Assorted Piped Butter Cookies

 Whether it's the upcoming Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas or any day, an assortment of butter cookies is always a welcome 😊. I adapted the recipe from Buttermilk Pantry to make a more delicate cookie by increasing the butter to flour ratio.

Orange/vanilla:
65g Golden Churn butter
15g French butter of choice
26g icing sugar
4g milk powder (or replace with icing sugar)
Scant 1/8 tsp fine salt
30g cornstarch
65g cake flour
1/4 tsp vanilla extract/bean paste (optional for orange)
3-4g orange zest (omit for plain/vanilla)

Chocolate:
65g Golden Churn butter (already salted)
15g French butter of choice (may replace with Golden Churn)
35g icing sugar
12g Dutch processed cocoa powder (I used Valrhona)
20g cornstarch
63g cake flour
1/8 tsp fine salt

Matcha:
65g Golden Churn butter 
15g French butter of choice
35g icing sugar
6g Matcha powder (use high grade)
24g corn starch 
65g cake flour 
Scant 1/8 tsp salt

Method:
1. Whisk softened butter, sugar & salt until lightened in colour but not too fluffy.

2. Sift in cornstarch & milk powder/ cocoa/matcha. Whisk until smooth

3. Add orange zest &/or vanilla if using. whisk until combined 

4. Sift in cake flour & fold in using a spatula until no trace of flour is seen 

5. Transfer into large piping bag fitted with open star tip of choice. I used 1M but you may use others like #827. Double up your piping bags if it's thin to prevent it from bursting. Clip the end & separate the dough into two portions within the bag as shown in reel for ease of handling

6. Pipe rosettes onto lined tray. Freeze for at least 1h or overnight if you wish.

7. Bake in preheated oven from frozen according to your preferred cookie texture*. Start at a lower temperature, bake for a longer time & end off high for crispier texture. Start high & end off low, baking for an overall shorter time for a more tender melt-in-your-mouth texture. Use a perforated mat help to contain the spread of the cookie in the oven during baking. Cool on tray for 5min before transferring onto cooling rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

* The aim of the baking profile I used is to get a delicate texture throughout the cookie with a light crunchy bite & slight toasty notes. This cookie won't be so delicate that it crumbles too easily when stacked & stored, but also not so hard that you have to bite hard before it crumbles. The long baking time I used is for a thoroughly crisp cookie that crumbles when you bite softly. Bake in preheated oven at 140C fan mode/ 155C (as read by an accurate oven thermometer) for 10-12 min, rotate tray & bake for another 10 min. Increase temperature by 20C & bake for 1 min. Rotate tray & bake for 1 min. 

Please see the reel below for more visuals:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT6as78CQ9d/?igsh=YzdoZGE5eGlkZTJj

with love,
Phay Shing

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Judy and Nick Pistachio Mixed Berry Macarons

 My friend requested for some Judy and Nick macarons and brown sugar cookies for her daughter's birthday. It's the 12th consecutive year I am baking for her! I am sharing the macaron version in this blog post.

The macarons are filled with one of the yummiest flavour combinations I have made: pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream and strawberry raspberry jam. I used only added 10% sugar by weight to the fruit puree to make the jam so it remains very tart and fruity. I reduced the puree to half its original weight over low heat until it is thick before storing in the refrigerator.

According to my friend, the macarons were so yummy even her elderly mother loved it!

The fillings were rather time consuming to make too because I make all the components from scratch.

Here's the recipe for the pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream.

Ingredients:

75g egg whites (about 2)
1/16 tsp salt
65g sugar 
140g unsalted butter, slightly softened*
10g milk powder*
140g pistachio butter*

Steps:
1. Double boil egg whites with salt & sugar, whisking constantly until mixture reaches 71.1C. 
2. Whip till stiff, glossy peak, & cooled to room temperature.
3. Add butter 1tbs at a time. Continue beating 8-10 min on med-high speed until light & fluffy. 
4. Add milk powder during the last min of beating until incorporated. 
5. Stir some buttercream into the pistachio butter to lighten it up before adding it back to the buttercream. Fold the lightened pistachio butter into the buttercream in a few additions. You may use it immediately or freeze in airtight condition until use if making ahead of time. Briefly whip with a spatula after defrosting.

