Red Bean Steamed Rice Cake (砵仔糕) - Hong Kong Style

Ever watch TVB drama or Hong Kong movies? Often you would hear the lead actress requesting for Put Chai Ko (砵仔糕). I had been watching these shows since young and never had a chance to try it. It's not a treat commonly found in Singapore. 

On my first holiday to Hong Kong, I came across a shop selling these. I was excited. I quickly bought one and was sadly disappointed. It's was hard, thick and bland. So it's no surprise that I didn't bother trying them when I moved to Hong Kong.

Then, one day, my husband came home with a Put Chai Ko. He said it's the best in Hong Kong. I was skeptical but on seeing his excitment, I gave it a try. It was soft, tender and sweet. Now I finally understand why this is such a well loved treat in Hong Kong.

Red beans topping

We haven't had this treat since moving to the States. With some left-over of rice flour, I decided to make this at home. Another easy home-made treat. =)

Normally made with small bowls

Recipe

25g Red beans (Soaked overnight)

100g Rice flour

30g Wheat starch

20g Water chestnut starch

25g Glutinous rice flour

100g brown sugar slab

2 cups water

1. Cooked red beans till tender. About an hour.

2. Sift rice flour, wheat starch, water chestnut starch and glutinous rice flour together. Set aside.

3. Bring one cup water to boil. Add in sugar until melted completely. Leave to cool.

4. Once sugar water cool completely, pour into flour mix. Whisk till smooth.

5. Bring remaining cup of water to boil. Add into flour batter. Whisk till smooth.

6. Put bowls into steamer and heat for 15 minutes.

7. Pour batter into bowls until 1/2 full. Add 1 tsp of red bean to each bowl on top of batter.

8. Cook for 20 minutes under high heat.

9. Cool till warm. Use the back of parring knife to loosen the cake from the bowl.

*****************************************************************************************************************

Tips & Tricks

1. Use a whisk during the whisk process. Do not use fork, spoon or spatula to stir the mixture. It will cause lumps to form. A whisk will help break out the lumps during the mixing process.

2. Heating the bowls before adding the batter will prevent the red beans from sinking to the bottom.

*****************************************************************************************************************

My Asian Kitchen

Water Chestnut Starch

Water chestnut starch is flour made from water chestnut. You can find these in the flour section in Asia supermarket. A box of chestnut cost about $2.50.

Brown sugar slab

A packet brown sugar slab can be found near the flour section in Asia supermarket. A pack of brown sugar cost about $2.

For a picture of Rice Flour - see Chwee Kueh recipe.

For a picture of Glutinous Flour - See Snowskin Mooncake recipe.

Poached Pears

Poached Pears

I have a bag of pears in the fridge awaiting to be ripen, but after more than one month, they are still as firm as day one. Must be some powerful preservative or fertilizer that the farmer used! 

Time for me to do something with them. What's the quickest way to soften a pear? Poaching! I loved poached fruits. The cooking process brings out the sweetness of the fruit, paired with the added flavour from the poaching syrup, it's like eating a vanilla pear.

Poached pear with vanilla and lemon zest

Poached pears are easy to make, quick to impress but long to cook. It's a slow cooking process. The good thing is that you can always make this in advance and served with ice-cream during dessert. =)

Poached pears served with mint leave and lemon zest

Recipe

4 Bosco pears
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon lemon zest (leave 1 tablespoon for garnishing)
1 vanilla pod (split open)
2 whole cardamon seeds (cracked open)
1 stalk mint leaves (optional)

1. Bring water to a boil and wish in sugar. Continue to boil for 10 minutes or until sugar completely dissolved.

2. Add in lemon juice, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, vanilla pod and cardamon seeds.

3. Bring the syrup to a boil and whisking occasionally to incorporate the flavour for about 15 minutes. Leave syrup on stove under low heat.

4. Peel the pears. Place pears in syrup. Cooked for 30 minutes under low heat.

5. Remove pears and leave to cool in a plate. Cool both syrup and pears to room tempature before placing in fridge.

6. Served with lemon zest and mint leaves.

********************************************************************************************************

Tips and tricks

1. Make sure that pot is big and deep enough to fit all pears.

2. Pears will float when placed into the syrup. This is normal.

3. Do not wash the vanilla bean before use.

4. You can replace the cardomon seeds with 1 cinnamon stick.

5. Use the back of a spoon to crack open the cardomon.

6. Choose pears that are firm. Soften pears will mush up during cooking.

7. For better presentation, choose pears will longer stalk.

8. You may core them if you like, but leave the stem in place.

9. Warm or cold with ice-cream or cream.

10. You can keep left-over syrup in the fridge for up to 3 months and continue to use them.

********************************************************************************************************

My Baking Panty

Madagascar Vanilla Beans

You can buy whole vanilla bean from various supermarkets and online. I find that it's cheaper online than in the supermarket. I got some Madagascar vanilla beans from Amazon.

