very vanilla eggless cupcake

 

o-kaaaayyy...before anyone says anything about the frosting...lemme just tell you that I am not too happy at how it turned out to be...both on the cupcake and also the color. on the cupcake, swirled like that...it looked... *sigh* like...something...that...should...not...be...on a cupcake. hahahahaha!! forgive me and my limited frosting abilities. hahahahaha!!

 

good thing about this cupcake is that...it is SO tasty that i will be baking these again for class on Saturday. but this time, i will frost it with vanilla frosting...or...maybe tint it a bit...maybe.  well, what happened was, I made these yesterday and...yesterday I got a watsapp informing me that there would be no class today (Tuesday)...so i was left with 30 odd cupcakes. what's a girl to do? I did what any girl would do. i distributed them all over the place. haaaa... macam pandai je.

 

but, worry not, come saturday i will be bringing these for class...only with a different frosting so that it will not look as weird as the one on top. hehehahaha!!

 

i googled for an eggless recipe and found this one here.   it looked simple enough so i decided to give it a go. and true to the blog, these turned out wonderful!! not only was it easy to prepare and bake...it is delicious! this could very well be my go-to recipe when I need something simple and yet delicious to bake.

 

okay, as usual, I have converted all the ingredients into metric measurement but should you want to use the imperial measurement, please click here.

 

ready? let's go!!!

 

you will need:

219g all purpose flour

225g sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda



½ tsp salt
1 cup milk*
½ cup canola oil
2 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

for the vanilla frosting:
114g butter
188g icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla
1-3 tbsp milk*

I used the chocolate frosting that I googled and led me here.

*and again, I didn't go all vegan with this, I only went eggless, but if you want to go all vegan, go on over here.

the how to:
for the cupcakes,
1)  preheat the oven to 175°C, and line your pan with cupcake liners.

2)  in a bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients. I just used a fork to fork it. :-p

3)  in another bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients. okay, for this one, I had to use a whisk.

4)  pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk till just combined.
do.
not.
over mix. capische??? (tiba2 jadi gangster pulak)

5)  fill your cupcake liners and bake for 8-10 minutes.

for the vanilla frosting:
1)  using your mixer, beat the butter till light and fluffy

2)  reduce speed and slowly add your icing sugar (slowwwly...unless if you want to be powdered with sugar... :-p) vanilla, and the milk, one tablespoon at a time until the frosting reaches the consistency that you want.

3)  beat on high for about 2 minutes, till the frosting is really fluffy.**

**I will give this a go for Saturday's cuppies. tulah..sapa suruh pandai-pandai sangat cari kat tempat lain.

for me, the cupcake is super fantastic, super moist and most importantly, super easy to make and bake. I will definitely bake these again.

as for the frosting, the chocolate frosting that I used...I didn't particularly like how it turned out. the color was a bit off. I followed the instruction to a T...it says that sans liquid (in the form of milk) you should be able to beat the frosting till fluffy...but...what happened to mine was, without any form of liquid, except for that 1 tsp of vanilla, the whole mixture became almost flour-like. so, in the end, I ended up adding about 8 teaspoons of milk. :-( so...I don't think I will be attempting this frosting again. didn't like the texture, didn't like the color. sorry.

if you guys have your own favorite frosting, you guys can just go on ahead and use that. as for me, I will try the frosting that came with this recipe.

there. what a loooong entry.

I shall now leave you guys, to go and gather the ingredients for these really nice vanilla cupcakes. let me know how yours turned out to be okay?

luck luck!!

recipe for the cupcakes adapted from http://whippedbaking.com/ thank you!!
recipe for the chocolate frosting taken from http://www.averiecooks.com/ thank you!!





eggless chocolate peanut butter oatmeal muffins

haaa...amek ko! what a mouthful to say...and eat.

I went online in search for another eggless recipe for class and found this. i actually follow madhuram's eggless cooking blog. so, naturally i wanted to give this recipe a go, especially

since i had everything at home for this. jadi, why not? kan?

 

before I go on, let me just say that i did not go all vegan for this recipe. i just followed the eggless bit of it. but if you guys are interested in going all vegan, you guys can click here.

 

okay, you guys ready for the recipe?

 

you will need:

110g (1 cup) all purpose flour

60g (⅔ cup) quick cooking oats
40g (⅓ cup) cocoa powder
170g (¾ cup) sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
130g (½ cup) peanut butter*

*i used crunchy peanut butter, because that was all i had. :-p

the how to:
1)  preheat the oven to 200°C.

2)  in a small saucepan, over low heat, melt the peanut butter in milk. stir constantly.  once the peanut butter has melted, take the pan off the heat and set aside to cool.

3)  while waiting for peanut butter mixture to cool, line your muffin tin with liners.

4)  in a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients of flour, oats, cocoa powder, sugar and baking powder.

5)  once the peanut butter mixture is cool, combine the mixture with the dry ingredients and stir til just combined.

6)  spoon the batter into the muffin tin. **

7)  bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven temperature.

** i used a 5cm (2") ice cream scoop and got 16 muffins.

 

taste wise, these muffins have a really balanced taste. it wasn't too sweet neither was it bland.  one thing i need to tell you guys that these muffins had a bit of a bite to them. mrG told me they were chewy...maybe because of the quick cooking oats. 

 

if you guys are looking for a more 'adult' kind of muffins, then this is the recipe for you.

 

luck luck!!

 

 

recipe adapted from: madhuram's eggless cooking website. thank you!! 

 



vegan red velvet cupcake

never in a million years would I thought i'd bake anything vegan. or eggless. never. but, as the famous saying goes, never say never. and today I am making a promise to myself, that I will never say never...well, okay...i'll say never to a few thingslah...but, I am open to suggestions.

 

a classmate of mine is allergic to eggs. how insensitive of me to not notice that each week, when I bring something to class, when the container of baked goods is being passed from one person to another, she would pass the container to the next person without taking anything. lucky for me, she told me about this last week, so...I promised her i'll bake her something without eggs.

 

I went online and found this recipe.  you know what? I think i'm on a lucky streak. why? well, this is yet another recipe that does NOT require the use of theGiant. except for the frosting though. so, this is a very easy and straightforward recipe as well. my kind of recipe. you know...the kind that requires you to combine the wet and the dry and voila! it's done!

 

tastewise, well, I was pleasantly surprised that these taste exactly like the normal red velvet cupcakes. only difference is the texture is not as soft as I would've wanted it to be and the color is more on the brownish side...I might want to make certain changes with the amount of red food color I use and also on the baking time and see what happens. first try maaahhh...

 

so, you wanna give this a go?

 

let's go!!

 

you will need:
200ml soya milk
20ml cider vinegar
200g self-raising flour
200g caster sugar
20g cocoa powder 

¼tsp salt
¼tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼tsp baking powder
80ml light rapeseed or other flavorless oil
1tbsp vanilla extract or essence
½-1 tsp red food coloring paste (not liquid)*

for the frosting:**
25g dairy free margarine
75g vegetable shortening
125g soya cream cheese
1tbsp vanilla extract
750g icing sugar (giler banyakkk!!!)
¼tsp salt
about 30-40 soya or rice milk
red sweets (decoration kot?) ini optional.

the how to:
1)  preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4

2)  line muffin tray with cupcake liners

3)  mix the soya milk with the cider vinegar and set aside for 10 minutes

4)  get a bowl and it in place the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt baking soda and baking powder. mix until combined.

5)  add the soya milk mixture, oil, vanilla and the red food coloring into the dry ingredients. using a metal spoon (I don't know why this is a requirement...) and quickly mix all these until they are just combined and the batter is still a bit lumpy.  tap the bowl of this mixture on your counter to stop the raising agents from working too quickly. observe some bubble popping action. I did. not too many, but gotlah. :-p

6)  spoon the batter into your muffin cups. (I used my every so faithful ice cream scoop) and then...tap the tray on your counter again...to witness more  fireworks   bubble popping action.

7)  bake for 15 minutes. (my oven only required about 8 minutes...yours?) let the cupcakes sit in the tray to cool and chill for about 10 minutes before transferring them on the cooling rack.

frosting:

1)  with an electric or hand-held mixer, whip together the margarine, vegetable fat, cream cheese and vanilla and they are creamy.

2)  add half of the icing sugar and 30ml (2tbsp) milk and continue mixing while gradually increasing the speed until all is combined.

3)  add the rest of the icing sugar until you get a smooth consistency.

4)  if the icing is too firm, you can add a bit more milk and if it's too soft, you add icing sugar lorrr...

*since I don't have any kind of food coloring paste I used liquid
** I didn't use this version of the frosting because...where the hell can I find soya cream cheese in puchong??? anyone?

