muffin

Muffins are essentially flavored pancake batter; they can be sweet or savory, and garnishes with berries, diced fruit or vegetables, nuts, spices—are limited only by your imagination. They’re so easy to make i wonder why should one ever need to buy them in bakery shops whenever we crave for them. You could basically think of a muffin you desires and by an hour you would already be munching them.

The golden rule to making muffin is understanding the ration of flour-liquid-egg. The rest is garnishing variations and sweet factor. The most basic and solid ratio for muffin is 2-2-1-1, that is 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid (milk), and one part egg and butter each, while leavening is achieved by baking powder. As a rule of thumb, a teaspoon of 4 ounces flour. Increase the amount when you increase the volume of the flour when you’re making larger batch.

Another variable is sweetness. Most muffins preparations are sweet. But the type of muffin you’re making should determine the level of sweetness. If you have a lot of sweet garnish, banana for instance, or if your muffin is to be served with a very sweet accompaniment, you might want your batter somewhat less sweet. But another good rule of thumb for muffins is to add as much sugar as butter.

Makes 10 muffins

8 ounces flour

4 ounces sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

8 ounces milk

4 ounces eggs (2 large eggs)

4 ounces butter, melted

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. In a bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a whisk or a hand blender, whisk or blend the mixture until the eggs are uniformly distributed. Add the dry ingredients. Whisk just to combine. If you’re adding additional garnish, such as citrus zest or fruit, do so now.

Pour the batter into muffin tins or a loaf pan (butter the pan first). Bake for about 30 minutes, or as much as 50 minutes for a loaf, until the blade of a paring knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

pie dough (Pâte Brisée)

Pie dough or Pâte Brisée (PA-TAY BREE-SAY) is your standard pastry kitchen 101, everyone (at least those who owns an oven) should know how to make it. This is your basic dough, from it variations are made to transform them into other shell such as tarts. It is so easy to prepare, even after only a few tries one should be able to make them with both eyes closed! Pie dough is best made by hand since it results in a delicate crust. But if you’re making a big batch then a stand mixer should lessen the burden. All you need to know by heart is the ratio of flour:fat:water, which is 3:2:1. That is why when you go to culinary school, they always refer its name as 3-2-1 pie dough. Understanding the ratio will make you golden and escape the wrangle of pie/tart recipes. Simply increase or decrease the amount of ingredients using the ratio.  Then insert the filling, whatever you desire. The important factor is the choice of fat. I prefer butter to lard or vegetable shortening since butter is flavorable. Use salted butter will lessen the use of salt to season it, using unsalted will lessen need more salt to taste. I prefer to measure the volume of flour-fat-water by weigh instead of volume. This is because the content of flour differs according to temperature.

Variation to pie dough is its counterpart known as Pâte Sucrée, which includes sugar, for sweet dough use for tart shells. To cover a standard 9-inch pie pan, 12 ounces of flour is sufficiently enough, about 2 1/4 cups. Thus follows 8 ounces of butter and 4 ounces of cold water. Create a flaky pie crust by multiplying the layers of dough separated by fat (butter/lard/shortening). The other important factor is tenderness – crusts will be dense and tough if you overwork the dough. When water is added, mix the dough gently and just until the combine together, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until ready to be rolled.

To cover a 9-inch pie pan (with top)

12 ounces flour

8 ounces butter

2 to 4 ounces cold water

Combine the flour and butter in a mixing bowl and rub the butter to create small beads of fat and plenty of pea-sized chunks for a flaky crust. Add the ice water gradually and a good pinch of salt and mix gently, just until combined. Shape the dough into 2 equal disks and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until ready to be rolled.

Blind baking: We “blind” bake a dough especially for fruit tarts when we are not required to bake the filling of the tart. To do so, we need to fill the shell with something heavy to prevent the crust from buckling. Pie weights are made specially for this purpose but a layer of baking sheet lining the pan with a pound of dried beans on top does the same job well. Bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes at 160-180 degree C, then remove the weight and continue cooking in the oven until the crust is golden brown and cooked through.

strawberry slushie

I love making slushies and i love strawberries. When i have lots of them to spare after i’ve used them for pies, tarts and other deserts that call for fresh strawberries, this will be my next pick. Look for strawberries that are red, inside and out. The sugar will juice up any strawberries and make them sweeter of course, but it cannot work miracles. So standby a few spoonful of fine sugar to add to the sweetness.

Makes one jug

400g strawberries

a few sprigs of fresh mint

1/2 a lemon

ice cubes

fine sugar, to taste

Hull the strawberries and add them to a blender with a handful of ice cubes, a few mint leaves and the juice of half a lemon. Add enough water to cover and whiz. Taste the mixture and sweeten with the sugar if necessary. Pour into a jug half filled with ice, give it a good stir and serve.