Almond and pear tart: Guest post for Cooking Varieties

I have known Ms Wan Maznah for sometime now, almost during the early days of my blogging last year. Hailed from the same country as me, and with a superb blog, Cooking Varieties which focuses on healthy lifestyle, it is no wonder that we click instantly, all the while sharing messages and comments on each others' posts. I was elated when the topic of guest posting came up, and  I am more than happy to contribute to Wan's lovely blog. I wanted something special and befitting the Cooking Varieties, something healthy yet entertaining enough for her varied readers.

So I came up with an afternoon tea idea. Something moreish, indulgent yet healthy too. Packed with flavours and pretty on the eye. Ideal for parties, yet beautiful on its own for a solo treat.

Pear and almond tart-who would have though that pears would take over the classic place of apples perfectly?

Now I might be biased, but I love tarts. I love pears and certainly almond too. I try to incorporate fruits into our daily lives, not purely for health reason but we as a family genuinely love fruits. Although we seldom get good peckham pears, every time I see the good ones in the market, they always end up in our household soon after-straight to the mouth or a notch higher as dessert, or poached in light syrup.

Apart from the daily five, pear is also known for its anti-oxidant and anti-carcinogenic properties to combat cancer, and also prevent hypertension, stroke and lowers the cholesterol level. As pear contains high amount of fibre, it is also naturally good source as mild laxative and also preventive of colon cancer.

Good news for moms out there: Pear is one of the fruits with lower risk of allergic reactions so it is ideal to be introduced as first solid food for babies, mostly in puree form or juice.

For this recipe, I combined almonds into the flour for the pastry as well as flakes in the filling. Almonds are truly a baker's dream as it is universally delicious for pastries and cakes alike. But more so than that, with its rich source of vitamin E and amino acids, almonds should be incorporated into the diet more often, especially as its monounsaturated fat can lower the HDl (bad) choleserol.

Before I go on my rant, let's get on to the recipe. Little morsels of delight that would make you forget all the above facts as their beauty brings in the Parisienne patisserie charm with it. Adorn your favourite tiered plates with the tarts, put the kettle on and invite those guests in. For they are in for a little treat.

Flaked almond and pear tart-perfect for afternoon tea. Check out the recipe here.

Thank you Wan for having me and the recipe in your blog:-)

Couscous made Pecan Shortbread Cookies..and Happy Mother's Day!

 

Gotcha! I bet you would be curious to know what has Couscous, the typical fare of arabic main dish, got to do with Scottish shortbread? Another weird food fusion across two continents?

If you read this blog long enough, you would know Couscous, my darling daughter whom we nicknamed just that, for our love of Couscous. Growing steadily, naughtier by the day and the reason for my mother's day celebration today! Couscous loves cookies, and given her recent difficult phase with main meals, I try to bake various, different types of healthy cookies to keep her appetite going and to maintain her on 50th growth centile at the very least! 

When she showed interest in kitchen-play recently, I thought it was time to indulge her in real dough! After all that is the best way to encourage toddlers to eat..and the trick worked wonders! It was also my bonding time with her over the basic staples of flours, butter and sugar, rubbed gently with the tips of fingers to create the beautiful crumbs that would soon resemble cookie dough and bake to perfection,just like the old fashioned way. 

Whilst I am not a big fan of shortbread, I seem to make these cookies more often than not, years ago for my family members who love the british classic, and now as a go-to whenever I feel like baking something simple, yet  indulgent. I know there are so many ways of making shortbread..the various shapes of petticoat tails, fingers or wedges and the various add-ons of either rice flour or corn starch..somehow I keep going back to an old recipe from a Scottish leaflet that I got many years ago from a Tourist centre, believe it or not. Very unassuming, yet always turned out buttery delicious! This time round, I added some toasted pecans for extra crunch and nuttier taste.