If you are getting them from the supermarkets, you can find them near the spices section.

Disclaimer - I am not compensated monetary in any way for the shopping link.

Ginger Milk Pudding ( 姜汁撞奶)

Ginger Milk Pudding ( 姜汁撞奶)

Every Tuesday and Friday are my TV days. On these days, I'm practically glued to my TV. If I cooked on these days, they tend to be quick and simple. With today being my TV day, I decided to make ginger milk pudding during a quick TV break. 

 

Smooth soft gingerly milk pudding

The Chinese believes that ginger has medicinal benefits by keep the body warm and expelling cold "air" from the body. In recent years, I acquired a love for ginger and have been trying loads of ginger dishes. A few of my favorite ginger dishes includes pig trotters in ginger vinegar, ginger fried rice and for dessert - ginger milk pudding.

I first tried this dessert when I lived in Hong Kong a few years ago. My husband brought me to one of his favorite dessert house and ordered this for me to try. If you love dessert and ginger, you will love this. It has the makings of  a good pudding - smooth and soft, topped with its sweet gingerly taste.

Firm pudding

The key to this pudding is using the chemical reaction of ginger juice and milk to harden the pudding. A good milk pudding will harden and stay smooth. It's a really simple dessert to make. Using just a few simple ingredients and thirty minutes later, volia - firm smooth soft gingerly pudding.

Topped with caramalize shredded ginger

 

Recipe

5 cups milk (1 cup for each ramekin)
4 tbsp sugar (adjust according to taste)
40g ginger

1. Put ginger in food processor and grind till fine. Or use grate ginger in fine shreds.

2. Put ginger in a cheese cloth and squeeze out the juice into a bowl. Or simply use hands to extract juice.

3. Pour ginger juice through strainer to remove any ginger pieces.

4. Spoon one tablespoon of ginger juice into each ramekin. (set aside)

5. Whisk sugar into milk.

6. Bring milk to a boil. Stir continuously to prevent burning the milk.

7. Pour milk into another pot and back. Do this pouring back and fro for at least ten times. 

8. Pour milk into each ramekin.

9. Leave to cool for approximately 15 minutes.

*****************************************************************************************************************

Tips & Tricks

1. When pouring milk back and fro, do it at a height. The pouring process helps harden the milk.

2. Do not perform the pouring back and fro for more than twenty times. Over pouring will cause the milk to "over-cool".

3. When pouring the milk into the ramekin, do not be gentle. It's ok to have spills. You need to get the ginger juice to mix with the milk.

4. Do not stir the milk after adding into the ginger juice.

5. Do not move the ramekin adding milk to ginger juice. Let them sit and set.

6. The pudding uses a chemical reaction from the ginger juice to set and harden.

7. If your pudding tends to be too watery, try stirring the ginger juice slightly, before pouring in the milk.

8. Caramalize left over ginger shreds by cooking them over low heat with 1 tbsp of sugar. Stir continously until all sugar melted and the ginger are slightly browned.

Green Tea Mousse Cake

Green tea mousse cake

For birthdays, we normally get a mousse cake from a small bakery in Chinatown. It's my husband's favourite cake and cost about $32 for a 9 inch cake. This year, with ample notice from the family, I decided to make one. 

Green tea mousse cake with cake crumbs

I loved family gathering. It's a chance for me to make a bigger cake to share with family and not have to finish it all. Specially during a time where I had been making desserts for the past weeks and my husband and I are on sugar overload; so it's a good time to share. =)

Layer of light airy mousse sitting on top of a layer of soft fluffy cake

After some deliberation, I decide on green tea mousse cake. With one layer of light airy mousse sitting on top of a layer of soft fluffy cake, followed by another layer of cake and mousse and covered with cake crumbs.

