Jewel Changi

Yeah, I finally made it to Jewel at Changi.  I sure am a latecomer, but the rain vortex is here to stay so no worries.  

The Rain Vortex - RX100 Mk3

Earl Grey Vanilla Chiffon Cake

And so, my baking spree continues into August.  This time, I decided to try baking an Earl Grey Vanilla Chiffon cake.  As usual, I turned to Diana's blog for guidance and did some tweaking on my own to streamline the baking process.  

Instead of brewing my tea in water, I decided to just use milk & vanilla.  The aroma is heavenly as expected, however the taste of the milk tea is really quite bitter.  But that will change once the sugar is incorporated.  

Brewing Earl Grey Tea Leaves in Milk & Vanilla - Galaxy Note 9

Jaded July

And July finally comes to a close.  I've baked a lot this month to offset my gloomy mood in the work front.  At least baking takes my mind off some bumps at work.  It hasn't been an easy month as I've grown weary of my mundane daily functions in all honesty.  I can't help but miss my early project management days.  

Soy Matcha Latte From Kopi Janji Jiwa @ Grand Batam - Galaxy Note 9

I don't have much to share either this month other than some interesting stuff in Batam.  I've also come across a new idea to increase occupancy rate of my father's property in Batam.  As of now I'm waiting for the marketing staff & the general manager to draft out the plan formally for me to check and fine tune.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Okay, this is the last one on pandan.  I've basically ran out of pandan & coconut oil after this bake.  

Fresh From The Oven - Galaxy Note 9

Pandan Butter Cake

Since I had quite a fair bit of pandan and coconut milk with a block of butter left, I thought I'd try making a pandan butter cake.  And instead of following Gracious Treatz's recipe, I tried Diana's recipe again, but of course with some tweak of my own.  Diana's recipe (which is an adaptation of another famous recipe) uses pandan paste (which I really don't like) and requires separating the egg whites from the yolks before finally combining them together again.  I thought this should be worth a good try.

I'm strongly against pandan paste and such because if you'd take a look at the ingredients section, you'll notice that they are made up mainly of propylene glycol and glycerine.  If you've taken up chemistry before, you'll know that both propylene glycol & glycerine are essentially a type of sugar alcohol.  To further drive my point across, I should also mention that food grade propylene glycol is mainly produced from propylene oxide which is a probable human carcinogen.  I know the end product is purported to be "food grade", but the point of baking my own cake is to avoid ingesting unnatural substances as much as possible, especially if they could probably cause cancer, as such I insist on making my own pandan extract naturally.  

I didn't take any photos, but I started by blendering 3 pandan leaves with 65 ml of coconut milk.  That was quite a disaster because there was too little liquid and the pandan leaves didn't blend in perfectly.  I should have used either a slow juicer and then mix the pandan extract with the coconut milk or used a bullet blender with finely cut pandan leaves for better result.  Will keep this in mind next time.  

As soon as the pandan extract was ready, I started creaming the butter and sugar.  This time I took out my 6 year old 1000 watt Kenwood Chef Premier to do the beating.  

Creaming Butter & Sugar - Galaxy Note 9

Gula Melaka Chiffon Cake

I can say without any doubt that the combination of pandan and coconut results in the most heavenly flavour ever, whether sweet or savoury.  You can find pandan and coconut in Nasi Lemak or Nasi Uduk - that's savoury - or in deserts such as chendol and cake - that's sweet.  I had previously baked pandan chiffon cake but this time I thought I should try making a gula melaka version which puts more emphasis on the coconut.  I adapted my recipe for this gula melaka chiffon cake from the amazing Domestic Goddess Wannabe, Diana Gale.

My Take of The Gula Melaka Chiffon Cake - Galaxy Note 9