Easy No-Beat Red Velvet Cupcakes

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, one of the most popular cakes would be the Red Velvet - rich, red and luxurious and all that signifies romance. Bake some red velvet cupcakes for your loved ones this Valentine's Day. I've got the perfect recipe that's easy and super delicious - just whisk, mix and bake. Some of you might take a look at the recipe and think "Hmm....no butter in a cake?". This recipe uses oil instead, which makes it ultra soft and moist. The previous version of red velvet cake that I made used butter, and although it was delicious, it was relatively richer and denser, compared to this one which was light, moist, soft and fluffy. If you have to make red velvet cake, try this recipe first. It is so melt-in-your mouth heavenly good you'd fall in love with it.

The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe!

While most people are baking Christmas puddings, fruit cakes and gingerbread men at this time of the year, I baked a chocolate cake instead. The kids had a birthday recently and my options are usually a vanilla sponge cake, mud cake or red velvet. I've never really made chocolate cake before (really!) other than chocolate mud cake (I prefer to distinguish the two). It wasn't until I brought Miss H to her friend's birthday party that I tried the most amazing chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, that I was determined to solve the mystery of the best chocolate cake ever. Simply, the cake was so light and moist and the frosting was just awesome. For a while, it did remind me of the chocolate cream buns that I used to enjoy during my childhood days.

Hokkaido Cheesecake (Farm Design Choco Moo Cheesecake)

 

I brought this cheesecake to my uncle's housewarming party last Saturday. My aunt took a look and said "I think I've seen this cake before, with the cow-pattern. Wasn't it on TV recently?". Yes! It was on Destination Flavour Japan on SBS. "The show with that Adam Liaw guy from Masterchef..." she says. I was thinking, gee, she must have REALLY wanted to eat that cheesecake to have remembered it so well. I guess it is a rather unique-looking cake. And it tastes absolutely heavenly. Velvety smooth and silky, not too rich, not too sweet. It's really the perfect cheesecake. It's the Choco Moo cheesecake, made popular by Farm Design Hokkaido Cheesecake.

Quick Microwave Chocolate Cake

Microwave Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

3 tbsp self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg
3 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp chocolate chips

Method

Combine flour and cocoa in a small microwave-safe container and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with sugar and add this to the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter, water and vanilla. Stir well until evenly mixed and smooth. Add chocolate chips on top. Place in the microwave on medium heat (600W) for 3 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let it cool slightly before serving.

Fudgy Nama Chocolates

When Nami posted the recipe for Nama Chocolates on her website Just One Cookbook, I read it and thought "Wow, making homemade Royce chocolates looks pretty easy. Just make chocolate truffles and cut them into squares instead of shaping them into balls." Now, why didn't I think of that? Royce chocolates hail from Japan and they have opened quite a number of stores around Asia. So far, I have only come across the Royce chocolate store at Takashimaya in Singapore, where I would usually walk past the display counter hoping that the salesperson standing behind would be offering free tasting samples (in miniscule 1 centimetre cubes). It was such a treat at the time (a long time ago!) when I considered them a luxury item, what more with a name like that.

Chocolate and Cream Cheese Layer Cake

This recipe combines the best of both worlds - rich and moist chocolate cake, and sweet delicious cream cheese. It was one of the many cakes that my mum used to make for us when we were kids, and one of our favourites too. She made it without the raspberries, and I decided to add them since I had a box of them in the freezer. From the photos, the cheese layer looks much too brown on top, and that's because I didn't cover the pan with baking paper to prevent the cake from over-browning. The other reason may be that I used a dark-coloured cake pan which often results in a darker crust since it absorbs more heat. I'll have to try using a silver-coloured pan next time then, or perhaps reduce the temperature of the oven slightly.

White and Dark Chocolate Jaffa Swirl Cake

Ever since I went back to work, I hardly have any time to bake cakes, and this is probably my first cake for 2012! It was the picture of the lovely yellow and brown swirls in the cake that caught my attention when I was browsing through Belinda Jeffery's cookbook called "Mix & Bake". It has a wonderful collection of recipes for baking and my decision to try out this recipe was partially because I happened to have all the necessary ingredients on hand. Moreover, you can't go wrong with orange and chocolate.

