Apple muffins

Baking apple muffins are my ammo for a fail-proof, always successful bake. They are always guaranteed to taste yummy and from personal experience, it's always a hit. Plus anything with fruits are considered healthy, are they not? :p

We went apple picking at Bilpin over the weekend and came home with a whole bag full of fresh Pink Lady apples. Fresh apples are the best - I love how sweet and crisp they are. I used some of the bruised apples for my muffins. For some reason, I think anything baked with freshly picked ingredients taste better. Wonder what fruits are in season next?

Ingredients:
To beat:
1 1/2 cups sugar (I sometimes reduce the amount of sugar because the apples already make the muffins sweet)
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbsp vanilla essence

To sift:
3 cups self-raising flour (if using normal flour, then add 1 tsp sodium bicarb)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder

3 cups apples, diced
Brown sugar to sprinkle

Directions: 
1. Beat the sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla essence till the mixture is well mixed.
2. Add in the sifted ingredients. At this point, the batter will be too thick to use a mixer, so I mix with a spatula. Add in some oil to make the batter not too lumpy.
3. Add in the diced apples and mix well.
4. Scoop mixture into individual paper cup liners. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the muffin mix.
5. Pop into the oven. Bake at 180C for 25 minutes or until the muffins are baked well.

Spiderman Birthday

My nephew turned 12 over the weekend and he requested for a Spiderman cake. I happily agreed but little did I know that making superheroes aren’t as straightforward as they seem. The first Spidey that I made turned out too big for the cake, and then it fell apart when I tried to adjust it. The second Spidey, half the size of Spidey 1 seemed a little bit better. Let me just add that drawing Spidey’s attire with black food ink isn’t as fun as it seems. Or maybe I need a little bit more practice. :)

My orange butter cake with orange buttercream frosting is covered by brown fondant, with a city scene all around. I love how the contrasting yellow windows pop up and make the cake stand out even more. For a little fun factor, I added in a crescent moon and tiny stars. Spidey is climbing up the side of the cake and I have white spiderweb on the top, with Mark’s name written in freehand.

Sago Pudding with Gula Melaka

I am on a cooking roll and this has been one really productive weekend! This afternoon's project is a simple sago pudding, all readily chilled to have for dessert tonight. Sago pudding has always been one of my favourite local desserts and yes, I really am that impulsive when something comes to mind. :)

Ingredients:
200g sago pearls
200g palm sugar (gula melaka)
Brown sugar
White sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup coconut milk
A pinch of salt
One stalk of pandan (screwpine) leave, tied into a knot

Directions:
1. Soak the sago in water until it softens, then sieve away the water.
2. Boil a pot full of water. When water boils, add in the sago. Constantly stir to ensure that the sago doesn't form lumps. The sago will look translucent when cooked.
3. Strain with a sieve and run the sago under cold water to wash away the starch. Pour into moulds and chill until set.
4. To make the syrup, stir the water, palm sugar and pandan leave over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir in some brown and white sugar (the aim is to create a thick, caramelized syrup). Make sure the sugar has dissolved.
5. Remove the pot from the stove. Pour in the coconut milk and a pinch of salt, and stir to mix. Throw pandan leave away. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a gravy jug or a syrup pitcher.
6. Serve each individual sago portion onto a plate, topped with brown sugar syrup.

Alternatively, some people don't mix the coconut milk with the syrup but instead serve them separately.

A cupcake full of Malaysian goodness

I'm not competitive by nature, but when my friend told me about this contest and when I had a look at the things that some of the contestants did, I was in disbelief! I knew without a doubt that I could do much better.

So here's my take of what makes 1Malaysia. To me, 1Malaysia means living in harmony in a multiracial environment that is unique of our country. My cupcake shows the three major races - Malay, Chinese and Indian (I had an Iban and a Kadazan too but they couldn't fit into my little cupcake) standing under a starry Malaysian sky. Cuteness overload all over!

