'Field of Daisies' Matcha Azuki Bean Yuzu Swiss Roll

 My mum didn't get to eat the lychee rose strawberry cake I made for her birthday in late May due to Covid (she got to eat the strawberries and basket though) so we had another date when we planned a family get-together and nice meal at a Japanese buffet. Since I had forgotten to put the chiffon cake daises I made the last time on the cake, I decided to make a daisy themed cake with Japanese flavours this time round!

Matcha swiss roll with homemade sugar-free azuki bean paste, matcha diplomat cream, agar-based vanilla panna cotta and yuzu curd jelly!

I was afraid that adding the yuzu element to the traditional matcha-azuki bean combo would be risky but it paid off as a refreshing sour citrus touch to otherwise earthy flavours! Hubby my best food critic said the flavours were well-balanced so I was really happy about that. I only realised I had a smaller flower cookie cutter after I made the cake. Otherwise I would have preferred a smaller flower in the middle of the roll cake for an easier time of rolling. Mum is diabetic so I made this cake with that in mind, replacing caster sugar with sugar-free options where it doesn't compromise taste or structure too much.

This post may be long for a seemingly simple looking roll cake due to the many elements in here. I think each slice of cake can qualify as an entremet 😆. 

Sugar-free red bean paste

This portion is more than you need. Extras can be portioned into 50g portions (if you wish) and frozen for longer storage.

Ingredients:

250g small dried azuki beans

170g erythritol (replace with caster sugar if you wish)

1/2 tsp salt

Steps:

I followed Namiko Chen's instructions over here. You may realise that my version is very much reduced in sugar because erythritol tastes much sweeter than caster sugar in my opinion. Don't worry about the sweetness of the red bean paste as other elements in this bake will balance it out.

I made this ahead of time and froze it, defrost only when I was ready to make the red bean jelly to assemble with the sponge.

Freshly made red bean paste!

Sugar-free red bean jelly

You may not use all depending on how thick a layer you spread on the sheet cake. Prepare this when you are ready to assemble with the sponge. I prefer making a jelly layer rather than using the paste directly as it sticks to the sponge and cream instead of crumbles when you slice the cake.

Ingredients:

150g homemade azuki bean paste

2 gelatin sheets (or 4g powdered gelatin)

Ice cold water for blooming gelatin (Use 15g if using powdered gelatin)

Steps:

1. If you have frozen the bean paste, reheat until warm in microwave oven or stove top.

2. Bloom gelatin in ice water by soaking for 10min. Squeeze out excess water and gently melt in microwave oven using medium power for 10 seconds or double-boiler.

3. Stir gelatin into warm azuki bean paste until well combined before use.

Vanilla panna cotta flowers

Panna cotta is usually made with gelatin but I needed it to be firm enough to cut into shapes so I used agar instead. I used a lot less sugar as the azuki bean paste is sweet. Heavy cream also has a natural sweet milky taste even without sugar added. I used a 7 inch round silicone pan to set my panna cotta but you may use any mould. This is also more than you may need. Enjoy the extras as milk pudding on its own!

Ingredients:

300g water

10g agar powder

600g heavy cream

20g erythritol (may replace with caster sugar)

10g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

1. Bloom agar powder by mixing with cold or room temperature water in a saucepan for 10min.

2. Add sugar(s) and bring to a boil while whisking frequently. Simmer while whisking for another minute.

3. Remove from heat. Whisk in heavy cream and vanilla. 

4. Pour into mould and set in fridge for at least 2 hours before cutting out shapes with flower cookie cutter (preferably 3-3.5cm) and jumbo straw/ regular straw (in the middle of flower). Store the jelly cutouts in airtight container until you are ready with the yuzu curd jelly.

Yuzu curd jelly

Again this is more than you need but reducing the portion makes it harder to work with. You may store extra curd in freezer for longer storage, or in the fridge for up to a week. Note that curds can be frozen and defrosted without change in texture but addition of gelatin may affect it. Yuzu curd recipe is adapted from here.

Ingredients:

100g 100% yuzu juice concentrate

3 egg yolks

50g caster sugar

50g erythritol (may replace with caster sugar)

100g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature and cut into small cubes

2 gelatin sheets, bloomed (see azuki bean jelly on how to use gelatin)

Steps: 

1. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in heatproof bowl until smooth. Add yuzu juice snd whisk together.

2. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water without base of bowl touching water. Whisk and cook the mixture until it reaches 80C. Be careful not to heat too fast or too hot or it will start to scramble.

3. Add in butter a cube at a time, mixing well with spatula after each addition. 

4. Melt bloomed gelatin in microwave if the curd has cooled down a lot by now. If not you may simply add the bloomed gelatin into the warm curd and mix well. 

5. Transfer yuzu curd jelly into piping bag with a small hole cut. Remove panna cotta flower cutouts from fridge and fill the cavities with yuzu curd jelly.

Freshly filled flowers! If you have excess, these are great to enjoy on its own as well!

6. Refrigerate the flowers until ready to assemble with sponge.

Matcha diplomat cream

I used whip topping, a non dairy cream which is pre-sweetened so I reduced the amount of sugar in the pastry cream portion. Feel free to use more sugar according to taste preference or if you are using full dairy whipping cream. I didn't use only dairy whipping cream because Singapore is really warm and I didn't want the cream to melt too fast. I used a combination of non dairy and double cream (45% fat dairy cream) to achieve a balance of good stability and taste.

