Tiramisu-esque cake

8am wake up, go to the bathroom, drink some warm water, do my 20 minute stretches, read the newspaper, shower, eat breakfast, get ready for uni. That's my morning routine. It's the fourth week into my academic year and I feel like I've been here for months. My days are long, I'm stuck in front of my computer all day, reading articles after scientific articles, searching for that light, that spark that goes 'Yup! This is it woman! You found me!' I'm so close. So close to defining my Masters project. And i tell ya, resilience pays off. When I first started searching for a topic, the only way to start was the obvious 'where on earth do I start?' I felt that it was such an impossible task to find a topic that's novel, and on top of that, my ambitious self demands me to find a topic that is significant, that contributes to society AND that I'm passionate enough about that I can spend one year dwelling on it. But the best advice anyone could give was read, just read, doesn't matter what, just read. And read I did. But something else I should add too. Don't read blindly. Pause and reflect. Pause and re-surface to re-connect with the world around. What is the world up to these days? What are people into? What would our ancestors say about the world today?

I'm passionate about dietary practices and folk remedies - those practices that have passed down generation after generation for hundreds and even thousands of years - especially Chinese dietary advices and Chinese medicine. There is such a wealth of knowledge and wisdom in these practices. They've had people experimenting and testing them out for centuries and they've survived the test of time to be passed down to us. Yet most people these days do not believe in them, preferring to trust in science. I am studying science. I can tell you, yes there are so many amazing things science has done. Science has come such a long way over these past few centuries. But compared to ancient practices, science is but an infant. There is this thing about scientist, the urge of every scientist to discover something new, be it a novel gene, or a magic bullet for curing cancer. It is nobel to have these ambitions. But personally, I think we shouldn't rush to discover something new before we've learnt from existing knowledge. And this wealthy mine of knowledge and wisdom has large been left neglected as scientists dig elsewhere.

Take the concept of nutrition. Most advice these days focus on telling you what fibre or vitamins or omega-3 fatty acids you should be eating, what saturated fats, refined carbohydrates you shouldn't be eating. The world of nutrition has become so focused on the nutrients that they've forgotten about food itself. This sort of thinking is downward. Because we don't just eat singular nutrients. We eat food containing many many types of nutrients. We eat many types of food. Nutrition is so focused on discovering good nutrients and their benefits (which is not a problem. But) it's forgotten that each individual is different. We all have different lifestyles and habits. We all have different needs at different times. Yes, say... an orange is good because it contains lots of vitamin C. Yes, we all need vitamin C, but if we're not deficient in vitamin C, it's not particularly 'good' for us. But for someone with scurvy, orange is very good for them, because they need it. And also, if you just take vitamin C tablets, the effect might be lost. Why? Because an orange isn't just made of vitamin C. There are hundreds of other compounds in there. Ones that probably haven't even been discovered. Maybe the effect of vitamin C is dependent on those other compounds. Otherwise why would nature make an orange? Why doesn't nature just make vitamin C tablets?

Oh by the way, I'm hoping that my Masters project will be on grapefruit (or maybe orange) and how the bitter compounds are affected by processing. Why? Because bitter compounds (flavonoids and limonoids) have been shown to have anticancer and cardio-protective effects.  I know... it's a bit contradictory that I'm singling out bitter compounds to study. Like, how did epidemiologists know that it is those bitter compounds that lead to decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases? Yes, bitter compounds have shown to elicit antioxidant, radical scavenging properties, but this happens only in the petri dish and what happens in the human body, when there are millliioooooons of other compounds around? But hey, I actually have back-up. Traditional Chinese medicine, which dates back THOUSANDS of years mentioned that bitter foods are good for heart. I guess I'm just making the most of what I have? I'm trying to make my little contribution and nudge science that bit further in its long long long long long (x10000000000) way to go? And anyway, my thinking is that those bitter compounds play a part in the larger picture of food that gives its beneficial effects. Gosh... trying to justify myself... On a side note, I'm actually rather enjoying this whole research thing. Never ever thought i would, but as long as I don't lose track of what my values and beliefs are, and try to integrate them into my research, it's not too bad. At times I'm even like... PhD doesn't sound too bad either. Dr... Lol no I won't go there just yet.

