Cupcake, She Wrote

Gilmore Girls is a contributing factor to my love of waffles

2011-11-02T20:29:00.001+13:00

Everything but the kitchen sink

2011-09-11T15:29:00.000+12:00

I've finally found a way of getting rid of my unwanted snacks and tidbits in the house. I've been wanting to try out this recipe for awhile but always chickened out at the last minute due to failures I've read about and the strange addition of potato chips in cookies.

Nonetheless, I gave it a go and the cookies turned out to be pretty good. They were crispy, not too sweet and had a pleasant caramel-ly aftertaste.

My version of Momofuku's Compost Cookies had chocolate-coated peanut brittle, rocky road, Coco Pops O's, ready salted potato chips, smokey capsicum flavoured grain crisps and pretzels.

Momofuku Milk Bar Compost Cookie
(Adapted from Momofuku for 2 and Amateur Gourmet)

1/2 cup Butter

1/2 cup Sugar

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar

1/2 Tbsp Corn Syrup [Note: I left this out; not because I'm against corn syrup, I just didn't have it. The cookies came out fine, though may have had a nicer sheen with the syrup.]

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Large Eggs

3/4 + 2 Tbsp cups AP Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Kosher Salt

3/4 cups of your favorite baking ingredients

3/4 cups your favorite snack foods

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.

When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix 45-60 sec just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

On same low speed, add in the hodgepodge of your favorite baking ingredients and mix for 30-45 sec until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.

Using a 6oz ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheetpan.

Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 1 week.

DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.

Heat the conventional oven to 400F. (350F in a convection oven)

When the oven reads 400F, arrange your chilled cookie dough balls on a parchment or silpat-lined sheetpan a minimum of 4″ apart in any direction.

Bake 9-11 min. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.

At 9 min the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don’t match up and your cookies stills seem pale and doughy on the surface.

Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh 5 days. In the freezer, cookies will keep fresh 1 month.

The Dolly Parton of cakes

2011-06-06T15:51:00.014+12:00

I trawl through food websites on a daily basis. My favourite sites are Chow and Serious Eats for their product reviews, food slideshows and handy tips for novice cooks like me. But what I find most interesting about these sites are their user forums.

The discussion thread I keep going back to is "50 Desserts that Every Cook Should Know" from Chow.

As a majority of the users who contribute to this forum are from the US, red velvet cake gets mentioned quite often. I've made red velvet cupcakes before, but they were neither red nor successful. So being a public holiday today, I decided to give it another go.

According to the ever-trusty source Wikipedia, red velvet cake originated from the Southern states of America; “It’s the Dolly Parton of cakes: a little bit tacky, but you love her”.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
(Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker)

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon red food colouring
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Method:

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Turn mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.
Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.
Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar. Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.
Spoon batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.
Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

I paired it off with a vanilla buttercream, instead of a traditional cream cheese frosting.

Buttercream Frosting

(Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking)

Ingredients:

2 cups (230 grams)confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted

1/2 cup (113 grams)unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon purevanilla extract

2 tablespoons milkor light cream

Method:

In an electricmixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended.

Add the vanilla extract.

With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in thesugar.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat on high speeduntil frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).

Add a little more milkor sugar, if needed.

Makes about 12cupcakes.

Print-friendly recipe here.

The cupcake recipe is from the Hummingbird Bakery and this helpful video runs you through the recipe. I also tried frosting the cupcakes as they do in Magnolia Bakery and watched this video for help, but as you can see, I didn't quite achieve the famous Magnolia "swirl".

It's that time of the year again

2011-01-25T17:09:00.042+13:00

Chinese New Year is celebrated in pretty much the same way as Christmas: a lot of festivities, a lot of family gatherings and a lot of food. This year on the week leading up to the start of the Chinese New Year period, I decided to make two batches of cookies using cornflakes. One is a traditional CNY cookie recipe, while the other is a less-traditional cookie recipe that is famously sold in Momofuku Milk Bar, a place I have been raving about.

Cornflakes ready for crushing

Two batches of cornflake cookies. The batch on the right had more cookies than the one on the left.

Cornflake and Raisin Cookies

(Recipe adapted from I Bake For You)

Ingredients:

175gm butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk powder
3-4 cups fairly crushed cornflakes (5 cups before crushing)
1/3 cup sultanas/raisins

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.

In one mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, vanilla essence and milk powder. Mix.

In another bowl, sift flour and baking powder . Mix in crushed cornflakes and sultanas.

Add in egg/butter/sugar mixture, and mix until combined. (If mixture is too dry, you'll have to add more softened butter or even margarine.)

Roll into balls and place onto lined baking tray. Press down gently for a flat surface.

Bake for 12mins or until golden brown.

Cool on wire rack before storing in air-tight containers.

Makes 49 cookies.

Copycat Momofuku Cornflake-Marshmallow-Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Recipe adapted from The Cookbook Chronicles)

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature (227gm)
1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (plus more for sprinkling)
3/4 cup oatmeal [I used rolled oats]
1 1/4 cup lightly crushed cornflakes (about 1 1/2 cup cornflakes before crushing)
2/3 cup chocolate chips
about 3/4 cup mini marshmallows

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and beat until combined.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and beat on low speed, just so the dry ingredients become incorporated. With a wooden spoon, mix in the oatmeal, crushed cornflakes, and chocolate chips.
(If you have time and would like the cookies to spread a little less, refrigerate the dough for two hours.)
On a parchment-lined baking sheet, scoop up and roll the dough into golf ball-sized spheres. (Six will fit comfortably on one pan–give them room to spread!) Lightly press down 4 mini marshmallows in the center of each ball of dough. [I mixed in the marshmallows with the dough] Sprinkle tops with a touch more salt. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Bake for 9-10 minutes. The cookies will still look soft in the middle when you take them out of the oven. Allow them to cool directly on the tray for a few minutes before moving them onto a platter.

Makes 20 cookies. [I made about palm-sized cookies]

What I'm...

2011-01-14T10:26:00.011+13:00

EATING:

White chocolate mud cakes.

Recipe here.

READING:

Is Google Making Us Stupid? By Nicholas Carr.

Interesting and somewhat ironic read.

WATCHING:

Top Chef: Just Desserts.

Well, not watching yet but waiting for it to premiere on TV later in the year.

Special mention: Top Chef: All Stars.

BROWSING:

Oh Joy!

I chanced upon this blog from this blog.

LISTENING TO:

"You've Got the Love" remixed by The XX.

Better than Florence and the Machine's version, dare I say it.

COVETING:

Natalie's Avanti Cookie Press/Icing Set.

This tool is amazing.

Chrismukkah

2010-12-27T19:54:00.003+13:00

...and Christmas is over for another year. Zombie sugar cookie is bidding adieu to Christmas 2010.

Photo by Esthel Kim.

Sugar cookie recipe from Baking Powders.

Failcakes

2010-10-23T10:47:00.003+13:00

I hereby declare myself forbidden from baking cupcakes unless I'm in the presence of an experienced baker. And by presence I mean being in the kitchen right next to me, mixing the ingredients and baking the whole batch of cupcakes while I stand out of the way and merely observe from a distance. Because, lately, it seems, I am in no condition to bake a batch of cupcakes. The last two batches of cupcakes I've baked have been rather inedible. The first batch melted (before this I didn't know cupcakes could melt. It actually looked as if the cupcakes were crying from turning out so horribly) and the second batch is about to face the bottom of my insinkerator.

I like to blame the recipe, of course. I knew a recipe that didn't call for butter, eggs and an electric mixer was too good to be true. The recipe seemed promising, but I was probably being too ambitious. I should've perfected my basic cupcakes first before I attempted anything that called for beating cream into a spreading consistency.

Nonetheless, the simple recipe deceived me and I ended up with a dull tasting cupcake. The redeeming factor was the half Oreo at the cupcake's base. For the first time, the fat content in the cupcakes didn't leak out of the cheap cupcake liners. But that's the only positive point... the frosting was another beast. The colour looked great and it tasted fantastic but the texture was too liquid and far from icing consistency. I tried thickening it up by adding more powdered sugar but this did nothing except make the frosting sickeningly sweet. Dad intervened with the electric mixer to Naomi Campbell it, but the frosting just curdled into some pseudo-butter crap.

I'll link the recipe to the cupcakes and frosting, but I don't see why anyone would want it. Perhaps someone with more luck and/or skill could have a crack at it and hopefully restore my faith in my baking ability should the cupcakes turn out to be failcakes too.

Half an Oreo (cream side up) at the base of the cupcake

This makes me hungry

2010-10-22T22:38:00.000+13:00

Source

Coffee Chocolate mousse with Creme Chantilly and Other Divine Flavours

2010-10-13T18:52:00.001+13:00

David, my flatmate, being the fortunate combination of both posh and English deigned to make us Poires Belle Helene the other day. Us common folk went, what in the Queen's name is that? Well, it's just poached pears, dressed up in a heavy chocolate coat. It was nice, but would have been nicer if the pears were poached well enough. But that was partly my fault, as I was in need of the giant pot in which the said pears were poaching and might have harassed him a little for it.

So, the outcome of that was slightly grainy chocolate sauce on slightly raw pears. However, the even better outcome was this unfancy-sounding mousse which unfortunately outdid the Poires Belle Helene by a mile.

To the leftover chocolate sauce I sourced
Egg yolks two I whisked with force
A dash of cream and a smidgen of coffee
Instant it was and followed with chilli
Melting, molten chocolate lava

Missing egg whites I spun them stiff
Cinnamon, ginger, vanilla in a jiff
Zest of lemon, ice of sugar
Fold them over

In the glass they went
Both ebony and ivory
And folded them quickly
For we like our mousse bubbly

And voila! For the extra bubble factor, in bubbly glasses.

David insisted I slant them against the fridge door as they chilled so that presentation would benefit.
Sigh. Mousse in my shoes.

