#17 Strawberry mousse cake

Long time no see!  Happy New Year to everyone!

Since January, I realize my holiday is becoming shorter everyday...and tomorrow is my first deadline this year...and I'm still working on it.

Always wonder why I'm procrastinating on things I should do...Please tell me I'm not alone! But I'll never delay things I like to do ;) For example, making cakes! Yay!

It's a good way to comfort myself and also celebrate the reunion of my roommates after the vacation.

I haven't baked for a while and I tried a few days ago as a warm-up of my baking business. But something bad happened. Really bad. I regard it as a stain in my baking history...On that day, I planed to visit a friend and bring her something nice as the New Year gift. I also wanted to try something new, something I hadn't made yet. Later I decided to make a Souffle cake...the start of failure! I put too much ingredient in a small tin and the cake explored in the oven! EXPLORED, literally. Everyone who could have seen it would agree with that. The cake still tasted good though, but it was really really really UGLY. Sorry.

So this time, I want to try something without oven...haha mousse cake! It's the season of strawberry...so a strawberry mousse cake! The process is very simple. I think everyone can make it :)

Ingredients (for an 8'' cake)

200g digestive biscuits

100g butter

250g cream cheese

200g strawberry jam

100g yogurt

300ml whipping cream

12.5g gelatine

Steps:

1. Well mash the biscuits and add melted butter. Mix well, put in the cake tin and use a spoon to make it solid. Put the tin in the fridge for half an hour.

2. Soften the cream cheese to room temp and beat it until smoothy. Add the jam and keep beating until smoothy. Add the yogurt and mix it well.

3. Put the gelatine in cold water for a while until it's soft. Then take it out from the water and put in a separate container. Place the container in hot water and the gelatine will soon melt. Then put it in the mixture in step 2, mix well.

4. Slightly beat the whipping cream until there's no big bubble (about 1 minute is enough). Pour the cream in the mixture in step 3.

5. Take out the cake tin, and pour the mixture on it. You can cut some strawberries and put them above the biscuit layer like I do. Keep in fridge for about 4 hours or overnight.

Ta-da!

#16 Chewy ginger orange cookies with dark chocolate

Haven't updated the blog for a while...BUT! It doesn't mean I'm not baking these days! I may feel lazy when I think of reading journals (I'm kidding ;p) or doing sports (that's true) but for baking, seriously, I will never feel bored. NEVER.

I baked these cookies for the last baking society get-together. The theme is Christmas of course and I chose this recipe from my Secret Santa. Yay~I wrote a recipe about apple cinnamon cupcake but the one who picked it didn't turn up...Will try by myself sometimes :)

I didn't like ginger very much because of its special spicy taste. But after coming to UK, I just started to love it probably after I tried some gingerbread :) It makes you feel warm and can make the cookies more special. What's more, you can taste the fragrance of orange and the richness of dark chocolate. Hmmm Yum yum!

The edge of the cookies is a little bit hard but the centre is soft and moist. I really like the change of mouthfeel, making the cookies more tasty. Pick a cookie and have a cup of tea! Nice! It's also a good choice as a winter gift or for Christmas :)

Photo by Serena

The original recipe is from Ruby Tandoh (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/oct/25/syrup-loaf-cake-ginger-chocolate-orange-cookies-recipe-ruby-tandoh)

#15 Homemade macaroon

So...after the fourth try, I finally manage to make macaroons! They may look a bit flat but they taste good! Can't forget how excited and amazed I am at the moment when I took them out of the oven ;p

These little desserts are so popular in China and every baker has 'try to make macaroons' on their to-do-lists. So do I. I tried twice when I was in China and...failed. I thought it was the problem of the ingredients (not excuse!) but then...I failed again with ingredients I bought from one of the most expensive supermarkets here. 

You wouldn't imagine how I feel...upset, desperate and don't want to talk to other people...haha just kidding! Then after recalling the whole process, I realized I did something wrong to cause the failure. I'm so happy I don't give up and give a forth try. Otherwise I couldn't know I can succeed and experience a different kind of happiness. A great sense of achievement, I would say.

Macaroons are sweet, which can make me think of sweet and beautiful things. 
Happy memories, here and there, now and then, you and me.

Okay, Christmas is coming. And it's the last month of 2014. Time flies, really.

Hope something good will happen in the last days. Looking forward to it.

I got this little toy on Black Friday when most girls were buying clothes crazily but I bought myself more baking equipment. Am I just a little bit obsessed with baking? Haha, but I'm willing to do it. It's so good to see people's smile when they eat my bakery. I really like this girl because it looks like me :)

#14 Four-layered Apple Tart - With Recipe! Don't miss this one!

I baked this apple tart for the theme of Thanksgiving. We don't celebrate this day in China but I think we will soon...we've already been having Valentines' Day, Christmas and Halloween. And guess what, I received several 'Happy Thanksgiving' messages today!

At first I had no idea what Thanksgiving Day was about except a huge turkey shinning in my mind. Later I found that pumpkin pie is another necessity and so is apple tart. The one I made is definitely not a traditional one because it has four layers!

1st layer: crunchy shortbread
2nd layer: soft cream cheese
3rd layer: fragrant apple slices
4rd layer: roast almond chips

Only imaging these four layers in one apple tart has already made my mouth water! I really love this recipe because it takes less than 15 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to bake. This means, within an hour, you can enjoy this delicious tart!