This contest is judged by the number of LIKES for each picture, and the top 55 entries with the most LIKES will be chosen for a bake-off. Now if only I could clock up to at least 200 votes. :p
So please vote for me (before 20th September):

http://apps.facebook.com/cupcake_challenge/
1. LIKE the Celcom page. It will then take you to the photo gallery.
2. I'm on page 45.

Snow White and her men (The dwarfs, not the huntsman!)

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go!

This song was playing in my head the whole time I worked on my weekend project. The order this time around was for a Snow White and the 7 dwarfs theme on 26 chocolate cupcakes. Celine, who turns 8 today, is short for her age so her mother nicknames her "小矮", meaning little dwarf or something along that line. And that is how we ended up on this theme.

I surprised myself with my little men because of their cuteness overdose. From Dopey with his big ears, to Sneezy with his red nose, to Sleepy who was nodding off and looks like he's almost falling off from the cupcake, to my Grumpy who seems like he's sulking in a corner by himself, to Bashful who just looks so shy, to Doc with his signature glasses (although I have to say that he looks a little like Smee in Peter Pan), and lastly Happy who just looks happy. My signature princess needs to take a back seat this time around because she's been overshadowed by her merry men. Snow White looks rather tubby because she's been having too many apples. You'll see why in the last picture way at the bottom of the page.

I had a tremendously fun time making my little sugar figurines and better still, I had family chip in to help out - not because I can't get the work done by myself, but it's always fun to have company when one works.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Snow White with the 7 dwarfs, and the infamous red apple. My sister gave me that brilliant idea (on the apple, that is). I was originally just going to create animals.

Yes animals. In the cartoon, you know in that forest scene where Snow White and Prince Charming live happily ever after and all that, they're surrounded by a bevy of deer, birds and rabbits? Well if you don't know, it's best you watch the Disney cartoon again. :)

The birdies in the cartoon are purple, red and yellow. I got my colours wrong but hey at least I got my animals right.

And then there are my bambis, but lots of people tell me they look like wolves or foxes. Oh well! :p

This picture was the basis of my theme. See what I mean by the animals? Poor rabbits had to be substituted with red apples. And Prince Charming and his lovely castle, as well as everyone's most disliked character the witch (I figured no kid would be interested in the old hag) had to be left out. If my customer had ordered more cakes, I would have added some mushroom and flowers too. I'm OCD, I know, but that's the trait of a perfectionist. :)

And finally the complete theme; for little Celine who turns 8. I hope she becomes the envy of all her friends. :)

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

After a month hiatus, I'm back in the kitchen with a vengeance. Two weeks in Sydney and hanging around in plenty of kitchens, my fingers are itching to do something in my own kitchen. So today I made a pineapple upside down cake. It was very impulsive, but that's just me. This cake was adapted from the recipe that I got from the JoyOfBaking website.

This was my first time baking an upside-down cake. After a few pokes here and there, it seemed like the cake was perfectly baked. But after popping it out of the cake in, for some reason, the base seemed a bit soggy. Into the oven the cake went again - which resulted in a little burnt portions. Oh well, first times are always buggy but it's the trial and errors that make all of us better bakers! :)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cake flour (195g)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g)
1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup milk (120ml)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 can tinned pineapple, drained
A few maraschino cherries (optional)

For the topping:
4 Tbsp butter (55 g)
3/4 cup light brown sugar (160g)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 177C.
2. Basic preparations are as such:
a) Rub some butter all over a round cake tin.
b) Drain the pineapple slices and pat dry (else the syrup will make the cake base soggy).
c) Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks form.
3. To prepare the topping, place butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the mixture becomes liquid. Continue cooking, without stirring, for a few more minutes until the sugar starts to caramelize. You can see bubbles forming around the edges of the mixture. Remove from heat and pour into the cake pan.
4. Arrange the pineapple slices on top of the sugar mixture. Pop cherries in the center of each slice to give it some colour.
5. In a large bowl, mix up the flour, baking powder and salt.
6. In a different bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla extract. Add in the egg yolks one at a time.
7. Add in the flour mixture, alternating with milk, in 3 additions ending with the dry ingredients.
8. Fold in the beaten egg whites into the cake batter in two additions. Then pour the batter into the cake pan. Smooth out the tops. Bake for about 1 hour or until top of cake turns brown.
9. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan and then invert the cake on a serving plate.

