Durian, Episode 2

Gee.. I hadn't realise it'd been so long since I posted anything until Jane actually asked if my bakings were coming along fine. =X

You people must be thinking that I just totally busted my "new year's resolution" of wanting to post more recipes etc etc..Well, aren't resolutions meant to be broken? So, that's why you make them? no? =p

Work's keeping me busy busy, not because I have loads to do but because working hours just sucks up 3/4 of your waking hours. Coupled with recipes to try, CNY and orders, I'm starting to feel that 24 hours is seriously not enough. Not that I wish a day had 48 hours for I would have collapsed before the day even ends. This crazy schedule landed me sleeping at past 1, sometimes even past 2 in the morning and poor D had to suffer with me =X Not to mentioned, I baked through the night till 5.30 AM one Friday to deliver my dad's company cake the next day. The story, of which, I'll leave it to another post..

Now, concentrate.

I have a love-hate relationship with durian. They're so pungent they make thinking there's a leaky gas tap around the house, yet they can be oh-so alluring when that creamy yellowish flesh melts in your mouth and slides down your throat and what you have left is the smell in your mouth that lingers for hours, sometimes making you beckon for more.. I'm not one who truly appreciates eating the fruit itself, but I must admit that my knees go weak when I have a good durian dessert.

Most durian desserts are mixed with cream or added with some other ingredients which to durian purist, is crap. But for people like me? It's perfect. The cream tones down the otherwise sharp, pungent taste yet preserving the unique taste and smell of a durian. As such, how could I say no to a workshop that covers a variety of durian related dessert? Most of all, what lured me to signing up what a durian chocolate truffle cake. I was instantly reminded of Spike-D from Big O.

The workshop was pretty relaxing and the pace was ok, and the recipes taught were elegant yet simple. I haven't found the time to re-create any of the recipes at home as im still in the midst of racing against time.

Verdict? A pretty comprehensive workshop as I learnt some other techniques and learnt how to handle fruits in bakes. As for the taste, you either love it, or hate it.

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

It's 2010! In fact, it's the second day of 2010 and days are already going by in a flash! I was on a unintended mini hiatus for blogging for various reasons and I felt I was losing my mojo for writing. Not that I write with exiciting content and flowery language, but I felt the flow. It was nice to be able to vision what I'd be writing whilst photographing certain things and nice to write in an honest, "me" way.

I've had friends coming up to me saying I write pretty well, but seriously, I don't. My english ain't fantastic and my grammar is just terrible. But I guess what makes my posts readable is that I type what I think. Or rather, you'd probably be able to imagine me talking to you, in real person. ok ok, I'll cut praising myself.

Well, just as I thought I lost my blogging spirits, each visit to my own blog, yes, I am that lame to visit my own blog several times a day, reminded me of why I started out this blog initially. I wanted to share my experiences and hopefully my experiences will help others who just sparked their passion for baking. I don't think I've achieve much of that in 2009 but rather, I detoured. So with the coming of 2010, there are as usual, a truckload of resolutions. To keep things simple and realistic for the nth time, I am going to work hard on posting more recipes and tips for baking. Not that I'm a guru of any sort, but rather, I just share what I learnt along the way.

Work has definitely slowed my baking stints but it is not, and i'm not, going to let it diminish forever. Several events have taught me hard and I believe it's all because I jumped on the band wagon too fast than I could have caught up or handled. I fell, I tripped and lost sight of it, but I am not going to let it affect what I set out to do. It's back to basics in 2010.

Enough of nostalgia and I-don't-know-what-you-are-saying riddles. To end off 2009 (yes, I know it is already over) and to welcome 2010, I've decided to finish up my 2009 backlogs and welcome 2010 with open arms.

