Tiramisu Cake

Last night I made this tiramisu cake for my church's Easter potluck.  I wanted to make something fancy only the adults would eat, since the children usually has dibs on the dessert table.  So I made this tiramisu cake with rum, so only adults could eat it.

I got this recipe from the dessert cookbook my friend got me for my 18th birthday.  It's a cookbook by Williams Sonoma, and all the recipes comes with fully coloured photos.

The only thing with this recipe, and I'm not too sure if it's because I did something wrong along the way, but the recipe this book gives for the cake part of the tiramisu (ladyfingers aren't used for this), the cake is really spongey when it first comes out of the oven, but when I tasted the cake the next morning, the cake was a little hard.  Next time I'll be using my own recipe for the cake.

The tiramisu came out extremely smooth and creamy, and it was rich in taste.  Though this book doesn't particularly indicate what type of mixer/beater to use, I highly recommend using a stand mixer instead of a hand-held one.  Some parts of this recipe requires beating for amounts of time that would be tiring if done by hand.  In fact, when I first made the cake part of this recipe, I used a hand-held mixer, and the cake came out hard and flat.  The second time I used my stand mixer, and it came out just like the instructions indicated.

Tiramisu Cake:
Makes one 9-inch cake

Cake:

• 1 C all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 2/3 C sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Syrup:

• 1/2 C water
• 1/3 C sugar
• 2 tbsp dark rum or coffee liqueur
• 2 tsp instant espresso or coffee powder

Filling:

• 6 egg yolks
• 1/3 C sugar
• 1/4 C dark rum or coffee liqueur
• 1 tbsp instant espresso or coffee powder
• 1/2 C heavy (double) cream
• 1 1/2 C (375g) mascarpone cheese
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Garnish:

• Chocolate curls
• Unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lightly grease the bottom of a 9-in round cake pan and line it with parchment paper.  Lightly grease he paper and sides of the pan and then dust with flour.
2. To make the cake, in a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until blended.  In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium-high speed beat the eggs until pale and thick, about 3 minutes.  Add the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until very thick and tripled in volume, about 3 minutes.  Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and, using a rubber spatula, fold gently until blended.
3. Pour into the pan and spread evenly.  Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly touched, about 30 minutes.  Let cool for 15 minutes.   Run a small knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake.  Invert onto a cooling rack and lift off the pan.  Let the cake cool completely.
4. To make the syrup, combine the water and the sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil and remove from the heat.  Stir in the coffee liqueur and espresso powder.  Set aside and cool to room temperature.
5. To make the filling, in the top of a double boiler, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, coffee liqueur, and espresso powder.  Set over barely simmering water and beat with the mixer set on medium speed until very thick, about 6 minutes.  Remove the top of the double boiler from the heat and set aside to cool, stirring frequently.
6. Meanwhile, in a bowl, using the mixer on medium-high speed, beat the cream until stiff peaks form when the beaters are lifted.
7. When the yolk mixture is cooled to room temp, add the mascarpone and vanilla.  Beat until smooth and well blended.  Using the rubber spatula, fold in the whipped cream.

To Assemble:

1. Cut the cake horizontally into 2 or 3 equal layers.  Remove the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan, or use a cake mould, and set on a serving plate.
2. Place 1 cake layer in the ring.  Generously brush and sprinkle with some of the syrup. Scoop about 1 3/4 C of the filling onto the layer and spread evenly.
3. Repeat step 2 until you placed all the cake layers and filling into the ring.
4. Holding the ring and plate together, gently tap against the counter to settle the ingredients.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
5. To serve, run a thin knife around the inside of the ring to loosen the cake.  Remove the ring by unclasping the pan, or by slowly pulling the ring up.  Garnish with chocolate curls, then sift a dusting of cocoa over the top.

Green Tea Mousse Cake

Last weekend I finally bought the ingredients for this matcha green tea mousse cake.  I couldn't find the match green tea powder in any of the local grocery stores, so I stopped by the Chinese supermarket, T&T for it.  This was my first time using green tea powder in a recipe, and I was thrilled by how great this came out.  Now I'm trying to explore different green tea desserts.  I've made green tea iced lattes and shakes, and I plan on baking a green tea chiffon cake later this month.

The mousse came out really smooth and creamy, and the jelly coating added a nice touch to the texture of this cake.  I actually had to redo this recipes twice since it is originally written in grams, and I don't own a scale.  So it took me some time to convert the measurements to cups and tablespoons, and the inexact measuring caused me to mess up quite often.  I was able to dig up enough money to buy a proper digital kitchen scale (a Soehnle), and it's supposed to come in next week, so I'm really excited.  With a scale, I'll be able to try out more foreign recipes, especially European desserts.

