Mrs Fields Super Fudge Brownies

Call it a divine moment.

A few weeks ago, I was craving for Mrs Fields brownies. When I was a teenager, I used to buy her cookies and brownies all the time. I would trot to the nearest Mrs Fields store after school to satisfy my sweet craving. Lately, I haven't seen any Mrs Fields stores around my area and thought perhaps, I would just have to wait till I return back to Singapore to have my brownie.

Shortly after that, my library had a book sale and lo and behold, they were selling her cookie book!! It features 100 recipes from her kitchen, including the double fudge brownies! Needless to say, I bought the book in a heartbeat!

I was happy to find out that her recipes are not very complicated. In fact, this super fudge brownie (above) is really easy. My only issue was that I used a smaller pan than what was stated, so my baking time took much longer than the original slated time. However, the result was SUPERB. It was not overly sweet, it was chewy, it was fudge-y, it was everything I wanted! =D

Super Fudge Brownies (from Mrs Fields Cookie Book)

Ingredients
6 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate (I used Ghiradelli's)
1 cup salted butter, softened (I used unsalted butter)
4 large eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup (6oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Yields: 16 brownies, 2 inches square

Preheat oven to 300F. Grease an 8-by-8-inch baking pan.

Combine unsweetened baking chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until pieces are almost melted. Remove from heat and stir until smooth.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat eggs until light yellow in color - about 5 minutes. Add sugar and blend on low until thoroughly combined.

Add vanilla and melted chocolate to the egg and sugar mixture. Blend on low speed until smooth. Add the flour and mix thoroughly.

Pour batter into greased pan. Smooth surface with a spatula, and sprinkle uniformly with chocolate chips. Bake on the center rack of oven for 45-55 minutes. The batter should be set and a toothpick inserted in center should come out clean. Do not overbake.

Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cut and serve chilled.

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Key Lime Cupcakes

Yummy-oh!

I've been in the mood for all things citrus-y and sour lately. Must be passed on from my hubby's current obsession with clementines! We've been eating them by the handfuls!

And so, I was thinking of making cupcakes that day when I chanced upon this key lime recipe from Bon Appetit. It looked pretty simple, and all I needed was to get myself some key limes - which i love! :D Whenever I have hokkien mee I must spray it with a good dose of lime juice before tucking in. Same with mee siam. But of course I don't use key limes for them. The ones I use in Singapore have yellow centers, as opposed to the ones shown below.

Each lime packs quite a punch!

By the way, this cupcake recipe calls for buttermilk, which I don't have. The good news is, buttermilk can be easily (oh so simply!) made at home using normal milk and white vinegar. All you have to do is put one tablespoon of vinegar in one cup of milk and let it sit for 10 minutes. You'll notice the change in texture and there you have it - buttermilk! Save yourself from running to the store and getting a huge packet - the bulk of it which won't be needed for this recipe!

Just a note, I didn't use the cream cheese frosting from Bon Appetit's recipe. Instead, I used normal butter cream frosting, and added the juice of one lime and some lime zest, to taste. Also, I followed the recipe pretty closely and felt that it was pretty sweet. I wished the cake was more sour so I topped mine off with a lime wedge for that added punch! :)

Key Lime Cupcakes (from Bon Appetit)

Ingredients for Cupcakes

1 cup all purpose flour 
3/4 cup self-rising flour 
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 
1 1/4 cup sugar 
2 large eggs 
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel 
1/4 teaspoon neon-green food coloring 
3/4 cup buttermilk

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting  

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature 
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Whisk both flours in medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then next 3 ingredients (batter may look curdled). Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions. Spoon scant 1/3 cup batter into each liner.

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.

For the frosting, beat all the ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Spread over cupcakes.

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Merry Christmas!

Here's a picture of some sugar cookies I made in the shape of a gingerbread man. I used the same recipe I made for the hearts which can be found here. It was fun drawing crazy faces on these men. Some had jagged smiles, some had eyes in a straight line and a couple sported a full suit and a tie. haha! 

Christmas is my favorite season of the year, not just because of all the presents, the festive food, the lights and all, but that above all, it is a time to remember our beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ - the reason for this season.

So merry Christmas to one and all and have a blessed new year ahead! :)

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Fluffy Homemade Marshmallows

As promised, here's the recipe for marshmallows! And as previously mentioned in my last entry, this pairs divinely with a cuppa ultimate hot chocolate. Just plonk in two to three of these fluffy pillows for a delicious treat!

