My Scones

Haha...and I finally managed to do it properly this time! I baked scones and it tasted nice and fluffy unlike the other times. I did manage to adapt from this recipe but I added raisins instead of cheddar and forgot to add sugar! But all was good and I think I will make this again.

Raisin Scones:
100g butter
2 cups plain flour
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 cup milk (leave some for glaze)
1 Packet of raisins

Bake them for 10-15mins at 230deg. Enjoy them with clotted cream/butter/jam/plain!

Banana Cake Again!

I baked them the week before the last. I baked them again last week. 2 consecutive weeks of banana cake baking. There is a slight difference hence this post.

So following last week's recipe, instead of 3 bananas, I made it with 4 bananas with no changes being made to the rest of the ingredients. 2 bananas for mashing into the cake batter and the other two were sliced and placed in between and on top of the cake. As you can see, this cake looked more browned.

The insides of the cake does not look like a banana cake at this point as there were no black speckles, aka seeds of banana, and the texture is like a sponge cake with sliced bananas. They were so shy that they only appeared the following morning.

Rejoice! It is a banana cake after all. They can be eaten warm or cold and tastes best on the 2nd day after and I like this one better than the previous one.

Banana Cake

This time round, I have decided to make a simple banana cake. I have put in much less sugar comparatively to my past attempts. Recipe and method are the same as the previous times. Adaptation from Exclusively Food.

Banana Cake:
125g butter, softened
50g raw sugar
3 large ripe bananas (reserve 1 for decorating)
2 eggs
100ml buttermilk
225g plain flour 1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Notes:

The original recipe calls for 330g of sugar and because I thought of trying something with much lower sugar content so I just added 50g of raw sugar. I did not have self-raising flour on hand so I just adjusted that part.

The cake batter turned out a bit dry and I think I poured out about 50ml more of the buttermilk to mix in the batter.

Pour half of the cake batter in the cake tin and spread evenly. Place sliced bananas and then top up the rest of the batter and place in more sliced bananas. I could do with more bananas in future as the banana taste was not very strong.

This cake was baked for about 40mins but the top part seemed pale looking. I deduced that the reason could be due to the lesser sugar content. I adjusted the oven a bit so that the top part can be browned.

The taste was just nice. The feedback given was that one could take 2 slices and not feel overloaded with sugar and grease. Success is mine! ;op

Banana cake innards

Chocolate Rice Banana Muffin

Sort of.

I kinda made up the recipe myself and realised its a tad too sweet. I didn't know what I was doing so i sliced a banana and slipped a slice in the centre. The muffin turned out to be interesting. The top part was slightly crusty and chocolaty and the centre was soft with mushy banana.

I think I had 3 of these yummy treats.

Chocolate Rice Banana Muffin
2 cups self raising flour
100g butter, cubed
2 eggs
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup milk(or less, depending on mixture)
1 teaspoon baking powder
chocolate rice for topping
1 banana, sliced
1/2 tsp salt

• Preheat oven to 180 deg.
• Sift the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
• Beat the 2 eggs and raw sugar. Set aside for later use.
  
• Rub in the butter into the flour until it becomes crumbly buttery mixture.
  
• Pour in the egg mixture to the flour.
  
• With a light hand, use a fork to gently mix them together.
  
• Stir in milk until it all comes together and just combined like a muffin mix.
  
• DO NOT OVERMIX.
• Spoon a little batter in the cupcake liner or aluminium case.
  
• Place a slice of banana and cover the banana with more batter until full.
  
• Sprinkle chocolate rice on top
  
• Bake them for about 15-20mins.

Random eats

Cereal killer...with Meiji fresh milk {office brekkie}

Kopi Si {Toast Box}

Blurred pic of cauliflower gratin that I made

Teh Si. Model from Texas posing. {Toast Box}

Maggie Goreng {Al Ameen}

Chocolate cake that tasted like a bar. Too much cocoa. Sick after this.

