THB #6 Mocha-Cappuccino Marbled Coffee Cake - Another Birthday Cake For Ian

I baked this sixth cake for THB for Ian's birthday cake to be brought to his school to celebrate with his classmates

Among many car toys he loves, he adores Tomica the most
And the edible image on the cake below is his request :)

 

I was so tempted to add a little kahlua in the cake, but many kids would eat this cake, so no, not this time, but I am sure it would taste nice!
I baked some in cupcakes for our own consumption

 

From the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas
Very straight forward cake to make, I love the coffee taste and aroma
Soft texture, light, not dry and yummy taste everybody in the house loves :)
I almost forgot that chocolate and coffee work well together, too - the color and the taste, too
I wasn't sure why I didn't get the marble effect, I did swirl the batter with skewer, perhaps I didn't do it correctly :)

I followed the recipe to the dot except that I reduced the sugar to 190g and I divided equally half each for chocolate and coffee batter
Used melted dark chocolate (50%) and added the coffee mixture to 2 1/2 tbsp for both the powder and water

For full recipe, please visit Lena's site, she chose this delicious tea time perfect companion :)
Please view HERE to check out other members' creations of this cake

Fire Truck Birthday Cake For Ian - He's 5 Today! - Gluten Free Steamed Brownies

See what I have made today, it's a birthday cake for Ian
He requested for a fire truck cake
He's not only a car lover, but also all kinds of trucks, buses and all heavy weight machines
Last year I did a car cake for him at his request too, so this year he switched to something else :)
Luckily I could find a tutorial for the cake from Betty Crocker, you may watch the video HERE
My first barbie cake last year also followed tutorial from Betty Crocker

It's a simple cake - well, looked simple enough to me but still I couldn't make as neat as the one in the video, as you know, I'm a big zero in cake decorating LOL

Anyway, Ian loved it so much!
He did watch the video too a couple of times, so when I did the carving and the frosting also the decorating, he was all the time beside me, watching me doing everything, and commenting what to do next :)

It's 100% buttercream frosting, the wheels are oreo biscuits, the lights are all gummies, and the hose is fondant, since I couldn't find black licorice

Hhhhmmm I wonder how to make my hands not trembling and moved steadily while doing the frosting, as you can see, those meant to be straight lines weren't straight, eg: the windows, and the rest... wew...

Well, what matters most is, the birthday boy was happy :)

I used Indonesian style Mrs Liem steamed brownies recipe, very well known among Indonesian foodies
Very fine texture, soft but sturdy enough to be used for 3D carved cake
Very yummy, moist and chocolatey

Here's the recipe, I made this cake gluten free by replacing the plain flour with gluten free flour mixture (GFF)

For the GFF:

1 cup rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour

Mix well all three flours together in airtight container and store in it
Makes 2 cups

This GFF gives very satisfying result that mocaf flour can't compare
I definitely prefer this mixture

For the cake:

6 eggs
225g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp sponge gel (optional)
125g GFF
50g cocoa powder (I used valrhona)
175ml canola oil
100g dark chocolate, melted
75ml sweet condensed milk

1. Grease pans (I used 2 loaf pans)
2. Beat eggs, sugar and sponge gel til ribbon stage (high speed)
3. On low speed, add in sifted GFF flour, cocoa powder and mix well
4. Add in melted chocolate and oil, mix well
5. Divide the batter into three parts, one parts to mix with sweet condensed milk
6. Preheat steamer til very hot
7. Pour one part of the batter in the pans, and put them in steamer, steam for 10 minutes over medium fire
8. Pour the batter with sweet condensed milk on top and steam for another 10 minutes
9. Pour the last part of the batter and steam for another 20-25 minutes

For the buttercream, I used Aunty Yochana's recipe:

What you need:

200g sugar
60g water
140g egg white
300g butter
300g shortening

1.  Boil sugar and water till thick but flowy
2.  Beat egg white  (high speed) till fluffy (medium peak), then pour in the hot syrup
3.  Continue beating the egg white till cool (low speed)
4.  Slowly add in the chilled butter and shortening and let it beat till thick and fluffy

 

Here's a snap of the cake texture, so fine, chocolatey, soft and moist!

