Chocolate Mint cake - adaption -

this is a recipe originated from kak Ummi's kitchen. My children loves this cake much to my suprise i thought kids hate minty flavor but i suppose the combo of mint and chocolate is a palate pleaser.

My verdict:-
its a rather moist cake provided that you do not over beat the batter. fairly easy to make, its a no brainer just follow the instruction to the letter. and you'll be OK. ;) Our family loves this cake so its a keeper. I highly recommend you to try - if youre up to something different ;)

MY adaptation to the recipe:
200g flour
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
230g butter
180g granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1tsp vanilla essence
21/2tbsp dutch processed coco powder
50ml fresh milk
few drops of green coloring
few drops of peppermint essence/extrat (do not go overly EXCITED with this one or you'll end up having toothpaste flavor cake *L0L*)

preheat oven to 175c. line a 8"x8" cake tin with parchment paper.
sift flour, baking powder and baking soda then mix butter and flour into a paste consistant batter. set aside.
in a different bowl beat eggs with sugar until thick then add in vanilla.
then mix together the flour mixture and the egg mixture. beat until fluffy, the batter will look shiny/glossy at this point.
devide the batter into 2 portions. portin A mix it with coco powder then portion B mix it with peppermint and green coloring - mix well.
then pour the batter alternately onto the center overlapping with each other, this will create the marbeling effect. then tap the pan to let any bubbled out and bake for 45mins or until the cake test done. if the top of the cake browns too fast, cover it with aluminium foil.

NOTE: for the coco powder, its best if you were to dilute it with a table spoon or two of water for easy mixing.

Baked me own B'day cake: Double Chocolate Peppermint Sponge

have nothing better to do than baking me own birthday cake as i personally feels that store bought cake is too commercialized... blurghhh~ the thought of secret recipe's cake made me vomit in my mouth a little... i'm so sick of it no offence to the business owners their cakes are good but i'm just sick of it...(you know that i'm telling the truth when i actually had to repeat the word 'sick' twice)

anyway this time i wanted to try something different so i jazz it up with peppermint!

hey, why buy when yo u can BAKE!

besides we loved it....and you probably would too!

175g butter -

150g flour

2tbs cocoa powder

1tbsp baking powder

150g caster sugar

3eggs

1tbsp milk

40g peppermint chocolates, chopped - i use Andes after 8 chocolate mints

some chocolate spred to decorate

1. pre heat oven at 180c. grease two 20cm/8" sandwich cake tins
2. sift flour, cocoa, baking powder into a bowl set aside.
3. melt butter and chocolate chunks and set aside.
4. in a mixer fitted with a whisk beat eggs with sugar until volumed and pale.
5. lower the speed, and add in the flour mixture just until almost mixed.
6. then add in the butter mixture and gently fold in the butter until JUST mixed! (coz we don't wanna loose too much air)
7. pour into the prepared baking tins and bake for 25-30minutes or until set. DO NOT OVER BAKE THE CAKE or it'll be dry!
8. once cooked, let it cool just for a bit then turn out and finish cooling on the wire rack
9. Sandwich together the cakes with the chocolate spread, then drizzle more on top to decorate.

for the spread :

i simply melt (using double boil method) beryl's dark chocolate about 100g-150g or so, then i add in 1/4c of whipping cream, 1tbs butter, a 1.5 tsp of light corn syrup and 1/2tsp of peppermint essence. mix well and ready to spread!

p/s: beryl is a malaysian brand chocolate.

hope that you'll enjoy my wacky creation for myselfon my birthday hehehe~ (i hope that i don't sound pathetic)

Moist LEMON Sponge Cake

look at that texture...just gorgeous and its moist too!

before i start, i'd like to wish to all my christian friends and also to those whom enjoy this particular holiday *you know who you are* a very happy happy Xmas and Happy New Year!!

today i'll be posting my all time fave sponge cake recipe...i was contemplating should i share this incredible recipe or just keep to myself? then after much consideration i decided to share this lovely recipe that i hold it dear in my heart hehehehe ~

this recipe is highly recommended , extremely easy to make with no time to spare...

errr this recipe was actually individual cakes (like bake in a remikin for individual consumption) but i was lazy to make such way so i just poured the batter into a 9" baking tin which is not so advisable...but it still turned out great...

