Lemon zest cupcakes with vanilla frosting

I think I should refer these cupcakes as vanilla cupcakes v3.0. Compared to the first and second cupcake, it's way better than both of them combined! A bit nerve racking to make though because it involves egg whites and folding in. I tend to give up the folding bit after two folds and just stir vigorously, which I know is a big no no.

I can't remember where I got this recipe from but I think I did change it slightly when I was going through the whipping up the egg whites phase - changing most cake recipes, whipping up the egg whites and folding it into the batter. I remember using this recipe when I was back home, using double the recipe and baking it in a 9 inch square tin. The cake appeared dense but when it was actually really light.
I quite like practising piping. Other people's videos on how to pipe make it seem so easy but when you actually have a go, it turns out - ugly. Here's the recipe, double it for a 9 inch cake.

Lemon zest cupcakes with vanilla frosting
makes 10 muffin sized cupcakes

4 oz butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4.5 0z flour
1 tsp baking powder
zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs (separated)
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 170 C and prepare paper liners in muffin pan.
2. Cream butter and 1/4 cup sugar till fluffy. Add in the 3 egg yolks, one at a time. Mixing on low speed till combined.
3. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt till combined.
4. Add in lemon and vanilla extract.
5. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites, remaining 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
6. Add the beaten egg whites into the batter in 2 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
7. Fill up muffin liners till 2/3s full and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Vanilla frosting

4 oz butter, at room temperature
1.5 cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp milk

1. Beat the icing sugar and butter together with a paddle attachment on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.
2. Turn the mixer down to slow speed. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture.
3. Once all the milk has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed.
4. Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 3 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.

Caramel popcorn

YUMMY!! Popcorn with loads of caramel on it. Making popcorn is such an exciting event. Especially when you hear it popping away in the pot.

Homemade popcorn is really easy to make. Just heat up a pot, put some oil in and when it's hot enough, chuck the corn in and cover it with a lid. Wait for the pops and give it the odd shake every now and then and when the popping stops, it's done.
Whip up some caramel sauce, pour it on the popcorn, toss and bake it for a bit and tadaa, caramel popcorn! I can't remember where I got the recipe from. I think I combined 2 recipes together and added in baking soda to the caramel sauce cause other recipes seemed to have baking soda.

There was more than enough caramel! Every popcorn had at least a spec of caramel on it. I don't like it when half of the popcorn has no caramel on it, especially at the cinemas cause once the movie starts, you can't actually see which popcorn has caramel on it and which doesn't.

Caramel popcorn

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup popping corn

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the popcorn. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally until the popping stops. Tip into a large bowl.

caramel sauce:

4oz butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp honey
3/4 - 1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 140 C . Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in sugars, honey and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. (it'll appear foamy).
4. Pour over popcorn and mix well.

5. Place in 2 baking sheets and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 45 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies

These cookies are YUMMM! It's the texture I'd like for chocolate chip cookies. Maybe minus a bit of the crumbliness. The peanut buttery-ness of this cookie is perfect. The cookie itself was a bit too sweet for me and not salty enough. I'd definitely increase the salt to 1/2-3/4 tsp next time.

I made giant cookies! Even bigger than the previous chocolate chip cookies. I'm getting use to making giant cookies. In the past, I use to scoop a teaspoon worth of batter. These days, it's at least a quarter of a cups worth. I have to admit, it makes scooping out the dough much quicker.

The dough is easy to handle and I quite like the effect of rolling the cookie dough in sugar and then using a fork to press it down. Ooh, maybe next time, I'd dip the cookies in chocolate too. Mmm.

Peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies from thecakemistress
makes 24 cookies (depending on size - I only ended up with 16)

4 oz unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (smooth or crunchy)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

For sprinkling: 1/4 cup caster sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Place sprinkling sugar on a plate. Using an ice-cream scoop or tablespoon drop cookie rounds into the sugar, then onto a sheet of baking paper. Be sure to leave 2-3 cm around each for expansion. You could also use a fork to indent the top with a pattern, but do not overly flatten cookies.
4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until they change to light golden brown. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but once they cool down they become firmer. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting

Vanilla cupcakes v2.0. I'm currently testing out recipes for cupcakes. It's interesting that there are so many types of recipes for the same end product. Different ratios, ingredients and methods - what a pain. Oh, and don't forget that each individual has a different preference too.

This recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook was more promising than the previous vanilla cupcakes I made. I wouldn't declare this *THE* ultimate cupcake recipe so the search is still on!

The method for this cupcake is interesting - mix the butter with the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients. I made them muffin sized instead of cupcakes cause I think they look prettier and more proportionate when in muffin size. The beast did its job! The icing was smooth and easy to pipe. Really sweet though but I suppose that's what icing is suppose to be.
Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting
makes 6 muffins or 12 cupcakes

4 1/2 oz plain flour
5 oz caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 oz butter
120 ml whole milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 quantity vanilla frosting

1. Line cupcake tray and preheat oven to 170 C.
2. Put flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a mixer bowl and with a paddle attachment, beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.
3. Gradually pour in half the milk and beat until just incorporated.
4. Whisk the egg, vanilla extract and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the mixture and continue beating until just incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and mix until smooth. Do not overmix.
5. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until 2/3s full and bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until light and golden and the sponge bounces back when touched.
6. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Vanilla frosting

9 oz icing sugar, sifted
3 oz butter, at room temperature
25 ml whole milk
a couple drops of vanilla extract

1. Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a free-standing electric mixer with a paddle attachment on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.
2. Turn the mixer down to slow speed. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time.
3. Once all the milk has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed.
4. Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.

Vanilla cupcakes with rosewater icing

Presenting *cue some sort of star wars music*... the BEAST!!

Say goodbye to manual labour and hello to creaming butter and sugar with this bad boy. Y and I ventured into the unknown territory yesterday and made italian meringue frosting! It's so easy to make and it turned out so white and fluffy.

Initially, the instruction of boiling the sugar with water, then pouring it into the egg whites whilst the mixer is switched on seemed daunting and after a few minutes coupled with multiple sighs of relief - TADAA, frosting!

It's funny how quickly a mixer speeds the whole baking process up. Previously, I use to preheat the oven after the creaming of butter step. With the beast around, everything goes by so quickly and I only realised the oven wasn't switched on when it was time to scoop the batter into the cupcake liners.
I used the recipe from technicolor kitchen. I have to admit that the cupcakes itself didn't turn out. Didn't like the texture and it seemed a tad too egg-y. I halved the recipe but made the full amount for the frosting.
Vanilla cupcakes with rosewater icing
makes 24 cupcakes

250g unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups & 2 Tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups & 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup whole milk

Rosewater icing:
1 cup & 1 1/2 Tbsp caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp rosewater
3 egg whites

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl and beat until light and creamy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well.
4. Sift over the flour and baking powder and beat until combined.
5. Fold through the milk and spoon the mixture into the cupcake liners.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on wire racks.
7. To make the rosewater icing, place the sugar, water, cream of tartar and rosewater in a saucepan over high heat and stir just until the sugar is dissolved.
8. Bring to the boil – at this point, do not stir – reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, place the egg whites in the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat until soft peaks form. While the motor is running, gradually add the sugar mixture to the whites and beat until slightly cooler, thick and glossy. Spread the icing over the cupcakes with a palette knife.

Chocolate chip cookies

It was raining most of yesterday so in an attempt to wait it out, chocolate chip cookies! I used a different chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Alton Brown's recipe I used the last time. Actually, the method is the same (using melted butter is always a plus for me when there's no mixer around). The only difference is the type of flour used and slightly different ratios.

This cookie was suppose to be chewy but again, more cake-y but it was crispy. I think it's probably the dark muscovado sugar that I've been using instead of brown sugar. Note to self - stock up on brown sugar.

