DIY shrinky keychain

I had seen a shrinky before many years back, probably when I was 8 or 9. It was one of those cool things I saw at a funfair/pushcart stall of some sort. Pardon me, as my memory is a little fuzzy.

And so, when I saw that this shrinky thingy was available in Daiso via this Daiso FB group (this group is addictive, you've been warned) I thought I really need to try this out someday.

In a twist of events, I had a set courtesy of a friend. Yippee! No need to make a trip down and search high and low for it. So I kept it, with eagerness and anxiety not knowing how it would turn out. I really looked forward to use it as an activity with G.

I finally decided on a whim, no plans beforehand, to make this as a "gift" for papa's birthday which is next week. I had to, of course resist, "helping" out with his art work as it would have to be as original as possible, no? Maybe it was my fault, being too anxious, I didn't quite explain to him what was going to happen. Ok, maybe because I didn't quite know how exactly it would come up to anyway.

Anyway, I had him draw on the sheet, whatever he liked (and phew! He didn't meltdown at the fact the mistakes can't be erased.) And I finished off with "happy birthday papa" and his name and the year.

The whole shrinking process was quite nerve wrecking as I was as clueless as G and could only explain based on the instructions behind the sheet (which were in Japanese, so I relied on the pictures) and the verbal instructions my friend had given when she handed me this set.

It was pretty cool seeing how it curled up and shrank and opened up again.

Of course, G was really proud of it that he wanted to give it to papa today and made papa hang it on his house keys. :p

Chocobanana cupcakes with peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream

I saw this recipe sometime back and decided I must one day try it.

Chocolate and bananas in a cupcakes, with peanut butter frosting? Crazy combination. I am usually quite resistant to try new cupcakes recipes because they are mostly too sweet and also because I have my stash of favourites by now.

Although I have been baking for a while now, I actually haven't baked a chocolate-banana cupcake. This is really worth a shot as I'm so impressed with the strong aroma the bananas produced.

Adapted from domestic goddesswannabe
Makes ~30-35 mini cupcakes

225g self-raising flour, sifted
25g cocoa powder
220g caster sugar - I used 150g
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature -I used salted
2 eggs
160ml milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 medium (400g) - mine came out to 215g and thats all i had bananas, mashed

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until the mixture turns light and fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the mashed bananas and mix to distribute.

Finally, fold in the flour and milk in the sequence flour-milk-flour-milk-flour. - I folded in the flour mixture all at once and mixed in the milk.

Dish the batter into cupcake liners until each is 2/3 full. - I used mini cupcake liners and filled them 2/3 full

Bake at 180°C for 20 minutes. -I used a fan forced oven and baked at 160C for 15min

Allow the cupcakes to cool in the baking trays for 10-15 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut butter smbc

60g egg white (~2 egg whites)
25g caster sugar
140g salted butter, cubed and cold
40g creamy peanut butter

Whisk egg white and sugar over a pot of simmering water till hot to touch.

Removed from heat and whisk till stiff peaks form.

Add in cubed butter one at a time and whisk till fluffy. The mixutre will look curdled at some point but keep whisking till it comes together.

Add in the peanut butter and whisk till well combined.

frost the cooled cupcakes and top with chocolate shavings and crushed peanuts

Crowd pleaser vanilla chocolate ganache cupcakea

Was tasked to Bake some cupcakes for the church Sunday school teacher's day celebration, so I decided to go with the classic flavours. Everyone loves chocolate, right? That's what I think at least.

Vanilla cupcakes (makes 20 mini cupcakes)

100g salted butter, softened
75g sugar
2 eggs
125g self-raising flour
75g milk

1. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy and pale yellow.

2. Add in eggs, one at a time, and beat till well combined

3. Stir in flour until just mixed.

4. Add in milk and mix well.

5. Scoop batter till about 2/3 full and bakr in preheated oven of 165C for 12-15min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Chocolate ganache

300g dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
400g heavy cream

1. Place chopped chocolate and heavy cream in a mixing bowl

2. Place mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk till melted.

3. Leave mixture to cool, and refrigerate till cold and whip to desired consistency.

Assembly

Pipe ganache over cupcake using Wilton 1M piping tip and top with colourful Sprinkles.