LEMON SPONGE CAKE

3 eggs

1/2c sugar

1/2c all purpose flour

1/4tsp baking powder

1/4tsp salt

1/4c melted unsalted butter

1/2tsp vanilla extract

1tsp lemon zest

2tsp lemon juice

1. preheat oven at 180c .grease and sugar the remikins and place a disk of parchment papers at the bottom of remikins.
   
2. beat eggs and sugar until pale and airy with whisk fitted mixer. this will be more or less 10-15minutes
   
3. mean while sift together all dry ingredients
   
4. combine butter, zest and juice and set aside.
   
5. reduce speed on mixer add dry ingredients quickly but not all at once until just almost blended.
   
6. add in the butter mixture and mix until just blended.
   
7. spoon cake mixture into individual remikins leaving 1/2" for cake expension.
   
8. bake for 20-25minutes
   
9. best serve warm

if yo uclose your eyes and eat this just for a moment you'll actually think that its cotton soft cheese cake!

Ultimate Banana Muffin<---how can i stay slim this way?

lately i've been craving for a sinful chocolate cakes and muffins..REALLY REALLY fluffy muffins doesn't matter what kind so long that its fluffy ...the story behind this muffin cravings is that last week i went to a flea market in cyberjaya street mall and there was this lady who sells really light n fluffy muffins and its also moist at the same time! the week before that i went there and bought some muffins and last week i was late and her muffins are all sold out and she was packing her stuff already.

i missed her muffins last week hence my craving for muffins arghhhhhhhh~~~~

anyway i went to the wet market this morning after a rather eleborate meeting with my son's preschool teacher <---this is a long story i'll blog about it later . so i was in the market wanting to buy some grated coconut and coconut milk then i saw this huge yam and beside it there's this beautiful banana (pisang emas literally translated as gold banana) its beautiful in shape and its ripeness is just right, just right for baking or making any traditional kueh. and i thought to myself i've got to have it and banana muffin came to mind. that and i also have to have that yam coz its also unusually large and fresh looking spud so i bought that but i have no idea what am i going to do with it yet but i've cleaned,cut and dice the spud. boiled it and keep it frozen until i finally decided what to do with it.... anyhow...in my search of fluffy recipes i failed to find one all somehow turned out to be dense and rather heavy<---this is even when i hand mix to avoid over mixing...now i wonder why... with frustration of failing to get the perfect recipe i decided to call a friend of mine Pastry Chef Roslee or was it Rosly sorry mate m not sure of your spelling. We had a long chat and he refresh my memory about lavenings, flours etc....(bare in mind although i AM a certified pastry chef but i do not practise only at home, had a year of internship and thats about it...) after that fruitful chat, i put my chef hat on and start my muffin making experiment...and with LUCK i have baked the ULTIMATE and may i say PURRRRRRRRFECT muffins although i do imitate lydia's style of decorating the muffin ;) hope you dun mind.

what you need : (A)

2 c low protein flour/pastry flour
3/4 c caster sugar <--if you were to add the chocolate chunks reduce this slightly

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

(B)

1 cup mashed ripe banana (since pisang emas is a very small and cute banana it takes almost the whole bunch) 1/2 cup melted butter 2 eggs 90ml fresh milk

100g chopped milk chocolate <---i add this as i so happen to have some left overs

50g crushed hazelnuts

and some whole hazelnut for decoration

Directions

1. preheat oven at 180c.
   
