THB #15 Orange-Frosted Sponge Cake

I baked this soft, fluffy and yummy cake yesterday and I was out the whole day today so I only can post now, luckily I'm still in time phew.... :)

First pic - last night just after I poured the frosting

 

 

The pics below - taken this morning

 

This cake is more to chiffon cake, to my opinion. I reduced the sugar used for egg yolks mixture to 1/2 cup from 1 cup and for egg whites mixture to 1/3 cup from 1/2 cup, and I found the sweetness is just nice for me. In fact, I didn't mind eating it plain without frosting :)

I used bundt pan since my chiffon pan with removable bottom is too small in size. I did struggle a little to remove the cake from the pan, hence the not so smooth top, and the frosting didn't help much to cover it up since the frosting I made was not smooth enough, either :(
And I found it's a little too runny for me, perhaps cos I only used half quantity of icing sugar than recommended. Nevertheless, it added some sweetness to the not so sweet cake, also infused more orange fragrance and taste, and best of all, it still can set very nicely the next day after kept overnight in airtight container in room temperature :)

I prefer to it the next day after the frosting has really set, very nice :)
Those who loves light fluffy cake must try this cake :) No oil, no butter, no guilt LOL

I'm submitting this post to The Home Bakers hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours
where we bake recipes from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas
This recipe was chosen by Mimi from MiMi Bakery House
Please view the full recipe HERE

Want to view other members bake this cake? Click HERE

THB #14 Chocolate Cheese Streusel Ribboned Cake

So glad I managed to steal time to bake this wonderfully easy and tasty cake
The fourteenth bake for The Home Bakers, hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, baking with a group of members from the book  "Coffee Cakes" by Lou Seibert Pappas
Perfect with a cuppa! Not only me, but the whole family enjoyed it too :)

I love the texture of this cake, fine and moist, really delicious
I baked half recipe but I used full recipe streusel, and I sprinkled all in between the cake, I didn't add on top, hence the "thick ribbon" LOL

I didn't include cinnamon powder and almond extract since my family doesn't fancy them
For me myself, I love cinnamon but I dislike almond extract
I too love the idea of mixing in chopped nuts in the streusel, but my kids dislike nuts for now, so I replaced it with semi sweet chocolate chips and grated cheddar cheese
I didn't mix in the cheese in the streusel, though. Instead, I sprinkled on top of it before pouring the remaining batter
Also, I replaced sour cream with low fat plain yoghurt

Please visit Louanne from Louanne's Kitchen for the full recipe. Other members bake this cake too, please drop by The Home Bakers (THB) to view

THB #13 - Dark Chocolate Almond Cake (Happy Call)

Two years is fast! LBT turned two on Friday, hence the challenge for this month, any bake for celebration :)
So I chose to bake this yummy chocolate cake, decorated with sugar cookies which happened to be requested by Ian :)

I baked this yummy chocolaty cake in conjunction with the 13th bake for The Home Bakers, a recipe chosen by Jocelyn from Riceball Eats, from the book  "Coffee Cakes" by Lou Seibert Pappas
This time I baked using Happy Call pan and I was satisfied with the outcome
Soft and chocolaty, tasty too. A bit crumbly, perhaps cos I overbaked it a little
Very similar to brownies, but not the fudgy type
Very well received by my family, including the kids :)

I had only chopped almonds which I blended briefly, so I still could taste a little crunch from the almond bits :)
I used bittersweet chocolate and strong brewed coffee. I guess the coffee was a bit too strong I felt the cake was not sweet enough. Since I love the slight coffee taste in the cake, I would still use the same kind of brewed coffee and used semi sweet chocolate instead to get the right sweetness to my liking

Here for presentation I sliced the cake to bite size small squares
It's surprisingly pleasant to munch the cake together with the cookie :)

Please view Jocelyn's site to view the full recipe for the chocolate cake
As for the sugar cookies, I used the same recipe I made before from Rima

So glad I finally managed to find time to participate in The Home Bakers event this time, after I missed out the previous bake :)
This event is hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours
Please visit HERE if you're interested in joining the fun :)

And to LBT, happy 2nd birthday! So glad to be able to share baking experiences together with the ever growing number of members, many turn to best friends :)
Many more years to come. Cheers!

