Happy Birthday Dad!

It was my father's 72nd birthday last weekend. As always the whole family will gather at one of his favorite Chinese restaurant to celebrate this event. Since it's year end with school holiday still on, the whole family made it, all 17 of us. Yes, I have a big family, that 17 people (including myself) doesn't include any uncle or aunt, it's purely my parents, their kids plus grandchildren. Although technically it should be 21 of us, 4 is currently overseas which will be back this CNY. *yoohoo!!* It's not easy to gather everyone so I'm always very excited about such family events. (^_^) For my dad's birthday this year, I decided to bake something different...something that you probably can't find it in the bakery store. Black Glutinous Rice Sponge Cake with Passion Fruit Swiss Meringue Buttercream...unique enough? How cruel of me to experiment a new recipe on all 16 of my family members! Lol!

I was debating for awhile what kind of sponge cake should I bake, fruit (again)? Black Sesame? Plain? I then suddenly remember the pack of black glutinous rice flour that Doris from Tasted & Tested gave me during our last blogger's gathering. *Thanks Doris!!!* And I really like the 2 BGR cakes that she baked that day! So I went with the idea of baking a BGR sponge cake. It almost feel like I'm playing with fire....experimenting on a new recipe knowingly that I can't mess up since I need a proper cake for the event. *gulp!* I went with it anyway, lol!

Since I baked the cake the night before, I figured I will have enough time to bake another one or the least go buy one if anything goes wrong. (-_-)" Luckily I didn't mess up and everything fall into place nicely. *phew!!* Although I do think that the texture of the BGR sponge cake is slightly on the dry side, else it would have been perfect. :P Need more practice.... :P

I merely used the same recipe for chocolate sponge cake but replacing the cocoa powder with BGR flour.

Ingredients for Black Glutinous Rice Flour Sponge Cake

203g whole eggs
32g egg yolk
120g caster sugar
21g light corn syrup or glucose
1/4 tsp salt
32gs oil
21g black glutinous rice flour
106g plain flou
1/4 tsp baking soda
21g milk

Please refer to here for similar steps in baking. 

Before I know it, this was what was left after everyone gets a small slice. I quickly took a snap before it was taken home by my teenage nieces whom seems to love it very much, heehee!

As you can see from the picture, the cake is gray due to the addition of the BGR flour. :)) And the combination of black glutinous rice with passion fruit is not weird at all since the black glutinous rice has only a mildly fragrant scent. In fact it was pretty nice! *thick skin...hahaha* I was actually glad I did this combination, and tried out this new recipe. When will I get a better chance to have 16 "guinea pigs" ready to try out my cake, hahaha!  :)

Ok, got to go now. Hope everyone has a good week ahead! Cheers!

Root Beer Float Cupcake

Hi there all! How is everyone doing? Well, if anyone have noticed, I've gone missing for 2 weeks and now I am finally back! I was far and away on a fun holiday with my little family. We went on a self-drive trip in lovely Melbourne and I have so many photos that I want to share with everyone! But that will probably be in my next post since there are much sorting and editing with those photos. :) In the meantime, I have this "unusual" yet delicious cupcake recipe to share with you all, Root Bear Float Cupcake. (^_^)

If you don't already know, I love root beer! It's probably the only soft drink that I consume. :) Last year I did a Root Beer Chocolate Chunks Chocolate Cake and it was really good too. However I find that this cupcake has a much intense root beer taste to it!

This recipe was inspired by Deb from Smitten Kitchen. When I saw it, I knew I had to give it a try. ;) I did several changes to it to match the amount of root beer in a standard can size for easier baking.

Ingredients for Root Beer Float Cupcakes (makes about 6 X 4oz cupcakes)

Cupcake

1 can or 330ml root beer (I used A&W brand, but any brand should do fine)

85g unsweetened cocoa powder

85g unsalted butter

180g Caster sugar

60g light brown sugar

170g cake flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream (recipe follows)

Some maraschino cherry (cocktail) or fresh cherries

Method:

• Preheat oven to 175°C. In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
• In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined.
• Fold the liquid and flour mixtures together in the large bowl. The batter will be slightly lumpy; this is okay. If you overbeat it, it will get tough.
• Fill cupcake liners about 80% full and bake for about 17 to 20 minutes or till the tester comes out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping is Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream (makes ~4 to 5 cups)

5 oz egg whites (~140g)
5 oz caster sugar (~140g)
1/4 tsp salt
bean scrapings from 1/2 of a vanilla bean

1 tsp quality vanilla extract
500g unsalted butter, cut into 2” chunks, room temperature

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 cupcake while you can chill the rest in the fridge for use in future.

I'm pretty sure many of you have had a root beer float before? In order to create that root beer float effect, that vanilla buttercream on top is supposingly the vanilla ice cream scoop. The cherry? Well, it does give it a more sundae look, don't you think? Although using a Maraschino cherry would be more "appropriate" but personally, I much prefer to fresh version. :))

Since I did reduce the sugar level quite a bit, so with the vanilla SMB, the sweetness is just right. And you know, after chilling it, every bite does gives you that root beer float taste! How cool, a favorite beverage recreated into cupcake form, lol! If you like root beer like me, this will knock your socks off!

I will be submitting this fun cupcake to this month's Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011) hosted by Min of Min's Blog. Thanks Sze Min!

Alrighty everyone! Hope you all have a good day now, cheers!