A perfectly baked "steamed" fruit cake ^^

happy birthday, mel ^^ this baked-steamed fruit cake is dedicated to you

This was written a year ago, but never gottten round to posting it...

I never quite got over the yummy steamed fruit cake that burnt and left scars on my hands..

The need to "slay" this bake has been playing in my head for the longest time! But there was no way I was going anywhere near the electric steamer! Certainly not for 4 hours!

So I did some research and decided to bake the same recipe using a slow oven and bain-marie method (water bath).. ^^ for a 4-hour bake! ^^

Baked "steamed" fruit cake (recipe adapted from mel@melspantrykitchen)

A
250g butter, softened (tip from bisouatoi ~ use SALTED butter ie. golden churn! I did ^^)
80g fine sugar (I used 50g)
1 tsp ground nutmeg (I prefer to use only 3/4 tsp)
1/4 tsp orange essence (I used 3 tbsp marmalade jam ^^ ~ it's very good!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs

B (combined & sifted)
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

C (combined)
300g dried mixed fruits, raisins, etc (macerate in lots and lots of rum ^^, optional)
50g walnuts, toasted and chopped (optional)
20g plain flour

D (caramel)
200g sugar

1. Prepare water bath and place in oven of 140C. Tip: use a medium/big square baking tray, filled with water and place in lower most oven shelf. Heat water in the oven (at 180C, turn down to 140C when ready to bake) or use hot water if you like. There's NO NEED to place cake tin "into" the water bath ^^  

2. Combine A, except eggs. Mix with a wooden spoon.

3. Add eggs, one at a time till well combined. Do not overmix.

4. Add B and mix well.

5. Fold in C.

6. Prepare D (caramel) by placing sugar into a heavy saucepan over medium heat. As sugar melts from the sides, fold it to the center. DO NOT STIR. When sugar is completely melted and turned dark brown, remove from heat and VERY CAREFULLY and SLOWLY add to the fruit cake mixture. Caramelized sugar will harden almost immediately when folding into cake mixture.. the hardened bits can still be mixed into the cake batter. Be super-careful of burning hot liquid caramel!

7. Pour mixture into a lined 8" square/round baking tin. Cover baking tin with grease paper and aluminium foil. Tie with a string to keep lid in place. I did this step anyways, even though I wasn't planning to steam the cake.. I wasn't sure what to do and was worried the top might get burnt! Still, I recommend doing this anyways..         

8. Place cake tin on the second lowest shelf (or whichever shelf one usually use for baking ^^) and bake at 140C for 4 hours. After baking for 3 hours, remove lid and continue baking for another hour. Remove the tray of water as well ~ which probably would have been depleted of water by now.

* Best served after resting cake for a day or two ^^

Same recipe, different baking methods.. almost-different cakes! While the steamed fruit cake was deliciously light and airy in taste and texture, the baked version's a little different.. it's a tad bit more rich (maybe due to the use of salted butter!), perfectly moist (maybe due to the addition of marmalade and more rum soaked dried fruits!) and the crumbs a wee bit more packed than the steamed one.

dec 2012

dec 2012

I really enjoyed this baked "steamed" fruit cake (and it's not just me btw.. papa pig and aunt loves it too ^^!).. it's unusually addictive! I think the use of salted butter and addition of marmalade jam brought this cake to another level of wonderful too! This cake meets all expectations of the perfect fruit cake of my dreams ^^ dark, rich yet light and moist. ^^

Oh, yes.. I'm not sure why, but I really didn't feel that this was a 4-hour bake.. unlike the anxiety filled 4-hour steaming the last time. I totally forgot all about the cake in the oven till unbelievably wonderful smells came out from the kitchen ^^! And good news, I didn't get burnt at all this time! ^^

Well, just in case this is all a fluke, I'm planning to make this again soonest! ^^

Fast forward one year later.....

