Chocolate Cupcake

It's Prasad's 22nd Birthday today and I had to think of something that's easy to bake and easy to hide and of how to fit in time to shop for a present! It's been a bit of a nightmare-ish week for me - being in the hospital from 830am-5pm almost every day and coming home extremely exhausted. At times like these, I wish I was back at home when 1 Utama was only a 5-minute drive away and was opened till 10pm. (Oh 1U, how I miss you..)

In order to fulfill my mission of getting a present and baking him something, I had to lie - a lot. Here are some snippets of our text messages:

P: Where are you now?
K: Kirkcaldy. Still here. [Fact: I was running to FCUK to find this shirt for him]
(20 minutes later..)
P: How's it going?
K: On the train home. Just left! [Fact: Looking at stuff in Zara]

K: Hey, can you please borrow this book from the library for me? I'm still stuck in the ward. [Fact: I was getting ingredients for the cupcakes]

*sigh* I do feel extremely horrible for lying, but it was all well worth it.. :)


I found this recipe and it had natural yoghurt as one of the ingredients. I've never used yoghurt in any of my recipes before but I thought I'd give it a try. It was quite risky 'cos I only had one shot at this (that one afternoon that I was supposedly in the ward) and if I screw up, Peckhams here I come! The cupcakes were really easy to make and within 1 1/2 hours, I made 9 cupcakes, the icing and I even managed to wash up! The final product was amazing too! Prasad absolutely loved the cupcakes and is eating them one at a time after every meal.. They're a lot denser than your normal cupcake which makes it different. They're not solid or firm and extremely moist and soft!

The decoration wasn't my best though - I was doing this in the kitchen while Prasad was "sleeping" in his room. So I was straining to listen to see if he's moving about in his room and trying to work as quickly as I could. It turned out he didn't fall asleep and could hear me going about the kitchen.. So when I went into his room at midnight, he was looking at me wide-eyed.. Oh well, I tried!

Happy Birthday Dear! :)

Recipes coming soon!

After much thought, I've decided to share the recipes of the stuff that I've baked on this blog.. :) I'll put them up in between studying/hospital work/other random things that I do, so watch this space! Hope you'll enjoy them!

Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies

I got this recipe from a cookbook which my bestest friends bought me for my last birthday.. It's by Rachel Allen and apparently her cooking/baking show has just started in Malaysia! Her recipes are simple, straightforward, no fuss and she gives really useful tips and ideas at end of the recipes..
I left this cookie in the oven for slightly longer than I normally would - just to test how crispy it can be. The cookie holds very well and doesn't crumble at all.. A really simple recipe for very simple and yummy cookies..

Strawberry Cheesecake

This was my first attempt at baking a cheesecake. I've never baked a cheesecake before and decided it's about time to give it a go.. A lot of people have asked me if I made cheesecakes and the reason why I've not tried it until now is simply because I don't eat a lot of cheese.. This is partly because I don't like the taste of it, especially when there's too much of it - I feel all yucky and *bleh*.. But the more important reason is that I'm mildly lactose intolerant!
It's an irony how I love to bake but can't eat a lot of what I make because of my intolerance.. It's getting better now though! I'm slowly increasing my intake of butter and milk and can tolerate a lot more than I used to - but still not enough to be able to eat a whole slice of cake without feeling absolutely rubbish the next day.. Oh well..
Anyway, back to the cheesecake.. This recipe is fairly simple and straightforward. The only mistake I made was that I took the cake out of the oven without giving it some time to cool down - hence the large crack which I've tried to cover up with the strawberry sauce.. I had a tiny slice of cake to try and it's really light and the strawberry chunks inside are such a delight! The strawberry sauce on top became firm with time and gave the cake a slight twist by forming a jelly-like layer on top.. I brought this for a party and everyone loved it! Yeay! Will definitely try baking another cheesecake again!

Super Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

I found this recipe online and decided I simply MUST try it.. The amount of chocolate I had to use was absolutely sinful and together with peanut butter (I used the bestest peanut butter in the whole world - Skippy Super Chunky Peanut Butter), this cookie is THE perfect cookie! It's a soft cookie which almost melts in your mouth and with the peanuts inside, they give you something to munch on.. This has to be the best cookie recipe I've ever tried - it's absolutely fool-proof and has been well-received by everyone who's tried it so far!!

Vanilla Cupcake with Surprise Chocolate Centre!

I made these for a friend's 21st birthday and they went down well with everyone.. Soft and light vanilla cupcakes with a tiny surprise chocolate centre, topped with chocolate icing and marshmallows!

Chocolate and Nut Brownies..

