With lots of love,
Susanne
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Suzy’s Zoo Baby Witzy Duck Chiffon Cake
With lots of love,
Susanne
Dairy-Free Hello Kitty and Snoopy Brown Sugar Cookies
I have a request for dairy-free Hello Kitty and Snoopy cookies for a party so here they are!
As the number of cookies is quite a lot, I chose to make just the head of the characters. The recipe is adapted from my all time favorite brown sugar cookies with royal icing. Simply substitute the unsalted butter with vegetable shortening. You will find that the dough is easier to work with too. Less sticky but still remains soft and pliable after refrigeration. You need to freeze the whole tray of cookie dough cutouts before baking instead of putting the tray in the fridge for the cookie cutouts to be rigid when they go into the oven.
Here are some photos to share...
I rolled the dough to 5-6mm thick before cutting out the shapes. Bake at 160-170°C for 13-16 minutes or until browned. Leave on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely. Let the cookies rest in airtight container for a day before icing.
I am beginning to love using homemade templates for my customized cookies because it's so versatile! Any size and pattern of a particular character or object can be accommodated! Still tedious but that can't be avoided. I borrowed the HK cookie cutter from Susanne but ended up not using it as I had to make a template for icing anyway.
Wait for the icing to dry completely before flooding.
These dairy-free cookies are just as aromatic as the ones with butter used. My kids and mum tasted some extras and said they were yummy!
With love,
Phay Shing
Only 4 here but I made 22 Kitties and 13 Snoopies!
As the number of cookies is quite a lot, I chose to make just the head of the characters. The recipe is adapted from my all time favorite brown sugar cookies with royal icing. Simply substitute the unsalted butter with vegetable shortening. You will find that the dough is easier to work with too. Less sticky but still remains soft and pliable after refrigeration. You need to freeze the whole tray of cookie dough cutouts before baking instead of putting the tray in the fridge for the cookie cutouts to be rigid when they go into the oven.
Here are some photos to share...
Freshly baked cookies with homemade templates!
I rolled the dough to 5-6mm thick before cutting out the shapes. Bake at 160-170°C for 13-16 minutes or until browned. Leave on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely. Let the cookies rest in airtight container for a day before icing.
I am beginning to love using homemade templates for my customized cookies because it's so versatile! Any size and pattern of a particular character or object can be accommodated! Still tedious but that can't be avoided. I borrowed the HK cookie cutter from Susanne but ended up not using it as I had to make a template for icing anyway.
Tracing and drawing in Kitty's features using edible marker
Tracing and drawing in the features for Snoopy too
Icing the outline and features with charcoal powder coloured black royal icing
Wait for the icing to dry completely before flooding.
Filling in white for Snoopy!
Filling in white for HK
Adding in the nose and bow. I decided to leave out the outline for the nose in the end.
Dried in the oven at 60°C fan mode for 8 minutes followed by overnight drying in aircon room. Ready for packing!
Packed Kitty and Snoopy!
Actually a lot of my "baking" time is spent packing my bakes when the request is made for individual packaging
These dairy-free cookies are just as aromatic as the ones with butter used. My kids and mum tasted some extras and said they were yummy!
With love,
Phay Shing
Monday, 27 April 2015
3D Hello Kitty Figurine 3-Tier Chiffon Cake
This is a loving Hello Kitty creation following my Hello Kitty Doll Chiffon Cake. Instead of a big Hello Kitty doll, here I made a cute little Hello Kitty figurine from chiffon cake. Some of you may remember the Hello Kitty chiffon pops I made for my daughter’s birthday last year? I made the figurine by placing the small Hello Kitty face pops on a chiffon cake cut out from a cone to make the dress. The top tier is flowers-themed and a cream vanilla chiffon. The middle is the polka-dot-themed tier and made of strawberry chiffon. The bottom tier is hearts-themed and also cream vanilla chiffon. The cake was made with lots of love. Happy birthday to Calista.
With love,
Susanne
Keroppi Matcha Macarons with Azuki Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream
I made these for fun along with Hello Kitty macarons. Originally intended to be given to my kids but they were all snapped up by the lady who requested for Keroppi cookies! Presenting my totally naturally coloured and flavoured Matcha Keroppi macarons with Azuki bean swiss meringue buttercream (smbc)!
I was getting muddled after piping 90 Hello Kitty macaron shells and seeing stars by the end of drawing 45 Kitty faces so I didn't do a very good job for Keroppi. I piped the same pattern for both top and bottom shells so Keroppi ended up having exposed eyeballs at the back of the head :p. Should have piped plain green shells for bottom shells. Keroppi's mouth wasn't drawn on too well even though it's just a "V". Anyway, glad that they are still recognizable!
Here's the template I used. I only made 15 shells.
I will share the recipe for a larger batch of macarons for your convenience.
Ingredients (about 40-45 Keroppi macarons, 80-90 shells):
200g icing sugar
200g superfine almond meal/ ground almond
200g caster sugar
75ml water
80g x2 egg whites, preferably aged
10g Matcha powder, preferably high grade
Steps:
1. Sift almond meal with icing sugar. Add 80g of egg whites and mix well to form the mass. Portion out a quarter of the mass and leave it plain. Add sifted matcha powder to the remaining 3/4 of the mass.
