CAKE CONNECTION'S ANGRY BIRDS CUPCAKE CLASS

Angry Birds. I know not what they are all about. But there I was taking an Angry Bird Cupcake class by invitation from Cake Connection. After a pleasant email from Shyamala and Nancy, the co-owners of Cake Connection, six other food bloggers and I came together for a long morning to afternoon session of sculpting 6 angry sugar paste figurines. We had so much fun, a little bit of pain and most definitely laughs. Nancy was the perfect instructor....extremely patient, kind, generous and forthcoming and Shyamala was very welcoming.


This is what the Cake Connection looks like as you enter. I have come here several times to get my sugar paste supplies. Cool, cozy and inviting.

Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover, Veron of Quay Po Cooks, Jocelyn of Petite Nyonya, Ivy of My Story, Chris of Pure Glutton and Tomoko of Caramel Factory were there......my fellow bloggers. 


In the workshop.... the tools of the trade and the materials like fondant, cupcakes and buttercream were all set out for us..  

There were notes and super colourful playdough.....yummm...also known as fondant and sugar paste.

We were more than ready. Nancy started by explaining clearly and logically the difference between fondant aka sugar paste and gum paste aka modelling paste. Fondant is soft and used for covering cakes and/or making 2D shapes, it may also be used for simple flowers while gum paste is the more pliable and therefore wonderful for sculpting fine sugar art work like intricate flowers, 3D figures and other delicate pieces. It's an ingredient that is added called CMC powder ( a man-made gum) or gum tragacanth (natural) that makes the diffrence in the paste's pliability and elasticity and to how hard it sets. Both CMC and Gum Tragacanth are available at the Cake Connection. Nancy also gave us invaluable tips which is what a good and worthwhile class is all about. Tips that you can never learn from a book but only from  the experienced. 


Tips on how to knead colours into fondant more quickly and evenly. Tricks on how to make small amounts of fondant more workable, how to work clean and neat, how to make edible glue, how to secure your figurines, how to get an evenly flat and not floppy fondant covered cupcake, how to make lifting minuscule cutouts easy, how to colour fondant a really deep red or black, which brands are better for this or that.......and all the whys and why nots...She also let us in on the secrets on making fondant taste like strawberry bubble gum. Oh My YUM...Invaluable lessons learnt.  So I came home armed not only with six angry looking birds in my pink box but with mental ammunition for my next sugar paste project. Now that's an excellent class no? Yes.


The angry birds ~ that I made....mmhm ~ so fun ~ so tiring ~ my eyes crossed a few times when I rolled out their tiny pupils and cut out their fierce eyebrows ~ the beaks were somewhat tricky. And must they have feathers and tails too!? These may look like child's play but believe me they are not. We heard Sonia heave a big, fat sigh .....now that made us laugh.....not angry ~ 

Do they growl or twitter ? Don't be angry little black bird ~ I made you ~ 


It wasn't easy rolling out a perfect round (perfection is the keyword in sugar paste class I find)....and Nancy said "Not too much pressure." The eyes are 'simply' 3 tiny circles of fondant, one larger than the other, each pressed flat and all glued one on top of the other. Easy? No.

He reminds me a little bit of the Simpson's don't you think?

Oohh la la here they come ~ the angry birds ~ owwww ~


The 3D figurines were secured with spaghetti poked into the cupcake and the angry bird figure poked over the end sticking up. Yes it secured them alright. The easiest part was making the nest. 

When pigs fly ~ 


God ...those nostrils gave me problems. One had to be bigger than the other....and I like the way all the dark 'inside' parts of the noses and ears merged and looked like they were one. Very clever Nancy.

Could they be partners in crime? These very angry birds ~

Hey Mr. Red Bird !.....your beak drove me crazy ~ duh

Finally ~ Sweet success ~ Tweet ~ No wonder figurine-d cupcakes are so expensive! ~ We spent almost 5 hours decorating...just decorating (not baking) six cupcakes! Never more shall I wonder why. 

Thank you to Nancy and Shyamala from Cake Connection. T'was wonderful :)


The Cake Connection also makes beautiful wedding cakes to order, conducts various levels and varieties of sugar paste/fondant and baking classes for adults and children in addition to having an abundant supply of ready made sugar paste flowers, an array of sugar craft tools, food colours in regular and fluorescent shades, gold, silver and pearl edible dust, ready made fondant both white and coloured and so much more and finally, of course, experienced, warm and friendly instructors. You would do well to give them a visit for your supplies and consider taking classes too. I have taken their World of Roses class and it was worth every sen :) True.


PS:


Sonia has shared Nancy's yummy chocolate cupcake recipe from the class. Hop over to Sonia's if you would like the recipe. It was YUM and chocolatey and moist. 


