#20 - Lemon & Garlic Roast Chicken

When we first moved into our own house, I always thought that the first recipe I was going to try out in the kitchen is going to be a perfectly oven-roasted chicken. Somehow, it seemed to me that it is only right (and simple enough) that a oven-roasted chicken is to be the first dish coming out of the newly bought oven and right onto the dinner table for our first Christmas dinner in our own home. Pity, this did not happen in our case. 

2 years had passed and it finally stuck me the other day that I have not tried roasting any poultry using the oven yet! How can I let that be the case? Finally, a couple of Sundays ago, I decided to give the 'Roast Chicken with Lemon & Herbs' recipe a try. As usual, I made some small changes to the original recipe and the chicken turned out really well! 

Personally, I feel that this dish is great for beginner cooks like myself, with minimal ingredients and attention required. This time round, I even tried to cook the roasted potatoes together with the chicken (and some bacon as well) but it turned out that the potatoes were kind of overly done. Though the potatoes tasted great but I wouldn't advise anyone eating too much of them due to the burned skin. Not that good for health, you see? In fact, the next time I try this recipe, I would probably cook the roasted potatoes and vegetables separately as there will be plenty of time to do so while waiting for the chicken to cook in the oven. Most importantly, add plenty of lemon, garlic and rosemary! They impart a light and soft scent to the meat. They are such an excellent combination! 

 

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Recipe: Adapted and modified from here

Servings

Serve 2 to 4 persons

Ingredients

1 whole Chicken

2 tbsp Rosemary, finely chopped

3tbsp Butter, room temperature

2 cloves Garlic, grated

1 Lemon, zested and juiced

Salt

Pepper

1 whole head Garlic, halved 

1 Lemon, halved

Roasted Potatoes

4 large Potatoes

10 cloves Garlic, unpeeled

2 tbsp Rosemary

4 slices of Bacon, fried and chopped

Salt

Pepper

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200C and drizzle roasting dish with some olive oil. Set the roasting dish aside for later use.

2. Rinse the chicken inside and out, and pat dry it with kitchen towels. Season the chicken with salt and pepper (including the cavity) and set aside on a large plate for later use. 

3. Wash, dried and cut the potatoes into large chunks, depending on size of potatoes (about 8 to 12 pieces per potatoes) and place them in the roasting dish together with the garlic cloves and pieces of bacon. You may also add in sliced onions or vegetables if you prefer. 

4. Add the chopped rosemary to the roasting dish as well and season them with salt, pepper and olive oil. Toss everything together in the roasting dish to ensure the seasoning is well spread out.

5. In a small bowl, add the finely chopped rosemary to the soft butter. 

6. Using a grater, grate 2 cloves of garlic and add the grated garlic to the butter mixture in Step (5). Also add in the zest of 1 lemon. Season this mixture with salt and pepper. Using a spoon, make sure that this mixture is well mixed together. 

7. Rub 3/4 of the butter mixture under the skin of the chicken, between the breast and the skin of the chicken. Massage well to ensure that the butter mixture is evenly spread out. Rub the remaining 1/4 of the butter mixture all over the chicken. Drizzle the lemon juice of 1 lemon over the chicken. 

8. Cut the remaining lemon and garlic into half and stuff them inside the cavity of the chicken. Also add in some rosemary inside the cavity of the chicken and tie the legs together either using kitchen string or aluminium foil. 

9. Place the chicken in the roasting dish, making sure that the chicken wings are tucked under the chicken itself. Sprinkle some salt and pepper evenly over the top of the chicken. 

10. Bake for 45 minutes, baste and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the juice of the chicken comes out clear after cutting a slit at the chicken thigh. 

11. Remove the chicken from the oven and cover it with aluminium foil for 15 minutes before carving. 

Take note 

(1) Take chicken out of fridge at least 1 hour before roasting it. 

(2) Use fresh chicken instead of frozen chicken. 

(3) If roasting potatoes together with the chicken, check on the potatoes after 30 to 45 minutes. Once the potatoes are done (dark-coloured), remove them from the roasting dish before continuing to roast the chicken. This is to ensure that the potatoes will not be burnt. Alternatively, cook roasted potatoes / vegetables separately. 

#19 - Lemon Mint Granita

I saw this recipe at the back of a magazine which I read every month. Lemon & Basil Granita! Basically granita is a Italian frozen dessert which is related to Italian ice and sorbet. It is not as compact as the sorbet but still provides that cooling kick you need on a hot afternoon.

