Specially baked this for Woon's birthday. Decided not to waste my left over heavy cream that i used to make the chocolate ganache since i have to finish using them in five days. Really easy recipe. No oven involved. All you need is the fridge.

Ingredients: ( makes about 14 truffles) 

250g of good quality chocolate

1/3 cup of heavy cream

1tbsp of sugar

Steps:

- Heat up the heavy cream.

- Add sugar and chocolate into heavy cream when it is simmering.

- Stir with a spoon until the mixture is well blended and smooth. Pour in a bowl.

- Refrigerate for 4-5 hours/overnight until set.

- use a spoon to roll them into balls and coat with cocoa powder or any desired topping like nuts etc..

- Best: Serve cold.

Been ages since i last used the oven. Up till now, i am still baking with my broken oven. The front piece of glass came off so I have to get someone to fix it back. I was thinking of using 3M tape to stick it back but ... HMMM. I have been wanting to try making chocolate ganache for forever but too lazy to buy heavy cream since i have to travel ALL THE WAY TO PHOON HUAT just to get heavy cream. I have tried to make chocolate ganache for a few times but they were pretty fail. My very first time: COMPLETE FAILURE. Although this time isn't perfect yet but at least there were improvements. The trick is to use heavy cream. NOT thickened cream. I used thickened cream for my first attempt and that explained why it was so liquified. To make ganache, you should get cream of at least 38% fat content.  But supermarkets hardly sell heavy cream. I have never seen heavy cream sold in supermarkets, even the higher end ones. So do not  just simply substitute thickened cream for heavy cream. Abandon that misconception. They are DIFFERENT. To double confirm, check the fat content, you'll never go wrong with that. Made this with my favourite chocolate cake recipe. So far, i have been using that chocolate recipe for my chocolate cupcakes. Just make some slight changes here and there.



Recipe: 

Cupcake: [ Makes about 12 small cupcakes or 6 medium cupcakes]

45 grams all purpose flour
10 grams good quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder ( As this is a really low cake, I added slightly more baking powder )
Pinch of salt
55 grams good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100 grams unsalted butter, can be cold or at room temperature
90 grams caster sugar
2 eggs

- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

- Measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Use a wire whisk and whisk the dry ingredients together until they are all well-mixed and evenly distributed.

- Measure the dark chocolate and unsalted butter in a large heatproof bowl and melt them over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, you can microwave them under medium high heat at 15-25s interval. Stirring during each interval.

- Remove the heatproof bowl from the pot/microwave. Add in the caster sugar and whisk gently – not all of the sugar will dissolve. Mixture’ll be a little grainy Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to cool down slightly (the eggs will scramble if added to a hot mixture).

- Crack in one egg into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the mixture (yes, same wire whisk!) for 30 seconds until it is fully incorporated. Whisk in the second egg, and then whisk in the vanilla extract.

- Sift a third of flour mixture into the chocolate batter and folding gently using a large metal spoon or rubber spatula. until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated

- Bake for about 15 mins ( for small size cupcakes).

- Let it cool before you top with the chocolate Ganache.

Chocolate Ganache:

Ingredients: ( I'll update this when i get home) 

Heavy cream

Chocolate

2 tbsp of honey ( optional. For glossy appearance)

 

Chocolate is our all time favourite but at times when we are going for something lighter and refreshing, do consider strawberry cupcake! I baked this together with Green Tea Cupcakes for Wanping's 19th! I love this cupcake. Its moist, light and fluffy. The strawberry frosting tasted like icecream.

Recipe ( Adapted from Cupcakes with attitude- makes 12-13 cupcakes) 

cupcake
Cake flour- 165g
Baking powder 1 tsp
Salt 1/4 tsp
Strawberries 100g
Full cream milk 4 tbsp
vanilla extract 1 tsp
Butter 125g
sugar 180 g
Egg 1 large
Egg White  ( from 2 large eggs)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius
2. Sift flour, baking powder, salt tgt
3. Process strawberries in a blender to get 100g of puree
combine milk, vanilla extract and strawberry puree in a small bowl and set aside
4. Cream Butter in an electric mixer for a few mins and gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined
5. Add egg and \egg whites
6. Add half the mixture prepared in 2, followed by strawberry mixture in 4. COntinue beating and add the remaining flour mixture and continue to bat until batter is well mixed.
7. spoon batter into cupcake and bake for 20-25 mins.
8. Remove cupcakes from tray and place them o a cooling rack to cool.
9. Pipe strawberry buttercream on top of cupcakes and top with slices of strawberries.

 

Frosting:

Strawberries- 50g
Butter-62.5 g
Shorterning 62.5g
Salt a pinch
VANILLA EXTRACT 1/4 tsp
ICING SUGAR 200G

1. Process strawberries in blender to get 4 tbsp of strawberries puree and set aside.
2. Beat butter/Vegetable shortening for 2-3 mins and set aside.
3. Add icing sugar and mix until ingredients are well combined.
4. Gradually add pureed strawberry 1 tbsp at a time and stop until you achieved the desired consistency.

Last week was insane- when midterms, presentations and assignments was all due at one go. Work really drained my energy away. I was desperately in need of sleep for the past week. After mid terms ended, my first to-do-checklist was to bake something for wp for her birthday that was long overdue. Flipping through my books, i decided to settle with some Green Tea Cupcakes ( since my new green tea powder is going to expire in a mth) and strawberry cupcakes. The frosting was made of mascarpone cheese which was pretty interesting yea. Mascarpone cheese was often used to make tiramisu but frosting? This is my first time coming across such stuff. I am sure to bake this again, but with some slight changes to the recipe the next time. I want my frosting to stand stiff on the cake and not so "fluidish". Thinking of adding some heavy cream to the frosting. Oh well, i am not so sure too but i shall update this again when i re-make. Nevertheless, my friends finished all of them in no time.!!


Recipe- ( adapted from Cupcakes with attitude- makes 11-12cupcakes)

Cupcake

Self Raising flour - 175g
Green Tea powder- 2tsp
Salt- a pinch
Caster Sugar- 125g
Vegetable Oil- 125ml
Eggs- 2 large
Vanilla Extract- 1 tsp
Full cream milk- 4 tbsp

Frosting: 

Mascarpone cheese 125g
Icing Sugar 50g

Steps: 

1. Preheat Oven to 180 degree Celsius. Line Muffin tray with cupcake liners.
2. Sift flour, Green tea powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
3. Beat Sugar, oil and eggs in an electric mixer until smooth. Add Vanilla extract.
4. Gradually add flour mixture prepared in step 2, alternating with milk. Do not overbeat-stop immediately once everything has been well combined.
5. Spoon batter into cupcake liners. Bake for about 20 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of cakes and comes out clean.
6. Remove from oven and let cupcakes st in muffin for 5 mins.
7. Beat mascarpone cheese and half the sugar in an electric mixer until soft and creamy. taste and add more sugar as desired.
7. Slather a thick layer of mascarpone frosting on top of cupcakes and dust over green tea powder.

As promised, the recipe for these raspberry friands. I made about 20 mini friands with this recipe. My raspberries were pretty sour but they kinda balanced the slightly overpowering sweetness.

Recipe: ( original recipe )

• Melted butter, to grease


• Plain flour, to dust


• 90g (1 1/2 cups) pure icing sugar, sifted


• 37.5(1/2 cup) plain flour, sifted


• 77.7 (1 1/2 cups) almond meal


• 1.5 eggs, lightly whisked


• 90g unsalted butter, melted, cooled


• 50g frozen raspberries


• 1 tbs flaked almonds


• Icing sugar, to dust

1. preheat oven to 180°C. Brush thirty 40ml-capacity mini muffin pans with melted butter to grease. Dust with plain flour.
2. Combine the sugar, flour and almond meal in a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Add egg and butter. Stir until well combined.
3. Divide among the prepared pans. Divide the raspberries among the centres. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden. Set aside in the pans for 5 minutes to cool slightly before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
5. Dust the friands with icing sugar to serve.



Packed these to sch for my friends. ^^

I hv been pretty busy with school lately that i haven been baking for eons. I remembered that i used to bake at least thrice a week and sometimes even at strange hours at night despite having work the next day. I could spend the entire day at home or journey home from work googling for recipes on safari, food blog hopping and bookmarking the mouthwatering recipes. But now, i hardly step into the kitchen.

