matcha yoghurt chiffon cupcakes

These matcha yoghurt chiffon cupcakes are put together with leftover egg whites from making some hollandaise sauce; the ever available low fat plain yoghurt in the fridge, plus a new can of matcha green tea powder.

After having tried the Plaster Blaster prata (prata served with ham, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce) at the Springleaf prata place, my elder son has been pestering me to try our hands at making our own hollandaise sauce. He even picked up this cookbook 'Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman' which I borrowed from the library to learn how to prepare the sauce. This is probably the very first cookbook he has read. I suspect the title must have caught his eyes when I left the book on the coffee table. You see, he likes or rather love mathematics, and of course he enjoys good food...it doesn't have to be an expensive gourmet dish as long as it tastes good or suits his delicate palate. I won't elaborate on our hollandaise sauce experiment here but he did manage to pull together his own version of plaster blaster prata with frozen pre-made prata, his newly acquired skill on poaching eggs with cling wraps, and the resulting not too bad (but still lacking something?) hollandaise sauce.

Chocolate and Chestnuts Cake

This is a fuss free birthday cake I baked for my teenage child. He didn't want to celebrate the occasion at all, but I thought we should all deserve a homemade treat on this special day.

Yoghurt Soufflé Cake

Chanced upon this 酸奶蛋糕 yoghurt cake from a Chinese website when I googled for a recipe to use up the two small tubs of yoghurt before they expire.

As mentioned in several Chinese blog posts, the finished cake resembles a Japanese souffle cheesecake. This is something rather 'unusual' from a usual 'yoghurt cake'...which tends to be more dense and butter cake-like.

Orange and peach yoghurt cake

Here's sharing with you an easy to prepare, moist and delicious orange flavoured yoghurt cake which I made using my Bosch Maxomixx hand blender set. This simple cake is made with basic baking ingredients that are readily available and it takes no time to whip up.

easy banana cupcakes

This must be one of the easiest banana cake I have ever baked. I adapted the recipe from a banana cake which I posted way back when I first started baking and blogging.

I didn't want to make a full size cake so I halved the recipe and turned them into cupcakes. I had also taken the liberty to replace some of the ingredients with whatever I had on hand and kept my fingers crossed that the cupcakes would at least be edible!

I filled 12 small paper cases with batter almost to the brim and all of them rose beautifully upon baking and none had batter spilled over, phew! The batter was not as thick and I had expected some overflow but all went well :)

Making these little banana cakes is almost like making a batch of muffins. There is no creaming of butter or beating eggs with a mixer. Everything is done with ease, a few quick stir here and there is all that is required.

These easy banana cupcakes are really very good, I didn't expect the recipe to be so forgiving. The crumbs are tender, moist and filled with banana flavour. It is very satisfying and rewarding to be able to bake something on a whim with whatever available and especially when the bakes turn out delicious and are well received. Well, to me, there's the wonder and joy of baking...putting separate elements together to create wonderful feelings and moments to treasure.




Banana and Chocolate Chips Cupcakes

Ingredients:
(makes 12 cupcakes)
size of paper case 43mm(base diameter) x 60mm(top diameter) x 39mm(height) 

150g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 large egg
100g caster sugar
45g vegetable oil
60ml fresh milk
200g mashed banana (about 2 medium size bananas, use over ripped ones)
40g mini chocolate chips

Method:

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 180 degC. 
• In a bowl, stir together plain flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, with a balloon whisk, whisk the egg until blended. Add in the sugar, vegetable oil and milk, whisk to combine.
• Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches alternately with the mashed bananas, and stir with the balloon whisk * until just blended. Do not over mix. (*note: for ease in mixing, change to a spatula at the last addition of dry ingredients.)  
• Add the mini chocolate chips, fold with spatula to just combined.
• Spoon batter into paper muffin cases. Arrange filled muffin cases on a baking tray.
• Bake for 25mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven, let cool on a wire rack. Store in airtight container at room temperatures for 2-3 days.

holiday baking

It has been a really busy and eventful month...I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster ride for the most part of it ;)

It started off with the agonising wait for the release of the psle (primary school leaving exam) results, followed immediately by another few days of decision making...choosing the secondary schools for my younger child. We then flew off for our year end holiday trip to Seoul and Jeju. We had a great time visiting or rather re-visiting the places in Seoul, not forgetting the great eating places and the fun self drive tour in Jeju. It snowed when we were in Seoul and it was a winder wonderland at the Hallasan national park in Jeju, the place was covered with thick snow!

I came down with a cold during the trip and developed skin rashes after we came home :( Despite the discomfort from the itchy rashes, sinus and coughing, I still had to carry on with washing and clearing the piles of laundry...the usual aftermath of a holiday trip. It took me more than a week to recover and I went on to work on the year end spring cleaning chores.

My roller coaster ride ended on a high note with the good news that my child has been offered a place in his dream school. It was really icing on the cake as we received the good news on the eve of his birthday.

With so many things going on, it was hard to find time to do much baking. It was even more difficult to keep up with blogging.

Just when I thought my absence would be gone unnoticed, I received a warm comment from a well wisher...an anonymous reader :) My heartfelt thanks to you for checking on me and my apologies for not updating my blog as regularly as I wanted.

A couple of days ago, I finally managed to squeeze in some time to bake this delicious Blueberry and White Chocolate chips coffee cake. In case you are as ignorant as me, there's no coffee in this coffee cake. The term coffee cake refers to a moist, tender cake that is served alongside coffee or tea during breakfast or anytime of the day. One of the characteristics of most coffee cake is the inclusion of either yogurt, buttermilk, or sour cream in the batter. The cake is usually topped with some kind of streusel topping from a mixture of flour, sugar, and butter, or nuts, and sometimes various fruits may be added as well.

I followed the recipe from Baking Bites but adapted it to suit my baking pan, the ingredients I have on hand and reduced the sugar amount. The result was fabulous. I am not sure whether it was the 'drought' (the lack of homemade cakes for the past weeks), both my boys were all thumbs up after they took the first bite once I gave the go-ahead permission to cut up the cake.

The cake was surprisingly moist, tender and even tasted so buttery although I have cut down on the sugar (by at least 80g) and it doesn't calls for much butter. I guess the yoghurt has made wonders again. The blueberries was on the tart side, but the sweet white chocolate chips paired it off really well. You can't go wrong with sliced almonds as toppings, it lends so much fragrance and flavour to this simple and easy to put together cake.    

If you have the ingredients on hand, why not whip this up for your breakfast, tea or after dinner dessert? It will be a nice centre piece if you have guests coming over, and certainly great to bring for potlucks or gatherings during this festive seasons. I am quite certain it will be a crowd pleaser :)


Blueberry and White Chocolate Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
(serves 8)

210g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
60g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
120g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup plain yoghurt
1/4 cup milk
50g (about 1/4 cup) white chocolate chips
80g (about 1/2 cup) blueberries
some sliced almonds
some granulated sugar or coarse sugar


Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degC.
• Line base and side of a 7" round pan with parchment paper. (Note: The cake can also be baked in an 8" or 9" round pan, shorten the baking time to 40-45mins)
• Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda into a mixing bowl. Add the salt and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• Stir yoghurt and milk together, set aside. (Note: I used 70g Marigold low fat plain yoghurt and combined with slightly more than 1/4 cup low fat fresh milk to yield 1 cup of yoghurt-milk mixture).
• With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until the mixture turn light and flurry.
• Add in egg and vanilla extract and beat till smooth. 
• With a spatula, stir in half of the flour mixture.
• Add the yoghurt-milk mixture, stir to combine (the mixture may appear lumpy at first, keep stirring till smooth). 
• Add in the rest of the flour mixture.  Stir only until just combined. Do not over mix.
• Fold in blueberries (if using frozen blueberries, toss with some flour before using) and white chocolate chips to evenly distribute them. 
• Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread into an even layer. 
• Sprinkle the top with sliced almonds and granulated coarse sugar.
• Bake for about 50 minutes (if using bigger pan, shorten baking time to 40-45mins), or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Leave to cool in pan for about 5 mins. Unmold and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Recipe source: adapted from Baking Bites

It's really that simple

I don't know why it took me so long to pick up the courage to make something so simple as molten chocolate cakes!

Somehow, I have this false impression that it requires skills and experience of a pastry chef to make them...probably because I only get to eat this delicious dessert during one of those rare occasions when I meet up with my friends for dinners.

Well, although the recipe is so straight forward, I only got it right on the second attempt. The first time I made them, I did the most unforgivable mistake of over baking...by just 2 minutes! The cake tasted awesome, but it didn't flow like lava :'(

The second attempt was perfect! This time I made sure my oven was well preheated just to be very sure that the cake would be cooked within the recommended baking time. I removed the cake from the oven once the timer started to beep. The surface appeared barely cooked, it was 'just set'. I was so tempted to put it back into the oven to bake it a little longer!