Brigadeiros (Brazillian Choc Fudge Balls)

Brigadeiro is a Brazillian fudge candy created in the 1940's and was named after Brigadier Eduardo Gomes. It resembles a chocolate truffle, and is often made with condensed milk, cocoa powder and butter, rolled into little balls and covered in chocolate sprinkles. They are apparently very popular treats at children's birthday parties in Brazil.

Stripey Hot Fudge Milkshake

Hot Chocolate Fudge, Vanilla Ice-cream, Milk, Oreos and Crunchy Sprinkles

Ever since I read my friend Simran's post on A Little Yumminess: Hot Fudge Sauce a few months ago, I stocked my pantry with a few cans of condensed milk and a couple of bags of chocolate buttons and chocolate chips, just in case I had a sudden urge to make fudge sauce (or anything to satisfy unforeseen chronic attacks of chocolate cravings). Well, the weather has been exceptionally hot these few days, even though we're just in the middle of spring. This gave me the perfect excuse to whip up some hot fudge sauce for making the most chocolatey milkshake ever, with the kids in mind, of course.

Cranberry White Chocolate and Meringue Cookies

I have been craving for some Momofuku Blueberry and Cream cookies lately, and I haven't made them again since the first time I had a go at Christina Tosi's recipe. I really loved the taste and texture of these cookies, which are crunchy on the outside with a soft chewy centre. I decided to use the same recipe and substitute the blueberries and milk crumbs with cranberries, white chocolate and crushed meringue. I also added some lemon zest and lemon essence for a little zing.

Fudgy Brownie Cones

Brownies are supposedly one of the easiest things to make as the ingredients just need to be stirred together in a bowl, then poured into a lined pan and popped into the oven to bake. Well, I do bake quite often, but somehow, brownies have eluded me all this time. I think I might have baked a batch or two of them before, quite a long time ago, but they just aren't something I'd make often, mostly because I always feel guilty after eating them, non-stop. Addictive little things.

Peaches and Cream Oatmeal Cookies

I was planning to make Peaches and Cream cookies using Momofuku's Blueberry and Cream Cookies recipe, but then, I came across this one for Peaches and Cream Oatmeal Cookies by Sunny Anderson. Seeing all the rave reviews, I decided to make these instead.

Chocolate Orange Brioche Pudding

This easy variation on bread and butter pudding tastes great when served hot with vanilla ice-cream. It has a hint of citrus flavour that goes perfectly with the oozy dark chocolate (and the ice-cream!).

Berry Moist Chocolate Hazelnut Friands

Tiramisu

Smooth, light and creamy tiramisu...yum yum!

Tiramisu is one of the easiest and most delicious desserts to make, but I have not attempted it until now, mostly because it contains Marsala (a type of fortified wine) which I don't have. The tiramisu recipe that I used here comes from Taste.com.au and is absolutely fantastic! And I didn't even use marsala. Instead, I substituted it with orange juice as suggested in the recipe. I have never tried other recipes before (well, since this is my first attempt) but this one's a keeper. I suppose you can't really go wrong with mascarpone and coffee-soaked sponge fingers, but the trick is not to oversoak those savoiardi biscuits to avoid a runny and soggy tiramisu. My, it was so good I literally licked my plate clean!

If you're looking for a great recipe for tiramisu, I highly recommend this one. It's not that difficult to prepare. The only thing I might point out is that it requires the cream, egg yolks and egg whites to be whisked separately. So, it will be handy if you have 3 mixing bowls at home. Also, make sure the dish you are assembling it in is deep enough as the tiramisu comes up to about 6cm high using a 19cm (base measurement) pyrex dish.

Tiramisu Recipe

adapted from Taste.com.au

Ingredients

2 cups strong black coffee, cooled

1/2 cup Marsala (or substitute with Kahlua, Tia Maria or orange juice) 

3 eggs, separated

1/3 cup caster sugar

250g mascarpone

1 cup thickened cream, whipped  to firm peaks

1 large packet (about 400g) of sponge fingers (savoiardi)

2 tbsp cocoa, for dusting

Method

1. Pour coffee and marsala into a shallow dish. Set aside.
2. Beat egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl with electric beaters until pale and thick. Whisk in the mascarpone on low speed until just combined. Fold in the whipped cream.
3. Beat egg whites in a medium bowl with electric beaters until stiff peaks form.  Using a large metal spoon, gently fold eggwhites into the mascarpone mixture.
4. Take one biscuit at a time and dip the unsugared side into the coffee mixture for 1-2 seconds. Arrange enough biscuits to cover the base of a 19cm square ceramic/pyrex dish. Cover the biscuits with one-third of the mascarpone mixture. Repeat layers 2 times, ending with the cream. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Dust generously with cocoa and serve.

