Matcha Love!

I love MATCHA!!! I have probably mentioned on my blog before but I'll say it again!! Matcha is awesome!! It has become quite a food trend over the last year or so (good for me! ^^) and I found an awesome recipe that is quick, easy and DELICIOUS! It's similar to the recipe I have previously tried (link here) but this recipe adds ground almonds which definitely adds to the texture. The original recipe also used white chocolate chips but I didn't have any and forgot to get some at the shops so just used dark chocolate chips~ still tasted nice though.

The dough can be made hours, days or weeks (up to 8 weeks) in advance then taken out of the freezer to slice and bake whenever you have that cookie craving (everyday for me! ><)

Matcha Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from The MeatMen

Ingredients
180g unsalted butter (room temperature)
140g icing sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
40g ground almonds/almond meal
240g plain flour
20g matcha powder
60g chocolate chips

1. Sift plain flour and matcha powder together and set aside.
2. In another bowl, cream together the butter and icing sugar using an electric beater until light and fluffy.
3. Add salt and egg yolks and mix until combined.
4. Mix in ground almonds until well combined.
5. Gradually add in the flour and matcha and mix well.
6. Stir in the chocolate chips. 
7. Divide the dough into 2 portions. Shape the dough into logs (4cm diameter), wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
8. Preheat oven to 165oC and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Cut dough into 5mm thick slices and arrange on baking tray.
9. Bake for 10 minutes or until slightly golden. Rest on baking tray for 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool. 

I'm loving my fish plate ^^

Try it out~ Happy baking!!!

Exciting news too! Just recently got a part time job at a little cafe/sandwich bar/catering company thank God!! First day of work is today!! One step closer to my baking dream :) 

I AM BACK!!!

Hi all!!!
Baking Tray is BACK!!!! It's been a very very long time since my last post.. 2.5 years in fact! 
Many things have happened in the last 2.5 years... I think I got a lot busier and also stopped work catering so stopped the weekly blog post. I also got an instagram account so I used that to post my bakes ^^" It was easier to post a photo then blog about it =p (lazy...)

I have also recently got married and moved interstate!! So lots have been going on! But as I am currently unemployed I thought might as well revive the blog! I have still been baking a lot! Baked for my own wedding ^^" I've also found my own blog useful as a collection of recipes for whenever I feel like baking something.

So to begin a new year (2017... and yes I realised it's February so already a month into the year.. but hey! Chinese new year was just a few days ago :P) here is my FIRST POST!!! And hopefully many more to come in the future =)

I've begun a journey to bake the most perfect light and fluffy Japanese Cheesecake! I've yet to find the best recipe but this one is very easy with only 3 ingredients! Although it does not have the height that I would like, it still tastes delicious :)

Japanese Cheesecake
Recipe adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients
250g white chocolate melts
250g block of cream cheese (at room temperature), cubed.
6 eggs, separated (at room tempterature)

1. Preheat oven to 180oC. Grease and line 8 inch cake tin. 
2. Melt white chocolate in bowl over a double boiler.
3. Add cubes of cream cheese and melt.
4. Remove from heat and mix in 6 egg yolks.
5. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with electric beater until stiff peaks form.
6. Add one third of egg whites into chocolate mix and gently fold in. Fold the remaining egg whites in 2 additions until just combined.
7. Pour mix into prepared cake tin. Place pan in a baking dish/roasting pan and add warm water to reach halfway up the side of the cake tin. Bake until cheesecake is set (around 40-45 minutes). 
8. Turn off the oven and leave tin in oven for 15 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Remove cheesecake from tin and transfer to a platter. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. 

Things to improve: Mine did not turn out so light and fluffy. It may have been due to not beating egg whites enough and also the size of the pan. I will try again!!