Stress, Bake, Sleep, Repeat

I bake away my responsibilities

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Galaxy Donuts

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Apple Gallete

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Lemon Cheesecake with Blueberry Compote

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

2 cups Graham Crackers, pulsed into crumbs

1/3 cup Granulated Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt

6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted

For the Lemon Cheesecake Filling:

3 (8 ounce) packages Full-Fat Cream Cheese, very soft

1 cup Full-Fat Sour Cream, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups Granulated Sugar

2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

3 large Eggs + 2 Egg Yolks, at room temperature

2 tablespoons All-purpose Flour

3 small lemons worth of  lemon juice

2 small Fresh Lemon Zest

Blueberry compote*

blueberries

water

sugar

lemon juice

Steps

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F).

For the Crust, put graham crackers into a Ziploc bag. Use a rolling pin to crush the crackers into crumbs. In a bowl, add sugar and salt, and mix them until well.  Add melted butter; stir well to combine. Press down into cupcake linings.

For the Lemon Cheesecake Filling:

Mix the softened cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla until smooth. Then add in the eggs and yolks; beat until smooth. Sift in the flour, mixing just until combined.

Add in the lemon juice and zest, and mix until they are incorporated

Pour filling into prepared crust, and spread the top smooth. If you would like, you can place some blueberries on the top**

Place the muffin pan into another large pan (it should be wide enough to comfortably fit the springform pan holding the cheesecake and deep enough to hold a few inches of water without risk of a spill)***. Fill the pan up with very hot water; it should rise half way along the cheesecake pan. 

Place pan into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Leave in the oven (after your turn it off) for about 10 minutes

Remove the cheesecake from the oven, and let it cool****

When cool, drizzle the compote on the top

Source: Baker by Nature

Note

*I didn’t follow a strict recipe for the compote. I just added based on what I wanted. My compote came out quite liquid-y. However, it was a little sweet for me so I decided to just let it be. If not sure what to do with the compote, make sure to look up a recipe online

**I tried some where I put the blueberries in before bake and some where I just put the blueberries on the top after the cheesecake is cooled. I don’t think they tasted any different. The only difference I noticed was if I put it in before baked, the blueberries would be embedded in the cheesecake rather than just resting on top. Personal choice

***Water bath will help to make sure your cheesecake doesn’t crack when it comes out. It is essential when you are making a whole cheesecake. Since I made cupcake, I don’t think cracking would be a problem. I had a water bath just in case. But if you are lazy (which is me most of the time), I am sure you can skip it

*** I put the tray into the freezer (because I am also very impatient) and they were fine. But i think if you let it refrigerate for a couple hours would be ideal!

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Matcha Cake with Black Sesame Cream Cheese Frosting

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Lemon Cake with Lavender Frosting

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Key Lime Pie for Pi(e) Day

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Cinnamon Rolls

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Bake Churros

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Earl Grey Cream Puff

Ingredients

1 cup water

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 to 4 eggs, plus 1 egg for egg wash

1 tbsp flour

1 tbsp cornflour

4 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg(or 2 yolks)

200 ml milk

To make the cream puffs:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F

In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt, and granulated sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.

When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds to evaporate some of the moisture

Wait until the mixture is lukewarm (use the back of your hand to feel it), add the egg one at a time to the mixture

Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add the remaining egg and mix until incorporated

Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe the dough onto the baking sheet, in 2-inch diameter rounds or balls. Whisk the remaining egg with 1 1/2 teaspoons water

Brush the surface of the rounds with the egg wash to give it a nice shiny look

Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake until puffed up, and light golden brown, about 20 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Let cool on the baking sheet.

To make the pastry cream

Heat the milk and the tea bags into a saucepan. Bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk the egg/egg yolks and sugar until it turns pale yellow. Add vanilla extract and the sifted flour and cornflour into the egg mixture. Mix until it's all combined

Once the milk is boiling, take out the teabags (save it!) and pour the milk into the egg mixture slowly while whisking it to prevent the egg from scrambling

Run the milk mixture through a sift back into the saucepan

Cut open the tea back and add the tea leaves back into the mixture, and cook the mixture until it thickens and until bubbles coming out to the surface of the pastry cream

Take it off the heat and pour it into a bowl and stir in the butter

Cover the pastry cream with cling wrap. Make sure the cling wrap is touching the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin forming on the surface of the pastry cream

Store it in the refrigerator overnight so you want to make the pastry cream the day before

If you have to fill the pastry later... store the choux in air tight container and bake it in 300F for 5-8 min. Wait until it is completely cooled down before filling

Notes

The time to add the egg is very important, make sure the dough temperature is not too hot (or too cold) when adding it

I didn’t have cornflour so I substituted with normal flour (adding 3 flour total), the cream tasted good, but had some clumps. Still not 100% sure what went wrong (shall try again!)

