The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber (2003 & 2009)

The Heavenly sword and Dragon saber

The heavenly sword and Dragon saber is the final part of the Condor trilogy by Yin Jong (Louis Cha). The second part is about the child of Yang Kang and Nianci Mu and we get to know more of what happened to Gou Jing and Huang Rong.  In this final part the only thing that connects it to the other two parts is the manuals hidden in the two weapons.  This story is about a couple originating from opposing sects and the life of their son, once they are killed when they return to the mainland. 

2009 version

2003 version

I started watching the Heavenly sword and Dragon saber with the 2009 version because it was the one I could find at the time.  But I have to say, I did not get very far before I had to stop and started with the 2003 version.

2003 and 2009 version of Zhang Wuji & Zhao Min

The things I liked particularly about the 2009 version were Zhao Min's costumes, the fight during her first meeting with Zhang Wuji, some of the battles, some scenes, and the real under water scene.  But the reason I stopped watching despite it having things I liked was because it was confusing. My god was it confusing. From the very beginning, I had a hard time following, so I think it was made for people who are already familiar with the story and just want to see the memorable parts. I only realized how confusing after staring to watch the 2003 version.  

The 2003 version did the story so that one could understand it as a whole. So, it would cut to one group and go to another. So as to get an idea of the whole picture.  The 2009 version even the very next scenes and actions sometimes made no sense. Especially when it came to set up. I really loved the Wudan temple in the 2009 because it was a real temple and not a set and it was beautiful.  But how the temple was built made very little sense for how the action happened.  For example, Zhang Wuji was kidnapped then brought to the temple but then he suddenly appears coming from within the temple. But none of the kidnappers had been allow into the temple. So how did he get in?  There were many scenes like this.  

I also think the 2003 version of the villain was a little more menacing and scary to me. He just seemed like he had a hand in everything setup and that was scary. I also think both Zhang Wuji were good, though in some scenes I felt the 2009 actors portrayed more emotions.  Both Zhao Min were okay for me. I particularly liked the fight scene from 2009 when he comes for the antidote.  Though I still did not find it clear has to why Zhang Wuji fell in love with Zhao Min.
But the 2009 version had a few cute scenes between them that you could stretch to mean they were falling in love.

2003 and 2009 version Zhou Zhirou

Zhou Zhirou in the 2003 was a lot more menacing than the other one and you actually knew what was happening with her.  I also liked the design of the weapons better.  I also liked the relationship between Yang Buhui and the Sixth Uncle.  The show made sure to discuss all the questions that needed to be asked and I liked how it resolved between them . 

Though I loved the scene from the 2009 version, where the Sixth Uncle tried to killed himself and Buhui saved him. But what followed just seemed completely out of the blue and unhealthy, if I had not seen the scenes depicting their relationship from the 2003 version, I would have continued to think that their relationship was toxic.  

Another things I didn't like in the 2009 version was what happened with Xiaozhan it came off very like she was completely manipulated into becoming to new sect leader. This made no sense the sect had already accepted the return of her mother by bowing to her. Instead it being a decision she wanted to make so she could be with her mother and save her friends.  Also I did not like Ying Li because she seemed mentally unstable.  

2003 version Zhang Wuji & Zhao Min

I also like they that there were actual portrayal of affection. I always prefer to see more display of affection than the usual fare of head on the shoulder and occasional holding of hands.  Especially, since in most Ancient Chinese series there are always declaration of undying love.

I would recommend this series for the 2003 version because the story made sense and flowed better.

The Swordsman (2013)

The Swordsman

The swordsman is based on the novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer by Jin Yong. The original story revolves around the coveted Bixie Swordplau Manual belonging to the Lin family.  The story's main protagonist is Linghu Chong.  

I have not read or seen any of the previous adaptations of the Smiling, Proud Wanderer. However, from what I can read on line this adaptation had taken some liberties with the original story.  

Having started the story, I liked the scenery and colors although some of the CGI were not so great. The martial arts and fight scenes were also well done.  When the story starts off, I liked the chemistry and I thought most of the characters did a good job. 

