History Revisited

2 years into baking... from ZERO to... ahem.... HERO...

This was perhaps my starting point... November 2010...

Before this... all my knowledge was from the Home Economics classes or Food & Nutrition classes back in Secondary school, and that, we weren't even doing anything much for baking. Most stuff were cooking dishes... and that, was always my ultimate class. After graduating, I never ever have the chance to bake anymore, as I don't own an oven, nor can I afford even a hand-mixer. Hand-whipped trials proved meaningless as none passed and I forgotten all about it anyway.

Not until around November 2010 that I picked up this cute little 4 or 5-inch round pans from Daiso that I started to trial and experiment.

An extract from ChocolateCandyFloss HomeBakes... my offical online home bakery

"Always love baking and eating pastries as a child, I never thought it was possible, since I'm really poor and couldn't afford equipment or ingredients to do anything more than rub-in cookies or hand-whisked creations which most often fail... using a second-hand oven my dad repaired from some rejects.

Everything else was chucked away eventually, when life becomes so busy when I graduated and started working... followed by falling in love and getting married and starting a family...

One fine day, as I was shopping around at Daiso, I saw these mini cake tins which were barely 5". I just got 2 of them on impulse and went home and immediately tried doing something... It ended up yummy... and that somehow sparked and brought back tonnes of memories... I feel this sparkle... and I know I will never let this go again.

However, with family and kids commitments, I'm unable to attend any bakery courses, and professional courses are so expensive I can't afford... But I somehow came across youtube and the internet as a whole resource library and I learnt bits and pieces from here and there... and from countless failures I pieced in the puzzle... and finally GOT IT!

All thanks to the first present from my hubby, a boysenberry kitchenaid 4.5Qt mixer and a 30L Sharp Healsio Water Oven, I embarked on my journey of baking and countless creations... until I found CRUMB BOSS, where she became my greatest inspiration to create and share ideas and recipes... and just want to prove to the world that you do not need dozens of professional qualifications in order to bake, but instead, a whole heart full of passion for the art and determination to succeed.

I will never give up and will innovate and try new things... ever forever. :)"

Anyone, everyone out there... who was me, previously, feeling ever frustrated trying to find a good workable recipe, trying to troubleshoot failed recipes, etc etc... I'm happy to share my findings, from all the pains and wastage I have gone through the past 1.5 years with everyone sharing the same passion. Its better you learn from the basics and understand why this fails and that fails and how each different ingredient work instead of just picking up something and just follow procedure but duno how it works.

From someone whom:

Don't know that there is something called "Unsalted Butter"
Don't know what is "shortening"
Thought chiffon just produced by hot-stamping cakes on moulds
Don't know about cake flour, top flour, AP flour
Don't know what is the difference between using a whisk or a creamer
Don't know there's things such as baking chocolate, chocolate couverture, compound chocolate, candy dips, fondant, marzipan, sugarpaste, gumpaste
and the list goes on!

To one whom can explain every single item, how it works, how it behaves and how its applied.

You really don't need dozens of professional qualifications and certificates to bake. What you really need, is a heart full of passion and determination!

Coffee Cake & Checkerboard Cake

I am in love with this basic sponge cake from Cuoca... It is amazingly light and delicious, you can eat it on its own, and it works magically as any birthday cake base... The feel you cut into it is just as what you get from outside... and yet it is only achieved with pure eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, melted butter and cake flour! Yes, no baking powder, no ovalette, no additives, no enhancers AT ALL!!! 

I have been using the same recipe since the first time when I did the green tea swiss roll. And, it turns out beautifully each time! Almost zero shrinkage and the crumb structure inside is amazingly fine, yet is strong enough to withstand movement even after it has been sliced thinly. 

I have tried making checkerboard cake for orders and look at the black and white cake. Just play around with the basic vanilla sponge recipe and you can make a hundred flavours just by changing the ingredients. 

Look at the very fine crumb structure! Its definitely something that I have been searching for the past 2 years and finally got it!!! Sooooo very the HAPPY!

Easily handled... no breakage while maintaining its soft-as-silk texture

Viola~ Transformed into a Monchhichi cake! LOVE IT!!! Best thing is, everyone LOVES the cake! And has amazing compliments for it.... :) Contented....

Christmas Cake Bake-Off Crumb Boss : Cranberry Orange Cardamom Bundt

Cranberry Orange Cardamom Bundt   



Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups dried sweetened cranberries
• 4 ounces chopped white chocolate
• 3/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts
• 1/2 tsp powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Spray Bundt Pan with cooking spray and flour it, tapping away excess. Oil it very well so it doesn't stick to the pan after baking. Cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy. Decrease the speed to medium and add in eggs, on at a time, sour cream, orange zest and vanilla. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Mix batter well.
Sift flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cardamom and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing just to combine. Fold in cranberries, white chocolate and walnuts. Pour batter into prepared pan, pushing batter in all crevices with a spatula and smooth top. Gently tap the batter on center rack and bake 50-55 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out almost clean. There may be a few moist crumbs.
Remove cake from oven when done and cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto cake pedestal or wire rack and cool completely.

Serving recommendations:
A perfect and gorgeous table centerpiece, this Cranberry Orange Cardamom cake is wonderful for breakfast, lunch or dinner dessert! It is fabulous with a dollop of fresh cinnamon spiced whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla bean or cinnamon ice cream.

 Recipe courtesy of Nordic Ware

There is a contest on Crumb Boss page for Christmas cake! And the prize is very enticing!

 

 And so I had my go at it....

 Hope I win! :)) Wishful thinking!