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk

10g caster sugar

A pinch of salt

10g cornstarch

5g matcha powder (or according to taste)

105g milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8g unsalted butter, softened

50g cold Whip topping

20g cold double cream

Steps:

1. Sift together cornstarch and matcha powder. 

2. Whisk together egg yolk, sugar, salt, cornstarch and matcha powder until smooth in a heatproof bowl. Set aside.

3. Heat milk and vanilla extract in saucepan until steaming hot but not boiling. Pour in a thin stream into egg yolk mixture while whisking egg yolk mix continuously. Pour everything back into saucepan.

4. Cook custard over medium-low heat while whisking continuously. Once it starts to thicken, remove from heat and whisk until smooth. Put back on heat and continue whisking and cooking until it thickens further for another 2min. 

5. Remove from heat and whisk in butter. Transfer into a tray or bowl and press cling film on surface of pastry cream. Refrigerate for at least 1h or overnight. 

6. When ready to assemble with sponge, whip cold whip topping until stiff peaks form. Fold in cold double cream. There is no need to whip up the double cream as its consistency is like softened butter. Remove matcha pastry cream from fridge and use spatula to loosen it up by briefly beating it. Fold in whipped cream in three additions until smooth and homogeneous. Transfer into large piping bag with a hole cut to use.

Matcha chiffon sponge cake

Ingredients (makes one 10 x 12" sheet cake):

Egg yolk batter

3 egg yolks

38g vegetable oil

9g matcha powder

33g hot water

9g milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

54g cake flour

Meringue

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

36g caster sugar

18g erythritol (may replace with caster sugar or omit if you like the cake slightly bitter)

Steps: 

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Line baking tray with teflon sheet or parchment paper.

2. Prepare matcha paste. Dissolve matcha powder in hot water and sieve through fine sieve. Add milk and mix well. Check that overall weight is 42g. Add or remove liquid as necessary.

3. Make egg yolk batter. Whisk together egg yolks until pale. Add oil and salt and whisk until smooth. Gradually sift in half of flour and whisk until smooth. Add matcha paste and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Gradually sift in remaining half of flour and whisk until no trace of flour is seen.

4. Make meringue. In a clean metal bowl, whip egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks or just reach stiff peaks, gradually adding in sugar once egg whites are foamy. Use medium speed to whip up the meringue slowly for smaller air bubbles and finer cake texture.

5. Gently but quickly fold meringue into egg yolk batter in three additions. Pour into prepared tray and smooth out the top with a spatula or bench scraper.

6. Bake for 12-15 min or until skewer comes out clean. Immediately flip the cake onto fresh sheet of parchment paper. Roll the sponge to cool completely. While cake is cooling, get ready all the elements in the filling.

Freshly baked matcha chiffon sponge

Assembly

1. Unroll matcha sponge cake and spread a thin (or thick if you like!) layer of azuki bean jelly with spatula.

2. Pipe a layer of matcha diplomat cream in the middle.

3. Place the flower jellies in a row on top of the diplomat cream. My flower jellies were a little large and heavy so it sank to the azuki bean layer when placed on top of the diplomat cream 😅. So cut smaller flowers (like 3-3.5cm) if you can.

4. Pipe diplomat cream to cover the jellies. Use small spatula to smooth out the cream.

5. With the help of parchment paper, roll the cake up. Refrigerate for at least 4hours before slicing the ends off.

Chiffon cake daisies

Ingredients (makes one 10x12" and one 7x7" thin sheet cakes):

Egg yolk batter

2 egg yolks

20g vegetable oil

30g water

38g cake flour

white and yellow gel food colouring

Meringue

2 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

20g caster sugar

14g erythritol (may replace with caster sugar)

Steps:

Follow matcha sponge method but divide the egg yolk batter and meringue into ratio of 5:2 by weight for white: yellow. Bake yellow cake in smaller pan. Spread as thin a layer of batter as possible and bake for only 8-9 min or until done. Adjust baking conditions according to your oven. Cut out the daisies with fondant cutters for the white part and straw/ piping tip for the yellow circles. Glue the daisies on with melted bloomed gelatin or cake glue. Do note that surfaces of chiffon cakes may dry out with storage in fridge so you may wish to brush with syrup (dissolve 5g sugar in 20g hot water) before storing.

My mum wanted an edible number for her age on the cake so I baked some sables last minute since I had some frozen dough in store.

This was another labour of love. Hope you can give it a try if you love matcha!

with lots of love,

Phay Shing

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'Waves' Matcha Chiffon Cake with Fresh Cream, Injeolmi and Azuki Beans

I seldom accept requests for orders nowadays as I want to make time for some YouTube content. I accepted this because I thought it wouldn't take too long and was from an old customer who really loved my fresh cream cakes. This turned out rather challenging not just due to Singapore's tropical weather, but also because I have never done palette painting on cakes (or on paper for that matter), don't have a palette knife, and this was a new flavour combination I am exploring. Presenting my Matcha cake with fresh cream, Injeolmi and azuki beans! 

I was excited about trying this flavour combi because it reminds me a little of bingsu with the milky shaved ice, bits of azuki bean, Injeolmi and matcha jelly! 

The creamed cake with the painted wave design was requested. But since it is a new flavour combination for me, I decided to make a small swiss roll to do a taste test as well. 

I painted this using a mixture of dairy and non-dairy cream, and a specialized fork for eating crabs since I didn't have a palette knife. Maybe crab fork painting can become a thing 😂! 

