Sydney plus more cupcakes

We just came back from a short holiday in Sydney.  This trip was a very nice change for us since being a big family, it is just too costly for us to go on trips regularly.  It was actually my first time to go interstate after nine years in Australia!

We stayed in a serviced apartment right in the heart of the city.  The view was great from our window on the 45th floor...

But what excited me more than the great view was that the apartment was situated right next to this shop.

I hardly ever go to shops like this so I was thrilled to just see all those gorgeous cupcakes!  All of the cupcakes were $2.50 AUD @ (roughly $2.29 USD).  They were small, only about 2/3 the standard size.  While there was a huge variety of flavours, most of the cupcakes were just either vanilla or chocolate.  The flavours were actually in the frosting.  My daughter and I bought a box of 6 to share with the rest of the family.  How were the cupcakes, you may ask?

They were just ok...nothing extra special about them.  Looked better than they actually tasted.  Even for the small size, I would not really crave for another one. Having said that, I really thought my home baked cupcakes were heaps tastier.

Before we left for Melbourne, my daughter wanted to buy one more cupcake, the chocolate with the peppermint frosting.  We ran out of time to pass by the shop though.

Yesterday, on my trip to the supermarket, I saw some Nestle chocolate blocks on sale.  I had a great idea.  I wanted to surprise my daughter when she came home from school today.

My recreation of the Chocolate Peppermint Cupcake!

These are chocolate cupcakes (again, my aunt's old recipe) topped with fluffy (or seven minute) peppermint frosting and crushed Nestle Aero Peppermint Chocolate.

My comment on my cupcakes? They were yummy, light and moist.  Personally, though, I would have preferred a richer chocolate taste as the peppermint flavour can be a bit overpowering.  Devil's Food cupcakes would have been more appropriate with this frosting. No complaints from the kids...they loved it as is.

How proud I am that I can bake. You can too, of course!  Here you go...enjoy this recipe!

CHOCO-PEPPERMINT CUPCAKES (Makes 18 standard sized cupcakes)

Chocolate Cupcake

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup boiling water

1 2/3 cups plain (all-purpose) flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line your muffin tins with baking cups.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F.

Dissolve cocoa powder in boiling water.  Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.  Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Alternately add the flour and cooled cocoa mixture in three parts, beating only until ingredients are incorporated.  Do not overbeat.  Scrape down the batter in the bowl occasionally to make sure all the ingredients are well blended.

Divide the batter into baking cups, filling them to about 2/3 full.  Bake for about 25 minutes.  Cool cupcakes in the tins for about 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

When cool, frost cupcakes with Fluffy Frosting and if desired, top with crushed peppermint flavoured chocolate.

Fluffy Peppermint Frosting

1 cup caster sugar

1/3 cup water

2 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon peppermint essence

green gel paste

Combine sugar and the water in small saucepan; stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar is dissolved. Boil uncovered, without stirring, about 5 minutes or until syrup reaches 116C on a candy thermometer. Syrup should be thick but not coloured. Remove syrup from heat, allow bubbles to subside.

Beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. While motor is operating, add hot syrup in a thin stream; beat on high speed about 10 minutes or until mixture is thick.  Add peppermint essence and enough green gel paste to achieve desired colour.

Makes 2 1/2 cups.  More than enough to make high swirly tops for your cupcakes!

Green Tea Chiffon Cake : An Experiment

My sister in law's friend (I am not comfortable to call her MY friend just yet as I hardly know her) rang me yesterday to ask if I could help her make a cake.  Her husband, a psychiatrist, has been taking a series of exams he needed for his profession, and today was his last exam.  She wanted to surprise him.

I asked her what sort of cake her health-conscious husband would like.  She suggested green tea.  Of all cakes she could have thought of!  For one, I haven't tried baking green tea cake before (only cupcakes) and secondly, I was afraid I was going to risk wasting my precious (expensive) matcha powder.

But I am not one to back out of a cake challenge, daunting as it was.  (I say daunting because I have been told how very important aesthetics was to the husband!)  My initial idea was to combine green tea with chocolate. Here's how my green tea cake experiment went.

I used my aunt's basic chiffon cake recipe, only altering it to add in the matcha powder. I knew that by using a regular round pan, instead of a tube pan, I would not achieve the maximum height for the cake. My baking pan was 9" round, 3" high.

This was the cake after being halved horizontally. The colour was very "matcha-like".

I had some thickened cream and dark chocolate in the fridge.  What better way to use them up than for chocolate ganache?  I made half of this recipe to use as a filling.

Looked good so far...

My choice of frosting was Martha Stewart's Swiss Meringue Buttercream (chocolate variation).  

