Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Hi, hi!! I took a short break coz really couldn't squeeze in the time to blog, although all the pictures had been taken (the easiest part!). Plus I had been feeling super tired these last few weeks and I just want to slack.. *yawnz* Aaaaaanyway, these brownies are da bomb, I kid you not! 

I don't seem to be able to get that classic thin, crispy layer at the top but these brownies are so addictive and I really can't wait for you guys to try it out! It's not sickeningly sweet and it has just the right amount of fudgy-ness that is not too gooey, made from pure cocoa with no additional chocolate (perfect for lazy bakers like me!)  and the best part is, you can eat either warm or straight from the fridge! How I wish I still have a container full of them in the fridge! *grins*

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

- 115g butter

- 225g sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla

- 55g plain flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

- 40g cocoa powder

- a pinch of salt

( I prefer my brownies to be plain but you can add about 50g of walnuts or chocolate chips or any other additional top-ups)

Method

(Pre-heat oven to 170-180 Degrees Celcius)

1. Melt butter over low heat, remove from heat

2. Add sugar and whisk until well-mixed ( this process will help to cool the butter so that the eggs will not curdle when added to this batter)

3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking till smooth

4. Add vanilla

5. Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt and mix well

6. Add the sifted ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until everything is just well-blended; DO NOT over-whisk!

7. Pour into a 10" x 10" pan and bake for 20mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean

8. Cool on the rack before cutting

9. Store in an air-tight container, the brownies can keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks

Enjoy!! =)

Trying to get an artistic shot..fail!! hahahahaa!

Fudgy brownies for the win!! ^_^

Traditional Mini Mooncake

Ok, I just realised that the first picture that we post in our blog entries will be used as the icons for our bakes at the sides. So I have to remind myself to choose a nicer picture else the post will be represented by a dough hook, like my first bread entry! hahaha!

 

 

Anyway, I initiated an 'Aspiring Bakes' wannabe on the FB page, Baking's Corner and was really surprised with the response. I mean, I have always liked the idea but most of the time I couldn't participate coz I didn't have a baking blog at that time (I do, now..hell yeahh!!). So to create that same camaraderie amongst my fellow 'bakies', I posted the idea and happy that it was well received!

 

 

A few of them suggested to have a Mooncake theme since the festival is just around the corner. So I thought I'd post one of the recipes I have kept from a class long ago (Thank You, Chef Patrick!) to kick-start the whole theme-baking thingy. I just hope that more will come forward to try the recipes and post the pictures on the page, or else, it kinda defeats the purpose of the whole concept right? ^_^

 

 

Mooncakes have always been my favourite especially the mini ones coz you can get to taste the yolk with every bite! And with the homebaked ones, you can choose what goes into the mooncake filling/paste i.e. more nuts, lesser nuts, no yolk, extra yolk..you name it, you get it! And oh, it is so much cheaper too for the 'halal' mooncakes too. I can never comprehend the high prices for 'halal' mooncakes though but well, that is another entry I guess!

 

 

Ok, let's get straight to the recipe then. The  most basic of all mooncake recipes:

 

Traditional Lotus Mini Mooncakes

**Tips at the end of the recipe**

 

Ingredients

 

(A)

Dough

- 75g all purpose/plain flour

- 75g Hong Kong flour

- 90g golden syrup

- 1 teaspoon alkaline water

- 25g olive oil

 

(B)

Filling

- about 300g of filling/paste

(Roll into 25g balls)

 

(C)

Glaze

- 1 yolk + 1 teaspoon of water

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

Method

 

(Preheat oven to 180 Degree Celcius)

 

1. Mix olive oil, alkaline and golden syrup

2. Fold in the flour and mix to a dough

3. Rest the dough for 15minutes (this helps in the elasticity of the dough)

4. Divide the dough into 20g each

5. Flatten the dough and wrap the filling into it slowly, stretching the dough little by little until all the 

    filling has been covered by the dough

6. Dust the mould by sprinkling with a little flour i.e. sprinkle the knock out the excess

7. Put the ball of mooncake into the mould and press it firm (but not too hard)

8. Knock the mooncake out of the mould and arrange on the tray

9. Spray some water on the mooncakes and bake until light brown (about 8 to 10 minutes, depending

    on your ovens)

10. Remove the mooncakes from the oven and brush with the egg yolk glaze

11. Continue baking for another 8 to 10 minutes or until the mooncakes turn golden brown

12. Place mooncakes on cooling rack

13. When cooled, turn the mooncakes upside down and keep it in an airtight container for a minimum of 3 days before consuming it.

