Taro (Yam) Layered Cake

It's Mothers' day! I know my post is outdated; my aim was to get this post done before the month of May ends. Was thinking hard on what type of cake to bake for my mum... we are a typical Asian family where cream, butter, milk do not appear frequently on the dining table. Much as my parents' repertoire of dining options has expanded, possibly under duress, from 3 kids who have grown up and have a slightly wider scope of dining experiences; the selection of cakes had still been limited to fruit cakes.

With the subsequent appearance of 4 little nieces and nephews, woohoo! my parents kind of learned to accept chocolate-based cakes. Yet, it's difficult to satisfy 8 adults and 4 kids.. my brother and father never let me forget that green tea red bean cake I bought years agoooo! A recent pandan kaya cake from Bangawan Solo had the kids rejecting the pandan layers all together. Durian cakes are well-accepted though.. well, maybe I will try that one day but i always thought that durian should be enjoyed in it's purest, original, creamy form. *drool*

Anyhow, after much googling, I decided on a Yam Layered Cake. I remembered the taste of it from a random cake shop in a Taiwan MTR and it's been lingering on my mind for a long time. This is definitely NOT a preferred all-family cake; I'm sure it's not something everyone in my family will like but well, it's the mum's day and she loves taro! Taro cake it is going to be!

There is surprising a large number of recipes online and each looks great! I decided on using a sponge cake recipe from the Australian Sponge Cake Queen and the yam layer from Aunty Yochana.

It's not too difficult but time-consuming, it took me about half a day to do this since it involves steaming, mashing then cooking the yam, of which I'm really not too good at. The time spent was worth it though as my parents love the cake or so i think, judging by their request for a second serving each and they happily kept the rest of the cake for breakfast the next day. Disclaimer : Half the family kept their distance and the kids only pecked at the sweet mango slices, happily. Oh well, as long as my parents like it. Yay!

Recipe:

Sponge Cake
Flour mixture : Put 2 heaped tsp of plain flour + 1/2 teaspoon baking soda + 1 teaspoon cream of tartar into a 1-cup measuring cap and fill up the remainder of the space with cornflour.
4 eggs, room temp
120g fine-grained sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Prepare 2 8-inch cake pans, no need to line the pan, just grease the sides. (I may line the bottom next time though)
2. Sift flour mixture 3 times.
3. Beat eggs and sugar on high speed for 7 minutes, add vanilla essence and combine.
4. Turn mixer to low speed and gently add flour mixture, beating for 1 minute until smooth.
5. Pour batter into the 2 cake pan, tap gently to remove air bubbles and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and leave to cool fully.

Note:
The sponge cake baked beautifully, however they are on the dry side.. I'm not sure why or maybe it needs a coating of sugar syrup?
I didn't have cream of tartar so I omitted it. No difference to the rising.

Yam Paste Layer:
500g yam, after being steamed and mashed (I cut into small cubes, steamed for 20 minutes until soft and mash them while hot)
80g sugar
300ml fresh milk (I used Meiji skimmed milk)
50 gram unsalted butter
50 gram coconut powder

1. Melt the butter and sugar in milk over low heat.
2. Stir in coconut powder and well-mixed.
3. Add the mashed yam and simmer over med heat until it forms a paste.
4. Leave to cool thoroughly.

Note:
My paste was very watery and I was worried it would not be able to form a layer so I cooked it over low heat for very long, almost an hour before it dries somewhat to form a paste. I would probably reduce the milk or increase the yam in the next attempt.

Stabilised Whipped Cream:
300ml heavy cream (I used Bulla Thickened Cream)
1/4 cup sifted icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp plain gelatin, cooked in a small pan over low heat with 4 tsp water to form a gel, keep the pan slightly submerged in hot water to prevent it from hardening.

1. Beat the cream  and sugar on high speed until it turns slightly creamy.
2. Add the gelatin gel, vanilla essence and continue beating at high speed until stiff.

Note:
Whip the cream only just before assembling the whole cake.
Before whipping, keep mixing bowl and beater in freeze to make them really cold. Cream must be whipped in cold condition in as short a time frame as possible to prevent curdling.
I added gelatin as whipped cream tends to melt really fast. Since our weather has been particularly hot recently, I wanted a stable whipped cream to ensure my mango slices would not slide. Indeed it worked perfectly and did not affect the taste at all.