SORRY I've blabbed on so much about science. I can't help it. It's what I've been and will be breathing and living all day, all night, all week, all YEAR. I'm so sad that it's taken my baking and blogging time away from me! I've only baked TWICE in this past month. TWICE. What is this atrocity? All I've cooked is fried egg and (made) sandwiches... which incidentally involved slicing two slices of bread, slapping on some jam and peanut butter. BAm. Guys. I wouldn't be alive without my mum. Like, seriously. Without her cooking all those delicious and healthy meals, I'd just be eating plain bread and store bought muesli bars. Sad sad situation. OR, I'd be mean to my equally sad looking bank account and buying $9 paninis everyday (yum, but so not worth the money). And soon, I'll be sculling coffee by the gallons.

Anyway, this cake was one I whipped up for my friend who requested it for his birthday! I didn't actually plan out what i was gonna make. I pretty much just went with the flow. Scrounged around the kitchen for ingredients and bashed them all together to create this beauty. Obviously it took longer that it should because I silly-ly (hehe) chose not to follow a recipe for the cream cheese-cream bit. I was going to buy savoiardi biscuits to layer them in because my friend requested tiramisu. BUT oh my god, I can't believe it, they stopped selling them at both my local supermarkets! (More atrocity). But I just made a sponge to substitute the 'cakey' bit, because it'd take less time than to make lady fingers. For the coffee drizzling, I omitted the alcohol because they wanted it to be an alcohol-free party, but if you sloshed in some Kahlua of Baileys, it'd kick the awesome level for this cake up. And one more thing, since I couldn't make it to his birthday party (sadface), I didn't get to try the cake NOR take photos of the insides of the cake. I'm sorry, you'll just have to make do with the exterior. I was told that everybody loved the cake though (yay!)!

Tiramisu-esque Cake

Serves 10

Sponge cake

Recipe from Wholefood Baking by Jude Blereau

4 eggs

1/2 cup blended raw sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup minus 1 tbsp (120g) wholemeal flour

40g butter, melted and cooled, placed in a bowl

Cream cheese filling

250g cream cheese, softened

200ml cream

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp really strong coffee

1 tbsp Kahlua or Baileys or Tia Maria (optional)

1/4 cup blended raw sugar

150g dark chocolate, melted

Coffee drizzle

1/3 cup strong coffee

1 tsp raw sugar

Chocolate decoration

About 50g dark chocolate, melted

Extra chocolate for shaving

For the cake

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line base of 8 inch round cake tin. 

2. Whisk together eggs and sugar using a stand mixer until very thick, pale, creamy and tripled in volume. As Jude says, the mixture is thick enough 'when you can lift the beaters and the mixture falls back into the bowl in a ribbon that rests on the surface for about 10 seconds'. Add in the vanilla and whisk until just incorporated.

3. Sift 1/3 of the flour onto the egg mixture and fold in very gently until just incorporated. Add in the remaining flour in two additions, folding really gently. 

4. Add about 1 cup of batter to the melted butter and mix until incorporated. Gently fold this back into the egg mixture. Transfer to tin and bake for 20 minutes until folden and the cake springs back when lightly touched. Leave the cake in the oven and the oven door ajar so the cake can cool slowly. This prevents the cake from collapsing. 

For the cream cheese filling

5. Beat the cream cheese and cream together until well mixed. Continue beating so the mixture becomes more light and fluffy. Add in the rest of the ingredients and beat until mixture is smooth. Reserve about 1/2 cup. Beat the cooled melted chocolate into the rest of the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate before use.

Assembling the cake

6. Once the cake is cooled, cut the cake into three layers. Using a brush, spread the coffee drizzle onto every surface of the cake. 

7. To assemble, spread on about 1/3 of the chocolate cream cheese lavishly. Layer on the sponge and repeat. Cap on the final sponge layer. Spread the remaining 1/3 chocolate cream cheese on to cover the cake. The reserved cream cheese mixture should more or less be of a pouring consistency. Carefully pour it over the cake. This will give a smooth finish. Refrigerate until the icing has set.

8. Using a spoon, or a piping bag, drizzle on the melted chocolate in your desired fashion. The chocolate will solidify quickly once it hits the cold cake. Shave some extra chocolate on top. Refrigerate the cake.

