bakies

Brewer's blondies

2010-11-11T14:01:00.003Z

These blondies are so rich, fudgy and delicious! The fudgy bit was only in the middle bit and totally accidental. I took them out before they were done and the squares in the middle turned out fudgier than the edges.

Still good though, I mean, how can you go wrong with Maltesers and chocolate chips in a recipe. The blondies didn't turn out to be too sweet when they were warm but when cooled, they are a bit on the sweet side.

I found the recipe in an article reviewing a recipe book - Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. It's a really simple recipe - easy to follow. The only difficulty I had was trying to spread the batter which was really stiff and thick into the baking tray. It eventually flattened and evened out whilst in the oven.

I cut down on the brown sugar and upped the Maltesers, Horlicks and walnuts. Below are the changes made to the recipe.

Brewer's blondies
makes one 9x13 inch

200g butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp salt

2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 heaped Tbsp malt powder (Horlicks)

1 cup chopped Maltesers
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 175 C. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter , brown sugar and salt on medium speed until completely combined. Scrape down the bowl, add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until combined.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and malted milk powder together.
4. Add the flour mixture in two batches until just combined. Add the malted milk balls, chocolate chips and walnuts and beat until just combined, about 10 seconds. The mixture will be thick. Turn the mixture out into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to spread it evenly.
5. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the blondie comes out clean.

Lentils

2010-11-07T13:40:00.002Z

My first cooking post! Not that I don't cook, I just haven't really gotten excited about cooking. After Y mentioned something about green lentils, I decided to give it a try. I got a packet of green dried lentils and gave it a go. Not having done this before, I read the instructions on the back - boil rapidly for 10 minutes and simmer for 30 minutes.

I did look at a couple of recipes online too and cumin seemed like a common spice that everyone else used. I did the whole cooking shows style where I laid all my ingredients in front of me. For some reason, I took out a can of chopped tomatoes but decided against it halfway through.

Lentils are awesome! Reckon it's going to be my new phase. I went through a whole couscous phase where there was usually a container of some version of couscous in the fridge 3/7 days a week. Well, that was mainly cause I made a huge portion and it just lasted that long because everyone else got sick of eating it and it was down to me to finish it.
It was fairly simple cooking the lentils and for the other ingredients, I just added whatever vegetables I had in the fridge. There isn't really a fixed recipe so I'll just list down what I added to the pot.

Lentils

250g lentils

4 cloves garlic
1 onion
2 tsp cumin (ground with 1/2 tsp salt)
2 cm knob of ginger
a couple chopped up carrots
4 stalks of celery
1 stock cube
some cauliflower

I started off boiling the lentils on a high fire on its own whilst peeling and dicing the other ingredients. In a separate pot, I fried off the onions in a tablespoon of olive oil and grated in the garlic and ginger, then added the ground cumin and salt. Then added in the stock cube, celery and carrots and covered with about a cup of hot water. All of this took about 15 minutes and for some reason, I decided to drain the lentils (which was boiling away in another pot) and added it to the pot with the vegetables.

Now I'm not really sure why I decided to do this separately but it turned out alright so I suppose it works this way. I left it to simmer for another 20 minutes, added in the cauliflower, let it simmer for another 5 minutes and switched the fire off. Added a bit more salt and tadaa. Yummm.

It's absolutely delicious! I really like the cumin taste. And I've got a pot of it which would probably last 5 meals? Actually, thinking back, I know why I don't post about cooking. Pictures of cakes and biscuits look so much more appealing than a picture of lentils.

Sweet potato chiffon cake

2010-10-28T15:26:00.003+01:00

After seeing some pretty pictures of some purple sweet potato chiffon cake, I decided to give it a go. I couldn't find any purple sweet potato in the UK though so I just settled with some orange sweet potato. How boring and standard looking. Hmm, I wonder if beetroot would work in a chiffon cake?

I modified the earl grey chiffon cake recipe. Not by much though. Techniques are exactly the same so I suppose once you find a good chiffon cake recipe, all you have to do is substitute the ingredients and play around with them.

It's so cool how you invert the tin the second it comes out of the oven so that the texture remains light and spongy. I have to admit, I was really sceptical about it the first time I read the instructions. Do be careful as if the cake isn't cooked through, the whole cake topples out of the tin when inverted.

I did cut down on the sugar slightly. Just nice for my liking. Shame the sweet potato flavour wasn't too prominent. Maybe it'll stand out more if it were the purple sweet potato. Next of my list for chiffon cake flavours - apple or pear or maybe both.

Sweet potato chiffon cake
makes one 7 inch diameter cake

A
3 egg yolks
20g brown sugar

50ml vegetable oil
100g sweet potato (boiled and mashed with 5 Tbsp of milk)
zest of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp baking powder
100g flour
1/2 tsp salt

B
3 egg whites
40g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Peel and cut sweet potato into chunks. Boil until cooked and mash with milk. Leave to cool.
2. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.
3. Separate egg yolks/whites.
4. Mix together egg yolks, oil, brown sugar and lemon zest.
5. Whisk the flour mixture and oil/egg yolk mixture until fully incorporated. Add in sweet potato and mix well.

6. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar with an electric mixer stiff peaks form.
7. Add the beaten egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.

8. Pour batter into a 7 inch tube pan (do not grease the pan). Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter. 8. Bake in preheated oven at 170 C for 45 minutes or until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

9. Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let cool completely before unmold. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the pan and the centre core. Release the cake and run the knife along the base of the pan to remove the cake.

Chocolate cupcakes

2010-10-18T13:39:00.005+01:00

I can't believe that the last post was dated July. Gosh, it has been a while. I've been busy moving, waiting for the internet to be set up and time has just gone by. I have been baking but haven't really kept track of what I've made.

Here are some goodies that I made today. The cupcake is moist and I really like the texture - soft. I did put a square of cadbury's caramel chocolate but you can't really taste it. I did bung some chocolate chips in too just to add to the chocolate-y-ness.

It's funny how the cupcake can look so bare one minute and look so dressed up the next. Kinda like giving the cupcake a makeover! Look, I even added a mini star to dress it up more.
The frosting was such a disaster! I usually use ziplock bags and cut the corner off, place the tip in etc. I used about 6 different types of bags and they kept breaking. In the end, I taped all around the edges of the bag with masking tape and hoped for the best.

That really got on my nerves. Will post the recipe another time. It's sitting on the kitchen counter and I'm feeling really lazy to get up.

