"Capybara in Teacup" Macaron

 I needed to make some blue hemispherical macaron shells for an epic project so I took the chance to play around with this for fun!

We have a teacup plush toy and one of the capybara plushies we have fit so nicely in it I simply had to make a mini macaron version of it! The capybara is a hand-shapeable filling. I made it gula melaka coconut flavoured with a pandan gula melaka coconut surprise inside. Here's what it looks like when you take a bite of it!

I couldn't bear to do the cut of the capybara so I made a plain round version of it to do the cut scene. Here's a peek at how I piped the hemispherical shell and how I made the capybara filling! 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_HIjKlSuhb/?igsh=MTlsanlvamkxbWtkdg==

I shared the coconut filling recipe in the captions of the reel. I can't share this low fat low sugar hand shapeable filling as of yet as I only discovered it recently and am using it as a class material. It's texture is similar to Orh Nee or Mont Blanc dessert and it's relatively neutral tasting so it can take on many flavours. It's temperature stable too so it won't melt in Singapore's tropical heat.

Stay tuned for the epic project that made use of the blue hemispheres! 

with love,

Phay Shing

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Labubu Chiffon Cake

 

Can you guess which is cake and which is plushie.? Who finds Labubu so cute too? 🥰 I was gifted a Labubu and found it so adorable. Here's a short video of the assembly on my IG. 

With love, 

Susanne 

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Chocolate Truffle White Lotus Snowskin Mooncakes (for CAM)

Hi everyone, here is the recipe for Chocolate Truffle White Lotus Snowskin Mooncake Recipe for CAM class. Hope you will enjoy the recipe as well as the talk! 

Chocolate Truffle White Lotus Snowskin Mooncake Recipe (by Susanne Ng) 
Makes 10 50g-truffle mooncakes 

Ingredients 
70g Kou fien, sifted 
10g Wheat starch 
40g Icing Sugar, sifted 
25g Shortening 
40g Cold water 
75g Cold ice cream soda 
250g White Lotus paste 
28g Chocolate biscuit crumb + 32g Chocolate lotus paste 
Chocolate emulco (1/4 tsp) 
Extra 1 tsp koufien for dusting 

1. Mix chocolate biscuit crumb and chocolate lotus paste in a plastic bag. Roll into a log and divide into 10. Roll into balls. 

2. Roll white lotus paste into a log. Divide equally into 10 (~25g each). Wrap white lotus paste around the chocolate balls and roll into a larger ball. 

3. Mix sifted kou fien, wheat starch and icing sugar together till uniform using a spatula. 

4. Add in shortening and quickly mix using gloves until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. 

5. Pour in the cold water and soda and knead the dough until it becomes soft and smooth. Divide the dough into two. 

Plain dough: knead until smooth and cover. 

Brown dough: add ¼ tsp chocolate emulco and knead until smooth. 

6. To the plain and brown dough, roll into log and divide dough into 5 (~26g). 

7. Flatten the prepared dough into an 8-cm circle. Put the filling and pinch to seal. Dust the dough ball. 

8. Place the ball in, press and push out the mooncake. 

9. Store the cakes in an airtight container (label) and refrigerate for about 1-2 hrs for the mooncake to become firm before consuming. The mooncakes stay soft at least for several days. Enjoy! =) 

With lots of love, 

Susanne

 

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' Animals in Bee Suit' Marshmallow-Choux Pastry Delight

 If you want to learn the basics of deco marshmallows and choux pastries in one session, come and join me for this class!

The bee suit is made of patterned choux pastries and the animals are made of honey passionfruit vanilla marshmallows. The inside of the pastry is filled with dark chocolate passionfruit truffle and honey jelly.

I made the filling such that it is safe to leave it out in the hot tropics as it doesn't contain dairy. Great for gifting or party venues where there isn't air conditioning in hot Singapore.

Please click on this link for more information or to register for this class. There are two dates to choose from to suit your schedule. Don't be intimidated by the long hours as I want the participants to enjoy the process and not rush. You may leave early if you are done early 😊.

See the squish of the marshmallows in this reel!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6ORSsXSL5o/?igsh=MWg0eDNrNDg3aDlvdg==

with love,

Phay Shing

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Apple Earl Grey Apple Macarons

Happy Teacher's Day to all teachers! Thank you for your hard work! I didn't have time to make a teacher's day special bake so this unplanned bake came at the right time! This unplanned bake happened because I had leftover batter from an epic project that was sitting in the piping bag for 4 hours. Presenting my apple macarons filled with apple Earl Grey ganache and apple jam filling! The ganache is dairy-free and temperature stable in tropical Singapore's non-airconditioned room temperatures.

