Macademia Hugging Bears

I chanced upon some hanging cookies that were so adorable. They hang from cups and I thought it would be lovely to make these special cookies. Sadly, I bought a few cookie cutters that were too small and failed to hang them. Finally, I found the right sized cookie cutter, but the cookies refused to hang. *.*

But still needed to make them cute, so I made the bears hug a macadamia nut each, adorable much. Here the simple cookie dough that did not make the hanging mark, but they still can hug. :)

Ingredients
200g cake flour
150g butter
90g powdered sugar
80g almond powder
1 egg
1tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Optional flavouring
instant coffee
pandan paste
strawberry emelco
macadamia nuts

Method
1. Preheat the oven at 150 degree celsius. I lowered the oven temperature to avoid over browning.

2. Cream the butter and the powdered sugar together till light and fluffy.

3. Add the egg and whisk to combine.

4. Whisk in the vanilla extract.

5. Sift in the almond and mix well.

6. Sift in the cake flour and salt and mix well.

7. Divide the dough in as many portions as you have the different flavouring. For me, I added instant coffee, pandan paste and strawberry emelco. Knead in the flavour and wrap with a cling film in a disc shape and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

8. Roll the dough out and cut with desired cookie cutter.

9. Make the cut bears hug a macadamia nut (optional).

10. Bake the cookies in a the oven for about 20 minutes or when the cookies have become golden brown. Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

I think the design is adorable and I will try the hanging cookies again. I hope to make hangings ones, it will be a good conversation starter. For now, my bears will hug a nut each.

What's baking in May?

So half of May has gone by and I've baked a few Watermelon Strawberry Rose Cakes and Lychee Rose Cakes. Inspirations are dripping in and I've gotten my hands on some sourdough starters, so here's what I'm dying to bake for the rest of the month.

- Sourdough from the sour dough starter that my SIL gifted me with.

- Sesame flavoured cake because I bought a jar of sesame spread that I bought in Malaysia, hoping it is similar to sesame paste. Sesame paste is so expensive in Singapore.

- Unicorn themed anything because I got inspired by some really pretty unicorn bakes.

- Some bakes that will use up the yolks collected from the watermelon cakes.

I think that should use up most of the time I have for baking in May. I hope I get to try everything I plan to do. Sourdough tomorrow! I hope it works!

Orange Sponge Cake

I wanted to use up the cheese and bake a cheesecake for the SIL's birthday, but I don't have enough time for the cake to set overnight, so I chose a simple orange Sponge. Easy peasy and the zest lends a nice citrus fragrance to the cake. The crumb is also very delicate and soft, we all love the cake.

Ingredients

100g orange juice (about 2 oranges)
90g cake flour
70g oil
6 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of 2 oranges

100g caster sugar
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Line the base of a 8 inch cake tin. Preheat the oven at 155 degree.

2. Sift the flour and salt together.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the yolks and oil together till combined.

4. Add the zest and juice and whisk till combined.

5. Whisk in the flour and set aside.

6. Beat the egg whites till frothy and add the cream of tartar. Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and beat till firm.

7. Add in a third of the meringue and whisk into the egg yolk mixture. You don't have to be too gentle at this point.

8. Add the rest of the meringue and fold the meringue gently into the egg mixture till combined.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place the pan in a tray of boiling water.

10. Bake in the preheated oven for about 70 minutes.

11. Once out of the oven, invert the cake into a non-stick pan when the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the cake pan.

12. Reinvert the cake on a cooking rack and allow to cool completely.

The cake is really spongy, fragrant and soft. I will bake it again soon!