My Kissing Dinner Rolls

These rolls got me more excited than I should be. I mean, it's really just a slab of dough come together. But the aroma, taste and texture were pretty awesome. 

I was not too hopeful that they would turn out to be anything good as I had trouble dealing with a really sticky dough. But when they proofed well and puffed up after just a few minutes in the oven, they got my undivided attention. 

The aroma was amazing and I couldn't stop sniffing at them. I wanted to make calls to every dinner guest to ask them to come over, like right now!

What really won my heart was when I saw these rolls kissing! Aren't they the cutest buns on heaven and earth. Such loving creatures. I must remember to make them on Valentine's!

And my favourite part in baking these - shredding them apart and seeing the soft texture especially when hot!

I got this recipe from ehow.com some time ago and have tested it a few times. It seems the original post has been removed. It's a good thing I copied them down. Here goes.

Caution: You need time and patience and you must not give up if it doesn't succeed at first try. Dough may be difficult to handle - way too sticky!

You will need:

Electric mixer (or be prepared to knead dough by hand)

Damp cloth

Large dry cloth

Baking tray

Baking paper

Ingredients (yields 12 rolls):

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup hot water

1 pack dry yeast (I used 11g instant yeast)

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups plain white flour (I used 1 cup white and 1 cup organic rye flour which has higher protein and fibre, and lower carbo and saturated fats)

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup margarine (I used butter instead. Say no to trans fat!)

Method:

1. Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

2. Add in remainder of the ingredients and mix well.

3. Once a ball forms, cover bowl with plastic wrap or damp towel and allow to rise. (Mine didn't form a  nice ball and I had to add another half cup of flour to make it drier. I let it rise till double in volume.)

4. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough. (I used my electric mixer and kneaded for a good 10-12 minutes.)

5. Line baking tray with parchment paper. Divide dough into 12 balls and flatten slightly on baking tray. Cover with cloth. Allow rolls to rise. (I took my dinner and came back to see they have doubled in size. Give them time to rise before you bake them.)

6. Preheat oven to 205 degrees Celsius.

7. Bake for 15-20 min or until light golden brown on top. Tap buns - they should sound hollow and not dense when ready. 

8. Remove from oven and after a few minutes of initial cooling time, wrap rolls in a large dry cloth. This will aid in keeping the crust soft. 

No-bake cheese cake with strawberry hearts

I made this no-bake cheese cake on Valentine's Day. Strawberry hearts. You can't get more cheesy than this!

Recipe (adapted from Foodista)), method and some photos to share here. You need to do this a day earlier as the cake needs time to chill and form at different layers.

Ingredients


1. For the crust

300g digestive biscuits
150g melted butter

2. For the cheesecake layer

500g cream cheese (softened at room temperature)
1.5 Tbsp gelatin powder
1.25 cup boiling water
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 strawberries

3. For the top jelly layer


160g strawberry flavoured jelly
1.5 cups boiling water
1.5 cups cold water


Here goes:- Break digestive biscuits into fine crumbs, mix with melted butter, stir well to combine and pack mixture tightly into a pan. Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour or until it is hard and tight and not crumbly. You're done with first layer.

To work on second layer, start by mixing gelatin powder and water. Stir well till all gelatin has dissolved. Set aside to cool.

 Mix cream cheese and caster sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk  till mixture is light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract, then add the cooled gelatin mixture gradually. The gelatin mixture should be in liquid form. Whisk well to combine. The finished mixture should be a runny smooth liquid like milkshake. You should be pouring it into the crust rather than scooping it!

Next, remove crust pan from the fridge and prick holes all over biscuit base. Pour cream cheese mixture onto the base. Let it rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.

Mine was a bit harder than milkshake. It should be more runny than this.

Next, cut deep V-shape strawberries and press them into the cream cheese mixture. Cover pan with cling wrap and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

And now for the third layer. Mix strawberry jelly powder into a bowl. Dissolve with hot water, then add cold water and mix well. Ensure the mixture has cooled before pouring it over the cream cheese layer. Pour enough to cover the strawberries.

Look at this very telling picture. I was afraid it may turn out too sweet so I didn't use all the jelly mixture and did not fully cover my strawberries! It's a mistake you must not repeat! This recipe is not too sweet at all.

Chill for at least 4 hours before cutting into individual jelly hearts. You need a sharp knife dipped into a large jar of boiling water to get clean lines of each cake piece. Clean your knife thoroughly after each slice or you get crumbs sticking at the side and strawberry stains on the white cheesecake.

Nom nom, yum yum. I like the taste! Even my mom who doesn't fancy cheese had a piece all to herself! My son's friend came over and gobbled one piece in record seconds and gave me a score of 10/10, LOL.

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