Besides baking time, the timing to unmold the cake from the ramekin is also one of the critical success factors to note. After removing from the oven, leave them in the ramekins to cool for at least 1 to 2 mins. This is to allow the cake to set a little, it may fall apart if you try to unmold it straight out of the oven. But this doesn't mean you should leave them in the ramekins forever as the cakes are meant to be served warm.

Surprisingly, unmolding the cake is not as difficult as I thought. Just run a knife around the sides of the ramekin, then flip it over a serving plate and remove the ramekin. The cake will not get stuck to the ramekin as long as you have greased it really well. Do be careful as the ramekin will be very hot.

I have also tried serving these molten chocolate cakes in the ramekin...saves me the trouble of unmolding and washing up extra serving plates ;)

Another wonderful thing I discovered about making these lava cakes is, you can actually prepare the batter a few hours ahead of time, keep them in the fridge and bake only when ready to serve. This is really something new to me. Whenever we order this dessert at cafes or restaurants, we were always told to place the order in advance as it would take at least 20 to 30 mins to prepare. So all along I was given the impression that this dessert can only be made and served right away!

As with any homemade chocolate cakes, do use the best quality baking chocolate you could afford. I have made these with valrhona baking chocolates and also Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips. It must be my unsophisticated palates, both tasted equally good to me even though one is more expensive than the other. I wouldn't attempt to describe how delicious these lava cakes turn out...but the fact that I made them 4 times in a row gets to show how everyone in the family loves it, and of course how easy it is for me to bake them!

If you are a first timer and eager to give this a try, you may want to hop over to my favourite baking website, joyofbaking.com to watch this video to get an idea how to go about making molten chocolate cakes and to avoid any pitfalls. The video certainly boost my confidence and I am very thankful for the wonderful and generous sharing by Stephanie Jaworsk. I have learned a lot from her website, she mades baking really easy for self taught home bakers like me :)


Molten Lava Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
(makes 4 servings)

135g dark chocolate
65g unsalted butter
2 large eggs
45g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
25g plain flour

some butter for greasing

Method:

• Preheat oven to 200 degC.
• Bring a saucepan of water to a simmer. Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl by setting the bowl over the saucepan; make sure the bowl is bigger than the saucepan. Stir the mixture to ensure all the chocolate is melted and the mixture becomes smooth. Remove from heat; set aside to cool.
• Generously grease the bottom and sides of four 180ml (6 oz) size ramekins with butter; set aside.
• Place eggs in the mixing bowl of MUM5 kitchen machine*. Attach the beating whisk and beat for a few seconds to break them up. Add the sugar and vanilla extract. Beat on speed 3 and gradually increase to speed 6 for about 3 to 4 minutes till the mixture triple in volume, becomes thick, pale and fluffy. Reduce to speed 4 and continue to beat for about 1 to 2 minutes to break up larger bubbles in the batter. When the whisk attachment is lifted, the mixture should fall and leave a ribbon-like trail.
• Add in the melted chocolate mixture and beat on speed 4 for about 1 minute or until the mixture is thoroughly blended.
• Sieve the flour into the mixing bowl. With a spatula fold in the flour until just incorporated. Do not over mix. Pour batter into the prepared ramekins to about half full.
• Place filled ramekins on a baking tray and bake in middle rack  in preheated oven at 200 degC for 10 minutes. Do not over bake. The cakes are deliberately under baked. The cake is ready when the outside edges is set (gently touch the edges, it should feel soft but won't stick to your finger) and the middle still looks a little wet.
• Remove from oven immediately and leave to cool for 1 to 2 minutes. Serve the cakes in the ramekins or alternatively, run a small knife around cakes to loosen. Invert warm cakes onto individual serving plates and carefully lift ramekin off cakes. Dust the top with icing sugar and serve warm with ice cream or berries.

The batter can be prepared a few hours ahead of time. Leave batter in the prepared ramekins, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate. When ready to serve, bring to room temperature while preheating the oven. Bake at 200 degC for 10 minutes just before serving.

*Note: I used my new Bosch MUM5PRO HomeProfessional Kitchen Machine MUM57830 to prepare the cake batter, read my review of this kitchen mixer here.

there's always room for dessert

This is not the first time I made this awfully delicious and decadent chocolate torte. I baked one for my better half's birthday a few months back. Ever since I have taken the first bite, I couldn't seem to get it off my mind...

well, just like any home bakers, we don't need to wait for a special occasion to bake a cake...and,

....there is always room for dessert ;)

This rather rustic, crackly, sunken chocolate cake may look similar to one of my favourate classic chocolate cakes, but take a closer look. Do you notice the black layer at the bottom? It is actually an oreo biscuit base just like the crust of a cheesecake. When I first saw the recipe while browsing a copy of the Delicious magazine, I knew this is the cake to bake for my husband. He is an oreo fiend and what's more, he has two other oreo buddies at home!

