Cake Connection: Angry Bird Cupcake Deco Class

Ever dream of making your own gorgeous flowers or too-cute-to-gobble cartoon figurines all out of sugar? And to have your work of art adorn your perfectly baked cake to impress?

Well, if you have a budding or developing interest in cake decoration, just like myself, attending hands-on lessons gives you a 360 view of the different aspects of decoration that one may not be able to glean off by relying on books alone....an experience I discovered just recently.

A couple of days ago I attended a 'Angry Bird Cupcake Decoration' class held exclusive for bloggers at the invitation and courtesy of Cake Connection, located at Jaya One, Petaling Jaya.

A little bit of background, Cake Connection is truly a dream business made real by two very affable and gracious ladies, Nancy and Shyamala. Once colleagues at an international MNC company, they both share the same personal interest and passion, and were always the happy bakers who would volunteer to whip up something in their kitchens for any function or celebration in the office. One progress to another, they then decided to swap their corporate suits for aprons, and have not looked back since.

It was a few months ago that I came across Cake Connection's website while searching for cake and baking supply shops in KL but have yet to pay the store a visit. So when I received an email invitation to attend a complimentary Angry Bird cupcake decoration class, I was JUST SO GLAD!

I have had a keen interest in cake decoration for years now and have always fully relied on books and the web for instructions. Although the idea to attend courses did occur to me once or twice, it had not stuck, till now.

The class taught us techniques and tips which may not be covered in books, and above all what I really like about it was that Nancy, our instructor, conducted the class with much clarity, patience and a step-by-step method.

These are samples of Angry Bird figurines that were perfectly molded in advance by our instructor, Nancy. They are so neatly and proportionately made!

The class started promptly at 10.30 am with a quick introduction of one another. There were Nancy, our instructor, and seven bloggers including myself. Following the ice-breaker, Nancy started the class by touching on the basics like the different available brands of fondant in the market, which one she favors and why, the difference between fondant and gumpaste and what is each suitable/unsuitable for and how to make our own edible glue at home.

Each of us was given printed notes to refer to and thanks to Cake Connection's generosity, the note even included a sour cream chocolate cupcake recipe (Sonia's blog has it, refer below for the link) and a chocolate butter cream recipe. Both are delicious to boot!! Pre-colored fondant and decoration tools were also prepared for our creative task.

Notes, colored fondant/gumpaste and tools were prepared for our use

After running through the basics, Nancy then started the hands-on way of showing us the correct method of kneading fondant to make it pliable, how to color a huge amount of fondant in a more effortless manner, as well as how to ensure that the color is incorporated evenly throughout.

Here's our friendly instructor at work to show us the right method of kneading fondant to make it smooth and pliable for molding

And then, she proceeded to coloring, rolling and cutting it for the cupcake surface

We were taught six designs of the Angry Bird characters which included 2D and 3D.

Each detail, big or tiny, from the beaks to the eye balls, ears and tails, were taught in a step-by-step and clear manner.

At one point just when I thought I had completed one of the figurines (the 5th one I think) with a feeling of relief coming over me, we heard Nancy said... "okay, attention all you beautiful ladies (ok, she didn't say beautiful), now we make the feather!" Errr...what??? Okay, I'm soldiering on, girlfriend!...

We were also taught on which detail to assemble or arrange first in order to make the whole experience easier, as well as how to steadily secure the 3D figurines on top of the cupcake in order to avoid slippage during transportation of the cupcakes.

Step-by-step method in making 2D characters

After showing us the 2D above, Nancy progressed on to show us how to make a cute electric green 3D piglet

Here are my 'work of art' after 4.5 hours of fun (and some stress!). That's an average of 45 minutes of decoration time per cupcake!! I guess I shall not complain anymore the next time I see an expensive 3D cupcake being sold outside.

Here are the talented bloggers (minus me and 3 others who were busy getting their cameras ready) with their work of art striking a pose with Nancy and Shyamala (in pink)

Sonia with her angry birdies

Lessons are comfortably held in a spacious room within the store itself. Our gracious hostesses also prepared light snacks to thank us for coming. We were overwhelmed with excitement over our work of art and everyone was clicking away, posing with their products.

Few of us stayed back a little while longer to check out the various cake decoration products at the store. Also, one can't help but notice and admire the sugar craft work of other students being displayed. Here are some of the beautiful work:

Products you can find at Cake Connection range from various tools and cutters, silicon impression mold and veiners, Wilton and Americolor food colors, sprinkles and pearl dust, gourmet vanilla extract and bean paste, many kinds of ready-made sugar ornaments like flowers and other figurines, impression mat, cookie cutters and many many more. A full list of products can be found on Cake Connection's website.

