Heavenly Paradise@AdelineAng.com

More baking! Miles and I did more baking last weekend. There was something new that we wanted to try preparing–gum paste.

Similar to fondant, gum paste is a pliable dough that can be easily shaped for cake decorations. As the name implied, the latter has more of a gum texture and it holds its shape better than fondant.

Cake baking, cake cooling, cake leveling, cake icing, cake chilling… all happened on the first night. Fondant and gum paste were prepared on the same day.

The next morning, we moved on to rolling out the fondant and laying the thin sheet (1/8 inch thick) onto the cake. Miles did a fabulous job transferring fondant onto the cake on his first attempt!

While the cake is being chilled in the fridge, we cut out various patterns on gum paste. Then, they cut-out patterns were placed in mini tin foil cupcake liners to hold their shapes. Painting was the next step. We used mainly gel paste food colouring for painting. Meanwhile, home-made chocolate icing was artistically piped along the top and bottom edges of the cake.

Finally, we assembled the gum paste ornaments onto the cake, placed a maraschino cherry on each flower, and garnished cake with milk chocolate curls.

Final results:

It was a heart-breaking moment to have to cut the cake. Oh well, that’s what the cake is for–consumption! More importantly, Miles and I had great fun preparing the cake and everyone enjoyed eating it ;)

Allergic to eggs? Ran out of eggs? Try this awesome eggless chocolate cupcakes!

Ingredients:
3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cup water
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, white sugar, cocoa, salt, baking soda.
2. Next, stir in oil, water, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Stir until well-blended.
3. Line a muffin pan with paper muffin cups. Pour batter into the muffin cups about 2/3 full.
4. Bake cupcakes for about 25 minutes in preheated oven at 350 F.

* Modified from Allrecipes.com

Yield: ~ 24 medium cupcakes

The cupcakes tasted wonderful! Better still, by reducing the baking time a minute or two will keep the cupcakes moist and yummy ;)

Ingredients:
1+1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth, with an electric hand mixer on medium speed. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Next, stir in the flour mixture from (2) into (1). Mix ingredients with hand mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour, or overnight.
4. Roll out dough on a floured surface, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into various shapes with cookie cutters.
5. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake cookies for 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven at 400 F (200 degrees C). Remove cookies from the oven when cookie edges turn light brown. Cool completely.

* Adapted from Allrecipes.com

How to make fondant? How to lay fondant over top of a cake? Here is my experience working with fondant; fun but challenging!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla extract
~ 450g icing sugar

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together white corn syrup and shortening. Subsequently, mix in salt and vanilla extract, and then sufficient icing sugar to form a firm dough. If the dough is sticky, add in more icing sugar for a smooth texture.
2. Lightly dust a clean working surface with icing sugar. Roll out fondant with a rolling pin to achieve the thickness of 1/4 or 1/8 inch (as thin as possible).
3. Roll the fondant on the rolling pin and drape over a frosted and chilled cake. Be sure that the fondant is smooth. Trim off the excessive fondant on the sides of the cake.
4. Fondant can also be used for making other cake decorations by cutting it into shapes.

*Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Two marble cakes. Each of them is cut into half to make a four-layer cake, with frosting in between them. Lastly, put frosting on the top and sides of the cake.

On a working surface dusted with icing sugar, roll out fondant with a rolling pin. Thanks Miles for his great effort :)

After several attempts (at least 5 times), the fondant has finally landed on the cake without breaking.

Remove the excessive fondant around the edge of the cake. The cake is now ready for further decorations.

I’m fascinated by beautifully decorated cakes with delicate edible ornaments. For the past few months, I’ve been watching the cake show on TLC channel, the “Cake Boss.”

“Cake Boss” is a show that films some absolutely stunning cake preparation processes, prepared by the Carlo’s Bakery in New Jersey, U.S.A. Needless to say, one of the most popular items on their cakes is fondant. I thought to myself, “I’m going to give it a try making it some day!”

Knowing that it’s going to be a time consuming process to decorate the cake, I opted for a quick and easy way to cake the cake by using cake mix. My favourite marble cake! Thanks to the Duncan Hines Marble Fudge cake mix. The cake turned out fabulous!

The baking process took me about 35 minutes and about 20 minutes for icing the cake. However, the decorating process took Miles and I nearly 2 hours (equivalent to 4 man hours)!

The cake turned out great, simple yet colourful. It wasn’t bad at all, considering that was our first fondant attempt.

Are these cupcakes? Or muffins?

The definition of these terms based on the online dictionary as follows:

Cupcake – a little cake for one person, baked in a small, cup-shapred mold and often iced

Muffin – a quick bread made with eggs, baked in a small cup-shaped mold and usually eaten hot

These are banana muffin (recipe can be found here) topped with fondant (or known as gum paste). In my opinion, they shall be called banana muffin cakes!

I was in a “decorative mood” when preparing these. I wanted something unique; not the plain old muffin nor the typical cupcake with icing. How about some colours and patterns on the muffins to make muffin cupcakes?

