Gingerbread House

Kristina was throwing her renowned fabulous Christmas party at her place, cocktail style with lots of food and drinks, I had been looking forward to it and thought I could make a Gingerbread House for her party ~✫ It wasnt difficult to make, so much cheaper than buying one from Selfridges and definitely is a good present idea :)

Gingerbread House

For the Gingerbread House

250g unsalted butter
200g dark muscovado sugar
7 tbsp golden syrup
580g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp mixed spice

For the Decoration

1 large tube of 170g smarties (or selection sweets of your choice)
1 tube of 125g jelly diamonds (or selection sweets of your choice)
4 candle canes (or selection sweets of your choice)
2 egg whites
480g icing sugar
A Gingerbread House template (A4 size below)

Methods

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan.
3. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice into a large bowl.
4. Stir in the melted butter mixture to make a soft and smooth dough. If the dough is bit dry, add a tiny splash of water for the dough to come together,
5. Prepare and cut out the template of two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels.

6. Put a sheet of baking paper on your work surface and roll about one quarter of the dough to 0.8cm thick.
7. Cut out one of the sections according to the template, then slide the gingerbread onto a baking tray lined with baking sheet.
8. Repeat with remaining dough, re-rolling the trimmings, until you have two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels.

9. Any leftover dough can be cut into Christmas trees/gingerbread man/stars.

10. Bake all the sections for 10 mins, turn and bake the other side for 5 mins until firm and just a little darker at the edges.
11. Leave to cool for a few mins to firm up, then trim around the templates again to give clean, sharp edges. Leave to cool completely.
12. Put the egg whites in a large bowl, sift in the icing sugar, then stir to make a thick, smooth icing. Spoon into a piping bag with a medium nozzle.
13. Pipe the decorations on the house before it is assembled.
14. Pipe the windows, roof tiles, doors or any design of your choice over the outside of the house. Stick the sweets onto the walls and door of the house with some icing.

15. Leave them to dry completely.
16. To assemble, pipe a thick line of icing along the wall edges, one by one, to join the walls together.
14. Use a small mug/bowl/box to support the walls from the inside, then allow to dry completely.
15. Once dry, remove the supports and fix the roof panels on. The angle is steep so you may need to hold these on firmly for a few mins until the icing starts to dry. Dry completely, ideally overnight.
16. Dust the roof with icing sugar and edible glitter for a snowy effect.
17. Your gingerbread house will be edible for about a week but will last a lot longer.

Chocolate Soufflé

We were sharing a Blueberry Soufflé and a few other desserts after dinner when we went to The Chancery for Kiki's birthday, that little spoonful of warm fluffy llight soufflé was so melty, Emma asked if I have made it before, I have been thinking to make this since then.

It is not as complicated as I thought, it is definitely a delicious dessert that gives the wow factor ;-P

Chocolate Soufflé 

Recipe modified and adapted from bbcgoodfood

 Ingredients

For the dishes

25g unsalted butter, for greasing

finely grated chocolate

For the crème patisserie

2 tbsp plain flour

2 tsp caster sugar

½ tsp cornflour

1 medium egg yolk

1 medium whole egg

4 tbsp milk

1 tbsp double cream

25g good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70% cocoa solids, broken in pieces

1 tbsp cocoa powder

For the egg whites

6 medium egg whites

85g caster sugar

single cream or ice cream, to serve

For the ganache

4 tbsp double cream

50g good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces

1 tbsp cocoa

Utensils

6 soufflé ramekins 

Method

1. Grease six 200ml soufflé ramekins with softened butter. Chill the dishes for 5 mins, apply a second coat of butter so the soufflé doesn't stick to the dishas. Tip a little grated chocolate into each dish evenly all round.

2. For the crème patisserie: put egg yolk and whole egg into a bowl, stir, then beat in the flour, sugar and cornflour gradually to give a smooth paste.