I envisoned baking up a storm last Christmas but once again, fell short of what I plan to do. What's new anyway. I still managed baking, but it was a mini baking class for a church mate, JiaJia, who planned to bake on her own to be given away as Christmas gifts. Why would I not jump at igniting a spark of baking passion in someone else? I did, and I almost regretted. It was a busy weekend and weekends were all I had to rest and recuperate for the next working week. Since it was a promise, I had no choice but to force myself and I was glad, she made it. Almost all by herself. I was a bad teacher as I was busy making macarons for a friend's macaron order while I left her all by herself, struggling with the hundreds of cookies =X

That's my church mate JiaJia

I am always amazed at how things turn out with unexpected rewards and I guess these are little things in life that provides you with the zeal to move on and venture into more exciting fields. Right, I was kinda exaggerating. All I wanted to said was that, I finally got the chance to use the Disney cookie cutters that I bought during my Taiwan/HK trip. HA~

                 

                                                                        3D Mickey

3D Winnie

Jiajia spent a total of 2 days, baking and decorating those cookies. I wanna take this chance to apologise for not being able to give my utomost guidance during her cookie baking/decorating session and am really thankful for her independence during which I kinda 'neglected' her. I hope she had fun and will definitely continue baking!

Enough of Christmas, the year end is always jammed pack with activities, not only because New Year follows closely after Christmas, but also because my Ah Ma's (Grandma) birthday follows closely. The dates are different every year as she celebrates her birthday according to the Lunar Calendar. This year, we had it right smack in the middle, after Christmas and just before the New Year.

I probably forgot to mention earlier that, I received an order for EIGHT durian cakes from my aunt of which she intended to give away as gifts to her clients. I was up to my neck baking those cakes but thank God for D who help me ALOT. Well, I shan't dwell into details, but yea you get the point. I had made 6 in total and *ah hem* was tasked by my mum to make one for my Ah Ma's 85th Birthday.

I think it's no mean feat to be able to live so long, especially since she is diabetic and I've always admired her for being able to raise 10 kids in those tough times. My mum didn't come from a well-to-do family, but they survived. My mum is often being applauded for giving birth to 4 kids and I just can't imagine how my Ah Ma managed 10. Anyway, I agreed, almost immediately when my mum requested and once again regretted. Yes, yes, poor time management. I asked for it. So, I took urgent leave to make it up. Right, which do-do in the right state of mind would do that yea? Well, I did. Yes, I'm that do-do.

But it was well worthed. Once again, I had to engage the help of my holidaying sister and her boyfriend to do up the final touches of the cake. And I must say, it was during this big celebration that I felt my worth as a "baker" coming back and yes! I'm all geared for more kitchen experiments in 2010! Woo Hoo!

You can never go wrong with a Durian cake, in Singapore, at least.

Making the cake was a breeze but it was the decoration that was a headache. fresh cream decorations are the most challenging, while at least to me, in Sunny Singapore. Even though it has been raining cats and dogs these days, it just doesnt seem to help. Whipping cream over a big bowl of ice certainly helps (i've tried) but it wasn't justified for using so much ice just for cream. -_-'''

So let me just say, that I got the cake all covered and as smooth and perfect as I could managed. But, the cream quit on me when I was just about to pipe it. I finished every last bit of cream I had and it seriously pissed me off. Thank God for the packet of sponge fingers lying around and sisters lying around (oops I meant sisters who were free and watching tv) to help. I got the sides settled. So now what? I decided to sprinkle a pathetic amount of cocoa powder (just like how Jane's Cake Station does it) and use my gold and silver dragees to form the phrase "Happy Birthday Ah Ma". Halfway through, we had to abandon the idea. The wet cream seems to be seeping the colours out of thsoe sugar balls and the words would probably become all blurry and gooey the next day.

okok, to cut the long story short, we decided on sprinkling crushes oreos and somehow designing it. I was tired, moody and pissed with the cream (yes, I was pissed it with the whole night) So I left the design to my sister and her artistically talented boyfriend. And so, that explains the durian cake which totally doesnt look like one. I remember reading that oreos goes well with durian from HHB and so, readily agreed on that idea. After all, what else could I do?

I went to the dinner place right after work and was greeted with nothing but praises regarding the cake. Like I said, how wrong can we go with Durian in Singapore? But I'd really like to give credit to my sister and boyfriend for all that help they put into the decoration, for without it, the cake would probably be lifeless. A cake can look good naked, but not all cakes suit that style. Some cakes look better complicated, but some simple cakes are enough to bring a smile. Pardon my lousy attempt to rhyme. But yea, nothing beats a merry joyous birthday celebration.

