lotsofsprinkles

The Moving Van is Here...

2009-02-26T22:55:00.000-08:00

I'm moving! So please update your links and followings. The new address is http://www.weelovebaking.com

You'll also notice that I've changed the blog name to Wee Love Baking ('Wee' being my last name!), I've done that so as to keep it separate from the business name because this blog is more about my baking adventures and experiments rather than the business.

So head on over to the new blog and make yourselves at home while I whip up something in the kitchen.

Chocolate Mud Sushi with Lychee Roe

2009-02-15T05:56:00.000-08:00

It’s a weird post title I know. But I work for a food company and a couple of weeks ago during our induction program, they brought us into the test kitchen and we got to meet one of the chefs. He talked about the trends in food and mentioned the fastest growing trend at the moment: Molecular Gastronomy. He demonstrated this by turning eggs, oil and orange juice into a light fluffy foam just by putting it into a canister, shaking it hard and letting some gas mix with it. I was fascinated!

So I did some research and stumbled onto a type of molecular gastronomy called Spherification/ sferificacion… it’s basically the controlled gelification of a liquid which, submerged in a bath (of chemicals), forms spheres. Check out this You Tube video for a better explanation.

I was so excited to try this (imagine the possibilities of making your own jelly balls!), but also nervous about having to work with the chemicals. The Red Spoon Company sells a Spherification/ sferificacion kit and I was about to buy it until I stumbled across the Sticky Fingers blog.

It talks about how to basically create the same effect without the chemicals. The only difference is that the spheres won’t resemble a sac of liquid, but instead it will be like little balls of jelly (looks the same though).

I’ve always wanted to make ‘sweet sushi’ and have always been stumped about how to make the ‘roe’ until I saw this method. So I tried it out this weekend and ta-da! I present to you, chocolate mud sushi with lychee roe.

I used juice like the recipe suggested but the jelly didn’t have any flavour after it was made, maybe because each little sphere was so small… so I think the next time I’m going to try a concentrate like a cordial mix to get a stronger flavour. I also used a dropper instead of a syringe (it was all I had available) so some of the 'roe' is a bit misshaped because the jelly started hardening as I was making it. Can't wait to try this again :)

Paris Inspiration

2009-02-13T21:16:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this blog the other day and fell in love with all the pictures and style:

One of the many beautiful pictures from http://www.thecherryblossomgirl.com/

Alix’s a French designer and has the most amazing photos which just make you feel all sweet and fuzzy inside (if that is possible).

I was in Paris last year and loved every moment of it. The architecture was beautiful and the pastries even better, they were like works of art! And the taste… yuuuuummmm. There was this one bakery which was so tiny but always had a line out the door every time we walked past. Everything was so pretty and colourful…

So many eclair flavours! How can they expect me to just choose one??

So I decided since it was Valentine’s day and all (plus I had left over batter) and since visiting Alix’s blog has brought back memories of Paris, I’d create some Paris inspired cupcakes.

More Boob Cupcakes...

2009-02-08T22:38:00.000-08:00

It's been almost a year now since I first made the boob and stripper cupcake tower for my friend's 21st. The other day a friend of a friend saw them and ordered them for her friend.

This stripper was made from sugar so she had to sit down (the other one was made from clay). I also tried our a new 'face style' on her… I wanted to make eyes with a little bit more expression but I think the smile didn’t really suit her because when I finished I thought she looked a bit scary rather than sexy?

I didn’t get much time at all to take pictures… was so rushed this weekend :( but managed to snap a couple of shots...

A Tiramisu Birthday

2009-01-28T02:18:00.000-08:00

It was the boyfriend's birthday yesterday and it’s tradition at his workplace that the birthday boy/girl brings in their own cake to share with everyone (weird, I know.) In the past, ever since he started working there, I've made him a cake to bring in. Last year I made one of my fondant covered cakes for him to bring in.

Last year's burger cake

This year, since I was a bit short on time and the boyfriend has said he liked tiramisu (a hint no doubt!), I decided to make a tiramisu cake. This has to be by far one of the easiest cakes/desserts to make. It tastes impressive too :) No baking required (unless you decide to make your sponge fingers from scratch) and I managed to mix, assemble and 'decorate' all in an hour!

If you decide to make your own sponge fingers, it's actually really easy and you can make it days in advance. The good thing about home made sponge fingers is that not only do they taste better but you can also make them any shape/size to suit your needs. I've tried this recipe before and it worked out really well.

I used my favourite tiramisu recipe which I made a few little changes. The original can be found here.

This recipe has a few of my tweaks (I basically added more coffee and liqueur for a stronger taste!):

Ingredients

4 eggs
500g mascarpone cheese
2 heaped tablespoons icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 heaped tablespoon espresso coffee
1 cup boiling water
5 tablespoons Kaluha liqueur
2 packet sponge fingers
2 tablespoons caster sugar
Cocoa powder

Method

Separate the eggs. Add the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla extract to the yolks. Mix together until smooth. Add 1 heaped teaspoon of cocoa powder and mix well.

Mix the espresso coffee with the boiling water in a shallow bowl and let it cool before adding the Kaluha.

Using clean beaters, whip the eggwhites until stiff. Add the caster sugar gradually, beating until it has all dissolved.

Fold the eggwhites through the mascarpone mixture until combined.

To assemble the cake, simply layer the tiramisu on a cake board as you would if it was in a bowl.

