Maison Kayser

Baked Black Sesame Chiffon cake the day before. Wanted to use the remaining black sesame powder but it turns out that there is white spots in the container. Threw those out instead. Used the black sesame paste I bought some time ago and had to find a suitable recipe for it as I had already cracked the eggs and separated them according to the recipe of black sesame powder. Grrr.

I finally found a recipe that can utilized all the eggs that I have cracked. No pics this time as the cake turns out to be extra fluffy and it slides out of the mould once I had inverted it to cool. And I had some trouble maintaining its beautiful looks while trying to lift the cake out. Don't think it is supposed to happen like that for chiffon cake. :(

Nevertheless, the cake is very fluffy. Very smooth texture compared to using black sesame powder. 

Photo taken from thesweetspot.

Recipe here.

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Met up with Lynnie to do shopping in Orchard for huarong's jie mei dress for her wedding the next day. Brought along the chiffon cake (above) for her (and Alvin whom I met later) to try too. 

We settled on wearing convertible dress and Lynnie bought hers from a shop in FEP for $49. I didn't buy as I already got one at home. Compliments to the salesgirl at Shereen (FEP, #03-49A) for her exceptional customer service. Really felt like being serviced by her and she know her product well. In swift movements, she is able to wrap Lynnie in different styles that she requested. *thumbs up. We left the shop feeling really happy.

As we were done quite early, we settled for high tea at Maison Kayser. AK had raved about the breads there and since we are in the area, we decided to try it out. 

My croissant and Lynnie's raisin bun (forget the name)

Definitely worth the visit. The breads are so nice and crispy and simply melt-in-your-mouth. Lynnie had the coffee and she commented that it is nice. We didn't try the set menu for high tea as we don't really feel eclair-ish then. But then we realized their eclairs are one of the raved items. Well, next time then.

Maison Keyser
#B1-09 Scotts Square

Hokkaido Cupcake

Tried to make Hokkaido cupcake some time back in June. The cupcakes was not so popular then. Till recently there is a lot of hype on Hokkaido cupcakes that alot of bakeries ride on the hype. The cheapest I saw is $2 per cake. I've tried the one from Q Bread (which is the first I saw selling Hokkaido cupcakes) and it feels pretty normal, not as what I expected which was soft and fluffy. Polar cakes sells it too but they don't sell it separately. They sold in boxes of 6. It is a tad too much to finish.

Googled for the recipe to make the cupcake and I tried making it again for the 2nd time.

Recipe adapted from here.
Ingredients
Chiffon cake
3 egg yolks
20g sugar
35g corn oil
60g milk
70g cake flour
3 egg whites
25g sugar

Filling
60g dairy whipping cream
10g sugar
1tsp instant custard powder
Icing sugar, for dusting

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 170C.
2. Arrange paper liners on baking tray.
3. Hand whisk egg yolk and sugar till pale in colour.
4. Add in corn oil and milk, mix well.
5. Sift in cake flour, stir to combine.
6. Beat egg white until foamy, gradually add sugar, and continue beat till soft peak form.
7. Take 1/3 of egg white and use a hand whisk to mix into egg yolk batter.
8. Fold in the balance egg white with a spatula till well combine.
9. Scoop batter into pre-arranged paper liners to about ¾ full.
10. Bake for 20-25 mins at middle rack.
11. Beat whipping cream with sugar till firm and stiff (over a bowl of iced water).
12. Add in custard powder, mix well.
13. Pipe custard cream into cupcake and dust with icing sugar. Refrigerated before consume.

Both times the cakes sank upon cooling. I googled to find out the reason behind it and improvised on the 2nd time but the results is still the same. Arrgh. I cann't seem to master baking nice cupcakes. My forte is still biscuits.

Black Sesame Chiffon Cake

Long wanted to try to bake this black sesame chiffon cake. But I always wanted to do it with the black sesame paste. However, the paste is quite difficult to find. Only available in a particular shop near city hall. Furthermore, that time I went to buy it, it was out of stock. :(

So I do some search online and there are recipes using black sesame powder. But the downside is that it might not be as fragrant as the paste.

Tried using the recipe below and it works well. I've excluded cream of tar tar and used equal 4 egg yolks and 4 whites instead of 4:5 ratio.

Recipe from Mimi bakery.

4 egg yolks
40g sugar
50ml vegetable oil
80ml water
100g cake flour
75g black sesame powder
1 tsp baking powder


5 egg whites
50g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar


Method:

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
2. Gradually add in vegetable oil, followed by water.
3. Fold in black sesame powder, sifted cake flour and baking powder until well-mixed. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Add in sugar gradually until stiff peak form.
5. Gently fold in the egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 batches.
6. Pour the batter into an ungreased chiffon tin.
7. Bake in preheated oven at 190 deg C for 40-45 minutes.(my own oven heat)
8. Remove from oven and invert the tin immediately onto a cooling rack.
9. Unmould the cake only when it is completely cool