Santa Claus Lemon Meringue Pie

Crust
112.5g of plain flour
62.5g of Caster sugar
62.5g of unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1. Using an electric mixer, mix together the flour, sugar, butter, vanilla extract and baking powder until it forms a dough. 
2. Press the dough into a lined spring-foam baking tray. Rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 225˚C and let it cool

Lemon Filling
375ml Water
225g Caster Sugar
30g Corn starch
1/4 Tablespoon of Salt
Zest of 2 Lemons
Juice of 2 Lemons
2 Tablespoon of unsalted butter
4 Egg Yolks

1. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, combine the water, castor sugar, corn starch, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice. Bring it to a gentle boil while mixing it continuously to prevent lumps.
2. Add the butter and whisk until it melts, add half a cup of the hot sugar mixture to the egg yolks and whisk t get them up to temperature. Add the egg yolk mixture to the pot with the remaining sugar mixture and cook for about 1 more minute constantly whisking. Turn off the heat and set aside.
3. Once cooled, fill it in the cooled crust.

Meringue
2 egg whites
3 Tablespoon of Castor Sugar

1. Beat the egg whites until frothy and add the sugar little by little

2. Beat until stiff peaks form and transfer to a piping bag

3. Pipe the meringue on to the pie, making sure to form little peaks on top

4. Bake in a preheated oven at 175˚C for 10 - 15 minutes until the peaks are golden brown. 

5. Let it cool for 3 hours before slicing. You can use chocolate chips for Santa's eyes and any red topping for his hat

Santa's hat and eyes
Raspberry Candies from Choc Spot
2 Large Chocolate chips

Orange Chiffon Cake

Refreshing taste but it was too dense...

Here's the receipe from Kitchen Tigress

60 g egg yolks
50 g castor sugar
80 g corn oil
65 g orange juice
100 g cake flour
¾ tsp baking powder

sift with cake flour
¼ tsp salt 

15 g finely grated orange zest 

180 g egg whites
⅓ tsp cream of tartar
50 g castor sugar

Measure and prep ingredients as detailed above. Preheat oven to 200°C. 

Whisk egg yolks and 50 g castor sugar till thick and pale. Add corn oil. Whisk till thick again, like mayonnaise. Add orange juice. Whisk till evenly mixed. Re-sift sifted cake flour and baking powder into bowl. Add salt and orange zest. Mix till just even. Set aside. Thoroughly wash whisk.  

Whisk egg whites till very frothy. Add cream of tartar. Keep whisking till egg whites are thick. Gradually add 50 g castor sugar whilst continuing to whisk. Keep whisking till egg whites reach firm peak stage. Add to yolk mixture in 3 batches. Mix with whisk till almost even after each  addition. Scrape down thoroughly with spatula. Fold till just evenly mixed. Bang bowl against  worktop 2-3 times to remove big air bubbles in batter.
                                                                     
Pour batter into 21 cm  loose-bottomed chiffon pan that's not non-stick, slowly so that  big air bubbles burst as they flow out of bowl. Level batter with  spatula. Run chopstick around sides of pan and knock pan 2-3 times against worktop to get rid of more big air bubbles.

                                                                  
Place cake in bottom of oven. Reduce temperature to 180°C. Bake till cake is level with pan and slightly golden brown, about 20 minutes. Place baking tray in top of oven to block heat from top of oven. Continue baking till cake is brown and slightly springy when pressed, another 20-25 minutes, rotating as necessary so that cake browns evenly. 

                                                                   
. 
Remove cake from oven. Invert and rest cake elevated from worktop. Leave till cool. Unmould by cutting cake out of pan. Slice and serve.

Rainbow Cheesecake

has been many many years since I've last use the oven... it started with this very impromptu bake for Fathers' Day and friends encouraged me to start a food blog to share the recipes. Anyway, I've decided to surprise hubby with his favourite NY cheesecake and since Rainbow is the IN thing now, I made a wee bit of change to the recipe by adding in the colours.