Recipe: Chocolate Chiffon Cake

A friend of mine recently asked me to make a cake for his cousin's birthday, and I was more than happy to commission a cake for him. I'm always looking for an excuse to bake keke. After chatting a bit, my options came down to either Red Velvet or Chocolate, but you really can't go wrong with Chocolate. I thought that I'd step it up a notch and make a Chocolate Chiffon cake, a lighter, fluffier chocolate cake, so I went searching for a good recipe and I came across this one. (This site is actually one of the first places I go for baking inspiration and recipes.) Although the ingredients are all the same, I did a few things slightly differently.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

with Cream Cheese Frosting and Strawberries

• 6 egg yolks
• 7 egg whites
• 2 cups cake flour (sifted)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar (split into 2 parts of 3/4 cups)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup oil (canola, corn, or vegetable)
• 3/4 water
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups (estimated) strawberries (or other fruit of your choice)

Begin by preheating the oven to 325 degrees. 

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, the first 3/4 cups of sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Well in dry ingredients

In another bowl take your egg yolks, oil, water, and vanilla and whisk them together. Then take your dry ingredients, make a well in the center, and add in the wet ingredients you just mixed. The well in the center of your dry ingredients should look like the picture on the left. Mix the wet and dry ingredients until smooth and completely combined and scrape the sides as you go to ensure that everything is mixed well. 


With either a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or a hand mixer in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until it becomes white and foamy, then gradually begin to add the last of the sugar (3/4 cups) and continue beating until you get almost stiff peaks. You can also add 1/2 tsp cream of tartar or a couple drops of lemon juice in order to make sure you don't over beat the egg whites, but this is not necessary.

Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold in your egg white mixture into the chocolate batter in two or three parts until just combined, because you don't want to take all of the air out of the batter or it'll take away the cake's fluffiness and delicate texture. As you fold, you should be able to feel the lightness of the batter.

The original recipe calls for you to pour the batter into an ungreased tube/bundt pan, however for the purpose of making a more traditional-looking birthday cake, I decided to use two 9-in pans instead and greased them using a non-stick baking spray (different from non-stick cooking sprays, but they can work too).

Place them in the 350 degree oven and bake for 35 minutes. Keep in mind that this time could be different for your oven. You'll know that they're finished baking when you insert a wooden skewer and it comes out clean. Set the pans on a cooling rack for 15-30 minutes, then flip them to remove the cakes. The cake should have shrunk a little bit (as seen below) and should come out easily. 

Allow the cake to completely cool for at least 1-2 hours, in which time we can make the cream cheese frosting.

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter (room temperature)
• 2 8oz packs cream cheese (room temperature)
• 2-6 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or a hand mixer in a separate bowl, beat together the room temp. butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add vanilla and continue to mix until combined. Mix in confectioner's sugar, a cup at a time, until your desired sweetness is achieved. I only used 2 cups confectioner's sugar because I, personally, don't like super sweet frosting. Mix until powdered sugar is combined. If your frosting is still lumpy, don't worry, just keep mixing until completely smooth which could range from 5-10 minutes depending how long you had your butter and cream cheese sit out (which in my case, wasn't very long). Let your completed frosting sit out at room temperature. Room temperature cream cheese frosting will be easier to spread later on.

When the cake is completely cooled, level out the rounded cake tops. If you have extraordinary knife skills, feel free to use a knife, but if you're like me, I'd use a nifty tool called a cake leveler (great name, huh?). Set the wire to the desired height (I set the one I used to 5), place the legs on a flat surface leveled with the cake and basically cut off the top by sawing against the flat surface. It's a pretty great contraption and definitely gets the job done. 

Once you've got your two even layers, lay the first one on a cardboard cake round. I placed the cardboard round on a Lazy Susan and then on a cake stand to make icing the cake easier. Then is when I start washing and cutting the strawberries into thin slices. Place them onto a paper towel to soak up any extra moisture. You don't want water getting into the frosting. You may or may not use all of the strawberries.

When your strawberries are cut, spread out a thin layer of frosting on your first layer. It doesn't have to be super neat. Place your strawberries onto the frosting then gently lay your second layer of cake on top and align them.