Although a picture speaks a thousand words, this photo doesn't do this cake justice, unless one can lick it off the screen. It is dense and yet has a very delicate, velvety smooth texture...'melt-in-your-mouth' are the closest words that I could think of to describe it. Believe it or not, the crunchy crust, which keeps falling off even when the cake was cooling on the rack, is extra icing on the cake!

The original recipe suggests to serve this cake with whisky cream(whipped cream infused with liquor)...but I opted for a scoop of ice cream. I always keep a tub of vanilla ice cream in the fridge, it goes well with most cakes and desserts and it's certainly a fuss-free option than having to whip up a few dollops of cream.

I scaled down the recipe which is meant for 22cm pan to fit my 18cm loose-bottom pan. Some how, looking at the ingredient list, it doesn't use that much fat or sugar...at least the amount is still within my limits. In any case, I follow the rule of eating every thing in moderation. We don't have to feel sinful to indulge once in while ;)

So, what are you waiting for? Happy Baking!



Rich Chocolate Torte

Ingredients:
(make one 18cm cake)

150g oreo cookies
40g melted butter

180g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
50g unsalted butter
50ml coffee
2 egg yolks
45g cake flour

2 egg whites
90g caster sugar

icing sugar (or cocoa powder) for dusting


Method:

• Line the bottom of an 18cm round pan (with removable base) with parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides.
• Remove the cream from the oreo cookies. Crumb the cookies, either with a rolling pin or in a food processor. Place the crumbs and the melted butter in a bowl. Mix thoroughly with a spoon until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly into the base of the prepared pan. Use the back of the spoon, smooth out the crumbs and press firmly. You can also use a glass (with a flat base) to press down firmly. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least 30mins.
• Melt chocolate and butter over low heat in a saucepan, stir to combine. Add the coffee, stir to combine. Remove from heat. Let cool.
• With a balloon whisk, whisk egg yolks gently. Add in the melted chocolate/butter mixture. Whisk to combine. Sieve over the flour and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Add half of the sugar amount and turn to high speed and beat the mixture. Continue to add in the remaining sugar and beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage. The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy. (Do not over beat the whites still stiff, it is better to beat the whites still soft peaks for easy folding with the yolk batter.)
• Add 1/3 of the egg white to the egg yolk mixture. Fold in with a balloon whisk to loosen the batter. Add the remaining egg white in 2 separate addition, change to a spatula and each time fold in gently, making sure all the egg whites are incorporated into the batter. (Note: take care not to deflate the batter. The finished batter should fill up the pan to at least 3/4 full.)  
• Pour batter into the prepared cake pan. Tap the cake pan lightly on tabletop a few times to release any trapped bubbles in the batter. 
• Bake in preheated oven at 160 degC for 40 ~ 45 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with a few moist crumb. 
• Remove cake from oven, leave it in the pan for about 5mins. Unmould and let cool on wire rack. Dust with icing sugar (or cocoa powder) as desired. Serve with whipping cream or a scoop of ice cream. The cake is best eaten at room temperature. If stored in fridge, bring the cake to room temperature before serving.

Recipe source: adapted from Delicious magazine

square cake

After months of procrastination, I finally gave myself a good kick and got down to bake this beautiful square cake.

I got hooked when I first saw this almond and apricot tray bake from a cookbook dedicated to baking square cakes. I bookmarked several recipes from this cookbook and even went all out to get a 18cm square pan...that was months ago. The next thing I needed to get was the canned apricots. I didn't manage to get it until several months later when I finally spotted it on the supermarket shelves.

The method of preparing the cake batter is quite unique to me. Instead of the usual creaming of butter and sugar batter, followed by eggs...for this recipe, only the yolks are added to the butter mixture while the whites are beaten separately before the two are combined together. The flour is added last. I felt I was switching from creaming method, to chiffon cake making method then to sponge cake method through out the preparation process.

Guess I am too familiar with baking chiffon cakes, instead of adding the flour last, I added in right after mixing the yolks to the butter mixture. I didn't realise my mistake until when I was about to fold the whites to the yolk batter. I was wondering how not to deflate the beaten egg whites if the yolk batter was so dry and thick?