Honey and walnut bread

2010-07-18T11:08:00.003+01:00

After having walnut bread at various restaurants, I've been on the look out for a good/interesting walnut bread recipe. I ended up using britishlarder's recipe for spelt, honey and walnut bread.

I changed it slightly, adding a bit more honey and swapping spelt for strong wholemeal flour. The bread turned out delicious! The taste of the walnut is so distinct and honey - MMM. It's a simple recipe and the kitchenaid did most of the work. It looks so pretty after cutting the patterns on top and brushing the dough with egg yolk.
The bread when warm has a crunchy outside and a soft inside. Delicious even on its own. Definitely a keeper. It didn't even take too long to make. Apart from waiting for the dough to double in size.

Honey and walnut bread
minor changes made below - do refer to britishlarder for original recipe
makes 2 loaves

250g strong white flour
250g strong wholemeal flour
10g table salt
7g dried yeast
2 Tbsp honey
260ml warm water
150g walnuts

1 egg yolk

1. Place yeast, 50g flour and honey in a small mixing bowl and add 50g of the water, mix well, cover and leave to prove for 30 minutes in a warm spot until the mixture starts to bubble.
2. In the bowl of a mixer add the remaining flour, bubbling yeast mixture, walnuts, salt and the remaining water together. Attach the dough hook and mix the bread dough on slow speed for 10 minutes.
3. Grease a large mixing bowl. Once the dough is ready turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape the bread dough into a smooth ball. Place the smooth bread dough into the greased mixing bowl and cover the bowl with a clean dry tea towel. Leave to prove until the dough has risen to double in size.
4. Preheat the oven to 200°C and dust two baking sheets with flour, set aside.
5. Gently turn the bread dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide the dough into even size dough balls.
6. Roll each ball into a evenly shaped smooth ball, place each ball onto the dusted floured tray and cover gently with cling film or a clean dry tea towel and leave it to prove for the second time until nearly double in size. Brush the risen bread carefully with the egg yolk and use a knife to make small cuts at the top of the risen bread.
7. Place the baking sheets in the preheated oven and pour 100ml of cold water directly onto the floor of the oven and shut the door quickly. The water will give a burst of steam that will help the loaves to puff and form a lovely crust.
8. After about 10-12 minutes, place a sheet of foil over the bread if it is browning too quickly.
9. Bake the loaves for 35 - 40 minutes, give the bread a tap at the bottom and if it sounds hollow it means the bread is cooked, place the bread onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.

Calzone

2010-07-10T07:50:00.005+01:00

Calzone - YUMMYYY!! I have never used a recipe from the BBC website but I gave this one ago because (a) the recipe uses milk and that sounded interesting and (b) it was the first site to pop up when googled searched. The dough was soft and easy to work with - slightly sticky at times but I just sprinkled flour on the work surface. It was really easy rolling out the dough thinly. It didn't seem as though it would be nice the next day as leftovers but we wouldn't know as Y and I finished all 4 calzones.

I know it says meat feast calzone and I'm not really a person so I ended up just using the dough recipe and making my own filling. For the filling, I just stir fried some onions, garlic, mushroom, carrots, brocolli, capers and some dried basil. Leave to cool and when it's time to fill the calzone, put a heap of filling and loads of shredded cheddar cheese on top. Next time I'll probably add black olives to the filling. I suppose you can use anything as long as the filling isn't too watery.

Y had some leftover strawberries so I cooked them in a pan with sugar and some other frozen fruits i.e.blueberries, blackberries etc. I used a bit of cornflour dissolved in water to thicken it up. Dessert calzones - delicious with ice cream.

I did end up with way too much filling which kept falling out whilst eating it. Actually, I ended up eating the filling on its own and eating the bread with ice cream.
Calzone
minor changes made below - do refer to meat feast calzone of the BBC for the original recipe
makes 4 descent sized calzones

8 oz strong white flour, plus more for dusting
90 ml warm milk
50 ml room temperature water
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

1. Mix the milk, water, sugar and yeast together in a separate bowl.

2. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
3. Using a mixer with the dough hook attachment, add the yeast mixture to the flour and mix together on medium speed.
4. Scrape down bowl and add in 1 tsp of olive oil.
5. Continue mixing on medium speed for 3-4 minutes.
6. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave somewhere warm for 2 hours.
7. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and roll into balls.
8. Place each ball onto a floured work surface and roll out into 8-9 inch circles.
9. Place filling onto one half of each dough circle and cover with shredded cheese, leaving a 1 inch gap around the edge.
10. Fold the sides over to cover the filling and pinch the edges to seal.
11. Preheat oven to 210 C. Place a baking sheet in the oven to preheat.

12. Brush the calzones with vegetable oil/olive oil and place the calzones onto the preheated baking sheet and transfer to the hot oven to bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the dough is cooked through.

Earl grey chiffon cake 2

2010-07-06T13:38:00.002+01:00

This cake recipe is definitely a keeper. This is my second time making an earl grey chiffon cake and this time, I added in the zest of an orange. I'll probably use some lemon zest next time.

I really like the lightness and texture of this cake and the cake is so easy to make especially when you're out of butter and running out of flour.
To think, I used to be intimidated by the idea of folding in egg whites.

Orange bundt cake

2010-07-03T09:10:00.002+01:00

Have a couple leftover oranges - make orange bundt cake! It's a really simple recipe, similar to the lemon bundt cake made previously. The orange taste is so prominent due to the zest of 3-4 oranges.

The texture of the cake is moist, not dense or oily and when warm, the crust is crispy. YUMM. I even made a not so watered down icing and the result - a really pretty looking cake. The zest of an orange in the icing added a nice touch too. I ended up with too much icing/glaze. Taking into account the amount that drips off the cake.
I used the recipe from sugar&spice by Celeste. I left out the cardamom, cinnamon, lemon and cut down on the baking powder. Below are the changes I made to the Orange Cardamom cake.

