september: lisa’s lavender shortbread

Despite being the last to post, again, once the theme of flowers was announced, I knew exactly what I wanted to make – lavender shortbread. I had made some earlier in the year, as part of an edible gift hamper that I made for a friend of mine. They were received with great enthusiasm, so I thought what better time to share my goodies than now. (Also, I admit this month, I have been pretty busy with other baking projects for my side business, so I didn’t have a lot of time for experimenting)

I find the “trick” to making delicious, melt in your mouth shortbread is not to work the dough too much. Of course, we have heard this a million times before, but it’s totally true. Work the flour in until just combined, and be very patient and gentle with the dough. Your tastebuds will appreciate the effort.

Cook’s tip – if you don’t have access to/can’t find lavender oil for cooking, try infusing the dried lavender with your flour. Measure out your flour and add a few sprigs of dried lavender. Allow to “infuse” for a day or so. Then prior to using the flour, sieve the flowers out.

september: anna’s lavender macarons

The thing I love about this blog is that it makes me cook with ingredients I never would have even thought about before. As a general rule, I’m not a fan of floral-flavored food (sorry Kerri!), and when I found out the September theme, I had no idea what I would make. Then the lavender stall at Union Square Greenmarket, Lavender By the Bay, came to mind. I hate to say it but I’ve walked past there dozens of times and never stopped to take a look, until now. I think the flavor of lavender is a bit more herb-y and less floral than other flowers, so I decided to use in my dish.

 

I’ve been wanting to make macarons for the blog ever since we started it! I think the idea of the blog actually came up when Kerri and I were emailing back and forth about macarons and sharing tips, tricks and photos! It’s been a while since I made them, so wasn’t sure if they would turn out. But luckily, they worked for me this time! :)

 

I filled them with a lavender infused dark chocolate ganache, using 85% dark chocolate to offset the sweetness in the macaron shells. It was a great combination – the lavender flavor was not overpowering and reminded me a bit of bergamot / earl grey tea.

And after finding an edible flower that I actually do like, I can’t wait to use the rest of my dried lavender in some other dishes!

Find the recipe here

september: kerri’s white peach & rose cake

Edible flowers. I’ve become more fascinated with them recently – how they’re used, their different flavours and what they can add to a dish (other than aesthetics). After reading an article about them in a magazine, I decided this would be the theme for this month!

I didn’t think about whether I could actually buy edible flowers in Hong Kong. I’m sure you can, but fresh ones that are suitable to be eaten are not easy to find for an everyday consumer. I can’t converse in Chinese either, so even if they told me ‘no pesticides or chemicals’, I wouldn’t feel comfortable serving them to my guests without knowing a lot more detail. So I settled for dried flowers suitable for tea. I’d seen some in a couple of food stores here so it wouldn’t be a problem.

My flower of choice? Rose, for it’s delicate flavour, fragrance and simple beauty.

For my creation, I wanted something light – in both colour and flavour – that would showcase the rose rather than overpower it. I love layer cakes – how they look, the homely feeling they evoke. A layer cake seemed fitting, and I decided on a traditional sponge cake.

I brushed a rose syrup over each layer to soak into the cake. Next was a white peach puree. White peach for its fresh, subtle, not-too-sweet flavour. The skin stained the puree a lovely pink colour, a nice contrast to the cake.

Over the puree came a rose infused cream, which I also used to cover the cake. The white peach added that bit of fruitiness without being as sweet as a jam, though the actual flavour was not definitive. I loved the look of the layers of sponge, puree and cream when it was cut – the look of good old fashioned baking.

I was really happy with the final result – both in how it looked and tasted. The rose, even though subtle in flavour, stood out as the dominant one. Just how I wanted.

And no other decoration was needed, except roses themselves.

Light. Homely. Simple. Pretty. Oh, and Yummy.

You can find the recipe here.

special post: congratulations jasmine!

As you all know, Jasmine was quite pregnant last time she posted… and September brought a new little addition to her family! She won’t be posting this month as she gets used to being a new mum, so the rest of us put together a special little something to welcome baby Andrea into the world!

Jasmine, congratulations to you and k! Enjoy these virtual cakes :) and we hope we get to meet little andrea soon! xo

september: edible flowers

Yay, it’s Spring! Well, for those in the southern hemisphere at least. But as the leaves start to fall off the trees in the north, we can still all enjoy the flowers of springtime in our baking creations this month! The edible varieties, anyway.

This month we’re also holding a surprise BSS virtual event! We’re in celebration mode, so stay tuned for this special post for the month!

* image: crave magazine, hong kong