Chiikawa, Usagi and Hachiware Brown Sugar Cookies

 Besides macarons, my friend requested some brown sugar cookies of Chiikawa and friends too!

Here's a peek at the cookies without the facial details added in:

Can you spot which ones are cookies and which ones are macarons?

I tried my best to match the shade of colors between the two different types of bakes!

I use my default brown sugar cookie recipe to make these as she loves them and request for them every year without fail since early 2015!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Nick and Judy Brown Sugar Cookies

 My friend loves my brown sugar cookies so much that she's ordering it again for her daughter's birthday! This is the twelfth consecutive year I am baking for the young lady! I didn't get around to sharing these earlier but the cookies were made along with the macaron versions of Nick and Judy.

Can you spot which ones are the cookies and which ones are the macarons below?

I use my default brown sugar cookie recipe because although it's not the prettiest cookies, it smells and tastes amazing! It has a long shelf life and stays yummy even when working for long hours with royal icing decoration as it is yummy both crisp or soft. I use cake paint to add in some shading or details on the icing.

With this many details, I can only ice this quantity 🤭. The weird cookie at the top right is for testing the shade of paint on the icing before I apply on the actual characters 

You may see this post for the details of the macaron version. Thank God it was well received once again!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Cinnamon Brown Sugar Christmas Cookies

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

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

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

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

Christmas Iced Cookies

(Makes about eighty 5-6cm cookies)

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

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

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

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

3. Add sugar & mix until well distributed

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

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

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

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

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

Additional tips:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

with love,

Phay Shing

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Pompompurin Brown Sugar Cookies

 Besides Pompompurin macarons, I made brown sugar cookies as requested by my friend!

Here's a picture with both macarons and brown sugar cookies in view!

My friend loves my brown sugar cookies and looks forward to having them each year. This is the 10th year I am making them for her daughter's birthday!

You may refer to this post for my brown sugar cookie and royal icing recipe. There's a good reason why she asks for it every year. It's so fragrant and tasty without being overly sweet. Do give it a try if you would like an iced cookie base that actually tastes better with age/storage 😊. 

with love,

Phay Shing

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Angel S'mores

 You have seen my iced cookie version of angel cookies. Here's my S'mores version using the same template!

The angel S'mores are angel marshmallows on my favourite (and default) brown sugar cookie coated with chocolate! I didn't use the classic Graham cracker base as my brown sugar cookie has a similar flavour profile and I happened to bake some brown sugar cookies.

I reused the template for royal icing transfers for making the angel marshmallows but I enlarged the template a little for a larger cookie base, and spaced out the angels more for marshmallow making. You may refer to my baby Jesus and angle cookie post for the template.

Piped marshmallows using the template before the faces are painted on 

Here's the video tutorial of how I piped the angel marshmallows and assembled the S'mores:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0gqQHZSr-Q/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I used to think marshmallows are one-dimensional tasting candies that are way too sweet. S'mores was the reason why I fell in love with marshmallows because the taste, texture and aroma is on another level when the marshmallows are toasted just before consuming.

If you would like to find out more about how to create marshmallow characters of your own imagination, grab a copy of our newest book in the Creative Baking series: Deco Marshmallows! 

with love,

Phay Shing

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Baby Jesus and Angel Cookies

 This is the third year our church's Culinary Arts Ministry is having a cookie giveaway project. And for this year, we decided to tell the Christmas story through cookies! Several of us are involved in baking hundreds of cookies so this takes some co-ordination and planning in advance. With many of us having busy schedules, using royal icing transfers is one way to make a big project more manageable. I am in charge of making the angel cookies and a couple of other members have kindly volunteered to make the baby Jesus cookies. We have sheep, heart, star and candy cane (representing shepherd's staff) as part of the cookie storytelling too! Of the whole collection, baby Jesus and the angels will be made using icing transfers as they can be made way in advance and the use of templates makes it easier for those of us who cannot pipe by freehand. Here are some of the icing transfers and sample cookies I made.

I chose to use my default brown sugar cookie as the cookie base as it is actually adapted from a gingerbread cookie recipe which does well being exposed for long periods, has a long shelf-life, and has a soft chewy texture that is still great after being softened by royal icing. I coloured and flavoured it by substituting 10% of plain flour with black cocoa powder. I wanted the cookie to appear like the angels against the night sky as they brought the good news of Jesus' birth to the shepherds. As the cookies are smaller (about 4-4.5cm), baking time should be around 10-12 min at 170-180C. Cookie and royal icing recipe is in the link for my default brown sugar cookie recipe. 

