Green Tea Chiffon

We were invited to my cousin's for a Post-Christmas Steamboat/Hot Pot dinner so I thought I'd whip up a cake.  I decided on a chiffon cake as I wanted it to be light, fluffy and not overly sweet.  I decided on Japanese Green Tea as my flavouring and set to work on looking for a recipe.  I used this one here to base my recipe on.

Green Tea Chiffon Cake 

6 large free-range eggs (separated)

150g caster sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

60ml sunflower oil

30ml cold water

30ml milk

120g self-raising flour

3 level tsp ground green tea powder

Sift the flour and green tea powder together 3 times and set aside.  Weigh out 100g the caster sugar and place in a small dish/saucer.

Place the 6 eggs whites in a scrupulously clean, grease-free bowl and whisk until large bubbles form.  Sprinkle in the cream of tartar and continue to beat (I use the whisk attachment of my hand blender) until white and fluffy.


Add 100g of the caster sugar a quarter at a time into the whites and beat in fully before adding another quarter.  When the 100g sugar is added, continue to beat until the whites are glossy white and are fairly stiff. The whites need to be able to hold their shape and will not fall out of the bowl if the bowl is upturned.

Add the remaining 50g caster sugar to the 6 egg yolks and beat until thick.  Add in the oil and beat for a couple of minutes more until it is incorporated.  Add the milk and water and mix in (it does turn back to liquid.)  Sift in the flour and green tea powder and mix in until there are no traces of flour left.

Scoop a quarter of the egg white mix into the cake batter and mix in to loosen the batter.  Take another quarter and fold in lightly with a large metal spoon.  (I use a large plastic serving spoon.) Continue with the remaining egg whites folding in so that the whites mix into the batter but be careful not to knock the air out.

Pour the mixture into an ungreased chiffon tin (mine is 23cm wide at the top and 20cm wide at its base).
Bake at 170 C for 45-55 minutes.  The chiffon will be ready when a skewer poked into the cake comes out clean with not wet sticky mix on it.  If cake browns too quickly, lower the temperature slightly and continue to cook.

Invert the cake immediately to cool.  (I balanced the central tube of the pan on a small tin.) Remove the chiffon cake when it has fully cooled.

***Notes:
I would reduce the sugar next time to 130g and increase the green tea powder to 5 level teaspoons as although it looked nice, the taste was quite mild.

Happy 2013 !

A simple design of ice blue fondant and sparkly snowflakes.
(Photo does not reflect the true colour or the sparkly effect )

A fun snowball scene

Crikey! How time flies!

Three years ago I started this blog to record my odd ramblings, my son growing up, my baking endeavours and gardening adventures.  Garden hasn't had a lot of exposure on here - probably due to a lack of me being in it! Baking, well - I'm always in my kitchen baking away :p

Here's a look back at our Christmas 2012 seeing as I was too busy baking to stop and blog :(

No icing or marzipan for this one - dried fruit and nut topping

Gold Star Wreath

I made several Christmas Cakes this year to gift to friends and family. Each one has been decorated differently and it was a joy to do!

Home-made mincemeat and home-made gluten-free pastry

I had a pre-Christmas Meet with some of my Mummy friends - we met because we were expecting our little people 2 or so years ago and have stayed firm friends and our little ones play together too!  One of my friends is gluten intolerant and vegetarian so I made these Gluten-Free Mince Pies so she could indulge in the festive season!

The package on right is Gluten-Free Biscotti ~ Apricot and Almond

I do like to bake and share so I have been biscotti crazy again this Christmas concocting different combinations of fruits and nuts into biscotti so I can package and give to friends.  It certainly guarantees a smile on people's faces!

It was fun decorating these trees with my son 

I try not to leave the little people out where I can so I made some Gingerbread Trees and People for a few of my friends - oh and of course, for the little person here too :D  Although I secretly think my son enjoys the  "Smarties" (Chocolate Beans) more than the gingerbread itself! 

My personal project this Christmas was to create a Gingerbread Scene - 3D of course!

My Gingerbread Display I made for my son and niece - we ate the gingerbread after Christmas!

Thank you to you all for reading!

May 2013 bring you much baking / cooking / crafting / gardening adventures!

Steamed Cake - Mini Vanilla Cakes

Having been invited by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders to enter the Aspiring Bakers Steaming Hot Cakes Event, I have been thinking of what to make.  I've never attempted a steamed cake before and am assuming most cake recipes work whether you bake or steam?  Although cooking times may vary I'd imagine.

Recently, I've been baking biscuits or baking Madeleines and even bread or buns.  I had Kenwood Mixer out today so I thought I would whip up some Madeleines for my son - he loves his "Boat Cakes".  My Madeleine mould would not fit in my largest pot/wok so I decided to use silicone cake cases & steam them in a bamboo steamer over a wok.

I wondered if they'd be like Chinese Steamed Sponge: Ma-Lai Goh 馬來糕 but it is not nice, bubbly and fluffy like one.  I tink the Madeleine recipe is too dense for that kind of texture - too much flour.  Anyway, it has a nice flavour all the same and makes you think you are eating something healthy! (?!!)



