Pretty pink and white :)

Pink and white, is a colour combination, I'm sure, that can't go wrong. It's either you like it or you don't. You can tell from my blog that I love this colour combination, and this is likely what you will see in my kitchen. Hehe. I'm contemplating to do a pink coloured glass backing for the backing of my kitchen countertop, to match my white kitchen concept and pink kitchen aid. ;) To digress a bit, I've finally purchased the kitchen aid that I've been dreaming. It's going at $741 now during the Great Singapore Sale at Mayer Marketing, with complimentary $50 voucher, to be used within three months without any minimu purchase. I'm not sure if this is the best deal that I can get though. Check it out at Mayer if you are interested now. :)

The contractor told me he had never done a pink glass backing before. So, it's like a risk we are taking. I'm not that adventurous yet, so I've asked my contractor to get a sample of the glass backing to have a look before deciding. Hopefully it turns out pretty. Otherwise, I'll likely go for the safer colour -- white. :P

This cake was made the day after I attended the cartoon cake workshop at Sugar Inc. I thought it's a good chance to put to good use what I attended the day earlier since it was still fresh in my memory. Why not a cartoon cake? You might be wondering. Well, somehow the chocolate could not harden and the cartoon-design chocolate transfer was a disaster. I wonder why. Till now, I am still confused over the use of the types of chocolate to be used in baking. Conveture chocolate, it seems, is not good for piping as they don't dry out that easily. Anyone can advise?


I had to make do with a simple frosted cake with simple wordings. The coating was still not to my expectation. But I'm happy that I succeeded in the making of italian meringue buttercream. It was smooth, creamy and stable, best if it needs to withstand for hours in room temperature if I'm making for my friends. :)

Practice makes perfect in perfecting a technique but I wonder when will be my next frosted buttercream cake. *lol*. Hopefully in my new kitchen soon :P

Happy Birthday to Hubby!

This year, I'm celebrating birthday for Mr Fong, my dd, as a wife / Mrs Fong! There isn't much difference actually. In fact now that we are married, we tend to make things simpler, unlike during those days of courtship. How I miss those days! hehe... I often tell hubby that we have to remind each other to continue to be lovey dovey even after 10, 20 years later... hopefully! It's not that we are not now, just that as we move into different stages of life, such as planning for our home and marriage, we have to be practical, such as saving money for the neccessities. For birthdays, we would usually buy each other what we wanted, instead of buying something that is not practical and we may not like / use it. I don't mind cute stuffs which could be impractical, but not for my hubby. So, I have not bought his birthday present. I will probably pay for our short trip to genting soon then. :)

Another difference is that since we are married, it is hard not to get involved in each other's family's outings and gatherings, even though we may prefer to spend time or certain occasions together with only the two of us. No difference from previous years, I would bake hubby a birthday cake and this year, since his family are celebrating for him and his sister together (their birthday is two days apart), I made a birthday for all to celebrate together.

I decided on a strawberry mousse cake, recipe from Judy Koh's published VCD. I used my newly bought 8-inch round cake ring which was too big for the recipe I was using, hence I baked it a second round, only to realise that the mousse I prepared was not enough for two layers!I had to make do with a really short cake. I also bake the sponge fingers so that I can prevent the mousse from melting by the time we reached the restaurant.

My mother-in-law liked the cake, much to my surprise because she does not have a sweet tooth. I believe it's the tangyness of the strawberry mousse and lemon juice that made it refreshing. I was not quite happy with the texture though as I find the mousse a little too stiff for my liking.