Here are the templates for baby Jesus and the angels.

Resize the templates to fit on A4 paper before printing. Please acknowledge me if you use the templates and share your work 😊. The icing transfers can be used on cookies that are 4-4.5cm in diameter. Feel free to change the hairstyles if you wish like what I did for some of the angels. I crafted the design with simplicity in mind for those of us who need to produce hundreds of cookies but have limited time. So if you have the bandwidth, feel free to embellish your icing transfers with more details like halo, rosy cheeks etc.

You may refer to my reel or YouTube video for the piping steps (will update the post soon with the video links). 

Here's the angel royal icing transfers I made in advance! I will be baking the cookies and sticking the transfers on nearer the date. This method of making the design really makes the work more manageable when you have to make so many!

Here are some tips and pointers you may find helpful.

How long can I store royal icing transfers?

They can be stored in airtight conditions at room temperature for a few months with no issues if they are thoroughly dried and sealed. This means that you can already prepare the icing transfers right now in early- mid November if you intend to give out the cookies at Christmas time. You may stick the transfers to the cookies a week or even two weeks before the giveaway.

What surface can I pipe the icing transfers on?

You may use parchment paper, teflon sheets, silicone mats or even acetate sheets. Refrain from using warm oven to dry the icing transfers if you are using acetate sheets.

Royal icing transfer tips and Instructions

- Store unused icing in the fridge covered in airtight container and with cling wrap touching surface of icing. You may prepare the royal icing in advance and it can be stored in the fridge for a month.

- Stir icing thoroughly before transferring into piping bag or OPP (oriented polypropylene) cone for use. Do not overfill OPP cone if using.

- Make sure consistency of icing for baby Jesus/angel is at flooding consistency I.e. when you try to draw streaks of icing in the mixing bowl, it should disappear within 10 -15 seconds. If it does not, add a few drops of drinking-safe water at a time and stir thoroughly before testing the consistency again.

- Make sure consistency of icing for the hay is stiff. i.e. when you try to make any peaks of icing in the container, it should stand up straight without curling over.

- Cut a hole about 2mm in size in piping bag for piping baby Jesus' swaddle, angel's body, the face and hair. Cut a 1mm hole in OPP cone for the nose, angel wings and eyes (if piping dots for eyes instead of stamping with toothpick). 

- Use a skewer to nudge the icing where necessary. 

- Use a damp paper towel to quickly erase any mistakes before the icing sets. 

- Make sure icing for face is hardened on the surface before you pipe/ stamp out the nose and eyes. Use the blunt end of a toothpick to stamp out the eyes for a quick way to ensure that the eyes are consistently round and the same size. Use fan or oven with fan mode at 60-70C to speed up drying process.

- Make sure icing transfer is thoroughly dried before attempting to remove it from the parchment paper. Icing may appear dry on the surface but inside could still be soft and wet so it may be safer to err on the side of drying for a longer time. Overnight drying in the open is definitely safe.

- Store icing transfer in airtight condition before use.

- After baked cookie has cooled down completely, you may pipe the hay using the stiff icing in piping bag fitted with a #233 tip with adapter for attaching baby Jesus icing transfer. Pipe a swirl starting from the circumference and ending in the middle of the cookie. Gently but firmly press the icing transfer onto the hay.  Pipe a small dollop of icing to stick the angel onto the cookie. (See video tutorial)

- Please switch piping tips once the holes of #233 tip starts becoming clogged. Quickly wash and dry thoroughly before using again. Using a tip adapter helps you to make the switch more seamlessly because stiff royal icing hardens much faster than flooding consistency icing.  

- Dry in the open overnight before storing/packing. Alternatively, you may dry in oven at 60-70C for 15 minutes + 30 minutes in the open or until icing is dry. Cool completely before packing.  It is not recommended to dry the icing with the cookie for too long in the oven as it may cause oil from cookie to seep into the icing.

