Strawberry Jelly Hearts – Failed Attempt

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Sha

Edit: Thanks to the responses on Facebook and Twitter, I’ve finally gotten to the bottom of this.

The first thing to note was that the instructions I followed was for a recipe using gelatin powder, and not agar powder. Since I was using agar powder, I should have left the baking tray with the cream cheese mixture to set in the fridge for a few hours first before putting on the last layer of jello!

On the topic of jello, another mistake i made was to not let it cool down completely before pouring it into the baking tray.

Also I should have sieved the cream cheese mixture to get rid of the lumps.

As for where to get gelatin powder in Singapore, I’ve been told by some that you can get it at Phoon Huat – which has a few outlets islandwide.

Thanks girls for all your comments!

*******

I based my attempt on some recipes I found online, but here’s the exact one that I derived on my own after reading plenty of yet similar yet different recipes.

Ingredients:
For the crust -
300g digestive biscuits
150g melted butter

For the cheesecake layer -
250g cream cheese
1 & 1/2 tablespoons agar-agar powder (couldn’t find gelatin powder anywhere so I subbed it with agar agar jelly)
1 & 1/4 cups boiling water
10 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 strawberries, halved

For the jelly layer -
170g strawberry flavoured jelly (Jello brand)
500ml boiling water
500ml cold water

And these are the steps I did (and in between unforeseen events that happened):

1) Place the digestive biscuits in a ziplock bag

2) Crush the biscuits until they look like this:

3) In the meantime, melt the butter (I use a frying pan) so that once the biscuits are crushed, you can add the melted butter to it

4) Mix the melted butter and crushed biscuits together, and place the mixture at the base of the baking tin

So that settles the crust. The tray is then placed in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes (more or less).

This is where it started getting complicated (both from the lack of experience and circumstance). So the next part is where we create the cheese filling for the jelly hearts.

5) Place 250 grams of cream cheese in a bowl, and add 10 tablespoons of sugar in it

In the meantime, I placed the agar-agar powder (once again, let me remind you that I subbed the gelatin powder with agar agar powder) in hot water and let it cool.

Back to the cream cheese and sugar mixture, I also had to add a teaspoonful of vanilla essence, which is always in stock at my house. ALWAYS. Well until today. So I had a mixture right there (and agar agar powder in boiling water at the side) – and NO VANILLA ESSENCE.

I had no choice but to rush out to get a bottle of the essence. And of course the first grocery store I went to ran out of it, and I had to walk a little further down. But eventually – I got the vanilla essence – which I added to my cream cheese and sugar mixture.

6) The next step was to pour in the agar agar water mixture to the cream cheese and sugar one. Simple enough right? NO.

BECAUSE THE AGAR AGAR MIXTURE HAD TURNED TO ACTUAL JELLY WHILE I WAS OUT ON A VANILLA ESSENCE HUNT:

At this point, my mind went blank. Seriously. Like, what just happened? Of course I didn’t have an extra packet of agar powder. So I had to rush out again and get another packet. Rushing out in the hot sun twice in a day just to hunt for ingredients will tend to take a toll on you. Ok so when I got back, and re-did step of mixing the agar agar jelly to boiling water.

7) After the mixture has cooled down a little, I poured it to the baking tin on top of the digestive biscuit crust.

8) The lumpy bits were actually from the agar agar powder. Those lumps will eventually be the downfall of this project. So I let the mixture set for a bit and went on to cut the strawberries into hearts.

9) The cut up strawberry hearts were then placed on the cream cheese and digestive biscuits layer in the baking tin.

And then I placed the baking tin back in the fridge again, while making the jello mixture – which is the final step.

10) What I did was put hot water to it, and when the crystals start to dissolve, I added cold water. And mixed and mixed.

11) I only poured the mixture into the baking tin when it was lukewarm.

No photo for this step because this is where I know that shit has hit the fan. When I poured the jello mixture into the pan, some of the lumpy parts (from the agar jelly) became very visible. So parts of the baking tray surface had patches of white. Also, the mixture seems a tad too watery. I don’t know if it was because I used too much water.

12) The contents of the baking tray is then left to chill for at least 4 hours.

Finally – this is the end product. Ugly as hell, omg I can’t believe I created this. The white patch in the middle was a result of my mum putting a cling wrap over the tray while I took a nap in the afternoon. But well, it was already destroyed even before that anyway.

So what I’d like to know, if any of you can be so kind are:

1) Was it a mistake to use agar agar powder? Can I still make this dessert without gelatin or agar agar powder?
2) Did I do any of the steps wrongly?
3) Where did I go wrong?

Thanks

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Sha

Sometime in November last year, Nena and I decided we’d stay in and bake. We were so looking forward to baking rainbow cupcakes, but because we couldn’t find some of the ingredients (such as gel food colouring – let me know if any other forms of food colouring can be used for rainbow cakes), we settled on red velvet cupcakes.

Before we go further, I need to say that neither of us have baked red velvet cupcakes before this. It was a first attempt, and it was highly risky for two amateurs to take on this task. But I guess things turned out better than expected.

The second thing I need to tell you guys is that we didn’t have an electric mixer. So everything was mixed by hand. Exhausting but worth it, I guess!

