Always dreamt of making 4D cakes! Watch the party horn blow here!
Hope this made you smile too!
With lots of love,
Susanne
Creative baking, made for our loved ones =)
Always dreamt of making 4D cakes! Watch the party horn blow here!
Hope this made you smile too!
With lots of love,
Susanne
I wanted to make a floral blue china porcelain themed bake for my mum's birthday this year but I wasn't sure I could pull it off so here's my trial bake that I am really pleased with!
A closer look at the individual cakes...
And a look at the cut cross-section!
I will be sharing the recipes for all components except the pattern. Although I have tried making chiffon cake sugar-free with other sugar replacements in the past, I believe this maltitol-erythritol combination is one that comes close to chiffon cakes made using white sugar in terms of taste and texture. My hubby said he couldn't tell that it's sugar-free! Do note that maltitol isn't zero in glycemic index but it's still significantly lower than regular sugar. Erythritol is commonly found and has zero GI but it doesn't dissolve easily in water and tends to make bakes gritty as a result. It also leaves a cooling aftertaste. Using it in combination with maltitol seems to make these downsides of erythritol hardly noticeable! As with all sugar-free bakes, I always caution consumption in moderation and watch for any side effects as alcohol sugars are known to cause gastrointestinal discomfort in some people.
I used honey as the sweetener instead of sugar replacement for the jelly because I still want it to taste great 🤭. I chose Acacia honey for its lower GI value.
Cake flour also contributes to the overall GI. I wouldn't substitute that with keto-friendly options though because low protein flour is essential for the texture of the sponge. All in all, this bake contains minimal white sugar but it's so flavourful and refreshing that you wouldn't think it's almost sugar-free! I tried my best to keep the flavours true to the floral theme of the design by keeping rose and lavender flavours the star of this cake, while balancing the floral notes with other components.
In this day and age where many bakers own an edible printer like Eddie, a projector or at least an airbrush with stencil maker like Cricut, freehand drawn and painted macarons are seldom done. But because I don't do these often, I don't own any of the equipment that enables bulk production, I do it the old fashioned way😆. These are my attempt at making the National Gallery Singapore macarons as a farewell gift for a request.
Besides Pompompurin macarons, I made brown sugar cookies as requested by my friend!
My friend loves my brown sugar cookies and looks forward to having them each year. This is the 10th year I am making them for her daughter's birthday!
You may refer to this post for my brown sugar cookie and royal icing recipe. There's a good reason why she asks for it every year. It's so fragrant and tasty without being overly sweet. Do give it a try if you would like an iced cookie base that actually tastes better with age/storage 😊.
with love,
Phay Shing
I have shared heart shaped Langue de Chat sandwich cookies over here and here earlier this year. Here's another fancy but simple way of making these crisp buttery cookies --- tie-dye!
This is my contribution to this year's Culinary Arts Ministry event at Adam Road Presbyterian Church in April.
I make use of matcha powder and cocoa powder to colour and flavour the cookies naturally. Feel free to use other colouring/flavours if you wish!
1. Line baking tray with template and parchment paper.
If you have Teflon sheet or silicone mat, use it as the spreading of the batter will be more even than parchment paper. Preheat oven to 150-160C.
2. Beat softened butter briefly with electric mixer/ hand whisk/ spatula.
3. Add sugar and salt. Beat until well combined.
4. Add egg whites in 2-3 additions. Beat until smooth. Add soy lecithin if you wish to help with emulsification.
5. Add vanilla and mix until well combined.
6. Divide into 3 equal portions, about 40g each.
7. Add sifted cake flour + flavouring to respective portions. Fold with spatula until combined.
8. Transfer into piping bag with #7 or #8 tip.
9. Position piping tip over middle of the circle, about 4-5mm away from surface of baking tray. Pipe until the batter reaches the circumference of the innermost circle.
10. Switch to another colour of batter and place piping tip over middle of piped batter. Pipe until the first batter reaches circumference of middle circle.
11. Switch to final colour of batter and place piping tip over middle of piped batter. Pipe until the first batter reaches circumference of outermost circle or as large as you like. Repeat for all circles, switching the order of the colours as you wish. Try to stack the circles right in the middle for a neater floral/tie-dye pattern.
12. Use a skewer to pull the batter from the center of the circle to the circumference as shown in the middle cookie, fourth row from the top. Clean the skewer after each stroke.
13. Repeat step 12 but in the diagonal positions (forming an “x” instead of “+”)
14. Use skewer to pull the batter from the circumference to the center of the circle between the points in step 12 and 13 to form the flower pattern. Repeat for all piped batter.
