Steamed layer cake

Steamed layer cake

Ingredients
- 200g (7 oz) tapioca starch
- 50g (1.76 oz) rice flour
- 1 tsp pandan extract (or 5 fresh pandan leaves)
- 100g (3.5 oz) peeled mung bean
- 300 ml water
- 400ml (14 fl. oz) coconut milk
- 250g (8.8 oz) sugar
- pinch of salt

-Wash mung beans and soak in water for at least 1 hour (or overnight). Cook in a rice cooker. The water level should be as high as the beans. Alternatively, you can steam the beans until soft.
- In a sauce pan over low heat, dissolve sugar and salt in coconut milk and water. Let cool to room temperature.
- Mix tapioca starch, rice flour and the coconut mixture until well-diluted.
- Take out 350ml ( 1 + 1/2 cup) of the above batter and blend with the cooked mung beans in a blender until smooth. We have yellow batter.
- Add pandan extract to the rest of the batter. We get green batter.
- Grease the pan with vegetable oil. Steam 2 laddles of the green batter for a few minutes until slightly set. Then add 2 laddles of the yellow batter. Continue until finish all the batter.
- After the last layer, steam the whole cake for another 15 mins. When you poke the center of the cake with a chopstick and see no batter spilling out, it is done.
- Let cool completely and cut into pieces with a greased knife.
- You can keep the cake in the refridgerator up to 2-3 days. Microwave for 30-45 seconds when serve on the next day. Then let it cool and it is good to eat again.

French Pastry Dough

French Pastry Dough
One 9 (23 cm) tart shell
Adapted from a recipe by Paule Caillat of Promenades Gourmandes
In France, I used type 65 organic flour, which is similar to American all-purpose flour. Paule says that her students report back, saying that the dough works beautifully with American butter, too. Small cracks in the dough are normal so I wouldn’t use this for a thin, custardy filling, although it works well filled with chocolate ganache and I would imagine it would be lovely filled with fresh berries resting on a base of pastry cream.
Do be careful with the hot bowl of butter. Not only will the butter spatter a bit when you add the flour, but it’s uncommon to have a very hot bowl on the counter and easy to simply give in the urge to grab it with your bare hands.
90 g (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used canola)
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
150 g (5oz, or 1 slightly-rounded cup) flour
Preheat the oven to 410º F (210º C).
1. In a medium-sized ovenproof bowl, such as a Pyrex bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, sugar, and salt.
2. Place the bowl in the oven for 15 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and starts to brown just around the edges.
3. When done, remove the bowl from oven (and be careful, since the bowl will be hot and the mixture might sputter a bit), dump in the flour and stir it in quickly, until it comes together and forms a ball which pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch (23 cm) tart mold with a removable bottom and spread it a bit with a spatula.
5. Once the dough is cool enough to handle, pat it into the shell with the heel of your and, and use your fingers to press it up the sides of the tart mold. Reserve a small piece of dough, about the size of a raspberry, for patching any cracks.
(Paule takes a fork and reinforces the dough to the sides, which I didn’t find necessary.)
6. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork about ten times, then bake the tart shell in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown.
7. Remove from the oven and if there are any sizable cracks, use the bits of reserved dough to fill in and patch them.
I find it best to pinch off a small amount of the reserved dough, roll it gently between your fingers to soften it, then wedge it into the cracks, smoothing it gently with your pinky.
8. Let the shell cool before filling.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/05/french-tart-dough-a-la-francaise/