Heart "Imprint" Cookies

Oh, hello February! You are coming! Heck, where has January gone? I feel like time is flying by at a rocket speed! I am trying to get a new rhythm going. Part of it involves doing a "spring" cleaning of my pantry.

After a few hours, I found 5 different types of chocolate bars and packets, and 3 different types of cocoa powders. For sure I do not need any extra chocolate for V-day. I need self control not to indulge in the chocolate a bit too quickly though!

I made this recipe for heart imprint cookies for a Valentine day feature. They are fun, and will make great presents for a lot of occasions. I imagine you can colour the "heart" part of the cookies for different themes. I like mine with chocolate, always.

 Chocolate Heart Imprint Cookies

(The cookie dough recipe is from Donna Hay Magazine)

Ingredients (for 40-50 cookies, size of a 50c Australian coin)
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
110g castor sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
225g plain flour
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Method

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and light. Add the egg and beat to combine. Sift flour, add vanilla and combine well.

Divide the mixture into 3 parts. Mix 1 portion with cocoa powder. Wrap the cookies dough with plastic wrap and chill foe 20 mins.

Divide the chocolate dough into 4 portions. Use two portions first, roll them into two thin logs (like chopsticks). Use your fingers to pinch the top of the two logs together. Try to shape it so that the top part points up (this is the bottom of the heart)

Now, carefully and gently invert the two lines so that the bottom of the line is on top. Pinch some white dough, and roll them into a thin log, which hasthe same length with the chocolate log. 


Gently line the white log into the middle of the chocolate lines, where the two wings of the heart are (see photo). Basically, if you slice the chocolate part across, you will have the heart shape!


Repeat the above process so you will have two heart-shaped logs.

Divide the white dough into two. Work with each at a time. Roll the dough between parchment papers until it is about 5mm thin. Remove the papers.


Place 1 heart-shaped log in the middle of the white dough. Roll up, Swiss-roll style to enclose the heart shape log. Seal. Repeat with the remaining white dough and heart-shaped log. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 160C. Line baking tray with baking paper.

Take the cookies logs out of the fridge, and slice 1cm thick. Place onto the tray, and bake for 12 mins or until golden. Cool on a cookies rack then store properly.

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Happy Lunar New Year! - Vietnamese sticky rice, coated in mung bean

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! I hope this year will be a joyous one for all.

Today is the second day of Tết (Lunar New Year). If I were in Vietnam, we would spend today at my grandmother's house. She would cook this sticky rice dish again, and we would happily enjoy it with fried spring rolls (nem), pickles (đồ chua), poached chicken with lime leaves (gà luộc lá chanh) and many more delicacies.

Xôi vò (Viet sticky rice coated in mung bean) is not an easy dish to make. The final product requires each grain to be separated and coated nicely with mashed dried mung bean. My grandmother often makes it with chicken fat, making it extra tasty! 

(I am trying to get back to work even though my mind is in Vietnam, thinking of Tết! I hope those who celebrate it will have extra fun time with their families, since it is the most important thing, really.)

On another note, I have been featured in an article on Vietnamnet, one of the most popular Viet language news portal :). The post talked about the Hanoi cafe I took, and also my life as an expat in Australia. If you can understand Vietnamese, read it here! Thank you!

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