Best Corn Bread Muffin

I thought Famous Dave's had the best corn bread muffin I've had until I found this recipe from Allrecipes.com and modified it a little bit. It was an instant hit. All twelve (12) were gone before the muffins even got the chance to cool to room temperature. Then I brought these ones to our Thanksgiving reunion, they were all gobbled up with high praises. These muffins are delicious, sweeter and moister than regular bread. They are best served warm.

Cricut Cake® Personal Electronic Cutter

I'm totally excited about my newest cake decorating toy that posting about it on Facebook is just not enough. If you have been baking and caking for a little bit, then you've probably heard of the Cricut Cake® Personal Electronic Cutter. I got this baby for just $49.95! I have been wanting to get this machine since it came out last year but the $400+ price tag was just too much. Thanks to a Facebook post by Peggy Does Cake, I found out that CricutMachine.com had it on sale.

Toy Story Cake

My husbands godson, Christian, celebrated his first birthday party with a Toy Story theme. This cake took quite a few days in the making. I wanted to learn how to do color flow. I've seen it on the Wilton website (here) and so I figured I'd use that technique on this cake.

How to Make a Cupcake Stand

Build-A-Bear Cupcake Tower

Cupcake towers has been a trend at special events lately. I've looked at cupcake stands online and they can cost you from $20 to $70 depending on the design. So, here's a quick tutorial of how I make my cupcake stand. You can customize it to match your theme or whatever the occasion you are celebrating. Plus all the materials are very cheap. I think it cost me less than $5 for everything. The foam boards were on sale at $1 each and I had the ribbons on hand already.

Easy Cheese Rolls (Porto's Bakery Inspired)

Have you heard of Porto's Bakery in Southern California? My husband's co-worker recommended this place to us when he heard we were planning a trip to Legoland and Sea World. After a quick check on Yelp and finding out it's rated 4-1/2 stars out of over 2,000 reviews - we decided to add it to our itinerary.

We tried their most raved about items. The cheese rolls and potato balls did not disappoint. Between these two, the cheese roll will be easier to make at home since driving 6 hours to Porto's is out of the question when we crave for it.

Here's a super easy version I made. Only three people have tried it so far and have compared it to the original - me, my husband and a friend. Their feedback?

Clown Cake Topper

I know, I know it's been two months since I last posted something. My computer needs some kind of exorcism. It's possessed!

Anyway, here's a cake I did last year. It was a very hot August day that for some reason my fondant wouldn't stay flat on my cake. Air got inside and the sides of my cake raised a little bit. I still haven't figured out why. Maybe you guys can help me shed some light into this. It has never happened again, so...crazy, crazy phenomenon.

I just want to share how I made the Clown Toppers. The cake was for a double birthday party (a boy and girl) with a Circus theme. It's very easy and you can modify it a little bit to customize your topper according to your theme.

Black Forest Cake

I didn't know that Black Forest Cake can be so easy to do until I actually took the time to find out how it's done.   It just has four major ingredients:

1. Your favorite chocolate cake recipe (boxed or made from scratch) soaked in your choice of rum, brandy or just a simple syrup.
2. Whipped Cream
3. Your choice of fruit filling: real fresh fruits or if you have the sweet tooth, canned or your own recipe of fruit filling.
4. Shaved Chocolate

I used my favorite Beatty's Chocolate Cake recipe and brushed Strawberry Dacquiri on it instead of the traditional cherry brandy or rum because kids will be eating this cake. The traditional Black Forest Cake is also filled and topped with cherries but no one in our house is a real big fan of cherry filling so I decided to use fresh strawberries instead. It made the cake lighter and saved us a ton of calories. But if you love the cherry filling, here's a great recipe with videos. > Click here.

Chicken Siopao (Steamed or Baked)

My husband will rave about his mom's siopao every time he craves for them. Siopao is popularly known as steamed buns. It has a sweet dough with a delicious chicken filling. Anyway, my mother-in-law's final project for her Masters in Diet and Nutrition (University of the Philippines) was this recipe of siopao. They have a family friend who used this recipe and had thriving Siopao business in the Philippines. So, I wanted to make sure that I have permission to share this before I posted anything.

I used the exact ingredients but modified the procedure. Mom didn't have a stand mixer with a dough hook back in the late 80's. And I also tried a baked version because I don't have a big steamer.

Mom also advised me to make the filling ahead of time and freeze it. That way, it is easier to assemble and seal the siopao without the hassle of a seaping sauce. But of course, I have to learn it the hard way myself. I made the filling AFTER I made the dough. I wanted something to do while I waited for the dough to rise. LISTEN TO MOM! So, I'm writing down this recipe according to the better way it should be done.

Steamed Buns

Baked Buns

Here's the recipe and the pictures I took when I made them. I've done this three times already. I halved the recipe the time I took this photos so don't be confused.

Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake - March '11 DB

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

This challenge had perfect timing. We had just come back from our vacation and I was itching to bake something. I saw the recipe and got excited since I had all the ingredients I needed.

This coffee cake is actually a sweet yeast dough that I filled with meringue, cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips (I omitted the nuts). You can make different variations for the filling. You can flavor the meringue and add fruits as a filling instead. You can also dust it with cocoa powder instead of powdered sugar, or leave it plain - whatever you like!

