Makes 40

I don't have a breadmaker but I've always wanted to make soft, fluffy Chinese buns at home. I came across Christine's Recipes for raisin buns and decided to give it a go. Breadmaking is a long ass process, taking about 3 hours total - a test of patience for someone who makes 30 minute meals. The first time I made it at 9pm and was too tired to go through all the proofing process. Luckily, it still turned out to be edible bread, but it had a hard crust and wasn't soft and fluffy like Chinese buns (more like dinner rolls you'd get at a Western restaurant). The second time around, my mom did most of the work. We gave the sufficient time for each proofing step and it was really an exciting moment to see the yeast successfully rise!!

I wanted to make red velvet cupcakes but didn't want to use red food coloring, so I came across a recipe for natural colored cupcakes using beets. When I told B about this, he exclaimed "Beets?!", then after he tried one: "Hey, it doesn't taste like beets, that's pretty cool!" These don't taste like beets, nor do they exactly taste like red velvet, but they are still pretty good! Moist and fluffy, on the dense side. It was a bit sticky at first, but with the cream cheese frosting it's barely noticeable, and even better after two days. I'm quite happy with my first attempt. It was fun to make and the bright color is fantastic.





Love the color on the unfrosted cupcake // Inside: dense and moist


Beet Velvet Cupcakes 
Recipe adapted from here
Makes 11-12 regular size cupcakes


Ingredients
Cream Cheese Frosting - from Martha Stewart

Makes 1 cup

• 1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature 
• 1/4  cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions
Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. 


Notes

• Cake was sticky (why?) but better the next day(s); less sticky on second attempt
• Can use less sugar next time
• Remember to beat the frosting till smooth to get rid of all the cream cheese/butter clumps
• Cream cheese taste is a bit overpowering, can use less next time 

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. Pour cream in saucepan. Bring cream to boiling point, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. 3. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy. 
4. Pour cream into egg mixture and mix well until thickened. 
5. Pour mixture in ramekins. 
6. Fill large roasting tray wth hot water and place ramekins in, making sure water is halfway up the outsides (bain-marie). (I used a shallow pan which covered just a bit but still worked fine)
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes. 
8. To caramelize: sprinkle teaspoon of sugar on the surface and caramelize with blow torch.

Adapted from Here

Instead of my usual holiday cookie (cornflake marshmallow), this year I tried something new - chocolate chip cookies and these soft oatmeal cookies. I like making them small and round - perfect bite size snack.

Makes about 20-30 small cookies.

Ingredients

• 1/2 C unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 C packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 C flour
• 1/4 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 1/2 C old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 C dried unsweetened cranberries
• Cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Combine flour, salt, baking powder.
3. Cream butter and sugars for a few minutes, then add egg and cream until light and fluffy.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
5. Stir in the oats and cranberries.
6. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and place balls on sheet.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Enjoy! :)

 

Piping into circles - batter is smooth and shiny; good size and flat courtesy of B. The key to piping is squeeze from the top with right hand, and point straight down.






After piping - shells are flat with feet, but the feet slightly surround the shell instead of being under it.



First attempt: Green Tea Macarons with Green Tea Buttercream

So happy with this recipe from Cooking With Dog!



It's super easy to make. Made some modifications according to bossacafez - used 50g yogurt and 150g tofu, and didn't have gelatin on hand so the texture was more creamy. Very light and tasty cake with slight cream cheese/tofu taste.

Ingredients for Tofu Rare Cheesecake
(15cm/5.9 inch diameter)

60g Graham Crackers or substitute Unsweetened Biscuits (2.1 oz) ~ used digestive cookies, about 10
30g Melted Butter (1.05 oz) - Salted or Unsalted
100g Cream Cheese (3.5 oz)
100g Firm Tofu (3.5 oz) ~ used 150g
100g Plain Yogurt (3.5 oz) ~ used 50g
50ml Whipping Cream (1.7 fl oz)
50g Sugar (1.75 oz)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice

5g Gelatin Powder (0.18 oz)
50ml Hot Water (1.7 fl oz) - approx. 80°C/176°F

I've been searching for a more dense and strong flavored banana bread and came across this Starbucks recipe here . I omitted the walnuts and vanilla and substituted 1% milk + squirt of lemon juice for the buttermilk.
Total baking time: 1 hr 15 mins.




Quite different from my usual recipe: dry ingredients mixed into egg/sugar/oil with banana added last. Was scared at first 'cause it was dry and clumpy but after the banana was added, everything looked better. It rose very well despite not having baking powder, very brown compared to usual yellow and fluffy. It somewhat tastes like sb version - sweet and sticky - but texture is still larger crumb while sb is smaller and more soft like a cake. (how?!) Anyway.. pretty satisfied - fam said it tastes really good and best I've made. :O

After eating some delicious leftover risotto from Carmelina (must go there in person soon), I had a craving to make my own. These days I lack the patience and moodfor baking, but I'm starting to enjoy cooking again and it is somewhat therapeutic. This is a pretty easy and straight forward recipe, but it does require about an hour to cook and constant standing in front of the stove.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Yield: Serves 4-6
Adapted from simplyrecipes.com  

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water
2 to 3 ripe bananas

1. Put dry ingredients in medium sized bowl.
2. Mash bananas and mix in wet ingredients.
3. Add (2) to (1) and mix well.
4. Bake in preheated 350C oven for 40 minutes. For muffins, reduce baking time to about 20-25 minutes.

Quick and easy recipe for fluffy banana bread every time. Great way to use up bananas that are too mushy to eat on their own.  How do you use up ripe bananas?

Before: Wet dough

 

Finished Product! Golden, crisp tops

 

Success!

 

Soft and airy inside

In glass measure, beat egg with fork; add enough of the milk to make 1 cup (250 mL), stirring to blend. Remove 2 tbsp (25 mL) and set aside. 

Pour remaining mixture, all at once, into centre of flour mixture. Stir with fork just until dough comes together to form wet dough. Using hands, shape into ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface; pat out into scant 3/4-inch (2 cm) thickness.

Using floured 2-inch (5 cm) round cutter, cut out biscuits. Repeat with scraps once. Place on parchment paper–lined baking sheet; brush with reserved milk mixture. Bake in 425°F (220°C) oven until risen, golden and firm to the touch, about 14 minutes.