Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

The icing is Wilton's fluffy buttercream icing recipe.

Ingredients:

Crisco solid vegetable shortening - 1 cup
Butter softened - 1 cup

Vanilla extract - 3 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp
Sifted confectioners' sugar - 7 cups
Heavy whipping cream - 3/4 cups

(Option) Icing color - Wilton icing color

Yield: 7 and 1/2 cups buttercream, medium consistency

Steps:

1. In large bowl, beat shortening and butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla.
2. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.
3. Gradually add heavy cream; beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. It may be necessary to add additional sugar/cream for the correct consistency.
4. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

To add color, use toothpick to take some icing color and mix in the icing. Keep add more icing color until you get to the color desired. Frosting can be stored in refrigerator for 4 days.

Frozen Queen Elsa Cake

My daughter is an Elsa fan, and requested Elsa cake for her birthday.

Steps:

1. Make two 9" Chiffon cake and Buttercream frosting following the recipe in Rose Swirl Chiffon Cake. Crumb coat the cake with buttercream frosting. Make sure the cake surface is smooth. Put the coated cake in refrigerator for 2 hours or more. I left it overnight.
2. Make a batch of Rolled Marshmallow Fondant. The fondant should be colored
- Blue - to cover the cake, and make some snowflakes, also Elsa's iris
- Light Pink - for Elsa's skin
- Light yellow - for Elsa's hair
- Black - for Eyebrows, eyeliners, and pupils
- Purple - for Eye shadow
- White - for Elsa sclera, and snowflakes
- Red - for lips

3. Roll out the pink fondant, and cut out the Elsa outline. Indent the fondant to indicate the

e face placement. 

4. Roll out the pink fondant, and cut out Elsa's face. Then place white sclera. On top of the white, place purple eye shadow, black eye liners, blue iris (This is not quite shown on mine. I should have used a darker blue), and then finally the black pupils. This is the most time consuming part that you might have to repeat a few times to get desired result. The next thing is to add black eyebrows, and red lips. I used fondant tool to mark out the nose. Once you are satisfied with the face, place the face on the Elsa image.

5. Roll out yellow in 3 strings, and braid it, then place on Elsa. Add more yellow strings on top to complete the hair. Then use use the fondant tool to nark out hair strands. Add blue dress. 

6. Place Elsa on the fondant covered cake. 

7. Decorate the cake with blue and white snowflakes. Add pink balls for the border. I also used some blue sugar sprinkles for the dress. As the last step, melt some chocolate chips and use writing tip to pipe out the words.

Rice Krispie Valentine Lollipops

Valentine's day is coming. Instead of buying Valentine's day cards, we decide to make some special treats. We picked this one because it is nut free, egg free, pretty to look, fun to make, and most importantly, yummy. You can get the Rice Krispies Treat recipe right from the cereal box.

Ingredients:

Marshmallows - 10 oz (it does not matter mini or regular one)
Butter - 4 TBSP
Rice krispie cereal - 6 cups

Food color - red 1 tsp

Lollipop sticks - 12

Candy/treat wrapper - 12
9 x 13 inch baking pan

- This makes about 12 hearts and plenty of scraps for the little helpers.

Options for decorating:
Candy melt - can melt this and add coating to the heart
Candy sprinkles - can sprinkle on the candy melt, or directly on the heart before it is cooled down.

Chocolate - can melt and lace the heart

Steps:

1. Line a 9x13" baking pan with wax paper.
2. Place butter and marshmallows in a large bowl and heat on high in a microwave for 2 minutes. Remove, stir and heat for another 2 minutes. Take the bowl out of microwave and stir really well until marshmallows and butter are combined. Add food coloring and mix well.

3. Add rice krispies to the bowl and stir to combine, working fast.

4. Mold mixture into a baking pan. Let cool slightly and cut out heart shapes with a cookie cutter and set aside.

5. (Optional) Melt candy coating in a small pan according to package directions. Spread a thin coat of the candy coating on the top of the heart shapes, place on a plate and coat generously with candy sprinkles. Marshmallow is sweet enough, I did not add those additional sugar.
6. Insert lollipop sticks in the bottom of each heart and bag it. You can also serve the heart on their own as cookies.

Crème Brûlée

Crème Brûlée is a desert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel. It is one of my favorite desert.

Ingredients:

Heavy whipping cream - 1 1/3 cups (320 ml)
Pure vanilla extract - 1 1/2 tsp
Egg yolks - 4 large (60 grams) at room temperature
Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup (50 grams)
Superfine sugar - 4 TBSP (60 grams) (use spice grinder to grind granulated sugar to powder)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F and place rack in center of oven.

