A friend told me this is the latest “in” thing in town ==> the Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcake, and asked me to try making it. Out of curiosity, searched around, and saw from some bakery shops… Initially wasn’t that interested to try, because this is essentially a chiffon cake, baked in a muffin cup, and pumped in custard cream. But finally convinced it is going to be smooth, light… After procrastinating for a while, I finally baked this, THREE times. First was an instant success. Second, I under baked, the whole thing gone into drain. The third time, I nicely decorated and photographed for this post. LOL!

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Aiyu said the texture is very soft and fine, and she loves the custard. Isabel alone could eat at least 3 at one go. But Ian doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like anything that is light in color apart from cheesecakes. >_<

I actually copied the deco from De Pastry Chef. Well, of course, they use Cameron's strawberries, extremely tiny and I believe they quartered them, coz really REALLY THIN! Think mine looks better, hahaha, perasan!

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This is how fine the cake is… very soft and fluffy and fine texture…

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Inside, the surprise awaits — custard cream!

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Using IKEA’s green container (biggest one), I can fit 6 into it. So far this is the best container for me to keep my Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcake.

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HOKKAIDO CHIFFON CUPCAKE (Adapted from 周老師的美食教室)
Cake Ingredients
5 egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
40g vegetable oil
40g milk
Some vanilla essence (optional)
50g low protein flour (sieved)
1/4 tsp baking powder (sieved together with flour)

5 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tatar
85g castor sugar

Custard Cream Filling
120g whipping cream (heavy cream, diary)
25g instant custard powder
75g cold milk

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Mix egg yolks with salt. Add in oil and milk and mix well.
3. Add flour and baking powder and mix well.
4. In a clean mixer bowl, beat egg white with cream of tatar until foamy. Add sugar slowly and whip until stiff peak.
5. Fold 1/2 of the meringue (stiff egg white) into the egg yolk mixture, gently fold till well mixed.
6. Fold the remaining meringue into the mixture and gently mix well.
7. Pour into cups with approx 40g each (make approx 12 cups).
8. Bake at 170C for 20 minutes.
9. While baking, prepare custard. Whip up the cream. Mix custard powder in cold milk till custardy, and mix into the cream. Put into piping bag and set aside.
10. When cake is done, let cool completely before piping custard into the center (approx 16g each).

Note: The cake will rise very high, and then will collapse till ‘wrinkly’, that is completely alright. That’s why some regard this cake to be ugly but delicious (or fun?!).

Ever since the Puffilicious event at our church last Christmas, my children have developed new cravings for cream puffs. A store bought cream puff is so expensive, we have to be extremely careful in consumption. THAT is the main reason for me to try making this – nothing beats the demand from our own kids, right?

I’ve done some ‘researches’ on the web, apparently the pastry itself is called Choux Pastry. Most recipes use plain flour, but I’ve also found some pastry chef commented that a high-protein flour would yield better texture, so this recipe I’m going to share uses high protein flour, and the result is fantastic. I don’t know how true it is, but one of my friend said she has thought it was store bought, until I told her that I made them.

This recipe has been adapted from many MANY recipes that I’ve researched, until I can’t recall which sources that I took them from, so sorry for not able to link back.

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CREAM PUFF RECIPE

CHOUX PASTRY
Ingredients
1/2 cup milk (can be substitute with water only)
1/2 cup water
150g (or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt (omit if use salted butter)
1 cup high protein flour
4 large eggs

Method
1. Mix milk, water, butter and salt together in a saucer pan, heat to a rolling boil.
2. Reduce heat, add flour and mix well until well combined (texture is a little ball-like).
3. Remove from heat to cool. When cooled, beat with a mixer, add in eggs one at a time, until well combined.
4. Pre-heat oven to 200C.
5. Pipe the batter onto lined (but ungreased) baking sheet, about the size of between a round teaspoon to a round tablespoon, depending on your own preference (I prefer a mini type, each is a bite size so I go with the teaspoon size). Ensure around 2 inches apart.
6. Bake at 200C for approx 20 min, until puffed and golden brown.
7. Cool on a rack before piping in the cream custard.

