LittleIsland

CanadianBakin' - another dumb question: what do you mostly use the dishers for? To me they look like a bunch of different sized cookie batter scoops. May - I like to bake cakes the most, sometimes cookies and bread, eventually will get around to pies (as previous couple of attempts have not been successful - too leaky). Jasie - thanks for the reminder about the voltage. Had forgotten about that. Had an unused waffle maker lying around for years exactly because of that The hand-mixer will have to be something available here then. Need to check out the Braun. I like the cute coloured pinch bowls but realistically would not use them as I weigh all dry ingredients into the same bowl - gotta love the tare function! Sweetside - great comments about the silicone rolling pin... I was wondering if it was worthwhile. I think I might add one to the list. I was using a Silpat for kneading and rolling my breads a while back... I really liked it. I've only ever used rolling pins with handles. Do the non-handled versions take some getting used to? Instant pen thermometer - if I don't make candy and such, or roasts, what would I use it for? Is it good for syrups - like for frostings... which I haven't gotten around to, but will soon? Is a pen one better than one you'd clip to the bowl? I was looking at some and they looked kind of too long for any of my bowls. OK just for fun, here's my shopping list so far... probably gone beyond budget by now Let me know if ya'll think any of it is a waste of time. Wonder cup http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/detail.jsp...v=1152172739193 Small liquid measure http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/detail.jsp...v=1152172739193 Mix-n-Measure Liquid Measuring Cup http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/detail.jsp...v=1152173027584 Mini Dough Whisk http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/detail.jsp...v=1152173501638 Full-Size Classic Tube Pan http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/detail.jsp...v=1152174354201 Baker's Peel - Large http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/detail.jsp...v=1152174968929 Didn't find anything too lustable (?!) at Williams-Sonoma although it was very enjoyable screen-shopping. What other fave shopping sites do you have?

And why as much eggs as possible? What's a good, easy chocolate glaze to use and easy to dip the tops into? Do I just melt some chocolate or make a ganache-y thing with some cream? And, in your experience, how long can an eclair filled with fresh cream sit - refrigerated - before it gets soggy?

Yep milady, I meant 200USD, I do have nice co-workers, it's a farewell gift as I'm taking a few years hiatus from the corporate world. So many more interesting baking toys in the US than there are here, I guess our market is too small. I love shopping online. I have a set of digital scales - and wonder how I ever lived without them. I was thinking about that brownie pan that makes all edges (from the KA flour site)- but I don't make brownies THAT often so something for more generic use would be better. Keep the suggestions coming!!

Hey I appreciate all input I will give it a try at some point though, because the cream cheese in it sounds quite interesting and I LOVE cream cheese frosting on carrot cake (although I usually use just a fraction, as in, less than a quarter even, of the sugar called for in regular carrot cake frosting), so this might work really well on a different kind of chocolate cake... if I haven't killed my family by now with the chocolate chiffon... I think they are well and truly sick of seeing it. Thank goodness you don't have to make a cake to test frosting!

Upped the yolks today to 80g ... still a tad dry. So that's not it. If I increase the water, I'm afraid I'd have to increase the cocoa and sugar as the additional water would dilute the flavour. Then I'd have even MORE tweaking to do. I don't really want to up the oil because I haven't seen any chiffon recipes with more than 1/2 cup and I'm already adding 5/8. Argh. I wonder if I'm overbaking. But then, I'm usually checking for done-ness very carefully. The original Spago recipe calls for 30 mins but I usually need 50 mins using a 10-inch tube pan. Could that be the problem? But 30 mins is nowhere close to enough so I wonder if that's a typo. Ling - I note you needed 45 mins for your round 9" anyway. A bit stumped now. Anyone have ideas?

Thanks a gazillion Renee, I will definitely be trying this out too! I REALLY appreciate it. I still haven't gotten around to trying all the different frosting recipes. Today I was tweaking the cake recipe AGAIN - it's still coming up a little dry. But everyone else (esp. those at work) is enjoying the efforts I suppose What do you suppose the hoen kueh flour does? I was guessing it creates that pudding-y texture...?

Sorry about the dumb question, but what are these?

I've been asked to choose a farewell gift from work so I've asked for a hand mixer since my beloved Kenwood Chef won't beat 4 egg yolks... I've read that the KitchenAid 9-speed hand mixer was rated the best by Cook's Illustrated. What do you all think, would this be the one to buy? And, if the budget is about $200 or so, what else should be on my wish list? Nice-to-have baking toys that I wouldn't necessarily fork out for, myself? What would YOU wish for? C'mon, I need ideas!

I will, Toni, thanks! My 3.5yr old has been off school for the past few days and refuses to allow me to bake...! So have been dreaming about the recipes but not been able to get to the kitchen. Wednesday is my next day off and when he's at school I can try it all out. Will report results.