Coffee Buns (aka Roti Buns)

Coffee Bun from Roti Mum

SM Mall of Asia in the Philippines is the biggest mall I've ever been to. It's crazy. Walking around the mall will make you tired and hungry. And then I smelled something really good. I followed it and found this store which had a sign: "Singapore's Best Coffee Buns". Roti Mum coffee buns. It is a butter bun with a filling that reminds me of Spanish Bread coated with a crisp, coffee-flavored sugar topping.

I was hooked. The combination of sweet (sugar), salty (butter) and bitter (coffee) struck a balance in my tongue. I knew I just had to learn how to make it on my own once we get back to the states.

One Year Baker [Custom Apron Give-away]

My son who got me interested in baking and caking for his 1st birthday, turned 2 years old last week. That meant I just spent my first anniversary as a baker! Wow! Who knew I can stick to something for that long? Although I've kept our oven busy for at least once a week, I'm still a stranger to our stove. So, I'm not calling myself a kitchen diva just yet. I still think of myself as a beginner.

I still have the first bakeware I received from my friend, Jean. So, I have to thank her for giving me my first tools. And I also have to thank her for making me my first ever apron.

She has a gift for fashion and sewing. She has her own blog called, FaSEWnably Chic. And I would like to help her in promoting her page and celebrating my anniversary by giving away one of her custom aprons which she sells for $30. It's perfect for yourself or as gift to a friend.

HOW TO ENTER? All you need to do is leave a comment describing the custom apron you'd like to get. Check out her Facebook Photo Album for ideas.

Want more entries?  Of course, you do. Hehehe. Do any of the following and leave a comment telling me what you did. Each is worth one entry unless otherwise noted. Your comment is your entry so please leave the appropriate number of comments for each extra entry.

• Like FaSEWnably Chic on Facebook.
• Like Baking and Caking for Beginners on Facebook.
• Follow Baking and Caking for Beginners on Twitter and tweet about this give-away.

This contest will end on 03/31/11 at 11:59 pm PST. U.S. residents only.The winner will be drawn via random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification email before I draw another winner. No substitutions or transfer of prizes allowed.

Luau Pig Cake

I'm slowly getting updated with blogging about my cakes. This here is my first time to "carve" a cake. My husband's god-daughter turned 7 last summer and had a Hawaiian themed party. So, for her cake, I thought of making a luau pig.

I finally got to use my Betty Crocker Bake N' Fill set. I bought this set for $5 on a garage sale. I'm not sure if it's still available anywhere. I only used it for the head and body. You can use Pyrex bowls or even Wilton's Sports Ball Pan set instead.

Pink and Brown Booties Cake

Here's a cake that has been a favorite of a few of my friends. I made this for my god-daughter's baptism. Her parents used pink and brown in their invitation. I love this color combination. So, I jumped at the opportunity to be able to make a cake for my special girl.

I already posted the tutorial for the fondant booties (here) and the fondant bow (here). This cake can have so many other looks to make it your own. But here's how I made each element.

Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet - January '11 Daring Bakers

I got really excited upon learning this month's Daring Baker's challenge. I felt guilty about skipping last month's challenge of making a German Christmas bread called Stollen. So, I told myself I'm doing the January challenge no matter what.

The January 2011 Daring Baker's challenge was hosted by Astheroshe from the blog, accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremet dessert.

A lot of times when my husband and I look around coffee shops and check out their display of delicious desserts, I can't help but just be in awe of how beautifully decorated they are. I can't believe that I'd actually learn to make a dessert that I used to just admire.

Gumpaste Baby Shoes or Booties

After making baby Converse shoes, an opportunity came up for me to make another cake for a baby. This time for a girl. I wanted to take that opportunity to learn something new so I decided I'd try making booties. It's a really cute cake topper if you ever need one for baby shower, baptism or a 1st birthday.

You can get really creative on this one and even match any theme. I found the template on CakeCentral and I have to thank grannys3angels for sharing this.

Chocolate Macarons

Macarons (not to be confused with macaroons and pronounced like "macaroni" but without the '-i'), are cookie-like French confections made by sandwiching cream, ganache or almond paste between two wafers made from egg whites, almond powder and confectioner’s and granulated sugars.

A few friends of mine have been craving and gushing over these little goodies which I've never actually tried myself but made me think that maybe I should try learning how to make these for their sakes.

Here's a really good recipe I found online from David Lebovitz - Chocolate macarons filled with chocolate ganache. I've read suggestions that aging the egg whites called for the recipe makes a difference. I'm not too familiar with the science but thought that it won't hurt since I still have to look for Almond Flour and Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder. So, I left it sitting on our counter uncovered for overnight. My husband found the almond flour and cocoa powder at Raley's in the special foods aisle.

How to Make Cake Flour

I feel like it's been forever since the last time I posted. It's past the middle of January and this is my first post of the year. Yey! It's been almost a year since I started baking. And yes, I still feel like I'm a beginner.

But anyway, due to my late post for 2011 and being Valentine's is the closest special celebration happening, I thought I'd share how to make cake flour. Why cake flour? It's the choice ingredient for Red Velvet Cake - a popular baked goodie for the occasion. It makes it light and fluffy with a tender crumb. 

Who ever has cake flour on hand when needed, right? Fortunately, it is so easy to turn all-purpose flour into cake flour. You probably already know how.