'Let's Paint Fluttershy' Strawberry Rose Macarons

I made this for a girl who is a fan of Fluttershy, Chrissy and Francine. She also likes to draw so this was a macaron scene I came up with for her 😊. 

I think she can draw a nicer portrait of Fluttershy than these 2 artist wannabes 🤣

I used the swiss meringue method for making these macarons. Recipe for the macaron shell can be found in this post. Just to share some pictures of the process... 

Piping the characters 

Piping the canvas and stage

Piping the easel stand and paint brushes

Freshly baked shells! 

I used a combination of royal icing, edible paint made by dissolving gel colouring in vodka, and edible marker to add in the details. 

The macarons were filled with strawberry rose whipped white chocolate ganache. 

Recipe for Strawberry rose ganache
Ingredients:

80g white chocolate, finely chopped or chips
20g cocoa butter (may replace with white chocolate) 
20g unsalted butter
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp rose water
55g strawberry compote*
1 tsp freeze-dried strawberry powder (optional) 
1/2 tsp strawberry emulco/ paste 

*Make the compote by combining pureed strawberries and adding 10% by weight of sugar, a pinch of salt and a dash of lemon juice. Cook over medium-low heat while stirring continuously until thickened to your preferred consistency. I usually reduce it until about half the original weight. 

Steps:

1. Place all ingredients except the last 3 in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on low power using the microwave oven for 10 seconds and mix well. Repeat until melted and smooth. Alternatively, you may use the double-boiling method. 

2. Let the mixtire set at aircon room temeptature (20-24C) until firm. Alternatively, refrigerate for 10 minutes or until scoopable consistency. 

3. Use a spatula to whip umtil lightened in texture and ganache resembles buttercream. Gradually add strawberry compote and fold it in. 

4. Add strawberry powder and mix well. Add strawberry paste and mix well. Transfer into piping bag and fill the shells. Store filled macarons in fridge in aortoght container for at least 24h before consuming. Let the container rest st room temperature for 25 to 20 min before opening to prevent condensation from forming on the macarons. 

With love, 

Phay Shing

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Cinderella on Fluttershy Chocolate Drip Cake

This was made for a little girl who is a fan of both Cinderella and My Little Pony!

Cinderella riding Fluttershy on top of a dark chocolate drip cake! 

I had to come up with my own template for this creation as you can't find this from the Internet. Only one giant cake topper was needed for the cake but for complex characters such as this, I usually make at least one extra in case of damage due to butter fingers. I used the Swiss method recipe to make this as I was working on another bake concurrently. Swiss and Italian methods are great when you have to work with many colours and complex shapes as the meringue takes. Longer time to break down. I just haven't revisited the Italian method for some time because I am lazy to make the syrup 🤣.

Piped batter

Decorating the shells with a mix of  Royal icing and edible markers. You can see the rest of the characters I was working on as well. 

Since the giant macaron is a cake topper for a chocolate cake, I filled it with dark chocolate ganache.

I used this recipe to make the chocolate cake here but did things slightly differently. I cut the sponge into 6" diameter and used a 1:1  ratio of dark chocolate : cream for the drip. I added a little charcoal powder to deepen the drip colour a little and added about 1-2 tsp of light corn syrup as well to give the drip a higher shine. I frosted the sides with whipped dark chocolate ganache and omitted the whipped salted caramel ganache.

I love the look of this cake! *bling bling*

Just some tip about macaron cake topper on such a cake. Do use a long wooden skewer to make holes in the cake where the cakepop sticks on the cake topper are supposed to go. Carefully insert the cake topper by handling the cakepop sticks. DO NOT press on the macaron itself to insert the topper as you may accidentally damage it. I pack the cake topper and cake separately as moisture released from the cake may turn the macarons soggy.

With love,
Phay Shing

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My Little Pony Rainbow Chiffon Cake

Unicorns and rainbows are always loved by little girls! I have made several versions of unicorns with rainbows. This is a My Little Pony-inspired Rainbow Chiffon Cake which I have always wanted to try =).

For top tier, you can refer to my previous creation, ‘Unicorn’ Soy Milk Chiffon Cake. It is similar except the eyes here are big and dewy!

The bottom tier is my signature Rainbow Chiffon Cake that is on the cover of my first cookbook Creative baking, Chiffon Cakes (bottom right). The detailed recipe is inside.

Have a blessed week! I was on staycation, so not really very functional yet =p. Glad the exams are over!

With lots of love,
Susanne

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Rainbow Unicorn Pink Ombre-Rainbow Tier Chiffon Cake

This is a sweet dreamy creation combining Pink Ombre chiffon cake with Rainbow chiffon cake, topped by a Chiffon cake Rainbow and Chiffon cake Unicorn! The recipes for the Rainbow and Ombre chiffon cakes, as well as Chiffon rainbows are in the Creative Baking: Chiffon Cakes book that just came out this week in all major bookstores (Popular, Kinokuniya etc.) in Singapore! So excited! Do keep a lookout! =)

With lots of love,
Susanne

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Rainbow Castle Chiffon Cake

This is perhaps my favorite Castle Chiffon Cake so far! It's a sweet special Rainbow Castle Chiffon Cake I designed for a very dear friend's daughter. She loved My Little Pony so the castle was Rainbow-themed, designed for My Little Pony toppers. The towers are capped with Pastel Rainbow Chiffon Cake Cones by baking chiffon cake in paper cups, and the top of the castle with an Arching Chiffon Cake Rainbow (made from a 6-inch chiffon cake) and Chiffon Lake (made from layer chiffon cake)!

Made with lots of love! Happy blessed birthday Mikaela!
Susanne

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'My Little Pony' Rainbow and Cloud-sky Chiffon Cakes

I am very blessed to know wonderful mummy friends from Charissa’s group. It was such a coincidence that two of them requested for “My Little Pony” birthday cakes the same week. They were for a very special girl, Kyra and a very special boy, Ethan. Knowing the mummies and how much the babies were loved, each cake was lovingly created with them in mind.

 

For Kyra, a sweet pink Pony on top of a pink rainbow chiffon cake. I added eyelashes and wings like in “My Little Pony” and made the Pony look like she was soaring over the landscape of rainbows and clouds. The rainbow is a trademark in “My Little Pony”, and this was also made of chiffon cake, made by layering chiffon cake in rainbow colors in a small oval bowl (and then slicing them up). 

For Ethan, a handsome blue Pony on top of a cloud-sky chiffon cake. Ethan’s cake was also reduced sugar (85%) for his grandma's sake. His cake was a modification to the waves of the Frozen chiffon cake but making the waves ‘filly’ instead of gradual to look like clouds.

I am very thankful the Pony cakes were well-received, but more so thankful to be baking for the precious bubs (and my precious friends).

With lots of love,
Susanne

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