Just as the name suggested, Melting Moments can easily melt in your mouth! Sharing a similar texture and taste as shortbread cookies, these bite-size Melting Moments are delicious treats! They resemble the Mexican Wedding Cakes, except that the latter contain nuts.

I was excited to try out the cookie recipe that I found here. Some even said that they look identical to snowballs, a festive treat during Christmas.

The soft texture, buttery flavour, a hint of savoury taste, sweet icing topping, and the melt-in-your-mouth nature of these Melting Moments…are simply fabulous!

Ingredients:
(A)
1 + 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

(B)
1/2 cup icing sugar

Directions:
1. With an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and icing sugar from (A) on medium speed, for 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract.
2. In another mixing bowl, mix together all-purpose flour, corn starch, and salt.
3. Add the flour mixture into butter mixture gradually. Beat until well incorporated.
4. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour or until firm. Alternatively, freeze the dough for about 30 minutes.
5. Form the firm dough into small balls and lined them about an inch apart, on a lined baking sheet.
6. Bake at preheated oven at 350 F for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges of cookies turn light brown.
7. Cool cookies for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle sifted icing sugar from (B) on the top of cookies.
8. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container up to a few weeks.

* Yield: ~ 5 dozen cookies

I’ve cravings for Malaysian food from time to time. This time around, it’s the famous Seremban Siu Pau! I found the bun recipe on Kuali.com and it turned out fabulous when I tried it the last couple of times.

Yumm…yumm…yummy!

Ingredients:
(A) Meat filling
~ 1 lb chicken breast, cubes
1.5 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp light soya sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1/4 tsp ground white pepper

(B) Water dough
200g bread flour
60g shortening
2 tbsp white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
120ml water

(C) Oil dough
160 bread flour
100g shortening

(D) Egg glaze
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp evaporated milk

Directions:
1. Heat the cooking oil in wok, and saute onions until brown. Add chicken breast and all other ingredients in (A) to cook.
2. To prepare water dough, combine all ingredients (B) in a mixing bowl. Mix together until a smooth dough is formed. Cover with a damp tea towel for about 10 minutes to rest.
3. To make the oil dough, pour in bread flour in a mixing bowl. Rub in shortening gradually to form a smooth dough.
4. Divide both water and oil dough into pieces (~ 10).
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the water dough with a rolling pin. Place the oil dough in the middle and flatten it. Roll up the dough from one end to the other, in a Swiss roll style. Then, roll out the dough flat in a circular shape with the rolling pin.
6. Repeat step (5).
7. Place ~ 1.5 tbsp of meat filling at the centre of dough. Wrap and pleat into pau shape. Repeat procedure using the rest of the dough.
8. Bake in preheat oven at 400 F for about 25 minutes.
9. Remove pau from the oven and brush them with egg glaze.
10. Bake pau in the oven for another 5 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

* Yield: ~ 10 buns

A healthier blueberry cake? How about blueberry zucchini cake? Marie came out with the idea of baking the cake, with the help of Miles and I. It turned out to be tasty! My all-time favourite topping added a unique texture to it. The cake would have been better if it’s more moist. Happy baking!

Ingredients:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 + 1/4 cup white sugar
2 cup shredded zucchini
3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 cup fresh blueberries

Topping:
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp margarine
4 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and white sugar. Fold in the shredded zucchini.
2. In a separate bowl, combine all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.
3. Pour in the flour mixture gradually into the egg mixture. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Transfer batter into 2 round cake pans and 1 loaf pan.
5. Prepare topping by mixing all the ingredients with hands, to form crumbs. Sprinkle topping on the batter generously.
5. Bake in preheated oven at 350F for 50 minutes, or until cooked.

* Modified from Allrecipes.com

These are great recipes from Allrecipes.com; pie crust and broccoli quiche. The latter was improvised for a desired texture and flavour. The pie crust is flaky and delicious, whereas the quiche itself is flavourful and cheesy.

Thanks Miles for making the wonderful pie crust. This quiche surely beats the store bought ones!

Flaky Pie Crust

Ingredients:
1 + 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3 tbsp ice water

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour and salt.
2. Next, cut in shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Drizzle 2 to 3 tbsp of ice water onto the mixture. Adding more water a few drops at a time to form a dough.
4. Shape the dough into a ball. Wrap it with a plastic wrap, and let chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, and place it on a pie plate.

Broccoli Quiche

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 + 1/2 cup chopped fresh broccoli
2 medium brown mushrooms, sliced
2 medium white mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
6 strips bacon, microwaved and cooked
1 + 1/2 cup shredded marble cheese
4 eggs, beaten
1 + 1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp margarine, melted

Directions:
1. Saute onions and garlic in a greased pan on medium heat, until brown. Add broccoli, mushrooms, soya sauce, and black pepper into pan.
2. Cook until vegetables are soft. Let cool. Cut cooked bacon strips into pieces.
3. Pour cooked vegetables and bacon pieces into the pie crust. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt, and melted margarine. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for about 35 minutes, or until centre has set.
6. Serve warm!