THB #11 - Banana Cashew & Coconut Coffee Cupcakes

I love banana cake!  Be it dense and moist, light and spongy - all types, and also all kinds of combinations - with chocolate, cheese, nuts, coffee, etc
And for this eleventh bake for The Home Bakers, the combination is rather unique - with coconut flakes, and it's mixed in the cake
I was eager to know the texture and taste of this cake, I love coconut in cakes, too!
So I baked it last weekend and I made just half recipe in muffin pans
With 1/4 cup of batter in every mould, I had 10 cakes

I love this cake! Even though the texture was a little more compact, but it's still soft and so moist! Taste wise, oh so yummy! The banana flavour combined with the crunch from the coconut flakes, the delicious cinnamon and nutty topping - it's really a brilliant idea to combine all those ingredients together!

I followed the recipe exactly, using more bananas than it's required though - for half recipe I used 2 large bananas. I replaced sour cream with plain low fat yoghurt
Also I used cashew nuts instead, simply cos that was what I had in stock :)
Oh and I only had light brown sugar, so I used that
I used dark rum liqueur, and since I couldn't find sweetened flaked coconut, I made my own from desiccated coconut
Baked the cupcakes for approximately 25 minutes

Here's the recipe to make sweetened flaked coconut from desiccated coconut, I googled I found one from livestrong.com

What you need:

1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp canola oil
2 tsp water (or 4 tsp if you omit the oil)

1. Mix desiccated coconut with icing sugar in a bowl
2. In a separate bowl, mix oil and water
3. Pour liquid mix over the sugared coconut, mix well
4. Let mixture sit for at least 10 minutes until coconut absorps all liquid. Stir mixture once or twice
5. Use immediately

For full recipe, please hop over to Kit's site
This recipe was chosen by her - great choice, Kit! :)


This post is for The Home Bakers hosted by Joyce
An event for baking enthusiasts using recipes from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas

THB #10 - Danish Chocolate Streusel - Swirled Bread

My 10th bake for The Home Bakers, how time flies!
This is definitely not a cake to me, hence the change I made in the name
Whatever the name is, this is really a keeper!
Such a soft and yummy bread I baked this morning!
Let's see how it'll be tomorrow morning :)

I made half recipe, divided the dough into two and it still yielded two huge loafs

The changes I made was:

• I used 2 medium eggs for half recipe
• I substituted the all purpose flour to bread flour
• For the topping, I used grated cheddar cheese instead, since my kids do not eat breads and cakes with nuts, the choice I didn't regret at all, I really enjoyed the cheesy crust!
• I used breadmaker to do the kneading and first proofing
• I halved the cinnamon powder so not to 'interrupt ' the chocolate flavour - this I did for my kids in particular

I didn't quite get it at the instruction where I was supposed to pull and twist each cut so I just skipped this. I should have blog hopped to those baked this earlier to find out. Later part I found out Anuja has the picture to show how it's done. But it's too late LOL
Perhaps that's the reason why I had flatter bread compared with the rest of the members' :)

Flat bread as it is, this bread is really delicious with wonderful texture
The whole family loves this
I'll definitely make this again, and yes, will do the pulling and twisting next time :)

For full recipe, please hop over to Anuja's site, she has chosen this wonderful recipe


This post is for The Home Bakers hosted by Joyce
An event for baking enthusiasts using recipes from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas

THB #9 - Cinnamon Apple Walnut Torte

After baking this dessert (or pudding? or cake?) myself, I knew that I wouldn't bake this anymore. It's not too bad, but it's just not for me
I would still prefer the juicier classic apple crumble, I guess
I love the combination, apple - cinnamon - walnut, perfect, but I don't really fancy the end result
I tried with custard sauce and yoghurt, and I prefer the latter, but I did not mind to eat it plain

Still, more than half gone in less than an hour LOL

Below is served wiith custard sauce...

