Breakfast Muffins: Citrus Poppyseed

December 2, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen6 Comments

Hello Everyone! So I think I mentioned that last week was supposed to be Muffin Making Monday, but because I was still travelling the outback, scaling one of the best climbs from that trip, and ever, at Kings Canyon. I do apologise if I happen to bring this up in every single post for the next couple of weeks – I just can’t get over such an amazing trip!

Anyway, so technically Jialing and I had our Muffin Making Monday… on a Sunday. Jialing got called into work just for this Monday, but we still didn’t want to miss out on muffins as to quote Jialing “I didn’t have breakfast for the past two weeks” *insert sad face emoji*. So we then decided to bake on Sunday instead! Jialing again whipped up her Raspberry & White Chocolate with Lemon Streusel Muffins (she actually wanted to do a mixed berry one this time, but gutted that Coles ran out of them when we went to do our groceries together). And as the heading of this post states, I made Citrus Poppyseed Muffins, which Jialing actually made before and tasted so good that I wanted to make them for myself this time around. Please check out the original recipe over on Sally’s Baking Addiction. The original recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of poppyseeds, but because I used what Jialing had leftover from last time. I think I only had about a tablespoon for these so they aren’t quite as evident in the photographs.

Poppyseed fun fact: It takes 2,000,000 of these tiny black polka dots to equal one kilo.

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 15-18 MINS | MAKES 12 MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

2 & 1/3 cups plain flour
1/2 cup Greek or regular yoghurt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
115g salted butter, melted
2 large free range eggs
Juice and zest of 2 medium-sized lemons
Juice and zest of 1 large orange
3 tbsp poppyseeds
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

METHOD

Preheat oven to 220C. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases.
Whisk the flour, white sugar, brown sugar, poppyseeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl until well combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, orange juice, and orange zest together thoroughly mixed. Then, whisk in the eggs one at a time, and then whisk in the yoghurt and vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix together until no pockets of flour remain. Be careful as to not over mix the batter. The consistency of the batter should be quite thick.
Spoon the thick batter into the muffin cups, filling them all the way to the top and sprinkle each with additional lemon and orange zest as well as coarse sugar.
Bake in the oven for 5 minutes at 220C. Then, reduce oven temperature to 190C and continue to bake for 10-13 minutes longer or until tops are lightly golden. To check if they are done, insert a toothpick in the centre of the muffin. If it’s cooked through, the toothpick should come out clean, if not then bake further at 2-3 minute intervals (as to not accidentally over bake them).
Once done, remove from the over and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Muffins stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

White Chocolate Cheesecake with Mango & Passionfruit

November 30, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! Yes I know, it’s only Sunday, but I thought that I’d write up a Sunday Special post to share with everyone. I’ve been resting this past week after what I thought wasn’t such a tiring trip to the Outback, but I think the after effect just came crashing down on me when I got back to Sydney. My body clock hasn’t quite adjusted to my regular sleeping/waking patterns, which kills me because then I feel tired the whole day! Yesterday was somewhat productive but lazy at the same time. Besides an early wake up to send Lydia off at the airport and a gym session with Jialing, I lazed off the whole afternoon/evening. I practically did nothing besides eat and sleep. Hopefully I’ll snap out of this and feel refreshed after the weekend passes – after all, I did not have a weekend for myself as last week I was walking around the base of Uluru and scaling Kata Tjuta (and of course followed by a climb/hike/trek at Kings Canyon on the Monday after that weekend – much tiredness indeed).

Anyway, about a few weeks ago, Lydia asked me to teach her how to make a cake because she wanted to be able to make one for her mother’s birthday when she leaves to go home. She told me she didn’t have an oven though. “Easy!” I said to her as a no-bake cheesecake came into mind. She was a very good student and I am confident that she will be successful in making this for her mother on her birthday!

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, or have searched through my archives, you may have seen a post for no-bake mini blueberry cheesecake. So I decided to teach her how to make that but instead with my favourite summer fruit since it’s summertime! I’ve actually made this cake before, 2 years ago I think, when I used to live up in the Lower North Shore together with my old housemate Vanessa. We made this cake together with my friend Edison and Valerie whom we had over for our Annual Easter Dinner. We had a whole leg of lamb and other eats, included this yummy yummy cheesecake. We made a full sized one though, but since I actually only have mini springforms, we decided to make miniature cheesecakes (also easier to eat in small bits and store in a limited space fridge). Before I get onto the recipe, please do take the time to visit food.com where I got the original recipe from.

Besides making whole mini cheesecakes, I also decided to whip up a deconstructed cheesecake and use the stemless wine glasses that I got for free from Coles a while back. At the time, there was a special where if you bought two blocks/tubs of any of the Philadelphia Cream Cheese range, you get a set of 2 stemless wine glasses for free (worth $14.95).

