Category: About Us

Vanilla beans are seeds inside the pods of Vanilla Planifolia. These tiny black specks bring the sweet vanilla flavor and a heady, floral aroma.

There are mainly three kinds of vanilla beans: Madagascar, Mexican, and Tahitian. Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans are the most popular type of vanilla, resulting from their clear and creamy flavor. Tahitian vanilla beans are the most expensive type of vanilla beans. The aroma is floral with undertones of ripe fruit with a deep, rich flavor that includes cherry-chocolate, licorice, and caramel, which is a perfect pair for our fluffy cakes.

If you got our vanilla pods on the cake, you could make your own vanilla sugar from it. Just wash it clean and lined-dry it. Bury the pods in sugar and seal tightly with a lid. Let them sit for 1 to 2 weeks. And you have vanilla sugar to enjoy!

See how to make your own vanilla sugar:
https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/12/making-vanilla-sugar/
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/vanilla-sugar-recipe-1914687

香草籽是香莢蘭的種子, 存在香草豆莢中, 香草廣泛的被使用在許多甜點中, 但大多是人工香料, 少部分使用香草精, 真正使用香草籽的並不常見.

最常見的香草莢有三種: 馬達加斯加, 墨西哥, 以及大溪地香草莢. 馬達加斯加香草莢是最被廣泛使用的香草莢, 因為他的香草味非常的香濃鮮明, 大溪地香草莢通常雖然比較昂貴, 但它的香味帶有花香, 成熟的果香 (調性是櫻桃巧克力, 甘草, 和焦糖味). 我們只使用 A 級的大溪地香草莢, 這種香草莢非常適合跟輕柔的戚風蛋糕搭配.

如果你在我們的蛋糕上發現了黑黑長長的香草莢, 裡面的香草籽已經被取出, 但你可以拿來做自己的香草糖, 只要把它洗乾淨晾乾, 把豆莢埋在糖裡並且密封好, 一兩週後, 你就有香草糖了唷, 拿來泡茶或烘焙都能增添風味呢!

做法可以參考:
https://bit.ly/makevanillasugar
https://cyhco.tw/vanilla-classic-recipes/

今天一個朋友問我: “為什麼選在疫情最嚴重的時候開店呢? 現在大家都盡量自己煮不外食耶”

我說: “這時候開店才好哇, 你想想, 你從蛋糕店買一個蛋糕, 從製作的時候就有烘培師, 有學徒, 光廚房就不只一兩個人, 外場有結帳的人, 清潔的人, 這個蛋糕從做好, 到交到你手上, 有好幾個人可能碰過;”

“如果是我的 home kitchen, 烘培師: 我, 包裝: 我, 清潔人員: 我, 連送貨都是: 我, 從頭到尾就一個人碰過, 除非自己在家烤蛋糕, 不然沒有比這個更安全的了!”

戚風蛋糕說難不難, 說簡單也不簡單, 記得闆娘第一次做的時候, 新手運氣成功了! 心想, 大家為什麼要把戚風蛋糕叫成”氣瘋”蛋糕呢, 其實也還好吧, 沒那麼難呀~ 然後~~~就開始了我的撞牆之路….

One of my friends asked me: “Why are you open shop during COVID-19? People are trying to cook as much as possible instead of buying cooked meals.”

I answered: “How many people may have touched your cake before you get it? The pastry chef, the assistant pastry chef, the cashier, the cleaning staff, or more. The cake you bought has been handled by several people.”

“In my home kitchen, I am the one and the only one who handled the cake. The pastry chef: me. The cleaning staff: me. The delivery staff: me. If you could make your own cake, that’s even safer. Otherwise, my cake is only handled by me.”

Chiffon cake is a simple cake, but not so simple. When I started making my first cake, I made a beautiful cake with my beginner’s luck. I wondered: “why people said making chiffon cake is hard. It’s quite simple, though.” And after that, the arduous journey just began……

When we were trying to decide our recipe, we tried several different recipes and tried to make them fit our needs. The recipes for home baking are relatively simple compared to the commercial recipes. There were no emulsifiers, no quality improvers, stabilizers, etc. I disregard the cream of tartar from the very beginning of my baking life. Even baking powder that was generally considered safe and essential, we make our cake without it. In the end, we do not use even a little bit of corn starch. After all, our families will finish these cakes if they were not sold out. We dare to use the best and simple ingredient!

In our final version, there are five ingredients: egg, flour, milk, sugar, and canola oil. And a half teaspoon of lemon juice. That’s all! And our cakes contain a high ratio of milk, which means it tends to collapse if the bubbles of eggs whites are not good enough. We have to be careful of every single step to make sure that the cake could stay moisture yet fluffy. (Thanks to my little ones. In the processing of the recipe experiment, they took care of all the “not so perfect” samples for me. And I could tell if they like the recipes or not by the rate they finished them.)

