Selasa, 31 Mei 2011

Baking Supplies Stores - The Landmark Makati

Hey, how's your week so far?
Hope you're not so busy today. I'd like to invite you on a tour. Remember when we went to Gourdo's? That was the first stop and The Landmark in Makati is the second.
It's not actually a baking supplies store but more of a department store with a supermarket/grocery store. 


Let's make a beeline to the third floor first, where all the kitchen/baking wares are. Here are some fondant cutters, from the basics like hearts, stars, flowers to the more fancy ones like snow flakes, sunflowers and even maple leaves.
Care for some pretty colorful spatulas, measuring spoons and rolling pins? You can find them here.
Some aluminum pans and cupcake pans.
I just can't resist, how cute are these heart shape soup bowls. Perfect for Valentines... okay, perfect for every occasion.
Let's go to the Supermarket. Here's where they sell cupcake cups of all sizes.
Going to make Tiramisu? You can find mascarpone here.
And butter, you can never have too much butter.
Avoset Pour and Whip is one NonDairy Whipping Cream (the blue one in the lower rack) I can never get enough of. It's the one I use for my chocolate ganache recipe.
Landmark now carries Pure Agave Sweeteners. Perfect for "no-sugar" added recipes.
Ahh... my favorite aisle. I do hope they update the name to "Baking Essentials".

Pancakes, Cake Mixes, and guess what, there are also Puto and Bibingka mixes! 
For the chocoholics, cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, chocolate chips, chocolate melts and chocolate bars. 
Want to make a red velvet cupcake? You can get red dyes here.
And some bags of flour, too.

Ayala Center Makati, Makati City
Tel. #: (632) 810-9990

http://www.landmark.com.ph

Happy Cupcaking, 
Aikko










Senin, 30 Mei 2011

The Truffle Cake Trilogy Part 2


Okay, moving on. Here is my second attempt. After the first attempt's disaster I made sure I covered my springform pan with aluminum foil - twice. I didn't tweak the recipe. I followed it to a tee.
So what went wrong this time? The water seeped into the batter again! Aargh!!! 


A certain baker I know got obsessed with tapping out the air bubbles from the batter, she must have tapped it sooo hard that the aluminum foil got squished. Uh oh.


This is the final result. Better than the first one, don't you think? But since I baked it again for more than an hour, it got burnt again. At least this time, the dark bits are only on the side and the bottom... see? 
Getting there...


Happy Cupcaking, 
Aikko



Minggu, 29 Mei 2011

The Truffle Cake Trilogy Part 1

This is what happens when someone (read: me) forgets to put aluminum foil to a spring form pan before placing it in a larger pan with hot water. I'm not sure why I forgot, I have done this before with this cheesecake

By the name alone, it sounds promising. Who can resist a cake enticingly called Truffle Cake? I certainly can't. Let's just say I didn't pass the marshmallow test when I was a kid. 
Apparently, no matter how tight the lock of the spring form pan is, water is still guaranteed to seep into the pan and eventually into the cake batter. So, what happens when a certain someone forgets to put aluminum foil to a spring form pan?
  • She waits to check after 40 minutes, only to find out the cake is still jiggly.
  • And ends up baking the cake for an hour and a half
  • She would have baked it for a lot longer if she didn't smell something burning... oh dear...
  • And looking at the cake, the top part of the is burnt and the rest looks like it fell apart as if it doesn't have eggs in it. 

So why I am making this post a trilogy? You thought only Spider Man, Pirates of the Carribean or Transformers have trilogies, don't you? Well, this Truffle Cake does, too. Because it took three times before I replicated the marvelous Truffle Cake I first made a few weeks back. I just have to do this cake justice - 

  • so I can make Liv and Kaye proud
  • I just can't forget one of my friend's delight when she tasted the Truffle Cake... she said it was the melt-in-your-mouth kind of cake
  • well, it's a cake totally worth making over and over (and over) again. Rich, dense, simply sinful and totally worth the extra .001 of an inch you will hardly notice on your waist.


Truffle Cake

Ingredients:
8 ounces unsalted butter
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
6 ounces dark chocolate
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
5 large eggs
1 cup sugar (divided into two)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup light corn syrup

Procedure: 

1. Grease one 9X2 inch round pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Pre-heat oven to 350F

2. Combine butter, chocolate and cocoa in a heatproof bowl placed over hot water. Stir until melted then cool 5 to 10 minutes.
Peekaboo! Just realized I can see myself in the chocolate mixture. An unusual self-portrait. Hi!
3. In a bowl of an electric mixer at high speed, use a whisk attachment to beat the eggs, 1/2 cup sugar.
and vanilla extract.
4. Continue beating until triple in volume and the batter forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted.
5. Meanwhile,  in a saucepan, heat 1/2 cup sugar and corn syrup to a boil.






6. Remove from heat and slowly beat the hot syrup into the eggs with the mixer a slow speed. 7. 







7. Beat at medium speed for about 8 minutes, then decrease the speed to low and beat in half of the chocolate mixture. Before it is fully inforporated, take the whisk attachment and fold in the remaining chocolate by hand. 
8. Pour batter into the pan. Place pan in a larger pan and fill the larger pan halfway with hot water. 

9. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool the cake in the wire rack for 15 to 20 minutes then turn it out of the pan onto a cake round. Chill before serving. 

Happy Cupcaking,
Aikko

Jumat, 27 Mei 2011

Hello there, I'm Aikko



Bake Happy Blogger [aka Me]: Hello, I’m Aikko and I love baking.

