I was going to make a chocolate-mint tart for dessert, but we were all out of cream, so I flipped through the book looking for something relatively easy that didn't require any cream. This tasty tart fit the bill. Although I did mess it up a bit.

The recipe calls for baking at 425°F for 15 minutes followed by another 20-25 minutes at 350°F. I missed that second baking instruction and was disappointed to see that the filling was still very raw after 15 minutes. I ended up baking it for another 5 at 425°F, at which point the crust had gotten so dark it was in danger of burning and the filling was still quite raw, so I dropped the temperature down to 325°F and baked it for another 10 minutes. This did the trick, but I think that following the original baking instructions probably would've worked a bit better. Whoops!

Anyway, it was still nice overall and the Kidlet enthusiastically declared it a favourite!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Tart

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Crust

• 60g hazelnuts
• 140g all-purpose flour
• 30g natural cocoa powder
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 4-6 Tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling

• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 60g unsweetened chocolate
• 3 large eggs
• 1 c. corn syrup
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 225g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F)¹.
2. Grind the hazelnuts for the crust in a food processor or blender until finely chopped.
3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt and pulse until mixed.
4. Dump into a bowl and cut in the butter.
5. Mix in milk until a crumbly pastry forms.
6. Mix in the vanilla.
7. Press the pastry into a 23cm (9")² loose-bottomed tart tin. Place on a baking sheet and set aside.
8. Melt the butter and chocolate over very low heat and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
9. Beat eggs with corn syrup, sugar, vanilla, and sea salt.
10. Whisk chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, then stir in hazelnuts.
11. Pour the filling mixture into the crust.
12. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 15 minutes.
13. Reduce temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake until filling is just set, but centre is still jiggly (20-25 minutes).
14. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
15. Serve with ice cream and/or whipped cream.

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¹ I actually started by preheating the oven to 180°C (350°F) and toasting the hazelnuts for the filling for 6 minutes, shaking every 2 minutes. After that, I set them aside and preheated the oven to 220°C (425°F) for the pie. ^Back
2 The original recipe calls for using a 9.5" tart tin. I have a 9" tin and a 10" tin, but not a 9.5" one. I used my 9" tin and this seemed to work fine, although I did have a small amount of excess filling that I baked off in a custard cup alongside the pie. That said, I might be tempted to try the 10" tin next time just to see how that works out. It would result in a thinner crust and give a little more room to fit all the filling in. Probably a better fit overall. I just figured it was better to have the crust be a little too thick than to end up with not having enough pastry to adequately cover the tart tin. But now that I've had a chance to try this recipe once, I think it would be fine in the larger tin after all. ^Back

This is a bit different than what I usually expect to see for a chocolate frosting. It's got the large quantity of butter that I would expect of a typical American buttercream, but it also includes melted chocolate and corn syrup, neither of which I'm used to seeing in buttercreams (of any variety).

The authors note that you can use whatever kind of chocolate you like for this icing. I opted for a mix of dark and milk chocolate. I think I used ~200g of dark (70% cocoa) chocolate and 140g of milk chocolate.

Chocolate Frosting

From The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

To Make 3 c.

Enough for 1 dozen cupcakes or a sheet cake

Ingredients

• 20 Tbsp. (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 114g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 64g Dutched cocoa powder
• 3/4 c. light corn syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 225g chocolate, melted and cooled

To Make 5 c.

Enough for a two-layer cake (20-30cm diameter depending on your preferred cake:icing ratio)

Ingredients

• 30 Tbsp. (3 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 170g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 85g Dutched cocoa powder
• 1 c. light corn syrup¹
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 340g chocolate, melted and cooled

To Make 6 c.

Enough for a three-layer cake (20-30cm diameter)

Ingredients

• 40 Tbsp. (5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 225g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 128g Dutched cocoa powder
• 1 c. light corn syrup
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 450g chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions

If you have a food processor, use that for making this icing. If not, a hand or stand mixer will do the job.

1. Combine butter, sugar, and cocoa and mix until smooth.
2. Add corn syrup and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
3. Add cooled (but still pourable) chocolate and mix until thoroughly combined.
4. Spread or pipe onto cooled cake or cupcakes or refrigerate until ready to use. If chilled, bring up to room temperature before using.

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¹ I was low on corn syrup and ended up using a 50:50 mix of corn syrup and golden syrup. It seemed to work out fine. ^Back

Mandu Gangjeong (Dumplings in Sweet Sauce)

Fried dumplings coating in a sweet and mildly spicy sauce. It's extra-good if you deep fry the dumplings, but pan-frying works well too. Aaron calls for 12 dumplings for this amount of sauce, but I felt like that was too much sauce for the amount of dumplings. (Maybe my dumplings are smaller.) I think this amount of sauce would probably be about right for 24 dumplings, but adjust according to your own tastes and the size of your dumplings.

