag dag!

P.S. Ohayou (おはよう) is a casual way to say "good morning" in Japanese. P.S.S. History and detailed cooking process of yakitori is taken from this article.

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Okonomiyaki

Hello, tombler!

Let me whip up two more dishes from Aria's kitchen while I'm still fueled up for Japanese cuisine. Today we're cooking okonomiyaki, often called the Japanese savory pancake. Personally I don't agree with okonomiyaki being described as a 'Japanese savory pancake' because for me, anything -cake is a sweet dish. But thinking about it again, I have a funny story about carrot cake (skip the following paragraph if you're not up for some story time lol).

Once upon a time, as I was hanging out with a friend, my friend told me she was craving for carrot cake. The kind of carrot cake that you most probably had in mind -- made from flour, egg, flour, sugar, baked in oven, topped with buttercream and maybe a scoop of ice cream. We were in a shopping mall, so I googled a restaurant/cafe that served carrot cake in that particular place. The result led us to a Chinese restaurant, and I admit we were bit dumb because we were both like "This establishment serves carrot cake (with an emphasis on cake)? Sweet!" It was only after we sat down and browsed the menu book that we realized the carrot cake they served was the Chinese yamcha variation -- the turnip cake a.k.a. luo bak guo. No, it doesn't even contain a carrot in it because "carrot cake" is a loose translation from the actual ingredient, turnip (or daikon in Japanese). Our jaws were on the floor; our hope crushed. We ended up ordering it still because the plot twist was hilarious. Had the actual sweet carrot cake the next time we met up, so it was a happy ending, at last 🥕🍰

Story time over!

The recipe is made by @oni28 (you can download it here). You would also need to install Oni’s Recipe Pack Mod which is updated regularly and you can scroll down their Patreon page a little to find it.

Okonomiyaki is a savory Japanese cabbage pancake filled with your choice of protein and tasty condiments and toppings. There are three key ingredients that truly gives okonomiyaki an authentic taste: nagaimo (Japanese long yam) for a fluffy, non-doughy okonomiyaki; tenkatsu (tempura scraps) for texture and depths; and dashi (Japanese soup stock).

Thinly cut the cabbage into strips, then wash and drain well to remove excess moisture that could potentially dilute the batter.

Mince your choice of protein. For today's okonomiyaki, Aria chose beef.

Combine the sliced cabbage and minced beef with a batter (regular all purpose flour and water will do). Check the consistency of the okonomiyaki batter and make sure the cabbage is fully coated. If the batter is too lose, you could thicken it by adding more flour.

On medium heat, heat some neutral oil. If you're a newbie (which Aria is definitely not), shape your batter smaller and thinner so it's easier to flip. Add some slices of meat on top of the okonomiyaki batter and flip when the bottom part is cooked. Flip again after a few minutes to cook the other side.

For the topping, spread some okonomiyaki sauce (Aria used a store-bought one, thank goodness for nearby konbini!), katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), aonori (dried green laver seaweed) and freshly-chopped green onions. Okonomiyaki is more on the simpler dish to make, a perfect late-night snack for Aria and Kiyoshi to much at!

Next dish would be yakitori, which also marks the last post from Aria and Kiyoshi's household for a while. She's already got the ingredients prepared, so 'til next post, dag dag!

P.S. Detailed okomiyaki recipe is taken from this article.

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Zaru Soba

Konbanwa, tombler!

It's New Year's Eve at the Ito household and one of Aria's daughter Stella Ito and her children is spending the holiday with their grandparents. In Japan, there's a tradition to enjoy soba, more specifically toshikoshi soba, on new year's eve. The tradition is practiced as soba noodles are easy to cut (symbolizing the hardship) and long and thin (symbolizing good luck and longevity). The recipe we're trying today is leaning more toward zaru soba, a type of soba served cold, but I hope it brings the same luck for the new year.

The recipe is made by @oni28 (you can download the recipe here). Oni's Recipe Pack Mod is also needed in order for the recipes to show up in your game, and as the mod is regularly updated, here's a link to their Patreon and you can scroll down a little to find the latest version of the mod.