All in all, I will definitely be baking these again and again and again, this recipe is a keeper!!!

what about you guys? trylah...ishhhh! :-p


thank you:
http://www.suma.coop for this wonderful recipe.

 

oreo brownies

 

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!!!!! this recipe is a keeper.

 

i

kid

you

not!

 

you wanna know why? because it is MY kind of recipe. easy to prepare, easy to make. yummy to the tummy...okay, maaayyyybe yummy to the tummy doesn't sound quite right, but...nevertheless...that's what i think this pan of goodness is.

 



early this morning, i was looking for a recipe that is easy enough for me to bake. because i want to bring some to the class tomorrow. you know, my goal, is to make everyone fat  err..i mean "healthy" by the end of the semester. ngeeee.... hehehahaha!! so i came across this recipe from www.theidearoom.net/

 

i wasn't too convinced because...come on, how can something SO easy to make be SO yummy, right? i decided to give it a go...and true enough. i was not disappointed. i took a slice, still warm from the pan...(i mean, who WAITS for their brownies to cool anyway? right???) and it was gone within seconds.  i gave some to a friend and made a second batch for class tomorrow.

 

 

okay...is everybody already at the edge of their seats waiting for the recipe? huh? huh? huh? yes??? no???... malu nak mengakulah tu! okay, let's go!!

 

you will need:

½ cup (125ml) vegetable oil
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
¼ teaspoon baking powder
⅓ cup (40g) cocoa powder 

¼ tsp salt
½ cup (64g) flour
aaaaandddd...the star of this recipe 15-20 oreos crushed.*

the how to:
1)  preheat the oven to 170°C

2)  mix oil and sugar til well blended.

3)  in goes the eggs and vanilla, stir until just blended.

4)  in another bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients.

5)  stir in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

6)  crush the oreos and stir in ¾  of them into the mixture.

7)  pour batter into a greased 9x9 square pan. i just lined mine with parchment paper.

8)  sprinkle the remaining broken oreo bits over the top of the brownie batter.

9)  bake for 20 minutes or until the sides start to pull away from the pan.

10) cool completely before devouring them straight from the pan  cutting them. :-p

*okay, i know the recipe calls for 15-20 oreo cookies. i only used 14. they were just nice...okay, okay...that was NOT the reason why. the reason why is, there are only 14 oreo cookies in the standard Malaysian pack. so... i was not game on opening another pack of oreos just to get that other one oreo cookie. okay tak? okaylah tu! hehehe...

what i think about these brownies? i LOVE them. they are not too sweet and they are chewy and they make me happy because they are easy to make and i love them and i will make them again because i love them....have i told you how much i love these?? well, i'll tell you one more time. i love these brownies!! love love love love love!!! there.

go on now, you know you wanna rush out to get yourselves a pack of oreos. go on. and be sure to let me know how yours turn out, okay?

come back now! :-)


thank you www.theidearoom.net for this wonderful recipe.
 



Blondies

so, I made blondies. or congo bars. I've seen these being baked by bloggers all around...but they seem to prefer the name congo bars...instead of blondies. I guess maybe because like me, the only other blondie that I know of is this one particular talented lady. tulah pasal agaknya.

 

so...in order to see what the hoopla is all about about these congo bars/blondies, I decided to bake them. because seriously...that's what I've been hearing, day in...day out. congo bars here...congo bars there...congo bars everywhere. oh, and I also bought this oh! so wonderful brownie pan thingamajig. :-) what better way than to break the pan in with this recipe, right?

 

okay, I went around looking for an easy recipe, well, if you know me, you know I want to make it as easy as possible. and found a recipe from www.bakerella.com. and i had almost all the ingredients. so, the rest is history.

 

 

the recipe is pretty straightforward and easy enough. and i have taken the liberty...because, i am such a nice person, to convert everything into metric measurements. but for those of you who would like to use the imperial measurement, please feel free to click here.

 

okay, ready for the recipe now?

 

you will need:

305g all purpose flour

2½ tsp baking powder 

½ tsp salt
150g butter, softened
454g brown sugar (yupppp...you read right)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
326g choco chips (i used a combo of dark, milk and white chocolate chips)
170g pecan (optional, i didn't have any, so...)

the how to:*
1)  preheat your oven to 170°C

2)  i placed the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and used a fork to sort of 'whisk' them.

3)  in my mixer i combined the butter and sugar till blended.

