Baking again

I planned to make cheesecake 2 days ago but I was too lazy. It's not that I don't have the ingredients. Just that I was plain lazy. :) Nah... I was busy cleaning the house. :)

This morning when I woke up, I asked myself, "Must I really make cheesecake today?". Yup, that lazy symptom was there again. I forced myself to get up and bring out all the stuff from the fridge and cabinet.

I dilly-dallied for 2 hours in front of the computer before actually starting to measure the ingredients. My reason was (It's a valid reason I must say), "hey the cheese takes time to soften." :D

My lazy mood kicked in full force. I took more than 1 hour preparing the cake!!

So, this is how it looks like before it's baked.

After being in the oven for more than 2 hours, it looked... err.. terrible. LOL

I used only 1 recipe but my cake tin wasn't big enough to fit in all , so I put the balance in another tin.

Fortunately I had a smaller oven. It saves me time. However, I noticed that this smaller oven didn't do justice to the cheesecake. The cake didn't rise at all. Come to think of it, it didn't work for my scones and pretzels the last time too.. hmm...

So, I had 2 cheesecakes at the end of the day. I gave 1 cake to my youth friends and brought the bigger cake to my cell meeting just now. I sorta forced everyone to eat. Thank God it tasted good. I failed in making the cake looked presentable though. I sprinkled some icing powder to cover the brown spots, but on the way to my friend's house, it started drizzling and the icing melted off.

I should have drizzled some chocolate on top, but I didn't have time.

I made green tea sponge cake, but it didn't turn out good. It was dry and not spongy at all. :(

I would definitely make the cheesecake again. Oh, I got the recipe from this website - click here.

Walnut Maple Bar

Last Saturday Minch wanted bake something. She printed a few recipes from the net and then we went out to get the ingredients from Harp Key.

Minch used the remainder of her maple syrup to make this bar. She hoped it wouldn't be a failure because the maple syrup was given to her by someone who bought it in America. Over here a bottle of maple syrup is very expensive.

It is a simple recipe and she didn't want to put the cream cheese topping. It still tasted good but a little on the sweet side even though we lessen the sugar by half.

I have given the recipe back to her and somehow couldn't find the same one online. Here's a recipe which is almost similar. Do try it.

This walnut maple bar recipe is as unique as it is flavorful. Maple syrup and brown sugar, with cream cheese icing, is a great taste combination.

Ingredients

Bars:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, softened>BR> 1 cup pure maple sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ounces walnuts, chopped (about 1 cup)

Maple Frosting:
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Walnut halves

Hardware
Whisk
Spatula
Medium bowl
Large bowl
8x8 inch baking pan
Mixer

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.

Make Bars:
Step 1: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda; set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl with an electric mixer, blend sugar and butter to form a grainy paste, scraping down side of bowl as needed.
Step 3: Add maple syrup, egg and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until smooth
Step 4: Add flour mixture and walnuts, and blend at low speed until just combined.
Step 5: Pour batter into prepared baking pan and smooth with spatula.
Step 6: Bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Step 7: Cool completely before icing.

Make Frosting:
Step 1: In a medium bowl, cream together cheese and butter with an electric mixer on high speed.
Step 2: Add brown sugar and maple syrup, and beat until smooth.
Step 3: Reduce mixer speed and add powdered sugar. Once sugar is incorporated increase to high speed, mix until smooth. If frosting appears thin, gradually add powdered sugar until frosting thickens.
Step 4: Using a spatula spread frosting evenly on top of bars. Top each bar with walnut half.

The walnut maple bar recipe makes 20 bars.

This recipe was taken from here.

Shortbread Cookies

The first time I made these cookies was when Ruth and family returned from the States in the year 2006, and if I'm not mistaken, on Valentine's day. It was an experiment. When you try something out from a recipe book, not all would turn out well, but these cookies..... they were simply delicious.

Last Christmas my sisters and I baked 3 different cookies and the shortbread was one of them. Many have asked for the recipe and so here it is : -

When you do bake these, let me know how it goes and don't forget to give me some. :)

Note : Recipe taken from Family Circle - Baby and Toddler Food, published by Murdoch Books

Easy Double Chocolate Chip Brownies

I always like to try out brownies recipes. I guess it's because 1 Christmas, I attended a friend's party (year 2003 or 2004) and she had to buy the brownies from KL, and it cost her RM90 for 1 tray. I thought it was pretty expensive at that time.

So when Ruth gave me her small oven in 2005, one of my first cakes were brownies. It didn't turn out well. It fact, it was hard as a rock. My sisters, especially the elder sister was quite supportive. She ate some and thought it taste good. My other sister was more frank. I think ever since my first few cakes, she didn't really want to try my cakes anymore.. haha.

So I made a few before I realised that the oven is small and tend to be cook faster than average ovens. So I had to play about with the oven temperature before I got the right degree. By this time, I think I made about 8-10 cakes. The elder sister took them to her office and force all her colleagues to eat.

So when I finally found the right recipe for a good chocolate brownies, they all (my elder sister and her colleagues) benefited. They loved it so much.

I've been buying a lot of recipe books, especially on desserts, cakes and cookies. Here's the latest one from Publications International Ltd entitled, "Favorite Brand Name Recipes - Gifts from the kitchen".

It looks good doesn't it? And the word "easy" made me want to try.

Here's the recipe for those who wants to try. I didn't actually follow all the ingredients. In fact, I think I added more chocolate (8 ounce extra) than required, by accident of course. And for those who prefer less sugar, just reduce it to 1/3 cup instead of 1 cup. I reduced mine to 1/2 cup but many still say it's sweet.I think the chocolate contributed to the sweetness. I added some cocoa powder too, to make it more yummy.

So here it is, the cake, just about to go into the oven.

And the cake when it's out of the oven. Look so moist and it's really yummy. I brought it to cell yesterday. Couldn't finish, but the cell members "ta pao"(packed) home to eat.

Famous Amos Nut Cookies

Apparently someone bought this recipe from Famous Amos and wanted to share the recipe. A friend and I made it a few months back and it was a hit. Everyone loved it. So here it is for those who loves cookies.

2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal &
blend in blender
to a fine powder)
24 oz. chocolate chips
1 tsp. salt
18 oz. Cadbury bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla

cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips,
Cadbury bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.. bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 122 cookies..

Chocolate Brownies

Here's a recipe taken from The Australian Women's Weekly. Try it and let me know if it's delicious or not. :)

Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients
1. 150gchopped butter or margarine
2. 300g dark cooking chocolate chopped coarsely
3. 3/4 cup (165g) firmly packed brown sugar
4. 5 eggs beaten lightly
5. 1 cup (150g) plain flour, sifted
6. 2 table spoons cocoa, sifted
7. 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream
8. 1/2 cup (75g) toasted hazelnuts, chopped coarsely

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160C
2. Grease 20com X 30cm baking pan, line base and sides with baking paper
3. Stir butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over saucepan of simmering water until mixture is smooth.
4. Stir in sugar and eggs, then flour. cocoa, sour cream and nuts.
5. Spread mixture into prepared pan.
6. Bake uncovered in moderate oven for about 1 hour. Cool in pan when baked.
7. Cut brownies into squares, serve drizzled with warm chocolate sauce.

Warm Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients
1. 75g dark cooking chocolate, chopped coarsely
2. 150ml thickened cream
3. 1/3 cup (75g) firmly packed brown sugar
4. 2 teaspoons coffee-flavoured liqueur
5. 1/2 teaspoon gelatine

Method
1. Stir chocolate, cream, sugar and gelatine in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simering water over low heat until mixture is smooth.
2. Remove from heat; stir in liqueur.