Well, "soonest" didn't quite make it till a year later, haha! But here I am, finally! ^^

And it's no fluke! It works and it's DELICIOUS! And it's not even been "rested" yet! Somebody had it the morning after the midnight bake-out. ^^

So how would I know it's delicious??? Well, if fatty hubby can finish a big chunk of cake by himself.. without leaving any for me.. you just know!!! ^^

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! ^^

Cranberry n pistachio biscotti ^^

" No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other’s worth ~ Robert Southey "

Cranberry and pistachio biscotti (adapted from susan russo@npr.org)
~ makes about 22pcs (or 2 containers for 2 good friends ^^)
2 scant tsps baking powder
2 cups flour
3/4 scant cup sugar
1 cup pistachio, toasted
1 cup dried cranberries
3 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

zest of 1 orange

* extra beaten egg, for brushing

1. Sift baking powder and flour together. Mix in sugar, toasted pistachio and dried cranberries.

2. In another bowl, whisk eggs till well mixed. Add vanilla and orange zest, and mix till blended.

3. Add the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold till well combined. 

4. Place batter on a lined baking tray. TIP: use a spoon to scoop batter onto tray and shape it like a log. Doesn't matter how long it is (or how many logs you make), just remember that it should be just 2 inches WIDE and 3/4-1 inch high! And remember to space the logs out as the batter will spread! Brush the logs all over with lightly beaten eggs.

5. Bake in a preheated oven of 170C for 35 - 40 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and cool for about 20 minutes before slicing into 3/4-inch thick slices, with a serrated kinfe.

7. Place slices back on baking tray and bake for 12 minutes. Turn biscotti over and bake for 8 minutes. Remove to cool.

** Biscotti tastes best after 2 days ~ it's true! ^^

It's wonderful to meet good friends again ^^. So what if we've been separated for a decade (and more! ^^).. chums will always be chums! 

Happiness is.. knowing nothing has changed.. ok, maybe the odd wrinkle or 2, haha! I missed you, friend! ^^

Congo bars.. just don't reduce the sugar??

I'm afraid I've messed up the perfectly yummy (so they say! and I believe ^^||) congo bars!

Like brownies, congo bars probably needs the HUGE amount of sugar to keep it fudgy and moist. Of course, I realize that now.. ^^ So don't make the same mistake as I did of reducing the sugar!

I wish I can say this is yummy ~ but it's really so-so for me. Visually, this has a score of ZERO in my books! I'm really disappointed.

Well, no use dwelling on this.. on to other fun stuff! ^^

p.s surprise, surprise! baby pig and fatty hubby both think the congo bars are good (??!!)! could it be just me? well, i'm still not convinced.. so i'm planning to drizzle some chocolate topping over ~ at least it'll look that bit better! ^^

Decadently luscious superlicious cinnamon rolls!!! ^^

Decadent. Luscious. Superlicious. NO-KNEAD! Yes, what are you waiting for???!!! ^^

Run straight into the kitchen or the baking supplies store, people!!! These are so so so so so soooooooo gooooooood! Of course, that's after reducing ALL the sugars by HALF! These cinnamon rolls by ree@thepioneerwoman are soooooooo delicious!!! Thanks so much, janine@unpastiche, for the recommendation! They are amazing!!! ^^

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls (recipe from thepioneerwoman)

~ makes 27 rolls in 3 7-inch square trays

Dough

2 cups / 500 ml milk
1/2 cup / 125 ml vegetable oil
* 1/4 scant cup sugar
1 packet active dry yeast / 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
4 cups all purpose flour (bread + all purpose is good ^^)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 scant tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Filling
1 cup (227g) melted butter
2 tbsp cinnamon powder
* 1/4 cup sugar (brown+white ^^)

1. Bring milk, oil and sugar to just short of a boil. Remove from heat and leave to cool for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

2. Add active dry yeast to lukewarm milk mixture and leave it to sit and bubble. Omit this step if using instant yeast.

3. If using instant yeast, blend in with the 4 cups of flour. Add flour into the milk mixture and mix till well combined. Cover and leave to double in size for about 1 hour.

4. Mix the extra 1/2 cup flour with baking powder and baking soda till well blended. Add the flours into the dough till well combined.

