Hi guys!!!
Welcome back. June is flying by and I find myself slightly disappointed with the weather of late; sunny mornings and dreadfully gloomy afternoons. And this comes from a person who dies for rainy days. Truth is, I feel a cold coming and I hate being sick. So, I'm disliking the weather. But what can a mere mortal do?
Last week, my orders got jumbled up and the end result was to postpone them, which worked better for me. It was a stressful week, with my great-aunt leaving the hospital, finally, and settling down in our home. We're very glad to have her there with us, and she feels so much better. My cake orders for the week went awol, presenting themselves for this week and later on. However, a Carrot Cake for Thursday evening was well received.
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| I've yet to meet someone who doesn't enjoy a good piece of carrot cake |
On a learning note, I was happy to have enrolled in a 3 hour gum paste workshop, as my knowledge on the matter is limited. I felt back at the Institute, watching the chefs demonstrate what we would later on create during our practicals. It was the same, watching the chef prepare the gum paste. We did not get to prepare our own, although we now know how to, but we had fun tinting the paste in different colors and molding a whale, a teddy bear and whatever else we wanted. I invested a few minutes in making a star topper which looked pretty cool. To be honest, the demonstration we had back in school, to decorate our celebration cakes was wiped clean off my brain. I showed up a bit frantic to the workshop, only to discover it is easy and much more fun to play with than fondant. This opens up a broader creativity window for future cakes.
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| Practice makes perfect!!! I'll check back in 5 years. |
With a carrot cake to bake, I stayed in Thursday morning. I spent the afternoon, fixing up my bedroom, as I had a bookshelf placed and I finally had a enough space to accommodate my treasures properly. The desk and upper shelves were getting messy and crowded. In the evening, I joined my cousins for a night grill at my aunt's and all I can say is: I love food. We were a noisy crowd, but as soon as we sat at the table, we experienced a rather awkward silence, as everyone was engorging on the feast. Sure, I had horrible nightmares, but it was worth it, hahaha. The love for food continued on next day, as I joined my grandmother, father and sister for a Thai lunch. I've had a heated debate with myself, as to what is my favorite food/cuisine and while my childhood self maintains that lasagna and all around italian food is the best, my current self screams theres nothing better than Thai food and green curry should be my husband. Now, Indian food holds a huge part of my food heart, but alas...there are no indian restaurants here, so no one can vouch for that side of my love.
I'm just hoping my jeans don't complain. My daily dose of dance can only do so much hahahaha.
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| White Chocolate and Passion Fruit... it doesn't get any better |
The weekend was tranquil and uneventful. Saturday morning I paid a visit to the overly packed supermarket and returned to my lovely, noisy house. While most of the relaxing days comprised movie watching and eating, my creative flow has seemed to come back and I can't wait to exploit it. Yesterday, I spent my evening busy baking for a birthday today. The birthday girl requested a Lemon-Blueberry cake for the office and a yummy White Chocolate, Passion Fruit Cheesecake for her home. Just imagine: a blue ombre vanilla cake, filled with freshly made lemon curd, covered with vanilla cream cheese frosting and topped with fresh blueberries. That good? Oh yes! But it doesn't end there. A graham cracker crust, filled with white chocolate and cream cheese and topped with ripe passion fruit curd. Okay, so I love curd! Sue me. They're both to die for. Keep reading for both recipes!!!
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| It's been a weekend filled with perfect combinations |
On Tuesday, my cousin celebrated another year of her life and some of the family joined for a birthday lunch. I owe her the birthday cake, as she's been changing her mind constantly about what she wants, although blueberries need to be present. She saw the picture of the Lemon-Blueberry cake and my prayers were answered, as she has chosen this cake for her belated birthday. Now, this cake is special. Originally, the cake doesn't have a frosting, but I added one, and the presentation worked. However, once cut, the slices reveal a beautiful blue gradient scale among three different 8" layers.
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| Beautiful blue hues |
Sadly, I realized today that last week's post commemorated my 50th blog post and it went unannounced. Now, I feel I have to really make it up to it, so we'll see what new mess I can make in my kitchen for it. So, later on this week, I shall make the popular Rose Cake and Lemon-Blueberry Cake and something magnificent to celebrate 50 posts and the many more to come!!!