I dont know where my sudden enthusiasm came from, but i decided to bake tonight. Knowing that Johnny loves raisins, i decided to bake a Raisin Butter Cake for him. My raisins still sank to the bottom despite coating them with a table spoon of flour. Anyone knows where problem lies? I guess i'll probably try mixing the raisins with the sifted flour and fold them into the batter together the next time. Some people suggested to soak the raisins in water/any juice or alcohol ( rum/brandy) for a few minutes to plump these raisins up. Please let me know how it goes if anyone attempts this! I only realized that i missed out the milk only when my cake was sitting in the oven. Well, such things didnt happen for the first time. There was once i forgot to add yeast to the bread batter and left it to proof for a good 2-3 hours. My mind crashed when i discovered that the volume of the batter did not double. I managed to somehow salvage it, not entirely though. But it was still edible. Thankfully, the cake still turned out pretty good with the absence of milk. It wasnt dry at all. I guess if you are going for a super moist butter cake, you could substitute the milk with yoghurt.

I made several changes from the original recipe. The original recipe makes double of this. Double of this recipe requires 40 mins. However, when i checked mine (half of original recipe) at 20 mins, it was still uncooked. I suppose butter cakes take a longer time to cook. I once attempted a marble cake and it failed terribly because some parts were undercooked and the liquid batter literally oozed out when i sliced my marble cake into half. In all, my Raisin Butter Cake took about 30-35 mins.

Edited Recipe: ( Original recipe adapted from Rasa Malaysia )

Ingredients: Makes 1 loaf

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
80g castor sugar
2 eggs
4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons fresh milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 cup raisins + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour (mix together)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190°C
2. Lightly grease the pan with some butter.
3. Mix the flour and the baking powder together and sieve. Add in salt and mix well. Set aside.
4. Use an electronic beater to mix butter and sugar until well combined or pale yellow in color. (Note: Sugar has not dissolved yet).
5. Add in the first egg. Beat well after each addition of egg until creamy.
6. Scrape down the sides for even mixing.
7. Add in vanilla essence and mix well.
8. Fold in the flour into the mixture and mix well.
9. Finally, add in the milk and fold in the raisins. Mix well.
10. Pour the mixture into the greased baking pan. Shake it lightly to distribute cake mixture evenly.
11. Bake until golden brown and cooked, about 30-35 minutes. Use a cake tester to test if it’s cooked.
12. Remove it from the oven and let cool on the wire rack for another 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Besides oreo cupcakes, I baked bailey cupcakes for my colleagues on my last day of work. I found them a little too sweet for my liking. Nevertheless, they were all gone within mins! But again, cupcakes are meant to be sweet right? HAHA. I baked them the day before and the cakes were still pretty moist the next day. If you dont really fancy sweet stuff, I recommend that you reduce the sugar level of the cake. Dont forget that the bailey frosting is sweet too. Sweet cake + sweet frosting= MEGASUGARKILL.


CAKE
Ingredients: ( Makes 6 medium cupcakes)
45 grams all purpose flour
10 grams good quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder ( As this is a really low cake, I added slightly more baking powder )
Pinch of salt
55 grams good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100 grams unsalted butter, can be cold or at room temperature
90 grams caster sugar ( I cut to 75g and it's still too sweet for my liking)
2 eggs
Bailey Irish cream ( Up to own preference.  I cant rmb how much i added but i added them in tablespoons and tasted them accordingly to achieve desired taste.)

- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
- Measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Use a wire whisk and whisk the dry ingredients together until they are all well-mixed and evenly distributed.
- Measure the dark chocolate and unsalted butter in a large heatproof bowl and melt them over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, you can microwave them under medium high heat at 15-25s interval. Stirring during each interval.
- Remove the heatproof bowl from the pot/microwave. Add in the caster sugar and whisk gently – not all of the sugar will dissolve. Mixture’ll be a little grainy Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to cool down slightly (the eggs will scramble if added to a hot mixture).
- Crack in one egg into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the mixture (yes, same wire whisk!) for 30 seconds until it is fully incorporated. Whisk in the second egg, and then whisk in the bailey irsh cream.
- Sift a third of flour mixture into the chocolate batter and folding gently using a large metal spoon or rubber spatula. until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated
- transfer the cake batter into the lined muffin tin.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until the top bounces back when touched lightly and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Baileys frosting:

Ingredients:
- Veg shortening 60g
- Butter 40g
- sifted Icing sugar  100g
- Baileys Irish Cream ( prolly about 3-6 tbsps? it depends on your own preference)

- Beat veg shortening in electric mixer for about 2-3 mins on medium speed.
- Add in Bailey Irish Cream
- Add icing sugar and continue beating until all ingredients are well combined
- Gradually add water to achieve desire consistency. (optional)

 Ops. The frosting is almost the same height as the cake. HAHAHA.

It has been almost 2 weeks since i left UOB. I guess it's a trend to get something for yr colleagues on yr last working day. Well, at least it was in my company. to show my sincerity, i decided to bake something for my colleagues. I had a hard time deciding what to bake for them. I wanted to bake macarons for them but i did not have the courage because macarons are the #numberonehighfailure desert to bake. I tried once last week and it failed TERRIBLY. After much contemplation, i decided to bake cupcakes ; Oreo cupcakes and Bailey Cupcakes. Having tried quite a couple of recipes, i decided to stick to my favouritechocolate cake recipe and make some slight changes from there. I can't emphasise enough how much i like this chcolate cake recipe. It has never failed me and they taste incredibly rich, soft, moist and delicious. I have baked Chocolate Cupcake with peanut butter filling , chocolatey layered cake, chocolate mousse and blueberry layered cake with this chocolate cake recipe.  My last several cupcake attempts ended up with very soft frosting. This time round, i decided to use vegetable shortening instead of butter and it turned out awesome. My frosting were able to stay its shape perfectly. I kept them in room temperature until the next day and they still tasted moist and rich. Enjoy.

Oreo Cupcakes

CAKE
Ingredients: ( Makes 6 medium cupcakes)
45 grams all purpose flour
10 grams good quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder ( As this is a really low cake, I added slightly more baking powder )
Pinch of salt
55 grams good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100 grams unsalted butter, can be cold or at room temperature
90 grams caster sugar
2 eggs

- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
- Measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Use a wire whisk and whisk the dry ingredients together until they are all well-mixed and evenly distributed.
- Measure the dark chocolate and unsalted butter in a large heatproof bowl and melt them over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, you can microwave them under medium high heat at 15-25s interval. Stirring during each interval.
- Remove the heatproof bowl from the pot/microwave. Add in the caster sugar and whisk gently – not all of the sugar will dissolve. Mixture’ll be a little grainy Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to cool down slightly (the eggs will scramble if added to a hot mixture).
- Crack in one egg into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the mixture (yes, same wire whisk!) for 30 seconds until it is fully incorporated. Whisk in the second egg, and then whisk in the vanilla extract.
- Sift a third of flour mixture into the chocolate batter and folding gently using a large metal spoon or rubber spatula. until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated
- Place 1 oreo biscuit onto each lined muffin tin and transfer the cake batter into the lined muffin tin.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until the top bounces back when touched lightly and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Oreo Frosting:

Ingredients:
- Veg shortening 100g
- 5-6 Crushed oreo biscuits. Personal preference.
- sifted Icing sugar  100g ( You may want to reduce the sugar to probably about 60-70g because oreo biscuits are sweet too)
- 1-1.5 tbsp of sugar

- Beat veg shortening in electric mixer for about 2-3 mins on medium speed.
- Add the crushed oreo biscuits
- Add icing sugar and continue beating until all ingredients are well combined
- Gradually add water to achieve desire consistency.

