Work Catering #43: Have a Chai Latte (cheesecake)

Hello all! A belated post from work catering a few weeks ago~ Work has been pretty busy this month >_<" but still have been baking! Just not as much posting~~ hopefully will get round to it soon!

I only recently discovered Chai Lattes a couple of months ago! Call me stupid... but I always thought lattes were just another type of coffee.. and I dont like coffee! Only did I realise that it was more the chai spices and milk! really yummy :D AND... my friend also introduced me to the chai tea powder!!! Apparently they use this same one in cafes so now i can just make it at home :)

makes awesome chai lattes!

I've also been experimenting with the chai tea powder in my bakes! Made these chai tea vanilla flavoured "takorons" and the recipe I'd like to share today... chai latte cheesecake!! If you have any other chai inspired recipes or suggestions, let me know :D

Chai latte cheesecake
Recipe adapted from Taste.com

Ingredients
Base
250g ginger nut biscuits
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
80g butter, melted

Filling
500g cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tbs instant coffee powder
1 tbs boiling water
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 160oC/140oC fan-forced. Grease and line rectangular baking pan (20x30cm) with baking paper.
2. Process biscuits, cinnamon and ground ginger until resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add butter and process until combined. Press mixture over base of prepared tin. Refrigerate while making filling.
3. For filling, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between each addition. 
4. Dissolve coffee in boiling water. Stir coffee mixture into cream cheese mixture. Pour over base and smooth the top. Sprinkle with cinnamon and chai tea powder. 
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until filling is just set. Allow to cool to room temperature then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight before serving.

I love the sprinkle of cinnamon/chai tea powder for the finish^^

delicious squares!

close up of cheesecake~

The ginger nut biscuits are a great match for this cheesecake and the flavour is not too sweet. It may not appeal to all taste buds... I guess only if you like chai latte?? haha and cinnamon spices ^_^

Next up... another bundt cake :) I have previously made this for a friend's birthday but never saw what the inside looked like xD now I know... a tip.. maybe chop the apples into smaller pieces :)

Apple Swirl Bundt Cake
Recipe adapted from Magnolia Days

Ingredients
Cake
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups plain flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tart apples (Granny Smith recommended)
2 cups caster sugar + 3 tbs, divided
1 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tsp vanilla essence

Glaze
1 tbs unsalted butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
4 tbs milk

1. Preheat oven to 180oc. Grease a 10 or 12 cup bundt tin.
2. In medium bowl, add flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
3. Peel and chop apples into small pieces and place in large bowl. Sprinkle with 3 tbs caster sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Stir to coat apples and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, add remaining 2 cups of sugar and oil. Beat using electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes to combine. Add eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition. Add orange juice and vanilla and beat to combine.
5. Add flour mixture and beat on medium speed until smooth and combined. Do not over-mix.
6. Pour a third of batter into prepared bundt pan and spread evenly. Spread one half of the apples evenly over the batter. Repeat layers. Top with remaining batter and spread to cover apples. 
7. Bake for 1 hour or until skewer inserted into the centre of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes then remove cake from pan and allow to cool completely on wire rack.
8. Prepare glaze by mixing butter with icing sugar. Add milk and mix until desired consistency they drizzle over cooled cake.

Take a slice :)

swirl~~

Due to the apple pieces being so big... they fell out >< that's why there are a lot of holes..

Still have quite a few recipes to blog about ^_^" so GET BAKING!!!

Work Catering #41: Now this is a blondie!

If you saw my post last week on Blondies vs. Brownies, you may have realised that I didn't actually make a "blondie" because there was no white chocolate involved. However! This week's recipe is DEFINITELY a blondie! and a deliciously packed one too~ It's filled with all the good stuff: white chocolate, milk chocolate chips, walnut, banana. I really liked the texture of the crunchy walnuts in there and you can actually taste the banana (my brother said "it just tastes like you are eating a banana" XD).

Banana White chocolate Blondie
Recipe adapted from Daily Delicious

Ingredients
150g unsalted butter
300g white chocolate
300g cater sugar
2 eggs
3 medium bananas, mashed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
300g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
150g walnuts, chopped
120g chocolate chips (milk or dark)

1. Preheat oven to 180oC. Grease and line 20x30cm baking pan with baking paper.
2. Melt butter and white chocolate in saucepan over medium heat.
3. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and banana and mix to combine.
4. Stir in half of flour and baking powder. Once combined, stir in the rest of the flour along with chopped walnuts and chocolate chips.
5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.

