Thursday, December 27, 2012

A total of 10 Logcakes for 2012

Made a total of 10 Logcakes this year. Chocolate, Nutella, Pandan, strawberry & Blackforest!! Belated Merry Christmas!!
Chocolate Sponge with Vanilla SMBC

Chocolate Sponge & Nutella SMBC

Blackforest Sponge with Fresh Cream

Choco

Chocolate Sponge with Nutella SMBC




Pandan Sponge with Vanilla SMBC

Chocolate Sponge with Nutella SMBC

Chocolate Chips Cookies



Made some chocolate chips cookies for my sis after baking an order of Danish Butter Cookies from her collit. Gotten this recipe a while back from Facebook - Baking Wonderland and have been on my to do list.
The recipe require to cream sugar and butter then add in liquid then flour. But I jus mix all together to speed up the process as it was my boy's nap time soon. Anyway, it still turns out nice and yummy. Been wanting to achieve the super crunchy texture like Famous Amos but seriously can't find the crucial ingredients to make it that crunchy. 
Do try out this recipe as it is simple and nice, fragrant with the chocolatey taste that lingers after eating them.. Mmmmm....

Chocolate Chips Cookies (adapted from a member in Baking Wonderland)
125g Butter, soften
50g Caster Sugar
40g Brown Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
180g Cake Flour (used Self-Raising Flour instead as per above member)
1tsp Baking Powder (use if u didn't use self-raising flour)
150g Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

1) Cream butter and both sugar
2) Add vanilla extract and egg
3) Stir in flour til mix, add in Choc chips
4) Pour spoonful of dough, leaving space as it will spread during baking
5) Bake at 170deg for 13-15min
6) Store in airtight after cookies are cooled.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Log cake using fresh cream




Yes, I had another 2 more orders for collection on Thursday and was busy with baking Danish cookies from mon-wed. Tired tired but was fulfilling. All I recvd was compliments and I even had a order for a tub of Danish cookies from my sister's collit after she tasted the cookies that my sis gave out as Xmas favour. Heee =) 
Tis time round, I replaced buttercream with fresh cream. I made Blackforest Logcake with fresh cream and also a mini Nutella Logcake with fresh cream.


I used the same chocolate sponge recipe for the Swiss roll, used whipping cream to whip up to cover the cake, as well as for the fresh cream for the Blackforest Logcake. 
I added about 2Tbsp of Nutella to 100g of Whipped cream for covering the Swissroll, use pure Nutella to coat the Swissroll. Using those candy Xmas snowman and Santa to deco the Logcake.



As for Blackforest, I brush a layer of liquor (hard liquor used) for Swiss roll, spread the fresh whipped cream, put the pitted cherries that was cut into halves. Then using the fresh whipped cream to coat the coat and use shaved chocolate to deco, as well as some Xmas deco. *i use 100g whipping cream to whipped into stiff*
It's a simple recipe to replace the usage of Swiss Meringue Buttercream. So give it a try if you are not confident of making smbc. =)

Friday, December 14, 2012

My 2nd Xmas Log Cake


Had some balance of vanilla buttercream from my 1st Xmas log cake, and I am going for another gathering on Sunday at a GF's Plc. So here I am, chocolate log cake with Nutella Buttercream.
I added 1 Tablespoon of Nutella to 1/2 of the buttercream that I made from this recipe, and used the Swiss roll recipe from here. I replaced with 45ml hot water + 2Tbsp coco powder and topped up to make up 60ml to replace the liquid for the batter.
Mmmm..... Hope my fren will like the log cake this sun... =)



Chocolate Swiss Roll (adapted from prev post)
(A) Whip whites to stiff peaks
3 whites
50g sugar

(B) Mix all well
3 yolks
40ml canola oil
15g sugar
1tsp vanilla
45ml hot water + 2 Tbsp coco (add more water to make up 60ml water)

1) Fold in 1/3 whites into batter, mix well
2) Fold in remaining batter into whites gently
3) Bake at 180deg for 10-15mins