We looked up a random red velvet recipe online while grocery shopping. It seemed simple enough to follow, and so we based our purchases on the ingredients listed. It was all pretty impromptu.

We followed the recipe pretty closely despite having to make a few changes along the way. For example, if I recall correctly, we had to add in more food colouring because the batter didn’t seem red enough. We also added more sugar to the frosting.

At first we baked using pretty cupcake liners, but after our first batch flopped (big time), we did the next few batches without the liners. Not only were they easier to remove from our silicon cupcake tray, the cupcakes were also bigger.

Another reason why our first batch failed was because the baking duration indicated in the recipe was 18-22 minutes. Not only was it rock hard, but it was also very burnt. So the next batch onwards, we cut the baking time by half – just 9 minutes! And they turned out perfect.

I guess the best part of baking these cupcakes was the frosting and decorating part! We made a piping bag and filled it with the cream cheese mixture we made – and started swirling it all over the cupcakes! And staying true to the initial idea of rainbow cupcakes, we scattered rainbow pebbles and sprinkles over the frosting. And here’s the end result:

So I guess we did get our “rainbow” cupcakes after all!

A Lookback at 2011

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Sha

Overall, 2011 has been a 140% better (see what I did there) than 2010 and I’m very thankful for that. In fact, I have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Sure, I started the year unsure and almost afraid of what’s to come after a very bad year in 2010. The first few months were a bit of a struggle but as we neared mid-year, things started looking up. For one, I snipped off my pretty long hair and made it a cute bob. I haven’t had short hair in 10 years, so this was a drastic change! And it was a good change, as nervous as I was all throughout the time at the hair dresser’s. And now, 9 months later, I’m still waiting and waiting for my hair to be as long as it was before!

2011 is a year where I put myself first, perhaps as a step to self-recovery from the trauma of previous years. I travelled a lot – all for pleasure and not a single work trip (for once), and perhaps because I get away so often this year, I am truly a happier person. Let’s recall some of my adventures while travelling.

It was a year of picking strawberries fresh off a strawberry garden…

and watching dolphins jump and twirl at sunrise

and meeting people from books:

and island hopping at its best..

and go-karting accidents (in Malacca – some trips I didn’t blog about)

It was also a year of many firsts. I flew all the way to Jakarta to catch a Paramore concert. That was one of the best and worst nights of my year (at the same time), but still an experience I won’t soon forget.

I actually took a budget flight(not complaining, just highlighting a milestone – that goes to you dear hater), which wasn’t that bad after all.

Paramore wasn’t the only musical act I caught live this year. I won tickets to a Lenka showcase early in the year, and in October, I re-lived my fangirl days with BLUE at the ION Orchard fashion show. So awesome, I can DIE.

And speaking of musicals, I caught The Lion King this year (oh so many things unblogged!!!) It was fantastic.

Gadget-wise, who could forget the time I cracked my iphone 4 screen?

or the fact that I replaced both my pink sony vaio and my pink point-and-shoot with sexier replacements?

(oh yeah, this was the final look [sans the lens hood] of Sir Olympus’ makeover. I didn’t blog about him getting a faux leather sticker, but he looks cool doesn’t he?)

I kinda overdid it with spending on gadgets this year (no not really, because I really needed to get them replaced – and them *ahem* enhanced) but it was a good year on the gadget front.

And with a new pancake lens and a spiffy camera, came an influx of nice food photos

On the crafts/hobby front, no sewing was done this year for some reason – but I did attempt to bake. Successfully and not so successfully.

Attempt on red velvet cupcakes: More or less successful (turned out better than expected):

And one out of the box cupcakes (with edible glitter and all) which was a complete disaster! Besides the fact that I was trying to achieve the same effect as a photoshopped cupcake!

And of course our very recent adventure with ice cream making. Yet to make an ice cream at home!

Afterthought

As you can tell, this has been a pretty good year for me. And at some point I guess I started feeling happy about my life – but denied it for the longest time for fear of jinxing it. I’ve come a long way this year. I guess sometimes you just need to take a year just to focus on your own needs and wants, in order to find that spark of happiness again. My life is at such a stable state right now that I could barely even think to imagine in December last year.

This is the year I stopped living vicariously (and secretly envying everybody else’s life) and just focused on myself. It’s hard to just stop something you’ve been doing for a long while, and sometimes there’s minor relapses. But overall I’m okay. There’ll be a time and place for everything and not everybody will experience the same things at the same age.

I’m thankful that I’ve had the chance to travel to new places, meet new people, experience new food, able to afford the best gadgets (at this point). I’m thankful that my relationship with the boyfriend is even more heightened, and we’re closer than ever (how much closer can you get after 8 years? Go figure.) I’m thankful that even though there’s been a lot of changes to home life and family – the ones who matter are still close at heart and vice versa.

Lastly, I’m thankful for my awesome job that enables me to do techy things I enjoy and allow me to finally have a work-life balance. You’ll never know how rare work-life balance is until you’ve found it. And once you find it, you’ll never, ever want to let go

So this is me, signing off for 2011. Excited for 2012, because whatever happens, it’s just gonna be an awesome adventure!

.: asylum for the sane :.

where rainbows end.

Tag Archives: baking

Strawberry Jelly Hearts – Failed Attempt

Red Velvet Cupcakes

A Lookback at 2011