Basque Burnt Cheesecake (& Matcha version)

 

Ingredients:

1 box Philadelphia Cream Cheese (at room temperature)

1/2 cup caster sugar

3 large eggs

2 tbsp cake flour (or all purpose flour)

2 tsp cornstarch

1 cup heavy (whipping) cream (at room temperature)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/8 tsp sea salt

How to Make:

1. Preheat Oven - choose convection (with fan) to 230'C and use middle rack.

2. Line your baking paper with baking paper.

3. Mix cream cheese with sugar until fluffy and smooth with no lumps.

4. Whisky eggs in a separate bowl until smooth with no lumps.

5. Egg whisked eggs to cheese mixture until smooth and all blend well.

6. Add lemon juice to the mixture.

7. Add sieved flour and salt to the mixture little by little until all is smooth with no lumps with a spatula.

8. Add cream and mix well.

9. Pour mixture to cake tray in one go to avoid air-pockets. Tap the tray to counter top a few times.

10. Place to oven and cook for approx 25-30 min for a more creamy and fluffy texture. Approx 30-35 min for a firmer/dense texture. But keep your watch. We want to make the top a "burnt" effect. But how burnt is good for you, you need to keep your watch!

* when you take out cake, you can feel it wobble a bit. It's totally fine and just let it rest and cool down in room temperature around 2-3 hrs then serve. OR chill in fridge after cooling down directly.

** for Matcha version:

1 tbsp green tea powder (must use freshly bought one)

1/2 to 1 cup batter

Sift the green tea powder little by little as you stir and blend with the batter (from step 6 above). Then add to the big batter little by little until all mix well together. Then continue with the flour and salt steps.

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古早蛋糕 Taiwan Sponge Cake

Ingredients:
6 eggs - egg whites and egg yolks in separate bowls
100g cake flour - sieved
100g butter
100g milk
100g caster sugar
approx 2 tbsp vanilla essence or pandan essence

How to Make:

1. Preheat Oven to 150'C.

2. Line your cake tin with baking paper inside. I used a 18 x 18cm. Then use foil paper to wrap the outside of the tin. You will need to prepare a bigger tin which you can place this cake tin inside while baking.

3. Use a small pot and melt butter with the milk at low heat - around 50'C, keep stirring until butter melted and mixed well in the milk. Remove from heat.

4. Pour the butter milk mixture to the bowl containing the sieved flour. Use a hand whisk and whisk and mix them well.

5. Then add egg yolk one-by-one to the flour mixture and continue to use the whisk to whisk and mix them well. Add either vanilla essence or as me, pandan essence and mix well until all smooth.

6. In the bowl containing the egg whites, use an electric whisk to whisk, adding sugar little by little until the egg white mixture is meringue like and you can see ribbons like shapes in the mixture - eg. if you take up the whisk, the mixture stays on the whisk...

7. Add the egg yolk mixture to the egg white mixture. Using the hand whisk to fold them evenly.

8. Pour mixture to the cake tin. Put cake tin inside a bigger tin or tray. Then add hot water to the bigger tin or tray until it's around 1 inch high outside the cake tin.

9. Place the bigger tin or tray with the cake tin to the lower 1/3 of the oven and cook for around 60 mins.

10. test with a skewer. If nothing stick to skewer, it's ready. Remove from oven, then carefully, take out cake tin from the bigger tin or tray with water inside. Carefully, remove cake from the cake tin and tear away the baking paper.

Rest, then serve and enjoy with your favourite tea!

Plain cake 鷄蛋糕

Ingredients:

Eggs x 6 - separate egg whites and egg yolks to 2 bowls
Flour 100g - sifted
Unsalted butter 100G
Milk 200g
Vanilla essence - 2 tsp
1 square cake tin tray
1 bigger tin tray which can fit the square cake tin inside and with space to pour in some water

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 150'C.

2. Heat up butter with milk in a pot until mixed evenly  and around 50'C. Remove from heat.

3. Add butter mixture to the sifted flour and whisk until smooth.

4. Add eye yolk to the butter and flour mixture one by one and whisk until smooth. Then add 2 tsp vanilla essence and mix well.

5. Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until it looks like meuringe like, i.e. when holding the whisk, the egg white mixture can hold.

6. Pour the egg pour mixture to the whisked egg white bowl slowly and mix them well.

7. Pour into the square tin tray lined with baking paper. smooth up the top and bang against table top to ensure all air bubbles come out from the mixture.