Klutz in the kitchen

2010-09-23T11:22:00.001+12:00

Auckland weather has been nothing short of unpredictable. One minute it's freezing cold from the storm blasting through the city, and the next minute, the sun appears, reminding you that it is indeed, spring.

While the weather outside was busy deciding whether to chill or warm us up, I've spent the past few days indoors baking. I had a delicious chili chocolate cupcake at Cupcake Bakery in Melbourne Central and it was only time I returned home to make my own. BTW, the cupcakes are not meant to be flat. I forgot to add baking soda! I also spilled a considerable amount of flour all over the kitchen counter. My clumsiness comes into full effect when I haven't baked in awhile... and also when the weather is bad.

Chilli Chocolate Cupcakes
(Recipe adapted from Dog Hill Kitchen)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup caster sugar and 1/4 cup soft brown sugar)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 cup chocolate chips
5 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon vinegar (apple cider or white)
1 cup cold water

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line a cupcake pan with papers.
Add the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, salt and spices to a large bowl. Stir with a wire whisk until full incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and stir to distribute.
Mix together the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water in a small bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fill the cupcake papers three quarters full.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out with only a few crumbs clinging.
Cool for 5-10 minutes and then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Frost and decorate.

These chocolate chilli cupcakes are spicy enough that you feel your lips tingling after each bite, but you won't be gasping for water (or milk). But of course, feel free to pump up the spice by adding more chilli powder and/or cayenne pepper.

When it comes to frosting, I suppose anything goes. I chose not to frost mine, but a simple buttercream frosting or chocolate ganache dusted with extra chilli powder might work.

This is what got me hooked on the idea of spicy chocolate:

Word

2010-09-12T20:19:00.005+12:00

Source

The Leftover Jumbanana

2010-09-11T21:16:00.002+12:00

Jade and I have a love/hate relationship with leftovers. I mean we don't like throwing away leftovers but neither do we like consuming excessive quantities of them. Below are 4 items I found in dire need of using:-

Item A: 1/2 a tub of sour cream near expiry date left by Violet (current flatmate)
Item B: More bananas than anyone can count left by BC (also current flatmate)
Item C: A 250g bar of Nestlé's cooking chocolate bought on unknown date left in drawer by ex-flatmate
Item D: 1/2 a bottle of pouring/whipping cream nearing expiry date

So what does one do with such excessive fridge refuse? I initially intended to make a sour cream coffee cake but we only had high grade flour thanks to our bread-making household. As I read the description of high grade flour, I noticed that the manufacturers recommended making banana bread with it. So I decided to make banana the main ingredient instead of sour cream.

After what felt like an eternity of Googling, I managed to find a recipe procured from David Lebovitz and tweaked it, producing this:

Chocolate Chip Banana Over The Top Cake

For the bottom of the rectangular, around 12 inches long pan:
2 ripe medium bananas

a few drops of lemon juice

For the cake:
1 1/2 cups (210 g) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup (150 g) raw sugar

2 tablespoons (30 g) melted butter, salted or unsalted

1 large egg

1 large egg white

1 cup (250 g) banana puree (about 2 bananas)

1/2 cup (120 g) sour cream, regular or low-fat

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 bar of cooking chocolate roughly chopped/broken up

Chocolate Ganache and Cake Topping:
As many bananas that will cover the top of the cake

200 ml of cream (however much there was left in the bottle of 500 ml cream)

1/2 a 250g bar of cooking chocolate (100g) + about 3/4 a 250g bar of Whittakers Dark Orange Chocolate David was munching on and deigned to contribute (I sieved out the orange bits as I don't like orange chocolate myself but couldn't help leaving some in)

1. Grease the bottom of the pan with butter and line them with thickly sliced bananas. Sprinkle some lemon juice on them.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients for the cake together, make a well and pour in the wet ingredients. I used 2 eggs instead of a whole egg and an egg white since I had less than the required amount of sour cream.

3. Bake at 180°C for about 33 minutes (do the toothpick test!). Or if you're using a square 8 inch pan, bake for 40 minutes and it should come out brown and warm.

4. Leave to cool and use a knife to separate the sides of the cake, emptying it bottom side up out onto a plate like so (or if you're lazy just leave it in the pan and decorate it):

5. Thickly slice the bananas, enough to cover the top (or bottom) of the cake and squeeze more lemon juice on it.

6. Prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat the cream over low heat and melt the chocolate chunks. Stir until smooth and drizzle over the top of the cake.I had so much ganache I completely covered the cake. Sprinkle with some icing sugar and you have yourself a successful by-product of leftovers!

Boyfriend protested he would never touch leftovers and expired food but eventually managed to down three of these!

San Churro

2010-09-07T16:51:00.001+12:00

Just a small post to say that San Churro is absolutely divine.

Macawrongs

2010-09-07T15:41:00.027+12:00

I am back from my much-needed trip to Melbourne and I have returned $150 poorer and 2kg heavier. But that is what holidays are about - shopping and eating yourself silly and Melbourne is the place to do just that. Aside from spending on clothes and stopping at every cupcake shop I saw in the city, I made a batch of macarons for the very first time.

Result? They were kinda fail. Despite reading articles about it, my first attempt at macaron-making wasn't very successful.

Regardless, it tasted fantastic. My friend (hi Janne!) from Melbourne and I made two types of filling: salty peanut butter and salted caramel.

French Macarons

(Recipe adapted from Wives with Knives)

Ingredients:

225 grams powdered sugar
125 grams almond flour
110 grams egg whites (3-4) left at room temperature for 1-2 days before using
30 grams superfine granulated sugar
food colouring (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using a digital scale, measure the powdered sugar and almond flour. Sift the powdered sugar and almond meal with a medium sieve to remove any large or coarse bits.
Measure the egg whites with the digital scale and place in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whip attachment. Beat the egg whites and a pinch of salt on medium high speed until they form soft peaks. Gradually, in small additions, add the granulated sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. I beat the mixture about 3-4 minutes. When the egg whites are glossy, add food colouring and combine well.
Add about 1/3 of the almond/powdered sugar mixture to the egg whites and gently fold in. Add another third and fold, and finally add the last third. Keep folding until the mixture is well combined and falls in a slow ribbon from the spatula. Don't overmix.
Using a pastry bag with a large round tip, pipe the mixture onto a lined cookie sheet into approximately 1-1/2 inch disks.
After piping, tap the baking sheet on the counter to release any air bubbles, then allow the macarons to set at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours before baking. You should be able to touch the top and not have it stick to your finger.
Bake at 150 degrees C for 12 - 16 minutes. Slide the macarons with the parchment off of the cookie sheet and allow to cool on the counter.

Salty Peanut Butter Filling

(Recipe adapted from Cannelle et Vanille)

Ingredients:

125 grams creamy peanut butter
70 grams powdered sugar
25 grams softened butter
25 grams heavy cream
5 grams vanilla extract
3 grams fine sea salt

Method:

Cream all ingredients together for a smooth filling.

Salted Caramel Filling

(Recipe adapted from Syrup and Tang)

Ingredients:

50 g sugar
23 g cream
35 g butter, cold, in cubes

Method:

Place one third of the sugar in a small saucepan and heat very gently. After some time it will suddenly start to melt and go brown.
As soon as the sugar is liquid, add another third of the dry sugar and melt, stirring gently.
Repeat with the remaining sugar.
When the liquid sugar has reached a rich caramel colour (perhaps very soon after melting), add the cream in a thin stream. The caramel will bubble vigorously, so be careful.
Stir and measure the temperature promptly. When the caramel reaches 108-110 C (this can happen very quickly!), remove from the heat and immediately add the butter.
Stir well (or use a handmixer) until the caramel is smooth and has cooled somewhat.
Refrigerate the caramel. It will firm up after an hour or two.

Macarons

For the love of poptarts

2010-08-18T22:51:00.002+12:00

I love poptarts but this is just too much:

Pop-Tarts Sushi

Mashed-up wildberry, raspberry, and blueberry Pop-Tarts wrapped in a fruit roll-up.

Wild Berry Buckle Bar

Pop-Tart crumb topping and Pop-Tart jam.

Grape Jam-Wich

Grape Pop-Tarts sandwiching PB and banana.

But I actually wouldn't mind trying these:

Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Blondie

Peanut butter blondie studded with chocolate chips and chocolate Pop-Tarts.

Caramel Green Apple Bars

With brown sugar cinnamon flavoured Pop-Tarts.

Sticky Cinna Munchies

Cinnamon roll dough with little cinnamon Pop-Tart bits and lots of icing on top.

And this just looks wrong:

S'More Stix

Chocolate-covered marshmallows with S'More Pop-Tart bits.

(All pictures from Serious Eats)

Top 10 cupcake tips

2010-08-18T22:24:00.005+12:00

I tweeted about this article I found on Serious Eats.

It would probably help explain some of our not-quite-perfect cupcakes.

Top 10 Tips For Better Cupcakes:

Reposted from Serious Eats

1. Keep It Organized

Use as few bowls and utensils as possible. I have the tendency to use a new spoon for each ingredient, but when all you want to do is eat your delicious cupcakes and you're faced with a sink overflowing with dirty dishes, it might discourage you from making cupcakes again in the future. Remember, all the ingredients are getting mixed together anyway. Measure the sugar and butter right into the bowl of the mixer; reuse bowls and clean up as you go along.

2. Bookend With Dry Ingredients

Whenever combining dry ingredients with liquid ingredients, start and end with the dry ingredients—it helps get the perfect consistency.

3. Whip It Good

When mixing ingredients in a stand mixer, put the mixer on max speed for the last five seconds.

4. Add Gradually

Add ingredients bit by bit, mixing between each addition, rather than dumping everything together then attempting to mix a mountain of ingredients. For instance, when making the batter, add one egg at a time, mixing briefly in between each addition.

5. Keep It Even

A key to successful cupcake-making is consistency. A consistent size is necessary to even baking (otherwise you will be stuck with a pan of cupcakes in which some are under-baked and others are over-baked). Rather than eye-balling your batter as you use a spoon or spatula, try using an ice cream scooper instead.