Pretty cake boxes from Daiso. :)

Hubby mentioned he does not like mousse cakes as much and this is the first time I knew it. But still, I have to practise the making of mousse... bear with me ok.. :P

Easy Chocolate Fix - Chocolate Madeleine

I was reading dailydelicious's blog the other day and awed by her beautiful dessert photos, I began to read little more. That was when I read her post on the madeleines she made and struck me that I had only used my madeleine silicon moulds once since the day I bought it. I'm sure that's not surprising to most of you... buying cute baking gadgets out of impulse and hardly use. :P For me, baking stuffs are never an impulse because I think they are really worth it even though I hardly use them. Worth the buy as they makes me happy and I will motivate myself to use it. ;) Back to these cute little seashell cakes, they are so easy to put together and is another alternative to muffins if you to have a quick chocolate fix. Unlike most madeleine recipes that calls for whisking the eggs using a mixer, this recipe works like the muffin method by combining the wet and dry batter together. I supposed this method works better for chocolate madeleines, as I don't see this method in other madeleines, probably because most people prefer a denser texture for chocolate flavours? That's my guess! :) The recipe is none other than dailydelicious mini chocolate madeleine and I've also found a similar recipe at Cuisine Paradise's blog too.


I'm using a silicon mould but I've read that for madeleine, it is better to bake it in a traditional madeleine tray as it browns better. Do remember to butter the mould generously to prevent any peeling of the cakes when you removed from the mould.

Though I received funny remarks about the hump, I thought the hump looks really cute... don't they? :P

I am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #7 - Chocolate Delight (May 2011). This time I shall not missed sending the email to DG. :P

Happy Chocolate Month!

Say Cheese again!

This post almost didn't manage to make it here.

I didn't managed to bake a baked mango cheesecake the previous round so this time round I did it. I was looking forward to a piece of delicious, firm piece of good yummy baked mango cheesecake after returning home from shopping. When I unmoulded the cake from the pan, something wasn't right. The digestive base seemed wet than usual cheesecake, and when sliced, the cake seemed more like a custard rather than the usual firm baked cheesecake. I thought chilling in the fridge would work but it doesn't seemed to be. I began to doubt whether adding fresh mangoes in a cheesecake is a good choice because the mangoes lose the fresh mango taste and tasted eggy instead.

I was upset, that I still didn't manage to eat my mango cheesecake! But I have no one to blame but myself, for I tweaked the recipe. I found this recipe at Heidi's blog - An Appetite For All Things Good. As i had the Marigold Peach and mango yoghurt, I decided to replace it for the double cream. I thought that since it was similar to another mango cheesecake recipe using mango yoghurt, it should not do much damage?

For a second, I thought that recipe wasn't that good as what Heidi claimed but later I guess it was my wrong substitution of ingredients, because double cream should have been much more creamier, and I had really made the wrong choice by replacing with yoghurt. It was only later that I realised that the other recipe using mango yoghurt had less liquid content than this, which explains why mine was rather wet. So... it goes another learning point, never substitute ingredients frivolously.

Although this cheesecake wasn't give-worthy, I still kept it in the fridge, and had a few mouthfuls. The taste was not that bad actually. A few days later (yup, it didn't go bad, no sour taste so I suppose it's fine), when I eat it again, to my surprise, it tasted so much better. The texture was more firm and creamy. But I dare not give it away, for fear of stomach upset for some. Unfinished ones were thrown away.

Contemplating whether to submit to Aspiring Bakers #6: Say Cheese! , in the end, I decided to. I believe the original recipe should not go wrong if you followed it and don't tweak so much like me. The above picture was taken the day after baked, it was firm, but a little wet. It's just another mango cheesecake recipe for you to consider, and for myself to document. :)

Updates: I just realised I'd forgotten to email Jean to participate in this month's contest. :P So eventually I didn't participate even though I mentioned I will be submitting. Sorry! :P

No-bake Mango Cheesecake

This mango season sees the sprouting of many mango bakes in the blogsphere that I think readers are all spolit for choice on the variety that one could do with this tropical fruit.

Mango cheesecake was the first thing that came to my mind whenever I thought of baking with mangoes, for I've been eyeing this mango cheesecake recipe in one of the issue of Food & Travel Magazine. I bought a block of cream cheesecake some time back, planning to bake a birthday cake for my girlfriend but plans changed and it had been sitting in the fridge till now, waiting for me!

