"Puppies with Hearts" Marshmallows on Fresh Cream Cake

 The brief I had for this request was "Fresh cream cake with ombre pink/red hearts cascading down the cake and some cute puppies or bears". This was what I came up with!

Inside the cake is 5 layers of vanilla chiffon sponge with a hint of pandan in the batter as well as from the syrup brushed on the sponge surfaces.

It was honestly quite nerve-wracking putting this cake together because I seldom frost cakes completely and fresh cream only allows a limited number of passes with the scraper or spatula before it turns grainy. And Singapore is really warm so I had to work in the air-conditioned room.

I used my default vanilla chiffon sponge recipe and replaced a quarter of the milk with pandan water. I used pandan water instead of just water for the syrup for brushing the sponge. The ratio I used for the syrup is 1:2 for sugar : pandan water. I made the pandan water by simmering several pandan leaves in a saucepan of water (about 400ml) for 10 min before discarding the leaves.

I used the stabilized whipped cream recipe from this bake.

A closer look at the puppies with hearts!

Works-in-progress photo of the Hojicha marshmallow puppies before I stuck the marshmallow hearts and bows on

Please see this reel for the process of making the marshmallow cake toppers:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUnUti6CZN8/?igsh=d2M0YzF1NzVvMDRk

with love,

Phay Shing

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Judy and Nick Pistachio Mixed Berry Macarons

 My friend requested for some Judy and Nick macarons and brown sugar cookies for her daughter's birthday. It's the 12th consecutive year I am baking for her! I am sharing the macaron version in this blog post.

The macarons are filled with one of the yummiest flavour combinations I have made: pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream and strawberry raspberry jam. I used only added 10% sugar by weight to the fruit puree to make the jam so it remains very tart and fruity. I reduced the puree to half its original weight over low heat until it is thick before storing in the refrigerator.

According to my friend, the macarons were so yummy even her elderly mother loved it!

The fillings were rather time consuming to make too because I make all the components from scratch.

Here's the recipe for the pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream.

Ingredients:

75g egg whites (about 2)
1/16 tsp salt
65g sugar 
140g unsalted butter, slightly softened*
10g milk powder*
140g pistachio butter*

Steps:
1. Double boil egg whites with salt & sugar, whisking constantly until mixture reaches 71.1C. 
2. Whip till stiff, glossy peak, & cooled to room temperature.
3. Add butter 1tbs at a time. Continue beating 8-10 min on med-high speed until light & fluffy. 
4. Add milk powder during the last min of beating until incorporated. 
5. Stir some buttercream into the pistachio butter to lighten it up before adding it back to the buttercream. Fold the lightened pistachio butter into the buttercream in a few additions. You may use it immediately or freeze in airtight condition until use if making ahead of time. Briefly whip with a spatula after defrosting.

* Additional notes for ingredients

Butter: 

You may replace partially with vegetable shortening if you are not able to serve this in a cool environment. I live in the tropics so the filling may soften quite a lot at 30C non air-conditioned room temperature. But if your environment is cool, use all butter because it's yummier 😋.

Milk powder: 

You may toast the milk powder for a caramel flavour as well! To toast, bake in a thin layer in the oven at 140C, stirring every 8-10 min until golden brown but not too dark.  Total duration depends on whether you are toasting in bulk or small amounts. Milk powder adds stability to the buttercream too.

Pistachio butter: 

Toast shelled pistachios at 150C for 10-15min or until aromatic. Remove the skins first if you wish by blanching and rubbing between a towel. Blend with a little salt to taste. Using a powerful blender helps as you don't need to thin out the mixture with oil.

You may refer to this reel to have a peek at filling the shells:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTh0m2bCULh/?igsh=MXJtMGc3M3RrYzI4OA==

I used my default Swiss meringue method recipe to make the macaron shells.

Here are some pictures of the undecorated macaron shells..

I used edible marker, royal icing and edible paint for adding in the details.

You may see this reel to see how I piped Nick:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTunc8PCVpH/?igsh=MXUzZXp6b3UwZXZxZw==

And see this reel to see how I piped Judy:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT1RsuSCVk1/?igsh=MWxkNXM5NzA0dzczZA==

Do read the captions of the reels as I share some technical tips on how to work with complex shaped characters with many colours and details.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Blue China Cheongsam Cake

 My mum suggested making a blue china themed birthday cake for my Grandma's 90th and Aunt's 70th combined birthday celebration, modelled after what I made for her last year over here. I took it a step further to incorporate the cheongsam style as well!

I followed the floral and berry flavour profiles of the cake that I made for my mum except that this wasn't sugar-free since it's for the the whole extended family clan to eat after a sumptuous meal together.

Cake composition:

- Lavender rose chiffon sponge (7 layers + 1 wrapping around the stack + all external decorative pieces except the wafer paper butterflies)

- Vanilla rose diplomat cream (6 layers between the hidden sponge stack)

- Fresh strawberries (in the cream layers)

- Raspberry reduction (brushed on all hidden sponge layers)

I omitted egg yolks when making the sponges to reduce the use of food colouring to achieve the white and blue colours. You may refer to my reel to see the recipe and process. The method is in the comments of the reel.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQodDA1krAg/?igsh=MWpnZGh3NTl4am16Zw==

 I will share the ingredient list here for your convenience.

