Creamcheese Sponge Cake

Lately exploring spongecake as it has been a norm for the youngest to ask for cake. Try my best to bake 1 as soon as he finished them. Remembering my creamcheese in the fridge, I decided to make use of it. Ordered a huge slab and need to find ways to finish them up before it spoils. 

Didnt take much pics as was rushing thru today with breakfast, lunch and dinner prep among all the chores that need to be done. Managed to squeeze in this bake just before I had my breakfast. Texturewise, its GOOD! Tastewise I think can be improved. I would consider adding some vanilla and lemon juice for some zest. Shall try that soon and update on the result.

Favourite way to keep is store them in airtight box, cut readily in bitesized! Youngest gave thumbs up and keep coming back to ‘queue’ for more! Even big kids too. Bet I need to explore my modifications soon! 

Creamcheese Spongecake (adapted from JeannieTay)

100g creamcheese

100g milk

40g butter

2 yolks

40g sugar (will increase to 50g next round)

80g plain flour

4 whites

30g sugar

**Will add 1tsp of lemon juice and homemade vanilla extract next bake*

1) Double boil butter, creamcheese and milk til smooth

2) Once mixture is cooled, add yolks then flour

3) Beat meringue into stiff soft peaks

4) Add meringue to batter in 3 additions

5) Steam bake 150deg for 80-90mins

Butter Sponge Cake

Today I decided to bake a butter sponge as past few days i always have a box of banana cake on the table for the littlest to snack on. Yesterday we finished and I didnt baked anything. He was asking for more cake. So I decided to bake something more original and not those heaty chocolatey pastries. Went back to my bookmarks, I decided to bake this Butter Sponge! 

Recipe calls for steam bake and also to melt butter over stove top and mix in flour. Reminds me of the cooked-flour method for chiffon. I felt that the cake is soft, moist and spongy. And the mild vanilla flavour is so yummy! 

Cut them into bitesize and store in airtight. Its gonna last for another 2 days maximum before its all gone! Should try baking this at home for tea break! It goes so well with a cup of coffee or tea! For now, I will keep this recipe and maybe explore changing the flavour soon! ❤️

Butter Sponge Cake (recipe from JeannieTay Blog)
60g Butter
80g Flour
1/2tsp Baking powder
4Yolks
60g Milk
1tsp Vanilla

4 Whites
75g sugar

1) Melt butter over stove and mix in 2/3 of flour til smooth
2) Add in milk and vanilla and stir them well
3) Mix in yolks til smooth and remaining flour
4) Beat whites n sugar til soft stiff peak
5) Fold in 1/3 meringue to butter mixture
6) Pour mixture into remaining meringue and fold in gently til no streaks of whites can be seen
7) Bake at 155deg for 70mins, in a pan of water
8) Leave in oven for 10mins once cake is done to further bake
9) Unmould and cool totally before slicing

Indonesian Cheesecake (Bolu Keju)

Got to know a fren thru some online shopping and we hit it off very well. Recently when I shared some if my bakes (thru whatsapp) and got to know that she have a sweet tooth and love pastries. Promised to bake her sometthing should we have a chance to meet up. A pity that she stay so far away if not we wld have companion for morning kopis at time. 

She told me that she missed a traditional indonesian cheesecake with a pic and I am clueless what is the name, where to find a recipe for it. 😂😂😂 But being secretive, i do not want to ask her as I thought it would be a pleasant surprise should i managed to find it thru web. So I began my search and found out that its actually called Bolu Keju. 

The recipe uses creaming method which is similar to making a spongecake. Gosh! 😱😱 My enemy when it comes to baking as I failed many times using this method. Either my cake comes out hard, middle uncooked or any other appearances that fails. So am kinda worried. And day before the meetup, I was busy with some sort so I didnt have time to bake ahead. But I jumped the gun and decided to do it the morning before we meet.

I tried and surprisingly, the sponge looks good! And i added an additional 15g coco powder as she is craving for the cake in chocolate flavour. (I couldnt find 1 in chocolate) I quickly bring out remaining ingredients to prep for the cream, and need to grate th cheddar on my own as the ntuc near me doesnt have any grated cheddar. 

Finally assembled and hopefully the buttercream taste well as I do not have any magarine at home. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 It’s my first time assembling, grating the cheese and it was quite messy. But tastewise, I personally love it! And its my first time that my sponge looks good! 😂😂

Pls try this recipe! You totally or should I say I have never seen this kind of cake being sold outside. 😋😋

Indoneisan Cheesecake aka Bolu Keju (adapted & modified slighty from maribermaindidapur)

4 Yolks

2 Eggs

50g Sugar

50g Cake Flour

15g Coco powder

10g Cornflour

50g Butter

1/2tsp Condensed Milk

1tsp Vanilla bean paste

Butter cream

75g Butter

25g Icing sugar

1tsp Vanilla bean paste

200g Grated Cheddar

1) Microwave butter, condensed milk for 20-30sec and leave aside

2) Cream yolks and egg, adding sugar gradually til multiply in volume

3) Turn to low speed, add in sifted dry ingredients 

4) Continue to beat at low speed, adding in oil mixture

5) Stop mixer and fold in gently to make sure all is mixed

6) Pour onto baking tin with baking paper and bake at 170deg for 30mins

7) Cool before slicing cake into halves

8) Using a whisk, whisk butter cream together til it turns pale whote

9) Spread buttercream on both halves of cake.