Steak, medium rare. {Buddy Hoagies}

Chappati from KL kopitiam

Herbed Fish {Manhanttan Fish Market - KL}

Seafood Platter {Manhanttan Fish Market - KL}

Lemon & Herb Chicken {Nandos - KL}

Chicken chop from One Utama, KL

Chicken Adobo from One Utama, KL

Blueberry ball Toast {Old Town White Coffee, JB}

Meat craving {Carnivore}

Silly orange muffin that did not work out at all.

Scrumptious Noodles! {Circular Sumptous Square}

Half a duck. All mine!

I'll just post pictures of what I have eaten so far... In a bid to pack my own lunch and eat better food, I will post my pictures of packed lunches/breakfasts whenever I can.

Savoury Cheese Muffins

I am jumping for joy as I took the muffins out from the tray last night. This was my first attempt in baking something savoury and I must say I like the smell, taste and looks of it. Gab did not want any sweet bakes anymore because I told her that I wanted to try out olive oil brownies. I thought of a cheese muffin immediately and I really cannot remember the source of recipe.

I have added a few things to the muffin batter and initially wanted to name this as the Cheese & Chives muffin but after much consideration, I think this generic name suits it better as I may just change a few ingredients in the future.

Savoury Cheese Muffins
2 cups self raising flour
2 eggs
1 cup fresh milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese*
1/4 cup olive oil
1 level tbsp raw sugar
bunch of chives*
chilli flakes*
1/2 tsp salt

• Preheat oven to 180 deg.
• Sift the flour and set aside.
• I used Kraft's Cheddar Cheese and grated them to a little more than a cup.
• Set some grated cheese aside for use later on top of the muffins.
• Mix flour, grated cheese, chilli flakes in a bowl.
• Beat 2 eggs, raw sugar with a fork until it bubbles.
• Stir in the olive oil, followed by the milk and chives.
• Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the egg mix into the well.
• Use a fork and stir everything until it is just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.
• Line the muffin pan with cupcake liners and spoon until it is 2/3 full.
• Bake them for about 15-20mins.

Garlic mustard sauce
1 clove of garlic minced
1 tsp of English mustard sauce (I used Coleman's)
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of lemon juice
3 tbsp of mayonnaise

• Mix them well and you get this wonderful sauce!

Notes:

• I made about 11 muffins. You can get 12 or more if the mixture in each cup is lesser or the liner is smaller.
• *You can substitute the ingredients with other alternatives like stronger cheeses, or replace the chives with scallions or chilli flakes with paprika.*
• The sauce can give you dragon's breath because of the raw garlic but it is absolutely delicious!
• This muffin is not very cheesy so it is suitable for many people.
• The tangy sauce can actually make you eat more than one muffin at a go.
• You could use them as a side dish.
• Thanks Gab & Anna!!! For simply everything!!!

Light, golden fluffy goodness!!

X'mas assorted cookies

Assortment of shortbread cookies!

I have to credit Vanna White first because without any assistance, I would not be able to complete this almost impossible task.

I followed 2 recipes and hence have 2 types of dough. Recipes were taken and adapted from Exclusively Food & Joy of Baking. The only thing that I have substituted for both recipes is the vanilla extract with the organic vanilla pods that I have on hand. Feel free to use either one.

Melting Moments Recipe (Review & Notes):

• Dough was pretty soft to work with so I had left them in the fridge for about an hour before working with it. I needed quite a bit of flour to prevent them from sticking.
• The oven and baking tray was a little small so I had to bake them in many batches hence the different flavours because I was bored.
• Instead of baking at 150 degs, I baked the cookies at 190 degs for 30mins each batch as they did not get cooked after 20mins.
• They will not change colour.
• They had a milky taste to it and crumbles in your mouth.
• I could change the butter to a better quality one the next time.
• Flavours: Original & Cinnamon sugar.
• My melting moments cookie does not have the lemon icing in between.
  