Troubleshooting

1. Help! My piped icing is bumpy and not smooth!

Icing consistency may be too thick so you may need to thin it out a little. Be careful not to over-thin it or you may experience issue number 2 below. Try to work in a more humid area that has no draft to prevent the icing from setting too fast on the surface. Resist the urge to prod the piped icing too much with a skewer once you have piped it as the longer it stays piped, chances are a thin crust has already formed and disturbing the icing will cause the surface to appear bumpy.

2. My piped icing surface is smooth but after sitting out for a while, the middle starts to sink in and form a crater/crack.

There are 3 possibilities:

a) Your icing consistency is too runny

b) You didn’t stir the stored icing sufficiently before transferring into piping bag 

c) You left the piped icing sitting out for too long and the meringue structure of the royal icing breaks down before a crust starts forming on the surface 

For issue with c), try splitting the templates into smaller quantities to work with e.g. pipe only 4 or 8 at a time before sending into 60-70C oven to quickly dry the surface. This is what I practice at home to prevent the cratering effect. I set up 2 or more trays and keep rotating them between oven and work surface, piping only a few to several transfers at a time. Oven drying for about 2-4 minutes helps the crust to quickly form, preventing the cratering effect.

3. Help! I broke the icing transfer! Is there anyway to rescue it?

That depends on how bad the damage is. I would usually discard because trying to fix it and still make it look nice is difficult. Prepare to make extras because icing transfers are generally fragile and time consuming to make. Accidents usually happen while removing transfers from parchment paper and while transferring it from place to place. The risk of breakage only stops happening once it is stuck on the cookie where it belongs! If a clean crack happens across the swaddle, you may use white icing to pipe across it so it appears like part of the design on the swaddle. If the crack happens across the face, sorry you may have to discard the transfer.

4. Help! I accidentally thin out my royal icing with too much water!

Add icing sugar a little at a time until royal icing reaches the correct consistency.

I am not a cookie decorating expert but I have made iced cookies since about 9 years ago. Hopefully what I shared is helpful for you if you intend to make large batches of Christmas cookies!

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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Green Hatchling's Play Date (A whimsical marshmallow creation)

 My younger kid is an early teen now, doing various things that teenagers do. But he is still very attached to his special green Angry Bird hatchling plushie. Actually the whole family treats that furry green creature as part of the family too because it has so much character after a few years 😆. So for my kid's birthday bake, I decided to include the bird again for the third consecutive year but along with other friends for a fun day out!

Here's a picture of the plushiemallows along with the real plushies!

Actually there are 3 duck plushies but I only took a photo of them with the whole creation toasted on a giant brown sugar cookie with crunchy Biscoff spread.

Looks terrible but marshmallows toasted are another level yummy compared to untoasted ones!

I would have used chocolate instead of Biscoff spread for a classic S'mores but the birthday boy is not a fan of chocolate.

If the shark plushiemallow looks like a slipper to you, that's because I used the cute shark slippers that people wear as my inspiration. I made the shark plush (Blahaj from Ikea) in the slipper form.

How do I get such ideas you may ask? I usually give myself time to muse over concepts and ideas by daydreaming now and then. This idea had me giggling so it's an "Aha! This is it!" moment. See the stop motion video of what I imagined and you know what I mean 😉.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyvXtaSyEAt/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Here's the process of making it with most frames sped up by 10x as I needed to fit everything into 1 min or less 😅.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cy0jUOoSNVI/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

For those of you who prefer to slow down and view some still shots, here are some pictures of the in between process...

I didn't take any video footage of piping the eyes because I didn't want to have the camera in the way of something so delicate.

I made a spare flap for the Blahaj slipper just in case I accidentally uglify one.

If you want to know what recipe I use, how I created the furry texture on the hatchling or how to create marshmallow plushies (plushiemallows) of your own imagination, grab a copy of my newly launched book Deco Marshmallows!

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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Cinnamoroll Brown Sugar Cookies

 My friend who has been buying bakes from me for her daughter's birthday every year since 2015, requested for Cinnamoroll brown sugar cookies. She loves the taste of my cookies because they are really fragrant with caramel notes. 

I used my default brown sugar cookie recipe and royal icing. I made a template for cutting out the shape of the cookie dough.

Cookie dough cutouts on perforated mat lined baking tray before baking

As the details on this design are rather complex, I made royal icing transfers for the flowers and cupcake on Cinnamoroll.

I couldn't resist taking photos of the two bakes she requested: macarons and brown sugar cookies! See my previous post for the recipe for the macarons.