8. Put the square tin tray to the bigger tin tray. Add water of around 80'C to the bigger tin tray until it is around 1-2cm high.

8. Carefully put inside oven and bake for 1 hour until top is golden.

Rest in room temperature and enjoy with your favourite cup of tea or coffee.

Fading Color Strawberry Cheesecake

* recipe from 肥妈！Not difficult to make at all. Taste great without a very sweet taste and looks great! Worthwhile to giving it a try.

Ingredients:

Cake Base:

McVite Digestive Biscuits x 1 pack (can choose the Light version)

Butter x 60g - melted

Fillings:

Part (A)

Milk x 200ml

Gelatine Sheets x 20g (soaked till soft in ice water for 5-10 mins, remove from ice water and squeeze out extra water)

Caster Sugar x 150g

Part (B)

Philadelphia Cream Cheese x 1 pack

Srtawberry paste 200 g (just wash and wip dry strawberries and place in blender until it becomes paste like. You can sieve it for a finer texture)

Whipping Cream 150g (whip it up with an electric mixer up to 70% firm)

Rose Essense a few drops

Red Colorings

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 200'C.

2. Place gelatine sheet to ice water to soften for 5-10 min.

3. Crunch digestive biscuits with a rolling pin in a zip loc bag until biscuits have turned into fine crumbles.

4. Oil the base and side of the cake tin with some melted butter with a kitchen towel.

5. Mix biscuits crumbles and press into base of a cake tin and bake in oven for 5 mins. Then take out to cool down.

6. Heat up Part A in a pot until sugar and gelatine all melted. Gentle heat will do.

5. Beat Whipping Cream with electric mixer until 70% firm.

6. Beat Cream Cheese with an electric mixer until all soft. Then add strawberry paste and rose essence. Then add Part (A) and the Whipping Cream and mix well together with a spatula.

7. Pour the above mixture to 3-4 containers with varying quantity, eg. 150g, 120g, 90g, 60g. The biggest portion one just pour directly into cake tin above biscuits base. The rest of the containers, add varying degrees of colorings from a little to more, then pour each mixture to a jug. Then pour the mixture from the jug to the cake tin at the centre slowly, with the last one with the most colourings. 

8. Wrap cake tin with cling wrap and chill in fridge for a few hours before serving.

9. Decorate the cake top with fresh strawberries and even whipped cream as per your liking.

Enjoy! 

Green Tea Red Bean Roll

Ingredients:

100g Caster Sugar + some extra for dusting
100g Plain Flour + some extra for dusting
10g Matcha (Green Tea Powder)
4 large eggs
100-200ml whipping cream
100g sweet red bean paste
icing sugar for dusting
strawberries or fruits for decoration

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 180'C.

2. Line a baking tin with baking paper. Dust the baking paper with caster sugar and plain flour.

3. Sieve the flour to a mixing bowl.

4. Sieve the green tea powder a few times and then add to the mixing bowl with the flour. Mix well.

5. Boil a small pot of water. Once boiled, turn to low heat so the water keep simmering.

6. Mix eggs and caster sugar in a bowl which is large enough to sit safely on top of the water pot. Mix with electric hand held whisk on top of the simmering water pot (without the base of the bowl touching the water) until the mixture becomes creamy and thick and leaves a trail on the surface when the whisk is lifted.

7. Remove the egg mixture from the water pot. Add half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and fold in gently. Then repeat with the rest of the flour mixture. Once done, lightly stir in 1 tbsp of hot water.

8. Pour the mixture to the baking tray. Tilt the tray backwards and forwards to spread the mixture as even as possible in a rectangular shape.

7. Put tray to oven and bake for approx 12 min until well risen and the top is firm to touch.

8. Meanwhile, place a sheet of baking paper on top of a clean damp tea towel. Sprinkle caster sugar on top of the baking paper.

9. Working quickly, turn the sponge you take out from the oven onto the new baking paper sprinkled with caster sugar. Then gently remove the baking paper from the sponge without breaking or tearing the sponge. Leave to cool.

10. Once the sponge is cool, whisky the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Then spread the cream over the cake sponge. Then add a thick line of red bean paste on top of the cream along the long edge of the sponge nearest to you.

