Country Fruit Cake

I admit that I have a “bad” habit which is whenever I come across nice looking baking recipe books, I will definitely “grab them home” with me. Hehe…

There are a few sitting in my bookshelf and I hardly give them a look as yet. Last night I was flicking through one of the recipe books and I decided to give this cake a go.

I was running of out light brown sugar so I replaced it with castor sugar instead. This is why you can see my cake is not as brown as in the recipe book. :D

Ingredients

375g cake flour
2tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground nutmeg
180g unsalted butter, softened
180g light brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsbp milk
200g mixed dried fruit (I used apricot, sultana and cherry)
1tbsp raw brown sugar


What to do

(1) Preheat the oven to 160 degree. Grease and line a round cake pan.

(2) Sift the flours, baking powder and nutmeg into a large bowl. Set aside.

(3) Beat the butter, light brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract till well combined. Add in the flour mixture and beat well until the mixture us smooth, then stir in the milk and mixed dried fruit.,

(4) Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth level with spatula. Sprinkle the raw brown sugar evenly over the surface.

(5) Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degree.

Marble Cake

This is one of the cakes listed in my “To do” list for quite some time and finally I gave it a try on Sunday morning so that we can have it for our tea later on the day.

The texture of the cake was buttery, moist and smooth.

I like the aroma while the cake was in the oven. The cocoa powder smells so good! It make me mouth –watering while waiting for it to cook. =P

I’ve eaten 2 slices at once as they taste really yummy! What a sinful craves…

 
Ingredients


250g butter
220g castor sugar
5 large eggs
250g cake flour
2tbsp choco powder
2 - 3 tbsp milk


What to do

(1) Sieve cake flour and salt together. Set aside.

(2) In a big bowl, cream butter and sugar until it's pale and creamy.

(3) Add in egg one at a time, mix until it's well combined.

(4) Fold in the cake flour slowly and mix well.

(5) Spoon 4tbsp of the cake batter into another smaller bowl. Mix the cocoa powder and milk until it's fully dissolve.

(6) Scoop the vanilla batter into the baking pan and follow by the cocoa batter and repeat this action again.

(7) Use a chopstick to draw zic-zac on top of it to get some nice marble pattern for the cake.

(8) Bake the cake at 160c for 30 mins or until it's golden brown and the toothpicks inserted came out clean.

Butter Raisin Muffins

Happy 2010! My first baking for year 2010 is this simple yet delicious Butter Raisins Muffins.

All you need is:

Ingredients

140g butter, softened
110g castor sugar
3 eggs
200g cake flour
2tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
45g raisin



What to do
(1) Sieve cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
(2) Cream butter and castor sugar till its pale and light (Approx. 2 minutes)
(3) Add in egg one at a time and mix till it's well combined.
(4) Preheat oven at 180 degree.
(5) Fold in flour mixture slowly until finished all the flour.
(6) Lastly, add in raisins and mix well.
(7) Spoon the batter muffin pan and bake for 30 minutes or till its turn golden brown color.

Enjoy Baking~

Chocolate Butter Cake

Well, this is my last baking for year 2009! This is a simple yet delicious chocolate butter cake for my colleague whose birthday is on 1 Jan 2010.

I’ve used some colorful sprinkles and smarties for decoration. I love the color; they look so beautiful and so tempting to me! Hehe...

Ingredients

120g unsweetened chocolate, chopped

28g unsweetened cocoa powder

240ml boiling water

315g plain flour

2tsp baking powder

1tsp baking soda

1/4tsp salt

226g unsalted butter, room temperature

400g castor sugar

3 eggs

240ml milk

Frosting

140g unsweetened chocolate, chopped

80ml milk

113g unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces

440g icing sugar

What to do

(1) In a heatproof bowl, place the chopped unsweetened chocolate and cocoa powder. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate and cocoa powder and stir until they have melted. Set aside to cool while you make the batter.

(2) In a separate bowl, whisk to combine, the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

(3) In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the melted chocolate mixture and beat to combine.

