Matcha Azuki Chocolate Entremet

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! 

For some reason, I'm beginning to find a renewed interest and excitement over Chinese New Year since I got married. Somehow it's fresher and more interesting for me this year compared to the last.

I'm not posting a New Year bake today, rather I am sharing a Matcha Azuki Chocolate Entrement I made for my beloved hubby's birthday. I used the same recipe here, added more azuki beans this time round and swapped the matcha powder amount around (10g for the whipped cream and 5g for the mousse), and it turned out beautifully well. The texture of the mouse was lovely, and my hubby and family loved the strong matcha taste coupled with the slight sweetness of dark chocolate and azuki beans. 

I was heartened as they don't normally enjoy the cakes this much, but they definitely did this time round. If you're looking for a good and easy matcha entremet to put together within a day, this would be one recipe for keeps :).

Matcha Rolled Cake

Happy New Year everyone! How has 2014 been so far?

For me, it's been pretty eventful. I have 2 work trips lined up for the next 3 months and I'm partially hesitant about going cause of the freezing cold temperatures in other parts of the world. But nonetheless, it's exciting as I get to travel to places I've never been to before. I'm feeling pretty positive about the New Year and hope yours will be good as well :).

Following the last rolled cake I made here, I was inspired to improve on it and make an even better one. Hence here it is, a simple variation made with matcha and filled with vanilla bean creme chantilly and peach slices. The result was delicious, I loved it myself and hope my friends who shared it with me enjoyed it too.

As usual, I'm pretty bad at cake decor hence I just piped creme chantilly on top of the cake and sprinkled it with snow sugar and matcha powder.

Matcha Rolled Cake

Adapted from Cakelets and Doilies

Ingredients:

For the rolled sponge

Part A- egg yolk mixture:

3 egg yolks

30g castor sugar

60ml milk

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

40ml vegetable oil

70g cake flour

10g matcha powder

Part B- meringue:

3 egg whites

30g castor sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

For the sugar syrup

10g castor sugar

20ml hot water

For the creme chantilly

150ml whipping cream, chilled

18g icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Fresh fruits of your choice (I used peach)

Method:

To make Part A- egg yolk mixture:

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius (or 150 degrees celsius fan-forced). Grease and line a 28cm x 28cm flat square cake pan with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and creamy.Combine milk, vanilla bean paste and oil in a small bowl. Add to beaten egg yolk mixture and whisk at low speed until just combined. Sift flour and matcha powder over egg mixture, and whisk at low speed until smooth and well-combined. 

To make Part B- meringue:
Combine sugar and cornstarch. Clean and dry the whisk thoroughly, and in a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add half the sugar-cornstarch mixture and continue beating for a few minutes, then add remaining sugar-cornstarch mixture and beat until egg whites are glossy and stiff peak form.Add one-third of meringue into egg yolk mixture from Part A. Fold in lightly with a spatula to loosen the mixture a little. Then add the rest of the meringue and fold to incorporate completely.Pour batter into the prepared pan, spreading the mixture evenly and smoothing the top with a spatula. Lightly tap the bottom of the tray on the work surface.Bake for 14 minutes until the cake has risen slightly and feels springy to the touch. Remove from oven. Turn sponge straight from oven onto a sheet of baking paper. Peel off baking paper from the bottom of the sponge. Cover with baking paper, then a damp tea towel. Set aside to cool completely.

To make sugar syrup:
Dissolve sugar in hot water. Set aside to cool.

To make creme chantilly:
Combine cream, icing sugar and vanilla bean paste in a clean bowl. Place bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and water. Using an electric mixer, whip cream at medium speed until stiff peaks form but cream is still smooth.

To assemble:
When the cake is completely cool, brush sugar syrup over the cake, followed by the creme chantilly and fresh fruits. Roll up the cake around the filling. Wrap the cake and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Coloured Rolled Cake

This is the season to be jolly, and I'm inspired to create all sorts of pretty and edible desserts for the numerous celebration parties that I've been going to.

For the gathering tomorrow, I'm bringing a Coloured Rolled Cake. Who else would have thought of this besides the Japanese? They make all things look so kawaii, even a simple swiss roll. I adapted Junko's rolled cake recipe from Cakelet's and Doilies' blog. This was a breeze to make and the texture of the cake was fabulous - soft and spongy, just the way I like mine to be.

I think I was a little too heavy-handed on the colouring as it turned out bright pink and green when I wanted it to be pastel in colour. Oh well, lesson learnt...next time I'll be slower to add in the colours :).

I whipped up a simple creme chantilly and lined the sponge with mandarin oranges, all rolled and into the fridge within an hour! The next I make this I'll probably opt for a custard based cream with bananas in it...perhaps with polka dotted sponge! I get excited thinking about all the various combinations I can create with a simple rolled cake :).

Here's another picture of the cake - all sliced up and ready to go!

Oooh...how I miss baking once again. There will be more posts to come...I promise! 

Blessed Christmas 2013

It's been close to a year since my last post, and many things have happened since. Here are just a few to share:

1. I have...gotten married! Yes, no longer single and with all the time in the world to do the things I want :). But good nonetheless!
2. I have...changed jobs again! In a new role, new industry, not far from what I dreamed of doing...but it is reaaal tough >.<
3. I have...grown another year! Looking forward to an exciting new season and year ahead of me, hopefully with more time to bake and photograph and eat and experiment!

