Sugar-Free Pochacco Dacquoise

I made these sugar-free Pochacco dacquoise for hubby's early birthday bake this year!

A closer look at the filling: vanilla bean pastry cream and brown butter cinnamon apple!

It tastes like a legit macaron except fluffier and less sweet!

You may refer to this reel for the recipe and process of making this creation:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DfGPv1By70R/?srtk=ZXlydXAzdmp6Y2w=

Over the years, I have experimented with sugar-free macarons and came to the conclusion that it's a technical impossibility. Refined sugar (sucrose) is needed for the characteristic smooth tops and feet on macaron shells. So I turned to the macaron's close relative, dacquoise, so that hubby can finally eat macarons again! 

Pochacco Dacquoise

(makes about 8 Pochaccos, 16 shells, Mold size: 5.3x4.7x1cm)

Meringue:

96g egg whites

4g egg white powder*

2g cornstarch 

2g cream of tartar

60g sugar of choice*

White batter:

64g almond flour*

8g cornstarch

8g powdered sugar*

4g white powder

128g meringue

Black batter:

16g almond flour*

2g cornstarch 

2g powdered sugar*

1.5-2g charcoal powder

32g meringue 

Brown butter cinnamon apple:

13g unsalted butter

1 Granny Smith apple, coarsely chopped

Pinch of salt

1/4-1/2 tsp lemon juice 

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

2g cornstarch 

7g sugar*

Vanilla bean pastry cream:

1 egg yolk

10g cornstarch 

12g sugar*

Pinch of salt

120g full fat milk 

15g unsalted butter, softened

1/2-3/4 tsp vanilla bean paste

* Notes on ingredients:

Egg white powder

This is optional but I add it to improve stability of the meringue as sugar replacements make meringues that are less robust than real sugar. If omitting, replace with egg whites

Almond flour

I toasted the almond flour by dry frying in a frying pan over low heat until aromatic & lightly browned. This is optional if you choose to bake the dacquoise at higher temperature for a shorter time instead of drying out the meringue at low temperature like I did here. I like to add the toasted almond aroma to the eating experience of this creation

Sugar/powdered sugar

I can't disclose the types of sugar replacements & ratios I used here. You may use whatever is easily available to you. Keep in mind that each type of sugar replacement/sweetener has its own unique chemical/physical properties & taste. That's why I usually use a blend to get the best of each. If you choose to use real sugar, simply use icing sugar for the dry ingredient portion of dacquoise, & castor sugar for everything else

See the pinned comments in the reel for the method.

Freshly baked dacquoise before adding in details

The box of Pochaccos for hubby to enjoy!

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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Capybara Meat Floss Mini Cakes

 We still love capybaras at home and my younger son requested for capybara pork floss cakes for his birthday bake this year!

A close up cross section cut of the cake!

You can use any type of meat floss you like such as fish, chicken or beef as well. It may sound strange to have a savoury cake to those of you not familiar with it. Meat floss cakes are actually quite popular in Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia. The sweet-savoury combination is rather more-ish!

Composition:

🔸 Plain chiffon sponge with a little oyster sauce added for a hint of umami 

🔸 Mayonnaise condensed milk sauce for some tanginess and sweetness 

🔸Regular pork floss and I dark sauce added pork floss

Before this project started, I had to prepare many egg shells.

That involved removing the inner membrane of the shell.

See the pieces of membrane? When done well, the sheets peel off in large strips

The egg shells needed to be thoroughly air-dried after washing before use. Thank God for slender fingers! It helps with not needing to open too large a hole in the shell for thorough cleaning and removal of membrane. I did break one shell by accident during cleaning but this usually happens whenever I have such projects 🤭.

Just to share a couple of process photos:

Filling the egg shells about 1/2-2/3 full of batter

Assembled sponge pieces before coating with pork floss.

