Minions Roll Cake

 

Do these cute roll cakes make you smile? I made these Minions Roll Cakes for my daughter's birthday as desserts.

Thank God they were well-received! 

Here is a video reel on the making of these roll cakes with surprise. Hope you like them! 

With lots of love,
 Susanne                                                                                                                                                                       

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Betty Boop Avocado Gula Melaka Pecan Chiffon Cake

Finally making the actual cake for this unique flavour request! Betty Boop avocado cake!

Reference from fanart drawing by Christina Kulzer

Take a peek at the layers!

I decided to include the element of gula melaka and toasted pecans in this cake as avocado alone is rather bland in taste. A little yuzu juice (or you may use lemon juice) was added to prevent oxidation of the avocado puree so it as a slight tang as well. This is a rather healthy cake as it doesn't use oil or butter but instead, avocadoes and plain yoghurt as fat sources! Very much more moist than typical chiffons!

The recipe for the cake and cream is shared in this post but I have made certain tweaks for it to be suitable for a large layered cake instead of a mini swiss roll so that it is easier to handle during assembly instead of breaking apart. I also increased the proportion of avocado in the filling.

I made two plain avocado sheet cakes and one patterned sheet cake.

Avocado chiffon cake recipe

Ingredients (makes one 25 x 30cm sheet cake):

Egg yolk batter

4 yolks

100g avocado puree*

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

8g gula melaka, finely chopped

1 tiny drop of pandan paste (optional)

80g cake flour

Meringue

4 whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

70g caster sugar

*Avocado puree

200g avocado puree

10g yuzu juice concentrate (or lemon juice)

150g plain yoghurt (I use Meiji's Bulgaria yoghurt)

Note: I made enough avocado puree for almost three portions of the sheet cake so please scale it down if need be.

Steps:

Please follow this post, except that baking time should change due to increase in volume.

Preheat oven to 180C bake 10min. Reduce to 160C bake for another 20 min.

Cool the cakes to room temperature. Cut to size you want (Mine is cut to 19x24cm). Cling wrap and freeze cakes. This will help with ease of handling during assembly. They are still super moist and soft despite reducing the liquid to flour ratio from my test bake!

Freshly baked sheet cake!

For the patterning, I used the method by Keem (see keempossible_2 Instagram account). I am not able to share recipe and method as I bought her video tutorial and you may contact her for it too 😊.

Remember to make a mirror image of the original when making patterns!

The pattern is subsequently covered with avocado cake batter but scaled down to 3 egg yolk portion

I used black edible marker to do the outlines as I find it has better control than painting. But this is just a personal preference. Betty's lips were added on post-baking with extra cake made from extra coloured batter. I always pipe out the excess coloured batter to bake for colour testing of paint during outlining/adding in of details post-baking so I just cut out the lips and white highlight and stick it onto the main cake with a little cake glue (you may use melted marshmallow too). 

Avocado mousse

Ingredients:

150g whip topping (may replace with heavy cream but add sugar or increase amount of gula melaka)

180g whipping cream/ heavy cream (at least 35% fat)

5-6 gelatin sheets (about 10-12g), bloomed

120g chopped gula melaka/ coconut palm sugar (or to taste)

1//4 tsp kosher salt (1/8 tsp regular table salt)

2 small drops of pandan paste (optional)

100g plain yoghurt

300g avocado puree

15g 100% yuzu juice concentrate (or lemon juice)

Note: Prepare this only when you are ready to assemble with the cut sheet cakes, toasted chopped pecans, cakeboard and the assembly mould ready.

Steps:

1. Melt gula melaka and salt in heavy cream. Cool to room temperature, cling wrap and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.

2. Prepare avocado puree by blending avocado with yuzu juice concentrate. Add yoghurt and blend briefly. Pass through fine sieve.

3. Bloom gelatin sheets in ice water. Squeeze put excess water. Melt bloomed gelatin using microwave or double-boiler. Set aside.

4. Whip cold gula melaka cream with whip topping (if using) until soft peaks form and you can start to see well defined lines in the cream as you whisk. 

5. Add avocado puree (room temperature)  to melted gelatin a little at a time and whisk together. 

6. Add pandan paste to avocado puree gelatin mix. 

7. Fold in avocado mix to whipped gula melaka cream in a few additions. 

Assembly

1. Set rectangle mould frame over cakeboard. (I set the adjustable metal frame to be about 19x24cm) Line the insides of the frame with teflon sheet. Use a little oil to attach the teflon sheet to the frame but don't use coconut oil as it is a relatively high freezing point.

2. Place a frozen avocado sheet cake at the base of the frame.

3. Scoop some avocado mousse over the sponge cake and smoothen it out with a spatula or back of spoon. 

4. Scatter some toasted chopped pecans. I didn't measure so up to personal preference. Omit if you don't like nuts. 

5. Spoon a little mousse over the nuts and smoothen it out again.

6. Carefully place another frozen sheet cake over and press it in. Repeat steps 3-6.

After assembling the top patterned sponge

7. Chill in fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight for mousse to set. Carefully release the frame and peel off the teflon sheet.

8. Carefully slice off the four sides a little to reveal neat layers. Use a long serrated knife for this and it is important to make sure the mousse is completely set before you attempt to do this.

Just a little short video I made for fun of the process!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Minions Dizzy Chiffon Cake

 

My daughter's birthday is here and she's a Minions fan after watching Minions: The Rise of Gru, so I designed some Minions cakes for her celebration. I watched the show myself and thought it was really funny and cute! 

