"Grumpy's Bath" Macaron Cake

 It's been a long time since I made something out of curiosity and for fun! This project and experiment came about because I was wondering what I can make with the colours of batter for a batch of milk bottle macarons I had to make for a client's baby's first month celebration. The image of Grumpy Bear in a duck floatie came to mind and I started to giggle 🤭. 

I took this chance to experiment with making a 3D macaron tub. Although it would have made things easier if I had a silicone loaf pan, I decided to risk using metal disposable loaf tin wrapped in parchment and disposable paper loaf pans as experiments. So glad they worked!

I used my default Swiss meringue method recipe for making the macaron shells.

Here's the video tutorial of how I made the tub. Please read the captions in the reel for important technical details:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7wMvAxSdMg/?igsh=MWt0OWlkeDFua2Yzcw==

I coated the insides of the tub with a thin layer of royal icing to reinforce the thin macaron shell although this is optional. You may coat with a layer of chocolate instead. Did it turn out too sweet? Nope! That's because I filled the macaron tub as well as Grumpy and the duck floatie with a tangy lemon ganache. I included two layers of lavender honey butter cake as well in the tub. All bubble baths can't do without the bubbles so I made the foam out of aerated honey lemon jelly.

Check out some works-in-progress pictures below and the cut cross- section of the tub!

I have a sable cookie stool and some mini meringue duckies in storage I used as props.

I coated the base of the duck floatie with a thin layer of ganache to insulate it from the jelly

My kids loved the tangy macaron cake! It's been some time since they had a just-for-fun bake from me too!

Lemon ganache

(Adapted from here)

Ingredients: 

250g white chocolate couverture 

60g fresh lemon juice

zest of 2 lemons

60g heavy cream

Steps:

1. Melt chocolate over double-boiler or in microwave oven. Set aside.

2. Heat the rest of the ingredients until warm (46C) in a small saucepan or microwave. Don't worry if it looks a little curdled because when milk/cream comes into contact with acid, this happens.

3. Pour warm lemon juice and cream over melted chocolate. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth and emulsified. Press cling wrap onto surface of ganache.

4. Let the ganache firm up in the fridge for half an hour or overnight in air-conditioned room (22-24C). Transfer into piping bag.

Honey Lavender Cake

(adapted from here)

I baked the cake in the same mini loaf pans I used for piping the macaron bathtubs. I didn't want to grind the sugar with dried lavender flowers because I wanted to simplify things and have less things to wash/set up. So in my adaptation of the reference recipe, I made a concentrated lavender tea instead and replaced the yoghurt with that. I reduced the sugar by a little as well.

Ingredients (3 mini loaves):

50g unsalted butter

45g caster sugar

10g honey

1/8 tsp salt

1 medium egg (about 45g without shell), lightly beaten

75g cake flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

30g concentrated lavender tea*

* Steep 3g dried lavender flowers in 45g hot water for 10 min. Strain and squeeze out as much tea as possible from the flowers. Reserve 30g for the cake.

Steps:

1. Grease loaf pans. Preheat oven to 160Cfan/175C.

2. Whisk together baking powder and flour. Set aside 

3. Cream butter, sugar, honey and salt until pale and fluffy.

4. Gradually add egg and mix until smooth after each addition.

5. Gradually add half the flour mixture by sifting over the batter, mixing well after each addition.

6. Add concentrated tea. Mix well.

7. Add the remaining flour mix gradually by sifting over batter and mixing well after each addition.

8. Pour into loaf pans and bake for 25 min or until skewer comes out clean.

7. Cool in pan for 10 min before tipping the cake out and cooling completely. 

I sliced the loaves horizontally till 1.5cm thick for layering in the tubs. I brushed the cake with a little lemon syrup too but this is optional.

Honey lemon foam

Ingredients:

5g gelatin bloomed in 40g ice water

25g lemon juice

30g honey 

80g hot water 

Steps:

1. Dissolve honey in hot water. Add lemon juice. Mix well

2. Melt bloomed gelatin and add it to honey lemon water. Whisk until well combined.

3. Set the mixture over an ice water bath and gently stir with a whisk for 5min to cool the mixture down and thicken it.

4. Whisk more vigorously to create the foam bubbles.

5. Chill in fridge for 5 min to stabilize the bubbles before scooping onto the bathtub to create the "bath bubbles".

You may watch the video of the process over here in my reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8BLaS4S8Sv/?igsh=MWJtcHp6Z2NxOXBvdQ==

with love,

Phay Shing

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Chiffon Bear Entremet

 

Christmas bear or Christmas tree Entremet?🐻‍❄️🎄 

Teaching the chiffon tree entremet at Howtocakeit in Dec! This bear is a variation of the tree entremet and has different layers: Choc mousse, raspberry jelly and feuilletine crunch. 

