Swan Cream Puffs / Cream Puffs

I know I am always late... late for my postings...

Seeing my fellow baking friends whom had already baked cream puffs in September for the Bake-Along theme, Lena  and Mui, both of them had also attempted on the swan puffs. When I saw their puffs, I was envy, admiring how beautifully their swan puffs had been baked.

Recently, I had also saw some FB bakers, baking these swan puffs too... So pulled up my socks and started my challenge once again!!!!

These swan puffs recipes were adapted from Kevin Chai's. His recipe had stated 3-4eggs..., so I had used only 3eggs. I guess it would have been better to use 4eggs instead, as my batter was rather thick and it did not had the smooth, sateen feel...  Ended up the cream puff texture was abit tough, but overall was quite alright... :-D

So let me try 4 eggs in future...:-D

As I couldn't buy the instant custard cream, I had use the vanilla cream that I had used for the Hokkaido Cupcakes.

So how did I fare for these swan puffs?

Recipe as adapted from Kevin Chai's Dainty Desserts

Puff Ingredients:

200ml water

25ml fresh milk

80g butter

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

170g high protein flour(cake flour)

3-4 eggs

Method:

1. Combine water, milk, butter, salt and sugar. Bring to boil.

2. Add in flour, use a wooden spoon, vigorously stir over medium heat until mixture leaves side of pan. Remove from heat.

3. Beat the dough in a mixer until cool completely. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth and satiny.

4. Spoon dough into piping bag and pipe out a big rosette and swan's head & neck. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C(200C) for 25mins. Leave to cool.

Custard Ingredients:

100g instand custard powder

120ml fresh milk

200g fresh whipped cream

1/2tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Stir instant custard powder with milk, then combine with the whipped cream and vanilla essence until well-combined.

To assemble, cut the puff into half, trim the top layer to form wing shape and fill the bottom layer with custard.

Garnish with fruits, wings and head.

Dust with icing sugar.

Have fun:-D

Chocolate Chips Cupcakes 2

I had joined the Baking Wonderland Malaysia in Facebook, and from there, I have bookmarked lots of recipes in my phone... And I better updated those baked items into my blog before my phone is overloaded with all those recipes.

I had gotten this recipe from Michelle Heong from Baking Wonderland. These chocolate chips cupcakes were a delish! Soft texture... But 1 regret... I didn't add enough chocolate chips.. Hehehe, else it would have been heavenly delish with plenty of chocolate chips!!!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

100g Butter

80g Sugar (75g)

2 eggs

120g self raising flour (125g)

1 tsp baking powder (omiteed)

20g cocoa powder

50g chocolate chips (can use more)

Adequate chocolate chips to sprinkle on top of the batter.

Method:

1. Cream the butter and sugar until well combined. Adding 1 egg at a time and make sure they are well-blended in each addition.

2. Add the flour into the mixture, mix well.

3. Gradually add in the milk.

4. Fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 80% full, bake in a preheated oven of 150C (180C) for about 35mins.

Eggless Peach Cake ( Vegetarian)

I came across this eggless cake recipe yesterday, and I thought, this is quite interesting...

No eggs... And I thought, perhaps I can also change the butter to margarine instead. Making this cake, an eggless one, no cholestrol, and low-fat... How about that? A healthier choice for now???

I have used a 20cm cake tin to bake this cake. The texture of the cake while it was being baked, does not seems to be that pleasant. I was wondering, how would this cake turned out, since it's eggless plus using margarine...

Well, in fact, my worries are rather uncalled for, as this cake was suprisingly delicious!!!

Despite being eggless, the cake texture was quite good, you can get the crumbly cake texture, sweetness was just nice. And Mimi had a slice herself. She said it was yummy:-D

Here is the recipe as adapted from Alex Goh:

Ingredients:

(A)

200g butter

160g sugar (150g)

(B)

200g milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

(C)

240g plain flour

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Cream (A) until light.

