Hope you enjoyed reading this!

TSUM TSUM MACARON RECIPE 
by Sumopocky

Yield: ~ 20 macarons

Ingredients
[For Macaron Shells] 
Meringue: 70g of Egg whites + 90g of Castor sugar
80g of Almond flour
80g of Powdered/icing sugar
Food colouring (refer to table below in Step 4 for colours needed)

[For Macaron Filling]
Select your macaron filling here

Beauty and the Beast is my favourite Disney princess movie, and I was enthralled from the beginning till the end by its characters, medley, and story. Even though the movie had simple 2D animation, it still managed to charm its way to become a memorable piece of my childhood.

I will always remember musical pieces like Lumière belting "Be Our Guest" with other castle objects that seemed to defy gravity, and the touching "Beauty and the Beast" sung by Mrs Potts. It is in those meaningful lyrics that Disney managed to speak not just to children, but to resonate with adults too - a recipe for robust family entertainment. 

More importantly, the film taught me a valuable lesson that would shape me at a young age - beauty is found within. Looking back, this is probably the reason I tend to gravitate towards the good in everyone and every thing... sometimes overlooking the bad and thus hurting myself in the process. Those were painful but necessary lessons, but till today I still seek to find beauty in the places others don't see. 

So, like most people, I CANNOT WAIT for Beauty and the Beast (2017) to be released! The casting is perfect (yayyyyy Emma Watson). Thus, with excitement, I baked these Beauty and the Beast Macarons. Featuring Belle, Beast, Cogsworth, Lumière, Mrs Potts, Chip, and not forgetting the Enchanted Rose.

Truth be told, these designs are a bit complicated and definitely requires some patience if you are thinking of baking them. Especially Lumière, as he is pretty fragile~ However, if you are a big fan of the movie like me, I hope my video tutorial will be helpful in recreating these macarons!

The lovers: Belle and Beast 

Macaron feet~

Lumière and Cogsworth

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST MACARONS
by Sumopocky

Yield: ~ 16 macarons - approximately 2-3 per design

Ingredients
[For Macaron Shells] 
Meringue: 70g of Egg whites + 90g of Castor sugar
80g of Almond flour
80g of Powdered/icing sugar
Food colouring: Brown, Yellow, Red, Black, Green
1/4 teaspoon of Cocoa powder

[For Macaron Filling]
Select your macaron filling here

Hello there. I'm really excited to share this new recipe with you as it uses a fun ingredient - Speculoos Cookie Butter. Also, read on for details on my latest giveaway - yummy prices to be won! 

These Chip & Dale Macarons are filled with fragrant Speculoos cream. The designs are Tsum Tsum inspired, and yes, some of the Chip & Dale are taking a quick nap~ 

Speculoos is a type of spiced shortcrust biscuit, originally popular in Belgium. The spreadable cookie butter version of Speculoos gained traction in recent years, and have now made their way even to local bakeries and froyo bars. I was not familiar with the flavour until recently, and I am now a fan!

Poppy & Co. had kindly provided me with some of their Speculoos Cookie Butter to experiment and bake with... and thus these macarons were born.

To be honest, the cookie butter tastes so good on it's own that I was almost tempted to just spread them in between my macaron shells. But because I was looking for a filling with a lighter texture, I forced my lazy self to whip some cream and mix the two together (totally worth it). This also helped to soften the rich flavour of the cookie butter.

The savoury and sweet flavours made these macarons absolutely addictive. I am already looking forward to creating more recipes with their versatile cookie butter. It can be used for smoothies, cakes, cookies, or just a spread on its own.
For this giveaway, Poppy & Co. has sponsored 2 jars of their Speculoos Cookie Butter - creamy and crunchy. Apart from winning a jar of Speculoos Cookie Butter, winners will also receive a box of my Chip & Dale macarons!

So if you have not tried Speculoos before, take part in this giveaway because the taste is great and unique... and if you are fan, no reason to hesitate! ;)

CHIP & DALE SPECULOOS MACARONS
by Sumopocky

Servings: Approximately 18 macarons

Ingredients:
[For Speculoos Macaron Filling]
100g of Speculoos Cookie Butter
50ml of Heavy Cream