Tian Bo Guang was made to have fun scenes and had good chemistry with most of the other characters. What I did not like was the attempted justification has to why he was a rapist and how he got off with hardly any punishment, though Dungfong Bubai turned him into a monk.  I thought he should have regretted more himself and want to repent for all the wrong he did.

Yi Lin was fun even though she was a typical quiet and reserve girl that is so popular in a lot of Chinese series not just the Ancient. 

DungFong BuBia was the most interesting woman in the series though her development sometimes was frustrating where suddenly she is in love with a man and has to give up everything for him, although they never really showed clearly has to why she wanted to be Leader and powerful.

Linghu Chong and Dongfang Bu Bai

Linghu Chong started off very likable since he seemed not to just judge people on the labels they were given but by their actions.  However his way of seeing things and judging were not consistent.   We see him kill two members of other sects with his own hands but showed no remorse for their death because they wanted him harm, but when Dongfung Bubai killed those sects members who were trying to kill her he suddenly was calling them innocents and her evil.  Also since their meeting Linghu Chong had never asked Dongfung Bubai what sect she was in and she had never done anything to harm him or cause him to harm others.  Yet when, Linghu Chong meets Ying Ying she takes him to the Plum Manor to use him to free her father and causes the death of the Four brothers, who had done him no harm, but he showed no emotion for their death.  Even when he finds out that Ying Ying is from the same sect as Dongfung Bubai, he doesn't blame Ying Ying but he does blame Dongfung Bubai.  That is hypocritical.   Many times Linghu Chong stated that just because Yi Lin was in love with him doesn't mean he should be in love with her, and is completely true but when he meets Ying Ying that is exactly what he does.  Also this idea that you should love someone no matter what and that is the only way that your love is pure is idealized bull. 

Ying Ying is introduced and I found her character a little boring and having little chemistry with Linghu Chong.  She is another of the quiet, kind and submissive female characters but I found Yi Li and even Ning Zhongke far more interesting than her.  Also this idea that you should love someone who is nice to you and or is in love with you that Linghu Chong was rightly against in the beginning gets thrown out the window.  Ying Ying said she just wanted to have a relationship with Linghu Chong but he didn't have to love her back.  But that is exactly what happens. An example is when Linghu Chong has already said he likes her and they go to help Yue Ling Shang who was stabbed by Lin Pin Zhi.  Suddenly Ying Ying is jealousy and mopey that he cares about Shna'er.  When she cuts her hand on the climb she becomes all depressed that Linghu Chong did not ask about it.  1. She is a freaking martial artist in a dangerous world and is crying over some cuts and 2. Linghu Chong did not know about it and she did not tell him. This goes to show that Ying Ying was not kind and just wanted to help Ling Shan who was hurt but was just doing it so she could be praised and Linghu Chong would love her more. After that she runs aways instead of talking about it.  Where she would find out that of course Linghu Chong cares about Ling Shan, they have a long history.  It's like one sibling growing jealous because the other got hurt in a car accident and the parents are visiting them in the hospital. She then runs away and when they come to find her, she hides playing the mistreated wronged one. This continued theme in Chinese series start to really get on my nerves. People shouldn't be together just because you decided to do something nice for them.  

Lin Ping Zi

Lin Ping Zhi was an interesting character because he starts of innocent and weak but after his family is murder he just wants revenge.  He first has a crush on Yue Ling Shan but decides to pursue her because her father could make him stronger.  I felt that along the way he did grow to really care about her but when he finds out that Shan'er father had actually stolen the Bixie sword manual he becomes paranoid and thinks she must have been part of the plan.  Even when he marries her, you see that it's a way to get back at her father but there were moments where he seemed like he felt hurt and guilt for what he was doing to her.  I think more of those moments should have been focused on because otherwise he came off quite heartless instead of someone who was consumed by the pain and frustration of feeling he was not able to accomplish his blood debt.  In the end he seemed to have completely lost his mind. 

