itherese Leung’s blog

Last time I posted a Japanese crepe recipe which I found from youtube. I tried it but it didn’t come out as in my expectation. I didn’t use egg white only but with egg yolk too as I didn’t know how else could I use the yolk but I felt wasting food if I discard it. The recipe didn’t mention whether whole milk should be used or whatever, I use 1% low-fat milk.

The outcome was not really crispy, except the edge. The edge was as crispy as wafer and it broke easily (which resulted in a mess on the countertop), while the main part was soft. I suspect it was because of the egg yolk. Also, I think I could be able to make it crispier if I cooked it longer. Anyhow, the main problem was that there were a lot of holes on the crepe, since it was made with pancake mix. There was air inside the batter, and it bubbled out while being heat and resulted in holes. I think maybe I can press out the air with the crepe scraper, but I have not master the skill in using the scraper that Brian made for me yet.

Holes on the crepe is not a big problem while making savory crepes. However it is not suitable for sweet crepes as the chocolate sauce or the ice ceram will come out of the holes and it is pretty messy.

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It’s fun (although lots of clean up works to do)!

Chocolate cupcake without icing

Chocolate cupcake with buttercream icing

Oh the buttercream is nasty. It’s all FAT and SUGAR!! I would not want to make it anymore, but the cupcakes look a lot prettier with it.

I think I have found the reciep for the crispy Japnese style crepe! I am so happy!!

I have not tried that, but I am definitely going to!

Recipe found from youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxreGvCzzNU

Ingredients:
pancake mix 50g
milk 100cc
egg white 25g
soy sauce - a tiny little bit

The secret of the crispy texture is the pancake mix. Regular (original French style) crepe is made of all-purpose flour.  Also, the egg white plays some part of the crispy texture, too. As pancake mix is supposed to rise, the order of adding the ingredients is important. Therefore, stick to the instructions!

Instructions:
1. whrisk pancake mix with milk
2. add egg white, whrisk. Remember, this is after mixing milk and pancake mix!
3. add a tad of soy sauce. like 1-2 drop. You should not see the batter becomes brown in color, or that will be toooo much!
4. Then, the normal step, heat a 10″-12″ slightly oiled flat frying pan or crepe pan, use paper towel to wipe out excess oil.
5. Make sure the pan is hot enough, then take the pan away the fire and add crepe batter into pan, circulate the pan to let the batter covers the whole bottom of the pan evenly.
6. Let heat for about 1 minute. Flip the crepe.
7. Add toppings onto the crepe (anything, I will use strawberry + vanilla ice cream + chocolate sauce, because I have them at home).
8. Fold and roll up into a cone shape.
DONE!!

I can’t wait to try it out!

We trial played Wii Mario Kart last night in BestBuy, we had so much fun! Now we want to get it, but it is all sold out - everywhere.

Helen brought me to a crepe place in Japan town on Wednesday. It was the fist crepe in my life (can you believe that? It was pretty popular in Hong Kong before I came here, but I have never tried). It was so good! Red bean paste with green tea ice cream and the green tea paste (I don’t remember what was it called exactly), such a satisfying dessert. I always like to have Eric to share the sweets with me, but he seldom comes to the City so it’s hard to have that together. Yesterday I remembered that there is a cafe in Dublin that offers crepes. I will have to try it out next time. I wish it is good, so we will have another favorite sweet place in Dublin.

We have finally finished the big bag of Japanese rice. Now we have got Thai rice so I can make fried rice now (it is thinner and less sticky than Japanese rice).

I know it is a little but crazy… yes, I had frozen yogurt for 3 days in a row. On Thursday, I went to YoCup in San Francisco by myself. On Friday, I went to Yogurt Bar, also in the City, with my boss. Today after dinner with Eric, we went to Blush in Dublin again. Having frozen yogurt from different places three days in a row, I can really tell the differences.

Last time I went to YoCup with Helen, we tried the blueberry flavor and we liked it, so this time I did the same. I topped the small cup with mochis. The yogurt still tasted good, however, this time I found some undissolved blue powder in the yogurt. I would not expect that the blueberry flavor was from fresh blueberries, but seeing the powder in the cup was not impressing. It was $3.75, no tax.

In a boring Friday afternoon at work, a frozen yogurt was a delight. My boss wanted a yogurt, how would I be able to resist it? Yogurt Bar has reduces its price recently. I got a small original with mochi on it. The mochis were kind of stuck together, seemed that they had melted before. The yogurt was the iciest among the three places, but it was not a fair comparison becasue this was original (no flavor) while the others that I compared with were flavored. It was $3.45, not sure about tax (because it was my company’s treat hehee).

