Marble Mocha Chiffon Cake

Recipe adapted and modified from Surelicious Bakie.  

Ingredients:
*I used a 21cm tube tin

A

10g cocoa powder 

20g hot water 

B

100g cake flour 

3/4tsp baking powder 

1/4tsp salt 

5 egg yolks

80g vegetable oil 

1/2tsp coffee oil/emulco 

70g caster sugar 

100g coffee (I made a cup from the 3-in-1 sachets.  Used 100g for the cake and drank the rest!)

C

5 egg whites

1/4tsp cream of tartar

70g castor sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 170C.
   
2. Mix and dissolve the ingredients in (A).  Set aside.
   
3. Sieve flour, baking powder & salt.  Set aside.
   
4. Beat yolk with castor sugar from (B) with hand whisk until the batter turn creamy.
   
5. Add vegetable oil & coffee oil/emulco, and continue to beat until it is mixed in, then add coffee.
   
6. Add in sieved flour, baking powder & salt into the batter and mix until well combined (I used a hand whisk to do this).
   
7. Beat egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tartar. Gradually add in castor sugar (C) and continue beating until firm peaks formed.
   
8. Add the meringue into yolk batter, by 3 or 4 portions.  Fold in each portion with hand whisk, and fold the last portion with a spatula.  Fold until you do not see any meringue in the batter.
   
9. Scoop around 2.5 ladles of the batter into another mixing bowl and add in (A).  Fold until the cocoa mixture is well incorporated with the batter.
   
10. Transfer the cocoa batter back to the original batter.  Using a spoon, scoop from bottom upwards while gently spinning the mixing bowl.  Repeat this action about 3 times, but be cautious not to over do it, otherwise you'll lose the marble effect.
    
11. Now pour the batter to the tube tin, bang on the table top few times to remove air bubbles.
    
12. Send it to bake at 170C for 20mins, then 160C for 20mins.
    
13. Once it is done, remove the cake from the oven immediately and invert to cool completely before un-moulding.

Isn't the marble effect lovely? :)

The cake is really really soft and fluffy! :)

Yoghurt bread

Recipe adapted from LY's Kitchen.  With the usage of greek yogurt, the recipe promised to keep the bread soft for 3 days!

Ingredients
180g milk
80g greek yogurt
300g bread flour
25g caster sugar
1tsp salt
1tsp instant yeast
22g unsalted butter -softened

Egg wash - 1 beaten egg + 1tsp milk

Method

1. Add the above ingredients, except butter, in the same sequence to the breadmaker.
   
2. Make a well in the center, be sure not to expose water and add the yeast in it.
   
3. Start BM at menu 8 (dough menu).
   
4. After 10min, add in butter.
   
5. When the dough is ready, remove from BM and roll into equal portions of 80g each, leave to proof for 15min.
   
6. Start shaping into desired shapes, leave for final proofing for an hour.
   
7. Apply egg wash and send to bake for 20 mins at 170'C.

Hanjuku Cheesecake

Recipe adapted from Jeannie Tay.

Ingredients

300g Cream Cheese -softened to room temperature

40g  salted butter

3 eggs yolks 

20g Corn Starch

80g greek yoghurt

30g milk

1tsp vanilla extract

3 egg whites

75g caster sugar

Method

1. Prep for water bath baking.
   
2. Grease 7" round tin, line the base.
   
3. Preheat heat oven to 150C.
   
4. Melt the butter in the microwave.
   
5. Beat the cream cheese with the back of the spatula (mixer & hand whisk is fine as well, depends on your personal preference), then add the melted butter and whisk until well combined. Set aside.
   
6. In another bowl, mix together the egg yolks and sifted cornstarch until well combined. Add yoghurt and mix well. Then add in the milk and mix until combined.
   
7. Add yolk mixture into the cheese mixture and mix until fully incorporated.
   
8. Whip the egg whites until foamy, gradually add in sugar and beat until just reached soft peaks.
   
9. Fold meringue into the cheese mixture.
   
10. Send to bake via waterbath, at 150C for 80mins.
    
11. Once baked, removed from oven and leave to cool on cooling rack.  After around 10-15mins, while the cake is still warm, unmould the cake on a silpat or greased-proof baking tray, remove the baking paper at bottom and reinvert back to cool completely, then leave to chill in fridge overnight.

It was prefect!

Until I had a minor accident while unmoulding the cake!  I was doing something else and took a bit too long to get to the cake, so it was already pretty cooled down by the time I unmoulded it.  So the trick here is to quickly remove the cake from the tin while it is still warm.  Work just like JCC!

Pandan Almond Cookies

Adapted & modified from Kenneth Goh's recipe.

Ingredients

*makes about 50 cookies

250g plain flour

100g chopped almonds 

75g butter (I used salted)

100g castor sugar

1 egg

1/2tsp pandan extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150C.
2. Grease and line baking tray.
3. Sieved flour, set aside.
4. Cream butter and sugar until light & fluffy.
5. Add egg & pandan extract and mix until well-combined, then add in sieved flour and mix to a dough.
6. Roll out the dough and cut them out with cookies cutter.
7. Send to bake for 15min, then flip them over and bake for another 15min.
8. Leave to cool completely on cooling rack.

This is the plunger that I used.

And I thought they looked like jade before baking!

Baumkuchen (German version Kek Lapis)

A healthier version of the traditional Kek Lapis.  

Original recipe shared by Daniel Leong.