Hey Renee K, right you are! I haven't been referring to it as fudgey or fudge anything becuase I think it's a bit of a misnomer. And, I don't really like the taste of the hoen kwe (sp?) flour that's used... yes I can taste it in the frosting. I've never used it before but I'm guessing that stuff is what makes it set up like a pudding. And, I'm aiming for something close to Lana's - but a bit moister as I find that frosting tends to dry out rather quickly. Having said all that, I'm more than game to give it a try if you can dig up the recipe... thanks! Toni and Chefpeon... this week I will attempt your recipes as well... if only to discover something different Toni - I believe you should be able to post the recipe if you list all the ingredients verbatim but type out the methodology in your own words. Thank you everyone for your suggestions so far... keep 'em coming!

Hmmm thank goodness, no. I hate the commercial Betty Crocker stuff too, and have only ever used it once for my son's playschool mates to frost their cupcakes. Frosting vs icing: I did read another thread on the semantics of topping a cake... but to me, icing is the thin runny stuff or like royal icing that sets hard. And frosting is spread on. OK but that's just me. I know you all know what I mean. The chocolate frosting (ok, icing ) that I have in mind is not TOO sweet, but deliciously chocolatey (but not milk-chocolatey). Its texture is somewhat light and fluffy but not overly so - I mean, it doesn't look whipped or airy, but it is not dense and heavy like the commercial stuff. Definitely not greasy or oily in taste at all.

Ok looking for the right chocolate frosting/icing recipe has been making my head spin. This is to fill and cover a chocolate chiffon cake. What I have in mind: - is dark (darker than milk chocolate) - has a shiny finish - has a pudding-like consistency but is slightly fluffy - only the surface will semi-set upon sitting on the cake but inside will stay soft - will hold swirls but not piping - is able to stand at room temperature without melting down although it might soften slightly - tastes very chocolatey and not like milk chocolate - smooth, not grainy, heavy or dense Another poster thought a ganache frosting would do the trick but having spent the last few days trawling this site for everything about ganache, I'm not so sure it's the right thing... plus I have no idea which recipe to start with, there are so many. Add butter? Corn syrup/glucose? Whip? Let it sit? And for how long? I've read that slightly whipping/beating the ganache will lighten its colour - so how would you get dark as well as shiny and fluffy all at the same time? Help please!! (recipes, ideas, tips)

A strange thing happened today. I was feeding said dry-ish cake to my colleagues at work today and had a slice myself. I don't know why but it didn't seem as dry today (Day 3).

Great, I look forward to seeing what you come up with - if I get around to more testing on the weekend, I'll be tweaking it too. Got the texture, gotta fix the dryness!

Reviving this to ask: Hey Apicio, any updates on your dan-tart efforts, and any pictures to share? Would love to SEE what you've come up with, and also the progress on the custard filling. I want to try my hand at these soon, but (so sue me, I'm selfish) only once everyone has pretty much agreed on the "perfect" recipes! Weeelllll... and also because I haven't had too much experience with pies and tarts. BTW I found this thread (and site) after returning from a trip to Hong Kong last month and, in a haze of dan-tart withdrawal, had almost given up on a frenetic online search of viable recipes for the real thing - when it comes to proper dan-tart recipes, it's a desert out there.

Wow those cupcakes look gorgeous! And it's a fabulous photo. What's the frosting? And, I think maybe the timing might be off a bit. After standing at room temp. for a few hours (tropical heat notwithstanding) the cake seemed a little drier than when I greedily cut into it - and today after refrigeration it's borne out my suspicion. I think I might try a few minutes less in the oven the next time around. Except I'm a bit chocolate chiffon-ed out, heeheehee. My son's pre-school has been the grateful recipient of many of my failures. I've been seeing many of your other posts and know you're a prolific and experienced baker, so there's lots for me to learn not only from you but so many others as well! I've been following the dan-tart thread with interest too

Happy to! Note it's pretty much the Spago recipe and I've decreased the yolks slightly and increased the whites, and added a touch more oil. That's about it! While I was experimenting with top flour, cake flour and the like, eventually I went back to the all-purpose as specified. I guess it provides enough gluten for the necessary structure - I'm guessing the lack of sufficient protein content in the cake flour caused the previous collapses? Possibly some might find this a little too moist and soft but I love it this way plain and without frosting. My only thought is perhaps it might be a little too soft to hold up a frosting well... but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it! I'm just so glad I can stop losing sleep over this one Thanks for your advice Ling. 300 grams (divided into 200g + 100g) golden caster sugar 140 grams all-purpose flour 80 grams unsweetened cocoa (I use Van Houten) 10 grams baking powder 5 grams baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 60 grams egg yolks 250 grams egg whites 5/8 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup water 1 teaspoon vanilla extract For the method I just mostly followed the original recipe, modified slightly for my own ease, but which I don't think affects the outcome adversely (or not noticeably anyway). Sift all the dry ingredients except the sugar together, then add the 200g sugar and mix on low speed for about a minute to distribute evenly. Add the yolks, oil, water and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 90 secs, scrape down the bowl and beat again for another minute. Separately, whisk the egg whites until you get soft peaks, then add the remaining 100g of sugar and whisk till firm peaks form. Fold a heaping cupful of whites into the cocoa mixture, then quickly and gently fold the rest in. Bake in a 10-inch pan for about 55 mins or till done.