However, it was too late to do anything. I went ahead and surprisingly, I could blend the whites into the batter quite easily. I was expecting the cake to fall flat like a piece of flatbread, but to my delight, it manage to rise and puff up upon baking :)

Even with the mistake I made, the cake still tasted soft and tender, although it appeared to be slightly more crumbly than my usual bakes. The texture was light and not dense as pound cake. I find the cake on the sweet side, but it went well with the canned apricots which tasted tangy! The ground almonds and almond flakes greatly enhances both the texture and aroma, making it a delicious and delightful homemade cake which I will bake again and again.




Apricot Tray Bake

Ingredients:
(makes nine 6cm squares)

100g unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
30g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 egg whites
60g caster sugar

80g cake flour
40g + 30g ground almond (almond powder)

9 apricot halves (canned apricots)
some almond flakes


Method:

1. Wash the canned apricots to remove the syrup, drain, pat dry with paper towel and set aside.
2. Place butter in a mixing bowl, beat with a wooden spoon or a balloon whisk till smooth. Add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture turns pale, light and fluffy.
3. Gradually add in the egg yolks (a teaspoon at a time), whisking after each addition.
4. Add in the vanilla extract, whisk to combine. Set aside.
5. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Add half of the sugar and turn to high speed and beat the mixture. Continue to add in the remaining sugar and beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage. The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy.
6. Add the beaten egg whites into the butter and egg yolk batter in 2 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
7. Sieve over the flour and 40g of ground almond (almond powder). Fold with the spatula until just combined.
8. Spoon half of the batter into a 18cm square pan (lined with parchment paper). Spread and smooth out the batter evenly. Arrange the apricots, cut side down.
9. Add 30g of ground almond into the remaining batter. Fold with a spatula until just combined. Place batter into a piping bag (I used a plastic grocery bag). Snip off the tip of the piping bag and pipe the batter horizontally and vertically along the edges of the pan and in between the apricots. Sprinkle almond flakes on the surface of the piped batter. 
10. Bake in preheated oven at 180 degC for about 30-35mins or until the surface turns golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
11. Remove from oven, leave to cool for about 5 mins. Unmould and transfer to wire rack, leave to cool completely.

Recipe source: 爱上我的手作蛋糕 by 福岡直子

a birthday and an anniversary

It is the time of the year again...

as the new year approaches, in just a few hours...

I gladly bid farewell to year 2012...

a year filled with wonderful memories and precious moments for me to treasure in years to come...

to mark the end of yet another year of baking and blogging, I will like to share with you this banana chocolate sponge cake.

I first saw this monkey cake a year ago when I was looking for a suitable birthday cake recipe for my son. However, back then, we were away from home, and even though the service apartment came fully equipped with an oven and basic baking tools, I wasn't gung ho enough to give this a try. I am glad that I went ahead to make it ten days ago, and it turn out to be the cake of the year (for me)!

Instead of the usual sponge cake, I baked a banana sponge cake for the layers. Recently, I have a reader who encountered some problem with this banana sponge cake recipe. I really admire her never give up attitude. Although I wish I could show her how I made this cake, but, I am no professional baker and I am certainly not qualified to give any advice especially since I have not even attended any baking class. The least I could do was to bake this banana sponge cake again so that I could at least revisit the steps to ensure I didn't mislead anyone with my instructions. The cake turned out well, with a nice golden browned crust, and soft and moist texture. I am quite certain that this reader has prepared the batter correctly, the only thing I could pinpoint would be the oven temperature, could the oven be too hot?? I understand how disappointing it is whenever I have to face a failed attempt. I sincerely hope she could get it right the next time, all the best!

My child was grinning from ear to ear when I presented the cake to him. Even though he was not born in the year of the monkey, he behaves pretty much like one ;)

The banana cake was so delicious with the chocolate ganache, the only downside was, the coco pops turned soft by the time I served it, and, it was really, too cute to eat, luckily it was quite an easy cake to put together.

Happy birthday to both my little munchkin and this humble blog of mine! It seems almost like yesterday when I went home with my baby boy on a Christmas day....and, it doesn't seems too long ago when I was pondering for a name for my blog. In reality it has already been six years since I published my very first post! I really hope I could still keep it going for another year or two...

or maybe three, or four years to come....

Here's wishing all of you a joyful new year!

And may your kitchen be filled with sweet memories and wonderful aroma of freshly home baked goodies, 

all year round!  