CUSTARD FILLING
Ingredients
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar (adjust as you like)
3 cups milk
1 1/2 TBSP all purpose flour
1 1/2 TBSP corn flour
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method
1. Beat yolks and and sugar until whitish. Add in milk slowly while mixing, until all sugar is melted.
2. Mix in flour, corn flour and vanilla essence and mix well.
3. Over medium heat, mix the mixture until thickens and boils.
4. Cool and refrigerate before piping to the puff.

I really find this cream puff can be addictive. While piping it, I keep popping them into my mouth. Kids protests whenever they see me pop one into my mouth. Wahahahahaha! :p

This is another recipe I found from Pinterest, taken from a forum, which was originally labeled as 1 Minute “Clean” Berrylicious Microwave Minute Muffin. I’ve tried it and it needs a little adjustment on cook time. 1 minute would be too raw to my liking, whilst 2 min from the original ‘pinner’ makes the food to hard.

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From preparation to serving, it only takes approx 2 minutes. And I think it is more of a pudding than a muffin.
LOL!

2 MINUTE PUDDING BREAKFAST/ SNACK RECIPE
Ingredients
1/4 cups instant oats
1 egg
1 tsp brown sugar (I substitute with 2-3 tsp Agave Nectar or honey)
A dash of cinnamon powder
2 tsp milk (soy or fresh milk)
A handful of blueberries

Method
1. Mix all ingredients in a mug.
2. Cook in microwave, 1 min 30 sec.
3. Serve straight away, with fruits of your liking or just eat straight from mug (for lazy ppl like me!)

Happy snacking!

Last week, DH asked me to bake a birthday cake for SIL, for the celebration on Saturday. I wanted to try something new, but would like to stick to cheesecake because SIL really loves cheesecake. I wanted something not too jelak/rich, and finally decided on this Mango Cheesecake, adapted from Alex Goh’s recipe.

My decorating skill still needs to be brushed up a lot. I couldn’t roll mango slices like Alex Goh, they keep breaking up, so I finally adapted DH’s suggestion, not perfect but the result is satisfying.

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I was a little worried at first, coz the entire family (11 persons) is going to taste it, what if it tastes awful? LOL! After tasting it for the first bite, I know my worry is not necessary. This cake uses mango+lemon juice & rinds, which balances up the cheese’s very rich feeling. Mango and lemon both have nice fragrant, refreshing types of fragrant, so the cheesecake is not too rich/jelak at all! Some went for a second piece, and SIL brought back the balance 3 slices.

This is definitely a keeper and I am very likely to make it again this week, because I MISS IT!! I can’t believe today at lunch, I missed this cake terribly. After lunch, I greedily checked out the dessert bar, looking for something similar but disappointed, so I’m definitely going to make it. Hehe!

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MANGO CHEESECAKE
Ingredients
Base:
200g digestive biscuits
100g unsalted butter, melted

Filling
150g mango
1 TBSP lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
500g cream cheese
100g sugar
30g cornflour
3 eggs
150g whipping cream

Decoration
Mango slices
Toasted almond flakes
Strawberries

Methods
1. Crust digestive biscuits, mix well with melted butter, and press onto the base of a 20cm loose-base cake tin. Chill in the fridge while preparing the filling.
2. Blend mango with lemon rind and juice until smooth.
3. Cream sugar and cream-cheese together until smooth, add in cornflour and mix well.
4. Add in egg one at a time and mix well.
5. Mix in cream until well combined.
6. Pour mixture onto the chilled biscuit base. Steam-bake at preheated oven at 160C for 70 min.
7. Leave inside the oven with door slightly ajar for another 30-40 min.
8. Remove from oven. When cooled completely, chill in fridge for at least 5 hours or over night.
9. Remove from tin, coat the sides with almond flakes and cover the top with fruits. Blush some apricot glaze or instant jelly glaze to retain moisture.

A couple of months ago, it was my nephew’s birthday, and my sister decided to hold a mini party at my house. Since the guests are mainly adults, I’ve decided to make this Tiramisu Cheesecake for them, using a lot of coffee liquor. :p

This cake can easily impress others, yet not very difficult to make. The biggest challenge for me was not in baking it, but to find that ribbon. LOL!