9. Serve the cake chilled.  

"Snickers" cake

I remember this time last year there was an abundance of stone fruits. Peaches, nectarines, plums, all these shades of crimson and canary lined up beautifully in the markets. Peter's favourite cake was peaches and cream sponge cake and I earnestly wanted to make him one that brings him back to his childhood. I got to the supermarket and there they were. Peaches and nectarines side by side. This is quite embarrassing because being someone that not only cooks/bakes, but also LOVES fruits, I should know the difference between peaches and nectarines right? But I didn't. And the signs were pretty ambiguous. Being on a hurry that day, I just grabbed 3 of the one I thought was peach. And guess what? Yup, I grabbed nectarines. 

                

But matters not, I used them in the cake anyway. The cake was organic, simple and covered with delicious cream (shown in the pictures above). I actually screwed up with the icing of the cake. And in my attempt to fix it, the strokes of the palette knife on the icing gradually and organically led to a rather radical decoration. I loved it. It was so different from the usual icing, but it was bold and it showcased what the cake was. Though the nectarines were on the raw side, the cake was delicious. And I was determined that next year, I'd get it right and make PEACHES and cream cake! 

Flash-forward a year, and it is now time to reconquer that cake. But low and behold, I combed through the markets and there were no signs of peaches OR nectarines! Or any kind of stone fruits for that matter! The only peaches I found, besides the canned ones swimming in those sugary pools that I absolutely refuse to use, were some sad looking ones that were flown thousands of miles here from America. And they were $9/kg. No thanks! So, no peaches and cream birthday cake yet again this year. But of course I had to come up with a brilliant enough cake to make. 

After much deliberation and loads of ideas jumping around in my head, I decided to make a vertical swiss roll. The recipe for swiss roll on Sorted Food seemed easy enough to make. Five minutes to whip up and only takes 5 minutes to bake! Win. Since I haven't made anything chocolatey in a while, I decided to bash some good old dark cocoa powder in and make it a chocolate cake. For the icing, the extra cream cheese leftover from my previous shopping spree found its way into the equation. Mix in some shiny melted dark chocolate and the richness instantly leveled up 10 notches. The chocolate sand(!) from What Katie Ate's cake sounded too good to not be included. Instead of hazelnut, I used peanut. So, this cake is basically an amalgamation of much foodie genius and brilliance. 

First time making a vertical swiss roll (Scroll down for photo of what it looks like inside), I didn't know what to expect. The cake turned out smaller than I wanted it to be. I was contemplating whether or not to make more, but the prospect of having to do all the washing up again pushed me to deciding against that idea. And it turned out that after slicing up the cake, each person got a perfect portion! As the cake was so rich, any more than that would've been severely overkill. Some people even thought that smaller pieces of cakes would've been better.Although I think my chocolate sand didn't turn out quite how it was supposed to (my meringue was too soft, and my ground peanut was slightly too fine, so it turned out more like chocolate mud?), the gooey meringue gave a nice caramel touch. The combination of flavours - chocolate, peanut, some caramelly notes resonated with the taste of a Snickers bar. So, unknowingly, I've created a Snickers cake! And comparing the cake from last year and this year, I just realised they both have that similar organic touch. 

[Snickers Cake]

Serves 8

The recipe has many components and seem quite long, but it is actually pretty easy to make and put together. 

Chocolate swiss roll

Recipe adapted from Sorted Food

3 eggs, separated

Pinch of cream of tartar

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

90g raw sugar, blended

90g flour

45ml olive oil

Chocolate cream cheese icing

Recipe adapted from Cupcake Project

250g cream cheese, room temperature

50g butter, room temperature

3/4 cup raw sugar, blended

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

1/2 cup dark cocoa powder

90g melted dark chocolate 

Chocolate sand

Recipe adapted from What Katie Ate

45g ground, roasted peanuts

50g roughly ground meringue**

50g dark chocolate, melted

1. For the cake: Line a swiss roll pan, or any flat pan. I used a 32cmx32cm pan. Preheat oven to 200C. Beat together the egg yolks with half the sugar and vanilla until thick and pale. In another bowl, whip up the egg whites with the cream of tartar until you form soft peaks. Add in the other half of the sugar and whip until the sugar is well incorporated and the mixture appears glossy. Fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Add in the flour and olive oil and stir gently until there are no lumps, but take care not to knock out the air you have whipped in. Pour the mixture into the lined pan, spreading it evenly and well into the corners of the pan. Bake for 5-6 minutes until golden. Tear out a piece of parchment paper big enough to put your cake on. sprinkle on some sugar and cocoa powder. Remove cake from oven and flip onto the sugared parchment paper. Peel back the other parchment paper carefully, so as to not tear the cake. Roll up the cake + sugared parchment to form a swiss roll shape (do this while the cake is warm so it's easier to roll!). Set aside. 

