Match Swiss Roll

My first attempt at making a swiss roll wasn’t successful. The cake cracked as soon as I rolled it, though I had followed as closely as I could the instructions given by the recipe. I almost gave up trying until I got to taste, in my opinion, one of the yummiest swiss rolls made by my colleague.  After comparing notes, I discovered a few keys that could help successfully roll a swiss roll. One of the keys is to only start rolling the cake when it is COMPLETELY COOL.

The original recipe calls for matcha cream filling. It is just as good to use vanilla fresh cream filling which is a nice balance to the matcha cake.

Recipe – adapted from my buttery fingers

Ingredients:

Cake
4 eggs, separated
70g sugar
30ml vegetable oil
60ml water
80g cake flour
10g matcha powder

Matcha Cream filling
1tbsp matcha powder
2tbsp sugar
1tbsp hot water
150ml fresh cream (can use pouring cream or thickened cream)

*For vanilla fresh cream filling, omit the matcha powder and hot water, add 1 tsp of vanilla essence.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Sift together matcha powder and flour, line baking pan with baking paper. ( I used a rectangular lamington pan)
2. Mix the egg yolks and 30g of the sugar together. Add in the oil, then water and mix well. Fold in the flour/matcha mixture until just combined.
3. Whisk the egg whites until foamy, gradually add in the remaining sugar and whisk until a soft peak forms.
4. Using a spatula, mix in 1/3 of the egg whites with the flour mixture to soften it. Then fold in the remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain.
5. Spread the cake mixture onto the pan and even off the top. Bake at 190C for 12-15 minutes
6. Let the cake cool down slightly, then cover it with a large piece of plastic food wrap while it is still in pan. Set it aside to cool completely.
7. Prepare the cream filling: combine the matcha powder, sugar and hot water to form a smooth paste. Let cool.
8. Whip the fresh cream with the matcha paste mixture until it reaches a spreadable consistency.
9. Carefully turn the pan over onto a flat surface, with the plastic wrap below the cake and the side with baking paper facing up. Gently peel off the baking paper from the cake. Spread the cream filling evenly over, leaving a border of approximately 1cm on one side. Roll the cake up from the side opposite the border with no cream. Wrap it up with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least 4 hours.

To bake this cake, it requires patience to thinly slice 8 apples and to bake it for more than an hour. However, all this hard work almost went down the drain when I discovered that I’d forgotten to set the timer 30 minutes into baking. As I could remember watching Masterchef while preparing (distraction, distraction), I just took the start time of Masterchef as the time the cake was put in the oven. And thank God, it turned out well.

The end product was a delicious cake, moist and custardy with layers and layers of apples. It reminds me of puddings.

French Apple Cake Recipe from Baking Bites

Ingredients:

680g of apple slices (I used 8 small apples)
1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg + 2 large egg yolks
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.

If using a springform pan, lightly grease a 9-inch one. Wrap the base of the pan in aluminum foil. If just using a 9-inch round cake pan, make sure it is at least 2-inch deep. I used a silicone round pan with the base lined with baking paper.

Slice apples into thin slices, about 1/8-inch thick. Place apples in microwave-save dish and cover with plastic wrap. Cook on high heat for 3 minutes. Let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In medium bowl, whisk together egg, egg yolks, oil, milk and vanilla. Pour them into dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Transfer 1 cup of batter back into another bowl.
Fold in apple slices to the cake batter in the large bowl. Pour it into prepared cake pan.
Whisk remaining 2 tbsp flour into the medium bowl with the batter that was set aside. Drizzle the batter evenly over the apple batter already in the pan.

Bake cake for 70-75 minutes, until cake is dark golden brown. The cake might still be “bubbling” when taken out of the oven. It will “dry up” as it cools. Remove cake from pan only when it’s completely cooled.

