Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream

It seems like eons ago when I last posted on my vanilla sugar cookies and I thank you out there for emailing me, showing me support and asking me about ordering the cookies :] Things have been a tad busy lately - the first week of August I was busy baking for a huge wedding order of 200 petit-four sized cakes, and in the second week, I was baking up a storm for a dessert table for a grand-dame's birthday ;p and in the third week, well, I was away in Bangkok for holiday! In between, I haven't had the urge to bake anything new, because well, facing the oven for two whole days (8am to 8pm days) can make you quite sick of baking.

I wouldn't be surprised if no one visits here, because I've been swamped at work, and haven't been able to even find time to check my email or even visit the blogs I frequent. Hopefully, I'll find time to blogsurf next week. This last week, I've been 'working hard for my money', as my dad likes to term it. Having enjoyed two holidays in a row, I've had quite a bit of backlog, and have had to put in 12 to 15 hour days just to catch up. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that I've received my first proper pay check, and today is actually the anniversary of my second month at work! The first month anniversary of forever, if one is pessimistic. I'm finding it harder to keep up blogging and working, because if I don't have to work during the weekends, I tend to sleep and laze through them instead. Baking, if any, is the usual few things - my favorite cookies, sourdough breads, and the usual cupcakes and muffins. Nothing unusual and nothing fantastic. In fact, I haven't touched my camera in a long while. I really hope to get out of this lazy cycle of mine and bake something interesting to post about soon!

This was something simple I baked nearly two months ago, when strawberries were hitting the supermarkets at about S$5 per half-kilo punnet, and I was busy munching on them sweet morsels as well as making them into jams. Out of all the berries, I think I like strawberries the most, because they are the only berries which I find sweet enough to munch on (as compared to say raspberries) and I love strawberry-themed desserts.

So anyway, because I had an abundance of egg whites and strawberries, I decided to make this particular strawberry cupcake recipe which I've tried countless of times and loved. It uses only egg whites, which means that if you have lots of egg whites and don't feel like making macarons with them, you can try these instead! It's actually a very typical white cake recipe, but instead of milk, strawberry puree is used.

I sometimes use a strawberry milk buttercream to up the 'strawberry-ness' of this cake, but this time, I opted for a cream cheese swiss meringue, just because I had extra cream cheese and I like how nicely it goes with strawberries.

Strawberry White Cake

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen's Pink Lady Cake

Makes 6 cupcakes

65g all-purpose flour

40g castor sugar

1 tsp baking powder

⅛ tsp salt

60g butter

¼ cup strawberry puree (about 60g)

40g egg whites (from about 2 medium sized eggs)

30g milk 

Method: 

1. Place the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking power and salt) in a mixing bowl and mix it on low speed for about 30 seconds. 
2. Add the butter into the dry ingredients and continue mixing on low speed until the butter turns into pea-sized bits. Then, pour in the strawberry puree and mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds until the mixture is well combined and fluffy. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine the egg whites and milk together. Add the egg white and milk mixture to the mixing bowl in three parts, making sure to beat at least 10 seconds between each addition. Divide the batter equally among the cupcake liners/silicone cupcake moulds, making sure to fill the liners to about slightly less than 2/3 full. 
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for about 20 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool for about 30 minutes or until the tops are cool to touch before decorating them with buttercream.

Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Makes enough to frost 6-8 cupcakes 

35g castor sugar

30g egg whites

50g unsalted butter

30g cream cheese 

Method: 

1. Cut the butter and cream cheese into cubes of 3cm and allow to soften. They should yield slightly to touch but not completely give way. 
2. Add egg whites and castor sugar into a mixing bowl of an electric mixer. Place over a pot of simmering water (not boiling), and whisk constantly until all the sugar granules have dissolved. The mixture should feel slightly warm to your finger (about 50-60°C). 
3. Remove the mixing bowl from the bain marie, and begin to whip with a whisk attachment until the mixture becomes thick and glossy (almost stiff peaks). 
4. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the softened butter and cream cheese one cube at a time, until fully incorporated. Mix until you achieve a silky smooth texture. You can also add vanilla, salt or any other flavorings you want at this time. 
5. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Whip it again until silky smooth before using. 

Janine's jots: 

• Note: You can actually see that my buttercream was not silky smooth, but quite curdled. That is because I didn't whip the butter until it was fully incorporated - it will take about 10 minutes, so be patient!
• Taste: I have taken the liberty of reducing the sugar in the cake quite a bit, so I think it tastes just nice with the frosting. Make sure to taste the strawberry puree and ensure that it is not too sour, because you will have to increase the sugar amounts to counter that.   
• Texture: Do not try to add anymore liquid to the cake batter, because the cake might turn out gummy if you do. I find that this combination of dry vs wet ingredients gives me the best moistest cake possible.  
• Storage: Without frosting the cakes, they keep well at room temperature for about 3 days, but store it in the fridge and they can last for 2 weeks. 
• Would I make this again?: Definitely! Like I said, this is a cake I always make whenever I have excess strawberries!

Fig Tartlets with Goat Cheese

I have been rather quiet on the blog the past week or so, because I'm on holiday! Once again I'm in Sydney, and it's been awesome to get away from the humidity and do some seasonal grocery shopping! :] I enjoy grocery shopping and puttering around in the kitchen in Sydney so much so that Jon always asks me if I'm visiting him or his kitchen when I'm here ;p

Winter in Australia is great, because I got to go skiing (=D) and winter produce is ah-mazing! There's tangelos, tamarillos, fennel, figs, chestnuts, and the list just goes on! I also took the opportunity to get myself some Meredith Dairy fresh chèvre, or fresh goat's cheese. I first tasted the cheese in a wine tasting in Hunter Valley, paired with some Semillon wine some time back, but the beautiful smoothness of the cheese has been at the back of my mind ever since. It's an Australian outfit, which has won countless awards for their beautiful goat cheeses, which are bred in their own farms. So when I saw a small pack retailing at a gourmet grocer's, I snatched it up. It was quite costly - a 150g pack put me back A$11, but it's worth it because I just had some on a toasted sourdough bread and I loved it! It's not as pungent as the other goat's cheese, and has a slight acidic sweetness that would go really well with figs!