Assembly:

1. Cut the cake into the number of layers needed. I cut one of the layers into 2 and kept 1 intact so I've 3 layers. This is to be able to fit 2 layers of yam paste into the cake.
2. Place the bottom layer on the cake tray that you will already be using to hold the cake.
3. Layer 1 layer of yam paste and place the 2nd sponge cake atop. This layer of yam paste need not be too thick as the top 2 layers will add weight and squeeze the yam out.
5. Layer the 2nd, thick coat of yam paste and place the 3rd sponge cake on top.
6. Spread the whipped cream on the top layer, followed by the sides. Try to smooth the frosting on the side, something I'm still a real novice at.
7. Arrange the mango slices into a rose shape on top. (I used 3 ripe, medium-sized mangos and sliced them vertically downwards, in thin slices)

Fluffy Tang Zhong Overnight bread rolls

So..the husband commented that I should try a normal bread recipe. It looks like my breads, with the various additions of rye, wholemeal etc has become a fatigue in the household. The man wants a simple-sugar, all-white flour recipe that hopefully yields a soft bread for him.

What the hubby says is usually what the wifie does (at least when it comes to cooking/baking!) Out comes my Tangzhong recipe but with my mantra for always trying something new, I decide to leave it for an overnight fermentation, having had some successes with no-knead recipe, to see if it affects the final texture. Indeed, the bread turned out marshmellow-soft. I love that it bounces right back when pressed, love the big holes in the interior crumb, love the fluffiness and that it pairs beautifully with any filling.

The first of my dough, rolled into a seaweed pork floss bread.

The 2nd variation from the same dough, cheese and tuna bun:

I like both variations, which received pretty good feedback from the hub and my friends. Easy to make, delicious to eat, it makes a yummy and filling breakfast!

Tangzhong recipe:

25g bread flour

125ml water

Mix all ingredients in a metal pot and stir until there are no lumps. Cook over med heat until mixture becomes very thick, and lines start to appear when mixture is stirred. (Alternatively, test the temperature, you will get Tangzhong at 65C). Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.

 

Bread recipe:
1 large egg
125ml milk
120g Tangzhong
350g bread flour
50g sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoon instant yeast
30g unsalted butter, softened
Herbs (amount is up to individual preference)

Method of making bread :
Mix all ingredients in mixer with dough hook, except for butter and herbs. Mix for 2 minutes until gluten starts to form.
Add butter and herbs and continue kneading until it passes the membrane test.
Roll into a ball and Proof on a floured surface for 20 minutes then put into fridge and leave overnight.

Next day:
Remove dough from fridge; it would have proof to at least double the size.



For buns:
Cut little balls of dough, each weighing around 100g (to achieve a bun that's the usual size sold in bakeries)
Flatten each ball, place tuna and cheese and roll back into balls. Proof for 1.5 hours.

For Seaweed roll:
Collect all remaining dough into a ball and flatten it, cover with a large piece of seaweed and sprinkle pork floss generously. Roll like a swiss roll into a log and place into a loaf pan. Proof for 1.5 hours.

 

To bake: Preheat oven to 170C. Place bread inside and bake 15 minutes for the bun and 23 minutes for the loaf. (Cover with foil if bread is browning too fast)

 

Verdict: Thumbs-up! I have repeat orders for it already =)

 

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BYOB at Roxana's Home Baking

 



No-Knead Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Bread

What a mouthful of a title! On my quest to increase the ratio of whole wheat to white flour without it textured like rocks, it suddenly struck me to incorporate sweet potato. My previous sweet potato yogurt bread was so soft that it was limp, I think potato must be a good tenderiser. So onto Mr Google I went again and found one at this wonderful blog, with clear instructions and her bake looks so good!

I tweaked it slightly as I wanted it to be no-knead and prefers a crusty boule rather than a loaf. Here goes the result:

Recipe:
2 midsized sweet potato, skin removed, boil until soft and mash while hot and leave to cool.
(I added 2 tablespoon olive oil when mashing it, to add some liquid and fragrance)
9g instant yeast
2 cups bread flour
2 cups whole meal flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1.25 cup room temperature water

Preparation on day before baking:
Have a lidded container ready, mix all dry ingredients into the container except salt. Stir everything up and add the salt. Pour the water and add the cooled sweet potato mash into the mixture. Knead together for couple of minutes just to have the dough come together.

Place the lid back on but not capped tightly, to enable air release/circulation. Leave overnight for at least 12 hours up to 72 hours.

Baking day
1 Slice the portion that you want to bake out of the container and place onto a well-floured surface.  Dough will be sticky.
2. Press the air out of the dough, form into a ball or shape of your choice and place onto a well-floured pastry paper.

3. Make a couple of cuts on the surface, dap with water and sprinkle topping (I used a multi-grain mix) or skip the water and sift a layer of flour for that rustic look.
4. Let it proof for 2 hours until indentation stays in place when pressed.

