☆Froggie & Penguin Cookies☆

Another cookie day for the girls.

This time, let's try the Froggie & the Penguin Cookies.

To think of it, I had purposely bought the charcoal powder for these cookies. I must say, these charcoal powder was very pricey..and the expiry date was pretty soon in September 2013. So I had to quickly find some recipes using charcoal powder???

Ain't these froggie cookies adorable??

I love the pretty matcha green and the charcoal combination, made the cookies so outstanding.

Mimi couldn't wait for the cookies to be baked and told me that she was very hungry and that she needed to eat the unbaked cookies now.

Nat had also chosen this penguin cookies as she thought that they were very cute.

They were indeed.

Would you bear to eat these cutie cookies??

I had some balance dough left and I let the girls played with them. They were trying to make their own cookie shapes with the rolling and shaping and the decorating. And Mimi was having lotsa of fun, and she thought that these dough were like "playdoh". kekekeke...

蒸咖啡鸡蛋糕 Steamed Coffee Cake

I saw quite alot of these Steamed Coffee Cakes from the Baking Wonderland in Facebook.

So 1 of the cake caught my attention, looking very soft and fluffy, & I decided to give it a try.

Instead of 2 layers of coffee and 1 layer of the original, I made them the other way as I had overlooked on it.. So ended up with just 1 layer of coffee. I guess it was also better for me as the coffee flavour wouldn't be too overwhelming for the gals. On the other hand, the adults thought that having 1 layer of coffee did not enhance the "coffee taste".

Just a gentle reminder to use high heat to steam your cake else it would not be soft and fluffy. Also make sure that each layer is "steamed" at the recommended time.

Recipe as adapted from Samantha Too from BW

Ingredients:

5 eggs

90g sugar

150g top flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

40g instant coffee mix, mixed with 40ml hot water

Method:

1. Beat the eggs at high speed till frothy. Gradually add the sugar in 2 batches. Continue to beat for about 12 mins on high speed & another 5 mins on low speed.

2. Using a whisk, add in the sieved flour into the egg batter in 3 additions. Blend well.

3. Divide batter into 3 portions; 2 coffee batter & 1 original batter.

4. Pour the 1st layer of the coffee batter into a lined pan and steam on high heat for 12 mins, followed by the original batter for another 12 mins. Lastly followed by the remaining coffee portion and steam for another 15-18 mins. Test the readiness of the steamed cake by inserting a skewer stick. Remove from the pan and cool completely before cutting.

"Gingi" in my Pound Cake

I have a "Gingi" in my pound cake.. How about that???

Well, when I asked hubby to take a look at my cake.., I asked him, "Isn't this cute???"

So he replied me and asked me what was that? A star??? I told him, it's Gingerbread Man.. But he insisted that it looked more like a star instead of Gingerbread Man. So I decided to give "Gingi" a little makeover for photography purposes.. LOL...!!!! I gathered, I probably should have started with a heart shaped first before I became that adventurous...:-p

So this was what we need...

A chocolate pound cake. But you could do up with any flavour or colors that you preferred.

Cut them into your desired shapes using a cookie cutter.

You may wished to keep the leftover pound cake for making a cake pop???

I had spread some batter on the bottom of my baking pan, so that "Gingi" will stay in place. Once you had lined up the cutted cakes, topped the baking pan with the rest of the batter.

Here, another new loaf of pound cake with a surprise awaiting for you...

Ta-da...!!!!

"Gingi" is here!!!
As mentioned in the earlier part, hubby said it did not look much like "Gingi", so there's the makeover for it.

Looking sooo much better, wasn't it??

It was pretty much fun doing these pound cake.

But Mimi here, on the other hand, preferred only the deco sugar bits and eating ONLY the "Gingi" part...

-_-"

You may wish to use any pound cake recipe. As for me, I had used OKASHI's pound cake recipe.

Recipe as adapted from OKASHI
(yields 2 x 2"x7" rectangular loaf)
Ingredients:
150g top flour
(I used raising flour and omitted baking powder)
1/8 tsp baking powder
150g icing sugar
150g unsalted butter
1/8 tsp salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 lemon zest

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170C. Sift flour and baking powder together twice.
2. Beat butter, icing sugar and salt together in an electric mixer until light , fluffy and pale. Takes about 10 minutes.
3. Add flour and baking powder mixture and fold through completely using a spatula. Surface of the batter should be smooth and glossy.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for about 50 minutes.
5. When the cake is done, remove it from the loaf tin and place on a wire rack to cool. Wrap with cling film before storing.