PREP TIME 20 MINS* | COOKING TIME — | MAKES 4 CHEESECAKES

*Add 4-5 hours extra (overnight preferably) for chilling time

INGREDIENTS

1 large mango, sliced
2 passionfruit
2 x 250g packets cream cheese, softened
300ml thickened cream, whipped
200g white chocolate chips, melted
100g ginger nut biscuits
60g butter, melted
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup boiling water
3 tsp gelatin powder

METHOD

Prepare the springform pans by lining the bases with baking paper and greasing the edges with butter. In a food processor, process the ginger nut biscuits until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. If you don’t have a food processor handy, add the biscuits into a ziplock bag and use either a metal or wooden spoon to smash the hell out of it! Tip it into a medium sized mixing bowl, add the melted butter a mix until well combined. Press the mixture over the base of the prepared pans. Place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or until firm.
Next, sprinkle the gelatine powder into a mug and add the boiling water to it. Whisk with a fork until the gelatine powder fully dissolves. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, whip the thickened cream in a small mixing bowl using the electric mixer – be careful as to not over whip the cream otherwise you will end up with a lumpy cheesecake mixture. Set aside. Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl using the electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
Fold the melted white chocolate and whipped cream into the cheesecake mixture, then, gradually beat in gelatine mixture until combined. Pour the cheesecake mixture into the prepared pans and wrap each with cling film. Place in the fridge for at least 4-5 hours to set (preferably overnight). Top the cheesecakes with the sliced mangoes and passionfruit before serving.

For the deconstructed cheesecake, basically just layer the biscuit base and cheesecake mixture and top with your favourite summer fruits!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Vegemite & Tasty Cheese Damper Scrolls

November 27, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! Sorry for not uploading a post on Tuesday; I did say that I would be in the Outback over the weekend! It was such an amazing trip, one I will never ever forget! The highlight for me was probably climbing Kings Canyon which was altogether probably a 3-4 hour climb/hike/walk with breaks in between. I am quite surprised that I am not aching everywhere after much climbing over the 3 days, but I do feel exhausted. The 4am wake ups were at first unbearable, but rewarded with the sight of the Milkyway covering the early morning sky. It was mesmerising. I even saw shooting stars for the very first time… While sitting on the toilet that faced out into the bush, no doors whatsoever, just sheets of tin that made three walls and a roof. Definitely an experience that no one else can say they’ve had while seeing shooting stars (unless of course my other fellow campers saw what I saw that morning as well)! I have many more stories to tell, but I will probably keep it for some other time and actually for those that do want to know more about my trip to the Red Centre.

Today’s recipe is something quite different, nothing I’ve made before and probably not something I would even attempt; because of a certain ingredient. It actually one of the things I had while camping, and that I actually helped make on our second night in the Outback. Our tour guide Dan from Wayoutback Australia (look them up if you are planning on an outback trip), briefly taught me how to make Vegemite(!) & Tasty Cheese Damper Scrolls. Ah yes, the infamous vegemite that you all either love or hate; I am probably on the latter. For those of you who don’t know, vegemite is like the Australian version of marmite, a popular spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets, crackers, and as well as a filling for various pastries. It is salty, slightly bitter, and apparently is similar to beef bouillon.

I was honestly a bit reluctant on trying one of these, but for some reason the vegemite taste didn’t quite come through, and maybe it’s because of the lack of vegemite spread or the tasty cheese? Whichever it was, I actually quite enjoyed these damper scrolls – they were a bit rock hard though and I’m not sure why. I didn’t cook them, our tour guide Dan did over the campfire, so I’m not sure if it was the making or cooking process that made it hard. I did a bit of research and looked up a recipe for damper and it says to use butter – could it be the fact that we didn’t use butter in our damper? Dan if you see this (long shot), maybe give this recipe a go!

Damper, for those of you who don’t know is traditionally a simple Australian unleavened bread baked in an iron pot and buried in the hot coals of a campfire. During colonial times it was a staple food in the bush because the dry ingredients could be easily carried and they only needed to add water to make the damper. If you want to know more about damper, and for the original recipe, check it out at All Down Under.

Ps: I apologise for the poor quality of the photographs, they were taken using my phone as I had left my DSLR in the tent that night. I know, I could’ve gone and get it, but my hands were already dirty from making the damper.

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 30 MINS | MAKES 12 SCROLLS

INGREDIENTS

3 cups self-raising flour
3/4 cups water or milk
80g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

1 cup grated tasty cheese
1/2 cup vegemite

METHOD

Mix the flour, salt and sugar together into a bowl. Then rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Slowly add in the water (or milk) and mix together to form a soft dough. If your mixture is a bit too dry, add a little more liquid.
Turn the dough over onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly until smooth then roll out the dough into a thin rectangular shape. Spread the vegemite all over the dough and top with the tasty cheese.
Roll up the pastry tightly and cut into equal portions (I cut mine up into 16 scrolls, just enough for one each for every camper), and place them cut-side up into a greased iron pot. Make sure to leave some space between the scrolls to allow room for spreading. Place in your campfire, cover with hot ashes and coals and bake for about 30 minutes or until damper is golden and the cheese has melted. Serve.