Orange bundt cake
makes one 9 to 10 inch bundt cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
2/3 cup vegetable oil
zest of 3-4 oranges (basically the zest of oranges squeezed to get juice)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs (I used 4 medium sized eggs)

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
10 tsp fresh orange juice (I ended up using about 10 tsp orange juice)
zest of an orange

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. To prepare cake, coat a 9 to 10 inch bundt pan with cooking spray or butter; dust with flour. Set aside.
2. Combine dry ingredients - sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients - orange juice, oil, zest, vanilla extract and eggs.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients on low speed until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.
5. Spoon batter into prepared cake pan, spreading evenly.
6. Bake at 180 C for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.
7. Cool in pan for 5 minutes on a wire rack and then remove.
8. To prepare glaze, combine 1 cup of powdered sugar and 6 tsp orange juice in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk or fork. Add in remaining orange juice a tsp at a time till correct consistency is obtained. Drizzle glaze over warm cake; cool cake completely on wire rack.

Cheese tarts

2010-06-26T16:56:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure what exactly to call these. They're cheesecakes made in a tart form so they're either cheesecake tarts or cheese tarts. The best part of these tarts - the crust layer is as thick as the cheese layer. I'm not too fond of a cheesecake where there's way more cheese than crust. The dough for the crust isn't really a dough. It looked more like breadcrumbs. No rolling out was required - just pressing it into the tin. They did puff up a bit in the oven and when they came out, I used a fork to press the puffy bits down. It's all good.

The bf got me some tart tins a while back and they're amazing! All 6 cheese tarts slid right off the tin with hardly any effort required but to be fair, I did butter them quite a fair bit.

I made a mistake whilst making these. I put the fruit (frozen cherries and blueberries) in the tarts before pouring the cheese layer on. Note to self - cheese layer first, then fruits on top. I'll try using mascarpone or a gelatine cheese recipe next time.

Again, I can't remember where I got this recipe from.

Cheese tarts
makes six 4 inch tarts

Crust layer

6 oz butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp white sugar
2 heaped tsp honey
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup wholewheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 170 C. Butter tins.
2. Cream butter and sugars till light and fluffy.
3. Add in flours, salt, cinnamon and honey.
4. Mixture will appear to be crumbly. Press into buttered tins.
5. Place tart tins onto a baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes.

Cheese layer

8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
2 Tbsp caster sugar
1 egg
zest of an orange
1/2 Tbsp orange juice
1/2 Tbsp flour

1. Using a mixer, mix cheese and sugar till smooth and creamy. Add in all other ingredients.
2. Pour cheese mixture into baked crusts and arrange fruit.
3. Bake in a preheated 170 C oven for 15 minutes.

Sweet potato bundt cake

2010-06-23T18:34:00.004+01:00

This cake is delicious! Who would have thought - making a cake out of sweet potato. It has a tiny hint of sweet potato flavour and it goes perfectly with cinnamon. I just made this cake this afternoon and it's really easy to make. A mixer isn't even required.

I had many slices whilst it was still warm and it has a lovely/interesting texture especially when you bite into a walnut. It goes perfectly with vanilla ice cream too. I can't remember where I got this recipe from but it is modified from a couple recipes.

I sliced a medium sized sweet potato (~700g pre-cooked) into chunks and boiled them till soft (i.e. easily pierced by a fork) and mashed it up. Set it aside and leave to cool before using it.

Sweet potato bundt cake
makes one 9 to 10 inch bundt cake

2 cups mashed sweet potato (leave to cool - I used it when it was a bit warm)
1 cup oil
4 eggs

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chopped raw walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 170 C. Butter and flour the bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Mix in both the sugars.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the sweet potato, eggs and oil.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix till combined.
5. Stir in the walnuts.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a thin knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
7. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool to room temperature.

THE Wedding cake

2010-06-21T12:10:00.005+01:00

Yay! Wedding cake is completed! Congrats to the married couple. From now on - random miscellaneous baking. Looking forward to baking tarts and cheesecakes. I can't believe that the cake/cupcakes actually turned out. Actually, good thing it did turn out.

The fresh roses were poked into the leftover fondant which was rolled into a flat disc and they pretty much lasted through the day. Anyways, I'm going to leave this post as a short one.

*edited*

I just realised that I don't have any clean pictures of the cake because we assembled it at the restaurant! What a bummer.
Due to the lack of space, I started moving the cupcakes etc onto the living room table. The kitchen and living room table were pretty much out of bound areas to everyone else.

Wedding cake v3.0

2010-06-16T14:45:00.005+01:00

Wedding cake v3.0!! The cake that has scored the most marks so far (compared to v1.0 and v2.0). Tomorrow is the real thing! THE wedding cake! Plus all the little cupcakes that will sit on the other tiers. Hope everything goes as planned and that nothing goes horribly wrong. Not that there is a detailed plan - just bake the 3 layers, bake the cupcakes and decorate the cake. Frosting the cupcakes shall be left to be done on Friday.

THE wedding cake won't look exactly like the above. It isn't going to have a red strip of paper from a magazine going around the cake and roses which were "borrowed" from the neighbour's garden on the top. I think I've got the ribbon and flowers technically covered.

The cake is pretty much the same as wedding cake v2.0 except that I put orange zest in it and a layer of strawberry jam on both sides of the chocolate layer. The zest and the jam makes the cake so fragrant when you slice it. The jam also adds the specs of red. Aww, it looks so pretty! Anyways, fingers crossed for tomorrows mission - THE wedding cake.

Orange zest cupcakes with vanilla frosting

2010-06-15T16:03:00.004+01:00

I used the same recipe as the lemon zest cupcakes. I just substituted the lemon zest with orange zest. These cupcakes would essentially be vanilla cupcakes v4.0. I think I'll be laying off the wedding cake recipe and the vanilla cupcakes for a bit. I've actually been itching to bake a cheesecake or a tart of some sort.

I tried frosting them using another method but easier said than done. Think I'm just going to stick with the standard - well, the above method. Piping starting from the centre and ending on the outside. I definitely envy the people who post videos on the simplicity of piping or frosting a cupcake. They make it look so easy! And from what I've tried, it isn't.

Wedding cake v2.0

2010-06-14T20:35:00.004+01:00

Wedding cake v2.0. Same look, different recipe from wedding cake v1.0. I used the same recipe for the chocolate layer as the last time but for the vanilla layer, I tried the standard victoria sponge cake recipe where it's the 1:1:1:1 ratio of flour:butter:sugar:eggs. I think. Actually, I think I did cut down on the sugar. The vanilla layer wasn't as nice compared to the last time. It was really eggy and not as light.

I did make more frosting this time compared to the last time and put much more compared to the last time. Turned out way better and I used 1kg of fondant as opposed to 1/2kg the last time. It made such a difference. I actually had enough fondant this time to cover the cake plus a bit extra to make winnie the pooh & friends cut outs.

