My late Birthday cake post

 

 

 Have been looking back at some of my cake photos and happen to realise I haven't blogged about my birthday cake on here.  I must have been carried away with thoughts for being another year older.

 

Yes, it's scary to say I've reached my 40th Birthday already!! Ekkk!!

 

Summer is almost over and today is the last day of August.

But it reminds me that my Wedding Anniversary is only round the corner.

With preparing the kids for going back to school, I haven't had time to think about what cake I'll be making this year.

 

My hubby loves Black Forest,  I have made one for him on Valentine's Day. I guess I can make one again as it's been over 6 months since we've had one.

 

Time have been flying by. Soon my baby boy will be 4 in October, he wants a Spider-Man cake!

How am I going to make a Spider-man cake using fresh cream and fruits?

I think I'll  have to start expanding my cake knowledge and brave myself  into making fondant cakes.

At least they won't melt and I can make them in a few days in advance.

 

But at the moment, I still enjoy eating as well as making fresh cream cakes.

Mini fruit tarts with crème patisserie

 

This is a delicious summer desserts made with home made crème patisserie and a sweet buttered short crust pastry tart.  My daughter loves all fruits and after making a Nutella cupcake, I feel I need a lighter and healthier dessert to balance it.

 

This is the perfect size for me, in this recipe I made 14 fruit tarts.

 

 

Banana & strawberry ice lollies

Banana & strawberry ice lollies

 

Best to use over ripe fruits for fruitier flavours & sweetness.
 

Ombré Blueberry Cheesecake (non bake)

Ombré Blueberry Cheesecake (non bake)

 

 

 

Durian cream cheese mousse entremets

 

 

I have been in love creating mini desserts for my family.
My husband and daughter loves durian and I came up with this desserts.
This is a little tricky to make and have many stages so if you are feeling adventurous then be prepared for a challenge.

 



 

Double chocolate cheesecake

 

Rich, smooth and very chocolatey.  Made this for my friend who was visiting me.

I love the colours of the dark and light with a base of Oreo biscuits.

I kept the design simple as it looks sharp with the two layers.

This would still work well in a 7 inch cake tin, you would get a higher cheesecake.

 

Lychee Cheesecake (non bake)

 

 

 Lychee cheesecake, I put this together after having a huge hit with my peach cheesecake by my readers. I used tin Lychees in syrup but I find them quite sweet so I used less icing sugar in this recipe compared to the peach cheesecake, using only 1 tbsp of lemon juice for a less sharp citrus taste as I didn't want it to overpower the flavour of the lychees.  This works really well and the gelatine used is the perfect amount to hold it together as a cheesecake.  I added berries for the decorations as Lychees are so pale and white.  Giving it some red and blue colours makes this cheesecake look more attractive.

Don't you think?

 

Mille Feuille

Mille Feuille, in French its means thousand leaves. A dessert I wanted to make for a long time.

 

 

I have created a simple version so there's not a lot of work into it and it can be eaten straight away, not like my other desserts where I have to wait over night.

This dessert isn't heavy and a fantastic treat after a meal.
If you want a even lighter version use creme fraiche instead of cream.

 

 

This recipe makes 7 Mille Feuille and I worked it out to around 90p for each portion.
All round, a quick and inexpensive dessert to make and most importantly tastes and looks great.

Here's my version and I hope you like it.

Ingredients:

One packet of ready rolled puff pastry
300ml of whipping cream
1. Tbsp icing sugar
Box of fresh strawberries or other fruits you like
Icing sugar for dusting.

So, that's all the ingredients. Lets make some.

 

Method:

 

Roll out the puff pastry on your Worktop. 

 

Cut out puff pastry to 8 x 5cm. And lay them on a flat baking tray with baking paper over it.

 

Prick holes with a fork lightly on the surface, don't prick it all the way through. This would help release the steam during baking and making it rise evenly. Only prick the centre and not the sides. 

 

 

Brush with egg wash.

 

 

Bake in a preheated  oven at 220c, after 5 minutes it would puff up like the picture above, this is when you use a flat utensil to flatten it down by pressing firmly to stop it rising.
Then leave to bake for another 5 minutes and again flatten it down and bake for another 2 minutes.
You want to get the pastry as flat as possible but still flaky.