Nutella Buttercream (modified from here)
* I used half the amount of buttercream made from above recipe*
Added 2Tbsp Nutella and whip well



Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Danish Butter Cookies (II)



A very nice fellow member from MFWL search for another Danish Butter Cookies after the much craze about it in Baking Wonderland and MFWL. And of cos, my hubby is a lover of the Danish Butter Cookies from Kjeldsens, the usual blue tin cookies and it is so costly for that little amount. I definetely have to give it a try again.
Alan, fellow member from MFWal assured that it is a simple, straight-forward recipe and so, I simply love the tots of knowing that from him. And I am so gonna buy the Vanilla paste after baking them today. It is not powdery like my 1st attempt using another recipe. And I simply love that buttery fragrant from Lurpak. So yes, this is my final recipe that I will always use for Danish Butter Cookies. Try them, it's a 1-bowl Butter Cookie recipe!!

Danish Butter Cookies (modified slightly from Travelling Foodies)
1 yolk (as I had a yolk leftover from making SMB)
65g Icing Sugar
200g Plain Flour
100g Lurpak Butter, soften to rm temp
10g Vanilla Essence

1) Mix all ingredients in mixing bowl til well mixed
2) Either using a piping bag, pipe out desired shapes or swirls like Alan did or
Roll in between baking paper and cut out desired shapes like me! 

**Gonna try again when my big flower tips are in.... 

Friday, December 7, 2012

My 1st Xmas Log Cake



Supposed to go for Irisa's and her friends' Christmas gathering but due to change of date and I happen to have a 'date' with my GFs so I can't make it. But I have promised to make a log cake for the gathering so I tried to make time to fulfill it. Don't really like the idea of making a promise and then not being able to fulfill. ESP since the idea of the kids eating the cake happily, I can't resist not making it. 
I used back my a chocolate Swiss roll recipe that I did before, and coupled with Vanilla Swiss meringue. It was very easy to asssemble and I don't have to worry about not being able to cream it smooth and nicely. Just need to roughly cover it well, use a fork to run thru to create the log lines. Put on the Christmas deco and I am done. Nice~




Thursday, December 6, 2012

Danish Butter Cookies


Today, I also tried another recipe from Caryn in Baking Wonderland from Facebook. Oh, did I mention? She is so-called a legend in BW (short for baking wonderland) cos she can really bake well and her bakes usually look so good. 
I am using her Danish Butter Cookie as it is said to resemble the blue tin of Famous Danish cookies that we grew up eating. Sadly, I don't know if I did it wrongly or so, I couldn't really find the resemblance to it. I find Lurpak butter not buttery enough, the texture is not right. So what went wrong? Me, or the recipe need modification? 
Anyway I pipe into 2 sizes for the kids and hubby. 1 smaller bite-sizes for the kids and a slightly bigger bite-sizes for hubby... Packed into zip-logs then into their individual Tupperware for them.


But overall, I believe it will still be popular among the kids and those who love cookies. Only fall back is the fragrance of butter is not enough. Try it. And share the review.

Danish Butter Cookies (adapted from Caryn from BW)
220g Lurpak Butter
1 egg
1tsp Vanilla Essence
310g Cake Flour
120g Icing Sugar

1) Cream butter and icing sugar
2) Stir in egg and vanilla extract essence
3) Fold in flour and mix well. Put batter into piping bags
4) Pipe out desired shapes and bake at 160deg for 20-25mins

Sparks between plain old Butter Cake and Echire Butter


Thanks to a friend who bought the butter in behalf, and also another kind friend for picking up and sending to me. Thanks for the help if not I doubt I will get a chance to have my hands on the expensive butter. Ha~
Anyway, I am kinda late as everyone has been making it and raving about it. The fragrance, the butter and almost everything positive about it. And also not forgetting that everyone was so worried about spoiling the cake's texture with a piece of expensive butter. This has gotten me so worried that I, yes, I also made a blunder of over-mixing it, I guess. Or perhaps I shouldn't have filled the batter up to almost the brim of the mini tin. Then maybe center will not be undercooked. Perhaps I should overcome it with the remaining piece of butter. Let's see what hubby has to say about the cake first.

