Preview: The bread that makes you wonder which side is the head

Was it because I was inspired to bake some Japanese breads? Or was it because I was a bit homesick? Meh, either way, I had this sudden urge to bake a bunch of little sweet and fluffy cones filled with a nice nutty chocolate custard.

 Recipe coming soon!

Oh I miss you bread!

Oddly enough, despite the fact that last week I made 2 loafs of bread, we're completely out again. And who says that Asians don't like to eat bread? Actually, and to be really honest, it was the perfect time to try out a new recipe I've been eying for a little while. Time to open that bag of whole wheat flour and bake something healthy.

In my own honest opinion, I personally prefer your traditional white bread over your whole wheat one, mainly because the latter isn't as sweet and when using fruit or chocolate/caramel spreads, the former really complements and enhances the other flavors locked up in your, for example; jam or Nutella. The bread that I made is the combination of the best of both worlds; you get the creamy sweetness of the white bread and the healthy, hardy and filling taste of the whole wheat.

Ok! Here we go! This week's (or rather last week's) cooking results!

To be honest, I still haven't had the time to translate that introduction I made in Japanese yet. It isn't because I was lazy, but rather because I was going all out on putting my pastry know how to the test. Chocolate croissants, a few cakes, a mountain of cookies...oh yeah, I definitely pretty much unleashed my inner chef in me. And the result:

Over 100 cookies
50 croissants
2 sort of bread
2 cakes

They all turn out great and I did get the gist of making croissants, but I still haven't really perfected the art of encasing the butter in the dough. And even though the taste was satisfying, it still doesn't compare with the ones you get from a bakery store. Ah well, I guess there's still room for improvement after all ^^

From all the things that I managed to make, the one that really exceeded my expectation was simply this:

Green Tea Cheesecake

I made a few cheesecakes before after returning from Japan, and to be really frank, they aren't as hard to make as most people might think. I tried this particular recipe mainly because...hey it's green tea! Green tea and sweet cream cheese, the combination itself is simply heaven! So for those out there who love cheese cakes and would like to try something different, new and Japaneesy (I blame Utada Hikaru for this word) this is definitely a cake for you.

The recipe was modified and adapted from this blog which was in turn inspired from Cheese Cake Book, by Junko Fukuda, Kumiko Yanase, and Yasuyo Shida

改自《我愛乳酪蛋糕》。福田涥子、信太康代、柳瀨久美子/著

Life, cooking, eating, the passion and all that jazz

Cream the butter with the sugar, add an egg, some vanilla extract and a pinch of cinnamon. Make a mini-well in the flour, nuts and chocolate chip mixture and pour in the buttery goodness. Use a little elbow grease to mix everything evenly with a rubber spatula and voilà! The recipe of life! Or at least a path in life I am walking and willing to walk.

If you ask anyone who knows well what kind of person I am, I'm positively, if not absolutely and undoubtedly sure that they'll at some point mention how my eyes seem to glitter and shine each and every time someone mentions about sweets, desserts or just food in general. Yes, I admit, I am extremely drawn to sweets, confectionery goods, cakes, chocolate, muffins and other baked goods. Some may be satisfied and find comfort in the simply idea of tasting those savory food of the gods, but for me, baking and making them is as important as enjoying them.

Food is not only about fueling our bodily needs; it's about gathering people together, building a bridge of understanding between cultures, healing and mending old emotional wounds, warming up frozen and lonely hearts, painting smiles on strangers, making people fall in love with one other...

These are some of the reasons why I cook, why I am driven to bake...why I aspire to become a chef. It is through this passion that this blog is created; to document my progress and to share my experience. Why horde recipes and eat alone instead of giving everyone the opportunity to discover something new and different?

Now, let's start this journey!

(Japanese version soon)