2. Prepare the Italian meringue and fold in 1/4 and 3/4 of it in two batches to the respective masses. Please refer to this post for the details on how to prepare the Italian meringue and macaron batter. Refer to this post for video tutorials of the macaronage process.
3. Pipe the batter onto the trays with a 5-6 mm round tip. Remember to pipe plain green shells for the bottom shells. For Keroppi's face, pipe the eyes first, followed by a rounded green rectangle for the face. Tap the tray on the table a few times to release trapped air bubbles.
4. Bake at 130°C for 17-22 minutes at the lowest rack position, rotating the tray halfway through baking. Extend the baking time if the shells are still stuck to the baking sheet. Cool the shells for 5 minutes before removing from the tray.
5. Add on rosy cheeks and blacks of eyes. I drew on the mouth with edible marker. I used natural sourced pink food colouring (Queen's) to colour the rosy cheeks and charcoal to colour black. Make sure that the icing is completely dry before filling them.
Azuki bean swiss meringue buttercream
250g smbc*
150g Azuki bean paste (I used Tsubuan which has some whole beans in the paste)
* Recipe for basic smbc can be found here. The addition of a bit of lemon juice helps to reduce the level of sweetness.
Mix Azuki bean paste into smbc. Rewhip smbc first if you are using frozen-thawed smbc.
Spoon the cream onto the bottom shells. My cream has whole beans in there so it can't be piped easily. Place the top shell on. Refrigerate the macarons in airtight container for at least 24h before serving. Let the macarons rest at room temperature for a few minutes before consuming.
With love,
Phay Shing
I was getting muddled after piping 90 Hello Kitty macaron shells and seeing stars by the end of drawing 45 Kitty faces so I didn't do a very good job for Keroppi. I piped the same pattern for both top and bottom shells so Keroppi ended up having exposed eyeballs at the back of the head :p. Should have piped plain green shells for bottom shells. Keroppi's mouth wasn't drawn on too well even though it's just a "V". Anyway, glad that they are still recognizable!
Here's the template I used. I only made 15 shells.
I will share the recipe for a larger batch of macarons for your convenience.
Ingredients (about 40-45 Keroppi macarons, 80-90 shells):
200g icing sugar
200g superfine almond meal/ ground almond
200g caster sugar
75ml water
80g x2 egg whites, preferably aged
10g Matcha powder, preferably high grade
Steps:
1. Sift almond meal with icing sugar. Add 80g of egg whites and mix well to form the mass. Portion out a quarter of the mass and leave it plain. Add sifted matcha powder to the remaining 3/4 of the mass.
2. Prepare the Italian meringue and fold in 1/4 and 3/4 of it in two batches to the respective masses. Please refer to this post for the details on how to prepare the Italian meringue and macaron batter. Refer to this post for video tutorials of the macaronage process.
3. Pipe the batter onto the trays with a 5-6 mm round tip. Remember to pipe plain green shells for the bottom shells. For Keroppi's face, pipe the eyes first, followed by a rounded green rectangle for the face. Tap the tray on the table a few times to release trapped air bubbles.
Freshly piped!
4. Bake at 130°C for 17-22 minutes at the lowest rack position, rotating the tray halfway through baking. Extend the baking time if the shells are still stuck to the baking sheet. Cool the shells for 5 minutes before removing from the tray.
Freshly baked!
5. Add on rosy cheeks and blacks of eyes. I drew on the mouth with edible marker. I used natural sourced pink food colouring (Queen's) to colour the rosy cheeks and charcoal to colour black. Make sure that the icing is completely dry before filling them.
Freshly iced!
Azuki bean swiss meringue buttercream
250g smbc*
150g Azuki bean paste (I used Tsubuan which has some whole beans in the paste)
* Recipe for basic smbc can be found here. The addition of a bit of lemon juice helps to reduce the level of sweetness.
Mix Azuki bean paste into smbc. Rewhip smbc first if you are using frozen-thawed smbc.
Spoon the cream onto the bottom shells. My cream has whole beans in there so it can't be piped easily. Place the top shell on. Refrigerate the macarons in airtight container for at least 24h before serving. Let the macarons rest at room temperature for a few minutes before consuming.
All packed!
With love,
Phay Shing
Saturday, 25 April 2015
Princess Sofia Doll Chiffon Cake (Blueberry Chiffon)
Princess Sofia is really small and cute! This is a Princess Sofia Doll version of my previous Elsa Doll Chiffon Cake. Here, I baked a blueberry chiffon cake (scale to 6 egg yolk recipe) in a doll cake tin to form the base of the gown. I have since found a way to prevent the blueberry from making the cake patchy. I made blueberry juice using the powder first and then used a coffee filter to remove the blueberry bits. Since Princess Sofia is petite, only the doll cake tin was required. I tried to create layers this time like real ball gowns by wrapping the base gown chiffon cake with layers of blueberry chiffon cake (2 egg yolk recipe, baked in layer tray) cut to elliptical shape. I baked an extra reduced egg white vanilla chiffon cake (scale down to 1 egg yolk recipe) in a 10-inch tray for cutting out the Princess Sofia motif and frills. I used chiffon cake rosette ruffles this time to tie the frills together for a softer gown look using melted marshmallows as glue. Thankful everything was well-received together with Phay Shing’s Rainbow SMBC chiffon cuppies!