5. Refrigerate dough for later use or use immediately. Refrigerating overnight would be a good choice ^^

6. Generously flour working surface, and roll out dough thinly into a rectangle. Tip: Wrap rolling pin with plastic cling wrap.. you'll see! ^^

7. Spread melted butter all over dough. Sprinkle cinnamon powder and sugar all over evenly.

8. Roll dough from the long end towards you. Roll tightly and pinch the seams to seal.

9. Slice rolls into 3/4 or 1 inch thick and place them in greased baking tins. Leave to rise for 20-30 minutes.

10. Bake in preheated oven of 400F/200C till light golden brown for 15-20 minutes.

11. Remove and drizzle generously with sauce/topping of your choice! ^^

Easy caramel sauce (recipe from leitesculinaria)
~ make 1 1/2 cups
* 1/2 scant cup brown sugar
1 stick / 115g butter
1/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
1/4 cup honey
** add 2-3 pinches of sea salt ~ you won't regret this!

Bring all ingredients to a boil. Lower heat  and continue to stir and cook for 2 minutes. Drizzle over anything you fancy! ^^

I've sort of gotten the feel for rolling the dough after that one practise on italian cheese and herb pinwheels ^^ And these cinnamon rolls definitely benefitted from that maiden attempt, haha! ^^ 

Well, I must confess that I was a wee sceptical about the no-knead part, but these rolls turned out amazingly soft and fluffy inside. And the crust is nicely crisp and browned. So you can imagine how good it tastes with ooey-gooey sticky caramel sauce! ^^

Oh yes, because I reduce the sugars by half in the dough and filling, the rolls were just nicely sweet, not tooth achingly-sweet. As such it's totally perfect with caramel sauce or any frosting for that matter! ^^

I believe, like ree, I must be the most popular aunt and neighbour today! ^^

A delicate castella cake ^^

Thanks, mel! I can't believe I made this.. and successfully too, at my first attempt! ^^

I had not planned on making castella cake ever, after reading the difficult steps and many failed- attempts stories. But after mel's text and encouragement to try it, because it tasted really good ^^.. and a re-look into the recipe that she used and also nami's of justonecookbook ^^.. as well as a "technical" discussion with her over whatsapp ^^, I decided to give it a go..

And lo and behold! A beautifully risen, soft and fluffily moist castella cake ~ a perfect cake.. almost, hehe! ^^

Castella cake (inspired by mel@melspantrykitchen, adapted from rotinrice and justonecookbook)

~ makes a small loaf

2 egg whites

70g sugar (MUST REDUCE to 35-40g next time!!!)

2 egg yolks

1.5 tbsp honey +1 tbsp water

60g bread flour (BREAD or HIGH PROTEIN flour only!), sift 2-3 times!

Glaze

1 tbsp + 1 tbsp water, dissolved

1. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites till foamy. Add sugar and beat till stiff and shiny, about 4 MINUTES.

2. Mix in egg yolks till combined.

3. Add honey+water and beat till well combined for 1 MINUTE.

4. Fold in flour gently into the batter using the mixer whisk or by hand using a WHISK.

5. GREASE (MUST! MUST! MUST!!!) baking tin, and line with paper (see here and here). This is important, so that cake doesn't cave in or shrink too much at the sides.

6. Gently pour cake mixture into lined baking tin. Remove bubbles by making a zig zag motion using a skewer, through the batter. Make sure to smooth the surface of the batter before putting it in the oven.

7. Bake in a preheated oven of 155-160C for about 40-45 minutes, or till golden brown, or till throughly baked.

8. Remove cake from baking tin and brush top with honey+water glaze. And immediately wrap it with plastic cling wrap. Place and leave cake overnight in the refrigerator.

9. Slice off and tidy up the sides before serving. Enjoy! ^^  

This cake turned out almost faultless ~ perfect texture, perfect rise, perfect moistness, perfect looks, perfect scent.. and perfect taste too.. if only it wasn't so sweet! I'm sure the sweetness level is pretty acceptable for most people, and if you're having it with green tea or unsugared tea or coffee. Maybe it's just us ~ too much of a sugar rush for us piggies! Even the king of sweet, baby pig commented that it's perfect but too sweet! ^^

i love instagram ^^

Anyway, this was still a very, very enjoyable treat ^^. Perfect with coffee! ^^

p.s. a pix of castella cake from Ginso, bought during our osaka trip last year. my first taste of "real" castella cake and it was just ok for us.. hence never attempted to make it since..that and the fact i still felt jinxed at making something resembling a chiffon cake, haha! ^^||

Finally.. italian cheese and herb pinwheels!

