A land of castle, cookies, tarts and rolls II

It was a week of huffing and puffing. My back was sore and my feet are still numb but the satisfaction of completing all tasks on time worths every minute. I almost die when our chef told us that instead of 5 days to complete our group project, we got only 4 days because today is a public holiday. So here we go, squeezing 5-day work into 4 days.

Scrambled to reschedule our work plan as well as our own time management to complete two castles as well as our own 3 recipes. Again, some were not contributing as much as they should (you know who...) but I don't care because I really want to learn how to make the castles using fondant and pastillage. Here goes one of my motto: "The more I did, the more I learnt". The weasel in me came out when I indirectly managed to 'convince' a lot of my design into the castles without anyone noticing...hehehe. I got everyone to go along with the colour selection, door design and to add mosses and bricks to cover all defects.

In this project, we got to make 2 castles. One is a real cake and the other one is a dummy made from styrofoam. Fondant is a softer material which used to cover real cakes but too soft for other kinds of figure moulding. Hence, it is more palatable. Pastillage on the other hand, is easier to work with but I would not recommend anyone eating it. Here are the recipes for fondant and pastillage (they are cool to use as 'play dough' since it is completely non toxic):

Fondant
Icing Sugar......................................................5kg
Gelatin.............................................................75g
Water...............................................................430ml
Glucose...........................................................600g
Glycerine.........................................................120g

1. Mix water and gelatin for 10 mins.
2. Heat over medium fire and stir until gelatin dissolve (do not boil).
3. Add in glucose and glycerine. Mix well.
4. Put icing sugar in a mixer and using hook, stir on speed 1.
5. Add the water mixture gradually. A clay like dough will form.

Pastillage
Icing Sugar......................................................5kg/10kg/1kg
Water...............................................................450ml/900ml/90ml
Gelatin.............................................................50gm/100g/10g

1. Soak gelatin in water for 10 mins (do not stir).
2. Heat the mixture (not to boil) wait for the gelatin to dissolve.
3. Put icing sugar in a mixer and using a hook, stir on speed 1.
4. Add the water mixture gradually. A clay like dough will form.

Note: Always pack both fondant and pastillage in air tight bags or containers if not using (dry doughs are not usable). Use food colouring for any desired colour (mix in the colour by kneading the dough repeatedly until colour even).

I completed all my 3 recipes right before our project presentation at 1pm. I made some changes on the make up.Here are the pictures:

 

Verdicts: The Walnut Cinnamon Rolls and Chocolate Chip Cookies were hits! They were finished in an hour later. I had to pack some before they were finished. Unfortunately, my almond cream tarts while looked nice were not favoured. I believe I put too much nutmeg powder! HAHAHA...but the pastry shells were excellent!

How to Make Origami Lotus

After all the puff dough folding workout I did last week, I've decided to try on something less exhausting...to fold a paper lotus! This is my first time doing a proper origami (simple triangle airplane doesn't count)...I realised that it is extremely therapeutic!

Supplies:

• A4 sized coloured papers...I chose red (2) and green (1)
• ruler
• cutter/scissors
• stout string or thread   

1. Cut 12 pieces of 13.5cm X 7.5cm colored paper rectangles. An A4-sized paper should be precisely enough to make six.

2. For one flower, you need 8 pieces for the petals (red) and 4 pieces for the leaves (green).

3. Petals: Fold the paper pieces in half, parallel to the longest edge. The four corners are folded as if making a boat. Then the two longer edges are folded inwards and the paper is folded in half. Repeat the same steps for all 8 papers (red).

4. Leaves: Folding of the leaves is actually quite similar to folding the petals. Once you've reached the stage illustrated in the photo above, simply fold the two outer edges to the middle. Then fold all 4 papers (green) in the same fashion.

5. With the leaves complete, place the petals on them. One green paper (leaf) to be mounted with two red paper (petal). In the same way, add the remaining petals to the leaves. These four petal-leaf clusters are placed next to each other and held together with string at the center.

