Fro-yo @ Noggi, Strathfield

The weather's been so hot for the past couple of days. Perfect for frozen yoghurt!

Strathfield seems to have become a magnet for fro-yo businesses lately. Moochi opened up sometime late last year, and recently Noggi has popped up only a few doors around the corner. I have been to both, and each has their respective merits. In my opinion, Noggi has the upper hand atmosphere-wise, and I got more of a youthful vibe from its staff and decor :D

I like in particular how everything is green and fresh-looking. The menu is placed next to a panel explaining how to assemble your own, customised fro-yo dessert.

In addition to four kinds of frozen yoghurt (original, wildberry, green tea, and biscotti) with various toppings, Noggi offers waffles served with fro-yo, smoothies, and the usual selection of espresso beverages. The fro-yo comes in various sizes, ranging from a cone (which doesn't come with toppings) to the crazy 1300g serving known as a "groupi". With the exception of the cone, all sizes come with 3 free toppings (ETA: A friend brought it to my attention that the 3 toppings are actually not free; you can either buy the fro-yo without toppings, or get it with all 3 toppings for a higher price. Thanks, S.!). The sign on the bottom right hand corner says, "Come in your high school uniform & get your toppings for free!"Is this referring to the 4th topping? I can't believe I'm even contemplating suffering the humiliation of bumping into someone I know while donning my old high school gear.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you will direct your gaze to the larger measuring cup in the picture above. That is what the 1300g "groupi" comes in. On a second visit, I saw one being prepared. I hope whoever had ordered it was planning on sharing, because that was one giant-ass bucket of fro-yo. There were three different flavours of fro-yo in the single cup, so I guess they'll let you combine flavours. I stuck with the regular size on my first visit, and chose green tea as the base. The toppings? Fresh blueberries, mochi, and Oreos.

I went with a few other fro-yo aficionados on the second trip there, and we got two regular cups. One was biscotti fro-yo with mochi, Oreo and Cocopops:

The second cup held the original flavoured froyo, with gummi bears, mochi, and fresh watermelon pieces:

Next time, I shall try the wildberry fro-yo, and report my findings! :D

Noggi

2/2 Albert Road, Strathfield, 2135.

Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Noggi-Strathfield/252426288138707

Recreating the Chinese Birthday Cake

I've always felt that I never got the credit I deserve for my baking from my family. All too often, I get told off for adding too much sugar, butter, or chocolate (...???...) to something, and as a result, my beautifully constructed, multi-layered cake would remain untouched on the kitchen bench. Untill I get sick of walking past it every time I go to grab a snack, and a) freeze it; b) chuck it away; or c) push it onto a far more grateful recipient (i.e. a good uni friend of mine).

Needless to say, I was very surprised when I received a phone call from my mum the other day asking me if I would like to make a cake for my grandpa's upcoming birthday. Me? Trusted with a grandparent's birthday cake? My pastry skills must be rising in my family's estimation. Of course I agreed, eagerly rising to the challenge of creating something that would appeal to my family member's picky palates.

It was clear from the outset that a Chinese-style sponge cake was the only way to go. I'm talking about the ones found at Chinese/Asian bakeries here in Sydney (and all around the world, I suppose). The one known as 鸡蛋糕 (ji dan gao); literally, 'chicken egg cake'. Quite aptly so, considering that eight eggs went into making this particular one. You hear correctly; I almost single-handedly cleared out the whole egg carton with this cake. But that's really the only thing this cake is heavy on. The only fats came from 2 tablespoons of canola oil and 2 tablespoons of milk. The amount of sugar was such that it was barely sweet - a mere hint only.

I have a love/hate relationship with sponge cakes. I hate how shitty they make me feel when they come out of the oven all deflated and pancake-like, but when I do get that ultimate fluffy texture, it's as good as getting full marks on an exam. This particular one was a mixed bag. One cake, made from half the batter, was decently spongy and aerated, while the other one turned out all dense and chewy. I presume it's to do with both my method and the bakingware I used. Sponge cake, I will conquer you one day!

Note the fairly dense middle layer. Hmmph.