I've had active dried yeast die on me. But instant yeast???????!!!!!

Yup, that happened too! ^^|| Well, I'll not go into specifics, but this is my 3rd/4th attempt for the 2nd weekend running on these little rolls! All to make my little piggies, especially big pig, happy! ^^ So there.

Italian cheese and herbs pinwheels (recipe inspired by foodiebaker, adapted from cookstr.com)
~ makes 9 rolls
1 3/4 cups flour, + more if necessary
1 tsp yeast
a pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
2 small eggs
1/2 cup lukewarm water or milk
60g softened butter
1 tsp dried italian herbs
150 - 200g grated cheese (use a mix of tasty cheeses!)
1 egg, beaten

1. Mix all dry ingredients together till well blended. Add eggs and water/milk till well combined. Then add softened butter to the dough. Expect dough to be soft and sticky.

3. Knead dough till smooth and elastic. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

4. Punch dough down, and roll out into a 8x11" rectangle.

5. Spread some beaten egg all over the dough, leaving some space to the edges. Sprinkle herbs and grated cheese evenly on the dough. Roll dough up from the shorter end and cut them into 9 discs.

6. Place rolls into a greased 8-inch square tin and bake in a preheated oven of 180C for 35-40 minutes, or till golden.

I've always, always wanted to make cinnamon rolls, but somehow just never plucked up the courage to ^^||. Yes, I've always had a mental road-block towards making cinnamon rolls! So I'm not quite sure why I didn't feel the same fear for these little savory rolls!

Well, ok, now that I've gotten them out of the way, I can say these rolls aren't that difficult after all ^^. I know I didn't quite do a good job this time.. the rolls were sliced rather unevenly, I didn't bake them immediately and had them stuffed in the fridge overnight (bad idea!), etc.. And boy, they sure turned out ugly! But I now know I can do better the next time! Isn't that a wonderful thing to look forward to.. no more fear of making cinnamon rolls, or any other rolls for that matter! ^^

Anyway, as ugly as the pinwheels were, there wasn't an oink (of complain) from my piggies.. they ate them up just fine ^^! Sometimes it pays to have nephews who are aesthetically blind!

a boozy treat for big ^^

Big pig turned 17 yesterday. ^^

And his good aunt, that's me ^^ baked him a boozy cheesecake! In his favorite ice-cream flavor, rum n raisin ~ oh, yums!

Rum n raisin cheesecake (recipe adapted from Alex Goh's blueberry cheesecake recipe)
~ makes 12 cupcakes (easy share of happiness and fat! ^^) 

250g cream cheese

50g sugar

15g flour

2 egg yolks

200ml sour cream

2 egg whites

35g sugar

10g cornflour

150 - 200g raisins & sultanas, macerate for 5 days in lots of rum ^^

1. Prepare water bath and preheat oven to 150C.

2. Cream 50g sugar and cream cheese till light and fluffy.

3. Mix in flour till well combined.

4. Add in egg yolks, and beat till light and creamy.

5. Pour sour cream into cream cheese mixture and mix well. Do not over beat.

6. Fold in raisins till well combined.

7. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites and 35g sugar till stiff. Do not over beat. Gently fold in cornflour.

8. Mix in egg whites mixture to cream cheese mixture gently till well combined.

9. Line a 6 or 7" round cake tin or 12-cupcake tins. Fill up cake or cupcake cases till 3/4 or almost full.

10. Bake in water bath for 90 minutes for a whole cake, or 45-50 minutes if using cupcake/muffin tins. Leave cheesecake to cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar.

11. Refrigerate overnight. Serve with more rum-laced raisins, if you like ^^.

* Note: I reduced the quantity of flours from the original cheesecake recipe, hence my cheesecakes actually cracked, but they came together again when cooled.. Anyways, I have no problem with cracked tops ^^ I'd rather that than "floury-tasting" cheesecakes! ^^

I really like this cheesecake base recipe. Not only is it wonderful with blueberry, it's also totally yummy-licious with apple! And it rocks rum n raisin too! Soooooooo delish!!!!!!! I mean it! ^^

Big loves this cheesecake ^^ So do we! ^^ ^^ ^^