Suum Cuique

This is one of my favourite cakes. To eat and to make. Making chiffon cakes is kind of like swimming or cycling - it appears difficult to master, but once you know how to do it, you never forget! *grin* But for some reason, although it comes as second nature to me now when it comes to making chiffon cakes, I have never quite managed to handle spongecakes with such ease. I remember my first spongecake - it came out so hard, I could have use it to make a table flower arrangement! Yup, just like those green florist sponge.. ^_^ Even til today, I can never be sure whether my spongecake will turn out or not.

I go back a long way with chiffon cakes (I wrote about it here). I guess it came quite naturally after years of seeing how it's done. But it was also a case of finding the right recipe. I tried a few recipes in my early attempts but I found them to be too dense and not soft enough. Yes, like Harry Potter and his wand, there is a recipe out of hundreds out there, that is just right for you! Mine came from Florence's Orange Chiffon Cake which I adapted into a pandan chiffon. She wasn't kidding when she said it was her "best selling chiffon recipe"! I've never actually made the orange chiffon, I just took her recipe and immediately changed it to a pandan chiffon and it worked even for the first time! It has always garnered positive reviews and I knew this recipe was for keeps! Thank you so much for sharing, Florence!

In case anyone would like to try my way of making a chiffon, here's a detailed-ish pictorial (recipe to follow at the end):

It's basically a 2-bowl operation. One mixture with the egg yolks, and the other egg whites. All the ingredients except for egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar, go into bowl A. The other 3 ingredients go into my food processor using the whisk attachment. My other tools include a spatula and metal spoon.


Florence gave some really good tips for whisking egg whites. One, before adding anything into the whites, whisk until bubbles form. Then sprinkle in the cream of tartar and whisk until it is white in colour. Add in the sugar, 1/3 at a time, whisking well in between the additions, until it is stiff and the peaks don't fall. It will look glossy.


Another good tip from Florence is to add half the whipped whites into the yolk mix and blend it really well. This will lighten the yolk mix and make it easier to fold in the rest of the whites. I prefer to use a metal spoon to fold in the whites because it will cut through the batter without deflating the air bubbles. My mum taught me to fold in a figure 8 motion, that is stir as if I am writing number 8 in the bowl and occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is well mixed.

I have seen some people becoming scared to stir too much, worrying that they might deflate the cake batter and leave small chunks of whites floating in the batter. This will cause the cake to collapse as the chunks of whites will disintegrate as the cake bakes, leaving big gaps inside the cake. So don't worry too much about that and stir as thoroughly and lightly as you can until there are no visible bits of whites left.


When it comes out of the oven, it will be nicely puffed up. But after you cool it by inverting it onto a glass bottle (newer cake moulds will have little legs at the rim, which eliminates the need for a bottle. Mine is inherited from my mum, which means the pan could be about as old as me..), it will deflate slightly. If it deflates a lot, or looks lopsided, that means the whites have not been whipped enough or mixed in properly.

My knife does not seem thin enough to remove the cake. Hopefully, a chiffon cake will come my way soon.. ^_^


Tell me, who can resist a piece of a cottony-soft fragrant piece of pandan chiffon cake? :)


Pandan Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:
95g plain Flour + 20g cornflour
3/4 tsp Baking powder

85ml Coconut cream (santan) or milk**
60ml Corn oil
1-2 tsp pandan essence

**If using milk, add about 3 tbsp coconut powder to flour

5 egg yolks + 30g castor sugar + Salt 1/4 tsp

5 egg whites + 50g castor sugar + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Method:
1. Sieve both flours and baking powder.
2. Use hand whisk to whisk egg yolks until creamy and light in colour. Add in corn oil then coconut cream (milk) and pandan essence.
3. Add in flour mixture (and coconut powder if using) into yolk mix and mix well.
4. Beat egg white with electric beater until big bubbles formed. Sprinkle in cream of tartar and beat until it is white in colour.
5. Add in 50g sugar 3 times (a little at a time) and beat until stiff peaks are formed.
6. Pour 1/2 egg white into flour mixture in (3) and blend well.
7. Pour in the rest of the egg white and mix until well-blended.
8. Bake at 175C for 35 minutes or until cooked.
9. Invert the cooked cake during cooling process.


