Mao Shan Wang Durian Ice-Cream Cake

 This was the birthday cake I made for my dad this year --- the ultimate durian ice-cream cake, complete with "the most durian" durian ice-cream creampuffs as cake decorations!

Please refer to my previous post for the durian creampuffs.

I share the video of the process and recipe for the ice-cream cake in my reel below:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOdaLbAkmek/?igsh=bDFpczd1Zm4ybzJw

For your convenience, I will include the ingredient list for the cake in this blog post.

Pandan chiffon sponge:

(12x12" tray)

Egg yolk batter:

4 egg yolks

40g oil

60g pandan juice concentrate*

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

72g cake flour, sifted

Meringue:

4 egg whites 

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

50g caster sugar

10g prebiotic soluble fibres* (omit or replace with sugar)

Durian puree:

100g durian puree

10g cold water

2g gelatin*

Durian ice-cream 

175g durian puree 

100g whipping cream of choice*

4g gelatin*

20g cold water/milk

* Special notes for ingredients:

🔸Pandan juice concentrate: Blend one or two bundles of fresh pandan leaves with cool boiled water (I didn't count the number of leaves). Sieve the extracted juice through a very fine mesh sieve into a container/bowl/jar. Refrigerate covered for 3 days undisturbed. The juice will separate into a clear layer on top and dark green layer below. Use only the dark green layer, which is the pandan juice concentrate, for making the sponge. If there is not enough, you may top up with some liquid from the top clear layer.

🔸Prebiotic soluble fibres: I used Alchemy Fibre which is a blend of inulin and edible gum. You may use inulin, which is available from health food stores, omit or replace with sugar. I added this to reduce the overall GI of the cake and for its added benefits for gut health and cholesterol management.

🔸 Whipping cream: You may use dairy, non-dairy or a mix of both. If using full dairy, you may add a little icing sugar when whipping it (about 10% by weight of cream). If using non-dairy, you don't have to add sugar if there's already sugar added. I use a combination of both to get the best of stability and taste. Non-dairy cream remains soft when frozen too.

🔸 Gelatin is added to prevent ice crystals from becoming large so the filling stays creamy and not rock hard when frozen. It's also a good stabilizer to prevent the cream from melting too fast when serving in tropical Singapore. You may use any form and bloom strength of gelatin according to preference.

Just to share some works-in-progress photos...

Process of filling the cake!

Looking pretty and inviting even without decorations!

Thank God everyone enjoyed the durian cake and creampuffs!

with love,

Phay Shing

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"The Most Durian" Durian Ice-Cream Creampuffs

 When my dad asked for a durian cake for his birthday this year, I immediately thought of decorating the cake with durian creampuffs that look like mini durians. So glad I managed it!

A closer look at the cross-section...

Although I have durian creampuffs as an entry in my Deco Choux Pastries book, they look more like soursops 😅. I decided to challenge myself to make more realistic durians out of choux pastry batter only and this time, I use a double-baking method to achieve the desired effect.

Here's a look at the choux pastries before the spikes were added.

You may refer to my reel for the video of the process and recipe. 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOVrtpMCVVO/?igsh=am51ZTF2a2Vtbm53

I will just include the ingredient list in the blog post for your convenience.

Makes about 12-14 "durians"

Choux Pastry:

20g unsalted butter

20g olive oil

120g water

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp pandan paste

1 drop green gel colouring 

1 drop yellow gel colouring 

45g plain flour + 3g, sifted

15g bread flour, sifted 

100g egg, beaten (may need more or less)

Brown gel colouring or cocoa powder as needed

Durian puree inserts:

(may not use all for filling choux)

100g durian puree (I used Mao Shan Wang)

10g cold water

2g gelatin*

Durian ice-cream:

175g durian puree

100g whipping cream of choice*

4g gelatin*

20g cold water/milk

* You may use dairy, non-dairy or a mix of both. If using full dairy, you may add a little icing sugar when whipping it (about 10% by weight of cream). If using non-dairy, you don't have to add sugar if there's already sugar added. I use a combination of both to get the best of stability and taste. Non-dairy cream remains soft when frozen too.

* Gelatin is added to prevent ice crystals from becoming large so the filling stays creamy and not rock hard when frozen. It's also a good stabilizer to prevent the cream from melting too fast when serving in tropical Singapore. You may use any form and bloom strength of gelatin according to preference.

Don't they look like actual mini durians if you don't look too closely 🤭? It's definitely not AI!

See the durian ice-cream cake that these creampuffs went on top of over here! 

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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"Capybaras Celebrate SG60" Mao Shan Wang Durian Ice-Cream Cake

I will never look at the Merlion the same way again 🤭. When this image popped into my mind, I couldn't help giggling and knew I had to turn my imagination into a loving creation, complete with a cake flavour fitting for the celebration.

Singapore's 60th birthday is just around the corner so I am sharing with you this yummy and simple durian ice-cream cake! I used premium durian with complex flavour for this. 

