Bake Along #47 Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins

Once you pop, you can't stop
It happened, and it scared me I had to pretend not to see some of these little addictive treats
So yummy, a challenge for weight watchers :P

I made the batter without any cinnamon, cardamom or nutmeg - for the sake of my kids
I added vanilla extract instead
I used mini muffin pan and mini donut pan, I got 12 each
Those little muffins, I added chocolate rice in the batter, and coated with caster sugar - to attract my kids' attention LOL
The mini donuts were coated with cinnamon sugar
For me, I prefer the latter, of course :)

 

 

The chocolate rice in the little muffins..

 

 

 

Recipe is from the book "The Back In The Day Bakery Cookbook" by Cheryl and Griffith Day which I saw from Rumbling Tummy

 

What you need: (my version - I made half recipe)

 

187g plain flour

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

110g fresh milk

1 tbsp plain low fat yoghurt

60g unsalted butter, room temperature

60g fine sugar

1 large egg (60g without shell)

 

For the coating:

100g unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar mixed with 2 tbsp. ground cinnamon

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180degC. Grease mini donut pan and line mini muffin pan with mini muffin case
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt. In another bowl, combine fresh milk and yoghurt
3. In a bowl, cream butter for 3 minutes over medium speed
4. Lower speed and add in sugar gradually. Continue to mix til lightens in color
5. Add in egg, beating til just combined
6. Add in the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk mixture, mixing just until smooth, do not overmix
7. Scoop batter into the pans, fill them about 2/3 full
8. For the mini muffins, in each cup I scooped half batter, sprinkle chocolate rice on them, and covered with the other half batter
9. Bake for 20 minutes, til the tops are firm to the touch and lightly golden
10. While the muffins are in the oven, prepare a bowl of melted butter and another bowl of cinnamon sugar (I had one more bowl for caster sugar)
11. Let the doughnuts cool completely on a wire rack. Dunk them in melted butter then coat them with cinnamon sugar. Do the same for mini muffins, coat them with caster sugar
12. Store in airtight containers for up to 2 days

 

 

This post is for Bake Along, a baking event organised by  Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids

 

KL Hokkien Mee

First response from my family members.... so black! LOL
I personally, like the taste. Yes I did make it too dark, but aside from that, it's yummy
But my kids didn't really enjoy eating this dish. They had it for lunch then they requested for something else for dinner. Can we not having that black noodle again for dinner? they said hahaha...
My mum said, not bad. She never had KL hokkien mee before
DH said, nice, but yes it's too dark LOL

Recipe is from Wendy's site

What you need:

500gm thick yellow noodles
1/2 cup sliced pork, marinate with 1/3 tsp salt
1/2 cup peeled prawns
1/2 cup pork fat, raw
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
250gm cabbage, slliced
100gm indian mustard, stem and leaf separated
4 tbsp dark caramel sauce, or as dark as u like (I'd prefer 3 tbsp next time)
1 heaped tbsp dried sole powder (I grinded deep fried dried sole fish)
2 tbsp light soy sauce, or to taste
white pepper powder
2 cups water

Method:

1. Put noodles in hot water for 10 seconds, drain
2. Heat wok over medium heat and cook pork fat. Let it cook until oil starts to ooze out. Turn heat to low and slowly render the lard out and cook until the solid fat pieces turn golden and crispy. Drain and keep the crispy fat and lard separately
3. Heat wok and put in 1 tbsp oil and cook pork, dish up
4. Heat another 1 tbsp oil and cook prawns, dish up
5. Heat another 1 tbsp oil and cook garlic til fragrant
6. Add in cabbage, toss quickly and add in the indian mustard stems
7. Put in noodles, seared pork and prawns, give a toss and add water
8. Add seasonings and bring to boil
9. Cover wok and let it cooked for 8 minutes til noodles softened
10. Add in green mustard leaves and cook til it wilts and dish up

This post is for Malaysian Food Fest KL Selangor Month hosted by Shannon of Just as Delish

Kong Low Noodles (Dried Sauce Noodles)

So simple to cook, and so yummy my whole family enjoys this dish so much :)

 

 

Recipe is from Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover which I modified a little...

 

What you need:

 

a packet of Cintan non fried dried noodles, prepare as directed

2 large shallots, sliced thinly

250g minced pork

a packet of shitake mushroom, sliced

fish balls

bokchoy, cut

chicken bone

a pot of water

a little cooking oil, pepper, salt, vinegar, fish sauce, sesame oil, light soya sauce, a little dark sweet soya sauce (kecap manis)

 

Method:

1. Marinade minced pork with salt, vinegar and fish sauce, set aside for 30 minutes
2. Mix cooked noodles with sesame oil, light soya sauce
3. Heat oil in a wok, sautee shallots til fragrant
4. Add in marinated minced pork, stir til cooked. Add in mushroom, stir and cook well
5. Adjust taste by adding a little more salt, pepper and dark sweet soya sauce. Remove from heat
6. Bring a pot of water with chicken bone to a boil
7. Lower heat, add in fishballs and wait til they're floating
8. Adjust taste (fishballs will make the soup salty I didn't add anymore salt)
9. Add in bokchoy, simmer for a minute and remove from heat
10. Arrange cooked noodle in a bowl and add in minced pork, fish balls and bokchoy
11. Pour some soup on top of noodles (not too much, just enough to wet the noodles)
12. Sprinkle fried shallots on top
13. Serve immediately

 

Bake Along #46 Lemon Cheddar Cheese Cake

Phew..... Finally I write again in my blog
It's close to a month since the last time I did wooaaa...