If you don’t have a campfire handy right now, you may also bake your scrolls in the oven. Just place them on a tray lined with baking paper and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes at 190C. I will probably give this recipe another go (not sure about the vegemite part) but just to see what if we had more vegemite and if the damper was a bit lighter and softer.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Double Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Cookies

November 20, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen6 Comments

Hello Everyone! Before I dive into today’s recipe, I just want to let you know that I may not be posting up a recipe next week Tuesday as I will be away from Saturday to Tuesday evening (I say ‘may’ only because depending if I can write up a post in advanced or even write one the night I get back, but may be to tired for that). This also means that Jialing and I won’t be having our fortnightly Muffin Making Monday because well, Monday I will be on a road trip back to base camp. I will be heading to the Red Centre of Australia exploring the rugged outback beauty and taking in all the richness in Aboriginal culture. For a person who loves adventure but hates camping, it’s going to be an experience, and I don’t know whether I am looking forward to or will regret looking forward to a weekend of 38-42 degree celsius weather over at Alice Springs/Uluru…

Anyway, you’ll probably hear more of that on next week’s post I presume, so let’s get back to the point of tonight’s post. So as you know from my previous post, Jialing’s actual birthday was on Tuesday. On Monday she came over and baked herself some birthday cupcakes, gluten free chocolate cupcakes I believe. Anyway, as usual, I didn’t want to just sit around and watch her bake, so I decided to bake too! Just something simple to kill time and something that I could easily take to work because I wasn’t keen on having them all to myself – and so I decided on baking some cookies. I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to make at first, until I stumbled upon Martha Stewart’s recipe for Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies. It was so convenient because I practically had every ingredient in my pantry, except of course the chocolate and I was a little short on cocoa powder as well. When I got to the chocolate/lollies section at Coles, I was unsure of what chocolate to get for the cookies. The original recipe uses milk chocolate, but I personally don’t really like milk chocolate – I like them dark… Just like my men (just kidding)! If you know me, I never fail to finish a sentence, be it my own or a friend’s, like that! Just as how I finish a sentence breaking out into a song if the first part resembles lyrics to a song I know. Anyway, got side tracked there, as I was browsing through the dark chocolates, I came across Lindt’s Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate. I knew instantly that these bad babies are going into my cookies. And I’m glad I got them! They did not overpower the double chocolate flavour of the cookies, but instead they gave just a subtle hit of saltiness and oozy gooey caramel. Soft and moist on the inside, crunchy on the outside. I am actually salivating now just typing that!

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 15 MINS | MAKES 15 COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

2 large free range eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
200g Lindt Sea Salt Caramel dark chocolate (or any other kind of chocolate), 100g coarsely chopped, 100g cut into chunks
100g unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (optional)*

*The original recipe adds 1/2 tsp of salt, but because I am using a chocolate that already has sea salt in it, I lessened the amount of salt a little bit – or I guess depending you can ignore the salt completely. My cookies did not turn out to be very salty in the end anyway.

METHOD

Preheat oven to 160C.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk together until combined. Set aside.
Melt coarsely chopped chocolate together with the butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds. Stir to combine the mixture.
In a large bowl, add the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and the chocolate mixture. Using a handheld electric mixer, mix on medium speed until well combined combined. Then reduce the speed to low and gradually mix in the flour mixture. Once combined, fold in chocolate chunks using a spatula.
Scoop the batter onto a baking tray lined with baking paper (as Martha’s recipe goes, I used an ice cream scooper to measure out my cookie batter). Leave about a 2-cm gap between the cookies as they will flatten out while baking in the oven.
Bake until cookies are flat and the surfaces begin to crack (about 15 minutes). Once done, remove from the oven, lift the baking paper from the tray and transfer the cookies to a wire rack. When you remove the cookies from the oven, you will notice that they are a bit soft – this is normal as they will start to firm up when they cool down. So be careful to not assume they are underdone and risk over-baking them.
Let them cool for about 5-10 minutes. Cookies can then be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

I mean, just look at that caramel goodness trying to peak through the cracks! As I mentioned above, I brought these bad boys into work the next day and they were a crowd pleaser! My boss Max (who by the way, just got back from Bali that day and said he’d have half because he’s on a “diet”), had a whole cookie to himself and was practically having foodgasms. I don’t blame him, they were THAT good. Everyone in the office loved it, but not enough for a second helping, or maybe because they were just so sinful, they couldn’t bring themselves to have another – except for my community manager James. He was quick to ask for another cookie before he stepped into a meeting, and before I left for the day.

If you want to attempt making these cookies – I HIGHLY recommend the sea salt caramel by Lindt! Even if it’s just eating them on their own. Too good!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Ferrero Rocher & Nutella Cake with Hazelnuts

November 18, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen7 Comments

Hello Everyone! I would like to dedicate today’s post to my partner in crime, my matchy-matchy twin, and all round foodie & gym/boxing buddy, Maria the Mew (also known as Jialing), the happiest of birthdays! Happy Birthday my love, and I hope you had a most fantabulous day today! Hope you also liked my essay-like birthday card and present that I got for you 🙂

Though it wasn’t a particularly sunny day, we celebrated an early birthday on Saturday afternoon at Coogee Beach with lots of cake, dessert, drinks, and food. Oh and BARBECUE! Then ending the night at Beach Burrito Company with some margaritas and tequila. We also celebrated her birthday today by having dinner at Pizza e Birra on Crown Street at Surry Hills and having left over cake and flan for dessert.

