Vanilla Buttercream Birthday Cake

So it's my brother-in-law's birthday and what better excuse to bake a birthday cake with a wow factor. Recipe taken from thepinkwhisk, here's my version of the cake. 

Makes two layered 8 inches cake

For the cake

375g self raising flour

375g caster sugar

375g unsalted butter (room temperature)

6 eggs

1tsp vanilla extract 

2tbsp strawberry jam

For the buttercream

200g butter (room temperature)

400g icing sugar

1tsp vanilla extract 

1tbsp hot water 

For chocolate ganache

100ml - 150ml double cream

125g dark chocolate

To make the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line the bottom of two 8 inches round cake tins. 

2. Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Then add the eggs, one at a time, making sure the eggs are fully incorporated before adding another egg. 

3. Add the vanilla extract and then sift the flour into the mixture. 

4. Fold the flour into the butter mix till fully incorporated. 

5. Pour the cake mix into the 2 prepared tins equally.  

6. Bake at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes, checking whether the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake. The cake is cooked if the skewer comes out clean. 

7. Cool the cakes completely before assembling. 

To make the buttercream

8. Cream butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract together until combined. 

9. Add a tablespoon of hot water to make it spreadable. Set aside till needed. 

To assemble 

10. Once the cakes are cooled, level the cakes by cutting the top of the cakes so they sit nicely on each other. 

11. Spread strawberry jam on top of the bottom layer and place the second layer on top.

12. Wrap them in a cling wrap and fridge for about an hour. 

13. Cover the cake with a first layer of buttercream. At this point, just roughly cover and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes. The second layer will go on easier once the first layer is set. 

14. Cover the cake all over with a second layer of buttercream. Dip your palette knife in hot water, dry it with kitchen paper and run the palatte knife along the side to neaten the buttercream. Keep dipping, drying and smoothening. The sides will become soon in no time.

15. The top need not be too neat because a layer of ganache will cover any imperfections. 

To make the ganache 

16. Heat the double cream till it is just about to boil, pour into the chocolate, allow to sit a minute and stir to melt the chocolate into the double cream.

(Mine was too watery (200ml cream) so reduce the cream to 100 or 150ml) 

17. Cut the chocolate decorations into bite size. (I used Maltese, Kitkat and Mars bars)

18. Pour the chocolate ganache over the top of the cake, allowing the chocolate to flow down the sides of the cake.

19. Decorate with the chocolate decorations. 

There! The family loves the cake and I love it too! 

I had a baking companion today and she baked fruit cake! Shall feature the recipe if her verdict is good. :)

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Pandan cake, the seemingly easy bake, but requires a little bit of attention, especially when mixing the flour and the meringue, be careful not to be too rough with the folding. Have fun baking!:)

(Makes 23cm cake)

For the cake mix

150g cake flour (I used super fine flour for better results)

53g caster sugar

6 egg yolks

105g coconut milk

83g vegetable oil (I used canola oil)

1.5 tsp pandan paste

1.5 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp milk or water

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

For the meringue

6 egg whites

75g caster sugar

0.5 tsp cream of tar tar

If you bake regularly, it might be worthwhile to invest in an egg separator. 

1. Preheat the oven at 170 degrees. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar till pale and fluffy.

2. Add the coconut slowly, stir gently till incorporated.

3. Add the oil slowly, stir gently till incorporated. 

4. Add the vanilla extract, pandan paste, salt and milk/ water and stir gently till incorporated. 

5. Sieve the flour and baking powder over the mixture, folding the flour into the wet mix using a whisk till just combined. Do not over mix. 

6. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites with the cream of tar tar at low speed till foamy. 

7. Add half the sugar, whisk the mixture at high speed till soft peak. 

8. Add the remaining half and continue whisking till medium peak. Do not whisk till stiff peak. 

9. Add a third of the beaten egg white to the flour mixture, folding the egg white into the flour gently. 

10. Fold the remaining egg white into the flour mix in another 2 additions, making sure the egg whites is fully incorporated. 

11. Pour the batter into the pandan cake tin, level the cake batter in the tin and bake in the preheated oven at 170 degree for about 35 minutes. Do not butter the cake tin or your cake will not rise.

12. Once baked, turn the cake upside down and cool the cake completely in the tin, inverted. This action allows the cake to 'climb' the cake tin and rise. That is why we should not butter the tin.

13. To unmould, run a palatte knife around the tin as well as the center core. Release the cake fully by running a knife round the base of the cake tin. 

There! Breakfast for the team tomorrow morning. 

Strawberry Cheese Macarons

I've got a group of youngsters who screams Macarons whenever they see me these days because I let them have some not too long ago. It's really flattering to have them squeal at the sight of my humble bakes, here's Strawberry Macarons for my young supporters. And guess what! I found strawberry fruit powder in phoon huat and added it to the dry ingredients. And with the leftover egg yolks, I made Pate Sablee.

For the strawberry macaron shells

147g ground almond

3g strawberry fruit powder

115g egg whites

150g icing sugar

0.5 tsp cream of tar tar

138g caster sugar

A few drops red colour paste 

For the cheese buttercream (I used the leftover from the red velvet Macarons) 

Cheese Buttercream Recipe

Here's the strawberry fruit powder. :)

1. Sift together the icing sugar, strawberry fruit powder and ground almond. 

2. Beat the egg white at medium speed until foamy and add cream of tar tar.

3. Beat till soft peak and add the caster sugar one tablespoon at a time. When all the sugar is incorporated, turn speed on high and whisk till stiff peak. The meringue should be able to stand as shown below.

4. Add about a quarter of the meringue and the few drops of colour and fold in. You do not need to be too gentle. The purpose is to make the mixture easier to handle when the rest of the meringue is added. 

5. Add the rest of the meringue and perform macaronage, rubbing the mixture along the sides of the mixing bowl using a spatula. This will be done about 10-15 times until the mixture resembles that of a thick cake mixture. 

Here's a video that shows the consistency you should achieve.

6. Pipe the mixture into prepared baking trays using a plain nozzle. You can use Macarons template downloaded from Internet to ensure consistency in size. 

7. Tap the piped Macarons on the work surface in order to allow trapped air to escape and to allow Macarons to spread out. 

8. Allow the Macarons to cool at room temperature for about 60-90 min or in an air-conditioned room at 18 degree. 

9. Once the surface of the Macarons dry, that means they have formed a skin, when you run your finger tips over the surface, it does not stick, the Macarons are ready to be baked. 

10. Bake in a preheated oven of 150 degrees for about 13 minutes. I made some mini ones, so they need only bake for about 10 minutes and allow to cool completely before assembling. 

To assemble

11. Pipe the cheese buttercream on the Macarons, using a star nozzle. 

12. Fridge for a few hours before eating. 

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4 NIV)