Sour Cream - Blueberry Crumb Cake

"Sour cream and lots of butter make the cake tender and moist and offset the bold, tangy flavor of gleaming fresh, juicy blueberries. A crunchy cinnamon-infused crumb topping cloaks the cake, adding a buttery caramel flavour"

And yes, as described by Tish Boyle, these cakes had a crunchy top and they were really moist and tender. A quite unusual combination but they were quite welcomed by us... hehehehe...

I had replaced the sour cream with low fat yoghurt as my yoghurt was expiring soon, and this also explained why I had attempted this bake... Oopsie...hehehehe... I had also reduced the sugar level if you do not wish your cake to be too sweet like me.

Recipe as adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

Yeilds a 9-inch square cake

Ingredients:

Crumb Topping

121g all purpose flour

50g caster sugar

80g firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

100g unsalted butter, melted

In a medium bowl, stir the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until well blended. Add the melted butter and mix with the fork, stirring until the butter is absorbed and the dry ingredients are uniformly moistened. Set aside.

Sour Cream Blueberry Cake

181g all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

142g fresh or unthawed frozen blueberries

242g sour cream

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

142 unsalted butter, softened

200g sugar

2 large eggs

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 175C. Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9 inch square baking pan.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well blended.

3. In another bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 tbsp of flour mixture until the berries are coated; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and vanilla extract; set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the side of the bowl as neccessary. At low speed, beat in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating it with the sour cream in two additions. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries. Scrape the batter into the prepared pand and smooth the top with a spatula.

Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the batter, breaking up any large lumps with your fingers.

5. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Place the cake in the pan on a wire rack and cool completely.

6. Cut the cake into squares and serve from the pan.

"PPPC" - Perfect Plain Pound Cake

Never would I have expected that these pound cakes were so delicious.

We were all in a big treat. I had KIV this recipe from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle and finally took it out to try.. Yes!!! Absolutely one pound cake you would love as much as we did.

 It was similar to the usual butter cake we had baked but these pound cakes had an extremely soft and moist texture... What a pleasant surprise from this bake.... Hubby had eaten 2 of them and he said it was very nice...So did the gals...

Plus, I had also bakes these pound cakes in my new pan, 12 mini square pan...

I loved my new pan too!!! The batter was just nice for these 12 minis. It made the pound cake a fuss-free plus no crumble mess... And also, a just-nice portion for each person...

Don't they looked so pretty in little squarish bites???

Well, I think I will reduce my sugar amount as I thought they were a little too sweet for me.

Otherwise, it was definitely the "PPPC"!

Recipe as adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

Ingredients:

225g unsalted butter

250g caster sugar

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1 tsp finely grated orange zest

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

200g cake flour (I use top flour)

1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
80ml heavy cream (I use yoghurt)

Method:

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine well, and set aside.
2. In another mixing bowl, cream the butter on medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add in the sugar and beat at medium-high speed for about 4 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl occassionally. Beat in the citrus zest and vanilla extract. Add in the flour mixture at low speed in three additions, alternating it with the heavy cream in two additions and mixing just until the flour is incorporated. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
3. Bake the cake in a preheated oven of 325F for 60-70 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Place the cake pan on a wire rack and let it cool for 20 minutes.
4. Unmould the cake and cool completely, right side up, before slicing.

"Oink Oink" Cookies

Another adorable cookie is here...

"Oink Oink" is here... Eat me!!!

I think my little Oinky has a squarish face instead of a round one...kekeke..
Nevertheless, they still looked good and tested GREAT!!!

Once you get the hang of "playing" with these doughs, you will not stop.

It is pretty fun actually:)

超可愛！小本廚房的手繪幸福餅乾(附贈30分

By 小本

Here is the cookie recipe:

(yeilds about 25 pieces)

(As the recipe is self-translated by me, do bear with me:-p)

70g unsalted butter

(very softened at room temperature)

50g icing sugar

1/2 beaten egg, room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp baking powder

130g plain flour

10g milk powder

Method:

1. Cream the butter and icing sugar in a mixing bowl until pale yellow.

2. Add in the beaten egg in 2~3 addition, make sure it blends well.

3. Add in the vanilla essence and mix well.

4. Add in the sieved flour, baking powder and milk powder into the batter, using a spatula to mix to form a dough. Do not over mix the batter.