The chiffon sponge is the last thing to prepare before assembly so I prepared the cream and injeolmi first. For those of you who don't know what injeolmi is (like me before I got this request), it is like muah chee or soft chewy glutinous rice cake but instead of coating with ground peanuts like muah chee, it is coated with kinako (roasted soybean flour). 

Homemade injeolmi! Please follow the recipe here from Maangchi. It is really quick and easy! 

I used a 1:1 ratio for dairy and non-dairy whipping cream to get the best of taste and stability. I stabilized the dairy cream with gelatin. 

Recipe for stabilized fresh cream and non-dairy cream mix

Ingredients:

250g heavy cream or double cream or a mix

1 gelatin sheet

1 tbs icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 

250g whip topping (non-dairy whipping cream)

Steps:

 1. Bloom gelatin in ice water. In the meantime, heat dairy cream with vanilla and icing sugar until sugar is dissolved and cream is warm (not hot, about 40C). Melt bloomed gelatin in warm cream. Whisk until dissolved. 

2. Press cling wrap onto surface of the cream. Chill overnight or at least for a few hours. 

3. When ready to assemble, whip non-dairy cream until stiff peaks. Set aside. 

4. Whip stabilized dairy cream until firm or stiff peaks. Gradually fold dairy cream into whipped whip topping. 

5. Portion small portions of cream to colour with gel colouring for paintig the waves. Transfer the cream into piping bags for assembly/painting. 

Freshly made cream! I love the smoothness of it! 

I adapted the matcha sponge recipe from my hojicha chiffon sponge recipe. You may refer to this blog post for the chiffon recipe but replace hojicha powder with matcha powder, use regular caster sugar instead of monkfruit sugar and omit the cornflour. 

Freshly baked matcha sheet cake! 

Here is a peek at how I assembled the swiss roll with the cream, injeolmi and azuki bean. 

Such cakes need to remain chilled in Singapore's tropical weather. Challenging to assemble but of all the cake fillings and frostings, fresh cream is one of the yummiest! Thank God I had great reviews for the taste of the cake from the birthday recipient who loves Injeolmi! I was a little nervous that the Injeolmi would be too hard or chewy when cold but he loves it this way! 

With love,

Phay Shing

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Slime and Magma Cube Nama Chocolate Mochi

As my elder kid gets older, what he is interested in changes as well. The yearly birthday bakes is like a diary of sorts, documenting what he likes. But as he gets older, his taste gets more exotic and the bar set for me is higher. 

"Ma, why don't we try something different this year." 

By different, he means different genre of bake. I made him chiffon cake, cookies, macarons, choux pastry and even a chocolate bomb with macaron hidden inside before for previous birthdays. This year, he requested for mochi. Not just any mochi but mochi in his favourite flavours and in the form of some characters in his favourite game --- Minecraft. Presenting my version of Matcha mochi with Matcha Nama chocolate and azuki bean in the center, and Mocha mochi with Nama dark chocolate and coffee salted caramel in the center. 

Slime and Magma cubes! 

The only challenging part of this is figuring out how to get it to be cuboid without special moulds. I tried my technique of using cookie cutters to make snowskin mooncakes for this but somehow it didn't work. Not sure if it is the fact that the filling is cold and can go soft after a while. I gave up trying with the square metal cookie cutter after a couple of atempts and just stuffed it in a silicone ice cube tray. It worked!... Sort of 😂. You need to make sure the mochi is sufficiently dusted with flour so that it doesn't stick to the mould or it will end up tearing again.

You begin by making the Nama chocolates. I used Just One Cookbook's recipes as a reference for both dark chocolate and matcha chocolate versions. Nama chocolate is actually just chocolate ganache dusted with cocoa or matcha powder. I skipped the dusting and prepared the chocolates using my lazy one-bowl method of preparation. 

Nama dark chocolate 

Ingredients :

100g 54.5% Callebaut dark chocolate 

50g whipping cream 

1/2 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur 

Steps :

1. Place everything in a microwave-safe bowl or heatproof bowl. Melt the chocolate using medium power at 10 second bursts of using microwave. Alternatively you may use double boiler to melt the chocolate. Stir well until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. 

2. Transfer into 3cm silicone hemisphere moulds and press a cling wrap on the surface. Refrigerate for 1h.

3. Reserve a little melted chocolate in piping bag. 

Matcha Nama chocolate 

Ingredients :

100g Callebaut white chocolate 

30g whipping cream 

7g unsalted butter 

4g (1/2 tbs) matcha powder 

Steps:

1. Place everything except matcha powder in microwave-safe bowl or heatproof bowl. Melt the chocolate in a similar way as pt 1 above.

2. Add matcha powder and mix well. 

3. Transfer into 3cm silicone hemisphere moulds and press a cling wrap on the surface. Refrigerate for 1h.

4. Reserve a little melted chocolate in piping bag. 

You may omit the coffee salted caramel or leave out the coffee and use plain salted caramel if you wish. I usually a stash of homemade salted caramel in the freezer as it freezes well. 

Coffee salted caramel

Ingredients:

1 tsp instant coffee granules

1 tsp boiling hot water 

1 tbs salted caramel 

Note: you may prepare your salted caramel by dissolving the coffee granules in the hot cream for making salted caramel. But because I already have salted caramel in store, I add the coffee after the caramel has been made. 

