Cake Deco is FUN (2)

Posting old photos of cakes I've done for friends.

Boiled Icing (Italian Meringue)

Due to hot weather, boiled icing is the most common icing used for birthday or wedding cakes in the Philippines. Despite the popularity of fondant icing, some people still prefer boiled icing because it is more stable during the hot weather, lighter and cheaper.

Boiled Icing is also known as Italian Meringue. Meringue is basically whipped egg whites sweetened with sugar. There are different kinds of meringues and the differences lie in the method of preparation.

Sugar in Italian meringue is cooked at certain temperature while French is the easiest for no sugar cooking is required. Swiss meringue, on the other hand, is made by warming the egg whites and sugar together and beaten until double in volume.

Some pointers in preparing meringues:

1. Make sure that the egg whites are yolk free and the mixing bowl and mixer whisk are grease free.
It will affect the foaming property of your egg whites.

2. Egg whites whip best if at room temperature.

3. Cream of tartar helps in making your egg whites stable.

Recipe for Italian Meringue:

250 g sugar
1/3 c water
pinch of cream of tartar
4 egg whites

Procedure:

1. Heat sugar and water in saucepan. Using a candy thermometer, cook sugar until it reaches 220 deg F (105 deg C). At this stage, start beating your egg whites with cream of tartar at medium speed until soft peaks.

2. Once the syrup reaches 240 to 243 deg F* (117 deg C) firm ball stage, turn off fire.
*better to turn off fire at 240 deg F because it continues to cook, temperature increases by few degrees sometimes.

3. Adjust the mixer speed to low and slowly pour the hot syrup in thin stream.

4. Put back to medium speed once all the syrup has been poured. Beat until the meringue has cooled down and firm peaks form.

5. Cover bowl with damp cloth while icing is not in use. This is to prevent drying.
6. Desired colour can be achieved by adding few drops of food colour.

St. Mary MacKillop Church & Museum

Last month, I decided to visit St. Mary MacKillop Church North Sydney. It was Black Saturday and the kids aren't around so I decided to have my regular "ME" time. The walk from the train station wasn't that bad. It took me less than 10 minutes.

St. Mary MackKillop is the first Australian saint who was canonized in 2010. Her life story was interesting. I spent a short while inside the chapel then I headed to visit the museum. The place was very serene. Here are some of the photos I took while touring.

A day in paradise...The Farm

We went for a quick holiday to the Philippines, our native land and Singapore weeks ago. I've been hearing great reviews from good friends about The Farm. As early as January, I booked a day tour for the family. We had vegan lunch, which I never imagined will turn out fine for carnivores like us, a relaxing massage( so good that I snored like a pig ha.ha.) , enjoyed the serenity of the place and savoured every moment spent in this piece of paradise. Next time, it will be an overnight stay. Here's a quick tour of the place, hopefully, when you visit the Philippines, The Farm will be included in your itinerary.

Sabina says:

What I particularly like about The Farm is their menu. As a meat-lover, the thought of pure vegan food fascinated me. I really like pasta, so I was relieved that they had spaghetti in the kid's menu. It tasted wonderful, and despite the fact that I always need to have a little bit of meat in the red sauce, the flavour never changed. As I was eating, I noticed there were little crunchy bits in my pasta. Having a wobbly tooth, I though it was one of my teeth. We later learned it was coconut bacon.

Road leading to The Farm

into Organic Farming

Freshly picked Makopa

See the difference!

Here's something interesting I want to share with you guys. Getting different outputs using the same batch of batter but using different pans.

I used two different Madeleine pans, silicone and a tin. As I've mentioned before, tins are better conductor of heat, hence, colour is better and it peaks higher. It also took few minutes longer to bake those in the silicone tray. You'll find it quite difficult to take out a silicone tray from the oven so it has to be placed on top of a cookie sheet. Although, there are advantages in using a silicone tray, like it's easier to clean , it doesn't stick and unmolding the finished product is quick. 

I guess, it all depends on what you'll be baking and of course, a case of personal preference.

Baked on silicone tray (First row from right); Baked on Tin (Second row)

Dulce Luna Viennoiserie

I managed to find this small, hole in the wall bakery in King Street named Dulce Luna Viennoiserie.

I love croissants due to the buttery flavour and the layers of pastry, which gives a really nice texture. However, Dulce Luna's croissants are different. It's like having a brioche. I guess, I'm more biased on rich tasting and soft breads, typical of Asian breads compared to crusty, chewy and dark colour crusted European breads.

There was a long queue outside the store but I patiently waited for the store hours was pretty limited, as far as my personal schedule is concerned. The small cafe reminded me of Paris while the croissants brought me back good food memories from my trip last year to Rome. The moment I bite it, there is a sense of lemon flavour that I can pick, same flavour that I have noticed when I had them in Italy. Yay! I bought half dozen and tried their empanadas (chorizo!). Really nice! Their coffee was also good. 

Something a Sydneysider shouldn't miss. And oh, I noticed that they are using the flour which the company that I work for manufacture.

Cake Deco is FUN

Please allow me to share snaps of the cakes I made two weeks ago. It was a crazy Friday night for I finished two cakes. It can be a bit stressful but I get a different high once I start decorating the cakes. Weird? ha.ha.ha.