The recipe I chanced upon looked simple enough for me to give it a try and so, it was bookmarked. But then again, me being me, I just couldn't be contented with following the recipe alone and I had to give it a little spin of my own. Decided to replace basil with mint (and you wonder why this site is named as mrsMINTYcream?) and since I have these gorgeous mangoes sitting in my pantry, I decided to add them to my Lemon-Mint Granita. I don't believe there's anyone out there who doesn't like some sweet and gorgeous fruits to go with some good old citrus like lemon and lime. 

The end product was somewhat like a combination of ice-jelly cocktail and ice-kachang (minus the sugary syrup). Go make some granita and keep it in the freezer just because it is so versatile and can simply goes well with just about anything! 

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Ingredients

Handful of fresh Mint Leaves (about 50 leaves)

4cups of Water

3 tbsp Fine Sugar

4 Lemons, juiced 

1 Lime, juiced and zested

Mixed Fruits

1 Mango

30g Blueberries

1 Yellow Kiwi

1 Green Kiwi

1 Peach

Directions

1. Wash and dry fresh mint leaves. Using a food processor or a blender, pulse the mint leaves until they are mostly pureed. Set aside for later use.

2. Boil the water and sugar to make a syrup. Stir well to ensure the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

3. Combined and lemon juice with the lime juice. Stir in the zest of one lime into the mixture.

4. Add the mint leaves puree to the lemon-lime juice mixture and stir. Once combined, also add in the sugar syrup and taste. Adjust the mixture to the level of sweetness you desired by adding in more sugar if needed. 

5. Pour the mixture into a freezable container and freeze for at least 4-5 hours. After every 1-2 hours, remove from freezer and flake it using a fork.

6. While waiting for the granita to freeze, prepare the fruits. Wash and diced all the fruits. If you do not have fresh fruits, you may also use canned fruits (without the canned syrup). 

7. Place the fruits at the bottom of a serving cup/mug/bowl. Top with the lemon-mint granita and mint leaves, then serve. 

#18 - Green Tea Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have never been a great fan of green tea items (other than sweetened green tea which really isn't much of a green product anyway) so when bff suggested baking some green tea muffins, I was actually glad to give it a try. I know that if she hadn't suggested it, I would probably not try out much green tea recipe due to my lack of interest in this ingredient. Thanks for the suggestion! 

For the muffins, I must say that they turned out tasting better than I thought they would. It was soft and sweet and the green tea flavour was rather subtle, which really cater to my liking. Not to mentioned, the  yummy chocolate chips brought the taste up a level! 

Note:
(1) For green tea lover, you should increase the amount of green tea to 2 or 3 tbsp instead, depending on your preference.
(2) To prevent the muffins from sticking to the paper liners, you may either omit the use of paper liners or substitute 95ml of vegetable oil with 50g of butter and 45ml of vegetable oil instead.

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Servings

Make approximately 10

Ingredients

250g All Purpose Flour

1 tbsp Green Tea Powder

2 and 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

60g Chocolate Chips

1 Egg

80g Fine Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

95ml Vegetables Oil

3tbsp Yogurt

190ml Milk

Toppings (optional)

Additional chocolate chips

Green Tea Powder / Green Tea Whipped Cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200C and line muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside for later use. 

2. Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, green tea powder, baking powder and salt) together and set aside. 

3. Using a small bowl, toss the chocolate chips with 3 tbsp of flour. Once all the chocolate chips are coated in flour, set aside. This will ensure that the chocolate chips will not sink to the bottom of the batter and will be able to spread well across the muffins.

4. In a mixing bowl, beat in an egg until it is pale. Add in sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk these ingredients together using a whisk until the mixture is light-coloured. 

5. Add in vegetable oil, yogurt and milk and whisk them together until they are well combined and a thick mixture is obtained. 

6. Combined the wet ingredients in Step (5) to the dry ingredients in Step (2). Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the wet ingredients into the well. Fold in the flour mixture slowly using a spatula until the combined mixture is well-mixed, with no trace of flour. Be careful not to over mix the batter.

7. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips into the mixture using a spatula. 

8. Using an ice-cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into 10 muffins cups. Each muffin cup should be filled up to 2/3 of the way. 

9. Tap muffin tray on tabletop and shake it gently to ensure that the batter is level and evenly spread out. This also help to make sure that any excess air is removed from the batter. You may then sprinkle some chocolate chips on each muffin cups before baking them in the oven (optional).

10. Bake for 20 minutes (turn the muffin tray front-to-back after 10 minutes) or until the top of the muffins become golden brown and toothpick when inserted comes out clean. Remove muffins from oven and cool in muffin tins for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to allow them to cool completely. 

11. You may want to dust the muffins with green tea powder or frost the muffins with green tea whipped cream before serving (optional). 

