Raspberry Rose Chiffon with Raspberry Buttercream

I remember seeing this recipe from Swee San's blog awhile back, I knew at that point that I will try that recipe out. Just that I didn't know when haha. :D Okay, back up ... I am talking about this lovely recipe, Raspberry Rose Chiffon Cake.

Not only is the taste is so special, it is such a uniquely elegant flavor that even my picky sisters were impressed. Thanks to Swee San of course...quite the pastry chef! You can hope over to her post to see how she create this lovely recipe. 

I made changes to the recipe since I wanted mine to fit into my 21 cm tube pan. And instead of using whipped cream, I made buttercream for the frosting since I needed to transport it out for a gathering, I wanted a more stable topping. And since I use raspberry jam, I presume the raspberry will be more intense verses the fruit puree itself. In turn I reduced the sugar level as well to maintain the proper sweetness of this cake.

Ingredients for Raspberry Rose Chiffon (Makes a 21 or 22cm tube pan)

5 egg yolks

10 g dried rose buds

70 ml fresh full cream milk

40 g homemade raspberry jam (store bought is fine)

50 ml corn oil

40 g caster sugar

pinch of salt

125 g cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

5 egg whites

90g caster sugar

Method: 

• First of all, removed the calyxes of the dried rose buds.

• Then places the rose buds into a blender and chop up the rose petals into fine flakes. 

• In a large mixing bowl, add in these blended rose flakes, follow by egg yolks, caster sugar, milk, raspberry jam, vegetable oil and salt.

• Give that mixture a good stir to combine everything together evenly using a whisk.
• Once the mixture is smooth, sift in the cake flour. Again mix well till the mixture is smooth and no lumps.
• Preheat the oven to 170C. Prepare a 21/22cm tube pan. (DO NOT USE non-stick pans)
• In another mixing bowl add in the egg whites in. Start beating it at high speed and gradually add in the caster sugar. Continue beating till the meringue reaches stiff peaks.

• Gently fold in the whites into the egg yolk mixture in 3 separate mixtures till all is well combined and the colour is uniform and no visible white lumps.

• Pour the batter into the tube pan. Then using a tooth pick or chopstick, give the batter a good swirl to remove any air pockets that might be trapped in the batter.

• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or till the cake tester comes out clean.
• Remove the tube pan from the oven and invert it to cool. Let cake to cool completely before removing from mould.
• Once baked, let cool and remove from pan. Set aside for now while you work on that raspberry buttercream.

Recipe for Raspberry Buttercream

Basic Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream (makes ~2cups)

2.5 oz egg whites (~120g)
2.5 oz caster sugar (~120g)
1/4 tsp salt
bean scrapings from 1/2 of a vanilla bean

250g unsalted butter, cut into 2” chunks, room temperature

100g homemade raspberry preserve / jam (store bought is fine too)

Method: 

• Prepare a double boiler with a gentle simmer. In a heat proof bowl, combine egg whites, sugar and salt into it. Mix well but no beating is required. Place the bowl over the double boiler and placing a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature. 
• Stir once in awhile to prevent the egg white from curdling at sides. Aim to to have the temperature reached at least 146F / 63C for food safety reasons. 
• Once the temperature is reached, remove from heat and beat it till it is silky white. Add vanilla extract and mix well. If the mixture is still hot, place it over a bath of ice water to cool it down.

• Add the butter chunks one piece at a time and continue to beat while doing so. Continue to beat till all the butter has been added and the buttercream is smooth and silken. 

• Use about 1 cup for the cake while you can chill the rest in the fridge for use in future.
• Add in the raspberry jam and beat well till smooth. Chill if necessary if the buttercream is a little too soft. 
• Use it to frost on the cooled chiffon cake as desired. And decorate the cake of course. ;))

There you have it. Just like your favourite chiffon cake recipe, this cake ain't as complex as it sounds. :)

Made this cake for a gathering with my sisters. It was so well received, and everyone said it's such a special flavoured cake. It's fruity, it's floral, it's pleasure to both taste and smell. 

