Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Looking for some cakes that without using butter? Here you go… this chocolate cake was made out of olive oil instead of butter!!! I found this recipe from Taste.com.au and it is suitable for those who are concern about the diet like me. =D

Ingredients

2 eggs
100g sugar
150g self-raising flour
50g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
100g olive oil
60ml low-fat milk
Cocoa powder, to dust


What to do

(1) Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a square cake pan with oil to grease. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.

(2) Use an electric beater to beat the eggs and sugar in a small bowl until pale and creamy.

(3) Sift in the combined flours and cocoa powder. Fold until the mixture is almost combined. Add the olive oil and milk, and fold until combined.

(4) Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until crumbs cling to a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake.

(5) Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with cocoa powder to serve.

Enjoy!

Coconut Butter Cake

This is a very easy cake to make. I am not really a big fan of coconut but I do like the texture of the desiccated coconut. Love this cake to bits as it was so fluffy and not too oily also the lovely texture of the desiccated coconut. Enjoy~

Ingredients

300g plain flour
½tbsp baking powder
½tsp salt
250g butter, softened
200g sugar
3 eggs
200ml milk

What to do

(1) Put all ingredients into a big bowl and use an electric hand mixer to blend all the ingredients until smooth.

(2) Grease the cake tin and transfer the batter into the cake tin and bake at 180 degree for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Chocolate Coconut Cake

I was in the mood to do some baking over the weekend. While I was flicking through my recipe book, I saw this interesting combination cake which is merged of chocolate and desiccated coconut.

Crunchy on the outside and moist and you can feel the coconut desiccated while you’re eating it… nice texture indeed.

Happy Baking!

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate, chopped
250g unsalted butter, chopped
250g brown sugar
155g self-raising flour
50g desiccated coconut
2 eggs
Icing sugar, to dust (optional)
Frozen mixed berries, to garnish (optional)


What to do

(1) Preheat the oven to 160 degree. Lightly grease round cake tin.

(2) Place the chocolate, butter and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Sit the bowl, making sure the base does not touch the water, over a saucepan of simmering water.

(3) Stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the saucepan from the heat and sit the bowl in a sink of cold water until cooled.

(4) Combine the flour, coconut and follow by the chocolate mixture in a bowl and beat until combined. Add the eggs and mix well.

(5) Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes at 180 degree, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.

(6) Leave the cake in the tin for 15 minutes before carefully turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

(7) If desired, dust with icing sugar and decorate with fresh berries.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I’ve baked this simple yet delicious cake for mum when she visited me a month ago.

It's pretty easy to prepare! Here you go...

Ingredients 

(A)
20g unsalted butter, melted
Some soft brown sugar
1 canned of pineapples
(B)
90g unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar

(C)
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence/extract

(D)
125g self raising flour, sifted


What to do

(1) Preheat oven to 180 degree.

(2) Pour melted butter into a 20cm pan (brush both the base and sides of pan with butter) and sprinkle with brown sugar evenly.

(3) Cut pineapples into smaller pieces and place them nicely on the base of the tin.

(4) Beat the extra butter and sugar with electric beaters till light and creamy then add eggs gradually, beating well after each addition.

(5) Add the vanilla extract and beat until well combined.

(6) Fold in the flour alternatively with 70g of pineapple juice.

(7) Spoon the mixture evenly over the pineapple and bake for 40 min.

(8) Leave cake in tin for 10 min before turning out to a wire rack to cool.

Yogurt Cake

Craving for some light cake... something soft, fluffy, not buttery is what I am looking for!

Here I present you my healthier version of cake with no butter but only a small amount of olive oil.

  Enjoy~

Ingredients

260g of yogurt

120 g of Caster sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
50g of olive oil
200g of self-raising flour


What to do

(1) Beat the eggs and Caster sugar under high speed until fluffy.

(2) Pour in the yogurt and mix well.

(3) Gently fold in the sifted flour with plastic spatula.

(4) Lastly, add the olive oil and mix well with spatula.

(5) Transfer batter to the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

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.

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.

Lemon Cake

I was in the mood for baking again! I can’t help myself not to be busy in the kitchen after a long day in the office. :P

I was craving for something savory and I found there were some lemons in the fridge. Without faltering, I decided to bake lemon cake which is simple yet delicious!

I found that the outlook for the lemon cake was too plain. Suddenly Christmas spirit came across my mind so I’ve sprinkled some icing sugar on top. After some “make up” with the lemon cake, they looked much better. “Ta da” here I present you my * Christmas Lemon Cake*.

There were some remaining batters so I pour them into muffin cup. See, after the make over, it looks so cute, isn’t? I just simply love the star on top of the cake! It gives me Christmas feel… = )

It taste a little bit sour which is very appetizing! It was really good! Enjoy~

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

1 tbsp finely grated lemon rind

220g caster sugar

2 eggs

150g self-raising flour

75g plain flour

125ml milk

Topping

125ml lemon juice

55g caster sugar

What to do

(1) Beat the butter, rind and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until combined between additions.

(2) Stir in the sifted flours in two batches with the milk. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and bake in a moderate oven for about 45 minutes or until the cake is cooked when tested.

(3) For the topping, combine the lemon juice and sugar in a jug; stir until the sugar is dissolved.

(4) Pour the topping over the hot cake; allow cake to stand for 15 minutes before turning the cake onto a wire rack to cool.

