miladyinsanity

I've made sponge candy before as well, but I'm pretty sure my recipe didn't call for vinegar.

I like this better with 5-spice powder. Great pics!

I haven't made the marshmallows myself, so I have no idea how it could happen. But what chocolate did you melt?

Supposedly a claypot is best for soups. I don't know how true that is, but that's what my passel of aunts swears by. My mom even got a separate hotplate for hers, because we usually cook on induction, and claypots don't get hot enough on them.

You won't need to add cream to the chocolate--I think that would be a bad idea, because ganache will melt. Just temper as usual and dip the marshmallows. They won't melt in the chocolate.

I would like to know to. I don't have much use for egg yolks, so there are a lot of recipes I've not tried because they would go to waste otherwise.

No problem.

Hi miladyinsanity.. I am not familiar with Chinese rock sugar, but I think it may be similar to Dutch rock sugar. This is a very hard sugar.. we use it in tea and coffee, where it melts slowly. It looks like this, there is also a white variety. This is not suitable for the sugarbread. If the pieces of Chinese rock sugar are too hard to easily bite into, then it's not suitable for this recipe. You need lumps of sugar that melt into the dough while the loaf is baking, so that in the endresult you have semi-soft, crunchy bits of sugar. So in that case, i would advise to use regular sugarlumps/cubes and crush them, making sure that they are not crushed to a powder. ← Thank you. I think it should work, or barley sugar if it doesn't. Get well soon!

Are you talking about the nut inside, Pam R? It does have a slightly sour twang sometimes.

I think it matters as well what kind of cocoa you're using. Milk is alkaline, and will negate the acidic effects of cocoa powder that is not Dutched.

Chufi, do you think Chinese rock sugar--crushed somewhat--would work in place of the sugar chips? I've never seen pearl sugar here, much less the sugar chips. Your pictures are just gorgeous. I can't wait to try out some of your recipes!

Sweet potatoes, Yam (not the orange kind), shrimp whether big or tiny (there's this place in Penang that sells really yummy ones) and bananas. Yum!

I use an induction cooker. I think I've only seen one or two brands of cast iron pots/pans that can be used on them. One is Staub, but I'm not sure about Le Creuset.

I usually drink Manuka honey, with apple cider vinegar. But I can't stand the taste of it plain or otherwise--we shall not discuss my experiment with honey-sweetened cocoa.

I love them! Chinese New Year without them? Nevah!

http://bakingsheet.blogspot.com/2005/12/hot-cocoa-mix.html LOL Jeni. I just saw a recipe for that today. Hope this is what you're looking for! I lean towards the cocoa plus chocolate dissolved into milk--and a bit of cream if I'm being bad--myself.

If you over-whip the batter, cheesecakes will crack too. I love this one: http://dessertcomesfirst.blogspot.com/2001...y-quest-to.html I've substituted cream for the condensed milk, which gives it a richer feel.

Where's "here"? ← I live in Singapore.

JasonTrue suggested tofu. You could make glutinous rice balls to serve in the syrup. Just glutinous rice flour and enough water to make the dough feel a bit sticky in your hand. You can add coloring for some contrast, and fill them if you like--peanut, red bean paste and black sesame paste are more traditional, but yam is popular here. The balls are then cooked in boiling water--according to my mom, it's until the balls float to the top. They should be chewy. You could serve both the tofu and glutinous rice balls in soya bean milk, or syrups--ginger or pandan would be good.

http://dessertcomesfirst.blogspot.com/2001...y-quest-to.html I like that recipe. You can substitute cream for the condensed milk and sweeten to taste. Drop the calamansi/lime juice, and you can change it to suit whichever flavor cheesecake you want to make.

If you're going to use coconut milk, you might like to sweeten it some with the coconut water. Coconut milk--fresh squeezed--tends to be thick.

There's another Chinese dessert that uses lard. At least, they used to use lard--depends on who you ask. It's steamed yam, immersed in a sweetened liquid that has coconut milk and lard. Very rich, and very good. And goodness knows I wish I didn't know it had lard! I'm one of those people who can't stand the thought of pork fat going down their throats.

No, I don't do that. I should have been clearer. I meant 4 hours cooling in the oven after switching it off, then 4 hours in the fridge. Some people prop the oven open, but I never have and it seems to be okay. It does collapse inward slightly. I baked one on Wednesday, and when I took it out of the oven after it cooled, it had come away cleanly from the sides of the springform tin. But it did not have the concentric cracks that sometimes happens when cheesecakes collapse inwards. So now I need a new project next year. This year was cheesecake.

I'm pretty sure nut butters don't contain sugar. Think peanut butter.

My recipe doesn't use a bain-marie, doesn't crack, and can come out of the springform tin in 8 hours--about 4 in the oven and another 4 in the fridge is the shortest time I've left it. Would you like a link? Though, when I used to use a bain-marie, I didn't have this problem with my cheesecakes.