My stomach did not feel good today. After a light dinner in Dublin, Eric suggested to get yogurt. I was not sure if I should have it because cold things would probably make my stomach feel worse. But, again, I could not say ‘No’ to my favorite treat. I would not regret, though. We got a combination of Blush flavor and blueberry flavor. We did not get any topping this time, so we could really taste the yogurt. The yogurt was fabulous. It was the best among three, it was very creamy. It was the creamiest ‘tart’ style yogurt that I have tried. It was close to my imaginary ‘tart and creamy’ yogurt. It was more expensive, but it worth the premium. Next time I will try the original. I wonder if it would also be creamy, but I do not expect that, as original is usually more icy. We got medium without topping with $4.5. Small flavored is $3.5 while original is only $2.5. There is something worth mentioning about this place. When you get into a self-seated cafe (or fast food place or whatever cafeteria) , you expect to pay the same whether or not you eat at the table in the store. But in here, they charge tax if you eat-in but the tax is exempted for take-away. This is also different from other yogurt places since other similar yogurt places do not charge tax at all. They did not ask us last time but charged us tax automatically.

Eric and I had frozen yogurt tonight at Blush (the yogurt place at Dublin which I mentioned about a few posts ago). Sweet! He actually liked it. I am so happy.

They are doing a promotion of getting a free small 2-toppings with purchase of a $20 gift card. Therefore we got a gift card and I got a small Blush flavor with mochi and kitkat toppings for free, and another mango flavor without topping. As I said before, the price was pretty high. $3.5 for plain small flavor and $1 for each topping. I have not seen this price in the City. This is Dublin though, sigh. Eric was willing to get more gift certificate because I liked the yogurt, but I actually won’t come here very often because of its price. Once a while is great. Okay, let me quit talking about money. The yogurt was actually good. It was tart but not too icy. The blush flavor was a combination of dragon fruit and pomegranate. It tasted really good, Eric and I both loved it. The mango was so-so. I would not say they were generous on the toppings, although they had a lot of choices. The Kitkat was kitkat, not much to say.  Mochi was chewy, it went good with the yogurt.

The best part was, still, having my beloved boyfriend enjoy the sweets with me.

P.S. I have just known for a couple days that the word ‘tart’, which I have read a lot of times on Yelp describing the frozen yogurt, means the sourly taste of the yogurt that I like. However it also means the icy texture (although there is still distinction between too icy and not very icy) that cannot coexist with the ice-cream-like creamy texture like those from Costco. They are different kinds of frozen yogurt. I wonder if there is any frozen yogurt with the original yogurt sourly taste AND creamy like ice-cream. Is that possible?

http://www.yelp.com/biz/blush-dublin

This fro-yo wave.. has come to Dublin!

I just found out that there is a new frozen yogurt place in Dublin, and it is expanding to Walnut Creek and Fremont (according to their website, http://www.blushyogurt.com). The reviews are pretty good, and the pictures look good, too. I have to try it out next time I go to Dublin. From the reviews, the price is at the high end. $2.75 for a small sized original and $3.50 for flavor (why!??) is pricier than those in the City. The fact is, it is Dublin, what otherwise can I expect. Anyhow, I will at least give it a try to see if it worth the extra bucks.

For most affordable and good frozen yogurt on East Bay, my vote is still on Costco.

I am craving for fro-yo again.. didn’t I just had it yesterday?

I visited yoCup with my dear friend today after her job interview in the City. It was at 101 Spear St., SF. The girl behind the counter asked us if it was the first time we went there, while we were, she gave both of us a sample of each flavor. There were 3 flavors: original, mango and blueberry. The original has a very strong yogurt sourly taste and I loved it. The blueberry flavor was good too so we got the original and blueberry swirl. The mango flavor was just okay. Usually I do not like to put toppings on the frozen yogurt since they would cover the taste of the yogurt. However, one topping was already included in the basic price so I picked strawberry. My friend chose blueberry. The strawberries were a little bit too sour. The blueberries were sweet. After all, I would still prefer no topping at all. The yogurt was more creamy than Penguino and Yogurt Bar, but was still in the watery side. I like the real creamy, like ice cream, ones, which may be another kind of frozen yogurt. I have got the creamy ones from Cafe Ambrosia, Muffins Muffins, and Costco (yes, it’s Costco). Hope you know what the difference I am talking about.

