Mango yoghurt cake

I have not blogged for ages because of exams. So back to baking again, I attempted a few recipes from my new recipe book I got from Malaysia. Did not want my money spent on this recipe book to be wasted so must definitely try some of the recipes to see how wonderful the cakes turn out to be. The recipes are all very good but it is disappointing because some of the ingredients are very difficult to get in Leeds. So I can only attempt those which are near possible to bake. =p

This cake I have attempted over the week is called mango yoghurt cake. Was 'forced' to challenge this recipe because my buyer requested me to bake a cake with mango in it. The try out turned out pretty well but of course I had to improve a few things to make the cake more presentable. Initially, I cut the mango slices too thick. The first pic is the try-out cake that I attempted before I could decide if I could sell this cake. Because it turned out good, I made it again and sold it (the bottom 2 pics). Have to be presentable lah if not how to sell? =P The first pic I simply decorate because I only wanted to make sure the taste of the cake is ok. Quality control...haha

Had a few friends from facebook requesting recipes of my recent cakes, so have to share the recipe...easiest way to share is on my blog so that I don't have to type my recipe a few times for different people. =p

Recipe for mango yoghurt cake (I have modified the recipe to make it possible for me to bake):

Ingredients for sponge cake:

(A)
5 egg yolks
100gm sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup corn oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
170g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder

(B)
5 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
100g sugar

Filling:
2 mangoes (cubed)
1 cup plain yoghurt (150gm)
100g caster sugar
20g gelatine (dissolved in 1/4 cup water)
350ml whipping cream

Decoration:
1 large mango
Some whipping cream (I used 284ml to cover my cake)
white choc (grated to sprinkle)

Method:
1) For cake: Mix ingredients (A) and stir till smooth.
2) Whisk (B) till stiff, then fold in (A), pour into a 9" round tin and bake for about 45 minutes, or more or till cooked.
Remove from oven. Leave to cool. Slice into 3 layers.
3) Filling: Mix mangoes, yoghurt and sugar in a bowl.
4) Dissolve gelatine in water. Double boil over simmering water until clear and mix with (3).
5) Whip up cream and add to mango mixture. Divide into 2 portions.
6) Place a layer of cake into tin. Spread a layer of no.(5) on top. Repeat this step till finished. Keep cake chilled. Trim edges of cake to a nice round. Decorate as desire. Chill once more before serving.

I have not updated my blog for such a long time. Exams is in 3 weeks time. So uploaded some pics of a 'wat tan hor' or 'sar hor fun' that I made nearly 2 months ago. :p

Food for dinner!!

Today, we tried a few new dishes for dinner...haha..so yummy...it was a change...and it was my first time trying out those dishes as well so I was quite apprehensive at how things will turn out to be.

I would really recommend the blogger rasamalaysia as that website is where I got most of my recipes from.

Got some food pics to entice u. :p

A french beans dish of mine.

My spinach dish that I have been cooking for quite a while. :p

Tofu and ground pork.

Sweet and sour pork aka "gu lou yok"

My steam fish dish but I think I was trying not to waste any coriander, therefore resulting in a whole lot of greens on my fish..haha

This is a pic of the honey and tumeric chicken without editing



Honey and tumeric chicken...really yummy...and so shiny looking...

This was a failure dish I made. Though it tasted quite good...the presentation was terrible

Something unrelated to my cookings...Yao went to manchester again..and to our delight, he brought back krispy kreme!!! YUM!! This as an exchange for me cutting his hair. :P Isn't it wonderful? Offering my cutting hair services and getting a whole lot of donuts in return!

Krispy Kreme!!

Jean, me, esther,and janice had a feast after being horrendously deprived for a week. Esther at Bradford and Janice at airedale every weekdays. I will also be in Bradford this week onwards. *sobs*

Blueberry cheese tarts and white choc cheese cream cupcakes

Recently, I made a couple of blueberries cheese tart for fun. Had this craving for them since Melvin made them once last year.It turned out well being my first time baking them. :P At the same time, Esther made white choc cheese cream cupcakes which tasted quite good too.

I had a few friends who came over to eat the blueberries cheese tart and Art even said that he is willing to pay 3 pounds for one. :P How nice...




This is Esther's white choc cheese cupcake + my bright idea of giving it a bit of decor by adding choc shavings.




At the same time, I made a oreo cheesecake for a Nick's bday.

Gateau

I know some may criticise my cake saying that it doesn't look pretty or whatever compared to the shops in Msia. Haha...but in UK, it is precious cuz good cakes are hard to get. :p I tried cakes in various places and none can satisfy me. I tried starbucks cheesecake which disappointed me greatly. Even Marcus (one of my best british friends who can really cook very well) hunted me down for my cakes and told me that he remember my cakes tasted very good but he couldn't remember which was good as all of them were.

I picked up baking cuz I dun like any of the cakes in the shops in UK. The chinese cake shops in UK are few. They can decorate the cake so beautifully. However, the cakes tasted so dry and horrible. So horrible that I decided to bake my own.

Therefore, I came up with my own chinese cakes to suit my appetite....At first, it was done voluntarily in my first two years when I started learning baking as a hobby. Then, people starting requesting me to bake cakes for them. Did a few on a voluntary basis to practise + I could use the leftover cake ingredients which were bought by my friends.

Haha...thanks to all for the compliments saying that it taste so much nicer than the shops in UK.

Anyway, a few pictures I took of the cake I made today.





Not very happy with a slight white patch at the side of the cake. Grrr perfectionist. LOL...

Yes...I am practising writing words with white chocolate on a chocolate slab I made. hahaha...

For nick if he is reading this (I don't think he does anyway), u can have that piece of choc slab with your name on it. Haha...practice purposes. :p

Duck

Made a Chinese roast duck for the first time when gresingham duck was on sales. Tasted really really good...even WL was speechless. This duck was made to treat him and Jean for always treating us to Tong palace. :p






The duck meat was so tender that it melted in my mouth. :p

Double choc cake

My double chocolate cake was a failure cuz my sponge didn't rise very well. It was a failure in my opinion, but strangely people liked it and took loads home. I told people that my cake didn't turn out so well, but after trying the cake, they said, 'it's nice, she is just trying to lower our expectations so that we will say that the cake is nice.'

I need to improve the sponge as well as the ganache. The ganache was a bit less smooth in my opinion.

Anyway, a pic of my 'failure' cake. I purposely put swirls on the top of my cake instead of icing sugar.