Homemade Nutella

Please visit http://www.cakeiteasyagain.com/homemade-nutella/ for this recipe.

Nutella Crepes

   

Yields 8 crepes:

(Crepes)
100 g flour
40 g sugar
2 pinches of salt
2 (100 g) eggs
250 g milk
20 g butter, melted

(Fillings)
Nutella
12 - 16 strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries

See the methods here.

Apple Streusel Muffins

We had our special best friend's daughter's 3rd birthday celebration the other day and I had to bake this fluffy, nice apple streusel muffins for her. To be born in Japan, a perfect birthday cake would be a strawberry sponge cake with a lot of vanilla whipped cream all around but our date was the day after her actual birthday when she mentioned she would have a big birthday cake at home so I wanted to avoid the same cake. I thought any girls or kids would usually love apples and vanilla flavor and strawberries as garnish would make her smile.......and indeed I did see her biggest smiles on her face (successfully!) trying to wrap her arms all around the muffins:-) Love and Happy Birthday to her and her family💕

Adjusted a recipe from Akiko Hirano's Muffins, Scones, Biscuits.

Serves 12 muffins:
(Wet ingredients)
120 g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
240 g granulated sugar
4 eggs
2tsp vanilla extract

(Liquid ingredients)
120 ml whole milk
120 g plain, unsweetened yogurt
100 ml vegetable oil (I use grapeseed oil)

(Dry ingredients)
340 g flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

(Stuffing)
3/4 - 1 apples, diced (I use Fuji apples and chop into large dices to leave the crunchiness after baking)

(Streusel)
60 g flour
45 g granulated sugar
15 g brown sugar
1.5/4 tsp cinnamon powder
30 g walnuts, roasted and chopped (I use macadamia nuts)
15 g oatmeal (I use instant quick oatmeal)
30 g butter, soften at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven at 350 F.
2. Take eggs and butter out of the fridge and keep them at a room temperature.
3. Prepare streusel by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl until crumbly (butter will be lumpy in the crumbs so make sure to use room temperature butter).
4. Prepare the dry and liquid ingredients in each separate bowl.
5. Combine the wet ingredient in a medium sized bowl by creaming butter and sugar until fluffy, mixing in eggs and vanilla extract by hand or stand mixer.
6. Combining the first half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients while mixing in half the liquid ingredients. Combine the other half of dry and liquid into the wet ingredients again until you see no flour in the batter. I use a hand mixer to incorporate all the ingredients quickly for just about 3 - 5 seconds and then switch to a spatula. Don't over mix!
7. Stir in apple chunks into the batter quickly.
8. Bake in the upper middle rack oven at 350 for 12 - 15 minutes.

Japaense Souffle Cheeseckae

This is my best favorite cheesecake in the world. Moderately rich but very light and moist.  Apparently, this cheesecake was originally created in Japan. Thanks to Rumi Kojima's recipe, we could satisfy our craving for this cake at home. It just took longer to bake it in the oven (about 45 - 50 minutes to brown the surface and 45 - 60 minutes to let it stay in the oven that has been turned off) more than it was instructed but the final result was just divine.To my surprise, this cake does not contain flour or baking powder but just a little corn starch, cream cheese mixture, custard and meringue. What a guiltless desert!

                                                                                                            

This is approved by our little man who says "oishii!"

Here is the adjusted (simplified) recipe from Rumi's book:

(A - Meringue)
Egg white from 3 large eggs
55 g sugar

(B - Cream cheese mixture)
300 g cream cheese, room temprature
45 g butter, unsalted

(C - Egg custard)
20 g granulated sugar
Egg yolk from 3 large eggs
11 g corn starch
150 g milk

1. Put baking paper in a cake pan, all around and at the bottom.
2. Separate egg white and yolk and chill the egg white in the freezer.
3. Melt butter and mix well with cream cheese (B).
4. Mix sugar, egg yolk and corn starch (sifted) in a bowl and pour in hot milk (microwaved 40 - 50 seconds) to mix all quickly and pour it into a double boiler.
5. In a low-medium heat, heat the custard until it thickens a little bit (don't over heat! (C)).
6. While the custard is warm, pour into the cream cheese mixture to mix all well (B & C) 
7. (normally, I preheat the oven at this time to 340 F)
8. Take out the egg white from the freezer and whip it by gradually adding sugar in 3 steps (A).
9. Fold the meringue (A) into the cream cheese and custard mixture (B&C) and beat by spatula about 65 - 70 times.
10. Pour the batter into the cake pan and place it in baking paper on the baking tray.
11. Pour in the hot water into the baking tray until 1/2 inches high.
12. Bake about 45 minutes at 340 F and turn it off to let the cake stay and continue to bake for       another 45 - 60 minutes.
13. After baking, chill the cake in the fridge right away. Don't try to take the cake out of the pan     until the cake completely cools and chills in the fridge.

