Traditional Marble Cake

My plan suppose to bake banana chiffon cake but the banana turn brown and it has a kind of weird smell so I change my plan to bake marble cake. It has been on my baking list but just didn't find time to bake it.

This recipe required 8 eggs and to be separated the yolks and whites, but there are two egg which the yolk break where I have to quarantine and keep aside for other used.

There are no marble effect at all, one glance at it. A big mistake which I made it, the step should be pour the yellow batter, follow by cocoa batter, than yellow batter and lastly cocoa batter and using the skewer to swirl around the batter to make the marble effect.

BUT I pour all the yellow batter and follow by the cocoa batter and swirl. In the end the cocoa batter all gather in the center. -_-" 

Recipe from http://www.thelittleteochew.com/2012/04/old-fashioned-marble-cake.html

Ingredient: 

• 8 large eggs, separated
• 255g castor sugar
• 340g unsalted butter, softened
• 255g all purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsps baking powder
• 1 ½ tsps pure vanilla extract
• 2 tbsps good quality cocoa powder
• ¼ tsp salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 160°C with a wire rack in the middle. Line an 8-inch round cake tin with parchment, butter and flour. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment till light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar till light. Gradually add this into the butter and beat on medium speed till just incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites till stiff peaks form. With a spatula, fold in the meringue into the egg yolk mixture in 3-4 batches. Add in the dry ingredients gradually until just incorporated.
4. Scoop out 1/4* of the batter in a separate bowl. Sieve cocoa powder over it and fold to mix well. Pour batters into tin, alternating between the two mixtures. Start with the yellow batter and end with the cocoa mixture. Rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. With a long skewer, swirl (sparingly) around the batter to create the marble effect.
5. Bake for 40-55 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
6. Cool on wire rack completely before serving. Cake keeps at room temperature up to 3 days and can be frozen up to 3 month.

Cranberry Shortcake Cookies

It has been a hot trend recently at my office as two of my colleague hooked up in baking. And we are the lucky ones who get the cookies, cake and pastry to try.
One of my colleague who just started attract to baking is getting progress on making the cookies, I love the cookies that she bake. So yummy..  
I bought a box of dried cranberry few month ago and didn't know what to do with it as I can't finish so I decided to made into cookies.

Ingredient:

1 cup berry (chop or blend into small pieces)

113g butter

50g sugar

2 Egg Yolks

188gm flour

Pinch of salt

½ tbsp of milk

Method:

1. Beat together the butter and sugar until pare and creamy
2. Add the egg yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition
3. Add the flour, salt and dried cranberry and the milk, beat until the ingredient are just started to come together
4. Stop the mixer and finish mixing the dough with hands on a work surface.
5. Divid the dough into two potion and flatten into a disk (circle) shape and cover with cling wrap, refrigerate for at least 2 hour or overnight
6. Cut out cookies with your desired cookies dough cutter and bake at 170°C for 10-12 minute or until just golden brown around the edges

Banana with Lava Chocolate Cake

One of my colleague share the same birthday "date" as me, only different in the month. Upon request from my L colleague want me to bake a banana cake for S (B'day girl).
Actually i didn't want to bake as I afraid the cake doesn't taste good and of course it will be so embarrassing.. Hehehe..
But L keep pestering me to bake one and i think it is also a good opportunity for me to practice my baking skill.

After all the cake still taste good, the only thing is the cake is too sweet. I shall reduce the sugar next time if I will to bake again and I will increase the banana puree.

*Recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

Ingredient:

For the Cake:

• 270gm soft light brown sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 200g peeled bananas, mashed  
• 280gm plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking power
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 140gm unsalted butter, melted
• 100gm milk chocolate, melted

For the Decoration Icing:

• 125gm icing sugar
• 40gm butter (I omit and use cream cheese)
• 6.5 ml milk (1 tsp + ¼ tsp )
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Method:

For the Cake:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170°C
2. Put the sugar and eggs in a clean bowl and beat with a handheld electric whisk until well incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda and cinnamon to the sugar mixture.
4. Mix it thoroughly until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the egg mixture.
5. Pour in the melted butter and beat until all the ingredients are well mixed.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth over with a palatte knife.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
8. Leave the cake to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
9. Halve the cake, and spoon the melted chocolate on the first layer and cover with the top layer.

