Tish Boyle Buttermilk Chocolate Cake and Little Teochew Lemon Pound Cake

Had buttermilk that were to expire in a few days,... *panic mode. 

Was frantically trying to find cake recipes that used buttermilk because i didn't want to waste it, so here I am making Chocolate and Lemon Pound Cake! :D 

(Yeah i know, I am a camwhore but only when it involves food)

 First intentions were to bake this delicious chocolate pound cake but 2 times the portion but I ran out of Valrhona Cocoa Powder and the recipe called for alkalized cocoa powder, so hershley was out (Hershley is unsweetened cocoa powder), thus the impromptu decision to make Lemon Pound Cake as well.

Hehe, I couldn't resist using the sillicon hello kitty cake moulds that my friend, grace gave to me on my birthday. Too adorable. 

Recipe for the chocolate cake by Tish Boyle 

which i got from Little Teochew

(from Tish Boyle Sweet Dreams)

Makes 6 individual cakes.
Storage: in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Special Equipment: one 6-cake Bundt-lette pan

- 114g cake flour (plain flour is fine too)
- 1/2 cup (1.6oz/46g) Dutch-processed (alkalized) cocoa powder*
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks/6oz/170g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups (8.8oz/250g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) Kahlua (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 ounces (113g) finely chopped bittersweet chocolate**** or 3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate morsels bittersweet
* I used Valhrona cocoa powder,reduced the sugar to 170g, didn't use any alcohol and used bittersweet callebaut chocolate. 

Tips for self: Will use semi sweet chocolate chips instead, it was alittle too rich for my liking.

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Generously grease the interior of a 6-cake Bundt-lette pan (it's best to use shortening here). Dust the molds with flour and tap out the excess.*
* I used my aluminium loaf pan

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed for 2 minutes, until very creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 3 minutes, until the mixture is well blended and light. At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

4. In a small bowl, stir together the buttermilk, Kahlua (or rum), and vanilla extract. If your mixer has a splatter shield attachment, attach it now. At low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating it with the buttermilk cream mixture in two additions, and mixing just until blended. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and stir in the finely chopped chocolate or miniature semisweet morsels. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake molds, dividing it evenly and smoothing the tops.

5. Bake the cakes for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan set on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
* I baked it for 45 minutes

6. Invert the cakes onto the rack and cool completely.
* If you intend to chill the cake(s), make sure they are stored in a tightly-lidded container to prevent drying out.

Tried it out and would say that I will not try this recipe again unless I have extra buttermilk, I think my chocolate cake recipe decipe beat this hands down, but its really not that bad if you like loads of chocolate and fudge. I just don't want to try it again because I have something better. But this is definitely worth a try because it's quite easy to do :D

Lemon pound Cake

 Recipe

Adapted from little teochew

                                    (adapted very slightly from Fine Cooking)

- 1 1/2 cups (170g) all-purpose unbleached flour ( i used plain flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, slightly soft
- 1 cup (225g) sugar*
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (approx. 120ml) buttermilk**
- Zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped or grated

* i reduced sugar to 130g

little teochew says:
"** No buttermilk? No problem. Just pour out the said amount of milk in a cup, then add 1/2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar and let it stand for 5mins."


1. Heat the oven to 325°C (160°C). Spray a loaf pan that’s about 8x5x3 inches with a nonstick coating.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until well blended. With an electric mixer, beat the butter until it’s very pale and little tails have formed.

3. Sprinkle in the sugar and beat well until slightly fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until blended before adding the next.

4. With the mixer on low, add about one-third of the flour and mix until almost combined; then add half the buttermilk and mix until just combined. Repeat with another third of flour, and then the last half of the buttermilk, ending with the last third of the flour. Just before all the flour is incorporated, switch from the mixer to a stiff rubber spatula, add the lemon zest, and slowly stir to blend in the flour and zest, taking care to scrape the bowl’s bottom and sides.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it when inserted in the center, 45 to 50 minutes. Let the cake cool before slicing.

