Not just your normal brownies~

I had a craving for something chocolatey and also needed it fast XD So i decided to make some brownies! They are really simple and don't take long at all~ I think the thing that takes the longest is the baking in the oven!!

You can find the recipe for my brownies here.

I just modified it by adding around 1/2 cup frozen berries ^_____^ It cuts the sweetness and is a nice surprise =p

Delicious brownies with bits of berries =D YUM!

So when you need a chocolate fix... you can make this! Enjoy ^___^

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~~

A healthy bake~

This post is for all the health conscious people out there who don't like to use so much butter/oil when baking. Actually I don't really like to use heaps of butter when I'm baking either =p and neither does my mum.

Very healthy and super yummy ^^"

So when I saw that this month's Aspiring Baker's theme is "Lightened up cakes" hosted by Qi Ting of A Dessert Diet .. I thought this recipe for Fruit and Nut loaf would be perfect! It uses no butter or oil and only half a cup of sugar~ Despite the lack of fat, this loaf is still delicious as the sugar from the natural dried fruit makes it sweet :) 

Fruit and Nut Loaf
(recipe from my mum :P)

2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup coconut (+ extra toasted for decorating)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup sultanas
1-2 cups warm milk
1 tsp cinnamon
honey for glazing

1. Preheat oven to 180oC and line a rectangle loaf tin.
2. Place flour, coconut and brown sugar in bowl and mix in large bowl.
3. Add in walnuts, apricots and dates and mix.

~ You can really add whatever dried fruit you like :)

4. Add sultanas to warm milk, pour into bowl and mix until it comes together.
5. Pour mixture into lined loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. In the last 5 minutes of baking, place some shredded coconut on baking tray and toast in the oven.
7. When loaf is ready, spread honey on top and sprinkle on toasted coconut.

Best eaten warm :)

You wont feel guilty eating this one 

They really MELT in your MOUTH :D

Here is another inspired bake from MASTERCHEF! I've wanted to try these cookies out ever since I saw Julia make them on Masterchef but just didn't have the time. But last Sunday was a lazy baking day (don't you love those days? ^^) so I decided to give them a go. They are REALLY SIMPLE to make!!! All you need is an electric beater, measure and mix and you're ready to bake!

I didn't have any fresh berries to make my own jam but I think store bought jam is fine. Also the original recipe said it made FIVE biscuits... they must have been HUGE cookies!! because I made twice as many and I still thought the ones I made were quite big. So just a warning, they do expand a little once baked.

Melting Moments Biscuits

Recipe adapted from Julia http://www.masterchef.com.au/recipes/melting-moments-biscuits.htm

Ingredients

Biscuits

180g unsalted butter

60g icing sugar

60g custard powder (I didn't have any so I used 60g corn flour/starch with a few drops of vanilla essence)

1 tsp baking powder

180g plain flour

Vanilla buttercream

100g unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup pure icing sugar, sifted

Strawberry Jam

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line oven tray with baking paper.
2. For biscuits, cream butter for two minutes in an electric mixer. Add icing sugar and custard powder/corn flour and mix until combined.
3. Sift in baking powder and flour and mix well.
4. Roll dough into small balls (roughly 20c piece or smaller), place on a baking paper lined baking tray and press each ball with a fork to leave an indent.
5. Bake biscuits for 16-18 minutes or until light golden. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Baked biscuits cooling~

6. For buttercream, whisk butter and vanilla until smooth. Add icing sugar and beat until mixture forms a paste. You can either pipe this or I just spread it using a knife.
7. To assemble, place a spoonful of strawberry jam on the base of half the biscuits. Pipe/spread buttercream onto the base of the other half of the biscuits. Gently press one of each biscuit together to form a melting moment.

So... ENJOY THE MOMENT!!! :P

These are just screaming out "EAT ME"

Back to Baking~

So I've had a little rest from baking the past 2 weeks. I haven't been baking because of a number of reasons.. I guess laziness, lack of motivation, "busy"-ness... but yesterday I baked for the first time in 2 weeks. 2 weeks is a long time for me not to bake actually XD I wanted to make something fresh and fruity but we only had frozen berries not fresh. I also wanted to make a whole cake but since I started baking a bit late at night I thought it would take too long so I baked them in smaller muffin tins. I used the same recipe as Fruit Pastry Cake but am calling these: MINI BERRY PASTRY CAKES ^____^

Can't go wrong with berries :D

You can find the recipe here.

