Devil's Food Cake w/ Chocolate Mousse Buttercream & Chocolate Fudge Icing

Absolutely yummy! Devil's Food Cake & Chocolate Mousse Buttercream taken from Jill O' Conner's Sticky Chewy Messy Gooey. The cake batter is a bit tricky esp. when adding the cake flour as flour pockets might develop, so have to fold it really well. But it is the most delicious, moist & soft chocolate cake ever. Live up to it's name as Devil's Food Cake. Jill's Chocolate Mousse Buttercream compliments well with the cake and i like the fact that it is also relatively stable in this our hot weather. I was afraid that frosting the entire cake with the chocolate mousse buttercream will be too much and personally i prefer the cake to be covered with chocolate fudge icing.

I found a fudge icing recipe from Nigella Lawson but it didn't turned out quite what i expected and almost wanted to throw the entire frosting away. However, i was adamant to get it right and experimented further by adding a few ingredients on my own and finally managed to create the chocolate fudge icing that i wanted in terms of taste & consistency. I'm in love with this fudge frosting - it sets so well! But I am not too sure if i can repeat the same frosting though..lol!..i can't recall exactly what i added..:p

As for decoration, it was a last min thing and totally effortless..i couldn't stand seeing the cake un-decorated, so i just add a few butterflies and some flowers..not fantastic deco but i guess better than nothing..lol!

Pumpkin Cake w/ Burnt Orange Silk Meringue Buttercream (also My 20th Wedding Anniversary Cake)

Rose' Heavenly Cakes, Page 125: Pumpkin Cake w/ Burnt Orange Silk Meringue Buttercream

Halloween is not a major event for us here in Singapore. So instead of baking this cake in pumpkin mold and decorate it as a pumpkin, i decided to decorate it as my 20th wedding anniversary cake since i'm celebrating my anniversary this month. Hence no pumpkin-shaped cake but fondant covered cake. :) I made the wedding couple topper on my own too. It's my first time doing it and i'm quite happy with the results. I did an earlier bride topper when i was having a terrible backache and the bride turned out hunchback too!! I decided to re-do and used Lorraine McKay's (aka Aine2) tutorial - Extra Icing on the Cake and i'm quite happy with the results even though they are not perfect, i think they are passable! :D I'm a huge fan of Lorraine's works and i think she's one of the best in figures modeling. Yup, i "follow" Lorraine everywhere, on blogger, youtube, twitter, facebook, flickr & her membership club..i sound like a stalker..LOL!

I think i better explain why i placed the groom topper on the side of the cake..... it's all because i expected the cake to be bigger! I thought 10 cups would yield a lot when in fact it didn't! LOL! So last min, i had to change baking pan into a smaller one & also my design as well. No choice but to put the groom topper on the side otherwise i think the cake would look too crowded. I was suppose to make the groom kneel down holding a gift/flower. But in the end the black sugarpaste was too soft (maybe i put too much black food gel to get the dark black color) and it kept breaking at the knee & elbow...thus the groom with stiff arms on the side and just standing. LOL!

Cake: Pumpkin cake tasted better than i thought it would be. It's soft, moist and yummy even on its own. I bought walnut oil just for this cake and now i am not sure what i am going to do with the rest of the walnut oil..lol! The strange thing is i think i'm beginning to like walnuts..i wonder if it is because i keep baking with walnuts as i've never baked anything with walnuts before joining HCB.

Burnt Orange Silk Meringue Buttercream: This buttercream is NO good during hot weather! Weather here is about 30c and it's hot & humid. I made the buttercream the day earlier (since it has 2 pages of instructions!). The moment the buttercream hits to a higher temperature, the oil begins to separate and it is quite an ugly sight and i have to constantly put the cream back into the fridge for it to stay 'cool'. Plus I find it way too troublesome. Making sugar syrup in such small quantity is rather difficult, it's not easy to take the sugar temperature as quantity too little even my tiniest pan (it's part of mini series pans - so believe me when i said it is tiny) and my candy thermometer can't give accurate reading - plus my stupid instant read thermometer isn't very instant read either - i had to wait for quite a while for a reading! Because of the not very stable buttercream, you can see my cake caving in the centre and the fondant sliding in with a fold right in the centre around the cake. :(

Overall: Surprisingly good for pumpkin cake imo. My daughter enjoyed this cake the most, she ate 2 huge slices! I like this cake even better the next day after it is being refrigerated, the flavor seems more intense and goes really well with the cold buttercream imo. But if you ask me, of course chocolate cake still top my list! Since i'm not a fan of pumpkin i doubt i will ever make this again though, unless special requests or for someone who really loves pumpkin.