Shortbread cookies Recipe (Review & Notes):

• Same as above except that this was easier to work with because of more flour.
• For the Jam Drop cookie, just use your thumb to make that little "well" for the jam.
• The strawberry jam needed was very little so be aware and careful when spooning the jam onto the little "well".
• I used the strawberry milk choco bits that I got from Phoon Huat and scattered in the dough.
• Can increase the flavours for all the cookies.
• Shortbread tastes drier and more crisp.
• Flavours: Star Shaped Shortbread, White Chocolate chip cookie, Jam Drop Cookie, Strawberry Milk cookie.
• Can keep up to 2 weeks when refrigerated.

I can take orders for up to 3 flavours @ S$13.

Thank you. Cheers!

Banana Loaf with White Chocolate Chips

I had some leftover bananas so I decided to bake something small. I got myself those aluminum loaf pans like those for Sara Lee cakes so it was more convenient. You can purchase them at Phoon Huat. This recipe was inspired by my previous effort to make the banana cake.

Banana Loaf with White Chocolate Chips
80g butter
50g sugar
1 egg
2 ripe bananas
50g self raising flour
50g Quaker oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
handful of white chocolate chips
dash of cinnamon powder

• Preheat oven to 180 deg.
• Cream butter and sugar. Do not panic if they do not cream well.
• Add the egg to the butter and continue to blend them.
• Add the bananas, reserving about half of the banana for slicing and decorating the loaf. You can pre-mash the bananas before adding them.
• The mixture will curdle but will all come together when you add the dry ingredients.
• Add oatmeal and the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Do not overmix.
• Fold in the white chocolate chips and cinnamon powder.
• Pour the batter into the loaf pan and decorate it with the banana slices and some white chocolate chips.
• Bake them for about 15-20mins or until it has risen well.

Notes:
The banana loaf's texture is more grainy and crumbly.
I did not have enough flour this time so the oatmeal is replaceable.

Cupcakes: Peanut Buttercream & Maple Buttercream

This was totally an experiment. The texture for some of the cupcakes were slightly harder than expected but luckily for me, they were still pretty edible after dressing them with flavoured buttercream. Anyone who has good sponge cake recipes, please let me know.

Waiting to be dressed...

Sponge Cupcakes (Makes about 18 small cupcakes)
4 eggs
110g sugar
110g flour
25g melted butter

• Preheat oven to 200 deg.
• Whisk whole eggs and sugar together until thick batter consistency. The batter should be pale and creamy and coats the whisk when you lift the whisk up. About 10mins.
• Fold in the flour and ensure that all are properly mixed.
• Add the melted butter and fold in carefully.
• Spoon the batter into the cupcake casings until almost full or 2/3 full.
• Bake for 8-10mins.
• Let the cupcakes cool.

Buttercream
125g butter
80g powdered sugar
1 heaped teaspoon cocoa powder (Optional)

• Whip the butter until it is pale and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
• The cocoa powder was added to give the buttercream some colour. It did not make any difference to the taste of the buttercream.

Peanut Buttercream
3 tablespoons (or more) creamy peanut butter

• Add the peanut butter to HALF of the creamed mixture and continue to whip.

Assembling:
1 orange rind
1 tablespoon orange marmalade mixed with 1 tablespoon of hot water

• Brush the marmalade mixture generously on the top of the cupcake.
• Pipe the peanut buttercream on top and sprinkle orange rind as garnish.

Maple Buttercream
3 tablespoons maple syrup

• Add the maple syrup to the other HALF of the creamed mixture and continue to whip.

Assembling:
White chocolate chips
Strawberry choco flakes
Hundreds & Thousands (Rainbow sprinkles)

• Spoon the maple buttercream on top, spread and sprinkle the toppings as garnish.

Strawberry Crumble

1st helping

I was inspired to bake something out of the strawberries because I grabbed 2 punnets at S$4.65, which was considered quite affordable. I baked 2 batches using one punnet each time and this has inspired me to consider other filling options like blueberries or apples in future.

