Cherries: Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (cheat version)

What do you do with leftover chocolate cake layers?  I love schwarzwälder kirschtorte, also called Black Forest Cake, Black Forest Cherry Cake, or Black Forest Gateau.  After making one just a few weeks ago, I was left with one, single layer of chocolate cake.  That's just too little for a full cake, but to throw it away would have been so wasteful.  So, I decided to do a little cheat version of the cake I love so much.

Tips:

1- If you have leftover cake layers, wrap it tightly with plastic wraps and it should store in the freezer for about two weeks.

2- It doesn't necessary have to be a heart-shaped cake, go for anything you have or like.

3- Personally, I prefer using Kirschwasser, it literally means cherry water in German.  However, if you are serving this to a child or pregnant ladies, you can substitute it with syrup from canned cherries mixed with simple sugar syrup (see recipe below).

4- You will see multiple choices for the soaking liquid.  You can chose any versions you prefer depending on your own liking and who you are serving the cake to.

5- I'm using fresh Bing cherries which are sweeter, but you can also substitute with canned cherries if you prefer.  Sweet, tart, pie filling, any kind of cherries you have are fine.  Marachino cherries, however, does not go so well if used as the filling, decorations are fine though.

6- If you don't have piping tips or piping set, you can spread it with a knife and spoon, or cut a 1/4 inch tip out of a zip top plastic bag and pipe.

7- If Chantilly cream on the cake turned soft due to surrounding temperature, do chill it in the fridge for about 10 minutes before serving.

 

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (cheat version)

Cake:

1 Chocolate chiffon cake layer

Arrange and using cookie cutters, cut out 3-6 shapes of the cake.

If the thickness of the cake is at or more than 3/4 inches, half it, so that it is about 1/2 inch thick.

Fillings:

Cherries, halved and pitted 

Depending on the size and shapes of your cake, you may need less or more of the cherries.

Chantilly Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Whip all three ingredients to stiff peak and store in refrigerator until it is ready to be used.

Soaking Syrup:

Choice I)

1/8 cup kirschwasser

Choice II)

1/8 cup sugar

1/8 cup water

Boil the two ingredients until dissolved for a simple syrup.

Cool the syrup and set aside for later use.

Choice III)

3 tbsp simple syrup

3 tbsp kirschwasser

Mix all ingredients and set aside for later use.

Choice IV)

3 tbsp simple syrup

3 tbsp syrup from canned cherries

Mix all ingredients and set aside for later use.

Choice V)

2 tbsp simple syrup

2 tbsp syrup from canned cherries

2 tbsp kirschwasser

Mix all ingredients and set aside for later use.

After cutting out cake shapes, immediately brush with your choice of soaking liquid so that the cakes does not dry out.

Set first layer on a plate and pipe a thick later of Chantilly cream around the border.

Set cherry halves on the cake.

Add a little more Chantilly cream to fill the spaces between the cherries.

Place another layer of cake on top of the first layer, with soaked layer facing bottom.

Brush the top of the second layer of cake with soaking syrup.

Repeat procedure of piping cream and placing cherry halves on cake.

Place third layer of cake over the second layer of cream and cherries.

Decorate top of the cake with Chantilly cream, and decorate with more cherry halves.

Dust with cocoa powder if you wish.

Finally ENJOY YOUR CAKE!

You can also cover the whole cake with cream as shown in the picture below.  Whatever you wish, you can make em!  As the title of the blog suggests:  PLAY!  Have fun, enjoy! ^^

For $2.50 at Farmers' Market...

That's what I got for $2.50 at the Farmer's Market this past weekend.  Ten picking cucumbers, four yellow onions, and three bell peppers (green, purple, and light yellow).  I've never seen a purple one before.  I'm excited to try it out.  Hopefully tomorrow.

I've never been to a farmers' market before this year, and my first experience was way more expensive than I thought it'd be.  Then, my friend who pens Little Corner of Mine, asked me if I wanted to join her visiting a local farmers' market a few weeks ago.  During my first trip there, I came out with pickling cucumbers, squashes, and carrots.  In fact, we both came out with similar produce.  She couldn't make it this weekend, so I went with hubby.  Again, I came home with another big bag of goodies.  More picking cucumbers this trip.  I've already sliced em all up and pickled em in a couple jars.  Now I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow morning with tri-colored bell pepper omelette.

