28 September 2007

Some like it big, but I certainly like mine petit. ;)

There's some satisfaction to be gotten from slicing whole cakes into perfectly neat eighths, distributing them into individual plates with a generous scoop of ice cream. But for dinner parties, I find individual mini-cakes like those pictured above superbly cute and elegant at the same time. Also if you're a crumb person, that is if you order apple crumble for the crumble and groan audibly when it is not done right, then you'd appreciate the greater abundance of toasty edges in miniature versions of cakes/tarts. And, there's no need to fight the others for it!


These miniature versions of Joyce's Lemon Cake from Damien Pignolet's
"French" were put in the oven just before dinner started and left to cool while the mains were prepared, and finally brushed with a sour-er than sweet lemon syrup mid-way through chomping on a piece of lamb shank. I just turned down the heat and shaved the recommended timing a little since his recipe was for a cake 24-cm in diameter.

When it was finally time for dessert, the ice cream tub was brought out a little too late, and pummelled to death with the ice cream scoop to produce 4 tiny scoops placed gingerly beside one cake fingerling before being capped by another.


These were baked in silicon moulds, making it incredibly easy to plop out into the bowls although I do have some reservations about these flexible, heat-resistant thingamajigs. They seem to result in cakes, muffins and caneles a little denser than they should be. Anyhow, other than the fact that I might have overdosed the cakes with lemon syrup (thankfully the ice cream saved it), I thought these were such irresistably munchable beings. They puffed up and browned beautifully in the oven, had almost crusty corners with a lighter, spongier heart.
I really regretted making only enough batter to make 8 fingerlings. I would have loved to slap on some cream cheese frosting making some super-mini frosted pound cakes. Or to just have a couple of them bundled together with some white satin ribbon, and given as post-dinner take-home gifts. I certainly wouldn't mind having them for some indulgent brekkie the next morning either. For your own minature dessert, just remember to reduce the heat by a small margin and err on the side of caution when deciding when to take it out.

10 comments:

Steph said...

I dig your blog. You have something nice going here.

Stella said...

I expect to eat that at the end of November, in Singapore, at Daffany's place.

Anonymous said...

S> Thanks! Love the photography on yours!

Stellaaaa> Woohoo! Is it confirmed? Better still, we'll bake this together.

Anonymous said...

What a nice lookin' piece of cake! ;P

Caty said...

Looks delicious!

Anonymous said...

jh> Thanks! It was a snap to make too. I chose the recipe precisely because it sounded simple and quick.

caty> Thanks!

Anonymous said...

any chance of buying your creation?


check out delicious chocolate and snacks updates
www.SingaporeFoodBlog.com

Anonymous said...

Sure, if you're interested you could email me.

Anonymous said...

daffy girl !! how're you ? :)
anyway, i think you should be a photographer ......... aaaaaand ....... the promised meal NEVER materialised .............. and it's been 2 freaking years ......
-zhexian

Anonymous said...

zx>! I'm so sorry I'm 2 YEARS late! I should do something with germ, rach, sherwin, viv and you! Okay on! Let me plan something! But are you in Singapore? Not yet right?