Firecrackers, lucky red packets, dancing lions and dragons, loud drums and clanging gongs…have you got it yet?

Hong De Lion at Melbourne International Airport giving travellers a taste of Australia!

Chinese New Year marks the beginning of the new lunar year by well, pretty much everyone in Melbourne!  Anyone who is Asian or who has friends of Asians descent are familiar with the noise, spectacle and general good cheer of Chinese New Year, in the same way all we non-Christians recognizes Christmas as a time of family, good will and gift giving.  Although celebrations have certainly been going on for about 150 years in Australia, since the influx of Chinese migrants during the gold rush, Australians do not all celebrate it…yet, ’though it will be interesting to see if it become a national holiday over time?!

Australia has moved over the last 40 years, towards a whole new, embracing, national identity that leaves the “White Australia”* policy as an embarrassing foot note on a developing nations history.  From a very personal view,  even though one arm of our family is now 6th generation Australian, I grew up during a period in time where it was a struggle understanding my identity as an Australian of Chinese descent, dealing with blatant racism, even as a small child by fully grown (non-drunk, take note Politicians) adults, having my face, clothes and food laughed at, and of course not being blonde and blue-eyed, I would just feel outright, alien.  In fact, my identity is something I still struggle with and subconsciously, always try to hide.  I am sure that this feeling of being an outsider no matter what colour your skin, no matter what your age, is more common than any of us care to admit.  And yet, at the same time, I have never felt so accepted and ‘normal’ within the community.  Life is always changing, I look around me and feel that it is an amazing time for me to be living in and celebrating Chinese New Year in Melbourne!  There will always be small-minded, ignorant, and just plain rude people in any society, however, as I said in my New Year’s Eve post…with a bit of effort, we can always improve.

Well, with such an ancient celebration it is not surprising that there would be many, many  traditions tied to its very mention, but given my slant on the world from the suburban kitchen of Bliss, I want to have a stab at Bliss-ing my favourite tradition…FOOD!!!

For foodies of all cultures, one of the best new year stories would have to be that of the Kitchen God.  Every new year, the Kitchen God leaves his post on the altar in the family kitchen ( yes, that is

Now, who wants to get a bad report when the Kitchen God heads off on his yearly mission?

probably where you would expect to find a kitchen god!) to travel up to heaven and give his report to the Jade Emperor on the goings on in the family as they talked, argued, laughed and cried over their family meals.  Now, who doesn’t want to look good on their report, I ask you?  So, being as ingenious as the Chinese race is,  a wonderful and crazy, sticky, sweet, concoction known as ‘Nian Goa’  is offered to the Kitchen God on new year’s eve to stick his mouth together so that he can’t say anything bad in his report!  Aaaaaaah, love the creative use of dessert!

The recipe for Nian Goa floored me! Basically, it is brown sugar caramel with rice flour steamed to within an inch of its life….truly…hours and hours and well, hours!  So long in fact, you wonder if the original wasn’t just forgotten on the stove, while the cook went out to tend the fields, chat with the neighbours, buy groceries, get her hair done…..No wonder we never made it at home!!

With a texture like mozzarella and a brown sugar caramel flavour...it's really not that weird when pan fried with egg!

Nian Goa has a crazy rubbery texture, when you get it home from the shop.  (No, seriously, it is round. bouncy and brown, it could make a really good tyre substitute for a small go-cart!)  Then, being of Southern Chinese origin, we cut it into slices and then into squares, dip it in egg and pan fry it slowly until it has the consistency of mozarella cheese with a slightly crisp, egg-y outer.  Insane!!! But, I love it

Hubby, is from Malaysia where they sandwich the slices between sweet potato, or taro and then dip it into batter and deep fry it.  Crispy on the outside, biting into aromatic, flour-y, potato-y, texture and then a gooey caramell-y centre. Crazy!!!  But he loves it

So, Lynnette and Hubby met, fell in love and live in Melbourne  where I have decided I am going to put a Bliss spin on it.  Hmmmm, will it work?  Well, let’s see then… Love the egg-y combination with the brown sugar caramel flavour of mine, love the crisp outer shell of his and I especially love how Aussies  make everything their own by adding Beer!  My most striking memory of TV as a newly migrated 4-year-old was the Vic Bitter ad.  “A hard-earned thirst, calls for a big cold beer.  The biggest beer is Vic, Victor-ia Bitter”, how do I remember it?  It is burned into my memory as being the most incredibly Australian thing I had ever, ever seen in my very short life!  No, not even Skippy the talking kangaroo could do it.

