I Like Bananas, Bananas Are Good: Caramel Banana Panna Cotta

So I've been on a banana milk kick lately. If you don't know what it is I suggest you go to a nearby Korean supermarket and buy some. I can't really describe it, not really banana tasting (unless it's in an artificial way) but it's very creamy and not cloyingly sweet.



So panna cotta is good because it's just pretty much all banana milk but in a different state. Banana and caramel are lovely together so I added some caramelized bananas to add some other flavours as well as a different texture. Then for the top layer I added an evaporated milk. Evaporated milk have a more sweet and really complex flavour that tastes soooooooooo much better than regular milk (but is very fatty) so I added a small layer of it.

Caramel Banana Panna Cotta
Serves: 5 cups

Ingredients:
Banana: 1
Banana milk: 300ml (1 1/2 boxes)
Evaporated milk: 80ml
Gelatin: 5g (almost a pack, 2 teaspoons?)
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Evaporated milk: 80ml + 1/4 cup (um...makes more sense in context)

Instructions:

Evaporated Milk and Banana Milk Layers

1. First, add 1g (1/2 teaspoon?) of the gelatin and mix with 25ml of the cold evaporated milk, let it bloom for 5-10 minutes.

2. After, heat up 55 ml evaporated milk, when it starts to boil, add the gelatin mixture and mix until all dissolved.

3. Pour a thin layer to each cup evenly (you can use any small cups, I only had these jello ones but a ramekin also works), put in fridge.
4. Now repeat with the banana milk. Add 4 grams of gelatine to 100 cold banana milk ad let it bloom.
5. Heat up the rest of the banana milk and then add the gelatine mixture until everything is dissolved.
6. Let it cool.

Caramelized Bananas

1. Add the sugar to the pan, turn to medium heat.

2. When it starts to melt, turn down to low heat, stirring constantly. DON'T GET DISTRACTED!

3. When it gets to this colour, add the 1/4 cup of evaporated milk.

4. Add the bananas and turn up to medium heat and cook until bananas are soft.
5. When the bananas are soft, put it on a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper to cool down.

6. When everything is cooled down, add a little of the banana milk gelatin mixture and the caramelized bananas.
7. Add the rest of the banana milk to the cups evenly and put in the fridge until firmly set. Best to put it overnight.



Plating
1. To unmold, heat up some water on a shallow pan (just a regular saute pan or something). Water must be lower than the height of your panna cotta cups.
2. When the water is boiling, put the panna cotta on it for 5 seconds.
3. Then using a small paring knife, cut around the edge of the panna cotta to loosen it from the cup.
4. Put a plate on top and flip upside down.




Banana Crown

1. Using a small paring knife, make an incision on an angle, push the knife to the center of the banana.

2. Make an other incision on the opposite angle (so it makes sort o a 'v').
3. Repeat that around the banana.

Ta-dah!



Enjoy!

Using Up Halloween Treats 3: Camamilk Cookies!

You know what's a good sensation? Having warm, sticky, gooey liquid exploding into your mouth...





Yep, biting into a caramilk! In case you don't have it wherever you are, it's a chocolate candy bar that are divided into small squares...and each square is filled with a gooey caramel!

The best part of it is you get chocolate and caramel side by side so you get chocolate and caramel and not have the flavours muddled up together. So I wanted to keep them more separate in my dessert. Also, since I already made a pie and I made a cake I thought it was the most logical place to go.


Cookies!

Now I'll confess, I was trying to make thin cookies but that didn't turn out. The good thing is...these are actually fantastic! The cookie was really light, airy, almost cake like and the chocolate and caramel made it special and it was just the perfect balance because you have the immense sugar rush from the candy but the cookie dough is more mild and subdue.

Caramilk Cookies
Serves: 14 cookies (they're rather large though)

Ingredients:

Caramilk: 10 small bars (so 20 squares)
Flour: 300g (2 1/5 cups)
Butter: 200g (almost 2 sticks, go wild!)
White Sugar: 50g (1/4 cup)
Brown Sugar: 50g (just for the sake of simplicity it'll be 1/4 cup, it's close enough, accurately it's supposed to be 11/50 of a cup)
Egg: 1 large
Milk: 60g
Salt: 1 pinch
Baking soda: 1 1/2 teaspoons

Instructions:
1. Break off the caramilk pieces into the neat squares and put in the freezer. I froze them so it'll be easier to mix them later.
2. Preheat oven to 375.
3. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Cream the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment until well incorporated.
5. Add the egg and milk until it's all mixed well.
6. Turn down the speed to it's lowest and add the flour mixture, when it's all in, turn up the speed to high.

