Chinese New Year Fondant Cupcakes

I made these marshmallow fondant cupcakes last year, for Chinese New Year 2014.

Chinese New Year cupdakes with homemade marshmallow fondant

The cupcakes were dark chocolate cupcakes, recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker's Dark Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe.

Dark Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients
113gm unsalted butter
2 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, room temperature
2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream

Method

1. Preheat oven. See below for temperature and oven setting.
2. Melt butter, chocolate and cocoa powder over simmering water. Then cool to warm-to-touch.
3. While waiting for chocolate mixture to cool, sift flour, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl. Mix to combine.
4. Beat the eggs with electric mixer. Add sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix till fully combined.
5. Take the egg mixture off the mixer stand. Pour in the cooled chocolate mixture. Mix with a spatula or spoon till combined.
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix to combine.
7. Add sour cream, mix to combine. It's easier to blend in the sour cream at this stage while the mixture is still quite thin.
8. Add remaining flour mixture, mix to combine.
9. Divide batter into cupcake casings, filling each one 1/2 full, and bake.

For regular-sized cupcakes, bake at 140°C for 18-20 minutes. The recipe yields 12 regular-sized cupcakes.

For mini cupcakes, bake at a slightly lower temperature, 130-135°C for 18 minutes. The recipe yields 24 mini cupcakes.

Oven Setting
It's important to bake cupcakes using the top and bottom heating element of the oven, instead of fan-assisted convection, and bake them in the middle rack in a single tray or layer. I've learned that using fan-assisted convection could result in cupcakes with lopsided dome tops (caused by the wind from the fan before the cupcakes fully set).

Homemade marshmallow fondant cupcakes

The cupcakes were then frosted with a thin layer of chocolate ganache, before decorated with my homemade marshmallow fondant toppers.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant Recipe

Don't like the taste of store-bought fondant icing? You can make your own, with just a few inexpensive ingredients. Homemade fondant tastes much better, and if you're making it for kids, you can rest assured of the ingredients that go into it and its freshness.

Making fondant at home is not hard but the process can be tedious, and daunting if you've never made it before. You will need 30 minutes to 1 hour. There will be plenty to clean up afterwards too :)

This recipe is marshmallow fondant or fondant icing made from marshmallows. It produces a very small batch, just enough to fit into a 17.7cm x 20.3cm zip lock bag. I adapted the recipe from Rhonda's Ultimate MMF on CakeCentral.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant Recipe (Small Batch)

Ingredients
250 gm white marshmallows
1 tbs water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
3-4 cups sifted icing sugar, adjust as needed to get desired consistency
Vegetable shortening (for greasing)

If using large marshmallows, you can optionally cut them up into smaller pieces. This helps them melt faster and more uniformly.

You can optionally add extracts to flavour the fondant, like vanilla or almond extracts. If using, be sure to use clear extracts so as to not taint the colour.

Method

1. Grease everything that will come into contact with the marshmallow, with shortening, e.g. pot, bowl, spatula, counter top, hands etc. Tip: Use paper towels to grease the utensils to avoid greasy hands in the early stage.
2. Put the marshmallows in large bowl, pour in 1 tablespoon of water and microwave for 2 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to stir. Or, use a stove top double boiler like I did - put the marshmallows in the double boiler with 1 tablespoon of water. 
3. Heat and stir until completely melted. The mixture should look and feel very, very thick and sticky, almost difficult to stir, but completely melted with no lumps.
4. Off heat, stir in lemon juice and salt.
5. Sift icing sugar on greased counter top, make a well in the center and pour the melted marshmallow onto the sugar. 
6. Mix and knead, add more sugar and rub on more shortening as needed, to form a dough. Be careful as the melted marshmallow will be hot initially.

The dough should feel soft but pliable, smooth and shiny. Here's a youtube video that shows the 'rightness' - when you pull it, it should stretch a little before breaking off.

Steps with Pictures

1. Using paper towels, grease the tools, utensils and work counter (where you will be kneading the fondant) with shortening.