Aromatic cupcakes and yummy frosting
With cut-out hearts nicely sparkling
I’ve yours and you’ve mine
A sweet moment forever in mind

Decorative red hearts on cupcakes
Love and patience is all it takes
One for you and one for me
A love message we both received

I enjoy preparing homemade muffins. Among all the berries, strawberries and blueberries are my favourite. Since I’ve made strawberry shortcakes, it’ll only be fair if I make something with blueberries. That’s right, blueberry muffins, with loads of berries!

Ingredients:
(A)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
~ 1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

(B)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp margarine/butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, and baking powder, in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
2. In a 1 cup measuring cup, place vegetable oil, egg, and enough milk (~ 1/3 cup) to fill up the cup.
3. Form a well at the centre of flour mixture. Slowly pour in the oil mixture. Mix well.
4. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.
5. To make crumble topping, mix together ingredients (B) with a fork.
6. Sprinkle crumbles over muffins before baking.
7. Bake in preheated oven at 400 F for 20 minutes, or until done.

* Yield 12 medium muffins. Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Longing for some strawberry treats? How about homemade strawberry shortcake? Preparing everything from scratch; tea biscuits and whipped cream. They make the best strawberry shortcakes with fresh berries!

A generous serving of berries on a strawberry shortcake.

A strawberry shortcake “eruption”.

Tea Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk

Directions:
1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut shortening in until the mixture has a fine crumb texture.
2. Stir in milk to make a soft dough. Knead for about one minute.
3. Roll out the dough to a minimum thickness of 1/2 inch. Shape into rounds. Let rest on lined cookie sheet for a few minutes.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 400F for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.

* Yield: ~ 6 tea biscuits.

Whipped Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp white sugar

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream until peaks are just about to form.
2. Beat in vanilla extract and sugar until peaks are formed.

* The lumpy-looking whipped cream was due to over-beating, but it still tasted great.

Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients:
~ 2 quarts fresh strawberries, hulled, sliced and tossed in sugar
6 tea biscuits
Whipped cream

Directions:
1. Slice cooled tea biscuits into halves, to make two layers.
2. On the first layer, place fresh berries and then whipped cream on top.
3. Top with the remaining half of tea biscuit. Again, place fresh berries and then whipped cream on top.
4. Serve immediately.

* Yield: 6 Strawberry Shortcakes.

This was my second attempt making some banana muffins with the recipe I used previously. Everything was the same, except for the amount of mashed overripe banana used. To get a more flavourful taste of the banana muffin, 1 + 1/2 cup of mashed banana was used, instead of 1 cup.

These were tasty muffins, with aromatic banana flavour and soft texture. Yummy!

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup white sugar
1 + 1/3 cup butter/margarine, melted
1 + 1/2 cup mashed overripe banana
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp butter/margarine
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Combine all-purpose and whole wheat flour, together with baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together egg, white sugar, melted butter/margarine with a hand mixer on low speed, for 1-2 minutes. Add mashed banana and vanilla extract into egg mixture. Beat until batter is well-mixed, on low speed.
3. Form a well in the centre of flour mixture. Pour in banana mixture gradually. Stir just enough to mix well.
4. Prepare the topping by mixing together brown sugar, butter/margarine, all-purpose flour, and ground cinnamon. Mix with hand to form crumbs.
5. Pour batter into a lined muffin pan. Sprinkle topping on them.
6. Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of muffin.

Yield: ~ 12 medium-size muffins

One of the many Malaysian desserts I missed is the pandan chiffon cake. The aromatic smell of pandan, rich flavour of coconut, soft and smooth texture of cake…

Pandan chiffon cake is light green in colour. The key ingredient in this recipe, pandan paste, contributes to the colour tone. The green is derived from the chlorophyll of the leaf juice. Just like other angel cakes and foam cakes, the fluffy texture of chiffon cakes is created by preparing beaten egg whites that are stiff, and folding them into cake batter, prior to baking.

I was excited when I came across with the pandan chiffon cake recipe here, and was really eager to try it out. It turned out very well. It’s certainly worth a try!

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 + 1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup thick coconut milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
8 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pandan paste
1/4 tsp pandan extract

Directions:
1. Combine coconut milk, pandan paste, and pandan extract, in a mixing bowl.
2. With an electric mixer, beat together egg yolks, sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract, until well combined.
3. Mix together all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt, in a separate bowl. Sift the flour mixture.
4. Make a well in the centre of sifted flour mixture. Whisk egg mixture into the flour mixture.
5. Next, beat egg whites until frothy, with an electric mixer. Add cream of tartar and beat until firm peaks formed.
6. Subsequently, fold the beaten egg whites into flour/egg mixture with a spatula.
7. Gently pour the batter into an angel food cake pan. Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 50 minutes, or until the cake is cooked.
8. Remove cake from oven. Invert the pan (upside down) onto a cooking rack. Remove the cake from pan when it’s cooled. Enjoy!