So, there we have it, ‘Egg yolk dipped, beer batter, nian goa strips, tempura style’ ha ha, what a mouthful!  Dust liberally with icing sugar and serve with vanilla bean ice cream on the side, in fact, give it a real Aussie feel and make the ice cream yourself with amazing fresh Australian dairy products, like Gippsland cream.

Uh huh, mmmmmm what a mouthful.  I think Kitchen Gods all around Australia will be toasting to the Jade Emporer’s health with a dash of cognac after a dessert like that and offering all mere mortals a resounding A+

Crispy and light, just a hint of fragrance from the egg and soft and sticky on the inside. A+ from me

Health, Wealth and Heaps of Happiness for a magnificent Year of the Dragon everyone.  Goong Hei Fatt Choy xxx

*embarrassing footnote:  White Australia policy favoured Anglo-Saxon migration over all other cultures and nationalities to , I guess, produce a White Australia!

Summer is truly here!

Life is for living!!  A motto that is taken, at it’s most extreme, and greatly to heart in my household.

oh yeah, festive lava cakes for Christmas mmm

So, as you can imagine, the holiday season is pretty mad, at our house even when we pretend to celebrate quietly!  With a closely knit, extended family, we are never far wrong when we allow for about 30 for dinner.  The huge turkey, glazed ham, Uncle M’s plum pudding and all the ‘traditional’ Christmas trimmings, including Coffin bay oysters, Sashimi salmon, and my Mum’s  prawn and mango salad are looked forward to as Aussie Christmas delights by local and overseas visitors alike, every year.

But, I have to say, after the craziness of Christmas has passed, and all the kids, (big and small), have had the chance to go slightly nutty around the tree, I really, really, really look forward to bringing in the New Year.

I pretty much do nothing   Not that it is just me that does nothing….the entire family pretty much does,

Black Rock, this photo is a little misleading as there were heaps of people there that day!

NOTHING! YAY!!!!!  I began finishing the old  year by enjoying a real Aussie experience bbq yesterday.   Admittedly, the beach at Black Rock is a lot more popular than it ever used to be, causing it to be more crowded and a lot dirtier than I remember, however, the crystal clear water and fantastic family friendly facilities made it a real day to to remember in 2011.

A bit more sunshine, and a bit more swimming to round off another busy year and then….peace.  A big smooch to one and all to bring in the new year and a ‘quiet’ beginning to 2012.

My resolution is pretty much the same as last year;

“I resolve to not allow life to  live me but for me to live my life.”

The great Aussie bbq experience! Delicious

I think I did an ok job last year, ha ha ha!  But, like anything in this world, we could always improve with a bit more effort. What’s your new year’s resolution?  Mine is pretty boring, pretty standard.  I think that if I was to add a few extra notes they might look a little like this;

“I resolve to eat more ice cream.”  Seriously, I used to consider ice cream my favourite food, I must have eaten it 6 times last year…doesn’t sound much like a favourite, I definitely ate more broccoli!!

“I resolve to buy a bbq.”  Ridiculous??  We have lived in this house for nearly 5 years, we still don’t own one.

“I resolve to do more colouring in.” I discovered my teenage daughter doing a colouring book the other day….she looked so peaceful.  Hey, I want some of that!!

