Another Year!

How quickly time has flown by, it's another year. My cyber friend was surprised when I told her that I had to rush home to bake a birthday cake for my son. He turned 11 today and I baked him this super and wonderfully chocolatey cake. Admittedly, it is far too chocolatey for my daughter and I. Hubs and son both enjoyed the cake, though. On hindsight, perhaps I should have let it remain a chocolate banana cake or added something else, such as dark cherries, in the middle.

I am not complaining that the cake is too sweet, though. I had used Belgium couverture chocolate both for the cake, as well as the ganache. Perhaps that had contributed to the intense (son said it was bitter) chocolate sensation. I'm sure any chocolate lover would love this. To keep decoration to a minimum, I simply placed 2 Ferrero Rondnoir and 2 sticks of Bourbon cocoa crepe cookies at the top of the cake. For the sides, I broke up some chocolate transfer. It's also a small cake, just 6-inches in width.

I had learnt this from a baking class and I knew this was the cake for my son this year. Again, he had wanted a cake from the store but I managed to convince him to let mummy bake for him. Then I felt stressed, do mummies all feel this way? I'm glad it turned out ok.

In exactly 2 weeks' time, it will be my daughter's birthday. She had requested that her cake be "special", now, what happened to any cake baked by mummy would be special ... aren't children hard to satisfy these days?

Pineapple Upsidedown Cake

Yet another attempt to practise making caramel. Sometimes I wonder why I bother practising when it is just sugar, which is not a big friend. It gets worse when the people who received the cake commented that it was too sweet. I had already reduced the sugar used in the cake and the caramel, let's just said it was a fraction of the original recipe.

Instead of making a big 10-inch cake, I made 3 loaves. I reduced sugar for the cake by one-quarter cup and made only half of the caramel. The syrup was then shared among the 3 loaves and it was still sweet for that friend. Guess her tolerance for sugar is way lower than mine, or have I began to accept more sugar now? :S The perils of baking, perhaps?

My brother, who also received one loaf, asked me to bake it some other fruit. I will bake him a Peach Upsidedown Cake, another day. Come tomorrow, I am committed to the community baking effort every other week. That would take away some weekend (home) baking time...

A Significant Day

I wanted to remember today with a post and a bake. What is so significant about today? Well, it's the total solar eclipse, a precious and special event. I'm not into astronomy or any scientific studies. But it is such a phenomenon, that the Sun, Moon and Earth are in a straight line. As I was at work, I could only rely on certain websites for updates. I'll catch the recording later.

As for the bake, I chose a "dark" cake that I had baked several weeks ago. I was tired of baking the same thing and someone highly recommended HHB's Chocolate Torte. Apparently, it's a form of "comfort food" for some, chocolate lovers, I suppose.

I like this cake, but my attempt was underbaked :( The sides of the cake caved in so I had to hide it. Most of the nice ribbons I have are too wide and the only ones (with suitable width) are all plain. Must invest in nicer ribbons (note to self).

I thought it tasted a lot like brownie, but better, and my son loved it. I had followed HHB's recipe closely but I added some cointreau for kicks. This is one cake I will bake again. Besides, I have all that chocolate waiting to be used, including some Belgium (couverture) chocolates. Yums!

Anniversary Again

It's been a long time and there was so much going on in and around my life that I could not find time to blog. I have been baking very much the same cakes -- banana cake, blueberry yogurt cake -- that I find no meaning in writing nor posting photos.

I did, however, attend a series of baking classes in April where I learnt more about mousse and buttercream. So, I need to go beyond my comfort zone of just baking a cake. I have come to realise that the "limitations" are those I set in my mind.

For our wedding anniversary, I decided to try making lemon mousse to go with an almond sponge cake. The mousse was a bonus recipe which is really a simpler version of what we did in class. There was no Italian meringue to make, phew! The sponge cake recipe is a real delight and has become one of my favourite cake with nuts.

As expected, the cake is very "grainy" as I had used finely ground almond. I had tried the same recipe with walnuts and pistachios, all garnered good reviews with request for recipe. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to share it.