This was the crumb coat.  I did the laundry and washed the dishes while waiting for this layer to dry a bit.

Now fully frosted with borders!  At this point, I was feeling quite good and confident.

I had no idea how I was going to finish off the cake.  I decided to do something similar to one of the cakes I recently made.  I have to be honest...I stuffed up.  I could not pipe out leaves correctly and my writing was way terrible....I wish I could have done this better...I really need to practice...(sigh)

Don't ask where that name came from!  It's short for some foreign sounding name.

I got a call this afternoon and was given the good news that the cake was delicious.  The good doctor said the cake was moist and not too sweet and that the taste was sophisticated (TRANSLATION: The bitterness of the green tea blended well with the chocolate!).

So, was the experiment a success?  I guess so.  But until I have a taste of the cake myself, I do not want to make any conclusions.  The recipe for Green Tea Chiffon Cake follows.  You might be interested to do your own experimenting!

GREEN TEA CHIFFON CAKE

Ingredients:

{A}

1 1/2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons matcha (green tea) powder

{B}

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup water (or milk would probably be better)

{C}

4 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

{D}

1/2 cup sugar

Procedure:

1.  Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

2.  In a large bowl, combine {A} well.  Add in {B}.  Beat with electric mixer or by hand until smooth and well blended.

3.  In a separate bowl, beat {C} on high speed until frothy.  Gradually add in {D} and beat until stiff peaks are formed.  Gradually and gently fold in egg whites into egg yolk mixture.  Pour batter into an ungreased 9" round, 3" high pan lined with parchment paper at the bottom (or a 9" tube pan). 
4.  Bake for about 45 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched.  Invert pan into wire rack immediately and cool completely.

5.  Carefully run a thin knife around sides of pan and invert cake onto a serving plate.

Enjoy!

My take on Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcake

My copy of The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook arrived a few days ago. I think there is really no question as to what recipe I should be trying first. The Vanilla-Vanilla? Of course! According to Magnolia's original owners, this is the most popular cupcake at the bakery and that the most popular colour of the icing is pink.  Well, I've only been to New York once in my life and that was pre-Magnolia bakery days.  So until I get the chance to go back and have a taste of the real thing, I am going to have to rely on the recipe, trusting that this is really the same they use over at the bakery.

I've read conflicting reviews on the vanilla cupcake recipe.  Some swear that the resulting cupcake was the best they've ever eaten but countless others say that it was dry and lacking in flavour.  I just had to find out for myself!

(Of course, I had to use pink frosting as well!)

My verdict?  The vanilla cupcakes were beautiful! Probably not the best out there but nevertheless, moist with great flavour.  I actually ate two, one after the other.  Comparing the cupcake photo from the cookbook with my cupcake, the texture seemed pretty similar.

I didn't use the vanilla buttercream though.  Just by reading through the recipe, I knew how utterly sweet it was.  I opted for creamy vanilla frosting instead, the same Magnolia uses for their red velvet cupcakes.

Next on my list is the chocolate cupcake.

The recipe for Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cupcake can be found here and the Creamy Vanilla Frosting here.  Half recipe of the frosting is enough to make swirly tops for 24 cupcakes.

Laptop bag

My daughter got a new HP ProBook, thanks to the new 1:1 student laptop program in her school.  No, the laptop is not free (I wish), but parent-funded.  Part of the cost, however, is subsidized by the school and payment is on installment basis (which is good).

Naturally, I offered to make a laptop bag. My daughter's only request was that I use a dark fabric, the reason being, she did not like bright colours that would attract attention.  As for me, my idea was to do it in her school colours (navy blue, maroon and yellow gold) so it would look like it was an official school bag.  I already had almost everything on hand...

* a thick denim fabric I found at the Op shop sometime ago (about 2 meters for $5)
* a maroon cotton blend fabric, remnant from this old project
* a long strap (complete with swivel hooks and strap adjuster) salvaged from a bag I had already thrown out
* a black pre-quilted fabric I had bought on sale months ago but have not found any use for yet
* an embroidered school logo that I had cut off from one of my son's worn out uniforms
* interlining, velcro, buttons and thread in my stash
The only thing new I had to purchase was yellow gold thread. 

So here it is...my daughter's new laptop bag!

(Sorry, I had to blur out the school logo for privacy reasons.)

(Close-up of patchwork stitch)

(Open bag showing pre-quilted lining fabric)

(Super neat inside!)

The bag came together quite easily, athough at some point, I was really worried my sewing machine would not be able to handle the super thick layers (Aside from the already thick pre-quilted lining, I had also lined the denim with fusible fleece!).  Sewing slowly did the trick. I wasn't contented with the old black strap so I added a denim strip along one side. I also skipped adding pockets to make things a little easier for me.  My daughter has her school bag for her other things anyway. 

