Walnut Cake

Confession- I have not bake for quite some time... Anyway, suddenly felt like having some walnut cake and decided to look for a recipe and bake one. Found the recipe from Alex Goh's Book on Cakes. Asked hubby if he would like some cake but he said no. Nevertheless, I still decided to go ahead and bake it. I'm glad that I managed to bake it as it was just right. According to hubby, it was the best cake I've baked so far. Hmm... but then he always seems to be saying the same thing :P 

For me, the texture of the cake is quite smooth and soft. The sweetness of the cake is just right. I will definitely use this recipe again :)

Walnut Cake

Recipe for Walnut Cake (Adapted from Alex's Goh)

Makes a 6-inch round cake

Ingredients:

(A) 

Butter 100g

Sugar 10g

(B) 

3 egg yolks

(C) 

3 egg whites

70g sugar

(D) shifted 

80g flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp milk powder

(E)

80g chopped walnuts

50g chocolate chips

Additional walnuts to decorate the top of the cake

Method:

1) Cream (A) till light. Add (B) and whip till light and smooth.

2) Whip egg whites in an oil-free bowl till foamy. Add in sugar slowly and continue to whip till stiff.

3) Mix the 2 batters till well blended. 

4) Fold in the flour and mix well. 

5) Add in the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. 

6) Pour into a greased cake tin. Place some walnuts over the top. 

7) Bake at 180 d.c. for about 40 minutes of till skewer comes out clean.

My Favourite Cake

This is my all-time favourite chocolate cake from Four Leaves. I've bought this for Jerome's birthday before I knew how to bake and decorate cakes. Yes, I bought my favourite cake for Jerome so that I can eat it :)

What I love about the cake is between all the rich and smooth chocolate cake and chocolate moose, there is a crispy layer. Don't know what's that. The next time I eat this cake again, I'm going to 'dissect' it and find out exactly what it is. Going to try to 'duplicate' it at Sheryl's Kitchen :P Anyone knows what's that crispy layer?

Wedding Anniversary Cake

I happened to find out that Jerome's sister is celebrating their 1st Wedding Anniversary today so I decided to make them a cake yesterday. His sister , who's based in the States, is staying with us with her husband for a couple of weeks. Honestly, I've ran out of ideas on how to decorate a cake... And I'm not confident of using mashmallow fondant to cover a cake. Is it going to be awfully sweet?

A simple 'Love-ing' Cake

Anyway, I hope that the lovely couple would like the cake :)
Have a happy marriage and do come back and visit us often :)

More Longan & Strawberries Cakes

Went to visit 2 friends I've not seen for a few years, now happily married with a 17-month toddler. I decided to bake them a cake. And of course, since the longan & strawberry cake was a hit last Friday. I decided to make another one two :) One for my friends and another one for my dear hubby who had complained that I didn't make 1 for him last week.

It was great to meet up with my friends again after so long... Life's been good and well, all of us put on a little weight since the last time we met... There was a lot of catching up to do and I do hope to meet up again soon, maybe during the next school holiday?

They had a slice of cake each and remarked that I should take orders for the cake :)
Well, I'm just a home baker, baking just for fun :) but glad that they've enjoyed the cake.

Longan & Strawberry Fruit Flan Cake

Longan & Strawberry Fruit Flan Cakes

Strawberry & Longan Fruit Cake

Made this cake for a friend's birthday. It is an improved version of the logan & lychee fruit cake I've made last Sunday. See how strawberries brighten up and add colour to the entire cake? Well, red and white also happen to be Singapore's national colours. So for a birthday's celebration that's so close to National Day (9th August),  this cake is just right.

I'm pleased with how it looked and tasted. The birthday gal couldn't believe I could create such a cake. She remarked, "No wonder your husband keeps you at home..." 

Durian Durian Cake

I had some durian cream left from making the durian puffs on Sunday so I decided to use them to make a small Durian Cake on Monday. It was similar to the one I did for Jerome's birthday last year but I think it looks better now :P And what do you call a durian cake that looks like a durian? A Durian Durian Cake?

Durian Durian Cake

To assemble the cake (serves 4-6):

1) Bake 2 small heart-shaped sponge cake, using only 2 eggs. (The tins are from Daiso). 

2) Cool the cakes.

3) Sandwich the cakes with a layer of durian cream (durian puree & whipped cream mixture) and chunks of durians flesh. 