Dark, dense and rich chocolate brownies with nuts.. I'm not a huge fan of sweet things, so this brownie is more for the dark-chocolate-lover. But if you like it sweet, go run a couple of rounds around the park and have this with some vanilla ice cream- ooh, heaven..

Recipe for Chocolate and Nut Brownies

Ingredients:
150g plain chocolate, chopped
120ml of sunflower oil
215g of light muscovado sugar
2 eggs
5ml/1 tsp of vanilla essence
65g self-raising flour
4 tbsp cocoa powder
75g chopped walnuts/pecans
60ml milk chocolate chips (if you use plain chocolate chips, add 1 tbsp of light muscovado sugar)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C. Lightly grease a shallow square tin (19cm x 19cm).
2. Melt the chocolate - you can either melt it on a double-boiler or by putting the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water or put it into the microwave under high power for 2 minutes, stirring in between.
3. With an electric whisk, beat the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla essence in a large bowl.
4. Stir in the melted chocolate and beat well until evenly mixed.
5. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and fold in thoroughly. Stir in the chopped nuts and chocolate chips.
6. Tip into the prepared tin and spread evenly to the edges. The batter will be very gooey, so try to spead it out..
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is firm and crusty. Cool in the tin before cutting into squares.
8. Enjoy! :)
   

Coffee and Walnut Cake

I'm quite a coffee-lover - coffee is a must first thing in the morning (or the monster in me will be unleashed) and will try anything that is coffee flavoured. So I decided to try baking a coffee and walnut cake. I found this recipe and gave it a go. It's relatively simple and quick to make. The verdict was a cake that's not too sweet, very moist and soft, and the icing is made with mascarpone cheese that's coffee-flavoured.. This is probably my "best-selling" cake so far!

Chocolate and vanilla marble cake

A very classic cake that's moist and sponge-y.. I got slightly carried away with the mixing resulting in a slightly mushy-marble effect. Oops! :)

Recipe for Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cake

Ingredients:
225g butter, softened
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
225g self-raising flour
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm cake tin and line the bottom with greaseproof paper
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. (Do not be lazy - this step is really important! :P)
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat each egg into the batter until just combined. Do not over-beat it. You'll know it's "just combined" when you don't see the egg clearly anymore, but just streaks of yellow from the yolk.
   
4. Then, beat in the sifted flour in 2-3 batches and mix in the vanilla extract and milk.
   
5. Place half of the mixture into a clean bowl and add cocoa powder to that portion.
6. Take 2 spoons and use them to dollop the chocolate and vanilla cake mixes into the tin alternatively. Tap the bottom of the tin on the work surface to ensure there aren't any air bubbles.
7. Take a skewer and swirl it around the mixture in the tin a few times to create a marble effect. (Do not be over-enthusiastic with the swirling or you'll end up with a blurry marble effect - I am speaking from experience.. *sigh*)
   
8. Bake for 45-55 mintes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Have fun! :)

Soda Scones with Raisins

I am a sucker for scones and if I go to any shop that sells scones, I'd stand in front of it and contemplate for a good 10 minutes as to whether to have it or not. A not-so-typical scone made with bicarbonate of soda which almost gives it a bread-like texture.. Best eaten warmed or toasted with butter!

Recipe for Soda Scones with Raisins:

Dry ingredients:
450g plain flour
1 level tsp caster sugar
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
100g raisins

350-425ml buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 230 C.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in about 3/4 of the buttermilk. Using one hand (fingers outstretched like a claw), bring the flour and liquid together, adding more buttermilk as you go along. Do not knead the mixture or it'll become too heavy. The dough should be softish, but not too wet and sticky.
3. When it comes together, turn onto a floured work surface and bring together a little more. Flatten the dough to approximately 2.5cm/1 inch thick. Cut into scones and cook for 15-20 minutes at 230 C. Alternatively, you can scoop huge spoonfuls onto the baking tray and bake at the same temperature for the same duration.
4. Allow it to cool on a wire rack.
5. Serve warm/toasted with butter or jam!
   

Of cakes I've baked and food I've tried..

It's been 2 months since I started experimenting in the kitchen and feeding my friends with my cakes. Now I've decided it's probably about time I set up a blog with pictures, and perhaps recipes, of what I've made so far..

And you know how you go to all these places to eat and you whip out your camera before you take a jab at the chicken or push the salad out of the way, to take a picture of the food? I've collected quite a number of "food pictures" and don't know what to do with them now - something I should have thought when I was taking all those pictures in the first place.. So I thought I'd just put them here to share them with you!

Hope you'll find this blog an enjoyable read! :)

- Kahyee