Moana Themed Birthday Cake

Every year for the last 3 years I've made my sister-in-law's friend's daughter's Birthday Cake. The first year was Frozen, second was My Little Pony and this year, she wanted Moana! I love whenever her birthday comes around because I think secretly (or not so secretly) I would TOTALLY pick the same themes that she does for MY birthday cake. Basically I get to live my fantasy through Jolie's Birthday every year. 

Moana was easy in the sense that I'm used to making surf themed cakes. As seen on The Great American Baking Show with my Surfing Santa Showstopper, and another friend who asked for a "Surf Shack" birthday cake. I knew instantly that I was going to do an ombre blue ocean for the primary color and then from there it was all about the details. 

I incorporated Moana's signature swirl by printing and cutting out a pattern for the top and then apply crushed graham crackers to the top. Then the rest included a gum paste topper and fondant finishings. Pretty proud of this one and can see this being a popular one this year! 

 

Cherry Corn Cookie

Reflecting back on our Signature Bar Cookie Challenge on The Great American Baking Show, I made a Honey Corn Blackberry Basil Crumb Bar Cookie.  My inspiration for this cookie came from mixing two things I LOVE into a cookie-- cornbread and pie! I'll have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of bar cookies but fell in love with this flavor combination of corn + fruit compote. Since I prefer eating regular flat crispy and/or chewy cookies, I made a new version today! Boy, were the results FANTASTIC!

I am in love with the look of these cookies with the beautiful color swirling through them and large chunks of cherries peeking through. Couple of tips while making these-- 1) Make sure you use an ice cream scooper since it will be too soft to handle. 2) When you add in the cherry compote, stir with a spatula by hand and only a minimal amount of times so it's only a nice swirl of fruit on each cookie. The more you mix the fruit in, you'll lose that contrast. 

This is a super easy recipe that can be done from start to finish in about 2-2.5 hours. These also yield very delicious crispy edges with a chewy center type cookies. You get the sweetness from the corn and then a bit of tartness from the cherries which make for a yummy cookie unlike you've had before. Hope you enjoy these guys as much as my hubby does!

Cherry Corn Cookie
Makes 22 cookies (using a 1 3/4 inch ice cream scooper) 

Dark Cherry Compote: 

  • 1/2 cup frozen dark rainer cherries
  • 1/8 cup granulated sugar 
  • 1 teaspoon corn starch 
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 

Corn Cookie Dough: 

  • 1 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 stick, room temp)
  • 1/2 cup of salted butter (1 stick, room temp)
  • 1 large egg, room temp 
  • 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup corn flour 
  • 2/3 cup freeze-dried corn powder (I'll just throw freeze dried corn into a food processor) 
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1. Add frozen cherries, lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan and place over a medium heat. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until cherries have broken down. Add in corn starch and continue to cook until mixture has thickened. Set aside in a separate bowl and allow to come to room temp. (Or you can put in the fridge if you don't want to wait to get started on the rest of the cookie dough. 

2. In a bowl of a stand mixer, add butters and sugar then cream together on medium high for 2 minutes until mixture is light and well mixed together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula then add the egg and beat again for another 5 minutes. The mixture will get very fluffy with the egg. 

3. In a separate medium bowl, add flour, corn flour, freeze dried corn powder, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk ingredients together. 

4. With the stand mixer on low, add in the dry ingredients to the creamed butter, sugar and egg 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until everything comes together. You may need to keep mixing a little more by hand. 

5. Remove bowl from the mixer since the next part you should only mix with a spatula in hand.  Add half of the cherry compote and mix in with about 5 strokes in the batter. Add in the rest of the compote depending on how much cherries you want per cookie. Remember, you want this to be a swirl and not fully mixed in. Have a gentle hand during this part of the mixing and be aware of how many time you're folding the compote in the dough. 

6. Portion out the dough using an ice cream scooper and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. I like to use a 1 and 3/4 inch scooper which results in about a 3 inch cookie. Chill in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour and up to 1 week. These cookies need to be fully chilled before baking. 