#17 - Oreo Cookies and Cream Popsicles

Yeah! Another popsicle recipe! This is like the fourth popsicle recipes which I have tried in the last 2 months or so. (Note to self - That reminds me of something. I have yet to put up the recipe on my Nutella Banana Fudgesicles.) How can any one say no to a yummy creamy popsicle like this. It is the Oreo Cookies and Cream Popsicles! I kind of fancy the addition of the milk & whipping cream to the recipe as it really enhanced the taste of the creaminess in these popsicles. 

While these popsicles were freezing in the freezer, I was sitting impatiently in front of my television. Can't wait! I could hardly wait for them to be ready so that I can have a taste of this creamy delightfulness. I am sure you understand what I mean, don't you?

If you are not a great fan of dairy products, you may find this popsicle a little too milky on your first few bites. But, hold on to that thought! Wait till you bite into the soft and chocolatey Oreo Biscuits! It is so soft, creamy and sweet! Unbelievable! Once you have tasted that, you will understand how the milky cream part comes into play. It is totally a match made in popsicles heaven! 

Look at me! I was enjoying my yummy Oreo Popsicle while playing my favourite game, Hay Day, on my iPad. This is total enjoyment, I tell you. 

For those friends of mine who have been infected with my recent craze with Popsicles, go try this recipe out! You will not be disappointed, that I am sure! 

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Recipe: Adapted and modified from here

Servings

Make 6-8 Popsicles (depending on size of the mould)

Ingredients

150ml Whipping Cream

150ml Milk

3 tbsp Yogurt

1tbsp Native Honey

14 Oreo Cookies, quartered

Directions

1. Combine the whipping cream, milk, yogurt and honey in a liquid measuring cup. Whisk the mixture well to ensure that the honey is fully dissolved into the cream. 

2. Slice each Oreo cookies into 4 pieces (quarters) and distribute the cookies among the popsicles moulds (8 quarters in each mould). 

3.Pour the cream mixture in Step (1) into the popsicles moulds. Freeze for at least 3-6 hours until the popsicles are firm. (I freezed mine overnight to ensure firm popsicles)

4. When removing popsicles from moulds, place the moulds under running water. This will ensure that the popsicles come out smoothly from the moulds. 

#16 - Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins

I bet you have had days when you are yearning to have something sweet and satisfying and yet, you don't have the whole afternoon to come up with fancy recipes to satisfy that craving. So, what do you do then? For me, when I was something quick, yummy and easy to fix up, I will always go to this recipe of mine. Simple Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins. The whole preparation and baking time takes less than 30 minutes. Incredibly easy! 

For me, I wanted the muffins to be kind of bite-sized to prevent myself from overeating, so I only filled up the muffins cups to slightly above the half-mark. If you want to a pretty muffin-looking one, you'll have to fill up those cups to at least three quarter of the way. Look at the batter before they go into the oven. Creamy, thick and with those polka dotty chocolate chips. Cant wait! Oh yah, I also added yogurt in my version of these Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins (different from original recipe) just because I wanted them to be more fluffy and richer in their taste. It actually paid off! 

See how much chocolate chips I have put in the batter? The whole muffin was filled with addictive chocolate chips. Not to mentioned, the sweet smell of bananas.  The best bananas to use for this recipe are those that are over-riped. They may not look pretty on the outside, but when used in such baking recipes, they taste SO sweet and so heavenly! Yum Yum!

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Make approximately 12

Ingredients

213g All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

152g Chocolate Chips

3 Bananas (medium size)

1/4 cup Vegetables Oil

2 Eggs

50g Fine Sugar

1/4 cup Yogurt

1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200C and line muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside for later use. 

2. Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon) together and set aside. 

3. Using a small bowl, toss the chocolate chips with 3 tbsp of flour. Once all the chocolate chips are coated in flour, set aside. This will ensure that the chocolate chips will not sink to the bottom of the batter and will be able to spread well across the muffins.

4. In a separate bowl, mashed the bananas using a fork until you get a thick mash with small chunk of bananas in it. 

5. To the mashed banana, add in the oil, eggs, sugar, yogurt and vanilla extract. Whisk these ingredients together using a whisk until they are well combined and a thick mixture is obtained. 

6. Using a whisk, add in the flour mixture in Step (2) (1/3 portion at a time) into the wet mixture in Step (5). Switch to a spatula to help with mixing. Make sure that the combined mixture is well-mixed, with no trace of flour. Be careful not to over mix the batter.

7. Fold in the chocolate chips into the mixture using a spatula. 

8. Using an ice-cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into 12 muffins cups. Each muffin cup should be filled up to 1/2 to 2/3 of the way. 

