Pretty in Pastels

Lemon cakes with Buttercream icing.
I'm not a fans of buttercream myself as i find them too sweeet for my liking.

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Wilton Decorating Course 1

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So glad that I've finally enrolled myself to Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 at Wisma ICCA, Sunway Damansara.

Besides Wilton Courses, they also provide other Baking, and decorating class like Mini Cakes workshop and Sugarpaste Flower Workshops.

They also sell lots of imported Baking utensils and ingredients which are not easily found around Malaysia. One example is Meringue Powder.

Do check out their--> WEBSITE for more details.

So far, I've done 2 out of 4 sessions for Course 1.

During out first lesson, we were introduced to all the important tools in cake decorating and the right way to use them.

Besides that, we were taught how to ice a cake with buttercream smoothly, storing of cakes and buttercream, basic things like that.

For lesson 2, we were asked to bring an iced 8-inch round cake. We learnt how to pipe stars, zigzags, wavy lines, and words using the plain round tip 3, and star tip 16.

Towards the end of lesson 2, we're required to do a Rainbow cake using the Pattern transfer method.

HEHE.

excuse my lameless to write "Rainbow" there.

I couldn't think of what to write then.

Banana Chiffon Cake & Cream Puffs

Had some very ripe bananas laying around, and i needed to use them quickly before they go to the bin. Hence, Banana Chiffon Cake.

My first attempt in making chiffon cakes since i learnt few years back.

It came out alrite.

The taste is flavorful yet not too sweet.

Texture wise, I think i've added a lil too much bananas because it was slightly moist.

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Sometimes, i have the URGE to just bake something, ANYTHING-right now!

-but didn't want to drive out to get ingredients-

Went to check the pantry, Nothing much left.
First thing which came to my mine is Choux Pastry

• Flour (Checked)
• Butter (Checked)
• Eggs (Checked)
• Water (Checked)

The batter turned out runny when i piped them, and i thought I'm gonna get flat Cream "Puffs"

After awhile, i went back to check the oven and to my surprise, the choux pastry all puffed up really round and nice.

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The baking fairy must be around.

Playing with Pastry Dough

Made a big quantity of sweet shortcrust pastry dough.
On the first day, I turned some into Egg custard tarts.

Tried out 2 recipes I found for the egg custard, but I'm not really satisfied with the results.

One turned out tasting too egg-y, whereas the other one is too sweet and diluted.

Will keep trying!

Decided to make some fruit tarts with the leftover dough.

I can only find fresh dragonfruit and grapes at home So i also used those cut mix fruits from a can.

For the filling, i used instant custard as usual, and for a finishing touch, the fruits were glazed with some jelly.

So much time and work needed to make these tartlets, but they're well worth it.

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Sweet Buns

It has been some time since i last baked breadssssss.

Decided to make some sweet buns. Filled some with butter+sugar mixture, and left the rest plain.

Before Baking

After Baking

Looking at those round puffy buns, i decided to make them look like rabbits by cutting ears and use red food coloring for their eyes.

But i cut the ears too short so they ended up like fat little hamsters. >.<

They're still cute though.

Academia: Week 6

Starting from this week onwards, there's no more Cooking which means no more going home with uniform smelling like I've been drowned in Oil from the deepfryer.

The Spotlight is now on Desserts.

*Double Yum*

The first dessert which we made in class is a very commonly served warm dessert in buffet, the Bread and Butter Pudding. Well, we used normal white bread and not Baquette simply because the school didn't provide us with that.

But, I was satisfied with the end result. It's even better when served with the warm Zabaglione Sauce, that at one point i thought They should marry each other.

Individual serve of Bread and Butter Pudding - accompanied with Zabaglione Sauce

The next dessert we made in class is the Vanilla Bavarois, a type of set custard. I personally love this because of it's texture and tasted not overwhelmingly sweet. Coffee Anglaise, Vanilla Anglaise, and Caramel Mousse is some other things we've made. The Coffee and Vanilla Anglaise were made into ice-creams using an Ice-cream maker. I didn't have pictures of those, but feel free to ask for the recipe.

Vanilla Bavarois

The next dessert is also a very popular dessert, the Creme Caramel. It came out Normal, just the way how a creme caramel should look, taste, and smell like. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary, But it's worth trying it out.

Creme Caramel

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Recipe: (Makes about 6 - depending on the size of ramekins used)
90 g Caster Sugar

75 ml Water

500 ml Milk

75 g Caster Sugar

2 Large eggs

Vanilla Essence & Orange Zest (Optional)

Method:

1. Heat up Sugar (90grams) and water into a saucepan to make Caramel. When the colour is golden amber, it's ready. Pour equal amount into Ramekins.

2. Next, Heat up the Milk, Sugar (75grams), and orange zest. When warm, add in some vanilla essence.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and about 2 tbsp of caster sugar until pale.

4. Pour the warm milk mixture slowly into the Egg mixture while whisking, making sure not to cook the eggs.

5. Strain the mixture into ramekins, and put the ramekins in a deep baking tray with hot water covering at least half of the height of the ramekins. Cover the baking tray with foil, and bake it in preheated oven at 170 degree celcius.

6. Check after 25 minutes. Shake the ramekins, and if the sides of the creme caramel is set but the center part is slightly wobbly, then it's done. Chill the Creme caramel in the fridge until they're ready to be served

7. When chilled,Run a knife along the sides of the ramekin, and turn out the creme caramel onto a serving dish.

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Thats all for now.

Goodnights!

Giraffe Cafe

Location: Giraffe Cafe, 302, Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

I came across this Cafe at Little Lonsdale Street, and it's called Giraffe Cafe. The cafe has a very comfy and warm feel to it. Totally love the ambience. It has all the little stuffs on displayed which I find really interesting. One of them is a old-antique-looking typewriter. The deco in the cafe is very simple. Nothing fancy at all, but that's what made the place felt so home-y.

Food there is not bad at all, just like the deco, Simple and straight forward. I love the risotto with pistachio. *Double-Yum*

Of course, Good food is never complete without good company. *Aww*