Rainbow Fruit Galette

Heyooo. Finally back to posting on the blog, now that I have some down time on SICU. I made this large galette for the last week of Pride month. I did think about making a pie, but pies are so time consuming! The only time consuming thing here was slicing fruit and loving the rustic look.

I enjoyed making this because the fruits are so bright and colorful and remained so after baking. Basically you're baking one pie, but with 5 different flavors! What a deal! You can tailor the recipe as you like and use different fruits depending of the season. I felt like these were choices that worked and made for a yummy jammy tart pie.

Rainbow Fruit Galette

makes 1 large 13x10" galette

1.5 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed
3 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup cold vegetable shortening
1/2 cup ice water

1 cup ea. fruits, sliced (strawberries, peach, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries)
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
lemon zest

2 tbsp raw sugar
1 eggwash

1. For the crust, I used Ina Garten's pie recipe, which is equal to make 2x9" pies. So if you have a favorite pie crust recipe, please feel free to adapt: In a food processor, pulse butter with flour, sugar, salt and vegetable shortening until pea sized. Drizzle in ice water until dough clumps together. Turn out onto clean surface and roll into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 mins
2. Meanwhile for each sliced fruit, place in a small bowl for each and mix in sugars, lemon juice and a little bit of zest. Allow to macerate for a few mins.  
3. Preheat oven to 375F. I rolled out my dough into a rectangle the size of a half sheet pan (~18x13"). Drain each sliced fruit and arrange in a line leaving 1" borders. Sprinkle about 2 tbsp of white sugar on top.
4. Fold galette edge over fruit. Eggwash the folded edge and cover with raw sugar.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until crust is golden brown and fruit juices bubbling. Allow to cool for 1 hour so that the juices have time to become jammy

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Matcha Strawberry Black Sesame Cookies

Aaand I'm back after a long break from blogging! Residency has a way of getting into... life :/ I just finished my pediatric surgery rotation and on transplant now. So between organ harvesting and transplanting, I found myself with some extra time!

I met a lot of awesome people during my peds surg rotation, so I baked a batch of these cookies for them. I've been itching to make something with freeze dried strawberries, since I bought a pack and didn't know what to do with them. So on a whim, I thought matcha, strawberries and black sesame would go so well together. The cookies have a more cake like texture in the middle from the extra yolk and a fruity and nutty taste. They were quickly gobbled up by the residents!

Matcha Strawberry Black Sesame Cookies

Makes ~30 cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp matcha powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup freeze dried strawberries, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp black sesame

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, matcha powder, baking soda and salt
3. In a medium bowl, melt butter and then beat in sugar (brown and white), vanilla, egg + egg yolk
4. Mix dry and wet ingredients until everything is just incorporated
5. Fold in freeze dried strawberries and black sesame. Use a heaping teaspoon and place dough on prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. The cookies don't spread much
6. Bake until edges are just golden brown. Cool on rack for at least 10 minutes

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Matcha Watermelon Cake

I'm all about reading unmotivated/demotivated posters and memes currently... Sometimes, I get these spurts of energy to do stuff and then I fall into a lull, and just want to sit on my couch with a bag of Cheetos on my belly and lick cheese dust off my fingers. I'm also in a fairly chill rotation right now with no stress, no early mornings or late nights.

I should be feeling pretty good, but it's kind of like that stillness before the storm. In two weeks, I'll be on internal med rotation and all hell will break loose. It'll be back to panda eyes, frizzy hair, caffeine IV drip and mismatched clothing. <-- haha, sometimes I seriously don't notice what I put on in the morning at 4.30am and I'll go to work in an all olive green ensemble looking like a pickle (true story).

I'm taking advantage of all this free time to do lots of baking though! I recently made a lot of matcha stuff, just because I love matcha and want more of my friends to be exposed to it! I have a whole recipe page dedicated to it here. For this post, I have a light as air matcha almond cake base, sandwiching a watermelon layer with almond scented whipped cream. It's then topped with fresh strawberries, almonds and dried petals. The cake is quite reminiscent of Japanese/Asian bakery cake density...something like a chiffon cake. The watermelon really works as a layer here. It's super refreshing and unexpected. My roommate and I devoured this cake in 2 days... but then we're also your no-so-typical-vigorous eaters ;).