The three generations of Ito ladies -- matron Aria with her daughter Stella (right), and her granddaughter Leia (left).

This comically large onion reminds me of Farfetch'd -- I hope someone out there would get this reference.

While the soba noodles boiled, Aria prepared the dipping sauce (tsuyu) by combine sake, soy sauce, mirin, konbu (dried kelp), and katsuobushi (shaved dried skipjack tuna). Bring the mixture into a boil and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. The soup and the noodles are to be served side by side.

The light and refereshing zaru soba is ready to serve! The word 'zaru' refers to the bamboo strainer used to strain the noodles during the Edo period.

New Year's Eve dinner at the grandparents' house went really well. Guess who got called out (affectionately) because he uses fork instead of chopsticks to eat soba? And if Soleil chose "learn to use chopstick" as his New Year's resolution, it's not as if we know the reason why, right? 🤭

I still have few Japanese recipes left for Aria to try, so until then, dag dag!

P.S. Konbanwa (こんばんは) means "good evening", a common greeting in Japanese. P.S.S. Detailed cooking process of soba is taken from this article, and history of eating soba during new year is taken from this Wikipedia page.

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Donkatsu Curry

Hello again, tombler!

Back again with our cozy Komorebi-go elders Aria and Kiyoshi Ito. 'Tis the season to be jolly! One of their grandchildren Leia is spending Christmas with them, making the whole ambiance merrier. Since none of them is not really in the mood to cook anything complex (wrapping presents and decorating the tree is a hard work, you know!), Aria asked Leia to buy a few pieces of pork cutlets from the konbini store nearby, and took out some curry roux to create today's dish: katsu curry. The recipe is made by @oni28 (click here to download the recipe).

Having some quality time together as Aria gathered the ingredients for the curry. The color scheme is not fully intentional -- I do prepared some winter clothes in warm color palette for the three of them, but I don't expect them to choose the very similar clothes at the same time 🤎

Since the Japanese curry mainly relies on instant curry blocks, the cooking process wasn't that complicated. Start by sautéing the onion until translucent and caramelized, then add minced garlic and grated ginger. Add water and the curry roux blocks and simmer until everything is cooked properly.

Isn't it just a perfect scenario to cook a comforting soul food with your loved ones in vicinity, waiting for the dish to be perfectly cooked?

So far there's not really much to say about Japanese curry. It's a simple, hearty bowl of goodness that will instantly warm you, ranging from a high-end restaurant one to a konbini microwave-able instant one. Pork cutlet isn't the most healthy thing at all either, because at the end of the day it's deep-fried. But there's something about Japanese curry, that even me -- a non-Japanese person, finds comfort on.

Since it's the holiday season (Imomiso's note: Please ignore that it is, in fact, the month of June), we'll see the big Ito family celebrate New Year soon. Until then, dag dag!

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Kake Udon

Hi there, tombler!

Following the last post -- to be honest, cooking over-the-top dishes like yesterday's lunch sets is a little bit of a hassle when you're only cooking for two person. Aria would prefer to cook simple, comforting, soupy dishes when it was just a regular day. Plus, with udon, she could refrigerate the leftover for days. The udon recipe we're cooking today is made by @oni28 (download here).

Remember when we're making rasta pasta with Vienna and I said she's challenging her inner tiktok trad wife for making pasta from scratch? Maybe it does run in the family because currently Aria is also making udon noodles from scratch.

While the history of udon is unclear, one theory claims that udon came from China in the 700s and became widely popular during the Edo era in the 1600s. There are many variants of udon: served both hot or cold, and with different kinds of toppings. Each region of Japan has their own specialty udon, like Kanto-style with strong soy sauce flavor, or Kansai-style with konbu dashi.

The broth is made by combining dashi (Japanese soup stock) with soy sauce, mirin, sugar and salt to taste. This version of udon -- kake udon, is inspiring because it celebrates simplicity.