10) Grate 200g cheddar over both halves and stack 1 on top of the other.

Little Sponge Cupcakes

Finally got the courage, as well as time to bake this little cupcakes. I was intrigued when I saw Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover post when I was searching for some sponge recipe. And I simply fell in love with the outlook as well as the comments given by Sonia. 

I saw her using a KA to mix in flour, after the eggs reaching balloon stage, and it seems a higher chance of me succeeding in making sponge-related cakes? (Oh, if you follow my blog, you would know that I am super afraid of baking sponge and I have a high failure rate for it) 

Anyway, I was home early on a Saturday and hubby went out to jog. So I have a empty time slot that my itchy hands can't seems to be able to 'rest'! I decided to go thru my KIV list and then I saw this recipe that I bookmarked. And since recently I have a baker fren who also tried this, she have me super thumbs up review and that it was pretty easy to do it too.. So..... Here I go...

Indeed, it was quite simple to follow exactly as Sonia's steps. Although the adding of flour spoonful by spoonful did intimidate me, when the batter deflate slightly, I decided to let it be and just trust the steps to go. Hahahah~ And finally I add a drop of pink colourings, hoping to see swirls inside, mix in gently with my spatula and faster fill my cupcake to 90% full.

Verdict: Indeed it is very soft, slightly spongy. Not very dry but a bit sweet for me, will reduce 10-15g next round. Yummy!! Most impt, my kids love it.

Strawberry Sponge Cupcakes (adapted for NasiLemakLover)

25g Canola Oil

35g Milk (original recipe use orange juice for orange Cuppies)

100g Cake Flour

1/2tsp Salt *omit*

3 Eggs

95g Sugar

1) Put eggs and sugar in mixing bowl and beat at Speed 8-9 for 3mins. Then reduce to Speed 5-6 for 10mins.

2) Batter will be thick now. Reduce to Speed 1-2 and continue to beat for 1-2mins. 

3) While mixer is still on, add in spoon by spoon of flour, followed by the oil+milk mixture.

4) Do not over mix, fill cupcake cases 90% full.

5) Bake at 175deg for 20-25mins.

**above speed and timing is based on a Kitchenaid mixer.

Orange Sponge Cake

Finally the class ended last Sunday so I bought a few items from RG which I wanted to try - Orange Paste, Strawberry Paste and Mocha Paste. And the Orange Paste is very well-received by all those who tried so I decided to use that first. And also for prayers tml. 

Using back the same RG's recipe, I added 1tsp of the orange paste. The end results, it is soft and yummy. But I didn't do justice once again. Sponge ah Sponge, when will I conquer u!!! It is a little bit dry, maybe cos I use oil and I didn't unmould properly. So end up I decided not to bring for prayers cos too ugly. We eat it. It tasted very well with the dried cranberries and blueberries. Try it.

I am using the same RG's recipe and added 1tsp of orange paste.

Long Awaited Try - RG's Banana Sponge

Been wanting to bake this for the longest time but I don't know which banana to buy and my family seldom eat banana. So, my neighbor bought me a bunch of banana, real big bunch so I tot to myself, Why not? Ha~

This recipe is also RG's and it raves a lot of good comments from people who tried it. Today I adapt the recipe from Wen's Delight which I have bookmarked ages ago. I baked a full recipe, yes not scare hor, cos sponge cake is not my forte. But who cares, try first then say lo. Hahahha. I managed to get a 11"x5" Rectangle tin and a 6" Round tin out of the recipe. 

As my oven is small, I have to let my 6" 'wait' and keep my fingers crossed that it won't deflate. As I wait, the aroma of the banana, it fills up my whole house. Mmmmm.. Smell lovely.. (But too bad, I don't know how to appreciate banana cakes) As for banana, tis is the 1 I used, don't ask me what type cos I don't know. So the pic is for a reference. 

My end results, the cake is soft n moist, only fault was the banana should have mashed up properly cos I did a rush job. Oh, and also pardon the uneven browning of my top of cake. (Oven is in the process of upgrading, do give me comments which is good) As for texture, I think still can be improve. And I heard that overnight will taste more fragrant. Gonna ask my food critic at home to do the test tonight and tml.