9. Tap muffin tray on tabletop and shake it gently to ensure that the batter is level and evenly spread out. This also help to make sure that any excess air is removed from the batter.

10. Bake for 18 minutes (turn the muffin tray front-to-back after 9 minutes) or until the top of the muffins become golden brown and toothpick when inserted comes out clean. Remove muffins from oven and cool in muffin tins for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to allow them to cool completely. 

#15 - Cheese Top Brownies

Ta-dah! My version of Cheese Top Brownie! They look a little small in this paper liner, but trust me, they are just simply the most delicious small-bits devils! This has been my go-to recipe whenever I feel like pampering my family/friends with some sweet treats to thank them for everything and anything. So far, feedback on this little devils has been really positive! And I am getting more and more familar with this recipe, I can now better predict what my little devils' mood swings are. Haha!

If you have read my last entry, you would be aware that I have received (and just completed) my very first order of these Cheese Top Brownie. The order came from my student and it was for a Children Day Party! Though it was just a small order of 25 of them, there were so much pride and happiness in me!

 

I made a totally of 4 batches of 12 brownie each. Batch 1 was a test batch, which I wasn't very happy with because of the proportion of the brownie to the cheese topping. It was a little off. Too much brownie base, too little cheese. Batch 2 was much better (after changing to a slightly smaller muffin tray) and Batch 3 & 4 were excellent!

With these delicious brownie, not only was I able to meet the order from my student, I also have some brownies reserved for my hubby, in-laws, friends as well as Ting & Lian (& Katie & Kelly) who I met up with on Sunday for a wonderful brunch + chit chatting session! I was so happy! Remember, sharing is happiness! 

Note: Icing the brownie after cooling them overnight really helps to ensure that the icing stays for a long period of time. And also, only fill paper liners to half so as to allow a good proportion between the batter and the cream cheese. This will also helps to make sure that the cream cheese are not 'burnt' and they will look really pretty!

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Make approximately 12

Ingredients

Brownie Base

130g Chocolate Chips, melted

57g Butter

85g Flour

1 tbsp Cocoa Powder

1/8 tsp Salt

125g Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Cream Cheese Top

88g Cream Cheese 

1 Egg Yolk

1 tbsp Sugar

Icing Sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 175C and line muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside for later. 

2. Melt chocolate chips & butter in microwave oven and stir together. 

3. Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, salt) and set aside. 

4. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and egg together using a whisk for about 1 minute until the mixture is light and fluffy. 

5. Add in the melted chocolate & butter mixture together with the vanilla extract and mix well to get a smooth mixture.

6. Using a whisk, add in the flour mixture in Step (3) (1/3 portion at a time) into the wet mixture in Step (5). Switch to a spatula to help with mixing. Make sure that the combined mixture is well-mixed, with no trace of flour. Be careful not to over mix the batter.

7. Using an ice-cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into 12 muffins cups. Each muffin cup should be filled up to 1/2 to 2/3 of the way. 

8. Tap muffin tray on tabletop and shake it gently to ensure that the batter is level and evenly spread out. This also help to make sure that excess air is removed from the batter.

9. To make the cream cheese top, cream together cream cheese with egg yolk and sugar using an electric mixer. Make sure that everything is well-mixed. 

10. Add a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture to the top of each muffin cup. 

11. Bake for 20 minutes (turn the muffin tray front-to-back after 10 minutes) and cool completely. If you would like to, you may add icing sugar to the top of the brownie after they are completely cooled (after at least 4 hours) before serving. 

Cheese Top Brownies for a Children Day Party

I am so excited and I can't wait for tomorrow morning to come. Will be making some Cheese Top Brownies for a Children Day Party. Oh my god! Please pray for me that all the brownies must come out perfect and delicious! Really hope the kids will love it!

Please be pretty and yummy like these!

I shall be updating the site with the recipe and the pictures after I accomplished my task of baking at least 3 to 4 dozen of these darlings tomorrow. Will be making a couple more for my girlfriends with whom i am meeting for brunch on Sunday. Please let this be a wonderful weekend of baking!

#14 - Smoked Duck Wrap

I woke up early this morning, really wanting to do something special and yummy for my hubby to bring to his office as his breakfast. I have this urge in me that I must make something really tasty (yet simple! Haha) today, no matter what. This is so as to compensate for his lousy breakfast yesterday. Haha! Why is that so, you asked?

Alright, the background of the story is that yesterday, I happily packed some moon cakes and my Peanut Butter Cookies for my hubby as his breakfast, thinking that it was such a quick fix and I didn't even have to heat up anything. Great idea isn't it? Convenient and perfect for a lazy wife like me. Haha!

