CAPPUCINO MARBLE BUTTER CAKE

Hmmmm.................the smell of cappucina and butter cake in the oven.....another 5 minutes and it'll be out of the oven.  Can't wait to sink my teeth into it!

Here it is....... fresh from the oven.............. 

I had adapted the recipe from my usual butter cake recipe.  Just mix a few tablespoon full of the batter with some cappucino paste, mix well.  Place half of the remaining plain batter into the cake pan and drop the cappucino batter covering the four corners and also the centre (keep approximately 1 tablespoon cappucino batter).  Pour the remaining half of the plain batter and spread evenly with a spatula. Finally drop more of the cappucino batter and swirl with a skewer to get the marble effect.

Wonderful butter cake with a slight tinge of cappucino flavor. Thumbs up by my Princezz and hubby.

Fun Cakez Basic Butter Cake Recipe

Ingredients:-
250 g all purpose flour*
1 tsp baking powder*
* Sieve together

250 g butter (soften)
200 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs
4 tbsp milk

Method:-
Preheat oven to 160 degree C.
Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time.  Beat well after each addition.
Add vanilla essence and mix well.
Fold in 1/3 of the dry ingredients followed by 1/2 of the milk. Fold in another 1/3 of the flour then the remaining milk. Lastly, fold in the remaining flour.
Pour batter into greased 7" square tin and bake at 160 degree C for approximately 40 - 50 mins or until skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Cool cake in tin on wire rack until can be handed with bare hands, then invert cake onto rack and remove pan.  Cool completely before cutting.

Happy Baking!!

FUN CAKEZ FOR YOUR SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS

Joyce is a huge fan of "Stitch".  For her birthday she ordered 2 cakes.

This is Kailey's 1st birthday cake.

Princess Kailey's 2nd birthday cake

Chocolate~licious brownies.

Gravity defying cake for 9 year old Benji.....who loves chocolate cakes. 

A pot of gold for Jefry.

MADELEINES (FRENCH BUTTER CAKES)

A little information on these little cakes called Madeleines.

Madeleines ~That little French butter cake that most (non-French) people think of more as a cookie. They have a classy, literary reputation, having served as Proust's muse in his famous Remembrance of Things Past. Like most muses, however, madeleines appear to be simple but actually require a fair amount of patience and careful following of instructions. In the end, though, you are rewarded with a truly unique little cake, browned and crispy on the outside and spongy and soft on the inside. A perfect accompaniment to your afternoon cup of tea.

The original recipe is from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
60 g sugar
60 g all purpose flour
55 g saltled butter
1 tsp strawberry essence
some pink food coloring

Method:
Melt butter and let cool to room temperature.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and vanilla essence at high speed until light.
Gradually add sugar and continue beating at high speed until mixture is thick and pale and ribbons from in a bowl when beaters are lifted.
Sift 1/3 flour into the egg mixture, gently folding after each addition.
Quickly but gently fold butter into batter.
Divide the batter into two portion. Flavor one portion with strawberry essence and add a few drops of pink food coloring. 
Pour the batter into two separate disposable piping bags and refrigerate overnight.
The following morning: Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.
Butter and flour madeleine moulds
Fill the moulds with the batter.
Bake 14 - 17 minutes or until cakes are golden and the tips spring back when gently pressed with finger tips.
Let cool on wire rack before inverting the cakes onto a rack.

CAKES CAKES CAKES CAKES...........

Hummingbird cake

Hummingbird cake...............I was in love with this cake when I first saw Kak Yani of The Kitchen Guardian posted the pic in her FB page.  So, it was decided that this is going to be my hubby's birthday cake.  Whew, was it difficult to get the banana (I was looking for "berangan") as my usual supplier is close for the CNY holidays.

The recipe was adapted from the book "Lovely Butter Cakes" which was a present from my son's girlfriend.

The dried pineapple flowers were super easy to make. Mine were burnt as I was too impatient and dried them with temperature of 160 degree C!!

I baked mine in a 8" round pan and I found it too short, so I made another and after stacking them up, I got a 8" tall cake.

Hummingbird Cake
Adapted from Lovely Butter Cakes by Amy Wong & K.S.Lee

Ingredients
200 g Self Raising Flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
(combine & sieve the above ingredients)

80 g sugar (I added)
120 ml corn oil
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
250 g ripe banana (mashed) - I used "pisang berangan"
200g canned pineapple (discard juice and cut into small cubes, then squeezze)
1 tsp vanilla essence (I added)

100 g walnuts (chopped & roasted) - original recipe used pecans
(toss the nuts with 1 tbs of flour)

Method
Grease and line the bottom of 2 x 8" square pans.  (I would recommend 7" or 6").
Preheat oven to 170 degree C.
Combine the sugar and eggs and whisk together.
Add the oil and whisk till combine.
Then add the mashed bananas and pineapples, followed by vanilla essence.
Add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and fold together.
Finally fold in the nuts.
Divide the batter equally into the pans and bake for 25 - 30 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool on wire rack then frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Jamie Oliver

Ingredients
400 g icing sugar (sifted)
150 g butter
250 g cream cheese (cold) - original 200 g
some rind of lemon/ lime

Method
Cream the butter and icing sugar till creamy. Add the cream cheese and lemon rind.  Beat until smooth.  Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

To assemble the cake, place a cake on a serving plate. Spread some cream cheese frosting evenly. Top with another cake and cover the cake with the rest of the frosting. Decorate as desire.

HUP TOH SOH aka CHINESE WALNUT BISCUITS

I so love these wonderful chinese walnut cookies aka hup toh soh.....I prefer them over the traditional peanut cookies. They tastes better after a few days in the cookie jar.

Recipe adapted from Ann Low

Ingredients:

150g Margarine
250g Self-raising flour
50g Caster sugar (original 80g)
100g Walnuts, roasted and coarsely grind (original 80g)
1 Egg beaten + a pinch of salt for glazing

Method:

1. Sift the self-raising flour into a mixing bowl.
2. Cut in the margarine, add in the sugar and the chopped walnuts. Using a rubber spatula to blend the mixture. Then mix thoroughly till the dough does not stick onto the hands.
3. Pinch off some dough and lightly form into a ball, make a small dent in the centre. Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet, leaving some room between each biscuit.
4. Brush them with beaten egg. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg C for about 30 - 35 minutes till golden brown.
5. Cool completely before storing in cookie jar.