walnut butter cake

Once you have got hold of a good butter cake recipe, the world is your oyster! You can make variations of the butter cake and they all taste delicious.

This is my version of walnut butter cake. Enjoy!

I baked the cake when I got home from work one night, left the cake to cool overnight and brought the whole cake to the office for my secretary to slice and share with my colleagues.

INGREDIENTS

250g self-raising flour (sifted)
250g butter (softened)
230g castor sugar
4 eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp vanilla essence
6 tbsp milk

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 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 eggs, one at a time, mixing well with each addition.

6. Add the chopped walnuts and vanilla essence and mix well.

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

8. Add the milk and check that the batter has a dropping consistency.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

TIPS

1. When I baked this cake, I had not yet bought an aluminium 8" round cake pan. As I used disposable cake pans, I had to use two 8" round cake pans as the disposable cake pans tend to be lower in height. Whether you prefer to bake two lower cakes or one higher cake, the important thing is that the batter should not be higher than half the level of the height of the cake pan.

2. There are various ways to chop the walnuts:-

(a) using a rolling pin;

(b) using a knife;

(c) using a pair of scissors; or

(d) using a pestle and mortar.

I would advise that you do not chop the walnuts in an electric chopper as the walnuts would tend to become too fine and you would not get the crunchy bits of walnut that give the extra "oomph" when you bite into a slice of the cake.

pumpkin cookies

The pumpkin cookies that you see in this post are a result of an experiment. Near the apartment where Da and I live are a block of Housing & Development Board flats. At the bottom of one of the flats is a shop that sells fruits, vegetables, frozen chicken, etc. As I was browsing the stalls in the shop, I saw pre-packed thick slices of pumpkin. Pumpkin is not a very popular item in Singapore although I have cooked spiced pumpkin soup before and it makes a lovely thick soup.

I bought one of the slices of pumpkin without really having any thought as to what I would do with it. It was only when I got home that I rummaged through our larder and refrigerator. I decided to be adventurous and bake pumpkin cookies.

I have never baked pumpkin cookies before and as such, I did not have a ready recipe at hand. Knowing that my family prefers crunchy cookies to chewy cookies, I improvised one of my favourite crunchy cookie recipes that I often use to bake cookies during Chinese New Year and voila! Crunchy pumpkin cookies... piping hot from the oven. To give the cookies more "crunch", I added chopped almonds.

It was an interesting experiment, to say the least. The cookies came out fine and were crunchy and aromatic. This is the beauty of cooking/baking - do not be afraid to experiment and improvise.

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups plain flour
1/2 cup corn flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
125g butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cooked pumpkin (mashed)
1/2 cup chopped almonds

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Sift the plain flour, corn flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

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

4. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with each addition.

5. Add the vanilla essence, mashed pumpkin and chopped almonds and mix well.

6. Fold in the flour mixture and mix until blended.

7. Drop by teaspoonful onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.

8. Bake at 22 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

9. Let the cookies cool thoroughly before storing them in an air-tight container.

double cheese and onion bread

There are two types of cheese in this bread - grated parmesan cheese and grated cheddar cheese. The bread may seem very "cheesy" but the inclusion of the chopped onions complements the cheese and gives the bread a lovely balance.

You can eat the bread on its own or you can spread some homemade (or store-bought) garlic spread on slices of the bread and toast the bread at 180 degrees celsius for 10 minutes.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup water (lukewarm)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp castor sugar
1 medium onion (chopped)
3 tbsp chopped garlic
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp dried mixed Italian herbs
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
2 cups bread flour
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 damp 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.

pumpkin butter cake

Lately, I have been getting adventurous in my baking. I will select a "main ingredient" and bake/make bread, cakes, muffins, cookies and/or ice cream using that main ingredient. For example, if Da and I have an entire bunch of overripe bananas at home, I will take the opportunity to bake/make banana bread, banana cake, banana muffins, banana cookies and banana ice cream... or as many as I can until the bananas run out.

The same applied to the pumpkin butter cake that you see in this post. I happened to buy a thick slice of pumpkin from a shop near our home. I have so far only used pumpkin to cook pumpkin soup. This time, I boiled and mashed the pumpkin and used the pumpkin to bake crunchy pumpkin cookies as well as pumpkin butter cake, both of which turned out yummy.

INGREDIENTS

250g self-raising flour
250g butter (softened)
230g castor sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup cooked pumpkin (mashed)
2 tsp vanilla essence
6 tbsp milk


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 in a bowl. Set aside.

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

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition.

6. Add the vanilla essence and mix well.

7. Fold in the flour using a wooden spatula.

8. Add the milk and mix until blended and the batter is a dropping consistency.

9. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

anchovies and peanuts crackers

I was planning to deep fry some home-made savoury crackers but as I did not have a flat metal ladle, I changed my mind and mixed the anchovies and peanuts with the flour batter instead.