The pictures are actually my fig tart attempt from the end of last year, when it was fig season in Singapore, and looking at the figs at the market here reminded me of them. I'm definitely going to recreate this some time soon, with my Meredith Dairy's chèvre and Australian figs :] 

Fig Tartlets with Goat Cheese

Inspired by Scandi Foodie's fig tart

Makes 6 3-inch tartlettes 

1 portion of tart crust (you can use a half-portion of my pâte brisée recipe or a full portion of my semolina cream cheese crust for more bite)

4 fresh figs, cut into eighths or sliced as desired

50g goat cheese

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, caramelized or reduced

Almonds or walnuts, crushed

Method: 

1. Prepare the tart crust and blind bake the tarts, until golden brown. (As you can see, my tart baking requires some more work - the edges are uneven >.<)
2. Allow the tart crusts to cool while you prepare the other ingredients. Add four tablespoons of balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan and allow it to reduce over a low heat for about 5 minutes. Cut the fresh figs into eighths and toss them in the caramelized/reduced balsamic vinegar before arranging them in the cooled tart crust. You should also pour the vinegar liberally into the tart crust. Scatter some chopped nuts into the tart. Finally, crumble goat's cheese on the tart before serving. Eat immediately. 

Janine's jots: 

• Other serving ideas: For more savoriness, caramelize some red onions in the balsamic vinegar, and throw in some chives, black pepper and parmesan. You can also throw in some arugula and tomatoes like what I did in my fig salad. You can go for a sweet tart by macerating some strawberries in the balsamic vinegar, then adding the fresh figs and goat's cheese to the pre-baked tart crust. If you are not a fan of balsamic vinegar, swap it for a honey syrup.
• Taste: I am biased to anything balsamic, so it's of no surprise that I love how the acidity of the vinegar cuts through the sweetness of the tarts and somehow also compliments the slight tang of the goat's cheese. I cannot decide if this tart should be categorized as sweet or savory, because there's just an explosion of both types of flavors when you bite into the tart. 
• Texture: I loved the different textures in this tart - the tart crust was crisp and buttery, and then there was the 'squishiness' of the figs, the creamy goat cheese, followed by little bits of walnuts and almonds which I had scattered on the tart. 
• Storage: Once assembled, the tart has to be consumed on the same day, otherwise the crust will turn soggy. If unassembled, the baked tart crust lasts for at least a couple of weeks in an airtight container. Figs then to spoil rather quickly, so consume within a few days. 
• Would I make this again?: Definitely! Assuming I get my hands on more firm figs over the next few days, I'm looking forward to making a sweet fig tart :]

I'm off to enjoy what's left of my holiday :] Things here will be a little quiet still, because I've a couple of (personal) projects and deadlines due, but I hope to come back real soon because I've exciting news to share! :]

Pink Ombré Strawberry Shortcake

I have been rather remiss in posting this past few weeks. If you noticed, the last post didn't have any pictures and the previous one on Levain Boulangerie consisted of photographs taken way back during Vesak. The ironic thing is that although I've been baking rather diligently the past few weeks (for a colleague who is my first huge (and paying) customer), I've been way too lazy to whip out the camera to take photographs. And usually when I'm done baking, it's evening or night, so that means lousy pictures. 

Anyway, I had high hopes for this sponge cake, because it appeared rather highly raved, and one blogger even wrote "不珍藏一辈子后悔". BUT I was disappointed because it turned out to be a rather 'rough' sponge cake, although it baked up pretty high. And to make things worse, this was supposed to be my 'birthday' cake, because I wanted to commemorate my birthday with a nice pink cake. So to say that I was VERY disappointed would be an understatement. One thing's for sure, I'm definitely sticking to my usual sponge cake recipe until I find a better alternative. And to think of it now, I'm definitely going to bake another nice cake as my replacement birthday cake, hopefully soon because it's been way too hot these few days to fire up the oven and I've been resorting to cool treats like froyo for my sweet fix. 

So why post something that I'm not too satisfied with? Well, I had thought I decorated the cake quite nicely on the outside and it would be a waste not to post the photographs up, especially since I had carted out my cake stand and other props to take photos. (Although on hindsight, I realized that the camera did catch a great number of flaws on the frosting which I was not too aware of at first glance).

I first got an idea for this cake when I saw Yossy's beautiful pink ombré cake here, way back at the start of the year (on pinterest I think), then I saw it again on Lisa's blog - this time a purple version. Alas, as with many other wonderful pages/ideas that I bookmark, they get pushed back in the queue and I forget about them. It was only in late May that I got reminded by Steph (who has crazy beautiful ideas on her blog) about the ombré cake that I wanted to make. And yes, if you can't tell, I am a fan of ombré. I've always had this fascination for gradients, so it's of no surprise that ombré cakes are on my to-do list. (I'm also a fan of the ombré hair color trend, considering that I just highlighted my hair a few shades of gold and brown ;p) I've made cakes in both pink and green, but this is way easier since it's just a matter of tweaking the frosting - très simple!

Sponge Cake 

Adapted from Huan's Sweets

Makes a 18cm sponge cake

150g eggs (about 3 large eggs)

110g castor sugar

100g all-purpose flour

26g butter

40g milk 

Method: 

1. In a metal mixing bowl over a bain marie, add in the whole eggs and castor sugar and whisk until the mixture reaches about 40°C. Remove from the bain marie and using a mixer, beat the egg-sugar mixture on medium-high speed until you get almost stiff peaks. The mixture should take about 20-30 seconds to disappear into itself. Following that, reduce the speed to low and beat for 15 seconds. This is to ensure that the air bubbles in the mixture are not overly large. 
2. Then, heat the butter and milk until the butter is melted, and allow it to cool to about 40°C.
3. Sift the all-purpose flour into the egg mixture and gently fold the flour such that the egg mixture does not over-deflate. Once all the flour has been folded in, add in the cooled butter-milk mixture and continue to fold gently until it is fully incorporated. Pour the batter into a lined and greased cake tin, and make sure to rap the cake tin against the counter a couple of times to ensure there are no huge air bubbles in the batter. 
4. Bake the cake in a preheated oven at about 160°C (fan-forced) for about 25-30 minutes. Allow the cake to cool on the counter for at least 15 minutes before releasing from the cake tin. 

As for the other parts of the cake:

I skipped on the sugar syrup (although I think this would have greatly helped the dry cake) and used the stabilized whipped cream from my strawberry shortcake recipe, but added a couple drops of natural red coloring to get the desired shades of pink. I also added fresh strawberries in the middle cream layer.