Yue Ling Shan

Yue Ling Shan and Ning Zongze  were tragic.  They were both beautiful strong women but fell in love with the similar type of men.  Although, Yue BuQun who had been scheming and lying for decade and was  even jealous of his own student was far worse to me than Lin Pingzi in some ways. In the beginning Shan'er had spunk and would not be easily bullied by anyone but suddenly she fall in love and gets married and all her self respect went out the window.

One thing I found interesting was how if you have no male part like Ping Zhi and the Sect leader who castrated themselves to get power that immediately equals to becoming more feminine. Suddenly, they liking the color purple (which I assume from this series was a women's color) and had an aroma. 

Over all I think Swordsman was a good show. Though the final main romance and love interest seemed wasted. At the end I felt more sad towards Dongfang BuBai than happy for Linghu Chong being happy, which I think was not the intent of the show.  I also liked the songs from the show.  

Swords of Legends (Gu Jian Qi Tan)

Gu Jian Qi Tan

Swords of Legends is a fantasy Chinese series based of the RPG game Gu Jian Qi Tan.  The story is set in Ancient China, the young protagonist is Baili Tusu. When he is young, an unknown masked group attacks and massacred everyone in his village including his mother. Being the only survivor Tusu loses his memory. Tusu was saved by Ziyin, a Celestial Being from Tianyong City Sect. Tusu becomes his second disciple, but because of a terrible incident he has to leave.  As Tusu travels and learns more, he begins to discover the true relationship between him, the Sword of Solitude and a friend Ouyang Shaogong. 

Gu Jian Qi Tan Game

I am not really sure how I started watching Swords of Legends but once I did.  I did not want to stop. Not because I felt it was so great but I kept hoping it would get better, especially since some people seemed to like it so much.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. It was an average good show. One thing I think they could have worked on was creating more intense cliffhangers at the end of each episode.

Baili Tusu

I liked Baili Tusu. I could understand the way he was and why he was that way. The only disappointing part was when he was being controlled by the sword.  This was a great opportunity to really show the difference between the two sides. Tusu that was always calm and hardly experienced any of his emotions and the one that just let go, felt and showed whatever he was feeling without restraint.  The only scene I really saw this was when he was fighting Ling Duan at the Mu Valley Village. Other than that there wasn't really much that could differentiate between regular Tusu and Sword Tusu.  

Qing Xue

I felt like I wanted to like Qing Xue more than I actually ended up.  I was excited when they mentioned that she was related to Nu wa, but this was never really addressed. She was from Youdu, who could summon and served Nu wa. But we never really found out anything more. I was disappointed by how her story ended, because she was of the view that death was a part of life and we should just accept it.  However, in the end she spend all her time searching for Tusu's memories (soul?) on her own, but not while she continued to live.  She just became like an observer.  Never contacting her friends or family. Plus it seemed like she was searching for Tusu, so he would remember and love her instead of being happy that he gets to be reborn and live again.  Which is why the way Ancient Chinese series's portrayal of love and "I will love you forever and not matter what" I find to be problematic.

Shaogong & Xun Fang

I could understand why Shaogong felt the way he did.  His pain from having to go from body to body, always feeling and knowing you were not complete and losing the little happiness you had finally found.   I could see why he could become so stubborn at going against heaven.  Because of all the suffering, I too would have a hard time just accepting, it's because heaven wanted it.  Plus his pain was compelling because almost everyone knows the pain of having lost someone you love and how much despair it can cause.