So, using the same MrsNgSK's recipe, I halve it. Yes, kiasu and kiasi la. I dun wan to spoil and waste 250g of butter. Not tt I can't afford it, but my weak heart can't take the pain of spoiling the butter on the cake. At least now I got a chance to try again with the remaining 125g butter.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

My 1st Batch of Xmas Cookies



Usually I buy my recipe books for reading pleasure, never once did I use any recipes from it. So an impromptu me decided to take 1 recipe out from this book that I bought recently. Got it from the recent Expo Popular Fair that my dear friend brings along to. Thanks to her, I got to go to the fair a day earlier than the public. =) Thanks Cindy..

I like this book cos it has many different types of recipes - Cookies, Breads, Cakes etc and most important, it has step by step pics that I greatly rely on. At least I refer to the pics and roughly know that I am following on the correct 'line'..... LOL



As I am meeting my dear girlfriend this Saturday for an early Xmas lunch and gift exchange, I decided to make some home-baked cookies for them as well. Decided to try royal icing for the first time and let my gal had a hand at it too. So she can have some fun after I am done with mine. 1 stone kill 2 birds huh. Anyway she had so much fun doing it that all the words that comes out from her mouth is flattering words to mummy. (Kept on saying mummy so smart, clever, blah blah..)



I missed out a step in the recipe, and I omit the sweets part. Ok, it is supposed to be crushed candy to fill up the center portion of the biscuits. But I jus use the cookie recipe to cut out the shapes I want and deco with royal icing. And I forgot the almond flour cos I was too busy screaming at the kids while I prepare the dough to fridge for later use. 
Else than the stickiness, which cld be from the shortage of 15g almond flour, I added 2tbsp flour to the dough after I take out from the fridge. The taste, it is more like powdery texture, similar to those German cookies. But cos I bake longer so it doesn't break easily, it is a bit crunchy but powdery. Perhaps could use the butter cookies next round.

Cookies (modified from Home Baking by Parandal)
75g Unsalted Butter, soften
65g Icing Sugar
30g Egg
145g Cake Flour
15g Almond Flour (I forgot so replaced with 2Tbsp flour)
1g Salt

1) Whisk butter and icing sugar
2) Add in egg and mix well. Fold in flour and mix into a dough
3) Put on cling wrap and press to form a disc. Fridge for 1 hour
4) Roll out and cut into shapes after taking out from fridge
5) Bake at 180deg for 10mins
*i bake about 15-20mins*

Royal Icing ( adapted from www.wretch.cc/blog/bear1210)
純糖粉 (Icing Sugar) 180g
新鮮蛋白(Egg White) 30g
檸檬汁 (Lemon Juice)1/2小匙
香草精 (Vanilla Extract) 1/4小匙



Add all ingredients together. Separate into portions that u wan to colour and add colourings

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Hearts them - Madeline


Received an order from a neighbour after she saw my post in madelines in Facebook. So I took on the order despite still feeling kinda under the weather. Anyway, luckily everything turn out well. And I get to experiment with the heart shaped moulds from Daiso. 
The little hearts are so nice. Great for valentines or even if you put it as deco on a cake. I believe my princess-y gal will love to have them for snacks. 
Today, I left the batter for almost an hour plus, indeed the amount if time left in the fridge will determine the 'humps'. Yes, I gotten a higher hump with the normal cracks u see outside. Depends on individual preference. I would rather have them in smaller hearts. So much lovelier. Don't you think so!



Added (Dec 5) : Just realized I posted my 100th post yday with hearts Madeline. I guessed the coincidence makes me realized tt my love for baking and cooking is lying somewhere inside too. It coincide in a mysterious without even myself realizing it. 
With this 100th post, I hope to have another 100th post of my bakes and cooks to share with everyone...