Pineapple Cheesecake on a peanut sesame crust

Friend K: Can you make a cheesecake with CNY flavours?

Me: Hmm... how about cheesecake with pineapple jam topping and a peanut crust?

Friend K: OK, but can you also add sesame to the crust?

So here it is... a CNY-inspired cheesecake. 

Cornflake Cookies

Couldn't resist trying this recipe using only 1 egg white, since I had a spare egg white from a batch of pineapple tarts that I made.

At first, I thought that the cookies would not bind together and would just fall apart when you pick them up...  You see, after whisking the egg whites and adding in the cereal, the mixture was rather loose.  Thankfully, after its due time in the oven, the cookies firmed up nicely and held its shape. All you get is the crunchy goodness of your favourite cereal  :)

RECIPE for CORNFLAKE COOKIES:

1 egg white

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

dash of salt

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup of your favourite cereal (I used POST Great Grains Crunchy Pecans)

Beat egg white until stiff.

Stir in sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat for a few more seconds.

Combine raisins, oats and cereal.

Mix dry and wet ingredients.

Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto your baking tray.

Bake at 170*C for 10 min or till lightly browned.

Peanut Flower Cookies (eggless)

So much for "no more cookies till next Christmas"!
It seems I can't run away from baking cookies for Chinese New Year too.  And instead of the usual rolled-up cookie balls, I decided that I'd make good use of my cookie press and make some pretty flower cookies instead. 


I'm submitting this to show my support for Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favourite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011) hosted by j3ss kitch3n.

EGGLESS PEANUT FLOWER COOKIES
Makes about 70-80 spritz cookies.
180g unsalted butter, softened
90g sugar (add more if you have a sweet tooth)
1 tbs vanilla
230g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
100g peanuts, shelled and preferably roasted for a nuttier flavour

- Combine flour, salt and peanuts, and blitz till peanuts are finely ground.  (If you blitz the peanuts without the flour, you'll get peanut butter!)
- In your mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy.
- Gradually add peanut flour and mix till you get a smooth dough.
- Fill up your cookie press, leaving as little air pockets as possible.  Then insert your favourite design plate into your cookie press and press out the cookies onto a baking tray.
- Bake 190*C for 10-13 min until the edges become firm and golden.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on wire rack.

Fruit & Nut Pound Cake

I remember the days when we bought frozen Sara Lee. And every time I pulled it out of the freezer, it was rock hard. Even after a few moments in the microwave to warm it up, it was still dry. And a tad too sweet for me. 


So when I started baking, pound cake was one of the first few recipes I attempted. It looked easy enough, but as with all simple things, there is more to it than meets the eye...

My first few attempts were either too dry or too wet. But today, I think I've found a recipe that's worth sticking to. It had just the right amount of moisture, was dense yet not heavy, and with just the right amount of buttery taste without being overwhelming. The photo doesn't really do the cake justice. It's either the lighting, or just simply my lousy camera skills. 

OK, enough yapping. Here's the recipe. 

FRUIT & NUT POUND CAKE

Makes a 9x5" loaf or 2 mini loaves. 

227g butter

200g sugar (up to 250g if you like it sweet)

4 eggs

1.5 tsp vanilla

1.5 tsp water

170g cake flour

60g raisins, currants, or cranberries

30g nuts (I used a mixture of pumpkin and sunflower seeds)

With your mixer on medium-high, whip butter till smooth and shiny. 

Gradually add sugar and beat till light and fluffy and almost white.

Stir together eggs, vanilla and water.

With mixer running, add egg mixture in a thin stream, and mix till fully incorporated.

Sift 1/3 of the flour over the batter.

Fold in gently with a spatula. Repeat twice more. 

Finally, fold in fruit and nut till evenly distributed.

Scrape batter into pan. Smooth top.

Bake at 160*C till skewer comes out clean, about 80 min for large loaf pan and 40 min for mini pans. 

When done, allow cake to cool in the pan for 5 min before unmoulding onto a cooling rack to cool completely. 

One thing still baffles me:  Why does the pound cake always split on top?  Has anyone found a way to make pound cake with a nice smooth top?  Please tell me... 

Almond Cupcakes

Happy New Year, my friends!!

May 2011 be a blessed year for you and your loved ones. 

Christmas Cupcakes

Flavour #1:  Double Chocolate Cupcakes (with green frosting)
Flavour #2:  Vanilla Fruit & Nut Cupcakes (with white frosting)
decorated with pearl dragees and marshmallow fondant stars

Christmas Truffles

Cake truffles, made for some very special friends.

