Baby Shower Time!

I think it's a given that most women become chocaholics when they get pregnant, what with the change in hormones and the rush of endorphins you get from eating chocolate and all. So here was the "chocolate" of all chocolate cakes: the great Sacher torte.

Austrian in origin, the Sacher is composed of a moist chocolate cake (made with melted chocolate by the way, no cocoa powder for this one) soaked in syrup, apricot preserves normally, though I used raspberry jam instead, and chocolate ganache. A slice composing of 4 layers and your chocolate craving should be satisfied.

Topped off with a chocolate glaze and chocolate decorations (fit for a boy that is).
And here's a side view of some cute little diapers and pacifiers:

Bridal Sugar Cookies

These are some sugar cookies that I made for a bridal shower recently. It is the same recipe as the ones with the "fall" design but I piped on "S'' for the bride-to-be in bright pink (the colour theme of the shower) and white doves carrying a heart. A little sprinkle of sugar for extra sparkle and you get really pretty, girly bridal shower cookies! The pink is actually brighter than it seems in the photos ( I'm still not that great of a photographer; my sister's better). I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but the recipe is actually form Martha Stewart here. It's great, holds the shape perfectly and not too sweet at all.

I want S'mores

Mmm...S'mores. Probably one of the best parts about camping. Every part of it is good; graham cracker? Good. Chocolate? Good. Toasted marshmallow? Totally awesome! So yeah, how can something made with deliciously yummy ingredients on their own, not be good?

Now let's try it in a cupcake form eh? I got the recipe from foodbeam whom I absolutely adore. All her cakes look so gorgeous and they sound so good. The only things I changed were that I used dark brown sugar for the cupcake (I ran out of light brown sugar) and after baking, I cut a hole in the middle and filled it with ganache to make it extra chocolate-y. Oh yeah, the top I piped, and then dipped in chocolate and let it set. Very remeniscent of the much beloved Dairy Queen soft serve.

Aint it cute? And here it is split:

BBQ Pork Buns

I was looking through some of my favourite flood blogs the other day and stumbled upon a childhood favourite of mine's on "A Cracking Good Egg". Bbq pork buns, otherwise known as " char siu bao ". Most of the time, you would have these during dim sum or at certain chinese bakeries/deli shops.

KJ has a great recipe on her site here with step-by-step instructions along with pictures. The only thing I did differently was that after wrapping up the filling, I left the seams facing up because it was reminiscent of the ones I usually had before. It was a fairly easy recipe to do and the dough was a dream to work with.

Here are the buns before steaming:



And after steaming, the delicious filling:

Earl Grey Mousse Cake

Since I have some time off, I finally get to test out some experimental cakes that I've come up with. This one here has a crunchy rice krispy hazelnut base underneath a flourless chocolate cake, topped off with an earl grey bavarois. The piping on top is a hazelnut chocolate mousse and on top of that is a hazelnut crumble.

The making of this cake was perfect timing because my sister loves earl grey and hazelnut so I gave some to her for her dinner that night. She loved it and said the only minor fault was that the bavarois could be slightly stiffer next time. I'll probably add one more gelatine leaf to it next time.

I absolutely loved the base. Ideally, it would be made with feuillentine but since I can't find any place that sells it at a small amount (I don't really want a big 5kg of it sitting around), I ended up using rice krispies. I was worried that they would go soggy but they remained crunchy which was great. I loved the contrast of the crunchiness of that as well as the hazelnut crumble with the smooth richness of the bavarois and chocolate cake.

I just got "La Patisserie de Pierre Herme" so I am hoping to test out a few, if not all, the recipes from there. So excited!

Sugar and More Sugar

Now that I'm anxiously waiting for my new job at DB Bistro to start, I have a bit of free time. Things I'm going to do/ have been doing: Sleeping in, catching up on tv, baking! I'm so happy to have had this break! And I'm happy I get to bake at home again!

The first thing I made were these sugar cookies. I don't have really fancy cookie cutters so I decided on just plain rounds and piping different patterns on them. It's a little late, I know for a "fall" theme but technically, it still is. The acorn ones are my favourite.


Oh, and marshmallows. My sister has been waiting for these forever, and I've been meaning make them for a long time too but never got around to it. I really wanted to cover some in toasted coconuts but I didn't feel like going out in the rain to pick some up so I just did some plain vanilla and some rose ones where I put in some rose syrup. I tried cutting some in strips and tying them into a knot like I've seen before in some bakeries in France but mine's ended up breaking. I think I need a stiffer recipe. This one is very fluffy and soft, and just melt in your mouth!

Marshmallow

1 egg white, beaten to stiff peaks
90 ml water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp corn syrup
90 ml water
1 1/2 packs gelatin
vanilla

-soften the gelatin with the water and melt. Leave aside. Boil the water, sugar, and corn syrup until it reaches 125 degrees celsius. Slowly pour it into the whites while whipping and add the gelatin. Whip until it cools down and is thick. Quickly add the flavouring and pour into your mold sprayed with pam. Dust icing sugar on top and let it set for an hour. Unmold and cut with a wet knife. Roll all edges in icing sugar and let it set overnight.