Chocolate crumble top muffins

I love muffin and i love chocolate.. once i see this recipe i cant resist it.And i did not regret making them. so good. fluffy and the chocolate chips just melt in my mouth. yum.

again, recipe adatped from Home baking mum.




Ingredients

1. 250g self-raising flour
2. 1 teaspoon baking powder
3. a pinch of salt
4. 50g butter
5. 100g soft light brown sugar
6. 100g chocolate chips
7. 2 eggs, lightly beaten
8. 225ml milk
9. 1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Chocolate Crumble Topping:
1. 50g plain flour
2. 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
3. 40g butter
4. 2 tablespoons caster sugar


Method

1.For the chocolate crumble topping, sift flour and cocoa powder into a bowl. Mix in the sugar and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Set aside.

2. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and the peanut butter chips.

2. In another bowl, mix eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid mixture all at once into the dry ingredients. With a wooden spoon or spatula, mix until just combined. Do Not Over Mix. The batter should remain lumpy.

3. Fill paper muffin cups with batter sprinkle with the crumble toppings. Bake in a preheated oven at 200degC for 18-20mins, or until well risen and firm to the touch.

4. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean. Let cool completely.
Recipe source: adapted from Muffins Galore, Catherine Atkinson

Banana & Chocolate Muffins

The banana muffin i made yesterday simply good.. except the size is too big, LGG said two muffins make him full till noon.. see la.. feed him more complaint.. feed him less also complaint.. not say he ever bake anything for me ! MAN!

neeway, wanna keep the recipe for my future reference, i adopt this recipe from HBB again, her recipe always very good and confirm good stuff !

Banana & Chocolate Muffin


Ingredienst:
275g plin flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large bananas (abt 450g) <-- i use pisang emas, so i use 6 bananas.
100g brown sugar (i use normal castor sugar)
1 large egg, lightly beaten <--i use 2 small eggs
50ml semi-skimmed milk <-- i use full creamn milk (missy's)
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled <-- i use normal salted butter
50g chocolate chops <-- optional

Methods:
1. preheat overmn to 180deg celcius
2. sieve together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl.
Mix in the chocolate chips.set aside
3. Peel the bananas and mash with a fork in a bowl. Add in brown sugar, egg, milk and melted butter. mix till well combined
4. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. With a wooden spoon or spatula, gently fold all the ingredients to form a wet batter. stir genlty, using only a few strokes and mix until the flour are incorporate into the batter. DO NOT Over mix. The batter shold appear lumpy.
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin cup. bake for 20mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

My 33th Birthday @ Home

I've been toying with the thoughts of baking my own birthday cake, using the steam moist chocolate cake recipe, this time with the chocolate fudge, feling qite lazy actually.

Today morning, LGG ask whether want to celebrate at Jack's place or Swensen.. mm.. well.. im also lazy to go out..so i decided to celebrate at home instead.

so, i started preparing the ingredients and all..steam the cake. then make the chocolate fudge (first time i make this) and hey, it turned out sooo well.. really after stirring for 10 minutes, it turned into fudge..in short, the cake, +the choclate fudge,, makes into my birthday cake..i deco it with some m&m choclates.which suppose to have more, but most ended up into Missy's mouth..*eyes rolling*



Missy is suppose to help mummy putting the m&m chocolate onto mummy's chocolate birthday cake, but she refuses to put them on, she "steal" the chocolate away instead. Lucky im fast to "protect" the rest of the m&m.. else my cholate cake will be real plain..




AFtr the chocolate cake is ready, i put them into fridge as we have to get ready like bath and all..and i askmaid to fry some french fries + seaweed nuggets + sotong ball (yeah, all fried )

Then i thought.. mm.. i have a bunch of bananas that;s riping.. why not make some banana chocolate chips muffins ( this is one of my want-to-do list) so ok lah.. go ahead ! since i still have lots of chocolate fudge left, i might as well put the fudge on top of my muffin after it's ready ? *good idea*. so i ditch the chocolate chips and replace it with left over chocolate fudge,, today will be all chocolate & fried food.. *sinful*

So tt's how we have banana muffin with fudge and missy's one candle muffin "birthday" cake.. she just love birthday. by the way, the banana muffin simply good...



