Mint Chocolate Cookies

It's been a loooooooooong time since the last time this place is being updated. Sorry for neglecting here ): The past few baking sessions had all been on mooncakes, mooncakes, mooncakes, and still, mooncakes. But! The last weekend, we tried something new! Oink had been asking for the recipe of the mint cookies that girl guides sell, and so lil' sis started looking for the recipes and we've decided to try this!

Ingredients for the cookies

• 8 ounces butter (~227g)
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (~118g)
• 1 cup powdered sugar (~125g)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour(~187.5g)

Ingredients for peppermint chocolate coating

•  10 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate (~283g)
•  1 ½ teaspoon peppermint extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (~175°C)
2. Cream butter until light and fluffy, then add the powdered sugar and mix until combined. Stir in the salt, vanilla and cocoa powder. Mix until the cocoa powder is integrated and the batter resembles a thick frosting. Add the flour and mix just until the flour is combined, making sure to not over mix.
3. Form dough into a ball. Knead a few times to bring together, then flatten into a disk between half an inch and one inch thick, cover in plastic wrap then place in freezer for 15 minutes.
4. Remove dough from the freezer and roll it out really thin on a floured surface, about 1/8-inch. Cut cookies using 1 1/2-inch cutter.
5. *Place cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack. While the cookies bake, make the peppermint coating. Chop the baking chocolate into very small, thin pieces. Place in a glass measuring cup or similar container and microwave in short 15-20 second bursts. Stir in the peppermint extract.
6. **Gently drop the cookies, one at a time, into the coating. Turn to coat entirely, then lift the cookie out of the chocolate with the fork and bang the fork on the side of the pan until the extra coating drips off. Place on a parchment or plastic wrap-lined baking sheet, and repeat for the rest of the cookies. Place the cookies in the refrigerator or freezer to set.
   
   *We used a double boiler to melt the chocolate instead of microwaving it.
   **The chocolate that we used for the coating isn't able to melt to a state such that it will drip. Hence, instead of dropping the cookies into the chocolate to coat it completely, we spread the chocolate on top of the cookies.
   
   Recipe adapted from: The view from Great Island

The cookies were a huge success!  We used lesser chocolate for the coating when we first baked it (cause lil' sis took the wrong measurement), and the taste (as well as smell) of the peppermint was overpowering. The next day, we coated another layer of chocolate (without the peppermint essence) and the taste was perfect. This is definitely going to be something that we will always want to make (like the banana muffins haha!)!

Traditional Mooncake

<Photos will be uploaded soon>


Traditional Mooncakes are harder to make not as simple as snowskin. There are more procedures to follow. Baking time in oven is very important.

Traditional Mooncake 

Ingredients for Skin

Sift together into a big mixing bowl:-

• 300g Bun Flour or Hong Kong Flour
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp Salt

Mix together and combine well:- 

• 210g Mooncake Sugar Syrup
• 60g Oil
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla Essence
• 1 tsp Alkali Water

1. Sieve the flour in a mixing bowl
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture
3. Pour in sugar syrup mixture and mix well till it forms a dough using a spatula
4. Cover the mixing bowl with a wet towel and rest the dough for 30 to 45 minutes

Ingredients for Eggwash

• 1 Egg Yolk
• 5g Mooncake sugar syrup
• 1tsp Hotwater 

Mix together without beatin and sieve it to get a smooth glaze

Method

1. Knead the rested skin dough till it firms up
2. Flatten skin dough on palm of your han
3. Put the ball of paste onto the flattened dough and enclose paste by gently pressing edges until is sealed
4. Dust the filled dough with flour, put into lightly floured mooncake mold and press in gently
5. Knock or piston out the molded mooncake depending on the mould used
6. Place on baking tray lined with baking paper
7. Bake in pre-heated oven at 175°C to 180°C for 10 mins till light brown
8. While baking, prepare the eggwash
9. Remove from the oven, rest for 10mins and brush the top with eggwash
10. Return to bake at 175°C to 180°C for 10 mins till golden brown
11. Leave mooncake to cool completely and store in air tight containers. 
12. Wait for 1 ~ 3 days for the mooncakes to 回油 (for the skin to soften) before serving.

