Yummy Delight

What do you do with a block of cream cheese, a cup of plain yogurt and a bottle of Ribena in your fridge?


With some digestive biscuits, butter, sugar and gelatin powder, you can turn these ingredients into a no-bake Ribena Marble Cheesecake :)

I happened to pick up a free Ribena recipe booklet at the supermarket many months ago. I was really amazed by the list of yummy treats that can be made with Ribena. All along I have only enjoyed it as a cold refreshing drink and the furtherest I did was to make them into ice lollies. You can actually use this blackcurrant cordial to make smoothies, slurpees, puddings, and even a purple version of the bandung drink! I've also been keeping a Ribena recipe card which came with a local magazine. Besides this marble cheesecake recipe, you can also make pancakes with Ribena apple sauce and layered Ribena with chocolate mousse.


It's not the first time I have made a no-bake cheesecake, but it is definitely my first attempt at making a marble cake or any sort. I followed the instruction and used a knife to swirl over the 'dual-tone' blobs of cheese mixture. It made me really happy to discover that it is actually very simple to make the swirls. I never knew that I would be able to create such a lovely marbling effect. I was so glad with the result that I decided to skip the mirror-layer which is meant to top off the cake.


I would consider this a rather light cheesecake since plain yogurt is used in place of thickened cream which is usually called for in a chilled cake. I could taste the Ribena flavour although its presence is not really strong. I guess the whole cake will taste more 'Ribenay' if I were to made the mirror-layer. Nevertheless, the cheesecake tasted very good. I cut a slice for my elder boy and another to take the above picture. He was eyeing at the slice when I was still not done with my 'photo-shoot'. There is no surprise that, what was supposed to be my share landed in his stomach as well.


Ribena Marble Cheesecake

Ingredients

crust:
150g digestive biscuits, finely crushed
60g butter, melted

filling:
100ml water
20g (2 tablespoons) gelatin granules/powder
250g cream cheese, soften at room temperature
75g caster sugar
250ml (1 cup) natural plain yogurt
75ml Ribena blackcurrant juice cordial

topping: (I omitted this)
100ml water
2 teaspoons gelatin granules/powder
80ml Ribena blackcurrant juice cordial


Method:

1. Line the sides of a 18-20cm round pan (with a removable base) with parchment paper or clear plastic sheet (I cut out a strip of plastic sheet from a cookie bag), set aside. To make the crust, combine crushed digestive biscuits and melted butter together in a mixing bowl. With the back of a spoon, press the biscuit crumbs onto the base of the prepared pan. Chill in the freezer compartment for at least 1 hour. (To ensure the crust is even, I used the base of a flat-bottom glass to press down the crumbs.)
2. Filling: Measure water into a bowl and sprinkle in the gelatin (without stirring with a spoon). Set aside to allow the gelatin grains to swell (10 mins) before setting the bowl over a pot of simmering hot water. Stir with a spoon and once the gelatin melts, remove the bowl from the pot and set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add in the gelatin solution and yogurt, beat till the mixture turns smooth.
4. Divide mixture evenly into two bowls (about 1 cup each). Add 75ml of Ribena into one of the bowls and mix well with a spatula.
5. Spoon the two mixtures in alternate blobs into the chilled crust. Level top and swirl with a knife through the mixture to create a marble effect. Refrigerate until set (about 2 hours as stated in the recipe, but I left mine to set over night since I omitted the topping).
6. Topping: Measure water into a bowl and sprinkle in the gelatin. Set aside to allow the gelatin grains to swell (10 mins) before setting the bowl over a pot of simmering hot water. Stir with a spoon and once the gelatin melts, remove bowl from the pot and stir in 80ml of Ribena. Set aside to cool. When completely cooled, pour mixture over the cheesecake and chill for several hours or overnight until set.

Wholesome Goodness

It was a yellow sunny afternoon when I baked this loaf of wholemeal banana cake. I almost gave the recipe a miss when I was flipping through a cookbook the other day. There are so many banana cake recipes around that I couldn't help but skip the pages whenever I stumble upon yet another banana cake recipe in a book :')

I was glad that I gave this recipe a second look. I was immediately sold after I went through the ingredient list. What goes into this banana cake seems to promise a loaf loaded with wholesome goodness for our breakfast the next morning.


The amount of butter used for this loaf is relatively little compared to some other recipes which although guarantee deliciously moist and gorgeous looking banana cakes, but, they never failed to put me off with the large amount of fat and sugar that went in there. For this cake, the amount of sugar used is so little that I actually doubt that my kids would even what to take a bite. However, just one slice of this freshly baked cake cleared my doubts right away. The cake got its sweetness mainly from the bananas and the wholemeal flour added a very interesting nutty texture to it. The downside of it...it also made the cake rather crumbly. I wouldn't say the crumbs were extra moist as I suspect the wholemeal flour tends to dry things up a little. Fortunately the bananas worked wonders by providing just the right amount of moisture. Having said that, the cake still tasted delicious when left over night. It certainly was a fuss free way to add some whole grains to my kids' diet. I warmed the last slice in my oven before I enjoyed it over a cup of afternoon tea. It tasted as good as fresh out of oven. This is the kind of cake that you would never feel guilty if you couldn't help but reach out for another slice again and again!


