Strawberry Cupcakes

The power of visuals proven! Just by watching DC Cupcakes on Youtube (I devoured all the episodes..) and I feel I need to get my hands on cupcakes - not just any cupcakes, it must look sweet, smell sweet and taste sweet.

I don't usually bake anything with cream or frosting because I'm not a cream person. Although frosting really puts the icing on the cake *literally* but I have the habit of scraping it off and only eating the sponge inside. However, for the pretty sake of it, I make these Strawberry cupcakes with PINK frosting. How cute is that!

Oh let me clarify, no colouring was put into the frosting, the natural colour came from the strawberry puree which tints the cream nicely.

So I did a little research, found this recipe at Gastronomyblog adapted from Martha Stewart and decided to give it a go. I've edited the recipe below a little to reflect our terminologies.

The cupcakes were spongy and soft, with mouthfuls of natural strawberry flavour. Nice!

Ingredients

For cupcakes


2/3 cup strawberries
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
For frosting

1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
Pinch of  salt
1 1/4 cups icing sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

How to
Preheat oven to 175C. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
Place strawberries in a food processor and pulse until pureed. You should have 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary. Set puree aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree and set aside.

Cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.

Slowly add half the flour mixture with mixer on low and mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture and mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, , until just blended.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 22-25 mins, until cupcakes are just dry to the touch. Let cupcakes cool completely before icing.

Make frosting

Place strawberries in a food processor and pulse until pureed.

Separately, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar and beat until well combined.

Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree, mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air.

Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream. Keep refrigerated if not in use.



Warm love,
Starningblue

Lemon Butter Cake

It was 2 years ago when I made Lemon cake and it unceremoniously cracked. Well, i blame it on the oven as I used a standalone convection oven and the air circulation is definitely not good. Now I have the privilege of owning a built in Ariston :)

This time, I wanted to make another citrus cake from a new recipe and hope it works. When browsing my favourite food blogs, I came across Nasi Lemak Lover's blog on Lemon Cake that had raving comments so I decided to bake this. I was so confident of the recipe only by reading it, I double the ingredients to make 2!

The topping for this recipe is different from the one I baked last time. This is not a icing topping, it is a glaze. Honestly, I love the lemon glaze, it gives the cake an extra zing. This recipe is a sure keeper! Thanks to Nasi Lemak Lover~

Ingredients

Makes 1 loaf tin

125g butter
100g sugar
1 lemon, finely grate the rind
2 large eggs
175g self-raising flour
4 tbsp milk

Lemon glaze

3 tbsp sugar
1 lemon, extract juice
1 lemon, finely grate the rind

How to

Beat the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs one by one, then add in lemon rind, mixing well.

Fold in the flour and milk, combine well. Pour the mixture into a loaf tin lined with greaseproof paper and bake in pre-heated oven at 180C for 40mins.

Mix sugar and lemon juice and cook over low heat till sugar dissolved, add in lemon rind, set aside.

When cake done, remove cake from the oven and prick all over with a skewer. Pour over the lemon glaze over the hot cake.

Leave cake to set overnight to have better flavour.


Warm love,
Starningblue

Blueberry Muffins

The blueberries on promotion price at the supermarket was literally shouting at me, I had to buy it to make something. At that point, I didn't know what but I just had to! :p

One of the most obvious thing to make with blueberries is blueberry muffin. The recipe was not too complicated and it doesn't take long to make so here we go.

Recipe from Noob Cook:

1 1/2 cups (190g) plain flour

1 1/2 eggs, beaten

1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 cup (225g) caster sugar
150g blueberries
1/2 cup (125ml) milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
65 gms butter, softened and cut to small pieces

Preheat oven to 200C. Sift flour, baking powder and sugar together, and mix well. Add milk, vanilla extract, eggs and butter in and stir till just blended and lumpy.

Fold in blueberries and spoon mixture into muffin cases till about almost full.

Bake for 20mins or until slightly golden brown. Best eaten warm, cool before storing.

