- Mooncake Workshop @ Phoon Huat -

Yesterday I attended a baking demo organised by Phoon Huat at their Sims Avenue branch. They have a baking demo as well as hands on baking workshop every day at 2 locations: Sims ave and Clementi. Those who are interested can check on their schedule at their website. Usually they will run the demo/workshop for a week so you can choose which day and timing that you prefer.

First time attending the baking demo, I was rather lost in the shop. By the way, the Phoon Huat here is big! You can find lots n lots of products! Other than the usual baking ingredients, they have a good range of Wilton decorating stuff since they also conduct the Wilton decorating class as well.

So, back to my baking demo class... I went to the cashier who directed me to another counter inside. Here I was asked for my name and asked to sign the paper for attendance and to note my voucher no. Oh, forgot to mention that the baking demo workshop costs $15 and they give you a $15 Phoon Huat voucher too! Of course usually you will probably spend more than that but better than nothing ;)

I was directed to a small coridor that leads to one of the kitchen at the end. I was early and I see some empty chairs upfront so I seated myself right in the middle. An auntie suddenly spoke to me that I cannot 'anyhow' sit, must sit according to my number. Then I realised all the red plastic chairs has numbers. I quickly apologised and go to my 'designated' seat which was actually written at the top corner of the recipe page (How would I know when nobody told me?) I was seated on 2nd row which wasn't too bad. However, the seatings were rather packed and as the seats were filled up.. I am stuck there.

The demo was pretty straight forward with chef Francis explaining the ingredients in both English and Mandarin. Then he started the demo. The class that I attended started at 2pm and ends at about 3.30pm. At the end of the class, everyone took a picture of the finished products and take a small slice each to try or take home.

Here are the photos of the mooncakes made yesterday.

- Mini Coconut Chiffon Cake -

After baking kueh lapis few weeks ago, I was left out with lots ( I mean LOTS) of egg whites sitting around in my fridge. Not wanting to just steam them n cook with sambal, or pour in every soups ... I turn to my friend Mr. Google for egg white recipes... 

I found a food blogger which has the same situation as me, and made lovely chiffon cakes using just egg whites! How wonderful! 

So, these days when I collected enough egg whites whether from other cake making recipes such as cream choux pastry, or those leftover when frying croquettes or other fry recipes, I would make these lovely chiffons ...

Here's a link to the food blog that I mentioned @kokken. Do check out her other recipes in her blog. 

Today, I'm making mini chiffon cakes ... found these mini chiffon baking pans at Phoon Huat few weeks ago and I couldn't resist buying them (6 to be exact!). Since I had no milk today, but I have leftover coconut cream ... and I use coconut oil instead of canola oil. So hopefully it will resulted in a 'fragrant' coconut-y cake? We'll see ...

Here's a snapshot of my mini cakes in the oven ... 

close up look at the mini chiffon

into the oven!

As I was typing this blog, my kitchen timer beeps! Since I was baking the mini ones ... the baking time is reduced by half! (original size baking pan would take bout 40 minutes!). Since this is my first time I bake the minis, I put the timer at 20 minutes to check... Surprisingly, all already baked in 20 minutes ... Woohoo!! Now, I only need to cool them down upside down before cutting and eating it!

yumm yumm..

remember to cool them down upside down

pardon my 'not-so-neat' cut

ta-da ... the cake is done ... I cool them down for about half an hour ... shld be more, as you can see in the picture, the bottom of the cake was still a bit wet, hence ... the patchy cake ... nevertheless, it still taste GREAT!

Here's the recipe, adapted from @Kokken blog

Ingredients: (makes 5 mini chiffons)

• 40ml Coconut oil (or canola)
• 80ml Coconut Milk
• 70g All purpose flour
• ⅛ tsp Salt
• 200g Egg white
• 70g Icing Sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix oil and coconut milk together with a hand whisk.
3. Sift flour and salt into (2) and mix well with hand whisk until a smooth paste is formed and no lumps are visible.
4. In another clean mixing bowl, add egg whites and powdered sugar. Mix with a mixer fitted with a balloon whisk until soft white peaks are formed.
5. Add ⅓ of meringue from (4) into (3) and mix well. Add the remaining meringue and fold to combine using a rubber spatula.
6. Divide the batter into 5 mini chiffon pan and bake at 170C for 20 - 25mins.
7. Remove cake from oven and cool by standing the pan upside down.
8. Use a paring knife and cut the outer layer, around the tube and the bottom of the cake to release the cake.

Enjoy!

- after a long break -

after a long break, I decided to update my blog yet again .... I want to dedicate a time every week to write on my blog (solemnly promise).

I've been on a roller coaster ride for the past few months, with ups and downs, delays and troubles and lots of cooking classes ... (huh?!)

Yes, I discovered cooking classes at local CC (Community Centres) that is ... GOOD, affordable, and proven!

Starting next week, I will post some info on these classes on the blog. I was disappointed that I didn't discover these cooking and baking workshop long ago! I've been in Singapore for more than 10 years and didn't know that they have all these amazing classes! *doh* as what Homer Simpson would say.

I would not publish any recipe that I've learned though, as it would infringe copyright to the trainers, however, I would suggest that you should attend these workshops on your own time. Yes, I know timing can be difficult especially if you are working n all. However, some trainers do night classes AND weekend classes too. So, what are you waiting for, go and check the onePA website and register for those classes!

ps: I just signed up a new cooking course at Cairnhill CC, stage 7 Elementary Thai Cooking with HANSONGKHRAM CHUTNAPA (had to cut n paste her name since it's long and difficult to pronounce), her classes are good (I've done stage 1, 5 and 6 currently)