Triple Choc Nutty Brownie

here's wishing all a merry christmas!

this christmas day, i baked a triple choc brownie recipe which was well loved :) super chocalately and moist.


i added milk choc and white choc chunks and some nuts (hazelnuts and pistachios) into the batter and the result was lovely.


haven't been in good health lately thou. sigh. really grateful to him for being there for me :D

better health in the new year to all of you out there!

p.s. i love the pictures. the lighting was perfect :) awesome!

oh yes the recipe was obtained from here. pretty good reviews. do check it out!

Super Moist Carrot Muffins

recently, weng was telling me about her liking towards muffins, 'only nice ones' she emphasized. haha so i was inspired to make some last weekend. and i think the key thing to making nice muffins is to ensure that they turn out moist!


and with that i embarked on finding the recipe. gladly, i stumbled upon one which is definitely a keeper! the carrot muffins turned out soft and moist, with an added crunch. very fragrant too :)

carrot muffins platter!

the star design

and the twirl design!

i decorated some with whipped cream topping instead of the usual cream cheese topping. and i replaced the walnuts with chopped pistachios and almond nuts. and they tasted just as awesome.

Mooncake Cookies With Lotus Paste

here's what i baked over the weekend! my exams ended last saturday so i deserve a baking treat after all that stress ;p



anyway, i have made this before. see this. this time around, i merely used lotus paste instead of green tea paste. and yea i made this in a bid to finish up the leftover mooncake ingredients :)


i love the golden hue of the mooncake cookies! and it's really fragrant too!


here's what it looks like inside...

Konnyaku Jelly Cubes

here's something refreshing for the tastebuds!

made this together with wen phei, jessie and kang last tuesday.

instead of adding the conventional longans/peaches/rambutans, we added persimmons. taste-wise, it's a combination of crunch and chewiness.

i like the nice orange-y tinge :)

and b'cos it wasn't sweet enough based on my rough estimation, i cut it up into cubes and added them into a home-made honey drink. yum!

3 min Choc Cake!

amazing isn't it? in 3 minutes you can actually make a cake that's so choclatey!

i made this for suqi's bday a few weeks back when she bunked in with me in hostel. haha no choice cos the oven isn't working and the only thing i've got in the kitchen is the microwave oven and the stove.


yea so this is a really ideal ;p

i sprinkled some icing powder on the cake and presented suqi with her birthday cake! awesome :)


i guess this would also be a good supper treat (a little unhealthy thou haha) since it only takes 3 mins to make! and the ingredients are really simple too.

i got the recipe here!

pardon me for the lousy picture quality cos i took them with my handphone. the cake looks so much better in real!

Non-Baked Rum Cheesecake

the birthday peepz:

from left: kim, wilson and dannish cutting their cake

we celebrated kim's, wilson's and dannish's bday last tuesday. happy birthday to all three of you!


it was my first time baking a non-baked cheesecake, and i'm glad it turned out well ;p

yea anyway, the original recipe uses baileys instead of rum. but since i didn't have any i substituted it with rum instead.

everyone was eyeing the ferrero rochers!

i especially like the marble swirls; they are so pretty haha! i think it would be awesome if i had baileys. the rum flavour wasn't very distinct in this one.

nevertheless, thanks again to aunty yochana for sharing this, her recipes never fail!


Non-Baked Rum Cheesecake
Taken from Aunty Yochana's Blog: Stef's Non-Baked Baileys Cheesecake

For an 8-inch round cake:
(I used 9-in so I ended up with a flatter cake)
BASE:
1 small pack Malteser candies,crushed to bits with food processor
About 12 digestive biscuits,crushed to crumbs with food processor
50g butter,melted

FILLING:
1 block Philadelphia cream cheese,softened
1 tsp vanilla
25ml to 30ml Rum
200ml whipping cream
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup boiling water
1 and half tbsp gelatine powder

Swirl:
1 tbsp butter
50g dark chocolate

HOW:
For base,mix crushed Maltesers,crumbs and butter together. Press and smooth evenly in an 8-inch springform pan. Place in a freezer while you get on with the filling.

In boiling water,sprinkle gelatine evenly,leave to "bloom" for 2 minutes. Stir to dissolve.
In microwave,melt butter and chocolate in 30 sec bursts. Stir to combine.

