My 2018 Baking Advent Adventures
By: Janelle Zhao
Tags: Recipe, Advent, Baking

Bon Appetit’s recent podcast episode mentioned that Japanese Milk Bread is all the rage these days in trendy restaurants. So something must have been in the air impressing me with the idea to make Shokupan (Japanese Milk Bread).

If you were to ask me to only pick one thing to bake for the rest of life, it would be this. There was something about the process of making this that was so satisfying. My kitchen smelled like a Japanese bakery: sweet and milky. It was challenging, but not in a frustrating way. Every step, from kneading to proofing to rolling was enjoyable. I love that unlike the brioche, you don’t have to wait overnight to proof. It can be done within a few hours. I wanted to give some away since I made two loafs, but my husband vehemently objected so we had toast with almost every meal lol.

Get the recipe: Shokupan by Japanese Everyday Baking

Day 17 & 18: B’Day cake truffles

On this day, I got a hold of Christina Tosi (chef and owner of Momofuku Milk Bar)’s new book: All About Cake. To be honest, I was not blown away by what I had tasted when I tried her stuff in New York so my expectations were low. But she’s got a Chef’s Table episode and enough accolades that my intrigue was high. Her supposed secret sauce is the use of clear vanilla (which is a type of artificial vanilla). It gives birthday cakes their “authentic” flavour and is supposed to trigger nostalgia. I, however, couldn’t track down this elusive clear vanilla so just used my regular Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract.

I had to break this recipe into 2 days because I miscalculated how much white chocolate I needed.

This recipe was SO MUCH FUN to make. I had some breakage while rolling the cake balls in white chocolate, but other than that, her recipe and instructions were Ace. Everyone who tried the truffles said it was the best so my hats off to you, Christina.

Get the recipe: Milk Bar B’Day Cake Truffles

Day 19: Chocolate malt truffles, vegan red velvet cupcakes, coffee halvah, and matcha checkerboard cookies

I decided to pull out all my stops because I was hosting a Cookie Exchange the following day!

BDay Cake & Malt Chocolate Cake Truffles

Chocolate malt truffles: I tried another truffle recipe from All About Cake because I had leftover malt from previous cupcakes. They were good, but not as good as the birthday cake truffles. But don’t get me wrong, they were good.

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes: I made YET another Jemma Cupcakes recipe. The cake base was quite good, but the buttercream was the tricky part. How much icing to put into the vegan butter really depends on the brand and type you use. I used Becel’s Margarine sticks. Normally, you have to use a lot more icing sugar for margarine than for butter due to its softer nature, but these margarine sticks had a mind of their own. I added 3/4 the required sugar amount and had to stop because it was breaking my stand mixer from how clunky it got. Tried it again the second time with 1/2 sugar and that seemed to do the trick. I mean, they’re not as good as dairy buttercream, but this is a pretty darn good alternative!

Get the recipe: Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes by Jemma Cupcakes

Coffee Halva: I’ve been dreaming of New York Seed + Mill’s halva cakes ever since I tried them. It may also be fuelled by the fact that I left the cake I intended to bring back at the hotel so this was my chance for redemption. For those unfamiliar, halva is a traditional middle eastern dessert made simply from tahini, sugar, and various flavourings. You’re essentially making candy with this cake so you have to work fast and dangerously (the sugar is hot), but it is pretty simple in terms of actual steps and ingredients involved. This was in my opinion my favourite bake from this batch. The coffee gave it a nice kick, but my Cookie Exchange crew were divided on this. You either LOVE it or hate it. I loved it. Obvi.

Get the Recipe: From Molly on the Range

Matcha Checkerboard Cookies before baking

Matcha checkerboard cookies: I brought back a lot of matcha from my trip to Japan a few months back. While, it was a waste to use expensive matcha for cookies, it would have been a bigger waste to not use it at all. Matcha only stays good for a few months after opening so it was high time I used it. Plus, making checkerboard cookies was a technique I hadn’t tried before. They weren’t as neat as I hoped, but the taste was pretty good.

Get the recipe: Matcha Checkerboard Cookies by Chopstick Chronicles

Screenshot of the cookie exchange from Amanda Davey’s Instagram story

Oh and the cookie exchange was a success! Everyone had cookies for days.

Day 20: Pasta