Canele 1.0

I had a grand plan for a canele recipe experiment, using recipes from Chocolate and Zucchini, LaTartine Gourmande and Tartlette.

I actually made a batch of each but that's where the experimentation lost control. I brought the whole lot to a girlfriend's place since she had a superduper oven and we were going to hang out. However, her fancy oven had various functions for regular baking and cake baking and what not so needless to say, it was not a controlled process and the results were varied. The caneles were all good and scoffed down quickly as soon as they came out of the oven, which is why I don't have pictures of them.


I decided to try it on my own but slowly and one batch at a time. When I did this last month, the assignments had started to pile up so even though C&Z's recipe called for the batter to be rested for a couple of days, mine rested a whole week.

I also cheated and used the blender to get everything mixed because when I made the batters the first time, I got frustrated with the lumpy flour bits which I had to sieve out. My final deviation or what the purists would frown on was to use silicon moujlds because frankly, one copper mould here costs as much as a silicon one that would make 15 at a time.


So here is C&Z's recipe which I adapted.

Canele
makes about 20-30

2 cups milk
3 tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla paste
100g flour
200g sugar
3 eggs
1/3 cup rum

Combine the milk, butter and vanilla in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Watch this carefully as it boils over very quickly and creates a mess. Remove from heat and set aside. In the meantime, mix the flour and sugar in a separate bowl. When the milk mixture has cooled enough, combine it in the blender with the flour mixture, eggs and rum. Refrigerate the batter in a sealed container for at least 24 hours and up to 7 days.

When ready to bake, preheat oven at 480F. Remove the batter from the fridge and give it a stir as it might have separated. Pour into the molds, filling them almost to the top. Put into the oven to bake for 20 minutes, then (without opening the oven door) lower the heat to 400F and bake for another 40 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and unmold onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before eating. Store in an airtight container or in the fridge for up to a week.

Verdict: These are best eaten on the day they are baked or within the next 2 days. If stored in the fridge, they lose their crusty exterior. Great snack and so easy to make!

Vanilla Daisy Cupcake

I'm usually not a sucker for beautiful pictures in cookbooks but this one has loads of pretty pictures and detailed instructions to inspire and ensure that you can't go wrong. I've adapted Crabapple Bakery's recipe for vanilla cakes and decorated them with gum paste daisies.


I made these for my ex-flatmate's birthday. I still remember the first birthday party of Wendy's that I attended. It was held at one of the hottest nightspots in town and she had booked the entire place for her own private function. Every year since I've known her, she throws a birthday bash for herself. This year's theme is flower power.

Vanilla Cupcakes
makes 30 cupcakes

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Scoop into cupcake liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes and cool before frosting.


Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
makes 4-5 cups

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tbs vanilla extract
9-10 cups icing sugar

Cream the butter until pale before adding in the milk and vanilla. Mix in half the sifted icing sugar. Beat until well combined before adding in more to get the right consistency. Spread or pipe over cooled cupcakes and decorate as desired.

Verdict: Everyone thought they were really pretty and said they loved the texture of the cake. I found it too sweet and had to scrape off most of the frosting to enjoy it with the cake.

Pound Cake

After the baking failures over the weekend, I thought I should keep it simple. The first recipe I flagged from my lovely new book was the Blue Ribbon Pound cake. I adapted it and made it in cupcake size to share at work.


Pound Cake
makes 30-36 cupcakes

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
1 cup shortening
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Preheat the oven at 300F. Cream the butter and shortening until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then add in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Scoop into cupcake liners.
Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, covering with foil if the tops get over browned.

Verdict: This totally satisfied my craving for a simple cake and it was lovely eaten with jam. The sugar in the recipe can be increased by up to 1/2 a cup if the cake is not going to be served with something sweet.

My Magnolia Fairy Cake

I was again inspired by the lovely pictures of Nigella's Fairy Cakes in her book and I decided to make them for a childhood friend's birthday dinner tonight. As a doctor, the birthday girl regularly reminds me to lose weight so I decided to cut down on the sugar in the cupcake recipe because the icing on top would more than make up for it.

I tried Nigella's cupcake recipe last night and it was a disaster. After I compared it with the cupcake recipe that I have adapted from Magnolia Bakery, I realised that Nigella's recipe had 1/2 tsp more baking powder and a lot less milk. They had a beautiful mushrooming dome in the oven which promptly fell flat and even sunk when cooled.

Anyway, here's the version I usually rely on. It makes a little more than the usual 12 but I find this helpful just in case a couple of them turn out less than perfect (as in the case today) or it leaves me with 2 more to eat or give away. The recipe can also be easily doubled if I'm baking for a party.

Vanilla Cupcakes
makes 14 cupcakes

1 cup or 125g butter
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups or 150g flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract ( just a tad less of you want a milder vanilla flavour)

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs then sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Finally, mix in the milk and vanilla extract. Scoop into cupcake liners, half full to leave room for the icing.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
The cupcakes will shrink a little after cooling.

I had also read in a blog somewhere that icing could be made without egg whites, using just lemon juice or milk to bind the icing sugar. So it was experiment time again. I started small and made 3 batches of the following recipe to ice all the cupcakes I made.

Easy Icing
makes enough to cover 4-5 cupcakes

1 cup icing sugar, sifted
2 tbs milk or lemon juice
colouring or flavouring of choice

Combine all the ingredients just before icing and work fast because a 'skin' forms over the icing surface quite quickly. Decorate with lay ons or sprinkles.


The next time I try this, I will make a more flavourful icing. Maybe with rose or lavender...