Apple Cakelets

The Granny Smith duo have been sitting in my fridge since, i don't know when, and when i saw a large big brown patch on one of them, i knew i got to save them. Haha. Hence, these apple cakelets.

I had wanted to bake sth 'applish' considering my hub doesn't eat apples 'raw' (tat was y i got the Granny Smith), but i seemed to always give myself excuses to avoid baking apples. I guess becoz being my most most fave fruit, i rather crunch them in my teeth than enjoying their softness. Apples are supposed to be crunchy n hard, n for this reason, i'm one of those who anti - red delicious. You know the deep red apples, normally imported from US? Yeah, not my type. They r like bananas to me.

I'm not an orange fan either. So if you ask me to choose between an apple or orange as a fruit, i wld, without hessitation pick the apple. But if it's a cake, i'd pick the later!

Just normal cakelets with lotsa granny smith and slices of Cameo on top. Cameo has now voted as my 2nd fave apple after Gala! And yes, I eat an apple a day! (My hub eats an orange a day, how different we are!)

P/s: I received the offer for Environmental Engineering but i want CIVIL! Pls continue to pray for me.

Steamed Double Chocolate Muffins

I never like any steamed cakes (apart from tapioca cake) but this is one recipe i could never resist. Simple, easy and fast. The texture is so moist and soft, i voted it as my most fave cake for 2011. And that is, the steamed chocolate chip muffin.

I saw the recipe and immediately knew i had to make them. Our gas utility is included in the monthly rental, hence whenever possible, i wld try to make use of the stove rather than the electrical oven. I have been craving for chocolate cake for a long time now (eating endless supplies of chocolate won't help, arrgh!) but i simply couldn't find any excuse/ reason to bake one. Until this recipe came along. Terrific. One batch yields 3 muffins only, which is great for two person trying to eat moderately at home.

Batter became sticky after i mixed in the flours, and i thought they wld turn out hard and dry. Popped them onto the steaming hot pan, i was surprised they had bloomed into beautiful 'flower-likes' after only 10 mins!

And so we got our treats in less than 30 mins. They were fluffy n soft. I love them! Low in calorie and sugar, what can be better than these?!?

P/S: My hub complained they tend to stick, but i find them fine. Well, anyways, steamed cakes tend to be stickier than baked ones, becoz the steam reacts with the flour in the batter.

I just borrowed one of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks from the library, and can't wait to practise my culinary skills! Wish me all the best ** fingers crossed**. My hub lost some kgs, n he's praising me for my 'excellent' cooking skills. How bad is that???

Home Part 2

Apart from some pineapple (aka. boob) tarts, i managed to steal a little time to bake some cupcakes during the vacation home.  I wished to bake as much as i could, but unfortunately, these are the only items i could manage. Grandma wanted a red cabbage cake, but i ended up whipping a sweet potato chiffon cake for her. Why, because i had that small packet of mashed purple sweet potato, n i didn't have to waste time getting new ingredients. Chocolate cupcakes were a-must, 1) they r kim's fave, 2) i have too much cocoa powder.



 Then, the blueberry muffins, because my sister was craving hard for them.

I brought cream cheese to fulfill a small promise, but ended up making cotton cupcakes n not being able to deliver.

An early retirement ?

Chocolate Cupcakes

Mango Chilled Cheesecake

Custard Chocolate tartlets

I haven't been baking ever since coming back here, and my hands r getting itchier and itchier as I looked at all these photos. Reading recipes used to be my interest, but ever since i've been refraining myself from baking, i turned back to biographies and humanities, which have been long my favourite even before i was married. After i got married, Hub claimed i need to read more 'encouraging books' instead of things like 'Betrayed', or 'Raped', he gave me a hard question which stops me thinking for a while, "will reading these books make u appreciate ur life more"? In the end i decided it was 'yes', somehow, i love reading about people's lives, not just the prominent ones, but people who have been abused, and left out in the society, whose stories need to be heard. It saddens me a little, becoz many rare and bizarre things tat u wouldn't (and couldn's) imagine are actually taking place in our midst!! So count your blessings, becoz you are soo soo much more blessed than many many lives in this world. (i'm reminding myself HAHA)

I just finished another book abt FLDS, called "Stolen Innocelence", which is another recap of a young lady's life in this polygamous society and how she went abt fighting and testifying against its so-called 'prophet'. If you have read 'Escape', this is another good book which i highly recommend. :-)

P/S: I decided i'm not retiring from baking, just a temporary break :-). I can't give up on sth which i like so much, even more than my career!

And ahh, those goodies in the above were baked for Kimmie's 16th birthday party. :-D 

Yogurt in replace of cheese??

This is supposed to be an ooolllddd post, but since i haven't been doing any baking this week, & consequently nothing to blog about, i decided to go thru some old folders and found these: yogurt blueberry cupcakes, which i made long long time ago!

