A Tiramisu hybrid: Tiramisu Chiffon Cake and Macarons

How can I ever get sick of tiramisu? Maybe never. It's quite a challenge yet refreshing to bake something different to the original version. I had this cake envisioned in my mind for about a month now and had finally put it altogether for Mother's Day. It's a day to celebrate everything that a mother can give, the unconditional love, the wise advice, the shoulders that spread like wings for us to lean on. She's the pillar of the family that keeps everything in harmony and she's the definition of blissful happiness even though she doesn't appear to be perfect to others. I just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful Mother as well as to all the amazing mum's out there.

Personally, I had cravings for a chiffon cake which then sort've replaced the idea of using a sponge cake instead which would've fitted the tiramisu hybrid theme better. The day was quite a disaster. The chiffon cake dried up overnight since I didn't wrap it in cling film to keep it moist. But luckily it was saved in the end when it got covered by the mascarpone topping. I should've made double the amount of coffee creme patissiere to spread between the layers since I was struggling to have it evenly spread across the cake and a lot of my macarons cracked to my disappointment. It seems like disasters befall whenever I want to deliver the best. Fortunately, everything still tasted good and that was what matters. The coffee crème patissiere wasn't too sweet and the cocoa powder sifted on top gave this cake a good balance in regards to the sweet scale.

There are a few variations that could've been made I guess. You could soak the cake in coffee syrup to maintain it's moisture to have it more like a tiramisu-styled cake. A coffee flavoured chiffon cake or even a sponge cake would suffice. Crème patissiere is hard to spread so you could defrost it first then spread it out or replace with a coffee cream or frosting you like. Whatever you wish to do, have fun and enjoy the cake!

 

Tiramisu Chiffon Cake and Macarons

Coffee Macarons

(adapted from Bravetart)

 

115g almond meal
230g icing sugar
144g egg whites, room temperature (You can zap fresh egg whites from the fridge in the microwave on defrost for 10 seconds)
72g caster sugar

1 teaspoon water

1 teaspoon coffee powder

1. Sift the almond meal and icing sugar together in a medium bowl and set them aside.

2. Mix the water and coffee powder together in a small bowl. Using an electric mixer in a medium bowl, beat the egg whites together with the caster sugar and coffee mixture at medium speed for 3 minutes (4 on a Kitchenaid).

3. Increase the speed to medium-high (7 on a Kitchenaid) and whip for another 3 minutes, then increase to highest speed (8 on a Kitchenaid) and beat for another 3 minutes. You should have a very stiff, dry meringue, if not beat for another minute or until it does so. When you remove the whisk attachment, there will be a clump of meringue in the centre, just knock the whisk against the bowl to free it.

5. Dump in the sifted dry ingredients all at once and fold them with a rubber spatula. Use both a folding motion (to incorporate dry ingredients) and a rubbing/smearing motion to deflate the meringue against the side of the bowl. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of mixture spread over the surface of the rest of the mixture should disappear after 30 seconds to a minute. Approximately around 30 strokes/folds of the batter will be just enough.

6. Place in a piping bag and pipe rounds of about 3cm diameter on lined baking sheets or silicon baking mats. Hold onto the baking sheet and tap them hard against your bench top to remove any extra bubbles from your piped shells. Sift some cocoa powder on top if desired. Preheat the oven to 150° C/130°C fan-forced. Leave shells on bench to dry for about 30 minutes to an hour, or until a shell forms around the piped macaron (I generally leave them for 20-30 minutes).

7. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until you can clearly peel the parchment paper away from a macaron. Cool thoroughly on the pans before peeling the cooled macarons from the parchment. Use a spatula or plastic scrape if necessary.

8. Pipe the mascarpone frosting (recipe below) on a macaron shell, then sandwich it with another macaron shell. Refrigerate overnight. Can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for several days.

 

Chiffon Cake

(adapted from Inspired Nest)

 

Part I

6 large egg yolks

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use vanillin)

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup plain flour

 

Part II

6 large egg whites

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup caster sugar

 

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C/155°C fan-forced. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

 

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks, water, oil, vanilla and sugar together until combined. At low speed, add in the flour mixture and beat until the batter is smooth.

 

3. In another large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar at high speed for approximately 1 minute. Reduce to medium speed and gradually add in the sugar. Continue beating until very stiff and shiny. Be careful not to overbeat the egg whites. Do the overturn test where the egg white mixture shouldn't fall out from the bowl.