OK, here's the recipe! Are you excited? ;)

Ingredients (for a 6'' cake tin):
100g cold unsalted butter
2 apples (I use royal gala)
1/4 tsp salt
150g cream cheese at room temp
105g plain flour
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
20g caster sugar
1/3 tsp ground cinnamon
20g sugar A
20g sugar B
1 egg
35g almond chips

Steps:
1. Preheat the oven at 230℃; put a piece of parchment paper at the bottom of the cake tin and oil the rest of the cake tin
2. Mix the flour, salt and sugar; put in the butter and knead them till a rough dough (you don't need to knead the dough smooth)
3. Put the dough in the tin and make it cover the bottom and put it in the fridge - this is the first layer
4. Soften the cream cheese and add sugar A, the egg and vanilla extract; beat the cheese till it's smooth (don't over beat!)
5. Pour the cream cheese paste in the cake tin, make it flat and put back to the fridge - this is the second layer
6. Pare the apples and cut into small pieces, add in some lemon juice to avoid oxidization; mix sugar B and ground cinnamon with the apple slices and put them on the cheese layer evenly - this is the third layer
7. Spread almond chips over the apple layer - and this is the last layer!
8. Put the tart in oven and bake 10 mins at 230℃; then turn down the temp to 200℃ and bake for another 30 mins (you can take it out early if the surface turns golden
9. Cool it down and remove it from the cake tin. Tadaaa! I recommend to eat it after refrigerating a few hours, but you can also enjoy it warm and soft! 

So...Thanksgiving. At the end, I would like to thank my dad and mom. I miss you, really.
Also happy Thanksgiving to all my friends. 
And you.
:)

Photo by Serena

#13 Yogurt Cake - With recipe ✿

The ingredients are very simple: flour, egg, sugar and yogurt. But after trying four times, I still can't bake a satisfying one. Every time when it comes out from the oven, it starts to shrink...and looks like a pie rather than a cake!

But one important thing is that from the first time to the fourth time, the cake looks more and more better. Every time, I will adjust the amount of some ingredients to make a better cake! I think I will bake a perfect someday. Practice makes perfect!

The above shows the positive side of me. Now let's see the passive me.

The cake doesn't look amazing. It even doesn't look good. Just a cake. Nothing special. When I see it, I think about myself. A common girl who will disappear in the crowd before you see me.

For a long time, I'm trying to figure out who I am. It's not easy. I have experienced a lot and am still struggling.

I'm very tired of myself showing the fake side on social media. People always tell me that I'm a good girl with positive energy...but really, I'm not.

For a long time, I'm trying to fight against the dark side of me. Sometimes it wins and sometimes I win. The battle is still going on. I don't know how long I can carry on. But at least I haven't given up.

The cake doesn't look amazing but it looks warm. It can still make you feel happy and enjoy the pleasure of food. I'm trying to be a person like this, from the bottom of my heart.

Haha, now the food blog looks like my diary. 

Anyway, after writing down these words, I feel better. I believe tomorrow will be another nice day. It will.

Almost forget the recipe...sorry!

Ingredients (for a 7'' or 8'' cake)

Plain flour 65g (or plain flour 40g + corn flour 25g)

Eggs x 3

Yogurt 80-100g

Sugar 30-40g

Steps:

1. Separate the egg white and yolk in two bowls

2. In bowl A, whisk the yolks with yogurt until its color becomes a bit lighter

3. In bowl B, beat the egg white until soft peaks form

4. Preheat the oven at 150 Celsius degree; Mix A and B and pour into the cake tin

5. Put the cake in the oven and turn down the temperature to 130 degree; bake for an hour

6. Take out the cake and remove the mould! Done!

I think your cake will probably shrink as well...don't worry...it will still taste good:)

What you can do is to turn the cake upside down when you get it out from the oven. Cool it for a while but do take the cake out of the tin when it's warm.

Enjoy it with fruit or jam or cream...Yum yum!

Here's my favourite version of the song 'The Rose'. 

'I say love, it is a flower;

And you, the only seed.'

Good night. ✿

#12 Homemade ice cream - coffee and Bailey's flavour! Recipe provided!

Hmmm...the truth is that I find the double cream and custard I bought are gonna expire soon. And I'm taught not to waste any food...So here's the way I work out -- mix them and make ice cream of my favourite flavour COFFEE WITH BAILEY'S! Trust me, you can taste romance and happiness from it ;)

I don't have an ice cream scoop...so it doesn't look as good as it taste. I'll get one soon!

What you need:
300ml double cream
200ml custard
2 tsp instant coffee powder
2 tsp Bailey's
You can add some sugar if you want~

Just pour everything together in a big bowl. Beat with a electric whisk until thick and quite still, just like clotted cream. Freeze it for a few hours and enjoy it!

For decoration, I put some chocolate syrup and white chocolate chips. Combined with their sweetness, the ice cream tastes just perfect! Don't think the lemon goes well with it...anyway it's already there...

It's getting cold and it rains a lot.
Nothing special happens.
Miss you sometimes. Cried just once.
Don't think you will see these words.
Type them just to release myself.
:)

#11 The First Cake

Made my first cake tonight. It makes me remember a lot of my firsts. For example, my first baking. It was more than two years ago and I baked some cookies. I didn't know I would like baking this much at that time.

The preparation was 20 mins, the baking was 1 hour, the cooling lasted 3 hours and the decoration was almost 1 hour. 

I've a leaned a lot during baking. Being patient and careful, being creative and flexible. 

I think this is what I like to do. So I'll definitely carry on. Sometimes I feel off because I spend more time baking than reading or studying. But to be honest I prefer to do things that make me happy. It's still good for me to find something I like at my 20s rather than 80s.

Hope my life will be as colorful as this cake and as sweet as it tastes.

Good night.

Photo by Serena