Warm love,

Starningblue

Chocolate Bottom Banana Squares

This bake tastes sooo good, my poor photography skills make no justice to this cake. At least husband and sister says so it is good too so my opinion is not bias.

It's been a while since I've baked, it's uplifting when the cake turns out so soft and moist. My cake looks all crumbly because I'm bad at cutting it up, pardon me as all I wanted to do was to finish the cutting and move on to the eating!

I will definitely bake somemore when I have a slight excuse to~

Recipe from Wen's Delight who adapted this from Hearty Bakes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 Egg (beaten)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup banana, mashed
1 1/2 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tbsp milk
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

How to:
Preheat oven at 175C, line the base of a 8 inch square tin. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Drizzle in the eggs, follow by vanilla and mashed bananas. Beat thoroughly till well corporated.

Sieve cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the butter mixture. Mix well with a spatula.

Divide the batter into half. Add cocoa powder and milk into 1 portion. Spread the chocolate portion evenly into the tin. Spread the remaining plain batter evenly on top of the chocolate batter, swirl gently with a knife. Sprinkle chocolate chips and walnut on top.

Bake for 25-30mins. Cool and cut into squares to serve.
 
 
Warm love,
Starningblue

Scones

Scones are prolly the best afternoon tea I could enjoy, but the best are far far up mount dandenong which prolly takes me 2hrs to get there, and we're not even talking about the queue yet. I once had to wait 45mins or more for ms marples so we gave it a miss. Tip here is to get there aeap(as early as possible, read kiasu) or alap (as late as possible). At least for me I manage to beat the crowd ;) Other dishes are doable, but scones are still the best.

Sticky date pudding

chicken pie

turkey fingers


scones

http://www.missmarples.com.au/
382 Mt. Dandenong-Tourist Road Sassafras VIC

So since its technically unfeasible for me to savour them when the craving calls, the best way is to learn them!

Dreamy cream scones adapted from smitten kitchen

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, preferably a low-protein brand such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

1/2 cup currants (I used dried cranberries, and chopped them into smaller bits)

1 cup heavy cream

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425°F.
2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in large bowl or work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.
3. If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender or your fingertips and quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in currants. If using food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add currants and pulse one more time. Transfer dough to large bowl.
4. Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.
5. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Form scones by either a) pressing the dough into an 8-inch cake pan, then turning the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, cutting the dough into 8 wedges with either a knife or bench scraper (the book’s suggestion) or b) patting the dough onto a lightly floured work surface into a 3/4-inch thick circle, cutting pieces with a biscuit cutter, and pressing remaining scraps back into another piece (what I did) and cutting until dough has been used up. (Be warned if you use this latter method, the scones that are made from the remaining scraps will be much lumpier and less pretty, but taste fine. As in, I understand why they suggested the first method.)
6. Place rounds or wedges on ungreased baking sheet and bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Scones really take practice, so dont expect perfect ms marples quality popping out of your oven on your first try. Though, the jam that goes with your afternoon tea will do its wonders :)

Have a great week ahead!

pen2y

Tau Yu Bak 豆油肉

Some recipes online are reliable, some are use-at-your-own-risk. Usually, I exercise some discretion with what to throw in. This recipe for tau yu bak is found online. There are certain dishes in Singapore served with pepper which was not my taste. (for example, the bak kut teh!) I’m glad I omitted pepper in this dish if not it would have been totally different and turned my appetite off.

Never rush the cooking of this recipe, it usually takes 2 hours before it starts to taste heavenly. Reheat it overnight, it is even better! Ahh, thinking of it makes me drool now~

Ingredients:

1lb belly and shoulder pork, chopped into bite size
10 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 star anise
1 tsp peppercorns (omitted)
1.5 tbsp dark soya sauce (I added more)
2 tbsp light soya sauce
3 cups water (I added more for more gravy)
Salt to taste
4 hard boiled eggs
(I added tiny bit of oyster sauce too)

How to:

Put star anise, dark and light soya sauce with water and bring to boil.

