Sweet/ Dessert Round

This week has been unpredictably busy and I have not been able to post regularly. I originally planned to catch up on a few posts, but will have to keep it simple. I have to learn to juggle with 'my list to do', especially when things seem to pop out of nowhere. Anyway, I still managed to cook and produce some sweet treats. I made taro balls, pandan cake and chocolate brownie - three of my favourites.

Sweet treats/ Dessert

It's been a long time since my last post. Here are some photos of sweet treats that I have made: macarons with matcha green tea buttercream and chocolate ganache, cheesecake brownie and a pandan chiffon cake. My current favourite snack is roasted chestnuts, really enjoy the nutty and slightly sweet flavour and soft texture of the nut. I cannot wait to write about my new journey. I will need some time to combine and organise everything into one. 

  

Pandan Chiffon Cake (2nd time trial and more successful texture-wise)

The first time I tried making pandan chiffon cake, it sunk a little bit too much and there was a slightly dense bottom. I looked up for some more recipes and came across this one which is for a 25cm tin. This recipe uses baking powder to ensure that the cake rises properly (a lil help doesn't hurt) and this time I used cream of tartar which I assume also played an important role in making the cake fluffy and soft. I just had enough pandan extract (reason why it is a paler green) and since I did not have pandan juice, I swapped it for some pandan essence instead. The cake tasted really nice, coco-nutty and very fragrant. I am very happy with how the cake turned out; nothing beats that feeling of cutting into a cake and seeing it has baked beautifully. What an enjoyable surprise!

I shall stick to this recipe for future chiffon cake baking. 

Pandan 'Chiffon' Cake (First time trial)

I have had a chiffon cake mold sitting over the pantry for quite a while and I have never really thought about giving a try. It was a gift from my aunt. I am not really into cake making because it takes at least 1 hour to be ready (from the oven) without including the preparation time. I did not planned to make this cake and it was quite on the spur. I am glad I did it though. It was quite a success for a first time since the cake was half gone after cutting it.

I looked up for some recipes online and came with one which I could trust will turn out good. The batter itself was not hard to make. I was very excited to find the taste similar to the one we normally have at the bakery shops. I reduced the amount of sugar by 20g and use coconut oil instead. I also swap the 2 tbs of pandan juice to 1/2 tsp of pandan essence. My cake did deflate a little and there was a tiny dense layer, which I think is due to the fact that I did not use cream of tartar. Overall, it was a great try, the taste and colour was spot on I reckon. It was almost like a sponge cake instead, the reason I inverted chiffon in the post title.

Just fresh out of the oven

After cooling down

Unmolded