I set a day to bake a mango cheesecake. I told myself I had to do it before the cream cheese expire. With that, I bought everything, getting ready to make it when I got home. But but, I was too tired when I reach home that day. :( I almost wanted to give up making the cheesecake. In the end, I decided to make something simpler instead, and opted a non-bake cheesecake, which I think would be easier and less tedious.

Sometimes, I really have to salute to some bloggers out there who could make really beautiful birthday layered cakes or pastries with such patience and passion. Although I have been baking for quite a few years, baking cakes for my friends and family, I felt my standard has remained stagnant. I just wished I could have more time, more energy, more patience to be involved in my hobby. But I couldn't do that because of my work committments. But, I do see some coping well and could still bake, cook and take care of their children despite a full-time working lady. I really wonder what would happen if I were to have a child next time... :P My colleagues have been telling me that there's no way I could bake if I have kids, given our current workload.

So, well... I guess there has to be a give and take... if time is limited, you can't possibly do everything well and there's something you got to sacrifice... like how much time you are prepared to spend on your hobby, and how much committment you need to spend on your work, and how much sleep you want to and can sacrifice. It's all about time management and juggling well on your career, family, hobby... the worklife balance. Anyway, sorry for digressing so much and lamenting on all these. Thoughts just came pouring.... :P

Anyhow, I believe the work and effort that you put in will eventually reap its rewards. After receiving the promotion letter yesterday, at least I felt more comforted, that at least the time and effort I spent was worth it. ;)

Back to this no-bake cheesecake, it was not really a success. After letting it set in the fridge for about 8 hours through the entire night, the cheese custard was still rather soft and not firm enough. I believed it was due to the gelatin that was not fully dissolved when I melted it, hence forming some clumps which I discarded. I remembered I used to make a non-bake strawberry cheesecake many years back and the texture was like jelly!

mmm.... I really need to practice more on such frozen desserts like as mousse and non-bake cakes. I always seem not able to get it correct... arghh.

Although this mango cheesecake didnt set as well as it should be, the taste was great and it indeed melt in the mouth, as what Happy Homebaker advised. The sad thing was, about half of it was wasted because I tried to bring to the office for my colleagues to try but it ended up in a melted mash. :P

I'd initially wanted to submit this post to the Aspiring Baker #5: Fruity March, but on second thought, decided not to as I didn't manage to take a nice picture of it, and the unsuccessful attempt with it. But rest assured the recipe os trusted, cos' it's from Florence's Chilled Mango Cheesecake. ;)

Marble Butter Cake

December till March is always the time of the year I love most. It's a time of festive season, crossing over to the new year of resolution and a fresh start, then we have the Chinese New Year, followed by Valentine's day and my birthday which falls at the end of February. :) It's the time when friends and families would make it a point to get together, have a good meal, be it Christmas, Chinese New Year... and it's a time with lots of baking!! :D

It's the time of the year when I can still have the excuse to go shopping, to eat and indulge a little without feeling guilty, because once March kicks in, I know that hey, I've had all the fun and it's time to get serious and work hard (smart?). Less excuse not to work overtime (if need be), no more excuse not to exercise and keep myself in shape...

The first week of March has passed, and I've got to face the reality. It's also time for me to make an appointment with the bridal studio for gown fitting soon :) , and I've told myself that after February, I must put in effort to stay trim and fit! But... looks like I've not. Good food is too hard to resist :P Anyhow, this post is dedicated to the marble butter cake I baked for my birthday. Since last year, I have stopped asking for a sara lee pound cake from my mum. Instead I chosed to bake my own. I don't really like butter cakes but since my mum like it, I baked it as a treat for her. I've added a pink colouring to create a three tone marble cake. I think it looks pretty but from the photos it's not very obvious. These are two of the best photos I managed to take. ;)

I wanted to try a new butter cake recipe from Okashi Treats" by keiko ishida but in the end I took the recipe from Aunty Yochana's tri-colour marble cake as I wanted to use the self-raising flour which I hardly use.

