Vanilla (Cupcake) Cones for Father's Day

So my daughter was in charge of 'organizing' the menu for Father's Day, which fell on 19th June '11. Two weeks prior she had already started planning on a very big breakfast for the big man. Her menu was beef bacon, hotdogs, sunny-side-up eggs, hashbrowns, toasts & apple juice. I added scrambled eggs with beef bacon bits. Just before serving, I told her that I'd take a picture of the breakfast set for her to blog but as usual, our excitement at seeing so much food made me forget to snap. Nevertheless everyone enjoyed the brunch & had our tummy full, that our next meal was dinner.

Besides the big breakfast, my daughter & I had planned to bake Vanilla (Cupcakes) Cone, topped with vanilla buttercream. So I used this opportunity to try out a new & easy vanilla cake recipe for her project. I ended up baking on my own; my daughter came into the kitchen only to choose the colour of the vanilla icing. Yes, she insisted to use pink for vanilla.

What really fascinated her was piping her own icing. She found so much joy in piping the 'perfect' swirl.

Dear daughter's swirl

We, or rather I, had never tried baking a cupcake cone. Again using this opportunity, I tried using some wafer cones to bake the cake batter. It was a fun experience seeing that the batter baked in a wafer cone just like any other cake in paper casings. One downside though - wafers can't retain their crispiness in the open. So I ended up with soft cones after a while. Well crispy or not, the kids still enjoyed them. 

Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla essence

Directions:

1) Cream butter untill smooth. Add sugar gradually & beat until fluffy.

2) Add eggs, one at a time

3) Add sifted dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk+vanilla. Beat until all ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

4) Fill the cones / cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake at preheated oven of 170C (depending on your oven) for about 20 minutes.

5) Cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I used Crisco)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 tsp vanilla essence

4 cups sifted icing sugar

2 tblsp milk

Directions:

1) Cream shortening & butter until smooth.

2) Add vanilla.

3) Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time beating well on medium speed.

4) When all sugar has been mixed, add milk. Beat at medium speed until light & fluffy.

Have fun trying these simple recipes with your kids!

Rainbow Cake

I couldn't recall the source of this recipe but I've had it for some time now. Never tried it before until yesterday when I discovered that I had a can of evaporated milk in the pantry, waiting to be used before the expiry date.

I didn't tell DH that I wanted to bake this cake & asked him for 3 of his favourite colours. He told me black, deep black & deeper black (that's helpful wasn't it?) So I decided to colour the batter symbolizing my 3 kids instead - blue, green & pink.

This cake has soft texture & crumbly. The only downside was the cocoa powder which was used to 'separate' the colours. Wasn't a great ingredient to use, as it so happened, because the cocoa powder I used has more of the bitter taste.

So what I would do next time is to use some of brownie batter or even cream cheese batter as the separator. I think that would work better. Otherwise, omit the cocoa powder altogether & use this recipe to bake Marble Cake. You can also use this as a base for your cupcake too ; ).

Rainbow Cake

250g unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tblsp vanilla essence
Cocoa powder
Food colouring

1) Preheat oven to 160C & grease a 8x8" pan

2) Whisk butter & sugar until fluffy.

3) Add 1 egg at a time & be sure to mix thoroughly before adding another.

4) Add vanilla essence & evaporated milk.

5) Add the sifted flour, baking powder & salt in 3 additions.

6) Divide batter into 3 portions and add colour.

7) Pour 1st portion into the greased pan. Dredge enough cocoa powder to cover the batter. Pour second portion into the greased pan & dredge another layer of cocoa powder. Then pour the last portion.

8) Tap the pan before baking it for about 40mins (depending on your oven). Transfer to cooling rack & let cool.

Japanese Cheesecake

Tried making Japanese Cheesecake. Verdict: Successful.

This is taken from one of my list of food bloggers - Cookbake Legacy aka Chawanmushi. I've always wanted to try baking a light cotton cheesecake, and chance upon it when I browse through her blog.

Looking at the recipe, I think it seems less complicated as compared to the traditional cheesecake recipe, which requires you to leave the cheesecake in the waterbath for an hour, in the oven after baking is completed. Then you have to let the cheesecake cool completely before chilling it in the refrigerator overnight. Then your 'misery' over when you FINALLY get to cut the cheesecake (like really finally!) the next day.

But good things happen for those who waits (is that the saying??) That's the traditional cheesecake. This is Japanese Cotton Cheesecake, which lighter & spongier.

I don't mind baking this again. Next time, with a little twist to the recipe (winkz!).

Lemon Cake

Another recipe which I've been wanting to try is Lemon Cake.

