Mandarin Orange Pudding

This recipe use canned mandarin orange (so far i only manage to find Hosen brand at supermarket here).

Cheese Muffin

Before baking

Ready to munch:

Pineapple Tarts

Oh! I just realised today that making these pineapple tarts was really time consuming!
I started to make pineapple jam this afternoon, spend about 2 hours cooking it.
Filling:
1 kg pineapple, pinch of salt, fine sugar, 6cm cinnamon stick.
Peel pineapple then cut into cubes, you can use blender to blend it till fine. Pour it into the non-stick wok. Add in the remaining ingredients and cook till it thicken. Set aside to cool. Pineapple filling cannot be shaped into balls if it is too thin. Make sure to cook it long enough till it thickness. This pineapple jam can be kept up to 2 months.

I started to lost interest and get tired making these tarts, so at finishing time, I didn't brush with egg yolk to make it shiny nicely, too lazy to do :P and also not really make the ball shaped properly *anyhow do, and these are the result: (taste is good, but appearance hmmm.. )



Next bake: I will make the jam on the separate day, bake it another day, instead of doing it whole day!

Cheesy Katthetong aka Lidah Kucing Keju

Today i am baking 'lidah kucing keju'. First attempt baking biscuit. Follow the recipe from Ny. Liem's book. Result? Delicious, all cheese lovers in this house love them so much! No more buying Ritz or Kraft cheese crackers anymore, order from Mummy! yum.. yum..

Troubleshooting

Burnt Fruit Cake:
Oven is too hot or the cake itself is cooked too near the top of oven.
Try to bake cakes in the centre of oven. If the cake appears to be browning too fast, or you prefer lighter colored appearance, place a circle of greaseproof paper with a small hole cut out of the centre over the top of the cake and continue baking.

Sponge cake not rising:
Oven too hot
Cake placed near the top
Too much eggs in the mixture (if use large eggs, may take out a couple of spoonfuls before adding the rest to cake mixture)

Sugarpaste/modelling paste/marzipan too hard:
If a solid crust has formed, need to cut this off and discard.
Can microwave any of the above for few seconds to soften them slightly if you find them too hard to knead, but be very careful in doing this to sugarpaste as it can cause the icing to fracture slighttly when you lay it over the cake. So always keep tightly wrapped in small plastic bags to prevent hardening.

Cracked or fractured in sugarpaste:
Occured if too much kneading or microwaving beforehand.
Unless you find them particularly offensive, the cracks are usually best left alone or covered with a decoration, but here are alternative solutions to try if you wish. On recently applied sugarpaste, take a small lump of the same colour sugarpaste and polish it on a shiny surface. Then gently rub the area using small circular motions and tiny cracks will disappear. Alternatively, wait until sugarpaste has dried, then spread a little royal icing in the same colour as the sugarpaste over the cracks. Carefully scrape away the excess using a kniife and you should find the fractures have filled.

Blocked Icing Nozzles:
To stop nozzles getting blocked with old icing, use a small paintbrush to give them a good clean washing up. Also, try to avoid poking thing such as cocktail stick into the ends as this can force them to out of shape. Make sure you sift the icing sugar before making up royal icing to get rid of lumps, and don't miss any crusty bits of dried royal icing into fresh before piping as this can cause blockages too.

Storing Leftover

EGGS:

• Leftover egg whites can be stored covered in fridge 7 to 10 days. To freeze the whites, place in a plastic ice cube tray, the remove the frozen cubes to a plastic freezer bag for storage. Thaw frozen whites in the fridge.
• Lefover egg yolks can be covered with a bit of water and stored in a covered container in the fridge 2 to 3 days. Leftover yolks can be used in custards, scrambled eggs, egg pastries and cake fillings.

Fondant, gum paste:

• Leftover gum paste can be placed in a separated small plastic bag (if you have already colored them) and then keep all together in a covered air tight container to prevent drying for future use.

My Reading

These books are for my pleasure reading:
1. Professional Cake Decorating by Toba Garrett from www.wiley.com/culinaryandhospitality
ISBN 9780471701361

2. Perfect Party Cakes Made Easy by Carol Deacon from www.hollandpublishers.com
ISBN 9781843304746

3. Decorating Cakes and Cupcakes bty Betty Crocker from www.bettycrocker.com
ISBN 9780471753070