June has been a busy month for me, but this year was even busier
School holiday, the kids were bored that most of the days we were outside, ended up we had most of our meals outside, too
I had some family issues to resolve too which gave me quite a headache that whenever we're at home, I just lost my mood to cook so I just bought outside food
Some days my mum cooked for us, my saviour :P
Went for a short break then came back with a super smoky Singapore, I was so put off to even going into the kitchen, it was so hot!
So, there goes the whole month of June, my kitchen was also on holiday LOL

Luckily the weather is getting better now, as well as my mood, and since first day of school I have been on track, cooking for my family :)
And, today finally I used up my oven again LOL

 I baked this cake this morning, on the last day of submission for Bake Along event
This cake has been in my to do list for ages. The recipe is from Ricke's site
So many great reviews about this popular cake, the most talked about is how great is the soft cottony texture, it immediately melts in the mouth

When I browsed through other great bakers' cheese cakes, I saw Joyce from Kitchen Flavours did Cheddar Cheese Cake, too
When I read her post, I then realized that the recipe she used is the same as Ricke's
There are some slight modification, where Ricke used lemon juice instead of cream of tartar, and she added lemon zest too
And another thing I found out too that this recipe is originally from Alex Goh recipe book :)
In the end, I followed Ricke's recipe as I wanted to bake lemon version of this cake

Oh how I love this cake! It is so so so smooth, cottony soft and tastes delicious
It's indeed melting in my mouth that finishing a slice is so easy, really dangerous for my waistline LOL
I poured some lemon curd (I used store bought) mixed with warm water to make it less thick. Gosh, heaven!

 

 

What you need:

A
130gm milk

40gm butter

125gm cheddar cheese (finely grated)

B
20gm plain flour

15gm corn flour

 

C
3 egg yolk
zest of a lemon

D
3 egg whites

90gm sugar

1 tsp of lemon juice

Method:

1. Grease and line 18cm round pan
2. Preheat oven to 150degC
3. Cook A over double boiler until cheese melts (stir with whisk), set aside til warm
4. Add in sifted B, mix til well blended. Add in C, mix well and set aside the mixture
5. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites til foamy. Add in lemon juice and gradually add in sugar, beat til soft peak (not too dry and stiff, just til creamy and glossy)
6. Take a little of the egg white mixture, mix in the cheese mixture
7. Pour into the remaining of the egg white mixture and fold gently
8. Pour batter into the pan, bake in water bath for 50 minutes (I added another 15 minutes, the last 20 minutes I tented the top of the cake with aluminium foil)
9. Leave cake in the oven for 10 minutes and the sides of the cake moved away from the pan
10. Take it out and gently take out the cake from the pan
11. Decorate as you like

This post is for Bake Along , a baking event organised by  Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids

Bake Along #45 Chia Seed & Parmesan Crackers

It's rare that I baked savoury cookies, in this case, crackers
But my kids do not like anything with seeds, any kind of seed
So, I didn't put too many kinds of seeds, to make it not too obvious for them
I just used one type, chia seeds
And I added some grated parmesan cheese too, for extra flavour, which the whole family surely will enjoy

 

The parmesan cheese looks reddish in color in the photos I am quite sure people will think it's chilli LOL

 

Recipe is from Williams - Sonoma Essentials of Baking

What you need:

2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for the work surface
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt (I used only 1 tsp)

1 tsp coarsely ground pepper (not used, I only used chia seeds)

1 tsp poppy seeds (not used)

1 tsp sesame seeds (not used)

1 tsp mustard seeds (not used)

1 tbsp solid vegetable shortening, at room temperature

1 tbsp cold unsalted butter (I added another tbsp)

1/2 cup heavy cream, plus more, if needed (I added another tbsp)

a handful of grated parmesan cheese (I added)

Method:

1. To make the dough by hand, in a small bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, chia seeds
2. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs the size of peas. Add in parmesan cheese and stir well. Pour in the 1/2 cup cream and mix with a fork until a rough mass forms
3. Using a plastic pastry scraper, scrape the dough out onto a clean work surface and gently squeeze it together. Add a few more drops of cream if the dough will not hold a soft shape. Gently press the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes or for up to 1 hour (I kept in the fridge overnight)
4. Preheat an oven to 180degC. Line 2 half-sheet pans or rimless baking sheets with parchment paper
5. Unwrap the dough disk and place on a lightly floured work surface. Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough in half. Roll out one half of the dough into a rectangular sheet as thin as possible without tearing, dusting it with flour as needed to prevent sticking to either the work surface or the rolling pin. Trim the edges of the dough to fit the prepared pan, then carefully transfer the dough to the pan. Repeat with the second half of the dough. Alternatively, using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut the sheets of dough into shapes and place on the pans
6. Bake 1 sheet of crackers at a time until they are crisp and brown, 12 to 15 minutes Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely until crisp. If you have baked the dough in sheets, break each sheet into shards. The crackers are best when eaten fresh, but they may be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