Woohoo, I'm so pleased to report the twiddling is over, and I've found the perfect texture I've been looking for in this cake. Now on to the frosting!!

So is this what it's about, the incessant tinkering with a recipe, the obsessive baking of the same cake day after day until you know it from memory, the nights when your mind can't rest from working over how many extra grams of egg white to add... Maybe this will be a good cure to put me right off chocolate chiffon cake by the time I find the perfect proportions! Well the next version is in the oven right now, let's hope this too doesn't fall out of the pan.

Thanks JustKay. I quite like the cake as it is, but I guess personally prefer a softer texture which is what I'm trying to achieve by twiddling the recipe. Taking Ling's suggestions into account, these were my latest efforts: 1. Baked the cake in a tube pan, using 4 yolks and 4 whites per the recipe and 75g extra whites (for the 2 extra whites). Not too bad but was still looking for slightly softer texture. 2. Increased the egg yolks to 5 yolks but cut back on the egg whites as after weighing my eggs I discovered my 4 egg yolks weighed significantly less than the standard 18.5g per yolk and whites were significantly over the standard 30g - mine are about 37g per white. So I ended up with 85g of yolks (I thought it would be too much trouble to divide a yolk!) and about 225g of whites. And, I know I should only change one thing at a time but was too impatient and that would mean baking one heck of a lot of chocolate chiffon cakes (and having to give them away!) - I changed the flour to something called Top flour (superfine flour touted as ideal for chiffon cakes - I assume it's similar to cake flour but maybe has slightly less protein content...) Half of the cake fell out of the tin after cooling. I found the texture a tad firmer and drier than attempt #1 above. 3. Today I changed the flour to cake flour (but wasn't sure how to adjust the amount so left it at about 140g which is what the 1 cup AP flour weighed) and upped the egg whites to 300g (which as the cake was going into the oven I thought was probably a bit too much... but, too late!) and the cake dislodged itself from the pan and collapsed in a disastrous heap about 3 minutes after I removed it from the oven and inverted it to cool. As to be expected the flavour is diluted from all the extra egg whites and texture (discounting the compression) is now too soft of course. So, now I know what too many egg whites does to a cake! The answer to my search for the right texture is probably somewhere between my various attempts, and I know I should have practise some discipline and only test one thing at a time - but all I want is *for me* the perfect textured chocolate chiffon cake without having to eat through all the failures If the answer looks a bit obvious to someone more experienced than I, please point me in the right direction! Oh, and Ling - was reading the thread on the Double Chocolate Cake, how does the texture of that cake (after all the tweaks) compare with a chiffon?

The pan looks great and I'd love to try it. Until now I've been doing my brownies in mini-muffin pans, very much more time-consuming and you have to really watch the baking time... but good for kids parties as they make exactly mouth-size morsels that have an all-round chewy edge.

Would adding more egg whites make the cake softer?

I tried Filipe's recipe today. I prefer the Spago recipe as it baked up darker and richer, I just have to get the texture correct. Ling, have you tried both and what is your opinion? I shall look up and try a basic ganache for the frosting... I've never made a ganache before!

Here's a link to the recipe: Chocolate Chiffon cake and that's where it refers to the fact that there are other versions of the same recipe with 3/4 cup oil instead. I plan to try Filipe's recipe next

OK I've now baked the Spago's Chocolate chiffon cake made with cocoa, and it IS lovely and rich and dark. Great flavour. But just a touch dry. There are apparently 2 versions of the recipe floating around - I made the version with the ½ cup oil but the other version has 3/4 cup oil - has anyone made it and how does it turn out with 3/4 cup? Was it too oily? Should I try it with 2/3 cup oil? The bottom half of the cake came out dense. Would this be because I didn't invert the cake to cool? The middle of the cake sank somewhat - it was as though the structure of the cake wasn't strong enough to support itself in the centre. How should I stop this from happening? I baked it in a 9" springform. My other question has to do with frosting this cake: I am trying to replicate the frosting from a chocolate cake I often buy - it is dark, has a semi-shiny surface, is thick stuff - like a slightly fluffy pudding - its surface sets slightly firmer than the inside that stays soft. Does anyone have any ideas for me on how to re-create this frosting? As you can probably tell, I'm very much a novice home baker despite having baked often before, and I'm here to learn! My second post only... You are all so knowledgeable, I am in awe and I look forward to improving my baking skills. Thanks in advance.