In your mixer or using a whisk,whip cream till stiff peaks form,chill.
In a mixer (no need to wash after whipping cream) or food processor,cream the cheese and sugar on high speed till smooth,beat in lemon juice and vanilla.
Stir gelatine mixture,(while resting,some gelatine will settle to the bottom) and beat in to combine.
Fold in whipped cream, remove tin from freezer.

Pour about 1/4 of batter into chocolate mixture,stir to mix.
Mix in rum with white batter.
Pour about half of white batter into tin,add half of chocolate batter,swirl to combine.
Add other half of white batter,top with spoonfuls of remaining chocolate batter,swirling to marble patterns.
Chill overnight.
To serve,run a knife along the sides of the cake,unmould,and slice.

Honey Glazed Cream Scones

recently kfc came up with a new breakfast menu and mama was telling me how much she enjoyed the honey biscuits, which otherwise is better known as scones too.

so last sunday morning she bought the breakfast set which we all shared and indeed it was yummy :) i liked the scones especially - buttery and honey-sweet. there were also waffles and scrambled eggs, and some chicken wrap which weren't very fantastic.


it wasn't cheap by the way, so i thought why not make my own? the ingredients for scones are simple, nothing elaborate. and so that evening, jessie, kang and i had fun baking scones together :) notice the cute cookie cutter designs, the bunny one is the cutest!


and the verdict by mama: awesome! she liked it and gave thumbs-up for it ;p crispy on the outside but soft inside!

it's best eaten warm, served with some maple syrup. according to her it's almost similar to kfc's!

one advice here: do not over-knead the dough else it is likely you will end up with a rock-hard scone. and i added more flour than the recipe stated cos my dough was way too sticky and wet.



oh yes, these scones aren't really cream scones cos i replaced the whipping cream with low fat fresh milk :) healthier yea but still as delicious!

Honey Glazed Cream Scones
Adapted from Stephanie Jaworski's Cream Scones. Taken from Joyofbaking.com

Ingredients:

280g all-purpose flour (add more accordingly if your dough is too wet)
40g castor sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
90 g salted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (120ml) fresh milk
Additional flour for dusting
Honey for glazing (dissolve in water if too thick)

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with your finger tips. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. In a small measuring cup combine the milk and beaten egg. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

Knead dough gently on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round. Then, using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into desired shapes. Place the rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Brush the tops of the scones with a little honey. This helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking.

Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Wholemeal Honey Oats Melon Seeds Cookie

for a start, i would like to say that these cookies are really good ;p especially with the addition of melon seeds. the end result was very fragrant cookies with a nutty crunch.

i adapted this recipe from florence's wholemeal honey oats sesame biscuits, replacing the sesame with a big handful of melon seeds and also cutting down on the sweetness. and yes they turned out awesome :)


and to those of you who have left-over melon seeds from mooncake making, do give this recipe a try.


and did i mention that these cookies are packed with wholesome fibre? they are made with oats and wholemeal flour, so they are healthier in a sense and more of a gulit-free treat ;p

Wholemeal Honey Oats Melon Seeds Cookie
Adapted from Florence's Wholemeal Honey Oats Sesame Biscuits

Ingredients:
(A)
60g Quaker Instant Oats (blender it)
40g Quaker Instant Oats
60g of melon seeds
150g Wholemeal Flour
1 tsp baking powder

(B) 100g butter, 45g brown sugar, 50g honey

Method:
1. Mix everything in (A) together in a big mixing bowl.
2. Put (B) in a small saucepan and on medium-low heat cook till brown sugar nearly dissolve. Keep stirring otherwise you might burn the mixture.
3. Pour everything from (2) into (1) and mix well with a fork or your hands if the mixture is not too hot.
4. Clench the dough in your hand till it becomes a ball. Flatten this ball on a lined tray.
5. Bake at 170C – 175C for 15 – 20 minutes.

