Almond Raisin Bread

More Chef Alex Goh's Magic Bread. This is made just like cinnamon bread except it has more almond flavor instead of cinnamon.

Basic Sweet Dough recipe  
and
Almond Fillings


50g butter
50g sugar (i used brown sugar)
60g eggs  (1 large egg)
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder (i added 2tsp)
100g ground almonds
100g raisins


Mix sugar and butter until well-blended.  Add in eggs and mix until well-combined. Add in ground almonds and cinnamon powder, mix until well blended. 

Earl Grey Tea Bread

Ok, i'm in a baking mood..that's why i've been churning out all sorts of baked stuff just these 2 days! LOL!  And in case you're wondering, i've already done my HCB's homework ...to be posted later...:D  

So today, i baked Chef Alex Goh's Earl Grey Tea Bread. I didn't expect it to be this yummy esp. with the buttercream on it. I am loving his Magic Bread book using gelatinized dough method - giving a chewy and yet soft texture and being also able to have 2 days of shelf life. Some methods, the next day, the bread turn either stale or hard.  For this method, even the next day, it's still soft and chewy.  

Just add 5g of earl grey tea powder to Chef Goh's basic sweet dough recipe under ingredient A section and you'll get earl grey tea bread.

PS: After staring at this photo for long, i noticed that this bread looks like potato....like potato with sour-cream topping!? lol!

One-Bowl Butter Cake (with recipe)

This is a one-bowl butter cake, recipe taken from magazine. Just dump everything together and mix, no need to sift flour too...how simple is that?  Feels a bit weird just dumping everything though..not sure how long i should mix it till too. The recipe just say mix till it looks pale in color..i can't tell any difference in color...lol!  I think i over-beat or that i use a too small pan cos the cake erupted like a vocano..lol!  But surprisingly it does taste really good though. The texture is soft and light, and the crumbs are delicate too (not rough like the earlier strawberry cake i made earlier for my daughter's birthday which if compare to this butter cake, is indeed quite rough!!...afterall, this mixing method is even simpler....).  My only complain is although it says 'butter cake', it doesn't taste very buttery as i was expecting..it had more of eggy taste to it.  Really yummy when eaten hot, the top crust is crunchy and the cake very soft and light. Everyone in my family had 2 slices including my son.    

Butter cake (from Women's Weekly)

• 125g butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1-1/4cups caster sugar (275g)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup plain flour (150g)
• 1/2 cup self-rising flour (75g)
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda (sift if lumpy)
• 1/2 cup milk (125ml)

1. Preheat oven to 160c. Grease deep 20cm round cake pan & line base with baking paper
2. Beat all ingredients in medium bowl on low speed with electric mixer until just combined
3. Increase to medium speed and beat until mixture is smooth & changed to paler color. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 1hr 15mins.  Stand cake for 5mins before turning them into wire rack.  Dust cake with icing sugar if desired.

Pixar UP Cake

No HCB bake this week cos my daughter and I don't really like coconut in cakes. *shrugs* Don't know why....just not too fond of it. But i like coconut in curry and some other local desserts though.  Also, i've been busy baking my daughter's belated birthday cake.  So here it is....

Made this UP Cake for my daughter's belated birthday celebration...a must after the UP Cookies..:) 

Up Cake: Front View

Hand molded Russell, Dug & Carl

Hand molded Kevin

Up Cake: Side View

Cake Flavor: Strawberry Cake w/ Strawberry buttercream & fresh strawberries filling

This strawberry cake is very easy to bake - quick and fast - so fast that it felt like it's made from cake box mix..the cake turned out beautifully but i have one complain though, the texture/crumbs is a bit rough imo. Not sure if it is because i'm spoilt after baking so often from Rose's HC book as all of her cakes, the texture is very soft and crumb is also very delicate that it melts in your mouth, so much so any cakes not up to par i just can taste it right away?  *shrugs* This cake is yummy except the texture just feels rough on my tongue. Other than that, the taste, flavor is great.   Have i become cake snob (besides chocolate snob..) too? *rolling eyes*