6. High-Quality

The best quality ingredients will result in the best taste. This may be a no-brainer, but it's worth it to use, for example, actual vanilla beans to flavor vanilla frosting. (After you have scraped the inside of the bean for the frosting, save the exterior and put it in a sugar canister: it not only perfumes the sugar, but gives it a hint of vanilla taste).

7. Watch The Shine

When mixing ingredients for the frosting, add the butter—and cream cheese, if the recipe calls for it—then begin adding sugar before the mixture becomes shiny. (Shininess means that the ingredients are starting to melt, and you want to add the sugar before that happens).

8. Fully Mixed?

To gauge whether frosting is sufficiently mixed, taste it for texture: it should be creamy rather than grainy. If it's grainy, keep mixing.

9. The Bounceback

Right out of the oven, the cupcakes should be able to take a bit of pressure from your fingers and still be able to bounce up. Cupcake tops may still be a little sticky right out of the oven, but they will continue to cook in the minutes after.

10. Eat 'Em Up!

Your cupcakes should be consumed within 48 hours for optimal taste. (This is probably no challenge for most of us. If you can't polish them all off, share!). Don't put your cupcakes in the refrigerator; it dries out the cake and the frosting loses its flavor. Keep them in an airtight container in a cool place in your home.

A result of procrastination

2010-08-03T17:27:00.009+12:00

Procrastination and general restlessness has led me to these delicious morsels. Whilst taking a break from studying (read: procrastination), I decided to bake something that was quick and easy. These bars fulfilled my baking urge on both counts, and on top of this, were scrumptious!

Chocolate Walnut Shortbread

(Recipe adapted from Salad in a Jar)

Ingredients:

1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/8 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

Line an 8-inch pan with baking paper. This is essential if you are to have any hope of getting the bars out of the pan without crumbling. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Stir flour, sugar and salt together in small bowl. Pour in melted butter and stir. Use fingers to thoroughly mix butter with dry ingredients.
Dump butter/flour mixture in to pan and pat down smooth. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Immediately after removing from the oven, sprinkle chips evenly over the surface of shortbread cookie base. Allow to sit until all chips are completely melted and soft.
Very carefully use a knife or back of a spoon to spread soft chips in an even layer. Sprinkle chopped, walnuts on top. Place in refrigerator until chocolate layer hardens. Remove cookies from pan carefully. Slice into 16 pieces.

Print-friendly recipe here.

If you look at the original blogger's posting, you'll find many variations to this recipe, such as 1/2 dark chocolate chips and 1/2 white chocolate chips which I should try out next time. The recipe is originally called "Toffee Bars Made Easy", but I couldn't detect a hint of toffee! This recipe took me under an hour to make, leaving me time to get back to studying (hmm). But the best thing about this recipe is that it only contains 96 calories. Quick, simple, delicious AND not so fattening? Score!

Voulez-vous quelque choses à manger?

2010-07-31T15:57:00.005+12:00

Damien hides drugs in a box of macarons and gives it to Jenny. Serena and Blair feed each other macarons while strutting about in Paris.

Macarons are becoming the most featured food item on Gossip Girl, second only to waffles. Waffles are featured in just about every episode of Gossip Girl that it might as well become a main character. Waffles supposedly symbolize innocence on the show, hence Rufus constantly forces Jenny to eat her waffles. Dan rejecting waffles from Rufus suggests that he has grown up and about to make his own decisions. Serena discovering that Nate could make waffles reflect on the end of their childhood and the realization that they've become more than friends. Nate guessing that Rufus' waffle iron broke down after noticing Serena's hunger uncovers a lie she told him.

And all of that suggests that I read too much into my favourite teen drama.

More French pastries below. All pictures by CHOW, click on the name to get the recipe.

Croq-Télé (Almond Cookies)

Chouquettes

Financiers

Croquants

Palmiers

French Chocolate Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

(Gossip Girl image from PurseForum. No copyright infringement intended.)

Foodgawker finds

2010-07-30T16:34:00.003+12:00

Photo summary of today's listings that caught my eye on Foodgawker. Clicking on the images direct you to the blog with recipes.

Auckland needs some cupcake shops

2010-07-24T12:59:00.008+12:00

Serious Eats ran a review on the best cupcakes in New York City. Sex and the City has been credited as the show that ignited society's love affair with all things cupcake (cupcake shops, cupcake blogs, cupcake-printed objects, etc). Cupcakes have become so prolific that reports even claim that cupcakes are bringing the world out of the recession.

Whether that is true or not, it is evident that cupcakes are more than just a fad. Which is why I find it surprising that Auckland doesn't have any cupcake shops. You can find local bakeries selling cupcakes, but I haven't come across any shops dedicated to selling just cupcakes, like Melbourne's Little Cupcakes, New York's Magnolia and Los Angeles' Crumbs.

The rest of this post are excerpts from the Serious Eats article. Reading it makes you wonder who will step up and bring Auckland its first cupcake shop?

12. Buttercup Bake Shop : The chocolate from this long-time New York favorite got decent marks, with tasters commenting on a "very chocolatey" flavor. But the vanilla was ill-received, with notes of "crumbly cake" and "overly-sweet frosting." The red velvet had "good cake flavor" but still, the frosting was too sweet. The cupcakes were of a decent size and cake:frosting ratio, but some of the flavors let us down.

11. Sweet Revenge: Sweet Revenge, you had class. You were a strong contender, but unfortunately the vastly unbalanced cake:frosting ratio (too much cake) on these giant cupcakes was only underlined by the dry texture of both cake and frosting. The Pure (Mexican vanilla) had "grainy frosting," "dense cake," and was "too sweet." The Dirty (chocolate) was something of a "brownie in disguise," but the cake was still dry; the Sweet Revenge (peanut butter chocolate) had a "big peanut hit," but the cake was "fell apart." And the Crimson & Cream (raspberry cake, cream cheese frosting) had an "odd spice hint in cake," prompting one taster to say, "I just don't know what this tastes like."

10. Robicelli's : This Brooklyn-based cupcakery presents its goods at several cafes across the borough. There was some delicious potential here, but the dryness of the cake and overwhelmingly buttery frosting let us down. The almond with vanilla buttercream had "great almond flavor" in the frosting, but dry cake; thepeanut butter had a "hard," "spongey" cake and the peanut butter flavor wasn't particularly discernible. Nor was the blackberry. Higher marks for flavor ideas than execution.

9. Sugar Sweet Sunshine: While we were hoping for more from one of the classic cupcakeries of NYC, the overall opinion was that these cupcakes were too darn sweet. The vanilla was "very sugary," although one taster noted that "the cake still comes through." The chocolate was "nice, a little almond-y," but some picked up on a "fake chocolate flavor." The pistachio was "mild, but yummy" for some, while others said there "wasn't much flavor." And thestrawberry cheesecake (which, we should note, melted a little in the 95 degree heat) led testers to say that though it "looked sad," it "tasted yummy."

8. Tribeca Treats : These cupcakes got pretty average marks amongst our finalists. The vanilla had "creamy frosting, but too sweet." Chocolate had a "sweet cake" that was "a little dry," but "intense." The red velvet had frosting that had a "nice cream cheesiness," a rare characteristic among the red velvets we tried. And the vanilla with strawberry frosting had "good flavor" but grainy frosting, with a base that reminded us too much of cornbread.

7. Tonnie's Minis : This Harlem bakery has a major following, especially for their red velvet cake, which we found had "delicious cake" that actually tasted like chocolate, but were saddened that "icing doesn't really taste like cream cheese." The vanilla coconut had "good textures" and "great cake," but some mentioned "overly sugary frosting." The chocolate was flavorful but a bit dry in the cake, and one taster noted that the frosting "tasted like it came out of a can." The lemon had some fans, though, with "strong lemony flavor" and a "sweet frosting that doesn't overwhelm."

6. Amy's Bread : These cupcakes remind us of our childhood. They had a classic frosting swirl presentation, and solid, unassuming flavors. The vanilla frosting was a little "too sugary and sweet," but the cake was "moist" and "good." The Devil's Food had a "super fudge-y," "intense" frosting that was a tad heavy for the "dense, chocolatey" cake. The red velvet had "fluffy," "cloudlike" frosting and a good cake. And the black and white had a "good cake," but frosting that tended towards "gritty" and "too sweet" for most tasters.

5. Kumquat Cupcakery : If you've never seen Kumquat cupcakes before, it's because this mini-cupcake business currently only sells at the Brooklyn Flea or through mail order. The vanilla prompted tasters to comments of "dry cake" and "[frosting is] a little too sweet." The dark chocolate was "very chocolatey," but still a little on the dry side. However, Kumquat won us over with banana, which was "sweet and banana-y" but not overkill. And the real winner of the bunch was thepeanut butter banana honey, which was "so flavorful" and "not too sweet." Overall, we would have liked more frosting, but these two-bite cuties are a show-stopper for presentation and adorable-ness factor.

4. Spot: Pichet Ong's St. Marks location has a variety of intriguing desserts on offer, and their cupcakes are certainly for those who are interested in more adventurous flavors. For instance, we didn't get just plain vanilla—we got vanilla yuzu lemon, which had "creamy, smooth frosting" and "complex flavor" that screamed yuzu. Theberry berry chocolate "tastes more like raspberry than a raspberry," and kept up the "moist cake" standard. The chocolate green tea was definitely polarizing, but if you are a fan of matcha you will agree that this is a "perfect balance of flavor," with "moist and chocolatey" cake. The mocha caramel was probably our least favorite, with "grainier frosting" and "little coffee flavor."

3. Dessert Club Chickalicious: This bakery toes the line between regular and mini cupcakes, and the cake:frosting ratio tends to slant in the cake direction. But the flavors made tasters pretty happy across the board, and all the cakes had an extremely fluffy, spongey texture. Thevanilla had "good vanilla flavor in the frosting," and was refreshingly "not a sugar bomb." The chocolate had "smooooth frosting," and a chocolate hit that wasn't overwhelming. The mocha had a "slightly dry cake," and frosting whose sweet creaminess reminded one taster (that'd be me) of coffeemilk. And the banana was the favorite of the bunch, with "intense banana flavor" but a "slight aftertaste."

