Mandarin Orange Agar Agar Cheesecake

First time using canned mandarin oranges for this recipe. The oranges added a tinge of sourness to the otherwise sweet cake. Worth doing it again. Moreover, the cake looks pretty with the mandarin oranges laid out on top..

Steamed Cupcakes

Clockwise from top left: Minno no Tabo, random smiley face, pacman, cheers

after steaming, the cupcakes pooFed and can't really see the outline of pacman.. hehe..

this time round, i used flavoured yoghurt instead of plain yoghurt.. also added a little bit of mango essence.. and the final product had a very slight tinge of fruity taste to it..

Yam Cake

made 2 lots of yam cake over the weekend cos bought too much yam... (-_-)"

Pop-up Star Agar Agar

Chocolate Cake

when i shared my red velvet cupcakes with my colleagues the other day, everyone was in awe of how pretty the cupcakes were.. they accepted it with open palms.. but when i brought this chocolate cake to office the other day.. it was a different feel altogether.. and well, i rarely get comments on the stuff i bring to office to share.. but for this chocolate cake.. my colleagues came up to me and said it tasted really nice.. it's a sad reality that looks count.. this applies to cakes and (most) humans.. :(

let me speak for the cake: i'm ugly but i'm yummy ;)

original recipe from here.

Ingredients:
120 gm unsweetened chocolate chips
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
226 gm unsalted butter
2 cups/400 gm sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup/240 ml milk

Method:
1) Combine the chocolate chips and cocoa powder in a bowl.
2) Pour in the boiling water and stir well till the chips and powder have melted. Set aside to cool.
3) In a separate bowl, whisk to combine, the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4) In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is fluffy.
5) Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6) Add the vanilla extract and melted chocolate mixture and beat to combine.
7) Add the milk and flour mixtures in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat only until the ingredients are incorporated.
8) Pour the batter into a large mould. I usually use a 9" x 9" square mould.
9) Bake for at least 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
10) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

The baking time I've stated differs from the original recipe as I baked the batter in one large mould.. when i use 5 rectangular corrugated paper moulds measuring 3.5" x 7" each, the baking time reduces to less than an hour.

I like to serve this cake chilled.. either that or you can serve it warm with a scoop of ice-cream.

p/s: i have not tried the frosting recipe.

Steamed Cupcakes

I got the recipe from here.

Ingredients:

100g White Wings pancake mix (original)

1 medium size egg

30g Castor sugar

30g plain yoghurt (or flavoured yoghurt like mango yoghurt)

30ml  fresh milk

15g unsalted/salted butter (melted)

1 teaspoon plain flour

edible red food colouring

Method:

1) Put sugar and egg in a mixing bowl, mix well with egg whisk.

2) Add in yoghurt and milk, mix well after each addition.

3) Pour pancake mix, mix and blend well, then add in melted butter, mix until mixture is well combined.

4) Take 2 teaspoon mixture from (3) into a small bowl, add in 1 teaspoon of  plain flour, a drop of red colouring, and mix well. Pour the batter into a small piping bag.

5) Pour the plain cupcake batter into muffin cups with cupcake liner until 70% full. Tap the bottom of the muffin cup 3 to 4 times to expel the air. Pipe the desired pattern you like on top of each cupcakes.

6) Steam over medium low heat for 12- 15 minutes or until cooked.

First batch before steaming:

First batch after steaming:

As you can see, a couple "burst".. I'm guessing it was because the temperature was too high.. so for the second batch, I adjusted the heat..

Second batch before steaming:

Second batch after steaming:

and altogether now...

Close up:

I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.. the texture of the cupcakes were better than i expected them to be.. it was a little springy and sponge-like.. taste-wise.. it was bland.. probably add some flavoured essence the next time.. 

White Wings' Devilish Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

got this from Melbourne earlier this year.. they have a HUGE range of White Wings cake mixes in the supermarket.. had a hard time deciding which to get.. in the end, i bought a lemon cheesecake one (which i failed in doing.. threw like 95% of the cake away..) and this! Devilish Red Velvet Cupcakes..

Front:

Back:

Super easy to follow instructions and ingredients to add on - milk, eggs, oil and butter.. 

what i liked about this is that they stated it will make 12 cupcakes and it really did! no more no less.. and best part, they even provided the bright red cupcake cases! fits perfectly well in my muffin tray..

so here's how the cupcakes look like after they are out of the oven:

i used a round tip and disposable piping bag to pipe the cream cheese frosting onto each cupcake.. to be honest, the frosting tasted milky rather than cheesy.. it was also not as firm as i thought it would be but it was firm enough to rest nicely on the top of each cupcake..

added some chocolate sprinkles (not included in the box) on top just to make it look nicer :)

the cake texture was alright.. but if i really had to be picky about it, it was slightly on the dry side.. having said that, some of my colleagues who ate it told me it's quite moist.. so i guess it really depends on individual.. it wasn't too sweet too which is a good thing.. but i guess many people were attracted to the appearance of the cupcake more than anything..

i shall try to make it myself from scratch some day! already got the recipe.. just need to find time to do it..