Brownie Truffles

This post is sponsored by Liv butter.
I was looking for some good and simple recipes which I wanted to bake for my dad's party some weeks back. Then I saw a post from The Little Teochew on Cocoa Brownies which looked very presentable, and in bite size! I wasted no time in trying this out and was very happy with the result. I named it - Brownie Truffles! It certainly can posed off as truffles with the sprinkle of cocoa powder on it. This is one sweet treat which you can certainly impress!
Recipe for Brownie Truffle, adapted from The Little Teochew.
Makes a 14 x 11" tray

Ingredients:

282g Liv Unsalted butter
340g Caster sugar
164g Unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/2 tsp Fine Rock salt
1 tsp Vanilla extract
4 Large cold eggs
132g Plain flour

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line the bottom and sides of a 14" x 11" rectangular baking tray with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

2. Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a bigger pot with barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test.

3. Remove the bowl from the pot and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added.

4. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

5. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let it cool completely on a rack.

5. Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut them into 1" square each. Should give >80 bite size pieces.

Mocha Brownie Cuppies

I have been very slack in updating my blog nowadays. It doesn't mean that I haven't been baking though. It's just that I have been really busy, both at work and home. I know there some of the blogger friends who will dropped by my blog and leave comments. For that effort, I thank you. Even though, I have been visiting blogs regularly, I haven't been able to leave comments every time. My sincere apologies.

I have started working part time since beginning of April. I wanted to spend more time revising with my eldest son, in preparation for his PSLE. I believe that with both our combined efforts, he should do well (as in my expectation) in his PSLE. Anyway, I have already set a target for him, we shall work towards that target together. :)

Working part time means, when I'm at work, I have to stay focus as the time is short. When I'm at home, I can feel the pressure to fully utilise my time, otherwise, I'll be better off back in the office, earning more money! Having said that, money is still secondary to the time spend with my children. In fact, I'm beginning to enjoy my day off. I'm very fortunate that during my off days, my boss and colleagues don't disturb me. Thankfully! And today happens to be my day off! (",)

Back to my baking, this was what I baked last Saturday - Mocha Brownie Cuppies, modified from Rose's Heavenly Cakes. They were moist, rich and soft. My eldest son liked it warm with a squeeze of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup! Just curious, how do you eat your brownies?

Recipe for Mocha Brownie Cuppies (Barcelona Brownies), modified from "Rose's Heavenly Cakes"
(Makes 16 regular cupcakes)

Ingredients:
75g Walnuts, toasted & chopped coarsely
130g Unsalted butter
56g Dark Chocolate (I used dark couverture chocolates)
33g Cocoa powder
100g Fine sugar
100g Eggs
1 1/2tsp Vanilla extract
1 1/2tsp Instant Coffee granules
56g Cream cheese, cut
50g Plain flour
a Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Melt the butter and chocolate in a microwave at intervals of 10secs. Stir to ensure that they are melted thoroughly.
2. Whisk in the cocoa and sugar until incorporated.
3. Whisk in the vanilla and coffee granules, then all in the eggs and whisk till thick and glossy.
4. With a blending fork or wooden spoon, stir in the cream cheese until only small bits remain.
5. Stir in the flour and salt only until all the flour is moistened.
6. Scoop the batter into the cupcake papers.
7. Topped up with walnuts, about 3-4 pcs per cupcakes.
8. Bake in a 160C oven for 13-15mins, or until the batter has set. Do not overbake as it will become dry.
9. The batter will puff and rise a little above, but sinks slightly on cooling.
10. For sinful indulgence, served warm with vanilla ice-cream. For less sinful treat, generously squeeze Hershey's chocolate syrup on it. Otherwise, combined both and hit the gym thereafter!

A Simple Gift

I have a colleague who shares the same birthdate as me, and another who is one day later. Both happens to be my good friends. Coincidence? Nah...Probably our horoscope just click, despite we are some years apart.

When I saw HHB's cookies, I knew I just had to bake it! She was right, it's truly a healthy cookie, low sugar, low butter and all the other healthy ingredients. I didn't hesitate to make 2x the recipe. It turned out really good, as expected! My friends didn't like desserts that are too sweet, even though they have sweet tooth.

Besides the cookies, I also wanted to make something "bigger" for them. So I chose this Perfect Fudgey Brownies from Eat and Be Happy blog. It was truly fudgey and good. My friends loved it, and one of them wanted to order this from me again! I have not tried this recipe before, and it was quite daring for me to bake this to give away. :p Fortunately, this first time proved to be a success. Therefore, this is another keeper for me.

May-June period sees a couple of birthday celebrations. My brother-in-law, my father-in-law, my nephew and myself, one after another (not in chronological order). Last weekend, I baked a mocha pound cake again from Rei's blog. And covered it with fondant. My nephew has a stuff toy panda, which I tried to follow it. As I didn't have much time, I decided 3D was too much for me to do, so I made it into 2D only. He was elated when he saw his panda on the cake. I was glad he loved it.

