White wine Sangria

I Dream in Chocolate turns four today. I can’t believe this tiny blog of mine has grown to four years. I want to thank you to my fellow food bloggers and all my readers for your support along the way, I am ever so thankful.

I wanted to bake a cake for the occasion but as previously mentioned in my Shanghai Street post the oven is broken. Instead I made a white wine Sangria. I love the red version but once I tired the white wine version at Flying Fajitas Sisters I was completely sold.

This recipe is quick and simple. It is also so much cheaper when made at home.

White Wine Sangria
recipe adapted from “Delicious” more please by Valli Little

Ingredients
1 bottle of 750 mls of dry white wine such as Sauvignon blanc or Chardonnay
1/4 cup of caster sugar
1 peach chopped
1/2 an apple chopped
1/2 an orange sliced
about 4 strawberries
about 10 mint leaves
1/2 cup of peach schapps or peach flavoured wine (pre-mixed peach drink will work)
ice to serve

* Red Sangria – replace white wine with a dry red wine such as pinot noir or cabernent savignon
* To make this nonalcoholic you can use a sparkling grape juice such as white fronti in replace of white wine, To replace peach wine/schapps add apply juice or peach tea.

1. Combine sugar an wine in a jug or jar. Mix until sugar is dissolved
2. Add the fruit, mint and peach wine/schnapps
3. Stand Sangria at room temperature for 2 hours to infuse
4. Serve Sangria over ice or chill until cold.

I don’t have much to offer my readers but I will be giving away Nigella Lawson’s How to be a domestic goddess.

If you ask me why I choose this book? Because it has been with me ever since I started to bake. It is a book I keep on referring back to – time after again. Although I am not too fond of Nigella’s TV show I am quite fond of her cookbooks especially domestic Goddess. Out of all my cookbooks I have, I seem to cook/bake from domestic goddess the most. I guess it’s pretty much sentimental to me.

To enter:
* You must follow me on twitter @idreaminchoc. If you do not have twitter please subscribe on right hand side
* Please include the right email address. If no response after 14 days. I will redraw the prize.
* Please answer in the comments what is your favourite cookbook and your favourite recipe from it.
* closes 25th of February 5pm. My friend Miss C will pick the best response from her point of view. Sidenote: I am avoiding random comment due to some legal issues surrounding lucky draws.
* It will be shipped from book depository, so please allow time for it to get delivered
* Open to worldwide readers

Once again a big thank you <3

Chocolate Madeleines

Madeleines are simple small cakes originated from north east of France. This is a very easy recipe and does not take that long to prepare and even baked. Two wins in one.

I always wanted a Madeleine tin but didn’t think it was worth spending on. I managed to find this tin in Daiso for 2.80. Of course with such a bargain like that I had to purchased it.

Chocolate Madeleines

Recipe adapted from Donna Hay’s simple essentials “Chocolate”
makes ~ 12 to 15.

Ingredients
2 eggs
75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
50g (1/3 cup) plain flour
2 tbsp of cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
60g unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp of vanilla paste
spray oil to grease

1. Preheat Oven to 180 degrees,
2. Place eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the vanilla paste.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa over the egg mixture and fold through the melted butter
4. Spray oil in the madeleine tins
5. Spoon mixture into greased tin until 3/4 full
6. Bake for 10 minutes until cooked

Thanks to Hungry Australian for hosting the Death by Chocolate blog hop.

Shanghai Street

I hope you guys had a fantastic and great New Year. Once again I haven’t disappeared off the radar. Long story short I made a decision to move from Sydney to Melbourne. It was one of the biggest decisions I have ever made. I am also thankful my company has allowed me stay and transfer to the Melbourne office. I am not sure how long I will be here for, just seeing how this city is and might just decide to stay here permanently.

Moving along, the oven is busted at the new place which meant I can’t even bake or cook things in the oven. I am completely heart broken because my itch to bake needs to be cured. On the good side I am looking forward to exploring many eats of Melbourne (tight budget! yikes). I got a lovely list happening and hope to add more to it. I been reading a number of Melbourne food blogs and I’m very thankfully there is many great blogs out there that has help me in the direction where to go =). What would our lives by without blogs? Nonetheless traditional media has still been my reference point so I love we have the best of both worlds.

On my previous visit to Melbourne I stayed in a hotel called City Garden off Little Bourke st. Everytime we walk back to the hotel we pass this small restaurant called Shanghai Street. It was always packed with lines. The restaurant can probably sit around under 35 people with a few outdoor tables. I admit, if I see a restaurant with a queue, I would think it’s good.

Now we are back and living here so we finally get a chance to see how good this place is. I find myself making comparions back to Shanghai night back in Ashfield, Sydney.

We got seats along the bench against the window (seats 4). It is thursday night around 6:30pm and about 3 couples are in front of us. The wait was about 10 minutes

I spotted hot and sour soup with dumplings on the menu – wanted it so much! Mr himself hates vinegar and anything sour so its a no go zone tonight. I love all things sour, tom yum soup, vinegar, assam laksa, even those evil warheads. I guess another visit some other time.

The wonton soup does not stand out too much. Slighlty above average these are still comforting on a cold day.

The xiao long baos upon arrival are large in size. They meet the mark of xiao long baos soupy and luscious.

The plate of Shanghai noodles I find a bit small in comparison to what I normally see. However it was full of oily goodness and fulfilling the way I like it. Just lacks the size.

Service was a bit rushed but the line was quite long when we left. The bill left a tiny damage on the wallet which is a win in my books.

342 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
03 9600 2250

Albee’s Kitchen

Are you sick of waiting in line for Mamak? Think of two scenarios. One you join the queue at Mamak and two instead of lining up you venture into Campsie to visit Albee’s Kitchen. I think the latter scenario will still be quicker.

