Congo Bar

I know I know. I haven't blogging for quite a while :p Finally I've got some time to update. Will update more later but its weekend already :( You know I am busy on weekends with errrrrr stuff?

Congo Bar

Adapted from Bakerella

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened
2cups (or less) brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together.
Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.
Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well.
Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Coat a 13 X 9 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don’t over bake.

Order is on!

One of the so many reason I was busy during my long silence here was: I was busy baking for others. The first time I started baking, it was for myself. Just to fulfill my temptations. Then I baked for the families. Then my friends. Then people started to order my cakes/cupcakes.

So there, I finally taking order for the cakes. Or cupcakes.

I am not that pro when it comes to decorating/frosting. So at the moment, I will only offer design from my previous collection. If you do wish to order anything, please make sure it is based on the designs provided.

You can choose from any flavour available: vanilla / chocolate / coconut

The size of the solo cup is fixed: 2 oz. But do ask me if you need a bigger one. I will try to quote a new price for you.

I do not offer delivery, but we can plan something maybe I will be somewhere around your place at that time.

And no, I DO NOT do fondant.

This one comes with 4 cupcakes toppers at the grassy cuppies. Lupa nak letak.

Email me at kookies.order[at]gmail.com

I would be more than happy to hear anything from you!

Sicilian's Orange Cake

Sorry sorry sorry foe the lack of updates. I'd been very busy but my baking obsession continues as usual every weekend :) I left my memory card in the office (lets just hope I don't accidentally lost it cause I have tons of my baking pictures in it, hurm) so hopefully I have some time tomorrow to go and get it. Not that my office is that far, so no excuse for me I guess?

Here, some of what I found in my another memory card (everyone needs two, I know). Sicilian's Orange Cake. I baked an orange cake once before. Other than the almond, I do think both of the cake were amazing. They tasted alike, but Sicilian's was a bit buttery and moist whilst the other one was almond-y yet so moist and soft. So try it and tell me which one you prefer.

Sicilian's Orange Cake
(You can find the recipe almost everywhere)

Ingredients:

250g butter at room temperature
250g sugar (1 1/2 cup or less)
4 medium eggs
250g flour (1 1/2 cup or less)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until white anf fluffy around 4-5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
   
3. Add orange zest. Add all the flour at once and mix slowly. Pour in the orange juice and mix.
4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes depending on your oven

ps: I noticed that this cake brown to quickly even when it is halfway done. Cover it with an aluminium foil. It might helps. I don't use icing for this recipe. I can't resist the temptation to try it rightaway. Hehe.

Cheesecake Galore!

One of the cheesecake I baked during my open house last two weeks. This is what happened when you keep it for so long, I forgot which recipe did I used!! Hahahaha. Oh kejap, I think I remember something (yes I should try shouting next time if I forgot something). Ah yesss. That's the one.

This cake was loved by everyone! Ceh semua I baked was loved by everyone (this is not a statement). Hehehe. Ok now seriously, everyone's loved it!

Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake

Adapted from Homesweethome

150 gm digestive biscuit/crushed

80gm butter/melted

180gm white chocolate

500gm cream cheese (at room temperature)

300gm sour cream (I don't have this)

3/4 cup caster sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

3 eggs

Chocolate ganache/whipping cream

1. Heat the oven at 160 Degrees Celcius. Prepare your baking pan.
2. Grate coarsely 3/4 of your white chocolate (leave some for hiasan)
3. Mix together the biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press evenly on your baking pan and chill for 30 minutes.
4. In another bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla essence until well incorporated. Then add eggs, one at a time.
5. Pour the cream cheese mixture onto the biscuit pastry and mix in the grated white chocolate. Stir gently with a fork.
6. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
7. When it is done, turn off the oven and open the door a bit but do not take your cake out. Let it be in the oven for the next 2-3 hours.
8. Chill the cake in the fridge for 4 hours.
9. (Since I ran out of whipping cream) Pour chocolate ganache on top of the cake. Sprinkle the leftover white chocolate. Ready to be serve when it has cool completely.

And this is another chessecake I baked last week. I have another box of cream cheese and some raspberries so Afi requested me to bake some. I halves the ingredients since they were only two of us at home (which took 3 days to finish!).

Strawberry-Raspberries Cheesecake Slice

Adapted from My Kitchen Snippets

3/4 cup crushed digestive biscuit

6 tbsp melted butter

250gm cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp flour

1 egg

3 tbsp strawberry jam

Fresh raspberries for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease and line a 6"x6" square baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Mix crumbs and butter together and press firmly on the bottom of the pan.
3. Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour in a bowl on medium speed until well blended. Add egg at low speed. Mix well. Pour over crust.
4. Drop the strawberry jam on different sites on the batter. Use a knife and make a marble effect on it.
5. Bake for 40 mins or until it is done. Refrigerate overnight before serving.
6. Arrange raspberries on top of the cake.