Missy cant wait to help mummy to put the candles on the cakes, we make our birthday wishes and sing LGG sings birthday song for us.. and oh. only 3 candles on my cake.. cos we run out of birthday candles..nvm la..and the cake from fridge seem to crack a bit, so, next time better serve it warm.. else, not so presentable.. hee



my chocolate fudge cake +muffin



some photos, well, i may say some last few photos with JUST ther three of us, before our new member joins along soon.



HAppy Birthday to myself ! one year older and one year wiser..so my next wish is my bb boy comes to us healthily and safely !

Sultanah Cornflakes Cookies

Finally i completed the cornflakes cookies.. yyipee.. i Thought maybe i will just give it a miss cos feeling pretty tired lately with backache and uncomfort due to tummy getting soooo huge.. i feel like penguin when i walk..


Today will see gynae, while waiting for the time, i just quickly get the cookies done. Yipeee.. simple baking.

This recipe is from mum's neighbour, the original recipe somehow MIA. mum has tried it and said can try so i proceed.

Raisin Cornflakes Cookies

Ingredients:
Self-raising flour 110g
raisins(or sultana) 100g
vanila essence 1 tsp

Butter 115g
sugar 50g
egg(big) 1

cornflakes 56g

1. beat butter & sugar until white and fluffy
2. add in egg, then mix in the dry ingredients, mix well
3. Make into small balls then bake at 180 deg celcius for 15 mins or until it turn golden brown.

Simple cookies for CNY !

My second Batch of Pineapple Tarts

Today, i completed the second batches of pineapple tarts. phewww.. lots of work.. but i did it ! all by myself ok. while LGG entertaining Missy and kep her away from my baking place..

this round, i beat the butter +sugar until really peak.. and the result is much better, much fluffier.. buttt.. still not as good as my mum's.. oh well... our mother bakes/cooks better than us, this has been proven ! and my mum always use "agak-agak" method.. not like me.. measure until exactly.. still cant have the same result.. mum is "feel" it... now i must train my "feeling" with my ingredients when come to baking/cookn=ing to be good.. haaa

these are my product of the day !


And i did some pattern on the tarts.. making it looks like pineapple.. this is my mum's pattern.. heee

now.. im thinking of making cornflakes cookies.. mm.. should i ? already bought the cornflakes..

Pineapple Tarts

just finished my first batch of pineapple tarts.. with two rounds of dough.. but the result is so disappointing.. thr texture is not as fluffy as the one mum made. sob.. i already put in the eaxact same ingredients.. HOW COME ?!?

The taste is good, but the look is aweful ! missy keep disturbing so i have to quickly do and the shapes all vary.. but i dun mind so much of how it look now, i mind abt how it taste.. sob.. fail for look & taste..

I still have one more container of the pineapple which mum made for me before she went back home. shall retry tmw.. make a fluffy dough..

Orange Walnut Yogurt Cake

Tonight, i prepared Western dinenr, with baked salmon, mashed potatoes, boiled broccoli+carrot, pumpkin soup and also the orange walnut yogurt cake +strawberry

The salmon recipe is a new recipe that i learnt from Sat morning italian cook Gianni's recipe. But, she added fresh oregano + mint, which i did not have at home, so i just make do with tomatoes +onion + salt/pepper +olive oil, then bake in oven. It's not bad at all, quite unusual taste when combine with salmon. sour and slight spicy(onion). missy finished her share of salmon, and her pumpkin soup. some mashed potatoes and ditch both the broccoli+carrot *expected*



Today, i made the yogurt cake again, but a slight modification from the original recipe. I use orange zest and i add in walnut. The outcome is much better than lemon yogurt cake. I think partly due to the sweetness of the orange zest and also the crunchiness of the walnut.

