Cake French Toast

Adapted from alexcrumb.

Ingredients

1. Cake (e.g. pandan chiffon cake)
2. Milk
3. Bananas

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mash bananas.
2. Add milk and mix until combined.
3. Soak cake into milk mixture.
4. Fry cake on a pan for about 3min on each side, until golden.
5. Serve immediately.

Banana Milkshake

Adapted from K-Food by Da-Hae West and Gareth West.

Ingredients

1. Banana (ripe), 1
2. Ice cubes, 5
3. Malted drink powder (e.g. Ovaltine), 1 tbsp
4. Soft brown sugar, 1/2 tbsp
5. Vanilla ice cream, 2 tbsp
6. Milk, 158ml

Instructions

1. Freeze banana for 2h.
2. Chop banana into pieces.
3. Blend all ingredients with frozen banana until smooth.
4. Serve immediately.

3-Ingredient Nutella Brownies

Adapted from Nigella.

Ingredients

1. Eggs, 4
2. Nutella, 300g
3. Salt

Instructions

1. Preheat to 177C.
2. Line a baking tin with parchment paper.
3. In a bowl, crack eggs and add salt.
4. Whisk for 5min, until doubled in size, pale and aerated, with a mousse-like consistency.
5. Heat Nutella over a bain-marie (or microwave for 1min) until warm and slightly runny.
6. Pour melted Nutella into egg mixture while whisking, and mix until combined.
7. Pour into baking tin and bake for 18min.
8. Leave to cool in tin.
9. Once cool, remove and cut into squares.
10. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Fried Chicken Caramel

Adapted from Saveur.

Ingredients

1. Chicken skin, 300g
2. Salt, 1 tsp
3. Cayenne pepper, 2 pinches
4. Chicken stock, 237ml
5. Chicken bouillon, 1/2 cube
6. Caramel, 473ml
7. Black pepper, 1/2 tsp

Instructions

1. Chop chicken skin into pieces.
2. In a pan, heat chicken skin, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 pinch of cayenne pepper over medium heat for 10min, stirring occasionally, until crisp and golden.
3. Remove from heat, drain on a paper towel and let cool.
4. Chop chicken skin into fine pieces.
5. Using the same pan, add chicken stock and chicken bouillon and simmer for 25 min until liquid is almost completely evaporated.
6. Add caramel and simmer for 30min, until thickened and darkened.
7. Add in 1/2 tsp salt, 1 pinch cayenne pepper and 1/2 tsp black pepper and stir.
8. Transfer sauce to a bowl and let cool.
9. Add in chicken skin and stir.
10. Serve over ice cream.
11. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Creme Brulee Bread Rolls

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1. Bread crusts, 18
2. Milk, 50ml
3. Fresh cream, 30ml
4. Egg, 1
5. Granulated sugar
6. Vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Using a muffin mould, roll bread crusts into spirals and stuff into each muffin mould to create a bread roll.
3. Place a square of caramel on top of each bread roll.
4. In a bowl, mix milk, fresh cream, egg, vanilla extract and 1.5 tbsp of sugar until well combined. 
5. Pour mixture into each mould. 
6. Sprinkle granulated sugar over each bread roll.
7. Bake for 20 min until slightly caramelised.
8. Cool the bread rolls in the muffin mould and serve.

Fried Tang Yuan

Inspired by mitarashi dog.

Ingredients

1. Cooked tang yuan
2. Pancake mix, 100g
3. Milk, 70ml
4. Egg, 1
5. Oil, for frying

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix pancake mix, milk and egg.
2. Coat tang yuan in the batter.
3. In a pot, heat oil to 180C.
4. Fry tang yuan in oil until crisp and golden brown.

Sesame Pumpkin Kueh

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1. Pumpkin puree, 100g
2. Glutinuous rice flour, 40g
3. Plain flour, 40g
4. Icing sugar, 10g
5. White sesame seeds
6. Oil

Instructions

1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients except sesame seeds and mix well.
2. Divide into 6 portions and shape into flat round cakes.
3. Cover with sesame seeds.
4. In a pan, add oil and heat until hot.
5. Cook the cakes in the pan on both sides until golden brown.
6. Serve hot.

Mongolian Sweet Rice Porridge (乌日木)

Inspired by A Bite of China. Similar to a glutinous rice dessert.

Ingredients

1. Butter
2. Dried milk curd
3. Dried raisins
4. Dried hawthorn berries
5. Crabapples
6. Dates (originally, hackberries are used)
7. Cooked white rice

Instructions

1. In a pan, melt butter and dried milk curd until liquid.
2. Add raisins, hawthorn berries, crabapples, dates and white rice to the pan.
3. Stir thoroughly until a thick, porridge-like consistency. Serve hot.

Potato Soufflé with Dulce de Leche and Milk Pudding

Adapted from Octaphilosophy by André Chiang.