 

 

** Water is sprayed before baking to prevent cracking of the skin**

** Storing the mooncakes upside down is to allow the mooncakes to 回油 or 'huí yóu' or 'return oil' and  have that natural glaze on the skin**

** If you wish to add nuts, you can mix about 50g of it into the filling before dividing the filling into 25g balls**

** If you wish to add yolk, wrap 1 yolk into 25g of the filling before wrapping it up with the dough**

 

 

That's all, folks! Hope you guys will try this super simple recipe and let me know how your mooncakes turned out! It will be good if you can link me up as well! =)   

Sweet Buns

Hah, a second entry in a week! Am I on the roll?! hahaha..just hope I won't lose this baking mojo! Anyway, adapted this recipe from Daniel Leong, one of the members of Baking Corner on Facebook. I thought that the recipe is a little too much for just the 3 of us at home so I halved the recipe, tweaked some of the amounts of the ingredients and hoped for the best! eheheh! What I liked about the recipe is that it is a very straightforward recipe that does not require overnight dough or the cooking of tangzhong to make it soft, as sworn by everyone who had tried it out. So I just had to join the bandwagon and test out the recipe myself!

 

Sweet Buns Recipe

 

Ingredients:

 

A

- 300g bread flour

- 48g caster sugar

- 22g milk powder (I used Nespray)

- 4g yeast

 

B

- 34g egg

- 150g water

 

C

- 50g butter

 

D

- 1 egg plus a tablespoon of water for eggwash

 

E

- melted butter for glazing at the end of the bake

 

Method:

 

1. Mix ingredients A

2. Mix ingredients B

3. Add ingredients B to A and knead until smooth, then add butter

4. Continue kneading until you reach the window-pane stage

5. Form the dough into a ball, place it in a metal bowl and cover it loosely with cling wrap (I used some coconut oil to grease a metal bowl before placing the dough in it for it's first fermentation) for 2 hours and 45 minutes

6. Punch out the dough, weigh and divide accordingly to the size that you want and leave it for its second rise for about 10 minutes

8. Preheat oven to 180 Degree Celcius

7. Roll and shape your dough for the final time and leave it to rise for 45 minutes

8. Brush with some egg wash (and add toppings if you have any) and bake for 10-15 minutes

9. Remove from the oven, place it on the cooling rack and quickly brush over with the melted butter

10. Leave to cool or enjoy your bread warm!=)

 



 

I added the butter only when the dough was smooth and not sticking to the metal bowl

(Step 3)

 

 

Continue kneading until you reach the window-pane stage 

(Step 4)

 

 

Form a ball and place it in a bowl, covered loosely with a piece of cling wrap. Leave it to rise for 2 hours and 45 minutes

(Step 5)

 

After 2 hours and 45 minutes

 

 

Weigh out the dough and leave it for a second rise for about 10 minutes

(Step 6)

 

 

Roll and shape the dough and leave it for a final rise for 45 minutes

(Step 7)

 

 

Remove from the oven, place it on the cooling rack and brush over with melted butter

(Step 9)

 

 

 

Fresh, homemade bread!! ^_^ 

 

Happy trying everyone! If you have any queries, can just drop me a comment below! =)

Honey Oats Muffins

At long last, I'm baaaaaaaccccckkkk! I was gone for such a long time that I kinda forgot that this blog existed but I had recently resigned from work; so I thought continuing from where I left off will be a perfect idea (for now! hehe)! I am guessing that I will probably take an even longer time to get used to the blogging world again and its lingo and finding my own style but hey, I got to start from somewhere right? =)

 

I never stopped baking actually but I just didn't have the time or the mood to post everything I baked but looking back, IF I had done so, I would have had loads more entries as opposed to now! *sigh*

 

Oh well, back to today's bake, I wanted something simple and fast to bake for Hana's tea break using the ingredients I already have at home and after much thinking, I decided on:

Honey Oatmeal Muffins!

 

I would have loved the flatness of these for my cupcakes but these are muffins and they

are supposed to be puffy! Maybe I should have increased the temperature; but that will be

in another entry!   

Oh man! The OCD in me is totally disturbed  by the arrangement of these muffins..

Spot the out-of-place muffin!

 

 

Extremely fragrant and light muffins!! Love, Love, Love!

 

Maybe I will cut down on the nuts the next time coz I got so tired

chewing!

 

And here is the recipe!

 

 

Honey Oats Muffins

(Makes 12 pieces)

 

A

- 110g all purpose flour

- 140g oats

- 12g baking powder

- 2g salt

- 100g roasted and chopped almonds/pecans/walnuts

 

B

- 60g brown sugar

- 70g vegetable oil

- 100g honey

- 150g milk

- 1 egg

 

Method:

 

1. Preheat your oven to 200 Degree Celcius

2. Mix all the ingredients from A

3. Mix all the ingredients from B

4. Add B to A and mix until the ingredients are just well incorporated (Do not overmix!)

5. Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop batter into lined muffin trays

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer/toothpick comes out clean

 

A super simple recipe that can be ready in a spiffy! Do try it out and let me know how the muffins turn out! ^_^