Playing building blocks with chiffon cake!😄 When was the last time you played with your food?😛 Assembly video on my IG here.
With love,
Susanne
Showing posts with label Lego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lego. Show all posts
Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Sumikko Gurashi Lego cake
Playing building blocks with chiffon cake!😄 When was the last time you played with your food?😛 Assembly video on my IG here.
Monday, 15 June 2020
Lego Dairy-Free Chocolate Drip Cake
My friend requested for a dairy-free chocolate cake that is Lego themed for her son. All her children have dairy allergy to some degree so she is thrilled to have a birthday bake that the kids can actually eat with no worries. Presenting my first anti-gravity chocolatey bake!
I used the Swiss meringue method to create the "Lego bricks". You may refer to this post for the recipe, and this post for the video tutorial of piping rectangular shells.
Can you make a dairy-free dark chocolate ganache? Answer is yes! I used to think that ganaches must be made with dairy cream. It turns out this isn't true. Although a lower liquid to chocolate ratio is needed, it is still possible. The result is usually a more intense ganache.
Dairy-free dark chocolate ganache for macaron filling
Ingredients:
90g dark chocolate couverture
10g vegetable shortening
25g soy milk (or other plant based milk)*
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract
1/8 tsp salt
* you may use a little more liquid, up to 35g for a softer ganache. I live in Singapore which is perennially hot.
Steps:
1. Place all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 20 seconds at medium low heat. Mix well. Repeat until melted and smooth. Alternatively, you may use the double-boiling method.
2. Set aside to firm up to toothpaste consistency. If you prefer a lighter texture like I do, you may chill it for a few minutes in the fridge and whip it up to buttercream consistency.
3. Transfer to piping bag and fill the macaron shells. Let the filling and shells mature for a few days in the fridge before consuming. Always let macarons sit at room temperature for 15-20min before consuming.
I decided to experiment with the way I made the sponge for my ultimate chocolate cake. My chocolate cake always received rave reviews so I don't really have the incentive to change anything. But then I looked at the recipe again and thought since the eggs used are already separated, I might as well make a meringue out of the egg whites. The chemical leavening can be reduced as a result too so why not give it a shot. You may refer to this post for my old default ultimate chocolate cake recipe which consists of a dairy-free German chocolate cake sponge by Rose Levy Beranbaum, a chocolate custard and dark chocolate ganache. I also reduced the amount of sugar further.
German chocolate cake sponge, chiffon method
Ingredients (Makes two 7.5x1.5 inch rounds) :
Egg yolk batter
40g alkalized cocoa powder
72g boiling water
65g canola oil
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur (may replace with vanilla if unavailable)
45g cake flour
45g plain flour
25g caster sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Meringue
4 egg whites
135g caster sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar (optional)
Steps:
1. Line the pans with parchment paper, set oven rack to middle position. Place a tray of water at base of oven (optional). Preheat oven to 150°C.
2. In a latge mixing bowl, mix boiling water and cocoa powder to form a thick, smooth paste. Cover with cling wrap and leave to cool.
3. Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 25g of caster sugar. Sift into another bowl and set aside.
4. Add egg yolks, oil, vanilla and coffee liqueur into the chocolate paste. Whisk or use an electric mixer to mix until well combined. Add the flour in a few batches and whisk until well combined.
5. Prepare the meringue. In a clean metal bowl, use elecreic mixer to beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks form or juat reach stiff peaks, gradually adding sugar once the egg whites are foamy .
6. Quickly but gently fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter in 3 batches. Divide the batter into the 2 pans. Bake for 35min or until skewer comes out clean. Note: the egg yolk batter is really thick so the first addition of the meringue into the egg yolk batter is better done using a hand whisk. You need not be too gentle with this one. It is to lighten up the texture of the batter so that the next 2 additions of the meringue is easier to incorporate.
7. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 min. Carefully unmould the cake using a spatula to run along the sides of the pan. Cool completely on cooling rack before slicing each cake into half horizontally.