4) Cover the entire cake with butter cream and chill.

5) Pipe lines on the edge of the cake and the middle to create the 'inner skin' of the durian.

6) Mix some green butter cream and pipe the thorns on the sides of the cake using a star nozzle. 

7) Pipe the durian cream onto the top of the cake to resemble the durian flesh.

8) The cake is best enjoyed chilled. :)

Preparing for Goh Family Gathering For Tea

Last Sunday, we had the Goh family gathering at our place. This was really a rare occasion when all the family members gathered. The last time was during our wedding 4 years ago. Jerome's younger brother and family returned for a 3 weeks visit from Perth, Australia. He is a lecturer at Curtin University. Jerome's elder sister ,who is an A/Professor at Ohio State University,  returned from Ohio, USA for a month visit.

The family gathering consisted of 9 adults and 5 children. Jerome felt that it would be difficult to manage a proper meal (lunch or dinner) for such a big group. So far the largest I've managed was a dinner for 8 adults during Mother's Day and another dinner for 6 adults and 2 children for my Father-In-Law's birthday.  Our dining table just can't accommodate so many people at one seating. Hence, Jerome decided that we would just have a gathering for tea. He wanted to tabao some curry puffs and other stuff from Old Chang Kee. He didn't want too much trouble and wanted to keep things easy.

But his wife was grabbing this opportunity to try some new recipes... and to do more baking... :P

On Friday afternoon, it was my most productive day.
 I made some choux pastry and baked some puffs and eclairs shells.

Puffs Shells

Eclairs Shells

After that, I baked a jar of double chocolate chips cookies. 

A jar of double chocolate chips cookies

After dinner, I went on to bake some cinnamon buns. 

This is a tested recipe and I know that the children love them.

Soft Cinnamon Rolls hot from the oven...

We spent almost the entire day out on Saturday and returned home only after dinner. I only had time to bake a sponge cake. And I had no idea on how to decorate the cake yet. I had forgotten to buy strawberries and that was the easiest way to decorate any cake...

Sunday morning, I woke up at 7.30am and it seemed mission impossible to get everything ready for tea at 3p.m. At this point in time, only the cinnamon rolls are ready to be served after some heating in the oven. 

First I whipped up some fresh cream and made some vanilla cream and filled up the eclairs. Then I melted some chocolate and covered the top. Item #2, the vanilla cream and chocolate eclairs, on the menu done!

Vanilla Cream & Chocolate Eclairs

And since I had some vanilla cream left over, I decided to use it  on the sponge cake. And in between working on the durian puffs, the logan and lychee fruit cake was born. 

Logan & Lychee Fruit Cake

And shortly after, the durian puffs were also ready.

Durian Cream Puffs

It was 10am and I had the following ready:

1) Cinnamon Rolls

2) Logan & Lychee Fruit Cake

3) Durian Puffs

4) Vanilla Cream & Chocolate Eclairs

5) Chocolate Chips Cookies

And I still had the most important thing that I needed to do... my first attempt at puff pastry for Portuguese Egg Tarts! While I was busy folding my puff pastry, Jerome was involved in a minor accident where he 'smashed' his own feet with the bench while vacuuming the floor. There was a huge swell on his foot and I almost wanted to call for an ambulance. I finally felt the importance of having a license to drive. After 2 ice packs and the swelling has gone down a bit, I finally completed my Portuguese Egg Tarts!

Portugese Egg Tart 

with Flaky Puff Pastry Skin and Caramelized Egg Custard

Everything was new except the cinnamon rolls which were tried and tested...

Anyway, I was ready to serve tea :)

Longan & Lychee Fruit Cake

This was another 'production' for the Goh family gathering for tea on Sunday. Baked a sponge cake on Saturday night and was ready to decorate it with fresh cream and strawberries but I have forgotten to buy the strawberries and I was so busy doing & baking other stuff to make another trip to the supermarket to buy it. So I looked inside the cupboard and found a can of lychees and a can of longans. And I decided to try something new... Longan & Lychee Fruit Cake! Was keeping my fingers crossed as I didn't know how it might eventually taste. 

It didn't look spectacular, really kind of plain. Fortunately, the taste was its saving grace. My mum-in-law was praising it. Jerome said it was the best cake I've made so far. He seemed to be saying this all the time :P Jerome had 2 slices and I wished I had too... 

How to Make a Fruit Jelly Top Cake/ Fruit Flan Cake?