The result is lovely. Soft, tight crumbs and very buttery smell.

Of course, I had my birthday cake as well, eaten three birthday cakes for my birthday! How can I keep trim? :P

Cranberry Almond Butter Cake

Looking at this messy cake, it may probably not attract one to want to have a try at a piece. But... i can guarantee you that you will regret if you do not try it, especially if you love nuts or anything nutty.

As the name suggest, this cake uses almond meal. I made my own almond meal by grinding whole almonds (with skin) in a blender, hence the almond meal containes traces of the skin in brown which makes the cake prettier and more rustic.

The original recipe uses candied orange but I replaced with cranberries, since I still have a packet of it. My mum don't usually like to eat dried fruit but she like this cake, to my surprise! Because it's full of almonds and cranberries, it crumbles easily and is difficult to get a perfect slice.

This is the top but I flipped it upside down to get a more even top.

There, you see all the almonds and cranberries!

Cranberry Almond Butter Cake

Ingredients:

Blanched almond slivers/chopped whole almonds

60g cranberries

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

85g ground almond (almond meal)

90g icing sugar

25g cake flour, sifted

35g melted butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Lightly grease cake pan with a little softened butter.
2. Spread almonds at the base of the pan in an even layer.
3. Combine eggs and egg yolk and beat lightly. In a separate bowl, combine ground almonds and icing sugar and stir lightly. Add 1/3 of egg mixture to almond mixture and beat with an electric mixer. Repeat with remaining eggs until mixture is light, fluffy and pale. Do not over-beat.
4. Add flour and cramberries to the egg-almond mixture and fold in well.
5. Add melted butter and fold in thoroughly.
6. Pour batter into prepared cake pan (18-cm round pan) and bake for about 40 minutes.
7. When done, remove cake from cake pan and cool on wire rack.

Recipe adapted from: "Okashi Treats" by keiko ishida

This is a no fuss recipe and in fact you don't require a mixer. All you need is just to bear the mixture thoroughyl but not over-beat. Would you like to make your own? :)

I shall stop here as I'm taking some precious time to blog. Time to bed for me. I'm always hoping for sweet dreams of cakes, desserts, pastries.... ;)

Steam black sesame cake

I was trying to find ways to finish the bottle of black sesame paste which I first bought to make a black sesame chiffon cake.

I began googling for recipes using black sesame... and that brought me Florence's blog who's also in my blog list. Black sesame steamed cupcakes-- oohh that's perfect! Just what I'm looking for, a simple recipe that can be done without much hassle. I spent much time though trying to smash the black sesame paste which had turned dry at the bottom after storing in the fridge for a months.

The cake turned out great! It was not too sweet, with a subtle black sesame taste. Somehow steam cake is a hit with older generations. Hubby's parents and my parents love it, despite the unattractive colour. I thought they would not be receptive to new flavours (their favourite would be those good'o steamed egg sponge cakes!) :) Do take note that steam sponge cakes doesn't keep well, probably due to the moisture from the steaming so it's best to finish it within two days. ;)

Have you starting your CNY cookie baking? Well, I'm planning to start this weekend. Enjoy!

Rum & raisin cream swiss roll

HAPPY 2011! I am sorry that this came rather late but for those who have not pop by my blog, or those who comes in later, I sincerely wish everyone good health and have had a great start for the new year.

I just wrote my resolutions a few days ago, there were like about ten of them. I would say the long-winded me has been repeating these every year. I am proud to say I have achieved something for each resolution I make, probably 30-50% of what I've resolve to do / change in 2010, so I hope I can achieve 100%, or 80% this year. ;) To resolve to do / change / have something is a slow process, so make it small, and detailed in achieveable steps, so you won't feel disappointed at the end.