3. Put the milk, cream, chocolate and cocoa powder into a microwave-safe mug, microwave for 1 min until the chocolate is melted and mix well until smooth with no lumps.

4. Send the the hot chocolate mix to the microwave for another 50 seconds so it is cooked to a smooth, thick paste. Remove from the microwave, leave until cold, beating occasionally with a whisk.

5. For the ganache: slowly warm the cream in a pan. Just before it boils, take off the heat and add chocolate. Beat constantly to a velvety texture, gradually sprinkling in the cocoa as it dissolves. Allow to cool.

6. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Whisk the egg whites and sugar with an electric whisk to stiff and firm peaks to give volume to the soufflés.

7. Mix crème patisserie and ganache in a large bowl. Stir in 2 tbsp of egg white. Carefully fold in a third of the rest, cutting through the mixture. Fold in another third (take care not to lose the volume); fold in the rest.

8. Spoon the mixture into the dishes to fill them by three-quarters, then gently press a spoon in to make sure it fills all the gaps. Fill the dishes to the top with the mixture, then bang each dish on to the surface so the mixture fills the sides.

9. Take a palette knife and pull it across the top of each dish so the mixture is completely flat. Take a little time to wipe any splashes off the outside of each dish, or they will burn on while cooking.

10. So mixture won't stick to the top of the mould, and to give a straight finish, go around the top edge of the mixture with your finger. Sprinkle a little grated chocolate in the centre, then bake the soufflés for 15-17 mins.

11. The soufflés should have risen by about two thirds of their original height and jiggle when moved, but be set on top. To serve, make a small dip with a spoon in the centre of each, then pour in single cream or add a spoonful of ice cream.

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cupcakes

Happy Thanksgiving. Have a beautiful day with your families and friends, give Thanks to God and anyone who contributes to your life :) Make them cupcakes with piped flowers ❤

Pumpkin Cupcakes

For the cupcakes

240g self-raising flour
240g light muscovado sugar
4 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
140g sultanas
½ tsp salt
3 large eggs , beaten
160g butter , melted
zest 2 oranges
2 tbsp orange juice
425g pumpkin puree

For the cream cheese frosting

200g pack cream cheese
100g butter, softened at room temperature
400g icing sugar , sifted
zest 1 orange

Makes 12 cupcakes

Method

For the cupcakes

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C and line 12-cups muffin tin with muffin cases.
2. Put the flour, sugar, spice, bicarbonate of soda, sultanas and salt into a large bowl and stir to combine.
3. Beat the eggs into the melted butter, stir in the orange zest and juice, then mix with the dry ingredients till combined.
4. Stir in the pumpkin.
5. Fill the muffin cups with the batter evenly and bake for about 45-55 mins or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

For the cream cheese frosting

1. Beat the butter until light and fluffy, gradually add the icing sugar and beat until well combined.
2. Stir in the cream cheese.
3. Spoon the cream cheese frosting into a piping bag with the nozzle you like.


I coloured 3 tablespoons of frosting yellow as the stigma of the flower, and coloured the rest in light peach colour, piped with a petal nozzle for this peony flower effect.

Matcha Green Tea Marble Cake 抹茶マーブルパウンドケーキ

Looking at the calendar, not long till the festive season to come and not long till I go home for Christmas - it is time to start doing some Christmas shopping too! I love all the sparkling Christmas lights, decoration, markets, carnivals, presents, dinners and parties :-D

I picked up a few large platters of nice sushi on the way home after shopping, umm... I felt like something was missing after dinner..nice dinner needs to be completed by nice dessert :-P Good that I have this Matcha Green Tea Marble Cake in mind to match the theme ♫ this recipe can be adapted to make chocolate marble cake. It is soft and I like to serve it warm.

