Tea loves Cake

It was dad's birthday last saturday and I had zero time for cake baking. But I made it the day after so maybe it's not toooo bad?
Making the actual cake was not problem at all. Straight forward stuff after a bit of practice.
Then came the decoration. Bear in mind, I have never made a cream covered birthday cake in my life (or as some know it: a typical chinese birthday cake).
My brilliant idea was to sprinkle cocoa powder over a happy birthday stencil. Then it died on meeee!! So to resolve this problem, I just threw a lot more cocoa powder on top.
Then I arranged the pearl sugar thingies into a "45". One was misplaced. So I thought I'd blow it off the cake. Cue cocoa powder explosion and the rest of the pearls running away. Gah!

But the end result wasn't devastating. The banana tastes just a little strange and browned after about 2 minutes. Plus the whole family loved it (and are definitely not just saying it to make me feel better)!
Here is my experiment with left over cream. Using pre-made pancake batter, I improvised on some cake rolls that we used to buy from the posh bakery in Alderley Edge. Not bad, eh?

My other bake was green tea shortbread (recipe thanks to Martha Stewart). Such a vibrant green. Unfortunately the matcha powder is masked by the strong butter taste... It is basically now green shortbread. Hmmm.


Hello Kitty's head! It was such an awkward cookie cutter to use. Hence the chipped ear and lines across the face. *sigh* I will name you Gangster Kitty.

Paper-wrapped Sponge Cakes

Having finished my first ever driving lesson, I arrived home in a giddier-than-normal mood. Although I didn't travel faster than 10mph, it was exciting to be going faster than walking speed!
There was no stalling (unexpected) and loads of new information to remember...
How do all the drivers remember all this??

Anyhoo, I thought I'd express some happiness with a bake. I first tried paper-wrapped sponge cake at a bakery in china town. I immediately wanted to recreate the giant, soft, perfectly sweet sponge.

I found this recipe in a Chinese cooking book form Hong Kong (my holidays usually consist of at least one day of book-hunting). This wasn't my first attempt, and I remember my previous bake having a higher rise. Nevertheless, the cakes came out as spongey as a sponge :D
It even bounces back when you compress it! That equals triumph to me.


Paper-wrapped Sponge Cakes

Ingredients:
150g eggs
60g caster sugar
70g cake flour (I used 50g plain flour, 20g cornflour)
10g oil

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2) Separate the egg yolks and whites. Beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff.
3) Beat the egg yolks and sugar for 2 minutes until pale.
4) Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites. Sift in the flour and continue folding. (Try to keep handling of the mixture to a minimum to prevent deflating)
5) Lastly, incorporate the oil into the mixture.
6) Spoon the batter into cake cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and risen.
7) The cakes are best served warm. Cool completely before placing in an airtight container.