I have been really busy these days with school orientation. I just came back from SMU Sports Camp 2012 a few days ago. It was a BLAST. Rly AWESOME and i love my group. I am experiencing some kind of "post camp effects" right now?? Idk how to describe it but i just feel a little odd not seeing them. Hmm..  Anyway, I baked this Chocolate Raspberry tart a month ago. After seeing these warm chocolate Raspberry tarts made by The Little Teochew, I bookmarked it down immediately. I love the intergration of chocolate n raspberry. They are the perfect pair made in heaven. I like my crust to be thick, buttery and fragrant ( sth like shortbread??). I guess i left it for too long in the oven and the middle of the tart cracked and sank. I also made a mistakeof melting the chocolate and butter together. Regardless of these, the tart still tasted rly good. I would recommend that you use a better quality chocolat and do take note of what kind of chocolate you are using and adjust the amount of sugar accordingly.

SHORT CRUST PASTRYIngredients:-A: 65g Margarine
65g Butter
65g Icing Sugar
- B: 250g plain flour
0.5 egg

- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius
- Cream A in. Add B process till bind. Press dough into tart mould.
- Bake for 12-15 min at 180 Degrees Celcius





Filling:  ( Original Adapted from The little Teochew) Makes 6 big tarts
Ingredients:
- red raspberries
- 72.5g very good quality bittersweet chocolate. preferably Valrhona Noir Gastronomie, finely chopped
- 0.5 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
- 0.5 large egg, at room temperature, stirred with a fork
-1.5 large egg yolks, at room temperature, stirred with a fork
- 1 tbsp sugar

1. Centre the rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

2. Fill the tart crust with the raspberries.

3. Melt the chocolate and the butter in separate bowls either over – but not touching – simmering water or in the microwave. Allow them to cool until they feel only just warm to the touch (104°F [60°C]), as measured on an instant-read thermometer, is perfect).

4. Using a small whisk or rubber spatula, stir the egg into the chocolate, stirring gently in ever-widening circles and taking care not to agitate the mixture – you don’t want to beat air into the ganache. Little by little, stir in the egg yolks, then the sugar. Finally, still working gently, stir in the warm melted butter. Pour the ganache over the raspberries in the prebaked tart shell(s).

5. Bake the batter for 11 minutes (less if you are making mini tarts) – that should be just enough time to turn the top of the tart dull, like the top of a cake. The center of the tart will shimmy if jiggled – that’s just what it’s supposed to do. Remove the tart from the oven, slide it onto a rack, and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

I just came back from BKK last week. I think i am having post-overseas blues right now. I wish i was still there because all you do was to eat.shop.massage.sleep and the best thing about it was that you can absolutely indulge without much guilt because you'll be walking for the entire day. There's hardly any escalator at the LRT stations and my hotel was quite a distance from the nearest LRT station. I love their pad thai, Tom Yum Soup and Mango Sticky Rice. They are so delicious and i shall learn how to make them in future. Ok, so i just baked these oatmeal and Raisin cookies. The book stated shortbread but i thought they tasted more like cookies. Specially baked these for my dad because he's a fan of raisins but i forgot he was having sorethroat. So, he cant hv any. They were pretty nice but they are not one of my favourites. I still prefer my previous Almond Shortbread. Comparing both cookies/shortbread, Oatmeal+Raisins cookies hv a milder milky and buttery taste. Do handle these cookies with care because they break easily especially those with huge  pulps of raisins.



Ingredients:

A:
250g butter
250g butter cup canola gold butter
1/2 tsp vanilla  essence
85g icing sugar

B:
170g bread flour
85g Rice flour
40g instant Oats
20g full cream milk powder

C: 50g Chopped raisins/ sultana

Steps:
1. Place A in a mixing bowl and mix until well blended
2. Add in B, mix until well bleended
Add in C and mixuntil well-incorporated.
3 Place the dough in the fridge until firm. ( I only pop them in the fridge for 15 mins)
5. Roll the dough into balls and place them on a pan lined with baking paper. Flatten each ball and mark the top with yr desired pattern.
6. Bake at 150-160 degrees celcius for 25-30 mins or until golden brown. Allow the shortbread to cool completely before removing them from the pan. Store in air tight containers.

Enjoy!

These brownies are so easy to bake. I made these last weekend for my steamboat gathering with my friends and these brownies received good responses! It's slightly crisp at the top and fudgy and moist at the bottom. Some brownies sold outside are hard and dry and the cost like 3 bucks a piece??? Why not bake it yourself at home. They are super easy to make w just some simple ingredients that you prolly can find them at home and this recipe is almost foolproof! They are easy to store. Just pop them in an air tight container and they can be kept for a couple of days. I completely forgot about the cocoa powder until they are sitting in the oven and the best thing is they still tasted incredibly good!!

Ingredients ( adapted from Laura Vitale)
5 ounces of Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
7 ounces of Bittersweet Chocolate, melted
1 Cup of Sugar
2 tsp of Vanilla Extract
¼ tsp of Salt
1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
2 Large Eggs
2 Tbsp of warm Water
1 tsp of Instant Espresso Powder
2/3 Cup of All Purpose Flour

steps:
1) Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 by 8 inch square pan with non stick cooking spray and lay the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

2) In a small cup mix together the warm water with the instant espresso powder, set aside.

3) In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and espresso mixture. Beat until all is combined.

4) Add the melted chocolate and whisk, add the dry ingredients and mix everything together until it’s incorporated but don’t over mix.

5) Pour batter into your prepared pan and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes or until when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs but not wet batter.

6) Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cut into bars and serve

Check out my subsequent attempts!

 

To be honest, I love rice a lot. In the past, i used to ask the school's canteen aunty to add more rice for me whenever i order caifan from her. I can't imagine my meals without rice seriously. But now, I am avoiding it as much as possible. Not because I don't like them anymore, but the fact that they are...carbohydrates. If you cut down on carbo, you can rly slim down a lot. Trust me on this. Now you know why I avoid rice. Hee. I can rly go on and on about diet n exercise. But I shan't bore you any further with that. Haha. So i turned to other alternatives, salad. I spammed salad for the past two years and it isn't that bad after all. It was tough at the start when I switched to a no rice diet. As time passed, I got more used to it and kinda like it eventually. But I still love rice. To enjoy rice with lesser guilt, consider rice salad. I got this idea from Laura Vitale. Made some minor changes to her recipe with whatever ingredients i have on hand. This is definitely a healthier choice compared to your ordinary weekday chicken rice or Seafood horfun pack home dinner. I used canned food as it's more convenient. To make the dish healthier, you could use fresh ingredients  from the market. Although this looks as if it contains a lot of rice, it doesn't. They can be stored for a couple of days in the fridge. You cld prepare these for tmr's lunch at work or dinner for your kids if you are working OT!!



Ingredients: (Servings: 2-3, Serve cold. )

3/4 cup of rice- cooked*
1 can Corn Kernels ( Can/fresh)
1 can Tuna chunks in light Olive Oil ( You cld substitute with other alternatives like Shredded Steamed Salmon etc...)
1 cup Cherry tomatoes
Cranberries
3-4 tbsp of extra virgin Olive Oil. ( ensure rice stays moist)

Steps:

1. In a large bowl, Add corn and tuna to the rice. Mix well.
2. Toss in cherry tomatoes and cranberries.
3. Add olive oil.

I have been thinking all about the mango sago from"Ah Chew Desserts, 阿秋甜品"  ever since my virgin visit with my colleagues. Their mango sago  is fabulous with the fragrant taste of the coconut milk and juicy mango cubes. I finished the whole bowl to myself despite having a super sinful and filling dinner at Astons before that. Although it was delicious, it was ultra sinful because of the rich coconut milk and is mega damaging to your weight and waist! Hence, I've decided to re-create a healthier version. However, i couldn't find mango in my supermarket that day and so i substituted with honeydew instead. To make mango sago, you simply have to replace honeydew with mango in the below recipe. I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #20: Asian dessert buffet! (June 2012) hosted by Moon of Food Playground. Please refer here for more details. This is my first time participating in Aspiring Bakers and I am pretty excited about it!! I looked up online  and scribbled notes and information from everywhere (until i am was very confused) onto a piece of paper and combined them into this recipe! The use of soy milk is going to make this dish so much healthier.