Oven Temperature: 175°C to 180°C
Time to Bake: bake 10mins till light brown, rest 10mins then apply egg wash, then bake 10mins till golden brown

Recipe adapted from: Fatboo

Snowskin Mooncake

 <Photos will be uploaded soon!!>


Successful attempts of snowskin mooncake. It was easier then expected. We followed the receipe on Redman snow skin premix from Phoon Huat as follow:-

Snowskin Mooncake

Ingredients

• 1000g of snow skin premix
• 400 to 450g of water
• 200g of Shortening 
• 2g Pandan flavour
• few drops of colouring

(please alter the receipe accordingly - 500g is about 60 small square ones)
No Baking required!!
Method

1. Mix the premix flour with water
2. Add shortening, flavour and colour to the mixture
3. Rest for 15 to 50 minutes
4. Time to make mooncake and once done put in fridge

Small Square mould: 16g Skin and 32g Paste
Small Round Cartoon: 21g Skin and 42g Paste

*Add* 19.08.2019
Small circle mould: 10g Skin and 20g Paste
KCT Snowskin Premix: 600g
Paste: 2kg, ~ approx 100 pieces
Total cost: approx. $45

Oreo Cookie Cupcakes

We have a packet of black cookies that was going to be expired, and thus we went to look for the different recipes on the Internet that requires Oreo cookies and we finally used up the black cookies! (:

Oreo Cookie Cupcakes

Cupcake Batter (For 24 Cupcakes)

Ingredients

• 24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
• 2¼ cups (270g) all-purpose flour 
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 2/3 cup (330g) sugar
• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped  or quartered

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners.  Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.
4. Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Scoop the mixture into a pastry bag and pipe frosting decoratively on top of the cupcakes.  Garnish with Oreo cookie halves.

Vanilla Buttercream Icing

Ingredients

• 2 sticks of salted butter
• 4 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of crushed Oreo Cookies (~7 cookies)
• 3-5 tablespoons half and half

Method

1. Place the Oreo cookies in a zip-lock bag and crush them with a rolling pin (or water bottle, etc..).
2. Using a mixer, beat butter until it is fluffy.  Add 3 cups of sugar - one cup at a time - mixing until it's completely incorporated.  Add vanilla, half and half, and cookie bits along with the last cup of sugar and mix together, adding more half and half until the icing is the desired consistency.

Recipe adapted from: Cooking With Karen (for batter), Life is Sweets (for icing)

It was a success! The cupcake is not sweet while the icing is sweet, so they are able to complement each other! (:

Blueberry-Vanilla Cupcake

Blueberry! We're finally baking something with blueberry!! Blueberry is lil' sis fav~ She kept asking when we're going to bake with blueberry, and we finally did this time!

Blueberry-Vanilla Cupcake

Vanilla Cupcake Batter

Ingredients

• 85g self-raising flour
  * (Can be made using I85g plain flour + 1 1/4tsp baking powder + 1/8 tsp salt)
• 70g all-purpose plain flour
• 113g unsalted butter, softened
• 170g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (or vanilla bean for even more intensity)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C (350°F).
2. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers.
3. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Blueberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method

Cook all these ingredients in a saucepan over a low flame, stirring constantly. Cook for as long as you want your blueberries to be mushy.

Blueberry-Vanilla Cupcake

Method

1. Prepare both the blueberry sauce and the cupcake batter.
2. Spoon the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners to about 1/3, then spoon the blueberry sauce into the cupcake liners (up to you to decide how generous you want to be). Spoon the cupcake batter to fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 or 3/4* full.
   * 2/3 will be preferred to 3/4 as the batter will rise quite a bit.
3. Swirl the mixture of blueberry sauce and cupcake batter in the cupcake liners.
   * Note: Do not swirl it too much!!! The cupcake will bake to a mouldy colour instead of a nicer shade of dark purple if it is being swirled to a light purple (close to lavender). 
4. Bake for 20 to 25* minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
   * At the 20-minute mark, reduce heat to 160°C (325°F). The tops of the cupcakes should be lightly golden.
5. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Recipe adapted from: The Little Teochew

*You can see the cupcakes with lighter purple here. 

*The cupcake with the dark purple swirls