2. in a mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients together
3. in a different bowl mix melted butter, banana, chopped chocolates,crushed hazelnuts and milk together
4. meanwhile beat the eggs until fluffy then fold in with the other wet ingredients
5. make a well in the dry ingredients mixture then pour in the wet mixture and gently fold in and mix until just combine few lumps is forgiven.
6. AVOID over mixing as it'll make it dense and somewhat dry and oily <--wierd combination huh? but thats how it'll be so try not to mix it more than 5 strokes.
7. then use ice cream scoop to scoop in the mixture into muffin tin
   
8. decorate it with a slice of banana and a single hazelnut on top and bake for 20 minutes or until done

i will explain about types of flour and its usage and other stuff later in my next entry

Moist Nutty Banana Cake

this is one cake that everybody love especially if its moist with a hint of nutty feel in this case i use hazelnuts ground and chunks..mmm thinking of it makes my mouth water...

i made 6 loaf of these beautifully bake cake...and its wonderful but this recipe only makes 2 loafs if you're using a standard rectangular pan.

what you need:
4pcs or ripe banana - meshed
1/2c butter
1cup sugar
1 1/2c self rising flour
1 tsp ground hazelnut
a handful of hazelnuts - chopped into chunks
2 eggs
1tsp soda bikarbonat
60ml milk

1. preheat oven at 180c then line the rectangle pan with parchment paper set aside
   
2. cream butter and sugar until fluffy
3. meanwhile you need to sift flour, soda bikarbonat and the ground hazelnuts in a different bowl then set aside.
   
4. then add in the eggs one by one, mixwell
   
5. then add in the meshed banana, mix well
6. then add in the flour mixture alternately with the milk until all well combined
7. lastly add in the hazelnut chunks
8. pour batter in prepared pan then bake for 30-40minutes or until done (when you press the centre of the cake lightly and it springs back - its done)

hope you'll enjoy this as much as i do...

hello kitty cuppies

last week we celebrated little Maryam's birthday at Mak Tok's house. We had nasi dagang, lasagna, chocolate brownie made by wanie, che na made her famous trifle which like always gone in a blink...and I made some cute little cuppies...hello kitty cuppies.

i didn't plan on making the cuppies, its just that i couldn't sleep so i just move my ass down to the kitchen and start baking and molding ^_^ and i finally slept at around 3am. It was worth it especially seeing those people faces when they see the cute little cuppies. the cupcake was not perfect as i didn't have edible pen to draw the whiskers and eyes so i improvise and use the good old bamboo stick and food coloring (you can see the smudge...)

in all honesty...this is my firs time using marzipan to make cake toppers so don't ask me for the recipe i practically search the net to find the simplest recipe and guest what i forgot to book mark it so i can't link it or give the recipe but i suppose if you were to search you'll find it. and as for the little cakes it was a tad to sweet for me...i didn't use the normal castor sugar we'd use for baking instead i replace it with mmmm~ i for got whats it called i think it starts with Mor...mor something. i didn't know that its very sweet. the cake turned out very sweet even when I've already halved the sugar from the original recipe. non the less the sugar made the cake a very aromatic and tasted somewhat like caramel...(maybe that's why it tasted so sweet?)

Blueberry muffins

lately I've been craving for blueberry muffins (its actually ever since i started researching for 'hantaran' cake just for some reason blueberry muffin came to mind). I never really am a fan of blueberry but somehow rather i still get the craving <---does that make any sense? i dunno anyway i was up early today coz its my boy's 1st day to school (he's only 3 years old) he was surely excited to go to school coz he'll be wearing new uniforms, school bag, shoes...so i thought of making muffins and i see the opportunity to bake blueberry muffins as i 'coincidently' bought a pack of blueberries BUT i have no recipe for it, it was already 7:30am at the time i have no time to search any cook books or the net (yeah my desk top is ancient and take its very own SWEET time to start which ultimately why i blog so "often") so i simply put what ever i want in it and hope that it'll rise *lol* in lay term i 'taram'/'tibai' the recipe but to my suprise it turned out great. the muffin if very filling and not too sweet as i use fresh fruits - you may add more sugar if you like it sweet but this recipe is for me to keep, we (me n the entire Fathil's clan) LOVE it just the way it is. you'll need: (a) 11/2c flour 1/2tsp salt 2tsp baking powder 2/4c granulated sugar (b) 1 egg 1/3c milk 1/3c vegetable oil 1tsp vanilla essence (c) blueberries