Recipe is as pretty much similar to how I made Madeleines before.

Airy, but lacking big bubbles

Mini Steamed Vanilla Cakes

3 free range eggs
100g caster sugar
200g plain flour
10g baking powder
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
20g honey (I used a set honey but otherwise a runny one will be fine)
60ml milk
200g butter (melted, cooled)

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until pale and thickened.

Add the milk and honey to the melted butter and mix.

Pour the melted butter mix into the egg batter but down side of bowl.  Be delicate with the whipped egg and air mixture! Add vanilla.

Sift in half the flour and baking powder and fold gently.  Sift in remaining flour and baking powder and fold.

Place a tablespoon of mixture into a small silicone cupcase.  Place the cases into a bamboo steamer and replace the steamer lid.  I used to lid to prevent condensation droplets making the cake tops soggy.  Steam over medium heat f or 15 minutes.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #25 - Steaming Hot Cakes (November 2012) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders.  Link HERE 

French Madeleines

Perfect little cakes for afternoon tea, with friends or for little fingers!

It seems that I have introduced a new favourite cake with my son - French Madeleines.  They are little shell-shaped cakes that are buttery and very delicious!  They usually have a characteristic 'bump' too - like a fat belly!  I struggle to achieve the bump on my cakes but they taste nice all the same!  Oh, and to my son, these shell-shaped cakes are "little boats" :)

The recipe I have used is adapted from BBC website "Madeleines with lemon curd" - but there are many around on the 'net.  Use whichever one you like the sound of :)

The closest I can get to achieving a "bump"

Orange Scented Madeleines

3 free range eggs
100g caster sugar
200g plain flour
10g baking powder
1 orange (grated zest)
20g honey (I used a set honey but otherwise a runny one will be fine)
60ml milk
200g butter (melted, cooled)

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until pale and thickened.

Add the milk and honey to the melted butter and mix.

Pour the melted butter mix into the egg batter but down side of bowl.  Be delicate with the whipped egg & air mixture! Add the grated orange zest.

Sift in half the flour and baking powder and fold gently.  Sift in remaining flour and baking powder and fold.

Leave the batter to rest in the fridge for an hour or overnight.  (Not sure why - but different sites say it helps achieve the "bump" on the madeleines.)

If you are like me, you cannot wait to bake your little nuggets of buttery delights. ;)
So turn on oven to Gas 5/190C/375F.  While oven is heating up, butter and flour your madeleine tin.  I have a silicone ones in different sizes.  I also use a mini-teddy bear tin.  The flour is very important as it makes it easier for the cakes to fall out from the tin after baking.  Trust me on that one!  I made the mistake of only greasing the teddy bears one morning and YUP! Half the teddies stuck to the tin DESPITE it being "non-stick".

For my larger madeleine shells, I put about a dessertspoon of mix in each shell.  You are aiming for 80% full and not too worry about making it even as the baking levels it out.  For mini-madeleines or mini-teddies, then I go for a teaspoon of mix.

Bake for 7 minutes, then turn oven off for 5 minutes (apparently, this creates the "signature bumps" - mine do get a small bump not a great big one).  Turn oven back on but this time at Gas 3/160C/325F.  Bake for a further 7 minutes.  The shells should just be tinged brown on the outsides.  For my mini-sized moulds I bake 5 minutes, rest 5 minutes then continue with a final 5 minutes.  Cool the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.  The silicone madeleines should fall out easily but a prod from the underneath helps any disobedient cakes.  For my teddy tin (as it's metal) a sharp tap on the cooling rack sends any teddies tumbling out of their beds!  (Provided I greased and floured the tin!)

Baking these little cakes in a metal tin gives a more evenly brown colour than in silicone

You can just make out the little bear's face 

A fat belly appearing on the bear!

I usually bake a batch of madeleines so my son can munch on them.  The remaining mixture is placed in a bowl, covered with cling film and is baked the following morning.  The tin should be washed and dried before re-greasing and flouring when baking another batch.

* Greasing and flouring.  I rub butter using fingers or a piece of buttery paper in the nooks and crannies of the tin.  I sprinkle flour in each indentation and shake the tin in every direction to coast the buttery surface with flour.  Finally tap any loose flour away.
With a silicone mould, I do the same buttering process but to distribute the flour I fold the silicone mould in half and shake/clap the mould to get the flour coated inside.  Shake any excess flour off before filling.

I have made these with lemon zest before and with green tea powder (I added about 1 teaspoon of ground green tea with the flour).  I haven't tried chocolate as yet but I would substitute 25g flour for 25g cocoa powder.

Swiss Roll (filled with cream and fresh fruit)

I don't make Swiss Rolls because I am awful at them.  My late Grandfather (mum's side) was a baker and would make Swiss Rolls filled with Buttercream and sell them to the local Chinese Supermarket.  When he came to visit us I would love to watch him whip eggs sugar and flour into fluffy creations.  I did not possess his skills.

