may birthday baking

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY TO NATHAN ^_________^
these little buggers gave me lack of sleep .. hahaha but was worth it seeing the sight of the little kid's smiles when eating them :] :] the faces were random ok .. hahaha dont ask me who they are or what cartoon they are from bec they arent .. it was purely off my mind that night =P

so i made good old devils choc cupcakes with choc-chip buttercream :]


had extra mix left, so made bigger cupcakes! these had chocolate whipped cream on top! :]



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO UNCLE ANTHONY!

dark chocolate almond torte with frangelico cream filling masked w/ dark chocolate ganache. LVL☆☆☆

i was so nervous when i attempted to 'write' in the cake, kept having the thought "your gonna stuff up amanda!!!" but luckily it turned out ok .. except if you look closely .. the [i][r][t] are sorta blended in together hahahaha!! *shhhh* =P


ingredients:

• 170g dark chocolate melted
• 150g unsalted butter
• 60g castor sugar
• 120g egg yolk (7)
  
• 200g egg white (7)
  
• 90g castor sugar
• 170g almond meal
• 80g plain flour
• 5g baking powder

method:

• melt the chocolate over a bainmarie
• cream butter and sugar
• add yolks slowly
• sep, whisk egg whites till med peak
• add chocolate into butter mixture
• gently fold egg white into butter mixture
• and fold in dry ingredients
• bake!
  

MM fondant trials #1

ive been wanting to start practicing my roses for awhile now, so i finally, i repeat, FINALLY managed to find some time and practice!! its not easyyyyyyyy~~~ hahaha!!!
these were some first trials .. UGLY YEH! >0<
and the end results were better! gettin thereeeeee :]


made some fruits bec i was bored too =P heehee!!

carrot cake & sultana cake

sultana cake LVL☆☆☆☆

ingredients:

• 150g unsalted butter
• 260g plain flour
• 10g baking powder
• 150g eggs (3)
• 200g castor sugar
• 100g sultanas
• 25ml rum (optional)
• 90ml milk

method:

• cream butter, add 150g flour and baking powder
• whisk eggs and sugar till pale and thick
• slowly combine whisked eggs into butter mixture
• soak sultanas in rum
  
• add sultanas
• add milk slowly and remaining flour
• flour your cake tin

carrot cake LVL☆☆☆☆

ingredients:

• 300g eggs (6)
• 400g brown sugar
• 500ml light oil (didnt like the idea of this!)
• 450g grated carrots
• 350g crushed pineapple (well drained)
• 180g chopped walnuts
• 525g plain flour
• 6g bicarbonate of soda
• 10g baking powder
• 6g cinnamon powder
• 4g salt

method:

• whisk eggs and sugar till thick and pale
• slowly pour oil on low speed
• manually fold through carrots, pineapple and walnuts
• fold sieved dry ingredients
• flour cake tins
  

piping those star things weren't as easy as i thought!!! i'll keep practicing!!! XD

genoise fever (sponge cake)

SO. start of stage two for class. we are finally baking cakes and decorating!!!! yayyy!! this stage is going to be filled with excitement!!! bring out your creativity skills people!!! for some reason ive never had success with sponge cakes, but today went alright. thanks to my amazing partner sonya too! :]

so these are just genoise cakes with italian buttercream and creme chantilly! making the cream perfect is not as easy as i thought! its HARD and annoying!! hahaha but i shall keep practicing!!! :]



stay tuned for more treats to come! got birthdays & mothers day comin up!! :]

HAPPY EASTER TREATS!! ^_____^

so its EASTER week! what to bake what to bake?!?! i actually had a joint house-warming party and easter one so i thought why not just bake mini cupcakes for everyone! :] these were are a great hit to my surprise! great recipe i must say!! its adapted from Simply Sweet Bake Shop took me quite a while to finish these babies as i fiddled with the fondant for ages hahaha!

PLEASE NOTE: those are NOT kittens; they are bunnies.
those are NOT ducks; they are chickens.

