Aunt Helen's Birthday Cake

A week ago, my cousin asked me to make her mom's birthday cake. I didn't know what design to make but I know I want it to look like one of those Chinese birthday cake. I decided to make a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and fresh blueberries inside and vanilla whipped cream frosting on the outside.

I also decided to make a baby Winnie the pooh and a bunny for the year of the rabbit.

The cake was great and I drove it all the way to SF with no problem. But when I was unloading it from the car, the handle of the cake box I put it in broke, and the cake just slammed onto box in the back of my car. Luckily, my cake was durable enough to withstand the fall! Other than that, some of the whipped cream got scraped off onto the box.

Chinese Sponge Cake

As much as I think Chinese birthday cakes are plain sometimes, I am always amazed at how fluffy and light they are! I decided to learn to make the cake base...the fluffy sponge cake. I found a recipe for rolled sponge cake with cream filled center from this Chinese cookbook from Hong Kong, so I used the recipe for the cake part.

Sponge cakes are tricky to make because if you don't whip the egg whites right, the cake will not be fluffy. Also, make sure the cake gets into the oven right away after scrapping it into the baking pan because egg whites in the batter will lose their airy texture if let out for too long. Lastly, the trick to not make the cake collapse is to turn it upside down with the pan during cooling.

I forgot to let it cool with the pan, but good thing I turned it upside down, so the cake remained in shape. The fresh out of oven cake smell so good and eggy. It was soft but not as fluffy as I wanted since I didn't put it intto the oven right away.

Afterward, I decided to try frosting it with some homemade whipped cream and fruits like a Chinese cake. Because it was a quick practice cake, I didn't bother to decorate it. I just want to eat it, haha.

Alvin's Ice Cream Birthday Cake

Every year, I would get my little brother a birthday cake for his birthday. He particularly like requesting ice cream cake. This year for his 12th birthday, I'd decided to make him one.

My little brother loves watching basketball and playing NBA basketball games, so I decided to make a cake with a basket ball theme. At first I was just going to make one with a basketball, but that's too plain. So at the end, I decided to make a jersey with a basketball.

The jersey is made with vanilla cake with vanilla ice cream, and the basketball is made with chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. My little brother only likes vanilla ice cream, so it made my life a bit easier when it comes to picking out flavors. The jersey had the number 12 on it, which represents his age. I had the hardest time getting the basketball color icing to go darker. I gave up after awhile but glad that at least the cake turned out okay...well, minus the fact that I forgot to color the side of the jersey red.

The cake was pretty big. After feeding 14 people, there was still about half of the jersey left. I personally think the vanilla cake and vanilla ice cream combo tasted better. 

I'm glad he likes the cake and the ice cream. He asked to keep the rest at the end of the night. =]

Happy Birthday Bro!! <3

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake with Non-Vegan Bailey Buttercream

Tonight I decided to make chocolate cupcakes. But then I felt lazy and didn't want to work with butter with a handheld mixer, so I went vegan. Most vegan cupcake recipes call for vegetable oil, which to me is easier to work with when I'm not using a stand mixer. The recipe was super fast and easy; I didn't even use a handheld mixer, I just use a spatula and my hand to mix it. The recipe makes super duper moist cupcakes. I mean it's so moist that it feels undercooked even though the toothpick comes out clean.

So making vegan cupcakes have nothing to do with me being vegan, since I do plan to make a buttercream with butter. Finally I met the inevitable...I need to make buttercream with a handheld mixer or a stand mixer. I finally opened my stand mixer from its box. I didn't want to use handheld mixer this time since I injured my wrist a few days ago. Anyhow, I love my stand mixer. It makes buttercream so fast and work-free.

Banana "Cupcakes" or Muffins

Tonight I decided to use what I have in the kitchen and fridge to make cupcakes. I have two ripe bananas lying around and some buttermilk in the fridge. First thought...banana bread? Nah! I'll try making banana cupcakes, which should be less dense and fluffier, and supposedly more moist.

The time took for my the banana "cupcakes" I made took longer than the time it usually takes to bake other cupcakes. First thought! Uh oh! Second thought, it's going to be denser than a normal cupcake. Third thought? It still should be not as dense as banana bread! It better not be! Okay, maybe it'll become muffins!

So at this baking point, I felt like the consistency of the banana "cupcakes" are like muffins. So after my "cupcakes" cooled, I frosted them with some vanilla buttercream. They turned out lighter and comparatively more fluffy than banana bread, but it still could not surpass my brain...it is still not as moist and fluffy like cupcakes. Nevertheless, the banana MUFFINS tasted really delicious! I chowed down two of them with and without frosting really fast. I know I know...but I got to taste my own work right?

*Update* January 15, 2011

I took them to work today, and one of my coworkers wouldn't stop telling me how good it tasted! He said he really like the frosting too! Yay! I guess it worked out nicely as a muffin haha.