Determined not to resort to a shop-bought cake for hubb's (Mr Leaf) birthday, I was trying to come up with a cake that wouldn't be too sweet or too large.  Whilst internet browsing I came across a Raspberry Swiss Roll recipe by one of my favourite chefs James Martin.  I had intended to make this at my mother's yesterday (hubb's actual birthday) but was too busy.  So I set to work in the kitchen today.

I was pleased with the outcome as it did not crack or split on rolling :)  I didn't see bubbles of flour on the base of the swiss roll (as in previous efforts).  I hope my Grandad would be proud of me :)

My mum has raspberry bushes in her garden and they are in season now - I was going to put fresh raspberries in the filling with the cream but seeing as I forgot to pick any to take home I had to rumble in the fridge to see what we had.  This Swiss Roll is filled with Homemade Raspberry Jam, Vanilla Cream, White peach and Mango.

The sponge for the swiss roll is simple, just 3 ingredients; eggs, caster sugar and self-raising flour.  It's very light and spongy but is fat-free so does not keep well.  It is not as moist and pillowy as a chiffon either - makes the addition of cream and fruit seem less guilty! Heh Heh Heh!

Recipe for the Swiss Roll is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/raspberry_swiss_roll_08757

Tiger/Giraffe Bread

I love Tiger Bread!  It's a loaf with a special coating on which you can get in the fresh bakery section of the major supermarkets here in UK.  A distinctive aroma which reminds me of toasted Marmite which means it's yummy in my opinion!  It has a lovely crackly crust which is usually on bloomer shaped bread.  I've seen a supermarket call its Tiger Rolls, Tiger Paws!  The baguettes are Tiger Tails of course! :D

One supermarket chain changed the name to Giraffe bread after a little girl wrote in saying it resembled giraffe more than tiger.  She's not wrong!

Seeing this recipe posted on Jo's Blue Aga, I had to give it a try.  I follow Jo on her Facebook page too :)  As well as entering her monthly baking competitions!

With a cupboard stocked with strong flour (for bread baking) and a fresh packet of dried yeast I thought I was good to go.  I assumed I had rice flour in but my luck was out.  Rice flour is the magic topping ingredient here too!  I had everything but that!  Plain flour; self-raising; gluten-free flour; tapioca flour; potato starch, glutinous rice flour and cornflour!  None of which I have seen suggested on the internet as a substitute for rice flour!

Determined to try Tiger Bread, I thought I'd grind my own.  First I used the food processor attachment on my electric hand blender.  Next, good ol' mortar and pestle.  Finally, the coffee grinder which has never ground a single coffee bean in it's life of sitting on the kitchen shelf looking pretty!  After sieving the flour through it resembled semolina you roll pizza dough out with.  I still gave it a try but only made a quarter of the  topping.  I used this to spread on one of my loaves which was proving nicely after my battle trying grind rice grains!  The other loaf I left plain in case the home-ground rice flour topping was a complete disaster!

The resulting bread was definitely not like the Tiger Bread you buy in shops.  It lacked the toasty aroma and I struggle to get the nice crunchy crust on my home baked loaves.  It also didn't crackle very much.  Despite all that, it was a very nice tasting loaf, soft and springy.  It's amazing what 'still within date' dried yeast can do compared with 'hiding in the cupboard too long' yeast can do!

A Passion for Baking - Basic White Bread Competition

Competition Number 3 by Jo Wheatley of Jo's Blue Aga - and it's the Basic White Loaf, again from her book, A Passion for Baking.

This came in great timing as I fancied making bread and had just stocked up on strong bread flour (it has higher protein content which helps the structure of the loaf), shame I didn't have sense to buy some instant yeast as what I had in the cupboard had been knocking around for a bit :p  They say it deteriorates quickly and loses its ability to rise well.  *Shrugs*  Ah well :p

It was a simple recipe to follow and we had option of using stand-mixer or by hand.  Well, I pulled out my trusty Kenwood and made it work :p  I do have an almost 2 year old to entertain too you know! ;)

I was pleased with the small but evenly sized bubbles in my loaf - felt quite moist and springy too!

Maybe my shaping of the loaf before it goes in the tin needs perfecting as the bread rose unevenly during baking and resembled an odd shaped mushroom :p  I had forgotten how delicious the aroma of bread baking in the oven was :D  It was hard resisting temptation to slice into the loaf whilst warm - but I think that just tears the bread.

Oh, I can't cut fresh bread - I always managed to get wonky slices that resemble door wedges! :p  There is an upside to that that though, my correcting slice was too thin to be a regular slice of bread and so I sampled that with some butter and some home-made raspberry jam!  Ahem!  I mean I had to have a slice with butter and jam for the photo shoot of course!  *Wink Wink!*

MmmMMm!  Fresh bread!  YUM YUM!

* * *

I baked the loaf last Thursday but to spare you the suspense of waiting to find out who won, I have waited until today (Tuesday) to publish this post.  Winner was announced this morning - not my entry but I enjoyed taking part and seeing other people's entries :)

Winning loaf is here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=429968647046652&set=a.210358729007646.49812.194356760607843&type=1&theater