Passionfruit & Mango, Blueberry & Blackberry, Raspberry & Strawberry Cheesecakes; Figs, Mango and Raspberry Tarts ❤

I realised I have set up this sweet space for a year already! Happy 1st Anniversary to Cherie Kelly :) and massive thank you to everyone who likes my page, who visits my site, who emails/messages me, who comments on my posts, who supports me and places orders with me! every little things mean a lotttt to me xoxoxoxoxooxox

I also think it is also time to invest in a SLR camera for better pictures in this blog/website, cant be too lazy taking pictures with iphone all the time :-P  made these colourful Passionfruit & Mango, Blueberry & Blackberry, Raspberry & Strawberry Cheesecakes; Figs, Mango and Raspberry Tarts to test my camera, not too bad eh? : )

 

Passionfruit and mango is definitely a very good combination for cheesecake :-O

My new toy :-D yes yes a red camera not the boring black ones, this is the main reason i picked this :-P

Mango and Passionfruit Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the Biscuit Base

180g digestive biscuits, crusted
50g butter, melted

For the Cheesecake

300g low fat cream cheese
70 g caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
10g gelatin leaves, soaked and softened in cold water, dissolved in 20ml boiling water
200ml whipping cream

For the Mango and Passionfruit Coulis Jelly

250g fresh mango and passionfruit, blended into puree
100g sugar
80ml water
2 tbsp lemon juice
6g gelatin leaves,
Some mango and passionfruit to decorate, optional

Utensils

6 presentation rings lined with Acetate Cake Collars or 7 inches springform tin

Method

For the Biscuit Base

1. Put the digestive biscuits and melted butter into a blender and pulse until they resemble breadcrumbs.
2. Spoon the biscuit mixture into the presentation rings placed on a large plate or springform tin. Press the mixture down firmly and chill in the fridge until set.

For the Cheesecake

1. Place the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a bowl and beat until creamy.
2. Add the melted gelatin liquid into the cream cheese mixture until well combined.
3. In another bowl, whip the whipping cream until stiff. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
4. Spoon the mixture on top of the biscuit mixture and smooth the tops with the back of a spoon. Chill in the fridge until set for at least an hour.

For the Mango and Passionfruit Coulis Jelly

1. Put the mango and passionfruit puree and sugar into a small saucepan, boil on medium heat, gradually stir in the water and lemon juice.
2. Remove the saucepan from heat when the fruit mixture starts to boil, squeeze out the excess water from the gelatin leaves, stir well into the mixture until the leaves dissolved.
3. Set aside until it is cool.
4. Spoon the mixture on top of the cheese mixture. Chill in the fridge until set for at least an hour or overnight.
5. To serve, carefully remove the presentation rings and cake collars or the tin from the cheesecakes. Decorate with some mixed berries and enjoy!

Mango Tart

Ingredients

For the Tart

260g plain flour
2 tbsp icing sugar
150g unsalted butter at room temperature, cut in cubes
1 egg, whisked

For the Creme Patisserie

3 large egg yolks
50g golden caster sugar
17g corn flour
167ml full cream milk
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

For the Mango Topping

100g milk or dark chocolate, melted
650g of Mango, sliced
6g gelatin leaves, soaked and softened in cold water
2 tbsp sugar
40ml boiling water

Utensils

10 x 3.5 inches loose base round tart cases

Method

For the Tart

1. Put flour, icing sugar and butter in a large clean bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add 1 egg and 1 tbsp cold water gradually to the mixture until the dough comes together.
3. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for 30 mins.
4. Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Gently roll out pastry to 3-4 mm thick.
5. Line the pastry into the tart case. Gently press the side and trim away the excess pastry.
6. Prick the base with a fork. Chill the pastry in the tin for 30-60 mins.
7. To blind bake the tart case: Preheat oven to 180C. Line pastry case with baking paper and fill with baking beans (can substitute with any other dry beans). Bake for 10 mins until pastry sides are set.
8. Remove beans and baking paper and return tin to oven for 10 mins until base is cooked through.
9. Take the tin out from the oven and set aside.

