I am moving an inch at a time on my baking trail. I have not been baking much for the past few weeks...was busy catching up with things that I have left behind...like watching tv drama and keeping up with the household chores.
I have been wanting to make these melt-in-the-mouth German cookies when I first saw it at my baking pal, Sherlyn's blog. I bought the bag of potato starch weeks ago, but it was on a spurt of the moment that I decided to bake them...even though I was recovering from a fever. My younger son as usual, was always keen and eager to help me with baking, and lately he is into cooking. I have to thank him for being a very caring child. Besides gladly playing nurse, he was very spontaneous in helping out with simple chores when I was sick.
It was a hot and humid evening when we went about whisking the butter and the sugar. After adding the flour mixture, we couldn't really form a dough...the mixture was still batter-like instead of doughy. I was certain that I didn't get the measurement wrong. The only thing I could pin-point was the additional one teaspoon of vanilla extract I added in. It could also be due to the weather, the room temperature was 31.5 degC...the butter was already very soft to the extend of appearing greasy when I was done with the mise en place...and there was nothing much to prepare since there were only 4 ingredients!
I decided to let the dough chill in the fridge and it was a good thing I did. We could finally form the mixture into cookie doughs. Due to the extreme heat, the dough started to soften as we continued to work them into small rounds. I was expecting the cookies to spread upon baking but all of them turn out well. The cookies were nicely baked...slightly pale on top but the bottoms were lightly browned. These delicate cookies certainly live up to the name...the buttery crumbs simply melts away in your mouth! My boys found them so addictive that they couldn't help popping one after another into their mouths.
Since there are so many recipes on my to-do list, I usually do not go back to the same recipe again too soon. These cookies are so good and so simple to prepare, I was addicted to baking them. I made another batch again two days later, but this time I mixed in 1 teaspoon of matcha green tea powder to half of the dough,
and 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder to the other half. I made the doughs much smaller so that my boys could easily pop them into their mouth without leaving crumbs all over. The dough was easier to shape due to the 'drying effect' of the matcha powder and the chocolate dough was also quite dry as I have added too much cocoa powder.
As suspected, the chocolate cookies tasted bitter...would have to cut down the cocoa powder or use more icing sugar if I were to make these again. I paired them with a cup of slightly bitter coffee, and they didn't taste that bad...what to do, no one wants to eat these chocolate ones :'(
These matcha morsels are pretty nice with just a hint of matcha flavour lingering on the background. Nevertheless, my boys still prefer the plain, vanilla ones.
I packed some for my cake friend, and carried it with the greatest amount of care during the journey. However, just before I gave it away, I dropped the whole bag and the cookies were all crusted. I was so devastated and there was no one to blame but myself! Anyway, I was feeling very thick-skinned that day and went ahead to give it away. I couldn't imagine how my friend picked up the bits and pieces of cookie crumbs, lol! Fortunately, I learned later that she has actually made these cookies before, otherwise I would not have done justice to these delicious cookies.
Melt-in-mouth German Cookies 德式酥饼
Ingredients
(makes 60 pieces)
125g butter, soften at room temperature
40g icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
125g potato starch
80g cake flour
Method
- In a mixing bowl, beat butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract (if using) and mix well.
- Sift in potato starch and cake flour. With a spatula, mix to form a soft dough. Note: if the mixture appears too soft and wet to shape, leave the dough to chill in the fridge for about 10-15mins .
- Roll dough into small balls (about 2cm in diameter), arrange on lined baking pan and press lightly with a fork (dip the fork in water after each press to prevent cookie dough from sticking to the fork).
- Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg C for 15 mins, upper rack (need not bake till cookies turn brown).
Recipe source: adapted from Small Small Baker
Another milestone along my baking trail...
Since the start of the year, I have began to re-tracked my baking trail. So far I have been going back to the basics...making muffins and simple banana cakes. This time, I have taken on the challenge to bake another chiffon cake after my earlier matcha chiffon cake turn out really well. The preparation method is almost similar...the only 'challenge' is to change my mindset about using unfamiliar ingredients for baking.