TIRAMISU CHEESECAKE
Ingredients
1 package ladyfingers (340g)
4 tablespoons butter, melted (60g)
6-12 tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur (I used Bailey)
3 (250g) packages cream cheese
1 (250g) container of mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup white sugar (reduced from 1 cup)
2 eggs
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
30g semisweet chocolate

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 180C.
2. Crush ladyfingers into fine crust.
3. Mix melted butter into the crumb, add 4 TBSP coffee liquor to moisture and add flavor.
4. Press onto base of 8″ or 9″ cake springform pan.
5. (Optional) If you want something looks like mine, you may arrange ladyfingers along the inner ring of the pan, but trim one end of the tip first so it is flat and able to ‘stand’.
6. Mix cream cheese, mascarpone, and sugar until very smooth.
7. Add 4-8 tablespoons coffee liquor (based on your personal preference), and mix well.
8. Add the eggs and the flour; mix SLOWLY until just smooth.
9. Pour batter onto crust base.
10. Steam bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until just set. Leave cake to cool in oven that has been turned off for about an hour. Remove from oven, cool completely before refrigerating for at least 4 hours before serving.
11. For deco, grate the semi-sweet chocolate overtop.

Well, I know I have not been updating in this blog for a long time… more than 6 months already. That’s mainly because of the online bakery business. I don’t think I should be sharing my ‘secret recipe’ of the cakes that I was selling, that’s why I found it hard to update.

BUT!! I have decided since yesterday to close down the online bakery, simply because I find it really BORING! Before having that bakery, I hardly reproduce the same cake unless it is under extremely popular demand, but that’s not to the extent like what I have been experiencing with this bakery. For some cakes that are more popular, I had to produce the same one, at the rate of 3-4 per week during festive seasons. Now I hear the word “Ribena Cheesecake” I wanna puke! And due to this, I hardly have the time to experiment new cakes — which is what I love the most about baking.

Now that I have closed down the business, I am going to resume what I like most – experimenting new stuff and share about them here. ^_^

Here is a very refreshing and easy to make Lemon Bars recipe. I had made this twice, not for selling but for own consumption. So it speaks for itself.

LEMON BARS
Ingredients
Base
1 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

Lemon Custard
4 eggs
2.5 lemon’s juice, more than 1/2 cup
Zest of 3 lemons
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour

Method
Base
1. Pre-heat oven to 180C.
2. Mix all the ingredients well.
3. Line the mixture onto the base of a 9″x13″ pan
4. Bake at 180C for 20 min

Filling
1. Mix all ingredients well.
2. When base is ready, pour filling over the base and continue baking for another 20 min or until it is set.
3. Dust with sugar powder as deco.

TIPS: It is better to over bake the base than the filling. Watch out the filling very carefully not to burn it (very easily).

Yesterday I announced in my FB page that I started accepting orders for Mother’s Day cake. That is my debut in cake selling, and it is a SUCCESS! I only accepted 3 orders due to limited fridge space. LOL!

Here is how my cake looks like:

It is a heart shaped Ribena Marble Cheesecake, roughly 1.2kg, sold at RM55. Can’t make much $$, this is just for fun!! LOL! And I am supahhhh happy! :p

Recently I saw some recipes and photos of lemon meringue pies and just feel like eating one. Finally, took the courage to bake it yesterday. It is surprisingly affordable, easy, and delicious! I had a slice last night, and let Ian tried a bite. The moment he put into his mouth, he closed his eyes and became speechless. What he could muster was, “hmm… hmm… hmm…” and then “yummy… I want more…”

LEMON MERINGUE PIE RECIPE
Ingredients
Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cold water

Lemon Custard Filling
3/4 cup white sugar (if you like it sweeter you can increase to 1 cup)
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups fresh milk
1/2 cup lemon juice (from 2 or 3 lemons)
1 tbsp lemon rind
2 tbsp butter (or 30g)
4 egg yolks, beaten

Meringue
4 egg whites
4 1/2 tbsp castor sugar (original called for 6 tbsp)
1/2 tsp cream of tatar