1. preheat oven at 180c. line buttered and floured muffin pan
   
2. combine (a) and whick until well mixed, set a side
3. mix (b) them gradually add in (a) mix until well combine
4. lastly fold in (c). Use ice cream scoop to neatly drop batter into muffin pan/tray

if you like cumbs onto of your muffin take 1/2cup sugar, 1/3cup flour, 1/4cup cold butter and a dash of cinnamon powder if you like. mix them all with pastry cutter or if you don't have one fork will do the trick, mix them until it resemble a corse crumbs then sprinkle on top of your muffins before you bake.

I skip the crumb-ing routine coz apparently i'm out of butter heheh~

I'll post the picture later as my ancient PC is on 'strike' it keeps hanging for God know what reason...i can barely post this entry *long sigh~*

Chewy Gooey Brownie Delux

this is my favorite kind of brownies...its chewy and gooey great with vanilla ice cream...mmmm yummmmmmmmmmmmmm~^_^ been craving for brownies lately so i bake this excellent brownies to satisfy my cravings and it hits right on the spot. my family simply loves this, the brownies didn't had chance, it didn't even last for a day...if you're not a brownie lover, you should try this one this might get you hooked and addicted =p and if you ARE a brownie lover, what the hell are you waiting for TRY it!!! but gotta warn ya, its definately not suitable for those on diet *lol*

you'll need...
1c flour
3/4c unsweetend cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
2sticks / 1/2pounds unsalted butter @ room temperature
2c sugar
1tsp light corn syrup
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven at 180c. butter & flour a 9x9" baking pan; set a side
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour,cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until well combined. set a side.
3. in a larger bowl, cream butter and sugar at med speed until pale and creamy and thick...i'd say about 5mins or so. beat in 1 egg at a time, making sure its entirely incorporated before you add in the next egg. after beating the last egg for about a minute, stir in vanilla.
4. then with a wooden spoon fold in the flour mixture until just combine - the batter will be quite thick but thats ok. then just spread in the batter in the prepared baking pan and level it.
5. bake for about 20minutes or until done. let it cooled for 1 hr before cutting then ready to serve with ice cream vanilla ...

Tips:
- This brownie can be kept frozen up to 2months; allow them to thaw in a room temperature before serving.
- To freeze the brownie tightly wrap it in wax paper and seal it in a freezer bag or zip lock bag.. other wise it'll stay fresh for 3 days.
- And ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use quality chocolate when baking such decadent desserts with chocolate ingredients otherwise you might end up MISREPRESENTED

p/s: today is my 28th birthday heheeheh waaaaaaaaaaaaa i'm officially 1 year older....

Devil's Food Cake Recipe

This recipe was requested by Zana. I'm sorry I have no picture for this recipe as i didn't bake this cake as i was busy baking & decorating vanilla cuppies...anyway...

DeVil Fo0d Cake:
340g self rising flour
340g brown sugar
340g unsalted butter
11/2tsp baking powder
3 seperated eggs
150g plain chocolate - melted
2tsp vanilla essence
170ml milk

1. Pre heat oven 175c. prepare baking pan greased and line a parchment paper, set a side.
   
2. Sieve flour and baking powder - set a side
3. in a medium bowl, cream sugar and butter
4. add egg yolks and beat well. add the melted chocolate and vanilla, mix well.
5. add the flour and milk alternately, beating well with each addition.
6. Beat the egg whites in a different bowl until soft peaks form, then gently fold it in the butter mixture.
7. then pour in prepared 9" round pan. bake for 45mins-an hour or until the cake is done when tested.

to ms Zana, HapPy BaKing!!

