October 19, 2008

Cake for work; and cake for play!

Su has to work mondays to sundays.
Almost every waking hour of the day she's thinking of her issues to deal with business set-up...her cake designs and her line up of cake tasks to fulfill.
This weekend was a rare quiet one for Su.
She had the luxury of giving herself a Saturday of rest! What does she do with a fondant-less, design-less and delivery-less day?

She dreams of baking luscious cakes....YES!
Classic baked goods in various shapes and in layers! It must have layers!...
She wants to cut into a cake with a fine and tender crumb...
Ahh... delightful aspirations of good cake.
She plans ahead to satisfy her cravings to bake something delectable just for fun. She's been thinking of what to bake for days! Sis suggests a baked cheesecake.. Em seconds the motion..and just like that; cheesecake made the top of the 'bake' list.

Su has no interest in eating those delicious cakes...
..just the thought of assembling stacks filled with lightly whipped frosting and creamy smooth ganache makes her heart sing a joyful note~

Placing them on the counter atop tall glass cake stands in matching pairs drifts her to another bake frenzy to whip up a batch of cookies to complete the picturesque tea time dessert montage.
Su's attempt at a chocolate layer cake with orange infused ganache didn't make the cut. Bad recipe...bad book. *frown*. Shan't express too much negativity. Negative-ness upsets me..
Lets speak about the amazing souffle cheesecake instead.She topped it with a touch of cream... several precious gooseberries and a sprinkle of blueberries for some contrast. AHH! tasted as good as it looked.
Cant wait for Em to come in tomorrow to try it!

140g finely granulated sugar
6 eggs; whites and yolks separated
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
50g butter
250g Philadelphia cream cheese
30ml fresh milk
70ml cream
2 tbsp lemon juice
60g superfine flour (I used low gluten)
20g cornflour
1/2 tsp salt

Combine cream cheese, butter, cream and milk in a bowl and melt over a double boiler. Leave to cool.
Gently fold in the flours, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

In an electric mixer; whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in sugar a tbsp at a time and whisk until soft peaks form.
Very carefully combine the whipped egg whites into the cheese mixture in a gentle folding motion till just incorporated.
Pour into a 8 inch square cake pan lined with nonstick parchment and bake cheesecake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until golden brown at 160 C (325 F) in a waterbath up to 2/3rds the side of the pan.
Allow the cake to cool slightly in the oven with the oven door left ajar. Refrigerate for 4-5 hours before serving.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

yay! finally a cake recipe! :)

Chef C said...

hey Su Yin, just like you, i have no interest in eating my own cakes. My true delight is also in the final moments of decorating it, garnishing it, setting up the table (ooh....especially this!) and photo taking!!

Carolina deWitte said...

Since you have no interest in eating what you make, I would volunteer to eat some of it for you!! Mmm. Looks so good, but since I live by myself, I seldom could use an entire cake. I might try this recipe for Thanksgiving though, as my daughter is a cheescake lover through and through. (I ALWAYS make or buy a cheesecake for her birthday.) Still...if you need volunteers, let me know.

Epilicious said...

Nice..... looks yummy. I definitely will try sometimes. May I?

Anonymous said...

A controversial comment if I may...

Somehow your 'impromptu' designs appeal to me much more than the many designs you have evidently so meticulously and artfully conceptualised. Not that those creations aren't fantastic. Far from it.

From my own experience, I feel that when one is totally unconstrained by the (un)conscious need to meet customers' expectations, the soul is free to express itself and what results is a refreshing simplicity that comes from the heart!

-food for thought-

Sihan said...

I like the sound of tt souffle cheesecake. Cheesecakes more often than not get a little too heavy sometimes! Thanks mi lady!

My Sweet & Saucy said...

What a yummy looking cake! Hope you enjoyed the time off!

Anonymous said...

love the pics, what cam do you use? really nice!

Christy said...

Hm. I love cake as much as life itself, but I rarely eat the ones that I have made. Us pastry people are a strange bunch, aren't we?

Your setup looks wonderful!! You are so lucky to have found your own unique place in this industry!

ibuhannah said...

hi there, found your blog while blog hopping. I love your designers cuppies.. do you take orders? how do i go about this? email me at hawa012@gmail.com I'd love to hear more on ordering and pricing. hope to hear from you soon

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to hear about your layed chocolate cake! I stumbled across a recipe I found on the LURPAK butter website that you may like to try. It's a chocolated mocha cake with LAYERS which you love and apricots. Interesting combination.

Ingredients

Mocha butter cream
100 g / 4 oz soft LURPAK Unsalted Butter
75 g / 3 oz icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
2 tsp boiling water

Stewed apricots
200 g / 7 oz dried apricots, stoned (unsulphurated)
250 g / 9 fl oz water
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 ready made cake bases with cocoa (approx. 21 cm / 8 1/4" diam.)
2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
100 g / 4 oz dark chocolate
2 tbsp milk
50 g / 2 oz blanched almonds - chopped and toasted

Instructions

Mocha butter cream: Beat together the butter and icing sugar. Dissolve the instant coffee in the boiling water and beat into the cream.

Stewed apricots: Cut the apricots into small strips. Put them in a saucepan with the water and bring to the boil. Simmer, covered, for approx. 5 min. Add the sugar and stew for a further 10 min., 15 min. in all. Remove the saucepan from the heat and mash the apricots lightly with a spoon. Add lemon juice to taste, the stewed apricots should be slightly acidic. Leave to cool.

Drip the bottom cake base with 1 tbsp orange juice. Spread half the mocha butter cream on the base. Spread half the stewed apricots on top of the cream. Place the second base on top and fill it the same way. Cover with the last base. Melt the chocolate and stir in the milk. Spread the chocolate over the layer cake, and sprinkle with the almonds. Leave the cake, covered, in the refrigerator for approx. 30 min.


ENJOY!

Anonymous said...

hi!
nice cake, nice photos, nice blog. keep it up!

Deeba PAB said...

Got here from My Gastronomic Adventure...pretty cakes indeed & fab pictures!

Anonymous said...

Hi Su Yin, I dropped you a comment asking how much you charge to do cupcakes for little girls' birthdays and I haven't heard for you..

Can you please reply? Thanks.

email : zarasmama@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

hi Su,

that sounds and looks very yummy, but Im not sure I really understood how to cook that in a waterbath... how do I do that in the oven??? could you post a pic of that maybe? that would be great!
cheers,
roman

Bean Sprout's Cafe said...

My god ! The cake looks so incredibly amazing....thanks for sharing recipe ^ ^

Elaine said...

hi su,
can i replace superfine flour with normal plain flour?

Erwin Sajudi Photography said...

Hi Su...nice to know u, thanks for sharing this recipe, i already try it, and it's really yummy =)

kzi said...

wow,, the cake looks so delicous..

Mermayd said...

Hi Su,

Thanks for sharing your recipes and your experience with us! I'm still something of a newb myself but I love to experiement when I am brave :)

One question for you about this recipe; in your list of ingredients, you have "1/2 tsp salt" but in your instructions, the salt is never used. Is this a mistake in the list of ingredients or a forgotten inclusion in the instructions?

Thanks again and keep up the great posts!