Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache

My baking mood is back!

QUICK CHOCOLATE CAKE


9" square tin greased and lined
Preheat oven to 175C

Ingredients
450g  castor sugar
224g  all purpose flour
96g    cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs - slightly beaten
240ml milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Method:
In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients with a whisk ensuring that they are properly mixed. Make a well in the center and add in eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Whisk this well to ensure that there are no lumps for approximately 2mins. You may use an electric mixer at low speed. Lastly add the boiling water to the batter and continue to whisk carefully. Mix well.

Pour batter (may look alittle runny) in prepared tin and bake for about 30-35mins, or till skewer comes out clean when checked at the center of cake.
Source: Sheen Mars

Ingredients:
160ml heavy cream
283.5g chocolate baking discs / chopped chocolate


Method:
Quick Ganache

• Place chocolate in stainless steel bowl, set aside.  Heat cream in a small saucepan over high heat until just boil
• Pour hot cream over chocolate, stirring until smooth

Source: Sarah

Cool the cake on the cooling rack, once cool, pour the ganache on the cake.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

I baked this over the weekend.  Recipe taken from Saji magazine.

slightly heavy

Recipe from magazine

Ingredients:
200g castor sugar (what I had left lol)
240g plain flour
125ml corn oil
7 eggs (separate the white and yellow)
1 tsp pandan essence (I don't have pandan leave lying around the house)
3tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar


Method: 

• Preheat oven to 180C. 
• Grease the cake pan with butter
• Use a large clean bowl, making sure there’s no water or oil in it. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until bubbles form. Add the cream of tartar. After mixing well, add the 1/2 of sugar in three batches, about one-third at a time, and beat well between additions. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
• Beat the egg yolks with a balloon whisk and mix in 1/2 of sugar and add a few drops of pandan essence
• Sift in cake flour and baking powder in three batches into the egg yolk mixture. Mix well. Lastly, add corn oil. Set aside.
• Spoon out 1/3 of the beaten egg whites and fold into the egg mixture. Lightly fold in the rest of the beaten egg whites with a spatula, until just combined. 
• Pour into the cake pan and bake in preheated oven for about 45 - 55 minutes.  A needle comes out clean when inserted in the middle. 
• Remove cake from the oven. invert the pan immediately. Allow it to cool completely. 

Ayam Masak Kicap Lada Hitam

Its a No-Work Monday for me ... erm ... not exactly true cos I still do laundry ... clean and cook ... hee hee ... Still suffer from weekend-coma lol ... 

My mom was to busy to entertain me yesterday so I decided to googled the recipe instead.
Source: Tiffin Biru

Ingredients
10 pcs of wings (other parts of the bird also can)
2 Onion (Sliced, round)
2 Red Chili (cut into 2)
2 Green Chili (cut into 2)
4 Potatoes (sliced medium thickness)
3 cloves garlic (bashed and chopped)
1/2 inch ginger (sliced)
1/3 cup of sweet soy sauce
2 tbsp black pepper sauce
1 stick of cinnamon
1 star anise
1/3 cup of water
Spring onion to garnish

Method:
Marinate chicken with tumeric and salt, marinate it for 20 mins and pan-fry half way and drain the oil
Fry the potatoes til golden brown and drain the oil
Using the same oil sautee garlic, ginger, cinnamon and star anise, once there's aroma add in the black pepper sauce and chicken.  Mix well and add water and sweet soy sauce.  With low heat let it thickens.
add in the onion, chili and potatoes and mix well.
Add spring onion for garnish

Here are some of the photos taken on sun for the lomo-matrix event.

Sleepover - Games - Movie Marathon

Over the  weekends we had sleep-over session with some friends ... Played Jenga ... Uno ... watched movies ... and lots of food from peanuts to chocolates ... popcorns and ice-creams!

I baked Cheesy Mish-Mash for the 2nd time.

Ingredients:

Fried Wedges

Cooked Minced Meat

Pan-fried Turkey Bacon

Pizza Plus Cheese

Method:

Deep fry wedges / Cook Minced Meat / Pan fry Bacon and cut into bite size.

Mix everything season with salt and pepper and a tsp of oregano.

Put in a grease proof pyrex dish and cover it with mixture of cheese.

Bake it for 15 to 20mins once the cheese melted and golden brown.

A super long Jenga session ... 32 stories high ... on a lazy susan ... 

They bought me Dr Marten, Mary Jane's Shoe!!! for my birthday.... I love it.

Morning Breakfast we had Nasi Lemak... (Smell bunch lol)

Ingredients (My mom's version)

Rice

Coconut Milk

Salt 

Ginger (bashed)

Lemongrass (bashed)

Pandan leaves (a knot)

Method

Wash the rice properly.  Add all the ingredient mix well.

Sambal Tumis

Blended Dried Chili

Belacan (toasted and grind)

Blended Garlic 

Blended Onion

Sugar

Asam juice

Oil for frying

opt*

Ikan Bilis

Prawn

Egg

Peanuts

Method

Heat oil, fry chili, onion, garlic and belachan (low heat for 30 - 45mins) with constant stirring. 

Add asam juice cook it for 5 to 10mins.  

Add Sugar.  Let it boil for a while and off.

Add the item of ur choice (ikan bilis, prawn, egg, peanuts, fishballs) or u can choose to leave it empty.

Intense Baking

Bake ... Bake ... Bake ... Sunday Bake


Promised colleague to bake her nutella scones and she is due anytime soon ... so I've decided to bake over the weekend and not forgetting house-warming invite to HS new home. So I've baked muffins too.


Yati share this site with me which I find it very useful cos it comes with tips and case scenario which I can relate at times.  
Source: Oven Haven


Nutella Scones

(adapted from Baked Explorations; Matt Lewis, Renato Poliafito)

2 cups plain flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 large egg

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped (I omitted this)

1/2 cup Nutella, divided

Preheat oven to 375°F / 19°0C. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon mat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add the butter to the flour. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the chunks of butter become pea sized and the flour holds together when squeezed.

Whisk the cream and egg together. While mixing, slowly pour the cream mixture into the flour mixture until the dough just comes together.

Stir in the hazelnuts, then pour the dough onto a floured surface. Knead the dough into a rectangle.

Spread 1/4 cup of the Nutella over the dough, then roll it into a cylinder. Flatten the cylinder into a disk, then slice it into wedges (6 or 8).

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Once baked, place on a cooling rack.

Warm the remaining 1/4 cup Nutella, then drizzle it over the cooling scones.

Simple and easy recipe. My 1st batch turns out great! so I decided to bake the 2nd batch ... and I forgotten to put the brown sugar and it looked and tasted horrible.  tsk.
Source: taste.com
Mini Toblerone Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 60g butter, melted, cooled
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• 100g Toblerone milk chocolate, chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease two 12-hole 2-tablespoon capacity mini muffin pans or line with paper cases.
2. Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in sugar. Make a well in the centre.
3. Whisk butter, milk and egg in a jug. Pour into well. Add chocolate and gently fold until just combined. Three-quarter fill muffin cases with mixture. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand muffins in pan for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Notes

• Hint: To make 12 regular-sized muffins from this mix, bake in a 1/3-cup capacity muffin pan for 15 to 18 minutes.