With Mother's Day round the corner, I may just try to see if I can whip up another cake. As for photos of the cakes I did from baking classes, that will be in later posts, perhaps.

Lemon Cream Sponge Cake

A few cyber friends have asked about my absence this past month. First and foremost, I had been really busy at work. To unwind, I did bake, but the same pound cake recipe. Since I had nothing new to write about, I did not blog.

During this time, I also tried to practise baking Rei's sponge cake recipe. After a few practice, I am somewhat happy with this result. I'm sure I can still do better, as the cake can be softer and fluffier. I really have to thank Rei for her guidance, without which I won't have gotten it. She was so sweet to make me some of her lemon curd as well. So I used it all in between the two layers of cake.

The result? A very "lemony" cake. I must admit that the amount of cream is not enough. However, I feel that it is good enough for me. What's left now is for me to acquire some cake decorating techniques. I have to resist taking another slice and shared the "test" piece with my children.

Blueberry Cake

I would like to think that I am wiser with the another year added on but upon reflection, I still have my "off" days. Father JP said in his weekend sermon that teenage is the time when one seeks "identity" and in middle age, one seeks "purpose". While I have come to terms with my purpose recently, living it can be somewhat challenging on certain days. Those are my off days and I am happy that with God's grace, I am able to deal with it.

Enough about be philosophical. I did not intend to bake my own cake, no sir! But while complimenting Rei on her achievement, I told her that I am still trying to find a workable sponge cake recipe. She encouraged me to try out the sponge cake recipe on her blog (belongs to her sister, S). She suggested that I use the egg separation method where there is less likelihood of deflating the eggs.

So the idea came to mind, why not use the cake as base for my own cake? Besides, I have fresh blueberries and canned ones too. I have some problems trying the separate the eggs as 2 of the yolks broke! I had wasted 2 egg whites in the process. Other than that, the recipe is fairly easy to follow.

I must look for more ideas and practice when it comes to decoration, as well as improving my photographing skills. That sure are lots to work with ... With technology, namely Facebook, I had received more wishes than the past. I want to thank all my friends who sent wishes since I am not into writing on FB walls, neither am I "active" there.

Sponge Cakes in Paper

I wanted to have a post today to ensure that I remember the reason I made a particular decision. Yes, I opted for "status-quo" and the reason is I want no change to my lifestyle. Hubs told me that this is a good and valid reason and he would stand by me. To ensure that I can live with this decision for a long time to come, I would need to check my own attitude and "weather" daily. To my friends who know what I am referring to, please remind me to MYOB. That's truly a load off my mind and thank God for the direction.

I wanted to use this soft and spongy cake to signify the "light-heartedness" I feel right now. This is something that I had wanted to bake ever since I took up baking. I've seen several posts but most recipes use SP. Although I had bought a tub of SP, I had used it only once. Honestly, I don't feel it has done anything good to that particular cake and since it is nothing but chemical, I decided to throw the whole tub away.

The recipe is from this book and since the book is fairly affordable I feel it isn't very ethical of me to post the recipe. In fact, there are many interesting recipes in this book that I am keen to try. I got the book by mail order a long time ago!

Love...

For chocolate, that is! I am not a fan of chocolate, at least not consistently. To me, chocolate is a "mood" thing, I've gotta be in the mood for it. Otherwise, I won't even bat an eyelid when faced with them. Of course, that depends a lot on what is being offered as well... it's a complicated relationship. Aren't most relationships, complicated?

I looked around for something appropriate to put up today. I heard a good sermon but I am unable to articulate it and I won't try in case I mess it up. Back to the brownie, my dear boy is a chocolate fan. Give him anything with chocolate and he's a happy boy. As expected, he enjoyed this most among all of us at home. Hubs as usual said this wasn't something he liked, he has a palate for chinese (and at most, Asian) food. By the way, he eats to live, so don't bother to be too fancy.