Matcha Watermelon Cake

inspired by black star pastry
makes a 5 inch layer cake

Cake	Frosting
2 eggs, room temp 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1/2 cup almond finely ground meal (plus more) 1 tbsp Panatea matcha 3 tbsp flour 3 egg whites, room temp 1/8 tsp cream of tartar 2 tbsp white sugar 1 slice watermelon	1.5 cups heavy whipping cream 4 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp almond extract 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 pint strawberries sliced almonds dried petals (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 and place parchment paper on bottom of a 5 inch spring form pan.
2. Beat eggs, powdered sugar, almond flour on low-med until pale yellow. Mix in matcha and flour. Transfer to another bowl and wipe clean mixer bowel (or if you're lucky, whip out your other mixer bowl)
3. Whip on low egg whites and cream of tartar. Add sugar and whip on high until stiff peaks form. Fold egg white mixer and matcha cake mix gently until all incorporated
4. Pour batter into pan and bake for 30-40 mins. At 20mins you make need to foil the top because it will brown easily. Test with skewer for done-ness. Once out of the oven, immediately flip over on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely in it's pan
5. While you're waiting for your cake to cool, cut a 5 inch watermelon slice about 1-1.5cm thick. Sprinkle both sides with sugar ~1 tbsp and allow to macerate on a rack for 30 mins
6. Mix heavy whipping cream, sugar and extracts on high until stiff (but not too long that it separates). Set aside
7. Stick cake once cooled into the freezer for 10 mins, so it is easier to slice in half. If you used 2 pans, then forget about this step.
8. Place top layer of cake cut side up and spread frosting over it. Sprinkle almond meal over it (absorbs extra watermelon juice). Pat watermelon layer with kitchen towel and place over frosting. Sprinkle almond meal over watermelon and then spread more frosting over it. Top with final layer and more frosting.
9. Refrigerate cake for 1-2 hours to firm up. Cut up strawberries into quarters and halves. Decorate cake with sliced strawberries, sliced almonds and petals. Will keep for a few days!

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Roasted Strawberries Matcha Popsicles

I just started pediatrics rotation, which is kind of cool because I get to play Wii all day with the kids. Well, not really... I had a week of peds hematology and oncology, so it's been somewhat emotional on the floor and with the patients. Some kids are super well and happy, some not so much. Although, I really did play dance Wii, and got in a great workout, so I'm pretty much set for the rest of the month as far as exercise is concerned haha.

It's pretty exciting working in the hospital instead of studying at the desk all day! I'm constantly surrounded by smart people all day, so I'm learning a lot but also feeling incredibly stupid everyday :P. Anyway, one of my patients looked like a mix of Dora the explorer and Strawberry Shortcake. She's so cute! Plus, she has this insatiable sweet tooth, so these popsicles kind of reminded me of her :D.

Roasting strawberries is a pretty new idea to me, but I've been seeing a lot of blog posts about them so I thought I'd give it a try. Roasting them really caramelizes the sugar and intensifies the flavors (berry berry yummy...haha I had to say it). Do try it while it's berry season!

Other amazing roasted strawberries ideas:

• This Roasted Stawberry-miso Ice Cream. Miso what?!
• Roasted Balsamic Strawberry Ginger Ice Cream. Taking a trip to flavor town!
• Roasted Strawberry and Dumpling. Anything in skillet please
• Roasted Strawberries over Honey whipped ricotta. Like heaven on a pillow

Roasted Strawberries Matcha Popsicles
adapted from withfoodandlove

1/2 lb strawberries
3 tbsp honey
1 can coconut milk (lite or full fat)
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp PANATEA matcha (cooking grade)

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Cut Strawberries in 1/2, drizzle with honey and roast for 15-20mins or until soft.
2. Allow to cool and then mash roasted strawberries in a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup coconut milk and distribute the mix into the molds
3. In a blender (I used an immersion blender), blend remaining coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk and matcha powder. Pour matcha mix carefully over the roasted strawberries. Freeze for a few hours or overnight
4. Run mold under warm water for a few minutes to help the popsicles unstick

Disclaimer: This post is in partnership with panatea matcha. All opinions are my own.

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