Almond Chiffon Cake

Well hello strangers! Sorry for the long silence here. It has been a rather hectic past few months and it is never easy trying to cope with the increasing amount of work apart from my usual household routines. No matter, my blog is still here where I can always come back to deposit some good recipes and catch up on posts from my fellow blogger friends. 

Today I am back with another keeper. An Almond Chiffon cake recipe which is quite amazing if I do say so myself. 

My initial plan was to use up that almond flour I left from all that CNY bakes. Since almond frangipane tart and pound cake aren't what I want to eat (too heavy), so I opted for a lighter bake.

So I went ahead and did a draft recipe and started baking. Had a couple tweaks and this cake turned out amazingly good. Most importantly I did not cave in to using almond essence, (thank god) and yet it still has that faint nutty fragrance which lingers after each bite.

Recipe for Almond chiffon cake

Egg yolk mixture

5 large egg yolks

30 g creamy almond butter (refer here for recipe)

60 ml peanut oil

70 ml fresh milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

60 g cake flour

60 g almond meal

Egg white mixture

5 egg whites 

1/3 tsp cream of tartar

105 g caster sugar 

Method

1) In the blender, blend both almond meal and flour together till smooth and fine. 

2) In a large mixing bowl, add in egg yolks, almond butter, oil and milk in. Whisk till well combined. The almond butter might be clumpy, just use a spoon or the whisk to break it up.

3) Add in salt, baking powder and flour mixture into the egg yolk batter. Whisk well to remove any lumps and smooth. Set aside for use later.

4) In a separate bowl, add in all the egg white ingredients and whisk till it reaches stiff peaks.

5) Preheat the oven to 170C . Combine the egg white mixture to the yolk mixture in 3 separate portions. Be gentle and don't over whisk. 

6) Pour batter into a chiffon tube pan and bake in the preheated oven for 26-28mins till the tester comes out clean. 

7) Remove from oven and invert to co before removing from the mould/ slice. Enjoy!

To achieve that tender soft, melt-in-the mouth texture, creaming process of the fat and yolk is necessary. The more air is introduced the better. More air is incorporated next with the well beaten meringue. Stiff peaks is needed to hold the whole chiffon. 

So yeah, cake baking is like science! Having the correct proportion matters.

I will be baking another 2 more chiffons for a close friend this week. So stay tune for more chiffon goodness on my Instagram @HoneyBeeSweets.sg 

Have a great midweek everyone!

Thanks for reading and hope you will try this recipe out!

Blueberry Muffins (蓝莓松饼)

This was an impromptu bake after seeing my sister purchased some muffins from a so called healthy bakery. The muffins she bought claimed to be both delicious and contains ingredients that were good for the body. I took a bite and was so disappointed. :P Neither was it delicious, it was sugar loaded, so sweet! Healthy? Really? So I decided to bake some for her and my dad, since he too enjoys anything blueberry. Again this is another "extraction" from my IG and FB share, so bare with the short post. :)

Blueberry muffin (makes 10-12) 

150 g unsalted butter , room temp
135 g sugar
2 large egg
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
250 g sour cream or plain yogurt
100 ml fresh milk
Zest of 1 lemon
300 g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
150 g blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, need not defrost)

1. Preheat oven to 170C, prepare cupcake liners. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar till creamy. Add vanilla extract and lemon zest and continue to beat till fluffy.
2. Add egg one at a time and beat till incorporate before adding another.
3. Add 1/3 of cake flour, salt, baking powder in and mix well.
4. Add all of sour cream / yoghurt in and beat till mixed in.
5. Add another 1/3 flour in and mix well.
6. Add in the milk and mix well again, then lastly add the last 1/3 flour in and incorporate till batter is smooth. 
7. Lastly toss in blueberries and mix gently.
8. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners. Bake in the preheated oven and bake for 15-18 mins or till the tester comes out clean.

Texture of the muffins were soft and creamy. Best with a cup of Jo or hot tea. I recommend using fresh blueberries, which somehow the fruits' prime condition contributes a juicier and sweeter flavour to the bake. But frozen is fine too lah. :)

Happy Baking!