Steps:

1. Dissolve instant coffee in hot water. Doesn't matter if not all the granules are dissolved. 

2. Add coffee into salted caramel in a microwave-safe bowl. Mix well. Microwave for 10 sec at medium power. Mix well. Repeat heating and stirring until mixture is hot enough and starts to bubble. 

3. Let coffee caramel cool for 10 min at room temperature. Sieve coffee caramel into piping bag. 

Assembling of the mochi filling involves first making a well in the middle of the set chocolates. You can use anything you have on hand to create the well. Spoons, fondant tools, mini melon baller etc. 

Fill the cavities with coffee salted caramel or partially mashed azuki beans. 

Glue the halves of the hemispheres together using some melted chocolate left in the piping bags. Use gloves to handle the chocolates as heat from your fingers will melt it. 

Each ball of chocolate is about 16g. 

Put the assembled chocolates into the fridge or freezer while you work on the mochi. 

Mochi 

Ingredients:

45g icing sugar

45g cooked glutinous rice flour + extra for dusting 

75g water 

Powder flavouring * 

12g olive oil (or shortening /other oil) 

Gel colouring (if using) 

* 1/2 tsp Matcha powder OR 

1/2 tsp instant coffee granules and 1/2 tsp cocoa powder. Omit this for plain mochi

Note: traditional mochi doesn't contain any oil and raw glutinous rice flour is used in the preparation. I used cooked glutinous rice flour as I still have leftover from snowskin mooncake making. I add oil so it can keep moist and soft longer. So after a few days, the mochi texture will resemble snowskin mooncake texture. And if you guessed that I actually used a snowskin mooncake recipe for my mochi, you are absolutely right! 

Steps:

1. Sift together icing sugar and cooked glutinous rice flour. If powdered flavouring is used, sift that in together as well. 

2. Place water, oil and gel food colouring in small saucepan. I added a drop of green for the matcha mochi and a drop of red for the mocha mochi to get the final product to look more like the characters. Heat the mixture until it just starts to boil. 

3. Pour the liquid into the sifted flour. Mix well with a spatula until a dough forms. For the matcha mochi, I added a few drops of white gel colouring and mixed it until the colouring is absorbed but colour is not homogeneous. This is to give it a slightly molted look but is optional. Cling wrap mixing bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 min or until dough is cool enough to handle. 

4. Briefly knead the dough with spatula and portion into 20g balls. Dust with some flour if it is too sticky. I like to use parchment paper as my work surface. 

5. Flatten a ball of dough and place a ball of chocolate in the middle. 

6. Carefully wrap the filling with dough, placing it seam side down. 

7. Dust each ball of mochi with cooked glutinous rice flour. Place into silicone ice cube trays. These are slightly bigger than 3cm. Carefully press it in to fill the corners as far as possible. 

8. Freeze for 1h covered. In the mean time, prepare some plain dough for making the Magma eyes. Prepare some greenish black dough for making the Slime eyes and mouth. I used a mix of matcha powder and charcoal powder to colour the dough. 

9. Roll out the dough until about 1mm thick for both plain and green-black. I used fondant square cutters to cut out the small squares and laid them on a tray lined with parchment. 

10. Air-dry the cutouts for 15 min. Use edible marker or edible paint to add on the red, orange and yellow details of the Magma eyes. 

11. Pop the frozen mochi out of the ice cube tray and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. 

12. Brush a little water on the spots where the eyes are supposed to go. Carefully place the eye cutouts in place. 

13. Store the assembled mochi in airtight container in fridge for up to 5 days. The texture of mochi is soft for first 2 days but will firm up more after that. 

Here is a view of the cross-section! 

With lots of love, 

Phay Shing

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Matcha Azuki Bean Mini Cakes

If you are a fan of Matcha and Azuki beans in dessert, you will love this cake --- alternating layers of light matcha chiffon sponge and refreshing Matcha pudding with whole azuki beans!

I will be teaching how to make these mini cakes at Redman. I decided to use Sakura flowers and whole azuki beans for a simple and elegant decoration.

Please click on this link for more details and to register.

With love,
Phay Shing

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Matcha Azuki Bean T-Rex Choux Pastry (class + giveaway!)

When I first made dinosaur themed choux pastries, I was thinking to myself I should conduct a class on how to make them, particularly the chubby T Rex!

I decided to make a more naturally coloured version this time, show casing Matcha and Azuki bean flavours. If you are interested in learning how to make these cute dinos, please click on this link for more details and to register for the class.

This is also the first time we are doing a giveaway of a very useful baking item together with the class! I requested for this as I find that it makes a huge difference to use perforated baking mats when baking choux pastries. It helps to retain the shape of the piped batter much better than if you piped and baked on parchment paper or silicone mat as the little holes in the mesh helps to anchor the pastry as it rises in the oven during baking. For small pastry parts or plain round choux it doesn't really matter which surface you pipe on but for the "main body" of non-standard shapes or eclairs, it does. You will get to experience the use of the perforated baking mat in class and bring home a brand new one after the class! Perforated mats are also great for baking tarts, cookies and breads so it's not just for choux pastries!

With love,
Phay Shing

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'Pot of Flowers' Matcha Azuki Bean Chiffon Cake Roses & Choux Pastry

Are you wondering what special treat to make for your mother for Mother's Day? Especially if she's a fan of azuki beans with Matcha! Why not join me for a 2-in-1 dessert class, -- pots of Choux au Craquelin filled with Matcha whipped ganache and Azuki beans, topped with Azuki bean chiffon cake roses!

