Pandan Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Previously, I had baked a pandan chiffon cake here adapted from Diana The Domestic Goddess Wannabe

As my big kids loved the pandan chiffon cake and the Topo Map Love cake,  I tried to incorporate them in 1 chiffon cake ... so glad that it turned out nice ^-^

Recipe source : Diana The Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Here's my slightly modified version as I've tweaked the recipe a little to make a portion with chocolate flavour and created 2 cocoa lines for this chiffon cake. I've also heeded the advice from my baking 师父 (master) to whip the meringue first to save the hassle of washing and cleaning dry my electric stand mixer 2 times.

Pandan Chocolate Chiffon Cake
(21cm tube pan)
Ingredients
For the batter:
80g Top Flour
6 egg yolks
20g caster sugar
40ml vegetable oil
70ml coconut milk
30ml homemade concentrated pandan extract + some juice

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (sift) for making chocolate batter
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder for the 2 lines

For the meringue:
6 egg whites
80g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Method :
1) Separate the eggs into yolks and whites.(the size of my egg is 60g each with shell)

2) In a clean mixing bowl, whisk the cold egg whites and cream of tartar till foamy using the electric mixer. Gradually add in caster sugar in 3 separate additions and beat till stiff peak, formed into a firm meringue. Transfer to a big bowl and chill in the fridge.

3) In the same mixing bowl, cream together egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and thick using the electric mixer (about 3 - 4 minutes).  Add vegetable oil and continue beating. Once the oil has been incorporated, add coconut milk and pandan paste and mix well.

4) Next, add the sifted top flour and mix until just combined.

Scoop about 1/3 of the batter and sift in 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, mix well.

5) Divide the meringue into 2 portions: about 1/3 for cocoa mixture and the remaining for pandan mixture.

Gently fold meringue into the cocoa mixture with a spatula until it looks evenly mixed (no streaks of meringue).

Gently fold 1/2 of the meringue into the pandan mixture with a spatula. Fold the remaining meringue into the pandan mixture until it looks evenly mixed (no streaks of meringue).

6) Pour 1 layer of pandan mixture in an un-greased chiffon tube pan. Level it with a spatula. Evenly dust a thin layer of cocoa powder over the batter (about 1.5 tablespoons). Repeat the same for 2nd layer of pandan mixture. Lastly, pour in the cocoa batter, level it with spatula.

7) Gently tap the pan on the table top a few times to release trapped air bubbles.

8) Bake at the preheated oven 180°C for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature down to 160°C, continue to bake for 45 minutes or until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

I covered a piece of loose foil over the pan in the last 15 mins of baking to avoid cake top being burnt too much.

I'm always "Yes !" and smiling whenever I see "no crack" on the
surface of my chiffon cake :D

9) When the pan was removed from the oven, I used the suggested technique to drop the pan at a height of 20~30cm onto a table top. This action helps to keep the springy texture of the cake when it is left to cool.

10) Immediately invert the pan to cool completely before unmoulding the cake from the pan.

We love this so much ... fluffy soft with sweet fragrance of pandan and coconut complement to the bitter-sweet chocolate flavour :D

Enjoy ! Happy baking !

I'm joining Best Recipes for Everyone June 2015 Event Theme: Secret of Chiffon & Roll Cakes. 

Organized and hosted by Fion of XuanHom’s Mom Kitchen Diary

Rose Tea Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes

In last year's Bake-Along event theme chiffon cake, I'd also re-attempted Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcake . Early this year, I used the rose black tea leaves that my girl gave me to bake a Rose Tea Chiffon Cake.

Few weeks ago, I tried it out as Rose Tea Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes, recipe modified from the
Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcake adapted from Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover, below my slightly modified version.

Rose Tea Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes
Yields 9 cupcakes
For the batter
3 egg yolks, at room temperature
20g caster sugar
40g canola oil
*40g hot water / 1 teaspoon rose back tea leaves
75 cake flour, sifted

For the meringue
3 egg whites (cold egg whites)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
40g caster sugar

For the filling
100g Whipping cream
20g caster sugar
1 teaspoon instant custard powder
1/2 teaspoon of finely chopped dried rose buds (optional)

Method :
Pre-heat oven to 170°C. Place rack in center of oven.
Arrange paper liners on baking tray.

For the batter
1. Make the rose black tea leaves with about *50g of hot water and set aside to cool to room temperature. Strain 40g of the rose tea and set aside. Drain/discard the tea leaves.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat together egg yolk and caster sugar till pale in colour.

3. Add in canola oil and rose tea, mix well.

4. Add the cake flour into the mixture and fold with spatula, mix until just combined. Set this aside.

For the meringue
1. In a clean mixing bowl, whisk the cold egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue whisking. Gradually add caster sugar, and continue beat till soft peak form.

2. Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into batter with a spatula. Fold the remaining meringue into the mixture in 2 batches until it looks evenly mixed (no streaks of meringue).

3. Scoop batter into pre-arranged paper liners to about ¾ full.

4. Bake at 170°C for 20-23 mins. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Note: The temperature of the oven may vary, do adjust accordingly.

For the filling
Beat whipping cream with sugar till firm and stiff using the electric mixer.
Add the custard powder and the finely chopped rose buds and mix well.

Fill a piping bag and pipe the whipped cream into the cupcakes.
Decorate the tops of the cupcakes with your preferred fruits.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

Freshly baked ... looks good with smooth top ...
well, they shrank slightly while cooling on rack.

Enjoy ... a relaxing and lazy weekend afternoon with some rose fragrant Rose Tea Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes ^-^ ! 

I'm joining Best Recipes for Everyone June 2015 Event Theme: Secret of Chiffon & Roll Cakes. 

Organized and hosted by Fion of XuanHom’s Mom Kitchen Diary

And

 

Little Thumbs Up June 2015 Cream – organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana The Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Lavender Loaf

Recently I bought a small tin of very fragrant dried lavender flowers. Use them to make some tea with other tea leaves. Concurrently, I'm also looking for some recipes that use dried lavender in bakes. Borrowed some cookbooks from the library and here's sharing this Lavender Loaf, recipe adapted from the cookbook :
Classic Artisan Baking by Julian Day

My slight modification made with notes in blue below.

Lavender Loaf
Size: 500g loaf pan
I'm using a medium size loaf pan: 21.5 × 11.5 x 5.5cm.

Ingredients
130g salted butter, softened
130g caster sugar  (I reduced to 80g)
2 eggs
Grated zest of 1 lemon
35g ground almond
100g All-purpose flour
40g self-raising flour
3 teaspoons dried lavender flowers

Method:
Grease and line the loaf pan with baking paper

Preheat the oven to 170ºC.
Sift the flours and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with the electric mixer until pale and fluffy (about 4 minutes on medium speed).

Add the eggs one at a time beating between each addition then stir in the lemon zest, followed by ground almond and flour and beat to a smooth batter (about 2 minutes on medium speed).

Lastly, add the dried lavender flowers and stir well to combine. Pour the mixture into the tin, level the top evenly with spatula and bake for 40 minutes or until firm and golden brown. Test with a cake tester or skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf should come out clean.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan for 30 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

This cake is best eaten on the day of baking, but will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container.

Baked this loaf for our afternoon break so we couldn't wait to have a slice even though it's still slightly warm.

My son commented that it tasted abit dry. I find it's texture is crumbly and slightly dry. But it tasted better the next day as we had kept some for our brekkie. It's slightly moist. Love the fragrance of lavender and a hint of lemon too that stays till the next day.

Happy baking ! ^-^ Have a great week ahead!

Link-up this post to Cook Your Books #24 

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Peach Rose Tarts

In my last BFF baking session cum gathering with my baking "kakis" (good friends), we used puff pastry to make the easy yet pretty looking Apple Rose Tarts together. One of my friends asked if we could use other fruits like peach to make like rose tarts.  I'm not sure if using the puff pastry sheet to roll the peach slices is "do-able" since we do not have any fresh or canned peach on hand. Well, it thus gave me the idea to make peach rose tarts.  I've made mini fruit tarts before, so tried out shaping the peach slices like rose.  Hee ... hee .. quite difficult to assemble the peach slices as slippery to pick and hold even I've pat them dry. I tried using chopsticks to pick but failed too.  Anyway, at last managed to shape them look abit like roses ^-^ 

For the tart crust and cream cheese filling, I used the recipes adapted from Joy of Baking : Shortbread Tarts & Cream Cheese Filling
As my big kids love cream cheese, I added more and reduced the whipped cream slightly.
Below my version with slight changes made to quantity and baked as mini tarts using aluminium foil cups.

Peach Rose Tarts
(Yields 14 small tarts in aluminium foil cups)

Ingredient for Shortbread Tarts:
227 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
50 grams confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar
200 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 tablespoon corn flour
Pinch of salt

Method :
1) In a mixing bowl, use electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar together (1 -2 minutes) until smooth.

2) Beat in the vanilla extract.  Followed by the flour, corn flour and salt and mix just until incorporated. Lightly knead to shape the dough to form a ball with hand.  (If the shortbread dough is too soft to roll into balls, cover and refrigerate for about 30-60 minutes).

3) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place rack in center of oven.

