Being 25

Salam.

Welcome to another birthday post of mine! There's nothing new to report, but a year has passed from my last birthday post. This is going to be a very short post, as there's nothing much to talk about, really. I'm celebrating my birthday, alone, while fasting & with eating window of only 5 hours. Literally, I'm still full from my iftar but I still need to eat something for my suhoor, so yeah. I will try to bake my birthday cake (a simple cheesecake with raspberry compote) because no matter what, a birthday should have a cake! I'll put the recipe at the bottom of this post, just because, and it's something like a birthday gift from me to my blog.

Highlights from my last birthday would be I'm in Salford now, 3 months away from finishing my studies. Next would be all the places I've visited in the last 9 months (I couldn't log everything, I'm very sorry). Pretty much that's it! Told ya, it's nothing much. But, I did logged my EU Trip (Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3) but Part 4 is still being written, I couldn't find time to finish it.  Plus, I went to my 2nd KPOP concert that is B.A.P concert in London (LOE London 2016), I probably will log about it, but don't hold it though, I might not! I even visited Harry Potter studio while I'm in London (again, I might log about it, I may not please spare me).

I'll be celebrating Eid with couple of my Malaysian friends, luckily I met them like I celebrated my Eid Adh alone and I have classes on that day too. Sigh, again luckily for Eid Fitr, I don't have classes but I will be submitting my proposal 2 days after Eid. I probably won't be celebrating like I usually did in Malaysia, just a simple food spread & gathering with friends.

With that, Happy 25th Birthday dear self. You have come a long way, you can do this you are more than capable of doing this. Chin up, shoulders straight, smile. Life is good, dear self, life is good.

Happy birthday <3

~~***~~

Simple Cheesecake 

(Taken from: CakeAddicted.com)

**For a 7-inch pan**

.

600g cream cheese

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

Lemon zest from 1 lemon

2 cup cookie crumble

1/2 cup (113g) butter, melted

.

Preheat oven @ 180℃. Melt butter, mix with crumbled cookie, pressed into buttered springform/loose based 7-inch pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 150℃.

.

Mix cream cheese & sugar+salt until well blended. Just use a whisk or wooden spoon (seriously). Mix in sour cream & flour. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Fold in lemon zest. Pour into baked crust. Bake for 60 minutes, cake should set around the edges but still jiggly & wiggly in the centre. Turn off the oven, left the cake to cool in the oven for an hour or so. Popped into fridge to chill for minimum 4 hours before cutting into it.

.

Notes: I used fan forced oven for this. I might need to tweak the baking time when I'm back to using electric oven. But start checking from 45 minutes mark.

BAKE!: Cinnamon Rolls

I do not remember where I adapted this recipe is from, because it must be from two years ago or something, I used her recipe for cinnamon rolls countless time and to that, variance of fillings, the bread is always smooth and fluffy and never went wrong.

Cinnamon Rolls

250g bread flour (a must, but replaceable by all-purpose flour)

50g all-purpose flour

30g brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

6g instant yeast (or 1 tsp + a pinch)

125ml milk (boiled, and warmed)

1 egg

50g butter, room temperature, cut to small cubes

Filling

50g brown sugar (or 1/4 cup, packed)

1 tbsp cinnamon powder

1 tbsp flour

Add: choc chip, raisins, nuts, etc.

25g butter, melted

1-2 tsp of honey/golden syrup

*note: orignal recipe and me uses breadmaker to make this dough.

1. Combine all dry ingredients, except yeast because salt and yeast should not met so soon, put the pan into breadmaker, at "Dough" function, and let everything mix together, add yeast.

2. Whisk egg into warm milk (must be warm!), and slowly drizzle into the dry ingredients. The dough should be formed after few rounds of mixing, if you feel the dough would not formed, drizzled tiny bit of milk.

3. As soon as it resembles some kind of dough, slowly drop butter cubes one by one, and left to knead and rise.

4. After first proofing in the breadmaker, roll out onto lightly floured workspace, and knead for few minutes, Leave it to rise for another 20 minutes, while preparing its filling.

5. Roll out the dough, roughly a medium size rectangle. (if you are feeding a large crowd, roll it bigger)

6. Slather the dough with the melted butter + honey mixture, and evenly coated the surface with the fillings.

7. Roll tightly into a log, and cut accordingly. (1 cm wide, more or less as you cut bigger the portion get smaller, etc.)