So today’s recipe can originally be found on Better Baking Bible, and was actually baked by Jialing while I assisted in preparing the decorations for her cake. I also helped crush the hazelnuts and slap them on to the sides of the cake. On Friday night after work for the both of us, Jialing came over to my place to bake her cake while I made flan for her birthday celebration the next day. We actually started making stuff at around 7pm and seriously did not finish making her cake until about 1am. We honestly had no idea where all the time went – we didn’t even get to bake her quiche as planned originally. Well, we did have an hour and a half or so of a dinner break in between. I mean honestly, this is how I’ve spent two Friday nights in a row – baking until 1am (my birthday cake last week).

I also think time went into having to make another batch of cake batter and waiting for that to cool down as well. The original recipe actually says to split the cake into 2 even layers, however when we took the cakes out of the oven, they looked like an okay size for a single layer and would appear to be too skinny if we had sliced them in half. So Jialing decided to make another batch of batter for just one more layer to make a three layer cake (two is never enough, and honestly probably wouldn’t look as epic). I have adjusted the quantities from the original recipe specifically to Jialing’s cake, as well as adding extra ingredients such as hazelnuts into half of the frosting mixture.

PREP TIME 20 MINS | COOKING TIME 25-30 MINS | SERVES 8-10

INGREDIENTS

For the cake

10 large free range eggs
3 cups hazelnut meal
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp cocoa powder
4 tbsp plain flour
4 tsp baking powder

For the frosting

300g unsalted butter, softened
2 & 1/4 cups dark chocolate, roughly chopped (or chocolate chips)
1 & 1/2 cup wafer biscuits, crushed
1/2 cup Nutella
1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For decorating

8 Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
3/4 cups roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped (some whole)
1 packet (125g) vanilla wafers, crushed (reserve some whole)

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Butter three 8-inch round pans.
Cake batter: In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Mix in the hazelnut meal and set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, whip the eggs and sugar using an electric mixer on high, for about 5 minutes (when it has tripled in size). Slowly mix in the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and then divide the batter evenly between the three pans. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when pierced. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling wire rack to completely cool down before frosting.
Frosting: Add the chocolate to a microwave safe bowl and melt the microwave, stopping every few seconds to stir and prevent the chocolate from burning. Once melted, remove and allow to slightly cool to room temperature. Transfer the chocolate to a mixing bowl and whip together with the unsalted butter, Nutella, and vanilla extract until well combined. Take half of the frosting mixture and place it into another bowl and stir in the crushed roasted hazelnuts.
Assembly: Place the wafer biscuits in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Place the first layer of the cake onto a round cake board. Spread with half of the hazelnut frosting mixture of the frosting and sprinkle with some of the crushed wafers. Repeat for the remaining layer.
Decorating: Cover the whole cake and sides with the plain chocolate frosting. Press the roughly chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake and decorate the top of the cake accordingly or however you wish to. Serve!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Breakfast Muffins: Spiced Carrot

November 13, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen6 Comments

Hello Everyone! Back with another muffin (borderline cupcake) recipe for you! This week, I decided to whip up some lovely spiced carrot muffins while Jialing made some yummy raspberry and white chocolate muffins with a lemon crumb top. I had a bag of about 400g of baby carrots sitting in the fridge, given to me by my housemate Vidhya before she flew off to South Africa. She was telling me how she went out and bought a lot of food, not realising that she’d be jetting off in a few days for a month. So hence why I got the bag of carrots! Now, for those of you who don’t know me that well, I am actually not a fan of carrots. There’s just something about the taste (raw and/or cooked) that I don’t like. I remember how I’d use to add it to my stir-fry just for the colour. I’d eat a slice or two and I’d just be like, no. So when I got this bag of carrots, I had no idea what I was going to do with them. I wanted to give them to Lydia, but I know for a fact that she also does not like carrots. She only eats them because she knows it’s good for your eyes. But other than that, she tries to avoid eating them too.

Solution? Spiced Carrot Muffins! At least this way I won’t taste much of the carrot… I hope. And I still even have 3-4 baby carrots lying in my fridge! No clue what to do with them next. In the end I think my Spiced Carrot Muffins turned out to be Spiced Carrot Cake Cupcakes because I decided to top the muffins with a yummy cream cheese frosting (I know, so much cream cheese for the past week – for those of you who didn’t see it, I made a Red Velvet Cheesecake on the weekend for my birthday!) I know, this week I was supposed to make savoury muffins as I was unintentionally alternating between sweet and savoury. I feel like it’s a mix? Remove the cream cheese frosting and you have a sort of savoury muffin? Maybe. Please also check out the original recipe over on Williams-Sonoma. The original recipe uses raisins, and if you know me, another thing I don’t like. So add them if you want to (about half a cup), otherwise, I replaced them with roughly chopped walnuts. I also tweaked up the spices by adding ground allspice, cloves, and nutmeg. Much yumminess indeed!