I followed HHB's Nut and Chocolate Chip Brownie (sans nuts) and I love it that it does not call for butter. I can indulge in the best chocolate and cocoa powder without additional guilt (and fat) of butter. One other thing which I had an overdose was the chocolate chips! I had definitely used more than what the recipe called for. The result was of course a really fudgy brownie.

I asked my girl if she would like to learn to bake this so she would have something to give to her friends. [Some had asked her what she would be baking for Valentine's Day and I asked her if they meant her or me!] She flatly refused as one of her classmates bakes really solid brownie. Looks like she has got this from me. For me though, I'm sticking to this brownie recipe most definitely.

Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day, celebrating love of any kind.

PS: I needed a cheer-up to clear my mind and mistakenly thought that chocolate would do the trick. It did cheer me up but my mind is still not clear. The "issue" is pushed to the back of my mind for now...

Blueberry Yogurt Cake

I've been lagging behind on blogging and taking photos. Many things have been happening especially at work. These are times when I wished I didn't have to work. In any case, I've come to terms with my situation at work and I will just do what I have to do. That was why I took up baking in the first place...

I have been converted to love Greek Yogurt and I could not resist not buying it when I spotted a 500ml tub of it at the supermarket just before Chinese New Year. I had not planned what to bake as I knew at the back of my mind I could easily bake a banana cake.

When cyber friend mentioned that NZ blueberries were in season at relatively low prices in Hong Kong, I couldn't help but pick up some when I saw them at the supermarket. The berries added an interesting twist to a very reliable pound cake recipe which I have always enjoyed baking. Unfortunately, it's not something that I can share, sorry.

This blueberry (greek) yogurt cake is currently my favourite cake (to eat). I'll share a piece with you anytime.

Madeleine, oh Madeleine

This is worth every effort in making. For the first time since I began baking, these babies were consumed all within 6 hours! I baked them this morning so we would have some light snacks while the children enjoyed themselves at Wild Wild Wet. My little niece was the biggest fan of these chocolate lemon madeleines, she kept asking for more.

The recipe is taken from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme by Dorie Greenspan. I had to wait a few weeks after reserving the book online. I must say that it is an interesting recipe that I would definitely try again soon. Besides, the madeleine trays are screaming for attention.

I would also need the practice of rubbing the sugar with lemon zest as I kept wondering if I had done that step well. There wasn't much hint of lemon, or that could have been over-shadowed by the varlhona cocoa powder... Overall, I would say that these are really chocolatey, yum!

Banana Yogurt Cake

If I did a count of the fruit I baked most with, then it has got to be bananas, with oranges a close second. I simply love baking with these two fruits! The aroma was so amazing, and it definitely didn't come from essence as none was used.

I was recently introduced to Greek yogurt, which is creamier but less sour than normal plain yogurt. Working with it initially was a challenge but I soon grew to like this better than the usual yogurt, which tends to be very watery. In my opinion, results of bakes with Greek yogurt comes closest to those with sour cream. I was told that recipes that call for sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk yield the best results. I have tried both sour cream and yogurt and I love both. I will find a chance to try baking with buttermilk. I am begining to be more selective with recipes under the good influence of a cyber friend :)

I managed to buy a tub of Greek yogurt over the weekend but there was only one size, 1 kg! Ideally, everything should be consumed within three days of opening. Imagine the stress of looking for the right recipe so that the yogurt won't go to waste. I had wasted half a tub about two months ago and felt so bad. I had just enough for one last cake and when hubs said he felt like having bananas, (which is really rare although he loves it) I encouraged him and looked for the nicest bunch with the most speckles.

And which recipe did i use? This one from Baking Bites of course! I cannot remember how many times I tried baking with this recipe, but today's result turned out best. Previous attempts were very moist due to the overdose of bananas. Today, however, the proportion of all the ingredients was just right. I must make a note of the amount of ingredients which I used today so that I can get the same result the next time.

I was pleasantly surprised with a call from my little 6 year-old niece. She called especially to tell me that she liked the banana cake and to "please cook it again, ok?" Of course, sweetie, I will definitely bake it again.