2. Put the marshmallows in the double boiler with 1 tablespoon of water.

Put the marshmallows in the double boiler with 1 tablespoon of water

3. Heat and stir until COMPLETELY melted. It should look and feel very, very thick and sticky, almost difficult to stir, but completely melted with no lumps.

Heat the marshmallows and stir until completely melted

4. Turn off the heat. Mix in salt and lemon juice.

Off heat, mix in salt and lemon juice

5. Grease your hands with shortening. Pour the melted marshmallow onto sifted icing sugar, and mix. Be care when it's still hot.

Mix the melted marshmallow with sifted icing sugar

6. Knead, add more sugar and rub on more shortening until you get a pliable dough.

Homemade marshmallow fondant

Colouring Fondant

Divide the fondant into portions to be coloured. It is best to use gel food colouring, like Americolor Gel Paste. Liquid colouring will affect the consistency of the fondant. The colour will deepen over time, so add the colour sparingly and a little at a time. Use a toothpick to dab on the colour, and knead until it is completed blended and even.

Dab on gel colour with a toothpick and knead till blended.

Storing Fondant

Fondant can be left at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or 4 weeks in the refrigerator if wrapped and stored properly. Coat the fondant with a thin layer of shortening and wrap it securely with cling wrap. Then put in a zip lock bag and store in an airtight container.

Wrap with cling wrap, put in zip lock bag and store in airtight container

Cleaning Up

Marshmallow is made mostly of sugar, which dissolves in water. So the marshmallow bits are easy to clean. Soak the utensils for a few minutes and the stuff comes right off. The shortening though, is a nightmare to clean. It takes a lot of of dish detergent and repeated washings to get that stuff off. 

Using Fondant

When ready to use, unwrap the fondant and knead until it becomes pliable again, or microwave it for 2 to 5 seconds, depending on the amount. Grease your hands, work top and all your fondant shaping tools with shortening. Then roll out, cut out, shape, etc. as needed.

Chocolate Ganache Recipe

Ganache is simply melted chocolate and cream. It can be made with different types of chocolate - dark, white, semi-sweet, bittersweet, milk etc. It is very easy to make, and you can get different 'products' out of the simple mixture. Basically, the cream is heated and then poured over the chocolate. The mixture is then left to infuse, and then gently mixed into a smooth, velvety, thin chocolate sauce. If you let it cool for a few hours in the refrigerator, the mixture thickens into a beautiful spreadable or piping consistency, like peanut butter. It can also be whipped up into a lovely soft mousse. There are many variations and there is no "right" consistency; use what works for you.

Chocolate Ganache Recipe

Ingredients
Chopped Dark / Semi-sweet / Bittersweet / White / Milk / Any Chocolate
Whipping cream

For dark chocolate ganache, use 2:1 ratio, that is, 2 parts chocolate to 1 part cream. E.g. if using 8 oz chocolate, use 4 fl. oz cream.

For white chocolate ganache, use 3:1 ratio, and for milk chocolate, somewhere between the two.

You can use chocolate chips or buttons or bar. If using the bar, chop it up finely - easier for the chocolate to melt. The whipping cream must be in liquid, unwhipped form, not the ready-whipped stuff that comes in a canister.

Method

1. Put the cream in a saucepan, and the chocolate in a bowl.
2. Heat the cream until just boil.
3. Turn off heat, and pour the hot cream onto the chocolate.
4. Let it sit for 5 minutes to melt and infuse.
5. Stir gently until the chocolate is completed melted, no lumps and the mixture is combined.

Chocolate ganache, after 3 hours in the fridge

Bendigo Woollen Mills and Yarn Prices

My order of yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills arrived in the mail today.

Yarns from Bendigo Woollen Mills

A few weeks ago, I came across Herrschners online store. They have a fantastic selection at very low prices - Red Heart, Bernat, Caron etc. But, as I learned, their international shipping cost (at least to Malaysia) is exorbitant, costing more than the yarn itself!

