Tagged: Seven Links!!

Wow.. this is like a trick questionnaire. Elisabeth from Food and Thrift Finds and Sandra Garth from Sweet Sensations tagged me to the latest game called "Seven Links'..How fun is that. I always like how suddenly somebody tags you and you'll be put on the spot to really crack your head to look for the answer.

However, right now in my opinion, I'm having the hardest time to even draft this post.. LOL.. a sudden loss for words or maybe just no clue at all. Instead, I will do my level best to go through all my posts and share with you on what I thought about them. Walking down this memory lane, I now know I've come a long way. So long that at one point I was demotivated to even posts anything, partially busy at work plus I had a mind block. No excuse there.. I know.. especially when I love food, treats or even hosting a cookout or party so much. It's scary, and I hope I will not have another mind block again and start losing all of you readers and supporters.

Also I like to mention this as I still recall that Elisabeth was the very first person to discover me, added me in Foodbuzz and the rest was history. No bias here, and because of her; I'm glad I met all of you lovely foodies. So here goes.. and taking a deep breath [phew...]

1. The Most Beautiful Post

Hmmm... this is tough, as I really love all my posts. Whether the photo is good looking or not. If I had to pick, this is seriously a tough choice... I will pick my Gerbera Daisy Cake. This was an exotic rich cake flavour. Dark rich chocolate cake with light fluffy mango butter cream. Let's just say I'm a sucker for Gerbera Daisies.

2. The Most Popular Post

It has to be the most recent cake I baked for my niece's full moon. My Amanda's Pink Rainbow Cake made to Top 9 and was on the no# 1 spot, then was tweeted or mentioned by Foodbuzz themselves on Twitter. It's my first time ever having so many bloggers, readers stop by leaving me with the sweetest comments ever, and not only that.. it helped shot up my followers from 48 to 61 now. This is real epic, and I feel I don't say it enough.. THANK YOU for making it possible.

3. The Most Controversial Post

I'm not quite sure what it means by controversial, but I believe I was taking a gamble on the ever classic Lemon Meringue Tart. I decided that it was time for a make over, and made it to my very own version of Lemon Curd Pavlova Tart.. still covering the base elements of the lemon tart. I could have either had foodies like it or maybe disliked it as I was changing a classic tart.

4. The Most Helpful Post

Well let me see, I think it could probably be my Homemade Pizza dough post and I hope this is good enough to inspire you to make your very own pizza base. It's light and crunchy and will have you asking for more.

5. Post That Was Surprisingly Successful

I love samosas, but not willing to deep fry and end up with heaps of cleaning up to do. So for the first time I posted my Jo's Veggie-ish Samosas, it surprisingly attracted a lot more readers too. And this was my very first time making Foodbuzz Top 9. This was the day that I decided that I will continue to make more lovely treats or even share with you my cooking recipes.. whether I make it to Top 9 or not.

6. Post That Did Not Get The Attention It Deserved

I think it definitely had to be my Tiramisu tarts, and Scrumptious Strawberry tarts and Heavenly Mango Mousse Cake. Come to think of it they are really lovely and deserve some love and attention too ;). Though one; is thinking out of the box and one is classic or should I say.. maybe common, I feel they are all delish. So I hope you do try them out.. Maybe tarts can be the new trend, just like the macaroons or the cupcakes.

7. Post You're Most Proud Of

For this I'm indecisive, and like to share with you 2 out of 3 of my posts which I truly am proud of since one of them is up there too. For me, kneading dough has been daunting. However, I feel I've overcome this fear of mine, and am definitely going to come up with more recipes or test out any recipes. Right now, I like to share with you my Peanut Butter and Jelly Doughnuts and Tana Ramsay's Bagels. I assure you frozen or store bought ones are completely different from the ones you make on your own. Though slightly more work.. but every single minute is worth it.

Now, I am going to tag a few new 7 blogger friends too. Let me see who's the lucky one ;).

1. LOLA LOBATO
2. Katie's Cucina
3. Amanda @ Baking Without A Box
4. Stacey @ Baker Court
5. Stephanie @ Eat. Drink.Love
6. Sheri @ Homemade Served Here
7. Pierre @ Little Hungry Heart

Till then everyone.. TGIF and have a good weekend.

xx

Baking Recipe: Scrumptious Strawberry Tart

This is my very first time having my hands on making Strawberry Tarts. These little decadent tarts are one of my absolute favourite treats, apart from lemon meringue tart. Whenever I travel, I will constantly hunt down a local bakery or dessert shop to sample their tarts. And so far, they have done justice. Hopefully mine taste like summer too.. with loads of heart and love put into it ;).

Note: In my case, I couldn't locate my tart pan so I've decided to make smaller individual tarts using my muffin pan. The recipe below yields approximately 6-8 tarts, depending on the thickness of the shell.

Recipe

For the Crust/ Tart shell
adapted from Martha Stewart

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup or 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2-1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

To prepare crust/tart shell:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, blend flour, butter, 1/3 cup sugar and salt until moist crumbs form (this may take up to approx1-2 minutes).

2. Make sure to lightly grease pan with butter and sprinkle flour over the pan.

3. Transfer dough to a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom or muffin pan.

4. With floured fingers, press dough evenly into pan and up sides. Dip a dry measuring cup in flour, and use it to press dough firmly into bottom and against sides of pan. Freeze crust until firm for about 10-15 minutes.

5. Using a form, prick crust all over. Bake until golden, 25-30 minutes, pressing down gently once or twice with a spoon during baking if crust puffs up. Let cool completely in pan before transferring on to wire rack, cake stand or platter.

For the Filling
*If using 9 inches tart pan

1 bar (8 ounces) philly cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered or icing sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 to 2 pounds strawberries, hulled and halved
1/4 cup seedless red current jelly

**If using muffin pan

1/2 bar philly cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup whipping cream
4-6 tbsp powdered or icing sugar
3-4 tsp lemon juice
1/2 -1 tsp vanilla extract
15-16 strawberries, hulled
1/3 cup seedless red current jelly

To prepare filling:

1. With a whisk, whipped whipping cream until soft peak/ stiff consistency. Becareful to not over whip. Transfer to another bowl.

2. Using the same mixing bowl and now with a paddle attachment, mix cream cheese and icing sugar until well combined. Then add in lemon juice a teaspoon at a time and continue to mix and then fold in vanilla extract.

3. With a spatula, fold in half of the whipped cream to cream cheese mix until well combine and then fold in the rest of whipped cream. Gently fold the whipped cream making sure to not let it turn into liquid form.

To assemble strawberry tart:

1. You can choose to glaze the bottom of tart with melted dark/ milk chocolate. Melt chocolate chips with 2-3 teaspoons of milk in a microwave for about 35 seconds making sure to stir and not burn the chocolate. I glazed my tart with melted chocolate to prevent the filling to sip through the tart, making the shell soggy.

2. If you do glaze the bottom of tart, pop the tart shells back in the refridgerator for about 10-15 minutes or until glaze is set.

3. Spoon the filling into the tart shell, and top it with 3 whole and hulled strawberries to each tart.

4. In a small saucepan, heat jelly on medium low until liquefied or heat it in a microwave for 1 minute. Gently brush strawberries with jelly, let set at least 20 minutes. Thaw before serving, if tarts were chilled.

xx