HAHAHAHA -_________- sigh! i'll try again next year to perfect them =P

pure strawberry cupcakes LVL☆☆☆☆
(i manipulated this recipe alittle - you guys would knw i dont like really sweet things, so all my recipes i will change them alittle =P)

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (i used unsalted)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 2 tsp strawberry extract (i didnt have this, so i left it out, i used 1tsp vanilla extract)
• 1 cups pureed fresh strawberries (or alittle bit more =P)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 tsp teaspoon salt

method:

• cream butter&sugar till fluffy.
• add egg whites one at a time.
• stir in strawberry puree, strawberry (or vanilla) extract, sour cream
  (hint: i mixed the sour cream and strawberry puree together first)
• sift dry ingredients together
• add to butter mixture alternatively with sour cream mixture.
• pour into tin/ cupcake patties and bake until top is quite firm! :] yumyum~

i made the frosting myself. its a mixture of butter, icing sugar, dark chocolate and strawberry puree & cream. it was yummy~~ but i cant remember how much of each i put in .. i just randomly added hahahaa so i'll post up the frosting next time i do it again :]

*i didnt have my trusty camera on me this day so i had to use a phone to capture these =( so sad! hahahah! so sorry about the quality =(*

mille feuille & madiera cake & sponge rolls

another week at school! thats the apricot sponge rolls! they are yummy! but my sponge came out too thin =( bite-size & guilt-free i guess! =P

fine sponge sheet LVL☆☆☆☆☆

ingredients:

• 120g egg yolk (of 6eggs)
• 70g blanched almond meal
• 100g castor sugar
• 180g egg whites (of 6eggs)
• 60g castor sugar
• 80g plain flour

method:

• whisk yolks and 100g sugar till pale yellow. mix in the almond meal. set aside.
• whisk egg whites to full volume and gradually add sugar.
• fold a 1/3 of whites into yolk at a time.
• then fold the sieved flour in.
• line a baking tray with baking paper
• spread the mixture onto the paper making sure its not too thin or too thick!
• bake till set. we dont want cripsy!
  

this is the mille feuille ('thousand leaves') filled with creme patisserie.
how cute are the hearts!!! :]


and the madiera cake LVL ☆☆☆☆☆

ingredients:

• 250g unsalted butter
• 200g castor sugar
• 4 eggs
• 300g plain flour
• 12g baking powder
• 2 lemons - juice & zest

method:

• cream butter&sugar
• add lemon zest till light & pale
• add eggs one at a time. making sure each addition is absorbed.
• fold in sieved flour and baking powder and lemon juice. (if your using a machine, make sure you remove and fold the flour manually with your hands)
• put into cake tin and bake!
• you can garnish it with icing sugar or fondant :]
  

blackberry cupcakes w blackberry white chocolate buttercream ♥

i wanted to try something different from the whole chocolate phase! so i decided to bake 'blackberry cupcakes' =D i got the inspiration from Annie Eats.

its a great recipe!! except i manipulated it again =P so here is my version:

ingredients LVL ☆☆☆☆

• 1 cup plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda (optional)
• 120g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup castor sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 soya milk
• 1/2 blackberry jam (i didnt have the frozen fruits! but still good!)
  
  *you can lessen the sugar in the recipe if your using jam, but i found its not overly SUPER sweet so the recipe is fine :]*
  

method

• cream the butter and sugar
• add the eggs one at a time
• in another bowl, whisk the milk and blackberry puree together
• sift all the dry ingredients together
• then alternately add the dry and wet into the butter|sugar|egg mixture
• put into cake liners & bake in the oven!

i cut out the center of each cupcake and filled them with some whipped cream just to even out the flavour :] i give you blackberry cupcakes topped with blackberry white chocolate buttercream :] ♥

sigh at my piping skills .. still gotta practice .. look at the little bugger at the back.. hahahaha *shh* tried to hide that one =P