recipe is : coconut cupcakes with cream cheese topping

Ingredients
coconut cupcake

1 cup (230g/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
5 small/med eggs
2 1/2 cups grated fresh coconut, lightly toast 1 cup till light golden brown (set aside 2 tbsp toasted coconut for the topping)
2 1/2 cups superfine/cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup hot water

Topping

1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 pound cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup castor sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
grated zest of 1 lemon
grated zest of 2 limes
2 tbsp of the lightly toasted coconut


Method
cake

- preheat the oven to 190 degrees C
- sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. set aside
- cream together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy
- beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one
- add the grated coconut (toasted and untoasted), mix to incorporate
- mix ½ of the flour into the butter mixture, then add ½ the water, mix well
- add in the remaining flour and water and mix
- spoon the batter into paper cake cups 3/4 way to the top
- bake for 15-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean
- set aside to cool for at least 30 mins


Topping

- beat butter until creamy. add cream cheese and beat till incorporated and creamy
- add in the sugar, beat till it's smooth and no longer grainy
- add lemon juice, lemon zest and lime zest into the cream cheese and mix to combine
- spread or pipe the icing on to the cupcake and sprinkle with the toasted coconut
- coloured sugar or cake sprinkles can be used to pretty up the cupcakes




~~ culinary adventures ~~

recipe is : carrot pineapple cake with cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

Cake

1 cup (230g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing cake pan
1 1/3 cups sugar
5 small/med eggs
1 1/2 cups grated carrot
2 1/2 cups superfine/cake flour, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting cake pan
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup hot water
1 cup finely chopped pineapple, canned will do nicely. just squeeze out as much of the syrup as possible, before and after chopping

Frosting

1/2 cup whipping cream, cold
1 cup (about 250g) cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup caster sugar (reduce to 1/2 cup for a less sweet icing)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
grated zest of 1 lemon


Method

- preheat the oven to 190 degrees C
- sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. set aside
- grease and dust with flour 2 pieces of 8 inch cake pans, springform works best
- cream together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy
- beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one
- add the grated carrot, mix to incorporate
- mix ½ of the flour into the butter mixture, then add ½ the water, mix well
- add in the remaining flour and water and mix
- add the pineapple
- pour the batter evenly into the 2 cake pans
- bake for 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean
- cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove from the pan and cool completely. slice the cakes into 2 layers each


Frosting

- whip cream until firm. beat cream cheese in another bowl until soft and creamy
- add in the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest into the cream cheese and mix to combine
- fold in the whipped cream until just combined
- spread the icing in between the cake layers and stack them up
- thinly ice the top and sides of the cake to finish
- refrigerate and serve chilled

recipe is : chocolate brownies

i got this recipe from chef michael smith of the 'chef at home' show. i tweaked a wee bit here and there to suit my own preference
Ingredients

700g/25oz cooking chocolate
200g/0.75 cup butter
200g/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
5 small/med eggs
250g/1.25 cups sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Method

- preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water
- whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder
- when the chocolate and butter have melted whisk them smooth
- add the eggs, sugar and vanilla to the chocolate and mix thoroughly
- add the flour mixture
- pour into a lightly greased and floured 9x13-inch pan
- bake for 45 minutes

recipe is : apple crumble

Ingredients

Apple Filling
8 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
10 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch
1/3 cup blueberry jam

Crumble Base
3 1/2 cup flour
250 gm butter, cold and diced
6 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Crumble Topping
2 cups flour
10 tbsp instant oats
8 tbsp brown sugar
120 gm butter, cold and diced

Method

in a large pan cook the apples, sugar and cinnamon over a med flame for 10 minutes to soften the apples. mix the lemon juice and cornflour. stir the mixture into the apples and mix thoroughly. take of the heat and set aside

preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. line the bottom of a 9 inch by 9 inch pan and let the baking paper overhang over the 2 sides. lightly grease the other sides

in a big bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt for the base. add the diced butter and using only the fingertips, rub the flour mixture into the butter til it resembles fine breadcrumbs. pour into the prepared tin and lightly press down to pack it in a little. bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 mins or until the base just starts to brown

remove from oven and spread blueberry jam over the base. top with the cooked apple. set aside

in the same bowl, mix the flour and sugar. add the butter and in the rub in the same method as before, only this time, rub until the dough resembles lumpy clumps of breadcrumbs. sprinkle the topping on top of the apples and put in the oven to bake for a further 30 minutes or until it turns golden brown. remove from oven and let cool

best served warm with vanilla ice cream



Note: the cornflour is used as a thickener for the juice that oozes out of the cooked apples. any non-taste-altering agent can be used to substitute.

recipe is: strawberry and apple crumble

recipe was taken from someone who contributed to nigella's site. i tweaked the recipe a bit.

