The Asian Bakery Experience

Egg Tarts a.k.a The Dan Tats a.k.a 蛋撻
(My Favourite Egg Tarts in Newcastle are from Jasmine's Bakery.
Go and get 'em while you can!)

One of my favourite things when walking down the street is getting a whiff of freshly baked bread or the distinct delicious smell of food that has just been cooked. Does anyone get excited by just the smell of food? I certainly do, but that’s not the only thing.. It instantly makes me hungry too! Whenever I pass a bakery, I can’t help but stop to have a little peak inside, or just walk in to see what has caused my curiosity. 

Bakeries are a great place as they provide a wide selection of goodies from the oven, often including bread, cakes, pastries, desserts and very interesting signature concoctions. Most of us are familiar with the average English bakery in the UK, some more commercialised and well-known compared to other small family businesses, depending where in the country you are. However, I do believe that not everyone has had a Chinese Bakery Experience, but of course me being Chinese, I must share this with you all. Bakeries have your typical breads, cakes, pastries and desserts, but with Asian bakeries there are many unique flavours with a selection of sweet and savoury.

If you live in Newcastle or the nearby area, do stop by the local Chinese Bakery to experience it fully. There are countless delectable goods waiting to be tasted; many of which Asians eat regularly and are considered firm family favourites. I recently visited “Bread Point” in Newcastle, a well-known Chinese bakery and was inspired to share this with you all. 

See for yourself the variety of baked goods they offer!

Red Bean Pastry

Ham, Cheese & Sweetcorn Bun

Sausage Bun

Custard Bun

Coconut & Cream Bun

Also, they do cakes too.. So if Asian buns aren't your cup of tea.. Go for some yummy cake!

Wendy x

Recipe: Strawberry & Cream Choux Pastry Puffs

So this week I was inspired by BBC1’s Great British Bake Off (which is on TV Wednesdays @ 8pm), by their theme of the week.. Pastries! I haven’t made pastries in a long while, however one of the reasons I think that I tend to avoid making pastries is because the process requires a lot of time. With pastries you must practice practice practice, follow the instructions step by step exactly as they require because the ratio of ingredients are crucial to the outcome. Pastries come in all different types, shapes and sizes; some of the more well-known pastries include Shortcrust, Puff, Filo & Choux. There are some that may be more difficult to make than others however pastries are very versatile, delivering both sweet & savoury favourites. Definitely do some research and give them a go. There is nothing more rewarding than putting a great deal of hard work into making something like pastry, nailing it and people showing their appreciation towards your hard work.

Click on the BBC Food website below to look at the different types of pastries and also gain some new ideas on Pastry recipes.

All About Pastries

I will always remember the day I made pastry during a Food Technology lesson in High School. It was one of the days I believed I finally cracked it in the kitchen and helped to motivate me to cook at home. When we think of desserts, we generally think cake, crumbles, pies, ice cream or something made of chocolate. The dessert I’m posting today is Choux pastry inspired, ultimately a profiterole, but I will be tweaked slightly. The recipe is the actual recipe that I used in school and kept after all this time. So here goes…

All you need is:

125ml Water

65g Plain Flour

50g Margarine

2 Eggs

1 Carton of Double Cream

1 Box of Strawberries

100g Chocolate (optional)

Baking Tray

Baking Paper / Greaseproof Paper / Foil

Piping Bag

Saucepan

Wooden Spoon

❶ Preheat oven to 210°c / Gas Mark 7 then grease flat baking tray directly, or simply place Baking paper onto the tray.

❷ Put water and margarine in a pan together, heat until the margarine has all melted.

❸ Keeping it on the heat, quickly add flour into the mixture and mix into a firm dough. (You should keep the pan on the heat, this cooks the flour in the mixture)

❹ Once everything is all combined, take the pan off the heat to rest & cool.

 (Make a well in the mixture so that it helps to cool quicker. The reason why you must cool the mixture before adding the eggs is because the heat may scramble/cook the eggs if it is mixed in straight away.) 

When you think the mixture is cool enough beat in the eggs one at a time and combine. (I always find that cracking the 2 eggs into a measuring jug beforehand and pouring the egg in a little at a time is the best, because sometimes both eggs will make the mixture too runny. What you want is a firm/thick but slightly runny dough.)

❺ Transfer the mixture from the pan into the piping bag, then pipe small ball shapes onto the baking tray. (Don’t pipe the balls too close together as you must allow room for growth, due to the pastry expanding)

❻ Place in the oven for 30 minutes to bake.

❼ Once they are out of the oven, leave them to completely cool before anything else. Then whip your cream, melt your chocolate (optional) or prepare any fruits you may be using to decorate.

I chose to use Double cream whisked together with 2 tablespoons of Icing sugar and using Strawberries to decorate & serve.

Now all you have to do is share them or just eat them, probably the latter.

 Enjoy!

Wendy x