Do try this recipe if you've never made marshmallows before. It is surprisingly easy, and you only need a few basic ingredients. Gone are the days of those rubbery and spongy store-bought marshmallows. Homemade ones are the real deal! Try it if you don't believe me! The ones you make yourself are waaaay softer and they just melt in your mouth. And they taste way better too! :)

I was able to fill two 9-inch pans of marshmallows with this recipe, so feel free to adjust accordingly. They can also be kept for a few weeks in an air-tight container. 

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients

2/3 cup of water, divided into two
3 envelopes of unflavored gelatin (each envelope containing 1/4oz of powdered gelatin)
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1 cup of powdered/icing sugar for dusting

Lightly coat the insides of your pan with vegetable cooking spray. Sprinkle powdered sugar over it and set aside.

Pour 1/3 cup of the water into a bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and stir briefly to incorporate. Let it stand for about 10 minutes, or until the gelatin has softened.

In a small unheated saucepan, combine the remaining 1/3 cup of water and the granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Stir to mix well. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the mixture without stirring for 10 minutes, or until it reaches 240 degrees, also known as the softball stage. You may clip a candy thermometer on the inside of the pan (make sure it doesn't touch the bottom of the pan or the reading will not be accurate). If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can also test the temperature of the mixture by dropping a small amount of it in a bowl of ice water. If the mixture solidify into a malleable ball, the sugar has reached softball stage, as opposed to hardball stage.

Using a hand electric mixer (or a standing mixer) on low speed, carefully add the hot syrup to the softened gelatin. Add the vanilla essence and increase the speed to medium-high. The mixture will start out very clear, but will eventually turn white. Beat for about 10 minutes, or until the marshmallow gets very thick and sticky - like melted marshmallow.

Using your spatula, spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Set it aside for about 3 hours, pr until the mixture is firm and cool. It will not be as firm as store-bought marshmallows.

When done, sift the powdered sugar on the top of the marshmallow, lightly coating it. Sift the rest of the powdered sugar into a shallow bowl. Run your knife around the edge of the cooled pan to loosen the marshmallow. Turn the pan upside down onto a sheet of wax paper. Cut your marshmallows into desired shapes/cubes. Place your knife under running water from time to time to prevent too much marshmallows from accumulating on the knife because they will be sticky.

Lastly, roll each marshmallow in the powdered sugar until completely coated. Store marshmallows in a single layer, or in layers separated by wax paper. 

Happy marshmallow-ing! :)

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Christmas Sugar Cookies

Handcrafted with love!

Aren't these Christmas cookies so beautiful? And they are sooo easy to make too! :)

Have been really busy this week (and we are only at the start) shopping for Christmas. Also, a friend from out of town will be visiting me this week so gotta prep some stuff too. I don't know about you, but November seemed to have whizzed past me in a blur. How did time pass so fast? But I love it! All these is keeping my adrenaline pumping...

So yes, as I was saying, what is Christmas without some sugar cookies! I'm not sure if you noticed, but the edges of my cookie hearts are not slick. Why is that so? Because I didn't use a cookie cutter. I couldn't find a heart-shape cookie cutter (strangely, the stores I went to had stars, christmas trees, aeroplanes, but I think they ran out of hearts!) so I decided to just cut them by hand. I guess I can now say these cookies were "handcrafted" hoho. And like thumbprints, you won't be able to find the exact same heart on my cookie tray because I didn't use a stencil. So yes, they are absolutely unique! ;P

So let's get on with talking about how to make these cookies! First, use your favorite sugar recipe. I used the recipe from my friend Sheralyn (the same one who passed me the delicious bread ring recipe) and they worked superbly. I added nutmeg for mine, and I LOVE how it gives the cookies the extra kick and flavor, making it all spiced, sweet and salty at once. Below is the recipe, and thereafter I'll elaborate on how to decorate it using royal icing.

So good, you can even eat them on their own!

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
240g unsalted butter, softened
200g sugar or brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
330g of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg (optional)

Mix and sift the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg into a large bowl.

In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.

Mix the egg and vanilla into the butter and sugar mixture. You will get quite a wet mixture but it is ok. Add in the sifted flour.

Knead gently and chill the dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. You may chill it up to a day.

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Gently roll out the dough about 1/4-inch thick and cut them into your desired shapes.

Line your baking tray with wax paper. Place your cut cookies on them. Chill them in the refrigerator again for about 10 to 15 minutes. This will help to harden the dough and allow it to hold its shape better during the baking process.