Sliced strawberries

Strawberry Crumble:
For the crumble and base
11/4 cup of self raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
125g of cold butter (salted)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder - Optional
5 teaspoons of beaten egg mixture

Strawberry filling
1 punnet of strawberry (250g)
2 teaspoon of cornflour
1/4 cup of sugar

• Preheat your oven to 180 deg.
• Slice the strawberries and mix the cornflour and sugar and leave them aside for later use.
• Put the flour, sugar, cinnamon powder and cubes of cold butter in a bowl.
• Use a fork and start mashing the butter in the flour to make it look like breadcrumbs.
• Once the mixture is like breadcrumbs, add in the egg mixture.
• Mix them until lumpy.
• Place half of the dough mixture on a baking pan (4"x8") and use your hands to press them down until the dough covers the bottom of the pan.
• Place the strawberries nicely on top.
• spread the crumble on top of the strawberries. You may wish to sprinkle some extra sugar or cinnamon.
• Bake for 20mins or until the fillings start bubbling. It will resemble like strawberry jam.
• Let cool completely before cutting them up.
• Stare your baked good in awe, pat yourself on the back and enjoy.

Notes:
The first crumble I did was too soggy because of too much egg. The second one has more crisp to it so it you like it crisp, add less egg to them.

Lining strawberries in the pan

The result!

2nd helping. Wish you could eat!

Swiss Rolls with Coffee Butter Cream

When I woke up yesterday morning, I had an urge to bake Swiss rolls even though I have not baked them before. I still have not decided whether to bake them until I was alone in the kitchen. I could hear my inner voice chanting "just do it..."

I was pretty pleased with the result and that got me to do the second roll. So here, I spent my Sunday afternoon baking.

This 2nd sponge cake is flavoured with coffee. Does not look very nice. :o(

I really spread the butter cream very thinly.

The 1st roll is on the right. The 2nd roll (all coffee flavoured) looks smaller.

In different lighting.

Cross section. The family loves it! :o)

Ta dah!!! My first swiss roll...

"Eat me! Eat me!!"

The pockets of flour.... :o(

Swiss Roll with Coffee Butter Cream:
The sponge cake
2 eggs
50g sugar
50g cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• Preheat oven to 200 deg.
• Using an electric whisk, just whisk the eggs for about 5-8 mins until it is thick enough to coat the whisk.
• Add sugar during the whisking of the egg.
• Sift cake flour and baking powder into the egg mixture. Fold in gently until the flour is incorporated thoroughly.
• Pour into a rectangular tray which is already lined with parchment paper and greased. (I am not good with measurement so please pick a suitably sized tray. Not more than 10" x 15")
• Spread it thinly.
• Bake the cake for about 7-10mins. The cake will spring back when you use your fingers to press them.
• I rolled the cake up and left it to cool before spreading butter cream as they will melt if the cake is still warm.

Coffee Butter Cream
125g butter
50g powdered sugar
1 heaped teaspoon Nescafe mixed with 1 tablespoon warm water

• Whip the butter until it is pale and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and coffee mixture. You can adjust both the sugar and coffee amount here to suit your taste. I did not really measure.
  
• Spread on the cake thinly. Mine was done thinly but somehow ended up with a thick butter cream filling. No complaints here though. ;oP
• Roll them up and place in fridge for about 30mins before cutting them.
• The cream is more than enough for 2 rolls so you may want to keep them for other uses.

Notes:

• Do mix the flour well because I ended with flour pockets in my swiss roll but luckily, no one minded.
• Cake flour is used here because the texture of the cake will be finer and it makes it easier to roll.
• Sponge cake is much drier than butter cake ones so having butter cream as the filling also makes it more appetising.
• Greasing the parchment paper is important because for the 2nd roll, I ended up with an uglier looking cake as a lot of cake was stuck to the paper.
• You can take them out 10mins before serving as the cream will be softer.

PS: I am just very excited that they turned out well hence I decided to put up most of their pictures although they are not in sequence. Enjoy!