Muffin again!

Woooh! My ex-colleague, who is also my current neighbour is staying upstairs - expressed her interest to learn how to bake decent muffins. (She has actually popped by over the weekend with her new doggie and i have offered her my freshly baked muffin that have been made for my buddies. Hehee. Its the eggless muffin made with HL milk. She love it and it's with much delight!)

Since I am have cravings for chocolate today, I decided to let her try out with the remaining ingredients I have left in the fridge just enough for 12 more muffins and also let her try my lemon cheesecake.. Hoohoho, as I really can't finish it.. She is gonna be my saviour?

As she worked late, I have waited her her arrival till 9 plus. I brought out the Eggless muffins recipe posted by Shiyan and shown her how to weigh the ingredients using conversion table that JY has shared with me. After all sifting of plain flour, cocoa, raw sugar, baking powder, soda, salt is done - I have created a well and pour the melted butter, vinegar, HL milk and blend the batter till moist and even. Its really fun doing it together, during the midst of stirring, she is already hungry and i served my cheesecake with doubts whether she like it as its quite bitter due to the over-grated lemon zests. But with surprise, she finished the cake, as she likes lemon too. *Relieved* and with her encouragement that I will do it better the next round with lesser lemon, I am all ready to try it soon!! I am a green horn to baking and its great to share with her these simple steps that could result with yummie muffins ^^ Baked for 15mins, although we tested using the stick poking method to check if the stick comes out clean - I felt that its still not baked long enough. Therefore i placed it back to the oven for another 8mins =) It's looking great and firmer and I quickly remove it from the oven to cool. She has hastily brought back the muffins to try as her dog is waiting for her return and I decided to take some pictures. Hehehe..

Here's the outcome;

They taste better then the previous round! JJ said I have improved and he ate 3 muffins in a row. =D It felt so goood to have someone eating what you have made and claiming it's yummie. I felt so satisfied and filled with contentment. Within minutes, my neighbour msg-ed me and told me it's nice too.. her mom tried it and also said its good. And actually tot i went for baking classes before - i felt so joyous for having such a compliment as I am only a beginner. All thanks for Shiyan's fantastic recipe. The muffins were not enough to pass around as she only took back 4. (herself,mom & her bf).. JJ ate 3 and I ate 2.. 3 are for breaky tml. Geez.. we will definately make more the next round!!

My neighbour's father actually open a bakery shop in JB. And yet she did not impart any of her his skills! Such a pity, I have ask her dad to drop by my nest if he is free when he return on sundays so that i can learn from him how to bake a decent loaf of bread without any breadmaker machine =) Hopefully the day will come soon!

We have decided to learn how to make bread pudding with almonds and chocolates the next round.. as she recalled doing that during sec sch days and remb it tastes great. Well, she has delegated the recipe hunting job to me and well, I hope I can get a good one online!

Japanese Cheese Cake

Just had my wisdom teeth surgery and currently recuperating at home. Zhuzhu is coming later to pass me my exam notes and i decided to express my appreciation by making her favorite cheesecake =)

Adopted this recipe from JY's blog;
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Found this recipe from Seadragon's blog.

Makes one 20cm cheesecake.

[Ingredients]
250g cream cheese
200ml thickened cream (35% milkfat)
40g (1/3 cup) cornflour
4 egg yolks
75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar (A)
finely grated zest from 1 lemon
40ml (2 tablespoons) lemon juice
4 egg whites
75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar (B)

[Preparation]
1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line bottom with baking paper.
2. Dissolve cream cheese with thickened cream in a bowl placed over simmering water (or in a double-boiler). Remove from heat. Whisk until smooth (forget this step!). Cool slightly.
3. Beat egg yolks with caster sugar (A), lemon zest and juice. Gradually whisk the warm cheese mixture into the yolk mixture. Fold in cornflour.
4. Beat egg whites until foamy with uniform tiny bubbles. Gradually beat in caster sugar (B), spoonful by spoonful, until firm but not to stiff peaks stage.
5. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the cheese mixture. Repeat two more times with the rest of the meringue.
6. Pour batter into the prepared tin. Place the cake tin in a deep roasting tray and fill the tray with hot water to halfway up the sides of the cake tin and bake at 150°C for one hour


7. Let cool completely before turning out. If the cake is hard to turn out, assist it by placing the tin over warm water briefly. Glaze the top of the cheesecake before serving.

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At about 1 hour's time, my cake still look like it's not cooked. I decided to leave it for 10mins more and switched off the heat, and then leave it inside for another 20mins.

Here's the outcome;

Before toppling over

After toppling the cake over

I was very upset cos my cake looks more like a mango pudding. Sob Sobz* I msn-ed my beloved colleague and consult her views, but it also puzzled her why my cake looks wet wet..She has mentioned that perhaps its becos i have greased the tray and also placed the baking sheet paper on top. Perhaps this has caused my cake being unable to evaporate it's wetness in the oven? she felt that i have overheated my top.. *Scratch my head* I have placed in the mid rack and used the heat temp of 150degrees - Hmmm Please don't tell me it's my eggs again. I have forgotten the size of my eggs and used exactly 4 small eggs.

Aniwae, i removed the baking sheet and placed my cake back to the aluminum tray again and re-enter the oven for 15mins, using 170degrees heat.

After i taken it out, i toppled it over again to check out the wetness. Its much more solidified now and i decided to make do with it and leave it to cool. Sobz..

Don't dare to slice my cake yet.. as i did not want to shorten its' lifespan of being still looking good. Haha, but my colleague is excited to see how does it look on the inner... hence i used a fan to cool it down and finally... lay my knife on my cake. Hee... Guess wat??