Wholemeal Banana Cake

Ingredients

70g unsalted butter
30g brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
200g mashed banana (2 large bananas)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
90g wholemeal flour
90g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

topping:
some sliced banana
some granulated sugar
some cinnamon powder (I omitted this)

Method:

1. Grease the sides of a 3" x 7" loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Sift together plain flour, baking powder and baking soda, set aside.
2. Pre-heat oven to 180 degC.
3. With an electric mixer, whisk butter and sugar at low speed till the mixture turns pale and fluffy.
4. Dribble in beaten egg while whisking at low speed. (Add a little flour to the mixture if it appears to curdle.)
5. Stir in mashed banana and vanilla extract with a spatula.
6. Fold in wholemeal flour and the flour mixture and mix with spatula.
7. Spoon mixture into prepared pan, smooth surface with spatula.
8. Arrange banana slices on top and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon powder.
9. Bake for 45 mins until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. (Cover the top with foil if it start to get overly brown before the baking time is up.) Stand cake in pan for 5 minutes, unmold and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
   Recipe adapted from: Everyday Treats, 日尝甜品
   
   
   

My White Christmas!

I spent a quiet morning on Christmas eve hopping from one blog to another, reading how others are celebrating this festive seasons; and admiring gorgeous cakes and cookies created by my favourite food bloggers. This is so different from how I had spent the many past Christmas eve mornings. In the past, a typical Christmas eve morning would be spent attending Christmas parties in the office, sending e-cards and well wishes to friends and colleagues while listening to the never-ending Christmas songs over the small radio on my desk. The afternoons would then be spent grabbing last minute food items at the supermarket. Our Christmas eve dinners were mainly off-the-shelve food such as frozen pizzas, ready-cooked roast chicken and canned soup. Even though I have been cooking for my family for the past few years, last night's dinner didn't go beyond the usual meatball pasta, oven roast chicken, Waldorf salad and I still depended on Campbell's clam chowder to complete the meal ;')

This is the third year that I have spent the Christmas eve afternoon making a cake for Christmas day. Ever since the first time we spent a wonderful white Christmas several years ago, I have always been dreaming of spending the next Christmas in snow. Since there is zero chance of a white Christmas here, I created my own winter wonderland!


Unlike the first log cake I made two years ago, this cake was made by rolling up layers of chocolate sponge cake to create a 'stump'. I should have cut the sheet of sponge cake into 4 strips instead of 3; as I ended up with a rather tall cake :( I whisked a cup of non-dairy whipping cream and divided it into two portions. For the filling, instead of using melted chocolate, I experimented by folding in two tablespoons of nutella spread to one portion of the whipped cream. It was a good choice as I could smell the sweet aroma from the nutella while I was mixing it into the cream. Rolling the strips of sponge layer was not easy...there were cracks here and there. However, I wasn't too concerned about it since the entire cake would be covered with more whipped cream. Even the frosting was easily accomplished, there's no need to worry about making the surface very smooth...that's how forgiving a log cake is! I piped the 'rings' of the tree with a tiny teaspoon of nutella, some sprinklings of chocolate shavings (by grating a chocolate coated espresso bean) and a few 're-cycled' ornaments completed the picture. With the artificial snow (thanks to Flickr), my white Christmas really came true!

The sponge layer was soft and not dry. The nutella cream filling was really amazing!! This cake is so delicious that my husband kept asking for more.


Here's a slice of cake that I would love to share with all my readers and fellow blogger pals. Thanks for all the well wishes and lovely comments you have left in this blog. May you have a wonderful Christmas with your love ones...be it snowy, sunny or rainy! Merry Christmas!


Christmas Log Cake

Ingredients:

70g cake flour
15g cocoa powder
3 eggs, room temperature
90g caster sugar
2 tablespoons fresh milk

filling:
300ml non-dairy whipping cream
3 tablespoons nutella spread


Method:

1. Sift cake flour and cocoa powder, set aside. Line a 9" x 12" (23 x 30cm) Swiss roll tray with parchment paper, set aside. Pre-heat oven to 180 degC.
2. With an electric mixer, whisk eggs and sugar on HIGH speed for about 5 to 7 mins, until the batter double in volume and is ribbon-like (the batter should leave a ribbon-like texture when the beater is lifted up). Turn to LOW speed and whisk for another 1 to 2 mins. Whisking at low speed helps to stabilise the air bubbles in the batter.
3. Add sifted flour mixture into the batter in 3 separate addition. With each addition, use a spatula, gently fold in the flour until well blended. Take care not to deflate the batter.
4. Add the milk, fold with spatula until well blended.
5. Pour the batter into the tray. Spread and smooth out the batter evenly. Bake for 10~15 mins*, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Remove tray from oven. Remove sponge layer from tray (with parchment paper still in tack), place it in a plastic bag**. Tie the plastic bag and leave it to cool. (Instead of using a plastic bag, I cover the sponge layer with another Swiss roll tray.)
7. Prepare filling: whisk non-dairy whipping cream in a mixing bowl till stiff peak. Remove half of the whipped cream and set aside (for decorating the cake surface). For the remaining half, add in nutella spread, mix with a spatula and blend well.
8. When the sponge layer is cooled, remove the parchment paper and turn the sponge layer with the 'skin' side up. Slice the sponge layer into 3 equal long strips (cut along the long side).
9. Spread some nutella filling on the first piece and roll up. Place the roll vertically on a serving plate or cake board. Spread some filling on the second piece, use it to join the first piece and continue to roll it. Do the same for the third piece.
10. Spread the cake surface with the whipped cream. Use the tines of a fork to draw lines on the surface to create a tree bark effect. Pipe some nutella spread on the top of the log cake and sprinkle with some chocolate shavings. Decorate with ornaments as desired.

