Swan Puff Pastries

250 ml Water 50 g Butter (or margarine) Pinch of salt 1 tsp Vanilla sugar

175 g German #1050 flour 4 Eggs, large 3 g Baking powder 2 cup Whipped cream

1. Sieve the flour and vanilla sugar on a piece of baking paper. Prepare two baking trays lined with baking papers. Bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Remove from heat and with one hand tip all the flour in all at once, while stir the mixture vigorously with the other. Once the mixture free of clumps, put it back to fire and cook for one more minute until you have a smooth ball of paste that has left the sides of the saucepan clean.
   
   
2. Take the pan off the heat. Transfer the paste into a mixing bowl and stir in one egg, which must be completely blended in before the next egg is added, and so on until all the eggs have been incorporated. The paste appears shiny and should be of a pipeable consistency and not too runny.
   
3. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Using a fine plain nozzle to pipe “S” for the head and neck of the swan, and a large star nozzle or a couple of teaspoons, to form small balls of choux paste onto the prepared trays, allowing space for them to raise and expand. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until golden and crispy. Swan necks should be removed from the oven after 20 minutes, to prevent them from burning.
   
   
4. Remove from the oven and use the tip of a knife to make a slit in the side of each eclair or profiteroles to let the steam inside the puff escape. Return to the turned-off oven and dry out for 5-10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Cut the top of the cream puff 1/4 of the way down. It should be dry in the centre with no uncooked dough in the middle. Fill the bases with whipped cream and then the "S" shape in the Chantilly cream. Slice the tops lengthwise into two, placing the two pieces on either side of the cream to form the wings of the swan. To make profiteroles, pipe whipped cream carefully into the slit cut of each puff or slice the puff open and fill the whipped cream.

Pain d´Epi

A stalk of wheat----Epi bread is a type of classic and common artisan bread. Crackly crust and creamy, airy crumb! Store the bread wrapped in butter paper until it is used, and if the bread has started to go stale, sprinkle it with water and bake briefly to refresh it.

240 g Sourdough starter 420 g Water at 20C/68F

670 g German #550 angiesrecipes 1 g Instant dry yeast 18-20 g Salt

1. Sift together the flour and dry yeast in a bowl. Combine the starter and water in a large mixing bowl. Add in the flour mixture and stir on low speed for 2 minutes. Let the mixture rest for 25 minutes, allowing the flour to absorb the water. Add in salt and stir for 4 minutes on middle speed. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
   
2. Scrape the dough on to a lightly oiled work surface and pat it out to form a flat rectangle. Fold one end, a third of the length, back to the centre. Fold the other end back over it, like folding puff pastry. Pat it out again and fold it once more. Cover and leave at room temperature for 60 minutes. Repeat pat-flat-fold, leave another hour and repeat one more time. Slash the dough with a razor and if bubbles form in the dough, it’s ready to shape. Or leave the dough one more hour and check again.
   
   
3. Divide the dough into the loaf sizes. Shape each into a baguette by stretching each dough into a rectangles, then folding the bottom and top thirds to the center, pinching the seam together and allowing them to rest for 10 minutes. Fold the dough over lengthwise and press the ends together. Roll each dough back and forth to elongate it to the desired length and taper the ends.
   
   
4. Place the loaves on a baking sheet dusted with flour, cover and let rise until slightly under proofed. Preheat the oven to 210C/420F. Cut one end of the loaf at an angle with a scissor, pull the cut piece of the loaf to left side. Move down a couple of inches, make a snip and pull the cut piece dough to the right. Alternate directions while cutting the dough. Bake in the preheatd oven for 25 minutes until golden crispy. Cool them on a rack.

Matcha Apricot Bread Wrapped In Chinese Pastry Dough

Chinese Pastry	Dough
240 g German #405 flour 1/2 tsp Baking powder 1/2 tsp Salt 120 g Butter, unsalted 100 g Water	a: 250 g German #1050 flour 8 g Matcha green tea powder 1 g Salt 4 g Instant dry yeast b: 30 g Egg 100 ml Warm milk 1 tbsp Sweetened condensed milk angiesrecipes 60 g Tangzhong Starter-Water Roux Starter via Starch Gelatinization c: 25 g Unsalted butter 80 g Chopped almond 50 g Preserved apricot, chopped

1. Sift the flour in a mixing bowl, add in baking powder and salt and stir together. Add in butter and water and mix until soft and smooth. Cover with a plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
   
2. In a mixing bowl, stir ingredients A and B for the dough at slow speed for 1 minute. Increase the speed and continue to mix until a rough dough forms, about 3 minutes. Stir in butter until the dough has become smooth and elastic. Add in almond and apricot. Mix at slow speed until well-combined.
   
   
3. Place the dough in a lightly oiled container and cover closely with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to proof till doubled. Remove and divide the dough into 3 equal portions and allow them to rest for 10 minutes. Cut the pastry dough into 3 equal portions too.
   
4. Flatten each pastry dough lightly with your hand. Round each dough and place them in the center of each pastry dough. Seal the dough by pinching all sides together to make a neat package of each. Arrange the rolls, pinched side down, on a baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. Slash the loaves diagonally 2 or 3 times with a razor blade, deep enough to see the matcha dough. Bake in the preheated 175C/350F oven for 30 minutes.

Minced Shrimp Stuffed Yau Char Kwai

#Ingredients:	#Seasoning:	#Variation:
250 g Shelled shrimp 120 g Ground meat 2 Yau Char Kwai (made with old dough) angiesrecipes Some frying oil 1 dish Sweet chilli sauce	10 g Ginger root 1 stalk Spring onion 80 ml Water 1 tsp Starch solution 1/3 tsp Chicken bouillon 1/2 tsp Jiafan rice wine 1 tsp Chilli oil 1/4 tsp Salt 1/4 tsp White pepper powder	1 tbsp Ketchup 1 tbsp Sugar 1 tbsp White vinegar 2 tbsp Pineapple juice 1/3 tsp Salt 1 tsp Starch solution 50 g Canned pineapples, diced 1 tsp Spring onions, shredded

1. Cut the shelled shrimp down the back and remove the black vein with a toothpick. Rinse the shrimp in cold water, drain and pat dry on a kitchen towel. Coarsely chop the shrimp and finely mince with the ground meat until blended. Stir in the liquid of ginger and onion in 2 additions, then add in the rest of the seasonings and stir until you have a smooth paste.
   
2. Divide yau char kwai
   angiesrecipes in two sticks and cut each into 2 inches sections. Slice each of them open and fill the hollow with some shrimp paste. Heat up a skillet with enough oil until hot. Carefully lower the filled yau char kwai into the oil and fry for 1-2 minutes. Remove them from the skillet and drain. Turn the fire to high and return the yau char kwai to the skillet. Fry until they are golden brown and crispy. Serve them with a dish of sweet chilli sauce.
   
3. Mix the ketchup, vinegar, sugar, juice and salt together and bring to a boil in a small pot. Add in starch solution and stir to thicken. Add in pineapples and spring onions. Pour the sauce over the stuffed yau char kwai.

Diced Chicken Pine Nuts In Lettuce Cups

Crunchy, cool lettuce leaves make a really good contrast to the tender, warm filling, and the slight sweetness in the hoisin sauce enhances the flavour. Hoisin sauce is a sweet bean sauce made from fermented soya beans and can be found in most Asian supermarkets.

200 g Chicken breast 100 g Pine nuts angiesrecipes Some lettuce leaves (iceberg or romaine) 1 Egg white 3 g Salt 3 g Chicken bouillon

1 tbsp Starch solution Cooking oil 10 g Ginger, thinly shredded 1 tbsp Hoisin seafood sauce 3 g Sugar 1 tsp Chilli oil

1. Wash and pat the lettuce leaves dry. Trim each into a round cup. Heat up a skillet until hot over medium fire. Add in pine nuts and adjust the fire to slow. Stir pine nuts until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Remove and set aside to let cool.
   
   
2. Wash and chop the chicken breast. Place in a bowl, add in egg white, salt, chicken bouillon and starch solution. Let marinate for 30 minutes. Set a skillet on high heat, add in oil and heat up. Fry the chicken breast until cooked. Drain. Pour off all but a tablespoon of oil and stir-fry ginger, hoisin seafood sauce and sugar until aromatic, return chicken and pine nuts to the skillet. Stir fry until all thoroughly combined. Drizzle with the chilli oil and serve.

