The world has been in a war for the last 6 months against a new coronavirus, or COVID-19, that has changed life for billions of people. When the virus first hit Wuhan, China at the start of the year, few thought it would turn into a global outbreak – even Greenland has had 13 cases (Antarctica is the only continent that’s been free from the virus). In the US, over 2.3 million people have been infected with the virus and over 120k people have died. These are heartbreaking figures, and health experts expect the numbers to rise even more.
The country has been in lockdown fighting the virus since March. Shops and restaurants are all closed, and you have to wear face masks in many places. I left NYC (once the epicenter of the virus) back in March as soon as my company implemented a remote work policy. I’ve been living in the Philly suburbs with my parents and younger sister for the last 3 months. I have to say, I did not expect to be back home for so long ever, but it’s been a blessing to have the space here, as well as home cooked meals for lunch and dinner every day.

One direct effect of the virus is that everyone is cooking more at home. Relatedly, people have been baking a lot – there was a flour and yeast shortage in many areas around the country back in April, because everyone was making sourdough from scratch (I did it too and newsflash, it’s not worth the hassle). I’ve also been baking more during quarantine, now that I have four people (and one hungry dog always looking for fallen scraps) to eat my baked goods. With a bit more time on my hands on the weekends, because there’s really not much to do now, I wanted to try making something a bit more time intensive and was inspired to make pineapple buns after seeing a friend’s post on Instagram. Pineapple buns are a rare treat for me, because I don’t go to Chinese bakeries very often, and now I might visit even less frequently since I know I can make sweet, flaky, puffy pineapple buns at home.

Prep time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Bake time: 13-15 minutes
Servings: 12

INGREDIENTS

Tangzhong (roux starter)

• 1/6 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water

Milk bread dough

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• Tangzhong

Filling

• 3/4 cup red bean paste

Topping dough

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon whole milk
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Egg wash

• 1 egg yolk

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To make the tangzhong, whisk the flour with water until smooth. Cook over medium low heat in a saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon, until thick and leaves a trail. Pour into a bowl and put a piece of plastic wrap on top. Make sure it’s pressed against the surface of the tangzhong and let cool.
2. To make the milk bread dough, heat the milk for 20 seconds in the microwave until lukewarm. Add in the yeast and proof for 5-10 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, sift in flour, salt, and sugar. Add in the yeast / milk mixture, tangzhong, and beaten egg. Mix well with a fork first then use your hands. Add in chunks of butter until smooth. Knead the dough for about 15 minutes, until it’s elastic and smooth. Put the dough into a greased bowl and cover with a towel. Let it rise until doubled in size, around 1-2 hours or chill in the refrigerator overnight.
4. Once the dough is doubled in size, punch down the dough to release excess air. Turn the dough onto a work surface and divide into 12 equal portions. Knead each piece slightly then shape into a flat circle. Put in 1 tablespoon of red bean filling and pinch the sides together and shape into a ball. Put onto a floured surface with the pinched side facing down. Flatten slightly by pressing down with the palm of your hand. Let the dough sit for 30-45 minutes, or until 1.5x in size.
5. To make the dough topping, cream the butter in a medium bowl with a fork until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and cream for another minute. Add in the egg yolk, milk, and vanilla, and mix well. Add in the flour and baking powder and mix until the dough comes together (you may want to use your hands). Put the dough to the side at room temperature until the buns are done proofing.
6. Preheat the oven to 365 degrees F.
7. Once the buns are done proofing, divide the dough topping into 12 equal pieces. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece into a circle that will cover the buns, leaving a half inch uncovered from the bottom. Put the dough topping on top of the buns and press down gently. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I did 6 per tray – these buns expand a lot in the oven). Brush the tops with the egg yolk.
8. Bake the buns at 365 degrees F for 13 to 15 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden. Enjoy while still warm!

As you know from my last post, I visited Japan for the first time a few months ago over the holidays. While I experienced many food adventures on that trip, from wagyu beef to freshly made tofu to sperm sacs, one of my most memorable bites of food was roasted Japanese yam in Shinsaibashi-suji at midnight. The starchy sweetness of the yam flesh with the steam from roasting instills comfort throughout the entire body in the middle of winter. It is one of my favorite simple pleasures.

