Lavender Raisin Scone

Tags

lavender flower, scone

I took a long break from all the CNY baking. And after a recent type to Hong Kong where I bought a few types of dried flowers (i love love flower teas), I was inspired to bake something with the flowers I bought. The easiest to work with, I guess would be lavender. And it had been ages since I had any homemade scones, I added some lavender to the recipe, and we got this.

Adapted this method of rubbing dried lavenders into the sugar to infuse in the fragrance of lavender.

Recipe (adapted from Wool, Whisk, Words)

8 oz self raising flour (i used plain flour + baking powder)
2 oz butter (i used cold and slightly hard ones)
2 oz sugar (rub in with 1tsp lavender flower, if using lavender)
2 oz raisin
1 egg
4 tbsp milk
pinch of salt

Method
1. Preheat oven 200degree C
2. Rub flour, salt, butter together
3. Add sugar and raisin and mix till combined
4. Beat egg and millk together and add into the flour mixture to form dough
5. Roll out to 1.5cm or 2cm thick and cut using desired mould
6. Milk wash/ sprinkler some lavender if desired

Bake 200degree C, 12mins, till brownish at top (i baked slightly more than 15mins)

Note: i read somewhere that to keep the scone top from drying out, can milk wash the top before baking

I enjoyed making this little hearts because there’s no need for the mixer machine! Quite an easy dough to handle and a breeze to make.

When the scone is ready, it emits a very nice scent of lavender from the oven. Such calming effect. I fell in love with the lavender scent over and over again. The raisin gave the scone an additional texture and sweetness. There’s no need for jam nor butter for this.

My mum was requesting for more after having one. And my 2yo nephew had two! Me myself had two at a go too. This is how good this scone is. Slightly crunchy on the outside and moist in the inside. How not to love?
Will I bake this again? Definitely! Good for breakfast, good for tea!

Maybe jasmine next time? Additional of cheese? A very versatile recipe.

Pineapple Tart II 凤梨酥/黄梨酥

Tags

homemade pineapple tarts

 

After my attempt at Pineapple Tart I (close version), I tried my hands on the open version one and I feel so proud of myself! Besides the fact of not preparing the pineapple jam myself, I did everything else! *besides washing*

Don’t they look good enough to be sold?

I bought the pastry cutter from Phoon Huat last year and it was good! It gave a very clean cut and very nice design. For this open version, I used Bake King’s pineapple jam which is low in sugar, hence, not so sweet. A malay auntie told me to cook the store-bought jam with a bit of butter to soften the pineapple jam and make it more moist and soft. So I followed suit.

Recipe (adapted from Little Teochew)

400g plain flour
50g cornflour
1/4 (heaped) tsp salt (i omit)
280g cold, unsalted butter (i used 250g)
3 egg yolks, beated
3 tbsp cold water (i did not use, as the dough was wet enough)
6 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (i omit)
Egg wash, 1 egg yolk + 1tbsp water (can add a bit bit coloring as not very golden)

Method
1. Sift flours, icing sugar and salt (if using). Mix well to combine
2. Cut cold butter into small pieces and rub into the flour using finger tips (original use fork)
3. Add liquids slowly into the butter and flour mixture to form dough. (Do not knead)
4. Chill in the fridge for about 10mins, covered.
5. Rolled out to desired thickness and cut out using cutter.
6. Top with ball of pineapple jam (mine is around 10g each), press in slightly.
7. Egg wash pastry portion

Bake 160degree C for 20mins, do not overbake or the pineapple jam will be dry

This recipe is really melt-in-the-mouth pastry base. I did 1 serving with Lurpak and 1 with Planta. Both are good, but the Lurpak gave a more buttery taste (something extra). All who tried agrees. Something to improve on is the pineapple jam. It’s a tad dry. Maybe I should have spray more water before baking or dip them slightly in water as suggested by one of the blog I read.

Nonetheless, they look very presentable! Ended my CNY bake with this pretty little things that everyone love. I’m so proud of myself. If time permits, I would love to bake this every year!

This year i did not do things the traditional way, but then again, i appreciated the manual work that goes behind every single pineapple tart.

they are a pretty to look at
a part of CNY
a taste of our culture

Cornflake Cookie

I bought a big packet of cornflakes for CNY baking this year. Honey Joys was not very well received, so I decided to bake Cornflake Cookies with the leftover cornflakes. And indeed, it was a very good choice.

Recipe (adapted from Sugar & Everything Nice)

85g sugar
113g unsalted butter
141g self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (i omit)
2 cups lightly crushed cornflakes (i used around 5 cups for 2x recipe)

Method
1. Beat sugar and butter till light in color
2. Add in egg
3. Add in flour in one go, mix till dough
4. Shape into small balls and coat with crushed cornflakes

Bake 170 degree C, 15 – 18min (i did mine till golden brown)

I had trays and trays of very crunchy cookie which I can’t stop eating. Luckily there’s only a few leftover after packing most of them into containers to ‘rest’ till CNY.

Now I wonder why do I not bake this during non-CNY period. It’s so irresistible.

Crispy Coconut Cookie 椰丝脆饼

Generally I love most of the bakes with coconut. Though dessicated, the fragrance of coconut is always there. Even so after baking. Chance upon this recipe from the Nasi Lemak Lover’s CNY event post, and decided to give it a try. And happen to receive a new cookie cutter from a friend.

I did two servings of recipe at a go and it was a pleasure baking this. Not only is the cutter an eye candy, the dough is easy to handle.

Recipe (adapted from Butter, Flour & Me)

125g butter (i used unsalted, so added in 1/4 tsp salt)
100g icing sugar
1 egg
220g self raising flour (i use 220g plain flour + 1.5 tsp baking powder)
75g dessicated coconut

Method
1. Cream butter and sugar till pale
2. Add in egg slowly, mix well
3. Add in flour + dessicated coconut, till dough and mix well

Bake 170 degree C, 15 – 18min or golden brown (i baked 20min)

Simple right?

And it’s really crispy. I’m not sure I love the cookie cutter more or the cookie more because I had always wanted this cutter and it was brought all the way from China. And I love how I can bite the cookie according to the ‘portion’. So it was both fun for me to bake and fun for me to snack on thereafter.

CNY or not, this is a classic cookie to have.

Almond Cookie

CNY is definitely around the corner when I bake this almond cookie.  Ever since the first time we tried this recipe, every year, trays and trays of almond cookies will be going in and coming out from the oven. There’s even a year that I bake nothing but only this.

Recipe (given by mum’s friend)

160g ground almond powder
600g plain flour (sieve)
200g icing sugar (sieve)
380g vegetable oil (i use slightly less than this)

1 egg for egg wash

Method

1. Mix everything together to form dough (yes, it’s that easy!!)
2. Preheat oven 180degree C, 15 to 20min
3. Egg wash the almond balls before baking

Note: i normally add half of the oil and stir before using the mixer and add the remaining oil slowly. once the dough is form, i stop adding.

The only tedious part about this is forming each individual balls by hand. But this is really a pleasure to have. You can’t stop pop-ing them into your mouth. The texture is in between melt-in-you-mouth and crunchy. And that fragrance of almond. Nice! Mr Boyfriend’s favorite, so this is definitely worth trying.

Beside Pineapple Tart, this is another must-have for my CNY.

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover.