Lemon Cream Puffs

I've been trying to blog once a week this summer. Since the last time I wrote here, I started two summer jobs! So life has started to become busy again. Today I asked my boss if I could work at home instead, so it was kinda like a day off for me. So I baked. 

I've been spending alot of time flipping through my cookbooks and thought that cream puffs might be a good idea since I haven't had one since last summer! I chose the lemon cream puffs because it isn't a flavour that is offered at Beard Papa and it is a very summery flavour, perfect for the 30C+ temperature in Hong Kong right now.

These puffs are made of choux pastry spiked with some lemon zest, and there are two fillings inside - lemon curd and sweetened whipped cream. 

This is my first time making lemon curd and it's pretty similar to making the custard for ice cream! I'm glad that I didn't end up with any scrambled egg bits. However I found it to be a bit tart from my liking and my sister thought that it was a tad too buttery. I think I would prefer a meyer lemon curd, but I don't think any grocery store in Hong Kong sells them! 

Nevertheless, the whipped cream helped balance out the tartness of the lemon curd so the cream puff was still a delight to eat! I still haven't mastered how to make the choux pastry bake up really nice and crispy, so it was not as crunchy as I liked it to be. 

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Lemon Cream Puffs

Adapted from Chou Cream No Hon by Junko Iida

Makes 10-12 cream puffs

For the choux pastry

60g cake flour

40g unsalted butter, diced

50ml water

50ml milk

2g sugar

1g salt

2 eggs

2 tbsp lemon zest

Method for making the choux pastry is same as the one here, add in the milk with the water and stir in the lemon zest last. Oven times and temperatures are the same.

For the lemon curd

2 eggs

2 yolks

150g sugar

100ml lemon juice

80g unsalted butter, diced

Whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whilst stirring until the mixture thickens slightly.

Off the heat, whisk in the lemon juice. Continue heating whilststirring until the mixture thickens to a pipeable consistency. Remove from the heat, mix in the butter until thoroughly incorporated. Cool the lemon

curd over an ice bath, stirring occasionally.

For the whipped cream

100ml whipping cream

15g sugar

Whip the cream and sugar to stiff peaks.

Assembly

Cut off the tops of the puffs, around 1/3 from the top. Pipein the lemon curd using a plain tip. 

Using a star tip, pipe a small mound of whipped cream on top. 

Serve immediately or the shells will become soggy.

Hehe my sister took this picture of Yoshi, waiting to devour the cream puffs :) 

Last Minute Christmas Cookies

Actually this post is a little late - I was meant to publish this before I went Christmas carolling, but I couldn't upload my photos and I was running late, so here I am posting this on the early minutes of Christmas Day! But any rate, enjoy these cookies :)
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Following on to my previous post - Yes, I did have time to cram in a few more cookie baking sessions! Since we only have a day or so left until Christmas, I thought I'd summarise the three other cookies I baked for this year's holidays in one, short post.

I think any of these recipes would be perfect as a last minute addition to your cookie can, or to be packed as gifts (I baked the latter two recipes in one morning and they are set to be given off tonight), or just to be bookmarked and made another time next year!

World Peace Cookies


Man, who hasn't heard of these before? A rich, crumbly cookie loaded with dark chocolate bits, everyone is bound to like them. The dough can be stored in the freezer, and baked straight from their frozen state after slicing, so you can enjoy fresh cookies anytime your heart desires this holiday! The recipe can be found on Smitten Kitchen.

Lemon Cranberry Shortbreads


Recently I've learned to like dried cranberries, after eating a bun from a local bakery that had cranberries with linseeds. Anyway, I knew I had to bake these the moment I saw the recipe - I mean, a citrusy, fragrant lemony shortbread - one of my favourite flavours, since it balances the richness of the butter - is bound to appeal, and with my latest favourite food - dried cranberries added? It went straight onto my holiday cookies list. The original recipe asks for the dough to be pressed into a pan, baked and then sliced into bars. I didn't have such a big pan (even if I did it wouldn't fit into my puny oven anyway), so I chilled the dough, rolled it out and cut them into hearts instead.

Chocolate Shortbread Men

This can be said as my substitute for gingerbread men, since I really haven't acquainted a taste for the spiced cookie yet. The shortbread recipe used to make these men have been tried out by me for a billion times - it is definitely fool proof. Only involving four basic ingredients, the dough is very versatile indeed and tastes wonderful. I've included the original recipe below and some of the variations I've tried before.

