(Belated Post) Merry Chrismas - Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese

Initial plan was to bake chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, but since my aunt loves Red velvet and myself too, I decided to try Nasi Lemak recipe.

Followed exactly but mixed the sugar with 50g brown sugar as I ran out of caster sugar. *keep fingers crossed that it will turn out yummy still. The smell when it is baking in the oven is heavenly. 

This time I used the ready Philadelphia lemon cream cheese frosting to save some time. Gently whip it up and pipe over, putting 1 mini sugar cane on top of each Cuppies.

Red Velvet Cupcake (adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover)

150g Cake Flour

1/4tsp Salt

1/2tsp Baking Powder

1tbsp Coco powder

80g Butter

120g Caster Sugar

1 Egg

1tsp VanillaExtract 

120ml Butter Milk (mixed with 1/2tsp lemon juice and sit for 5mins)

Drop of red colourings

1/2tsp Distilled Vinegar

1/2tsp Baking Soda

1) Sift flour, baking powder, salt and coco powder, set aside. Put lemon juice in milk and sit 5mins.

2) Beat butter and sugar til soft and fluffy. Add 1 egg, vanilla extract and mix well.

3) Fold in flour and milk in 3 additions, with flour first and ending with flour.

4) Add baking soda to vinegar, fizz and quickly add to batter and mix well.

5) Fill cupcakes 2/3 full and bake at 180deg for 25mins. Cool before frosting with cream cheese.

Keeper Recipe - Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Had a sudden crave to bake, searched for some chocolate cupcakes and chanced upon this. I then used this recipe, and I use hand to beat with whisk from start, instead of using my mixer. 

The cupcakes is light, rich and moist. It's a keeper for me as it is not easy to find a recipe tt is rich and yet moist. Will use them for parties should I need to bake for my guests!

Double Chocolate Cupcake (adapted with slight modifications from AnnCooJournal)
Makes 11 standard cupcakes + 12 mini cupcakes
A : 100g Butter, soften
300g Sugar *I used 250g Brown Sugar*

B : 2 Eggs
3/4tsp Vanilla Extract
125ml Milk + 1tsp Baking Soda
125ml Hot water + 1tsp Instant Coffee Granules

C : 190g Plain Flour *I used Cake Flour*
3tsp Baking Powder
40g Cocoa Powder

1) Beat A til fluffy. Add egg & vanilla and mix well.
2) Add in B & C and mix well. *I added 100g Chocolate Chips*
3) Fill cupcakes liners 3/4 full and bake at 160deg for 20mins. *I baked for 30-35mins for my oven*

Sweet Milk Bread (modified Wholemeal version)

Attempting this recipe again as I really love the fragrance of the buns the previous time I tried it. Wooo.... Really yummy! And for the first time i enjoy eating my own baked bread cos usually it fulfilling the 'itch' to try new recipe as well as for my family. 

I wanna try baking a wholemeal version and reduce sugar slightly as i feel its kinda sweet for me. I replaced 30g of Wholemeal flour & reduce sugar to 30g. 

Baked 2 times into 1 mini loaf, 2 caterpillar, 2 tortoise and 9 buns! Specially fry sardine to eat with the mini loaf. See?!? Even the mini loaf is so soft.. My kids super love this bread and will keep standing beside me to ask when will it be ready whenever i am baking bread.. 

Sweet Milk Bun

I have saw and bookmarked this recipe for about 2 weeks and has been sitting on it since then. Then my FB got flooded with pics of this soft and fluffy buns that I couldn't wait and bake them. 

I use my BM to help me knead and let it do the 1st proof in there. After tt I took out to shaped and proof for an hour before baking them. And I did the signature sprinkling of flour on top of the buns as well..

Oh they are so soft and smell lovely. Pls do give this recipe a try!

Sweet Milk Bun (adapted from My Mind Patch)

150g Milk

20g Condensed Milk

3/4tsp Instant Yeast

225g Bread Flour

25g Cake Flour

40g Sugar

1/2tsp Salt

25g Beaten Egg

30g Butter

1) Let the milk, condensed sit in a warm place. Sprinkle yeast on top of mixture and let it sit for 15mins

2) Mix all the dry ingredients together, add in milk & egg mixture and mix into a dough. Rest for 15mins to let the dough absorb the liquid. 

3) Continue to knead the dough til smooth and add in butter. Knead til elastic and proof for 1hour

4) Punch out air from dough and roll out flat on a baking mat. Cut into 9 pieces evenly and roll like a swissroll. Pinch down the sides and bottom into buns. (I make into 6 buns and remaining 3 pcs into long mini roll)
5) Bake them at 170deg for 30-40mins til top is lightly browned. Cool before storing in airtight container.

