Cat Bus Lychee Rose Mixed Berry Choux Pastries

 I made use of a new painting technique to create patterns on choux pastries covered with craquelin to make these Cat Bus creampuffs and Eclairs!

Of course the Totoro vegan marshmallows have to join in the scene!

Here's a look at the cross section showing the lychee rose diplomat cream with raspberry strawberry jam!

You can't see it clearly but there are juicy bits of lychee pieces inserted to give it a little more juicy bite.

It's time consuming to put together the full body version so I only made a couple of those but many more heads (some not shown in picture)

Good technique is necessary for a sturdy, crisp pastry and super hollow interior

I feel decorative choux pastry is not as popular as macarons or marshmallows although the possibilities are endless and it tastes the best in my opinion because it contains a lot less sugar. I hope to be able to showcase more choux pastry creations this year!

Here's the reel showing the making and filling of the full body cat bus choux pastry, and the ingredient list:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3m68gPSJ1-/?igsh=cmpyZWs1ZzR5NWVx

with love,

Phay Shing

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'Capybara in Totoro Dreamland' Vegan Marshmallows

 On and off I have people asking me if it is possible to make character marshmallows vegan. The answer is yes!

The sleeping capybara is based on a plushie we have at home. It's hilarious because the bubble at the nose can be pulled and upon release, the whole toy vibrates and produces a rumbling noise like a snore 😆. Actually I made many more Totoros and the capybara was an afterthought made using the leftover bits of marshmallow batter.

People have also asked if the recipe is in my Deco Marshmallows book. The answer is yes but only as a footnote on how to adapt the vegetarian recipe to make it a vegan one. In my vegan marshmallows, instead of egg whites and gelatin, I use agar powder, reduced aquafaba and apple puree as the ingredients that provide structure and bounce.

The technique for making vegan marshmallows is slightly different from the vegetarian one which uses egg whites instead of reduced aquafaba, because the meringue made using aquafaba is less stable and less robust than the one made using egg whites. Make sure the meringue is whipped stiffer than you would make for the vegetarian marshmallow if you want to make it vegan.

Here's the reel for the Totoro vegan marshmallows and the capybara plushie in action:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3XaR1IyXQr/?igsh=MTA1aW93aDF2bG9lag==

Pardon the lack of piping tutorial for capybara because it was made with leftover marshmallow batter & I wasn't confident it would turn out fine. 

These vegan marshmallows are also known as zephyrs (zefir) which are apple puree based & agar is used as the gelling agent. I replaced egg whites with aquafaba to make it vegan. It doesn't taste too sweet at all, in fact it is tart because of the fruit /juice that goes into it! Texture is a cross between regular marshmallows & meringue cookies.

Feel free to upsize as this is for a small batch & a very tiny saucepan I used. 

Apple jam:
1 large Granny Smith apple 
55g sugar
12g lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt

🔸Bake halved apple until soft. Sieve. Cook with rest of ingredients until total weight reduced to 100g. Refrigerate overnight covered

Vegan marshmallow:
Agar syrup:
100g sugar
3g agar powder
13g invert sugar
50g water
Meringue:
30g reduced aquafaba (to 40-50%)

Apple jam

🔸Whip meringue until STIFF. Continue whipping at med-low speed while making syrup

🔸Bring agar syrup to a boil while whisking continuously. Keep whisking until syrup forms a thread when dripped instead of forming droplets

🔸 Turn mixer speed to med-high. Pour syrup in. Continue whipping for a short time until consistency is floppy peak. Check every 30s after syrup is added

🔸Pipe marshmallows

🔸Air dry overnight at room temperature. Dust lightly with cornstarch or mix of icing sugar & cornstarch 

✅ Work quickly & keep unused batter in warm place as it sets up much more quickly than gelatin based marshmallows.

If this doesn't work for you on the first try, it is likely due to technique issues, so don't give up. It takes a little getting used to working with aquafaba but once you get used to it, it should work!

