Opera Gateau

This is the first official pro-like cake that I've made~ it's a layer cake ^^ I found out "gateau" means cake (thanks to Bobo) and Opera must mean... coffee.. haha coz its a coffee flavoured layer cake~

Layer cakes are really fun to make and they're not as hard as it looks! There are just different components. It may look like a lot of steps but YOU CAN DO IT :D



Finished product.. now to the recipe =P

 Sponge cake
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups (150g) almond meal
1 cup (160g) icing sugar
1/3 cup (50g) plain flour
25g unsalted butter, melted
4 egg whites 1 tbs caster sugar

1. Preheat oven to 220oC. Grease and line 2 25cm x 30cm cake tins
2. Beat eggs, almond meal and sifted icing sugar in a small bowl with electric beater until creamy; beat in flour. Stir in butter.
3. Beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form; add caster sugar, beating until sugar dissolves. Fold into almond mixture in 2 batches.
4. Divide mxture between pans. Bake around 7 minutes. Cool.

Coffee butter cream
1/4 cup (60ml) milk
1/4 cup (55g) brown sugar
2 tsp instant coffee granules
1 egg yolk
125g unsalted butter, softened

1. Stir milk, sugar and coffee in small saucepan until sugar dissolves
2. Whisk egg yolk in small bowl and gradually whisk in hot milk mixture.
3. Return custard to pan; stir over heat without boiling (~ 5 min or until thickened slightly)
4. Cool. Beat butter in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy; beat in custard.

Coffee syrup
1/3 cup (80ml) boiling water
2 tbs caster sugar
1 tbs instant coffee granules

1. Stir ingredients in small bowl till sugar and coffee dissolves.

Ganache
160g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely
1/3 cup (80ml) cream

1. Stir ingredients in small heatproof bowl over small saucepan of simmering water until smooth. Refrigerate until spreadable.

Glaze
50 g unsalted butter
75g dark eating chocolate

1. Stir ingredients in small heatproof bowl over small saucepan of simmering water until smooth. Use while warm.

Assembling the cake
1. Cut cake so that you can get 3 even pieces (there are 3 layers for this cake.. so cut a third off each cake so you are left with two 2/3 pieces and two 1/3 pieces if that makes sense =S)
2. Place one large sponge (the 2/3 one) on baking paper and brush with half of coffee syrup. Spread cake with half of butter cream; refrigerate for 10 minutes.

3. Place next cake layer on top (two pieces of 1/3) and brush with remaining coffee syrup. Spread with ganache and top with remaining cake; refrigerate 10 minutes.

4. SPread top of cake with remaining butter cream; refrigerate 3 hours.

5. Make glaze and spread evenly over cake. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until glaze has set.

TA DA!! Look at that awesome glaze dripping down.. and ganache oozing out.. mmm mm :)

Cherry tart

Since its Cherry season! (and before Cherries get really expensive) why don't you try this recipe for Cherry tart? I actually got the recipe from a Coles magazine ^^ but turned out pretty good :)

Ingredients:
PASTRY
1 1/2 cups Plain flour
100g cold butter, chopped
2-3 tbsp iced water
FILLING
100g cold butter, chopped
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
100g almond meal
1/3 cup plain flour
500g cherries, pitted

1. Place flour in large bowl. Add butter and use fingertips to run in until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add water and mix with knife until mixture comes together.
2. Gather dough in a ball. Roll out pastry and fit into flan tin (34cm x 11.5cm). Chill for 20 min.
3. Preheat oven to 180oC. Line pastry with non-stick baking paper and fill with dried rice or beans. Bake for 15 min then remove dried rice or beans and cook for a further 15 min or until dry and lightly golden. Coll.
4. Filling: Beat sugar and butter with electric beater till light and creamy. Bean in vanilla essence. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Folld in almond meal and flour. Spread into pastry case. Arrage cherries over the filling, pressing in slightly. Bake for 30 min or until set and golden brown. Cool and dust with icing sugar to serve.

we could have put more cherries.. but they were huge ^^" hehe

Gingerbread GIANTS!

So Vin had a craving for Gingerbread men and I felt like baking something so we did :D

They were supposed to be Gingerbread men but mutated into GIANTS!!! I think coz we added way more Self-raising flour and Vin kneaded the dough heaps.. so they're softer than normal but still taste delicious :)

Here's what you need:
125g margarine
2 tbs golden syrup (i didn't have any so i just used maple syrup)
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
3 cups self-raising flour (can add more if needed)
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 165oC.
2. Melt butter and syrup. Mix in sugar and egg.
3. Add sifted flour, salt, ginger and cinnamon and mix well. Dough should come away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface and use cutter to cut biscuits.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes until a delicate golden brown colour.


Men turning into GIANTS!

 

Ta da~~

ROYAL ICING (Vin's favourite icing) 1 egg white
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup icing sugar, sifted

1. Whisk eggs whites with lemon juice using electric mixer until soft peaks form.
2. Add sifted icing sugar slowly while still mixing.