2. Two Little Red Hens : We were very pleased with the consistent, tasty offerings from this wonderful Upper East Side bakery. The cupcakes were all very generously sized, with a good cake:frosting ratio. The vanilla had "very buttery frosting" that was "not too sweet," and well-flavored cake. The Brooklyn Blackout chocolate cake is "for chocolate lovers," with a "very fudge-y" texture and a serious explosion of chocolate flavor. The red velvet had "delish" frosting that was appropriately "tangy and smooth," but less flavor in the cake. And the marble had a "nice presentation" with the chocolate/vanilla swirl, but underwhelmed on flavor despite a "very moist, fluffy cake".

1. Baked: If you're even remotely familiar with the baked goods scene, then the fact that Baked produces some excellent cupcakes won't come as a surprise. This Red Hook bakery makes some of the best goodies around, and their cupcakes delivered. The lemon drop was one of the overall favorites of the tasting, with bright flavors that reminded us of summer citrus and not jarred lemon curd. The vanilla was a big pick for best of its category, in that it really "tasted like vanilla" and had a light, fluffy texture. The chocolate got solid marks for "excellent flavor," despite being more cake-y than fudge-y. And the sweet and salty, a truly brilliant creation of a chocolate cupcake generously sprinkled with sea salt, made our tasters scream "wonderful"; "fluffy cake and frosting!"; and "wooooo, salty!" What more can you ask for?

Junk inside your trunk

2010-07-20T19:04:00.023+12:00

This week's recipes are high in fat, sugar and all things bad for your body but heavenly for your taste buds.

Some days I feel like exercising restraint on my diet by feeding it with healthy foods, other times I feel like abusing it with cookies, cakes and chips.

Today feels like the latter.

Nat and I had a Gossip Girl marathon and proceeded to consume chocolates, popcorn, chocolate caramel biscuits, Tim Tams, carrot cake, chocolate fudge Pop Tarts and chips. In addition to this, I've had white chocolate Kinder Bueno, Lindt dark chili chocolate, Lindt dark roasted almond chocolate and chocolate buttercream cake in the past 2 days.

I still feel like doing my digestive system some more damage. These recipes would be a good start.

Pretzel Cookies with Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chips

From Sugar Cooking

Oh peanut butter chips, why won't you come to New Zealand?! I long for you so. Nat and I were having a debate over whether sweet and salty was a good combination. She said no, I said yes.

Mini Turtle Brownie Bites

From The Other Side of 50

Another topic Nat and I debated about over episodes of Gossip Girl was caramel. Turns out Nat doesn't like caramel. I've only recently began to form a liking for it. Either way, chocolate brownies with caramel sauce sounds damn good.

Snickers Caramel Cheesecake Cookies

From Picky Palate

The words in this recipe sound good on their own but better when strung together in a sentence.

Peanut Butter Honey Brownies

From Spoonful of Sugar

You can't have junk food without peanut butter of some kind. In this recipe it's in the form of brownies with a honey filled centre. I like to think the healthiness of the honey offsets the calorific nature of everything else in the brownies.

Baked Doughnuts

From How to Eat a Cupcake

Funny how this is the only recipe of the ones listed that I'm actually excited to make. The reason being is that I can finally make doughnuts without using a fryer! I've come to believe that baking is a healthier method than frying, so these baked doughnuts sit on top of my list of things to bake in the near future.

I feel like I've gained ten pounds just blogging about junk food. I've got to feed the fat kid inside of me!

Recipes of the week

2010-07-06T18:20:00.006+12:00

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

From Joy the Baker

My first taste of cookie dough was in Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, and ever since then, I've been hooked. Most of the time they taste delicious, albeit artificial, (like Kit Kat Cookie Dough) and sometimes I can't get over the rawness of it. When I tried Baskin Robbins' chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in Sydney, it had a really eggy taste to it that put me off. Still, I like the sound of cookie dough and any recipe with it always catches my eye.

Nutty White Chocolate Blondies

From Chow

In five words: big chunks of white chocolate.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

From Jamie Cooks It Up

What attracted me to this recipe was the use of mayonnaise to make these sweet muffins. I've heard of zucchini, chili and bacon used in chocolate recipes, but not mayonnaise. Apparently the mayonnaise gives the muffins a moist texture. The recipe even says you can substitute mayonnaise for salad dressing if you don't have a tub of mayo handy.

Banana Caramel Cupcakes

From Bakers Royale

Continuing with bananas, these cupcakes look and sound absolutely delicious. There are a number of ingredients involved but these are readily available in your pantry (with the exception of heavy cream for the filling). This recipe seems similar to the banana cupcakes Natalie and I baked that were meant to be accompanied with a toffee icing. But this one is a lot harder to assemble, but I would presume to be a lot tastier.

David Leibovitz's Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Serious Eats

Chocolate chip cookies so famous it needs an equally famous chef's name in front of it. But I don't know who David Leibovitz is (although his name sounds familiar). I may have heard of him from watching Top Chef or this recipe has been circling around the food blogosphere. I think it's the latter. Everyday a recipe for chocolate chip cookies would feature on FoodGawker or TasteSpotting, with posters claiming theirs is the chunkiest, richest, sweetest, chewiest chocolate chip cookie. On the same site, there is a taste test to see which are the best chocolate chips to use for chocolate chip cookies. To me, chocolate chip cookies are plain and boring, and are not something I would bake. But if it's David Leibovitz's Chocolate Chip Cookies, I just might.

Banana magnet

2010-07-01T10:29:00.010+12:00

The sight of ripe bananas beckon us to do something with them. We turned brown spotty bananas into cute little cupcakes.

Banana Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

(Recipe adapted from 'Cupcakes' by Sue McMahon)

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

100 g butter, softened
100 g light soft brown sugar
100 g self-raising flour
2 medium eggs (we used 1)
1 ripe banana, mashed (we used 2)
A dash of cinnamon

For the buttercream

175 g butter, softened
350 g icing sugar
3 Tbsp boiling water
Few drops of vanilla essence

Method:

For the cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
Beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and flour to the bowl. Beat until the mixture is smooth, then fold in the mashed banana.
Divide the mixture between the paper cases and bake in the centre of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes until the cakes have risen and are just firm to the touch in the centre.
Remove the cakes from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

For the buttercream

Beat the butter in a bowl to soften it.
Add the icing sugar, boiling water and vanilla essence, and beat until the icing is very smooth and pale in colour.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Print-friendly recipe here.

The icing had a superb consistency, making it very piping-bag-friendly. The cupcakes on the other hand, were quite flat and moist. Probably because of the extra banana we added in place of egg.

Baking commences

2010-07-01T10:20:00.013+12:00

Exams are finally over for me, so Natalie and I resumed our baking sessions.

Starting with a favourite of ours, peanut butter cookies.

Easy Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Biscuits

(Recipe adapted from 'Creative Biscuits and Slices' by Allyson Gofton)

Ingredients:

1 cup crunchy or smooth peanut butter (we used smooth)
3/4 cup castor sugar (we used half)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Beat the peanut butter and sugar together.
Add the beaten egg and stir to combine. The mixture will become stiff.
Add the chocolate chips.
Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on a well-greased tray. Flatten the balls of mixture firmly with a fork.
Bake at 180 degrees C for 15-18 minutes until the biscuits are cooked and lightly browned. Transfer to a cake rack to cool and then store in an airtight container.

Makes approx. 24 biscuits.

Print-friendly recipe here.

I'm glad we decided to halve the sugar quantity. The cookies were sweetened by the peanut butter and the chocolate chips gave them an extra crunch.

We didn't know if the cookies would stretch or not, since there's no flour or baking powder in the recipe. Turns out they did, and we had a large cookie crumble slice, which we broke up with a knife. Hence, the oddly shaped cookies.

Bites from other blogs

2010-06-22T19:18:00.015+12:00

Exam preparation has left me with no time to bake. But I enjoy trawling through food blogs to save recipes for another time when I am free to bake. This just so happens to be in 2 weeks, which is when my baking companion Natalie will be around!

Until then, these are a few recipes that have caught my eye in the food blogosphere.

Nutella Palmiers

From Handle the Heat

Only two ingredients to this easy dessert. Yes, I like simplicity. And I like Nutella.

Microwave Cheesecake

From Cooking by Ruza123

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this: Microwave. Cheesecake. There was the "most dangerous recipe" with microwave chocolate cake, but this is just as sinful. The recipe's in Croatian but a quick translate revealed quite a simple recipe, using a mixer, baking dish, your hands, and a microwave.

Pandan Coconut Muffins

From Melting Wok

Something about this caught my attention. Maybe because it was green. To me, green translates into pandan, which is something I've grown up smelling/eating/drinking. My Dad makes amazing pandan chiffon cake, and this recipe seems like miniature versions of it.

Cinnamon Chocolate Feather Pudding

From Life's a Feast

Winter (which has just started here in the Southern Hemisphere) reminds me of warm and gooey desserts, so there is nothing quite like good ol' fashioned pudding to warm up the cold nights. Winter is also the time for weight gain.

Momofuku Crack Pie

From Momofuku for 2

I have heard so much about Momofuku and its head chef David Chang. There is no way I can ever visit the restaurant because: A) It's super pricey, B) It's in New York City, and C) Apparently you have to order everything in advance. All of this intrigues me. From my scant research, Momofuku has six concept restaurants: Momofuku Noodle Bar, Ssäm Bar, Ko, Milk Bar, and the most exclusive of all, Má Pêche, in which reservations have to be made at least 3 months ahead. The recipe above comes from Momofuku for 2, a mere foodie's attempt at cooking every recipe from the Momofuku cookbook. In complete contrast to the earlier recipes I've posted, the Momofuku Crack Pie is no simple, easy, two-ingredient recipe. Hell no. There's a lot of hype surrounding this pie - its name as well as its taste - and the only way to see what all the fuss is about is by trying it. Maybe. As I said before, I like simplicity.

