Steamed Nescafe Soft Cakes

When you have nothing to eat in the morning, you can easily mix and steam some batter to make the Steamed Nescafe Soft Cakes. It takes only 45 minutes to make them as long as you have sugar, self-raining flour, baking powder, baking soda, oil or butter, eggs and Nescafe at home. They are good for tea-time too. They also make a good gift if you are visiting someone as these (I am certain) are not sold in shops.

Ingredients:

• Dry Ingredients:
• 150 g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp Nescafe instant coffee powder
• 110 g brown sugar (can be slightly more)

• Wet Ingredients:
• 3 eggs
• 65 g corn oil or melted butter
• 100 g hot water

Method:

• Dissolve instant coffee powder in hot water. Set aside for it to cool down.

• Sieve self-raising flour, baking powder and baking soda.

• Beat eggs and sugar till sugar dissolves.

• Add corn oil or melted butter to the egg mixture and whisk till they are combined.

• Add the instant coffee liquid to it. Mix. 

• Add flour mixture to it and use a whisk to combine till no lumps can be seen.

• Sieve the batter.

• Pour the batter into 8 cup cake liners in a muffin tin.

• Boil water in a steamer.

• When the water has boiled steam the batter for 30 minutes over high heat. (Cover your steamer cover with cloth to prevent water from dripping onto your batter.)

• Remove the cakes from the muffin tin immediately after they are cooked onto a metal rack.

Lemon Carrot Cake

I usually have bread and coffee for my breakfast. However, it can be quite boring eating bread day in and day out. So, I took to baking cakes and muffins for a change. I have been baking lots of carrot cake; usually plain ones or those with added walnuts because they are delicious and easy to bake. I have also baked Pineapple Carrot Cake which turned out to be very yummy. My latest was adding lemon juice and lemon zest to my batter to come up with Lemon Carrot Cake. It was tangy, soft and very moist. It was so delicious that it was loved by every member of my family.

This is an easy recipe. You can vary the ingredients according to your taste to make it lighter, more tangy or more aromatic. 

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 150 g sugar
• 115 g butter
• 80 ml milk
• 240 g all-purpose flour
• 3 g baking powder
• 1 g baking soda
• 80 g to 130 g carrot (130 g for a denser cake.)
• 50 ml to 60 ml lemon juice (60 ml for a more tangy cake.)
• Zest of 1 or 2 lemons (the latter for a more aromatic cake.)

Method:

• Preparation:
• Preheat oven to 175 deg C.
• Grease and line 8 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch pan.
• Melt butter. Set aside.
• Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
• Grate carrot. Set aside.
• Zest and juice the lemons. Set aside.

• Beat eggs and sugar till sugar dissolves.

• Add the melted butter and milk and continue to mix.

• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Use a spatula to mix till all is well combined.

• Add the carrots and lemon zest. Mix.

• Finally, add the lemon juice. Mix till all the ingredients are evenly mixed.

• Pour batter into prepared pan.

• Bake at 175 deg C for 45 minutes or when a skewer comes out clean when inserted at various parts of the cake.

• When baked, remove the cake from the pan and let it cool down on a metal rack. Slice it after it had cooled down.

• Enjoy.

Pineapple Carrot Cake

      

I was informed that carrot cake with pineapples is very delicious and I just had to try baking it to savour it. So, I went about experimenting with the ingredients that I have and the result was a delicious Pineapple Carrot Cake. It was moist and not too sweet. (I am always careful with sugar as I did not want my family to eat too sweet cakes.) I will be baking it again once I get hold of a can of pineapples as I did not have enough of it this time; the cake was gone in no time as I had my in-laws with me.

Ingredient:

Dry Ingredients:

• 250 g flour
• 7 g baking powder
• 4 g baking soda
• 3 g salt
• 3 g cinnamon powder

• 100 g chopped walnut (roasted)

Wet Ingredients:

• 130 g castor sugar
• 30 g brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 250 ml melted butter (can use corn oil)
• 225 g carrot
• 200 g pineapples (from the can)

Decoration:

• 12 pieces roasted walnut

Method:

• Whisk sugars and eggs till sugar has dissolved. Use all white sugar if you do not want a dark cake.

• Add melted butter and continue to mix till oil is incorporated.

• Add eggs, one at each time and whisk to incorporate each egg fully.

• Add flour and mix.

• Add carrots and pineapples. Mix well.

• Finally, add the chopped walnuts.

• Pour into 8 inch x 8 inch lined baking pan.

• Bake at a pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 35 minutes or when a skewer inserted comes out clean.

• Immediately remove the cake from the pan and let it cool down completely before slicing it up.

• Enjoy.

