Chinese New Year Fondant Cupcakes

I made these marshmallow fondant cupcakes last year, for Chinese New Year 2014.

Chinese New Year cupdakes with homemade marshmallow fondant

The cupcakes were dark chocolate cupcakes, recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker's Dark Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe.

Dark Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients
113gm unsalted butter
2 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, room temperature
2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream

Method

1. Preheat oven. See below for temperature and oven setting.
2. Melt butter, chocolate and cocoa powder over simmering water. Then cool to warm-to-touch.
3. While waiting for chocolate mixture to cool, sift flour, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl. Mix to combine.
4. Beat the eggs with electric mixer. Add sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix till fully combined.
5. Take the egg mixture off the mixer stand. Pour in the cooled chocolate mixture. Mix with a spatula or spoon till combined.
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix to combine.
7. Add sour cream, mix to combine. It's easier to blend in the sour cream at this stage while the mixture is still quite thin.
8. Add remaining flour mixture, mix to combine.
9. Divide batter into cupcake casings, filling each one 1/2 full, and bake.

For regular-sized cupcakes, bake at 140°C for 18-20 minutes. The recipe yields 12 regular-sized cupcakes.

For mini cupcakes, bake at a slightly lower temperature, 130-135°C for 18 minutes. The recipe yields 24 mini cupcakes.

Oven Setting
It's important to bake cupcakes using the top and bottom heating element of the oven, instead of fan-assisted convection, and bake them in the middle rack in a single tray or layer. I've learned that using fan-assisted convection could result in cupcakes with lopsided dome tops (caused by the wind from the fan before the cupcakes fully set).

Homemade marshmallow fondant cupcakes

The cupcakes were then frosted with a thin layer of chocolate ganache, before decorated with my homemade marshmallow fondant toppers.

Peanut Cookies Recipe

Peanut cookies is a Chinese New Year tradition in my family. We make them every year. They are sweet, nutty and aromatic, and insanely easy to make. The recipe is very simple, with just 4 inexpensive ingredients - flour, sugar, ground roasted peanuts and vegetable oil. But the process of making them can be long and tedious.

Peanut Cookies for Chinese New Year

This is my mother-in-law's recipe. She has been making them for decades and every time, they are just as delectable. By the way, my mother-in-law never weighs the ingredients :) She goes by the ratio of 1:1:3/4, that is, equal portions of ground roasted peanuts and flour, with the portion for sugar reduced to taste. There is no measurement for oil either. Oil is added a little at a time, and mixed until a dry dough forms and tiny balls can be shaped without crumbling.

Making Chinese New Year Peanut Cookies

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, ground roasted peanuts and sugar) together in a big bowl.

Mix flour, ground peanuts and sugar together

Add the oil, a little at a time.

Add oil, a little at a time

Mix until a dry dough forms. To test, take about a teaspoonful of dough and shape into a ball. If it crumbles easily, it's too dry - add more oil. If it holds together, it's good.

The dough - not too wet/oily, not too crumbly

Now the labour begins... Take a small portion of dough, shape into a bite-sized ball and place on prepared baking tray.

Place dough balls on baking tray - 80 pieces per tray

We use the bamboo cap of the chinese calligraphy brush to make the circle mark on the cookies.

Make the traditional/signature circle mark on the cookies

Give it an egg wash and it's ready to go into the oven. We prefer to use the calligraphy brush (new and cleaned, of course) for the egg wash as it is softer. We find the normal pastry brush too hard and tend to break the cookie.

Egg wash

Bake at 170°C for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Bake till golden brown

Chinese New Year Peanut Cookies Recipe

Ingredients
1 kg sifted all-purpose flour
1 kg ground roasted peanuts
700 gm sifted icing sugar, adjust to taste
Vegetable or peanut oil (cooking oil like Helang, Buruh, Neptune are all suitable)

Egg wash: 9 egg yolks

Makes about 500+ bite-sized pieces

Method

1. Oil the baking tray, or line with non-stick baking paper.
2. Mix the flour, ground roasted peanuts and icing sugar in a large bowl.
3. Pour the vegetable oil, a little at a time, in the flour mixture. Mix till a dry dough forms.
4. Shape into small balls and place on the baking tray.
5. Make the circle mark on the balls.
6. Brush generously with egg wash.
7. Bake at 170°C for 12 minutes.

Notes:

• You can use store-bought ground roasted peanuts, or do like we do - buy, roast and grind the peanuts ourselves. 
• Both icing sugar and granulated sugar can be used. If using icing sugar, be sure to sift first to avoid lumps.
• Don't add too much oil, even if the dough initially appears dry or crumbly. The oil will combine with the flour the longer the dough sits. You can let the dough rest for a while if you prefer.
• Personally I find the egg-yolk-only egg wash a little too thick and difficult to work with. I usually prefer egg yolk thinned with a little milk. It's easier to work with and gives a nice sheen. But MIL says egg yolk only :)
• The cookies tend to stick to the tray/baking paper if any egg wash drip onto it. So avoid brushing with too much egg wash. 
• You can make as much or as little as you like Just follow the 1:1:3/4 ratio guideline, e.g. 1 bowl of flour + 1 bowl of ground roasted peanuts + less than 1 bowl of sugar. Each ingredient can be adjusted to one's liking, i.e. more nuts for a nuttier flavour, more flour for a firmer cookie. Other variations include using butter or margarine, coarsely ground roasted peanuts, very finely ground roasted peanuts and so on. 