Take the sponge fingers and dunk them in one at a time into the coffee mixture and layer them on top of the mascarpone. Sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Try not to soak the sponge fingers too long (they might get too soggy for the cake). It doesn’t matter if the tiramisu is not in a perfect circle, once you put the sponge fingers along the sides, you'll be able to push it gently in place.

Add another layer of mascarpone, another layer of soaked sponge fingers, then another layer of mascarpone and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Spread some mascarpone mixture along the sides of the cake. Repeat layering until you have finished using all of the mascarpone mixture.

Top with sprinkled cocoa powder or grated chocolate (or both!) Use the remaining sponge fingers to build a ‘fence’ around the cake. Tie with a ribbon and top with fresh strawberries if desired!

Fairytale Cupcakes

2009-01-21T07:03:00.000-08:00

Had a movie afternoon last weekend with my friends and I made these cupcakes just for fun. I haven’t had a chance to do my own thing for awhile so this was extra fun :)

I saw this awhile ago from Happiness in a Bite and always wanted to make them. They’re so sweet and cute, yet simple too. And then I also decided to make some ‘friends’ to go with the little caterpillars… a couple of little mushrooms, flowers and one fairy later… ta da!

My Favourite Xmas Present

2009-01-20T00:58:00.000-08:00

Guess what I got over the Christmas holidays? A Crème Brulee set! Yippee, I was very excited because it was a surprise present from the boyfriend :D The set came with 4 ramekins bowls and a blow torch! Making the crème brulee was much easier than I expected. It looks fancy and tastes yum and it's easy too, what more can you ask for in a dessert?! So here I thought I'd share with you the crème brulee recipe that came with the set… I've added Cointreu for additional flavouring, but it's optional… you can add other flavours if you like. I tried add Baileys once too and that was the yummiest so far!

Crème Brulee Recipe (with a hint of Cointreu)
Serves 3 - 4

What you need:
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup cream
2 tablespoons caster sugar
4 tablespoons Cointreu (optional)

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 160 °C.

Put the cream and sugar in a pot and bring to boil until small bubbles appear. Stir and mix in the sugar.

In a separate pot, bring some water to boil.

Beat the egg yolks and vanilla essence until light and creamy. Slowly pour the cream into the egg mixture while still beating the mixture. Let the mixture cool slightly and add the Cointreu, add more if you like a stronger taste.

Pour the mixture into the ramekin bowls.

Place the ramekin bowls into a baking tray and fill the tray with boiling water until it covers half the ramekins bowl. Then cover the tray loosely with foil and place into the oven for 25 mins.

Remove from oven and let the crème brulee cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.

Before eating, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of caster sugar over the top of the crème brulee and use a blow torch to melt and caramelise the sugar. If you don't have a blow torch, you can turn on the grill in your oven and melt the sugar that way.

But if you have a bit of spare cash I'd recommend you get a blow torch! You can use it to toast meringue and meats, not just crème brulee :) I never realised how useful they were until I got one! In fact, I used it the other day on my take away sushi! I grilled my raw scallops with mayo and it was tasty. Yum.

What Kind of Cupcake are you? - Take the quiz!

2009-01-19T18:44:00.000-08:00

What kind of cupcake are you? » Make Your Own Quiz

Farewell 2008

2008-12-30T07:34:00.000-08:00

Today, my last cake/cupcake order for 2008 was picked up... Wow, it's hard to believe tomorrow is already the last day of 2008.

Alot can happen in a year! Just a year ago, I got my first order:

Little lamb cupcakes for a friend of a friend... and one year and many other cakes and cupcakes later... ta-da! my last one for 2008:

This was made for my friend's boyfriend who has his own band... she wanted a rocker themed birthday cake and cupcakes. She chose the designes and I just worked with her to bring it to 'life'. :) The topper is made from Fimo Clay and the cupcakes are chocolate mud.

I can't believe how much I have learnt this year... I made my first 3D and sculpted cakes, started getting real paid orders, baked bigger orders and launched Lots of Sprinkles! I still have a long way to go in 2009 for Lots of Sprinkles and I can't wait to tackle that long list of things to do... haha

But for now, my kitchen table in finally clean, my cake decorating stuff put away and my little mixer stored away in his little house aka the cupboard.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and will have a funfilled New Year!

A BIG Thank You!

2008-12-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

The voting has now closed for the ING 'my dream is' competition. Thank you SO much to everyone who took the time out to vote for me. Since I found out about the competition at the beginning of last week, I didn’t think I had enough time to put something together for it. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do and how I was going to fit it in.

For those who don't know, I do have a full time day job and at the same time run Lots of Sprinkles during every other waking moment in my life. I racked my brain… and came up with this:

I put this up last Friday and the competition closed on the Sunday… I had approx 48 hours to get enough votes for me to qualify. I was a bit discouraged thinking that some people had about a month to gather all their votes while I had a weekend. However, I put it out there and asked for help through my friends, Flickr and Facebook. Within 24 hours I had 100 votes and at the end of Sunday I got approx 140 votes. It might not be much compared to some of the others (I saw one with 3000 votes!) but I hope it will at least qualify me.

I am really grateful and touched that you guys all helped me out. Thank you to those that I know personally, those who passed it on to their friends, for those who voted for me even though they don't know me, the people who I have not been in contact with in awhile yet still took the time to vote and leave me a message and especially thanks to everyone for their kind words, encouraging comments, good lucks and crossed fingers!

I hope one day I can grow Lots of Sprinkles so that I can actually do this full time. I have all these plans and ideas for Lots of Sprinkles and sometimes I wish I actually had more time and resources to do them all! :)