Cakes for Australia Day

Mango passionfruit cheesecake from The Cheesecake Shop.

Happy Australia Day!

I dashed to the nearest cake shop a couple of minutes ago, hoping to buy a piece of cake which could hopefully inspire me to continue writing my report. As the clouds were grey and could apparently rain any minute, I had the excuse to walk with my UV proof umbrella. And that simple fact got me smiling while walking as no one in Australia normally walks with an umbrella when it's not raining!

I baked this some months ago for a friend.

Upon reaching the cake shop, I headed to the corner where quarter slices of cakes were displayed. I was looking for my favorite passion fruit cheesecake; but it was unfortunately unavailable so I had to make do with a chocolate cake topped with fresh strawberries (a cake which I normally bake for a friend's birthday when I don't have much time). When the cake attendant came, I asked him if they happen to have a passion fruit cheese cake which was not on display. Unfortunately, there wasn't so he suggested I take the mango passionfruit one which he reckons is also delicious. I was surprised he gave me a generous discount and I didn't even ask for it! It must be the Australia Day spirit. I walked off jubilant and paid the nice cake attendant with a beautiful smile.

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

An hour from now, I will be heading to meet up with some of my best buddies. I thought of surprising them with a cake made from the bottom of my heart. I actually spent the entire morning baking this cake. It's really fun baking when you have all the time in the world. I only baked one cake because I didn't want to leave one at home since most of us are "on diet." You're looking at around 2000 to 3000 calories of sinful goodness. 

This is meant to be a red velvet cake; but I should have poured more red food coloring to hide the brownish tint from the tablespoons of chocolate I added. My favorite red velvet cake recipe is taken from the website Divas can cook. I've tried other recipes, but this is the one I like the most. However, I reduced the amount of sugar and salt; increased the amount of chocolate; and used cake flour instead of all purpose flour.

Let me just write the recipe down for future reference:

2 c. cake flour, 1 t. baking powder, 1 t. baking soda, 3 T unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 3/4 c brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1/4 t. iodized salt, 1 t. white vinegar, 1 c. canola oil, 1 c. fresh milk (buttermilk was not available unfortunately), 2 t. vanilla extract, red food coloring and 1/2 cup of hot coffee.

For the cream cheese frosting, I used 1 stick butter, 1 stick cream cheese and 1 c. confectioner's sugar. People normally add 2 c. sugar; but again, I don't like very sweet cakes so I always cut back on the sugar.

The roses and leaves are just simple fondant icing. 

I really love baking but I hate eating. This is why I really enjoy baking cakes for my friends! I just can't wait to see them. Bye for now. Gotta run...

Minion Cake

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I have been too preoccupied with family activities. My big sis and big bro came home so we can hold an early Christmas celebration. Next week, my big sis will be going back to Thailand to continue her PhD. Until then, my vacation schedule will be a bit hectic. When she leaves, I might be busy reading random stuff related to my career because I will be commencing my PhD a couple of months from now.

For the meantime, I've been busy experimenting in the kitchen. Today, we celebrated my younger bro's birthday. Because we're fond of the movie "Despicable Me," I baked him a minion cake! I only baked a single-layered cake because I don't really want everyone to gain weight. The minion cake is basically just a pineapple-flavored chiffon cake covered with fondant icing. 

I really enjoyed baking this cake! It was just like playing with a clay model.