Recent Updates

Recently, I have done several attempts on the famous mille crepes cake. I did chocolate flavoured for both attempts. However, the difference is one with durian and another with kiwi. I'm too lazy to blog in detailed because I-am-busy.

with what?

• Spellbinder Season 2 marathon on the freaking lagged Youtube
• Freelancer job 
• Piano music composing 
• Next-cooking-recipe 
• Miserable over my recent hair-do 

I've done several things lately but I just don't have the time to update my blog. I think I'm going to include an overall summary of what I've done for this loooong semester break. 

ATTEMPT 1: Durian-Chocolate Crepes Cake 

I took this recipe from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaU0THL6bQ8
I've done some modification to it due to the fact that it tastes like.. TASTELESS.
I am not a high sugar lover but seriously, this recipe asks for too little sugar.
The cake is near to tasteless.

The Recipe: 
Crepes:2 eggs
400ml whole milk
2 tbsp sugar (add more if you like it sweeter)
20g butter
150g cake flour
10g cocoa powder
10g black cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder

Cream:1 egg yolk
20g sugar (add more if you like it sweeter)
10g corn starch
130ml whole milk
50g chocolate

200g whipping cream
20g sugar


Crepes:Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in the milk and sugar (microwaved until sugar melt) and butter (melted) until combined. Add the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Filter them with gauze or others. Cover and refrigerate batter for 30 minutes.

Heat a pan over low heat for about 1 minute. Cover the surface of the pan with oil or butter. Ladle some batter onto the middle of the pan and immediately start swirling the pan to distribute the batter over the surface. Cook for 45 to 60 seconds. Flip over and cook the other side for 20 seconds. Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining batter. About 15 to 20 times. 

Cream:Whisk the egg york, sugar and corn starch. Add milk in three steps. Microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk and microwave again for 1 minute(500W). Whisk and add chocolate.(chocolate custard)
Whip cream and sugar, and combine whipped cream and chocolate custard.

To assemble:Put the biggest 1 crepe in a small bowl, spread 2 tbsp cream on crepe. 
Repeat with remaining crepes and cream, ending with the crepe. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Serve cold. 
If you are patient enough, please try to decorate with red colored crepes!

Modifications Done By Me: 

• I followed the recipe exactly, thus I have to sweeten the cake by adding melted dark chocolate and Nutella hazelnut. 
• I add in durian in between some crepes. 

Review:

I did wrong a few things in this recipe. 

1. I am inexperienced in beating whip cream. Thus, I over beaten it and it turned into butter. I checked on the Internet to look for solutions. To create a perfect whip cream, you have to put your utensils (bowl and possibly the whisk) into the fridge to chill before you whip. It is best to put everything in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to let everything really chill before you begin. This is very important because I wasted 200 ml of whipping cream just because I do not know about this. Also, to ensure that it really works the second time, I prepared ice and cold water. Basically, you just fill up a bigger container with cold water and ice - then put in the bowl you want to whisk your cream in. This way, the temperature can stay low for a longer time. It is also very important to put your whipping cream in the fridge to make sure it is really chill. Take it out only when you want to start whipping. 
2. The crepes that I made are a little thick. However, trust me, the crepes made by many people in the videos are even thicker than mine. After trying twice, I notice that it is near impossible to create crepes that taste like the ones sold outside if you are using normal recipes shown online. = / The look of the crepes cake may deceive people that it might taste the same way - but actually no it doesn't. I've tried twice and this is my conclusion. The second attempt crepes were made much thinner but to no avail, they still do not taste like the ones sold in the bakery.
3. The combination of chocolate and durian are simply amazing! The durian helps to sweeten the cake. It simply gives a very unique flavour to the cake which makes it better than the second attempt. 

ATTEMPT 2: Kiwi-Chocolate Crepes Cake 

I took this recipe from http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/14393/chocolate+crepe+cake

I've done some modifications to this recipe too. 