Detailed recipe & technical tips are in my Deco Marshmallows book and upcoming classes.

with love,
Phay Shing

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Totoro Surprise Roll Cake

 

Totoro Surprise Roll Cake!💓 "Totorolly" cute?🥰  

I combined cake patterning and cream patterning. Assembly video on my IG here. 

With love, 

Susanne 

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Totoro and Mei Earl Grey Salted Caramel Macaron Scene

 

I had a request for a macaron scene with birthday girl's favourite characters in there so I created this!

Totoro and Mei with elephant, giraffe and koala!

I used my default swiss meringue method recipe to make the macaron shells for the characters and the large round base. 

The trees are made of black tea brown sugar meringues. I got the basic recipe from a baker friend but tweaked it for the added flavours so I am not able to share it. 

Yes the entire tree is made of meringue! No royal icing or wires used to glue or support the structure. I had to build it up in stages like a 3D cardboard tree except all parts and glue are made of meringue. These were made in advance, thoroughly dried and stored in airtight container.

Here's a better view of all the characters. I usually make duplicates of each character in case of accidents while handling.

I filled the macarons with Earl grey Italian meringue buttercream (IMBC), homemade salted caramel and some crushed biscoff.

I folded in some salted caramel, crushed biscoff and some earl grey tea leaves into half of the Earl grey IMBC, and drizzled more salted caramel and sprinkled more crushed biscoff for the large macaron base.

 I have always used Swiss meringue buttercream as my default buttercream base but thought why not try Italian meringue based buttercream instead so that I can incorporate more brewed tea in the buttercream.

Earl grey Italian meringue buttercream (IMBC)
Ingredients:

76g egg whites (about 2 eggs)

100g caster or granulated sugar (portion about 1 tsp out for egg whites)

30g concentrated Earl Grey tea*

114g unsalted butter (cut into small pieces, cool but softened)

A pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

* Steep 4 Earl grey teabags in 60g boiling water for 10 minutes. Squeeze out the liquid from the bags as much as possible. Measure out 30g for making IMBC

Steps:

1. Place sugar (100g minus 1 tsp) , concentrated tea and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan and heat at medium-low heat. Stir intially to help the sugar dissolve but once the water starts boiling, stop stirring. 

2. In the meantime, beat egg whites with 1tsp sugar until foamy. Reduce mixer speed if necessary to prevent overwhipping.

3. Once syrup temperature reaches 110C, turn up mixer speed and whip until soft peaks as you wait until syrup reaches 115C. Again, reduce mixer speed as necessary once soft peak is reached. Once temperature is reached, remove from heat. Turn mixer speed up to medium-high and pour the syrup down the side of mixing bowl in a slow and steady stream. Keep beating on medium-high speed for 10-15 minutes or until Italian meringue is cooled to room temperature.. It is important to make sure butter is not warm when you add the softened butter.

4. Add butter a little at a time while beating on medium-low speed. You may switch to paddle attachment if you wish but I prefer having less things to wash. Don't panic if it appears to split a little. just keep going and adding butter a little at a time.

5. After all the butter is added, add vanilla. Continue whipping but increase mixer speed to medium high and beat for another 2 minutes.

You may use the Earl Grey IMBC as it is. But I portioned out about half of the IMBC and added homemade salted caramel with the ratio of 

1:2 for salted caramel : Earl grey IMBC,

folded in some Earl grey tea leaves (about one teabag's worth) and crushed biscoff (about 30g). Do note that the ratios can be adjusted according to taste.

Sharing a picture of the assembled large base with a meringue tree before the tree gets hidden by the characters.

I hope this creation brought a smile to your face as it did for me and the recipient! 

Do check out my Instagram account at phay_shing for a more up-to-date view of my baking journey!

with love,
Phay Shing

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Totoro and Friends Chiffon Cakes

How high can you go? =p

Totoro and Friends Chiffon Cakes! 

