"Happy Guinea Pig Village" Macarons

 I have a set of really cute guinea pig magnets that I have been wanting to create a bake with for some time. I finally had the bandwidth to play around with it and this was what I made!

Guinea pig macarons filled with smooth Biscoff spread and Nutella dark chocolate, along with a couple of 3D coffee macaron basket weave tunnels!

This project took place during a particularly rainy and humid spell so it was a little challenging to manage although making sure that the meringue was really stiff enough helped the batter to stay stable for a longer time.

I share the process of making the 3D tunnels along with some tips over here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVhaegjkrXw/?igsh=Z21sN3UwcXRkbm05

Some photos of the process of making the 3D basket weave tunnel...

Freshly piped before transferring to the homemade foil arch

Transferred piped batter onto foil arch 

Baked coffee macaron tunnels!

I shared the process of making the guinea pig macarons along with some technical tips of working in humid conditions over here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVpI4G-kj3p/?igsh=ZTZtMTQ1ZjEwNGJw

Some photos of the process of making the guinea pig macarons...

Freshly baked macaron shells along with the original magnet references

Check out the awesome feet on the shells!

I added in the details with gel food coloring and edible black marker.

It's the first time I am testing out using gel food colouring instead of cake paint after a long time because it didn't work for me in the long past but since it works for some macaron bakers, I thought of giving it a shot again. It takes a much longer time to dry than cake paint but it still works.

Filling with Biscoff spread and Nutella dark chocolate

I used my default Swiss meringue method recipe for both guinea pigs and tunnels but for the tunnel, I used the variation of the recipe where all the egg whites are used for making the Swiss meringue and folded until dry ingredients are just combined with the meringue.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Ruan Mei Caramel Coffee Biscoff Ice-Cream Cake

My elder boy gave me this brief for his birthday bake this year:

Ruan Mei from Honkai: Star Rail (just because she's an expert in biological sciences), microscope, bee, DNA, leaves, caramel, coffee, ice-cream cake

I could drop any detail if I wished. This was what I came up with!

Composition:

- Coffee patterned and painted chiffon sponge

- Caramel coffee homemade no-churn ice-cream 

- Crunchy Biscoff spread

I took the liberty of including the crunchy Biscoff to give a light crunch in the texture as well as including something complementary in flavour to caramel and coffee.

Here's a peek at a slice!

I had enough ingredients to make a simple non-patterned version too!

The detailed recipe and video of the process can be found in the reel here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRehyHOkuDf/?igsh=MXV3M2NjcmQ0OG1tYw==

I will share the ingredient list for your convenience in this post.

Caramel Coffee Biscoff Ice-Cream Cake

(makes about two 4" ice-cream cakes)

Coffee Chiffon Sponge (10x12" tray):

30g oil

45g concentrated coffee/coffee milk*

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

54g cake flour, sifted

1/8 tsp salt

3 large eggs (about 65g with shell), separated

1/4 tsp cream of tartar/lemon juice

45g caster sugar

* You may brew concentrated coffee/espresso for this or do what I did, dissolve 2g instant coffee granules in 43g hot milk. I used Mount Hagen instant coffee as it tastes great.

Caramel Coffee Ice-Cream (no-churn):

100g caster/granulated sugar

10g light corn syrup

20g water 

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

120g milk

1/8 tsp kosher or 1/16 tsp fine salt

180g whipping cream of choice*

30g strong coffee/espresso**, chilled 

3-5g gelatin***

* I used 60g non-dairy mixed with 120g heavy cream.

** I dissolved 3g instant coffee in 27g hot water before chilling it.

*** You may omit if you wish, especially if you have an ice-cream maker to churn. Adding gelatin without the ice-cream maker helps to prevent the ice-cream from becoming icy and rock hard when frozen, as well as prevents the ice-cream from melting into a puddle quickly in tropical Singapore.

I know many no-churn ice-cream recipes make use of condensed milk as an essential ingredient. Personally I don't like to use it as the condensed milk flavour and sweetness comes through too strongly for me. I prefer the taste of old-fashioned custard based formulations where the intended ice-cream flavours take the center stage.

Here are some photos of the process...

Patterned coffee chiffon sponge before adding in the details 

Painted chiffon sponge. I cut this smaller to fit the 4" cake ring after painting

The birthday boy loved the cake, both for it's looks and taste!