Yummy packed blondie!

Next up is another bundt cake! (I told you I'm in a bundt cake mood =p). I wanted to try out the "swirl" again since my last swirl bundt cake didn't turn out that well. I'm really happy with this one! and the cake wasn't too sweet either~ had a lovely mocha taste!
Mocha Swirl Bundt Cake
Recipe adapted from Mainly Baking

Ingredients
4 1/2 tbs cocoa powder
4 1/2 tbs caster sugar
3 tsp instant coffee granules
4 tbs water

2 1/2 cups (320g) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch fo salt
1 1/2 cups (320g) caster sugar
200ml light olive oil (I used vegetable oil)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
200ml milk
2 tsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in the milk
100g dark chocolate, melted

1. Preheat oven to 180oC and grease bundt tin.
2. Place cocoa powder, caster sugar, coffee granules and water into small bowl and mix until they form a smooth paste. Set aside.
3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into small bowl. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk sugar, oil and vanilla until smooth. Whisk in the eggs one at a time until mixture is thick and pale.
5. Reduce whisk to slow speed and mix 1/3 of flour mixture alternately with the milk until smooth.
6. Weigh out 400g of batter into a bowl and mix in the cocoa paste mix.
7. Using 1/3 of each batter at a time, layer them alternately into the bundt tin, starting with the light coloured coffee batter.
8. Bake for 45-55min or until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in tin then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
9. Decorate with melted dark chocolate.

Full cake!

Close up of cake.. yummy moist texture

Loving the swirl ^__^

Cream cheese swirled chocolate bundt cake! Another farewell cake :(

Another farewell.. =( This time for a friend who finished her PhD :) so I guess it's kind of exciting~ she went back to Malaysia so decided to make a cake for her. This cake was inspired by this chocolate bread I tried from THE DOUGH COLLECTIVE in Sydney. I hope this place comes down to Melbourne! They have all kinds of bread, but one of the best is the Double Chocolate Finger Roll - chocolate bread with chocolate chips and chunks of cream cheese. It's DELISH!

Cream cheese swirled Chocolate Bundt Cake
Recipe adapted from Baker Street

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Swirl
1/4 cup caster sugar
250g cream cheese, softened at room temp
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate cake
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup cocoa powder
113g unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicard soda
1 tsp vanilla essence

Glaze
4 tbs icing sugar
2-3 tbs milk

1. Preheat oven to 180oC and grease bundt tin.
2. For the cream cheese batter, beat the cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer until well combined. Add in egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Set aside.
3. For the chocolate cake, combine all ingredients in large bowl of stand mixer. Beat at low speed, scraping the bowl often until all ingredients are moistened. Increase speed until well combined.
4. Pour ~3 cups of batter into bundt tin. Spoon cream cheese layer over batter without touching sides of pan. Cover with remaining batter.

creating a swirled pattern

5. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 30 minutes then remove and cool completely.
6. For the glaze, mix sugar and milk together in small bowl until you reach a spreadable consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake.

Cream cheese centre! YUM!

Ok so it's not much of a "swirl" but more of a "chunk" of cream cheese~~ but still yummy ^^ I think I'm in a bundt cake phase~ Been looking up many bundt cake recipes so stay tuned for more :)

Australia Day Bake: Mango Bundt Cake

What kind of cakes do you think of when I say "AUSTRALIA DAY"?? My first thought is something using peaches, nectarines, berries or mango! They are all the fruits I love when it comes to Summer in Australia~ so I baked a mango bundt cake for an Australia Day BBQ we got invited to.  
We also got a great view of the Australia Day fireworks ^____^

Mango Bundt Cake
Recipe adapted from Views from the ville

Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
75g butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup milk
1 mango, peeled and cooled

Mango glaze
1/2 cup soft icing sugar
3 tbs mango juice

1. Preheat oven to 180oC and grease bundt pan.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, beat eggs with electric beater. Add sugar and beat until sugar dissolves.
4. Pour in milk and melted, cooled butter. Beat for ~5 minutes. 
5. Gradually add in flour mixture and beat until well combined. Fold in mango pieces and pour into bundt pan.
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cook before transferring to wire rack.
7. Make glaze by mixing together icing sugar and mango juice. Drizzle over cake and serve.