What to do with leftover puff pastry?

2010-05-02T21:02:00.003+12:00

Make Apple Tarte Tatin!

Dusted with icing sugar.

Food supply

2010-04-06T17:40:00.010+12:00

My aunt and uncle will be away for awhile and I've been requested to bake some muffins for my cousin so that he would not starve for the duration of their trip. While I find this highly amusing since my cousin is 20 years old and very well capable of making his own food, I gladly took the opportunity. Any reason to bake!

My aunt had an old pack of Craisins sweetened dried cranberries and asked me to use it as one of the ingredients for the muffins (that will be kept in the freezer while they're away).

A quick Google search brought me to this recipe:

Craisin Muffins

(Recipe adapted from CD Kitchen)

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups Craisins sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups stirred flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup white chocolate buttons (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
In a large bowl, whip eggs, oil and milk until liquids are frothy.
Stir together flour, baking powder and sugar; stir gently into liquid mixture.
Add Craisins all at once, and optional white chocolate buttons. Stir gently but do not overmix.
Spray muffin tins with vegetable coating, covering very well. Heap batter to top of cups.
Bake 30 minutes or until muffins are light brown and a toothpick comes out just moist.

Makes 12 muffins.

The muffins came out with a ring of brown sticky gloop around the edges. Either there was too much oil in the recipe or the white chocolate buttons were too close to the top of the pan that it seeped out of the muffins.

The original recipe didn't use white chocolate, but from this recipe, mixing white chocolate and cranberries seemed like a great idea.

And it was! Aside from the sticky ring, the white chocolate chunks complemented the tang of the dried cranberries. I just have to figure out if aforementioned gloop is congealed oil or white chocolate residue. Here's hoping it's the latter.

Update: The muffins turned out hard in the morning. I think I may have overmixed the wet and dry ingredients. I think I'll be giving this recipe a miss!

NZ's hottest home baker

2010-03-28T18:58:00.008+13:00

I watched an episode of "NZ's Hottest Home Baker" featuring a cupcake challenge and became immediately inspired to bake my own batch of cupcakes.

Dad actually baked the cupcakes while I made the frosting, which is my favourite part of baking cupcakes anyway. Don't let the recipe name fool you, these are just plain vanilla cupcakes but with two different types of icing.

Best Ever Cupcakes

(Recipe adapted from Annabelle White)

Ingredients:

125 g soft butter
¾ cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
11/2cups self raising flour
½ cup milk

Method:

Take your softened butter (not melted) but soft through into your cake mixer and beat till white in colour.
Add sugar and continue to beat. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time.
Sift in flour and add milk and give the mix a good beat – quick but sure (10 beats) – do not over mix.
Place into 12 cup cake cases and into a 160 deg C fan bake for approx. 15 mins or when spongy to touch.

Cinnamon Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

(Recipe adapted from The Blueberry Fiend)

Ingredients:

1/2 butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tbs. milk (to reach desired consistency)

Method:

With an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add sugar and vanilla. Beat, on low speed to combine. Add milk if needed.
Add cinnamon and continue beating until fully mixed.

Before adding the cinnamon, I split the icing into two parts to frost half of the cupcakes with Cinnamon Vanilla Buttercream and the other half with Chocolate Frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

Same ingredients as Cinnamon Vanilla Frosting but add 1/4 cup melted chocolate chips instead of cinnamon.

Method:

Same method as Cinnamon Vanilla Buttercream but add melted chocolate chips instead of cinnamon and beat until fully mixed.

Dad went a little crazy with the decoration and made each cupcake look different by adding dried cranberries, chocolate chips, cinnamon, cocoa powder, icing sugar and almonds.

He ain't heavy, he's my cupcake

2009-11-22T20:57:00.004+13:00

Photo from Bake or Break

How can something that looks so delicious turn into something that looks so... so...

...fail?

To be fair, we took that cupcake out of the tin too early. So it just collapsed. After exercising patience, the cupcakes turned out like this:

It's still nothing like the picture though.

Photo from Bake or Break

The cupcakes were incredibly rich and heavy. Each cupcake was the same weight as a glass bowl. It sickens me to think that I ate 205 grams of half-baked brownie batter and melted peanut butter. But damn, was it worth it.

Brownie Peanut Butter Cups recipe from Bake or Break.

Broken butterfly wings

2009-11-17T20:59:00.001+13:00

Sadly, yesterday was Natalie's last baking session here in New Zealand. She was leaving for Malaysia and we spent the day baking two batches of cupcakes. The first of which were Lemon Curd Butterfly Cupcakes.

Lemon Curd Butterfly Cupcakes

(Recipe adapted from Her Magazine - July 2009 - Issue 105)

Ingredients:

175g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup lemon curd
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/4 cup milk

Method:

Place the oven rack in the centre of the oven. Preheat the oven to 190C. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper cases.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lemon curd.
Fold in the flour alternatively with the milk.
Divide the mixture evenly among the paper cases.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden.
Transfer to a cake rack to cool.
Cut a small disc from the centre of each cupcake and cut the disc in half. Fill the cavity with sweetened whipped cream (we used marshmallow creme) and place two halved discs on top to resemble butterfly wings. Decorate with tiny dollops of lemon curd and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Unfortunately, the cupcakes turned out to be too crumbly for us to cut out proper butterfly wings. We had also ran out of lemon curd so we used marshmallow creme and icing sugar to decorate.

Gooey mess

2009-11-16T21:00:00.010+13:00

Thanks to a new store Natalie discovered that sells US brands, I no longer need to move to America just to satisfy my cravings for all things sugary and trans-fatty. Because at one point, I was considering moving there just to get my daily supply of pop tarts. One thing I've always wanted to try was marshmallow creme. Natalie bought a whole jar and we decided to use it for baking.

Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme: Strong smell of egg white but super creamy, sweet and sticky

The marshmallow creme became a topping to Martha Stewart's One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes as we wanted something quick and easy (since we were still in the middle of study break).

The topping overflowed, probably because we added too much milk to the marshmallow creme frosting. The frosting was also too liquid so we couldn't pipe it on top of the cupcakes. Instead, we just ladelled tablespoonfuls on top.

Messy but oh so delicious

Something that Nat and I should've tried was a Fluffernutter; that is, a sandwich with marshmallow creme and peanut butter :).

Study break

2009-11-02T18:49:00.011+13:00

What do you do when you feel like baking but should be studying for exams?

Cake mix!!!

In the midst of my study break, I whipped up an Edmond's Lemon Meringue Pie. All that was needed was egg and water to add to the packaged mix. It took quite awhile to make as there were many steps involved, but it was definitely a lot faster than making the pie from scratch. As such, I could satisfy my baking desires AND study at the same time!

Result?

The pie was disgusting! It may have looked delicious, but it had an incredibly artificial taste. All three layers were foul: the strong smell of uncooked egg from the meringue was off-putting, the lemon curd filling was bitter and the pie pastry was dry.

In short:

The Edmond's brand may be very well-known in New Zealand but their cake mixes are in a word, yuck. Nothing beats making your own cakes from scratch, but cake mixes are the easy way out and I'll continue to use them when I'm lazy. However, the next time I'm cramming for an exam but have the urge to bake, I shall whip out a box of good ol' Betty Crockers instead!

Spring forward

2009-10-01T17:12:00.009+13:00

With spring comes unpredictable weather and allergies. Sadly these two things make me grumpy and depressed. The only way to cure this is by eating junk food. But shortly after, I feel bad for stuffing my face and the cycle continues. Grumpy-depressed-grumpy-depressed.

These cookies were the output of my baking session with Natalie yesterday afternoon. Everyone in my family thought they were cupcakes. But after biting into it, they realised how hard they were and thought we had messed up. I simply told them they were shortbread and they proceeded to be happy again. If only things were that easy.

Almond Shortbread
(Adapted from "The Australian Women's Weekly: The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits")

Ingredients:

250 g butter
1/3 cup castor sugar
60 g ground almonds
12/3 cups plain flour
1 packet chocolate drops

Method:

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add ground almonds, beat until combined. Add sifted flour. Mix well.
Put mixture into lnto piping bag fitted with fluted tube. Pipe small stars into small patty cases, top each biscuit with a chocolate drop.
Bake in oven at 180C for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes about 50.

N.B. The original recipe is called "Hazelnut Rosettes". We substituted ground hazelnuts for ground almonds and decorated with orange-chocolate MnMs.

Bake off

2009-10-01T16:49:00.014+13:00

Last week I participated in an informal "bake off". Initially I was asked to bake brownies, which scared me as my friend is known to make the "best brownies EVER". This is true; her brownies are rich and decadent with a mouthful of solid chocolate in every bite. How could I compete with a batch of knock-offs? The only way that I could survive this bake off with dignity in tact was if I baked brownies with a twist. Recipes that came to mind were blondies, peanut butter swirl brownies and cookie dough brownies. Luckily, a couple of days before the bake off I was requested to bake my dark chocolate cookies. Phew. I escaped baking-social suicide (?).

My friend brought her infamous brownies at the bake off. They were delectable and stole everyone's breath away. My dark chocolate cookies stood out in the 'biscuit category' but were overshadowed by said brownies and a batch of ice-cream cupcakes. Sigh. The dark chocolate cookies didn't stand a chance.

Anyway, these are a batch of brownies with a twist.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies
(Adapted from Donna Hay)

Ingredients:

185 g butter, melted
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain flour, sifted

Cheesecake topping

285 g cream cheese, chopped and softened
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs

Method:

Preheat oven to 160C.
Place butter, cocoa, sugar, eggs and flour in a bowl and mix well until smooth. Spoon into a 20cm-square slice tin lined with non-stick baking paper.
To make the cheesecake, process cream cheese with sugar and eggs in a food processor until smooth.
Place large spoonfuls of the cheesecake mixture on top of the chocolate mixture and swirl with a butter knife.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until set. Cool in the tin. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16.