4) Divide and weigh dough into smaller balls. {25g each for aluminium foil cup} Fill dough into foil cup. With your fingertips, press the dough onto the bottom and up the sides of the individual aluminium foil cup. Rest about 5 mins before tidying the edge with a knife or scrapper.  Lightly prick bottom of pastry crust with the tines of a small fork (this will prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes).

5) Once filled, put all the unbaked shells onto baking sheet/tray and bake for about 20 minutes or until the crust dry and lightly golden brown.

6) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Ingredients for the Cream Filling:

80 ml whipping cream
170g Light cream cheese (soften it or cut into smaller pieces if straight from the fridge)
1 tablespoon confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
1 small can of Peach.  Rinse the peaches with water, drained and slice the peaches thinly and pat dry with kitchen towel.
*note: the peaches are soaked in heavy syrup, a rinse with water makes them slightly easier to handle.

Use electric mixer to beat the whipping cream in medium-high speed (about 3 minutes).

Add in the sugar and vanilla extract.  Followed by the cream cheese and lemon juice, mix just until soft peaks form.  Spoon the filling into a piping bag. (omit this step if you prefer using a spoon to scoop the filling onto the crust).

To assemble the mini Peach Rose Tarts: 

1. Once the mini crusts are cool, pipe the cream cheese filling onto the crust.
2. Arrange the slices of peach slice by slice, starts from the center, making them to form like a rose shape.
3. Place the tarts in air-tight container with cover, refrigerate the tarts for a few hours before enjoying them.

Well, obviously they couldn't wait to try them for supper though I made these sweet treats for our dessert the next day.

  Do they look like lovely yellow roses ?

At least my big boy said "Pretty, like flower"
Have a sweet lovely day :D 

I'm submitting this post to the Best Recipes for Everyone May 2015 Event (Theme: My Favourite Desserts) organized by Fion of XuanHom's Mom and co-hosted by Aunty Young. 

Nigella's Mother-In-Law's Madeira Cake : Bake-Along #79

I had a fun gathering cum baking session with my baking friends on last Saturday. We made some lovely Apple Rose tarts and a chiffon cake that we had chosen for our gathering.

And here, I'm having another round of 'Bake-Along' with all the wonderful ladies in this Bake-Along #79 - My Mother-In-Law's Madeira Cake (Nigella Lawson)

As I was about to prepare the ingredients, I realised that I didn't have the appropriate size aluminium loaf pan. Since I've baked small mini cakes using the square shape muffin pan, think it should be 'do-able' ....

My Mother-In-Law's Madeira Cake

Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson

I used one third of the recipe to bake in 6 square shape muffin pan. When I read that Joyce added some rum, I added Grand Marnier since I've got a bottle.
My modifications made in blue below.

Ingredients

240 grams unsalted butter (softened) 80 grams 

200 grams caster sugar (plus extra for sprinkling) 65 grams, reserved 1 tablespoon for sprinkling

grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon 1/2

3 large eggs 1 egg

210 grams self-raising flour 70 grams

90 grams plain flour 30 grams 

2 teaspoon of Grand Marnier my addition 

Method:

You will need a loaf tin (23 x 13 x 7cm / 9 x 5 x 3 inches), buttered and lined.

I used a square muffin pan, greased with butter, makes 6 mini cakes.

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC

2. Cream the butter and sugar, and add the lemon zest.

3. Add the egg one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour for each.

4. Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and, finally, the lemon juice and my addition of Grand Marnier.

5. Sprinkle with caster sugar (about 2 tablespoons should do it) as it goes into the oven, and bake for 1 hour or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
(Spoon the mixture evenly among the muffin cups and smooth the surface. I used 1 tablespoon of caster sugar to sprinkle onto the 6 batter, baked for 25 minutes).

6. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool in the tin before turning out.

Realised that the amount of Grand Marnier is too little to be detected. I'm surprised that it's texture is light and not too buttery. Love the fragrance of the lemon and tangy tender crumbs.  Oh Yes! I agree with Zoe ... really 'yummy because of its sugary crusty topping' when I took my first bite of the cake. And well, it seemed to have 'character' as commented by Lena 'a crispy top which gives the cake a bit of 'character'

Enjoy & Happy Baking!

I'm submitting this post to 

Bake-Along #79 : Mother-In-Law's Madeira Cake

Hosted by Zoe, Lena & Joyce

Blueberry and Apple Jelly & Strawberry Yogurt Sauce

 Let's have a toast, shall we ?!

My girl couldn't join her brother to cook a dish on Mother's Day.  So, as soon as her mid term exams ended, my girl borrowed a cookbook from the library and wanted to cook for the family. So call a dinner for the belated Mother's Day celebration. She bookmarked a few recipes but unfortunately she was unwell that weekend so shelved it off.

As I was flipping through the pages of the cookbook, saw this easy yet creative dessert. Here's sharing this 'not drinkable champagne' ... or rather Blueberry and Apple Jelly !