11. Roll up the sponge from the edge nearest to you, with the aid of pulling the baking paper gently. Wrap the roll with the baking paper and place in a air tight box and place to fridge until serving time.

12. Upon serving, dust with icing sugar and decorate with fruits around the roll.


Enjoy!

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

225 (8oz) self raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
150g (5oz) light muscovado sugar (if you prefer a sweet cake, then you can add 10-20g sugar here)
50g (2oz) chopped walnuts
100g 94oz) grated carrots
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
150ml (5 fl oz) sunflower or veg oil (if you prefer a more moist cake, then you can add 10-20 ml oil here)

For the topping:

175g (6oz) soft cream cheese
50g (2oz) softened better
100g (4oz) sifted icing sugar
vanilla extract
walnuts and carrot pieces to decorate

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 180'C. 

2. Grease a 20 cm (8 inches) deep round cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

3. Measure all ingredients for a the cake into a large bowl and beat well until thoroughly blended and smooth. Turn into the prepared tin and level the surface.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes until cake is well risen and shrinking away from sides of the tin.

5. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out, peel off baking paper and finish cooling in a wire rack.

6. For the topping, measure all ingredients, except the walnuts, into a bowl or into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Spread over the top of the cake with a spatula. Decorate the top with walnuts and carrot pieces. Chill a little before serving and store in the fridge as the topping is soft.

** Can try slice the cake horizontally into half. Then spread the topping both as topping and in the middle of the cake like sandwich to make it more rich.

Strawberry Cheesecake

* recipe adopted from Tastemade Japan

Ingredients:

Cake Base:
Digestive Biscuit - 1 normal pack
butter 30-40g

Cake:
Strawberries - approx 150g - cut into quarters
Philadelphia cream cheese 100g
Yoghurt 100g
Cream 200g
Caster sugar 30g
Gelatin Powder 8g - dissolved in 30ml warm water (about 80'C)
Lemon Juice 20ml

Cake Top:
Strawberry - approx 150g - cut into halves
Strawberry Juice from "A"
Gelatin Powder approx 3-4g - dissolved in the above strawberry juice being heated
Mint Leaves and Icing Sugar

How to Make:

1. Butter your cake tin.

2. Finely grate the biscuit and mix well with melted butter and press to bottom of cake tin and chill at fridge.

3. Cake: put strawberries, caster sugar and lemon juice in a bowl, then place in microwave 600W for 3 minutes.

4. Sieve the strawberries mixture after microwave into a pan. Save the juice in the pan as "A".

5. Mix well the cream cheese and yoghurt with a electric mixer, then add the sieved strawberries mixture and the gelatin solution to the cheese mixture.

6. Pour to the cake tin and chill back at fridge for approx 30 min.

7. Heat up the "A" juice, check tasting. If not sweet enough, add some caster sugar. Dont boil it. Melt the gelatin powder in this heated juice until all dissolved. Once not so hot, pour it on top of the cake. Then decorate with the  cut strawberries on top. Then chill back at fridge.

8. When ready to serve, add mint leaves and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Banana Hazelnut Chocolate Cake

* easy to make and will surely satisfy your baking & snacking desire! Pls try!

Ingredients:
110g butter - melted
3 bananas - ripe ones, and mashed with a fork
2 eggs
110g maple syrup
85g caster sugar
250g plain flour - sifted
1/4 tsp salt
2tsp baking powder
85g hazelnuts - gently chopped or pulsed in food processor (or you can always use almonds or omit nuts altogether)
60g chocolate chips

How to Make:
1. Preheat oven to 160'C.

2. Grease a 32 x 12cm loaf tin with little butter then line it up with baking paper.

3. Put mash bananas in a mixing bowl. Add melted butter, eggs and maple syrup and mix well with the fork until the eggs are really well broken up.

4. Mix the sifted flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in another bowl, then add to the banana mixture. Using a spatula, fold in flour mixture to make a smooth batter. Lastly, fold in nuts and chocolate chips, saving some as toppings though.

5. Pour cake batter to tin. Gently tap it a few times to make batter even on the lid. Sprinkle remaining nuts and chocolate chips on top of cake batter and bake in over for 1 hr 10 minutes or until cake if golden and skewer comes out clean. Best to put it in the bottom 1/3 of the oven.

Enjoy with a warm of tea!

