Solar System Brown Sugar Cookies

Having a mum who is a homebaker means that you get to choose exactly what you want for your birthday bake in terms of type of bake and design. My elder kid requested for a solar system bake in brown sugar cookie form after he was wowed over by the realistic swirl patterns on my solar system macaron ferris wheel. He wanted the moon added in so there's an extra item.

My favourite happens to be the moon 😍

These cookies were made concurrently with my nativity scene cookies so I used the coloured icing from nativity scene whenever possible to help me save time. That's why the colours are a little different from my macaron ferris wheel version.

It's not surprising that he chose brown sugar cookies as I have never had a kid who didn't like my brown sugar cookies and that's a straight record for 3.5 years ever since I started making them. Others who have tried my recipe also gave a thumbs up and gave the same report that kids (and adults) love them. I am also sharing this recipe in classes conducted at ToTT for kids because it's so good I shouldn't keep it to myself ;)

You may refer to this post for detailed recipe for brown sugar cookie and royal icing. I added the swirl patterns, lines and craters using edible marker, vodka and a fine paint brush. The white highlights were added on using white gel food colouring dissolved in vodka. You may refer to this post to see how this is done.

The birthday boy was happy to share some with the younger one, both having the dilemma of deciding which planet to eat first 😅.

This also marks the last blog post from me for 2017. Have a blessed 2018!

With lots of love,
Phay Shing

Graduation Hat Pinata Shortbread Cookies

I had a request for graduation themed cookies for a class of preschool kids who are entering Primary school next year. The idea of making the graduation caps pinata style came to mind because which kid doesn't like pleasant surprises ;).

These cookies are filled with sunflower seeds coated with chocolate. Different from the first pinata cookie I made for my kids two years ago which were filled with mini MnMs.

Recipe for Graduation hat pinata cookies
Ingredients ( makes about 22 pinata cookies):
Cookie dough
250g icing sugar
500g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
725g plain flour
20g charcoal powder
5g dark cocoa powder/Dutch processed cocoa powder
1.25 tsp fine sea salt
2.5 tsp vanilla bean paste

Royal icing
250g Icing sugar
18g Meringue powder
Pinch of salt
50g water (more as needed)
Red gel food colouring
1 tbs + 1 tsp Charcoal powder
1 tsp dark cocoa powder

Additional items
Chocolate coated sunflower seeds
Red sour candy gummy strips

Steps:
1. Sift together flour, icing sugar, cocoa powder, charcoal powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

2. Add in butter and use finger tips to rub butter into flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Add vanilla and mix well. Press the mixture together with your hand and lightly knead to form a ball of dough.

4. Divide the dough ball into two or three and roll each one between two baking sheets until about 5-6mm thick. Chill in fridge or freezer until firm. At least 15 minutes.

5. Each pinata hat is made up of three layers of cookies: a 5cm circle, a 5cm ring with 1cm thickness and a 6-7cm square. I use a 5cm and 3cm diameter circle cookie cutters to create the ring. Place the cookie cutouts into baking tray lined with baking sheet. Chill the tray of cutouts until firm. Place only same shaped cutouts in each tray as baking time varies for different shapes. Note that if the dough is too firm, it may crack more easily when cutting. Simply gently press the dough around the crack together of that happens and wait for a while before attempting to cut another one out.

6. Bake in preheated oven at 160℃ for about 14 min for the ring, 20 min for circles and 24 min for the squares. Use the timing as a gauge only as each oven is different. Bake until the cookies appear dry.

7. Let the cookies cool completely before assembling.

8. Prepare royal icing while the cookies cool completely. You may store the cookies in air right container if not assembling immediately. Sift together icing sugar, meringue powder and salt into mixing bowl. Add water and use a spatula to mix until the powdered mixture is thoroughly wet.