I will share the ingredient list here. Please refer to the pinned comments of the reel for the method.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/De2y8tnSy5F/?psln=NXBmdjllZ3R2bnhq

Makes about 7 capybaras
Chiffon sponge:
3 large eggs separated
10g oil
45g milk
3g oyster sauce (optional, adds a hint of umami)
1/16 tsp salt
56g cake flour
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
45g castor sugar

Mayonnaise condensed milk sauce:
40g mayonnaise (I used Kewpie)
4g milk powder
20g condensed milk

"Fur":
About 80g pork, chicken, fish or beef floss
1/4-3/8 tsp dark soy sauce

Others:

Gelatin glue using 1:6 gelation powder : water

Nutella coloured black using charcoal or black cocoa powder

I tried using seaweed strip for the eyes but it was really difficult so I used the simpler method of piping the eyes with black coloured Nutella.

This bake brought smiles for the birthday boy who found it a really unique bake!

with lots of love,
Phay Shing

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Maneki Neko Peach Creampuffs

 If you love the delicate flavour of white peach in desserts, you will love these!

Composition:

- Peach shaped choux au craquelin

- White peach diplomat cream

- White peach jam

- White peach agar jelly

- Fresh white peach

- Strawberry sour candy strips for collar and inner ears

- White chocolate chip cut to size and coated with gold dust for button/bell

- Nutella coloured black with a little black cocoa or charcoal powder for facial features

- Choux pastry leaves and mini peaches for decoration 

The pastries are yummy chilled and even yummier frozen!

Choux buns need not be round. They can come in fancy shapes like peaches too!

You may find the recipe and steps for making the peach shaped choux pastry cases in this reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DenWKH1yfZJ/?xtok=ZjR1Y2M2YXByOXVj

You may find the recipe and steps for making the filling in this reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Defn05gyonL/?xtok=MWN3a296bWI2djk3Nw==

A peek at the peach agar jelly and fresh white peach in the filling!

I will share the ingredient list here for your reference. Method is in the pinned comments of the reels.

Makes about 28 mini pastries
Craquelin:
20g cake flour
3/4 tsp (1g) white powder colouring 
18g sugar
21g unsalted butter
Yellow & pink gel or powder colouring* as needed. I used turmeric powder for natural yellow colour

* Your portion of coloring may differ from mine depending on the source. It took me 3 tries to nail the colour 

Pink dough portion out 20g & add:

1/16 tsp pink powder coloring (I used Ng Chee Lee brand)

1/16 turmeric powder

Yellow dough (remaining dough) add:

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Very tiny pinch of pink powder

Choux pastry batter:
120g water
20g olive oil
20g unsalted butter
1tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
60g plain flour, sifted
2 eggs (about 95-110g without shell)
White, yellow, pink & green coloring as needed

Peach diplomat cream:

250g Marigold Peel Fresh select Momo (Momo juice for short)

110g full fat milk or dairy whipping cream

1/8 tsp salt

24g cornstarch

15g sugar

3 egg yolks 

24g unsalted butter, slightly softened

180g whipping cream of choice

Peach jam:

260g fresh white peach flesh, diced

25g sugar

1tsp lemon juice

Pinches of salt

10-15g Momo juice

Peach agar jelly:

2g agar powder

150g + 60g Momo juice

Fresh white peach:

150g white peach, diced

15g Momo juice

Note: Momo juice contains Vitamin C & citric acid. Both are well known ingredients that prevent cut fresh fruits from oxidizing when exposed to air

with love,
Phay Shing

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Sugar-Free Chocolate Pistachio Hazelnut Cake with Fresh Berries

 This cake is so tasty you wouldn't know it's sugar-free! Young and old, diabetics and non-diabetics all love it, except maybe people who don't like chocolate 🤭.

I made two cakes this time because one is for a client and another for my uncle. I chose to frost the cake rustic-style because you don't have to be super neat. 

Look at the layers!

Here's a photo of some of the sugar-free or no sugar added products that I used.

You may watch this reel for the process of putting it together and foe the recipe:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeQK9DESxnr/?xtok=MTlsMG9oODZ3dGZ0Mw==

This cake tastes better after letting it rest overnight in the fridge when the sponge, compote and ganache have come together and the cake becomes more fudgy.