Banana Chocolate Monkey Cake

Ingredients:
(make one 7" round cake)

for sponge layer:
3 large eggs, room temperature
100g caster sugar (original recipe uses 150g)
3 large ripened bananas, cut into chunks
150g cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
80ml vegetable oil
20ml milk (I used low fat fresh milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for chocolate ganache:
170g pouring cream (I used one can Nestle pouring cream)
170g semi sweet chocolate chips (or use any dark baking chocolate, coarsely chopped)

for peanut buttercream:
50g unsalted butter, room temperature
30g icing sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons milk (I used low fat fresh milk)
about 1 tablespoon peanut butter jam (use more if necessary)

for decoration:
chocolate flavoured rice cereals (I used one mini pack 30g kellogs coco pops)
2 regular size chocolate chips
1 large cookie


Method:

to make sponge cake:

1. Grease (with butter) and flour sides of a 7" deep round pan (Note: original recipe calls for an 8" pan), line the base with parchment paper.
2. Sieve together cake flour, baking powder and baking soda. Sieve the flour mixture twice and set it aside.
3. Place vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl, set aside.
4. Place eggs, caster sugar and bananas in a large mixing bowl. With an electric whisk, whisk the mixture at Low speed for a few seconds (to break up the bananas). Change to medium-high speed, and whisk the mixture till it becomes thick, pale and triple in volume. This should take around 7 to 8 mins. The batter should leave a ribbon like trail when the paddle is lifted. Test by lifting up the whisk/paddle, and draw an '8' with the batter. The number should stay for a few seconds. Turn to Low speed again, and beat for another 2 mins. This is to stablise the air bubbles in the batter. (Note: do not over beat the batter...it is not a good thing if the '8' doesn't disappear.)
5. Sieve over the flour mixture in 3 separate additions. Each time Fold In the flour carefully with a Spatula, making sure there is no pockets of flour being trapped at the bottom of the bowl. Do not stir the batter with the spatula, it will cause the batter to deflate too much.
6. Pour a small portion (less than 1/3) of the batter into the mixing bowl in Step 3. Fold in with the spatula until the oil mixture is fully incorporated into the batter.
7. Pour the mixture in Step 6 back into the rest of the batter (Step 5).
8. Fold in the batter with the spatula making sure the mixture is well combined. (By now the batter could be deflated by about 20% or so as compared to Step 4).
9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, the pan should be about 75% to 80% full (Note: original recipe uses an 8" round pan, I baked extra batter in two muffin paper cups) .
10. Bake in preheated oven at 160 degC for 40-45mins or longer until the surface turns golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. (The edges of the cake should pull away slightly from the sides of the pan.) Remove from oven, unmold (slide a thin bladed knife along the sides of the pan) and leave to cool (inverted) on a cooling rack.

to make chocolate ganache:

• Place cream and chocolate chips (or chopped chocolates) in a bowl. Set it over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl is big enough to sit over the saucepan).
• Stir the mixture gently with a spoon till the chocolate melts and mixture becomes smooth. Remove from the bowl from the saucepan. Use immediately.

to make peanut buttercream:

• Beat unsalted butter with an electric whisk in a mixing bowl until smooth and creamy. Add icing sugar, continue to beat until the mixture turns pale and fluffy. Add milk beat till smooth. Add peanut butter (gradually so as to adjust to the desired colour tone, use more peanut butter if necessary) and beat till smooth.

to assemble:

• Make a simple piping bag with parchment paper (refer here for instructions). Fill the piping bag with about 1 tablespoon of chocolate ganache, set aside.
• Slice the banana sponge cake horizontally into three layers. Place a layer of sponge cake on a cake board. 
• Spoon about 4 heaped tablespoons of the chocolate ganache onto the surface. Spread evenly with a spatula. Repeat with the second layer of sponge cake. Place the third layer and spoon the remaining ganache over the top and spread it over to the sides. Smooth the surface with the spatula. 
• On the cake surface, draw/outline the shape of the face of a monkey with a toothpick. Spread the peanut buttercream on the surface. Smooth the surface evenly. Place two chocolate chips (upside down) on the face to make the eyes. Pipe nose and mouth with the piping bag. 
• Pat the chocolate rice cereal/coco pops on the chocolate frosting. Cut cookie in half and place the halves on each side of the cake for ears. (Note: as the coco pops will turn soft, I will like to suggest to frost the cake as close to serving time as possible.) Store any leftovers in fridge.

Recipe source: monkey cake adapted from here; banana sponge cake adapted from here.

Mini Oreo Cheesecake

To my regular visitors, my apologies for the long silence.

To make up for my tardiness in updating this blog, here's a little treat from my kitchen to yours...
mini upside down oreo cheesecakes...