I used my default Swiss meringue method recipe where the egg whites are split into whipped and unwhipped portions to give a smoother finish on the surface. Really pleased that despite leaving out the batter for long, the macaron shells are still full, smooth and have even feet!

Even the stems and leaves were made from leftover batter too and of a different color. The stems were made from leftover grey batter with cocoa powder and cornstarch added. I added the cornstarch to thicken the batter some more to give the stems a little texture. The leaves were made from leftover beige batter coloured with green gel colouring.

The apple jam is actually what I use for making zephyrs (agar-based marshmallows). Since this bake was unplanned, I just used the same apple jam for filling the macarons as I am preparing for a marshmallow bake soon.

Proper technique and attention to detail during the process is so important and that's what I teach in my classes. It's not simply about following a recipe as we all work with different equipment and conditions.

See my reel for the filling recipe and video tutorial of the process:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_Nl4M-S_cA/?igsh=cWsxbWNrMXRvbmty

with love,

Phay Shing

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Bunny & Elephant Lychee Mixed Berry Rose Choux Pastries

 I had a request for some cute animal choux pastries with bunnies as a must. Here's what I came up with!

If the bunnies look familiar, that's because the requestor saw the choux pastry bunnies I made beginning of last year and wanted something similar. I adapted the choux pastry filling from this cake and it's always been a hit. I used less cornflour in the diplomat cream, agar as the gelling agent and a mix of berries for the choux pastry version.

Here's a peek at the cross-section view of the frozen filling of lychee rose diplomat cream, strawberry raspberry jam and lychee rose agar!

Why freeze them? Because they taste wonderful this way! I prefer eating them like ice-cream creampuffs. Refreshing on a hot day! This flavour combination is really popular for creampuffs and I can understand why! 

Here are some pictures of the process...

Freshly baked choux buns!

In the process of filling up the pastry. Doesn't the lychee rose agar jelly look inviting?

Here's a reel of the process:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-oXhQASzmy/?igsh=MWhrOHlkMGN3ZmJlaw==

with love,

Phay Shing

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Capybara Snowskin Mooncakes

 

Capybara Snowskin Mooncakes! 🦫₍ᐢ-(ｪ)-ᐢ₎ Too cute to eat?🥰 
Made with RedMan lotus paste and premium ingredients from @phoonhuat !💕 

Video tutorial reel here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C--SOQ8y8yg/ 

With lots of love, 

Susanne 

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Healthier Old School Butter Cake

 I am planning to make old school butter cakes for my dad's and uncle's birthdays this year but with a healthier twist! Before I make the actual birthday cakes, I decided to to some trial bakes so here's a picture of my second attempt!

In case you are wondering, is the taste compromised? Answer is a no according to my taste testers of various ages!

**This is not a sponsored post. I bought the ingredients because I wanted to.**

How did I make it healthier? 

By choosing a recipe that begins with less sugar and using Alchemy Fibre as well. Alchemy Fibre is a blend of inulin and edible gum. It's a prebiotic soluble fibre blend that has well documented positive effects on cholesterol and blood sugar levels. 

How is this butter cake healthier?

✅ Contains 32% less sugar than Mrs SK Ng's butter cake recipe

✅ Contains prebiotic soluble fibres which are good for gut health 

✅ Fibres reduce bad cholesterol effects of butter

✅ Fibres reduce overall GI of the cake too!

✅ No sugar replacements so suitable for those sensitive to sugar alcohols 

I chose to adapt from Wen's Delight and she in turn took Cooking Crave's recipe as the reference. Why didn't I use the famous Mrs SK Ng's recipe as a reference then? Because it contains 20% more sugar and a higher proportion of sugar goes into the creaming of butter than the meringue. This will mean a less stable meringue and chances of the meringue collapsing or breaking down during the folding stage are higher, especially with such high fat content in the egg yolk batter.

What if you don't have access to Alchemy Fibre? 

You may just replace with inulin, which you may get from health supplies stores. In Singapore, Alchemy Fibre is easily available at supermarkets like NTUC and Sheng Shiong. Feel free to replace with sugar too.

Why did I think of using Alchemy Fibre? 