Here is a video reel where I shared how to pipe and make the spiderweb design for the dizzy chiffon cake. It's actually inspired by the movie poster with the dizzy background! I used a turntable for this so it was really quite easy to make the design though it looks complicated. I was really thankful to collaborate with Tastemade to post this as well! 

Video reel here. 

I also put banana surprise fillings into the mini Minions as well! 

Watch another video reel here on the insides! 

Hope you are keeping well! I've been very busy with the kids, so posting less. Do take care too! 

With lots of love, 

Susanne 

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Sheep Yuzu Coconut Plushiemallow Class

 I am really excited to share a new technique for making character marshmallows or Plushiemallows as I would like to call them! The conventional way of making plushiemallows require some form of artistic ability as most of the piping is done by freehand. But I have discovered a way to use templates!

Here's a cut cross-section view of the plushiemallow!

Here's a video of it in squishy action!

More video of it in squishy action!

This class will be with Baker's Gym in later part of September. Please click on this link for class details and to register. I have been super busy so a little slower with blogging. Check out my Instagram at phay_shing to follow my baking activities in a more timely manner 🙂.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Avocado Gula Melaka Pecan Swiss Roll

Someone requested for an avocado cake that is not chocolate based. I have never made an avocado cake before so a test bake is necessary. I usually make mini swiss rolls for taste test of a new flavour because they bake and assemble fast. Avocado gula melaka milkshake happens to be one beverage that I drink other than water and unsweetened teas so I am glad I can taste the drink in there but with a toasted nut crunch added! This cake is so soft & moist that I accidentally dented the sides while transporting the swiss roll for photography 🙈. No oil or butter is used as avocado has a high fat content.

RECIPE

(makes two 7x7" mini rolls or one 9x11" roll)
Avocado Chiffon Sponge:
Egg yolk batter
-2 egg yolks
-80g sieved avocado yoghurt puree*
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-1/8 tsp salt
-5g finely chopped coconut palm sugar (gula melaka)
-40g cake flour

Meringue
-2 egg whites
-1/4 tsp cream of tartar
-35g caster sugar

*Avocado Yoghurt Puree:
-1 medium avocado, sliced
-60g plain yoghurt (I used Meiji's Bulgaria yoghurt which is not too thick & less sour than greek yoghurt)
-5g lemon juice

Avocado Gula Melaka Cream:
-75g non-dairy whipping cream (may replace with heavy cream)
-60g heavy cream
-2 gelatin sheets, bloomed
-50g finely chopped gula melaka
-1/8 tsp salt
-1 drop pandan paste (optional)
-leftover avocado puree from above (about 20-30g)

Garnish & Filling:
- Toasted pecans/walnuts/pistachio (optional if you don't like nuts but I find it a good addition to break the monotony)
- Granulated gula melaka

METHOD

Chiffon Sponge 

1. Line baking trays with teflon sheet/parchment paper. Preheat oven to 170C (no fan)

2. Prepare avocado yoghurt puree by blending the ingredients* together. Press through fine sieve. Weigh out 80g for sponge.

3. Prepare egg yolk batter. Whisk together egg yolks, gula melaka, avocado puree, vanilla & salt. Gradually sift in cake flour & whisk until no trace of flour is seen.

4. Make meringue. In clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff peaks, gradually adding sugar in.

5. Quickly but gently fold meringue into egg yolk batter in 3 batches. Pour into prepared tray(s) & smoothen out with spatula.

6. Bake for 15-17 min or until skewer comes out clean. Due to high fat & moisture content, this chiffon needs to be baked longer than regular chiffons.

7. Immediately flip the cake onto fresh sheet of parchment & roll up to cool completely.

Freshly baked avocado gula melaka chiffon sponge

Avocado Gula Melaka Cream

1. Gently heat heavy cream, salt & gula melaka until sugar is melted. Do not boil. Add a drop of pandan paste if you wish. Chill in fridge until cold.

2. Bloom gelatin in ice water. Squeeze out excess water. Microwave for 10 seconds at low power to melt.

3. Add non-dairy cream to chilled heavy cream with gula melaka. Whip until firm peaks. I used a mixture of creams  due to Singapore's hot weather & it's also impossible to overwhip as compared to full dairy 😊.

4. Add leftover avocado puree to melted gelatin. Mix well.

5. Gradually drizzle gelatin mix into whipped cream while whisking the whipped cream. Transfer into piping bag for assembly & garnish. 

The garnish is optional so you may leave it out if you wish.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Minions Chiffon Cake (with Zodiac Stone Surprise!)

 

Guess the surprise inside this Otto Minions Cake! 😍 I watched Minions: The Rise of Gru and found Otto the Minion so cute!🥰 

Obvious hint: It's related to Otto!😆❤️ 

Watch the video reel here or here for the answer! =p 

With lots of love, 

Susanne 

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Layered Batter in Character Macarons (Recipe & technique explained!)

 I have been wanting to put together information for something I experienced as a homebaker and when teaching in classes. I hope you find this helpful! Full detailed explanation can be found in my 6 part series of reels in Instagram (IG: phay_shing) as well as in my Youtube video.

In your journey of creating character macarons/fancy shaped macarons, you can't run away from having to deal with layering batter which you don't have to when piping simple rounds. I am using these bear coffee macarons to illustrate my point.

Typical types of batter layering in character macarons include:

1. Raised pop-up features (e.g. snout)
2. Side by side with clear boundary definition (e.g. head & ears)
3. Flat/flushed features (e.g. Inner & outer ear)

Assuming that your meringue is made perfectly, batter is macaronaged properly and baking conditions are right, you may still get macawrongs if you don't time the batter layering and/or baking correctly. 

