MIA.. and now posting for documentation..

Been too lazy to blog but I did bake lots..although some are not documented.  Lately I would just post the photos onto my own FB account so that I have an idea what I have baked.  However,  recently I had to refer back to this blog to check my older postings because I can't recall.

Milk Tea Loaves (using TWG's The Grand Wedding Tea Blend)

Hokkaido Milk Tea Loaves

Hot Cross Buns 

this recipe is a failure - not enough spice & raisins. recipe also didn't specify orange peel or mixed fruits. Added but still not enough imo.  

Cinnamon Buns 

(burnt top..but still tasted good!)

Coffee Buns 

Custard Buns

Cinnamon Buns

Baguette using pre-ferment

(not sure how to shape the dough yet)

Tina's White Crusted Bread

(simple, easy and taste so good!)

Donuts

(not as soft as i expected)

Brazilian Cheese Bread

Water Chestnut Cake

Chocolate Loaf Cake & Cinnamon Bread

Tiramisu Cake

(Really very good!..must remember this..)

Blueberry & Raspberry Crumb Cake

Portugese Rice Cake

Pineapple Tarts

Egg Waffles

(got to find a better recipe that is more crispy!)

Macarons (French)

Testing different variations

 Pandan Butter Cake

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Fresh Pandan Juice

 Fresh Strawberry Cake

CakePops (or more like BakePops)!

Not a great fan of cakepops unless they are made binded with rum and not buttercream. :) Rum cake balls are certainly not kids friendly but my children are now young adults, so that's not something that I worry about. 

However recently, when I saw this cakepop pan,  I knew I just had to buy and try it out. Looks promising because I can bake small individual small round cakes instead of smashing and squashing cake into balls. I've seen BabyCakes cake pop maker sold on websites and it certainly looks interesting but this pan is the closest I can get here!  I figured even if it doesn't work, I can use it for something else..(which I still have not figured that out yet..LOL!)

Nice red pan - matches my kitchen cabinet...

(any excuse just to buy something!)

Here are how the cake balls look like after they are baked.  I used the chocolate recipe that came with the pan.  Since the recipe didn't have a leavening agent, it doesn't rise as well and didn't turned up as round as i would like.  I was hoping for them to be really round.  I have to find another recipe that would be able to bake into rounder cake balls, probably one with some leavening agent. 

BakePops after coated with chocolate.  

See how the left Bakepop is flatter and oval shaped? I think I didn't put enough batter for that one.  But even that supposedly rounder one isn't exactly that round either. 

The dark chocolate coating originally was real shiny.. but i dropped them on the table a couple of times after trying to balance them in an empty cup. Didnt work, so i had to hold them with one hand and took photos using my iPhone with the other hand.  

BakePops after I took a bite! :)  

Verdict:  It's delicious!  Yes, it's sweet (all cakes, macarons, cookies etc are supposed to be sweet..if they are not sweet, they are either called bread or crackers!!).. but not as sweet as cakepops smashed up with buttercream.   The cake is moist and chocolatety and goes every well with the hard chocolate covering it.   Most importantly, my son who's such a picky eater, ate them..not just 1 but 2 bakepops! I'm esctatic because this is the first time he tried something new without even flinching or first saying "NO"!  My son doesn't eat lollipop candy, so there is no way he would want to eat this just because it looks like lollipop.  He took a few weeks to even want to try cupcakes and only after much coaxing!  So to me this is already a great pan! LOL! 

Pros:  

1) Recipe is easy to put together - just hand mix

2) Sweet but not as sweet as the truffle-type of cakepops

3) Firmer cake (like mud cake texture) so the stick doesn't slide out or the cake balls 'loosen' from melting buttercream when our weather gets too hot. So i can take my time to coat with chocolate.

Cons:

1) Only limited to round shapes..(or perhaps oval most of the time..lol!). 

2) Limited to that particular size 

3) Not exactly round (but i have yet to try other recipes..maybe it might turn out round)

Can't think of anymore now...

Ebelskivers

My latest craze - Ebelskivers! Danish-styled filled pancakes! What's not to like?  

Last week, I finally bought the Ebelskivers book and pan!  I have been thinking about it for about 6 months or not longer if i should buy the book or not. The pan is not exactly cheap compared to how much it is sold in US. I've seen it in the bookstore (only 1 book) for the longest time and yet nobody has bought it. Finally, I caved in and bought it because Kinokuniya was having a 20% storewide discount..LOL!  

My first try at making Ebelsivers! So much fun!  Ok..i did fumble a bit when turning the pancakes the first time, but after a few more tries, it was much easier.  The trick is not to turn the fire up too high!  

Ebelskivers with Blueberry filling. So yummy! It's actually very light and not sweet. So even after dusting icing sugar on top, i think i could do with some maple syrup or honey.  (I have a sweet-tooth!  If i have a choice, i would eat dessert for every meal... :p) 

This photo taken with my iPhone. :)  

Just thought it was a pretty decent photo taken with iPhone so i had to post it up here too..LOL!