With love,
Susanne
Hello Kitty Macarons with Chocolate Ganache (& mild rose flavoured shells)
I have been making cute macarons for about half a year and this is the first time I have a request for Hello Kitty macarons. Hello Kitty with hands on face! Not just a Hello Kitty head. Here they are!
Other than pandas, Hello Kitty is probably one of the most popular fancy macarons around so what I made is not unique.
I was wondering how to inject the wonderful aroma of rosebuds into the shells without adding moisture into the macaron batter. I did an experiment of storing icing sugar with some rosebuds for a week. Storing it longer would be better for a stronger aroma. I am going to use it again for more macarons some time in May!
As usual, I prepared templates. It is not necessary to make a mirror imaged template for the bottom shell.
Recipe for Hello Kitty rose macaron shells (makes about 45-50 macarons, 90-100 shells)
Ingredients:
200g rose icing sugar
200g superfine almond meal/ground almond
200g caster sugar
75 ml water
80g x2 egg whites, preferably aged (I aged mine for 4 days)
Few drops of white gel food colouring (optional)
Steps:
1. Line baking trays with baking sheet and a template under it. Sift together icing sugar and almond meal. Add 80g of egg white to it to form a thick paste (mass). (First picture below)
2. Make the italian meringue. Place the caster sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat it over medium heat. Do not stir once all sugar has dissolved. At the same time, beat the rest of the egg whites in a clean metal bowl at medium low speed until foamy. Do not beat beyond the soft peak stage. Reduce beater speed if necessary. When temperature of syrup reaches 115°C, remove from heat. Increase mixer speed to high and carefully pour the syrup into the egg whites in a steady stream, avoiding the beaters. It is seriously more helpful to have a stand mixer to make Italian meringues. I felt like I had to grow an extra arm whenever I made this using a handheld mixer. But it is not absolutely necessary. Many bakers have successfully made beautiful macs without a stand mixer. The video I watch for macaronage is one such example. Continue beating at high speed until meringue cools. About 10-12 minutes. It should look glossy and stiff (second picture below).
3. Fold the meringue into the mass in 2 batches. The first batch is about one-third to lighten up the batter. Use a fold and press motion to fold in the meringue. When the second batch of meringue is added in, fold until the batter is able to fall off the spatula in an almost continuous fashion. You have to underfold the batter a little for non-circular shaped macarons. Do watch a video of the macaronage process several times to get a feel of the correct consistency. I left about 1/4 cup of meringue unused. Third picture below shows the macaron batter.
4. Transfer about 2 heaped tbs of batter into a piping bag fitted with a round tip of about 3mm and the rest of the batter in a bag fitted with a round tip of about 5-6mm. Pipe the oval head of Hello Kitty, followed by the ears (using the small tip). If you have a small leaf tip, that would be great for piping the ears but I didn't have one. I just piped a small dollop of batter and used toothpick to pull the batter to form the ears. Tap the tray on the table a few times to release trapped air bubbles. When the head has dried for about 15 minutes, you may add on the hands by piping using the small tip. Remember not to fill the batter to the edge of the template as the batter will spread a little after piping.
5. Let the shells dry in air con room for 2 hours or use a combination of oven drying at 60°C for 8-10 minutes and then air dry or air con dry for the rest of the time. Make sure that the shells are not tacky to touch before sending them into the oven. Bake in preheated oven at 120-130°C for 20-22 minutes with the tray at bottom rack. Rotate the tray halfway through baking. You should be able to lift the shells off easily without it being stuck to the baking sheet. Bake a little while longer if necessary but watch out for browning. Let the shells cool for 5 minutes on the tray before removing them.
Pair similar sized macarons together. Store the shells in air tight container until ready to assemble.
6. Prepare some red coloured royal icing and pipe the bow on baking sheet. Simply use the same tray, baking sheet and template for making the macaron shells. Let the bows dry completely, preferably overnight, before attempting to remove them from the baking sheet. Wait for each segment to dry on the surface before icing another part in order to create 3D features in the bow.
7. Use edible black marker to draw on the eyes and whiskers, and add on yellow nose using royal icing. You may use black coloured royal icing if you don't have a marker. It will be more tedious but it works too. Some people use templates to draw consistent features. But since there is no way to pipe perfectly same sized macarons, it may not be helpful to use a template. I drew on the features by freehand. I was seeing stars by the end of drawing all 45 of them!! You may ask how did I do that? I used estimated distances for x- and y-coordinates of each feature, starting with the nose, then the eyes and finally the whiskers.
8. Stick the bow on using a bit of royal icing. Wait for icing to dry before filling the shells.
9. Pipe some chocolate ganache onto the bottom shell and place the top shell on.
Refrigerate in airtight container for at least 24 hours before serving. Let the macarons rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before consuming.
I inserted a ring of rigid but flexible transparent plastic sheet to prevent the macarons from being crushed when stacked in the box for transport.
I made these along with a small batch of Keroppi macarons which were promptly snapped up by someone else!
Checkout my full-body version of Hello Kitty macarons here!