Perhaps you can guess how I ate the cupcake. I lifted the fondant pieces including the blue base carefully, preserving everything whole and in perfect order. I placed it on a flat plate....then ate the cupcake while looking at the angry birds being angry at me. I know.....I'm weird.

SWEET POTATO BROWN SUGAR CINNAMON ROLLS

Today is sweet potato day. I've just made some sweet potato cinnamon rolls that are the moistest, softest, cushiony-est, sweet potatoe-iest buns I've ever made. This recipe is one that I concocted. There was a lot of vacillating between cake, buns or onde-onde. But finally ...a decision. And more importantly ....action. And these rolls are here to stay. You just have to make them. Have to make them. Have to make them.

I used Japanese Sweet Potatoes....the purple skinned kind. The smooth inside kind,  the yellow inside kind, the non fibrous kind...yes I did. Things may turn out differently if you were to use a different kind ~  I know you know that ~ I'm just saying ~ :)

The large proportion of grated sweet potatoes gave the buns so much flavour, moistness ans richness. I'm so soo pleased. It was a hit at home. You must try.

I must declare too that those sweet potatoes were steamed, drained and sat in my fridge for the longest time. Like a week. Or more? I must also declare that the bread dough sat in my fridge for 2 whole days before being baked. Yes it did. 

The recipe ~

420 gm steamed, cooled completely, peeled then grated sweet potatoes (Japanese kind)

400 gm plain flour

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

40 gm butter

1 whole egg, beaten to just mix

120-130 ml water at room temperature 

Extra butter, softened, about 3 oz...maybe

Some brown sugar to sprinkle ( i didn't measure)
Cinnamon powder

Grease a 9 inch tube pan well and keep aside.

Mix flour, yeast sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir to mix. Add butter and rub in the butter into the flour until it becomes crumbly. Add the grated sweet potato and mix it in. Add egg and then the water. I added 125 ml. Mix with a spoon first to gather up the dough and then use your hands to bring the dough together and then turn onto a floured board and knead for about five (5) minutes. 

The dough will be very soft and sticky so knead very lightly and don't put too much pressure otherwise the dough will simply stick to your hands. If too sticky ...flour your hands rather than the dough and continue to knead until reasonably smooth. Don't worry if its still soft and little sticky.

Oil a large bowl lightly and place the dough inside and cover with a damp cloth or cling film and allow to rest for 1 hour or more if necessary until the dough doubles in size. I left it in the fridge for 48 hours.

Turn out the dough, once it has risen, onto a very well floured board, press it down to flatten a little with your hands and roll out with a rolling pin into a large rectangle about 15 inches by 10.I didn't measure but I think it was about that size. This is just like making a cinnamon roll.

Using the softened butter spread the butter all over the rectangular dough like spreading butter on bread but leaving 1 cm clean all around the edges. Then sprinkle brown sugar, then cinnamon all over the buttered dough as much or as little as you like but make sure it is evenly spread.

From the 15 inch end start o roll the dough into a swiss roll puling to tighten as you roll so that the roll will not come loose.

Cut the rolled dough into 12 equal pieces. Arrange the slices of cut rolls into the greased tube pan at an angle until it is filled up with all 12 pieces. Let rise, covered with a damp cloth or cling film draped loosely over the pan. Once the dough has risen I sprinkled a little more brown sugar and cinnamon over the top. Bake in a 350 F pre-heated oven for about 20 -25 minutes until golden brown.

Invert and pull the rolls apart and serve. 

Note : the sliced raw rolls may be kept overnight in the fridge and baked the next morning. That's what i did.

I think the purple just didn't do it. 

BAKED THEN FRIED SPRING ROLLS

I craned my neck to look at the translucent sheet of rice paper rain that H had pointed out to me. It was pummeling the ground, before us, a few meters away. Within seconds I heard it drench our black Hyundai as we entered its realm. I ducked. It sounded like a Niagara. But I felt the eerie-ness of a clenched fist, at first knocking then spreading its fingers, softly, on top of my head. Have you ever felt that?


Juxtapositions of weather never fail to fascinate me ....nature's abrupt seperateness of downpour and clearness existing within meters of each other...side by side, face to face, meeting up, merging, yet apart, clear on one side, grey on the other, dry over here and wet over there. How cool is that?

That happened a few days ago. And it has nothing to do with these spring rolls. I just had to tell you. Because the past month has been a sort of tropical winter. Wet and gloomy most times yet smouldering in between. And my enthusiasm towards cooking or baking have shifted according to the weather. You can tell, can't you?.... from my blog.


I feel paralysed and unmotivated most times but with short sunny bursts of enthusiasm in between. Today I have three things in the making after a period of relative dormancy. Sometimes I wonder what makes me tick. And then tock  :D

Anyway.....To cut a long story short.....with the excitement of eating healthy I had baked these spring rolls after swiping them with oil. But they looked so pathetic that I finally agreed to fry them in a little oil. That straightened them up, they came to life,looked perky crisp and sunny. What a difference a little frying made. yea...grease..tell me about it. 