Scale the recipe up according to your preference/parts. I provided the smallest unit

Sugar-free chocolate pistachio sponge:

( Use chiffon method for fluffier sponge, simple mixing wet & dry ingredients for denser sponge)

1 large egg, separated for chiffon method

1/8 tsp cream of tartar (for chiffon method)

50g sugar replacement of choice*

20g natural cocoa powder

20g milk

1/8 tsp salt

40g oil

20g pure roasted pistachio butter

55g plain yoghurt

1/4-1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

30g cake flour 

1/2 tsp baking soda

Sugar-free chocolate hazelnut pistachio ganache:

100g sugar-free chocolate hazelnut spread

20g 99% or 100% dark chocolate

38g plain yoghurt 

38g milk

45g pistachio butter

Sugar-free pistachio crunch:

100g sugar-free white chocolate

50g pistachio butter

50g chopped roasted pistachios 

2-3 drops of pandan paste (optional but helps to elevate the pistachio flavour and add a little green)

Strawberry raspberry compote:

Frozen/fresh fruit blended, sieved. Add a squeeze of lemon juice. Cooked & reduced to 60% original weight 

You may find the method in the pinned comments of my reel.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Apple Black Tea Chiffon Cake "Apples" II

 It's been some time since I last made these but it's the first time I made a video tutorial of how it's done!

When I made my first chiffon cake "apples" back in 2014, it amazed many people because no one had ever seen anything like it before! I managed to take some photos of the process of piping the batter in the blog post over here but didn't manage to share any videos of it as I very rarely took videos back then.

I made the apples again but with filling inside for my dad's and uncle's birthdays in 2021. And again, no videos taken because I wanted to focus on making the cakes. People asked about videos and I had to say sorry I didn't take it. 

Now that I have a regular client asking me to make a cake like this for her, I took the chance to do a proper documentation of the process.

You can see the process reel and recipe over here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeAuRjHSDnZ/?stkn=NWFrZHZ0c2phaWYx

Chiffon sponge:

(Note that this is the smallest unit so scale accordingly. It's recommended that you don't make huge batches as the chiffon meringue/batter will start to deflate if you take too long to pipe & marble the batter.)

15g apple spiced black tea*

10g oil

Pinch of salt

18g cake flour 

1/16 tsp cinnamon powder 

1/16 tsp black tea powder

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg, separated

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

15-20g caster sugar

1/32 tsp red powder/red gel coloring

1-2 drops yellow gel colouring 

* Apple spiced black tea:

1 apple, peeled & grated 

480g water 

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1/16 tsp ginger powder 

3g black tea powder (or 3 teabags of black tea)

Cinnamon sticks cut to size for stems

Here's a peek at the cake after shaping it but before inserting the cinnamon stick stem

These apples are meant as cake toppers to decorate a layered cake complete with apple black tea diplomat cream, poached apples and apple spiced black tea jelly. Keep a lookout for it in the future!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Cherry Coconut Pistachio Roll Cake

 This was the birthday cake I planned to make for my dad's birthday! 

But....This was the cake that was actually served!

I had leftover filling and only realised halfway through packing up after taking videos that I could use it up by slapping them onto the cake 🤭.

Cake composition:

- Coconut vanilla chiffon sponge

- Pistachio feuilletine crunch 

- Cherry coconut diplomat cream

- Cherry compote jelly

- Cherry Luk Chup as cake decorations 

Here's a slice of the cake after having a nice meal at the restaurant 

Bite cross-section of a cherry Luk Chup which I forgot to take along with the video.

You may refer to this reel for the recipe and process of putting the cake together:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdXhj94S3au/?stkn=dmMxcGJtN3ZpeXpu

You may refer to my earlier blog post for the making of the cherry Luk Chup which look so much like real cherries you will have a hard time telling them apart from real ones!