My only challenge when making the mousse was gelatin. I hardly ever used them for baking so I found that it take a fair bit of understanding when using them. First, I overcooked them, then I threw them into cold batter causing them to lump up, next I undercooked them... Two batter mixes, four packs of gelatin and loads of cursing later, I'm glad to say the mousse was smooth and light. See below for tips with working them. =)

Recipe

For cake
4 eggs (separate yolks and whites)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
90g sugar (divide into 40g and 50g portions)
30g milk
50g corn / vegetable oil
90g cake flour
1 tsp green tea powder (a.k.a matcha)

For Mousse
9g gelatin (1 envelope)
3 1/2 tbsp water
225g milk
110g sugar
2 1/2 tsp green tea powder
6 egg yolks
2 cups cold heavy whipping cream

For Cake
1. Whisk 40g sugar and egg yolks together until well-combined.Set aside.

2. Whisk milk and oil together. Add into egg yolks mixture. Whisk until well-combined.

3. Sifted flour and green tea powder into egg yolks mixture. Whisk until everything is incorporated. Set aside.

4. Add cream of tartar into egg white.

5. Using a whisk attachment on stand mixer or electric hand mixer, whisk egg white till foamy.

6. Add in 1 tbsp sugar. Whisk until sugar is fully incorporated on medium high speed. About 1 minute.

7. Add in another 1 tbsp of sugar. Whisk until sugar is fully incorporated on medium high speed. About 1 minute.

8. Add in all remaining sugar. Set on high speed and beat until stiff peak. About 3 minutes.

9. Using a spatula, take 1/3 of egg whites and fold into the egg yolks mixture until well-combined. There should be no streaks of egg whites.

10. Make a hole in the middle of the remaining egg whites, pour in the egg yolks mixture.

11. Fold in the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until well-combined.

12. Line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper on the bottom. Pour in the batter. (Do not use non-stick pan)

13. Bake for 30 minutes in a 330 F preheat oven.

14. Leave to cool to room temperature before removing from pan.

For Mousse
15. Pour water in a small bowl. Add gelatin to water. Do not stir. Set aside for 5 minutes.

16. Heat milk under low heat.

17. Mix sugar and green tea powder together.

18. Once milk start boiling, add in sugar. Whisk until well-combined and no lumps.

19. Remove from stove and whisk egg yolks quickly until well-combined.

20. Return mixture to stove and cook for 30 seconds under low heat. Whisking continuously.

21. Pour mixture through a sift to remove any lumps and over-cooked eggs. Set aside.

22. Place gelatin mix in microwave and cook for 20 ~ 25 seconds.

23. Add gelatin mix into egg mixture. Whisk until well-combined. Leave to cool to room temperature.

24. Using a whisk attachment on stand mixer or electric hand mixer, whisk the cream till stiff peak. Leave to cool to room temperature.

25. Make a hole in the middle of the cream and pour in the egg mixture.

26. Fold the cream into the egg mixture until well-combined.

Assembly
27. Use a paring knife, go across the side of the cake pan to loosen the cake from pan.

28. Remove cake from pan. Cut cake into two layers.

27. Line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper on the bottom and side.

28. Place one layer of cake to the bottom of the pan.

29. Pour 1/2 of the mousse in the pan, on top of the bottom layer of cake.

30. Cover pan with cling wrap and place into fridge for 15 minutes. Letting the bottom layer of mousse set slightly.

31. Place another layer of cake into the pan, on top of the bottom layer of mousse.

32. Pour the remaining mousse into the pan, on top of the top layer of cake.

33. Cover pan with cling wrap and place into fridge. Leave to set for at least 6 hours. Best to leave overnight.

34. Served chill.

************************************************************************************************

Tips & Tricks

1. When cooling cake, leave the cake upside down. This will prevent the cake from sinking in the middle.

2. Do not use non-stick pan. The cake need to stick to the sides in order to rise.

3. After adding gelatin to water, do not stir. Let the gelatin set slowly.

4. Use cool water, not cold but slightly cooler than room temperature. I use cold tap water.

5. When cooking the gelatin in microwave, do it in two separate session. Put it in and cook for 15 seconds. Remove from microwave and swirl the bowl gently for 5 seconds. Place it back to the microwave and cook for another 10 seconds.

6. Make sure the milk is warm when adding gelatin. Cold milk will cause the gelatin to become lumpy.

7. Make sure the whipped cream is at room temperature before adding the milk. Cold cream will cause the gelatin to be lumpy.

8. When assembling the cake, it's best to use a pan with removable bottom. This allow for easy removable of cake. Alternatively, you can use a 9 inch mold set over a baking sheet.