9. Use an electric mixer and beat at medium-low speed for 2 minutes. Scoop out about 2-3 tbs of royal icing and colour it red with red gel colouring. Add cocoa powder and charcoal powder to the remaining icing and mix well with mixer for another 1-2 minutes. Check the consistency of the icing it should form peaks that disappear within 10 seconds. If too thick, add more water a few drops at a time and mix well with spatula. Cover the icing with cling wrap touching the surface to prevent it from hardening.

10. Cut the sour candies into tassle shapes using scissors like the picture below. You may wish to cut a shorter segment to add more "threads" at the end of the tassle. Pipe black royal icing to secure one end of the tassle to the middle of the hat. Pipe a little red icing to make the "knot" of the tassle. Let it dry completely.

11. Assemble the pinata as shown below. Glue the ring onto the circle using black icing. Put the candy in the middle before sealing the pinata with the top square piece.

I used a butter knife to smooth the sides of the pinata to hide the seams between the different cookie layers. This step is optional but it keeps kids guessing how you stuff the pinata with the goodies ;).

All done!

I know this post comes a little late in the year, not in time for most kids' graduation parties. But hopefully this blog post leaves a lasting impression and you may refer to it next year to make some yummy surprises for kids who are moving on to the next phase of their lives :).

With love,
Phay Shing

Christmas Wreath Pusheen Chiffon Cake

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

A Christmas Wreath Pusheen!! <3 =p


Aww.. just kidding =p.. But may this Christmas bring much joy, love and peace to you! =)


This is another Pusheen Cat Chiffon Cake. But instead of using black sesame paste, I tried using black sesame powder. The colour was not as even as using the paste, so I had to correct it with some charcoal paste. But I think the texture is lighter and the colour is also not so dark =). You can see my previous post on how I made the cake. This round I added a cute Christmas wreath chiffon cake around the neck. The Christmas wreath cake is in Deco Chiffon Cakes now, but you can use this pandan chiffon cake recipe in a bundt for it.


Let's not forget the true meaning of Christmas - to celebrate the birth of the Savior!

Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

With lots of love,
Susanne


*Some exciting updates!

Finally a simplified Chinese version of Deco Chiffon Cake Basics < 造型雪纺蛋糕 创作基础 > is coming!! It's the first Chinese book produced by Marshall Cavendish so I'm really honored. And it will be available in Singapore, Malaysia, and worldwide at major bookstores eg Popular, Kinokuniya from late Jan 2018!! It is a step-by-step picture guide in Chinese.

You can preorder from me at a special preorder price of $22 from now till 3rd Jan by filling up the form here.

Also very excited and thankful that Deco Chiffon Cake Basics' first print run sold out in 1.5 months! It was also in the Kinokuniya's bestsellers! Thanks everyone for your support!! <3

Merry Christmas!!!

Snow Globe Christmas Chiffon Cupcakes

My humble LOL attempt at making Snow Globe Chiffon Cupcakes! I thought they were super cute so I thought I had to try! =p. These Snow globes are made from gelatin bubbles. They look easy to make but actually they are not. This is my second trial; it is not easy to get clear bubbles that can release well from the balloon. The first round, I had clearer bubbles (with one less gelatin coating), but they were too fragile to release well and broke while I was trying to remove from the balloons.

I read from the original author Sugar Hero that we need premium platinum gelatin sheets to get really pretty clear bubbles. But I couldn’t find it, so I used the readily available gelatin powder from supermarkets. I will try again with the platinum sheets if I can grab hold of them! =)

Anyhow will still share the process. I had great fun with my kids making them. They are great holiday activities with kids =).

Recipe for Gelatin Bubbles (adapted from Sugar Hero) (Makes 4 bubbles)
3 tsp gelatin powder
6 tsp cold water
4 small balloons

1. Blow up 4 balloons to desired size (around 10-12 cm long in my case). Tape around a bamboo stick.

2. Clean the balloons, dry thoroughly and gently grease the surface by rubbing on some oil (not too much else the gelatin doesn’t stick well).