But guess what? At the end of the day, I realised that Hubby only finished the Peanut Butter Cookies I made and left the moon cakes totally untouched! Tsk tsk tsk. That was the result I get of me being lazy in my breakfast preparation. After knowing this, I felt kind of guilty because I understand how important it is for him to have a hearty breakfast (with his usual morning coffee, of course) due to his heavy work nature. Oh gosh, how disappointed he must be when he saw those cold and hard moon cakes in his 'breakfast-box'. I'm sorry hubby. Redemption it shall be!

Today's breakfast menu: Smoked Duck Wrap & Iced Coffee

Just look at how inviting these thick pieces of smoked duck were. The slightly pink meat, the crispy skin, and yes, even the oil that is oozing out of the meat. Yummy! If you are a fan of savoury food (like me!), then you will definitely love this! The duck was well-smoked and after some time in the oven, the duck skin was crispy yet flavourful at the same time! The only negative thing about this will probably be the fact that I did not cook the duck from the basic. Yes, it was from a box but what the hell? If anything from a box can be this delicious after just a couple of minutes in the oven, I am fine with that. Anyway, we are not having this sinful treat everyday so please spare me the health talk. Every now and then, we need something that is just heavenly tasty, don't we?

This is how the completed Smoked Duck Wrap looks like. Yum! With some sautéed mushrooms and a couple of cherry tomatoes, it is completed! If you do not like mushrooms, a good alternative to that can be thin slices of cucumber or even some lettuce to give you the light and crunchy texture which I feel will go perfectly well with the saltiness of the meat. Since I run out of both cucumber and lettuce, I had to substitute them with cheery tomatoes and sautéed mushrooms. 

Did I mention that I am such a big fan for savoury dishes? Oh yah, I did! Haha. For someone like me, this Smoked Duck Wrap is like one of the best savoury breakfast dish I can wish for. My photos probably do not do justice to how good it looks in reality but I'm only using the camera from my Galaxy Note mobile phone, so I will just have to make do with it. But trust me, this wrap is really good! 

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Servings

Serves 2

Ingredients

200g original smoked duck breast (boneless), defrosted 

2 Onion & Chive Wraps

3 Cheery Tomatoes

1 Tsp Ketchup

1 Tsp Chilli Sauce

Sautéed Mushrooms

3 White Button Mushrooms

Olive Oil 

Mixed Herb

Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 200C and line a baking tray with aluminium foil.

2. Place defrosted duck on baking tray and cover with aluminium foil. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

3. Warm up the Onion & Chive Wrap using a saucepan over medium heat. Allow warming for 1 minute on each side of the wrap. Set aside for later use.

4. Wash and cut the cheery tomatoes into half. Set aside. 

5. Wash and slice the white button mushrooms. Using a saucepan, add olive oil to the heated pan. Sautéed the mushroom and add in mixed herb and a pinch of salt for seasoning. 

6. After 20 minutes of baking, check on the duck. The outer skin should starts to turn golden brown. Remove foil and bake for a further 20 minutes.

7. After the duck is done, allow it to rest for 5 minutes before slicing it thinly. (As you can see from the picture, my slices are a little too thick. I'm too greedy I will say)

8. Spread the warm wrap with ketchup and chilli sauce evenly as the base over the entire wrap. Arrange the sautéed mushroom in the centre of the wrap. Place the sliced smoked duck (about 3-4 slices) over the mushrooms. Also add in the cherry tomatoes. 

9. Roll up the wrap from the bottom and slice the wrap in half before serving it warm. 

#13 - Orange Buttermilk Popsicles

Do you ever have the craving for something sweet during late in the night? For me, it is usually when Hubby and I are relaxing and watching our cable television after dinner that I will have this sudden urge to have something tangy yet sweet. If it is just that, a quick assorted fruits salad would probably do the trick. But, just sometime, I would wish for it to be more perfect by being icy cold. Something like an ice-cream but not as creamy. This Orange Buttermilk Popsicle is a perfect solution for me! 

These popsicles are sweet and tangy in taste and there is really no simpler recipe for these goodies. If you know me, you would know that my cooking style is pretty much, simple, simple, simple. I truly believe in doing more with less and believe me, this simple frozen treat here get you smiling in the recent hot weather.

The original recipe was meant for lemon popsicles but since I have some buttermilk and plenty of oranges sitting in the refrigerator, I thought why not change it out a little. And the result is , SWEET! If you like something healthier and not-as-sweet, you should probably be looking at my Mango Yogurt Popsicles instead. But if you are ready to give yourself a sweet treat over the weekend, try this recipe out! It will not disappoint you. 