In this experiment I demonstrate 4 different cases using French method:

1. Drying too long between piping steps
2. Not drying between piping steps
3. Not drying enough before baking
4. Appropriate drying times between steps & before baking

I wanted to use the same batter, baking conditions & tray for all 4 cases. BUT this creates a handicap for cases 2-4 as they are made from batter that has been sitting in the piping bag for a long time. Due to this reason, I took Extra care in making a stable meringue by building it up really slowly (10-20 min) & eyeballed the macaronage process. As a result, I actually had difficulty creating some cracks that I had seen before despite running this experiment twice!

RESULTS
Case 1: Drying too long between piping steps
💜 Well-defined boundaries & pop-up features
💜 Feet may be receded or appear under the shells, possible lopsided feet.
💜 Shells are hollow
💜 Cracks may form along or radiate from boundaries if meringue is not elastic enough despite sufficient drying before baking.

Case 2: Not drying between piping steps
💙 Boundaries are not distinct
💙 No pop-up features
💙 Fairly full shells
💙 No cracks

Case 3: Not drying enough before baking
💚 Well-defined boundaries & pop-up features
💚 Flat/flushed features where desired
💚 Full & fluffy shells
💚 Cracks along boundaries
💚 Lopsided feet near cracks

Case 4: Appropriate drying time between piping steps & before baking
❤️Well-defined boundaries & pop-up features
❤️ Flat/flushed features where desired
❤️ Fairly full shells
❤️ No cracks 

Conclusion:
✅Add on layers of batter with or without waiting for a STICKY membrane to form on your base batter depending on the type of boundary you want to create.

✅ Wait for a DRY membrane to form before baking. You may get away with baking the batter while the membrane is still sticky like I almost did in this experiment but don't risk all the hard work you put into piping your characters! 

✅ If meringue/batter condition isn't optimal, appropriate drying times between piping steps & before baking may prevent any potential cracks.

✅ Make sure meringue is stable & elastic, almond flour isn't oily or too dry, batter is not over or under folded, & baking temperature & time are right as far as possible. I had difficulty creating more macawrongs in this experiment because I satisfied all these!

What is a sticky membrane?
You are able to touch lightly but not swipe the surface with a finger. Batter doesn't stick to finger but membrane surface feels sticky to touch.

What is a dry membrane? 
You are able to swipe a finger across the surface while applying slight pressure. Membrane should feel like clean dry skin or fabric. Drying membrane sufficiently before baking is good because it helps to strengthen it & prevents cracks during baking.

COFFEE FRENCH MACARON RECIPE
(makes 14-16 bears)
60g + 45g icing sugar*
60g almond flour (preferably superfine & not oily)
1/8 tsp cocoa powder (optional, for deeper brown color)
50g egg whites
1/4 tsp egg white powder (optional**)
1/8-1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp instant coffee granules (I used decaf)
A few drops of white gel colouring 

*mine has cornstarch already added.
**some bakers add egg white powder (EWP) to help with meringue stability but I didn't add EWP in my 2nd round of experiment & it didn't crack at all! Instead, I took longer to build up the meringue and that's all it took to create a sturdier and more stable meringue.

Steps:
1. Sift together almond flour, 60g icing sugar and cocoa powder (if using).

2. Make French meringue. Whisk together 45g icing sugar and EWP (if using) in a small bowl. In clean metal bowl, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar and instant coffee until it resembles bubble bath. Add icing sugar to egg whites. Whisk until sugar is wet. Whip up your meringue until stiff peaks using medium speed.

3. Scatter half of dry ingredients into meringue. Gently fold in. Scatter the rest of dry ingredients and gently fold in until just combined. Scoop out 3-4 tbs batter, add white gel colouring and gently fold in until batter consistency is right. Continue folding rest of the batter until it is able to flow off spatula SLOWLY in continuous ribbon.

4. Transfer into piping bags and pipe on prepared tray. Pipe head and wait for sticky membrane to form. Pipe snout, outer and inner ears in quick succession.

5. Rest piped batter until dry to touch. 

6. Towards end of drying time, preheat oven to 160C. Turn temperature down to 140C. Bake for 15-20min (or until baked through) once tray is in. Every oven is different so adjust baking conditions accordingly.

7. Cool completely on tray before removing & decorating.

COFFEE WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE 
100g white chocolate
40g heavy cream (80g for temperate climate)*
30g unsalted butter, room temperature (15g for temperate climate)*
2 tsp instant coffee granules

* Adjust ratios of ingredients according to taste and temperature you are serving. I live in tropical Singapore so my fillings need to be firmer.

Steps:
1. Melt white chocolate using microwave or double-boiler. Be careful not to overheat!

2.  In the meantime, gently heat cream with instant coffee until granules are dissolved. Do not boil.

3. Pour hot cream onto melted chocolate. Stir (or use immersion blender if you wish) until well mixed.

4. Add butter and mix well.

5. Press cling wrap on surface of ganache & chill until toothpaste/scoopable consistency. You may whip it up to lighten texture (optional but I usually do!) before filling the shells.

6. Mature in fridge in airtight condition for at least 24h before serving. Let macarons sit at room temperature for 15min before consuming.

with lots of love,
Phay Shing

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Rainbow Cheesecake Pushpops (with pattern and surprise!)