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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Sea Otter Mocha Macaron Class

Do you love sea otters? Come and join me for this macaron class if you do!

The macaron shells are flavoured/coloured with coffee and cocoa powder, and the fillings are coffee vanilla white chocolate ganache, dark chocolate ganache and toasted chopped pecans. Here's a closer look at the fillings!

I will focus on techniques of achieving success in macaron making in Singapore's tropical climate so be assured that the tips that I share in this studio class are practical and useful. The fillings are all dairy-free and firm enough to hold up in non aircon conditions in Singapore so it's practical for gifting without worry about the fillings melting into a puddle or spoiling quickly due to the heat. I use decaf coffee so it's suitable for kids and non coffee drinkers too.

Not only are the macarons visually pleasing outside. The insides are beautifully full too!

A peek at the macaron shells before I added in the faces.

Please click on the link below to register for this studio class.

https://shop.redmanshop.com/collections/classes/products/sea-otter-mocha-macaron-class-phytsv00002?_pos=2&_fid=d5b32cb66&_ss=c

You get to enjoy a 15% discount for the sea otter marshmallow class if you sign up for both macaron and marshmallow classes. The link for the marshmallow class can be found in Redman's website above. Feel free to contact Redman directly if you have more queries about registration.

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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"Peppy In Space" Coffee Chocolate Hazelnut Marshmallow Cakepop on Lavender Honey Lemon Cake

 My elder kid requested for Peppy this year as the subject of his birthday bake so I made these!

Composition:

- Peppy as coffee cinnamon vanilla marshmallow coated chocolate hazelnut cakes 

- Lavender lemon honey butter cakes frosted with lemon ganache that's partially naturally coloured with blue pea flower. The acidity from lemon juice turns the ganache a little purplish but I needed to add a teeny bit of gel colouring to enhance the vibrancy. Tried to go for a subtle space theme since Peppy is a space dog

So glad that the cakes tasted great according to my elder kid who is a Star Rail fan. I nearly died piping some of the main characters in marshmallow form last year so I decided to go for something with a lot less details but a lot yummier since there's cake inside and the marshmallow is flavoured 🤭. Peppy is Asta's adorable pet dog. 

I used the same recipe for making Christmas bear with present for making Peppy because I didn't have to add any extra artificial colouring for Peppy's fur colour. I have an online class for it if you are interested in the recipe and visuals for making it. Click here if you are.

 Here's a closer look at Peppy...

Look at the tempting cross-section!

Here's a look at the marshmallows before dusting.

The piping video tutorial can be found in this reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC1M-EJSptu/?igsh=MW9lZmJ6bzdjbmR5eg==

Here's a look at the cut cross section of the cake...

A closer look at the slightly messy cut slice 🤭

It's yummy though with a nice mix of lavender fragrance, sweetness and tanginess from the lemon

A view of assembling neat layers with the help of acetate sheet.

A view of the mini cakes before putting Peppy on top!

I made the lavender honey lemon butter cake earlier this year and my elder kid loved it so much he requested it for his birthday. You may refer to this post for the recipe. I replaced the cream with lemon juice/lavender tea coloured with blue pea flower for the ganache and reduced the overall liquid: white chocolate ratio to make it a suitable consistency for frosting cake.

Here's the video of assembling the layered cake!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEW_wKRShsb/?igsh=bjJ5dnprY3VibHB4

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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Christmas Bear with Present Marshmallow Class

 This marshmallow creation not only looks good. It tastes great and is suitable as a cute festive gift!

The bears are made of coffee cinnamon vanilla marshmallows with no additional colouring added for the bear. The present is cinnamon vanilla coated chocolate hazelnut cake.

I have online and studio class versions for this. All studio participants get to have access to online class material at no extra charge. This is my first online/studio class introducing meringue powder as egg white replacement for my marshmallow class so some of you may be interested to know. I show you how to adjust the consistency of the marshmallow batter for different applications as well as how to create marshmallow coated cake.