7. Preheat oven to 350°F. 

8. Arrange 6 cookies on each baking sheet and bake two sheets at a time. See my post on Kona Mac Nut Cookies for how to space out the cookies. Bake for 14-17 minutes, rotating the pans once half-way through the bake time. Cookies will spread a good amount. They are done when the edges are browned and middle is still light colored. 

9. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet. Do not move them early since they need time to harden as they come to room temp. After 8 minutes, move cookies to a cooling rack and allow to come completely to room temp. Store cookies in an airtight container for about a week.  

 
 

Sweet Red Bean Mooncakes

Part of my New Years resolutions are to teach myself more recipes that are either directly from my Chinese heritage or pay homage to them. I've grown up eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival so I want to start practicing recipes where I can make my versions of them come October 4th! 

For practice mooncakes, I gotta say I learned a LOT! I did a bunch of reading to see how different people make them and to learn more about the process of how they get their silky smooth but still crumbly exterior pastry. This whole treat takes at least 5 days before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor so PLAN AHEAD. I was hoping to have them ready for Chinese New Year but totally underestimated the amount of time it takes for them to "mature". You'll also need to get quite a few ingredients together between azuki beans, glutinous rice flour and kansui, which was the most difficult to find. In the recipe I provided the links to how to make it at home. 

Let's start with the filling. Sweet red bean paste is the most traditional when it comes to mooncakes. I opted to make my own and turns out it's pretty easy to make from scratch! I love that I can control the amount of sugar in it vs. the store bought kind. If you want to cut two days from your process then just buy the paste from your Asian store or online. 

After 24hrs of soaking beans overnight

Red bean paste complete!

I purchased my molds on Amazon. They're perfect since they are mini-molds and didn't cost very much. I thought for the pattern variety and ease of use it was totally worth the purchase. The key for mooncakes is to make sure the dough around the filling isn't too thick so that they come out of the mold and then bake/mature evenly. 

Freshly pressed out of the mooncake molds <3 

Straight out of the oven but they won't be ready for another 3 days! 

Another thing that was completely new to me was baking initially until the tops and edges start to brown, then remove from the oven, apply the egg wash and then return back to the oven to finish baking. While there are quite a few new ingredients you'll need, the good news is you'll have plenty left over to make mooncakes for all your friends and family! Recipe below for creating these beauties at home! 

Sweet Red Bean Mooncakes

Red Bean Paste: 
Makes about 1.5 to 1.75 cups of bean paste. Recipe adapted from Just One Cookbook

Ingredients: 

  • 1 cup Azuki Red Beans 
  • Water 
  • 3/4 cup granulated white sugar 
  • Pinch of salt 

.  Place azuki beans in a medium bowl and fill with water until it is 1 inch over the beans. Soak overnight for 8hrs-12hrs. 

2. The next day, you'll notice that they've become considerably more plump and absorbed a lot of water.  Drain, then rinse the soaked beans with cold water twice. 

3. In a large saucepan, add beans and fill with water until it is 1 inch above the beans. Keep in mind that beans will grow in size and also continue to absorb water as it's cooking. Place on a high heat and bring to a boil. Once it boils, turn off heat. Strain beans and pour out water. This was your first boil completed. 

4. Return beans to the pot and fill with water just till it covers it in the pot. Place over high heat and bring to your second boil. Then turn down heat to medium low just so the water continues to simmer. You'll be simmering for at least 1.5-2hrs so pull out a book but don't stray too far. You will need to add water as you go since the water will evaporate. Just make sure you continue to add enough water so the beans are covered. Stir once in a while to make sure they aren't getting stuck on the bottom. 

5. After 1.5 hours, check the beans by picking one up with a slotted spoon and pinch it to see if they're soft and mushy. If they are still hard in the center, keep cooking. It took me a few tries before I got the right mushy consistency. You do not want to see any "white" bits in the bean cause that means they're not done cooking. 

6. Once beans are mushy, prepare a fine mesh strainer above a bowl and strain any extra water out of the beans. Lightly jiggle the sifter to get the water out. Do NOT press or stir the beans because they will just push through the strainer into the liquid bowl. Keep liquid on the side in case you want to liquify your filling. 