Recipe as requested by Hanaa:-

Strawberry Cake (by Michele Foster)


Oven Temp: 350f
Baking Time: 35mins


3 cups cake flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp strawberry gelatin
1 cup butter, soften
1-1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract


Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and strawberry gelatin powder.  Add butter and 1 cup of buttermilk. Mix slowly until combined then beat at medium speed for 90 sec. Meanwhile mix eggs and vanilla & remaining buttermilk. Scrape down sides. Add to batter, mixing in two batches for about 20 secs each.  Pour into two 8" or one 9x13" pans.  Bake at 350f for 35mins. Cook for 10mins before turning into the cooling rack. Frost with your favorite buttercream after completely cooled.

Pixar UP Cookies

My daughter's birthday is coming up next week but she will be in away in Church camp and hence won't be celebrating with us. This is the first year she's away from home on her birthday. So i made her some birthday cookies of her fave cartoon characters for her to bring to camp.   I spent 2 days piping these...so tiring!!  My arm going to drop off already...  I thought i could finish in a day but i couldn't.. hence i didn't have time to bake this week's HCB assignment :(.

Overall, I'm happy with how the UP cookies turned out.  However, I still need to improve on the fine detail piping skill which i am lacking in (as what Chef Michel Roux Jr, judge of MasterChef-Pro always say "lacking the finesse...") I guess practice makes perfect but cooking decorating is extremely time consuming imo..and sometimes (actually, more like most of the time) i'm quite lazy to get my butt moving..:p ! 

Russell and his Wilderness Explorer, Grape Soda badges

Carl & his Home

Dug

Kevin

UP Cookies

Tiara cookies

Dress cookies

Cookies all packed and gift wrapped for my daughter

Chocolate Butter Cupcakes

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 296: Chocolate Butter Cupcakes

When i first looked at the recipe i was skeptical that it would be chocolaty as Rose claimed in her book since it didn't required any melted chocolate and only 42g of cocoa powder.  I was wondering to myself if the chocolaty was up to my standard (I'm a chocoholic..and i admit that i'm also a chocolate snob..no lousy chocolate for me).  I was disappointed before.  I once tried Flo Braker's devil food's cake recipe in one of her older books which also called for only cocoa powder and was deeply disappointed because i was expecting this rich moist chocolate cake but in the end it turned out ok but not that deep rich chocolate taste that i was looking for.  I guess the disappointment was largely due to the fact that i ordered her out of print book from Amazon just for the recipe to the cake on book cover cos it looked really good..and it didn't turn out really that good imo.  

So I gathered & weighed all my ingredients.  Followed instructions which are pretty short, simple and sweet.  

Placed ingredients in my kitchenaid mixer...  Weather's so hot....and next to the mixer, i had the slow cooker with my herbal ginseng chicken soup in it was emitting heat too.. (that's about my work space..next to my kitchen aid is a bit of space and the sink..)..hence i just used butter right from the fridge..no need to wait till room temp.  

After mixing, I used the standard size ice-cream scoop to place it right into the cupcake cups.  Not sure what size is my ice-cream scoop..cos i don't see any numbers on it.   Baked for 15-17 mins..it was pretty quick.   :)

I wanted to make Rose's fave chocolate-egg white buttercream but didn't in the end cos i found left-overs of my dreamy white chocolate frosting i did last week and some ganache too in my fridge. :D  Gotta clear them first...no good to waste food..lol! 

Ok, I confess, this is about all that i frosted..hahaha..i only frosted 5 cupcakes just to take photos for this blog post.  And i tied ribbon around the cupcakes because the paper cases were peeling off on its own away from the cake.  

VERDICT:  When i took a bite, i was surprised!  It certainly was all that Rose had claimed - "velvety, moist and deeply chocolaty".  Exactly what i was looking for!  Yummy! Surprised because the batter didn't taste very chocolatey but after the cupcakes were baked, they tasted different - very chocolaty!  So...my lesson learnt here - Never doubt the guru in cake making!   My daughter said they were delish and ate 2 in one go!  My husband ate the ones without frosting and he too said they are very good (my husband doesn't like any frosting if he can help it).   The cupcakes tasted good on their own without any frosting imo.