Chocolate Whisky Cream Pie

* adopted from Donna Hay's recipe

Ingredients:
350g plain chocolate biscuits OR digestive biscuits
120g butter, melted
410ml (1 2/3 cup) milk
250ml (1 cup) single cream
200g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
200g dark chocolate, chopped
60g (1/3 cup) brown sugar
75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
35g (1/4 cup) cornflour
80ml (1/3 cup) whisky (or double if you like more whisky taste in your cake!)
4 egg yolks
500ml  (2 cups) extra single cream
120g (1/2 cup) sour cream
cocoa, for dusting

How to Make:
1. Place biscuits and butter in a food processor and process until smooth.

2. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased caked tin or ceramic pie dish and smooth it over the base and sides with a spoon. Refrigerate for 30 min.

3. Place milk, cream and both chocolates in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring, until it comes ti the boil. Remove from heat.

4. Place brown sugar, caster sugar, cornflour, egg yolks and whisky in a large bowl and whisky to combine.

5. Pour the chocolate mixture to the eggs mixture and whisky to combine. Then transfer all the mixture back to the chocolate saucepan and cook, whisking, over medium heat until it comes to the boil. Continue whisking for 1-2 min or until thickened.

6. Set aside to cool slightly.

7. Once cooled, pour chocolate mixture to the cake tin on top of the biscuits base layer and smooth out the top. Refrigerate for 3 hrs or until firm.

8. When ready to serve, whisk the extra cream and sour cream together until stiff peaks form, Spoon the cream on top of the chocolate custard and dust with cocoa and serve!


Delightful with a glass of whisky!! Enjoy!

Lemon Tart with Italian Meringe

* combining receipe from Michel Roux "Eggs" on the meringue part and Jane Hornby "What to Cook and How to Cook It" on the lemon tart.

 Ingredients:

For the Pastry -

egg yolk from 1 medium egg

175g plain flour

1/4tsp flaky sea salt

100g cold unsalted butter

2tbsp golden caster sugar

For the filling:

4 unwaxed lemon (or 3 Italian lemons)

300ml whipping cream

6 medium eggs

200g golden caster sugar

For the Italian Meringue:

360g caster sugar

egg whites from 6 medium eggs

How to Make:

Pastry:

1. Add 2 tbsp of ice water to the egg yolk and mix well.

2. Put flour to a food processor, then add salt. Cut the cold butter into cubes and scatter all over the flour.

3. Blend the butter and flour together for about 10 seconds until mixture resembles very fine breadcrumbs and no flecks of butter remain.

4. Now pulse in the sugar.

5. Add the egg yolk water to the processor then pulse in 1 second bursts for a few times until the dough comes together in big clumps.

6. Tip the dough into the work surface, then shape it into a flat disc. Wrap in clingfilm, then chill in fridge for 30-40min, until firm but not rock hard.

7. Dust the work surface and rolling pin with Flour. Have a 9" loose bottomed tart in ready. Using the rolling pin, press (NOT ROLL) shallow ridges evenly across the pastry, then rotateit by a quarter turn. Repeat this unti the pastry is about 1cm thick.

8. Now roll out the pastrt. Push the rolling pin in ONE DIRECTION only, turning the pastry by a quarter turn for every few rools, until desired thickness is achieved. Using the rolling pin to help, lift the pastry over the tin.

9. Ease the pastry gently to the tin then press it gently into the edge of the tin using your knuckles.

10. Trim the border of the pastry so that it overhands the tin by at least 1cm. Lift the tin with pastry gently into a baking tray and chill in the freezer for 10min until the pastry feels firm.

11. Preheat oven to 180;C.

12. Tear a baking paper large enough to completely cover the tin and the overhanging pastry. On top of the baking paper, pour the baking beans over so that the beans are up to the edge of the tin. Blind bake this pastry for 20min.

13. Take out from oven and gently remove the baking paper with the beans on top, The pastry should be pale but feel dry and be turning gold at the edges.

14. Return it to oven for another 15 min until base is starting to brown. Remove from oven, Turn oven down to 150;C now.

Filling:

1. Finely grate the zest from lemons, and squeeze juice from lemons. Using a fork beat the cream, eggs, sugar into the jiuce. Strain the mix through a sieve into a large jug. Stir in the lemon zest.

2. pour the filling into the pastry gently and bake it for another 45min or until filling is set (i.e. it gives the merest tremble in the middle when the baking tray is shaken).