Ingredients

Dulce de Leche

1. Condensed milk, 1 can (250g)
2. Unsalted butter, 20g
3. Salt, 2g

Milk Pudding

1. Milk, 325ml
2. Caster sugar, 75g
3. Salt, 2g
4. Agar agar, 8g

Potato Soufflé

1. 3 potatoes
2. Egg whites, 2
3. Potato starch, 100g
4. Oil, for deep-frying

Instructions

Dulce de Leche

1. Fill a medium pan with water and bring to a boil.
2. Fully submerge the can of condensed milk in the water.
3. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2h.
4. Turn the can over and cook for another 2h.
5. Ensure that water level is constantly above the can, and top up with more water if necessary.
6. Remove from water carefully and let cool slightly, before opening can and pouring into a bowl.
7. Stir in butter and salt.
8. Transfer to a piping bag.

Milk Pudding

1. In a pan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil.
2. Transfer to an ice bath and leave until set.
3. Blend until smooth.
4. Transfer to a piping bag.

Potato Soufflé

1. Thickly slice the potatoes.
2. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg whites.
3. Working with 2 potato slices at a time, brush 1 with egg white and another with potato starch.
4. Sandwich them together tightly, expelling any air.
5. Make a total of 24-26 "sandwiches".
6. Deep-fry at 170C for 60s until puffed and golden brown.
7. Drain on paper towel.
8. Create a small hole in the potato soufflés. Pipe in some milk pudding and dulce de leche. 
9. Serve immediately.

Kaya Toast Macarons

Adapted from Octaphilosophy by André Chiang.

Ingredients

Toast Macarons

1. Ground almonds, 250g
2. Icing sugar, 250g
3. Caster sugar, 250g
4. Water, 100ml
5. Egg whites, 200g
6. Toasted breadcrumbs, 50g + extra

Kaya Filling

1. Eggs, 250g
2. Coconut milk, 250ml
3. Caster sugar, 220g
4. Pandan essence/pandan leaf juice, 2 tsp

Assembly

1. Unsalted butter, softened
2. Salt
3. Espresso

Instructions

Toast Macarons

1. In a food processor, combine ground almonds and icing sugar and pulse.
2. In a pan, combine caster sugar and water and cook to 120C.
3. In a stand mixer, whip 95g of egg whites on medium speed.
4. Once the syrup in the pan reaches 120C, increase mixer speed to high and drizzle in syrup.
5. Keep whipping until stiff and cool.
6. Fold in the almond mixture and remaining egg whites. 
7. Fold in the breadcrumbs.
8. Transfer mixture to a piping bag. 
9. Pipe mixture into a bread-shaped stencil on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 
10. Smooth with a palette knife and remove the stencil.
11. Dust with extra toasted breadcrumbs and let dry.
12. Bake at 140C for 13-15 min.

Kaya Filling

1. Blend all ingredients.
2. Transfer to a bain marie on medium heat and cook, stirring for 10 min until mixture thickens to a paste consistency.
3. Store refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Assembly

1. Fill a piping bag with kaya filling and pipe kaya filling onto one side of a macaron. 
2. Add 1/2 tsp of softened unsalted butter and sprinkle with salt.
3. Sandwich with another macaron.
4. Freeze for 48h.
5. Defrost at room temp for 3h.
6. Toast both sides of the macaron until crisp and light brown.
7. Serve immediately, with an extra dollop of kaya and espresso.

Chestnut Confit (Slow-cooked Sweet Chestnuts)

Adapted from Octaphilosophy by André Chiang.

Ingredients

1. Chestnuts, shelled, 300g
2. Sugar, 300g
3. Water, 200ml
4. Vanilla extract, 3 tsp

Instructions

1. Boil chestnuts for 35 min until soft.
2. In a pan, add water, sugar and vanilla. Bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Add in boiled chestnuts and simmer for 10 min.
4. Leave the chestnuts to cool in the syrup for 12h.
5. The next day, reheat the pan and simmer for 10 min.
6. Leave the chestnuts to cool in the syrup for 24h.
7. Repeat the simmering and infusing twice more, until the chestnuts have completely absorbed the syrup.

Sugar Cookies 1

Makes about 45 cookies.

Ingredients

1. 300g self-raising flour
2. 113g (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3. 75g caster sugar
4. 1 egg
5. 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until pale and fluffy. With mixer running, add egg and vanilla. Sift the flour and add to mixture gradually, beating until just incorporated. 
2. Divide dough in half, flatten each half into a disc and wrap each in plastic cling film. Refrigerate for at least an hour/freeze for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 163°C. 
4. Remove 1 disc of chilled dough and let stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll. 
5. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to preferred thickness. Add more flour if needed to keep dough from sticking.
6. Cut out cookies with a cutter, and place them about 3cm apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
7. Re-roll the scraps into a disc, wrap with cling film and refrigerate/freeze again, while you repeat steps 4-6 with the other disc of dough.
8. Freeze cut-out cookies for about 15 minutes.
9. Bake cookies for about 16 minutes. Rotate sheets halfway through.
10. When the cookies turn slightly golden, remove from oven and cool the sheets on wire racks. 