Looking blur and cute <3 Hope this made u smile! =)

I have made a few versions of Totoro for friends in the past! This is my favorite version so far as it is so fat and cute!

With love,

Susanne

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Totoro and Friends Matcha Dark Chocolate Macaron Tree

My friend wanted to give a special gift for a Japanese girl's birthday. Anime themed macaron carousel was suggested but I thought why not put a fun twist to my macaron carousel and change it into something livelier 😉.

Totoro and friends around a tree!

Of all the animes, I chose Totoro because although I watched the movie years ago, I remember it being magical and full of charming Japanese folklore. Quite a timeless classic from Studio Ghibli. We decided on Matcha and dark chocolate flavours, something Japanese. Immediately, I thought the tree has to be the centerpiece of the "carousel" and got pretty much excited and carried away by my imagination 😆.

I couldn't resist adding an element of fun behind the main characters as well 😆. I have to thank hubby for this whimsical and brilliant suggestion

I used the Swiss meringue method to make these macarons. I made them concurrently with unicorn Pusheen macarons (will post in the near future). I am so comfortable with this Swiss method that I am honestly a little reluctant to go back to Italian method, which was my default method when I first started macaron making 😅. Just to share some photos...

Piping the macaron shells. 

You may refer to my macaron books, Macarons and Macaron Basics for more details on the techniques involved in piping and baking macaron shells such as these. I also have various video tutorials on the blog that you may refer to.

I decorated the shells with royal icing and edible paint (gel food colouring mixed with a little vodka).

I dissolved some gel food colouring in vodka to paint the shells for tree foliage to create a slight ombre green effect.

Filling the shells

I used a combination of dark chocolate ganache and matcha white chocolate ganache, both are whipped for a lighter texture. I used less cream than the original recipe to create a firmer ganache for a structure such as the tree. 

I was really charmed by how the assembled base and tree look!

You may wonder how I assembled this in warm Singapore without a heart attack from fear that things would collapse. I used wooden skewers to support the trunk of the tree as well as the larger characters on the display. Although the idea of this macaron tree is a simple one, I must stress that the macaron shells have to be well made for you to pull this off as it's a top heavy structure, so from an engineering point of view, it is unstable.

I hope this creation charmed you as much as it did for those who saw it :).

With love,
Phay Shing

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3D Totoro Chiffon Cake

Cute Totoro Chiffon Cake! I hope I captured his innocent, sweet expression well! =p
Briefly, I baked a Bamboo Charcoal Chiffon Cake in a big ball pan and small bowl. The arms and legs are from cake pops from cake pop molds. I joined everything up using melted marshmallows/chocolate. For the white patch, I had reserved 10 tsp plain batter and spooned it into one side of the pan. I made this for a very sweet mother (made it last week during Mother's day but I was too busy to post =p). Wishing everyone a Totoro-rific week ahead! =)

With love,
Susanne

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Totoro and friends Chiffon Cake!

As I'm writing this, the song "Totoro, totoro" rings in my head! I’m a huge fan of Japanese anime thus was really happy when I got a request for Totoro! It's been my dream to make Naruto or One Piece hehe. He wanted not one but all 3 Totoro for his wife and requested for standing configuration (else I wouldn’t be so adventurous!). So here is my valiant attempt =).

The big Totoro is made of charcoal and matcha chiffon cake from an oval bowl, the medium and chibi Totoro from chiffon cake in an egg shell and cake pop respectively. The base cake is pandan chiffon cake on top with blue pea flowers/vanilla chiffon cake below. I was trying to recreate Totoro sitting on a cluster of trees.

Thank God it was well-received! The wife almost couldn’t bear to cut it! =)

With lots of love,
Susanne

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Totoro Assorted Macarons

I made this set of Totoro macarons because I have always wanted to make a set of them :). Finally macarons that I choose to make :p.

A better view of the feet!

