Straight Sheet

By now I think you'd guess that I do have a little bit of OCD in me..

Just a tiny bit, I think?!

So anyway, a few months ago mom bought me these lovely silicon macaron mats from australia and paris, respectively. Love them! They have those ridges to help me pipe em' into more or less the same shape! You can definitely do without though, just draw circles on parchment paper using a round cookie cutter as your guide, flip the paper over (so you won't bake on penciled markings) and you're good to go! 

Source = google

I'm just too lazy (no time) to draw circles lah! 

But all this while, the cookie sheets that I have were a tad small for the mat. More often than not, 2 rows of circles (vertically and horizontally) would not fit and would have to be left empty when baking. Sayang space! This also means that I would have to use 3 trays, 3 mats, 3 baking times.. 

Had to put up this picture from my previous post. Ignore the marshmallows.. LOOK AT THE MATS!! Such an eye-sore kan? Hahaha... tskk tskk

too long, tskk tskk.. too long! Always by the time I get to the 3rd tray, ze little one would be awake. So I'd have to rush upstairs, (try) to put her to bed, and rush down before I burn em' macs! 

I need a bigger tray for this! So went to look at flat baking sheets. Never thought of them before until I saw them being used in the Zumbo macaron tutorial on youtube! Hmmm.. I bet that'll fit my mat! So off I went to search.

Source= Google

Ohhh found one at sp0tlight, Ampang Point! If you haven't been there, rugi weh. Lots of imported cool stuff. Yeah, when imported.. you can bet the price is also err... yeah.. let's just not go there. But anyway, I saw this cool one from the cakeboss line. The price? Yeah, enough to make me think twice. Thought maybe I'd just use the cheap aluminium ones I see at the baking store. Try to get the biggest one! At RM15.50, I thought I was being smart! 

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Ok, not that smart. It still wasn't big enough! Even though it measures 15x15x4, the biggest one there... I still had to waste 1 row of circles (vertically and horizontally). Still, 3 trays..  Worst part, it was soooo thin that I burned the bottom of the entire tray! Such a waste! Felt down and husband suggested that I just buy the cakeboss sheet and be done with it. It's the price of time, he says. 

So excited la this woman to go to ampang point the next day only to find that it's SOLD OUT!! Rasa mcm gah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'Should have bought it then. Should have bought it then. Should have bought it then!', I was cursing inside for the entire day. I guess it was not meant to be. So I told the guy to call when new stocks arrived... but of course lah, I cannot wait. So went online..

None..

Until I saw THIS! 

Excuse the bad quality picture. Had to take a shot of this so that husband knows exactly which one to get !

OH YEAHHHHHHHHH.. a FRACTION of the price of the one I initially wanted. Score!! Luckily husband's office is just next (close by lah) to Ikea.. and he swears off the place during weekends.. sanggup go and buy during weekdays....

Ahhhh... Straight mat. 

I could fill EACH and EVERY circle.... 

I slept soundly last night.

xx

PInata Cake!

No, not a cake that needs bashing! 

It's supposed to be a pinata cake so when you cut it open.. the goodies inside should flow out, as below (pictured cake is not mine! source=google)

So that is how it SHOULD look like. Yeah you guessed it. Mine did not FLOWWWW like how I imagined, and unfortunately, how I explained it to husband. After the cake was cut he turned to me and said... 

"where's the (insert hand gestures describing explosion)?" Yeah.. that was how I described a pinata cake should be. Grrrrr.. But before that, let's go through my experience making it (with joy and full of hope!!)

As usual, watched a bunch of tutorial beforehand, before actually attempting to make this. Even envisioned the cake to be covered in HOME-MADE marshmallow fondant. Yes, very ambitious this woman. So the cake took no time to bake. Even managed to squeeze-in dinner after whilst waiting for it to cool. Well, after the kids went to bed is when mummy started to partay!!

Out comes my spatula. 

Efficiency is key. Remember how we had dinner before? Yeah, at the same time I took out the butter and cream cheese to let them come to room temp. This is so when I actually wanted to start completing my cake, everything is ready! Made strawberry cream cheese this time, and it tastes... OH SO LOVELY!! (if I do say so myself ;).. ). So cake cooled, and I started to make it into a sort of pinata like, using M&Ms assortment bought earlier.

Don't you just LOVE the look of M&Ms in the cake?? 

I think I'm getting a hang of slabbing frosting on cake, and covering it like how I see it done on TV/Youtube. Good times. Done frosting, to the fridge it goes! (12.00am)

Proceeded to make my marshmallow fondant...

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1.05am - Chucked the whole lot into the bin...

(-____-)

Could not get it to work. So sticky. So gooey. Sooooo.. Tiring! I kneaded and kneaded and it looked fine! It wasn't until I started rolling it that everything went downhill. Thankfully I have other fondant on-hand. Decided to just make the best out of it... and went to bed...

at 3.00am..