The unique ingredient used in this chiffon cake recipe is silken tofu or soft soya bean curd. I am really curious how tofu will taste like in a cake...and I wonder how the texture of the cake will turn out? will it going to be light and airy? and will my kitchen be smelling of tofu when the cake is baking in the oven?
I took the opportunity to bake this cake when I was planning to cook soondubu (a Korean tofu soup/stew dish)...I could use the left over tofu for the soondubu...we certainly didn't mine having extra tofu in our soup. It was already night time when I finally had time to unmold the cake. So pardon me with the two lousy images above...my 老古董 (antique) camera can't seems to focus well under poor lighting conditions.
The cake was easily done...with only 5 ingredients...tofu, sugar, eggs, flour and oil. The only problem I had, as usual, was combining the egg whites with the yolk batter. I have deflated the whites a little, and the eggs I used were only medium sized ones...the finished batter was only able to fill up the pan to about 70%. As a result of the poor mixing, my heart sank together with the cake when the baking time was almost up. It shrank further upon cooling...and so my tofu cake was a little katek (short).
There were many holes too...thanks again to my poor mixing...or maybe I should blame the tofu? The yolk batter was thick and a little grainy. Except the oil, no water is used in this recipe...it rely solely on the water content in the tofu. That is also why it is not necessary to drain the tofu before using.
Here are the answers to my questions above:
1. I can't taste tofu in this cake, not even smell it. It is just like a plain cake...luckily it is sweet and if not for the eggs, it will be like eating a slice of dish sponge?
2. The texture of the cake is good though...light and airy...it could have been better if I have done a better job at folding the whites and yolks.
3. There is definitely no trace of tofu baking in the oven. The aroma was similar to a sponge cake. I don't know why...but I kept expecting to smell tau huay 豆花 ( a local soya bean curd dessert). Maybe I should replace the silken tofu with tau huay?
I think the next time I were to make this, I will certainly add some flavourings to enhance the taste. Even though the cake has got nothing to cry out loud for, it was certainly a good experience for me. At least I am now more open to trying out different ingredients and not having to stick to the usual bananas or chocolate chips ;)
and in case you ask...my first attempt at cooking soondubu was far from good. The soup was a little blend and taste diluted...despite having added shrimps, sotong and clams. My kids enjoyed the dish though...they were slurping away and the three of us could finish the whole pot. Wait till they have tasted the real thing...I am sure they are gonna be very disappointed with mummy's lousy cooking skills (^^''')
Tofu Chiffon Cake
Ingredients:
(for 7" tube pan)
120g silken tofu
20g caster sugar
3 egg yolks (use large eggs)
40ml vegetable oil
80g cake flour
4 egg whites (use large eggs)
50g caster sugar
Method:
- Sieve flour and set aside.
- Place silken tofu in a mixing bowl. With a manual hand whisk, mix the tofu and add in the sugar. Whisk to combine.
- Add in egg yolks, whisk to combine. Add in vegetable oil gradually, stir to combine. Sieve over the flour and whisk till the flour is fully incorporated. Do not over mix. Set aside.
- In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Add half of the sugar amount and turn to high speed and beat the mixture. Continue to add in the remaining sugar and beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage.The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy. (Do not over beat the whites still stiff, it is better to beat the whites still soft peaks for easy folding with the yolk batter.)
- Add the beaten egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
- Pour batter into a 17cm tube pan (do not grease the pan). Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
- Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 30 mins, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, when lightly pressed the cake will spring back. Invert the pan immediately and let cool completely before unmould. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the pan and the center core. Release the cake and run the knife along the base of the pan to remove the cake.
Recipe source: adapted from 好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手, 福田淳子
A couple of weeks ago, I was surfing around looking for a suitable recipe to make a bundt cake, but I ended up with an awesome banana sponge cake recipe over at Wen's Delight.
It is a rare thing for me to bake the same cake more than once within a short time interval as there are so many recipes out there waiting for me to explore. However, I made this cake not twice, not thrice, but a total of 4 times in a month.
So, what makes me go back to the same recipe again and again? The possible reasons are: either I failed the first time, and I die die must get it right on the next attempt, or, I wanted to experiment and play around with the ingredients; or the cake is simply so delicious and easy to put together that it will be the first thing that comes to my mind whenever I have the urge to bake something!