I did better than the last time but v3.0 should be coming soon.

Caramel nuts

2010-06-11T15:48:00.005+01:00

Sugary goodness. You can't really go wrong when it comes to sugar and nuts. This makes a really good snack especially when you're craving something sweet. I just partially roasted some raw nuts - cashewnuts, walnuts and almonds and baked them with sugar, honey, salt and a touch of butter. I don't really have a recipe for this. Just the pre mentioned ingredients in a pan and boil till it bubbles. Add the nuts and bake in a 160 C oven for 10-15 minutes. Basically before it starts to burn.

I really need to remember to sprinkle salt on it after it's done. It makes such a difference but I keep forgetting to do so. My bad.
On a separate note, the flowers here are so pretty and to think most of them are considered as weeds. Aww, they're so pretty and photogenic. Ooh, it's suddenly sunny outside. The weather has been pretty rubbish for the past couple days. It's pretty much either cloudy or drizzling literally the whole day. Oh, and it's cold too. It feels weird that I'm not ending this post with a recipe. Oh well.

Monkey bread

2010-06-10T09:27:00.005+01:00

This bread is amazing and so easy to make! And I love how the whole house smells of cinnamon whilst the bread is baking in the oven. Mmm. We ate them whilst they were still warm and nearly finished the entire thing!

I used Martha Stewart's recipe and didn't bother with the icing as the sweetness level was way high as it is. I didn't add any nuts as well, I like to stick to just plain cinnamon and sugar. The recipe is really easy to make. With the kitchenaid, there wasn't much work that needed to be done. Apart from 'rolling' the dough into balls. I didn't bother with the rolling into balls. I just tore the into small bits. The most time consuming part is dipping the individual dough pieces into butter and coating them in the sugar/cinnamon mixture.

It doesn't look too appealing when they first come out of the oven but when you turn it over, the actual gooeyness of the top is so pretty! I waited about 15 minutes before turning it out. Didn't want it to cool in the pan and solidify. It came out really easily. I didn't even have to knock it. Just put a plate on the pan and turn it around.

Monkey bread from Martha Stewart
makes one bundt tin

For the dough
2 Tbsp butter, plus more for pan
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup caster sugar, plus a pinch for yeast
1 envelope instant yeast (mine was 7g a sachet)
3/4 cup warm milk
1 tsp salt
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 large egg

For the coating
4 oz melted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon (I used 3 tsp)

1. Lightly coat a 10-inch Bundt pan and a medium bowl with shortening; set aside. Put the warm water and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl; sprinkle yeast over top. Stir; let the yeast soften and dissolve, about 5 minutes.
2. Place the 2 Tbsp of butter, milk, sugar, salt, and egg in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.
3. Add yeast mixture to shortening mixture, and beat to combine. Slowly add flour. Knead on medium-low, 1 minute. Transfer dough to the prepared bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place, 20 minutes.
4. Make coating: Place melted butter in a bowl. In a second bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
5. Cut dough into 1/2-inch pieces. Roll into balls. Coat in butter, then roll in nut mixture, and place in prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 180 C. Bake, 30 to 35 minutes (mine took 32 minutes). Let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate, and let cool 20 minutes more.

Wedding cake v1.0

2010-06-09T09:34:00.003+01:00

Trial version 1.0 of the wedding cake. Result - FAIL! Cake wise it was delicious but decoration wise - definitely a FAIL. First mistake - not having enough buttercream frosting to cover the cake. Second mistake - not having enough fondant to cover the cake.

It does look pretty though when you slice it and have a slice view. In general, from the top view it looks okay but from the sides, just plain hideous. I suppose the top wouldn't matter too much cause I'll be covering it with fresh flowers.
I don't really like the taste of fondant. I used the already made one. It tastes not really like food, more like plastic actually. I'll definitely need a thicker layer of frosting between the cake layers.

The chocolate layer cake is from Martha Stewart (minus the frosting). Really easy recipe and it's baked in one 8 inch baking tin. The cake was too dense and heavy for my liking though. The vanilla layers were from my previous post on vanilla cupcake s. Minus the lemon zest simply because I had no lemons. I'll probably use the vanilla cupcake recipe for the chocolate layer and just add a few tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Or maybe try out a whole different recipe for all the layers because the vanilla layer did shrink from the sides and wasn't too straight.

Easy chocolate cake from Martha Stewart
makes one 8 inch cake

6 oz butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan; line bottom with wax paper. Butter paper; dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess; set aside (I didn't bother with this. I just buttered the pan, didn't even line it with baking paper and had no problems removing the cake).
2. In a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture alternating with sour cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
3. Spread batter into prepared pan. Tap pan firmly on counter top several times to force out large air bubbles. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. (mine took 38 minutes to bake). Remove from oven, Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely (bottom side up).

Sausage bun v2.0

2010-06-02T15:50:00.003+01:00

The mini hiatus is basically cause I'm not in London at the moment. I went to Wales over the bank holiday weekend and made sausage buns. Again. I used the same recipe as the last time and apart from the different designs, taste wise it was the same. I did add a slice of cheese to a few lucky buns.

I took some pictures of the garden and the bf's parents grow vegetables! Spring onions, chives, pak choy and choi sum. It's so pretty and you get loads of vegetables. To harvest, just cut it (not pull it out) and it regrows after a while. Cool huh. Shame they don't have fruit trees. I suppose after planting the vege, there isn't much space left for trees. Plus, fruit trees take years to bear fruit.
Ok, back to the sausage buns. I shouldn't really classify it as v2.0. Since it's pretty much the same. They do look different - maybe that justifies v2.0. Anyways, I used the braiding technique for some of the buns and they look really professional! Shame some of them stuck to the baking sheet. I take full responsibility though. It was only cause I did a poor job when brushing the egg wash on and it dripped everywhere - so some of the buns have mini holes at the bottom. Not noticeable unless you eat the bun upside down :)
I won't be baking much this week as I'll only be back in London on Monday. I have a mini assignment! How exciting. Basically back to testing out cupcake recipes for Y's wedding. Oh and have to look for a cake recipe too for her main cake. Oh and carry out a trial run. Hmm, sounds like a fair bit that needs to be done within 2 weeks. Actually, more like 10 days. There's no need to panic!!