NOTE:
*Do not over bake the sponge layer, otherwise it will turn dry and may crack upon rolling.
** The reason for doing so is to keep the sponge layer moist for easy rolling.

Recipe source: 点心达人, 轻松学 / 小川智美著

Happy Birthday

I knitted this pair of booties for my younger child while he was still save inside my tummy. Earlier this year, I found them hidden in a huge pile of baby clothing while I was sorting through the various items to give to my newborn nephew. I guess I hardly let my child worn these booties as seven years have passed and yet they look as good as new! I was a little sad when I wasn't able to find the other pair that I made for my elder child :'(

While we went through a rather dramatic emergency cesarean section when the elder one was born, the birth of my younger son was rather 'uneventful', although his was also a cesarean birth. I remembered when he was 3 days overdue I was still hoping for a natural birth. I had this thought that I would be a 'lesser mother' if my child is not able to arrive to this world via the 'proper channel'. My doctor had advised me not to wait any longer than the next 3 days, and he hinted that I would probably have to face a double whammy if I insisted to wait for a natural birth.Those words have finally convinced me that I should go for another cesarean section. We decided to wait till the ultimatum date for the operation plus it was considered a 'good' date, since it is so easy to remember 21-12-2001! It was also such good timing as the three of us were able to bring home on Christmas day what turns out to be our fountain of joy. Since that day, he has given us so much joy and laughter.


It was a couple of weeks ago when we were at their cousins' place, my boy pointed to a Domo Kun flush toy and told me he would like me to bake him a Domo Kun cake. You may not be familiar with this hilarious-looking creature, even for me (I do keep myself very up to date with the latest cartoon characters and toys!) I have only seen it on tv once. It was a short animation and was aired to fill the gaps between programmes. If you are interested, you can read more about this weired looking creature here.

Fortunately, Domo has got very simple features...two popping eyes and a humongous mouth with sharp pointed teeth. Since it would be my very first attempt to make a 3-D cake, I told my boy I would give it a try, although he better be prepared that if things don't work out, we would have to go for plan B...ie to get those ready-made cake from the nearby bakery shop.


Since I do not have a large pan, I made the cake by baking two separate sheets of sponge layer. I drew a template on a baking paper and used it as a guide to cut out the sponge cake. The sponge layers were then filled with whipping cream and peach slices (according to the boy's request!). The surface was coated with a thin layer of chocolate ganache and I took two chocolate-coated coffee beans to make the eyes. I melted some white chocolate and added a drop of food colouring to form the mouth. The teeth were simply cut out from a bar of white chocolates.

This must be the ugliest and yet most adorable cake I have ever made!


It is no surprise that my boy received a Domo Kun flush toy on his birthday. I compared it with the cake I made, and I realised that I have made the teeth too huge and the entire mouth should have been sunken. Anyway, my boy was very happy with the result, to him it looked perfect...and the cake grabbed the most paparazzi attention during the party!


The boy had such a wonderful time...he was so tired and felt asleep in my arms while giving me his goodnite hug ;)

Cake of the week

I wonder whether it is because of the holiday seasons, I have been making cakes after cakes instead of the usual bread and buns which I much prefer. It could also due to the fact that we are not at home most of the time. Even if we were to spend the entire day at home, I would be caught up doing thousand and one thing...except bread making! I guess I have to wait till the new school term before I can spend some quiet moments sinking my fingers into a lump of pillowy soft bread dough.


Here's my bake for the past week...a Walnut Crumble Cake. This is something which I have made once, and have since been wanting to bake again and again, and yet, every time, I would put the thought aside. According to my standard, this cake uses way too much butter! Yet, it was such a delicious cake that I have to fight off my constant craving for it! Lady luck came, when a close one came visiting. I jumped on the opportunity and baked the cake right away and merrily gave away half of it!


The only difference from the earlier version is that I managed to use walnuts for the crumbles. Besides the chopped and toasted walnuts, the crumbles was made by mixing some melted butter, instant coffee power and crushed digestive biscuits. The crumbles looks so promising just by looking at the list of ingredients, don't you think so?


I didn't regret making this simple and yet very delicious cake again. The cake looks dense but it is surprisingly very light and moist. It has got very fine crumbs and I simply adore its soft, smooth and velvety texture. The layers of nutty and crunchy crumbles sandwiched between the cake batter created a lovely contrast...making one slice of it such an enjoyable treat :)

Incidentally, I was very delighted to know that the photo of this cake was voted 3rd place on this flickr group for the best pictures of the week :D


While I was checking my inbox two days ago, I was very happy to hear that my blog posting of the Santa Clause cake I made last year, has been featured in the photo gallery of decorative Christmas food under Channel 4's food website. Channel 4 is a UK tv channel which transmits across the whole of UK. It is a great honour to be featured in their website!!