Caramel Pudding Cake

This I have to give credits to yani from MYR. Its her recipe and its great to i highly recommend it! I made this for last night dinner party. the strawberry deco looks awful coz it was a last minute deco as i initially don't want to decorate it but when its done, it looks too plain for my liking. luckly i still have some leftover strawberries & kiwi but one problwm, i don't have any glaze so my mom she substitute the piping jelly with strawberry jem...the result is not as flattering...
the recipe you can check it here http://www.myresipi.com/top/detail/910

Black Forest Cake...

made this for my Mom's birthday yesterday...Proud to say that i've made it from stretch...

Sponge Cake: (i make 2 sets) 9" pan
2eggs medium
110g self rising flour
15g cocoa powder
1tsp baking powder
125g caster sugar
125g soft margarine

1. Place the margarine and sugar in a mixing bowl.
2. Mix together with the wooden spoon, then beat for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy, alternatively use electric mixer for about 1 minute.
3. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition until all the eggs has been incorporated and the mixture is soft and glossy
4. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the egg mixture and carefully fold it until all has been incorporated.
5. Pour into a lined baking tin and bake at 160c for 30-35minutes or until done.

Black Forest Filling:

1 can of dark cherry
450g Rich's Topping Whipping Cream
Chocolate bar

Just Beat the whipping cream until mid stiff (this just means that just until it peaks, and DO NOT beat until it too STIFF), no sugar needed as its already sweetened.

To assemble:

1. Take the cooled sponge cake and divide into 3 layers.
2. Take some of the whipping cream spread them evenly with spatula.
3. then scatter the dark cherries on it and sandwich them repeat to another layer.
4. once assembled, use the whipping cream and cover the cake with it use a long spatula with the aid of some hot water to heat the spatula. this will help make the leveling easier and smoother.
5. once done you can decorate it with grated chocolate and add the chocolate center piece in the middle of the cake. You can refer here on how to make the chocolate center piece/ chocolate modeling( http://sugarcraft101.blogspot.com/2008/09/chocolate-modeling-pt2.html. )

Peanut Butterscotch Cake

In all honesty, this may be the best cake i've ever eaten...i didn't make it but my sister did...notice the nick avsolut? yup thats her...i'm actually surprised that she can bake a cake and it turned out good *nods* then again she has always been a fantastic baker...especially with cookies! (when i say fantastic mean that she rarely bakes but when she's at it her bakes always and i mean always turned out right and to say the least 'delish'!) there was this one time that she bakes chocolate chip cookies and guest what? her cookies tasted like Famous Amos...no kidding...until today i keep asking her for the recipe but she kept saying that 'its chef's secret' fuewy...i really wanna get my hands on that recipe...then again i supposed that she discover the chocolate chip cookies by accident and then she didn't remember it...is that possible?maybe...

anyway..enuf about her... here is the recipe...and i don't have the whole cake picture and my sis's picture is too blury for me to even consider putting it here...you can just drop by to her newly start blog at http://avsolut.blogspot.com

Topping:
125g butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 cups of finely chopped peanuts

Cake:
1 2/3 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
125g butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Lightly grease 23cm square tin and line base with non-stick baking paper

Topping -
Melt butter, sugars and honey in saucepan. Stir in peanuts pour mixture in tin. - Preheat oven 190 C
Cake; - Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Rub in butter, add sugar and mix. Pour eggs, milk and vanilla extract in center. Mix well. - Pour cake mixture on top of nut mixture. Bake for 40mins, then reduce heat to 180 C and bake for 20mins more. Turn out immediately onto rack and remove paper. - Replace any nut topping that comes away, it will set as soon as it cools.

p/s: she add in some chocolate rise in the cake mixure for kicks...