Janine's jots: 

• Taste: Sponge was sufficiently sweet, although the egg smell was very prominent because no vanilla was added. 
• Texture: Like I said, I was not a fan of the cake. I found the texture way too rough for a sponge cake, although it was fluffy. 
• Storage: The cake stores pretty well in the fridge - it lasted about a week, but if you didn't add sugar syrup to the sponge layers, beware that the cake will be VERY dry. 
• Would I make this again?: Unlikely for the cake, although the ombré is definitely something I'll repeat because it's so simple to achieve but the results look fantastic!

Steamed Banana Cupcakes

Only now do I understand the joys of public holidays falling on a Monday or a Friday because it means long weekends yo! A few days ago on Monday, I was thinking that three days is a lot of time to bake, but was struck by sudden inspiration to head up north to KL! I asked my brother if he wanted to and lo and behold, a plan was formulated within minutes :] I do so love impromptu-ness! 

So now my brothers, mom and I are in KL over the long weekend for a food trip! :D We initially wanted to drive up to Penang to gorge ourselves silly, but decided we didn't have enough time to do so, so we've limited ourselves to KL (and Selangor) to stuff ourselves. Thus far, I've had Rakuzen for lunch, damn good fruit rojak with tofu and sotong, dropped by Ben's Independent Grocer at Republika and had really good pork ribs/pizza/risotto for dinner. This morning I had really damn good nasi lemak for breakfast (Najib goes there for his nasi lemak fix as well yo!), then an assortment of bread for lunch, Taiwanese dessert and there's still French patisseries, seafood and pizza left on the to-eat list!

Malaysia Sayangi. Having spent more than half of my life in Singapore, my friends always ask, why not be a Singaporean since you're more than halfway there already? Singapore might be my second home, and I might know the Singaporean national anthem better than the Malaysian one, but well, Malaysia Sayangi sums it up pretty well. It's my country, and it's where I call home.

Coming up to KL always makes me proud of my country. Singaporeans like to say that Singapore is a cosmopolitan country and all, but honestly speaking, I always feel that KL (and Selangor) beats Singapore hands down. Granted, KL might have its dirty and unsightly areas, but in my opinion, it's like an unpolished gem which still hasn't seen its fullest potential. Anyway this mini-rant arose because of discussions with my relatives about corruptness, politics and the plethora of good food one can find in KL.

The following cake however, has nothing to do with anything. I was hoping to eat this really good banana leaf curry rice (literally on a banana leaf) and I thought of eating these steamed banana cakes which are really simple to make. I first made this a few weeks ago, when it was too hot to switch on the oven, and I didn't want to fire up the huge oven just to bake a couple of muffins. I also wanted something fast, so steaming is really the fastest way to achieve something 'cakey' in the shortest time.

The cupcakes are a little sunken, because I used a tad too little raising agent and I didn't have enough metal tins to go around, so some of the cupcakes turned out as banana pancakes, but they were yummy all the same.  

Steamed Banana Cupcakes
Very slightly adapted from Aunty Yochana

100g banana, mashed
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp baking soda
⅛ tsp salt

65g egg
45g brown sugar
50g all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
30g olive oil


Method: 

1. Whisk the mashed banana, vanilla extract, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside. 
2. In another bowl, whisk the egg and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. 
3. Then, fold in the flour and baking powder (sifted together once) into the egg and sugar mixture. 
4. Gently fold in the mashed banana mixture and finally, fold in the olive oil. 
5. Pour into lined cupcake moulds (preferably metal ones) and steam them for about 10-15 minutes on high heat until a tested skewer comes out clean. 

Janine's jots: 

• Taste: Do use very very ripe bananas because somehow steaming makes the banana taste more prominent than usual. I would also prefer using less vanilla to allow the banana taste to show through even more. 
• Texture: Extremely soft and spongy. 
• Serving size: Makes about 8 small cupcakes.
• Modifications: Like I said, I probably would add a tad more baking soda to allow a slightly more raised end-product because sunken cupcakes don't look so attractive :/
• Storage: These keep well in the fridge (they don't store well at room temperature because the tops will turn moist and sticky after a while). Just give them a short zap in the microwave or steam them at 5 minutes on medium heat. 
• Would I make this again?: Definitely - it really is a good alternative to baked banana muffins on a hot day :]

Alright, short break between teatime and dinner is over - I'm off for a yummy seafood dinner now :]

Strawberry Milk Macarons and a Mini Giveaway!

I've been on a kick to use "all natural ingredients" or ingredients that are as unprocessed as possible. This of course translates to less refined flours and sugars, and more wholemeal flours, non-wheat flours, as well as different forms of sugar, such as molasses. This has also translated into using only 'natural food coloring' in my foods, and thus far, I've only experimented with red and green, mainly because they are the most easily accessible colors - for green I use pandan, and for red, I stick with my favorite strawberry (and raspberry).

That, plus my recent infatuation with Sadaharu Aoki (I gorged on his cakes when I was in Taipei) meant I was hooked when I saw Pook's strawberry milk macarons which used strawberry powder AND was a recipe by Aoki. 

For those who might not know who Sadaharu Aoki is, do check out his website and be amazed. In fact, a couple of his pastries (including the black sesame eclair) are rated as one of the top few pastries to try in Paris by Adam. Aoki excels in making French pastries and if I'm not wrong, he is probably one of the few Japanese patissiers to make it big in Paris, which is quite telling. He also has outlets in Japan as well as in Taipei, and I was extremely lucky (well actually not really since I purposely made a few trips down to the outlet in Taipei to eat my fill) to have tasted his cakes. He really does excel in pairing Japanese flavors in the French pastries, and one of his best and most famous works has got to be the Bamboo, a matcha and red bean Opera-like cake. The best thing is that the cakes are not overly saccharine or cloying (which tends to be the case when Europeans at making pastries), which is perfect for the Asian tastebud. 

So suffice to say, anything Aoki is a sure-win, and I was quietly confident that these strawberry milk macarons would be fantastic. I was not wrong. 