I got this banana sponge cake right the first time, even though I played around with the ingredients...I increased the amount of banana and cut down on the sugar a little. The finished cake was very well received. Even though it was only my second attempt, I baked this same cake and gave it away when I wanted to return a kind gesture. I was lucky that the cake was well baked, at least the exterior looks well baked, all nicely browned. My friend, whom I have yet to meet in person, (we have angels to provide free delivery service for us) was kind enough not to give a single negative comment, other than it was slightly on the sweet side and very banana-y. It turn out that she has made this exact same cake before!
On my third attempt, I tweak the recipe a little and made a chocolate version out of it. On my latest endeavour, I cut down even more sugar. I must have felt overly confident, and did another bold change to the recipe...I replaced a small portion of the oil with milk as I feel that the cake is slightly too oily.
The latest version is still as soft and fluffy, and I find the sweetness just right. From the crumb, it looks like a slice of pound cake, however, it is quite light, not dense at all. The texture is almost close to a chiffon cake, although it has got more 'bite' to it. This sponge cake uses a lot more oil compared to most sponge cake recipes I have come across. As a result, the cake stays moist and is delicious eaten plain on its own...there is no need to jazz it up with layers of cream.
The way I went about making the cake is slightly different from the original recipe. I took an extra step here and there just to make sure I get the folding of the flour and the oil right. If you are an experienced baker, do hop over to Wen's blog for the original recipe, if you are as gung ho as me, feel free to try out my version...which I am afraid, for the time being, comes with no guarantee of success ;)
Happy Baking!
Banana Sponge Cake
Ingredients:
(makes one 8" round cake)
3 large eggs, room temperature
100g caster sugar (original recipe uses 150g)
250g to 300g bananas (3 large ripened bananas, cut into chunks)
150g cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
80ml vegetable oil (original recipe uses 100ml)
20ml milk (I used low fat fresh milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
- Grease (with butter) and flour sides of an 8" round pan, line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Sieve together cake flour, baking powder and baking soda. Sieve the flour mixture twice and set it aside.
- Place vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl, set aside.
- Place eggs, caster sugar and bananas in a large mixing bowl. With an electric whisk, whisk the mixture at Low speed for a few seconds (to break up the bananas). Change to medium-high speed, and whisk the mixture till it becomes thick, pale and triple in volume. This should take around 7 to 8 mins. The batter should leave a ribbon like trail when the paddle is lifted. Test by lifting up the whisk/paddle, and draw an '8' with the batter. The number should stay for a few seconds. Turn to Low speed again, and beat for another 2 mins. This is to stablise the air bubbles in the batter. (Note: do not over beat the batter...it is not a good thing if the '8' doesn't disappear.)
- Sieve over the flour mixture in 3 separate additions. Each time Fold In the flour carefully with a Spatula, making sure there is no pockets of flour being trapped at the bottom of the bowl. Do not stir the batter with the spatula, it will cause the batter to deflate too much.
- Pour a small portion (less than 1/3) of the batter into the mixing bowl in Step 3. Fold in with the spatula until the oil mixture is fully incorporated into the batter.
- Pour the mixture in Step 6 back into the rest of the batter (Step 5).
- Fold in the batter with the spatula making sure the mixture is well combined. (By now the batter could be deflated by about 20% or so as compared to Step 4).
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, the pan should be about 3/4 full.
- Bake in preheated oven at 160 degC for 40-45mins or until the surface turns golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. (The edges of the cake should pull away slightly from the sides of the pan.) Remove from oven, unmold and leave to cool (inverted) on a cooling rack.
Recipe source: adapted from Wen's Delight.
It seems like my learning curve is quite flat...and very likely it will remain that way for sometime...
I have started baking 4 years ago...yet, I couldn't move too far away from simple bakes such as muffins and cookies. Many fellow home bakers who began their baking journey way after me are already displaying baking skills...in my opinion, which has already surpassed or at least equivalent to professional pastry chefs! They never failed to wow me with challenging bakes such as those lovely French macaroons, delicious choux puff pastry, gorgeous layered cakes, dainty desserts, fondant sugarcraft, and even challenging breads such as sourdough.