The premise of a bowl of a comforting noodle soup is so irresistible that Aria didn't even sit down on the dining table to enjoy it. My girl was literally standing there in front of the kitchen counter, slurping her noodles one strand at a time.

This pot of udon lasts Aria and Kiyoshi three days to finish. See you when Aria actually needs to cook again, dag dag!

P.S. History and detailed recipe of udon are taken from this article and this article.

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Chicken Nanban and Grilled Salmon Sets

Konnichiwa, tombler!

Today we are visiting Sims 4's rendition to the country of the rising sun with its cuisine. I'll also be introducing some new characters:

Vienna and Stella's parents Aria River and Kiyoshi Ito!

Long story short, my sim Aria River is a bit older than Kiyoshi, given that he started off as a teenager in a new save file. Since she's older, Aria had actually passed away a while back but I resurrected her using ambrosia. Before her death, she was a Spin Doctor and a five-star celebrity married to the love of her life. Currently, she's all that except of the marriage part. The vows really do be sayin' 'till death do us apart', I guess.

Meanwhile, Kiyoshi Ito is what the Sims 4 made him, only big difference is I removed his High Maintenance trait and added Socially Awkward. Girl gotta do what she gotta do for a smooth, green flag family 🧘🏻. There's a minor plastic surgery here and there, but I think he still essentially looks the same? His favorite color is olive, which compliments nicely with Aria's favorite color, sage green.

I actually missed playing in their household because I haven't played for a while since both Vienna and Stella moved out and started their own families. Aria and Kiyoshi's house is a gorgeous, traditional Japanese house repurposed to add more luxury. Lately, Kiyoshi himself likes to embody the true Komorebi-go grandpa vibes to his grandchildren; wearing a yukata more often and suggest to eat Japanese food every time the family hold a gathering.

The recipe we're making with Aria today is Japanese dishes you'd often see in a Japanese shokudou (casual, home-made style restaurant) -- chicken nanban set and grilled salmon set. I merged the two dishes in one post because aside from the main protein, the side dishes on both sets are exactly the same. Both recipes are made by @oni28 (you can download the recipes here). You would also need to install Oni's Recipe Pack Mod which is updated regularly so I just link their Patreon and you can scroll down a little to find it.

Chicken nanban originates from the southern of Japan. The original meaning of "nanban" has a pejorative tone -- literal translation is "southern barbarian", but as time goes it becomes a term to denote something foreign and highly desirable. The main difference between regular karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and chicken nanban is the sweet and tangy nanban sauce which is inspired by Portuguese cuisine who came to Japan in the 1500s.

For the nanban sauce (nanbanbanzu in Japanese), combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, mirin, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer and continue until the sugar completely dissolved.

For the chicken, start by butterflying the protein (Aria used chicken breast). Coat with all-purpose flour and then dip them in egg wash. Deep-fry the chicken for four minutes, and it it rest before deep-frying for the second time for 30 seconds. Lastly, coat the fried chicken with the nanban sauce.

Side dishes of the sets including a bowl of rice, picked cucumber, miso soup (that's me!), and chawan mushi (steamed egg dish). As a Japanese household staple, Aria has the rice ready for consumption any time of the day. While the other side dishes are store-bought.

For the second set: grilled salmon set, season the salmon fillet with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Sprinkle the protein with all-purpose flour before pan-frying it over medium heat. Continue frying for roughly five minutes, and let it rest before topping the fish with teriyaki sauce.

Particularly love how the animation yoinked the salmon onto the plate.

Enjoying delicious food in quiet tranquility just the two of them.

A change of kitchen environment after seeing Vienna's monochromatic kitchen for the last few posts. 'Till next post. Dag dag!

P.S. Konnichiwa (こんにちは) means "good day", a common greeting in Japanese. P.S.S. Recipe details for chicken nanban is taken from this article, while details for grillen salmon is taken from this article. P.S.S.S. Another recipe also inspired by the Portuguese influnce, India's Goan prawn curry, can be viewed here.