3. Gently mix the gelatin and water, allow the gelatin to bloom and soften and absorb the water.

4. Gently heat up the mixture in a microwave at short intervals (20s, then 10s). Swirl the gelatin to dissolve instead of stirring to minimize bubbles.

5. Once the gelatin is completely melted, let them cool to slightly warm before using to dip the balloons.

6. Dip the balloons 2 times to ensure coating is strong enough for handling

**Use platinum gelatin sheets for clearer bubbles

Sharing some pictures of the fun process:

Recipe for Vanilla Chiffon Cupcakes (35mm liners)
Egg yolk batter
10g egg yolk
5g castor sugar
10g vegetable/corn oil
14g milk
1g vanilla extract
15g cake flour

Meringue
1 egg white
11g castor sugar
¼ tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Prepare the empty cupcake liners on big tray.

2. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale 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 peak, mixing in caster sugar in 2 additions.

5. Fold in the meringue gently into the batter 1/3 at a time.

6. Scoop in the chiffon cake batter into the cupcake liners (to 1 cm from the top). Gently tap the cups to remove bubbles.

7. Bake the cupcakes cake for 17-20 min at 150°C.

8. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

9. Cut out circles (slightly bigger than each cupcake) from layer chiffon cakes and attach it to the cupcake with a brush of melted marshmallows.


Recipe for Snowman and Reindeer Chiffon Cake Pops

See previous post for recipe and assembly instructions.

With lots of love,
Susanne

**Very excited to share, finally a Simplified Chinese Edition 中文版 of Deco Chiffon Cake Basics is coming to Singapore, Malaysia and worldwide! 

Preorders a special price only till 3rd Jan. Preorder form here. 

Yes.. that's my Chinese name =p

English Deco Chiffon Cake books

Blackforest Logcake

I didn't plan to make any logcake this year so this one came about unplanned. Someone requested for a small cake for her wedding anniversary which is around Christmas time and it's a request I couldn't refuse but can't disclose the reason here. Having limited time and a whole lot of fresh cherries in the fridge, I decided to make a blackforest logcake for her. Logcakes generally look impressive but are fairly quick and simple to make so if you want to impress your family and friends at a Christmas party, make them this logcake ;).

I will include tips on how to simplify or adapt your bake if you want to save time or make things simpler. Let me describe what this cake is made of...

Soft and fluffy but rich chocolate chiffon sponge with coffee liqueur added for that extra oomph, rich and juicy fresh cherries simmered in fruity wine, sugar and lemon juice, these two elements bound together by lightly sweetened dairy whipped cream and wrapped in a layer of dark chocolate ganache on the outside....Droolz!!

Cherry jam
I began preparations a few days before baking. You may skip this step and just buy canned cherries. Drain the liquid from the can before using the cherries. I made my own cherry "jam" as I can control what goes inside. Making this a few days before hand allows the flavours to mature over time in the fridge. You may use the homemade jam freshly made or just rested overnight and it still tastes good.

Ingredients:
250g fresh cherries (pitted), halved or quartered
35g caster sugar (more if you have sweet tooth)
35g Choya (you may use Brandy or any fruity wine of your choice)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
A pinch of salt

Note: you may add cornstarch if you wish to have a more jam-like texture but it's optional.

Steps:
1. Place all ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring with a spatula.

2. Simmer and keep stirring for about 20 minutes or until liquid is reduced and thickened.

3. Transfer into a bowl or container to cool. Cover and refrigerate for a few days until ready to assemble the cake.

Cooking cherries!

On the day of assembly, you may spoon out about 1 tbs of the liquid. This is used to brush the sponge cake before filling with cream.

Chocolate chiffon sponge cake
This is a tried and tested recipe over a couple of years that has gotten great reviews.