It was a fun and creative class, and I would like to again thank Cake Connection for having us there. Special thanks to Nancy for being the wonderful instructor who shared many additional tips with us and to Shyamala for entertaining Veron and myself with a thousand and one product questions at the end. Yes, we were the last two out.

To Ivy of My Story, Chris of Pure Glutton, Zurin of Cherry on a Cake, Tomoko of Caramel Factory, Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover and Veron of Quay Po Cooks, it was a pleasure knowing and meeting all of you. Have fun decorating at home!!

To my readers and visitors, do hop over to Cake Connection's website and my fellow bloggers' blog. Enjoy and hope you''ll be inspired to jump in the cake decoraters' bandwagon!

Also, Cake Connection has a list of upcoming deco classes in December and do check it out on their site. I am personally very keen on its rose-making class. Zurin, who has attended it before, was full of praises and looking at Zurin's cakes, I am totally sold!

Here are the contact details:

Cake Connection Sdn Bhd (above Royal Oak Pub & Restaurant)
D11-1 Block D, Jaya One
72A Jalan Universiti
46200 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +603-79564450
URL: http://www.cakeconnection.com.my

Till then, cheers
petite nyonya

More Books and A Chocolate Lemon Marble Cake

Never have I purchased so many books in a month! And there's one more in the shipment yet to arrive!! Yabadabadooo...

My two sisters (out of five I have!!) and I are cook book addicts! We have some of the same titles and at other times, we cannot get our eyes off each other's books. So twice recently, we collected orders before ordering the same book - three copies.

Back to my purchases, first up, there are these books - one of Tish Boyle's (recommended by one of my two cook book addict sisters) and many of Peggy Porschen's - that I ordered online and arrived around 3 weeks ago. On Tish's book, I was instantly sold to it by the photo of a heavenly-looking piece of creamy pumpkin cheesecake while flipping thru' my sister's copy. And then, she tried out the almond pound cake while I was at her place and so I had a slice of it warm and fresh out of the oven. It was so so so delicious, I am not kidding!! Few days later, I ordered two copies of the book - for myself and for my other cook book addict sis.

And no prize for guessing, it's evident that I simply, simply, simply love and admire the work of the amazingly talented Peggy Porschen. Peggy specialises in wedding and party cakes. Her talent stands distinct from the rest in her genre and her cake work speaks nothing but immaculate perfection and alluring romance.

The above were not all. There was a mega warehouse book sale by the Big Bad Wolf Books this month with up to 95% mark down and I got these books below at really cheap prices. The Hershey's recipe collection was at only RM15 (USD5). I didn't buy that many actually.

And I can't wait to read these novels. Have just started with Deborah Crombie's 2-in-1 book.

With new books means new recipes to try. This is a really soft and moist chocolate lemon marble cake from the Hershey's collection. I've always loved marble cake for its old-fashion and simple appeal. I remember that during my childhood, marble cake is one of my Mom's favorite cake to bake. It's one of the many, many, many lovely things that I remember so fondly of her. And I miss her. Deeply.

I amended a couple of things from the original recipe. I reduced the amount of sugar, omitted the use of shortening and went all butter instead. I also used the creaming method for mixing instead of the slightly vague method in the recipe. Below is based on my amended version and it turned out perfect. I also recommend using buttermilk rather than sour milk (two options the book gave) as the latter may give a slightly acidic after taste on the tongue.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar + another 1/3 cup (separated)
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda + another 1/4 tsp (separated)
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup x 2 butter (recipe in the book calls for the other 1/3 cup for shortening but I used all butter)
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups buttermilk or sour milk (to make sour milk, use 1 tbsp + 2 tsps white vinegar + milk to equal 1 2/3 cups)
2 tsps vanilla extract
1/3 cup Hershey's cocoa powder
1/4 cup hot water
2 tsps freshly grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp lemon juice

~ Sieve the flour, baking powder and 1 tsp baking soda in a bowl. Add in salt.
~ In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and 1 cup sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.
~ Then, add in the flour and buttermilk alternately, and be sure to mix well after each addition. Scoop out half of the batter into a separate bowl.
~ In another separate bowl, stir together cocoa, remaining 1/3 cup sugar, remaining 1/4 tsp baking soda and water.
~ Blend in the cocoa mixture into a bowl of the divided batter. Mix in the lemon rind and juice in the other half of the batter.

