December Project: Dessert

December Project: Breakfast

December Project: What's Cooking

There is a lot to love about this time of year- parties, presents, White Christmas showing all weekend long on AMC. There is however, one thing the fat kid in me looks forward to more than anything else... COOKIES. More specifically, holiday cookies! 

This year, I decided to take my holiday baking up a notch and make holiday cookies for all my friends and relations, both in LA and Singapore.  Phew! 

Leading up to the big event, I a) tested potential recipes, 2) ate A LOT of cookies, all in the name of research and subsequently) OD on sweets. At the end of the process, I settled upon these 4 treats to delight the kids-- Smokey Bacon Ginger Cookies, Hungarian Apricot Bars, Cranberry Coins, and Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies. 

Back off Santa, those ain't for you! (clockwise) Baking, baking!; Cranberry Coins; Cookies in their boxes; Smokey Bacon Ginger Cookies. 

Personally, I loved the Smokey Bacon Ginger Cookies the best! The savory aspect of the bacon lends itself well to the sweet ginger cookie and made for a more elevated "foodie" type offering. Meanwhile, Mama T's favorite were the Hungarian Apricot bars, she went so far as to hoard a batch for herself. 

Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed bake, bake, baking and hope my yums helped to spread some holiday cheer to those I hold dear. 

Here is the recipe for the Smokey Bacon Ginger Cookies. Happy Holidays! 

Smokey Bacon Ginger Cookies
Ingredients 
8 oz. thick0cut smoked bacon (about 6 slices) cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground ginger 
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp plus 2 tsp unsalted butter, softened 
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup sorghum syrup ( I used unsulfured molasses instead) 
1/2 cup raw sugar, like turbinado 
Sea salt for sprinkling 

Directions 
1. Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until crisp, about 14 minutes. Pour off the fat and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp fat and 3/4 cup bacon); transfer bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate. Let bacon and reserved fat cool. 

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk to combine flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. 

3. In a separate bowl, beat butter and both sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high until fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Beat in reserved bacon fat. Add egg and mix until blended, scrapping down sides of bowl if necessary. Add sorghum syrup and mix until blended. Reduce speed to low and add in flour mixture. Mix until blended. Mix in reserved bacon. 

4. Shape dough into 1 inch-balls. Roll balls in raw sugar to coat. Space 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets or jelly roll pans. Flatten balls using the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. 

5. Bake sheets, rotating halfway through, until edges are set and tops are cracked but centers are still soft, about 8 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on wire racks. Cookies can be store in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days. 

Makes 5 dozen cookies. 

December Project: Dinner

December Project: Lunch

December Project: Guilty Pleasure

Friday Pic: A Sneak Peek

It's Fri-Fri-Friday! Can you tell I am just a tad excited! :)

Anyway, for this week's Friday pic, I though I would give you a sneak peek, a glimpse of what's to come, a little something to wet your appetite for Monday's post. Doesn't that look dee-licious?? It's from my dinner at Animal Restaurant and let me tell you it was good. Real good. So stayed tuned.

On another completely different note, one of my dearest friend's Shannon is having toe surgery today and I wanted all you good folks out there to put in a good word for her with God. While the surgery is not a life threatening one, Shannon informs me it is going to be a painful one. Furthermore, Shannon is going to be in a boot and out of commission for a while and this will not do for the I-can-do-it-myself-I-am-woman type of girl that Shannon is. So pray for a speedy recovery as well.

Thanks Y'all! Happy weekending!

Friday Pics: Scanwiches

Hey ho friends! I'm so sorry for the blog silence this week (well I guess I did post on Monday, so at least it was not complete silence), but work this week has been kicking my flat Asian hinny. TGIF is all I can say.

Tonight, I am having dinner with my friend at Animal, a restaurant that I've been dying to try for some time now, so stay tuned for that post. Tomorrow, I'm spending the day exploring Old Town Pasadena with the Bro & Co. and I cannot wait to see my favorite munchkins.

But for now, before the week is up, let me share with you some sandwich food porn for this week's edition of Friday pics, courtesy of Scanwiches - a blog chronicling the deli delights all around New York City.

Enjoy and oh... you're drooling a little there, or at least I am. 

Bean Curd (Tau Huay) Tarts

I don't like egg tarts. I think I am one of the few Chinese people who don't. There is just something about the richness of the custard that turns me off. I am a disgrace to my race.

Enter the bean curd tarts from LE Cafe Confectionery & Pastry, aka my racial salvation.

Encased in a thin cup of sweet pastry, the bean curd tart is a play off of the traditional egg tart where soya bean filling replaces the usual egg custard filling. While the tarts don't come cheap, the bean curd tart is seriously worth every cent!

Made by grinding up soya beans and almonds that are then cooked in water, sugar and pandan leaves for fragrance, the result is a silky-smooth bean curd filling that doesn't deviate too much from the traditional tau huay that one finds in the hawker centers.

Spot on consistency of the filling aside, the tart itself is perfect as it is not too thick, yet still manages to hold the delicate filling in place. Another plus for the tart is that it doesn't crumble at first bite, thus making eating the bean curd tart a much easier process.

In my opinion, the bean curd tarts are the perfect blend of two traditional delicacies, tau huay and egg tarts, combined to form something new, exciting and get this, healthy!

Details:
LE Cafe Confectionery & Pastry
264 Middle Road
Singapore 188990
+65-6337-2417