Sugar Cookies 2

Makes about 50 cookies.

Ingredients

1. 225g butter
2. 480g plain flour
3. 100g caster sugar
4. 14 tbsp milk
5. 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Mix butter and sugar.
3. Add in flour a little at a time and mix till combined, adding milk if the mixture is too dry.
4. Roll out the dough into balls and flatten on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake for 15min. 

Kinnathappam (Indian sweet cake)

Adapted from Yummy Tummy.

Ingredients

1. 195g short-grained rice (eg Basmati)
2. 591ml coconut milk
3. 225g sugar
4. 2 eggs
5. 2 tsp cardamom powder
6. Pinch of salt
7. Oil, for greasing

Instructions

1. Soak rice for 3h.
2. Drain rice and add to blender, with sugar, salt, coconut milk, egg and cardamom powder. Blend until smooth.
3. Grease a steel bowl with oil. 
4. Pour batter into bowl, place over a pot of boiling water, cover and cook for 20 min, until the top of the cake is firm when pressed. 

Chestnut Praline

Adapted from Taste.com. 

Ingredients

1. 112.5g caster sugar
2. 2 tbsp water
3. Chestnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 177C.
2. Spread chestnuts onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. 
3. Roast in oven for 5 min, then shake the baking tray slightly to turn the chestnuts over and make sure they are roasted evenly on all sides.
4. In a saucepan, cook sugar and water on low-heat for abt 5 min while stirring, until the sugar dissolves.
5. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Boil the mixture, without stirring, for 5-7 min, until the mixture turns golden. 
6. Set aside for 2 min and allow to cool.
7. Pour the sugar mixture over the nuts on the baking tray.
8. Set aside to cool.

The GAP's Fried Apple Pie

Adapted from here. An alternative recipe for fried apple pie (there's another here by Momofuku)! Makes 9 servings.

Ingredients

Pie Dough

1. 4 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1.5 tsp baking powder
3. 3/4 tsp salt
4. 3/4 cup whole milk
5. 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, melted and cooled
6. 2 eggs

Apple Pie Filling

1. 1/2 cup apple cider/juice
2. 1 tbsp cornstarch
3. 5 apples, peeled, cored and diced
4. 1/2 cup granulated sugar
5. 1/2 tsp nutmeg
6. 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
7. 1 tsp vanilla extract
8. 1 tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions

Pie Dough

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, sift flour, baking powder salt. 
2. Add milk, shortening and eggs.
3. Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened.
4. Continue mixing on medium speed for abt 3 min, until dough is no longer sticky, adding more flour 1 tbsp at a time as needed.
5. Halve dough, envelop each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1h.

Apple Pie Filling

1. In a small bowl, whisk 1/4 cup apple cider/juice with cornstarch.
2. In a large bowl, toss together apples, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla extract.
3. In a large pot, heat butter over medium-high heat and let bubble for 20s.
4. Add apple mixture, cover with the lid askew, and cook for about 6 min, stirring occasionally, until apples start to soften.
5. Add remaining 1/4 cup apple cider/juice to the pot. 
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high.
7. Simmer for 2-3 min, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half.
8. Stir in cornstarch mixture.
9. Cook for abt 4 min until thickened.
10. Remove from heat.
11. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and cool completely.
12. Cover baking sheets with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.

Assembly

1. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into rounds abt 10cm in diameter.
2. Place the rounds on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and cover with another sheet of parchment paper. Reserve in refrigerator.
3. When all the dough have been rolled out, remove apple pie filling and dough from refrigerator.
4. Place 2 tbsp of filling in the center of each round, moisten the edge of the bottom half of each round with water, and fold the top half of the dough over the filling to bring the edges together. Press tightly to seal. Reserve in refrigerator.
5. In a large pot, heat oil to 191C.
6. Fry the pies in batches, for abt 3-5 min, turning them often until brown on all sides.
7. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain. Serve warm.

Fried Apple Pie Garnishes (Cinnamon Dust, Miso Butterscotch, Sour Cream Ice Cream)

All from Momofuku Cookbook.

Cinnamon Dust

Ingredients

1. 30g sugar
2. 1 tsp ground cinnamon
3. 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Grind all ingredients until a dust. 
2. Cover and store away from the light. Keeps indefinitely.