Add pork, garlic cloves and hard boiled eggs in, simmer on low heat until meat is tender and sauce thicken. (Usually at least 1.5-2hours) Cook further if you like thicker sauce.

Add salt to taste.

Easy busy!


Warm love,
Starningblue

Apple cinnamon cake

This is by far my best bake ever.

Did it late last night as a friend came by to help carry bags of beanies and the best thing to reward friend is a fantastic cake!

Another recipe from sundaynitedinner; I just tried their chocolate blackout which tasted great as well, just some minor hiccups but all was well=) A very trustworthy website for good bakes!

Few and simple steps to enjoy a high-tea snack:

1 ½, and 1/4 cups sugar, divided
110g (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces cream cheese, softened (about 3/4 cup, 225g)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups chopped peeled Fuji apples (about 2 large)
Cooking spray


Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine two tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apples in a bowl. Stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle top with remaining cinnamon mixture.

Bake for 65-70 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack. Cut using a serrated knife.

Makes 8-10 servings

Note to sister wenny: although it calls for cream cheese, but you barely taste it. So pls try it at home!

Drunken Chicken?

What do you do with your remaining beer if you are too bloated to finish it? Cook it!

• Soak diced chicken breasts in Tiger Beer and crushed ginger for 2hrs.
• Heat oil in wok and pour in the above.
• Add Goji berries, 1tsp of honey and more tiger beer.
• Simmer and served.
• If you prefer, you can drizzle some sesame oil.

Its a satisfied meal accompanied with rosy cheek.

Drooling,

Juanie

Random homecooks

No lj-cuts here, so its going to be messy!
Accumulated from the last month or so..

Belgium mussels, but none were eaten because the shells didnt open. I guess it'd sat in the freezer for too long. Anyway, the soup still taste good. I'll do it again.

Recipe:

Fresh mussels, plenty
1 Belgium beer i.e. hoegarden
thickened cream
chicken stock
leek
onion
garlic

Stir fry garlic, onion and leek in a pot until fragrant and leek soften. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add mussels and beer, let it cook for about 10mins or until the shells open. Pour in thickened cream(not too much) and allow it to simmer for another 3min. Garnish with parsley(optional) and serve!
Most of the time I just estimated, so just put however much you like.

Matcha-chocolate cupcakes. I didnt really like it because it tasted like fak-gao. Too dense and not sweet enough. I suspect I put too much bicarb soda that it collapsed after rising. Anyhoo, I dont think its a good recipe but yet I got positive feedback for it. Maybe it isnt that bad as I thought.. If you like dense, not sweet cupcakes, leave a comment and I'll post the recipe!

Pineapple fried rice! Its the pineapple season and I couldnt resist buying one in vic market ;)
Made a pineapple boat out of it too.
I wont have enough time to post the method but its just like frying rice. Easy!


Ingredients:

Cooked rice
raisin
chicken(marinated with fish sauce, sesame oil and pepper)
prawns(marinated with salt and pepper)
cucumber or veg of your choice
pineapple
chicken/pork floss
curry powder
onion
eggs, beaten
garlic



Korean spicy seafood soup.
Welcome winter!!


Ingredients:

seafood of your choice
zuchinni, bean sprouts, or veg of your choice
korean glass noodles
silken tofu
sliced beef(marinate with soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper)
chives
korean chili paste(gochujang)
chicken stock
eggs
garlic
onions


Stir fry garlic in a pot. Brown onions and add chicken stock. Bring it to a boil. Add gochjang to your liking. You can pour the soup into a wide shallow bowl and place it under fire, arrange the remaining ingredients in the bowl and cook them like how korean restaurents always do. If not, you can always do it the chinese way; Toss in the beef and seafood, then the veg, tofu and eggs. Boil under medium-high heat until cooked through. Its gonna be yum!