Bake your cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are brown. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Royal Icing 1 (for piping the outline of the cookie)

Ingredients
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
220g of powdered/icing sugar, sifted.

Beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until combined. Slowly whisk 1/2 a cup of sugar into the mixture. Do this with the rest of the sugar until you have a thick mixture - you can't have a runny consistency, but it shouldn't be so thick that you can't pipe it properly. If the icing gets too runny, you can add more sugar. If it is too thick, just add a bit of water.

If you don't own a piping bag, no worries, simply put them into a ziplock bag (or other bags that can give you a nice pointed edge) and snip the tip off. Be very careful, snip the hole as small as you can and adjust from there.

Royal Icing 2 (for flooding - which means to fill out the whole cookie)

Ingredients
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
330g of powdered/icing sugar, sifted.

Follow the same steps as the above. To add color to your icing, just add your favorite food coloring.

Important note: Royal icing dries out very quickly, so always cover your bowl of icing with a cling film when not in use. Also, place the tip of your piping bag on a piece of moist tissue while interchanging colors/bags to prevent crusting.

Make sure your cookies are completely cooled.

Using royal icing 1, pipe a border around your cookie. This is to help contain the icing later which will be much more runny in consistency. Without this step, your icing might run messily over the edges.

Wait for the icing to completely cool. This may take around half an hour. Always have a cookie that you can test with. If that test cookie dries, you know the rest are probably dried. And you can practice your designs on that test cookie first before attempting on your real cookies!In fact, I usually have at least two test cookies cos i tend to chomp on the first one while decorating hurhur.

Then, use a teaspoon to and start flooding your cookie. Try not to over flood it, just have enough icing to coat the surface. A super thick flooding may run over the border resulting in a horrible mess.

Then, while your icing is still wet (you cannot manipulate the design on dried out icing), dot it with another color. I place my red icing in a piping bag and piped the dots!

After that, use a toothpick and gently run it through the circles.

And there you'll have it, beautifully swirled hearts on a cookie.

When you are done, place the cookie on a flat surface. Make sure it is not tilted, because the wet icing will make its way out of your cookie before you know it! The icing will take several hours to dry (sometimes overnight) so check your test cookie before packing them up! :)

Happy holidays everyone! :)

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Super Duper Good Frosting!

Luscious frosting paired with the lovely tulip from the hubby.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday is officially over! Can't believe the crazy sale that was going on. It was the best time for the hubby and I to stock up on winter wear so woohoo!

Anyway, I brought these cupcakes to a thanksgiving party on Thursday and they were a hit! It was my first time making this frosting and I was simply bowled over by it! It was super luscious and buttery, totally love it. And it was so easy to make too! The secret is in the flour. When I first saw this recipe, I was hesitant to try it cos since when do you add flour into your frosting? But then my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to give it a shot!

And it was worth it.

Try it, and you'll see what I mean. :)

I used the easy peasy chocolate cupcake recipe that goes super well with this frosting.

Super Duper Good Frosting (from MissyDew)
(frosts 12 regular cupcakes)

Ingredients
5 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)

Bake your favorite chocolate cake and let it cool.

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I’m in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left.

(Note: If you don't have an electric mixer, make sure your butter is softened (NOT melted) so that you can cream it easily with a fork. One way to do that is to cut the butter cup into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes and let it soften in room temperature. I took about 20 minutes to half an hour, but this depends on the room temperature).

Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.

When done, spread it over your cupcakes and enjoy this heaven of a frosting!

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Delicious Pear Tart

Delicious pear tart studded with cloves.

Thanksgiving is coming! Although we don't celebrate it in Singapore, it's fun to be part of the festivities here in America. Just yesterday, my hubby and I drove past this house that had a HUGE inflatable cartoon turkey sitting on their lawn! It was so cute! Love how everyone's all psyched up for this meaningful season.

So yes, this recipe probably comes in handy for Thanksgiving and the one just around the corner (my favorite) Christmas! This tart only took me less than half an hour to make, if you don't count the baking time, which is another reason to give it a try!

I've never made a tart before, but I had some lovely, fresh pears with me and according to the classic Italian cookbook I own (which you would be familiar with if you've been following my blog), this is such a simple recipe that "only an active campaign of sabotage could ruin it". And that's my cue, to attempt my first tart with an easy recipe. The result? I passed them to my hubby's friends who wolfed them down happily. Not a single slice was left! :)

The best pears to use for this recipe are the Bosc or the Anjou variety. But if you are not picky, or are in the mood for experimenting, feel free to substitute with other pears.

