Mocha Bite Cookies

This is seriously addictive...i kept eating while dipping them into sugar! This recipe is by Anna Olson, the host of the TV program, Sugar.  I love watching it..cos it's all about dessert.  However, i do not quite like her new program Fresh..maybe because it is not all about sweets and probably at the back of my mind i have also associated her with desserts since she's a pastry chef.  I booked-marked her recipe (about a year ago! yup..i never got round baking it until yesterday my daughter requested for cookies with coffee in it) after watching the episode of her making these cookies. She said they were very addictive..and i do agree..it is!!   And the raw cookie dough tasted great too..lol! 

Here's the link to her recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Dessert/recipe.html?dishid=2630

Yummy!!  I'm heading to the kitchen for more cookies before they disappear (i doubt they will last even a day!)... everyone just can't get their hands off the cookies..lol!..including me even though i'm not a coffee drinker.

Highly recommended...try it and you will not regret...

[Note to self - dd: July 3, 2010]:  Pre-made a batch today but left it in fridge for 2 hours before baking it. The coffee flavor wasn't that distinct anymore and the chocolate flavor became evident. There was no strong coffee fragrant either.  However, there was coffee after taste - ie cookie tasted primary chocolate and then the coffee after taste.  So, in future, always bake the dough immediately.
[Note to self - dd: July 5, 2010]: Strangely after 2 days the coffee flavor in the cookies intensified and now can taste the flavor better.  The earlier batch baked immediately ones loses it's coffee flavor after 2 days..

..

Genoise Rose

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 169: Genoise Rose

Today, i have nothing much to say.....mental block :S.  Recipe is pretty easy and straight forward...and i baked them in mini silicone pan (because i didn't have a 10cup tube pan) for about 10mins.  I brushed syrup as instructed but i think i prefer not brushing the syrup. Tasted weird after the syrup is added and i didn't even brush a lot. Somehow I prefer it dry.  Overall, cake is not bad..tasted like genoise sponge would taste like, so i don't find this any special though unless you bake them in special pan..otherwise, i think if in tube pan, i prefer chiffon texture though.  Genoise sponge always taste better when layered with whipped cream rather than just on its own imo.  

These mini cakes are still sitting in the fridge and nobody in my family wants a second helping anymore.  

 

Almond Raisin Bread

More Chef Alex Goh's Magic Bread. This is made just like cinnamon bread except it has more almond flavor instead of cinnamon.

Basic Sweet Dough recipe  
and
Almond Fillings


50g butter
50g sugar (i used brown sugar)
60g eggs  (1 large egg)
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder (i added 2tsp)
100g ground almonds
100g raisins


Mix sugar and butter until well-blended.  Add in eggs and mix until well-combined. Add in ground almonds and cinnamon powder, mix until well blended. 

Earl Grey Tea Bread

Ok, i'm in a baking mood..that's why i've been churning out all sorts of baked stuff just these 2 days! LOL!  And in case you're wondering, i've already done my HCB's homework ...to be posted later...:D  

So today, i baked Chef Alex Goh's Earl Grey Tea Bread. I didn't expect it to be this yummy esp. with the buttercream on it. I am loving his Magic Bread book using gelatinized dough method - giving a chewy and yet soft texture and being also able to have 2 days of shelf life. Some methods, the next day, the bread turn either stale or hard.  For this method, even the next day, it's still soft and chewy.  

Just add 5g of earl grey tea powder to Chef Goh's basic sweet dough recipe under ingredient A section and you'll get earl grey tea bread.

PS: After staring at this photo for long, i noticed that this bread looks like potato....like potato with sour-cream topping!? lol!

One-Bowl Butter Cake (with recipe)

This is a one-bowl butter cake, recipe taken from magazine. Just dump everything together and mix, no need to sift flour too...how simple is that?  Feels a bit weird just dumping everything though..not sure how long i should mix it till too. The recipe just say mix till it looks pale in color..i can't tell any difference in color...lol!  I think i over-beat or that i use a too small pan cos the cake erupted like a vocano..lol!  But surprisingly it does taste really good though. The texture is soft and light, and the crumbs are delicate too (not rough like the earlier strawberry cake i made earlier for my daughter's birthday which if compare to this butter cake, is indeed quite rough!!...afterall, this mixing method is even simpler....).  My only complain is although it says 'butter cake', it doesn't taste very buttery as i was expecting..it had more of eggy taste to it.  Really yummy when eaten hot, the top crust is crunchy and the cake very soft and light. Everyone in my family had 2 slices including my son.    

Butter cake (from Women's Weekly)

• 125g butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1-1/4cups caster sugar (275g)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup plain flour (150g)
• 1/2 cup self-rising flour (75g)
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda (sift if lumpy)
• 1/2 cup milk (125ml)

1. Preheat oven to 160c. Grease deep 20cm round cake pan & line base with baking paper
2. Beat all ingredients in medium bowl on low speed with electric mixer until just combined
3. Increase to medium speed and beat until mixture is smooth & changed to paler color. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 1hr 15mins.  Stand cake for 5mins before turning them into wire rack.  Dust cake with icing sugar if desired.

Pixar UP Cake

No HCB bake this week cos my daughter and I don't really like coconut in cakes. *shrugs* Don't know why....just not too fond of it. But i like coconut in curry and some other local desserts though.  Also, i've been busy baking my daughter's belated birthday cake.  So here it is....