I wish everyone would have a positive mindset, this rules everything. Easier said than done, but I believe it's possible. :)

I made this swiss roll just before the christmas in 2010. I was expecting a gritty buttercream frosting because that was what I got whenever I made simple buttercream frosting using butter and icing sugar. This recipe by 孟老師的美味蛋糕卷 was amazing because the end result was a smooth buttercream without the gritty, coarse texture of icing sugar at all. I did take quite some time to cream it as the recipe requires you to slowly add in milk/liquid a little at a time, while beating it buttercream mixture with an electric beater. The sponge cake recipe, using the chiffon method was very soft and bouncy and hubby could immediately tell that it was those chiffon cake texture! He is picking up some knowledge on cakes! You are great, hubby Fong! :D

I added some rum into the cream and spread some raisins on it.

Just after rolling......

More swiss roll recipes on the way, stay tuned. Meanwhile, here's the recipe which you mau like to try before the CNY baking. ;)

Simple Rum & Raisin Buttercream Recipe

Ingredients:

80g unsalted butter

20g icing sugar

40g milk cooled at room temperature

10g rum

Method:

1. When unsalted butter has softened, add icing sugar and mix with the butter using a spoon or a spatula.
2. Using an electric beater, beat the mixture (starting from slow speed and progressing to high speed) until soft and fluffy. The colour should be pale white. You may have to scrape the bowl often with a spatula.
3. Add in milk and rum a little bit at a time, and continue beating with low speed until all the liquid is used up. (You can replace the milk with 50g of whipping cream. According to 孟老師, the flavour would be great).

Swiss Roll Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

85g egg yolks (about 4.5)

25g castor sugar

45g canola/any vegetable oil

45g milk

85g cake flour

170g egg whites (about 4.5)

85g castor sugar

Method:

1. Beat egg yolks and 25g of sugar with an egg whisk until sugar has melted and mixture is even.
2. Add in oil and mix well, followed by milk and mix everything well with the egg mixture.
3. Add in the flour (sifted) all at once into the mixture and mix well with the egg whisk to form an egg yolk batter. Set aside.
4. Make meringue. Place egg whites into a clean bowl and beat until foamy. Add 85g of the castor sugar in three or four additions, and beat until egg whites are glossy and stiff peaks form.
5. Add egg whites (meringue) into the egg yolk batter in three additions, folding after each addition gentle with a spatula, until they are well incopororated.
6. Pour batter into prepared swiss roll pan, and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for about 12 minutes.
7. When done, unmould the cake and let it cool on a wire rack.
8. When cooled, spread buttercream on the cake and roll it gently to form a swiss roll. Chill it in the fridge for about half an hour before serving.

Recipe adapted from: 孟老師的美味蛋糕卷

Basic Vanilla Pound Cake

My mum always loves buttery cakes but I will try to refrain from making it or use a lighter version with lesser butter because of her cholestrol level.


This pound cake was made just before a family gathering so that I could divide and pack it for my brothers and their family individually. I think this is the first time I made a pound cake using the same ratio of flour, sugar and butter. It sounds scary when I see the ratio of butter and sugar used but I believe the key to balacing between health and indulgence is to eat in moderation. It would not do good to your health if you are eating too much of only one kind of a healthy food.

The cake did not turn out as fluffy as I'd prefer and since its the first time I'm making a pound cake, I am not sure if I got it correct, as it was rather dense, but soft nonetheless. It is plain enough for those who love just absolutely plain butter cakes like my mum. I don't think I would make this often but maybe once in a while for my mummy. :)

Vanilla Pound Cake

Ingredients:

150g pastry/cakeflour

1/8 tsp baking powder

150g unsalted butter

150g icing sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3 eggs (about 150g)

1 tsp vanilla extract (priginal recipe uses 1 lemon, grated for its zest)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170°C.
2. Line cake pan with parchment paper. Sift flour and baking powder together twice.
3. Beat butter, icing sugar and salt together in an electric mixer until light, fluffy and pale. Gradually add eggs and beat well.
4. Add flour and baking powder mixture and fold through completely using a spatula. Surface of the batter should be glossy and smooth.
5. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and make a lengthwise dent in the middle with a spatula. Bake for about 50 minutes.
6. When cake is done, remove from the baking pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

