Swan Cake

This was for my last yrs birthday - a bit messy bcos I  was trying to  make this into a pond. this is a great way to use up dried fondant - blend in the blender, and it comes out just like rocks!

White Velvet Butter cake

Another delicacy from the Cake Bible, this 9-inch sloped cake was baked in a glass pan, spread with Custard creme mousseline, dribbled with melted chocolate, then topped with custard creme swirl roses. It was for the March birthdays in church.

With the Cake bible I take extra care in follow the recipes, as meticulous as an excited 15-yr-old girl can be, but it really is worth it with the wonderful cakes that result from such detailed instructions!

Beka Bakes Brownies Video

Bread Pictures

I just came back from Melaka.... here are some pictures of my country seed bread (recipe link here) baking... which now will be much improved by the addition of the Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum to my collection.

Country Seed Bread Variations
 Oat Seed  bread
1)1 cup rolled oats, 2 tablespoons millet, 2 tablespoons wheat berries, and 2 tablespoons of buckwheat groats, soaked for 8-12 hrs in about 3 cups of water and drained. Reserve water. Oats at this stage can be cooked in the microwave and eaten, it will be mushy, but other seeds still firm and chewy after  being cooked for 2 minutes.
2) 1/3 cup ground flaxseed (20gms)
3) 4 tsp yeast (13gm), proofed with 1/4 cup sugar (50gm) in reserved water mixed with filtered water to make 2 1/2 cups. (475gm) Water microwaved for 30 seconds to 90 degrees fahrenheit, then another 20 seconds to 100 degrees, it is lightly warm to the touch. Proofing took 5 mins 30 seconds from addition of yeast and sugar, but I was only able to use it at 14 mins.
4) While yeast proofed I mixed 1/4 cup canola and sunflower oil and 15gms (1/2 tablespoon) of salt in the mixer and added in 6 cups of bread flour. To this I added the proofed mixture.
5) Added in a further 52 gms of wheat germ, and 375 gms (3 cups) of wholemeal flour. The mixer kneaded the mixture with a dough hook at minimum then speed 1, then I added in 336 gm  of bread flour gradually. THe entire kneading process took 8:18:9 mins.
Dough weighed 1742 gms, or around 1.7kg.  The bread's 1st rise was for about 1 hour 10 mins, after which I shaped it into loaves, let it rise for 45 mins, then baked it at 180c

Beka and Samuel on Kuali.com

Go and check it out: http://kuali.com/

Here's Samuel: http://kuali.com/books/review.asp?file=stories/2010/3/12/443sibli&sec=stories

And here are our recipes (brownie and meatballs): http://kuali.com/stepbystep/

I don't have much time to talk now, but do go and check it out. That's what I have been working on for the past few weeks, thus I was not able to post much.