Here's the inner look;

* Cake is placed on a glass plate.. hehe.. but looks like it's been placed directly on my cloth? =P

It did not turned out as bad as i tot it would. I quickly uploaded the pics and showed my colleague! Telling her how relieved i am as it's still edible! it tastes good and only thing is that the top layer is overheated, hmm...it's due to my lemon zest that i have overlooked and grated the skin of the lemon too deep, and caused the top layer of my cake to taste a little bitter.

I quickly placed the cake into the fridge as my zhuzhu is arriving soon. Hehee..Hopefully it will take away the wetness & taste better.

Hmmmm.. I am glad that she likes the cake. To my surprise, she love the bitter part on top of my cake.. *Phew*... It's with much comfort =D

JJ likes my cake too!!! Hooooray.. I will definately try again and believe my 2nd attempt will be better, will not use the baking sheet, use larger eggs and do not grate my lemons too deep.. and maybe use 50g sugar instead of 75g as i find the cake abit sweet. I have also learnt that life is indeed with much imperfections!!!

Eggless Chocolate Muffin

Today is the day of arrival of my sofa and my buddies who will be coming over for a pot-luck session! *Hohohho*

Since they are already making; carrot & corn soup, potato salad, mango pudding, baked pasta. I decided to try out the eggless chocolate muffins that's easy to make as i have to complete this task swiftly :)

Easy Chocolate Muffins (recipe contributed by Puspha in Nurkochen forum)

Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour, or cake flour - I used plain flour and added 1 tsp of baking powder

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

½ cup butter or margarine, melted

1 cup milk

1 tbsp vinegar

A little chocolate chips, for topping

Method:
(1) Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, soda and salt.

(2) Make a well in the centre. Pour the melted butter, milk and vinegar into the well.

(3) Stir until all ingredients are moist.

(4) Spoon the batter into muffin cups.

(5) Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.

(6). Bake in a preheated oven at 180° C for 20 minutes. - I baked for 15 mins

As I have to make 24 muffins, I have prepared the batter for two entries. Heehee.. used raw sugar and butter wasn't soft enough, therefore - my spatula broke in the midst of stirring. *Gosh* In the end, i had a long time mixing till all ingredients are moist and even.. felt so tempted to take out my mixer and letting it do the job, but i endured thru and mission was accomplished! Hooorayy..

Did not managed to capture any pictures as were in a rush, but they taste fabulous! Glad that my muffins were well-received by my buddies. Thanks to the recipe posted by Shiyan.

My First Bake! Brownie Muffin or Hard Rox Muffin??

It all started out with the Teka oven left behind by our home's ex-owner, who reminded me maintain it regularly..otherwise it might 'shut down' by itself in no time..

After giving much thoughts, i finally decided to pick up a few bakes after our love nest is up! Hmmm.. seems like it's all well-planned.. i got inspired by my newly met colleague - she is none other then JY who has given me so many blogs with recipes to start with and making me so excited that i can't wait for my painting of my nest to be completed! On the next day, i waited patiently for all my appliances to arrive.. without the fridge, i can't buy any butter or ingredients! Heehee, it's all exciting to get charged off for my first bake at my new nest!

Blessed by this recipe that i have gotten from HappyHomeBaker, setting up my newly bought mixer, laying my bowls and weighing all ingredients needed with my scale & cups and I am all ready to prepare this Chocolate Chip Brownie Muffins.

The recipe adopted, was for 6 muffins - but perhaps my muffin cases were not big enough, hence the batter turned out to be just nice to make 12. I was overjoyed when i saw that my muffins are rising inside the oven. *Hohoho*

Here's the outcome;

I was so anxious to check out how it tastes like, and guess what - within 2 mins after its out from the oven, i break it into half and took a bite.. Woooooh! I was filled with Joy..Cos It's EDIBLE!! hahaha =D After the muffins were cooled, JJ took one and tried. He said it's good too and comment the outer layer was crispy. But i think it's abit hard and rocky - hehee.. I am not sure if it's due to the eggs. As the eggs i have bought from ntuc were small, and i have used 3 small eggs instead of the stated 2 eggs in the recipe. Aniwae, I am still satisfied with the outcome! And we renamed my first bake as Hard Rox Muffin. Its was really a rewarding evening.. but slightly two hrs later, i have a sore throat - coz i wasn't patient enough and took the first bite too soon.. Lesson well learnt =(

I have brought some to office the next day to let my colleagues try them out. *Grinz* Though it's not fantastic, I just hope to get their comments. Gracious enough, are still considered edible to them!! I will try to finish up all the small eggs that i have bought and buy larger eggs for baking next time =)
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Ingredients:
(makes 6 muffins, with diameter 2.5" by height 1.5" muffin cups)

80g butter, chopped into chunks
150g dark eating chocolate, chopped
100g sugar (the original recipe calls for 165g brown sugar)
2 eggs, lightly beaten - I have used 3 small eggs.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g plain flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
A handful of chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degC. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
2. Sift together flour and cocoa powder, set aside.
3. Place butter in a saucepan, melt over low heat. Once the butter starts to melt, add in the sugar. Stir to prevent sugar from getting burnt. Add in the chocolate and stir still smooth.
4. Transfer chocolate mixture to a mixing bowl. Stir in the eggs gradually, followed by the vanilla extract, then the sifted flour & cocoa powder mixture. Stir till just incorporated.
5. Divide batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and bake for 20 mins or until skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Do not over bake as the muffins may get dry.

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