Drawing from my vast experience in eating Chinese Birthday Cakes, I chose the conventional whipped cream and fresh fruits combo to fill the layers. Again, the cream was only slightly sweetened with confectioner's sugar, and flavoured with vanilla essence. Despite the copious amount of whipped cream used (I used the whole of the 600ml carton), it didn't taste gluggy. Even with excessive consumption, as I can personally attest to :D

I had initial thoughts of covering the cake with a layer of swiss meringue buttercream (my go-to frosting when it comes to decorative piping), but knew it would just be scraped off by everyone prior to eating. So, in the interest of minimizing waste, and keeping it as similar as possible to the real article, I simply covered it with some fresh fruit, and crumbles of honey-roasted macadamia nuts around the side.

So, how was my family's reception of the cake? I think they loved it! I certainly had no trouble with polishing off the huge slice I got. I heard murmurs of "mmm, it's good" and "tastes better than the ones from the bakeries" as everyone tucked in. Good work, Lucy, a nice job indeed :D

Recipe for Chinese Birthday Cake

Adapted from Tastydesu

Ingredients

For the cake (makes two 9" rounds)

1 cup cake flour

1 cup caster sugar

8 large eggs, at room temperature and separated into whites and yolks

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the whipped cream filling and frosting

600ml cream, suitable for whipping

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 tablespoons confectioner's/icing sugar (but can add more/less according to personal preference)

To assemble

Canned peaches in syrup

Fresh fruits of choice

Honey-roasted macadamia nuts, chopped

Glace cherries

Method

To make the cakes:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line two 9" round baking pans with non-stick baking/parchment paper.

2. Mix 3/4 cup caster sugar with egg yolks and beat until pale yellow and thick. Add vanilla and beat to incorporate.

3. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with electric beater until soft peaks form. Add in the remaining 1/4 cup of caster sugar gradually, in two or three separate additions, and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

4. Combine half of the meringue from step 3 with the egg yolk mixture, and fold gently to incorporate (don't worry if they're not mixed thoroughly; there will be more mixing in the following steps).

5. Add oil and milk to the batter from step 4. Fold in the remaining half of the meringue from step 3.

6. Divide the batter between the two pans, and tap pans to release any air bubbles. Bake for abount 20-25 minutes, until the tops are lightly-browned, or a cake-tester stuck into the center comes out clean.

7. Turn oven off, open oven door slightly ajar and allow the cakes to cool inside the oven, as sudden exposure to cold air encourages rapid deflation.

To make the whipped cream filling:

1. Place cream, vanilla essence and confectioner's/icing sugar in a cold bowl and beat whip with electric beater on high speed until the beaters leave a trail in the cream. Be careful to not overbeat the cream! Overbeaten cream resembles a yellowish, lumpy soup - also known as butter primordium :D

To assemble:

1. Once cooled completely, divide each cake into two layers by slicing horizontally with a serrated knife or cake leveler. Brush each layer with syrup from the canned peaces.

2. Chop up the canned peaches (use as much as you want) and combine with three-quarters of the whipped cream. Fill the cake layers with this mixure.

3. With the remaining whipped cream, coat the sides and top of this cake, filling any cracks or indentations.

4. Slice fruits, chop the macadamia nuts, and have some fun decorating!

Roasted pumpkin and chickpea salad, with add-ins of your choice!

Or as the non-Aussies would call it, "roasted squash salad, etc." :D

Salad seems to be all the rage these days in our health-conscious society, with "salad bars" popping up all over the place. You know, those places where you pay an exorbitant amount for the privilege of watching the hot guy (or girl) behind the counter toss a few ingredients of your choice into a mound of salad leaves.

It's obvious that those who possess a decent business mind are taking full advantage of our newfound preoccupation with rabbit food - which isn't to say that it's necessarily a bad thing. After all, a customised salad's around the same price as a kebab or a KFC meal...without the detracting factor of potential coronary artery disease. It's a win-win situation.



And yet, I can't help but feel that there are better ways to spend my money than on salad. I mean, it's...salad. It's, like, 98.5% ready-made by nature. I maintain that it's an aberration of my basic, human right to be charged for what is essentially Mother Earth's gift to me!

(Okay, that was a joke. Salad bar people, please don't hurt me.)

But, as my dad always says, there's no point in complaining; if you're unhappy with the way things are done, go do it yourself. Which is exactly what I did. I got off my lazy ass, threw away yesterday's kebab wrapper, and got down to work on makin' my own, customised salad. I decided on an age-old combination: roast pumpkin and chickpeas. To that, I added sweet corn kernels, chopped red onions, grilled and marinated red capsicum, and of course, salad leaves. The result? A healthy, nutritious and filling salad, made exactly the way I wanted, and for around half a price!