You will learn how to make two genres of bakes in this class, namely chiffon cake and Choux pastry in this 4-hour long class. I will teach you how to create these edible roses from a thin layer of azuki bean chiffon cake, how to make a basic large choux au Craquelin, and how to make a simple matcha whipped ganache filling that goes well with both chiffon and Choux. There's a generous dollop of whole azuki beans in the middle of the pot too to add that contrast in flavours and textures! Although it's a longer class, what I teach will be the basics for each genre.

Click on this link for more information and to register.

With love,
Phay Shing

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Matcha Azuki & Chocolate Salted Caramel Mini Chiffon Cupcakes

This is the second part in my series of wedding bakes. Sorry for the long delay because I had more pressing bakes and ToTT class registration announcements to make 😅. Here are some simple but yummy mini cupcakes that are tasty but not too sweet. I stress the "not too sweet" part because the bride was very specific about the bakes being not too sweet 😅. Chiffon sponge that is soft, fluffy and packed full of flavour, and Swiss meringue buttercream that compliments the sponge cake flavour. I made tea flavoured heart shaped macarons in pastel rainbow shades along with these cupcakes.

Matcha chiffon cupcake with Azuki bean Swiss meringue buttercream and Azuki bean jelly hearts

My matcha chiffon cupcake recipe here uses same number of egg yolks and egg whites, which is what I don't normally practice (usually I use less egg yolks than whites for a lighter texture). I do so here to help to make the cake richer and stay more moist as the size of the cakes are small. Resulting texture is not noticeably different from my usual chiffons and the key to this is a well made meringue and good technique of folding in meringue into egg yolk batter.

I love making cake deco that is yummy and compliments the cake flavour, such as my macaron decorated cakes and Ondeh-Ondeh pandan kaya Gula Melaka chiffon cake. For these minis, I made simple Azuki bean jelly that totally goes well with the Azuki bean cream and Matcha chiffon. This is not the first time I made jelly as deco to compliment the cake. You may take a look at my mango cupcakes with vanilla cream and mango jelly over here.

Matcha chiffon cupcakes recipe

Ingredients (makes about forty 30x38mm cupcakes):

Egg yolk batter

5 egg yolks 

10g caster sugar

56g canola/vegetable oil

65g Matcha milk (dissolve 4-5tsp (about 7-8g) of matcha powder in 60g of hot milk, sieve to remove lumps. You may not use all of it)

1 tsp vanilla extract

75g cake flour

1/8 tsp salt

Meringue

5 egg whites

70g caster sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 140℃, set oven rack to second lowest position and place a tray of water at the base of the oven (optional).

2. Prepare egg yolk batter. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Add oil and whisk until well combined. Add matcha milk and vanilla and whisk until combined. Gradually whisk in sifted flour and salt until no trace of flour is seen.

3. Prepare meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks form, gradually adding in sugar when the egg whites are foamy.

4. Quickly but gently fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter in 3 additions. 

5. Carefully fill the cupcakes until about 80% full. Bake for 10 minutes and reduce temperature to 130℃ and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Cool completely before adding cream.

Azuki bean Swiss meringue  buttercream recipe

Ingredients:

160 Reduced-sugar vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream

100g Mashed canned Azuki beans

1/8 tsp salt

Steps:

1. If using frozen thawed Smbc, rewhip the cream before adding in mashed azuki beans and salt. Whip everything together with electric mixer until light and fluffy.

2. Transfer cream into piping bag fitted with star tip.

You may prepare the cream ahead of time and freeze in freezer Ziploc bags. Simply defrost at room temperature and rewhip before using. Pipe a simple swirl on top of cooled cupcakes.

Azuki bean jelly recipe

Ingredients:

120g Azuki bean puree (press canned Azuki bean through sieve or buy Koshian from Japanese section of supermarket)

120g water

20g white sugar (or to taste. Mine is considered less sugar)

1/8 tsp salt

1.5 tsp agar powder

Steps:

1. Combine everything into a small saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring continuously. Boil for a minute while stirring to ensure agar powder is fully dissolved as we are making a firm jelly here.

2. Pour into silicone moulds till about 5-10mm thick layer. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes or until firm. You may prepare this a day before assembly time.

3. Use a small heart cookie cutter to cut out small hearts.

Top the Azuki bean cream with a dainty Azuki bean heart :).

All done!

Chocolate chiffon cupcakes with Salted caramel Swiss meringue buttercream

When you have a tried and tested recipe where recipients from more than one party say that it is yummy, you go back to it :).  The chocolate chiffon recipe I use here is a tried and tested recipe that I have used for log cakes, bigger chiffons as well as cupcakes, all with very good reviews. I tweaked the recipe slightly, omitting the Kirsch and  instant coffee but substituting these two with Kahlua coffee liqueur. I also replaced the baking powder with baking soda and find that the batter is more stable so this tweak shall stay for my future chocolate cake bakes. I decided to do this replacement as I still notice some deflating of the batter due to the use of cocoa powder (even with Dutch processed) so an alkaline-based leavening agent such as baking soda will help to balance the pH of the batter better.

Chocolate chiffon cupcake recipe
Ingredients (makes about thirty-five 30x38 cupcakes):
Egg yolk batter
4 egg yolks
10g caster sugar or brown sugar
56g canola or vegetable oil
60g fresh milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 tsp Kahlua coffee liqueur
26g Dutch processed cocoa powder (if using regular cocoa powder, add 1/2 tsp baking soda)
52g cake flour
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1/3 tsp baking soda

Meringue
5 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
70g caster sugar

Steps:
Follow the same steps as Matcha chiffon recipe above. Just sift together all powdered ingredients and mix all flavourings with the milk.