Dairy-free chocolate diplomat cream
Note: my friend requested for less intense chocolate so feel free to increase cocoa powder to 15g and couverture up to 60g
Ingredients:
200g + 30g soy milk (or any other plant based milk)
2 egg yolks
25g sugar (increase up to 35g if prefer sweeter. I used a sweetened soy milk so I reduced the amount of sugar )
20g cornflour
9g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur (may replace with vanilla if unavailable)
1/8 tsp salt
15g unsalted butter/ dairy-free butter
40g dark chocolate couverture
60-80g whip topping (dairy-free whipping cream)
Steps :
1. Heat 200g milk, vanilla and coffee liqueur in a saucepan until steaming (not boiling).
2. In the mean time, sift cocoa powder and cornflour together into a heavy mixing bowl or glass jug. Add egg yolks and 30g soy milk and whisk until well combined.
3. Slowly pour heated milk in a thin stream into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. Pour everything back unto saucepan.
4. Heat sauce pan over low heat while whisking the custard mix continuously. Once it thickens, remove from heat and whisk until it smoothens out. Return to heat and continue cooking until desired consistency.
5. Remove from heat and add butter and chocolate couverture. Whisk until chocolate and butter are melted and everything is well combined. Press cling film on the surface of the pastry cream and refrigerate for 1h or overnight if you wish.
6. Whip whip topping until stiff peaks. Take the chocolate pastry cream out of the fridge and whip it briefly to loosen it.
7. Fold in whip topping and there you have a dairy free diplomat cream. The name "diplomat cream" is just a fancy name for pastry cream lightened with whipped cream.
Dairy-free ganache for frosting cake
Ingredients:
200g dark chocolate couverture (I used 100g 73.5% and 100g 54% cocoa)
30g water
30g soy milk (may replace with water)
20g vegetable shortening
1/4 tsp salt
40g whip topping
30g chocolate diplomat cream
Steps:
1. Place all ingredients except whip topping and diplomat cream into a heatproof bowl. Melt the contents over a double boiler or microwave oven. Stir until melted and smooth.
2. Leave the ganache to sit on counter top until it firms up to toothpaste consistency. You may whip it up for lighter texture.
3. Whip the whip topping till stiff. Gradually fold the chocolate diplomat cream and whip topping into the whipped ganache.
Water ganache for dark chocolate drip
Ingredients:
100g dark chocolate couverture (I used 50g 73.5% and 50g 54%)
55g water
10g light corn syrup (omit if unavailable)
Steps:
1. Place all ingredients in a heatproof bowl and melt and stir over double boiler. Be gentle when mixing to prevent introducing air bubbles and stir in one direction.
2. Let the mixture cool a bit until the consistenct is right for creating the drip. To test, take a small amount of ganache and drip it down the sides of the mixing bowl. If it flows down slowly (not too runny), it is ready.
Cake assembly
Cake assembly is pretty much the same as my full dairy version, except that I brush the sponge with diluted maple syrup as the sponge may be a bit drier with the chiffon method as compared to the original.
For each cake layer, I brush the sponge with syrup before layering on diplomat cream. I frost the tops and sides of the cake with dark chocolate ganache that has a bit of diplomat cream and whip topping in it. Finally, I top off the cake with the dark chocolate drip.
I carefully inserted a straw and used some modelling chocolate to secure the white chocolate container to the straw, as well as to create part of the chocolate flow that "pours" out from it. I placed the Lego macarons on the cake to complete the creation.
If you can be patient, do wait for 2 to 3 days of storage before consuming. The chocolate cake tastes best after a while when the sponge and filling have had time to meld together. The flavours are deeper and richer too!
With love,
Phay Shing
Read More »
Chocolate drip cake made up of chocolate chiffon sponge, and layered with custard and chocolate ganache. Lego bricks made out of macarons and the container made out of white chocolate.
I used the Swiss meringue method to create the "Lego bricks". You may refer to this post for the recipe, and this post for the video tutorial of piping rectangular shells.
Piped shells!
Freshly baked shells! Don't look too closely and they may look like the real thing
Can you make a dairy-free dark chocolate ganache? Answer is yes! I used to think that ganaches must be made with dairy cream. It turns out this isn't true. Although a lower liquid to chocolate ratio is needed, it is still possible. The result is usually a more intense ganache.
Dairy-free dark chocolate ganache for macaron filling
Ingredients:
90g dark chocolate couverture
10g vegetable shortening
25g soy milk (or other plant based milk)*
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract
1/8 tsp salt
* you may use a little more liquid, up to 35g for a softer ganache. I live in Singapore which is perennially hot.