Lemon smells very good, but the taste wise is slightly to the sour side. so orange is a good alternative i must say.

We had our orange walnut yogurt cake as desert tonight, side with korean strawberry. Yummy.

CNY Cookies

My first CNY cookies - Pork Floss roll. I made almost 3 package of spring roll skin & 2 bottles of pork floss. phew.. wrap till my shoulder so aching and tired.

Maid help tp fry them, first batch was slightly too brown. so we ownself eat. Altogether i made 5 big bottles ( Spaghetty sauce bottles)..

The cost price is so cheap, one pack of spring roll skin only abt $1.55 so 3 packs is $4.65 & one bottle of pork floss is about $5 so make it $10. altogether less than $15 bucks. some more i use canola oil to fry, healthier, less trans fat and not re-used oil.

hee.. i still prefer home cooked goodies. Next week shall make my pineapple tarts.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Finally, i made my first lemon cake, again this recipe is of healther version, with yogurt. and easier version, no machine required, just hand beat to mix well. it's very light,very lemony aroma, i love it personally.

The only thing im not so happy about the whole cake is the leon syrup added at the end, it make the cake sour. but lucky thing the cake itself is nice and sweeter. I've decided not to add the lemon syrup the next time. and i will replace lemon with orange instead, as i have lotsss of oranges in the fridge, due to cough, our oranges have been in fridge for awhile.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
200g plain flour
2 tsp double-acting baking powder --> i use normal baking power
1/2 tsp sea salt
250g plain, full fat yogurt --> i use low fat plain yogurt
225g sugar --? i use 200g sugar
3 large eggs
zest of 3 lemons --> very nice lemon aroma
1/2 tsp vanila extract
125ml vegetable oil -> i use 200ml canola oil

For leom syrup
80ml leom juice ( from abt 2 lemons)
2-3 tbs sugar

Method:
1.preheat overn to 180deg C, Grease and flour a load pan --> i skip this, my oven does not require pre-heat, i took total of 45 mins in total to bake

2. Sift flour and baking powder into a medium-sized bowl, add salt, set aside

3. To a large mixing bowl, add the yogurt, sugar, eggs, leom zest and vanilla extract. Whick together until smooth. Whisk in the flour mixture slowly

4. Pour in the oil and fold it into the mixture gently using a rubber spatula. The batter will curdle but just keep at ut until the batter is thick and smooth

5. Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50 to 55 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

6. WHile the cake is baking, prepare the lemon syrup. Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Take it off and set aside.

7. When the cake is done, stand it on a metal rack set and let it cool in the loaf pan for 15 mins, USing a blunt knife, loosen the cake gently from the sides of the pan. Remove the cake from pan and place over the metal rack

8. Spoon the leom syrup over the warm cake and let it cool completely before serving.


Missy, my little helper, again, help me in the process of preparing and also baking, she even sing Happy Birthday song and blow candle (no candles actually) after we took out and slice the cake. cutey !

Missy loves to help mummy doing the mixing and stirring..


Missy helps mummy complete the batter, we poured it into the loaf pan and the final product is so delightful


Missy singing Birthday song.. well, she always relate cake with Birthday. That's natural for her age.

Sunday Fun

Today after missy's class, she took a nearly 3 hour nap. good rest ! while she sleeps, im thinking of something to bake. Blueberry muffin it is !

But, when im in the middle of preparing the ingredients, she is calling me already. so got to get her involve, since she is very interetsed with whatever mummy is doing.

After i've prepared the batter, which missy helped to put in the dry ingredients and also i let her helped me to break the eggs into the mixture. I let missy pour the batter into the muffin cups. a great little helper i must say



AFter 20 minutes of baking, our muffins finally out, it looks good. Missy and our muffins.