A Farm Wife's Fresh Pear Tart (from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan)

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 cup granulated sugar
Salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 pounds of fresh pears
A 9-inch round cake pan
Butter for greasing the pan and dotting the cake
1/2 cup dry, unflavored bread crumbs
Optional: 1 dozen cloves

1. Preheat oven to 375F

2. Beat the eggs and milk together in a bowl. Add the sugar and a tiny pinch salt, and continue to beat. Add the flour, mixing it in thoroughly to produce a compact cake batter.

3. Peel the pears, cut them lengthwise in two, scoop out the seeds and core, then cut them into thin slices about 1 inch wide. Add them to the batter in the bowl, distributing them evenly.

4. Smear the pan generously with butter, sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs, then turn the pan over and give it a sharp rap against the counter to shake loose excess crumbs.

5. Put the batter into the pan, leveling it off with the back of a spoon or a spatula. Make numerous small hollows on the top with a fingertip and fill them with little bits of butter. Stud with the optional cloves, distributing them at random, but apart. Place the pan in the upper third of the preheated oven and bake for 50 minutes, or until the top has become lightly colored.

6. While it is still lukewarm, carefully loosen the tart from the bottom of the pan, lift it with spatulas, and transfer to a platter. It is very nice served while still a little warm, or at room temperature.

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Fluffy Pancakes With Butter & Maple Syrup

oh pancakes, how you make my mornings shine.

Don't you just love pancakes in the morning?

I know I do.

Pancakes have now taken on so many different forms, from sweet to savoury, from banana to smoke salmon toppings, that it is almost impossible to decide which is my favorite! Gone are the days where the only pancakes we knew as little kids were those plain, simple flapjacks.

So today, I've decided to make just that. Those good old hotcakes with just some butter and maple syrup. To savor the beauty of it without the frills. It also helped that I wanted to complement them with the Canadian maple syrup that my dear friend recently gave me heh.

This easy recipe only takes 10 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to cook. I love how it requires only a few basic ingredients and the pancakes turned out nice and fluffy with a buttery, eggy taste to it. Delicious, I say! Just a note, this recipe doesn't call for buttermilk. Also, I had to grease my skillet several times between pancakes cos the pancakes tend to absorb the oil quickly.

So, gather your family/friends for a treat and some fun flipping pancakes in the air (figuratively, unless of course, you are an expert with your spatula and pan!) and have your pancakes the conventional way or jazz them up with some fresh fruits and jam!

Fluffy Pancakes With Butter & Maple Syrup (From Every Day with Rachael Ray)
Makes 12 pancakes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of flour
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/4 cups of milk
1 egg, separated
3 tablespoons of butter, melted, plus more (unmelted) for serving
Maple syrup, for serving

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, egg yolks and melted butter. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until just combined.

2. Preheat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Gently fold the whites into the batter.

3. Grease the griddle and ladle on 1/4 cup portions of batter. Cook on 1 side until bubbles form and the pancakes are cooked around the edges, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook through, 1 minute more. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

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Bacon & Egg Bread Ring

Imperfect, but I love my beloved first bread ring :)

You might not believe it when I tell you that i've been wanting to make a bread ring since 2007.

Yes, 2007.

Back then, I chanced upon a picture of a bread ring baked by my friend, Sheralyn (who btw, is a talented writer and awesome baker!). I was super intrigued by it and asked her for the recipe. Alas! I didn't have the time to make it and days turned to weeks, weeks turned months, months turned to years and before I knew it, I lost the recipe. :(

However, recently, I've been thinking about that beloved bread ring again and decided to shamelessly ask Sheralyn for the recipe once more. She generously passed it to me along with some others which I can't wait to try. Hooray! Bread ring problems solved!

So with the recipe printed and stuck onto my refrigerator, I set out on this long awaited task. I must say I loved the recipe, simply because it was easy! I didn't need to separately rise the yeast or wait hours for the dough to rise. My only mistake was, in my haste, rolling the dough a little unevenly so it cracked open at one side while baking (a little peek-a-boo!). To avoid the same mishap as me, make sure to roll your dough evenly and wide enough to incorporate all your ingredients so that when you roll the bread up, they will not burst open!

My first bread ring was imperfect in its shape, but I loved the flavor, my hubby gobbled it up and we were one happy couple. :)

Egg & Bacon Ring

Ingredients
500g flour, sifted
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
11g of instant yeast
250g water (about one glass)

Create well in flour, sugar and salt mix.

Place yeast in the well, add water and mix.