Steps:
1. Place all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 20 seconds at medium low heat. Mix well. Repeat until melted and smooth. Alternatively, you may use the double-boiling method.
2. Set aside to firm up to toothpaste consistency. If you prefer a lighter texture like I do, you may chill it for a few minutes in the fridge and whip it up to buttercream consistency.
Dairy-Free dark chocolate ganache
3. Transfer to piping bag and fill the macaron shells. Let the filling and shells mature for a few days in the fridge before consuming. Always let macarons sit at room temperature for 15-20min before consuming.
Filling the shells
I decided to experiment with the way I made the sponge for my ultimate chocolate cake. My chocolate cake always received rave reviews so I don't really have the incentive to change anything. But then I looked at the recipe again and thought since the eggs used are already separated, I might as well make a meringue out of the egg whites. The chemical leavening can be reduced as a result too so why not give it a shot. You may refer to this post for my old default ultimate chocolate cake recipe which consists of a dairy-free German chocolate cake sponge by Rose Levy Beranbaum, a chocolate custard and dark chocolate ganache. I also reduced the amount of sugar further.
German chocolate cake sponge, chiffon method
Ingredients (Makes two 7.5x1.5 inch rounds) :
Egg yolk batter
40g alkalized cocoa powder
72g boiling water
65g canola oil
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur (may replace with vanilla if unavailable)
45g cake flour
45g plain flour
25g caster sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Meringue
4 egg whites
135g caster sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar (optional)
Steps:
1. Line the pans with parchment paper, set oven rack to middle position. Place a tray of water at base of oven (optional). Preheat oven to 150°C.
2. In a latge mixing bowl, mix boiling water and cocoa powder to form a thick, smooth paste. Cover with cling wrap and leave to cool.
3. Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 25g of caster sugar. Sift into another bowl and set aside.
4. Add egg yolks, oil, vanilla and coffee liqueur into the chocolate paste. Whisk or use an electric mixer to mix until well combined. Add the flour in a few batches and whisk until well combined.
5. Prepare the meringue. In a clean metal bowl, use elecreic mixer to beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks form or juat reach stiff peaks, gradually adding sugar once the egg whites are foamy .
6. Quickly but gently fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter in 3 batches. Divide the batter into the 2 pans. Bake for 35min or until skewer comes out clean. Note: the egg yolk batter is really thick so the first addition of the meringue into the egg yolk batter is better done using a hand whisk. You need not be too gentle with this one. It is to lighten up the texture of the batter so that the next 2 additions of the meringue is easier to incorporate.
7. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 min. Carefully unmould the cake using a spatula to run along the sides of the pan. Cool completely on cooling rack before slicing each cake into half horizontally.
Freshly baked cakes! I love the flat tops and taller sponges! Perfect for layering cakes
Dairy-free chocolate diplomat cream
Note: my friend requested for less intense chocolate so feel free to increase cocoa powder to 15g and couverture up to 60g
Ingredients:
200g + 30g soy milk (or any other plant based milk)
2 egg yolks
25g sugar (increase up to 35g if prefer sweeter. I used a sweetened soy milk so I reduced the amount of sugar )
20g cornflour
9g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur (may replace with vanilla if unavailable)
1/8 tsp salt
15g unsalted butter/ dairy-free butter
40g dark chocolate couverture
60-80g whip topping (dairy-free whipping cream)
Steps :
1. Heat 200g milk, vanilla and coffee liqueur in a saucepan until steaming (not boiling).
2. In the mean time, sift cocoa powder and cornflour together into a heavy mixing bowl or glass jug. Add egg yolks and 30g soy milk and whisk until well combined.
3. Slowly pour heated milk in a thin stream into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. Pour everything back unto saucepan.
4. Heat sauce pan over low heat while whisking the custard mix continuously. Once it thickens, remove from heat and whisk until it smoothens out. Return to heat and continue cooking until desired consistency.
5. Remove from heat and add butter and chocolate couverture. Whisk until chocolate and butter are melted and everything is well combined. Press cling film on the surface of the pastry cream and refrigerate for 1h or overnight if you wish.
6. Whip whip topping until stiff peaks. Take the chocolate pastry cream out of the fridge and whip it briefly to loosen it.
Smooth and rich dairy-free pastry cream!