Lemon zest cupcakes with vanilla frosting

2010-05-26T08:17:00.004+01:00

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

2010-05-21T13:58:00.003+01:00

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

2010-05-20T16:02:00.006+01:00

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

2010-05-19T07:15:00.004+01:00

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

2010-05-18T09:09:00.005+01:00

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

2010-05-17T06:58:00.004+01:00

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

2010-05-16T07:23:00.005+01:00

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

2010-05-15T07:35:00.003+01:00

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

2010-05-13T15:13:00.007+01:00

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

2010-05-11T13:57:00.004+01:00

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 lovintheove n 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

2010-05-07T15:24:00.006+01:00

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

2010-05-05T16:14:00.006+01:00

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

2010-05-04T15:38:00.003+01:00

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.

Banana bundt cake

2010-04-29T12:01:00.008+01:00

I'm still obsessed with the bundt tin! The cakes that come out are so pretty! I'm actually surprised that the cakes don't stick to the pan are just slide out really easily. Hope I just didn't jinx myself. I made banana bundt cake using Dorie Greenspan's recipe taken from slowlikehoney. Most people say that banana cakes are better on the second day but I had a slice about an hour after the cake came out of the oven and it's so moist!

The banana cake is so solid and heavy! I couldn't help but weigh it and it's nearly 2kg! Definitely need to get mini bundt tins. It's funny how you get dark specs in the cake from the banana - makes it look so pretty!

I followed the recipe and even used sour cream. I have never used sour cream in baking and was debating on whether I should replace the sour cream with yogurt. I'm not a fan of sour cream apart from sour cream and chives flavoured crisps and biscuits. Actually, the reason why I used sour cream is cause yogurt comes in 500g and sour cream in 300g. I didn't want any leftovers so I just used the entire pot of sour cream.
I added slightly less than the 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Think I'll cut down the sugar by a 1/4 cup next time. I also used about 2 cups of mashed up banana. The cake was browning really quickly and after about 35 minutes, I covered the cake in the oven with a piece of foil. Mine took about 65 minutes to bake.

Banana bundt cake
makes one 9 to 10 inch bundt cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4 very ripe bananas, mashed (should make 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cups)
1 cup sour cream

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 180 C. Generously butter and flour a 9- to 10-inch (12 cup) bundt pan. (If you use a silicone bundt pan there’s no need to butter it.) Don’t place the pan on a baking sheet – you want the oven’s heat to circulate through the bundt’s inner tube.

2. Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.
3. Beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat till pale and fluffy.
4. Beat in the vanilla and add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the bananas. Finally, mix in half the dry ingredients (don’t be disturbed when the batter curdles), all the sour cream and then the rest of the flour mixture.
5. Pour batter into the pan and rap the pan on the counter to debubble the batter and smooth the top.
6. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes or until a thin knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Check the cake after about 30 minutes and if it's browning too quickly, cover loosely with a foil tent.
7. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool to room temperature.

Peanut butter bars

2010-04-28T09:49:00.005+01:00

These peanut butter bars are a huge YUMM. I did overdose on them and regretted eating too many of them later on but thinking back it was totally worth it! The recipe from cooking on the side called for a 13x9 inch tin. I used a 9x9 inch tin just because I don't have a 13x9 inch tin and I prefer a thicker base. The slices look deceivingly tall but they're less than an inch high.

The bars turned out really rich, dense and fudgy. Very peanut buttery! Definitely recommend this recipe but only if you have backup when it comes to eating them. Will definitely make a different variation of this! Probably with a banana and jam filling. I cut down a fair bit on the sugar. I used a cup of sugar for the base and 1/2 a cup of sugar for the filling.

Peanut Butter Bars

makes one 9 inch cake

Crust

1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

2 eggs
2 tablespoons peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 185 C.

2. Mix butter, peanut butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla. Add flour and mix well. Reserve a cup of this mixture for the top.

3. Firmly press remaining mixture into bottom of greased baking pan.

4. Beat eggs, peanut butter and sugar together. Spread over unbaked crust. Sprinkle with reserved crust mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until set and top is golden. Cool in pan and cut into bars.

Mocha walnut marbled bundt cake

2010-04-27T11:54:00.006+01:00

Y went to Oxford over the weekend and came back with a very pretty looking bundt tin! I was worried about the cake sticking to the tin but after a generous butter and flouring, it popped out effortlessly.

I'm not part of the Tuesdays with Dorie's baking group but after looking at the pictures of their cakes, I just had to make her Mocha walnut marbled bundt cake. I got the recipe from the pastry brush's site. Note to self - the top of the cake turns out to be the bottom of the cake. That slipped my mine when I was doing the swirly marbled pattern on the cake. When it came to unmolding the cake, I got really excited by the pretty bundt tin pattern but it was only when I was taking pictures that I realised there was no marble-y pattern on the top of the cake. At least there's a pretty chocolate wave at the side of the cake.
The recipe was straight forward and easy to follow. I was a bit disappointed with this cake. The cake was a bit on the heavy side.
Mocha walnut marbled bundt cake
makes one 9 or 10 inch bundt cake

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup finely ground walnuts
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

8 oz + 1 oz butter (9 oz in total)
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 oz coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 tsp instant coffee
1/4 cup coffee
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole milk

1. Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 180 C. Butter the bundt pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. (If you’ve got a silicone bundt pan, there’s no need to butter or flour it.) Don’t place the pan on a baking sheet – you want the oven’s heat to circulate through the bundt’s inner tube.
2. Whisk together the flour, ground walnuts, baking powder, and salt.
3. Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Put 1 oz (2 Tbsp) of the butter, along with the chocolate, coffee and instant coffee. Heat the mixture, stirring often, until the butter and chocolate are melted and everything is smooth and creamy – keep the heat low so that the butter and chocolate don’t separate. Remove the bowl from the heat.
4. Working with a stand mixer, preferably with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the remaining 8 oz of butter and the sugar at medium speed for about 3 minutes – you’ll have a thick paste; this won’t be light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. The mixture should look smooth and satiny. Beat in the vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients and the milk alternately, adding the dry mixture in 3 portions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients).
5. Scrape a little less than half of the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate and, using a rubber spatula, stir to blend thoroughly.
6. If you want to go for the gingko pattern, scrape all of the white batter into the pan and top with the chocolate. If you want a more marbled pattern, alternate spoonfuls of light and dark batter in the pan. When all the batter is in the pan, swirl a table knife sparingly through the batters to marble them. (I used a chopstick to make the swirl pattern).
7. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the bundt pan to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes before unmolding, then cool the cake completely on the rack. (Mine took 60 minutes to bake).