1) Bake a traditional sponge cake. Allow to cool & chill , then cut it horizontally into halves.

2) Whipped up some fresh cream (whipped topping cream).

3) Spread some fresh cream on half the cake. Place cut lychee chunks generously over the fresh cream. Spread more fresh cream to cover the lychees. 

4) Place the other half of the cake on top. Cover the entire cake with fresh cream. Chill.

5) Prepare the jelly mixture. Boil the syrup from the can of logans with additional 100ml of water. Add 20g of instant jelly powder. Stir until solution is clear and remove from heat. Allow to cool, but not solidify.

6) Place an adjustable cake ring around the cake and arrange the longans or other fruits on the cake. 

7) Slowly and gently pour the jelly mixture over the cake and fruits. 

8) Chill in the fridge till the jelly set. Remove the cake ring. 

9) You might want to add baked almond slices around the sides of the cake.

10) Enjoy the cake chilled :)

Strawberry Cake

What happens when you were just given 2 hours notice that there will be guests coming for a home visit in the late afternoon? I baked a sponge cake and decorated it with freshcream & strawberries. I've also offered the cinnamon rolls that I've baked last evening :) Glad that everyone loves the cinnamon buns. The cake was brought home as there were lots of fruits. Think durians, mangosteens, rambutans... tropical fruits that are difficult to find in Australia :)

My Oven

This is my humble oven that I use for baking cookies and cakes :)

Jerome bought it a couple of years back. The in-built oven in the condo kitchen was spoilt as I didn't use it often enough. The repair guy came and said that we need to change the heating element in the oven and that cost a few hundred dollars. Of course we didn't change it as I didn't use the oven often then. But I've always thought that an oven is an essential piece of equipment in the kitchen. Well, at least for me. On the other hand, I don't have a microwave at home. Had wanted to get a smaller oven, but Jerome kept saying no as I don't really use it.

Then on my birthday, when I returned home from work, Jerome said he got me a big present and led me to the guest room. There on the bed was a huge box covered by the blanket. There was a 'birthday card' right on top. It was an A4 piece of white paper with "Happy... Birthday, Babe!" written with a black marker. He was grinning and wanted me to guess what he got for me...

I looked at him, smiled and said without hesitation, "An oven." 

He said I know him so well...

I thanked him for getting me a present that I wanted...

I like my oven. It has served me well. It's still in very good condition. 

I like it... but not really as a birthday present... 

Ermm.... it's like the rice cooker is spoilt, your husband bought a new one and said it's your birthday present...

I've been telling him that I like a Cuisinart Kitchen mixer. 

Now I doubt he's gonna get me one for my next birthday. 

Life's not perfect, but it's still good...

My Wilton Cake Decorating Tool Box

Actually invested this tool box last year as I got into cake decorating. Was thinking of signing up for a Wilton Cake decorating class but spent the $ on investing on the tools instead. Jerome has his toolbox for fishing and I've got my own toolbox too!

The box came with some basic tips and food colouring... 

More room for expansion...

I need to practice more on my own...

Party Cupcakes

A friend in school wanted to order a cake for 20 pax for the children in her programme. I suggested cupcakes instead. Easier to eat and I've always wanted to try decorating cupcakes. I took a lot of trouble to prepare the order now that I have the time to spare. I went to B-I-Y store at Bukit Timah to buy some cupcake trays and a Wilton 1M decorating tip just to make the big buttercream swirls on the cupcakes.

I probably spend more money on the cardboard box and cupcake trays than the ingredients for the cupcakes. $11 for 4 plastic cupcake trays... That's expensive plastic! Was hopeful to get the trays back so that I can use them again... Jerome said I'm a lousy business woman if I'm thinking of earning some money here. Definitely not worth the time and effort. But I told him it's really for fun!

Anyway, I had 6 cupcakes left and we just had some for tea earlier on :) Yummy cake, but honestly that's a lot of buttercream... It would be great to use whipped fresh cream instead but I just wonder if it could have survived the transportation.

Pastel pink, super sweet ...

Chocolate Cake with Strawberries

Made this simple chocolate cake covered in choclate ganache and strawberries for my sister SL's birthday back in April. I'm glad that she love her cake :) A year older, a year wiser... Aim for the stars!

