Choux Puff with Vanilla filling, topped with Strawberry Melts

After seeing my baking-pal, LH's posting on her super-cute Totoro Durian Puff (http://fatmumbaking.blogspot.com/2009/11/totoro-durian-cream-puff.html), I had craving for choux puff! It had been raining the whole day and i dun even feel like stepping out of my house in this kind of weather. So I spent the whole day browsing net...

I was watching this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upb9M8chnoE with my daughters few days ago and they asked me if I will be making any Choux Pastry?? I'll try soon... I promised them. Then I dug this recipe out from vintage Home Economics Recipe Book :D Yes! I still keep this book from my secondary school days... I took Food & Nutrition for my 'O' levels exam almost 20 years ago!!!

I doubled the recipe as I always remembered my teachers were very "ngiow" =P

I omitted the baking powder & replaced margarine with SCS brand butter.

Those days we dun have the privilege of using piping bags for choux puff! We simply scoop some dough with a spoon and dump them on baking trays... tats it!! they still puff up anyway :D

Then I remembered non of us at home fancy the taste of custard fillings... so I tried what the YouTube video suggested ~ Jell-O Pudding filling! Its so simple to make and the taste is so great! I love it a lot :D The Jell-O Vanilla filling tasted very "ice-cream"...they reminded me of those Japanese Cream Puff I used to buy and fly them back all the way from Narita long time ago :-)~

As my little daughter, Tessa is allergic to chocolate, I topped the puffs with strawberry candy melts instead. The Hundreds & Thousands did dress-up my puffs a little ;-)

The little tiny "eclairs" were so Loved by my gals and they requested for more! I made 10 more of those but were snatched-out even b4 I took any picture of them :D even my 2 fur babies had some of the kosong eclairs ;-) just the choux shells! no filling, no melts :-)

I dun have the power of LH to make those 超cute Totoro Puff... but these lot did satisfy that craving which persisted me for the past 24hrs!

Playing with Fondant :D Imitation Ben 10 watch by me =P

Cheong Ben 10 Watch!! by me :D

I've got an order for Nyx's classmate's brother, Keith's birthday on 24Nov for a Ben 10 cake. I agreed to this order as its a just super-simple 30 cupcakes order with Ben10 icing images. So I went Ann's shop, Bakewell @ JB (again :D) to get the ready-made icing images yesterday.

Trying to add some "FUN" to the simple-order, and since I'm quite free today, so I tried making the Ben10 watch using fondant... heheee... since I have 2 girls, I know nuts about boy's toys! so I imitate this from some one's fondant cake pictures published by google images search ;-) so the rightful owner, pls dun sue me for copyright :D

Keith's BD is 2 weeks away... so come back 2 weeks later to see the actual cake lah ;-)

Shopping for my hobby again :P

10 Nov: I was at B-I-Y with intention to buy some lollipop sticks but was unavailable:(

then while browsing the shop, i was so in love with these baking & fondant gadgets so i grab them home :D but then, my buying fever is not yet over.... so yesterday, more buys for my hobby @ JB... although the intention was just to get some ready Ben10 icing images for Keith's BD cake.... ended up... more buys!

I saw DG's posting on her Pomegranate Mooncakes... she was making the chocolate mooncake filling using Richard 老师's mould. I wanted it so much but Richard said he dun have them anymore!!! then I saw this silicon mini-doughnut mould at Ann's Shop and tot it may have the same effect?? anyway its only RM22.00 buy lah!!! buy buy buy :D

U see the coffee-bean chocolate mould? I so love it leh!!! can make chocolate coffee bean for decoration on my cakes... future cakes i mean ;P u won't believe its only RM1.80!! **faint**

That pink color block u see is actually Strawberry Candy melt or Strawberry flavoured compound chocolate. Its cheap! easy to use and it smell quite nice too! but same like any other compound, its taste is very sweet! I use that for dipping cake pops! It has very nice texture and is very easy to work with!