Ingredients (10x12" baking tray):
2 egg yolks
5g caster sugar
28g canola or vegetable oil
30g fresh milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur (optional but adds to the flavour)
13g Dutch processed cocoa powder*
26g cake flour
1/6 tsp baking soda*
A pinch of salt

3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
40g caster sugar

* If you only have regular cocoa powder instead of Dutch processed cocoa powder, add 1/4 tsp baking powder and use 1/4 tsp baking soda as it is acidic in nature and the batter will deflate quite fast.

Steps:
1. Line baking tray with baking paper. Set oven rack to lowest position. Preheat oven to 170℃.

2. Prepare egg yolk batter. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Add oil and whisk until combined. Add milk, vanilla and coffee liqueur and whisk until combined. Gradually sift in cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and salt and whisk until no trace of flour is seen.

3. Prepare the meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff peak just begins to forms, adding sugar gradually along the way.

4. Fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter in three additions quickly but gently. Pour the batter into prepared baking tray. Tap the tray on table a few times to release trapped air bubbles.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Remove immediately from baking tray and cool the cake in a rolled up position while it is still warm. It doesn't matter whether you roll the long or shorter side. It's up to you.

While the cake is cooling, you may prepare the dark chocolate ganache and whipped cream. The ganache is optional if you don't have time. Simply prepare more whipped cream (use 250ml of whipping cream instead of 200ml. Please do the math conversion yourself :p) and add cocoa powder to half of the whipped cream.

Dark chocolate ganache
Ingredients:
180g dark chocolate (chopped)
18g unsalted butter
60g heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur (optional)

Steps:
1. Melt chocolate and butter in microwave oven or using the double boiling method.

2. Heat cream in a saucepan until it just starts to bubble. Pour over melted chocolate. Stir until well combined.

3. Add salt and flavourings and mix well. Set aside to stand at room temperature. It will firm up over time.

Note: this is a rather firm ganache, suitable for hot and humid Singapore. If you stay at a cooler place, increase the cream to 90g instead.

Whipped cream
Ingredients:
200ml heavy cream/ whipping cream (35% fat)
2 tbs (15g) icing sugar
1 tsp gelatin powder
1 tbs water
1 tbs fresh milk or heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:
1. Place heavy cream into mixing bowl and chill it in the fridge.

2. In a small microwaveable bowl, sprinkle gelatin powder over water. Let it bloom for a few minutes. Microwave for 10 sec at medium power and stir until gelatin has dissolved. Add milk and mix well. Microwave for another 10 sec at medium power if necessary (still have gelatin lumps). Set aside to cool.

3. Use a hand whisk or electric mixer at low speed to beat whipping cream with icing sugar. Beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add in gelatin mixture and whisk by hand until well combined. Check that the cream is able to form firm peaks. Stop whisking if it does or it may separate. Continue to whisk until firm peaks form.

If you don't intend to use ganache, divide the cream into two equal portions. Add about 2 tbs of sifted cocoa powder to one portion and gently fold it in with a whisk or spatula.

Assembly
1. Unroll the chiffon sponge. Brush the sponge with some liquid from cooking the cherries. Use a spatula to apply whipped cream on the surface. Apply less cream about 5cm from the edge away from you.

2. Add cherry jam in three rows as shown below.

3. Carefully roll up the Swiss roll with the baking paper wrapping around it. Gently squeeze the roll to ensure the cream fills all the crevices inside. Freeze the roll for one hour.

Swiss roll after an hour of freezing. See the bit of cream and fruit squeezed out at the ends

Chill the cocoa flavoured whipped cream in the fridge if you aren't using ganache while the Swiss roll is in the freezer.

4. Cut the ends of the Swiss roll with a serrated knife, cleaning the knife after the first cut. Apply a bit of ganache on the cakeboard before placing the Swiss roll on. This is to "glue" the cake to the cakeboard. Apply some ganache on the roll to stick on the cut ends of the Swiss roll to form "branches" from the main trunk.