Strawberry Milk Macarons 

Adapted from Pook who got it from チャレンジホビー　めざせ！あこがれのパティシエ ", by chef 青木 定治 (Sadaharu Aoki)

Makes 50-60 shells

For the macaron shell

65g   ground almonds

90g   icing sugar

5g     strawberry powder

50g   egg whites

15g   castor sugar 

Pinch of salt or cream of tartar

For the strawberry milk buttercream

3g     all purpose flour

60g   fresh milk

65g   unsalted butter

8g     castor sugar

30g   homemade strawberry jam 

Method:

1. Sift the ground almonds and icing sugar separately. Next, sift them together with the strawberry powder. Set aside. 
2. Beat the egg whites (which are at room temperature), and cream of tartar or salt together with the castor sugar. You can put in the sugar right from the start. Beat until you obtain stiff peaks. This should take slightly less than 10 minutes, depending on the strength of your mixer. 
3. Using a spatula, sift in a third of the almond-flour mixture into the stiff meringue. You need not fold but do mix the ingredients in gently. Sift in the remaining almond-flour mixture in two batches and gently fold to combine. You should get a shiny, viscous mixture which 'flows like magma'.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and proceed to pipe 3-cm large rounds onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners. After piping the shells, be sure to rap the baking sheets against the counter to get rid of any excess air. 
5. Let them sit at room temperature (or air conditioner temperature would be fantastic) until they are dry to touch. You need not actually touch the shells because it will be rather obvious when they dry and form a 'shell'. This should not take more than an hour. 
6. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 140°C (fan-assisted), with the rack in the middle, with top and bottom heating. Bake the macarons for about 12-16 minutes, making sure to open the oven door at around the 8th minute (or after feet have formed) to let out excess hot air and to turn the tray from front to back. Once the shells are firm to touch, remove the trays from the oven and let them cool on the trays for at least 15 minutes before proceeding to cool them on cooling racks. If you use a nonstick liner, they should be easily removed, if not, use a knife or metal spatula to release the macaron. Store the shells in an airtight container until ready to assemble. 
7. For the strawberry milk buttercream, sift the all-purpose flour into the milk and place into a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over low heat and stir until the mixture thickens. Once a roux is formed, remove the pan from heat and allow it to cool. In the meantime, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Pour the cooled milk roux and gradually beat to combine. Beat in the strawberry jam until you get a homogenous mixture. 
8. To assemble: Place the buttercream into a piping bag and proceed to pipe it onto matched macaron shells. You may have to chill the buttercream for a few minutes before piping if it is too 'soft' for piping. Refrigerate the sandwiched shells for an hour or until the buttercream has firmed. Remove the macarons 5-10 minutes before serving for the best experience :]

Janine's jots: 

• Note: I have to admit that the macarons were severely under filled - in fact, you can't even see the filling for most of them. But I've a good reason - the filling wasn't enough because I kept filching it and it's oh so yummy with the sponge cake I made. So well, I didn't have enough for the macarons ^_^ I didn't mind though, since I don't particularly like too much filling in between my macarons. I would definitely recommend making more of the strawberry milk buttercream because it is simply delicious.  
• Taste: On the buttercream, it wasn't overly sweet because I used less of the strawberry jam and in fact, my homemade strawberry jam is more tart than sweet, which perhaps explains why I loved it so much. This went together very well with the macaron shells, which were slightly flavored due to the use of the strawberry powder.  
• Texture: Although the macarons were not perfect - I undermixed the macarons for fear of no feet, so you can still see bumps and 'nipples' on some of the shells. Nevertheless, the shells turned out pretty shiny and I'm pretty happy with the sideway feet. One other reason why I liked the recipe is because the shells were just the right level of 'crispiness' and the inside was sufficiently moist when paired with the buttercream.
• Serving size: I got about 35 paired macarons, but my macarons were a little on the smaller side - about 2.5cm or slightly more than an inch.
• Modifications: I would definitely want to try this same recipe but with a reduced amount of icing sugar. I've actually tweaked the ingredients quite a bit from the original, and the macaron shells themselves are not overly sweet as in some recipes because of the tanginess of the strawberry powder but for the sake of my waistline, I shall see if I can reduce the sugar even more without sacrificing on the feet! Also, without using red coloring, it is impossible to get the vibrant red colors that Pook got with her macarons. Nevertheless, this dusty rose color found favor with me and the people who ate them. In fact, these macarons were more popular than the salted caramel macarons! 
• Storage: My only gripe is that the buttercream softens wayyyy too quickly! It is very moist and goes very well with the shells, but you'll have to consume the filled macarons almost immediately to get the best mouthfeel, otherwise the filling will be too soft and 'oily' to eat. Do only fill the shells that you will consume the next day or two (macarons have to be filled at least 24 hours to let the moisture and taste from the filling 'diffuse' into the shells). If not, keep the shells and filling separate until ready to eat.
• Would I make this again?: Definitely! I foresee using the same recipe with other fruit powders to get different colors and flavours!

Playing around with the 'aged' effect - what do you think? 

Anyway, I previously tweeted about using my strawberry powder in my macaron shells (it really does give a superb tangy strawberry flavor to the shells), as well as in my mom's birthday layered cake. Some of you have asked me where I got this powder from, and sadly, I've to say that I got a friend to purchase it for me from an overseas organic store. It's basically 100% natural powdered freeze-dried organic strawberries, so it perishes pretty quickly even in freeze-dried form. The recommended use-by date is actually in May 2012, and since I've quite a bit of it, I thought to share the love :] 

I'm giving away 10g of strawberry powder each to two lucky persons, which will be packaged in a clean, tiny ziplock bag. This amount should be sufficient for those interested in trying out the strawberry milk macarons above (the original only requires 3g of powder). You can also use them to flavor cake (like what I've done), so simply sprinkle them on your plain yogurt (which is what I've been doing too). It also works well in coloring icing too!

I know it sounds like a tiny amount, but in my defense, let me remind you that it's organic, unavailable in Singapore and pretty costly :S Anyway, this is just a tiny way of saying thank you for reading my blog (silent or not), and if you aren't picked for this giveaway, please do stay tuned because I've a few more small giveaways in store, mainly because I've some 'exotic' ingredients which I bought in bulk to save on costs and I know some of you out there would love to try out these ingredients. If you're really desperate to get some strawberry powder yourself, Pook shared where she got her strawberry powder from here. 

So to participate, all you have to do is just to leave me a comment below, with your email address and name. It's that simple ;) I'll be opening this giveaway to readers in Singapore and Malaysia, because it's a tiny item which is easily shipped. I'll close the giveaway on 29 March 2012 at 11.59pm. The winner will be randomly selected and contacted via email the next day.