                 

I managed to get a picture of the insides because we were simple too full from the 9 course dinner and we "da-bao-ed" the cake. If you're wondering, this picture isnt taken by me. Well actually, the cakes pictures weren't taken by me, but by my sister and her boyfriend. And I must say, he's got a knack for taking photos. And why didn't I realise such a sexy background that existed in my house? *doinks*

Two thick layers of pure, creamy durian sandwiched between 3 layers of light vanilla chiffon. Simple, unpretentious and ultimately goodddd

I'll leave you with another alluring picture of this durian cake and the recipe for this winner durian cream recipe before I retire to bed. I am not at liberty to disclose the recipe for the vanilla chiffon, but any good sponge would suffice.

Rich, Creamy Durian Filling (Good for cakes or puffs alike)

recipe enough for an 8" round cake

Ingredients:

1 kg Durian Puree

10-15 tsp Heavy Cream

Method:

Blend durian puree and heavy cream together until well combine.

Spread even layers for durian cake or simply pipe filling for durian puffs.

notes:

The more cream added, the less thick the filling will be. For a lighter taste, whip 200-300ml of heavy cream and fold into the durian puree.            

                                            

my first official food review...

I've never really thought if I'm a serious foodie or some sort. As a Singaporean, I'm sure many of you would agree we ALL love food. Being born in a place with plentiful of different types of food, it's hard to watch your waistline, especially so when the exercise rate goes downhill while your age reaches for the sky.

Enough of depressing weight issues. Life is short, so enjoy while you can. haha! After making Royston's chocolate birthday cake, I was kinda dying for some real good chocolatey cake. I vaguely remember having some real, darn good chocolate cake from Jane's Cake Station, located in the ulu part of Singapore, deep down at Jalan Kayu.

I was really determined to try it again since it was years, probably almost 10 years, since I had the chocolate fudge cake from Jane's. I somehow recalled having a fantastic durian cake from Jane's as well. It was one of the FIRST durian desserts I conquered that led me to accepting durian in desserts. (recall: I started hating durian at some part of my life)

So, with high hopes, I drove down specially at 11+ am just to make sure I get my slice of cake.

ta-da! Yummilicious - looking cake. The cake defintiely looked chocolately and fudgy. But the smell wasn't appealing. One sniff and I could tell it wasn't a good quality chocolate. I started doubting my memory. It was either "memories always tasted better" or my taste buds got sharper after all that baking.

Nonetheless, the chocolate cake was okay, but really, not fantastic at all. If given a choice, I wouldn't go back there anymore for the chocolate cake. But! the cake has it's merits. The cake itself was really light and fluffy and stayed soft and moist after 5 days in the fridge. The fudge on the other hand, seemed lacking. Of what, I am not sure. It was not like what I expected a dense creamy fudge. But rather, a more jelly-like kind of topping. It was horrible, but just fell short of what I expect.

So, I thought, surely the durian won't disappoint! Hmm..it didn't exactly, but surely it still didn't taste as good as it used to be. I am also pretty sure durian essence was used in the cake layer. Why so? I bought a durian essence, wanting to use for mooncakes, but I couldn't accept the fact the essence was really really really too fake. and yucky. The smell is SO strong, it lingered in the room for at least a day. As such, the smell is engraved in my head.

The cake comprised of one THICK layer of durian cream encased in two thin layers of durian sponge (which was, "as light as air" - quoted by my Dad). The durian cream was not chunky durian, but smooth and creamy it was with tiny durian fibres. the durian taste good.

And as D put it, as long as the durian used is good, how bad can a durin cake taste? There! you have it. The durian cake IS good, but not THAT good that will warrant me a special trip down to the ulu jalan kayu just for a slice of durian cream cake.

Jane's Cake Station

265 Jalan Kayu S799493
Call 6481 1322

Mon-Sat 12pm-6.00pm,

Sun & Public Holidays 12pm-4pm

Closed on Wednesday

8-inch Chocolate Fudge Cake : $30.00

8-inch Durian Cream Cake : $38.00

*Other sizes available. 8-inch is the smallest*

Durian Chiffon

I would be helping out at Sugar Inc.'s "The Art of Chiffon" Workshop this Friday. To help me get prepared, Anna sent me a copy of the recipes to get myself familiar with the recipe. If you have been following her website/blog, you'd know that she has included a durian chiffon recipe as a bonus recipe for participants to try it out at home.