Coconut vanilla chiffon sponge (12x12" tray):
2 egg yolks
25g oil
65g coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
65g cake flour
4 egg whites (150-160g)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50g caster sugar
10g prebiotic soluble fibres (may omit or replace with sugar)

1.  Whisk together oil, coconut milk, vanilla, salt, sifted flour & egg yolk

2. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar in another bowl till firm peaks, adding sugar gradually once egg whites are foamy

3. Fold 2. into 1. Pour into lined 12x12" tray

4. Bake in preheated oven at 170C/160C fan for 15-16 min or until done. Temperature & time varies from oven to oven so adjust accordingly 

5. Cut the sponge into two rectangles for fitting into U-shaped mold for roll cake

Pistachio feuilletine crunch:
100g white chocolate
50g roasted pistachio butter
50g feuilletine 
2-3 drops pandan paste (optional, to boost flavour & add a tinge of green)

1. Melt white chocolate with pistachio butter & pandan paste (if using)

2. Add feuilletine crunch & mix well

3. Immediately spread in a thin layer on sponge before it hardens

Cherry compote jelly:
150g fresh cherries (without pits)
15-25g honey/sugar
1 tsp cornstarch in 1 tbs water to form slurry
2g gelatin bloomed in 10g cold water

1. Blend cherries briefly, it doesn't have to be very smooth if you want some bite. Cook over medium -low heat until reduced to about 100g

2. Add honey or sugar & stir until dissolved

3. Add cornstarch slurry & continue stirring & cooking until thickened. Remove from heat 

4. Add bloomed gelatin to compote & mix until gelatin is fully melted & incorporated. 

5. Pour into homemade cylindrical mold made using acetate sheet, cling wrap & tape. Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 h or overnight

Cherry coconut diplomat cream:
2 egg yolks
16g sugar
1/16 tsp salt
14g cornstarch 
100g reduced sieved cherry puree*
120g coconut milk
110g whipping cream of choice**

Lightened cherry coconut diplomat cream:
35g cherry coconut diplomat cream
50g whipping cream of choice**

1. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, salt & cornstarch until smooth. Set aside

2. In a saucepan, heat cherry puree & coconut milk until steaming hot but not boiling. Pour in a thin stream into 1. while whisking the egg yolk mixture. Pour everything back to saucepan 

3. Whisk the custard & cook over medium -low heat until it starts to bubble. Continue whisking & cooking for another minute before removing from heat

4. Transfer into a bowl & press cling wrap on surface. Chill overnight or at least for a few hours

5. Whip whipping cream of choice until firm peaks. Whip chilled cherry coconut pastry cream until loosened. Gradually add whipped cream into pastry cream by mixing well with electric mixer or by folding in with spatula. For the lightened version, fold more whipped cream into the cherry coconut diplomat cream

* Cherry puree reduced to about 70-75% original weight to intensify flavour
** You may use non-dairy, full dairy or a mixture. Non-dairy is the most stable & there's no danger of overwhipping but dairy cream tastes the best. Use stabilizers if using dairy only. A mix of both types give you good taste & stability 

with lots of love,
Phay Shing

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Grogu Yuzu Chiffon Cake with Nutella Pudding

 My friend requested for a Grogu cake for her daughter's birthday with yuzu chiffon filled with Nutella pudding as the choice of flavour because she loved the cake I made for her last year so much she wanted the same flavour again this year!

The hole in the chiffon cake in makes for a convenient pocket to fill with pudding!

Pudding is totally concealed in this design...

Even the party hat is filled with pudding!

A look at Grogu before being filled...

You may refer to the reel below for the detailed recipe and process of putting this creation together:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdIEvvPSdEe/?stkn=MTJpNWFnZHEwaTBzeQ==

Scale the recipe up according to your preference/parts. I provided the smallest unit

Yuzu chiffon (with yolks):
1 large egg, separated 
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
15-20g sugar (according to preference)
18g cake flour, sifted
15g yuzu tea*
10g oil
1/16 tsp salt

Yuzu chiffon (without yolks for less colouring in blue & white sponges):
1 large egg white
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
15-20g sugar
17g cake flour, sifted
20g yuzu tea*
10g oil
1/16 tsp salt

Colouring:
Cocoa powder
Pandan paste
Blue, white gel colouring 

* Blend equal parts by weight of yuzu jam & hot water.