If you're kiasu and want to increase your chances of winning, you can do the following for an extra entry each (please post a new comment for each of the below): 

1. Like my blog on Facebook and leave an extra comment below. The page is still bare, but I'm working on it!
2. Share this giveaway on Facebook. 
3. Follow me on Twitter (@notkitchensink) and retweet this giveaway on Twitter!
4. Follow my blog by clicking on the "Follow" bottom at the top left corner of this page. 

This macaron post is also in support of Aspiring Bakers #17 – March Macaron Madness! (Mar 2012) hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies. I'm also posting this over at the #27 edition of Mactweets! If you haven't made macarons before, do use this opportunity to try them - they might be finicky things to make, but I can assure you that your spirits will lift tremendously when you see the little frilly skirts/feet emerging from the shells and they look and taste super yummy too :] 

[Thursday's Trio] Multigrain Banana Loaf (with Sorghum)

There was a time, not too long ago, when my life merely revolved around white flour and wholemeal flour. Like I mentioned in my previous Thursday’s Trio post on buckwheat, it was blog surfing that introduced me to looking outside the “wheat box” and boy am I glad I did!

Today’s flour of the day or Thursday's Trio is sorghum flour, or jowar flour as it is known to many Indians. In my last post, some asked me what is sorghum and hopefully this post today will answer all your queries and perhaps whet your appetite to try out sorghum for yourself!

As with many cereals and crops, sorghum was originally cultivated in Egypt, and it continues to be a staple food source in Africa. I guess one main reason why it has lived through the ages is because of its sturdiness and resistance to drought. Over in India, it is commonly used, and appears in foods like jowar roti and other flatbreads (chapattis) all over India. You can check out some jowar roti recipes here here and here. They use pretty much the same proportions. And yes, I bought my pack of sorghum flour from the Indian shop as well :]

Sorghum has gained popularity recently because it is gluten-free and people suffering from celiac disease can safely enjoy foods made with sorghum. Sorghum is seldom used alone, because it is bland (flavourless). That being said, its neutral flavour and light colour is also precisely the reason why it is used as a substitute for wheat flour since it does not alter the taste and smell of the finished product. It does alter texture however – it results in a crumbly end product because of its lack of gluten, so it is usually used in tandem with rice or corn starches or more fat.

Three interesting facts on sorghum

1. Sorghum is the 5th most important cereal crop grown in the world! It is typically used as a replacement for wheat in India and Africa. And what’s even more interesting is that it is also known as “Milo” in Spanish!
2. There was once when the nutritional benefits of sorghum were not known – in fact, the UNFAO found them to have “poor nutritional quality”. Nowadays, sorghum is known as the next “superfruit” for its high antioxidant power – studies have shown that it has 4-12 times MORE antioxidants than fruits like pomegranates, acai berries, and blueberries!
3. Sorghum is also high in insoluble fibre, which is helpful for improving digestion and bowel movement. Also, the starch in sorghum is more slowly digested than other cereals, which makes it friendly for diabetics because it controls blood glucose.

Three ways of using sorghum

1. Sorghum is also used to produce sorghum sorghum syrup or molasses, which is used as a sugar substitute. The stalks of the sorghum plant are harvested, crushed like sugar cane to produce the syrup. Just check out this recipe for instance.
2. Sorghum grains can be ‘popped’ just like popcorn, and they taste even better!
3. You might not know this, but sorghum grains are usually found in the ten-grain mixes (十谷米) that you can find in organic food stores.

Three interesting recipes I’ve bookmarked from blogs

I couldn’t find local blogs using these recipes, so I’ve picked some from my favourite blogs, and I’ve cheated a little by including three of each category below to show you how versatile sorghum can be!

1. Tart crust containing sweet white rice (glutinous rice), millet, cornstarch and sorghum by Tartlette
2. Chocolate chip cookie using sorghum flour, millet flour and tapioca and corn starches
3. Scones, scones and cinnamon rolls!

How to store sorghum flour?

Most recommend storing sorghum (and all other flours) in a sealed, airtight container and placing it in a cool dark place. If you're afraid that it'll deteriorate under the tropical heat, just store it in an airtight container and place it in the fridge :]

  

Gluten-Free Banana Loaf

Makes a 6" round cake or 15cm loaf and a couple cupcakes 

50g butter

45g brown sugar

25g castor sugar

55g egg (without shell)

150g banana, mashed

90g gluten-free flour mix* 

¼ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp vanilla extract

50g milk

*I used a mixture of the following: 15g almond flour, 15g millet flour, 15g sorghum flour, 15g rice flour, 15g tapioca flour, 10g corn starch and 5g ground flaxseed.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Sieve the various flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together. Set aside.
3. Cream butter until softened. Add in the sugars and cream until fluffy. Add in the egg and beat well, for about 1 minute or until mixture does not appear too curdled. 
4. Next, add in the mashed banana and mix well. 
5. Sieve in half of the dry ingredients, beating until all traces of flour disappear. Add in half of the milk and mix well. Repeat with a quarter of the dry ingredients and the remaining half of the milk, and end with the last quarter of the dry ingredients. You should get a smooth cake batter at this stage.
6. If baking as a round cake or loaf, bake for about 30-35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. If baking as cupcakes/muffins, bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops turn golden brown. Let cool for about 15 minutes on wire racks before serving. The cake tastes best the next day, after it is fully cooled and the cake has had time to develop its rich banana flavor. 

Janine's jots: 

• Taste: I upped the cinnamon this time around and I much prefer this cake because of the added spiciness.
• Texture: Because of the lack of gluten, the loaf is slightly more compact and moist in the centre. But this could also be because of the greater amount of liquid (I used 50g milk instead of 20g per my previous recipe), greater amount of mashed bananas (150g instead of 120g) and smaller amount of sugar (70g instead of 90g). The batter is slightly more liquid than usual as well.
• Serving size: I used a small loaf tin and made tiny cupcakes with the rest of the batter. If you want a nice and tall loaf, I suggest using a 15cm or (4 x 7) loaf tin!
• Modifications: I would probably stick to the original liquid and banana amounts (about 20g milk and 120g banana) because I found this gluten-free version a little dense in the centre for my liking. I much prefer a breadier texture for my banana loaves. But this purely be because of the lack of gluten here. I haven't had enough attempts to determine my optimum proportions yet ;p But my mom did enjoy its moistness and said the extra banana made it super yummy.
• Storage: Because the cake contains banana, it only stores well for a day at room temperature in our tropical climate. After that, the cake will feel a little sticky. I would advise keeping the cake in the fridge, and it will taste good for at least a week. If you prefer, give the cake a quick 5s zap in the microwave and it will be slightly warm, perfect with a cup of tea in the morning :]
• Would I make this again?: Yes definitely! Check out my previous recipe here!