Another good news I received on the same day, was an email from the Savannah Children's Choir. I have earlier agreed to let this organisation use my photo on their website and poster for one of their fund raising events: "Let Them Eat Cake!" I am so pleased to hear that the event has helped the choir raised over a thousand dollars. Although I did not contribute in anyway to the success of the event, still I feel so honoured to be able to be 'involved' in one way or another.

I hope I don't sound like I am bragging too much here!! It has never ever occurred to me that this humble little blog of mine could reach so far beyond our little sunny island. It's really amazing how blogging has bring a world much much closer! All those wonderful food blogs and professional food websites out there have certainly widen my horizon, especially for a culinary idiot like me ;')

A Chocolate Lover's Cake

This is a very much delayed post...it should be up since last week, and yet I could only squeeze in some time this morning to sit down to work on it. It's so ironical that I seems to be more busy during the school holidays. Before the start of the holidays, I even put together a 'master plan' on the list of things I need to get done during these 6 weeks. There is this long list of things to-bake; a schedule of outings for the kids; and an ultimate ambitious one: a long list of spring-cleaning chores! So far I could only manage to complete the top 3 tasks on each list...and we are now left with 3 more weeks before the beginning of the new year!

Anyway, back to what I am suppose to blog about...


a chocolate birthday cake I made for my two friends. Their birthdays are only 3 days apart...and it has already became a yearly affair for the past 8 years or so that we have a get-together during this time of the year. This time we gathered at my place for dinner, and one of the birthday gals had requested for a chocolate cake. I must thank her for having such faith in me that I could come up with something decent for their birthdays.


To play save, I went back to the same chocolate gateau recipe, since I had already attempted that cake twice. As usual, I frosted the cake with chocolate ganache and covered the sides with lots of chocolate chips. It was a fool-proof and very easy cover-up job.


With some left over ganache, I piped...what else?! but the usual 'stars' for the border. I wonder when I would be able to pipe those beautiful 'shells' instead!


Since I know that my friends are chocolate lovers, I topped the cake with some Ferrero Rocher. I tell you, these rocher worked like magic...they turned an otherwise rather boring and plain cake into a much elegant piece. The outcome was a bittersweet, rich, dense and fudgy cake.

It was a great evening catching up with on another. Judging from the responses, the cake was well received by my guests. This is the kind of cake which I think any chocolate lover wouldn't be able to resist a slice ;)

Matcha & Adzuki, Again

After making a few exchanges on making a Swiss roll with one of my blog visitors, You Fei, she got me interested to make a roll cake myself. Thanks You Fei!

With some left over adzuki red bean paste from my last bake, I decided to make a matcha and red bean roll.


It was many months ago when a blog visitor requested that I provide step-by-step photos to illustrate how to go about making a Swiss Roll. As much as I love to take photos along the way while I am making the cake, sometimes it is really not feasibly. First of all, I do not have a tripod to fix my camera, so I could only rely on my two extra pairs of of hands...which are somewhat not very reliable when it comes to taking clear photos! Since my boys were at home, I took the opportunity to get them to take video clips instead of photos while I go about making the sponge layer.

The following short video clip was taken by three different persons at different stages. The first part on whisking the egg mixture was done by me! Yes, I was holding the electric mixer on my right hand and taking the video with the camera on my right. Luckily, this movie maker software allows me to clip away unwanted frames! When I was folding the flour and butter, I got my younger boy to take the video. I can't use most of the video footage as half the time he was pointing the camera to the side of the mixing bowl! Fortunately, I did sense that he could be too short to get the full view of what was going on inside the mixing bowl, I tilted the bowl several times towards the camera lens. The last part on rolling up the sponge layer was taken by my elder boy. Although he took a pretty good video, I had to turned it into several photo frames instead. The reason was, my pair of hands look super super Ugly from the video!!! It was a horrendous sight! They looked worst than a pair of hands of an old granny...they were all wrinkled, rough, thick & fat, and overly tanned :'(

It took me great pain and hours just to crop away all the unwanted 'scenes' and frames...and I'm glad I am finally able to put together quite a decent looking video clip ;)

The other good thing about the software is that it allows me to 'Mute' the audio sound, otherwise you will be hearing lots of giggling, some nonsensical exchange of languages among the boys, and the constant "Is it done, is it done yet? When can I stop (taking the video)?!" and things like "Yummy! yummy!...mummy, mummy, I know what you are making! You are making muffins, right?! I can smell muffins!" ????!!!


I guess the greatest fear of making a Swiss roll is having it cracked all over when you are at the very last stage...that is, the rolling of the filled sponge layer. So far, I have attempted to make a roll cake for 5 to 6 times. I really have to count myself very lucky that most of the time, I managed to roll it up nicely, except for once or twice when there were some slight cracks here and there. I do not have any secrets to it, but I think it helps if one were to follow the recipe very closely. In fact I find that this applies to all kinds of cakes and breads. Since baking is a Science, it is thus very important to follow the instructions carefully and pay great attention to the little details. I do hope the attached video is able to give some 'insights' for those of you who are interested to make a roll cake. Happy baking and rolling!