The smell of the lemon pound cake is really heavenly. Don't underestimate the power of just 1 whole lemon worth of zest, it is that good. 

Baking is a fun thing to do, just that washing up is a chore. 

Try it and let me know how you like it. 

BBC Good Food Carrot Cake and my Brother's 24th

Happy 24th to my brother. 

Was in a dilemma, not knowing what to bake for my brother's birthday and he requested for a carrot, so a carrot cake it shall be. 

My brother has been away from home for an exchange programme in Scotland for 6 months, and while he was there, he attended a cooking class that taught them how to bake carrot cakes, so he came back, probably craving for that taste and so i decided to bake one on request.

Got this recipe from BBC Good Food Carrot Cake and added 200g of carrots instead of 140g. 

The frosting recipe is alittle weird, 2 table spoonful of orange juice can never make even a stiff royal icing, put as much as you deem is enough, don't have to follow the recipe FOR THE FROSTING.

Hauls from Europe from my bro to me. 

      

Chopin Vodka from Poland

                                                            Lemon Curd from Harrods UK, London.

Considering how little things my brother bought back, I feel lucky that he actually bought quite a few items for me, some upon request and some on his own.

Hummingbird Bakery Red Velvet Cupcakes and cream cheese frosting

Yes, I contemplated for too long and today, I decided to bake the so famous Red Velvet Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Really didn't like the idea of putting colouring in my food, but I guess I have to compromise because I really wanted to try making one to try and eat it. All the talks about trying.

Got the recipe from  Brown Eyed Baker (click the link for the recipe), although i reduced the sugar amounts for both the cupcakes and the frosting to the same amount as the flour and for the icing, i didn't measure how much i put mainly because i tasted as i mixed resulting in a watery frosting.

Do take note that while mixing your frosting, do not overmix them because it will turn really watery and "un-pipeable".

After baking it, it tasted more like a chocolate cake but i liked it because i didn't have any of the baking soda aftertaste that I absolutely do not like.

Do also note that this recipe calls for unsweentened cocoa powder so it will be great to use brands like hershley and hershley (because i do not know any other unsweentened coca powder that I like).

That's all for today, do let me know what you would want me to bake and I'll try it out (if i like it) and I will give a review on it :D

Canele Patisserie

So after Togi's Korean Restaurant yesterday, we went to Canele Patisserie. I am not the biggest fan of macarons but I always wanted to try all the flavour available at a Patisserie, so me and my 2 other friends, we went crazy, bought all 9 flavours that were available on that day. I didn't like all the macarons, in fact I only liked 2 of them and these are the flavours and my reviews on them.



Passionfruit Macaron: Passionfruit buttercream, the passionfruit taste was mild and overall it was alright, but I just ain't a big fan of passionfruit.


Raspberry Mint Macaron: Mint Buttercream with Raspberry Jam in the middle; I don't like to eat anything that has Mint, so this is definitely not for me also.


Salted Caramel Macarons: I like how the saltiness in the caramel blends in with the sweetness of the caramel bringing a rather unique taste which is quite common in our days. My favourite among all!


Rose Macarons: You will like it if you like the taste of Bandung :D


Vanilla Tahini Macaron: Not a fan of vanilla and there's a certain taste of "playdough" in the cream which we all admitted.


Cookies & Cream Macarons: Tasted like Oreo cookies macarons, nice! :D


Feuilletine Chocolate Macarons: One of my favourite too. It tasted like the macarons version of sweat pleasure; a little like ferrero Rocher also.


Hazelnut Macarons: I can't remember how it tasted but i remembered i didn't really like it.


Strawberry Rhubarb Macarons: Strawberry Buttercream. Not my favourite.

