Ancient Chinese Coins from Chocolate Mould

More goodies for the coming Chinese New Year! Ancient Chinese gold and silver cookies coins made using the same chocolate mould as my previous post.

Attach fondant onto the underside of the cookie by using jam.

Perfect as a gift!

How to Use Chocolate Moulds for Fondant Decorations

Preparation for Chinese New Year celebration always starts immediately after the New Year partying fever has settled down. We, in Asian countries are definately in need of tools designed for creating fondant decorations reflecting our cultural celebrations. Thankfully, we could use locally designed chocolate or sometimes jelly moulds for our cake decorations.

These are 2 different types of chocolate moulds used for the cupcake design above. The top is Chinese characters when translated means something like "prosperity for the whole family". The bottom has the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. 2010 is the year of the "metal" tiger, so this mould can be used every year! A good buy, indeed!

The necessary equipment.

Lets start with the zodiac mould. Roll out red fondant 1/8 inch thick and cut out using a round cutter as close the size of the tiger cavity as possible.

Dust the tiger cavity with cornflour and fill it up with the fondant, press lightly to ensure tiger imprint is on the fondant when removed from the mould.

Remove fondant with the help of a blade or cutter. Insert cutter into the side and turn the mould upside down as you slowly pry the fondant out.

Dust off the excess flour with a big brush.

Give it the first layer of gold paint and leave it to dry.

Roll out another piece of 1/8 inch red fondant for the next mould.

Use the Wilton Fondant Ribbon Cutter/Embosser Set. This tool is provided with the Wilton Fondant and Gum Paste Course. You could roll out ribbons of various width from 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 3/4 to 1 inch. So, measure the size of the cavity and use the spacers accordingly.

Place the ribbon of fondant into the cavity and trim off so that it fits nicely in. Press is a little to get the imprint on the fondant.

Again, with a blade, wedge in between fondant and mould, to release and remove fondant.

Paint it.

Leave to dry overnight, assemble and attach fondant cupcake cover with gum glue. Paint second layer of gold and attach cherry blossoms.

A Christmas Wedding

A wedding on Christmas Day, held at Public Seafood Restaurant, which is next to Lost World of Tambun, Ipoh. Cupcakes with snowflakes and silver dragees on top, assembled into 3 tiers with a 7 inch top cake, plus store bought bride and groom figurine.

Poinsettia plants along the pathway from entrance leading into the dining area, decorated by Sally from Sunny Blooms.

Arrival of the bride and groom...just lucky to be around to capture this. An almost perfect picture...bride smiling at camera, perfect pose showing the beautiful dress...to be spoilt by being blur. Is it the camera, or is it me?

The young and good looking couple, Imellia and Jay.

We are One Year Old!!

Merry Christmas to One and All!!

A double joy as this blog celebrates its first birthday...will be celebrating birthdays every Christmas, I guess. Thank you to all followers, publicly and privately...hope I have entertained you so far. Here's to more postings in the coming year!!

Introducing Qarina, the spokesperson for A Cupcake Project, who is more of a savoury food fan and would rather assemble Christmas Tree cookies and play with fondant then eat them.

Christmas at Genting

Christmas here near! Tons of baking, therefore have not been blogging. Recently went for a quick holiday in Genting Highlands, Malaysia's integrated resort up in the mountains.

The unbelievable crowd at the outdoor theme park. Unlucky to have gone there while they were having their employee day. Longest cue was the Corkscrew Roller Coaster, one hour cuing in line.

The lobby of First World Hotel, the largest hotel in the world in terms of number of rooms, 6,000 plus. Why does the lobby always look like it is night time even though during the day? Answer: to confuse the gamblers and show off their lobby decorations.

There are 6 hotels all over Genting, each decorated for Christmas. This stall selling Christmas goodies is at First World Hotel.

A Gingerbread House in Genting Hotel.

Mr. Frosty

Santa

Me with giant sized cookies.

Cakey or Chewy Brownie Recipe

Some say Brownies originated from a cake recipe which baking powder were omitted, resulting in a cake that didn't rise but taste great. Others described it as a cross between cake and cookie, a cake with a crust on top. Brownie fans are divided into 2 groups. One group preferring the cakey type, the other, fudgy or also called chewy types. Using a simple recipe below, and baking them a few times for 3 days, I have discovered how to tweak it to convert into either cakey or chewy brownies.

100 g dark chocolate

125 g butter, softened

2 medium eggs

150 g soft brown sugar

60 g plain flour

1. Preheat oven temperature 165 C. Grease silicon mold with butter or corn oil.

2. Melt chocolate in a bowl (either bain-marie style or in microwave: two 20 seconds burst at high, take out and stir after the first burst). Add in butter and stir until melt.

3. In a separate bowl, lightly stir to mix the eggs and sugar. Do not whisk as whisking will incorporate air into batter and result in brownies full of holes (not compact). Pour in chocolate mixture and stir. Gently fold-in the sifted flour.

4. Pour mixture into molds, half full.

5. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove brownies from mold only when completely cool.*

*Silicon mold can withstand extreme changes in temperature, for example direct from oven to freezer (too cool brownies super fast if you want to bake another batch but have only one mold), and vice versa.

This recipe gives cakey brownies. For chewy ones, reduce the amount of eggs or use smaller sized eggs.

Brownies are not complete without toppings. Toppings can be whipped cream, chopped nuts, powdered sugar, fudge...etc. Feather icing technique is used to decorate the flower shaped brownie below.

How to Give Your Doll Cake A "Barbie" Look

A doll cake...one of the popular type of birthday cakes for girls. It is important for it to be of 'Barbie' proportions as little girls play with Barbie all the time and has an expectation on what a doll should be like.

This is the mold I used to bake the cake. Its Wilton's Classic Wonder Mold. It comes together with a Teen Doll Pick. I have inserted it into the mold so you can see the outcome after baking. The effect is a Victorian style of ballroom gown, Cinderella type. However, it could do with a little more height.

Here is an idea for the cake and filling. Its chocolate butter cake. I have this thing about chocolate and blueberries...so I have given it alternate layers of chocolate ganache and blueberry buttercream filling.

Next, place an upside down cupcake on top of the cake. The cupcake here is a normal butter cake to give a clear colour contrast for this tutorial. Two advantages here...you get a tapered waist as well as add height to the doll. The height problem might be caused by cake not raising or cake recipe insufficient to fill up the mold. The sharp edges from the cupcake bottom need to be trimmed before covering with fondant.

Once dressed up, this is what you will get. A doll cake with Barbie's statistics. It makes designing and creating the doll's dresses much more enjoyable. Have fun!