 

Walnut Carrot Cake - Mixing Method

I sometimes use the creaming method and at other times the mixing method to bake my cakes. While the creaming method takes a longer time for me to bake a cake, I feel that the resultant crumb is finer. The mixing method is very easy and less time consuming as it just involves mixing all the ingredients and baking the batter. But in my opinion the crumb of the cake is not as smooth as the cake produced by the creaming method. However, I still use the mixing method due to time constraint.

Ingredients:

• 120 g all-purpose flour
• 120 g grated carrot
• 2 eggs
• 75 g light brown sugar
• 115 g melted butter
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
  
• 50 g chopped walnut (can add more) and a few pcs for decoration

Method:

• Sieve flour, baking powder and cinnamon powder.

• Beat eggs and sugar till sugar dissolves.

• Add the melted butter and continue to mix till the butter is incorporated.

• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Use a spatula to mix till all is well combined.

• Add the carrots and mix.

• Finally, add the chopped walnut. Mix till walnuts are evenly mixed.

• Pour batter into a 7 inch pan lined with parchment paper on the base. However, a 6 inch pan would give you a taller loaf. (This is a very small loaf.)

• Bake in pre-heated oven at 170 deg C for 30 minutes or when a skewer comes out clean when inserted at various parts of the cake.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

I love having Chocolate Chip Muffins as snacks. I can easily whip up a batch in less than an hour. Besides consuming them myself, I also share them with my daughters who are living away from me. They opined that these muffins are very delicious. I always make sure that I do not add a lot of sugar in them so that we can have a few muffins at one go.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 170 g sugar
• 150 g melted butter
• 170 g milk
• 290 g flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100 g chocolate chips

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 175 deg C.

• Line your muffin tin with muffin or cupcake liners.

• Beat eggs and sugar.

• Add melted butter to it. Mix them well.

• Add milk to the mixture and mix them.

• Sieve flour, baking powder and salt.

• Add them to the wet ingredients.

• Mix till the flour cannot be seen. However, do not over mix the ingredients.

• Add the chocolate chips to the batter.

• Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin to the brim.

• Add more chocolate chips on top of the batter.

• Bake at 175 deg C for 25-30 minutes.

Chocolate Loaf Cake

I love chocolate and any product made from chocolate or cocoa powder like chocolate butter cakes, brownies, chocolate fudge cakes, chocolate breads/buns, chocolate drinks, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate muffins, chocolate cup cakes, chocolate waffles and so on. While it is easy to buy these from cafes or bakeries, I find more satisfaction making them myself as I can control the amount of the ingredients that go into making them, for example, sugar. I will always use a lot less sugar in my cakes, etc. than the amount called for in the recipes.


When I bake any cake, I usually use the traditional creaming method. However, it is a more time-consuming method. An easier method is the mix and bake method. However, the texture of the cake using creaming method is finer than the mix and bake method.



Ingredients:

• 125 ml melted salted butter
• 170 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 120 g cake flour
• 25 g cocoa powder
• 5 g instant coffee powder
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 180 deg. C.

• Grease and line an 8 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch pan with parchment paper. (You may use a shorter pan for a higher cake.)

• Mix melted butter and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

• Add the eggs, one at a time. Whisk till the eggs combined with the melted butter and sugar.

• Sieve the dry ingredients - cake flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee powder and baking powder.

• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, a third at a time. Mix till the wet and the dry ingredients are well combined before adding the second third and the last third.

• Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

• Run an oiled knife along the middle of the batter to have nice crack on top. (See the photos above which show the natural crack i.e. I did not run an oiled knife along the top of the batter.)

• Bake the batter for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake.

• Remove the pan from the oven and let the cake sit in the pan for 5 minutes before removing it from the pan.

• Remove the parchment paper and let the cake cools down completely before slicing it.

Apple Cake

Apples are readily available anywhere. So, we can use them in our baking easily. The apple cake is very light and is good for breakfast and teatime. And it is also very easy to make. A beautifully decorated apple cake with the apple slices make it a good gift too.

Ingredients:

• 180 g self-raising flour
• 200 g butter
• 115 g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 medium-size Granny Smith apples

Method:

• Line and grease a 7 inch x 7 inch baking pan.

• Skin, core and chop up 1 of the apples.

• Skin, core and slice thinly the other apple.

• Pre-heat oven to 170 deg C.

• Cream butter and sugar till they are light and fluffy.

• Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat them well.

• Add a third of the flour alternating with the chopped apple. Mix them well at each addition. Repeat till all the flour and chopped apple have been used up.

• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.

• Smoothen the batter with a spatula.

• Arrange the sliced apple on top, whichever way you like.

• Bake the batter for 35 minutes or when a skewer inserted into it comes out clean.

• Let the cake sits in the pan in the oven for 5 minutes before removing the pan from the oven.

• Remove the cake from the pan to cool down completely on a metal rack.

• Slice it and enjoy.