~ Scoop spoonful of chocolate batter into the baking pan and then followed with the lemon batter, until the pan is filled 3/4. Then use a skewer to 'swirl and run' the batter a few times to get the marbling pattern inside.
~ Bake in pre-heated oven at 375 F for 40 mins or until inserted skewer comes out clean.

* The recipe in the book uses a 12-cup capacity fluted bundt pan to bake this cake. I wanted mini cakes for giveaways so I baked in three mini rectangular pans. Remember to grease and flour the bundt pan. For flat-bottom pans, lining it with baking paper will do.

Enjoy baking!

petite nyonya

Some Days Are Made For...

...cupcakes!

What's great is that everyone loves a cupcake (or two!). Bake some and frost them any how you like it and finish it off with additional topping of your choice. It's all so versatile and easy to handle. And of course, they're really really fun to make! I especially enjoy and love the decoration part of it.

These lovely moist chocolate cupcakes with delicious strawberry frosting were actually made over two months ago for my co-workers for a little tea time treat we had in the office. So this is actually my long overdue recipe post.

The cake here is an old recipe of moist chocolate cake I found hand-written in my old trusty recipe notebook. I made it into cupcakes and instead of using plain vanilla butter cream for frosting, I decided to give it a strawberry twist instead. I pureed about 2 cups of fresh strawberries and then strained out the juice before mixing in with the butter cream. And the result was....delicious!! It really made a difference to the normal butter cream. One can't argue that chocolate and strawberry make oh such a wonderful pairing!

Chocolate cupcake:

180 g butter
340 g caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp instant coffee granules, dissolve this with 1 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp brandy
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup water

Sieve together:
240 g plain flour
75 g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

~ Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy, and then add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between.
~ Combine brandy, vanilla, dissolved coffee granules and the hot water together, stirring it well.
~ Fold in flour mixture alternately with the coffee liquid to the creamed butter, sugar and egg mixture. Mix well in between flour and liquid.
~ Mix everything well together. Fill up to a maximum 3/4 full in each cupcake liner/case that is fitted in a muffin pan. Bake at 150 deg C for around 40 minutes (depending on your oven) or until an inserted cake tester comes out clean.
~ Cool the cupcakes completely before icing them.

Strawberry butter cream:

2 cups fresh strawberries
2/3 cup butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted icing sugar

~ In a mini blender or food processor, puree the strawberries. Strain/squeeze (can use a muslin cloth) out excess juice (it need not be too dry, just as long as the excess juice is rid off)
~ Cream the butter, shortening, and icing sugar till fluffy. Add in the blended strawberry. Mix really well.
~ Fill up a piping bag with large star nozzle and pipe out a circular swirl on each cupcake. Topped with half of a fresh strawberry for a more luscious and tempting look.

(Add more icing sugar for a stiffer frosting if you prefer)

Enjoy.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

I have not been posting nor visiting blogs as much as I would like to lately and I do want to apologise to all my blog friends for my absence. I have not forgotten you and I shall return to visit soon :). Work just got in the way and it tires me out.

Wonder what I do for a living? Well, I'm in public relations consulting. A recent 2011 poll report by CareerCast.com indicates that amongst the most stressful jobs, pilots top the list. Not surprising at all considering the number of lives a pilot holds in his hand! Second on the list is none other than public relations executives. In fact, working in the media industry carries the highest work pressure with four of the top 10 most stressful jobs being media-related. Photojournalists were ranked fourth, newscaster fifth and advertising account executive sixth. Now, why didn't they produce this report at career week during my undergrad days??!!. Oh well, I guess with all that stress, that's where spending time in the kitchen helps.

This is a lovely soft and lemony cake with pretty specks of poppy seeds that adds a light crunch to the bite. Have a slice of this cake with a cup of coffee...aaahhhh....it can surely help to release your worries for the day! :)

Ingredients:
40g poppy seeds
125ml milk
250g butter, softened
1 tbsp finely grated lemon rind
275g caster sugar
4 eggs
335g self-raising flour
110g plain flour
240g sour cream

Method:

1. Combine poppy seeds and milk, soak for 10 minutes.
2. Beat butter, rind and sugar with electric mixer till light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.
4. Stir in sifted flours, cream and poppy seeds into mixture, in two batches.
5. Spread mixture into pan, bake for about 1 hour at 160 deg C.

