Mocha Cake with Coffee Buttercream

I made this, with some help from sis, for Dad’s 45th birthday.

Over 20 years that I’ve been his daughter, I think this is the closest we’ve ever been. I can only remember snippets of the past – riding on his shoulders when I was a toddler, being caned by him for not doing too well in exams in Primary school, me being distant and indifferent during Secondary school years, not talking to him for 2 months during the course of the divorce between him and Mum, the screams, tears and struggling that followed after… And of course many other little details that really made us who we are today.

He’s both my dad and my mum, all rolled into one. I know, I was already 19 when the divorce happened. I subconsciously took on the role as little Mummy to my younger brother and sister when my Mum moved out. It wasn’t difficult, since I had been the bossy older sis all along. But for Dad, he not only had to be a better Dad, he had to play Mum too… More for me than anyone else. I was the most attached to Mum before the whole fiasco… And honestly, I can’t care less now. Dad’s the only one I need.

While divorce breaks some families, it made mine stronger. Thanks Dad, for being all that you are.

Recipe after the jump.

More than just Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake

I’ve been waiting tables for three years now at the same restaurant, and in the most recent year, the company has been hiring full timers from the Philippines, China and Myanmar. It’s probably because no one in Singapore wants to work in the restaurant industry full time as servers or kitchen staff, or even as Supervisors or Restaurant Managers. I have to admit, although I’ve been in this for three years, I can’t imagine myself in restaurant operations as a career. The hours are long, and weekends are burnt.

Jenny turns 21 this year – my age. She’s one of our newer full timers from China, and she came over to Singapore alone. She’s bound by contract for three years, and this is only her first year here. It’s also her first birthday away from home, and we – the people at the store – tried to make it something special for her. It’s not easy for her, afterall. Hopefully it will help to take her mind off home for a bit.

We planned a surprise for her at work, involving tea lights, a cake, a bunch of flowers and various gifts from different people. It wasn’t difficult, she is well-liked at the store and people are more than willing to pitch in to help out. (:

Here’s my bit… I made her a strawberries and cream layer cake.

Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcake, adapted from BakingBites
Makes 10

6 tbsp butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line 10 muffin cups with paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. When light and fluffy, beat in the egg.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In a measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and vanilla extract.
With the mixer on low speed (or by hand), stir one third of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Blend in half of the buttermilk, followed by another third of the flour mixture. Stir in remaining buttermilk/vanilla and the rest of the flour, mixing only until no streaks of flour remain. Divide evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
Bake for 22-24 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in pan for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

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1-2-3 Swiss Meringue Buttercream, adapted from DyannBakes
Makes enough to lightly frost 10 cupcakes

1oz egg white, at room temp
2oz sugar (I used 1.5oz)
3oz butter, cut into 1″ pieces, cool but not hard

Place egg white and sugar in a heat proof bowl place bowl over a water bath on the stove.
On low heat, whisk until all the sugar is dissolved. Test by rubbing a bit of the mixture between your fingers. It shouldn’t feel grainy anymore. At this point, it should also be sticky, thick and glossy.
Scrape the mixture into a stand mixer bowl, or use a hand mixer.
Whisk the mixture until it is cool to the touch, then add the butter in piece by piece. Keep whisking. It might look curdled for a while, but it will come back together.
Do not refrigerate before frosting the cupcakes with it. It will harden in the fridge and become difficult to use. It sits fine at room temperature in Singapore (about 30 degrees Celsius).

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I tried piping the frosting on, but my piping skills just don’t cut it. In the end I just smeared the frosting on instead and topped the cupcakes with a drizzle of chocolate glaze which I had sitting around in the fridge. You could just use melted chocolate too.

I made the mistake of storing my cupcakes in the fridge. The turned hard after that. Should have just kept them at room temperature. Perhaps that problem occurs when butter is used instead of oil… Oh well. I’ll know better next time!

Coral’s Birthday Cake

Made this vegan chocolate cake for Coral for her 21st birthday. She’s vegetarian. It’s meant as a gift, so I made it small. Decorated it with icing sugar and halved strawberries.

Lemon Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream

I’m still on a lemon roll. After the lemon curd cheesecake I made a few days ago, I made a small batch of lemon cupcakes just before I left for my kukup trip yesterday.

Pinched a bit off one of the cooled cupcakes and thought that they were a bit bland. It’s not the recipe’s fault though. The original one was Triple Lemon Cupcakes and I only used the recipe for the cake itself, without the filling and frosting.

I thought of matching the cakes with chocolate, and so I tried and made a chocolate buttercream frosting for the fluffy little yellow cakes.