First time I heard about Albee’s Kitchen was at the Parramatta Malaysian BBQ. Their satay sticks left a memory in my head, it was simply unforgettable. Afterwards one of my work colleagues raved about Albee’s Kitchen. So I was keen to try it for myself. I have previously visited Albee’s twice and both times I was without a camera. I was determined to come back and take photos. I am without my SLR on this visit but Albee’s Kitchen definitely needs to be blogged about.

On the prior 2 visits I have sat in the front part of the restaurant. The interior of Albee’s makes you feel like you have stepped right into Malaysia. This time we walked in and we realise the restaurant was already full. However we were taken through the kitchen and discovered there is two more rooms at the back pheww!

Thankfully I am visiting on a Tuesday, that means I can finally cure my craving for dry wonton mee (only served on Tuesday). Albee’s have a daily special for each day of the week. Only on certain days you can order a daily special.

One of the back rooms. It has a less hawker feel then the front.

Cendol

Soy and Cendol.

Lor Bak is a a meat spring roll wrapped in a bean curd sheets, kind of like a sausage. I love the lor bak here. It’s crispy and the sauce goes perfectly with it.

Chicken Satay. If there is one thing you must order here it has to be the satay. This tasted close to the ones I had in Malaysia. Two words totally epic.

The Char Kuey teow is massive. On a previous visit I struggled to finish the whole plate. I ended up eating half and leaving the other half for lunch for the next day. Their version isn’t the best and probably lack a bit of “wok hei” but it isn’t too bad. I am still yet to find a fantastic version of Char kuey teow in sydney

Hokkian Style Seafood Noodles. Like the Char Kuey teow this was massive in size. Mr himself seems please with the noodles and finishes the whole thing!

Char Siew dry Wonton Mee. I did purposely come to visit on a Tuesday to have dry wonton mee. I liked how they have the served the wontons separately. The noodles was drenched heavy in the sauce, which I prefer. Although it came a little close to the one I had back in Melaka is definitely cured my craving for me. Do you know any other places that does a dry wonton mee?

Previous visits I have try the Hainanese Chicken Rice, Mee rebus and Teh tarik . I also recommend the Chicken rice and the Mee Rebus (Thursday special). The Teh Tarik wasn’t frothy enough for me.

I am still yet to try many other Malaysian restaurants in Sydney but so far Albee’s kitchen has topped my list. On your way out, make sure you grab a box of Malaysian desserts (kuih) and a curry puff. The curry puffs are so delicious – they also have half an egg in it.

Address:
282 Beamish St
Campsie, NSW 2194
9718 8302
http://www.albeeskitchen.com.au

Yule Log

I don’t celebrate Christmas. I grew up in a family where Christmas, easter and birthdays weren’t that important. I felt like I had sad childhood thinking it’s not fair. Every birthday or Christmas I simply asked my grandma every year why don’t we celebrate?.  My grandma’s answer each year remains the same “everyday is my birthday because there is food on the table”. That quote didn’t mean anything to me when I was young but as I grew older I really appreciate what she said. Everyday is like a celebration because I’m lucky and blessed with everything that I have. Sad we take things for granted sometimes and don’t appreciate what we have already.

I am not to fond of Christmas desserts, I am more particularly interested in the mains rather then the desserts when it comes to Christmas meals. When given a festive dessert during the blog hop I could not think of a Christmas/December dessert I would like. Somehow it hit me later that a yule log is perfect to whip up. Yule log first originated in France and consists of a swiss roll covered and shaped into a yule log.

Recipe adapted from Masterchef  – I have halved the recipe due to my oven size

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup plain flour
3/4 tablespoon cocoa powder
50g unsalted butter melted, then cooled

Milk Chocolate Ganache Filling
1/3 cup pure cream
70g white chocolate, chopped
30g hazelnuts, roasted, finely chopped*

Dark Chocolate Ganache Topping
1/3 cup pure cream
70g dark chocolate, chopped

Decoration
mini marshmallows
about 40 grams of dark chocolate
white writing icing

*instead of chopped I crushed the hazelnuts by placing in a sandwich bag and smashing with a meat mullet

Method

1. Preheat oven 180°C. Grease a 30cm by 35cm Swiss roll tin and line with baking paper.

2. For Yule log, beat eggs and sugar in an electric mixer for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.

3. Sift flour and cocoa together and then sift over the eggs. Pour butter around the edge of the bowl and using a large metal spoon gently fold mixture together. Pour mixture into prepared tin, spread out gently using a palette knife and bake for 8 mins or until sponge springs back. Cover with foil or a tea towel.

4. For filling, place cream and milk chocolate in a heat proof bowl over simmering water. Stir until chocolate has melted and become smooth.

5. For topping, place cream and dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl over simmering water. Stir until chocolate has melted and become smooth.

6. Wait till milk chocolate ganache is cooled then spread filling to the end of roll, leaving a 3cm gap at the end. Sprinkle hazelnuts over filling. Roll and trim sponge. Cut off one end piece about 10cm long on the diagonal and place it alongside the log to create a branch.

7. Place yule log on a serving platter and spread the dark chocolate topping all over it and score with a fork. Dust with icing sugar

8. To make the decorations pick three mini marshmallows and “glue” them together using the white writing icing. Melt chocolate and spoon chocolate in a shape of a leaf onto a baking sheet – repeat until all done. Let the chocolate cooled and then placed in the fridge. Once the chocolate is set, peel chocolate off baking sheet and decoration the yule log with the marshmallows and chocolate leaves.

Thanks to 84th&the3rd for hosting the Festive blog hop.