I made these cookies bigger than the last time. I technically scooped the same amount of dough - 1/4 cup but I flattened them out before baking till they pretty much looked like burger patties. I experimented by varying the amount of flattening done and the last batch turned out the prettiest and by prettiest I mean flattest (without the silly dome in the centre). It was also the biggest, diameter wise (about 4 inches).
Chocolate chip cookies from smittenkitchen
makes 14 cookies (depending on size)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 oz butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used 1 tsp)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 165 C (I baked mine at 175 C for 17 minutes). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.
3. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time (for giant cookies) or a tablespoon at a time (for smaller cookies) onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
5. Bake larger cookies for 15 to 17 minutes, or 10 to 12 minutes for smaller ones (check your cookies before they’re done; depending on your scoop size, your baking time will vary) in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Gourmet burger kitchen

The weather was glorious yesterday! Just wanted to use the word glorious as I haven't used it in ages. Went to a park yesterday and the second the bf and I got out of the tube station, it was as though we were in Chelsea! Either Chelsea or Portsmouth. There were hundreds of people just hanging outside the pubs singing songs with loads of policemen hanging around and patrolling the streets.

I nearly got attacked by a flock of ducks/geese (whatever they were) and pigeons. The bf insists they were ducks but they were gimongous! It started with me throwing the odd crumb of bread. First a pigeon came. Then it somehow alerted his friends. Then more pigeons came. Then a duck comes and I start feeding the duck and get even more excited when he starts calling his friends. Suddenly, I look down at my feet and there they are, at least 10 pigeons walking around my feet staring at me! Didn't take pictures of them. If I did, I'd have tonnes of pictures of ducks/pigeons/birds.

The bf and I went to gourmet burger kitchen and their burgers are huge! It's a good sign that when you order, they ask you how you want your burger done - medium or well done. I got the pesterella and the tomato relish that came with it is delicious. Shame they didn't give a bigger blob of it. Mine had pesto, mozzarella and relish. Look at all that mozzarella! I didn't finish the mozzarella - too cheesy for me. I did manage to finish 80% of the beef before my mouth got tired from all that chewing. That's quite a great accomplishment!The bf had cajun and he got way more of his cajun relish and that was yummy too. Moral of the story is - order the burger that has relish. It took us a while to strategise on how to tackle the burger. Basically, unless you squish the burger down and have a fairly big mouth, you would have to dismantle the burger and probably eat it two layers at a time.

GBK's chips are really good. They're the big and chunky type and all they need is a good sprinkle of salt. Whoops, no pictures of the chips.

Y gave me a voucher - 2 burgers for 9 pounds so it was good value for money. Service was excellent and my tummy was happy at the end of the meal so conclusion - loved the GBK experience.

Earl grey tea cookies

Earl grey tea is one of the best teas ever! Although I don't actually drink much of it, the taste of it in cakes and cookies is YUMMY! It deserves to be awarded the capital letters. The cookies are really fragrant and the earl grey taste is not too strong but you can tell it's there.

Ice box cookies are really easy to make. I halved the recipe and it still turned out. Ignore the instructions if you don't have a food processor or a mixer. Just cut the cold butter up into chunks and use your fingers to rub the butter into the ingredients and add a bit of water at a time till a dough forms. Form a log, either round or square, chill it, slice it and bake it.

I tried to be neat and obtain a rectangle but that clearly failed. At least it's flat on 3 out of 4 sides. That's 75% of the cookie. Actually, it doesn't really matter cause when you bake it, the dough melts a little and it's as though there's extra gravity in the oven pulling the edges of your cookie down.

Earl grey tea cookies from realsimple
makes 6 dozen cookies (depending on size)

2 cups flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup icing sugar (I didn't have any icing sugar at hand and just used caster sugar)
2 Tbsp Earl grey tea (6 teabags worth)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz butter

1. Pulse together all the dry ingredients in a food processor until the tea leaves are pulverized. Add the vanilla, 1 teaspoon water, and the butter. Pulse together until a dough is formed.
2. Divide the dough in half. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a 12-inch log, about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Slice each log into disks, 1/3 inch thick. Place on parchment lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
4. Bake in a preheated 190 C oven until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

Chocolate chip cookies

I just made the biggest chocolate chip cookie ever! Ok, I might be exaggerating a bit but they are gimongous! I used Alton Brown's chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe - a fairly easy recipe and doesn't require much effort.