Sweet and spicy prawns with belachan. It was sooo spicy. But prawns were fresh, tomatoes were sweet... mmmmm


Ingredients:

Prawns(marinate with salt and pepper)
Tomato
mushroom
belachan paste
lemon juice
garlic


Fry garlic until fragrant. Add mushroom, tomato and fry for 1min. Add belachan paste and lemon juice and 1/4cup water. When sauce starts boiling, toss in prawns and cook through. Serve!

Baking fever!

Finally I did some baking during easter! Got my hands on the new maison hand/stand mixer we bought online=) A tat small, but still functional.

It was Ben's birthday and since he liked cheesecake..

New York Cheesecake it is!

Im not a big fan of cheesecakes, but it turned out quite alright. Tip is not to overbeat the mixture with cream cheese, and watch your cake closely when its baking! Mine cracked, and I got rather paranoid over it..
Not going to show the cracked cake pictures ;)

I got the recipe from joyofbaking.com, anyhoos Im still posting the recipe.

Crust:

2 cups (200 grams) of graham wafer crumbs or finely crushed vanilla wafers or gingersnaps (process whole cookies in a food processor until they are crumbs) I used digestives

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (114 grams) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

32 ounces (1 kg) (4 - 8 ounces packages) cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

3 tablespoons (35 grams) all purpose flour I used rising flour, turned out ok!

5 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping:

1 cup (240 ml) sour cream (not low fat or fat free)

2 tablespoons (30 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Crust:

In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For Filling:

In bowl of your electric mixer place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.

Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) and continue to bake for about another 1 1/2 hours or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Spread the topping over the warm cheesecake and return to oven to bake for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of pan to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools).

Let cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. This cheesecake tastes best after being refrigerated for at least a day.

Serve with fresh fruit or fruit sauces. Makes one - 9 inch (23 cm) cheesecake.


Then a friend who made good tiramisu joined in the baking craze(although it is non-baked). It was exactly how I liked it to be, but freeeaakkkinng sweet. Friend used baileys and drinking chocolate powder instead of cocoa. Sponge fingers were sugared and he added MORE sugar into the mix. Can you imagine.. But I'd use this recipe and reduce the diabetic components.

Recipe from nigella.com

Serves 12(reduce if neccessary. Its gonna be huge)

Ingredients:
350ml espresso coffee, made with 350ml water and 9 teaspoons instant espresso powder, cooled 250ml Baileys cream liqueur if you dont like it too sweet, use Kahlua instead!
2 x 200g packets Savoiardi (Italian lady finger) biscuits
2 eggs
75g caster sugar
500g mascarpone
2 1/2 teaspoons cocoa powder

1. Mix the coffee with 175ml of the Baileys in a shallow bowl.

2. Dip the biscuits into this liquid; let them soak on each side enough to become damp but not soggy. Line the bottom of a 22cm square glass dish with a layer of biscuits.

3. Separate the eggs, but keep only one of the whites. Whisk the two yolks and the sugar together until thick and a paler yellow, then fold in the remaining 75ml of Baileys, and the mascarpone to make a moussy mixture.

4. Whisk the single egg white until thick and frothy; you can do this by hand with such a little amount. Fold the egg white into the yolky mascarpone, and then spread half of this mixture on top of the layer of biscuits.

5. Repeat with another layer of soaked Savoiardi, and then top with the remaining mascarpone mixture.

6. Cover the dish with clingfilm and leave in the fridge overnight. When you are ready to serve, push the cocoa powder through a small tea strainer to dust the top of the tiramisu.

Japanese Cotton Cake

Life shouldn't be all smooth sailing. We must learn the downs to have more appreciation for the good things that happen to us. Isn’t it true? Just like cooking and baking, without experiences how would we know the mistakes that we can potentially make?

Wouldn’t it be nice if the person you care about (or the person that cares for you) goes out of the way to shower some TLC, isn’t it touching? A simple gesture goes a long way, just like baking simple cupcakes to make not only the receiver happy but also the baker.

I don’t usually end up eating a lot of my own bakes. Not because it is not yummy, it is just a cook’s thing. I plainly enjoy watching my love ones enjoy what I bake for them. For this Japanese Cotton Cake, my cousin and baby sis literally scoop the whole of first batch in minutes off the cooling rack and I’m thinking, “Is this really THAT good?”

I was having fun beating egg whites. Of course, I didn’t know what it meant when I first started reading recipes. Going through blogs and baking books really helped a lot; tips and advice on beating egg whites have paid off. Pictures of how stiff peaks should look like really made a difference, sparing my imagination of what it should be so I’m going to share what I have learnt.

Beating Egg Whites:
Egg whites must not be tainted with any yolk or wet utensils
Eggs should not be cold, use room temperature eggs
Do not overbeat the whites, they will turn watery and not of good use anymore
Use beaten whites immediately. I prepared the other part of the batter for folding in before beating whites to avoid letting my whites sit after beating

This video by epicurous would give a visualization: Whipping Egg Whites

In a Loaf

In a Cup

Cute cupcake liner from Daiso

Ingredients

60g melted butter
80g plain flour
80ml milk
1 egg
5 egg yolks
5 egg whites
120g sugar
Pinch of salt


How To

Add butter and flour together and mix well. Add milk and combine well.
Add 1 egg and 5 egg yolks slowly till combined.
Whisk egg whites to soft peaks in another bowl. Add in sugar and salt and whisk to stiff peaks.
Fold in egg whites into egg yolk mixture till incorporated
Pour mixture into or muffin cups about ¾ full. Bake at 170C for 25 mins.
Remove from baking tray when baked and set aside to cool.

Warm love,

Starningblue

Choc Fudge Cupcakes

When work doesn’t tire me out too much and the baking itch gets to me, I trawl my recipes. For this Choc Fudge Cupcakes, I didn’t really need to do a quick dash for grocery, I had all that was require. Great~

The recipe called for frosting but I wanted to use up the box of After Eight Mints sitting in the fridge. When topped onto the cupcakes fresh from the oven, it just melted decadently.

To be honest, I love cakey brownies instead of the fudgy chunky version. In comparison, this recipe made the fudgy chunky cupcakes… *which my sis readily helps herself to more*

How do you identify from the recipe whether it is fluffy and cakey or moist and fudgy? I really need that baking class that I signed up for (it got postponed due to lack of participants! Yikes.)


Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter
170g semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn cream of tartar

How to

Heat oven to 170C. Grease line muffin pan with baking cups. Place butter and chocolate in metal bowl; place over medium saucepan of simmering water. Let stand until melted; stir until smooth and cool to room temperature. Whisk in sugar and egg yolks. Stir in flour and baking powder.

In another bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar at medium-high speed till egg whites peak. Fold a quarter of the whites into chocolate mixture. Gently fold in remaining whites until well mixed.

Fill muffin cups two-thirds full and bake for 25mins. When baked, cool on wire rack for 10 min. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Hmm, miss the brownies I made for Christmas~

Warm love,
Starningblue

Honey Mustard Chicken

Even though chicken thighs give better flavour, I prefer chicken breast strips instead to cut down on fats and also coz its boneless ~ easy to consume.

Simple ingredients, simple steps.

Mix wholegrain mustard and honey, season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Brush the mixture all over the chicken and bake for 25-30mins in 180ºC preheated oven - brushing the chicken occasionally with pan juices.

Try having it with crunchy lettuce…. or Chunky tomato & red onion salad.

Drooling,

Juanie

Chocolate Cupcakes

• 100g Butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100g self raising flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• Topping (melted white/ dark / milk chocolate)
• chocolate chips / sprinkles to decorate

1. Heat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Cream butter & sugar together, then beat in the eggs and flour. Add cocoa powder. (add some milk if mixture is too stiff)
3. Spoon into paper cases/muffin tins. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool.
4. Top with melted chocolate & decorate.

Made this out of the blue when a sudden rush for baking hit me and no surprise my cupboard is never prepared for times like this. Couldn’t even turn them into pretty colorful cupcakes. Still I’m glad my improvised version didn’t fail and no worries, I’ve given the proper recipe above.