Anyone had good or bad experiences at their local farmer's market?  I'm a newbie and if anyone has any good tips or things to look out for at the market, please do share, I would love to know. =)

Of Cherries and Pears

Phooey...  It HAS been a while since I've posted anything...  I feel bad, I really do.  Sorry everyone.  I was a stay at home wife for more than a year, and just recently started working as an interpreter.

I've always had a penchant for languages.  I grew up in a family speaking Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hokkien, then learned English and Malay in school.  Tried picking up German and Japanese along the way, and now I'm trying to learn Spanish.  I'd say I'm a pretty strong Mandarin language user.  However, since about 10 years ago, English has slowly but surely overtook Mandarin as the stronger language.   Thanks to a recent German trip, I've got some of those German words coming back to me.  It was really fun trying to use my really-touristy-broken German.  Let's see, I accidentally ordered a large beer instead of a small one?  Or paying 60 cents for a 70 cents ice-cream and had the lady behind the counter laughing as I sheepishly dug out another 10 cents to cover the difference.  I'd like to think of it as I made her day better with a laughter.  I hope...

As for my Japanese skill, well, let's just say that if you drop me anywhere in Japan, I'll manage to find my way out fine.  Not strong, just very child-like Japanese, but I won't starve to death in Japan.  After three years of weekly Japanese classes, I almost gave all of it back to my teacher.  Thank goodness for animes, mangas, J-pops and dramas.  Now I'm picking up a little Spanish here and there.  Hmm let's see, I can do a simple greeting and order food from restaurants or at the mercado (market/marketplace).  I really need to be better at my Spanish.  haha

Anyway, have you ever had that feeling that you can do more?  That you can somehow contribute more to the society, to your community?  For over a year, I held fast hoping that I could find another job in my previous engineering field, but that didn't happen.  I was just feeling that I should be doing more for my community when this interpreter thing dropped in my path.  By "thing", I mean a good thing!  I was a little skeptical when my lady boss said that she had a good feeling that we'll work along very well.  Maybe because I was going into a new field?  Maybe because I will be working mainly in medical settings?  Maybe...?  There may be a lot of "maybes", but I did it anyway.  I've taken a course, I've drilled myself in medical procedures and terminology, and also on what being a professional medical interpreter means.  It can be hectic sometimes, but so far, I like it!  Even though there are days when I felt that I could've done better, could've been better, deep down, I know that even just a little, I'm contributing to my community.  And I like that!  I've got this skill that can be applied in this way to serve my community, so why not?  But, on the downside, that means weekly drilling of medical terminologies and procedural names so that I can be better at what I'm doing.  Good way to keep my brain going I suppose.  And a very good way to bring back all that Chinese language skills that I have into tip-top shape.  YAY!

So, that's what's up with me as of late.  And finally I'm able to get a better foothold of my schedule and come back to my little blog.  Yes, I HAVE been playing with my food.  Still am, and probably always will.  I have been cooking, baking, and having fun in my kitchen, I just didn't have enough time to put everything together and present them out to the world.

Thus far, it seems like nothing's related to the title of this post "Of Cherries and Pears".  Sure does seem like it huh?  Fear not!  This is just the beginning.  *wink*  What's coming in the next couple posts will be cherries and pears related.  I'm SO excited!  I'm in love with cherries this season.  Bing, rainier, montgomery, or marachino, I love em all!  And pears, I have this little secret love for pears.  Umm hmm.  Yup!  I will be sharing a pear preserve recipe and what to do with leftover chocolate cake layers and some cherries.  How did I end up with a leftover chocolate cake layer?  Well... here's why...

Black Forest Cake!  My all time favorite...  Now I'm craving again.  *sigh*  I'm hopeless.  Hopelessly addicted to this little baby.  Now this?  I'm not so great at it yet, and my measurements are sorta in the trial and error stage, without any proper measurements, so I won't be a good source for this recipe for a while at least.  Meanwhile, I leave all of you with a beautiful photo auf Palais im Der Großer Garten (of Palace in the Grosser Garden) und Guten Tag!