Bread Pudding

Ok ini recipe jump. Jump disini bermaksud lompat macam potong que because I want Yasmin to try it. Yas, I know you're reading this and this post is specially for you!

The first time I ate bread pudding was like 10-12 years ago. My sister baked it (yes kakak you baked before aite? Hehe). And that was also the last time I ate bread pudding. Pathetic I know. So, there were some leftovers of the sides of the breads (you know the hard/brown thing that people cut and throw when they're preparing for sandwiches?) from last Sunday sandwiches. I had 2 long loaf of Gardenia bread (What was I doing with that many sandwiches? Hehe) and I really don't want money wasted just like that if we throw it. So I keep it.

And yesterday I baked a bread pudding. Sedap sedap tak tipu tolong lah percaya!

Pecans streussel topping.

Sorry. I couldn't resist the temptation that even before I get my camera ready, I scooped it for food testing. Ok pass. Hahaha.

Actually this bread pudding has it custard sauce that goes with it but I wanted to try it first. I don't want it to be that sweet. I know I have sweet tooth but just as a precaution, when you have dessert in your place twice a week, hurm? And I reduced all the amount of sugar one quarter each. And I am relieved that I did! The sweetness, just perfect!

But what I didn't know, bread pudding is like your substitution of rice. I took one small square and not even finishing half, dah full. Eggs+breads? No wonder lah!

The Best Bread Pudding

Adapted from Paula Deen

Ingredients

2 cups granulated sugar (1 3/4 cups)

5 large beaten eggs

2 cups milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups cubed Italian bread, allow to stale overnight in a bowl

1 cup packed light brown sugar (3/4 cup)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup yellow raisins

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.

Mix together granulated sugar, eggs, and milk in a bowl; add vanilla and raisins. Pour over cubed bread and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, mix and crumble together brown sugar, butter, and pecans.

Pour bread mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven.

Coconut Cupcakes

I know the recipe called for coconut cupcakes but I can assure you it tasted more like the usual vanilla cupcakes. It was the best! Memang best. Dense and moist. And sedap! Sumpah!

It was for my friend's hantaran actually. I baked the trial cupcakes few days before, alter the ingredients a bit then voila!

Coconut Cupcakes
adapted from Tendercrumbs

6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (I substitute with coconut milk)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the coconut milk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

For the frosting, I'd been dying to try Italian Meringue Buttercream. I was told it was awesome so I just had to try. There were a few recipes/methods available but I opted for the simpler one.

But you know what? I hate how it tasted like. Macam ada one thick layer on my tongue after makan and it tasted empty. So no, I won't try it again unless someone assure me to.

Carrot cake and Dates bar

So my sister in law (erk I must get used to it) asked me to bake a carrot cake for her for raya. But I already preparing for a cheesecake so I told her I nanti. Nanti Shaleen bake.

This was the second time I bake using this recipe. The first one wasn't what I expected for. And that was 3 months ago. But I won't give up. I just though maybe I'd missed out somewhere so baked it again for the second time.

And it fails. Big time.

It was too spongy!! I don't know if that was what it should tasted like but I don't think carrot cake was supposed to be spongy macam sepan. There, sepan tau! So sila. I drew my line, just here.

And this on the other hand was my favourites. It was dense and full with nuts and dates. I know my Mom would love it and she did :)

The Bar

Adapted from Thepioneerwoman

1-½ cup Butter, Melted And Then Cooled

8 ounces, weight Pitted Dates, Chopped Coarsely (around 1 1/2 Cups

1-½ cup Walnuts, Chopped

1 cup Pecans, Chopped (optional)

2 cups All-purpose Flour

½ teaspoons Salt

¼ teaspoons Baking Powder

¾ cups Packed Brown Sugar

¾ cups White Sugar

4 whole Eggs At Room Temperature

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Take 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and brush your pan (one 9×13 pan or two 8×8 pans), making sure to grease the sides as well.

3. Set the coarsely chopped dates, walnuts and pecans (if using) aside in a bowl. (If the dates you are using are too dry, you can soak them in a little bit of liquid. Make sure you drain them before mixing them in with the nuts.)

4. Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl. Set aside.

5. Mix the remaining 1 1/4 cup melted butter and sugars until well incorporated.

6. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

7. Add in the vanilla.

8. Reserve ¼ cup of the flour mixture. Dredge the date and nut mixture with the reserved flour. Use more of the flour mixture if needed.

9. Mix in the rest of the flour mixture with the wet ingredients. Do this gently, by hand, until just incorporated.

10. Fold in dredged dates and nuts with the batter.

10. Pour the batter (it will be very thick) onto the buttered pan(s).

11. Bake for 30 or more minutes, until light golden brown. It can take up to 40 or so minutes to cook, so keep checking. The bars are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.