Teddy Bear Birthday

I come from a huge family, where I have so many extended family scattered everywhere that I don't even know some of them. Thankfully there's Facebook, which helps me reconnect with my family members. It is thanks to Facebook where my niece Jasmine saw that I made pretty cakes, and asked if I would make a cake for her mother. All she wanted was a teddy bear figurine.

I baked a carrot cake this time around (not the best kind of cake to use when working with fondant because cream cheese melts under fondant), covered with pink fondant and topped with a teddy bear sitting in a field of many flowers. One thing to do in the near future is possibly more practice on handcrafted 3D flowers instead of using plungers to cut out the shapes, and maybe I should explore the usage of starbursts in my designs. :)
Here's my teddy bear cake today with my not-very-sophisticated-looking flowers.

My Alice in Wonderland

This weekend I created one of my most elaborate sugar works ever and I'm so crazy pleased with the results. It's like this: I've always wanted to decorate a cake like this but never had the opportunity to do so. Most people prefer cupcakes. So when CL asked if I'd bake her a cake for her baby's 1st birthday, I said yes! And when she said that she wanted an Alice (in Wonderland) for the cake topper, I was so up to the challenge.

CL's requirements was simple: orange butter cake with buttercream icing, pastel colours, and an Alice.
Here's what I came up with.

I don't mean to blow my own trumpet but I am so pleased with my details. From Alice's hair to her clothes and shoes, to Dinah the kitten. Yea, as everyone wonders why the cat has no stripes, I have to clarify that that's not the Cheshire Cat at all. If one watches the cartoon, there is a scene in the beginning where Alice plays with her kitten just before she drifts off to sleep and dreams that she's in Wonderland. So there. I do know my cartoons! :p

And this is my inspiration. Not exactly identical but (if I may just repeat again), I'm so pleased with my creation! :D I can't wait to get my next cake order!

Cupcake season

I tell my customers that my cupcakes are seasonal.
Seasonal, in the sense that it depends on my mood. And for now it seems like my groove is back on again.

I baked these Disney-themed cuppies last week for a little birthday party. My customer gave me the freedom to create whatever characters I wanted, so I came up with Mickeys and Minnies, Donalds and Daisies topping chocolate cupcakes. She also wanted two princesses (it seems like my princesses are a recurrent demand this season).

This week, I had another order of cupcakes for a kiddy birthday party. Another free hand to create my fondant. Glee! :)
I made a variety of designs consisting of HAPPY BDAY cut-outs with 2-dimensional bears, red and baby blue teddy bears, daisies, and of course my highly-wanted princesses. Try guessing which character each princess represents?

And here's the full picture. I should have themed my cakes as the Disney princesses (remember those kick-ass princesses from Shrek?) meets Goldilock's (many) bears. :p

Can't wait to see what I'm able to create for my next order next month! I'm hoping to surprise myself too.

Matcha swiss roll

My baking groove is back in action. For now.
I've always been a sucker for green tea. And because for the past week I've been craving for some green tea flavours on my palate, I decided to try out a matcha swiss roll recipe that I found on RasaMalaysia. The contributor of this recipe happens to be a friend of my SIL, and she's the one who taught me the art of fondant many years ago! :)

Swiss rolls are easy to prepare once one gets the hang of it. The preparation time is short but I took a bit longer because I beat my egg yolks and whites by hand. It's tiring but the amount was a wee bit too little to use the mixer. So about half hour to prepare, 10 minutes to bake, about an hour to chill ... and my swiss roll is ready just in time for tea time.