 

 

 

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #21 Gluten Free Bakes hosted by Hankerie

Now, I have another cake to bake to bring to his school on Monday to celebrate with his friends
Wanted to do this morning but since today was Racial Harmony Day and they had programs at the school, so we're advised to do the celebration on Monday instead

 

 

To Ian, happy birthday to you
Mummy, daddy and Abby love you, as always!
God bless you always
Hugs and kisses XOXO

Fried Spaghetti

Simple dish when I am so bored of the classic pasta dishes I always cook for my family
A nice twist which loved by my kids, too :)

Recipe is from Melly's site

What you need:

100g spaghetti

5 prawns - deshelled and washed

1/2 capsicum, cut small (I use yellow, you might use red, too)

4 button mushrooms, sliced

1 large chilli, thinly sliced (I skipped this, my kids don't eat spicy food - yet :P)

1/4 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp chilli sauce (I skipped this too, if not cos of my kids I would have added this! :P)

2 tbsp spaghetti sauce (I used Prego roasted garlic and parmesan)

salt and pepper to taste

chopped spring onion to garnish

cooking oil

a pot of water with a big pinch of salt

1. Heat salt water in a pot til boiling, add in spaghetti and cook til al dente, drain and splash with cold water, set aside
2. Heat oil on a pan, stir fry garlic and onion til fragrant and soft
3. Add in prawns, capsicum, mushrooms, chilli and mix well
4. Add in spaghetti, oyster sauce, spaghetti sauce, chilli sauce and mix well
5. Add in salt and pepper to taste
6. Arrange on a serving plate, garnish with spring onion

Yummy yummy lunch to munch :)

Bake Along #28 - Gluten Free Coconut Checkerboard Brownies

I was curious to find how this two combination taste like
Brownies and coconut, one thing I never think of putting together
To my surprise, it's not bad at all - an occasional nice twist which every brownie lover can't say no to
East and West brownies, very nice indeed :)

Knowing that my kids will not fancy brownies with coconut, I made using 20cm square pan, half just plain brownies :)
They enjoyed the brownies, a little too sweet - even though I have reduced the amount of sugar used, but nice

One problem was, I couldn't make a nice checkerboard design, I wasn't sure what I made actually... Checkerboard? No... Polkadot? No...
Anyway, it looked better after I cut into small squares hehehe....

Fudgy brownies - my kind of brownies :)

Recipe is from the book Bon Appetit Desserts by Barbara Fairchild

What you need:
(modified to suit my family liking)

Coconut batter:
(I made half of the recipe below)

200g fresh grated coconut
20g icing sugar
60ml cream of coconut
60g Philadelphia cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cube, room temperature
1 large egg
a big squeeze of lemon juice
pinch of salt

Brownies batter:

90g unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
100g dark chocolate, chopped
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
200g golden brown sugar (will reduce to 150g the next time I bake this again)
85g mocaf flour, sifted then measured
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

To make the coconut batter:
Measure 1/3 cup flaked coconut, cover and set aside. Place the remaining coconut and sugar in processor, finely chop. Add cream of coconut, cream cheese and blend well. Add egg, lemon juice and salt, blend well, stop ocassionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Transfer to bowl. Cover and refrigerate til very firm, about 3 hours (I did overnight)

To make the brownies batter:
Butter pan (I used 20 x 20 x 4cm square pan). Melt butter and chocolate in heave small saucepan over low heat, stir til smooth. Pour into medium bowl. Cool to lukewarm. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Whisk sugar, flour, baking powder, salt in small bowl
Sift over chocolate mixture. Mix til blended and smooth. Spread 1 1/4 cups of the batter in the pan and cover pan tightly with aluminium foil. Refrigerate til very firm about 3 hours. Also refrigerate the remaining batter in the container (I did overnight)

1. Position rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 165degC
2. Alternate 1 tbsp of the remaining brownies batter and 1 tbsp of coconut batter over chocolate layer, filling pan completely. Sprinkle reserved 1/3 cup of the coconut over coconut mounds, press gently to adhere. bake for approximately 45 minutes til skewer comes out clean
3. Cool completely and cut