Kesimpulan, NEVER making my own marshmallow fondant again! Yes, I love the idea because apparently it tastes so much better than normal fondant. But..... I think I need to try again.. and NOT the night before. 

Well, I loved how it turned out (outside). Will need more M&Ms for next time though. But definitely one I'll add to my list. 

The guests loved it so that's important ;) 

xx

Ze loveee box!

I think I'm loving the naaakeeedd'ish look of this red velvet. Before, I was not able to produce one without crumbly looking sides (boo!). But I'm loving the new 7" pan bought at the bakery supply store near my house. 

And of course, where else would that extra batter go if not into cupcake cases? I promised a fellow baker friend for some samples (including em' macs) to try. So packed em' nicely in a plastic case (which I forgot to take a picture of!! grrr!!). With one left, I remembered ze one best friend who has been asking (read=craving) for a slice of cake since last week! What better way to surprise her but to leave what we now call, "ze Loveee box!" on her desk early in the morning before she arrived. Lucky our departments are on the same floor, hence I am able to actually go to her desk to place it there.. added element of surprise! 

What a nice ensemble, don't you think? 

xx

'Salmon Red'

I just made that up. 

Hey hey hey! I think after a few (gazillion) macaron batches, I think I'm starting to get a hang of it. Especially in terms 'under-mixing' and 'over-mixing'..

It's a fine line between the two. Although I am still trying to get it consistently right every time, I'm slowly developing a feel for it.

So basically there are two methods for making these awesome looking yet super finicky sensitive cookies i.e french and italian. I am not a super expert in either methods, but the Italian method so far has given me consistent results (look at em' gorgeous beauties!)

French?

My heart broke!

Well, let's just say that I'm still learning. One out of 2 trays came out cracked last night (-___-) Boo! But since I think the french method seems much easier, I'm determined to FIND the recipe that'll guarantee success for me :)

For now, let's play with different flavors shall we? Featured below is chocolate ganache (left) and rose (right). Super love the shade of red that came out. Real life it looks a bit 'salmon'ish but with strong red undertones.

I speak of colors as if I know them.

NOT! I just know that it's fun to make super colorful macs! Yes, I'm still at the one color per batch phase... (tried splitting and ended up over-mixing.. huhu) but so far I find that I am able to freeze the ones I'm not using for that particular order, and combine them with the new ones of the next order. Boom! two different colors!

Featured below are the ones for an order today (1 of 2 boxes!). Woot! Found the perfect box to fit 20 macs. Just nice :)

xx

Salted Caramel Goodness

So, do you have that one basic buttercream frosting that you use over and over and over again?

I never had one..

BUT I JUST FOUND ONE!

Apologies for the scrambled flow of writing. Can you tell how excited I am?

So I have been in search for THE ultimate buttercream basic recipe. One that I can adapt for many different flavors. Whipped with air-light texture, holds its shape for piping and taste oh-so-good. Drooling yet? Ohhh yes! It's from this salted caramel buttercream frosting I found here. I've slightly adapted it to suit my taste. 

Believe you me. I've been browsing through the web for countless of weeks in search of THE recipe. I've tried looking at american, french, swiss, melayu (got la!) buttercream. I know that some people swear by swiss meringue buttercream, or SMBC for short. One even wrote 'how have I wasted 40 years of my life by not ever trying SMBC'... ok...

Errr... not a fan here. Why? Haha I kind of detest the buttery after-taste it leaves in your mouth. Plus, it involves an extra step of having to cook your egg whites.

Ahhhh.. again you know I'll use the 'you know I'm all about efficient and fast baking' philosophy here right? 

So I've tried this recipe for my strawberry cream, salted caramel (in picture) and last night... CREAM CHEESE!! I'm in LOVEEEEE. Ok, to-date, I have always sticked to this one recipe which I LOVE from Hummingbird. After all, they made me fall in love with cream cheese frosting to begin with! But I find that it's somehow unreliable, for me at least. Some days I'll have perfectly whipped air-light goodness. Some days, runny and gooey mess. Other horrific days? Over the top sweet and bits of sugar in your mouth. The over the top sweetness usually happens when I double up the recipe to get more amounts for cakes etc. 

Wooot! Can't wait to pipe this on my chocolate cake tomorrow night..

Chocolate Cream Cheese what????????? you just wait ;)

xx

Buttoned beauties

Oh yes, that's what I call my small, cute, button-shaped lovelies.. macarons :) 

Belive me when I tell you, these are finicky, temperamental and most definitely a keeper! Haha, I've had my share of ups and downs with them. Cracked, no feet, u name it. So I guess knowing the right 'mix', and getting the steps right are what makes them, special.

After the first time making them, I turned to the husband and said..

'I'm never complaining if people are charging a fortune for these ever again!'