 Let it sit for 15 min. Include as much rind as possible for stronger flavour. Sieve through fine sieve. I didn't use a fine enough sieve at first as I wanted to impart a stronger flavour with a little bite. The yuzu rind bits end up being stained darker green than the batter so you can see dark green specks of it on Grogu's head 🙈

Method for chiffon sponges:
1. Whisk together oil, yuzu tea, salt, flour & egg yolk (if using). Add colouring as desired
2. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar in another bowl till firm peaks, adding sugar gradually once egg whites are foamy
3. Fold 2. into 1. Pour/pipe into tin/lined tray/silicone mold
4. Bake in preheated oven until done. Temperature & time varies from oven to oven & depending on whether you are baking a thin sheet cake, in silicone molds or tall chiffon tin so use whatever works for yours. As a reference, 130-150C is what I use

Notes: You may brush sponge surface with a little yuzu tea for an extra boost in flavour & to keep it moist

Nutella pudding:
80g Milk (60g + 20g reserved as cold)
1g Agar
50g Nutella

Method for Nutella pudding: 

1. Whisk agar into 60g room temperature or cold milk in small saucepan. Let it sit for at least 5 min

2. Add Nutella & whisk until well combined. Heat mixture while whisking constantly until it boils. Continue boiling & whisking for another minute.

3. Remove from heat. Add remaining 20g cold milk & whisk until well combined. Skim off scum on surface if any. Cool slightly to about 65C before pouring into cavities.

4. Cool to room temperature before refrigerating for at least 30min.

Notes: You may use any fat content of milk, or even replace the cold milk added at the end with heavy cream. The higher the fat content, the creamier the texture. 

Black & pink parts:
5g neutral oil
5g icing sugar
5g cake flour
5g egg whites
Charcoal powder 
Pink gel colouring 

Method for black and pink parts:

1. Whisk all ingredients together till smooth. Add colouring as desired

2. Spread in a very thin layer on lined baking tray.

3. Bake at 140C for 6 min or till cooked through. Don't overbake

Notes: You may do this for the white flat parts as well if you don't want the hassle of baking a white chiffon sponge. I needed the white chiffon sponge for the hat bobble so I didn't use this method for the thin white dots for hat & eyes. You may also flavour this if you wish but it's not necessary if the parts are really small &/or thin

Glue:
Melted bloomed gelatin. Use 1:6 gelatin : water by weight

Thank God the birthday girl loved the cake this year too, both in terms of looks and taste!


with love,
Phay Shing

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Hyper-Realistic Cherry Luk Chup

 I was fascinated with Luk Chup since a few years ago but didn't have the motivation to try it out as I didn't manage to find a subject or purpose for it. With my dad's birthday coming up, I decided to give it a try because there were very good and cheap Turkish cherries on sale.

Can you tell which two cherries in the picture below are the real ones? 

A close up view of the cut cross-section!

I happened to have some homemade frozen lotus seed puree at home, in preparation for my Mooncaron class. Luk Chup is traditionally made from mung beans but other substitutes are possible too, such as lotus seeds which I had on hand. My recipe is adapted from Catherine Zhang's Luk Chup recipe. Feel free to upsize it as it's a small batch.

Ingredients:

(makes about 12-14)

Dough:

100g lotus seed puree*

50g cherry juice*

40g heavy cream/ coconut cream*

1/16 tsp salt

35g sugar*

1 tsp tapioca starch 

Coating:

125g water (room temperature)

1/2 tsp agar (1.6g)

1 tsp sugar (6g)

1/32 tsp salt (pinch)

Finishing:

Red, blue & dark brown colouring + some water

Fresh cherry stems 

* NOTES ON INGREDIENTS

🔸Lotus seed puree: I prepared this by first washing & soaking dried lotus seeds. The green shoots are removed. Rinse & boil soaked seeds until soft & easily mashed between fingers. Press boiled lotus seeds through fine mesh strainer. You may store the puree in the freezer double wrapped until it's needed. You may use the traditional mung beans instead of lotus seeds. I happen to have lotus seed puree in my freezer so I used it. You may use red beans (azuki beans), cannellini beans, or possibly chestnuts, sweet potato/taro as well. Basically anything that can form a smooth paste that's used in pastries all over the world. Just take note that you may need to tweak the sugar content &/or liquid used to form a final dough that tastes good & works well but the technique should work