Recipe adapted from: "Okashi Treats" by keiko ishida

Chocolate Swiss Roll

I'd mentioned in my previous post that I've tried one swiss roll recipe from 孟老師的美味蛋糕卷. There you go, a soft moist swiss roll cake base that my boss commented it tasted better than P***ar. ;) But i did some cheating. :P I didn't male the cream myself. Instead I used store-bought hazelnut cream that was left from my making of praline paste. I believe the hazelnut cream played a big role too. I'd attempted to make white cocolate cream but somehow it didn't came out successful. I'm sorry I really could not recall what I'd done that resulted in my failure. That's the problem when I had backlogs and waited too long to blog. I simply couldn't remember :P

I really enjoyed making, eating and looking at this swiss roll. It makes me doubly happy when people are happy receiving a piece of chocolate cake. :D

You may find my posting getting shorter at times cos' of my work committments and other personal activities I have. I'd definitely keep my baking going as much as I can but as for blogging, I'd still try to keep this blog going to document my journey and sharing recipes whenever I can. :)

Chocolate Swiss Roll Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

30g unsalted butter

25g fresh milk

200g whole eggs, beaten (about 3.5)

20g egg yolk (about 1 egg yolk)

95g castor sugar

60g cake flour

15g cocoa powder

Method:

1. Sift cake flour and cocoa powder. Set aside.
2. Melt butter with milk over a double boiler or microwave. Set aside.
3. Beat whole eggs, egg yolk and castor sugar with high speed until light and creamy. When the beater is lifted, it leaves a trail that does not disappear immediately. Continue beating for another 1 minute using low speed to stabilise the batter.
4. Fold 1/3 of the sifted flour into the batter and mix well.
5. Fold the remaining flour into the batter until the flour is well incorporated.
6. Scoop a small portion of the batter into the melted butter-milk mixture in step two and mix well briefly. Then pour the mixture back into the batter and mix well, until the butter and milk mixture and batter are well combined.
7. Pour into a 36cm by 26cm swiss roll pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 12 minutes. When the surface starts to turn brown, i would usually tent with an aluminium foil to prevent the surface from turning too brown, as it may crack during the rolling process. (Some swiss roll pans that comes in a square is 26cm by 26cm. You can mutiply the recipe by 0.7. For a pan of 43cm by 33cm, you can mutiply by 1.5)
8. Turn out baked sponge cake onto a cooling rack and allow it to cool before spreading onto the cream.

I will post the recipe for the cream should I make it next time. You can use any creams e.g. ganache, whipping cream, whipped or butter cream, as you desired. :)

Roll, roll, roll away...

I was on a swiss roll baking fenzy few months back after I bought this chinese book 孟老師的美味蛋糕卷 by Elyn. When I received the book from my mail box, I was so thrilled and really love the book so much that I began reading right from the beginning on the introductory and tips on swiss roll making, and flipped through the pages over and over again, just to drool at the beautiful pictures of the swiss rolls. The book wasn't light, but I did not mind bringing the book to work so that I could read it while I'm travelling to work on the train, after which I would complain that my bag was too heavy and why on earth am I bringing such heavy book to work.

The funny thing was, despite I love this book, I only tried one of its chocolate swiss roll recipe, and it was superb! However, that was not what I am blogging about for this post. I'd wanted to go according to date to blog about the earlier two swiss rolls again from "Okashi Treats" by keiko ishida. I think this was one of a cookbook which I had attempted most of the recipes, due to the well written recipes with clear instruction and pretty pictures. I have to admit I'm very visual when it comes to cook books and food.