2. Place Crème Brûlée dishes or ramekins in a roasting pan.
3. In a saucepan, over medium high heat, bring the cream to the scalding point (the cream just begins to bubble around the edges).

4. In a heatproof bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale.

5. Gradually pour the scalding cream into the egg yolk mixture, making sure you keep whisking constantly so the eggs don't curdle. 

6. Stir in vanilla extract. 

7. Strain custard into a large measuring cup or pitcher and then evenly pour the custard into the ramekins. 

8. Place the baking pan in oven, then prepare a water bath by carefully pouring enough boiling water so that the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. 

9. Bake for about 25-40 minutes or just until the custards are set (a slight wobble is okay).
10. Immediately remove the custards from the water bath and cool to room temperature on a wire rack (about one hour).

11. Refrigerate (uncovered) for at least 4 hours or until cold and firm. At this point they can be stored (covered) in the refrigerator for about three days.
12. To serve, remove the custards from the refrigerator. Sprinkle an even, not too thick, layer (about 1 tablespoon) of superfine sugar over the custards. 

13. Using a hand held kitchen torch, or under a very hot preheated broiler, caramelize the sugar until it is golden brown and bubbly (about 1 minute). Let sit a few minutes so the sugar can harden then serve.

Lemon Swiss Roll

I had some Lemon curd left and made some Lemon Swiss Roll. 

Ingredients:

Cake flour  - 75g (~3/4 Cup)
Sugar - 125g
Oil - 75g 
Honey - 15g
Fresh squeeze lemon juice - 60g (about 2 Lemon)
Lemon zest from one Lemon
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt -1/4 tsp
Cream of tartar - 1/8 tsp

For filling:

Lemon curd - 3/4 cup 

Equipment:

Electrical mixer, oven, Half sheet cookie tray 13"x18", Parchment paper, mixing bowls(2)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the cookie sheet with butter or oil, and line parchment paper on. 

2. Separate the eggs into egg yolk and egg white.

3. Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl.

4. In a mixing bowl, add honey, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, whisk them well. Then sift in the flour mixture. Slowly add egg yolks, whisk well.

3. In an mixing bowl, add egg white, cream of tartar and sugar; use a electrical mixer to beat it to soft peak.

4. Pour 1/3 of egg white foam into egg yolk batter. Gently fold with a spatula to mix them. 

5. Pour the egg yolk batter into the egg white bowl in a thin stream. Gently fold the batter into the egg whites. Use a spatula to cut down vertically through the mixture. Move the spatula across the bottom of the bowl; bring it back up the other side, carrying some of the mixture from the bottom over the surface. Repeat this process, rotating the bowl, until the ingredients are combined.

6. Pour all batter on the cookie sheet. Use spatula to make the surface flat.

7. Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes or until the surface is golden.
8. Lay a new sheet of parchment paper on cooling rack
9. Take the cake out and put upside down on the parchment paper.
10. Remove the top layer parchment paper, and spread a layer of lemon curd.

11. Roll the cake into a tight roll. Twist the paper on the end. Put the roll in refrigerator for 20 minutes.

12. Cut the roll into slices and serve.

Rose Rasberry French Macaron

The little sandwich cookies seem to be so popular nowadays. With colorful smooth shells, they are definitely pleasant to look at. They are also a good test for baker's patience and skill (emphasis on PATIENCE). I learned most from the recipe & demonstrations from Joy of Baking, Martha Steward, and Food Networks. This recipe I followed is from Food Networks with some tricks from other recipes.

Ingredients:

Powdered sugar - 1 3/4 cups
Almond flour - 1 cup
Egg whites - 3 large , at room temperature
Cream of tartar - 1/4 teaspoon
Pinch of salt
Superfine sugar - 1/4 cup  - (I used spice grinder to grind the granulated sugar)

Gel food color - rose pink
Raspberry Jam - 1/2 cup or so
【Special Equipment】

Fine-mesh sieve
Pastry bag with 1/4-inch round tip

Steps:

1. Measure the powdered sugar and almond flour by spooning them into measuring cups and leveling with a knife. Transfer to a bowl; whisk to combine.
2. Sift the sugar-almond flour mixture, a little at a time, through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing with a rubber spatula to pass through as much as possible. It will take a while, and up to 2 tablespoons of coarse almond flour may be left; just toss it.

3. Beat the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and salt with a mixer on medium speed until frothy. Increase the speed to medium high; gradually add the superfine sugar and beat until it hold a firm peak, about 5 more minutes. I added the food color during this process.