Matcha Green Tea Marble Cake

For the vanilla mix

100g butter, softened at room temperature
100g caster sugar
2 free-range eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla essence
100g self-raising flour

For the matcha green tea mix (can be substituted by cocoa powder for chocolate mix)

100g butter, softened at room temperature
100g caster sugar
2 free-range eggs, at room temperature
70g self-raising flour
30g matcha green tea powder (can be substituted by cocoa powder)
30g matcha green tea chocolate, melted (optional, can be substituted by dark/milk chocolate)

A 23 x 13-cm loaf tin, greased.

Method:

For the vanilla mix

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the tins.
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a bowl until pale for at least 5 mins.
3. Add and mix in the eggs gradually and stir in vanilla extract.
4. Sift the flour into the mixture and stir until well-combined. Set aside.

For the matcha green tea mix

1. In another clean bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a bowl until pale for at least 5 mins.
2. Add melted chocolate to the mix, and beat in the eggs gradually.
3. Sift the flour and matcha green tea powder (or cocoa powder) into the mixture and stir until well-combined.


4. Spread the green tea (or chocolate) mix into the tin first with a spoon, then spread the vanilla mix on top.
5. With a teaspoon, fold through bit by bit, then run a fork through for marbling effect.
6. Bake for 50 mins to 60 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes and come out clean.
7. Leave it on a wire rack to cool or serve warm.

Vanilla Cheesecake

It becomes so dark in the afternoon and makes me feel like time for the shops to close and time to go home...I end up having plenty of time in the evening reading cookbooks, baking, enjoying my tea and updating my blog :-O

I was looking at some cookbooks, I wanted to make (have) some cheesecake :) as i have all ingredients  ready at home.

I was making some rose and jasmine buds tea, I thought I could add some dried flower tea buds for presentation, they look so pretty ❤❤

Vanilla Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the crust

160g crusted digestive biscuits or oats cookies (I used Hob Nob Cookies)
45g melted butter
15g maple syrup

For the cheesecake filling

150g butter melted, plus extra to grease the tin
750g low-fat cream cheese
160g sugar
4 large eggs
3 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

Utensils

8-inch baking tin

Method

1. Grease the baking tin with butter.
2. Mix the crusted cookies/biscuits with the melted butter and maple syrup.
3. Press the mixture into the bottom of the tin and frost for 5 minutes in the freezer.
4. Preheat oven to 210C.
5. Beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth.
6. Add eggs, melted sugar gradually, sift and stir in the flour.
7. Mix in the vanilla bean paste until well incorporated.
8. Pour the mixture into the tin, bake at 210C for 35-40 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes and come out clean.
9. Leave them on wire rack to cool.
10. Chill for 3 hours minimum before serving.

Victoria Sponge Ruffle Cake

As you can see I have changed the header and footer of the website a bit, this is the other design I have been thinking of, I am quite bad in coding...it does take me quite a while to figure some of the codes out, no idea how people can code a whole website or some electronic trading systems :-P

Back to my area, I made this Victoria Sponge Cake a few weeks ago to practise my piping skills :) I have quite a lot of nozzles at home, this large petal one is one of my favourites, which helps create this sweet ruffle effect.

The same nozzle can also do a large rose.

The sugar rose cake topper was made by flowerpaste :) presentation matters a lot, thatz why I  am so addicted to sugarflowers ;)

Victoria Sponge Ruffle Cake

For the Sponge

200g butter, softened at room temperature
200g caster sugar
4 free-range eggs, at room temperature
3 tsp vanilla essence
200g self-raising flour
3 x 6 inches round sandwich tins

For the Buttercream Filling 

(you will need to made 1.5 portion of this buttercream to get enough amount for piping the ruffles)
250g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
250g icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla essence
a few drops food colouring
3 tbsp good quality raspberry jam

Method:

For the Sponge

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease and line greaseproof paper into the tins.
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a bowl until pale for at least 5 mins.
3. Add and mix in the eggs gradually and stir in the milk and vanilla extract.
4. Sift the flour into the mixture and stir until well-combined.
5. Spoon and divide the mixture into 3 tins evenly by weighting out the amount.
6. Bake 20 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes and come out clean.
7. Leave them on wire rack to cool.