Every time I go home to my parents’ in the Philly suburbs, there are Japanese yams in the fridge. We typically roast it in the oven, boil it in sweet porridge or just steam it. I had never thought to put it in cake, but then again, who would’ve imagined carrots would taste good in a cake? Thinking it’s a similar texture to carrots when raw, I grated it into a simple carrot cake recipe (without the carrots of course), and added in a mashed banana. You can omit the banana if you wish–I added in the banana because we had one that was getting very ripe and I didn’t want it to go to waste. Even one banana added a strong banana taste, so if you omit it, your cake will taste more strongly of Japanese yams. This cake turned out quite dense and extremely moist–I will definitely be incorporating it into my regular baking rotation.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 40 minutes
Servings: 24

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar (I substituted 1/2 cup with agave nectar)
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups oil
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 cups Japanese yam, grated
• 1 ripe banana, mashed (optional)
• 1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup medjool dates (pitted and chopped into eighths)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and grease or line a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and oil.
3. In another large bowl, shift together the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.
4. Carefully stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
5. Mix in the grated yam, banana, walnuts, and dates.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
7. Bake for 40 hour in the preheated oven, or until cake springs back when lightly touched. It should be golden on top and around the edges. Cool on the counter for at least 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

I recently visited Japan for the first time over the holidays. Over ten days, we visited Tokyo, Hakone, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. Of all the cities, Osaka surprised me the most. Dubbed, “Japan’s kitchen”, I should have expected to love it. Many of my favorite Japanese foods originated in Osaka, including takoyaki and okonomiyaki. I was transfixed walking down the rows and columns of shops and restaurants in Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori – every direction you looked at every intersection was a never-ending street to explore. The narrow streets and added extra charm. During the trip, I was very impressed by how clean and orderly the entire country was as well as the high level of service whether at a train station or a Michelin starred restaurant. The deer in Nara even bow to you!

Kyoto is famous for its tea, so I made sure to stock up on matcha while there. The increasing popularity of matcha in the US over the last few years has been astonishing, but understandable when you consider matcha’s health benefits. Matcha is finely powdered green tea leaves from plants grown in the shade to deepen the flavor. Best known for being high in antioxidants to help you fight against infections and disease, matcha also boots metabolism, detoxifies the body, and provides alert calmness through caffeine.

With a plethora of matcha from Kyoto on hand and Chinese New Year coming up, I decided to incorporate matcha into my nian gao (mochi cake) recipe (http://cinnamonandcilantro.blogspot.com/2011/02/nian-gao-moochi-cake.html). Nian gao is traditionally eaten during Chinese New Year to symbolize a family sticking together. I didn’t have sweet red bean paste at home, so decided to throw in some medjool dates – I found they added just the right amount of sweetness and a diversity in texture.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 60 minutes
Servings: 24

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups milk (I used soy milk)
• 1 pound (16 ounces) glutinous rice flour (the green bag with the 3 elephants on it)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons matcha powder
• 3/4 cup medjool dates (pitted and chopped into eighths)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and grease or line a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and milk.
3. In another large bowl, shift together the rice flour, baking powder, and matcha powder.
4. Carefully stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The mixture may be lumpy so try and break up the lumps. Pouring the mixture through a sieve helps.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place the chopped medjool dates on top.
6. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until cake springs back when lightly touched. It should be golden and crispy on the edges. Cool on the counter for at least 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

Life update: I moved apartments! Granted it was only two blocks, the move itself was exhausting and I’m relieved to be folding away the final boxes. This is my third apartment in New York and if history repeats itself, I’ll be here for two years. The new apartment is slightly smaller than the previous one, but has a patio and a kitchen that opens into the dining room, making it feel more spacious. Me and my roommate’s first duty to give our new home the proper welcome was to host a house warming.

In search of a recipe that would easily feed a lot of people, I decided to make some blondies. Halfway through as I was ready to mix in the chocolate chips I realized I actually didn’t have any. I rummaged my cabinets before opening up the freezer to find the savior ingredient: blueberries. I didn’t really know how these blueberry blondies would turn out (blueberries are not exactly a party food), but they were a hit. I used frozen blueberries, because that’s all that I had, but I would bet these would turn out even better with fresh blueberries.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 25 minutes
Servings: 24

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 baking soda
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and grease or line a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the olive oil and sugar. Mix in the eggs 1 at a time and then stir in the vanilla extract.
4. Stir in the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add in the blueberries and carefully stir to combine.
5. Spread the batter into the prepared pan evenly. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is slightly golden brown. Cool completely then cut into squares.