I only deviated slightly from the recipe, using dark muscovado sugar instead of brown sugar. Everything else was done to the T. I even used the recommended bread flour. The cookie is very chocolate-y and it got annoying because everytime I pick a cookie up, I get a smear of chocolate on my fingers.
I didn't find the cookie chewy. It was more cake-y. I was pleased with the crispiness around the edges though. My cookie looks nothing like the picture on the food network channel! Theirs is flat and even whereas mine turned out like a dome. Maybe that's the centre bit was cake-y. Or maybe my definition of chewy is different? Oh well.
I chilled the dough for 3 hours and it looks so pretty when scooped out. I scooped out 1/4 cup balls of dough and baked a dozen cookies. I baked the leftover dough the next day and made slightly smaller ones and mini ones. They're actually only mini when compared to the first batch. It reminds me of the coffee sizes at Starbucks - tall, grande and venti.
Chocolate chip cookies by Alton Brown
makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies

8 oz butter
1/4 caster sugar
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
2. Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown in , checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Apple streusel bars

At a first glance, you would think that these bars have some sort of chocolate filling. After looking at pictures from lovintheoven, I just had to give these bars a try. They turned out delicious - not too sweet, cinnamon-y and lovely texture.

I actually like the whole rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients using my fingers. It's not as tiring as creaming butter and sugar and the weather here is cold enough unlike Malaysia where you'll end up with a melted and sticky mixture. That reminds me, I really need to start making pies and tarts.

Mine looks different from lovintheoven and ourbestbites because I used dark brown sugar for the filling, I didn't peel the apples and I sliced them into chunks instead of thin slices. I didn't bother with the icing but they would've looked more presentable with it.
I made mine in a 9 inch square tin just because I prefer a thicker crust. Plus, the 9x13 inch baking tin was under a lot of other bowls etc and it seemed like more effort to take out. I know I can be lazy at times but it does actually seem completely justifiable at the time.

Apple streusel bars

makes 16 mini squares or one 9 inch tin

Pastry
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz butter
1 egg, beaten

Apple filling
1/2 cup white sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon (I used more cinnamon but I lost count - either 3 or 4 tsp)
4 cups sliced apples

1. To prepare crust, mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until you have pea-sized crumbles (I rubbed the butter into the dry ingredients with my fingers). Gently mix in beaten egg.
2. Spray a 9x13 baking dish or a 9 inch tin with non-stick cooking spray. Gently pat about 2/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the dish. Preheat oven to 180 C and set aside.
3. To prepare apple filling, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss with apples and spread apples out on prepared crust. Sprinkle reserved crust mixture over apples evenly and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes (mine took 50 minutes). When finished, allow to cool completely. Cut into bars and serve.

Almond biscotti

I always thought that making your own biscotti involved tonnes of work when to be honest, it involves a bit of work and a lot of waiting around. The biscuits are baked three separate times; once as a log and once on each side after slicing it into individual pieces.

I used the Pistachio Biscotti Recipe by Tyler Florence and swapped the pistachios for almonds and the vanilla extract for almond extract. I did bake the individual slices for slightly longer - 8 minutes a side and some of the thicker slices were slightly moist when they came out of the oven. This happened during the final batch and I couldn't be bothered in waiting a couple minutes longer. I ended up with around 36 biscottis but I suppose this really varies with the size of the biscottis.

I felt they turned out quite well - crunchy, hard but not too hard that you worry you might chip a tooth on it, not too sweet and not too overwhelmingly almond-y.

Will definitely be making different flavours next time. Y wanted to dip some of the biscuits in chocolate but seeing that they were made at night and I was getting impatient with the final batch, just the thought of having to melt the chocolate and wash up didn't appeal to me.