For the Creme Patisserie

1. Beat the egg yolks, sugar, and flour in a bowl to make a smooth paste.
2. Bring the milk and vanilla bean paste to the boil in a saucepan.
3. As soon as it reaches the boil, pour it over the egg mixture, stir well.
4. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over a low heat, stir constantly until the sauce is very thick and bubbling.
5. Transfer to a bowl and cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin forming and leave to cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Mango Topping

1. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate onto the centre of the tarts, chill the tarts in the fridge for several minutes until the chocolate is set.
2. In the meantime, melt the gelatin leaves and sugar with the boiling water, keep stirring until dissolved, set aside to cool.
3. Pipe the creme patisserie on top of the chocolate and tart.
4. Arrange mango slices like rose petals on top of the tarts.
5. Brush a thin layer of melted gelatin liquid onto the fruits, chill in the fridge until set for at least an hour before serving.

Portuguese Egg Custard Tarts (Pasteis de Nada) 葡撻

2 years ago, I had a crazy craving for some Portugese Egg Custard Tarts, those I found in London were not quite up to standard, I know Pasteis De Belem does the best Pasteis de Nada in Portugal, so we went to Lisbon over a bank holiday to satisfy my crave :-P

The crave is back.. :-0 this time i decided to make them myself ;-D

The creamy soft egg custard and the crispy buttery puff pastry are just heaven, they are all gone so quickly once they are out from the oven!

                                                                   

Portugese Egg Custard Tarts (Pasteis de Nada) 

Makes about 12 pastries

Ingredients

For the pastry

2 packages 320g all-butter ready-rolled puff pastry 

For the egg custard

2.5 tablespoons cornflour
40ml milk
225g granulated sugar
110ml water
200ml double cream
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
5 large egg yolks, whisked

Utensils 

12 holes muffin tin with 2.0-2.5 inches diameter base

Methods

To make the custard

1. Mix the cornflour and milk in a medium bowl until combined. Set aside.
2. Put the sugar and water in a small saucepan, bring them to boil and remove from heat until it reaches 100°C. Do not stir.
3. Meanwhile, heat the double cream in another small saucepan until it starts to bubble, gradually pour the hot cream into the flour mixture, keep whisking until the mixture is well combined and thickened.
4. Carefully pour the sugar syrup from a side the hot cream and flour mixture, add the vanilla bean paste and stir until smooth and incorporated. Whisk in the yolks, strain the mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside.

To assemble and bake the pastries

5. Pre-heat the oven to 250°C. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups and line bottom and sides with puff pastry.
6. Fill pastry-lined muffin cups 3/4 full with the custard and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and filling is lightly browned on top.
7. Remove from the oven and allow the pasteis to cool a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack and cool until just warm.
8. Serve warm with cinnamon or icing sugar (optional).

Teddy Bear Chocolate Macarons ♥

I had wanted to make these cute little bear macarons, finally got some chance to make them now :) French Meringue method really helps piping the tiny ears out easily. I definitely will try make some other shapes/animals next time :-D

Little Bear Chocolate Macarons

Ingredients

For the macaron shells 

(makes around 40-44 macaron shells, 20 sandwiched macarons for each flavour)
90g grounded almond
120g icing sugar
a pinch of salt
75g aged egg whites
1/2 teaspoon egg white powder
75g sugar
Few drops of food coloring gel (colours of your choice, I used brown here)

For the chocolate ganache

125g best-quality milk/dark chocolate
90g whipping cream

For decoration

20g melted dark chocolate
20g royal icing/melted white chocolate

Methods

To make macaron shells

1. Put the grounded almond, icing sugar and salt in a food processor, pulse several times for a few seconds each to combine them. Sift them into a large bowl and set aside.
2. Whisk together the egg white and egg white powder on medium speed until soft peak.
3. Add the sugar gradually and keep whisking until the meringue is glossy and stiff. Add in the food colouring.
4. Fold the dry ingredients quickly into the meringue with a spatula, try to fold as less strokes as possible and avoid over-fold the mixture.

