#custard puff pastries

[fullcravings]

Classic Vanilla Slice

[morethansalad]

Vegan Danish Pastry with Custard and Strawberries

[buffetlicious]

It has become a habit to peek at the chiller’s display shelves whenever I am nearby a Chateraise outlet. What I am looking for is for new flavour(s) of their cream puff. Spotted the new Double Fantasy Yakiimo (S$2) which featured the Japanese popular roasted sweet potato. Inside the cream puff is a double layers of Hokkaido fresh cream and sweet potato flavoured cream. Flavour wise, the sweet potato fragrant is subtle with a cream-like texture rather than the actual mashed tuber which I would have much preferred.

For forty cents lesser, one can also choose the Custard Cream Puff or Vietnam Coffee Cream Puff (S$1.60 each flavour). The airy choux pastry puff is unfortunately only half filled with cream. The coffee flavoured puff is made using fresh milk from dairy cows raised in the Dalat highlands of Vietnam and Vietnamese Coffee beans are used to make the coffee cream filling with strong aroma and robust coffee taste. Between the two cream puffs, I enjoyed the coffee one more for its strong milk coffee taste.

Selected images courtesy of Chateraise Singapore.

[bakerstable]

White Chocolate Dipped Croquembouche Filled with Eggnog Pastry Cream

[kawaii-foodie]

nicori_0226

[ophthalmotropy]

Anyway, today my friend and I used a break in the rehearsal to go to the bakery, and they had my most darling favourite pastry fresh out of the oven and still warm.

[askwhatsforlunch]

Pastéis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)

I've always wanted to eat a Pastel de Nata, and I always thought I would when visiting Portugal. But I haven't been there yet, and I reckon Os Lobos (The Wolves) winning their first ever World Cup game Sunday night is cause for celebration (especially as there was only a point in it; and Fiji also qualified for the quarter-finals!) It was a beaut game, I thought the Portuguese couldn't hold that level of intensity for 80 minutes and they did! They even scored that winning try when the Fijians were finally flying again and had taken back momentum. Talk about going out with a bang! It deserved some effort on my part, so I made puff pastry and baked these beautifully flaky, delightfully fragrant and creamy Pastéis de Nata! And do they go down a treat, indeed! Happy Tuesday!

Ingredients (makes 8):

a small lemon

a cinnamon stick

1/3 cup caster sugar

2/3 cups water

300 grams/10.5 ounces Rough Puff Pastry 

a little ice cold water

2 level tablespoons plain flour

1 cup semi-skimmed milk

1 teaspoon Homemade Vanilla Extract

2 large egg yolks

Cut three wide, thin strips of lemon zest, and add to a small saucepan, along with cinnamon stick and sugar. Stir in water, and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, boil rapidly for about 3 or 4 minutes, until syrup just thickens. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool and infuse. Set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll Rough Puff Pastry into a large rectangle, but thick enough.

Brush Puff Pastry rectangle lightly with ice water, and roll tightly, horizontally, to form a sort of "sausage". Wrap in cling film, and chill in the refrigerator.

Spoon flour in a medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in a little of the milk to combine well. Then, whisk in the rest of the milk.

Heat over a medium flame, whisking constantly until mixture thickens, like a smooth Béchamel sauce. Remove from the heat, and stir in Vanilla Extract.

Strain in cooled lemon and cinnamon syrup, gradually whisking it in until well-blended. Set aside, to cool.

Preheat oven to 240°C/465°F.

Generously butter 8 cups of a muffin tin. Set aside.

Remove Rough Puff Pastry "sausage" from the refrigerator, and cut into 2,5cm/1" chunks. Working with one round Pastry chunk at a time, flatten with your thumbs into a muffin cup, easing onto the edges of the cup with your fingers to form a cup. Repeat with remaining Pastry chunks. Return to the refrigerator, 10 minutes.

Once the lemon and cinnamon cream has cooled, whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time until well-blended.

Retrieve muffin tin from the refrigerator, and fill each Pastry case with about two heaped tablespoons of the lemon and cinnamon custard (about three-quarters, as they will puff up when cooking).

Place muffin tin in the middle of the hot oven, and bake, at 240°C/465°F, 15 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool, 10 minutes, before lifting the pastéis out of the tin.

Serve Pastéis de Nata warm, plain, or sprinkled with cinnamon like they do in Lisbon!

Portugal defeats Fiji (24-23), their first ever World Cup victory, Sunday 8th October, 2023, Toulouse, France

[queen-rainy-love]

so how did red velvet and pastry cookie first date go

Well....