* Additional notes for ingredients

Butter: 

You may replace partially with vegetable shortening if you are not able to serve this in a cool environment. I live in the tropics so the filling may soften quite a lot at 30C non air-conditioned room temperature. But if your environment is cool, use all butter because it's yummier 😋.

Milk powder: 

You may toast the milk powder for a caramel flavour as well! To toast, bake in a thin layer in the oven at 140C, stirring every 8-10 min until golden brown but not too dark.  Total duration depends on whether you are toasting in bulk or small amounts. Milk powder adds stability to the buttercream too.

Pistachio butter: 

Toast shelled pistachios at 150C for 10-15min or until aromatic. Remove the skins first if you wish by blanching and rubbing between a towel. Blend with a little salt to taste. Using a powerful blender helps as you don't need to thin out the mixture with oil.

You may refer to this reel to have a peek at filling the shells:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTh0m2bCULh/?igsh=MXJtMGc3M3RrYzI4OA==

I used my default Swiss meringue method recipe to make the macaron shells.

Here are some pictures of the undecorated macaron shells..

I used edible marker, royal icing and edible paint for adding in the details.

You may see this reel to see how I piped Nick:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTunc8PCVpH/?igsh=MXUzZXp6b3UwZXZxZw==

And see this reel to see how I piped Judy:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT1RsuSCVk1/?igsh=MWxkNXM5NzA0dzczZA==

Do read the captions of the reels as I share some technical tips on how to work with complex shaped characters with many colours and details.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Caramel Earl Grey Cat Box Cakes

 These cat box cakes are not only cute, they are delicious too!

Here's the cake composition:

🔸Earl Grey honey chiffon sponge (as the base)

🔸Light coloured Earl Grey vanilla chiffon sponge (as painting canvas)

🔸Caramel Earl Grey custard cream

🔸Crunchy Biscoff spread

🔸Earl Grey cinnamon honey tea agar jelly

🔸Freshly ground salt

I used the printing technique for the painted chiffon so there is no need to mess around with a patterning batter. This "cheat" method yields great results while saving the environment by eliminating the use of piping bags and cutting out a ton of washing. 

Painted chiffon using the printing method

A peek at halfway through assembling

A peek at the cross-section!

You may see the process of making these in this reel:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTKkS9viQAv/?igsh=eWYyNTZxcGJiNWls

If you are interested in learning how to make these cakes, I offer both studio and online classes for it. The grey and white cat designs will be shared in the class.  Please refer to the respective links for more information or to register:

Studio class:
https://www.bakersgym.com/service-page/cat-painted-chiffon-box-cake-class

Online class:
https://www.bakersgym.com/product-page/cat-painted-chiffon-box-cake-class-sgd-88-usd-68

with love,
Phay Shing

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Hojicha Yuzu Horse Macarons

Welcoming the Year of the Horse with these Hojicha Yuzu horse macarons!

Here's a peek at the hojicha chocolate ganache and yuzu jam fillings!

The ganache is made dairy-free and temperature stable enough for gifting in tropical Singapore so you may share this with your family and friends during this Lunar New Year without fear of it melting into a puddle during transport. All post-baking decorations are made using edible cookie dough and edible marker. 

I will be sharing the recipe and technique for this in an upcoming class. Please click on the link below for more details or to register:

https://www.bakersgym.com/service-page/hojicha-yuzu-horse-macaron-class

Here's a peek at the process of making the macarons:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTKkS9viQAv/?igsh=eWYyNTZxcGJiNWls

with love,

Phay Shing

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Nutella Horse Pop Tarts

 Nutella tarts are one of the favourite treats people look forward to during festive seasons like the Lunar New Year. I have given a makeover to this humble simple bake as part of welcoming The Year of the Horse!

Here's a peek at the yummy insides!

The outsides are yummy too as I coloured/flavoured the tart crust with cocoa powder and cinnamon, and decorated the horse face with vanilla and chocolate edible cookie dough. The tart dough is made with hardly any sugar to bring balance to the whole treat.