This was a basic sponge swiss roll. The ingredients are so simple that I doubt it would turn out anything fabulous. But I attempted this because on that day, I was tempted to bake a swiss roll, but was lazy or press of time (I couldn't remember) that I just wanted to find a simple recipe that would not require beating twice in separate bowls (if using the chiffon cake method). I contemplated for quite a while before finally decided to give it a try. I have confidence in her recipes, so I thought I should be able to churn out a swiss roll, the only thing was the texture. Without oil, butter, milk or any cornstarch but just three basic ingredients - 3 eggs, 60g castor sugar and 50g of pastry flour (sifted twice), and beating as you would for a genoise - beating eggs and sugar over a double boiler until light before folding in the flour. Wouldn't the roll turn out dry? So I believe you would now know why i hesitated.

So how did it turn out? Well, it was dry, but was quite soft and roll-friendly. Haha.. As you can see from the texture, the texture is quite coarse, due to the lack of oil/butter and milk as a tenderiser. This recipe, as used in Keiko's book, is for a banana swiss roll, where the roll is wrapped over a banana, and can be used for cake base or cake layers. In fact this recipe exist as one of the basic recipes at the front pages. So, I shouldn't have used it purely for a swiss roll. It would be better used as a base such that the sponge itself doesn't take centerstage of a piece of cake. :)

Alright the other swiss roll that I made was this dark brown sugar swiss roll with white chocolate cream. Using dark brown sugar, this swiss roll has an interesting taste that doesn't feel too sugarly sweet. The texture was soft and fine and just one bite into it, my friends' comment was nice! :) What I like about this recipe is that althought it separates the egg whites and yolks, it doesn’t require you to make the egg yolk batter and meringue separately as you would for a chiffon cake. You make the meringue, fold in beaten egg yolk, followed by the flour and melted butter, all in one bowl. This method is new to me as it is not introduced in any one of the 5 method introduced in 孟老師的美味蛋糕卷, yet the texture was really soft, moist and easily rolled without cracks even though I rolled it with the baked surface on the outside.

The sad thing was I didn’t allow the white chocolate cream to chill overnight, causing the cream to melt soon after it was out of the fridge. :(

I'd recommend this recipe for those who have been making a swiss roll but have yet to try a method like this. :)

Recipe for white chocolate cream

150g whipping cream
50g white chocolate

Recipe for sponge cake

40g pastry flour
15g rice flour
40g unsalted butter
70g dark brown sugar
4 egg whites (about 140g)
20g castor sugar
5 egg yolks (about 90g), beaten

Method

1. Prepare white chocolate cream one day in advance. In a saucepan, bring whipping cream to a boil. Place whie chocolate to a boil and pour hot cream over. Wait for 30 seconds, then stir the mixture with a spatula until smooth. Set aside to cool, then chill in the refrigerator to overnight.
2. On day of baking, preheat oven to 200°C. Line a sheet of swiss roll pan with parchment paper. Sift both flours twice.
3. Melt butter in a double boiler or microwave. Set aside.
4. Make meringue. Place egg whites into a clean bowl and beat until foamy. Add castor sugar and 1/3 of the brown sugar and continue beating for a few minutes, then add remaining brown sugar and beat until egg whites are glossy and stiff peaks form.
5. Add beaten egg yolks and fold lightly. Add flour and fold gently with a spatula, then add hot melted butter and fold through.
6. Pour batter into a prepared pan and spread evenly with a scraper. Bake for 10-13 minutes.
7. When done, unmould the cake from pan and place into a plastic bag to cool. (The recipe says it can be kept in the plastic bag until the next day if you do not intend to roll it that day).
8. To assemble, whip white chocolate cream until light and fluffy using an electric handheld mixer. Turn cooled sponge onto a clean work surface. Peel off the parchment paper and spread the whipped cream evenly.
9. Gently roll up the sponge to make a swiss roll. Chill in the freezer to allow the swiss roll to set before slicing into pieces.