Orange Yogurt Cake

A show of hands, please, how many of people (on this sunny island, at least) have encountered problems when using cups instead of the weighing scale? Perhaps it's just me but I would like to think that my problem, with the latest yogurt cake, lies not in the size of the cups but most likely in the size of the eggs. I bought this last batch of eggs from the market, 10 for S$2.10. These are likely to be slightly bigger than 60g each.

I know I am not the only person who have problems with this recipe. I used oranges instead of grapefruit. After an earlier unsuccessful attempt with another yogurt cake, I approached this with a proper plan.

• make a more conscious effort to scoop (and flatten) the 1.5 cups of flour
• mix the eggs, yogurt and sugar together, then add oil (to prevent over mixing flour later)
• use the balloon whisk to fold in flour, not more than 15 strokes (a tip I found here, see "Batters")
• bake at a slightly lower temperature (than 180 deg C).

With all the above checked, I put the tray in to bake. All looked and smelled well, and I drenched the cake with OJ from two oranges. And waited... but I could wait no longer and cut the cake when it was cooled enough.

After uttering a silent prayer, I picked up one piece of cake. I should have suspected when there wasn't any crumbs, it's another kueh :(

Rum Raisin Pound Cake

I have been reading a few chinese cook books lately. All of them feature simple and beautiful cakes. These books are regularly featured on a few blogs and so I visited the library's website to reserve them. I especially enjoyed Delicious!! Baked Cakes, Ikuko Omori, BUT, I was also very frustrated when I found some pages of the book missing! The pages were torn so meticulously and indicated that it was a pre-meditated act. How anyone can be so selfish is really beyond comprehension, not only did I have to pay to borrow it (ok, it's a small sum), I had to wait a few weeks for it. Gosh!

So, I turned to a previously tested recipe and was totally blown away with the result. Perhaps it's due to my obsession with rum & raisins, but the texture of the cake is really something. It's soft and moist, almost like "melt in your mouth". I used light sour cream this time and I have reasons to believe that this version is better than the previous attempt. As for the recipe, it's a pound cake, so use your imagination...

Banana Chocolate Cake

Surprise, surprise, yet another banana cake, you must be thinking. We don't usually buy bananas as fruit, as I am carbo-averse. Hubs, lets just say he has a sensitive stomach... my girl loves bananas, only found out this week though, when we had a overflowing (over-ripening flow) of bananas at home. In total, I had purchased between 15 and 18 bananas just to experiment with Nigella's Banana Rum Cake.

September seems to be a busy month of birthdays. My girl had her birthday on Monday and she asked me to help her bake a cake for her friend! I seem to have become the "official baker" and have to bake presents on her behalf too. So I got her involved, afterall, it was HER present for her friend, right? She made the stencil by cutting out the letters "Happy B'day XT" on a piece of paper. Ok, the words looked a little fuzzy :P I have since bought 4 wilton stencils for cake decorations to cope with such requests to bake birthday presents, erm, cakes.

This cake was easy to bake as well, just stir and bake. Of course, there was the additional step of melting chocolates and butter. My kids love this cake, that was what they said anyway. Next time I bake this, I would cover the top with a layer of ganache as it has lots of small holes all over. This is also a kids-friendly cake (read: no alcohol).

Banana Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

90g self-raising (SR) flour, 90g all-purpose (AP) flour
1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder, 170g butter
1 tbsp corn oil, 150g chocolate
100ml hot water, 80ml milk
170g brown sugar, 3 eggs
200g bananas (sliced)

Method

1. Grease and line 10cm x 32 cm baking tin. Preheat oven to 170 deg C.


2. Combine SR and AP flour, baking powder, soda and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl.


3. Melt butter, oil, chocolate, hot water and milk over low heat. Remove from heat, combine with brown sugar and eggs.


4. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture together with banana slices until well blended.


5. Spoon batter into prepared tin. Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes or until cooked. Stand for 10 minutes before turning on to wire rack to cool.


