Moist Chocolate Cake

CHOCOLATE MOIST CAKE

Craving for chocolate cake? Then try this one.

This is a very nice moist chocolate cake.It is a very old recipe taken from the book by Betty Yew.

Once baked and cooled down,it has to be put inside the fridge to chill for easy cut or otherwise it would look like crumbs when you cut it.When chilled,it is nice to eat too.

So here is the easy to follow recipe:

Ingredients:

180g butter

360g castor sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp instant coffee granules

1 tbsp hot water

1 tbsp brandy

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup water

Sifted Ingredients (combined)

240 g plain flour

75 g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

1/2 tsp salt

Grease sides and line base of a 35 x 11 cm loaf pan or a 20 cm square cake tin with greased greasedproof paper.

Cream butter and castor sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time,beating well.

Dissolve coffee granules in hot water.Stir in brandy and vanilla.Add to remaining water and stir.

Stir coffee mixture alternately with sifted dry ingredients,a third at a time into the butter mixture.Blend well and pour into prepared tin.

Bake in preheated oven °C for 55-60 minutes.Leave cake to cool in the tin 20-30 minutes,then turn out to cool on a wire rack.

Note:Below here is new pictures that I update after I made the cake another time.This time using 

dark chocolate and adding in some raisins after I lessens the sugar to 250g.

Oreoly Cake

Steamed Layered Oreo

Steam layer by layer.

After it is done,bake

for 15 minutes to make

it last longer

This is the perfect cake that has Oreo in it.I can't really tell you how good it is, but it was really good. Try it for yourself.The original recipe uses Chocolate Fingers, but I can't find so I used Oreo biscuits instead. I alter the recipe a bit, that is, with a mint flavour in the centre and chocolate taste in between the layers and top. You can also change the chocolate layer on top and bottom. It's all up to you how you're going to arrange the layers.

This cake was baked during the Chinese New Year Celebration

Some of the few cakes order from customers

Recipe to follow:

Ingredients:

A

6 egg yolks

250g butter

3 tbsps sweetened condensed milk

B

6 egg whites

220g castor sugar

C

170g low protein flour sifted

1 tsp pink colouring

a drop of pandan paste

1 tsp peppermint essence

2 cubes of cooking chocolate melted in double-boiler, mix with 2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 big packet of Oreo biscuits(without cream)

Note: In order not to waste away the cream, I ask my children to spread it on other biscuits.

Method:

.Beat ingredients A till light and fluffy.

.In a clean mixing bowl,beat egg whites of ingredient B till moist peaks form. Gradually add in sugar 

 little by little. Beat till mixture holds its shape. Do not overbeat.

.Fold A mixture and B mixture together. Fold in C in 3 batches till thoroughly mix.

.Divide mixture into five small bowls.(i found this is much easier)

.Put different colours into each bowl.(depends on your choice, I put 2 chocolate colours)

 

.Fill the wok with enough water for steaming. Grease and line a 7"x7" cake tin.

.Pour in the first layer colour of your choice. After the first layer is cooked, arrange Oreo biscuits on top 

Cover with the next colour of your choice and steam till cooked. Again, arrange Oreo biscuits on top, alternating with the green colour(cos I want to have the mint favour in the centre)

Then Oreo, then the next colour till all are used up.

.Make sure every layer is cooked first before adding in the next layer. (I once made a mistake by

 adding in too quickly before the layer were cooked and the layers turned out not so even)

 Steam for another half hour and turn off the fire and leave to cool in the wok for about 20 minutes. Take the cake out and cool further on a wire rack. The cake can be stored in the refrigerator.

An update to this post:

The cake can only look nice and easier to cut when kept cold in the fridge

This is another version of colours, make again on the 14th day of the Chinese New Year.

Coffee Cheese cake

4 pkg(8 oz.each) PHILADELPHIA Cream cheese,softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp instant coffee

1 tbsp coffee paste

1packet OREO biscuits(crushed to pieces)

180g butter

Crust biscuits.Melt butter.Mix the biscuits crumbs together with the butter.Put into the baking pan.Flatten with the back of a spoon and put inside the fridge to chilled.

Preheat oven to 350°F.Beat cream cheese,sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.Add eggs,mix just until well-blended.Microwave milk in small microwaveable bowl on high for 15 seconds.Add instant coffee,coffee paste and stir until well dissolved.Add to batter,mix well.Pour into crust.Bake for 40 mins or center is almost done.Refrigerate overnight.

Crunchy Cinnamon Cookies

 A simple to do perfect cookies for the Chinese New Year.If you are thinking of making cookies,but lazy or have no time to make,here is a simple to do recipe.Unlike the pineapple tarts,which takes up a lot of time.Happy Baking!Gong Xi Fatt Choy!



