BAKING PROJECT

Sempat lagi akak berposing ngan Chef Ismail..

The 10th Malaysian International Exhibition of food, drinks, hotel, restaurant & foodservice equipment, supplies, services and related technology – has started today. Check out further info from their website at www.foodandhotel.com. It says that the exhibition is open to trade visitors only, but actually if you have a name card and a baker like me, you can just register at the 3rd floor and is permitted entry.

I simply love going to exhibitions like this, so many things to see (and taste). I was going around checking all the new products at all the booth. You definitely need a few hours to cover all the areas. I only manage to visit Hall 6, 1 and 2. Parking is a bit of a problem. The parking in KL convention centre is full, so we parked along the small road next to ExxonMobil and got a DBKL saman tiket .

Anyway, I’ve snap some pictures and hopefully the cake designs will inspire you. Please click on my Flickr on the left side bar. Enjoy !

I manage to snap these photos during the Cake day at TV3. The demo was conducted by a chef from KDU. If I’m not mistaken, it’s Chef Raymond. Thank you Chef.

STEP 1 : LEVELING THE CAKE

Some tips – first look at eye level at the top of the cake. Make sure the surface is level, if not, put your serrated knife at the lowest point and trim to follow this level. To layer the cake, first measure the height of the cake and then maybe mark on the sides with a toothpick to divide the cake into equal proportion. Place your other hand on top of the cake, then cut in a slow sawing motion. It’s better to use a long knife so you can see the knife end on the other side of the cake, to guide you.

STEP 2 : FILLING THE LAYER

Here the Chef is brushing the layer with a simple sugar syrup. 1/2 cup of sugar mix with 1/2 cup of water, heat until the sugar has dissolved. You could also substitute the water with liquids such as coffee, lemon juice etc, and add extract or flavoring oil. Up to you lah, to match the flavour of the cake .

After the layer is soaked with the syrup, scoop the buttercream into the center of the cake.

Using a spatula, spread the frosting back and forth, pushing it towards the edge of the cake.

Put the second layer back on top. By the way, its better to use the bottom of the cake as the top (turn the cake over) as usually the bottom part is much smoother.

STEP 3 : FINAL FROSTING

Place the iced cake on top of a wire rack, with a pan beneath. Same method as Steam buttercream, remember ?

Pour the ganache or chocolate sauce on top and shake, shake, shake the tray so it covers the whole cake. (No wonder their cake is soooo smooth.. ) To use this method, the sauce has to be of a soft consistency, usually while it is still warm. Add additional cream to get the consistency required.

Actually, I didn’t manage to copy the recipe for the chocolate sauce that our Chef used. I remember him mentioning cocoa powder, probably the recipe is similar to this.

STEP 4 : FINAL DECORATION

Our chef is using fresh fruits brush with apricot glaze. Piping white chocolate to make some interesting design using a parchment paper.

The completed cake – the white fan is made from chocolate too.

Hope this tutorial is helpful. Catch you later !