4. Transfer the beaten egg whites to the bowl with the almond flour mixture. Draw a rubber spatula halfway through the mixture and fold until incorporated, giving the bowl a quarter turn with each fold. Continue folding and turning, scraping down the bowl, until the batter is smooth and falls off the spatula in a thin flat ribbon, 2 to 3 minutes. It takes about 35-40 folds.
5. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip. Holding the bag vertically and close to the baking sheet lined with Parchment paper, pipe 1 1/4-inch circles (24 per sheet).  I have a mini Macaron silicon mat which I just pipe according to the circles on the mat. Some people recommend to draw pattern on parchment paper so that you can pipe more evenly.

6. It is important to firmly tap the baking sheets twice against the counter to release any air bubbles. I also examine it closely and pop any bubbles with a toothpick.
7. Preheat the oven to 325F.
8. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the tops are no longer sticky to the touch, 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the humidity. I waited 30 minutes. Slip another baking sheet under the first batch (a double baking sheet protects the cookies from the heat). I did not do that since I do not have any spare after lined up all my cookies.
9. Bake 14 minutes or until the cookies are shiny and rise 1/8 inch to form a "foot". Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

10. Peel the cookies off the sheets and let it cool completely. Sandwich the cookies with a thin layer of filling. You can pipe the filling with a piping bag. I did not put much filling since the jam is very sweet.

 11. When cookies are cool, put in a sealed container in refrigerator. The cookies taste better after 1-2 days.

Followup:

Lemon Curd as filling, and purple color for the shell.

Strawberry Mousse Cake (草莓慕斯蛋糕)

I made this for my mom's birthday. She loves it.

This cake require a special cake ring, or mousse ring. I used an adjustable 4" deep cake ring. 

PART A: Make Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

Egg - 6 Large
Cake flour - 102g
Oil - 48g
Milk - 48g
Sugar - 72g for egg white
Sugar - 36g for egg yolk

Steps:

1. Follow the same steps in Chiffon Cake.  Adjust baking to 340°F, 25 minutes
Note: If you like to have less cake and more mousse, you can reduce the eggs to 5, and proportionally reduce other ingredients.
2. After cakes are cool, trim the cakes to 8". I used a bottom of an 8" pan as template to trim the cake.

PART B: Make Sugar Water

1. Boiling 75g water and 38g sugar until the sugar is fully melt. Set aside to let is cool.
2. Mix in 10g Brandy or Rum

PART C: Make Egg Yolk Cream

Ingredients:

Egg yolk - 94g (about 6 large egg yolks)
Sugar - 126g
Milk - 172g
Gelatin - approx. 15g (2 packs)
Brandy or Rum - 14g

Steps:

1. In a mixing bowl, add egg yolk and sugar, use a mixer to beat it.

2. Pour milk in a sauce pan, add gelatin powder, mix and cook the mixture over low heat .

3. Pour half of the milk mixture to the mixing bowl, mix well, and then pour all content of the mixing bowl into the sauce pan.
4. Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. It should leave a path on the back of a spoon. Don't let the mixture boil.

5. Take the mixing out and let it cool. Then add Brandy or Rum.

PART D: Make Strawberry Mousse

Ingredients:

Fresh strawberry - 320g

Heavy whipping cream - 200g
Powdered sugar - 2 TBSP
Red food color
Egg yolk cream - from previous step

Steps:

1. Liquefy fresh strawberry with electrical blender.

2. Add the egg yolk cream slowly and mix well

3. Beat the heavy whipped cream and sugar, add some red food color.

4. Fold the strawberry mixture to the whipped cream.

PART D: Assembly and Chill

1. Pick strawberries that have similar size, cut off the bottom stem, and then cut them in halves.
2. Set cake ring to 9" size and on top of a cake board.
3. Put first 8" cake inside mousse ring. brush the cake with sugar water.
4. Place strawberry halves around the mousse ring.

5. Pour in some mousse, drop some chopped strawberries, then add more mousse. The mousse should be able to cover the top of the strawberry halves.

6. Place the other 8" cake on top of the mouse, brush the cake with sugar water.
7. Pour in the rest of the mousse. Flatten the cake surface.
8. Put in refrigerator overnight, or at least 3 hours.

PART E: Make Glaze

Ingredients:

Jam - 2 TBSP (if the fruit color is light, use apricot jam, otherwise, you can use blueberry jam. I used raspberry jam since that is what I have on hand.)

Lemon juice - a few drops (use water if you do not have lemon juice)

Steps:

1. Put jam and lemon juice in small sauce pan over low heat. Keep stir until the jam is soften and well mixed. Add some water if it is too thick
2. Use a filter to filter out lumps.

PART E: Final Decoration

1. Release the cake ring, and take the cake out.
2. Place fresh strawberry pieces on top of the cake.

2. Brush the glaze on fruits.

Enjoy

Followup