3. Let the tart cool completely, then store at fridge with clingfilm wrap. Trim any overhanging edges now.

Italian Meringue:

1. pour 80ml water into a heavy-based saucepan, add sugar and set over MEDIUM heat. Bring to boil, stiring occassionally and brushing down any crystals tht form on the side of the pan using a pastry brush moistened with water.

2. Once boil, increase heat and place a sugar thermometer in the boling syrup  until it reaches 110'C.

3. Still keeping an eye on the syrup, beat the egg whites in a standing electric mixer until they hold peaks. 

4. Stop cooking the syrup the moment it reaches 121'C. Take the pan off the heat and let the bubbles subside for 30 seconds.  (If you do not have a sugar thermometer, best to do is once syrup is boiled, continue until for 10-20 seconds. If you cook too long, the sugar syrup becomes rock!)

5.Pour the syrup onto the beaten egg whites in a thin steady stream, continuing whisking at a LOW speed with the mixer until FIRM. This action takes at least 30 min to 40 min! So be patient!

6. Spoon all meringue into a air-tight container and keep in fridge (best to use it within 24 hrs).

Compose:

1. Spoon meringe into piping bag fitted with a flutted nozzle or a nozzle you like.

2. pipe meringue onto top of lemon tart the way you like it.

3 wave a blowtorch over the meringue until it is lightly browned.

Serve! and enjoy!

   

Pear and Chocolate Cheescake

* recipe adopted from Gordon Ramsay's "Christmas with Gordon"

Ingredients:

Poached Pears
2 large pears
50g caster sugar
100ml water
1 vanilla pod

Base:
150g digestive biscuits
50g unslated butter
2 tbsp Nutella spread

Filling:
300g Philadelphia cheese
125g caster sugar
100ml whipping cream
3 tbsp amaretto liquer
100g amaretti biscuits - lightly crushed
To decorate:
120g good quality dark chocolate
icing sugar, to dust

How to Make:

1. Prepare the poach pear first as the poached pears need to be cooled down before further use. Peel, quarter and core the pears, then cut into 1cm dice.

2. Dissolve sugar in the water in a small saucepan over low heat.

3. Split the vanilla pod, scrape the seeds into a bowl for later use. Add the pod (with seeds already discarded) into the above saucepan and simmer with the syrup for a few minutes to infuse.

4. Add the diced pears and poach gently for about 3 minutes. Drain and leave the pears to cool. (once they are no longer hot, i suggest to further cool down in the fridge).

5. For the cheesecake base, crush all digestive biscuits in a zip lock bag using a roller pin lined with a cloth on top until they become fine crumbs. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the Nutella spread. Mix the biscuits crumbs with the butter nutella mixture and spread evenly over the base of a 23-24cm springform cake tin, press down lightly. Chill this cake base in tin for at least 20 minutes in frdige until set.

6. For the filling, mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla seeds together using an electric whisk until well blended. Add the whipping cream and the liquer and mix well. Fold in the crushed amaretti biscuits and the poached pears (which are cool already) and mix well.

7. Pour the cheese mixture onto the cake tin over the digestive biscuits base and level the surface. Chill for 30 min to 1 hr until set.

8. For the decoration, grate the bitter chocolate using a potato grater, then spread them on top of cake, then finish by dusting some icing sugar on top.

** this cheesecake recipe is unlike my traditional cheesecake recipe as the filling is quite soft and runny. But it does have a very nice taste and fragrance of pears and almonds!

** if you are using japanese pears, i suggest you to poach the pears without any sugar as they should be sweet enough themselves!

Enjoy!

Warm Chocolate Cake

* This Receipe is a modification of the receipe at "Dessert Fourplay by Johnny Iuzzini"

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter - cut into small pieces
250 bittersweet chocolate (preferbbly Veronha 72% cacao chocolate) - break into small pieces
5 large eggs
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (125g) caster sugar
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (50g) all purpose floor

How to Make:

1. Butter eight 4oz ramekins or sixteen 2oz molds and dust them lightly with flour. Place them on a baking tray.

2. Boil water in a saucepan.

3. Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place on top of the saucepan with boiling water. Turn fire to low and keep stiring the butter and chocolate mixture on the heatproof bowl above the saucepan until all melted smoothly.

4. Put eggs and egg yolks to a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with whisk. Beat at medium speed until frothy.