Directions:
4. Make different coloured batters and continue the macaronage process to the separate batters, until you get a molten-like mixture and drips down like a ribbon when lifted.
- Black: Scoop out 1 tbsp of batter and add black food coloring. Mix well and transfer to piping bag with a small tip.
- White: Scoop out 3 tbsp of batter, continue macaronage, and transfer to a piping bag with a small tip. (*Optional: For an off-white colour, sift in 1/4 teaspoon of cocoa powder)
- Pink: Scoop out 1 tbsp of batter and add a bit of red food coloring. Mix well and transfer to piping bag with a small tip.
- Red: Scoop out 1 tbsp of batter and add red food coloring. Mix well and transfer to piping bag with a small tip.
- Brown and Light Brown: Split the remaining batter into 2 equal portions. Add brown food colouring to get brown and light brown batters. Complete the macaronage and transfer to a piping bags with medium tips. Transfer some to piping bags with small tips.
5. Pipe batter on parchment paper. 
- Use either the brown or light brown batter (for Chip and Dale respectively) and pipe a circle with the medium tip. Tap the tray on your counter to spread out the batter. Pipe out ears with piping bag with small tip.
- With the white batter, draw on two ovals for the face. Let the shells dry for about 10 minutes. Then, pipe on the snout (white batter) and paws (brown/light brown batter).
- Draw the eyes with black batter.
- Use the pink batter for blusher and ears.
- For the noses, use black for Chip and red for Dale.
- Remember to leave an equal number of shells plain to match with the decorated ones.
6. Let the shells dry for approximately 30 minutes in an air-conditioned room. You should be able to touch it gently with the tip of your finger without it sticking.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C for approximately 10 - 13 minutes. Let it cool.

[For Speculoos Macaron Filling]
1. Whip the speculoos cookie butter till it is fluffy.
2. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream till slightly stiff peaks form.

After watching Finding Dory (2016) twice in a row, it's only fair to dedicate a post to this movie that made me smile, touched my heart, and brought a magical glimmer of awe that I used to only feel as a child. 

I'm super excited about these Finding Dory Macarons featuring my favourite characters from the movie - Dory, Marlin, Nemo, Hank, Destiny and Bailey. These macarons are filled with dark chocolate ganache and they were a delight to make. 

The Trio who started it all 

"I know you're scared, but we can't give up." - Dory to Hank

“What is so great about plans? The best things happen by chance, because that’s life.” - Dory

FINDING DORY MACARONS
by Sumopocky

Yield: ~20 macarons, ~3 of each character

Ingredients
[For Dark Chocolate Ganache] 
80g of Dark chocolate chips
80ml of Heavy cream

[For Basic Macaron Shells] 
Meringue: 70g of Egg whites + 90g of Castor sugar
80g of Almond flour
80g of Powdered/icing sugar
Black food colouring
Blue food colouring
Yellow food colouring
Red food colouring
Royal icing sugar

Directions
[For Dark Chocolate Ganache]
1. Bring heavy cream to a simmer.
2. Pour heavy cream over chocolate. Let it sit for 1 minute and stir with a whisk till all the chocolate has melted. Let it cool.
3. Transfer the filling to a piping bag.

[For Basic Macaron Shells] 
1. Make the meringue. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on low speed using an electric mixer until it is white and frothy (approximately 1 minute). Gradually add the sugar 1/4 at a time. When the first addition of sugar has completely dissolved (approximately 1 minute later), increase the mixer speed to medium and add until all the sugar has been incorporated. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
2. Sift the almond flour and icing sugar to the meringue.
3. Begin macaronage. Using a spatula, start the macaronage process by folding and lightly scraping the top of the batter. Continue until the wet and dry ingredients just start to combine.
4. Divide the batter. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of batter and add black food colouring. Mix well and transfer to a piping bag with a small tip. This is for drawing the details.
Split the remaining batter in portions of 1/5, 1/5, 1/5 and 2/5.
5. Make different coloured batter: 
- From the 2/5 bowl, scoop out 1 teaspoon and add yellow food colouring. Transfer to a piping bag with a small tip. Scoop out another teaspoon and add blue food colouring to get dark blue. Then, add blue food colouring to the remaining batter to get light blue. (Dory and Destiny)
- To a 1/5 bowls, add yellow and red food colouring to get light orange (Marlin and Nemo)
- To another 1/5 bowl, add 3 drops of red food colouring and 1 drop of yellow food colouring to get  bright orangey-red. (Hank)
- Leave the final 1/5 bowl as it is for white batter. (Bailey)
6. Continue macaronage. To each batter, continue the macaronage process until you get a molten-like mixture and drips down like a ribbon when lifted.
7. Transfer batter into piping bags: Transfer the batter to piping bags fitted with round tips, leaving some to be transferred to individual piping bags with small tips for the fins. You can use plastic/ziplock bags and snip off the ends to make disposable piping bags.
8. Pipe out batter onto baking trays lined parchment paper. Please refer to video above for demonstration.
9. Let the shells dry in an air-conditioned room. You should be able to touch it gently with the tip of your finger without it sticking.
10. Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C for approximately 10 - 13 minutes.
11. Let shells cool before filling with dark chocolate ganache. 
12. Finishing touches: Draw on final details with royal icing sugar.