Me being a rather conservative (a better word for 'kiasee'...a Singlish term which means 'afraid to die') person, is not always willing to take up baking challenges. My fear of failure is the greatest stumbling block. I know, to avoid kitchen failures I should equip myself with the necessary knowledge and skills, which I should acquire by learning from professional bakers. In the past, I like to use the excuse of not being able to find time to attend baking classes...but now, with more free time on hand, I still couldn't make myself sign up for any baking course. The thought of going for lessons on specific time on a periodic basis, just, puts me off. With this kind of mentality, I wonder when I am able to accelerate my learning pace?
So, in the mean time, I hope you won't get too bored reading post after post on simple bakes on this blog space. I am not being humble, I did get a comment sometime back that I am getting boring (^_^''')
The subject of this post is none other than this batch of 'Two Bowls' Chocolate Chips Muffins. As the name suggests, these moist chocolaty treats are made using just two bowls. One for mixing up the wet ingredients, the other for the dry ones. The content inside the 'wet' bowl is then dumped into the 'dry' bowl, with a few quick stirs, the batter is ready for baking. I bet a 10 year old will be able to make this with little supervision.
I modified the original recipe a little...basically the fat used. The original recipe calls for melted butter, but I was too lazy to even melt some butter, so I simply substituted it with olive oil. There is not much difference between the two types of fat...even there is, I believe it is going to be quite subtle. Butter will definitely enhance the taste...I am sure the muffins will smell better when they were baking...but oil wins by being able to keep them moist.
My younger child has been craving for something as chocolaty and rich as brownies...but a really good tray of brownies has got too much fat and sugar, despite his constant pleadings, I would only bake them on special occasions. In order to fool the boy to eat my bakes, I replaced some of the plain flour with cocoa powder...so as to make these muffins look close enough to be the slightly healthier cousin of the brownies :)
I made these muffins on a weekday night...while they were still hot to the touch, my kids wouldn't even wait for them to cool off. I was surprised that they couldn't stop at just one...the chocolaty and moist crumbs certainly appealed to their taste buds.
My cyberfriend, VB once asked me how I usually eat my muffins...do I strip off the paper liners or do I use a spoon to scoop it from the muffin cups? Well, my kids always eat it with a spoon, as for me, I usually rid off the paper liners. For these muffins, I had to use a spoon to dig in...just because these sweet little paper souffle cups are so sturdy that I had problem trying to pull them apart ;)
So, if I may ask, how do you usually eat your muffins?
Chocolate Chips Muffins
Ingredients:
(makes 12 small muffins)
235g plain flour
15g cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
50g mini dark chocolate chips
1 large egg, lightly beaten
60ml olive oil or any vegetable oil
175ml milk (I used low fat fresh milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g granulated sugar*
*note: use 125g if you prefer it to be sweeter, original recipe calls for 150g sugar.
Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 180 degC.
- Sieve together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl. Mix in chocolate chips. Make a well in the centre.
- Place egg, oil, milk, vanilla extract and sugar in another bowl. Mix (with a manual whisk) until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture. With a spatula, gently fold all the ingredients to form a wet batter. Just mix until the flour are incorporate into the batter. DO NOT Over mix. The batter should appear lumpy.
- Spoon batter into paper muffin cups to about 3/4 full. Bake for 15~20mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack and serve warm.
Recipe source: adapted from Bread baking by hand or bread machine, by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno
Most of the time, I am able to get it right the first time...but lately, my baking fairy must have left my kitchen...even a batch of simple chocolate chip muffins I have to make it twice to get it right. Not forgetting those banana walnut muffins which looked horrendous and have got a rubbery crumb (I didn't want to post it, to avoid any visual pollution...), and a banana sponge cake that still needs some improvement.