6. Decorate with ganache, bananas and/or chocolate chips (optional).

Source: Easy Stir 'n Bake Cakes by Kevin Chai

Banana Rum Cake

I doubt I would be baking any regular banana cake after this. Afterall, this is so easy to put together as well. A cyber friend in Hong Kong told me that she had baked a banana cake with rum-soaked raisins and walnuts. When I looked at her photograph, I couldn't help but want to try to bake it myself. Besides, I had received a copy of Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddes since last Christmas.

The recipe looked fairly simple and there are many resources, even videos, easily available on the internet. I didn't even need to use a mixer. It was so easy to make that I made it twice this week. The picture above is the improved version as the first one had a huge crack in the middle. My mistake with the first attempt was wrong oven temperature. The cake was dark and cracked, it also looked really dry. However, it was very soft and tasty, especially on the second day. I shared the first loaf with my group of tasters and they gave their "stamp of approval" saying that the cake was "nice and moist". That encouraged me to bake another batch for a dear friend, whom I'll be meeting tomorrow.

On VB's advice, I tented the pans during baking to see if I would get a better result. And I'm glad I did that, as the cakes turned out so beautiful -- without any cracks! For the second attempt, I even brushed the top of the cakes with some rum! I was determined to intoxicate anyone who consumes the cake! I can't wait to see my friend's reaction tomorrow.

Now, to show you version one, see the crack and difference in colour? It looked dry and hard too, but tasted great even on the third day.

She's a Teenager

What d'ya know? My first-born little girl is officially a teenager, she turns 13 today. I can't help but recall all the excitment that surrounded us while we waited for her arrival. She is the first grandchild for both paternal and maternal sides. That naturally meant she is eagerly anticipated by both sets of grandparents, and both of us.

Being people who do not like to be unprepared, we chose to have an induced birth on 8 September 1995, it was a Friday. This day is also the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Sister Ma at the Mt Alvernia Hospital told me that we had chosen a good day to have our baby. (Yes, we are Roman Catholics).

Most, if not all, mothers would agree that everything is pure anticipation for the first-timer. When my doctor told me that it was going to be a "long-haul" I wasn't quite sure what to make of his comment. It was then past 9.00 am and epidural had just started. It wasn't until 5.30 pm that we finally met her. And boy, did she look exactly like her daddy! (In fact, she still looks exactly like him!) I was told later by another mother, whom I met at the ante-natal class, that in Thai culture (she was from Thailand) they believe that if a little girl she looked like her father, then she would be really fortunate. With God's blessings, I'm sure she would be blessed with good fortune too.

Officially, I didn't bake her any cakes as she had requested for a chilled marshmellow cake. It had to be purple, no less. As I could not get any blueberries in time, I had to resort to using food colouring, as she had insisted as well. She cut the cake with 4 of her classmates, who came over on Saturday to complete some holiday projects. When a group of young girls get together, one can expect lots of giggling, chuckling and screaming. They happily ordered fast food by phone, while we were out. In all, I'm sure she had a really good time on Saturday.

We hosted a small get-together on Saturday night, as it was another friend's birthday. So we bought a chocolate cake to celebrate both their birthdays.

First Decorated Cake

After various attemps, this was the cake I baked for my son, who turns 10 today. The cake was presented on Saturday, when we invited some close friends over for a small celebration. He insisted on putting mini oreos on the sides. I had originally wanted to decorate it like Mandy's. But my boy simply refused to let me use the chocolate wafer sticks.

For the cake, I followed HHB's ever-reliable sponge cake recipe and simply replaced 10g of cake flour with 10g of Varlhona cocoa powder. Somehow, when I touched the cake, it didn't appear to be as soft as the vanilla version. I followed a fellow blogger's suggestion to apply chocolate ganache and creme chantilly on the cake. I realised afterwards that I should have been a lot more generous with the creme (non-diary whipping + sugar + a dash of rum).

As this would be my first attempt in covering the cake, the creme was all over! I also made the mistake of using a cake base that was too small! After covering whatever I could all around the cake, I had to think of something to hide the top! Laying more oreo would be what my boy would have liked but it would be an overkill. Nuts were out of the question as the kids dislike having nuts on or in cakes. So, I thought of covering with cocoa powder instead, and it worked.

