Classic red Velvet Cupcake

Did you know that a Red Velvet cake / cupcake is actually a chocolate cake with buttermilk as one of the ingredients and of course top with a cream cheese frosting. I was wondering why the Red Velvet is so popular and decided to try but using a recipe that calls for sour cream/yogurt instead of buttermilk. And the texture is fluffy and moist. I do find dumping the whole bottle of red food colour is too much though so I just added a few drops to give it some 'colour'. You can actually make this into a cake instead of cupcake.

Ingredients:

21/2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
226g Butter, softened
2 cups Castor Sugar
4 Eggs
1 cup Sour Cream / Yogurt
1/2 cup Milk
1 bottle (1 oz) Red food colour ( I used few drops)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt together. Set aside.
2. Beat butter & sugar in a large bowl at medium speed for 5 mins till light & fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Mix in sour cream/yogurt, milk, food colouring & vanilla extract.
4. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed till just blended. Do not overbeat.
5. Spoon into paper cups and bake about 20 mins.
6. Cool before frosting.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

250g Cream Cheese
58g Butter, softened
2 tbsp sour cream / yogurt
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
500g Icing sugar, sifted

1. Beat all ingredients except sugar till light & fluffy.
2. Gradually beat in sugar till smooth.
3. Frost on top of cooled cupcakes.

Lemon Cheese Swiss Roll

This is the second time I am participating in the Aspiring Bakers and the theme for this month is ' Swiss Rolling Good Times'. I actually only attempted baking swiss roll twice and this month's theme gave me a good excuse to try again.

The recipe I chosed is from the "Y3K recipes' magazine issue # 56 by Coco Kong. I find the texture of this cake very soft and the lemony taste in the Lemon Cheese filling not too overwhelming.

Ingredients
(A) 5 Egg Yolks
      45g Castor Sugar
      1/2 tsp Salt
      40g Corn Oil
(B) 115g Hong Kong / Superfine Flour
      1 tsp Baking Powder
      50ml Ice Water
      Grated rind of 1 Lemon
(C) 6 Egg Whites
      85g Castor Sugar
      1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
(D) 1 tsp Lemon Essence / Paste
       200g Cream Cheese
      Juice of 1/2 Lemon
      50g Icing Sugar
      60g Natural Flavoured Yogurt

Method:
1. Beat ingredients (D) until smooth. Keep mixture chilled for 30 - 60 mins.
2. Combine ingredients (A) together. Beat well. Fold in ingredients (B). Set aside
3. Beat ingredients (C) until soft peaks form and mixture becomes fluffy. Fold in no (2) till even.
4. Pour no (3) onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for 12 - 15 mins. Remove cake from oven.
5. Loosen cake from pan and trim off hard edges. Cover with a dry tea towel to prevent cake from drying out. Cool well.
6. Place cake on a clingfilm and spread some filling (1) on surface. Roll up tightly and keep chilled.
7. Do not unwrap during the first half hour. Slice & serve.

I am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times (July 2011) hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food

Raisins & Hazelnut Ice Cream

Over the weekend, I joined a baking class organised by a local bakery and the chef was from Kuala Lumpur. There were a few classes but the one I attended was on Ice Cream & Desserts. After bringing home the samples (which was not enough to distribute to my children) I picked the easiest one to make as I have all the ingredients at home. I have to say that making ice cream uses up lots of egg yolk and I might be using the egg whites to attempt macaron making for the 6th or 7th time...

Previously when making Ice cream, I would put them into a container to freeze and just scoop it out to a cone or cup but this time from the lesson, an interesting way was putting it onto a tart so it became Ice Cream Tart and of course onto a dessert cup.

Ingredients

A: 6 Egg Yolks
    25g Icing Sugar
    15g Milk Powder
    40g Creamer (Coffee Mate)
    225g Evaporated Milk
    2 tsp Coffee Emulco/Paste

350g Non Daily Topping, whipped

200g Hazelnut, Roasted & Chopped
90g Raisins / Sultanas

1) Double boil all ingredients A. Let it cool.
2) Mix (A) into whipped topping and stir till smooth.
3) Stir in the Chopped Hazelnuts & Raisisns.
4) Scoop into a dessert cup / tart cases or just into a container.
5) Freeze overnight.
6) Decorate with whipped cream and top with chocolate or fruits before serving.

Orange Carrot Cake

Remember me mentioning that hubby do not fancy cakes? Well, he does eat certain types of cake though not really indulge in them and I'm on a 'journey' to discover his prefered taste...(^_^). One of them is Carrot cake. On his previous deep sea fishing trip with his buddies, I  baked a carrot cake and put some inside a container as I know my children and I will not be able to finish them. When he came home from his 3 days 2 nights trip, he said he & his buddies finished up the whole lot in seconds and it was not enough to share ...:-)) Hmmm....makes me wonder if it was because they were too hungry or rather, nothing to eat on a fishing boat in the middle of nowhere.

Few days later while eating an orange, he asked me if there's such thing as Orange Carrot cake. I told him that there should be and will try and bake one. I actually fogot all about it until I was reading other blogger's webpage yesterday and saw this recipe from  http://anncoojournal.blogspot.com/

Ingredients:
160g Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Corn Oil
150g Carrot, Grated
100g Raisins
1 tbsp Orange Zest
4 tbsp Orange Juice
180g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder

1) Line a 7' square pan at all sides.
2) Gently mix brown sugar, oil, orange juice & eggs till combine.
3) Add carrots, raisins & orange zest. Mix well.
4) Sift flour, baking soda & cinnamon powder together. Fold into the wet ingredients.
5) Bake in preheated oven at 175degree C for 40 - 45 mins.
6) Leave to cool before frosting with your favourite Cream Cheese frosting.

