Stand Mixer Chiffon Cake

My new retro Stand mixer!!

Just kidding! This is actually chiffon cake =p

My most challenging work so far! ^_^" *sweat*. I didn't think I could do it. Thank God for providing! <3

Here is the cake side-by-side with the pretty pink version of the Stand mixer. Does it look like the Mini-me? They looked really cute together!

It was a lot of work, a lot of carving involved. The bowl was hollow as well =p.

Hope cute cake made you smile! =)

With lots of love,
Susanne

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Peppermint Chocolate and Red Velvet Cream Cheese Mini Chiffon Cupcakes

My friend requested for 70 mini cupcakes to give out to his colleagues. A couple of flavours were suggested and I gave my own take to what peppermint chocolate and red velvet cream cheese cupcakes should look and taste like :)

Cooked dough chiffon cupcakes topped with frosting, sprinkles and mini macarons!

I began the bake by making lots of plain heart macarons and chocolate round macarons.

Piped hearts!

I drizzled some melted dark chocolate over the chocolate shells.

You may refer to any of the recipes on the blog for the macaron shells. To be honest I am really busy now that's why I am not providing the macaron recipe 😅. The focus on this post is in the chiffon cupcakes and frosting too.

I used cooked dough method for both flavours of cupcakes as they are both chocolate based. Blooming the cocoa powder in hot oil will help bring out the chocolate flavour of the cocoa powder more.

Mint chocolate cupcakes
Ingredients (makes about 40 38x28mm cupcakes):
4 egg yolks
56g vegetable oil/ canola oil
56g milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur (optional)
1 tsp peppermint extract
26g Dutch processed cocoa powder
52g cake flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 tsp baking soda

5 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
80g caster sugar

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 140℃. Set oven rack to second lowest position. Place a tray of water at the base of oven (optional).

2. Prepare egg yolk batter. Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking soda. Heat oil in a small saucepan until 90℃ (this temperature is higher than what I suggested earlier as I find that the cocoa flavour is more awake with higher temperature) or when you start seeing swirl lines in the oil. Pour the oil into the flour mixture. Whisk until well combined and let it sit for a few minutes for the cocoa powder to bloom.

3. Mix together milk, vanilla, coffee liqueur and peppermint extract. Gradually add milk mixture into egg yolk batter and whisk until combined after each addition. Add one egg yolk at a time and whisk until well combined.

4. Prepare merinuge. In a clean metal bowl, use an electric mixer to beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks form, gradually adding caster sugar once the egg whites are foamy.

5. Quickly but gently fold in meringue into egg yolk batter in three additions. Fill the cupcake cases until about 80% full.

6. Bake at 140℃ for the first 10 min then 130℃ for the next 25-35min or until skewer comes out clean. Use a shorter baking time if using higher temperature and no steam. Cool completely before frosting.

Peppermint white chocolate ganache
Ingredients:
300g white compound chocolate chips
60g unsalted butter
98g heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs peppermint extract
A few drops of liquid green food colouring

Steps:
1. Place all ingredients except peppermint and colouring in a microwave safe bowl or double boiler. Melt over medium-low power for 20 seconds and mix well. Repeat until chocolate is melted and smooth.

2. Chill in freezer for 2 min and mix well with spatula. Repeat freezing and mixing until you are able to whip the ganache to cream-like texture.

3. Gradually add peppermint extract and mix well. Add green colouring a drop at a time until desired shade. Mix well with each addition.

Transfer after into piping bag fitted with an open star tip and pipe a swirl on the cupcake.

 Add sprinkles if you wish. Fill the macarons with the same filling before placing them on top of the cupcakes.

Red velvet cupcakes
Ingredients (makes about 40-45):
4 egg yolks
52g vegetable oil
72g buttermilk (or 65g milk and 7g lemon juice mixed together)
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
72g cake flour
13g Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 and 1/3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp red gel food colouring

5 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
85g caster sugar

Steps:
Same as mint chocolate cupcakes. Sift baking powder with flour and add red gel colouring to buttermilk.

Freshly baked!

Cream cheese white chocolate frosting 
I love this recipe because it's not too sugar overloaded like the traditional cream cheese frosting recipe and yet it's firm enough to pipe and hold it's shape. Increase the proportion of white chocolate if you have a sweet tooth.

Ingredients:
240g cream cheese, room temperature
120g unsalted butter
120g white compound chocolate chips
4 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp salt

Steps:
1. Melt butter and white chocolate together using microwave of double boiling method.

2. Chill the melted mixture in the freezer for 2 min and then mix well with spatula. Repeat freezing and mixing until you are able to beat the ganache until creamy.

3. In a other bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy with electric mixer. Add whipped white chocolate ganache and continue beating with electric mixer.

4. Add salt and vanilla and beat until well combined.

My friend fedback that the cupcakes were yummy!