Stay tuned for a third Cinnamoroll creation that I made for her!

with love,

Phay Shing

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'Leon in a Chocolate Bomb' Earl Grey Macarons

When I asked my elder kid what he wants for his birthday bake, he told me he wanted his favourite Brawl Stars character, Leon, in a pinata of sorts that can be cracked open like a pinata. He also wanted Leon to be made using macaron as the medium with Earl Grey filling. And what does Mama the baker come up with? I decided to make all the components edible as far as possible. And so I decided to hide Leon in chocolate bombs which are to be cracked open by a brown sugar cookie hammer!

I used French method to make the macarons since it is such a small quantity. You may refer to this post for the recipe. Just to share some photos of the process...

Piping Leon

Freshly baked shells

I decorated the shells with edible black marker, royal icing, and white coloured rice sprinkle for the lollipop stick

I filled the shells with Earl grey ganache. You may refer to this post for the recipe

I made the cookie hammer by using my fingers to mould a log shaped cookie dough and stuck the end of a wooden chopstick knto the dough. I wanted the cookie to be really hard so that the chocolate shell shatters instead of the cookie. To do that, I baked the cookie at a lower temperature of 145°C for 45 min but checking the progress of baking every 10 min. The brown sugar cookie recipe can be found here.

What was new in this bake and unfamiliar to me is making the chocolate bomb out of tempered chocolate. To be honest I was really nervous and out of my comfort zone but excited to try it out as well. Why nervous? Because the average ambient temperature that I work in is 28-32°C all year round. And humidity is high as well. Terrible conditions to work with chocolate but I don't have a choice. I chose dark chocolate as it is less tricky to work with than milk or white chocolate. (Although I did make the fuse of the bomb out of white chocolate). I studied two chocolate books that I bought recently on tempering chocolate and watched a few youtube videos on how to create chocolate spheres. So I am sharing my first experience properly working with chocoate in hot and humid home kitchen here.

I find that the most convenient method for me to temper dark chocolate was to use the double boiler and ice bath method. The seeding method didn't work so well since the kitchen was so warm. You need a candy thermometer as the temperature has to be very precise. I melted 270g of dark chocolate couverture over barely simmering water without the water touching base of bowl until temperature reaches 50°C. I quickly sit the bowl into another bowl with ice water and stir the chocolate with spatula while monitoring the temperature. I removed the mixing bowl out of the ice bath from time to time as the chocolate in contact with the bowl may solidify. Bring the temperature down to 28°C and put it back in double boiler. Stir and heat the melted chocolate until temperature is 31-32°C. I added a little oil based black food colouring to deepen the shade of the chocolate a little.

To create the chocolate sphere, I used a brush meant for food use to coat the insides of silicone hemisphere mould with a layer of tempered chocolate. I put it in the freezer for 3 min before adding another coat of chocolate. I repeated this so there are 3 layers. Freeze for 10 min for the last coat. Use a metal spatula or bench scraper to scrape off any bits of chocolate sticking out from the surface of the mould. This is harder to do cleanly if you are using a relatively soft silicone mould like me. But if you are using a rigid plastic mould for chocolate, this shouldn't be an issue. If the chocolate is properly tempered, it should come out of the mould easily and have a shiny appearance.

My first attempt! Happy with it! 

Do wear latex gloves when handling the unmoulded chocolate or you will risk melting it or leave smudges on the surface. Handling unmoulded chocolate was really a challenge for me since it is so warm here 😂. For the little knob on top of the sphere, I piped the tempered chocolate into a jumbo straw and let it set for 10 min in the fridge. I used a chopstick to push the hardened chocolate out of the straw. I heated a small knife over a flame and cut the unmoulded log of chocolate into short sections, cleaning the knife after each cut. I used the heat of my fingers to shape compound white chocolate chip into ropes.

Rule of thumb of gluing chocolate parts together is to place the joining surfaces on a warmed non stick frying pan to melt the chocolate surface a little, then quickly stick the melted surfaces together. Just place the pan on heat for a few seconds and turn off the heat. In instances where placing the chocolate on pan is not possible, I heat the end of a metal chopstick over a flame for a couple of seconds and use it to melt the chocolate surface.

Partially assembled bombs! I used stiff royal icing to stick the macarons down. 