************************************************************************************************

My Baking Pantry

Matcha - Green tea powder

Matcha (green tea powder) is often used for baking. I got my matcha from a local Asian supermarket in the tea section. You can easily get green tea powder online (e.g. Amazon).

It is not the same green tea leaf. You cannot achieve the taste and texture of matcha by grinding green tea leaves. For baking purposes, you need to use matcha.

Ingredients - Green tea leaves

When buying matcha, check the ingredients on the package. Often there is a milk matcha powder which is basically green tea with milk. This cannot be used for baking as the milk powder will affect the texture of the cake or cookie. Make sure the ingredient of your package states only green tea.

Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku)

Strawberry Mochi - Ichigo Daifuku

I have a box of strawberries dying in my fridge. Yup - it's like 2 weeks old, very close to being "certified". I got to do something with them, but it's a lazy day for me. Regardless, I checked my pantry and found the box of Mochiko flour. Quick and simple - I decided it's Mochi time.

Japanese Mochi - Daifuku

Mochi is a very popular Japanese snack and you can often find a box of it in any Japanese or Asian supermarket. It's normally filled with red-bean or sesame fillings. I like mine with red bean (Azuki) fillings. It wasn't until recently, I discovered the Strawberry Mochi. WOW - it's soft chewy skin filled with Azuki wrapped around a crunchy juicy strawberry! I have one word for it WOW! It's ingenious... perfect combination.

Trio of Mochi

Time to impress the friends and family with this easy dessert. =)

Recipe

8 strawberries (medium size - about 1 inch each)
200g pre-made sweet red bean paste
1 cup Mochiko flour / Glutinous rice flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 cup cornstarch

1. Wash and dry the strawberries.

2. Remove the head (i.e. the leaf and stem) of the strawberries. Use a paper towel to pat dry the strawberries.

3. Divide the red bean paste into 8 small balls. (About 25g each)

4. Wrap each strawberries with the red bean balls. Leave the tip of the strawberry uncovered.

5. In a microwave-safe bowl, mix the flour, sugar and water. Stir well until the mixture is well-combined.

6. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place into microwave for 1 minute.

7. Remove and mix with a wet spoon or spatula.

8. Return bowl back to microwave for another 1 minute. Now mixture has turned sticky with some white parts.

9. Remove and mix with a a wet spoon or spatula.

10. Return bowl back to microwave for a further 30 seconds. Now the mixture should be sticky and translucent. Mixture has turned into mochi.

11. Cover your work surface with plastic wrap. Spread 1 cup of corn starch onto the plastic wrap. Put mochi on top.

12. Dust 1/4 cup of cornstarch on top of the mochi. Let cool for 1 minute.

13. Dust the spatula or your hands with cornstarch and fold the mochi into half. Dust 1/4 cup of cornstarch on top of mochi.

14. Dust a rolling pin with cornstarch. Roll out the mochi into 1/2 inch thick.

15. Use a round cookie cutter or a small bowl, cut the mochi into 8 circles.

16. Put the mochi on top of the strawberry - one at a time, covering the tip of the strawberry.

17. Start covering the strawberry by pulling the mochi to the bottom. When all ends of the mochi meet, twist and close.

18. Repeat until all strawberries are wrapped in mochi.

19. Served at room temperature. Do not chill / refrigerate the mochi.

*****************************************************************************************

 Tips and tricks

1. Cut the strawberries such that it will stand flat on the top.

2. Make sure that the strawberries are completely dried before wrapping in red bean paste. The paste will not stick to wet strawberries.

3. The red bean paste will stick to your hands. Use a damp paper towel to wipe your hands after making each red bean balls. This way you will get them nicely shape each time.

4. Mochi sticks to everything. Make sure your hands, utensils and work surface is well covered with cornstarch.

5. Coated the rolling pin with cornstarch as you start rolling. This has to be done a few times to prevent the mochi from sticking as it spread out.

6. You can check out the video below on how to wrap the mochi.

*****************************************************************************************

My Japanese Kitchen

Mochiko Flour

Mochiko flour, a.k.a. Sweet rice flour is often used for making mochi. Some mochi recipes may asked for Glutinous rice flour but this can be used instead. If buying glutinous rice flour, make sure to get the Japanese brands as their texture is slightly different from the Asian or Chinese ones.

