Mexican Corn Muffin

I took the recipe from the local supermarket and decide to try out. Nice and easy savoury muffins which goes well with pumpkin soup in the winter. Tips for baking muffins is don't try to mixed until really well blend, or the muffins will become hard.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp Mexican Seasoning ( I used Cajun Seasoning)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped chives or spring onions
• 1-2 cups grated Edam cheese
• 410g can whole kernel corn, well drained
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 egg, beaten

Method

1. Preheat oven to 210°C and grease muffin pans.

2. Sift flour and baking powder together in a bowl and stir through the Mexican/Cajun Seasoning, sugar, chopped chives and cheese, keeping ½ cup cheese aside.

3. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and pour in the whole kernel corn, milk, oil and egg. Stir gently until just mixed and place spoonfuls into the muffin pans.

4. Sprinkle with grated cheese previously set aside and bake for 10-12 minutes or until cooked and golden.

Recipe adapts from http://www.foodinaminute.co.nz/

Chocolate Brownie

Ingredients:

• 110g butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cocoa powder
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup walnuts or pecan, roughly chopped ( I like walnuts, should increase to 3/4 cups)
  

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 160C, grease a square cake tin, cover base with baking paper.
2. Melt butter, mix in sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at the time.
3. Add combined flour, cocoa and baking powder and mix thoroughly. Stir through the chopped nuts and pour into the tin.
4. Bake for 25-35 mins or until the skewer comes out clean.
5. Cool for 5 mins in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

I didn't have a proper measurement of the chocolate ganache when I was making it. Because I didn't have cream at home. I melted some chocolate, butter and 2 tbsp of milk and then spread on it. Cut it when it is completely cool. I will edit it once I have re bake it. Or you could use the following as reference or just eat without any frosting.

There's one I found on www.best-chocolate-recipes-online.com

• 115ml of double cream
• 110g of plain chocolate, finely chopped

Put the cream into a saucepan and bring nearly to the boil, so it is scalding hot. With the finely grated chocolate in a heatproof bowl, pour the hot cream over and leave to allow the chocolate to melt into the hot cream. Gently stir to mix.

Leave it to cool long enough for it to be a nice spreadable consistency.

It's Autumn, lets have Feijoa Cake!

I never have this fruit back home. But I've heard so much of this fruit before the autumn came last year. Everyone was telling me, it's the most delicious fruit in New Zealand.
Feijoa also known as pineapple guava or guavasteen. The fruit is maturing in autumn, usually we just cut into half and scoop the pulp out with spoon. It has really distinctive flavour, some of my friends said taste like perfume, I also thought it taste like Bubblegum. :)


Ingredients:

• 1 cup of mashed Feijoa (choose very ripe fruit)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 75g butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/4 tsp salt

Methods:

1. Grease a cake tin 22cm, cover base with baking paper.
2. Sifted the flour, baking powder and baking soda together 2 times.
3. Add the milk, vanilla essence and salt to mashed Feijoa.
4. Beat butter and sugar in a bowl, whisk until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beat until combine.
5. Stir in half of the flour and alternate with the fruit mixture. Do not over mix.
6. Pour mixture into prepared cake tin, bake at 180C for 50mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Lemon Icing on top

• 50g butter
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup icing sugar

beat everything together until fluffy and spread on cool cake. Cut and served.

Flourless Whole Orange Dessert Cake

I baked this cake twice last month. I was so careless for the first time, because I forgot to drained the orange after it's cooked. They taste really nice but rather too wet. Second time I baked it and it turn out just nice. It doesn't contain any flour and you could substitute the chopped macadamia to chopped almonds just to get some crunchy texture for this cake.

Note: The top of the cake might turn brown sooner as you think, cover it with a piece of tin foil to prevent burn after it turns golden brown.


Ingredients :

• 2 medium Oranges
• 185g butter
• 3/4 cup (180g)caster sugar/brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup (80g) semolina
• 1 cup (125g) almond meal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 50g chopped macadamia nuts

Syrup
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
1/3 cup orange juice (from the drained orange)

Methods :

1. Grease a cake tin 22cm, cover base with baking paper.
2. Coarsely chopped oranges including skin, remove seeds. Place oranges in a pot and add enough water to cover oranges and bring to boil until oranges are tender. Cool.
3. Drained oranges, blend until smooth.
4. Beat butter and sugar in a bowl, whisk until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beat until combine.
5. Stir in Semolina, almonds and macadamia nuts, sifted baking powder and orange puree.
6. Pour mixture into prepared cake tin, bake at 170C for 1 hr or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Pour hot syrup over hot cake.
7. Serve cake warm or cold with cream or dollop of creamy yogurt.