* Glenfiddich Chocolate & Peanut
* Green Tea White Chocolate & Coconut

Recipe can be found here.
For the green tea truffles, just use green tea cake crumbs instead of chocolate, and replace choc with white choc.

Fruit & Nut Loaf 2

The first time I tried a fruit & nut loaf, I used a rice cooker to bake it. Yes, a rice cooker. You can see the results here.


This time round, I decided I would bake it the traditional way - in an oven. I'm pretty pleased with how this loaf turned out. Texture was light and fluffy, the way I wanted it to be. The dough was moist and soft, and rose beautifully. 


The only improvements I would make are:
- add more fruit and nut; and
- knead the fruit and nut into the dough instead of just rolling it up (so that the fruit and nut will 'adhere' to the bread better).


Despite the imperfections, it received the thumbs-up from my mom (who loves fruit & nut bread), and she promptly handed me a bag of sunflower seeds. The only request she made was for a crunchy crust (vs soft crust). Looks like there'll be more fruit and nut loafs coming up...

Recipe for a small 8x4" loaf:
1-1/4 tsp yeast
10g sugar
150ml warm water
3/4 tsp oil or butter
3/4 tsp salt
220g bread flour 
dried fruit and nuts, amount according to preference 
(I used dried cranberries and currants, pumpkin and sunflower seeds)


1 - Combine yeast, sugar and warm water. Set aside for 10 min till frothy.,


2 - Add oil/butter, salt and flour. Mix till you get a sticky dough. 


3 - Knead till smooth and elastic (10-15 min), adding extra flour if dough is too  sticky.


4 - Shape to a ball and place in a greased bowl, coating dough with oil. Cover with damp cloth and let dough rise till double in size (about 1 hour).


5 - Knock down. Press to a flat rectangle, and sprinkle dried fruit and nuts. Roll dough and knead gently a few times. Form into a loaf and place in a lightly oiled loaf pan. Cover with damp cloth and prove till double in size (about 40min).


6 - Bake at 190*C (or 180*C if using dark pan) for about 30 min. When done, cool on a wire rack. (Leaving the bread to cool in the pan for more than 3-5 min will cause the bottom to be soggy from the condensation.)

Special thanks to my dear friend, KL. 

Without your encouragement and your wonderful bread book,
I wouldn't have come this far in bread making  :)

Hash Brown Quiche & Apple Pear Crumble

When I first saw Jennifurla's post on her Ham & Cheese Quiche, I knew I had to try it.  The unusual thing about this quiche is that the crust is made with hash browns!  Now, that was a first for me.

I modified her recipe, since I didn't have ham.  Instead, I used minced pork, pre-cooked with some basil and oregano.  I also added some lettuce and tomatoes, since I had a whole bag of it in the fridge.

The verdict: I love the hash brown crust! First, no mess of having to make the pastry dough and having flour all over the countertop. Second, its crisp and crunchy texture, as well as savoury flavour, just added a whole new dimension to the quiche.  

Thanks for sharing, Jennifurla :)

And for dessert, while the quiche was baking in the oven, it gave me just enough time to whip up this Apple & Pear Crumble. It's easy, nutritious, and fabulous with vanilla ice cream!!

Although you don't see much from the picture, all the fruity goodness is under the crunchy crumble, all thanks to the rolled oats.

RECIPE for 4 portions:

Crumble topping:
65g flour
90g brown sugar (already reduced)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
40g rolled oats
25g almonds and walnuts
75g butter, straight from the fridge

Filling:
20-40g brown sugar (depending on how sweet/sour the apples)
1 tsp cornflour
1 apple + 1 pear, peeled, cored, chopped
30g raisins or dried fruit (optional)

1 - Combine all ingredients for topping. Blitz in a food processor till it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Set aside.

2 - Combine all ingredients for filling and mix well.

3 - Divide filling into 4 ramekins (or pour it all into a small pie plate).

4 - Sprinkle crumble topping over the filling.

5 - Bake at 190*C for about 20 min for ramekins or about 30-40 min for pie plate till crumble is golden brown.

6 - Allow to cool for about 10-15 min, then serve with a generous dollop of vanilla ice cream!

Amarula Truffles

Have you ever baked something that didn't quite turn out looking the way you had hoped?

Well, a week ago I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes. I think the temperature was too high and it became volcanoes! Yes - volcanoes! The top crusted too soon and the liquid centres started oozing out of the crust, forming odd looking lumps around the cake. It was awful, just awful. The taste was good, but it was just not presentable enough as cupcakes. 