7. Fold in whip topping and there you have a dairy free diplomat cream. The name "diplomat cream" is just a fancy name for pastry cream lightened with whipped cream.
Dairy-free ganache for frosting cake
Ingredients:
200g dark chocolate couverture (I used 100g 73.5% and 100g 54% cocoa)
30g water
30g soy milk (may replace with water)
20g vegetable shortening
1/4 tsp salt
40g whip topping
30g chocolate diplomat cream
Steps:
1. Place all ingredients except whip topping and diplomat cream into a heatproof bowl. Melt the contents over a double boiler or microwave oven. Stir until melted and smooth.
2. Leave the ganache to sit on counter top until it firms up to toothpaste consistency. You may whip it up for lighter texture.
3. Whip the whip topping till stiff. Gradually fold the chocolate diplomat cream and whip topping into the whipped ganache.
Water ganache for dark chocolate drip
Ingredients:
100g dark chocolate couverture (I used 50g 73.5% and 50g 54%)
55g water
10g light corn syrup (omit if unavailable)
Steps:
1. Place all ingredients in a heatproof bowl and melt and stir over double boiler. Be gentle when mixing to prevent introducing air bubbles and stir in one direction.
2. Let the mixture cool a bit until the consistenct is right for creating the drip. To test, take a small amount of ganache and drip it down the sides of the mixing bowl. If it flows down slowly (not too runny), it is ready.
Dark chocolate ganache for drip
Cake assembly
Cake assembly is pretty much the same as my full dairy version, except that I brush the sponge with diluted maple syrup as the sponge may be a bit drier with the chiffon method as compared to the original.
For each cake layer, I brush the sponge with syrup before layering on diplomat cream. I frost the tops and sides of the cake with dark chocolate ganache that has a bit of diplomat cream and whip topping in it. Finally, I top off the cake with the dark chocolate drip.
Layering with chocolate diplomat cream and frosting the whole cake with whipped chocolate ganache
I carefully inserted a straw and used some modelling chocolate to secure the white chocolate container to the straw, as well as to create part of the chocolate flow that "pours" out from it. I placed the Lego macarons on the cake to complete the creation.
If you can be patient, do wait for 2 to 3 days of storage before consuming. The chocolate cake tastes best after a while when the sponge and filling have had time to meld together. The flavours are deeper and richer too!
With love,
Phay Shing
Friday, 16 August 2019
3D Lego Policeman Chiffon Cake
Who dreamt of being a Policeman when you grew up? 👮♂️
My humble take on creating a big 3D 12-inch tall Lego Policeman Chiffon Cake! =p
I took a while to conceptualize the cake as it was quite complicated in terms of the shapes and size. The core is made by combining a square chiffon cake with a lego chiffon cake.
Have a blessed weekend!
With lots of love,
Susanne
Wednesday, 28 December 2016
‘Lego Friends’ Soy Milk Chiffon Cake (Non-reduced egg yolk recipe)
I made this very sweet ‘Lego Friends’ cake a while back for my friend’s lovely daughter. The colour palette followed the ‘Lego Friends’ theme closely – sweet pastel girly shades.
For the yellow base cake, I used Soy milk chiffon recipe from ‘Unicorn’ Soy Milk Chiffon, but non-reduced egg yolk recipe because instead of a whiter cake, I required a yellow Lego cake, so here 5 egg yolks were used. The taste will be slightly more 'egg-y' than a reduced egg yolk recipe. My friend shared it was very yummy!
Soy milk chiffon (8-inch chiffon tube pan)
5 egg yolks
33g castor sugar
66g vegetable/corn oil
76 g soy milk
5g vanilla extract
80g Prima cake flour
Pinch of salt
20g soy milk powder
5 egg yolks
33g castor sugar
66g vegetable/corn oil
76 g soy milk
5g vanilla extract
80g Prima cake flour
Pinch of salt
20g soy milk powder
Few drops of yellow Gardenia yellow extract (or any yellow food coloring)
7 egg whites
75g castor sugar
¼ tsp cream of tartar
1. Dissolve soy milk powder in soy milk and mix well.
2. Preheat oven to 160°C. *Prepare a tray of water under the lowest rack (optional) - I usually use steam baking to control oven temperature.