Now that it’s the end of June in New York, it finally feels like summer, and with that, comes an excuse to eat ice cream every day (not that I need an excuse). Ice cream is easily my favorite dessert, snack, midnight treat, heck, food, and I probably eat an unhealthy amount, especially at odd hours of the day. At any point in time, you can expect up to 3-5 pints of half eaten ice cream in my freezer—it doesn’t help that my roommate is also an avid ice cream consumer.The other delight of summer is an abundance of fresh fruit, including mango. There’s been a rise in Ataulfo, or Champagne, mango sighting at my local Whole Foods and I decided to combine my love of frozen treats and mango to make a fresh mango sorbet. One of my struggles with ice cream / sorbet is when it gets icy in the freezer, but I learned that if you add some hard liquor (vodka, tequila or rum) to your frozen treat mixture, it prevents icicles from forming. No icicles and a slight buzz—two wins.Prep time: 30 minutes
Refrigeration time: 3-4 hours or overnight
Freezer time: 3-4 hours or overnight
Servings: 6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 4 cups of fresh mango, skinned cut in cubes (3-5 mangoes depending on size)
• 3 tablespoons lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 tablespoons vodka (keeps the sorbet from turning icy)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a small saucepan, stir the sugar and water over a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.
2. Using a blender or food processor, puree the mango with the lime juice and the cooled sugar syrup. Refrigerate until completely cool.
3. Stir in the vodka. Churn the chilled sorbet mixture in your ice cream / sorbet machine per the manufacturer’s instructions (~30 minutes). Transfer to a container and freeze until firm (~3 hours).

When work is extra stressful and monotonous, which it has been lately, I appreciate even more the calming effects baking has on my state of mind. The kind of tough decision I prefer is choosing between peaches or blueberries as the star of my baked goods. In this case, I obviously chose peaches—with summer in full swing and yellow peaches golden ripe, it was a winning decision. I had decided to bake to take my mind off work, and ultimately brought these bars to work to share with the team on Monday. How ironic.

While many recipes using peaches will say to remove the skins first, I think these crumb bars turn out better with the peach skins on. The peach skin adds color and texture and more importantly, is where most of the fiber and vitamins are. If you prefer to peel your peaches before using them, you can submerge them in boiling water for 15 seconds then place in an ice bath—using a paring knife, the skin will slip right off. These bars are best fresh out of the oven—just make sure to let them cool slightly first (yes, it will require a lot of self-restraint).

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Servings: 24 bars

INGREDIENTS

Dough

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into cubes
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Peach filling

• 7 medium fresh peaches, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and grease or line a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. To make the pastry, in a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a fork or pastry blender to cut in the butter (or use your hands to rub it in), and then mix in the egg.
3. Pat half the dough into the bottom of your baking pan and set aside the other half for later.
4. To make the filling, in a medium mixing bowl, mix the peaches with the lemon juice. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix gently into the peaches.
5. Spread the peach filling evenly over the pastry and crumble the remaining dough over the top.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.

 

I recently bought a large jar of coconut oil from Trader Joe’s because I was curious about baking with it. Coconut oil is a great substitute for butter as you can replace it for the same quantity. I always assumed coconut oil was unhealthy due to its high percentage of saturated fats, which is linked to high cholesterol levels and heart disease, but in recent years, it seems the reputation of coconut oil as a health product has really spiked. Regardless, I think the verdict is still out, and any oil should be consumed in moderation.

I am not usually a fan of packaged cookies, but I do have a soft spot for Oreos. While whipping up some fresh chocolate chip cookies to avoid resorting to Chips Ahoy! seems reasonable, baking homemade Oreos probably seems more daunting to most people. However, it’s actually very simple and very worth it. The cookie itself has the strong flavor and deep color of dark cocoa, while the “cream” filling adds a light sweetness. Once you make these, you’ll have a hard time going back to packaged Oreos.

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Assemble time: 15 minutes
Servings: 15 sandwich cookies

INGREDIENTS

Cookie

• 1/2 cup coconut oil (butter can be substituted)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cream filing

• 1/4 cup coconut oil (butter can be substituted)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 370 degrees F, and line baking sheets with parchment paper (or grease with oil).
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the coconut oil and sugar together, until smooth (about 1 minute). Stir in the vanilla extract and salt and then mix in the egg.
3. Stir in the cocoa powder then mix in the flour, until the dough forms a ball.
4. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of 1/4-inch.
5. Use a 2-inch diameter fluted round cutter to cut shapes, place on the prepared baking sheets, and bake for 9 to 10 minutes or until crisp around the edges and set in the centers.
6. Cool completely, and sandwich with cream filling.
7. To make the cream filling, beat the coconut oil, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl until smooth.