Mango Fruit Flan Cake

Baked this mango fruit flan cake yesterday to celebrate my father-in-law's 70th birthday. Nothing fanciful like a peach shaped cake, this is what I can manage at the moment. It's been a while since I baked and decorated a cake. Been too busy at work. Anyway, since I'm going on leave again, I'll be back to baking, cooking & blogging soon :P

Mango Fruit Flan Cake

I think it's difficult to cut the mango into uniform slices and lay them nicely on the cake. So I cut them into cubes instead.  Somehow, the sponge cake turned out to be really soft and fine yesterday and my mum-in-law commented that it was the best that I've baked so far, better than a store-bought cake that they just had the day before. This cake is just right after a steamboat. Jerome was disappointed that I didn't keep any cake left for ourselves. So, I've promised to make another mini mango cake just for him. 

It's great to be baking again :)

Christmas Yule Log Cake

Wishing all a Very Merry Christmas! Here's my first attempt at baking a Christmas Yule Log Cake! :) Baked the cake yesterday complete with the frosting and just added the decorations this morning. Going to bring the cake to Jerome's brother's home for dinner this evening. I had great fun making making the cake. I just hope it'll taste good too!

My first Christmas Yule Log Cake

Classic Chocolate Swiss roll with chocolate cream filling and chocolate butter cream frosting.

Recipe is from Chocolate Yule Log from Allrecipes.com.

Cake board is covered by royal icing and a layer of icing powder to resemble snow.

Trees are made from melted white chocolate, tinted with apple green.

Snowman, snowflakes & mushrooms are made from gum paste.

Castella (Katsutera) Cake- Japanese Honey Sponge Cake

After baking 4 cheesecakes in 2 weeks, I've decided to surf around for something else to bake. Finally, stumbled into The Little Teochew and saw her incredible pictures of an velvety smooth Castella Cake that I knew I have to try baking.  I don't think I've eaten a Castella Cake before, so let's just do it!  The recipe was taken from Just Hungry. 

What was special about the recipe was that there was no butter or oil in the ingredients list. This is the first time I've baked a cake without them. Just eggs, sugar, honey, milk and flour. Little Teochew/ Jo used bread flour while Just Hungry provided an option to use all-purpose flour or bread flour. I have my own reserves about using bread flour for baking cake, worried that the end product may be very tough. Jo had to steam her cake to soften it. Hence, I've decided to use all-purpose flour, hoping to get a soft cake. 

A slice of Castella Cake

Not so smooth with lots of pores but at least it tastes much better than it looks.

The light was extremely light & spongy with the sweet fragrance of honey. Hmm....

Not very nicely cut too although I've used my sharpest knife :P

Wonder how some people manage to cut their cakes so professionally???

I imagine myself sitting in front of a cake, with my whole collection of knives, trying to perfect my cut...

I think I'm getting fixated at cutting cakes!

Whisking eggs and sugar over a pot of hot water.

This is another unique requirement for baking the Castella Cake.

I have halved the recipe, using only 4 eggs instead of 8.

The batter almost filled my loaf tin to the top.

 I was worried about the batter overflowing during baking but Just Hungry said fill it to the top. 

So keeping my fingers crossed... 

Looking not too bad after baking...

The holes were made from the skewer to test for 'doneness'

Although I've made a smaller cake, I still require the same amount of baking time.

After getting the cake out of the oven, I brushed some honey glaze (honey mixed with some hot water) over the top and the top of the cake started to sink in! I quickly placed the cake back into the oven, hoping to rescue it. After it cooled down a little in the oven, I used cling-wrap to cover up the cake and put the entire cake + tin into the fridge to cool it totally. This step was important according to Just Hungry as it helps to keep the cake moist. 

Well, I just had some slices of cake for breakfast and they're cool, soft & moist. I didn't have to steam it to make it any softer. But I still hope I can achieve the look of Jo's version of velvety cake with micro pores someday. But for now, I still get to enjoy my version of the cake. :)

Baked Cheesecake Recipe

This cheesecake reminds me of my all-time favourite Coffee Bean's Chicago Cheesecake that melt-in-the-mouth. without the base though. I actually like the crispy biscuit base but Jerome doesn't. Anyway, I'll be baking this cheesecake often :)

(adapted from Patsie Cheong's)

Makes 1  7-inch round cake

Ingredients:

(A) 

250g cream cheese, at room temperature

4 egg yolks

1 lemon rind

4 tbsp/ 60ml milk

(B) Sift

40g all purpose flour

40g cornflour

(C) Whisk 

4 egg whites

150g castor sugar

(Tip: Eggs are easier to be separated when it's fridge cold but are easier to whisk & beat when at room temperature. So separate the eggs first and allow to come to room's temperature.)