🔸Cherry juice: I used freshly squeezed cherry juice but you may substitute with other juices or use coconut milk instead

🔸Heavy cream/coconut cream: I used coconut cream for this one and heavy cream for my first attempt. Both are great! If you are omitting the use of juice, replace this with coconut milk which has a lower fat content

🔸 Sugar: It's not only a sweetener but also a binder. Too little & your shaped dough will crack easily. I already reduced sugar from the traditional/original recipe by about half

Watch the reel for the video tutorial of the process:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc4oBGgykXa/?stkn=MXg0Znpyc3I2Y21weA==

Steps:

1. Blend all ingredients except tapioca starch

2. Pour into non-stick saucepan. Add tapioca starch

3. Cook on med-low heat until a soft pliable dough forms. Make sure it's able to hold its shape when you try to mold it. If not cooked till firm enough, the shaped fruit will slide down the skewer & not hold its shape well. Cool completely 

4. Portion out 10-11g of dough for each cherry. Shape using lightly oiled clean hands & ball tool. You may use gloves but I find it causes creases in my shaped cherries😅, much like how bakers who work with fondant prefer to work with bare hands for intricate shaping

5. Paint shaped cherries using a brush. You may use a dish of paint for dipping but I wanted to create subtle shading that real cherries have by making dark red & black cherry colored paints

6. Mount on skewers using an upside down colander to hold them in place to dry. About 15-30 min 

7. Meantime, prepare agar coating. Whisk all ingredients together in a tiny saucepan. Let agar bloom for 5 min. Bring to a boil while gently whisking. Continue boiling for 1 min. Remove from heat & cool to about 65C while stirring gently

8. Dip cherries in agar as shown in reel, waiting for about a few minutes between 1st & 2nd coating. Reheat & stir agar if it starts to thicken/set

9. Attach cherry stem after applying the 2nd coating. Let the coating set fully, about 10 min

10. Remove Luk Chup from skewers. Cut off excess agar at the base & reshape to round out. Store airtight in fridge for up to 5 days

Looks so real you can't tell that they aren't!

Stay tuned for the cake that these cherry wannabes were used to decorate!

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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Clodsire Chocolate Vanilla Marshmallows

 I used to be unable to make fluffy, delicious chocolate character marshmallows due to the unavailability of defatted (ultra low fat at less than 1% fat) cocoa powder. Not anymore with Callebaut's low fat cocoa powder available at Redman now!

These Clodsires are 100% naturally coloured and flavoured. I used to need to add a lot more gel food colouring to get deeper shades of brown or a mix of chocolate paste (artificial chocolate flavour which isn't too yummy) and charcoal powder or black gel colouring. For this creation, only low fat cocoa powder and charcoal powder were used for colouring 

Piped marshmallows before dusting

The recipe below is just for the lighter shade of greyish brown for the main body of Clodsire so for a more intense chocolate flavour, you have to tweak the ingredients & process which I can't share here as it's in my class material.

Ingredients:
10g meringue powder*
10g sugar
36g warm water*

100g sugar
3g low fat cocoa powder
0.1g charcoal powder (or a pinch)
1/8 tsp salt
25g light corn syrup
35g water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

7g gelatin powder (bovine or porcine)
28g cold water to bloom gelatin

Cornstarch or a mix of cornstarch and icing sugar for dusting

* May replace with fresh egg whites

See the process of piping in the reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcfQmHsydvb/?igsi=MWo2cGFlZjAzNmZ2

Method:
1. Whisk together first 3 ingredients in standmixer. Beat till soft peak

2. Make chocolate sugar syrup by mixing the next 7 ingredients in a small saucepan, whisking frequently. Heat till 116-118C. Remove from heat. Add bloomed gelatin. Mix well till gelatin is fully melted.