Overall, the nice thing of this yogurt place is the tasty yogurt. The bad thing is the mandatory topping. It doesn’t have an option for plain yogurt which could have charged $0.95 less.

Official website: http://www.yocupyogurt.com

When I was in Hong Kong, I liked a frozen yogurt place a lot. The frozen yogurt I loved was the fruit-blended kind. As I was a poor student back then, I could not afford to have it very often, and therefore, it was always a great enjoyment every time I had it.

Then I came to the United States. Frozen yogurt here usually means the soft serve yogurt (we call it soft ice cream in Hong Kong). When I first started working in the City, one day I wanted some ice cream suddenly and my coworker brought me to an ice cream place where I saw the blended kind of frozen yogurt the first time in this continent. Shoot! I just missed it so much! I got one without second thought. It was so good! However, it was expensive too. Although I like it a lot, I just do not feel comfortable spending that much on an after-meal treat without a special reason like celebrating a birthday (especially when I am trying hard to save up).

Since then, I started looking for other places for this frozen yogurt. It is in fact my fortune that I work in the City. There are actually some places that offer very good frozen yogurt in the City, but they are just not the blended kind that I like. A week ago, when I surf on the web for frozen yogurt (again), I found out that there was a new place in the neighborhood of my office which featured the blended frozen yogurt. Its price for a small cup was similar to that in Hong Kong, which means it was much reasonable than the first place I went. From that moment on, I have been wanting to get a cup from there. However, as one of my coworkers was leaving us for advancing his career, I did not want to miss another lunch with him, therefore I have been eating out everyday, and which means I have been spending a lot of $$ and in-taking too much energy. Besides, I was going to my cousin’s wedding on last Saturday, I did not want to put more weight on my tummy so I could not fit into the dress, I did not get it even I wanted it so much.

Today, the last day of June, when my saving for the month has been set and a new pay check has arrived. When it is the very last day of my coworker and the first day I get back to work after my cousin’s wedding, it is the time. I was thinking of the frozen yogurt all day long, especially after I have done with the jobs that I was assigned, my mind was just devoted to my beloved frozen yogurt. I could not wait for another day. I wished I could try it out with my boyfriend, but I could not stand anymore. I was too tempted. I must get it. I decided.

The place is not really close to where I work. It takes approximately 20 minutes of walk. When I got out of the office building, I was all excited. I walked as fast as I was going to catch the last train of a night. I was as excited as I was going to meet my best old friend who I have been missing for have of my life. As I was approaching the mall where the creamery is located at, I have got complicated feelings. I slowed down my steps, deep breathed, tried hard to calm myself down. I did not want to look too excited. When I stoped at the end of the half-dozen people line, I looked at the menu on the wall, just to make sure the price. I already knew what I was going to order before I got there (this is unusual). I already had the line of order just waiting to be spoken. Here came my turn. When the girl behind the counter asked me what did I want, I just spoke out my line. I could choose two ingredients to blend with the yogurt, my choices were strawberry and Oreo chips. However, the girl said that I could not get the Oreo blended with the yogurt, but only put on top as a topping, as it would stuck in the machine. Okay, then strawberry and banana were fine. I did not really think it would stuck in the machine, as I had strawberry blended with Nestle Crunch bar everytime I had it in Hong Kong. Believe me, it was fabulous. Anyway, I did not get the Oreo, but banana, which I think it would be better without. I got choices of low-fat, fat-free and no sugar added yogurt, and I got the no sugar added, as I like the original taste of yogurt. I was looking forward to a slightly sour taste but it didn’t tasted as what I imagined. Instead, it was a little bitter. Overall the taste was not as good as those I got in Hong Kong, but it wasn’t bad. With its reasonable price, this is the place I get my treats when I really crave for one.

Speaking of prices,  normally I am not willing to pay more than three bucks for to-go frozen yogurt for myself. I am not a fan of toppings on frozen yogurt. Just give me a plain one. However when there is someone sharing (the joy) with me, I am willing to pay more for greater taste and greater joy.

The yogurt place I went today is Yogen Fruz, reviews below -
http://www.yelp.com/biz/yogen-fruz-san-francisco

This is another place for soft serve. It is a tiny cafe without fancy decoration, but their frozen yogurt is REAL good, they worth the ratings -
http://www.yelp.com/biz/caffe-ambrosia-san-francisco