Aspiring Bakers #2: Christmas! (Dec 2010) Roundup

Started with Small Small Baker in Nov 2010, I was honoured to be hosting this for Dec 2010. The response was very encouraging, which made the host very busy! Hahaha...It was also my pleasure to know so many talented bakers through hosting this event! Thank you very much to all of you who has supported the theme for December.

Here are all the wonderful bakes submitted for this month's theme - Christmas! listed in the order of the date of submission.

1. Vanilla Cupcakes by Nancy of Bake for a Queen

2. Stollen by Esther of 我的厨房乐园

3. Christmas Tree Custard Bread (Super Soft) 圣诞树卡士达面包 (超软) by Angel of  Cook.Bake.Love

4. Polvorones (A Spanish Cookies) by Anncoo of Anncoo Journal

5. Stollen by Cheah of No-Frills Recipes

6. Bolo De Coco (Coconut Cake) by Peng of Peng's Kitchen

7. Gingerbread Man by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise

8. Chocolate Log Cake by Bakertan of Baking Library

9. Fruit Cake by Missy of Sweet Crumbs

10. Chocolate Cranberries Oatmeal Cookies by DG of Tested and Tasted

11. chocolate cranberry cream yule log by Zoe of Bake for Happy kids

12. Almond Crisps by Ah Tze of Awayofmind

13. White Xmas logcake by Cathy of Cathy's Joy

14. Belgium Speculas by Quay Po of Quay Po Cooks

15. Christmas Muffins - Orange & Cranberry by Jean of Needmorenoms

16. Festive Meringue Kisses by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets

17. Christmas Candy Cane Cookies by Anncoo of Anncoo Journal

18. Christmas Macarons by Alison of Sweets & Loves

19. X'mas Honey Cookies by Wang Li Ying of Happy Flour

20. Mini Mixed Fruits Buns by Vivian of Vivian Pang Kitchen

21. Mont Blanc-cream of chestnut on almond tart by Lena of Frozen Wings

21. Colourful Jelly Pudding by DG of Tested and Tasted

22. Coconut Cookies by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets

23. Mushroom, Tomato & Camembert Tarts by Wendy of Wen's Delight

24. Oreo Yule log cake by HoneyBeeSweets of HoneyBeeSweets

25. My Bar of Chocolate by Lena of Frozen Wings

26. Super Moist Chocolate Cake by Jess of j3ss kitch3n

27. Chocolate Banana Fruits Cake by Vivian of Vivian Pang Kitchen

28. Chocolate Logcake by Jane of Passionate About Baking (That's me!)

29. Garlic Roast Chicken with Stuffing by Wiffy of Noob Cook

30. Christmas Log Cake by Grace of Kitchen Corner

31. Sugar Cookies by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets
 
32. Peppermint Mocha Blossoms by Jean of Needmorenoms

33. Xmas cupcakes by quzzine of baking on cloud 9

34. Cranberry Honey Cupcakes by Peng of Peng's Kitchen

35. My Tiramisu Jingle by Wendy of Wen's Delight

36. Grand Marnier Butter Cookies by Jess of  j3ss kitch3n

37. Cranberry Pecan Biscotti by Sotong of Cooking it my way!

38. Checkerboard Cookies by Spear of My Baking Milestone

39. Christmas Light Fruit Cake by Jess of Bakericious

40. Santa Claus Boston Cheesecake by Jess of Bakericious

41. Chocolate Swiss Roll with Whipped Cream Filling and Dark Chocolate Ganache by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink!

42. Christmas log cake by mingfang of cherry-potato

43. Chubble Wreath by kk of My Food Affair

44. Cranberry Shortbreads by Aimei of My Baking Cottage

45. Stone Fruit Tea Cake by Vivian of Vivian Pang Kitchen

46. Roasted Chicken with Brown Rice & Chestnut Stuffing by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise

47. Concorde Dessert by Jane of Passionate About Baking

48. Grand Marnier Orange Fruit Cake by Wendyywy of Table for 2..... or More

Also submitting two entries from Joceline Ng.
49. Mince Tarts
Adapted from "In the Mood for Pastries & Tarts" by Alan Ooi

(A)
1 portion of sweet short crust pastry

(B)
1 green apple (diced)
100g dried currants
100g sultanas
100g fresh raisins
100g dried apricots (substituted with diced dried pineapples)
100g orange peels (substituted with mixed peels)
80g butter (melted)
90g brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
50ml brandy or rum
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon mixed spices