Famous "Tomato" Rice

Seriously I don't know this recipe originate from who as I just follow and make it after seeing so many friends making it. Some of them really cook it to mimic restaurant style, some were normal home cooked rice joining in the fun. And I am too, simple home cooked fare on my lazy days.

I tried it twice with the first attempt ending up bland as I totally forgot about the seasonings. But luckily I steam meat patty along, jus in case the rice failed, I can quickly cook some porridge to go with it. Luckily the meat patty salvage the bland rice but overall, still consider edible. I also reduce water, ending up with drier rice. Disaster first attempt!

Today I am doing it for the 2nd time, without reducing water, replacing olive olive with sesame oil and not adding any special ingredients. Made Shabu pork enoki wraps and honey wings from Cold storage. 

Rice was slightly wet, just need to keep warm for 10-15mins more and you serve it warm with the dishes prepared. Give it a try.

Tomato Rice Recipe

1 Cup Rice

1 Cup Water

1 Tomato

1tsp Sesame Oil

1tsp Salt

Dash of Pepper

1) Wash and prep rice as per norm, wash n place tomato in center. Once rice is done, stir thru tomato with rice and keep warm til ready to serve. 

Milk Toast (中种 method)

This was supposed to be Condensed Milk Toast recipe but as I did not have any condensed milk at home, I substitute all with Full Cream Milk thus the name modified to Milk Toast!

I halve the recipe as I was worried the change of condensed milk to full cream milk will affect bread texture. But luckily it didn't, and with the help of breadmaker, I baked this loaf effortlessly.

Soft and fluffier than yday 排包 in my view. Will use this for bread loaf when I have more time to spend on baking. Pls try this..

I serve it over dinner with Baked Chix, Salmon and Mushroom soup! My boy couldn't stop at 1 slice and had 2!!

Milk Toast (modified slightly from 爱烘培的简单快乐)
Starter: 84g Warm Milk, 140g Bread Flour, 2g Yeast

1) Add milk, followed by flour and yeast on top. Using 'dough' function, mix them and leave to proof for 3x

Main: 20g Egg, 50g Milk, 60g Bread flour, 2g Salt 16g Sugar, 16g Butter

1) Put ingredients as per sequence, except butter. Once come into a dough, add butter.
2) Using Basic Bread Function, let the breadmaker do its job. Enjoy when it's out, cooled and sliced.

排包 （中种法）

Been long since I really shape bread dough as I always rush for time and use my breadmaker. Then I finally found time to make this 排包 and first attempt trying 中种 method too. 

Initially I always tot it would take a long time to use this method as the normal method aldy took 3hr without shaping. Surprisingly this starter dough didn't require very long to proof 3x of its size. I think approx, 45mins? (Pardon, didn't really time as I was brewing herbal tea and prepping lunch)

I used my Breadmaker to mix as it is smaller to wash after that. After 3x the size, I jus dump all the main dough ingredients in and let the BreadMaker mix them, leaving butter last. (I added the butter approx 10mins after mixing) This time another hour to proof. 

The initial dough deter my confidence a bit as it seems really wet. I used a bit of bread flour as I shaped the dough. It was sticky but manageable. I divided into 11x50g strips. Again for 2nd proof to 2x its size.

Bread is soft and fluffy, but I think can be improve as I cld haf added slightly a bit more flour while shaping n dividing the dough. Bad point was I cld divide into 80g n not packed them too tight.

牛奶排包 (adapted from 爱烘培的简单快乐)

Starter : 140g Bread Flour, 106g Warm Milk, 7g Sugar, 3g Yeast

1) Mix all n leave it to proof 3x. (I took 45mins)

Main : 60g Bread Flour, 48g Sugar, 25g Milk, 30g Egg White, 1g Vanilla, 20g Butter

1) Dump all ingredients onto Starter and mix.(slightly wet so I added 10g bread flour)

2) Leave to proof til doubled. (Approx 1hr)

3) Divide dough into 50g ball, rest 15mins

4) Roll flat and into strips. Leave for proof til 2x

5) Brush with yolk + water, ratio 1:1 and bake at 175deg for 18mins or til top browned nicely.

40min Bread - Version II

I previously tried this recipe before and quite like it. Fast, simple n soft. Today I am trying the version from Domestic Goddess as I noticed some variations in the amount of ingredients used. Quite curious to know how it would differ for the end product.

I am making 10x buns with Salmon mayo filling, 2x with shredded cheeses filling, balance into a simple Cheese braid. The buns are 40g each. I did oiled my hands as per sugg by Domestic Goddess n indeed it is easier to shape them.

