All posts filed under: Recipes

Mandarin cupcakes

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I have been happily harvesting mandarins from my uncle’s tree that I ended up with way too many mandarins. Since there was no way that I could possibly finish all of them, I’ve decided to make mandarin cupcakes. I’ve learnt a couple of lessons when baking with mandarin. Firstly, they are best to be boiled till soft. I’ve tried juicing them (didn’t feel very smart doing that), zesting them (they were way too soft to be zested). However boiling it till it is soft and then blending it using food processor retains the flavour of the mandarin. But before blending it, remember to remove the seeds from the mandarin if not the cakes will have a bitter after taste – trust me, I’ve learnt this the hard way. Ingredients for the cake  3 large mandarins (or 4 small ones) 200g self raising flour 150g brown sugar 2 large eggs 100ml olive oil 1 tbsp poppy seeds 3 tbsp maple syrup 1 tsp vanilla essence Ingredients for the cream cheese frosting 250g cream cheese 30g butter 40g icing …

Nutella sandwich cookies

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These cookies are dangerous. Because its a sandwich cookie, it means that you’ll have to eat two at a time. And before you know it, you have probably eaten 10 pieces of cookies. I’ve made these cookies for the first time and I couldn’t stop eating it. The whole tray of cookies was gone within a day – thank goodness my housemate ate most of it. These cookies are slightly more tedious to make. The cutting of the cookie dough is easy, however the piping of the ganache can get a little messy. A little tip is to wait for the ganache to cool and set first before piping (I only figured that out after making a mess out of the kitchen table top). To reduce the sweetness of Nutella, I’ve added milk and Lindt 90% dark chocolate. The ganache tasted so good that I can eat it alone. In fact, I was dipping strawberries into it because it was absolutely delicious. Ingredients 120g unsalted butter (room temperature) 100g caster sugar 240g plain flour 1 …

Banana oatmeal cookies

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I’ve been waiting for the prices of bananas to drop so that I can use it for my baking. I’ve never liked to eat bananas – I just hate the texture and also the taste of it. But strangely, when you put it into cakes and cookies, I’ll eat it. I guess I’m one of those people that don’t make sense. I did a lot of baking over the weekend. My friend had a genius idea of making vegan macarons. I never knew that you could froth up chickpea water. Making these vegan macarons was so tedious! We had to reduce the chickpea water, cool it, froth it, pipe it – and honestly, it does not taste like the real deal. After spending 3.5hr in the kitchen, we concluded, never again are we going to make vegan macarons. So back to this banana oatmeal cookies that I made yesterday morning – I was so grateful that this recipe is fuss free. Oh and it’s vegan and refined sugar free too! It is like a healthy breakfast …

Mini pavlovas

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Who knew that making pavlovas is an art. It took me two failed attempts before I finally understood the concept behind this interesting dessert. What makes a perfect pavlova is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. It should also instantly melt in your mouth. I am never a fan of pavlovas but I’ve got to admit that it tastes pretty darn good! I’ll be sharing a couple of tips to make the perfect pavlova. It is important getting the recipe right – as you know, I do not follow recipes. I have this habit of reducing sugar and butter and substituting things that quite often, it turned out to be something different. I’ve managed to reduce 50g of sugar from the original recipe. Anything more than that, you’ll lose the nice crispy glaze of the pavlova. So here are some handy tips: Make sure that there are no egg yolks present in the egg whites – this will prevent the egg whites from foaming Whisk the egg whites first until …