The creation and idea is a very special to me. Watch the slicing video here. 

Thank God the covid situation is finally getting better. Take care! 

Howtocakeit having a black friday sale at the moment. Do take the opportunity if you are interested to learn the entremet cake! 

With lots of love,

Susanne

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'I Love You' Surprise Valentine's Bear Chiffon Cake

A Valentine's Day Forever Friends Bear Hearts Chiffon Cake with a special "I Love You" surprise! 

I realized that we don't say these words often enough. In the 5 love languages, words of affirmation is one of them, so let us not forget to say them =). I made this special creation to thank my friends/loved ones who have supported all these years. Blessed Valentine's Day and thank you!

Here's a video to show cutting of the surprise!

May it be "Valentine's Day" for us everyday!

With lots of love,

Susanne

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Share Bear Chiffon Cake (Care Bears)

Very honored and excited to be commissioned to make a Share Bear cake by Carebears!! 💜💖

Really thank God for providing! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw their email! 

I've been a super big fan of Carebears since young so its a dream come true for me! Hope this cute cake makes you smile too!! 🥰💕

Which is plush and which is cake?? Hehe =)

With lots of love,

Susanne

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Muscle Bear Chiffon Cake

Not quite 6-packs, but surely strong! 😆

My muscle bear chiffon cake, inspired by the adorable muscle bread from @konel_bread! =D It certainly made me smile! 😄

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers! <3 Thank God we are in Circuit breaker Phase 2 too! Everyone stay safe!

With lots of love,

Susanne

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Shellie May Chiffon Cake

This Teddy bear among Flowers is made entirely made from chiffon cake, and inspired by the super sweet Shellie May, from Disneysea. This is actually a belated mother's day cake, and dedicated to all the beautiful mummies I know. Take care!

With lots of love,

Susanne

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Japanese Milk Bun Bears with Kaya Filling

School has just reopened, so I made these simple Japanese Milk Bread Buns with kaya filling for my kids' snack break. It's an easy bake, using a similar recipe to the previous Chocolate Bear-in-a-cone, but without cocoa powder.

Milk Bun Bears (With Kaya filling)
(A)
100g Prima bread flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp instant dry yeast
130g warm milk (~37°C, I microwaved for 20 secs)

(B)
100g Prima bread flour
20g unsalted butter
1/3 tsp salt

Black/pink food marker for decoration

1. In the stand mixer bowl, add all the dry ingredients in (A). Then add in the warm milk and mix vigorously using the dough hook for a few minutes. This helps to activate the yeast. Stop when you see little tiny bubbles popping when you stop stirring.

2. Add in the rest of (B) ingredients into the bowl. and mix using the dough hook until window pane stage (around 20 min, using speed 3). *Check for window pane after kneading for 20 min

3. Cover with cling wrap. Let it proof for 40 min for 1st fermentation. The dough will increase in size to about 1.5-2 times.

4. Do the finger test for the bread dough (leave an indent). Once the 1st fermentation is ok, remove the dough from the mixing bowl and degas the dough.

5. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Shape into balls and cover for 10mins (bench time).

6. After 10 min, flatten the dough and section out 2 small parts for the bear’s ears, and 2 smaller parts for bear's hands.

7. Flatten the larger dough into a circle. Place a 2 tsp ball of kaya (or whatever filling desired) in the center. Pinch to seal and roll into a round ball. Place the ball with pinched ends facing down on the prepared baking tray.

8. Repeat for the rest of the bread dough. Attach the ears and hands onto the bread. I used pasta sticks to prevent ears from dropping after proofing. I didn't need to use for the hands as they were small.

9. Cover gently with cling wrap. Let it rest for 30 min for 2nd fermentation.

10. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place the buns into the oven then lower to 150°C. Bake at 150°C for 30 min.

11. Cool the buns completely on a wire rack.

12. Draw on features using food marker.

Hope you like the simple, easy and cute bread buns!