I am teaching Rainbow Cheesecake Pushpops at my church's culinary arts ministry on Sunday! I was inspired to make hearts pattern and surprise heart last week when I re-trialed the recipe. Thank God for the inspiration!  

My hubby was the one who gave the idea of eating cheesecake from push pops initially. Thank God the first experiment worked! 

This is my second experiment with the hidden hearts. It was quite fun to eat too!

I made a IG reel video of the layers here. Hope you like it!

Rainbow Cheesecake Push Pops (for CAM, Susanne)
Makes 4 push pops

7g gelatin
50g cold water
250g cream cheese
60g castor sugar
15g lemon juice (1 tbsp)
5g vanilla essence
130g heavy cream
Food colouring: Pink, blue and yellow

1. Bloom gelatin in cold water. Melt gelatin in microwave (20s). Allow the mixture to cool slightly.

2. Using an electric mixer, whisk cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla essence until smooth.

3. Add in whipping cream and mix well.

4. Drizzle in melted gelatin and whisk till smooth.

5. Divide batter into rainbow colours (3/4 cup). Add in respective colours and mix well.

6. Fill rainbow colours in push pop. Chill for 30min-1hr in freezer before serving, or >2hrs in fridge.

With lots of love,
Susanne

 

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Lychee Rose Cat Macarons (New filling recipe!)

Someone requested for lychee flavoured cute cat macarons last month. Here's what I came up with!

Design is inspired by Darius the cat in buddygatorcomics (Instagram account).

I used Swiss meringue method to make the shells.

Freshly baked shells!

Decorative details were added in using edible marker and peach coloured lustre dust.

LYCHEE ROSE ITALIAN MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM (adapted from Catherine Zhang)
300g canned lychee syrup
45g + 5g caster sugar
2 egg whites (76g) 
A pinch of salt
1/2 tsp rose syrup (or rose water)
300g unsalted butter (cool to touch but slightly softened)
1/2 tsp lychee powder (optional, to boost flavour without the chemical aftertaste from artificial flavourings)

Notes: Catherine's original recipe had no added sugar, salt and lychee powder. Not adding sugar works for brands of canned lychee syrup that has sufficient sugar. The brand I used did not have too much sugar added but I have no idea how much sugar was in there since it isn't listed. Omitting the sugar for me resulted in the syrup almost boiling off entirely and the buttercream is too soft for tropical Singapore. Despite needing to add sugar, this buttercream is still not too sweet but it's a clever way of getting that delicate lychee flavour in!

Steps:
1. Place egg whites, salt and 5g sugar in standmixer and beat on low speed until foamy. 

2. In the meantime, place lychee syrup, and 45g sugar in small saucepan and heat until temperature reaches 115C.

3. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and pour lychee syrup into egg whites down the sides of the bowl, avoiding the whisk. Continue to beat until totally cooled to room temperature.

4. Reduce mixer to medium speed. Add butter 1 tbs at a time. Continue beating 10 min more until light and silky.

5. Add rose syrup and beat until well combined. Add lychee powder and beat until well combined.

You may refrigerate up to a week or a month in freezer.

How to fill the macarons:
1. Coat a thin layer of buttercream on bottom shell.

2. Pipe a wall of buttercream along outline of the shape.

3. Fill cavity with chopped lychee.

4. Cover lychee with more buttercream before sandwiching with top shell.

Fresh or canned fruit has high liquid content so insulate the macaron shells from it with a thin layer of buttercream.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Assorted Animal Egg Yolk Cookies (Junior chef class)

 The Junior chef class for these simple, naturally coloured, light and crumbly egg yolk cookies is up for registration with Tottstore!

Please click on this link for more information on class content and/or to register. I assure you it will be fun as you can make the cookies with your little one in any way you like, and can be as simple or as detailed as you want them to be! Make these in time for Teacher's Day!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Surprise Beer Mug entremet chiffon cake

This is a belated Father's day post. For Father's day this year, I made a Surprise Beer Mug entremet for the daddy, with a gravity-defying beer can!☺️ 

Layers: 
- Feuilletine crunch 
- Pineapple jam 
- Dark chocolate mousse infused with beer 
- Pineapple Beer-infused chiffon cake 

Does it look like the "beer" is pouring into the "entremet"?🥰 My hubby joked that the father is the 'Anchor' of the family =p 

Here's a Reel of the Beer mug chiffon cake! 

Happy belated Father's Day!❤️ 

With love, 

Susanne 

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Corgi Hojicha Plushiemallow Class

This corgi plushiemallow class is up for registration with Artz Baking and Culinary studio! 

Like the unicorn plushiemallow class, you get to learn how to create corgi plushiemallows in three common plushie postures: sitting upright, lying on back and lying on front. There's a bonus corgi butt, of course😆! 

This marshmallow is flavoured with hojicha powder, which tempers the sweetness of marshmallows well. I personally prefer flavoured or toasted marshmallows as it brings a different dimension to just plain squishy candies.

This class has both online and hands-on options. All hands-on participants will have access to online class material at no extra cost. The online class will be released in time for International Dogs Day too! Please click on this link for hands-on class. Please click on this link for online class.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Solar System Macaron Ferris Wheel II

My friend requested for a solar system ferris wheel back in 2017 for her boss's birthday. You can see it in this post. More than four years later, her boss has since gotten married, has two young kids, and is about to leave the company. He is still an astronomy enthusiast. That's the backstory to this second solar system ferris wheel 😊. And yes his wife is a ballerina.