Join me for this parent-child class if you are interested in learning how to make. Click on the registration link below to find out more or to register:

https://www.bakersgym.com/service-page/kids-class-horse-nutella-pop-tarts

with love,

Phay Shing

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Matcha Christmas Tree Marshmallow with a Surprise Inside

 Although I made Christmas tree marshmallows with a surprise inside 3 years ago, this updated version yields a more stable marshmallow batter that holds ridges and peaks well without needing to freeze in between piping layers. Matcha lovers will love it too!

A closer peek at the Meiji strawberry chocolate candy inside!

Matcha honey vanilla marshmallows:
12g meringue powder* (I used Wilton)
36g drinking safe warm water*
10g caster sugar

7g gelatin powder
28g ice cold water

100g caster sugar
8g matcha powder 
1/8 tsp charcoal powder (optional, for sage green colour)
1-2 drops of forest green gel food coloring (optional)
1/8 tsp salt
20g honey 
35g water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract or essence

Other ingredients:
Cornstarch or a mixture of cornstarch and icing sugar (for dusting)
Round sprinkles of choice 
Star sprinkles

* May replace meringue powder and warm water with 48g fresh egg whites

See the reel for the video tutorial and for the method.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSZv_kqiSlS/?igsh=MXJvaTM3azZoZXpydA==

with love,
Phay Shing

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Christmas Bear Vanilla Marshmallows with KitKat Surprise Inside

 Confection is always better when there's a surprise inside!

These vanilla marshmallow Christmas bears have a yummy surprise inside that complements the marshmallow very well --- a ball of KitKat treat! The richness from the chocolate and light crunch from the wafer layers breaks the monotony of vanilla marshmallow so well! 

Vanilla marshmallow ingredients:
10g meringue powder (I use Wilton)*
35g drinking safe water (warm)*
10g caster sugar

100g caster sugar
1/8 tsp salt
25g light corn syrup
30g water
1/2-1 tsp vanilla extract or essence

7g gelatin powder
28g ice cold water

Other ingredients:
Cornstarch or cornstarch mixed with icing sugar (for dusting)
Desiccated coconut (furry bits on hat)
KitKat bites (hidden surprise)
Dark brown coloured mini Crispearls (for eyes & nose)
Ng Chee Lee's red powder food colouring 

* You may replace 2g of warm water with lemon juice to temper the sweetness further without having a noticeable lemon flavour. You may replace meringue powder and water with the same weight of fresh egg whites if you prefer.

Method and video tutorial can be found here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSUmbupEurJ/?igsh=aW4wNWgyZWd2ZG9z

with love,
Phay Shing

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Hojicha Matcha Christmas Log Cabin Cake

 I decided earlier this year to make a matcha sponge based log cake with fresh berries and cream for my extended family this Christmas because it looks so Christmasy. But I saw the log cabin cake that joyfulhomecooking (Instagram account) made and fell in love with it! I stayed true to the flavour profile I originally planned into the cabin cake and this is what I came up with!

The insides still looks Christmasy!

Composition:

- Matcha honey chiffon sponge cake layers

- Stabilized fresh cream between matcha sponge layers and on the roof

- Fresh strawberries between matcha sponge layers and on the roof, and blueberries on the roof as well

- Hojicha Swiss meringue buttercream to coat the layered sponge assembly

- Iced brown sugar cookies for external decorations 

- Lady's finger sponges for the roof. You may make your own from scratch but I bought mine from a baking supplies store.

I made one cake earlier for my immediate family just so I could destroy the cake and share the content and recipe earlier for those of you who want to make this.

It's really yums!

The cake is light and refreshing, and the Hojicha buttercream tastes like Hojicha latte with a secret ingredient added! 

The whole project may seem like a massive undertaking but the good news is, the components can be broken down into manageable blocks of time for those of us with busy schedules. I will share the components in the order you should be making.

See the process of making the cake in this reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR1s6GQkhVz/?igsh=ZmJnNjJpamFkbndk

1. Brown Sugar Cookie Decorations

The iced brown sugar cookie recipe can be found here. You may choose to omit the cinnamon or replace with a gingerbread spice mix if you wish.

Iced cookies!

The cookies have an excellent shelf life of 1 month at cool room temperature storage so you may make this first. The dimensions of the windows and doors are:

Windows: 3 cm x 5cm

Doors: 3.5cm x 6cm

Use the smallest cookie cutters you have for other decorations. Feel free to adjust dimensions according to your preference.