Blondies

2010-04-26T11:34:00.004+01:00

Saturday was such a sunny day in London. I actually found it warm and didn't have to wear a second layer for once. Sunday on the other hand was wet and gloomy. This was a random bake during the day just because I was stuck indoors. I usually bake in the morning when everyone else is sleeping in cause I'm an early riser.

I used this recipe from Mike Lesiuk as the ingredients were simple and it used melted butter so no creaming of butter and sugar by hand required. The only difference I made was I cut down the sugar and used 3/4 cup and I added 1/2 tsp of baking powder. Simply because I prefer a cakey cake to a fudgy one.

The batter looked like a softer version of chocolate chip dough. I overbaked the blondie. I think I left it in there for 25 minutes. This is what happens when you don't have a timer and you rely on checking the clock every few minutes. And on top of that, I always forget the time I put the cake in oven in the first place.

The blondie is nearly finished with little help from anyone else. To be fair, the blondie is fairly short; it IS half the height of a normal cake.

Blondies
makes one 8 inch cake

4 oz melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Mix melted butter and sugar.
2. Mix in egg. Then vanilla.
3. Sift in salt, baking powder and flour.
4. Mix in chocolate chips.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 20-22 minutes.

Earl grey chiffon cake

2010-04-24T17:14:00.011+01:00

I've made chiffon cake before and they turned out okay I guess but this recipe from Happy Home Baking is absolutely delicious! I also just realised that I had previously presented the cake the wrong side up. The bottom/flat side of the cake is meant to be the top of the cake.

The aroma of earl grey filled the kitchen whilst the cake was in the oven. The earl grey taste is very distinct and the cake turned out light and fluffy. Will definitely use this recipe again but maybe make a different flavour like orange or lemon.

I remembered to take pictures for most of the steps! I got excited whilst taking pictures of the beating of the egg whites process. The only changes I made to the recipe was the addition of 1/4 tsp cream of tartar to the egg whites.

It's very important to make sure that the tube pan is grease free and dry when the batter is added to the pan.

Earl grey chiffon cake
makes one 7 inch diameter cake

A
3 egg yolks
30g caster sugar

50ml vegetable oil
75ml water

1 1/2 tsp baking powder
100g flour
1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp earl grey tea powder (3 sachets)

B
3 egg whites
40g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.
2. Separate egg yolks/whites and bring to room temperature.
3. Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl, add in sugar, in 3 separate additions and with a manual whisk, whisk till the mixture becomes sticky and turn pale.
4. Drizzle in the oil, whisking at the same time till the mixture is well combined. Repeat the same with the water. Sieve over the flour mixture and whisk until flour mixture is fully incorporated into the batter. Add in the earl grey powder and mix well.

5. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. (I beat the sugar and cream of tartar with the egg whites from the start)

6. Add the beaten egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
7. Pour batter into a 7 inch tube pan (do not grease the pan). Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.

8. Bake in preheated oven at 170 C for 45 minutes or until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
9. Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let cool completely before unmold. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the pan and the centre core. Release the cake and run the knife along the base of the pan to remove the cake.

Coffee walnut cookies

2010-04-23T08:41:00.009+01:00

When I saw this recipe on the LA times, I knew I had to make it. The presence of coffee in a recipe outweighs my dislikes of walnuts. I don't exactly hate walnuts, it just doesn't appeal to me. Though I have to admit, the smell of roasted walnuts is quite fragrant. Actually, I take my dislikes of walnuts back. As long as they're incorporated with something else and not presented on its own, I'm okay with walnuts.

These cookies are delicious! The coffee taste isn't as strong though. I'd probably dissolve a teaspoon of instant coffee into the milk next time and roast the walnuts for longer.

I ground the walnuts on its own in a hand held blender cause I had a feeling (*that tonight's gonna be a good night*) that it wouldn't work once the flour and sugar is added. The Black Eyed Peas song always comes to mind when anyone says I had a feeling!

The original recipe contains brandy but I just substituted it with milk. I also wrapped the dough in parchment paper instead of clingfilm cause clingfilm and me don't work. Firstly, cutting the silly clingfilm is annoying and I somehow always end up with a ball of clingfilm which is impossible to spread out again. I also made mine rectangular instead of circular as per the LA times recipe.

I added an extra 1/2 tsp of finely ground coffee and only decorated a third of the cookies with the whole coffee beans.

Coffee walnut cookies
makes 85 cookies

2 cups flour
1 cup roasted walnut
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp finely ground coffee beans (not espresso beans), plus whole beans for garnish
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp brandy (I used milk)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place walnuts and pulse till finely ground in a food processor.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, ground walnuts, ground coffee, salt and sugar.
3. Cut the butter into cubes and rub in the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Mix in the vanilla extract and brandy/milk. Knead by hand till a dough is formed.
5. Form the dough into a log, wrap in parchment paper/clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I refrigerated mine overnight.
6. Using a sharp knife, slice the dough into 1/4 inch slices. Press a coffee bean into the centre of each cookie.
7. Bake in a preheated 180 C oven on parchment paper for 13-15 minutes or till light golden brown.
8. Let the cookies firm up slightly before transferring them to a cooling rack.

* I used the rubbing in method for the dough as my hand held blender refused to budge when I added the flour and sugar to the ground walnuts. Please refer to the LA times recipe for the food processor/pulsing method.

Lemon glazed madeleines

2010-04-22T09:01:00.004+01:00

Y was showing me how madeleines are made. She used the lemon glazed madeleines recipe from David Lebovitz. Funny how the batter and pan needs to be chilled overnight. Y made the batter the night before and baked them the next morning. I sat in front of the oven whilst they baked and watched them rise in the oven. Apparently the bump on the madeleines are suppose to be pointy but hers came out round-ish. I think the round-ish bump looked quite nice.

The madeleines turned out to be super sweet cause of the glaze but they tasted good and look pretty so I'll definitely try making different flavoured ones.