Recipe adapted from the cookbook :
LOW CARB REVOLUTION
Comfort Eating For Health By Annie Bell
With slight modification made as I've halved the quantity, replaced the gelatine leaves with gelatine powder.

Blueberry and Apple Jelly
Serves 4
Ingredients :
1/2 litre clear unsweetened apple juice
6 gram gelatine powder
100 gram blueberries
seeds from pomegranate to serve (optional)

Method :
Spoon 2 tablespoons of apple juice to a small bowl and sprinkle with gelatine. Stir to dissolve with a spoon. Set aside for about 3 minutes.

Pour the rest of the apple juice into a small pot. Use medium flame to boil.

Once boiled, off the flame. Pour the gelatine mixture into the pot, stir to dissolve completely. Leave to cool. (I leave about 5 minutes).

Pour the jelly solution into containers, glasses or serving bowls.

Stir in the blueberries which will float. Cover and chill for half a day or overnight in the fridge till set. Serve the jelly scattered with pomegranate seeds if wished.

Strawberry & Yogurt Sauce 

Since we also love the Mango & Yogurt Sauce here, I adapted the same recipe to make a small portion but using strawberries instead of mangoes and made slight changes.

For the fruits:
6 Strawberries - hulled and cut in halves
2 fresh Plum - stoned and pitted. Slice 12 wedges.
Instead of using skewers to make fruit kebabs, I used toothpick to secure them in pairs.

For the sauce:
80ml fresh strawberry  puree - remove the hull and discard, chopped small and lightly mashed with fork.
80ml thick plain yogurt (I used low-fat yogurt natural flavour)
Few drops of vanilla essence

1. To make the sauce, beat together the strawberry puree, yogurt and vanilla with an electric mixer.

2. Cover the sauce and place in the fridge until required.

3. Decorate and arrange the fruits on a serving tray/plate and serve together with a bowl of strawberry yogurt sauce.

Hee ... hee .. Do they look like glasses of champagne? So, here's a toast to the organisers & hosts of below theme events, cheers ^-^! And thank you for hosting the events !

"This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (May 2015: YOGURT) organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Cheryl of Baking Taitai" 

 

Also

I'm submitting this post to the Best Recipes for Everyone May 2015 Event (Theme: My Favourite Desserts) organized by Fion of XuanHom's Mom and co-hosted by Aunty Young. 

And sharing with "Cook Your Books Event"

I'm submitting this post to Cook Your Books Event #23 [May 2015] hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Fruit Kebabs with Mango and Yogurt Sauce

These mixed fresh fruit kebabs make an attractive and healthy dessert.  I supposed this is quite similar to fruit Fondue but served cold and healthier using yogurt sauce instead of rich chocolate sauce.  (good for a "weight-watcher" like me ... hee.. hee)

Pretty simple and easy to make ... so colourful, appetizing and attractive to guests if you're having some fun fruity party.

Recipe adapted from the cookbook "Desserts All Around The Year" by Martha Day.

Fruit Kebabs with Mango and Yogurt Sauce
Serves 4
120g Strawberries - hulled and cut in halves for bigger ones
2 large Bananas - cut bite-sized
1/2 Mango - peeled, stoned and cubed
2 Kiwi Fruit - peeled and cubed

(Feel free to adjust the quantity and to use your preferred fruits to make your kebabs : pineapple, apple, papaya, star-fruit etc.)

For the sauce
120ml fresh mango puree - peeled and pitted mango
120ml thick plain yogurt  (I used low-fat yogurt mango & peach flavour)
1 teaspoon caster sugar
Few drops of vanilla essence
1 teaspoon finely chopped mint leaves (omitted as don't have any in the fridge)

Method :
1. To make the sauce, beat together the mango puree, yogurt, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer.

2. Stir in the chopped mint. Cover the sauce and place in the fridge until required.

3. Thread the prepared fruit on a 6 inch wooden skewers,  alternating the fruits.

4. Arrange the kebabs on a large serving tray with the mango and yogurt sauce in the center.

Well, this is so refreshing and fun dipping with the sauce. They liked it so much that we had another round the next day since we still have the fruits. But I only threaded half the quantity with skewers as they couldn't wait for all the fruit skewers to be completed  .... they just scooped the sauce onto the cut fruits and munch ... lol ^-^!

Enjoy ! Have a fun dipping fruity day and a great weekend !

"This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (May 2015: YOGURT) organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Cheryl of Baking Taitai" 

 

And

I'm submitting this post to the Best Recipes for Everyone May 2015 Event (Theme: My Favourite Desserts) organized by Fion of XuanHom's Mom and co-hosted by Aunty Young.