21st Birthday Bakes

I was requested by my daughter to bake for her 21st Birthday. I decided to bake Brownies, Fruit Tarts, cupcakes and an American Carrot Cake Birthday Cake. I was elated that all my bakes were so well presented on the dessert table and with a professional photographer, all my bakes looked so beautiful! This indeed brings my bakes to the next level and increase my confidence as well as exposure with more orders coming in. 

Pandan Hot Milk Cake

Tried baking this Pandan Hot Milk Cake from a young aspiring baker, Javier Tan. I like to view his recipe posts as they are interesting and I am sure he has great potential to be a professional baker. However, my Hot Milk cake did not really turn out the same texture as his, mine were a little fluffy whereas his cakes were denser. Nevertheless, they tasted wonderful with strong pandan and coconut flavour. Looking forward to see more of his recipes. 

Recipe with modifications

Ingredients

120g  Plain Flour (sifted)
150g Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
2 Large Eggs
113g unsalted Butter (cut into cubes)
60g Coconut Milk
60g Full Cream Milk
1/2 tsp Pandan Paste
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 160 degrees C and line your 8 x 8 inches baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Beat the eggs until light and frothy.
3. Add in the sugar, pandan paste, vanilla extract and salt to the eggs until all the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
4. In a saucepan, mix together the two milks with the butter and heat at medium low, stirring constantly until the butter has dissolved.
5. Using one hand, pour in the butter and milk mixture into the sugar and egg mixture. Use your other hand to constantly stir the sugar and egg mixture to dissipate the heat to prevent the eggs from being cooked.
6. Combine the baking powder and all purpose flour in a mixing bowl, and sift it in. If already sifted, add in directly. Stir until just combined.
7. Pour into your baking tray. Tap against the counter a few times to prevent excessive air bubbles from being trapped.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes at 160 degrees C. At the 20 minutes mark, increase the temperature to 180 degrees C and bake for another 10 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
9. Cool the cake at a wire tray for about 30 minutes before consuming. You can cool it upside down to get the same density as my cake!

Gula Melaka Sponge Cake

Another experiment using the Taiwan Traditional Cake recipe. I replaced Milk with Gula Melaka. However, the Gula Melaka flavour was not strong enough to stand out. It was a good attempt though and a practice for my egg white folding method. I am able to yield a smooth top and sponge texture. 

Ingredients

75g oil
90g cake flour
60g Gula Melaka (melted with a little water)
6 egg yolks
250g of cream cheese

6 egg white
75g caster sugar

Directions

1. Heat oil in microwave for 2 min.
2. Mix oil to flour till no crumb.
3. Add in melted Gula Melaka, egg yolk and softened cream cheese, mix to smoothen the batter.
4. Whisk egg white, slowly add in sugar and beat till stiff peak.
5. Add 1/3 of  meringue to yolk batter and mix well.
6. Pour mixture into the rest of the meringue and fold till just combined.
7. Steam bake at 150 Deg C for 60mins. (Note: to remember add hot water for the water bath)

Homemade Blueberry Jam with Puff Pastries

Bought ready made puff pastries from Phoon Huat and came in handy for making these pastries with Homemade Blueberry. Thanks to Liz for sharing this recipe. 

Ingredients

3 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 tbsp cornstarch dissolved into 3 tablespoons water
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Place 1 1/2 cups blueberries in a small saucepan. Cover with water and add sugar and vanilla. Heat over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a low boil and blueberries just start to break apart.
2. Add dissolved cornstarch to saucepan and bring mixture to a rolling boil. Turn heat down and simmer on low heat for 2-3 minutes, or until sauce reaches desired consistency. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, if the sauce gets too thick.
3. Remove from heat. Add remaining blueberries and stir gently. Serve warm or cold.

Steamed Egg Muffins (鸡蛋糕)

                                      2 September 2017                     13 September 2015


13 September 2015

As I still have leftover soda water from making my Fish Fillet, I decided to use it to make my favourite Steamed Egg Muffins. I really love these red fillers which contrasted with the yellow colour of the muffins. 

2 September 2017 
Craving for 鸡蛋糕, so decided to make some and added pandan paste to have Pandan Steamed Egg Muffin.