bak kwa muffins

Many moons ago, I mentioned to my friend, JT about a recipe for bak kwa muffins that I came across in a blog. She replied that she prefers to eat the bak kwa on its own. In fact, JT has gone on to make her own bak kwa although I have yet to sample her masterpiece.

I cannot recall which blog it was that I saw the recipe for bak kwa muffins but the bak kwa muffins that you see in this post was inspired by that blog. Da and I had 3 slices of bak kwa left in our container. I used one of the slices to make bak kwa sandwich and I ate that for my breakfast. I decided to use the balance two slices to bake bak kwa muffins. I did not have a ready recipe for bak kwa muffins on hand but I decided to trust my instinct and add small pieces of bak kwa to a simple muffin recipe.

The result? As I reduced the amount of sugar when I prepared the batter, the sweetness in the bak kwa complemented the muffin batter and the outcome was a delicious and moist muffin. Do give this recipe a try and let me have your feedback.

INGREDIENTS

2 slices of bak kwa

220g self-raising flour

100g butter (softened)

120g castor sugar

1 egg (lightly beaten)

250ml low fat milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Line the muffin pans with paper cases. Set aside.

3. Use a pair of kitchen scissors and cut the bak kwa into small pieces. Set aside.

4. Sift the self-raising flour in a bowl. Set aside.

5. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

6. Add the egg and mix well.

7. Add the milk, vanilla essence and bak kwa.

8. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and stir until just blended. Do not over-stir.

9. Spoon the batter into the paper cases until about 3/4 full.

10. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

chocolate chip peanut muffins

It was one of those days when I looked at our Chinese New Year goodies that we had not yet finished eating and felt relieved that we did not buy that many goodies this year. From past experience, once the Lunar New Year is over, the desire to snack on these goodies seems to disappear as well.

We had some balance peanut cookies (the type of Chinese New Year goodies that is crunchy and shaped like checkers), so I decided to use them to bake some muffins. To simplify matters, I simply took the entire tupperware of balance peanut cookies and gave the tupperware several vigorous shakes to break up the cookies and voila! Crushed peanut cookies!

If you do not have peanut cookies, you can substitute with ground peanuts.

INGREDIENTS

220g self-raising flour

100g butter (softened)

140g castor sugar

1 egg (lightly beaten)

250ml low fat milk

1 tsp orange essence

1/2 cup ground peanuts (or crushed peanut cookies - see above)

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

extra mini chocolate chips for sprinkling

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Line the muffin pans with paper cases. Set aside.

3. Sift the self-raising flour in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

5. Add the beaten egg and mix well.

6. Add the milk, orange essence and ground peanuts and mix until blended.

7. Stir in the chocolate chips.

8. Fold in the flour using a wooden spatula and stir until just blended. Do not over-stir.

9. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan until 3/4 full.

10. Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top.

11. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

TIP

Leave the muffins in the muffin pan for 5 minutes before transferring the muffins to a wire rack for the muffins to cool thoroughly.

cornflakes bread

This is the first time that I have added cornflakes to bread dough. I usually use cornflakes to bake cookies.

MIL gave the thumbs up when she tried a slice of the bread on the day that I baked it. The bread was very soft but easy to slice.

While MIL ate one slice of bread on its own and another slice of bread with margarine, FIL sandwiched a slice of bak kwa between two slices of bread and ate the bread as bak kwa sandwich.

INGREDIENTS

200g cold water

25g castor sugar

10g instant milk powder

20g butter (softened)

5g salt

300g bread flour

5g instant dry yeast

1/2 cup cornflakes

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour, yeast and cornflakes) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. Five minutes after the cycle has started, open the lid of the breadmaker machine and add the cornflakes without stopping the cycle. Replace the lid.

6. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough about 5 times.

7. Transfer the dough into a loaf pan that has been greased and lined with baking paper. Spread out the dough such that it touches the sides of the loaf pan.

8. Cover the loaf pan with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

9. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees celsius for 30 minutes.

ham & cheese toast

When I was young, my family and I used to be members of one of our local swimming clubs. I recall that the cafeteria of the swimming club used to sell a snack called "ham cheese toast". It was a simple open-faced sandwich comprising toasted sandwich bread with ham and cheese but my brothers and I enjoyed it tremendously and often ordered it as a snack after our weekly swimming lessons.

Here is my version of "ham cheese toast".

INGREDIENTS

square sandwich bread

butter

picnic ham

square cheddar cheese

Dijon mustard

dried parsley flakes

freshly ground black peppercorn

bacon bits

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius.

2. Spread butter on one side of the bread.

3. Place a slice of picnic ham on top of the buttered side of the bread.

4. Place a slice of the cheddar cheese on top of the ham.

5. Add Dijon mustard on top of the cheese.

6. Freshly grate black peppercorn on top of the mustard.

7. Sprinkle dried parsley flakes.

8. Sprinkle bacon bits.

9. Toast the sandwich in the oven for ten minutes.

mocca banana raisin cake

FIL bought Princess a bunch of "pang jio" (a type of banana). As she was unable to finish eating them before they became overripe, I decided to use the overripe bananas to bake a cake.

In this case, I did not plan my recipe beforehand. Some of the ingredients (that is, banana, raisins, cocoa powder and coffee emulco) were added along the way in the preparation process and ta-da! I ended up with mocca banana raisin cake.