8. Arrange in pans, large enough to accommodate final proofing stage, that is 20 minutes.

9. Bake in a preheated oven, 190C for 10 minutes, then lowered down to 180C for another 10 minutes.

10, Whilst still piping hot, slather another coat of melted butter + honey mixture.

Serve immediately or if left to cool, reheat 10 seconds in the oven.

Enjoy!

BAKE!: Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

Adapted from: Chinadoll-Bakingdiary

250g Philadelphia cream cheese, cut into small cubes

6 egg yolks

70g castor sugar

60g butter

100 ml full cream milk

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

60g cake flour

20g cornflour

1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp Vanilla extract

6 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

70g castor sugar

1. Preheat oven to 200C, prepare an 8-inch round cake tin, grease and dust with flour. You can lined the bottom with paper, trust me on this. And, prepare a bigger pan for the waterbath.
2. Melt butter, cream cheese and sugar over waterbath, whisk until smooth, no lumps and the colour of pale yellow.

3. Remove from heat, and whisk egg yolks. (Tips: egg yolks tends to dry out if expose to air, cover them prior to mixing).

4. Whisk in milk, lemon juice, salt and vanilla.

5. Gently whisk in flour mixture. Set aside.

6. Whip egg whites until foamy. (Tips: you can add in cream of tartar and sugar from start, as these ingredients do not in any way disturb the end result).

7. Slowly drizzle in sugar + cream of tartar, and whip at high speed until just before stiff peaks. But, since I can't pinpoint the exact moment, my egg whites ends up to stiff peak stage, but it is fine.

8. Gently fold in the egg whites into the batter, Do not overmix, spots of whites is fine.

9. Pour into preprared pan and place into the bigger pan with hot water. 
(P/S: my tip: Place the cake tin into a larger pan, slide into oven then only pour the hot water. This is to avoid the need to carry hot water filled heavy pan into your oven.)

10. There is two steps to bake this baby:

a) at 200C for about 15 minutes until top is golden brown (this, of course depends on individual oven, I proceed to step 2 at around 20 minutes).

b) at 160C for the next 30 minutes, again based on ovens, check at 25 minutes mark, mine go way past 30 minutes, at around 45 minutes as I switch to bottom heat only for this step.

Left to cool in unopened oven, for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from waterbath and place back in the oven. Turn on ONLY the bottom heat at around 120C at 10 minutes, which according to Ms. Chinadoll-Bakingdiary, it is to dry the bottom, as it sits in a waterbath it is going to be a bit "wet".

Again, left cool in the oven, this time with the oven door slightly ajar, for 30 minutes. Unmould, and left to cool on cooling rack. Do let it cool completely before cutting, and advisable to chill it before cutting.

Enjoy!


Notes:
1. After first trial, following exactly to the T of original recipe, my cake cracks as its too soft, and the texture is totally of a cheesecake, no trace of chiffony cottony to it at all.
2. After second trial, I tweak the baking time a little bit, at the texture do improve tremendously as it comes out chiffony and cottony but not yet the exact texture of this cake. though my cake still burst in the oven which I suspect due to overwhipped egg whites, I believe the egg whites should be whipped only until medium stiff peak, at around 4 minutes of high speed. I will update this section after third trial.

BAKE! : Cream Puff (or just the choux pastry)

Choux Pastry
(for cream puff, eclairs etc.)

Recipe taken from dayotskitchen @ instagram (please check out her insta, very helpful simplified recipes, thanks sis!)

125g water
80g flour
70g butter
3 eggs
2 tsp canola oil (I sub with olive oil)

1. Sift flour, beat eggs slightly, preheat oven at 190 C.
2. Boil water, butter and oil until its foamy and literally bubbling over.
3. Remove from heat, and immediately stir in the flour.
4. Place back the flour mixture on low heat for approx 30 secs.
5. Slowly stir in beaten eggs, little by little, until formed a thick paste that will slowly drop off the spoon on the count of 5.
6. Pipe into baking trays. Smooth tops with water, and mist with water before popping into oven.
7. Bake at 190 C for 20 minutes, and 180 C for 15 minutes. Let cool in oven for 10 minutes.
8. Fill with whipped cream, custard cream or any cream of your choice.

