My 5th Order : Delicious Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana Layer Cake

I bake this same cake 2 weeks ago , I suddenly have the urge to be super nice to my neighbour . Holding 2 slices of this cake, I walk to my neighbours house and she was happy to see me holding the cake. The wide grinning smile almost makes me wanna turn back home . LOL... I just dunno why. Well, I didn't turn back home of course. Silly. I happily pass the cake to my neighbour .

Guess what? My generosity pays when she came to my house last week , telling me that she actually loves the cake very much. She even made an order for her daughter's birthday which is tomorrow. I guess I am just being " kind of lucky " at the right timing yeah. Heehee..... I have to agree with her , this is indeed a very rich and delicious cake. No chocolate lover can resist this piece of rich and moist chocolate layer cake. I will promise to post the recipe soon , as I am suppose to walk over to my neighbour's house to deliver this cake now . Till then ............. tata ;)

Aspiring Bakers #14 : Super Moist Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Filling

Believe it or not , this is my 4th order for the month of December . Pretty good results for a start yeah . Heehee. Well , I was really sooooooooo busy for the past few days , shifting office , pack , unpack, running here and there trying to make sure everything is in order . Really not an easy task at all . Sigh..............  gosh, imagine when it was time for me to plan for my next order , I was kind of blur . With all the running here and there thingy , my mind really feels exhausted . This is another order for a 20 year old girl's birthday, a girl that really loves chocolate so much . Yummy Yummy chocolate ....

I was seriously all out of idea to decorate this cake for my 4th order. Remembering about Aspiring Bakers #14, I made up my mind to bake a Christmas theme cake for this lovely sweet 20 year old girl's birthday . Thank god , as everything went smoothly despite my tired body and mind . LOL. I manage to finish frosting the cake earlier than what I expected. Check out the lovely roses . Really look so sweet . Heehee....

Ingredients 

240g           Butter
2 cups         Flour
1 1/2 cups   Sugar ( Original recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar )
3/4 cup        Cocoa Powder
2 tsp            Baking Soda
1 tsp            Baking powder
2                 Eggs
1 cup          Buttermilk ( I used milk )
2 tsp           Vanilla Extract
1 cup          Boiling Water

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 150C . Grease and flour two 9" round cake tin 
2. Place all the above ingredients except for boiling water into the mixer bowl. Beat at medium high speed for 1 minute
3. Add boiling water into the mixture and continue beating until smooth and well combine 
4. Pour batter evenly into 2 cake tin 
5. Bake at preheated oven for 1 1/2 hour or until skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean
6. Remove from oven and leave to cool before frosting 

Recipe adapted from LOVE2COOK

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #14: Creative Christmas Bakes ( December 2011 ) hosted by Hankerie

Bake Along #14 : Strawberry Crêpe Cake

Gosh , I nearly miss Bake Along #14. December is really a busy month for me. Well, I am kind of proud of myself now that I was able to stay up late to make this cake. I am sorry to cut short my post this time , I really gotta go for now. Anyway , I have chosen to make a very "lazy" Strawberry Crêpe Cake cos I have opted to use store bought strawberry jam . Heehee.....

Ingredients 
French Crêpe Batter [ please refer to my previous post for recipe ]
Store Bought Strawberry Jam [ warm in microwave ]

Method 
For the Crêpe

1. Mix flour, sugar, eggs, egg yolks, milk and unsalted butter into a blender or food processor until smooth . Then pour into a jug and let stand for 30 min. Just before cooking the crêpe , stir in 40g melted butter through the batter 
2. Heat a 18cm non-stick pan or crêpe pan over medium-high heat. Brush the pan with extra melted butter . Add enough batter to coat the base of the pan , swirl to cover , tip out excess batter 
3. Cook the crêpe for 45 sec then flip over to cook for another 30 seconds on the other side . Repeat with remaining batter to get 20 crêpe , stacking with baking paper in between. ( Crêpe can be made 2 days ahead , wrap in foil refrigerated )

To assemble 

1. Lightly grease a 18cm springform pan. Place a crêpe in the springform pan and spread with a thin layer of filling ( do not be greedy to fill with too much filling as it will cause the cake to slip when eating ) 
2. Continue layering with the rest of the crêpe , ending with a crêpe on top
3. Cover the cake with an aluminium foil and chill for 1 hour 
4. Pre-heat oven to 180C .Place cake on a baking tray and heat gently for 10 minutes 
5. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely before frosting
6. Decorate with fresh strawberry or any decoration of your choice . Drizzle strawberry syrup or warm strawberry jam when serving  . Enjoy your cake !!!