Mandu Gangjeong

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 24 frozen dumplings
• 1 Tbsp. gochujang
• 1 Tbsp. gochugaru
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 6 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 1 Tbsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste (or minced fresh garlic)
• 5 Tbsp. ketchup
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. sesame seeds

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-low heat.
2. Add dumplings in a single layer and cook (slowly) until browned and crispy on the bottom. As each side becomes crispy, turn them to cook another side until as much of the surface as possible has been crisped.
3. Meanwhile, combine gochujang, gochugaru, sugar, oyster sauce, corn syrup, soy sauce, garlic, and ketchup and mix well.
4. Once dumplings are crisped all over, pour in the sauce and stir to coat the dumplings all over.
5. Cook until sauce thickens and clings to the dumplings.
6. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds and serve.

This breakfast dish comes from one of Aaron & Claire's youtube videos. It's a bit involved, although you can speed things up by preparing the sauce the previous night and leaving it in the fridge. We had two bowls worth of rice and lettuce, and it turns out this produces quite a lot of tuna topping, especially with the addition of the frozen vegetables; it made two very hearty breakfast bowls with some tuna left over. I think four bowls would be a natural amount for this recipe, and you can always make less and fridge the remaining tuna for the next morning.

I don't think I would want to put in the time to make this every morning, but it was very tasty and very filling, so I'd definitely make it again sometime.

Gochujang Tuna Rice Breakfast Bowl

Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Korean chili flakes (substitute chili powder 1:1 if needed)
• 1 tbsp gochujang
• ½ tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• ½ tbsp sesame oil, plus extra for serving
  
• ½ tbsp chili oil
• 2 tbsp corn oil
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 2+2 green onions, chopped, divided
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 1 fresh red Thai chili, minced
  
• 2 tins (170g wet/120g dry) tuna
• ¼ C frozen peas (optional)
  
• ¼ C frozen corn (optional)
  
• rice (already cooked)
• shredded vegetables to taste (carrot, lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, etc)
• 4 eggs
• sesame seeds for garnish
  

Directions

1. Whisk together chili flakes, gochujang, oyster sauce, corn syrup, sesame oil, and chili oil to form the sauce.
2. Heat the corn oil over medium heat.
3. Add the garlic and two of the green onions and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
4. Add the onion and chili and cook, stirring often, until translucent.
5. Add the tuna, sauce, peas, and corn, and mix well.
   
6. Meanwhile, prepare four bowls by putting the rice in them, warming it up, and topping with the shredded vegetables.
7. When the tuna is warmed through, top the rice-vegetable mix with the tuna.
8. Quickly fry the eggs (or cook them alongside the tuna, if your pan is large enough) and place atop the tuna.
9. Garnish with sesame seeds, the remaining green onions, and a drizzle of sesame oil.
   

French Buttercream

This is quite different from other buttercream icings that I've had. I am, of course, familiar with American buttercream: overly sweet and greasy, but very quick and easy to make. And I've made Swiss meringue buttercream before. I quite like that one since the meringue base means it's not so cloying and doesn't taste quite so fatty and greasy. I'd never heard of French buttercream before though. It's very rich with its egg yolk base. And pouring the boiling sugar into the eggs made me a bit nervous. It does make a pretty nice icing in the end though. I think it's probably a bit too butter-forward to be my favourite, but it's still an improvement over American buttercream IMHO.

The original recipe provides instructions for making 3 c. (just the right amount to frost a dozen cupcakes), 5 c. (should be enough for a 23cm (9") round two-layer cake), and 6 c. (enough to ice a three-layer cake). It also suggests a couple flavour variations in addition to the basic vanilla.

Vanilla French Buttercream (for Cupcakes)

Makes ~3 c.

Ingredients

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. corn syrup
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt (optional)
• 1 1/4 c. (20 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened

Directions

1. Beat egg yolks on medium speed for 4-6 minutes.
2. Combine sugar and corn syrup and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
3. Reduce mixer speed to low and pour hot sugar mixture into the whipped yolks in a thin, steady stream. Don't let the sugar directly touch the sides of the bowl or the beaters/whisk.
4. Increase speed to medium-high and whip for 5-10 minutes. Mixture should be well-aerated and no longer warm.
5. Reduce speed to medium low and beat in butter 1 Tbsp. at a time.
6. Increase speed to medium-high and whip for another minute or two.

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Variations

Almond French Buttercream (for Cupcakes)

Ingredients

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. corn syrup
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• pinch of salt (optional)
• 1 1/4 c. (20 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened

Coconut French Buttercream (for Cupcakes)

Ingredients

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. corn syrup
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. coconut extract
• pinch of salt (optional)
• 1 1/4 c. (20 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened

French Buttercream (for a Two-Layer Cake)

Makes ~5 c.

Ingredients

• 7 large egg yolks
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2/3 c. corn syrup
• 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 Tbsp. almond or coconut extract (optional)
• 1/8 tsp. salt (optional)
• 2 1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

For this larger amount you can add the butter 2 Tbsp. at a time rather than 1.

French Buttercream (for a Three-Layer Cake)

Makes ~6 c.

Ingredients

• 8 large egg yolks
• 1 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. corn syrup
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. almond or coconut extract
• 1/8 tsp. salt (optional)
• 2 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

Butter can be added 2 Tbsp. at a time rather than 1.