You don't have to garnish this cake.  You can just leave it as it is, and maybe sprinkle some extra green tea powder or even icing sugar.  I had extra whipped cream and fruits, so I just went ahead and decorated mine.


Green Tea Mousse Cake:
Adapted from kikaching888 Link

Chiffon Cake: (12 cm cake tin)

• 1 egg
• 20 g caster sugar
• 25g cake flour
• 15 mL oil (vegetable or canola)
• 20 mL water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mousse:

• 100 mL whipped cream
• 100 mL milk (at least 2%)
• 100 g yogurt (try getting thicker yogurt, like Greek yogurt)
• 35 g honey
• 1 tbsp matcha green tea powder
• 1 tbsp gelatin
• 2 tbsp hot water

Jelly Topping:

• 1/2 tsp gelatin
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 1 tsp match green tea powder

1. Separate the egg yolk and the egg white into separate bowls.  Beat the egg white until it becomes foamy (about 2 min.), then add in 10g of the caster sugar.  Beat until the mixture forms stiff peaks.
1. TIP: You will know when the mixture is stiff if you can hold the bowl upside down and nothing falls out.
2. In the bowl with the egg yolk, add in the rest of the caster sugar (10g), water, oil, and the vanilla extract.  Sift in the cake flour.  Whisk all the ingredients together until you get a smooth, watery mixture.
3. Add the egg white mixture into the batter, and fold together gently until fully incorporated.  Pour the batter into the cake tin lined with parchment paper and tap the tin a few times against the counter.  Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for approximately 25 minutes.  After it's done baking, let it cool upside down on a cooling rack.
4. In a saucepan under low heat, whisk together the milk, honey and green tea powder until fully dissolved.  Then pour it through a strainer into a medium-large bowl.  This will get rid of the lumps.  Place in the fridge to cool.
5. In another bowl, whisk the whipped cream until it forms medium-soft peaks.  Then carefully fold in the yogurt.
6. Add the whipped cream mixture into the cooled green tea mixture, and fold them together gently to make a smooth, creamy mixture.
7. Pour the gelatin in a small bowl, then add the hot water.  Mix until the gelatin fully dissolves.  Add this to the mousse mixture, and fold in gently.
8. Take your cake and cut it in half.  Then place one layer at the bottom of your moulding tin.  Add in half of the mousse mixture, and smooth it out evenly.  Then add in the second layer, and pat it gently on top.  Add in the rest of your mousse, and smooth it out evenly.
1. TIP: If your moulding tin has a bottom, tap the whole tin against the counter.
9. Wrap the tin in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
10. After you take the cake out, pour the gelatin in a small bowl and add the hot water.  Then add in the green tea powder.  Mix until fully dissolved.  Pour this on top of your cake, then rewrap it and leave it in the fridge for another hour.
11. If your moulding tin has a bottom, place the tin on top of the pan and push the sides of the mould downwards.  Your cake should come out cleanly.  If your mould does not have a bottom and you used a plate or cake board, simply slide the tin upwards, doing it slowly and gently so it won't break the mousse.
12. You can garnish your cake with whipped cream and fruits, or you can just sprinkle it with green tea powder or caster sugar.  Serve fresh.

New York Cheesecake

I made a cheesecake for my mother's birthday last December.  Never got a chance to post this, along with my other couple of recipes (I will put them up, count on it).  It was my first time making a cheesecake, but with all the reviews, it came out GREAT.  And I also made ganache for the first time too.  It didn't come out too well at first.  I'll also put up that recipe as well.

I could probably say this is the best thing I've ever baked in my life. :)

Cheesecake:

Adapted from Chantal's New York Cheesecake

(Make sure ingredients are room temperature for the best results!)

• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Crust:

• 1 1/2 C graham crackers, crushed 
• 1/4 C melted butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 C sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the ingredients for the crust. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.  Do not overbeat.
4. Leave a water bath (pan or bowl of warm/hot water) on the rack below the cheesecake.  Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 4 to 5 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator overnight or a few hours before serving.

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TIPS:

• Both the instructions and ingredient list are slightly different than the original directions because of recipe improvements.
• This cheesecake recipe usually come out very rich and dense.  Perfect for cheesecake-lovers, but not so for light eaters.

TRIFLE

So here it is!  The final trifle recipe!  Now like I had mentioned, I wanted to make my own pudding and cake, so here they are!

White cake: http://sweet-patissiere.blogspot.com/2011/03/doll-cakes.html
Vanilla pudding: http://sweet-patissiere.blogspot.com/2011/12/vanilla-pudding.html


Now, the recipe!