Please do check out the other HCB bakers listed on my sidebar to see how their pumpkin cake turned out. :D

Chocolate Macarons w/ Chocolate Orange Buttercream

I made a small test batch of chocolate macarons using the recipe from the Chinese version of "I love Macarons" by Hisako Ogita which i bought when i was in Taiwan a few weeks back since the English version hasn't been released yet. The author teaches the usual 2 methods of making macarons, the french meringue method & the italian meringue method. The italian meringue method, instead of cooking the syrup on stove, she cooked it in microwave and teaches you how to test for soft-ball stage. The book also has step-by-step photos of how to fold in the meringue.

I decided to try her french meringue method since her recipe uses only 1 egg white (ie approximately 50g), so even if i fail, there is less wastage. What i like about this book is that the ingredients changes are listed next to each flavored macaron. In other words, recipes are short & simple, with straight forward instructions.

Since i am not used to making macarons in such small quantity, i think i over-beat the eggwhite..:p! I think that's why my chocolate macarons above doesn't have the high "feet" and those around the edge of the pan have cracked shells. :P But i have to admit that this is the first time i made macarons so quickly in less than an hour! LOL!

Chocolate Orange Buttercream made from the leftover orange buttercream i had in the fridge. I just add melted chocolate to it and voila, chocolate orange buttercream and i must say it tastes delicious together with the chocolate macaron shells! :D This is the first time i actually like chocolate buttercream! Even though my macarons didn't look so pretty this time, at least they do taste yummy!

Almond Shamah Chiffon

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 199: Almond Shamah Chiffon

Initially i wanted to be lazy and just use ground almonds instead of grinding it myself. However, i changed my mind and decided to follow Rose's instruction to toast & grind the sliced almonds . Since it is impossible for me to get Wondra flour here, i used the substitute as provided by Rose under her "note"... use the grams version cos that's what i learn in school and it's so much easier imo.

8 egg yolks measured only 145g so i used 155g of eggwhites instead. Not sure if that makes any difference..but i thought i might as well balance the difference. Since my spring-form pans are dark non-stick ones, i baked at 155C for 22mins. My oven can only take in one 9" pan, second pan had to wait. I was worried that the wait will cause the batter in the second pan to deflate. In the end, the 2nd cake turned out alright, still as soft & light. Folding in the meringue with a balloon whisk was very tiring..my wrist ached quite a bit.

Amaretto Syrup was easy to make and i am delighted to say that i have amaretto in my pantry this time..yay! I'll be getting Bourbon soon. LOL! After i brushed the chiffon cakes, i still have lots of syrup left. Am i suppose to brush them all or what? I figured i don't really like too wet sponge cake, so i brushed only a little.

I didn't make the Raspberry Jam Whipped Cream but instead i made the Raspberry Mousseline (page 149). I used raspberry preserves cos i can't find the seedless ones at all!! Hence you can see a lot of black dots on my buttercream. LOL! Oh and another thing, fyi Rose's Raspberry Mousseline is only good to cover the entire cake just exactly - no wastage! No extra left for making decorations either and I really had to scrimp on the buttercream in order to cover the entire cake! LOL! I had to scrape every last drop and i'm not kidding! Hahahaha! I didn't follow the mousseline buttercream exactly because weather here is pretty hot & humid at 28c-30c, so i just took the butter from the fridge and in less than 2 mins the butter is already soft and i add to it to the meringue piece by piece. Oh..i used salted butter cos i didn't want the buttercream to be too sweet cos of the sweet raspberry preserves.

Verdict? I L-O-V-E the cake!! The cake is so light and soft with strong almond flavor and when paired with the raspberry mousseline cream is heavenly!! Absolutely YUMMY! :9 Everyone in my family loves the cake. I left the cake in the fridge and next day brought some slices to my office colleagues, all said it's delicious except one said is a bit dry. I think probably it's because the fridge absorbed some of the moisture in the chiffon and partly also i didn't brush enough syrup, but i like my sponge/chiffon cake dry though. I still have left over syrup which i guess if anyone wants the cake more moist can brush it on. :P

Apple Upside-Down Cake

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 8: Apple Upside-Down Cake.

