Mini Lime-Syrup Sponges

I have some limes left (from my previous post here), and was looking for some simple lime recipes. I need not look that far, this delightful Mini Lime-Syrup Sponges is from Nigella's "How To Be A Domestic Goddess".

These Mini Lime-Syrup Sponges are really nice! If you have some limes in your fridge, I would recommend you to give this recipe a try. Even if you do not have any limes right now, a good idea to get some limes on your next trip to the market or supermarket. Or like what Nigella suggests, instead of limes, you can replace with lemons, oranges or even a mixture of oranges and limes juices. Perhaps I'll try the orange-lime mixture the next time.

These mini cakes bakes up high and golden.

The recipe is for 8 mini cakes, but I got only 7, filling the moulds about two thirds full. Recipe uses self-raising cake flour, since my cake flour is not self-raising, I have added in 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder. And have reduced the sugar slightly to scant 1/2 cup, original calls for 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon. 

A breeze to make, the batter takes just minutes to mix, and while the cakes are baking, prepare the lime syrup. Mix some lime juice and confectioners' sugar in a saucepan over medium low heat until the sugar dissolves. Once the cakes are done, remove the pan from the oven, poke the cake all over with a skewer and spoon over each cake evenly with the lime syrup all over, making sure the centre of the cake absorbs the syrup. Let the cake cool in the pan. 

Garnish with some grated lime zest before serving.

It has a very soft, moist and tender texture. Not too sweet and I like it that the lime syrup uses confectioner's sugar making it less sweet than if granulated sugar is used. A light limey taste and fragrance, without being too citrusy, simply delightful. I love it! Yums!

Mini Lime-Syrup Sponges

(adapted from "How To Be A Domestic Goddess", Nigella Lawson)
Makes 8
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar (I use scant 1/2 cup)
2 large eggs
zest of 1 lime
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons self-raising cake flour (I use cake flour plus 1-1/2 tsps baking powder)
pinch of salt (omit this, since butter is salted)
4 tablespoons milk

8-cup mini-loaf pan, buttered very well

for the syrup :
4 tablespoons lime juice (of 1-2 limes)
zest for decoration
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Cream together the butter and sugar, and add the eggs and lime zest, beating them in well. Add the flour and salt, folding in gently, and then the milk. Spoon into the mini-loaf pan, and cook for 

25 minutes.

While the cakes are cooking, prepare the syrup by putting the lime juice and sugar into a small saucepan and heating gently so that the sugar dissolves.

As soon as the mini-sponges are ready, take them out of the oven and prick them with a cake-tester all over. Pour over the syrup evenly. Try to let the middle absorb the liquid as well as the sides, then leave it to soak up the rest. Don't try to take the cakes out of the pan until they have cooled slightly and the syrup looks like it has been absorbed, but be aware that if you leave these to cool completely they might be very difficult to get out of the pan.

(mine was easily removed with no problem at all)

So, after an hour or two, turn them out onto a rack and grate some lime zest over them before serving.

#78/100

I'm linking this post to Cook Like A Star, where the featured chef for this month is NIGELLA LAWSON. Cook Like A Star is an event organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and the co-hosts for this month are Anuja from Simple Baking and me, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours. Cook or bake any of Nigella Lawson's recipes and link your posts to any of the hosts' linky which will stay open for the whole month of August. All submissions to this event must be current posts, published within the current month of this event, any older posts will be deleted. Please mention and link Cook Like A Star somewhere in your post. Do join us, everyone is welcome!

Cook Like A Star featuring Nigella Lawson, from 1st August to 31st August 2013

And I'm sharing this with Cook-Your-Books #3 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

and Little Thumbs Up, where the ingredient for this month is Eggs, hosted by Baby Sumo from Eat Your Heart Out, and organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, together with Doreen from My Little Favourite D.I.Y.

Choux Doughnut

There's a Choux Party going on at Foodie Baker! The lovely Jasline from Foodie Baker is the host for this month's Aspiring Bakers, and the chosen theme is "Choux!". Want to join the Choux Party? Drop by Jasline's for more info.

It has been ages since I've made any choux pastry, and I am not going to miss this one out. I was going thru my cookbooks looking for a choux pastry recipe,  found this simple Choux Doughnut, looks delicious coated with chocolate. 

The choux pastry recipe is taken from Alex Goh's "Irresistible Pastry", and he has used the stand mixer to beat the pastry. I have adjusted his method of mixing the pastry slightly, without using the stand mixer, similar to the Chocolate Eclairs which I have made before, here.

Once the pastry is ready, it is filled into a piping bag with a star nozzle (I have used a round nozzle), and pipe out into a round of 2" diameter onto 3-1/2" squares of greaseproof paper, which is to be greased generously with shortening, as the pastry will stick to the paper. I have however used a vegetable spray and it works out great.

Release the piped pastry gently over hot oil, it may overlap over itself, almost all of it do (more practise required!), but it is easily rectified by using a pair of chopsticks and gently position the pastry into a round again. Fry both sides until golden brown, which should take about 2 minutes each side. Remove to a kitchen paper towel to drain off excess oil. Let cool completely.