And this is with low fat plain yoghurt...

I planned to bake using my muffin pan but decided to use my 7" round pie mould instead, reduced the sugar content to 1/4 cup, used 2 granny smith apples and golden raisins
One good thing is, it is considered pretty healthy choice for snack or dessert :)

For full recipe, please hop over to Jasline of Food Is My Life

This post is for The Home Bakers hosted by Joyce
An event for baking enthusiasts using recipes from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas

THB #8 - Sun Dried Tomato Pistachio Cornmeal Cake

This is the 8th bake for THB organized by Joyce and chosen by Yvette
Please hop over to her site for full recipe

A cake I almost decided not to bake, I never bake a savoury cake before
But I changed my mind when I read THB site - the Q&A part, many good reviews
I was curious how the taste like so I made half recipe
And, I was delighted I decided to bake this cake, it's delicious!
This is not cake to me, this is bread!
It's really like eating bread, not those soft fluffy type of bread, it's soft and a little chewy, cheesy, nutty, tangy, all combined perfectly
Unfortunately, I'm the only one in the family who enjoys eating this cake, besides my sister
Kids didn't get to try this cake yet as I'm writing this post now, we shall see tomorrow
I'll lightly toast it and let them try, I think my boy who loves savoury snack will like it, not sure about my girl
DH didn't really like it. He said, taste like 'angmoh' bread with weird taste and texture LOL
It's quite funny to find out he didn't enjoy it, cos he usually loves eating 'angmoh' bread with cream soup
But yes, usually he would choose those plain simpe kind like plain baguette
Perhaps this one is a little too much for him :)


If you see the pics below, the cupcakes looked darker in color than it's supposed to be
That is because....of my carelessness....again! *sigh*
So, I used the oven yesterday to grill something just using top heat, and I didn't change back to top+bottom heat
And today, I preheated it without checking, so in the end I baked these cupcakes using only top heat!
I wasn't aware of it until 10 minutes later I smelled something burning then in a second I remembered everything
I ran to the oven to see the blacky top of the cupcakes, I was like oh noooo...
I quickly took out everything from the oven, switching to top+bottom heat and while waiting for the oven to be ready, I tried my best to cut all the burnt parts on top
Even though I couldn't clear 100%, but they looked much better
All the pistachios and cheese on top were gone, so I sprinkled more cheddar cheese on top
I realized they were cooked already, so I only baked them for around 5 minutes to let the cheese melted and set
So lucky I still could enjoy them in the end phew....
I think I overbaked them a little cos of the incident, luckily I still could enjoy them soft in the inside and crispy on the outside :)

I baked half recipe using muffin pan and I got 7 cupcakes
I used cornmeal instead of polenta, but used sun dried tomatoes with the amount of one recipe, and i used Greek style yoghurt instead of low fat plain type
I mixed the cake with parmesan cheese, but sprinkled the top with cheddar
I used sun dried tomatoes in oil, so I omit the hot water, and added 1 tbsp of oil from the tomatoes
Oh and I chopped the pistachios, I shouldn't have done that if I wanted to taste the nuts in the cake even more

I guess this is an 'either you love it or hate it' kind of cake
I decided to give it a try and I love it

I baked them this afternoon and now only 2 left
I still have some sun dried tomatoes, enough for another round, should I bake another batch? Tempted.. tempted :)

THB #7 - Blueberries Coffee Cake

I shared a silly story...
It happened yesterday morning when I just woke up around 7am
I checked my handphone and read Zoe's comment in my previous posting about her early post for this cake and I was literally jumped out of the bed and quickly on my pc
I was like, oh God I'm late! I haven't posted the cake I hosted! Silly silly silly... how can I forget!!!
So I quickly edited the pictures, and started typing while the rest of the family having their breakfast. DH looked at me typing my blog post cluelessly cos it's a rare sight to see me doing that in the early morning
While typing halfway I was like, eeerrr... today is 10th? Or 9th?
Then I realized that it was the 9th! An immediate feeling of relief filled me in from head to toe. Oh, I'm not late, I'm not late...yippee!
So I just continued typing and saved it and here it is, posted right in time LOL

A silly story about somebody so blur like me hahahahaha....