Initially i wanted to use peach instead of apples since the pairing of peach & almond seems better option for me since i prefer almonds, but in the end the fresh peaches selling at the supermarket weren't all that fresh and also quite expensive, i decided to bake the apple version and use my left-over walnuts from the earlier cake.

I used a 9" spring form pan because it was easily accessible in my pantry..lol! :P Too lazy to dig and measure the other pans buried somewhere in the cupboard. I was multi-tasking while baking - weighing the ingredients and running to the phone to talk to the airline office regarding changes in my flights. In my haste, i forgot to weigh the apples but i used 2 large apples - on sticker say it's from US, so i don't know what type of apple it is (fortunately not the huge Japanese Fuji version type..). :S AND I do not have Bourbon in my kitchen! :( I don't drink (er..alcohol, i meant). Before i started baking i actually never knew Bourbon existed! :p I wonder if i can replace Bourbon with Whiskey? Do they taste the same or not? *shrugs*

Ok, back to the cake... While baking, my entire kitchen smells so good! :) I love the sweet aroma of the caramalized apples and the vanilla cake..it just smells so delicious that you want to eat a piece of it as soon as it is out from the oven! Also, I didn't have any problems with springform pan and in fact i think it's better! After the cake is baked, i just remove the ring and put a plate on top, flip over, remove the bottom pan and all the apple is in place - no problem at all! :))

Now comes the tasting: I L-O-V-E it!! So does everyone in my family - they all love it too!! :D I brought some slices to my work place and was well received too! Rose is right, this apple upside-down cake paired with walnuts is just absolutely yummy!! As you all know i am not a walnut fan by now..but somehow when eaten with this cake, the cake and walnut combo goes down really well. The caramelized apples are not overly sweet and it is still crunchy and i like crunchy! (Is it meant to be crunchy or not? Anyway, mine is still crunchy, ie half-cooked apple slices and not the soft cooked type as in apple pie. I did use baking stone as mentioned in the book.). Also the cake is soft and moist but not wet. I thought when i turned over the cake all the sugar syrup will be absorbed by the cake leaving the cake wet and soggy, but it didn't and i was pleasantly surprised to be able to taste a normal moist cake with the crunchy apple slices..(unless i'm doing it all wrong..hahaha..even if wrong still tasted very good! LOL!).

Barcelona Brownie Bars

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, page 367, Barcelona Brownie Bars

Recipe can also be found at Rose Levy's website.

I'm so envious of the 10 heavenly cake bakers who got Rose Levy's autographed book! They are so lucky! Congrats to all of you & you know who you are! ;) I wish i can get Rose's autograph too! I wonder if she can autograph on a piece of paper/postcard, mail to me and i paste it on my current book?? o_O ;P

I didn't have the Lekue silicone brownie mold mentioned in the book. I went all over town to look for similar silicone cake pans but they were all out of stock! :( I wanted to order online but realised it wouldn't arrive on time since it will probably take at least 2 weeks to reach Asia. So, in the end, i baked the brownies in a mini heart-shaped pans instead.

I mixed the batter using the Hand Method provided in the book. Baked the brownies for only 10mins since my heart shaped pans are much smaller and at a lower than stated oven temp of 150C (dark-colored pan absorbed more heat). I used my faux-ivory chopsticks to poke through the centre of the brownies. Initially i used the wooden one (the long huge ones i use for cooking) but the soft brownie centre kept getting stuck to the chopstick, so i got fedup and used the plastic one instead. Thereafter, I piped the ganache into the centre of brownies, but since i had lots of ganache left, i coated the top of the brownies with ganache as well.

Will the Heavenly Cake Bakers group flip if i mention again that i don't really like pecan nuts..o_O :p!? In case you all are wondering, i do eat nuts but just not walnuts, pecan nuts & pine nuts (that's all i can think of at the moment...lol!). Hence I am not sure if i bought a packet of rancid pecan nuts or if i didn't roast them long enough or it is just how pecan nuts is. To me, the nuts have this very distinct "oily nut" taste that seems to overwhelm the chocolate in the brownies, hence another reason why i coated the top of the brownies with more ganache. My family enjoyed the brownies, but they too did mention the weird taste in the pecan nuts. But since i hardly eat pecan nuts, i can't tell if it is rancid (but i just bought the nuts and expiry is only a year later!) or it is just how pecan nuts taste like..? *shrugs*

To get unbias opinion, i brought the brownies to office next morning for tasting. Well, my boss said there's nothing wrong with the brownies or the pecan nuts and he said it's very good. My office colleague who ate a piece liked the brownies and confirmed that it is the distinct flavor of pecan nuts. Again, even for my dislike for pecan nuts, i did eat a few pieces and i have to admit i love the soft & moist texture of the brownies. It's not overly sweet and it complements well with the chocolate ganache. I would definitely bake the brownies again but minus the pecan nuts..:p

For the next cake - the apple-upside-down-cake..i'm sooo gonna use almonds! LOL!

Hungarian Jancsi Torta

Roses' Heavenly Cakes, Page 279: Hungarian Jancsi Torta.

The cake sank 1/2 inch in the centre but i wasn't alarmed as it was mentioned in the book that the cake will form 1/2-inch crater in the centre - perfect for filling. (i find that all flourless cakes sink in the centre when cooled). What i didn't particularly enjoy while baking this cake was to remove the skin from the walnuts after toasting. That took quite a while since i had difficulty rubbing off the skin from the walnuts! Otherwise, this is a pretty easy cake to bake and Rose's detailed instructions made it easier. :) I added 10g more sugar, since I only had 66-70% valrhona dark chocolate in my pantry.

I prefer the cake chilled since i find it a bit too wet for my liking when at room temperature. Anyone who loves walnut would definitely love this cake. My family, esp. my daughter enjoyed it, my husband said it is delicious and me? I find it nice, but not a huge fan as i don't quite like walnuts. I would probably have enjoyed it more if i'd substituted the walnuts with almonds or hazelnuts. Even for my dislike for walnuts, i did eat a huge slice, plain on its own without ganache. I like the light texture and the chocolatety taste to it..and actually the taste for the walnuts is not so overpowering with the presence of the chocolate imo.

Rose's Heavenly Cake Bake-Through

I'm sooo excited! I've signed up to be part of Rose's Heavenly Cake Bake-Through. This is the first time i've committed to doing anything like this since i am usually too lazy - so this is a huge challenge for me. I bought her book a week ago and i love her book! (Ok..i admit, I'm a HUGE fan of hers..:p) The recipes, the photos, the print, paper quality, etc :)) Imo, it's a must-get book for anyone who loves to bake. Rose gave very detailed instructions and it's perfect imo for amateur like me. She even indicated what oven temperature to set should you be using dark pan or light pan. I've tried her Lemon Poppy Seed-Sour Cream Cake and i have to say it was delicious!! I'm not going to post the photos or blog about it until the group done so. So i'll keep my photos for the time being. :))

For those of you who wish to be part of Rose's Heavenly Cake Bake-Through, click here: "Heavenly Cake Baker" and sign up to be part of the group! :))

Snow (Ice) Skin Mooncakes w/ Custard Fillings

When Christine tweet her new blog post on Ice-Skin Mooncakes with Custard Fillings, i knew i had to try it. She made it looked so simple in her photo-step-by-step recipe and they looked deliciously good too. I like mochi and i like custard. Since i don't really fancy the traditional lotus paste ones, so i decided to try making some before mid-autumn festival is over on Sat (i think..:p).

I ran out of condensed milk so i replaced with milk and more sugar. I added a piece strawberry in the centre of the custard fillings since i still have tons of sour strawberries in my fridge..lol! I like the taste to it, but i think my custard is not sweet enough & not smooth enough, i should have added more sugar & cook it instead of steaming it (i think cooked custard has a smoother texture - imo). Otherwise, i like the overall taste to it. Taste more like mochi than usual snow-skin to me and i love anything mochi. :))

I dont have a mooncake mold, so i followed Christine's advise and used a cookie cutter instead. :)

*Note1: used plain flour instead of stated wheat flour: texture more like mochi which i really like*
*Note2: tried again with wheat flour/starch but do not like the texture: it's more chewy & stretchy but it is not as pillow soft as the ones made w/o wheat flour/starch*

Pink Peppercorn Strawberry Macarons

I bought 3 bottles of pink peppercorn when i was in Taipei, since i've not seen them being sold in our supermarts here. I remembered i read in Cannelle Et Vanille that she once made pink peppercorn macarons and i thought such a good idea since i have now 3 bottles sitting at home and not to mention abundance of eggwhites in my freezer..:) Pink Peppercorn has this sweet spicy aroma that i really like. However, i can't really taste it when i eat the macarons probably the strawberry centre & strawberry buttercream overwhelmed it. Perhaps I should have made her pink peppercorn buttercream instead.

Click here to Aran's pink peppercorn macarons recipe.