Apply a thicker layer of frosting on top and sides and frost entire cake. I used an offset spatula for this. Keep in mind, I have never completely frosted a cake before this, so clearly I am no professional, but I guess for a first time, my results were decent.

I was pleased with the top of my cake because it turned out pretty smooth. I can't really say the same about the sides, but the strawberry garnish made it much better. Place the strawberries how you want on your cake and you're finished!

And I have received word that my cake was a hit! Thanks to my very first "clients" and happy birthday!

Sweets Raku

This weekend I finally got to go to Sweets Raku, a Japanese dessert restaurant in Las Vegas China Town, and I've got to say, it was well worth the wait.

Most people are seated at the counter and are able to watch their dessert being made right in front of them, and I've got to say that it's pretty entertaining to watch, especially with such a nice, modern-looking kitchen setting (The dish in the picture turned out to be ours). The actual location is a bit small but makes sense since it's a side location of the main restaurant Raku located about 100 feet away in the strip mall, but either way, this place still constitutes in my book as "fancy shmancy". 

When you are seated, you are given two menus - a drink menu, and their ever so popular edible menu which is made of rice paper and served with a sauce of your choice. We chose raspberry sauce and it was delicious! 

While Sweets Raku has quite an assortment of high-end selections, what they're known for is their 3-course dessert option, Prix Fixe. 

The first course, Amuse, is a seasonal sorbet served with white wine jelly. Right now they're serving peach sorbet, and it was perfect. It tasted so refreshing and not overbearingly sweet. And as for the white wine jelly, you could still detect a subtle taste of white wine which complimented the peach sorbet very well.

The second course is the course that you choose from the five choices available that day. Like Amuse, some choices are seasonal. We decided to choose the Marriage, a delicious sponge cake wrapped around banana custard with fresh bananas, and strawberry mousse. The dish also featured some fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, and also white chocolate and gold garnish, which I thought was a nice touch. It's so hard to pick a favorite part of this dessert. The sponge cake itself had so much flavor, but again didn't overpower the rest of the dish's main components. The strawberry mousse was presented beautifully (like everything else served in this place) and was very light and airy. The banana custard was exceptionally creamy and the fresh slices of banana made it even better.

The final course, Petit Four, which is also seasonal, is a cream puff filled with either regular or chocolate cream and a fruit sauce of your choice, served with passion fruit and strawberry marshmallows, and garnished with caramel and orange zest. My first thought was "what could be so special about a cream puff?" but with the first bite, this cream puff told me other wise. The pastry itself is very crisp on the outside and perfectly soft and flaky on the inside, and honestly, I was hesitant on ordering the chocolate cream thinking it would be really overpowering, but it proved to be just as light and delicious as everything else and went well with the strawberry sauce inside. The marshmallows, although small, were packed with so much fruity flavor, which tasted true to their fresh fruit counterparts.

All in all, my experience at Sweets Raku was an enjoyable one. I'm a sucker for food with beautiful presentation and they definitely delivered. Now, with a price of $19 per person who orders the Prix Fixe ($24 for 2 people sharing) and not-so-large servings, I wouldn't say this is an everyday place to enjoy desserts, but if you're in the mood to treat yourself or someone special to something new and refreshing, I say go for it, because you won't regret it. I'm hoping to find other occasions to treat myself just to try all the different options they have!

Even the presentation of their glasses and coasters were nice!

Valentine's Day Munchies: The Classic Macaron

Well here I am again posting another previous recipe of mine, but this time a classic macaron shell in case green tea isn't your cup of...tea. (Haha get it? No? Okay.)

Classic Macaron

with Chocolate, Nutella Ganache

The Classic Macaron Shell:

• 1 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1 1/2 cup almond flour/meal
• 3 room temp egg whites
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Sift the confectioner’s sugar and almond flour into a large bowl and mix the sifted dry ingredients until combined.

Make sure the eggs are at room temperature before whipping them. Whip your egg whites at high speed and add the sugar approx. a fourth(1/4) at a time when the egg whites become white and foamy. Continue adding that amount of sugar as the eggs continue to thicken to ensure that all of the sugar is dissolved into the eggs. Whip the eggs until stiff peaks form. They shouldn’t really budge when your mixer is lifted and should maintain it’s shape and volume.