However, after uploading them on blogspot...i'm beginning to feel lazy, so the conclusion is:

Yogurt was used to replace cream cheese.

PTL!

PTL! Everything has been falling into place, Hubby's having an interview in BDO Raffles (a continental european audit firm) this Friday (for a good advisory role which he likes), HR people just got my Employment Pass sorted out, and I'll be starting work on Monday!! Although i wish i could get my dream job (i.e. working in BIG BIG firms like ERM, CH2M Hill, MWH or URS which happen to be situated in the CBD), i'm still thankful. Ya, eventhough i have to travel for as far as 2 hours, and the job isn't what i like doing most, i still thank God for every single thing. After all it's a pretty good job, with reasonable pay, working weekdays only starting from 9am. And the most important key is that, it's not easy to get jobs at this period of the year, because staffs normally wait till they receive their year end bonuses before resigning so there will be less openings etc. Not to mention, Environmental Engineering is a very small field in Singapore where jobs are limited (even the biggest multinational consulting firm here has only 20 staffs in their Sing office!) so, basically for me to find a job that i have been doing is not easy at all. In conclusion: a full time environmental engineering job in less than two weeks from the day i arrived Singapore is none other than a blessing from God! Amen!

Tried out the bakery tools and baked these blueberry cupcakes three days ago. Was supposed to be muffins, but they do not have a muffin mould or anything deep,so cupcakes were the result. Blueberries were on offer last week in 'i forgot where' for about $2.95 per pack, which of course, is so much cheaper than in KK!

I hope their looks didn't turn you off, haha, the blueberries burst during baking and as a result, they have these purplish linings around the cups. The children claim they were not sweet enough (is it becoz i'm too used to baking for elders and adults in BJ?), and the blueberries were on the sourish side. Agreed, i failed again, next time will not reduce sugar k?

Pandan Muffins

Muffins muffins, aren't they good? Best of all, they're easy peasy, no whipping needed, less utensils to wash and super delicious. I love muffins myself especially double chocolate chip muffins which i admit is super malicious and hard to resist, so at most times i rather avoid baking them and switch my attention to others instead. At least i can then choose whether to eat or not. Hehe. Makes my dieting program easier.

I came across this pandan muffin recipe when surfing online in hope to 'gau dim' the leftover coconut milk from previous bakes. It is very simple and if i'm to judge, my first phrase to describe them would be 'low in calories'. Alright, let's admit it, i'm not too sure exactly if they're much healthier or lower in fats than the rest like blueberry bla bla etc muffins, but this one uses corn oil, and very little sugar. Perhaps the only culprit is the coconut milk, but in comparison to double chocolate chip, i believe this is so much healthier di.
Pandan Muffins
(Make 5)
Ingredient
1½ cups flour
½ cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pandan paste
1 egg
70ml corn oil
90ml fresh coconut milk (i used the canned one)
150 ml water

Method
1. Preheat oven to 190 oC. Line paper cups on a muffin tray, set aside.
2. Lightly beat egg.
3. Add water, coconut milk, oil, pandan paste, salt, sugar, baking powder and mix well.
4. Sieve flour and slowly pour into the mixture. Mix well and set aside.
5. Scoop the muffin mixture onto the muffin cups until 2/3 full.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a light brown crust appear or cracks out of the muffin top.

The texture of the cake is once again moist and soft with a hard crust. Believe me, this is one recipe worth trying. Happy baking!

More cream cheese?

Yes more cheesecakes as love gifts. To most favourite aunt-in law.
In aid to finish my 2kg cream cheese which is soon to expire.
Shaped them into tarts and cupcakes like.
Different flavour same batter. Smart huh? Also last minute bah.
And here they are, apple cheese tart and red cherry/nutella cheese cup.

Apple filling made from Cameos (not an excellent apple choice for baking, but that was all i could use)

Topped with chopped Golden Delicious and drizzled with jam

Red cherry as the filling

Nutella Chocolate Cup with whipped cream and strawberry

Hope she likes all of them!

Strawberry Yogurt Muffins

Am feeling a bit slacky these days, no mood to bake or blog. Something very important came up and had been filling my thoughts (Lord, grant us your way).

These muffins were baked last week before the new york cheesecake bars, which i had totally forgotten about. Back then, I had a nice strawberry yogurt sitting in the fridge, and with some leftover strawberries from the previous strawberry cheesecake, i thought i should make use of them to bake something lighter (as in lesser in calories) instead.

Directly, the combination makes a perfect strawberry yogurt cake. A butter cake would sound ideal, of course, but as i have mentioned earlier on, i wanted something light (and less tedious, easier to clean up) so butter is totally out. In the end, i opted for this recipe.

 Strawberry Yogurt Muffins

(Yield 7)

Ingredients1 1/2 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup strawberry yogurt

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup corn oil

some strawberry dices

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 oC.

2. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in sugar.