With love,
Phay Shing
Mild rose flavoured shells with chocolate ganache
Other than pandas, Hello Kitty is probably one of the most popular fancy macarons around so what I made is not unique.
I was wondering how to inject the wonderful aroma of rosebuds into the shells without adding moisture into the macaron batter. I did an experiment of storing icing sugar with some rosebuds for a week. Storing it longer would be better for a stronger aroma. I am going to use it again for more macarons some time in May!
Alternating layers of rose buds and icing sugar in glass jar
As usual, I prepared templates. It is not necessary to make a mirror imaged template for the bottom shell.
Recipe for Hello Kitty rose macaron shells (makes about 45-50 macarons, 90-100 shells)
Ingredients:
200g rose icing sugar
200g superfine almond meal/ground almond
200g caster sugar
75 ml water
80g x2 egg whites, preferably aged (I aged mine for 4 days)
Few drops of white gel food colouring (optional)
Steps:
1. Line baking trays with baking sheet and a template under it. Sift together icing sugar and almond meal. Add 80g of egg white to it to form a thick paste (mass). (First picture below)
2. Make the italian meringue. Place the caster sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat it over medium heat. Do not stir once all sugar has dissolved. At the same time, beat the rest of the egg whites in a clean metal bowl at medium low speed until foamy. Do not beat beyond the soft peak stage. Reduce beater speed if necessary. When temperature of syrup reaches 115°C, remove from heat. Increase mixer speed to high and carefully pour the syrup into the egg whites in a steady stream, avoiding the beaters. It is seriously more helpful to have a stand mixer to make Italian meringues. I felt like I had to grow an extra arm whenever I made this using a handheld mixer. But it is not absolutely necessary. Many bakers have successfully made beautiful macs without a stand mixer. The video I watch for macaronage is one such example. Continue beating at high speed until meringue cools. About 10-12 minutes. It should look glossy and stiff (second picture below).
3. Fold the meringue into the mass in 2 batches. The first batch is about one-third to lighten up the batter. Use a fold and press motion to fold in the meringue. When the second batch of meringue is added in, fold until the batter is able to fall off the spatula in an almost continuous fashion. You have to underfold the batter a little for non-circular shaped macarons. Do watch a video of the macaronage process several times to get a feel of the correct consistency. I left about 1/4 cup of meringue unused. Third picture below shows the macaron batter.
4. Transfer about 2 heaped tbs of batter into a piping bag fitted with a round tip of about 3mm and the rest of the batter in a bag fitted with a round tip of about 5-6mm. Pipe the oval head of Hello Kitty, followed by the ears (using the small tip). If you have a small leaf tip, that would be great for piping the ears but I didn't have one. I just piped a small dollop of batter and used toothpick to pull the batter to form the ears. Tap the tray on the table a few times to release trapped air bubbles. When the head has dried for about 15 minutes, you may add on the hands by piping using the small tip. Remember not to fill the batter to the edge of the template as the batter will spread a little after piping.
Almost ready to be baked!
5. Let the shells dry in air con room for 2 hours or use a combination of oven drying at 60°C for 8-10 minutes and then air dry or air con dry for the rest of the time. Make sure that the shells are not tacky to touch before sending them into the oven. Bake in preheated oven at 120-130°C for 20-22 minutes with the tray at bottom rack. Rotate the tray halfway through baking. You should be able to lift the shells off easily without it being stuck to the baking sheet. Bake a little while longer if necessary but watch out for browning. Let the shells cool for 5 minutes on the tray before removing them.
Freshly baked shells!
Pair similar sized macarons together. Store the shells in air tight container until ready to assemble.
6. Prepare some red coloured royal icing and pipe the bow on baking sheet. Simply use the same tray, baking sheet and template for making the macaron shells. Let the bows dry completely, preferably overnight, before attempting to remove them from the baking sheet. Wait for each segment to dry on the surface before icing another part in order to create 3D features in the bow.
7. Use edible black marker to draw on the eyes and whiskers, and add on yellow nose using royal icing. You may use black coloured royal icing if you don't have a marker. It will be more tedious but it works too. Some people use templates to draw consistent features. But since there is no way to pipe perfectly same sized macarons, it may not be helpful to use a template. I drew on the features by freehand. I was seeing stars by the end of drawing all 45 of them!! You may ask how did I do that? I used estimated distances for x- and y-coordinates of each feature, starting with the nose, then the eyes and finally the whiskers.
8. Stick the bow on using a bit of royal icing. Wait for icing to dry before filling the shells.
9. Pipe some chocolate ganache onto the bottom shell and place the top shell on.
Refrigerate in airtight container for at least 24 hours before serving. Let the macarons rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before consuming.
Being packed for party! I love the Hello Kitty packaging that the requester sent me!
I inserted a ring of rigid but flexible transparent plastic sheet to prevent the macarons from being crushed when stacked in the box for transport.
Place this whole assembly in the self-seal bag
All packed and ready to party!
I made these along with a small batch of Keroppi macarons which were promptly snapped up by someone else!
Checkout my full-body version of Hello Kitty macarons here!