Lavender rose chiffon sponge:

This quantity is good for a 7" round pan which I used for the hidden sponge stack. The sponge can be sliced half horizontally for a thinner layer. I used a total of 7x this portion for the whole cake including decorative cutout parts

15g oil

40g floral milk tea*

35g cake flour, sifted

pinches of salt

2 egg whites (about 75g)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

30g sugar 

* Heat 120 milk with 6g Moroccan rosebuds & 1 tsp dried lavender flowers. Steep for 30min. Strain. 

Vanilla rose diplomat cream:

Feel free to scale up the portion as needed. I used 3x for the whole cake.

1 egg yolk

10-20g sugar

Pinches of salt

8g cornstarch 

110g rose milk tea*

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

7g butter 

100g whipping cream of choice**

2-3g gelatin (depending on serving ambient temperature and preferred firmness of cream, optional)

* Heat 140g milk with 6g Moroccan rosebuds. Steep for 30min. Strain. 

** I used a mix of double cream (45% fat) & non-dairy whipping cream in 3:2 ratio. You may use gelatin to stabilize if you wish. I omitted as I used a higher fat percentage dairy cream. Sweeten with sugar of choice, adjust according to taste & whether pre-sweetened non-dairy cream is used. I omitted as the non-dairy cream is pre-sweetened

Raspberry reduction:

100g raspberry puree, sieved

10g sugar 

4g lemon juice

Some useful tips about making this cake:

- I used melted bloomed gelatin as glue to glue the decorative pieces to each other or the main sponge

- The strawberries were sliced to the same thickness as the sponge layers to ensure even layers of sponge and cream with fruit.

Here are some photos of the process...

Tracing the mirror imaged pattern with edible marker on parchment paper

Painted sponge using cake paint

small decorative pieces made of blue chiffon sponge

Assembling the cake

Unfortunately I don't have a good photo of the much anticipated cross section slice because the waitresses whisked the cake away before I could get my hands on it and sliced the cake vertically AND horizontally 🤦🏻‍♀️.

This was one of the neater slices. The cake was really soft and moist so I imagine it was a challenge to slice it. You will have to imagine what you see x6 vertically with the strawberry slices intact. At least you can catch a glimpse of the cake crumb and even layers of sponge and cream

Everyone enjoyed the cake and the celebration was a blast!

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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Cherry Strawberry Raspberry Lambeth Cake

 I made my first Lambeth cake with a very specific request from a young lady --- cake to be covered in red cream and decorated with black cream and pearls to match the dress she would wear for her birthday. I was honestly out of my comfort zone because my cakes tend to be naked and natural or pastel colored but I took the chance to learn something new. Total newbie at this!

What's in this cake?

- Vanilla chiffon sponge brushed with cherry syrup 

- Canned cherries and cherry raspberry strawberry Italian meringue buttercream between sponge layers

- Strawberry whipped cream for frosting the cake

- No-dye black buttercream for piping black frills and details (adapted from Sugarologie) . Made some tweaks because Singapore is so hot)

- Fresh cherries and sugar pearls for decoration

I love it that I didn't have to add any artificial black colouring to achieve a deep black colour but because I substituted some butter with shortening, I had to use a little charcoal powder to deepen the colour. The vibrant red is achieved by using red powdered colouring that's used by the Chinese in Southeast Asia for dyeing food like red eggs or kueh like Ang Ku Kueh. I find it much better than other Western brands of red colouring as a little is enough to achieve a vibrant red without leaving any weird aftertaste.

Here's a peek at the filling layers...

Sharing other views of the cake because I was rather pleased that it looked nice despite little imperfections here and there!

Thank God my friend and her daughter were willing to be my guinea pigs and the cake was well received!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Chiikawa Strawberry Raspberry Macarons

 This is the 11th consecutive year a friend requested for birthday bakes for her daughter. Chiikawa is the character she's into at this point in time so I made some Chiikawa characters in the form of macarons and brown sugar cookies. I am showcasing the macarons in this blog post!

Chiikawa, Hachiware and Usagi!

As usual I used my default Swiss meringue method macaron recipe for the macaron shells. I decorated the shells using edible marker and edible paint.

Decorated macaron shells!

These macarons were rather challenging to make due to the large size, white/pastel colours and small protruding bits. Oven temperature control gets tricky as a temperature that is too low will result in concave hollows and a temperature that is too high will brown the shells.

The macarons are filled with strawberry raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream and jam.

See the video of the process over here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFPpPjIyCHN/?igsh=eHU2dTVoZW90MGkx

with love,

Phay Shing

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Sea Otter Valentine's Day Mugs with Latte Art (a marshmallow-macaron creation)

 Did you see Starbuck's Vday sea otter mug collection this year? They were so adorable I was inspired to create my own version of it out of macarons and marshmallows! 

A closer look at the coffee vanilla marshmallow sea otters! I used decaf coffee throughout so it's still kid-friendly.