For the Icing:

1. Mix all the ingredient together and pour the mixture on the cake surface and smooth with a spatula.

Bacon and Cheese Bread

Making bread is really a challenging task for me, because it take up alot of time from kneading, proving & bake and it is tiring and tough.

However i want to improve on my bread making. I use my hand to knead the dough, i do not own a bread machine and is not cheap to buy one. I spend about one hour plus complete kneading the dough, and guess what; the next day my hand ache. lOl..

Quite disappointed again, the bread is tough and hard on the top part. I have no idea, why why why??? Is it because of the kneading part? Proving part? Oven problem?   ?-_-?
I have already follow the instruction and watch the video a few time before i start making the bread and this is my third attempt of making bread already. I wish I can make a soft and fluffy bread.

Ingredient:

• 250gm bread flour
• 25gm Sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 10gm milk power
• ½ + ¼ tsp Yeast
• 15gm Eggs (I use one egg)
• 140ml water
• 20gm unsalted butter
• Bacon and Cheese for filing

Method:

1. In a clean bowl, mix the sugar, salt, milk power, yeast, eggs and water with a spatula. Pour in the bread flour and mix it become a dough
2. On a clean work surface, knead the dough until it is not so sticky. Put the piece of butter into the dough and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and look shiny. Pull a little part of the dough and stretch into a thin sheet without breaking into hole.
3. Place the dough into a bowl and cover with wrap or clean tea towel to prove for 80 minute
4. Cut the dough into 6 piece with the same weight, roll the dough into ball, cover with the wrap and let it rest for 15 minute
5. Place the bacon and cheese inside the dough, let it prove for another 10 minute and brush the top with egg wash
6. Preheat and bake in the oven at 180°C for 20 minutes or until it turn golden brown

Blueberry with Chocolate Pound Cake

How i wish, I'm a little bird flying around the world with no worry and carefree. Recently my stress level is getting greater due to my work. My job load is proliferation and i find it hard to cope, Well this is life which i can't escape. I just tell myself to claim down and think positively. If i really can't walk down the road than i think i will look for another new path. But for now i must hang on, try not to give up easily.

I still have one box of blueberry in my freezer after using one box to bake this pound cake. Actually the recipe yield for banana but my blueberry has been in the freezer for more than one month, and is time to utilize it.

The cake surface and surrounding rather coarse and the centre break easily when i trying to cut into pieces. I wonder is it because of the blueberry that make the cake break easily. Hmm...

On the same day my office colleague organise a chalet party at Pasir Ris and I gave 3/4 of the portion to my colleague since i going down. Nowadays I seldom bake as my house only left me and my parent and they don't really like to eat pastry nor dessert. I bake unless i meeting my friend because i can give them my end product.

*If there is a choice, i wish my next life will be an gorgeous Eagle or Owl and definitely not a human being again.

Ingredient:

• 125gm unsalted butter, room temperature  
• 300gm cake flour
• 175gm white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 150ml milk
• 125gm blueberry
• 50gm chocolate chip
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (fan 160ºC). Lightly grease a loaf tin with extra butter.
2. Cream the butter and the sugar together in a large bowl using an electric hand whisk, until smooth.
3. Add one of the eggs and beat in well, then add the second and continue to beat well.
4. Sift in half the flour with the bicarbonate of soda, and mix well.
5. Mix in the milk, then the remaining flour.
6. Fold the blueberry and chocolate chip into the mixture along with the vanilla extract.
7. Tip the mixture into the loaf tin and level the top with a spatula.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for around 1 hour until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean and not sticky.
9. Cover the top with foil if it starts to brown too quickly.
10. Allow to cool in the tin for at least 20 minutes before turning out.