TRIFLE:

1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix (or my recipe link)

1 (9 inch) angel food cake, cut in cubes (or my recipe link)

4 bananas, sliced

1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries, thawed

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed (or real whipped cream)

1. Prepare pudding according to package directions (or use my pudding recipe).  Make whipped cream (if wanted) with at least 3-4 tbp sugar.

2. In a trifle bowl or other glass serving dish, layer half the cake pieces, half the pudding, half the bananas, half the strawberries and half the whipped topping. Repeat layers. 

3. Cover and chill in refrigerator 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Tips:

- You can add food coloring to the whipped cream, pudding, and/or cake.  I colored my cake redish.

-You can add any other fruits if desired (ex. blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc)  I added green and red grapes.

Links:

Trifle: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/strawberry-trifle/detail.aspx

VANILLA PUDDING

So this is a recipe following my last post.  I'm making trifle (will put up the recipe after this), but I wanted to try making my own white cake and pudding.  The pudding I'm going to make for the first time (still haven't bought all the ingredients yet).  And I'm making this twice: one w/out egg yolks, one with egg yolk.  Egg yolks make the pudding more rich and thick.  So I'm going to try this, here it is!

VANILLA PUDDING:

2 cups milk (at least 1% or more, no skim milk)

1/2 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter (room temperature)

Extra Ingredient Tips:

Cut the sugar (I heard it's extremely sweet, even for sugar-lovers).  

I cut a little less than half of the sugar needed.

Add 1 tsp vanilla more

1. In a bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt.

2.  In medium saucepan (no heat), pour combined dry ingredients.  Add milk slowly and whisk everything until dissolved.  Then put on heat to medium.

3. Continue to stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.  Do not boil.

4. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter.  Pour into dishes and chill before serving.

TIPS:
- I actually rewrote all the directions because other suggested to rewrite it all.  Why?  Because the original directions caused large lumps in the pudding.  This way it prevents it all.

- Some people like to keep it on heat and stir, then take it off heat heat and cool a little.  Then they like to add 1-2 egg yolks and stir until its really thick.  I tried both ways.  The thicker one was really nice for like fillings and such.  But I'm was making trifle so my second time w/ no eggs was better.  But I'd definitely use eggs if I were making things like pie.

- I added a tsp of cinnamon in mine.  Some like to add cinnamon and/or nutmeg.  Or they sprinkle it on top of the pudding when ready to eat.  The one with cinnamon was tasty, but it overpowered the vanilla taste.  

My second time w/ no cinnamon tasted more like "vanilla pudding".

Links:
Homemade vanilla pudding: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-vanilla-pudding/detail.aspx

SPANISH FLAN

I haven't baked in more than 2 months and it's killing me.  So today I decided to make 3 dishes, but involving a lot of other dishes.  This recipe is for flan (a dish originated from Spain if you didn't notice).  Usually I make my aunt's famous flan (around all the relatives), but I lost the recipe somewhere, so I decided to use this flan recipe off the web.  Now, I'm haven't made it at the moment (I need to buy more ingredients), but I'm making 2 flans. I want to see how many eggs are good for flan (to my family's taste).  So I'm making one with 4 eggs, the other with 5.Maybe they'll taste the same, maybe they won't.  So I'm going to try it out.  So this is the recipe:

                                  *update: it turned out 4 eggs for this flan comes out with much better results than using 5 eggs.  I would recommend this to all.*

FLAN:
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 tbp vanilla extract

Extra Ingredient Tips:
(The more eggs added, the more dense and rich your flan gets, NOT fluffy and soft)
4-5 eggs instead of 3
add a tsp of cinnamon
add tsp of vanilla after your sugar melts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt sugar until liquefied and golden in color. Carefully pour hot syrup into a 9 inch round glass baking dish, turning the dish to evenly coat the bottom and sides. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Beat in condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour egg mixture into baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil.

4. Bake in preheated oven 60 minutes. Let cool completely.

5. To serve, carefully invert on serving plate with edges when completely cool.

TIPS:


-When melting the sugar, keep the round dish warm in the oven so when you pour the sugar in, it won't start to harden so quickly


- When melting the sugar, make sure the sugar is spread out evenly around the saucepan and the heat is on low.  Never raise it past medium, or else it will burn.  Occasionally swirl, but not mix, the sugar.  Be patient, it will melt.  Make sure to melt it until it's completely liquefied.  Do not keep it over the heat longer than that, or it will burn.


- When you pour the flan into the dish, pour it through a strainer to prevent lumps later on

- When you bake this, put it into a water bath.  This means add hot water into another pan/dish (such as a rectangle pan 9X13").  Add the hot water until it reaches around 1-2 inches in the pan when the pan is on an oven rack (that way no one gets burned when trying to transport the hot water bath to the oven).  Then carefully lay the flan-filled dish into the hot water.  Push it into the oven then let it bake.

