Green Tea Latte

 For those of you who read Mandarin. This is an old old classic by Jacky Cheung 張學友

作詞：吳慶康   作曲：李偉菘/陳少琪
每個人都在問我到底還在等什麼
等到春夏秋冬都過了難道還不夠
其實是因為我的心有一個缺口
等待拿走的人把它還給我
每個人都在說這種愛情沒有結果
我也知道你永遠都不能夠愛我
其實我只是希望你有時想一想我
你卻已經漸漸漸漸什麼都不再說
我睡不著的時候 會不會有人陪著我
我難過的時候 會不會有人安慰我
我想說話的時候 會不會有人了解我
我忘不了你的時候 你會不會來疼我
你知不知道 你知不知道 我等到花兒也謝了
你知不知道 你知不知道 我等到花兒也謝了
每個人都在說這種愛情沒有結果
我也知道你永遠都不能夠愛我
其實我只是希望你有時想一想我
你卻已經漸漸漸漸什麼都不再說
我睡不著的時候 會不會有人陪著我
我難過的時候 會不會有人安慰我
我想說話的時候 會不會有人了解我
我忘不了你的時候 你會不會來疼我
你知不知道 你知不知道 我等到花兒也謝了
你知不知道 你知不知道 我等到花兒也謝了
你知不知道 你知不知道 我等到花兒也謝了
你知不知道 你知不知道 我等到花兒也謝了
你知不知道 你知不知道 我等到花兒也謝了

Even though this is a rather emo song, I am not at all blue this morning. I stumbled across Jacky Cheung when I was updating my music playlist for my upcoming flight. His voice is full of emotion...It makes you tremble, remembering those memories (both good and bad). Next to me a is a warm cup of matcha latte. Right now, a cup of sweet lattee fits the mood much better than a shot of bitter espresso. When you're in a good mood, emo songs make you feel stronger because you experienced all the heart break, tears, and you survived.

Green Tea (Matcha) Latte
for one
2 tablespoon matcha powder
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon honey

Heat heavy cream and honey. Dissolve matcha with 2 tablespoon of hot water. Use a petite whisk to break the lumps. Pour hot milk over matcha paste and serve in a coffee mug.

*Optional: use a milk frother to whisk the hot milk before pouring it on matcha paste.

Happy Birthday to Julian--Gluten Free Carrot Cake

A big shout out to my friend Julian! He is turning twenty this coming Tuesday. A few years back he was this skinny and snobby boy and now he is twenty, so much less annoying, and more mature. Julian and the rest of the little kids belong to another group during family gatherings. He is the oldest among the kids but not old enough to join the 大姐姐 group. All the older siblings are sisters and most have a younger brother. Naturally the sisters got together, and we let the little kids run around and fight over PSP consoles.

Every year one of those boys is flying oversea for college. Even though they've out grown their tiny frame, to me they will always be a bunch of up-to-no-good boys.

Almond Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Walnuts and Macarons

I adapted Elena's Carrot Cake Cupcake recipe into this two layer birthday cake. I like the simplicity of Elena's recipe...almond meal, baking soda, spices, eggs then BOOM you get a dozen cupcakes! I wonder if the cake would be too dense if I use regular all purpose flour instead of almond meal. However, almond meal never fails to deliver a moist cake. Almond Honey Cake with almond meal and honey is one great example.

Gluten Free Carrot Cake
6 eggs
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon ground clove
2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups almond meal
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted

2 round 9" baking pans, buttered or lined with parchment paper

In a bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, sugar, honey, spices, and salt. Sift almond meal and baking soda in another bowl. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together till you get a smooth paste. Throw in the grated carrots and walnut pieces.

Divide batter into two equal portions and pour along the side of the pan. *Don't pour everything into the middle, this is how you get a mini volcano during baking.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350F. Let cool in cake pan after baking. Frost right away or wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Cream cheese frosting: Blend 8oz cream cheese, 4oz unsalted butter, and 2 cups of powdered sugar together till you get a fluffy spread.