I made this second ferris wheel smaller than the first for more stability (lower center of gravity), and I mounted it on a giant macaron base. I chose a firmer filling too to help with structural stability in tropical Singapore: dark chocolate buttercream with freeze dried raspberry powder and crushed oreo cookies, and lemon white chocolate buttercream. Macaron structures like this one needs careful planning, execution and suitable choice of filling to prevent misalignment and/or collapse. I will be sharing the recipe for the fillings I used and the assembly process in this post.

I used my default swiss meringue method recipe for making the macaron shells.

Decoration is done using a little royal icing but the bulk of it is done using edible marker and vodka wash, or white paint made with white gel colouring, white powder colouring and vodka.

I make duplicates in case of butter fingers or accidental uglification.

The filling recipes here are more suited for macaron structures. For regular macarons, feel free to replace butter with whipping cream to make a ganache, and reduce the proportion of chocolate for a softer filling that will mature the macarons faster.

Dark chocolate raspberry oreo filling

Ingredients:

150g Dark chocolate couverture (you may choose your percentage of cocoa according to preference)

30g Unsalted butter

1/8 tsp salt

30g crushed oreo cookie crumbs, sieved

10g freeze-dried raspberry powder

Steps:

1. Melt dark chocolate with butter and salt either by double-boiling or microwaving at low power.

2. Add freeze-dried raspberry powder and sifted crushed oreo cookie crumbs and mix well.

3. Let it sit for half an hour at room temperature to firm up a little to toothpaste consistency before using. Refrigerate briefly if room temperature is too warm to firm up the filling.

Lemon white chocolate filling

Ingredients:

70g white chocolate, finely chopped or use chips

15g unsalted butter

A pinch of salt

Zest of one lemon

10g lemon juice

1/2 tsp lemon extract (optional)

Steps:

1. Melt white chocolate, butter and salt by double-boiling or microwaving at low power. Be careful not to overheat. stir between 10 second bursts of heating if using microwave.

2. Add lemon zest and extract (if using) and mix well. Gradually add lemon juice and mix well.

3. Set aside to firm up to toothpaste consistency at room temperature.

Filling the macarons with two types of filling.

Here's a short video of how I assemble the ferris wheel, originally posted in my Instagram reels.

Do have a look at the reel along with the caption as I provide more tips there.

with love,

Phay Shing

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My Melody and Keroppi Roll Cakes

 

Cute Sanrio Animal Roll Cakes! Which one is your favorite? Keroppi or My Melody? 

Watch the video here on the BTS (behind-the-scenes) of making of the rolls! 

I created this recipe using Suncorefoods natural food powders! 

Recipe
4 egg yolks
20g sugar
40g oil
40g milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g cake flour
@suncorefoods red radish, yellow safflower, blue spirulina for the colors

4 egg whites 
50g sugar 
1/4 tsp cream of tartar 

Filling 
200g whipping cream 
Surprise: star chocolate 

Whisk egg yolks with sugar, followed by oil, milk and vanilla. Whisk in flour and divide the batter into 2(red) : 2(light green): 1(plain): 1(dark green). Add food coloring and mix well. 

Whisk egg whites till firm peaks. Divide the meringue as above and fold in. Pipe keroppi the frog and my melody rabbit designs in 8” pans and bake at 150C for 20mins. 

Whip cream till medium peaks. Spread over the cakes, arrange the surprises and roll up. Decorate with chocolate. Enjoy! =) 

With love,

Susanne 

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Donutella Chiffon Cake

Hello everyone! I'm back! Teaching this Donutella Chiffon Cake at Marina Square this coming Sunday. Looking forward! 

Take care! 

Love, 

Susanne 

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'My Favourite Toys' Plushiemallows on Macaron Monogram

 In all my years of macaron making, I have never made a monogram cake. Presenting my first macaron monogram cake with character marshmallow and meringue cookie decorations!

Can you spot the marshmallows and meringues?

The requestor wanted the birthday bake to be a customized and special one so it includes the recipient's favourite plushies, such as the panda in red panda suit and Goodluck Bear. The sleeping corgi is part of a plushiemallow class material, which I included because the recipient likes a corgi plushie (different design but they don't mind it not being exactly the same).

I am not able to share the meringue cookie recipe as it was shared by a baker friend who uses it for class material. If you guessed that the tiny ducks are made of meringues, you are correct!

I was adventurous and flavoured all the plushiemallows this time. The corgi is hojicha flavoured, the panda is yuzu chocolate and the Carebear is yuzu matcha.

While the hojicha was easy to work with, it seemed like the yuzu version was stickier. I think I may need to increase the gelatin portion a little and reduce the amount of yuzu juice concentrate I used to replace the water in the sugar syrup next attempt. There was a need to re-coat with cornstarch for those two plushiemallows. Nevertheless, the flavours were beautiful and amazing 😍! I just need to tweak it a little if I ever try again.

You may refer to this post for reference recipe. I used regular sugar instead of brown sugar. 

Here are some pictures of the plushiemallows before and after dusting with cornstarch.

Here are some video clips of the plushiemallows in action!

I will share the video of the corgi plushiemallow in another post as it is part of a collection of corgi designs.

Store the plushiemallows and meringue cookies in airtight container until ready to decorate.

I used the swiss meringue method recipe for the macaron monogram and the bush on it. For such large and geometrically shaped pieces, I use teflon sheets to line my baking tray instead of parchment paper. I also tried removing the template before baking and notice that it helps with bottom heat transfer from the oven.

You may refer to this post for the two types of yuzu fillings I used, and this post tor the dark chocolate ganache that I used to break the monotony of yuzu a little. The requestor loved the yuzu flavour I made last year she is requesting for it again this year! I also brushed the surface of the monogram with a little yuzu juice concentrate to boost the flavour a little bit.

Filling the macaron monogram with yuzu ganaches and dark chocolate ganache.

I have been baking for some time but this bake allowed me to learn something new about marshmallows and macarons!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Yuzu Vanilla Honey Rainbow Swiss Roll Class

 Someone requested Rainbow swirl cream type of cake as a Junior chef class material so I designed something that doesn't require one to have a turntable and can be baked in a short time. Presenting my yuzu vanilla honey rainbow swiss roll! This is totally dairy-free too!

This swiss roll is made of yuzu vanilla chiffon sponge, yuzu vanilla honey jelly, and vanilla whipped cream (non-dairy). I chose non-dairy whipping cream as the medium for teaching how to create rainbow swirls as it is the fastest and easiest medium for kids to handle. 

This class is full of techniques that can be applied to other bakes, such as making chiffon cakes, working with agar jellies, and cream piping techniques.

Please click on this link for more details or to register.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Bubble Tea Chiffon Roll Cake

 

*New Online Tutorial* 💕 

Finally finished the Bubble Tea Chiffon Roll tutorial!😍 This video tutorial is available for unlimited streaming with recipe and template download 

Link to join here! 💕 

This is like my happiest cake ever!🥰💙 

With love, 

Susanne 

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'Basket of strawberries' Lychee Rose Strawberry Chiffon Cake

 This was what I made for my mum's birthday this year! Chiffon cake strawberries in biscuit basket, on top of a lychee rose strawberry chiffon cake!

There's more to it than meets the eye. Each strawberry in the biscuit basket has cream and strawberry jelly inside. The cake below is made from lychee rose chiffon sponge and filled with lychee rose diplomat cream, lychee jelly, strawberry compote and chopped canned lychees. The sweet pink buffalo check mat is made from chiffon too!

This will be a super long blog post as this bake has so many components. I will break it down into two main parts: 1. Chiffon strawberries in biscuit basket and 2. Lychee rose strawberry chiffon cake.

1. CHIFFON STRAWBERRIES IN BISCUIT BASKET
Recipe and steps for this part includes biscuit basket, strawberry jelly and chiffon strawberries.

Biscuit Basket

Ingredients:

140g plain flour or cake flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

30g icing sugar (I used sugar-free option but can use regular ones)

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbs milk powder (optional, added to boost milky flavour)

3/8 tsp cocoa powder (optional, for colour)

48g vegetable shortening or unsalted butter

50g milk ( May not use all)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

1. Sift together all dry ingredients. 

2. Rub in butter/ shortening until breadcrumb-like.

3. Mix vanilla into milk. Add milk a little at a time until cohesive dough forms.

4. Cling wrap and rest the dough overnight or at least 2hours at room temperature. This is to make the dough smoother and more pliable.

5. Roll dough, cut into thin strips and weave the basket.

6. Bake at 165C until lightly golden brown and cool completely. Remember to bake till really dry. If it is still a little soft, the basket may not hold its shape unless you do a tight weave. I prefer a looser weave revealing a little of the goodies that are inside. 

7. Assemble by gluing parts together with stiff royal icing. Dry completely before storing in airtight container. 

Please click on this link for the Youtube video tutorial of making the basket.

Strawberry Jelly

Ingredients:

70g strawberry compote*

70g water

2g agar powder

1/4 tsp strawberry emulco

*Strawberry compote

220g strawberries

15-30g sugar of choice (may use regular caster sugar or diabetic friendly options like erythritol, adjust amount according to taste and tartness of fruit.)

Pinches of salt

Note: Excess strawberry compote is reserved for assembling the lychee rose strawberry cake.

Steps:

1. Prepare strawberry compote by boiling all the ingredients with low heat in a saucepan until the fruit content is reduced to 60-70% of original weight. Mash the strawberries as it cooks with a potato masher or spatula. Sieve the compote if you prefer smoother compote. Cool completely before storing or using.

2. Make the jelly. Place all ingredients except agar in a small saucepan. Scatter agar powder on the surface of the mixture and let it bloom for a few minutes. 

3. Prepare moulds for setting the jelly. I used paper cones as my moulds but you may use other moulds if you wish. Bring mixture to a roiling boil while whisking continuously. Continue boiling for one minute more while whisking continuously. Add about 1/2-1 tsp of jelly mixture into each mould and let it cool slightly before refrigerating for at least 30 minutes. Unmould and store in fridge in airtight container until ready to assemble the strawberries.

Chiffon cake strawberries

Ingredients:

Egg yolk batter

2 egg yolks

25g vegetable oil

25g water

(1 tsp strawberry emulco + 1/4 tsp vanilla extract for strawberries)

OR

(1/2 tsp pandan paste + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract for leaves)

(40g cake flour +1/8 tsp cocoa powder for strawberries)

OR

(38g cake flour for leaves)

Pinch of salt

Any other gel colouring to get desired shade of red/green

Meringue

2 egg whites

32g caster sugar 

1/8-1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Steps:

1. line 10x12" tray with parchment or teflon sheet. Prep about 25-28 paper cones in suitable holders (you may use aluminium foil covered loaf pans with holes in the foil to make a stand for the cones). Preheat oven to 150C for red cones and 175C for green sheet cake.

2. Prep egg yolk batter. Whisk egg yolks until thick and pale. Add oil and whisk until combined. Add water and respective flavourings and whisk together. Gradually sift in respective flour and whisk until well combined. adjust colour if necessary.

