Birthday Party

Last week was a hectic week for me. It was all about planning, preparing and baking for my three children's party on Sunday. There were so much preparation and baking to be done. We also ordered food from various places. These were the food we had for the birthday party.

Fried Bee Hoon (B)
Fried Chicken Wings (B)
Fish Balls (B)
Fried Fish Ball Wanton (B)
Siew Mai (B)
Curry Vegetables
Mini Double Chocolate Cupcakes (from The Batter Baker)
Mini Cream Puffs
Mini Salmon Pies
Oreo Cheesecake
Lemongrass drink & Soft drinks

Those in (B) were store-bought, while the rest were prepared by myself, except the curry vegetables which my helper cooked it.

These were my baking schedule:

Day zero (0) minus (-) 4 : Baked 24 Double Chocolate Cookies (for goodie bag)

Day 0 - 3 : Baked 2 10" Oreo Cheesecakes

Day 0 - 2 : Baked 110 Mini Choux Pastries

Day 0 - 1 : Baked 132 Mini Double Chocolate Cupcakes in the morning. Then prepared 90 Mini Cream Puffs in the afternoon.

Day 0 : Baked 50 Salmon Pies and decorated Oreo Cheesecakes.

Unfortunately for me, the Salmon Pies weren't too well received by the children. But the adults loved it though. I personally love the salmon pies. There was a lot of preparation and work that went into this pie. I baked the salmon fillets in silicon paper to retain the moisture of the fish. Then I flaked them into the aluminium cups and added the rest of the ingredients. Topped them up with buttered mashed potatoes and shredded mozarella cheese. Bake it and serve. There were so much food leftover after the party!

Recipe for Salmon Pies
(Makes 50 small pies)

Baked Salmon
700g Salmon Fillet, skinless, cut into 3 pieces
1 Lemon zest
3 Lemon slices
Some salt and ground black pepper

Method:
1. Marinate the salmon fillets with lemon juice from the lemon slices, zest, salt and pepper.
2. Place each of them on silicon baking paper, and place one slice of lemon on each salmon. Wrapped up like a parcel.

3. Place them on a baking tray, bake at 200C for 23mins.

Mashed Potatoes
1kg Russet Potatoes, washed and peeled
100g Butter

Method:
1. Cut the potatoes into smaller pieces.
2. Placed it in a pot of water and boil until soft.
3. Mashed it and mix well with butter. Leave aside.

White Sauce
500g Whole milk
80g Butter
50g Plain flour
Some salt & ground pepper to taste

Method:
1. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan to cook.
2. Stir until the mixture has thicken, then remove from heat.

Salmon Pie
Baked salmon
2 big Portebello Mushrooms, chopped into small cubes
2 stalks Celery, chopped into small cubes
1 packet of fresh Dill
250g Shredded Mozzarella cheese
White sauce
Mashed potatoes

Method:
1. Flake the salmon into each aluminium cups. Place some dill on top of the salmon. Then add celery and mushrooms.

2. Add mozzarella cheese. Then add one tablespoon of white sauce into the cup.

3. Top up with mashed potatoes and add some cheese.

4. Repeat the process for the rest of the cups.
5. Bake in the oven at 190C for 25mins, or until top is browned.
6. Best if served immediately.

I'll share the Oreo Cheesecake recipe in my next post. Watch for it.

Chocolate Eclairs

The last time I made my durian puffs, I had some choux pastries left, so I made some chocolate eclairs. As the choux pastry batter was very "runny", it was quite difficult to pipe. Therefore, I ended up with out-of-shape eclairs! :p