3. Pour 2. in a thin stream into 1. with mixer running at medium high speed. Continue whipping till peak shown in reel.

with love,
Phay Shing

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Low-Sugar Black Sesame Cookies

 I was experimenting with creating cookies that have as little sugar as possible without resorting to sugar replacements and without compromising texture and taste. After some less than satisfactory attempts, I have finally come up with something that I am pleased with!

Having fun with cat shaped cookie cutters!

The reference point for the recipe development is from the standard shortbread recipe which has a 1:2:3 ratio of sugar:butter:flour by weight. The dry ingredients is in the ratio of 1:2 for butter:dry ingredients. I tried to keep this ratio to maintain structural integrity while reducing the sugar proportion to the minimum. 

This low-sugar cookie recipe is simple & can be adapted for other seeds, nuts or plain vanilla. Although it contains less than 5% sugar without any sugar replacements added, it's still bold in flavour with a tender, crumbly melt-in-your-mouth texture but firm enough to hold cutout shapes.

Ingredients:
(makes about 24 cat cookies in my case)
45g plain flour
5g rice flour*
5g full cream milk powder*
5g icing sugar
1/16 tsp salt
10g black sesame powder*
35g unsalted butter

See the reel for the process of making the cookies:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcPbRvkyOqW/?igsi=MXFsOXVnZ2Fnb3YyYQ==

Steps:
1. Sift together all dry ingredients

2. Using only fingertips, rub butter into 1. Squish the crumbs together to form a ball of dough

3. Divide dough into 2 so at any time, there is always dough that is chilled firm & ready for cutting out shapes

 
4. Roll dough to 4-5mm thickness between acetate or OPP sheets. Freeze until firm. Rolling the cookie dough between two acetate or OPP (oriented polypropylene) sheets is an easy way to roll out dough without creasing it or sticking to any surfaces. This makes the task a lot easier and less messy! I used OPP sheets which I have on hand to make my piping cones. They are actually cookie bags for gifting usually sold in bulk at baking supplies stores so they are food-safe. Using guides for rolling out the dough helps you to keep the dough thickness consistent.

5. Cutout shapes as desired & place on tray lined with parchment paper. Freeze cutouts while preheating oven to 150C fan/170C

6. Transfer frozen cutouts onto tray lined with perforated mat if you have as it helps with shape retention during baking. You may stick with parchment paper/Teflon sheets/silicone mats too if you wish

7. Bake for 10-13 min or until lightly browned at the base & edges. Rotate the tray halfway through if your oven heat isn't even. Do not overbake as cookies can become dry in the absence of more sugar, but still aim for some browning for flavour. Adjust baking temperature & time according to what works for your oven as each oven is different. Cool completely before storing in airtight container. Best consumed a day later when flavours have become more balanced.

*NOTES ON INGREDIENTS:

- Rice flour: Helps to reduce overall gluten content for a tender cookie, increase crispiness. Adding too much will make the cookie drier & more crumbly. May replace with plain flour if you prefer a sturdier cookie

- Full cream milk powder: The secret ingredient that imparts flavour without adding sugar. Helps to prevent cookies from becoming too dry

- Black sesame powder: This is actually ground black sesame so you may replace 1:1 for any ground seed or nuts of your choice such as white sesame, pumpkin seed, almond, hazelnut, pistachio etc. You may also replace with plain flour & milk powder as plain flour alone would be too dry without the oils that seeds & nuts have. Feel free to add a little vanilla extract for substitutions that are mildly flavoured

with love,
Phay Shing

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Yuzu Honey Long-Tailed Hokkaido Tit Marshmallows

 While preparing for my "cat in ice-cream cone" marshmallow class, I couldn't resist making these adorable birds because I can use the exact same batter for the brown and white parts of the birds.

Long-tailed Hokkaido tit marshmallows modeled after the figurine version which is also in this picture. Can you identify the figurine amongst the marshmallows?

Here's a video of the piping tutorial:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Db_-gJgSE2S/?igsh=aGJsOW0wbmpod3M1

Here's a works-in-progress shot of the piped marshmallows...

I am so glad that I can colour marshmallows brown naturally with low fat cocoa powder from Callebaut ever since it became available from Redman! 