Next time I shall be better prepared.

Drooling,

Juanie

Cherry Bakewell Cake

March bake event it is!

Pardon me while I complain about my oven. Wish I had the luxury of a built-in oven where more trays could bake together but I need space! I want an oven with better heat distribution too. Any recommendations on a good stand-alone oven brand or model?

Anyway, instead of waiting for 8 inch trays to bake one by one, I make small mini cakes this time :) I knew I had to play with the timing and temperature which I lowered and to much of my relief it was a success!

This recipe was just enough for 3 mini cakes. Not a girl to make sure things match, I have rectangular, round and heart shape cakes. The basic sponge is fluffy and soft. I reduced the sugar content of my bake so it was definitely not overwhelming to take another bite~

Kel is touching down to Singapore in few hours time from Switzerland as I type; the heart cake is dedicated to him as a welcome home treat. *awww*

To be honest, I have not heard of or tasted Cherry Bakewell Cakes *or the tart version for that matter* before this bake. Thanks to Sweet and Simple Bakes for this (another) fantastic recipe!


Warm love,
Starningblue

Chicken Stroganoff with Linguine

Be it chicken or beef stroganoff, this is one dish which is creamy yet somehow, I like it! *white creamy dishes such as carbonara scares me* Until I cook it myself I realize it has sour cream which is something I would preferentially avoid.

This is not a widely available dish in Singapore, I don’t remember having it here at all. If you can’t find it, cook it!

So I made it and it's easy! Another one dish meal recipe, this is definitely comfort food and doesn’t take much effort to prepare.


Ingredients

1 packet linguine

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, bite-sized pieces

2 tsps olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 broccoli, chopped at stems

2 tbsp dry sherry

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 tspn Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup sour cream
fresh button mushrooms, sliced
Black pepper to taste
Splash of mixed dried herbs

How to

Prepare pasta according to package and steam broccoli. Drain pasta and broccoli and divide among four plates and set aside.

Heat oil in pot. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms and stir well.

Add chicken and turn heat to medium-high. Stir constantly until chicken is no longer pink. Add sherry, cook for 1 minute.

Add soup, reduce heat to medium-low and stir to combine. Add Worcestershire sauce and sour cream and stir until combined. Season with black pepper and mixed dried herbs.

Top each plate of pasta with chicken sauce and decorate with broccoli and serve.

This would be my first entry for Presto Pasta Night! *exciting* Visit our host this week Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine for roundups and many more delicious creations~

Warm love,
Starningblue

Coffee Crumb Cake

Are you a coffee or tea person? Actually I love both but I absolutely need coffee to wake me every morning and a whiff of unmistakable coffee aroma perks me up anytime!

Before my trip to KL, I gave this coffee crumb cake recipe a try. This crumble topping gives this bake a crunch with a wonderful aroma of pecans and cinnamon. This is just perfect with a cup of tea in the afternoon~

Lost my source of recipe but it is very similar to the recipe from Diana’s Desserts

Baking this was a pleasure; the method is easy and my home smells divine when the cake is getting ready in the oven!

Ingredients

-Topping-

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

-Cake-

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup sugar

3 small eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1 small sachet of instant coffee powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup milk

How to

Preheat oven 170C. Butter and flour into 9 x 13 pan, set aside.

Make topping by combining flour with brown sugar and cinnamon in mixing bowl and rub in the butter. Mixture should have consistency of moist sand. Add pecans and mix well.

In another bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In separate large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, sugar with mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and mix well.

Add dry mixture to moist ingredients, a little at a time. Add milk and mix well.

Spoon batter into pan and sprinkle crumb topping over batter until batter is completely covered. Bake cake for 50 minutes or until edges begin to turn light brown.


Warm love,
Starningblue

Spam Fried Rice

This morning, I heard over the radio that Flying Dutchman had Spam Stew for dinner the night before. I love Spam – who doesn’t! Spam is ingredient in omelets, in sandwiches etc but stew? That was the first time I’ve heard that recipe and it got my curiosity going.