7. Place strained beans into a food processor and then pulse until the paste is smooth. 

8. Return smoothed bean paste into the pot and add your sugar. Place on medium to medium high heat and start to melt the sugar. This will make your paste VERY thin but don't stop stirring. Keep going and eventually you'll cook off the excess liquid and then get a beautiful thick bean paste. Paste will continue to harden slightly from whatever consistency you stop cooking. 

9. Place bean paste into a bowl and apply plastic wrap directly on the paste to avoid it drying out. Cool to room temp then place into the fridge until ready to use. 

Mooncake Dough & Assembly: 
Makes 10 mini-mooncakes. Recipe adapted from Omnivores Cookbook

Mooncake Filling: 

  • 1/2 cup red bean paste, room temp
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp 
  • 1/8 cup glutinous rice flour 

Mooncake Dough: 

  • 56 grams golden syrup (I use Lyle's brand, found at Whole Foods or Amazon
  • 1/2 teaspoon kansui (or lye water/alkaline solution) 
  • 20 grams canola oil 
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 
  • 100 grams cake flour 
  • 1 large egg yolk + 1 teaspoon water + pinch of salt (this is for the egg wash only) 

Make the filling: 

1. In a small bowl, combine red bean paste, butter and rice flour with a spatula. Continue to stir until well mixed and incorporated. This should be dough light and easily rolled with your hands. If it's too soft, place into the fridge for 10 minutes to chill and harden so you can work with it. 

2. Divide the red bean mixture into 10 balls (about 20 grams per portion) and roll into balls. Place into fridge to chill while you work on the dough. 

Make the dough: 

3. In a large bowl, add golden syrup and kansui until it is well incorporated together. Add canola oil and mix until everything is evenly blended. Keep mixing until it's as mixed together as possible. 

4. Sift in cake flour and salt. Gently mix the dough together with the spatula until it can form a ball. Dough will be sticky but can hold it's shape. If it is too sticky, add a little more flour to the dough. 

5. Remove from the bowl and knead a few times with your hands in a folding motion. Cover in plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes. 

6. Knead again on a lightly floured surface and then let it rest for another 30 minutes. Dough is now ready to be used. 

7. Divide dough into 10 equal pieces. Working with one at a time, flatten and then carefully wrap the red bean filling that has been chilled. Do your best to apply the dough evenly around the filling covering any gaps so you can't see any of the filling.

8. Lightly flour the mold, then place dough ball into the mooncake mold with desired decorative plate. Press down and then carefully remove the mooncake from the mold.   

9. Place shaped mooncake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat rolling out dough, wrapping and shaping with the rest of the mooncakes. After completed, place baking sheet of mooncakes in the fridge to chill for 10-20 minutes until the dough hardens slightly. 

Baking the Mooncakes: 

10. Preheat oven to 360 F. Prepare egg yolk wash by adding 1 teaspoon of water and pinch of salt. 

11. Space mooncakes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper at least 1-2 inches apart. These will not spread but you want them to have enough room to breathe. 

12. Bake in heated oven on the center rack for 8-10 minutes until the tops/corners start to brown.

13. Remove from oven and quickly apply egg yolk wash. Make sure to only apply a thin layer of wash on the tops so you don't lose the design. Do not get wash on the sides of the mooncakes. You can also go back and clean up the design with a clean brush.

14. Place back into the oven and continue baking for another 9-10 minutes until the egg wash is golden brown.   

15. Remove from oven and cool the mooncakes on the baking sheet to room temp. Once cooled, place into an airtight container and let them mature for 3 days. After 3 days you'll notice the oils from the filling come out and create a very soft exterior. 

16. FINALLY EAT THEM! :) 

 

After 3 days of aging, the exterior has become silky smooth and crumbly. 

 

From concept to completion!