Low fat cocoa powder (<1%) is excellent for meringue-based bakes like macarons, meringue cookies, chiffon sponges and of course piped character marshmallows because most easily available cocoa powder have much higher fat content of 20-25% which deflates the meringue quickly, resulting in dense bakes.

Fluffy chocolate marshmallows are now possible! stay tuned for an upcoming chocolate marshmallow character in a future post!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Lychee & Rose Iced Gems Biscuits

 This was quite an impromptu bake because I was suddenly inspired by another baker to incorporate the flavours of lychee and rose into a Singapore National Day bake. Presenting my lychee and rose iced gems!

The biscuit is light and crisp!

Those of you who have followed our blog long enough will know that my attempts at old school iced gems began more than a decade ago. I shared the improved version and used egg whites for the royal icing instead of meringue powder in a post 2 years ago over here. You may refer to it for the detailed recipe and important baker's notes for the vanilla flavoured ones. I will share the ingredient list and baker's notes for the lychee and rose flavoured gems in this post.

(Makes about 100-110 biscuits)
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

White lychee royal icing*:
15g egg whites
1/16 tsp cream of tartar
70g icing sugar
2-3g lychee powder*
2 drops lychee flavouring* (optional)

Red rose royal icing*:
16g egg whites
1/16 tsp cream of tartar
1/16 tsp red powder colouring
75g icing sugar
3g rose syrup or 1/8 tsp rose water*

You may refer to the reel below for the method and visuals of the process:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dbsi9lmJ33a/?igsh=MWoycnQzcXJyZGNvdw==

The key to making the biscuits really light and crisp is to make sure that the biscuits have absolutely no moisture by the time they are done, including after drying out the royal icing. So some patience is needed to make these really yummy. Take your time to dry them out using the oven. Once the biscuits become less crisp during storage, you can pop them back into low temperature oven at 70-80C to recrisp again

*Notes on ingredients:

🔸Royal icing: I shared how to use fresh egg whites to make royal icing here. While it's great for home bakers who don't want to buy a tub of meringue powder just to make these biscuits, using meringue powder to make royal icing makes it easier to incorporate lychee and rose flavours without affecting the icing consistency too much. If using meringue powder, instead of adding water, you can use lychee syrup or puree to make lychee royal icing, and more rose syrup can be used to impart a stronger rose flavour if meringue powder is used instead of egg whites. See alternative recipe for royal icing using meringue powder below.

🔸Lychee powder: Imparts strong lychee flavour without adding more fluids and it doesn't have a chemical aftertaste that lychee flavouring tends to have. If you don't have access to it, you may add 1/8 tsp lychee flavouring. If you have access to freeze-dried lychee, you may grind and sift it with icing sugar to impart lychee flavour to the icing too

🔸 Red powder colouring: I used Ng Chee Lee brand of powder coloring, the same one that's used to colour Ang Ku Kueh. A little goes a long way and it doesn't leave a chemical aftertaste

🔸Rose syrup: It's the same syrup used to make a popular drink, Bandung, in Singapore. You may replace it with 1/8 tsp rose water if you wish. I prefer using rose syrup to rose water for imparting rose flavours because there is less chemical aftertaste but this is a personal preference so your opinion may differ from mine. The rose flavour is subtle in the recipe I shared with fresh egg whites as adding too much rose syrup will make it harder for the meringue to reach stiff peak. If you prefer stronger rose flavour, use rose water or switch to meringue powder instead of egg whites

Alternate royal icing recipe using meringue powder:

125g icing sugar

9g meringue powder 

18g drinking safe water**

2g light corn syrup

1. Whisk together icing sugar and meringue powder

2. Add water and light corn syrup and beat using electric mixer until stiff peaks. 

** For flavoured royal icing, replace all or part of the water with puree or syrup. Adjust consistency of icing accordingly. Adding a drop of water at a time if it's too dry, adding a little icing sugar (not too much or the icing will turn hard to bite) if too wet.

Happy Birthday Singapore! I am really thankful to be a Singaporean!

with love,
Phay Shing

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