Besides the health benefits, I have found that it is a meringue thickener and stabilizer so I substitute part of the sugar when making the meringue. You may see my experiment from this reel that cakes leavened by meringues like chiffon cake can be made using Alchemy fibre and without sugar at all!

Can you replace even more sugar with Alchemy Fibre than the recipe in this post?

You can definitely try although personally I wouldn't substitute much more than what I share here because I find that the fibres cause a tendency for the chiffon cakes to crack at the tops during baking and the change in texture from the familiar old school butter cakes may become noticeable. There's also such a thing as too much of a good thing because overconsumption of soluble fibres may cause bloating too. If you don't mind the change in texture for an even healthier cake and are only having a little cake in each sitting (to avoid side effects of ingesting too much soluble fibres), go ahead and make the substitution 😊

Healthier Old School Butter Cake

125g Golden Churn butter*

34g caster sugar 

6g Alchemy fibre*

Pinch of salt 

2 egg yolks

15g milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

100g cake or plain flour or a combination* 

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 egg whites 

1/4 tsp cream of tartar or 1/2 tsp lemon juice

34g caster sugar

6g Alchemy fibre*

* Golden Churn is the preferred choice of butter for most bakers. It tastes great & you don't have to worry about waiting for it to come to the right room temperature (narrow window sweet spot of 18-20C with other regular butter that needs refrigeration)  before using because it comes in a can at room temperature!

* Alchemy Fibre is a mix of inulin & edible gum. If you can't get this product, you may substitute with inulin or sugar

* Flour choice depends on preference of firm or more tender bite. Cake flour for more tender bite, plain flour for better structure stability/firmer 

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 170C, oven rack set to second lowest position or lower third of the oven. Line a 6" round or square pan at the base and grease the sides.

2. Cream butter, sugar, salt and fibre until pale & fluffy.

3. Sift together flour & baking powder. Add 2 tbs to step 2. Mix well with electric mixer. Adding flour at this early stage helps to prevent batter from splitting when the wet ingredients are added.

4. Add egg yolk one at a time. Mix well with electric mixer.

5. Add 2 tbs of sifted flour mix. Mix well with spatula or electric mixer on low speed.

6. Add milk & vanilla. Mix well with electric mixer. 

7. Gradually add flour 1 tbs at a time. Mix well with electric mixer on low speed or spatula after each addition until no trace of flour is seen. Set aside.

8. Whisk sugar & alchemy fibre together in a small bowl just before making meringue. Make meringue by beating egg whites with cream of tartar/ lemon juice & sugar mix to firm peaks.

9. Fold meringue into egg yolk batter in three additions, taking care not do deflate the meringue.

10. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 45min at 170C or until done. Adjust baking conditions according to your oven so watch the brownness during baking. Reduce temperature or tent your cake with foil if it browns too fast.

11. Invert onto wire rack to cool.

See my reel for the video tutorial of making this cake:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-z1AfESges/?igsh=cGswaWp5Mjc0YnJo

Enjoy it while freshly baked and warm! Storage in the fridge will make the cake firmer and some people like my dad loves it this way. But if you prefer soft fluffy cake, steam or microwave with steam created from a separate bowl of hot water to reheat until moist and soft again.

with love,
Phay Shing

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Shiba Fall Fatcarons

 Are you ready for Fall? Here are some Fall macarons that I am super excited about! 

Here's a peek at the cross-section view!

If you are not familiar with Fatcarons, they are simply macarons with a really thick layer of filling. These adorable shiba fatcarons came about because I asked myself " Why does macaron fillings have to be piped?? Can't it be shaped by hand?" 

Of course you can use a number of things to shape it and sandwich between macaron shells. But I want it to taste good with macaron shells so things like fondant, modelling chocolate, marzipan or marshmallows are out for me because they contain too much sugar to be paired with macaron shells.

This mystery shapeable filling is low in sugar, low in fat, doesn't melt at tropical temperatures or in you hands but melts in your mouth. It has a texture similar to Orh Nee or Mont Blanc. It is so shapeable that tiny details like the eyes, eyebrows and "X" on the butt are made of the filling! It's fairly neutral tasting and made from a key ingredient that is cheap and easily available. These shibas are hojicha and vanilla flavoured with a strawberry raspberry ganache surprise in the middle.

So the question is, what is the filling??

Join me for the studio class or online class to find out! All studio class participants will have access to online class content at no extra charge.