And finally, my long-awaited 恭喜发财cutter had arrived @ Ng Meng Huat! :D

PowerBerry Fruit Jelly

Becoming a SAHM had made me a fan of SimplyHer Magazine... Its a long time since I own a updated issue of HERworld or Harpers Bazzar.  Instead, SimplyHer is so much of my everday life of being a "AUNTIE" although i'm a "more-modern" one =P  

Nyx love to go thru whatever i'm reading.  She was not allowed to watch TV as her punishment last nite for being naughty.  So she dug thru my stack of magazines and she found this....  and she wanted me to make her this "PowerBerry Jelly Dessert".  What to do??  Being the faithful servant of this household had left me without any choice :( 

Starting this blog is rather a good idea to keep a journal of what I had done for the kids. Being a SAHM isn't anything I want or like to do... its so boring.  Besides trying to forget my wonderful figure in the corporate world, I have to stay home and be a "AUNTIE".  And I have to pretend not to hear those stupid gossips by all the idolts out there!  People r thinking I'm just staying home doing nothing while I send my girls to full-day childcare centres or spending away my husband's hard-earn $$ X-(  Wonder why people dunno that my husband is earning enough $$ now to give me a more than comfortable life?  and why they didn't know that more than 55% of our house morgage is pre-paid and I actually came out half of the amount?  Hubby is only paying like 5% from his monthly income to service the remaining morgage!  and all from the CPF account, no cash involved!!  I'm not sitting around doing nothing.... I think I earned what I'm doing now AT A BIG LOSS some more as I have no more income :(

Ok ok... enough of whining & complaining... I'm just angry with some stupid aunties out there who kept saying that its so "sayang" or wasted of me to quit my good-paying job and stay at home.  And some stupid relative who thought that I'm always spending on my hubby's hard-earn $$.

Anyway, I love my blog coz its a showcase of all the nice-nice desserts I made for my gals... ;-)

...and I made 12 PowerBerry Jelly Cuppies!

The look, smell & taste of the berries-berries made me smile :-)

My girls love berries and so do I :-)

Pineapple Tart again!

I know its not Chinese New Year yet.... its a special request from Nyx!

She said I had not make pineapple tart for a long time oredi.... so I made some today ;-)

And I made 103 tarts in total today!

Recipe & instruction is exactly as my previous posting ;D

Raspberry Mousse & Jelly Dessert

Dessert made from the left over of my Raspberry & Vanilla Cake yesterday...

Raspberry Vanilla Cake

Picture taken by my hubby, not me =D  as my fone camera died :@

The raspberry jelly i made actually broke when i tried laying it on the raspberry cream =(  thats why u see the "un-neat" cut in the centre =( sad sad sad =(  .....i'll try another one soon!

Strawberry Crepe Cake ~ My version of Strawberry Kueh Lapis ;-)

The Daring Bakers August 09 Challenge topic was on Dobos Torte which featured so many yummy layered crepe cake in chocolate flavour. It reminded me of the slice of multi-layer chocolate cake I ate at Pacific Plaza Mall in Gold Coast many years ago.  I never see that type of cake anymore anywhere else.... until few months ago, FoodGawker lure me back to my memory then....

The instruction posted by all the Daring Bakers r seriously, very complicated!  I searched many sites & library books hoping to find some simplier version but... :(  boh leh....

Today, I did this cake ~MY WAY in less than 30minutes!!  NOT KIDDING!! ;-)

I did my 56 layers Strawberry Dobos Torte!  Yeah!

(Supposed to be 60... minus 4 for testing/tasting =P)

But I think the "anyhow decorate" cake looks quite ugly =P

Ok folks,  I confess.... I'm a lazy person and I love ready-to-eat stuff!!  I bought 2 packs of this ready-to-eat Crepe from Cold Storage few days ago!  and here's the secret of how to make the "complicated" cake in 30mins!

What u need...