3 Chiffons and 1 Brownie

Have I mentioned that I've not been baking cakes for a long long time? The last was like...July? Goodness! Shows how lacking I've been! Anyway, my usual Saturdays were spent at my parents place. Last Saturday was an exception. My spouse was out for a seminar, I went BITC for my bread lesson, and decided to go home to do some baking since my children are home.

Not sure why I had so much egg whites in the fridge. Must be from my Cookie Art Workshops! Anyway, I wanted to do some sweet treats for my cousin, who had invited my family to her daughter's first year. So I decided on Egg White Brownies. As usual, I love this recipe. After baking, I just felt like having a piece, but I had to control myself from cutting it since it was going to be a gift!


Knowing I have enough time for the evening, I proceeded on to do Banana Sesame Seeds Chiffon cake. Most importantly because I saw the bananas hanging in the kitchen. I cannot, simply cannot resist bananas for baking...similarly for oranges! Hahaha... I just can't wait to convert them into something sweeter and nicer! So I made three different sizes of the chiffon cakes-7", 5" & 3", or termed as Do-Re-Mi.


I must have underestimated the timing for the bigger chiffons, they turned out to be slightly moist. However, the taste was really good. I added white and black sesame seeds to the cake. I like the look of black sesames on this chiffon. To me, it looked like ants on the cake...which I found it to be a little pretty! Hahaha...



Egg White Brownies, modified from Zu's Kitchen.

Ingredients
250g Semi-sweet chocolate
100g Unsalted butter
2tsp Vanilla extract
100g Cake flour
220g Egg white
120g Fine sugar
100g Walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted

Method
1. Microwave butter and chocolate. Mix thoroughly until the chocolate melted and incorporated with the butter. Let it cool.
2. Sift flour into chocolate mixture and stir gently till well combined and add vanilla essence, put aside.
3. Beat egg whites till foamly and slowly add sugar bit by bit and whip till stiff peaks.
4. Take 1/3 of the egg white and fold it into the chocolate mixture.
5. Stir in mixture into the balance 2/3 egg white and gently mix till well combined.
6. Pour 1/4 of the mixture into a 8x8 pan lined and greased, and add half the walnuts on the batter.
7. Pour the remainig batter into the pan.
8. Top batter with the remaining walnuts and bake in a 180C preheated oven for about 35mins (depending on your oven) or till a pin inserted into it comes out clean.
9. Once baked, leave brownie in the pan for 5-10mins before removing and cooling it on the rack.

Time Flies!

Time just flies with a blink of the eyes. I realised that I've not been updating my blog for about 10days! It was quite unlike me to keep the interval so long. I think it's either age is catching up with me (can't multi-task anymore) or I've been too busy lately. I guess another factor was also that I've not been baking much lately because of other commitments.

Anyway, I've just managed to finish another batch of durian-related food - durian muffins. The recipe was again, from Anna, which I had tried before previously. After a successful attempt, I'm tempted to try again of course! Who isn't motivated by successes? ;) I have all those leftover durians in the freezer, and I thought I'd better use them quickly before I forget again! And again, the texture turned out really nice. It was very fragrant too.



However, there was a sad thing. I spoilt my oven! I don't think I will be able to bake until I've gotten it repaired/replaced!! I've been very rough in handling my oven, and I think it was her way of showing displeasure, so she has decided to quit on me! *boohoohoo* Until it's been repaired, till then baking!

Just to share on my bakes for the past week.
Made some fondant cookies as a gift for a friend's daughter birthday.


It was scrambled eggs and garlic toast for breakfast last Saturday.


Try out a new Brownie recipe using Valrhona chocolates. Wasn't quite successful but I managed to salvage it! :p Will have to try this recipe again.



Did a durian cream cake for my sister-in-law last weekend.


Finally, had baked spagetti for dinner yesterday. I love the mozzarella cheese on pasta/spagetti.


I have also been very busy lately with my course. Had to practice my sugar paste flowers. I've still not decided on the design and the colour of my dummy wedding cake. Had been sourcing for the syrofoams and some other materials lately. It had been so stressful for me.

A Simple Chocolate Brownie

What would you do if you feel like eating some rich chocolates, but not cake, and you don't have chocolates at home? I would think, a simple solution will be, a brownie. Not any difficult, having to melt chocolates kind, but a simple chocolate brownie will do.

This is what I baked this evening - A Simple Chocolate Brownies. It's really that simple and the smell is really good too! Using only cocoa powder, the results is as good as any other brownies! There is really no other recipe as easy as this! Just try it, you won't be disappointed!