Madeleines

i finally put my madeleine pans to good use. it has been kept in the store ever since i brought it back from the US. i was really happy to have found these made in italy pans as i got them at a very good deal - just 2.99 USD!!!


over here in singapore, a pan like this is probably selling at S$20? btw, i bought this pan from a shop called ross; the things they sell are cheaper than the retail prices by quite a fair bit.

for the first attempt, i would say i wasn't really satisfied with the results. the madeleines didn't turn out looking good (i think there were air bubbles?) and mama commented that they were a tad too hard. so well, i've gotta try baking them another time. i'll prob pay more attention to the oven temperature the next time round.

i made them into little cupcakes as well haha cos i was too impatient to have to wait for the 1st batch of madeleines to bake before i can re-use the pan. surprisingly, they turned out beautiful :)



Madeleines
Taken from Bon Appétit, Jan 2000 issue. Available from www.epicurious.com

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
Pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
Powdered sugar (i omitted this)

Method:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter and flour pan for large madeleines (about 3x1 1/4 inches).* Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl just to blend. Beat in vanilla, lemon peel and salt. Add flour; beat just until blended. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended.

Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan. Bake until puffed and brown, about 16 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently remove from pan. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch. (Can be made 1 day ahead.)

Dust cookies with powdered sugar.(i omitted this)

*A metal mold with scallop-shaped indentations, sold at cookware stores.

Blueberry Tart

this blueberry tart was made for jason's birthday which we celebrated few weeks ago. i chanced upon this linzer tart recipe in alex goh's irresistible pastry cookbook and decided to tweak it a little by replacing the raspberry jam with blueberry pie filling :)


i'm pretty satisfied with the results. the pastry turned out great - very fragrant and yummy :)
and i added some pine nuts into the pastry dough haha. something interesting as well!


Blueberry Tart
Adapted from Alex Goh's Linzer Tart

Ingredients:
Pastry:
150g butter
75g icing sugar
1 egg
250g flour
70g ground almonds
30g pine nuts
pinch of ground cinnamon

Filling:
Blueberry Pie filling

Method:
1. Mix butter and sugar until well blended. Add in egg and cream until smooth.
2. Add in flour, ground almonds, pine nuts and ground cinnamon and mix till well incorporated. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes until firm.
3. Take the pastry out from the fridge and knead it lightly until smooth.
4. Roll it between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to 3-mm thickness. Line a greased 9-in pie mould with the rolled pastry.
5. Pour the blueberry pie filling onto the pastry dough.
6. Roll the trimming pastry between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to 2-mm thickness. Cut the strips into about 1-cm wide. Place them on top of the blueberry filling to form a lattice pattern.
7. Egg wash the pastry and bake at 190 deg C for 30 mins or until golden brown.

Sweet Potato Balls

this was an additional dish we prepared for mid autumn festival celebration.

really simple to make and yummy at the same time :) i chanced upon this recipe on Rasa Malaysia. and later realised rasa malaysia provides many interesting recipes on their site. do go take a look!

kenny and kang rolling the dough into small balls, then later coating them with sesame seeds...


jessie and i was busy with the frying of the sweet potato balls. look! golden brown, yummy-looking sweet potato balls :) lots of the sesame seeds fell off during the deep-frying process..



Sweet Potato Balls
Taken from Rasa Malaysia.

Ingredients:

1 lb of sweet potatoes
12 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of sesame seeds
Water
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Boil the sweet potatoes for 15 minutes. Peel the skin of the sweet potatoes and discard. Smash the sweet potatoes and combine them with flour, sugar, and just enough water to form a smooth dough that is soft in texture but not sticky.

Divide dough into small, equal portions and roll them into balls. Coat the balls with some sesame seeds. Deep fry the sweet potato balls till golden brown. Dish out and drain well before serving.

Snowskin Lotus Paste Mooncake

have your mooncakes with tea!

suqi's hands haha

and this is mine!

this is a very late post, considering that mid autumn festival was weeks ago!

this year i made snowskin lotus paste mooncakes with the help of a few friends :) it was for our mini mid autumn festival celebration we held in school about 2 weeks ago. and we even added a slip of "riddle" in the mooncake for a game! it was lots of fun that evening with lots of food and good company :)

the photos are courtesy of stanley, our expert photographer whom i pestered to take pictures of the mooncakes for me! thanks stanley :D

i have many more long over-due posts but simply have too little time to blog about it..

Thank You for making My Day :)

poor me had to go down to lab on a saturday 2 weeks ago, which coincidentally was my birthday :(

went home rather late to have dinner at sakae sushi with sis and mum, together with him. and he baked a pineapple cheesecake for me :) so cute cos he made it in an Fortune Palace Bird's Nest box. it was a no-bake cheesecake and i think he didn't refridgerate it long enough so it was quite soft ;p

a quick celebration in the kitchen at home!