Ingredients: ( Makes approximately 3-4 bowls)

I dragged my family to Chinatown Siahuat two weeks ago. That place is fabulous. I can absolutely spend the whole morning there. My awesome mum helped me restock quite a number of baking utensils and i finally replaced my old n short chiffon tin with a brand new 20 cm chiffon tin from SiaHuat. I really think that chiffon tins are overprice. After my pandan chiffon cake,  I finally re-bake my orange chiffon cake after my first attempt in a normal cake tin! The cake wasn't too dry nor moist. Just the right texture for chiffon cake!! Do give it a go!!

Ingredients: ( Slight amendments from SmallSmallBaker to fit 20 cm chiffon tin )

4 yolks
26.6g sugar
40g Vegetable oil
53.3ml Orange Juice
approximately zest of 1-2 oranges
66.6g flour
4 egg whites
66.6g sugar
6.66g corn flour

steps:

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until the sugar dissolves. |
2. Gradually add in vegetable oil, followed by Mandarin orange juice and zest.
3. Sift cake flour twice and add into egg yolk mixture. Mix until just combined. Set aside. 4. In another bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy.
Add in combined sugar and corn flour mixture gradually and continue whisking until stiff peak form.
5. Gently fold in the egg white into the egg yolk batter (in step 3) in 3 batches.
6. Pour the batter into an ungreased chiffon tin. Give the tin a few slight knocks on the tabletop to remove air bubbles. Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg C for 35 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and invert the tin immediately onto a cooling rack.
8. Unmould the cake only when it is completely cool.



Soft, moist n fluffy ^^

Whats for breakfast on Wednesday? Instead of our usual peanut jam and nutella sandwiches, my family had steamed banana cakes for breakfast. In fact, 1 steamed banana cake has lower calories than 1 serving of our usual peanut jam sandwich. I love steam cakes from four leaves, breadtalk and not forgetting the colourful ones sold at pasar Malam, top with some orange sugar and coconut flakes. I was tryng to make the cake rise into 4 corners at the top (like huat kueh) but I failed. My mum brought some really sweet bananas back from my grandma's kampong. I was contemplating between banana steamed cakes and banana muffins. I was pretty lazy that day so I went with the simpler recipe. It is amazing such an easy recipe can yield such a delicious and moist banana cake. I'll make this again! I slightly edited the recipe to suit my family. I like my banana cake to have chunks of banana in it so i added more bananas than what the original recipe called for and i did leave some chunks of bananas in my mashed banana mixture. Since i added more bananas, i reduced my sugar intake from 100g to 70g. Sweetness was just nice . All you need are a couple of ingredients which you most likely already have on hand. You can always pop them in the fridge and steam them the next morning. That was what I did! Enjoy these hot n fluffy banana cakes.

!

Hot, fluffy and chunky banana cakes ^^

Ingredients: (7-8muffins) [  Original recipe adapted from here ]

2 Eggs
70sugar
3  ripe bananas, mashed with some chunks (300g)
150g Self-raising Flour
1/8 tsp Baking Soda
75g oil (any flavorless oil)

Steps:

1. Sift together self-raising flour and baking soda, set aside.


2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together Eggs and sugar till ribbon stage.


3. Mix in mashed bananas, beat till combine.


4. Gently fold in flour mixture and Oil, taking care not to deflate the eggs and sugar mixture.


5. Pour Batter into muffin pan, lined with muffin cups.


6. Steam over high heat for 15mins or till an inserted skewer comes out clean.

I shall submit this  toAspiring Bakers #20: Asian dessert buffet! (June 2012) hosted by Moon of Food Playground too. Please refer here for more details. Tangyuan Is one of my favourite desert! I have completely forgotten it's existence until my best friend brought me to eat Tangyuan from 记得吃. One bite and the fillings gushed out. Their tangyuan is served in ginger tea. It's unusual but I love their ginger tea. The more ginger the better. Another place I often get my tangyuan craving fixed is Mr Bean. Tangyuan+bean curd. 250 calories a bowl and it is rly filling for me.. But there's tons of sugar in it. However, their quality seem to drop as time goes by. Thick skin n little filling. No longer delicious anymore. Since then, I hardly patronise these shops for their tangyuan. Lazy to travel to get ahballing from Chinatown, I get the frozen tangyuan from the supermarket. The Chinatown brand has pretty decent tangyuan. The skin isn't too thick and the filling isn't too little. It's definitely better than those served in 记得吃 right now. If you are not a fan of peanut soup base for your tang yuan, try this brown sugar ginger tea!! One sip down and you feel your body warming up. Best served during cold and rainy days! (:


Ingredients:
-Approximately 5 pandan leaves (cut into small pieces)
-600 ml water
-Several pieces of Sliced ginger (depends on how "spicy" you want your tea to be)
-1.5 tbsp brown sugar (adjust according to yr own taste n preference)
- 6 frozen tangyuan
Steps
1. Bring the water to boil in a pot.
2. Add pandan leaves, ginger and brown sugar and let it simmer under medium low heat for about 15 mins.
3. Remove the pandan leaves and ginger from tea, pop in your frozen tangyuan and cook according to directions stated. Usually they are cooked once they rise to the top.

Sesame Chinatown Tangyuan. Okay, the focus should be the SOUP, not the Tang Yuan!! But look at how proportionate the skin and fillings are!!

I can't wait to share this recipe and i urge you to try this because this cake is heavenly delicious. It's dense, ultra rich & chocolatey. Nobody knows it's a healthier version. And... the best part about the  cake is that... A SLICE ONLY CONSIST OF 164 CALORIES! Can you believe it??? This is absolute good news to those who are on diet and weight conscious people.  INDULGE WITHOUT A PINCH OF GUILT. I can't emphasise enough how amazing this cake is! Although it takes a little extra effort but it's all worth it. I am definitely going to make this again. Definitely.

Ingredients ( Adapted from EatingWell)

• 7 ounces 60-70% bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped


• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably natural


• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour


• 2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar, divided


• 1/8 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup nonfat or low-fat milk


• 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature (see Tip)


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature


• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preparation

1. Position rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch cake pan (1 1/2 to 2 inches deep) with parchment paper and coat the sides of the pan with cooking spray. Put a kettle of water on to boil for Step 6.


2. Place chocolate and cocoa powder in a large bowl.


3. Combine flour, 2/3 cup sugar and salt in a small heavy saucepan. Whisk in just enough of the milk to form a smooth paste. Mix in the remaining milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent burning (especially around the sides and bottom edges of the pot), until the mixture begins to bubble. Boil gently, stirring constantly, for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes (the mixture will get very thick and then you may notice that it thins ever so slightly as the starch cooks). Scrape the hot mixture immediately over the chocolate and cocoa. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. The batter will be very thick. Stir in egg yolks and vanilla.


4. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, beating on high speed until the egg whites are stiff but not dry.


5. Gently fold about one-fourth of the egg whites into the chocolate batter to lighten it. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain. Scrape the batter into the cake pan, smoothing the top.


6. Set the cake pan in a larger baking pan and place on the oven rack. Pour enough boiling water into the baking pan to come a third to halfway up the side of the cake pan. Bake until the surface of the cake is slightly crusted and springs back when gently pressed, 25-30minutes. (The cake will still be quite gooey inside.  I inserted a toothpick but it didnt come out clean.  )


7. Leavve your cake to cook and preferably refrigerate (strongly encourage) it for a couple of hours before cutting it. I cut mine after it has cooled slightly and the cake was in a mess! It was so crumbly.

To serve: Soak the blade of a thin knife in a cup of very hot water until warm. Slide the knife around the sides of the pan to release the cake. Place a piece of wax paper on top of the cake. Invert a plate over the wax paper and invert the pan onto the plate. Remove the pan and peel away the paper liner. Place a serving plate over the cake and turn the cake right-side up again; remove the wax paper. Dip a sharp knife in hot water and wipe it dry before cutting each slice.

Note*

- store in the refrigerator in an air tight container fir up to two days

I baked my favourite Red Velvet Cupcake again- using a different recipe. I love Red Velvet Cupcake but i can't seem to get it right. My first few attempts ended up with a slightly dry texture and a hard top.Fortunately, the red velvet cupcake this time round is soft moist and fluffy. The chocolate ganache is baked right into the mix.  I really love this cake. It tastes good even without the cream cheese frosting.  Ever since my Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Filling , i've been hooked onto making filling cupcakes. Needless to say, i filled these red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese filling and top them with cream cheese frosting. If you aren't a cream cheese lover, you probably want to forgo the cream cheese filling. That is because this cupcake is a really rich and heavy. Some may love it, some may find it too overwhelming. Again, it depends on individual preference. I have a problem with my cream cheese frosting. I have never succeeded making a good frosting that is able to hold it's shape. Oh well, this time's is better than the previous times but it certainly can be improved! I used a cherry red food colouring. The colour is too mild and it looked more brown rather than red. Get a deeper red food colouring.




106.6g sifted cake flour
133g sugar
2/3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Batter Ingredients

 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/3 cup sunflower seed oil
1/2 TBSP red food coloring
1/3 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 tsp distilled white vinegar

Chocolate Ganache

28.75g  bittersweet chocolate baking bar
20.8g heavy cream

Cream Cheese Frosting (makes 4 cups)
2oz Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract •
2 cups sifted confectioners powdered sugar •
1/2 TBSP heavy whipping cream, very cold

Make Cream Cheese Frosting:

1.  Meanwhile, make cream cheese frosting. Using a stand mixer or electric handheld mixer, combine softened cream cheese and butter. Beat until well blended and smooth.


2. Add vanilla extract. Beat well.


3. Using flat beater attachment, add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating well in between to really incorporate the sugar. This process will ensure a smooth texture.


4. Add 1 TBSP very cold heavy whipping cream. Using whisk attachment, whisk thoroughly for fluffiness.


5. Using a spatula, scrape frosting into a pastry bag (fits perfectly into a 16" pastry bag). Chill in refrigerator until cupcakes have cooled completely before frosting. Chilling the frosting also helps it gain more structure when piping since we softened the cream cheese and butter earlier.

Assembly:

Using a small knife to cut out a cone in the cupcake. The trick is to insert the knife about 3/4 into the cupcake – not straight down, but at an angle towards the centre of the cupcake. Hold the knife in place and turn the cupcake, so that you will cut out a cone.

Cut off 3/4 off the cone, keeping the small round disks and snacking on the extra cones. Scoop about a teaspoon (depending on your preferred amount of filling) the cream cheese filling into the middle of the cupcakes. Replace the chocolate cake disks and press it down gently.

Use a decorating tip that's appropriate for your cupcake size. Start from the outside and pipe full swirls going into the middle, releasing pressure right before finishing off the peak. For a nice crust on the frosting, allow cupcakes and frosting to sit at room temperature uncovered for 30 minutes

Sprinkle with some Shaved chocolate or cocoa powder.

Ice Cream palours are on the rise now. In the past, there's only the popular few; Haagen Daz, Anderson's etc... A couple of years later, Island Creamery and Udders were trending within my circle of friends. Before i realize, there are so many palours everywhere right now. Competition is fierce and the icecream( ie: Teh Tarik, horlicks, Bandung, caramel, etc...) they offer are more or less  similar in every palour. Despite so many unique flavours coming up, my favourites are still Rum n Raisin from Haagen Daaz and Strawberry Cheesecake from BnJ. I like the rest too!! So, this is my 1st home-made icecream: Tobelrone icercream from Small Small Baker. At first, i was pretty doubtful about making icecream without a maker. But after seeing so many fantastic reviews i decided to give it a go. Get the original recipe from Small small baker! The  color of the pics i saw was light brown. Unfortunately, this toblerone icecream melts very easily. Does anybody know why? I am trying to figure it out too. I thinkcchocolate chips doesnt really work well here. The chocolate chips are too hard. :< Ohya, I just bought an icecream maker on groupon last week for 29.90 instead of 79.90. Good deal? It will only be available for collection in a month's time. Cant wait to collect and make more icecream. :>



Ingredients

3 egg yolks
40g sugar
1 tsp corn flour
170g fresh milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
100g toblerone chocolate (or cooking chocolate)
220g non-dairy whipping cream
50g chocolate chips
Method
1. Beat egg yolks, sugar and corn flour until sugar has dissolved and pale.
2. Add in fresh milk, vanilla essence and toblerone chocolate. Double boil the mixture and stir and cook at low heat until chocolate has melted and slightly thicken. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
3. Whisk non-dairy whipping cream until stiff and fold into the cooled milk mixture.
4. Stir in chocolate chips and mix well.
5. Pour into a container and freeze overnight. Whisk the mixture again until smooth and freeze until set

I bookmarked the recipe a million years ago and i only baked this last weekend. The perfect combination: Pandan + Coconut. What can be better than this? The fragrant smell of the pandan cake absolutely filled my living room while it's baking in the oven. My chiffon cakes are always so short. I guess partly is because of my chiffon tin. I have been wanting to get a higher chiffon tin but i just couldnt bear to spend that few bucks since this is still working well. Just that my current tin is shorter and wider? Hmm. Chiffon cakes. They looked no big deal at first sight. In fact, they are the opposite. In my opinion, i think they are harder to tackle compared to cupcakes and muffins. I guess to bake anything successfully, its essential to understand the objective behind the steps! Sadly, I am still far away from mastering chiffon cakes. This is my 4th attempt baking chiffon cakes! Check out my coffee chiffon cake here. Back to my pandan chiffon cake, its a little too moist. The problem lies here. Original recipe calls for 1tbsp of homemade pandan paste. I didnt want to use the artificial pandan paste bought in stores, so i dilligently pound my pandan leaves. However, it requires a long time ( about a day) for the pandan solution to settle because we only want the concentrated part of the pandan solution. I was too excited and couldnt wait for a day so i substitute that with 75 ml of my pounded pandan solution. My cake ended up slightly too moist but the pandan taste was fantastic. Since this was my 1st attempt with Pandan Chiffon, i decided to use the instant coconut milk from the store. But i believe that fresh coconut milk will certainly provide a better flavour.





Pandan Chiffon Cake [ Original adapted from Small Small Baker ]
Ingredients (makes 16cm chiffon tin)
(A)
2 egg yolks
20g sugar
A small pinch of salt
30g vegetable oil
40g coconut milk
75ml of homemade pandan solution ( Original recipe calls for 1tbsp of pandan paste.)
(B)
55g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
(C)
3 egg whites
45g sugar
Method
1. Whisk egg yolks, sugar and salt until the sugar dissolves. Put coconut milk in saucepan and let it simmer under low heat for about 2-3 mins.
2. Gradually add in vegetable oil, followed by coconut milk and pandan paste, and stir until well-mixed.
3. Fold in sifted cake flour and baking powder until well-mixed. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Add in sugar gradually and continue whisking until stiff peak form.
5. Gently fold in the egg white into the egg yolk batter (in step 3) in 3 batches.
6. Pour the batter into an ungreased chiffon tin. Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg C for 30 minutes. (I bake at 180 deg C for the first 10 minutes, then reduce to 170 deg C for the next 20 minutes, for my 6 inch tin.)
7. Remove from oven and invert the tin immediately onto a cooling rack.
8. Unmould the cake only when it is completely cool.

These are my Scottish Almond Shortbread. (Apart from the calories,) Shortbread is definitely one of my favourite snack. I love the buttery and a slight pinch of milky taste of this almond shortbread. Next time, I'll up the almond so it'll be more crunchy! If you prefer a strong almond flavour,you may want to add more ground almond. I was so excited to see my Almond Scottish Shortbread that I did not refrigerate the dough until firm before sending them into the oven. Refrigerating the dough until firm enables you to cut them into interesting shapes with a cookie cutter. I merely baked them in an 8inch square tin and cut them into little cubes for easy distribution and to fit my containers!!



Ingredients:

A:
125g butter
125g butter cup canola gold butter
85g icing sugar

B:
190g plain flour
75g corn flour
60g ground almond
1/2 tbsp milk powder

C:
Chopped Toasted whole almond. ( I used sliced almond)

Steps:
- Preheat oven to 170 degree C
- Mix A until well blended
- Add in B until well blended
- Toss in C until well incorporated.
- Line yr 8 inch square tin w parchment paper and lightly grease it.
- Pour yr batter into the tin and use a knife to slice the batter into yr desired shapes that you intend to divide later. - Pop them into the preheated oven and bake them for 25-30 mins/ until slightly golden brown.
- Run your knife along the lines you have sliced previously.
- Leave it to cool for about 15-30 mins before removing them from the tin. (if not, they will fall apart! )

Alternatively, click here for my plain traditional shortbread recipe!

Cheese sits at the top of my list all the time!! Who doesnt like Cheese?? Its Cheese!! However, it's so sinful. On diet and craving for  some cheesecake? I've got it sorted for you. This Low Fat "Cheesecake" Trifle is perfect for you. One cup/serving like this is lower than 200 calories and it tasted almost like a cheesecake. I've gotten this idea from Laura Vitale. But i did make some slight changes to the original recipe.



Ingredients:  ( servings: 2 )

6 pieces of biscuits ( Can use any biscuits: marie / digestive biscuits etc... I use Jacob's Weetameal biscuits)
1 tsp butter ( I simply use light butter spread)
1 can of marigold non fat yoghurt
1.5 tbsp lemon curd
Some diced strawberries ( or any fruits of your choice )

Steps:

- Crush the biscuits. Melt 1 tsp of butter and mix them together . Divide the crushed cookies between 2 trifle cups.

- Mix lemon curd and yoghurt together until smooth and place on the crushed biscuits and top with some diced strawberries.

- Refrigerate for about 1/2-1 hr before serving.

Note*: You can get ready made lemon curd from the supermarket but i couldnt find it in NTUC/ Cold Storage. You probably could try Higher end supermarkets. Hence, i made my own lemon curd. I got my lemon curd's recipe here.  Even though the non fat yoghurt is not sweet, there is no need to add sugar to the yoghurt because the sweetness will come from the lemon curd. Best serve about 1 hr after making. Not recommended to leave the next day. My biscuits turned a little soggy the next day.  You have to scoop and eat the strawberries, yoghurt and biscuits at the same time so that it'll taste like "Cheesecake".

Specially baked these for my friend. Happy birthday, Clarence!! ^^ i love cupcakes/muffins that have fillings inside. It's like a little surprise. However, I was a little hesitant about baking these filling cupcakes because I find it challenging to fill the cupcakes. I looked up the Internet and they are practically so many ways to fill the cupcakes. While I was browsing recipes by other bloggers, I stumbled upon Foodismylife's recipe n decided to give it a go. So... this is my 1st cupcake with filling!! Oh well, it is not that hard to fill these fillings after all. I shall bake more cupcakes with fillings from now on!! One of the best thing about this cupcake is that it uses my favourite "everyday's chocolate cake" batter. Nothing can go wrong with this cake as the "base". This is my third recipe with "everyday chocolate cake". Check out my 1st n 2nd recipe w everyday chocolate cake.

For the Cake:



Look at how soft and moist the cake is. It's chocolatey and rich!!

Ingredients: ( Makes 6 medium cupcakes)
45 grams all purpose flour
10 grams good quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder ( As this is a really low cake, I added slightly more baking powder )
Pinch of salt
55 grams good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100 grams unsalted butter, can be cold or at room temperature
90 grams caster sugar
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Use a wire whisk and whisk the dry ingredients together until they are all well-mixed and evenly distributed.

Measure the dark chocolate and unsalted butter in a large heatproof bowl and melt them over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, you can microwave them under medium high heat at 15-25s interval. Stirring during each interval.

Remove the heatproof bowl from the pot/microwave. Add in the caster sugar and whisk gently – not all of the sugar will dissolve. Mixture'll be a little grainy Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to cool down slightly (the eggs will scramble if added to a hot mixture).

Crack in one egg into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the mixture (yes, same wire whisk!) for 30 seconds until it is fully incorporated. Whisk in the second egg, and then whisk in the vanilla extract.

Sift a third of flour mixture into the chocolate batter and folding gently using a large metal spoon or rubber spatula. until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated – Note [2].

Transfer the cake batter into the lined muffin tin. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the top bounces back when touched lightly and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Peanut Butter Filling

Ingredients:

20 grams cream cheese 45 grams creamy peanut butter
45 grams icing sugar, sifted
1/8 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 to 1 tablespoon milk Handful of chopped peanuts (optional)

Place the cream cheese, peanut butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl. Beat the mixture using an electric mixer until the sugar has dissolved and the frosting is light and fluffy. Add in a little bit of milk to thin the consistency (makes it easier to scoop). Stir in the chopped peanuts if using

Chocolate Ganache



Ingredients:
90 grams good quality dark chocolate
finely chopped 85 grams / ml heavy cream (3/8 cup)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 tablespoon salted butter
90 grams icing sugar, sifted

Steps:
Place the heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl (glass or ceramic). Microwave the cream on medium for 30 seconds until the cream is hot. Add in the chopped chocolate and stir – the chocolate will start to melt. Place the bowl back into the microwave and microwave for 10 seconds. Stir the mixture and if there’s any remaining un-melted chocolate, repeat the process (do not microwave for too long at one go unless you want to burn your ganache). Once all the chocolate has melted, add in the vanilla and butter and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Refrigerate the ganache for 5 to 10 minutes. Using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the chocolate ganache on medium speed, adding in the sifted icing sugar in 3 batches. Continue to beat, turning the speed up to high until the ganache becomes light in colour and creamy.

Note: My chocolate Ganache is too liquidfied. I did not beat the ganache until it becomes light in color and creamy. The more i beat, the more creamy it gets and harder to frost. But it did "harden" slightly after i leave them at room temperature for some time. What happened!!



Assembly: (learned from foodismylife)
Using a small knife to cut out a cone in the cupcake. The trick is to insert the knife about 3/4 into the cupcake – not straight down, but at an angle towards the centre of the cupcake. Hold the knife in place and turn the cupcake, so that you will cut out a cone.

Cut off 3/4 off the cone, keeping the small round disks and snacking on the extra cones.
Scoop about a teaspoon (depending on your preferred amount of filling) the peanut butter filling into the middle of the cupcakes. Replace the chocolate cake disks and press it down gently.

[Note*: Next time I cut a bigger hole and discard a portion of the pointed part of the cone and just replace the chocolate cake with the base of the cone so my filling wouldnt be "squashed". ]

Spread a thick layer of chocolate ganache over the top of the cupcakes and decorate as you like.

Storage: These cupcakes can be kept for up to a week – in an air-tight container in the fridge. Let the cupcakes sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. The cupcakes will still be slightly chilled but the ganache has softened. Mine were finished in a day!!

Peanut butter lovers like me basically love anything with peanut butter. However, my family and friends just found it strange to put peanut butter and chocolate together. I guess it's up to individual preference!! Good day.

I met my cousins for dinner today. Yesterday night, I was all hyped up and prepared a batch of three different flavours of madeleines for my cousins. However, i was so careless that i left them at my workplace. I only realised it while i was already halfway through the journey. How can i be so careless right. Thankfully some of my colleagues are working OT tonight. So, they helped to finish the madeleines. If not, they'll end up in the dustbin on Monday morning. I have been wanting to experiment different flavours of madeleines after my previous attempt baking lemon madeleines. I really adore these little french cakes.

1. Pandan Madeleines


Soft & Moist Pandan Madeleines.

Ingredients: makes about 16

2 Large Eggs
1/2 cup of Granulated Sugar (100g)
1 tsp of Vanilla Extrac
t 1 cup of All Purpose Flour (120g)
¼ tsp of Salt
¼ tsp of Baking Powder
½ cup of Unsalted Butter, melted
1 tbsp coconut milk
A handful of Pandan Leaves ( about 5)

Steps:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, spray 2 Madeleine pans with non stick cooking spray and set aside.

2) Pound the pandan leave and add 1/2-1 tbsp of water s and squeeze them through a strainer. Dispose the residue.

2) In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, cream together the eggs and sugar for 3 to 4 minutes on high speed or until the mixture thickens and develops a light pale color.

3) Add the vanilla,coconut milk pandan extract,, flour, salt and baking powder and turn mixer down to low and slowly stream in the melted butter. Mix until everything is well incorporated but don’t over mix.

4) Divide the batter evenly in the pan (do not over fill) and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden and brown around the edges.