Salty chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients (for 1.5 – 2 dozens cookies)

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp + 1 pinch salt
1/2 cup or 115g butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate

Method:

Preheat oven to 170C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg till combined, followed by vanilla extract. Either fold in the flour mixture with the mixer on low speed, or manually with a spatula until no streaks of dry ingredients are seen. Lastly, stir in chocolate chips.
Use a tablespoon to drop the cookie dough onto the baking sheet, leaving enough room (about 2 inches) between cookies to allow for spread.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until cookies are set and lightly browned around the edges. The cookies will continue to set once removed from oven, so do not overbake.
Let cookies cool on the baking sheet before removing.

Anyway, let’s move on! I made these muffins with strawberries alone a couple of months ago. They tasted great and were so moist as the strawberries had been “preloaded” with sugar which in the end, yielded some strawberry juice. Since I’ve got so many mangoes this time, why not add them in too?

Strawberry-Mango Muffins

Strawberry-Mango Muffins (Recipe adapted from Butteryum)

Ingredients for 12 standard sized muffins:

1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup white sugar (use 2 tbsp for the strawberries)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
11/2 cup diced strawberries and 1 cup diced mangoes (optional)

Method:

Sprinkle 2 tbsp of sugar over the strawberries. Keep aside for 30-60 minutes to allow the juice to be drawn out. (Do not throw away the juice)

Preheat oven to 180C

Use the Dry and Wet method

Mix all the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, baking powder, salt) in a large bowl, and the wet ingredients (eggs, oil, milk, vanilla extract) in another. Make sure the ingredients are fully incorporated. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, folding them with a spatula or spoon. Do not overmix. The mixture should look lumpy and there should be some visible spots of flour. Lastly, gently fold in the strawberries WITH the juice and mangoes. Pour batter into lined muffin tin and bake for 25-30 minutes.

1 Samuel 16:7, “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” I want my children to understand that their self-worth is not based on the outward such as academic achievements or talents, but their self-worth is developed through understanding their value in God and being confidant of His love. Yes, I know it is easier said than done. At times, I feel the pressure to compare my children with others, quietly wishing that they could be “better”, “smarter”……but deep in my heart, I know what I really want for them, that they will love God with all their hearts, serve Him with all their might, and pursue His call with all their lives. In saying this, I recognise fully that I NEED GOD, need His grace, need His wisdom, and I’m thankful that He’s given me the responsibilities as well as the privileges of parents.

The cake is so moist (as brown sugar was used instead of white sugar), so banana-ey (with 4 bananas) and so popular with my 2 kids who together gobbled up half of it in one go.

Banana Sponge Cake

Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients: (for a 9″ round cake)

3 large eggs, room temperature

120g dark brown caster sugar

4 medium bananas, mashed

150g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

100g oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 170C
Line the bottom of a the tin with baking paper.
Beat eggs, sugar & banana at high speed until the batter looks thick and is well mixed. (That was when I wished my stand mixer would come with a splash guard!)
Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda in separate bowl. Then fold them in with a spatula to the batter.
Gradually pour the oil into the batter and mix well. (I had my mixer at the lowest speed)
Bake for 40 – 45mins or till skewer comes out clean.

Anyway, back to these White Choc Chips Matcha Cookies. The texture is more like that of short bread cookies: delicate. Put it this way, the first 3 people that took a bite of them all had the same response – “Mmmmmm”. If you like matcha, you’ll want to eat these!!

Matcha and white chocolate chip cookies

Original recipe taken from Just One Cookbook

Ingredients (for about 36 cookies):

• 240g all purpose flour
• 15g matcha powder
• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 130g pure icing sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Method:

Sift flour and matcha powder together, set aside.

In another bowl, mix butter, sugar and salt together until light and fluffy.

Add the egg yolks to the butter mixture and beat well.

Gradually fold in the flour mixture until just combined.

Lastly, fold in the white chocolate chips.

Half the dough into 2 equal portions. Shape each portion into a round log, about 4cm in diameter. Wrap each log with plastic food wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

To bake them, preheat oven to 150C. Remove the plastic wrap and slice the cookies to about 7mm in thickness. Some cookies may crumble as you cut them. Just use your fingers to push them back into shape. Place the cookies on baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 20 minutes.