5. Spoon the 95% of the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 2cm plain nozzle and pipe the faces onto parchment paper. You can print out this bear macarons piping template onto a A4 paper for your guide.
6. Put the remaining 5% of the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a small 0.5cm plain nozzle and pipe the ears touching the edge on the faces onto parchment paper.
7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until a skin forms that does not stick onto your finger.
8. Bake the macarons in preheated oven between 160 degree for 15 mintues, rotate the tray 180 degree half-way during baking.
9. Remove the macaron shells from the oven and tray, place the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

To make the chocolate ganache 

1. Break the chocolate into pieces and put into a bowl. Send to the microwave to melt for 60 seconds and stir until the chocolate completely melted.
2. Boil the cream and pour about a third at a time onto the melted chocolate, keep mixing and add in the extract until well combined.
3. Allow the ganache mixture to cool. Press clingfilm onto the surface of the ganache and refrigerate until thick enough to pipe.

To assemble the macarons

1. Spoon the ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a 1cm plain tip. Pipe a generous round onto a shell, then top with another shell, twisting lightly so that the filling spreads and bulges enticingly.
2. Gently pipe some royal icing or melted chocolate for the bears' eyes and mouths.
3. Store the macarons covered in the fridge for at least 24 hours to allow the inside of the macaron shells to soften.
4. Bring back to room temperature before eating.

Puppy Royfert Lemon & Blueberry Cake

You remember this sausage dog Royfert? He appeared in the Millefeuilles Napoleons cake last year. Karin and Kalven had a joined birthday party this year, Clement asked if I could make a cake with their puppy Royfert :) last year I made him 2D, this year I wanted to make him 3D with chocolate sugarpaste.

It is a lemon and blueberry cake with lemon curd buttercream frosting decorated with some meringue on the top. I made Royfert a bit too big, there was a mini Audi cake topper for Kalven on the side :-P Happy Birthday to Karin and Kalven again! hope you guys enjoyed the party last night xxx

I have found a recent picture taken by Lawrence I referenced to, I like this the most because Roy looks very comfortable :-D

Australian Koala Bear and Kangaroo Chocolate Mud Cake

Although it is sad that Victor is leaving, we are happy for him and his family moving back home to Australia, one of the best and coolest countries to live in. When Victor first told me he was leaving last month, he also asked if I could make him a leaving cake, no preference in flavour and design. Good job we had John Gorry and Kristina to organize Victor's leaving party and presents, they gave me ideas to make a cake with Kangaroo, Koala Bear and Australian Cork Hat. It seems Chocolate Mud Cake with Chocolate Ganache is very popular in Australia, so we have got this very chocolaty cake :-d

The first tier was a cork hat and second tier was the flag of Australia.

It is amazing how work became fun when Victor was around, he was not just a colleague but a very good friend/big brother to us too. All of us will miss Victor, we wish the Wong family a heartfelt good luck for the prosperous and happy life ahead.

Birthday Cupcakes

Happy Birthday to my dear friend Sharine :) Here's some cupcakes for her birthday with pastel colours and flowers piping:

 

There are 8 flavours:
- blueberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
- lemon cupcakes with lemon curd buttercream
- banana cupakes with banana buttercream
- red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
- tiramisu cupcakes with coffee cream cheese frosting
- oreo cupcakes with oreo cookies and cream frosting
- carrot walnut cupcake with cream cheese frosting
- chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache buttercream

It is kinda difficult to tell which flavour is which by looking at the cupcakes themselves, I even lost track a little bit :-P I thought a little menu would help.Which one do you like? :-D

I hope Sharine has a wonderful day full of happiness and that her wishes come true! Happy Birthday!

