Baking Macarons

I signed up for a macaron baking class via Groupon and went for the session last night. This would be my first attempt at baking macarons, so the instructor gave us step by step instructions.

First, beat the egg white and castor sugar until it is thick like a merengue.

 The egg white (left) must be pure - no traces of egg yolk, no butter, nothing is to be mixed inside

 

 The egg white and sugar should be whisked until there is a lump of white cream

 

After whisking the egg white and sugar combination, mix the ground almond with icing sugar, and then sift out the fine particles.

 



 Almond and icing sugar mix

 

 Sifting the almond and icing sugar mix

 

Next, mix the sifted mixture into the egg white and sugar cream, folding in properly until a runny liquid is formed.

 



 After folding in the almond and sugar mixture with the egg white and sugar mixture

 

Add one drop of food colouring. Pour into piping plastic and then pipe onto a tray or onto moulds with various shapes.

 

 I kind of like this shape actually!

 

After piping, the moulds have to be left out at room temperature to set for around half an hour. After that, put into the oven to bake for twenty minutes. The oven should be pre-heated to 150 degree celsius first.

 



 Macarons fresh out of the oven

 

After the macarons were taken out of the oven, turn them over and pipe them with either chcolate cream, butter cream, or chocolate spread, before placing the other half on top. The macarons are ready to be served.

 



Completed macarons

The Different Chocolate Cakes

I had another chocolate day today, baking specialised chocolate cakes! First up was the Rich Chocolate Truffle Cake. It is a normal sponge cake filled with mixed nuts and rich chocolate paste, topped with sticky gooey chocolate! A heavenly treat for me!

The cake has to be kept in the freezer for about six hours before it can harden and be ready to served. At the time I took the photo, the cake was only frozen for two hours, which explains why it was still messy and wet. But the chocolate is really delicious indeed! :-)

Completed Rich Chocolate Truffle Cake

The next cake we made was the Chocolate Cheesecake. We had to make a sponge cake from scratch, fill it with cream cheese batter, then cover it with the remaining cream cheese batter. Splatter almond bits at the side, whipped cream on top, chocolate decorations and mixed nuts, and it is ready to serve.

Chocolate Cheesecake with Decorations

I am going to try to create this for my friend's housewarming this week. Hopefully she and her husband will like it!

Christmas Cupcakes

I had a real fun baking session today. After the stuffed turkey session, there was a series of cupcakes session. We made three types of Christmas cupcakes, namely the Red Velvet Cupcakes, Christmas Fruit Cupcakes and Hummingbird Cupcakes.

The Red Velvet Cupcakes were made using red food colouring. It is not just normal red, but real crimson dark red, so when the cupcakes came out of the oven, they looked really red. However, after they were covered with frosting and marzipan snowmen, they looked just perfect!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Completed Red Velvet Cupcakes with Marzipan Snowmen, Mint Leaves and small Cherries

The next cupcake, Christmas Fruit Cupcake, was made using crushed nuts and mixed fruit, decorated with frosting and Christmas mint leaves and small cherries.

Christmas Fruit Cupcake

Completed Christmas Fruit Cupcake with Mint Leaves and Cherries

The last cupcake we made were Hummingbird Cupcakes, so called because the ingredients used were pineapple and banana, which are the two fruit which hummingbirds like. The cupcake turned out looking yellowish as well. Unfortunately, we forgot to put in baking powder, so the cupcake turned out looking flatter than others.

Hummingbird Cupcake

We decorated the cupcake with Royal Icing, then put in food colouring into gelatine to make a Santa Claus decoration, using chocolate bits for eyes and whipped cream for the beard. The final product turns out looking like Santa Claus!

Completed Hummingbird Cupcake

Christmas Baking

I went for a special Christmas baking workshop earlier on. We made Christmas Tiramisu Wonderland Cake and a Christmas Log Cake. Finally, I got to find out how a log cake is being made, although of course mine does not really look like a log cake, as can be seen from the picture. :-p

At least the Tiramisu cake turned out looking like one, but since it is in the fridge as at the time of this entry, I have no idea how it tastes like. I hope it tastes good though!