This snack is best eaten when it is just fried because it is most crispy at that point in time.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups plain flour

1 cup rice flour

6 tbsp fine sugar

3 tsp salt

2 cups water

1/8 cup fried anchovies (pounded)

1/2 cup fried/baked peanuts

1 cup fried anchovies

METHOD

1. Mix all the ingredients together.

2. Add some cooking oil to a frying pan and heat up the oil. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium heat.

3. Add spoonfuls of the batter to the oil and deep fry until crispy.

4. Drain off excess oil.

banana nut cookies

I have arrived at a simple conclusion - bake crunchy cookies and the cookies will be an all-time favourite of everyone.

Although chewy cookies are common in western countries, I have realised that Asians tend to prefer crunchy cookies. Each time I bake chewy cookies, the cookies are not very popular with the people whom I share the cookies with. However, when I bake crunchy cookies, the cookies tend to fly off the shelves before you can even blink your eye.

As such, the moral of the story is... stick to baking crunchy cookies!

This is a simple recipe for banana nut cookies that I created one saturday afternoon when Da and I had leftover overripe bananas. I had already used some of the bananas to bake a banana butter cake and jemput-jemput (that is, banana fritters) and we still have several bananas left. I toyed with the idea of baking a banana tart but I felt that the bananas were too soft for the tart.

What better way to use up the leftover bananas than to mash them and add them to your cookie dough?

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups plain flour
1/2 cup corn flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
125g butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp banana essence
2 medium overripe bananas (mashed)
1 cup chopped almonds

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Sift the plain flour, corn flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and ground cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

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

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well with each addition.

5. Add the banana essence, mashed bananas and chopped almonds and mix well.

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

7. Drop by teaspoonful onto a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper.

8. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

9. Let the cookies cool thoroughly before storing them in an air-tight container.

Nutella roll

I have not eaten Nutella spread for many years as I find that nowadays, I prefer chunky peanut butter. However, when the supermarket was having a promotion for a small bottle of Nutella, I decided to buy it with the intention to use it in my baking.

I have since spread Nutella onto bread dough and rolled up the dough to bake Nutella roll. I have in mind to bake some cookies using Nutella next. The varieties are endless and all we need to do is to use our imagination. Have fun!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup warm milk

1 egg

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup castor sugar

1 tsp salt

3 3/4 cups bread flour

2 tsp instant dry yeast

Nutella spread

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour, yeast and Nutella) 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. Use a rolling pin and roll out the dough into a large rectangle.

6. Generously spread the Nutella onto the dough until the Nutella reaches almost the edges of each side.

7. Roll up the dough and slice cross-section.

8. Place the sliced dough with the cross-section facing upwards onto a square cake pan lined with baking paper.

9. Cover the cake pan with a damp cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

10. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees celsius for 20 minutes.

cheesy mushrooms

I have my friend SC to thank for this dish. It was one of those "trial and error" experiments that she and I carried out and I must say that we were elated at the results.

SC used her portable roaster to bake the mushrooms but you can use a convection oven as well.


METHOD

fresh white mushrooms
freshly grated sea salt
grated mozarella cheese
butter /margarine

METHOD


1. Remove the stems from the mushrooms.


2. Wash the mushrooms thoroughly. Drain and pat dry.


3. Grease the bottom of a baking pan with butter / margarine.


4. Place the mushrooms (curved side on the bottom) on the baking pan.


5. Sprinkle freshly grated sea salt onto the mushrooms.


6. Using a teaspoon, fill the cavity of the mushrooms with the mozarella cheese.


7. Bake at 230 degrees for 7 1/2 minutes.

roasted vegetables

Again, I have my friend SC to thank for the "birth" of this dish. When SC came to our home on 8 August 2009 carrying her portable roaster, we had so much fun baking the marinated chicken, marinated pork ribs and marinated salmon that her godmother gave her. We also had a lot of fun using her roaster to bake other dishes that we created on the spur of the moment.

If you do not have a roaster, fret not. It functions like an oven and as such, you can use your convection oven instead.

As we had additional vegetables from our grocery trip, we decided to cut the vegetables into large pieces. I tossed the vegetables in a simple marinade and placed them in a baking pan that was lined with aluminium foil. Into the roaster went the vegetables and what came out were delicious roasted vegetables.