So I set it aside, not wanting to waste the whole batch. I googled "leftover cake recipes" and found some ideas on how to use cake crumbs. So in to the food processor went the cupcakes, and out came a load of cake crumbs. In to the freezer it went till today...

To make about 20 truffles:
80-120g plain chocolate (according to preference)
small knob of butter
2 tbs amarula
130g cake crumbs
20g ground nuts (peanuts, almonds, walnuts, etc)
cocoa powder and/or ground nuts (for coating)


You don't really have to be accurate with these ingredients. Just rough estimates will do. 

Making the truffles:

1 - Melt the chocolate and butter bain marie. Stir till smooth, then remove from heat. 

2 - Add amarula and mix well.

3 - Stir in cake crumbs and nuts and mix well. Add a little extra amarula if the mixture is too stiff.

4 - Roll mixture into small balls and place them on a sheet of baking paper. Chill in the fridge till firm.

5 - Roll the balls in cocoa powder or ground nuts till well coated. 

6 - Place in paper cases and chill till ready to serve.

 

Cocoberry Muffins (Eggless)

Here's another batch of eggless muffins, adapted from my Eggless Double Choc Chip recipe.

Why is it called Cocoberry? Because I threw in coconut and cranberries into the batter. 

I'm beginning to really like this eggless recipe. It's so so so so so quick and easy, and the fact that it's cholesterol-free is a real plus!

Alright, enough 'talking'. Here's the recipe:


The Wet Stuff:
125ml milk
50ml oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond essence (optional)


The Dry Stuff:
110g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
50g white sugar
20g brown sugar
2 tbs desiccated coconut (or to preference)
30-40g dried cranberries (or raisins)
30g nuts (I used sliced almonds)


1 - Combine wet stuff.
2 - Combine dry stuff.
3 - Pour wet stuff into dry stuff, and mix till just combined. Batter will be lumpy. Do not overmix. 
4 - Pour into muffin cups or liners.
5 - Bake for 190 degC for 13-15 min till done. 


Tip: 
If you like your muffins with soft tops, cool them on a wire rack with a tea towel over them. Cooling them the usual way in the open will give you firmer, crusty tops. 

Banana Walnut Cake

This is another favourite of mine :)
Bananas and walnuts make such a great combination, don't you agree?
I made this on Sunday afternoon, and by the next morning, it was all gone!

This recipe makes a soft and very moist cake.

Ingredients:
1 egg
30g brown sugar
30g white sugar
1 tbs condensed milk
3 tbs yoghurt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
90 ml oil
1 banana, mashed
125g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
20g walnuts, crushed and dusted with flour
3-4 tbs ground peanuts for topping


1 - Cream egg and sugars till light and creamy.
2 - Add condensed milk, yoghurt, vanilla essence, cinnamon and oil. Mix well.
3 - Add mashed bananas and mix well.
4 - Sift flour and baking powder into egg mixture and mix till just combined.
5 - Fold in walnuts.
6 - Pour into 6" square pan (greased and floured). Sprinkle peanuts on top of batter.
7 - Bake at 160 degC for about 30 min till a tester comes out clean.

Craisin Nut Bread

I've been wanting to try a fruit and nut wholemeal loaf for a while. So when I stumbled upon a wholemeal bread pre-mix, I decided I'd give it a try. After all, the instructions looked pretty easy - mix the flour and yeast (included in pack), add water, knead, proof for an hour, then bake. 

So while kneading, I added cranberries + raisins = craisins, and some pumpkin and sunflower seeds. 

While the flavour was great (the fruits and nuts really jazzed up the bread), the texture left much to be desired - it was dense and heavy. Perhaps it was because the dough was proofed only once. But then, I followed instructions...

Oh well, next time, I'm going back to my good ol' traditional bread recipe, and take time to proof it twice. Lesson learnt: no short cuts to good baking. You just have to be patient; short cuts don't get you good results.

Mini Pound Cakes

with Cranberries & Pumpkin Seeds

I couldn't wait to try out my new mini bundt mould, and I was craving for pound cake. So without further hesitation, I whipped up some pound cake batter and into the bundt mould it went. 

(A)
90g butter (I used butter-flavoured Crisco + 3 tsp water)
30g sugar
pinch of salt
90ml condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 small eggs (45g each)

(B) 
90g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
cranberries and pumpkin seeds (a big handful of each)

1 - Cream all of (A) except eggs till light and fluffy.
2 - Add eggs one at a time. Mix till well combined.
3 - Add all of (B) and mix till batter is smooth.
4 - Bake for 170 degC for 16-18 min till done.