My son, the picky one needed much coaxing before he wanted to try!  He doesn't like cupcakes just because they have paper around - I guess he thinks it is different.  So I 'tricked' him - removed the paper and placed the cake on his plate. At first he said "NO" and i had to tell him: "Look, it's chocolate cake, smell it!"  He took a sniff, tried a spoonful, liked it very much, ate it all up and wanted another one.  After he ate his first cupcake, i showed him the others with the paper cases attached so that he can link them together, ie cupcakes = cake.  Introducing him new food is not impossible but almost impossible...i should know..i have been trying for 17+ years already..

With my son liking this cake, definitely be in always bake list.  :D  I think i'll teach him how to make them..but i have to first convert the recipe into PECS symbols so he can read & understand.

Free Choice: Rose Red Velvet Cake

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, page 83: Rose Red Velvet Cake

After looking at the beautiful and gorgeous wedding cake that Rose & Woody baked for Sarah (Marie's daughter) & James' wedding, i knew i had to try Rose's red velvet cake.  I planned to bake the red velvet cake & bernachon palet d'or gateau that i've missed last week since Friday is a public holiday and i have 3 days of long weekend.  However, i woke up on Friday and couldn't move my head at all..  Quite scary not being able to move my head up/down/left/right and having upper body pain from neck downwards. No clinic available since it was public holiday, unless i check into A&E..which i didn't think it was that urgent.  My friend Angie told me to take muscle-relaxer which she said might help..i searched and found expired ones but since desperate, i took it anyway with painkillers.  :S

Thankfully i felt much better on Sunday (..at least i can move my head not at 90-degrees but at least 45-degrees..lol! ) so i decided to bake just Rose Red Velvet Cake with the Lacquer Glaze on page 109 - also as a birthday cake for my domestic helper too.  Since i don't have a heart shape pan, i baked in 2x 6"round pans.  Instructions pretty easy to follow and even mixing is rather straight forward.  Felt a bit hesitant when pouring the entire bottle of red food coloring into the egg mixture...i had to close both eyes when doing that..lol!  Baked the cake for around 25mins.  White chocolate frosting is quite straight forward too but the only thing was i had to frost my cake with the cake in the fridge cos it kept melting.  The weather has been really hot (32-35c) lately..everything just melts the moment it is out from the fridge in no less than 5-mins. So i couldn't frost very well..i think my cake leaned sidewards a bit because of how i frosted it in fridge and also the frosting was too soft...lol! And me being lazy and wanted to save energy, didn't want to turn on air-con for just 10mins.  After the frosting on the cake has hardened in the fridge, i heated up the lacquer glaze (which was prepared earlier) and poured it over the cake..however, i think i didn't heat it enough cos the consistency was still a bit too thick but i used a spatula to even it out. I tried to copy the decoration that Rose did but the heart shaped fondant kept sliding down the glaze and doesn't stay in place. I wonder why.. perhaps it is the condensation on the glaze that causes the fondant heart accents to slide downwards. *shrugs*  I got quite fed-up with the sliding hearts... so i just took them down and then placed raspberries all over instead. 

VERDICT:   I'm surprised that red velvet cake is sooo tasty and delicious! I always read bad reviews about red velvet cake being dry etc..and the last red velvet cake i made (using strawberry juice) wasn't even impressive. But this, is awesome! I forgotten about the red coloring the moment i took a bite of the cake.  It's soft, moist, crumb is dense and yet delicate.  Yummy!  The white chocolate frosting blends in very well with the cake too..except i think maybe i put in too little frosting..looks like a lot when i frosted though..like it shrank..lol!  Of course the birthday girl loves it..she said it's delicious and very happy with her cake. My daughter and my husband said it is yummy too!  Definitely a keeper and i love how pretty the cake look inside..so red and so pretty! :D  

I brought some to office today (yup, my neck is 90% well now..only cant tilt my head backwards too much..:p) - both my boss and colleagues said it's delicious! :)  I think red velvet cake is meant to be shared with lots of people cos you don't want to eat the entire cake on your own with so much red food coloring..lol! 

