Happy Birthday to you!!! :)

I spent a crazy week baking 3 Birthday cakes for my lovely friends! A great opportunity for me to practise my baking skills... & I am pretty satisfied. :)

 

2 Strawberry Shortcakes made a day apart. They were not flawless but I still love them all the same. Both had a similar problem. I left out Cointreau for the filling cream but forgot to add in an equivalent amount of liquid content to replace it. Haha... only realised it after I did my 2nd cake. I guess that was what contributed to a slightly thicker filling cream. Other than that, my sponges were not perfect. My 1st cake had a dense layer at the bottom which I did not remove & my 2nd cake was slightly overbaked. I also overwhipped the creams for both the filling and topping cream for my 1st cake. I whipped the creams perfectly for the 2nd cake though... coz I was watching it ALL the time...

 

I felt so proud of the cakes when I completed them! Love the topping cream with mascarpone & grand marnier. Despite the imperfections, I am glad the cakes were finished with some compliments from all my dear friends...

 

Next up was a refreshing fresh apple torte. The cream was not light enough compared to the one I made in class. One of the difference made when making it at home was that I used vanilla extract instead of vanilla pod. Quantity of apples & pastry cream was different as well as I did not take proper notes during class and just did an estimation. Too creamy for me and not chilled enough when served. But at least it was still good enough when eaten with the delicious crumb topping. Heh... improvement needed. Anyway, I love the simple presentation of the cake! :)

 

Looking forward to more opportunities to bake birthday cakes for people around me... it can be stressful but it will be satisfying... :D

Bread for Breakfast!

Another attempt at Cranberry & Walnut bread. This time round I decided not to improvise from my previous raisin bread recipe which always turn out too wet. I decided to improvise from the soft bread bun recipe from my recent Course. Actually it wasn't too much of improvisation... just adding in the cranberry & walnuts... heh...

 

This bread was much better than my previous attempts but it was still a little on the wet side. The yeast was also over-excited after my kneading process... Hence, shaping them was a little challenge. More practise needed but I am glad it turned out good enough for breakfast. :P

 

Perfecting my Sponges

Baking sponges at home has always been a challenge to me. Sponges baked in school are always much better! I guess having a good oven makes a difference.

 

My recent sponges baked at home always come out with a dense layer at the bottom, especially when I bake sponge cakes with a higher height. I often get sponge cakes with a cracked and over-brownish top when I do sponges with higher height as well. After a few trials, I can only attribute the problem to my dear oven. My oven comes with a fan and no bottom heat. Hence, I am guessing the temperature is uneven.

 

To get around this problem, I am trying on the following:

1. Bake sponge cakes with lesser height (bake in 2 tins instead of 1 or bake in a rectangular tray)

2. Bake cakes at a lower rack so that the top will not be burnt when the inside is not baked

 

The picture on top shows a rather successful sponge cake with no dense layer and cracked top. However, the specific gravity of the cake was a little high... more practise with my sponges & experiments with my oven needed. :)
 

Finding back my confidence in baking :)

After my disappointing exam bakes & a few failed sponges in a day... I started to doubt my baking skills... until I made these chocolate pear cakes...

Chocolae Poire Torte

 

Chocolae Poire Domes

 

These were nothing near to perfect but they made me feel good and motivated once again! The torte was supposed to be covered in chocolate glacage but once again, they were not frozen enough for me to do it... a re-enactment of my fateful exam day. Haha... The small ones were frozen enough to be covered with glacage though. However, in view of the non-aircon environment, I think the temperature for pouring glacage will have to be lower so that it will cover better... Anyway, I overwhipped the cream and the chocolate mousse for the cakes was a little on the heavy side but I would say the overall taste was still good!

 

On the very same day, I made my usual cinnamon rolls... these were delicious but I think I would want to try a different recipe the next time. I want more fluffy cinnamon rolls....

 

 

Continuing on my baking journey... Happy bakers = Yummy bakes


Not just another Baking Course...

It is the Professional Bakery Course! :) I have finally taken the time, money & courage to attend it... The 14-days course was very enriching, with loads of information and life experience sharings from a wonderful teacher! Although the course was hectic, it was made enjoyable with an extremely engaging teacher, my wonderful classmates and the lovely staff team at the school...

 

I had a practical exam during the course & I made disappointing bakes which left me discouraged for quite a while. I might still not be able to bake that extremely perfect cake, pastry or bread but I know I love baking...  I might not eventually sell any bakes but I will continue baking for the lovely people around me. My simple enjoyment in life - To bake & to share my bakes :)

Here are some of my course bakes which I managed to get a shot (amidst the madness of the busy classes :P):

Cake Decoration: Using whipped cream & chocolate cartoon characters

Delicious Chocolate Banana Roll

 

Refreshing Fresh Apple Torte & Claire Fontaine

 

Chocolae Poire Domes: Never thought I could do such lovely cakes! :)

 

 Chocolae Poire Torte

 

Fruit Mousse Cakes with Jaconde sponge at the side

 

Assorted Puff Pastries

 

My exam bakes

 

All in a year of Baking & Cooking... :)

More than a year since I last updated this blog. No, I have not stopped baking and cooking... But, of course I have not spent as much time as I wished...

