Chocolate Chip Cookies

The absolute best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had!  I had to digitize this recipe before I lose the paper it is on.  It was on a folded piece of paper and stored in a plastic bag that I had used to bring the recipe, and ingredients, for our annual family get away in Vermont.  

I have made my fair share of chocolate chip cookies over the years.  Some have been thick and cakey.  Some have been thick and hard.  Some have been thin and hard.  Some have been too sweet.  Like Goldilocks I couldn't find the right chocolate chip cookies.  They were never just right until I came upon this recipe.  Once I tried these cookies I knew they were one of the best I ever had.  Do any of you remember the Felix and Norton cookies?  These are like those cookies.  This is a recipe that has been asked by friends, family,  friends of family, and friends of friends!.  They are always a hit whenever they are served.  I think the difference is the quality of the ingredients and chocolate.

If you want to have a batch on hand whenever you have a craving, the unbaked formed cookie dough balls can be frozen.  Take out as many as you want to bake and have fresh, warm from the oven, gooey, chocolatey cookies!!!  Enjoy!!!

Makes 54 x 1 Tbsp cookies

Ingredients:
420g     all purpose flour
1.5 tsp  baking soda
1 tsp     salt

225g     melted butter

150g     sugar (cut from original 200g)
130g     brown sugar
70g       corn syrup
2           egg yolks
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp  artificial vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (dark and milk mix)

1 Tbsp ground coffee to mix (optional)

Method:
1) Sift dry ingredients together
2) Mix together melted butter with sugars.  Add egg, milk and vanilla.
3) Add wet ingredient mixture to dry ingredients.  Add choco. chips.
4) Form 1 1/4" round balls (approx 1 tbsp).  Place on parchment lined baking sheet 2" apart.  Bake @325F for 8-10 minutes.  Don't overbake!

Adapted from LBPSB Pastry class

Chinese Cake

The perfect sponge cake:  How many of you have had the chinese roll cakes or birthday cakes purchased from an asian bakery?  Aren't they the lightest, softest, most moist, and perfectly lightly sweetened cakes you have ever eaten?  I know that I can eat a huge slice and not feel full.  A buttercream frosting would be too heavy for this cake.  A filling and frosting of whipped cream and fruits is all it needs.  This cake is pretty much my "go to" cake base for all asian birthday cakes and strawberry shortcakes.  It can be flavoured with extracts, fruit purees, green tea or pandan.

For over 30 years I would drive out to the east end of Montreal and purchase a cake for all my special occasions, from birthdays, anniversaries, children's full month, Mother's Day or just because I felt like I needed one.  It was also the same cake that all friends and families bought for their birthdays and special events.  Have you heard of the saying "Too much of a good thing is a bad thing"?  We stopped buying it because it wasn't special anymore.  Fast forward 30 years and I took a baking class from this bakery.  Because of this class, it then motivated me to take a 1 year pastry course!  I now have the coveted recipe for the Chinese cake and can jazz it up with different flavours and decorations to make it special for any occasion or cravings I have.

Such a simple cake can make such beautiful cakes!

Makes 1 x 8" x 14" pan for cake roll or 1 x 8" x 3" or 1 x9" round cake.  I like the resulting height of an 8"x3" round cake pan as it cuts and gives 3 nice cake layers.

Ingredients:

85g    egg yolks (approx 4 XL eggs or 5 large eggs)

25g    sugar

45g    oil

45g    milk

85g    cake flour

1g      salt

1 tsp  vanilla extract (or any other flavour)

170g  egg whites (approx 5 XL eggs or 6 large eggs)

85g    sugar

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 325F

2) Mix egg yolks with sugar.  Mix in oil.  Mix in milk.  Sift in flour and salt and mix.  Mix in any flavouring.

3) Whisk egg whites, adding sugar in 3 batches, at medium high speed until firm peaks.  Lower speed and continue beating for a couple of minutes to medium peaks.

4) Fold in egg whites, in 2 to 3 batches, into the egg yolk batter, until no whites are visible.

5) Bake in a parchment lined pan for 30-40 minutes until inserted toothpick is clean.

Adapted from Patissierie Legault

Chinese Dumplings

Teamwork!!!  I never thought to make dumpling skins from scratch until we made Chinese dumplings at my pastry school to celebrate the Chinese New Year.  All the Asian classmates got together and made a variety of dumplings for our class.  The fillings and styles of wrapping were different but the dough was basically the same with the only difference was whether hot or cold water was used.  The non-Asian classmates would help out between turns of their Danish pastry dough because the class must go on!  All the dumpling dough was rolled out by hand and cut out with a ring.  I wish I had a picture to commemorate the event that started me on my homemade dumpling journey.

                                                

The experience brought back memories of my childhood when the Loo family would all make “fun guo” (steamed pork dumplings) around the kitchen table.  Patriarch and Matriarch Loo made the best tasting dumplings.  They made sure that the ingredients were of quality and with ingredients that all the children enjoyed - shrimp, pork and chinese shiitaki mushrooms.  I’m salivating just thinking of the translucent pockets filled with savoury and juicy shrimp and meat fillings.  The Loo girls would make the dumplings and the Loo boys would eat them.  Teamwork!!!  At that time we used a tortilla press to flatten the dough.  Now I’m using the kitchenaid pasta dough roller to flatten out the dough.  Seriously, why roll by hand when I have access to a machine that will help make sure the wrappers are consistent in size and thickness.

The below recipe is not the translucent wrapper or filling from my childhood.  Once I find one I’ll certainly write it down and we can have a Loo family dumpling day!  The filling can really be anything you like.  Go wild!  Go crazy!  Go enjoy the fruits of your labour!  It’s definitely an all day event when doing this alone.  I didn't mind because it is for family and so relaxing while listening to oldies music.

The recipe below makes about 150 dumplings. 

FILLING:

Ingredients:

1.3kg of ground pork

200g of chopped raw shrimps

4 dried chinese mushrooms

15g light soya sauce

15g cooking wine

20g salt

30g sugar

300g water (or water from the soaked mushrooms)

3 eggs

Dark soya sauce

Sesame oil

Oil

Method:

Wash and soak the chinese mushrooms.  Chop the mushrooms.  Combine the marinade ingredients and then pour over the ground pork.  Using a kitchenaid, with the paddle attachment, beat at medium low / medium speed until all the ingredients are combined and liquid absorbed.  Add in the shrimps and mushrooms and continue to beat.  Let sit for 30 minutes.

WRAPPERS:

Ingredients:

1000g AP Flour

560g warm water

Extra flour for dusting

Method:

In a large bowl, mix in the warm water with flour.  Once, more or less combined, turn out onto the table and knead until a smooth ball.  Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.  Cut into 4 pieces and wrap 3 in plastic wrap.  Dust table top with flour and roll dough into a sausage.  Flatten out and pass the dough through the pasta roller, passing twice for each thickness, starting at 1, then 2, then 3, and finally to 4.  I like the thickness of 4 but you can go to 5.  Cut using a 3 ¼” / 8cm ring (glass cup or whatever you have on hand).  Flour well between layers

ASSEMBLY:

The easiest way is to make half moon shaped dumplings.  Take a dumpling wrapper, wet half of the edge with water, put a full teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper and fold over the wrapper so that the dry edge meets the wet edge.  Press the edges down.  Another way is to use a gyoza mold.  Lay on dumpling on a parchment lined tray that has been well floured to prevent the dumplings from sticking.  Cover with plastic wrap to prevent the skin from drying as you continue making the rest of dumplings.  You can freeze the dumplings on the tray.  Once completely frozen, transfer to a plastic container or bag.  Dumplings can be boiled or pan fried.