4)  then in goes the eggs, one at a time. mixer speed on low.

5)  add in the vanilla.

6)  add in the flour mixture till they are all combined.

7)  last but not least, stir in the chocolate chips and pecans.

8)  bake for 30 minutes or so, depending on your oven. you know your oven, so please adjust accordingly. **

9)  i used a 9" x 9" brownie pan.

*www.bakerella.com has two preparation options, you either prepare the mixture by hand or mixer. i decided on using my mixer.

** i baked mine for a bit longer than the specified 30minutes.

 

 tastewise, to me, it was a tad too sweet. i would adjust the amount of sugar the next time i bake these. but, MrG seems to like them. i mean, he finished 3 slices in one go! so i guess that says a lot, huh? all in all, this recipe is a keeper. in fact, i will be baking these to bring to my class on Saturday. yeay!!!

please give this recipe a go...you will NOT regret it.

and yes, i remember, i still owe you guys one baking flop story, but...this is too good of a recipe to delay posting. hahhahahahahaa...alasaannn.

go on now! bake on!!

thank you:
1)  youtube.com and emimusic for the video clip.
2)  bakerella for the wonderful recipe.
3)  Chicago metallic for the photo of the brownie pan.
 

thin and crispy oatmeal cookies

well, hello there...

 

lama giler tak update blog, tetiba je terus thin and crispy oatmeal cookies. sabar ye anak-anak, mak temah nak make a comeback ler ni. (macam celeb uol, nak comeback-comeback bagai).

 

wait! before that, I think it's still not too late for me to wish everyone Ramadhan Kareem. I know, I know, we are at the last few days of ramadhan, like everyone else, I too wish that it would stay. but, that's not how things work around here. my only wish is that the Almighty will grant me another Ramadhan next year. InsyaAllah, amin.

 

it is already end of july, and I only have like 5 blog entries to my name, for 2013 that is.

 

shame.

on.

me.

 

I will try to improve hoccay? although it's already towards the end of the year, and I am sounding like a repeat of a new year's resolution, I think it's still okay for me to TRY to improve on the regularity of my blog entries.

so, how much have you missed me?? show of hands? anyone? yes? no one? like, seriously? no one?? *sigh* takpelah camtu.

 

okay, like I mentioned in the first paragraph I am making a comeback and what better way to make a comeback then post about my recent bakes. yessss...you are reading this right. bakeS...as in plural and in more than one...as in, okaylah two. hey! two IS more than one, so that counts as a plural santing-santing. I would like to start with these cookies, because the other attempt was a flop and who would want to make a comeback with a flop story, right?

two weeks ago my friend tini posted a picture of these cookies on FB. and since I love oats and anything and everything that has got something or anything and everything to do with them, I asked her for the recipe. she told me she got it from here. Mel's Kitchen Café. so today, i suddenly had the urge to give this recipe a try.

i have taken the liberty in converting the ingredients into metric measurement, but if you guys want the imperial measurement, then you guy can click here.

ready?

let's go!!

you will need:

140g of all purpose flour

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

198.46g* butter :-p

225g granulated sugar

50g light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

225g rolled oats. (i used large leaf german rolled oats...my my now THAT was a mouthful)

the how to:

1)  as always please pre-heat your oven to 175°C.**

2)  combine and whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

3)  using your mixer, beat the butter and both sugars till combined at a low speed, after which you go all craycray with a medium speed until they are light and fluffy.

4)  then, in goes the egg and vanilla essence, beat on medium low speed until they are mixed.

5)  next, you add in the flour mixture and mixed just so-so, barely incorporated, kata dak Mel tu. she also says that it's okay if there are a few dry spots.

6)  once done, gradually add in the oats until well mixed.

7)  scoop the dough out into your baking sheet (now, at this point of time, i don't think i need to inform you guys to line your baking sheet already, right? come onnn...you guys are experts at this...i bet you're going back into the kitchen to line them baking sheets, right? haha)...okay, okay, back to the dough in question. for this, i used my 3cm ice cream scoop.***

8)  bake until the cookies are golden brown, edges are crisp but the centers are still slightly soft. in my case, i baked the cookies for about 10 minutes.

siap!!

*seriously? you are actually coming down here to see what the asterix is about? i mean, like seriously? who would want to measure out 198.46g of butter? who??? so, why don't we just do the right thing and measure it to 200g, right? but, seriously? i can't believe you guys are even reading this. seriously?

