Japanese Strawberry Chiffon Shortcake (cooked dough method)

Golden chiffon Cake 黄金The batter is using 烫面 "Cooked Dough" method (that means cook the egg yolk batter first)

*makes a 9" (internal diameter) x 3" height round cake tin with removable bottom (not a non-stick)

50g butter (salted)+ 50 sunflower oil

90g Plain flour+ 10g cornflour
6 egg yolks (A size)
100g fresh milk

6 egg whites (A size)

100g caster sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Method

1. Prepare a cake pan, don’t need to line paper.
2. Immediate separate cold eggs from fridge (easy to separate this way) into two mixing bowls. Set aside to return to room temperature.
3. Place butter, oil and milk in a saucepan, once you see small bubbles, remove from heat.
4. Immediately add in flour, quickly stir to become batter (at this stage, the batter is thick. Also suggest to transfer this batter to another clean mixing bowl).
5. Add in egg yolk one at a time, stir well on each addition. The batter is slightly runny if compare to normal chiffon batter.
6. Mix sugar and cream of tartar together. Beat egg whites till foamy, gradually add in sugar mixture (in three batches) and continue beat until approaching stiff peaks (meringue stand straight up with a little curve at the tip) or till stiff peaks (this stage is a bit difficult to fold with egg yolk mixture)
7. Take 1/3 of meringue and use a hand whisk to mix well with egg yolk batter.
8. Fold in 1/3 of meringue and use a silicone spatula, gently fold with egg yolk batter till slightly combined. Fold in the balance meringue and gently fold till well combined.
9. Pour into cake tin, bake at pre-heated oven at 165C (no fan) for 30mins at low rack, then increase to 170C (no fan) for another 15 mins.
10. Once baked, turn your chiffon tin upside down and cool completely before remove from the tin.

Chiffon Reference : modified from Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover Golden Sponge cake

For Cake Filling:
2 cups Heavy Cream
1 tsp Gelatin (unflavoured)
1 tbsp Cold Water
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 tbsp confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup Strawberries, evenly sliced and mix with 2 tbsp of sugar and rum for the filling
1 cup Strawberries, for the topping
Glaze for strawberries, as desired

To make Stabilized Whipped Cream*:

1. Place the electric mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for at least half an hour before use. Keep heavy cream cold in the refrigerator, taking out only when ready to whip.

2. Pour the cold water into a glass bowl and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the surface of the water. Let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, fill a saucepan with water up to 2 cm height. Bring to a gentle simmer over low heat. Sit the bowl of gelatin over the rim of the saucepan, ensuring that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the surface of the water. Stir continuously until all the gelatin dissolves. Once dissolved, set aside and let mixture cool down to room temperature.




4. Pour heavy cream into the mixer bowl and whisk on medium speed until the cream just starts to thicken, and you start to see the whisk lines faintly trailing in the cream as you whisk. Pour in the vanilla extract, then add the sugar. Continue to whisk until soft peaks form. Then pour in the gelatin all at once, and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over-whip as cream peaks go from soft to stiff very quickly - over-whipped cream will start to turn buttery. If not ready to use immediately, cover with cling wrap and place in refrigerator to let it chill.To Assemble the Cake:

 1. On a cake turntable or flat dish, cut the chiffon cake in two pieces and place the bottom cake layer with the smooth side facing down.

2. Place a large dollop of whipped cream and spread a thin but even layer over the surface. Cover the surface with strawberry slices (avoid stacking or overlapping slices), again in an even layer over the cream. Spread another even layer of cream, just enough to cover the strawberry slices.

3. Cover with the top cake layer, making sure that both layers align nicely all around the circumference of the cake. Frost the top and sides of the cake, smoothing the cream all around.

4. At this point let the cake chill for 30 minutes before you continue the decoration.

5. Using piping tips of your choice, pipe just inside the edge all around on the top, and at the base of the cake. Pipe rosettes to fill the centre of the cake. Decorate with strawberry halves and quarters (sit the strawberries on the rosettes), and brush over with glaze for a moist, glossy appearance. Chill to set the frosting and filling before serving.

How to store if making in advance:

Cake Base: Keep each layer separately in re-sealable bags or air-tight containers, and chill until ready to use.
Whipped Cream: Cover bowl with cling wrap and keep chilled until ready to use. If the cream has deflated a little by the time it is needed, simply re-whip by hand using a hand whisk until light and fluffy again.

For Filling and Frosting reference: modified from Little Bites Big Tastes Strawberry Chiffon Shortcake

Yam Cake

As you can see this is not a chinese steamed yam cake. It is a layered sponge cake filled with yam. I found this recipe from Carol's book and her blogs and she made this into a swiss roll instead.

I added some yam puree into this sponge cake and as a result the cake is soft and moist and it gives a light aroma after baking.