2. For the icing: Beat the cream cheese on low speed until it has softened and is slightly aerated. Add in the butter and beat until well mixed and light. Add in the sugar, vanilla and cocoa powder and beat until smooth. Finally, beat in the melted chocolate* until well incorporated. 

*To melt the chocolate, heat up some water in a pot. Place a bowl on the pot. The bowl must be able to cover the pot so no steam can escape from the sides. The bowl must not touch the water, because you only want heat from the steam. Once the water has boiled, turn it down to a simmer. Add the chocolate, which you have chopped up. (Add in the portion for the chocolate sand as well). Leave the chocolate, don't be tempted to stir it! Gradually, the chocolate will turn glossy as it starts to melt. You can aid the melting process by pushing the unmelted pieces into the melted pool of chocolate. Turn of the heat and once the chocolate has melted you can give it a little stir. The chocolate will appear silky and glossy. Cool it slightly before adding it to the cream cheese mixture. Reserve some chocolate for the chocolate sand.

3. For the chocolate sand: Mix the ground peanuts and meringue** together. Add them into the melted chocolate and stir. 

**For the meringue, you can either buy it, which probably will ensure that it's crunchy. Or you can make it like I did. For a my melty, gooey meringue, whip up 2 egg whites + pinch of salt + 100g of raw blended sugar, until you form stiff peaks, and when you tip the mixture upside down, it doesn't fall off the bowl. Drop little tablespoon fulls of meringue onto a lined tray. Bake at 100C for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 

4. To assemble the cake: Unroll the swiss roll. Cut into three equal sized strips. On each strip, pile on some chocolate cream cheese icing. Smooth the filling out into every inch and corner of the swiss roll. Sprinkle on the chocolate sand. It's fun to use your fingers! Take one strip of cake and start rolling it up as you would a normal swiss roll. Make sure to roll it up firmly and quite tightly. Once it's rolled up, line the end of that first roll with the start of the second strip (so the roll is continuous), and roll the second cake over the first, again make sure it is firm, tight and nicely aligned. Repeat with the third strip.*** Now, flip the cake so that it stands vertically, and walah! You now have a vertical swiss roll. Apply icing onto the cake how you would a normal cake. Decorate the top with some nuts. 

Refrigerate the cake before serving. 

***If you don't want your cake as tall as mine, you can always cut the cake into 4 strips instead of 3.

Citrus Griestorte

It was my birthday last Wednesday and I decided to try out this recipe that I found in a magazine - Griestorte, a flourless semolina and ground almond cake. 

So, a year older and hopefully a year wiser. Birthdays. Normally, people would think birthdays are for celebrating us turning one year older, commemorating the day of our birth. It's a day where we 'should' receive presents and be pampered. It's a day where everyone 'should' be nice to us, treat us as kings or queens. 

I used to think that too. Of course, we've conquered another year, isn't that something to celebrate about? Yes. But I think it should actually be the other way round. It should be a day where we especially thank our parents. After all, even though it is a day of our birth, for many of us, it is also a day when our parents, especially mother went through immense pain (child labour). We should thank our parents for all the sacrifices they've made for us, to bring us up to who we are. Because of us, they have probably gone through a lot of suffering - countless sleepless nights when we were babies, worrying about making good money so we could have a good upbringing, getting disappointed when we upset them, being the stubborn kids we are, worrying about our future, etc. etc. 

And in actual fact, in Buddhist teaching, birthdays especially should be a day where we practice good deeds for others. Be compassionate towards other sentient beings, including animals, such as going vegetarian for the day (if you normally eat meat) is especially good. In Buddhism, there are many chants and mantras. One particular one, The Great Compassion Mantra, is one of the most important mantras. When we recite this mantra, we are actually 'hailing' the thousand buddhas, as the mantra is in actual fact, comprised of names of buddhas. Hailing these buddhas to our sides will help protect us. 