Blueberry Muffins
Recipe (from baking book- Muffins Galore)

Ingredients:
300g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g butter <-- i find this too little as it is not enough to mix well with the flour
80g castor sugar <-- i use 70g
150g fresh blueberry <-- i just use one package
2 eggs, lighly beaten
225ml milk
1 tsp vanila extract

Method:
1. mis the flour + baking power in large bowl, rub in the butter until resembles fine breadcrumbs, stir in the sugar +blueberry

2. in a small bowl, mix together the egges, milk and vanila extract. Pour the egg mixture all at once into the dry ingredients and mix briefly until just combined

3. spoon the batter into muffin cups. bake at 200deg for 20 mins.

4. cool in the tin for 10mins, then turn out onto a wire rack. serve warm or cold.

we did not try it until after our kite sessions in the evening. But the taste seem too blend.. mm.. got to find out another recipe which is more fragrant and fluffy. anyway, this is my muffin making number 2 (the first time i baked was while im expecting missy, which were hard like rock)


Besides muffins making, we went for kite flying and bubbles again today


missy get to fly the kite herself today, she keep the kite in the air for quite some time, i think longer than LGG. haa.. good job missy ! and of course, she has quite a good run and exercise there.. chasing the bubbles and all.

When we came home, i cooked pasta, missy loves her alphabet pasta, as she finishes all and her pear soup. after the tv show at 930pm 9way past her bed time, which is before 9pm), she has her milk and knock out right after that..

Another weekend well-spent. now, i shall be busy with the comign weeks, got to start making my chinese new years cookies !

Steam Chocolate Cake

I've got this recipe for abt 2 weeks, finally i made it today. but i only did the cake, the fudge got to wait, as i need to make sure the cake is good before i proceed with the fudge.

It was so surprisingly good , chocolaty. eventhough i use only cocoa powder and not actual chocolate. and it's steam.much healthier than bake.



Ingredients:
150 g unsalted butter (i use salted butter)
140g brown sugar
200 ml milk ( actual recipe is to use evaporated milk)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
140g self-raising floor (or 125 g plain flour + 1/2 tsp baking powder +1/2 tsp baking soda, i dun have soda and i have last bit of self raising flour, so i use all of it)
70g cocoa powder (i use van houton brand)
1/2 tsp vanila essence

Method:
1. combine sugar, milk, vanila essence and butter in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved and butter has melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add the beaten eggs into the slightly cooled mixture and stir till well mixed
3. sift the flour, cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl. Add th eggs mixture over the flour and stir till smooth
(batter is a bit lumpy)
4. put in steamer and steam for 40 minutes

Shall put the chocolate fudge recipe after i made it successfully.

Yummy.

more sushi

Today tried our the different version of the sushi... i use salmon 9steam , mashed and add mayonaise), japanese cucumber, crab sticks.. i tried to warp the inverted method.. not eacy.. but still look fine. the harder part is to cut it.. cos the rice will stick on the knife.

this round, i find my rie not good. cos i use the lazy method to prepare the vinegar. sob. so in order to prepare good sushi rice, must be hardworking like japanese.. hee

Cranberry walnut bread

This week, i baked 4 loaves of dried cranberry walnut bread.. simply love it. i use the milk loaf recipe, but add in the dried cranberry (MIL brought this back from SF, i kept in fridge since, dunno what to do with it) and walnut (i love the crunchy nutty feling).. and it turn out soo good. fluffy and nice.

and we had our crossaint breakfast with tuna on Monday. now, we have fruits in the morning. hearty and healthy breakfast.




this week, teach maid to bake egg tart as she seems to like this. so we have some egg tarts on Friday and i again make some sushi, using tuna this time. not bad too. shall try using salmon the next round.

Sushi making

I finally made it. My first sushi making. Yipee..

Bought the ingredients last week, short grain rice, rice vinegar, wasabi, seaweed sheet (Nori), crab stick, japanese cucumber and of course some step-by-step print out..