5. Freeze the dough for 1 hour before using.

I did not managed to snap shot the step by step tutorial of my own, as it was simply impossible as I am a one-man show. So I had attached the instructions and method as from the book.

Runny Rabbit Cookie is here!

Are you as excited as my girls to have these cookies???

These new cookies were a new treat to them. They were so excited about these cute little cookies, and having a fantastic taste, crunchy as well. It was really a hit for them when I attempted these cookies for them last weekend.

I had gotten this recipe from this book I had bought a couple of months ago.

I was really impressed with these cute little cookies but thought they were a hassle as there seemed too many steps to be done...

Finally plucked up my courage and started to attempt this challenging tasks.. Well, come to think of it, it wasn't that difficult. It was just like playing with "plasticine"or "clay". Probably needs alittle more patient than usual as well too.

So adorable ain't them...???
We all loved these cookies very much and the girls were also busy packing up some for the best friends and teachers in school. These cookies I baked over the past 3 days were easily gone in a nip nap.

Try baking some for your kids, and I am sure they will love them as much as we do... :-D

Do you too???

This is the book I had gotten my recipe from:

超可愛！小本廚房的手繪幸福餅乾(附贈30分

By 小本

Here is the cookie recipe:

(yeilds about 25 pieces)

(As the recipe is self-translated by me, do bear with me:-p)

70g unsalted butter

(very softened at room temperature)

50g icing sugar

1/2 beaten egg, room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp baking powder

130g plain flour

10g milk powder

Method:

1. Cream the butter and icing sugar in a mixing bowl until pale yellow.

2. Add in the beaten egg in 2~3 addition, make sure it blends well.

3. Add in the vanilla essence and mix well.

4. Add in the sieved flour, baking powder and milk powder into the batter, using a spatula to mix to form a dough. Do not over mix the batter.

5. Freeze the dough for 1 hour before using.

I did not managed to snap shot the step by step tutorial of my own, as it was simply impossible as I am a one-man show. So I had attached the instructions and method as from the book.

So have fun with these cookies...:-D

For other cookies:

Bear, Dog and Watermelon Cookies

曹可爱的饼干。♡Bear Cookie, Doggie Cookie & Watermelon Cookie♡

It is a Cookie Weekend for us this week.

I was looking through some of my cookies book I bought a couple of months.

Finally pluck up the courage to do "such" cookies as I thought, these cookies were very challenging and tedious. Plus the last time I had tried another cookie recipe from another book but it didn't turned out what they supposed to be:-p

Took up this challenge and had a very fruitful result!!!

Ain't these cookies awfully adorable too???

My girls loved these cookies too. They were all waiting by the side to grab a cookie once I'm done with the photo takings...

The Bear Cookie

The Dog Cookie

And the Watermelon Cookie

(Does it looked like one anyway???)

As much as the girls were thrilled over the cookies, so was I.

After all, it wasn't that much of a challenge. All I ever need was time and patience.

Here are the cookies before baking.

 So, how would you like these pretty cookies too??

Not only they looked fabulous, they tasted delicious too!!!

So in ♡♡ with these cookies.

I will post up the step by step pictures in my next attempt.

As the recipe was in Mandarin and some of the the steps were stated wrongly and it took me quite a while to follow up.

Meantime, enjoy!

For other cookies:

Rabbit Cookies

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cupcakes with Hershey's Chocolate Frosting

Happy Happy Sweet 2nd Birthday to Bake-Along.

Time flies and it had been 2 years unknowingly. Getting to know the wonderful hosts, Lena, Joyce and Zoe and the other bakers whom had baked along with us. I must say from this, I had learnt many more cakes that everyone had shared. 

Thank you to all and our Bake Along hosts for all these wonderful recipes, attempts and most of all, company:))

So here we have along with the Bake-Along 2nd Year Anniversary, a "Perfectly Hershey's Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes with Hershey's Chocolate Frosting.
I realised I had some cocoa powder in my office desk and "it" caught my attention with its this recipe from Hershey's Cocoa box.

Basically this is just a mix in everything recipe. I made a messed as I had poured 1 cup of oil instead of half cup.. So no choice, I had to prepare another portion to balance it. BUT, I messed up by putting half flour.. Anyway, somehow or rather I did made it right.. But getting a very watery consistence batter was what I had gotten and I was quite skeptical about it.

So these were how my "cupcakes' looked like and though they looked abit "ugly", they tasted fantastic!!!

It had a steamed cake texture, soft and moist, very unusual from the cupcakes that we would usually baked.