Deep in the hundred acre woods, lies a plate of Pooh macarons filled with Honey Yoghurt buttercream. The honey yoghurt buttercream is sweet and tangy with the mellow flavour of honey - a flavour that Pooh and friends will approve! 

Hello there. I haven't done a book post in ages, and I'm finally updating this section of Sumopocky with The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne. This charming book is enchanting in every sense - from the writing to the illustrations by E. H. Shepard. 

While it may be "Children's literature", it's lighthearted tone and humour (that might go unnoticed by children) make an enjoyable read even for adults. So if you have not read the tales of Winnie-the-Pooh before, or if the last time you read was as a kid, then I highly encourage you to read it again. You'll notice hidden treasures that you might have overlooked as a child. 

Some of my favourite quotes from the book, and from others in the collection:

WINNIE THE POOH MACARONS 
with HONEY YOGHURT BUTTERCREAM

Servings: ~ 8 - 10 macarons

Aloha~ Greetings from Scrump Tsum Macarons from the movie, Lilo & Stitch! Scrump is Lilo's homemade doll that often has to get "surgery" after it gets torn. This is the Tsum Tsum version (Yes, I'm still obsessed with Tsum Tsum. Can't resist cute characters that have been made even cuter in Tsum form).

I filled the macarons with Cookie Dough buttercream, the same filling I prepared previously for my Cookie Monster macarons. Absolutely yummy!

Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten. - Stitch

SCRUMP TSUM MACARONS
by Sumopocky

Servings: ~8 macarons

Ingredients
[For Macaron Shells] 
Meringue: 35g of Egg whites + 45g of Castor sugar
40g of Ground almonds
40g of Powdered/icing sugar
5g of Cocoa powder
Blue, yellow, and red food colouring

[For Cookie Dough Buttercream] 
40g of Unsalted butter (softened)
8g of Brown sugar
1/2 tsp of Milk
1/2 tsp of Vanilla extract
1 tsp of Cocoa powder
5g of Powdered sugar
30g of Chocolate chips, chopped

[For Decoration] 
Yellow Royal Icing
Black Royal Icing
Grey Royal Icing
Red Royal Icing

Directions
[For Macaron Shells] 
1. In a large bowl, sift the ground almonds, icing sugar and cocoa powder.
2. In a separate bowl, make the meringue. Beat the egg whites on low speed using an electric mixer until it is white and frothy (approximately 1 minute).
3. Gradually add the sugar 1/4 at a time. When the first addition of sugar has completely dissolved (approximately 1 minute later), increase the mixer speed to medium and add until all the sugar has been incorporated. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
4. Add the meringue to the sifted dry ingredients in Step 1. Using a spatula, start the macaronage process by folding and lightly scraping the top of the batter. Continue until the wet and dry ingredients just start to combine. Then, scoop out 2 portions of batter (about 1.5 tablespoon each).
5. Add blue food colouring to the main batter, and yellow and red to the smaller portions. You should get a large batch of blue batter, and 2 small portions of yellow and pink batter. To each batch, continue the macaronage process until you get a molten-like mixture and drips down like a ribbon when lifted.
6. Transfer the blue batter to a piping bag with a round tip (about 0.8cm diameter). Transfer the smaller portions to 2 small plastic bags and snip off the tip to form small openings.
7. Pipe a circle of blue batter on parchment paper, about 2.5 cm in diameter (it will spread). Tap on the table lightly. Pipe out two small circles for Scrump's arms. Let the batter dry for about 5 minutes before piping the ribbon and hair on top of Scrump's heads.
8. Let the shells dry for approximately 30 minutes in an air-conditioned room. You should be able to touch it gently with the tip of your finger without it sticking.
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C for approximately 10 - 13 minutes. Let it cool.

[For Cookie Dough Buttercream] 
1. Cream together the butter, granulated sugar for about 2 minutes with an electric mixer.
2. Add in the milk and vanilla extract and beat till they are well combined.
3. Incorporate the powdered sugar and cocoa powder, and beat till mixture is fluffy.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips using a folding motion.
5. Transfer to a piping bag.

[For Decoration] 

DARK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE SNOWSKIN MOONCAKE RECIPE: 
TSUM TSUM MICKEY & MINNIE
Servings: 8 Tsum Tsum Mooncakes
Recipe adapted from Phoon Huat

Ingredients
For Snow Skin
175g of Snow Skin Premix
70-75ml of Water
1/2 tsp of Pandan Flavouring
35g of Shortening
Red and Black Food colouring

For Truffle
80g of Dark Couverture Chocolate
1 tbsp of Heavy Cream
1 tbsp of Baileys *Optional
10g of Unsalted Butter (melted)

For Dark Chocolate Mooncake Filling
150g of White Lotus Paste
50g of Dark Couverture Chocolate

Directions
For Snow Skin
1. In a bowl, add water and pandan flavouring to the snow skin premix. Mix it in with your hands in a circular motion.
2. Knead the shortening into the dough.
3. Separate into 8 equal sized balls (approximately 25g each), and set it in the fridge. This will make the dough easier to work with. Remember to save some extra dough for decoration!