Red & White: Strawberry Crepe Rolls and Aid for Japan

This past week, me and darling hubby checked CNN and BBC on a daily basis to follow the crisis in Japan.  Sometimes we even checked the news a few times a day.  My mom asked me if I still kept our Japanese friend's contact information.  I managed to reach one of them in Yokohama and knew that he was fine.  It was then that I wished that I had kept in touch with every single one of them, that I updated their phone numbers.  I didn't and I wish that I did.  For days I felt helpless.  You know that feeling that you wish you could do more although you're so but one person?  

Spring is almost here and Japanese Cherry Blossoms will be flowering soon, but what will be in the people's thoughts this year, I wonder?

While we have enough to eat and drink,

In our hearts -

Are those who do not.

While we are surrounded by families and friends,

In our prayers -

Are those whom you have lost.

I would like to dedicate this post to my friends in Japan.  I'm not even sure if all of you are alright and safe, but here's to all of you, your friends, your families, and your fellow country men and women.  Most of us can't be there in person to help, but know that our thoughts and prayers are with you.

There are plenty of ways in which many of us can lend a hand.  Times are tough for many of us, but I think right now, many Japanese who've lost their homes, work places, and most importantly, their families, are having a tougher time than we do.  I have given some, but through this blog, I am hoping that I can help even more.  Many groups and corporations have donation pages where you can donate to the charities that are currently helping in Japan.  Below are some links where you can help.

 

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

CNN's links to Charities Helping in Japan 

Some of the charities in the list:  American Humane Association, Doctors without Borders, International Medical Corps, The Salvation Army in Japan, IFRC, and UNICEF

Helene of Tartelette is selling her prints through her etsy's shop to help the effort in Japan.  Her photos are just wonderfully beautiful.  

"For each of my prints purchased through my etsy shop, I will donate $20 of its amount to the Red Cross for Japan.  ~ Tartelette"

For everyone who have clicked on the links or donated or helped in any forms, a big THANK YOU!!! from the bottom of my heart.  For everyone who have sent a little prayer to them, another big THANK YOU!!!  I have little to thank you but my words and my recipes, and I will do my best to keep posting and hoping that they're good enough.

Tips:

1- When selecting strawberries, look for deeper colored ones with as little white areas around the top.

2- The crepe is made with a pancake recipe that's slightly modified from my grandmother's.

3- If you prefer, use half-and-half or whipped cream, instead of heavy cream.

4- Slice the strawberries as thinly as you can with a sharp knife, this will help the rolling part of the recipe.  Be careful when slicing, wear rubber gloves if you are new or not familiar to slicing food very thinly.

5- If you prefer, substitute cranberry jam with strawberry jam or raspberry jam.  I'm only using cranberry just because I have that on hand.

6- When pan-frying the crepe, do not worry about not having a perfect circle, it'll still look wonderful.

Strawberry Crepe Rolls

Crepe/pancake

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 egg

pinch of salt

water (about 1-1/2 cup)

butter for pan frying (about 3 tbsp)

Fillings

1 cup strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup cranberry jam

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and egg in a 2-cup measuring cup.

Then fill the measuring cup with water to the 2-cup line.

Whisk and combine well.

Heat up a frying pan over medium heat with a little butter.

When the butter has melted and started bubbling a little, pour some crepe batter into the pan (about 1/4 cup).

Tilt the pan around so that the batter forms a rough circle.

Fry until the edge is lightly browned and crisped.

Repeat the frying until all batter has been used up.

Smear a very thin layer of jam over half of the crepe.

Place the strawberries over the jam in a thin layer.

Drizzle over with about a teaspoon of heavy cream.

Fold the crepe into half along the jam line.

Smear another thin layer of jam on the crepe.

Place another thin layer of strawberries over the jam.

Drizzle another teaspoon of heavy cream over the strawberries.

Then, starting at one corner, slowly roll up the crepe.

Repeat until all strawberries and crepes have been used up.