Method:

1) Beat the cream cheese till smooth & creamy with an electric mixer. Add egg yolk, 1 at a time and beat till well incorporated. Add the lemon rind and mix well. Slowly stir in the milk last. Mix well.

(Tip: If cheese is cold, the batter will be lumpy. So remove the cream cheese from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.)

2) Fold in the flour mixture (B) in 2 additions. Mix well and set aside.

3) In a grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites till frothy. Add in sugar gradually and continue whisking till white & glossy.

(Tip: For proper whisking of egg whites, make sure that the bowl & whisk is free from grease & egg yolks. 

4) Fold in the whipped egg white into the cream mixture, half at a time, till well mixed.

5) Pour batter into a lightly-greased 7-inch cake tin with a removeable base (eg springform tin) so that the cake can be easily removed when it's cooled. 

6) 'Waterproof' the tin with aluminium foil as the cheesecake requires baking in a water-bath. Wrap aluminium foil properly over the base and edge of the cake tin to prevent water from seeping through the removeable base. 

7) Place the cake tin into another bigger tray and pour water to 1-2 inches in height. This is baking in a water-bath, helping the cheesecake to bake evenly without cracking. 

8) Bake in a pre-heat oven of 140dc for 45 minutes and 180dc for another 15 mins (depending on your oven, you may need to adjust your temperature and baking time). The skewer that pass through the centre of the cake will be slightly moist with some crumbs. It's okay. The residual heat will continue to bake the cake and after refrigeration and firming up, it'll be just right.

9) Turn off the oven and allow the cake to cool in the oven for an hour before removing it for further cooling on a cooling rack.

10) Remove the cake gently from the tin once it's completely cool. Chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

(Tip: I use an air-tight Lock & Lock plastic container to keep the cake so that it will not absorb other odors and the cake will stay moist and not dry out. ) 

Finally, enjoy your cheesecake :)

For more tips & trouble shooting on baking cheesecakes, you can refer to the following sources:

Baking Cheesecake Step By Step Step by step instructions.

Baking Perfect Cheesecakes Tips on baking that perfect cheesecake...

Slicing Cheesecakes After baking the nice cheesecake, you wouldn't want to destroy it by cutting it into a mess (which I did :P) So check this out. 

Baked Cheesecake II

Have been on a porridge diet since my surgery to remove my sinus traction infection. So decided to bake a mini cheesecake on Saturday since I'm stuck at home while Jerome was out fixing his boat at the clubhouse. It is the softest cake I can think of that melts in the mouth and there's no need for chewing. A cheesecake definitely sounds divine from the porridge that I think I'm getting sick of.

Then on Sunday, when my family (parents & sisters) came over to our place, I offered them some cheesecake. Only my youngest sis, Si Ling, wanted to try. In the end, she had all the 3 slices left, saying that it's very yummy :)

So today, I decided to bake 1 bigger 7-inch cake and got her to come & collect the cake after her school.

Cooled Cheesecake

After baking & cooling the cake, I decided that I should cut it up as well. I always have problems cutting cheesecakes.The cheesecake is so soft and moist and loves to stick to the knife and there's always a huge mess  and crumbs involved. I read from Allrecipes.com on tips about getting clean cuts for cheesecakes. It suggested soaking the knife in hot water before wiping it dry to cut the cake. This soaking in warm water and drying process is to be repeated for every cut. I tried this to cut the cake in half but it just didn't work for me. I've got a huge (yummy) cheesy knife in my hands.

It's always a mess cutting cheesecakes...

So I decided to try using my Wilton's Cake leveler, it's like cutting a cake with a steel wire. (There are people who use dental floss to cut their cheesecake.) Although it's still far from the perfect clean baker's cut, but the crumbs are minimised.

I think I spent about 10 minutes just figuring out how to cut this cake, trying to minimise the mess. I don't think I've managed to achieve much.

3 slices kept for us...

I've managed to keep 3 slices for Jerome & myself for tea tomorrow. How can I resist a slice of perfect cheesecake? Eating the crumbs from the knife, I'm reminded of Coffee Bean's Chicago Cheesecake that got me into loving cheesecakes in the first place :) It's still my favourite cheesecake after all these years.