Chocolate Minicakes (chiffon method)

I was in the mood for chocolate.

 
Chocolate with something else.
But I couldn't decide on that 'something else'. 
So I made them all!

Chocolate cake with Ferrero Rocher.
Chocolate cake with almonds.
Chocolate cake with chocolate chips.

This time round, I decided to try my usual cupcake recipe with a twist.
Instead of the usual creaming method, I made these using the chiffon or egg separation method.

The result: a lighter fluffier cake but a little drier.
I reckon it's the meringue.

I can't say if this yielded a better result or not. It's really a matter of personal taste. If you like lighter cakes, this is the way to go; but if you favour denser, richer, moister cakes, then the creaming method would be your choice.

CHOCOLATE CAKE (chiffon method)
Makes 8 regular sized cupcakes.

50g chocolate, plus milk to make 1/2 cup or 120ml volume
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (optional)
30g sugar
80g butter
70g sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
120g plain flour
10g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

In a glass measuring cup, measure 50g of chocolate.
Then pour in milk till it reaches the 1/2 cup or 120ml mark.
Microwave the mixture, stirring frequently, till the chocolate is melted and thoroughly mixed with the milk.
Set aside to cool.

Combine egg whites, cream of tartar and 30g sugar in a mixing bowl.
Whisk till soft peaks form.
Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Add egg yolks one at a time till well combined.
Add vanilla extract.
Add cooled chocolate milk mixture and mix well. 

Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
Add to batter and mix on low till just combined.
Add the meringue and mix on low till just combined.
Or for an even lighter cake, fold in the meringue using a spatula or balloon whisk.

The batter is now ready for the cupcake liners.
For the Rocher cake, fill cupcake liner 3/4, then place a Rocher on top.
For the almond cake, sprinkle some sliced almonds on top.
For the triple choc chip cake, stir some choc chips into the batter, then fill the cupcake liner. Sprinkle top with more choc chips!

Bake at 150*C for about 25 mins.
Best served warm.
Or better still, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream :)

Enjoy!

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More cake recipes can be found HERE.

Lemon Coconut Cupcakes

I've been really busy with so many things lately - work, chores, errands, other hobbies, salsa classes, family, friends, home improvement projects...
Goodness, and I don't even have kids yet!  How do those working moms do it??

So, this is gonna be a real quick post to share with you a new recipe I tried recently. I was looking for cream cheese frosting recipes and chanced upon one that used whipped cream instead of butter!



Now, doesn't that sound nice?  No butter :) 

But before I dive into the recipe, I just wanted to digress for a moment so I can abuse this blog and brag a bit about the cushion covers I designed myself and just finished knitting :)

I bought the yarn on my New Zealand holiday 2 years ago. Yes, 2 long years! I have a (bad) habit of hoarding long lists of "To Do" projects. Please console me and tell me I'm not the only one with this terrible habit?

Alright, ok, my 5 seconds of bragging is over. Now back to the recipe...

LEMON COCONUT CUPCAKES

Makes about 20 mini cupcakes.

80g butter
95g sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tbs lemon juice
100ml milk
130g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder, sifted with flour
60g grated coconut

Cream butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
Gradually add eggs and extracts, and mix till thoroughly combined.
Add lemon juice and milk and mix well.
Mix in flour and baking powder on low speed till just combined.
Then fold in grated coconut till evenly distributed.
Fill baking cups till about 80% full.
Bake at 150*C for 15-18 min till done.
Cool completely before frosting.


CREAM CHEESE WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING
Makes more than enough for 20 mini cupcakes.

100g cream cheese, softened
80g caster sugar (more or less according to preference)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp lemon extract (optional)
yellow food colouring (optional)
180ml whipping cream

Combine cream cheese, half of the sugar, extracts and colouring.
Whisk or cream until smooth. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk whipping cream and the remaining half sugar until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold whipped cream into cream cheese till evenly combined.
Transfer to a piping bag attached with your preferred piping tip and decorate your cupcakes!  


Note: 
The frosting was a little weepy in the hot and humid climate I live in. So next time, I'll try adding a little gelatin into the frosting to see if it'll help stabilise the frosting. Will post the results when I try this again. 

These little cuppies were made specially for a gathering with a group of fellow baking enthusiasts who were such fun company and so generous (aka way too much food). Hope you ladies and gents enjoyed it :)

I may not have time to post the food porn from the gathering, but I don't want you to miss out on the titillating images, so please head over to their blogs to check out the X-rated photos  :)

Passionate About Baking - Grilled Vege Frittata, Creamy Prawn & Mushroom Canapes
Dreamersloft - Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
Precious Moments - Banana Sherbet, Coffee Ice Cream

Peng's Kitchen - Cherry Cake
All That Matters - Puff Biscuits, Chicken Stew
Honey Bee Sweets - Chicken Kebabs
Travelling Foodies - Ikan Gerang Assam, Durian Apam Balik, Macaron Roselle
@kokken - Ngoh Hiang
Wen's Delight - Korean Rice Rolls
Baking Library - Chicken Pies
I Love. I Cook. I Bake. - Steamed Pandan Brownies, Chocolate Pudding
Annielicious Food - Tiramisu

Mini Oreo Cupcakes

I've been wanting to bake Oreo cupcakes for a while. And I finally got down to it some weeks ago.