Recipe does not require much ingredients & it's quick & simple. Therefore made a last minute stint to bake this in the morning before rushing off to work.

Lemon Cake

The taste is a mix of a little buttery & tangy at the same time. Next time I bake this again I would want to add an extra lemon juice & zest to give it a stronger citrus taste.

the texture

200g plain flour

40g cornflour

2 tsp baking powder

140g sugar

2 eggs

125g butter, softened

Juice & grated zest of 1 lemon

180g icing sugar

Method:

1) Use a 9-1/2 x 6" loaf tin. Grease & flour tin. Preheat oven to 180C.

2) Using electric beaters, beat butter & sugar until smooth & pale. Then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in lemon zest & juice *(retain 2 tblsps for icing).

3) In another bowl, sift flour, baking powder & cornflour. Add into the butter mixture & beat until well-mixed.

4) Place mixture in the tin & smooth the top. Bake for 45mins or until skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove cake from oven & leave to cool slightly. Turn out onto wire rack.

5) Mix the remaining 2 tblsps lemon juice with the icing sugar. Pour over the cake while still warm. Leave cake to cool completely.

*For stronger lemon taste, pierce the cake with a skewer several times immediately after baking & pour over a mixture of 4 tblsps each of lemon juice & icing sugar.

Double Chocolate Cupcake

As per requested from fellow Multipliers, here is the recipe for the Double Chocolate Cupcake which I baked last week. (sorry a bit late on this posting cos busy lah..)

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cups plain flour, sifted

3 tblsps cocoa powder, unsweetened & sifted

1 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

214g butter, no need to softened

100g bittersweet chocolate

Pinch of salt

Method:

1) Melt chocolate & butter using double-boil method.

2) Add sugar & stir. Let mixture cool for 10mins & then beat in electric mixer for 3 mins.

3) Add one egg at a time, beating well before adding the next egg.

4) Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder & pinch of salt into the liquid mixture & mix.

5) Scoop into baking cups & bake at a preheated oven of 170C for about 25mins (or until skewer inserted comes out clean).

Happy trying everyone!

Tom Yam Soup, Blueberry Cheese Cups & Chocolate Cupcakes

Those are what I did for today since I'm not working & it has been raining since yesterday evening. Such a nice cool day to be at home. But still I had to buy some stuff for the Tom Yam soup for dear hubby. So when the heavy rain subsided, rushed down to get some tau pok, cauliflower, prawns, chicken etc.

Food preparation....
Almost ready from the pot.....

To my bowl, ready to slurp...... Yummy! Hot & spicy!

Then made Blueberry Cheesecakes for a friend who ordered a dozen cups to enjoy.

Afterwhich I decided to try out a Chocolate Cupcake recipe for dear daughter & myself.Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
100g of bittersweet chocolate
214g butter
4 eggs
3 tblsp cocoa powder, sifted
1 tsp baking powder, sifted
Pinch of salt

Method:
1) melt chocolate & butter using double-boil method.
2) Add sugar & stir, let mixture cool for 10 mins.
3) Transfer to electric mixer & beat for 3 mins.
4) Add one egg at a time, beating well before adding the next egg.
5) Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder & salt into the mixture & mix well.
6) Scoop into cupcake cases & bake in a preheat oven of 170C for about 25mins or when skewer comes out clean.

Chocolate Fruit Cake

Tried this recipe out for dear mum, as she said the picture in my recipe book looks so tempting, what with the fruits & nuts. So did this on the night of 13th Nov'06. As this was my first attempt at fruit cake, I think I might have overbaked this as the texture was quite dry. But nevertheless, mum said it was tasty!

250g unsalted butter or margarine, softened
250g light muscovado sugar
275g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
1 tsp ground mixed spice
4 eggs
200g mixed nuts, such as Brazil nuts, almonds & hazelnuts, roughly chopped
250g milk chocolate, chopped
100g chopped glace ginger
250g mixed dried fruit

Method:
1) Grease & line a 20cm / 8" round cake tin. Cream the butter & sugar together in a bowl until softened.
2) Sift the flour, cocoa & mixed spice into a bowl. Add the eggs & beat until smooth.
3) Reserve 25g of the chopped nuts, 40g of the chopped chocolate & half the glace ginger. Add the remainder to the bowl with the mixed dried fruit & stir until evenly combined.
4) Turn thr mixture into the prepared tin & level the surface. Scatter with the reserved nuts, chocolate & ginger.
5) Bake in a preheated oven, 150C, for 1 1/4 -1 1/2 hrs until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.