15. Carefully remove the template. Bake for 10-11 min or until edges are browned. Reduce temperature to 110C and bake for another 5-6 min to thoroughly dry it out to be crispy.
Cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Feel free to bake the cookies again at 150C for a few minutes to re-crisp it if it has softened after storage.
Enjoy!
with love,
Phay Shing
With love,
Susanne
My friend requested for some Kuromi marshmallows for her daughter's birthday but she wanted something that tastes less sweet. I made the marshmallows in honey lemon vanilla flavour to fulfill the request!
Watch the video tutorial of making these from the reel! Do read the captions for explanation for the technique:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4iAt88S3kG/?igsh=MXQ5bnh5MDEza3ZsMA==
Basic recipe and how to adapt it to various flavours and consistencies for piping can be found in my Deco Marshmallows book.
with love,
Phay Shing
I made some passionfruit honey vanilla marshmallows for a future class content and decided on the spur of the moment, to create a video tutorial for piping capybara marshmallow since I didn't get around to doing it with my vegan character marshmallows.
I coloured the marshmallow brown with a little chocolate paste. The little citrus fruit props are all choux pastries which are part of another future class material.
Here's a closer look at the marshmallow and my plushie inspo!
Here's my piping video tutorial! Do read the details about the technique for working with leftover batter in a hot environment!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4AkEWCyHCT/?igsh=eGsxcHU4ZDlkcGJm
with love,
Phay Shing
Want to create a cute and yummy choux pastry creation? Join me for this class in April!
Here's the reel for how I piped the filling and decorated the bear!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4LAtAmyxPf/?igsh=ejdyeHo5OGhmbDJq
Please click on this link for more details or to register.
with love,
Phay Shing
I made use of a new painting technique to create patterns on choux pastries covered with craquelin to make these Cat Bus creampuffs and Eclairs!
I feel decorative choux pastry is not as popular as macarons or marshmallows although the possibilities are endless and it tastes the best in my opinion because it contains a lot less sugar. I hope to be able to showcase more choux pastry creations this year!
Here's the reel showing the making and filling of the full body cat bus choux pastry, and the ingredient list:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3m68gPSJ1-/?igsh=cmpyZWs1ZzR5NWVx
with love,
Phay Shing
On and off I have people asking me if it is possible to make character marshmallows vegan. The answer is yes!
People have also asked if the recipe is in my Deco Marshmallows book. The answer is yes but only as a footnote on how to adapt the vegetarian recipe to make it a vegan one. In my vegan marshmallows, instead of egg whites and gelatin, I use agar powder, reduced aquafaba and apple puree as the ingredients that provide structure and bounce.
The technique for making vegan marshmallows is slightly different from the vegetarian one which uses egg whites instead of reduced aquafaba, because the meringue made using aquafaba is less stable and less robust than the one made using egg whites. Make sure the meringue is whipped stiffer than you would make for the vegetarian marshmallow if you want to make it vegan.
Here's the reel for the Totoro vegan marshmallows and the capybara plushie in action:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3XaR1IyXQr/?igsh=MTA1aW93aDF2bG9lag==
Pardon the lack of piping tutorial for capybara because it was made with leftover marshmallow batter & I wasn't confident it would turn out fine.
These vegan marshmallows are also known as zephyrs (zefir) which are apple puree based & agar is used as the gelling agent. I replaced egg whites with aquafaba to make it vegan. It doesn't taste too sweet at all, in fact it is tart because of the fruit /juice that goes into it! Texture is a cross between regular marshmallows & meringue cookies.
Feel free to upsize as this is for a small batch & a very tiny saucepan I used.
Many people think that you need artistic skills in order to pipe character marshmallows. Not true with the templating technique I use! There is hardly any freehand piping needed!
I am pleased to present this marshmallow class which doesn't require artistic skills at all!
Cute animal hanami dango and kawaii fruity polar bear designs will be taught at this class. I use matcha powder, freeze-dried strawberry powder and strawberry paste to flavour and colour the green and pink parts.
See how squishy they are in this reel!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3ByHK0yWVr/?igsh=cDZzcDZkOWc4aWp5
To find out more about this class or to register, please refer to this link.
with love,
Phay Shing
Assembly video here.
Tart crust recipe (makes 3 dragons)
228g (2 sticks) unsalted butter
120g icing sugar
2 large egg yolks
60g heavy cream
400g plain flour
15g corn flour
15g milk powder
Red yeast rice powder (or red food coloring)
Happy CNY in advance!
Love,
Susanne