Dessert Pizza

Follow the basic dough recipe as below and turn it into fancy after-dinner desserts like what we made for ourselves tonight -- Apple Cinnamon Pizza and Choco Banana Pizza!

Basic dough recipe

2 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 sachet (7g) yeast
1/2 cup luke warm water

1 Make yeast mixture.
2 Combine flour, salt, sugar and water.
3 Pour in yeast mixture.
4 Knead for 15 minutes or until a smooth and elastic dough is formed.
5 Leave to double in size (usually 2-3 hours).

Once you get the basic dough, roll out dough into rectancle. Spread butter in the middle and bring the four corners to the centre. Fold the top and bottom fourth to the middle then close off like a book. Cover the dough with parchment paper and refrigerate for another 2 hours. Repeat the steps twice or thrice more.

Please refer video here

Apple Cinnamon Pizza

(A)
1 quantity of ready dough

(B)
1 granny smith apple
1 tsp cinnamon powder
6 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup water

(C)
Banana, sliced
Strawberries, sliced

1 Warm(B) in a saucepan to prepare apple cinnamon syrup.
2 Roll out ready dough.
3 Spread stewed apple and syrup around.
4 Bake at 200C for 20 minutes.
5 Garnish with sliced banana and strawberries

The base turned out spongy like the Chinese 'Man Tou' (馒头)!





Choco Banana Pizza

1 quantity of ready dough
1 banana, sliced
3-4 strawberries, sliced
3 tbsp nutella
2 scoops vanilla ice cream

1 Roll out dough.
2 Spread nutella evenly onto dough.
3 Place sliced banana randomly.
4 Bake at 200C for 20 minutes.
5 Garnish with sliced strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

Mr T had his Choco Banana Pizza baked at the bottom rack. Hence, the dough turned out crispy whilst mine turned out spongy and elastic. Both pizza attempts were so far considerably successful!

Pasta and Turkey Cream Sauce

Once in a while, we like having pasta in cream sauce (although Mr T still prefers the tomato sauce). Some people might find cream sauce too heavy for a meal, but I find the creamy texture utterly satisfying and further perfectionised with the addition of wild mushrooms, smoked salmon, turkey mince and leek. For this time, I chose to include only the latter two and finish the dish off with grated parmesan to create a rich but delicate sauce. I usually like fusilli (spiral) pasta as it blends in well with the cream sauce.

Fusilli pasta usually go well with cream sauce.

Turkey Cream Sauce

500g turkey mince
1 brown onion, chopped
1 leek, sliced lengthways
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp italian herbs
375mL chicken stock
300mL light thickened cream
Corn flour and water
Grated parmesan
Parsley

1 On HIGH heat, brown onion with salt, pepper, sugar and italian herbs.
2 Add turkey mince, followed by leek.
3 Pour in chicken stock. Boil until all ingredients are cooked through.
4 Stir in thickened cream, simmer over MEDIUM heat.
5 Stir in corn water, continue to simmer over LOW heat until sauce thickens.
6 Garnish with grated parmesan and parsley.

Savoury Scroll

I read a book about how to make a dough a while ago. It highlights the importance of getting the water:flour ratio correct to yield a smooth and elastic dough. The simplest recipe is as below. Mixing all ingredients in no sequential order is a typical method. However, if you can prepare a yeast mixture before hand (mixing yeast with a little water), the result somehow is better! It is true!

Basic dough recipe

2 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 sachet (7g) yeast
1/2 cup luke warm water

1 Make yeast mixture.
2 Combine flour, salt, sugar and water.
3 Pour in yeast mixture.
4 Knead for 15 minutes or until a smooth and elastic dough is formed.
5 Leave to double in size (usually 2-3 hours).

Once you have the dough, you can literally make anything out of it. One of the popular pastries is Cinnamon Roll. I don't mind the cinnamon scent, but I am more curious about the savoury taste this time. So, I decided to make cheesy bacon and mushroom scrolls instead. Mr T was the first person to taste the result. To my greatest relief, he loves them so much that he gobbled four at one time. I like this recipe a lot. It is definitely a must try!