Note: Actually, I have a confession to make. If you look at picture of the cake batter after everything is mixed in, you might notice that there are a lot of air bubbles. It shouldn't. The pictures taken pre-baking and finished product are actually on 2 occasions. Of course when I make a conscious effort to document my recipe, things will not go the way it's supposed to go (it's a known fact, called Murphy's Law..). Never mind the countless (but picture-less) perfect chiffon cakes I've churned out before this. The first cake turned out lopsided (that's how I know lopsided cakes means incorrectly mixed batter..). The second cake, I made with no intentions of writing about it. Luckily I remembered to remind myself to snap photos as it was baking in the oven in case it turned out as it should be and it did!

Labels: cake, pandan chiffon cake

Whaddya know.. we're already into the 2nd quarter of 2010. Ack! Who ever says that?? I only picked it up during my working days, where we need to do a review of the business at the end of every quarter. Bad habits break hard.. :P

Strange that the older I get, the faster time seem to fly. The weeks just seem to swoosh by - we start off slow on first day of school/work on Sunday but in a blink of an eye, it's already Thursday, the last day of the week! I remember how I used to moon and daydream in class, wishing and hoping it's already the last day of the week/term and how the days always seem to crawl at a snail's pace. Maybe it's because as a child, we don't have much to think about other than day to day stuff like homework, exams, parties...^_^ As adults, there always seems so much to think of and plan and worry about...

That's why I like baking. It's my form of escapism. I don't have to do any major thinking or planning. Just flow with the moment - follow the recipe, execute the instructions and by the time you clear up, the cake is done. And then bump! - back to reality..


Here's the recipe for a very rich Sugee Cake by Betty Yew in Asian Delights, All-Time Favourite Recipes.

300g butter
200g + 100g sugar
1/2 cup milk
300g sugee/semolina
14 med egg yolks
4 whites

A:
120g ground almonds
60g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

2 tbsp brandy
2 tsp vanilla essence

Cream butter and 200g sugar til light and fluffy. Add milk a little at a time. Beat in sugee and stand for 1 hour.

Whisk yolks with 100g sugar until thick and light yellow. Add to butter mixture a little a time, beating well with each addition.

Whisk whites until stiff and carefully fold into butter mixture. Fold in A and mix in brandy and vanilla.

Pour mixture into a 25cm square cake tin lined with double sheet of greased greaseproof paper. Bake in 175C for approximately 60 - 70 minutes.

Note:
My small handmixer was barely enough to make this quantity of cake batter. It will be much better to use a stand mixer as the butter-sugee and egg yolk mix becomes quite substantial when you mix them together. I was kind of worried I might burn the motor as in addition to the heavy load, I also had to whisk the whites. Better to halve the recipe next time as I have only a 20cm square tin too.

And with 10 egg whites leftover, what can you do with them? These..


Almond Crisps from Agnes Chang, Baking Made Easy

4 egg whites
160g sugar
100g plain flour
200g - 250g almond flakes
2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:
1. Add sugar to egg white, stir until sugar dissolves.
2. Mix sifted flour and almond flakes in a bowl. Add to egg-sugar mix and stir in vanilla. Mixture should look creamy.
3. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Put a few dollops of mix on the baking (silicon) paper, well spaced apart and use the back of the spoon to flatten the mix as thin as possible on the paper.
4. Bake in preheated oven 180 C for about 12-15 minutes or golden brown. Remove and cool slightly before removing each cookie from baking paper.

Note:
I took the easy way out and made my biscuit in one big thin layer. But it did not bake evenly and the sides got slightly burnt before the middle was baked through. So it's better to make individual biscuits. Size is entirely up to you. Just make sure it is very thin, otherwise it will end up hard although still crunchy. I found it easier to remove from the paper after it cools down as the biscuit will harden upon cooling.

I must warn you, these almond crisps are incredibly addictive because they are so deceptively light and crispy. :)

Labels: almond, almond crisps, cake, sugee cake

It's another birthday, and this time it's a tiramisu for one of my newfound friends in AD.


Happy happy fun fun Birthday, Ms Fun!! May you stay young and lovely for many years to come!

Ms Fun is a gregarious lady, always full of laughter and like her name, fun!! There is never a dull moment when she is around. Our coffee mornings are always riotous with laughter whenever she joins up with the rest of the FELA (Far Eastern Ladies Association) gang.





For the quick and easy recipe, please go here. I added 4 tsp gelatine dissolved in 40ml hot water into the cream and cheese mix because I wasn't sure if the cake wouldn't collapse on me when I removed it from the mould.

For an excellent pictorial on how to assemble, please go here.

*toot toot*
(blowing my own horn here..)

I am very proud of my tiramisu this time. It looked as good as if it came from a shop (amazing what a ribbon and some fruits can do for a plain-looking cake!). It tasted as good as the one I had at a hotel Italian restaurant (I paid RM25 for a 3inX3in piece with some drops of chocolate sauce). And I had compliments from a former hotel pastry chef. It's always a challenge to bake something that meets her expectations!