Purple sweet potato butter cake

It is almost like an alarm clock in the body. I would naturally crave for some butter cake or poundcake like bakes time to time. Do you get that too? Yes, I love chiffon, I love tarts, I love pastries, but somehow the lure of buttery soft cake keeps coming back for more! Although having the good old traditional butter cake is the best, I still enjoy explore and experimenting different ingredients being incorporated to it. And this time is none other then one of my favourite sweet potato...not just any, but that sweet and pretty purple sweet potato. And so Purple Sweet Potato Butter Cake is born!

The addition of the root vegetable has made this cake not only more moist, it also gives off that sweet potato aroma and flavour when you eat it, especially when it is warm. So love! If you love pumpkin too, you can try it with that. But keep in mind that pumpkin has more water content verses sweet potatoes, so the result might end up a wee bit different perhaps.

For now, let's look at this Purple Sweet Potato Butter Cake recipe and see what it consist. :)

Ingredients for Purple Sweet Potato Butter Cake (makes a 8" by 8" square)

150 g sweet potato steamed + 50 ml coconut oil 

•  Blend the two together until smooth. Set aside for use later

Egg Yolk Batter

5 egg yolks (~73-75g)

60g caster sugar

200 g salted butter at room temperature (Or unsalted butter with 1/2 tsp salt)

200 g cake flour

Egg White Batter

5 egg white

100 g caster sugar

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

• Preheat the oven to 155C. Prepare a steam bath in the bottom rack so you can so a steam bake later. Grease and line a 8" by 8" square pan with parchment paper. Set aside for use later.
• In a large mixing bowl, add in the yolks and caster sugar. Start whisking till it thickens and doubled its volume.
• Next place the softened room temperature butter in, whisk it in in gently to the yolk batter. The batter will be thick and creamy.

• Now you can add in the blended sweet potato and coconut oil puree. Again, give it a good whisk to combine thoroughly.
• Last, add in the sifted cake flour. Whisk well again.

• Next, whisk the egg whites in another mixer bowl. Add in the lemon juice  and then gradually the caster sugar and continue to beat till stiff peaks.

• In 3 separate portions, add in the egg whites to the egg yolk batter, folding gently each time and careful not to deflate the egg whites.

• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, spread it evenly. At this moment, you can choose to bake it as is or put on the extra sweet potato cream topping swirls.

Swirl Topping (optional)
100 g sweet potato + 60 ml heavy cream

•  Blend the two together until smooth. Set aside for use later

• Scoop spoonfuls of the sweet potato cream puree over the top of the cake batter. Then using a tooth pick, run it through the batter to create that swirl effect.

• Steam bake the cake in the preheated oven for 55-60 minutes in the water bath till the cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. 

• Once baked, carefully remove from the oven and place over a towel. Remove the cake from its cake pan and cool on the rack completely before slicing. Enjoy!

See...it's not that complicated right? Although I did add sweet potato in both the cake batter and as a topping. I think it adds that extra oomph and sweet potato intensity to it.

With the addition of coconut oil, it really brings out the coconut fragrance. A little goes a long way! And that purple sweet potato cream swirls not only beautifies the cake appearance, it also adds that creamy sweet potato bite, which is like a bonus every time!

A close look at the soft cake texture of this special butter cake. :9 It is not dense at all, moist and fragrant and also buttery rich that leaves you satisfied. Or maybe you're like me...I can't resist having 3 slices at one go... oops. :P

If you decide to give this a try, try making it ahead and let the cake rest overnight. I personally feel the cake taste better the following day. Just like any butter cake, the taste mallows out and somehow makes it more rich in taste and flavour the following day. Like magic...taste like magic too. Don't take my word for it, get your baking apron on and try it yourself. ;)

Okay guys, signing off now. Hope you all will like this recipe and drop me a note if you did try it ya? 