Until next time.
xx
White Chocolate, Passion Fruit Cheesecake
Adapted from Things For Boys and Drizzle and Dip
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| Creamy deliciousness |
Ingredients:
Cheesecake:
200 g graham cracker crumbs
100g butter, melted
2 T. boiling water
3 1/2 t. powdered gelatine
180 g white chocolate,
500 g cream cheese, softened
1/3 C. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 cup (185 ml) evaporated milk
Passion Fruit Curd
1/2 C. passion fruit pulp
1/2 C. sugar
3 eggs
60 g butter
Preparation:
Cheesecake:
Preheat oven to 35o F. Line base of a 9 inch round springform pan with parchment paper.
Mix butter and crumbs together. Press the crumb mix into the bottom of the pan and flatten with a spatula or your hand. Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside and let cool.
Using a standup mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Next, beat in the melted chocolate. Finally, add the evaporated milk and gelatin and beat on low until evenly combined. The mixture will be smooth and glossy.
Pour cream cheese mixture into pan. Refrigerate.
*Original recipe from Things for Boys
Passion Fruit Curd:
Heat the juice, 1/3 of the butter and sugar in a heavy based pot until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and very quickly, whisk in the eggs. You do not want the eggs to curdle. Place this all back on the heat and whisk constantly until the mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and mix in the remaining butter. Allow to cool.
*Original recipe from Drizzle and Dip
Assembly:
Once the cheesecake has somewhat set, pour the cooled curd on top and gentle spread to the edges using a small spatula or palette knife. Return the fridge and allow to set overnight. Carefully run a hot knife around edges to release cake and remove the pan. Slide onto a cake board. Enjoy!!!
Lemon-Blueberry Vanilla Cake
Inspired by The Cake Blog
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| The beckoning blueberries make you want to bite the cake...don't!!! |
Cake:
1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/4 C. cake flour, sifted
1/2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 C. butter (1 stick)
2 T. good quality vanilla extract
1 1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/4 C. milk
Lemon Curd:
150 g - 180 g egg (roughly 3-4 eggs)
150 g sugar
zest of 1 lemon
120 ml lemon juice
30 g butter
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese frosting, softened
1/4 C. butter (1/2 stick), softened
1 1/4 C. confectioner's sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract
**Fresh Blueberries (roughly 1 pint)
Preparation:
Cake:
Grease 3 8" pans and line with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 F. In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, butter and vanilla extract at a high speed, until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the vegetable oil. Incorporate eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the dry ingredients, alternately with the milk in 3 inclusions, ending with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. Once the lumps are removed, divide batter equally in three parts. Tint each batch in gradient blue hues.* Pour into prepared pans and bake for 27-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.
*I used Ateco's Sky Blue and Wilton's Royal blue.
** Original recipe from Rock Recipes
Lemon Curd:
Heat the juice, lemon zest and sugar in a small pan until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in the eggs. Return to heat and whisk until the mixture thickens. Once it coats the back of a spoon, remove from heat and whisk in the butter. Allow to cool and enjoy.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
Beat cream cheese and butter together until the mixture is homogeneous. Gradually incorporate the powdered sugar. Mix in the vanilla extract. The mixture should be smooth and glossy.
Assembly:
On cake board, place the lightest blue layer face down, having the flat side up. Spread about 1/4 of the lemon curd reaching the edges. Place the second lightest blue layer, flat side down on top. Spread same amount of curd, reaching to the edges. Place last layer, flat side up and place in fridge for 10 minutes.
Place a crumb coat with the cream cheese frosting on sides of the cake and return for an additional 10 minutes to the fridge. Once the coat has set, frost in spiral motion, the sides and top edges of the cake, leaving an open, untouched circle at the top. Use remaining lemon curd to fill the circle. Make a circle at the very edge of the cake with blueberries, and carefully fill it in. The cake should look something like the picture. Keep in the fridge until ready to eat. Enjoy!!!
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