Ok, back to business..
I must say I am happy, really happy to have chosen this recipe
It's delicious soft cake with nice fine texture bursting with the juiciness of the berries in every bite
I used blueberries this time since I had many instock and they're quite sweet with a hint of tanginess which complimented well with the sweetness of the cake
Oh, not to forget the chopped almond on top, such a heavenly experience when I sunk my teeth on the cake, the crunchiness worked perfectly well with the cake
Yum!

I mixed the berries with the batter after coating them with a little flour
I baked half recipe and used cupcakes mould for intake control - which still didn't work, cos everytime I passed my dining area and bumped my eyes on them, I would go and grab them LOL

Here's the recipe:
(half recipe)

What you need:

114g (4 ounces) cream cheese at room temperature
57g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter at room temperature
85g (half of 3/4 cup) granulated sugar
30ml (1/8 cup)fresh milk
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries + 1 tsp plain flour
25g (1/8 cup) firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped almonds

1. Preheat oven to 175degC
2. Lay cupcake liners on cupcake tray
3. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, butter and granulated sugar and beat with electric mixer til light and fluffy
4. Stir in milk, eggs, vanilla, beat thoroughly
5. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Stir to blend
6. Add to the cheese mixture and beat til smooth
7. Mix in flour coated blueberries into the batter, stir gently to avoid the batter turned blueish in color
8. Spoon the batter in the prepared pan
9. Mix brown sugar and nuts together and sprinkle evenly over the batter
10. Bake for 30 minutes or til the cake is golden brown and cake tester skewer comes out clean
11. Let cool and serve warm or room temperature

This half recipe gave me 11 standard size cupcakes

I'm so happy that with a blink of an eye, it's already the 7th bake of The Home Bakers, and event hosted by Joyce
The recipes are from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas
Please check out the site and other members' bakes and you're too most welcomed to participate - trust me, you'll have fun! :)

THB #6 Mocha-Cappuccino Marbled Coffee Cake - Another Birthday Cake For Ian

I baked this sixth cake for THB for Ian's birthday cake to be brought to his school to celebrate with his classmates

Among many car toys he loves, he adores Tomica the most
And the edible image on the cake below is his request :)

 

I was so tempted to add a little kahlua in the cake, but many kids would eat this cake, so no, not this time, but I am sure it would taste nice!
I baked some in cupcakes for our own consumption

 

From the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas
Very straight forward cake to make, I love the coffee taste and aroma
Soft texture, light, not dry and yummy taste everybody in the house loves :)
I almost forgot that chocolate and coffee work well together, too - the color and the taste, too
I wasn't sure why I didn't get the marble effect, I did swirl the batter with skewer, perhaps I didn't do it correctly :)

I followed the recipe to the dot except that I reduced the sugar to 190g and I divided equally half each for chocolate and coffee batter
Used melted dark chocolate (50%) and added the coffee mixture to 2 1/2 tbsp for both the powder and water

For full recipe, please visit Lena's site, she chose this delicious tea time perfect companion :)
Please view HERE to check out other members' creations of this cake

THB #5 Walnut Crusted Butter Cake

5th bake from The Home Bakers, from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas
Butter cake - one of DH's favorite cakes, this time with nutty crust at the sides - nice!
Original recipe used almond slices, but I used sliced walnuts since that's what I had in stock :)
I baked only half recipe this time, just nice portion for the family without being over indulged :)
But the quantity of the walnuts I used was for one recipe :)
And also, I ommited amond extract and reduced sugar to 150g (half recipe)

I love the texture of this cake. It's rather dense - typical butter cake, but soft with fine texture

I added 3 tbsp of plain yoghurt (for half recipe) which I think it's a good thing :)

And the outer crust was so exciting to munch! I love this part the best :)
I used two rectangle short pans, to shorten the baking time :)

I found the fork is really cute, it's actually kids fork, those who still learn to grip

Overall, we like this cake. Probably I'll add some orange zest and orange glaze - yum! :)

For full recipe, please visit Emily's site

Please visit The Home Bakers, you'll see other members' bakes and really hope you can join in the fun too!