Link to the recipes:-  

http://www.food.com/recipe/blueberry-ebelskiver-belskiver-danish-filled-pancake-211174

or

http://bakingbites.com/2010/07/blueberry-ebelskiver/

ABC - Emergency Blender Cupcakes

ABC - Emergency Blender Cupcakes (page 72, The Weekend Baker) 

I made these cupcakes really early, but somehow got caught up with work and forgot to upload photos from my camera and post this early. :p  

I made 6 batches of these and baked into mini cupcake cases.

Not quite sure if the 'damage' was done by the blender blade or not while scraping the sides of the blender

i was worried that the missing piece might be in the mixture!

So, i strained the mixture and found nothing. I was so relieved..because i found nothing. :) So the spatula has already been damaged earlier just that I have not noticed it earlier. 

The cupcakes were so easy to make and they were delicious as well!  However, i made changes to the chocolate frosting, because no matter how long i waited, it never hardened as it said it would in the book, so i figured it must be because of our hotter weather. So i tweaked it until it could actually hold it's shape and can be piped and yet looked so glossy. One of the best frosting i have made...not is it glossy, it stayed so well and stable in our room temperature, it is so chocolatey too!  Not sure if i can repeat this though..hahahaha.. since i just eyeballed everything and threw in whatever i had that i thought could work. LOL! 

Verdict:  Best chocolate cupcakes i've made. Not only is it very chocolately, it is very moist, dense and tender crumbs.

 Please check out other ABC bakers!  

Cake Keepers Cake: Chiffon Cakes

Made chiffon cakes from the book Cake Keepers Cake. Love her chiffon cake recipes!  Very soft and moist.

This is the first chiffon cake i made and the reason why it became this way is not because i didn't bake or cool it properly. I did!  But i found out that the culprit is my new 3-legged pan (my old pan didn't have any legs..hahaha)!!  It is not a good idea to cool the pan using the 3 legs because the weight of the centre might be too heavy for the cake causing it to collapse and fall out!  The best solution is always invert the cake onto a bottle right in the centre tube focusing the weight on the centre instead.  This way, the cake will not fall out.   Ask me how i found out..  

And because i was trying to conclude if my theory was correct, i proceeded to bake 3 more chiffon cakes.. LOL!  Green Tea Chiffon, Lemon Chiffon (again! since the above collapsed for nothing due to the stupid pan!..hahaha) and Banana Walnut Chiffon. 

I proved my finding correct after all my 3 cakes turned out alright and didn't fall out of the pan!  :))

Green Tea Chiffon, Banana-Walnut Chiffon & Lemon Chiffon.  Flavor wise, Lemon Chiffon still taste the best, followed by Banana Walnut Chiffon.  As for green tea, i think i didn't put enough green tea powder so the taste wasn't as strong as i would like it to be.   Texture wise, these chiffon cakes are wonderful, moist and fluffy.  

Loving the above chiffon cakes i made 2 weeks back,  I decided to make mango chiffon using the base recipe for Chinese New Year.  I replaced the liquid portion with mango puree.  However, I think i didn't put enough mango puree because the mango flavor was too subtle for my liking. Maybe next time i should add mango essence as well.   But the next day, the mango flavor seems to have deepened and taste stronger... 

Mango Chiffon Cake in my cake container/carrier. Loving this cake container/carrier and so far the best i've seen by far. This is the only cake carrier that i found that is air-tight and tall enough as well.  In Singapore, everything needs to be airtight, least the ants will find its way into the container.  

Mango Chiffon cake..oh..with some nuts..i think it's hazelnuts and walnuts..i just added in any crushed nuts that i had available..LOL!

Wishing everyone a Happy & Prosperous New Year!

Cake Keeper Cakes

Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman 

(Eggnog) Chocolate Marble Chiffon Cake, Page 168

There is a printing error on this.  Either there is a missing ingredient, i.e. the water mixture or that there is something wrong with the instruction.  Searched everywhere on internet to see if there is a errata mentioned but can't find any.   Anyway, i added my own water mixture, using eggnog (leftover eggnog from eggnog pound cake).  The batter looked too liquid and i was worried that my chiffon cake will collapse, but in the end, everything turned out well.  Cake is delicious, moist and fluffy! :D  Happy!!  

Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake, Page 121

Extremely moist and chocolatey!  Only complain is that the mini chocolate chips melted totally into the batter..i expected some crunch from the mini chocolate chips.  Made my own chocolate glaze and I'm very happy with it as it is so shiny!  :D  

Cream Cake Page, 115

Extremely simple cake.  Really loved the texture of this cake.  It's moist and also very dense. 

Espresso-Hazelnut Bundt Cake,  Page 118

Extremely moist, soft and delicious. However, because it's so soft, or perhaps i didn't flour the pan enough, part of the cake was stuck to the pan.  But i managed to put it back and drizzled with ganache. 