Felt really good to be back baking!~ 

Rising in the oven ^____^

Looks like a face!! haha

Berries making funny shapes XD

Brought these to lab meeting =) hope u guys liked it~

EDIT: Since this post I've already made Orange poppy seed cake and also this morning I baked Cinnamon scrolls ^__^ BAKINGTRAY IS BACK BAKING :D :D :D

Chocolate Banana cake

I think I've mentioned before how good a combination chocolate and banana is.. but I'll say it again! Chocolate + Banana = Delicious =D

So when I saw this recipe in a cookbook~ I just had to try it out! It looked so simple.. (and it was!). Took me 15 minutes from beginning to the oven. The only test of patience was waiting for it to bake in the oven, especially when I could smell the melted chocolate and baked banana.

Mmm.. love it how u can see the banana and chocolate pieces~

Actually, I haven't been in a baking mood recently (I baked this last month). Not sure why... haven't really been inspired to bake anything and also maybe because I'm not stressed enough - I usually bake the most when I''m stressed. Anyways, enjoy this recipe :)

Chocolate Banana Cake

Ingredients

3 medium bananas, mashed

3/4 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 tbs milk

3 tbs oil

100g dark chocolate, grated

100g walnuts, chopped (optional - I didn't have any so didn't add them)

1. Preheat oven to 170oC and grease/line loaf tin. 

2. Place bananas and sugar in large bowl and mix.

3. Sift in flour, add eggs, milk and oil and mix.

4. Fold in chocolate and walnuts.

5. Pour batter into loaf tin and bake for 55 minutes or until skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

How simple was that!? x)

Slice it up!!! tastes so good warm~

So hopefully I'll be in a baking mood soon =D So I can share more recipes with you all :)


EDIT: I was just watching an episode of MASTERCHEF last night and it was SO AWESOME!!!! =D It had Adriano Zumbo who made a cake tower!!! so def inspired to bake now =p

Cooking KOREAN sweets: Hoddeok 호떡

One day I received a little sweet treat from a church sister because she knew I liked Korean food, especially sweets! (thank u ^^).. I had no idea what it was and the best way I can describe it is a flattened sweet red bean bun minus the red bean floury taste. Later on she told me it was 호떡 "Hoddeok"~ a filled Korean pancake that is a popular street food in Korea (wikipedia =p).

deliciously freshly fried HODDEOK :D

This sister also shared with me a Korean blog that she follows and I found the recipe for HODDEOK! it looked very simple and even came with a youtube video showing you how to make it. So I gave it a go .. and happy to say.. THEY WERE DELICIOUS! so I must share with all of you!!

HODDEOK~
Recipe adapted from Maangchi.

Ingredients
1 cup lukewarm water
2 tbs white sugar
2 tsp yeast (I used a 7g sachet)
1 tbs vegetable oil
2 cups plain flour

Filling
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

*note: this is supposed to make 8 pancakes about the size of a cd .. but i managed to make 12 =p*

1. Place water in a large bowl and add sugar, yeast and oil. Mix together to activate the yeast. *make sure the water isn't boiling otherwise you will kill the yeast!*
2. Add plain flour and mix with together to combine.
3. Place clingfilm over the bowl and allow to rise in a warm place for ~1 hour.
4. After dough has risen, mix again to remove gas bubbles from dough. Cover and let rise for another 10-20 minutes.

dough risen and then kneaded~

5. Make filling by mixing brown sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.

(I think savoury ones will be just as nice! Try ham and cheese, cheese and chives...:D)

6. Knead dough again to remove gas bubbles. 
7. Dust cutting board and hands with plain flour.
8. Place dough on cutting board and knead. Make into a lump and cut into 8 equal-sized balls (or 12 ^^ however small/big you want them to be).

such a light and soft dough ^^

9. Take 1 dough ball, flatten it, place filling in center of dough and seal to make a ball.

Filling placed in dough and sealed

10. Heat up non-stick pan over medium heat, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil.
11. Place 1 ball on the pan and let cook for 30 seconds. When bottom of dough ball is light golden brown, turn it oven and press dough with spatula to make a thin and round pancake.

Frying dough balls~

flip over and flatten!!!

cover with lid and let it fry for another minute or so...

12. Let cook for about 1 minute until the bottom is golden brown.
13. Turn it over again, turn heat down to very low. Cover pan with lid and leave to cook for around 1 minute.

mmm.. syrup melted in the center :)

LOVELY when served HOT! the brown sugar becomes and syrup and its a delicious sweet filling ^_^ 맛있어요 ("mas-iss-o-yo")

my hoddeok vs. store bought ready made hoddeok