Saturday, February 27, 2010

banana berries muffins

I like berries. Other than mixed berries yoghurt, one other item that Da and I often have available in our refrigerator is a packet of Sunsweet berry blend comprising dried blueberries, raspberries, cranberries and cherries. I like to use the mixed dried berries in my baking.

For this recipe, I used 1/2 cup of the dried mixed berries. If you do not have the mixed berries available, you can substitute with 1/2 cup of any one type of dried berries. Having said this, though, I would encourage you to buy a packet of the Sunsweet berry blend (or any other brand of mixed dried berries) as the burst of berry flavour when you bite into this muffin would make you reach for a second muffin soon.

INGREDIENTS

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup plain flour
4 large overripe bananas (mashed)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/3 cup butter (softened)
1 tsp banana essence
1/2 cup dried mixed berries

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

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

3. Sift the bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and plain flour in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Mix the mashed bananas, brown sugar, egg, butter, banana essence and dried mixed berries in a bowl using an electric mixer.

5. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and stir until just blended. Do not overstir. The mixture will be lumpy.

6. Fill the paper muffin cups to almost full and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

cream cheese cake

Da and I had half a bar of Philadelphia cream cheese left in the refrigerator. I could not make a cheesecake using 125g of cream cheese. I could use the cream cheese to bake chewy cheese cookies but from my experience baking these cookies for Chinese New Year in 2009, I know that these cookies are not very popular with my family members because they prefer crunchy cookies.

In the end, I decided to use the cream cheese to bake a cake. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. To give the cake some flavour, I added 1 tsp of mango essence. If you have dried mangoes available, you can also add some chopped dried mangoes.

INGREDIENTS

125g self-raising flour
125g butter (softened)
115g castor sugar
2 eggs
125g Philadelphia cream cheese (softened)
1 tsp mango essence (or any other fruity essence of your choice)
3/4 cup low fat milk

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and flour two 8" x 4" loaf pans. 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 cream cheese and mango essence and mix until light.

7. Fold in the sifted flour using an wooden spatula and stir until almost blended.

8. Add the milk and stir until just blended.

9. Pour into the prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

mocca cookies

After a fair bit of hinting from my dear friend GP, I finally got round to baking some mocca cookies one day.

For the mocca portion, I used a mixture of Hersheys cocoa powder and Ipoh Old Town hazelnut flavour white coffee. As a result, the cookies had a lovely hint of hazelnut flavour as well. The cookies were addictive and those who sampled it could not stop at one cookie. Yummy!

Usually, I prefer to replace some of the plain flour / plain wheat flour with corn flour to make the cookies more crunchy. In this case, as I was creating the recipe as I went along, I inadvertently omitted to do the substitution and I was relieved when the cookies turned out fine. If you like, you can replace 1/2 cup of the plain wheat flour with corn flour when you are giving this recipe a try.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 cups plain wheat flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup instant white coffee
125g butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup ground peanuts
1 cup chopped peanuts

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Line the baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.

3. Sift the plain wheat flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, ground cinnamon, cocoa powder and instant white coffee 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 eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition.

6. Add the vanilla essence and ground peanuts and mix well.

7. Stir in the chopped peanuts using a wooden spatula.

8. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and mix until just blended.

9. Drop by teaspoonful onto the prepared tray.

10. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

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

Sunday, February 21, 2010

light almond cake

When I baked this light almond cake, I was in such a hurry to sample the cake that I did not wait for the cake to cool down before I started slicing the cake. Big mistake... as the cake was still a little hot, the centre portion of the cake crumbled easily when I sliced the cake.

Next time, I shall make sure that I stay away from my knife until the cake has cooled down thoroughly. *grin*

Notwithstanding the "little disaster" (for which I take full responsibility), the cake melted in my mouth as I ate it. It was so soft that I could not help but grin in excitement.

This is essentially a simple tea cake recipe but I modified it as I wanted to add almond flakes and ground almond. Due to the inclusion of the ground almond, you need to add more liquid (in this case, milk) otherwise the batter would not have the dropping consistency.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
60g butter (softened)
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1 tsp almond essence
1/2 cup ground almond
1/2 cup almond flakes
2/3 cup low fat milk

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease the side and base of an 8" round cake pan. Line the base with baking paper and flour the side. Set aside.

3. Sift the self-raising flour and the ground cinnamon 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 egg and mix well.

6. Add the almond essence and ground almond and mix until blended.

7. Stir in the almond flakes using a wooden spatula.

8. Add the milk and fold in the flour using the wooden spatula and mix until just blended.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Friday, February 19, 2010

bacon egg bread

This is one of my favourite bread recipes. You can omit the main ingredient (which is, in this case, bacon) and the bread would still taste delicious on its own. For those who like the bread a little more savoury, you can add 1/2 tsp of grated parmesan cheese before you add the bread flour.

