Bake it Better

I was telling my friend that I should really cut down my baking sessions to only once a week, as most bakes are very fattening. Yet, I could not resist the itch to bake something by mid-week. I made Orange muffins this morning at 6.30am right after my elder boy has gone off to school. I used the same recipe as the Oreo Muffins which I made earlier, and substitute the milk with orange juice and added in grated zest of an orange.

This time, I used a new set of paper liners. These muffin (or cupcake) cups are actually bigger than I thought. They have greater depth than the usual ones that I used. The batter could only fill up to 5 cups instead of the usual 6, and the cups were barely half-filled. As such, the muffins looked rather small in the paper cups. This recipe adopts the biscuit method (or the creaming method), that is, the butter is creamed with sugar before the other ingredients are added. As usual, my muffins came out with cracked tops. Don't you think it looked more like those chinese steamed cakes (huat kueh) instead of a muffin??

According to this website, Joy of Baking, "the 'perfect' American Muffin is symmetrical with a domed top. The surface of the muffin should be bumpy and the volume of the batter should have almost doubled during baking. The muffin should feel light for its size and when cut in half its interior should be moist and tender with no tunnels." Well, I consoled myself that my muffins did fit these description...they were light, moist and tender with no tunnels. Nevertheless, I am still not very satisfied with this and will continue to try out new recipes in order to achieve "my"perfect muffins!

More about → Bake it Better

Banana Strawberry Muffins

A few months back, I was presently surprised to find a new stall that sells muffins at the hawker centre near my place. It is not very common to find a stall in hawker centres that sell nothing but muffins. The muffins are freshly baked and sold at the stall. I bought a few of them for breakfast and they were very tastey especially with a cup of kopi. Their muffins are rather big and have nice huge domes. I told myself I should try making these muffins somedays, and so since I got my oven, I have been trying out different muffin recipes.

These Banana Strawberry muffins are one of those earlier recipes which I have tried. Even though I have read up on how to achieve huge domes and followed the method recommended, my muffins still came out with cracked tops. These muffins were very fragrant and fluffy. The recipe is based on the standard method, i.e. the dry ingredients are mixed with the wet ingredients. The other method is the biscuit method, where the butter and sugar are creamed together before adding the other ingredients. Muffins made from the biscuit method are usually sweeter and have a cake-like texture. I suspect the muffins sold at the stall are based on the biscuit method as they are more dense and sweeter. By the way, ever since I started baking, I have stopped buying muffins from that stall ;)

Ingredients:
(Makes 10 to 12 regular sized muffins)

110g butter, melted
150g sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
315g all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh strawberries (cut into small pieces)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degC. Position rack in center of oven. Line muffin tin with paper muffin cups.
2. Melt butter over low heat in a saucepan. Set aside. Mash the bananas.
3. Whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter to the sugar mixture and stir to combine.
4. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Use a spatula or whisk to mix the dry ingredients completely (to prevent having lumps of baking powder/soda).
5. Gently fold in the strawberries, making sure they are coated with flour. This helps to prevent the strawberries from sinking during baking. Do not over mix or the strawberries will end up coloring the batter red.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. The mixture will appear very lumpy. Do not over mix the batter otherwise the muffins will become tough.
7. Fill each muffin cup about two thirds full of batter. Fill any unused muffin cups halfway with water to prevent warping of the pan or uneven browning of the muffins.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
9. Let the muffins cool for 10 mins in the muffin tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Do not leave the muffins in the muffin tin otherwise the base will be soggy.
   

Tip: To make high-domed muffins:

• To bake high-domed muffins, fill muffin cups nearly full. Make sure that the recipe yields a thick batter. In a full cup, a thin batter will flow all over the oven before setting. The batter should be “spoonable” not pourable.
• Preheat oven to 210 degC. A high temperature is needed to create a burst of steam which will lift the top of the muffin and quickly set the starches and proteins in the muffin. After the muffin tin is placed in the oven, set the temperature back to the required temperature setting.

More about → Banana Strawberry Muffins

Horlicks Doggies Cookies

When I first came across these Horlicks Doggies Cookies, I simply knew I must bake them very soon! They are so cute! The original recipe was posted in AsiaOne. These cookies will be great as gifts for the coming Chinese New Year, so I tried making them with my 2 boys yesterday.