Rainy day, baking day

2009-09-19T14:04:00.014+12:00

Today I woke up to an overcast sky and an appetite for baking. Since Natalie was busy with Taste of Japan, I couldn't exactly snap my fingers and have her appear in my kitchen ready to bake. So at 9am, under a gloomy sky, I set out to bake a batch of cookies by myself.

The recipe is called chocolate lace crisps, but I prefer to call it dark chocolate cookies, since nothing about it is lacey or crispy.

Dark Chocolate Cookies (Chocolate Lace Crisps)
(Recipe adapted from "Australian Women's Weekly: Cupcakes and Cookies")

Ingredients:

100 g dark cooking chocolate, chopped coarsely
80 g butter, chopped
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg, beaten lightly
1 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup icing sugar

Method:

Melt chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat. Transfer to medium bowl.
Stir in caster sugar, egg and sifted flour, cocoa and soda. Cover; refrigerate about 15 mins or until mixture is firm enough to handle.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 C. Grease oven trays; line with baking paper.
Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls; roll each ball in icing sugar, place on trays 8cm apart. Bake about 15 mins; cool crisps on trays.

Makes approx 30 cookies.

(Print-friendly recipe here)

The texture is quite cake-y. I suppose if the cookies had been baked longer in the oven, it would turn out nice and crispy.
If you love dark chocolate, you would love the taste of these cookies. I'm more of a white chocolate fan, so these weren't my favourite batch of cookies to bake, but still very satisfying.

Perfect accompaniment to a glass of milk and a good book on a rainy day.

Red velvet without the red

2009-09-10T18:40:00.005+12:00

These are most definitely not your typical red velvet cupcakes. Firstly, they're not red. Second, buttermilk wasn't added, and lastly, there is no cocoa in them. All of which are common ingredients found in the cake.

I didn't have a bottle of red food colouring with me (only yellow, green and blue) so I decided to omit it. After all, red velvet is so-called because of its colour right? [Source: Wikipedia] However, red velvet cupcakes without the red makes a very dull cake. Besides the lack of colour, there isn't much flavour to these cupcakes. Nat and I had to experiment by adding cinnamon and edible pansies to decorate and improve its taste.

(Red) Velvet Cupcakes
(Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
10 tablespoons salted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon red food colouring (I didn't have this)

Method:

Put a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 180C. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
Sift together flour and baking powder into a bowl. Set aside.
Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute in between each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture alternately with the milk and red dye in 3 batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until just incorporated.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cakes a pick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes then remove cupcakes from muffin tin and let cool on a wire rack.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

150g salted butter, softened at room temperature
125g cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed [to taste]
1/2 cup icing sugar [to taste]
2-4 tablespoons milk, depending on desired consistency

Method:

Cream the cream cheese in an electric mixer for 1 minute. Add the butter, beating for 1-2 minutes, or until incorporated.
Add the brown sugar and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Turn off mixer and add half of the icing sugar. With the mixer on a low speed, slowly add more sugar alternately with the milk until you reach your desired consistency.

Makes approx 20 cupcakes.

(Print-friendly recipe here)

Like the previous recipe, Nat found that the frosting and cupcakes tasted very similar. I wished they were different coloured. Next time a recipe asks for food colouring, I'll pull out my blue and green colours... They may appear strange but at least they would be more interesting-looking than this batch of colourless velvet cupcakes!

A day of complementaries

2009-09-10T17:53:00.008+12:00

The answer to my tweet is yes; fudge can be baked. It turns out chewy and as delicious as it was before it was baked. The reason I asked was because Natalie came back from Wellington with a log of soft Russian fudge, which is my favourite type. I wanted to bake it but wasn't sure how it would react to high temperatures in the oven.

To try this out, I found a Donna Hay recipe that could use fudge as a replacement for caramel lollies on cookies. I also omitted 1/3 cup of brown sugar the recipe asked for as the fudge is certainly sweet and caramel-ly enough.

Caramel Fudge Cookies

Ingredients:

60g unsalted butter
1/3 cup golden syrup
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
fudge pieces or caramel lollies, halved

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.
Place the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the butter is melted and dissolved.
Set aside to cool.
Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix until a smooth dough forms.
Roll tablespoonfuls into balls and place on baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper.
Press to flatten and top each with half a fudge piece or caramel lolly.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
Allow to cool on the trays.

Makes approx 24

Print-friendly recipe here.

Nat's opinion was that the fudge tasted similar to the cookie base, so there wasn't an interesting contrast in flavours. That was a common theme in our baking that day... (as you'll later see)

Quick fix

2009-09-02T17:42:00.005+12:00

If you want something sweet, cold and can be eaten in a mouthful, try these Bite-Sized Ice-Cream Sundaes. Despite being the holidays, I'm sometimes too lazy to pull out ingredients from my pantry and instead, want something that's fast and simple, i.e. a quick fix.

Only three ingredients are used to create these treats. I had the most trouble with melting the chocolate to the right consistency. Everytime I proceeded to dunk the treats into the chocolate, it would melt the ice-cream ball and create a drippy mess. This resulted in me running back and forth between the freezer and the kitchen counter to prevent the ice-cream from melting and the chocolate from hardening. I could only dip each treat into the chocolate one at a time and I couldn't cover them fully.

Having said all that, I would make these bite sized sundaes again. I just need to make these quick fixes faster.

The leftover

2009-08-31T18:55:00.009+12:00

These are cupcakes that have been made on a whim. Using leftover filling and leftover frosting, Nat and I created something that turned out to be rather delicious.

Cinnamon Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 C. Butter and flour a 12-cup muffin pan, or use liners.
Combine flour, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat caster sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture in two parts, alternating with 1/2 cup milk.
Divide batter among prepared muffin cups and bake for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the filling.
Pierce holes into cupcakes (using a chopstick). Drop filling by rounded tablespoonfuls into the centre of each cupcake. Bake for 10 minutes longer or until toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean.
Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Print-friendly recipe here.

Cupcakes prior to being frosted. It's best to bury the filling inside if not it'll look like some kind of eruption (like above)

Nat and I had fun with writing icing

Brown Sugar Cinnamon filling (with an added tablespoon of cocoa powder)

Pop tart ravioli

2009-08-31T18:40:00.013+12:00

There are many times when I wish I lived in America. S'mores and pop tarts are two of my favourite foods and living in New Zealand, access to these snacks are very limited. Which is a shame because my love for American junk food is big enough for me to consider moving there just to eat it on a daily basis.

I only discovered pop tarts were sold in NZ last week at a UK food store for $14.90 a box. $14.90! Might as well make your own...

Pop Tarts

(Recipe adapted from Genesis of a Cook and Oven Love)

Ingredients:

Dough

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 tbsp cold water

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling

1 egg white, at room temperature
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup almond slivers or slices
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cocoa powder (optional)

Glaze

1 cup icing sugar
1/2 to 1 tablespoon milk
Sprinkles

Method:

Preheat oven to 230ºC.
Make filling; In a food processor, combine egg white, icing sugar, almond slivers, brown sugar, cinnamon and cocoa powder. Blend until well combined and set aside.
Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and blend with a fork or your hands. Blend until mixture is fairly coarse. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, gently mixing dough after each addiction until dough forms a ball.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a square/rectangle. Cut out long strips of rectangles or squares. Repeat until dough runs out.
Take one pie crust rectangle/square and lace 1 teaspoon of filling on top. Cover with another piece of pie crust and crimp all four edges. Repeat with the rest of dough.
Place pop tarts on a baking sheet with parchment paper, and bake for 7-8 minutes.
While pop-tarts are baking, make glaze; Place icing sugar in a bowl. Pour milk slowly until it has a consistency of really thick syrup.
Once pop-tarts are done and cooled, top with glaze. Decorate with sprinkles.

Print-friendly recipe here.

Introducing 'writing icing' - pre-made icing in a tube to write with

Finished product! Writing icing available in four colours as seen above

Pop tart filling

Verdict? These don't taste like the pop tarts that I remember. The pop tarts that I had for breakfast when I was in America were light and crispy. These just tasted like pie. Still nice though, but not enough to satisfy my pop tart cravings.

Kuih dadar

2009-08-25T21:06:00.006+12:00

Natalie once said that Malaysian/Singaporean desserts tend to have these three ingredients: pandan, coconut and/or gula melaka. This means that desserts tend to be either green, white or brown in colour.

Kuih dadar: pandan-flavoured filled pancake

Coconuts were on sale so my dad decided to buy one to make this dessert. I realised that it takes a lot of work to make these, but so little is produced; my dad had spent hours in the kitchen using all sorts of equipment (including three different sized sieves, food processor, etc) but only made a grand total of eight pieces. They tasted delicious though, so perhaps the hard work paid off.

Inside the kuih dadar is a sweet coconut filling

Take a piece of my heart, and other bad heart puns

2009-08-22T22:03:00.011+12:00

If you have been following us on Twitter, you may have noticed one tweet that read, "Screw you foodgawker!". It's rather self-explanatory; Nat and I heart food porn available on FoodGawker and TasteSpotting. These sites have to have the highest standard of photos so that people would actually want to gawk at them (therefore becoming food porn).

While that's absolutely wonderful for viewers, it sucks for people like us who have no patience for food photography. Sure, I'm currently taking a University course in photography, but food photography is a whole other skill.

Anyway, this post is another big "screw you" to FoodGawker and TasteSpotting, because before you stand the most unflattering and technically-incorrect photos I've ever taken. The photos really do injustice to the blondies I've baked though. So don't let the ghastly photos fool you, these blondies are really worth trying...

Stuck inside your heart-shaped pan

Can you tell I took this photo at night under unnatural lighting?