2. Matcha Honey Chiffon Sponge

(12x16" tray)

5 large eggs, separated

10g matcha 

55g hot water

16g honey 

1.5 tsp vanilla

64g oil

87g cake flour 

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

75g caster sugar

1. Make egg yolk batter. In a small bowl, whisk together matcha powder & hot water. Add honey & whisk until smooth. Sieve into large mixing bowl. 

2. Add oil, salt & vanilla. Mix well

3. Sift in flour & whisk until combined

4. Add egg yolks & whisk until smooth. Set aside

5. Make the meringue. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks, adding sugar gradually once egg whites are foamy.

6. Fold meringue into yolk batter in 3 additions. Pour into baking tray lined with Teflon sheet or parchment paper. Feel free to use alternative baking tray sizes because the sponges will be cut into pieces anyway.

7. Bake in preheated oven at 160C fan/170C 12-15 min or till done

8. Immediately flip onto a fresh sheet of parchment paper to cool completely. Cut into pieces for assemby Wrap in double layer of cling film to freeze if not assembling yet. 

Dimensions:

- 11cm x 21cm 3 pieces of sponge

- 7cm x 21cm 1 piece of sponge

- 4cm x 21cm 1 piece of sponge 

- 2.5cm x 21cm 1 piece of sponge

3. Hojicha Swiss meringue buttercream 
145-155g egg whites (about 4)
1/8 tsp salt
130g sugar 
280g unsalted butter, slightly softened
16g Hojicha powder
4g dark cocoa powder (optional, for darker brown & added richness)
16-20g milk powder*

* You may toast the milk powder for a caramel flavour as well! To toast, bake in a thin layer in the oven at 140C, stirring every 8-10 min until golden brown but not too dark. Total duration depends on whether you are toasting in bulk or small amounts. Milk powder adds stability to the buttercream too.

1. Double boil egg whites with salt & sugar, whisking constantly until mixture reaches 71.1C. 

2. Whip till stiff, glossy peak. 

3. Add butter 1tbs at a time. Continue beating 8-10 min on med-high speed until light & fluffy. 

4. Add hojicha, cocoa & milk powder during the last min of beating until incorporated. 

5. Use immersion blender for a shiny & smoother buttercream to finish off. You may use immediately with 8mm piping tip or freeze in airtight condition until use if making ahead of time. Mix again with immersion blender after defrosting. If making it ahead by a day, you may refrigerate the buttercream. Let it soften slightly at room temperature before using an immersion blender to mix until smooth & creamy.

4. Fresh Berries

Slices of strawberries should be prepared just before assembly and before whipping the fresh cream. I sliced the strawberries to a thickness of about 1cm. Place cut surface on paper towels to absorb excess moisture. You may prepare this up to several hours in advance, keeping the cut fruits in the fridge until assembly.

5. Stabilized whipped cream

220g + 30g heavy cream*

200g non-dairy cream*

1 tsp vanilla extract 

8g gelatin bloomed in 32g ice water

* You may use all dairy, non-dairy or your own preferred ratio of creams. If using only dairy, add a little icing sugar to taste. The non-dairy whipping cream I use is pre-sweetened. I use a mix for better stability in hot Singapore but still tastes good.

1. Place 220g of heavy cream, non-dairy cream & vanilla extract in a cold mixing bowl. Whip cream until soft peaks.

2. Melt bloomed gelatin using microwave or by immersing in another bowl of hot water.

3. Add 30g of cream into melted gelatin & mix well

4. Pour 3. into 1 in a thin stream while whisking the whipped cream by hand. Continue whipping until firm peaks. 

5. Transfer into piping bag & use immediately. If storing overnight or for 1h or more in the fridge, you will need to stir the whipped cream with a spatula again to smoothen it out before transferring into piping bag. Pipe the cream onto the cake using 1cm diameter piping tip

6. Assembly

Assembly can be spread over two days as well to make it manageable.

1. Layer the matcha sponge, fresh cream and strawberries as shown in the reel. Refrigerate overnight or freeze for 2 hours.

2. Pipe hojicha buttercream over the assembly and smoothen it out with a spatula. Melting small amounts of the cream to smear it horizontally along walls of the log cabin will create a natural subtle wood grain effect.