Xun Fang was a little boring and I did not like her character because of what she did that was revealed at the end.  We find out early that she did not die, but I was always wondering why she did not tell Shaogong. I just felt there was little reason for her to do what she did. Xun Fang and Shaogong were suppose care so much for each other that they wanted to grow old together.  But what happens shows a bit of how some aspect of Chinese culture might view love.  It seemed at times very attached to appearance and status. Because, all the women that are shown to be desirable are physically beautiful and have a measure of status, whether it be royals on earth or to the gods, usually both.  Since Xun Fang was a Princess of a land empire and had spiritual and magical powers. This situation with Xun Fang and Shaogong illustrated one of the reasons why I don't like the keeping of certain types of secrets and important information.  Shaogong started to search and became stubborn in his quest to bring back the dead because he thought Xun Fang was dead. Xun Fang decided to lie to him about being alive because her hair had turned white and her face was scared.   (we can debate whether she was truly old or just had white hair since most Chinese series rarely ever use actual old actors to represent older versions. Old as in elderly, not from kids to adult).  But here, I will say she just had her hair turned white. If their love was anywhere near as grand as was said, her face and hair would not have been an issue, they could not have resolved.  Shaogong was a genius Doctor.   There is a huge difference between the pain one feels when someone they love is hurt versus died and they can never see them again.  How could she make such a decision without really considering what it might do? It almost felt like she had little respect for him and bought into the views that of course he loved her only because of her appearance and status.  Not to say that Xun Fang was responsible for Shaogong's actions.  He made the decisions.  But her actions did contribute to the thought process and view point that he had on things. 

I thought this series was good, although I don't feel there are a lot of things that I liked very much. I neither extremely for or against special effects.  When done right they add so much and takes you deeper into the story.  Other times they take you out and there were scenes here where I was taken out because of the special effects. I liked some of RPG game inspired fight scenes, particularly, the quick speed strikes.  Also the show had some nice songs to listen to. Though the background music was very repetitive. If you had played the game and want to see the story told with some minor changes, then watch it.  Or if you like stories that tend to be cute, otherwise I don't think it's worth watching the 50 long episodes.  You can do a lot worse, but there should be better. 

Legend of Condor Heroes (Legend of Arching Hero)

Legend of Condor Heroes

The Legend of Condor Heroes is the first part of a trilogy by Yin Jong also known as Louis Cha.  This first part is set in the Song Dynasty and is the story of two men that have such a strong bond that they pledge their unborn children to be married, if they are of the opposite sex and be sworn siblings if they are of the same.  

Gou Jing and Haung Rong 2003 version

Gou Jing and Haung Rong 2008 version

I just finished watching the 2003 version.  I also watched the 2008 version with Ariel Lin but that was before and I can't remember everything.

I feel like I prefer the 2003 version because it just seemed better acted and mature.  although the character like Haung Rong is a young girl of 16 and Ariel Lin is very good at playing those cute and mischievous roles.  In some ways I preferred to see the more mature Huang Rong.

I think Yang Kang was played well enough. You could see just the kind of person he was especially after he finds out about his real heritage.  Yang Kang starts off as someone who loves being in control.  When things happen he would know about and was often the one to set it up and he seemed to enjoy seeing others at a lost.  Even with his mother we saw how he set up the act about the injured rabbit.  But once he is told who is and told who his real father is. We can observe his devastation.  I also found it to be quiet realistic as to how Yang Kang could not just let go of the past.  Usually in some Ancient stories once someone is revealed to there biological parents, the person suddenly seemed to forget about the people that raised him in favor of this stranger, usually a father. Also Yang Kang is a spoiled rich kid, so he couldn't suddenly just give up and be poor. 

Yang Kang 2008 version

Yang Kang 2003 version

I liked that Nianci was clear about her moral, though she fell in love with Yang Kang almost at first sight. Also she believed a lot in the fact that Yang Kang could changed if he wanted to, but once she really saw that he had no intention to.  She left him.  In the 2008, Nianci was just beyond gullible even when Yang Kang offers her to the Ouyand Ke.  She still doesn't seem to believe that he won't leave his father's side and the wealth and power it comes along with. 

Nianci 2008 version

Nianci 2003 version

Gou Ying came off a little more simple and natural to me than I remember Hu ge being. Although, I think they both made good version of Gou Ying. Though, Hu Ge's just more gullible to still want to forgive and over look Yang Kang after he stabs him.  One reason I think this must have been was because Yang Kang was given a lot more time in the 2008 version to be with the other characters. So it was just maddening to see how day in and out they would over look the things he was doing especially Nianci.


I preferred the 2003 version in more ways than the 2008 version.  Though, I think they are both good. If you can't find the earlier version than watch the 2008 version.  

