Banana Pecan Cake

中文：香蕉山核桃蛋糕

What would you do with a couple overripe bananas?  I always make banana pecan cake with them.  This recipe is from foodnetwork: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/banana-bread-recipe/index.html . It calls for 3 ripe bananas.  It is quite interesting that I always have 2 bananas left, so I adapt it a little bit.

Ingredients：

2 ripe bananas
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 stick butter（6 tablespoon, room temperature）
2 small eggs（ or 1 1/2 large eggs, room temperature）
2/3 tablespoon milk
2/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
2/3 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions：

Preheat the oven to 325F/ 163.  Spray the baking pan or line it with parchment paper.

In a clean large bowl, add butter and sugar.  Beat with a hand mixer until the sugar melts; butter became pale color and volumes increase a little bit.  Add eggs while beating.  Mix until well combined before adding the next one.

In another bowl, add peeled bananas.  Smash with a fork.  Add milk and ground cinnamon. Mix well.

Shift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add banana puree to egg and butter mixture, mix well.  Add flour.  With a spatula or wood spoon, whisk just until the flour is cooperated.  Don’t over whisk.  Fold in chopped pecans.

Pour the batter into greased baking pan.  Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until a wooden skewer can pierce into the center and comes out clean.

A cup of freshly brewed coffee is perfect with the cake!

Dried Sweet Potatoes

中文： 红薯干

Dried sweet potato was one of my childhood favorites.  It can be served as a snack or a side dish.  It is sweet, soft, and a little bit chewy because of the drying process, which makes it so much joyful to eat dried sweet potatoes.

In sweet potato harvest season, most people in my hometown used to make dried sweet potatoes at home.  The homemade version is so much better than the ones you can buy from grocery store.  They were dried under the warm autumn sunshine, with the dry warm wind blowing over.  For the ten-year-old me, fall is the best season of the year. 

That is also why I still make a large batch of dried sweet potatoes every year.

Ingredients：

10 pounds sweet potatoes
water for steaming/boiling

It is super easy and fast to make dried sweet potatoes at home.  Steam/ boil them over medium high heat for 25 to 45 minutes, depending their sizes, or until a fork can easily pierce through the center.  Remove from heat and let them cool down to room temperature.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut each into 6 to 8 halves.  Transfer to dehydrator racks and dehydrate at 135F/ 57 C for 7 to 8 hours.  The time needed is also depending on the sweet potato sizes and how chewy you want them to be.  I like mine on the soft side.  Dehydrate for a couple more hours if you prefer chewy texture.

There is a natural way to DIY dried sweet potatoes if you don’t have a dehydrator handy.  Place them on a cooling rack or any kind of racks you have, and dry them under the sun for 2 to 3 days.  It might take an extra couple days to dry if it is cloudy or cold.  Again, it is all depending on the sweet potatoes and your personal preferences.

The natural sweetness from sweet potatoes is good enough for me.  So I didn’t add any sugar.  If you have a sweet tooth, add sugar as needed when steaming or boiling them.

Here it is, one of my childhood favorites!

Sweet rice cake balls with black sesame and purple sweet potato

中文：紫薯黑芝麻醪糟汤圆

Purple sweet potato is one of my favorite.  Unfortunately we don’t usually see them in American grocery stores.  I will stock up on them whenever I drive to Detroit area where there is a big Asian grocery store that sells all kinds of Asian goodies. 

You can steam, roast, bake or even grill them.  Whatever you can do with pumpkins and sweet potatoes, you can do it with purple sweet potatoes.  Purple sweet potatoes have a denser texture than regular sweet potatoes.   They are starchier, sweeter and I guess healthier. 

I make some sweet rice cake balls and put some purple sweet potatoes.  Ta-dah!  I have a bowl of gorgeous sweet rice cake balls! 

Ingredients for sweet rice cake balls：

1 cup of sweet rice flour
1 teaspoon oil
1 tablespoon sugar
water
1 medium size purple sweet potato, steamed
1/2 cup fermented sweet rice (homemade or available in Asian grocery store too)

Black sesame filling：

1/4 cup toasted black sesame seeds
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons honey
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoon butter

Directions：

Add black sesame seeds and brown sugar to a coffee grinder.  Grind for 20 to 30 seconds.

Microwave the butter on high for 20 to 30 seconds to melt it.  Add honey and ground sesame; mix well and refrigerate until it hardens.   Equally divide them into 20 or 30 pieces.  And roll each into a ball shape.

Peel the purple sweet potato.  Use a fork or food processor to puree it.