3. Add cookie decorations

4. Add lady's finger sponges for the roof

5. Pipe fresh cream on the roof

6. Add fresh berries on the rooftop

Refrigerate the cake for at least a few hours before serving. You may store the cake in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.

I made the flavour profile not too strongly of matcha so that kids can enjoy this cake as well. If you prefer a stronger matcha flavour, brush the matcha sponge with matcha syrup during assembly before layering the fresh cream and fruits. Alternatively, add matcha powder to the fresh cream.

Wishing you a blessed Christmas in advance!

with lots of love,
Phay Shing

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Cinnamon Brown Sugar Christmas Cookies

Instead of doing the Christmas cookie mass bake this year, we are inviting the residents in the neighborhood to join us for a cookie decorating session at church!

We decided on adding cinnamon to my default brown sugar cookie recipe that I have used for years (as not everyone like the gingerbread spice mix) to make the cookies more festive. I have updated the royal icing recipe with the addition of light corn syrup to soften the bite of the icing when it is hardened too.

You may see the reel over here for the decoration process:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRt-h3GEsKo/?igsh=MTl5YTh6NWlsaGh0cA==

Christmas Iced Cookies

(Makes about eighty 5-6cm cookies)

Feel free to adjust the spice mix type/proportion & amount according to taste. You may downsize the portion if you are not making so many cookies.

Brown sugar cookie
420g plain flour
1.25 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon powder (or spice mix of choice)
135g unsalted butter, cubed
160g brown sugar
1 large egg (about 60-65g with shell on)
100g golden syrup
2.5 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract
1/2 tsp fine salt

Steps:
1. Sift together flour, baking soda & cinnamon into a large bowl

2. Rub butter into 1. until mixture resembles fine breadcumbs

3. Add sugar & mix until well distributed

4. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, golden syrup, vanilla & salt until homogenous & salt is dissolved. Pour into 3. & mix until a ball of dough forms

5. Divide dough into a few portions. Roll each portion between parchment paper until 5mm thick. Freeze until firm, at least 30 min. You may prepare the dough in advance

6. Cut shapes using cookie cutter of choice. Place cutouts on lined tray, at least 2cm apart. Chill cutouts while preheating oven to 165C fan/175C

7. Bake for 12-15 min or until done, rotating the tray halfway through baking

8. Cool completely before storing in airtight container. The cookies are still good for consumption after one month of storage at cool room temperature in airtight condition

Additional tips:

This cookie recipe is really versatile and you can churn out crisp or soft chewy cookies from the same dough simply by adjusting some parameters. For crispy cookies, roll the dough thinner (2-3mm) and bake at a lower temperature for a longer time to ensure the cookie is thoroughly dried out without burning. For soft chewy cookies, roll the dough to 5-6mm thick and bake at a higher temperature for a shorter time. I went for somewhere in between for iced cookies as the moisture from the royal icing will soften the cookies a little. These cookies taste better with storage too as the flavour deepens with time!

Royal icing
500g icing sugar (more as needed to thicken)
36g meringue powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
90g drinking-safe warm water (more as needed to thin)
20g light corn syrup
Gel food colouring as needed

Steps:
1. Whisk together icing sugar, meringue powder & salt together in standmixer bowl

2. Add water, light corn syrup & vanilla (if using)

3. Beat on medium-low speed for 3-5 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl with spatula now & then. The consistency of the icing should be thick, glossy & able to form firm peaks when sufficiently mixed by the standmixer

4. Divide the icing & colour with gel food colouring. To thin the icing, add a few drops at a time & mix well. The consistency should be such that any peaks disappear in 15 secs for flooding consistency. To thicken the icing, add icing sugar 1 tsp at a time until desired stiffness of peak 

5. Transfer into piping bags, cut a hole in the bag & decorate the cookies. Always keep unused icing in airtight condition with cling wrap in contact with the icing to prevent it from crusting over. Store in the fridge for up to a month. Stir/mix thoroughly before using after storage. Dry iced cookies in the open overnight or for several hours before storing in airtighr container. Alternatively, use a dehydrator to speed things up or oven-dry for 15-20min at 60C fan/70C before drying in the open for a couple of hours

with love,

Phay Shing

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Ruan Mei Caramel Coffee Biscoff Ice-Cream Cake

My elder boy gave me this brief for his birthday bake this year:

Ruan Mei from Honkai: Star Rail (just because she's an expert in biological sciences), microscope, bee, DNA, leaves, caramel, coffee, ice-cream cake

I could drop any detail if I wished. This was what I came up with!