Ingredients:

1 cup castor sugar(brown sugar can do)

1 cup butter/margarine,softened

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

13/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup NESTUM CEREAL

1 Cup cornflakes

1/2 cup raisins

Method:

Heat oven to 180°C.In a large bowl,beat castor sugar and butter/margarine with an electric mixer on medium speed till creamy.
On low speed,beat in eggs and vanilla until well-mixed.
Beat in flour,baking soda,cinnamon and salt intil well-mixed.
Stir in the cereal,cornflakes and raisins.Mix thoroughly.
Drop a heap of mixture with teaspoon(u need 2 tsp,1 for scraping it down) into small baking cups.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or when it turns brown in color.Cool before storing in an airtight
container.

Coffee Cheese Cake

I made this cheesecake on a sunday afternoon,and within 3 hours of chilling in the fridge,it was gone.Son kept persuading to eat.Recipe source from PHILADELPHIA

Here's the Coffee Cheese Cake recipe:

2pkg(8oz.each)PHILADELPHIA Cream cheese,softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 tbsp milk

2 tbsp instant coffee

1 OREO Pie crust(60z)I just used plain MARIE Crackers

Preheat oven to 350°F.Beat cream cheese,sugar,and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.Add eggs,mix just until blended.Microwave milk in small microwaeable bowl on HIGH for 15 seconds.Add instant coffee,stir until dissoved.Add to batter,mix well.Pour into crust.Bake 40 minutes until center is almost set.Cool.Regrigerate several hours or overnight.Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

I just use the basic crust recipe:

150 g marie biscuits crushed into breadcrumbs

90 g butter,melted

Mix the biscuits crumbs together with the butter and spread on the base of a cake tin with the back of a wooden spoon.Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Bak Kwa

This is my first time trying to make Bak Kwa a.k.a Bak Poh or Rou Gan.Too bad,I got a few burnt,(4-5 pieces).The fire was too big during charcoal-grilled.Slowly,then I got to handled it more proficiently.I will try grilling again when it's near to Chinese New Year!Chinese New Year is round the corner.In fact,it is just 10 days away,that I didn't even realised it.

 The recipe I found from Sunflower Food galore.I think I made my meat too thick.I will try making again,and I hope it turns out perfect the next time.The taste was okay,exactly the taste of Bak Kwa.

I'm not going to give any recipe,but you can go to the link:http://sunflower-recipes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/chinese-pork-jerky-sweet-bbq-pork-rou.html

Happy Chinese New Year!I hope to make my Bak Kwa as nice as Sunflower Food Galore.

Pineapple Tarts For Chinese New Year

I love Pineapple Tarts.There are many different types of shapes.No matter what shapes,they are all very beautiful.They are also very nice.I've been trying many different types of shapes to suit my mood but it's also a hard job.After that,there's a lot of washing up to do.

Although,I came to love this shapes, picture above,I still prefer the flower types
pictures below

Recipe for the above:

1 kg pineapple jam(I bought the ready made packet)

800 grams all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 tabsp corn flour

125 grams icing sugar

500 grams unsalted butter

4 large egg yolks

2 eggs for brushing

Method:

Place unsalted butter in a bowl.Using an electric mixer,cream the mixture for 30 seconds on low speed and turn the speed to medium-high and cream for 5 minutes,until fluffy.Beat egg yolks in a small bowl.Put in yolks.Fold in flour in two batches.Do not over-mix.Lay a large piece of cling film/plastic wrap on the table..Turn the dough onto the plastic wrap and wrap it up.Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180°.Combine the two egg yolks with 1-2 tablespoon of water or milk until it's a smooth consistency.Set aside.Roll the pastry out to desireable thickness.Put enough dough into the nastar mould and pump it out.Put the jam filling in and roll out.Egg wash the top.Bake it in the oven for 20 minutes or until slight brown.



more traditional

Recipe for above pic:

Pastry recipe:

400g plain flour

50g corn flour

1/4 tsp salt

280g cold,unsalted butter(do not allow to soften)

3 egg yolks,beaten

3 tbsp cold water/iced water

6 tbsp icing sugar

1/2 tsp cognac or pure vanilla extract

1 egg yolk +1 tbsp water

Method:

Sift the flour,icing sugar and salt.Mix well to combine.

Rub the butter into the flour with your finger tips until it resembles like breadcrumbs.

Beat the egg yolks,cold water /cognac together.Add into the flour butter  mixture.Turn into a

dough but do not knead.Gather all the crumbs together until it turns into a ball.Chill in the fridge for about 10 mins covered.

Roll out to 7mm thick or how thick you want.Cut the pastry out using the mould

cutter.Place on the lined grease tray with greaseproof paper.Egg wash the sides of

pastries as well as the center.Put the prepared pineapple jam balls in the center of each tarts shells.

Bake in the oven at 160°c for 20 minutes.Cool.Keep in an airtight container.

Then,I made this one picture above.
I bought the ready-made pineapple jam as I think it is much more easier.I hate to cut,slice pineapple.The cooking takes up a lot of time.Pineapple also aren't cheaper nowadays.For those who like to cook their own,here's the simple recipe.;

250g grated pineapple(ripe)

150g sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 cinnamon stick

Method:

1.Bring to a boil grated pineapple,sugar,lemon juice and cinnamon stick.

2.Let it simmer for 30 mins or until thickens.

3.Sieve in 1/2 tbsp corn flour.