This is my second fruit tart in two weeks. The first one was made with a crumb crust...a lousy decision I made...the recipe was taken from a book dedicated to nothing but tarts. It is a lazy crust made with digestive biscuits, those biscuit base commonly used for no-bake cheesecakes. Even though the crust was pre-baked in the oven, it was still too fragile and crumbled the moment I tried to cut a slice. This is a classic case of the Hokkian/Chinese saying...利害就好,不要假利害! which means, it is good to be "clever", but not "too clever".
Well, practice makes perfect...especially for self-taught home bakers like me. This time, I learned my lesson and went back to my trusted pastry crust recipe. It takes a few extra steps to prepare it, but the effort does pay off! This pastry crust is made by creaming butter and sugar, followed by egg and flour...slightly different from the more commonly used method of rubbing butter with flour. Maybe that is why it uses a lot less butter?
The creme patissiere or pastry cream is a thick custard filling made by cooking milk, eggs, sugar, some flour over the stove. Corn flour is added to help thicken the mixture. Vanilla pods are usually boiled together with the milk before the seeds are scraped out and added to the mixture. Since I do not have any vanilla pods, I substitute with pure vanilla extract. This pastry cream tastes way better than most store bought tarts which I believe the custard fillings are made with custard powder. I do not have a well trained palette, but I have made enough fruit tarts to be able to tell the difference. The recipe may look super long and complicated, but the crust and pastry cream can be made ahead of time, and when ready to serve, you are left with the simple task of putting them together.
I am submitting this fruity tart to Aspiring Bakers #5: Fruity March hosted by Jess of Bakericious. I am glad I am finally able to participate in this event. Thanks Jess for hosting this round and Small Small Baker for championing this monthly baking event :)
Fresh Fruit Tart
Ingredients:
(makes one 18cm tart)
Pastry Crust:
80g cake flour
20g almond powder (grounded almond)
30g caster sugar
40g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
1 tablespoon (15g) lightly beaten egg
Pastry Cream:
200ml milk
2 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon* cornflour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon* plain flour
10g butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Toppings:
fresh fruits such as strawberries, kiwi fruits, orange, peaches, etc
Method:
Pastry Crust:
- Lightly grease an 18cm tart pan (with removable base) with butter, set aside.
- Toast almond powder at 100 degC for 10 mins. Stirring in between. Let cool.
- With a manual whisk, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Dribble in the egg, whisk and mix well. Add in the almond powder and fold with a spatula. Sieve over the flour and fold in with the spatula. Gather the mixture to form a dough.
- Flatten the pastry dough to form a round disc. Roll out the dough in between 2 sheets of baking paper (I used two plastic sheets cut-out from clear plastic bags) to about 23cm in diameter. Remove one side of the baking paper/plastic sheet. Gently lift up the other sheet of baking paper/plastic (with the pastry dough still on it) and flip the pastry dough over the prepared tart pan. Remove the baking paper/plastic sheet. (Don't worry if some parts of the pastry broke off. It can be moulded easily back into the tart pan.) Mould the pastry into the tart pan, smoothing the edges and the rim carefully. (If the pastry is too soft to handle, chill the rolled out dough in the fridge for 10~15 mins before moulding.)
- Prick the pastry surface with a fork (this helps to prevent the pastry from puffing up when baking). Cover and chill the moulded pastry in the fridge for 20mins (this helps to prevent the pastry from shrinking too much after baking.)
- Brush the top of the rim with some egg wash (optional). Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 20~25 mins or until the pastry is lightly golden browned. Let cool before removing the crust from the tart pan.
Pastry Cream:
- In a saucepan, bring milk slowly to the boil and remove from the heat.
- In a mixing bowl, with a manual whisk, whisk egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale and thickens (takes a couple of minutes). Sieve over the corn flour and plain flour. Whisk until the mixture becomes smooth (a few quick stir).
- Add in the hot milk gradually to the yolk mixture, whisk constantly to prevent curdling.
- Pour the mixture over a sieve and return it to the saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly with a whisk or a wooden spoon until the mixture just starts to boil. When it boils, continue to stir constantly for another 1 minute, the mixture will become thick and hard to stir. It is important to stir the mixture constantly as it cooks so that it thickens but doesn't turn lumpy.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract (or other liqueur such as Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch, Rum as desired).