The Recipe: 
Crepes:
1 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour
1 tbs castor sugar 
3 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks (initial recipe asks for 3 egg yolks) 
600 ml milk 
40g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra melted butter to brush
Pure(thin) cream, to serve

Chocolate & Espresso Filing 
250g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped 
100ml thickened cream
100ml strong black coffee (espresso)
1/4 cup (55g) castor sugar 

Steps: 

1. Mix flour, sugar, eggs, yolks and milk in a blender or food processor until smooth, then pour into a jug and stand for 30 minutes. Just before cooking, stir 40g melted butter (2 tbs) through the batter.
2. Heat an 18cm crepe pan or non-stick frypan over medium-high heat. Brush with extra melted butter, add enough batter to coat base, swirl to cover, then tip out any excess. Cook for 45 seconds, then flip and cook for 30 seconds more or until golden. Repeat with butter and remaining batter (you should have about 20 crepes), stacking with baking paper in between. The crepes can be made 2 days ahead, then wrapped in foil and refrigerated, or frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, defrost at room temperature for 1 hour.
3. For the filling, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (ensure bowl doesn't touch water). Stir in butter, milk, cream, coffee and sugar, then whisk until mixture is smooth and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 20-30 minutes until mixture cools and thickens.
4. Lightly grease an 18cm springform pan. Reserve 1/3 cup of filling for later. Place a crepe in pan and spread with a little filling. Continue layering, finishing with a crepe.  Cover cake with foil and chill for 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 180°C.
6. Place cake pan on a baking tray and heat gently for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, reheat remaining filling in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water for 2-3 minutes until warm. Serve cake drizzled with filling and pure cream.

Modifications Done By Me: 

• I reduced the number of egg yolks used in this recipe - from 3 to 2. I think it's a little too crazy to eat so many egg yolks. You can follow the initial recipe if you want to. 
• I didn't use espresso because I don't have one. I used 3-in-1 coffee instead. I thought it'd taste sweeter - but guess what? It's still a little tasteless. 
• I tried to follow the recipe very closely - however, my cream failed again. This time, it is not because of the whipping cream. Do take note that you need to watch out the ingredients and amount for cream in this recipe. It is a little inaccurate because mine turns out looking funny. I have to beat more whip cream and this means, this cake turns very fattening because a lot of whip cream is used. 
• I used cocoa powder because I don't have enough dark chocolate. I thought maybe cocoa powder could help my cake to taste more chocolate - It is a wrong move though. Don't follow. 
• I used whip cream to cover my cake. I don't have extra chocolate left. Then, I sprinkle some coffee powder - it doesn't help much. The cake isn't sweeten. This recipe is again, not sweet enough. I don't know why. 

Review:

1. This is a super large cake compared to my first attempt. It isn't suitable for sweet tooth lover unless you know how much more sugar to add on your own. 
2. I made the crepes very much thinner this time. However, they are still not as soft and creamy like the ones sold in the bakery. 
3. The top "ganache" that you see is actually melted Nutella. I am running out of chocolate at home.
4. I used kiwi in between some layers of the crepes. Wrong move. Kiwi is sour. It makes my cake tastes bad - I saw some people used kiwi. I thought it is appropriate. Seriously, no it isn't. Durian is a very much better choice. 

The Normal Stuff That I Cooked  

Fish balls, egg slices and sausage with my special Chili sauce. 

Home made spaghetti with cream sauce - I made the sauce myself.  

Egg tarts that I made the other day - 

Cheese wedges with Italian spices. 

Dumplings and noodle soup. A cup of chill mocha beside.

Fried dumplings and seaweed spring rolls. 

Steamboat At Home 

Recently, my family has been in loved with steamboat. The multi purpose cooker is an exchange from Bonuslink points. I have to top up additional RM 58 for the points accumulated are not enough. It is worth the money because it's working really good so far. The brand is called Cornell or something - 

Geometrical Nail Art Attempt 

This doesn't look good I know. I was exhausted after working the whole day - thought of doing some manicure and ta-dah - I wasn't patient. I put over the second colour very quickly after the first colour. 

New Hair Colour

Tried very hard to apply fake eyelashes. 

It's hard - 

Not a very successful make-up though. 

I like the going-in hair at the end.