Newest Addition to bakingbee's cupcake galore

Introducing...... *drumrolls*....

JAFFA CUPCAKES !

Yes you heard it right. Jaffa Cupcakes! This newest addition to bakingbee’s cupcakes brings you a little taste of Heaven. This cake may be small, but once you have a bite, you’ll be surprised! It is full of richness from the marriage of chocolate and orange. The velvety smooth jaffa frosting delivers the final kick and makes this little baby oh-so-irresistible! You’ll be asking for more cos they are finger-licking-good! ;)

So, what are you waiting for? Grab ‘em fast!

Update from B

On the 2^nd of April, I got a very special present; an opportunity to officially sell my cupcakes. *wheeee...* I never imagined that it would be exactly on that date. It was not only my 4^th month of being back home, 2^nd of April was also Good Friday. I believe it was not a coincidence for the Lord works in all things for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. I believe He has heard my prayers and He was answering it on that day.

My baking journey so far, has not been the best if I may say so. There were soooooo many hiccups and disasters along the way. I’m still learning and adjusting many things here and there. To be honest, sometimes I really am frustrated and feel that my cakes were horrible and getting worse and worse! No joke! Compared to the baking back in Melbourne, this is DIFFICULT!!! But then again, my God is faithful! In my weaknesses, He showcases His Grace and Power. Really, He never puts to shame those who trust in Him. That is one promise that I will never let go. Without Him, this all would reach nowhere, and I, I would have been one depressed girl.

Let me share a few things that make baking a frustrating activity here back in Indo.

1. The Inconsistency of the Ingredients.
a. White Sugar: You will find varieties of white sugar here! HAH! From the brownish to the white coloured. From the coarsely ground to the more finely ground. I prefer the finely-ground white sugar because it resembles Caster Sugar closely (as most of my recipes use caster sugar). Caster Sugar is definitely unaffordable as its price is 4x the price of normal sugar. To make matter worse, the finely ground white sugar is not always available. So i’ve learnt to stock up a bit more when they are available!

b. Icing Sugar: Always choose icing sugar that clumps together! I know the clumps can be a big pain when you need to sieve it. But trust me, the clumps indicate that your icing sugar is PURE, not contaminated with STARCH! The shop assistant of my baking supplier alreadytold me that, but I learnt it the hard way today! The green tea frosting that I made became gooey instead of a bit firmer. The lemon frosting is DISASTROUS!! (More on that on the Cream Cheese section.)

c. Eggs: It’s SOOOO HARD to find good quality eggs! Compared to the eggs in Melbourne, Indonesian eggs are soooooo runny, both the white and the yolk. I never use out-of-the-fridge eggs as they are even more runny . When it comes to baking, you really need fresh and firm eggs. The firmer, the fresher, the better your baked goods will turn out. I have yet to try “kampong” (free-range eggs), I’m sure they are better, but that will make my cakes more expensive too. We’ll see later.. J If the result is more consistent, I might switch to it permanently and get my best friend to supply me eggs from her farm (at the moment, they are for whole-sale only)

d. Cream Cheese: NEVER EVER USE clumpy/ crumbly cream cheese! No matter how much you try to squeeze them out, chances are you’ll still end up with slightly clumpy frosting. No good. No one likes eating clumpy frosting! Enough said!

e. Colourings: The available colourings can’t give me colours I wanted! This is frustrating! You can see the slightly odd pinkish red below. It’s meant to be Christmas Red! R E D!! Not PINKish Red!! ARGHHHH.... need to try different brands, or even better, buying the dark colours (red, black, chocolate) from Melbourne. *evil laugh!*

Considering so many inconsistencies with the basic ingredients, I now understand why a lot of bakeries use cake emulsifier, such as TBM, VX, Ovalet, etc, to minimise the risk of their cakes going astray. Regardless, I still say NO to those cake emulsifier! HAH! Will march on to select the best possible ingredients and formulate the best recipes out of them!

2. The Very High Level of Humidity
It is your biggest enemy when you work with fondant/ sugar paste. You need a lot of icing sugar to make it drier and easier to roll out. That’s the key! No need oil, no need vegetable shortening, just icing sugar! Maybe icing sugar is really that good after all *nudge nudge Juls... ;)* Thank you for the tips, Sis!

3. The Unavailability of Some Stuff
To name a few:
Perfectly sized Cupcake wrappers! I can’t find the perfect size! Either they’re too big, or too small, too shallow or just simply not proportional! OMG!!! Thank God I’ve stocked up a lot of those that are quite good.

Brown sugar. Simply said, i’m craving for STICKY DATE PUDDING!

Almond meals

Fresh berries. I miss fresh blueberry muffins! No blueberry sold in this town! Arghhhh...

and the list goes on... X(

Anyway, enough of the complaining. I am still very very thankful. I’ve learnt a lot, and i’ve grown a lot too. It is not the best yet, but I get to witness this over and over again.