Check out the dense (and moist) crumb!



Healthy Banana Sponge Cake-Loaf

Just a quick post this week, mainly because I haven't been feeling well. I'm still feeling a little under the weather now, but hopefully next week I can start afresh without feeling all queasy and ill. Anyhow, work's been pretty slow this week, so I've had time to think of what to bake this coming weekend. If only I had more bananas, I'd make another round of this banana cake/loaf. I've been enjoying slices of it over the past week, because it's been keeping well in the fridge, and I particularly enjoy it with my hot cuppa' milo in the morning.

I've also been contemplating what to call this - a banana cake or a banana bread or a banana loaf? I have no idea what's the real difference between all of them actually - I would think the main difference lies in the crumb and the method of making, followed by what kind of pan you actually place the batter in. So if that's the case, then my creation should most probably be called a banana cake-loaf since a banana bread merely uses the muffin method.

The original recipe was a normal banana sponge cake recipe, with a sponge cake method of whisking whole eggs to ribbon stage. I changed the recipe from an 8-inch cake into a loaf pan and mini cupcakes, and swapped out most of the white flour to various flours I had on hand. I also switched the method from whisking eggs (which I still suck at) to a basic butter and sugar creaming method. Main reason being I don't like using oil and I suck at whipping eggs to ribbon stage and I desperately wanted my banana cake craving to be satisfied.

And because I wanted it to be no-fail, I went along with a pretty popular recipe on the local blogosphere. You would think that no-fail means following the recipe to a T, but oh no that's not how I work. I merely used the recipe for its proportions because honestly, I didn't want to start from basic ratios and play around with the quantities until I got a right one, which is why I'm giving credit to the original source below, even though you will later see how much I massacred it. Being in the profession that I am, I think very highly of copyrights and intellectual property, which is perhaps why I find it very repugnant that some people have the gall to post recipes which are exact copies or very similar to famous recipes without giving proper accreditation. Even if you were merely inspired by a particular recipe, I do think it's important to give credit when it's due, because after all, you were inspired by that recipe to come up with something of your own! And imagine how much hard work that particular person had to put in, trying failures after failures, just to come up with those golden proportions. Just my two cents really - there are far better posts on the internet on recipe accreditation and copyrighting your recipes (which is a misnomer really, but that's a story for another day).

Original recipe

Adapted from Wen who adapted it from Richard Goh's baking class

Makes an 8" round cake

150g eggs, room temperature
130g sugar 

200g banana, mashed

150g cake flour (or top flour)

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda 

100g vegetable oil 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Grease & line a 8" round tin with paper.
3. Sieve flour, baking powder & soda together. Sieve twice & set aside.
4. Whisk eggs, sugar & banana at maximum speed until you reach the thick ribbon stage, approximately 10-15 minutes. 
5. Fold in the dry ingredients until all traces disappear. 
6. Add in oil and fold well until the batter is shiny and flawy. 
7. Bake for about 40-45 minutes, until golden brown. 

Janine's Banana Cake-Loaf

Makes a 6" round cake or 15cm loaf and a couple cupcakes 

50g unsalted butter 

¼ tsp sea salt

90g egg 

80g sugar (40g white and 40g brown) 

120g banana, mashed

100g all purpose flour* 

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp vanilla extract

20g milk 

* I used 45g AP flour, 10g oatmeal flour, 15g almond meal, 15g millet flour and 15g sorghum flour. 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Sieve the various flours, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together. Set aside.
3. Cream butter until softened. Add in the sugars and cream until fluffy. Add in the eggs and beat well, for about 1 minute or until mixture does not appear too curdled. 
4. Next, add in the mashed banana and mix well. 
5. Sieve in half of the dry ingredients, beating until all traces of flour disappear. Add in half of the milk and mix well. Repeat with a quarter of the dry ingredients and the remaining half of the milk, and end with the last quarter of the dry ingredients. You should get a smooth cake batter at this stage.
6. If baking as a round cake, bake for about 30-35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. If baking as cupcakes/muffins, bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops turn golden brown. Let cool for about 15 minutes on wire racks before serving. The cake tastes best the next day, after it is fully cooled and the cake has had time to develop its rich banana flavor. 

Janine's jots: 

• Taste: I usually use bananas which are very ripe and have many many black spots. I find that those types of bananas (not sure of the name) make the nicest tasting cakes. Do not use the Del Monte type of bananas because the taste just isn't as rich. Also, bananas and cinnamon go extremely well together. If you like a spicier cake (like I do), feel free to up the cinnamon to ½ tsp and add a tiny pinch of nutmeg. The result is exquisite!
• Texture: Because half of the flour has been replaced with flour which does not produce any gluten, you can actually mix the batter rather vigorously without fear of a dense cake forming because there just isn't enough gluten to be formed with the 45g of all-purpose flour. 
• Modifications: I think I've made enough modifications to the original recipe already! ;p 
• Storage: Because the cake contains banana, it only stores well for a day at room temperature in our tropical climate. After that, the cake will feel a little sticky. I would advise keeping the cake in the fridge, and it will taste good for at least a week. If you prefer, give the cake a quick 5s zap in the microwave and it will be slightly warm, perfect with a cup of tea in the morning :]
• Would I make this again?: I have since made this cake for than a couple of times - in fact, this is my go-to recipe whenever I have overripe bananas! Do check out my follow-up post on yet another modification I made to the recipe!

I think this is perhaps one of my shortest posts to date, knowing how long-winded I am. Have a great weekend y'all! :] I'm looking forward to a bread-making weekend (hopefully work doesn't intrude)!

A Review on Pineapple Tarts - attempting 6 different recipes and many batches

I had wanted to post this yesterday, on Chap Goh Meh, or the 15th day of Chinese New Year to round up the last of my CNY themed posts, but work came up and I couldn’t finish the post in time.