Plain Great Biscuits

Makes 14 - 16 biscuits

(Wet ingredients)
255 grams butter
225 ml milk
*Some bread flour for folding the dough

(Dry ingredients)
540 grams flour
3 tsp baking powder
3 tbs granulated sugar
1.5/4 tsp salt

1. Cut butter into small cubes and put them in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
2. Sift all dry ingredients into a bowl and transfer 2/3 of it into the processor.
3. Add in chilled butter into the processor and pulse just about 7- 10 times.
4. Add in the remaining dry ingredients and pulse about 10 - 13 times. Important to see more like a flour mixture before becoming like crumbs, so don't over mix!
5. Transfer it into a bowl and add in milk and mix with a large fork quickly until it becomes a big lump.
6. Using a rolling pin, shape a rectangular shape and fold the dough in half. Repeat this four times and cut it with a cookie cutter. For the second batch, don't roll it into a ball! Keep folding to make a rectangular shape and fold in half and cut it with a cookie cutter.
7. Place biscuits next to each other, attached on a baking pan and bake about 13 minutes at 390 - 400 degrees.

Tips:

1. When pulsing butter and dry (flour etc.), pulse 2/3 of flour and frozen butter about 7 - 10 times. Add in the remaining flour and pulse 10 - 13 times. Should be more flour before soboro.
2. Lay the biscuit next to each other, attached place some mold next to the last one.
3. When shaping the second and third dough, don't roll it to make a ball! Keep folding in half to shape it.

Eringi and Zucchini Quiche

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Pie Crust:

• I love the following pie recipe from "serious eats" the best so far. The method was a little adjusted for my preference. 
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• 2 1/2 cups (12.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 1/2 sticks (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pats

1. Dice butter and chill it in the freezer.
2. Put 1 1/2 cup flour, sugar, salt in the processor.
3. Add in the butter in the processor and pulse about 25 short times.
4. Add in the remaining 1 cup flour and pulse about 5 short times until the dough starts to collect in clumps.
5. Add 4 tbs cold water in the processor and mix gently by spatular and 4 - 5 pulse.
6. Add in remaining 2 tbs cold water and pulse 2- 3 short times.
7. Fold the dough until it becomes like a ball in a bowl and wrap it with saran wrap.
8. Leave the dough in the fridge for at least a half an hour before use.
9. Shape the dough in a dish and make holes with a fork at the bottom of the dough.
10. Place aluminum foil over the dough in a dish and cut a circle in the center of the foil and bake the bottom of the crust on the top rack at 365 F (185 C) for 10 minutes before pouring in a filling.

Filling:

• 1.5 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1.5 - 2 large eringi
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1/2 big sweet potato, diced
• 1/2 cup spinach or kale
• 4 large eggs
• 1/3 cup and a half 1/4 cup heavy milk 
• 1/3 cup and a half 1/4 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheeze
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 100 g cheddar cheese, diced
• *1/4 & 1/8 tsp salt
• *a pinch of pepper  and some ground pepper
• *1 1/8 tsp thyme
• *1 1/8 tsp oregano

          *Can be adjusted for flavor preference

1. To bake pie sheet, put aluminium foil all around and cut the center in circle and put pie weights in the center. Bake for 5 minutes at 375°F and remove pie weights to bake it for another 10 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil and cook all the vegetables with garlic, except for spinach.
3. Beat eggs in a bowl and add in heavy milk & milk (take some egg mixture on the side for baking pie crust edge).
4. Add the cooked vegetables, cheese and spinach in the egg mixture.
5. Flavor with salt, pepper, oregano, tyme and pour in the pie crust.
6. Bake with aluminium foil for 50 - 55 minutes at 375°F and remove the foil and brush egg mixture (from step 2) on the edge of the crust to bake it for another 3 - 5 minutes.

Cafe O'Lei Butter Cream Cake