And after some "makeover", they looked much prettier. These chocolate frosting were also made with Hershey's Cocoa...And I must say... they were great!!!! They were simply heavenly chocolate!!!!

These moist chocolate cupcakes had all thumbs up from everyone!

So... lets not wait no more!!!!

Try them and you will know what I mean...hehehehe...

Recipe as adapted from the Hershey's Cocoa Box :-p

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cupcakes

(measurements in brackets are in my own modifications)

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar (256g)

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (224g)

3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa (96g)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk (236ml)

1/2 cup vegetable oil (114ml canola oil)

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup boiling water (236ml)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C).

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a lagre bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla essence and beat on medium speed for about 2 mins. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into cupcake cases about 2/3 full.

3. Bake for about 22-25 mins or until a wooden pick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool for 10 mins before frosting.

Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Frosting

(for about 30 cupcakes frosting)

Ingredients:

1 stick butter (113g)

2/3 cup Hershey's cocoa (I use abt 50g for half frosting portion)

3 cups powder sugar (384g)

1/3 cup milk (79ml)

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Add in powdered sugar and milk, beating at medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more milk if needed. Stir in vanilla essence.

So come along and join us with our Bake Along Hosts: Lena, Joyce and Zoe and the other bakers in this cupcake theme. :-D

Tres Leches Cake - Bake Along #43

Wait for me again....!!! Almost late but good enough just before the deadline... I had bought a new oven on Saturday and I was very thrilled as I had wanted to try baking this cake with it. But one of the oven "leg" had came come and I need to get the whole oven changed...:((

I have never known of this cake until I saw the bake theme for Bake-Along #43 by Joyce, Lena and Zoe.

Tres Leches Cake - A classic Latin American sweet is a light white cake soused with rum-flavoured milk and cream concoction and topped with dramastic swirls of meringue frosting served in squares.

 I had seen the rest of the bakes by the other members and seeing the light, soft, moist and milky texture made me want to attempt this bake.

 It was quite a great choice for a dessert as it was really sweet, even though I had cut down the sugar level. It had a similar cake texture like those baked cheesecake. Hmmm but I wouldn't fancy them too much due to the overly sweetness of its whole cake and milkness:-p 

Frosted with white chocolate topping made them heavenly sweet.

I was actually rushing for time to go for our Sunday Movie Treat  of Ironman 3. Hubby was rushing me and I was in a panicky stage... My cake wasn't cooled well for 10 mins. I quickly put in the cake into a bigger container and poured the soak onto the cake. I gotten a little worried as I saw Joyce, Lena and Zoe's cake had soaked up the milk mixture whereas mine was "floating"... 

Not enough time... my whole plattoon was waiting for me... I quickly poured in the milk mixture and refrigerate the cake, grabbing my recipe along as I dashed out of my house. I realised I hadn't poked the holes at the side of the cake:-p So I am not totally sure if the milk mixture had been totally absorbed by the cake... What a sotong I am...

Nevertheless, this cake still tasted very well though I personally will preferred them plain as what it was. What about you.

Recipe as adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

Ingredients:

200g cake flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

113g unsalted butter

143g firmly packed light brown sugar(i use 100g)

180ml milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

4 large egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

50g sugar

Method:

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.

2. Beat the butter and brown sugar at a mediym-high speed until light, about 2 minutes. In a small bowl, combine milk and vanilla essence. At a low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter in 3 additions, alternating it with the milk mixture in 2 additions.

3. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat at mediym high speed until soft peaks begin to form. Gradually beat in the sugar and beat at high speed until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Scrape the batter into the greased pan and smooth it into an even layer.

4. Bake the cake for 30~45mins until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool the cake in pan on a wire rack for 10mins.

Meanwhile, make the Tres Leches Soak:

180ml light cream

One 12-ounce evaporated milk

One 14-ounce condensed milk

45ml dark rum

1 tsp vanilla essence

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. After the cake has cooled down for 10 mins, using a toothpick, pokes holes all over the cake at 1-inch intervals, going all the way down to the bottom. Slowly pour all the soak over the top of the cake, covering it completely. It will seem like a lot of liquid; the cake should be "floating". Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

As for the frosting, you may wish to use as desired:)

Do join along with our hosts; Joyce, Lena and Zoe and other members whom had joined us as well :))

(Sorry Hosts, I cant link up to you as I posting this using my phone:-p  Pardon me...:)