So here it is, one day after the last day of CNY, which is rather apt as well since this is my concluding and round-up post for all the festive baking I’ve been doing. I know many people do their cookie baking in December, because Europeans and Westerners in general tend to associate cookies with Christmas. For myself however, the cookie mania starts the month before Chinese New Year, whenever that is. This year, I’ve actually baked about 20 varieties of cookies, playing around with different recipes. Eventually I think I went back to my kampong bringing 16 types of cookies, most of which had good reviews from my relatives. I still have loads more cookies I want to attempt, but I’m shelving them for next year, and who knows, I might come up with even more ideas the next time.

Some of the cookies packed in jars ready to be brought back to my grandma's

So anyway, I started making pineapple tarts about one month ago, slightly after Christmas. This year, I had a goal – to find the best pineapple tart cookie by trying as many recipes as I could and deciding upon the best. I’ve to admit that I’ve failed in this endeavour, because there were pros and cons to each recipe, but I’m glad I tried that many recipes, because it helped me distill what I liked and didn’t like for each recipe. This I believe puts me in better stead of pineapple-tart making next year :]

These are the sum total of recipes that I tried, which I've divided into two categories:

Recipes with 'melt in the mouth' texture, suitable for enclosed tarts:

1. Youfei's recipe
2. Agnes Chang's recipe (similar to Lai Kuan's and SSB's) 
3. Little Teochew's recipe

Recipes with a more solid sturdy texture, suitable for open-faced tarts:

1. Lily's open face recipe
2. My mom's friend Karen's recipe
3. My grandaunt Rita's recipe

Along with these recipes that I've tried, I had also bookmarked a couple of other recipes, but I wasn't able to try them because well, I didn't have that much pineapple paste for that many tarts. Here's a short list of recipes that I'll probably try next year:

• Anncoo (uses rub-in method)
• Wendy (uses cream and cream cheese)
• Sonia (uses condensed milk)
• Tracie (uses rub-in method as well)
• Ah Tze (uses only ghee)
• Peng/HHB (uses creaming method)
• ZY (uses rub in method)
  
  

I'll just start by saying that although I did make and try 6 different recipes, I don't believe I've found 'the one' yet, because there are things that I both liked and didn't like with each recipe, but I think with some tweaking any of these recipes could easily be it. There are basically two methods of making pineapple tarts, the creaming method and the rub-in method. I'll start by writing in detail how each of these methods work, because besides the difference in ingredients, everything else will be identical.

Creaming method:

1. Sieve dry ingredients (which may include flour, corn flour, salt, baking powder, milk powder, custard powder) together. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and cream together with sugar until lightened and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract.
3. Add in the egg yolks and mix until well combined.
4. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Once the flour comes together, stop mixing. Shape the dough into a disc shape and leave it to chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or until slightly firm.
5. In the meantime, divide the pineapple paste into equal sizes, rolling them into balls.When ready to make the tarts, remove the dough from the fridge.
6. For enclosed tarts, weigh and roll the dough into equal sized balls. Flatten the balls into a round disc and place the ball of pineapple paste in the centre. Pinch the seams of the dough disc together and give the ball a quick roll. You can choose to shape the ball into a spherical ball, or make it slightly elongated and rectangular, or slightly oval to mimic pineapples.
7. For open-faced tarts, make sure that the dough is quite firm after at least an hour of chilling. Roll out the dough on a clean work surface (you don't need to flour the surface if the dough is buttery and firm enough) until you get the desired thickness. I tend to roll it to about 1 cm thick. Using your desired cutter, cut shapes into the dough. Then, proceed to place your ball of pineapple paste in the centre of the shape. You can also choose to put designs on the tarts as I've done.
8. Once you're done, give the tarts an egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Make sure to turn the tray 180° at the 10-12 minute mark, to make sure there is even baking/browning all around.

Rubbing-in method:

1. Sieve dry ingredients (which may include flour, corn flour, salt, baking powder, milk powder, custard powder) and sugar together. Set aside.
2. Dice the butter into 3-cm large cubes and place them in the fridge until ready to use. Make sure the butter is really cold. Using a pastry cutter or a fork or your fingertips, rub the butter cubes into the dry ingredients until you get flattened pieces of butter coated with flour and the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
3. In another bowl, beat together the egg yolks, vanilla and cold water (if any). Add it into the butter mixture and using your fingertips, gently combine the wet and dry ingredients, pressing gently until a dough is formed. Do not knead the dough excessively because you do not want the butter to melt! Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to 2 hours.
4. In the meantime, divide the pineapple paste into equal sizes, rolling them into balls.When ready to make the tarts, remove the dough from the fridge.
5. For enclosed tarts, weigh and roll the dough into equal sized balls. Flatten the balls into a round disc and place the ball of pineapple paste in the centre. Pinch the seams of the dough disc together and give the ball a quick roll. You can choose to shape the ball into a spherical ball, or make it slightly elongated and rectangular, or slightly oval to mimic pineapples.
6. For open-faced tarts, make sure that the dough is quite firm after at least an hour of chilling. Roll out the dough on a clean work surface (you don't need to flour the surface if the dough is buttery and firm enough) until you get the desired thickness. I tend to roll it to about 1cm thick. Using your desired cutter, cut shapes into the dough. Then, proceed to place your ball of pineapple paste in the centre of the shape. You can also choose to put designs on the tarts as I've done.
7. Once you're done, give the tarts an egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Very importantly, I forgot to add that I use my mom's recipe for the pineapple paste and she does it the old-fashioned way - grating the pineapples by hand (no blender please!) so that you can the fibrous strands that you can see in the enclosed tart photo below. Here's the link to my mom's recipe. I'm really can find no fault with the recipe, so I haven't really bothered with trying other recipes floating about the internet. And don't get put off by the fact that pineapple jam takes long to make - it is in fact exactly like any other fruit jams and it really doesn't take a whole day. If you cut and grate the pineapples quickly enough, then cook the jam right after, it'll only take you say 4 hours at the most? It's best if you have a side-kick like me and my mom, so one person does the cutting and grating and the other does the constant stirring on the stove :]

Preliminary notes: There were things I both liked and disliked about each recipe, and I'll be briefly jotting them down below.