- Pour into a clean bowl and cover the surface of the pastry cream with cling wrap (this is to prevent a skin from forming). Set aside to cool completely. Keep in fridge until needed. When ready to use, just whisk it with a spoon and the cream will become spreadable.
To Assemble:
- Spread the pastry cream evenly onto the pastry crust. Top with sliced fruits. Best serve on the day it is made. Keep for one day if refrigerated.
*Note: for the pastry cream, I only made 2/3 portion as the original recipe is enough to fill a bigger tart. As a result the amount for the corn flour and plain flour was a little unusal!
Recipe Source: adapted from (1) Delicious!! Baked Cakes, Ikuko Omori, (2) Fresh Baked by Louise Pickford
I have always wanted to add a fluted tube pan or commonly known as bundt pan to my kitchen collection. However, my old oven seems too small for a 10" cake pan. Now, with a much bigger oven, I didn't wait too long to get my hands on one of those non-stick bundt pans when I dropped by a local baking supply store. There was only one sitting on the shelf, and I thought it must be waiting, all this while, for me ;)
No, it is not a Nordic Ware bundt pan...it is a much cheaper version. As you can see, the ridges on the finished cake is not as clear or distinct compared to those baked with a Nordic Ware pan. But, I am still very happy with it :)
A Bundt pan is a fluted (with indents and ridges) tube pan. The word Bundt is actually a registered trademark of Northland Aluminum Products Inc., the maker of Nordic Ware. Bundt is derived from the German word “bund,” which means “a gathering of people.” Hope over here if you are interested to know the story behind the bundt pan.
A bundt pan is great for making cakes that have got dense batters, eg coffee cakes. Just like a chiffon tube pan, the hole or the tube in the centre of a bundt pan promotes even baking. The fluted sides and ridges provide a greater surface area which produce cakes with more crust. With the attractive design, even for a cake decorating dummy like me, I am able to bake a lovely cake that I am proud to serve it to my guests. With only a light dusting of icing sugar, or a drizzle of icing or chocolate glaze, one can easily bring the already very pretty cake to even greater heights.
This old-fashioned banana cake is a basic cake that anyone can bake at home. I am sure it is also an all time favourite for many of us. Hoping to get a lighter texture, I replaced plain flour with cake flour and reduced the sugar amount slightly, I also sifted the flour twice, so as to incorporate as much air as possible to the batter. If you like a rich, dense and moist texture, then this is not the kind of cake you will like.
The finished cake is something I have aimed to achieve. The crumbs are soft, light and fluffy...not overly moist and yet not on the dry side...I could finish up two slices without feeling full or rather, guilty ;)
My late morning tea...a slice of banana cake with a cup of 'latte'...my silly attempt at creating latte art, lolz. No, I don't have an espresso machine in my kitchen, just a simple battery operated whisk which I got as a gift, for frothing milk. As the picture couldn't speak for itself, I'll have to explain that I was actually trying to dust a heart on the milk foam...but it turn out like a lump of dirt (^^''') I will work harder on this.
I was blessed with a cool and nice morning today. The storm in the middle of the night has driven all the heat and I was greeted with clear blue sky. My quiet morning break by the window...all gone in 5 minutes. If not for my failed cup of latte, I felt as though I was enjoying a cuppa inside a cafe :)
I hope you had a great morning too...and not forgetting...
Happy 100th International Woman's Day to all of you!
Old-fashioned Banana Cake
Ingredients
150g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
150g caster sugar (I cut down to 120g)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3~4 medium size banana, mashed
4 tablespoons milk, room temperature
240g plain flour (I use cake flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
Method:
- Grease and flour 10" fluted tube pan. Set aside.
- Sieve together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- With an electric whisk (medium speed) beat the butter until creamy. Add sugar and olive oil and beat till the mixture turns pale, light and fluffy.
- Dribble in the eggs gradually and beat till incorporated in the batter.
- Add vanilla extract. Beat to combine.
- Add mashed banana, stir with a spatula to combine.
- Sieve over half of the flour mixture and add half of the milk. Fold the mixture with spatula until the flour is just incorporate into the batter. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and milk.
