lemon curd cupcakes

January 31, 2010 at 8:15 pm | Posted in Birthdays, Cheese, Cupcakes, Fruit | 10 Comments

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i think i have temporarily ceased the search for a one-bowl-vanilla-cupcake recipe. this is fuss-free and just the way i like it – dump everything in one bowl and mix! it is sufficiently moist and dense, without drying out. my friends were pleasantly surprised by the lemon curd centre, and i thought it was nicely paired with the cream cheese frosting.

vanilla cupcakes; makes about 12

150g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
175g self-raising flour
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract/essence

1. preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. line a cupcake tin with paper liners. put all the cake ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with a hand-held electric whisk for 1-2 minutes until light and creamy. divide the mixture evenly among the cake cases.

2. bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes till risen and firm to the touch. test with a skewer if required. transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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i would think that this recipe lends itself well to fillings/mix-ins. for these, i added about a teaspoon of lemon curd as a filling prior to baking. i guess you could experiment with diced fruit or chocolate chunks/chips as well.

peanut-butter-custard-banana tart

January 31, 2010 at 3:04 am | Posted in Birthdays, Fruit, Peanut Butter, Tarts and Pies | 2 Comments

we celebrated the birthday of one of my favourite boys tonight. as a matter of formality, i asked what he wanted and he mentioned “that peanut butter dessert we had in KL two years back.” i tried my best to recall what comprised the tart we had at this nice little cafe at bangsar village. i knew there was peanut butter, bananas and some semblance of a custard. (there’s a picture on the website; i know my rendition of it is way off)

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initially i wanted to modify dorie greenspan’s banana cream pie recipe, but i always find myself a little turned off by her long instructions. i appreciate her detail but sometimes i’d rather follow a recipe that has minimal steps (there you go, the lazy streak in me). that resulted in me pulling out the tried-and-tested donna hay’s sweet shortcrust pastry and creme patissiere recipes. the peanut butter frosting was a mixture of butter, peanut butter and icing sugar – no exact amounts; a sheer matter of estimation.

the boys, being boys, gave raving reviews. my only gripe was that i should’ve used del monte bananas instead of malaysian bananas, but i can’t complain since i asked my dad to buy them.

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cake backlog

January 25, 2010 at 8:22 pm | Posted in Birthdays, Cakes, Cheese, Chocolate, Fondant, Fruit, Orders, Weddings/Engagements | 2 Comments

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chocolate cake, ferrero rocher filling with nutella buttercream for a good friend’s birthday. this was overkill, seriously. everyone was on a sugar high.

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cheesecake with chocolate ganache for an acquaintance’s solemnisation.

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strawberry cheesecake – i really had reservations with the wordings on this cake… but my friend insisted. -_-

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chocolate cake, sliced bananas and nutella ganache.

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chocolate cake with chocolate ganache.

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daddy’s mango cheesecake.

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brownie with fondant figurines.

cupcake backlog

January 25, 2010 at 8:14 pm | Posted in Birthdays, Cheese, Chocolate, Cupcakes, Orders, Peanut Butter, Royal Icing | Leave a comment

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chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache.

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chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache & buttercream.

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nutella cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

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chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.

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order “leftovers” for the boy. :p

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chocolate cupcakes with royal icing – for a friend’s cousin’s solemnisation.

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chocolate cupcakes with royal icing – for a dear JC friend’s engagement.

tiffany-box cake

January 4, 2010 at 3:21 pm | Posted in Birthdays, Cakes, Chocolate | 6 Comments

the dearest cousin requested something “tiffany” for her birthday this year so i busied myself with a bit of research prior to making the cake. it was my first time working with white icing so this was a real challenge; from measuring and cutting individual pieces to “stitching” them seamlessly together. this labour of love took me about 4 hours to complete!

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her birthday gift was nicely nestled in that paper bag behind the cake… now THAT was a surprise.

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layers of chocolate cake sandwiched with chocolate ganache.

i had fun doing this, but it will be some time before i attempt such cakes again. i feel more comfortable around cupcakes!

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