I did the taste test once it cool down. I personally feel this is softer, no yeast taste n nicer than prev version. Perhaps of the oiling of hands? Not too sure myself either. But do try, it's a simple n fast recipe... Tell me your opinions after trying too..

40min Bread (adapted from Domestic Goddess)

280ml Warm Water

83ml Oil

56g Sugar

15g Yeast

476g Flour, I added 20g more as it was slightly sticky

9g Salt, I used 6g

1 Egg

1) Mix warm water, oil, sugar n yeast. Leave for 15min.

2) Mixture will be frothy, add remaining ingredients n mix for 5mins. 

3) Shape and bake for 30mins or til golden brown.

Yogurt Raisin Bread

I made this bread a while ago, and it turn out slightly too saltish as I added more yogurt to replace the milk in the recipe as I tot it would mark the bread softer.. So today I make sure to just follow the recipe strictly. Ha~

I used Greek yogurt as heard it is better. And I use 1/2 cake flour & 1/2 bread flour as I don't have enough bread flour. Added 3 mini box of raisins & 10g rolled oats too. 

The bread turns out well, soft and fluffy. Loved the texture very much, and it's a healthy loaf of bread made from Greek Yogurt!

Yogurt Raisins Bread (adapted & adjusted slightly from CherryOnACake)

185ml Liquid - 1 Egg, 100g Yogurt and milk to make up to 185ml liquid in total

250g Bread Flour

15g Sugar

3g Salt

3g Yeast

30g Butter

1) Add ingredients as per above sequence in breadmaker. Use bread function.

Tofu Milk Bread

Chanced upon this bread recipe the other day as I was searching for recipes to try few days back. Bookmarked it a while and finally I tried it today. The interesting part is that it is using tofu! Recently I tried another 2 types of ingredients too, but I haven blog about it as I forgot to take pics but I will bake them again as it's really good. Guess what ingredients they are?

I bought the tofu with Omega 3, I always used this for my home-cooked dishes at home for meals. So I cooked some soup and left some for my bread.. The recipe calls for egg in the instructions but I was halfway so I didn't had time to check with the originator. Thus I replace with additional 20g of water as I don't have any more milk left..

Keeping my hearts heavy as I was worried about the outcome, it turns out well. It smells like G-brand bread and soft. Supposed it didn't turn out wrong... Try it..

Tofu Milk Bread (modified from IWannaBakeThisToday)

120g Milk (used water)

50g Tofu

200g Cake Flour

50g Bread Flour

30g Sugar

4g Salt

3g Yeast

1) Put ingredients in above sequence and set to bread making in your breadmaker. 

Easy Fruit Tarts

The other day my neighbor made us Pandan & Strawberry flavored Egg Tarts and the tarts make me crave for fruit tarts... My all-time fav and that is the only way I really eat fruits from. Haha~

I was tossing and turning last night so I went to search for a easy recipe and came across this one. The crust is wat I like hard enuf to handle after baking them and it's crunchy like butter cookies with flavour and goes well with the Longan and kiwi fruit. I forgot to get agar agar powder to make th glaze so I melt some chocolate to keep the fruits in place. It goes very well.. 

I definetely need improvement on the shaping and it definetely looks good if I added strawberry with tt hint of red. Too bad it wasn't the season... But defiantly recommend this recipe to try out.

Pie crust (adapted from PlayingWithFlour)

85g Butter, soften
50g Brown Sugar
1 yolk
140g Plain Flour (I sub 60g Cake flour as not enuf plain flour)
1/8tsp Salt

1) Beat butter n sugar well, add yolk and mix in. Do not over mix.
2) Add flour n salt together, mix into dough.
3) Measure 45g dough for each muffin hole. (I am using the standard muffin pan) Press down n slowly work dough up the sides. Freeze an hour.
4) Pre heat oven to 180deg, bake for 20-30min. (I baked approx 35-40mins til tarts are golden brown)
5) Cool before assembling.

Rainbow Chiffon missing you!

Saw this rainbow quite a while ago but didn't get down to it. So lazy in between managing my small small online biz, handling the kids solo daily and on top of many chores, I kind of only find time to try different bread recipes as hubby mainly have bread as breakfast!

Last week, a FB fren cum customer, she baked this rainbow chiffon and it so so got me into the Rainbow Chiffon mode. I was thinking how much it could have brighten my kids faces. (Perhaps she took a pic of her lovely gal eating a slice of it so the motherly instinct strikes!) I decided to make it tonight, after clearing up dinner and settling a white loaf of bread for tml..