Daniel's Steamed Chocolate Cake - my son's recipe

today my son woke me up asking me if he could make a cake for his grand parents...naturally i said NO coz he's too young to do anything in the kitchen...(he's barely 3 years old) but he was pestering me until i finally said OK Ok...but since my oven is out of commission...we have to make do with steaming the cake instead baking it.

so i brought out all the basic ingredients to make a cake and my son chose all the ingredients by himself...he wanted a chocolate cake he said chocolate is the BEST! (i must agree with him as i too love chocolate) then i weigh all the ingredients but he do all the sifting, mixing, folding...and my kitchen was the 'mother messiness' thanx to Daniel, my son...
he said one for maktok, one for nenek...
The recipe:
150g flour
200ml vege oil
250 fresh milk
1/2 can evaporated milk
100g sugar
100g cocoa powder
1tsp soda bikarbonate
1tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1tsp vanilla essence

How he did it:

1. combine cocoa powder + sugar +evaporated milk + oil + fresh milk,
   
2. then stir over heat for awhile about 5mins max.(this part i've to do it) then remove from heat.
   
3. beat eggs in another bowl and pour in the above mixture.
4. sift the flour and baking powder and the soda bikarbonate then
5. finally fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture
6. ready your baking pan or in our case heat proof tupperware, lined it with parchment paper then pour the cake mixture in...
7. steam for 20-30minutes or until cake is done. (the steam must be hot so pre heat it first)
   

My Kitch3n Durian Pudding Cake - Tried & Tested

I know i know whats up with the strawberry? i ran out of durian for my decoration so i improvise still look good right? *laughs* anyway this is the recipe that i've tried and tested from Lydia's blog...and it was delicious! we all love it especially my dad...he's a durian lover so we applaued Lydia for sharing such delicious recipe...

I'm a tad bit lazy to re-write the recipe but you can look for it @ http://mykitch3n.blogspot.com/

oh i recomend you to try this recipe...2 thumbs up! a really great way to use up the durians apart from the usual durian puffs or a durian balls (jejemput durian/cekodok durian)...so what are you waiting for? drop by at her blog and feast your eyes on her deliciously taken pictures and try her recepies i'm sure they were all great..

p/s: lydia, your blog is now one of my favorite...*wink*

Brownie in a cup

What you need:

(A)

125g chocolate chips

125g butter

(B)

2eggs

300g castor sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

(C)

115g flour

This is how you do it:

1. pre heat oven160c. line baking cases in a muffin tin
2. melt ingredient (A) using double boiler. then set a side and let it cool
3. beat ingredient (B) until thick and pale.
4. Add (A) into (B) then fold in ingredient (C) gently until well mix.
5. BAke for 25minutes. let it cool then decorate.

this cupcake brownies is good on its own…you can serve it warm (i personally like it warm and eat it with ice cream)

Hantaran Cake & Wedding Cakes

its been a busy week so far... i've made two 2.5kg fondant cake for Wedding hantaran. one of them is bringing the cake to Perak tomorrow for her Akad Nikah ceremony. At first she wanted buttered cake but its not suitable since she's travelling by car to her home town, she then insist coz she said that fondant cake will be to sweet for her liking. After much consideration and persuasion she then reluctantly agreed to the fondant cake. she wanted a modern design rather then the typical 'malay' degisn that habe ribbons or table cloth etc...(i personally hate that design too)

So i decided to make a cake that inspired by an English Hat...with autumn flowers orange-brown tones. i told her about the idea and she liked it...When its done, she was so suprised to see the cake and she thought that its more beautiful than she imagined...honestly i wasn't really that satisfied but i supposed its ok considering that she ordered last minute (i was given only 2 days)...

and these are other wedding cakes using butter cream...what did i tell you a busy busy week!

Pineapple Carrot Cake

I personally thing it'll look better without the love deco but my son insist on putting it :)


Carrot cake is a sweet spice cake with grated carrot mixed into the batter. The carrot softens in the cooking process, and the cake usually has a soft, dense texture. The carrots themselves enhance the flavour, texture and appearance of the cake. And i think its actually from quick bread family as it really does look like one don't you think? The popularity of carrot cake was likely revived in Britain because of rationing during the Second World War . Carrot cakes first became commonly available in restaurants and cafeterias in the United States in the early 1960s. They were at first a novelty item, but people liked them so much that carrot cake became standard dessert fare.