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Rose and Pista Barfi

Hello, tombler!

It got a little bit boring just cooking main dishes, so today I'm jumping to the dessert train. Barfi (or burfi) is a milk-based sweets with a fudge-like consistency. The name comes from the Persian and Urdu word 'barf' meaning 'snow'. The dessert originated in Persia and was introduced to India in the 16th century, and is now consumed throughout India and Pakistan; often served at religious festivals such as Diwali and Holi.

Two variants of barfi we are making today are pista barfi and rose barfi, which features pistachio and rose water as its main ingredient, respectively. I'd like to imagine Vienna making one big batch of khoa and sugar mixture, and dividing half to be mixed with pistachio and half other with rose water. The recipes are made by @robinksimblr in two different Diwali sweets pack: pista barfi can be downloaded from here, and rose barfi can be downloaded from here. Now, shall we start?

First, we combine sugar, milk, and butter (or ghee -- clarified butter) in a low heat pan, then boil for about one minute. Add milk powder and keep stirring until there are no lumps.

After the batter reached a homogeneous and thick consistency, divide it into two equal parts for each variant of the barfis. For the pista barfi part, Vienna added pistachio cream and ground pistachio. For the rose barfi part, add cardamom and rose water. Transfer the mixture into a heat-resistant glassware or tray, and refrigerate for a bit before cutting the barfi into squares.

Today's tasters are the cousins Frejr and Soleil! Soleil is Vienna's twin sister's son who lately often comes to Vienna's home to hang out with Frejr. Sol wouldn't elaborate further, but I believe he's lonely because his big sister is a teenager now (and that's an entirely different and foreign species for Soleil, I guess).

The pista barfi's double creaminess comes from the pistachio cream and milk powder. It's a delightful piece of dessert with rich nutty flavor and fudgy texture.

Meanwhile, the rose barfi has a distinct floral aroma. The dried rose petals add a layer of texture of slight sweet and savory to the barfi. It's a soft, mouthwatering, and decadent sweets.

From a further reading, I also learnt that Diwali is a festival of light, so I put a tiny candle beside the barfis. See you on the next post, dag dag!

P.S. History and cooking instruction of barfi are taken from this article, this article, and this Wiki page.

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Sag Aloo

Sat sri akaal, tombler!

The recipe we're cooking today is saag aloo, a simple dish that comes from the Northen part of India. 'Saag' refers to leafy green vegetable like mustard greens, spinach, collard greens, or basella, which is then cooked into a dish called -- you guessed it, saag. This is the dal as an ingredient and dal as a dish all over again. Meanwhile, 'aloo' is potato. This dish is popular not only in India, but also in Pakistan.

Today's saag aloo custom content recipe is made by robinksimblr (you can download the recipe here). Please be aware that you would also need to download Robin's Food Enabler for the recipe to show up in your game.

Vienna starts by prepping the ingredients for the dish: potato, tomato, onion, and baby spinach.

Toast cumin seeds until it begins to sizzle, then add the onion, potatoes, ginger, garlic and green chilies. Sauté until it becomes aromatic. Stir in the masala, and cook on a medium heat until the potatoes are tender but not overly mushy. Add more water and let it cook for about 8-10minutes. While the potatoes cook, puree the tomatoes and roughly chop the greens.

Add the tomatoes and cook on high heat until the tomato mixture changed color. At this stage, let your potatoes break down and turn mushy. Mix in the baby spinach and let it wilt. For a more authentic taste, add one tablespoon of ghee and squeeze the lemon juice.

Served with wholegrain roti, Vienna loved this dish (look at her face!). She kept making the smelling-a-good-aroma animation while finishing the food.

Frejr, Vienna's son, also tried the dish, but given that he just lost one of his baby teeth, understandably he wasn't as hyped as his mother. What a sulky, little gloomy baby.

P.S. Sat sri akaal (ਸਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ) means "hello" in Punjabi. P.S.S. Detailed recipe for saag aloo is derived from this article, this article, and this wiki page.