Ingredients
200g butter (as a personal preference, I use salted butter)
6 egg yolks
60g castor sugar
50g almond powder
100g plain flour
1tsp lapis spice*
50g milk
1tsp vanilla extract
2tsp rum*

60g castor sugar
6 egg whites

*these ingredients are optional.  I added them as I wanted a distinctive kek lapis taste.

Method

1. Preheat oven at 240C.
2. Grease and line 6” square baking tin.
3. Sieve flour with lapis spice.  Set aside.
4. Beat butter with 60g sugar until fluffy, then add in yolk, one at a time, until well combined.
5. Add milk, vanilla & rum until well combined.
6. Mix in sieved flour mixture & almond powder until well combined.  Set aside.
7. Beat egg whites until foamy, then add in remaining 60g sugar gradually, and continue whisking until attained firm peak.
8. Fold in meringue mixture into yolk mixture.
9. Change your oven to ‘top heat’ mode.
10. Using a ladle, transfer 2 scopes to the baking tin.  Using the back of a spoon/spatula, level the batter.  Sent to bake for 3-5mins, or until the top turns brown.
11. When the first layer is down, remove from oven and transfer baking tin to a heat resistant surface.  Using a lapis press (I don’t have one, so I used the back of a frying spatula), lightly press down the cake surface to release any air bubbles.  Then repeat step#10 for the next layer.
12. Repeat the step#10 & #11 until you finish all the batter.  For the last layer, keep the cake in the oven for extra 10-15mins, or till the top turns to desired brown.
13. Once baked, remove and leave to cool completely on cooling rack.

Original recipe shared by Daniel.

This is the lapis spice that I used.

Egg whites to be beaten till firm peak.

My final batter.

I used this ladle.

Level 2 scope of batter for each layer.

First layer baked.

(I should have bake them for few mins longer to get it more browned!)

When I was baking the first few layers, I used the back of a small baking tin (the size of a muffin) to act as my 'press'.

Once it got higher, I used the back of a frying spatula to press down each layer.

I'm using a conventional oven.  Selecting 2 Level Convection Bake for top heat mode.

Baked and done!  I love the brown top!

Almond & Melon Seeds Crisp

Recipe adapted from Evangeline Diana Lee.
A great recipe to clear the egg whites after making the Pineapple Tarts!

Ingredients
100g almond flakes
50g melon seeds
3 egg whites
2tbsp vegetable oil
70g castor sugar
40g plain flour
Black & white sesame seeds to sprinkle


Method

1. Lined baking tray and preheat oven at 180C.
2. Mix egg whites, sugar, oil & flour until well-combined.
3. Add in almond flakes & melon seeds and mix well.
4. Transfer mixture into baking tray and spread them thinly & evenly over the tray. 
5. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the mixture.
6. Send to bake for 18mins.
7. Once baked, quickly lift the baking paper to a heat-resistance surface (eg: silpat or wooden choping board) and cut them into squares or rectangular shapes. Note:  they will turn hard once cooled.
8. Then transfer to cooling rack and leave to cool completely before storing them in air-tight containers. 

Original recipe.

Before baking.

Fresh out from oven!

Baked, cut & packed!

Pineapple Tarts (melt-in-the-mouth)

Tart recipe adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover.

Ingredients
*Makes about 100 tarts

350g butter (I used salted)
100g condensed milk
510g plain flour
2 egg yolks

700g Pineapple filling (I used store-bought types, but if you prefer to make them yourself, you can take a look at this Kenneth Goh's recipe that just required 30mins to make!)

Eggwash: 2 egg yolks + 1tsp water + 1tsp oil

Optional (depending on design): Sesame seeds & green coloring


Method

1. Roll pineapple jam into balls of 8g each (Tip: wet your hands while rolling, it'll prevent the jam from sticking to your hand) I did this the night before baking the tarts, and store them in an airtight container and left it in the fridge.
   
2. Cream butter and condensed milk with mixer, until light & well-combined.
   
3. Add in egg yolks, one at a time.
   
4. Then mix in sieved flour (half by mixer, and the other half manually).
   
5. When the mixture comes to a soft dough, roll each dough into balls of 10g.
   
6. Shaping into balls:
   (1) Flatten a piece of dough on your palm, then place a piece of the roll pineapple filling in the middle. Seal the edges of the dough and roll it into a round ball shape.
   (2) Apply egg wash and sprinkle some sesame seeds in the center.
   
7. Shaping into pineapples:
   (1) You need to color a small portion of the dough with green coloring.
   (2) Flatten a piece of dough (original) on your palm, then place a piece of the roll pineapple filling in the middle. Seal the edges of the dough and roll it into a round ball shape.
   (3)  Press a skewer lightly across the ball to create the lines.
   (4) Using a small flower plunger, cut out 3 small flowers from the green dough.
   (5) Stick them on the sides of the ball to create the leaf.
   (6) Apply egg wash.
   
8. Shaping into nastar:  Transfer dough to the nastar plunger and pipe out a strips of dough, add a piece of pineapple jam, roll up and cut off extra dough.
   
9. Send to bake at 160C for 20mins.
   
10. Once baked, leave to cool completely then store in airtight container.

The jams I used.

Roll them into balls of 8g each.

Pineapple Balls: before baking.

Pineapple Balls: baked!

Pineapple shapes: before baking.

Pineapple shapes: baked!

This is the flower plunger that I used to make the leaf on the pineapple shape tarts.

Nastar: before bake

Nastar: baked!  For this shape, I did it without eggwash.

This is the plunger that I used for the nastar shapes.

Illustrations on the nastar shaping.
Photo credits to Food4Tots.

All baked & packed!