So this recipe is for you. All the mothers out there, to celebrate the days or years of motherhood that comes with joy and tears..and to indulge once in a while for good food without the care for the growing hips, hands-on for  the motherly bonding time in kitchen and something simple enough to be your child's repertoire in no time at all.

Happy Mother's Day;-)

Old-Fashioned Scottish Pecan Shortbread..using hands!

120g cold butter, unsalted

60 g rice flour

150g plain flour

70g castor sugar

50g coarsely chopped pecan (toasted lightly)

1/2 tsp salt

a few teaspoon of demerara sugar for dusting

1. In a large bowl, sift the plain flour, rice flour, salt and castor sugar together. 

2. Grate the cold butter into the flour mixture and using your fingertips, mix the ingredients well until fine crumbs are formed.

3. Add in the chopped pecan and mix more vigourously until a log of dough is formed. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight, covered in clingfilm.

4. Preheat the oven at 170C. Take out the dough from the fridge, and using sharp knife cut a disc of 1 inch thickness and place the cookie on a silpat or baking paper. Bake the shortbread cookies for around 18-20 mins, or until the cookies turn golden.

5. Once out from the oven, sprinkle the demerara sugar on top of the cookies. Let the cookies cool before storing them in airtight cookie jar.

Kueh Keria, down my childhood memory lane..

My aunt makes awesome traditional kuehs, little morsel of teatime delight that seems to satiate a lot of sugar cravings in between meals. I grew up with gorgeous homemade snacks, so much so that none of the kuehs in the shop appeal to me anymore, as I knew I could get tastier ones at home! I took it for granted, alas, never bothered to learn the old-fashioned variety of sweet treats, instead focusing on the so-called modern delight of cakes, cookies and buns.

That was, until one day we had a fabulous trip to the local market which sells bountiful of sweet potatoes and the like, I was too fascinated with the appearance of sweet potatoes that immediately went to the shopping basket. I wanted to learn to make keria out of those sweet potatoes, to recapture my childhood days by learning from the maestro herself. My aunt, ever so obliging, took it to her stride and start prepping the ingredients. Showing me each and every step in her caring manner, whilst I absorb her movement in the kitchen, all done with love, tirelessly.

That afternoon, we had servings of kueh keria, ready in no time. Some like it with hot piping tea, whilst I, as usual go for my black coffee to cut out the sweet taste of syrup flakes, which is the signature of my aunt' kueh keria. Down the hawker's centre, keria is usually served with dusting of powdered (icing) sugar, just like donuts. Only this is way better than donuts, less yeasty too.

Whilst I make a mental list of the next kueh to prepare for our chai time soon, i know that this shall always remain one of my favourites. The perfect morsel that has seen through the years of me growing up, and maybe one day would be my daughter's favourite too.

Kueh Keria

300g sweet potatoes (the white flesh, not the yellow one)

80g plain flour

3/4 tsp instant yeast

1 tbsp vegetable shortening

2 tbsp warm water

Vegetable Oil for deep frying

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Method

1. Boil the sweet potatoes until tender. Mash with fork or masher until fine.

2. Mix the warm water and instant yeast and leave for 5 minutes.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the mashed potato with flour, yeast, vegetable shortening and salt. Using clean hands, mix well  until it resembles soft dough. 

4. Leave the dough in the bowl, covered with cling film for about 1 hour.

5. Take a golf ball size dough and form a flattened patty with a hole in the middle. For easier handling, use parchment paper as a liner.

6. Heat the oil and deep fry the sweet potato donuts until golden brown. Set aside.

7. Prepare the syrup by boiling the sugar and water together in a heavy bottomed pan until a thick syrup is formed. This usually takes around 10 minutes. 

8. Gently add the golden keria into the hot syrup until all sides are covered with sugar. Repeat this for the remaining kerias.

9. Alternatively, kueh keria can also be served with dusting of icing sugar, but I personally like the taste of syrup flakes on the kuehs:-)

p/s: Sending this to Malaysian Muhibbah Monday