- I added cinnamon to both, and you'll find when you bake it the cinnamon will rise to the top.

- For my first flan I forgot to pour it through a strainer so I'm worried about its texture. But coming out of the oven it looked nice.  My second flan I used a strainer, but when it came out of the oven it was blown up.  So I let it sit on the oven rack while cooling and the bubble went down.

-so it turned out that my flan with 4 eggs was nice and smooth, and came out of the pan like butter.  The flan with 5 eggs, crumbled out of the pan and was so extremely lumpy it overtook the actual taste.  So now what?  I recommend to all that using a max of 4 eggs for this flan is best.


Links:
Spanish flan: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spanish-flan/

RAINBOW JELLY

Yesterday I made Rainbow Jelly with my cousins and my family friends. Well, actually the real recipe for Rainbow Jelly is with 8 different layers of jelly in one cup. Since doing that would take hours to do, I stuck with 2 different layers. I don't like jelly, but when I make it with JUICE, it comes out so good. :)


Rainbow Jelly:

• Packets of flavored jelly or non-flavored jelly (assorted to match the taste of the juice)
• 1C water (for each packet of jelly)
• 1C juice (for each packet of jelly), and as many different juices as you want with each layer. (thicker and/or deeper juices like orange or grape are best)
• Clear cups (to show off the colors)
• 
  

(These instructions may also be written on the jello box.)

1. Pour 1C of water into a pot and wait until boiling.
2. Take your first jello packet and pour it all into the water; mix until fully dissolved.
3. Turn off the heat then pour the 1C of juice in (the one that matches the jelly flavor).
4. Cool it until lukewarm then begin to divide the mix into cups (if you want to use the flavor again for another layer, make sure to save at least half).
5. Refrigerate at least 1hr or until the jelly layer if firm enough (poke it with your finger).
6. After firm, take it out and repeat steps 1-5 again. Do these steps for every layer you put until satisfied.
7. Serve fresh after every layer is firm, or leave overnight. Garnish and serve.

TIPS

• You can add different fresh fruits into the jelly layers. Cut into small pieces and add to the jelly mixture. I used raspberries, but other common ones are blueberries, strawberries, grapes, canned peaches, etc.
• Garnishing includes whipped cream, mint leaves, flavored syrup, etc.
• Make sure each layer if FIRM ENOUGH before putting another layer. If it isn't, it can mix with the bottom layer (that has happened to me and it tasted bad).

MERINGUE

I also made meringue today since I had some egg whites left over from the creme brulee. :)

see "photo gallery" for more photos


MERINGUE:

4 egg whites
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). Butter and flour a baking sheet.

2. In a glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy using an electric mixer. Sprinkle in sugar a little at a time, while continuing to whip at medium speed. When the mixture becomes stiff and shiny like satin, stop mixing, and transfer the mixture to a large pastry bag. Pipe the meringue out onto the prepared baking sheet using a large round tip or star tip.

3. Place the meringues in the oven and place a wooden spoon handle in the door to keep it from closing all the way. Bake for 3 hours, or until the meringues are dry, and can easily be removed from the pan. Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.


Tips:

-when beating the egg whites, make sure to beat it long enough till peaks form, which make take up to 15 min

-after adding the sugar, the final mixture should not be too soft. it should not be too stiff, but it should drop from the beater quite slowly, like a thick mixture

-yes, the meringues have to be in the oven for 3 hours. i tried breaking off a little in the oven after 1 hr and the middle was not hardened yet, only the outer layer was


Links:

Meringue: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Authentic-French-Meringues/Detail.aspx

CREME BRULEE

Like I said in my last post, I've been motivated to bake more these days. Today's dessert was creme brulee. Weirdly enough, I've never had any in my life, so what I made toady was my first taste. :)

see "photo gallery" for more photos


CREME BRULEE:

6 egg yolks
6 tablespoons white sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).

2. Beat egg yolks, 4 tablespoons sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.

3. Pour cream into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove the cream from heat immediately. Stir cream into the egg yolk mixture; beat until combined. pour into a shallow heat-proof dishes and lay the dishes into a pan filled with hot water that reaches a little more than half way of the dishes.

4. Bake in oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight.

5. Preheat oven to broil.

6. In a small bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons white sugar and brown sugar. Sift this mixture evenly over custard. Place dish under broiler until sugar melts, about 2 minutes.

7. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Tips:

-before pouring mixture into a dish, get rid of any bubbles or lumps with a strainer


Links:

Creme Brulee: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Creme-Brulee/Detail.aspx