Here's the link for studio class:

https://www.bakersgym.com/service-page/christmas-bear-with-present-marshmallow?referral=service_list_widget&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaasNoqnb7muxdo7SII0nyvq7FKWohWeUlIGnUO1POjsO6Sqo5ZuDXZJw4Q_aem_RmLBV2aZMBS5o8RbELrZWQ

Here's the link for online class:

https://www.bakersgym.com/product-page/online-classes-christmas-bear-with-present-marshmallow-ready-by-7-dec?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaY8cDqa4116v-JtSiS2Kum3Pnjx5dULRJm_wgMQEPAnRsBwpjVrObJ04AA_aem_5pq0XX0BcHL7qWlwJ5h3sg

There's no expiry date for the online class version so you may refer to it at your own pace. The videos are in shorter segments to make it easier to follow.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Diabetic-Friendly Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake with Marshmallow Flowers

 I decided to make a simple cake that is assembled in a container for mum's birthday because this bake happened towards the tail end of my preparation for Deco Marshmallows' photoshoot.

The cake is a coffee chiffon sponge with thin layers of maple dark chocolate ganache and chopped toasted hazelnut, pumpkin spice diplomat cream and coffee jelly. I tried to make the components as diabetic-friendly as possible but had to use some maple syrup and Maltitol as Allulose alone doesn't taste as good. Maltitol is a sugar replacement often used as a sweetener for sugar-free chocolate but still contributes to glycemic index. Maple syrup is a tasty refined sugar-free syrup substitute that has a low GI. Why this choice of flavour combination? Because I have leftover pumpkin puree from making an entry in my marshmallow book 😆. 

The florals are made of agar-based marshmallows. I used apple or pumpkin puree for them. The yellow roses are naturally coloured from pumpkin and are made sugar-free. The other florals and leaves were extras I kept from making for the book.

I will share the detailed recipe for the four components of the cake. Feel free to vary the ratio of components during assembly according to taste. You may assemble in smaller cups too for individual sized treats! Freeze the whole thing and it's an ice-cream cake! Diplomat cream frozen is like ice-cream 😋

Sugar-free coffee chiffon sponge 

(10 x12" sheet cake)

Egg yolk batter

3 egg yolks

10g maple syrup (replace with zero calorie sugar replacements for totally sugar-free sponge)

30g vegetable oil

20g fresh milk, warmed (increase to 30g if using dry sugar replacements)

6g instant coffee
1tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

45g cake flour

Meringue

3 egg whites

20g Inulin or Alchemy fibre

50g Allulose

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Steps:

1. Line 10 x 12 tray with Teflon sheet or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 170C (top and bottom heat only). Dissolve instant coffee in warm milk. Add vanilla and salt to the mixture and set aside.

2. Make egg yolk batter. Whisk egg yolks with maple syrup until thick and pale. Add oil and whisk until well combined. Add coffee milk and whish until well combined. Gradually sift in flour and whisk until no trace of flour is seen.

3. Make the meringue. In a small bowl, whisk together Allulose and Inulin. Set aside. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add sugar and beat until firm peaks. Use medium speed to beat to build up the meringue slowly for a more stable meringue and finer air bubbles. Make sure you are able to consistently get firm peaks before you stop beating to ensure meringue is sufficiently firm.

4. Gently but quickly fold meringue into egg yolk batter in three additions until no trace of meringue is seen. Pour into prepared tray.

5. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Immediately flip onto fresh parchment paper and cool completely covered with another parchment. 

Sugar-free pumpkin spice diplomat cream

1 egg yolk

20g Allulose (or sugar of choice, quantity according to taste)

Pinch of salt

9g cornstarch

100g milk

150g pumpkin puree, sieved*

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp Pumpkin spice**

100g whipping cream of choice***

* Bake pumpkin until softened and press through a fine sieve to get the puree. If your puree is very wet, you may reduce it over low heat if you wish. I didn't want to be too heavy handed with the spice component so adjust quantity according to taste.

** I didn't have pumpkin spice mix so I used what I have at home, which was 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ginger and 1/8 tsp Allspice

*** You may use dairy or non dairy, add sugar or omit it according to taste and type of cream. Pumpkin is naturally sweet. I used a pre-sweetened non-dairy whipping cream. You may use Everwhip for a sugar-free dairy-free whipping cream that is pre-sweetened with sugar replacements.

Steps:

1. Heat pumpkin puree, milk, pumpkin spice and vanilla in saucepan until steaming hot (not boiling).

2. In the meantime, whisk together egg yolk, Allulose, salt and cornstarch until smooth in a heatproof heavy bowl or glass jug. 