Studio class:

https://www.bakersgym.com/service-page/shiba-fall-fatcarons?referral=service_list_widget

Online class:

https://www.bakersgym.com/product-page/online-classes-shiba-fall-fatcarons-ready-by-14-oct

with love,

Phay Shing 

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Cute Animals Snowskin Mooncakes (for BASIC event)

I am excited to be teaching how to make these cute snowskin mooncakes at my church's Basic family day tomorrow! It's going to be fun blessed time of family bonding! Here is the recipe for your reference =) 

Animals Snowskin Mooncake Recipe (by Susanne Ng) 
Makes 8 60g-mooncake animals (for 4 pax – 1 group) 

Ingredients: 
75g Kou fien, sifted 
10g Wheat starch 
40g Icing Sugar, sifted 
25g Shortening 
45g Cold water 
45g Cold ice cream soda 
240g Lotus paste 
Chocolate emulco (1/4 tsp x2) 
Pink food colouring (1/2 drop) 
Extra 5g shortening for greasing  

Equipment you may need: 
1 plastic table cloth 
1 spatula 
1 knife 
4 pairs of gloves 
4 disposable containers 

1. Roll lotus paste into a log. Divide equally in 8 (~30g each). Roll into balls. 

2. Mix sifted kou fien, wheat starch and icing sugar together till uniform using spatula. 

3. Add in shortening and quickly mix using gloves until the mixture resembles bread  crumbs.

4. Pour in the cold water and soda and knead the dough until it becomes soft and smooth.  Pinch out 2 small balls (1-cm) and divide the dough into two. 

Plain dough: knead and cover (rest 10 mins). 
Brown dough: add ¼ tsp chocolate emulco. Knead and rest. 
Dark brown dough: add ¼ chocolate emulco to 1-cm ball. Knead in. 
Pink dough: add pink food colouring to 1-cm ball. Knead in. 

5. To the plain and brown dough (after 10 mins), pinch out a 2-cm ball (for ears/hands). 
Roll into log and divide dough into 4 (~28g). 

6. Flatten the prepared dough into a 7-cm circle. Put the filling and pinch to seal. Roll the ball smooth. Assemble your own animal by adding eyes, nose, ears, and paws. 

7. Store the cakes in an airtight container and refrigerate for about 1-2 hrs for the mooncake to become firm before consuming. Best consumed within a few days. Enjoy! =) 

Lots of love, 

Susanne 

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Miffy Vanilla & Lavender Marshmallows (using meringue powder)

 After coming up with the recipe of using egg white powder to make marshmallows, of course I have to try using meringue powder to make marshmallows. Here's what I made!

The Miffy marshmallows come in two flavours. Vanilla and lavender vanilla. 

Here are some pictures of the piped marshmallows.

I made a total of 44 Miffys! So it really tested my patience 😆. If you are interested to see the marshmallows made from egg white powder, you may refer to this post.

I shared how you can use meringue powder instead of fresh egg whites, as well as a comprehensive comparison between fresh egg whites, egg white powder and meringue powder in marshmallow making in this reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9wt2xmS_ca/?igsh=cmpzZ3RnaGJoOXR6

You may see the squish and piping tutorial in this reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C93QHR0yCGA/?igsh=MW1udW1leWk4bWhhdg==

Please refer to my book Deco Marshmallows for the details of the basic recipe and various delicious marshmallow flavours!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Deco Chiffon 3D Rolls (NEW COOKBOOK)

Excited to share my new cookbook Deco Chiffon 3D Rolls is finally hitting stores, both physical shelves and online! 

Last year, I had the sudden inspiration to shape/design roll cakes into cute 3D Characters with different fillings/surprises! 😋 There are cream-free options, downloadable templates, step pictures, video tutorials, and hard cover in this limited edition! There also also cute surprises inside the cakes and creative fillings like cheesecake, jelly, mousse etc. See video of the book on my Instagram here.

Book availability here:

Singapore: Kinokuniya, Amazon

Malaysia: Kinokuniya (Kinokuniya KLCC), Mph (The Exchange TRX)

Indonesia: Periplus

Other countries: Amazon.com and kindle in a few months

I will also be having a DEMO on how to assemble the Mermaid Roll cake and book signing this Sunday 4th Aug, 130pm at Start Vista Redman. My cookbooks will be on special offer during the demo and there will be shopping vouchers too!