ABC: Eggnog Pound Cake with Crystal Rum Glaze

I've never tasted eggnog before even though i've seen and read about it all the time.  When Hanaâ mentioned how good this cake was, i just had to try it.  I went to a few supermarket to find the milk carton type..not canned ones and managed to find it in town! :)   I didn't have time to bake it this weekend which i had originally planned because i was out the entire day from morning till night..yup..almost 12 hours straight.  

So today, after work, I baked this..finally put it in the oven at 920pm!  And by 1030pm it was ready.. I didn't make the crystal rum glaze..but rum syrup glaze instead.  Brushed rum syrup all over and waited patiently for it to cool so i can cut a slice and try it!  So just a moment ago at 1130pm, i ate a slice and it tasted sooo good!! I love the texture and the hint of rum.  It's not the usual dense pound cake but rather moist and 'fluffy' light crumbs.   Definitely a keeper!   So far i've baked 2 pound cakes from her book and i'm loving it! :)  

So because it's running late, i took a quick photo and my camera ran out of battery..so that's the only shot i had.  And I am now posting this at 11:52..pm.. LOL! 

Good night! :)

Oh yes, please check out the  ABC blog roll.  Thanks! 

ABC: Frangipane Ripple Chocolate Pound Cake

Frangipane Ripple Chocolate Pound Cake, page 335.  

I've been MIA..and now i'm back. Recently I sprained my knee, well, I think I sprained my knee, but my orthopedic surgeon said because of my lack of lower thigh muscle, my knee cap is somewhat mis-aligned.  Solution? I need to start exercising to develop some muscle to hold my knee cap into position.  No excuses for not exercising anymore, I guess.  Honestly, I HATE to exercise.   Well, after 1 week in absolute pain and 2 weeks of pasting some Japanese-made koyok (medicated plaster) & hot therapy treatment (both given to me by my sis-in-law), my knee is now 98% better!! :D  And I'm so thankful to be well again!  Not fun to be constantly in pain.  I heard from my husband that his sister (my kind sis-in-law) hunted down the Crabtree&Evelyn Pearl Therapy Neck Wrap the whole afternoon so that i can use it for my knee!  I feel loved!   Can I also mention that she bought me a pair of Ferragamo shoes too! :))    I did follow what the orthopedic surgeon told me to do - the 3x a day knee exercises..but i kept forgetting and ending only doing it once a day. 

Now that I'm better, I thought i should catch up baking with ABC since i never seem to be able to meet the deadline, but better late than never. :P   Plus this recipe is short and sweet..and chocolate cake, my favorite!  

I used a normal 12-cup bundt cake because i lost my ruler..so i couldn't measure if my pan was 10" or not.. that's the problem with moving....i can't remember where i put my things!  I think i have to go purchase another ruler soon.  Anyway it worked..so i think this 10"x3" bundt pan = 12 cup bundt pan..lol!

Recipe is pretty simple and straight forward.  And the cake is very moist, soft light crumbs, not your usual dense pound cake texture and extremely delicious! I love the taste of the frangipane with the chocolate cake, goes very well together.   This is an absolutely winner and definitely in my baking repertoire.  The next day, the cake tasted just as soft and moist.  I'm totally in love with this cake!  I poured some chocolate ganache over the cake because i had lots of left-over ganache in the fridge. Perfect match! :) 

HCB: Banana Cake

I had 3 almost rotten bananas, so instead of throwing them away, I made the banana cake from Rose's Heavenly Cakes' page 391 re Tropical Wedding Cake. I made them into cupcakes..and they yield about 20 muffin cups. Ran out of time and ended up making normal cream cheese frosting.  

After baking this, i realised that there's another banana cake recipe - refrigerated banana cake in the book that i haven't not made it yet!  I should have made that instead.   Nonetheless, this banana cake is amazing. It's very dense, light crumbs and extremely moist.    Everyone in my family loves it.

Lately, i find it harder to blog, i made some cupcakes and cakes but was just too lazy to blog.  Also seems like recently i have a lot of things going on at the same time..like i'm constantly pressed for time but yet i have no idea what i'm that occupied with either!  It's either a sign that i'm aging and can't muti-task as fast as i used to or just bad time management.    As a typical Singaporean, i always expect things to be done asap...so that i can have more time to move on to other things... Hence i was wondering if it is because of this, i found it impossible to enjoy the dinner i had last Friday at a supposedly well-known restaurant called Waku Ghin.  A family friend invited us there and i had no idea it was a popular restaurant and impossible to get a reservation too..apparently i heard you have to book months in advance!   The 10-course dinner took about 3-hours and i wanted fall asleep half way through the dinner.  Food was good and above average but certainly not worth the $ that our family friend had to pay...6 of us cost $3,200 or there about.  With that amount of $, i would rather buy a branded bag and hug it to sleep. I could even buy 2 pairs of Jimmy Choos or Christian Louboutins or Manolo Blahniks.  But since i'm not the one paying for it, i shouldn't complain too much but be appreciative for this opportunity to fine dining. :p