5) Let them cool for about 2 minutes in the pan, then invert them on a cooling rack and let them finish cooling. Sprinkle with confectioner sugar if desired

NOTE: Pandan Madeleines. Overall, they are pretty fragant but i guess the pandan flavour can be further intensified. I'll pound more pandan leaves and extract more juice. This is too sweet for my liking. I'll reduce the sugar level in future.

2. Japanese Milky Madeleines ( Adapted from frozenwings )


I know they look kinda oily but they are not! They are just shinny?!? which i have no idea how they became like this. As compared to the  pandan madeleines, they are chewier and rounder despite filling each madeleine pan with the same amount of batter. Does anybody knows why? Is it due to beating of the egg whites?Hmm..
Ingredients ( makes 18small cakes)

120gm Cake flour
20gm corn flour( cornstarch)
15gm milk powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
15gm honey
1 tbsp hot water
100gm unsalted butter
50gm double ( heavy) cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs (140gm)
a pinch of salt 150gm Japanese sugar( jo haku tou) or caster sugar
Method:

1.Preheat oven to 170C. Sift together flours, milk powder and baking powder. Combine honey and hot water in a bowl.

2. Place butter, cream and vanilla in a heatproof bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water and heat, stirring until butter has melted. Set aside.

3. In another heatproof bowl, beat eggs and salt with a whisk until yolks break. Add sugar and place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and mix well. When egg mixture is warm, use an electric mixer to beat on high speed unti light and fluffy, about 5 mins. Reduce speed to medium and continue beating for abt 1 minute. Add honey and mix well.

4.Gently fold in flour mixture with a spatula. Add cream and butter mixture and fold until just incorporated.

5.Spoon batter into a piping bag and pipe into paper cups or greased madeleine pans. Bake for about 25mins until madeleines are light golden in colour . Cool on a wire rack . Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Note*: They do have a strong taste of honey. Milk taste isnt too strong. You probably could adjust it according to your liking.

3) Orange Madelienes.

Recipe is the same as the prvious batch of madeleines i baked except that i replaced lemon with Orange. Orange Flavour could further be enhanced. Prolly add more peel and orange juice into the batter.

Ingredients: Makes About 16

2 Large Eggs
1/2 cup of Granulated Sugar (100g) 1
tsp of Vanilla Extract 1 cup of All Purpose Flour (120g)
¼ tsp of Salt
¼ tsp of Baking Powder
½ cup of Unsalted Butter, melted ½ tsp of Grated Orange Zest Powder Sugar (for dusting)

Steps:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, spray 2 Madeleine pans with non stick cooking spray and set aside.

2) In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, cream together the eggs and sugar for 3 to 4 minutes on high speed or until the mixture thickens and develops a light pale color.

3) Add the vanilla, lemon zest, flour, salt and baking powder and turn mixer down to low and slowly stream in the melted butter. Mix until everything is well incorporated but don’t over mix.

4) Divide the batter evenly in the pan (do not over fill) and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden and brown around the edges.

5) Let them cool for about 2 minutes in the pan, then invert them on a cooling rack and let them finish cooling. Sprinkle with confectioner sugar if desired

HAPPY BIRTHDAY gorgor!! Last Tuesday was my Bro-in-law’s birthday and I baked this for him! Chocolatey layered cake. Super simple and easy. All you have to do is to bake the cake and stack them together. It is a very forgiving chocolate coating and it’s pretty simple to apply this coat on the cake. The original recipe (adapted from cookiefleur) calls for a steamed chocolate cake. But I was still madly in love with the “Everyday Chocolate Cake” that I used in my Chocolate Mousse and Blueberry Layered Cake, so I replaced the steam Chocolate with the Everyday Chocolate Cake. The cake is so rich and moist!! As the Chocolate Coating uses condensed milk(which is already very sweet), I cut down on my sugar for my cake recipe.However, I think it is still too sweet. I’ll reduce the amount of sugar further in future. I baked my cake in an 8X8 inch square pan and divided the cake into two equal halves (4X8 inch). My cake is pretty short. So if you want a higher cake, you probably have to double the amount of ingredients for the cake.




1) For the Cake:

Ingredients:
- 45g all purpose flour
- 10g Cocoa powder
- 1/2tsp Baking powder
- 55g Dark Chocolate
- 100g butter
- 60g caster sugar (I'll reduce further in future)
- 2 eggs

Steps:
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease an 8-inch square tin and line the bottom with greaseproof paper.

Measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Use a wire whisk and whisk the dry ingredients together until they are all well-mixed and evenly distributed.

Measure the dark chocolate and unsalted butter in bowl and microwave until the chocolate n butter melts. Microwave on medium high with an interval of 15-30s. Stirring at each interval.

Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to cool down slightly (the eggs will scramble if added to a hot mixture).

Crack in one egg into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the mixture (yes, same wire whisk!) for 30 seconds until it is fully incorporated. Whisk in the second egg, and then whisk in the vanilla extract.

Sift a third of flour mixture into the chocolate batter and folding gently using a large metal spoon or rubber spatula. until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated.

Transfer the cake batter into the lined cake tin. Bake for 15minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the tin for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely.

Making ahead:
Make the cake 2 – 3 days in advance and keep in an air-tight container at room temperature.


2) Chocolate Coating
Ingredients:
-½ Can of Condensed milk. ( I used low fat. Haha!)
-½ tsp Vanilla essence
-¼ cup canola Oil
-¼ cup of cocoa powder (sift the cocoa powder. I only had about 45g of cocoa powder. So, I added some dark chocolate until the total weight is 60g)
-¼ tsp salt

steps
Combine the sifted cocoa powder, condensed milk and canola oil.

Stir over low heat till mixture is smooth and shiny, making sure to stir all the time to prevent burning.

Add salt and vanilla essence. Stir well.

Let it cool a little before use.

Assembly
Apply chocolate coating. Stack the cake together. Pour chocolate coating all over. My chocolate coating hardens a little because it stayed for abit longer at room temperature. Quickly apply it while it's slightly warm. Enjoy.

I’ve been to this place twice and both times were pretty satisfactory. My family settled for weekend dinner on both occasions. We went in the evening to avoid the crowd. Whatsmore, early dinner is better too. More time to digest your food. Hahaha. The shop looks pretty rundown and there aren’t many tables around. However, the staff is rly friendly. The food is cheap and the servings are big. You get a big plate of stir fried vegetables for $8. Other zi char probably sells that good amount of veg for $10-$12? I realized there are quite a handful of regular customers because the Uncle who takes orders seems to know many of the customers!!


Signature dish: Ba Kut Teh (BKT): $6 (Smallest size. 1 serving) Looks dull but I really like their BKT. Very flavorful and they are very generous with their meat. There’s 4 big pieces of meat!!


Signature Dish: Curry Fish Head. Although this is their signature dish, i don’t really like it. Theirs is the salty version of Curry Fish Head. I am not sure if you get what I mean but I personally prefer the sweeter version. Nevertheless, I see it on many tables!

Steam Fish. We ordered the tail of “Ngor fish” (in Hokkien). I think its called threadfin. I prefer this to the Curry Fish Head. The fish is very fresh.


Toufu with minced meat. The uncle who takes order recommended this dish to us. If I am not wrong, they make their own toufu. This is really yummy!!

We ordered other dishes like Heng Cai etc.. I like their omelet. Pretty thick and delicious!

Address: 328 Joo Chiat Road #01-02
Opening Hours: 8:30am-4pm, 5pm-1am. Closed on Thursdays
Tel: +65 6440 4928a

Call it a Banana muffin? It's a failure. Call it a Chocolate Chip Muffin? Its an absolute success because it's so chcolatey. So, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin? Uhhh... Not quite. More like Chocolate Chip muffin this time. I guess i added too much Chocolate Chips into the batter. I like Banana Chocolate Chip muffin to havechunksof banana and some small amount of chocolate chips scattered around. I thought my bananas werent too mashed at first. I was expecting some chunks of bananas in the muffins but i guessed they were still too "mashed??' Next time, I am going to up the bananas and throw in some additional sliced and unmashed bananas into the batter. I dont know if i'll achieve my chunky bananas texture but i guess i'll jst give it a go. If anybody knows, please let me know! The muffins were pretty moist even though there's no sourcream/yoghurt/milk in the recipe. The Chocolate chip taste was too overpowering. But the good thing about it was that the chocolate chips were uniformly scattered in the muffin instead of sinking to the bottom. I mix the chocolate chips with a good amount of flour and folded the chocolate chips together with the flour into the rest of batter. I guess this trick works almost everytime.