Banana Sponge Cake (adapted from Wen's Delight)

5 Large Eggs *I use 6 small eggs, Seng Choon 1st Born Eggs

350-400g Mashed Banana, or cut into small cubes

250g Sugar *I use 200g

300g Cake Flour *I use Plain Flour

200g Veg Oil, or melted butter *I use Veg Oil

1tsp Baking Powder

1/2tsp Baking Soda

1) Beat eggs, sugar and banana til ribbon stage.

2) Fold in flour slowly and gently, bit by bit, not to deflate the batter.

3) Add in oil, fold carefully til batter is shiny and smooth

4) Bake at 160deg for 40-45mins or until skewer comes out clean.

Class 8: 再一次的失败 - Sponge Cake (Tier Cake)

又一次的失败！非常的伤心所以也不知不觉就用了华语来写今天的博客编。还以为我已经把棉花蛋糕的诀窍学到了，可是它偏偏让我伤心多一次。

原本想要烘个巧克力蛋糕，但是不知道为什么蛋糕的中间不熟，还粘粘的。上面也不理想，有点湿湿。总之非常伤心。但是已经吃了7个星期的蛋糕所以不打算重心烘过。就用老公的生日蛋糕，把所有的 whipping cream刮掉然后重新再涂过和装饰。

今天的课是如何把两个蛋糕叠在一起。同学们都把她们的蛋糕装饰成结婚蛋糕，只有我把它做成公主主题的蛋糕。带回家时，两个小宝贝好开心。弟弟总是好开心，不论是他的车子或姐姐的公主，从不会自私只要自己喜欢的。真的非常爱姐姐！虽然蛋糕底只能吃上面那个，大家还是开心的吃了。下面的就喂给 Mr Bin 因为总觉得不是非常熟所以还是扔掉。

今天也是最后一堂课，心中好伤心但绝不会忘记这些好姐妹。谢谢你们无私的分享和带给我的欢笑。有机会，我们在一起聚一聚，或在一起上课。

Recipe is using RG's, replaced 20g plain flour to coco powder for chocolate sponge.

我的致命伤 - Sponge Cake

Many times, I tried using sponge cake recipe, many recipes that I tried and cld nt succeed in baking a good one. It comes out either like a kueh, crumbly, breaks apart, too hard, undercooked, over baked and many many reasons that contribute to my failure. Sad rite?

Recently I joined RG's class, it is for deco and piping techniques and many times we were asked to bring a sponge cake. But I always cheated, as how I wld usually do for my cakes, I used a chiffon cake. I will beat to soft peaks, fold 1/3 whites them pour batter to remaining whites and bake. Ta-daa~ A soft and spongy chiffon. And it has nvr 'prick' me that it is not a MUST to learn sponge cake until that day.

I tasted a classmate's sponge. Oh my god, it is spongy, soft and moist. I feel so guilty that after baking so long, I still cld nt do it. And I also didn't bother too. Not to mention that all the other classmates can bring a nice and spongy sponge cake which I couldn't and always cheated with a chiffon. So I bring myself to it. And with my long-winded, never-ending questions to my grp of baking friends, I Whatsapp, and bake almost everyday for this week, except for wed, for a sponge. It started with crumbly and collapsed, then under-baked and today, finally, no more lumps of flour visible, it comes out spongy and soft and nvr crumble. 

I was so worried when I took out to cut into half, I was worried it will break into 2 but it didn't. And I managed to have 2x6" sponge cake that is tall, and 2" or taller. I am so happy... (Cos I am using for hubby bday cake) I intend to use 1 to deco with my kids and 1 more to do a Man U devil and bring to club for our celebration with friends.

I use the Pour 'n' whip cream from Cold Storage. And put RG's blueberry filling for the cake and did up my 'choco' devil. Bad measurement and it can't sit properly on the cake with my wordings. (I shld also have placed the devil b4 writing.) But nonetheless, still my effort am.. Right? As for the kids, I did 4 colors of whipped cream for them, some chocolate candies, heart-shaped chocolates etc. I believe my gal had the most fun. And the happiest is my husband. I love you my dear baby, for always loving me and placing our family TOP in your list of priorities. 

Sponge Cake (using Richard Goh recipe)

4 eggs

100g sugar *i use 80g

100g plain flour

100g butter, melted

*i added 1 tsp of vanilla & 2tsp of lemon juice

1) Beat eggs til fluffy and add in sugar graudually. Continue to beat til ribbon stage.

2) Fold in fold bit by bit, taking your time not to deflate the batter, in a upwards direction. 

Add in melted butter and fold gently til shiny and creamy

3) Bake at 160deg for 40mins or until skewer comes out clean.

Class 7 - Longevity Peach

This week is the 2nd last class, so sad and emo. Anyway this class is also 1 of the more difficult class as we will be touching on fondant, on how to wrap the cake with it and also on how to make it looks like those Longevity Peach cake that you see in bakeries.