***awkward silence***

Me: (whispers) Um, this is the part where you say, “Hi, I’m [insert name] and I love…”
You: Hi, I’m [insert name], and I love your blog  Oops, strike that. That’s just my wishful thinking. Let’s try again, shall we?
You: Hi, I’m [insert name], and I love [insert what you love here… my blog, your puppy, my blog, your turkey baster, my blog, your microplane zester]
Me: (blushes) Thanks, you’re so sweet. (That’s me assuming you love my blog)

***another awkward silence***

Me: So... I have a few quick questions - 
  • Do you have a dessert related request? Something you'd like to see featured in Bake Happy? Are you waiting for this? Because if you are, you're in for the long wait. I cannot find a decent mint extract here in Manila. I have to make one myself. And that's another future blog post.
  • What do you want to see Bake Happy Blogger bake/decorate?
  • Is there a cupcake baking/decorating related question you've always been meaning to ask me? Come on, don't be shy. I don't bite. 
So how can you reach me? Let me count the ways - 
  1. Post a comment below
  2. Send me an email: aikko [dot] aragon [at] gmail [dot] com
  3. Tweet me: http://twitter.com/i_am_bakehappy
  4. Or... send me your address (through email) and I may decide to send my response (in due time) through a postcard. Nobody does that anymore. It's high time we revive it. And if im feeling fancy, I might even send you a snail mail. You'll love my handwriting... see? Strike that... this is my official handwriting.
Oh, and should you pick #4, trust that I will use it for postcard sending purposes only. I do not have stalkerish tendencies :)

Happy Cupcaking, 

Rabu, 25 Mei 2011

Mangoes and Cream Cupcakes



In my years of baking (writing that phrase made me feel old...), would it surprise you if I say I don’t own a single whisk? The one thing which I believe should be a staple in a baker’s armoire. I don’t know what happened between the time I decided I want to take up baking as a hobby and now. I mean, a whisk is an all-important baker’s gadget isn’t it? It’s like a flashlight to a bookworm, a bowl of popcorn to a film buff or a video camera to a reality TV star. 

So last weekend, I decided to throw caution to the wind and bought my very first one... because I am in a state of panic. Summer's stash of mangoes have arrived and I need all the help I can get to make these Mangoes and Cream Cupcakes.

This is supposed to be a Blueberries and Cream Cupcakes post as I have seen in Martha's Cupcakes

When I go to the Salcedo Market every Saturday, I am always on the look out if there are fresh blueberries so I can make the cupcakes. And then the mangoes came along and I had a "thinking out of the box" experience. Goodbye blueberries, hello mangoes! 
Mangoes and Cream Cupcakes
adapted from Martha's Cupcakes [Blueberries and Cream Cupcakes]
Makes 30 standard or 60 mini


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature
2 cups diced mangoes plus more for garnish
Whipped Cream

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line standard or mini muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together both flours, baking powder and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. 
Bake Happy Blogger: Whisk, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!
3. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combines after each. Beat in vanilla. Fold in diced mangoes.
4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each, three quarters full. Bake rotating tins halfway through, until pale golden, about 25 minutes for standard and 15 minutes for mini. 
5. Transfer tin to wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to three days at room temperature at airtight containers.
6. To finish top with whipped cream and garnish with diced mangoes. Serve immediately.
And serve immediately I did. Ma and Lisa (my sister) loved it! It was not overly sweet and the chunks of mangoes were at their ripest. A perfect combination. 
I just wished I diced the the mangoes a bit bigger. That would have been rad.

Happy Cupcaking, 
Aikko

Senin, 23 Mei 2011

Baking Supplies Stores: Gourdo's World Market

It's summer, we should go out. You and I. 


Let me take you on a tour of my favorite baking supplies stores in Manila. 
There is no one stop store for me. I buy different things from different baking supplies stores. It's a good thing. I like variety.


Let the tour begin.


First stop: Gourdo's World Market. This store in located in Greenbelt 2. Gourdo's also has a branch in Glorietta 4 but I frequent this branch more often.   
This is where I buy pure vanilla extract and vanilla beans/pods courtesy of The Vanilla Company. I prefer the Bourbon kind, more flavorful. I am now dreaming of vanilla cupcakes. I should stop.
Cool! They even have saffron here. Hmm... what should I do with Saffron? paella, cupcakes, cookies? 
Quick, let's go to the second floor. So many cupcake liners!! All shapes, sizes and designs.
And some Nut and Party Cups. This is where I buy these which I used here, here and but not here. I must have ran out of nut and party cups that time.
Aside from Wilton, Gourdo's also have their own line of baking supplies, the Baker's Pantry, some I have blogged about before.
Love flower-like cupcake cups. So... happy!
Some fondant cutters 
For those sometimes too lazy (read: me, Bake Happy Blogger) to make their own fondant, you can buy some here.
Some gel colors. This branch doesn't have a lot, you can find more at their Fort Strip branch.
Sprinkles!!!
and pans. I bought a Cascade Pan here. You know, the one Pops can imagine gelatine being formed?
and more pans!

Gourdo's World Market

Unit 14 Greenbelt 2 
Esperanza Street Ayala Center 
Makati Metro Manila
Phone: +63(2)7289911



Happy Cupcaking, 
Aikko

http://bakehappy.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/i_am_bakehappy

Next stop: Landmark, Makati