Valentine's Feast

It was "entertainment" at home on Valentine's Day again. It was yet another feast. I hope I didn't sound like boasting, but I did a 6-course dinner on Valentine's Day for our family friends. Actually, it's really achievable if you "renouned" the world, and roped in the help of whoever at home. A lot of food can be prepared way before the actual day. For example, desserts, crust doughs, puff pastries etc.

I think I was quite ambitious also, to bake lunch for my family members despite having to prepare a feast for dinner. Okay, I managed to make chicken burger for lunch for all. I baked the hamburger buns, which fortunately was finished up during lunch, otherwise, it would have been stone-hard the next day! Hahaha... I made the chicken patties, and the herb butter mayo to accompany the burger. I'm so glad it was a "SOLD OUT"! Another good decision made for lunch. :p


Here were my 6-course Valentine's Dinner for family & friends.

1. Appetiser 1: Garlic & Herbs Bread
Tasked my hubby & Aloysius to use heart-shaped & bear cookie cutters to cut out the bread pieces for garlic & herbs spread. I mix (salted) butter with chopped rosemary and minced garlic. Then toast them. I like these very much.

I also prepared some greens (salads). As I only had butterhead lettuce, I added some olives, raisins and pinenuts too! I made my own dressings by mixing olive oil with balsamic vinegar, and some sugar & a pinch of salt. Then topped the greens with some parmesan cheese.


2. Appetiser 2: Cauliflower & Potato Gratin
Discussed with my sister after last week's bake. I came to realise that it's called Gratin. Great. Same as last week, baked this for dinner as requested by my hubby & Aloysius.


3. Main Course 1: Rosemary Salmon Olive Oil Baked Rice
As I bought a lot of whole salmon over these two weeks, I was rather "generous" with my salmon. ;p I poached salmon in red wine, and shredded them to get flakes. I cooked my rice with garlic, onions, french beans, button mushrooms, rosemary, olive oil and finally added salmon. This was quite bland and most of them didn't like it and found it to be tasteless. I thought olive oil would have been quite nice. Lesson learnt: must add add salt or light soy sauce for better tasting baked rice! ;)


4. Main Course 2: Chicken & Mushrooms Puff Pastry Pies
This was most people's favourites! So was mine! ;) The base crust is normal, while the top is covered and baked with puff pastry. Romantic me had to cut and add heart-shaped to the top to give it some ambience of Valentine's Day! Hahaha... At least they were noticable!




5. Dessert 1: Egg White Brownies
Previously, Aloysius said he didn't get to eat this brownie. So I baked it again (the night before) since I still have egg whites left. This time, I used walnuts instead of almonds. It's as nice. I like it too!


6. Dessert 2: Blueberries Panna Cotta
I was complatemping between panna cottas and creme brulees. Finally, I decided on panna cottas as it was slightly easier compared to creme brulees because I don't have to caramelise the sugars! I followed Yochana's recipe and used Blueberries instead of Raspberries as they were abundance now. This was the first time I tried making this, and I really like it! My friends love it too! One of them said it was "exotic" and tasted something like tiramisu. (huh??)


As usual, with this group of friends, they enjoyed drinking red wines. Over five hours, they finished 5 bottles of wines among mainly three males (including my hubby). I had to borrow X-box from my father-in-law so as to keep the children entertained, otherwise, I don't know how else to entertain them! As they enjoyed their wine, my "bak kwa" also finished! That was the finger food for them. It was fun baking for me, while they had fun eating & drinking, and for the kids, it was playing! ;)

Seriously, before preparing any food, careful planning has to take place, and preparation actually start way before the actual day. So, really, if I can achieve this, I'm sure everyone else can! :))

What to do with left over egg whites??

After a few rounds of Kueh Lapis baking, pineapple tarts' dough making, what does one do with the leftover egg whites? I've been doing lots of research over the net, trying to find recipes that enables me to use up my left over egg whites. Before I update you on what I did, here are some information/recipe which I found which may interest you too!

1) What to do with left over egg whites & tips for storing from Gourmet Sleuth.

2) Egg White Cheese Cupcakes from Yochana which I had done previously.

3) Egg White Cake from Nami-Nami.

4) Coconut Financiere from Egg Beater.

5) Financiers from Joy of Baking.

6) Dark Chocolate Financiers from Tartelette.

7) Egg White Brownie from Zu's Kitchen.

After going through all the recipes, I finally settled on Egg White Brownie. I had baked it to bring over to my brother-in-law house this Saturday. Hopefully it will still taste fresh on Saturday. :)


Updated on 31 Jan 09:
I've missed out one recipe which I have tried previously. It is actually steamed egg whites which I have adopted from Angie's Recipes.

This is the cross section of the Egg White Brownie. It's really soft and chocolatey. It's really worth to try!