Pandan Muffin

Had initially wanted to bake a Nutella Cake when I am home in the evening but it suddenly rained in the afternoon... The gloomy and wet weather makes me kinda lazy so I decided to make something easier and settle for this Pandan Muffin. The recipe is from Kitchen Capers forum.

Ingredients:

200gm self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

100gm sugar

200ml pandan coconut milk (I added pandan paste to the coconut milk)

80ml cornoil

2 eggs

Methods:

1. Put all the dry ingredients into a big mixing bowl.

2. Beat eggs then add in oil and pandan coconut milk.

3. Pour the eggs mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Do not overmix.

4. Fill up lined muffin pans up to 90% full.

5. Bake at 180C for about 20 minutes or until cooked.

Although this is suppose to be a muffin, it is soft and spongy, unlike those traditional muffin which is more dense and heavy. But I like this, and I think my mum will like it too...

Simple Chocolate Sponge Cake

Came back from work today and made this simple Chocolate Sponge cake. Was hoping it will rise nicely and not crack at the top. Luckily I was not disappointed although it has a slight dome in the centre. This recipe is modified from Aunty Yochana's Simple Sponge Cake as I prefer a chocolate version.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

120 gm sugar

85 gm cake flour

15 gm cocoa powder

65 gm cornoil  

Method:

(1) Whisk eggs and sugar till light and fluffy.

(2) Fold in the cake flour and cocoa powder lightly taking care not to deflate the eggs.

(3) Pour in cornoil and stir lightly.

(4) Pour into a 8" round cake tin and bake at 175C for about 40 mins or till a skewer comes out clean.

It looks fluffy just that there is a slight dome at the centre. I definitely need more practice to get an even level sponge cake.

Strawberry Shortcake and Walnut Coffee Cake

Valerie taught us the Strawberry Shortcake and Walnut Coffee Cake today. See how pretty the Strawberry Shortcake is? She said the traditional English Strawberry Shortcake is more hard, like a scone. But the modern ones uses sponge cake as the base, so it is softer. I think it is just like the muffin nowadays, some are more cake-like and not dense and heavy like those typical traditional muffins. I guess such changes is to fine-tune to people's preferences.

See the strawberries in between the soft and fluffy sponge cake? Think I will try making this soon.

Initially I was expecting the Walnut Coffee Cake to be of a butter cake texture. But turn out that this cake is of a sponge cake texture. This is something different from the usual walnut cake I ate which is heavier. I quite like this cake as it is lighter and not as oily.

Coconut Tarts and Brittany Puff Pastry Biscuits

Attended my first lesson with Richard Goh today and he taught us the Rich Chocolate Cake and Coconut Tarts. Instead of a cake tin, he uses muffin cups to bake the chocolate cake for easy distribution. Personally I did not find it very fantastic, maybe because it is supposed to be ate chilled and we ate it at room temperature.

However, the coconut tart is very tasty so I can't help it but went to get the ingredients after class and came home to bake some. Looks good right?

Been wanting to try the Brittany Puff Pastry Biscuits from Aunty Yochana's blog since I like pastry. I even borrowed some metal cookie cutters just to bake this biscuits as I did not have enough cookie cutters to bake them in. It is indeed fluffy and melts-in-the-mouth! Yummy!

But one thing to note is that this biscuits rises quite a fair bit so it is better to have a thinner dough. When I baked my first batch, I did not know this as the recipe did not state the thickness of the dough, end up the biscuits rises higher than the height of the cookie cutters. Nevertheless, it is still very tasty.

Chocolate Mousse Cake and Figs, Apricot and Orange Wholemeal Bread

Attended Patrick's class today for Figs, Apricot and Orange Wholemeal Bread and Chocolate Mousse Cake. This bread reminds me of those Hong Kong Bo Lo Bao. Ha! I personally do not fancy orange so I actually reduce the amount of orange peel in this bread. This is a crusty bread and I like the crispy texture and the taste of figs and apricot in every bite. I actually ate half the bread when I am home. Hehe... I will definitely make this bread again without the orange.

I pipe a simple design on the chocolate cake before filling with melted chocolate. It is still chilling in the fridge now, can't wait to try it tomorrow.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Initially I thought of making the Maltesers Muffins from Aunty Yochana's blog but the NTUC at my place ran out of Maltesers so there is a change of plan, I settle for the Chocolate Chips Muffins instead since I have all the ingredients at home. But I prefer it more chocolatey, so I substituted 20gm cocoa powder into the self-raising flour.

Quite pleased with the results as it cracked quite nicely at the top, and the inside is soft with bits of chocolate chips scattered evenly coz I do worry that the chocolate chips might sink to the bottom as I am not confident of my mixing skill. 

I will try to make the Maltesers Muffins again once I can get hold of some.

Chocolate Fudge Cake, Almond Parline and Cheese Topping & Kimchi Fried Rice

Yesterday I attended Valerie's Class on Chocolate Fudge Cake and Almond Parline and Cheese Topping. The fudge cake is sinfully delicious, even the plain sponge is soft and fluffy.

This is the Almond Parline and Cheese Topping.

In the evening, I tried making Kimchi Fried Rice based on the verbal instructions by Aunty Lucy. I personally find it rather tasty although it is a little wet. Maybe I added too much Kimchi gravy. The prawns were caught the previous day during prawning and were toasted with minced garlic and butter. Yummy! I even packed extra Kimchi Fried Rice to bring to work for lunch today. 

This Kimchi Fried Rice is my first attempt, I will definitely try again and improve on it.