With love,
Phay Shing
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Dumbo Chiffon Cake (Charcoal-colored)
This is a flying dumbo I made last year near Christmas. I wanted it to have a magical dreamy feel. Do you see it flying out from the cake? :p
The elephant is naturally colored with charcoal powder. The face is made from baking charcoal chiffon cake (just a small dip of charcoal for the grey, add to shade) in a small 11 mm Iwaki bowl (reduce baking time to 30 min), and then slightly carving the sides to get the indent. Pour the excess batter into a paper cone for the elephant nose and into a thick 6-inch baking paper-lined tray for cutting out the elephant stumps. The hat is made similarly by baking an orange chiffon cake in a cone and tray; the ears cut out from layer strawberry chiffon cake. You can also just use recipe for plain vanilla chiffon cake and add wilton colours to obtain the shades if you prefer (just my preference to get as much shade from natural food sources first). The base cake is a reduced egg white vanilla chiffon cake to get a whiter base. Thank God my friend's kid loved it! Weee..
With love,
Susanne
Keroppi Shortbread Cookies (icing-free, naturally coloured and made without specialized cookie cutters!)
I have a request for Keroppi cookies and I decided to make them naturally coloured and icing-free!
I was about to make the same old favorite brown sugar cookies with royal icing. On the day that I decided to bake, I thought why not take the chance to bake something healthier since Keroppi is a very good candidate for this type of cookie with simple colours and shapes.
If kids were not consuming the cookies, I would jump at the chance to colour the cookies green using Matcha powder. Since this is not the case, I used a natural source of food colouring that makes use of cholorphyll to colour the dough. A teeny bit of gel food colouring was added as natural sources of food colouring tends to be a bit dull. Here's a photo of the natural sources of colouring that I used (charcoal powder not shown), and the simple tools I used to help to create the shape of Keroppi without a store-bought specialized cookie cutter.
I made use of homemade template made out of clear plastic files for cutting out the Keroppi shape on the dough, and for positioning the various facial features.
I used a modified version of Kenneth Goh's easy to remember shortbread recipe with 1:2:3 as the ratio of icing sugar: butter:flour.
Ingredients (makes about twenty 5-6cm cookies):
Green dough
50g icing sugar
100g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (Use a good brand please! How good shortbread tastes depends on quality of butter.)
22g corn flour
128g minus 1 tsp plain flour
1 tsp Queen's natural green powder food colouring (sifted because it's lumpy)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
Teeny bit of green gel food colouring
Plain, pink and black dough
20g icing sugar
40g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
8g corn flour
52g plain flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Charcoal powder
1/2 tsp Queen's natural pink food colouring
Pink gel food colouring (optional but you may add a teeny bit to brighten up the colours a bit)
If you are using matcha, replace 2 tsp of plain flour with same amount of Matcha powder.
Steps:
1. Sift flours (and green powder/ matcha powder), sugar and salt together. Add butter and rub in with finger tips. Add vanilla extract and knead until a ball of dough forms.
2. Add gel food colouring if you would like slightly brighter colours. Just a teeny bit will do if you are already using the natural colour sources. Portion the non-green dough in this approximate manner
Pink: 15g
Black:15g
Plain: 90g
3. Roll the dough between two baking sheets until 5 mm thick for green, 3mm thick for plain dough and 2-3 mm thick for pink and black dough. Chill the dough in the fridge or freezer for at least 30 minutes.
4. Use the template and a small knife to cut out the green dough. Line on baking tray. These don't expand much after baking so you may place them pretty close. Use a needle to trace the rosy cheeks and mouth with the help of the template.
5. On a separate tray, cut out the eyes using a round cookie cutter. Trace the position of the blacks of the eyes onto the whites using a needle and template. Use the straw to cut out the blacks of the eyes and attach to the whites. Chill the tray.
6. When the eyes have firmed up, carefully remove from baking tray and stick onto the face.
7. Cut out the cheeks with small round cutter or straw. Stick them on.
8. Finally cut some black dough for the mouth. This was tedious as I manually cut each black strand out. You may want to pipe/paint on the mouth after baking using a mixture of cocoa powder and charcoal powder mixed with hot water to form a paste.
Tips:
-use freezer packs as your work surface to keep the dough rigid for a longer time.
- divide the dough into two portions before rolling it out such that at any time, you have a thoroughly chilled portion of dough to work with as the scraps from the other portion is gathered and rerolled.
9. Chill the tray of assembled Keroppis while preheating the oven to 150°C. Bake for about 15-17 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through baking. Watch the cookies carefully. As soon as the base is a little brown, they are done. You don't want to brown Keroppi's face too much.
10. Let the cookies cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
Store in airtight container in a cool, dry place. Shortbread that has salt added can keep for a few weeks and tastes better with age.
Update: the recipient loved these cookies and loved the fact that they are not too sweet :).
Another update: I have another request for Keroppi shortbread cookies. This time I added the mouth after baking with charcoal coloured royal icing. Much easier to work with :p. Here are some freshly baked cookies...
With love,
Phay Shing
I was about to make the same old favorite brown sugar cookies with royal icing. On the day that I decided to bake, I thought why not take the chance to bake something healthier since Keroppi is a very good candidate for this type of cookie with simple colours and shapes.