I did not show them any pictures on how the doggies would look like. I just told them to use the koko krunch for the ears, chocolate rice for the eyes and the chocolate chips for the noses. They came up with their own version of their doggies, for example, instead of having the eyes slanted (as done by other food bloggers), they made them straight, which I thought they look nicer. This gave the doggies an "innocent" look, while the slanted eyes made the doggies appeared a bit "sad". My younger boy made the ears "flying up" and for the noses, he placed the pointed end of the chocolate chips pointing outward, instead of the other way round. I thought their versions looked more like doggies while mine (which I followed how other food bloggers made them) looked more like koala bears.

The cookies are very crunchy. When the first tray was ready, my elder child ate 6 of them in a row! The father came along to join in the "feast" and half the tray was gone before the second tray was baked!

Ingredients:
(makes about 48 cookies)

180g butter, soften at room temperature
80g Horlicks (original flavour)
200g top flour or cake flour
25g corn flour
25g milk powder
100g chocolate chips
some chocolate rice
some Koko Krunch

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 140deg C. Line baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
2. Sieve top flour, corn flour and milk powder.
3. Cream butter and Horlicks for about three minutes at low speed. Do not overbeat.
4. Put in top flour, cornflour and milk powder and beat for about one minute to form dough.
5. Divide dough into 10g each. Put three chocolate chips into each piece of dough and roll into balls.
6. Insert two pieces of Koko Krunch to form the 'ears', chocolate rice for the "eyes", and a chocolate chip in the centre for the 'nose'.
7. Bake at 140 deg C for about 25 minutes. Depending on your oven, it may take another 5 to 10 minutes more for the cookies to be ready.
8. Leave to cool on wire rack before storing in an airtight container.

More about → Horlicks Doggies Cookies

Oreo Cookie Monsters

As the males in my family are great fans of the oreo cookies, we usually have a good stock of these cookies in our kitchen. I was looking for recipes that calls for oreo and came across this wonderful creation by Angie of My Kitchen:My Laboratory. It's a oreo butter cake. Thanks to Angie for sharing her recipe. The cake was really delicious and moist. My kitchen was filled with this nice and sweet aroma of the butter cake while it was baking! Naturally, it was very well received by the oreo cookie monsters in the house ;)

More about → Oreo Cookie Monsters

Strawberry Jellyhearts Cheesecake

Last nite, I made this strawberry jellyhearts cheesecake. I got the idea from Yochana's Cake Delight. However, I didn't follow her recipe, instead I used the biscuit base and cream cheese filling recipe from the no-bake oreo cheesecake I made earlier. Furthermore, the original version is suppose to be in squares but I made it into a round shape, just like a cheesecake. Initially, I thought it should be quite simple...just follow the same method as the oreo cheesecake and then top it up with jelly. I was wrong, I made 2 mistakes while making this cake!

Mistake no. 1: I didn't add the strawberries before putting the cake into the fridge to set the cheese mixture. I made the cream cheese mixture just before dinner, thinking that I could cut the strawberries and layer it after dinner. However, the cheese mixture was harden by the time I was ready to add in the strawberries. So, they couldn't "stick" onto the cheese layer. Well, I thought, it should be alright, since the jelly would cover them up and set them "down". Little did I know that when I pour in the jelly, the strawberries started to "swim" in the jelly liquid! So I tried to "pin' them down by pushing them into the cheese mixture. To my horror, tiny bits of cheese mixture came floating on the jelly liquid. That's mistake no. 2.

Mistake no. 2: I didn't wait long enough for the cheese mixture to set. You see, I thought since the strawberries couldn't stick onto the cheese layer, the cheese mixture must be very well set right? I was wrong, I believe it was because the mixture was not well set, as such, tiny bits of cheese started to dissolve when the the jelly was added.

My recovery actions were to spoon out most of the jelly liquid and put the cake in the freezer to freeze it. After half-an-hour, the strawberries were set with the help of the thin layer of jelly. I poured in the remaining jelly and let the cake set overnight. It was tedious to carefully spoon out the tiny bits of cream cheese. Luckily, the cake turn out quite ok. So, if you want to try this out, do take note of these 2 steps.