3. Prep meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks or just reach stiff peaks, gradually adding in sugar once the egg whites are foamy.

4. Gently fold the meringue into egg yolk batter in 3 additions.

5. Pour/pipe batter into respective tray/cones. Spread the batter really thin for the leaves. You may not use up all the batter for that. Fill cones till about half full.

Paper cones filled with red batter

6. Bake green sheet cake for 9-10min. Bake red cones for 25-30 min. I reduced the temperature for the cones to 140C after first two minutes of baking. Note that temperature and time is oven dependent so adjust accordingly.

Assemble the strawberries as shown in this Youtube video (you may also watch the shortened version in my Instagram reel). You will need light corn syrup/cake glue/ melted marshmallows as glue. The cream I used is just store bought non-dairy whipping cream with a little more vanilla extract added. You may use dairy whipping cream that is stabilized but this entire bake is already so involved I felt like simplifying this part 😂. I whipped up about 40g of whipping cream for assembling the strawberries. Store assembled strawberries in the fridge in airtight container for at most a week. This is non-dairy if you use non-dairy cream so a week storage isn't an issue but it may dry out with longer storage.

Here's another view of the basket of "strawberries"! I love the cut view as well! The mat under the basket is actually homemade marzipan. I just used the marzipan for photography so not sharing the recipe.

2. LYCHEE ROSE STRAWBERRY CHIFFON CAKE

This part consists of a chiffon cake placemat with pink buffalo check pattern, lychee rose chiffon cake sponge, lychee rose diplomat cream, lychee jelly made from canned lychee syrup, fresh Korean strawberries, canned lychees and strawberry compote.

Lychee rose chiffon cake

Ingredients (makes one 17cm chiffon cake and one 7x7" chiffon sheet cake):

Egg yolk batter

6 egg yolks

75g canned lychee puree, sieved

75g vegetable oil

6g rose syrup (you may use rose water but I find rose syrup that is used to make Bandung has less tendency to taste chemical)

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

130g cake flour

Meringue

6 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

90g caster sugar (I replaced half with erythritol)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 150C. Place a tray of water at base of oven if you wish to create steam. Line 7x7" tray with teflon sheet or parchment paper. Set oven rack to second lower position.

2. Make egg yolk batter. Whisk egg yolks until thick and pale. Add oil and whisk until combined. Add lychee puree, rose syrup, salt and vanilla and whisk together. Gradually sift in flour and whisk until well combined. 

3. Prep meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks or just reach stiff peaks, gradually adding in sugar once the egg whites are foamy.

4. Gently fold the meringue into egg yolk batter in 3 additions.

5. Fill 7x7" pan till about one inch thick with batter. Pour the rest into 17cm chiffon tin. Run a chopstick in the batter to pop any trapped air bubbles. Place both into the oven

6. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the 7" tray and immediately flip the cake onto a fresh sheet of parchment paper. Continue baking the 17cm cake for another 40min at 130C (as read by oven thermometer) or until skewer comes out clean. Invert the chiffon cake immediately and cool completely before unmoulding by hand. Note that baking temperature and time will vary between different ovens so adjust accordingly. Store the cakes in airtight condition until ready to assemble.

Lychee jelly

Ingredients:

50g chilled lychee syrup from the can

12g gelatin powder or 6 gelatin sheets

100g lychee syrup from the can at room temperature

Steps:

1. Place chilled lychee syrup in a microwaveable bowl. Scatter gelatin powder or place gelatin sheets in it to bloom for 10 minutes. 

2. Microwave on low power for 20 seconds and stir. Repeat if necessary until melted fully. You may use double boiling method to melt the gelatin if you wish.

3. Add the rest of the lychee syrup. Whisk until well combined. Chill in fridge until set, at least one hour.

4. Cut the jelly into small cubes and store in the fridge until ready to assemble.

Lychee rose diplomat cream

Ingredients:

150g lychee puree from canned lychees, sieved

50g milk

20g cornflour

2 egg yolks

6g rose syrup

Pinches of salt

15g unsalted butter, softened (you can take it out from the fridge once you start work and it will soften)

80-120g whipping cream of choice (I used non-dairy for convenience which is already stabilized and sweetened. You may use dairy cream or a combination of both. If using dairy cream only, please stabilize it with gelatin or other means and add sugar to taste. Use less whipping cream for a richer cream and stronger lychee flavour.)

Note if you are opting to use less whipping cream, especially if you are using dairy cream, you may have to upsize the recipe to 3 egg yolks worth to ensure there is sufficient cream for cake assembly.

Steps:

1. Whisk together egg yolks, salt and cornflour in a heavy mixing bowl or heavy glass jug.

2. In a saucepan, heat milk, lychee puree and rose syrup until steaming hot, not boiling. Remove from heat and slowly pour in a thin stream into the egg yolk mixture while whisking the yolk mixture continuously. Pour everything back into saucepan and cook over medium low heat while whisking continuously. 

3. Keep whisking and cooking until custard starts to thicken. Remove from heat and whisk until smooth. Return back to heat and cook and whisk until custard is firm enough to hold a soft peak.

4. Remove from heat and add butter. Whisk until well combined. Transfer to a mixing bowl and press cling wrap on the surface immediately. Cool to room temperature before refrigerating for at least an hour. You may prepare this pastry cream a day in advance if you wish.

5. Remove pastry cream from fridge and loosen it with spatula. Whip up whipping cream and fold into pastry cream to make diplomat cream. Transfer into a large piping bag with a hole cut for cake assembly.

