A dozen chooks

A few weeks back, I made cake pops for the first time!

I made a dozen chooks :)

I used the red velvet cake recipe that I've made previously. Once the cake was cooled, I crumbed it up and added about 2-3 tablespoons of Philly chocolate frosting. Rolled them up into balls and refrigerated. Then I dipped a cake pop stick into white chocolate and into the cake ball. Refrigerated once again so they became stable.

Then the fun part! Decoration! Hehe

I pre-piped and coloured some white chocolate to make the features of the chickens a few days prior.

Voila!

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Waffle on!

Working in a shopping centre is hard when you're trying to stop spending money.

A few weeks ago during the Christmas season, I wandered out on my lunch break. I can't help but stop by House or Matchbox to take a peek... and I found a waffle cone maker! Ooo.. :D

Now, just the week prior though, I had purchased a Nordicware Belgian Waffler from amazon.com.  It wasn't cheap. About 49AUD delivered. M wanted one too. What I really want though, was a hk egg waffle pan (gai dan jai). :( But it's so expensive! I know you can get them on Shanghai Street, Kowloon.. but but.. I still haven't had the chance. Moreso because I can't speak Cantonese so I'm scared of the shop owners. Hahaha. D:

But this waffle cone maker, I was thinking I could make egg roll cookies and love letter cookies with them. Being $20, I thought, yeah ok, why not! I don't have one yet! HAHA.. Unfortunately, with this kitchen addiction of mine, I have most things already. Especially bakeware...

Anyway, I decided to test these two pans out. I tried making egg rolls first. The last time I ate an egg roll cookie was last year when in HK. I went to a HKTB Wing Wah cake class with my cousins and we made wife cakes and egg rolls. I can't seem to find the recipe sheet they gave us, so I just googled for a recipe. I couldn't really find one as people call "springrolls/cha gio" as "egg rolls". I think it's an American thing. Sigh. So I searched in Chinese instead. And I found one! :D But I can't remember where it was from.. :(

Chinese egg roll cookies
Makes about 20

100g butter
120g plain flour
90g sugar
3 whole eggs

Melt butter and allow to cool.
Whisk eggs, add sugar. Whisk.
Add butter and flour. Whisk.

Brush a heated pan with some extra butter.
Apply one tablespoon of mixture.

Cook for 50secs on low-med heat on each side.

Carefully roll it up. (Beware, as it's extremely hot! My fingers are used to the heat :P )
Allow to cool.

If they aren't completely crisp, bake them in an oven at 120-150C for 30mins or so until they are crisp.
Store in an airtight container.

They taste great! But they don't look as pretty because of the grid lines. But that doesn't matter, right? Haha. I'm gonna make some more for Lunar/Chinese New Years this year.

With the waffles, well, I still need to look for a good recipe. (And I probably shouldn't alter the butter content this time. I'm afraid of butter, so I like to reduce and cut it out, but this doesn't allow the waffles to be crisp :( )

I'll keep trying. Same goes with the love letter cookies. The pan doesn't really work because it's too thick. Sigh...

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Christmas

I'm... done with Christmas baking for this year. I'm a bit over it now.

I've made my coconutty snowmen, cinnamonbread and gingerbread houses. I've also made peppermint bark and spiced chocolates.

I've made too much, and I don't want to bombard people with food. I don't want to make people fat. I don't want to make myself gain weight either. I think I've just lost the spirit. I want to bake and make and give... but who is there to give to? My joy in making these things then just goes to waste. Which makes me sad. So I'll stop it here. I don't want to force people with food. I want to give to those that want and will appreciate it.

I'm sorry for ranting. Perhaps I'm just tired. I feel deflated.

I had fun making these things, and I always will. But I think you (especially my workmates) have had enough.

If you're wondering, I used the same recipes from previously for the cinnamonbread and gingerbread. I actually bought a gingerbread house cutter set this year, but unfortunately, I didn't have enough gingerbread dough so I just downsized it and made 3 mini houses. :( I used the second cutter on the left in the picture below, and just remodelled my pieces with my architectural imagination. :P

I'm actually quite happy about these gingerbread houses. The last time I made cinnamonbread houses back in 2009, it wasn't so successful. But then again, I didn't have any cutters to use. It was much simpler this time! :D

Anyway, I wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas! :)
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Mr Panda ❤

I finally made Mr Panda. But I made too much cake. First shot at it, my red velvet mixture was too delicate, and Mr Panda #1... unfortunately.. died. :( Second batter worked, but I had too much batter so I ended up baking an extra cake too. Haha.. :/

Fatty panda :P Hehe~

Red velvet cake

250g butter
600g caster sugar
6 eggs
40g cocoa
8tsp red food colouring
4 tsp vanilla extract
550ml milk
600g self raising flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix.
Combine red dye, cocoa, vanilla and a bit of milk together to form a smooth paste.
Add to butter mixture.
Mix and add flour alternating with milk until well combined.

Pour into a greased Wilton Cuddly Bear Pan.

Bake for 50mins in a preheated 170C oven.

Remove and allow to cool before frosting. I used the new Philly frosting in chocolate and lemon. You'll need 1 tub of chocolate and 1.5 tubs of lemon.

I also made some panda chocolate using a chocolate mould I got in HK earlier this year.  Gotta love pandas!

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