To combine the dry ingredients with the meringue, first pour half of the dry mixture into the meringue and begin gently folding with a rubber spatula. When combined, add the other half and continue. This portion of the process is the most crucial to getting a nice looking macaron. You do not want to over mix, nor do you want to under mix. You have the proper consistency when the batter ribbons off your spatula (almost like flowing lava).

Scoop your batter into a piping bag with about a 1/2 in tip or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut to that diameter. Pipe about 1-1 1/2 in circles onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. (To achieve nicer looking circles, I traced circles on the back of my parchment paper as stencils.)

When you are finished piping onto your baking sheet, bang it on your counter top…HARD. You want to do this a few times while rotating your pan. This is what gets the air bubbles out of the batter. 

Another very important step is to now let your piped macarons sit out for at least 15 minutes - 2 hours so they can begin to form their outer shell. (I let these sit out for 15-20 minutes.) At this time, preheat your oven to 300 degrees. When you put your macarons into the oven, only bake one pan at a time to ensure that the heat is evenly distributed. Bake for 20-25 minutes. When they are ready, allow them to completely cool before removing them from the pan.

While your macarons are sitting out, take this time to make this to-die-for ganache! You will need:

• 2 oz dark or milk chocolate
• 3 tbsp Nutella
• 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Coarsely chop the chocolate into chunks and place them in a heat proof bowl over a small pot of a little water and set it to low/med and allow it to simmer. The bowl should not need to touch the water, that’s how little needs to be in the pot. This is called a double boiler. Stir the chocolate occasionally and allow it to melt. Add the Nutella and mix until warmed and combined with the chocolate.

While melting the Chocolate and Nutella together, in another saucepan, heat the heavy whipping cream until hot. It doesn’t need to boil. 

Pour the hot whipping cream into the bowl of melted chocolate and Nutella and stir until well combined. Take it off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Then put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow it to thicken some more. When you take it out, you can pipe it on your cooled macaron shells as is, or continue to whip it using an electric mixer on high. This will make it fluffier and lighten the color.

Seriously, who doesn't like Nutella?!

Valentine's Day Munchies: Green Tea Macaron

And here is the first of many reposts from my old Tumblr that I felt was worthy of sharing. 

With Valentine's Day coming up right around the corner (less than a week away - yikes!), I figured that I'd repost some of my old recipes. Besides, what better way to tell someone "I love you", "I'm in like with you", "You're kinda cool, I guess", or "I haven't found a reason to hate you yet" than desserts!

First of all, let me tell you, that you are so lucky to find quality cooking grade matcha powder for under $10 (I found some for $8 in Japan Town, SF a while back). The current can I'm using contains about 4 tbsp of this potent stuff, and cost almost $16! But I guess when you remember how much store-bought macarons are, it isn't that bad. And I've got to tell you, these tasted absolutely amazing, especially the ganache filling (which was probably my favorite part). 

Green Tea Macaron

with Green Tea, White Chocolate Ganache

• 1 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 1/2 cup almond flour/meal
• 1 tbsp matcha powder
• 3 room temp eggs
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Sift the confectioner’s sugar, almond flour, and matcha powder into a large bowl and mix the sifted dry ingredients until combined.

Make sure the eggs are at room temperature before whipping them. Whip your egg whites at high speed and add the sugar approx. a fourth(1/4) at a time when the egg whites become white and foamy. Continue adding that amount of sugar as the eggs continue to thicken to ensure that all of the sugar is dissolved into the eggs. Whip the eggs until stiff peaks form. They shouldn’t really budge when your mixer is lifted and should maintain it’s shape and volume.

To combine the dry ingredients with the meringue  first pour half of the dry mixture into the meringue and begin gently folding with a rubber spatula. When combined, add the other half and continue. This portion of the process is the most crucial to getting a nice looking macaron. You do not want to over mix, nor do you want to under mix. You have the proper consistency when the batter ribbons off your spatula (almost like flowing lava).

Scoop your batter into a piping bag with about a 1/2 in tip or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut to that diameter. Pipe about 1-1 1/2 in circles onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. (To achieve nicer looking circles, I traced circles on the back of my parchment paper as stencils.)