 

4. Using a spatula fold in the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture until well combined.  

 

5. Bake in a 9-10 inch no non-stick cake tin for 55-65 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched.

 

6. Invert and cool in cake tin over a wire rack. When cool, loosen edges with a knife and remove from the cake tin.

 

Notes:

- I used 2 no non-stick cake tins (25cm in diameter and 5cm in height).

- Don't fill cake batter more than 1/3 full of the cake tin or else there'll be an overflow.

- The remainder of my cake batter was put into cupcake moulds and baked for approximately 30 mins

- Be gentle when removing the cake from the tin, because it sticks to the base the cake can rip easily.

 

Coffee Crème Pâtissière

(Note: I would double the amounts below to use for the entire cake)

3 egg yolks

60g caster sugar

25g cornflour
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1/2 vanilla pod (I substituted with 1/2 teaspoon vanillin)
250ml whole milk
15g unsalted butter, cubed

1. In a large saucepan boil milk and vanilla over low-medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and green tea powder together.

2. Slowly add boiled milk to the egg mixture whilst whisking. Return mixture to the stove over low-medium heat and continue whisking until it gets thick in texture.

3. Add in the butter and whisk until melted and crème is smooth. Put a cling film over and leave to cool in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. It can also be left overnight.

 

 

Mascarpone Frosting

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

 

250g mascarpone cheese

400g thickened cream

1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted

 

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the cream until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to overbeat. In another bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese and icing sugar until smooth. Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture until fully incorporated. Use immediately.

 

 

Assembly

1. Spread the coffee crème patissiere as evenly across a layer of cake with a metal spatula running under hot water. Place the second layer of cake on top.

 

2. Crumb coat cake with a thin layer of the mascarpone frosting around the cake then spread the remainder afterwards. Dust cocoa powder on top if desired.

 

3. Place the tiramisu macarons on top of the cake when serving, or else it'll become soggy.

 

Apple Crumble Cake

This week was full on but meaningful at the same time. All the hard work that our team had put into for weeks leading up to trivia night (a charity event for the Smith Family) turned out to be very successful. We had a big turn out in such a small campus and had raised over 1k and we were all very proud of it. I actually wish I was involved in playing the games instead of overseeing the whole program but it was definitely a memorable experience.

It feels really different to be one of the organisers for a big event. All the brainstorming of ideas, planning, creativity and organization to pull off a plethora of exciting rounds taking place across the entire event. It seemed as though we went under the pressure cook test in Masterchef or tried to finish off a room in time for 'The Block' since a lot of WORK was done behind the scenes to put up a good show. I was tired by the end of it but it was such a big achievement and I definitely need to celebrate with a cake.

Apple Crumble Cake has always been one of my all time favourites. The look of it is very raw but has a warm and homey feeling towards it. This cake somehow allows me to travel back into the good old memories of high school. Ahhhh youth...those days which will never come back.

 

Apple Crumble Cake

(adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes)

 

Cake:

230g self raising flour

pinch of salt

120g butter, softened

120g sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used vanillin)

2 tablespoons milk

2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced thinly (I just used 1 big apple)

ground cinnamon

 

Crumble:

125g self raising flour

90g sugar

45g butter, diced

1 1/2 tablespoon water for mixing

ground cinnamon

 

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C. Grease a 19cm square/round cake tin.

 

2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat until just combined. Add in flour, milk and salt and beat until combined. Don't overbeat the batter.

 

3. Spread mixture evenly over the base of the tin and evenly distribute the apple slices on top to cover the whole surface. Sprinkle ground cinnamon over the apples.

 

Crumble:

4. In a clean bowl, put flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and rub mixture between your fingers to combine them together. Add in 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon then gradually add in 1/2 teaspoon of water at a time whilst combining mixture with your fingers. Continue rubbing the mixture until it starts to form fairly big clumps of 0.5cm.

 

5. Spread crumble over mixture over the top of the apples and pat it down slightly.

 

6. Bake for 45 minutes until the crumble is golden brown. Allow cake to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Green Tea Layered Crème Pâtissière Chiffon Cake

I love green tea cake. I can still remember the bursting green tea flavour and cottony soft texture of the first time I tried a green tea sponge roll cake with a thin layer of cream and red bean paste. Ever since then I told myself that I must bake it some day.