My notes:
1. I overpiped it, thus my jumbo choux shells.
2. Jumbo shells = overload fillings. Luckily, I've got enough whipped cream to fill these shells.

BAKE!: Victoria Sponge Cake

Victoria Sponge Cake
Cake Recipe: The KitchenGuardian
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe: the batter baker
Strawberry Compote: mytinycorner1969

Cake
250g butter, leave soft

220g caster sugar5 large eggs @ 250g eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp golden syrup
3 tbsp milk
280g self-raising flour

1) Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
2) Drizzle in vanilla and golden syrup, mix well
3) Add eggs that has been slightly beaten, in three (3) additions
4) Sift flour, and add in three (3) additions
5) Fold in milk, to reach the consistency where the dough drop easily from the spoon
6) Bake at 170 C for 30 minutes

*I used two (2) 7-inch pans, greased with cooking spray and bake at 35 minutes as my oven is cranky like that. The temperature can be fixed but the timing of baking should be adjusted according to your oven's temperamental

Swiss Meringue Buttercream
/I featured one recipe of this SMBC here, but it is way too sweet and way too many for this cake, therefore I had stumbled upon this version, and voila!

2 egg whites
90g sugar2 tsp vanilla extract
150g butter, soft but still cold

1) Combine egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl, and place on top of a pot of simmering (NOT BOILING) water
2) Whisk continuously, we're not trying to air it, just gentle whisking, to dissolve the sugar
3) Test the mixture between your fingers, it supposed to be smooth, not grainy
4) When the sugar has dissolved completely, remove from the double boiler and start whisking at high speed until soft peak formed
5) Cut butter into small cubes, and drop in one by one, mixing well after each addition
6) When the mixture is smooth and shiny, thats when you can add flovouring

*Btw, for extra information, click here, complete with pictures and explanation and troubleshooting.

Strawberry Compote
8 fresh strawberries, diced
2 tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1) Place all the ingredients in small pot

2) Bring to boil, and ensure that all sugar has dissolved

3) If you want a thicker compote, boil it a bit longer. But if you like runny compote, just boil it until the sugar has dissolved

4) Remove from heat and let cool, store in fridge for longer shell life 

the cross section *_*

BAKE! : Moist Chocolate Cupcake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Salted Caramel

Moist Chocolate Cupcake
Original Recipe: Chef Zubaidah
Source 1:  Along@myresipi
Source 2: HaSue

100g cocoa powder*
200g sugar* (me: reduce it to 100g)
1 can evaporated milk (Ideal)*
200g vegetable oil*
250g condensed milk*
4 eggs
150g all-purpose flour 
1tsp bicarbonate soda
1ts baking powder
/optional/ vanilla essence

1. Mix all ingredients marked (*) in a pot, and cook on medium heat until sugar has dissolved (be careful not to burn your condensed milk). Once done, take off heat and let it cool.
2. Beat eggs until foamy, drizzle in vanilla essence
3. Pour in chocolate mixture and mix until combined
4. Combine all dry ingredients and fold into wet mixture until well combined (its a runny batter so dont panic)
5. To make it easier to pour into cups, transfer the batter into small container and pour into cupcake liner about 1/2 full.
6. Bake at 177 C for about 15 minutes, just when the top has dried its done, dont overbake. (my oven is cranky so I placed my racks at the bottom of the oven, this prevents my cupcakes from cracking)


Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Source: Nasi Lemak Lover

100g egg whites (about 3 eggs medium-sized)
135g sugar (FOR REAL cut this up to 100g, I followed the original measurement and boy so sweet!!)
227g butter, unsalted (cut to cubes) - soft but cool to touch OR straight out from the fridge!

1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl
2. Place ontop of simmering hot water, whisk and whisk until all of the sugar has dissolved. Feel it with your hand, if smooth then its done!
3. Transfer to your mixer bowl (if using stand mixer), or if using hand mixer, start whisking the egg whites until it turns silky smooth and looks as white as snow, its liquid so its not gonna firm up like meringue usually would so dont panic!
4. When your bowl is completely cool to touch, start adding the butter little by little. Yes it will curdle at first, but just keep whisking away until soft pillowy buttercream is formed.
5. Alternatively, after all the butter has mixed in, just scrape the sides of the bowl and fold gently with spatula until its smooth and silky.
6. For Chocolate SMBC as per picture, mix in 1/2 cup of chilled chocolate ganache and fold until well combined