This recipe bakes one swiss roll log, but the filling ingredients are enough for two logs. Just nice for me because this was my second swiss roll attempt. I baked my first roll yesterday; it turned out quite disastrous and I wasn't very satisfied. Thankfully I had some remaining filling left which meant that I could try again today. Yays! I'm getting there!

Ingredients:
For the cake:
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
1/4 cup fine sugar
1/2 cup cake flour plus 2 tsp matcha powder
2 tablespoons melted butter

For the filling: 
1/2 cups whipping cream (I used 200ml of whipping cream and found that it was double the amount needed for one swiss roll)
1 tablespoon sugar
Canned red bean filling (I bought the S&W brand red kidney beans soaked in syrup - the ones used for ice kacang)

Directions: 
Preparing the filling:
Whip the cream with sugar until creamy and thick. Chill in the refrigerator until cake is ready to be assembled.

Baking the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 230C. Line and grease a rectangle cake pan. Prepare another piece of parchment paper the same size as the rectangle cake pan.
2. Beat the egg yolks and half the sugar until thick and pale.
3. In another bowl, beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white.
4. Fold in the flour mixture and the melted butter. Make sure that the egg white mixture is not deflated while folding in the flour and butter.
5. Pour batter into pan and bake for 10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, let it cool for about a minute and then turn the cake on to the prepared piece of parchment paper and roll (to get the shape).
7. After a few minutes, unroll the cake. Spread an even layer of cream onto the cake and top with red beans. Roll the cake up from the long end firmly, wrap it up again with the parchment paper and chill for at least an hour before serving.

It definitely takes a few trial and errors to bake swiss rolls. As my mum says, one needs to be fast because else it becomes a wasted effort. So learning from my mistakes, here are three takeaway tips:
1. My first try yesterday resulted in really ugly and coarse swiss rolls. And as we all know, swiss rolls are supposed to look and taste delicate. So even though it tasted alright (I say alright because it was just okay), I found that there was too much red bean filling because the ones I bought were too big. This time, I sliced them up into smaller pieces. Note of the day, always do things in moderation!
2. Have everything prepared beforehand, especially the parchment paper. It only takes 10 minutes to bake, a minute to cool, and then you've gotta start rolling away else the cake cracks. No damage control can be done to save it, unfortunately.
3. Fold in everything carefully! With this, I'm talking about the egg yolk mixture into the egg white, and the flour and butter into the egg mixtures. The end mixture amount should be about the same as the initial egg white amount. Swiss rolls is all about air in the cake for that light texture. One wouldn't want to be eating chewy and dry cakes, right? :)

I definitely need some practice on neat slicing. Such pretty rolls ended up with whipped cream filling all over ... tsk tsk tsk :p

Japanese cotton cheesecake

I love long weekends, I really do!
And I love it especially when I have a lot of time on my hands to dabble in the kitchen.

While grocery shopping with mum today, I happened to walk pass the dairy section and came across cream cheese. Call me weird but I felt like it was calling out to me. :p I am weak and I succumbed to temptation, so today I attempted my very first Japanese cotton cheesecake. I love a good cheesecake (well, ANY kind of cheesecake really), and Japanese cotton cheesecakes are very different from other kinds of cheesecakes. They taste very light - almost like chiffon cakes, with a light whiff of cheese, and you don't feel too grossed out if you eat too much at one go.

I used The Little Teochew's recipe and my cheesecake turned out quite alright. One thing I like about this recipe, is that everything is in moderation (except for the eggs because this is supposed to be somewhat of a souffle). Not too much cheese, not too much sugar, and hardly any butter. It helps me feel less guilty about eating too much of this yummy cake. :p

Ingredients:
5oz (140g) fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1.8oz (50g) butter
250g cream cheese
100ml fresh milk
2.11oz (60g) cake flour
0.7oz (20g) corn flour - I didn't have any so I substituted with tapioca flour, not sure if it made any difference
1/4 tsp salt