Note that you may use cocoa flavoured whipped cream instead of ganache.

5. Continue to apply ganache on the whole surface of the logcake using a small spatula. You don't have to be very neat about this so it's perfect for beginners and messy bakers like me ;). Use a fork to draw lines on the surface of the logcake such that it resembles bark patterns.

6. Dust some snow powder on and add christmas decorations if you wish. Chill the cake in the fridge. Best eaten one or two days later.

Note: the portion of whipped cream, cooked cherries and dark chocolate ganache I typed out here is rather generous and you probably won't use finish all of it. If you have leftovers, I suggest you mix the leftover cherries into the whipped cream and drop some dollops of dark chocolate ganache in there. Freeze the whole mixture in a container and you have homemade version of Cherry Garcia ice-cream that is not overly sweet! My neighbour who tried it said it tastes fantastic and I should consider selling ice cream! If you skip the dark chocolate ganache, you probably have just enough cream to fill and cover the Swiss roll.

Have a Blessed Christmas!

With love,
Phay Shing

Num Noms Chiffon Cake

This Numnoms Chiffon Cake is a birthday cake I baked for myself lol.. the great thing about being a baker is that I get to make what I like for my own birthday! It's a nice break and not sad at all hehe.

Just sharing the cut slice and hidden surprise inside since I rarely get to cut my own chiffon cakes =p

The kids had lots of fun eating the ribbons and ears =p

Another year that has passed, I'm so thankful for everything that has happened and everyone I met.. Thank God for everything, and thank you so much too!!

With lots of love,
Susanne

Mushroom, Panda and Rainbow Chiffon Cakes

Which cake will you pick? =)

All made entirely of soft fluffy chiffon cake!!


I'm still on holiday, so this will be a short post, so sorry about it..

For those interested in making them:

Recipe for Rainbow Chiffon Cake has been shared in my first book Creative baking: Chiffon Cakes.

Recipe for cute Mushroom Chiffon Cake has been shared in my 2nd book Deco Chiffon Cakes.

Lollipops (on the rainbow chiffon cake) are also in Deco Chiffon Cakes book.

Recipe for Panda Chiffon Cake has been shared in my 3rd book Deco Chiffon Cake Basics.

Just so happens they are from my 3 different cookbooks.. I actually made these for filming a while back.

Have a blessed family time too!

With lots of love,
Susanne


PS: I just got a question --> Book availability are in the links in the book covers =). The books are available at all major bookstores or online on book depository and Amazon.

Nativity Christmas Brown Sugar Cookies

While many families are off on holidays this December school holidays, my schedule is pretty much hectic due to baking classes I have at ToTT and Culinary Arts Ministry with the church. I have limited time to create Christmas bakes for my extended family and Susanne's family and yet I have always wanted to create meaningful Christmas bakes that reminds us of why we celebrate this occasion -- our Lord Jesus’ birth. It's been a tough juggling act to handle many things at home, baking for sale (thankfully very few because I limit the number) and class prep. Thank God for enabling me to stay afloat so far! And so, I decided to create this Precious Moments inspired nativity scene made out of brown sugar cookies :).

Baby Jesus with Joseph, Mary and a sheep!

You may exclaim that this doesn't look simple at all and must be very time consuming to create. I love brown sugar cookies for the fact that they have a long shelf life and I can breakup the work into short, bitesized manageable portions each time and just chuck the half done portions in the freezer (for the dough) or whole tray of half decorated cookies into a jumbo ziplock bag.

Some planning and prep work has to be done of course for making the templates. I chose to decorate the characters with more freehand drawing this time to reduce the time spent on filling the details with the help of the template and a wider range of royal icing colours. E.g. my standard approach for filling a character's face with royal icing is to ice the nose and eyes first with the help of templates before filling in the flesh coloured icing around the features. This is rather time consuming so I chose to fill the face first and add on the features after the royal icing has dried. But this requires good artistic skills which I am not perfect at so positioning of the features is not so accurate.