Matcha & Adzuki Red Bean Roll

Ingredients:
3 eggs, bring to room temperature
65g sugar
80g cake flour
2 teaspoons matcha powder
20g unsalted butter, melted

Method:

1. Sift cake flour, set aside. Line a 9" x 12" (23 x 30cm) Swiss roll tray with parchment paper, set aside. Pre-heat oven to 180 degC.
2. With an electric mixer, whisk eggs and sugar on HIGH speed for about 5 to 7 mins, until the batter double in volume and is ribbon-like (the batter should leave a ribbon-like texture when the beater is lifted up). Turn to LOW speed and whisk for another 1 to 2 mins. Whisking at low speed helps to stabilise the air bubbles in the batter.
3. Add sifted cake flour and matcha powder into the batter in 3 separate addition. With each addition, use a spatula, gently fold in the flour until well blended. Take care not to deflate the batter.
4. Add the melted butter and fold with spatula until well blended.
5. Pour the batter into the tray. Spread and smooth out the batter evenly. Bake for 10~15 mins*, until the surface turns golden browned or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Remove tray from oven. Remove sponge layer from tray (with parchment paper still in tack), place it in a plastic bag**. Tie the plastic bag and leave it to cool. (Instead of using a plastic bag, I cover the sponge layer with another Swiss roll tray.)
7. Upon cooling, remove the parchment paper, and turn the sponge layer with the 'skin' side down on a sheet of clean parchment paper. Spread with adzuki red bean paste(or any filling as desired) and roll up the sponge layer by lifting it up with the parchment paper. Place the rolled cake seam side down.

NOTE: *Do not over bake the sponge layer, otherwise it will turn dry and may crack upon rolling. ** The reason for doing so is to keep the sponge layer moist for easy rolling.

Recipe source: 点心达人, 轻松学 / 小川智美著

Matcha & Adzuki

I have a can of adzuki red bean paste sitting in my cupboard for quite sometime, I couldn't even remember when I have bought it. It was hidden underneath a pile of baking ingredients that I have accumulated over the past few months or even close to a year! Fortunately, it has not gone past the expiry date, and I took it out to make a Matcha & Red Bean Butter Cake almost right away.


The cake was made by 'customising' this same recipe for a low fat orange yogurt cake, simply by replacing the orange flavours with matcha powder and some red bean paste. Instead of using a loaf pan, I baked the cake in an 8" round pan. Although it had a big crack across the surface, it was a nicely domed cake. I took the sweet aroma of this matcha cake baking in the oven as a sign of guarantee that it would turn out lovely ;)


Just like bananas & chocolates or hazelnuts & chocolates...I would also consider matcha & adzuki red beans: a match from haven. The cake was wonderfully moist and the crumbs was soft and peppered with red beans...which moved it slightly to the sweeter side of my scale. The only thing that I wasn't quite happy with, was the colour of the crumb...the dark colour of the red bean paste had turned the cake to an awful green. I have to console myself with the saying 'we taste with our mouths and not with our eyes'.


To end this post, I will leave you with the recipe plus a sunshine smile that came with the cake...I hope like me, you'll have a great time baking at home :D






Matcha & Red Bean Butter Cake
Ingredients:
(makes one 20cm cake)

250g cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon matcha powder
70g butter, soften at room temperature
150g sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup (250ml) plain, non-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons red bean paste


Method:

1. Preheat oven at 180 degC. Lightly grease the side of an 8" (20cm) pan with butter and dust it evenly with flour. Tap away any excess flour and line the base with parchment paper.
2. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, green tea powder and salt. Set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, beat butter for about 1 min. Gradually add in sugar and beat until light and creamy.
4. Dribble in eggs gradually, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beat constantly for about 2 mins.
5. With a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Then, fold in 1/2 of the yogurt, followed by half of the remaining flour mixture. Fold in the remaining yogurt and then the rest of the flour mixture. Stir well after each addition.
6. Stir in the red bean paste, mix well.
7. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35~45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 5 mins. Unmold and cool completely.

Another year, another attempt

How time flies! It is still fresh in my memory how I had a difficult time struggling away to make a Cinnamoroll cake for my niece's birthday last year ;)

This year, instead of the usual sponge-layered cake, I made her a rich and dense chocolate cake, just like the one I did for my own birthday (recipe posted here).


I wasn't quite sure how to go about decorating the cake, since I do not have much creative juices in me. I bought some mini m&ms and thought I could just pour them all over the top after coating the cake with chocolate ganache. The plan didn't work out as I realised that I need a lot more m&ms than what was in the small little plastic container. So, I just studded a few m&ms on the sides of the cake and sat there staring at the cake. With the leftover ganache I decided to pipe little stars (the only thing I can pipe!) around the circumference. I had so much fun piping that I made another round on the cake board ;)


I didn't know what was wrong with me, but after feeling very satisfied with the little stars, I came up with this 'brilliant idea' of arranging the m&ms on top of each little piped stars. That was a wrong decision to make. Oh boy, I didn't know it was such a delicate task to place one tiny candy on each of those closely piped stars! You need very steady and yet gentle fingers to complete the job. To make sure the stars wouldn't sink upon the weight of the m&ms, I chilled the cake in the freezer for a couple of minutes just to firm up the chocolate ganache...it was yet another wrong move! I believe, the consequence of this silly action of mine had caused the m&ms to absorb moisture from the cold ganache and they started to melt away while I was taking pictures of the finished cake. Lesson learned, next time I will use baking m&ms instead, maybe they won't melt away so easily?