Here's an update to pineapple tarts recipe:2015

226 grams butter

3 tbsp sugar

11/2 tsp salt

1 egg yolk

21/2 cups flour(330g)

2 tbsp milk powder

2 tbsp corn flour

21/2 tsp custard powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Beat butter with sugar until fluffy.Then add in egg yolk.Mix the flour,corn flour,custard flour,milk powder and salt together.Then add to the butter mixture.Add in the vanilla essence and beat again evenly. Make into dough and roll,then shape with cutter.Fill the pineapple jam.Bake in a preheated oven,180°C until cooked.

Glutinous rice ball

Tang Yuan

Glutinous Rice Balls

Tang Yuan is celebrated either on the 21st or 22nd of December every year.This year it falls on the 22nd of December.(when I was young,I always thought it to be on the 22nd december every year)As I was busy on this day,my children help me to make this sweet glutinous rice.They love these round balls,but I dislike it.Therefore,I'm not so keen to make but since they love it so much,I decided to make it for them.I make the dough and they just turn it into round balls..In those days,my late mother bought the ready make dough from the wet market.I prefer to make it myself as it was fairly easy and just glutinous rice flour,water and sugar.

Recipe to follow:
200g glutinous rice flour
150ml or more water if it's still dry a little bit
a few drops  food colouring(red,green,white)

600ml water
75g sugar
                                                                               3-4 screwpine leaves(wash n knotted)
Method:
Combine flour,water and put in a mixing bowl and then mix.knead until smooth and bowl comes out clean.Divide into two or three portions and make into round balls,depending on how big you want the balls to be.
In a big pot,boil the water and sugar and screwpine(pandan leaves) together.When the water boils,dropped the balls into the syrup water.(just like cooking fish/meatball soup)When the balls float,it is ready.

It is never too late to post.I may have posted this late.The festival is over,but it can still be used for next year and the following next,next,next year.





Colourful Layered Cake

It's the school holiday season and Hor!Hor!Hor!Hor!,"Merry X'mas!Let's baked some colourful cakes for X'mas.I know,I should be making a yule log,but I made this one instead.Yum!Yum!Yum!It's finished  in a day!After spending several hours of baking till past midnight! Making this cake layer by layer is time consuming.Mind you,the ingredients are so big,you can just make half of itI found this recipe from a malay website,written in malay and I tranlated it to english with a little alteration to the recipe.I think this cake taste more like a mooncake.By looking at the recipe,I think one would contemplate or hesitate to make this.It's way too much sweet ingredients added and the eggs are too many,but there are still many people out there willing to try.Let's keep going.
Share!share!share! Sharing is a joy:

Ingredients:

12 eggs

450g castor sugar(i reduce it to 380g cos there are many sweet things added)

450g flour

200g horlick

1 tin kaya(300g)

1 tin condensed milk(397g)

1 packet santan(200)

1 bottle peanut butter(340g)

300g cooking chocolate

1 tablespoon vanilla essence

3 colouring of your choice

Method:

Put all ingredients except cooking chocolate into a big mixing bowl(you need a big mixing bowl)and beat till mix thoroughly.Then divide the ingredients into four equal parts.Put the coloring to each of your choice.(i used purple.green,red)
Put the other portion with melted chocolate.
Steam or grilled on top,layer by layer till finished.

I top-grilled on oven temperature 180 degree celcius on a convection oven.Leave to cool on a wire rack.It's best to cut when the cake has turned completely cool,preferably the next day.

Steamed Chocolate Horlicks Cake

A simple to make steam cake

Ingredients:

250g butter
1 cup condensed milk
5 eggs(grade A)
120g kaya
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
200g self-raising flour
150g Horlicks(1 small packets0
100g cocoa powder(mix and sift)

Method:

Beat butter and milk until fluffy.
2.Beat eggs in a separate bowl until frothy.
3.Pour egg into butter mixture and mix well.Add in kaya,vanilla and mix well till combined.
4.Pour into grease tin lined with greaseproof paper and steam for 11/2 hours until cooked.

After I already pour into the tin,I realised that this cake has no sugar added.I checked back the recipe and it's true that no sugar was written on there.Just perfect!Sweet,but not too sweet,just the way I want it.

Evergreen Cake/Kek Lapis

The so-called green,green cake

Butter Cake

Perhaps the most easiest cake to do is this butter cake.It was a cake for the beginner.I remembered me making this cake for the very first time when I was just in my teenage years.The recipe were very easy to remember.I do not have to take out my book to follow.It was just in my head.My siblings called this the old fashioned English cake.

INGREDIENTS;

250g butter
230g sugar
230g flour sifted
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoon milk(optional)

Method:

1)Sieve the flour and baking powder together in a plate.
2)Beat the butter and sugar together until it turns fluffy.Add the eggs,one at a time slowly.
3)Add in the vanilla.If milk is used,add in also.
4)Fold in the sifted flour until thoroughly mix.
5)Pour into a baking tray and baked in a preheated oven at 180°C for 45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.Cool on a wire rack before cutting.Served with tea or coffee.