2. Add in (B) in graduation, whip till light and smooth.

3. Add in (C), mix well until well-blend.

4. Pour it into 20cm round mould.

5. Bake at 180C for 50 mins. Set aside to cool. (I use 200C)

Decorate as desired:)

Have fun!!!

Hokkaido Cupcakes 北海道蛋糕

I had finally made my Hokkaido Cupcakes today... These Hokkaido Cupcakes had always been a to-bake list. And I saw this recipe from Baking Wonderland, one of this baker, Ann Chin, had this Hokkaido Cupcakes, and they were so pretty... So I decided I should try this recipe asap... And here we have, my freshly baked Hokkaido Cupcakes:-D

These Hokkaido Cupcakes were simply so delicious. Thumbs up!!!!

Cake texture was really excellent, soft and it melts-in-your-mouth texture.

As for the vanilla custard cream, it was really tasty too. I have used about 1.5 tsp of the vanilla essence and it gave the custard cream a very nice fragrant.

My girls, Nic wasn't keen, whereas Nat & Mimi tried the Hokkaido Cupcakes... So what were they reactions??? Nat liked the cupcake, but her favourite was the strawberry & especially the custard cream, and Mimi, she just ate the strawberry... -_-"

So here as originated from Ann Chin from Baking Wonderland:

(I have stated the English Version, not sure if they are correctly translated... hehehehe... pardon me...:-p)

北海道蛋糕食谱～Hokkaido Cupcakes Ingredients:

A = 牛奶(Milk) 135克，植物油(Canola Oil) 45克，幼糖(Sugar) 30克。
B = 低筋面粉(Cake) 135克。
C=蛋黄(Egg Yolk) 135克。
D= 蛋白(Egg White) 270克，幼糖(Sugar) 60克，塔塔粉(Cream of Tar Tar) 1/2tsp。

做法：[METHOD]1.将A煮至热（不需要滚），把低筋面粉加入拌匀，待凉后再加入蛋黄，要一边搅拌一边加入, 然后放一边待用。(Cook A in low fire(warm-do not need to be boiling stage), add in the B and mix well. After the batter has cooled, add in the egg yolks while whisking. Leave it aside for later use.)2. 把蛋白打至发泡加入半份白糖和塔塔粉，继续搅拌至蛋白呈现细腻才加入剩余白糖，
继续打至硬性发泡即可。(Beat egg white with cream of tar tar & sugar till stiff peak forms)
3. 把2/4蛋白加入蛋黄糊里搅拌均匀，再倒回剩余蛋白里，轻轻拌匀即可。(Add 2/4 of the meringue into the egg yolk batter, mix well. Pour mixed batter into the remaining meringue and mix until well combined)
4. 把面糊舀入纸杯里，7/8分满就好，然后以预先预热上下火180度的烤炉里，烤约15 分钟或至熟即可！(Pipe the batter into the cupcake cases till 7/8 full. Bake in a preheated oven of 180C for about 15 mins)
5. 待凉后才挤入香草奶油馅和装饰，然后冷藏才好吃的！(Once cooled, pipe in the vanilla custard cream into the Hokkaido Cupcakes and decorate as desired. Dust with icing sugar for the finishing touch. Chilled the Hokkaido Cupcakes as they are best eaten chilled:-D)
分量可做19个 (Recipe can yeilds about 18-19 cupcakes) 

自制卡仕达酱（香草奶油馅）(Vanilla Custard Cream)材料A:
蛋黄(Egg yolk) 45克
幼糖(Sugar) 40克
材料B:
低筋面粉(Cake Flour)10克
玉蜀黍粉(Corn Flour) 10克
材料C:
牛奶(Milk) 250克
幼糖(Sugar) 10克
香草精(Vanilla Essence) 适量(I use about 1.5 tsp)
材料D:
牛油(Butter) 20克
材料E:
Topping cream 100克