Now I have tried many carrot cake recipes but this one is definately the top of my list! you can add 2/3cup of chopped walnuts for a delicious addition. This Cake is so good and healthy (with all the fruits and vegetables in side) you could eat it for breakfast and get away with it ;)

makes one 8" square pan.

Cake:
3/4c vegetable oil
3/4c brown sugar (but I've reduced 1/4 of it)
3 eggs
1/4c maple syrup or honey
2tsp grated ginger
1 2/3c all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder
2 cups grated carrot
1c diced pineapples - fresh or canned (drained) it doesn't matter

Icing
125g cream cheese at room temperature
1/4c unsalted butter at room temperature
1c icing sugar, sifted
150g white chocolate, melted
1 1/2tsp vanilla extract

For cake:

1. Preheat oven to 160c. grease an 8" square pan. Whisk together oil, brown sugar,eggs, maple syrup or honey and grated ginger.
2. In a separate bowl sift flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and cinnamon. then blend into the wet mixture.
3. lastly stir in the carrots, pineapples and walnut if any then pour into the prepared pan.
4. Bake for 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours or until the tester inserted at the centre of the cake comes out clean
5. Allow to cool completely before icing.

Icing:

1. beat cream cheese and butter together.
   
2. add in melted white chocolate and icing sugar, mix until smooth
3. lastly stir in vanilla

I did the miniature cakes using 4"x4" square pan. I got c3 cakes from this recipe. you can use other mini sizes or even muffin pan what ever is available, its fine.

you can then cut cakes in half horizontally. 1st top of bottom cake layer with 1/4" thick icing. Lay remaining half on top. Spread remaining on top fo cake. repeat steps for other cakes. (in my cake i had extra icing so i've covered the whole cake ;)

Pops & Cuppies

last saturday i've made some cupcake pops and some cupcakes for my sister in law's dinner party and it was a hit especially with the kids, they all loved it. it was my first pops and my 100th cuppies hehe~yeah i thought i'd make something interesting and different, just my luck i saw Angie Dudley made this cupcake pops in The Martha Stewart show. The moment i saw the out come of the pops i knew i have to make it and i did!

in the show, i think they use candy melts and a few other things we don't actually have in Malaysia or at least hard to find items mmm...like the lolipop sticks ( have to sattle with disposeable chopstick, i wonder it'll be the same with ice cream stick), candy melts, and a good quality chocolate (coz here most of the chocolate doesn't taste that good, it taste some oily yuck! so i actually buy cadbury when i in need of chocolate)*long sighs*

in the show they actually baked a cake then processed it into the pops but me being very lazy but at the same time in the mood of making tidious stuff had actually bought a chocolate cake from the bakery...hehehhethen the cuppies. i've got extra unfinished almost dried strawberries so i've made strawberry cupcakes got the recipe from blake bakes and boy it was a hit. although i have to substitute buttermilk with sour milk it turned out well anyway.

Strawberry Cuppies
Ingredients:

1c ripe strawberries
2 C all purpose flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 C buttermilk or sour milk*
4 egg whites
1 1/2 C sugar
1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. Remove stems from strawberries and mash in a small bowl. (I use a potato masher.) and set aside.

3. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium sized bowl.

4. Whisk egg whites and then whisk egg whites and milk together.

5. Using a whisk attachment on a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.

Beat in the vanilla extract.

6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat in just until incorporated. Add 1/2 of the egg and milk mixture. Mix again. Add 1/2 of what is left of the flour mixture and beat in. Add the rest of the egg mixture and beat. Add the mashed strawberries just before the rest of the flour and mix until everything is well incorporated. You may want to scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula just to be sure you get everything.

7. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat and place cupcake liners on top. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake at 180°C for about 35 minutes.

Let cool on a rack and frost.

Frosting

3/4c unsalted butter

2tbs shortening

1tsp vanilla extract

4c icing sugar

beat butter, shortening, sugar until smooth the n add vanilla beat until mixed well.