**this temp was a direct conversion from the original recipe. in my case, i had to tone the heat down a tad, because the cookies were flattening and burning by the end of the 5th minute. so, i adjusted my heat to be 150°C

***if you use a 3cm ice cream scoop, you will get a cookie with the diameter between 6-7cm.

tastewise, if you like your cookies to be on the sweet side, then this is it. if not, you can always adjust the amount of sugar. i like the texture, because i made mine slightly soft in the center with the edges all crispy. there were also a few that were totally crispy all over, and those were fantastic as well.

 

well, what are you waiting for? go ahead! you know you want to give this recipe a go, right? awww come on, this is not the time or place to be shy. just get the ingredients out and whip yourself a batch, i promise you, you wont be disappointed. they are super easy to make and super easy to gobble up! haha.

 

luck luck!!

 

recipe source: www.melskitchencafe.com thank you!!

and my thanks to tini for sharing the recipe. :-)

triple chocolate oreo chunk cookies

oh my. oh my. oh my. oh my. oh my.

i can go on and on and on and on and on...and on... :-p

i haven't been able to think about anything else ever since i saw the cookies here which then led me here. seriously folks...i have been thinking about this recipe for the past 3 days. but because i've been a bit *ehem* occupied, i had to put it on hold till today. TODAY, of all days...today when the day and weather was actually really conducive for vegging out and napping and just doing nothing else...i was watching tv....and knitting (yes, i've started knitting again, and you know what that means, right? eh, you know ke? i oso don't know...aiyer...i'm straying from the topic at hand.) where was i? oh yes, i was watching tv and knitting and all i could think of was the recipe...and so, i cannot tahan already, had to go and say hello to the oven.

preparation was easy peasy because i had everything at hand.

i'm sure you guys would want to know what the taste is like, right? well, it's blardy (hehehe...pardon my french) delicious!!!! the cookie seriously reminds me of a store bought (i tamau mention which storelah...bukan dia bayar i buat endorsement pun, kaaaan???) cookie. haaaaa...only....*jengjengjengggg* (ada je 'only'nyaaa) it's a tad too schweeeeet for my liking. i've already reduced the amount of sugar, but looks like i'm going to have to reduce them some more.

so? anyone interested with the recipe? you want? here goes. as usual, since i'm such a nice girl, i've taken the effort to change everything into metric. kenapalah they all ni tak suka metric? seme orang dah start pakai metric kot???

okay, okay, mak temah tak membebel dah. time for the recipe.

oh, by the way, if you use an ice cream scoop with a 4cm (about 1 ½") diameter you will get 68 cookies. so, what are you waiting for homies? get on with it!!!

you will need:

312.5g all purpose flour (2 ½ cups)
1tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

50g dutch processed cocoa (¾ cup), i used nestle toll house cocoa
227g unsalted butter at room temperature (1 cup)
225g granulated sugar (1 cup)
200g light brown sugar (1 cup)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
150g chopped white chocolate (1 cup)
150g chopped semi-sweet chocolate (1 cup), i used dark chocolate
100g oreos, or about 10 pieces of oreos, or 1 cup of chopped oreos

the how to:

1)  pre-heat the oven to 190°C.

2)  sift all dry ingredients together, set aside.

3)  cream the butter, both sugars till smooth and then add the eggs one by one.

4)  next in goes the vanilla and mix till blended.

5)  slowly add in the flour mixture. mix till the flour disappear.

6)  then stir in the chopped ingredients. (i didn't use Giant for this)

7)  drop by rounded tablespoons. (i used my ice cream scoop - smallest size)

8)  bake for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE, capische???

9)  remove from oven and let sit for 3-5 minutes.



i totally blame technology for my ugly handwriting. :-p


recipe source:  www.twopeasandtheirpod.com , thank you!!!

rich marble chocolate cake

okay, what do you do when it's raining and you don't feel like getting up from the bed and all you want to do is to just veg out and not do anything? huh? huh? huh?

you...bake!! not one, not two...nope, not three either...but...you guys ready for this? FIVE, yes, you read right, FIVE, f-i-v-e cakes!! *chicken dance* (lepas tu pengsan sebab penat) five cakes and...(there's more) two batches of these. i know, i know, insanity has no cure...but, it has its rewards, i'm telling you, in the form of wonderful desserts!