Savoury Schroll

Makes 10

1 basic dough
1 cup diced mushrooms
2 slices short cut rindless bacon, fat removed and diced
3 tbsp olive oil
1 egg, beaten
Sprinkle of mozarella & cheddar cheese
Sprinkle of mixed herbs/smoked paprika
Sprinkle of salt and pepper

1 Punch down dough and roll out into a rectancle shape.
2 Brush surface with olive oil.
3 Spread diced mushrooms and bacon evenly.
4 Sprinkle mixed herbs, salt and pepper and cheese all over.
5 Roll pastry lengthways to form a log.
6 Cut crossways into 2cm thick slices.
7 Leave to expand for another 20 minutes.
8 Brush pastry with beaten egg.
9 Bake at 280C for 15 minutes.

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Virtually every member of Mr T's family knows about cooking and baking. Lisa is one of them who has many beautiful recipes to share. This recipe is a revised version of Lisa's original recipe. The outcome is so good I would strongly recommend everyone to try it! With this recipe, I used flaxseed oil in replace of salted butter. I enjoy sweet food but certainly not looking forward to gain too much weight!

Makes 11 cakes

Ingredients:

(A)
6 Arnott Marie biscuits
3 tbsp flaxseed oil

(B)
100g Cadbury chocolate bar

(C)
300mL double cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tsp brown sugar

1 Grind biscuits finely.

2 Add flaxseed oil to bind crumbs together.

3 Evenly press crumbs into each hole of a muffin pan.

4 Melt (B) in a warm water bath.

5 Beat (C) in a bowl with a mixer.

6 Add melted (B) into (C) mixture. Stir to mix thoroughly.

7 Place 3 tbsp of creamy mixture over the crumbs.

8 Chill in fridge for at least a day or overnight.

Roast Chicken with Vegetables

Roast Chicken is one of the very first few dishes we made together. Back then, we used to be able to get corn fed chicken, when beautifully roasted in oven, produces such tender and juicy meat texture. When corn fed chicken is completely omitted from the local market, we opt for the next best choice - free range chicken!

Mr T's papas happens to grow many fresh herbs in his garden. We harvested some for the chicken last night. Lemon thyme usually is the best company to roast chicken. However, this time we used thyme instead. It is still equally aromatic!

Mr T and his fresh herbs in a garden pot



Roast Chicken with Vegetables

1 free range chicken
1 bunch thyme
1 lemon
1 garlic
1 bunch Spanish carrots
3-4 kipfler potatoes
3-4 French shallots
Sprinkle of sea salt
Sprinkle of black pepper
Sprinkle of mixed herbs
Butter (or olive oil)

1 Preheat oven at 200C
2 Rinse chicken thoroughly
3 Prepare a tray with a roasting rack.

On the tray:

4 Place the cut potatoes, carrots and French shallots.
5 Brush the surface with some olive oil.
6 Sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and mixed herbs.
7 Add a little water to keep moist.

On the roasting rack:

8 Place the chicken.
9 Puncture a few holes on lemon skin (to release aroma).
10 Insert the lemon, garlic and thyme into the core.
11 Rub the butter onto chicken skin.
12 Sprinkle sea salt, pepper and mixed herbs all over.
13 Roast for an hour to one and a half hours, or until juice runs clear when pierced.
14 Constantly brush skin with butter every 40 minutes.

Some of the very original roast chickens we made in the past

Malted Hazelnut Milk Shake

Horlick used to be my favourite childhood beverage. Somewhere along the process of growing up, it vanished altogether from my life. Now this long lost hearty flavour has once again returned and we can't wait to make something nice out of it. I must say Mr T is a good milk shake maker. We enjoy it so much now that we are bound to have a glass each everynight. It dozes me off quickly. I sleep like a baby through most nights.

Serves 2

2 scoops hazelnut gelato
2 tbsp nutella
4 tbsp horlicks
1½ cups chocolate soymilk
2 ripe bananas (optional)

1 Blend all ingredients in a blender.
2 Chill in fridge for an hour.

Mashed Carrot and Potato

On our anniversary, I made Mr T Seven Happiness Platter to express my gratitude and sincere appreciation of our love. Well before the brilliant platter idea sprang into my mind, I stuggled to decide what to cook. So many recipes had been running through my mind. I am glad I made a wise choice, as the platter idea has a variety to offer, which has in turn transformed a simple dinner into an interesting event. I called this platter dish Seven Happiness as I wish Mr T and I will continue to live happily ever after.