Combine sweet rice flour, oil and sugar in a medium bowl.   Gradually add water while whisking with chopsticks or a wooden spoon.  Stop when there is no dry flour left.

Equally divide the sweet rice dough into 20 to 30 pieces and roll each piece into a ball shape too.

Press down sweet rice cake ball with a thumb, add sesame filling, wrap it up and roll into a sweet rice ball again.  Repeat it until all sweet rice cake balls are finished.

Bring a large pot of water to boil on high heat.   Add sweet rice cake balls.  Cook until they float to the top.   Stir gently occasionally. 

Reserve about 2 to 3 cups cooking water.  Add purple sweet potatoes puree and sweet fermented rice.  Cook on medium high heat until it boils.  Serve it immediately with cooked sweet rice cake balls.

Both purple sweet potatoes and fermented rice are quite sweet.  I don’t need extra sugar here.  If you have a sweet tooth, add more sugar to the sweet potato puree.

Isn’t it beautiful?  The black sesame filling inside is a really nice touch. O(∩_∩)O~

Crème brulee

中文：焦糖布蕾

Crème brulee recipe was posted before.  It is here: http://www.yankitchen.com/blog/2014/11/1/-2  

I have one egg yolk left from macaroon earlier, so that is a perfect excuse for making crème brulee!

O(∩_∩)O~ 

I halve this recipe since I have only one egg yolk and only two of us in the house.  There should be enough to serve two to three people.

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla exact (vanilla beans are preferable)
1/4 cup sugar (increase sugar amount if you have a sweet tooth)
1 cup heavy cream
sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F/150C.

In a medium bowl, add egg yolks and sugar; beat until they are well combined. The mixture should be creamy and light yellow color. 

Add heavy cream to a small saucepan, heat over medium low heat until the cream becomes hot but not yet boils.  Remove from heat and spoon over onto egg yolk mixture. Whisk while adding the hot cream.

Divide the cream among two to three shallow ramekins.  Drain the cream to get rid of any big air bubbles if necessary.

Fill the baking pan with hot water.  Place ramekins in the center of the baking pan.  Bake 28 to 32 minutes.

Refrigerate them for at least 2 hours.

Refrigerate for another 30 to 40 minutes.

Flower Shape Pastry Cookies with Red Bean Filling

中文：豆沙菊花酥

Pastry cookies are very traditional Chinese snacks.  They come in different shapes, sizes, flavors.  But there is always one thing in common: they are always flaky, crispy and rich in flavors.  

For the cookies:

150 g all purpose flour
105 g lard / butter / shortening / vegetable oil
40 g powder sugar
70 g water
110 g cake flour

For the filling：

1 pound Red bean paste (homemade or store bought from Asian grocery store)
egg wash
white sesame seeds

Directions：

Preheat the oven to 375F/190 C.

Although you can use lard / butter / shortening / vegetable oil to make the cookies, lard is always the preferable choice because it can make the cookies flaky and crispy like no other oil can do.

Warm up the lard a little bit.  It is easier to work when it is liquid.

In a medium bowl, add 55g lard, all purpose flour, powder sugar and water.   Whisk with a wooden spoon or chop sticks until all ingredients come together.  Knead with hands until the dough is smooth and elastic.  This is dough NO 1.

In another bowl, add 50 g lard and cake flour.  With a wooden spoon, mix flour and lard until they are well blended.  This is dough NO 2.

Divide dough NO 1 into 20 g/ each; dough NO 2 into 10 g/ each; and red bean paste into 30 g/ each.  Roll each of them into small dough balls.

Take one piece of dough NO 1; press it down with your palm; wrap it around one piece of dough NO 2; seal the edges; and roll it into a ball shape again.

With a rolling pin, roll the dough ball into 3 mm thin, roll it up from one end, cover with plastic wrap and repeat the process again 10 minutes later.  It is kind of similar to making croissants.

Press the dough down a little bit with a rolling pin or your palm.  Fold two ends towards center.  Press it down again and then roll it into 1/4 inch thin.  Place a red bean paste ball in the center.  Wrap it up and seal the edge with your fingers.  Roll it into a round dough ball.  Repeat the process until all the dough balls is pressed down, wrap around red bean paste, and roll again.

With your palm again, press down the dough balls a little bit.  Cut each piece into 12 equal parts from the center towards the outside edge.  Leave the center part intact.  Each part will become a pedal.

Twist each pedal 90 degree up.  Brush the center part with egg wash, sprinkle with white sesame seeds. 

Transfer them a baking pan lined with silicone baking mat or parchment paper. 

Bake cookies in the oven for 20 to 22 minutes or until the top is lightly golden brown.