The Japanese glutinous rice flour can be quite expensive - a pack of 120 grams cost US$5 in Mitsuwa. The Mochiko flour is much cheaper and does the job. I got my Mochiko flour (454 grams) for US$2 at the local Asian supermarket.

You should find the Mochiko flour next to all the sugar and flour in your local Asian supermarket. I can only find the Japanese glutinous rice flour in Japanese supermarket.

Red Bean Paste

There are two kinds of red bean paste - coarse (as shown as above) and fine. I used the brand Shirakiku which makes both types of the red bean paste. The coarse paste is known as Tsubu An and the fine paste is Anko Koshian. The key difference between both types is that you can find bits of red beans in the coarse paste while the fine paste is smooth without any bits.

Most times, you can use the both version interchangeably. Personally, I prefer to use the fine version for mochi and the coarse version for making pastry.

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes

I'm so "out-dated"! According to the internet, it seems that these little cupcakes can be easily bought from  bakeries in Singapore and Malaysia. However, despite my many trips back to Singapore and Malaysia, I am ashamed to say I've never tried them!

I found this cake while searching on the internet for an easy recipe to use up all my left-over custard cream from my earlier cream puffs experiment. Combining two of my husband's favourite chiffon cake and custard cream - this cake is perfect for using up my cream fillings.

OMG!!! This cake is heavenly. Fluffy soft cake with smooth creamy custard... It's so good! For a baking novice, I do say mine turn out beautifully. I can't wait to try one of these when I next return to Singapore. =)

Fluffy soft cake with smooth creamy custard

***********************************************************************

Recipe 

(Makes 8 cupcakes)

For chiffon cake
3 egg yolks
20g sugar
35g corn oil / vegetable oil
60g milk
70g cake flour

3 egg whites (at room temperature)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
25g sugar

For custard cream
1 box of French Vanilla Pudding
1 1/2 cup cold milk
1/2 cup cold heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of extra-fine sugar / powdered sugar (optional)

For Custard Cream
1. Mix the french vanilla pudding with milk. Set aside in fridge.

2. Whip cream, vanilla extract and sugar with cold mixing bowl and whisk until stiff.

3. Fold in 1/3 of the cream into the french vanilla pudding. Add this mixture into the rest of the cream and fold in gently until all cream has been mixed into the pudding. Set aside in fridge.


For chiffon cake
1. Pre-heat oven to 330F.

2. Arrange paper liners on baking tray.

3. Hand whisk egg yolk and sugar till pale in color.

4. Add in corn oil and milk, continue whisking till combined.

5. Sift in cake flour, continue whisking till combined.

6. Using either stand mixer with whisk attachment or electric hand beater, beat egg white and cream of tartar till foamy.

7. Add in the sugar in 3 separate additions while beating at high speed till just firm peaks form.

8. Take 1/3 of egg white and fold into the egg yolk batter with a spatula.

9. Make a hole in the center of the remaining egg white and pour in egg yolk batter.

10. Fold in all the egg white into the egg yolk batter until well combine.

11. Scoop batter into paper liners until 3/4 full.

12. Bake for 30 mins or when toothpick comes out clean.

13. Remove from oven and use a small knife to poke a 1 cm hole in the surface of the cake.

14. Leave cakes to cool.

Serving Instructions
1. Pipe custard cream into the cupcake using the hole poke earlier.

2. Dust with powdered sugar.

3. Left-over cakes should be refrigerated.

***********************************************************************

Tips and Tricks

1. Do not overbeat the egg white. You can refer to the Kitchn for guide on egg whites.

2. Poke the hole in the top center while the cake is hot.

3. Make sure the cakes are completely cool before piping the cream. Otherwise, cream will melt. So make the cakes 2 ~ 3 hours in advance.

3. Pipe the cream just before serving.

4. Use free standing muffins cups for these recipes.

Adapted from Forbidden Garden.

Simple Cream Puffs

Cream Puffs

Have you ever had cream puffs from Beard Papa? Those crunchy puffs filled with vanilla cream are one of my favourite dessert. The first time I tried these puffs was ten years ago, during a holiday in Hong Kong, with a close friend of mine. The aroma of the vanilla cream filled the supermarket at SOGO. It was this aroma that led me to try my first puff.

At US$2 a pop, these yummy puffs don't come cheap, but I never thought of making them. That was until I came across its recipe while searching for custard recipe. The puff recipe was so simple, I had to give it a try!