End result.
7. Now add the frozen caramilk squares to the batter and mix with a spatula.

8. I used a soup spoon that they use for eating pho =P. Then I scooped it till bout that high, don't pack it in too much, just cusp it to make a shape like that. Each one was about 50g...almost 2 ounces!
9. Slide it down on the parchment paper (it'll be like ice cream scoop shape)
10. Put in oven at middle rack and take it out when the sides are bit brown, give it a light poke, insides should feel soft...like a moist sponge.

And then you patiently wait for it to cool down fi--



I expect no one to follow that last rule. Although I did last like...five minutes =O. But cookies are like best when they're fresh and the chocolate is all hot and velvety...mmmmmmmm...



Ahem...I mean, enjoy the cookies =)! Approved by my picky father.

Using Up Halloween Candy: WunderPie! (StarPie)

So for Halloween this year I was giving out candy and I bought a big box of various Cadbury chocolate bars.

So before I had this much



And afterwards



Yea not a lot of children, I think they all went to the rich white neighbourhoods which is okay somewhat justified cause Chinese people usually don't give out free things but joke's on them because actually this year a lot of my neighbours were also giving out stuff.

Anyways so I have copious amount of candy what should I do?



Baking the answer is always baking.

This one is all about the Wunderbar (or Starbar if you're from Europe), my favouritest candy bar EVER! It's like there's peanut butter which is delicious and then there's this chewy caramel that matches so well and it's all covered in CHOCOLATE! Also there's this crunchiness that I don't even know how they do it!

So I thought I got this imagery of it being all gooey and melted and I know the best way to do that is put it in a pie! A cup pie to be specific. Nothing ever goes wrong in a pie! I added a cream cheese filling for additional goodness and topped it with meringue to give some lightness to the dessert.

WunderPie
Servings: 5 cup pies

Ingredients:

WunderBar - 5 (one per pie)
Pie Dough - 225 g (I made a post on how to make pie dough here: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/84794.html#cutid1 don't mind my old shoddy camera though!)
Cream cheese - 125g (1/2 block)
Cream - 75 g
Eggs - 2 large, separated
Sugar - 60g (1/3 cup)
Icing sugar - 50g (1/4 cup)

Instructions:
1. Preheat to 350, take the cream cheese out, separate the eggs

2. Roll your dough till it's about 3 mm in thickness, remember to flour the surface and the roller frequently!

3. Just cut them in squares and mold it around the cupcake tin, if there is space or tears, just take some more dough and fill it, no one will notice!

4. Line wax paper ON TOP of the dough, and fill with rice, this keeps the bottom from rising up. Then I can use the rice later for cooking!
5. Put in oven at bottom rack for ten minutes or until done.
6. While the dough is in the oven, take out the paper and rice, check if the bottom is done, put it back in the oven (without the paper and rice) at middle rack, until done.
7. Cut the cream cheese into square and beat with the sugar in a mixer (stand or hand) with whisk attachment till soft and lighter.
8. Slooooooooooooowly add the cream at low speed until throoughly incorporated.
9. Add the eggs YOLKS, when it's well incorporated, change to high speed to beat some more air into it.

10. Add the mini wunderbar into the bottom, top it off with the cream cheese mixture.
11. Change the oven to 325, put the cupcake tins on a cookie sheet and add some water to the SHEET (not the cupcake tins lol) this will make a water bath. Put it on the middle rack. Check after 10 minutes.

12. In the meantime, whip up the egg whites, MAKE SURE ALL THE EQUIPMENT IS CLEAN!! Any oil and it won't work. Beat the whites till it starts foaming, then add the icing sugar.
13. When the cheesecake part is done (the texture should be jiggly but definitely solid. Like custard basically), let it cool for 30 minutes.
14. Using a star tipped pipe (mines say 825 so I think that's the size...) and make small rosettes around the top, I made five around and one in the middle. (see note)
15. Put in the oven at the middle for five minutes, take out of the oven.
16. Turn the oven to 400, when it reaches 400, put the pies in at the top rack until the top is nicely browned.

Note: I will make a piping post soon (I only know like three styles though) but a good place to learn how to make rosettes are here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfbh1UaZSe0 she also did shells!



Porno shot:



Well the pie was lovely, surprisingly not that sweet. It has all the taste of the wunderbar but with a bit more indulgence with the cream cheese and the meringue give it a lighter texture and flavour that works well with the heavier ingredients. Also it makes the pie all nice looking =D!