Cake assembly

-17cm chiffon cake cut horizontally into three pieces

-7x7" chiffon cake to cut out three circles to cover hole in middle of chiffon cake

-Strawberry compote (from previous section)

-Canned lychee syrup

-Lychee rose diplomat cream in large piping bag

-Korean strawberries cut to size and dried on paper towels

-Canned lychees cut to small pieces, remove woody parts

- 9" cakeboard

- guitar sheet or acetate sheet

Steps:

1. Pipe a little diplomat cream on cakeboard and place chiffon cake on it. Cover the hole with circle piece of cake cutout. 

2. Wrap acetate sheet around cake and secure with tape. Brush cake surface with lychee syrup. Carefully spoon some strawberry compote in the middle of the cake, leaving about 1inch border uncovered. Pipe a ring of diplomat cream around the strawberry compote and carefully thin it out all the way to the edge using a metal teaspoon. (see first picture in collage below)

3. Add strawberries around the circumference, taking care to press the fruit against the acetate sheet. (second picture in collage)

4. Pipe some diplomat cream in the middle. Add lychee jelly and chopped lychees in the middle. (third picture in collage)

5. Carefully pipe diplomat cream around the strawberries to fill the gaps, and over the jelly and lychees. Use the back of a spoon to smooth out the cream (fourth picture in collage).

6. Place another slice of sponge over the cream and cover the hole with a cut piece of sponge. Repeat above steps until the last piece of sponge is placed on top. Brush the tops of the top sponge with some lychee syrup. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight or at least two hours until ready to assemble. I inserted jumbo straws into the middle of the cake as dowels to support the heavy basket of strawberries but you may omit if not needed.

Buffalo check patterned chiffon cake mat

Ingredients:

Egg yolk batter

2 egg yolks

20g oil

30g milk

45g cake flour

white gel colouring

strawberry emulco

Meringue

2 egg whites

1/4-1/2 tsp cream of tartar

40g caster sugar (I replaced half with erythritol)

Note that there will be excess batter. I just piped it out to make another sheet cake for mini swiss roll.

Steps:

1. Prepare 10 x 12" tray with buffalo check pattern template (I made my own according to size of squares I wanted) and teflon sheet (preferable)/ parchment paper (ok in a pinch but may result in wrinkled looking pattern). Preheat oven to 180C, set oven rack to middle position.

2. Prepare egg yolk batter as mentioned above (not gonna repeat myself 😂) but add some white gel colouring in. Divide yolk batter into 1:1:2 ratio for white:dark pink: light pink. But if you want things simpler for yourself since there is excess batter anyway, just divide into three equal portions, about 40g each. Add strawberry emulco until desired shade of pink is reached for light pink and dark pink.

3. Prepare meringue and divide into three equal portions or 1:1:2 ratio for white: dark pink : light pink. Fold into respective egg yolk batter. Transfer into piping bags with a small hole cut, about 2-3mm. I must stress the importance of a properly made meringue. If it is unstable, it will break down fast. I use a little more cream of tartar and sugar in the meringue than for my regular chiffons for the reason of stabilizing it a bit more.

4. Pipe the pattern following the template. Pipe as thick as possible while retaining the shape, at least 4-5mm thick

5. Place tray in oven, lower temperature to 170C and bake for 9 min or until you think it is done 😂. Unfortunately this one takes a bit of guess work and you have to know your oven well and have some experience working with chiffons, because the batter is so thin. I cannot prescribe exact baking time and temperature. Bake too long and it gets browned and dry. Bake too short and it will be very fragile. Temperature too high, it will brown. Temperature too low and it will also be fragile and the meringue may start deflating before it sets (pattern will not he pretty). A chiffon this thin can go from baking too short to too long within a minute. To give yourself a larger margin of error, start with the higher temperature for first few minutes to quickly set the meringue structure before it breaks down, and then lower the temperature to a level where it is unlikely to brown so quickly but sufficient to dry out your cake batter. It is ok to open the oven door to have a closer look at your cake to check after the first few minutes. If it still appears wet, continue baking another half to one minute.

6. Once baked, immediately flip it out onto a fresh sheet of parchment paper.

Ta-dah! Looks like an actual towel.

7. Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut the cake according to the size you want. 

8. Carefully place it on top of the lychee rose strawberry cake after removing the acetate sheet. Brush the surface with lychee syrup.

You may add some fresh strawberries or chiffon strawberries on top, or the whole basket of strawberries. Please remember to use dowels of putting something heavy on top because this is a delicate cake.

Actually, I didn't get to taste the big cake because mum and dad caught Covid a few days before the planned extended family get-together celebration. My aunt picked up the big cake and shared it with the rest of my extended family including grandma. My mum and dad had the basket of chiffon strawberries instead. According to aunt, the cake was so yummy and she kindly helped me take picture of a cut slice.

Pardon the messy interior because I inserted jumbo straw dowels into the cake for photography of what the entire bake should look like.

In my slightly distracted state of mind while making this bake, I forgot all about the chiffon cake daisies I made as little pops of colour to add on the bake when I took the photos. I think they deserve a mention and feature in the blog post because they are so dainty and cute!

My parents are better now so it is a relief! Thank God for vaccines and good medical care in Singapore!

This project was really a labour of love that took many many hours. Glad it turned out yummy and pretty! Please acknowledge me if you use any of my material that I shared in this post (and other posts) because it has taken me a lot of time to develop it. For more timely view of my work, please follow me on Instagram at phay_shing as I may not share everything in the blog.

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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