I will just share the ingredient list in this blog post for your convenience. You may find the video of the process and method in the pinned comments of my reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DM7j4pvpBuf/?igsh=dms0NGtuOXBqbHpt

White chiffon sponge cake (12x12" sheet):

A)

30g oil

40g milk

40g pandan water* (or replace with milk and more vanilla)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

70g cake flour, sifted

1/8 tsp salt

B)

4 large egg whites (150-160g)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

60-70g caster sugar

Durian ice-cream:

350g durian puree*

200g whipping cream of choice*

8g gelatin powder*

40g cold water or milk

* Additional Notes:

🔸Pandan water: 

Boil a small saucepan of water with a few knotted pandan leaves for 5min. Leave it to steep for another 5min after taking it off the heat. Discard the leaves. This is optional but I find the hint of pandan aroma with vanilla complementary to durian.

🔸Durian puree: 

I didn't use a blender because I wanted chunks of durian in the ice-cream. I just pulled the flesh off each durian seed and tore any fibres into smaller chunks. You may make the puree smooth if that's your preference. I used a premium durian (王中王(king of kings) 猫山王 (mao shan wang)) which has a complex flavour profile and creamy flesh. Use less durian and more cream if you prefer a milder durian flavour with stronger fresh cream taste.

 

🔸Whipping cream: 

I used 100g dairy and 100g non-dairy whipping cream to get a balance of stability, good taste and ease of whipping. This combination has no risk of overwhipping and there is no need to add sugar because non-dairy whipping cream is pre-sweetened.

If you are using only dairy cream, you may add a little icing sugar to whip together if you wish, and be careful not to overwhip. Non-dairy whipping cream also stays creamy and soft when frozen so it helps with keeping the ice-cream texture creamy and soft.

🔸Gelatin powder: 

Adding gelatin not only helps to stabilize the whipped cream if you intend to serve this chilled instead of frozen, it also helps to prevent ice crystals from becoming large when frozen so the ice-cream stays creamy and soft. You may use fish, beef or pork gelatin. If you need a vegetarian option, skip this and use xanthan gum instead.

Just to share more pictures of the cake...

Painted design using the printing technique shown in the reel. You just need to bake a blank canvas of white sheet cake. No messing around with patterning batter!

A peek at the sides of the cake 

A closer look at the durian ice-cream chock full of durian chunks!

Do give this recipe a try even if the design is too challenging for you. According to the durian lover who received this cake, it's really yummy!

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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MSW Durian Chiffon Cake

Sorry for the delay in posting! I was away in Malaysia last week due to school holidays. Anyway, here to share a MSW Durian creation I made sometime back, inspired by a Mao Shan Wang Durian we had hehe =p. You can check out my previous post Durian Cottony Chiffon Cake I made for my dad 3 years back! =) I am still fine-tuning the recipe for this new version.

Hope you like it!

With lots of love,
Susanne

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Kirby Durian Choux Pastry

The end of preparing for Deco Choux Pastries photoshoot is finally in sight! Just one more week of prep work to do! In the midst of preparing, I have bits and pieces of extra (less than perfect) choux pastry cases so I couldn't help but put some of these pieces together, spare a bit more white chocolate for coating the pastries, and then fill them with Mao Shan Wang durian whipped cream since I need to take photo of that for the book too!

Kirby durian Choux pastry!

Hubby is a fan of Kirby and durian so I thought of taking a bit of time to make this. The little Kirby figurine at the bottom of the picture belongs to him.

The arms and feet of Kirby are bits of choux pastry covered in melted chocolate too! Thank God I had extra red coloured chocolate at the end of the day so I just used it for coating Kirby's footwear.

In the middle of assembling

To be honest I also had an ulterior motive of making this to feed hubby and elder kid (who happens to love durian too) as soon as I bought the durian, pureed and filled the pastries with it. I didn't want to store durian at home for too long 😆. I love the taste but can't eat too much as I get heaty easily from it. Younger kid can't stand the taste and smell of it so it gives me a reason to try and clear it out of the house as soon as possible.

I won't be sharing the recipe for the pastry, white chocolate coating and durian filling as they are all in the upcoming book. But you may refer to my previous blog post for video tutorials on some basic techniques involved, and this blog post with full recipes included.

With love,
Phay Shing

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'Durian' Durian Cottony Cake (early Father's day present)

My dad loves to eat durians! I made these ‘durians’ from durian-flavoured ogura cake for my dad and my friend’s dad (seems most dad’s love durians ;))!

It’s made with real premium durian flesh, the flavour and smell is so strong and fragrant, and texture so cottony and soft! Even though I’m not a durian lover, I’m a convert (at least of its pastries hehe)! I called it cottony cake due to its delicate texture but also the recipe is closer to ogura cake, though in actual I merged chiffon and ogura recipes.

Check out the texture!