Ingredients: [ Recipe taken from Laura Vitale] Makes 12 Muffins

½ Cup of Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs
100g of Sugar
3 Mashed Bananas
¼ tsp of Vanilla Extract
200g Cake flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp of Baking Soda
¼ tsp of Salt
¼ tsp of Cinnamon
1 Cup of Chocolate Chips

Steps:

1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12 piece muffin tin with muffin liners and set aside.
2) In a small bowl add the chocolate chips and 3 tbsp of flour and mix until all the chocolate chips are coated in the flour. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl add the first 5 ingredients and mix until all combined.
4) Add the flour and baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, whisk until all combined.
5) Fold in the chocolate chip and flour mixture.
6) Using a large ice cream scoop divide the batter into your muffin pan and bake for about 18 minutes.



I tried to make some streusel toppings on 3 of the muffins. Hmmm i wld say i have to try it again... Nevertheless, you can check out the recipe for the streusel toppings here.

Ever since I came across the Baked egg toast on fooodismylife, I promised myself I m gna make this one day. This pretty egg toast definitely starts anybody's day. The best thing is they are really simple to make. I scooped a few spoons of baked beans to make a complete meal. They taste as good as they look.  Ingredients:2 slices of bread ( i use wholemeal)
1 egg
Herbs ( any kind of herbs you have on hand)
Pepper
Cheese ( Slice cheese/ Cheese spread) ( Optional)
Butter ( Optional)

Steps:-Use a cookie cutter ( I got mine from Daiso) to cut the shape out.
-For a darker shade of bread toast, apply some butter onto both sides of bread.
-Divide cheese slice into 4 pieces and align them along the sides of the bread and stick the bread together.
-Break an egg into the hole you have cut out using a cookie cutter.
-Sprinkle some pepper and herbs onto the egg and bake in the oven until the desired cookness of your egg at 180 degreesC

It's Friday to everyone else. Yet, it feels like Monday to me. I had a super long break (to be exact:6days) from work. But it was far from a pleasant break. It was a torture. Everyday, I felt like a living corpse rotting helplessly on the bed, if not the sofa. I finally went to work today. Still feeling weak in my bones but I guess staying at home further would only make me feel worst. There's so many things I m craving for: Roti prata; pizza; bertolli spaghetti made by sis; chicken wings; wanton mee... I was even craving for veg noodles from the hawker stall... Guess I was really deprived of food . I m gg home to eat dad's century egg porridge with pork n caixin. Can't wait for it. Best comfort food right now.

For the past few days, I've been working on a blueberry chocolate layered cake. It was love at first sight when i saw the " Chocolate, Mousse, meringue and Blueberry Curd Layered Cake" by foodismylife. The cake looks so beautiful. What can be better than a combination of my favourite chocolate and blueberries? Inspired by her cake, I was motivated to make this. It was a bold move because i have never baked a layered cake before. I have 0 knowledge about layered cakes (ie: how should they be sliced.., everything about mousse, ganache...). Although i forgo the meringue and the chocolate borders, it still tasted really delicious. I love the richness of the chocolate cake. Absolutely Chocolatey. You'll be amazed with yourself. Well, at least I was! HA. Since this was my virgin attempt, i decided to make in smaller amount in case it doeant turn out well. It was WAY btr that what i expected. So, to all that hasnt baked a single layered cake, give it a go! You'll be impressed, trust me.



They are in fact very tiny. Just about the size of your thumb. I cut into eight slices per ramekin cake.

Ingredients & Steps: ( bakes 2 ramekins ) [ For the full recipe on 8 inch Round cake, please click here]

1. BLUEBERRY CURD (adapted from ...

1/2 lemon juice
1 lemon zest
62.5 grams blueberries
3/8 tablespoons water
37.5 grams sugar
21.25g butter ( Room Temperature)
3/4 egg

-Peel the lemon zest and juice the lemons.

-Place the zest, juice, blueberries, water and sugar in a pot over low heat. Stir the berries constantly until the berries have softened and are releasing juices, about 10 minutes.

-Strain the blueberries into a clean pot to remove the lemon zest and blueberry skins (I skipped this).

-Add in the butter and stir until all the butter has melted. Stir in the eggs gradually. Cook the blueberry mixture over low heat, stirring constantly until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, which will take about 10 to 15 minutes.

-Transfer the curd into a clean container, let cool completely, cover and refrigerate overnight to let it set

Note* Make the curd up to one week in advance and store it in the refrigerator

2. Simple Boozy Syrup

20 grams sugar
50 ml water

- Place the sugar and water in a small pot.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, swirling the pot to dissolve the sugar crystals. Boil for 2 – 3 minutes on high heat then remove the pot from heat.
- Let cool to room temperature.

Make ahead: Make the syrup ahead and store up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

3. Chocolate Cake (Everyday Chocolate Cake)

22.5 grams all purpose flour
5 grams good quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
27.5 grams good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
50 grams unsalted butter, can be cold or at room temperature
grams caster sugar
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease ramekins and line the bottom with greaseproof paper.

Measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Use a wire whisk and whisk the dry ingredients together until they are all well-mixed and evenly distributed.

Measure the dark chocolate and unsalted butter in a large heatproof bowl and melt them over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally

Remove the heatproof bowl from the pot. Add in the caster sugar and whisk gently – not all of the sugar will dissolve, it’s ok if the mixture is grainy. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to cool down slightly (the eggs will scramble if added to a hot mixture).

Crack in egg into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the mixture (yes, same wire whisk!) for 30 seconds until it is fully incorporated.

Sift a third of flour mixture into the chocolate batter and folding gently using a large metal spoon or rubber spatula. until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated

Transfer the cake batter into the lined cake tin. Bake for 15-25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the tin for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely.

Making ahead: Make the cake 2 – 3 days in advance and keep in an air-tight container at room temperature.

4. Easy Chocolate Mousse

28.75g semi sweet chocolate, chopped
31.25 ml Whipping Cream

-Melt the chocolate and let it cool to lukewarm. Whip the cream to soft peaks formed and fold in the melted chocolate.

-The mousse should be made just before assembling the cake so that it will be soft and liquid-y enough to pour it into the mould.

5. Dark Chocolate Ganache Glaze

62.5ml heavy cream
75g dark chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp golden syrup

Heat the cream in a microwave for 30 seconds on medium high. Add in the chocolate and microwave at 15 seconds interval, checking the mixture and stirring it at each interval until all the chocolate has melted. Stir in the golden syrup and let cool for 30 minutes.

Refrigerate the cake while you prepare the final assembly.

STEPS:
1. Make the Blueberry Curd, Simple syrup and Chocolate Cake. Slice the cake horizontally and ensure it is level. ( These can be made a few days in advance. Blueberry Curd and Simple Syrup have to be stored in the fridge. Chocolate Cake can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature)
2. Make the Chocolate mousse and assemble the cake. Line the base of the ramekins with parchment paper. Place a piece of chocolate cake, apply a layer of simple syrup on the side that is facing the ceiling. Spoon the mousse onto the cake, add blueberry curd, cover with mousse again. Apply simple syrup on another piece of cake and put it on the mousse. Give a slight press so that everything is compressed together.
3. Cover with a plastic sheet and freeze it for about 2-3 hours.
4. 30 mins before the cakes are done, make the dark chocolate ganache glaze.
5. Take the ramekins out from the freezer. Dip a knife in hot water and wipe it with paper towels. Run the knife along the sides of ramekins. Turn the ramekins upside down and use yr hand to catch the cake.
6. Pour the chocolate ganache over. Spread out with a spatula and leave it till it stops dripping. Pop them in the fridge. Serve in a couple of hours/next day.

My blueberry curd failed. I guessed i overheated it until it became v dry and sticky. :/ Although they dont look beautiful but i think this attempt enabled me to overcome my initial mental barrier to bake layered cakes. It unravelled a new level of the baking world. Right now, I am so excited to bake layered cakes. ^^