#thebakinghermit

Week 153: Chocolate brownie and passion fruit mousse ..................................................................................... When people are tired from work, they drink. When I am tired from work, I crave for a good dessert. But since my weekend is super short, I had to make do with what is in the freezer. . I had leftover passion fruit mousse from a few weeks ago. And it took less than an hour to whip up a delicious brownie and a new batch of my trusted pâté sucrée beurrée from Pierre Hermé. So there is it, rich chocolate brownie, enrobed in tangy passion fruit mousse, covered in dark chocolate glaze, set atop a pâté sucrée beurrée disc. . Funny story, I hitched a ride with my colleague after our work trip on Friday, and as I was too lazy to go to the grocers, I asked if his wife could spare an egg for my brownie. And she spared me two! I found out that evening how difficult it is to transport raw eggs without proper packaging. ..................................................................................... #icapturefood #instafood #thekitchn #inmykitchen #feedfeed #sortedfood #sgfood #sharefood #foodforfoodies #foodwinewomen #sgfoodie #foodphotography #foodspotting #foodstyling #foodporn #foodgasm #buzzfeedfood #buzzfeast #f52grams #beautifulcuisines #chefsofinstagram #whati8today #huffpostfood #kitchenevangelist #thebakinghermit #pierrehermé #petitgateau #chocolate #passionfruit #pastry_inspiration

Week 155: Chocolate chiffon ..................................................................................... Sometimes I get the strange urge to make and decorate a cake. And last weekend was one of those times. It was only yesterday when I realised I had almost forgotten the tradition I have been keeping for the past 2 years! Baking a cake and send a nice picture to my KitchenAid sponsor, Vincent, to wish him a happy birthday! . This is a chocolate chiffon cake, sandwiching a generous layer of whipped coffee mascarpone, and covered and decorated entirely with whipped cream frosting. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that the piped roses were able to hold their shape quite nicely! . So here's a picture perfect chocolate cake to wish my friend, "joyeux anniversaire"! ..................................................................................... #icapturefood #instafood #thekitchn #inmykitchen #feedfeed #sortedfood #sgfood #sharefood #foodforfoodies #foodwinewomen #sgfoodie #foodphotography #foodspotting #foodstyling #foodgasm #buzzfeedfood #buzzfeast #f52grams #beautifulcuisines #chefsofinstagram #whati8today #huffpostfood #kitchenevangelist #thebakinghermit #coffee #chiffon #patisserie #chocolate #bonanniversaire #roses

Week 154: Paris-Brest ..................................................................................... The best thing about the #lunarnewyear long weekend was that I finally got to bake these individual Paris-Brest. I am never confident with choux and was thankful to have @theboxerchef and his expertise over for a baking session. We decided to follow the recipe in Pierre Hermé's Pastries book. . We were initially a little suspicious of the strange baking method suggested in the book. But the choux puffed up very nicely indeed! . And while we had some issue with the mousseline, as the syrup was not boiled to the required temperature, it all worked out nicely on the second try. The texture of the mousseline was light and luxurious at the same time, unlike anything I've tried before. ..................................................................................... #icapturefood #instafood #thekitchn #inmykitchen #feedfeed #sortedfood #sgfood #sharefood #foodforfoodies #foodwinewomen #sgfoodie #foodphotography #foodspotting #foodstyling #foodgasm #buzzfeedfood #buzzfeast #f52grams #beautifulcuisines #chefsofinstagram #whati8today #huffpostfood #kitchenevangelist #thebakinghermit #pierreherme #parisbrest #patisserie #chouxpastry #praline

Week 151: Cheesecake Mosaïc ..................................................................................... My last bake for the year (yes, this is also for the Christmas Eve potluck). This is one of the most complex cheesecake in my repertoire, and the most complex flavour too, with 2 separate layers (baked and non-bake) of pistachio cheesecakes embedded with macerated sour cherries. . This year has been rather eventful, to say the least. Met a lot of new people - at work, at home. Made some new friends, that makes me wonder how life would be without them. Reconnected with some old friends and wonder how amazing that despite the years, the chemistry stays exactly the same. And sadly, loss some friends that made me think if I should have tried harder, or, if there is anything I could have done differently. . But life goes on. Despite a lot of downs in 2016 (and not just for me!), at least the year managed to end on a high note. I managed to spend the last 2 weeks with some of the most important people in my life and it is difficult to explain how much that meant to me. 2017 is not going to be easy, but, I believe, with each new challenge, we discover new strengths within us. And the people around us, with their support and encouragement, they make the discovery journey all that more fun and enjoyable. . Cheers to 2017, and all the challenges it dares to throw at us! ..................................................................................... #homebaker #hobbybaker #sgbakes #bakersofsgp #instafood #insta_sg #foodstagram #foodphotography #foodporn #foodstyling #whatibakedtoday #inmykitchen #onthetable #only_beautiful_food #lovestobake #frommyoven #thebakinghermit #buzzfeast #thebakefeed #hautecuisines #thefeedfeed #kitchenevangelist #cheesecake #pierrehermé #dinnerparty #pistachio

