Please help

Allow me to steer away from my usual food blog entries for now; for those who don't know me personally but have had came across my blogsite in random or visited on a regular basis, I would like you to know that my home is THE Philippines. I live in Australia with my little boy aka husband for a while now but I always consider the Philippines my home.

By now, our country made headlines YET again, I could have preferred the news to be on a positive but the news was about the super typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), considered to be the strongest and deadliest typhoon recorded in recent times (in hurrican category, its a 5 on maximum), and stronger than Hurricane Katrina.

My heart hasn't recovered yet from the 7.2 magnitude (on richter scale) earthquake that the island of Bohol was unfortunately struck upon a few weeks ago - Bohol being one of my personal favourite islands, as I have been to the island so many times with stunning beaches and home to the smallest monkey in the world, Tarsier and home to the famous Chocolate Hills, and here yet again my country is in the eye of the storm, quite literally, with property damage in catastrophic proportions. The death toll is now 1,200 and counting.  My heart continues to bleed to this day...

I lifted this beautiful butterfly with the Philippine flag from Tyra Banks' instagram

Here are some articles and video clips about the deadly Typhoon Yolanda;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2494635/Philippines-super-typhoon-Haiyan-powerful-storm-history.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-08/an-worlds-most-powerful-typhoon-makes-landfall-in-philippines/5078216


Im now appealing for the readers to help my countrymen, please help our fellow human beings on such (sad) plight. This humble blog of mine is about to reach 40, 000 hits, if the statistics were true, then there are people out there who well and truly read my blog and can empathise with me. If I were able to touch a single kind-hearted human soul with my plea then Im eternally indebted to you.

International aids are now pouring in, countries are rallying support but with such poor state of the island of Leyte, being hit the hardest, the damage apocalyptic, we need whatever help we can get. Please please help in anyway you can, I beg of you...

My family has been spared, thank you Lord but the 7,101 beautiful gem of islands of the Philippines are in some way my family too...

These are the links on how you can help;

Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org.ph/donate

World Vision
https://www.worldvision.org.ph/content/super-typhoon-yolanda-relief-efforts?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=appealfordonation&utm_

Unicef
http://donate.unicef.ph/campaign/24/typhoon-yolanda-emergency-appeal

Save the Children
http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.8856103/k.9BA3/Typhoon_Haiyan.htm

Catholic Relief Services
http://emergencies.crs.org/typhoon-haiyan-help-philippines-survive-and-recover/


This link has the complete list of agencies you can liaise with for your donation;


http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/disasters/43300-reliefph-victims-typhoon-yolanda-help



We desperately need your help. Here is hoping you hear the plea of my heart...

Dreaming of Paris and Classic Opera Cake

We are building a house. Or planning to. I am NOT daunted about all the intrinsic details that go along with it. In fact I am looking forward to the whole gamut of the game; choosing the tiles and colours, selecting the packages, budgeting the essentials, weeding out the wants and sticking it out with the needs. Our weekends for a month now have been spent meeting with the land and house developers. Phew! I see our private coffer shrinking by the minute. We decided to make a change and its really about time: buy a new house, make the current house our investment property instead and really look after our future.

I am intimating this in the hope that the readers out there will also share our belief that saving and investing are good for THE future. My little boy says, Im too anal about these things. Just like I'm too anal about running our household. I asked him, Am I a perfectionist? My little boy then affirmed, with a big resounding YES! Lol. I beg to differ though. Perhaps it goes with age. I always get "3" on Enneagram test; 3 is the Achiever, not the Perfectionist, in the same breath that I'm defensive. Hahaha! Or I simply believe that you don't settle for less. Yes, I can be so process driven and can be extremely organised - as my boss would say much about me. And yes I thrive on work pressures. Be that as it may, my Legendary Mommy really taught me well, at the tender age of four (4) I already know how to tie my own shoe laces. Lol! And by 8 years old, I was already making sure my siblings get their lunch at school. I was trained to be this way, being the eldest child in the family.

So let me digress, building a house is costing us our European Holiday next year. Or may cost us the trip. It will be hideously expensive to do two things at the same time. But I wanna get to Paris and take our sweet time soaking in the culture, and experience the city, the Parisian way. There is a pletora of food to be had and far too many scenic spots to witness upon. I would also love to visit the United Kingdom again and spend time with my best friend who I haven't seen for 6 years, let alone see her two (2) darling little kids, as I am a godmother to both. 

