Chocolate Chips Swirl Bun

I was reading through my frequent food blogs and was attracted by this wonderful bun recipe from Elinluv’s Corner. The buns look so delicious.

It was so fun to see them rising in the oven and the aroma of the chocolate was very nice. It made me mouth watering… I can’t wait to try them! :P Frankly, it was really really good. Like Elinluv said, “Two thumbs up for this delicious bun”. For my version, I’ve modified the ingredients a little in which I added in some chocolate chips. You can find the original recipe here.

Before

After

Closer look!

Smell good + Taste good = Yummy!

Ingredients

300g bread flour
1+ ½ tsp instant yeast
1+ ½ tbsp milk powder
50g caster sugar
½ tsp salt
125ml milk
1 egg
20g olive oil
40 dark cooking chocolate, melted
20g chocolate chips

What to do

(1) Put the bread flour and yeast in a bowl, whisk to combine, add in milk powder, sugar and salt whisk again. Pour in milk and egg into the bowl, use spatula to mix everything together till form soft dough.
(2) Knead the dough until soft, smooth and elastic about 10-15 minutes. In the mean time, put olive oil in a large bowl and transfer the dough into the bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size.
(3) Take the dough out of the bowl. Gently press down the dough. Use the rolling pin to roll the dough into rectangle shape. Spread the melted chocolate mixture all over and sprinkle some chocolate chips on top.
(4) Roll the dough up and cut the dough into 8 pieces, and then place into the baking pan.
(5) Let the dough rise until almost double in size again and bake for 15 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.

Cookies Galore!

I baked these cookies over the weekend and made them into 3 variations.

- Cookies dipped into melted chocolate
- Melted chocolate drizzled on top of cookies
- White and dark chocolate chips on top of cookies.

The cookies taste fantastic especially the ones with “messy” drizzled melted chocolate on top. Hmm… yummy! (^_^)

Ingredients

60g butter
50g castor sugar
20g egg (about half an egg)
140g self-raising flour
1/4tsp baking soda
Some dark chocolate (melted) and chocolate chips, for decoration

What to do

(1) Cream butter and sugar till creamy. Beat in egg.
(2) Pour in flour and baking soda till combined.
(3) Spoon batter on baking tray with baking paper.
(4) Bake for 10 minutes.
(5) In the mean time, melt chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
(6) After baking, leave cookies to cool in try for 2 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fried Calamari

I haven’t tried out any finger food for my cooking so I’ve decided to try something savory. I’ve been busy surfing the internet for some finger food recipes and came across this easy recipe – Fried Calamari!

It tastes a little bit spicy, sour, crunchy and crispy! Haha… it will be perfect if dip with tartar sauce. Unfortunately I do not have it in my pantry so I substitute with chili sauce. Hmmm…it’s not too bad. (**;)

Below are some photos that I took for this "HUGE" squid that I bought from the market. = )

Ingredients

1kg calamari (squid)
50ml lemon juice
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
64g corn flour
43g plain flour
1tbsp curry powder
1tsp salt
Olive oil, for deep frying

What to do

(1) Wash and cut the calamari into thin rings.
(2) Put the rings in a flat nonmetallic dish and pour the lemon juice on top. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
(3) Meanwhile, mixed the corn flour, plain four, curry powder and salt in a bowl.
(4) Heat up the saucepan with oil enough for deep frying.
(5) Dip the calamari into egg whites and dust with the flour mixture, shaking off any excess.
(6) Add the calamari to the oil in batches, deep frying for about 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Milky Chocolate Cake

I baked this cake for my colleague’s birthday. I was running out of time as I started my baking after my fitness class at about 8.30pm. I was searching for a simple yet delicious recipe to bake this cake…. and I found this easy chocolate cake. Lucky me! (*o*)

Since it was a last minute decision + lack of time, I was totally clueless about the decoration for the cake. I planned to coat the cake with chocolate paste and decorate with mini M&M (so that it looks colorful). Besides, I chose to bake in a small square baking pan instead of the big round one as the former is easier … “I think”. :P

In the end, the decoration didn’t come out as nicely as I expected. After I spread the chocolate paste on the cake, the cake looked so “horrible” as the chocolate paste was not smooth enough! = ( The only solution that I can think of was to find some goodies to cover the cake. So, I used almond flakes and white chocolate instead of M & M. It was the best way to “rescue” my “ugly” chocolate cake!