Salted caramel Swiss meringue buttercream
Ingredients:
180g Reduced-sugar vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream
70g Homemade salted caramel

Steps:
Similar points to take note of as Azuki bean smbc above. Mix salted caramel with vanilla smbc using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Piping salted caramel smbc on chocolate cupcakes

Sprinkle the salted caramel cream with some chocolate rice and top with a red heart sprinkle.

Packed and ready to party!

Here's a peek at the insides of the cupcakes. I baked extra so I could do a taste test :).

Soft, moist and fluffy! The lower flour to liquid ratio plus lower temperature steam baking helps to retain the moisture of the cakes.

Like the macarons at the wedding, these were very well received too! The bride said that the chocolate cake with salted caramel was rich and tasty without being too sweet, which was what she wanted. The Matcha Azuki cupcakes however, she felt could do with stronger flavour although she loved the fact that it is also not too sweet, so I have amended the recipe shared here to include more Matcha powder and Azuki bean.


With love,
Phay Shing

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'Enchanted Garden' Matcha Azuki Bean Chiffon Sponge & Pudding Cake (with 3D macaron decorations!)

Adventurous me is out to try something new again! And this time it's for my mum's birthday cake. Presenting my first Charlotte cake in Matcha Azuki bean flavour!

Decorated with 3D macaron shells!

I was so thrilled to see the cut cross section of the cake. Yums!

Actually this bake came about because I had some ladyfingers at home and I thought better use it and not waste it. I made this sponge and pudding cake Charlotte cake style for a change. As usual, the cake was light, tasty and not too sweet. Even hubby who doesn't normally eat cake gave a thumbs up. I made this flavour of cake before but tweaked the sponge cake recipe. You may have a look at my first attempt here.

Recipe for Matcha chiffon sponge cake
Ingredients (makes one 10x12" and one 7x7"sheet cake):
3 egg yolks
5g caster sugar
42g canola/vegetable oil
6g (1tbs) Matcha powder
34g hot water
10g honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g cake flour
A pinch of salt

4 egg whites
50g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Steps:
1. Line the baking trays with baking sheet. Set oven rack to second lowest position and preheat to 170℃.

2. Dissolve Matcha powder and honey in hot water. Strain mixture through fine sieve to remove large lumps. Set aside to cool.

3. Prepare egg yolk batter. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Add oil and whisk until well combined. Add Matcha mixture and vanilla, and whisk until well combined. Gradually sift in flour and salt. Whisk until no trace of flour is seen.

4. Prepare meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar using an electric mixer until firm peaks form, gradually adding in sugar once the egg whites appear foamy.

5. Quickly but gently fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter in three batches. Scoop the batter into the prepared baking trays. Tap the trays on the table to release trapped air bubbles.

6. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Remove from tray immediately and cool with another baking sheet covering the cake.

Freshly baked Matcha chiffon cake

You may bake the cakes in advance and freeze it after wrapping with two layers of cling wrap. If you are assembling straight away, cut the cakes according to the size of your springform pan/ mould for assembly. My springform pan is about 7.5". I cut 6" round cakes as I had to account for the thickness of the ladyfingers. You may omit the ladyfingers if you would like to enjoy the sponge and pudding cake as it is.

Recipe for Matcha Azuki bean pudding
Ingredients:
A)
180g evaporated milk
375g water
3.5 tsp Matcha powder (Use premium type for best taste. Use bakeable type if you want to retain a more vibrant green colour)
40g hot water
2.5 tsp vanilla extract
85g caster sugar (you may add more if you prefer sweeter cake. My family prefers less sweet)
1/8 tsp salt
3 tsp agar powder
150-200g canned Azuki beans (I used less as my mum prefers a less sweet cake)

B)
60g custard powder (do not use the instant types)
350g water

Steps:
1. Combine all ingredients in B) in a jug. Stir until custard powder dissolves. Set aside.

2. Dissolve Matcha powder in hot water to form a paste. Put all ingredients in A) (except Azuki beans) into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil while stirring continuously.

3. When the mixture in A) is boiling, stir B) again and slowly pour into A). Continue to stir until mixture boils. Continue to stir while boiling for a couple of minutes more. Sieve the mixture.

Note that a skin will form quickly when the pudding is exposed to air. You may place a piece of cling wrap touching the surface of the pudding if you wish to prevent the skin from forming.

Assembly
Line the base of the springform pan with clingwrap if you wish to transfer the cake to cakeboard in an upright manner. There is no hard and fast rule in assembling the cake. You may start/end with cake or pudding, depending on how you want to display the cake. I will just show the steps for how I did it.

1. Pour a thin layer of pudding such that it covers the base of the springform pan. Place a ring of ladyfingers as shown in the first picture below. Place a layer of chiffon cake on the pudding. Press the cake down firmly to make sure no air bubbles trapped.

2. Pour more pudding to cover the sponge cake. Add some Azuki beans (second picture below).

3. Pour a little pudding to partially cover the beans (third picture).

4. Place a sponge cake over and press down firmly (fourth picture).

5. Repeat for as many layers as you wish. Chill the assembled cake in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.