In terms of hoarding, I’m quite the opposite – I go by simplicity. Fewer the things there are, the better it is. And this is why I baked so much with black sesame powder in the past 2 months, just so I could use it up quickly. So farewell to black sesame and let’s welcome matcha!!! Then with the intention to clean out my pantry again, I came up with these – “Matcha White Choc Chips and Macadamia Nuts Cookies”.  They are soft, not chewy. The sweetness of white chocolate is well balanced by the matcha. My daughter loved them.

Matcha White choc chips and Macadamia nuts cookies

Recipe – makes about 16 large cookies.

Ingredients:

75g butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1 large egg

1 and 1/8 cup all purpose flour

3 tsp matcha powder

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2-3 tsp condensed milk

1/4 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup macadamia nuts

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

In a mixing bowl, mix butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until combined. Add condensed milk and mix well.

In another bowl, sift in flour, matcha powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then mix well.

Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.

Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, leaving some room for the cookies to spread.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies begin to brown slightly around the edges.
 At this point, the cookies will still feel soft when touched, but take them out from the oven anyway and let cool on baking sheet.

She’s also a girl indeed, just like this nursery rhyme:

What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice,
And everything nice,
That’s what little girls are made of

“Mum, can you make me the, the, the red….red……cake, you know, for my 5-year-old birthday?” referring to the tiny red velvet cupcake I bought for her at the pool-side cafe. I said “yes” immediately, though thinking to myself that she probably chose it just for its pretty colour. I’d usually stay away from artificial colourings, but for you my darling, I shall do it!!

After reading through a few recipes, I finally decided on this one as it came from the reputable Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. The cupcakes were soft and moist, and “velvety” but for the cream cheese icing, it was too sweet for me. I will definitely reduce the amount of sugar by half next time.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes approx 27 mini, or 12 standard size cupcakes

*recipe adapted from joythebaker

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons (~57g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2  Tablespoons red food coloring

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Turn mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste.  Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined.  You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk.  Add half of the flour and salt and mix until combined.  Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar.  Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.

Spoon batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake at 170 C for 15-18 minutes, if mini, or 20-25 minutes if standard size, or until a skewer inserted into the center of cupcake comes out clean.

Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then let them cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted (This is the original amount)

3 Tablespoons (~ 42g) butter, room temperature

4 ounces (~113g) cream cheese, room temperature

Beat the powdered sugar and butter together in the bowl. Mix on medium-slow speed until it comes together and is well mixed. (For some reason, my sugar and butter never seemed to mix. They looked rather crumbly. But it still worked out in the end when I added the cream cheese)

Add the cream cheese all at once and beat on medium to medium-high until incorporated.

Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes, or until the frosting becomes light and fluffy.

Do not over-beat as the frosting can quickly become runny.

I hesitated a little to add Oreo cookies to the original recipe of black sesame cupcakes. Then I felt black sesame should go well with chocolate and, there was really no harm to try something out of the box once in a while, hey?

The cupcakes were delicious, with the aroma of black sesame enhanced by the sweetness of the Oreo cookies.

Black sesame powder

Little girl adoring the cupcakes

Black Sesame and Oreo Cupcakes 

Black sesame cupcake recipe from here

Makes about 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

85g unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup pre-ground black sesame seeds.( I used Black sesame powder, see picture above. Make sure you get the pure black sesame powder, not the one for instant sweet black sesame soup)

1 cup Oreo cookies, crushed

1 large egg, room temperature

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 cup (155 g) all purpose flour

1/2 cup PLUS 3 Tbsp milk

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a standard muffin pan with 12 baking liners.
Sift the dry ingredients into a medium bowl; set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the ground sesame seeds, egg, and vanilla and beat until combined. Gradually beat in half the dry ingredients. Add the milk and mix well. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until batter is well-combined and smooth. Lastly, stir in the crushed Oreo cookies.

Fill cupcake liners until they are about 2/3 full. Lift the pan 1-inch above the kitchen counter and carefully slam it down to expel any large air bubbles in the batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.