Remember, do what you love and stay happy!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake (revisited)

Frankly speaking, I love simple bakes like butter cakes, pound or loaf cakes. They are easy enough to whip up within a couple hours and usually helps use up that particular ingredient in the pantry that has been sitting there for days. :P I mean who has time to make frosting and what not all the time, simple is the way to go for a quick craving fix. And save those icing (and calories) for special occasions if you ask me. This time round I have a block of cream cheese and some blueberries that I bought during a sale, sitting beautiful in my fridge for almost a week. Not good. Use them to bake cake? Great! And at the back of my mind, I remember I always, yes almost always, bake this Blueberry cream cheese pound cake recipe years back while I was in States. Yes, where blueberries were dirt cheap, so why not! This lovely recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart. :) So simple and yet so delicious! 

I decided to give this recipe I used for years a slight twig, reduce sugar, increase liquid amount. Result was great because using the sweetness of the blueberries itself instead of loading the cake with caster sugar was much better. And replacing the moisture from the sugar removed with none other then my beloved buttermilk. :9

Ingredients for Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake (Makes a 10 cups / 8" bundt)

325 g cake flour

230 g unsalted butter, room temperature

200 g cream cheese, room temperature

4 large eggs

215 g caster sugar

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

Zest of a lemon

1 tsp baking powder

150ml shaken buttermilk

1 cup fresh blueberries (frozen ones can be used too)

• Preheat the oven at 180C and grease the bundt pan thoroughly.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together till smooth.
• Next add in the caster sugar and salt, beat till light and fluffy. It should take about 4 to 5 minutes. 
• Crack in one egg at a time and mix well after each addition.
• Add the vanilla extract and lemon zest, whisk for a minute.

• Next shift in half of the cake flour and baking powder in. Mix till well combined. Then pour in the buttermilk, mix well again. Lastly, shift in the rest of the cake flour and incorporate well.
• Toss the blueberries in 1 tbsp of plain flour, this will prevent the blueberries from clumping together when mixed into the batter. 
• Now add the blueberries into the batter and gently fold in to combine.

• Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes or till the cake tester comes out clean.

• I would suggest turning the baking pan at mid point of the baking time. Just to ensure the cake is evenly baked out.
• Place cake on the rack to cool before slicing. :9
• Cake can be kept at room temperature for 2 days, 3rd day it should be sent into the fridge if there is still any left. :)

Oh glorious cake! I can have a quarter of this! Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves. :P Let's move on to see how the cake turned out inside. 

Check out the creaminess inside...woooooah! :D Taste? Not overly sweet as expected, which is just right for me. But feel free to up another 30-40 g of caster sugar if you like yours sweeter. Creaminess was spot on, melting moments on every bite. Much love.

Need I say more? Guess not. You seriously have to try this out. If it is some bake that I have used for years and still further improved on it, must be that good! 

So what's stopping you? Try it out! Guarantee no regrets. ;) Yes, blueberries are still abundant now and creamcheese is still on sale!

Happy baking all!

Easy Tiramisu with LOTTE Choco Pie

So recently I was given the challenge of using LOTTE Choco Pie to come up with an easy and yet delicious recipe. Yes, I ate a whole box of those to come up with a decent idea heehee. :D *Ahem*...excuses for pigging out. But it wasn't that hard really, Texture of the pie was mostly like a sponge coated with chocolate. It somehow leads me to think of none other then Tiramisu cake. Chocolate coated sponge in a tiramisu? Wooo....sounds good already! I quickly got to work on it and voila! See what have I got ladies and gentlmen....Choco Pie Tiramisu!