Szechuan Spicy Eggplant - Fish Fragrant

Szechuan or Sichuan cuisine is famous for its multi flavours and is distinguished by its undeniable spiciness and numbing sensation on the tongue. Diverse and complex flavours are created on the basis of sweet, salty, sour, pungent, numbing, and bitter flavours. The fish-fragrant flavour high is characterized by a combination of salty, sweet, sour and pungent fragrance and highlighted in the dish "Szechuan Spicy Eggplant", literally translated to "Fish-Fragrant Eggplant".

	Sauce
500 g Eggplants Some oil 15 g Ginger, minced 15 g Garlic, minced 2 stalk Spring onions, shredded 100 g Pork, thinly shredded 2 tbsp Hot bean sauce 2 Pepperocini, shredded	1/2 tbsp Fish sauce 1/2 tsp Dark soya sauce 2 g Chicken bouillon 2 tsp Sugar 1/3 tsp Salt 10 g Sherry wine (preferable Chinese rice wine) 15 g Black vinegar (rice or wine) 1 tbsp Starch solution

1. Peel the eggplants and cut into one centimeter thick strips. Marinate shredded pork with a bit of salt and cornstarch. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl. Heat up a skillet with enough oil until hot and fry the eggplants until softened.
   
   
2. Pour off all but one tablespoon of oil. Add in hot bean paste, ginger, garlic and half of spring onions, stir briefly, and stir in pork. As soon as they have separated, return the eggplants and stir in pickled pepperoni. Pour the sauce over and cook until the sauce is reduced by half. Sprinkle in the rest of spring onions and serve.

How To Cream Butter

Creaming in baking refers to the technique of beating butter or shortening and caster or icing sugar together until fluffy, lemon white in colour and increased in volume due to the incorporation of tiny air bubbles. These bubbles stay in batter and enlarge the cakes with the help of a certain amount of leaving agents such as baking powder or baking soda. Poorly creamed butter can result in cakes or cookies that are disappointedly coarse and dense. The traditional fat used for creaming is real butter, but vegetable shortening is the most effective to work with. Never melt the fat to soften.

110 g Unsalted butter
angiesrecipes
220 g Caster sugar
angiesrecipes

1. To cream butter and sugar properly, begin with the butter of right temperature. Butter that is too cold and it is difficult to work with and won’t blend with sugar. Too warm, it won’t held the air bubbles at all. To cream effectively, 18C/65F is the ideal temperature. Measure with a temperature thermometer or lightly press the block of butter with the index finger and it bents slightly, it is ready to be creamed. Make sure your mixing bowl is at room temperature too. I usually dice the butter directly out of the fridge and allow them to sit for 5 minutes to reach the right temperature. Meanwhile I go ahead with other instructions called in the recipes, such as sifting the flour or greasing the baking pan. Another important influencing point is the ratio of butter to sugar quantity. The general ratio for creaming is half as much butter as sugar.
   
   
2. For a smooth textured cake, fine white sugar (or brown or a combination) will apply in the recipe. When creaming butter by hand, use a wooden spoon as it holds the butter best and keeps it from sliding around the bowl. While it is possible to cream butter and sugar by hand, it is much faster and easier to use an electric mixer. In this step, we add sugar gradually at the side of the bowl while mixing, beating thoroughly after each addition. When using an electric mixer, it is important to start at low speed first to combine all the ingredients, then switch to medium speed to beat sugar and butter until the mixture fluffy and pale. Stop to scrape the bowl down periodically to make sure everything is thoroughly combined, about 5 minutes. If you have patience and time, then add sugar one tablespoon at a time, the whole process should take 8-10 minutes. It is important not to beat any more than absolutely necessary as it will just diminish its strength o hold the air bubbles. Any extracts can be added in this step.
   
3. The creamed mixture is suitable for making creamed cakes or cookies and it should be used immediately because you don't want the butter in the creamed mixture to soften and the beaten air pockets to disappear. After creaming, room-temperature eggs usually will be required to beat in for optimal volume and for a smooth texture because the lecithin in yolks acting as a perfect emulsifier.