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 15-18 MINS | MAKES 12 MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

For the muffin batter

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 & 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and finely shredded (2 large carrots, or 4-5 baby carrots)
2 large free range eggs
1 cup buttermilk or sour cream
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (optional)
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

For the cream cheese frosting

250g cream cheese, at room temperature
60g butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup icing sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Preheat oven to 220C. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices into a large bowl and stir together until combined. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar until blended. Whisk in the buttermilk, and then butter.
Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and, using a rubber spatula, stir just until evenly moistened. Fold in the carrots and walnuts just until evenly distributed (reserve some for decorating later).
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them 3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Once done remove from the oven and set aside to completely cool down.
Meanwhile, as the muffins bake in the oven, smooth the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla together using an electric handheld mixer. Fold in the icing sugar, and then use the mixer again to beat it until it is light and fluffy. Place the icing mixture into a piping bag (or a regular zip lock bag if you don’t have one in handy like me, and snip off a corner to allow the frosting through). Frost the muffins/cupcakes, and top with some crumbed walnuts and shredded carrots.

I think I may have gotten Lydia into a dilemma; she now can’t choose between my Banana and Cinnamon Crumb Top Muffins, my Pumpkin and Cheesecake Muffins, and now these babies!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Red Velvet Cheesecake

November 11, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! I just want to start off by saying that I AM FINALLY DONE WITH MY DEGREE! Well, more like I am free from formal classes FOREVER for my Bachelor of Design degree! I’m still not entirely free as I still have my internship to complete until mid-Fenruary next year. This just means that I will have more time to spend in the kitchen, cooking up meals and experimenting with recipes. It will also give me more time write up these recipes for my blog, which makes me happy! So to keep this blog up to date on a regular basis, I have decided to run an upload schedule every Tuesday & Thursday nights. Tuesday posts will feature Muffin Making Monday recipes every two weeks, while Thursdays will predominantly be for other recipes and reviews.

Yesterday was Muffin Making Monday, but I will save that recipe for Thursday’s blog post as today will be a special one. For those of you who don’t know me personally, my birthday was 2 days ago. I celebrated my 23rd with my closest friends from uni, from primary/highschool friends from Brunei, and old/new housemates. On the Saturday I hosted a high tea & water balloon party just at the lodge – cheese & deli platters, quiches, salads, sangria, scones, and tea! Oh and of course, how could I fail to mention Red Velvet Cheesecake? Despite that everything went well, we probably spent close to 4/5 hours making water balloons that only lasted less than two minutes. Barely any of us got wet, well, I was soaking because I took a bucket of water to the head and got sprayed with the hose after stupidly approaching Marissa to genuinely lend her my slippers because ‘her feet hurt’.

On Sunday, which was my actual birthday, I celebrated with more friends at the Potting Shed at the Grounds of Alexandria. We had drinks, lots of food, and always room for some self-saucing chocolate pudding! Afterwards, we roamed around the grounds, looking at more food stalls and the on-going markets. We visited Kevin Bacon (the pig) as well and apparently it was also his birthday weekend! After the Grounds, Zargham, Jialing, and I went to the Ritz Cinema Randwick to watch Interstellar – 10/10! Brilliance is all I can say. Yvonne then join us afterwards for dinner in Kingsford and that was basically the end of a perfectly sunny spring/summery birthday weekend.

Though the weekend was perfect, can’t say the same for the week that led up to it. I had a photography assignment due the Monday of that week. Pretty much all the photographing was done – it was coming up with a bloody concept that took forever – but in the end, I got there and was able to convince my tutor for my choices. On Thursday afternoon, I decided to get a start on making my Red Velvet Cheesecake, basically just the sponge so that I would have it ready and cooled to layer with the cheesecake the next day. On the night before my celebration at home, I had a 2000w essay that needed finishing. I also had work that morning so it was indeed a stressful day/night. Once I was done and over with that essay, I submitted it online at 11:57pm and contemplated on whether I should start my Red Velvet Cheesecake or do it early morning. Knowing that I would probably end up sleeping in until very late, I decided to make my cheesecake right after submitting. And so I did. I probably started at around 12:30am and didn’t finish until an hour later (considering I had to be quiet as to not disturb my the other tenants in the house). Placed it in the fridge and went to bed happy that the cheesecake was done and setting (kind of) overnight in the fridge. The next day, Jo Yee helped me make the frosting while Jialing frosted and decorated the cake while I was busy preparing all the other foods, setting up, and lending my face to Daniel to make me pretty (not that I wasn’t pretty to begin with). But enough babble, as I’m pretty sure Vidhya has read enough to last her until Thursday, let’s get on with the recipe!

The original recipe can be found on Jamie Oliver’s Foodtube that features Eric Lanlard & Donal Skehan. I stumbled across this video on Youtube about 2 months ago and bookmarked it for I instantly knew that this was the cake I wanted to make for my birthday.