Speculoos cupcake with speculoos buttercream

I had this amazing speculoos tart at a friend's son's first birthday party, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I googled almost immediately for a recipe I could possibly replicate and of course, decided a tart would be too tedious. And so, I tried to search for a cupcake recipe instead. Much to my dismay, many recipes call for a vanilla cupcake, holed and filled with a dollop of cookie butter.

And so, I tried to crush a pack of lotus biscuits and add it into my cupcake batter, just like how you would with Oreo cookies. Genius ya? No.. The cupcakes smelled awesome while I made them but the taste was really lacklustre :(

And so, I decided a vanilla cupcake base with a dollop of cookie butter swirled in just like those nutella swirled cupcakes should do the trick :D

Top it off with a cookie butter Swiss meringue buttercream and some crushed speculoos. Yums!

Speculoos cupcake
Makes ~20 mini cupcakes

100g salted butter, softened
75g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g self-raising flour
75g milk
1tsp vanilla extract

Spoonfuls of cookie butter

1. Cream softened butter and sugar till pale yellow.
2. Add in eggs, one by one till full incorporated.
3. Stir in flour and add in milk till well combined.
4. Fill cupcake liners with ~2/3 cupcake batter.
5. Spoon ~1 TSP cookie butter into each cupcake liner and swirl with a toothpick.
6. Bake at preheated oven of 165C for 12-15min. Cupcake is ready when toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Speculoos buttercream

38g egg white (~1 egg white)
20g brown sugar
66g salted butter
40g cookie butter

1. Whisk together egg whites and sugar over a pot of simmering water till sugar is dissolved and egg white mixture is hot to touch

2. Remove from heat and whisk till stiff peaks form

3. Add in cubed butter, a little at a time till it comes together.

4. Whisk in speculoos.

Assembly:

Pipe speculoos buttercream over cupcake and sprinkle some crushed lotus biscuits.

Back with more..than just baking

It's funny how I had drafts from the years I have been absent but they never got posted

Much has been going on as I realise my last post was four years back, FOUR?! really?

Anyhow, I'm back now, married with 2kids. Phew! That's quite a bit in four years, no? Much has been going on in my life and I notice I keep conjuring posts in my head every now and then.

I hope I can get this blog alive again with a new perspective as I blog now just about baking but me as a wife, a mum and teacher to my beautiful kids.

To do this blog justice, I"ll start off with a pandan chiffon post. My first using homemade pandan extract. Very fragrant, natural good stuff!

*Recipe soon to follow*

Off to bed for now!

a bundle of nerves!

I can't believe how long it has been since I neglected this blog. It was close to being banished away forever and ever more. But fear not, I've always still reminded myself of why I started writing initially. Though I have not been trying out new recipes lately, nor have any exciting new baking experiments or techniques to share, I have still honed my baking skills, just in a entirely different aspect.

Well, it's with GREAT pleasure that I title this post "a bundle of nerves" as I calmly and excitedly announce a piece of news which contributed to my long absence. I'M GETTING MARRIED! Yes, you heard me! I'm getting married in just about a month's time and preparation is at its peak where I start fretting over so many details!

Since we're on the topic of weddings, I'd still love to stick to something baking-related. I had a crazy month of May attending THREE weddings, one after another on the first 3 weekends of May. Its with great pleasure, stress and fun that I had the honour to provide cupcakes and a wedding cake for 2 of the weddings. =D

A really cool, classic elegant wedding held at St Andrews Cathedral. I share a pretty long friendship with this friend of mine which dates back to our Secondary school days =)

She chose to have a cupcake tier with a cake right on the top tier. Design is inspired by hello naomi which featured a post on Brides.com here! I enjoyed every moment of decorating the cupcakes as there almost endless design possiblities! 