  

o-kaaaaylah, in all fairness, i didn't plan on baking five cakes and 2 batches of cookies. i wanted to bring something to a friend's house tomorrow because we have a lunch something-something there, and off i went to my favorite blog, www.bisousatoi.com and cari cari cari...and found this recipe. i had all the ingredients and the first cake turned out wonderful, so why not bake an extra cake for my mum, right? and then, since my SIL will be going back to her mum's place tomorrow, why not bake another one, for HER mum, right? and thennnn, a friend of mine who has recently been caught with the baking bug, is making her trip to this bake shop near my place and since she's coming over, why not bake one for her? yes? yes!! so, all in all i have one cake for me, one cake for my lunch date tomorrow, one for my mum, one for my SIL's mum and one for my friend.

one thing i like about marble cakes or marbled anything is that you never know what the design will be on the inside, there's always a wonderful surprise with each slice. so i hope the recipients of the cakes will have as much fun slicing into their cakes and looking into the pretty marbled patterns. jangan ko tak pattern dah, cake. buat malu mak temah je.

the cookies? aiyer...no need to talk about the cookieslah...because this entry is about the cake. okay? hihihi...

are you guys ready for the recipe?

  

let's go!!

  

you will need:

125g butter, you can also add in 1/8tsp of salt

125g sugar, i used brown sugar

125g dark chocolate, melted

155g self raising flour*

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

80ml evaporated milk or fresh milk

the how to:

1)  pre-heat the oven to 170°C

2)  in your mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and salt, until creamy

3)  add the eggs one at a time and continue to beat till they are well mixed

4)  in goes the vanilla extract

5)  add in the flour and alternate with milk

6)  divide the batter into two and stir in the melted chocolate into one part

7)  pour the batter alternately and use a chopstick/butter knife or even a toothpick to marble

8)  bake for 45 minutes


*okay, i really need to get me some self raising flour. initially i didn't have any so, i made some. you can learn how to make some from here.

once again i would like to thank madam rima from www.bisousatoi.com for sharing this wonderful recipe. this one is also a keeper. i LOVE it!!

recipe source: www.bisousatoi.com thanks rima!!!

the how to on making your own self raising flour: http://allrecipes.com

carrot cake

i made carrot cake. not because i had extra carrots in the fridge. in fact, i went out of my way to go and get me some carrots for this particular project. i made carrot cake, because...i had extra cream cheese frosting from the other day's red velvet cupcakes. i didn't want to bake more red velvet cupcakes and was thinking about what would be the perfect something-something for the frosting when i thought of a carrot cake.

i made one once, aeons ago, but i think it was just a so-so kinda carrot cake, you know? because i never did attempt to make it again. but this one...aiyo!! this recipe is a keeper. definitely. it made my trip to tesco, braving all the cars and the challenge of getting a parking spot, all worthwhile.

the best part of this recipe is that, i just googled and found it. well, not exactly like that laaaahhh...but something like that. most of the recipes i found required pineapples lah, walnuts lah...i had walnuts, but was just too lazy to get them involved with the cake. i just wanted a recipe with carrots...and maybe raisins. and... i found it! here!

i've been a silent reader of david lebovitz's blog for quite some time now and when i found the recipe there, i immediately wanted to give it a try. plus, the ingredients were pretty basic and the method super simple.

i made the cake. i loved it. EVERYONE (i don't normally use CAPS, but i just HAD to emphasize. haha!) loved it. it's really moist, not too sweet. all the ingredients seem to compliment each other. now, i didn't prepare the frosting as per the one that came with the recipe because i had leftovers from mine, remember. but i can tell you this, my frosting rocks, as well! :-p

ready for the recipe?

let's go!!

you will need:

4 large eggs, at room temperature

60ml vegetable oil 

180ml melted brown butter, or more oil (me lazy to brown butter, me more oil)

1 tsp vanilla essence

280g flour

400g sugar, i used brown sugar

2 tsps baking soda

1 tbs cinnamon

generous pinch each of nutmeg and cloves (me no have cloves, me omitted)

1 tsp salt

375g loosely packed grated carrots

60g raisins, preferably golden raisins or sultanas (me no have, me used normal, but me soak in water to plump 'em up)

frosting:

450g cream cheese at room temperature

110g unsalted butter at room temperature

240-g-360g powdered sugar

a few drops of vanilla

the how to:

1)  preheat oven to 180°C and prepare your baking tins. i used two 9" tins.

2)  sift together all the dry ingredients and set aside.

