My 2nd 3D Cake - Successful !!

When I bake with passion and love , my cake will be successful. However, this cake isn't baked by me . Haha ! It is baked by my MIL. I only made the fondant of Angry Birds !

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Happy Easter

Home alone on Good Friday prompted me to do some cupcakes for Easter Day on Sunday .... at least baking can take away my thoughts on some stuff ...

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Cupcakes with Fondant (MIL's recipe!!)

Thanks to my MIL, who spent a few hours demonstrating to me how to make delicious cupcakes .... I am proud to say that I can now make delicious cupcakes !!! Although I don't really have the mood, but I just need to bake for my 2 close buddies at work (Coz it is their birthdays) and the rests of my colleagues some cupcakes before I leave this company.

 

Ingredients:
- 200g of sugar
- 200g of plain flour
- 250g of butter
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 4 Medium eggs
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate
- 1/2 tsp vanilla

* For plain cupcakes : orange juics - 2 oz
* For Chocolate cupcakes : 200 - 250g choco chips (to double boil) & 2 oz of milk, Choco Emulco (1 tbsp)

Methods:
1. Mix Butter & Sugar using a mixer.

2. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla to the batter

* For Chocolate cupcakes:
- add 1/2 tsp of salt to the batter
- add chocolate chip mix (which was double boiled)
- add 1 Tbsp Choc Emulco

3. Add baking powder and bicarbonate into the flour & stir with a wooden spoon
* Plain cupcake - can add almond powder (30g)
* Chocolate cupcake - add 4 tbsp of chocolate powder

4. Add 1 egg at a time into the mixer at medium speed

5. Add Mix flour into the batter and continue to mix at low speed
* Plain Cupcake: Add Orange juice to the batter
* Chocolate cupcake: Add Milk to the batter

6. Put 36g of batter into each cupcake case

7. Bake 20 min at 175 degree celscius

Icing Sugar:
Add Meringue powder + 2 Tbsp of water + 500g of icing and 1/2 lemon

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Bibim Naengmyeon

Have you guys tried Bibimbap before ? How about Bibim Naengmyeon ? Bibim-naengmyeon is a dish of cold buckwheat noodles mixed with a spicy and thick red pepper sauce.

Lately hubby and I have been staying at home coz we need to save money, and we stumbled upon this recipe on the Korean channel . You can try out this recipe too! It is easy, healthy and best of all , CHEAP !

Recipe taken from Hansik website and modified accordingly (not sure what my hubby did). But here are the photos of the bibim naengmyeon he has prepared:

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Peach Layered Sponge Cake

I decided to bake a birthday cake for my dad's 70 years old celebration !! It was a miracle that my sponge cake came out quite soft . But it should harden after I put in the cream . I always fail in this step. Anyway, the recipe is taken from Happy Home Baking . I decorated the cake with some fondants which I created .

Ingredients:


(make a 20cm round cake)

4 eggs, bring to room temperature

100g caster sugar

4g salt

140g cake flour

30g salad oil** ( I used vegetables oil)

30g fresh milk



Filling & frosting:

1 cup non-dairy whipping cream ( I mixed some sugar in to make the cream sweeter)

1 can peach slices



Methods:

1.Sift cake flour, set aside. Grease and line a 20cm round pan, set aside. Pre-heat oven to 180degC. Position rack at the lower bottom of the oven.

2.With an electric mixer, whisk eggs and sugar & salt on HIGH speed for about 5 to 7mins, until the batter double in volume and is ribbon-like (the beater should leave a ribbon-like texture when the batter 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. With a spatula, gently fold in the flour until well blended.

4.With a spatula, mix about 1/3 of the batter with the salad oil in a separate bowl. Fold in this mixture into the remaining batter. This method will help to ensure the oil will be fully blended and at the same time will not deflate the batter.

5.Add in fresh milk and fold in gently with spatula.

6.Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Unmold and cool completely.

Assemble the cake

1.With an electric mixer, whip the whipping cream still stiff.

2.Slice the cake horizontally into 3 layers. Place one of the cake layers cut-side down on a cake plate. ( I only cut into 2 layers)

3.Spread the whipped cream over the layer. Arrange rings of peach slices to cover the whole layer. Fill with some more whipped cream. Top with the second cake layer, cut-side up.

4.Repeat step 3 for the second cake layer. Top with the third layer.

5.Spread the whipped cream over the top and side of the cake. Decorate as desired.

(**Note: Salad oil is a term which I have translated from the Chinese recipe. It refers to vegetable oil. You can use sunflower oil, canola oil, olive oil, as long as the type of oil you use doesn't give a strong smell.)

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Chocolate Cake with cute fondants

I decided to try making the awfully chocolate cake with some cute fondants again .. This time I made it for hubby's cousin, whose birthday is 4 days apart from mine : ) I deliberately made a girl fondant looking at the male fondant to hint his cousin to hurry get a girlfriend soon !!



Since it is Vday tomorrow, I decide to do some fondants for my colleagues as well . Look at what I have created !!!

My making of cute fondants skill is still very amaetur , wonder when I can be an expert .. SIGH !!



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My First 3D Cake

I decided to try making 3D Cake as I was inspired by a good friend's colleague's blog which I saw online. The cake didn't came out well ... but I tried my best . Should I perservere in this interest ? It was so tiring to do the entire cake! What was worse, was the washing up! It was so much tougher than baking other stuff. It was especially tougher after the colourful fondant stained all my baking equipments and the buttercream was  too oily for one round of washing water to be clean !!!! Arggg ...

Anyway, take a look at my first 3D cake , which I made for my brother's birthday on the 31st Dec ! He wanted a fruit cake, but I didn't know how to make it . So presenting to him a 3D Chocolate cake instead !!!

Hey the water (blue part), grass patch ( dull green part) and the house all have cakes hidden in them !! I wonder how they will taste with the OVERSWEET Fondant!

Thanks to the invention of internet, I have gotten my recipes for the fondant and buttercream from Wilton !


Recipe for Rolled Fondant from Wilton

Ingredients:


•1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

•1/4 cup cold water

•1/2 cup Glucose

•2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening

•1 tablespoon Glycerin

•8 cups (about 2 lbs.) confectioners' sugar, sifted

•Icing color as desired

•flavoring as desired


Method

1. Combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick, about 3 minutes. Place gelatin mixture in top of double boiler and heat and stir until dissolved. Add glucose, mix well. Stir in shortening; just before completely melted remove from heat. Add glycerin, flavoring and color. Cool until lukewarm.



2. In large bowl, place 4 cups confectioners' sugar; make a well. Pour the lukewarm gelatin mixture into the well and stir with a wooden spoon, mixing in sugar and adding more, a little at a time, until stickiness disappears. Knead in remaining sugar. Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands. If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time). Use fondant immediately or store in airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Use fondant immediately or store in airtight container at room temperature until needed. If storing longer than 1 week, refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before kneading. Do not freeze. When ready to use, knead again until soft.



Recipe for Buttercream Icing Recipe from Wilton:


Ingredients

•1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening


•1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened

•1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

•4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)

•2 tablespoons milk

Makes: About 3 cups of icing.


Methods

(Medium Consistency)


In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.


For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes

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