At the end of the whole exercise, my boy declared that he wanted a store-bought cake for the small gathering. I was devastated! Naturally, I could understand that he was bored from tasting all the trials -- I had been practising Rei's chocolate yogurt cake recipe. The first one failed as I got a real hard but super chocolatey kueh. The second attempt was slightly more successful but the taste of yogurt was a tad too strong. So the boy probably concluded that this cake wasn't up to standard to "face public scrutiny".

However, on Saturday, after he bought his birthday present, a DS Lite games cartridge (and he is now targeting the PSP) he totally didn't want to spend more time looking for a cake. He just wanted to go home! I was like what? Now you want mummy's cake, omg, will the cake be up to expectations as I had baked it on Thursday? ...

As expected, the cake was a little dry and the oreo biscuits were, well, soft. I had placed a layer of Loacker dark chocolate waffers in the middle. I suspect that I should have broken them up as suggested by a fellow blogger. In all, it was a good exercise as I had learnt many valuable lessons for future cakes and decoration. Bracing myself for my girl's cake in two weeks and she has decided on a non-bake/chilled cake, in the likes of strawberry hearts, without the strawberries.

Peach Ice-Cream Cake

Oh, I'm so proud of myself on two counts: first, for successfully baking a wonderfully soft sponge cake (thanks HHB for the recipe) and secondly, for pulling off the assembly of this cake. It's a big sigh of relief as my earlier trials of baking a sponge cake, let's just say they were nowhere near "successful".

I must say, the cake needs to be further decorated before it can "face the world". For home consumption, it was enough. We don't need any more unnecessary calories tagging on. As we were too eager to taste it, the cake was still fairly frozen. Before consumption, it should probably be thawed :P Ice-cream is homemade as featured previously.

I have trying out and practising to bake birthday cakes for my two darlings' birthday. Boy's in August and two weeks later in September, for my girl's. While I have partly succeeded for my girl's (sponge cake portion only :S I'm still not sure what to use as fillings!) I am still trying to bake a chocolate cake that meets my boy's liking (first attempt turned out like a kueh...)

Vanilla Yogurt Pound Cake

I baked this pound cake so many weeks ago but didn't have time to post it. A very sweet cyber friend (you know who you are) shared this secret recipe with me, thanks! It's a very delicious and simple pound cake, and I love it.

Unfortunately cannot post the recipe, but you should be able to guess what went into baking it. Use only good quality stuff and your pound cake will be most delicious.

Happy National Day!

Mango Cake

This is the latest craze among several bloggers, Easy Stir 'n Bake Cakes. Indeed these cakes are really easy to bake, tasty, and soft! I was worried that they were not baked. I baked 3 cakes between 5.30 pm and 9.30 pm tonight. No mixer required, just a whisk.

Of particular interest is this Mango Cake. Can you see the mango cubes? It makes the cake really really soft but I think I would just puree all the mango in future. I'm not sure if there's too much liquid in the batter, the cake looks a little like kuey. As I didn't have any mango essence, I used konnayku flavouring instead. I may just go and pick up a few more mangos to try this again.

Mango Cake

Ingredients
100g plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs
100g caster sugar (reduced by 10g, depending on mango's sweetness)
80 ml corn oil (I used 65g canola oil)
150g mango (diced)
50g mango puree
50g glazed cherries (chopped)
1/2 tsp mango essence (I used konnyaku flavouring)

Method
1. Grease a 20 cm (8 inch) cake ring.
2. Combine plain flour, baking powder and soda in a mixing bowl.
3. Combine eggs, sugar and oil. Stir into flour mixture with diced mango, mango puree, cherries and mango essence until well blended.
4. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven at 175 deg C for 35-40 minutes. Stand for 10 minutes and turning on to wire rack to cool.
5. Dust with icing sugar.

Source: Easy Stir 'n Bake Cakes by Kevin Chai