With love,
Phay Shing

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Red Velvet Cream Cheese and Gula Melaka Sponge & Pudding Dahlia Cupcakes

I have a request for a new flavour of sponge and pudding cake along with my tried and tested (and very well received!)  gula melaka flavour -- red velvet cream cheese sponge and pudding cake! The lady who requested for the cupcakes saw the ombre Dahlia cupcakes I made for my friend earlier this year and wanted the same design. I took the liberty of adding a little greens to the pretty flowers :)

I will focus on providing the recipe for red velvet cream cheese sponge and pudding cake in this post since it's a new recipe and a yummy one too! You may find the detailed recipe for the flowers in this post, the recipe for gula melaka sponge and pudding cake in this post and assembly of the cupcake here.

I omitted red colouring in my red velvet chiffon sponge cake recipe as I find it unnecessary.

Red velvet chiffon cake recipe
Ingredients (baked in 10x12" tray for making about twelve 44x35mm cupcakes):
3 Egg yolks
10g caster sugar
39g vegetable/canola oil
54g buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
55g cake flour
10g (about 1.5tbs) Dutch processed cocoa powder*
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt

4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
55g caster sugar

Steps:
1. Line baking tray with baking sheet. Set oven rack to lowest or second lowest position. Preheat oven to 160℃.

2. Prepare egg yolk batter. Whisk egg yolk and sugar together until pale and thick. Add oil and whisk until well combined. Add buttermilk and vanilla extract and whisk until combined. Gradually sift in cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Whisk until no trace of flour is seen.

3. Prepare the meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks form, gradually adding in sugar once the egg whites are foamy.

4. Quickly but gently fold in the meringue into the egg yolk batter in three additions. Pour the batter into the tray. Gently tap the tray on the table to release air bubbles.

5. Bake for about 15 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Remove from tray and cool with anothee baking sheet covering it.

Use a 4cm and 5cm round cookie cutter to cut out 2 circles for each of the cupcakes. Store cutouts in airtight container.

Recipe for cream cheese pudding
Ingredients:
A)
200g evaporated milk
125g water
62g sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla extract
1/2 agar powder

B)
23g custard powder
125g water

C)
200g cream cheese, softened at room temperature
40g evaporated milk

Steps:
1. Blend softened cream cheese with 40g evaporated milk together until smooth. Set aside.

2. Place ingredients in B) in a jug and stir until custard powder is dissolved. Set aside.

3. Place all ingredients in A) in a saucepan and heat on medium heat while stirring. Bring to a boil. Stir B) again and pour into A). Continue stirring until mixture boils again. Keep stirring while still boiling for a minute more.

4. Add C) into the pudding mixture and mix well. Sieve the mixture and get ready for assembly.

Assembly
Alternate layers of cake and pudding inside the cupcake cases.

Chill the cakes for two hours or until the pudding has set.

Add on the Dahlia cupcake deco.

All done!

With love,
Phay Shing

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Singapore Flag Red Velvet Chiffon Cake

This is an early National day bake for my son who is currently into world flags. Check out his drawings :p Drawings can be improved but they are so dear to me!

I used natural red colouring from beetroot to make the red velvet chiffon cake, similar to my previous post Red Velvet Racing Cars Chiffon Cake. I managed to grab hold of some beetroot powder online, so I couldn't wait to try it out. Without the proper acidic pH, the beets will turn brown. So to keep the colour vibrant and red, make sure that you use natural cocoa powder (which is more acidic than its Dutch-processed cousin) as well as baking powder (and not baking soda), and of course buttermilk.

Here's how the beetroot powder looks like.

 Recipe for red velvet chiffon cake is adapted from Heart of Mary.

Red velvet chiffon cake (17 cm chiffon tin)
3 egg yolks
20g sugar
39g vegetable oil
36 ml buttermilk
15 ml beetroot puree + beetroot powder
5 ml vanilla extract
60g cake flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
red colouring (optional, to darken if you feel beetroot is insufficient)

4 egg whites
45g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Prepare beetroot puree. Boil 2 fresh beets chopped into cubes (left pic) till soft in 50 ml water (right pic) and puree the mixture. *You can freeze the extra in small 15 ml cubes for use within the month like baby puree.

2. Preheat oven to 160°C.

3. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil, buttermilk, beetroot juice, and vanilla extract.
4. Add in sieved flour and cocoa powder and whisk till no trace of flour/powder is found. I further added beetroot powder (over 1.3 tbsp) till the mixture is very bright red. If you do not have beetroot powder, you can use red yeast powder or red colouring.
5. Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar till stiff peak, mixing in caster sugar in 2 additions.
6. Gently fold in the meringue into the batter in 3 additions.
7. Bake the chiffon cake at 160°C for 15 min, then 150°C for 30-33 min or when skewer comes clean.
8. Invert when cake is removed from oven and unmould by hand and spatula when the cake is cool.