Salted Caramel Sauce
Source: Sally's Baking Addiction

/visit her page, it has complete step-by-step pictures which is a good reference/

200g granulated sugar
90g butter - salted, cut to cubes
120ml heavy cream (at least 36% milk fat - but I uses 35% milk fat)
1 tsp salt

1. Heat up sugar in a saucepan, until it turns amber colour (just like typical caramel would)
2. Add in butter, carefully since it will bubble up, and stir until all the butter has melted
3. Slowly pour heavy cream, again carefully it will start bubble up, stir to combine and let it boil for 1-2 minutes (it will rises up and looks foamy)
4. Take off heat and stir in salt, and left to cool
5. Transfer into container and refrigerate!


Enjoy!
Goodluck!

BAKE! : Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Source: Pink Parsley

Red Velvet Cupcakes

adapted from Saveur magazine, via Annie's Eats and Apple a Day
makes about 24 cupcakes

I've tried several recipes for red velvet cake, and this one is my favorite - both for flavor and ease of preparation.  It has the perfect balance of sweetness, richness, and tang.  And the color is so pretty!

• 2½ cups cake flour all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups castor sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbs cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk (1 cup milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice/vinegar)
• 2 Tbs (1 oz.) 3-4 Tsp liquid red food coloring
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp distilled white vinegar

Preheat the oven to 177 C  and line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar until well combined, about 1-2 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined and smooth.

Divide the batter evenly among the liners.  Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Tips:

To get a pretty red colour, I mixed two different red hues, first is cherry red and another is bright red, cherry red makes it pinkish and adding bright red turns it into really bright red, which will darken when you add dry mixture.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 250g cream cheese, cold (I use Tatura)
• 100g butter, softened but still cool to touch
• 1-1 1/2 cup of icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine everything in a stand mixer and beat until well combined, turn up until maximum speed and beat for 405 minutes until fluffy. Chill for 30 minutes or up to an hour.

Another great recipe for Cream Cheese that I adore but haven't yet able to adapt is from Georgetown Cupcakes which I always feel a bit jealous over their frosting cuz it is just fluffyyy~~

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (for the frosting)
• 4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted (for the frosting)
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (for the frosting)
• 6 ounces cream cheese (for the frosting)

1. For the frosting, place all frosting ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until well combined. Be sure to beat on high speed at the very end for at least two minutes to ensure that the frosting is light and fluffy.

To Assemble

Cut holes into the cupcakes and fill in with chocolate ganache and strawberry filling, and frost the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. The cakes that were cut out can be use to sprinkle over the cupcakes, just blitz it in the food processor and sprinkle away!

BAKE! : Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling and Chocolate Ganache

Rich Chocolate Cake

Source: thelittleteochew.com

Via: TheKitchenGuardian

By: Meeeee

200g good quality dark chocolate, chopped
200g butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven at 170C, prepare 2 cake tins, I used 2 7x10 inches cake tins.

2. Using a double boiler method, melt chocolate, set aside.

3. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate.

4. Add eggs one at a time, beat until well incorporated.

5. Sift flour and cocoa together, I also added a pinch of salt!

6. Fold half the flour mixture and alternate with milk into the butter, sugar and egg mixture, mixture will look thick and fudgy

7. Divide the mixture into the cake tins and bake for about half an hour.

Done!
Slices of bread will keep it moist especially
if you plan to cool it overnight and frost the next day!

Chocolate Ganache

250g good chocolate, chopped.

250g double or whipping cream, I used one that was 30% fat content

30g butter...hoollallla....

1. Using double boiling method, heat the cream until they are bubbly, add a pinch of salt.

2. Pour onto the dark chocolate and butter, stir and stop the heat...stir until all are mixed well.

3. Chill for about 1 hour to thicken the ganache, spread using a spatula or pipe.

THE VERDICT!
Cake is super moist, I know it looks dry through the pictures but trust me, its moist and it tasted as if buttermilk was used, a lil bit sourness which I am wondering where the hell it comes from, but it is so good, and the ganache is fingerlickinggood!! Oh and I sandwiched this cake with strawberry filling and lil bit of ganache!