Melt some chocolate and coat one half of the fried choux pastry with the melted chocolate, leaving the other half bare. Place the coated choux pastry on a greaseproof paper for the chocolate to set. If you are like me, rather impatient to wait for the choc to set, especially in our hot and humid weather, it seems like forever that the choc would set, if it would set at all! Simply put the tray in the fridge for 10-15 minutes or so. 

Sprinkle with icing sugar just before serving. Best eaten as soon as possible, as they do not remain crisp for long, but it will still taste great! And the chocolate would start to melt!

Choux Doughnut
Simply irresistible!

Choux Doughnuts
(adapted from "Irresistible Pastry", Alex Goh)
100gm butter
250gm water
1/2 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
150gm flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten
250gm melted chocolate

1. Place butter, water, sugar and salt in a saucepan over low heat to melt the butter slowly. Once the butter has fully melted, increase heat to high and let mixture comes to a rolling boil. Remove pan from heat and add in all of the flour, mixing vigorously until the mixture comes to a dough. Keep aside to cool for about 3 minutes. 
2. Add in the eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition until you have a smooth, shiny paste, which is thick enough to hold its shape. It may not be necessary to use up all of the eggs. Use immediately.
3. Cut some greaseproof paper into 3-1/2-inch squares, and grease heavily with shortening. (I have used some vegetable spray).
4. Place the choux pastry into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe one small ring of about 2" in diameter onto each piece of greased paper.
5. Heat oil till hot. Slowly release the choux pastry from the paper into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Remove and drain on kitchen paper towel.
6. Melt chocolate and coat one half of the doughnut, leaving the other half bare. Place the coated doughnuts on a greaseproof paper and leave to set.
7. Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

#77/100

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #34 : Choux Party (August 2013) hosted by Jasline of Foodie Baker.

And I'm sharing this with Cook-Your-Books #3 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

and Little Thumbs Up, where the ingredient for this month is Eggs, hosted by Baby Sumo from Eat Your Heart Out, and organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, together with Doreen from My Little Favourite D.I.Y.

Mirin-Glazed Salmon

This is another simple and lovely recipe from Nigella, well, I did tweaked it a little. When you are short for time and the easiest and fastest dish to cook, is fish, as they cook really fast.

The salmon pieces are marinated with some mirin, sugar and soy sauce. The recipe says that the pieces are then pan-fried in a little oil on one side, turn it over and the marinade are added in to the pan and let it come to a bubble for two minutes (sounds like braised to me), the salmon is then taken out and place on a plate, add some vinegar to the pan, let it come to a bubble and pour over the salmon. 

I tweaked the steps, well just because I do not like to eat "braised salmon", I think salmon tastes the best either pan-fried, or baked. So for this dish, after marinating the salmon, I pan-fried it with a little canola oil on both sides until some dark spots (because of the marinating ingredients) can be seen, about 2-3 minutes, place them on a serving plate. In the same pan, add in the marinade liquid, let it come to a boil, add the rice vinegar, let it sizzle for a minute, then pour over the salmon. Garnish with some shredded spring onions, serve at once.

With some simple marinating ingredients, this dish is so easy and very quick to make. My son like this dish very much, we had it with some plain rice for dinner.

Mirin-Glazed Salmon
(adapted from "Nigella Express", Nigella Lawson)
Serves 4
1/4 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 (4-oz) pieces of salmon, cut from the thick part of the fillet so that they are narrow but tall rather than wide and flat (mine was wide and flat, cut into two)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1-2 scallions, halved and shredded into fine strips

1. Mix the mirin, sugar, and soy in a shallow dish that will hold all 4 pieces of salmon, and marinate the salmon in it for 3 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet on the stove.
2. Cook the salmon in the hot, dry pan for 2 minutes and then turn it over, add the marinade, and cook for another 2 minutes. (Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil, fry salmon on both sides until brown with dark spots, on both sides. Remove to a serving plate).
3. Remove the salmon to whatever plate you're serving it on, and add the rice vinegar to the hot pan. (Pour out all the oil from the pan, stir in the marinade, add the rice vinegar and let mixture boil and sizzle for a minute).
4. Pour the dark, sweet, salty glaze over the salmon and top with the scallion strips. Serve with rice or noodles as you wish, and consider putting some sushi ginger on the table, too.

#76/100

I'm linking this post to Cook Like A Star, where the featured chef for this month is NIGELLA LAWSON. Cook Like A Star is an event organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and the co-hosts for this month are Anuja from Simple Baking and me, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours. Cook or bake any of Nigella Lawson's recipes and link your posts to any of the hosts' linky which will stay open for the whole month of August. All submissions to this event must be current posts, published within the current month of this event, any older posts will be deleted. Please mention and link Cook Like A Star somewhere in your post. Do join us, everyone is welcome!

Cook Like A Star featuring Nigella Lawson, from 1st August to 31st August 2013

And I'm sharing this with Cook-Your-Books #3 hosted by Kitchen Flavours