A month ago, I was quite caught up planning for a holiday trip...it was a last minute decision as we almost gave up the idea when we couldn't get on the flight. By chance or fate, (or rather, thanks to my never-give-up attitude of checking the airlines system every other few hours) I managed to get all of us booked on the same flight. As we neither speak or read Korean language, I had to make sure I did a thorough job of getting into the minute details to prevent any hiccups during our trip. My 'strengths' in micro-managing pays off. Everything went well, we got to visit the places we had planned and didn't have much problem finding the popular makan(eating) places. As usual, we were on a shoestring budget, everything was DIY, backpackers style...only difference was, instead of carrying backpacks we maneuvered the busy streets and from train stations to stations with cabin bags in tow ;)

Our holiday trip was a real short one...time flies and in no time we are back to our daily mundane lives :(
In between doing loads after loads of laundry, I took time to 'spot clean' my fridge. Lying in the fridge was this block of cream cheese, crying out loud to me that I was right on time, it would exceed the expiry date the very next day!

Instead of procrastinating and end up having to throw it into the bin the next day, I googled for suitable recipes that calls for cream cheese. I remember seeing some oreo cheesecake recipes some time back, and it was a good thing that the recipe requires very basic baking ingredients, and, I am never short of oreos! The only problem was, I didn't have any sour cream on hand, but I do have yoghurt in the fridge. I went ahead and replaced the sour cream with yoghurt. I guess not much damage was done...

I baked them with paper muffin cups...one whole oreo cookie is placed inside each cup before filling it up with the batter. The preparation was rather fuss free, quick and simple. I followed the baking time but extended it for another couple of minutes as I did the skewer test and the centre was still wet although the top was set. For fear of over baking, I turned off the heat even though the inside was still not set. I believe they would be fully set in the fridge (upon cooling, the cakes have to be chilled in the fridge before consuming).

My little baking retreat was a great success. These mini cheesecakes were really delicious, and I thought they looked very lovely with the oreo cookies on top :)

They are excellent after dinner treats even though I am not an oreo fan, and I am sure they would jazz up any tea time tables especially when there are guests around ;)



Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

Ingredients:
(makes about 10)

15 Oreo cookies (10 leave as whole, 5 remove cream and coarsely chopped)
8oz pack cream cheese, room temperature
50g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten, room temperature
60g sour cream (I replaced with plain yoghurt)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 135 DegC (275°F).
2. Place one whole cookie in each of the 10 muffin paper cups (or line muffin tins with paper liners). 
3. Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer (medium high speed) until smooth. 
4. Add in sugar, beat until just combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl when necessary.
5. Add in vanilla extract, beat until just combined. 
6. Gradually drizzle in the egg, beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl when necessary. 
7. Add in sour cream, beat till just combined. 
8. Add chopped cookies, fold with a spatula. 
9. Fill each muffin cup almost to the brim. Bake for about 22~25 minutes until the filling is set and not jiggly. Transfer to wire rack, leave to cool completely. Cover or store in airtight containers and leave to refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, remove cake from muffin cups, serve cookies sides up.

Recipe source: adapted recipe from here.

recipe revisit: oreo butter cake

I spent one quiet afternoon revisiting an old favourite recipe.  There is so much nostalgia associated with it.

This Oreo Butter Cake is one of the very first few cakes I made when I started baking and blogging.

Instead of baking the cake in a 8" round pan, I tried it with my tube pan. Although the batter wasn't enough to even fill up 70% of the pan, the result is still as good. I have seen other bloggers baking this same cake using loaf pan and even muffin cups.

Even though I am no fan of oreo cookies, I really like the texture of the cake, soft, moist and fluffy. It is such a simple cake to treat my oreo cookies monsters at home ;)

I am guilty of neglecting this little blog space. I don't want to make any excuses but things have been moving so fast that I have no choice but to give priority to other matters in my life. I hope I am able to post as regularly, especially during the coming year end school holidays.



Oreo Butter Cake

Ingredients:

225g cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
85g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
170g caster sugar (I used 120g)
2 eggs, beaten
240ml nonfat unsweetened yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
80g Oreo cookies, remove filling, roughly crushed

Method:

1. Line base and side of an 8-inch round pan with parchment paper (I used a tube pan, greased and floured). 
2. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
3. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until mixture turns pale and fluffy. Dribble in the eggs (1 tablespoon at a time), beat well. 
4. With a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in ½ of the yogurt. Then fold in ½ of the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining yogurt, and vanilla extract. Finally fold in the remaining flour mixture. 
5. Fold in the crushed oreo cookies. 
6. Pour batter into prepared pan. If using a round pan, if desired, decorate the top with a few oreo cookies.
7. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for about 40 ~ 50 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 mins. Unmold and transfer to wire rack, let cool completely.