Almond biscotti
adapted from Tyler Florence
makes 36 biscottis

4 oz butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups roasted almond

1. In a preheated 180 C oven, lay the almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the nuts are lightly toasted. Leave to cool.
2. Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, sugar and almond extract. Mix until creamed.
3. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix the dough until smooth. Mix in the almonds until evenly distributed. (I did all the mixing with a wooden spoon and kneaded the almonds in)
4. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut in half. Roll each half into a log, each 12 inches long by 1-inch high. Place the logs on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly brown.
5. Let the logs cool for 5 minutes and then place on a cutting board. Slice each log on a diagonal into 1-inch thick pieces. Put the cookies back on the cookie sheet and bake 5 minutes. Turn the cookies over and bake the other side for another 5 minutes. Store cookies in an airtight container. (I baked mine for 8 minutes a side)

Lemon bundt cake

I know there's a slight obsession with the bundt tin but the cakes turn out so pretty. The only problem is most cake recipes use butter and due to the lack of a mixer, the thought of creaming the butter and sugar by hand puts me off. This lemon bundt cake is so easy to make - no creaming of butter involved and the texture of the cake is amazing. The cake wasn't dense and didn't have a oily feel.

As for the icing, I'm not usually a fan as it usually just makes cakes taste really sweet but for some reason, I did end up drizzling icing on the cake and it added a pleasant crunchy texture to the cake. I did cut down on the sugar for the icing and ended up with a really runny consistency. Will definitely try next time to use the amount of sugar for the icing as per the recipe.
Lemon bundt cake
makes one 9 to 10 inch bundt cake

2 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup canola or safflower oil
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

Icing
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 170 C. Butter and flour the bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, orange juice, lemon juice, oil, vanilla and eggs. Beat well until combined.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes until dark golden brown.
4. While cake is in oven, combine powdered sugar and 1/2 cup lemon juice and whisk to blend. Remove cake from oven, beat powdered sugar mixture again, and carefully spoon 1/2 of the lemon and powdered sugar mixture over cake. Loosen edges of cake and turn out onto serving plate. Slowly drizzle remaining lemon mixture over cake. Let cool.

Garlic buns

I really like using milk instead of water when making buns/bread. The result is a soft and fluffy texture. Even the next day - just pop the bun into the microwave for a couple seconds the next day and tadaa, a warm, soft and fluffy bun.

I didn't have any form of parsley, fresh or dry in the house so I didn't bother with it. Though it would've looked nicer with the parsley like on happyhomebaking. I used the recipe from her site and I have to admit that hers look much better than mine. That's not the reason for the lack of pictures though. It's mainly cause making bread is such a messy affair and my hands seemed to be covered in dough most of the time.
It felt a bit odd using 1/2 tsp of yeast and 200g of flour for this recipe. I ended up with a small piece of dough and it either didn't rise much or I'm just not use to looking at a smaller piece of dough.

I don't have a bread machine and did the kneading by hand. Mixing in the butter was such a challenge. Initially, I was worried that the butter wasn't going to get incorporated. Then I had to add additional flour cause the dough was getting really sticky. Despite this, I only ended up with 5 buns instead of 6.

Here's the recipe as per happyhomebaking's recipe.

Garlic buns
makes 6 buns

150g bread flour
50g cake flour
15g caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
130g milk
15g unsalted butter

filling:
30g butter, soften room temperature
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped)
1 tsp dried parsley

1. Place all ingredients except the butter in the pan of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Select the Dough function of the bread machine and press start. After about 8mins of kneading (the ingredients should form a smooth dough by now), add in the 15g of butter. Let the machine continue to knead the dough. After the kneading cycle has stopped (20mins), Stop and Restart the machine. Continue to let the machine knead for another 10mins.
2. Stop the machine and remove dough from the bread pan. Shape the dough into a smooth round and place in a mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it rise till double in volume for about 80mins.
3. Remove dough and give a few light kneading on a lightly floured work surface. Press out the trapped air as your knead. Divide into 6 equal portions and shape into balls. Cover with cling wrap, let the doughs rest for 15mins.
4. Flatten each dough into a round disc. Roll up Swiss roll style and pinch the seams in place. Roll the dough on work surface to shape it into a longish oval shape or torpedo shape.
5. Place doughs seams side down on a baking tray, lined with parchment paper. Loosely cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let dough proof for 30mins.
6. Prepare filling by mixing butter, garlic and parsley to form a smooth paste.
7. Brush each dough with egg wash. With a sharp knife, make a slit lengthwise on each dough. Pipe fillings on each slit.
8. Bake at preheated oven at 180 C for about 12-15 mins. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.