6. The flower petal-leaf clusters are folded in eight directions. Begin by folding the flower's first layer. Do this by folding the highest standing paper petals. How high the paper is folded depends on the individual. The flower can be made taller or flatter.

7. Continue folding the petals. Once the first layer is complete, the second layer can be added. With the second layer of petals folded, the leaves can then be folded out.

Puff the Magic Pastry

In the land of Honalee, Puff Pastry may be very well magical since it raises to great volume and even expansion without the help of yeast. However in reality, to my much dismay, it is simply achieved by the folding and rolling techniques and bake over high heat to create a light, crisp surface and  flaky internal structure. A very simple dough to begin with (of flour, butter and cold water), puff pastry is however not as easy as it sounds.

There are 3 types of puff pastry:

• Full puff - 100% fat of the flour weight
• 3/4 puff - 75% fat of the flour weight
• 1/2 puff - 50% fat of the flour weight

Pastry margarine is incorporated into the rested dough via 2 methods: English & French. Pastry margarine is perfect since it has higher melting point so in room temperature, it is still in block form and easy to mold. Meanwhile, to create the puff pastry, set the oven temperature between 200-220 degrees C.

Cake flour/bread flour.............................................500g
Butter........................................................................50g
Salt............................................................................3g (not necessary if salted butter is used)
Cold water................................................................250g

Enclosing:
Pastry Margarine.....................................................375g

1. Mix the flour and salt in a mixing bowl evenly using a hook.
2. Add cold water and butter (take control over the water). Once a smooth dough is form, gather it into a smooth ball.
3. Wrap in plastic and rest for 30mins
4. There are 2 methods of enclosure (English & French). English method is as follows:
• roll our the dough into a large rectangle.
• wrap the 375g margarine in cling film. 
• soften, flatten and form the pastry margarine into an even square block (2cm thick) covers the bottom 2/3 the size of the dough rectangle.
• fold down the top so it covers half the margarine.
• fold the bottom third over the centre and now the butter is now enclosed.
• using a rolling pin, beat the dough lightly so margarine inside is evenly distributed and roll into a rectangle.
• before folding, dust off excess flour.
• fold down the top part to the centre and bottom part to the centre (sides meeting).
• now it looks like an opened book. Fold in the centre as if closing a book. 
• rest the dough for 30mins before doing another similar fold.

I shall post some step by step diagrams and pictures soon...

A land of castle, cookies, tarts and rolls...

It is part of our syllabus to work on patisserie projects. In this semester, there'll be a group project and an individual project by the end of next semester. During brainstorming, I suggested that our group to make a fairytale inspired showpiece, incorporating all the elements we learnt the last few weeks...it got lukewarm response which I am not surprise. My group members are unfortunately a scaredy bunch who are afraid to challenge themselves. Finally, someone proposed that we make a castle out of cake (I'm always interested in fondant and pastillage so I quickly agreed) but our chef felt like it will be too simple and recommended each of us make another 3 different recipes from 3 different lessons. So I've decided to choose the followings:

1. Chocolate Chips Cookie (Week 2)
2. Frangipane (Week 3)
3. Cinnamon Rolls (Week 4)

Of course I am not going to make exactly what we learnt without challenge myself with a few tweaks on recipe and presentation. For the choc chips cookie, I am planning to create a 'yinyang' effect. The frangipane, I am planning to make a miniature version tops with different fruits (peach, strawberry and blueberry). Finally, the cinnamon rolls which I incorporate a recipe found from http://www.allrecipes.com/ and a recipe recommended by my chef. Hopefully, they will be a standout and taste good at the same time.

I hope to post pictures of the work in progress as well as the final presentation.

Breadtime Stories

There are lots to digest when it comes to bread making. However, after the whole week working with Mr Yeast and Miss Gluten, they are not as intimidating as anticipated. Personally, I find bread dough is much easier to work with but a good understanding of each step and ability to identify when the dough is ready are important. We made numerous recipes but here is the one in particular that I prefer because of its flexibility in shape and filling.