You may refer to this recipe for brown sugar cookie and royal icing. If you prefer to make a gingerbread version, you may refer to this recipe instead. Just to share some photos of the process...

Cookies iced with royal icing. I was working concurrently on something for my elder kid's birthday :). Use a stiffer icing for the hay by adding some icing sugar to the royal icing.

Details like adding shading effects and facial features were done using either edible marker with vodka wash or royal icing and a needle (the features like the eyes are really fine!)

Using edible marker and vodka wash is a lazy way of adding details without having to make royal icing of different colours and is therefore a time saver. Make sure the royal icing is thoroughly dried (preferably overnight) before using edible marker on the surface. You may refer to this post on how this is done. Over here, I have also created white paint to add on lighter shades or highlights. The white paint was made by dissolving some white gel food colouring in vodka.

Partially assembled houses. I used the stiff royal icing for the hay to act as glue.

Finally all done!

This bake is going to be the decoration for my coconut Gula Melaka Ah Ma sponge cakes.

With lots of love,
Phay Shing

Cute Puppy Macarons

I have covered French and Swiss method of making macarons in my first two macaron classes with ToTT. Here's my first Italian method class at the start of 2018 and in time for ushering the year of the Dog!

This design is taken from my Creative Baking: Macarons book.

Those of you who have purchased the book and would like a hands on session with me for this, please mark your calendar for 26 Jan 3-6pm. I will cover the basics of Italian method, how to create this cute puppy design and how to make dark chocolate ganache filling for the macaron that is suitable for Singapore's weather.

Please click on this link to register.

With love,
Phay Shing

Cupid Hello Kitty Strawberry & Dark Chocolate Macaron Carousels

I made not just one but two girly pink Hello Kitty macaron carousels! One regular sized and one downsized. Kitty is dressed up as a cupid this time :)

I used the non-reduced sugar macaron shell recipe but used icing sugar that already has cornflour added in. Both regular and reduced sugar recipes can be found here. You may refer to my Creative Baking: Macarons book for a systematic presentation of the basics and complex shaped macarons. You may refer to my video tutorials for macaron basics and piping of complex shapes on the blog too. You may refer to this post for the dimensions of the shells required to make the carousel and the respective baking times. I piped a scalloped roof like the one similar to the sheep macaron carousel as I think it's really pretty and it is very helpful for positioning the paper straws during the assembly. Checkout the sheep carousel post for detailed steps of assembly.

Just to share some photos of the process...

I piped carousel base and roof of different sizes as the carousels are of different sizes.

I piped the letters using macaron batter instead of my usual royal icing. I painted some gold and glitter lustre dust dissolved in vodka post-baking.

Piping the Kitty shells!

Freshly baked kitties! Check out the awesome feet!

The intricate bow and arrow and ribbon are made of royal icing.

Freshly baked circular shells for the carousel frame. Looking pretty in a stack :)

Dark chocolate flavour was requested but for aesthetics, I decided to add a layer of strawberry white chocolate so that it looks visually more pleasing when assembled. I used dark chocolate ganache for the circular shells in the middle, followed by dark chocolate and strawberry white chocolate. The latter outer layers do not contain heavy cream whereas the ganache does. You may refer to this recipe for dark chocolate ganache. I used about 80g worth of dark chocolate ganache.

Recipe for filling
Ingredients:
Dark chocolate
85g dark chocolate, chopped
20g vegetable shortening
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Strawberry white chocolate
120g white chocolate, chopped
30g vegetable shortening
2 tsp strawberry emulco
3/8 tsp fine sea salt

Steps:
1. Place chocolate and shortening in a microwave safe bowl. Melt at medium power for 10-20 seconds and stir. Repeat until melted and smooth.

2. Add salt and mix well with spatula.

3. Gradually add flavouring and mix well. Note that adding strawberry paste/emulco all at one shot may cause the white chocolate to seize.