INGREDIENTS

2 medium sized overripe bananas

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp coffee emulco

1 cup water

1/2 cup raisins

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and flour an 8" round cake pan. Set aside.

3. Mash the bananas in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Sift the self-raising flour, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

5. Mix the sugar, oil, coffee emulco and water in a mixing bowl using a hand whisk. Add the mashed bananas and raisins and mix well.

6. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and stir until just blended.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Milo chocolate chip cake

The next time that you have in mind to bake a light cake that is chocolatey, do give this recipe a try. I created the recipe as I went along in the baking process.

My personal verdict? The inclusion of the chocolate chips complemented the lightness of the cake. However, I would have preferred that the cake itself be more chocolatey. If I were to bake this cake again, perhaps I will add some Hersheys cocoa powder or substitute the Milo totally with Hersheys cocoa powder.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup Milo
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1/3 cup Hersheys mini chocolate chips

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and flour an 8" round cake pan. Set aside.

3. Sift the self-raising flour, salt and Milo in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Mix the castor sugar, oil and water in a bowl using a hand whisk.

5. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and stir until blended.

6. Stir in the chocolate chips.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

8. Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

blackberry jam bread

When my Aunt SN (my mother's second sister) came to Singapore in September 2009, I bought a bottle of sugar-free seedless blackberry jam for her as I know that she likes to eat jam with her toasted bread.

As the rest of us are not that keen on jam and I found out that Aunt SN prefers orange marmalade, I decided to help finish up the jam by using some of it to make bread.

This loaf of bread gets its colour from the jam. As the jam is sugar-free, the bread had a hint of taste of the jam without it being overpowering.

The dough rose very well when left to rest for about an hour.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 tbsp butter (softened)
1/2 cup sugarfree seedless blackberry jam
1/2 cup low fat milk
1/2 cup warm water
3 tbsp castor sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/8 cups Nestum cereal
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour and the yeast) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough 5 times.

6. Place the dough in a loaf pan that has been greased and lined with baking paper. Spread out the dough such that the dough reaches the sides of the loaf pan.

7. Cover the loaf pan with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

8. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees celsius for 30 minutes.

apple bread

Ever since we bought a Philips hand-held grinder, I have been having fun making purees out of whatever I can get my hands on.

For this loaf of bread, I used homemade apple puree. To make homemade apple puree, simply skin the apple, remove the core and cube the apple. Then you steam the apple cubes for 15 minutes (or until soft) before you puree the apple. This is simple and healthy.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup apple puree
1/2 cup apple juice
1 1/2 tbsp butter (softened)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp instant milk powder
3 tbsp castor sugar
2 3/4 cup bread flour
1 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour and yeast) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough 5 times.

6. Place the dough in a loaf pan that has been greased and lined with baking paper. Spread out the dough to reach the sides of the loaf pan.

7. Cover the loaf pan with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

8. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees celsius for 30 minutes.

banana corn bread

This lovely loaf of bread is the result of a trial and error session. I usually use cornmeal to bake muffins. This time, I decided to add some cornmeal to bread dough. The end result was a very soft loaf of bread with a slightly crunchy texture.

INGREDIENTS

1 large overripe banana (mashed)
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup warm milk
2 tbsp butter (softened)
2 1/2 tsp honey
1 egg (lightly beaten)
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour and yeast) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough 5 times.

6. Spread out the dough in a loaf pan that has been greased and lined with baking paper.

7. Cover the loaf pan with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour (or until the dough has doubled in size).

8. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees celsius for 30 minutes.

TIP

This loaf of bread is very soft. As such, I would advise that you wait till the bread cools thoroughly before attempting to slice the bread.

apple banana cake

I went a little overboard when I baked this cake - I steamed the apple, then pureed it! If you prefer, you can buy ready-made pureed apple.

I used two bananas when I baked this cake. As a result, the cake was a little dense. I would advise that you use one banana instead.

INGREDIENTS

1 large red apple
apple juice
1 large overripe banana
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and flour an 8" round cake pan. Set aside.

3. Peel the apple and remove the core and seeds. Cut the apple into small cubes and steam for 15 minutes. When done, puree the apple, then add enough apple juice to form 1 cup.

4. Mash the banana in a bowl. Set aside.

5. Sift the self-raising flour and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

6. Mix the castor sugar, oil, apple mixture and mashed banana in a mixing bowl using a hand whisk.

7. Fold in the self-raising flour with a wooden spatula. Stir until evenly blended.

8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

9. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

banana raisin cake

I increasingly find that I enjoy recipes that are short and fuss-free. It could be due to the fact that we are all busy people and we do not have the luxury of time to go through 20 steps in a recipe.

As such, when I try out a recipe, I look for one that has minimal steps. The same applies when I create a recipe - if the recipe is simple and fuss-free for me, it would work the same for others who try out my recipes.

Here is a simple recipe for banana raisin cake that I created. If you prefer prunes, you can substitute with pitted prunes.

INGREDIENTS

1 large overripe banana (mashed)
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup blackcurrant juice
1/2 cup raisins

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and flour an 8" round cake pan. Set aside.

3. Sift the self-raising flour and salt in a bowl. Stir in the raisins. Set aside.

4. Mix the banana, castor sugar, oil and blackcurrant juice in a bowl using a hand whisk.

5. Fold in the flour/raisin mixture using a wooden spatula and mix until blended.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

7. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.