Recipe adapted from: "Okashi Treats" by keiko ishida

Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

Baking a strawberry shortcake for one of my sisters, Kexian had been on my plan way before her birthday. When I saw the recipe from "Okashi Treats" by keiko ishida, I knew that would be the one I gonna make for her. See the strawberry cake below that I'd made for her years ago before I started baking intensively. Haha I don't think anyone of you (my sisters) remember this?? I can't remember which year was that also! One thing for sure is, despite my lousy baking and decorating skills, you all were always so supportive. :)

I don't know was it a fortunate thing that I got a little helper this time - my nephew. :P I was worried that he would mess things up cos' I knew he just wanted to play and I also have to give him instructions which I thought, things would move faster with me doing it alone. ;) Nonetheless, he's a great help to me in double sifting of the flour and I could see him enjoying himself as he mixed the batter for me and weighed the ingredients. But he soon got bored after a while and I caught him pouring some remaining flour intothe bowl without sifting! Children are indeed so clever nowadays!

I used to call him "my little nephew" but he is not now. He is going to primary one next year and he is a big brother to his younger brother, who is more playful than him!

He was imitating me by also flipping through the recipe book. :)

The recipe was beautiful. I hardly had a sponge cake that came out perfect with no cracks.

...and the sponge cake texture was extremely soft and crumbly. I don't think for this recipe, you can slice the cake into three layers otherwise the layers would break apart. As stated in the recipe, I sliced into two layers. As the texture was very soft and spongy, it absorbed the syrup very well, just like an absorbant sponge. After chilling, the sponge cake taste very refreshing, and remains moist and soft.

The two layers was sandwiched with vanilla cream and fresh strawberries, frosted with freshly whipped ream.

The cake was being transported the entire night, from Demsey Hill's Dome Cafe, to Ben and Jerry's, who didnt allow us to celebrate birthdays by bring homemade cakes. It finally settled at Marina Barrage. Luckily it survived and remained chilled. ;)

This cake was a success! Birthday gal loves it. :D :D

Japanese-style Strawberry Cake

Ingredients for Sponge Cake:

• 115g pastry flour (I used cake flour)
• 170g eggs
• 130g castor sugar
• 15g glucose
• 30g unsalted butter
• 45g fresh whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for vanilla cream:

• 150g whipping cream
• 15g castor sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4g gelatine sheets, soaked in ice water to soften
• 20g fresh milk

Ingredients for whipped cream:

• 200g fresh cream
• 15g castor sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Line cake pan with parchment paper. Sift flour twice.
2. Beat eggs with a whisk, then add sugar and glucose. Place bowl over a double boiler and mix well.
3. When egg mixture is warm, use an electric mixer to beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and continue beating for about 1 minute.
4. Place butter, milk and vanilla in a bowl and place over a double boiler until the butter has melted, stir through to mix.
5. Add 1/6 of egg batter to butter mixture and mix well. Then add butter mixture to remaining egg batter and fold through evenly. Sift flour into bowl and fold using a spatula until batter is glossy.
6. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until cake has a bouncy texture at the surface. Remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool.
7. When cooled completely, trimmed off the top crust, and slice the cake horizontally into two layers.
8. Place one layer on a flat tray and brush evenly on both sides with 1/3 of the sugar syrup (to make syrup, use 25g castor sugar and 50g water). Set aside.
9. Make vanilla cream. Whip cream in a chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Place milk, sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add softened gelatine and mix well. Let milk mixture cool to about 30°C. Add milk mixture to whipped cream and fold until just incorporated.
10. Slice strawberries (about 300g) lengthwise. Spread vanilla cream onto the layer that was brushed with the sugar syrup, then topped with strawberries. Place the other cake layer over and press down lightly. Chill in the fridge for a few minutes to set.
11. Make whipped cream. Whip cream, sugar and vanilla in a chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Cover cake with whipped cream and garnish as desired.

Recipe adapted from: "Okashi Treats" by keiko ishida

ENJOY! ;)