Directions: 
1. Preheat the oven at 160C. Put four tart molds filled with water at four corners of the oven to provide the sauna effect. This is a substitute method for a water bath.
2. Use a double boiler to melt the cream cheese, butter and milk.
3. Fold in the flour, cornflour, salt, and egg yolk into the cooled mixture. Mix well.
4. Strain the mixture to ensure that there are no lumpy bits.
5. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
6. Fold in the egg whites into the cheese mixture.
7. Line springform cake pan (bottom and sides) and lightly grease. Pour mixture into cake pan, and cover loosely with aluminum foil. This prevents the top of the cake from browning.
8. Bake cheesecake for 1 hour 10 minutes, and then remove the aluminum foil and bake another few minutes until top of the cake is golden brown.
9. Leave cheesecake to cool in oven with door ajar for about 30 minutes to an hour. Sudden changes in temperature may cause the cake to cool too quickly and collapse, although the cake will sink regardless. This just slows down the process and the cheesecake won't sink so drastically.

My cheesecake was a hit. I know this because my dad, who isn't much of a cheesecake fan, proclaimed that it was good. :)

I'll need a few more practices to perfect this cake, and perhaps over-bake it a little more to get a more golden top. I'll also have to remember to use a larger springform cake pan. I used my medium-sized one this time around, but the cake rose too high over the top.

Konnyaku jelly

I love a good jelly, especially on a hot day. Lately I've been having a konnyaku craze phase so good thing that there's a BBQ party coming up tomorrow night. I volunteered to bring konnyaku over.

And me being me, I had to scour the internet for konnyaku ideas and that is how I came across this recipe by the Blessed Homemaker. I love how Tesco is just a short drive away for me, so off I went to buy konnyaku powder. Tried out the preserved sour plum konnyaku jelly last night and it turned out so good. I'd have liked the sweet and sour tastes to be stronger though.

Ingredients:
8 preserved sour plums
250ml water
1 packet konnyaku jelly powder (10g)
3.5oz sugar
800ml water

Directions: 

1. Boil 250ml water and add in the preserved sour plums. Leave to stand for at least an hour then remove seeds of the sour plums.

2. In a small bowl, mix the konnyaku powder and sugar together.

3. Boil 800ml water in another pot and pour in the konnyaku mixture. Keep stirring until sugar has dissolved. 

4. Add in the sour plum mixture and stir well. Scoop into moulds and leave to cool. Chill in fridge.  

However in the end, I played safe and made another batch of  lychee flavoured ones instead. Not everyone will be so adventurous. :p

Apple pie

It's a Sunday, I figured I should at least do something productive and I have a lot of apples in the refrigerator, thanks to free fruits from the office. And since it's a waste to let the fruits go to waste, I thought I'd bake some apple pies. I haven't baked apple pies before so it was a bit of a challenge - you'll see why.
I used this recipe by momswhothink as a reference for my apple pies.

Ingredients:
For pie filling:
4 large apples, peeled and sliced
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 Tablespoons butter
1 egg yolk beaten + some milk (to brush over the pastry)

For the pie crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz butter, chilled and diced
1/2 cup ice water

Directions: 
Preparing the pie crust: 
1. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl.
2. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Stir in the ice water, a Tablespoon at a time, until the crust mixture forms a ball.
4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
5. Sprinkle flour onto rolling surface. Roll dough out, and place crust in pie plates, pressing evenly into bottom and sides.

Preparing the filling:
1. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with lemon juice.
2. Combine sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg; add to apples and toss well to coat.
3. Fill pastry lined pan with apple mixture. Dot with butter.
4. Place second crust on top of pie filling, cut slits in top of crust to vent. Seal the edges of the crust with a fork or by hand.
5. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and milk. Brush mixture over top crust.
6. Bake at 200C for 15 minutes.
7. Reduce heat to 180C and bake for a few more minutes until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.