If you can read chinese, you can also refer to Carol's blogs for her recipe.

My yam cake recipe:

Yam filling ingredient:

• 300g yam steamed and puree
• 40g fine sugar
• 15g butter
• 50g fresh cream(milk)

Method:

1) Peel and cut yam into smaller pieces, place it into the steamer and steam yam till cooked and puree it.

2) Add in the sugar, butter and cream or milk. Mix well.

Yam sponge cake ingredient:

Yolk mixture:

• 5 yolks
• 30g fine suger
• 40g olive oil or vegetable oil
• 100g yam steamed and puree
• a pinch of salt
• 90g cake flour
• 25g milk

Egg white mixture:

• 5 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar
• 60g fine sugar

For cake decoration : Whipped cream.

Method:

• 1) Beat egg yolks and sugar till creamy and sugar dissolved. 
• 2) Mix in the olive oil, yam puree and salt , mix well. 
• 3) Add in and mix well the half portion of the sieved flour first, then follow by a half portion of the milk to mixture. 
• 4) Add in and mix well the last portion of the flour and milk to the mixture. Set aside.
• 5) Whisk egg whites till foamy first, then add in cream of tarter and fine sugar and continue whisking until soft firm peak. 
• 6) Fold in 1/4 of the egg white mixture to the yolk mixture first, folding it till well combine. Mix and fold the rest of the yolk mixture to the egg white mixture until well combine. Do not over mixing the batter.
• 7) Pour the batter on to a 43x30 cm baking tray lined with baking paper.
• 8) Bake at preheated oven at 170°C for 12-15mins.
• 9) Removed the cake from the tray immediately when it is out of the oven, place it on the cooling rack. Removed paper at the side of the cake so as to avoid drying out the cake. 

To assemble cake:

• 1) When the cake is cooled cut it into equal parts, top it with the yam filling. 
• 2) Place the 2nd layer sponge cake on the filling, then top it with the filling again. 
• 3) Place the last piece of cake with the baked side downward,  please refer to my photo below. 
• 4) Final decoration, I covered the whole cake with some whipped cream.

Tiramisu Mousse Cake

Hi Everyone,
It's been a long time since my last post. I'm Sorry!
Anyway, Today I'm going to post the recipe for my daughter's 16 y.o. birthday cake.
Well as you can see my skill of frosting is still bad, but this cake tastes really nice, and I will try making it again.

For the savoyardis biscuit(lady finger biscuit) and chocolate coffee sponge recipe,
I referred to Carol's book "The First Book of Baking for Beginner's" and her blogs.

For the tiramisu mousse and coffee syrup recipes,  I referred to Aunty Yochana blogs.

My Tiramisu Mousse Cake Recipe

Ingredient for savoyardi biscuit ( lady finger biscuit) :

Yolk mixture

•  4 yolks
•  20g fine sugar

Egg white mixture

•  4 egg whites 
• 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar
• 60g fine sugar 

100g cake flour
some icing sugar, for dusting.

Method:

• 1)Whisk egg yolks and sugar till fluffy. 
• 2)Whisk egg whites till foamy first, add cream of tartar and fine sugar continue whisking until soft peak. 
• 3)Fold egg white mixture into the yolk mixture, then add in the 100g cake flour. Mix and folding the flour slowly until well combine. Do not over mix the batter. 
• 4)Fill the batter into a piping bag fitted with 1 cm or smaller plain nozzle. Pipe finger biscuit onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Dust with icing sugar and bake at preheated oven at 170°C for 12-15 mins. For crispier finger biscuit, continue baking at 120°C for another 15 mins or until the finger biscuit is dry. 

You can see how Carol makes the lady finger biscuit with photo here.

Ingredient for chocolate coffee sponge cake:- 

Yolk Mixture

• 3 yolks 
• 30g fine sugar 
• 40g vegetable oil
•  1Tbsp instant coffee
•  50cc hot water
• 20g cocoa powder
• 95g cake flour
• 1Tbsp kahlua

Egg White Mixture

• 3 egg whites
• A pinch of cream of tartar
• 30g fine sugar

Method:

• 1)Dissolve instant coffee in the hot water, leave to cool.
• 2)Beat egg yolks and sugar until  creamy and sugar dissolved. Mix in the vegetable oil, coffee mixture, the cake flour and kahlua, and combine well.
• 3)Whisk egg whites till foamy first, then add cream of tartar and fine sugar continue whisking until soft peak. 
• 4)Fold in 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the yolk mixture first, folding it till well combine. Mix and folding the rest of the yolk mixture to the egg white mixture until well combine. Do not over mix the batter. 
• 5) Pour the batter on to a 43cm x 30cm  baking tray lined with baking paper.
• 6) Baked at preheated oven at 170°C for 12-15 mins or till done.
• 7) Remove the cake from the tray immediately when it is out off the oven, to avoid drying out the cake. Leave to cool before cutting out two 7inch cakes .