Hope to see you there!

With lots of love,

Susanne

 

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Baby Shower Macarons

 Our friends welcomed a baby girl into their lives recently so these were made for them!

I used my default Swiss meringue method recipe to make the macaron shells. Here are some pictures of the piped batter:

I decorated the macaron shells with edible marker and royal icing. I filled the macarons with either Hojicha chocolate ganache or mixed berry ganache. Both of which are dairy-free to facilitate gifting people in hot tropical Singapore's weather.

You may refer to this post for the mixed berry ganache recipe. I can't share the hojicha chocolate ganache recipe as it's used for my hedgehog macaron class.

You may have a look at the reel for the tutorial of the process:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9Rzyqby3-F/?igsh=MW5hdTl2Z2RpZmxucw==

with love,

Phay Shing

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Jellycat Avocado, Egg & Toast Marshmallows (Using egg white powder)

 It's been some time since I made marshmallows. Honestly, I didn't feel motivated to make them again until I had the motivation to try using powdered egg whites instead of fresh egg whites. Presenting my avocado, egg and toast Jellycat marshmallows!

You may see my reel over here on how to use powdered egg whites for marshmallow making:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C84I744ywEl/?igsh=MTIzOGI1OGQ2b2syOA==

This experiment came about because in some countries, the use of raw fresh egg whites is against cottage laws.

Here's a picture of the piped batter:

Marshmallows taste the best toasted because of that caramelized crisp layer and soft gooey insides.

Paired with chocolate is great!

Here's a reel showing how squishy the marshmallows are and the piping video tutorial:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8-rDFlyBCe/?igsh=MTN0OWNwNTFtZzJ5Yw==

with love,

Phay Shing

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Pompompurin Lemon Bars

 This impromptu bake happened because I had extra egg yolks and lemons lying around!

I had exactly 4 extra yolks and 4 lemons to use up so it's about half the reference recipe I used from Serious Eats.

The only thing was I didn't want to end up having half an egg leftover from a bake that is trying to use up leftovers so I tweaked the ratios slightly to fit a pan size that happens to be slightly bigger than half the pan size in the reference recipe. So everything worked out well!

Although I made lemon bars before in the past over here for a sugar-free version, I prefer this recipe for two reasons. 1. The cookie crust remains crispy even after a few days due to icing sugar used instead of castor sugar. 2. There's no flour in the lemon layer so it's more like lemon custard.

Lemon Bars

Makes about 8 squares in 4x9" tray

Cookie base:

70g plain flour 

35g icing sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 lemon zest

65g cold butter

🔸Blitz everything in blender until it resembles fine breadcrumbs

🔸Press into loaf pan lined with parchment paper overhanging off the edges for ease of lifting off the pan

🔸Bake at 180C for 22-25 min or until lightly browned

Lemon filling:

190g sugar

2 eggs

4 egg yolks

3 lemon zest

Pinch of salt

160g lemon juice (about 3.5-4 lemons)

🔸Whisk everything except lemon juice in a saucepan. Add lemon juice & whisk

🔸Whisk on low heat for 3 min till warm. Increase to med-low heat. Whisk until 77C & thickened

🔸Pour through a sieve onto baked cookie base

🔸Bake at 180C with foil covering tray. I used top heat only for 20min or until firm to avoid burning the cookie base

🔸Cool uncovered. Refrigerate covered for at least 1-2 hours before cutting into squares.

🔸Decorate with melted chocolate. I used my Pompompurin macaron template so I didn't have to pipe by freehand 🤭

Piping chocolate

I set the piped chocolate in the freezer for a few minutes before carefully using tweezers to place them on the bars.

The bars can be stored in the fridge for a few days.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Capybara Chiffon Cakes

 

Capybara chiffon cake tutorial ₍ᐢ•(ܫ)•ᐢ₎ 💕 
Found those capybaras so cute! ❤️ Do they look like they are sitting around the campfire? 🥰 
And this capybara song is stuck in my head 😂 

Video tutorial here. 

With lots of love, 

Susanne 

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Capybara Yuzu Tea Steamed Buns

It's been a loooong while since I made cute steamed buns! I finally decided to play with dough again because I had some leftover yuzu tea from a kid's chiffon cake class.

Look at how fluffy it is!

The citrusy note was delightful too! These buns pair well with any sweet breakfast spread and they are nice as they are too. My kids love it!

