Gingerbread Biscuits

I was inspired by Faithy's lovely iced biscuits, and the book the Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits, so I decided to have a go at it. It is quite addictive fun, though very time consuming. Here are some photos of the cookies, which my family really enjoyed.

Gingerbread recipe taken from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Christmas Cookies, a book I highly recommend for those biscuit lovers out there.

425 g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
180 g dark brown sugar
170 g unsalted butter
160 g unsulfured molasses
1 large egg

1. Sift and whisk together all the dry ingredients save for the brown sugar. Set aside
2. Process brown sugar in food processor till fine.
3. Add butter (can be straight from fridge) with the motor running.
4. Process until smooth and creamy.
5. Add molasses and egg until incorporated.
6. Add flour and spices mixture and pulse till dough starts to come together.
7. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.
8. Roll out between 2 parchment to about 1/8 inch. Cut with cutters.
9. Bake in 350F oven for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on size of cookie.

Have fun!

Festive Offerings

A new cupcake in celebration of Christmas and the new year will be offered for a limited period, up till 31 January 2011. These are our limited edition Baileys Cupcakes. We believe festive occasions call for a bit of booze, so we are pleased to introduce a dark chocolate cupcake filled with creamy chocolate ganache, and topped with the piece de resistance - frosting laced with Baileys Irish Cream. To add to the spirit of the occasion, each cupcake is decorated with handmade Cranberry Sparkles. Yes, we believe in spreading holiday cheer and goodwill all around, hic.

Each Baileys Cupcake retails for $4.00, with a minimum order of 12.

A New Beginning

We are pleased to inform that since we embarked on raising funds for Eden School through the sale of our cakes, we have to date (since April 2010) raised a net sum of $1068.20 for the school. We must thank you, our supporters and fellow cake lovers, for your support in making this possible. We couldn't have done this without you, so a heartfelt "thank you" to everyone who bought our cakes!

We are also happy to report that Eden School has met its target for their school building fund, and as such, with immediate effect, we will be channelling the funds from future cake orders to a new voluntary welfare organisation. Details will be announced soon, so check back again. We hope you will continue to support us as we begin a new chapter of "Hearts and Hands".

Hello Kitty Cake

A year ago, if you had asked me if I would be making kiddy cakes on a frequent basis, I would have answered without hesitation "Nah, not a kiddy cake person". Anyway, I eat my words. Here's the very pink Hello Kitty Cake I put together for my daughter's last day of preschool. I am going to miss her school and the super adorable little tikes in her class. As for the cake, I must say it's a nice change doing a 2D cake where nothing is going to collapse or shift, after all that 3D excitement.

Introducing Faithy

Isn't that the most amazing cake you have seen? Everything you see is EDIBLE, short of the cake board. I can't begin to imagine the amount of time spent creating this work of art. What a marvelous and unique present for the birthday boy! What a labour of love!

In case you are wondering, no I did not make that. The baker is Faithy, check out her blog at http://theamateurbaker.blogspot.com/ and at Facebook - Faithy Bakes for more amazing creations. Here are a few more samples.





If you would like to try one of these bespoke creations, you will be pleased to note you may now order Faithy's creations as part of the Hearts and Hands initiative, meaning all proceeds from these orders will go towards the adopted charity. The bespoke cakes start from a minimum order of $200. Considering the amount of sweat and toil that goes into the creation of one of these babies, the quality of the ingredients used, the fact that the cakes are one of a kind which you can't get in a regular bakery, and the fact that the cakes are for a good cause ... need I say more? Personally, I think it is a steal.

Cookies like the ones above start at $2.50 per piece (depending on the level of detail), at a minimum order of 24 pieces. Faithy does decorated cupcakes too, starting at $4 per piece (again depending on level of detail), with a minimum order of 12 pieces. Due to the intricacy of the designs, a lead time of 2 to 3 weeks is required for every order. Please email either Faithy directly at faithybakes@gmail.com, or you can contact either Sharmaine or myself in the usual way (see How to Order at the top right corner of the blog) and we will put you in touch with her.

Our heartfelt thanks to Faithy for her generosity in contributing her cakes.

Christmas is coming soon. Why not surprise someone with a lovingly made one of a kind novelty cake or cookie?

The King Lives!

The request was a birthday cake for SP's dad's 70th birthday celebration. After chatting, we found out SP's dad is an Elvis fan, and so, we thought "Why not an Elvis cake?". So here it is. Elvis in his latter days, a little less lithe and trim perhaps, but Elvis nonetheless. The base cake is 4 layers of moist chocolate genoise moistened with chocolate syrup and frosted with raspberry accented ganache made with home-made raspberry sauce with a hint of white chocolate. Chocolatey and slightly tangy. Yum!

Strawberry, anyone?

My friend J ordered some cupcakes for her daughter M's birthday, to be shared with the little girl's kindergarten class. Being the democratic person that I am, I stoutly declared that M should make the very important decision of choosing the flavour for her cupcakes. I excitedly made up a list - chocolate, tiramisu, lemon, carrot, and as an afterthought (a reluctant afterthought, I may add), threw strawberry into the list, thinking there was no way she would go with strawberry. I mean, how exciting can strawberry be? Strawberry is so ... so predictable isn't it?

Well, M chose strawberry and I dutifully complied. I did say it was a democratic process didn't I? I decided that the strawberry filling will NOT come from a jar. No siree, if I was going to make strawberry cupcakes, the strawberry filling will be completely hand made and home made, short of picking the strawberries myself. So I embarked on an experimenting frenzy, making up batches of strawberry filling till I was completely satisfied. The result was a buttery cupcake filled with a strawberry filling that was neither too tart nor too sweet but the best part was the chunks of strawberry pulp that you could actually sink your teeth into. And the buttercream on top? Good old fashioned vanilla of course, a perfect complement to good old fashioned strawberry. A cupcake after my own heart.