Decorated by Vin

My personal faves: azn man

Masked man

Simple as that =p We made WAY too much icing so I thought.. maybe I can make the icing into meringues ^^ AND IT WORKED :D :D :D bake till golden brown!

MERINGUES <3

Marble cake - bday edition :)

Marble cake is one of the classics and a favourite for all :) I find that all the ingredients are usually in the pantry which makes it a simple cake to make without going to the supermarket to buy any special ingredients~

Ingredients
170g butter
140g caster sugar
3 eggs
140g self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Preheat the overn to 180oC.
2. Beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time.
4. Sift the flour over the top then fold in.
5. Divide the mixture between two bowls. Stir vanilla extract into one, sift cocoa over the other and fold in.
6. PLace alternating spoonfuls of the two batters in the cake tin. Drag a skewer through the dollops three or four times to give a marbled effect (hence.. marble cake :P)
7. Bake for about 45 mintues or until risen and golden (really depends on how hot your oven is)
8. Transfer to wire rack and leave to cool completely.

IF you would like to add some icing here is the recipe:

Icing
80g butter
150g icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder sifeted
1-2 tbsp milk
chocolate chips to decorate

1. Beat together the butter, sugar and cocoa and 1 tablespoon of milk until smooth and creamy. If neccessary, add a little more milk.
2. Spread icing over cake.
3. Sprinkly chocolate chips on top to decorate.

I made this as a thank-you cake for lab :)
Perfect cake for all occasions!!! even birthdays! haha.. speaking of bdays..

*Happy bday Manda and Law :)*

Pear Swissroll

I had some leftover cream and decided to use it in a filling for Pear Swissroll! Also inspired by Julie's swissrolls ^^v

Very very simple!!! now you don't need to buy it from asian cake shops xP

Ingredients for sponge:
90 g (3/4 cup) self-raising flour
3 eggs
115 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

Filling:
250ml cream
1 tbs icing sugar
1 pear

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190oC. Line baking tin with baking paper.
2. Sift flour 3 times (for air ^^)
3. Beat eggs in a bowl using electric beater (~5 min or until thick and pale). Add suagr gradually, beating until mixture is pale.
4. Using a metal spoon, fold in the flour quickly. Spread into tin and smooth the surface.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden and springy to touch.

6. Place tea towel on kitchen bench. Cover with baking paper and spinkle with some caster sugar. Turn the cake out onto the baking paper.

7. Roll the cake up from the short side, rolling the paper inside the roll. Put the rolled cake on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then unroll and allow the cake to cool.

8. Beat the cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form. Cut the pear into small cubes and add with the cream. Spread over cake.

9. Roll cake up again. Refrigerate for 30 minutes then its ready to serve!

Really does taste like asian cake shop!!! You can put different fillings.. e.g. jam.. mango.. chocolate.. the list is endless! so go on and be creative =)

Savoury Crossiants

I baked these for our last lab meeting last week.. its also in one of my photos (baked them when Terie was here ^^) and so here's the recipe =) very very very easy to make!!!

You will need:
DOUGH
2 cups plain flour
30gm butter
1 sachet yeast (15 gm)
180ml warm water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
FILLING
1 rash bacon, diced
30gm grated cheese (i use mozarella but tasty cheese should be ok.. and you can use more cheese if you want it to be more cheesy ^^)
1/2 cup chopped chives
pepper
GLAZE
1 egg beaten (can add a bit of milk)
1 Tb sesame seeds

1. Set oven at 200oC
2. Rub butter into sifted flour using fingertips
3. Dissolve yeast in warm water and stir in salt and sugar (you can leave for around 5-10 min if you want)
4. Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture and stir till combined. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Rest for 20 min for the dough to rise (only if you wish to.. but i think it makes it much more nice and "fluffier")
5. Roll dough out to a circle (~25 cm in diameter). Cut the circle into 8 triangles ( i usually do more to get the most out of it :P)
6. Combine bacon, cheese, chives and pepper.
7. Sprinkle filling on triangle and roll up from the long end. Twist ends together and curve into crescent shapes.
8. Arrange on baking tray (HAHHA THATS ME! =p JKJK.. lammeee HAHHA) and brush with beaten egg and sprinkle sesame seeds.
9. Bake for 7-8 min or until golden brown

 The crossiants i made this time.. not as golden brown and i wanted them to be... and i also forgot to rest the dough..

The crossiants we made last time when Terie was here.. looked much better!coz we rested the dough =p so the moral of the story is.. REST THE DOUGH ^^

Mini cheesecakes

Made some mini cheesecakes for Mel's bday today. Thanks to Terie for the recipe (who I think got it from Margaret? so thanks ^^)
Here is a step-by-step guide for you because it's so EASY!!!

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180oC and line 10-12 holes of a muffin pan.

Step 2- Finely crush 150g Nice biscuits and mix with 70g melted butter. Firmly pack biscuit mixture evenly among cases.