I adapted the recipe from teacher Meiji's book and you can see the last time I tried character bun based on her book over here. Yes it's been a good 6+ years since then. That's why I am out of practice and struggled with working fast enough for smooth surface. I decided to knead the dough by hand as usual which wasn't such a good idea if I wanted the surface to be really smooth. That's despite using cold liquid. If you use a standmixer, please double the amount in the recipe as it is easier for the mixer to handle a larger volume of dough.

I shared the recipe in the caption of my reel but will copy and paste it in the blog for those of you who have difficulty reading captions on Instagram. Please watch the reel to have a view of the process.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8by-IkSt3r/?igsh=MXFuYjJrZTM0YmJyZA==

Capybara Yuzu Tea Steamed Buns

Ingredients:

(Makes about 7 mini buns)

85g cold yuzu tea*

15g caster sugar

A pinch of salt

1/3 tsp (1g) instant yeast 

6g neutral flavoured oil

150g plain flour

1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp cocoa powder

Extra water & flour as needed

* Blend 60g of yuzu jam with as much of the rind as you like with 60g hot water. Sieve through fine sieve. Reserve 85g & refrigerate for at least 2 hours before use.

Steps:

1. Whisk first 4 ingredients together. Add flour & 1/4 tsp cocoa powder

2. Knead until dough is smooth & elastic. I hand kneaded but it's better to use a standmixer to work faster for a smoother finishing. Double the recipe if using standmixer. Add water/flour if the dough is too dry/sticky

3. Divide the dough into six-seven portions 30-35g each. Add 1/8 tsp cocoa powder & a little water to the remaining dough to colour it darker brown. Keep any dough that is set aside loosely covered to prevent drying out 

4. Shape the head from the light coloured dough. Place on a piece of parchment. Add the snout & ears, sticking them on by brushing the surface of the dough with a little water

5. Set in a warm, moist enclosed place (35-40C) to proof the buns until they expand to 1.5x original size (about 40 min for me)

6. Steam for 15 min over medium heat. Turn off heat & rest for 5 min before opening the cover. I used wooden steaming baskets to prevent water from dripping onto the buns. You may wrap the lid with a towel if you don't have the baskets

Enjoy while hot! These citrusy buns can be paired with any sweet breakfast spread or eaten on their own. Keep leftovers in the freezer in airtight condition & steam from frozen until hot. They taste as good as fresh!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Brawl Stars Macarons: Stu and Buzz

 I am not a fan of making really intricate and detailed character macarons. But the end result is rather satisfying! These Stu and Buzz macarons fall under this category!

As I age, my eyesight isn't too good so characters with many small details need to be made bigger in order for me to manage😆. I can't make too many as well so I only managed 8 Stu and 6 Buzz in a single batch from my default Swiss meringue method recipe upsized to 200g almond flour.

Piped batter for Stu

Piped batter for Buzz

I decorated with edible paint, royal icing and edible marker with some vodka wash.

Works-in-progress for decoration!

Checkout the awesome feet on the macaron shells!

I filled these with dark chocolate ganache with some gelatin added to provide better stability in hot Singapore. Since these were made for kids, I chose dark chocolate with only 55% cocoa. It's firm at aircon temperature (about 22-24C) and won't melt at 30C non air-conditioned room temperature although it will soften. Please don't leave it out in the sun😆.

Dark chocolate ganache for warm weather

Ingredients:

200g dark chocolate couverture (55%)

100g heavy cream

10g invert sugar (I used light corn syrup)

20g softened unsalted butter

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

3g gelatin bloomed in 12g ice water*

* Use bovine or porcine gelatin. Don't use fish gelatin as it has a low melting temperature of about 24-27C.

Steps:

1. Melt chocolate over double-boiler or in microwave oven 

2. Heat cream, invert sugar and salt until warm (46C). 

3. Melt bloomed gelatin and add to 2 along with vanilla. 

4. Pour 3 over melted chocolate. Stir in one direction with spatula until well mixed. Use an immersion blender if you wish. 

5. Add butter and mix well with spatula or blender.

6. Press cling wrap onto surface of ganache and let it firm up in air-conditioned room temperature (21-24C) for 30min-1h. 

7. Transfer into piping bag and fill the macarons. Let the shells mature for at least 24h with the filling in the fridge before consuming.

You may watch the reel for the process of making these over here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8yABwiyb6h/?igsh=M2xrbHZ5anZzeW16

with love,

Phay Shing

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Old School Iced Gem Biscuits (Updated Recipe!)