Sweet Bun

Don't let the name fools you. The dough is sweet but it is not just a 'bun'. It is the most used dough in bakeries. So, this is the same dough that you can mould and shape into any design preferred. There's a straighforward method and there's the sponge method. The straightforward method is similar to my previous post whereby, once a dough is fermented for 30-45mins, it is ready to bake after make up and proofing. The sponge method involves, bulk fermentation for 4-5 hours (overnight preferred) and add into fresh dough bits by bits followed by make up and proofing. This mixture of sponge dough allows better fermentation thus, produces more aroma and taste as well as a softer texture on the baked products.

Set temperature at 200 degrees C.

Bread flour...............................................................400g

Sugar.......................................................................68g

Eggs........................................................................30g

Dry yeast.................................................................7g
Salt..........................................................................4g
Cold water..............................................................180g (+/- 10g) depends on the dough
Butter.......................................................................24g (cut to small cubes)
Bread softener........................................................4g
Bread improver.......................................................3g

1. Mix all dry ingredients together (speed 1).
2. While mixing, slowly add in water follow by eggs.
3. Finally, add in butter and mix until smooth and do the windowpane test.
4. When it is ready, allow to rest for 20-30mins (covered with cling film and warm surrounding).
5. Once the dough increases in size (double), put the dough on a clean surface and do knocking down.
6. Cut into smaller portion of 60g each. Round and let it benching while covered in cling film/damp cloth to avoid drying.
7. Here's the fun part. You can use all kinds of filling, either sweet (bean paste, sugar, coconut bits) or savoury (tuna paste, sausages, cheese). And, lots of shapes and designs to try.
8. Remember to do proofing and once ready, brush egg wash and bake for 15-20mins or until golden brown.

sausage butterfly:

sausage roll:

tuna bun:

Memoirs of the Yeast

The infamous Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a mouthful to many and is rightfully so. Used for centuries in the F&B industry especially to leaven breads (and to create alcohol!), yeast, the single cell organism from the fungi famili in my opinion is one of the most beneficial God's creations. In ancient times, yeast were cultivated from molasses within a temperature and moisture controlled room. Of course, nowadays yeast we use were produced in factories in 3 different forms; dry, instant and compressed.

Like rabbits, yeast's main goal of existence is to reproduce. Once yeast is being fed with sugar, moisture and air, at the right temperature of 35-45 degrees C, yeast will double in quantity in every 90mins. In the presence of air, sugar is broken down to produce carbon dioxide and alcohol. In bread making, the carbon dioxide produced is a natural raising agent and alcohol is to assist in taste and aroma.

There are many types of bread recipes but the steps of bread making is quite straight-forward. To summerise, bread is nothing more than a baked dough made of flour and water and leavened by yeast. Success in bread making depends largely on two basic principles: gluten development and yeast fermentation. 

This week, we learnt to make the most basic of breads while making sure we understanding each important step of scaling, mixing, bulk fermentation, punching, benching, make up, proofing and baking.

Scaling

Accuracy in weighing the ingredients is very important. Too much liquid will create unnecessary gluten and too much salt will affect the fermentation rate.

Mixing

The action of mixing is to:

• combine all ingredients uniformly
• distribute yeast evenly
• develop gluten 

To test if the dough is ready for fermentation is to do a window pane test. Simply pull a small dough and slowly streching it. The dough is ready once an almost translusence dough is achieved.

Fermentation

A process by which the yeast turn sugar and starches into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Rounded dough is covered with cling film and let it ferment in a 25-30 degrees C surrounding. 

Punching

After fermentation, expanded dough has to be punched down to:

• expel carbon dioxide
• relax gluten
• redistribute the yeast
• equalise the temperature throughout the dough

Benching

After dividing the main dough into desired sizes, round the smaller portions and let it rest for 10-20mins (covered). This relaxes the gluten and allows shaping easier.

Make up

Dough is shaped into loaves or rolls depends on the make up of the recipe. Place in pans on baking sheets.