White Chocolate Crepes

White Chocolate Crepes

I love crepes. I always get them the first chance I get.  I found this easy recipe and decided to make some.  I have to say me and my family finished them in one day. They were so tasty.  The recipe below makes about 8 crepe if you use a crepe pan.  

Ingredients:

2 eggs room temperature3.5oz. cake flour2 tbsp. granulated sugar2 tbsp. melted butter250ml milk room temperaturea few drops vanilla extract


Directions
1. Sift the flour in a bowl. Add sugar and egg, and mix well with a wire whisk.
2. Add half the milk and melted butter, and mix well. Strain the batter to remove lumps. Then add the rest of the milk and a few drops vanilla extract, and mix until smooth.
3. Cover with a plastic wrap and leave the batter to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. Use a nonstick pan, or wipe the surface of the frying pan with a thin layer of cooking oil using a paper towel. Heat the pan on medium, pour a ladle full of the crepe batter into the pan, slowly move the pan in a circular motion to spread the batter evenly.
5. Cook the crepe until the edges begin to dry, then flip the crepe over and cook the other side for about 10 seconds.
6. Serve and enjoy. 

White Chocolate Crepes

Madeleines

Madeleines

I love Madeleines.  I might go as far as say I'm addicted.  I especially want to try making the ones in the picture: Poppy and lemon madelines.  I made some but I didn't have the poppy seeds. So, it was just lemon madelines.  

Ingredients:

3 eggs 

80g sugar 

80g self raising flour 

75g butter 

1tbs poppy seeds 

zest of a lemon 

• Melt Butter in a pan

• In a large bowl, crack the eggs and whisk together with the sugar, until all sugar is incorporated and the mixture become thick and light in color.

• Sift in the flour into the egg mixture, and fold in the poppy seeds. Add lemon zest and mix everything together.

• When the melted butter is slightly cooled, pour into the mixture and gently combine to make a batter.

• Lightly line a muffin tray with butter and flour

• Scoop enough to reach the top of your madeline pan.

• Bake in a preheated oven at 355f for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

• Remove from pan and serve. Enjoy!

Directions

My lemon Madeleines

Raven Boys Review

The Raven Boys 

             The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater is a about a girl named Blue Sargent, who's mother is clairvoyant.  Blue is told that the first boy she falls in love with will die if she kisses him. Every year Blue stands next to her mother at a ruined church yard where her mother observes the march the soon to be dead.  This year Blue observes one and is told that there are only two reasons a non-seer would see a soon to dead on that day, St. Mark's Day. Either the person you're true love or you killed them.

I liked the Raven Boys, but I don't think I ended up liking it as much as I wanted.  The characters were good but were frustrating a lot of the time.  I really liked the mystery happening but it took so long more than half the book was finished and we had yet to really deal with the mysteries so the pace was slow.  As for the writing, I'm still not sure whether I like Maggie Stiefvater's style.

This book felt at times as if everyone where physic even those that weren't suppose to be.  Sometimes someone would just be standing or respond to a question and the narrator would give you a page of explanation on exactly what that character was thinking.

I liked that the characters were flawed but I felt like at times it was too heavy handed.  I found these especially true with the character of Adam.

This felt like part of a book instead of a whole book on it's own.  This especially true of the ending.  To me, it seemed to appear at of no where and was not really explained.  For example the magic that appeared at the end killing someone.  Also what happened to Neeve?

Despite that I think I would recommend you read the beginning and the last part. Or maybe since this seems to be part one of a series but reading part 2.  

            

Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie

I first heard of a Shepherd's pie when I was visiting London and I liked it.  Later, when I was watching Gordon Ramsay on T.V.  he was making one.  So I decided to try making it myself since I have no British Pub near my home and no money to travel to London whenever I want to eat one.  