Smoked Mozzarella Toast Breakfast

One of my favorite places to shop for groceries is Sunflower Market.  It used to be the place I shop for tidbits like dried apricots or peanut butter filled pretzels.  However, since I've been in charge of my own kitchen, it became the place I shop for cheap and fresh fruits.  Strawberries has been on sale for two weeks in a row.  I couldn't help getting a couple pounds of those babies of course.  One special spot I love to linger around looking for new finds is the cheese section.  They have a small basket filled with small leftover chunks of cheeses.  It is here that I found smoked mozzarella.  

I've always loved mozzarella, but smoked mozzarella was a first for me.  It was smoky, with a slightly browned outer layer.  Texture-wise it is similar to fresh mozzarella, except it's slightly more yellowish and has a full smoky flavor.  It lingered in my fridge for a couple of days, waiting for me to slice it up and do something with it.  I wanted to do something with it and strawberries, so here's my little adventure with it.  The result was a toast with crunchy sides and smoky, melty-cheesy center, accentuated with the sweetness of tomatoes and strawberries.

Tips:

1- When selecting strawberries, look for deeper colored ones with as little white areas around the top.

2- I used white bread slices, just because I had some that needs to be finished.  Whole wheat works just as great.
3- I served the toast along with a slice of smoked mozzarella on sunny-side-up egg, sauteed mushrooms, and tomato slices.  You decide what works for you :D
4- If you do now own a rolling pin, use the flat side of a big serving plate, or a big bottle works too.

Smoked Mozzarella Toast Breakfast

~1/4-lb smoked mozzarella, sliced
2 strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced
4-6 slices of bread, crust removed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 roma tomato, sliced

Place a slice of bread on a flat surface and roll to flatten with a rolling pin.
Repeat to flatten all slices of breads.
Lightly brush the flattened bread with olive oil, and pan fry til lightly browned.
Place a slice of tomato over the center of the bread, then a slice of mozzarella, followed by a couple slices of strawberries.
Place the bread slices on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil.
Place the tray in the oven under low broiler setting for about 3 minutes or until cheese is slightly melted.
Serve while the toast is warm.

Pan-fried Glutinous Rice Cake Fans (Nian Gao/Tnee Kueh)

First of all, to all a belated

GONG XI FACAI 

恭喜发财

新年事事顺心顺意

新的一年新的希望， 新的开始，新的展向

念书的学业猛进

工作的步步高升

身体健康 龙马精神

This year, we celebrated Chinese New Year in Arizona with our family and friends who are living there.  As usual, I visited my aunt, and received glutinous rice cake as a gift.  Glutinous rice cake is made of glutinous rice flour.  In the olden days, they would actually have to soak the rice over night, then grind it the next day into a fine flour, or take it to the mill to be grounded, before making this sticky cake.  This is the Vietnamese version of glutinous rice cake, which I was not used to when I first moved to the States.  That's because my grandma used to make it herself and hers came out like bricks of dark, caramel colored jewels.  Oh, did I mention it always smells so, so wonderful when she's making em?  Oh, those good ol' days...

Having been gifted with a round of glutinous rice cake, I decided to do what my aunts do, pan-fry it with egg.  It's simple, it's sweet and slightly salty, it's chewy, and it's delicious too, although different from my grandma's.  And here's how...

Tips:

1- Any shape is great, just slice it about 1/4-inch thick so it doesn't have to cook as long.

2- Eat it while it's warm, because it won't be as chewy when it's cold.

Pan-Fried Glutinous Rice Cake Fans

Glutinous rice cake, sliced into 1/4-inch thick, and slightly triangular in shape

1 egg

Pinch of salt

A little oil for pan-frying (about 1-2 tbsp)

Heat some oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat.

While the pan is heating up, break an egg in a small bowl and lightly beat with a pinch of salt.

Dip and cover the glutinous rice cake slices in egg, and place in the hot frying pan.

Turn the glutinous rice cake slices over in the pan about 30 seconds later.

It is ready when the egg looks golden brown and the glutinous rice cake slices are soft and bounces back when you poke it with your spatula.

Serve hot!

Happy Chinese New Year again to all, and best of wishes to everyone in the coming year!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy V-day everyone, and a special happy birthday to daddy!