Wilton Course 3: Fondant Cake and Rose

I had been looking forward to this class for a long time. I have heard a lot about working with fondant, and how it tastes like. It was a jam-packed class, with so much to learn in 2 hours. I’ve made the marble cake on Monday which was lightly iced and I had decided that the fondant should be in “Tiffany” blue. The colour came out nicely, and then we had to make the bow. I was going to just plain white with the whole “Tiffany” theme but decided to go with canary yellow instead. So here’s my first fondant cake, whereby the “Tiffany” blue looks more like robin’s egg’s blue. I love it so much. As for the bead buttercream border, that didn’t go too well. I had invisioned them to be perfectly oval to be consistent with the whole Easter theme but obviously my skills are not quite there yet.
We also learned to make our first fondant rose, which I’m extremely proud off. I have a hard time making my roses with buttercream and royal icing, so this turned out to be much better!

Marble Cupcake with Chocolate & Vanilla Buttercream

I was making a cake for tomorrow’s Wilton cake decorating class and I was trying to get creative with a box of yellow cake mix. I’ve used different fillings before, so I thought I’d try to make marble cake instead. I was looking for an easy way to make it without using too much extra ingredients, and one of the recipe I found simply required me to mix melted unsweetened chocolate with 1/3 of the yellow cake batter. Simple enough, I thought, except that when I poured it into the 8X8 pan, the batter overflowed! So I quickly lined a muffin pan with paper cups and poured the remaining batter in to make cupcakes.

They turned out quite good, but I should probably have added more sugar and melted butter or sour cream so that they chocolate parts are more moist. For the cake itself, I halved the cake when it was done and cooled, and spread leftover chocolate buttercream as filling and then covered with a light layer of vanilla buttercream icing so that it is ready to be covered in fondant tomorrow in class. I’m excited!

As for the cupcakes, I filled a piping bag with both vanilla and chocolate buttercream and piped a swirl on top. The swirls look like soft-serve ice cream! Andy was happy to see them ready for his belly

Baby Bok Choy with Vegetarian ‘Shrimp’

Dinner was simple today. Andy helped me wash the baby bok choys in cold water to revive the leaves and remove the dirt. This easy stir-fry was made by frying julienned ginger and baby bok choys with about 2 tbsp of hot oil. In less than 2 minutes the vegetables are ready and a mixture of vegetarian oyster sauce and water is poured into the wok. Season with a little salt, sugar and pepper and 2 tbsp of cornstarch+ cold water mixture to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat immediately.

The “shrimps” were pan fried ahead of time for garnish.

Serve dish with hot white rice.

Pan Dimensions and Volumes

I was searching for some information on pan sizes and the amount of cake batter it would hold today so that I can bake my cake for Wednesday’s Wilton cake decorating class (we’ll be making our first fondant cake!!). This was a huge help. For more information on how to adjust baking time, click on the source link below.

Source: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html

Approximate Pan Dimensions (inches)	Approximate Volume (cups)	Approximate Pan Dimensions (centimeters) (cm)	Approximate Volume (milliliters) (ml)
Round		Round
6 x 2 inches	4 cups	15 x 5 cm	948 ml
8 x 1 1/2 inches	4 cups	20 x 4 cm	948 ml
8 x 2 inches	6 cups	20 x 5 cm	1.4 liters
9 x 1 1/2 inches	6 cups	23 x 4 cm	1.4 liters
9 x 2 inches	8  cups	23 x 5 cm	1.9 liters
10 x 2 inches	11 cups	25 x 5 cm	2.6 liters
Springform		Springform
9 x 2 1/2 inches	10 cups	23 x 6 cm	2.4 liters
9 x 3 inches	12 cups	23 x 8 cm	2.8 liters
10 x 2 1/2 inches	12 cups	25 x 6 cm	2.8 liters
Bundt		Bundt
7 1/2 x 3 inches	6 cups	19 x 8 cm	1.4 liters
9 x 3 inches	9 cups	23 x 8 cm	2.1 liters
10 x 3 1/2 inches	12 cups	25 x 9 cm	2.8 liters
Tube		Tube
8 x 3 inches	9 cups	20 x 8 cm	2.1 liters
9 x 3 inches	12 cups	23 x 8 cm	2.8 liters
10 x 4 inches	16 cups	25 x 10 cm	3.8 liters
Square		Square
8 x 8 x 1 1/2 in.	6 cups	20 x 20 x 4 cm	1.4 liters
8 x 8 x 2 inches	8 cups	20 x 20 x 5 cm	1.9 liters
9 x 9 x 1 1/2 in.	8 cups	23 x 23 x 4 cm	1.9 liters
9 x 9 x 2 inches	10 cups	23 x 23 x 5 cm	2.4 liters
10 x 10 x 2 inches	12 cups	25 x 25 x 5 cm	2.8 liters
Rectangular		Rectangular
11 x 7 x 2 inches	6 cups	28 x 18 x 5 cm	1.4 liters
13 x 9 x 2 inches	14 cups	33 x 23 x 5 cm	3.3 liters
Jelly Roll		Jelly Roll
10 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 1	10 cups	27 x 39 x 2.5  cm	2.4 liters
12 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 1	12 cups	32 x 44 x 2.5 cm	2.8 liters
Loaf		Loaf
8 x 4 x 2 1/2 in.	4 cups	20 x 10 x 6 cm	948 ml
8 1/2×4 1/2×2 1/2	6 cups	21 x 11 x 6 cm	1.4 liters
9 x 5 x 3 inches	8 cups	23 x 13 x 8 cm	1.9 liters
Muffin		Muffin
1 3/4 x 3/4 in.	1/8 cup	4.5 x 2 cm	30 ml
2 3/4 x 1 1/8 in.	1/4 cup	7 x 3 cm	60 ml
2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.	1/2 cup	7 x 4 cm	120 ml
3 x 1 1/4 inches	5/8 cup	8 x 3 cm	150 ml
Heart Shaped		Heart Shaped
8 x 2 1/2 inches	8 cups	20 x 6 cm	1.9 liters

Cinnamon Honey Grapefruit

I went to the grocery store last night, and something struck my nostrils. The grapefruits were really fragrant so I had to buy some. I have days whereby I just crave a certain type of fruit or vegetables. I guess that’s how Mother Nature tells us what our body needs during the various seasons. Grapefruits are high in Vitamin C, and many people were sick at my office recently.

I have read that grapefruits tastes better when broiled in the oven with some honey or brown sugar and cinnamon, so I decided that I should try that this morning. I read that the flesh should be ‘loosened; from the skin prior to cooking, so I ran a serrated knife around the insides of the halved grapefruit. I spread a teaspoon of honey on the top of the grapefruit and placed it in the oven, flesh side up for a few minutes until the flesh started to brown. I sprinkled a dash of cinnamon and it was ready to go with my cup of chai tea.

Some people really dislike grapefruits because they are sour. I don’t mind them so much because they are kind of like pumelos, which reminds me of Mid-Autum Festivals back in Malaysia. Although cooking it in the oven for a few minutes with honey does not take all the sourness away, it was still quite good, for me anyway. I think organic grapefruits would be sweeter, though.

Kung Pow Tofu Scramble

I made this a while back with some soft tofu and Boca “beef” crumbles. I browned the “beef” with sliced ginger and dried chili peppers until they are fragrant. Then I added cubed tofu to the wok and scrambled with the “beef” and peppers. Seasoned with vegetarian oyster sauce, salt, sugar and it was ready to be dished with hot white rice.