This time, I used gluten free mocaf flour for this brownies, this is my second brownies using this flour (the first one I used different recipe) and both gave nice results
A little details about mocaf flour can be read HERE

Initially I wanted to use gluten free flour mixture from this site which many gave good reviews
But then I realized what I had was tapioca starch, while the recipe said tapioca flour
I wasn't sure whether these two are the same or different
I googled for information, many said they're the same, but some said different
So, I decided to use mocaf flour for now, while searching for the real truth :)
Anybody know the answer? :)

This post is for Bake Along event, hosted by Joyce, Lena and Zoe

Please view other wonderful bakers in the link tool below to see their lovely brownies too :)

I'm also submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #21 Gluten Free Bakes hosted by Hankerie

Banana Chocolate Sprinkles Cake Pops

I was trying one of the recipe have been in my to do list for quite sometime, moist banana cake from Edith's site, when I realized there's something wrong with my oven, I guess the temperature dropped, the cake was only fully baked after an hour while Edith wrote it only took 20 minutes to bake!
As a result, the cake didn't turn out nice, it sunk, and the texture was dense and the cake was heavy. Eating the cake was no fun at all :(

So, since LBT challenge this month is cake pops, I decided to trasnform the disappointment into something for others to enjoy, in this case - the kids :)

I crushed most of the cake with my own hand to relieve my sorrow LOL
Mixed it with Martha Stewart cream cheese frosting til it's sticky enough to shape, shaped into balls
Dipped lollipop sticks in melted dark chocolate and white chocolate and poked the balls with them, immediately kept them in the fridge for an hour

The white and dark chocolate dips, pearls, stars and hearts sprinkles, gummies, and the styrofoam board

After an hour in the fridge, dip the pops into the chocolates and sprinkles as desired and put it standing upright by poking the sticks into the styrofoam board, and chilled overnight

And here is mine...

This one was just dipped plain without any sprinkles, I prefer to bite without sprinkles :P

Ok, I was feeling a little better after seeing the little pops and watching my kids happily munching on them. Sorrow turned to joy LOL

Now, gotta call the oven service centre to ask them to give it a check *sigh*

Tofu Puff in Hot Sour Sauce (Tahu Gejrot)

This snack is easy to find anywhere in Indonesia, from roadside stalls to foodcourts
But in Singapore, I gotta make it myself to be able to enjoy this traditional snack I haven't had in ages :)

I was delighted to see the recipe in Dessy's site and immediately gave it a go
Hhhmmm so refreshing, especially when the sauce is kept chilled in the fridge, poured on the still hot tofu :)

What you need:

10pcs of tofu puff, fried til crisp and cut

For the sauce:
half block of palm sugar
2 tbsp
2 tbsp dark sweet soya sauce (kecap manis)
1 tsp salt
350ml water

For the chilli topping: (mix together)
4 shallots, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 bird's eye chillis, chopped

1. Bring to boil all ingredients for the sauce, strain
2. Pour over the hot tofu and eat with the chilli topping

Simple and satisfying, I love! :)

Meatballs Pizza (Jamie Oliver)

I did make meatball pizza, after I mentioned it in my last posting :)
This pizza used Jamie's pizza dough recipe, which I ever made before, and we loved it :)

Here's the recipe:

What you need:

(below is double recipe)

260ml lukewarm water

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp instant yeast

2tbs extra virgin olive oil

400g bread flour

1 tsp sea salt

Topping:
Jamie's meatballs (recipe HERE) - halved
tomato based pasta sauce (I used Prego traditional)
button mushrooms, cut
grated cheddar cheese
grated mozzarella cheese

1. Sprinkle sugar and yeast over water. Set aside for about 10 min till frothy
2. Pour yeast mixture and oil into flour and salt
3. Knead dough till smooth and springy
4. Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl. Proof for about 30 min till double in size
5. Knock back dough and roll out to a 12" circle
6. Place on a greased and floured baking pan
7. Spread tomato based pasta sauce of your choice, place halved meatballs, cut button mushrooms, and then sprinkle grated cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese
8. Bake in preheated oven of 220degC for 15-20 min till the crust is brown and the cheese is bubbly

The pizza dough is another keeper recipe, a must try!