Crêpe recipe adapted from taste.com.au

I am joining Bake Along No. 14 which was organise by Frozen Wings , Kitchen Flavours and Bake for Happy Kids. Hop over to their blogs to view the list of participants . Enjoy !


I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #14: Creative Christmas Bakes ( December 2011 ) hosted by Hankerie

My 2nd Order : Kit Kat Bucket of Joy

Kit Kat Bucket of Joy .... that is the theme for my 2nd order , as I am suppose to bake a cake for a 2 year old baby boy's birthday . Well I actually wanted to propose OREO base cake with Oreo Garnishing . I kind of thought Oreo is kind of common nowadays. So I have then decided to use Kit Kat instead.

The smiling Nips Chocolate Nuts really makes the cake cheerful . I really hope my customer love this cake . It is a combination of Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Filling , decorated with Kit Kat and Nips Nut Chocolate on top .

My 1st Order : Steam Moist Chocolate Cake with Baileys Buttercream Frosting

Yippee !!!!!!! My first ever cake order ... Nervous and excited .. Speechless as I was busy for the past few days trying to match the combination of cake decoration , filling and frosting . My hand was shaking when I was about to pipe the first rose on the cake. Gosh !!! ;)

Combination of colours, flavours and frosting to matching cake flavour .. Well I would say it is not really as easy as what I thought. I do hope my customer is happy with her cake . I was eating the ladyfinger dip in baileys buttercream frosting and I have to say " Wow , prefect combination " .  Please feel free to comment ;)

WOW Factor !! Chocolate Crêpe Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting

Everyone who saw this piece of creation they went like " WOW" ... Heehee.... It is seriously a compliment. Well at least it gives me some encouragement to go on with my passion for baking and cooking. LOL... Guess what ? I got my first and second order when I posted the picture of this cake in my personal Facebook . Cheers !!

When Tracy (my best buddy ) was looking at me decorating the plate and all , she can't wait to taste this piece of lovely crêpe cake. The smell of Salted Caramel Frosting really makes her drool ... yummy ... Then I top it with chocolate ganache and pure cream ........WOW , this is a piece of lovely cake . I couldn't wait to taste it too. So we decided to eat " our portion " of the cake then continue with the photography session of this new creation of mine .

Ingredients 
250g        Plain Flour
1tbs         Castor Sugar
3eggs , plus 3 egg yolks
600ml      Milk
40g          Unsalted Butter ( melted )
Pure Cream to serve

Chocolate Filling ( with a twist ) 
250g        Good Quality Dark Chocolate ( roughly chopped )
50g          Unsalted Butter ( chopped )
150ml      Milk
100ml      Thickened Cream
100ml      Water
1 1/2 tsp  Vanilla Extract  ( Original recipe calls for 100ml strong black coffee/ espresso )
1/4 cup    Castor Sugar    ( I use slightly lesser than 1/4 cup )

Frosting
Salted Caramel Frosting ( get the recipe here )

Method 
For the Crêpe

1. Mix flour, sugar, eggs, egg yolks, milk and unsalted butter into a blender or food processor until smooth . Then pour into a jug and let stand for 30 min. Just before cooking the crêpe , stir in 40g melted butter through the batter 
2. Heat a 18cm non-stick pan or crêpe pan over medium-high heat. Brush the pan with extra melted butter . Add enough batter to coat the base of the pan , swirl to cover , tip out excess batter 
3. Cook the crêpe for 45 sec then flip over to cook for another 30 seconds on the other side . Repeat with remaining batter to get 20 crêpe , stacking with baking paper in between. ( Crêpe can be made 2 days ahead , wrap in foil refrigerated ) 

For the Filling 

1. Melt the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water making sure that the bowl does not touch the boiling water 
2. Stir in remaining ingredients for chocolate filling and whisk over a pan of simmering water until smooth and sugar dissolve 
3. Set aside for 20-30 minutes to cool until mixture thicken

To assemble 

1. Lightly grease a 18cm springform pan. Place a crêpe in the springform pan and spread with a thin layer of filling ( do not be greedy to fill with too much filling as it will cause the cake to slip when eating ) 
2. Continue layering with the rest of the crêpe , ending with a crêpe on top
3. Cover the cake with an aluminium foil and chill for 1 hour 
4. Pre-heat oven to 180C .Place cake on a baking tray and heat gently for 10 minutes 
5. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely before frosting
6. Remember to drizzle chocolate filling and pure cream when serving . Enjoy your cake !!!

Recipe adapted from taste.com.au