*The scene is set in the Seaport District where Red Velvet is nervously picking on his outfit while standing in front of Pastry's house.*

Red Velvet: (Okay general. You got this. This is the night you've been looking forward to. You finally have this chance so you can't blew it! But don't mess up! She's way out of your league and you know that if you mess up, she'll never let you live it down! She would see you as a horrible Cookie and then-)

*A click caught his attention. He stood straight, sweating bullets. Two seconds later, Pastry walked out of her home in the most beautiful causal dress he has ever seen her in while holding a picnic basket.*

Pastry: *blushes* Hello. I hope I didn't keep you waiting.

Red Velvet: *blushes* N...no. I wasn't waiting for long. And can I say...you look amazing.

*Pastry smiles and wrapped her hand around his arm. The duo then walked all the way to the Forest District. As they walked over there, Red Velvet couldn't help but feel...like someone or some group was watching them.*

Madeleine: *whispers* Do you think he noticed?

Clotted Cream: *whispers* Well...there are six of us. I think he would notice us pretty quickly.

Clover: *whispers* No way. He's not that good.

Knight: *whispers* Didn't he find GingerBrave, Wizard, and Strawberry from the other side of the kingdom?

Custard III & Cream Puff: *whispers* Yup.

Clover: *whispers* Well, we should keep up with them if we want to see how this ends.

*A few minutes later, Red Velvet and Pastry were now in the Forest District's cherry blossom trees. They set up a picnic blanket, sat down, and officially started the date.*

Pastry: I hope you enjoy the food. I'm not sure if I did a good job on it.

Red Velvet: I'm sure you did a great job. *Pastry blushes and smiles. Red Velvet leans in and whispers in her ear.* Besides, I would love for you to take care of me if I get a stomach ache.

*Pastry blushes harder and covered her face. Red Velvet chuckled a bit and was about to say something when he noticed a blonde long hair out of the corner of his eye. Then he noticed a cape ribbon. Then a green hat. Then a metal boot. Finally, two pairs of blue eyes. All of that behind a giant rock. Red Velvet chuckled a bit, getting Pastry's attention.*

Pastry: Is something wrong?

Red Velvet: I'll be right back. *gets up and walks up to the boulder. Chuckles before speaking.* If I move this rock, there better not be any of my siblings or cousins spying on us.

*Red Velvet used his cake arm to push the rock aside to find his terrified siblings and cousins. He growled a bit before speaking again.*

Red Velvet: I will make sure training is hell for all of you if you keep staying here. As well as ruin the one thing you love about your outfits.

Madeleine: *sweating bullets and quickly looking at his wrist* My! Look at that! It's time to go! Come on everybody! Time for that thing!

*Madeleine grabs everyone in one swoop before booking it. Red Velvet huffs a bit before returning back to Pastry.*

Red Velvet: Sorry. My family is... interested in you. And they-

Pastry: Follow each other when one of you goes on a first date? *Red Velvet is speechless* You Cookies are not as sneaking as you think you are.

Red Velvet: That's fair. *sheepish rubs his head*

*Pastry smiles before placing a kiss on his cheek. Red Velvet froze before a goofy smile appeared on his face.*

Pastry: Let's continue our date then.

*Red Velvet nods and the rest of the date was spent them feeding each other the picnic food.*

[icannotgetoverbirds]

okay y'all

So I finally found out what's been going on with my digestive system - turns out I have Celiac's disease, which basically boils down to No More Gluten For Me.

Good news is, we already did this whole song and dance with my sister years ago, so I'm not starting from square one.

That aside, I'm trying to make a list of foods and recipes that I want to find. If anybody's got any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

[shopseranobakery]

Baked to Perfection: Fresh Bread Delivery to Your Home

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[tea-earl-grey]

note: when a recipe says "turn your oven as high as it goes", that does not work for the 1948 gas oven currently in my kitchen which can, as i learned today, get hotter than 550F

(i only turned the dial to 400F because i know how wacky the temp is and still i underestimated the sheer power of 1940s American cookware)

[fullcravings]

Vanilla Custard Slices

[morethansalad]

Vegan Portuguese Custard Tarts

[buffetlicious]

New cream puff flavour from Chateraise Singapore. So I picked up three of this Double Fantasy Milk Tea (S$2) on the way home and immediately chucked them into the freezer. Frozen, it now resembled ice cream puff though I should have let it defrost first. The fillings are that of tea-flavoured custard fresh cream and Hokkaido fresh cream. Maybe I ate it frozen, the tea flavour is subtle and not as strong as I would have liked it.

Topmost image courtesy of Chateraise Singapore.

[masatos-wig]

YAUUUP guess who tried to make mille feuilles emphasis on tried

[meaningless-tales]

Vanilla Slice Puff pastry sheets sandwiched with thick, decadent custard make a delicious snack or dessert. 1/4 cup butter, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 package frozen puff pastry thawed, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 cup custard powder, 5.25 cups milk, 1 dash vanilla extract, 1 cup white sugar, 3/4 cup cornstarch, 1 tablespoon milk, 2 egg yolks