If kids were not consuming the cookies, I would jump at the chance to colour the cookies green using Matcha powder. Since this is not the case, I used a natural source of food colouring that makes use of cholorphyll to colour the dough. A teeny bit of gel food colouring was added as natural sources of food colouring tends to be a bit dull. Here's a photo of the natural sources of colouring that I used (charcoal powder not shown), and the simple tools I used to help to create the shape of Keroppi without a store-bought specialized cookie cutter.
Needle, round cutters, straw, homemade plastic template and natural food colouring
I made use of homemade template made out of clear plastic files for cutting out the Keroppi shape on the dough, and for positioning the various facial features.
I used a modified version of Kenneth Goh's easy to remember shortbread recipe with 1:2:3 as the ratio of icing sugar: butter:flour.
Ingredients (makes about twenty 5-6cm cookies):
Green dough
50g icing sugar
100g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (Use a good brand please! How good shortbread tastes depends on quality of butter.)
22g corn flour
128g minus 1 tsp plain flour
1 tsp Queen's natural green powder food colouring (sifted because it's lumpy)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
Teeny bit of green gel food colouring
Plain, pink and black dough
20g icing sugar
40g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
8g corn flour
52g plain flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Charcoal powder
1/2 tsp Queen's natural pink food colouring
Pink gel food colouring (optional but you may add a teeny bit to brighten up the colours a bit)
If you are using matcha, replace 2 tsp of plain flour with same amount of Matcha powder.
Steps:
1. Sift flours (and green powder/ matcha powder), sugar and salt together. Add butter and rub in with finger tips. Add vanilla extract and knead until a ball of dough forms.
2. Add gel food colouring if you would like slightly brighter colours. Just a teeny bit will do if you are already using the natural colour sources. Portion the non-green dough in this approximate manner
Pink: 15g
Black:15g
Plain: 90g
3. Roll the dough between two baking sheets until 5 mm thick for green, 3mm thick for plain dough and 2-3 mm thick for pink and black dough. Chill the dough in the fridge or freezer for at least 30 minutes.
4. Use the template and a small knife to cut out the green dough. Line on baking tray. These don't expand much after baking so you may place them pretty close. Use a needle to trace the rosy cheeks and mouth with the help of the template.
Can't really see the needle marks but they are there.
5. On a separate tray, cut out the eyes using a round cookie cutter. Trace the position of the blacks of the eyes onto the whites using a needle and template. Use the straw to cut out the blacks of the eyes and attach to the whites. Chill the tray.
6. When the eyes have firmed up, carefully remove from baking tray and stick onto the face.
7. Cut out the cheeks with small round cutter or straw. Stick them on.
8. Finally cut some black dough for the mouth. This was tedious as I manually cut each black strand out. You may want to pipe/paint on the mouth after baking using a mixture of cocoa powder and charcoal powder mixed with hot water to form a paste.
Tips:
-use freezer packs as your work surface to keep the dough rigid for a longer time.
- divide the dough into two portions before rolling it out such that at any time, you have a thoroughly chilled portion of dough to work with as the scraps from the other portion is gathered and rerolled.
9. Chill the tray of assembled Keroppis while preheating the oven to 150°C. Bake for about 15-17 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through baking. Watch the cookies carefully. As soon as the base is a little brown, they are done. You don't want to brown Keroppi's face too much.
Freshly baked!
10. Let the cookies cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
All packed!
Store in airtight container in a cool, dry place. Shortbread that has salt added can keep for a few weeks and tastes better with age.
Update: the recipient loved these cookies and loved the fact that they are not too sweet :).
Another update: I have another request for Keroppi shortbread cookies. This time I added the mouth after baking with charcoal coloured royal icing. Much easier to work with :p. Here are some freshly baked cookies...
With love,
Phay Shing
Monday, 20 April 2015
Pink Care Bears Strawberry-Vanilla Chiffon Cake
So I was super thankful that I got the chance to make my childhood fave! The pink Care Bear is made entirely from Strawberry Chiffon Cake, baked in 3 oval glass bowls (1 for head, 1 for body and 1 for arms which was cut into 2 and then carved a little; baking temperature 160°C , 15 min then 150°C, 15 min). The ears and feet were also from Strawberry Chiffon Cake baked in my silicone cake pop maker (160°C , 15 min). The base chiffon cake is a 9-inch Reduced Egg-yolk Vanilla Chiffon Cake (below). I baked the excess batter in a baking paper-lined tray for cutting out the tummy pad and ear pads etc. The rest of the features were similarly cut out from chiffon cake baked as layers and stuck on with melted marshmallows.
Tips:
*I always use more egg whites to egg yolks for fluffier, softer chiffon cakes, as well as steam baking for increased moisture (such that they taste like ogura).
*I also whip usually to firm peaks (or just to the point of stiff peak, but not beyond) for more delicate texture.
Reduced Egg-yolk Vanilla Chiffon Cake (9-inch chiffon tin)
2 egg yolks
40g sugar
78g corn/vegetable oil
84 ml water
10 ml vanilla extract
120g cake flour
Meringue:
8 egg whites
90g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Prepare a tray of water at the bottom of the oven (I used the lowest rack to bake the cake). *You may omit steam baking; I like to use it to control my oven temperature rise.
2. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil, water and vanilla extract.
