Absence

Hi folks,

Happy Mooncake Festival! I am terribly sorry for the lack of updates, slow response to replying your comments and questions. I was caught up with work, mooncake sales and a wedding cake. Plus, my helper is to take 2 weeks urgent leave to resolve some family matters. I will have to work from home in the meantime. I will make an effort to update this blog when time is permissible.

Till then, take care!
Rei

Ah Boy is 1!

Today is Ah Boy's first birthday. Time really flies. He's 'talking' alot more and making lots of sounds. Crawls really fast and cruising steadily. He's able to stand unaided for a short while so I think he's not far making his first baby step. We actually celebrated his Lunar birthdate instead which was 2 weeks+ back. It was just a small celebration at my parents'. I made Chirashi Zushi and a birthday cake.

























This picture exposed flaws of my piping skills. I bought this cake pan during a spree. Ah Boy loves bears and Barney. Going by the Lunar birthdate, Ah Boy gets to celebrate his birthday first. Ah Girl said it wasn't fair that her brother celebrated his first since the actual date is in September. Hers, August. Guess she remembered the month sequence really well now. As their birthdays are only 10 days apart and to appease her, the poor bear had another 5 candles pounded into its tummy. *Ouch* She loves birthdays and she's already counting down on her next! My dear, you just celebrated it 10 days ago.



















Abit blur at first.



















Getting excited.



















Chuckling when we sang 'Happy Birthday'.



















'Hey, Jie Jie! That's my cake yo!'



















Can't wait to take a bite.

I used my sis's Sponge Cake recipe, the one she which she called her own. She's generous to allow me to share the recipe in my blog. Thanks S! The recipe shared here should be enough to fill an 9 inch pan. I used the whole recipe as I do not know how much batter the bear cake pan would need. In the end, I had enough for the bear pan and a short 6 inch cake. Also, her original recipe was a Lemon Sponge, but I used vanilla instead. This recipe is using egg separation method.



















This is the texture of the sponge. Wonderfully soft. Ah Boy likes this alot. I will be baking this more often but perhaps I will reduce the recipe and bake them into cupcakes.

S’s Sponge Cake
Ingredients(A)
5 Egg Whites
100g Fine Sugar
½ Tsp cream of tartar

(B)
5 Egg Yolks
80g Fine Sugar
1-1/2 Tsp Vanilla Essence
125 ml Milk
4 Tbsp Melted butter

170g cake flour
½ Tsp bicarbonate of soda

*Sift together

Method
1) In A clean bowl, whisk egg white and sugar. Add cream of tartar and whisk till peak.

2) In another bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar till pale and fluffy.

3) Add vanilla essence, milk and melted butter to egg yolk mixture then fold in sifted flour mixture.

4) Fold in egg yolk mixture into egg white mixture.

5) Bake at 180°C for around 50 minutes to an hour.

*Note : The bear pan is my first silicone bakeware. It may be the size of it or silicone bakeware bakes fast. It took 25 minutes.

**Note : I used dairy whipped cream (150ml + 1 Tbsp Icing Sugar) and chocolate ganache (65g chocolate + 65g dairy whip cream) for the piping.

Bentos & Slowing Down

Since I have cakes oozing out of my ears now, I decided to take a break from blogging about cakes and sweet stuffs, lest I get queasy looking at my own blog. I have to refrain myself from baking for the time being but seriously, I don't know how long I could last. Baking is addictive, especially for me. My hands don't take to idling. I'm making mooncakes this year and I'm also thinking of starting a crochet project soon.

Plans aside, I have not been updating my bento posts lately. Doing too many things at the same time. Thanks Bento Pet for the reminder. This is for you. Hope they pleased your eyes!


















Abura-age stuffed with rice with toppings; fried white bait, sakura denbu and scrambled eggs. Fresh fruits with yoghurt.


















Rice with stir-fried Hijiki, long beans, carrots and Abura-age. Steamed carrots and Xiao Bai Cai. Stir-fried chicken with Ichimi chilli powder.


















Chahan with mix vegetables. Orange slices and Melon Jelly.


















Somen with Tom Yam flavour seaweed. Wakame and carrots stir-fry with butter and Shoyu. Pan-fried Salmon, lime wedge.


















Rice with Natto, Steamed Tofu with chopped Tomatoes and Shiso Shoyu. Stir-fry young french beans, carrots and Shimeji.

There will be more coming up I promise! Stay tuned.

Victoria Sandwich Cake

It's back to the basics for this cake. This must be the first cake I've ever made. I got to learn this cake during Home Economics lesson. I forgot what was taught but remembered this as a very basic, failproof recipe. However, that was the only time I baked it and never re-visited. Not sure why but I think I got grossly distracted but so many other cake recipes.

So when Sweet & Simple Bakes suggested baking this cake, I tried to find time for it. To be honest,I have had quite enough of cakes in the month of August. There is a cake almost every week. I had a hard time searching whatever is left of my waistline. *sob sob~* I procrastinated till the last minute. Also for this bake-out, I reduced the recipe to fit a 3 inch pan. As usual, I reduced the amount of sugar and butter. Here's what I did.

Victoria Sandwich Cake
Ingredients
40g Butter
30g Fine Sugar
1 Egg, lightly beaten

2 Oz Self Raising Flour
*Sifted

For The Filling
1-1/2 Tbsp Apricot Jam
1 Tsp caster sugar
Some Whipped Cream

Method
1) Grease a 3 inch pan and preheat the oven to 180°C.

2) In a bowl, using a whisk to cream the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. Add the beaten egg, a teaspoon at a time, whisk till incorporated.

3) Fold in flour with a spatula. Pour batter into pan and bake for 15 minutes or till skewer comes clean. Remove to cool on cooling grid.

4) When cooled, slice the cake into half horizontally. Spread jam and whipped cream and sandwich the cakes together. Dust icing sugar on top.

Because of its simplicity and ease of preparation, I came to understand why it is being taught at Home Economics class now. As more and more cake recipes are being created, some came to stay, some gone and forgotten. Some may not impress you, some you'd love to death. However, timeless and classic recipes will always have a place in your heart. In this case, your tummy.

それじゃ～～

*Update : Please see here for more fabulous bakes!