You can see how Carol makes the chocolate coffee sponge cake here.



Ingredient for tiramisu mousse:

• 2 egg yolks
• 1whole egg
• 60g fine sugar
• 8g gelatine powder(soak in 2 Tbsp of cold water)
• 250g mascarpone cheese
• 200g whipped cream( whipped)
• 2 Tbsp kahlua 

Ingredient for coffee syrup:

• 15g instant coffee powder
• 200g warm water
• 2 Tbsp kahlua

Topping with some chocolate ganache and grated chocolate for final decoration.

Method:-

For tiramisu mousse:

• 1)Beat egg yolks, whole egg and sugar over a pot of simmering water. Make sure that pot is not sitting directly on the  hot water. Whisk till egg yolk is lemony in color. Leave cool to room temperature.
• 2)Soak gelatine powder with water and microwave for about 20-25 secs. Add to the egg mixture.
• 3)Add in mascarpone cheese and mix lightly. Don't over mix otherwise the cheese will be coarse.
• 4)Fold in the whipped cream and kahlua. Combine and set aside.

For coffee syrup:-

• 1) Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Mix well and set a side.

You can see how Aunty Yochana makes the tiramisu mousse and coffee syrup here.

To assemble the cake (8 inches tiramisu mousse cake):

• 1) Line the cake pan with aluminum foil. Lay lady finger biscuits around the perimeter of the 8 inch pan, and place a piece of 7 inches chocolate coffee sponge cake at the bottom of the pan.  Brush coffee syrup onto the biscuit and sponge cake. Spoon 1/4 of the tiramisu mousse on top of the sponge cake. 
• 2)Place 2nd layer with finger biscuits and brushed finger biscuit with coffee syrup, and top with mousse filling. 
• 3)Third layer, do the same as 2nd layer.
• 4)Place the 4th layer with chocolate coffee sponge and brush with coffee syrup. Top with remaining tiramisu mousse filling and sprinkle the top with grated chocolate. Cover cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for few hours or overnight.
• 5)Remove cake from the pan, place it onto a plate and decorate with chocolate ganache.

Mango Cake

My girl loves mangoes very much. I baked this mango cake for her birthday this year. It was not very well done because of my inexperience. Although the cake doesn't look pretty, but taste wise, she loves it.


Here are the ingredients for the sponge cake:
(A)
5 egg yolks
100g sugar (I used 80g)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup of fresh milk ( or water)
1/2 cup of sunflower oil
1tsp vanilla essence
170g cake flour(Top flour/Hong Kong flour)
1 tsp baking powder

(B)
5 egg whites
100g sugar( I used 80g)




Ingredients for Filling:

2 cups of mangoes-cut into cubes
about 450g of Pour N'Whip Pastry Topping Non-dairy whipping cream



Ingredients for mango 'mirror':

1 tsp gelatine powder
60ml of mango juice
(mix together and microwave this gelatine mixture till gelatine dissolves)


Method

For the Sponge cake:

Mix ingredients (A)
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Put all the liquid ingredients together and pour into the dry mixtures, stir till smooth.

Ingredient (B)
Using a clean and dry mixing bowl, put in the egg whites, whisk first then add in the sugar slowly.
Whisk, preferably with an electric beater, until the whites are stiff and glossy, but not dry. Fold in the whites into the (A)mixtures. Pour the batter into a 9" round tin and bake for about 45 minutes, or more, or till cooked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack. Sliced into 3 layers.

For the filling
Using a clean and dry mixing bowl, pour in the whipped cream. On medium speed or high speed whisk until soft peaks form and gloss disappears.

To assembly cake:
Place a layer of cake into a cake board. Spread 1/3 of the Whipped cream and top with some mangoes cubes, then place second layer of the sponge cake on it. Repeat.
Spread the remaining cream over the whole cake. Lay the mango slices on the cake before pouring the mango mirror gently on top. Chilled then serve.

Swiss Roll Cake

I'm having a hard time editing this video.





Making a sponge cake for the swiss roll.

The ingredients are as follows:

4 eggs
1/2 cup of sugar (125g)
1 cup of cake flour (125g)
30ml of milk
30ml of sunflower oil
A teaspoon of vanilla extract
Some swiss meringue butter cream for filling

You will need to use an electric mixer. Put the eggs in a clean mixing bowl, start at high speed. Add in the sugar and beat until the volume of the mixture increases, then change the beating speed to medium and continue to beat until it is stabilised. Then change to low speed and fold in the flour. You can use a spatula or a hand whisk to fold in the flour. Pour part of this flour mixture into the milk, oil and vanilla mixture and mix well. The oil mixture will become lighter therefore it will be easier to mix with flour mixture later. This way the cake batter will deflate less (to retain the air bubbles within) when both combined. Try not to over mix otehrwise the cake will become hard.:( Bake the cake at a preheated oven temperature of 190 degree C for 8 mins.

