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

Custard and Chocolate Tarts

March Baking Time - our first try in making our own tarts. Yummy!!!

Custard and Chocolate Tarts

For Sweet Tart Dough

Ingredients

• 285g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 150g icing sugar (sifted)
• 100g finely ground almond powder 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/s tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs (at room temperature, lighly beaten)
• 490g all-purpose flour

Method

1. Place butter in the bowl (beat on low speed until creamy)
2. Add sugar, almond powder, salt, vanilla and eggs
   (on low speed beat to blend the ingredients, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed, 
3. dough may look curdled is ok)
4. Add flour in 3 or 4 additions and mix until mixture become a soft moist dough
   (at low speed, a matter of seconds so dont overdo it)
5. Gather the dough into a ball 
6. Gently press each into disk and wrap in plastic
7. Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or for up to 2 days, before rolling and baking (dough can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to a month)

Note

• Make this at least 1 day in advance because you need to chill and rest the dough for a minimum 4 hours or up to 2 days, before rolling and baking
• Please make the full quantity because lessening the measurement may not yield the best results
• Unused dough can be kept in refrigerator for up to 2 days or wrapped airtight and frozen for a month
• Frozen dough take about 45 minutes to an hour at room temperature to reach a good rolling out consistency. 
• Baked crust can be kept uncovered at rom temperature for about 8 hours

Prepare for baking

1. Pinch balls of dough and press them into each tart mould using your thumb
   Make sure you press more around the bottom rims where dough tends to gather
2. Place them back into the fridge for another 15 minutes before baking
3. While dough is chilling, preheat oven at 180°C
4. Put dried uncooked rice on the tart mould before baking
5. Fully bake the crust for about 20 minutes or until they turn golden
6. Transfer the crust to a rack to cool
   (Can keep uncovered at room temperature for 8 hours)

Oven Temperature: 180°C (Place rack in center of oven)

Time to Bake: 20 minutes

For the Crème Pâtissière

Ingredients

1. 1 cup of milk (236 ml)
2. 2 egg yolks
3. 1/4 cup caster sugar (55g)
4. 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
5. 2 tbsp cornflour
6. 1 pinch salt (only if not adding butter or using unsalted butter)
7. 1/2 tsp unsalted butter, for additional shine and firmness
8. Picture adapted from The Little Teochew

Method

1. Whisk together egg yolks, 1/4 cup milk (60ml), sugar and vanilla extract. 
2. Mix in cornflour and salt (if using).
3. Bring the remaining milk to a heat (just below boiling point) in a saucepan. 
4. Pour the hot milk in small stream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk as you pour (very important). Once incorporated, pour everything back into the saucepan.
5. Whisk the mixture over medium heat until it thickens and firms up. 
6. Remove from heat and whisk in butter.
7. Pour the hot custard into a bowl and plunge the bottom of the bowl into another larger bowl of iced-water to cool, give it a whisk occasionally. 
8. Once it reaches room temperature, scoop the crème pâtissière into a piping bag (twist the open end to seal up the custard) or into a ketchup bottle. 
9. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

• A: Add yolks, 1/4 cup milk, vanilla beans, salt, cornflour in a bowl. In the meantime, bring the remainder 3/4 cup milk to a scald in a saucepan.B: Mix your egg mixture well.
• C: When the 3/4 cup milk is hot, stream it into the egg mixture to temper the yolks. You will get a pale-coloured, creamy liquid.
• D: Pour the liquid back into the saucepan and cook on low heat, stirring constantly. It will continue to thicken as it cooks.
• E: Add in butter. Just keep stirring until the whisk leaves swirls from the stirring. As it cools, the custard will thicken even further. 
• F: I like to store the crème pâtissière in a ketchup bottle because it makes the job of filling the choux puffs easier.

Assembling the Tarts

1. Hull and half the strawberries. Set aside.
2. Pipe the crème pâtissière into tart shells, into a rounded mound. This will provide the fruits with some support to stand at an angle.
3. Place the strawberry halves all around.
4. Close gaps with blueberries (optional).
5. Glaze the fruits (not the tart rims)
6. Strawberry jam, which intensified the flavour of the fresh strawberries.
   Other fruits, apricot jam is usually preferred because it is clear and does not mask the true colours of the fruits. (don't need a lot of jam ... as long as the fruits look shiny)
7. Chill the tarts (in a covered container) in the fridge till it is time to serve. The colder, the better. These are best eaten fresh. Do not keep them for more than 24 hours.

Recipe adapted from: The Little Teochew

Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes for Valentine!!

February!! Is Friendship and Valentine Day!! So we decided to bake something related!!

Yummy!! Yummy!! Everyone that eat it! Love it! Time to share our recipe.


Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes


Ingredients for Cake

•  250g sifted cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons (15g) of Hershey Cocoa Powder
• 113g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 300g granulated white sugar 
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla esscence

• 240ml buttermilk (can be prepared by the method below)
• 2 tablespoon red colour dye

• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Perparing Buttermilk 

• 180 ml of Magnolia Fresh Milk 
• Half lemon (1 tablespoon) - alternative white vinegar

Let the mixture sit for 5 mins.

Oven Temperature: 175°C (Place rack in center of oven)
Time to Bake:10 minutes

Method

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder
2.  Using Electric Mixer to beat the butter until soft (abt 1 to 2 minutes)
3. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy (abt 2 to 3 minutes)
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
5. Scrape down the sides of bowl
6. Add vanilla esccence and beat until well mixed
7. In a cup, stir the buttermilk with the red colour dy
8. At low speed, alternally add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture in 3 additons till well mixed. Beginning and ending with Flour
9. In a saucer, add baking soda to vinegar. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.
10. Working quickly, place the batter on muffin cups and smooth the tops with the back of the spoon
11. Bake in preheated oevn for about 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cupcakes comes out clean
12. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes and remove from pan
13. Let cool completely before adding the frosting, topping.

Recipe adapted from: Joy of Baking

Banana Crumb Muffins

Successful attempts of Banana Muffins. And it was finished in a few days by us and had to bake another batch for friends to try. So Yummy!!

Banana Crumb Muffins

Ingredients

• 190g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 150g white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 75g butter, melted (which you can replace with vegetable oil, if you prefer)

Oven Temperature: 190°C
Time to Bake: 15 mins to 20 mins

For the crumb topping

• 75g packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp butter

Method

1. Mix Flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Sift.
2. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. 
3. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.
4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
5. Preheat oven at 190°C
6. Preparing cumb topping. Using Zip Lock bag, mix together brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tbsp butter until mixture mixed well. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Recipe adapted from: The Little Teochew ; All Recipe