Are you Twitter-ing?

Have you been compulsively updating your moves (in 140 words) on Twitter 24-7? Seems like Twitter is the next big thing after Facebook. For those of you who aren’t quite familiar with it, Twitter is basically an online tool that allows your friends and family to communicate and find out what you are doing. As long as you are logged on, you can update your status and post pictures. Simply put, you can call it an online tracking tool. You can also follow other Twitter-ers and track their movements. I have been following Ashton Kutcher on Twitter and that guy is really entertaining. He is an avid Twitter-er and we followers get a behind the scene in to his life and movie set of his latest flick he is filming. Pretty cool, but other than that, unless you are always online, you may not be too into Twitter. Perhaps its more for movie stars and models who can delight their fans with their latest movements.

I am finally on leave after being busy for the past 3 months. Will be busy studying for the upcoming CPA exam in May, and hopefully catch up with some sleep as well. I bought this cook book from Kinokuniya ages ago and have yet to try any recipes in it. Even though I bookmarked quite a few. *hangs head in shame* These mini honey cakes are really easy to make and you can whip up a batch in half an hour. I use this brand of honey because it reminds me of my granny. She used to make me hot honey using this  Do use a good honey for the flavour will shine through in the cake.

Simple Honey Cupcakes

(Adapted from 100 cake recipes by Teacher Meng)

 

30g oil (any flavorless oil)

45g honey

3 large eggs

40g sugar

75g cake flour

½ tsp baking powder

 

1.     Preheat oven to 165C (325F). Line a 10 cup muffin tray or grease with cooking spray. Pour honey and oil into a cup (or bowl) and warm it over a pot of simmering water for about 10 minutes until honey melts. Stir mixture and leave it aside.  

 

2.     Whisk flour and baking powder together before sifting.

 

3.     With your stand mixer fit with whisk attachment, beat eggs and sugar, gradually increasing speed from medium to high. The batter will gradually change to a pale yellow, 8 – 10 minutes. To test whether the batter is ready, lift the whisk attachment and allow the batter to trickle back into the bowl. The batter will not sink immediately. Continue to beat at low speed for 1 minute.

 

4.     Add in the dry ingredients and warmed honey and oil mixture into the batter. Stir quickly but gently until just combined.

 

5.     Divide the batter evenly, filling them up to ¾ full. Bake for about 16 – 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Makes about 10 – 11 cupcakes. Store in an air tight container for up to 3 days.

 

Note: Pour 3 tablespoons of water into unfilled cupcake moulds before baking. This will help to prevent the moulds from distorting in the hot oven.

 

Hello, peak period…

Sorry for the lack of updates. The annual audit peak has come again. I have been very very busy the past 2 weeks, clocking an average of 15 hours a day (even during weekends). I will try to make time and bake every now and then. Still, it could be abit tough as I barely have enough time to sleep. I initially wanted to bake some cookies for the upcoming Lunar New Year but didn’t manage to. Instead, I made these little egg cakes. Similar to the fluffy asian cupcakes I made earlier, but they are a little firmer and do not shrink after they cool. My lazy streak made me pile all the batter into the 12-cupcakes. As a result, they overflowed during baking creating these little images of cupcakes wagging their tongues at me. Cute eh?

Little egg cakes

(Adapted from Teacher Meng’s 100 cake recipes)

 

120ml milk

2 tsp vanilla

40g oil

220g egg (About 3 large, 1 small)

120g sugar

3/4tsp salt

190g cake flour

2tsp baking powder

4 tsp milk powder

20g spongecake stabilizer (emulsifier)

 

1.    Line a 12-cup muffin tray with liners. Alternatively, you can grease the tray and flour it, tapping out excess. Preheat oven to 180C (360F).

 

2.    Mix milk, vanilla and oil together. Set aside for later use. Sift together the flour, milk powder and baking powder.

 

3.    Add egg, salt and sugar together in a mixing bowl. With the whisk attachment, lightly beat to combine.

 

4.     Add in the flour mixture and beat at medium high speed until the batter is thick and creamy. It is ready when the batter is milky white.

 

5.    Setting the mixer speed at low, add in the liquid mixture until combined. Let the batter stand for about 10 minutes before scooping into the muffin tray. Bake for about 22 minutes in the oven, or until the stick comes out clean when inserted.

 

 

Clearing out the old stuff

I am clearing out all the bits and pieces of stuff in my treasure trove of ingredients. Leftover handful of chocolate chips, a quarter pack of cranberries… you get the idea. Since I also have a bunch of very ripe bananas sitting around, I made some cupcakes with all the ingredients. I used quite abit of sour cream in it, and the cupcakes turned out super soft and fluffy. Nice! Will be bringing them to office tomorrow. Hope my colleagues like them as much as I do

Update! My colleagues loved them very much! Here is the recipe as requested!

Kitchen sink banana cupcakes

 

1 ½ cups sour cream

¾ butter

3 cups flour

1 ¼ cups sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup mashed bananas

1/3 cup cranberries

Handful of chocolate chips (or as much as you like!)

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

Flavourless oil (eg. vegetable oil, or canola oil)  

 

1.       Preheat the oven to 175C (350F), with rack at center position. Grease your 12-cup muffin tray or line with paper liners.

 

2.       Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together. Working with a mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter to break it up. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure it combines before adding the next one. Scrap the sides if needed.

 

3.       Lowering your mixer speed, mix in the bananas. Lastly, mix in half the flour mixture, all the sour cream, then the rest of the flour mixture. If the mixture seems abit dry, add in some flavourless oil (eg vegetable oil), 1 tablespoon at a time. I added about 2 tablespoons in mine, but see for yourself before adding. Stir in the cranberries and chocolate chips quickly.

 

4.       Fill the cups up to ¾ full and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes, or until the stick inserted into the centre of the cupcake comes out clean. Makes about 18 cupcakes.