For the Buttercream Filling

1. Beat the butter by adding the icing sugar gradually in a large bowl until soft.
2. Add the milk, vanilla essence and food colouring, whisk until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

To assemble

1. Spread the butter cream over the sponge, top it with jam and sandwich the second sponge on top, and repeat.
2. Place the last sponge on the top and cover the whole cake with a thin layer of buttercream.
3. Spoon the remaining buttercream mixture into a piping bag with a petal nozzle, pipe onto the side of the cake in strips of zigzag motion for the ruffle effect.
4. Serve and enjoy :)

Super Mario, Sonic The Hedgehog and Pacman Cupcakes

Winnie from WLFF asked me if I could sponsor cupcakes for a 80s retro game themed charity event, it helps to raise funds for charity to build new schools in Nigeria. She approached me after seeing the PS3 cake and thought I could helping making some cupcakes with Super Mario, Sonic The Hedgehog and Pacman etc to match the 80s theme for 150+ guests. I also realized she is a friend of Azzy and Omar's, and it was for a charity event, I took on this large order.

Thinking of the popular flavours like Red Velvet, Vanilla Marshmallow, Oreo Chocolate, Banana and Carrot Cupcakes would be nice for guests to have different variety to choose from. I also took the colour scheme into account because I wanted Mario, Sonic, Pacman and friends to look good on cupcakes :)

I do think my time management skill is quite good, I managed to go out a few nights and still had enough time to hand-make the cupcake toppers during the week with sugarpaste. Which one do you like most?

Super Mario and friends look the best on Vanilla Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting.

Sonic the Hedgehog and friends on Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting.

Pacman and friends are best on Chocolate Cupcakes with Oreo Frosting!

I left Carrot Cupcakes and Red Velvet Cupcakes without any toppers as I think some people might prefer a simple cupcake to eat. I totally broke my record making 100+ cupcakes! 

Delivering them was another massive challenge!! Putting them nicely in big boxes and carrying them carefully were under our own control, but bumps on the road were not :,-( will definitely ask the driver to drive very slowly next time.

I walked into the venue and was amazed by all the details and effort Winnie and her friends put in to set up the place. It was truly a 80s themed event with all the retro old school computer and board games classics like Sega, Pacman, Super Mario Bros, Twister, Giant Jenga. There were also table football, pool tables, darts, DJs, photoshooting corner etc, and a very eye-catching huge display of confectionery table for my cupcakes ❤

It was a great success of the event & my cupcakes (^o^)♫  Very well done to Winnie and her friends and Cherie Kelly ;-P 

Halloween Bake Off & Cake

We had Halloween Bake Off at work on Monday, I wasnt sure if I could enter because I was very busy with the PS3 cake on Sunday, I however always want to support the committee team who organised it, so I decided to make a strawberry fraisier which I saw from the Great British Bake Off, I was very glad the cake went well :-D

Halloween Bake Off at work last year was the reason I suddenly started baking. Before that, I only bake a few times a year, cooking is more of my strength, I do make nice dinner almost every other day. We have "Come Dine with Me" cooking competition every 4-6 months at work (yes our social committee always organize very fun events for us), I usually bring in roast dinner because they are easy to make and serve well for a lot of people. We started having Bake Off for Halloween last year, I had no plan to enter as I didnt even own a hand-held whisk back at that time, I was just anticipating tasting a lot of different cakes :-P

Guess what, a few weeks before the Bake Off  we had a townhall meeting with our department head talking about all the achievements of the year, he also mentioned about the social committee and all the events we had, he added unexpectedly.. "Kelly you have been winning Come Dine With Me, we are looking forward to your cake in Halloween Bake Off" in front of 300 people!!...