Lemon glazed madeleines
makes 24 madeleines

3 eggs
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/8 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder

zest of one lemon
120g cooled melted butter

glaze
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp water

1. Brush the madeleine mold with melted butter and leave in the fridge to chill.
2. Whip the eggs, sugar and salt till frothy and thickened.
3. Sift dry ingredients and fold into egg mixture.
4. Add zest into melted butter and dribble butter into batter whilst stirring.
5. Chill batter for a couple hours.
6. Fill it 3/4s and do not spread the batter.
7. Bake in a preheated 200 C oven for 8-10 minutes.
8. Make glaze by whisking together ingredients.
9. When the madeleines are cool, dip in glaze and leave to dry on cooling rack.

Snickerdoodles

2010-04-21T10:22:00.007+01:00

I have always wanted to make snickerdoodles and always imagined them to be really sugary and cinnamon-y, kinda like the cinnamon cereal squares. They weren't. The cinnamon taste wasn't obvious and I don't think I coated them with enough sugar. They did however turn out to be rather pretty cookies, just like pictures from other blogs. This recipe is from smitten kitchen.

Y said that my snickerdoodles were tiny when she first saw them. I thought they were rather big cause two bites were required when eating my cookies. Aren't cookies supposed to be bite sized so technically mine should've been considered big?

I halved the recipe and ended up with about 40 cookies. My baking time was 13 minutes cause of the size of cookies. These cookies spread a fair bit so make sure they are spaced apart form each other when baking.

Snicker doodles
makes 80 cookies (depending on cookie size)

8 oz butter
1 1/2 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup caster sugar

1. Cream butter with sugar.
2. Beat in eggs.
3. Sift in flour and mix till incorporated.
4. Roll into balls and roll into cinnamon and sugar mixture and press down slightly.
5. Bake in preheated 200 C oven for 13 minutes.

Parmesan and thyme crackers

2010-04-20T07:26:00.010+01:00

Y grows fresh lemon thyme in her mini garden. Actually, it's just a patch of grass and the lemon thyme, mint and lavender are sitting in a pot. I've been trying to convince her to dig up a patch to plant a peach or cherry tree or even flowers. Instead, she gives me permission to dig up a tiny 1.5 feet x 1.5 feet plot which isn't even affiliated with the grass bit and is about half a foot deep. I chucked some flower seeds in and there're some chili seeds there too. There was a silly cat that dug my little plot up too right after I'd planted it! Will take pictures after if and when the flowers grow.

The parmesan and thyme crackers from charmandsalt taste exactly like Cheddars! Actually I haven't had Cheddars in years but they do remind me of Cheddars. This recipe's definitely a keeper. I'd add more fresh thyme though cause I couldn't taste thyme in the biscuits. I halved the recipe and ended up with 16 two inch biscuits.

Parmesan and thyme crackers
makes 32 two inch biscuits

4 oz butter
3 oz grated parmesan
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp thyme (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Beat butter till soft.
2. Add in remaining ingredients.
3. Roll out and cut into shapes.
4. Prick with fork and bake in a 180 C preheated oven on baking sheets lined with parchment paper for 20-22 minutes.

The mixture turned out crumbly so I kneaded it for a bit by hand till a dough formed.

Apple custard tea cakes

2010-04-19T16:54:00.009+01:00

I was a bit disappointed with this recipe. Thought it required more apples. I still have 2 more sour apples on top of the 6 apples I got today. The recipe says 1 large apple. In my opinion, the size of my sour apple is small so technically I should've used at least 1 and a half apples. I still ended up having to eat about a quarter of the 1 apple that I used.

I can never fill up cupcakes with just the right amount of batter. It's always either too much or too little. 1 of them kinda leaked out; more of a semi leak cause it didn't overflow from all sides but just a corner and the other 5 sorta have the pointy shape in the centre which I'm not really a fan of. I like cupcakes that are slightly rounded. Well, from the pictures, they don't really look pointy cause it's hidden by the sliced apples but from the back, there's an obvious bump where the pointy bit was trying to form (refer to muffin at the top and the one on its left and right in the picture below. It's not that obvious cause of the angle but if you were to take a side profile, there's an obvious pointy bit!).
This recipe is from the Australian Women's Weekly-the complete book of cupcakes, cheesecakes and cookies, page 85. The bf got it for me before we left Wales for London and I pretty much spent the entire journey going back and forth between recipes and napping.

The apple custard tea cakes is basically batter, custard and batter. No pictures of the making process cause I basically chatting on the phone whilst making the batter and by the time I got off, I had already filled up the cupcake cases with batter.

The cakes were yummy when they just came out of the oven but Y said that it had gone a bit solid by the time she got back which was a couple of hours later. I'll definately try making this again but not with this recipe. I quite like the idea of a secret filling hiding inside.

Apple custard tea cakes
makes 6 muffins

for custard
1 Tbsp custard powder
1 Tbsp caster sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

for batter
90g butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup custard powder
2 Tbsp milk
1 unpeeled apple, cored, sliced finely

30g melted butter
1 Tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Make custard according to instructions and leave to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 180 C and line muffin pan.
3. Beat butter, vanilla extract, sugar, eggs, flour, custard powder and milk until ingredients are combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until mixture is changed to a paler colour.
4. Divide half the mixture among cases. Top with a heaped Tbsp of custard and spread remaining batter to cover custard. Top with apple slices, pressing slightly into the batter.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Brush hot cakes with melted butter and sprinkle with combined sugar and cinnamon.

Note:

For the batter, I creamed the butter and sugar, incorporated the eggs and sifted in the flour but that's only cause I didn't read step 3. I also added an extra 1/2 tsp cinnamon to the batter.

Dinner - vege burgers and pizza

2010-04-18T21:31:00.012+01:00

The mint plant in the garden which was planted a week ago is still alive! It's so pretty and green! I'm not really an outdoor-sy person but plants and flowers always seem to amuse and excite me. There's lavender in the same pot too. Will make some cookies with lavender sometime.

Today's dinner was absolutely yummy. Sweet potato, chickpeas and cumin burger with yogurt sauce and pizza with chorizo and zucchini. The vege burger's recipe was made up as I went along - a bit of this and that so excuse the measurements. The yogurt sauce is delicious and I ended up dipping everything in the yogurt, even the pizza. I also made a simple salad of mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber and sun dried tomatoes drizzled with oil from the sun dried tomatoes and balsamic vinegar.

The pizza was made by my housemate with 2 types of cheese, chorizo and zucchini. Will post the recipe some other time. Yogurt sauce

500g greek yogurt
1/2 a cucumber
bunch of parsley
lemon zest
squeeze of lemon juice
salt and black pepper to taste (I used about a teaspoon of salt and quite a fair bit of black pepper)

Basically just chop the parsley, slice the cucumber thinly and mix everything together.