PREP TIME 30 MINS* | COOKING TIME 35-40 MINS | SERVES 8-10

*Add extra 4 hours (or overnight) for chilling and assembling

INGREDIENTS

For the red velvet cake mix (double quantities if you want to make a 2-layer cake)

185g butter, at room temperature, plus extra melted, to grease
125ml buttermilk
2 large free range eggs
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup self-raising flour, sifted
1/4 cup plain flour, sifted
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp red food colouring
1/4 tsp baking soda

For the cheesecake filling

300ml double cream, whipped
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp hot water
1 & 1/2 tsp gelatine powder

For the cheesecake frosting

250g cream cheese, at room temperature
60g butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup icing sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Prepare cake tin by slightly greasing the bottom and sides, and adding a piece of baking paper at the bottom of the tin.
Red Velvet Cake Mix: Sift the baking soda, cocoa powder, plain flour, self-raising flour into a medium-sized bowl and set aside. Meanwhile in a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar using an electric handheld mixer. Mix until pale and creamy. Add the eggs and beat on slow speed, making sure that it’s all blended in. Add the flour mixture into egg mixture and gently fold it in. Finally, add in the buttermilk and red food colouring. Mix together. Transfer the mixture to your prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through. Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool down for about 20 minutes. Trim the tops of the sponge cake, saving the trimmings to decorate with later.
Cheesecake Filling: Combine the cream cheese and caster sugar using a handheld electric mixer until it is nice and smooth. Add in the lemon juice and combine further. In a small bowl, add the gelatine powder to the hot water and mix through until it is well dissolved. Straight away add the gelatine mix to the cream cheese mix and combine. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mix until well combined.
Assembling: Line a springform cake tin with cling film. Take one layer of the red velvet sponge and gently press down. Add about a quarter of the cheesecake filling to the tin, pushing it all the way to the sides to get a nice edge. Add the second layer of sponge, again pressing down gently, and add the remaining cheesecake filling. Fold in the cling film to give it a nice smooth edge, and place in the fridge to fully set (minimum 4 hours, but preferably overnight so that it is nice a firm).
Cream Cheese Frosting: Smooth the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla together using an electric handheld mixer. Fold in the icing sugar, and then use the mixer again to beat it until it is light and fluffy.
Assembly & Decoration: Gently remove the cake from the springform and place the cake on a plate. With a palette knife, push the icing on top of and around the edges of the cake to make a nice thin layer of frosting. To bring some colour back to it, take your sponge trimmings and crumble it on the top and edges of your cake. Lightly dust some icing sugar on the top of the crumbs and it is ready to serve!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Jelly Brains

November 1, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone and Happy Halloween! I have a simple Halloween dessert idea that will definitely compliment your halloween-themed party! It requires no cooking/skill, only a bit of patience and effort needed really. The only thing you might not have handy at the moment is a brain mould! I purchased this brain mould 2 years ago for a project that I did for an Objects class and it was basically sitting in a box called “Kitchen Stuff” since I started moving here and there. I decided to take it out today (or more like yesterday in preparation for today) to make a Jelly Brain dessert for Marissa’s Halloween Party, which by the time this will be uploaded just happened, or happened yesterday night. I’m really looking forward to this party as this will be the first time, since primary school maybe, that I’ll be dressing up AND going to a Halloween party. I even made my own zombie costume!

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 6 HOURS | SERVES 8-10

INGREDIENTS

1.35L boiling water
3 packs lime flavoured jelly crystals
Dark green food colouring, optional
Black writing icing

METHOD

Add the jelly crystals into a large bowl of boiling water (follow packet instructions, this required 450ml of boiling water per packet). Stir until all the crystals have dissolved. If needed, add a few drops of green food colouring (or however much you want) to give it a deeper colour. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside to cool down completely as this will affect the outcome of your jelly brain! If your mixture is too hot, or even lukewarm, it will melt the writing icing straightaway.
Outline the veins on the brain mould with the black writing icing. Place the outlined mould into the freezer to let it set. It is important that you place it in the freezer so that it will be able to hold its shape when pouring the jelly mixture into the mould.
Place the mould into a bowl (this will allow the brain mould to stand upright while pouring the jelly mixture into it as well as when placed in the fridge during the setting process), and slowly and gently pour the jelly mixture into the mould from the sides. This will ensure that your veins will not run due to the pressure from the pouring. Cover the mould with cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least 6 hours or ideally overnight before serving. Braaaaaaaaains!!!

Don’t be afraid to mix up the colours a little bit. When I made them 2 years ago, I used red writing icing to outline the veins and a pineapple(?) flavoured jelly. I also did one part water to two parts evaporated milk to make it look like a real-ish human brain! Also, if you want to make it more for the adults, add tequila, vodka, or any other alcoholic beverage that you fancy.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Breakfast Muffins: Pumpkin & Cheesecake with a Brown Sugar Streusel

October 30, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! First off I just want to say that I was meant to write up and post this recipe last night, but with interning all day, going for my first boxing class, preparing my pictures to print for photography class, and preparing for my visual communication class all in one day yesterday, it was hardly possible to squeeze blogging in.

It’s been a while since my last post, and we should all know why by this time as I mention it in almost every blog post, especially if I haven’t posted in a while. But before I get onto today’s recipe, I just want to let you all know that I am officially done with formal classes! Not just for the semester, but for my whole degree as well! Yay me! I only 2 more assignment submissions, one for photography worth 40% and the other an essay for my visual communication class worth 50%! After that, I have my internship to power through until mid-February and if all is good, I can kiss uni goodbye (unless I decide to come back for Masters or a second degree in Culinary Arts) and graduate from my Bachelor’s Degree in Design!