Recipes with 'melt in the mouth' texture, suitable for enclosed tarts:

Youfei's recipe
(rub-in method)

180g butter
¼ tsp salt
250g all-purpose flour
20g corn flour
10g milk powder
50g icing sugar, sifted

1 yolk
¼ tsp vanilla

Comments: I actually made two batches of this recipe, because I liked the melt-in-the-mouth texture that this provided. However, I found it too sweet, so I decreased the icing sugar to just 20g for the second batch and upped the vanilla to half a teaspoon. Definitely a recipe that I'll turn to again next year.

Agnes Chang's recipe
(uses creaming method)

220g unsalted butter
50g castor sugar (or icing)

½ tsp vanilla
2 yolks

360g all-purpose flour
10g corn flour
8g milk powder
¼ tsp salt

Comments: I thought the sugar amounts here was just right, although I would increase the vanilla to 1 teaspoon because I personally don't like the taste of yolks. I would also increase the milk powder slightly more the next time around. This recipe got quite a lot of raves from my relatives for its tenderness and melty texture, although I'm personally not a fan because I thought it stuck to the roof of my mouth too much. 

 Little Teochew's recipe
(rub-in method)
400g all-purpose flour
50g corn flour
¼ tsp salt
280g cold, unsalted butter
3 egg yolks, beaten
½ tsp vanilla
3 tbsp cold water
6 tbsp icing sugar

Comments: I found the dough too soft because too much water was added. Next time round, I'll decrease this to 1 tablespoon instead. Taste-wise, I didn't think there was much of a difference between this recipe and the previous one above.  

Recipes with a more solid sturdy texture, suitable for open-faced tarts:

Lily's Open-face Pineapple Tart Recipe

(uses rub-in method, or use a food processor)

280g flour
1tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tablespoon sugar

110g butter
56g margarine

1 yolk
½ tsp vanilla

2-4 tablespoons chilled water

Comments: This produced one of the sturdiest tarts ever, but the tarts were way too bland. I thought a little bit more sugar and some milk powder would help. Definitely like it because it handles very well for open-faced tarts.

Karen's Pineapple Tart Recipe

(uses creaming method)

140g margarine
120g butter
40g icing sugar

2 eggs

370g all-purpose flour
40g corn flour
¼ tsp salt

Comments: Since this is my mom's friend's recipe, I'm quite biased towards it because I thought it was a pretty good recipe to begin with. I did more tweaking for it the second time around, using 220g butter and just 40g of margarine to give it that crispiness. I also substituted some corn flour with milk powder to enhance the taste. Another recipe that I'll try again next year for open-faced tarts.

Rita's Nyonya Pineapple Tart Recipe

(uses rub-in method)

400g all-purpose flour
250g salted butter
1 egg
40g sugar

(optional: ½ tsp vanilla)

Comments: This is probably a recipe which is more than 50 years old. My grandaunt has been using this recipe since a long long time ago, and you can probably tell that it is an old recipe because it doesn't contain much frills. The original recipe has just 4 ingredients - butter, flour, egg and sugar. And this was the recipe that my mom used for a decade or more, before I stepped in with my experiments ;p This is definitely a versatile recipe for both open-faced and enclosed tarts, and I believe most other nyonya or nastar rolls will use similar recipes. In fact, the original recipe makes use of margarine, which gives it a very crisp texture. In my attempts using this recipe, I used unsalted butter with a half teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of vanilla, and substituting 20g of flour with milk powder. Delicious!

Janine's jots: 

• Serving size: Most of these recipes make use of a block of butter or thereabouts, and with this amount, you can probably make 80-100 pineapple tarts, depending on whether it is the enclosed or open types, and how large your tarts are.
• Storage: Separately, you can store the pineapple paste in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer for up to a year. The paste does not freeze in the freezer because of the sugar content and yes, I've tried using a year-old paste which my mom made the previous year. You cannot tell the difference after it's baked. For the dough, you can make it up to a week in advance, although I would advise making it a maximum of three days before lest the 'fridge' smell seeps into the dough. After you've baked the tarts, wait for them to cool completely and store them in air-tight containers. They will laste for about a month before they lose their crispness or tenderness.
• Would I make this again?: Definitely! And I'm going to go about it more scientifically next year so that I can definitively come up with "the best" pineapple tart recipe!
• Other comments:
• You will realize that actually, the proportions are largely similar. In fact, I did a brief calculation of the proportions of butter to flour, which I think is the main factor affecting taste and texture in the tarts, and the recipes range from a 0.58-0.65 ratio of butter/fat to flour. Of course, within these ratios itself, you could probably play around with using shortening, margarine, ghee or butter or even cream cheese, all of which will impact upon the flakiness and 'shortness' and tenderness of the tart. I haven't tried all combinations, but I personally like using all butter for the enclosed version, and using some margarine or shortening when I need the open-faced tarts to be more crispy.
• The other difference of course is choosing to use corn flour to substitute for some of the all-purpose flour. I think there is a difference in how sturdy the tart turns out, but I also believe that using cake flour, or triple-sifted all-purpose flour might also do the trick. Custard powder is actually yellow-colored cornstarch/flour, so please don't be fooled and go all the way to buy custard powder. You can actually use the same amount of cornstarch together with 1-2 drops of yellow coloring to get the same effect.
• Another thing about the dry ingredients or flour proportions is that I like the addition of milk powder because I find that it gives the tart a nice milky flavour. You can substitute about 5g of milk powder to every 100g of flour required in the recipe, or you can experiment and find which quantities you like best. Alternatively, if the recipe requires the addition of cold water, you can substitute that with cold milk. I've tried that in some of the recipes above and it works the same, although the milky flavor is not as intense because so little milk is added.
• If you notice, there are varying amounts of egg being used - some use the whole egg, while most tend to use just the yolks. From what I know from food science, the yolk provides the moistness and tenderness, whereas the white provides the structure; so if you use the whole egg, it is likely that you'll get a sturdier crust whereas if you use just the yolk, you'll get a more tender crust.
• For sugar, you can use icing sugar if you want a meltier texture, but otherwise, castor sugar works fine as well. I don't like my tart crust to be too sweet, because the pineapple paste is already sweet, so I tend to use about 30g of sugar to 250g of butter for the recipes.
• I have no idea how the creaming or rub-in method affects the tart, because I didn't actually attempt making a single recipe using varying methods. I can probably generalize it by saying that it is likely that rub-in method gives you a melt-in-your-mouth, tender texture, but then again, the creaming method can also provide the same results (see Agnes Chang's recipe above). So the method probably does affect the end-product to some extent, although I'm not sure what. Anyone has any idea?