My crust crumbled when I cut into it. Not too sure why it was so. Taste-wise, I thought it was pretty close to good old-fashioned apple pies. Definitely need more practice on making pie crusts. As usual, I'm a lazy baker and I didn't pre-prepare the dough, so maybe that was the cause.
Also I found that I over-filled the pies so some of the filling overflowed out through the slits. Ah well, for a first try, at least my pie tasted quite alright. :)

Orange butter cake

She likes plain cakes.
That was what my sister told me when I volunteered to bake a cake for my little niece's birthday. What a tall order. I was thinking of a repeat performance of my carrot cake, a cheesecake or maybe even a red velvet cake. But no ... a plain cake.

What was I do to but to crack my head and think. Chocolate cake, butter cake, vanilla cake?
Butter cake won hands down even though I'm not much of a butter fan. I never crave butter ever. But hmm ... butter cake with orange zest? Even my heart sighed with contentment because it sounded so perfect. I could already smell the tangy fragrance in my head even before I started baking.

Here's my adaptation of orange butter cake that I got from the Little Teochew's recipe. I love tested-and-working recipes. 

Ingredients: 
For the cake:
7 oz all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz butter, softened
8 oz sugar
1 large egg, plus one large egg yolk
1 1/2 tbsp orange zest
12 tbsp whole milk

For the frosting:
6 Tbsp butter, softened
250g icing sugar
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated orange zest

Directions:

Baking the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius. Butter and line a 9-inch* cake pan.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Using a mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugar until fluffy for about about 2 minutes.
4. Beat in orange zest, then egg and egg yolk. If the mixture curdles, just add 1 tbsp of flour and continue mixing.
5. On low speed, add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with milk.
6. Switch mixer to medium and beat for 10 to 15 seconds, just until batter appears uniform. The batter should look thick and creamy.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula or knife.
8. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until it reaches a dark-gold color and an inserted cake tester comes out clean.
9. Let to rest in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a cake stand or platter. Allow cake to completely cool before slicing.

Preparing the frosting:
1. Cream butter until smooth.
2. Gradually beat in icing sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in 2 tablespoons orange juice to bring to spreading consistency.
4. Stir in vanilla and 1 teaspoon orange zest. Spread over cooled cakes.

In the spirit of all things birthdays, here's my attempt on a birthday cake which for some reason turned out to be more wedding-like instead. I frosted my three tiers with frosting and then proceeded to cover the frosting with fondant. I spent my entire Saturday afternoon just getting this cake ready and it wasn't quite my best work unfortunately, but still quite alright for my first attempt of decorating a cake this big. The birthday girlie was happy though, and that's the important part. :)

Carrot cake

Somehow carrot cakes don't seem as naughty as other cakes.
I love carrot cakes because of the crunchy nuts and the sultanas. Some recipes add pineapple bits but I prefer not to. This is one of my easiest fail-proof recipes and it never fails to disappoint me.

And since the brother was back in town, I had a perfect reason to bake. I try not to bake so often for the sake of my diet :p
Baking today was literally the epitome of baking with love. It's hard to understand why some people slave in the kitchen just for the sake of a good meal for their family to enjoy, until you go through it yourself. I started baking at 11pm last night and by the time I finished frosting my cakes and packing them up in takeaway boxes, it was almost 2am. All for the sake of my family to enjoy.

Ingredients: 
For the cake:
8 oz unsalted butter
8 oz caster sugar
8 oz self-raising flour
4 eggs
1 tsp mixed spice
4 oz chopped walnuts
5 oz freshly grated carrots
2 Tbsp sultanas

For the frosting:
7 oz cream cheese
6 oz icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp chopped walnuts

Directions:

Baking the cake:

1. Mix the butter, sugar and flour together and cream until the mixture is creamy.
2. Add in the eggs, one by one. Continue creaming for a few more minutes.

3. Fold in the mixed spice, walnuts and sultanas until well mixed. 

4. Pour mixture into cake tins lined with parchment paper. Don't forget to rub a thin film of butter over the parchment paper. 