The Tiramisu cake was made using the original recipe of rum, tiramisu fingers and freezing of the batter, instead of baking. Once the cake has hardened, remove it from the freezer then sprinkle cocoa powder on top of it. Splatter with chocolate bits at the side. No wonder Tramisu cakes all taste of bitter chocolate, because of the cocoa powder!

Christmas Tiramisu Wonderland Cake

The next cake we made was the Christmas Log Cake. The log cake was originally made using a square sponge cake. The batter consists of melted chocolate and cream cheese. Once the sponge cake has been baked, splatter the batter on half of the cake, then roll it into a Swiss roll.

Cut off a bit of the cake at the end, then attach the bit to the middle to make it look like a log. Splatter with icing all over to attach the two parts together, then draw lines using a fork. Decorate with Christmas decorative bits and it is ready to be served.

Christmas Log Cake

Variety Of Cake Baking

I had a very enjoyable time at a chocolate cake making workshop yesterday. The recipes ranged from simple cake making to more advanced cake decoration. All in all, we made three cakes (two required baking, one did not) and some muffins. This time I managed to take some photos of my "creation"!

We started off with muffin making. Besides the normal ingredients for muffins, the recipe also include melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder to give a chocolatey feel and taste. Once the muffins are ready, cut a hollow bit off the centre and fill it with melted chocolate paste. Cover up the hollow and leave to cool. Decorate with whipped cream and top it with cherries, Chocolate decorations or sprinkle with hundreds and thousands as desired.

Muffins with cherry, hundreds and thousands and Malteser.

The next recipe was on American Chocolate Carrot Cake. It is a normal carrot cake with chocolate filling, covered with the layer of frosting on top, and sprinkled with white chocolate cut into little bits. I must say I am rather proud the cake turned out looking almost perfect!

American Chocolate Carrot Cake (Side View)

Completed American Chocolate Carrot Cake
(topped with chopped white chocolate)

Next recipe was on non-baked cheesecake - the Rich Chocolate Mars Cheesecake. It is non-baked as it requires freezing to harden the cake. There are two kinds of fillings - one cheese feeling and the other chocolate filling. The cheese filling is made of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and the chocolate filling is made of cocoa powder and chopped Mars bars.

There are two layers to this cake. The first layer is made of crushed Digestive biscuits as the base, added with cocoa powder and melted butter. Then the cheese filling is poured over it until the pan is about two-thirds full. After that, the cake is put into the freezer to harden. Top it off with a layer of melted chocolate before putting it back into the freezer. Freeze for twenty-four hours or so before serving.

Rich Chocolate Mars Cheesecake

The last cake was the Chocolate Celebration Cake, consisting of a layered sponge cake with decorations and garnishings. The sponge cake consists of four layers, like a marble cake. The first layer is also a cheese filling (filled with crushed nuts and mixed fruit), second layer cocoa filling, and so on until the round tin is two-thirds full. The top layer is the cocoa filling.

Next, we made whipped cream filled with chocolate paste as icing to put on top of the cake. Spread the icing evenly on top and at the sides. Decorate the sides with chocolate rice or chopped milk chocolate.

After that, melt some chocolate, put on top of a plastic bag on a tray, smooth the chocolate over the bag, leave it to cool for a while before putting it in the freezer to harden the melted chocolate. Once the chocolate is hardened, cut it into triangles or any other decorative shapes as desired.

Chocolate Decorations
(made from hardened melted chocolate)

Place the chocolate decorations on top of the sponge cake. Garnish with whipped cream, hundreds and thousands, chocolate rice, chocolate bits and cherries if desired. Ready to serve.

Completed Chocolate Celebration Cake

Durian Cake Making

I went for two durian cake-making workshops on Friday night and Saturday morning. These workshops are interesting as the cakes are to be chilled, hence no oven baking is involved. Cool! Then I can finally make a cake without having to go through any oven!

Not using an oven means the steps are so much simpler and easier. All you need to do is to mix the ingredients together, whisk all together, then put in the fridge and let the cream settle. The tip is to use durians that are in season, so the fruit itself is softer and more aromatic. Also, remove all the seeds, crush the flesh and freeze the durians before mixing them into the cake ingredients.

I went home smelling like a big durian! But the efforts are paid off though, especially when people who ate the cakes all gave positive comments! I shall try out the recipe on my own one of these days and see if I can do it just as well!

Foundation Cake-Making

I went for another baking class today, this time the Foundation Cake-Making workshop. It was an intensive workshop on the basic skills and tips of making a cake, as well as hands-on practice on six types of cakes, namely Vanilla Chiffon Cake, Swiss Roll, Brownies, Butter (Marble) Cake, Banana Cake and the classic Victoria Jam Sandwich.

Just a pity I did not manage to take any photos this time, but at least I picked up very good tips on baking cakes and mixing ingredients. For instance, when the ingredients call for separating the egg whites from the egg yolks, the egg whites must be separated thoroughly from the yolks. No trace of yolks should be in the whites. Further more, the whites should be put in a dry bowl, and whisked with a dry whisk.

The egg should not even be washed under a running tap. If any form of moisture gets into the egg white, the product will not be fluffy after whisking/ The whisked product will remain watery and frothy, instead of white and fluffy, and the cake will sink instead of rise. On the other hand, it does not matter even if a bit of egg white gets into the yolk, as there will not be any reaction whatsoever.

How to determine is the whisked mixture is fine? Besides being white and fluffy, the mixture should not drop out even after we turn the bowl upside down. Our instructor cautioned us from doing that though, as she said if we are not used to baking, better not turn the bowl over as the mixture may just drop out.

What amazes me about baking is that the finished product comes out totally different from what it was before it got sent to the oven. Imagine a mixture of gooey eggs, butter and flour can turn into something so appetising and delicious. Which is why I enjoy baking more than cooking, because in cooking, there is not much difference between the cooked and uncooked product (save that the cooked product can be eaten). In baking, the batter can be eaten too, but the finished product turns out so much better. And in that, I feel a higher sense of achievement.

Cupcake Making

I have always loved baking, ever since my Home Economics class back in school when I baked a birthday cake for a friend. However, I have not baked for a very long time because none of my family members bake, so we do not have the necessary utensils for baking. I do not even have an oven at home, only a microwave.

Then, I came across this website that teaches people how to bake. Since I always wanted to start baking again, what better way to refresh what I know and do what I like at the same time? So I signed up for a Foundation Birthday Cupcakes Workshop earlier today. The workshop includes how to make Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes, Vanilla Cupcakes, Chocolate Cupcakes and the various flavoured frosting, as well as recipes and tips on baking.

I have not done this for a very long time, so I was a bit behind on the technology of baking utensils. Where I used to whisk the batter manually, now there is the high-power electronic whisk that takes only a fraction of the time and makes the batter better. Amazing! I always want my own place in the future to have the best baking utensils and products so I can bake cookies and cake every weekend!

Anyway, after the cupcakes and frosting have been made, we decorated the cupcakes with the frosting and decorative sugar animals and flowers. Here are the final products which I decorated.

Top row, from left : Vanilla Cupcake with Strawberry Frosting, M&Ms and blue sugar bear, Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting and pink sugar rose, Chocolate Cupcake with Orange Frosting and Hershey's Chocolate pieces

Middle row, from left : Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting, Sugar berries and red sugar rose, Healthy Chocolate Cupcake with Strawberry Frosting, sugar stars and orange sugar bear, Healthy Chocolate Cupcake with Lemon Frosting, M&Ms and lavendar sugar rose

Bottom row, from left : Vanilla Cupcake with Pandan Frosting, M&Ms and red sugar rose, Healthy Chocolate Cupcake with Pandan Frosting, M&Ms and pink sugar rose, Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting and orange sugar rose