My blog post is never complete without having a closer look of the cake...yeah a sliced version please!

Checkout the fluffy soft interior of the cake.And that sweet pinkish colour is love! 

Trust me, the combination of flavours is the in thing right now. And this combo is awesome. I can't wait to try out combos like Earl Grey Lavender or ....Chocolate Chilli? Maybe not. :P

Have a good week ahead all!

Candied Bacon Semolina Buns

I can't really remember when or where I got this idea of combining candied bacon with bread. Or perhaps its a natural thing to do after all. Sweet and salty, slightly crisp and yet a little chewy with the meaty parts, pairing with those soft buns, seems all too right. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water, haha :P And adding semolina flour into the bread dough is also one of the to-do items in my bake list. I always wonder how it taste like with the addition of semolina in the bread. It turns out pretty subtle. Perhaps I had added too little this time round as the taste wasn't evident at all. But the bread did turn out really soft, so all is not lost! Still a successful bake if I may say so myself. :P

I suggest buying thin cuts, reduced sodium bacon, for health purpose and also for a better flavoured bun overall. I reckon the original bacon will be too salty and might be a little overwhelming and thick cuts will be harder to crisp up. Do try places like Cold Storage which carries a wider variety of bacon cuts.

Ingredients for Candied Bacon Semolina Buns (Makes 10-12)

Pre-fermented dough

• 250g bread flour
  160ml water
  3g instant dry yeast
  1g salt
  • Knead everything together till it forms a soft pliable dough. No need to be smooth. Divide dough into 50g or100g portions depending on your needs and let chill in fridge up to 12 hours. Alternatively store in freezer up to 3 months.

100g Pre-fermented dough
300g bread flour
50g semolina flour
1 large eggs (50g without shell)
150ml water
20g milk powder
3g salt
50g caster sugar
5g instant active yeast
30ml olive oil

8-10 strips thin cuts bacon (preferably reduced sodium kind)
1/2 cup (125g) light brown sugar
Anori for deco (dried seaweed flakes) -optional

• Knead all ingredients of the main dough together. Add pre-ferment dough piece by piece. Knead after each addition until soft and smooth. Knead until stretchable and pass the window panel consistency.
• Put the dough into a big bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let it prove for 30minutes till double.
• Divide the dough into 60grams portions. Flatten each portion with your hands to drive the air out. Roll it into square shape, cover with a damp towel and let rest for 20 minutes before shaping.

• Take one of the dough portions, press out the air then roll out flat into an oval shape. Then from the longer end, roll it up like a swiss roll. Pinch the edges to seal and press it slightly to have flatter surface area to allow the bacon to rest on top. Repeat for all the dough portions. Alternatively, you can just roll them round and also press the surface to flatten it. (yups, I shaped some piggy buns too heehee)

• While the buns are proofing, preheat the oven to 170C. 
• Prepare the bacon strips: Place the bacon strips into the bowl of brown sugar and rub it in, coating the bacon with it.

• Then lay the bacon strips over the proofed buns, careful not to deflate the buns. Notice that I braided some of the bacon. Let your creativity flow!

• Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes till the bacon crisp up and the buns are golden brown.
• Remove from oven and let cool on the rack. Sprinkle some Anori if desired. Enjoy!

These buns can be enjoyed the following day by toasting them up either on the pan or under the broiler for a couple of minutes to toast it up well. 

I have even posted up a "musical"...I mean a short video to show you how soft and fluffy these buns are! Do check it out and experience the fluffiness haha! However you need Flashplayer to view this, so go download it here https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ This flash player can only work on desktop though.

Alternatively, head on over to my instagram account @IG_HoneyBeeSweets to check out this breadporn video. :)

The sweet and salty, crisp Bacon was such a delight to eat with the soft buns. Really quite the satisfying experience for a bacon and bread lover inside me. :9

Happiness in a bun....that's what this is. Do give this delicious buns a try and let me know how you like them yes? Oh and before I forget...those piggy buns :P

Yeah....life's a little more fun if you add more fun into it. ;)

Have a good day ahead guys!