做法：[METHOD] 1. 将材料A打至浓稠（蛋黄颜色变白 ） (Beat egg yolks & sugar until white & creamy)
2. 加入材料B拌匀，备用。 (Add in B until well combined. Keep aside)
3. 将材料C煮滚，熄火，在把一半份量倒入2里，要一边搅拌一边倒入，
然后把以上混合物筛过后倒入剩余的热牛奶里搅拌均匀 (Boil C. Pour half of the boiling milk mixture into the egg yolk batter. Mix well and pour it back into the balance milk and mix well.
4. 继续用小火把以上混合物煮至浓稠即可，熄火后趁热加入牛油拌匀。(Continue to boil the milk mixture over low fire, stir till you get a thick consistant texture. Turn off the fire and stir in the butter till melted.)
5. 用保鲜膜盖在蛋奶酱上面防止表层结皮。待凉备用。(Use a cling wrap to cover the custard cream to prevent surface from skinning. Keep aside)
6. 最后，把材料E搅拌至看见纹路（类似湿性发泡）后，把它加入蛋奶
酱里拌匀再冷藏，就变成美味的自制卡仕达酱。(Lastly, whipped the topping cream till peak forms. Mix it together with the custard cream. Keep chilled before piping it into the cupcakes)

  

 So try these Hokkaido Cupcakes now!!!!

Apple Crumble Cupcakes / Cake

I had came across Kit's blog and her Apple Crumble Cake simply caught my attention. And I knew this is one of the cake I needed to bookmark and try to bake it...

And I wasn't wrong about it. These Apple Crumbles were indeed delicious...

I had made these Apple Crumble in cupcakes and a loaf of cake.

The texture of these apple crumbles were simply excellent!!! A soft and fluffy texture was all I knew the moment when I tried them.... Yummy indeed. Mimi had shared half of a cupcake with me, while Nic whom initially refused to try, said it was delicious too. I think these apple crumble will made one of the kids favourite as well. Even my colleagues whom had tried it, said it was very soft and delicious too.

 So what are you waiting for???

 This recipe yeilds 6 normal cupcakes and a 6"x3" rectangular loaf.

 Thanks to Kit for sharing this wonderful recipe:)

Recipe as adapted from I-Lost in Austen

Ingredients:

2 apples –cored & diced

60g ground hazelnut (ground almond)

80g raisins

3 eggs

140g  salted butter (room temperature)

130g powdered sugar (I use 100g)

200g flour + 1 tbsp

1 tsp baking powder

Rectangle baking pan

For crumble:

50g flour

30g cold salted butter

40g hazelnuts (chopped blanced almonds)

30g sugar



Method:
1. Greased  baking pan or muffin tin.
2. Combine flour & baking powder. In a large bowl beat butter & sugar till creamy. Gradually add in eggs , one at a time & hazelnut with flour mixture till well combined.
3. In a bowl toss to coat  diced apples & raisins with 1 tbsp of flour . Add in batter & stir till well combined. Pour batter in baking pan.
4. Preheat oven to 160°C. For crumble: In a bowl combine butter, sugar , ground hazelnut & flour. Cut the butter in with your fingers till mixture forms crumbs. Topped crumble mixture on batter evenly & bake for 1 hour.

Let's go to BKK (26-29 Sep 2012)

Hubby & myself went to Bangkok last year. But this year, the girls went along... They were all very excited, including my helper... Say Bye Bye to Singapore and let's go to BKK now!!!!

Welcome to BKK....I love BKK, of 1 reason is because they have a special clearance lane for travelers with young children, disabled, old folks. I'm impressed with this service they had...:)

This is Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the highest hotel building in BKK, about 81th storey tall. We had a room located at the 50th floor... Look at how spacious our room was with a huge bathroom as well. Of course, a nice nigth scenery... The lights in BKK...:-p 

 We started out our night at the night market below our hotel. Street food dinner followed by shopping and back to hotel to end our day....

BKK might not be a great place for young children but it definitely a shopping heaven for me and my helper, well, my girls too, we had all enjoyed our shopping adventure trip in BKK... hahaha!!!!

Shopping, here we come!!!!