Really. Don't complain. Hahah! They're so tough to get right (for me, perhaps). After getting to know my oven etc.. getting the right not-under-mixed-not-over-mixed batter.. and the oh so expensive almond flour (the main ingredient!)... yeah, my wallet do not like macarons so much. BUT the happiness feeling you get after a successful batch is... WOW! amazing! I think I could've developed wings and fly...

all the way to the US!! 

A recipe given by my ex-classmate from highschool. Makes PERFECT macarons every.single.time. She's a trained chef and I can never thank her enough for sharing. Mental note to give her awesome gift when she comes back to visit :) Although it involves a wee bit more washing up... I think for now I'm contented with the 'italian' method. Will be experimenting the 'french' method soon (read=less dishes, less complicated). 

Cos' you know I'm about easy, efficient baking ;) 

xx

p/s: still working on making a multi-colored batch. yeah, those above are from 2 separate batches... with TONNES of leftover (-__-) So stay tuned! 

Full table

Today has been quite an eventful day.. For my kitchen that is!

Started my cinnamon rolls last night, left in fridge overnight to be baked today. Also wanted to experiment with cake pops, so made a batch of red velvet... Excess batter of which was turned into cupcakes! 

Working between baby's sleeping schedule and a very curious (read=sibukkk) toddler, I did have my work cut out for me. 

How did my cake pop turned out? 

Erkk.. Not so great. I guess the chocolate melts were too thick that either my balls were falling off the stick upon being dipped in chocolate, or they end up leaving a very thick coating on the pops.. Not too happy about that. 

Read some suggestions online to use shortening or vegetable oil to thin the chocolate. Would've tried it immediately but mummy/wifey duty calls! Had to cut short the baking spree to make lunch and dinner siap2. By the time I was done, too tired to stand so here I am. Both kids asleep and me ALMOST dozing off, then decided to pack up things for tomorrow (gym bag, kids' bags etc). Now I'm wide awake. 

I guess I'll just try my hands on em' coating tomorrow then!

Xx

P/s: just so you know, I've started taking small orders yah! :)

Cream cheese

I think I have yet to solve the mystery of having perfect cream cheese icing. Each batch of cupcakes to be topped with cream cheese icing NEVER fails to maks me nervous until it's done and I see stiff piping on em' cupcakes.

Have been reading a number of tips and tricks from my baking sifu, the internet.. Decided to try out a new method for a batch meant as a 'buah tangan' at the husband's relative's majlis the other day..

Ugh, slightly runny! 

But the fondant butterfly definitely made me much happier. I have always been afraid of fondant but it turns out not too bad at all. Well, I used pre-colored fondant anyway. The last time I tried my hands at fondant, I was wayyyyy too ambitious and made the fondant from scratch.. Took me almost an entire day. With a barely 2 months old newborn and a toddler around me, time is just not something easy to come by. It's always bake, berhenti, bake berhenti bake berhenti.. But somehow it makes me happy, so I do it anyway. 

So anyway, had leftover cream cheese icing and didn't want to waste them.. Decided to google what other ways to use cream cheese icing. Prefereably one not requiring stiffed piped icing that is!

Cinnamon rolls!!!! 

As usual, after I set my mind on baking a particular item, I would spend days browsing through youtube tutorials and different recipes.. Firstly it's to familiarize myself with the steps and also to check-out the easiest and effective recipes! Did I mention the timing problem? Haha so yeah, most recipes I end up using are at the 'easy' end of the spectrum and are somewhat hassle free. 

Weeee!! Loved how it turned out! Alhamdulillah ok la.. Not as mouth watering as cinnabon's, but acceptable by my standards ;) definitely can try again!

Xx

P/s: banging my head for not using my camera to snap those photos. Darn it! Pastu sibuk nak beli camera baru kan haha

G|uttony

Major gluttony.. 

I present to you exhibit A. It's 11pm at night and I finished the entire 200gms of no nut choc chip cookies.... Ok fine, husband took a bit. Like only 3 cookies!!! 

Very helpful.

Ok that's it. No more chocolate based indulgence. The whole time I was telling myself 'you'll lose it when she wakes you up for a feed later tonight'.. Right, as if it will melt away! Gah! 

Xx

A B|ue affair

Last weekend I had a blue order. Cake and cupcakes for a babyshower. Guesses as to what will the sex of the baby be?

So I made a vanilla blue ombre cake and blue velvet cuppies, both with cream cheese frosting. As usual, making them was FUN! I had a slight miscalculation however, which ended up requiring me to make 2 separate batches of vanilla instead of one.

Excuse the 4am lighting!

The celebrated one

Deco by Dina

You may order by dropping me an e-mail at natrina7atgmaildotcom. I am in the midst of designing a logo.. Ceh.. But once I'm done, I will officially make the announcement.

Watch this space!

Xx

 

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