You can use any Oreo flavour you like, but I think the classic flavour is still the best :)


You may not be able to tell from the pictures, but these are really small and cute! Each cupcake is only about 3cm in diameter. They're just too cute!! (If you're wondering, these cupcake liners are from Phoon Huat. Look for item code 13189.)

OREO CUPCAKES

Makes about 20 mini cupcakes.

80g butter
90g sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
100ml whipping cream
130g plain flour
5g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
4 Oreos, filling scraped off and set aside, biscuits crushed

Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Set aside. 
Beat butter and sugar till fluffy.
Add Oreo filling, eggs and vanilla extract and beat till well combined.
Add whipping cream and beat till well combined.
Add flour mixture and briefly beat till just combined.
Gently fold in crushed Oreos. (The Oreos can be roughly smashed into chunky bits, which will give a nice texture to the cupcake. But if you prefer a more refined texture, then finely crush them.)

Spoon into paper liners and bake at 160*C for 12-15 min. (Regular sized cupcakes will take 15-20 min.)
Cool completely before frosting.

 

For the frosting, I used Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Recipe can be found here. 

For the toppings, I used crushed Oreos, desiccated coconut, chocolate rice and rainbow sprinkles.

Pink Cupcakes

Just for the fun of it, I thought I'd add some pink colouring to my cupcake batter.
I skipped the usual cupcake frosting as I personally don't fancy the sweet stuff. Instead, I topped the cuppies with an assortment of cornflakes, peanut butter, jam, and nutella.

I can't decide if I like it or not.
Seems odd biting into pink cake. Other than that, my favourite topping was the peanut butter and jam (the cupcake right in the middle.)
Would you eat pink cake?

Recipe can be found here.
The only difference is the addition of pink food colouring to the batter.

Tip:
The intensity of the colour faded after baking. So if you're making coloured cakes, you might want the batter to look one shade darker than your intended colour.

Low-fat Yogurt Cupcakes

Don't you just love it when you see "low-fat" on a dessert? 

It makes us feel less guilty about taking a bite or two more out of that carb and sugar loaded piece of cake!  

Haha, every bit counts doesn't it?  So low-fat anything is better than low-fat nothing! 

So here you go, girls... 

LOW-FAT YOGURT CUPCAKES

Makes about 9 regular cupcakes.

80g butter 
100g sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g (abt 1/2 cup) low-fat yogurt
130g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder, sifted with flour
 
Whip butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
Add eggs and vanilla extract, and beat till well combined.
Add yogurt and mix till well combined.
Mix in flour and baking powder on low speed till just combined.
The batter should be soft dropping consistency. 

Divide batter equally among cupcake cases. Sprinkle desired toppings.

Bake at 160*C for about 20 min or till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. 

Christmas Cupcakes 2011

merry christmas, everyone!!

Hope everyone had a jolly good time this holiday season!

This year, I baked, frosted and decorated close to 300 cupcakes. 

Here are some photos. Will post the recipes when I find more time. 

Meanwhile, hope these give some ideas and inspiration for your own cupcake creations. 

Nutella Cupcakes

For Nutella lovers, what could be better than a Nutella cupcake?

I've bookmarked this recipe from Tartelette's beautiful blog for a while.
The enticing deep brown chocolate cake, top with an equally decadent Nutella & cream cheese frosting...
Tell me you are not seduced.

So what happened to mine?
Although they turned out looking decent, it wasn't as deep brown as Tartelette's.
And she must have used a different type of rice flour from me, for mine turned out very very crumbly. And I mean VERY VERY crumbly. (I used 100g rice flour and 100g plain flour.)

I could only blame it on the rice flour I used.
Perhaps I'll try this again with all plain flour.
Or I might just stick with my trusty cupcake recipe and experiment with adding as much Nutella as possible.

For a Nutella lover, I also felt that there wasn't enough Nutella kick in this recipe.
So I'm gonna push the limit next round and add as much Nutella as the batter can handle.


So here it is... Nutella Cupcakes recipe found on Tartelette's blog.
If any of you give this a shot and succeed, do let me know. Maybe I missed an ingredient somewhere...

Makes 12 cupcakes.

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup (110gr) honey or light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground coffee
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup Nutella
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (100 gr) superfine sweet rice flour
1/4 cup (50 gr) millet flour
1/4 cup (50 gr) cornstarch (or use tapioca flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
Use 200gr all purpose flour to replace the sweet rice and millet flours and the corn starch if desired.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place 12 muffin liners inside a muffin pan and lightly brush with melted butter (or cooking spray).
In an electric mixer, whip the butter and honey until fluffy at medium speed, 2-3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the coffee, milk and Nutella. Still on low, add the eggs, one at time and scraping the bowl after each addition. In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, cornstarch, baking soda and salt and slowly fold this in with the butter - Nutella mixture until the mixture is smooth. Divide evenly among the muffin liners and bake 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting or enjoy warm without.