After assembling the bombs, I glued some roasted ground peanuts onto the cakeboard for a "sandy" dessert scene.

Unfortunately Singapore is so warm you have to store this creation in the fridge or in ideal situation, a really cold aircon room at 16-18°C. Fridge storage does mar the appearance of the chocolate bomb but since this is for my kid, who cares 🤣! It's a fun creation nonetheless!

Finally the deed is done! 

I think I should have just done 2 layers of chocolate coating lol! Nonetheless it was still fun to crack the bomb open!

With lots of love,
Phay Shing

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Unicorn Pusheen Lychee Macarons and Brown Sugar Cookies

Not only did I make unicorn Pusheen choux pastry. I made them as macarons and brown sugar cookies too!

You may find the brown sugar cookie and royal icing recipe from this post.

Just to share some photos of the process...

Cutting out cookie dough. I make my own templates using flexible clear plastic. 

Using edible marker to mark out the lines

Adding on royal icing features. I waited until the royal icing is fully dry before adding in the fine facial features using black edible marker and painting the center of the mouths with pink gel colouring dissolved in a little vodka.

I baked the macaron shells concurrently with my Totoro and friends macaron tree project as they share similar colours. I used a Swiss meringue method recipe for the macarons.

Piping the macaron shells

Freshly baked shells

Decorated macaron shells

I filled the macarons with lychee whipped white chocolate ganache and chopped lychee. You may refer to the filling recipe and instructions from this post.

That's all for my short series of unicorn Pusheen bakes!

With love,
Phay Shing

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Rainbow Unicorn Lychee Macarons and Brown Sugar Cookies

My friend requested for rainbow unicorn themed bakes: macarons, brown sugar cookies and choux pastry!

The Choux pastry version can be seen in an older post over here. I made them for her daughter's birthday and she loved them so much she wanted me to make them again for her birthday!

What I want to share with you is the filling recipe for the macarons and a little tip about filling macarons with fillings that have high liquid content like pieces of fresh or canned fruit, jams and curds without turning the macaron shells soggy too fast. But before that, here are a few photos of works in progress items...

Decorating brown sugar cookie with royal icing. You may find the recipe for cookie and royal icing over here.

Piped macaron batter. I used a French method recipe over here due to the small quantity requested.

Decorated macaron shells using black edible marker and peach coloured lustre dust

Please feel free to upsize the filling recipe below. Fans of lychee will love it!

Lychee whipped ganache with diced lychee (fills 6 macarons)
Ingredients:
40g white chocolate, chopped or use chips
10g whipping cream
10g unsalted butter
10g vegetable shortening (may replace with butter)
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp freeze-dried lychee powder*
Canned lychees, woody part removed, diced and pat dry with paper towels

*If you are unable to get freeze-dried lychee, gradually fold in 20g finely chopped lychee or lychee puree into the whipped ganache.

Steps:
1. Place white chocolate, whipping cream, butter and shortening in a microwave safe bowl. Heat at medium power for 10 seconds. Mix thoroughly. Repeat heating and mixing until fully melted. Be careful not to overheat.

2. Add salt and mix well. Chill in freezer for 2 minutes. Whip or stir with spatula until smooth again. Repeat freezing and whipping as necessary until you get a light, smooth and fluffy buttercream-like mixture.

3. Add freeze-dried lychee powder a teaspoon at a time and mix well. If you are using puree, gently fold in a teaspoon at a time. Do note that freeze-dried powder version will produce a more intense flavour than using puree. Transfer into piping bag fitted with an open star tip.

Canned lychees have high water content so make sure you pat dry with paper towels before using as filling. Even then, I recommend adding a barrier between the chopped pieces of fruit and macaron shell. Effective barriers include high fat content fillings such as buttercreams and ganache.

To do this, pipe a small dollop of whipped ganache (or buttercream) in the middle of the macaron shell. Use a teaspoon or small spatula to smear it, coating the surface of the macaron shell. Pipe a ring of whipped ganache along the outline of the shell.

Remember to apply a smear of ganache on the upper shell too!

Fill the middle of the ring with pieces of fruit (or jam or curd).

A closer look at the juicy filling!

Refrigerate overnight to a few days before consuming. Always let the macarons rest at room temperature for 15 minutes before consuming  when taken out of the fridge.

I hope you find this helpful!

With love,
Phay Shing

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