Miso Butterscotch

Ingredients

1. 100g white miso
2. 65g packed light brown sugar
3. 67g mirin
4. Splash of sherry vinegar
5. 58g unsalted butter, room temp

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 204C.
2. Spread miso in a thin layer on a sheet of parchment paper. Bake in oven for 20-30 min, until blackened brown in colour.
3. Let miso cool, then scrape into a blender jar.
4. Add the brown sugar, mirin, vinegar and butter and blend until smooth.
5. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and store, covered in the refrigerator. Keeps for weeks.

Sour Cream Ice Cream

Ingredients

1. 200g sugar
2. 50g water
3. 454g sour cream
4. Grated zest of 1/2 lime
5. 3 tbsp lime juice

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water and simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves.
2. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
3. In a large bowl, whisk sour cream until smooth.
4. Gradually whisk in sugar syrup, lime zest and juice to sour cream. Refrigerate until cold.
5. Transfer to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instruction. 

Apple Pie Filling

From Momofuku Cookbook. You may use different types of apples for the compote and jelly respectively (in the cookbook, they used Empire and Fuji).

Ingredients

Compote

1. 2 small apples, peeled, cored and chopped
2. 65g packed light brown sugar
3. 65g apple cider
4. 1 cinnamon stick
5. Pinch of salt
6. Juice of 1/2 lemon

Jelly

1. 4g pectin crystals
2. 50g packed light brown sugar 
3. Large pinch of ground cinnamon
4. 190g apple cider
5. 2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

Instructions

Compote

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the apples, brown sugar, apple cider and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil on medium-heat. As soon as the mixture boils, remove the apples and transfer to a mixing bowl. Leave the cinnamon stick in the pan.
2. Turn the heat up and reduce the cooking liquid by half. Add the reduced cooking liquid to the apples, season with salt and lemon juice, then set aside to cool.

Jelly

1. In a small saucepan, combine pectin, brown sugar, cinnamon and apple cider and bring to a boil on high heat. 
2. Place the apples in a large bowl.
3. When the syrup boils, pour it over the apples and stir to combine, then cool the mixture to room temp.
4. Put the bowl in the refrigerator to chill to set.
5. Add the jelly to the compote and stir to blend well. 
6. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Fried Apple Pie

From Momofuku Cookbook.

Ingredients

1. 250g all-purpose flour
2. 3 tbsp cornstarch
3. 3 tbsp sugar
4. 1 tsp salt
5. 2.5 tbsp cold unsalted butter
6. 1 tbsp + 2 tsp pork fat/vegetable shortening
7. 1/2 tsp white/apple/rice wine vinegar
8. 125g water
9. Apple pie filling
10. Oil
11. Cinnamon dust
12. Miso butterscotch
13. Sour cream ice cream

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Beat on low speed for 10-15s.
2. Add butter and shortening and beat on medium-low for abt 3 min, until the dough resembles clumpy sand.
3. Add vinegar to the water, and with the mixer running on medium-low, add the liquid to the dough a few tbsp at a time.
4. Mix for 3-5 min until the dough comes together.
5. Remove from the bowl and shape into a flat, thick rectangle and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1h.
6. Bring the dough back up to almost room temp.
7. Using a scale, measure out 6 50g pieces of dough (for the bottoms) and 6 30g pieces of dough (for the tops). 
8. Roll the pieces of dough into the shape of the mold you are using, with the bottoms being larger than the tops.
9. Generously flour the molds.
10. Press the bottom piece of dough into the mold, then fill with 75g of apple pie filling. Repeat for all the pieces of dough.
11. Dip a pastry brush into cold water and brush the edges of the dough in the molds, then gently lay the top pieces of dough over the moulds and crimp the top and bottom pieces of dough together.
12. Freeze the pies in the molds for 30 min
13. Remove the pies from the molds, transfer to a baking sheet, wrap in plastic and freeze the pies until solid, for at least a few hours.
14. In a large pot, heat a quart or two of oil to about 182C.
15. Fry the pies one at a time. After about 5 min, the pie should float up to the surface of the oil and appear golden brown. Remove from the oil, and cool on a wire rack. 
16. After 1 min, dust the top of the pies with cinnamon dust.
17. Serve each pie with a tbsp of miso butterscotch and sour cream ice cream. 
18. Serve immediately.

E-Z Bake Individual Angel Food Cakes

From Try This At Home by Richard Blais. Serves 8.

Ingredients

1. Unsalted butter, for greasing
2. 3 eggs
3. 5 tbsp sugar
4. 1/2 cup pastry flour

Instructions

1. Lightly grease the insides of cupcake liners. 
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs on medium-high speed and add the sugar in a slow, steady stream.
3. Continue whipping for about 6-8 min, until the eggs have tripled in volume.
4. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand, and using a fine-mesh strainer, sift the flour onto the top of the eggs. 
5. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour until just incorporated.
6. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3-full of batter. 
7. Place in the microwave and cook on high for 30s, or until the cakes are set.
8. Cool the cakes for 5 min before serving.