5. Preheat oven to 175 C and bake for 45 mins or so. Test with a toothpick.

Preparing the frosting:

1. Cream the cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice until there are no lumpy bits.

2. Lather a thin layer over a cooled cake. 

3. Top with chopped walnuts.

And as usual, my carrot cake was a hit! I'm so glad. :)

New York style cheesecake cupcakes

For a BBQ party that I'm attending tomorrow night, I was given the task of bringing dessert. I'm the designated dessert lady, so says my friend, so I find expectations running high and it's a little intimidating. That said, I'm so excited about this major food fest because there seems to be so many different types of yummy food on the menu!

I was cracking my head today about what dessert I should make, and it had to be something that I've tried and tested working. My choices were between a mousse, panna cotta or a cheesecake. The cheesecake obviously won because it is something that I'm most familiar with baking plus a simple cheesecake would be fast to bake. And with all the meat that I'm expecting, I thought that a little lemon would definitely be refreshing.

I made a New York style cheesecake based on an adaptation from the Joy of Baking website. I hope my decadent little cuppies are a hit!

Ingredients: (Yields about 12-15 cupcakes)
For the crust:
1 cup digestive crumbs
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
A handful of almond flakes, lightly toasted

For the filling:
2 packets of cream cheese (8oz x 2)
2/3 cups granulated white sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 160C. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. For the base, combine the biscuit crumbs, melted butter, almond and sugar. Stir together until well blended and all  the ingredients are moistened. Press about 1 Tbsp of the mixture into the bottom of the cupcake liner. Pop the tray into the refrigerator while preparing the filling.
3. For the filling, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until creamy and smooth. Add in the salt and sugar, and beat till combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4. Add in the lemon zest, vanilla extract and sour cream. Continue beating until incorporated.
5. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust, divide the filling among the muffin cups.
6. Bake at 150C until filling is set, for about 25 minutes. The cakes have to feel firm even though the centers may wobble a little. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let the cakes cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap or keep the cakes in a covered container and refrigerate overnight.
7. Serve cold with fresh fruits.

Fruit custard tartlet

For a new years' day potluck party for 15 people today, I made some fruit custard tartlets with a shortbread crust as my contribution. It's a no brainer for me to prepare what I prepare best (and that is dessert), and I wanted something that didn't require too much fuss to prepare yet will look good being arranged out on the table (for photography sake). Tartlets are the perfect little bite for the sweet tooth, and topped with fruits, it adds a little bit of nutritional value.

Ingredients:
The shortbread crust: (Yields about 35 tartlets)
4 oz flour
4 oz rice flour
2 oz caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
4 oz margarine

The filling: (Similar to the blanc mange recipe)
8 oz milk
2 Tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp essence
1 oz sugar

The topping:
Any type of fruits actually. There are no restrictions to the type of fruits to use and here, I used kiwi and grape, cut into small quarters. I chose the fruits mainly for the colours because the green and the maroon create a contrast with my custard yellow.

Directions:

To prepare the shortbread crust:
1. Add the margarine with the flour and sugar. Cut up the margarine into tiny little chunks.
2. Use fingers to rub in the mixture.
3. Once everything is rubbed in and looking like breadcrumbs, add in the vanilla essence and lightly knead until the dough holds together.
4. Flour table surface and roll the dough until it is a thin layer. Use a tart cutter to cut out shapes, press into molds.
5. Bake at 165C for about 45 minutes, or until the shortbread starts to brown and then remove from oven to cool. While cooling, prepare the custard mix.

To prepare the custard: (Similar to the blanc mange recipe)
1. Blend cornflour with a little milk. Place remainder of milk to heat.
2. Remove from fire and pour the heated milk over the blended cornflour. Remember to keep on stirring all the time.
3. Return to stove and stir over fire till boiling. Let the mixture boil for 3-5 minutes. Keep on stirring.
4. Add sugar and flavouring (if needed). Pour into the crust.
5. Assemble tartlets with cut fruits. Remember to move quickly to arrange the fruits because the custard solidifies really fast.