I just love how red the cake looks inside! It's soo beautiful, isn't it? :D

MH Birthday Cookies

Made this platter for my colleague MH's birthday. She has a sweet tooth so i hope she'll enjoy it.  At the same time practiced my piping too..lol! :D   Couldn't decide which photo looked better so i ended uploading both...:)   Happy Birthday MH!

Thank you all who left comments earlier on my Ironhot-heart cookies blog post.  All your lovely & kind comments have been most encouraging and gave me much confidence to try piping another batch of cookies this soon. :D  

Ironhot-heart Cookies

The cartoon characters drawn by my daughter. She's entering Uni to study design in a few months' time. I translated her drawings into cookies just for her.  Of course her drawing is much better than what i can pipe. This is the best i can do - for someone (me) who has piped less than 5x! Piping is my nemesis!  

Ironhot-Heart is the name of the robot (in case you don't know that's a robot..since a friend of mine thought the head looked like a monkey & the arms like prawns! :( Guess must be my bad piping skills for her to think that way!! lol! ) my daughter gave her cartoon characters.  And also to clarify that girl on the flower cookie is not a robot girl (which i thought it was initially and met with much protest by my daughter) but Marshmallow Girl....*roll eyes* 

Baby Lemon Cheesecakes

Rose's Heavenly Cake, Page 327: Baby Lemon Cheesecakes

Recently, i've been sick...from stomach flu, to cold, to a very bad headache on Sunday. Finally managed to find time today after work to bake these.  Since I had little time to bake these, instead of baking the sponge cake, i made gingerbread cookie crust (recipe page 252).  I baked them in non-stick paper souffle cups, so i'll have less to wash up after..lol!   Paper cups cannot be submerged into water, so i place a huge tray of water below the baby cheesecakes - my logic is that the water below will create steam similar to that of waterbath.  

I baked at 170c for 20mins..but judging from the tray below, i think should be just 15mins cos the right side cheesecake is over baked.. a bit sink at the centre but the ones on the left side is smooth and nicer..(uneven heat in my oven..)

Once the cheesecake cooled, the sides will move away from the paper and there's no problem removing the cheesecake after cutting away the paper.  

Oh, and i forgot, i didn't make any lemon curd.  Instead i used the orange curd (recipe on page 180). 

I made extra batches of orange curd a while back and kept it in the freezer.  

VERDICT: It's sooo yummy! The chewy cookie base and the soft cheesecake and the sweet orange curd blends in really well.  Not sure if it would taste better with lemon curd, but i have to say that i love the orange curd flavor paired with this.  My family loves it! :D  Definitely a keeper!

Toy Car Cake

I'm really happy how this cake turned out esp when I wasn't feeling well and didn't really feel like making this cake.  However, after reading Friday's daily bread devotion (http://odb.org/2010/05/07/becoming-inclined-to-god), i managed to complete this cake. Thanks to God & Praise the Lord! :) 

Cake alone is 16" x 12" and it's quite huge & very heavy.  Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream.  

Happy Birthday Daniel! :D

Saint-Honore Trifle

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 227: Saint-Honore Trifle

I had a hard time finding a trifle bowl..i thought of using my glass mixing bowl but decided  against it as the  gradual round up won't be easy to cut imo. So in the end, i finally opted to use a disposal plastic container instead..LOL!

Somehow this weekend, i was feeling quite lazy. Not sure if it is because i just recovered from stomach flu and feeling the lack of energy.  The recipe called for clarified butter..i was too lazy to clarify butter so i used the Ghee in my pantry instead.  Surprisingly the cake turned out quite well..:p  Also i didn't do spun sugar even when i had initially planned to do (i actually had my new whisk cut off for this purpose)...cos my very efficient domestic helper cleaned up my kitchen & stove so quickly and i didn't have the heart to mess it up again - we all know spun sugar can be messy and attract ants...

