Dress Up Chiffon

After indulging on chocolate cakes recently for all the celebration, i wanted to bake something "lighter" for hubby birthday. For such, a chiffon suits the best!
However a plain chiffon might looks a little simple for a birthday, more so its for my ah lau, must at least show some effort lol! After much cracking my mind,
tada...a dress up chiffon!

Fruity & refreshing! Goes well the soft & light chiffon.

I am submitting my second chiffon post to Aspiring Bakers #1: Chiffon Cake (Nov 2010) hosted by Small Small Baker

I generously added lotsa peaches in the chiffon for more fruity flavour.

Well, irregardless whose birthday, he will be the one sitting infront of the cake blowing off the candle! lol

on a side note, I'll be busy on the upcoming weeks with posting of dear son's PSLE results follow by a trip away with my family. I may not be posting nor reply to mails during my absence. 

Till then, happy baking!

水蜜桃戚风蛋糕

adapted from Orange Chiffon

福田淳子好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手

Ingredients:

5 Yolks

110g castor sugar

55ml Corn oil

20ml Can Peach Syrup mix with 75ml Water

130g Cake flour

7 Whites

*100g Can Peach (cut into cubes)

*whipping cream for dressing up chiffon

Method:

1. Preheat oven 180

2. In a bowl, whisk yolks with 1/3 of the sugar till pale in colour

3. add corn oil follow by syrup and water mixture.

4.next, sieve in cake flour, fold till combined. Add in the cubes peach

5. whisk white till foamy, slowly add in remainder 2/3 sugar till peak.

6. fold in 1/3 whites into yolk mixture

7. pour the above step 6 mixture to the remainder whites and fold in till combined. DO NOT over-fold as it will deflate the whites.

8. pour batter into 20" tube pan

9. Baking time 40mins

10. over-turn tube pan to cool

11. dress up chiffon with whipping cream

Hearty Bakes



紫薯戚风蛋糕

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #1: Chiffon Cake (Nov 2010) hosted by Small Small Baker.

Love the texture of this chiffon, very soft and moist.

Don't you think those cubes look very much like my birth stone, Amethyst?



Recipe Reference: Happy Home Baking

Thanks HHB for sharing this great recipe!

Close to my ♥

He pours me water whenever i cough.
He massage me everynight without fail to ease my tiredness.
He cuddles me up when he senses that i'm down.
tho he is not good expressing his feelings in words, but his action speaks it all how much he ♥ me.
He is my SPECIAL boy close to my heart, Jun.
Time flies, he is 8 years old today.



He has outgrow Sesame Street, the purple dinosaur, pokemon theme was used last yr. How abt ...
Yes! Joining in the celebration its the hilarious SpongeBob Square Pants!

Happy Birthday my sweet ♥ !

椰香小蛋糕

After a hectic month of exam fever, been busy with upcoming birthday celebration for ds2 and planning for holiday. Despite that i still bake everyday except not been able to update my blog as regularly as i want to, let alone visit my fellow blogger's home. Sorry peeps...

With lotsa back logs to post, let me starts with this yummilicious rich in flavour cuppies.

Indeed, very fragrance with fresh grated coconut & coconut milk used. Moreso when the fragrance waft the house while the cake metamorphose in the oven.  Take my recommendation. You will surely love it too!

Heading to the mall tomorrow for some shopping therapy, follow by baking marathon with a long list of to-bake for ds party. Not forgetting to deck our hall with christmas decoration *excited* 

Happy weekend!

♥        ♥        ♥       ♥

椰香小蛋糕

Ingredients:

100g Butter (soften)

60g Caster sugar

2 eggs

Milk 3tbsp ( i used coconut milk)

100g cake flour

1tsp baking powder

50g coconut powder

20g fresh grated coconut

40g raisins

20g fresh grated coconut (sprinkle on top)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180degrees celsius. Prepare paper cups or you can use paper liners on muffin tray.

2. In a bowl, sieve the cake flour, coconut powder and baking powder. Set aside.

3. In a mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar till light, fluffy and pale in colour. About 2 to 3 minutes with medium speed.

4. Add in the eggs gradually. Do not beat too long as mixture will curdles.

5. Add in the coconut milk. Follow by the seived cake flour, coconut powder and baking powder using slow speed. Beat awhile till batter is well-mixed. The batter should look creamy and thick.

6. Use a spatula, add in the fresh grated coconut and raisins. Stir till combined.

7. Spoon batter onto paper cups till 80% full.

8. Sprinkle some fresh grated coconut on top of batter and bake in preheated oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Recipe reference: 月亮

Going back to tradition

I grew up eating this eggy cake. My mum would whipped up the cake effortlessly within minutes without the use of mixer nor a recipe to follow but mainly by her agaration instinct! Gonna get her to show me her way one of these days as i re-enact my experience with her style.

brings back good old memories...



清蒸柠檬蛋糕

Ingredients:

lemon juice 3tbsp

lemon zest 3tbsp

salad oil 3tbsp

250g eggs

caster sugar 180g

cake flour 190g

baking powder 1/2tsp + 1/4tsp

Method:

1. Line 8" cake tin with one whole piece, round-cut baking paper.

2. Stir in salad oil (i used corn oil) with lemon juice and lemon zest in a bowl.

3. Beat eggs and gradually add in the caster sugar from slow to fast speed till colour turn pale and ribbon stage(when lift up whisk, batter slowly flow down forming ribbony traces) The volume of batter will increase.

