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Showing posts with label Cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cake. Show all posts

Thursday, 21 January 2010

Happy 2010!!!




Been ages since I've last updated this blog! I have been so busy moving house I just couldn't find the time :(

I made this cake for my niece who's born in December 2009. Since we visited them during Christmas I made a Baby Girl com Christmas Cake.

It's not my first time piping cream, but its definitely my first time piping patterned and coloured cream! I guess for the first time this isn't that bad right! hehehe

This is actually a Citrus Opera Cake. It's just as heavy as the normal Opera cake, but it went down really well! Some actually had second and third helpings even after a huge Christmas meal! I'm really glad they enjoyed it as I've adjusted the original recipe to this *feels proud*

Layer Combo:

Almond Joconde Cake
Orange Syrup
Cinnamon Buttercream
Joconde Cake
Orange Syrup
Lemon White Chocolate Ganache
Joconde Cake
Orange Syrup
Cinnamon Buttercream
Lemon Jelly
Chantilly Cream

I would probably find another chance to train up on my cream piping skill, after my new kitchen is fitted (in March! *sob*)


Note: I've decorated the cake with sugar balls the night before, huge mistake! The colours have melted into the cake, bah!

Thursday, 10 December 2009

Custard & Chocolate-Hazelnut Buttercream Chocolate Cake


~ October 2009~

Combo:

Dark Chocolate Cake (Recipe)
Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream
Custard Cream
Glazed Hazelnut


Recipe modifed from Vanlily's

Tuesday, 8 December 2009

Opera Cake



An early X'mas Cake for my husband's collegues.

Combo:
Joconde (Almond Cake)
Coffee Syrup
Coffee Buttercream
Joconde
Coffee Syrup
Chocolate Ganache
Joconde
Coffee Syrup
Coffee Buttercream

Served with Coffee Cream Anglaise (Coffee Custard)

Recipe from A La Cuisine who adapted her recipe from this book


I've used half of the amount to make an 8" round cake, and then trimmed it into the above shape.

With half the amount of Joconde batter I could make another 1-2 layers to be honest, but I ended up making thicker slices instead. Will make sure I'll keep the layers thin next time.

Also I should have soaked more syrup into each layer, the cake layer should be at least half soaked with syrup but mine are still really white.

This cake's total height should not be over 3cm.

Make sure you choose a good quality dark chocolate and coffee for this cake, any aftertaste such as sourness from these ingredients will come through.

I've deducted some sugar here and there as we prefer a less sweet cake. You can do so as well if you like.

The cake is quite heavy to eat on its own, but the custard has served its purpose in lightening the cake.

Sunday, 6 December 2009

Coconut Mousse Pandan Cake

~ October 2009 ~

Pandan cake with coconut cream, decorated with lemon Macarons. I tested the coconut mousse myself without a recipe, and added too much gelatine in it, but it still taste alright!

For the pandan juice (enough for 2 cakes)

If you use Pandan Essence, you can skip this step


8-10 Pandan Leaves, cut into small pieces
120ml Warm Water

- Blend the leaves and water together. Drain and keep the juice
- Use half for the following recipe, and you can either refrigerate or freeze the rest.


(Make 7" cake or 9" Bundt cake)

100g Weak Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
85g Caster Sugar
35ml Vegetable Oil
~60ml Pandan Juice or 1/2 tsp Pandan Essence
3 large Eggs, seperated
1-2 drops Green Food Colouring (if you like)
1/8tsp Cream of Tartar (I didn't use this)

Line cake tin with greeaseproof paper, or lightly grease the bundt tin
Preheat oven 180C


1. Mix flour, baking powder and 2/3 of the sugar, then sieve into a big bowl.

2. Add pandan juice/ essence, oil, egg yolks, and colouring (if you are using) into 1. then beat until there are no more lumps.

3. In a seperate bowl, Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Then, in 3 seperate times, add the rest of the sugar. Continue beating until the peaks are really stiff.

The mixing is done when 1) you can turn the bowl upside down without any of the mixture flowing down; 2) the point of the peaks stays pointing up. If it curls down, keep beating.

4. Fold 1/3 of the egg white into 2. The fold in the rest of the whites.

5. Pour the mixture into the tin and put this into the oven, close by the door. Bake for approx. 40 - 50 mins.

6. Once removed from the oven, immediately turn the cake and tin upside down and cool completely on a cooling rack.

7. Before serving, carefully use a warm knife to cut away the brown layers and discard them.

Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe from Leisure Cat (Edited)


Coconut Mousse

The amount of mousse you need depends on how you want to decorate the cake. You might ended up with extra, or you might need more.


65g Coconut Milk
25g Whipping Cream
Caster Sugar
1 Gelatine Leaf, soak in cold water until soft


Base on 1.2g gelatine leaves per 100g liquid. You can adjust the amount according to the packaging or replace with gelatine powder

1. Whip the cream until it reach soft peaks and leave in the fridge until needed.

2. Heat the coconut milk until it started to bubble. While its heating up, add a tsp of sugar at a time until it has reached your desired sweetness, bearing in mind that you will be mixing this with the whipped cream and eat it with the cake.

3. Turn off the fire. Squeeze out excess water from the gelatine leaf and quickly stir it into the coconut milk.

4. Remove from fire and leave to cool slightly.

5. Gently fold the whipped cream into 4. and set aside to let it thicken until its spreadable.

Make sure you don't leave it to set for too much or it will become lumpy when you try to spread this over your cake.

If it takes too long for it to thicken up, you can put it in the fridge and check it every 3-5 minutes, stirring the mixture each time.

6. Quickly spread the mousse on the cake and leave to set properly in the fridge.

Saturday, 5 December 2009

Delux Strawberry Cream Chocolate Cake


~ August 2009 ~

A luxurious chocolate cake, great to eat on its own, or with whatever topping! Its a big hit with my family and friends!

Delux Chocolate Cake recipe from Hong Kong blogger Vanlily's previous blog


(Make 18cm round cake)

160g 70% Dark Chocolate, broken in pieces
100g Unsalted Butter, diced
50g Egg Yolk
60g Caster Sugar (A)
100g Egg Whites
40g Caster Sugar (B)
32g Weak Flour, sieved
( I only know McDoughall's Super Supreme Flour is the correct type in the UK, there could be another one I'm not sure)

Line cake tin
Preheat oven to 170C


1. Heat a pot of water and keep it on simmer. Put the butter and chocolate in a bowl and put the bowl over the pot to melt the butter and chocolate.

2. In the meantime, Beat the egg yolk and sugar (A) in a big bowl until pale and creamy.

3. Remove 1. from the pot, and gently fold 2. into it.

4. Fold the flour into 3.

5. Beat the egg whites in a seperate bowl, and gradually add sugar B. Beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Fold 5. into 4. until just combined.

Do not overfold or the cake will become tough

7. Pour 6. into the lined cake tin and bake for approx. 30 minutes.

The cake is done when 1) you insert a skewer it will come out clean; 2) the top of the cake springs back when you press it gently with a finger

8. Remove from oven and cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove the cake and cool on a cooling rack.

For the topping here, I've fold Chantilly cream into slightly sweetened Strawberry puree.

Friday, 4 December 2009

Five Alive Citrus Burst Cheesecake



~ Summer 2009 ~

I used the Five Alive Citrus Burst juice to make this cheesecake, really refreshing!