Kuih Ketayap

Kuih ketayap also known as kuih dadar is a very popular traditional Malay kuih. It is pandan pancake rolled up with coconut fillings in it. This kuih can be easily found in most markets. However, we can easily make it at home. We can break up the processes into 2 parts by making the fillings one day before we make the pancake.

Ingredients:

For the fillings:

• 250 g fresh coconut flakes
• 100 g gula Melaka (can add more)
• 50 g dark brown sugar
• 2 - 3 pandan leaves
• 80 g water
• 10 g corn flour + 2 tbsp water to form a solution

For the batter:

• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 400 ml thin coconut milk
• 100 ml pandan juice (blend 6 leaves with 150 ml water)
• 2 tbsp corn oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt

Method:

For the fillings:

• Add the gula Melaka, dark brown sugar, pandan leaves and water to a saucepan.
• Boil the water till the gula Melaka and dark brown sugar melt and the syrup is aromatic.
• Sieve the syrup into a non-stick pan.
• Let it cool down a bit before adding the corn flour solution to it. Stir so that they are mixed together.
• Add the fresh coconut flakes to the syrup.
• Stir the coconut flakes till they absorb the syrup and slowly cook them till they are slightly dry.
• Let the coconut flakes cool down.

For the pancake:

• Add flour, coconut milk, pandan juice, egg, corn oil and salt to a bowl.
• Stir till the batter is smooth.
• Sieve the batter.
• Heat up a non-stick pan over very low heat. (My pan size - 24 cm.)
• Use a piece of kitchen towel to grease the pan with a thin layer of oil.
• Scoop 1/2 cup of batter to the pan.
• Swirl the pan so that the batter covers the pan thinly.
• Cover the pan.
• Remove the pancake when it is done to a plate.

Assembly:

• Scoop some coconut fillings onto the bottom side of the pancake.
• Bring the two sides of the pancake in.
• Roll up the pancake from the bottom to the top.
• Serve.

Plain Banana Muffins

We always buy a lot of bananas from the pasar tani as my husband and I always eat a banana in the morning after our one cup of water. Sometimes the bananas ripen too quickly. However, I have never bin my bananas. I will either freeze them for later use or bake them immediately into banana cake, banana muffins or banana bread. But my son will always make a smoothie out of them.

Ingredients:

• 290 g or 4 big ripe bananas (I use Pisang Berangan.)
• 200 g cake flour (You may use all-purpose flour.)
• 120 g brown sugar (You may reduce if your bananas are very ripe and sweet.)
• 1/4 tsp salt, only if you are using unsalted butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 115 g melted butter
• 1/4 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs

Method:

• Preheat oven to 175 degree C.

• Line a 12-hole muffin pan with muffin liners. 11 liners only if you want a dome-shape muffin.

• Add the dry ingredients - cake flour, sugar, cinnamon powder, salt (if you are using), baking powder and baking soda - into a mixing bowl. Whisk to combine all the ingredients evenly.

• Mash the bananas.

• Add the wet ingredients - mashed banana, melted butter, vanilla essence and eggs into another bowl. Whisk to combine these ingredients.

• Then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until both are well-combined. However, do not over-mix to avoid dense muffins.

• Scoop the batter into the muffin liners.

• Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes.

• When done, remove the muffins from the muffin tin and let them cool down on a metal rack.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Mousse Cake is a sweetened dessert of which the main ingredient is whipped cream thickened with gelatin. The cake is light and fluffy due to the air trapped when cream is whipped. There are many variations of mousse cake - either single favour - for example chocolate, vanilla,  strawberry, Matcha and so on - or a combination of layers of two or three flavours, for example, a vanilla layer over a chocolate layer, or a strawberry layer over a vanilla layer and at the bottom a chocolate layer. Mousse Cake has to be stored in the refrigerator and is best eaten cold.

Ingredients:

• 140 g Oreo cookies
• 60 g melted butter
• 8 g gelatin
• 40 g hot water
• 150 g dark chocolate (I used Cottura Compound Bar)
• 15 g sugar (can add more for a sweeter cake)
• 175 g yoghurt
• 400 g whipping cream
• cocoa powder for sprinkling on cake

Method:

• Put Oreo cookies into a ziplock bag. Use a rolling pin to crush the cookies. Thereafter, use the rolling pin to roll over the crushed cookies to make them finer.

• Add the melted butter to the ziplock bag. Mix the butter with the fine cookie crumbs.

• Pour them into a 15-cm pan with removable base.

• Use a spatula to press down and level the cookie crumbs. You can also use the base of your measuring cup to do this.

• Place the pan in the refrigerator to harden the cookie base. This will take 20-30 minutes.

• Add gelatin to a small bowl. Add hot water to it. Stir to dissolve the gelatin. Leave it aside for later use.

• Boil a pot of water. Put a bowl over the pot. Add the chocolate to the bowl to melt it.