4. Transfer to piping bag and fill the shells.

Filling up Hello Kitty with dark chocolate and strawberry white chocolate 

Both recipients think it's too pretty to be eaten :p. The dilemma that comes with requesting for something as pretty as this from me!

With love,
Phay Shing

Piglet and Pooh 'Ice Cream' Chiffon Cake Pops

Is it only me, or do you also see a heart shape? Lol =p This cute pair, Piglet and Pooh Ice Cream chiffon cake pops are definitely healthier than the real thing! Presenting the first Cartoon chiffon ice cream pops ever made! Plain ice cream versions are in my cookbooks =).

This Pooh has quite a special local flavour. It is colored and flavored by Salted egg yolk! If you like salted egg yolk, you can also see my previous post on Salted egg yolk chicks. The pink is strawberry and the cones are lightly colored with cocoa powder (vanilla-cocoa flavored).

I baked the animals in oven-safe glass bowls and the cones in paper cones. The picture tutorials for Ice cream Chiffon Cake pops are actually in Creative baking: Chiffon Cakes book (1st chiffon book).

I divided by batter roughly into 3 parts (1:1:2) for the two different animals and cone.

Piglet and Pooh Ice Cream Chiffon Cake Pops
Egg yolk batter
2 egg yolks
13g castor sugar
26g vegetable/corn oil
28g water
3g vanilla extract
40g cake flour, sifted (Prima)

One boiled salted egg

Dip of strawberry paste/emulco

1/5 tsp cocoa powder

Meringue
4 egg whites
45g castor sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Mash one boiled salted egg.

Boiled Salted Egg Yolks I used

2. Prepare egg yolk batter:

a. Whisk egg yolk with sugar using hand whisk until light and well-mixed.

b. Add in oil first, then water and vanilla extract and mix well.

c. Whisk in sifted cake flour and whisk well, ensuring that no lumps are formed.

3. Divide the batter into 3 parts ie 1:1:2.

To the first portion, add the mashed salted egg. To the second portion, add a chopstick dip of strawberry paste/emulco. To the last portion, add approximately 1/5 tsp teaspoon cocoa powder. *You may substitute with your preferred food coloring/flavour, or adjust amounts to desired colour.

4. Prepare meringue:

a. In a grease-free, dry bowl, using electric mixer, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar till frothy.

b. Add in ½ castor sugar for meringue and whisk at high speed till soft peaks form - peaks slope downwards forming a hook.

c. Add in rest of the castor sugar for meringue and whisk till firm peaks form - peaks point up but slightly hooked at the tip.

5. Divide the meringue into 3 ie 1:1:2.

6. Fold in meringue gently into each colored egg yolk batter 1/3 at a time. *Fold in unidirectional, gentle strokes and do not overfold.

7. Fill the bowls with the salted egg and strawberry batter till 3/4 full. Fill the vanilla-cocoa batter into 2 paper cones. 

8. Bake at 160°C for 10 min then at 140°C for 20-25 min, or until skewer inserted into center of cakes come out clean.

9. Pour batters into 15-cm baking pan lined with baking paper. These are for cutting the ears and hands. Bake at 160°C for 15 min.

10. Allow to cool completely on wire rack, before unmolding by hand.

I used charcoal chiffon sheet cakes (from another bake) to cut out facial features using bento cutters. You can also pipe on using melted chocolate or nutella. I cut out ears from the sheet cakes and used melted marshmallows to stick everything together. You can also use melted white chocolate to stick them together.

With lots of love,
Susanne

Updates:

Post book launch event sharing (2/12/17). Thank you so much for all your love and support (even if you couldn't come, your words of encouragement are more than enough!)

          

Deco Chiffon Cake books

Something nice to share, Deco Chiffon Cake Basics book on 20% discount at Popular for Popular member (till 10th Dec).