Really glad that the couple loved it and it was how she envisioned it to be! Congrats to you two lovely peeps! =D 

This pair of really cute funky couple whom I knew from a marriage prep class are one of the nicest, sweetest people I've met. In fact, all the couples in our prep class are really really nice and I'm glad to have attended each and everyone of their wedding! 

The groom is such a sweet guy, he wanted to surprise the bride with a real wedding cake. If you haven't know, a real wedding cake costs a bomb to have, well at least, here in Singapore. This 4-tiered wedding cake was the "tallest" cake I've made to date as I have only attempted maximum of 3-tiers prior to this! 

I definitely had wedding  cake-making jitters while I planned and executed the cake making schedule. Do not belittle the stripes! They look simple and gorgeous but they took me half a day to complete!!! I delivered the cake unstacked and only assembled it on the spot. Thanks to my handy tools and lovely assistants, we set it up in under 30 minutes and phew! The cake stood tall and straight for a good 4 hours or so =D

So now, having slogged for 2 of my friend's wedding, should I too slog for mine? I really wish too and D is discouraging me =p Any suggestions? Any experienced baker brides? I'd love to hear a comment or two =D

Till then....

CHRISTMAS!

Christmas is just around the corner and after all the dazzling goodies and log cakes, I must say I still love cookies the best! Though I haven't really been to orchard road to soak myself in the Christmas atmosphere and pretty lights these cookies sure edged me into the Christmas mood. From the dough, to the aroma when they're baking away in the oven, till the time their out and finally with that icing that makes all the difference (appearance I mean)! I'm so lovin it! =p

I'm ashamed to say that after years of baking, its my very first making a gingerbread man (though not gingerbread flavoured) but hey! it's still a milestone isn't it. haha. And the thought of those few wiggly lines, dots and ribbons making the whole gingerbread come to life, I couldn't contain that excitement and I knew I had to make a few more batches to give away as gifts. 

D was also really psyched when he saw those lying on the baking tray and immediately asked if I was free to bake some for his colleagues! Though it meant I had to spend more time baking extras (other than the order on hand), but it also meant some fun time together! Well, now I'm toying with the idea of making these for my friends. Packed nicely in a plastic pack, sealed and tied with a pretty ribbon, just how I love it!

Now, I hope I've spurred YOU (yes, you who is reading this post now) to get crackin and make some homemade goodies for your friends. Though "inexpensive", but sure packs a load of love and sincerity. No?

Recipe below!

Gingerbread cookies

Ingredients:

100g Salted butter, cubed and softened

  80g Caster sugar

    1   Egg Yolk

190g Plain Flour

1 tsp Vanilla Extract (or Vanilla bean paste if you have)

Method:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until well combined. 

    *Mixture doesn't have to be light and fluffy as we do not want the cookies to expand too much 

      during baking

2. Stir in the egg yolk until well combined.

3. Add in the flour, 1/3 at a time until a dough is formed. If dough is too soft to handle, cling wrap the dough and place it in the refrigerator for about 15-30 min to allow it to firm up a little. 

    *I usually split the dough into 2 and refrigerate one portion while I start working on the other. 

4. Roll out the dough on a piece of parchement paper in between 2 chopsticks (one pair) to ensure uniform thickness.

5. Get your favorite cookie cutter and stamp away! Gather the scraps and re-roll until the dough is used up. 

6. Place the cut-out dough on the baking tray and bake at 180C for 10-15 min (longer baking time require for larger cookies) or until the edges are lightly browned.

variations: 

Chocolate cookie

*Use 20g cocoa powder + 170g Plain flour instead

Orange/Lemon cookie

*Use 1 tsp or orange/lemon oil + finely grated zest of 1 orange/lemon

Royal Icing recipe

Ingredients:

2 tsp   Meringue powder

2 tbsp Water

165 g  Icing sugar

Method:

1. In a small mixing bowl, mix together meringue powder and water. Using an electric mixer, whip will soft peaks form.

2. Add icing sugar gradually and mix on high speed until medium peaks. *This consistency is good for piping

3. To colour (or flood the icing), add water, bit by bit until you get a consistency that resembles a syrup.