INGREDIENTS


carrot
corn
peas
russet potatoes
tomatoes
green capsicum
yellow capsicum
red capsicum
assorted fresh mushrooms
olive oil
freshly grated sea salt
freshly grated mixed peppercorn
freshly squeezed lemon juice
red cooking wine

METHOD

1. Cut all the vegetables into large pieces.

2. Toss the vegetables with the olive oil, sea salt, mixed peppercorn, lemon juice and red cooking wine.

3. Place the vegetables in a roasting pan (or any cake pan, for that matter) that has been lined with aluminium foil.

4. Bake the vegetables at 230 degrees celsius for 15 minutes.

5. Remove the pan from the oven, stir the vegetables and return the pan to the oven to bake at 230 degrees celsius for another 15 minutes.

mock champagne

Whenever Da and I host gatherings at our home, it has always been a challenge to provide drinks that cater to the young and the young-at-heart. Invariably, we end up buying 2 types of drinks for the gathering: non-alcoholic drinks such as juice or carbonated drinks for the children and wine or beer for the adults.

When Da and I had a gathering at our home on 11 October 2008, I decided to make mock champagne. The beauty of this drink is that it is non-alcoholic and yet tastes and looks like champagne. Serve it in a champagne flute and your guests will be none the wiser.

Ingredients

1 litre white grape juice

1 litre bitter lime & lemon

1 lemon

Method

1. Slice the lemon and insert the lemon slices into a 2-litre bottle.

2. Mix the white grape juice and the bitter lime & lemon and pour the mixture into the bottle.

3. Shake the bottle thoroughly and refrigerate.

You will note that when the white grape juice is mixed with the bitter lime & lemon, the mixture turns bubbly (like champagne). It tastes like champagne as well.

For an even nicer presentation, freeze some blueberries and raspberries and put some frozen blueberries and raspberries in each glass when pouring the mixture into the glass.

This drink is popular with children and adults alike.

coffee pound cake

When I bought a bottle of coffee emulco on impulse from the supermarket, I was wondering what I could do with it.

I have since learned that variety is the spice of life and one should dare to experiment when it comes to cooking and baking.

As such, here is my version of coffee pound cake. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS


120g cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
125g butter (softened)
50g brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp coffee emulco
1/2 cup condensed milk
2 eggs

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and flour an 8" x 4" loaf pan. Set aside.

3. Sift the cake flour and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside.

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

5. Add the salt and coffee emulco and mix well.

6. Add the condensed milk and mix until combined.

7. Set the electric mixer at low speed and add the flour mixture in 3 separate additions, mixing well with each addition until the batter is smooth.

8. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well with each addition.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

almond bread

I was tickled when I gave several slices of almond bread to the three handsome boys who live opposite Da and I in our apartment block. The youngest of the three boys, Hng Hng, seemed to be inspecting the bread. He turned the container this way and that way, seemingly scrutinising the bread.

What was it in the bread that caught little Hng Hng's interest? The answer - almond flakes embedded in the bread.

When Da and I left our home a short while later to go out, little Hng Hng came to his door and showed me what he was eating - a slice of almond bread.

This bread is sweet on its own and as such, if you do not like almond, you may still want to give this recipe a try but omit the ground almond and almond flakes.

INGREDIENTS


1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter (softened)
1/3 cup castor sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup ground almond
3 3/4 cup bread flour
2 tsp instant dry yeast
1/2 cup almond flakes

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour, yeast and almond flakes) 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. Fifteen minutes into the cycle, open the lid of the breadmaker machine and pour the almond flakes into the bucket without stopping the cycle. Close the lid and let the cycle continue.

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

7. Place the dough in a 9" x 6" loaf pan that has been greased and lined with baking paper.

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

9. Bake in an oven preheated to 190 degrees celsius for 35 minutes.

tropical fruit muffins

My uncle UJ was posted by his company to Manila, Philippines for a few years. His posting ended recently and he is now back in Singapore. When he was in Manila, each time he came back for a visit, without fail he will give us packets of dried mangoes.

Other than eating the dried mangoes on their own, I like to use the dried mangoes in my baking. When added to the bread dough, cake batter or muffin batter, the dried mangoes give a lovely flavour. Add some mango essence to the batter and you are in tropical fruit heaven.

For this recipe, I used a mixture of dried mangoes and dried pineapple. Instead of the usual vanilla essence, I substitute it with mango essence. As an alternative, you may want to add orange essence instead - it complements the dried mangoes and dried pineapple as well.

INGREDIENTS

250g self-raising flour
125g butter (softened)
115g castor sugar
2 eggs
125g Philadelphia cream cheese (softened)
1 tsp mango essence
1/4 cup dried mangoes (chopped)
1/4 cup dried pineapples (chopped)
3/4 cup low fat milk

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

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

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

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

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well with each addition.

6. Add the cream cheese and mango essence and mix well.

7. Stir in the dried mangoes and dried pineapple using a wooden spatula.

8. Fold in the sifted flour and mix until almost blended.

9. Add the milk and stir until just blended.

10. Fill the muffin cases until almost full.

11. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.