THB #4 Pear Almond Cake

Baked this cake this afternoon, and really, it's a great dessert if only I changed the suggested almond extract to vanilla instead
I poured almond extract to the batter when I realized that I and also the whole family do not fancy the fragrance of almond extract, even though we love almond
But aside from that, I love this short and moist cake
I love the use of cinnamon and nutmeg on the pears, they gave great additional aroma

The 4th cake from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas, for The Home Bakers event :)

The original recipe is to arrange the pears in pinwheel shape but since I chose to use rectangle pan, I didn't do so, hence the title of this posting - pear almond cake
Instead of hazelnut, I used ground almond which toasted in the oven during preheating for less than 5 minutes
The pan I used is 20x10x4 cm, the cake was around 2 cm height
For the pear, I couldn't find anjou nor bosc pear, so in the end I used Taylor Gold pears from New Zealand
This pear is so sweet and juicy, but it's soft, not crunchy
I also reduced the light brown sugar to 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup

This cake is not for my kids, they didn't even want to give it a try, but their mummy and daddy love it, but definitely if I bake this cake again, I will use vanilla extract :)

Please visit The Home Bakers, you'll see other members' bakes and really hope you can join in the fun too!
Recipe can be found in Zoe's site

THB #3 Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

I baked these cuppies last Saturday, and was busy with family outings only today I can post :)

Another great cake best to serve during tea time, from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas, the third bake for The Home Bakers event :)

I made 1/2 recipe, and I didn't add any nuts nor ground cinnamon
For me personally, I believe it would have tasted better with both nuts and ground cinnamon powder added, too bad DH and the kids don't like it, so gotta ommit them, if not I would be the only one finishing all LOL

For the cake, I reduced the granulated sugar by half, added baking powder to 1 1/2 tsp instead of 1, while reducing baking soda to 1/2 tsp instead of 1 (I'm talking about full recipe here)

Also, I used cake flour to replace whole wheat flour. The next time I bake this cake again, I'll stick to whole wheat flour to know how different the texture will be
Using cake flour gave finer texture and spongy too

The use of blueberries here did help a lot in giving the moisture to the cake, which I like
Furthermore, I used 1 1/2 cup blueberries for my half recipe, so much juicy blueberries in the cake...yum!
I didn't use mixer for this recipe, all mixing done by wooden spoon and balloon whisk, such an easy cake to prepare, less things to wash :P

For full recipe, please hop over to Bizzy Bakes

Please visit The Home Bakers, you'll see other members' bakes and really hope you can join in the fun too!

THB #2 Apricot Pistachio Lemon Coffee Cake

Second bake for The Home Bakers event, from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas
It's  quite simple to prepare, with ingredients I seldom use, apricot and pistachio
In fact, this is the first time I use pistachio in my baking, usually I would only munch this yummy nuts

While the first bake for this event was chosen by Joyce, this time is Chris from Yummy Bakes who chose this cake for this month's bake

Overall this is a nice cake, soft and moist, great as snack during tea time :)
I like it even better the next day!
Too bad I diced the pistachio too finely I couldn't really taste it
As I (still) haven't bought my own bundt pan yet, I used my mini baked donuts tray which I got quite sometime back but never used :)
And I think it's a good thing to use this tray, cos I didn't have to slice the cake :)
I made half the recipe and reduced the sugar slightly, just nice to my liking
Oh and I soaked the apricots with rhum :)

For full recipe, please view Chris' site site

Please visit The Home Baker, you'll see other members' bakes and really hope you can join in the fun too!