Easy shortcrusrt pastry biscuits

This is a great nibble for parties and for family and friends who are visiting. You should also check out the link below to see how the recipe creator uses the dough to make sweet treats.
 
Easy shortcrust pastry biscuits  
translated from Web Cukrászda
 
Ingredients
150gm unsalted butter, cold
250gm flour
pinch of salr
5-7 Tbsp cold soda water
egg yolks, for egg wash
sesame seeds, grated cheese etc as garnish
 
Preparation :-
1) Pre-heat oven at 190°c.
2) Freeze butter for about 15 mins.
3) Pour flour in a glass bowl, sprinkle in a pinch of salt, grate over (medium size) frozen butter on to flour. Use a fork or your fingers, combine the mixture until it resembles large of bread crumbs. Make a well in the middle, add in little by little cold soda water, knead until mixture just combine, do not over work it!
4) You can rest the dough for 15-20 mins. in the fridge or immediately roll it out. *I rested it.
5) Roll out dough into the thickness of 0.5cm. cut in to desired shapes. brush egg wash. Sprinkle your chosen garnish.
6) Bake in the pre-heated oven for around 12-16 mins. or until golden brown and crispy.
7) Keep in air-tight container to maintain crispness. What I did was freeze them in freezer safe bags until I need it. Just defrose on serving plate about 1 hours before guests arrive. and reheat in low oven for 5 mins.

Steamed savoury egg custard

Steamed eggs custard regularly appear on my mom's diner table; however, I have never have the urge to make one since moving out. Then I stumbled upon this recipe ; which looks so simple and manageable plus promises a smooth silky finish, so I say why not make it?
Verdict : wow, so smooooth plus an extremely easy recipe! The most attention you need is making sure the water do not get too hot. That only takes up 15 mins. of your time.
Go here for the recipe at The Kitchn

Korean-Style Steamed Eggs (Gyeran Jjim)

Serves 1-2

2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water, plus more for filling pot
1/2 scallion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Combine the eggs, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a heat-safe ceramic bowl, such as a ramekin or small ddukbaegi. Whisk until well combined and foamy.
Place the bowl in a pot. Fill the pot with hot (not boiling) water to come halfway up the sides of the bowl. Cover the pot, preferably with a clear glass lid so you can easily watch the water and eggs. Cook over low-medium heat for 12 minutes, making sure the water stays at a gentle simmer.
Sprinkle the scallions and sesame seeds on top of the eggs and continue to cook for about 3 minutes or until the eggs are set. They should be firm but jiggly.
Carefully lift the bowl from the pot and serve.
Some variations:
• Add chopped vegetables like red bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, or onions to the egg and water mixture
• Add gochugaru (red pepper) along with the scallions and sesame seeds
• Substitute brined baby shrimp, fish sauce, or soy sauce for salt
• Substitute stock for water
 

Savoury Chinese 5-spice doughnut { Ham chim paeng }

Deep-fried savoury doughnut is typical hawker fare back home; which is usually consumed in the morning or during tea.time. To make this deep-fried savoury doughnuts at home has been on my to-try list for the longest time! I'm so glad that it has been crossed-off from the list.
Please visit My Kitchen Snippets for the recipe.

Pancake Hortobágy style { Hortobágyi palacsinta }

The other day I taste for the first time Hortobágyi palacsinta. It was melt in the mouth pancake and filling, drizzled with velvety sauce. The next day I've decided to recreate it in my own kitchen. I've got to say, it wasn't far from what I remember!
Hortobágyi pancake
serves 4 pax
Video tutorial by Miele cooking school http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO8_maUoWEc
Crepe/ Pancake via No salty
Ingredients
Filling (Chicken paprikash/stew)
Vegetable oil, for cooking
5 pcs of chicken thigh meat, bone-in, cleaned
1 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
4-5 tsp smoked paprika, to taste
1 tomato, diced
1 Hungarian wax pepper
salt, to taste
water, just enough to cover meat
To thicken
100ml sour cream, room temeprature
1 Tbsp flour

Crepe/pancakes
2 large eggs, room temerature
125gm flour
a pinch of salt
250ml cold milk, room temperature
40g butter, melted
oil for cooking
Method

For stew :-
1)  Heat oil in sauce pan, sauté onion and garlic until translucent. Add in diced tomato, diced paprika and smoked paprika. Stir it a bit and put in the chicken thigh meat and salt to taste. Pour in enough water to cover meat, not too much as the meat will release some juices as well. Put on the cover and cook for 30 mins.
2) Once chicken is fully cooked and tomatoes and paprika have cooked down. Remove chicken thigh meat from the sauce, and by using a strainer remove the bits and pieces of onions,tomatoes etc from the sauce. Put the sauce back on the heat. We need to thicken the sauce by mixing together soul cream and flour, mix well before pouring into the chicken stew sauce. Bring it to boil for few minutes. Once thicken the sauce is ready.
For crepe/pancakes
1) In mixing bowl, crack in the eggs, mix in the salt. Then gradually add in flour and milk , alternately until the mixture is well combine, no lumps. Finally pour in the melted butter. Let the batter rest in fridge for at least 30 mins.
2) Take out batter from fridge after 30 mins. Mix it a little. Heat a flat pan over medium heat with some oil. Brush away excess oil. Use a ladle, pour the pancake batter onto the hot pan and swirl it around the pan to get a thin and even batter around the pan. Cook the pancake until just colour, not too much as the pancake should be soft with just a little bite to it. Cook until the batter is finish.
Assembling :-
1) Warm up the chicken meat and sauce by using microwave or stove.
Place chicken pieces onto pancake. Not too much. Wrap it. up and pour sauce over the pan cake, and serve immediately!