I like the Salted Caramel and the Feuilletine Macarons, will definitely settle for those 2 if I were to indulge in it. But overall enjoyed the fun we had while tasting and sharing opinions. Best moments was when lynette and I first tried the vanilla macarons and we went: "Taste like play dough" and grace was really skeptical about eating it and when she did, she went: "EEEeeeee". Her facial expression was epic for that moment.


Also we had strawberry shortcake that nice.

A "Full"filing night to settle little cravings.

Will update again, Till then! :D

Fabulous Baker Boy/ Togi Korean Restaurant/ Canele

I bet I gain abit of weight yesterday after all that eating. 

Met up with Lynette and Grace because Grace just came back from UK and of course meeting up with grace who loves to eat and eat and eat and eat (she's not fat by the way), we unknowingly went to 3 food places that I was wanted to cross out in my to-go list. It was great that we were still able to catch up and talk so well after not seeing each other for about 9 months. 

The UK themed cupcake kit that grace got me from Harrods, she's been feeding my cake decorating collection constantly no matter where she goes. Thanks grace :D

(I think i wouldn't bear to use it at all. It's too cute and there's only 24 set inside.) 

So the plan was to meet to go to Public Garden Flea Market to check it out and visit Togi Korean Restaurant for their Army Stew. 

So off we went to Public Garden Flea Market which was at Old Police Centre (around Clarke Quay area). Walked around the air-conditioned flea market and looked at the stuffs around, which ranges from clothes, bags, cakes, milkshakes, coffee, etc. Nothing really caught my eye except for this owl sling bag that was really cute but it was $70. Will buy it if I have more money someday. 

Left Public Garden and while it was still early, we thought of going somewhere to chill before going to Togi. Fabulous Baker Boy was our next stop after much decision. It is located right next to Veridian Art House, the owner probably owns the Art House next door (I'm not sure) and I really liked the concept of having an open space all to themselves, my ideal space for my own bakery (dreams...)  

Ordered a Red Velvet Cake ($8.50) and Valhrona Chocolate Cake ($8) shared between the 3 of us. 

Didn't really like the chocolate cake because the chocolate taste wasn't strong enough but the red velvet was really moist and nice! :D 

Price was a little hefty considering that I make my own cakes too :P 

Fabulous Baker Boy opens until 5.30pm on Sunday so if you happen to be there, keep a lookout on the timing so as not to avoid disappointment. 

Up next we went to Togi Korean Restaurant managed by Koreans so i supposed the food are pretty much authentic. We went there at around 5.30pm and surprisingly, there were a few groups of people waiting outside before the opening hour which was at 6pm. The staffs were also nice enough to bring us to our seats before their opening hour. 

When we sat down, they served us with banchan (side dishes) which had ikan billis, kimchi, black sauce potato (our favourite!), leeks, radish and cold cucumber salad (like achar! ). 

The staffs there were very alert and once we finished one of the side dishes, they immediately filled it up with no reminders needed at all. 

Kimchi seafood Pancake (3 for $6)

(Army Stew $35)

And so, as mentioned before, we wanted to try army stew so badly, so ordered that and kimchi pancake. Just get the smallest army stew if you are going there in groups of 3-4. We added an extra noodle and the portion is just nice for 3 of us, in fact we had leftovers that we couldn't finish. The army stew was pretty delicious but i had to down a lot of water because it had quite a bit of MSG from the luncheon meat and baked beans. But what's army stew without MSG?

A picture of us together at the place with our hot and piping army stew! :D 

Togi's a pretty cosy place to go to with good services, they will also top up soup for you if need be. 

Will definitely visit the place again! 

Swee Choon Dim Sum

Sorry for the lack of pictures... 

We were too engross during the process of eating thus,... :D

Went to Swee Choon Dim Sum with my cell group mates Jean and Peiying on Thursday night after their work. Despite all the ravings about how good and cheap swee choon was, I haven't been there before until now. 

Met at Bugis Mrt and we took a taxi there. The place is relatively ulu but its much bigger than I expected it to bad. 

