brownie cake

Wanted to use another recipe besides my previous post. Turns out alright. Modified a little again as I saw that the recipe calls for 200g sugar. Way too sweeeet for me though I have a sweet tooth. Prefer the subtle bitter cocoa taste.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/absolutely-best-brownies/?scale=12&ismetric=1

60g self raising flour
30g unsweetened organic cocoa powder
120g castor sugar
115g unsalted butter
3 small eggs
1 capful of vanilla essence
Pinch of salt


Steps:
Melted butter over double boil method
Add sugar and whisk till dissolved
Crack eggs one by one and whisk
Pour flour and cocoa powder and whisk till combined and smooth
Transfer batter into rice cooker pot and cook (15min)

matcha chiffon cake

Bought matcha powder for quite some time and was waiting for an opportunity to make a cake with this jap flavor. Finally got this done!

Followed this link given by a friend. Made some minor changes.

http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/green-tea-chiffon-cake-with-red-bean.html?m=1

I skipped the frosting part as I do not have any red bean paste and am a little lazy to make the extra step.

70g cake flour
10g matcha
(Combine and sift twice)

20g castor sugar (yolks)
90g castor sugar (whites)
10g corn starch (mix with 90g sugar)

70g milk
60g soya oil

6 small eggs, separated

Steps:
Preheat 130/140°c, 50min
Whisk yolks with 20g sugar
Add in milk, oil, whisk
Pour flour slowly and whisk

Whisk whites with sugar and corn starch till stiff peaks.
Add 1/3 meringue into wet batter and whisk till smooth.
Use spatula fold in the rest till smooth.
Pour batter in and tap few times on the table to remove air bubbles.
Pop in oven and wait.

Tasted nice. Usually I will lower the amount of sugar but I thought the plain matcha has a strong smell or retaining the amount balances out the flavours.

steamed bana cake

Got this recipe here.
http://honeybeesweets88.blogspot.sg/2010/05/steamed-banana-cake.html

Wanted to try how the taste and texture will be like in a rice cooker using a steam function instead of cake.

Steps:
3 small eggs
100g brown sugar
2 large bananas, mashed
150g self raising flour
1/8 baking soda
75g soya bean oil

Beat in eggs and sugar in stand mixer till ribbon stage and double in volume.
Scrape down sides and beat again.
Add mashed banas and hand mix.
Sift in flour and baking powder, beat in low speed.
Add the oil and hand mix.
Pour batter in rice cooker pot and press STEAM function.
Invert and let cool when done.


Crust is browned as usual for using a rice cooker. Texture was soft unlike my previous 'cake' function ones. However, I also used a different recipe so was not sure if it is the recipe or the 'steam' function.  But heck,  as long as objective is met, doesn't matter. Heh..

Pavlova

Wanted to try making homemade Kaya and found it a waste to discard the whites as only the yolks are needed. So did a Google search and a Pavlova dessert came up. Intrigued by the lovely name and not done or heard this before, I googled again.


http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlova_(food)

Inspired by the history and how it tastes like marshmallow (my fav), I decided to try it.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/Pavlova.html

This is where I did further reading and watched the tutorial. I youtube-d a few more for variations. Eventually I mixed and matched what I want to do. I like the shells to be more browned and caramelized as opposed to some chefs who did theirs white. My personal preference. I like how when I gently pulled the shell, the inside is white and I like the contrast.

Modified version:
4 egg whites
90g white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract.

Method is the same as preparing a normal meringue. Whisk till stiff peaks together with the sugar. Fold in the extract.

Spoon the meringue on a baking tray with a baking sheet. Press down a little to form the shape. I piled it like a wall so the filling can be placed better later.

Pop into a preheated oven of 180°c for 20 min till the color is browned. Then I lowered the temp to 150°c for another 15 min so the insides are baked thoroughly.

Let the shells cool after done.

Meanwhile prepare the filling. I don't feel like doing whipped cream so I tried using mascaprone and yoghurt. The guidelines for a Pavlova dessert is to have a balance of sweetness and tartness. I figured the tartness will come from the yoghurt. No measurement. I just scooped part of mascaprone and yoghurt and whisked till smooth. I scooped a dollop and spread on one of the shells to test. Sprinkle chopped kiwi and some blueberries to decorate.

Viola! And it's gooooooooood! The inside of the Pavlova did taste like marshmallow. Objective met!

Bana chiffon cake

Could not resist making cakes though I am told to avoid eggs as I am down with a cough. Blame it on the over ripe bananas! Beckoning me to extend their shelf life. Haha. Using christine recipe, I modified a little. This is considered the most successful chiffon bana cake so far using my atas oven.

Original: http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2010/06/banana-chiffon-cake.html

My version:
Ingredients:
80g cake flour
5 egg yolks
5 egg whites
54g castor sugar
45g milk
35g virgin coconut oil
230g banana flesh

Method:
I preheated my oven to 150°c instead.
Whiz the bana flesh in the blender till creamy and smooth.
Whisk egg yolks together with a bit of the sugar.
Mix in oil, milk, bana puree and whisk.
Sift in flour, whisk till smooth and combined.

For meringue, egg whites in clean mixer bowl. Whisk on high after adding sugar and let the mixer does its job. Shift setting to low to stabilize the whites.

Method same as shown in the website.

Fold fold fold! (The meringue and the batter)
Tap tap tap! (Remove large air bubbles)
Pop pop pop! (Cake mould in the oven)
Tick tock tick! (Waiting time for me)
Ding ding ding! (Cake should be ready)
Cool cool cool! (Invert the mould carefully)
Slice slice slice! (When the cake is cool and nice)
Serve serve serve! (Bon Appétit everybody)

Oops. Can't help but type this jingle. Son is 20 mths now and responds well to repetitive sounds, words and actions. So the mama has to adapt. Hehe.

By the way, just discovered a method to cool the cake, by accident! Was trying to flip it over when the pan got stuck between the grills. Thought it looked cool(pun intended) so left it there. Works!

Nutella Cake

Wanted to make a mini cake for hubba's birthday. Supply was running low and finally decided to bake a simple nutella cake in my mini rice cooker. I modified the recipe given.

1) cake
 1 cup nutella
 10 tbsp flour (90g) (self raising)
 2 eggs
100g milk

I whisked the nutella with the milk first to get a smooth batter. Added eggs, whisk and then sift in the flour. Mix all till combined.

Pour batter into the mini pot and press the cake function.

2) Ganache Filling
I did not measure how much. I just added unsweetened cocoa powder and sugar till I like the taste. Whisk with some water and slowly heat in pot. Make sure the liquid is not too watery or runny. It should be thick. I whisked in some mascaprone too on whim to try the taste. Surprisingly yummy! Adds depth to the mixture. It sorts of balances the bitter cocoa taste. Pour over the cake and let cool till a little harden. Place in fridge covered till ready to consume!

mini waffles

Craving for waffles thus asked hubba to buy premix ones for convenience. This is ez to do. Just follow the pkt instructions. What I like about this is that it is packed into smaller sachets. No wastage. Instead of the usual size, I made into mini ones.

On a side note, I somehow did a cross like shape! Super cool! This song immediately came to my mind.

Thank You for the cross!
Indeed Your blueprint is everywhere under the sun. Thank You for loving us!