How could I turn it down? I was then baking everyday for the rest of 2 whole weeks before the Bake Off, my record was making 9 whole cakes in 2 evenings! 50% failed 50% alright, I felt sorry for my friends who volunteered to be my genuine pigs :-P (they were so scared of cakes after tasting for 2 weeks lol very funny memories) I nailed down a few cakes for them to pick for the competition, they said Carrot Cake would be too boring, Tarte Tatin would like a breakfast, Green Tea Cheesecake would not be popular, Pear Charlotte would need the mousse filling to be improved...

I made Pear Charlotte again and took it work, finger crossed the mousse did come out perfectly fine on the day :-D competition went well too :) Baking has become an addictive hobby since then, skills and taste definitely improved a lot, no more sad faces eating my cakes, all are now happy faces ♫

A lot of people thought I made the little pumpkins for this year's cake, I really didnt have enough time, i bought them as marshmallow and drew the faces:

I like Halloween (minus Hurricane Sandy this year), I like the atmosphere especially when everyone dresses up, clubs/pubs/streets/tube everywhere is full of ghosts ;)

Playstation PS3 Cake

I made this Playstation PS3 Cake for Nadia! ;) This was an order for Nadia who had planned to surprise her boyfriend Adam on his birthday with this cake. She spent a lot of effort designing the cake for her boyfriend who likes games and came up with the idea of a playstaion cake with zombies. She is also very thoughtful because Adam likes chocolate but the family dont, so we thought half chocolate and half vanilla cake would be good.

This was totally out of my comfort zone (not making flowers and girly stuff), I did worry at start and was pleased with the final outcome. What made me most happy was knowing Nadia and Adam liked it very much ❤ Nadia successfully surprised Adam, she even emailed me photos the next morning, I was utterly touched. Amardeep was very sweet and came all the way with Nadia to pick up the cake.

I dont have a Playstation, so google images helped me a lot with the details : )

Nadia's photos are actually better than mine :-P

Happy Birthday to Adam again, hope you two and the family had a great time : )

Open Stacked Cake with Fresh Flowers

I have watched some videos of how cake decorators make beautiful stacked cakes - some extraordinary show-stoppers with the height of a person, some topsy turvy ones with sophisticated architectural support in the middle, and some wedding cakes with skillfully hand-crafted prefect little details.

I spent my whole weekend learning and making a 3-Tiered Open Stacked Cake with Fresh Flowers, quite a lot of hard work but totally loved and enjoyed it! I think I am better in arranging flowers than stacking the cake though :-P I am going to enroll some professional courses to develop more skills :-D

This wasnt the original product, I actually picked and changed the flowers to my favourite pink and lilac colours for practice.

The original one was to use seasonal flowers, yellow and orange varieties for autumn from Covent Garden Market. Cutting, filling, icing, stacking, arranging, piping, decorating...

2 whole days of effort :) very happy with the final outcome and definitely will put what I learnt into good use.

Which one would you prefer? I like the pink and lilac one more ;) x

Baked Egg Custard Pudding 香滑燉蛋

London has been quite gloomy and wet, someone passed a cold to me last week and was busy going out to events, drinks, mid-autumn festival celebrates :-P I didnt have much chance to bake/cook :( this week I have been catching up with my oven :-P and was thinking of pudding and custard :-d

This siken soft baked egg custard is such a comfort food that makes everyone so happy!

Baked Egg Custard Pudding 香滑燉蛋

makes 6 portions

Ingredients

175 ml double cream
115 ml milk
225 ml water
5 large egg yolks
60g sugar
a pinch of salt
4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Methods

1. Boil milk and water in a saucepan and remove from heat.
2. Beat egg yolks with with sugar, salt and vanilla.
3. Gradually add hot milk to eggs, stir constantly.
4. Pour into 6 custard cups or ramekin and set in a pan of hot water.
5. Bake at 170°C for 1 hour, or until tip of skewer comes out clean when inserted into custard.
6. Serve warm or cold.

Marshmallow Cupcakes

The bakers were asked to make teacake in last week's The Great British Bake Off, my mouth was totally watering when I saw them making the fluffy melty marshmallow filling!