This Christmas, my husband Darren has decided to whip up a sSteak as the main course, with Garlic Baguette and Minestrone Soup as the starter. And I did a simple Rose Coconut Cherry Ice Cream topped with Cocoa Nibs to finish off the meal. The grape juice we had from Montalto Wineyard of Victoria Australia was the best I've ever had. It definitely capped off a sweet Christmas meal with the family.

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas. And not to forget the reason for this celebration is because we have an even more wonderful Jesus, the baby born one blessed night that gave us the greatest Gift of our lives.

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

To the Happiest Year Yet

Durian Swiss Rolls

What a ride it has been in 2012 - a year that's been full of ups and downs, yet God's fingerprints are still all over it. I went for Hillsong Conference, the London 2012 Olympics, got proposed to and had opportunities to do the things that I love...what more can I ask for? :)

I ended the year with a gathering with my kingdom friends. It was a potluck party and our small group brought along some Durian, Coffee and Pandan Swiss Rolls from Rich & Good Cake Shop, as well as made Peri Peri Chicken Wings with Nando's Peri Peri marinade.

Will leave you with the pictures to enjoy while I wish you all a very Happy New Year! 

It shall be an even better year yea? :)

Pandan Swiss Rolls

Peri Peri Chicken Wings

Peri Peri Chicken Wings

Nandos' Peri Peri Sauce

Christmas Cookie Pops

As usual, I come back once in while when there's an occasion to bake for *grins*. How I miss fiddling around in the kitchen and creating pretty and yummy goodies for all to share. Christmas is always the season for baking. Everyone's in a celebratory mood, regardless of race of religion, gift giving happening everywhere and we are all expecting a better year of us - what more can we ask for? Such a joyous mood calls for joy inducing treats too, and this year I decided to make cookie pops!

Inspired by Happy Home Baking's post, I set out to look for the bakeable M&Ms...but I couldn't find them anywhere! I remember we use to see them in the supermarts and baking shops, but somehow they just disappeared when I wanted to use them again. Sigh. Anyways, I substituted them with Ghiradhelli Chocolate Chips (more yummy than M&Ms for sure!) and Roasted Hazelnuts. And boy, they turned out very yummy indeed!

I adapted the recipe from this link, didn't search very far or wide due to the shortage of time, and I am real glad it turned out very well. Once baked, I simply wrapped them with clear plastic wrappings, put on the "handmade" sticker I bought from Japan some time ago and tied a ribbon round the stem. They look pretty cute don't they? :)

Can't wait to see my friends' reactions when they see this. I am getting very excited myself! Hahaha...

Hope you having a wonderful Christmas too, enjoy the year end holidays!

Pandan Chiffon Cake - A Singaporean Childhood Favourite

Was just watching Liverpool vs Arsenal on TV earlier, it was painful to watch (mebeing a Liverpool fan) that I switched off my TV set and decided to blog instead. Recently, 2 of colleagues departed from the company and the week seemed like a week of farewell - saying our goodbyes and well wishes to each of them. It felt sad, yet at the same time happy for them to be moving on to a new and better place. And in the midst of that, I also received a couple of requests for chiffon cakes, so here goes :).

Singaporeans first knew chiffon cakes in pandan flavour. Personally, I never knew other flavours existed till I started baking. I love its light, fluffy texture with its gentle sweetness that makes eating this feels like a treat! Having seen my mum gone through her fair share of chiffon cake failures, I never dared to try making it, though the Pandan Chiffon Cake has always been my favourite. I tried a couple of Pandan Chiffon Cake recipes following the success of my Chocolate, Marbled & Yuzu Tea Chiffon Cakes, but they never quite satisfied my tastebuds. Yet at the same, I had to make one by Monday...hence I picked a new recipe by Chef Judy Koh of Creative Culinaire and hope that it works out well eventually.

The recipe was easy to follow, but the cake batter turned out too little for my 22cm pan. I would recommend using this recipe on a 20cm pan instead, as I prefer my chiffon cakes tall :).

Guess I'll have to wait with bated breath till Monday to find out how it tastes! Since I can't cut it in advance now >.<.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

5 pandan leaves, finely chopped

3 Tbsps water

48g egg yolk, from about 4 small eggs

70g castor sugar

1/8 tsp sale

20ml corn oil

36ml thick coconut milk (I used the chilled version that is more suited to my tastes)

1/4 tsp pandan paste

54g cake flour

120g egg white, from about 4 small eggs

1/8 cream of tartar (i replaced this with corn flour)

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

2. Blend the pandan leaves with water to a fine pulp. Wrap the pulp in muslin cloth and squeeze to extract the juice. Discard the pulp and set aside the juice.

3. Whisk together the egg yolks, 30g sugar, salt, corn oil, coconut milk, pandan paste and pandan juice until well incorporated.

4. Sieve the cake flour into the pandan mixture and continue to whisk till smooth. Set aside.

5. Whisk the egg whites till foamy, add the sugar and cream of tartar and whisk till stiff peak form.

6. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the cake batter, 1/3 at a time, until well incorporated.

7. Pour the batter into a 20cm tube pan and bake for 40 minutes.

8. Remove the cake from the oven and invert it on a rack to cool before removing from the mould.