Chilled Ribena Marble Cheesecake

This recipe has been in my collection for quite sometime. I felt like making a chilled/non bake cheesecake as its been quite sometime since I made a non baked one. I have most of the ingredients at home and this is a very easy cake to make. You can go to this blog to check out the step by step instruction.
http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.com/2009/02/yummy-delight.html

Ingredients for Crust:

150g Digestive biscuit, crushed
60g Butter, melted

1) Line a 20cm/ 8 ' round pan with removable base.
2) Combine crushed biscuit with melted butter and press to base of pan.
3) Chill in freezer for at least 1 hour.

Ingredients for Filling:

250g Cream Cheese, room temperature,
75g Castor Sugar
250ml / 1 cup PlainYogurt
75ml Ribena Cordial / Syrup
100ml Water
2 tbsp Gelatin powder

1) Sprinkle gelatin into water. Do not stir. Let gelatin swell (about 10 mins) before setting bowl over a pot of simmering hot water. Stir well till gelatin melt. Remove & set aside.
2) Beat Cream Cheese & sugar till smooth. Add in gelatin & yogurt. Beat till smooth.
3) Divide mixture into 2 bowls and add ribena cordial/syrup to one of the bowl.
4) Spoon 4 tbsp of plain cream cheese onto the middle of prepared biscuit base. Spoon 3 tbsp of ribena cream cheese over it.
5) Continue altenately until the cream cheese is finished. Do not tilt the pan, it will spread by itself.
6) Chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Ice Cream Cake for Father's Day

The 3rd Sunday of the month of June is dedicated to fathers all over the world and this year, I made the cakes for my father and also hubby. For my father, I made a carrot cake frosted with cream cheese as he loves the carrot cake I bake minus the walnuts...:-) Previous years, he would request me to get him either a Black Forest cake or a Fruit Cocktail cake from the local bakery. I'm glad this year I get to bake for him.

For my hubby, he actually do not fancy eating cakes but once in a while indulge in them. I baked him a chocolate cheese cake for his birthday in April so I thought of trying out the Ice Cream Cake recipe I had from the baking class last year, hence the Yogurt Mango Ice Cream Cake.. I still need to have more practice on decorating and handwriting...(^.^)

Yogurt Mango Ice Cream Cake

Sponge Cake Ingredients: -
(A) 4 Eggs                                        
      120g Castor Sugar                                                
      1 tbsp Ovalette (I omitted)                 
(B) 100g Superfine Flour (or low protein flour)
       15g Corn Flour
       1/2 tsp Baking Powder
(C) 40g Water
      1/2 tsp Mango Essence
(D) 50g Corn Oil

1) Whisk ingredients (A) till fluffy. Add in (B), use high speed to whisk till thick and light.
2) Pour in mixture (C) & (D). Stir well and pour into 9" round pan. Bake at 160 degree C for 30 - 35 mins.
3) Let cool and slice into 3 layers.

* You can also use your favourite sponge cake recipe. 

Ice Cream Filling: - 
((A) 3 Egg Yolk
       80g Castor Sugar                  
 (B) 200g Mango Puree
      200g Plain Yogurt
      1/2 tsp Mango Essence
(C) 300g Whipping Cream, whipped                                              

1) Double boil ingredients (A) till sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add in ingredients (B). Mix well.
2) Let it cool and stir into (C).

To Assemble:-
1) Arrange a layer at the bottom of the cake board inside a cake ring. Cut another slice into 4 to cover the sides of the cake ring.
2) Pour in the ice cream filling and cover the top with the last layer of sponge cake.
3) Put in freezer overnight.
4) To decorate, remove the cake ring and deco with fresh cream.

Cinnamon Rolls

My youngest brother had been asking me to try baking Cinnamon Rolls since his visit back home from Kansas, USA last year.  He knew I love any food that has cinnamon in it. I really love the smell of cinnamon  during baking like carrot cake or apple pie. I looked up on the various cinnamon roll recipe from the cooking books I have and also google the net  but I still find this recipe taken from 'Agnes Chang's Baking Made Easy' the easiest.

Ingredients A
300g High Protein Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
50g Castor Sugar
1 tsp Instant Yeast

2 Eggs, lightly beaten
60 - 75ml Milk
60g Soft Butter

Filling:
60g Soft Butter
50g Soft Brown Sugar mixed with 2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
50g Ground Almond

1. In a mixing bowl, mix ingredients A. Add eggs, milk and knead to form a soft and pliable dough. Add butter & continue to knead till smooth and elastic. Cover and prove till double in bulk.
2. Knead again till smooth. Rest for 15 mins.
3. Roll into a 36cm/14" square, spread soft butter on dough, leaving 2 cm border all around empty. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture on top of the buttered area and roll up like a swiss roll.
4. Cut the roll into 4cm thick and put them close together (cut side up, 9 pieces in 3 rows) on a greased 20cm/8" square tin.
5. Cover & prove till double in bulk (about 30 mins).
6. Bake at 190 degree C till golden brown about 15 - 20 mins.
7. Cool and drizzle top with your favourite glaze/ frosting. (I used 1/2 cup icing sugar mix with 1-2 tbsp milk)

* You can also add raisin before rolling up.

This is also the first time I'm joining the Aspiring Bakers - a monthly baking 'challenge' hosted by different bloggers with different themes.
I'm submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #8 - Bread Seduction (June 2011) hosted by Jasmine from Sweetylicious.