5. Pour in sugar and increase speed to medium high. Continue to beat until eggs have trippled in volumne.

6. Scrape the butter and chocolate mixture into the eggs. Beat until well mixed, scraping the bowl once or twice.

7. Sift the flour and fold gently into the egg and chocolate mixture.

8. Spoon the mixture into the ramekins or molds, cover each of them with plastic wraps and place in fridge.

9. 1 hour before cooking, take them out at room temperature.

10. Preheat oven at 230'C and bake them for 6-7 minutes. Centre of cake will still be soft and a bit melting. Once taken out from oven, leave them for a few seconds, then you'll be able to either invert them into plates or spoon them out of the molds and place in plates. Sprinkle with icing sugar on top.

Best serve with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Enjoy~

Cherry Clafoutis

(original recipe from Raymond Blanc)

Ingredients:

For the Cherries:
500g fresh cherries, stoned
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp kirsch (optional)

For the dish:
10g unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp caster sugar

For the batter:
100g plain white flour
a pinch of salt
3 eggs + 1 egg yolk (preferrably italian eggs)
6 tbsp caster sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
150ml milk
150ml whipping cream
75g unsalted butter

How to make:

1. Mix cherries with sugar and kirsch (if using) and leave for 30min to 1 hr to maximise flavour.

2. Brush baking dish with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and shake the dish so it coats the inside evenly. This will give the clafoutis a lovely crust during cooking.

3. Preheat over to 180'C.

4. Put flour and salt in a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add eggs, egg yolk, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract. With a whisk, slowly incorporate the egg mixture into the flour until smooth.

5. Whisk in milk and cream.

6. in a small saucepan, heat the butter until it turns a pale hazelnut color, (you can smell it like caramel), then whisk it into the batter while still hot.

7. Mix the cherries and their juices into the batter and then pour into baking dish and bake for 30-40 min until side is browned and skewer when inserted in the centre comes out clean.

8. Sprinkle a little caster sugar over and serve warm.

ENJOY~~

Madelines



* receipe adapted from Catherine Atkinson's "500 Cookies, Biscuits and Bakes"

Ingredients (makes around 12pc):

100g self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
2 eggs
75g icing sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
1tbsp lemon juice
75g unsalted butter - melted and slightly cooled


How to make:

1. Preheat oven to 190'C.

2. Butter madelines tin tray and dust with flour.

3. Sift the flour and baking poweder into a bowl and set aside.

4. Put eggs and icing sugar in another big bowl and use hand held electric whisk to whisk until thick and creamy and the mixture leaves a ribbon trail when the beaters are lifted (around 5-7min)

5. Gently fold in the lemon zest and juice. Then fold in the flour in several batches. Then the butter, until all is until combined.

5. Leave the mixture to sit for around 10 min. Then carefully spoon them into the madelines tray. Tap the tray gently to remove air bubbles before placing them into oven,

6. Bake for 12-15 min until golden and until skewer comes out clean until inserted inside.

7. Remove from oven and place them on wire racks to cool down.

8. Optional: dust with icing sugar before serving.


** Best enjoy with tea!**

Lemon & Poppy Seed Cake

Ingredients:-
175g butter - at room temperature
2 lemons - finely grate the zest
175g caster sugar
3 eggs - at room temperature
1tsp vanilla essence
225g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp milk
2tbsp poppy seeds

How to make:
1. Preheat oven to 180'C. Grease cake tin with some butter.

2. Mix butter with sugar with electric whisk until fluffy, then add eggs, milk, vanilla essence, salt and mix well.

3. Sieve self-raising flour and baking powder to egg mixture and fold well with a spectular.

4. Add lemon zest and poppy seeds and mix well .

5. Pour mixture into cake tin and bake for 45 min. To test if the cake is ready, place a skewer inside cake and if comes out clean, then it's ready.

Option:
If you prefer a more "lemon"/ sour taste, you can finish the cake by preparing a sauce and sppon onto cake:
* juice from the 2 lemons above,
* some lemon zest
* 4tbsp sugar
-> mix the above well and spoon onto cake. Leave to cool completely. The lemon and sugar will harden to a zingy, crystallised crust.

ENJOY~

Baked Vanilla Cheesecake

Ingredients:

* if prefer less sweet cheesecake, all the sugar measurements below can be reduced a bit.