White Chocolate n’ Almond Blondies

Christmas is just around the corner and I was planning to make some Christmas goodies from the Christmas recipe books that I bought last week. There are a few Christmas recipes that I wanted to do and I already listed into my “to do” list.

My first Christmas goodies this week was **White Chocolate n’ Almond Blondies**from Taste.com.au – The Very Useful Christmas Book. You can also get the recipe online here.

The aroma of the blondies was strong which make me mouth watering while baking. Hehe… I helped myself with 2 of the biggest slices after it was done! A sinful craves… ashamed after I had it. =( Nevertheless, more fitness class to attend!


Ingredients

75g unsalted butter, chopped
300g white chocolate, roughly chopped
3 eggs
90g castor sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
200g self-raising flour
100g slivered almonds, roughly chopped
100g white chocolate chipsIcing sugar, to dust

What to do

(1) Preheat oven to 175 degree. Lightly grease a 20cmX30cm (base) lamington pan. Line the base and 2 long sides with baking paper.

(2) Melt the butter and chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch water).

(3) Whisk the eggs, castor sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture. Fold in flour. Add the almonds, chocolate chips and stir to combine.

(4) Pour into prepared pan. Using a spatula, spread mixture to the edges. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top has a firm crust.

(5) Cool in the pan, then cut into 15 squares. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

White Chocolate with Dried Fruits Cake

I came across this cooking website and I am “falling in love” with all her delicious and tempting photos of food. I can’t wait to try all the recipes! (kinda greedy… hehe)

Ok, I think I should decide what I am going to try from her list. I chose to bake this “White Chocolate with Dried Fruits Cake”.

This… really taste GOOD! I love the texture as it was so soft and fluffy! As you know I love raisins so this is a PLUS for the cake. Also, I love the dried apricot. The combination was perfect! You should try this out.

This recipe definitely is a keeper for me!

Ingredients

60g white chocolate

2 tbsp milk

200g self-raising flour

2/3 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt1

80g unsalted butter, at room temperature

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp lemon juice

80g dried raisins

80g dried apricot


What to do

(1) Preheat oven to 160 deg C. Grease a 18X8cm rectangular baking pan, line with baking paper.

(2) Melt white chocolate with milk over a pot of simmering water. Set aside.

(3) In a medium bowl, whip butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add melted chocolate, egg and continue to beat until well combined.

(4) Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl, then sift the flour mixture over the batter. Mix until just combine.

(5) Finally add lemon juice, raisins and apricot, stir with a wide spatula until just combine.

(6) Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake turns out clean.

Butter Cake

I baked this cake a couple of days ago and it was awesome! I was craving for butter cake out of sudden and without much hesitation, I decided to bake it immediately!

Going to the oven soon...

Ta da! This is my easy peasy Butter Cake!

While baking, the aroma of the cake was so strong which was extremely tempting. I'm glad that the outcome of the cake was lovely, but it had some cracks though. :P

Ingredients

250g butter
200g castor sugar
4 eggs
200g self-raising flour, sifted with ½ tsp salt
4tbsp fresh milk

What to do

(1) Grease and line a cake tin with greaseproof paper. Preheat oven to 170 degree.
(2) Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
(3) Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is light and fluffy.
(4) Fold in sifted flour gradually and add in milk until well combine.
(5) Pour the mixture into prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked when tested with skewer.

(6) Allow to cool briefly and then turn out onto a wire rack.

Chocolate Crepes Cake

As I said I was gonna bake a “real” cake for hubby 2 days ago, right. So yeah, here’s my homemade birthday cake for him. I’ve searched online for this crepes cake recipe after the MasterChef show on last Wednesday. In the show, the cake looked really tempting and I thought it wouldn’t be that difficult to make so I wanted to give it a try!

However I found another crepes cake recipe in a blog which is easier than the MasterChef one... so I changed my mind. Not following the MasterChef's recipe but this Do What I Like blog. Well, I didn't follow the exact recipe as I’ve replaced the filling with chocolate instead of durian as hubby doesn't like durian! You can click here to get the original recipe.

Okay, I think I will stop talking and show you my final product. Honestly, I screwed up the whipped cream part. Something went wrong with my whipped cream! = (

I planned to dress the cake with chocolate frosting and now without the whipped cream, my chocolate paste seems to be too thick! So sorry for the appearance... taste wise, they were still good. :P

Chocolate Cake with Rich Chocolate Ganache

I came across this recipe from Elin’s blog. When I first looked at this chocolate cake, I fall in love with it because it looks so beautiful and delicious!!! I have tried to bake chocolate cakes before and the outcomes were not good so I was anxious to give it another try.

Before I tried the recipe, I emailed to Elin to seek some advice. Elin was so kind; she shared a lot of precious information with me. With Elin’s encouragement, I was ready to give it a go… and found that my cake was so delicious that I have to share it. Here is my **Chocolate Cake with Rich Chocolate Ganache** (recipe taken from Elin’s blog, please click here) Do visit her blog as there are a lot of yum yum goodies there! Enjoy~

This was my first attempt and honestly the outcome was amazing except the outlook as I still cannot manage to pour the chocolate ganache evenly. Considering it was my first attempt, I gave myself a pass! :P The cake was so moist and the combination with the chocolate ganache was really really awesome! Elin, thank you so much for sharing this recipe! They were really fantastic! I will definitely bake this again... Thanks again, Elin! (**;)

My little round chocolate cake... fresh from the oven!

Chocolate Ganache

Oops... the surface is not smooth enough! (*o*)

Do give it a try! You'll like it... ; )