I used a mixture of royal icing and snow powder, stirred into to a paint-like consistency to paint the moon and stars on the chiffon cake. I didn't measure the amount exactly but the consistency is somewhat like "ribbon-stage consistency. Make sure the amount of snow powder added is thick enough so turn the mixture white.

My son loved the special cake for him! :)

With love,
Susanne

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Red Velvet and Chocolate 'Racing Cars' Chiffon Cake

This is a special cake I made for my friend for her newborn's full-month celebration. Her kids loved red cars and chocolate cake, so I decided make red velvet chiffon cars on chocolate chiffon cake which made for a rich and yummy combination.

I used beetroot to make natural red colouring for the red velvet cake which typically uses a lot of red colouring. This is actually my second attempt making the red velvet chiffon cake. In the first try, I only used beetroot for colouring and I ended up with rose pink cars LOL! So in the final version, I had to add a little red colouring to brighten up the red a little. Thankfully, not a lot was required as the beetroot already rendered the batter a dull red :).

Recipe for red velvet chiffon cake is adapted from Heart of Mary.

Red velvet chiffon cake for car (makes one square 6-inch tin or one 17 cm chiffon tin)
3 egg yolks
20g sugar
39g vegetable oil
35 ml buttermilk
12 ml concentrated beetroot juice
5 ml vanilla extract
60g cake flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
red colouring (optional, to darken if you feel beetroot is insufficient)

4 egg whites
45g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Prepare beetroot juice. Boil 2 fresh beets chopped into cubes (left pic) till soft in 50 ml water (middle pic). Puree and sieve to remove bits (right pic). *You can also use the puree directly.

2. Preheat oven to 160°C.

3. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil, buttermilk, beetroot juice, and vanilla extract. *If you like your red velvet bright red, you might want to add some red colouring. Beetroot juice itself will colour dull red.
4. Add in sieved flour and cocoa powder and whisk till no trace of flour/powder is found.
5. Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar till stiff peak, mixing in caster sugar in 2 additions.
6. Gently fold in the meringue into the batter in 3 additions.
7. Bake the chiffon cake at 160°C for 15 min, then 150°C for 30-35 min or when skewer comes clean.
8. Invert when cake is removed from oven and unmould by hand and spatula when the cake is cool.
9. Keep the cake in an air-tight container until "construction" :).

Chocolate chiffon cake with road (17 cm chiffon tin)
*If you are interested in just a plain chocolate chiffon cake without road, please see here for recipe.
4 egg yolks
27g sugar
52g vegetable oil
48 ml water
7 ml vanilla extract
80g cake flour
1.5 tbsp cocoa

5 egg whites
60g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil, water and vanilla extract.
3. Next add in sieved flour and cocoa powder and whisk till no trace of flour/powder found. Scoop over 9 tsp batter and add 1 tsp charcoal powder for black batter.
4. Meringue: Beat the egg whites with ¼ tsp cream of tartar till stiff peak, mixing in caster sugar in 2 additions.
5. Scoop over 18 tbsp into the black batter and fold in gently.
6. Gently scoop the black cake batter into bottom of the tin to form a thin layer, gently levelling it with a teaspoon. Leave about 1-2 tbsp of black batter for the car wheels.
7. Fold in the rest of the meringue gently into the chocolate batter 1/3 at a time. Scoop the chocolate batter over the black batter.
8. Gently tap the tin on table 3x to remove air bubbles.
9. Bake the chiffon cake for 15 min at 160°C then 30 min at 150°C or when skewer comes clean.
10. Pipe the remaining black batter onto a piece of baking paper for the car wheels and some details for the cars (I put the baking paper in a small 6-inch tray). Bake the small piece of cake at 160°C for a few min (5-8 min depending on your thickness).
11. Invert the chiffon tin immediately once out of the oven to cool.
12. Unmould with hand and spatula after the cake is cool.

Here's my freshly unmoulded chocolate chiffon cake with road! :)

I painted on some white stripes using a mixture of royal icing and snow powder. The cars are ready to zoom! :)

Now, time for some art and craft for the cars! Briefly, I cut up the red velvet chiffon cake into small blocks for the cars and strips for the spoiler. I only used half the cake as I didn't have a smaller tin. Then I slightly carved the front a little to make it sloping. Finally, I added the black wheels and strips and chocolate for the driver's helmet, using some melted chocolate. Here are my red cars ready to zoom down the race track! :)

The cars are ready! Who will win the race? :)

And here's another view of the final cake :)

Hope the kids will like it! Happy full month to baby Evan! :)

I'm linking this post to Bake Along for this week's theme of Chiffon Cakes jointly hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Lena of Frozen Wings.

With lots of love,

Susanne

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