(4) Add the milk and flour mixtures in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat only until the ingredients are incorporated.

(5) Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake for about 35 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Cool the cakes completely before frosting.

Frosting

(1) Melt the chopped chocolate in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool.

(2) Place the melted chocolate, milk and icing sugar in the bowl.

(3) Add the pieces of softened butter and beat on low speed for about 2 minutes. When the frosting starts to come together increase the speed to medium and beat for about 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth.

(4) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the speed to high and beat the frosting for 1 - 2 minutes more or until it is of spreading consistency. If necessary, add more milk or sugar.

Christmas Cookies and Cupcakes

3 days to Christmas! I’ve prepared some goodies to give away to friends and colleagues.

For the cookies, I used classic butter cookies recipe taken from Joy of Baking. I’ve shaped the dough with difference sizes of star cutters. Then, after baked, I sprinkled them with icing sugar which made them look snowy. ^_^

I’ve replaced the granulated white sugar with raw sugar which came out nicely. I still can feel the sugar crusty while biting the cookies. Plus, it was not too sweet at all. It was yummy!

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies recipe

Ingredients

226g unsalted butter

135g raw sugar

1 egg

1tsp lemon zest

295g plain flour

1/4tsp salt

What to do

(1) Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and follow by the lemon zest.

(2) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated.

(3) Make the mixture into a ball and wrap it with cling wrap, and leave it in fridge for 10 minutes.

(4) Shape the cookies with cookies cutter and arrange them on the baking tray.

(5) Bake in the preheat oven at 180 degree for 15-20 minutes.

Christmas Cupcakes

For the mini cupcakes, please click here for the recipe. I’ve added some dried cherry as decoration on top.

Aren’t they cute?

Packaging the cupcakes and give away to my friends and colleagues…

Cute little Santa wishing you

**Merry Christmas n’ Happy New Year**

Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting

Yay! This is my first attempt to make an icing. I am glad that it turned out “not too bad looking” and it was not as difficult as I had thought.

However, I am still not satisfied with my icing swirling skill. I will need to practice more on my swirling skill and make it look better for my next baking! = )

Overall, I am still happy with it… (^_^)

Vanilla Cupcakes

Chocolate Icing

Ta da... My cupcakes!

Ingredients

100g butter, softened

185g castor sugar

1tsp vanilla bean paste

2 eggs

250g self-raising flour

125ml milk

Chocolate Frosting

100g butter, softened

450g chocolate icing sugar mixture

60ml milk

What to do

1. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Add the flour and milk in alternate batches and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.

2. Spoon mixture evenly and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

3. For the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until very pale. Gradually add the icing sugar while beating. Add the milk and beat until well combined.

4. Fill a piping (icing) bag fitted with a star tube with the icing and pipe swirls on the cupcakes.

Lemon Cheesecake

I know Cheese = FAT, but somehow I adore cheesecake as they tastes delicious. Well, once in a while if I pamper myself with a slice of my favorite cheese cake, I think it wouldn’t hurt much! Also, Cheese is high in calcium which is good for my bones! (Ha! I am trying to find more excuses to make myself feel better) :P

This is my second attempt on cheese cake. Since I still have plenty of lemons, I might as well turn them into Lemon Cheese Cake!!!

The cheese cake tastes awesome!!! It was very soft and creamy.

Ingredients

Base

1100g Nice biscuits (Arnott’s brand)

40g butter, melted

Filling

300ml whipping cream (chilled, I used Bulla Thickened Cream)

250g cream cheese, soften at room temperature

50g icing sugar

45ml lemon juice

What to do

(1) Mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly with the help of a spoon onto the base of a 18cm cake tin. Chill for 30 minutes.

(2) Beat whipping cream with electric mixer until 70% stiff or until mousse-like. Do not over mix. Takes about 2 to 3mins on low speed. Keep in the fridge.

(3) With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon juice until smooth & creamy. Blend in whipping cream with a spatula.

(4) Pour the mixture into the base and spread, put the tin back into the fridge until the topping has set.