 Those of you who followed me long enough will know that 10 years ago I was on a quest to nail the recipe for old school iced gem biscuits. It took me some tries to get something I am satisfied with and bakers who tried my original recipe all agreed it tastes pretty close to the actual stuff from Khong Guan. Click here for the original recipe if you are interested. I decided to tweak it a little and now it's even better!

I also used raw egg whites to make the royal icing the old fashioned way instead of using meringue powder because there have been requests for it. Many people who don't bake regularly prefer not to buy a big portion of meringue powder just to make these. Don't worry, it's perfectly still safe for consumption as the egg whites are going to be cooked.

Here's a peek at the insides!

Please watch the reel over here for the process.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8mFFEQycTo/?igsh=MXZoNHJnY2Q0MDhkaA==

What did I do differently this time? I have included milk powder to give these light tasting crisp biscuits a stronger hint of milk flavour. I included a 30 minutes resting time for the dough to relax as well before rolling it out.

Iced Gem Biscuit Recipe

The recipe makes about 110 biscuits. Feel free to use half the recipe if it's too much for you to handle.

Biscuit base:
140g plain flour 
1 tbs (10g) full cream milk powder
2 tsp baking powder
20g icing sugar 
1/8 tsp salt
50g vegetable shortening
50-60g milk or as much as needed to form dough
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Royal icing:
25g fresh egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar or 1/4 tsp lemon juice
120g sifted icing sugar 
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Gel/powdered food colouring or flavoured pastes as desired ( I used pandan, strawberry & lemon pastes. Original gems have unflavoured icing or just a hint of vanilla)

Steps:

1. Make the biscuit base. Sift together milk powder, icing sugar, flour, salt and baking powder.

2. Rub in shortening until it resembles fine breadcrumbs 

3. Gradually add milk with vanilla extract added until a ball of dough forms. As long as the dough ball doesn't split when you squish it, it is ready.

4. Wrap the dough in cling wrap. Set aside at room temperature for 30 min

5. Preheat oven to 170C fan/180C.

6. Roll the dough between parchment paper or lightly floured surface until 3mm thick. Dust your rolling pin lightly to prevent it from sticking to the dough if you are not rolling between parchment paper.

7. Cut out the dough with 2-2.5cm round/oval or scalloped cookie cutters. Lay on lined baking tray about 2cm apart. You may use parchment/teflon sheet/silicone mat/perforated mat to line your trays.

8. Bake for 10-15 min or lightly browned. Cool completely before icing 

9. Prepare royal icing. Whip egg whites with cream of tartar or lemon juice until foamy. Gradually add sifted icing sugar and whip until stiff peaks. You may add vanilla if you wish.

10. Divide icing into different colours. You may use gel or powdered colouring, or flavoured pastes to colour the icing. Original iced gems are not flavoured or only mildly vanilla flavoured. I chose to include a little variation in flavour.

11. Use a small open star tip to pipe the icing onto the biscuit base. 

12. Dry in 70C oven for an hour or until thoroughly dry and crispy. If the biscuits are hard or not crisp, you didn't dry it long enough. The drying time here is just a reference so adjust accordingly. Do not be tempted to speed up the drying process by increasing the temperature as the icing may crack above 75-80C. The biscuits should be really light and crisp when baked correctly. 

Storage

Store in airtight condition after cooling completely in the oven. If stored well, it can keep for a few weeks at cool room temperature. Simply pop the biscuits into the oven to dry them out again anytime they lose their crispiness.

Baker's Notes

🔸Use royal icing made with meringue powder if you wish. I used raw egg whites as I received queries over the years about making these without meringue powder but safe enough for consumption

🔸Do not replace shortening with butter if you prefer it crisp, light, with a slight hint of milky flavour but without any buttery notes like the old school biscuits in Southeast Asia. Feel free to use butter instead if that's your preference. Rest the dough in the fridge if you are choosing to use butter 

🔸The secret of making the biscuits really light & crisp is the long time spent in the oven to thoroughly dry out any moisture. This helps to extend the shelf life too!

🔸You may use round cookie cutters, piping tips or cutters with scalloped edges as long as they are about 2-2.5cm in diameter

Tag me on Instagram if you make this! I am sure you will be pleased with the results like those who tried my original recipe 10 years ago! 

with love,

Phay Shing

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