3. Pour hot pumpkin milk in a thin stream into the egg yolk mixture while whisking the egg yolk mixture continuously. Pour everything back into saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat while whisking continuously. Once mixture starts to thicken and bubble, whisk for another 1 minute before removing from heat.

4. Transfer into a bowl and press cling wrap on the surface. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

5. When ready to assemble the cake, whip whipping cream of choice to firm peaks. Briefly whisk pumpkin spice pastry cream to loosen it. Fold whipped cream into pastry cream in a few batches. Transfer into piping bag with a hole cut.

Sugar-free coffee jelly
(set in lined 7x7" tray)

16g gelatin sheets

120g ice water

4g instant coffee

120g hot water

20g Maltitol (or sugar of choice, according to taste)

Steps:

1. Soak gelatin sheets in ice water in a microwave-safe bowl. Set aside.

2. Dissolve Maltitol and instant coffee in hot water. 

3. Microwave bloomed gelatin to melt it using medium power for 10 seconds. Stir and repeat heating if necessary. 

4. Add coffee to melted gelatin and stir until well mixed. Pour into prepared tray. Refrigerate until firmly set. Cut into squares or small pieces, place on a lined tray and refrigerate.

Maple dark chocolate ganache with toasted hazelnuts

90-100g chopped toasted hazelnuts

50g no sugar added chocolate (I used the ones from Pascha)

60g heavy cream

30-40g Maltitol

25g maple syrup

Pinch of salt

20g unsalted butter, softened

Note: If you are using pre-sweetened chocolate, omit the Maltitol. Use dark chocolate if possible so it doesn't end up too sweet. You may use more chocolate as well if not using unsweetened chocolate due to the difference in fat content.

1. Place chocolate, finely chopped or use chips in a heatproof bowl.

2. Heat cream, maple syrup, Maltitol and salt in a saucepan. Stir until sugar and salt dissolves and mixture just starts to bubble a little at the edges. 

3. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and let it sit for a minute. Stir in one direction gently until chocolate is melted and smooth.

4. Add softened butter and mix well. Add hazelnuts and mix well.

Assembly

1. Line base container with sponge (cut to size of container). Brush with diluted maple syrup (hot water : maple syrup, 1:1)

2. Cover with thin layer of diplomat cream before coating with a thin layer of chocolate hazelnut. Coat with another thin layer of diplomat cream.

3. Line the sides of the container with coffee jelly. 

4. Fill up the middle of the cake with more cream and coffee jelly. 

Refrigerate for 5 minutes. 

5. Spread a thin layer of chocolate hazelnut.  Top of with some diplomat cream. 

6. Brush another layer of cut sponge with diluted maple syrup and place the sponge syrup down on the cake. Brush the top of the sponge with more maple syrup if you wish. Decorate the top circumference with some coffee bean shaped  chocolates.

Here's a peek at a cut slice! Pardon the messy cut!

My family enjoyed the cake even though it was after a buffet meal and it was a flavour that is not commonly found here❤️.

with lots of love,
Phay Shing

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'Milk and Mocha Bear' Brown Butter Chiffon Cake with Mocha Jelly

 Here's the cake that my Milk and Mocha bear plushiemallows landed on! 

The little pink hearts are marshmallows too!

I settled on making a butter chiffon cake because the thought of having a heavy, rich butter cake after a heavy birthday celebration meal just doesn't go down well. But to incorporate that buttery aroma without the heaviness on the stomach, I decided to use brown butter instead of regular butter. The middle of the cake is filled with delicious mocha jelly too to complement the butter sponge 😊.

Brown butter chiffon cake

Butter chiffon cake recipe is adapted from Apron's Youtube video. I took the liberty of using browned butter and brushing on some browned butter after baking to impart a stronger and richer butter aroma, while retaining the light chiffon cake texture. The eggs I used were smaller than Apron's.

Ingredients (for one 15cm and one 17cm tube pans):

Egg yolk batter
7 egg yolks

140g milk

105g brown butter*

200g cake flour

10g cornflour

1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt

1 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur (may replace with vanilla extract)

Meringue

7 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

150g caster sugar

* Start off with more butter than you need to make brown butter as the water content evaporates off as you cook the butter. I use more butter too as the excess can be used to brush the baked cakes for an even more buttery flavour. I used about 180g of unsalted butter to make the brown butter. There may be leftovers after brushing the cakes.  You may refer to this post on how to make brown butter.