And here we are, perfect fruit tartlets for a new year's day party. I love how the festive colours brighten up the little tarts!

Blanc mange

I have a weakness for desserts and this sweet tooth of mine isn't particularly good for my waistline. But who can resist blanc manges? :)

Blanc mange is a sweet dessert commonly made with milk and thickened with cornstarch, set in a mould and served cold. Here, I used custard powder so my blanc mange tasted somewhat like custard. I didn't even need to add colouring because the custard powder gave my dessert a lovely yellow tinge. This was one of my favourite desserts growing up.

Ingredients:
8 oz milk
2 Tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp essence
1 oz sugar

Directions:

1. Blend  cornflour with a little milk. Place remainder of milk to heat.
2. Remove from fire and pour the heated milk over the blended cornflour. Remember to keep on stirring all the time.
3. Return to stove and stir over fire till boiling. Let the mixture boil for 3-5 minutes. Keep on stirring.
4. Add sugar and flavouring (if needed) and pour into wetted moulds.
5. When set, turn out onto a glass dish. Serve cold.

Orange chiffon cake

It's my parents' 43rd anniversary today and since I'm back home early from a work event, I thought I'd bake an orange chiffon cake since it's a family favourite. It's something that I've been meaning to try out for a long time because we always just buy a cake from Cold Storage when the craving hits. Baking from scratch is really quite an adventure and this recipe from Aunty Edna is a tried-and-proven-working recipe, so says mum. 

Ingredients:

7 egg whites with 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

5 egg yolks

3 oz flour sieved together with 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

5 oz sugar

2 Tbsp orange rind

4 1/2 Tbsp orange juice

4 1/2 Tbsp corn oil

Directions:

1. Mix the flour and sugar into a bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre and stir in the egg yolk, orange juice, rind and corn oil. Stir briskly until batter is smooth.
3. Beat in egg whites until very stiff with cream of tartar.
4. Pour batter into the egg white mixture and fold in gently.
5. Put into ungreased tube tin and bake at 150C for half hour.
6. Invert tin and leave cake till completely cool. Run knife around the edges and bang the cake out of the tin. (Yes, seriously bang). Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Raspberry swirl cheesecake

I was in the baking mood tonight and I was looking around for something to bake while walking around Tesco. Stumbled across cream cheese on offer and the first thing that came to mind was a cheesecake.
An adaptation from Martha Stewart's recipe, which was pretty much a success for a first attempt, and cupcakes instead of a full sized one (in order to keep myself from overindulging in them), here's my take on a raspberry swirl cheesecake.
Plus, of course, cupcakes are easier to share with others and I've been very generous with my cakes. It is, after all, the Christmas season of caring and sharing so I'm spreading the joy around.

Ingredients: (Yields 24 cupcakes, but probably less if each cupcake had more cheese filling)
For the crust:
1 cup digestive crumbs
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 Tbsp caster sugar

For the topping:
6 oz. fresh raspberries
2 Tbsp. sugar
Since fresh raspberries were too pricey, I substituted with raspberry jam, diluted with a little hot water.

For the filling:
1 lbs. cream cheese
3/4 cups caster sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 160C. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. For the base, combine the biscuit crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Stir together until well blended and all  the ingredients are moistened. Press about 1 1/2 Tbsp of the mixture into the bottom of the cupcake liner and bake until just set for 5 minutes. Let the crust cool.
3. For the filling, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until fluffy. Blend in the sugar, salt and vanilla, then beat in the eggs one at a time.
Spoon a few tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust. 3 spoonfuls would be good, although I scrimped and put about 1 1/2 only.
4. Dot about one tsp of raspberry puree over the cheesecake filling and use a toothpick to swirl and create the marbled effect.
5. Bake until filling is set for about 25 minutes, rotate the pans halfway through baking. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let the cakes cool to room temperature.