Love deeply. sing loudly and live like you mean it!!!  All the best for 2012 and may you enjoy the beautiful Summer weather that Melbourne has put on.  See you next year x

Bliss x

I love receiving home made gifts! Taste delicious and reflect so much love and care

I love baking for friends and family at Christmas. A home made present is so much a part of the person that is giving. The cook has not only put in the time and effort to make their gift but what they choose to make also reflects the love they wish to impart to the recipient.
There are so many fantastic and complicated recipes out there, but at Christmas, when time is short and family life is ridiculously hectic the simplest recipes, made with love and care tastes just as good as a Michelin star dessert, as far as I am concerned!!!
I love the care and detail that is put into a home made jam, or marmalade…even better if it is home grown fruit. Make me a dessert sauce or a batch of chocolate chip cookies and I will love you and my present more than a $100 voucher anyday ;)

Seems shortbread is a Scottish Christmas tradition. Any excuse, I say for one of my favourite butter and icing sugar combinations

Here is the simplest of shortbread recipes.  I have been making this from one of the old Women’s Weekly cookbooks since I was even shorter than I am now!!

250g butter

1/3 cup icing sugar

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup cornflour

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add sifted flours, mix well.  Put mixture into piping bag with fluted tube or into a cookie press.  Pipe rosettes or choose your favourite cookie press stencil and press on to lightly greased oven trays.  Bake in 170 degrees celsius oven 10-12 minutes for piped cookies or 8-10 minutes for pressed cookies.  Cool on wire rack.

A seriously simple way to ‘Bliss’ them up is to melt your favourite couverture chocolate, add a couple of tablespoons of Kahlua to the chocolate and half dip each of the cookies.  Let set on a sheet of baking paper. Pile them high on a plate and sprinkle liberally with icing sugar.

Merry Christmas to you all,  as I get back to baking with 10 overseas guests staying in the house!!! 

Real life baking, real life Christmas, real life Bliss xxx

As I packed up left over macarons this morning and made a final obsessive comment about the consistency of the ganache filling,  Hubby said, in the way that all hubbys of women who bake do….”Let it go, it’s over.”

It’s over!  How could that have happened…just like that!

For an entire year, I have taught myself about macarons, obsessed about the exact dropping consistency of the batter, the temperature of my oven, the perfect timing to avoid over browning.  Should I whip the ganache for a lighter consistency?  What is the best ratio of chocolate to cream so that my filling is not cloying or overpoweringly rich?  How could it be over??

A day of beauty and elegance for a special bride

The bride has planned and looked forward to the day that she was to walk down the aisle for over a year now, and following in her tiny, beautifully manicured, footsteps was I.  Counting down the months and days until the grand occassion was to finally arrive.  Her moment of shining glory and also her day of unbridled fear!!  So many things could go wrong.

In my simple world of baking her a macaron cake, soooo many things could go wrong!  Methodically and painstakingly I followed my process on the wedding day.  Only the day before, EVERYTHING that could go wrong, did so with such great precision, I threw in the towel, curled up in the foetal position and fell asleep, vowing it would all be better in the morning.  After producing, purple, green and pink shells, how could I then wake up one morning and bake a batch of yellow shells that just….collapsed??  Well, I guess when people ask me if macarons are difficult to bake, the answer is still no, but yes.  I had woken to sunshine, my compulsory mug of hot tea and butterflies dancing in the sunshine   What a beautiful way to finish off the macaron process for this special cake for my special friend, I had thought to myself. Yes, but no.

No success comes without pitfalls, macarons were obviously designed by devious French bakers who believed only the worthy should succeed.  Great mountains must be climbed, great depths must be overcome.  But, just when you think that it is all but unachievable…Voila!

Voila!

4 layered white chocolate cake, with alternating, white chocolate and chocolate, Italian meringue buttercream.  Passionfruit and white ganache, yellow macarons,  Turkish delight and white ganache, pink macarons, Peppermint and white ganache, green macarons, and home made Cabernet jelly and white ganache purple macarons.

Thank you Phen and Pino for trusting my abilities and allowing me to take the grand macaron journey that has allowed me to join the league of bakers who CAN. I don’t think I would ever have gone there without you asking me.  The’ outs’ were always there, but if you are going to wind me up, be prepared for me to just keep going!  Congratulations and may you be blessed with all the happiness in the world , through your journey and all the joy and challenges that lie ahead.  And, most importantly, may they always result in endings as colourful and happy as a rainbow X.

Beautiful

To anyone vaguely involved in the process or even watching from afar, all the stress, drama, tears and sentimentality attached to a shift in location are present, as a day to day reminder of how much work any type of change can be.

My parents were war babies, growing up during a time when your life, in the midst of constant oppression, was the most valuable thing you could own.  They were lucky to have been able to blossom into full grown adults during the prosperous 50′s and 60′s, meeting up as students in my beloved Melbourne. My parents have a frugal ‘waste not, want not’ mentality, coupled with enough wealth, in later years, to ensure that they always had more new items to ‘not waste’, that is so common of that generation.

This of course means, that our family home, houses the treasures of the ages, and then some.

“So”, you ask???

Look what I found!!

To which I reply…”Look what I found!!!!”  Amongst the boxes and boxes of tea paraphenalia,  I stumbled across this lovely traditional Wedgewood sugar and creamer.  I just swooned and fell in love

Afternoon tea, anyone?

Love at first sight is such a strange thing.  I have never really liked Wedgewood and yet it caught my eye straight away. When I discovered it was actually one of my Mum and Dad’s engagement presents, the set, of course took on a whole new importance, and represented love of a whole other time and place!  I have never seen this sugar and creamer being used, and to be honest I have never even noticed it being on display.  So, in commemoration of love in its many forms, how could I celebrate these 2 lovely pieces in a less formal, Bliss-ful manner?

Melbourne in the day was so English, so proper.  Tea with milk and 2 sugars at 4pm, alcohol served only after 5pm, pre dinner drinks of sherry or gin, hats and gloves to church and of course the traditional Sunday roast.  Custard tarts,  home made biscuits and jam and cream sponges dusted with icing sugar, stick in my mind as the items ‘de riguer’ for afternoon tea.

Bring on the Bliss! ' Blue gin' glace icing, white chocolate dipped blueberries, white chocolate curls, lightly dusted with icing sugar!

Well, ‘Bliss’ is definitely 21st century Melbourne, where Champagne is served for breakfast lunch and tea, where houses boast outdoor kitchens and Dad’s cook barbeque dinners regularly, and Melbourne is most notably now, a city that has become a melting pot of sights, sounds, tastes and traditions.

So here is my take on a ‘traditional’ Wedgewood, afternoon tea. No, I have never shaken my love for white tea with 2 sugars, although I now only take a more PC 1 sugar!!

Fluffy and light, white chocolate cake, in a suitably lady-like size

Fluffy and light white chocolate cake with a ‘blue gin’ glace icing topped with white chocolate dipped blueberries, white chocolate curls and dusted with icing sugar.   Serve anytime between 10am and 12am with English breakfast tea, Jasmine green tea, Champagne or a short black.

For Mum and Dad, to a great new start! Chin, chin

I love to wonder in amazement what spurs these people on to win gold medals, to scale great heights and to plumb great depths.  Is it their competetive nature, a sense of adventure, or complete foolishness?  Is it possible that they are spurred on by the same ridiculous notion that drives me to take on the little challenges in my life?  The mere fact that the challenge exists?  See a mountain (or molehill) therefore, climb it?

I have said many times that I am no cake decorator.  I both admire decorators skills and at the same time usually stay at arms length of their challenges.  However, with all the interest that Bliss has had lately, it was inevitable that cakes for children would come along.  As a Mum, Aunty and friend in general, of small children, I decided to take on a few ‘once off’ type cakes, for friends and family.

Wow, a farmyard is a lot of work! Rich chocolate birthday cake layered and frosted with real strawberry buttercream.

Wow!  Did I learn a thing or two   A farmyard whether it be cake or real is a lot of work!!!

Hats off to all you dedicated decorators out there, and please forgive my mistakes.  I love my baking and I love my chocolate, but full on, cake decorating is not a passion that I could pursue the way that my decorating heroes can.

Check out ‘Bespoke Occasions’ and’ Cakes by Andreea’.  Two lovely ladies based in Melbourne who have FB pages that I follow and admire greatly.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bespoke-Occasions/121048591632

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cakes-by-Andreea/138001869574480

The patience, technical skills and eye for detail that is required to produce jaw dropping sculptures week after week, while dealing with a young family is the kind of admiration I have for people who take on the swim across the English Channel!

A very special 'once off' for Oula's little boy. Happy Birthday Hun!

Happy birthday Coop!

PS. A very special mention needs to be made to Ruby’s cakes in Adelaide, for providing the inspiration for my figures and for the farmyard cake design itself.

A sweet little, white chocolate, cherub. She looks like she forgives me?!

Please forgive me for I have strayed….I have been having so much fun lately that I forgot to stay on the straight and narrow.

The straight and narrow path of the ‘chocolate’ persuasion, I mean

With all the excitement of my kid’s birthdays, engagement, baby arrival, and wedding cakes to discuss and plan,  my mind has been whirling with pretty decorations of all sorts.  The bright colours and flexible options of fondant icing have been absolutely enticing and have been so much fun to play with that I forgot, actually forgot, about chocolate! Shameful….I know

A cute little, last minute, bunny...but, hang on, where is the chocolate work?

Just looking back at a recent baby arrival cake that I did, I  realized that in my last minute decision to add a cute little bunny, I had immediately turned to the pink fondant icing that was on hand.  Gasp, only then did I see my betrayal!

I had in my cupboard, the most gorgeous chocolate mold of Sanrio characters that I had collected on my travels, and yet I FORGOT!!!  Well, my 3D chocolate molding skills certainly needed improvement anyway, so I have paid penance and spent a few evenings last week molding little, pink, chocolate bunnies.  I threw in a few molded cherubs for a bit of extra technical practice, while I waited for my bunnies to set.    I am delighted with the results and here are a few of the lessons I have learned along the way;

• Do not over heat chocolate- an obvious tip but so easily done.  Be patient if you are heating by microwave and allow the last few bits of chocolate to melt through stirring
• Use oil based chocolate colours- normal food colouring or gel pastes will seize chocolate and make it thick and unworkable
• Use a little piping bag to fill molds- go slowly try to avoid air bubbles at this point, much easier than trying to get rid of them later
•  Tap and check for air bubbles- they are sly little things and it is completely frustrating to  only find them on your finished product after you have unmolded the set chocolate!  Use a toothpick to stick into your unset chocolate to burst them if necessary
• Give yourself plenty of time to allow for the chocolates to set-  unmolding is as easy as a simple tap, if the chocolates are well set.  If you find the chocolates are not budging…they are not set!

Will the real Bliss Bunny please stand up?

Icing work is amazing in its applications and I am grateful to be able to draw on the incredible experience of dedicated cake decorators to help me achieve the results that I am looking for.  However, I have learned my lesson this week and paid my dues.  Should I ever need a Bliss Bunny I am definitely  back to chocolate

Strawberries and cream, my way!

For me, the strong, heady perfume of jasmine has always been able to bring me straight back to long, balmy evenings spent in the garden. It is one of the Heralds and  also one of the long standing Lords of Spring and early Summer in Melbourne. I will even trail long strands of freshly picked flowers in the house and in my car, knowing that there is a very strong possibility that my poor boys may suffer the consequences, just to prolong my nostalgic enjoyment for a few extra minutes!

And, what of that other precursor of warm weather?  The most classic of Spring/Summer fruits?

Aaaah strawberries!  Strawberries are already starting to make their appearance inmarkets .  Although, these strawberries have probably come down from warmer Queensland, it is only a few short weeks away until Melbourne has it’s own harvest. Even though I will be able to buy farm fresh, strawberries from the market, I am most looking forward to October when I can  head up to Ladybird Farm to get my hands dirty and pick my own organic strawberries for my new seasonal cake!

So, what have I come up with this time ? When I think of strawberries, cream just has to tag along!  So, I am hoping that it is how everyone else thinks too.

Bliss’ take on light, bright and happy.  Spring inspired, Strawberries and Cream

Generous chunks of fruit! Now that's what I'm talking about

An entire punnet of strawberries, adding an aromatic sweetness to a moist, white chocolate cake.  Bite into a slice to find generous amounts of chunky fruit, folded in for an indulgent fruity hit.  Topped with a smooth as silk, jasmine and green tea infused, whipped, white chocolate ganache, dusted with green tea macha and topped with a single fresh strawberry and white chocolate shavings.

Perfect for sharing in the sunshine,  and with Spring racing season coming, don’t forget the Champagne!

Available 1st September-30th November 2011.   My seasonal cakes may not be the same every year so I hope you take the time to enjoy them while you can!

I spend way too much time on facebook, watch endless movies with my family and spend entire evenings googling ‘chocolate’.  As I have admitted previously I am no expert on wine and… reality check,  I am also no expert on chocolate!  I know what I like, and that is about it.  I am an accomplished window shopper, so much to see and know, yet so little that I have ever actually bought and eaten!

A bar that reflects history, just by looking at it!

I think that it is time that all that changed, so after a lovely birthday lunch with my friend, I crossed my local high street and headed straight into a new gourmet chocolate shop called Cocomaya.  I slowly made my way around the displays and, with my highly honed window shopping skills,  took in the beautiful sight of hand made chocolates and, colourful designer boxes and wrappers.  However, I couldn’t stop myself from going back to this little bar of chocolate that was completely unfamiliar to me.  Maybe it was the word praslines that attracted me, but the minute the owner mentioned that Mazet was one of the best chocolates in the store, along with Valrohna, I handed over the money!

It only took a small amount of searching to find that Mazet Confiseur is one of the oldest chocolate houses in Paris, and in 1636 Praslines, or those red, knobbly looking, candy coated toasted almonds were invented…yes, invented(!) by an illustrious ancestor of the dynasty.  Well, I have a thing for praline and to discover that it directly heralded from this illustrious chocolate house, I was floored!  I have window shopped their website and already mapped out all the items that I can’t wait to taste, Amandas, Passions, Givrettes, Flavoured Fondues, Dark Grapefruit….oh my goodness, anyone heading to Paris, please take my shopping list with you!

If you wish to do a little bit of window shopping of your own, here is the link:

http://www.mazetconfiseur.com/index.php/les-confiseries-mazet.html

Dark praslines, the beginning of a long affair, I think

So, what did I think of my first Mazet experience?  Luxurious, old world printing and packaging, the chocolate wrapped tightly in gold foil, I must say it exudes an expectation of quality.  Great. shiny bar with a good snap when broken, you can see how clean it breaks from my photo!  The flavour of the chocolate is deep and rich, no strong overtones though, which is a shame, but I have to admit I have been irreperably, spoilt by Michel Cluizel’s plantation range.  The praline is a lovely addition in texture, however not as sweet as I would have liked. Well, having been told by a French Chocolatier, that Australian’s have a much sweeter palette than the French do, that is probably not surprising.

I guess it goes to show, no matter how much I might appreciate a fine French affair, and wax lyrical about my love for dark chocolate, the Aussie chick in me will always, still crave Caramello Koalas

Classic Chocolate Celebrate. 4 layers of fudgey chocolate cake, fully frosted with white chocolate, Italian meringue buttercream. THE Bliss Chocolate Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to all of yooooo—hooooo, happy birthday to you!

Do you have one of those months on your calender where you know that as soon as the 1st roles around your bank account is not going to look the same again until the whole 4.3 weeks are over?  Sudden retail frenzy descends, where you seem to be at the shopping centre every other day, racking your brains for another appropriate gift?  August is one of those months.  3 birthdays in my immediate little family alone, then there are the cousins and best friends and the new babies and now….Bliss!

Well, everything is about perspective isn’t it?  I could moan and complain about all the commitments ahead of me or I could see this month as the biggest opportunity to party…EVER!

And, what is the best thing about a party?  Presents

But, instead of expecting any presents…I want to give one away for Bliss’ First Birthday !!! One lucky person will receive a Chocolate Celebrate cake AND an order of Choc Orange flourless cakelets.

All you have to do is tell me what was your most memorable birthday present, EVER,  to go into a draw to win this great Birthday treat!

Flourless Chocolate and Orange cakelets. Deliciously indulgent, perfectly suited for a celebration.

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