This weekend I completed one of my most fun commission to date! My friend asked me to make a birthday cake for his girlfriend since they were both big fans of The Great American Baking Show and GBBO. (Btw, I always feel so special and awesome whenever asked to be apart of these special moments.) Like all my custom commissions, I usually ask what theme they have in mind or if there's a specific movie, show, character, etc. that the person is into. In this case, she was super into an anime series called Neon Genesis Evangelion and her favorite character is Rei Ayanami. 

Upon my initial Google research, I have to say I was pretty intimidated given my style is more "cutesy" and less realistic than the beautiful artwork from the series. My friend helped provide me with some reference images and from there I started to sketch! It's not like I ever said I could draw... haha! But I did have fun designing this little 6" cake. 

We narrowed down to 3 images that helped inspire the look of the cake. I also pulled inspiration from figurines and toys of anime characters to help me figure out how I wanted to craft Rei. I started to make the topper 4 days before the cake was due so I could properly dry the head and body before adding all the details. I also worked with my friend to ensure colors were accurate. 

Before I changed her eyes to red!&nbsp;

Before I changed her eyes to red! 

Working on Lilth's Mask&nbsp;

Working on Lilth's Mask 

In the end, this was not only a great exercise for me to continue honing my aesthetic/design style but also really made my heart sing when I saw how happy the cake made his girlfriend. :) Happy Birthday, Erin! Xoxo. 

 

Death by Dark Chocolate Cake

Today is National Chocolate Cake day! I have to post about my very favorite chocolate cake recipe since it is my GO-TO and something that everyone loves. I've found that this recipe can convert even the most cynical cake eaters because of it's light, airy and not too sweet combination. 

It is very important to note that with chocolate cake it is VERY IMPORTANT to use really high quality ingredients because the results can be very different in terms of flavor and depth of the chocolate. 

1 - Use Valrhona cocoa powder. If you can find it, use it. Or order it on Amazon because it's worth it. If you're going to consume the calories, might as well make it count. 
2 - Use a VERY GOOD dark roast coffee. This can be cold brew, in which case I like to use Stumptown's Cold Brew. Or, in my cakes, I use Caffee Luxxe coffee which is a local shop in Santa Monica known for the BEST beans and espresso. 
3 - Splurge and get a really good quality black onyx cocoa powder. It's seriously worth it and brings a whole new depth to the chocolate flavor you didn't even know existed. 

This recipe is an oil based cake so is VERY forgiving which is great for new bakers or old! I'm gearing up for more commissions this weekend so lucky for me I was already baking a chocolate cake today. :) Enjoy! 

Dark Chocolate Cake
Makes 2 x 8" round cakes or 2½ 6" round cakes

Ingredients: 

  • 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar 
  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 
  • ¾ cup unsweetened Valrhona cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons black onyx cocoa powder 
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda 
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder 
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
  • ½ cup canola oil 
  • 2 large eggs, room temp
  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temp 
  • 1 cup cold brew coffee or dark roast coffee, room temp 
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons organic vanilla extract

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and line 2 x 8” or 3 x 6" round cake pans with parchment paper. Set them aside. 

2. In a medium bowl, place a metal sifter on top and add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, onyx coca powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Sift into bowl. Take large hand whisk and continue to incorporate dry ingredients until well mixed and all the same color. 

3. In mixer bowl, add eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and mix well. With mixer on low speed, incorporate dry ingredients into the bowl. Then add in coffee last and continue to mix on low until batter is rich and thick. 

4. Pour batter into pans evenly. If using 8" pans, distribute evenly in each pan. If using 6"x 3" pans, I've found the ratio that works for high layers is around 490g in two pans and 300g in the 3rd pan works best.  Tap pans against the table to get rid of air bubbles before placing into the oven in the middle rack. 

5. Bake on center rack of oven for 30-40 minutes or until toothpicks are removed and fully clean. The thicker that batter in each pan the longer it takes. Cakes should feel springy to touch. Make sure to rotate the cakes 75% of the way through baking time.

6. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes inside pans. Flip cakes on cooling rack, remove parchment paper lining and allow to cool to room temp. If not using right away, wrap with plastic wrap and place into fridge until ready for decorating.