Syrup: Combine sugar and orange juice in small pan, stir over the heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil pour over the cake.

Tort di Castagne - Chestnut Cake

I have these Chestnuts in the fridge which is quite impossible to finish by some savoury cooking. I remembered I baked this cake once last year. It tasted moist and special, because there's no flour in it, the whole cake is bake only chestnut and other nuts, so it's gluten free. Chestnut is the only nuts carry Vitamin C, although I have no idea the amount of it after cooking and baking. It just give me the idea, it's good... :D

Ingredients :

• 500g Chestnuts peeled
  
• 250ml milk
  
• 170g brown sugar
• 100g melted butter
  
• 6pc egg yolks
  
• 100g chopped almonds (walnuts)
• 100g chocolate chips
  
• 50ml rum or brandy
• 1 pc lemon (juice and zest)
• 6pc egg whites
• some flour to coat the cake tin
  

Methods :

1. Brush the cake tin with some melted butter and lightly flour.
2. Place the peeled chestnuts in the milk with a little sugar (from 170g), bring to boil and simmer for approximately 15 mins until soft.
3. Puree the chestnuts in a food processor (by small amount, it will be easier, alternately you could mash in a big bowl)
   
4. Beat the sugar and egg yolks in a bowl, whisk until thickened. Pour and mix with Chestnuts.
5. Add in the melted butter, chopped almonds, chocolate chips, zest and juice of lemon and rum or brandy and combine.
6. Whisk the egg whites to the stiff peak stage and fold in gently into the above mixture.
   
7. Pour batter into prepared cake tin. Bake at 175C for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in the cake tin and run a knife at the side before remove.

Coffee Butter Cake

It's been a while since my last post. In between this, I've bake some cookies and pandan layer cake. Then I decide to bake something that I never bake before. It's coffee cake!
I've never fancy coffee cake. My the other half doesn't drink coffee at all, so it's a risk I am doing it.. LOL.
Anyway, I mixed coffee with rum and surprisingly, he didn't find it irritated his tongue.. :P
When I took out from the oven, the rum fragrant immerse the whole house.
The cake taste real moist and nice, I think it's a keeper.


Ingredients :

• 300g butter
• 220g brown sugar
• 275g plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 5 eggs
• 2 shots of expresso (or you can use 1tsp instant coffee powder)
• 1 1/2 tsp rum

Methods :

1. Sift flour, baking powder together 3 times.
2. Beat sugar, butter together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, until blended (approx 1 min before adding another one), on higher speed until the mixture become pale.
3. Add half of the dry ingredients at a time, alternating with coffee and rum mixture. Beat in low speed.
4. Add the rest of the flour by folding method and alternate with coffee and rum.
5. Pour batter into pre-line 22cm ring pan. Bake at 170C for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes before removing from pans.

Lemon Dates Scones

I have been addicted to scones recently. I like to watch some cooking show on TV. This recipe is from one of the episode of MasterChef Australia, the judge was teaching a really simple and fantastic scone and I was quick enough to scribble down the ingredients.
It's a bit different with other scones I baked, there's no butter in it. But I guess the cream have substitute the fat. And this batch of Scones I have added some chocolate chips in it, simply just because I didn't have enough dates. But you can add whatever you like, you can even turn it into savoury scones too.

The secret to make scone is not to knead the dough too much, or it will become hard. And it should be quite lumpy. Just make sure you have extra flour to sprinkle on the dough surface and the workspace you are working on.

See the recipe after the jump.

Ingredients:

150ml milk

150ml cream

3 cups self raising flour (if use plain flour, add 2tsp baking powder)

2 tbsp caster sugar or brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1 cup chopped dates

1 whole lemon zest

Method:

- preheat oven to 200C, sift flour and baking powder together into a large bowl. Combine with sugar, salt and dates.

- mix milk and cream together and pour in the large bowl of flour, add lemon zest.

- mix all together until form soft dough.

- knead the dough onto floured surface and roll out the dough to form 2cm thick, cut using a small plain cutter.

- place onto a baking tray (oil and floured or using baking sheet) and glaze with milk.

- bake for 12-15 mins.

- serve hot with cream and jam.

- makes about 12 pcs (7cm ring cutter)