I find the rice not sour enough, next time shall add inmore vinegar (i followed the instruction of adding 5 tbsp rice vinegar +5 tsp sugar+1 tsp salt, then heat with low heat, leave cool before adding to 400g of cooked short grain rice)



LGG is better in roling the mat than me.so, i did two rolls, he did the rest, including slicing the rolls. little missy cant help but help to eat up my egg filling. she has her fair share too, which she only eat the filling but leave the seaweed out.

Satisfied. Shall make more sushi in time to come. our breakfast has more and more choices now.

Bluerry Cake with Crunchy Topping-minus the blueberry

Saturday evening, i baked the bluerry cake with crunchy topping:

ingredients:
130g unsalted butter
130g caster sugar - reduce to 100g
2 eggs
250g self-raising flour-sifted
250g blueberries - 2 packets (i omit this, cos the last time i add this, but eneded up the cake is a bit sour)

Crunchy topping:
130f plian flour
100g brown sugar
100g butter, chopped
100g chopped macadamia nuts 9finish all my macadamia nuts, replaced with walnut)

Method:
1. Grease and line a baking tine and pre-heat oven to 180deg -my oven needsnot pre-heat
2. First make the topping by rubbing the plain flour, butter and brown sugar together in a bowl unti it resembles coarse breadcrumbs, then add chopped nuts. set aside
3. For the cake, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
4. Add the edds one at a time, beating to mix them in. Continue beatinf while adding the sifted flour and the milk a little at a time- the mixture looks like a thick batter
5. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared baking tin and sprinkle the blueberries on top
6. Tnen sprinkler the crunchy topping evenly over the blueberries
7. Bake in the oven for about 50 mins until the chopstick inserted into the mixture comes out clean -i bake 5 mins


Verdict:
The cake is so light and fluffy and the topping is so crunchy and aromatic with the brown sugar. Thumbs up. Next time i will add in cocoa powdewr to make it chocolate cake. LGG loves it. Maid too.

Baking : Banana Walnut Cake

i bake banana walnut cake again. love banana.. yummy.. but find it a bit sweet.

This week i baked one loaf of oat bread and one wholemeal bread. clear my wholemeal flour..

wanna make sushi. muahaha..bought all the ingredients. just waiting for right time to roll...

Pancake for Breakfast

I have tried using the ready-mix pancake flour, which is good. then i have tried another recipe which is tasteless.. finally i found the recipe that i want !

pick this from HHM's blog, which she also picked from Joyofbaking.com. We love it !



Recipe:
140g plain flour
7g baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
28g sugar (i use castor sugar)
1 egg, lightly beaten
240ml milk
28g butter (healthier version, can use unsalted butter), melted

plus extra melted butter for pan.

Methods:

1. whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
2. whisk together egg, milk and melted butter in another bowl
3. add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, all at once and stir until just combined.
4. the batter should have some small lumps. do not overmix or the pancake will be tough
5. heat the frying pan , brush with a little melted butter
6. pour 1/4 cup batter onto the pan, when the bottom of the pancake is brown and bubbles start to appear on top surface, turn over
7. cook until lightly brown.

I use the pancake pan which is a frog. but it turn out to be bear-liked. haaa.

yummy sat morning breakfast , i eat with jam and some marjerin, maid eat with honey. we all give a thumb up for this recipe.

Shall do it whenever i have the time on non-working morning. Love it !

Baking: Butter cake

Yesterday i try to use up the butter which is going to expire soon. cant think of anything to do, flip through my old recipe book, and woala.. found Butter cake.simple and can utilise my butter.

So, we had butter cake for breakfast today. heee.. nice. i like it. LGG said nice too. fluffy. even missy has ber big biteful too.