Week 151: Quiche Lorraine ..................................................................................... You can't really go wrong with the classics, and nothing says classics like the quiche Lorraine. I always said I will not bake for the next potluck, but somehow I always do. And sometimes, more than one, or two, items! . Since I figured I'll be in over my head with our Christmas Eve dinner this year, I decided to stick with stuff I am confident in. Hence, this quiche and another brioche couronne (not properly photographed, unfortunately). . Despite the hectic schedule, I was surprised I managed to serve up the dishes last weekend, with a few hours to spare too! Must have been the spirit of Christmas. ..................................................................................... #homebaker #hobbybaker #sgbakes #bakersofsgp #instafood #insta_sg #foodstagram #foodphotography #foodporn #foodstyling #whatibakedtoday #inmykitchen #onthetable #only_beautiful_food #lovestobake #frommyoven #thebakinghermit #buzzfeast #thebakefeed #hautecuisines #thefeedfeed #kitchenevangelist #frenchkitchen #quichelorraine #dinnerparty

Week 148: Passion fruit and dark chocolate petit gâteau ..................................................................................... I have always been curious about the chocolate and passion fruit pairing. The Mogador macaron from #PierreHermé is a little too tart for me. So for my attempt, I decided to tone down the passion fruit for a bit. . To prepare the passion fruit purée, I scrapped the seeds out of 6 fruits, bring them to a boil, blend it then strain them through a fine strainer. I managed to get about 200g of purée out of the 6 fruits. . For the base, I used my tried and tested brownie recipe from @davidlebovitz And for a texture variation, a layer of #HervéThis' unconventional chocolate mousse. These are then covered by a layer of passion fruit mousse followed by a shiny white chocolate mirror glaze. And sadly, a failed attempt at spider web glaze lol. ..................................................................................... #hobbybaker #homebaker #delicious #f52grams #sgbakes #sgpastries #bakersofsgp #instafood #insta_sg #foodphotography #foodstyling #whatibakedtoday #inmykitchen #only_beautiful_food #lovestobake #frommyoven #thebakinghermit #buzzfeast #thebakefeed #hautecuisines #thefeedfeed #pastry_inspiration #patisserie #dessertmasters #pastrylife #pastrychef #kitchenevangelist #entremet

Week 147: Rye sourdough loaf ..................................................................................... It's been many weeks since my last sourdough loaf, and poor #pangzhi has been cold-storaged, literally. Many that's why he's not happy and I ended up with one of the most dense and least airy loaf ever. 😔 . Oh well, at least I got a chance to practice my scoring (I thought the scoring on this is not too bad) and healthy breakfast for a week. ..................................................................................... #homebaker #hobbybaker #sgbakes #bakersofsgp #instafood #insta_sg #foodstagram #foodphotography #foodporn #foodstyling #whatibakedtoday #inmykitchen #onthetable #only_beautiful_food #lovestobake #frommyoven #thebakinghermit #buzzfeast #thebakefeed #hautecuisines #thefeedfeed #bakedfromscratch #sourdough #artisanbread #naturallyleavened #justwaterflourandsalt

Week 145: Clotilde’s very chocolate cookie ..................................................................................... The best way to know if your cookies are going to taste awesome? Nib a bit of the cookie dough and if you feel like you want to eat another big chunk of it before it even made it into the oven, you know you're on the right track! . I have been wanting to visit The Ghibli Museum in Tokyo for the longest time. I kept missing the chance, despite having been to Tokyo multiple times, because it is such a pain to buy the ticket. This time however, a friend of mine happened to go to Tokyo 2 weeks before my trip, and she managed to get me the much coveted ticket! And the trip to the museum is my most memorable encounter in Tokyo, ever. (Even more memorable than the first time I saw Mt Fuji.) . As a token of appreciation, I decided to make her a batch of these delicious chocolate cookies, because these are my favourite cookies and I hope it may help encourage her to start baking (she had just resigned from her job and is currently seeking something she is passionate about). I was glad to receive her message the next day telling me she was in chocolate heaven! . ..................................................................................... #hobbybaker #bbcgoodfood #f52grams #sgbakes #sgpastries #bakersofsgp #instafood #insta_sg #foodphotography #foodporn #foodstyling #whatibakedtoday #inmykitchen #onthetable #only_beautiful_food #lovestobake #frommyoven #thebakinghermit #buzzfeast #thebakefeed #hautecuisines #thefeedfeed #pastry_inspiration #chocolate #triplechocolate #cookies #chocolateoverload #ilovechocolate #kitchenevangelist #cookiedough @davidlebovitz