And He said to me, “My Grace is sufficient for you, for My Strength is made perfect in your weaknesses.” 2Corinthians 12: 9

Indeed.

Soli Deo Gloria!

PS. Here are a few things to be thankful for

The Favourite
cookies and creme (mini-cupcakes)

Dark Brown Satin Ribbon


Bees and Daisies

Project P

This is not the famous Indonesian band nor is it the ISM’s new international students welcoming project at Federation Square earlier this month. It is Project Profiteroles by bakingbee. Profiteroles are known as “kue soes” here in Indonesia. It has been one of my favourite desserts since I was little. The combination of the choux pastry and rum-lavished smooth crème patisserie tantalize your every taste bud and give you the heavenly sensation.

I first learnt making it around 5 years ago. At that time, a cousin of mine was craving for it, but the profiteroles we found in Melbourne were not exactly the same as the ones we had back home. So, armed with recipes from my mom, I braced myself to make them as her birthday cake. Come to think of it, it was a risky move, mainly because I’d never made them before!! Thank God the whole process went well. The choux pastry puffed up nicely, the pastry cream was also nice. However, when I tried making it for mom back home, it turned out to be catastrophic. Instead of puffing up nicely, the choux formed a blob of eggy substance. Ew! Since then, I’ve never touched that recipe anymore.

Still curious with the whole thing, I went to Borders to equip myself with the “how to make a perfect choux pastry” tips. *thank you Borders!!*I then tried another recipe and this time, the choux was perfect! They puffed up nicely; the outer bit is crispy while the inside is hollow. The crème was very smooth too! Whee! B was happy. That particular recipe then went straight to my recipe book. It has never failed me in making puffed up profiteroles ever since.

Today, I finally got to make it again. Well, here’s the long story. Mom wanted to try her old recipe, the one that I used to make my very first “kue soes”. I told her that I haven’t used that recipe for so long because my new recipe yields better choux pastry. We decided to go on with the old recipe, mainly because she’s still curious. Believe it or not, it turned out so messy! The dough doesn’t firm up at all. I was so upset and annoyed to the point that I wanted to throw away the dough! You see, the pastry dough was runny, and i’m 100% sure if I went on and put it in the oven, it would turn out to be the eggy blob again!!! >.<” Not happy! I’m pretty sure there was something wrong with that recipe. I suspect that the old recipe used “kampong/ cage-free egg”. Kampong eggs are smaller; they have big yolks and small egg white. When I first made it, I used caged egg too. But Melbourne’s caged egg also has big yolk! Unlike those found in Indo.

Step 1: Butter, water, salt

Step 2: Beat in the flour

We decided to adjust it to resemble my new recipe. Even then, I was still unsure of the success rate of this dough because when I put them into the oven, they immediately flatten down to form a blob! Surprise surprise! In 15 minutes, they puffed up nicely! And they don’t flatten down after I took them out of the oven. Yay!!!

Step 3: Eggs in


Step 4: Freshly baked. Big ones

The rest of the dough was put in little cups to prevent it going everywhere. They’re über cute when they puffed up. When you look closely, some of them do resemble mushrooms! X) hehee.....

Mini ones

Here they are... Enjoy!!

Profiteroles aka Kue Soes aka Cream Puff

Cookies and Creme Cupcakes

They’re BACK! By popular demand! Haha. Mom and Ella were pestering me to make this yummylicious babies. Well, to be honest, I wanted to make the cookies&crème eversince I got back from Melbourne, mainly because its ingredients are the easiest to find here in Solo. The Oreo biscuits I used for making it have been sitting in our pantry for a while, until today I finally transformed them into a more delectable sweets, The Triple C Goodness!

Back by popular demand

This particular flavour was a hit among my friends back in Melbourne, Jax and Julie in particular. Whenever I made them, Jax always asked for any leftover cookies&cream frosting to put on his toasts, or maybe, he just licked them behind Jul’s back during his “me time”.. X) I bet if he did that, Julie would have fought for the frosting too, cos this darling girl of mine, LOVEEEESSSS sweet stuff! Oh! and the mini soccer ball cake I made for Jax’s business partner’s son’s birthday party was of this flavour too! Yummy yummy goodness.

It took me 6 batches on that day to perfect this particular recipe. Thanks to Julie and Ria for being my loyal cupcake testers. Without you guys, I wouldn’t be able to bake yummy yummy cupcakes. Your encouragement and passion towards cupcakes are worth all the chaos in my kitchen. Xoxo

cookies&creme cake topped with cookies&creme frosting

Today, however, I twisted the recipe a little bit. I’ll try making the original version sometime soon and see which one is better.

OH !!!! and I was upset too! Earlier today, I went to a cake supply shop, only to be greeted by a very RUDE shop assistant. And I feltcheated too! The “spekkoek” (Dutch spiced thousand layer cake) spices I bought there was Rp.4000,- more expensive than other shops while that shop is famous for its cheaper prices.BOOHOOO!!!