Instead of baking the cake in 9" round, i baked it in a jelly-roll pan for 10-15mins.  The cake turned out even and flat.  After this photo, i forgot to take anymore step-by-step photos..lol!..it's definitely not easy to take photos while baking at the same time... 

Cut the cake into 4 rectangles..and layered as instructed. I omitted the syrup since i didn't want a too sweet cake.  Somehow the top cake layer ended up too small for the container so i crumbled it and place it on top of the strawberries & chiboust cream.   The good thing about using this disposal air-tight container is that i can put the lid on and place it back in the fridge - locking in the moisture (i think).. :D!  Also good idea if i had to carry this cake off for a potluck dinner/party.  But definitely not as pretty though..would have been much prettier & classier if in a trifle bowl.

Er.... so now how do i cut this cake?!? LOL!  

Verdict: Since i wasn't sure how to cut this..i just used a large ladle to spoon the layers out.  The Chiboust Cream is to die for..yums! I could just eat the chiboust cream on it is own!  To me, this trifle tasted like the french version of strawberry shortcake (with genoise sponge cake & chantilly cream).  I love strawberry shortcake, so of course, this is delicious! Everyone in my family adores it..esp. my domestic helper..her fave so far cos it has loads of strawberries in it and her birthday is coming soon, so i might make this again for her birthday...:D 

[MacTweets/ma7] Rum & Raisin, Pina Colada & Earl Grey Tea Macarons

I made these macarons 2 days before Jamie & Deeba posted Mac Attack 7. I got the dates all mixed up..i thought i was making for Mac Attack 6 but in fact i missed the deadline! :p Since i have yet to blog about them, i figured i might as well incorporate them into this month's MacTell Me-A-Story.  My favorite story book while growing up was Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Mad Hatter's tea party scene comes right to my mind...and those little cakes that shout "Eat Me"....even more so after I recently watched Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland. I had a couple of ideas for my macarons but couldn't decide which would taste better so ended making all the 3 flavors. I did this after work and it was not a good idea because i baked till after midnight and almost 2-am before i could go to bed. I'm as crazy as the Mad Hatter i think, at times that is..;p... and i had to remind myself AGAIN never to bake all 3 flavors at one go esp. after work!  

Rum & Raisin Macarons

Vanilla Macaron Shells, White Chocolate Rum Buttercream with Rum Raisin Jam centre

Pina Colada Macarons

Coconut Macaron Shells, White Chocolate Rum Buttercream with Pineapple Jam centre

Earl Grey Tea Macarons

Earl Grey Macaron Shells with Honey Buttercream

Rum & Raisin Macarons, Pina Colada Macarons & Earl Grey Tea Macarons

Rum & Raisin Macarons, Pina Colada Macarons & Earl Grey Tea Macarons

Macarons shells all matched up..i still suck at piping even size macarons..

so have take time to match them in their respective sizes..lol!

This time, basic macaron recipe (italian method) is taken from David Lebovitz post on Pierre Herme's Ketchup Macarons.  After doing 3 batches of macarons in italian meringue..i find that the folding of meringue is extremely tough compared to the french way...towards the 3rd batch, my arm and wrist felt like it was going to fall off my shoulder..but then does make chewier macaron shells though.. Also italian way is more forgiving too imo....my 1st batch of Vanilla shells, the sugar didn't really dissolve and had lots of sugar crystals stuck on the pan but my shells turned out ok. The 2nd batch, the Earl Grey Tea shells, the sugar syrup was a bit caramelized..but my shells were still ok. The 3rd batch, the sugar syrup was finally correct and of course the shells turned out great. :)  My conclusion: Pierre Herme's recipe is definitely a keeper! :D

Among the 3 flavors, thumbs-up to my Rum & Raisin flavor!! :D Everyone loved it (me included!..i like the rum in it..lol!).  Pina Colada voted as 2nd favorite. :D  Earl Grey was ok but i guess i didn't add enough of the earl grey tea powder so the flavor wasn't as distinct as i had wanted.

Please do check out other bloggers' macarons & flavors listed on http://mactweets.blogspot.com!