Made this UP Cake for my daughter's belated birthday celebration...a must after the UP Cookies..:) 

Up Cake: Front View

Hand molded Russell, Dug & Carl

Hand molded Kevin

Up Cake: Side View

Cake Flavor: Strawberry Cake w/ Strawberry buttercream & fresh strawberries filling

This strawberry cake is very easy to bake - quick and fast - so fast that it felt like it's made from cake box mix..the cake turned out beautifully but i have one complain though, the texture/crumbs is a bit rough imo. Not sure if it is because i'm spoilt after baking so often from Rose's HC book as all of her cakes, the texture is very soft and crumb is also very delicate that it melts in your mouth, so much so any cakes not up to par i just can taste it right away?  *shrugs* This cake is yummy except the texture just feels rough on my tongue. Other than that, the taste, flavor is great.   Have i become cake snob (besides chocolate snob..) too? *rolling eyes*

Recipe as requested by Hanaa:-

Strawberry Cake (by Michele Foster)


Oven Temp: 350f
Baking Time: 35mins


3 cups cake flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp strawberry gelatin
1 cup butter, soften
1-1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract


Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and strawberry gelatin powder.  Add butter and 1 cup of buttermilk. Mix slowly until combined then beat at medium speed for 90 sec. Meanwhile mix eggs and vanilla & remaining buttermilk. Scrape down sides. Add to batter, mixing in two batches for about 20 secs each.  Pour into two 8" or one 9x13" pans.  Bake at 350f for 35mins. Cook for 10mins before turning into the cooling rack. Frost with your favorite buttercream after completely cooled.

Pixar UP Cookies

My daughter's birthday is coming up next week but she will be in away in Church camp and hence won't be celebrating with us. This is the first year she's away from home on her birthday. So i made her some birthday cookies of her fave cartoon characters for her to bring to camp.   I spent 2 days piping these...so tiring!!  My arm going to drop off already...  I thought i could finish in a day but i couldn't.. hence i didn't have time to bake this week's HCB assignment :(.

Overall, I'm happy with how the UP cookies turned out.  However, I still need to improve on the fine detail piping skill which i am lacking in (as what Chef Michel Roux Jr, judge of MasterChef-Pro always say "lacking the finesse...") I guess practice makes perfect but cooking decorating is extremely time consuming imo..and sometimes (actually, more like most of the time) i'm quite lazy to get my butt moving..:p ! 

Russell and his Wilderness Explorer, Grape Soda badges

Carl & his Home

Dug

Kevin

UP Cookies

Tiara cookies

Dress cookies

Cookies all packed and gift wrapped for my daughter

Chocolate Butter Cupcakes

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 296: Chocolate Butter Cupcakes

When i first looked at the recipe i was skeptical that it would be chocolaty as Rose claimed in her book since it didn't required any melted chocolate and only 42g of cocoa powder.  I was wondering to myself if the chocolaty was up to my standard (I'm a chocoholic..and i admit that i'm also a chocolate snob..no lousy chocolate for me).  I was disappointed before.  I once tried Flo Braker's devil food's cake recipe in one of her older books which also called for only cocoa powder and was deeply disappointed because i was expecting this rich moist chocolate cake but in the end it turned out ok but not that deep rich chocolate taste that i was looking for.  I guess the disappointment was largely due to the fact that i ordered her out of print book from Amazon just for the recipe to the cake on book cover cos it looked really good..and it didn't turn out really that good imo.  

So I gathered & weighed all my ingredients.  Followed instructions which are pretty short, simple and sweet.  

Placed ingredients in my kitchenaid mixer...  Weather's so hot....and next to the mixer, i had the slow cooker with my herbal ginseng chicken soup in it was emitting heat too.. (that's about my work space..next to my kitchen aid is a bit of space and the sink..)..hence i just used butter right from the fridge..no need to wait till room temp.  

After mixing, I used the standard size ice-cream scoop to place it right into the cupcake cups.  Not sure what size is my ice-cream scoop..cos i don't see any numbers on it.   Baked for 15-17 mins..it was pretty quick.   :)

I wanted to make Rose's fave chocolate-egg white buttercream but didn't in the end cos i found left-overs of my dreamy white chocolate frosting i did last week and some ganache too in my fridge. :D  Gotta clear them first...no good to waste food..lol! 

Ok, I confess, this is about all that i frosted..hahaha..i only frosted 5 cupcakes just to take photos for this blog post.  And i tied ribbon around the cupcakes because the paper cases were peeling off on its own away from the cake.  

VERDICT:  When i took a bite, i was surprised!  It certainly was all that Rose had claimed - "velvety, moist and deeply chocolaty".  Exactly what i was looking for!  Yummy! Surprised because the batter didn't taste very chocolatey but after the cupcakes were baked, they tasted different - very chocolaty!  So...my lesson learnt here - Never doubt the guru in cake making!   My daughter said they were delish and ate 2 in one go!  My husband ate the ones without frosting and he too said they are very good (my husband doesn't like any frosting if he can help it).   The cupcakes tasted good on their own without any frosting imo.

My son, the picky one needed much coaxing before he wanted to try!  He doesn't like cupcakes just because they have paper around - I guess he thinks it is different.  So I 'tricked' him - removed the paper and placed the cake on his plate. At first he said "NO" and i had to tell him: "Look, it's chocolate cake, smell it!"  He took a sniff, tried a spoonful, liked it very much, ate it all up and wanted another one.  After he ate his first cupcake, i showed him the others with the paper cases attached so that he can link them together, ie cupcakes = cake.  Introducing him new food is not impossible but almost impossible...i should know..i have been trying for 17+ years already..

With my son liking this cake, definitely be in always bake list.  :D  I think i'll teach him how to make them..but i have to first convert the recipe into PECS symbols so he can read & understand.