It doesn't look exciting from this shot, but I assure you...this easy Choco Pie Tiramisu is no less tastier then the original version. :9 And what's best, it is much easier to whip up verses the one I did awhile back. The Heavenly Eggless Tiramisu which like the name states, uses no raw egg and yet tasted really creamy and luscious. But the usual tiramisu recipe requires sponge cake between the layering which is pretty tedious if one is in a hurry to have a tiramisu dessert ready. So now...the Choco Pies come in handy. We can replace them sponge cake with the Choco Pies! Sure you can use Sponge fingers....but if you ask me, I would rather have chocolate coated pies please. :D

Ingredients for Easy Tiramisu using LOTTE Choco Pies
1 box 12 packs Choco Pies 
2 cups (500 gm) mascarpone cheese

8 tbsp confectioner's sugar (sifted) (5 tbsp + 3 tbsp)

1 1/4 cup heavy cream (1/2 cup + 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup (about 100 gm) semi-sweet dark chocolate
1/3 cup strong espresso (I used Nescafe instead)
3 Tbsp coffee liqueur such as Tia Maria or Kahlua

Cocoa Powder for dusting on top (I used Valrhona cocoa)

• I used ToastBox Kopi-O pack to make the esspresso. Prepare a cup with 200 ml boiling water, add the coffee pack and seep for 5 minutes. Then add in the coffee liqueur and stir well. Then chill the mixture in the fridge.

• Melt the chocolate with 1/2 cup cream over a double boiler; cool.

• Whip the remaining 3/4 cup of heavy cream and 3 tbsp of confectioner's sugar till stiff peaks. I run out of powdered sugar, so I blended some coarse sugar to make some. Verdict, I am not going to buy powdered sugar from now on haha!

• Whip the mascarpone and the 5 tbsp confectioner's sugar together till creamy, about 1 minute.

• Fold the whipped cream gently into the mascarpone cheese. Chill mixture in fridge for at least an hour before use.

• Now open up the Choco pies, gently open up the pie. One side will be with the marshmallow cream filling while the other doesn't. Lay them on the base of a raminkin. You will need 9 halves.

• Next you spoon about 1/3 of the espresso mixture over the pie halves to soak. Spread 1/3 of the chocolate ganache over the pie halves.

• Then spread 1/3 of the mascarpone mixture over. Repeat and end with a layer of mascarpone. I even got my little one to do it for me because this recipe is pretty kid friendly. Layering and spreading, how hard can it be ya?:)

• The last top layer of pie halves needs to be all open face down. Meaning the chocolate coated side facing up. I suggest dipping the halves in the coffee mix before placing into the raminkins. 
• Lastly just garnish the top with a good dust of quality cocoa powder. Chill overnight or at least 4 hours.

After chilling in the fridge for a good 4 hours or more, the Choco Pie Tiramisu is good to serve.

I am pretty happy with the end result and know that my mission has accomplished. A delicious and yet simple to make tiramisu dessert made using the LOTTE Choco Pies. A much easier version which even my young kid can help out making. :) Not convinced? Just take a look at how good the tiramisu turned out. 

Need I say more? Choco Pie does make this dessert work! ~happy dance~

Key point to make this dessert taste really good is to make sure you soak the pie halves with the coffee syrup mixture. It literally melts in your mouth and leaving you with a smooth, deep coffee and chocolaty taste.

Creamy goodness that totally deserved to be made and enjoyed for your love ones. :9 Don't just take my word for it, try it out yourself. And since it is school holidays now, get your little ones to help you! I am positive they will enjoy eating it as much as making this dessert. ;)

In the meantime... Happy cooking!

Earl Grey Lavender Cake with Lemon Vanilla ButterCream

I love baking for occasions. No matter how busy I am, I will try my best to bake a nice cake for the family. Frankly speaking, family matters most to me. No matter what you have done, or what you have not done, they still love you as much, haha! So doing little gestures like baking for them is really trivial I think. I always feel having a cake for any gatherings, puts a nice sweet ending to it. No matter how full you are, you will always have room for that slice of cake baked specially for you yes? And since I was particularly fond of the tea flavour Earl Grey Lavender from Gryphon, why not!

I was rather please with my first attempt. Used several different techniques here after reading up from books and recipes learnt from experience. I guess my only change next time is to lighten that frosting  by incorporating whipped cream into the buttercream and thus yielding a lighter texture and mouthfeel.

Tea floral mix powder:

2 tea bags amount of Earl Grey tea

5 g dried lavender (from Phoon Huat)

• In a blender, pour both the earl grey tea leafs and the dried lavender in. Zap for a good 1 minute at high speed.