Broken heart

White and Dark Chocolate Chip Peanut Blondies
(Recipe adapted from Cupcake Rehab)

Ingredients:

1 cup plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup salted butter
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 cup salted roasted peanuts
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
Extra salted roasted peanuts
Extra white and/or dark chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 180° C. Line an 8″x8″x2″ metal pan with baking paper.
Whisk flour and baking soda in a medium bowl to blend.
Melt butter in a heavy large saucepan over low heat (or use a microwave). Remove from heat; add sugar and whisk until smooth.
Cool mixture for 2 minutes, then whisk in eggs and vanilla.
Using a flexible spatula, stir in flour mixture, then peanuts and chocolate chips.
Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with extra chocolate chips and peanuts.
Bake blondies until golden, tester inserted into the center comes out clean, and edges just begin to pull away from sides of pan; about 30 minutes.
Cool completely in pan on rack; then cut into 16 squares and serve.

Print-friendly recipe here.

The blondies came out a tad dry but they tasted good. So don't be disheartened to whip up a batch, just have the patience (and the skill) to take proper photos.

Monkey's diet

2009-08-13T17:30:00.001+12:00

We've always known that bananas go well with chocolate, and chocolate goes well with peanut butter, and peanut butter goes well with bananas. But we never thought we'd chuck it all together into one concoction.

After baking a batch of funfetti cupcakes, we had a redundant jar of peanut butter, pack of dark chocolate chips and bananas to violate. And that we did, with the following recipe.

It was very rushed. We quickly checked the ingredients and didn't bother reading the method. Once you have the urge to bake, you can't get rid of the feeling. You can only satisfy it!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
(Recipe adapted from Sugar Plum)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 medium ripe mashed bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 C.
Line a 9-inch loaf pan with baking paper.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together banana, peanut butter, 2 tablespoons butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy, for about 2 minutes.
Beat in eggs and vanilla extract until combined.
Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in milk and flour mixture until just combined.
Stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool for 20 minutes before running a knife around outside edges, removing, and transferring to a wire rack to cool before slicing.

Print-friendly version of recipe here.

Apologies for the poor quality photos. We were in such a rush that we didn't have enough time to take better photos when the bread was fresh out of the oven.

100's and 1000's

2009-08-12T22:03:00.020+12:00

After what seemed like months without the aroma of freshly baked goods in the kitchen, it was about time Nat and I ended that spell with some cupcake baking.

Nat had recently acquired a bottle of rainbow sprinkles (or hundreds and thousands) and I found this recipe that actually used them as a baking ingredient and not as a garnish.

Needless to say, it was such a de-stresser to be back in the kitchen baking again. It really is therapeutic. There is nothing like putting down a pad of paper and pen and picking up a piping bag to frost a batch of freshly baked cupcakes.

The rainbow sprinkles didn't melt as much as we'd expected

Equipped with colourful cupcake liners and rainbow sprinkles

We wanted to decorate it so we added more 100's and 1000's and chocolate hail

Cupcake dotted with baked rainbow sprinkles

Funfetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting
(Recipe adapted from Cupcake Rehab)

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup sugar (we used 1/4 cup icing sugar + 1/4 cup brown sugar)
6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 large egg + 1 egg white, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup milk
2 tbsp rainbow sprinkles

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.
Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a stand mixer, fitted with flat beater, beat the sugar and butter until well combined, about 2-3 minutes.
Add egg and egg white, one at a time, beating on low. Then add vanilla.
Gradually add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, ending with the flour mixture.
Fold in rainbow sprinkles. Fill cupcake liners about 1/2 - 2/3 full.
Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.

Vanilla Frosting
(Recipe adapted from Marzipan)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
85 grams cream cheese, room temperature

Method:

Place all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until well combined.
Add a tablespoon of milk if the icing seems too thick and beat well.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Print-friendly recipe here.

Nat and I thought the cupcakes were rather eggy and had a strong butter flavour, like a rich butter cake. The cupcakes weren't sweet enough to be eaten by itself, which is why we added frosting. The recipe for the frosting makes quite a lot, so it may be best to follow the original recipe and reduce the quantity of the ingredients depending on the number of cupcakes you're making.

Overall, a great way to satisfy my "baking withdrawal"!

Success comes in the form of brownies

2009-07-16T17:49:00.022+12:00

After two failed attempts, I finally managed to bake something by myself that was, a) not burnt and b) edible. Everyone's tastebuds can stop crying now.

What I made one afternoon were a simple batch of brownies for a friend. I was so nervous throughout baking this as my failure rate has been incredibly high and seeing that these were for a friend, I had to be extra cautious. Which meant extra pressure. Perhaps pressure was what made me super pedantic (more so than usual), that I measured out everything exactly and made sure that I followed the recipe word for word (unlike this).

Peanut Butter and Nutella Brownies
(Adapted from The Craving Chronicles)

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, melted
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
½ cup plain flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 tbsp (¼ cup) peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
4 tbsp (¼ cup) Nutella

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 8×8 inch or 7×11 inch pan with baking paper.
Measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a small bowl and whisk to combine.
Using an electric mixer, cream the sugar with the melted butter. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Put the Nutella and peanut butter in a small bowl and microwave until runny. Fold into brownie mix (don't completely combine the mixture if you want visible streaks of Nutella and peanut butter to appear on the brownie crust).
Pour batter into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until top forms a crust.

Print-friendly version of recipe here.

These brownies are not like your usual rich and fudgey brownies as they are fluffier and less dense. This may have been achieved through the use of an electric mixer, which the original recipe didn't call for.

If you live in New Zealand, the taste of these brownies are similar to Farmbake's peanut brownie cookies. Which are not bad if you're a fan of those biscuits. For me, I wish it was a tad more peanut buttery, but that's just being nitpicky. I should accept these little victories for as long as they last!

Melbourne, from a food-lover's point of view - Part 4

2009-07-05T23:01:00.004+12:00

This post concludes my Australian food experience. It was an interesting 5 days spent in the city of Melbourne and I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed posting it. :)

Brunetti

Brunetti was a cafe recommended by a close friend who now studies in Melbourne University. Situated under the Westin hotel on Swanston St and next to St. Paul's Cathedral, the place looked pretty fancy from outside. It had a distinct European charm with red awnings and quaint outdoor seating. The cakes and pastries inside were also European.

Various pastries displayed inside the cafe

Cakes and tarts

I went here on my first day in Melbourne and wasn't feeling too hungry for rich cakes (weird, I know). Instead my brother and I hopped over to Krispy Kremes across the road. It didn't stop me from tasting what my parents had ordered though. One of which was an uber-rich rum bar, which was literally, cake soaked in rum. The liquor was incredibly strong which made the cake soggy. Of course the adults loved it while I chomped on a chocolate glazed doughnut.

Choco Churro Spanish Doughnuts

I was on my way to Degraves St when this place caught my eye. Next to Coles supermarket on Flinders St, I knew I had to return there one day to try out their churros. I never knew churros could be savoury, coated in chocolate, or filled with custard.

On my last day in Melbourne, I shared a dark chocolate coated churro with caramel filling. The doughnut was hard and eaten together with the chocolate and caramel, was pretty sweet. The caramel was addictive though and if I could, I would have sucked it all out of the churro and left the rest.

For some reason the churros in Melbourne taste different from the ones I'm used to in Singapore. First of all, they're not hanging in long sticks and coated in cinnamon. Also, the texture differs greatly. The ones in Singapore were soft with a strong cinnamon sugar flavour. The ones I tried in Melbourne were hard and chewy and rolled in powdered sugar. I'm not familiar with Spanish doughnuts, so are there different kinds of churros? Which ones of these are actually authentic Spanish doughnuts? Perhaps a bit more travelling (and eating) would figure this one out.

Melbourne, from a food-lover's point of view - Part 3

2009-07-05T21:51:00.014+12:00

Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar

Max Brenner was another place that I would have loved to re-visit in Melbourne. I heard that this chocolate shop is frequented by "young people" and it is easy to see why. Their chocolate is to die for. But their selections (and prices) may scare off those who are not fond of all things sweet. Being a chocolate addict, it was imperative I try their chocolate products, and I got the chance one night after dinner at Melbourne's Queen Victoria building.

Store counter and menu

Max Brenner also sells other chocolate products

Their fondue was $16.50 and came with dark and milk chocolate to be dipped with strawberries, bananas, marshmallows and banana bread. As you can imagine, it was absolutely delicious! The best combination was the bananas with dark chocolate. I thought it may have been even better if white chocolate was in the mix, since my first fondue experience was with melted white chocolate and diced pears. Aside from this, there is really little to complain about the simple joy of dunking little treats into creamy chocolate.

I also sampled their baked goodies, each costing $13.50, which is relatively expensive considering their small size. The white chocolate dome with mango glaze and raspberry filling tasted a little strange for me. It had the consistency of panna cotta with a seaweed-like aftertaste. The white chocolate flavour was faint, which was disappointing as white chocolate is my favourite type of chocolate.

However, the chocolate souffle, which was recommended by the salesgirl, was divine. I had asked for something that wasn't so sweet, and this definitely delivered. It was nicely heated up and the melted chocolate filling was unexpected but totally pleasant. Having tasted souffles my dad has made, I always thought souffles were light and fluffy like sponge cakes. These souffles were more like mud cakes or fudge brownies, but not as dense and way yummier. Just thinking about its richness and gooey chocolate filling makes my mouth water...

Max Brenner's selection of chocolates

Max Brenner was a very pleasant experience. Some people have said Koko Black is a better chocolatier but I don't see how anything can get better than this. It is no surprise that Max Brenner has opened up stores worldwide. I can now relive this wonderful experience in their branch in Singapore when I visit at the end of the year. Now if only they cross the ditch and sold their chocolate creations here in New Zealand!

Melbourne, from a food-lover's point of view - Part 2

2009-07-04T20:17:00.011+12:00

International Cakes

Our hotel in Melbourne was right smack in the CBD which allowed us to explore the city by foot. I came across this cake shop on Lonsdale St. Unless you stare at the ground whilst walking, there is no way you'll miss this place. Called International Cakes, the entire shop window is a display of an assortment of exotic cakes and many more inside the store.