For Truffle
1. Warm up the heavy cream in a microwave or pan until it starts to simmer.
2. Pour the heated heavy cream over the dark chocolate and mix to melt the chocolate.
3. Add the Baileys and melted unsalted butter to the mixture and mix well.
4. Scoop 8 equal portions onto individual cling wraps, and wrap it up to form a ball.
5. Freeze the chocolate truffle balls for at least 30 minutes.

For Dark Chocolate Mooncake Filling
1. In a microwave or water bath, melt the dark chocolate.
2. Mix the melted dark chocolate with the lotus paste filling until they are thoroughly combined.

Putting them together
1. Colour the portion of snow skin for Mickey and Minnie's body to black. Roll out the snow skin dough into a flat disc.
2. On a piece of cling wrap, spread a layer of chocolate filling and place a truffle ball in the center. Top with more chocolate filling. Then, use the cling wrap to mould it into a ball.
3. Place the filling in the center of the snow skin and wrap. Pinch away any excess.
4. Decorate with the snow skin you saved earlier (you can watch my video to learn how to decorate). P.S. Before adhering the ears, you can choose to wrap the Mooncake with cling wrap and chill in the fridge. You can dab a bit of water as 'glue' to adhere the ears.
5. Before serving, it's best to chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Then, dig in!

Have you ever played the game, Tsum Tsum? I am far from being a gamer, and rarely even play games on my phone; But I was hooked the moment I scrolled pass Tsum Tsum on the app store and have not stopped playing since then. I must confess that my main reason for loving the game is extremely superficial - the truth is because the characters are SO CUTE. They look like potato versions of their characters. How does Disney manage to make their characters appear even cuter than they originally were?! And why am I always so susceptible to such cute marketing gimmicks? I even purchased a Mickey Tsum Tsum soft toy for my bedroom. 

Tsum Tsum Snow Skin Mooncake Recipe with White Lotus Paste Filling:
Pooh & Friends

Cut piglet apart, whoops!

I'd love to see your baked goods, so if you tried out this recipe, please tag me on Instagram or Facebook! Now you'll never have to purchase expensive mooncakes again ;)

Happy Birthday Singapore! ♥

In tribute to our nation's 50th anniversary, here are some baked disney donuts in bandung (rose) flavour. One of my favourite local beverage is the signature pink bandung drink, which is essentially milk with rose syrup.

For the longest time, I've been searching for wilton's non-stick donut pan. However, those that I came across were simply too expensive. I finally found them at Bake King (in Haig Road) and they were selling the mini-donut pan at only SGD $8.99!


Even though I'd prefer the normal sized donut pan, it's better than nothing. The pleasantly surprising fact is that the mini-donuts turned out looking cuter than a normal sized donut. So, yay! It's my new favourite baking purchase and I look forward to baking more donuts with it.

This is an extremely simple recipe, making use of Japanese hotcake mix that you can easily find in Daiso or other supermarkets. It's also a healthier alternative as compared to fried donuts. This will even be good for a breakfast-in-bed special treat. So, please try it out, and I hope you like it!

MICKEY & MINNIE DONUTS 
(Bandung Rose Flavour)
Equipment: Donut pan
Servings: 12 mini-donuts, or 6 normal sized donuts
Time: 15min active time + 15min baking time

INGREDIENTS
[For Donut]
1 Egg
2 tbsp of Caster sugar
2 tbsp of Maple Syrup
100ml of Fresh Milk
200g of Hotcake Mix
1 tbsp of Melted unsalted butter
1 tsp of Rose flavouring
A few drops of red food colouring

[For Topping]
60g of Dark chocolate
1 tbsp of Heavy cream
Some biscuits for the ears
20g of White chocolate
A few drops of yellow and red food colouring


DIRECTIONS
[For Donut]
1. Beat the egg in a large bowl.
2. Mix in the sugar and maple syrup, followed by the fresh milk.
3. Using a spatula, stir in the hotcake mixture. Following which, add the melted butter and make sure everything is well combined.
4. Add the rose flavouring and red food colouring to get a pink batter.
5. Lightly grease the donut pan with butter and transfer the batter to the mould, filling it only 3/4 full.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15 minutes. Let it cool.

[For Topping]

 

I bit off Mickey's ear. Om nom nom. 

You might also be interested in my other SG50 desserts here:

Milo Dinosaur & Kopi Cookie Shots

"Kopi & Toast" Dessert