Googled Spam online and wow! They actually have sooo many types of cooking methods for Spam! Casseroles, soup, desserts, breads… You name it; there is a library of recipes. *Am I the only one surprised?LOL*

In my context, I love Spam in fried rice. Always make sure that there is enough spam in my fried rice so I have it in every single chew. Really easy to make and super tasty!

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice, cooled (or overnight)
1 can Spam, diced into cubes
3 Eggs, beaten
French beans, diced
Garlic, minced
Chicken granules
Salt
Soya Sauce


How to:

Heat oil in wok, pour in eggs, scramble and break into small pieces. Set aside.
Heat oil in wok, stir fry french beans. Set aside.
With the same wok (and oil residue from before) stir fry luncheon meat till corners are brown. Set aside and remove excess oil.
Heat new oil in wok, stir fry garlic till fragrant.
Add in cooked rice and stir well with garlic, then add in scrambled eggs, french beans and spam.
Season with a splash of chicken granules and slowly add in salt and soya sauce bit by bit to taste.

I'm hungry already! Gulp.


Warm love,
Starningblue

Banana & Choc Bread

It’s the February bake event!

January has been crazy. After Christmas and New Year, a few friends were in town and I was just out having fun! After that was the Chinese New Year so I was home to celebrate it with my family.

Finally, I get down to this bake out of January madness!

This is easy to make, I did not have to use my stand mixer and that means less washing to do. Greeeat!

Had to make this before I go away for the weekend so could not wait for the bananas to ripen further. Although it was a nice loaf but the orange zest tasted stronger than the banana. *note to self*

Quick and easy, will definitely make this again. Thanks to Sweet & Simple Bakes!


Warm love,
Starningblue

Apple Crumble

How was your weekend? Mine was yummy!

I don’t even remember how long I have been craving for apple crumble. Just did not get a chance to have it when we eat out so to cut the wait, I’m going to make it myself. I think this is just another excuse for me to try another bake.

Timed it so I can bring this to Aileen’s for dinner; she invited a few of us over to her place for chilli crab. To tone down the spice, dessert is apple crumble. *drooling*

Take a peek at our feast that night!

Back to the crumble~ this recipe for was adapted from Nigella's website and tastes really good except a tiny bit sweet for me. It’s a keeper but will tone down the sugar next time. However, my guinea pigs loved it! (At least that’s what they said to me while they ate!)

Based on my preference, I made sure the apples were soft and baked through. I didn’t have a pyrex dish though, so I used disposable aluminum containers and its more convenient to bring it around to share. Didn’t have pecans too, threw in some cranberry for colour.

Next time will try baking crumble in other fruits like mango, banana and maybe pears too. Bliss~

The center tray is a bit burnt. Not very good heat distribution in my oven!

Ingredients:

Filling
4 Granny Smith Apples - peel, cored and diced
45g butter
150g caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
A squeeze of orange juice
Handful of dried cranberries

Crumble
120g butter
240g plain flour
120g caster sugar


How to:

Freeze butter for filling then dice into cubes when ready to make topping.

Preheat oven to 200C.

Heat 45g of butter in saucepan until melted. Add the squeeze of orange juice, sugar and the apple chunks. Gently sauté and add in cinnamon powder. Continue stirring until apples are mildly soft (but not cooked thoroughly). Add cranberries and stir gently. Remove from heat after about 3 mins.

For topping, thoroughly mix flour and sugar. Place cold butter cubes into the mix, using a butter knife, ‘cut’ butter into the mixture on your palm. Once butter is in small pieces, using fingers rub butter into flour until crumbly and fine.

Spoon fruit into greased dish and sprinkle crumble topping over fruit, covering the fruit well. Place into preheated oven and bake for 15-30 mins or until crumble is light golden brown.

Serve warm with ice cream for the ultimate treat!


Warm love,
Starningblue