Ingredients:

base:
110g digestive biscuits(about 8 pieces), chopped into fine crumbs
40g melted butter

filling:
250g cream cheese, soften at room temperature
50g icing sugar
1 tablespoon gelatin powder
40ml boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 box Jelly crystal (strawberry flavour)
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water

Some strawberries, cut into heart shapes

Method:
1. Mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly with the help of a spoon onto the base of a 18cm cake tin. Chill for 30 minutes.

2. Place gelatin powder and boiling water in a bowl. Heat a pot filled with some water until just simmering and place the bowl inside the pot. Dissolve gelatin and boiling water in the bowl. Keep warm.

3. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese , icing sugar and vanilla essence until smooth & creamy. Blend in gelatin solution and mix well.

4. Pour the cheese mixture into the cake tin. Layer the strawberries on the cheese mixture. Chill for at least 3 to 4 hours.

5. Dissolve the jelly crystal in the cup of boiling water, followed by the cold water. Pour the jelly on the cheese mixture. Let it set before removing from the cake tin.

More about → Strawberry Jellyhearts Cheesecake

Going Bananas

When I first rekindled my love for baking, i.e. since the day I bought my little oven, I started off baking simple cookies and quickbread. This is the first Banana Bread I have baked.


With 2 pairs of helping hands, I was able to produce these 2 lovely loaves. I like to involve my children in my baking sessions. It's simply fun to have them around. My elder boy will read out the recipe and help me with the weighing of the ingredients, while the younger one will help stir and mash up the bananas. The elder brother will always keep an eye on the younger one...to make sure he stirs the batter in one direction and adds in the eggs gradually. Since we made this banana bread, the little one has been declared the "official banana masher" in our kitchen.

This recipe is taken from Betty Crocker's website. The bread is very tasty and moist but I do find it a bit too sweet. Since it was my first attempt, I followed the recipe to a T. Will definitely cut down on the sugar next time. If the bread is not eaten fresh, it is best slightly toasted/heated again before serving.

Ingredients:
(makes two 8 inch loaves)

110g butter, softened @ room temperature
250g sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 to 4 medium bananas (meshed)
Half cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
350g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

Method:

1. 
   
   Move oven rack to low position so that top of loaf pan will be in the centre of the oven. Preheat oven to 180 degC. Grease bottoms (only) of two 8x4 inch loaf pans or one 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. 
   
   Mix sugar and butter still creamy and fluffy. Stir in eggs gradually until well blended. Stir in bananas, yogurt and vanilla essence, beat until smooth.
3. 
   
   Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Stir in nuts, if desired.
4. 
   
   Pour batter into loaf pan(s). Bake 8 inch loaves for about 1 hour, 9 inch loaf for about 1 hour 15 mins; or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.
5. 
   
   Remove from oven and let the loaf cool for 10 mins in the pan. Remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

More about → Going Bananas

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Today is the start of the new school year. How time flies! I have already been a stay-at-home-mum for one full year! After a fun-filled year end holidays, we are back to our normal routine life. I made this Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake with the help of my 2 boys during the school holidays. This recipe was taken from C W Cookbook 3.

Ingredients:
Cream Cheese Mixture
250g cream cheese (soften at room temperature)
60g castor sugar
1 egg

Chocolate Mixture
180g butter
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
120g self-raising flour
1 tablespoon baking powder

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 150°C.
2. Grease and line a 20cm round cake pan.
3. Cream Cheese Mixture - beat cream cheese with sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg gradually and beat until well incorporated. Set mixture aside.
4. Chocolate Mixture - Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time until well incorporated into mixture. Sieve all the dried ingredients together. Fold into the egg mixture.
5. Pour half of the chocolate mixture into the cake pan.
6. Pour all the cream cheese mixture and then the remaining chocolate mixture. Gently spread the chocolate mixture to cover all the cream cheese mixture.
7. Bake for 45-50 min or until skewer comes out clean. Cool completely and chill in the fridge before serving.

More about → Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake