Chocolate fudge yellow cake

This was the Chocolate fudge yellow cake which we had for our Saturday dinner. But because we were so full after our dinner, my lil boy decided to skip it, and T and me shared a slice.

I had baked this cake only because there were some egg yolks left-over, and it's quite an eye-sore to see the egg yolks sitting in the fridge. It will be a waste to throw them away either. Yes, this is a pure egg yolk cake!

As my cake doomed quite a fair bit, I was eating the "scraps" after trimming the cake. Comparing, I actually like the cake better on its own, without the frosting. It tasted like good ol' butter cake! T likes the chocolate frostings, and wished I had slabbed more (and more)! Yumz

Yellow Butter Cake
(Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking, but size reduced to 6" round cake)

Ingredients/ Method: 
150g cake flour, sifted
1 3/4tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (I omit)
85g unsalted butter, room temperature (I used salted butter)
132.5g granulated white sugar (I reduced to 120g)
55g egg yolks, about 3 large egg yolk
120ml milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. In a bowl, sift or whisk flour with baking powder and salt.
2. Using electric mixer, beat the butter until soft and creamy (about 1 -2 mins).
3. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 3-5 mins).
4. Add egg yolks in 2 batches, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as need.
5. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined.
6. With mixer on low speed, add 1/3 flour to batter, followed by 1/2 milk. Then 1/3 flour, remaining milk, and lastly remaining flour. Mix well with each addition.
7. Transfer batter to lined cake pan.
8. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180deg C for 35 - 40 mins, or until skewer inserted in centre of cake comes out clean.
9. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then invert the cakes onto a greased rack.
10. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting
(Recipe adapted from Kitchen Corner, quantity halved for 6" round cake)

Ingredients/ Method: 
37.5g cocoa powder
93.5ml water
150ml evaporated milk (I used whipping cream)
75g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 egg yolks
45g corn flour
3/4 tsp instant coffee
45g butter

1. Mix everything in a double boiler except butter and keep on stirring with a hand whisk until the mixture thickens.
2. Lastly add in the butter until a smooth  and spreadable consistency.

Superman 2-tier cake

Another birthday cake for my nephew 6th birthday!

 

Instead of the usual chocolate cake base, I found another similarly good one which was used by Jane in her salted caramel cake.

Chocolate cake 
(recipe adapted from Passionate About Baking, originally from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients/ Method
375g plain flour
380g castor sugar
129g unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
4 large eggs
368g buttermilk (or 366g whole milk with 1 1/2tsp lemon juice, mix well and let it sit for 5 mins)
90g warm water
137g vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a bowl, sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Beat on low speed until just combined.
2. Add eggs, buttermilk, warm water, oil and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed, until smooth. Takes about 3 mins.
3. Pour batter equally into two 9" lined round cake pans. 
4. Bake on pre-heated oven 180 deg C for about 35-40 mins, or until skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean. 
5. Let cake cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 mins. 
6. Remove cake from pans onto wire rack, and let cool completely. 

Love & bear swissrolls & pandan chiffon cake

This is part II of the September school holiday post. See how the kids were having fun with baking, and I had as much fun guiding the little chefs! It was a very productive day, the kids made a Lots-of-love swissroll (recipe here) for my aunt's house-warming, and another pandan chiffon cake (recipe here) to bring home for daddy & mommy!

With leftover cream and ingredients, I made another long-ear bear swissroll (recipe here) in the night! 

Salted caramel & oreo cheesecake

This was a birthday cake baked at the last minute as I was not feeling well over the weekend. I've planned to bake this cheesecake long ago and I was even hesitating to present it as a belated birthday cake. Unfortunately I was not able to attend the birthday dinner on Sat and was lying down in bed most of the time. Thankfully I was slightly well enough to do up the cake on the actual day. Happy Birthday T! I will get a "make-up" dinner after-all.

Ingredients/ Method:

Base

6 pieces of digestive biscuits (about 80g)

40g butter, softened

Filling
500g cream cheese, at room temperature
30g caster sugar
20g cornflour, sieved
200ml whipping cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten

A: zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla essence
9 pcs of oreo cookies, roughly crushed

B: 75g salted caramel dark chocolate, melted
1 tbsp cocoa powder, sieved

Chocolate ganache

100g dark chocolate bar (I used 85% cacao) 

25g butter

50g whipping cream

Decoration

1/3 cup whipping cream, whipped with 1/2 tbsp powder sugar

mini oreo cookies

salted caramel dark chocolate 

1. For base, crush the biscuits and mixed well with the butter. Press onto 7' loose base tin. Put into fridge until ready to use. Wrap outer tin with aluminium foil.

2. Preheat oven at 140 deg C.

3. Beat cream cheese, sugar and cornflour until smooth and creamy. Add in whipping cream. Lastly, add in eggs. Divide mixtue into 2 portions.

4. Stir ingredient (A) into one portion of cream cheese. Pour onto base and steam bake for 30 mins.

5. Stir ingredient (B) into one portion of cream cheese. Pour onto oreo layer which has baked through. Steam bake for another 30 mins.

6. Turn off oven and leave cake in oven with door closed for 30 mins.

7. Remove cake from oven and leave to cool completely. 

8. Melt dark chocolate bar, butter and whipping cream. Pour onto the chocolate cheese layer.

8. Cover cake and chill for at least 6 hours or overnight.

9. Remove cake from tin. Decorate as desired.

P.s The chocolate ganache is slightly too hard and should add more whipping cream the next time. The 85% dark chocolate is too bitter for most of them, to use a "sweeter" chocolate the next time.

Chocolate cheddar cheesecake

I've made a couple of cheddar cheesecakes using this original recipe, and had modified it to orange-flavoured one before. Thinking it would be quite straight forward to make it into a chocolate version, but it resulted to something quite different. At first glance, it looks like the Magic Custard Cake, which I've bookmarked but yet to try. Without making comparison to the original cheddar cheesecake and to eat this cake on its own merit, I would say it's pretty good. 

Chocolate cheddar cheesecake

(makes a 8" x 8" square pan) 

Ingredients:
6 slices of Cheddar Cheese
100ml fresh milk
100g unsalted butter
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites (preferably cold, place in fridge after separating)
100g caster sugar
75g cake flour
25g cocoa powder 

Method: 

1. In a heatproof saucepan, place the butter, fresh milk and tear up the cheddar chesee slices in. 
2. Place saucepan over medium low heat and stir gently until all is melted and mixed in together. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool before use. 
3. Ladle big spoonful of the milk mixture into the egg yolks. Mix well and then add in the rest of the milk mixture in. Stir well. 
4. Sift in the cake flour and cocoa powder into the egg yolk mixture and make sure no lumps. 
5. Preheat the oven to 155 deg C with a water bath. 
6. Grease and line an 8x8 square baking pan. 
7. In another large mixing bowl, add the egg whites in and beat till foamy. Add in the sugar gradually and beat till stiff peaks. 
8. Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites portion into the cheese mixture. And repeat with the other 2 portions and careful not to deflate it.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the surface. 
10. Bake the cake in the oven for 50 minutes or till the tester comes out clean.
11. Chill the cake before serving. 

Sinfully rich peanut butter choco cupcakes

These were baked just before I left for my month-long holidays to States and Tokyo. I was trying to clear some stuffs in the fridge. If you like Reese's peanut butter cup, you will like this sinful little treats!

Peanut butter choco cupcakes


Ingredients/ Method:
185g butter
250g fine sugar
200ml evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
125g all-purpose flour (plain flour)
70g cocoa powder
1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp baking soda
1/2tsp vanilla essence
200g creamy peanut butter 

1. Sift flour, cocoa power, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
2. Combine sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla essences and butter in a saucepan.
3. Stir over low heat until sugar dissoclved and butter melted. Remove from heat.
4. Add the beaten eggs into the slightly cooled mixture and stir till well mixed.
5. Add egg mixture over the flour and stir till well mixed.
6. Spoon batter into baking cups using ice-cream scoop till slightly more than 1/2 cup full. (The cake rises a fair bit, so if you want a nice dome cupcake, fill up about slightly less than 3/4 cup)
7. Pipe peanut butter into the batter.
8. Baked at pre-heated oven of 180 deg C for 18 to 20 mins or till the skewer inserted into cupcake comes out clean.
9. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Chocolate fudge cake

Yesterday was T birthday and I can't remember when was the last he took leave on his birthday. T works in a "chi-na" company where the bosses hardly take leave, do not really recognise mc, and at times the bosses go to work even they are sick, etc. They are really sick!

On this special day, although we did not venture anywhere except for a korean dinner fare with some of our family members, it was pure joy to be relaxing at home together as a family. It's considered a luxury for us, and the happiest person is Zak, of course - no school, and play & play all day!

Though i tried to make a super-yummy chocolate birthday cake, it didn't turn out that way! The cake was (rock) hard, dry, sponge cake was not evenly sliced, fudge is bland and gluey, .... you name it. Luckily no one else other the three of us ate it, and daddy-son were very supportive to finish almost a slice of cake each ;-p I will try to compensate with a real super-yummy chocolate cake, I promise!

Daddy enjoying the super warm birthday kiss from his little darling! Better than any gift anytime!