Happy baking!

petite nyonya

Mom's Sambal Belacan Terung Asam (Spicy Shrimp Paste Condiment)

This is my Mom's version of sambal belacan in true Nyonya perfection! Mom was such a phenomenal woman, who cooked amazing food for us.

Ingredients: fresh red chilies, bird's eye chilies (for that added 'kick'), Asian shrimp paste (belacan) and terung assam (yellow round fruit) - pounded to a paste in a traditional stone mortar and pestle. Add in some sugar (optional) and a squeeze of calamansi/lime/lemon juice, you'll have your perfect spicy sambal belacan ready to whet your appetite anytime.

Sambal belacan for Malaysians and many South-east Asians needs no introduction at all. It originates from the Malay culture but appeals to the mouth-watering senses of all races in Malaysia.

It's one of the most popular 'must have' condiments during meals as it goes oh! so well! with rice and the various yummylicious Malaysian/Asian dishes.

If you're wondering what terung asam is, the picture below shows you what it is.

Terung asam is a tiny, round and hairy kampung (village) fruit like the size of a calamansi lime. It turns to a pretty bright yellow once ready to be plucked off the plant. Literally translated, terung asam means sour aubergine. However, it has no relation to aubergine. Can be eaten raw or added into asam pedas (spicy/sour fish dish).

Terung asam can be found sold in small quantities by Malay vegetable/herb traders in markets as it is not a crop that is widely cultivated. In fact, many city dwellers may not even heard or seen terung asam before. I have 5 plants growing well in my backyard. Thanks to my sis who gave me the first original plant (below pic). I sprouted the seeds from one of the fruits from this original plant (which has since died by the way) and now I can't wait for the fruits to grow on my 2nd generation plants! Yippees!!!

Fried tempeh with sambal belacan terung asam. Goes well with fried chicken/fish etc. Yummzzzz!

Mom's sambal belacan terung asam

Pound to a paste:
3-5 fresh large red chilies (remove seeds)
3-5 bird's eye chilies
1 tbsp Asian shrimp paste (belacan), lightly fry it in an oiled frying pan for 2-3 mins
4-5 terung asam (peel off the hairy skin)

Add to the paste:
Half to 1 tsp sugar (more or less according to preference)
Some juice of calamansi/lime/lemon (more or less according to sour preference)
Salt (only if preferred after 1st tasting as belacan is already salty)

Happy pounding!

petite nyonya

Bacon, Onion and Parmesan Cheese Tart

Happy Valentine's Day! I made this delicious bacon, onion and parmesan cheese tart for a dinner party at my sister's house last weekend. I harvested a few bunches of my organically homegrown grape cherry tomatoes and used them to decorate this tart. 

Recipe for a 10 -11 " in diameter tart

To make the Shortcrust Pastry:

280g plain flour
150g butter
1/4 tsp salt
80g water

- Mix the butter, flour and salt until they combine and become sandy. Use a food processor, mixer or by hand. Add the water bit by bit and knead well to form a pastry dough.

- Roll out on a floured surface the size of at least 2 inches larger than your tart pan. This allowance is needed to cover the side of the pan. Lift the rolled dough and place it on the base of the pan. Adjust with fingers by pulling the dough to cover exposed side/top rim of the pan.

- Next, use a kitchen scissors and trim off access dough all along the rim of the pan.

- Got extra dough and don't want to waste it? No sweat. Roll the dough out to fit tiny tart molds.

- Use the back of a fork and make imprints all around the top rim dough. Also, use the fork and randomly poke the base and its side to allow better baking.

- Pre-bake the pastry at 145 C for about 15 minutes.

To make the Tart Filling:

2 large onions, diced/chopped
90 g grated Parmesan cheese
450 g Nestle all-purpose cream
3 eggs, beaten
4-5 slices of bacon, baked or pan-fried, cut into small pieces
Extra 5-6 slices of uncooked bacon (for decoration on top)

- Break and beat the eggs in a baking bowl. Add in the cream, mix well.

- Mix in the rest of the ingredients, beat well. Pour into the pre-baked pastry in pan.

- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 145 C or until the top has somewhat set but not yet browned. Take the pastry out from the oven, arrange the extra slices of bacon and bake at the same temperature for 15 minutes. Take the pan out again and this time, arrange the cherry tomatoes wherever you like by pushing each halfway into the filling. Sprinkle some crushed black peppercorns and dried oregano (or your other favorite herb). Place it back into the oven for further browning the way you like it.