I sprinkled lots of chocolate rice to fill up the empty space in the middle...it was the easiest and a fool proof way to jazz up the cake a little.


I wasn't very satisfied with how the decoration was done, but it was the best I could manage. I just hoped that my niece would find it appealing!

It turned out that she loved the cake! In fact, when she came over for dinner at my place, my sis has actually brought along an 'over-the-counter' chocolate cake. Upon seeing the cake I made, both told me immediately that they would prefer to have my cake to celebrate the occasion. All of us like the delicious and chocolaty taste of the cake. Although I have mixed a tablespoon of Baileys Irish Cream in the chocolate ganache, I couldn't taste it at all. Either the amount was too little, or I would have to use other types of liquor in order for the flavour to be noticeable.


Over the weekend, my boys and I made a batch of cookies for their cousin to bring home. I used my newly acquired Cinnamoroll cookie cutters since she's also an avid fan of this cute Sanrio character. I followed the same recipe as the one I made using the Pooh cutters. I divided the dough into two portions and kneaded in some cocoa powder for one of the portions, to make Mocha'. I love how the cookies turned out, aren't they adorable?!



and here's a slice of the cake for you...

I hope this will prompt you to reach out for your whisk to give this recipe a go :)

Lavender Teacake

While flipping through the stack of cookbooks that I have borrowed from the library, I chanced upon this quick & easy-to-make cinnamon teacake recipe from this book. I love to browse through cookbooks from The Australian Women's Weekly series. The recipes are simple to follow and most of the time they are accompanied with beautiful illustrations...every single photo is shouting for my attention! After looking through the list of ingredients and the nutrition information, I was pretty set to give the recipe a go. The total amount of fat for each serving is 9g, which is even lower than that of a single cookie featured in the same book. It makes me feel less guilty to bake it , as I usually won't stop at just one slice of cake.

As with coffee cakes, in the past, I used to think that tea cakes are cakes made with tea as one of the key ingredients. Silly me! Now I know, they are just cakes or even breads served for afternoon tea. Although coffee cakes are either cakes that are made with coffee or referred to as any cakes that are served with coffee, a teacake could mean different thing to people living in different regions. In Australia, a teacake is typically referred to as a sweet cake made with flour, eggs, fat and sugar. They are sometimes sprinkled with a mixture of cinnamon and caster sugar, and are often served warm from the oven, with tea. Since my kids have yet to acquire the taste of cinnamon, I tweaked the recipe a little...I left out the cinnamon and only sprinkled the cake with caster sugar. To add flavour, I added in a teaspoons of dried lavender. So, here's my version of a Lavender Teacake:

It proves to be a very easy cake to prepare. I made it with just a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. Of course you can use a manual whisk, or leave it to your electric mixer to do the job. If you are going 'manual', do make sure the butter is very soft before you start working on it...unless you don't mind working on your biceps at the same time. I got the cake into the oven within 20mins, which was 5 mins longer than the preparation time stated in the recipe. I will have to learn to be more efficient.

Although the cake was not as moist compared to cakes made with 'moisturising-agents" such as yogurt, buttermilk, etc, I thought the taste was very delectable. The cake was rather light and I like the nice fragrant of the lavender. It's just a little on the sweet side for me...which is mainly due to the generous sprinkling of caster sugar on the cake surface. On hind sight, I should have added some lemon zest to kick up the flavour a little.


Here's a slice of cake for all of you who have taken the time to leave me your heart-warming comments and encouraging words after I published my earlier post. I'm truly touched by the kind words of encouragements...it certainly boost up my morale, and made me see the light at the far end of the tunnel. Even if you didn't leave a comment, I thank you for taking time to read and come over to my humble blog :)

From your comments, I got to know that a couple of you have actually picked up the hobby of baking after reading my blog :D It also brings me great joy to learn that some of you had started making homemade breads following the recipes I have posted here. The one and only concern that I have is that, I hope I am not the blind leading the blind. Till now, I do not know whether I am doing the kneading of the dough correctly :')

So, what are you waiting for? Go grab your spoon and enjoy!

I mean, go grab your wooden spoon and start baking!



Ingredients
(makes one 20cm cake, serves 8)

60g butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
1 teaspoon dried lavender*

topping:
15g butter, melted
some caster sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degC. Grease and flour side of a 20cm (8") round pan, line base with parchment paper. Sift self-raising flour, set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, with a wooden spoon or a manual whisk, beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in the egg gradually, beat well each time egg is added. Add in vanilla extract, mix well.
3. Add in shifted flour and milk, stir with a spatula until smooth. Stir in dried lavender.
4. Spread batter into prepared pan, bake for 25mins till the cake turns golden or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5. Stand cake in pan for 5 mins. Turn onto cooling rack, brush top with melted butter and sprinkle with caster sugar. (*Note: If desired, omit dried lavender, instead, mix 1 tablespoon of caster sugar with 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and sprinkle the mixture on top of cake after brushing the surface with the melted butter.)

Recipe source: The Australian Women's Weekly,Food We Love

Nutella Swiss Roll

It was a rare occasion that I was blessed with so much free time that I felt asleep on a weekday afternoon. I guess I was not feeling well (yes, I'm trying to make myself feel less guilty) or it was just pure laziness that I didn't wake up until 2 hours later! As a result, I had to abandon my earlier plan to bake a loaf of bread as there wasn't much time left before I had to start preparing dinner.

