Made this for my sis's birthday. ^^ this is the second time I am making tiramisu! My first attempt was probably 7 years ago which I made with my sister, when both if us have zero knowledge about baking. I rmbed us ultimately adding about double the number of eggs the recipe asked for because of.. Ican'treallyrmb the reason. There were too much coffee too, beyond saturation point of the lady fingers. In the end, the tiramisu was inedible. But this time, I was glad it turned out fine. Not perfect yet though. I made some adjustments to the original recipe. Instead of soaking/dipping the lady fingers into the coffee, I used a table spoon to pour the coffee mixture onto the lady fingers. I tried the dipping method and my ladyfingers immediately melted..

Recipe (original recipe adapted from here

1/2 cup (125ml) espresso, at room temperature
4-6 tbsp rum (depends on desired alcohol level)
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
pinch of salt
7 tablespoons (90g) sugar, divided
1 cup (250g) mascarpone
twelve 3½-inch ladyfingers (70g, or 3 ounces)
optional: 1 ounce (30g) bittersweet chocolate

unsweetened cocoa powder, for serving

1. Mix together the espresso, rum, and cognac. The mixture should taste strongly of alcohol. If not, add more until it does. (That flavor will tone down when mixed with the other ingredients, but feel free to adjust to taste.)

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they begin to get stiff. Beat in half of the sugar until stiff. Scrape the egg whites into a small bowl.

3. In the same bowl, beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until stiff and light-colored, about three minutes. (If using a standing electric mixer, you may need to stop and scrape down the sides.) By hand, beat in the mascarpone with a spatula or whisk, until lump-free.

4. Fold in half of the beaten egg whites, then the remaining half, just until fully incorporated.

5. Put a splat, a heaping soup spoon, of the mascarpone cream into each vessel.

6. Use a tbsp and pour the coffee mixture onto the ladyfingers until saturated. Rmb not to pour too much. Then layer them over the mascarpone cream in each vessel. Use two ladyfingers per.

7. Grate a generous amount of chocolate over each.

8. Top with remaining mascarpone cream, cover, and refrigerate at least four hours, but preferably overnight.

9. Right before serving, shake powdered cocoa generously on top.

This shall be my last bake before cny ( i hope!!!) I have been baking quite often and it's kinda draining my allowance, time and sleep away. Chocolate chip blondies were supposed to be last bake but i just couldnt resist the temptation to bake when i am at home. Anyway, fruit tarts sits at the top of my to-bake-list. I have baked fruit tarts several times but still unable to get a satisfying attempt. I prefer my crusts to be thick. The sweet crust pastry is able to make about 30 thick mini fruit tarts. I made the pastry cream twice. Failed at my first attempt because i didnt control the fire and my custard sat on the stove for too long. In the end, the custard became more like egg curd. The second attempt was better than the first. Actually i am looking for  a lighter pastry cream recipe. I read somewhere that i can add some whipped cream to my pastry cream for a lighter version. I've yet to try but i will definitely do it one day. My fruit tarts looked so dull. Fruit tarts are usually colourful. I wanted to get so many fruits in the supermarket but i am pretty broke this month so i ended up with blackberries and kiwi. Strawberries and blueberries cost $6 + each!!! Do note that they should be only assembled when you want to serve them and serve chilled. I baked the tarts and prepared the cream the day before and stored them in an air tight container. Brought the tarts to school for my friends. As there's no fridge, they were at room temperature for more than half a day and they were quite soft by the time i gave to my friends. I guess if that's the case, prolly can extend baking time by slightly longer.

Ingredients(Sweet Crust Pastry) 

65g butter
65g margarine
65g icing sugar
250g plain flour
1/2 egg
1tsp vanilla extract

1. Measure butter, margarine, icing sugar and plain flour in a large mixing bowl. 
2. Use yr fingers, incorporate the cubes of butter and margarine into the flour and sugar by rubbing your thumbs against your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture.  
3. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the mixture and gently work it together till you have a ball of dough.
4. Let it rest for ten mins. 
5. Divide the dough and press them into tart trays. (I didnt have tart trays so i substituted with mini muffin tins.) Prick some holes with fork.
6. Bake for about 12-15 mins, until golden brown. 

Ingredients ( Pastry cream) 
60g sugar
2 egg yolks
1 1/5 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp vanilla extract
150 ml of milk

1. Simmer milk and vanilla extract. 
2. Mix sugar and egg yolks until even.
3. Add corn starch
4. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Strain the mixture if egg starts to curdle. pour mixture back into saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until it thickens and remove from heat. 
5. Add butter and mix evenly. 
6. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Red velvet cupcake is one of my favourite cupcake of all time. Loving the cream cheese frosting. So far, the best red velvet cupcake i've tasted is the one from 12 cupcakes. I've baked red velvet so many times, yet i still cant get it right. Tricky one indeed. This time round is pretty different from my previous attempt: Red velvet cupcake with cream cheese filling. The texture of the cake for the previous attempt is more like a sponge cake, this time round's was slightly more compact than the previous time. Got my recipe from baking addiction this time. Oh well, both are not what i am looking for. But the frosting this time round is able to stand more firmly than the previous time. I substituted part of butter in the frosting recipe with shortening. Still very sweet  though. i am always unable to get te cream cheese frosting right.  For some reasons, my frosting is always not white. It is somehow slightly yellow (and idk why. Is it because of the butter?). If you have any tips or good recipes for red velvet cupcakes, i'll be more than happy if you will share with me. Thank you! :>

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. ^^

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 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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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. ^^