To transfer the whole assembly to cakeboard, release the catch of the springform pan and carefully remove the ring. Lift the whole cake up with the help of the clingwrap at the base of the cake. Place the cake on the cakeboard. Carefully remove the clingwrap by rolling it under the cake.

Tie the cake with a pretty ribbon and add deco as you wish :)

Assembled cake!

I decided to make some simple 3D macaron deco for the cake. I had the idea of mushroom macarons some time back but never had the chance to try it out. Now I finally can :). You may refer to this post for making 3D hedgehog macarons.

I made some modelling white chocolate for the mushroom stems. The ratio of light corn syrup:white chocolate that I used was 32g:100g. I added a bit of white powder food colouring to lighten up the colour. You may refer to this post on how to prepare the modelling chocolate. I filled the hedgehog with a combination of dark chocolate and whipped Pandan white chocolate ganache.

Modelling white chocolate

Cute mushrooms and hog!

I have to thank hubby for taking quite a few nice pictures of the cake when we were eating it at a restaurant.

Looking cute!

Hedgehog looks like it is peeking over the fence.. :p

Gorgeous cross section!

Another view of a slice of cake

Mmmm!

We really enjoyed the cake. My kids had the macarons of course because mummy can't take too much sugar. As always, there is always room for sponge and pudding cakes after a sumptuous meal because it is light and refreshing :).

With lots of love,
Phay Shing

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Matcha Azuki Bean Macarons (French method plus tips on speeding up drying of shells)

I have always wanted to do a macaron item for Culinary Arts Ministry hosted by our church but couldn't do so as I had to find a way to overcome the long resting time of the shells prior to baking. This waiting time typically takes about 1.5-2.5 hours in an air-conditioned room in humid Singapore. The time allocated for prep is an hour and total time including baking and assembly should be 2 hours or less. Now that I have found an effective way of shortening the drying time significantly without ending up with warped shells that can happen with oven drying, let me share that with you :).

So here's the item I hope to share at my first macaron baking class: Matcha French macarons with whipped Matcha white chocolate ganache and Azuki beans!

Macarons have the reputation of being one of the most difficult things to bake well despite needing only 4 basic ingredients, namely, egg whites, icing sugar, caster sugar and ground almond meal. I hope to be able to share the basics in this session and hopefully those of you who have not been able to master the French macaron will be able to do so :).

I have chosen to use the French method instead of my usual Italian method as it is logistically much easier. There is no need for a candy thermometer or messing around with boiling syrup (which requires a stove). The French method is very suitable for small batches of macarons too. As for why I always use Italian method is because the results are more consistent and it suits my needs of working in large batches with many colours of batter.

Let me include some notes on the basic ingredients used for French macarons here. Newbies may find this helpful as you try this out at home.

Egg whites:
Always use aged egg whites for the French method. You age egg whites by leaving them in a clean bowl in the fridge for 3-5 days with a paper towel covering the bowl secured by a rubber band. This is to allow the water from the egg whites to evaporate over time. Egg whites from freshly separated eggs have too much water content and the resulting macaron shells may be too wet.

Icing sugar:
You may use those with or without cornflour added. I always use pure icing sugar but it's not necessary if you can't find those without cornflour added. Those with cornflour added may result in shells that dry faster after piping (which is good!) but texture may be less delicate.

Caster sugar:
Not much has to be said about this. It can be easily found in supermarkets and baking supply stores.

Ground almond:
Some people grind their own almond for macarons but I am lazy and don't want to risk doing it wrongly and waste a batch of perfectly good nuts :p. If ground wrongly, you end up with almond butter instead or almond meal that is too oily (you will end up with patchy shells). I always buy the "superfine almond powder" version of ground almonds from Phoon Huat. Their "finely ground almond" version is not fine enough for me. It still takes a long time to sift.

Matcha powder:
This is used only for Matcha flavoured shells (duh...of course). But I thought of including some notes here that some of you may find helpful. I use the bakeable version of Matcha powder that can be found from baking supply stores for aesthetic reasons. If you want the best tasting macarons, use the high grade expensive versions for drinking. The only drawback about using those for drinking is they tend to turn duller with time after baking due to oxidation. If looks are not a concern for you, go ahead and use high grade tea powder for baking.

Basic ingredients: clockwise from top left, caster sugar, almond meal, egg whites and icing sugar. Matcha powder in the middle.

The recipe I am using here is not one of the most low-sugar versions so it may tend to be sweeter but it's definitely more foolproof, mainly because of the higher sugar content that gives the shells better structural stability. Once you have mastered the technique you can use recipes that have lower sugar content. You may read from this post my analysis on why this recipe works so well.

Recipe for Matcha French macaron shells (makes about 12-13 macarons or 24-26 shells)
Ingredients:
40g aged egg whites (about one large egg, brought to room temperature)
36g caster sugar
43g superfine almond powder
57g icing sugar
1 and 1/4 tsp Matcha powder
A pinch of salt (optional, to balance the sweetness)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar (optional, for stabilizing meringue)
Extra matcha powder for dusting (optional, for decoration)

Steps:
1. Prepare a baking tray with an array of 4cm-circle template. This template is optional if you are able to pipe shells of roughly the same size. Line the tray with baking paper.

2. Sift almond, icing sugar, matcha powder and salt (if using) together into a bowl.

3. Place egg whites in a clean, grease-free metal bowl with cream of tartar (if using). Use an elextric mixer and beat on medium speed until frothy. Gradually add caster sugar while beating. Continue to beat until stiff peaks are formed. When stiff peaks just start to form, you will be able to turn the bowl upside down without the meringue slipping out. You may be tempted to stop beating at this point for fear of over-beating the egg whites. Don't be shy, continue to beat for about several seconds more until the meringue is really stiff.