After flipping through my stack of recipes, I thought I should make a Swiss roll. In the past, I always relied on a sponge cake recipe to make a Swiss roll. It was the first time I was going to follow a proper Swiss roll recipe. I didn't bother to use any whipping cream for the filling, as first of all, I was running out of time and secondly I am doubtful whether I'll be able to roll the cake without cracking it . Hence, to make things easy, I decided to use nutella spread to fill the roll.

The making of the sponge cake layer was rather straight forward, as there were only 5 ingredients used. There was little washing up as well, since everything was done with a mixing bowl. I was able to get the cake out from the oven in no time. While the cake was cooling on the rack, I got on with the tedious chore of cooking dinner :(


As with all my past attempts with Swiss rolls, I felt a little nervous when it was time to fill and roll the cake. I almost let off a whistle when the cake didn't crack upon rolling!


I am not sure it was just pure luck, or was it the technique outline in this recipe that made the rolling so easy. I guess I would have to try this again to verify. Some Swiss roll recipes that I have come across would recommend that the cake be rolled up while it is still warm. The cake would then be unrolled upon cooling, filled and re-rolled again. Whereas for this recipe, the cake is left to cool off before filling and rolling. According to the recipe, once the cake is out of the oven, it has to be removed from the tray and placed in a big plastic bag to cool off. This way, the cake will stay soft and moist for easy rolling. Since I do not have a large enough plastic bag, I left the cake in the baking tray and placed the tray on a cooling rack. To retain the moisture, I covered the top with another Swiss roll tray. Upon cooling, I was surprised that the sponge layer was not soggy or damp. I moved on to remove the parchment paper and turned the sponge layer onto a clean sheet of parchment paper. It was a little tricky trying to spread the nutella as it was rather thick, I had to be extra gentle to avoid scraping the crumbs as I worked along.

Besides retaining moisture when the sponge layer is cooling off, I think it is also important not to over bake the cake, otherwise it would be too dry and would crack easily. As usual, my unreliable oven took a little longer than the recommended time to get the sponge layer baked, and I had to turn the tray closer to the end of the baking time to ensure even browning.

In order to make a nice clean roll, another seemingly minor point to watch out for, would be the kind of paper used for rolling. I remembered using those greaseproof papers (or tracing papers which I used to call them when I was young!) when I first attempted to make a Swiss roll. The cake got stuck to the paper, as a result, the 'skin' got peeled off upon rolling/unrolling. I also used to wonder why my cookies would stick to this type of greaseproof paper upon baking. Until much later, I discovered those are not the right type of paper for baking. I have since switched to using proper parchment paper or baking paper which has got a layer of wax making them greaseproof and non-stick as well.


I was very satisfied with how well the sponge layer turned out, it was soft and moist, and what can I say about nutella? You will never go wrong with it ;)


Ingredients:
3 eggs, bring to room temperature
65g sugar (updated: use caster sugar)
80g cake flour
20g unsalted butter, melted
2~3 drops vanilla extract

Method:

1. Sift cake flour, set aside. Line a 9" x 12" (23 x 30cm) Swiss roll tray with parchment paper, set aside. Pre-heat oven to 180 degC.
2. With an electric mixer, whisk eggs and sugar on HIGH speed for about 5 to 7 mins, until the batter double in volume and is ribbon-like (the batter should leave a ribbon-like texture when the beater is lifted up). Turn to LOW speed and whisk for another 1 to 2 mins. Whisking at low speed helps to stabilise the air bubbles in the batter.
3. Add sifted cake flour into the batter in 3 separate addition. With each addition, use a spatula, gently fold in the flour until well blended. Take care not to deflate the batter.
4. Add the melted butter and vanilla extract, fold with spatula until well blended.
5. Pour the batter into the tray. Spread and smooth out the batter evenly. Bake for 10~15 mins*, until the surface turns golden browned or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Remove tray from oven. Remove sponge layer from tray (with parchment paper still in tack), place it in a plastic bag**. Tie the plastic bag and leave it to cool. (Instead of using a plastic bag, I cover the sponge layer with another Swiss roll tray.)
7. Upon cooling, remove the parchment paper, and turn the sponge layer with the 'skin' side down on a sheet of clean parchment paper. Spread with nutella (or any filling as desired) and roll up the sponge layer by lifting it up with the parchment paper. Place the rolled cake seam side down.

NOTE:
*Do not over bake the sponge layer, otherwise it will turn dry and may crack upon rolling.
** The reason for doing so is to keep the sponge layer moist for easy rolling.

Recipe source: 点心达人, 轻松学 / 小川智美著

Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

This blueberry streusel coffee cake was the first thing I made once I am back to my usual baking routine.

I took the recipe from this book, and if you happen to click on the link, you would probably know why I have chosen this recipe. I simply couldn't resist the mouth-watering photo on the front cover. Besides this recipe, I have already bookmarked a couple of other recipes from this book.

