Grand Marnier and Poppy Seeds Cupcakes

Love these bite-sized cupcakes, which I enjoyed the softness and moist of these cupcakes, and just can't stop eating them :)

Here is the half recipe that I baked with minor modification.
Source : Beautiful Cupcakes by Kevin Chai

Ingredients:
110 gr Butter
90 gr Sugar
115 gr Plain flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/8 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp Grated orange rind
30 ml Orange juice
10 ml Grand Marnier
6 gr Poppy seeds

Methods:
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Combine all ingredients, except poppy seeds in a mixer, beat until smooth and pale (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add poppy seeds in the mixture, stir well.
- Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes (depend on the cupcake mould).

Walnut Mooncake

It has been quite sometimes in my baking list, since I saw Happy Flour & Cook.Bake.Love baked this. Finally, I baked this and really glad on the result. Brought this morning to share with my colleagues, and received good reviews from them :) Thanks Baking Mum for sharing this recipe with us.

Not to forget to submit for this month Aspiring Bakers #11:Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baking.

Source : Baking Mum

Ingredients:
360 gr Plain flour
25 gr Custard Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda

220 gr Butter (salted)

50 gr Shortening

50 gr Icing sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla essence / extract
1/2 tsp Ammonium Bicarbonate (I skipped this)
1 Egg
Walnut for decoration

Filling:

800 gr Lotus Paste

Some walnut, toasted and chop (optional)

Egg Wash:

2 Egg Yolks + 1 Tbsp Water

Methods:

Prepare the skin pastry in advance (prefer one day in advance or few days):

1. Cream sugar, shortening, butter, vanilla and ammonium together until slightly white (slow speed first then change to high speed).

2. Gradually add in egg, beat until incorporated.
3. Lastly add in sifted flour, custard powder and baking soda to knead into a dough (don’t mix too long). Leave dough in fridge overnight or for a few days.

Mooncake making:

1. Preheat oven to 160C

2. Take out dough from the fridge and divide into portions of 20 gr each.

3. Divide fillings about 20 gr each

4. Wrap fillings into dough and decorate with walnut.

5. Apply egg wash and bake for 10 mins. Take it out and leave it out for about 10 mins, then apply egg wash again. Bake for another 15 mins.

Yields : 36-40 pcs

Egg Tarts with Puff Pastry

I still have leftover frozen puff pastry, making these tarts as I saw Sonia & Yummylittlecooks made it earlier. I like about this recipe since it was very simple & easy to make, and the taste was good too.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #10 : Easy as Pie (August 2011), hosted by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink.

Source : Nasi Lemak Lover

Original recipe from Forbidden Garden

Ingredients - Egg custard filling :

240 gr Hot water

90 gr Coarse sugar

3 Eggs
¼ tsp Vanilla extract
¼ tsp White vinegar (I replaced with Rum)

16 pcs frozen medium cut square puff pastry, thawed

Method :
- Dissolve sugar in hot water, set aside to cool.
- Break eggs in a mixing bowl, lightly stir.
- Add in sugar syrup, vanilla extract and rum, lightly stir well to combine.
- Sift twice, set aside.
- Trim off about 1cm puff pastry (optional, you may use the whole piece), arrange in a 12 holes muffin pan.
- Pour egg custard filling in the puff pastry case, about 90% full.
- Bake at pre-heated oven at 180c for 35mins or till golden brown.
- Remove from oven and leave to cool.

Chocolate Meringue Cake

This is my second contribution for our recent POP Party. Actually, that's my last minute decision as I scared that I won't be enough time to do. Somemore, I failed on Kevin's chocolate sponge cake that night, then I re-baked using my chocolate swiss roll recipe with slightly changes on the sweetness. However, it all worth the effort :) cause I glad to hear the good reviews on this cake :))

Source : Kevin Chai – My favourite Dainty Desserts with modification

Chocolate Ganache – Ingredients: (PREPARE IN ADVANCE)
200 gr Fresh Cream
40 gr Butter
240 gr Chocolate (I used 70% dark)

Method:
- Bring cream and butter to the boil, remove from heat.
- Stir in chocolate until melted and smooth.
- Leave to cool or refrigerate until solidify.


Chocolate Sponge - Ingredients:
80 gr Boiling water
20 gr Cocoa Powder
20 gr Sugar

4 Egg yolks
15 gr Sugar
40 gr Oil
55 gr Cake four

3 Egg whites
40 gr Sugar

Method:
- Shift cocoa powder and sugar in bowl, then pour in the boiling water and stir well incorporated.
- Preheat oven 200 degree.
- Hand whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale. Add in oil & the cocoa mixture, mix well.
- Fold in cake flour until combined.
- In separated bowl, whisk egg white until foamy, add in 40gr sugar, whisk until stiff (soft peak).
- Pour 1/3 egg white mixture into egg yolk-flour mixture and mixed well, then pour this into the rest of the egg white and mixed well.
- Pour into tray (12"x12"x1") and bake for 10-15 mins.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack
- Cut into halves.

