Moved! April 13, 2008

I’m finally back!
Moved to blogger though. Come visit me there!

http://thenovicebaker2.blogspot.com

Re-link me… Or email me @ thenovicebaker@gmail.com if you would like to be linked!

Cheers to more great bakes ahead.
Love,
The Novice Baker

Marble Cake May 5, 2007

Mine didnt turn out as gorgeous as Aunty Yochana. It was fun preparing this cake tho!

Taste wise – perfect. I put in more cocoa mixture than her.
Hopefully it’ll remain as moist as it was fresh from the oven for tomorrow’s breakfast! 

Verdict (Updated a day later):
Cake is perfect! Remain as moist as it should be. The recipe called for 3 large eggs, so I used 5 small eggs. AND I reduce sugar to 200g instead.
I’m happy with my marble cake! 😀
Go try the recipe. It’s a real keeper.

I’m confidently proclaiming that my cake beats all other established ‘marble-cake’ bakery, ANY TIME.
I just need to do my swirls better the next time. Heh. 

The Great Carrot Cake April 21, 2007

I’m satisfied with my first attempt with one of my favourite cakes of all times – Carrot Cake!

I combined 3 recipes together to get this end result.
(1) Allrecipe.Com: Claimed to have the BEST EVER MOIST CARROT CAKE recipe
(2) Food blogger who couldnt stop salivating on his own creation.
(3) NTUC Lifestyle Recipe

Thus, since all 3 recipes had abit of the same ingredients with almost the same portions, I combined it all. And VOILA! My almost perfect first ever homebaked Carrot Cake!

I really love it. It smelled so good being baked in the oven, and when it came out – HEAVEN! THe smell and looks of it were so appetizing, my sis and mom kept rushing me to do the cream cheese frosting so that they could dig in (Which explains my almost-half eaten cake! I didnt even have the chance to take a proper pic!)

And I’m glad coz everyone loved it. Not overly sweet, perfectly moist and taste like how Carrot Cakes are supposed to taste. I’m sure there are definite room for improvements, but two thumbs up to myself for this successful first attempt! =)

I followed closely to the Allrecipe.com recipe. But I added in baking soda, replaced vegetable oil with grapeseed oil. Oh! And I read on Oprah.Com that if I want a lighter texture to my batter and cake, I should sieve my flour about 3 times – And so I did just that!

Anyway, I’m really wondering, how is it that cakes like Lana Cakes or Awfully CHocolate, how do they ensure that their cake base remain moist and soft for days? For most of my cakes, they only have a ‘lifespan’ of a day before they start to harden and dry up. What is it that allows your cake to have that texture? Anyone can fill me in on this?

My Great Carrot Cake Recipe

Ingredients:
250g grated carrots
80g brown sugar
60g raisins
3 eggs
90g white sugar
90ml grapeseed oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
95g crushed pineapple, drained
140g all-purpose flour (sifted)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
45g chopped walnuts

Cream Cheese Frosting
250g Cream Cheese
1/3 cup icing sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine grated carrots and brown sugar. Set aside for 60 minutes, then stir in raisins.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 10 inch cake pans.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Gradually beat in the white sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the pineapple. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir into the wet mixture until absorbed. Finally stir in the carrot mixture and the walnuts. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. When completely cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting (i.e. beat all ingredients till smooth)

Nutella Frosted Cupcakes April 14, 2007

What a breeze making these lil goodness.

The Recipe:

Nutella Frosted Cupcakes10 tbsp(140 grams) butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups (200 grams) sifted ap flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Nutella, approx. 1/3 cupPreheat oven to 325F.
Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes.
Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Don’t worry if the batter doesn’t look smooth. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains.
Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner with batter.
They should be 3/4 full, if you’re not using a scoop.
Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp Nutella.
Swirl Nutella in.. Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Fudge Cake April 10, 2007

My first attempt with a birthday cake – Christine France’s Choco Fudge Cake.

Chocolate Chunks Muffins March 11, 2007

Hello.

I’m finally back from a long hiatus. Been pretty caught up with my final year of studies before I graduate in less than a month from now – all the unending deadlines and crazy job hunts. Someone just save me.

Anyway, I had the urge to prepare some fresh breakfast for my family tomorrow, hence decided to make these chocolate muffins in the middle of the night. (I know, stress does wonders to a person’s (in)sanity!). Here’s the recipe.

So here you go! I really havent been able to make great muffins since I’ve started baking, and I’m glad this batch finally had something close to what I always expected. Did some modifications to the recipe. Added more oil and milk to achieve the moist that I wanted. Oh… Instead of semisweet chocolate chips, I used dark chocolate chunks from Hershey. 😀

Bloomin’ Brilliant Brownies February 14, 2007

I know I gave 10 THUMBS UP for my previous attempt at Hershey’s Brownies.