*nose kembang a bit.. actually quite a lot* :P

Labels: birthday, cake, tiramisu

About a year ago, I was on a quest for THE butter cake. And by George, I think I found it!! Outrageously decadently buttery, this gem of cake was introduced to me by this fantastic baker (his recipes are really good, his Cheese Puffs were absolutely scrummy!).



Deceptively simple, the most important thing is to have really good quality ingredients.

A
5 egg whites
20gm sugar

B
250 gm butter (I used Golden Churn)
190gm sugar

C
5 yolks (actually I used 6 yolks for a richer flavour)
3 tbsp milk

D
240gm SR flour

Whisk A with egg white beater till fluffy. Remove
Place B into bowl, using cream till light, and add in C.
Fold in D and lastly A.
Bake at 180°C in an 8-inch cake tin for 45 minutes (I used a dark-coloured bundt pan, so mine took only 35 minutes)

Verdict: Excellent flavour. Not too dense, not too fine-crumbed, not oily. It was a bit crumbly, probably because I over-baked it a bit, so take care not to bake too long.

My arms are aching now as I used the old-fashioned way to whisk the egg whites and cream the butter... manual egg beater/wooden spoon and bowl... but the end result was was oh-so-worth it!

Labels: butter, cake, links

30 Sept 2007

Addendum : mrkat says many many thanks to all of you for your warm birthday wishes! His noodles and eggs were very good! :D


Everyone has their own traditions, don't they? We had some, but not many though. Maybe it's because we never had old-fashioned grandparents around. One of the few traditions that we still have is sitting down together on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year for lunch (its a Hakka thing, this 2nd day lunch. The day CNY officially starts!). On the first day of New Year, my parents usually observe a vegetarian diet, and we sisters will be with our in-laws. So the 'grand' lunch of chicken, pork, prawn, fish and other auspicious dishes is usually held on the second day.

Another tradition we have, albeit not a very traditional one, is we always have a special dinner on our birthdays. Sometimes we have Chinese, sometimes we have western. But we always make it a point to get together on the birthday of that particular member of the family. And mum will always make red eggs for us, including for the sons-in-law.

This year as we are away, we won't get to enjoy this particular tradition. So I have taken it upon myself to start my own. As I now have my little family, I would like to do something that my children will remember as their own family tradition.

I am always browsing through cooking blogs. I like to see what other people cook. I am of the opinion that there is always something new to learn, despite how old and experienced one is. Life will get pretty dry if one knew all there is to know, won't it?

Anyway, I stumbled upon this blog belonging to WokkingMum who is very good in cooking home-style Chinese dishes and she posted about something she cooked on her husband birthday. mrkat is Hokkien, and misua is traditionally cooked in a simple broth with toong choy and pork, usually prepared on one's birthday. I know he likes misua, and we had just found some. So I prepared my version of the dish with vegetables, mushroom and minced pork. Together with the customary red eggs.


Of course, another favourite tradition would be cake. I have been baking my children's birthday cakes almost every year, so I guess this is our little tradition now! From WokkingMum, I discovered the Happy Home Baker who shares all her baking experiences and is very generous with tips on how to improve your baking skills. She made a Lemon Yoghurt Cake which is actually a recipe from another great baker, Orangette who writes like a cookbook novelist with really gorgeous pictures to boot. You should read about how the love of food brought her and her husband together. Such a romantic story. I can imagine Kirsten Dunst and Jake Gyllenhaal playing the lead roles.

Anyway, the cake is really easy to make and keeps very well. The texture is not very fine nor crumbly but a bit dense and slightly chewy. Or maybe it's just my cake.. (anyone who tries it, please let me know how yours turn out.)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE.

May our love grow stronger through the years, and may our life together be scattered with old traditions, new customs and lots of delicious food!

Labels: cake, lemon, links, yoghurt

Not long ago, H's school had a party in conjunction with Children's Day. The children were asked to contribute some food to the party. I thought of cupcakes. But the logistics of carting 43 cupcakes with frosting to school was beyond me, so plans were changed and one big cake was made instead. Easier to decorate, easier to carry to school, and definitely easier for me to divide among 43 children, as I won't be the one doing it!!