And lastly, a warm Merry Christmas to you all! Whilst I may be hiding behind my books and revising for my mock exams this holiday, I hope everyone of you will enjoy the holiday with your loved ones!

Lemon Cranberry Shortbreads
Adapted from dandysugar

3 lemons
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) (170g) butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cups (60g) dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 300° F (150 C). Line a baking tray with baking paper, set aside.
2. Grate all the zest from the lemons and combine with the granulated sugar in a small bowl. Rub the two together until sugar is moist and fragrant.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until creamy. Add flour and mix on low speed until a crumbly dough appears. Add the cranberries and use your hands to form a soft dough. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
4. Roll out the dough tp around 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) thickness. Cut out shapes, transfer onto the lined tray and bake for 10-12 mintues until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack before packing.

Basic Shortbread Recipe
Adapted from BBC Good Food

325g plain flour
200g chilled salted butter
125g/4½oz golden caster sugar
2 tsp good-quality vanilla extract
2 large free range egg yolks

1.Tip the flour into a food processor. Cut the butter into small pieces and drop them into the bowl, then whizz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, vanilla and egg yolks and whizz to a small dough. Chill the dough for an hour.
For those like me who don't have a food processor:
Put the flour into a large bowl, and cut butter into 1cm cubes. Rub the butter into the flour until incorporated and the mix looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar, vanilla and egg yolks and use your hands to press everything into a dough. If it is too dry, add a couple drops of water. Chill the dough for an hour (or shape into a log beforehand for slice/bake cookies).
2. Preheat oven to 180 C. Roll out the dough and cut out shapes or slice the dough, arrange on lined cookie sheets. Bake for 15-20minutes until golden brown.

Variations:
Chocolate: Replace 2tbsp of the flour with cocoa powder. Decorate cookies with chocolate chips if desired.
Lemon: Grate in the zest of one lemon into the sugar and rub until moist and fragrant before combining with everything else. Omit the vanilla.
Coffee: Add in 1-2 tsp espresso powder to the dough along with the sugar.
Pinwheel Cookies

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Exams. Are. OVER!

I'm finally back to baking, after two long weeks of school exams. By the end of my first week of Higher exams, I was already dreaming of what to bake. I was browsing some of my bookmarked recipes during my revision time allocated for Maths! Should I make some refreshing Matcha ice cream? Or bake some chocolate chip cookies that I knew everyone would like? A nice and simple chiffon cake might be good. Ah or I can bake some bread again to get rid of my stress whilst kneading...


Finally, I settled on something I haven't made before -Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting after stumbling by this post at Baking Obsession. I haven't made cream cheese frosting before so I though it'd be a nice try at something new!


I didn't use the recipes stated on the site. The chocolate cupcake I used was from Cupcake Bakeshop. I've made this recipe several times, and it is my favourite basic chocolate cupcake so far - rich and chocolatey but not too heavy - a perfect pairing with any frosting. It is also a breeze to make! As for the frosting, I adapted the recipe from Simply Recipes.


I brought these to school today (I baked 48 of these babies - I dare not think what will happen if my sister and I ate them all alone!) - and they we're a big hit. Everyone was squealing 'Omg they're sooo good!'. Which made me very happy, because at first I was scared that no-one would like the tangy frosting paired with the chocolate cupcake. I think this cupcake size is the best too - you won't feel guilty for picking up one...another one...and another one!

Baking really is the best stress relieving activity for me. Despite being very tired afterwards, it totally relaxed and forgot how I messed up some exams too :)

Chocolate Cupcakes
from Cupcake Bakeshop

Makes 48 mini cupcakes
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temp
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoons vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
4. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.
5. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine
6. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
7. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3’s full. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes (8-10 minutes for minis) or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Simply Recipes

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) at room temperature
8oz Philly cream cheese (1 package) at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar, sifted (I used around 1 1/2 cups)
Grated zest of one large lemon
1-2 tsp lemon juice

1. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese together, about 2 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
2. Add the lemon zest and juice. Mix to combine. Slowly add the icing sugar. Keep adding until you get to your desired sweetness or consistency. (I chilled the frosting for 1/2 hour before using due to the hot/humid weather here, so piping would be more manageable)
3. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle and decorate the cupcakes. (I used a large star tip).