Proofing

Final fermentation to increase the volume of the shaped dough before baking. The temperature is about 35-40 degrees C in the presence of moisture. If no proofing chamber, a oven temperature set at proofing temperature and consistently spray mist into the oven will work similarly.

Baking

Dough will oven spring, which is the rapid rising in the oven due to the production and expansion of trapped gases as a result of the heat. Yeast dies and its activity stop. Protein and starches will set and make the dough to become firm and hold its shape. Finally, formation and browning of the crust. A golden brown crust indicates doneness.

You're a tart, lets have a quiche!

I've been a lagger lately...Besides the usual weekly baking, we are planning for our upcoming group project. We've done bread week and my posts still stuck with tarts and pies. However, the pie and tart week posed such challenge for me that every recipe seems important and worth-mentioning. After a few attempts at both sweet short pastry and pie dough, I am happy to announce that I am getting better at making the doughs. However, there are a few important points while handling these doughs, especially sweet short pastry:

1. Use cold butter and cold water.
2. Before any liquid added to the crumbs like mixture from rub in method, monitor the consistency as you add the liquid. Even though a recipe called for 100ml liquid, you can't assume that it won't be too wet (non sticky) or too dry (non crumbly, no crackings)   
3. Let the dough has some R&R. Best if you could make the dough overnight and let it chill in a fridge or once the dough being laid in a pie ring, chill it again.
4. Work quickly with the dough. Roll them evenly and always floured the rolling pin and surface. Not too much flour tho.

Here are two simple tart recipes that we did which uses baking blind. Baking blind includes an initial baking of the pastry before the filling is added. Usually bake with beans/rice so the pastry remains in shape during baking. Such pre-baking technique used for pastry cases that are to be filled with an uncooked or precooked mixture.

Fruit Tartlets

In this recipe, we'll be using the sweet short pastry for the base. Using 3cm tartlet rings, roll the dough as thin as possible. Bake blind until golden but not brown. Cool over wire rack. Melt some cooking chocolate and brush the interior of the tart shells. Let them cool.

Pastry Cream (the custardy filling holds the cut fruits in the tart shells)

Milk...................................................250g

Vanilla Essence..............................Drops

Egg Yolk..........................................50g

Sugar...............................................50g

Corn Flour.......................................25g

Butter...............................................35g

1. Boil milk in a pot. Mix half the sugar and vanilla essence into boiling milk.
2. In a separate bowl, mix egg yolk and the remaining sugar with a whisk.
3. Add corn flour into the egg yolk and sugar mixture. Stir till smooth.
4. While whisking, slowly bear in hot milk into the egg yolk mixture. Stir constantly.
5. Return everything to the pot and cook until mixture thickens (medium heat).
6. Lastly, add in butter.
7. Fastest way to chill is wrap the pastry cream in a cling film and laid it flat in a fridge.

Fill the pastry cream in piping bag and pipe it in the chocolate covered tart shells. Decorate with variety cut/sliced fruits and berries. Glaze the fruit topping with apricot flavoured glaze.

Chocolate Coffee Tart

Since the filling is sweet, we'll be using the sweet short pastry for the base again. Using 8cm tartlet rings, roll the dough as thin as possible. Bake blind until golden and cool on wire rack.

Whipping Cream/Heavy Cream.............................................90ml

Milk............................................................................................90ml

Chocolate (medalions)...........................................................120g

Egg............................................................................................half of a medium sized egg.

Coffee essence........................................................................drops

1. Combine the cream with milk in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and remove from heat.
2. Add chocolate and stir until chocolate completely melted and blended uniformly.
3. Add the coffee essence.
4. Beat the egg lightly in a bowl and stir in gradually in the warm chocolate mixture.
5. Pour the chocolate liquid into the tart shells.
6. Bake at 170 degrees C and let it cool. Best serve chilled.

Quiche Loraine

This recipe, surprisingly a hit amongst all of us. Probably most of the stuff we made previously were all sweet and we can use almost anything for the filling. Since the filling is savoury, it is better to use pie dough instead.