Also, once the assignment wave is over, I hope to upload more regularly. I hope to cook more often too but because I will still be interning, I can’t guarantee that I’ll be cooking and experimenting much, as sometimes after spending the whole day in front of the computer and a workout at the gym, I just want to lie down. Now, this doesn’t mean not eating at all, it just means that on days like this I either have a very quick and simple meal, or I prepare and make dinner for the next few days or so and store it in the fridge so that it’s just ready for consumption.

Anyway, as the title states, 3 days ago was yet another Muffin Making Monday with Jialing. For those of you who don’t know, every 2nd Monday my friend Jialing and I bake muffins for ourselves to take to work with us in the mornings. It started off as Jialing just wanting/needing to come over to bake muffins because she doesn’t have an oven at her place. I also remember saying to myself that I wasn’t just going to sit around and watch her bake, so I decided to bake muffins that day too, and now it’s become a tradition for us. I also asked Jialing on Monday, what we would do if we started interning full time? Would we move our Muffin Making Mondays to the weekend? She was actually quite sad at the idea that it wouldn’t be called Muffin Making Mondays anymore – so she said that we should just work from Tuesday-Friday and take our Mondays off! Hilarious; but not a bad idea.

Okay, enough story time (Vidhya). Let’s get onto today’s recipe where the original cane be found on Sally’s Baking Addiction. I am seriously in love with her recipes. I think I’ve attempted a fair share of recipes from her, and this one just called out to me. Also, in spirit of Halloween, I decided to make her Pumpkin and Cheesecake Muffins with a Brown Sugar Streusel. Today’s recipe has three components to it, which doesn’t seem a lot but it can be a handful especially for inexperienced bakers. But don’t be frightened about the amount of work it will take to make these muffins because trust me, they are so worth the effort! This is probably my favourite muffins to date, and even Lydia’s (maybe; she actually cannot decide between my Banana Crumb Top Muffins and this). If you had to pick a recipe to follow from all the muffin recipes that I have posted, pick this one for sure. Happy Baking!

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 25 MINS | MAKES 12 MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

For the crumb topping

1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup dark or light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon

For the pumpkin muffin batter

1 & 3/4 cups plain flour
1 cup pumpkin purée (canned or from scratch, I used a butternut pumpkin)
2 large free range eggs
1/2 cup dark or light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

For the cheesecake filling

1 block (8oz.) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 free range egg yolk
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

*If you can’t find pumpkin pie spice at your local grocers, you may use 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, and 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg.

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases.
Pumpkin Purée: Cut the butternut pumpkin into small chunks and distribute onto a baking tray lined with aluminium foil. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season with salt. Roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until soft and tender. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside to cool before puréeing (purée just enough pumpkin chunks to make a full cup and save the rest for a nice roasted pumpkin salad). Turn the oven heat up to 220C.
Crumb Topping: Add the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon to a small bowl and mix until combined. Add the melted butter and mix until crumbs form. Set aside in the fridge so that it stiffens up a bit.
Pumpkin Muffin Batter: Toss the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl until well combined. Set aside and then, in a medium bowl, whisk the brown sugar and eggs together until combined. Whisk in the pumpkin, oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, being careful as to NOT overmix the batter.
Cheesecake Filling: In a medium sized bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until creamy. Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and sugar in, and beat until combined.
Spoon about a tablespoon of pumpkin muffin batter into the cups and layer another tablespoonful of of cheesecake filling. Top with another tablespoon of muffin batter, filling the cups all the way to the top. Sprinkle each muffin evenly with crumb topping and press the topping down into the muffin so it sticks.
Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 220C. Then lower the temperature down to 180C and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (try not to overbake though; mine needed an extra 8 minutes or so). Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool until ready to eat.

I say again, yes it does look like that there are a lot of ingredients to handle, but most of them are repeated through each layer. You won’t regret these super-moist spiced pumpkin muffins stuffed with cheesecake filling and topped with brown sugar cinnamon streusel! Muffins taste best on the same day, though they may be stored covered tightly at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

The Ultimate Brekkie

October 19, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen1 Comment

Hello Everyone! Back with a quick one since I feel like you guys deserve another upload after being away for so long. Today I wanted to make a really filling and unforgettable brekkie where I can just sit down and enjoy it instead of packing it with me to bring to the office or even just skipping breakfast altogether. Well okay, I ended up having these for lunch after a deserved Sunday sleep in, but breakfast for lunch (even for dinner) is just the best thing ever!