The Filling:

• Olive Oil (2 Tbsp)
• Ground Lamb or Beef (about 1.5 lbs)
• 1 Large Carrot (grated)
• 1 Large Onion (grated)
• Fresh Rosemary
• Fresh Thyme
• Minced Garlic (4 cloves)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Worcestershire Sauce (several splashes)
• Tomato Puree or Paste (no more than a small can)

The Mash:

• Golden Potatoes (about 1.5 lbs)
• Heavy Cream ( 1/4 cup)
• Butter (3 1/2 Tbsp)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Egg Yolks (2)
• Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup, minimum)

To cook the potatoes, peel them, dice then add to boiling pot of water with salt to taste. Cook for about 20 minutes, drain and then mashed them well.

Cooking the Filling:

Pour Olive Oil into a hot, rather large pan, then add meat. Stir meat as if your life depends on it for a few minutes so it’s nice and brown, and broken into very small pieces. Add your Rosemary, Thyme, and Garlic, then stir some more. Quickly add your Carrot, and Onion, stir a little longer. The idea at this point is to get everything to a minced consistency.

Add Worcestershire Sauce, stir, add Tomato Puree, stir, and sweat down for a minute or two.

Scoop your meat mixture into a deep casserole or other oven safe dish and then spoon the mash over the top. Spread the mash over the top of the mix with the bottom of the spoon and then sprinkle a generous portion of Parmesan cheese over the top. Poke the top with a fork several times to give it a peaked look and stick it in the oven at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes to brown the potatoes and set the pie. Serve.

Finished Product.

Using Gordon Ramsay's recipe above I made my own Shepherd's pie, which tastes almost as good as the original. Often I add in zucchini, summer squash or mushrooms to the meet filling for it to be healthier and tastier.

 

Singapore Mei Fun

Singapore Mai/Mei Fun

I really love Singapore Mei/Mai Fun (depending) because it's light with small noodles, vegetables, a little spiciness, color and seafood.  This recipe I learned to make while I was in Hong Kong with my mom but I think you can find something similar all over the Internet.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pk or 6 oz dry rice noodle (mei fun)
• 1.5 tbsp curry powder
• 2 egg
• 1/2 large onion
• 2 celery rib
• ½ large green pepper
• ½ large yellow pepper
• ½ large orange pepper
• 6 oz napa or cabbage
• 1 cup scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 Scallion, cut to 2 inch pieces
• ½lb of shrimp
• Soak the rice noodle in cold water until softened . About 30 minutes
• In the meantime, sliced the onion, celery, pepper, and napa
• Add 2 tbsp of oil in a wok or frying pan, Add egg and scramble until set. Remove and set aside
• Drizzle another 2 tbsp of oil in a wok, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add sliced onion, pepper, celery, and napa. Stir fry over high heat for 2 minutes
• Add blanched noodles and stir to mix
• Add curry powder. Continue to stir until the curry powder is well incorporated , about 30 sec
• Add egg and scallion and stir fry for another minute. Transfer to a plate and serve hot.
  
  
  
  

  

  My finished product

  
  This recipe is quite easy, quick and I love it. I always tell myself that it is also healthy due to the vegetables and only being stir fried.
  
  
  

Paris Brest

Paris Brest

I first got introduced with a Paris Brest through the Japanese bakery chain, Beard Papa.  It was really delicious that I sort of became addicted to having a least one everyday. But because I didn't have a lot of money, I could not continue buying Paris Brest everyday.  so I wanted to try making them at least once. So I pinned a recipe from cake duchess , which had a lot of nice pictures to follow along with. 

Her recipe also had raspberry filling which I like.  

Recipe:

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup water

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs, room temperature

Raspberry Whipped Cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 1/4 cup whipped cream

1 cup fresh raspberries

Raspberry Whipped Cream Directions:

Puree the raspberries in a mixer. Strain the raspberries through a fine sieve and set aside (you need to remove the seeds from raspberries).

If you like your cream sweeter, add a little more powdered sugar. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the cream with the powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Slowly add in the raspberry coulis and beat on low speed until combined. Set in refrigerator to chill while you prepare the dough.

To make the Pâte a Choux-Cream Puff Dough:

In a heavy sauce pan, combine the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil. Add the flour and stir until smooth with a heavy wooden spoon.

Turn the heat up to high and cook the flour mixture stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. The flour will be cooked when a thin film forms on on the bottom. You are essentially drying out the dough and the process should take about 4-5 minutes.