Another method you can use is to place a heavy baking tin with baking paper over the pastry after the first 5 minutes once it has puffed up. This would make the pastry nice and flat. Then bake a further 5 minutes and take off the baking tin and baking paper to bake until golden brown.
I didn't have a baking tin that would fit over it so I flattened it down twice during baking.

 

Leave the puff pastry to cool on a wire rack, you can dust lightly with icing sugar if you like it sweeter. I think this dessert have to be nice and sweet. 

 

Whip the cream and add 1. Tbsp of icing to it. Don't over whip the cream, you want it at soft peak so the texture is like thick custard but still holds its shape. 

 

Fill a piping bag with a large round nozzle and prepare some fruits. 

Pipe cream in a swirly line and lay sliced strawberries across.

Pipe a little more cream on top of the strawberries so the next layer of pastry will stick together.

 

Press gently but firmly to sandwich the fillings. 

Pipe more cream on the second layer and lay strawberries across it, repeat the same as above.  

 

 

Add the last layer on top and press carefully so the cream sticks to the pastry and dust lightly with icing sugar.

 

Time to tuck in..... yum yum....

 

 

 

 

Mont Blanc

At last, I have made Mont Blanc. A french dessert with a sponge base, meringue center and chestnut cream.

My kids are not a big fans of chestnut puree which is why it took me so long to eventually make these.

I had a tin of chestnut puree sitting in my cupboard for ages and only remembered I had it when I was decluttering it.

Well, which means I might as well make it even though I know the kids won't eat it.
At least it's ticked off my to bake list now.

Feeling very satisfied.....

 

There are so many different ways to decorate these and I particularly like the ones with the chestnut puree piped into strands and swirling around a meringue.

As usual, my recipes are very simple. I have done some short cuts or you can call it 'cheat proof' ways with this recipe as I haven't got time to prepare everything from scratch.
So a tinned chestnut puree and shop bought meringues are very handy when I want to quickly make a  dessert like this.

Simple chocolate mousse

My version of the chocolate mousse is very easy and I don't use raw eggs.
 

All you need is:

300ml of whipping cream

Half the batch of chocolate ganache from this recipe here.

Method:
 

Whisk cream until mousse state and add 2. Tbsp of icing sugar to sweeten
(adjust the amount of icing sugar to suit your taste as the ganache is quite sweet.) 

Whisk chocolate ganache until light and fluffy. 

Add the cream and ganache together and fold until combined. 

Chill the mousse in the fridge or use immediately if you are making a mousse cake. 

White chocolate Berry-Misu (Raspberry tiramisu)

 

 

My daughter have been asking for me to make a Tiramisu for her, it's one of her favourite desserts (though she's only been allowed a small serving when I make it.)

There's 2 ingredients that I don't like to give to my children, coffee and alcohol.

 

So I told her that, Mummy's going to make a Raspberry tiramisu.

She's not keen, I promised her it would taste yummy!

Still, she don't like the idea until I mixed white chocolate in with the mascarpone cream....

Mmmm...... the kids were fighting to lick the spoons after they tasted it.

 

Though there's no baking involved, this still took a while to put together.

If you want to have a go at making this then you need a ring mould to hold the ladies fingers.

I cut off the bottom of the sponge fingers so it would stand around the mould.

You can use a spring form tin but take out the bottom of the tin.

 

This is a 7 inch Berrymisu cake.

 

Coconut Agar Agar with Raspberry

 

 

What is Agar Agar?

Agar Agar is a strong natural jelling agent made from seaweed also as known as kanten.

It doesn't give the same texture as gelatine, it is actually firmer.

As it is a vegetarian gelatin substitute this makes it suitable for vegetarian and vegan diets.

It has no calories, no carbohydrates, no sugar and no fat! Conatins 80-percent fiber.

Great stuff which we should eat more of.

Or shall I say I should eat more of it as it helps weight loss!

It swells in the stomach as it absorbs water, making you feel full.

I shall be using this amazing stuff more now that I discovered the health benefits.

You can find the powdered form in health shops or in chinese supermarkets.

They also sell these in large strips like foam.

 You can find prepacked ones in different flavours and colours. 

 

Peach cheesecake (non bake)

 

 

 

"You have been baking far too much lately" hubby says.

But I was itching to make something, well something I don't need to bake so he won't moan at me.

I thought maybe a cold dessert would be nice as my kids gets excited when I say I'll make a dessert.

So I put together a non bake peach cheesecake hoping he would be ok that its not another cream cake.