Source: Food Network & SORTEDfood

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Mini Lemon Tart

Crust

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup powdered sugar (or ¼ cup granulated sugar)

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup cold butter, cut into small cubes

1 large egg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract, optional

Curd

¼ cup raw honey

¼ cup coconut oil

Zest and juice of 2 lemons (about ½ cup)

Direction

Process flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor for a few seconds until combined. If you don’t have a food processor, you can do this by using a pastry cutter. Add butter and pulse until mixture becomes crumbly and resembles coarse meal, about 15 pulses. Add egg and vanilla extract and keep pulsing until the dough is no longer dry and starts to clump together, about 10-15 seconds. Do not process to the point that a large ball of dough is formed; rather the dough should be quite crumbly with large clumps. Another way to check if it’s done is to take a piece of dough and press it between your thumbs – the dough should stick without feeling dry or crumbly.

Turn dough to a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. It should come together easily without being sticky. Flatten ball slightly with your hands to form a thick disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

If you don’t want to use the dough right away, you can refrigerate it for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to a month and then thaw overnight in the fridge.

To roll out the dough: Take dough out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften slightly for easy rolling. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into an 11-inch circle, then place gently into a 9-inch tart pan (preferably with a removable bottom); you can do this by flouring a rolling pan and rolling the dough loosely around it, then unrolling it into the pan. Brush away any excess flour on the surface. With a sharp knife, trim the edges of the pastry to fit the tart pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until firm, about 30 minutes. Frozen dough is less prone to shrinking while baking.

To bake the crust: Preheat oven to 375F/190C and place rack in the center.

Bake crust for 15 minutes, or until the edge to be golden brown

in a medium saucepan, whisk the eggs and honey until smooth. Set the pan over medium-low heat. Add the coconut oil. Cook, whisking occasionally, until the oil is melted, about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and zest and continue cooking, whisking gently, until the mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat immediately and continue whisking to avoid any clumps. Strain the mixture.

Transfer the curd to the cooked tart crust and smooth in an even layer with your spatula. Allow to cool so the filling sets and serve at room temperature. Can add whipped cream if you desired

Afterthought

The crust was too thick, could make it thinner (and actually use a knife to smoothen the crust out so the crust doesn’t look too horrendous after I baked it)

the curd was really good! Will definitely try this filling again 

Source: Feed Me Phoebe & Pretty. Simple. Sweet

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Chocolate Crinkles

(This is honestly super easy and quick :D Can crank it out even on a weekday!)

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanila extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup confectioners/ powder sugar

Direction

In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into one inch balls. I like to use a number 50 size scoop. Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Source: Allrecipes

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Honey Lavender Scones

Ingredients (makes 16 mini scones, or 8 normal scones):

2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons (63g) honey

1½ teaspoons dried lavender

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup (112g) solid coconut oil

⅔ cup (151g)  7on-fatimil plain Greek yogurt

¼ cup (60g) milk

Honey glaze

¼ cup (50g) powdered sugar

2 tablespoons (42g) honey

Milk

Direction

Scones

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, lavender, leaveners, and salt.

Add the coconut oil, honey, Greek yogurt, and milk and stir until a craggy dough forms. Using your hands, press the dough together until it holds a ball shape. If making mini scones, divide into two even balls.

Turn the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet and press it into a 1-inch thick disc. Cut the disc into 8 wedges and space the wedges 1-2 inches apart.

Bake at 400 F for 12-14 minutes until fluffy and golden brown. Cool on a wire rack

Glaze

Whisk together the ingredients, adding milk/cream and more if needed to reach your desired consistency (would start with 1 teaspoon at a time). Drizzle over cooled scones and serve

For next time

Watch for clumps of coconut oil, but make sure you leave it solid

Original recipe used 1 tablespoon of milk for glaze, and my glaze turned out to be quite running. Would start with less to ensure the glaze consistency is a little be thicker

(There was no butter in this recipe! Somewhat healthy?)

Source: Purposeful Life

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Matcha Black Sesame Cheesecake

Ingredients (8-inch cake)

Hazelnut Shortbread Crust

2/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Cheesecake

2 packages of 8-ounce cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature

4 tablespoons matcha powder

1/3 cup black sesame powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line the pan

Make the crust by mixing all the crust ingredients in a food processor, until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Press the mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake crust for 15 to 18 minutes. Set aside to cool. Turn down oven temperature to 300F.

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract until combined.

Add eggs, one at a time. Blend for another 2 minutes until well combined.

Divide batter into two equal portions. Add 2 tablespoons of matcha powder to one, and add black sesame powder to the other one. Mix until well combined.

Pour the black sesame filling in the prepare pan. Dollop matcha filling on top with a big spoon. Use a knife to swirl the mixture together.

Position a rack in the centre of oven and place cheesecake on it. Place a shallow pan full of water on the lower rack in the oven.

Bake for an hour, or until the edge of the cheesecake is puffed but the centre is still wobbly and wet looking.

Turn off the oven with the door slightly opened, let the cheesecake sit in the oven to cool completely, at least an hour.

Remove from the oven. Chill for overnight.

Sprinkle the remaining matcha powder on top of the cake before serving

For next time:

The mixture was not 100% well mixed, could see the clumps (not sure if it is butter or cream cheese…) need to mix well next time!

Could not really taste the black sesame, may want to add more powder

Had a hard time cutting the cheesecake (which was what made the edges not very clean :c ), maybe freezing it next time before cutting will help!

Did not put the water in the oven, not sure how it changed in comparison

Source: Oh Sweet Day!