Base:
85g butter (at room temperature or use melted butter, both ok)
168g digestive biscuits (or just 1 pack of the McVities Digestive Biscuits)
3 tbsp caster sugar

Filling:
168g curd cheese (or a box of the Philadelphia Soft Cheese)
1 egg
4 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 lemon juice

Topping:
10 fl oz sour cream (or a box of the Diary Farm Sour Cream)
2 tbsp caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence

How to make this:

1. Preheat over to 180'C.

2. Grease cake tin with butter.

3. Crush digestive biscuits by putting biscuits into a ziploc bag (do it in a few times), put a towel on top of ziploc bag, and use a rolling pin or something hard to crush the biscuits on top of the towel. Sieve the crushed biscuits and discard the unseived biscuits (i.e. the coaser part) for other purpose (eg. feeding your four-legged friends!).

4. Add sugar and butter to the crushed biscuits, mix well and press into cake tin base. (just press well but not too hard, otherwise, difficult to cut after baking)

5. Prepare filling by beating cheese with egg, sugar, vanilla essence and lemon juice by electric whisk. Pour onto cake base (can gently drop the cake tin on table top a few times to ensure filling are evenly coated on top of the cake base and in the same level). Bake cake for 30 min. Take out and cool for 5 min at room temperature.

6. While cooling, reduce oven temperature to 160'C. Mix sugar with sour cream and vanilla essence and pour over cheesecake.

7. Bake for 10 min. Leave too cool, chill before serving.

Variation for Blueberry cheesecake:

a. Buy a box of blueberries, wash and wipe dry.

b. Crush them in a blender.

c. Sieve out the fine juice from the extracts from the blender.

d. Mix the fine blueberry juice with the cheese filling in step 5 above before pouring on top of cake base.

-> this photo is taken after the chese filling is baked and waiting for the sour cream top to be placed on top before the last baking of 10 min.

ENJOY!!

Chocolate Strawberry Roulade

* original receipe from Margaret Fulton

Ingredients:
3 eggs, with egg yolks and egg whites separated
1/2 cup caster sugar (if prefer sweeter, than use 1 cup sugar)
2 tbsp sifted cocoa
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup cream, whipped (if prefer roulade with more cream, then use 1 cup cream)
fresh strawberries cut into small pieces

How to Make:
1. Preheat overn to 180'C.

2. Line a swiss roll tin with baking paper.

3. Beat the egg yolks with electric whisk until thick and creamy.

4. Gradually beat in sugar and vanilla essence.

5. Sift cocoa then fold into the egg yolk mixture with a spatular.

6. Beat egg whites with electric whisk until soft peaks form and fold immediately into the cocoa mixture.

7. Pour at once into the prepared swiss roll tin and bake for 15 mins.

8. Take out from oven to cool down.

9. At the same time, prepare another swiss roll tin with a baking paper on top, sprinkle with either caster sugar or icing sugar.

10. Whip cream with an electric whisk until the cream looks like ribbons, mix with the chopped strawberries.

11. Turn the baked chocolate roulade into the new swiss roll tin covered with baking paper and icing sugar (with the top side now facing the down side of the new swiss roll tin). Gently remove the baking sheet from the baked choclate roulade.

12. Gently scatter the strawberry cream mixture on top of the chocolate roulade.

13. Making use of the new baking top on the bottom of the tin, gently roll up the chocolate roulade with the strawberry cream mixture, then place inside an airtight box and chill in refrigerator.

ENJOY~

Banana Cake

Ingredients:
125g Butter
1/4 cup Milk
1/4tsp Lemon Juice
1 cup Caster Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla Essence
2 Eggs
3 Small Ripe Bananas (or 2 Big Bananas) - peeled and cut into very small pieces
2 cups Self Raising Flour (sifted)

How to make:
1. Preheat oven at 180'C and grease the cake tin.
2. Mix in a bowl butter, milk, lemon juice, sugar, salt and vanilla eseence using an electric mixer until there are no lumps.
3. Add eggs (one by one) and mix well using an electric mixer.
4. Add bananas (some at a time) and mix into mixture using an electric mixer .
5. Gradually fold in the sifted flour (some at a time) into the mixture using a spatula.
6. Pour the mixture to the greased cake tin and bake for 25-30 min or until a skewer sticked inside the middle of the cake comes out clean.
* if you prefer walnuts, can add on top of the cake before baking.