3. Add in sieved flour and whisk till no trace of flour found.
4. Meringue: Beat the egg whites with ¼ tsp cream of tartar till firm peaks form or just to the point of reaching stiff peak, mixing in caster sugar in 2 additions.
5. Fold in the meringue gently into the batter 1/3 at a time.
6. Pour the batter into the chiffon tin from a height.
7. Gently tap the tin on table 3x to remove air bubbles
8. Bake the chiffon cake for 15 min at 160°C and then at 150°C for 10 mins and 140°C for 20 min, then 130°C for 15 min.
9. Invert immediately once out of the oven to cool
10. Unmould by hand after the cake is cool. Gently pull the cake from the sides of the tin at each angle and push the removable base up to unmould the sides. To unmould the cake from the base, gently lift up the cake from the base using hands, repeating this at each angle before turning the base over (see 'Hand Unmoulding Chiffon Cakes for a Smooth Finishing' video tutorial).
So thankful to make this cake and that the birthday girl exclaimed Care Bears and they loved the texture!
With lots of love,
Susanne
Milk & Honey Chiffon Cupcakes with Rainbow Swiss Meringue Buttercream
I have a request for quite a big batch of cupcakes with rainbow cream. This is my first attempt at cupcakes with cream so pardon my amateurish piping. I still have lots to learn and practice. Presenting my humble attempt, topped with red chiffon hearts!
The request was for 42 cupcakes but I had more than enough batter so I made extra. My neighbors and kids had the extras and said the cakes were yummy!
I used milk and honey chiffon cake as the cake base because kids who don't take to chocolate or fruity flavours love this flavour.
Milk and honey chiffon cupcakes
Ingredients (makes about 55 mini cupcakes and a 6x6" layer cake):
6 egg yolks
30g caster sugar
85g canola/ vegetable oil
120g milk
30g (1.5 tbs) honey
144g cake flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbs vanilla extract
Red gel food colouring
9 egg whites*
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
90g caster sugar
*You may wish to split the ingredients for the meringue into two equal portions if you wish to bake the cupcakes in two batches.
Steps:
1. Place a tray of water at the base of the oven (optional) and preheat to 160°C. Do use an oven thermometer. I use it all the time when I bake to ensure consistent bakes. Set the oven rack to second lowest position. Line 6" tray with baking sheet. Dissolve honey in hot milk, set aside to cool.
2. Make egg yolk batter. Beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Gradually add oil and whisk until well combined. Gradually add milk with honey and vanilla extract and whisk well. Gradually add in sifted flour, salt and baking powder and whisk until no trace of flour is seen. Portion out 3 tsp of egg yolk batter and colour it red.
3. Make the meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form and the bowl can just be overturned without the meringue sliding out.
4. Quickly but gently fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter in three additions. Portion out 8 heaping tbs of meringue for the red batter.
5. Fill the tray/ cupcake liners (almost full). Immediately reduce temperature to 150°C. Bake the layer cake for 10 minutes and remove from tray immediately. Bake the cupcakes for 10 minutes at 150°C and reduce temperature to 140°C and bake for another 5 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. I have chosen to use steam baking at lower temperature to make the cake more moist and soft. Increase baking time if your cupcakes are bigger. My flour:liquid ingredient ratio is also pretty low (about 60%) to keep the cupcakes moist and soft as there is no real need for structural stability like large chiffon cakes.
The cupcakes will shrink a little after cooling.
Vanilla swiss meringue buttercream (less sweet)
Ingredients:
280g egg whites (about 8 eggs)
200g caster sugar
510g unsalted butter, softened but cool and cut to tablespoon-sized pieces
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs vanilla extract
Gel food colouring
Steps:
1. Heat about 1" of water in a deep saucepan with low heat. Place egg whites, salt and sugar in a heatproof bowl that can fit over the mouth of the saucepan without the base touching the water. Place the bowl on top of the saucepan. Use a hand whisk or a hand held electric mixer to whisk the egg whites until foamy and temperature reaches 71.1°C and all sugar has dissolved. Be careful to keep moving the egg whites. About 5-6 minutes.
2. Remove bowl from heat. Use an electric mixer and beat the egg whites at high speed until stiff, glossy and cooled to room temperature. About 10 minutes. I place a damp towel under the bowl with a standing fan blowing at the bowl to speed up the cooling process. Use a spatula to scrape off the sides of the bowl now and then to ensure even beating of the egg whites.
3. When the meringue has cooled (I use the candy thermometer to check temperature of meringue deep within the pile), add butter one cube at a time and beat at medium speed. Don't worry if it appears to curdle. Just keep beating and gradually adding each piece of butter until it is well incorporated. Increase speed when all butter has been added and beat for another minute or two until fluffy.
4. Add in lemon juice and vanilla extract in a couple of additions, beating well after each addition until well incorporated.
5. Portion the smbc and colour each portion accordingly. Here's a rough estimate of how much to portion for each colour. I reserved about 75-100g of plain smbc for future use.
Orange: 50g
Yellow: 80g
Green: 130g
Blue: 230g
Purple: 370g
You may prepare the smbc ahead of time and freeze it up to a month.
