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

Lemon Rosemary Cupcake

OMG, I didn't realise it is 30th of November today . Gosh , I really had a very very busy life in office , seriously so busy till I don't even get to sit down on my office chair at all... I really want to post this very last one for Aspiring Bakers #13 before it ends. So here we go , as I am really short of time , I will just cut short my blabbering for now .. I mean for this time... Heehee

Man.. the smell of rosemary is really comforting when it fills the air while baking this sweet little thing in the oven ....

Ingredients
3cups     All Purpose Flour
1tsp       Baking Powder
1tbsp     Dried Rosemary ( can substitute with Fresh Rosemary if available )
1/2tsp    Salt
240g      Butter
300g      Sugar ( original recipe calls for 400g )
4large     Eggs ( at room temperature )
3tbsp      Finely Grated Lemon Zest
2tbsp      Fresh Lemon Juice
1tsp        Pure Vanilla Extract
1cup       Milk / Buttermilk
Lemon Curd 

Method

• Preheat oven to 165C . Line cupcake tray with cupcake liner 
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl
• In a mixer, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy 
• Add in egg, one at a time, making sure that each well combine before adding another
• Add in lemon zest and vanilla. Add in flour mixture in 3 batches alternating with milk and lemon juice , beating until just combine after each addition. Add in dried rosemary and stir until well combine 
• Fill 3/4 of each cupcake and bake at preheated oven at 165C for 25-30 minutes , until skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean 
• Remove cupcake and let it cool on a wire rack 
• To finish , spread lemon curd in the middle of the cupcake and top with lemon slice. Yippee Enjoy your delicious cupcake !!!

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes ! ( November 2011 ) hosted by Min of Min's Blog