I would have left them at baked if I didn't have to take photographs didn't spend 2 hours clicking 10,000 frames until the sky started to sulk and began to cry. 


The Recipe ~


Dip these in Thai Sweet Chillie Sauce. O. Yea.


Yield : About 16 rolls


A packet of spring roll sheets.


8 medium sized prawns, shelled, de-veined and chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced finely
1 small Chinese cabbage, washed and finely shredded
2 small carrots, washed, skinned and julienned
1 sengkuang (turnip?) (tennis ball size, maybe larger), skinned, washed and julienned
A handful of shitake mushrooms, cleaned, stalk removed and sliced finely


2-3 tsp light soy sauce
1 T oyster sauce (optional) I didn't use this
1 tsp sugar
salt
pepper
1 T cornstarch mixed with a little water to a slurry


1 2/2 T vegetable oil


Make a paste from about 2 T plain flour and a little water to use as glue later.


Heat a wok until hot. Pour in the oil and saute the garlic for a few seconds until aromatic but not brown. Throw in the shitake mushrooms, carrots and turnips and stir to mix evenly. Add salt and pepper, sugar, soy sauce and oyster sauce if using. There is no need to add water at all. Just keep stirring and tossing and when the carrots and turnips are a little softened throw in the Chinese cabbage and mix and toss again. Adjust seasoning to taste. Keep stirring until the cabbage just softens. Add the cornstarch slurry and mix again and the cornstarch slurry thickens and the vegetable mixture is just slightly wet.


Note : The vegetable mixture should not be overly wet...just damp. And cool completely before making rolls.


Remove the spring roll sheets from the wrapper and cover with a damp cloth to keep them from drying out. Peel off one sheet and place on a board. Fill with the vegetable mixture (about 2 T) and roll into a firm and reasonably tight roll. Not too tight that it tears though. 'Glue' the end of the roll with the paste of flour and water that you made earlier. Keep aside on a tray while you make the rest.


If baking the oven should be pre-heated 15 minutes before at 375 F. Spray or swipe a baking tray with oil. Place all the spring rolls on top and swipe the rolls with oil on top. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the rolls turn a light golden brown. Serve immediately otherwise the rolls with get wrinkled and limp.


Alternatively, shallow fry the rolls to a crisp. They'll look better and stay crisp longer. :) 

MILO DINOSAURS

I'm not much of a drink person. I'm more of an eat person. So spoonfuls of Nestle's Everyday Milk Powder, cod liver oil, Wood's Peppermint Cough Syrup and Milo from the tin/bottle were weird combinations of snacks for my mid-afternoon-after-school indulgences before I resumed frolicking aka wrestling aka as punching matches with my brother or careering down the tarred, bumpy and sandy road on our nailed together four wheeled sled/plank. Those were the muted turquoise, mint and tangerine vintage-coloured years of my childhood.


I want it back. NOW.

Back to the future........comes Milo Dinosaur. I first heard of this concoction when N the man returned home from Singapore and gushed about it several years ago. I gave a glazed smile and the Milo dinosaur slipped into a small fissure of my brain. Then yesterday H and I found ourselves wandering into a food court like lost and aimless souls. I sashayed over to the drinks counter and my eyes fell upon the printed out price of a Milo Dinosaur at RM 5/. I almost shook with laughter and swore I'll make a Milo dinosaur when I got home. 

However my vintage mind had no clear idea where to begin so I googled a forum by teenage kids discussing their favourite Milo Dinosaurs and incredible Milo concoctions. They were so cyuute that I spent a good hour reading and giggling like a teenage schoolgirl over the threads of their conversation.


It turned out that a Milo dinosaur is a no-brainer and in my experiment I decided against using any hot water at all. I was right. The Milo dinosaur was lumpy, cold, thick, chocolatey and yummy. I also gave it a twist by adding 1/2 a teaspoon of instant coffee. Oh MY...

However, the sizes of what I made were more like baby Milo dinosaurs.....someone said.


More about Milo here.


Recipe ~ 


No exact measure really.....do what you like....its the how that makes it what it is ~


A standard mug or a small mason jar was what I used
2 T Milo powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp instant coffee
2 T (about) of very cold fresh milk
more very cold fresh milk
Crushed ice
More Milo powder


Mix ingredients 2 to 5 in the mug with a spoon until it looks muddy and the Milo granules somewhat dissolved. Add more cold milk 2/3 way up and stir. Top with crushed ice. Then top with lots of Milo powder until it looks like an anthill. Serve cold and immediately. Drink/eat with a  spoon.