Session #2: Dessert - Durian Pancake

The most awaited recipe is here! As now the king of fruits are in season, we can't think of a better dessert than this. Of 4 of us, I was the only one who had tasted this before, the rest don't know what to expect from it. I was a bit nervous though just in case it did not turn out well and they don't like it then I might be blamed. But thinking of how good those that I have tasted and their price tag, I decided to take the risk. If it turns out well, I can just make my own after this.

Here is how we make our yummylicious durian pancake. We got the recipe from Masak-masak blog. The recipe was adapted from the book At Home with Amy Beh 3.

Ingredients
30 grams icing sugar (6 teaspoons)
30 grams tapioca flour (6 teaspoons)
15 grams plain flour (3 teaspoons)
15 grams melted butter (3 teaspoon)
8 eggs, beaten
190ml water
100 grams UHT cream, whipped
durian flesh from 1 durian, pounded

1. Sift the icing sugar, tapioca flour and plain flour into a mixing bowl.
2. Melt the butter and cool it down before mixing it in the dry ingredients.
3. Beat the eggs and sieve it into the mixture.
4. Add the water and stir until the batter became smooth.
5. Heat up a small non-stick frying pan and pour a ladle of the batter. Swirl the pan around so that it is evenly coated. When the sides of the pancake curl up immediately flip the pancake on to a big plate. (We just use our fingers to pick the pancake) It should be thin and soft to taste nice.
6. When all the wrappers are ready, pound the durian flesh (we used clean bottom of sauce bottle).
7. Whipped the cream. Careful not to over beat it.
8. Scoop 1 tablespoon of the whipped cream and place in the middle of the wrapper. Scoop 1/2 tablespoon of durian paste on top of the whipped cream. Wrap into a mini sized parcel. Chill in the refrigerator until cool. It is best served chilled.

I was so lucky the pancake tasted so great and no one blames me for choosing it :) Anyway, the first batch of whipped cream was overbeaten and became watery so we whipped another batch. The second batch was fluffy only for a short while before it became watery again. I was not satisfied with the results so I went online to troubleshoot the problem.

So here is what I found:

1. We are living in Malaysia and it is hot! So before you whip the cream, make sure the room is cool. During the session, not only there was no air-cond in the kitchen, we whipped the cream beside the hot oven! Big Mistake #1!
2. The utensils used should be chilled first. If your mixer bowl is like ours (plastic instead of steel like Kenwood and Kitchen Aid), use a steel bowl instead. Chill the mixer hooks and the steel bowl in the freezer for at least 15 minutes prior to the whipping process.
3. Start whipping from slow speed to avoid cream splashing all over you and increase slowly to high speed.

Now that we have given you the tips, do try it out and share your results with us. Good luck!

Session #1: Dessert - Pavlova

Believe it or not, it was the first time all of us had a taste of a pavlova. We had never seen a real one, let alone saw one being baked but we baked it anyway. It was not that hard but it was not easy either as we did not know if the eggs were over beaten or were they still under beaten. Had to call my cousin in Aussie and BBM her the pic to ensure we were on the right track.


Anyway, here is how we made this pretty pavlova. It was originally from allrecipes but we changed here and there where we deemed fit.


Ingredients
4 egg whites
2 cups white sugar (original recipe asks for less but most websites called for 2:1 for eggs and sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 can whipped cream
strawberries for decoration

Directions:


1. Beat the egg whites until stiff but bot dry. Gradually add in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until thick and glossy. Overbeaten egg whites lose volume and deflate when folded into other ingredients. Be absolutely sure not a particle of grease or egg yolk gets into the whites (this is very IMPORTANT). 

2. Gently fold in vanilla extract, lemon juice and cornstarch.
3. Spoon mixture on the baking tray (we used non-stick tray instead of parchment paper as per original recipe). Working from the centre, spread mixture toward the outside edge, building edge slightly. This should leave a slight depression in the center.

4. Bake for 1 hour at 150ºc in a preheated oven. (DO NOT open the oven door before it is done, else it will collapse and become a pancake instead ;p  After it is done, let the oven door slightly ajar and let it cool in the oven)

(We baked for more than 1 hour hence the brown colour. It should be white. Noticed the bubble? We thought the existence of the bubbles means that it was not done yet but we were wrong. The bubbles were cooked and not soft.)

5. Spray the whipped cream on top of the pavlova and decorate with fresh berries. (It was a big MISTAKE to use canned peach as they are wet though we have already strained them. It melted our whipped cream. And make sure the room is cool enough too)


The pavlova was very sweet! I was told it is meant to be sweet so maybe we should have stick to 1 1/4 cup sugar as per original recipe. But if you have enough berries, it should complement the pavlova well. Ours was not enough. But I still love it to bits! 


P/S: Some part of the pavlova reminds me of the honeycombs in the Crunchie bar.