Rainbow Cake

2¼ cups Cake Flour
1 tbsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
1¼ cups Buttermilk
4 Large Egg Whites
1½ cups Sugar
113g Unsalted Butter
½ tsp Vanilla Extract *
Gel/Powder Food Colouring (I used 1/4 tsp of Wilton gel)

1) Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease & lined 2 baking pans.

2) Sift together flour, baking powder & salt.

3) Whisk together egg whites & buttermilk.
4) Cream butter & sugar until very light & fluffy. Beat in vanilla extract, then add ⅓ of flour mixture, on medium speed.
5) Beat ½ egg-buttermilk mixture, then ½ flour mixture. Then add the balance egg-buttermilk mixture followed by the remaining flour mixture. Beat the entire batter on medium high until completely smooth & mixed.
6) Divide the batter into 2 (depending on the size of baking pans used). Add colour gel & mixed well. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the toothpick comes clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.
7) Let the cake cool in the pan before turn it out on cooling rack. To ensure moistness, wrap & chill it immediately once the cake is cooled.

* Original recipe uses lemon zest & lemon extract which are not my family's favourite.

 

Recipe courtesy of Rima of Bisous A Toi

Salted Caramel Brownies

Salted Caramel Sauce
180g Caster Sugar
⅔ cup Heavy Cream
85g Unsalted Butter
1 tsp Sea Salt

Using heavy-based saucepan & medium heat, melt the sugar. Whisk the sugar when it starts to melt. Once melted, add butter & salt. Whisk again till it turns brownish. Remove from fire, add heavy cream. Continue whisk till sauce is smooth.

Brownies
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
180g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
113g Unsalted Butter
200g Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
½ tsp Sea Salt
3 tbsp Cocoa Powder, sifted
100g Almond, chopped & toasted (optional)

 

1) Preheat oven to 180°C. Line baking pan with greaseproof paper overhanging.

2) Using double-boiling, melt chocolate chips & butter. After melted, add cocoa powder & combine well.
3) Using medium mixing bowl, handwhisk eggs, sugar, salt & vanilla extract. Then, add melted chocolate. Whisk again. Add flour & chopped almonds. Mix until well.combined.
4) Pour ½ of the brownie batter. Add dollops of caramel sauce. Pour the balance of the batter. Add dollops of caramel sauce. Swirl lightly.
5) Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Recipe adapted from The Little Teochew

Pretzel

1 cup Milk, warm
1 sachet (11g) Yeast
2 1/4 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Butter, melted
3-4 tbsp Brown sugar

⅓ cups Baking powder
3 cups Water, warm
Coarse salt
Melted butter

1) Mix warm milk and yeast together. Let it rest for 3 minutes.

2) Using stand mixer with hook attachment, mix milk mixture, butter and sugar together. Add flour and salt. Let it knead for 10 minutes.
3) Place the dough into a greased mixing bowl. Cover with clingwrap. Let it rest for 1 hour until the dough double in size.
4) After 1 hour and dough already doubled in size, remove the clingwrap. Punch out the dough to let the air out. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion and shaped like a preztel.
5) Mix the baking powder with water. Dip the preztel into the baking powder solution and place it on a prepared baking tray. Bake the pretzels for 7-10 minutes in a preheated oven of 200°C.
6) Dip the baked pretzels into the melted butter. Ready to eat.

Egg Tarts

Tart Shells

170g Butter, softened
50g Icing sugar
290g Plain flour
1 Egg, small
1 tsp Vanilla essence

 

1) Whisk the butter and icing sugar until incorporated.
2) Add egg and vanilla essence. Mix well.
3) Add flour a little at a time, until a soft dough is formed. Using clingwrap, wrap the dough and let it rest for at least 1 hour (let it rest overnight for better result).

Egg Custard

4 Eggs
1 cup Evaporated milk
1 cup Water
3/4 cups Sugar
1 tbsp Custard powder
1/2 tsp Vanilla essence

1) Hand whisk eggs and sugar together until well combined.
2) Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk again until incorporated.