Assembly:

Spread cream cheese frosting on top

Frost the second cake

Decorate it with walnuts, macaron shells, or anything you have on hand

Sesame Butter

I'm traveling on this wide wide road. A thick fog blocks my view. I can't see what is ahead. When I look back, the path I traveled by is buried by yet another thick fog.  What is to the left, to the right of me I don't know.  I see a few familiar faces, some laughing, some frowning, some fading away. My hands reach out to them, but all I can grasp in my palms is a few strands of warm air.

I had a dream--a very lonely dream. The chill ran down my spine and expelled all sleepiness away. When I opened my eyes, I told myself, "Angel you need some warm buns and sesame butter." Off I go, tie my messy bundle of hair up, turn on my Ta-tung steamer, pop two frozen buns in it. Fifteen minutes later......a loud ta sound took me back to the kitchen. Within seconds I have two steamy hot buns in my palms. It feels so good to hold something warm after a nightmare. On top of that, I made some sesame butter. It gives the plain buns a nutty kick.

The sesame butter inspiration came from Nami's How to Make Black Sesame Paste. I had no idea sesame paste is as simple as sesame seeds and honey! When I blended the two together, the aroma reminds me of white chocolate. In the back of my head, I feel the two will mix together very well. I measured out some Valrhona white chocolate chips that is just pure cocoa butter and milk.

Sesame Butter
100g black sesame seeds
honey
50g white chocolate

In a food processor or Vitamix, blend sesame seeds on variable-low speed. Start dripping honey drop by drop into the running blades. Add enough honey to get the whole process going. Then turn speed on high to let the sesame oil come out.

While the blender is on high, heat white chocolate on a double boiler or in a microwave.

Turn the food processor off when you get a thick black paste. Pour the sesame paste into melted white chocolate. Use a spoon and blend the two together till all the white chocolate is incorporated.



This goes well with bread, man-tou 饅頭, macaron, or tang-yuan 湯圓. In fact, sesame macaron is now my newest flavor at my macaron pop-up! Thank you all again for the support! I went through 2kg of almond meal and even more powdered sugar. Your sweet feedbacks keep my going and going.

Order now from Chez Ma Cuisine's Facebook Page!

Tomato Puree Soup

It is November all of a sudden. The holiday season is approaching loudly and right on schedule before you are ready to roast the turkey, make the stuffing, wrap the presents all at the same time. I didn't grow up with Thanksgiving. Although in school my American teachers usually organize a potluck in class and there are a few turkey posters around campus. That's all really. We don't even get a day off.

But growing up, I learned to leave my mother alone when she was preparing for Chinese New Year. Every little trouble irritated her like a tic-toking time bomb. While my mother hangs up the red curtains, stuff dumplings and run errands my little brother and I keep quiet on the side guesstimating how much money we will receive this year.

I love winter and it always make me nostalgic. It is full of holidays, gifts, and joy. The gloomy weather also makes everything much more poetic. You can't have a festive Christmas wreath on the door without bare trees and dry leaves in the background. The sadness that come with the surrounding make you appreciate what you have. Too bad LA never gets cold enough for me to feel sad and joyful at the same time.

I make up for the lack of winter with soup. Soup is a staple in winter. All it takes is a bowl of hot soup to make you feel loved from the bottom of your heart.

Tomato Soup
Serves 4

4 large tomatoes
half of an onion sliced
4 garlic cloves minced
1 teaspoon tomato paste
a handful of basil

Boil a pot of water for the tomato. While the water is cooking, remove the stem and cut an X at the back of the tomatoes. Drop the tomato or tomatoes (depending on the size of your pot) into the boiling water for 10 seconds. Take tomatoes out and peel off the skin and cut out any white stem. Over the sink, squeeze the tomato seeds out. Dice the skin-free and seed-free tomato into large chunks.

Take a stock pot and heat it up on medium heat. When the oil is hot, sautee the onion and garlic till fragrant. Add the tomato chunks and tomato paste and use a wooden spoon to incorporate everything together. Pour enough water to cover the foods and throw in some basil. Turn heat on high and let cook for 30 minutes.

Let soup cool in the pot for a while and either pour into a blender or use an immersion blender to puree everything till velvety. On low heat, continue cooking for 1-2 hours until dinner time.

Cut an X

Boil the tomato for 10 seconds then peel off the skin

Cut out the white stem

Squeeze over the sink to remove the seeds

Ta da!