I have baked the bacon egg bread for MIL as well as my mother. MIL likes the bread with the grated parmesan cheese added. My mother prefers that the grated parmesan cheese be omitted. It is all up to individual preference.

INGREDIENTS

170g water
2 eggs
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp castor sugar
2 tbsp dry milk
2 tbsp instant potatoes
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp instant dry yeast
6 slices back bacon (cut into large pieces) (tossed with 1/2 tsp grated parmesan cheese - optional)

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour, yeast and bacon) 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. After 10 minutes, lift the lid of the breadmaker machine and add the sliced bacon without stopping the cycle.

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

7. Place the dough in a 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.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

pork floss bread

In case you are wondering why you see photographs of an entire loaf of bread in the rest of this post but three small bread buns in the photograph above, it is because I "pinched" a bit of the bread dough from the loaf of pork floss bread that I was making and made shaped three small buns for Da, our friend SC (who happened to be at our home) and myself.

For the main ingredient, I used the crispy pork floss with sesame seeds and dried seaweed that SC gave us. However, if you do not manage to buy the three items already pre-mixed together (which SC bought from Bee Cheng Hiang, by the way), you can always mix them yourself.

The dough rises very well during proofing and continues to rise during the baking process. As such, I would advise that you place the loaf pan on the lowest rack in your oven.

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
2 cups pork floss (I used a mixture of crispy pork floss, sesame seeds and dried seaweed)
3 3/4 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 for 5 minutes.

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

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 190 degrees celsius for 35 minutes.

Monday, February 15, 2010

lemon and rosemary roast chicken

With our under-the-stove oven serviced and the advice of the service technician ringing in my ears (which is that we need to use this oven more often otherwise the heating element would spoil easily), I have finally plucked up my courage to roast a whole chicken.

Surfing the internet for an easy recipe that I can adapt/adopt, I came across a recipe for oven roasted chicken in HHB's blog.

The steps in HHB's recipe seemed easy enough to follow. However, I made a mistake of buying russet potatoes instead of harder potatoes such as Holland potatoes. I ended up with potatoes that softened too easily and were crushed under the weight of the chicken. As such, do excuse the seemingly burned portions that you see in the photographs in this post. The chicken and the potatoes actually turned out very delicious, with the exception of most of the potatoes being crushed.

Another tip that I have since learned from SC (who in turned learned it from her godmother) is that if you are roasting food in the oven, it would be advisable to butter the aluminium foil before you place the raw food into the roasting pan.

If you have never tried roasting chickens in your oven, do give it a try. It can take quite a bit of time and involves turning the chicken over during the roasting process but the end result is worth it.

I have made some modifications to HHB's recipe.


INGREDIENTS

1 lemon
2 tsp freshly ground mixed peppercorn
2 tsp fine salt
2 tsp dried Italian herbs / dried mixed herbs
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 medium-sized chicken
butter
1/2 kg large potatoes (buy the type of potatoes that do not soften as easily as russet potatoes)
salt
freshly ground mixed peppercorn
olive oil

METHOD

1. Grate the zest of the lemon in a bowl. Add the freshly ground mixed peppercorn, fine salt and dried herbs. Mix well and set aside.

2. Remove the head and feet of the chicken. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry the chicken (including the cavity) using paper towels.

3. Place 1/3 of the seasoning mixture in the cavity of the chicken.

4. Using your fingertips, gently separate the skin from the meat of the chicken breast and push some of the seasoning mixture under the skin. Massage the skin lightly so that the seasoning mixture is spread out under the skin.

5. Rub the balance seasoning mixture over the entire chicken.

6. Leave the chicken in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight (up to a maximum of 24 hours).

7. When the chicken has been marinated, remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Brush softened butter all over the chicken.

8. Peel and halve or quarter the potatoes. Place the potatoes in a pot of water with a pinch of salt and the whole lemon. Bring to the boil and cook for another 10 minutes. Drain and set aside for 1 minute. Toss the potatoes with some salt, freshly ground mixed peppercorn and olive oil.

9. While the lemon is still hot, pierce it with the tip of a sharp knife numerous times. Stuff the lemon inside the cavity of the chicken.

10. Line a roasting pan with aluminium foil. Brush the aluminium foil with some butter.

11. Arrange the potatoes in the roasting pan.

12. Tuck the wings of the chicken under the chicken and place the chicken (breast side up) on top of the potatoes. Bake in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for 45 minutes.

13. Turn the chicken over and bake for another 30 minutes.

14. Take the chicken (breast side up) again and roast for 15 minutes.

15. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the chicken rest for 10 minute before carving the chicken.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

sweet loaf

When I baked this sweet loaf, my friend SC happened to be at our home. She and I were amazed at how much the dough rose during the proofing and how it continued to rise even in the oven.

You can use the breadmaker from start to finish to bake this sweet loaf. However, I prefer to use the breadmaker the knead the dough but finish the baking process in the oven. I find that bread made this way tends to be softer in texture.

