i bought these rose shaped silicone molds and was so eager to use them so i made these cranberry rose teacakes. i was never a fan of silicone molds since they give baked goods a weird sheen. luckily these did not! i added dried rose petals, nielsen massey's rosewater extract, rose syrup, vanilla bean paste and a touch of pink food coloring. paired them with my favorite TWG's bain de roses tea and they were so good!


this is essentially a pound cake, and also my first time use a pound cake recipe to make them into other shapes. apart from some weird air bubbles at the bottom (or top, after turning over), they turned out really well. you could also use your favorite pound cake or sponge cake recipe.


rose shaped silicone mold, pretty versatile and very essential for afternoon tea! can also be used for puddings, jellies, even non edibles like soaps and candles.

i used the same recipe for the tri colored pound cake two entries back and did some tweaks. makes exactly 6 teacakes.

ingredients :

100g butter, softened
60g sugar
2 eggs
100g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp each of rosewater extract, rose syrup, vanilla bean paste
5 dried rose buds, ground
handful of dried cranberries or craisins, chopped
pink or red food coloring

method :

1. preheat oven to 170C.
2. in a bowl cream together butter and sugar until pale.
3. add in eggs one at a time and whisk until combined. add in rosewater, rose syrup, vanilla and food coloring.
4. sift together cake flour & baking powder and add into the above.
5. fold in dried roses and cranberries and mix well.
6. pipe or spoon batter into the rose shaped mold. i find that piping is less messy, you could also use an ice cream scoop.
7. bake for 18-20 mins until cooked. let cool.

made something really interesting today. a matcha ombre rare cheesecake with a matcha chiffon sponge base. i think this is so pretty seriously. how is it i've never seen such a design made using matcha? i think the zebra/bullseye design is pretty common, especially the rainbow one but not this, so i'm pretty impressed!


recipe is taken from xiachufang, a chinese recipe community. think of it like cookpad, but chinese. in there you can submit your own recipe, post creations that you tried using other people's recipes, subscribe to paid lessons or shop for groceries. its become my frequent haunt these days because the recipes are aplenty and they're all pretty good. i've tried a couple of them such as the lemon earl grey madeleines and earl grey cookies and they were sooo good.


this is very simple to make and yields spectacular results. slightly more work and more bowls to wash but well worth the effort. you can also make different versions of it using coffee, chocolate, raspberry or strawberry. i think a bamboo charcoal version will be pretty awesome as well if you're into that monotonous black grey or marble look.

recipe source : amanda @ xiachufang

(makes one 6 inch cake)

ingredients :

for the matcha chiffon sponge :
3 eggs, separated
60g caster sugar
1 tbsp matcha powder
pinch of salt
25ml salad or neutral tasting oil
60ml milk
60g cake flour

for the cheesecake filling :
125ml milk, heated
100g cream cheese or mascarpone cheese, room temp
175g whipping cream, whipped until soft peaks and chilled for use later
70g sugar
6 gelatine sheets, softened in ice water
1 tbsp matcha powder

method :

1. preheat oven to 180C. to make the matcha chiffon sponge, whisk together egg yolks and half the caster sugar until combined. add in oil and mix well.
2. add the matcha powder into the milk and whisk well. make sure there are no lumps.
3. add the matcha milk mixture into the yolk mixture then sift over cake flour & salt.
4. make meringue with egg whites and the rest of the sugar and beat until stiff peaks. fold whites into the yolk mixture and pour it into a 20x30cm rectangular tray or jelly roll pan.
5. bake for 15 mins, let cool then cut into 6 inch round.
6. to make the cheesecake filling, add the softened gelatine into the hot milk, whisk well to combine.
7. lightly whisk the cream cheese or mascarpone in a bowl then add the above milk & gelatine mixture in. stir in caster sugar and mix well until sugar is fully dissolved. fold in whipped cream.
8. prepare 5 small bowls. in each bowl add in 1 tsp, 3/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp & 1/4 tsp matcha powder respectively then add in a few drops of water to dissolve. the final bowl will be the white mixture hence there is no need to add matcha.
9. in the bowl with the 1 tsp matcha, add in 60g cheesecake mixture, to the 3/4 tsp matcha add in 80g cheesecake mixture, 1/2 tsp matcha to 100g mixture and finally 1/4 tsp to 100g mixture. the final white mixture will be 125g.
10. place the sponge cake into the bottom of a 6 inch cake tin with removable base or a mousse ring. pour the white filling onto the sponge followed by the lightest green mixture directly on top. the sequence is lightest to darkest so keep pouring one filling directly on top of the other to create a zebra or bullseye pattern.
11. chill cake for at least 4 hours in the fridge then use a blowtorch, hairdryer or hot dishcloth to loosen the sides of the cake tin.

not sure if anyone still reads my blog but i took an (almost) 2 year hiatus and i've settled into my new home, finally! so i've decided to come back to blogging at least for now and will be sharing recipes once again. so if any of my followers are still here, a big HELLO to you all!


as always spring is my favorite season at least when it comes to sweets making, so i've decided to start my series of hinamatsuri/girls day/hanami spring sweets with a tri colored pound cake! this turned out beautifully with a split down the center top. i used raspberry powder for the pink layer and it has a nice tangy taste to it not unlike yogurt. the 3 colors from bottom symbolize grass, snow followed by flowers, very apt for spring.


i've stopped using my DSLR & pc for awhile now. they're still in storage so im now using my phone solely to blog. hopefully my photos still look fine. the web version for blogger is not exactly user friendly but this will have to do, for now.

recipe is from cookpad

(makes 1 loaf)

ingredients :

100g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp matcha powder
1 tsp strawberry powder (i used raspberry powder)
100g butter, softened
80g caster sugar (i reduced to 60g)
2 eggs, room temp

method :

1. preheat oven to 170C.
2. sift together cake flour & baking powder.
3. whisk together butter and sugar until pale, then add in eggs one at a time. whisk until combined.
4. fold in flour mixture.
5. separate mixture into 3 equal portions then add in matcha powder & strawberry powder into the 2 portions respectively..
6. put batter into piping bags and pipe the matcha batter in the bottom of the loaf tin followed by the original then the strawberry batter.
7. smooth mixture with a spatula with the two ends taller than the center, like a concave shape. this is to ensure that the cake rises evenly with a crack exactly in the center. that way you dont have to draw a line down the middle like some recipes do.
8. bake for 40-50 mins, remove cake from tin and leave to cool.

and bonus pics! a preview of my kitchen :


my kitchen is relatively small this time round, but i do have dedicated prep areas for baking (two, to be exact) which is great. they're not in the pic because i didnt take pics of them yet.


sink area. totally digging the black granite sink and champagne gold faucet.


i also have two built in ovens now since i make lots of macarons. have got a couple of orders since i moved in and the ovens really made a helluva difference! makes me life so much easier.