Two Fat Cats Whoopie Pie

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 373: Two Fat Cats Whoopie Pie

I have to confess..i've never heard of Whoopie Pies until i started baking and have never tasted it before...so i was wondering what's all the hype about.  I measured all ingredients properly and followed instructions but my whoopie pies turned out looking more like pancake pies..hahahaha..see..it melted into a flat puddle. I wonder if it is because i put a silicone baking sheet underneath hence the spread. But i really didn't want to dirty my nice shiny pans which i have managed to maintained it so shiny and clean even after more than a year of usage..lol!  So with a bit of batter left, i place the in cupcake-cups and baked it..i think it's better cos at least the batter doesn't spread. 

Disappointed that my pancakes..er..i mean whoopie pies looking so flat..i didn't feel like making the marshmallow cream anymore. So i just topped up the filling using ready made Jet-Puffed...and even the ready made marshmallow cream is not cooperating with me today..it 'melted' after 2 mins...i think it is because of our humid hot weather..

VERDICT:  I have to say the chocolate cake is really good. The chocolate is very intense and the cake texture is fluffy, moist and light. I like it but i don't really know how to eat it so i used a knife to cut it into slices like a cake..lol! Initially, my family gave me the "what's this" look..but in the end they still ate it and said it's good.. lol!  I'll probably bake this again in cupcakes since i do like the texture of the cake but definitely not as whoopie pies..cos i really don't get the novelty of it all.

PS: i think i read the instructions wrongly..lol! i see other HCB's pie are all bite sized and mine was like as huge as pancakes! i should have made 6 pies in total (top & bottom = 12 scoops) but instead i made only 3..(top and bottom = 6 scoops)..lol! No wonder i was wondering how to eat it like so huge..  But my batter was downright watery though..not like the cookie dough-like see others had..*strange*..

Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake

When Cherie tempted me with her Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake, i knew i had to bake it soon, esp. when i have 6 bars of cream cheese in my fridge! LOL! Yup, don't ask me why i stock up so many ..i didn't realised i had so many until i was cleaning up my fridge (cos i'm off to Hong Kong on Monday..yippee! :D).  I'm such a hoarder sometimes..or most of the time! Don't get me counting how many blocks of butter i have in my fridge ok..:p  

So..i baked 2x 9" cheesecake-s.  For 9" ingredient measurement, i used Smittenkitchen's recipe while keeping Cherie's oreo-cookie base.  I used 500g of oreo cookies (reduced fat version....not because i'm fat conscious but because that supermarket i went to had only this left!) and used 100g butter for 2x 9".   

The best thing baking this cheesecake is there's no need for waterbath (I hate waterbath!) and it doesn't matter if the cheesecake cracked on top because it will be covered & sealed with the sour cream topping.....AND best of all ..after it's done baking, you can put it right away in the fridge to cool (yup!..) no need to cool down slowly.  What more can i ask for? LOL! And on top of all these plus points, the cheesecake is thumbs-up DELICIOUS!  I'm a fan of rich cheesecake (ok..even though i can't eat a whole huge slice..but i still can eat half a slice and enjoy it..).  

The thing that frustrates me most about cheesecake is the long baking time and the cooling off time.   I find the waiting part rather torturous..esp. when i want to try how my bakes taste like asap. LOL!  I made it yesterday and had to wait till this morning to try it...so the moment i woke up from bed, i ran straight to the kitchen to unmold my cheesecake, ate a slice and then took some photos... don't i sound rather greedy and obsessed? lol!

Seriously, if you are a cheesecake, chocolate & coffee fan, this you can't miss!  I'm not a coffee person but yet this is my new favorite cheesecake...i had a slice in the morning..then in the afternoon, ate another half-slice..and probably after dinner another half-slice. :)  I can only afford half-slice since i think i have to eat some proper food for dinner cos i couldn't eat lunch earlier after the huge full slice of cheesecake.:S

PS: the piped ganache topping cheesecake is to be given away..it's not as pretty imo since i had difficulty piping the ganache on the wet-condensed top of the cheesecake when i took it out from the fridge. The one that is for my own consumption, i just poured the ganache over the top of the sourcream topping...so much easier too.  :D