I refer to the recipe, beating the meringue up after I mixed up the cake batter. I used a separate mixing bowl, scooping out 1 scoop of batter to 2 scoop of meringue each time. I only managed to do 6 colours - Pink, Green, Violet, Orange, Blue & Yellow and I didn't add yellow colourings since the cake batter aldy yellowish in colour.

Towards the last 2 colours, I can feel the meringue getting drier, so worried about my end results... Keeping my fingers crossed as I sent it into the oven.. Luckily it turned out well. But I feel my vanilla taste not strong enuf. Will try it again!

Rainbow Chiffon (recipe adapted from Lovingcreations4u)

Meringue : 7 Whites, 75g Sugar, 1/4tsp Cream of Tartar (I omit)

Batter : 5 Yolks, 33g Sugar, 65g Oil, 70ml Water, 8ml Vanilla, 100g Cake Flour ( I used Plain flour)

1) Method as per normal chiffon. Pls divide cake batter into 6-7 portion and add colourings before adding the meringue colour by colour. Put each colour gently and level out. 

2) Bake for 15mins at 160deg, then change to 150deg for 30mins or til top browned.

3) Cool upside down before slicing.

White Bread Loaf

The other day, saw a fren posting his perfect-looking loaf on FB. OMG, I so wanna tear a piece from my iPad lo.... He actually baked a loaf of bread for his version of Taiwan's famous - 棺材板. Yummy bread with delicious & hearty soup inside. Pop over here if you are keen to make yours.

I knew I have to make this loaf, but not talented enuf to make the 'chowder' la. Nevertheless, I decided to cook a small portion of Curry Chix for my loaf! OMG, rice or bread?..

The bread is just nice for my breadmaker, it rises to the brim of the tin and it's a tall tall loaf. I was hesitating to slice into a tall slice or slice it lying down. I ended up being greedy and slice into tall slices. The slices is so soft, I really never regret baking them.

Milk White Loaf (adapted from Travelling-foodies)

170-180g Milk (I used 175g Fresh Milk)

1 Egg

320g Bread Flour

20g Sugar

1/2tsp Salt

1tsp Yeast

50g Butter

1) I put ingredients in above sequence, set to Menu 6 of breadmaker. 

Super Soft Chocolate Marble Bread

Been on my list for the longest time and I finally got down to it. Indeed a soft and addictive bread that makes me keep wanting to look and eat it! Ooh.... 

I used my BM for the kneading and leave it to proof. For the chocolate paste, I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I just spread on a cling wrap and leave it in fridge to harden slightly. It works for me as well..

Try this recipe, if u are a chocolate lover, have kids at home, am sure it will be a great hit!

Super Soft Chocolate Bread (adapted from Bakingintotheether)

*halve recipe as full recipe yields 2x450g Dough*

188g Milk + Egg 

250g Bread Flour

30g Sugar

2g Salt

2g Yeast

30g Butter

Chocolate Paste : 25g Bitter Chocolate Chips, 10g Butter, 10g Bread Flour, 5g Cake Flour, 30g Water

1) Put liquid, then follow above sequence. Mix and knead for 30mins with BM. Leave to proof 1 hr.

2) Prepare chocolate paste. Melt chocolate chips n butter in microwave in 5sec intervals. Add in flour and water and mix well. Spread evenly to form a square on cling wrap, leave in fridge.

3) Once dough ready, punch out and roll into a big square, put chocolate paste in center and wrap like a parcel. Roll out again, cut into stripes and braid. Leave for 2nd proof around 1hr or til doubled.

4) Bake in oven for 30mins at 160deg.

Wholemeal Ham & Cheese Loaf with a Twist

I baked the same loaf, using up all the ham at home as hubby mentioned it need to be eaten by 3 days. So here we go, Salad & Soup for dinner.. 

I replaced 100g of Bread Flour with Wholemeal Flour for a Wholemeal version. After slicing them, I took 3 slice, and anyhow hamtam a garlic spread - 3 garlic squashed and mixed with 2Tbsp Canola butter, 1/4tsp salt, 1/2tsp Thyme & Basil. Sprinkled some cheese and baked for 10mins to go with soup.

Hubby preferred this version than the previous one. So anyhow also can.. Lol~

Garlic Spread (for 3 slices of bread)

3 Garlic, squashed

2Tbsp Canola Butter

1/4tsp Salt

1/2tsp Basil

1/2tsp Thyme

Some grated cheese

1) Mix all except cheese. Spread on bread.

2) Sprinkle cheese on top and baked for 10mins at 160deg. Serve warm with soup.