 

Last week one of my supervisors turned 70 and knowing that he likes drinking green tea, there is no better choice than to bake him a green tea cake. I've gotta say that I have come a long way under his guidance. He has always put me under a pressure test to push me to my limits to search for answers in my project (in a good way of course) and I reckon I won't be where I am today if it weren't for him. But then again, he has put me to the test of what type of cake I should bake and design for him. He prefers savoury and avoids sweets. The cakes I usually bake are sweet and usually have a big slab of cream on top. Although green tea cakes aren't sweet by itself but I was not going to settle down with a plain looking cake without any decoration.   

I searched high and low over the world wide web looking for the most suitable green tea cake. I even observed the designs of green tea cakes in shops but they were all packed with cream so it wasn't all that helpful. Somehow, my eyes were laid on the green tea chiffon cake. I've never made chiffon cake before and it got me worried because sponge cakes have never worked properly for me. I was literally able to predict that the percentage of success would be leaning towards a fail and on my first try, I got 2 flat pancake layers of chiffon cake. I started to panic because I only had one more day left to bake the actual cake and if this fails, I don't know what else I could do (borderline crying). I went online and did more research on troubleshooting issues with chiffon cakes here and here where on my second try I succeeded. Although the cake succeeded, I didn't add enough green tea powder. I would recommend double the amount of green tea powder instead of the 2 teaspoons that I've added. I also recommend going on Youtube to see how to fold egg whites properly in a chiffon cake if you're unsure how to do it properly as that is one of the very crucial steps.

Now to talk about the green tea crème patissiere which is the best part of the cake. Full of strong bitter-sweetness and made up for the inadequacy of green tea flavour in the chiffon cake. I can literally just scoop out the crème patissiere and eat it by itself as it is so good. The crème patissiere can be made a day in advance but it would be pretty cumbersome during the layering process once it is set. I had to defrost it in the microwave for 30 seconds or more and then run the spatula in boiling water before spreading it across the cake. Crème patissiere definitely does not look as clean when it comes to decorating cakes and so I covered the clumpy texture with extra green tea powder, tada!

 

Green Tea Layered Crème Pâtissière Chiffon Cake

Green Tea Chiffon Cake

(recipe adapted from Inspired Nest)

 

Part I

6 large egg yolks

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use vanillin)

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup plain flour

4 teaspoons green tea powder

 

Part II

6 large egg whites

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup caster sugar

 

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C/155°C fan-forced. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and green tea powder in a bowl and set aside.

 

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks, water, oil, vanilla and sugar together until combined. At low speed, add in the flour mixture and beat until the batter is smooth.

 

3. In another large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar at high speed for approximately 1 minute. Reduce to medium speed and gradually add in the sugar. Continue beating until very stiff and shiny. Be careful not to overbeat the egg whites. Do the overturn test where the egg white mixture shouldn't fall out from the bowl.

 

4. Using a spatula fold in the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture until well combined.  

 

5. Bake in a 9-10 inch no non-stick cake tin for 55-65 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched.

 

6. Invert and cool in cake tin over a wire rack. When cool, loosen edges with a knife and remove from the cake tin.

 

Notes:

- I used 2 different sized no non-stick cake tins (25 and 29cm in diameter and 5cm in height).

- Don't fill cake batter more than 1/3 full of the cake tin or else there'll be an overflow.

- Be gentle when removing the cake from the tin, because it sticks to the base the cake can rip easily.

 

Green Tea Crème Pâtissière

3 egg yolks

60g caster sugar

25g cornflour

1 teaspoon green tea powder

1/2 vanilla pod (I substituted with 1/2 teaspoon vanillin)

250ml whole milk

15g unsalted butter, cubed

 

1. In a large saucepan boil milk and vanilla over low-medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and green tea powder together.

 

2. Slowly add boiled milk to the egg mixture whilst whisking. Return mixture to the stove over low-medium heat and continue whisking until it gets thick in texture.

 

3. Add in the butter and whisk until melted and crème is smooth. Put a cling film over and leave to cool in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. It can also be left overnight.

 

Note: This amount was enough for the rectangular cake I cut out from the round layers. My cake was approximately 10cm x 20cm. So you might want to double the amount if you want to fill the entire cake.

 

Assembly

1. Spread a layer of crème patissiere on top of the first layer of cake. Put slices of strawberries on top.

 

2. Top with the second layer of cake and add the remaining crème patissiere on top. Sprinkle with extra green tea powder on top (optional) and decorate with halved strawberries.