Overall, I am super happy with how this bag turned out (and how I nearly had no new cash outlay!) and am even happier that my daughter absolutely loved it! Yesterday, she used the bag for the first time.  In the afternoon, I asked her if anybody noticed her bag.  She said, it wasn't even 2 seconds after she entered the school that a teacher already came up to her and asked where she got it!

So much for not attracting attention.

PS. Some other stuff I've done in the past week or so...

Purple yam chiffon cake for a family friend's birthday

Coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

One year on...

Today marks my mom's first death anniversary. One year on, I can honestly say I am doing ok. I still do find myself crying every so often. The sad thoughts seem to just hit me unexpectedly......when I am at church, while I'm driving, before I go to sleep at night. When the tears fall though, it is when I think my mother is probably just in my midst watching over me.  For that reason then, crying becomes a good thing.

I no longer fear dying. Why would I, when I know, that is the only way I would be reunited with my mother? I believe without a speck of doubt that she is in heaven and if I were to get to that same place and see her again someday, I need to live the kind of life that she lived. That is my personal challenge. She was a woman of great faith. Even through her tremendous pain and sufferings, she never ceased praying and trusting in our Lord. She was also a selfless wife and mother, who loved my father and us, her children, unconditionally.

As you leave this blog, I ask that you say even just a short prayer for my mom and for your own loved ones who have gone ahead of you.

Loving my cupcakes

So sorry for being gone for a while.  My kids went back to school for the new school year on the first of this month and I had to make a bit of adjustment to my schedule.

I have had orders for cupcakes this past week and am enjoying my baking time immensely.  My personal favourite is red velvet (I think I've written about that in here many times already!). I've read over the internet about how famous this kind of cupcake is in the US, especially the one from Magnolia Bakery in New York.  Their recipe is widely available online and there are even videos on You Tube demostrating how to make the cupcake, the frosting, as well as how to decorate each one. (I encourage you to watch the videos!).The recipe I use is very similar, except that I put in less cocoa and much, much less red food colouring.  The procedure, however, is exactly the same.  As for the frosting, my preference is cream cheese rather than vanilla buttercream.

Have you watched the videos yet? What do you think about how they frost the cupcake?  Too much?  A bit messy?  Frankly, I don't like to judge because I've never actually seen and tasted their cupcake. One thing I can say for sure is that everybody around here loves my version and if I may say so (without bragging), my frosting looks much neater...

Perfect for Valentine's day, isn't it?

I purchased Magnolia Bakery's cookbook from Amazon a few days ago.  Can't wait to get my hands on it and find out just what makes them world famous!  My cupcakes might get famous in Melbourne too one day.  I can dream, can't I?

Finding my destiny

Has anybody watched the movie "The Men Who Stare at Goats"?  For a George Clooney movie, it was rather disappointing.  Supposedly a comedy...I think I only laughed a couple of times...and they weren't even big laughs.  One particular scene blew me away though.  And for that alone, I reckon, it was worth having to bear with the whole thing.

That scene involved George Clooney (Lyn) and Ewan McGregor's (Bob) characters. At that point, they were kidnapped by a criminal gang and Bob was freaking out.  Lyn said something like this to Bob:

Have you heard of Optimum Trajectory before? Your life is like a river, Bob. If you're aiming for a goal that isn't your destiny, you will always be swimming against the current. Young Ghandi wants to be a stock-car racer? Not gonna happen. Little Anne Frank wants to be a High School teacher. Tough titty Anne. That's not your destiny. But you will go on to move the hearts and minds of millions. Find out what your destiny is and the river will carry you. Now sometimes events in life give an individual clues as to where their destiny lies.

For many, many years, I have solely concentrated on being the best mother I can be, believing that is my only life purpose. After I quit my job to be a stay at home mom, I gradually lost my way in all other aspects of my life. I accepted things just the way they were because I thought they were simply meant to be that way. I don't think I was actually 'swimming against the current'...I just didn't know where I was going.

Only recently did I come to realize that, although being a mother is my most important calling, it is but one part of my whole being.  In the last couple of years, I found out there are actually a lot of other things (no matter how small they may seem), I am good at as well.  I am very grateful because the people around me (and that includes those of you who faithfully read and comment on this blog) have given me the validation I badly needed.
 
In my prayers, I always ask the Lord to reveal His plans for me and to guide me in His direction. Now, more than ever before, those plans are beginning to get clearer. Slowly, things are falling into place. 

2010 is indeed looking brighter.  I truly believe I am now headed to where my destiny lies.