nom nom nom.

vanilla + caramel cupcakes and chocolate + ganache cupcakes.

2009-09-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

domed. :)

all caramel'd up.and decorated with white chocolate chips.off to the birthday girl.

chocolate chiffon cake with chocolate ganache (poured + whipped).

2009-09-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

topped with whoppers.
BAWWWWWW.
i messed up on the piping.
it might not be fancy and neat,
but by the mustache of poseidon, i promise you it was delicious.
for brother's birthday.
with pocky "candle".

banana bundt cake.

2009-08-30T19:10:00.000-07:00

with soy milk coffee icing.

bake n' freeze lime cheesecake.

2009-08-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

white chococat : vanilla cake + white chocolate ganache.

2009-08-22T17:46:00.001-07:00

so worth it.

iced cream cheese sugar cookies.

2009-08-22T17:43:00.001-07:00

it's supposed to depict the dango daikazoku.
not much of a big family anymore cause i screwed up the yellow and pink one.

water chestnut cake.

2009-08-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

POOL PARTY!

here's how it looked all cut up and fried.
(this was another batch, made with slab sugar, hence the golden-ness)

black seasame daifuku with adzuki filling

2009-08-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

sorry it looks just like the matcha one, the lighting doesn't do the colors justice! :(

matcha daifuku with adzuki filling.

2009-08-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

elephant pancakes.

2009-08-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

hombre!ah, i love the porous side as well.

strawberry sponge cake. (original)

2009-08-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

i envisioned creating a starwberry sponge that didn't require fresh strawberries or strawberry extract/emulco-
but with strawberry jam/preserves.

the cake came out pretty fragrant and just right on the sweetness,
but didn't taste too much like strawberry and the appearance was a little off.
it was nothing of the pretty strawberry color i'd imagined, more like an off-brown gray.
the preserve fruit pieces also sunk to the bottom due to the contrast of weight between the jam and the light sponge cake base.
so it became more like a strawberry upside down cake when i was eating it.
also, due to the fact that sponge cakes are ridiculously soft,
the shape started spreading and falling quickly upon cooling, and became wrinkly on the top as well.

by the way, i'm pretty proud to announce that i constructed the pan myself.
since i didn't have a 6-inch angel food pan, i took a 6-inch spring form pan,
put the tube part of a mini angel food cake pan in the middle, and topped it with parchment paper so it'd stay in place.
although i will admit that the cake would have probably came out looking better if i put the batter amongst those mini angel food cake pans. (it wouldn't have sunk so horribly!) :x

chocolate cake + vanilla pudding dessert. (original)

2009-08-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

epik high mithra cupcakes.

2009-08-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

featuring marshmallow fondant and vegetarian chocolate cake.

had extra fondant. made onigri.

mini yakult sponge cakes.

2009-07-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

eh, it didn't taste like yakult. :(

caramel lime pretit fours. (original)

2009-07-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

lime cake

caramel center
lime glaze
brown sugar topping

blueberry coconut cream tart. (original)

2009-07-13T10:15:00.001-07:00

i had frozen blueberries and some leftover frozen coconut milk in the freezer.
i also had a pack of tasteless multigrain crispbread crackers from ikea on my table.
after an "ah-ha" moment, this was born.

structure:
blueberry topping
coconut pastry cream
multigrain crispbread crust

vanilla marshmallow fondant cake.

2009-07-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

this is the first fondant cake i've ever made.
i think it turned out pretty well.
this is also my first offical paid order cake.

green tea sponge roll + black sesame cream filling.

2009-07-04T14:27:00.001-07:00

here is a less decent picture showing somewhat the swirl.
the roll ended up being too soggy.
(as you can see you can't really tell the filling from the cake)

the black sesame filling is made from those instant black sesame soup packets your mom or grandma makes on those saturday family nights.
does anyone know my reference?
no? okay.

lemon loaf + lemon glaze.

2009-07-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

the idea for the glaze came to me in a dream.

i swear.
why yes, the glaze is dripping on my math a regents. :)

bacon brownies.

2009-06-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

for my sixteenth birthday,

i made bacon brownies to share with everyone i know.
i wish i got to everyone.

blueberry muffins.

2009-06-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

there's no fat in this muffin whatsoever.

i replaced all the oil with a mashed banana. :)
i dunno, i got so pissed off at the last muffins i made.
they were so greasy.
haha, winnie the pooh muffin liners.

honey + oats cookies.

2009-06-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

i've been so lazy.
and unproductive.
i haven't posted anything at all for the month of may.
i have actually been baking,
things like south african melkterts.
i just haven't been taking pictures.

these are actually called "honey & oat cakes"
but look at them.
who were they kidding?

apple cupcakes.