Okay, okay, before I digress, I actually bought a tub of durian puree to continue more mooncake experiments and increase the variety of flavours and also because Ian's mummy has been asking about durian mooncakes =p. So, with the tub of durian puree and a durian chiffon recipe, I couldn't help myself but tried out the recipe.

Although you seldom see chiffon posts in my blog, but truth to be told, I've been trying it out again and again for quite sometime. Somehow, they just don't get photographed before it's cut up into pieces and disappeared into someone's digestive system. I've only used Rei's chiffon recipes and nothing else. I do remember having attempted a durian chiffon recipe sometime back, but that was baked in a round pan. It actually kinda failed then and ever since, I was a little petrified with baking durian chiffon. (the last attempt turned out like kueh )

However, I really trust Anna's recipes and they've never fail. Not only so, people are usually full of praises when I make cakes using her recipe. So, without thinking, I measured the puree, strained it till it was really smooth, creamy and nice. Thank God I get to skip the step of removing the flesh ha~ The egg yolk batter was done in a jiffy and the egg whites whipped so beautifully. But boy! The batter was ALOT and my arm ached halfway through while folding in the whites.Phew! I persevered and sent it into the oven for baking. It rose really really nicely and high. I tent the cake right from the start as I know my oven always browns the tops too quickly. I usually remove the baking tray (which I use to tent the cake) ~10 min before the end of the baking time. The cake rose so high, it took with it a patch of brown skin. (see above picture) Or maybe because it liked the smell of durian too? bahhh~

The time came for me to unmould the cake and, yes, I was rough. Very rough indeed. The browned sides were lovingly stuck onto the chiffon tin and my jerky hand movements made holes and tore some edges off the chiffon. The cake was SO soft, I really had to handle it with care. It was really moist that I could hear the squish-y sound as I sliced into the cake.

To be honest, I'm not a durian lover. I don't eat the fruit, but i do eat anything related. Durian ice cream, durian cream puff, ...I took a bite off a slice and fell in love with it immediately. The durian fragrance was subtle yet substantial, present, yet not overpowering. I asked my sister to have a bite to try. (she's a durian fan by the way, she wanted to scoop the durian puree out of the tub to eat -_-''') I asked if the durian was too mild for her, she said no and few seconds later, she asked for the whole slice. And told me she likes the cake =D 

Mild enough for non-durian lovers, fragrant enough for durian monsters lovers! 

Although I really hope to be able to post this recipe, I'm afraid I won't be able to. But! You can always sign up for "The Art of Chiffon" class right here! A variety of chiffon recipes will be covered and learn the essentials to making a good, yummy, fluffy chiffon!

rich and creamy

If there's anything I learnt about blogging, it is never to procrastinate. I had meant to post this up earlier and when I finally got down to taking the photos, half the cake was gone! That explains my one and only photo I have here. I'd like to think it's a blessing in disguise as I managed to have some fun with photo editing websites.



I had been wanting to try out this durian cheesecake recipe ever since I saw it here. As usual, I procrastinated till the day came my block of cream cheese threatened to jump right into the bin. No reason why I'd let a block of yummy cream cheese go to waste right?



The durian cheesecake was quite a new twist to the usual cheesecakes we're used too. Durian being the king of fruits practically overwhlems any other flavours that it is combined with. If you'd taste very very carefully, you might be able to taste the super duper mild, faint taste of cream cheese. A pretty nice durian dessert =) I'd say...perfect for a nice and simple, rich and tasty birthday cake. Sprinkle the top with some cocoa powder, pipe some whipped cream rosettes and top it off with a "happy birthday" sign, don't you think it's just pure elegance? haha~



If you look closely, you'd realise the "topping" layer. I might very well do away with the topping the next time round i attempt this cake. Not that it isn't nice, but the amount of durian in this cake is TOO evident that the topping only served to cover up MORE of the cheese taste. BUT but but, the topping seemed really really similar to 榴莲糕. Like those you get at some shops in one block like a "sweet" kind of thing? Either that, or I might have overbaked the topping layer.



Nevertheless, it still tasted great. Warning weight watchers, this is so NOT the dessert for you. Cream cheese + Durian = lethal calories combo. But then again, how much harm would a tiny slice do? hehe..


