Pastry as a staple food

There is a lot of food considered staple foods although the generation definition varied. For Malay, rice is our staple food. Rice is marvellous to eat with any side dish such as seafood, poultry or meat. 

Rice is a carbohydrate food and if taken more without using it, the energy that had to be used turns to fat and thus make the body put on weight. To watch the scale machine when standing on it while the numbers increase makes me worry. 

If these happen, I reduce my rice intake. It helps my weight control. As a Malay, I eat rice twice a day, for lunch and dinner.

However, this is no longer my routine. I take other food as well such as pastry products.

What is pastry

In normal understanding, a pastry dough is made of flour, water and shortening. Sometimes it may be savoury or sweetened. It depends on the people’s choice. Sweetened pastries are always described as bakers’ confectionery. 

Tarts and other sweet baked products are called pastries. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties.

Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked goods are called a pastry. Cake and pastry, both are baked products and are made from flour. 

The cake is generally made from a mixture of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter or oil whereas the pastry, usually a sweet dessert, essentially includes fat that is solid at room temperature.

Uniquely, in my culture, there is a fried pastry. 

The very popular fried pastry is karipap or curry puff.  The dough is made from simple four ingredients such as flour, cooking oil, water and salt. I made this mixture for my family.

For the filling, there is a variety.  I either use potato cooked with curry, potato with meat or sardine for curry puff filling.

It is tasty and I feel full when I eat it. Karipap may replace rice as a staple food but I don’t take it regularly.

Another traditional Malay pastry is Kuih Baulu. This is Malay most common sponge cake.

 Baulu is a must-have cake in Eid celebration. Ingredients for the traditional cake is always easy and simple. The ingredient I use is flour, egg, sugar and rose essence.

I always make Kuih Baulu for Eid celebrations. It is tasty when done on my own compared to the commercial baulu.

Egg as the main ingredient

When cooking eggs, I use both the egg white and yolk together.  These two elements in a whole egg provide the right balance of protein, fat and calories.  This combination allows most people to feel fuller after eating eggs in meals.

Except for cake, I used only egg yolk to make pastry for tarts and biscuit. If I use the whole egg, egg white and yolk in the dough, it hardens.

That is why I always use egg yolk in making the pastry or biscuit. For tarts pastry, it is soft and crunchy for the biscuit.

The distribution of the proteins, however, is even throughout the whole egg but most of the nutrients in an egg are in the yolk.

Egg yolk as pastry decoration

Egg yolk can be used as decoration to enhance the look of biscuit or tarts. The egg yolk usually applies on top of the biscuit with nuts. The yellowish colour and shining are good to garnish the biscuit. This is simple and organic decoration    

Recipe 1

Pineapple Tart

I never miss making pineapple tart during Eid Fitr celebration. This is my favourite festive biscuit since I was small till now. 

What’s the difference between now and then? Before I could only eat during the celebration but now I can have it anytime. 

These days, it is a lot easier to make pineapple tart because pineapple jam is available in baking ingredient stores before I have to make pineapple jam from scratch.  

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour
• 4 tablespoon cornflour
• 3 tablespoon icing sugar
• 200g salted Lurpak butter
• 2 egg yolk
• Premium pineapple jam

How to do it: Sift together plain flour, corn flour and icing sugar. Add in butter that has been cut in a cube. Squeezing the flour and butter with fingers. Put in egg yolk and knead flour until it becomes a dough.  Keep in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.  Make pineapple jam into marble size. Using a mold to shape a tart and put the pineapple in the middle.  Bake for 15 minutes in the oven at 170° Celsius.

Recipe 2

Hokkaido tart

Hokkaido tarts are sold in malls and are expensive. This cake from Japan is sold in many countries in the world. Due to the high price and I love to eat, I try to use my own recipes.

Ingredients

• 300gm of wheat flour
• 4 tablespoons cornflour
• 3 tablespoons icing sugar
• 200gm Salted Butter Lurpak
• 2 eggs yolk
• Kaya
• Chocolate spread
• Small cupcake mold

How to do it: Sift wheat flour, corn flour and icing sugar into a container. Then, add the diced butter. Whisk the flour with butter using your fingertips until it crumble. Add the eggs yolk and combine into a dough. Store the dough in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

After 20 mins, removed the pastry from the fridge and roll the pastry with a thickness of 5 cm and pave using a round mold.

Place the round shape into small cupcake mold and shape it until it attaches to the mold. Bake in the oven at 150 ° Celsius for 20 mins. Make until the dough is done

Once the pastry is ready baked, you may add you favorite fillings into the pastry. And for me, I placed kaya and chocolate swipe into the tart skin until done.

Recipe 3

Chocolate biscuit

• 250g salted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• ½ cup castor sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup oats
• ½ cup corn flour
• 2 ½ cups plain flour
• Cut almond and egg yolk as decoration

How to do it: Mix all the flour and oats. Mix butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla essence until soft. Put in flour and oats mix in the butter mixture and make a dough. Shape the dough with mold. Put the cut almond on top and glaze with egg yolk. Bake for 15 minutes in the oven at 170° celsius.  

Recipe 4

Curry Puff

Karipap is popular in local slang which is very much in demand for an event or gathering. Curry Puff Recipe with simple filling like potatoes is very easy to get in grocery shops. Sometimes I make it a lot to be kept in the freezer for easy grab the next time.

Ingredients for fillings

• 2 shallot 
• 2 garlic 
• ¼ cup of curry powder 
• 3 potatoes
• ⅓ cup of  oil
• 350 ml of water 
• Salt
• Curry leaves

How to do it

1. Peel the potatoes and wash.

2. Cut potatoes into small cubes.

3. Peel garlic and shallot. Chop it.

4. Heat the oil on the pan.

5. Fry garlic and shallot until fragrant.

6. Add curry powder and stir for a while

7. Put in the potatoes and water.

8. Cook until the water dries and the potatoes become soft for 30 minutes.

9. Put aside to cool.

Ingredients for pastry

• 4 cup of plain flour 
• 1 teaspoon of salt 
• 1/4 cup of hot oil
• 350  ml of water bit by bit inside the batter
• 2 cups of oil for  fry 

Direction

1. Heat the oil in the pan and pour the hot oil into the flour 

2. Mix the dough and oil evenly.

3. Pour the water bit by bit inside the batter while mixing.

4. Knead the dough until  it is not sticky at the hand

5. Rest the dough for 15 minutes.

Making The Curry Puff

1. Roll the dough and make it a round shape.

2. Put the filling on top of the round shape pastry.

3. Using curry puff mould to shape the curry puff.

4. Heat the oil in the wok.

5. Dip fry the curry puff in slow heat until it turns slightly brown.

6. Take it out from the pan and your curry puff is ready.

Conclusion

There are many recipes that made only using egg yolk. But these four are the most favourite. I love to make it for my grandchildren especially the chocolate biscuit. It is easy to make and they love it.