I didn't make that many as I was working on other macarons at the same time but I will just type out the ingredients for making a larger batch of each type of shells for your reference. I used natural ingredients to colour the shells as far as possible. Do checkout my first ever video tutorial for making macarons! Includes videos of macaronage and how to test to see if your batter is ready.

Ingredients:
200g superfine ground almonds/almond meal
200g icing sugar
200g caster sugar
75g water
160g egg whites, divide into one 80g portion and three 26g portions
1/2 tbs dried blue pea flowers (optional)
3/4 tsp charcoal powder
3/4 tsp cocoa powder
A drop of royal blue gel food colouring
1/8 tsp white powder food colouring (optional)

Steps:
1. Prepare templates and place under baking sheet on a baking tray. Steep blue pea flowers in one 26g egg white portion for an hour. Remove the flowers and add extra egg white to make it 26g again. If you find this too troublesome, just stick with using gel food colouring.

2. In three separate bowls, sift together almond, icing sugar and any other powdered form of color/ favour. Charcoal and cocoa powder for grey and white powder for white shells.

3. Add egg whites to the sifted dry ingredients to form a mass.

As you can see, the mass coloured with blue pea flowers is dull coloured so some artificial colouring is needed.

4. Make the Italian meringue. Heat caster sugar and water in a small saucepan until 115°C. As the syrup is being heated up, beat 80g of egg whites in a clean metal bowl until soft peaks form. Make sure you don't beat past the soft peak stage. Reduce mixer speed if necessary to keep egg whites moving. Once the syrup reaches 115°C, take it off the heat, turn mixer speed to high and slowly pour the syrup into the egg whites, taking care to avoid the beaters. Keep beating on high for 10-12 minutes until the meringue is stiff, glossy and cool. Leave about 1/4 cup of meringue unused. You may use this excess to help to hold the baking sheet down to the baking tray.

5. Fold the meringue into the masses in two additions with a spatula, with about 1/3 of the portion for the first addition to lighten up the batter. Use the fold and press motion to fold in the meringue. Once no trace of meringue can be seen, start testing the consistency of the batter to see if it is ready. It should be slightly underfolded as a non-round shape is piped here. Keep folding until the batter moves in a slow lava-like manner but falls off the spatula in a slightly discontinuous way.

6. Transfer the batter into piping bag fitted with a Wilton #12 round tip for grey and blue shells, #10 tip for white shell. Pipe the ears using Wilton #5 tip and pull it until it is more pointy with a toothpick. Tap the tray hard on the table a few times to release trapped air bubbles. Let the blue and grey shells dry for about 15 minutes before piping on the white patch and the arms. Use a toothpick to add on the blue/grey ticks on the body. Dry the completed shells in aircon room for 1.5-2 hours or until it is no longer tacky to touch when you run a finger across the shell.

Completely piped shells

7. Bake the small white shells at 120-130°C for 17-20 minutes at the lowest rack in the oven, rotating the tray halfway through baking. Bake the blue shells for about 18-22 minutes at 130°C and the grey shells for 20-23 minutes at 130°C. Note that temperature and time is a gauge. Every oven behaves differently. You should be able to lift the shells off easily if it is done. Cool the shells on the tray for 5-10 minutes before removing them. I have different baking times for different shells as I made them of different sizes. You may check out this post for more details on how to make sure your shells are baked through without browning in my comments.

I used royal icing to add on the eyes, nose, whiskers and leaf. Use very stiff royal icing (by adding more icing sugar until you get the right consistency) for the leaf so that the stem is able to stick out.

Wait for the icing to dry completely before filling the shells. I filled them with whatever filling I had on hand from my other macaron bakes (Yes, bakes! I also made soccerballs, snowflakes, a few bears, Mickey Mouse, car tyres and Lightning Mcqueen!)

Filled some with strawberry swiss meringue buttercream

Filled others with dark chocolate

Store the filled shells in the fridge for at least 24h before serving.

With love,
Phay Shing

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