5. Before baking, pre-heat oven with dutch oven pot inside for 15 minutes, at 200C. Once ready to bake, carefully slide the dutch oven out, remove the cap, slide the dough with the paper into the pot. Place the lid back on and slide into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 5 minutes to brown the surface.

Alternative - Bake into rolls or buns

1. Slice the bread dough into equal portions (I used 50g dough balls and it later became the size of a big fist)
2. Form into balls and let dough relax for 15 minutes.
3. Prepare your filling (I used cooked and cooled Emborg frozen spinach and President cheddar cheese slices)
4. Flatten each ball and roll filling into it. Form back into balls.
5. Dap surface with water and sprinkle topping. Let dough proof for 1 hour.

6. Before baking, pre-heat oven with dutch oven pot inside for 15 minutes, at 180C. Once ready to bake, carefully slide the dutch oven out, remove the cap, slide the dough with the paper into the pot. Place the lid back on and slide into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 3-5 minutes to brown the surface. Watch it carefully to prevent charring. (Note: I used a lower temperature to get a softer crust)

Always cool the bread before slicing / eating.

Verdict:


Both the dough turned out well. I made the boule on 2nd day and the buns on 3rd day, thought the flavor develop slightly better on 3rd day and the dough was a little softer and stickier. I like that the boule was crusty and chewy, definitely much softer than if I has done just 5050 ratio on whole wheat without adding the potato. Bread is still abit on the heavy side though and one slice of it for breakfast fills me up very nicely. However, it's on the bland side, not something that you would eat on it own, have to be used as a sandwich bread.

As for the buns, I find them delicious! The cheese melted and somehow the bun is very moist and soft inside and the crust was thin enough. The flavor of the cheese went very well with the bread and my little hint of spices inside up the oomph factor, definitely marked as to be repeated.

Loving the simplicity of the prep!

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BYOB at Roxana's Home Baking

Multi Grain Rice Salad

To balance all those sinfully rich desserts and daily Milo/coffee drinks I indulge in, I try to make balanced wholesome meals at home sometimes. Much as I try to buy enough for 3x cooking a week, we usually end up cooking barely once or at best, twice. Today I discovered an even faster way of whipping up a meal than my usual cut/marinade/oven-grill. It's probably used by many ladies all the time already but somehow only occur to my little-used culinary mind.. and that is to cook rice in the rice cooker and steam the vegetables at the same time!

Everything will put together in only 15min of prep and 30 minutes of cooking (by the rice cooker). It was delicious and entirely wholesome! Multi-grained rice cooked to plumpness, steamed broccoli and carrots for the vegetable portion, chickpeas and tuna in olive oil for protein, avocado for healthy fat and coriander/chilli padi for that additional oomph to the overall flavor of the dish.

Hub and I loved the one-bowl dish and he has declared this as his preferred grain over quinoa. It's so easy to eat that we probably over-ate the necessary portions and it kept us full over the next 5 hours! It's so easy, so healthy, so packed with nutrients, I urge everyone to try this:

Ingredients: (serves 2 hungry adults)
3/4 cup Multi-grain rice (you can substitute with brown rice or quinoa)
Cut Broccoli and sliced carrots (or any veg of your choice)
4 garlic cloves
Pinch of Sea salt
Half can of garbanzo beans, washed and drained
1/2 can of Tuna flakes in olive oil
1 avocado, sliced
Handful of coriander
2 chilli padi

Dressing:
6 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Juice from half a lemon
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
1 finely cut chilli padi
Sea salt and pepper
Mix everything together, stir to emulsify and place in fridge to cool

Method:
1. Soak rice for 15 minutes, wash and place in rice cooker
2. Add 1.5 cups of water, one tablespoon olive oil, pinch of sea salt and garlic cloves. Start the "cook" process.
3. 10 minutes later, add the broccoli and carrots to the steaming basket and place into the rice cooker.
4. 10 minutes later, add the chickpeas to the steaming basket.
5. Once rice is cooked, toss vegetables, tuna and dressing together. Add avocado, coriander and chilli padi to serve.

Goodness in a plate!

PB Chocolate Brownie

This is a confused bake! It has a very moist almost-molten inner like a lava cake. It has a crisp top like a brownie bake. It's chockful of very very dark chocolate yet has divine hints of peanut butter. In short, this is utterly, decadently delicious!

Not really knowing what to call it, I'm going to somewhat follow the owner of the recipe. This is a really easy bake - major steps only involve melting the chocolate/butter, stirring/beating a few ingredients together and into the oven it goes. It only needs 12 minutes to achieve this lava quality. Be very mindful of the time needed, since overbaking will completely cook the inside and it will really just be a normal brownie. I would suggest to test 1 in the oven first before baking an entire batch.