With lots of love,

Susanne

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Pink Carebears Strawberry Chiffon Cake

Happy birthday 6th dearest Christine!! Times flies and my number 2 is growing up. Thank God for her always being a source of joy. This Pink Carebear (Love-a-lot) reminds me a lot of her. May she continue to grow in the grace and love of our Lord <3.

I haven't made Carebears since 2 years back. This is my first attempt at a full 3D chiffon version, made from Strawberry Chiffon Cake. Thank God it was well-received! The kids had lots of fun putting in the candles and cutting up the cake!

Just sharing some pictures below =).

Singing "Happy Birthday"

The teacher couldn't bear to cut the face. My girl had the honor of eating it =p

With lots of love,
Susanne

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Sweet Cuddly Bear Chiffon Cake

This is a special sweet cuddly bear made from Vanilla-chocolate chiffon cake made for my dear mummy’s birthday! I grew up in the era loving Forever Friends bear and somehow ended up modeling the cake after it as my dear sweet, warm mummy reminds me of it! I used a reduced egg yolk recipe with added chocolate paste to get a cream colour for the chiffon cake. The bear face is baked using a big wilton ball cake pan. The recipe below is actually similar to that for any generic cute bear, so you can use it for any bear you like! =)

Reduced egg yolk vanilla chocolate chiffon cake
2 egg yolks
33g sugar
65g vegetable oil
70 ml water
8 ml vanilla extract
100g cake flour
¼ tsp chocolate cream paste
Cocoa powder (extra dark)

7 egg whites
75g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil, water and vanilla extract.
3. Next add in sieved flour and whisk till no trace of flour found. Scoop out 5 tsp and add extra dark cocoa powder. Scoop out another 5 tsp and add a drop of pink food coloring. To the rest, stir in ¼ tsp chocolate cream paste.
4. Meringue: Beat the egg whites with ¼ tsp cream of tartar till stiff peak, mixing in caster sugar in 2 additions. Scoop out 10 tbsp meringue to the dark brown and pink batters respectively.
5. Gently fold in the meringue in 3 additions into the cream, brown and pink batters respectively.
6. Divide the cream batter into a wilton ball cake tin leaving an inch from the top (for face), 2 small glass bowls or cake pops molds filled to 1 inch thick (for ears and nose), 2 oval bowls filled to 1 inch thick (for arms).
7. Bake the chiffon cakes in the bowls for 15 min at 160°C and then 5-10 min at 150°C, and the wilton ball pan for 15 min at 160°C and then 20-25 min at 150°C or when skewer comes clean.
8. Invert the chiffon cakes once removed from oven.
9. Pour the dark brown and pink batters side-by-side in a baking paper-lined 9-inch tray. Bake the chiffon cake at 14 min at 160oC.
10. Unmould the chiffon cakes by hand by gently pulling from the sides of the tin and then flipping the cakes over. Unmould the layer cake by peeling off the sheet.
11. To assemble, cut the small round bowl cake into 2 for the ears. Place the other bowl cake on top for the nose.
12. Cut circles and hearts from the pink cake. Cut the eyes and nose from the dark brown cake.
13. Use marshmallow cream to assemble the features together.

Made with lots of love! My kids loved it too!

Susanne

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Pink & Blue Care Bears Rose and Lavendar Macarons

These overly-chubby Care Bears are a product of leftover macaron batter from my killer heels bake!

Rose and lavendar flavoured

Hubby always griped about the lack of cheeks on Care Bears nowadays, as compared to the original ones back in the '80s when we were kids. With that in mind, I accidentally gave these beary macarons too much cheek!

Please refer to the recipe from my killer heels bake for these macarons (shells and filling). I used a combination of Wilton #8 and #10 tip to pipe the bear face, and toothpick to pull out the hair strands. Omit the hair for the bottom shell.

Freshly piped!

Freshly baked and paired!

Freshly iced/drawn on features with royal icing and edible marker.

Filling up with rose swiss meringue buttercream

Filling up with lavendar smbc

Hubby wanted one blue bear reserved for him as it's one of his childhood favorites and is more than happy to have a pink one too :). He finds them so irresistibly cute!

With lots of love,
Phay Shing

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Pink Care Bears Strawberry-Vanilla Chiffon Cake

Don’t you find Care Bears 'oh-so-sweet'? I grew up in the era where I looked forward to Care Bears every week on TV! I always loved their “Care Bear Stare” (a.k.a. tummy power), where they will stand together to radiate light from their tummy symbols which combine to form a ray of love into the target's heart!! So magical and sweet!

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

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