Recipe source: My Kitchen: My Laboratory

quick bread from my kitchen

It was love at first sight when I came across a Chocolate and Banana Bread while flipping through Linda Collister's book, Cakes and Bakes from My Mother's Kitchen. After a quick run through of the ingredients list, I had it bookmarked right away. Here's a quote from the author:

'This is a real treat for children everywhere or the big kid in all of us. Use milk chocolate and a banana~ or chocolate flavoured yoghurt for children or really dark chocolate and natural yoghurt for adults. This bread does improve with keeping - even for just a day.'

I am sold.


    

I would think most home bakers would try to bake something with bananas only if they were left with over-ripe bananas sitting on their kitchen counters begging to be used. For me, I specially bought a bunch of bananas and waited patiently for days, for them to turn black ;)

I stick closely to the original recipe and even took the trouble to measure my baking pans to make sure it fits the description of a '450lb size loaf pan'. I also bought a bag of self-raising flour just for it although I could easily do a substitution with plain flour and baking powder. I have bookmarked a few other recipes from this same book, and most call for self raising flour, so I am certain that it will be put to good use soon.

The finished loaves didn't look exactly like the illustration in the cookbook and that was largely my fault as I have replaced grated chocolates with baking chocolate chips. So, instead of a chocolaty, rustic loaf, I got a chocolate chips studded 'golden pillow' instead. I couldn't decide whether to love or hate the look of the finished loaves...from one perspective they were so awful but from another angle, I thought they looked cute and rustic all at the same time ;)

I encountered some mishaps when preparing the batter for this quick bread. Till now, I am not sure whether there is any typo error as I still can't believe that the amount of butter used is just a mere 55g? With so little butter compared to the amount of sugar and eggs, I was really skeptical that the batter would be 'fine'. Indeed, I had a busy time trying to cover the mixing bowl with my free hand to avoid having butter and suger splatting all over my counter. Fortunately, perseverance pays off, the heat from beating the butter caused the mixture to come together, from a bowl of 'sugary crumbs' to something I am more familiar with whenever I creamed butter and sugar together. I took extra care when adding the eggs, knowing that curdling would be quite unavoidable. True enough, the mixture did curdled into a mess of 'tau-huay' (bean curd), but not upon adding the eggs, but after I dumped in the yoghurt all at once. What a blunder!

Of course, I went on to add in the rest of the ingredients, keeping my fingers crossed all the time...hopping it wouldn't fall into that 'totally-waste-of-ingredients' category. Despite the blunders I made, the finished bread turn out to be deliciously moist and full of banana goodness. These bread loaves were truly flavours and fragrance-packed, since I took the liberty to add in some vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Tell me, who can refuse a slice that is packed with banana, chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla? The author suggested to serve it thickly sliced with chocolate and hazenut spread (aka nutella), but I think it is really not necessary, but of course, no one will stop you or any kid from doing so :)





Chocolate Chips Banana Bread

Ingredients:
(makes two loaves, pan size: 17.5cmx9cmx6cm))

55g unsalted butter, room temperature
150g light brown soft sugar/ light muscovado sugar (I cut down to 120g)
2 large eggs, beaten
100g natural yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (not included in original recipe)
350g over-ripe banana, mashed
300g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (not included in original recipe)
1/2 teaspoon salt
100g semi-sweet chocolate chips (original recipe calls for 200g milk or dark chocolate, coarsely grated)

Method:

• Line base and sides of 2 loaf pans with parchment paper. Sieve together flour, ground cinnamon and salt, set aside.
• With electric mixer beat butter and sugar until well combined. Gradually beat in the eggs, little by little, followed by the yoghurt (add in gradually too) and vanilla extract.
• With a spatula, stir in the mashed banana. Fold in the flour mixture, followed by the chocolate chips until just combined. Spoon batter into prepare loaf pans, level the surface. Tap the pans on the work surface a few times to remove any trapped air bubbles.
• Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for 40~45mins or until golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. (Optional: to ensure a nice crack upon baking, remove from oven after 15mins. With a knife, make a slit lengthwise along the centre of each loaf, return to oven and continue to bake until done). Leave to cool in pans for 10mins. Unmold, remove parchment paper, transfer to wire rack and leave to cool completely.
• The loaves are best if wrapped in baking paper and kept for 1 day before cutting. Store in airtight container and consume within 4 days. Serve in thick slices with nutella spread, if desired.

Recipe source: Cakes and bakes from my mother's kitchen, Linda Collister