Knead dough till smooth.

Rest the dough for 30 minutes (or more, up to two hours). *I rested mine for slightly over an hour.

Roll out dough into oblong and top it with:
-bacon or ham
-hard boiled eggs (about 5 to 6 eggs, halved)
-cubed mozzarella
-parmesan cheese *I used about two handfuls of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and left some for sprinkling on the top of the bread ring
-sundried tomato or cherry tomatoes

Wrap dough around the filling. Form a ring.

Top the dough with a generous amount of olive oil and some rosemary (leaves picked) (as mentioned, I topped mine with some parmesan cheese too.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius (392 F) and put the bread ring in for a second rise while waiting for the oven to get heated.

Once the oven has been pre-heated, bake it for 30 minutes. Tweet

Perfect Yorkshire Pudding With Beef Roast

My perfect little yorkies!

I've been itching to make a batch of yorkshire puddings since a week ago. The only other time I've tried a yorkshire pudding was at lawry's with my mom and sis, which had left an indelible impression on me. So, with my new muffin tins, I decided to make a batch at home!

But of course, these yorkies are meant to go with some nice gravy, so I took out my trusty italian cookbook and picked a beef roast recipe.

At first glance, the beef recipe looked easy enough, but that was because my eyes glazed over the words "larding needle" So when I actually got my hands down to doing it, I realised I had to lard the beef! To be honest, I didn't quite know how to do that so I had to google it. As I didn't have a larding needle, I used my good old chinese chopsticks as suggested by Marcella, but still, it was quite a feat! After fighting larding my beef, I felt pretty accomplished!! :D

Beef that was so tender, with fat and juices running over.

But still, the star of the day had to be those yorkies. It was so fluffy with the perfect hollow in the centre to lap up all the onions and gravy. Mmm... I was glad I made it cos it was hubby's first yorkie and he really enjoyed it! Loved the hint of milk in the pudding. Yorkies FTW!

Perfect hollow in the center.

I saved one yorkie for my friend who doesn't eat beef, and plonked a tablespoon of strawberry jam in the middle. Delicious! Yorkies can also be eaten as desserts by topping them with some compote or ice-cream. Lovely! Will definitely make these yorkshire puddings again, probably the next time with a thicker gravy (this onion sauce runs a little thin).

Yorshire Pudding (from Simple Bites)
Yields: 12

• 7/8 cups of flour (250 grams)
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 large eggs
• 2-3 Tablespoons butter or lard (for pan)

TIP: Have all ingredients at room temperature.

1. Sift salt and flour together into a bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, into which pour the milk and water. Beat thoroughly with a whisk.
2. In a separate bowl or measuring cup, beat the eggs until frothy and add to the batter. Beat the better well.
3. Cover batter with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 400°F and generously butter a 12- cup muffin tin.
5. Remove Yorkshire pudding batter from fridge and beat until small bubbles rise to the surface.
6. Place the buttered muffin tin into the oven until butter is sizzling and slightly browned (about a minute and a half). Remove pan from oven and quickly pour batter into muffin cups, distributing the batter evenly between the 12 cups.
7. Return to oven as speedily as possible and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. You may need to raise the pan to the top shelf of the oven to get a nice browning on the tops.
8. Remove from oven, and with a fork, pop Yorkshire pudding into a waiting napkin-lined basket. Serve immediately.

Beef Roast Braised With Onions (From Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking)
What is remarkable about this roast is that it is braised with only the juices that flow from the onions on which the meat rests. Eventually, the juices vanish, the mean becomes tenderly impregnated with sweet onion flavor, and the onions themselves turn deliciously brown.

The only fat used is the pancetta with which the beef is larded. If you don't have a larding needle, push strips of pancetta into the meat using a chopstick of the traditional hard Chinese rather than the soft, breakable Japanese kind, or the other blunt, narrow stick, or similar object. Pierce the meat following the direction of its grain.

For 4 to 6 servings

1/4 pound pancetta or salt pork in a single piece
2 pounds boneless beef roast, preferably the brisket
5 cloves
4 medium onions sliced very, very thin
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Cut the pancetta or salt pork into narrow strips about 1/4 inch wide. Use hald the strips to lard the meat with a larding needle, or by an alternative method as suggested in the introductory remarks above.

3. Insert the cloves at random into any 5 of the places where the pancetta was inserted.

4. Choose a heavy-bottomed pot just large enough to accomodate the roast snugly. Spread the sliced onion on the bottom of the pot, over it distribute the remaining strips of pancetta or salt pork, then put in the meat. Season liberally with salt and pepper, and cover tightly. If the lid does not provide a tight fit, place a sheet of aluminium foil between it and the pot. Put on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven.