Stiff glossy peaks!

4. Scatter about 2tbs of almond mixture over the meringue and fold in gently with a spatula in one direction.

5. Continue by repeating step 4 until all the almond mixture is incorporated.

As more and more almond mix is added in, you may fold a little less gently to make sure everything is homogeneous.

6. Test the consistency of the batter at this point by scooping up a generous amount of batter and letting it fall back into the bowl. If the batter flows smoothly and slowly in a continuous ribbon, it is ready. But if it breaks off at a few points or doesn't flow well, continue to fold a couple of times and check again. This is perhaps the trickiest part of macaron making as newbies may find it hard to gauge when is the batter ready. You may refer to my video tutorials for macaron basics over here to have an idea of the consistency. Do not overfold the batter. If it is very runny (like thick sauce or some cake batter), chances are you have overfolded and you have to start over. The French method is less forgiving than Italian method when it comes to overfolded batter.

Testing batter consistency

7. Transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a 6-7mm diameter round piping tip. If you don't bake often and don't have such baking supplies lying around, simply use a ziplock bag with a hole cut at one corner. Your macarons won't turn out nice and round but will still taste the same.

8. Stick the 4 corners of the baking sheet to the tray with a little batter (I forgot to do this in the picture). Pipe circles on the prepared baking tray. To do so, place piping tip at the center of the circle, perpendicular to the tray and about 5mm away from the surface. Squeeze the bag and release pressure when the edge of the batter is about 3mm away from the edge of the circle. Give the tip a little twirl as you lift off.

9. Bang the tray on the table to release trapped air bubbles as well as flatten the peaks in the middle that you see in the photo above.

10. Dust the shells with some Matcha powder if you wish.

11. Preheat oven to 160°C. Set oven rack to lowest position. Note: use top and bottom heating elements only. Do not use the fan mode in the oven. Some people get good results with the oven fan on but I see more cases of uneven feet, warped shells, cracked shells and browning when the fan is on. Always use an oven thermometer! Actual oven temperature may be 10-20°C off from the temperature you set.

12. Dry the shells by leaving them under the fan or in an air-conditioned room until the surface is dry to touch. The shells must not feel sticky at all before going into the oven or they will crack. This may take 1-2.5h. I found that using the hairdryer works really well to speed up the drying. It took only 20 minutes for me to dry this tray of shells! An important note on using hairdryer, try not to use the maximum heat/strength. Try to give each shell an equal amount of blowing time or some shells or parts of the shells will dry faster than others. You may end up with uneven feet that way. Check for dryness with a finger after the first 10 minutes of blowing, and at every 5 minutes interval subsequently.

Shells are ready to be baked when you can slide a finger across the tops and not feel any stickiness.

13. Put tray of macaron shells in oven. Turn the temperature down to 140°C. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until the feet no longer appear wet. Let the shells cool completely on the tray before gently peeling the baking sheet away from the shells. Do not peel the macaron away from the sheet as parts of the shells may remain stuck on the sheet. If the shells are really stuck, chances are they are underbaked. Dry them out in the oven for another 5 minutes and try again. Repeat if necessary.

Perfectly baked shells should have no hollows, not stuck to baking sheet, have crisp outer shell and soft chewy interior. It's ok if the freshly baked shells are a little more on the crispy side. Simply store assembled macarons for a couple more days before consuming.

Don't be discouraged if you don't get it right the first time. Practice makes perfect!

Filling
Ingredients:
60g white chocolate, finely chopped
6g vegetable shortening (you may replace with butter)
6g unsalted butter
18g heavy cream
1/16 tsp fine sea salt
1/8 tsp vanilla bean paste (optional)
2 tsp high grade matcha powder
3-4 tbs canned Azuki beans, drained

Steps:
1. Place white chocolate, shortening and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat at medium power for 20 seconds. Mix well. Repeat until mixture is homogeneous and melted.

2. Place cream in small saucepan. Heat on low heat until it starts to bubble. Pour on melted chocolate mixture. Stir in one direction with a spatula until well mixed.

3. Add salt, vanilla and sifted Matcha powder gradually while stirring.

4. You may allow the ganache to firm up at room temperature for about an hour, or whip it to make it lighter in texture. To whip it, place the bowl of ganache in freezer for 2 minutes. Use a spatula and beat the mixture until even. Return the bowl into the freezer for a minute and beat it with the spatula again. Repeat the freezing for one minute and beating until mixture is smooth and creamy.

5. Transfer the whipped ganache into piping bag/ziplock bag with a hole cut at the end. Mash the Azuki beans slightly if you wish.

6. Pipe some ganache on the bottom shell. Carefully add some Azuki beans in the middle with a teaspoon. Cover the beans with more ganache. Sandwich the filling with the top shell. Refrigerate in airtight container overnight or 24 hours before serving. Leave the macaron at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before eating.

My family and I had a taste test and everyone loved it! My mum shared with her colleagues 6 days after assembly and all of them loved the taste!

The texture was perfect! Soft and chewy but not too chewy. Still very delicate! 

You may store these macarons for a week in the fridge.

Update 14/1/17: check out this post for the recipe for reduced sugar macaron shells using the French method!

With love,
Phay Shing

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