Ingredients


Crumble Topping


300 gms instant oats

60 gms brown sugar

165 gms butter



Fruit Filling


2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces

500 gms strawberries, sliced

120 gms coarse brown sugar

2 tbsp water


Method


Topping

mix the oat and butter well, add sugar and mix til it resembles crumbs


Filling

place apple and water in a saucepan and on very low heat cook til apples begin to soften

add strawberries and sugar and mix thoroughly. take care not to leave it on the heat for too long as a lot of liquid will form and the filling will be very watery. leave it on the heat for a maximum of 2 minutes

spoon the filling into an oven proof dish and cover with crumble topping

bake in oven preheated to 190℃ for 25 - 30 minutes til the top is golden brown

Note:-

you can vary the sugar weight for the fruit filling. if you get sour, tangy strawberries, use a little more sugar, if you've got sweet juicy fruits, use less sugar. it's a personal taste thingy :-p

i find that using oat gives the best crumble and texture. you can substitute with wholemeal flour or even plain flour, but i find that the result won't be as nice

use a deeper dish instead of one that wide and shallow

recipe is: banana delight/pengat pisang

Ingredients

5 cups water

100 gms palm sugar

150 ml coconut cream

8 ripe bananas

2 tbsp sago

5 screwpine leaves


Method

bring the water to a boil in a pot. put in the screwpine leaves. add the palm sugar and sago. turn down the heat. stir occasionally. boil til all the palm sugar has melted and the sago is thoroughly transparent. add the coconut cream and bring it to a boil. peel the banana skins and cut the bananas into 1/2 cm pieces and add them into the pot. boil for another 3 minutes and turn off the flame. can be served hot or cold.

note:-
~ you can adjust the amount of palm sugar added according to your taste. do take into consideration the sweetness of the bananas when adding more sugar.

~ palm sugar can be substituted with brown sugar. the amount may vary between the two, so do test for sweetness before adding more sugar.

recipe is: simple trifle

Ingredients

1 big can of fruit cocktail
1 swiss roll, sliced into 12 pieces
4 tbsp sugar
gelatine powder/leaves for 350 ml water (can be substituted with agar agar or konyuku powder)
whipped cream

Method


line a deep dish with 6 slices of the swiss roll

prepare the gelatine with the 300 ml of water and add the sugar. pour mixture into a big bowl. add the can of fruit cocktail (inclusive of the syrup) into the gelatine and mix well

scoop all the fruits and pour on top of the swiss roll layer. pour in half of the leftover liquid. arrange the remaining six slices of swiss roll on top and pour the remaining liquid to soak the top swiss roll layer

refrigerate for 6 hours

to serve, cut into slices and top with whipped cream

recipe is: cinnamon fruit crumble

Ingredients

2 apples, skinned, cored and thinly sliced. soak in water to prevent it turning brown

2 pears, skinned, cored and thinly sliced

4 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder

250 gms butter, use straight from fridge. do not leave at room temperature

375 gms plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

200 gms castor sugar

10 tbsp instant oats

4 tbsp uht milk


Method

preheat the oven to 200 ℃

drain the apples, mix thoughly with pears, brown sugar and cinnamon powder. set aside

into a mixing bowl, sift the flour and baking powder. add castor sugar, oats and butter. using a butter knife, cut the butter into small pieces. then, use your fingers to mix everything together, taking care to "rub" the mixture into the butter, forming a crumbly kind of texture

line a large baking dish with half the fruits, top with half the pastry mix and sprinkle 2 tbsp of milk on to the top. put the second half of the fruits on top, and again cover with the pastry mix and sprinkle with 2 tbsp of milk

bake in the oven for 30 mins or until the top turns golden brown

* serve hot with vanilla ice cream or on its own