Gerbeaud Slice { Zserbó }

Yay, Another Hungarian classic cross-off my "to-bake" list! Like many things, something that seemed daunting was actually manageable and I would go as far as saying easy! Of course, I'm not saying I did a perfect job. I was a bit dry and crumbly. To suit my taste and my family's, this recipe still needs tweaking, but it is a very good base to work on.
Gerbeaud Walnut Slice ( Zserbó)
source : citromhab
step by step tutorial : aprosef

Ingredients
250g Flour
100g butter, room temperature
50g sugar + 1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 egg yolk
50ml Milk
10g fresh yeast (**I had no fresh; so, sub. with instant. Will lessen the quantity on next bake)
salt, a pinch
Filling
150g Ground walnuts
100g sugar (reduced to 70g)
1 sachet vanilla sugar
 200g apricot jam
+++ Lemon zest
Note :- I'll add some milk next time to the dry filling**
Chocolate icing
100g chocolate (used 1x60g bar)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil (not olive oil!)
+++ Rum
Ground walnuts to garnish
Method :-
1) Get ready the filling by mixing together ground walnuts, sugar, vanilla sugar and lemon zest +**.Set aside.
2) Start dough by bring milk to luke warm, add in instant yeast and a little sugar. Let it sit for 10 mins. until yeast mixture starts to foam/come alive.
3) Once yeast mixture is reading. In mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt. Then work in the butter until it resembles bread crumbs. Then add in the egg yolk and yeast mixture. Combine well and start to knead until smooth. Let it rest in a covered bowl for an hour.
4) 30 mins. into the dough resting time, start pre-heating the oven at 180°c.
5) Once dough full rest, divide it into 4. Start rolling out the 1 dough ball, enough to cover a 18cm round cake tin. Lay the rolled out dough into the the cake tin. Spread the apricot jam evenly and then sprinkle the walnut filling (1). Repeat this process for 3 layers and cover it with final rolled out dough. Pierce the layers with a knife all the way through to let any steam out when baking.
6) Bake for 30-35 mins. until golden brown.
7) Once the cake is cooled, start making the chocolate icing by melting chocolate by using double boiler or microwave (max 1min) and add in vegetable oil to loosen. Spread all over the cake and let it set in room temperature.

Note:-
It is best to let the cake sit over night to let the flavour melts together.

Hungarian Fried dough { Lángos }

Yes! I finally decided not to be lazy anymore and venture into making lángos at home. It is not difficult at all! Just like making pizza, except it is fried. Don't get me wrong, I'll still be buying ready-made ones from my Sunday market. However, if you need to feed or serve a hugh crowd doing it at home, will be more economical.
Lángos
Via visitbudapest.travel
300 g all-purpose flour, sifted
7 g dried (instant) yeast
250 ml water (*** I used luke warm)
1/2 teaspoon salt
sunflower oil (for frying)
toppings: sour cream, grated cheese, garlic
Method
1) Dissolve instant yeast in luke warm water. Set aside for 10 mins or until yeast has been activated (froth / foaming)
2) In a bowl, sift together flour and salt. Add in the activated yeast water. Mix together by using your hand or wooden spoon. The dough is very sticky! Just mix it until the dough is smooth and not stick to bowl.
3) Let the dough rest , covered, for 30-40 mins. or until the size of dough doubled.
4) Stretch out the dough onto a floured surface, into square shape. Cut rounds by using a round cutter of 10cm or any desired size. Stretch the round doughs a little , thinning the centre. Let it rest for 30 mins.
5) After 30 mins. Heat oil in deep fryer. Fry until golden brown.
6) Serve hot with the suggested toppings.
Updated : Oct 18, 2015
I've come across another easy fried dough recipe  ; which is fluffier and faster http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/county-fair-fried-dough-recipe
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour*

2 teaspoons baking powde 

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, in 1/2" cubes

3/4 cup lukewarm water

  Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2) Work in the cold butter, using a pastry blender, your fingers, or a mixer.

3) Stir in the warm water to make a soft dough. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.

4) Divide the dough into eight pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll into a thin 5" round, about 3/8" thick.

5) Heat about 3/8" vegetable oil to 375°F in an electric frying pan, or in a pan over a burner. If you're using a 10" diameter pan, this is 2 cups of vegetable oil. If you're not using an electric frying pan, use a candy thermometer to take the temperature of the oil; or guesstimate it by seeing if the first piece of dough fries nicely in the time specified.

6) Pick up one dough disk, and carefully lower it into the pan. Let it cook for 60 seconds (it'll puff up on top and become light brown on the bottom), then flip it over and cook until light brown on the other side, about 60 seconds. You don't want to cook these too dark; they'll become overly crisp.

7) Remove from the oil and set on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Place in a 200°F oven to keep warm while you make the remaining fried doughs.

8) Serve warm, with maple syrup or cider syrup; confectioners' sugar, or cinnamon sugar; or the topping of your choice — some folks enjoy a savory version, with marinara sauce and cheese.

Yield: 8 servings.

Simple chocolate cake with chestnut frosting

Get the simple chocolate cake recipe from Joy of Baking