When you are finished piping onto your baking sheet, bang it on your counter top…HARD. You want to do this a few times while rotating your pan. This is what gets the air bubbles out of the batter. 

Another very important step is to now let your piped macarons sit out for at least 15 minutes - 2 hours so they can begin to form their outer shell. (I let these sit out for 15-20 minutes.) At this time, preheat your oven to 300 degrees. When you put your macarons into the oven, only bake one pan at a time to ensure that the heat is evenly distributed. Bake for 20-25 minutes. When they are ready, allow them to completely cool before removing them from the pan.

While your piped macarons are sitting out, take this time to make the Green Tea, White Chocolate Ganache! The ingredients are:

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 4-6 oz white chocolate
• 1 tbsp matcha powder

Coarsely chop the white chocolate and place it in a heat resistant bowl over a little bit of simmering water in a small pot. Stir occasionally until completely melted. 

While you are melting the chocolate, in another saucepan, heat the heavy whipping cream and stir in the matcha powder. It’s a good idea to sift the matcha powder as you add it into the pan, for matcha powder can be somewhat difficult to dissolve completely. The heavy cream/matcha mixture does not need to boil, but it does need to be fairly hot. 

Pour the heavy cream/matcha mixture into the bowl of melted white chocolate and stir until completely combined. Let sit to room temperature, then put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow it to continue to thicken. When done so, you can pipe as is if you’d like, or opt to mix with an electric mixer until somewhat fluffy. This will lighten the color. 

Pipe onto your cooled green tea macaron shells and you’re good to go! (:

You could really tell how potent that matcha powder really is just from the color! I, for one, really love the taste of green tea, but of course you can't have too much. Feel free to adjust the amount of matcha powder depending on your taste.

That Time I Picked Up a Book

I, for one, am not exactly an avid reader. I'm usually one of those people who says they're going to read this "insanely amazing book", but ends up putting off for well...ever. 

But I guess there's an exception to all usual things, right? Well here's my exception: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Happy 19th Birthday Tiffanie!

Oh what a day it was. Today (or technically yesterday), was my best friend's 19th birthday. So if you haven't already, go wish Tiffanie a happy (belated) birthday! 

Tiffanie and I go WAY back. All the way back to fourth grade! That's over 9 years of friendship right there, and honestly, I don't know what I'd do without her. So here's to you, Tiff, and I hope that you had fun today (:

We started the day at around 3:30pm at the park and soon after, we headed down to China Town for some Korean BBQ at Honey Pig, which was pretty damn good if you ask me. 

Here's a couple shots from Honey Pig (taken on my Instax Mini8) - me and the birthday girl with another three of our close friends (from left to right), Kevin, Kyle, and (we call him) Q. 

Our original plan was to sing our hearts out at Karaoke Q, but sadly that plan fell through, but that's okay because there's no better replacement than laughing our asses off over boba milk tea at Fresh Cup Cafe and just enjoying each other's company.

It was still only around 8:00 by the time we left, so after making a quick stop at CVS, we were on our way to see Kyle's new house. Kyle's place has always been a place to just hang out in the past, so this brought back a lot of good memories from way back when. It wasn't long after that a few more of our good buddies came knocking.

Things are never boring whenever Vince, Kevin, Kela, and Zijie are involved, and it just so happens that these crazy guys are awesome at free-styling so make sure to check Tiffanie's YouTube channel later on for a video here (check out her amazing videos too!). And thanks again to Zijie for pitying me for my lack of red envelopes for Chinese New Year LOL.

And of course, we've got the best picture of the night - the birthday girl with some of the best, and most hilarious friends you could ever ask for.

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Outfit of the Day: 2.2.14

 

It was actually pretty cold today. Last week it was in the seventies and now it's in the fifties! Seriously the weather here is completely bipolar. Well at least I dressed appropriately for these chilly days. Honestly I'm kind of glad that this week is a little colder because nothing's better than layering in winter days in my opinion, and I really wanted more chances to wear this jacket again.

• Jacket: Forever21
• Sweater: Forever21 (Sale)
• Jeans: Pacsun
• Shoes: Target (Sale)
• Watch: Target