Basic Bakes

Simple recipes and essential baking technniques for the amateur baker. www.basicbakes.com

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'Shortcut' Swiss Meringue Buttercream

‘Shortcut’ Swiss Meringue Buttercream

During my hiatus last year, one personal baking revelation has been Swiss Meringue Buttercream, or SMBC, to make it sound cool. Pre-SMBC, I’d always relied on the gold-standard American-style buttercream, which uses a ton of fat and a double-ton of sugar. It’s a great buttercream to start out with because it’s virtually foolproof — both easy to make and easy to work with. But. It. Is. Very. Very.…

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Hello Again

I’m breaking my silence after a good 15 months. I never meant to spend so much time away from my blog, but, you know, life always gets in the way. And with a full-time job where I’m assuming more and more responsibilities, little luxuries of life, like basicbakes.com, fall by the wayside. That’s not to say I’ve stopped baking. Thankfully, there’s always time for that in my life. Just blogging…

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Christmas Baking Traditions

It doesn’t feel like Christmas to me until I make some of my festive bakes. And these are the exact same recipes I pull out year after year. After all, why fix something which ain’t broke? First up, I always, always make my boiled Christmas fruit cake. It has such an unfortunate name, but that’s because it’s magic lies in boiling all the dried fruits in a lovely fruity, boozy and spicy liquid. If…

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Have a Gilded Christmas!

Have a Gilded Christmas!

Here’s a way to glitz up your food gifts this Christmas: with a touch of gold! I’ve been obsessed with edible gold paint lately. It’s not always a conscious decision – sometimes I look at a bake and I think ‘This needs something,’ and instinctively reach for a paintbrush and my tiny pot of gold metallic food paint. Like when I made these spritz cookies for a friend’s baby’s first-month…

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Millionaire's Shortbread

Millionaire’s Shortbread

I think these chocolate and caramel-loaded biscuits are called millionaire’s shortbread is because they taste really rich. (Don’t we all love food puns?) Jokes aside, what’s there not to love about millionaire’s shortbread? Three heavenly layers comprising a buttery base, gooey caramel and dark chocolate truffle. And no elegant thin layers for me – my version has thick, vulgar layers. After all,…

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Halloween Recipes It's time for Halloween again! Sadly we don't really celebrate it around these parts, but nevertheless I do have a small collection of Halloween recipes, all involving chocolate and most attempting to resemble poop for some strange reason. Check'em out!

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Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These chocolate cookies are just ridiculous. Ridiculously messy to make. But also ridiculously pretty. And ridiculously soft and fudgy. (Mmm.) Now if you think they’re worth the mess and effort, read on! (Or may I suggest my much simpler Chocolate Chocolate-chip Cookies recipe?) (more…)

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Rainbow Cake

I’m not one to chase the trends. Often by the time I get to them (if at all), the hordes have already moved on to something else. Like rainbow cake. I never thought it was anything more than dyed cake layers, but somehow every cafe that serves cake has one in its display case these days. But then a friend asked me to make one for his birthday, so here’s my rather late addition to the hype. And…

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Tiramisu Layer Cake

I found myself hesitating to call this cake a “tiramisu” because I do take quite a few liberties with the traditional recipe, all to create a proper cake that can stand on its own and not a pudding that’s served from a dish. So, instead of sponge fingers or Budoir biscuits, I used sponge layers. Instead of just plain coffee, the sponges are soaked in a spiked coffee sugar-syrup. And finally —…

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More Carrot Cake

Carrot cakes are a staple in my baking repertoire. They may have a lot of ingredients and require a little prep work, but it’s an easy cake to put together and the results are always moist and flavourful. My no-fail recipe is right here. Here’s one I made for my sister’s birthday a couple weeks back, completely slathered in cream cheese icing. And here’s a sunflower carrot cake I made earlier…

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Basics #21: Ganache

Ganache is a magical mixture of just two basic ingredients: cream and chocolate. And it’s a wonderful recipe and skill to have under your belt. Technique The basic ganache technique is to heat cream until just before it boils. This can be done on the stove-top or in a microwave. Then pour the hot cream over chopped-up chocolate or chocolate chips. Leave for a few minutes and then stir to combine.…

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Three-Ingredient No-Churn Strawberry Ice Cream

Three-Ingredient No-Churn Strawberry Ice Cream

I’ve made proper strawberry ice cream before, but that can be a real chore. By ‘proper’, I mean to cook up a strawberry custard first, let it chill overnight, churn it in an ice-cream maker, then let it harden up in the freezer for a few hours. Then, I was flipping through my cookbooks one day (as one typically does) and came across this recipe for no-churn pomegranate ice cream. And it got me…

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Maple Bacon Muffins

If you love pancakes fluffy, piping hot and dripping with maple syrup, with a side of crispy bacon; if you love candied meats or bak-kwa if you’re from around these parts; if you love the pairing of sweet and savoury; then this muffin, my friend, is for you. For this recipe, I actually use turkey bacon because it’s far less fatty, cooks much more quickly, and the kind I get actually has liquid…

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Novelty Cake Pans – Yay or Nay?

Novelty Cake Pans – Yay or Nay?

I recently made an Elmo cake for a birthday party and for that cake I decided to buy an Elmo cake pan. The cake turned out great, but now that it’s all cut and consumed, I’m left wondering what else can I do with such a unique and oddly-shaped pan. Other Sesame Street characters? The bigger question is — do we really need novelty cake pans? (more…)

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Tips for Making a Wedding Cake

Tips for Making a Wedding Cake

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of baking a wedding cake for a couple of friends who were getting married. The bride approached me last year to make the cake because she wanted to cut into the real thing and not a chunk of styrofoam. I didn’t even hesitate. So for the first half of 2015, I spent every free moment thinking about and researching for this mammoth project. It was my first…

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Basics #20: Man Over Machine

Basics #20: Man Over Machine

Don’t get me wrong — I love my KitchenAid stand mixer. It makes short work out of doughs and meringues, creams butter and sugar beautifully, and makes the fluffiest frostings. But there’s just something much more satisfying about mixing up a cake with just a bowl, a spoon and some elbow grease. (more…)

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Two-Tone Icing

So over this weekend I baked five dozen cupcakes set to the theme SG50. It’s Singapore’s 50th year of independence and the country’s gone quite mad celebrating the golden jubilee. But these cupcakes were for the birth of a golden jubilee baby, and that is the best reason to celebrate SG50. So here’s the cupcake I designed for the occasion –it’s a simple vanilla sponge, topped with a white and red…

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