Prepare a pie dough and do a bake blind for 20mins at 180 degrees C. Once the pastry turn golden, remove the beans and bake for another 5mins. For 2 x 5 inches or 1 x 12 inches pie ring, here's the ingredients:

Eggs...............................................................3

Milk.................................................................50g

Cream............................................................100g

Salt, pepper, oregano and herbs to taste.

Sky's the limit when it comes to the rest of the filling. Vegs: capsicums, onions, tomatoes, spinach etc...Meat: ham, bacon (cook 1st), sausage, smoked salmon etc. Finally, tops with shreded/grated cheddar cheese.

1. 
   
   Set the temperature to 160 degrees C.
2. 
   
   Add some cheese in the pastry base and all vegs and meat follows.
3. 
   
   Combine the eggs with milk and cream in a bowl and season well. Pour over the meat and vegs. Sprinkle some herbs and tops with cheese.
4. 
   
   Bake for 30-40mins or until set.

Pear Streusel Tart

If you like it sweet and fruity, here's another sweet recipe for you. I like this recipe because it works on both sweet short pastry and pie dough but I find the original recipe is too sweet. So here are some changes.

1. Instead of canned pear, use fresh pear.
2. Reduce 20g off the icing sugar and honey.
3. Use pie dough instead.
4. Use maple syrup instead of honey.

Set the oven temperature at 170 degrees Celcius.


Struesel (or crumbles):
Butter..........................................................85g

Icing Sugar.................................................75g

Cake Flour.................................................140g

Walnut (coarsely chop)..............................50g

1. Rub in flour and butter until well combined.
2. Add in icing sugar and toss the mixture. Consistently rub in with fingers to form crumbly texture.
3. Add the chopped walnut and toss again until it is properly mixed.

Filling:

Maple Syrup/Honey..................................115g

Corn Flour..................................................22g (thickening agent)

Butter..........................................................30g

Glucose......................................................0.5g (a teaspoon)

Pear............................................................3 small pears (skinned, cored and halved)

Note: Cook the pears in water enough to cover the fruits and 50g of sugar. Avoid overly soft pears. Once the pears soften, drained and let it cool.

1. Again, on a 5 inches diameter pie ring, roll a 1mm thick pie dough (chill).
2. In a saucepan, melt butter and add in maple syrup and glucose. Once mixed, add in corn flour and bring to boil. Stir constantly until the liquid is smooth and let it cools.
3. If the liquid is lumpy, don't worry - do what I did, strained it off.
4. Slice pear into small wedges or fan shaped. Once the liquid is cool, soak the pear and arrange the pears in the pie ring. Add in the remaining liquid to cover parts which are exposed.
5. Generously, cover the pears with streusel (you need a lot since the butter and sugar in the mixture will melt as you bake).
6. Bake until golden brown.

Note: Do not poke the base with fork because the liquid will seep through during baking and demoulding (removing the tart from its ring) will be difficult.

Frangipane aka Almond Cream Pie (Yummy!)

Of all the 6 recipes we learnt this week, this is my favourtite and I am planning to master it. Its filling is sweet and creamy with strong almond taste! Since this is a sweet filling, similar to the apple pie, we'll be using the sweet short pastry for its base.

Prepare the sweet dough as instructed. Making sure no kneading or work on the dough too long (chill the dough flat in a cling film before use should do the trick). Working with the dough is tricky for me because it is tends to be sticky (presence of sugar)...so I have to work on it with confidence and fast. Once the dough is set on the pie ring, make sure poke the base with a fork to create a few small holes.