As Mr T and I are currently under strict slim down diet, I chose to make some salad dishes if not oil-free meat dishes. As most dishes do not need to be served hot, they can be prepared well before which made a solo kitchen job a lot easier. These seven dishes in their miniscule portions included:

1 Mashed carrot and potato
2 Baked chicken breast in capsicum
3 Salmon-wrapped bocconcini
4 Zucchini and tomato stir fry
5 Garlic mushroom (rich in antioxidants and B vitamins)
6 Salt and pepper baby pea
7 Toasted gingerman egg sandwich

Recipe to share:

Mashed Carrot and Potato

I added carrot to give the colour a significant lift!

1 large potato
1 medium carrot
1 tbsp margarine
½ tsp sea salt
Sprinkle of black pepper

1 Peel and boil potato and carrot until soft.
2 Mash well in a bowl with a fork.
3 Stir in margarine to bind.
4 Sprinkle pepper and sea salt to taste.

Banana Cake Smoothie

Mr T seems passionate about his new blender. He is certainly serious about revising his recipe and striving to improve the quality of his banana smoothie. He made it a lot thinner this time. The malty texture comes from the banana cake I baked a few days ago. What a great way to make use of the leftover so it doesn't go to waste!

Banana Cake Smoothie

Serves 2

1 banana
2 scoops Cadbury vanilla ice cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tsp almond essence
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1½ cups soy milk
2 slices of banana cake

1 Blend all ingredients in a blender (start off with banana gradually mix in others).
2 Chill in fridge for an hour.

Banana Smoothie

Mr T rewarded me a chilled banana smoothie after a hard day at work. The sweetness was very well tuned to my lighter palate. I usually like a thicker blend, so I gave Mr T a thumb up for this recipe! If you enjoy a runnier version, you can achieve it by simply adding more milk or fluid.

Banana Smoothie

Serves 2

3 bananas
2 scoops of strawberry ice cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
Sprinkle of cinnamon
1½ cups soy milk
A little water

1 Blend all ingredients in a blender (start off with banana gradually mix in others).

2 Chill in fridge for an hour.

Banana Carrot Cake

Banana is inexpensive. With an expanding baking recipes available nowadays, this got to show how versatile banana is in the baking world. Likewise, the ubiquitous carrot is also gaining popularity in the home-baking world. I grow up enjoying both
banana and carrot cakes. This time I decided to combine them into one! Banana usually goes well with anything, so I wasn't prepare to fuss about the final outcome. Come on, what can really offset the banana aroma anyway?

To my liking, the cake turns out perfectly soft and moist, almost melt in my mouth. For this batch, I used sunflower oil instead, to achieve a lighter texture. The sweetness is just fine. Banana flavour is quite intense, so I suggest using more grated carrots. Each element - ginger, honey and cinnamon added positive hints to the cake as well. Sultanas and raisins are optional, depending on individual's liking.

I am glad the recipe works out really well. No milk was added in this recipe, so Mr T can help himself with a second slice. Since there are only two of us at home, I made a loaf size just enough to last for a good few days.

Banana Carrot Cake
Ingredients:

(A)
125g butter (or sunflower oil)
½ cup brown sugar

(B)
2 eggs, beaten

(C)
2 cups grated carrots
2 ripe banana, mashed
½ cup sultana or raisin (optional)

(D)
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp soda bicarbonate
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon

(E)
½ tsp ginger, minced
½ tsp concentrated vanilla extract
2 tsp honey

Method:

1 Line and grease a loaf tin.
2 Preheat oven to 200C.
3 Cream (A) with electric mixer.
4 Mix in (B) followed by (E).
5 Beat in (C) (start off with grated carrots then gradually add in mashed banana).
6 Sift (D) in a separate bowl.
7 Fold (D) into wet mixture. Mix thoroughly.
8 Bake at 180C for 30 minutes and 150C at 10 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.