3. Whisk egg yolks with sugar until light, fluffy and well-mixed.
4. Add in oil and mix well. Then add soy milk and vanilla extract and whisk till well-combined.
5 Whisk in sifted cake flour and pinch of salt, and mix till well-combined.
7 egg whites
75g castor sugar
¼ tsp cream of tartar
1. Dissolve soy milk powder in soy milk and mix well.
2. Preheat oven to 160°C. *Prepare a tray of water under the lowest rack (optional) - I usually use steam baking to control oven temperature.
3. Whisk egg yolks with sugar until light, fluffy and well-mixed.
4. Add in oil and mix well. Then add soy milk and vanilla extract and whisk till well-combined.
5 Whisk in sifted cake flour and pinch of salt, and mix till well-combined.
*The yellow colour wasn't as deep as desired, so I added a few drops of natural yellow food coloring (from Gardenia yellow).
6. Prepare meringue:
a. Using an 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, or just the point of stiff peak.
7. Gently fold in meringue gently into egg yolk batter 1/3 at a time. *Fold in unidirectional, gentle strokes and do not overfold.
8. Pour the soy milk chiffon batter into an ungreased 8-inch chiffon tube pan till 2-cm from brim. Gently tap on counter top to remove air bubbles.
9. Bake at 160°C for 15 min, then 140°C for 40+ 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’).
*More sources and methods of natural food coloring can be found in 'Deco Chiffon Cakes' book (my 2nd chiffon book).
6. Prepare meringue:
a. Using an 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, or just the point of stiff peak.
7. Gently fold in meringue gently into egg yolk batter 1/3 at a time. *Fold in unidirectional, gentle strokes and do not overfold.
8. Pour the soy milk chiffon batter into an ungreased 8-inch chiffon tube pan till 2-cm from brim. Gently tap on counter top to remove air bubbles.
9. Bake at 160°C for 15 min, then 140°C for 40+ 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’).
*More sources and methods of natural food coloring can be found in 'Deco Chiffon Cakes' book (my 2nd chiffon book).
For the blocks, I baked coloured chiffon cake batter in baking trays-lined with baking paper (both thick: 3-cm thick and thin: <1-cm thick). I cut out big square blocks from the 3-cm thick cakes, and smaller round circles from the thin cakes. Then I ‘glued’ the circles on the blocks using melted marshmallows. You can combine a few colours into one tray! I also cut out some butterflies and stars from the thin sheet cakes.
With lots of love,
Susanne
*Sources of dried Gardenia yellow and blue pea flowers were bought by my MIL from Bangkok. Apparently it's common in markets there.
More Loving creations here:
Creative Chiffon Book 1
Creative Chiffon Book 2
Friday, 11 November 2016
Lego Friends Themed Neapolitan Macarons
A friend requested for some Lego Friends themed macarons. Here they are :)
You may accuse me of being lazy by not typing out the full recipe :p. It's because it's the same and I don't want to repeat myself for something that is tried, tested and the recipients love. But I promise to do a detailed write-up if and when I see the need to provide more information.
I used the reduced sugar recipe for the macaron shells here. 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.
Just to share the photos of the piped shells...
You may refer to this post for the recipe for Neapolitan filling -- dark chocolate, strawberry and vanilla white chocolate ganache.
With love,
Phay Shing
Read More »
There's hedgehog, handbag, butterfly, ribbon, $100 bill and Lego figurine head
You may accuse me of being lazy by not typing out the full recipe :p. It's because it's the same and I don't want to repeat myself for something that is tried, tested and the recipients love. But I promise to do a detailed write-up if and when I see the need to provide more information.
I used the reduced sugar recipe for the macaron shells here. 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.
Ribbons!
Rectangles for the $100 bill
The circular indents on these butterflies were made using a drinking straw when the shells are partially dried
Handbags!
Lego figurine head
Hedgehogs!
Freshly baked shells! I baked some pirates along with this set.
Decorated with royal icing and edible marker
You may refer to this post for the recipe for Neapolitan filling -- dark chocolate, strawberry and vanilla white chocolate ganache.