Assembly
1. Rewhip the smbc if you use frozen-thawed ones like I did. Transfer into piping bag fitted with a round tip.
2. Pipe each layer, beginning with the largest circle (purple) at the bottom.
3. Top the cupcakes with red hearts cut out from the layer cake with a small heart shaped cutter. You may wish to brush on a bit of simple syrup (1:1 ratio water:sugar) onto the hearts to keep them moist.
Keep refrigerated in airtight container until it is time to serve.
It brings a smile to my face when my neighbour sent me photos of her kids enjoying the extra cupcakes that I baked, thanking me and saying that they were yummy :).
According to another neighbour, the cake with cream was really soft and light and not too sweet. Just nice!
With love,
Phay Shing
Here's 2 of them but I actually made more than 50.
The request was for 42 cupcakes but I had more than enough batter so I made extra. My neighbors and kids had the extras and said the cakes were yummy!
I used milk and honey chiffon cake as the cake base because kids who don't take to chocolate or fruity flavours love this flavour.
Milk and honey chiffon cupcakes
Ingredients (makes about 55 mini cupcakes and a 6x6" layer cake):
6 egg yolks
30g caster sugar
85g canola/ vegetable oil
120g milk
30g (1.5 tbs) honey
144g cake flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbs vanilla extract
Red gel food colouring
9 egg whites*
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
90g caster sugar
*You may wish to split the ingredients for the meringue into two equal portions if you wish to bake the cupcakes in two batches.
Steps:
1. Place a tray of water at the base of the oven (optional) and preheat to 160°C. Do use an oven thermometer. I use it all the time when I bake to ensure consistent bakes. Set the oven rack to second lowest position. Line 6" tray with baking sheet. Dissolve honey in hot milk, set aside to cool.
2. Make egg yolk batter. Beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Gradually add oil and whisk until well combined. Gradually add milk with honey and vanilla extract and whisk well. Gradually add in sifted flour, salt and baking powder and whisk until no trace of flour is seen. Portion out 3 tsp of egg yolk batter and colour it red.
3. Make the meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form and the bowl can just be overturned without the meringue sliding out.
4. Quickly but gently fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter in three additions. Portion out 8 heaping tbs of meringue for the red batter.
5. Fill the tray/ cupcake liners (almost full). Immediately reduce temperature to 150°C. Bake the layer cake for 10 minutes and remove from tray immediately. Bake the cupcakes for 10 minutes at 150°C and reduce temperature to 140°C and bake for another 5 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. I have chosen to use steam baking at lower temperature to make the cake more moist and soft. Increase baking time if your cupcakes are bigger. My flour:liquid ingredient ratio is also pretty low (about 60%) to keep the cupcakes moist and soft as there is no real need for structural stability like large chiffon cakes.
Freshly baked cupcake!
The cupcakes will shrink a little after cooling.
Vanilla swiss meringue buttercream (less sweet)
Ingredients:
280g egg whites (about 8 eggs)
200g caster sugar
510g unsalted butter, softened but cool and cut to tablespoon-sized pieces
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs vanilla extract
Gel food colouring
Steps:
1. Heat about 1" of water in a deep saucepan with low heat. Place egg whites, salt and sugar in a heatproof bowl that can fit over the mouth of the saucepan without the base touching the water. Place the bowl on top of the saucepan. Use a hand whisk or a hand held electric mixer to whisk the egg whites until foamy and temperature reaches 71.1°C and all sugar has dissolved. Be careful to keep moving the egg whites. About 5-6 minutes.
2. Remove bowl from heat. Use an electric mixer and beat the egg whites at high speed until stiff, glossy and cooled to room temperature. About 10 minutes. I place a damp towel under the bowl with a standing fan blowing at the bowl to speed up the cooling process. Use a spatula to scrape off the sides of the bowl now and then to ensure even beating of the egg whites.
Stiff and glossy meringue
3. When the meringue has cooled (I use the candy thermometer to check temperature of meringue deep within the pile), add butter one cube at a time and beat at medium speed. Don't worry if it appears to curdle. Just keep beating and gradually adding each piece of butter until it is well incorporated. Increase speed when all butter has been added and beat for another minute or two until fluffy.
Freshly made basic smbc!
4. Add in lemon juice and vanilla extract in a couple of additions, beating well after each addition until well incorporated.
5. Portion the smbc and colour each portion accordingly. Here's a rough estimate of how much to portion for each colour. I reserved about 75-100g of plain smbc for future use.
Orange: 50g
Yellow: 80g
Green: 130g
Blue: 230g
Purple: 370g
You may prepare the smbc ahead of time and freeze it up to a month.
Assembly
1. Rewhip the smbc if you use frozen-thawed ones like I did. Transfer into piping bag fitted with a round tip.
2. Pipe each layer, beginning with the largest circle (purple) at the bottom.
3. Top the cupcakes with red hearts cut out from the layer cake with a small heart shaped cutter. You may wish to brush on a bit of simple syrup (1:1 ratio water:sugar) onto the hearts to keep them moist.
Keep refrigerated in airtight container until it is time to serve.
All packed!
It brings a smile to my face when my neighbour sent me photos of her kids enjoying the extra cupcakes that I baked, thanking me and saying that they were yummy :).
My neighbor's kids enjoying the cuppies!
According to another neighbour, the cake with cream was really soft and light and not too sweet. Just nice!
With love,
Phay Shing