Ingredients:
85g unsalted butter
400g dark chocolate (I used Nestle Swiss Dark chocolate)
100 peanut butter (I used Skippy Chunky peanut better)
3 eggs at room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 teaspoon instant coffee powder (I used Nestle coffee granules)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method (Adapted from here)
Oven 180C, oil 2 6" trays or 18 small cupcake liners

1. Over a simmering pot of water, melt the chocolate, butter and peanut butter in a metal bowl.
2. Once melted and smooth, let the mixture cool.
3. Beat eggs, sugar, coffee and vanilla extract. until light in colour
4. Add the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly
5. Add flour, baking power and salt into the above mixture and stir in until just combined.
6. Divide into cake liners/ trays and bake for 12 minutes for cupcakes, 25 min for whole cakes (6")

Tangzhong Cinnamon Rolls

 

It's been a busy month! With e end of CNY, work seemed to pick up full-speed and it's been endless weeks of work after-work. Note to self: need to eat less sinful, more healthy, sleep early, wake up later, meet my family more, spend quality time with the hubby, do 2x yoga a week, run more frequently. What a list.. last one - bake n blog more!

Banana / Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls

 

Tangzhong recipe:

25g bread flour
125ml water

Mix all ingredients in a metal pot and stir until there are no lumps. Cook over med heat until mixture becomes very thick, and lines start to appear when mixture is stirred. (Alternatively, test the temperature, you will get Tangzhong at 65C). Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.

Bread recipe:
1 large egg
125ml milk
All of above Tangzhong (should have 120g)
350g bread flour
50g sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon instant yeast
30g plain yoghurt

 

Cinnamon Filling:

1 tablespoon cinnamon powder (adjust to preference)

30g brown sugar

3 over-ripe bananas, sliced

1/4 cup cranberries, soaked 30 minutes in milk (I soaked it in the milk needed for the bread ingredients above listed)

Dough knead (in a breadmaker):1. Combine all wet ingredients in breadmaker's loaf pan
2. Place flour, sugar and salt into the wet mixture and stir the dry ingredients lightly. Add the yeast, ensure that it does not come into contact with the salt.
3. Choose dough program
4. Machine will start to knead the mixture. When gluten starts to form, around 5 minutes onwards, add the yoghurt.

5. At the end of program, turn dough onto a floured surface. Flatten gently and divide into 2 portions. Form into balls and let it relax for 15 minutes.

6. Roll each ball into a thin rectangle. Mix the cinnamon powder and sugar together, sprinkle generously across the dough.

7. Place sliced banana or sprinkle cranberries across the dough

8. Roll the long side up and seal tightly, placing the roll on the sealed side down.

9. Cut into slices and place opened side up on baking tray.

10. Let rise for 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

11. Bake for 20 minutes at 190C, until top is golden brown.

See how fat they've bloomed! It was pretty light and the banana ones went down especially well with the family!

 

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BYOB at Roxana's  Home Baking

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

Valentines' day. A day where most restaurants are packed, menus are fixed to identical sets, flowers are priced 3x the usual, and chocolates sales probably hit a sweet festive peak.

 

Husband and I prefer to spend a quiet evening at home with a simple home-cooked korean galbi meal with lots of fresh lettuce and sharp garlic. A home-baked red velvet cake, with a sweet creamy cheese frosting and fresh cherries completed the happy v-day meal.

 

 

Inspired by Joy The Baker, sourced from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, cake turned out a deep vibrant red, dense and moist with the cocoa flavor shining through clearly. Hubs love it. Yay!

 

Ingredients:

57gram unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoon cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)

2 tablespoon red food coloring

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, let stand for 10min)

1 cup + 2 tablespoon cake flour

1 teaspoon fleur del sel salt (or normal sea salt, or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1.5 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

 

Pre-heat oven to 180C.

 

1. Using paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the egg and continue mixing. 

3. Mix the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red coloring together into a thick paste. Add to mixture and mix together thoroughly, ensuring that the colour is evenly incorporated.

4. On low speed, add half the buttermilk, beat, half the flour, beat, rest of buttermilk, beat, rest of flour, beat until a smooth batter is formed.

5. Add the salt, baking soda and cider vinegar. Beat on high until completely mixed.

6. Pour into 2 6-inch lined cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes until skewer test comes out clean. 

 

Cool completely before frosting.

 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

250g cream cheese, slightly cooled
125 unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat Cream Cheese and butter using the paddle attachment until smooth and well-homegenized. Add vanilla extract and beat further. On low speed, add icing sugar gradually, until smooth and creamy, to the desired sweetness level.

Can be used immediately to frost cooled cakes.