Usually, for Chinese, we use a Longevity Peach as a cake when we celebrate 60th, 70th & onwards for the elderly's birthday. It is to wish them good health and long life. It symbolize good things. And I am so excited as I have always wanted to try this but have no courage to. And moreover, this coming June, my grandma will be celebrating her 70th birthday and I will have a chance to showcase it. Yeah!! (I have aldy told her I am making it for her birthday after I learn it in today's class.

It is quite difficult, not so easy as you need to knead the fondant (we are using ready-made fondant), and also do the 'colourings', adding on the leaves or stalk as you prefer. RG definitely have good patience to guide us thru this tedious learning process. And I have a great time learning and really 'absorb' the essence of it. 

As for the cake, I am using this recipe from 君子 cos after seeing Angela's cake, I am so intrigued to try this after failing my sponge earlier using RG's recipe. (I think I under-fold and I went to search for video on how to fold in the flour and oil and try again so I don't think it's the recipe prb). Anyway, taste is good but cake kinda dry n hard cos I over-fold the cake. (First attempt with the recipe, I under-baked & my 2nd attempt, I over-fold). But will definetely try both recipe again. 

Chocolate Sponge Cake (adapted from 君子)

6 eggs

150g sugar *i use 120g

200g Cake Flour *i used 180g cake flour + 20g cocoa powder

50g melted butter *i use 50g canola oil

1) Melt butter in microwave or double-boil. Leave aside.  

2) Beat eggs and sugar til ribbon stage. It will leaves a trail when u drizzle the batter on top.

3) Fold in sifted flour and butter gently. Be careful not to deflate the batter.

4) Bake at 180deg for 25-30mins

How to do the cut out (Pic from left-right then 2nd row, third row)
1) Use a tracing paper same size as your cake, draw out shape of Longevity Peach
2) Put it on top of cake and cut out the shape. Smooth out the edges, trim and make the sides 'rounded'. And using the loose pieces from cutting out the shapes, to put on top of the cake to form the 'humps' and also cut a 'cleavage' in the center.
3) Crumb coat thinly with whipped cream (or u can use buttercream) for the ready cut cake. Roll fondant thinly and then put on top of cake. Smooth it out and tuck in under the cake. (You can trim the cake bottom slightly to better tuck the fondant in
4) Using the toothbrush, brush on the spatula and then 'spray' it nearer the bottom of cake to form the 'dots'. Alternatively you can use a spray bottle. Red colourings shld be slightly thick so t it will not smudge.
5) Knead green colourings into a small piece of white fondant. Then roll it out and cut out shape of leave. Use spatula or back of leaves, draw out the lines for the leaves.
6) Using tip of fingers, lift up the leaves, dab some on back of leave then stick to the top of fondant. And knead some brown fondant and form the stalk.

Some catchups on new tries

Tried some new recipes and so gonna blog it, in case i want to refer back in future. Yummy recipes = Keeper!!

I tried frying Ah Ma's style Fried Prawn & Fishcake Omelette (orh-luak style) that we can never give her a break when we have a chalet. Hahaha.. Really so yummilicious, though it's without the oysters, and frying with Olive Oil, definetely healthier than those selling outside. So what is my final tweak to the original recipe? Here it is:

Fried Prawn & Fishcake Omelette (orh-luak style)

2 Heaps Tablespoon of Tapioca Flour

1 Heap Tablespoon of Glutinous Rice Flour

240ml Water

Dash of Fish Gravy

Ingredients you can choose your own, i go for prawns and fishcake

4 Eggs, Beaten

Spring Onions

(1) You have to stir the batter first, It will be watery

(2) Heat up my Happycall, a little bit of oil

(3) Put just enough batter to cover the base of the Happycall

(4) Wait til the batter is bubbling, then pour in egg mixture, just enought to cover the Happycall

(5) Let the omelette becomes more 'charred' then flip over

(6) Add in ingredients and mix well. Add a little fish gravy to taste

(7) Serve hot

Another new dish - Panko Chicken & Pork Chops. I saw this on 1 of those cooking blogs, so decided to copy that. It was crispy and fragrant. It is great for snacks and you don't feel sinful as it is chicken breast. Simple and my toddler and hubby loves it.

Another new toy i bought last night and immediately try it this morning for breakfast. Tayoki Fish Pan, got it at $20 from Giant Tampines. Cheaper than Gmarket and i have been enduring eversince my Facebook Kakis started posting about it. Finally i gave up and i never regret. Mmm..

I used the Betty Crocker Pancake Mix for it, added a egg and 1 cup of water. Soft and fluffy, i tried with Nutella, Laughing Cow Cheese and also Pandan Paste to the last few fishes. Irisa had a fun time with the 'fishes' this morning.