BAKE! : Banana Cupcake with Ganache Filling and Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Original source: HERE

By: Me

Yield: 18-24 pieces

Cupcakes

• ½ cup (1 stick or 115 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ½ cup (100 grams) light or dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 and ½ cups mashed/coarsely chopped banana (about 3 large very ripe bananas)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk (homemade = 2 tsp lemon juice + enough milk to fill 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Line two 12-count muffin pans with 18 cupcake liners. Set aside.

Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together in a large bowl on medium speed until creamed. About 2-3 minutes. With the mixer running on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the mashed bananas and vanilla, beating on low speed for about 1 minute.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 additions, stirring by hand after each addition.  Add the milk and stir until combined.  The batter will be lumpy.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter evenly into 18 cupcake liners. Fill the unused cups one-third full with water to prevent warping. Bake each batch for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before frosting.

For both of the frosting and ganache, I used the leftover from previous baking project as posted here. 

BAKE! : Kek Karamel (Attempt #6 - Finally!)

Hello. Been trying to scored the perfect "kek karamel" is tiring, I'm a perfectionist although this attempt is not "perfect" but its perfect enough to my eyes, lmao despite an accident occured due to my impatient, nothing related to the recipe, trust me. This is the second recipe, whereby I always refer to my first one which have mixed results, so I found this recipe and decided to try it and me a happy happy girl :)

Here's the recipe, sorry malas nak taip, so copy paste je, janji faham.

KEK PUDING KARAMEL
Sumber Asal: Puan Munira, Puan Shasha Rahmat & Puan Sha Hafizi (KR)
Sumber: Anna Qawina
Via: HaSue
By: ME /lulz/

Bahan-bahan : Loyang 22cm/25cm (me: I used 9-inch round cakepan, but please find TALL cake mold trust me)

(A)-Gula Hangus
2 sudu besar gula (utk gula hangus)
*tabur gula dlm loyang n masak atas api perlahan..biar gula hancur dan warna tukar jadi perang)
Ketepikan dulu (gula tersebut akan mengeras & berbunyi macam kaca pecah gitu)

(B) - Bahagian Atas
1 cawan susu cair (alternatif: 1 1/2 cawan)
1 cawan susu pekat manis (alternatif: 1/2 cawan)
1 sudu teh esen vanila
3 bj kuning telur
2 biji telur (putih & kuning)

(C) - Lapisan Kek
140 gm tepung gandum *Ayak bersama baking powder
70 gm gula kastor (alternatif: 50g shj)
3 bj kuning telur
135 ml air biasa
1 sudu teh baking powder*
45 ml minyak masak
2 sudu besar susu pekat manis

(D) Meringue
6 bj putih telur
70 gm gula kastor
1 sudu teh krim of tartar

Cara-cara :

1. Sediakan bahan (A) dahulu, ketepikan.
2. Kacau semua bhn (B) perlahan2...jgn bg berbuih2...nanti tak jadi pudingnya..
3. Tapis bahan (B) td dlm loyang gula hangus (A) tadi..ketepikan.
4. Pukul bahan (C) *Campurkan semua sekali & pukul guna senduk je..ketepikan
5. Pukul sampai bhn (D) smpai jd kembang & bila kita angkat ia tak jatuh...(meringue)
6. Campurkan adunan (C) + (D) dan gaul ngan senduk hingga sebati..jangan terlebih kacau, agak-agak bercampur sebati je.
7. Bahagikan kepada beberapa bahagian & letak pewarna n paste kalau suka..
8. Masukkan ke dlm loyang yg ada gula hangus & keremel tadi (A + B)..selang seli warna, letak ditengah2 loyang, adunan kek akan terapung.
9. Bakar cara double boiling/waterbath (Loyang kek berada di dalam loyang berisi air panas) - selama 1 jam 10 minit dengan suhu 175'C, menggunakan api bawah dahulu selama 40 minit, kemudian api atas bawah sehingga masak *Boleh juga menggunakan api atas bawah tetapi guna suhu 160'C / 170'C sahaja, (bergantung kpd oven masing-masing juga ya) my way: 160C api bawah sahaja 1 jam 30 minit +/-
10. <MY TIPS> After finish baking, please leave the cake in the oven with the door slightly ajar, until the cake is loose from the sides, then only flip the cake and refrigerate or eat it, but seriously this cake is THE BEST when its cold!! (this tip is referring to Azlita Masam Manis BlogPost)