Sesame Cookies (Almost Fat-Free)

I wanted to try a recipe from my newly bought chinese cookbook from Taipei - thus chose this recipe for it's simplicity - using only a few ingredients. Also it's a sort of guilt-free cookies cos there's not one drop of oil or butter (other than the natural oil in the sesame seeds & eggs). My 2nd tray of cookies were much better, ie, crispier and crunchier as i baked it longer. These cookies are delicious and light! If under-baked, it is not as crunchy and gives a more sponge cake texture which i don't quite like. I like crispier stuff..lol!

RECIPE (loosely translated from Chinese):-

Sesame Cookies

Ingredients:

-2 large eggs

-100g of fine/caster sugar

-110g cake flour

-1g of salt

-1/4 cup of sesame seeds (enough to cover all the cookies)

Method:

1) Heat oven at 200C

2) Whisk the eggs and sugar till light and fluffy

3) Fold in the cake flour & salt into the egg/sugar mixture

4) Pipe the batter into small rounds on cookie sheet (like macarons) & sprinkle sesame seeds all over.

5) Bake for 10-12 mins or until the top turns brown.

Short Holiday: Taipei

I like their red-bean dessert with all the sago and the Q-Q bubbles..yummy!

I love this ice-cream - Fuji-San icecream. It's sold everywhere and it has this unique taste - not the usual ice-cream texture, but it has creamy yet Q-Q texture to the icecream..and i really like it. Yes, anyone can guess, i love anything that has Q-Q texture to it..LOL!

I had this ice-cream almost everyday when i was there..hahaha

Look at the slab of carrot cake!

Macarons i ordered at Maxim's @ Tapei 101.

They are really sweet - Vanilla, Raspberry & Chocolate .

Do they look like the ones i make? ;)

I'm fascinated by how this guy can create all kinds of characters with caramelized sugar...

bicycle for rent?

Taipei 101 - supposedly the tallest building in Taipei?

Dunno..if it is still the tallest now though...

That's my son and me & right behind us is Taipei 101 (that tall building).

Sunset at Taipei airport.

(Bored nothing to do..waiting to board the plane..)

Marshmallow Cake

Original recipe "Strawberry Marshmallow Cake" is from Baking Mum and her recipe link here.
I couldn't find any strawberries in the supermarket and ended up with mango instead. So ended up changing the base to Oreo cookie base, mango and pineapple jello.

Seriously, the cake scores better in looks. Although many said they love this cake (strawberry version, but i don't think the strawberry makes any difference to the overall taste of the cake), I find the "marshmallow base" lacks taste and in fact is rather bland - doesn't taste as good as mousse and it is far from being an ice-cream. Perhaps a bit more marshmallow or a bit more sugar might help *shrugs*. I'm actually quite disappointed with this cake cos it is a cake that doesn't really stands out. Don't be mistaken, it tastes ok but there's nothing to shout about cos there's nothing distinctive about the cake. I would take any mousse-cake or cheesecake anytime over this cake.

Not my cup of tea..or shall i say cake..

Cappuccino Macarons

Yes, i still have LOTS of eggwhites sitting in my freezer.. Did a test batch of macarons using cappuccino paste for the macarons. Sandwiched with coffee buttercream. Coffee lovers would love these...

Konnyaku Jelly

KONNYAKU JELLY
(Phoon Huat's recipe, I think..)

 10 grams Konnyaku Powder
 210 grams Caster Sugar
 950ml Water
 1/8 teaspoon of Citric Acid or Malic Acid
 ¼ teaspoon of Flavors - Optional
 ½ teaspoon of Kiwi Seeds soaked in water – Optional
 1 drop of Liquid Color – Optional
 Canned Fruit

1. Mix the Konnayku Powder & Caster Sugar together.
2. Pour the Konnayku Powder & Caster Sugar mixture into water gradually and stir till it boils
3. Turn off flame and keep stirring for about 5 mins, till the bubbles dissipates and the mixture becomes clear
4. Add Citric Acid/Malic Acid, Liquid Coloring & Flavour into the solution. Stir Well.
5. Put the pieces of fruits in the moulds, then pour the Konnyaku solution into the moulds for 3 times, everytime pour 1/3 of the mould.
6. Chill to set the moulded Jelly solution in the fridge for 3 hours before serving.

Yield: 24 jellies

PS: For purchase of REDMAN 250 grams packaging, the measurement of 10 gram is
1 Tablespoon + ½ Teaspoon + 1/8 Teaspoon = 10 grams.