The food were not too bad at all. Might not be the best but the standard is pretty there. As for the price I would not say that it is really cheap. I mean 2 siew mai for $1.80, meaning 1 is 90cents, I could have gotten 道记 siew mai which taste better! 道记 is at the hawker in Chinatown next to OG and trust me, their siew mai is the best I have eaten to far in Singapore. 

The highlights of the night are probably:

Chicken feet (which i don't eat but my other two friend kept saying how great it is)

Mee sua kweh: It looks like the shape of carrot cake we find from old chang kee but it is made entirely by fried mee sua. Pretty unique and special. 

Chilli Oil Wanton: This is pretty normal actually like normal wanton but I just love it because of all the fried food we had that night, this felt so good for that moment. 

Banana and Prawn Fritters: The Irony that I hate eating banana in every except from its original form, I think this tasted pretty good when it was eaten hot. I gave way mainly because the prawn looked pretty big but worth a try. 

Overall, I will still go back if I was in the area and will definitely order less than we did this time round. 

     Swee Choon Tim-Sum Restaurant Pte Ltd

183/ 185/ 187/ 189/ 191 Jalan Besar

Singapore 208882

Enquiry Hotline : 62257788
Fax : 62941089
Email : admin@sweechoon.com
Business Hours :
Monday to Sunday : 6 pm to 6 am Close on Tuesday
Payment mode : Cash and NETS

Cover of Almost Famous Amos Cookies

Back to where I started baking. 

I started baking during my secondary school days purely for fun. I did not know what a meringue was, how to creamed butter, etc. Everything was pure luck and i love baking cookies because it seems quite error free and it seems to be quite successful.

Success didn't come easy and I'm glad most of my bakes now turn out edible and some are quite nice i think. But I have failed numerous times. In fact because I only have a Microwave with an Oven setting at home, I could bake stuffs in large quantity or even Cakes in the past because I failed too many cakes (even Box Mix) that I lose hope in it. I stopped trying for quite some time and one day it just hit me to try again and from then on, i never doubt my "microwave" oven. Ask me who my teacher is, Youtube is the one who taught me so much and of course Cake Boss from starting my interest in cake decorating. 

(For your information, those people out there who have a microwave, I am not baking with microwave setting, it just that my microwave can convert into an "oven", thus I can bake in it. Microwave cannot be substituted if you do not have an oven setting.) 

Enough of my naggings. I made these cookies yesterday from 
http://www.bisousatoi.com/2010/03/famous-amos-chocolate-chunk-cookies.html

because I was craving for famous amos chocolate chips so badly. It's has a really strong buttery taste and I really liked it but in my opinion, I do not think it tasted like the famous amos that I fancy, but still its a recipe worth keeping and trying! :D 

Ingredients
250g salted butter,softened (i used unsalted 227g SCS)
200g light brown sugar (150g for me)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coffee oil
1 egg (55g egg)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup oats,processed to bits in a chopper (32.5g)
1/4 cup ground almonds (22.5g)
1/2 cup of your favourite nuts,chopped finely (optional) (i didn't use any)
1 pack of Nestle Tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate chips OR chocolate chunks
300g self-raising flour (i used plain flour with 1/2tsp of baking powder)

Method
1) One night before, combine your eggs, Coffee Oil and Vanilla extract together and leave it in the fridge. Before using, bring it to room temperature. Alternatively, you can combine the mixture for 2 hours before.
2) Preheat your oven to 160C

3) To the room temperature butter, beat in sugar and salt.
4) Beat in the egg until there is no signs of liquid.
5) Stir in the processed oats, ground almonds, nuts and chocolate chunks.
6) Sift the Flour and fold everything in until there is no signs of flour and resembles a dough. 
(The dough will be a little greasy but will not stick to finger) 
For my cookies, it the size of a 1/2 teaspoon before baked, so i baked it for 14 minutes. For bigger cookies, bake it slightly longer. It will be better if you can test bake the first batch to determine the timing. 

Give it a try and let me know how it is.