For example, at Herrschners, a 197gm/389m ball of Bernat Super Value acrylic yarn costs US$3.50, which is about 13 ringgit. Compare this with the local Minlon acrylic yarn which costs 2 ringgit for a ball of 40gm - for roughly 200gm of yarn, the Bernat costs only 3 ringgit more than the Minlon. Now, add international shipping which costs US$3.95 (for the single ball of Bernat above). That effectively makes the Bernat 3 times more expensive than the Minlon. For me, it's just not worth it, especially when it comes to acrylic yarn. I have checked out other online yarn stores as well, and so far have yet to find one that offers reasonable prices after factoring in international shipping :(

Except for, and which is why I always go back to, Bendigo Woollen Mills because their yarns, so far in my experience, offer the best value for money. BMW is an Australian yarn mill, located north of Melbourne. Their prices are low because you buy straight from the factory. Their yarns are soft and beautiful, and mostly natural fibers like wool and wool blends. From my experience, their shipping cost to Malaysia is usually about 40-50% of the total order.

For example, my latest order of 5 x 200gm balls is about AU$54, and shipping cost is AU$27, which works out to be about AU$16 (or 45 ringgit) per 200gm ball. Imported wool yarn from local craft stores typically retails at 25-35 ringgit per 50gm ball. So gram for gram, BMW costs half the price of those imported brands. Great value for money if you ask me!

RYC Cashsoft Baby DK (50g) and Bendigo Woollen Mills Bloom (200g)

Bendigo Woollen Mills is a great place to source for wool and wool-blend yarns. However, I do find that they tend to have a rather limited range of colours. They also change/update their stock every so often. So make sure to buy enough for your projects lest the yarn line or colour be discontinued.

Another Crochet / Amigurumi Doll

 I made another doll based on Beth Webber's Free Spirit Doll pattern.

Free Spirit Amigurumi Doll

I love the Free Spirit Doll pattern. It is easy to follow, and the doll can be done pretty quickly. With her thin long limbs, she can wear clothes without looking bulky. Here, she's wearing a long sleeved tunic and flare pants, patterns adapated from By Hook By Hand. The shoes are adapted from Bleuette's Mary Jane shoes. The Daisy sling tote bag is my own design.

The body is crocheted with Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8 ply in Cream. This wool is so soft and luxurious that I felt bad using it on a doll but I had it in my stash and it does make a beautiful doll. The hair is made from Ice Yarns Alpaca Merino. Not my favourite yarn for doll hair. It is rough and "sticky" - the strands like to stick together, it takes forever to style and seconds to mess up!

The parts of a doll that I always take a long time with are the head and face and oh, the hair. But these are also the most gratifying parts, for they give the doll character and bring it to life. For this doll, I made a slightly smaller and rounder head. I followed Bleuette's face and added eyebrows and more definition/mascara to the eyes :)

Free Spirit Amigurumi Doll, with rounder head, eyebrows and mascara

Crochet Doll Head Pattern

Rnd 1. Magic ring 6 sts
Rnd 2. Inc 6 sts evenly to 12 sts
Rnd 3. Inc 6 sts evenly to 18 sts
Rnd 4. Inc 6 sts evenly to 24 sts
Rnd 5. Inc 6 sts evenly to 30 sts
Rnd 6. Inc 3 sts evenly to 33 sts
Rnd 7. Inc 3 sts evenly to 36 sts
Rnd 8-15. Work evenly 36 sts
Rnd 16. Dec 3 sts evenly to 33 sts
Rnd 17. Dec 3 sts evenly to 30 sts
Rnd 18. Dec 3 sts evenly to 27 sts
Rnd 19. Dec 9 sts evenly to 18 sts
Rnd 20. Dec 9 sts evenly to 9 sts

I didn't have any wooden spool but I did have dowels. So I made the neck about 3/4 inch long with a dowel in it. Then I inserted the neck into the bottom head opening and sewed them together.

Going for a car ride with Amy!