Chocolate Cupcakes + Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Isn't that just a gorgeous photo?

Fortunately, the cupcake was made by me  :)
Unfortunately, the picture wasn't taken my me  :(

These first three gorgeous photos were taken by my talented friend - Chester Tan.
He's an artistic photographer. And an award-winning musician.

Check out his pictures, music and reviews of the latest gadgets from his blog.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 12 small cupcakes.

180g flour
20g cocoa powder
140g sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
113g butter, softened
120ml milk
1 whole egg + 2 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract

Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Using the paddle attachment, beat the mixture till smooth and velvety.
Divide the batter equally among 12 cupcake cases.
Bake at 160*C for 12-15 min.
Remove cupcakes onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.


Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Makes more than enough for 12 small cupcakes.

2 egg whites
90g sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
150g butter, soft but still cold

Whisk egg whites and sugar bain marie (in a double boiler) till sugar is fully dissolved.
Remove from heat and whisk for about 10 min till peaks are stiff, thick and glossy.
At this point, the mixing bowl should be cool to the touch.

Change to the paddle attachment.
Add vanilla extract.
With the mixer at low to medium speed, add the butter by the tablespoon, ensuring that each addition is well incorporated before adding the next spoonful.
If the mixture curdles, don't panic. Continue adding the butter and beating the mixture on medium speed.
After a few minutes, the mixture will come together and become creamy and satiny.
Add colouring if desired and beat till evenly distributed.


Now you'll have soft, light, smooth and satiny frosting for your cupcakes!
And taste it... it's not as sweet as traditional buttercream. Tastes and feels more like a mousse - all thanks to the meringue.

For these cuppies, I used a 1M piping tip.

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And now for my very amateur photos, taken in a hurry before dashing out of the house to pass these to my friend.  Chester, thank you for your friendship :)

Citrus Peel Rum & Blueberry Little Cakes

~~~ Freshly out of the oven! ~~~

DC Cupcakes

How time flies!  It's been more than a month since my last entry.  And there is a reason...  I was on my annual long haul vacation.  This year, I ventured to the East Coast of USA: New York and Washington DC.

Have you heard of DC Cupcakes?  It's famous!
So I had to try... They look so enticing, don't they?

My cousins and I bought 2 dozen cupcakes.  Yes, that's 24 cupcakes!!  For a whopping US$60!!

THE VERDICT:
I loved the cream cheese frosting.  It was smooth and creamy, with the right amount of sweet and tang.  The decorations were superbly done and so very pretty.  But I was rather disappointed when I sank my teeth into the cake... it was dry and just average tasting.  No wonder my little niece just eats the frosting.

My favourite flavour was the Chocolate Coconut.  I love the combination!  The tropical sweetness of the coconut flakes paired perfectly with rich chocolate.  I reckon I could attempt to re-create this flavour?  But tell me.... where do I find coconut flakes in Singapore?

Apple Cinnamon Minicakes

What could be a better combination than apple + raisins + cinnamon + maple syrup + brown sugar?  Hahaha... that's pretty much the secret to these soft, fluffy, aromatically perfumed minicakes. 


Oops... no longer a secret.

Apple Cinnamon Minicakes

Makes about 20 minicakes.

210g flour

130g brown sugar

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon powder (depending on your preference for cinnamon)

120g butter

120ml milk

2 eggs

90ml maple syrup (the best quality you can get)

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

30g raisins

Dump all ingredients except the diced apples and raisins into your mixing bowl.

Beat till you get a smooth batter.  

Then fold in the diced apples and raisins till evenly distributed.

Spoon batter into muffin cups.

Bake at 160*C for about 20 min till done. 

Cool on a wire rack, and resist the temptation to pop one in your mouth while it's still hot!

My pictures really don't do justice to this recipe.  I assure you that these are one of the best bakes I've come across.  

Now, if any of you know of a better recipe than this, please please please tell me!  

Raisin Cupcakes

These cupcakes were made for a sweet little girl's 5th birthday.

Cupcake: Vanilla cake with raisins
Frosting: Hazelnut Cream Cheese Frosting
Cupcake liners from Ikea.

Coconut & Double Choc Chip Cupcakes

This is my largest batch of cupcakes so far.  A grand total of 48 mini cupcakes in 2 flavours - coconut, and double choc chip.

Hope my friend and his colleagues enjoy these tomorrow. 

Mini Cupcakes for a birthday boy

Classic back-to-basics cupcakes for a special little boy:

Mini vanilla cupcakes with swiss meringue buttercream frosting 

and marshmallow fondant alphabets.

(What a mouthful for a so-called 'basic' cupcake. LOL!)