Mango pieces :D

other BBQ food! yum! and the sun shining~~

FIREWORKS!! :D



Work catering #32: Fusion baking! Chocolate chip cookie + Cheesecake = Cheesecake chocolate chip cookie slice!

Here's a simple maths equation for you.
Chocolate chip cookies + Cheesecake = ????

It's simple! Cheesecake Chocolate chip cookie slice =D One of the best inventions ever ^___^" Fusion of two delicious sweets!!! The cheesecake layer is supposed to be sandwiched in between the two layers of chocolate chip cookie but I think my ratios were a bit odd.. Still delicious though :D

Cheesecake Chocolate chip cookie Slice
Recipe adapted from Choc Chip Uru of GoBakeYourself

Ingredients

Cookie
1 cup (225g) butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbs milk
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups plain flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Cheesecake
250g cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 170oC. Grease and line 20x30cm baking tray with baking paper.
2. Melt butter in saucepan and stir in sugar and essence. Initially it will stay separated but keep mixing until combined and there is no more floating butter. Allow to cool.
3. Beat in egg and milk.
4. Stir through the flour, salt and baking powder until just combined. Fold through chocolate chips.
5. Spread half of the batter into the base of prepared pan into a even layer. Refrigerate this layer and remaining dough until needed.
6. Beat cream cheese and caster sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla essence until mixture is smooth.
7. Pour mixture over the top of cookie layer.
8. Make flat disks with remaining cookie dough with your hand and gently press on top of cheesecake batter. not all the batter must be and won't be covered but try your best ^^
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely to room temperature then refrigerate. Cut into squares and serve!

Looks like mishaped cookies XD

Cheesecake choc chip cookie squares!

weird colour....

Also with the warmer weather last week I decided to bake something summery. Haven't baked a bundt cake in a while so time to get out the bundt tin for this cake!

Mixed berry bundt cake
Recipe adapted from The way the cookie crumbles

Ingredients

Cake
2½ cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1¾ cups caster sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature (I didn't have any so used thickened cream instead)

2 cups mixed berries, frozen or fresh

Glaze
1½ cups icing sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, very soft

Dripping glaze....

1. Preheat oven to 180oC and grease bundt tin.

2. Beat the butter, lemon zest, salt, and sugar with electric mixer until light and creamy.
3, Beat in eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add vanilla.
4. Fold in flour, baking powder and buttermilk (or cream) alternately, mixing just until incorporated.
5. Carefully fold in the berries and mix until combined. Transfer batter to prepared bundt tin smoothing the top.
6. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

7. For the glaze, combine sugar, lemon juice and butter in small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Remove cake from oven and spoon oven cooled cake.

love the pop of the berries =D

Chocolate Berry Bundt Cake

I think my new baking phase is with my bundt tin ^_^ I used it when I made Orange Poppy seed cake and I just think it makes cakes look a little more sophisticated ^^" So I decided to bake for my bosses birthday. Wasn't really sure what to bake....

I heard that she likes chocolate but I didn't want to make a rich chocolate cake so I looked up recipes for berry and chocolate bundt cake but there weren't many recipes out there. I finally found this one and added my own touch to it... so enjoy ^_^

Chocolate and Berry Bundt Cake 
Recipe adapted from Raspberry Chocolate Bundt cake - Baking Bites

Ingredients
1 3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp instant coffee
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup (65g) butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup buttermilk (I used plain milk)
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup frozen raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 180oC. Oil 10-inch bundt pan.
2. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, coffee powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
3. In separate bowl, whisk eggs and sugar till pale and fluffy. Add butter, oil and vanilla and whisk. 
4. Stir in half of flour mixture, then milk. Stir in remaining flour then hot water. Mix until no streaks of flour remains.
5. Pour about half of cake batter into bundt tin, sprinkle in raspberries and top with remaining cake batter.
6. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until skewer inserted into the center comes our clean. Let cake rest in pan (~5-10 minutes) then gently loosen the cake and turn out onto wire rack.

I just drizzled over some leftover chocolate ganache that I had in my fridge :)

Don't worry about the cracks coz that will be on the bottom =p

so smoooothhh~~~

I think the berries give the cake a lovely freshness =D You get the rich taste of chocolate and then *POP* of the raspberry ^^ Hope my boss and colleagues enjoyed it~~