Japanese Cheesecake

Impromptu bake this morning. With the 1st recipe that I came across after google it. I added a layer of coco powder cos I like how the lines is in between the cake. It's my first time doing it and I think I didn't really do well. Hahah~

I use 2 oval tins, and I spread a layer of strawberry jam and sandwich the 2 cake so together. Never tried Jap cheesecake with strawberry jam filling right? Fridge for tonight's dessert.. Been really long since I baked and hope it turns out well..

Mmm..... It's really nice. The coco powder bitterness, the sweetness from the jam and the soft and moist texture of the Jap cheesecake. Oh, I seriously never regret baking them! I think I need bake 1 more soon!!

Japanese Cheesecake (adapted from RasaMalaysia)
*halve the recipe*
125g Cream cheese
25g Unsalted butter
50g Milk
30g Cake Flour
10g Corn Flour
1/4tsp Salt
1/4tsp Lime Juice
3 Yolks
3 Whites
70g Sugar

1) Put milk, cream cheese and butter and microwave til melt over 20 seconds interval, stirring in between. Leave to cool.
2) Beat whites til foamy, add sugar and whisk to soft peak.
3) Fold in flour, salt, lemon juice, yolks into milk mixture. Fold in 1/3 of meringue into mixture.
4) Fold in 1/3 more into mixture. Pour mixture into mixing bowl and fold in remaining meringue.
5) Water bath for 1hour or til top turns golden brown at 160deg.

Anyohaseyo!! We are going korean tonight!

Watching too much korean drama and variety, it really make me drool for korean food. But eating korean in Singapore, some are overly priced so I decided to make my own, in my own way...

I bought ready-marinated meats from Cold storage, sweet pork belly marinate and spicy pork belly. Both meat taste good and tender, but the spicy version, not so spicy le.... Hahaha.. And it's so ex, nxt time should buy marinate and make more often at home! Ha~

I bought some Soybean paste with intention to make the Spicy Seafood stew, but then the person at Cold storage gave me wrong info la. She says that soybean paste is spicy but it is not at all. And to my anguish, my chilli powder expired so I anyhow and added sambal. Fusion hor? Taste good though, and I added an egg on top after it boils. The kids had Chix soup.

The pancake, i found the recipe online. The first piece I didn't add kimchi as it's for the kids and without experience, I didn't managed to flip well and it break into halves! I ended up cutting into smaller pieces since I need cut later too.. Taste not bad le, just that not crispy enough. The version that I followed, I omit chives, zucchini and green pepper. I used only the below ingredients and added some Crabsticks and prawns. 

Kimchi Pancake (adapted and changed slightly from Maangchi)

1/3Cup Flour

2/3Cup Water

1/2tsp salt

1/2Cup SpringOnions

2 Shrimps, chopped

2Tbsp Kimchi, chopped

1 Egg 

1) Mix flour, salt and water in a bowl. 

2) Add all ingredient and mix well. Heat pan with oil.

3) Pour batter and lower to medium fire. Let it cooked til 70% and pour beaten egg onto the pancake.

4) Once egg almost cooked, gently flip the pancake. Add oil if needed, as it is important if u wan the pancake to be crispy.

5) Pan fried both sides til golden brown.

Wholemeal Corn Bread Loaf

I bookmarked this recipe few days ago as my kids love corn, esp my little boy. He adore corn so much that he likes cup corn, corn sushi, corn straight from soup or anything soupy added with corn kernels. So I thought, this is another interesting breakfast for them. 

I prep the starter ahead, measure out flour as I prep another batch of bread recipe too. Now I have 2 different starter for bread making, so I won't have a last min situation like my gal requesting for sandwiches to bring to school for her extra class to share with 5 of her classmates. I had to turn to fast straight bread recipe - reliable Wu Pao Chun bread which I modify to Wholemeal.

Alamak, I realized that the recipe yields more than 700g, nxt round got to use 2/3 of recipe for 700g bread. Overflow slightly and a bit of mess to clean up. Baked the ugly overflow into Cheesy Corn strips. Bread is so soft, and the bits of corn adds texture to the bread. Yummy!

Softmeal Corn Bread (modify slightly from Bake for Happy Kids)

Starter: Mix 55g Boiling Water + 80g Bread Flour in dough, cool and fridge for at least 12hrs

150g Milk

2 Yolks

270g Bread Flour

50g Wholemeal Flour

50g Brown Sugar

4g Salt

5g Yeast

60g Butter

150g Frozen Corn

1) Add all ingredients as per above sequence, starter dough and butter last. (I also added the corn together)