The final verdict from my family - Taste just like Beard Papa! =)

Custard Cream Puffs

Recipe (Custard Cream Puffs)

Makes appx. 16 cream puffs


(For Puffs)
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (cut into cubes)
1 cup flour
4 large eggs

(For Custard Cream)

1 box of French Vanilla Pudding
1 1/2 cup cold milk
1/2 cup cold heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of extra-fine sugar / powdered sugar (optional)

For Custard Cream
1. Mix the french vanilla pudding with milk. Set aside in fridge.

2. Whip cream, vanilla extract and sugar with cold mixing bowl and whisk until stiff.

3. Fold in 1/3 of the cream into the french vanilla pudding. Add this mixture into the rest of the cream and fold in gently until all cream has been mixed into the pudding. Set aside in fridge.

For Puffs / Shells
1. Whisk salt and sugar into water.

2. Place water and butter into a saucepan and bring to a boil. (Do not use non-stick pot / pan).

3. Remove pot away from heat. Add in all flour at once. Stir until combined.

4. Place pot back onto stove and continue mixing the flour until dough comes away from pan, forming a thick smooth ball. (about 1 minute)

5. Place dough  in a mixing bowl. Allow to cool for 2 minutes.

6. Once the dough is lukewarm, use either a stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand beater, whisk in the eggs one at a time.

7. Continue mixing until you have a smooth thick paste. (see video)

8. Spoon dough onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

9. Place in pre-heat oven at 400F for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and continue baking for 30 minutes or until puffs have a nice amber color.

10. Remove shells from oven. Poke 2 holes on the sides of each puff.

11. Turn off oven. Place puffs back onto baking sheet and back into oven. Leave the oven door slightly ajar.

12. Let puffs completely cool inside the oven.

13. Place custard cream into a piping bag and pipe in the cream into the holes of cooled puffs. OR cut the cooled puffs into half and use spoon to scoop cream into the puffs.

14. Dust with powdered sugar and served. (Optional)

***********************************************************************

Lemon Infused Madeleine

Lemon-infused Madeleine

 

Lemon Infused Madeleine

Madeleine is a traditional small cake from the northeastern region of France and very often, can be identified by it's distinctive shell-like shape . It is similar to eating a lighter version of a very small sponge cake. (Adapted from Wikipedia)

Before moving to the States, I had never eaten a madeleine and doesn't even know of its existence. So when my darling husband picked up a huge box of Sugar Bowl's madeleines and declared it as one of the best tasting pastry during one of our Costco's shopping trips, I was intrigued. A quick check on the portion, we decided against buying the box of madeleines as there's only two of us and it would take us a long time (plus a lot of exercise!) to finished the whole box. Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed.

A few days later, my darling surprised me with a madeleine (i.e. one piece). It turns out that my husband's office often occasionally Sugar Bowl's madeleines from Costco, he decided to bring one home for me to try. It was love at first bite! :)

After searching the internet, it turns out the it isn't too difficult to make madeleines. With that, I bought a nice madeleine pan on amazon and started my baking frenzies. :)

Recipe (Yields about 16 large Madeleine)

Ingredients for dough

140g sugar (3/4 cups)
Lemon zest from 1 regular size lemon (more if you like it to be lemony)
3 extra large eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice
(If you like it to be more lemony, you can add in up to 2 teaspoon of lemon juice.)
140g all purpose flour (scant 1 cup)1/4 teaspoon baking powder
140g unsalted butter (room temperature)


For greasing and dusting of pan
25g all purpose flour
25g unsalted butter (soften to room temperature)

1) Mix sugar and lemon zest together. Set aside for 1 hour in room temperature.

2) Lightly whisk all ingredients the eggs, vanilla essence and lemon juice. Set aside.
Stop when you can't see streaks of the vanilla essence.

3) Sieve flour and baking powder into a separate bowl.

4) Melt the butter in microwave for 30 seconds. Leave to cool at room temperature.

5) Grease the pan with butter, then lightly dust the pan with flour. Tap away excess flour by inverting the pan.

6) Using a hand-held electric egg beater, beat the sugar and eggs mixtures together until thick and foamy.
Stop when the mixture resemble thick melted cheese. (about 3 ~ 5 mins on high)

7) Fold in the flour into the batter.

8) Fold in the butter.

9) Pour mixture into pan. Do not fill more than 75% of each shell.

10) Bake in a 375 F oven for 15 mins to 20 mins. 
Ready when a toothpick comes out clean.