Don't they look delectable with the fillings showing :)
With love,
Phay Shing
Friday, 17 April 2015
Lego Head and Blocks Chiffon Cake
The Legoman Head is baked in a 7-inch chiffon tin and naturally coloured like my Miffy Vanilla Lemon Chiffon Cake. I filled the centre with marshmallows before covering up with Lego lid. The small Lego pieces were cut out from thick and thin chiffon cake baked as layers in baking trays. To make use of more natural coloring, different coloured blocks were differently flavoured according to them: green blocks - pandan, the red blocks – strawberry/red yeast, the black - charcoal/chocolate, the blue – blue pea flowers (wilton blue was needed). My bestie managed to guess all the flavours apart from the flowers haha. The assembly of the tiny blocks was really tedious as the pieces were tiny. I cut the blocks with knife and small circles using a straw and glued them on with melted marshmallows. Better to invest in some Lego molds next time! The big Lego block chiffon cake was baked in a square chiffon tin as I had made previously (thanks to dear Evon for her tin!).
Thank God they were well-received!
With love,
Susanne
Sunday, 17 August 2014
Lego Chiffon Cake
This is a lego chiffon cake I made for my cutest son-in-law who just turned 3 years old! Erm.. as for why I have such a young sil.. that's another long story altogether! Haha :p
This is an updated and improved version from my 4-flavour Lego Chiffon Blocks, mostly in terms of the natural food colouring. Over the past months, I have discovered Bunga Telang flowers that makes wonderful blue colouring (top row in collage below) as well as blueberry powder (second row in collage) and beet (together with red yeast powder, bottom row) for intense purple and red natural colouring. For the green colour, I used a combination of home-made (from blended pandan leaves' juice allowed to settle overnight) as well as store-bought pandan paste for the colour. The different sectors are hence different flavoured to make use of the natural food colouring like the original post. I was also able to borrow my lovely friend Evon's square chiffon tin, so I was able to bake a taller chiffon cake. Like the previous post, I used aluminium foil as separators and removed them before baking.
Top to bottow: Blue, purple, green and red.
The picture below shows the colour of the batter from the natural food colouring alone. Really not bad at all! Mainly the blue colour needed adjustment from blue colouring.
The yellow block above was made from orange chiffon cake, coloured with orange juice and orange paste, and then adjusted with yellow colouring (cake batter is already yellow so not a lot is required).
It is actually quite a challenge to get the different sectors straight, looking like blocks! I had to bake twice in order to get a chiffon I felt was good enough ^_^". I also had a little bit of browning for the purple chiffon at the corner so I ended up painting a bit with blueberry powder in water. But thank God it turned out well. Happy birthday to Joash!!
Thanksgiving:
Thank God that the chiffon cake was very well-received! This message below was taken from my friend's whatsapp. I am really so thankful for the message!
With lots of love,
Susanne
30/8/2014
This is another Lego chiffon cake I made with a different colour scheme inspired by Lego Legends of Chima. I just wanted to share this cake because I find black much better for natural food colouring than purple (which may possibly have some browning). 2 tsp of charcoal powder is all that is needed to do the trick :).
With lots of love,
Susanne
Thursday, 7 August 2014
Lego Snowskin Mooncakes
I had fun with this one, using my rectangular ice cube trays to mould the mooncake into a rectangular block. I bought the Redman Snowskin flour this year but modified it with Ann Low's recipe to boil the shortening with water. Indeed I find that it is much easier to mould the snowskin into a smooth dough compared with the rubbing in method. I'm rather interested in her "mochi" quality so I might fully follow her recipe next time.
Anyway since I had so much fun, I will share how I moulded the snowskin mooncake into cute lego blocks! May we never see mooncakes the same way again :).
Ingredients (makes about 15 lego)
250g snowskin flour (Redman premix)
50g shortening
100g water
Extra kou fen for dusting
Pandan paste
Strawberry paste
Orange paste
270g white lotus paste
1. Weigh out snowskin flour into a large bowl.
2. Add water and shortening together and bring them to boil until shortening has melted, stirring with a hand whisk. *I just added hot water and stirred until the all the shortening has melted (top left pic in collage).
3. Pour the hot liquid mixture to the snowskin flour and use spatula to stir mixture to soft dough and leave dough to cool.
4. Knead in the different flavour/colour paste to a smooth dough, add more kou fen to it if the dough is still too sticky (top right pic in collage). *Do not overwork the dough.
5. Chill the dough clingwrapped for 5-10 min.
6. Measure out 18g white lotus paste in 24g snowskin.
7. Roll it into a ball, cling wrap the ball and push the ball hard into a rectangular ice cube tray (bottom left pic in collage).