- Spread batter into prepared pan and bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 35~40 min or until golden brown or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Unmold and let cool on a wire rack.
Recipe source: adapted from Food & Travel magazine
I am gonna take a huge step back in time...
...that is, back to the trail head of my baking journey.
With a newly acquired oven and a short break from baking, I will have to go back to the beginning, following the trail that I have left behind since I last embarked on my baking journey. I will start from the very basic, moving one step at a time, hopefully by doing so, I am able to learn and re-learn some of the things that I have picked up over the past few years. I wish I could also move out of my comfort zone, be a little more adventurous in trying out new recipes; be brave enough to challenge more advanced techniques, especially those which make my knees wobble before I even got through reading the first three steps of the instructions.
As I move from one milestone to another...making quick breads, cookies before progressing to layered cakes and bread making, I am certain I would take side steps along the way. It is hard to fight off the temptation to replicate mouth-watering desserts that appeared on my screen each time I visit a food blog, it certainly doesn't help that I am a loyal follower to a long list of favourite food bloggers. Thanks to them, they are my daily sources of inspirations, my teachers :)
So here I am, back to the basic...my first batch of muffins right out of my oven.
Muffins are one of the first few 'cakes' I learned to bake from cookbooks and online baking sites. I could still remember reading up on how to achieve the perfect high-domed muffins. Not only are muffins simple and quick to put together, they are also very forgiving and highly adaptable. As long as you stick to some of the fundamental baking rules, you can always play around with the ingredients.
These Mixed Berries Muffins are unique to my baking repertoire though. They are made using the 'creaming method' instead of the usual 'muffin method' which I am more comfortable with. The process of making these muffins is not very different from making cupcakes or butter cakes, where you beat butter and sugar together before adding eggs, milk and fold in the flour to form the batter.
I baked them using the top and bottom heat function of my Bosch oven. The muffins were baked to a nice golden brown when the cooking time was up. It is great that my new oven comes with a digital timer. The oven will not turn off when the timer beeps. Which is what I prefer. Baking time stated in recipes serves as a guide only, everyone's oven works differently, so we may need to either remove the cake earlier from the oven or leave it to bake a minute or two longer. The oven function is not as limited as it seems. It actually allows you to set it in such a way that you could let it turn on or/and turn off automatically at a specific time, I find this very useful for heating up food or using if to cook food where cooking time is not that critical.
I must confess, although I very much prefer muffins that are made using the muffin method, these are by far the most flavorsome muffins I have ever made. The crumbs are soft, fluffy and buttery, if not for the berries, they taste just like their pretty cupcake cousins. I have lost my sweet tooth totally, even though I had taken the liberty to cut down on the sugar amount, I still find them a little on the sweet side. My children have no complains though. These little cuppies will go very well with a cup of hot tea...be it on a late morning or a lazy afternoon.
Would you care to join me on my baking trail?
Mixed Berries Muffins
Ingredients:
(makes 8 muffins)
110g unsalted butter, soften @ room temperature
50g caster sugar (original recipe calls for 60g)
50g light brown sugar (original recipe calls for 60g)
1 1/2 eggs (large), lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
40ml milk
160g plain flour ((original recipe calls for 140g flour, 20g almond powder)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
100g blueberries
100g strawberries (optional)
Method:
- Wash and drain blueberries and strawberries. Cut strawberries into small chunks. Dry berries with paper towels and toss them in 1~2 teaspoons of flour(extra). Set aside.
- Sieve together flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Set aside.
- With an electric whisk, cream butter with sugar till the mixture turns pale, light and fluffy.
- Dribble in the eggs gradually and beat till incorporated in the batter.
- Add vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
- Add milk followed by two tablespoons of the flour mixture in Step 2. (The flour mixture is added to prevent the batter from curdling when the milk is added.) Whisk to combine.
- Sieve over remaining flour mixture and add in the berries. With a spatula fold the mixture until the flour is just incorporate into the batter. DO NOT over mix. The batter should be thick and not thin and runny.
- Spoon batter into paper muffin cups. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180degC for 25~30 min until muffins turn golden brown or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm.
Recipe source: adapted from 初试身手做甜点, 信太康代
