Cafe Astoria Bakery – Belarusian Marshmallow Candies
Cafe Astoria's Belarusian Marshmallow Candies
Cafe Astoria Packaging for Belarusian Marshmallow Candies
As I was making my rounds at work during my lunch break, my co-worker Tina stops me by her department and generously offered this mysterious looking pastry to try. At first I thought that it was glutinous rice flour with walnuts, but when I took a closer look, it was not made of that material. Tina, told me that her mother bought her this from Taiwan and asked whether I had tried this before. Of course I did not, and when I tried it, all I can say that it tastes like a powdery marshmallow with walnuts. There was something unique about it. It wasn’t oozing with flavor, it was a simple desert that literally is a combination of walnuts and marshmallow. Somehow I enjoyed it and it was a unique eating experience. Now whether this was a Taiwanese specialty or not, I had to find out.
Cafe Astoria is located in Taipei, Taiwan.
7, WuCheng St, Sec 1
(02) 2331-7370
Hours: 8:30 am-8:30 pm
From what I learned from the above website and on the Wall Street Journal page, this gourmet cafe is known for their marshmallow candies and great over a cup of coffee. The owner who was from Belarus, opened their first shop in Shanghai and then moved to Taipei. This candy is a Belarusian treat and it is very light and fluffy. Eating this is like eating a piece of cloud. At least that’s how I’d imagine it to be.
If you are fortunate to be in the neighborhood, stop by and share your eating experience there!
Until next time,
<3 FCG
Chinese New Year Cake – Neen Go
Pan Fried Chinese New Year Cake
Growing up, the Neen Go (Chinese New Year Cake) is pretty much one of the many star items on the dining room table. I was never attracted to the look and the taste of the cake. For such a simple and dull looking cake, as a child, I simply could not fathom why it was such an important item to have before the starting of the lunar new year. There are so many other delicious cakes, like the prosperity cupcakes, but none of them are as important as this neen go.
Neen go, which literally translated in Cantonese, “Year High” or in another words, highly prosperous year, is one of the many items offered the day before New Year’s to the Kitchen God. Yes the Kitchen God and this is the widespread belief. The new year cannot kick off to a fresh new and prosperous start without this cake. And so, a week before the new year, I decided that I would like to make this cake. I did come across with a few snafus, recipe problems not the user’s fault, and then I found the light at the end of the tunnel with the help of my dear co-worker Mei-Ling who offered me a foolproof recipe. The attempt to take on the responsibility of making this VIP cake has befuddled my sweet mother. She could not take me seriously and decided that it is better to use her inexperience hands over mine to make the cake.
Now here is the now infamous recipe from Mei Ling:
The Sweet Spot at the Sweet Spot Dessert Bar NYC
Spot Dessert Bar
13 St. Marks Place
East Village, NY
212-677-5670
Spot Dessert Bar
I must have passed by this sign way too many times and had no idea that it is a dessert bar. Located on the bristling street of St. Mark’s Place where many new and upcoming restaurants fight for survival, Spot seems to be hidden away. Apparently, Spot is plenty known within the local community through word of mouth and I will explain later. I personally don’t like it that they’re located in the basement, right beneath Pho restaurant, but on the positive note, the restaurant doesn’t get overcrowded like at a chain restaurant like Applebees or TGI Fridays.
Spot Dessert Bar NYC
Happy Birthday with an Oreo Ice Cream Cake!
Dear Loyal Readers of Finechinagirl,
I simply must apologize for not updating the website at all! I have been busy recently and have not had the chance to touch my computer. Funny how time flies and flies and flies! I have gone to a few restaurants which I will post sometime in the near future. But for now I would like to share with you and oreo ice cream cake that I made for my brother’s birthday this past January 14th.
As a busy girl living in New York City, I just don’t have time to make ice cream, even though I have a nice ice cream maker. So, I scoured the web trying to find a simple, and I stress verry simple ice cream cake recipe, which I found through video.about.com. Click on the link to find the recipe on this.
Oreo Ice Cream Birthday Cake
Chinese Steamed Cupcakes – Faat Go/Prosperity Cakes
:Edit:
If you happen to live in New York City and you want to try this faat go recipe, I suggest that you take a visit to Chinatown and purchase a bag of homemade “wet” rice flour which is low-gluten. I can honestly tell you that I don’t know how to make this flour but I can tell you where to buy it. Having the right kind of flour is key to your prosperity cakes.
Fong Inn Too, Inc.
Fong Inn Too Menu
Now in Cantonese it is called, “Zhi mai fun.” Once you tell the clerk that you want this, he will give you a bag of rice flour which is shown below:
Hong Kong Rice Flour
Notice that this flour is clumpy and not dry like most flours. My mother tells me that this flour is essentially rice and flour that has been fermented for two days. Unfortunately I do not possess the know how, but I can tell you how it was made.
Good luck!
***
It all started with an obsession with Chinese cupcakes. AKA faat go (or huat kueh) as you say in Cantonese. My good friend Sally over at the tastyconfection and I wanted to learn how to make Chinese cupcakes because we have always eaten them. These special cupcakes are only available in Chinese bakeries during the time of Chinese New Year since they represent prosperity and success. There’s an old Chinese proverb which my mother always says that translates, “The more the cake blossoms, the more prosperous your year will be.” Something along the lines of this. Sally and I can care less about the superstitious properties that these cakes hold and wanted to eat them whenever we wanted to. The journey to find the most successful recipe was a frustrating one.
Complicated and non-traditional prosperity cupcake recipes disappointed me. I was amazed how I could not find a good old fashion Chinese recipe. There are many Malaysian and Singaporean recipes, but they’re not the ones that I am used to having. Sally tried learning the recipe from her grandmother, but unfortunately the cupcakes’ corners did not form which is why she is uncomfortable with sharing the recipe.
Now one day, my mother decided to make these cupcakes for my father’s birthday. She got the recipe from my aunt and then a couple of hours in the kitchen, she makes this:
Steamed Chinese Cupcakes aka Faat Go