I found that most of the cakes weren't "international" per se. Unless you happened to be very experienced in European pastries, you would have no clue as to what each cake was. The weirdest cake they had was a 100% grape juice roll. We were a bit too conservative to give that a try, but we did taste their other exotic cakes.

Cannoli

Samali

Pistachio baklava

Verdict? The cakes were by far, the sweetest cakes I've ever tasted. Luckily I had shared them with others because I wouldn't have been able to consume one slice by myself. It was as if the cakes were drenched with syrup then doused with lashings of treacle. And I thought the cupcakes Nat and I made were sweet!

Melbourne, from a food-lover's point of view - Part 1

2009-07-04T12:50:00.017+12:00

Little Cupcakes

I went to Australia for 5 days with the family. The first thing I wanted to do there was hunt down the best cupcake store in Melbourne. After reading many online forum debates, Little Cupcakes on Degraves St was deemed the best in the CBD. It took awhile but I finally managed to locate the little store.

Street view of Little Cupcakes, Degraves St, Melbourne

In-store decor

One word to describe the place: ADORABLE; from the pink and brown theme to the hand-drawn pictures and to of course, the cupcakes.

When I first visited, there was a long queue and two out of the three shelves of cupcakes were already sold out. I knew I had to get in there early to have the cupcake I want (red velvet).

These cupcakes were all that was left on Monday afternoon. It would've helped if the store had signs telling customers what each cupcake was.

Waking up early in the morning and rushing the family out of the hotel and onto the streets paid off. Fresh cupcakes were being baked and frosted in store. I couldn't resist anymore. I needed some cupcakes! Stat!

My brother and I wolfed down 10 mini cupcakes for $20. From memory they were: red velvet, cream cheese chocolate, mint, cookies and cream, white chocolate raspberry, Belgium button chocolate, carrot, teddybear, coffee and white chocolate.

The cupcakes were as good as they looked. Melt-in-your-mouth frosting and cake that crumbled on the first bite. They even warned you about handling their cupcakes with care as they were extremely fragile. I've never been to a cupcake store before, so this was a surreal experience! Mmm... definitely a highlight of the trip.

2009-06-25T19:24:00.001+12:00

wn725by4c9

Live and learn

2009-06-25T18:12:00.014+12:00

If I were one of those baking fanatics that invested their whole heart and soul into baking little sweet treats, I would be absolutely crushed at the result of these cupcakes.

Thankfully, I'm not a bakeaholic. These cupcakes can be deemed an "epic fail", which I just laughed off. And since this blog is the scrapbook of our baking adventures, it is only realistic that we record all the failed attempts in reaching "baking perfection". And we can only learn if we make mistakes right?

Right. Those were consolation words from my dad, who earlier on had said my cupcakes were inedible. My brother said it tasted like crumpets, which he hates. But my mum was the most forgiving out of my family, saying it reminded her of gai dan koh. Which I'm guessing is some Malaysian dessert. If only I actually knew what it was to actually treat it as a compliment!

Anyway, I'll let the photos speak for themselves. The cupcakes weren't golden, didn't rise, and it tasted dry with a strong egg flavour. Kinda like cardboard... but vanilla-flavoured.

Isn't it ironic how I remembered to use cupcake liners for this and not for our other successful cupcakes?

No amount of peanut butter could salvage this. Neither could Marmite or any other spread in my pantry.

The cupcake recipe was basically a recipe for Genoese sponge. I've never made sponge cake before which is apparently one of the hardest cakes to make (for a beginner like me anyway) and precision is everything. Well, I got lazy. While it asked for 2 eggs and 60g of caster sugar to be whisked for 10 mins until pale and thick, I glossed over that detail and just whisked the mixture until it resembled "pale and thick". That was the crux of this baking project. It was essential for the mixture to be whisked for 10 mins so that it would form an airy texture that helped in its rising (since no self-raising flour or baking soda was added).

The few ingredients and easy steps for this sponge cake recipe fooled me. Nothing's as simple as it seems!

Chocolate theme for those late late nights

2009-06-19T02:01:00.014+12:00

What happens late at night when you're hungry and you're looking for that satisfying munch of crumbly sweetness that melts all too quickly with the lingering taste of cocoa?

Nothing like playing cupcake scrabble!

A lovely friend of mine made these for me and desserts really can literally scream (or spell) your name

The answer to the above question, if it isn't any more obvious already, is, late tea!

The above has white chocolate glaze hardened to a shiny shell. Oh, the secret to chocolate glazes which I'm sure you already know is the microwave. Quick and easy. No double-boiling, no boiling, no steaming, no adding oil (yes, yes all these were suggested to me by friends). The worst was adding oil, it turned out watery! And double-boiling simply burnt the chocolate.

Now here comes the real story - who needs chocolate glazes when you can have wholesome chocolate cake? In 10 minutes? In a mug like tea? Hence the late tea name. Too good to be true? Well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

It's simple, really...

Microwave Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons sugar (original recipe called for 4! But then again, the original recipe said 5 minutes, whereas I took more time to sift the flour and all)
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons cooking oil
Chopped real chocolate for a more chocolatey punch (I used a half eaten bar of Whittaker's dark bittersweet)
A dash of cinnamon and chilli (just 'cos I love those two spices)

Method:

Sift the dry ingredients and mix them up with the wet ones in a large mug.
Grate the chocolate and add the spices into the mixture.
Microwave for 3 minutes, and you're done!

Print-friendly recipe here.

Your emergency late night fix for when you're salivating and hallucinating about desserts calling your name.

Someone should smuggle graham crackers into NZ

2009-06-17T14:13:00.017+12:00

Why aren't there any graham crackers in New Zealand? Digestive biscuits are the closest substitute, but they're just not the same. I'm sure homemade s'mores and pie biscuit bases taste much better with real graham crackers rather than the NZ-equivalent.

Anyway, one night my usual peanut butter cravings kicked in and I wanted to make something simple. I remembered this recipe for no-bake chocolate peanut butter bars and decided to give it a shot.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
(Recipe adapted from The Crepes of Wrath)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup digestive biscuits
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate buttons

Method:

Line and grease a 9 x 13 inch pan with aluminium foil.
In a food processor, grind up digestive biscuits.
Add the butter, peanut butter and sugar to biscuit crumbs, and process until a ball forms.
Press mixture into pan.
Melt the chocolate buttons (I microwaved on medium-low heat/30% in 1 minute bursts), stirring often to prevent burning.
Spread the melted chocolate over peanut butter mixture.
Chill in refrigerator for about an hour for bars to firm.
Take out pan from refrigerator and place in room temperature before cutting into squares.

Makes about 12-15 bars.

Store in the refrigerator.

Print-friendly recipe here.

The result? Some "food critics" (aka friends) said it tasted like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. My only complaint was that it was too damn sweet. Thus, the edited recipe above has a lot less sugar than the original recipe.

Strictly for lovers of peanut butter.

International Peanut Butter Cookie Day

2009-06-12T21:59:00.012+12:00

Yes yes, we are indeed guilty of missing the day. For those of you who didn't know, it was on the 12th of June. I found out the day after, great use that was (confound exams)!

But here's another kind of cookie to cheer up your day. Let me present to you the alfajores, an obscure Argentine treat that I discovered at this bustling haven called Las Chicas that also serves the most glorious Eggs Benedict in Melbourne. Tip: Grab a seat in the intimate courtyard at the back of the cafe during summer; you'll feel like you're in your very own secret garden.

Since then, I've had a ginormous craving for it and have found the perfect authentic recipe here.

The rummiest cookies you'll ever taste

Full plate

Dulce de Leche that oozes out when you sandwich them together

The cookies were very rummy. We used some leftover Coruba rum in the liquor cabinet and it was just nice! Tip on the Dulce de Leche though, I found that the easiest way for me was still to double boil it, as it took up way too much space in the oven. Or even easier still- store bought ones are always available.

We found that the cookies were indeed better the next day with dark chocolate drizzled on top (we promise pictures next time- we couldn't wait for the camera and polished them off that instant).

What did we do with the leftover caramel/Dulce de Leche you may ask?

Naturally, we polished them off too! With peanut butter, no less. And corn chips. Bizarre we know, but it was the only thing left in my pantry that was plain... and guess what?! The weird combination works!

Guess International Peanut Butter Cookie Day wasn't ruined after all .

Elvis in a cupcake

2009-06-06T22:56:00.008+12:00

Nat and I had a sudden craving for bananas. After experiencing "cupcake withdrawal" from last week's baking session, we decided to bake banana cupcakes. I found a recipe that added chocolate. That was a bonus!

The cupcakes were moist and the banana flavour was stronger than the chocolate, but it didn't overpower. I guess for that reason, we decided to add more with peanut butter frosting. And besides, cupcakes just aren't the same without a bit of icing on top.

Eating these cupcakes reminded me of how good chocolate, bananas and peanut butter are together.

Banana-ful bread

2009-05-28T21:09:00.013+12:00

We had just finished our peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies and being the intrepid (or maybe just greedy) bakers that we are, decided to raise another sweet creation from the oven and this is it in all it's brown glory:

(okay, maybe the picture doesn't do it justice- but we like to blame it on the camera, sun, wind, and the moisture from the air rather than admit we're bad photographers)

Wonderfully moist and banana-ey!

Egg-Free Banana Bread
(Adapted from this recipe)
Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter/margarine
3/4 cup organic cane sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 large ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp honey (or as much as you like)

Method:

Preheat oven to 160° C.
Lightly grease 8 x 4 bread loaf pan.
Cream butter (or margarine) and sugar in large bowl.
Slowly sift in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Mash banana in separate bowl and then add in to large bowl and mix.
Add vanilla extract.
Pour batter into greased pan.
Bake for 60 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
Allow to fully cool before slicing.

Print-friendly version of recipe here.

And voila, the awesome-est banana flavour you'll ever taste! We only used one banana and even people who do not monkey about with their criticism showed much appreciation for this amazing burst of flavour ie. Jade's dad.