2009-04-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

i wish it looked more golden!

pizza cupcake.

2009-04-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

bad quality pictures. :|

strawberry ice cream on graham crackers.

2009-04-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

yeah.. just strawberry ice cream.. on graham crackers.

chocolate cookies (homemade oreo cookies).

2009-04-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

i can't really call them oreos because i didn't make the cream.
i don't like the cream in the original oreos, anyway!

edit / 040509:
made ice cream sandwiches with rocky road ice cream.
yeeeah!

honey almond cookies.

2009-03-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

choppin' almonds in the daylight.

result:

(obviously not during the day anymore. pretty daylight where'd you go?)

tiramisu cake.

2009-03-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

okay. the sides are really sloppy. :(

four layers. baaaawwww!
cake, syrup, frosting and repeat!

have i ever mentioned how much i hate this all-year christmas tablecloth?

cream cheese sugar cookies.

2009-01-27T16:03:00.000-08:00

with homemade colored sugar, red and yellow for chinese new year's. :)

tong yuen (湯圓).

2009-01-27T13:01:00.000-08:00

"mon jeu" the blind prairie dog. (family inside joke)

a turtle! with its legs all inside the shell, i suppose.

"thursday cake."

2009-01-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

it's a birthday cake for my mom!
she doesn't like the american style birthday cake,
all sweet and filled with buttercream,
so i especially thought this recipe up to match her tastes.

-2 chocolate chiffon layers
-almond whipped cream
-toffee "sauce" filling
-chocolate ganache

so i'm super proud that i thought this recipe up,
but not so proud of the results.
first, when the toffee sauce cooled,
it hardened (i should have expected this) but according to the images in the recipe,
it should have stayed, well, "saucy".
second, i couldn't find real almond extract,
so i had to buy imitation almond extract. after i added it to the cream,
it smelled horrible.
it was nothing like almond!

well at least i learned some new things..
and my mom was okay with it. :)

healthier banana muffins.

2009-01-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

same recipe as the banana crumb muffin but without the crumb and reduced the sugar by 50%.
the bananas are sweet enough and the crumb is not necessary for a great muffin.

coconut peanut mochi.

2009-01-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

coconut mochi with a sweet and crunchy peanut-seasame filling.

banana crumb muffins.

2008-12-30T17:54:00.000-08:00

before.after.

coconut mochi.

2008-12-28T11:59:00.000-08:00

coconut flavored mochi (although they are pink and yellow.)

wife cakes (老婆餅).

2008-12-26T13:07:00.000-08:00

dinner buns.

2008-12-26T13:05:00.000-08:00

(shhh, it's actually just a regular loaf recipe baked in a cupcake tin.)

big rectangular pizza.

2008-12-25T07:50:00.000-08:00

3 mini pizzas in one.

more chocolate cupcakes.

2008-12-24T19:03:00.000-08:00

cupcake decorated to resemble my friend / mockcat (inside joke) cupcake.

hemoglobin cupcake! (i always thought they were red.)

m&m cookies.

2008-12-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

bah! only the holiday colored m&m's were on sale.

no pictures:
green velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

eggless chocolate cupcakes.

2008-12-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

cream puffs.

2008-12-07T17:42:00.001-08:00

with whipped cream filling & dark chocolate sauce.

apple cinnamon muffins.

2008-11-23T11:29:00.000-08:00

raspberry oatmeal bars.

2008-11-11T15:27:00.000-08:00

cinnamon sugar pretzels.

2008-10-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

chubby!

no pictures:
chicken pot pie.
peanut butter oat cookies.

brownies.

2008-10-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

turtle bread.

2008-10-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

turtles are among my favorite animals. :)

it seemed alive during the second rising process.
a giant turtle in my kitchen, growing..

the power of yeast is quite frightening.

raisins for eyes.

vanilla cupcakes + lime frosting.

2008-10-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

dorayaki.

2008-09-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

doraemon approves!

lime sponge cake.

2008-09-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

holding up the tiny plate near the door for natural light.
it's been a rainy weekend,
so sunlight doesn't shine much in the house..

you can kind of see the little lime zest pieces in there..

big ol' slice of cotton.

no fat at all except the fat of the egg yolk.

i love making these cakes because i don't have to wash the equipment with soap afterwards because there's no oil or butter,
just a good rinse.

coconut red bean paste gelatin.

2008-09-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

what a bad picture!
we sliced it up at night for dessert,
no natural light.
and i hate flash.
the thing didn't last (it was all nom'd down) until the next day for me to shoot pretty pictures of it.
look at that suspicious looking dollop of red bean paste on the tip.

