Trifle (The best!)

I used to be the one who didn't know what trifle is.

Wait.

Do you?

It's ok. Because the first time I saw it I just sat there, at the corner of the table, waiting to dig in. And that was when I had this special connection with trifles. Any trifles. And that was also when I started to google recipes on it.

The first few attempts of making it weren't as great as it was supposed to be. There was no etiquette on how to eating it and so it would be advisable if you made it into individuals one. So usually when my trifle ended up being runny, we just ate it among us only, and not for the guests.

Time after time, I made few adjustments here and there, learned from mistakes, and there; the perfect trifle. My trifle.

Trifles were always a hit during raya, open houses or even parties. People came and started to asking for the recipes. To make a trifle is easy but the most trickiest part was the custard mixture.

The most beautiful part of a trifle is the layering. I do find it intriguing.

Last February my brother told me that he wanted me to bake or made something for dessert for a friend's farewell party. And since I also made a cheesecake for his friend, i suggested him something cold dessert rather than having two cakes. So I doubled the recipe and made two big bowls; one for him and the other one for home as everyone loves trifle so much (eventhough there was only two of us at home).

My Trifle

(which equals to one portion only)

1 vanilla swiss roll (or any cakes but please try to find a high quality one, the denser the better but it must be soft. Do not use those airy and spongy sponge cake as it may get soggy after a while. I got my swiss roll from King's.)

2 cans evaporated milk (IDEAL)

1 cup sugar (I suggest you add gradually until it is sweet enough for your liking)

4 tbsp full custard powder

1/2 can warm water

1 medium jar of high quality strawberry jem

Whipped cream

Strawberries ( a lot and also other fruits that you like. I used peaches also)

1. Slice the swiss roll into 15 equal parts (or more depending on your bowl). Do not slice too thin and do not slice it too thin. Thin: it will get soggy. Thick: it will be to cakey. Arrange it on your bowl, making sure the bottom of the bowl is fully covered.
2. Heat the jem on a low heat with one tbsp warm water, simmer it for a while until it liquify. Spread half of it on top of the cake evenly.
3. Next, arrange the strawberries slices and peaches on top of the cake.
4. Heat two cans of evaporated milk on a low heat together with sugar. Dissolve the custard powder with warm water and stir until there is no lumps. Pour it into the milk mixture and continue stirring. When its boil. continue stir with a wooden spoon until it thickens and shiny, remove from heat and let it cool down a bit.
5. Pour the custard mixture on the bowl, on top of the cake and jem. Let it set for a while in the fridge about 15 minutes. Spread the rest of the strawberry jem on it.
6. Meanwhile, beat whipping cream until it thickens and double up in size. Pour it on top of the cooled custard pudding with strawberries slices and peaches. Decorate as you wish.

There, your perfect trifle.

Please don't underestimate on its appearance, everyone's love it.

And it may add a few inches on your waist.

Pandan Kaya Cake

Notice the new blog header? From now on, I'll have my own label, sticker and blog header, thanks to Nab! Hehehe. Seriously, she's easy to work it, fast (you know sometime it would take days for someone to reply your email?) and most of all, she's open to whatever suggestions you have. And so, if you have anything to design, you can email her :)

Ok I baked this cake for one of my neighbor, for her daughter's akikah here in Nilai. And since I had to work on that day (which was Saturday) for our college's convocation, I decided to bake her something for the kenduri. At first I though of baking some cupcakes but I was so tired with the layer cake process so I just made use of whatever I have with some leftovers from the layer cake i.e. kaya.

I don't know where did this recipe came from but I do remember I made some adjustment to it.

Pandan Kaya Cake

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs yolk

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 small tin kaya

1 1/2 tsp pandan emulco

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs white

1/4 sugar

1. Beat butter and sugar until white and fluffy. Add in eggs yolk, one at a time, beat well after each addition. Continue beating at medium speed.
2. Add in pandan emulco.
3. With low speed, add in the flour alternately with coconut milk and kaya in 3 batches, begin and ending with flour.
4. Beat egg whites and sugar in a separate bowl on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold it in the flour mixture gently. Pour onto a greased baking pan and bake for 1 hr at 160 degrees celcius.

Verdict of the cake? Obe loved it, so much!

Haw Flakes Layer Cake

Hello there! Miss me much? :) Sorry I'd been super busy lazy lately. I had to stop blogging for a while, and so did my baking activities. Phew! Now that everything is over now, I have some free time to work on the backlog posts.

First up!

My second attempt of baking a layer cake!! Despite it was a bit dry (and tiring), I had sooooooo much fun looking at the layers :D Like finally yaw! I started baking early in the morning and burned some of my skin during the process :( Boohooo.

Haw flakes Layer Cake

Adapted from Rozzan

450g butter

150g sugar

10 eggs (grade A)

300g Marie biscuits (finely crushed)

300g sweetened condensed milk

55g kaya

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp baking powder

Haw flakes (I used around 15 small packets)

Red, yellow, green and purple colouring

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celcius.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until white and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and continue bating on high speed until incorporated well. Add vanilla essence and continue beating.
3. Turn the mixer on a low speed and add sweetened condensed milk and grind Marie biscuits. Mix well.
4. Divide batter into four small bowl (or depends on how many colours you want and if you're like me, mari kita tiru Bro Rozzan hehehehe). Tint some colour on your batter.
5. I weighed each layer at 150g and bake it twice using upper heat (grill). Add some haw flakes on the second layer of each colour.
6. Bake last layer using upper and lower heat at 150 degrees celcius for 15 minutes. Let it cool. Oh don't forget to press on the cake after you take it out from the oven for each layers to release air bubbles :) But please, take care of your hand and don't be like me :(

But in the end, nobody ate this cake except me :(