I bought 4 packs of blueberries a few weeks ago when they were on sale at the local supermarket, they were half the usual price. In the past, I would never place more than 2 packs of blueberries in the shopping trolley. Besides the price, I knew I would have problems trying to use them up before they turn bad. This mindset has changed since I chanced upon this site. I have now learned how to freeze blueberries. This has certainly make life so much easier for me. I followed the method closely, although I didn't wash the blueberries before freezing, as I guessed they were already pre-washed. I did thaw and washed them before use.


This cake recipe is available here. Even though it is not called for in the recipe, I dusted and coated the blueberries with flour before mixing them in the batter. Alas, this extra step didn't help to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake. I think the next time I were to bake this again, I would sprinkle the berries on top of the batter instead of mixing it with the batter.


Except for the crunchy sugary streusel toppings, the cake was very moist and the sweetness just right for me...partly because I didn't 'pack' in the brown sugar when measuring them with my newly acquired set of measuring cups, and I have already formed the habit of cutting down the amount of sugar whenever I can. The use of brown sugar not only enhanced the flavour, it also gave the cake lovely golden brown crumbs. The blueberries were a disappointment though, they were rather bland after baking. They didn't pass my kids taste buds either. My younger boy purposely left the bottom layer of his slice untouched, giving the reason that he was already very very full, and yet, he had room for extra streusel toppings from my share.

Besides the blueberries and walnuts, the cake is made with equal amount of plain and wholemeal flour, which makes it a very wholesome cake for breakfast. I find that it tasted best when served warm, and I must say it is a perfect companion with a steaming cup of freshly brewed hot coffee.


It was a pleasant surprise to know that Eliza at Notes from My Food Diary has passed on this cute award to me :) Thank you so much Eliza!! It's now my pleasure to pass on the award to the following floggers for churning out delicious food, post after post!

Elyn at E's Joie
Mandy at Fresh from the Oven
thecoffeesnob at Eat and be Happy

Happy Birthday

It's my son's birthday today. It is hard to believe that 10 years have already gone by!

This is the first time he told me that he will not want to throw a birthday party...he doesn't want me to be busy preparing for the party and cleaning up after it is over. How thoughtful of him :)

I offered to make a durian mousse cake for him, since he loves this fruit and I have been waiting for an occasion to try out this recipe. He told me to bake something else as his younger brother hates durians. In the end, we decided to make a mango mousse cake.

On Sunday night, we had a mini-party with just the four of us to celebrate the occasion. The birthday cake was made with layered sponge cake filled with mango mousse. I baked the sponge layer using this recipe which has became my favourite. I made the mousse layer following this recipe shared by Florence. Instead of decorating the cake with whipping cream, I made a mirror layer using a mixture of mango cordial, water and gelatin powder. As requested by the birthday boy, we left the cake plain, without any decoration. We loved the taste of the cake...especially the mousse layer which was very delicious. It was a joy to watch the boys wiped out every single crumb on their plates. My husband helped himself with another bigger slice before we could finish ours!

Peach Marshmallow Cake

I have not been baking anything for the past week as I was busy coaching my two kids for their school's mid-year exams. We were so glad when it was finally over! Instead of taking out the oven to bake something, I chose to make a chill cake as I thought it would be good to have something nice and cold as dessert.


The recipe is taken from Baking Mum's Strawberry Marshmallow Cake...I always admire her great cooking and baking skills, and she has shared many wonderful recipes in her blog. I did a peach version as I didn't have any strawberries in the fridge. The base of the cake was a layer of crushed digestive biscuits. The filling was made by melting marshmallows, milk, gelatin and cream, before topping off with fruits and a layer of jelly. Don't you think it is a rather interesting combination? This is in fact my second attempt. The first time round I didn't have a chance to take any photos to blog about it as I brought it to a friend's gathering. The cake was well received by both adults and kids.


I have come across many photos of cakes and tarts decorated beautifully with fruits. Although most cookbooks will show you how to go about making the cakes, so far I have not come across any, that clearly spells out how to go about arranging the fruits on top. So it took me a good few minutes of thinking to figure out how to arrange the peach slices on this cake.

I first tried out the arrangement on a plate, about the size of the finished cake, before attempting to arrange them on the actual cake. By doing so, I found out that in order to have a 'rosette' in the centre, it was easier to first arrange the outer ring of peach slices. This way the peach slices would be able to 'support' the rosette. As for the rosette, I worked from the outer 'petals' inwards...over lapping the slices one after another...and you need to use fairly thin slices, especially for the inner most piece, as you need to be able to bend and curl them a little. (Slice the peaches if the ready sliced ones are too thick.)


According to the recipe, this chill cake seems pretty easy to make. However, I thought it can get rather tricky when it comes to finding the right time to arrange the fruits and pouring in the jelly layer. If the fillings was chilled for too long, the jelly layer may not adhere to the filling...so, once you slice the cake, the jelly layer may separate from the fillings. The jelly has to be cool off completely before pouring it over the filling, otherwise there would be bits of fillings melted away and the jelly layer would not be 'crystal clear'! I also discovered, to my surprise, that melting the marshmallow was not that easy either! They didn't melt that quickly as I would expect. I had to keep stirring the mixture to prevent it from getting burnt at the bottom. I would suggest using a big enough saucepan to boil the ingredients for the fillings...the first time I made this, I used a small saucepan and had to change to a bigger pot halfway! I hope this will be helpful for those who are keen to give this cake a try.