Nut Meringue - Ingredients:
5 Egg whites (I used 4 (L) Egg Whites)
120 gr Caster sugar (I used 90 gr)
50 gr Ground almond
50 gr Chopped walnut (I toasted first, then chopped)
20 gr Bread flour

Method:
- Whisk Egg whites until soft peaks form, add in sugar.
- Continue beating until mixture become stiff peaks form.
- Fold in combined of nut and flour.
- Spread mixture into tray (12”x12”x1”) and bake in oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes
- Cut into halves.

Assembly:
- Spread chocolate ganache on top of the sponge. Place on meringue, continue layering until finished, and press lightly.
- Spread ganache over the top. Before it set up, use the knife to mark diagonal lines apart in both directions making a diamond pattern. Fridge until firm.
- Slice the cake, dust with cocoa powder and serve.

Green Tea Almond Blondies

I brought this at the last week gathering. I made this recipe twice, I just love the texture of the cake, which is soft, moist and not too sweet. However, both times, most of the chocolate chips sank to the bottom. So if you want to bake this, put the chocolate chips on top after pouring the batter to the pan, then your chips will just nice float to the middle :)  If you are green tea lover you may give this a try :)

Source : Sajian Sedap

Ingredients:
75 gr Unsalted Butter (I used 60 gr)
1/4 tsp Salt
100 gr White cooking chocolate, chopped

2 Eggs
50 gr Sugar

50 gr Plain plour
½ Tbsp Green tea powder
1/4 tsp Baking powder
50 gr Ground almond

50 gr Chocolate chips

Toppings:
10 gr Almond slice for topping (optional)
10 gr Chocolate chips

Method:
- Using double boil method, melt the butter and salt. Then add white chocolate, stir together until melted and mixed. Leave it warm.
- Preheat your oven to 180C
- Beat the eggs and sugar until thick. While beating, pour the melted chocolate slowly and beat until mix well.
- Add in the shifted flour, green tea and baking powder, stir well. Add almond ground and choco chips, stir together well.
- Pour into 30x10x4 cm baking tin with greaseproof paper. Spread almond slice and chocolate chips on top of it.
- Bake it for 35 minutes.

Pig Out Party (POP)

Thanks Eelin for organising this POP, and I had another wonderful gathering last Saturday. Lastly, thanks Jo for your wonderful hospitality to us.

Here, I would like to share the delicious homemade food that we had :)) Are you ready for the spread ?

Bee Bee's Hawaiian Pizza

Cathy's Mini Red Velvet cakes with cream cheese frosting.

Jo's Vegetable Fritters

Zhou Yuan's Devil's cake & Salsa with Taco Chips

Edith's Chwee Kueh

Jane's Portuguese Egg Tarts & Durian puffs

Jess's Madeleines & Chocolate Friands

Eelin's Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Esther's Tau Suan

Grace's Potato Tuna, Chocolate Snickers & Bailey's ice cream

Sorry ... busy eating, miss-out the ice-creams photos :(

From my kitchen :
Green Tea Almond Blondies & Chocolate Meringue Cake

Mini Chocolate Rice Swissroll

Have you ever seen the black forest cocoa powder before? I found this during my trip to baking store at Batam few weeks ago. As I always prefer darker colour for my chocolate cake, out of curiousity bought a small packet of it. I tried to search on the net, however, cannot find any recipe with it.

This is my first time to use it, and you can see the different colour of the cocoa powder. I used 12 gr of Valrhona and 13 gr of Black Forest, and the result as you can see very very dark, don't you think so?
Next time, I think I will use lesser for the black forest cocoa powder.

Here, my last submission for this month to Aspiring Bakers #9 – Swiss Rolling Good Times (July 2011) hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food.

Ingredients:
70 gr Boiling water
25 gr Cocoa Powder (here I used mixed of both)
20 gr Sugar

4 Egg yolks
15 gr Sugar
50 gr Oil
50 gr Cake four

3 Egg whites
50 gr Sugar


Filling: Buttercream

Decoration: Chocolate Rice


Method:
- Shift cocoa powder and sugar in bowl, then pour in the boiling water and stir well incorporated.
- Preheat oven 200 degree.
- Hand whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale. Add in oil & the cocoa mixture, mix well.
- Fold in cake flour until combined.
- In separated bowl, whisk egg white until foamy, add in 50gr sugar, whisk until stiff (soft peak).
- Pour 1/3 egg white mixture into egg yolk-flour mixture and mixed well, then pour this into the rest of the egg white and mixed well.
- Pour into tray (12"x12"x1") and bake for 10-15 mins.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack
- Cut into 2 pieces
- Spread cake once it cool with butter cream, roll it with the help of the greased paper.
- Refrigerate it for a while to set, before spread the butter cream on top swiss roll.
- Sprinkle the chocolate Rice
- Refrigerate it before slicing the cake