Will we ever get to Paris next year? I don't know. Maybe. But for now, this classic Opera Cake would do.  

*Warning, this cake is not for the faith hearted, very rich and the making being process intensive. However, please endeavour as the final product is worth the pain and the love handle!  :)

The opéra, named after the Paris Grand Opéra of the 1900s, comprises neat layers of sponge, buttercream and ganache, all enticingly flavoured with coffee.

Makes 12 ( Mine actually yielded 16 pieces)

Ingredients

8 tablespoons ready-made coffee

Almond cake

120 g egg whites (about 4 egg whites)

80 g caster sugar

4 eggs

130 g ground almonds

75 g icing sugar

40 g plain flour

5 tablespoons instant coffee granules

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Ganache

300 ml whipping cream

3 pinches of salt

500 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), chopped

100 g milk chocolate, chopped

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons instant coffee granules

Coffee Italian meringue buttercream

250 g caster sugar

100 ml water

5 large egg whites

50 g caster sugar

500 g unsalted butter, softened and cubed

1 shot of espresso or 50 g instant coffee granules

Equipment

3 Swiss roll pans, lined with greaseproof paper

Sugar thermometer

20 x 30-cm rectangle frame

Start the recipe the day before you want to serve the cake. Preheat the oven to 190˚C (375˚F) Gas 5.

For the almond cake

Put the egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer or in a bowl using an electric whisk and whisk until stiff peaks form.

Whisk in the whole eggs. Gently fold in the ground almonds, icing sugar, flour and coffee granules using a large metal spoon. Finally, stir in the melted butter.

Spread the mixture thinly and evenly onto the prepared pans and bake in the preheated oven for 5–10 minutes. Flip each slab of cake onto a sheet of greaseproof paper dusted with a little semolina. Peel the baking paper off the top and allow the cakes to cool.

For the ganache

Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to the boil over low heat. Put the chocolates, salt and butter in a heatproof bowl and pour in the boiled cream. Using a spatula, start to mix the ingredients in a circular motion, just in the centre of the bowl. Keep mixing in a tight circle until the chocolate starts to melt and emulsify with the liquid. Gradually widen the circle to incorporate more of the mixture.

When you have reached the edge of the bowl, the chocolate should be entirely melted and all the ingredients should have emulsified and combined into a shiny, rich, velvety truffle ganache. If the ganache looks like it is splitting, add a dash of cold milk – that should bring it back. Finally, fold in the coffee granules and allow to cool slightly.

For the coffee Italian meringue buttercream

Put the 250 g sugar and the water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer over low heat until the syrup reaches 121˚C/250˚F on a sugar thermometer. Use a brush dipped in cold water to dislodge any sugar crystals on the side of the pan. This will stop the syrup from crystallizing.

Meanwhile, put the egg whites and the 50 g sugar in a stand mixer and begin whisking until stiff peaks form. You can use a heatproof bowl and an electric whisk but you may need a second person’s help when you come to pour the syrup in!

Once the syrup has reached the right temperature, slowly pour it in a steady stream into the meringue bowl with the beaters still running. Avoid letting the syrup touch the beaters otherwise you’ll get lumps of hardened sugar. Keep whisking until you have used up all the syrup and the meringue is glossy, thick and has cooled substantially – this may take several minutes of whisking. The bowl itself must have cooled too.

Now add the butter, a cube at a time, whisking well between each addition until the butter is used up and fully incorporated in the meringue. Finally, whisk in the coffee.

To assemble

Press the rectangle frame down on top of each cake slab in turn to cut out equal rectangles of cake. Leave the frame pressed into one cake and brush half the ready-made coffee over the cake within the frame.

Spread half the meringue buttercream over that and spread level with a spatula.

Freeze for 10 minutes to set, then spoon one-quarter of the ganache over the top of the buttercream and spread level.

Place a second cake slab on top. Top with the remaining coffee, meringue buttercream and one-quarter of the ganache as before and freeze for 30 minutes to set.

Place the last cake slab on the top and spread another quarter of the ganache over it. Freeze overnight, still in its frame, and reserve the last of the ganache.

The next day, warm the reserved ganache to liquify it. Gently ease the frame away from the layered opéra and cut it into 12 neat fingers using a hot, sharp knife.

Put the slices on a wire rack over a tray and pour the ganache over each one to enrobe it. Allow to set before serving.

recipe from 'Patisserie at Home by Will Torrent' (Ryland Peters & Small, £19.99)