3) To assemble, press the dough into the tart moulds. Use fork/toothpick stick to prick holes at the base of the dough. Pour the egg custard mixture into the mould. Bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes.

Tart shell recipe is courtesy of Sofiah Afandi. 

Egg custard recipe is courtesy of Rima from Bisous A Toi.

Chocolate Mud Cake

4 Eggs
2 cups Castor sugar
1 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
1 cup Self-raising flour
1/2 cup Cocoa powder
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate soda
1 cup Buttermilk
1 tsp Vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
300g Butter, melted
300g Dark semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
White chocolate shavings

1) Preheat oven to 150°C. Grease 23cm round baking pan with a melted butter. Line base and sides with greaseproof paper.
2) Mix eggs, buttermilk, vanilla essence & salt. Leave aside.
3) In a large mixing bowl, add sugar, flours, cocoa powder and bicarbonate soda. Make a well in the centre, add in egg/buttermilk mixture and fold. Mix well.
4) Add butter and chocolate. Mix well. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface. 
5) Bake for 2-2 1/4 hours or until skewer comes out clean, then turn on a wire slightly.

Chocolate Icing
200g Dark semi-sweet chocolate, chopped.
1/3 cup Cream

1) Combine chocolate and cream in a small pan. Using double-boiling method, stir over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Cool it slightly.
2) To assemble, using a serrated-edged knife, cut the dome of the cake. Turn the cake upside down and stand it on a wire rack. Pour icinf completely over the cake.

Recipe courtesy of Mrs. Zarina Thomas

Kek Lapis Aiskrim (Ice-cream Layered Cake)

4 Egg whites
20 Egg yolks
250g Caster sugar
300g Butter, melted
100g HongKong flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tbsp Ovalette
1 tbsp Vanilla ice-cream powder
1/2 tsp Vanilla essence
1 tbsp Chocolate ice-cream powder
1 tsp Chocolate emulco
1 tbsp Strawberry ice-cream powder
1 tsp Strawberry emulco

1) Preheat oven to 180°C. Select grill function. Line the base of 6x9 inch baking pan with greaseproof paper.
2) Sift flour and baking powder. Set aside.
3) Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites till foamy. Add sugar a little bit at a time. Whisk until light and fluffy.
4) Add ovalette. Combined well. Add egg yolks one at a time. Beat until well-combined and soft peak is formed. Finally, add butter. Mix well. Then, add flour and combined well.
5) Divide the batter into 3 equal portion. About 350g per portion. For Portion 1, add vanilla ice-cream powder and vanilla essence. Mix well. For Portion 2, add chocolate ice-cream powder and chocolate emulco. Mix well. For Portion 3, add strawberry ice-cream powder and strawberry emulco. Mix well.
6) Weigh about 90g of batter for each layer. Grill each layer one at a time with the oven door slightly opened. Each layer must be pressed gently and brushed with melted butter before adding another batter to grill. Each grill takes about 4-5 minutes.
7) Complete each portion before moving on to another, i.e. grilled the vanilla portion first before adding the chocolate portion.
8) For the last layer, change the oven function to baking. Tent the baking pan with aluminium foil. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove the foil at the last 5 minutes of baking.

Recipe courtesy of Sofie Jat

Sugee Cake

125g Self-raising flour
125g Semolina flour
250g Butter, softened
220g Caster sugar
50g Ground almond/cashew
1 tsp Rose/Buttercream essence
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Baking powder
6 egg yolks
5 egg whites
1/3 evaporated milk, cold
Sliced almonds (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 150°C. Prepare the loaf/cake pan.
2) Mix self-raising flour, semolina flour, baking powder & ground almond/cashew.
3) Cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, mix well after each addition. Then add milk, rose essence & vanilla extract. Mix well.
4) Fold in flour to the batter.
5) Whisk egg whites till stiff peak.
6) Fold in the batter to the egg whites.
7) Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf/cake pan.
8) Sprinkle the sliced almonds.
9) Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.

Recipe courtesy of Rima from Bisous A Toi