• Add sugar and gelatin to the bowl. Stir to mix them up with the melted chocolate. Set the bowl aside to cool down the ingredients for later use.

• Add yoghurt to the chocolate mixture after it has cooled down. Set the bowl aside.

• Using a hand mixer, whisk the whipping cream till stiff peaks are formed.

• Add the chocolate mixture to the whipped cream and mix them up.

• Remove the pan from the refrigerator.

• Pour the chocolate-cream mixture to the pan. Level it with a spatula.

• Cover the pan with a plate and leave it in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.

• Remove the cake from the pan. (To loosen the cake from the side of the pan, just wipe the side of the pan with a hot towel.)

• Sprinkle cocoa powder on top of the cake using a sieve.

• Serve.

Banana Cake

Bananas are found in abundance in Malaysia. But not only that; there are many types or varieties that one can choose from. Some bananas can only be eaten raw while others can be cooked or baked into cakes and bread. One can peel, slice and coat the bananas with flours and deep-fried to form banana fritters. Or, the bananas can be mashed, mixed with flours to form banana fritter balls. Bananas can also be cooked with santan, sago and sugar to make Pisang Pengat. Bananas can be made into delicious cakes, many types of kuih and bread. I usually use Pisang Berangan for all these as they are very aromatic, very sweet and can be found everywhere.

Ingredients:

• 225 g cake flour (all-purpose flour can also be used)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 145 g sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 170 g mashed banana
• 4 eggs
• 225 g melted butter (do not add the salt if using salted butter)

Method:

• Sieve cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl.

• Add mashed bananas to flour and mix them up.

• Using a hand mixer, whisk the eggs till they are fluffly. Add the whisked eggs to the banana mixture in thirds till all eggs have been used up. Mix them up using the hand mixer.

• Add the melted butter to the banana batter and use the hand mixer to incorporate the melted butter into the batter. The batter is runny.

• Pour the batter into a greased and lined 8 inch x 4 inch loaf pan.

• Bake it in a pre-heated oven at 175 deg C for 50 minutes.

• Check to see if the cake is cooked by inserting a wooden skewer into it. The skewer should come out clean.

• Let the cake cool slightly in the pan before transferring it to a metal rack to let it cool down completely.

• Enjoy.

Crepe Cake with Chocolate Filling

 

Crepe Cake with Chocolate Filling makes a good dessert. It is very rich and will definitely be a hit with chocolate lovers. It is soft and the sweetness can be controlled by us. This recipe makes about 30 pieces of crepe of 24 cm diameter.

Crepe Ingredients:

• Dry Ingredients:
• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 100 g sugar or less
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Wet Ingredients:
• 475 ml milk
• 115 ml melted butter
• 2 eggs

Method:

• Add all the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl.

• Use a whisk to mix them up.

• Add the wet ingredients to the mixing bowl.

• Use the whisk to combine the dry and wet ingredients.

• Mix till a smooth batter is formed.

• Sift the batter to remove any impurities.

• Heat up a non-stick pan with a thin layer of oil. It is advisable to use a piece of kitchen towel, dap it with cooking oil and wipe the surface pan. This is to ensure an even layer of oil on the pan.

• Scoop the batter using a 1/2-cup measuring cup into the pan.

• Swirl the pan so that the batter covers the pan evenly. (If your batter is too thick, add a tablespoon of milk/water at a time till you have a runny batter.)

• Cover the pan.

• Fry the batter over low heat.

• When the lower part is cooked, flip the crepe over to cook the other side.

• Remove crepe from the pan onto a metal rack to cool down.

• Repeat the process till all the batter is used up.

• 
  
• Chocolate Paste Ingredients:

• 180 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 120 g butter
• 40 g cocoa powder
• 100 g powdered sugar
• A pinch of salt if using unsalted butter

Method:

• Melt butter and chocolate in a pot.

• Once they have melted, add cocoa powder, powdered sugar and salt to the pot.

• Whisk them until the paste is smooth. The paste will thicken when cooled down. Heat it up to make it runny for easier spread.

Assembly:

• You may use a bowl almost the same size of the crepe or slightly smaller and knife to cut off the edge of the crepe if you wish to have a smooth edge. Otherwise, use the crepes as they are.

• Put a piece of crepe on a serving plate.

• Spread a thin layer of the chocolate paste evenly on the crepe using a spatula.

• Once done, place another piece of crepe on it and spread the chocolate paste on the crepe.

• Repeat this process till all the crepes have been used up.

• For the top layer, you may decorate it whichever way that you like, for example, you may sprinkle powdered sugar on it or you may pour chocolate ganache onto it or you may simply decorate it with some fresh fruits.

• It would be nice to serve the crepe cake cold. If you intend to do so, cover the crepe cake with a cling wrap securely ensuring that no air will get to it. Otherwise the cake will be hard.

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