2 layer coconut,
1 layer red bean paste.

chewy milk chocolate chunk cookies.

2008-09-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

because semisweet chocolate chips are just too expensive.
big ol' hand chopped chunks of milk chocolate.

chocolate heart cake.

2008-09-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

2 layer chocolate cake + buttercream frosting + melted milk chocolate on top.

banana muffins.

2008-09-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

plain banana muffin.

banana oat muffin.

chocolate & vanilla swirl cookies + poop cookie + reject marbled cookies.

2008-08-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

i had intended to make it vanilla outside and chocolate inside,
but after rolling out the dough,
i found out i had more chocolate dough than vanilla.
the higher ratio of the chocolate dough resulted in....

poop, highlight of the batch.
i mean, what else do you do with leftover chocolate dough?

last but not least,
the marbled cookies.
the rejects of the bunch.

raspberry muffins.

2008-08-29T15:04:00.001-07:00

made with raspberry preserves.

pizza.

2008-08-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

dough from scratch and all.
i wish i took better pictures.

oatmeal cookies.

2008-08-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

just plain oatmeal.

early august bakes.

2008-08-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

i don't have my camera with me because my mom bought it to hong kong with her.
so i guess i'll just record what i baked this month in words.

-mini green tea chiffon cakes.
-mini red velvet cake.
-green tea cookies.
-walnut cupcakes (i tried to make it asian-bakery style).

pancakes.

2008-07-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

peach mini cakes.

2008-07-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

meh.

chocolate cupcakes.

2008-07-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

light green swirl.

bad picture,
but there's the hamster sculpture i made again.

i made this one in a ketchup cup.
you know, the ones you get at mcdonalds?
yeah, i kinda 'borrowed' a stack.

vanilla cupcakes.

2008-07-06T17:05:00.001-07:00

i didn't make enough buttercream frosting to pipe,
so i cut off the top and smoothed frosting on it.
i used the tops to make nutella sandwiches

it looks.. interesting.

^that's a pretty color there, with the day light and all.

blueberry streusel muffins.

2008-07-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

gooey gooey.

very crumbly. (see the crumbs below the cooling rack?)

the streusel was good and crunchy.

i could have eaten a whole bowl of it.
i didn't like the appearance of the overall muffin.
it looked undercooked to me,
even though it's very much cooked.
if only it browned a bit more.

lime bundt cake.

2008-06-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

this one came out really good.
the glaze made all the difference.
besides the fact that it got stuck on the cooling rack and i had to cut off the bottom,
it tastes great.

it's all thanks to my friend for gifting me a bundt pan for my birthday.

woo woo!

chocolate cupcakes + buttercream frosting.

2008-06-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

A M U T O

amuto (amu + ikuto)
these cupcakes are chocolate flavored because it is ikuto's favorite flavor,
and the frosting is colored amuto.
pink is for amu and blue for ikuto.
the blue came out pretty light when ikuto blue is dark,
but i didn't want to use half a bottle of blue food coloring and all.
cooling/before frosting

terrible looking frosting.
i did a really bad job at piping.
but this is only my first time at really piping.
my family doesn't dig frosting a whole lot, so i don't make any.
i only make frosting for friends.

^i made them both with my own two hands!

the ceramic hamster and the chocolate cupcake.

white bread.

2008-06-28T20:16:00.001-07:00

this is my first time making bread since i was what, 10?

oatmeal-raisin-coconut cookies.

2008-06-21T15:50:00.000-07:00

^ batter.

these cookies are pretty packed.
but the flavors go well with each other.

vegan chocolate cupcakes.

2008-06-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

I HATE SILICONE

hong kong style "claypot" pudding.

2008-06-21T15:42:00.000-07:00

first attempt- came out too dark & dense.

second attempt- came out albino! the texture was okay.

third attempt- it came out just about right.
but it still didn't taste like the ones i've had in my childhood in hong kong.

new + improved sponge cake.

2008-06-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

air bubbles = good.

christmas tablesheets go out all year long in an asian household.

light & fluffy

old sponge cakes.

2008-06-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

steamed in a rice cooker.
major air bubbles.

fluffy texture.

the silicone cupcake liners ruined the cake.

it gave it a plastic taste..
since then, i've lost all hope in silicone.
(except in utensils.)

original bake dates : april of '08

i've certainly tried out a lot of sponge cake recipes..
these are some pictures of the recipes i don't use anymore.
even though they came out of the oven fine,
they didn't quite meet the standards i was aiming for. :)

nom nom nom.

2008-06-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

this blog is going to be dedicated to pictures and self comments/descriptions of my baked goods.