I put some of the batter into a muffin pan and some into muffin cups.

Ingredients

200g milk chocolate, chopped
200g butter, softened
220g brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
225g cake flour 32g cocoa powder
255ml milk
White chocolate and almond flakes, for decorations

What to do

1. Place chocolate into a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. With medium heat, stirring every minute with a metal spoon, or until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add cooled chocolate. Mix well.

3. Sift flour and cocoa powder together. Fold half the flour mixture into chocolate mixture. Fold half the milk into chocolate mixture. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and milk.

4. Spoon cake batter into baking pan or muffin pan. Smooth surface. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Decorate as you desired.

Pineapple Fried Rice

I like to eat any kind of fried rice. This is not my first attempt on pineapple fried rice. Usually I will buy canned pineapple which is easier and more convenient. Well, I was in the mood to prepare pineapple fried rice by using fresh pineapple chunks and serve in a hollowed out pineapple shell. So, I bought a medium sized pineapple from the market last weekend.

I remembered my mum told me that using rice that has been kept in the fridge to fry will be delicious. So, I cooked extra rice the night before so I could use the left over rice for my pineapple fried rice! :P

Ingredients (serves 2)

3 bowls cooked rice
2 eggs
1 cup pineapple chunks
1 piece of chicken breast – cut in thin strips
Few pieces calamari
1 small onion – cut in small cubes
2 cloves of garlic – chopped
½ cup of frozen vege mixed
10g raisins
1tbsp of curry powder
2tbsp of soy sauce
2tbsp of oyster sauce
A dash of salt and pepper

What to do

(1) Heat up about 3 tbsp of oil over high heat in a saucepan.

(2) Add in onions and garlic and stir-fry until lightly brown and fragrant.

(3) Add in chicken, stir-fry until it changes color, add in pepper and vege mixed. Stir fry for another minute and add curry powder, oyster sauce and soy sauce.

(4) Add in rice and pineapple chunks. Stir-fry until everything is well combined and hot. Check seasoning and add salt if necessary.

(5) Serve rice in pineapple shell and garnish with some spring onions.

~Enjoy~ (^_^)

Mini Doughnuts

Hubby bought me this mini doughnuts maker sometimes ago. We managed to get this doughnuts maker with a very good price as they were having sales. I was so happy to see the doughnut’s maker. It is so cute!!! Now, I can make doughnuts in any flavor that I like. Isn’t it fantastic? = )

I followed the recipe from the user manual. Simple and easy to prepare! I was excited about the decoration for the doughnuts. I have some cooking chocolates in my pantry. I wanted to coat white chocolate and dark chocolate on my doughnuts. Unfortunately I’ve prepared too much white chocolate and not wanted to waste, I have to finish coating all my doughnuts with white chocolate instead. Well, I will have to try the dark chocolate coating next time then. = (

This is my little doughnuts maker! (",)

Hmm… they all look so cute, don't they?

Ingredients

225g plain flour
80g sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
100g butter, softened
1 egg
200ml milk

What to do

(1) In a large bowl, stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to combine.

(2) Add in butter, egg and milk. Beat with electric mixer until the mixture is thick, smooth and creamy.

(3) Preheat doughnut maker for 4-5 minutes. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the mixture evenly into each hole. Close lid and cook for 2 minutes or until doughnuts are golden brown and soft to touch.

(4) Carefully remove hot dougnuts from the doughnuts maker and place onto a wire rack.

Crepes

I am definitely in the mood of preparing breakfast in the weekend. Breakfast for today is crepes! Crepes are very easy to make and require very simple ingredients as well. Crepes can be served with variety of filling such as jam, butter, cheese, eggs, ham, slices of fresh fruits, chocolate sauce, maple syrup and much more!

For me, I prefer my crepes with jam filling like strawberry and peanut butter. They are both my favorites! (*o*)

Ingredients

128g plain flour

1 tsp castor sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

200ml milk

2 tbsp butter, melted

What to do

(1) Sift together flour, sugar and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs and milk together with an electric mixer.

(2) Beat in flour mixture until smooth; stir in melted butter.

(3) Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.

(4) Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 2 tablespoons for each crepe.

(5) Tip and rotate pan to spread batter as thinly as possible. Brown on both sides and serve hot.