Lets look at the filling recipe - for a 5 inches diameter pie ring (set oven temperature at 170 degrees Celcius):

Butter..............................................................125g
Icing Sugar.....................................................95g
Brown Sugar..................................................15g
Vanilla Essence.............................................Drops
Lemond Essence/Juice................................Drops
Glucose (fruit sugar - very sticky).................25g (purpose is to retain moisture)
Egg..................................................................1
Ground Almond..............................................100g (blanched almonds to remove skin and blend)
Cake Flour...................................................... 25g
Nutmeg Powder............................................. Pinch
Canned fruits for topping (peaches, cherries, blueberries etc)

1. Cream butter, glucose, icing sugar, brown sugar and essences (vanilla & lemon) until fluffy.
2. Beat egg and add gradually. Mix well.
3. Mix ground almond, flour and nutmeg powder together.
4. Fold in the dry mixture to form a smooth batter.
5. Fill batter into a piping bag and pipe into pie ring in a circular motion. Allows 5mm gap between the batter and pastry edge (this filling will rise).
6. Put in oven. Once it is half bake (filling rises but the pastry is still whitish), arrange fruits on the top.
7. Continue to bake until golden brown.

Note: Glazing the fruit topping is not necessary. If desired, dilutes some apricot glazing gel in warm water and brush the pie top once it is cool on a wire rack. 

Classic Apple Pie

Never a big fan of baked fruits but pie making is not complete if you have not make an apple pie. Here's an apple pie recipe I learnt this week.

This recipe is for a 5" diameter pie ring/tray. Set the temperature at 170 degrees Celcius.

Apple (Granny Smith).............................3 medium sized

Raisin.......................................................half a handful

Butter A....................................................7g

Sugar A....................................................23g

Corn Flour (5g) + Water (15g)

Sugar B....................................................25g

Butter B....................................................2g

Lemon Juice............................................half a lemon

Cinnamon powder..................................a pinch

Nutmeg powder......................................a pinch
Salt...........................................................a pinch

1. Peel, core and cut apples into cubes.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter A and add in apple cubes and raisins. Saute until apple slightly soften.
3. Add in sugar A into cooked apples.
4. This will draw juices out of the apples.
5. Bring this to boil and add in corn flour mixture. This will thicken the sauce. Lower the heat and stir well, until the liquid becomes smooth.
6. Remove from heat and stir in all the remaining ingredients.
7. Once sugar B and butter B dissolve and mix well, let the filling to cool down. (Tips: pour the filling into cling film and wrap it. Let it set under cool temperature - this to avoid drying/crystalisation).
8. Roll sweet short pastry to 3mm thick and set over pie ring/tray (chill this).
9. Once the filling cool, take out the chilled pastry base and fill it with apple filling.
10. Prepare some egg wash (beat one egg. Get a brush ready).
11. To create a lattice effect for the pie top, cut the remaining sweet short pastry into 1cm wide strips and arrange the strips on the pie (please refer to image). Brush egg wash where the strips are touching the pie side.
12. Egg wash. Bake until golden brown and serve warm.

This recipe is a must for all pie making beginners. It turns out to be very delicious!

Shut your pie hole!!

After the drama last week, I've decided to keep my mouth shut. All of us were assigned cleaning tasks according to a duty roaster - a small triumph for me. This week, we are going to learn everything about pies and tarts! So putting everything behind, I am ready to learn new stuff. However, this week lesson also means something that I've always dreaded...making pie pastry. I hate that I don't have a nifty fingers to roll a proper pastry. This week lesson also means something very new to me since I am not a huge fan of pies or tarts. 

Success or failure of pie pastry depends on how the flour and fat (butter, shortening or margerine) are mixed and how gluten is developed. We learnt about the two mixing methods two weeks ago:

1. Creaming - mixing butter and sugar before adding any liquid such as eggs, milk etc followed by flour.
2. Rub in - butter is mixed into flour until particles of fat are about the size of pea formed. Water is added in to form some gluten in the flour.

We also learnt two types of pie dough (difference between the two is in how the fat is blended with the flour):

1. Flaky pie dough - fat is rubbed into the flour until the particles of fat is about the size of peas/walnuts depends on how flaky the crusts required after baking. The bigger the fat particles, the flakier the crusts. When water is added, the flour absorbs it and develops gluten. When the dough is rolled out, the lumps of fat and moistened flour are flattened and become flakes of dough separated by layers of fat.
2. Mealy pie dough - fat is blended into the flour more thoroughly, until the mixture look like coarse cornmeal. The crust is very 'short' and tender because less gluten can develop. Less water is needed in the mix because the flour won't absorb as much as in flaky dough. The baked dough is less likely to absorb moisture form the filling.