The whole family agreed that this snack is indeed addictive, crispy and tasty
The kids munched on them without noticing the chia seeds :)

This post is for Bake Along, organised by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids

 

 

Please view other bakers below making these yummy munchies :P

 

  

Nutella Almond Cake (Nigella Lawson)

When Annie from Annielicious Food posted this cake, I knew this was the cake I would make for my sis' bday. She's a die hard fan of Nutella :)
Her bday was on June 1. Sorry sis for the late posting :P

I didn't decorate the cake, only poured the ganache on top and kept it refrigerated to set
Then the bday girl bought macarons from TWG for added kick. Yumz :P


The two pics below taken on the bday night during the singing and candle blowing :)

 

 

The rest of the pics below taken the morning after :)

 

Recipe originally adapted from Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess book

What you need:

The cake:
6 large eggs, separated
pinch of salt
125g soft unsalted butter
400g Nutella
1 tbsp dark rum
100g ground hazelnut (I used almond)
100g dark chocolate, melted

The icing:
100g whole toasted hazelnuts - for decoration (I didn't use)
125ml whipping cream
1 tbsp rum
125g dark chocolate

How to make the icing:
In a saucepan, add the cream, rum and chopped chocolate, and heat gently under low fire
Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat, leave it cool down a bit and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice the top of the cake

How to make the cake:

1. Melt chocolate using double boiling method. Once chocolate begins to melt, stir it gently with spatula. When almost all of the chocolate is melted, lift up the bowl from the saucepan. Stir continuously until it is shiny, smooth and completely melted. Set aside and leave it cool before use
2. Prepare a 9 inch spring form tin, greased and lined (I used 8 inch and poured some of the batter in cupcake cases)
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degree
4. In a large clean bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff, but not dry
5. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, and then add rum, egg yolk and ground almond
6. Fold in the cooled melted chocolate, followed by a large dollop of egg white, stir well and then gently folding the rest of the egg whites in a third at a time
7. Pour into the prepared tin and bake it for 40 mins or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides
8. Let the cake cool on a rack completely before you unmould them carefully. This is a damp cake, you might find it a bit difficult removing it from the tin
9. The cake will collapse a bit once it's cooled
10. Pour icing on the cake and keep it refrigerated to set
11. Decorate as wished

Not only the bday girl enjoyed this cake so much, the whole family did!

Coco Pandan Cake

A very yummy cake, especially if you love coconut and pandan
I baked this cake last week for my wedding anniversary on the 29th May
Oh yes, I have been married for 9 years :)
Well, it's just an ordinary pandan butter cake, no decoration, nothing
But I did it on purpose. DH never likes to taste buttercream or any other thing used to decorate a cake. If there is, he will scrape it away
So, no point decorating it LOL

Pandan cake is one of his favourite, hence I decided on this cake
But unfortunately he didn't quite enjoy the cake, apparently he didn't fancy the crunch from the coconut in the cake
Well, in a marriage, we keep learning new things about our partner. Can you imagine, I only realize that he doesn't like cake with coconut only after I'm married to him for 9 years? LOL In fact I was quite surprised cos he always enjoys any snack I make using coconut. Apparently it's a different story when putting it in a cake hehehe...

Ian is a pandan cake lover too, but gave same response as his daddy
After a few bites, he said, I can feel pandan leaves in it
I said, Ian, I never put pandan leaves in the cake
He said, oh, well, I can taste something
I said, it must be the coconut
Then he said, oh I don't like coconut in a cake. He gave the remaining cake to me and walked away >.<

To look at the bright side, I do love this cake, so are my parents :)
So this cake was easily gone the next day :P

I saw this cake for the first time in Peng's Kitchen
Recipe is from WendyinKK

What you need:

A
200g self raising flour, sifted
100g fresh grated coconut (I used 125g)
75ml concentrated pandan juice (I used fresh milk)
75ml evaporated milk
1/2 tsp pandan paste (I used Koepoe Koepoe brand)
125g butter
100g sugar (I used 75g)
2 egg yolks

B
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
50g sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 180degC Line two 20x10 cm loaf pan
2. Beat (B) until stiff enough to defy gravity when overturned, but still has droopy peaks. Set aside
3. With the same beaters, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Put in egg yolks one at a time, beating well and scrape the bowl after each addition
4. Mix both milk together and add in pandan paste, stir well
5. Sift in flour and fold into butter mixture, alternate with milk mixture
6. Put in grated coconut and mix well
7. Put 1/3 of beaten egg whites into batter and fold
8. Fold in the remaining egg whites gently
9. Pour batter evenly onto prepared pans and bake for 40 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean

Yum yum... I love this cake :)