Baby Boy Shower Cake

Last month was enjoyably crazy busy for me and I am a bit behind in updating new cake photos :-O you will see why in the next coming few posts ;)

A lot of happy news and a lot of celebration recently : ) Big big congratulations to Cecilia and Chris and their whole family on the new baby! We are all so happy and excited for them, especially the girls from work cant wait to meet and play with the little baby. Nandita and Farah have planned to welcome the little baby with a surprise baby shower, I was so honoured to make a shower cake for the very happy mommy-to-be Cecilia.

A very happy party with the girls from work :)

Cecilia reminded me the baby on the cake looks like Minna No Tabo 大口仔 from Hello Kitty's company Sanrio ;-P

We wish Cecilia all the best over the next few months with her pregnancy and hope they are both blessed with a happy and healthy new baby ❤

Fluffy American Buttermilk Pancake

We used to go to Tick Tock Diner every weekend for breakfast/brunch/lunch in a big group when we were in NY a few years ago (graduate training for 3 months), it is just a few blocks behind where we stayed, we always ordered pancakes, talked about all the funny things and exciting busy plans for the weekend. We all have our best memories in NY, even now we are still talking about our silly stories.

I miss the good old days... and the American pancakes! I was searching for places in London that do good American pancakes, none of them is the right texture/flavour :(  I have tried several recipes and I found this prefect fluffy one!

Fluffy American Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients

160g (1.25 cup) flour
1 egg
240ml (1 cup) buttermilk
50g (0.25 cup) sugar
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 teaspoon baking soda
60ml (0.25 cup) vegetable  oil
0.5 teaspoon salt

Methods

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender/mixer until smooth.
2. Preheat a frying pan on medium low heat. Spray a little bit non-stick vegetable oil.
3. Pour batter to your desired size. When small bubbles start to show on top of the batter, flip and cook the other side the pancake until light brown.
4. Serve hot with maple syrup or whipped cream and berries :)

Bunnies Topsy Turvy Cake

Not sure where I first saw a picture of this utterly adorable Noah's Ark Cake on the internet last year, Sharon Wee Creations have since inspired me to the world of sugarpaste modelling especially by the unique cute figurines, pastel colours and sweet clean designs of her cakes.


Sharon from Australia used to work in a corporate company, she started out by decorating cakes and cupcakes for her friends and family, after a few years she quit her corporate job to focus on her cakes business full time. She has also now become on of the most popular cake decorator in the industry.

One of her most famous designs is this Cheeky Teddies Topsy Turvy Cake, I dropped my jaw when I first saw it and have wondered how she did the physics behind..with the hot air balloon tilted, teddy bear hanging on the cake stand, teddy bear popping out from a present, a cake on a cake stand and on top of 2 cakes?! all my questions unanswered until...she came to London to teach this class!!

The class was 2 days long, I made a bunny version of this Topsy Turvy Cake:

Sharon is so friendly and helpful, she shared so many valuable experience, tips and tricks with us in the class, we all enjoyed the class so much that we (I) didnt want to leave in the end :-P

Awww I know this is a bit self-obsessed, I really really x 100000 love and greatly contented with this cake and the bunny rabbits ❤❤❤❤ 

Sharon totally made my day/week/month :-P i am so looking forward to meet her again next time when she comes to London :)

Sweet Swirly Frosting Wedding Cake ♡

Heartiest congratulations to Suki and David on their wedding registry day, wishing the sweet couple a lifetime of the greatest bliss, love, and happiness. 

I was so thrilled and excited to make them a wedding cake for the big day! The couple picked this sweet cream chesse frosting design with their figurines and little figures of their cute rabbits, inside the frosting was tiers of tiramisu cakes. I added some hand-crafted sugar roses and hydrangea petals to match with the whole sweet design of the cake. 

I really find the process of making/filling/stacking/decorating tiered cakes most enjoyable :-D transporting the cake most nerve-racking :-S all efforts totally pay off when you see smiles from the couples' and the guests' faces.

 The two little rabbit figures inspired by the couples' cute fluffy rabbits ♡