PS. i bet you can guess what's coming up soon... ;)

Project O

Hello again! :)

How is everyone doing? I sincerely hope all is well with you. I myself have been happy and well.

Reason number 1: my dear W has just visited me, and spending a few days together with him has recharged me. Although now I have to deal with the post-visit gloomy days, I’m hopeful for the days to come because I believe our Lord has beautiful plans for us. I have to admit that long-distance relationship is not easy to maintain. High level of commitment and trust are extremely required. We’ve got our share of arguments and silly fights, but they strengthen us and help us to understand each other better. I’ll miss you sorely, dear...

Reason number 2: the special project I mentioned in my previous post turned out well. WHEEE !!! ^^v. I called it Project O. Earlier this month I found an Opera Cake recipe. It looks interesting and doesn’t look hard to make. I feel challenged to make one, mainly because the picture that comes with the recipe is pretty! The layers of almond joconde (almond sponge cake), coffee buttercream, and chocholate ganache are beautifully arranged, and when sliced, they look divine! So yesterday I’ve succeeded in making one. It doesn’t look as nice as the original recipe, but I’m quite happy with how it turned out. I was a bit scared because I substituted the almond meal with blended sliced almond. I read a few posts on some forums saying that substituting almond meal with blended sliced almond is not a good idea because the consistency won’t work and such. But yesterday, my almond joconde was nice, only that it’s a bit coarse. Maybe next time I have to blend the sliced almond even more finely. The cake turned out pretty too although I was sceptical when I was assembling it, cos the outer appearance is not appealing at all. Well, I guess you can’t always judge a book by its cover, can you? I was proven wrong when i sliced that cake. The inside was quite pretty, and i was content, feeling that my whole day of labour was justified. Hehee.. Taste-wise, personally I think the recipe is a bit too sweet. Need a bit more bitterness from the coffee. And the joconde needs to be soaked with more coffee syrup and liquor. There will always be a second time, but for my first try, I’m satisfied!

Here's bakingbee's first ever opera cake.
The frontal facing one is the ugly outer appearance.
The other bit is the one that's got inner beauty, said CJP.

PS. Opera cake definition according to my faithful friend, Wikipedia. ;)

Opera Cake is a type of French cake. It is made with layers of almond sponge cake (known as Joconde in French) soaked in coffee syrup, layered with ganache and coffee buttercream, and covered in a chocolate glaze. According to Larousse Gastronomique "Opéra gateau is an elaborate almond sponge cake with a coffee and chocolate filling and icing."

Q: What's your favourite donuts ?

A: My Mom's Donuts! :)

I've got some confession to make. First up, I’ve been craving for some yummy donuts, my mom’s donut. Her donuts have been the favourite in our extended family ever since I can remember. They’re chewy but not hard. They’re plump and when dusted with icing sugar, they’re the ultimate donut experience! I’m sure you’ll be wanting for more after every bite of it. Second up, I haven’t had them for more than 2 years. Third up, our heavy duty mixer was broken a while ago, so that’s also the reason why I haven’t been having them. Forth up, I succeeded in persuading my mom to teach me how to make her legendary donuts today. YAY!!! ^^v

The then broken mixer was repaired, and according to the repairer, it could work. But today, we proved him wrong! The mixer was soon got burnt again in 3 minutes into the mixing time. Blah! Poor Mommy had to knead the dough by hand. Hope that her right arm won’t be sore tomorrow. Thank God the dough turned out pretty. It also rose nicely.

Mommy kneading the dough

The Dough

At the moment, we just finished shaping them. Have to wait a bit more before they can be fried.

OK... here is the finished product.

Donuts, fresh from the fryer

I’m drooling over them and can’t wait to finish eating it. Mwahahaha XD

Here are the BESTest DONUTS of all time! Satisfaction guaranteed.

Die die must try! :)

It's Time!

.... to get started seriously!

I really miss baking and decorating cakes! Honestly, whenever I see the cakes I made in Melbourne, I'm sad. It feels like something precious is snatched away from you. Something is just not quite right. I dislike that feeling. Really. So I've promised myself that I'll get baking seriously.

Thank you to those who have been faithfully supporting me, be it kind encouraging words, (possible) cake orders, photography & driving skills ;), enthusiasm in devouring my cakes (both the yummy and the not-so-yummy ones), criticism and advices, and even teaching to bake opportunity. You know who you are. And to me, and of course bakingbee, you are very precious.

Stay tuned! I've prepared a special cake project for mid-March. It's for real! Unlike last year's Christmas Project which I failed to deliver because of time constraint. :( Apologies to you who were waiting for it. Hopefully I'll get to do it this year.

OH OH !!! and now that i've got a proper internet connection at home, updating my blog should not be a major problem anymore!! WHEEEE !!!!! ^^v

xoxo