5. Cook for about 3 1/2 hours, until the meat feels very tender when proded with a fork. Turn the roast after the first 30 minutes, and every 30 to 40 minutes thereafter. You will find that the color of the meat is dull and unlovely at first, but as it finishes cooking and the onions become colored a dark brown it develops a rich, dark, patina.

6. When done, slice the meat and arrange the slices on a warm platter. Pour the contents of the pan and the juices left on the cutting board over the meat, and serve at once.

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Chocolate cupcake with caramel frosting topped with chopped chocolates

Haven't updated for a few days cos I've been out and about, getting some new furniture and new kitchen utensils (yays!). This is my first attempt at cupcakes, and I am really happy with the results. If I can do it as a first timer, so can u! :)

I adapted from two different recipes, cos I wanted a chocolate cupcake (whose recipe had buttercream frosting), and I couldn't resist the caramel frosting from another recipe. I was really in a dilemma deciding between buttercream and that, but I wanted a very stiff frosting, like icing, so I went with this. LOVED IT. I loved how the icing gives a cooling sensation when it hits your tongue. I baked a batch of 12 for my friends and they enjoyed every last bite so yays! :)

Just to note, what is not found in the recipes is the extra chocolate topped on the frosting. I just chopped some of my favorite chocolate bars up (fun sized ones!), which in this case were snickers, nestle crunch and reese's. I halved the nestle crunch, quartered the reese's and chopped the snickers up into bits. who doesn't like a nice "cherry" on top!

Another alternative, which I wanna try next time, is dusting some sea salt in the caramel. LOVE the combi of sea salt and caramel! :)

You can smell the cocoa even before baking.

love watching these cute cupcakes rise

Time to start piping!

 Tip: I just used a regular zip-lock bag, snipped a little hole at the corner and piped from there! Be sure to cut a really small hole, and adjust from there, cos, u know, u can't really do it the other way around heh.

All piped up! But something's missing!

Candy! YUMS.

Chocolate Cupcake (from For the Love of Cooking)
(makes 12 regular sized cupcakes)

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup of canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup boiling water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners.

Sift together the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

Add the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla then beat together with a mixer until combined.

Scrape the sides of the bowl then add the boiling water and mix until just combined. The batter will be very watery so don't be alarmed. Pour the batter into a measuring cup (it's so much easier and cleaner than using a spoon) and pour evenly into each liner. Place into the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before frosting.

Caramel Frosting (adapted from Sugar Duchess)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (1/2 lb) powdered sugar

Melt the butter in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Stir in the salt and brown sugar and heat the mixture to boiling, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, until the sugar is totally dissolved. Stir in the milk and return to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and cool to lukewarm (30-40 minutes) stirring occasionally. Stir in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Adjust consistency with a little more milk, if necessary. You know you have the right consistency when it is not too difficult to pipe the frosting out, neither is it so watery it is dripping all over the place. From my experience, even though I like mine to be a little stiffer, I had to add about 1 to 2 more tablespoons of milk after adding all the powdered sugar. But do adjust accordingly!

Wait until the cupcakes are completely cool to frost them. Tweet

Victoria Sponge Cake

This divine looking cake that you're staring at is named after Queen Victoria, who loved to enjoy this with her afternoon tea. I've been really excited to share this recipe because not only does this cake look so pretty and taste delicious, it is really not as difficult to make as it looks.

A typical Victoria Sponge cake would consist of strawberry/raspberry jam with cream sandwiched by two sponge cakes, and is usually finished with just a simple dusting of icing sugar. I believe we can all give this a try! The most crucial step in this recipe is to make sure the eggs do not curdle when incorporated, so for a beginner, it is best to add it teaspoon by teaspoon. After that part, the rest is a breeze. I made mine with a little vanilla essence added, but that is purely optional.

Victoria Sponge Cake (from Delia Online)

Ingredients
4 oz (110g) butter (must be at room temperature)
4 oz (110g) caster sugar
2 large eggs
4 oz (110g) self-raising flour
Jam
Icing sugar

This recipe is for two 7-inch pans (at least 1.5-inch deep), but I only had 9-inch pans so I doubled the recipe and it worked fine.

Preheat your oven to 325F. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until you get a pale, fluffy mixture that drops off the spoon easily (an electric hand whisk speeds this up considerably, but a wooden spoon will do).