海綿砂糖蛋糕卷 Sugar Roll

Hi, I'm going to copy and paste this recipe and the video. To make a sucessful sponge cake, you need to make sure all the ingredients is at the room temperature.

材料：
A.全蛋450公克、細砂糖385公克
B.低筋麵粉260公克、香草粉1/2小匙
C.奶水50公克、沙拉油50公克
D.鮮奶油150公克、細砂糖適量

作法
1.將材料A放入攪拌缸中，用攪拌器快速打到變白，再轉中速攪拌到呈現浪花狀，且勾起 麵糊時會垂2 ~3公分備用。
2.低筋麵粉與香草粉過篩，加進作法1的麵糊中，用刮刀拌勻。
3.用軟刮板先刮作法2的攪拌缸底確定底部已沒麵粉，取1/3作法3的麵糊倒入拌勻的 材料C中攪拌均勻，再倒回麵糊中由下往上拌勻呈麵糊攪拌均勻。
4.將作法3的麵糊倒入烤盤中約6分滿，重摔兩下讓空氣跑出來。
5.將作法4放入已預熱的烤箱中，以上下火190/150℃烤約15分，放涼5分鐘以 上備用。
6.將作法5的蛋糕抹上鮮奶油往內捲成蛋糕卷，表面沾上細砂糖即可。








Making a sponge cake for the swiss roll.

The ingredients are as follows:

450g eggs
385g of sugar
260g of cake flour
50ml of milk
50ml of sunflower oil
A teaspoon of vanilla extract
Some swiss meringue butter cream for filling

You will need to use an electric mixer. Put the eggs in a clean mixing bowl, start at high speed. Add in the sugar and beat until the volume of the mixture increases, then change the beating speed to medium and continue to beat until it is stabilised. Then change to low speed and fold in the flour. You can use a spatula or a hand whisk to fold in the flour. Pour part of this flour mixture into the milk, oil and vanilla mixture and mix well. The oil mixture will become lighter therefore it will be easier to mix with flour mixture later. This way the cake batter will deflate less (to retain the air bubbles within) when both combined. Try not to over mix otherwise the cake will become hard.:( Bake the cake at a preheated oven temperature of 190 degree C for 15 mins.

香草海綿蛋糕 Sponge Cake

Hi, I'm really lazy to make my own video, so I copy and paste again. I should tell you this video is very good. I have learned a lot from it. The same reminder again, make sure all the ingredients are at the room temperature.



材料:低筋麵粉140公克、雞蛋4顆 、牛奶30公克、砂糖206公克 、香草粉1小匙、鹽4公克、沙拉油30公克。

先把麵粉、香草粉一起過篩。
把蛋、糖、鹽一起加入調理盆中，馬上用攪拌機打散，不馬上打會讓糖包住蛋會讓蛋打不起 來，開始時攪拌機可以用快速打散，之後體積會膨脹5倍以上，打出來後的型態很像濕性發 泡的蛋糊。
把之前過篩的麵粉倒入盆中用慢速來攪拌，攪拌到麵粉完全與蛋糊結合即可。
把牛奶、沙拉油一起混和，取一些麵糊與牛奶、沙拉油一起攪拌，再倒回調理盆中用刮板攪 拌均勻這樣就好了。
把麵糊倒入活動烤模裡大約6~7分滿送進烤箱，烤箱溫度180度時間35分鐘左右。
烤完後等蛋糕變涼後在活動烤模的蛋糕周圍上壓一下，這樣就能脫模裝盤，這樣就完成香草 海綿蛋糕。








Making a sponge cake.

The ingredients are as follows:

4 eggs
sugar (206g)
cake flour (140g)
30ml of milk
30ml of sunflower oil
A teaspoon of vanilla extract
4g salt


You will need to use an electric mixer. Put the eggs in a clean mixing bowl, start at high speed. Add in the sugar and beat until the volume of the mixture increases, then change the beating speed to medium and continue to beat until it is stabilised. Then change to low speed and fold in the flour. You can use a spatula or a hand whisk to fold in the flour. Pour part of this flour mixture into the milk, oil and vanilla mixture and mix well. The oil mixture will become lighter therefore it will be easier to mix with flour mixture later. This way the cake batter will deflate less (to retain the air bubbles within) when both combined. Try not to over mix otherwise the cake will become hard.:( Bake the cake at a preheated oven temperature of 180° C for 35 mins.