Mealy dough is used for bottom crust, especially in baked fruit pies and soft or custard type pies, because it resists sogginess. Flaky doughs are used for top crusts and sometimes for pre-baked shells.

Sweet Short Pastry (Creaming Method)

Butter................................................125g
Sugar................................................ 45g
Salt.................................................... 1g
Egg.................................................... 35g
Cake Flour........................................ 200g

1. Using paddle attachment, mix the butter, sugar and salt until evenly blended.
2. Add egg and mix just until absorbed.
3. Add flour into the mixture and mix just evenly blended.
4. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill a few hours before using.

Pie Dough (Rub In Method)

Butter................................................ 113g
Flour.................................................. 200g
Salt.................................................... 6g
Sugar................................................ 2g
Water (cold)..................................... 68g

1. Combine salt and sugar with water and set aside.
2. Rub butter into flour until mixture resembles crumble.
3. Add water to flour mixture and mix until water is absorbed (check the consistency- not sticky).
4. Wrap and chill in cling film a few hours before using.

Amazingly, after making some pies and tarts I started to like them but gosh! Not easy to make since it involves lots of steps especially those small little fruit tartlets!!!  

Sebastopel, a German cookie

If you like a cookie recipe which is not your typical cookie but crispy, chewy and nutty at the same time, Sebastopel will tingle your tastebuds. This week, we also learnt to make two other cookies, Biscotti and Oatmeal cookie which is kinda boring so I won't post them here. The making of sebastopel involves two parts: base and topping. 

Base:
Sugar dough/sugar pastry (set oven temperature to 160 degrees Celcius)

Multi-purpose flour/cake flour**....................................250g
Caster sugar .................................................................125g
Butter (chilled)...............................................................125g
Egg.................................................................................55g (1 medium sized egg)
Lemon zest....................................................................half of lemon

**Note: Multi-purpose flour has protein content slightly higher than cake flour and suitable for half bread, half cake recipes...such as, muffin and cake. Not suitable for bread tho.

1. In a large bowl, add in multi-purpose flour gradually into chilled butter. Rub the two ingredients together with hands to achieve a consistent texture.
2. Add in sugar and continue to rub the ingredients together until even.
3. Add egg and lemon zest. Careful with the egg because by now the mixture should be in a dough form. A perfect dough should be looked and felt like a "playdough". If too dry after adding all the egg, milk/water can soften the dough. If too soft/wet, freeze the dough will achieve a desired consistency.   
4. Lightly flour a clean surface and roll the dough using a rolling pin. 
5. On a baking parchment, roll the dough to 4mm thick and prick a few holes with fork before putting it on a baking tray.

Topping:

Set oven temperature to 200 degrees Celcius

Hazelnuts (crushed coarse)**..................................100g

Caster sugar..............................................................75g

Egg white...................................................................75g

Orange peel (crystalised orange)**........................ 60g (soak in orange juice if too dry)

Cake flour...................................................................10g

Raspberry jam**

**Note: all these ingredients can be substituted. E.g. hazelnuts to almonds, cashews etc..., orange peel to pineapple, lemon etc..., raspberry to strawberry, mixed berries etc...

1. Mix sugar and egg white in a mixing bowl and set over bain-marie and whisk slowly until the sugar dissolves. Control the heat and not to cook the egg white.
2. Add all dry ingredients to above and stir well (make sure the orange juice is drained).
3. By now, the sugar dough in the oven should be 80% cooked.
4. Take out the base and spread a thin layer of jam.
5. Spread the sugar mixture over the layer of jam. Make you leave a 5mm border so the sugar mixture does not overflow.
6. Bake it in the oven until the topping turns golden brown.
7. Cut into desirable sizes and enjoy!