Method:
1. Mix all the fillings (B).
2. Pastry: Roll the pastry into 3mm thickness. Press into tart moulds. Pour in the fillings.
3. Cover with another piece of pastry. Egg wash and sprinkle with some sugar.
(I did the star-shaped covering on top of each tart instead, and did not sprinkle sugar)
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 Degree Celsius for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

For the sweet short crust pastry:

Ingredients:
(A)
200g plain flour
20g milk powder
110g butter (I used 100g)
50g icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

(B)
2 1/2 tablespoon water

Method:
1. Mix all Ingredients (A) until crumbly. Add in ingredients (B) and mix to form dough.
2. Shape into a ball and press it flat. Wrap it up and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

50. Chocolate Peanut Butter Yule Log Cake

Chocolate Roll Cake

Ingredients:
(A)
40g egg yolk
35g caster sugar
60g milk
1/4 tsp salt
40g melted butter
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
20g cocoa powder
55g self rising flour

(B)
80g egg white
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
35g caster sugar

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree celsius.
2. Use a whisk to mix egg yolk, caster sugar & fine salt to form a thick batter. Pour in the milk and mix well. Pour in the corn oil and vanilla essence. Blend them together thoroughly.
3. Lastly, sift the self-rising flour into the batter and stir slowly to form a thick batter.
4. In another clean mixing bowl, whisk egg white and cream of tartar at high speed, until fluffy and add in caster sugar. Whisk until a stiff peak meringue is formed.
5. Mix one-third of meringue into the egg yolk batter, using a spatula. Carefully mix in the remaining meringue, taking care not to deflate the egg whites.
6. Pour the cake batter into a 7" X 10" lined swiss roll tray.
7. Bake in the pre-heated oven at 180c for 15 minutes, taking care not to overbake.
8. When the cake is baked, remove from tray and place on a clean tea towel.
9. Roll the cake up with the tea towel while it is still hot. Allow it to rest and cool.
10. Upon cooling, unroll the cake gently.
11. Spread the peanut butter cream filling on the cake.
12. Roll up gently using the parchment paper and leave the paper there to hold the cake in place.
13. Refrigerate the cake while preparing the chocolate ganache.

Peanut Butter Filling

Ingredients
Sufficient peanut butter (suit to taste)
30ml whipping cream

Method:
1. Whipped the cream until stiff.
2. Mix in the peanut butter until smooth and thick.
3. Spread the filling onto the roll cake when the cake is ready.

Chocolate Ganache
60ml low-fat fresh milk
60ml non-dairy whipping cream
125g dark chocolate

Method:
1. Chopped the dark chocolate into small cubes and set them in a saucepan.
2. Pour the milk and cream into the same saucepan, over the chocolate.
3. Cook over low heat, stirring continuously until all the chocolate melts.
4. Continue to cook and allow the mixture to thicken slightly.
5. Remove from heat and set aside for 15minutes. It will thicken on its own.

Assembling the cake:
1. Cut off one end of the roll cake and place it on top of the roll to form a "stump".
2. Frost the cake with the chocolate ganache.
3. Refrigerate the cake for at least 15 minutes to allow the ganache to set.
4. Using a fork, carve out the bark patterns all along the yule log cake.
5. Smooth the stump ends.
6. Using icing, decorate the stump ends with simple swirls.
7. Decorate the cake as desired, with sifted icing sugar and christmas decorations.
8. Chill the cake and serve when ready.
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Up next, Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favourite CNY Cookies (Jan 2011)

This month's event will be hosted by Jess of j3ss kitch3n.
Details of the event can be found here.

Lastly, some reminders to those who want to submit your bakes.

1. Please submit your entry according to the theme of the month. For example, if it is January 2011's theme, then only those blog posts in January 2011 are accepted.

2. You must mention in your post that you are submitting to "Aspiring Bakers" and provide a link to the blog of the host of the month, or else the entry will not be accepted.

3. Please send an email to the host to submit your entry. Just putting a link in your posts is not enough. If you submit more than 1 entry, you have to send email for each and every entry. This is to ensure that the host will receive your entry.

4. Please attach 1 photo only for each entry. Each photo cannot exceed 500KB.

5. Please put "Aspiring Bakers" as your email subject, just in case they land in the spam folder and got accidentally deleted.

6. Please be reminded to provide recipe, or a link to recipe in your post of submission. Write ups without the formers cannot be accepted.

Finally, happy new baking year!