I changed my mind. I had feedback that the Hershey’s Brownies that I made (though tasted great!), but the texture was nowhere near brownies-texture. More like a really solid rich chocolate cake, which I gotta agree to a certain extent.

Now, I’m going to swear upon THIS ultimate Brownies recipe.
I mean, how wrong can Jamie Oliver’s recipe go, right?

Anyhow, the texture and the use of dark chocolate added so much oomph. Almost orgasmic eating this brownie. I really can go on and on… It is TOOOOO good already. No where near cake texture this time. It’s nice and sticky.

 That’s it! This is going to be MY brownies recipe for the rest of my life. I decreased the sugar hence the cocoa powder and dark chocolate taste is pretty overwhelming… But I like! 😀 Just make sure you watch the brownies…. Don’t overbake it. The top shouldn’t be too hard if not it is probably a sign that you burnt it.

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Surprise!

Today, for the first time, I whipped up a meal for Valentines’ Day.
Saved all the extravagant spending for a good meal at home.

Came across this interesting recipe on Oprah.com and decided to try it out.

Was a lil skeptical with the use of Gorgonzola, a type of Blue Cheese. Hence, trusted my own instinct and headed to Carrefour to taste it at the counter. Thank goodness, I did so. Unfortunately, hated the taste of Gorgonzola … A lil toooo much for Blue Cheese. I may be a cheese lover, but my goodness… It didnt smell and taste nice at all. My own preference at least. In the end, the counter lady advised me on another kind of Blue Cheese which is a lil milder – Cambozola Bleu.

Anyhow, I made another supermarket booboo while purchasing my items. Was in a lil rush to grab my groceries, got myself almonds instead of walnuts. Hence, had no choice but to made do with it. (But I think it tasted better with Almonds. 😀 My own form of consolation. Hah.)

Made a lil mess with the stuffing preparation as I couldnt crumble the cheese as expected from the recipe. (A lil too gooey) Thus, I just mashed it all up and added the other ingredients in. I was almost quite sure my dish would already be a disaster since I chose a different Cheese and bought the wrong nuts.

Anyhow – Surprise surprise! Everyone loved it. Ok. Boyfriend loved it of coz (he doesnt always patronize me, ah hem!) and my family loved it too (Had some extras for them to try!). Yay! Success again!

And you know, I didnt marinate the chicken but it tasted so sweet and tender, especially in the middle portion. All thanks to the lovely bacon oil. Yummm. I served it with chedder buttered sweetcorn and my signature dish – Mashed Potatoes! Hah.

The next time I cook this – I’m going to make it into bite size. I also suggest using thinner breast slices and perhaps wrap the stuffing like sushi rolls, rather than create ‘pockets’ as read from the recipe.   

Let me know if anyone of you tried it with the original walnuts. I was really kinda happy with my almonds.

Lovely Scones :) February 4, 2007

Completed making these scones in less than an hour.
Have been relyin on this recipe from one of my mom’s oldest recipe books.

My sister often use this recipe to make heaps and heaps of scones for fundraising activities in the past… And not surprisingly – often a sellout amongst students!

Hint: The secret of good scones is not to have the mixture too dry and not to handle the dough to much. Wrapping scones in a tea towel after baking helps to keep them moist!

Golden Scones Recipe:

225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g soft magarine
25g soft brown sugar
1 tbsp of golden syrup or honey
1 egg + milk

Preheat oven to 220-deg. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

(A) Put flour and baking powder in a bowl, add magarine and rub it in with your fingertips till the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

(B) In a separate bowl, crack egg into a measure, lightly beat it and then make up to 150ml with milk. Beat thoroughly egg mixture, sugar and syrup till well-blended.

Stir in (A) into (B) to a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured table, knead lightly and then roll out to 1/2 inch thickness.

Cut into rounds with a cutter to make an approx. 10-12 scones. Place them, spaced, onto a large baking sheet; brush the tops with a lil milk and bake for about 10 minutes or till golden brown. Remove scones and leave to cool on a wire rack!

Variations:
You may add raisins, cheese, walnut… Whichever way you like ur scones to be done!

I’m a plain person. Prefer raisins for the extra-sweetness.
Heat it up for breakfast and eat it with my usual butter… Yummmm 🙂

Hershey’s Brownies

Finally found a reliable recipe to make brownies… so:
10 THUMBS-UP to HERSHEY’S BEST BROWNIES RECIPE! 😀

You can further reduce the sugar by 1/2 cup less if you’re not into overly sweet things. Perhaps make up for it by throwing in semi-sweet chocolate chips and NUTS!
(Couldn’t find any in my kitchen today…)