White Chocolate Shortbread Cookie Bar

The weather have been very cooling for the past 2 weeks. Really feels like Christmas is coming. To start off my Christmas bakes, I made a shortbread cookie from a recipe that I kept to bake in the cooler months. This recipe yielded a shortbread cookie bar that holds it shape but once you bite into it, the richness of the butter and crumbly cookie will melt in your mouth. 

Quick Mixed Berries and Cheese Scones

Mixed Berries Scones

Cheese Scones

I have just returned from a family year end vacation. A lovely trip to Australia's Port Macquarie, NSW and Gold Coast, QLD. We spent 2 weeks between the 2 places and yes...it was a lot of time to spend in just 2 places. Our family likes to  make self drive trips on vacations and spend enough time to get to know the place and culture like a traveler rather than a tourist.

Ercolini Pear Almond Tart

 
I love tarts. I know I should be making more cookies but I think that tarts are almost...almost like cookies.

A tart consists of a shortcrust pastry, technically is a shortbread cookie, which is topped with a filling. Hahaha...I think I am trying too hard to wiggle myself out of this "cookie and bull" story.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

 

My kid and I made these dark chocolate brownies. She is in the midst of her preparations for her year end examinations and we decided to make brownies during her break time.

Orange Raspberry Cheesecake

This cheesecake is made up of a base layer of crushed digestive biscuit mixed with orange zest. Cointreau, an orange liquor, is added to the cheese cake layer to further infuse the cake with the orange flavour.  

White Nectarine Crumble and Almond Galette

This was baked using the leftover tart dough and frangipane from baking the Autumn Honey Pluots and Almond Tart. The leftover tart dough was not enough to fit a tart ring so I decided to make a free formed tart - a Galette. Rustic looking hey.

Vanilla Creme Brulee Tart

Today is my husband's birthday! He was made to choose between a chocolate cake or a vanilla creme brulee tart. He likes to eat creme brulee and since I rarely make it, it was not a difficult decision to make.

I got the idea of making this tart after tasting one, many moons ago, in a cafe during a gathering with my church friends.

Honey Autumn Plum and Almond Tart

I know that autumn have arrived in the northern hemisphere when I see plums, nectarines and peaches in the supermarkets. 

Snow Skin Moon Cakes (Uses Olive Oil)

We do not get to enjoy the changing of seasons in tropical Singapore but the festivals that we celebrate do remind us of them. 

Winter Solstice Festival (冬至) ushers in Winter. Lunar new year ushers in Spring. As for Summer, we have that all the time (not complaining though) and Mid-Autumn festival ushers in Autumn.

Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 27th September this year. Last year, I tried making my first batch of Olive Oil Snow Skin Moon Cakes using all natural flavors and coloring that I can find in fruits, nuts, vegetables and teas. It is a quest of mine to find healthier ways to consume this calories laden treat. 

Homemade Pork Gyoza

Yaki-gyoza in Japanese, 锅贴 (guo tie) in Mandarin and pot stickers in American, all refer to these delicious meat filled dumplings.

The exterior of the dumpling is both tender and toothsome (the top portion that have been steamed) as well as crispy and fragrant (the bottom portion that have been pan fried). When you bite into the dumpling, the mixture of the gravy from the meat and vegetables just adds on to the whole eating experience. Drooling...