• 2 packs ready-made frozen crepe (10 sheets per pack ~ 20 sheets total)
• 250g Strawberry flavour Candy Melts or Strawberry Compound
• 250g any type of cream ( I use Nestle Brand )

Method

• Remove Crepe from packaging, break up the crepe sheet by sheet, be careful not to tear them
• Stack them nicely, as neatly as possible and cut them into 3 equal potions (so u will get 60 sheets from the 2 packs)
• Melt Strawberry Candy melt using the Double boil method.  When all melted into a smooth paste, add in cream, stir mixture till everything combined without any lumps.
• Lay a sheet of Crepe on a grease proof paper, using a silicon brush, brush some "strawberry ganache" on the crepe.  Stack neatly on top, another sheet of crepe.  Repeat for the rest of the 58 sheets....
• Put in the fridge to set for at least 20minutes and its done.... Decorate as u wish!

;-)

Decorated Cookie Pops

I'm finally in the mood to decorate my cookie lollies :P

Hello Kitty is so simple, yet so sweet!!

Oh!! I so love the Kitty cutters from Jenn!!

Miffy wears some hair accessories ;-) hopefully someone will eat me tonite!!
Marie gets some 3-D effect on her ribbon, ears & nose :P


I Love Fondant effects but I hate the taste :-&

Chilled Mango CheeseCake ~ No Bake!

I bought some Thai Honey Mangoes yesterday. One from the lot tasted sour and I didn't want to give it to my fussy gals. So I decided to crush them to made these cheesecake today!! ;-) The taste turn out quite well with the added sweetness from my enemy~ Sugar!! & Condensed Milk. Wonder if my little Tessa will have diarrhoea tonite as she is lactose intolerant ;P

I bought this pack of crushed honey graham crackers from AJ Mart, a 24hr mini mart located at my void deck. Its already crushed... so just need to stir with melted butter and pressed it hard to any mould/cup, then chill it for at least 30mins and your cheesecake base is ready!

Ingredients for my Mango Cheese filling

• 150g whipping cream (whipped to soft peak)
• 1 Block (250g) Cream Cheese
• Flesh of 1 Thai Honey Mango (Crushed using potato masher)
• 50g Sugar
• 100g condensed Milk
• 60g Mango Yogurt Drink (I use Marrigold Brand)
• 1 tbsp Gelatine Powder dissolved in 3 tbsp of hot water

Method

• Using Electric mixer, beat the cream cheese till u get a smooth texture
• Add in the crushed mango, Mango Yogurt Drink, sugar and condensed milk and mix for a while till everything combined
• Turn to slow speed, add in the gelatine mixture
• Lastly, add in the whipped cream and beat till everything combined again.
• Pour the mixture into pre-set chessecake base and keep in refrigerator to set overnite.
• Decorate as desired.

Sama Pattern as my Matcha Au Lait Agar?? :P

Green Tea Strawberry Cake (AGAIN! :P) Version 2

Green Tea AGAIN?!!? Yes! I made another GreenTea Strawberry Cake as I was not satisfied with my previous attempt:P I did some modification this time round.

Today's Changes

• I use only 2 and thicker Sponge Cake Slices
• I use Yummie Rich's Brand Whipping Cream! added 1tbsp gelatine powder+ 3tbsp water
• Full-blast (1 tbsp) of Matcha Powder...
• Mint Leaves for decoration (stolen from my neighbour's garden pot :P) ooops!

So I get "Green" Cake today ;-)

But I positioned the strawberry in the filling wrongly :P

Look Like those "Kek-Hoon" Cake we received for people's wedding???
But My Version look Prettier Of Coz.... :P Hahaa....

Un-Decorated Cookiezz BY my New CooKie CuTTerzz :D

Finally I open up these cute cutters from their packaging. I made this batch of Oatmeal Cookies for my gals. Wonder how would they react tonite when they come back from school :-?

Oh No!! They are not decorated at all!! Do u think Nyx will reject them?? haaahaa.. :-?

Quite difficult to get the Hello Kitty features nicely embossed as the size is quite small compared to the rest of the cutters.

