In the past two years, after much urging from my mom, I finally learned to play mahjong... and I absolutely love it. It is social and fun, you can choose to make it as competitive as you want, and it requires a sharp mind and the ability to pivot. My mom has been playing for many years, and she has taught me a few times, but I really think you can't learn by playing with a helper-partner; you need to experience making your own choices in the Charleston and deciding between multiple hands on your own in order to fully "get" how to play. Since I only sat in occasionally, I never committed to it in a way that allowed me to be completely responsible for my own hand. Once I started playing with my girlfriends, though, I was totally hooked. Now I call my mom every time I have a great win or work through a beautiful hand. (This week, I tried a closed, singles and pairs hand. I didn't win, but I had a whole hand of bams: two birds, two twos, a three, two fours, two fives, two sixes, and two sevens. Had my friend Melissa not been hoarding my last three bam, I might have won! It was a really cool hand.)
Anyway, the point of this blog is baking, not mahjong. BUT my mom and her friends threw a mahjong fundraiser lunch the other day, and she asked me to make mahjong brownies to serve for dessert. What a fun assignment! I played around with piping frosting through tiny tips versus food-safe markers, and I decided food-safe markers would be more accurate and give me more control. I made about 40 "maj tiles" out of fondant, let them dry for a day to firm up, and then got to work with my computer close at hand. My new set of double-sided markers - with a fine tip on one end and a brush tip on the other - were totally awesome to allow for detail work. I wanted an assortment of bam/crak/dot, jokers, flowers, and winds, and I relied heavily on Google images to look very closely at the specific details of the Chinese characters. If you've played maj, you know that there are all different sorts of fonts and characters in different sets. For example, some red dragons just look like a spear with a rectangle (the one I chose to draw), whereas others look like an actual dragon (which is beyond my drawing capabilities). Jokers come in all forms and fashions, but most of them are too complicated for me. Hallie suggested drawing joker hats, and I thought that was a super cute idea.
The first one dot I drew was a little murky - not my best work - but I got better as I went on. In particular, I loved how the flowers and winds and craks turned out!
I'm not sure what hands I could make with this...
As for the brownies themselves, I used Steffi's brownies and my friend's frosting recipe, which tasted good and was essentially just serving as glue. (I didn't expect anyone to eat the fondant tiles; they were just for show.) At the same time, I had made a different batch of brownies with a different frosting, and the kids agreed that Steffi's brownies, paired with the other frosting, which is from a Hershey's frosted brownie recipe, was the ultimate combo.
Brownie frosting (enough for a 9x13" pan)
6 tablespoons butter, softened
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons light corn syrup (you can apparently also use honey)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups (8 ounces) powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk
Beat together butter, cocoa powder, corn syrup, and vanilla. Add powdered sugar, and add milk as needed. I used between 3-4 tablespoons, all told. Beat to spreadable consistency. Spread on brownies. If you frost while the brownies are warm (not hot), the frosting may be a bit darker and may melt a bit; cool completely before serving. I waited until the brownies were totally cooled, and my frosting was quite light in color.
Anyway, the point of this blog is baking, not mahjong. BUT my mom and her friends threw a mahjong fundraiser lunch the other day, and she asked me to make mahjong brownies to serve for dessert. What a fun assignment! I played around with piping frosting through tiny tips versus food-safe markers, and I decided food-safe markers would be more accurate and give me more control. I made about 40 "maj tiles" out of fondant, let them dry for a day to firm up, and then got to work with my computer close at hand. My new set of double-sided markers - with a fine tip on one end and a brush tip on the other - were totally awesome to allow for detail work. I wanted an assortment of bam/crak/dot, jokers, flowers, and winds, and I relied heavily on Google images to look very closely at the specific details of the Chinese characters. If you've played maj, you know that there are all different sorts of fonts and characters in different sets. For example, some red dragons just look like a spear with a rectangle (the one I chose to draw), whereas others look like an actual dragon (which is beyond my drawing capabilities). Jokers come in all forms and fashions, but most of them are too complicated for me. Hallie suggested drawing joker hats, and I thought that was a super cute idea.
The first one dot I drew was a little murky - not my best work - but I got better as I went on. In particular, I loved how the flowers and winds and craks turned out!
I'm not sure what hands I could make with this...
As for the brownies themselves, I used Steffi's brownies and my friend's frosting recipe, which tasted good and was essentially just serving as glue. (I didn't expect anyone to eat the fondant tiles; they were just for show.) At the same time, I had made a different batch of brownies with a different frosting, and the kids agreed that Steffi's brownies, paired with the other frosting, which is from a Hershey's frosted brownie recipe, was the ultimate combo.
Brownie frosting (enough for a 9x13" pan)
6 tablespoons butter, softened
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons light corn syrup (you can apparently also use honey)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups (8 ounces) powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk
Beat together butter, cocoa powder, corn syrup, and vanilla. Add powdered sugar, and add milk as needed. I used between 3-4 tablespoons, all told. Beat to spreadable consistency. Spread on brownies. If you frost while the brownies are warm (not hot), the frosting may be a bit darker and may melt a bit; cool completely before serving. I waited until the brownies were totally cooled, and my frosting was quite light in color.
Comments
I always think of Crazy Rich Asians when I think of mahjong.