4. Sieve in the cake flour and baking powder into the batter, follow by lemon juice +lemon zest & oil mixture (step 2)

5. Fold in gently using a hand-whisk till incorporated with no lump. However, be careful not to deflate the batter.

6. Pour batter into prelined cake tin. leave it at room temperature for 10minutes. According to Meng LaoShi, cake texture will be finer by letting the batter rest for 10minutes.

7. Meanwhile prepare steamer with water or alternatively if you do not have a steamer, you can use a wok filled with water to the level slightly more than the steamer rack. Cover wok let water boil.

8. Put cake tin in using medium heat, steam for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Recipe adapted from: 孟老师的话100道小蛋糕

                                    清蒸柠檬蛋糕

Serving up next, everything coconut!

play dough

Ironically, i have a love-hate relationship when it comes to bread-making.
The love for home-bake bread without the use of artificial bread softener, isn't laden with preservatives in comparison with commercial bread.  In contrary the hate for the many kitchen mishaps i encountered with especially in the early days when i first started. Not forgetting my farewell with my small mixer. However, with that lost, i gained a heavy duty mixer dh bought me. So by hook or by crook, don't you think i should work harder to learn the skill to show him money well spent *wink wink* My journey of experiments started since...
I have lost count the number of defeats with hard rock buns throwing on me! Stubborn dough stood me up many times when i'm trying to proof 'it', yet 'it' proved by not moving a wee bit!  Why oh why didn't Leonardo came to my rescue everytime my heart sank deep big time as titanic would!
Call me silly but i talk to dough! lol My countless interrogation with dear dough for not synergizing with me left none avail. Well, 'it' yet to give me a flavourable answer!
I have learnt that the quintessential part of bread-making lies with PATIENCE & PRACTICE! LOTSA! Just like i always say to my children in the process of learning. By far, of the few bakes i shared previously yields good results. At least i'm on my way for improvement & perfecting every trials as i understand dough better. My experiments continue till one fine day...

 'it' spoke to me! *happy dance*

I simply love the softness achieved using this method. I was on cloud 9!

With all the rave reviews of water-roux method, it has come to a point i must give it a go after my 101 trials tho the thought of anything requires cooking gets me cold feet!

Like mother, like son. Le enjoys play dough. For good, he gets to eat piping freshly bake bread. When tries turned out bad, he gets to play with the whole lot of dough happily without fighting with me for more dough. Afterall, not too bad yah, in exchange for hours of  fun and bonding with my precious.

for the leftover buns, i just piped nutella & almond slices. Tastes just as great!

 texture was indeed pillowy soft.

Yes, i'm gonna faithfully stick with this method for good, real good...and i'm loving it!



Tuna Fish Buns

Preparation:
1. Mix 1 can deli mayonnaise tuna
* try the black-pepper one, you will like it as much as i do if you prefer spicer.

* other option of fillings: minced luncheon meat, otah, tuna with sweet corn etc

2. Add some chopped onions and hard-boiled egg(cubed).    Set aside for later use.


3. Spoon mixture onto proof buns and sprinkle with sesame seeds and seaweed.


Water-roux recipe reference from book: 陳郁芬-’65°C湯種
Corner Cafe for detailed pictorial &  illustrations

湯種 Water-Roux Paste:
25g bread flour
125ml water

1. Mix bread flour and water in a small saucepan.
2. Stir constantly over low to medium fire until it reaches 65ºC (i  do not have a thermometer to measure this, my seek for agaration)
3. the paste will look thickened. you can see swirl traces from whisk. 
4. Remove from heat and place a cling film over paste. 
5. Leave paste to cool till lukewarm or room temperature. Alternatively, you can prepare this ahead by keeping in an airtight container after cooling. Store in the fridge for a day if you are not using it on the same day. However, do not use the paste if it turns grey in colour which likely gone bad. 

Bun Dough:
325g bread flour
150g plain flour
20g milk powder
50g caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
approx. 100ml lukewarm water (adjust accordingly)
75g butter (softened & cubed)
egg wash (1egg + 1tbsp of water)

For the Bun Dough (using mixer):
1. Sift bread flour, plain flour and milk powder and salt.
2. Add in sugar and instant yeast and mix well.
3. Add in eggs and water roux mixture
4. Gradually add in lukewarm water to form into a slightly sticky dough.
5. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
6. Incorporated in the butter and knead till dough can be stretched into thin fine membrane.
7. Shape the dough into a round ball and let it rise until double in size in mixer bowl, cover with cling film (takes about an hour in our warm weather).
8. To check if dough fully proof, use a finger press into the center of dough. If the hole remains, it means ready. If dough springs back , you have cotinue to prove the dough longer
9. Next, punch down to let out air in dough.
10. Divide dough into equal portions according to the weight you want.
11. Shape the dough into round ball and let it rest for another 10 minutes.
12. To make heart shape buns, shape buns into oval shape.
13. Cut a line in the middle using a knife on bun. bring the two cutted dough into center to form a heart.
14. Let dough final proof till double in size, estimate an hour.
15. Spoon tuna fish mixture on the center of proof-dough.
16. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and seaweed.
17. Brush with egg wash at the side of dough
18. Bake in pre-heated oven of 180deg C for about 12-15minutes or until golden brown.

Now, back to you. Give it a go & experience the beauty of home-bake bread. My ultimate bread by far. Happy Baking!

Upcoming post - -> Going back to tradition