(There was the time factor - it took me almost 2 hours to put together this lunch. Oh, be quiet. You can't win at everything in life :D)

 

 Recipe: Roasted pumpkin and chickpea salad

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the roasted pumpkin:

1kg of pumpkin/squash

4 french shallots

4 small heads of garlic (I used purple-skinned garlic)

Salt

Cummin powder

For the salad (quantity up to you):

Cooked chickpeas (I used canned)

Sweet corn kernels (again, I used canned)

Grilled and marinated red capsicum (...canned...I mean, jarred...)

Red onions, chopped

Other add-ins of your choice! Chicken, avocado, the kitchen sink etc.

For the dressing:

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 small red onion, finely diced

Method:

1. To make roasted pumpkin - preheat oven to 190 degrees celcius. Remove skin from pumpkin using a knife or vegetable peeler, then slice into bite-sized cubes. Place into baking dish along with peeled french shallots and garlic (also peeled). Season well with salt and cummin powder. Don't hesitate to really rub it in with your (clean!) fingers. Place into oven and roast for 1 hour.

2. To make dressing - pour the red wine vinegar over the finely diced onions and set aside.

3. Put your salad together.

4. Remove roasted pumpkin et al. from oven and allow to cool.

5. Put your roasted pumpkin+French shallots+garlic into your salad, pour in the dressing (including the onions), and toss it all around so everything's nicely...what's the adjective I'm looking for?...oh, you know, so everything's coated with the dressing.

6. Serve, and enjoy your (relatively cheap!) salad.

(Kidney) Bean Brownies

Just so we're clear on this: there are no actual kidneys in these "brownies". It was simply a matter of having to use canned red kidney beans instead of the ubiquitous black beans called for in all the bean brownie recipes I found. Here in Australia, black beans, canned or not, don't seem to be nearly as easily found in grocery stores as they are in the States.

A caveat: Although they're called brownies and indeed look like brownies, they're...not brownies. They don't taste like your traditional brownies, and if you're looking for a sugar/butter/chocolate hit, you're probably better off whipping up a batch of real ones (or getting your keen baker friend to do it for you :D)

Having said that, these are still quite tasty, and strangely addictive once you get used to the taste. The texture kinda reminds me of the bean cakes you can get in Japan.

Without further ado, I present you with...red bean brownies!

 

INGREDIENTS (Makes 9 servings)

• 427g canned Red Kidney Beans (no added salt)
• 200g Banana (without peel)
• 50g Dark Agave Nectar
• 30g Traditional Rolled Oats
• 21g Nestle Baking Cocoa
• 1g Cinnamon, ground
• 4g Vanilla Extract

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180 degrees, or 160 degrees for fan-forced oven.

1) First, you gotta get those kidney beans mashed! I used my newly acquired blender for this part, but you could go at it the hard way with a fork.

 

You're done with the mashing once the beans reach the consistency of a smooth paste:

 

2) Next, mash up your bananas! My new blender once again came in handy.

I find that whipping it with some sort of electrical appliance gives the bananas a more aerated, marshmallowy texture than mashing it up with a fork, which in turn translates into a more fudgey finished product. But as long as there aren't any visible chunks of banana, you're doing fine :D

3) Add whipped banana to the red bean paste. Add in the cocoa powder, agave nectar, ground cinnamon and vanilla essence. Incorporate thoroughly.

 
 

4) Add the rolled oats, and mix again.

5) At this stage, I put the whole mixture back into the blender in order to not have visible oat flakes in the final brownie batter. In hind sight, I realised that I could have just blitzed the oats into a fine powder instead, and mixed that in with the batter by hand. In fact, that would have been the smarter (and safer) thing to do, because my blender was smoking slightly from getting all over-heated.

 

6) Line a pan with baking paper, and pour batter in. I had to improvise and make my rectangular pan into a square one, since I didn't want the batter to spread too thinly.

 
 

7) Pop it into the oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes. Brownies are done when the top is nicely cracked like this:

8) Allow to cool, cut into pieces and then enjoy! Some say they're better after a few hours of refrigeration, but I found they taste really yummy either way.

 

One friend has said to me on many occasions that there are foods that you just know are doing you all sorts of good as they're going down the gullet. This is one of them. It doesn't taste like decadence in a square, but at only (roughly) 116 calories per serving, it's a 'brownie' that one can eat on a day to day basis :D