I couldnt wait to make some melty marshmallow :-p melted marshmallow is not too too sweet and it is just scrumptious..! the aroma from the vanilla cupcake and marshmallow is just heaven ❤

Marshmallow Cupcakes

Make 12 cupcake

Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Cupcakes

150g butter, softened at room temperature

150g caster sugar

3 free-range eggs, at room temperature

4 tsp vanilla bean extract

150g self-raising flour

1-2 tbsp milk

For the Marshmallow Frosting

200g medium marshmallows

100g mini marshmallows

Method:

For the Vanilla Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Line a 12-hole baking muffin tin with cupcake cases.

2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a bowl until pale for at least 5 mins. 

3. Add and mix in the eggs gradually and stir in the milk and vanilla extract.

4. Sift the flour into the mixture and stir until well-combined.

5. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases to 2/3 full. 

6. Bake the cupcakes for 20 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cupcakes and come out clean.

7. Leave them on wire rack to cool.

For the Marshmallow Frosting

1. Put the medium marshmallows in a heatproof bowl over a larger bowl of hot water. Leave for 5-10 mins until melted.

2. Stir the mini marshmallow into the melted marshmallow gently so the mini marshmallows are half covered by the melted marshmallow.

3. Spoon the marshmallow frosting on top of the cupcakes and enjoy!

Welcome Baby Home Cake

Rohit's brother had a baby boy last Friday, his whole family was really looking forward to his arrival. Rohit was working from home on the baby's birthday, waiting for the baby to be born and go to the hopital; I was talking to him online and got very excited as well (I felt like it was Rohit who was having a baby :-P lol)

I asked if I could make the little baby a cake, Rohit said it would be good idea because there will be family and friends visiting, and any flavour will do. I had a very cute baby boy cake in mind! :-D and decided to make a chocolate and banana cake with vanilla buttercream as I remember his brother and sister-in-law like the vanilla cupcake I gave them last time.

When I brought the cake to Rohit, he had showed me some pictures of the baby; he is extremely adorable and cute!! He is very good, sleeps a lot and doesn't cry much, I would love to meet and play with him.

Rohit told me his family likes the cake very much and everyone had double servings : ) yay I am so happy about that. His dad was very funny, didn't realize the cake was for the adults and thought the baby is too young to eat the cake :-P . His family is really sweet and loving.

Congratulations again to the Khosla family on the little beautiful boy, wishing their whole family much joy and happiness with the arrival of the newest family member!!

 It was a lot of fun to make this cake : )

and my first time making a two-tiered cake..

I have to thank Rohit and Amardeep helping to carry it home : )

Strawberry Tart

When I made the crème pâtissière for the Éclair, I had made some more so I could use up some egg yolks;  this newly bought rectangular tart tin was waiting for me to use it; British strawberries were also on offer, three good reasons to make a strawberry tart, and the last one - I never get bored of strawberries + custard + tart :)

This rectangular tart tin totally caught my eyes, I like a tart to look different and the cut-out slices look more neat.

Strawberry Tart

Ingredients

80g melted dark chocolate (or milk chocolate)
100g crème pâtissière or custard
375g shortcrush pastry or Ready Rolled Shortcrush Pastry
300g strawberries
3 tablespoons Apricot jam
2 tablespoons pistachio flake for decoration (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Line a tart tin with the pastry. Bake blind for 10 minutes, and then remove the paper and weights. Bake for 20 more minutes.
2. Leave the tart to cool in the tin.
3. Spread melted dark chocolate onto the tart. Chill for 5 mins.
4. Spoon/pipe the custard onto the tart and place the strawberries on the top.
5. Melt the apricot jam (I microwave for 30 seconds to 1 min), brush the jam on top of the fruits.Sprinkle the pistachio flake and drizzle some chocolate on the top.
6. Chill the tart in the tin in the fridge for at least 1 hour, remove from the tin before serving.

yum yum :-P