8. Pinch the corners with your fingers for more defined edges.
9. Roll out 6g snowskin into a long roll and slice into small discs (6 per lego) for the lego protrusions. Attach them onto the rectangular snowskin mooncakes (bottom right pic).
10. Chill the lego snowskin mooncakes in an air tight container before consuming.
Have fun! =)
I'm joining Best Recipes for Everyone August 2014 Event Theme: Dim Sum hosted by Fion XuanHom's Mom.
With love,
Susanne
250g snowskin flour (Redman premix)
50g shortening
100g water
Extra kou fen for dusting
Pandan paste
Strawberry paste
Orange paste
270g white lotus paste
1. Weigh out snowskin flour into a large bowl.
2. Add water and shortening together and bring them to boil until shortening has melted, stirring with a hand whisk. *I just added hot water and stirred until the all the shortening has melted (top left pic in collage).
3. Pour the hot liquid mixture to the snowskin flour and use spatula to stir mixture to soft dough and leave dough to cool.
4. Knead in the different flavour/colour paste to a smooth dough, add more kou fen to it if the dough is still too sticky (top right pic in collage). *Do not overwork the dough.
5. Chill the dough clingwrapped for 5-10 min.
6. Measure out 18g white lotus paste in 24g snowskin.
7. Roll it into a ball, cling wrap the ball and push the ball hard into a rectangular ice cube tray (bottom left pic in collage).
8. Pinch the corners with your fingers for more defined edges.
9. Roll out 6g snowskin into a long roll and slice into small discs (6 per lego) for the lego protrusions. Attach them onto the rectangular snowskin mooncakes (bottom right pic).
10. Chill the lego snowskin mooncakes in an air tight container before consuming.
Have fun! =)
I'm joining Best Recipes for Everyone August 2014 Event Theme: Dim Sum hosted by Fion XuanHom's Mom.
Susanne
Sunday, 4 May 2014
4 Flavour Chiffon Lego Blocks
A very dear friend of mine asked me if I could make a lego-themed cake for her son who loves lego. I tried to construct some lego blocks out of chiffon cake as a trial for my family first. This was a super fun and exciting project for me since I had been wanting to try lego blocks for awhile (my kids also love lego)! So this is how my chiffon lego blocks looks like!
As there aren't many recipes which bake chiffons in large square trays, I wasn't sure if it was possible without the cake collapsing and had to estimate the recipe for a 9-inch tray. I tried my favourite recipe but with 5 egg yolks, 6 egg whites and less flour and divided the tray into 4 sections using aluminium foil as separator (another experiment!). I substituted coconut milk with fresh milk which is healthier and so that it would go better with the fruity flavours. Here's the recipe I used:
Ingredients
5 egg yolks
33g sugar
58g vegetable oil
58 ml fresh milk
100g cake flour
Ingredients for each colour:
16g pandan juice (include 2 ml pandan paste)
16g strawberry puree (include 2 ml strawberry paste)
16g lemon juice (include zest of 1/2 lemon and a drop of lemon emulco)
16g blueberry puree (include 2 ml blueberry extract and 3/4 tsp blueberry powder)
6.6 egg whites (I used 6.5 egg whites)
75g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Method
1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil and fresh milk.
3. Add in sieved flour and whisk till no trace of flour found.
4. Divide egg yolk batter into 4 by scooping out 12 tsp of batter into 4 bowls. Add the ingredients for each sector into the corresponding bowl. Mix well.
5. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy using an electric whisk. Add in sugar in 2 additions and beat until stiff peaks are formed. Divide the meringue into the 4 bowls and gently fold the meringue into each batter.
6. Gently scoop cake batter over the designs into each section. Tap on table top to release bubbles and then gently remove the foil.
7. Bake the cake in preheated 160°C oven for 15 minutes, then at 150°C for 35-40 mins.
8. Invert when cake is removed from oven and unmould when cake is cool.
Phew! The colours look pretty neat and well-segregated, and the cake was not too sunken after unmoulding!
It was a fun cake filled with love!
*For an updated improved version of the lego chiffon cake, hop on to Lego Chiffon Cake! :)
This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Bake For Happy Kids, and My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Tze of Awayofmind Bakery House.
With love,
Susanne
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