What cake to make? Tell me which kid doesn't like chocolate, and I'll show you a kid who has chocolate allergy! So I decided on Chocolate Mud Cake as it was a very simple melt-n-mix recipe which turns out a dense yet light cake. I made one 20cm square cake, looked at it, and it seemed too small for 43 portions. Made another one, cooked up more topping and stacked it up. After stacking it up, it did look kinda huge, but at least it would feed the entire class. Nothing worse than someone not getting a share of chocolate cake!




At the end of the party, I looked out for my cake carrier. It wasn't there! I did write H's name on the container, didn't I?? I asked her teacher and was told that because it was so big, she took it up to the fridge at the teachers' room and she was going to distribute among the teachers later.

Well, I don't know about you, but when people finish all the food I make, that's orgasmic for me!


RICH CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE

250g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate, chopped
1 ½ C sugar
1 C hot water
1 tbsp dry instant coffee

½ C plain flour
1 ½ C self-raising flour
1/3 C cocoa

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 160ºC.

Mix first 5 ingredients, and stir over low heat until butter and chocolate melts, and sugar dissolved. Remove from heat.

Sift dry ingredients into a big bowl and add in butter mixture . Stir with whisk until just combined. Add eggs and mix well.

Pour mixure into deep 20cm cake tin. Bake for 1 ½ - 2 hours. Leave cake in tin until cold before turning out.


Chocolate topping
60g unsalted butter
60g dark chocolate, chopped

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Allow mixture to cool until it becomes spreadable.

Labels: cake, chocolate

I find that the older I get, the simpler my tastes become. My taste in ice cream used to be more adventurous...double chocolate fudge, mocha hazelnut, chocolate mint, strawberry praline. Now I go for single flavours, mostly vanilla. And I used to like liquer-filled chocolates, chocolate with nuts and chocolate with fillings. Now I favour dark bittersweet chocolates. I never liked coriander and spring onion when I was a teenager, but now I can't do without them in plain steam fish and steam chicken with soya sauce.

Even cake, I used to go for Chocolate/Strawberry Mousse, American Chocolate, Lemon/Marble/Oreo Cheesecake, Mixed Fruit Flan, Hazelnut Coffee Cream, Pandan Layer Cake and other complicated flavours. Now I find that I prefer plain sponges or butter cakes.


And I got this epiphany when? When I tasted a cake sample during an in-store promotion, of all places! I was at an electrical shop the other day. There was a cooking demonstration going on. I wasn't sure whether they were promoting the cake mixer or oven..didn't stay to watch. Anyway, I went back about an hour later and the cake was out of the oven, cut into pieces and ready for sampling. It was good! Or maybe it was because I was a bit peckish.. It was just a plain butter cake, but it was simple and tasty. The texture was good too. Fluffy and not dense at all.

Last night, I couldn't sleep. And I kept thinking of that tasty little morsel of cake I had. How difficult can it be to make one? I just had to make my own butter cake!! Not only make one, but I had to make the perfect one, my signature butter cake!! And what recipe other than the classic pound cake. So called because it uses a pound of everything to make the cake. A pound of butter, a pound of sugar and a pound of flour. A ratio of 1:1:1. Simple.


In my recipe, it called for 250gm each of butter, sugar and flour (I like this type of recipe because I don't have to weigh the butter! Just dump in the entire pack!). Plus 4 eggs, a tsp of vanilla and 4 tbsp milk. Easy-peasy. And since I didn't want to wake the neighbours with a noisy kenwood, I used elbow grease. It wasn't difficult as long as the butter and eggs are in room temperature. Just cream butter and sugar, add in eggs one at a time, stir in sifted flour in 3 batches, add milk and voila! we are done. Bake in a preheated oven of 180°C for about 40 minutes until golden brown. I usually use a stick of spaghetti to poke into the cake (instead of skewer. Don't always have skewers lying around). If it comes out clean, it is cooked. Aahh...the aroma of a cake baking...so mouthwatering...so fragrant...so heavenly....


Did it taste good? You bet it did! What can be better than freshly baked cake? Was it THE cake? Err...maybe. Let me try another recipe first.

I have a can of pineapple and some cherries around. How about an Upside-down Pineapple Cake next?

Labels: butter, cake

After looking at so many delicious photos, this is my take on this cake.



To avoid confusion over lievito, I used self-raising flour. And the raisins were soaked in rum instead of water (..grins..yes, 125ml of rum..). I substituted melted butter for oil and used a loaf pan instead of a square or round tin (which I shouldn't have as it was too small, but it was the only non-stick pan I had on hand).

Simple ingredients,and easy to make, it turns out a light, fluffy cake.


We had people over for tea and every single crumb of the cake was finished today. Thank you for doing justice to my cake, friends!

Labels: cake, raisin