Then in a separate jug or bowl, beat the eggs thoroughly together, then add them a little at a time, beating well after each addition. For a beginner, I would recommend just a teaspoonful of egg at a time: if you add it like this, it won't curdle. (Why shouldn't it curdle, you're thinking? Well, some of the hidden air that by now has been beaten into the mixture will escape if the mixture 'breaks' and as air is what makes a cake light, curdling will make it heavier.)

When the eggs have been incorporated, take a metal tablespoon, which will cut and fold the flour in much better than a thick wooden spoon. Have the flour in a sieve resting on a plate, then lift the sieve high above the bowl and sift about a quarter of it on to the mixture - then replace the sieve on the plate and lightly and gently fold the flour into the mixture (if you beat the flour in, you'll lose some of the precious air). Then repeat this until all the flour is incorporated: lifting the sieve up high above the bowl will ensure the flour gets a good airing before it reaches the mixture. Now the flour has been added you should have a mixture that will drop off the spoon easily when you tap it on the side of the bowl. If not, add some hot water, one or two teaspoonfuls or if you're using medium eggs you may need a tablespoonful more.

Now divide the mixture equally between the prepared tins - if you want to be very precise you could place both tins on the balance scales (I've never bothered because, quite honestly, I don't mind if one sponge is fractionally larger than the other.) Place them on the centre shelf of the oven, and they'll take about 25-30 minutes to cook. When they are cooked, the centres will feel springy when lightly touched with a little fingertip and no imprint remains. I think the secret of success here is to be patient and not to have crafty peeps halfway through: a sudden rush of cold coming into the oven can cause the cakes to sink.

When they're cooked, remove them from then oven, then after about 1 minute turn them out on to a wire cooling tray, loosening them around the edges with a palette knife first. Then carefully peel off the base papers and leave the cakes to cool completely before sandwiching them together with jam and sifting a little icing sugar over the surface.

Then fillings can vary from just jam or a mixture of jam and whipped cream, to lemon curd or chocolate fudge icing. Also you can flavour the cake mixture with grated lemon or orange rind or a few drops of vanilla extract. For a coffee flavour, dilute a tablespoon of instant coffee with a dessertspoon of hot water. For a chocolate flavour, take out a level tablespoon of flour and replace it with a level tablespoon of cocoa.

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Baked Hoisin Chicken

While searching for recipes online a few months ago, I would often come across the ingredient "hoisin sauce". I never had any on hand at those moments so one day, I decided to buy a bottle to put on standby.

As fate would have it, after I did that, I never saw a recipe calling for that ingredient anymore. Still, I was adamant about using it and decided to just bake the bird with it. I love how the sauce reminds me of one of my favourite dishes, peking duck! Maybe I should try making that someday. Meanwhile, here's the recipe I used. I'm not even sure if I should call it a recipe because it is so simple. Some recipes would steam the chicken and then spread the hoisin sauce over it. However, I prefer to bake both the chicken and sauce together because I love how the sauce will caramelize on the chicken skin towards the end. The result? A plate of tasty chicken that is sweet and salty on the outside, and juicy and tender on the inside. YUMS!

Baked Hoisin Chicken
(serves 2)

Ingredients
4 pieces of chicken thigh
3 ounces of hoisin sauce (I use Lee Kum Kee Hoisin Sauce)

Marinate your chicken thighs with the hoisin sauce and place it into a ziplock bag. Ensure that all the air has been pressed out before zipping it up. Leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat your oven to 400F. Place the chicken thighs on a baking tray with its skin facing up. Chicken is a self-basting bird so it would not get stuck onto your baking tray without an aluminium foil. However, if you want to prevent the hoisin sauce from sticking/staining your baking tray, then you can layer the aluminium foil on the baking tray.

Bake the chicken thighs for 15 minutes before flipping them over, with the skin facing downwards. Cook for 10 minutes before flipping them back up. Cook the chicken for another 10 minutes or until the chicken thighs turn a dark golden brown (like the photo above). Depending on the size of the chicken thighs, some may get burnt quicker than others. So, always keep a watchful eye on them and not let the skin get charred! Tweet

Basic Pizza Dough

Tomato-based pizza topped with honey baked ham, mozzarella, parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

I have always been very fascinated by people who can make breads and pizzas. I used think that it is very difficult to knead a dough from scratch. The thought of following those instructions on cookbooks to make a well in the flour and break an egg into it was paralysing enough.