Many people are afraid of death. The reasons for most are uncertainty, fear and regret. Uncertain of what the next step is. Uncertain of where we will be going. Fear of pain. And regret of what we have or have not done in our lives. The core of buddhist teaching actually addresses these issues. Buddhists believe in reincarnation in the 6 realms. The 6 realms are heaven, human, demons, animals, ghosts and hell. Reincarnation in the realms will depend on our karma, which is all the good and bad deeds we have committed in our countless past lives and this life. The ultimate goal, is to escape this cycle of reincarnation and to be enlightened or in other words, to attain buddhahood. So, how do we do that? We have to let go of attachments. Attachments lead to greed. These worldly things are not important as we can't take them with us when we die. Most people don't realise this until it is too late. What we can take with us however, is our karma. We have to be compassionate. If we understand the 6 realms of reincarnation, we will understand that every sentient being is equal. We will be kind to others naturally. We will understand that we may one day reincarnate as an animal, or an insect, if our karma determines it so. Understanding that will provoke us to let go of eating meat or harming others. We will do what are the really important things in life, and stop wasting our time doing unimportant things - live life without regrets. Chanting will help us attain buddhahood, and escape this cycle of reincarnation. Chanting will also prepare us for our death. If we chant everyday, it becomes ingrained in us and at the moment of our death, we will also be chanting, hailing the buddhas and hopefully when we go, we will go with the buddhas to the Pure Land. 

So, on our birthdays (if not every day), we should really reflect on our lives and ask ourselves, have we really lived how we wanted to live? If we die tomorrow, will we have any regrets? And it really is possible that we die tomorrow. Nobody knows how long we have to live in this life. So, having death in mind, it will encourage us to live efficiently, use our time well, treat others well. And, through that, it will prepare us for our death, and eliminate uncertainty, fear and regrets, which will also encourage a more peaceful and 'controlled' passage. 

This cake, I would like to dedicate it to my parents, for sacrificing all your time and effort so I could live the privilege life I lead, for teaching me all that you have learned to fuel my wisdom, for your unconditional love and care. I would also like to dedicate it to my other family members and my friends, who've cared for me and been there for me, and made me who I am today. 

[Citrus Griestorte]
6 eggs, separated
1 cup raw sugar (finely ground)
Pinch of cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2/3 cup of fine semolina
1/2 cup of ground almonds

Icing
250g cream cheese
150ml cream
1/4 cup raw sugar (finely ground)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Decoration
1 orange

Cake
1. Preheat oven to 170C. 
2. Grease a 20cm round cake tin. Line the bottom of the pan. Dust the sides lightly with sugar and semolina. Tap the tin and tip out excess. 
3. Cream egg yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar until light, pale and fluffy. Add vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Continue beating until thick. 
4. Fold in semolina and ground almond gently. Leave to sit to soften semolina.
5. Meanwhile, in a clean bowl, whisk egg whites until it starts to foam up. Add cream of tartar. Continue whisking until soft peaks starts to form. Gradually add in sugar. Whisk until firm peak stage. 
6. Add a third of the egg whites into the semolina mixture and fold until more or less well mixed. Add the second third and fold, add the last third and fold until well mixed. Take care not to over mix. 
7. Pour into the lined tin and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes, or golden. The cake should spring back lightly when pressed with your finger. 
8. Remove from oven, cool, then split into thirds. 

Icing
1. Soften cream cheese by beating it in an electric mixer at medium speed, then gradually increase to high speed, until cream cheese is light and fluffy. 
2. Add cream and beat until mixed.
3. Add sugar, vanilla and lemon and beat until mixture is light and fluffy. 
4. Spread 1/4 onto the base layer of the cake. Place the second layer of the cake on top, then spread the second 1/4 of cream cheese on, then place the last layer of cake on top. Spread the remaining 1/2 of the cream cheese onto the top and sides of the cake. Using an off-set spatula, smooth out the icing.  
5. For decoration, slice the orange into thin slices. Place onto the sides of the cake. Place a few pieces of rind on top. 
6. Refrigerate before eating.