Method
Pie Crust
1. Blend the shortening, salt and flour in a bowl with electric mixer until crumby. Add in water a tablespoon at a time, and mix with a fork until they hold together. Wrap the dough with cling wrap loosely and keep in fridge for 10 min to rest.
2. Pre-heat oven to 220C.
3. After 10 min, roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 2″ bigger than the pie plate. Poke the crust with fork to allow air to escape during baking, at the base and sides.
4. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with rice or beans, to give weight to the pie crust, to avoid it rise up during baking.
5. Turn down the oven to 200C. Bake the crust for 10 min. Remove the beans/rice and paper, and continue baking another 15 min.
6. Brush the inside of the crust with egg-wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp water, mix) to help seal the base to avoid soggy later. Return to oven and bake for another 3 min.

Filling
Note: Make this right after you insert the pie into the oven, so it would still be hot when the pie crust is ready.
1. Pour the sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt into a sauce pan. Stir in the milk and lemon juice. Heat the mixture at medium, stirring constantly to avoid burnt.
2. When mixture boils, add in butter and lemon rinds. Mix well till butter dissolves.
3. Take about 1/2 cup of hot mixture and mix into the egg yolks. Mix well, and return the mixture into the sauce pan. Bring to boil and it will turn into yellow custard like mixture.
4. When pie crust is ready, remove from oven. Pour filling into the hot pie crust. Set aside.

Meringue
1. Change the oven to 180C.
2. Beat the egg white with mixer till foamy.
3. Add sugar and cream of tatar bit by bit. Continue until stiff peak is formed and sugar dissolved. Stiff peak = the mixture won’t flow, it looks shiny and smooth, and it won’t easily drop from your whip.
4. Quickly pour the meringue onto the hot pie filling, covering the edge of the pie crust. The hot pie crust and filling will help cook the meringue and avoid weeping later.
5. Bake at 180C for 10-15 min or until the meringue is tanned.
6. Let it cool an hour before refrigerating it. Chill for about 4-6 hours before serving.

NOTE: If you refrigerate within 2 hours after baking, it can be kept in the fridge for 3 days and stay fresh. Properly cover the pie, loosely with a cling wrap or foil.

This is a very easy to make Strawberry Cheesecake, healthy (if use low-fat) and refreshing. Everyone loves this, and it is like eating ice-cream! Depending on the size of glass, I use the plastic ones sold at Tesco at RM4.79 for six, it yields 6 glasses. Bigger glasses will yield 5.

STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE RECIPE
Ingredients
100g Ginger Nut Biscuits (or any digestive biscuits)
250g cream cheese
250g Greek Yogurt
4 tbsp caster sugar
Few drops of vanilla essence
3 tbsp very good quality strawberry jam
150g strawberry, hulled & sliced

Method
1. Crush biscuits into chunky pieces and spoon into the base of the 6 glasses
2. Cream together the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, sugar and the vanilla essence until smooth.
3. Spoon over the biscuit crumbs and chill in the fridge until the time to serve.
4. Before serve, stir the strawberry jam until loose. Mix in the strawberry slices, mix well. Spoon over the cheese filling & serve immediate.

I was supposed to share 2 recipes on 2 birthday cakes that I baked recently, but so lazy that I kept delaying (the recipe not quite simple, so very lazy loh).

Then, today I found this very simple recipe, made some modifications and baked it. I let my kids do most of the stuff, except measuring, steaming, and putting in the baking pan/ inserting to oven. It yields 3 loafs of 3×7 breads. It is said that you could freeze the loaves and it can be kept for a couple of months!

Although this is called ‘pumpkin bread’, it is more like between bread’s and cake’s texture. I was worried at first, but the moment after I tried a slice, I feel so reluctant to give a loaf to Aiyu! It is so so so yummy! The sweetness is just right, the texture is great, and the fragrance… wow, very ‘spicy’ as in full of spices! I will make more of it…

PUMPKIN BREAD RECIPE
Ingredients
420g pumpkin flesh, steamed and mashed
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
2 cups brown sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C degree. Grease three 3×7″ loaf pans
2. Mix mashed pumpkin, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended
3. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients and beat until well mixed
4. Pour mixture into the 3 greased loaf pans
5. Bake for 50 min or until skewer comes out clean