Transfer the dough to the bowl of a mixer (I used a stand mixer) and let the dough rest a minute or two. Add the eggs to the dough one at at time on medium speed until the dough is thick and smooth.

The dough needs to be used as soon as it’s made. It can’t be put in the refrigerator to use later, so make sure you are ready to go when it’s done.)

*You could draw with a  pencil 8 circles on your parchment paper lining your baking pans to help you follow the design and make them evenly shaped. Place the dough in a pastry bag using a star tip (or plain round) 1/2 –inch tip and pipe onto parchment lined baking sheets forming 8 circles.

Bake at 375 F for about 22-26 minutes (omit the almonds if you need to. still will be wonderful!). If you open the door, the puffs may deflate. The dough should be golden colored. Allow the puffs to rest on the baking sheet.

Assembling the Paris Brest:

After the dough has cooled, carefully slice in half the pastry rings. Pipe the chilled whipped cream on the bottom layer of the rings. Top with the other halves and dust with powdered sugar.

My Paris Brest turned out well, though somewhat misshapen and thin due to the pastry tip I used. Also I still need to practice my technique with the pastry bag.

Because of the size I needed up eating 3 Paris Brest each time. 

Galette des Rois

Galette des Rois

I have a love for Galette des Rois especially when you get the fèves inside.  Fèves are little charms, usually one is placed inside a galette and whoever gets the piece of galette with the charm gets to wear the crown and be king or queen for the day.  They also get a wish.  

I used recipes from youtube in order to make mine using the ingredients above.     

Almond Filling

• 1 cup (200g) almond flour
• 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
• pinch salt
• 3 1/2 ounces (100g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoon vanilla

1 pound (450g) puff pastry, divided in two pieces, chilled

A fève, or  whole almond or piece of candied fruit.

Glaze

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon milk

1. To make the almond filling, in a medium bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the almond flour, sugar, salt, and orange zest. Mash in the butter until it’s completely incorporated. Stir in the eggs one at a time, along with the rum and almond extract. (The mixture may not look completely smooth, which is normal.) Cover and chill.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On lightly floured surface, roll one piece of puff pastry into a circle about 9 1/2-inches (23cm) round. Using a pot lid, plate, or bottom of springform pan as a template, trim the dough into neat circle. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

3. Cover it with a sheet of parchment paper or plastic film, then roll the other piece of dough into a circle, trim it, and lay it on top. Chill the dough for thirty minutes.

4. Remove the dough and almond filling from the refrigerator. Slide the second circle of dough and parchment or plastic from pan so that there is only one circle of dough on the parchment lined baking sheet. Spread the almond filling over the center of the dough, leaving a 1-inch (3cm) exposed border. Place an almond or piece of candied fruit to act as the fève (prize) somewhere in the almond filling, if you wish.

5. Brush water generously around the exposed perimeter of the dough then place the other circle of dough on top of the galette and press down to seal the edges very well. (At this point, you may wish to chill the galette since it’ll be a bit easier to finish and decorate, although it’s not necessary. It can be refrigerated overnight at this point, if you wish.)

6. To bake the galette, preheat the oven to 375ºF (180ºC.) Flute the sides of the dough (as shown in the photo) and use a paring knife to create a design on top. Stir together the egg yolk with the milk and brush it evenly over the top – avoid getting the glaze on the sides, which will inhibit the pastry from rising at the edges. Use a paring knife to poke 5 holes in the top, to allow steam escape while baking.

7. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the galette is browned on top and up the sides. (During baking, if the galette puffs up too dramatically in the oven, you may want to poke it once or twice again with a paring knife to release the steam.) Remove from the oven and slide the galette off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack. The galette will deflate as it cools, which is normal. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Galette before baking

Before I baked my galette as I was trying to make the designs, the fillings started to spill out on one side.

Galette all baked

Above was my Galette after it finished baking. It continued to spill on one side as it baked.  However, the Galette was delicious.  I could not even wait to take a picture, I had to have a piece.