As such, if you intend to bake this bread in the oven, I would recommend that you place the loaf pan on the lowest rack in your oven as the dough will continue to rise even during the baking process.

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

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 about 5 times.

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

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 35 minutes.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

peanut butter ice cream

If you like peanut butter, you have to give this recipe a try.

Da and I had run out of homemade ice cream and I was undecided what type of ice cream to make next. Da requested for durian ice cream but we did not have any durian at home. I wanted to make strawberry ice cream as I had recently bought a bottle of strawberry essence but we did not have any fresh strawberries at home either.

The thought of cookies and cream called out to me but I have already made mocca ice cream and I wanted to try something different.

Crunchy peanut butter came to the rescue.

INGREDIENTS

200ml low fat milk
50g icing sugar
200ml heavy cream
100g crunchy peanut butter
4 tbsp ground peanuts

METHOD (without using ice cream maker)

1. Place all the ingredients (except the ground peanuts) in a blender and blend until smooth.

2. Add the ground peanuts and mix well.

3. Pour into a container and freeze for 1 hour.

4. After 1 hour, remove the ice cream from the freezer and whisk until the ice crystals have broken up.

5. Pour the mixture back into the container and freeze for 8 hours or overnight.


METHOD (using ice cream maker)

1. Place all the ingredients (except the ground peanuts) in a blender and blend until smooth.

2. Switch on the ice cream maker.

3. Pour the chute of the ice cream maker and pour the mixture into the freezer bowl.

4. When the mixture starts to freeze, pour the ground peanuts down the chute.

5. Allow to freeze until the desired consistency is achieved.

6. Pour the mixture into a container and freeze for 8 hours or overnight.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

mixed nuts bread

When I baked this loaf of bread, I was not expecting anything too fantastic. Da and I had run out of bread and I was busy attending to other household chores. As such, I decided to keep this to a simple loaf of bread.

Instead of a plain loaf of white bread, I added an assortment of nuts to give some variety.

The bread turned out fine. The dough rose very well and filled out the loaf pan.

When I sliced the bread, Da held up a slice of bread and commented about the softness of the bread. Mission accomplished!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/8 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp castor sugar
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1/8 cups sunflower seeds
1/8 cups pumpkin seeds (chopped)
1/8 cups walnuts (chopped)
1/8 cups almonds (chopped)
1/8 cups pistachios (chopped)
3 cups bread flour
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.

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 190 degrees celsius for 35 minutes.


Sunday, February 7, 2010

banana butter cake

I seem to have developed a fondness for baking butter cakes recently. I have been baking different variations of butter cake - plain butter cake, durian butter cake, walnut butter cake, pumpkin butter cake.... gosh....

As the name suggests, this cake contains a lot of butter and hence, the taste is very rich. You can substitute with margarine but I feel that if you were to do this, the taste of the cake would be affected.

INGREDIENTS

250g self-raising flour
250g butter (softened)
230g castor sugar
4 eggs
3 medium overripe bananas (mashed)
2 tsp banana 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 using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

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

6. Add the mashed banana and banana essence and mix well.

7. Fold in the flour using a wooden spatula and mix until almost blended.

8. Add the milk and mix until a dropping consistency forms.

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.

TIP

Instead of using one 8" round cake pan, I prefer to separate the batter into two potions and bake the cake in two 8" round cake pans. Whichever you prefer, do make sure that the batter does not exceed half the level of the height of the cake pan.

Friday, February 5, 2010

mocca ice cream

The ice cream maker that Da bought me came with an instruction manual that container a few recipes. I was interested in the chocolate mint ice cream but I did not have any peppermint extract and I was not keen on grating chocolate nor cooking some of the ingredients in a saucepan late at night (yes, it was one of those nights where Da and I got back late from work and I was in the mood to make some ice cream).

I decided to improvise the recipe and keep my fingers crossed. The verdict? Yummy, yummy mocca ice cream. Ooh-la-la!

INGREDIENTS

300ml low fat milk
50g icing sugar
200ml heavy cream
2 tsp coffee emulco
80g chocolate cream biscuits (that is, chocolate biscuits with chocolate cream sandwiched between two biscuits) - I used Julie's chocolate cream biscuits

METHOD

1. Mix the milk, icing sugar, heavy cream and coffee emulco in a blender.

2. While the blender is in use, crush the chocolate cream biscuits into small pieces.

3. When the mixture has become smooth, stir in the crushed biscuits.

4. Pour the mixture until the freezer bowl of the ice cream maker with the paddle running and allow the mixture to churn for 30 minutes.

5. Place the mixture in a container and freeze for 8 hours or overnight.

TIP

If you do not have an ice cream maker, after you have stirred in the crushed biscuits, pour the mixture into a container and place the container in the freezer. After 1 hour, remove the container from the freezer and whisk the mixture to break up the crystals and allow to re-freeze for 8 hours or overnight.
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