So, when I decided to try making a pizza, my hubby looked at me semi-doubtfully and politely asked if it would be less troublesome to just go out and buy a pizza from a parlour - especially since we ARE in America! But who can blame him? The first one I baked did NOT look like the picture above. My dough did not rise properly and I rolled it too thick. However, I was determined to get it right. It's a little hard to explain, but I think baking can get a little addictive. From a person who used to NOT bake at all, I am now getting periodic urges to bake something. A cake, a cookie, pizza, anything!

So, I decided to try again, this time keeping a watchful eye on my dough and making sure that it rose. I would also like to disclaim that this is a pizza that was made successfully with the limitations I had. I don't own a pizza stone, so I used a skillet as a substitute. Pizza purists would probably gasp in horror at what I had done, but to me it did the job well enough! Also, a more preferable workcounter would be a sturdy, wooden table to knead your dough but I don't have that either, so I had no choice but to use my granite countertop. The end result is that beautiful pizza (above). I know I kind of folded  the edges all wobbly, but it kind of lends a rustic look to it, don't you think? :)

Basic Pizza Dough
(makes 2 pizzas about 10-inches wide)

Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoon of active dry yeast
1 cup of lukewarm water
3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and some extra for coating the dough
1/2 tablespoon of salt

Dissolve the yeast conpletely in a large bowl by stirring it into 1/4 cup of lukewarm water. Try not to use a metal bowl, because metal tends to be colder than other materials, which is not good for the yeast. However, I only have a metal one, so I warmed the bowl with some hot water, dry it and then dissolve the yeast in it.

After 10 minutes, add 1 cup of flour and mix it thoroughly. Then, gradually add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, the salt, another 1/4 cup of water and 1 cup of flour and mix thoroughly again. If it is too difficult to use the spoon, just use both hands to collect the dough and knead it, like play-doh, within the bowl.

When pouring in the water and flour for the last time, hold back some of both and only add until the dough is soft and not too sticky. For mine, I ended up adding all the water, plus a tablespoon extra, and I had about 1/4 cup of flour leftover.

Take the dough out from the bowl. Holding the edge of the dough, slap it down hard against your workcounter several times until it is stretched about 10-inch wide. Then, reach for both far ends of the dough and fold it into the center, and then pushing the dough away from you, and then collect it by rolling it back to you. Slap the dough down again and repeat the procedure until the dough becomes soft and uniform, for about 10 minutes. Then, pat the dough into a round bowl.

Now, it is time for the dough to rise. You can put the dough back into your large bowl. As I wanted to avoid using the metal bowl (as mentioned, it is not good for the yeast, especially for rising it) so I split the dough into two and put them into separate ceramic bowls that has been lightly coasted with olive oil. Roll the dough around the bowl to lightly coat it with olive oil, then cover it with a plastic wrap.

For the dough to rise properly, it is important to put it in a draught-free place. I put mine in my unheated oven and turned the oven light on to give it some warmth. Then, wait for three hours. The dough should have risen 2 times its original size. When done correctly, not only will the dough look much bigger, but it will feel much less dense. It will have this soft, airy texture when you likely prod it with your finger.

Preheat your oven to 450F. Meanwhile warm your skillet over your stove for 5 minutes. I used a shallow baking tray the first time I did it and the dough wasn't able to be cooked properly. So, i decided to use a skillet to emulate a pan.

Take your risen dough out of the bowl. If you have halved it, fine. If not, halve it now and set it aside. Use a rolling pin and flatten the dough as thin as you can. This is important as the dough will rise again while baking. I did mine super thin, like 1mm thick, and that's how I like it. If you are confident enough, you can toss your dough up in the air like a pro. Leave the edges of the dough slightly risen, or you can, like me, roll it inward with the toppings to make my own stuff crust pizza. If not, you can leave it empty too. FYI, i don't own a rolling pin (still contemplating if I should get one) so I used my old wine bottle instead. :D

Spread your sauce onto your dough and then place it into the pan. Top it with any toppings of your choice! I wouldn't recommend topping it before placing it into the pan because the weight might tear your thin sheet of dough and it would just get messy.

Pop the skillet into your preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the dough is coloured light brown. When done, drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil! :)

For the other half of the dough that has been lefover, you may start making your second pizza if you have a bigger crowd, or if not, you can save it for later. You may store the dough in your refrigerator for up till 48 hours to give it a slow rise, or you may also put it into the freezer to be stored for a longer period of time. However, when you take it out, you must wait much longer for the dough to be at room temperature and to let it rise a little bit again. I'd suggest to just use up the dough as soon as you can! Tweet