• Sieve the blended mixture through a fine sieve. 

• This step removes the chunkier bits and also the calyxes of the dried flower. Set aside for use later. 

Tea syrup

1 earl grey tea bag

1/4 cup boiling water

2-3 Tbsp full cream evaporated milk

3 Tbsp caster sugar

• Place water, sugar and evaporated milk into a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from fire. Add the tea bag and let it sip for a good 30 minutes and stir it occasionally. 

• After the tea is well soaked through and it has a good earl grey flavour, set aside to cool and for use later.

Ingredients for Earl Grey Lavender Cake

200 g unsalted butter, room temp

180 g caster sugar

4 large eggs

All of the above Tea Floral mix

200 g cake flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

• Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease and line with parchment paper and grease again an 8" round  base removable cake pan.
• In the mixing bowl, add in the room temperature butter and caster sugar. Start beating the mixture till light and fluffy which will takes about 4-5 minutes. Lastly add in the reserved Tea Flora mixture above and beat for another minute.

• Next crack in one egg at a time and beat after each addition. Making sure the egg is completely incorporated after each addition.
• Sift in the cake flour and baking powder in to the butter mixture. Then fold in gently, making sure it is well combined and no hidden lumps of flour.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Check out the creamy luscious batter!

• Use a toothpick to give the batter a good swirl to remove any undesirable air pockets.
• Then bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, rotate in between time to get even baking if necessary.
• Once the cake tester or the toothpick comes out clean, remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes in the pan.

• Next invert the cake on a cooling rack till it is cool to the touch. Slice the cake horizontally across so you get two equal thickness of cake discs.

Ingredients for Lemon Vanilla Buttercream

3.3 oz egg white (from three large eggs, ~95 g)

3.3 oz caster sugar (~95 g)

1/2 vanilla bean pod with the beans scraped out

300 g unsalted butter, cut into chunks and room temperature

zest of 1 lemon

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

• Place the egg white and sugar in a heat proof bowl and place over a double boiler of simmering water. Base of bowl should not touch the water.
• Stir constantly till the sugar melted. Then place candy thermometer to check on the temperature to make sure it reaches 115C (for sanitary and prevention of semolina). 
• Immediately beat the egg whites at high speed till it reaches soft peaks.
• Gradually add in the chunks of butter and beat at medium speed. It may look lumpy at first, but continue to beat and it will eventually come together.
• Lastly, add in lemon juice and zest and continue to beat till all fluffy and light.
• Chill the butter cream in a container in the fridge till needed later.

Assemble: 

• On a cake board, grease 1/4 tsp of the buttercream on top. Then place half of the cake disc on top. This will prevent the cake from sliding when traveling with it.
• Next spoon small amount of the reserved earl grey milk syrup all over the surface of the cake disc. You should use half the amount of the syrup.
• You then frost 1/3 of the vanilla lemon buttercream over the surface.

• Place the other cake disc over and making sure the cut side is facing up. Repeat the drizzling of the remaining of the tea syrup all over the cake surface again.

• Do not worry, you are not gonna make your cake mushy with the syrup. I guarantee you that this step is essential to keep the cake moist and gives it that extra tea flavour. So please don't skip it.
• Next frost up the whole cake nicely.

• Chill the cake in the fridge for a good 30 minutes before you bring it out for decorations.

You can decorate your cake however way you want. With chocolate, with more buttercream, drizzle with ganache or topped with mixed fruits. I like mine with fresh flowers and berries this time. And my family actually loved this simplicity of it too.

Nothing is more satisfying when your bake is enjoyed and loved by the family. :') I wish I have made a better cake, but with only 4 hours at hand, I had to settle with this. 

Overall a success, but I would have made a taller cake next time. Perhaps up the egg ratio to 5 instead of 4. 

With this in my bag, I am ready to try out other flavour combinations. ;) Hopefully something nicer. Salted Caramel with Peanut butter? Or Holicks with Chocolate? We will see... ;)

Until then, have a good week ahead all!

Happy baking!