Composition:

- Coffee patterned and painted chiffon sponge

- Caramel coffee homemade no-churn ice-cream 

- Crunchy Biscoff spread

I took the liberty of including the crunchy Biscoff to give a light crunch in the texture as well as including something complementary in flavour to caramel and coffee.

Here's a peek at a slice!

I had enough ingredients to make a simple non-patterned version too!

The detailed recipe and video of the process can be found in the reel here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRehyHOkuDf/?igsh=MXV3M2NjcmQ0OG1tYw==

I will share the ingredient list for your convenience in this post.

Caramel Coffee Biscoff Ice-Cream Cake

(makes about two 4" ice-cream cakes)

Coffee Chiffon Sponge (10x12" tray):

30g oil

45g concentrated coffee/coffee milk*

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

54g cake flour, sifted

1/8 tsp salt

3 large eggs (about 65g with shell), separated

1/4 tsp cream of tartar/lemon juice

45g caster sugar

* You may brew concentrated coffee/espresso for this or do what I did, dissolve 2g instant coffee granules in 43g hot milk. I used Mount Hagen instant coffee as it tastes great.

Caramel Coffee Ice-Cream (no-churn):

100g caster/granulated sugar

10g light corn syrup

20g water 

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

120g milk

1/8 tsp kosher or 1/16 tsp fine salt

180g whipping cream of choice*

30g strong coffee/espresso**, chilled 

3-5g gelatin***

* I used 60g non-dairy mixed with 120g heavy cream.

** I dissolved 3g instant coffee in 27g hot water before chilling it.

*** You may omit if you wish, especially if you have an ice-cream maker to churn. Adding gelatin without the ice-cream maker helps to prevent the ice-cream from becoming icy and rock hard when frozen, as well as prevents the ice-cream from melting into a puddle quickly in tropical Singapore.

I know many no-churn ice-cream recipes make use of condensed milk as an essential ingredient. Personally I don't like to use it as the condensed milk flavour and sweetness comes through too strongly for me. I prefer the taste of old-fashioned custard based formulations where the intended ice-cream flavours take the center stage.

Here are some photos of the process...

Patterned coffee chiffon sponge before adding in the details 

Painted chiffon sponge. I cut this smaller to fit the 4" cake ring after painting

The birthday boy loved the cake, both for it's looks and taste!

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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Christmas Bear Macarons (new decorating technique!)

 This is one of those things I wonder why I didn't think of it earlier and why isn't it already mainstream! These charming Christmas bear macarons are actually beginner-friendly although they look impressive because of a simple hack!

This is a kids' baking class material for December that makes use of edible cookie dough for decorating all the details. The macaron bake becomes beginner-friendly because of that, at least for the heads-only version of the bears. I included the full-body version as well for those who would like to challenge themselves. Edible cookie dough is much yummier and contains much less sugar than fondant or royal icing, which have been the mainstream medium for decorating macarons. Some bakers use macaron batter to include all the details to cut out the additional sugar but using something playdoh-ish makes it so much easier but the end product still looks impressive! The cookie dough sticks by itself onto the macaron shell without needing a glue so it's really handy.

See this reel to see what I mean by it being beginner-friendly!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ6eq8bEgH1/?igsh=MWlvMXIwOWplYXRzdg==

What's on the menu:

- Chocolate macaron shells filled with dark chocolate Nutella filling

- Brown sugar cinnamon macaron shells filled with Biscoff filling

- ALL decorations are made of Strawberry or Vanilla edible cookie dough. No fondant, marzipan or royal icing is used at all so overall sugar load is less!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Blue China Cheongsam Cake

 My mum suggested making a blue china themed birthday cake for my Grandma's 90th and Aunt's 70th combined birthday celebration, modelled after what I made for her last year over here. I took it a step further to incorporate the cheongsam style as well!