   

If you don't have a food processor (which i don't) you can crush the bisuits in a bag with a rolling pin =)

Step 3 - Beat 250g cream cheese and 75g caster sugar together till smooth and creamy. Add egg and beat until combined. Add lemon juice and cream and beat until well combined. Divide mixture evenly among cases.



All the ingredients you need for the filling



Step 4- Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 30 minutes. Refrigerate and serve cold =)

I haven't actually tasted them yet but hopefully they are ok^^



~happy birthday Mel~

Mango Pudding

First time to try and make mango pudding and it was a lot EASIER than I thought. Decided to make it because we had heaps of mangoes~

For my mango pudding i just used Mango, condensed milk, gelatin and water.

I added 4 tsp powdered gelatin to 2 cups of boiling water. Then I added around 1/2 tin of condensed milk and mashed up mangoes (with a few chunky bits) and poured into cups and refrigerated for a couple of hours. It didn't exactly taste like the real ones but good enough =)

Mum's banana and walnut muffins

My mum doesn't seem to need a recipe when she makes muffins. She just adds the ingredients and pops them into the oven and they are a success (most of the time =p). I guess she does have a basic recipe and then adds whatever ingredients/flavours she likes. This time since we had some really ripe bananas we decided to make banana and walnut muffins.

Ingredients
2 cups Self-raising flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tub yoghurt (~150 g)
3 ripe bananas
Handful of walnuts
Handful of sultanas
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg beaten
splash of milk

As you can see some of the measurements are really rough xD but basically you just mix it all up in a bowl and bake at 180oC for 10-12 minutes or till golden brown :)

A quick and versitile snack =)

its my camera that makes it look a lil yellow ><

Comfort food - Apple pie

I've been having cravings for apple pie recently... not sure why =S haha.. so I was looking up some recipes on the internet for pie crusts. I wanted to make some nice pastry =) 
Here's the recipe I used for the pastry:


Ingredients

1 cup Plain flour

1/2 cup Self-raising flour

1/2 cup corn flour

125 g butter, chilled, chopped

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 egg separated

Method

1. Sift flours and sugar into a bowl.

2. Rub butter into dry mixture till it resembles bread crumbs (or if you have a food processor which i dont == you can just process it all in there! much easier and less messy ^^)

3. Add the egg yolk and 1/4 cold water and mix to combine. Knead gently until smooth. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate till firm (~30min - 1 hour)

4. Roll our pastry and line greased pie tin.

This is the cutest lil egg separator i've seen ^^ thanks MEI!!! <3

Just to let you know when I made this pastry.. it was really soft.. i might have added too much water.. so adjust the water to your needs.. i added more flour because it was too sticky. Maybe when i make it again i'll use a different pastry recipe.. but it turned out ok :) nice and crispy edges.. kinda tastes like biscuit! haha.. i baked it for ~10 minutes then added the filling and baked it for another 30 minutes at 180oC.

Filling

2 apples peeled, sliced

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp plain flour

pinch of salt


so the finished product:

The crust looks a little messy... but tastes great =p my craving is satisfied =) Tastes best when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream!

ENJOY :)

Birthday food

My birthday = my baking day off =p you shouldn't make your own cake for your bday!! haha..
so had some made for me =)


Fruit  loaf/cake by mum - very healthy cake



Marble cupcakes by Kat - took me a while to work out the msg XD 

 

Mango sago mousse cake by Aikay - delish :D <3 sago!!

Had a lovely bday lunch at YuErh's house :) thanks for the food guys!! Spaghetti and sushi and sago! mmmm mmm =)

I was very very full so thanks :D



hehe.. i turned 1 YEAR old =p jkjk~ getting old now T_T need to get the recipe off Aikay how to make Mango sago! thats next on my "to bake list" - well technically its not baking.. HAHA.. so stay tuned :)

thanks everyone for your bday msgs... phone calls.. presents... sms <3

spur of the moment!

I just decided to set up a food blog .. because after looking at my friend's one.. and other random ones! and I've always wanted to as well... I have another blog and was going to change that to a foodie one.. but nah.. i'll keep that separate x)
Anyways as I was walking to 7/11 with a friend.. she suggested that I start up a bakery..and jokingly we started coming up with names. There's already Bread Top.. Bread Talk.. so Bread Tray? then... I came up with: BAKING TRAY!!!! It's perfect =) =) I doubt it will even happen.. but there's always the dream right? :)

So today I trialled a new recipe that looked pretty interesting: Eggless and butterless Chocolate muffins (Allergy free XD)... i mean the photo looked good and it's healthy right? so made them this morning.. i got the recipe from: http://cupcakesoftheday.tumblr.com/post/583380035/divvies-eggless-butterless-chocolate-cupcakes

and well... they didn't turn out that great... kinda no FLAVOUR!!! So had to rush and made normal Chocolate cupcakes instead! XD for Amy and Julie's graduation =) *that's why i was late guys*

Here's how it turned out:

Left: Eggless and butterless - didn't rise as much

Right: Egg and butter - rose a lot more!


But I'm glad u guys liked it =)

Lesson learnt: You must put eggs and butter! hehehhe