我們實驗食譜的過程中, 參考了許多不同的食譜, 嘗試使用我們想要的原料, 一般家庭用的食譜本來就已經偏簡單, 不會有乳化劑, 改良劑, 穩定劑一些有的沒的 (塔塔粉好幾年前自己玩烘培的時候就沒有在用了), 連泡打粉這種相對安全的原料, 我們後來也拿掉了, 最後剩下玉米澱粉, 實驗之後, 也去掉了, 畢竟賣不完我們要自己吃掉, 一丁點都不會浪費, 當然要要求高一點

所以最終版本的戚風蛋糕, 就只有”蛋”, “麵粉”, “牛奶”, “糖”, “植物油”五種成分, 還有一點點的”檸檬汁”, 沒了! 夠簡單了吧, 而且牛奶比例比一般的戚風蛋糕還高, 水分越多的蛋糕就越容易塌陷, 意思是考驗主廚打發蛋白跟混合的功力啦, 每個步驟都要細心注意, 才能確保每個成品都能濕潤又綿密. (中間努力過程的 NG 蛋糕, 都被兩隻小朋友搶著吃完啦, 從他們吃的速度就可以看出好吃的程度, 真是感謝他們的捧場啊!)

Organic Eggs 選蛋

Organic, cage-free eggs are our basic choice. Sometimes we use eggs from free-range hens or even pasture-raised hens.

從最基本的非籠養 (cage-free) 有機雞蛋, 到散養 (free-range) 甚至放養 (pasture-raised) 土雞蛋我們都會視情況使用

Organic Sugar 有機蔗糖

We use turbinado sugar instead of white cane sugar to provide a smooth, sweet taste. We also offer the option of monk fruit extract and erythritol (natural sweetener). 我們使用有機蔗糖 (organic turbinado sugar) 而不是精製白糖 (white cane sugar), 可以讓甜味更溫和圓潤另外, 我們也提供訂製的天然代糖選項, 選用羅漢果糖 (monk fruit extract) 及赤藻糖醇 (erythritol), 讓有需求的人也能安心的享用甜點

Organic Flour 有機麵粉

The Japanese method “湯種（ゆだね) Yutane” was used in our cakes. The method makes the flour could absorb more liquid and become a moisturized, cotton-like, fluffy, cloudy cake. This cloud contains the perfect balance of eggs, milk, and flavors.

選用新鮮的有機麵粉 (certified organic flour) 用日式燙麵法製作出來的戚風蛋糕, 口感濕潤軟綿, 能夠完整的呈現蛋奶香味的平衡

When I was working in the operating room, the first thing of the day is changing clothes. Put on scrubs, a paper hat, and a surgical mask. I remember the edge of the paper hat made me itchy and there was always a press mark when I got off the work.

A few years later, the hospital gave of personalized scrub hats with my name on them. They were much more comfortable than paper hats. However, they fitted well, when I got off the work, my hair looked awkward. I dragged much attention when I walked home.

Surprisingly, now I need to wear scrub hats again, not because of the hospital, but because of baking cakes! Life is full of amazing and surprises. No one knows what is going to happen, so why not just live in this moment.

以前在手術房工作, 每天踏進醫院第一件事情就是換衣服, 換成工作服, 戴上紙帽, 外科綁帶口罩, 紙帽的邊緣常常刺得我額頭癢癢的, 下班的時候脫下來總是一條皺皺的壓痕

後來醫院訂做了布帽給我們, 上面還繡了自己的名字, 戴一整天也很舒服, 但因為比較貼合, 一整天下來, 下班的時候髮型永遠是奇形怪狀的, 走在路上都會被側目

沒想到幾年之後, 重新戴回布帽, 居然是因為要做烘培, 看著這樣的裝備, 覺得人生真的是很有趣, 誰也不知道接下來會發生什麼事, 就好好把握當下吧!

From a girl who loves sweets, she became a mom that loves making them. She could not bear any additional calories from desserts that she does not love.

One of her little girls once got “sugar high” from a high-end store-bought sweet. We now know that “sugar high” is not due to sugar; it might be due to artificial colorings, flavors, or many unnecessary add-ons. That episode made her scared and decided to make sweets for her loved little ones. In the end, her little ones never get “sugar high” from her handmade sweets.

She understands some parents who do not know or do not have the time to make sweets for their kids. Her learning curve for chiffon cakes is quite long actually. She hopes her handmade desserts could bring more peace of mind options for parents.

從一個愛吃甜食的女孩, 變成愛做甜點的媽媽. 她不吃不好吃的甜點, 因為那都是額外的熱量. 既然要吃, 就應該吃最好吃的.

有一次, 她女兒吃了一家高檔甜點店買的甜點之後 sugar high 了好久. 現在的研究指出, sugar high 並不是因為糖, 而可能是許多人工色素, 人工香料, 或是各種添加物. 那次的事件讓她決定, 要自己做甜點給女兒們吃. 從那之後, 她女兒們從來沒有因為吃她做的甜點而 sugar high 過.

許多家長可能不會做甜點, 或者是沒有時間做甜點. 她自己學著做戚風蛋糕也是失敗了很多很多次, 才慢慢學會. 她希望她的手作甜點, 可以讓大家享用幸福, 也可以安心給小孩吃.