So after my visit to Paper Plane Café 2 weeks ago or so (again as I mentioned in the previous post, I will do a review soon-ish), I really wanted to recreate their breakfast board at home. It looked simple enough to be able to do so just by glancing at the board and even pin-pointing the obvious ingredients. I must say that it was a huge success in the kitchen this morning, even though I may have burnt my balsamic reduction and the other side of the toast, oops! But nonetheless a brekkie so worth the time and effort spent in the kitchen. I invited my housemate Lydia as well for breakfast/brunch/lunch, so basically today’s lunch was a joint effort between the two of us. She’s now a professional chef! Under my guidance and supervision, as well as the Taste recipe being read to her, she made the Hollandaise Sauce all by herself for the very first time to go with the poached eggs. Her sauce was to die for! Apart from that, she helped wash and cut up the tomatoes, mushrooms and chorizo sausages, and also did a fair bit of the cleaning up. I took care of the rest. (This note is for Vidhya – don’t stop reading here, there’s a small paragraph/story at the end of the post!)

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 30-35 MINS | SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

2 hash browns
2 hickory-smoked bacon rashers
2 large free range eggs
2 slices of Country Grain bread
2 field grown tomatoes, quartered
1 chorizo sausage, sliced diagonally
250g cup mushrooms, quartered
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Handfull of rocket leaves
Small thumb-sized ginger, grated
Fresh Thyme Leaves
Olive Oil

For the Hollandaise Sauce

3 large free range eggs, yolks separated
175g unsalted butter, cut into cubes, at room temperature
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Fresh Thyme Leaves
Ground salt and black pepper to taste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Place the hash browns and slices of bread on a tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle the slices of bread with a bit of olive oil and bake for 10-15 minutes. Turn the oven heat down to about 50C to keep the food warm while you prepare and cook everything else.
Balsamic Reduction: Next, pour a cup of balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring the vinegar to a boil, then turn down the heat down so that the boil reduces to a simmer. Stir occasionally and allow to simmer until the vinegar has reduced by at least half (for a thinner reduction) or more (for a more syrup-like consistency). If you are a hopeless impatient person like me when it comes to food, do not increase the heat at this point! Your reduction may burn and you will be left with a stiff, hardened mess – basically what I did for the first batch of balsamic reduction. I was also stupid enough to try it and see if it was still edible, and it ended up sticking to the front of my teeth (not a very pleasing experience might I add).
Meat, Tomatoes, and Mushrooms: Heat a grill pan over high heat. Add the bacon and chorizo and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side. Place on a dish lined with paper towels to drain the excess oils. Next add the tomatoes and grill for about 3-4 minutes per side as well. Place the bacon, chorizo slices, and tomatoes in the oven to keep warm. Add the mushrooms to the grill pan with a bit of olive oil and sauté for about 2-3 minutes. Add the grated ginger and lemon juice, and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and then set aside in the oven to keep warm.
Hollandaise Sauce: While the balsamic reduction is underway and slowly simmering, start on the Hollandaise sauce. Place a heatproof bowl over a medium saucepan that is quarter-filled with water. Make sure that the bowl should fit snugly into the pan without touching the water (lift the bowl to check and remove some water if it does). Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to very low so the water is barely simmering (there should be almost no movement at all). It is important that the water is barely simmering while making the sauce – if it is too hot, the egg yolks will cook too much and the sauce will curdle.
Place the egg yolks and the 2 tablespoons of water in the heatproof bowl and place over the pan. Whisk the mixture constantly for 3 minutes or until it is thick and pale, has doubled in volume and a ribbon trail forms when the whisk is lifted.
Add the butter a cube at a time, whisking constantly and adding another cube when the previous one is incorporated completely (about 10 minutes to add it all in). If butter is added too quickly, it won’t mix easily with the egg yolks or the sauce may lose volume. At the same time, it is important that the butter is at room temperature and added a cube at a time, so that it doesn’t take too long to be incorporated – if the sauce cooks for too long, it can curdle.
Remove the bowl from the pan and place on a heatproof surface. The cooked sauce should have the consistency of very lightly whisked thickened cream. Whisk in the lemon juice, fresh thyme leaves, and season with salt and pepper.
Poached Eggs: Bring small saucepan of water to the boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low-medium – the water should be just simmering. Add in the vinegar and stir. Crack one egg into a small bowl and quickly, but gently pour it into the water. Repeat with the other egg. A really soft poached egg should take around 2 minutes, but if you want it a bit more firm, it will take about 4 minutes. To check if they’re cooked right, carefully remove the egg from the pan with a slotted spoon and give the yolk a gentle push (you can tell just by your instincts if it is under or overcooked – or perfect)!
Assembly: While the Hollandaise Sauce and Poached Eggs are almost done, assemble your dish, this part is entirely up to you on how you wish to present it. Drizzle your balsamic reduction over your rocket leaves. Use a slotted spoon to carefully remove the eggs from the saucepan. Place on top of the toast and bacon. Then top with a generous amount of sauce to your poached eggs. Crack a little salt and pepper and serve immediately!

While having our lunch, all Lydia could talk about was how good it all tasted. She was already full, but she still wanted to eat more. We also talked about how in cafés you’d get an average dollop of hollandaise sauce, which is sometimes not enough with the amount of serving your get from the rest of the food. We had a whole bowl of it and basically drowned our eggs in them, and had them with everything basically. Also, the best thing about eating at home is that we get to be barbaric in a sense that we didn’t care about using our forks and knives, we ate our toast with our hands and weren’t afraid to have them smothered over the sides of our mouths or dripping down the side of our fingers.