Scale down to 4 egg portion recipe for 17cm chiffon tin if using smaller eggs, and 3 egg portion recipe for 15cm chiffon tin. If using jumbo eggs, use 3 egg portion recipe for 17cm chiffon tin and 2 egg portion recipe for 15cm chiffon tin.

Steps:

1. Prepare brown butter and add to milk. 

2. Preheat oven to 170C, top and bottom heat only. I placed a tray of water at oven base to steam bake but you may leave it out.

3. Make egg yolk batter. Whisk egg yolks until smooth, pale and thick. Gradually add butter-milk mixture and whisk until well combined. Add salt and coffee liqueur or vanilla and whisk until combined. Gradually sift in flours and whisk until no trace of flour is seen.

4. Prepare meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks or just reach stiff peak, gradually adding sugar once egg whites are foamy. Use medium speed to slowly build up the meringue.

5. Quickly but gently fold meringue into yolk batter in three additions. Pour into chiffon tins. 

6. Bake for 15min. Reduce temperature to 150C and bake for another 45min. If skewer doesn't come out clean, bake for another 10-20min at 140C. Steam baking extends the baking time needed. Note that each oven is different so adjust

baking temperature and time accordingly. Invert immediately to cool completely before unmoulding by hand. Store in airtight container until ready to assemble or consume.

Dark chocolate ganache

This was applied to the inner cylindrical walls of the chiffon cake to act as a barrier for the mocha jelly.

Ingredients:

50g dark chocolate couverture

15g milk

Steps:

1. Heat chocolate and milk in microwave oven until warm. 

2. Leave it to sit a minute before stirring in one direction until melted and smooth.

3. Coat the insides of the chiffon cakes using a small spatula. Reserve the extra ganache for making mocha jelly.

Mocha jelly

Ingredients:

50g ice cold water

9g fish gelatin powder (you may use sheets or bovine/porcine sources)

16g erythritol or caster sugar (adjust amount to taste)

140g hot water

1 tbs (4g) instant coffee powder

50g warm milk

Dark chocolate ganache leftover from previous part

Steps:

1. Bloom gelatin by scattering gelatin in ice water. Set aside for at least 10 min 

2. Dissolve instant coffee and sugar in hot water.

3. Add bloomed gelatin to the hot coffee. Stir to melt the gelatin. 

4. Add milk a little at a time to remaining ganache, stirring until well mixed with each addition. 

5. Gradually add the coffee mix to the ganache and stir to mix well with each addition. 

6. Pour mocha jelly into the cavities of the cakes. I topped it off with a thin layer of ganache (I made more) but it's not necessary. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until set.

Buffalo check patterned picnic mat and mocha decorations

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks

20g oil

30g milk

45g cake flour

white and teal gel food coloring

1/8 tsp coffee emulsion (emulco)

1/8 tsp chocolate emulsion

2 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

40g caster sugar

Steps:

Follow above but divide egg yolk batter and meringue into ratio of 1:1:2:2 for white: dark teal: light teal : mocha. Add chocolate and coffee emulcos for the mocha colour/flavour. 

Prepare one pan for the picnic mat and another pan for the mocha decorations. I prefer lining my trays with teflon sheets but you may use parchment paper too. 

As the cakes are very thin, bake for only 8-10min. Preheat oven to 180C but reduce temperature to 170C once tray is in. Use top and bottom heat without fan to bake.

Added a small dip of coffee emulco for dark teal to make it appear less neon bright.

Just to share some pictures...

Batter for the picnic mat. Note that it should be glossy, smooth and able to hold its shape.

Piped batter for picnic mat

Mocha decorations and picnic mat added to brown butter chiffon cake with mocha jelly!

Couldn't resist squishing the plushiemallows again!

As hubby came down with Covid the day before we were supposed to meet as a family for a birthday meal, I could only pass the cakes to my dad and he helped me take a photo of a slice of the cake. Both mum and dad said it is delicious!

I made another cake for my uncle too since he was the one who requested for butter cake but he just wanted plain sponge. I took the liberty of brushing his cake with more brown butter to impart more butter flavour.

Does this look inviting?

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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