Sweet potato, chickpea and cumin burger

3 small sweet potatoes (boiled till tender)
1 can chickpeas
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 red onion (diced)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 egg
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup bread crumbs
salt and black pepper to taste

extra bread crumbs to coat

1. Mash chickpeas and sweet potato. Add in all other ingredients.
2. Roll into balls and cover with breadcrumbs.
3. Flatten and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Pan fry in oil till golden brown.

Honey almond flower cookies

2010-04-18T09:10:00.016+01:00

Back home, I usually bake using a kenwood mixer as long as the recipe involved butter. Well, I can justify using the mixer as creaming the butter by hand takes a lot of effort. Actually, I've actually never creamed butter by hand since I arrived in the UK, which was about 3 weeks ago. It's actually a workout!

I'm not a fan of almonds, especially when there's almond extract in a recipe but Hot Polka Dot's honey almond flower cookies looked so pretty and I couldn't resist not making them. I halved the recipe and took pictures this time! It's actually quite fun taking pictures whilst baking.

The first batch were smaller cookies, then I got lazy and made much bigger ones for the second batch. I actually baked mine for 12 minutes cause I forgot about the first batch whilst making the second batch and I forgot about the second batch because I was washing up. They turned out pretty good though. These cookies need to be spaced out as the spread/expand a fair bit.

Honey almond flower cookies
makes 40 cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 egg (keep the remaining half for egg wash)
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

slivered almonds for garnish
add 1/2 tsp water to remaining egg

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add the egg, honey and almond extract and mix well.
3. Sift in the dry ingredients.
4. Mix till dough is formed.
5. Preheat oven to 180 C and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Scoop a heaped tablespoon of dough and roll them into balls.
7. Flatten slightly.
8. Press almonds into each cookie in a flower arrangement.
9. Brush with egg wash.
10. Bake for 10 minutes.

Sausage bun

2010-04-17T04:23:00.031+01:00

The weather in the UK has been lovely; sunny and basically not wet. Well actually, I still found it a bit cold despite it being sunny but it's only because of the wind. And the flowers are just everywhere and they're so pretty and photogenic!

This is one of the bf's favourite baked goodies of mine. The last time I made this, I overbaked them and the bread ended up being chewy after a couple hours.

I've always had a phobia of baking with yeast and well egg white, but I shall save the egg white phobia for another day. It's the anticipation and waiting to see if the dough grows and whilst you're waiting, you kinda regret not kneading it for longer or maybe the temperature of the liquid wasn't warm enough.

I stumbled upon the fresh loaf and the phrase pigs in the blanket still seems to amuse me. I have always wanted to try using milk instead of water to make bread but having come from Malaysia, the idea of letting milk sit out on the counter in the usual hot and humid climate didn't appeal to me.

The buns came out soft and fluffy and stayed that way the next day. The entire batch was finished by day two so don't really know if it would've remained fluffy on day three. I used slightly more yeast than the original recipe as it was prepacked yeast and the sachet so happened to be 7g. I also added about 2 extra tablespoons of flour whilst kneading the dough as it was a bit sticky to handle. Sorry for the lack of pictures as I only decided to start blogging yesterday! Will have to get use to taking pictures during the making process.

I got tired or rolling out the dough and used the remaining dough to make a mini loaf bread. I rolled out the dough into a rectangle and evenly spread peanut butter and mashed up banana, rolled it up like a jelly roll and baked it. I preferred this to the sausage buns but it's only cause I'd choose peanut butter over frankfurters anyday!

Sausage bun (makes about 20)

300g strong white bread flour
7g instant yeast
10g or 2 tsp caster sugar
6g or 1 tsp salt

1 egg plus warm milk to weigh 220g (my egg weighed about 50g so I used 170g of milk)

30g melted butter

10 frankfurters (cut in half)
1 lightly beaten egg as egg wash

1. Mix together dry ingredients.
2. Stir in egg and milk mixture with wooden spoon (dough will be quite dry and crumbly).
3. Stir in melted butter.
4. Knead till smooth (this is the part where I added about 2 extra tablespoons of flour).
5. Place dough back in mixing bowl and leave in warm place to rise till doubled (mine took 1 1/2 hours).
6. Divide dough into 20 pieces.

7. Prepare parchment paper. Roll into long worms, stretch it a bit and wrap around frankfurter. Try to leave both ends at the bottom.

8. Leave to rise for about half an hour.
9. Bake in a preheated 190 C oven for about 13-15 minutes or till golden brown.

Apple cake

2010-04-16T09:37:00.018+01:00

Welcome to my first post.

This is my second time using this apple cake recipe from smitten kitchen. I have a really bad habit of not reading recipes before I begin. I usually only make sure that I have all the ingredients before beginning. Though I do assume that there's always sufficient flour or sugar in the house only to realise that there's none left when I've actually started the recipe and are halfway through the steps of adding the ingredients. Oh, and I usually jumble up the steps too. My bad.

The first time I made the cake, I didn't read the part about adding the batter, apples, batter then apples. I just did batter and apples. I thought it was odd that I had too much apples at the top of the cake and that 50% of the apples fell off after the cake was removed from its tin. Mind you, this was 2 years ago. I did keep the recipe as the cake was a big hit at the party I made it for.

Last week, I bought a bag of apples (about 10 of them) for a pound and I thought to myself, money well spent. I had one and it was one of the sour-est bunch of apples I had ever eaten! Ok, I might be exaggerating a tiny bit but I wasn't going to torture myself by eating another one.

I whipped out smitten kitchen's recipe, halved the recipe and voila. The smell of cinnamon in the air whilst the cake is baking, yum yum. Ooh, and the cake is moist on its own and goes perfectly with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.

Sorry for the lack of pictures as I forgot to whip out the camera whilst making it.

I made a few changes to the recipe. I used 4 apples though when I realised that there should be 2 apple layers and I reduced the amount of sugar.

Apple cake recipe

4 apples
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup milk
zest of an orange
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C.
2. Grease a 7 inch bundt tin and line with parchment paper.
3. Remove apple cores and cut into chunks. Toss with brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice.
4. Sift together dry ingredients.
5. Whisk together wet ingredients.
6. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
7. Pour and spread half the batter into the tin, half the apples, the remaining half of batter and then apples.
8. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.