 

Anyway, I made my cheesecake in under an hour and decorated it with thin slices of the tinned peaches.  It looked great but too bare so I topped it up with a peach jelly made with the juices that came with the tinned peaches.

 

Whoa! This is fun!

 I didn't know what to expect but it turned out to be a very pretty cheesecake indeed.

I have managed to pull off another delicious cheesecake reinventing the recipe as I went along.

This was a massive hit with my friends and especially my hubby!

 

Something you might like to try at home too. Very simple, no baking involved and ready to eat in 4 hours!!

 

 

Le Fraisier cake

Are you planning to make a cake for Mother's Day?

How about something like a Le Fraisier cake?

UK Mother's Day is on the 30th March, I know that in other countries, Mother's Day is in May.
But if you're not in the UK, you can book mark this recipe for later. 

My version of the Le Fraisier is very simple, I haven't used creme patissirie but substitute it with heavy cream and custard instead, saw this on a James Martin programme and that is what he used.
If it's good enough for a professional then it's good enough for everyone else.
 I'm always looking for quick and easy alternatives.

If you like to try this then here is the recipe.

Baileys Cheesecake

 

Mmmmmm...... Baileys and Cheesecake both my favourite, how can I not put them together!

I thought I add some pretty zebra patterns to it just to make it look even more scrummy!

You know me by now, I always make that extra effort in presentation.

So, are you ready to make one too!

You need an 8inch spring form tin with a larger baking tray to make the water bath.

Wrap the baking tin with two layers of tin foil and a layer of baking paper.

You don't want water to get into your cheesecake!!

Line the bottom of the tin with baking paper.

Chocolate Mousse cake

I made this very special cake for a very special young man that I have known for 6 years! 

Where have the time gone?

It is his birthday today and I hope he likes chocolate! 

Don't count the calories! Haha.... 

Happy Birthday Squib! Many happy returns. 

Here's the recipe and I hope you will try this and make it for someone special for their birthday too. 

To make this chocolate mousse cake you will need a 7 inch chocolate sponge, recipe is here.

Chocolate mousse recipe here and chocolate ganache recipe here.

Eton Mess Cake

 

Eton Mess is a tradtional English dessert consists of fresh cream, strawberries and meringue.

I will show you how this cake is made.

All you need is an 8 inch sponge, recipe is here.

A tub of whipping cream 500ml with 3. Tbsp icing sugar to sweeten

Box of fresh strawberries

12 ready made meringue 

The ingredients are easy, it's assembling of the cake that requires a steady hand and a little patience.

 

 

Prepare an 8 inch sponge and cool on a wire rack.

 

 

Mango Mousse cake

 

 

Prepare an 8 inch sponge cake.

 Recipe is here

 

 

Cut into 3 equal layers ( my son inspecting my cake)

 

 

Recipe for the mango mousse.

Ingredients:

350g whipping cream

300g mango puree

3. Tbsp icing sugar

10g gelatin

60g water

Method:

Soften the gelatin with water and dissolve into liquid, you can do 2 x 20 second burst in the microwave until it has melted.

Once the gelatin has cooled, pour into mango puree and mix well.

Whisk the whipping cream until mousse state and add icing sugar.

Fold the cream into the mango puree and wait 10 mintues, the mousse will thicken slightly and you are ready to use it.

 

Here is a short video of how my cream is beaten to Mousse state.

How To make this cake

 

 

Mango & Pomelo dessert (杨枝甘露)

 

This is one of my favourite desserts and one of the easiest one to make.

I think everyone likes a mango dessert and this is popular to all ages. 

Hope you like this recipe. 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

80g uncooked Tapioca

600ml of Mango juice, carton or fresh

1 large Mango

Half a Pomelo

Small tin of evaporated milk (170g size)

Sugar syrup: 

you can reduce the amount if the fruits are really sweet. 

2. Tbsp of sugar

40g of boiling water 

40g cold water

Simply add boiling water to the sugar in a jug and once the sugar have dissolve, add the remaining cold water to cool the syrup down. 

 

Choux Pastry

 

So.........."Choux pastry is a light pastry dough used to make profiteroles or eclaires.

Choux pastry has a high water content. The water in the mixture creates steam during cooking which forces the pastry to expand in volume, leaving it with a hollow centre and a light texture.".......

Wow! theres a lot of science in baking and I think I have learnt more than just how to make them.

These were on my to bake list and to have made two bakes in one, I'm pretty chuffed.