Sunday, May 1, 2011

Aspiring Bakers #6: Say Cheese! (April 2011) - Round Up

Thanks all for your participation and support. The beautiful pictures of the cheesy bakes which greeted my mailbox were all so irresistible! I hope everyone had fun participating in April's theme...Say Cheese! Hope it brought smiles to everyone who had the luxury to enjoy your bakes a smile as well :) We received a total of 105 entries for the April Aspiring Bakers.

Here are your entries:










I Can't Believe it's Prata (Leek, Sausage & Cheese Hat) by Wai Fong of Fong's Kitchen Journal




Mini cream cheese pumpkin tart by experimental cook of cookwithnobooks.blogspot.com






Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo) by Agnes

















Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookie by Sherlyn Lui of Sherlyn's hobbies blog

































Oreo Cheesecake by Olivia Stephens of Food Love Passion


















Oreo cheese pops by Yvonne Lee of Muimui25



Steamed Cheesy Brownies With Chocolate Chips by Alice of I Love. I Cook. I Bake












Thank you for your support and participation once again. For May's theme, we have Doris of Tested & Tasted hosting the Aspiring Bakers #7 - Chocolate Delight. So head down to her blog for the details and we shall see you there :)

P.S. If you have submitted an entry and it's not being reflected here, please drop me an email at needmorenoms@gmail.com
Posted by Jean at 5:09 AM 16 comments
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Karmel Cake

Today has been dramatic with all the hoohas for Nomination Day. Pretty excited about what's going to come for the nation.

Today is also the day I decided to move on. Boyfriend and I - our relationship has been rocky for the past few months. It was stressful and depressing hanging onto a relationship like that. It must been so for him as well. The breakup is for the better. Everything happens for a reason. We learn a lot and will emerge stronger and better.

Bookmarked this in my book for a while now. Been procrastinating enough, so there you go. I was half expecting the cake to turn stale the next day, but nope. Rose Beranbaum's cakes never fail to impress. The cake remains soft and fresh the next day, and the caramel developed further to delight our tastebuds.

Karmel Cake (adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Heavenly Cakes)

Ingredients:

Caramel:
217g light brown sugar, preferably Muscovado
302g milk, divided
28g unsalted butter, room temperature

Cake:
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
200g cake flour or bleached all-purpose flour, sifted into measuring cup
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
85g unsalted butter

Method:
1. Set oven rack in lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 175°C.
2. Butter and flour the inside of a 9 by 2-inch round cake pan. You also could line the bottom with parchment paper that also has been coated with baking spray and flour.
3. To make the caramel, have ready a 2-cup or larger heatproof glass measure, coated with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium heavy saucepan, with a silicone spatula, stir together the brown sugar, 181g of milk and the butter. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Stop stirring and boil until an instant-read thermometer registers 114°C, the soft ball stage. Tilt the pan to get enough depth for an accurate reading. It will take about 10 mins or more to reach this stage, and the mixture will look slightly curdled. (To make burnt caramel, continue past this stage, till mixture looks dark brown. When dropped into a glass of cold water, the caramel should become a hard bead). When the sugar reaches temperature, immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into a prepared glass measure to stop the cooking. You should have 1 cup. If less, add hot cream or boiling water to equal 1 cup.
4. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl and gently whisk in the remaining milk. Don't worry if some of the liquid crystalizes on the bottom, it will dissolve during baking. Place the bowl on a wire rack and allow the mixture to cool until is is no longer warm to the touch. It will take about an hour, but to speed cooling, it's fine to set the glass measure in a bowl of ice water. If desired, stir the mixture a few times while cooling in order to equalize the temperature.
5. To make the batter: In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla until just lightly combined.
6. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour, baking powder and salt on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and cooled caramel. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
7. Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the egg mixture in two parts, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth surface evenly with a small offset spatula.
8. Bake for 25 to 35 mins or until a wire cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.
9. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 10 mins. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. To prevent splitting, reinvert the cake so the top side is up. Cool completely.
Posted by Jean at 11:09 PM 21 comments
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Monday, April 25, 2011

Magnolia Vanilla Cupcakes

Honestly if you ask me to compare the results of various cupcake recipes from the famous bakeries, Magnolia, HummingBird and Primrose. The difference between its cupcakes is marginal. Magnolia is significantly sweeter. HummingBird is softer and lighter probably due to the higher amount of milk. Only made chocolate cupcakes from Primrose before, so would be fair if I compare apples to apples.

But nevertheless I love making cupcakes! They're like the vanity princesses of bakery world. Totally pretty and screams girlie. It's convenient for distribution. No one has to fight for who gets the bigger slice and everyone is happy.

Top it with my favorite usual swiss meringue buttercream with an oddball blue color.

Choosing the piping tip was fun.

Even more fun was giving everyone in the office a blue moustache.

Magnolia Vanilla Cupcakes (adapted from Allysa Torey & Jennifer Appel's The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)
the recipe below shows half the original recipe, makes 16 cupcakes for me

 Ingredients:
105g self raising flour
87g all purpose flour
113g unsalted butter, softened
200g sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
120ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Line one 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake papers.
3. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, abt 3 mins.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.
7. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them abt three-quarters full. Bake for 20-25mins, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
8. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15mins. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
9. Ice the cupcake with your favorite frosting.
Posted by Jean at 7:00 AM 12 comments
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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Mango Cheesecake

Hey mango, be proud! You're my official first dense cheesecake in baked water bath.

I know I'm slow in this Mango frenzy, but better late than never. Added an impromptu self invented mango gelee layer to cover up the not-so-pretty cheesecake surface.

Think the cheesecake looks pretty hohoho. Mom was really impressed by it. The mango fragrance could be stronger from the cheesecake probably because my mangoes ain't exactly of the best quality. But refreshing and fruity enough, dense, rich and creamy, totally thrilled eating it. I suggest chilling it over a day because the flavors infused better and the texture becomes creamier as well. Still reminiscing my cheesecake experience at Cheesecake Factory when I was in States. Hopefully I'll reach the standards one day :)

Am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #6: Say Cheese! (April 2011).

Mango Cheesecake (adapted from Alex Goh's Fantastic Cheesecakes)

Ingredients:

Cake Base:
200g digestive biscuit crumbs
100g unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake:
500g cream cheese, room temperature
120g sugar
30g cornflour
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 lemon zest, grated
150g mango
3 eggs
150g whipping cream

Method:
1. Press digestive biscuit base onto the bottom of a greased 20-cm springform tin. Refrigerate for 15 mins.
2. Cream cream cheese, sugar and cornflour until light and smooth.
3. Place lemon juice, zest and mango in the blender and blend until smooth. Add puree mixture into cream cheese mixture and mix until well blended.
4. Add eggs one at a time and cream until smooth.
5. Add whipping cream & cream until well combined. Pour the cheese filling over the prepare biscuit base.
6. Bake in water bath at 160°C for 60-70mins or until firm.
7. Remove the cake from the oven and set aside to cool. Refrigerate cake for 5h.
8. Decorate as desired.

Gelee Layer:
200g mango
1 tsp gelatin powder
20ml water

Method:
1. Puree mango until smooth.
2. Sprinkle gelatin over water and let it sit for 5 mins. Warm the mixture over simmering water until gelatin powder melts thoroughly.
3. Stir warm gelatin mixture into pureed mango and pour over cheesecake. Chill for >2h.
Posted by Jean at 7:00 AM 18 comments
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