I still prefer cookies in this shape ;)

so the jar of "normal-looking" cookiezz r all mine :D

I did made some lolly-cookies for decoration... but I'm feeling kind of lazy today so will stick some fondant on the lollies when I'm more in the mood lah 8-l :P

Don't you think that its so hateful to live in this HOT and HIGH-HUMIDITY Singapore =X Our cookies can never stay in the open air for more than 30minutes!!! But so thankful we have a wonderful neighbour call Malaysia :D I can get lots of baking ingredients & gadgets from Johor Bahru at bargain prices. I found zip-lock bags in all sizes which I use them to store my cookies as soon as they r cooled ;)

My new CooKie CuTTer :D

~~ I've got a New item to add to my Inventory ~~ :D

I almost bought this Hello Kitty cutter online from shopnbake.com... Heng arh! Thanks to my dear fren Jenn, who bought this for me during her recent Toyko Trip ;->

And I have not started anything with the other 3 Disney Character Sets bought months ago =P So I guess I will be playing with cookies & cookies again soon :D

Matcha Au Lait Agar

Inspired by http://www.phamfatale.com/id_376/title_Matcha-Green-Tea-Agar-Agar-with-a-Sweet-Black-Sesame-Sauce/ I did some modification (as usual :D) I tried making this delicious-looking agar. And YES!!! Its taste is as good as its looks :D I love it!! I didn't serve it with black sesame sauce as my little Tessa is allergic to sesame seed :(

This is really easy to make...


Ingredients:

• 500ml Soyabean milk
• 500ml water
• 100ml Condensed milk
• 1 packet Agar-Agar powder (12g)
• 2 tsp Matcha Green Tea Powder

Method:

Whisk green tea powder in 500ml water till dissolved. Pour everything else in a pot over medium heat, constantly whisking in a slow speed. When everything combined and mixture comes to a boiling point, off the heat and pour into moulds. Then leave to set in refrigerator for at least 2hrs. Decorate as desired :D

These ingredients are available anywhere else ;D

As suggested by Jackie, Mango goes well with this agar dessert. And strawberries adds attractive-ness to its look :D... most importantly, my gals love strawberries :D

Nice dessert cups with cover bought from Sun Lik few months ago :P... finally i can use them :D

Green Tea Strawberry Cake

It had been a while since I last bake a cake...

I was very attracted to the Green Tea Strawberry Shortcake baked by Wen's Delight http://wensdelight.blogspot.com/2009/09/green-tea-i-love-you.html. I was at Liang Court yesterday having lunch with my family. I was at Tampopo Deli starring at the Yummy Green Tea Chiffon Cake featured in Wen's Delight... I was about to buy 2 slices for my gals when Nyx stopped me... Mummy, its $5.80 leh!! SO EXPENSIVE!! She shouted wor :D Ok then, Mummy will bake a cake like this for u :D hahaaa...

I bought a pack of Croquant from JB last month and it had been sitting in my baking-cabinet since.... SO, today I decided to "copy-cat" Wen and bake this cake :D

Inside the cake is 3 layers of Green Tea Sponge Cake, sandwiched with Whipped Cream & Strawberry Slices. The whole cake is creamed with Kraft Coolwhip Whipped Topping, topped with strawberry halves. Side of cake is decorated with Croquant.

I bought this ready-whipped topping from Cold Storage last nite and I used half the tub for this cake. I love the taste of this whipped topping. It tasted very much like vanilla ice-cream. As stated on its label, Fat Free, 0g Trans Fat.. so I will swallow as much of it with no guilt :P

Very satisfied with myself for completing everything within 2hrs from baking till decorating of this cake + washing up :D I'm just done with it and it shall stay to set in the fridge till tomorrow.

6 Oct 09: My slice of cake for Breakfast :D

Verdict: Kraft CoolWhip topping is too moist for cakez.... as seen in the picture, the center piece of sponge cake had been too moistened and flattened by the whipped cream from its top & bottom. I guess I will not use this whipped cream for my cakes in future. I would say it will perform better if used in those cup-dessert e.g. Parfaits or Layered Pudding Mousse Dessert, or use it just as a topping for cakes and pies when a little amount is required since its so conveniently packaged.