Enclosed Pineapple Tarts

With the pineapple jam/filling done and ready, it was time to make the pineapple tarts. I went with the enclosed version because I didn't have the piping mould for the rolled version, nor the cutter for the open-faced flower version.

Enclosed Pineapple Tarts

Since there was enough jam, I decided to try and test 2 different recipes for the pastry.

The first recipe that I chose was from Nasi Lemak Lover. Her recipe is touted and cited by many as the best melt-in-the-mouth pineapple tart recipe. I halved the original recipe and got about 36 pieces the size of Penang Tau Sar Pneah. This recipe uses a LOT of butter. For 36 pieces, I used three quarters of a 227 gm block of butter. It called for sweetened condensed milk for sweetness but no additional sugar, and the dough was soft and easy to handle. The baked tarts were very buttery... in fact, the aroma of butter was so strong that I worried that some may find it overwhelming. The pastry was firm, crumbly to the bite but not in the hands. It tasted buttery and quite bland on its own but when paired with the sweet-sour taste of the pineapple jam, the tart was delicious! I also find that they tasted better after a day, when the pastry has had time to soften.

The second recipe was from Table for 2... or more by WendyinKK. I couldn't resist this recipe because the pastry has cream cheese in it... must be good, right?! Again, I halved the original recipe and this time I made them smaller - bite-sized pieces, and got about 80 pieces. More to share :) Oh my, this recipe contains a LOT of fat - it uses less butter then NLL's but only to be replaced with cream cheese and heavy cream. This is not for weight conscious people! The dough was very, very soft and oily, which made it easy to shape around the jam ball but required quick and gentle handling to avoid a mess of dough and jam. The baked tarts gave out a milder aroma of butter but still very fragrant. The pastry was softer and more crumbly than NLL's, and slightly tastier. Other than that, I thought both recipes were very close in terms of taste, texture and flavour.

Pineapple Tarts - Tau Sar Pneah size vs. bite size

Choosing the perfect pineapple tart recipe is really a matter of personal preference. While these 2 recipes yielded aromatic and delicious tarts, I wouldn't use them if I were making tarts for someone who dislike the smell and taste of butter. NLL actually stated on her page that she used a butter blend instead of pure butter so as to not let the butter overwhelm the pineapple. I've tasted homemade pineapple tarts with pastry made with margarine, and they were equally good. Having said that, if you do love butter, as I do, you will love these 2 recipes. What I think will make or break your pineapple tart is the JAM. I know it's been said a million times but it is worth saying again - the homemade jam is superior. You just don't get the purity of taste and flavour with store-bought jam.

Enclosed Pineapple Tarts: Recipe 1

Adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover.
I halved the original recipe and got about 36 pieces the size of Penang Tau Sar Pneah.

Pastry
175 gm butter
50 gm sweetened condensed milk
255 gm all-purpose flour
1 egg yolk

Egg wash: 1 egg yolk + 1 tsp milk

Filling
About 350gm pineapple jam (homemade pineapple jam recipe here)

Making the Pastry

1. Cream butter and condensed milk until light.
2. Add in egg yolk and mix till combined.
3. Add in flour and mix till a soft dough forms. Don't overmix the dough.

Next, gather the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling wrap and put it in the refrigerator to chill while working on the jam. 

Making/Assembling the Tarts

To ensure all the tarts are consistent in size, I use measuring spoons - a tablespoon of dough with a teaspoon of jam. 

1 tart = 1 tablespoon of dough + 1 teaspoon of jam

Firstly, while the dough is chilling in the fridge, roll the jam into balls, a teaspoon each.

Measure the amount of jam with a teaspoon

Drop and roll into a ball

Next, using the same measuring technique for the dough:

• Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball
• Flatten the dough ball into a disc
• Place a jam ball on dough disc
• Wrap the dough around the jam
• Make a gentle, final roll to even the shape and place it on the baking tray
• Score lines on the top to make them more attractive and pineapple-like

Ready for egg wash

Score lines to make them more pineapple-like

Finally, give the tarts an egg wash and they are ready to go into the oven. Bake at 160-170C for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

Baked pineapple tarts

Pure pineapple and pastry that melt in the mouth - delicious!

Enclosed Pineapple Tarts: Recipe 2

Adapted from Table for 2... or more by WendyinKK.
I halved the original recipe and got about 80 mini bite-sized pieces.

Pastry
125 gm salted butter
2 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
1 1/2 tbsp cream cheese
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 egg yolks (keep the remaining 1/2 for the egg wash)
200 gm all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp corn flour

Egg wash: 1/2 egg yolk + 1/2 tsp milk

Filling
About 350gm pineapple jam (homemade pineapple jam recipe here)

Making the Pastry

1. Sift the flour and corn flour together.
2. Cream butter, sugar and cream cheese together until light.
3. Add in heavy cream and beat for 10 minutes.
4. Add in the flour and mix till a soft dough forms. Don't overmix the dough.

Gather the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling wrap and put it in the refrigerator to chill while working on the jam.

As with Recipe 1, I use measuring spoons to ensure a consistent size. To make the mini tarts, I use a teaspoon of dough with a 1/2 teaspoon of jam.

1 mini tart = 1 teaspoon of dough + 1/2 teaspoon of jam

The method for wrapping/assembling the tarts is the same as above, for Recipe 1.

Baked mini pineapple tarts