A clearer view of the latte art made out of coffee white chocolate and vanilla white chocolate pudding, both of which are dairy-free.

Here's a cross section view where you can see that the insides of the mug is coated with white chocolate and there's dark chocolate ganache with toasted chopped pecans right at the base. I made the dark chocolate ganache dairy-free too.

Even the macaron mugs are flavoured as it's my baking principle to make my creations taste good as well. The macaron shells were flavoured with freeze-dried raspberry powder. I used macaron batter to glue the handle pieces to the main body of the mug so no royal icing is used.

A look at the marshmallows before dusting.

You may find my video tutorials for the macaron mug and marshmallows here:

3D macaron mug with latte art:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFuiuOcp8up/?igsh=dTJoNzd0dTZqdWF1

Sea otter marshmallow piping tutorial:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFzsZQLy6e-/?igsh=aW9nNjYwYXR5cTBr

Read the captions of the reels for more technical tips and the recipe for dairy-free coffee white chocolate pudding.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Heart Macarons with Wet-On-Wet Designs

 I dressed up simple heart macarons with more little hearts for Valentine's Day!

Check out the awesome feet from the side view!

These macarons were filled with dairy-free dark chocolate ganache and dairy-free mixed berry (strawberry and raspberry) ganache. Both are temperature stable enough for gifting in tropical Singapore.

Find out how I created the patterns from this tutorial:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFchON3zyy-/?igsh=eDMwajlrd3hjejBt

Technical tips to take note of are in the captions of the reel.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Bunny & Elephant Lychee Mixed Berry Rose Choux Pastries

 I had a request for some cute animal choux pastries with bunnies as a must. Here's what I came up with!

If the bunnies look familiar, that's because the requestor saw the choux pastry bunnies I made beginning of last year and wanted something similar. I adapted the choux pastry filling from this cake and it's always been a hit. I used less cornflour in the diplomat cream, agar as the gelling agent and a mix of berries for the choux pastry version.

Here's a peek at the cross-section view of the frozen filling of lychee rose diplomat cream, strawberry raspberry jam and lychee rose agar!

Why freeze them? Because they taste wonderful this way! I prefer eating them like ice-cream creampuffs. Refreshing on a hot day! This flavour combination is really popular for creampuffs and I can understand why! 

Here are some pictures of the process...

Freshly baked choux buns!

In the process of filling up the pastry. Doesn't the lychee rose agar jelly look inviting?

Here's a reel of the process:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-oXhQASzmy/?igsh=MWhrOHlkMGN3ZmJlaw==

with love,

Phay Shing

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Baby Shower Macarons

 Our friends welcomed a baby girl into their lives recently so these were made for them!

I used my default Swiss meringue method recipe to make the macaron shells. Here are some pictures of the piped batter:

I decorated the macaron shells with edible marker and royal icing. I filled the macarons with either Hojicha chocolate ganache or mixed berry ganache. Both of which are dairy-free to facilitate gifting people in hot tropical Singapore's weather.

You may refer to this post for the mixed berry ganache recipe. I can't share the hojicha chocolate ganache recipe as it's used for my hedgehog macaron class.

You may have a look at the reel for the tutorial of the process:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9Rzyqby3-F/?igsh=MW5hdTl2Z2RpZmxucw==

with love,

Phay Shing

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Optimus Prime & Bumblebee Macarons II

 My friend wanted some Optimus Prime and Bumblebee macarons for her son's birthday and I took the chance to challenge myself. Although I made these way back in 2018 over here, I thought of trying the full body versions this time round!

I used my default Swiss meringue method to make the shells.

Checkout the awesome feet on the shells!

I added in the details after baking using edible marker and cake paint from Sweet Sticks.

I filled the macarons with strawberry-raspberry stabilized ganache that is temperature stable enough to stay at room temperature during this heat wave period in Southeast Asia (but don't leave it out in the sun of course!). I packed it with lots of fruit too! To make it temperature stable and safe for leaving it out of the fridge for some time, I made the filling dairy -free.

Dairy-free berry ganache for macarons 

240g white chocolate couverture 

80g berry jam (cook and reduce berries of choice with 10% sugar)

5g freeze dried berry powders

10g light corn syrup

pinches of salt

1/4 tsp strawberry emulco

3g gelatin bloom in 12g ice water

2g soy lecithin added with chocolate to melt (optional)

Steps:

1. Melt chocolate with soy lecithin to 41C

2. Heat corn syrup, berry powder, salt, emulco and jam until warm, about 46C

3. Melt bloomed gelatin. mix with warm liquid ingredients.

4. Add 3. to warm melted chocolate. Stir briefly and emulsify with blender.

5. Press cling wrap to surface, leave at aircon temperature to firm up for an hour or fridge for 30 min. Transfer to piping bag and pipe onto macaron shells

Watch the video tutorial with my tips on how to make macaron shells that are smooth, sturdy and have even feet all around for complex shaped characters like these in my reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6aL_ykS25e/?igsh=Mjk1MmlmMDUwaDVl

I had feedback that the macarons tasted fantastic, full of fresh berry flavour!

with love,

Phay Shing

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