Please refer to the Anna Qawina's and Azlita Masam Manis's blogposts regarding this cake, to see pictures and so much more, this is because I'm not that rajin to snap pictures for everysinglesteps sorry ><

The feels when this is perfectly done is undescribable <3

#edit: after tasting it, i might gonna tweak the recipe a little bit, cuz to me the flan is waaaay to sweet, so i might suggest to with 1.5 cup of evaporated milk (susu cair) and 0.5 cup of condensed milk (susu pekat), this is bcs I can taste the condensed milk, like thats the only thing I taste, and maybe I reduce the sugar to 50g for the cake batter, not the meringue. ^_^ if I do this again, I'm surely gonna be tweaking the recipe. so nonetheless give it a try!!!

Next, I'm gonna try this recipe, wish me luck!

BAKE! : Thick, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thick, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from : Brown Eyed Baker

Yield 52 pieces

2 cups + 2 tbs all purpose flour
1/2 tsp sodium bicarb
1/2 tsp salt
170g butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate chips and assorted roasted nuts

1) Whisk together dry ingredients, this is to remove lumps and skips sifting step (cuz lazy like that)

2) Mix melted butter and sugars until the mixture is thick and fudgy

3) Add egg, yolk and vanilla, mix well

4) Fold in dry ingredients

5) Fold in choc chips and nuts

*Here is where I stop following original recipe*

6) Refrigerate for minimum 30 minutes or overnight (me, overnight cuz lazy like that)

7) Preheat oven at 170 C and thaw the dough

8) Scoop about 1 tbsp of dough (see pic below) and place in on baking sheet lined with parchment paper

9) Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the sheet about halfway baking time

DO NOT OVERBAKE, by the time 15 minutes up, the center is still soft but the sides are set, s'okay cuz the cookies will still continue to bake as it cools off. 

Store in airtight container and make sure to demolish within a week! Cuz its delicious like that.

Tips: Best eaten as its warm, when its out of oven cooling off. But to achieve the same effect, just pop your piece in the microwave for 10 seconds and enjoy!!

BAKE! : Vanilla Cupcake with Strawberry Filling with Buttercream Frosting

Vanilla Cupcake with Strawberry Filling with Buttercream Topping

Cupcake:
150g butter, softened
130g castor sugar
3 eggs
175g all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh milk/low fat milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

*for chocolate cupcake, subtitute 15g of the flour with cocoa powder*

1) beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
2) add eggs and vanilla
3) add in half of the flour, mix well
4) add in milk, mix well and lastly add the other half of flour mix well

Scoop into paper cups and bake at 180 C for 18-20 minutes. Cupcakes is done when it is firm to touch. Again, DO NOT overbake!

Buttercream:
113g butter
1/4-1/2 cup non-dairy whipping cream
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1) whip whipping cream until soft peak
2) beat butter and icing sugar, and it vanilla
3) combined the whipped cream with the buttercream mixture

Made it this way, to avoid refrigerating my cupcakes. Due to Malaysia's hot weather buttercream need to be refrigerated. Therefore, by adding whipped cream to the mixture, the topping will not melt in room temprature, insyaAllah.


To Assemble

Cut holes in the cupcakes, don't cut too deep, just roughly 1/2 way through the cakes. Fill in the cavity with strawberry fillings. Next, trim the cut-out cake to form flathead and placed back on the cavity to cover the filling. Next, iced the cake with the frosting and sprinkle crumbled cakes and dollop leftover fillings onto the icing.

DONE!

BAKE! : Chewy Fudgy Brownies

Chewy, Fudgy Brownies
source : i cant remember cuz it's been years since i took this off /sorry/

200g choc, chopped
113g butter
3 tbs cocoa powder
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup castor sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt or more as you like
1 cup self-raising flour

1) Melt choc & butter, mix in cocoa powder
2) Whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla (just enough until well incorporated)
3) Mix in cocoa mixture
4) Fold in flour
5) Pour into pan, bake @ 177C for 35-40 minutes

*Oven temperature varies actually, sbb ikut oven, klu ltk 180C masa dia dlm 30-35 mins, tp kita slalu ltk dkt 170C, so dlm 40+ mins*

And gentle reminder, do not overcooked these babies, cuz you'll lose the fudginess!