I followed the floral and berry flavour profiles of the cake that I made for my mum except that this wasn't sugar-free since it's for the the whole extended family clan to eat after a sumptuous meal together.

Cake composition:

- Lavender rose chiffon sponge (7 layers + 1 wrapping around the stack + all external decorative pieces except the wafer paper butterflies)

- Vanilla rose diplomat cream (6 layers between the hidden sponge stack)

- Fresh strawberries (in the cream layers)

- Raspberry reduction (brushed on all hidden sponge layers)

I omitted egg yolks when making the sponges to reduce the use of food colouring to achieve the white and blue colours. You may refer to my reel to see the recipe and process. The method is in the comments of the reel.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQodDA1krAg/?igsh=MWpnZGh3NTl4am16Zw==

 I will share the ingredient list here for your convenience.

Lavender rose chiffon sponge:

This quantity is good for a 7" round pan which I used for the hidden sponge stack. The sponge can be sliced half horizontally for a thinner layer. I used a total of 7x this portion for the whole cake including decorative cutout parts

15g oil

40g floral milk tea*

35g cake flour, sifted

pinches of salt

2 egg whites (about 75g)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

30g sugar 

* Heat 120 milk with 6g Moroccan rosebuds & 1 tsp dried lavender flowers. Steep for 30min. Strain. 

Vanilla rose diplomat cream:

Feel free to scale up the portion as needed. I used 3x for the whole cake.

1 egg yolk

10-20g sugar

Pinches of salt

8g cornstarch 

110g rose milk tea*

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

7g butter 

100g whipping cream of choice**

2-3g gelatin (depending on serving ambient temperature and preferred firmness of cream, optional)

* Heat 140g milk with 6g Moroccan rosebuds. Steep for 30min. Strain. 

** I used a mix of double cream (45% fat) & non-dairy whipping cream in 3:2 ratio. You may use gelatin to stabilize if you wish. I omitted as I used a higher fat percentage dairy cream. Sweeten with sugar of choice, adjust according to taste & whether pre-sweetened non-dairy cream is used. I omitted as the non-dairy cream is pre-sweetened

Raspberry reduction:

100g raspberry puree, sieved

10g sugar 

4g lemon juice

Some useful tips about making this cake:

- I used melted bloomed gelatin as glue to glue the decorative pieces to each other or the main sponge

- The strawberries were sliced to the same thickness as the sponge layers to ensure even layers of sponge and cream with fruit.

Here are some photos of the process...

Tracing the mirror imaged pattern with edible marker on parchment paper

Painted sponge using cake paint

small decorative pieces made of blue chiffon sponge

Assembling the cake

Unfortunately I don't have a good photo of the much anticipated cross section slice because the waitresses whisked the cake away before I could get my hands on it and sliced the cake vertically AND horizontally 🤦🏻‍♀️.

This was one of the neater slices. The cake was really soft and moist so I imagine it was a challenge to slice it. You will have to imagine what you see x6 vertically with the strawberry slices intact. At least you can catch a glimpse of the cake crumb and even layers of sponge and cream

Everyone enjoyed the cake and the celebration was a blast!

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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Monchhichi and Friends Lemon Vanilla Marshmallows on Chiffon Cake

 My friend requested for Monchhichi marshmallow as cake topper, along with two girl dolls representing her daughters!

The girls are both fans of Monchhichi 

I took the chance to put together a systematic compilation of marshmallow piping techniques as Monchhichi is a very good subject where many techniques can be demonstrated.

Please refer to this Instagram post with a carousel of short videos for the various techniques:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DPzwZkREvDO/?igsh=MWYwbDBpYnppajlrdg==

You may refer to this reel for the piping tutorial of the girl dollies:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQBqZJ7iddo/?igsh=ZjhweXp5MGo2dDd5

Here are some pictures of the marshmallows before dusting them...

I make duplicates in case of accidental uglification 🤭.

Thank God both cake and marshmallows were very well received! The cake is just a plain vanilla chiffon cake with some pandan water mixed in for that extra natural fragrance. I omitted egg yolks in the chiffon cake to minimize the food colouring added as I don't have to compensate for the natural yellow colour from the yolks to achieve the pastel blue.

with love,

Phay Shing

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