3. Beat eggs, yogurt and oil. Add all wet ingredients into flour mixture and stir until well combined.

4. Pour into muffin cups and top batter with diced strawberries. Bake for 20 minutes.

The muffins turned out pretty moist, unlike typical ones which are normally crumbly and dry. However, the taste was a bit bland, thanks to my 'health consciousness', i had reduced the sugar too much.

My advice, do not reduce the sugar amount. 1 cup is just right.

Blessed New Year 2009

More to begin with the new year! There are so many things i want to achieve, and perform this year, though with an empty beginning and no proper job to start with. Putting my gears down to rest and my brains to a short break before i go out and fight more! I will write a different story before this year comes to an end in a different scenario and status!! Definitely definitely.. my solemn promise to myself.

Here are something i achieved two days ago, though not specifically on new year day itself. To be frank, baking was the last thing on my mind for the past week, which i think was due to the supreme exhaustion from the trip home last month/year. Moreover, we had quite a number of visitors to our home throughout the week, and i just needed some time to myself! Plus all the thinkings and worries......

So well, the reason why i baked was because dad in law had specially requested them for his own mom, aunt and friend. As new year gifts. Because people don't normally bake here, giving homebaked pastries and cakes are thought to be very special indeed. And believe me, posh and expensive as well. (Butter is super dear here!!)

Anyway, i got my lazy butt kicking last Sat night, and managed to bake one green tea cheesecake, blueberry cups and nuttella mini cups.

The Reds and More Christmas Colours Cups!

More reds reds and reds. Red is a beautiful colour isn't it? It's funny that i used to dislike red when i was a little girl, some mindset of mine that thinks red is only for girlies or mummy's girls (if you know what i mean hehe). Today, i have a new perspective: red makes my cakes look good!

Mom in law got me more reds today from her weekly grocery shopping:

The pretty strawberries (my third box)

Baby very reddish tomatoes

Another apple type, which i haven't figure what. Honey sweet and crunchy.

I woke up as early as 5am this morning, and couldn't put myself back to sleep. Seems like i'm having sleeping difficulty nowadays; i tend to wake up before sunrise regardless of what time i go to bed! Worst part is i'm not working, and i dun have to be up that early! Is that because i'm getting old? Hmm..couldn't be age, as Hubby who is 2 years older than me can sleep anytime anywhere for hours. Even dad in law can sleep as long as he wants! :-S

Oh well, forget about sleep, let's go back to the reds and baking business. Since i woke up that early today, i started baking right after breakfast even before mom in law returned from her shopping. So the reds weren't intentional, but co-incidental. Why? Coz i only had red cups and 2 additional green cups, and i had planned long ago to make cupcakes before i fly home. In the end, it's a Christmas colour gallery, red and green!!

Here they are, on the left is Chocolate Oreo Surprise Cupcake and right, Angelic Blueberry Cheese Cup.

I baked the Angelic cookies with the Piggies/Sows yesterday. Just an experiment to see whether home baked cookies would look good on home baked cakes.

These cupcakes contain oreos and cream cheese in the middle surrounded by nutella chocolate cake. Very rich and super fattening.

Good old muffins for a hassle free day!

I tried snapping a few good pics of the muffins i baked this morning, but somehow i couldn't get that ray of light into my way. All the backgrounds seemed to be dark and gloomy, although it was a beautiful morning, and the sun was smiling so extensively. :-) Hubby claimed my imprecise judgement could be the culprit, somehow, he thinks i often snap on the wrong angle which blocks that glorious light.

My first try was this:

So wrong direction after all, it looks like the sun has set althought it was actually very bright.

Second try:

Bright enough? This was snapped on the opposite side of the first picture through the living room glass window.

Without hessitation, i tried to focus the devil bowl of muffins on this direction but somehow, they look like a batch of 'hangus' muffins waiting to go into the bin.

Giving myself a second and third chance, here they are on the same spot:

Still not bright enough! Unsatisfied, i decided to move to another spot bright enough to show off these devourous muffins (ai-seh seh).

Well, enough of angles or watsoever light, these muffins are simple plain old vanilla flavoured added with blueberry preserves, Nut Nut Tel La, and O-Ooreos. Nothing special, just some good old muffins for family tea breaks and snacks etc. And because they're for internal consumption, i couldn't be bothered with how they look as long as they're edible!!

Nightie Treat: Fancy some Pineapple Cheese CupCakes with Cheerios?

Did them three hours ago and thought they look super ugly when out from the oven, so decorated with some chocolate and dad in law's Cheerios (was smiling very innocently when taking the Cheerios as Hubby was looking :-P).

Even after the decos, i still think they look creepy, like some cupcakes meant for the Halloween.

Moreover, the light in the living room was a bit dim, making the photos look even creepier.

I do hope they taste ok though. I saw the recipe online so thought of trying since the whipping cream desperadoly needs to be finished off before Weds.

More baking fiessesta tomorrow!