This is another version I made:

I will first share recipe for a plain durian cottony cake for the 8-9-inch tube pan first as it’s oh-so-good and easy to try for beginners. Below that, I will share the recipe how to make a ‘durian’ fruit version =). For the ‘durian’ version, I used pandan paste for the green colour of the shell and durian paste/emulco for the durian fruit. Both, especially the pandan paste enhances the durian flavour too! I was really surprised the pandan-durian portion to be our favorite! 

I made the spikes from baking chiffon cake in mini paper cones (the top version), but if you find that troublesome, you can also cut out small triangles from chiffon sheet cake (bottom version). Both look pretty cute.

Here, I also experimented with using prima top flour to replace part of the cake flour. I’m loving the ultra-fine texture of top flour! Mixing a little into the cake flour increases its lightness! If you do not have top flour, just substitute it with equal portions of cake flour. Here goes!


Plain Durian Cottony Cake (for 8-9-inch tube pan)
*if you use 9-inch, cake will be slightly shorter

3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
28g castor sugar
65g vegetable/corn/coconut oil
70g coconut milk
84g durian puree
80g prima cake flour
20g prima top flour (*can be substituted with cake flour)


7 egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar
73g castor sugar

1. Prepare durian puree by blending 2 rows of durian flesh or mashing durian flesh and then passing it through a sieve. 176g durian with seeds approximately yields 90g durian puree.

The durian puree is finger-licking good!

2. Prepare a tray of water under the lowest rack. Preheat oven to 160°C.

3. Whisk egg yolks and whole egg with sugar until pale and light.

4. Add in oil, coconut milk, durian puree and mix well.

5. Whisk in sifted cake flour, top flour (you can also replace with cake flour) and mix till smooth and well-combined.

6. Prepare meringue:

a. In a grease-free, dry metal 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.

c. Add in rest of the castor sugar for meringue and whisk till firm peaks form. Firm peaks give finer, softer texture.

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

8. Gently pour or scoop the batter into an ungreased 8- to 9-inch chiffon tube pan. Gently tap on counter top to remove air bubbles.

9. Bake at 160°C for 15 min, 150°C for 10 min, 140°C for 20 min, then 130°C for 15 min, or until skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

10. Invert pan to cool on a wire rack completely.

11. Unmould the chiffon cake by hand (see video tutorial ‘Hand unmoulding Chiffon cakes for a clean finishing’).


‘Durian’ fruit Durian Cottony Cake (makes 1 durian or 2 halves)

2 egg yolks
1/2 whole egg
14g castor sugar
33g vegetable/corn/coconut oil
35g coconut milk
42g durian puree
40g prima cake flour
10g prima top flour (*can be substituted with cake flour)
Few drops of durian paste/emulco (only added to yellow portion)
1/5 tsp pandan paste (only added to green portion)

3.5 egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar
36g castor sugar

1. Prepare durian puree by blending 1 row of durian flesh or mashing durian flesh and then passing it through a sieve. 88g durian with seeds approximately yields 45g durian puree. Photos as above.

2. Prepare a tray of water under the lowest rack. Preheat oven to 160°C. Prepare one silicone cake pop mould (for durian fruit), 2 oval glass bowls (for durian, you can also use round bowls), 20-30 mini paper cones (for spikes, cut leaving the tips)

3. Whisk egg yolks and whole egg with sugar until pale and light.

4. Add in oil, coconut milk, durian puree and mix well.

5. Whisk in sifted cake flour, top flour (you can also replace with cake flour) and mix till smooth and well-combined.

6. Spoon out 6 tsp egg yolk batter to another bowl and leave plain (for the cream husk), spoon out 6 tsp batter to another bowl and add a few drops of durian paste/emulco (for the yellow fruit). To the rest of the batter, add pandan paste (for the green shell).

6. Prepare meringue:

a. In a grease-free, dry metal 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.

c. Add in rest of the castor sugar for meringue and whisk till firm peaks form. Firm peaks give finer, softer texture.

7. Portion out 12 tbsp meringue for the plain and yellow batters, leaving the rest of the meringue for the green batter.

8. Gently fold in meringue into respectively egg yolk batters 1/3 at a time. *Fold in unidirectional, gentle strokes and do not overfold.

9. Spoon green batter onto the bowls till 3/4 full, then spoon the plain batter onto the middle. Gently tap on counter top to remove air bubbles. Bake bowls at 160°C for 15 min, 150°C for 10 min, 140°C for 15+ min, or until skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

10. Spoon the rest of the green batter into the mini cones and bake at 160°C for 12+ min, or until skewer comes clean.

11. Spoon the yellow batter into cake pops moulds and bake at 160°C for 12+ min.

12. Leaves the moulds on a wire rack to cool completely.

13. Unmould the chiffon cake by hand by peeling/pulling at the sides similar to the big chiffon tube pan.

14. Use melted marshmallows to glue the fruits and spikes on.

Hope you will enjoy this delicious cottony soft durian creation! Happy advance Father's day to all!!

With lots of love,
Susanne


*Newer version of Durian Chiffon Cake here.

More loving chiffon cake creations here:

  

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