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Recipe: Adapted and modified from here

Servings

Make 6-8 Popsicles (depending on size of the mould)

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Fine Sugar

1/2 Cup Water

2 Oranges, juiced and zested

1 Cup Buttermilk

Directions

1. In a saucepan, heat the sugar and water under medium-high heat. Stir well until all the sugar has dissolved. Set aside for syrup to cool. 

2. Add the juice and zest from 2 medium-size oranges into the syrup and stir. If you do not like to have the orange zest in your popsicles, you may omit the orange zest portion and at the same time, strain the orange juice before adding it to the sugar syrup in Step (1). 

3. Add in the buttermilk to the syrup mixture and mix well. 

4. Once the mixture is well mixed, pour it into the popsicle moulds. Freeze for at least 3-6 hours until the popsicles are firm. (I freezed mine overnight to ensure firm popsicles)

6. When removing popsicles from moulds, place the moulds under running water. This will ensure that the popsicles come out smoothly from the moulds. 

#12 - Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

For a peanuts lover like my hubby, it is strange to me that his special liking for creamy peanut butter is not extended to its chunky counterpart. Hmmm.. So, I began thinking about what can I do with the bottle of chunky peanut butter in the cupboard which Hubby hates? 

Not only so, last week I also met up with my BFF, Cynthia. Knowing that she must be totally stressed up over her work in school (with the marking of coursework & preparation of End of Year Exams), I wanted to bake her something to cheer her up. So Classic Peanut Butter Cookies it shall be! 

Personally, I really like the combination of a couple of Peanut Butter Cookies with a glass of iced cold milk. Perfect! This version of Classic Peanut Butter Cookies I had made is not the chewy kind. But instead, expect the crispiness of a cookie combined with a thick creamy taste of peanut butter. If you are a lover for peanuts, I see no reasons why you wouldn't like this. Cynthia seemed happy with the cookies, so am i!

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Make approximately 36-40 cookies

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1/4 Tsp Salt

113g Unsalted Butter

1/2 Cup Fine Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cup Peanut Butter (Chunky / Creamy)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Prepare 2 large baking trays and line them with baking paper. Set aside for later use.

3. Combined the flour, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Sift the flour mixture and set it aside. 

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter with the fine sugar and brown sugar with the electric mixer. Do this for at least 3 to 4 minutes to ensure a good mix.

5. Add egg, vanilla extract and peanut butter into the mixture and mix until smooth. 

6. Add the dry ingredient (flour mixture) slowly, spoonful by spoonful, and mix well to ensure that all the ingredients are well-incorporated.

7. Cover the dough in the bowl with clear cling wrap and place in the fridge for it to set for at least 1 hours 

8. When the dough has set well, use a small ice-cream scoop to divide the dough into small portions (ball-shaped) and place them on the baking trays. Ensure that they are at least 3 to 5cm apart from one another. Also flatten each of them with the back of a fork to obtain a crisscross pattern on each small cookie dough. 

9. Bake for 12-15minutes, until the edges of the cookies start to turn golden brown. Allows the cookies to cool on the baking trays for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving. 

#11 - Baked Cheesecake with Kiwi Topping

By far, this has got to be my favourite dessert among all the rest of the recipes which I have adapted and modified. I would say that it is also the most successful and tasty one as well. Yeah! I was (still am) so happy when the cheesecake came out PERFECT after hours of setting on the tabletop & fridge. Heavenly! 

The texture and taste of this baked cheesecake is very similar to those New Yoke Cheesecakes which are available around coffee places and cafes. I like the creamy, cheesy, lemony taste of the filling as well as the buttery and slightly salty biscuit base at the bottom. In just one day, 3 quarter of the cake is gone! Hubby prefer the plain cheesecake while I liked mine with the kiwi toppings. Fresh and slightly acidic, the kiwi gave a perfect punch to the flavour of the cheesecake. You can even bite into the small bits of kiwi pieces in the topping. Love it love it love it!

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Make approximately 12 pieces

Ingredients

Base

1 and 1/4 Cup Digestive Biscuits Crumbs

85g Unsalted Butter, melted

Filling

1135g Cream Cheese, softened at room temperature

1 Cup Sugar

4 Eggs

3/4 Cup Sour Cream

1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour, sifted

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Zest from 1 Lemon

Juice from 1/2 Lemon

Kiwi Topping

2 Golden Kiwifruit

2 Green Kiwifruit

50g Fine Sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160C.

2. Grease baking pan (Medium spring form cake pan, diameter 22cm) by spraying a layer of non-stick spray on it before lining the base with aluminium foil on the outside. Set aside for later use.

3. To prepare the digestive biscuits crumbs, you may either break up the biscuits into crumbs using a food processor or place them in a zip lock bag and break them up to crumbs by rolling a rolling pin over the biscuits in the bag. 

4. Add melted butter to the crumbs and mix well. Pour the biscuit mixture into cake pan and pressed it firmly and evenly in the pan. You may make use of the base of a ramekin to help you. Bake for 8 minutes in the centre of the oven and set aside while making the cheese filling. 

5. Cream the cream cheese with sugar to ensure a good mix. Add eggs, sour cream, flour, salt and vanilla extract into the mixture and mix until smooth. 

6. Add lemon zest and lemon juice to the mixture and mix well. Once there are no lumps in the mixture, you may stop mixing. Do not over mix so as to prevent cracks on the cheesecake. 

7. Pour filling over the biscuit base. Shake the cake pan slightly to ensure that the filling is evenly spread and any air pockets within the mixture are removed.

8. Bake in the oven for 1 hour 10 minutes. 

9. When out of the oven, cool completely on table top (I cooled it for 4 to 5 hours) before transferring the cheesecake to the fridge to chill overnight. 

10. Blend the kiwi to a pureed. Place the pureed kiwi in a saucepan and sugar to it. Heat the mixture under low flame until the sugar is dissolved. Drizzle the kiwi topping on the cheesecake before serving. 

#Note - 

Baking the cheesecake for 1 hour 10 minutes, the top of my cake is a little too brown. You may adjust the timing to bake for an hour. It should give a better colour. 

#10 - White Chocolate Brownies with Strawberry Glaze

Also know as Blondies, white chocolate brownies are the sweeter version of their sister, Brownies. If you are kind of sick and tired of our usual brown/milk chocolate (like I am), then you may want to play around with white chocolate instead.

I have recently expanded my baking collection with some new baking pans from Wiltshire! Yeah! Non-stick pans are my favourite! But the problem arises when I was preparing to bake these little darlings. Because I do not have a square baking tin as required in the recipe, I have to make use of what I have. Being the indecisive me, I could not make up my mind whether to use the Slice Pan (273 x 175 x 32mm) or the Oblong Cake Pan (335 x 230 x 45mm). On one hand, i did not want my blondies to be too thick and dense, but on the other hand, I wasn't sure whether the batter was enough to spread through the cake pan. Haha! Talking about being indecisive, I must be the classic of the classic! 

Anyway, I was greedy as I wanted to be able to bake as many of these blondies as possible as I have friends coming over. So, I decided to use the Cake Pan. WRONG decision! Haha! It caused my blondies to be too thin and it turned out that they were kind of overcooked (don't worry, they were not burnt) and the texture became somewhat in between a brownie and a soft cookie. 

Hubby called them the white chocolate cookies (not brownies) and he finished all of them in just 2 days. What can I say? I am so grateful to have my hubby as my all-time supporter and he makes my life that much easier by being the easy-eater who he is. Thank god he is not that much of a fussy eater.

Not to worry, I will be trying out this recipe again, once I get my hands on a new batch of white chocolate. 

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Make approximately 30 brownies

Ingredients

1C All Purpose Flour, sieved

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1C White Chocolate Chips

76g Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

1/2C Brown Sugar

1/4C Fine Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 tbs Sour Cream

Strawberry Icing

28g White Chocolate Chips

1tbs Unsalted Butter

50g Strawberry, pureed with blender/ food processor

1C Icing Sugar

2tbs milk, if necessary

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Grease baking pan by spraying a layer of non-stick spray on it before lining the base with non-stick baking paper. Set aside for later use.

3. Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and set aside. 

4. Add 2 tbs of flour to the white chocolate chips and mix well, making sure that all the chocolate chips are well-coated with a layer of flour. This will ensure that the chocolate chips will not sink to the bottom of the batter. 

5. In a mixing bowl, cream the soft butter and sugar together using a whisk. When a creamy mixture is obtained, add in the egg, vanilla extract and sour cream. Mix well to get a smooth mixture. 

6. Using a spatula, fold in the flour mixture (1/3 portion at a time) into the wet mixture in Step (5) and make sure that the combined mixture is well-mixed, with no trace of flour. 

7. Add in the white chocolate chips and fold it into the mixture. 

8. Spread the batter evenly in the baking pan. Shake it gently to ensure that the batter is level. 

9. Bake for 25 minutes. Set aside for it to cool completely before cutting into bars.

10. To make the strawberry icing, melt the white chocolate chips and butter in the microwave/ oven. Once melted, add in pureed strawberries and icing sugar. Whisk well until mixture is smooth and well combined. Add in milk, if necessary, to get the correct consistency of the icing. Set aside.

11. After cooling and cutting up the brownies into small bars, brush a thin layer of the strawberry icing on top of each pieces, to get a glossy glaze. Garnish with a few white chocolate chips before serving. 