Tips:

1. Take care not to soak the entire biscuit in the coffee mixture for too long as this will make the tiramisu soggy (unless you like it that way).
2. The tiramisu is best eaten after it's been refrigerated for at least 8 hours to let the flavours develop.

Choc Chip Ricotta Cannoli Ice-Cream

 

I can never resist a good ricotta-filled cannoli - light, crisp and airy deep-fried pastry shell filled with cold, sweet and creamy ricotta, and dusted with icing sugar. They need to be eaten immediately, otherwise the pastry will turn soggy. I haven't attempted making cannoli before, and I don't really see the need to since I can easily get them from any Italian patisserie. But I love the mild sweet flavour of the ricotta filling, so turning it into ice-cream sounded like an excellent idea.

You can make this without an ice-cream machine by freezing it and whisking it every half hour for 2 hours so that the ice crystals that form are kept small, which gives the ice-cream a smooth and creamy texture.

Choc Chip Ricotta Cannoli Ice-Cream
(makes about 1 pint, or 2 cups)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tub (250g) ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond essence
1/4 cup (40g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 tsp finely grated orange rind (optional)

Method

1. Heat up the cream, sugar and salt in a saucepan and stir until sugar dissolves.
2. Using a stick blender (or food processor), blend the ricotta and orange rind (if used) until smooth and creamy. Stir in the scalded cream, vanilla and almond essence until well-combined. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Churn in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Otherwise, place the mixture in a freezer-proof container and freeze for 30-40 minutes, then remove and beat/whisk every 30 minutes for 2 hours. When the ice-cream is almost set, fold in the chocolate chips. Freeze for another 2-3 hours until firm before serving.

Note: To store the ice-cream, cover the surface with plastic wrap and seal with a tight-fitting lid. This reduces the amount of air in contact with the ice-cream and avoids freezer burn.

Chocolate Swiss Roll with Raspberry Cream Cheese

Car Birthday Cake - A Herbie Wannabe

We celebrated z's birthday yesterday with a car-shaped cake (he wanted a Herbie - Beetle) made with a melt-in-your-mouth dark chocolate mudcake covered in a chocolate-sour-cream ganache. I decorated the car with lollies, smarties, M&M's, icing flowers, oreos and silver cachous for some bling!

I made a round 9-inch mudcake, trimmed off the sides to make a rectangle, and then used the curved sides of the cake for the roof. The oreos worked well for the tyres, with retro-looking hubcaps which I thought was quite cool. The cachous added a wonderful diamond-studded effect to the car, perhaps making it a litle mafia-looking. LOL.

For the windscreen and windows, I melted some white chocolate and sprinkled some cachous over it before letting it set, and then cut them out into the desired shapes. I also made the cake board using H's puzzle board which I found was quite sturdy, and then covered it with some foil wrapping paper.

Considering this was my first time carving and decorating a cake, I was pretty happy with how it turned out. z was happy with it too, and he went straight for the piece with all the blue M&M's! :)

Chocolate Baby Mudcakes with Sourcream Ganache

Simple Vanilla and Marble Cupcakes

This is based on a fantastic cupcake recipe from Exclusively Food. I couldn't stop myself at just one cupcake, so I had two! Who says cupcakes are for kids? (The kids mostly just ate the icing and sugared flowers, leaving the soft, fluffy, moist and buttery cake for me!).

Well, that was yesterday. This morning I tried the marble cupcakes, and they tasted even better than plain vanilla ones! Both taste good, although next time, I might use unsalted/reduced salt butter instead of regular salted butter, so as to let the natural sweetness of butter shine through. To make marbled cupcakes using the above recipe, just divide the batter into two portions and fold through about a tablespoon of baking cocoa to one portion. Then place a dollop of each batter into the cupcake case and swirl lightly with a skewer or knife.

The kids love the dainty little sugared flowers

Z wanted chocolate cupcakes, so I compromised by making a choc-vanilla marble cupcake

Z's partially eaten vanilla cupcake with multi-coloured sprinkles

Wonderfully moist, soft and fluffy buttery vanilla cupcakes