I halved the original recipe and baked it in a 6" pan instead. Timing and temperature was based on pure estimation and I guess timing really depends on what kind of texture you're looking for. I remember reading somewhere that for a more dense texture, baked it longer. For a softer, more moist texture, don't bake it as long. (don't quote me on this though for i'm no cheesecake expert)



durian cheescake recipe
makes one 6" cake



Ingredients:

Base:
140 gm Digestives Biscuit - Crushed finely
55 gm Butter , melted and cooled

Filling:
175 gm. Durian Meat - mashed finely
250 gm. Cream cheese - softened at room temp.
60 gm. sugar
20 gm. cornflour
90 gm. evaporated milk
50 gm. whipping cream
1.5 eggs (beaten)

Topping:
80 gm. Durian Meat
33 gm. fresh milk
23 gm. whipping cream
15 gm. sugar
1/2 whole egg + 1/2 egg yolk

Method:

(1) Mix all the biscuit base ingredients together and press into a 6" springform tin. Chill in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.
(2) Blend durian flesh together with evaporated milk until smooth. Leave aside. Cream cream cheese and sugar till well combined. Add in corn flour followed by the rest of the ingredients. Mix till smooth.
(3) Pour cream cheese durian mixture onto the chilled biscuit base and then steam bake at 160C for about 50-55 min.
(4) Blend the topping ingredients together until smooth and pour on top of the hot baked cheese cake. Bake for about 10-15 mins.
(5) Turn off the oven and allow cheesecake to cool in the oven with door ajar for ~30 min. Remove from oven and leave to cool on a cooling rack. Chill for at least 4 - 5 hours before serving.
(6) Sieve some cocoa powder on top before serving. (I omitted this)

recipe notes:
1. I did not use a springform pan. I used a pan with removable base. Make sure the pan is well wrapped to prevent the water from the water bath from seeping in.
2. To unmould the cheesecake, wrap the sides of the pan with a hot towel for about 10-20 seconds and run a hot knife around it and unmould.
3. I wrapped the romovable base with aluminium foil for easy release of the cake.

Enjoy!

durians!!

I didn't really realise that it has been quite a while that I last blogged. I haven't stopped baking totally and i'm still alive and kicking. =p

I've baked stuff in between but somehow, with overwhelming school work and classes, I couldnt find the energy to take pics and to upload and much less blog about them. I then started to regret bring lazy. So here I am, with my latest experiments! durians!

I personally am not a fan of durian. I don't hate it. Neither do I love it. I eat anything related to durian (durian cakes, durian puff, etc) but not just durian alone. weird huh. In any case, I decided to bake some durian muffins, using a banana muffin recipe and of course, substituting the banana puree with durian puree.

Had a guest photographer today and so, the pics uploaded are all taken by him =p The tops looked a little too brown and burnt, but they tasted perfectly alright. It seemed like the durian was too thick and heavy and the batter was super duper thick. I guess i was overly generous with the durian and it tasted more like 榴莲糕 rather than a muffin =X

On the very same day, I proceeded to prepare the ingredients for a durian chiffon cake while the muffins was in the oven. Again, the yolk batter was super duper thick due to the thick, dry fibrous durian. I still carried on nonetheless. This time, I baked it in a normal cake tin, to experiment and to see how things goes. A couple of email exchanges with Rei, I was told to reduce one egg white and bake for about the same time.

This was a bad bad one..

1. The cake didnt rise much at all. Fill only like..2/3 of the cake tine height? =(

2. The cake clinged well to the sides upon overturning the pan..BUT..slipped off slowly and silently after 15 mins or so..=((

3. The durian puree was so thick and chunky that you could even see the spots they've occupied in the cake!

4. You could hardly taste the texture of chiffon, unless you bite into an area without the durian chunks.

5. the weird thing is, the texture of chiffon was largely present though it slipped off the tin..hmmm..what went wrong? the durian too heavy?? beats me!

This brings me to my conclusion about baking with durian..though still very unsure as to why..

Lesson #1:
Durian puree is much thicker, drier and crazily fibrous as comapred to banana. never, do a 1:1 substitution

Lesson #2:
Always process the durian puree in a blender/food processor to make sure it is soft and smooth

Hopefully i'd have a much better durian attempt..not too soon la..durian expensive heh..