McDull Lychee Choux Pastries

This is a way overdue post! I forgot I made these choux pastries end of 2019! 

Besides making McDull macarons for a request, I made some Choux pastries as well 😊

McDull in apple and watermelon suits! 

I filled the pastries with lychee pastry cream that is lightened with non-dairy whipped cream. Recipe can be found here. The detailed recipe for choux pastry batter and craquelin can be found here. I made these pastries at the same time as the Pokemon ones, that's why the same filling is used.

I must admit that this set is rather challenging in terms of maintaining the puffiness and colour of the baked pastry cases at the same time. Originally I planned for McDull in pineapple suit as well but the colour contrast between the resulting light brown and yellow is poor so I decided to drop it.

Piped batter with the various coloured and patterned craquelin

Freshly baked choux pastry cases. 

I piped the snouts and limbs of McDull separately and baked for a shorter time.

Royal icing was used to decorate the pastry cases as well as to join the parts together.

You may refer to my Deco Choux Pastries book for more Choux pastry ideas and techniques!

With love,
Phay Shing

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'McDull in Animal Suit' Pandan Kaya Cake

I first came across McDull about a little more than 10 years ago, watching the original cartoon in Cantonese. It is not as widely known to younger kids nowadays probably because of the origin of this character, which epitomises how some kids grow up in Hong Kong. But anyway, I am glad to have a chance to make this lesser known character 😊

McDull donning various animal suits! 

My university classmate was the one who requested for this bake. Although peppermint dark chocolate was requested for the filling, the cake requested was pandan kaya cake.

I used this french method recipe for making the macaron shells as this is a small quantity bake and the batter is stable enough for dividing into so many colours. Just to share some photos of the process...

Piping McDull. Be sure to use piping tips that are of the right size for better shape retention. For really small parts like the eye patch and black panda parts, you may just cut a small hole in the piping bag 

Freshly baked shells. Check out the feet! 

I filled the macarons with firm peppermint dark chocolate ganache as some of tbem are going on a mini tower

Recipe for firm peppermint dark chocolate ganache
Ingredients:
90g 73.5% bitter dark chocolate couverture
10g unsalted butter
24g heavy cream
1/8tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1/2 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur (optional)
1 tbs peppermint extract

Steps :
1. Place all ingredients except extracts and liqueur in a microwave safe bowl. Melt on mdium low power for 20 seconds and stir. Repeat as necessary until smooth and melted.

2. I like to whip my ganache to lighter consistency so I chill the ganache in freezer for 1 to 2 min and then whip with spatula. I repeat chilling and whipping until texture resembles buttercream.

3. Gradually add extracts and liqueur and mix well after each addition. Transfer into piping bag and fill the shells. Store assembled macarons in airtight container in the fridge for at least 24 h before consuming. This type of stiff ganache filled macarons can keep in fridge for two weeks.

I assembled the mini tower with extra pieces of round macaron shells and stiff royal icing 

The recipe I use for the pandan kaya cake is same as the one I used for my mum's birthday except that I used regular caster sugar instead of Stevia. I also used a 6 inch pan without the central tube to bake the 6 inch chiffon cake. The pandan kaya cake recipe can be found here.

Freshly baked 6" pandan chiffon cake slightly more earthy hue due to the gula melaka used. 

I added the words "Happy Birthday" using a separate gula melaka chiffon sponge with some cocoa powder added for a deeper brown colour.

Remember always store macaron cake toppers separately from the cake to prevent the cake from turning the macarons soggy.

With love,
Phay Shing

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