3)  in a mixer with paddle attachment, beat the eggs until they are pale and frothy, then drizzle in the oil, melted butter and vanilla.

4)  in goes the dry ingredients, mix carefully till just combined.

5)  then add in the shredded carrots and raisins.

6)  divide the batter between two baking tins and bake for 30-45 minutes.

7)  to make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter till smooth, slowly add in the powdered sugar till the mixture is light and silky. add in the vanilla.

8)  cool the cakes before you frost them or you'll end up with melted frosting. *aint purrty*

super easy. super yummy. go ahead, give it a go!!

you can learn how to brown butter, here.

recipe source: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/

chocolate covered oreos

for emraan.

i made these once for a friend's son's birthday and thought why not make some for emraan's belated birthday celebration today. it's going to be a double celebration, so i heard. hahahaahahaha!! *laughing frantically like a lunatic means, i am still NOT ready for tomorrow, so, let's all laugh together, shall we?* hahahahahaha!!!!!

FYI, i didn't go to any formal chocolate making classes. whatever i learnt, i learnt from my friend tini (thank you for the tips fren, really appreciate it) and also, of course from everybody's friend, MrYouTube. for this particular thing (i don't think this classifies as a 'dish', right?) i went through mrGoogle and found the tutorial here. but instead of using chocolate transfer sheets, i used edible printouts that people usually stick on top of cupcakes.

i also did not use my microwave to melt the chocolate instead i used this little thingamajig. pretty handy, i tell you.

all in all, i had fun making these and i will definitely make more for future birthdays or just because. hehehe...

as for my darling emraan...happy belated birthday. semoga emraan menjadi anak yang soleh, diberikan kesihatan yang baik dan berjaya di dunia dan di akhirat.

ummi and pak lang LOVE you! muahhhh!!!

tutorial source: http://amandaparkerandfamily.blogspot.com/

plainly perfect pound cake

i'm not a cake person. i'm not. seriously. i'm a pastry person. cake...not so much...but this one, well, this one might just change my whole outlook on cakes. looks like this year, i might be giving cakes a chance.

this is called the plainly perfect pound cake, from Trish Boyle's The Cake Book. i took the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, rima's blog, bisous a toi. i've tried a few recipes from her blog and they were all wonderful. plus, i kinda am in love with her daughter, the ever so cute lil miss sonia. :-)

so, i made this cake a few days ago when i was invited for lunch at a friend's house. and i'm making it again today, i guess this says a lot about this cake, and i'm not stopping at today only, i'll be baking 2 more tomorrow to give to a friend and my aunt. haaaa...

this cake reminds me of my childhood. a long long time ago, in mamak shops they would have this marble cake, wrapped in plastic placed on a plate at every table. i have been looking for it high and low, sadly, mamak shops nowadays no longer have them. the moment i took a bite of this cake, the memories of me eating at mamak shops with my late father came back. so, this recipe, is definitely for keeps! *chicken dance*

shall we now go to the recipe?

you will need:

200g plain flour

¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
227g butter
250g caster sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest, from 1 lemon
1 tsp finely grated orange zest, from 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla essence
80ml heavy cream, i used thickened cream

the how to:
1)  preheat the oven to 170°C.

2)  sift flour together with baking powder and salt, set aside.

3)  cream butter at medium high speed until creamy (about 2 mins), gradually add sugar and continue beating till the mixture is light and fluffy (about 4 mins).

4)  reduce the speed of your mixer and add in the eggs one by one till they are all mixed.

5)  add the lemon and orang zest along with vanilla essence.

6)  then, add in the flour in three additions, alternating with the cream (added in two additions).

7)  pour in a pound cake mould and bake for 60-70 minutes or until the cake turns brown and the testing skewer comes out clean.*

*my cake baked for about 40 minutes or so. different oven different timing, perhaps?

**i might need to increase on the baking time because the last one i baked sorta 'collapsed' in the centre and they were not cooked properly, so, i shall be increasing the baking time to the prescribed 60 mins. we'll see.

all i can say is that, this is a wonderful cake. it's nothing fancy but yet, it satisfies whatever craving for cake that you have. you can top the cake with some lemon curd if you want, or dust it with some icing sugar or whatever kind of frosting that you like, but i prefer it plain. i guess the name of the cake says it all - plainly perfect.

luckluck you guys!!

recipe taken from: http://www.bisousatoi.com/ thanks rima!! can't wait to try the other recipe!