Butter Cake

牛油 : 250g (切小块)
(butter)

糖 : 225g - i reduced to 180g, still sweet. next time reduece to 160g. too blend is not nice too
(castor sugar)

全蛋 : 4粒
(egg)

自发粉 : 250g (过筛) -- i run out of self-raising flour so i mix half self-raising flour and half plain flour + 2g baking powder
(self-raising flour)

鲜奶 : 75g
(milk)

香精 : ¼ tsp
(vanilla oil)

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven at 180°C
2. Put butter & castor sugar into a mixing bowl, use low speed to mix
until even, change to medium speed and beat until light
3. Add in the first egg, beat will after each addition of egg until creamy
4. Scrape down the sides and bottom for even mixing
5. Add in vanilla oil and mix well
6. add in self-raising flour gradually using lowest speed. Scrape down
sides for even mixing
7. Finally, add milk, mix until well combined
8. Pour into a 22cm lined baking tin
9. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for about 45 minutes until golden
brown and cook. Remove from oven and leave to cool

This week bakingg

This week, MIL brought one bunch of bananas and we have many fruits that we simply cant finsih it and it ripes so fast.so bling bling..

This week, we had all bananas cakes/bread..



I baked the walnut banana cake. which i have confirm that the recipe for one cake is so much better than if i were to bake a bigger ones like the one i baked to yumin's housewarming. One cake recipe (smaller) cake is just perfect ! mum loves it too.

Then i baked the banana bread. Yummy ! simply love bananas.

I made celery +carrot +black grapes salad too. love it !

I have few more recipes to make chicken pie and wholemeal cookies. shall try it out in near future.

Happy baking.

My Baking - Country herb loaf/banana bread/salad dressing

While im waiting for cny to come last thursday and friday, i bake my country loaf.. which is soo yummy.. i simply love it.. the ingredients are from a blogger mummy. Thanks to her to share.

This country herb loaf does not have butt

er or egg, suitable to eat during vegetarian days. I had mine during first day of chinese new year. i toasted it before putting marjerine. yum.. *heaven*, it has walnut, oat, basil (i chopped my fresh green basil), italian herbs .

Country Herb Loaf

150ml milk
60ml water
30ml extra virgin olive oil
325gm white bread flour
40gm rolled oats
40gm chopped walnut
( i toasted the walnut, before chopping it, it taste nicer after toasting)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
(i skip this, as i dont really fancy garlic in my bread)
1tsp mixed herbs ( i use italian herbs instead, as i still have stock )
1tsp basil (I use freshly pluck basil from my garden )
1tsp salt
1.5tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp fast acting yeast

Place the ingredients into the bread making machine, for kenwood, liquid in first follow by powder and the rest. Then choose white bread, 1kg. it took 3:25 minutes to be done. my whole house is filled with the aroma of my country heb loaf.. i love it !

I may try wholemeal next time.

Besides the loaf,m i make my banana bread too. Which i too, love it. it tasted to nice. I took the recipes from mind your body some time back.

Banana Bread

125g butter
150g sugar
4 small ripe bananas, smashed
3 eggs , beated
250g shifted with 2tsp baking powder -i use 125g self-raising flour +125g plain flour, i got the idea from my previous walnut banana cake. which turn out really good.

Heat the oven to 180deg c and grease or line the bottom of loaf tin with butter.

Beat the butter and sugar together with a electric mixer until light and creamy -this step is VERY important as it decide how fluffy your cake is.

Mix in the beated edd and mashed bananas -if mixture starts to curdle, add a couple of tablespoons of flour.

Fold in the sifted flour and baking powder, taking care not to over mix. pour the batter into the baking tin. my oven took 35 minutes to bake. the newspaper said 1 hour 10 mins, maybe depends on your oven.

Yummy !

My another new dish is my ever favourite salad. salad is normal. but the dressing my home-made. my aunty's method. simply nice and special. not like normal salad dressing we buy from market. so i have my own sald dressing now. recipe will not be shared though cos it's family recipe..

Happy Cooking and baking !