Friday 28 December 2012

Blueberry crumble muffins

Muffins are one of my favourite bakes because they are just so easy to make. I was at the supermarket the other day and saw the blueberries and I just had to buy them. These muffins really still stays yummy after storing for a few days. It is best if you can just pop into the microwave an warm it up a bit and it still taste great!


Recipe from Bake or Break

Ingredients

For the crumb

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

For the muffin

2 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (I substituted with canola oil)
3/4 to 1 cup blueberries (I used fresh blueberries)


Directions


Preheat oven to 400°(200 Deg C).

Using a fork, mix all crumb ingredients together until well-combined. Set aside. 

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Stir in buttermilk. Add both sugars and mix until combined. Stir in vanilla and lemon zest. Stir in canola oil. 

Add flour mixture in 2-3 portions. Mix until there are still streaks of flour remaining. Stir in blueberries, mixing just until combined. 

Scoop the batter into each cup about 2/3 full. This should fill each cup almost to the top. Sprinkle tops of each muffin with crumb mixture. 

Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Note : For crisper edges, grease a standard muffin pan. For softer edges, use liners in each cup instead. 

You can add more blueberries if you like. 



Pretty isn't it? 

Have a great weekend ahead everyone!
 

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Vanilla cupcake with chocolate cream cheese frosting

I posted an entry of the red velvet cupcakes that I made recently and they all look so cute and adorable. So now I am quite into cupcakes.

And this time, I made vanilla cupcakes with Chocolate creamcheese frosting for a Christmas lunch gathering at my friend's place.

It was a great Christmas day celebration with great company and good food.


Merry Merry Christmas!!


For the cupcake

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)
1/2 cup buttermilk *

* If you can't find buttermilk, you can also use the following substitute
- 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice - set aside for 5 minutes before using
- 1/2 cup yogurt

Directions

* Preheat oven to 350*F (180 Deg C)

* In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with whisk, and set aside.

* In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla and oil, beat.

* Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture.  Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk.  Beat until just combined.  Scrap down the side of the bowl.

* The batter will be thin.   Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners.  Fill liners about 2/3 full.

* Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes.

* Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.

* Frost as desired when fully cool.


For the frosting

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter (set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure vanilla extract if possible)
4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 to 4 Tablespoons heavy cream, heavy whipping cream

Direction

* Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.

* Add cocoa powder and blend until combined.

* Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.

* Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don’t add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)

* Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.

*Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Monday 10 December 2012

Red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting

I have always been wanting to try to make a red velvet cake but didn't really go about looking for a recipe from the internet. And recently I found a recipe from Glorious Treats and decided to give it a try because the pictures is just too adorable. This cake is good for occasions like Valentine's Day or Christmas because of the colour.


For the cupcake


Ingredients

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (Dutch process)
1  tsp salt
1 1/3 cups oil (Canola oil or any cooking oil)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
4 tbsp liquid red food coloring (or 1 tablespoons concentrated food coloring)
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp white vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F (180 Deg C).  

2. In a large bowl whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt, and set aside.

3. Whisk or beat oil and sugar until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, and continue beating.  

4. Add food coloring and vanilla and mix well.

5.  Add flour and buttermilk alternately, in two batches. Mix just enough to combine. 

*I am not able to get any buttermilk from the Cold Storage near my house, so I used yogurt as substitute which I just so happens to have a tub which I bought to go with my cereals. To use yogurt, it will be 1-to-1 ratio, which means 1 cup of buttermilk equals to 1 cup yogurt. There are other substitutes if you do not have yogurt. You can also use 1 cup of milk plus 1 tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice.

6.  Place baking soda in a bowl or cup, add vinegar and stir (it will foam and expand).  Add to cake batter and beat for 10 seconds.

7. Fill cupcake liners 2/3-3/4 full. Bake cupcakes 20-24 minutes.

For the cream cheese frosting


Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter (set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 to 2 tbsp heavy cream, heavy whipping cream

Directions

1.  Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Add cream cheese and blend until fully combined

2.  Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar while mixing.  Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy. For the powdered sugar, though I it says 2 cups, it really depends on personal preference. I do not like my frosting to be too sweet, so actually I have only used less than 2 cups of powdered sugar.

3.  Slowly add the heavy cream, add abit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don’t add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.) Beat until fluffy and you can start frosting your cupcakes!

They looks cute right :D Looking at them makes me smile!

 
 My cake looks darker then the usual bright red velvet cake. This is because this recipe used a slightly more amount for cocoa powder. If you want, you can reduce the amount of cocoa powder so it doesn't look more like maroon colour.

Monday 3 December 2012

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have looking around for a good recipe for chewy chocolate chips cookies and I think I have found the one! I have always preferred my cookies to have the soft and chewy texture as compared to those cakey ones and I have tried a few recipes and it just turns out too cakey. The previous recipe I tried before all calls for light brown sugar. But this recipe is using dark brown sugar, which makes the cookies moist. Can you see the moisture in the cookies? And the melted chocolate chips oozing out. Heavenly.


Ingredients

2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 stick butter
1 3/4 cup Dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions
 
1. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
 
2. Cream butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time then add vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the flour mixture until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
 
3. Cover with plastic wrap and set in the fridge for at least an hour, but overnight is best.
 
 
4. Preheat oven to 375 deg F (190 Deg C) and line cookie sheets with a baking mat. I used a ice cream scoop to measure out the batter and left them as balls.
 
They indeed looked like ice creams!
 
 
5. Bake for 10 - 14 minutes depending on your oven until the edges are golden and the middles are still soft. 
 
6. Let cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 8 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!