Here are some of my baking & cooking updates for the past 1 year, before I attended the exciting and enriching Professional Bakery Course in May 2014 (more on this in a separate post):

Whole Wheat Bread

A practise session after attending my foundation breadmaking class. Not a successful attempt with the bread structure losing its strength after proofing, resulting in a flatter bread. But... they still taste quite good.:P

Butter Cookies

I'm not really a fan of butter cookies but I love creating these cute butter cookies. Feels happy just looking at them and giving them away to bring more smiles!

 

Risotto with Teriyaki Chicken

I remember the teriyaki chicken was good but the mushroom risotto was way too saltish. I think more than half a packet of risotto rice still sits in my cupboard... probably time to try my hands at cooking risotto again soon.

 

My Favourite CNY Tarts

Another attempt at pineapple tarts... I can't remember how they taste but I'm pretty sure they are still not the melt-in mouth type that I am looking for... Slowly losing my interest in this sweet pastry...

 

Back to Cake Basics

I signed up for the Professional Bakery course and this was my 1st attempt to practise my basics in cake baking before the course starts in May 2014. I would say it is quite a success except for the less than perfect appearance.

 

Cookies for Gifts

Finally, I ended my 7 years of work in my previous company. Made a variety of cookies for the wonderful people at my workplace. Small boxes of cookies for each department and small packets of cookies for each of my own department colleagues. Worked through the night to get everything together, from the baking to the writing of cards to the packaging. A little disappointed with the chocolate chip cookies as they were way too sweet and I forgot to buy hazelnuts to add in. But I guess it's the thought that counts... :)

 

Bread Practise

This looks presentable but they were so moist and simply not like a bread. Haha... Failure practise attempt for breadmaking. But still, my sister & mum gave some support and ate quite a bit.

 

This pretty sums up all my bakes & cooking before I courageously attended the 'killer' course in May 2014... heh... :P

 

My New Love!!

This is something that I learnt in class... very easy to make and really taste good when it is piping hot from the oven! Prior to learning this recipe in class, I avoided Focaccia as I find that they have a too strong herb and olive taste. But this recipe changed my views and made me fall in love with Focaccia, at least the ones made with my class recipe! :) 

I can make Bread now! :D

It took me quite sometime to decide if I should sign up for the 4-session Bread making class at Creative Culinaire. I had to consider the clashes with my Saturday work, initial clash with CNY eve, as well as, the fact that I am going to attend it on my own.  

 

So what made me sign up for it? On the day before the start of the 1st class, I decided to take a look at the class schedule again. And I saw that there was no longer CNY eve class. As for my work clash, I knew if I don't do it now, I will never have my Saturdays to do it in the later months. Almost immediately after I saw the change in dates, I picked up the phone (at 6pm) to check if there were vacancies. The lady who picked up my call (I somehow suspect was the chef) told me that she could still accept me but I had to decide by 7pm. I struggled, but with V's encouragement, I decided to go for it! Glad I did... a really enjoyable experience. A great teacher, Chef Judy, who shared detailed information of bread making, the considerations in business, as well as, her own life perspectives. Wonderful classmates who shared information and helped one another. Something interesting about my Class - there were 4 Wendy. Ha... I learnt not to respond to my name by my 2nd lesson.

 

My 1st Lesson 

 

My 2nd Lesson  

 

 My 3rd Lesson   

 My 4th Lesson

 

This series of classes gave me a better idea of how bread are made and I can proudly say, I can make bread now! But of course, I cannot be sure to say the quality will definitely be good. But I bet it will be much better than my 'yeasty' bread attempt previously.

 

I actually enjoyed learning the different ways of shaping the doughs. And my favourite bread from the class got to be the focaccia. the Bagels were good too. However, in view of the higher yeast content used in class (to shorten the proofing time), I find that the bread were not aromatic enough. I made a recent batch of whole meal bread using lower yeast content and they smell great!

 

How I wish I could attend the series of intermediate classes that are starting next week. I can't do it due to work, but I guess I am not ready yet. I need to have more practices first. Looking forward to more bread making!

 

不可缺少的好助手

对了，就是我的 mixer! My faithful mixer which I have been using since I started baking overworked and is no longer functioning. Since it was no longer under warranty, I struggled whether I should bring it for repair. Apart from the cost, I had to find time to go down. Also, I was thinking if I should take this opportunity to get a heavy duty mixer! But the costs of a good one and whether I had a place to put it in my kitchen was a great concern.

Lucky for me, I got a good deal from my colleague who used to bake! She has decided to stop baking and sold me a pretty mixer (not too big) at a very low price... with lots of goodies thrown in (baking tins, baking books, etc etc). I have used it twice so far and glad to say, it is working well! Really happy with my new mixer!

 

 

But I might still send my old one for repair when I have the time. I think it is always good to have a handheld mixer. One day, I hope I'll have a baking space of my own with a heavy duty mixer and a built in oven! Dreaming.... :P  

 

Ending off 2012

Sometimes, holidays are really the only time I can cut myself away from work and do some enjoyable baking!

 

Over one of the weekends in December, I made an attempt at making Egg Bagels, a request made by one of my sisters for a long long time. I can only say the end product was hard as rock. Ha... but we still managed to eat up maybe 1/3 of the batch of egg bagels. :P

 

On a side note, the egg bagels dough made my mixer work too hard and it died on me... :( As a result, I made my christmas gifts, Tollhouse cookies and Cranberry Oatmeal cookies entirely by hand power! I think I can't enjoy baking without my mixer.... haha...