Four simple steps!
Can it get any easier?

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I'm not a fan of carrot cake. But this was a special request that I could not refuse. So, to make sure that the real cake turns out just right, I made some trial cakes. To my surprise, they turned out rather good  :)  I may just start liking carrot cake...

Ingredients for about 9 mini-cakes:

35g walnuts, chopped

125 carrots, finely grated

100g flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 small eggs (45g each with shell)

70g sugar

90ml oil

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 - Whisk eggs for about a minute or so till fluffy.

2 - Gradually add sugar till mixture is light coloured. 

3 - Gradually add oil and vanilla, and mix well.

4 - Add flour and other powdered ingredients and mix till just incorporated. 

5 - Fold in nuts and carrots.

6 - Bake at 180 degC for about 18 min. Cool completely before frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

(Only about half was used for these 9 mini-cakes.)

25g butter

100g cream cheese

100g icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

zest of half a lemon

* Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.

1 - With a mixer, beat cream and butter on low speed till smooth and creamy.

2 - Gradually add icing sugar and blend till well combined.

3 - Add vanilla and lemon zest.

When cakes are no longer warm, generously spread cream cheese frosting on top of each cake and top with a nice looking walnut. What a huge difference a little frosting makes!

Banana Walnut Minicakes

This recipe combines the classic flavours of bananas and walnuts, and the aromatic sweetness of brown sugar to produce a tasty and moist cake. Perfect with a cuppa!

This was originally from a cake recipe, but as I like small portions (it also shortens the baking time), I baked them in muffin cups instead.

Ingredients for 20 mini cakes:
2 eggs
30g brown sugar
90g white sugar
2 tbs condensed milk
2 tbs yoghurt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp cinnamon
180 ml oil
2 bananas, mashed
40g walnuts, crushed
250g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder

Method:
1 - Cream eggs and sugar till light and creamy.
2 - Add condensed milk, yoghurt, vanilla essence, cinnamon and oil. Mix well.
3 - Add mashed bananas and mix well.
4 - Sprinkle some flour onto the walnuts. Set aside.
5 - Sift flour and baking powder into egg mixture and mix till just combined.
6 - Fold in walnuts.
7 - Fill cups till about 2/3 and bake at 150 degC for 18-20 min till tops are golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

For most people, 160 degC is the typical temperature for this recipe. But because my convection oven is so heat efficient, I have to lower my temp setting by 10-20 degC, otherwise I'll get brown over-baked tops and uncooked insides. So adjust the temperature and baking time according to your oven.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Fruit & Nut Loaf

Breads baked in the rice cooker turn out moist with a soft crust. And the best part of home-made breads: you can add whatever fruits and nuts you like and however much you like! 

I didn't quite add as much raisins and nuts as I would have liked this time round; next time I'm definitely doubling the amount! (Recipe shown already has amounts doubled.)

enjoy!

Brown Sugar Apple Cake

It was Sunday afternoon. 
Mom and Dad were visiting and hinted at a home-baked goodie for their breakfast the next day.  So I looked around my kitchen and saw 2 apples sitting all alone on the counter.  Scrolling through my BB for a quick apple recipe, I found...

Apple Cake!
Just mix everything together, pop it in the oven for 40 min, and voila!

Once the cake was cooled and sliced, sample portions were handed out.  Following a round of seconds, the leftovers were packed in tupperware and Mom and Dad left with smiles on their faces.

Here's the recipe:

50g mix of pumpkin seeds and almonds

2 Fuji apples (green applies work well too)

1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
200g plain flour
50g white sugar
50g brown sugar
1/5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
80 g unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs Amarula liquor (or milk)
40g raisins
 
Soak raisins in liquor for 5-10 min.  In the meantime, peel, core, and chop the apples into bite size pieces. Toss with 1 - 2 tbs of lemon juice to prevent browning.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder & soda, ground cinnamon, and salt. Add the melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and liquor and mix until fully incorporated.

Sprinkle some flour to coat the nuts and chopped apples.  Then fold them into the batter together with the raisins. If the batter is too thick, stir in some milk (or more liquor).
 
Pour into 8" square baking pan lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 170 deg C for about 40 min.  (Bake at 180 deg C if you are not using a dark non-stick pan.)
 
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!