 Day 2 in BKK, i had brought the girls to Siam Ocean World. It is a indoor aquarium located in Siam Paragon Shopping Mall. It is about 2 levels, with lots of interesting sea & land creatures. Some were an eye-opener for us.... We even had our 10mins fish spa, a boat ride + a 5D movie... Per Pax had cost me abt S$40 for adult.

 Swimming is a part of our itinerary in our holiday trips... The girls love the pool, the water. They really enjoyed it even though the water was icy-cold...!!!! Gosh, it had took me quite a while before imerging myself into the pool whereas the girls had just simply popped into the pool and started playing... -_-"

 These are some of the yummy street food not to be missed... This Banana Prata was awfully delicious!!!! Topped with condensed milk n chocolate syrup... yummy... They even had different flavors... which I had yet to try...

 These Thai desserts, made to be like "real fruits" which are made of green bean paste, the jellies, the mango with sticky rice, oh, and the homemade cream puffs...

 Time for massage!!!! Looks like Nic is enjoying very much, giggling while the lady massaged her... Mimi... just fiddling around...

 Time to go back to SG after our 4D3N trip in BKK.

Bye Bye BKK, we will be back soon... In Jan 2013???

Chocolate Marble Cake

I must say this Chocolate Marble Cake is one of the best that I had ever baked... Unlike some, this cake is not too oily and most importantly, this cake texture is very soft and fluffy. This cake remains soft even on the next day.

If you are a butter cake lover, this one will suits you well...:)

Here is the original recipe as adapted from GoodFood Magazine (August 2012 issue)

Ingredients:

225g butter, softened

225g caster sugar

4 eggs

225g self raising flour

3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:

1. Heat oven to 180C. Grease a 20-cm cake tin and line the bottom with a baking paper.

2. Beat butter & sugar, followed by the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Fold through the flour, milk & vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth.

3. Divide mixture between 2 bowls. Stir the cocoa powder into one of the mixture, mix well. Take 2 spoons and use them to dollop the chocolate & vanilla mixes into the tin alternately. Take a skewer or knife & swirl it around the mixture to create a marbled effect.

4. Bake the cake for 45-55mins. Turn out on a cooling rack and leave to cool. Will keep in 3 days in an air-tight container.

Passionfruit Chiffon Cake

I have been so lazy... I haven't been baking for probably a month... Been feeling too relaxed with my holiday to Bangkok last month, and busy waiting for my next one in November to Taipei... Gosh am I so excited!!!!

Today I suddenly got the mood... The mood to bake... hehehehe...

And here we have, a Passionfruit Chiffon Cake!!!

 I have already wanted to make one but I hadn't had much chance to buy the passionfruit till my colleague helped me bought a pack of them from the supermarket..:))

 So these passionfruits are compliments from my colleague, Carol... :-p

(pardon my passionfruits as I has left them too long in the fridge, thus the "wrinkled"skin)

And to my surprised, this passionfruit chiffon cake was awfully delicious!!!! 

The sour taste of the passionfruit had complimented well with the whole chiffon...

  And they are sooooooo soft & fluffy....

But this chiffon cake ain't my girls' favorite as there are "seeds" inside the chiffon cake... hahahaha....

Recipe as adapted from

Fruity Cakes by Alex Goh

Ingredients:

(A)

4 egg yolks

50g sugar

1/4tsp salt

50g canola oil

50g passionfruit pulp

20g water

(B)

100g cake flour

1/2tsp baking powder

(C)

4 egg whites

100g sugar

1/8tsp crream of tar tar

Method:

1. Mix (A) until well blended. Add in (B), and mixed well until well combined.

2. Whisk egg whites in (C) until soft peak forms. Add in cream of tar tar & sugar. Continue whipping until stiff.

3. Take 1/4 of the egg white meringue from Step 2 and mix with the mixture in Step 1 until well combined. Add in the remaining meringue and fold until well blended.

4. Pour the batter into a 22-cm chiffon tin and bake at 170C for about 40-45mins.

5. Immediately invert the cake tin after removing it out from the oven and let it cool completely.

Hope you will like this Passionfruit Chiffon Cake as much as I do:-D

Have fun!!!