#Note - 

It will take some time to melt the white chocolate chips for the icing. Be careful to check and stir the butter & chocolate mixture when they are in the microwave/ oven. The white chocolate chips tends to burn a little instead of melting well (unlike milk chocolate chips).

In addition, you may also add in some macadamia nuts in the brownies if you like the nutty texture! 

#09 - Mixed Berry Souffle

Looks like I am on a berries hype isn't it? Actually, not so. It is just that these berries (raspberries, strawberries and a couple others) are so pretty when they sit in the fridge but they don't last that long for me to wonder how I should play around with them. Hence, in my attempt to finish up the last few raspberries in the box, here comes my version of Mixed Berry Soufflé. 

#P/S: Yes, I still have another box of strawberries and those will be for another time, another recipe. 

As you can see from the photos, the rise of the soufflé isn't that perfect, but still, compared to my last attempt of Nutella Soufflé, this batch of Mixed Berry Soufflés has given a better height and they do look pretty nice right? However, I have to be very honest to say that the taste of the soufflés isn't really what I was looking forward to. It was a little too mushy and eggy and I presumed this is due to the egg yolk in the batter. After making this batch of Mixed Berry Soufflés, I have managed to find another recipe which does not require the use of egg yolks and I am planning to give that a shot soon. 

But still, I do enjoy sharing my recipes, whether they are excellent, good or just plainly average. I believe that it is the joy in sharing which motivates one to continue trying and experimenting. This is also the exact reason why I enjoy teaching as well. So, here we go with the recipe for Mixed Berry Soufflé. 

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Serves 8

Ingredients

(Mixed berries jam)

165g fresh strawberries

97g fresh raspberries

50g sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

150ml milk

100ml of whipping cream

20g all purpose flour

15g corn flour

3 eggs, separated

90g sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190C.

2. Spray the base and insides of 8 small ramekins with non-stick spray and dust them with cocoa power. Chilled the ramekins in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.

3. Blend the raspberries and strawberries together using a blender / food processor until a smooth puree is formed.

4. In a saucepan, place the berries with the sugar and vanilla extract and heat them up slowly. Using low heat, stir the mixture until the sugar has dissolved. When the mixture is well-mixed, has thicken and starts to boil, remove from the heat. You should get a smooth puree.

5. Sieve this puree through a sieve to remove the seeds from the berries. You will need to push the puree through the sieve using a spatula to get a nice and rich jam mixture. Cool the jam in the fridge. 

6. Heat the milk and whipping cream in a saucepan until it is almost boiling and set aside.

7. Sieve the all purpose flour and corn flour together and set aside.

8. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with sugar (40g) to get a creamy mixture. Mix in the flour mixture and combine them well. The flour will helps to thicken the mixture and you should a creamy and smooth texture. 

9. Add 1/4 cup of the heated creamy milk to the mixture and whisk well until the mixture is smooth. Gradually mix in the rest of the creamy milk and continue whisking. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and whisk over low heat for 5 minutes to get a thick and smooth creamy mixture. Cool the mixture in the fridge. 

10. After both the jam and cream mixture has cooled down, add the jam to the cream mixture and mix well to get a nice and smooth texture. 

11. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites using a stand mixer, until soft peak formed. Gradually add in the sugar (50g) while whisking to get a thick, glossy and firm meringue.

12. Once the meringue is done, fold it in with the jam & cream mixture in Step (9) a third at a time. Make sure folding is done gently so as the air in the meringue is not knocked out of the mixture. 

13. Fill the ramekins with the soufflé mixture. Tap the ramekins gently on the tabletop to ensure that the mixture is evenly spread through the ramekins and air pockets within the mixture is removed. This will helps the soufflés to rise up evenly. 

14. To help the soufflés to rise better, smooth the top of the ramekins using the back of a butter knife and run a circle around the edge of the ramekins using your thumb. 

15. Bake the soufflés in the oven for 10-12minutes or until well risen with a light golden brown top. Serve immediately. 

#Note - 

If you would like to, you may dust with icing sugar and garnish with berries before serving. I did not do that because I felt that a good amount of sugar has already been used in the recipe as well as I do not have any extra raspberries for garnishing. 

As mentioned earlier, I also did not quite like the eggy taste in the soufflés itself which I believed was due to the egg yolks in the mixture. So I will be trying another recipe which does not require egg yolks in it. Hopefully that will cater to my tastebud better.

Other than that, I'm pretty happy with the appearance of the soufflés. They are pretty well risen (compared to my previous Nutella soufflés) and the texture of the light golden brown top was really chewy and nice. Got to keep improving!