Birthday Bee themed Cake

Yellow birthday cake with buttercream frosting.  Bee and flowers made with gumpaste.

Number 5 shaped Cookie

Batman Cake and Cupcake

Made chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting with a tint of blue.  Batman logo made with gumpaste.

Cake is my favorite recipe from King Arthurs Flour chocolate birthday cake.  It was moist and fudgy.  The frosting is cream cheese buttercream.  Not a good frosting for decorating but tasted heavenly delicious.

Batman logo made with gumpaste.

Mango Chutney Roast Pork

 I have not done many pork recipes.  I always felt it has some kind of smell to it but since the loin was going on sale in my local grocery store and also I had some mango chutney in my pantry, I made this nice tangy pork loin roast which was tender.  We had it with roast sweet potatoes and some leftover frozen stuffing..:)

The gravy color on my pork looks dark because I added some worchestershire on my meat before roasting and after taking it off the pan, I reduced the pan gravy and poured it on top.

Ingredients

2 pork tenderloins, about 2.5 lbs total

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup pre-made mango-ginger chutney (or any other chutney you like)

3 Tbsp brown sugar

Juice of 1/2 lime

3 cloves garlic

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup water


Method

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  In a baking dish, combine all ingredients from the olive oil to the sea salt. Add the pork tenderloins and coat all sides with the marinade.  Let sit for about 15 minutes.
• In an oven-proof sautee pan over high heat, add the pork tenderloins when the pan is very hot.  Reserve the rest of the marinade and place to the side.  Sear the tenderloins until browned on all sides, about 2-3 minutes.  Place the pan into the oven and roast for about 22-25 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers about 155-160ºF, slightly pink.  Take the pork out of the oven and let it rest a few minutes before cutting the meat.
• Take the reserved marinade and place into a small saucepan with the 1/2 cup water.  Bring to a boil, stirring the sauce.  Lower the heat and allow to simmer for about 6-7 minutes, until the sauce is slightly reduced.  Ladle over the roasted pork tenderloins and serve.

Slow Cooker Ribs

 

This is as easy as it can be...all you need is a slow cooker and 7 hr and you have a delicious fall off the bone ribs.

I used one vacumm package of ribs. Rubbed seasoned salt and some barbeque sauce.  Put in into the slow cooker against the sides.  Let it cook for about 7 hr on High. Take it out and lay it on a baking sheet lined with foil.  Brush extra barbeque sauce on it and let it broil till it looks charred or alternatively you could put it in a grill.

Hello Kitty Cookie

I always admired hello kitty and how cute she was so I intended to make it eventhough it seems a little daunting to decorate.  Well, the cookie part was easy. Make and bake but when it came to decorating,  must say that it took me sometime to figure out how to align her bow, eyes and nose.  I know the bow is not perfect but I am so pleased on how it turned out after decorating.

My cookie recipe was from Peggy Porschen's book.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

This is an incredibly moist and dense chocolate fudge cake. The crumbs of the cake is tight and make the slicing easy.  This cake is also good when  fillingis used in between.  I used chocolate ganache for the filling and topping.   The frosting is also flavored with jamaican rum.

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

2 cups (8 1/2 ounces)  All-Purpose Flour

2 tablespoons  cornstarch

3/4 cup Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons espresso powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups water

• Lightly grease, flour and parchment  two 9 or 8 inch cake pan  and make sure it is at least 2in tall.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine all the dry ingredients and whisk till combined.  In another bowl combine the oil, egg, water and extract. Whisk slightly.
• Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and beat till smooth and combined. ( I used a wire whisk and mix thoroughly)
• Pour onto the cake pans. Bake for at least 40 minutes and check for doneness with a skewer.
• Take the cake out and let it cool in a pan for 5 minutes and turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Prepare the frosting for the filling and topping.

12 ounces semisweet chocolate

6 ounces cream (light, whipping, or heavy)

Heat until cream is very hot but not boiling.  Pour into the chocolate and stir carefully till all is combined and chocolaty,

Add your flavoring ie. kahlua, rum, coffee flavor or just plain vanilla.

Cut your cake in layer.  Fill with chocolate ganache and finally pour the ganache on top and let it drip.  Move it to a cake platter and let sit inn the refrigerator till it is set.

Chicken Balls

These chicken balls are super tasty and quite easy to make.  Mine did not actually turn out round but it still tastes great.  I used chicken breast and a tiny bit of pork but you can totally omit that.

Ingredients

500 gm chicken breast, cut to smaller pieces
100 gm pork, optional

½ cup (125ml) icy cold water
1 Tbsp fish sauce
½ tsp salt
½ Tbsp sugar
½ Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp cornflour
1 tsp baking powder


Method

• Mince the meat in a food processor until a paste is form. Add 5 Tbsp water (a Tbsp of water at a time) to get a smooth paste.
• In a separate cup, mix together the remaining water, fish sauce, salt, sugar, oil, cornflour and baking powder.
• Remove the chicken paste from the food processor and put in a big bowl. Pour the liquid mix to the paste and stir well slowly until the liquid is absorbed into the paste (use either your hand or a fork).
• Cover bowl with clingwrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
• Boil a pot of water. Once the water has boiled, remove the pot from the heat.
• Add pepper to the paste and stir to combine. Scoop the paste onto your wet hand. Push the paste through your thumb and 2nd finger by making a fist. (Best to refer to the video below for a visual). Use a wet spoon to scoop and drop it into the hot water. To prevent the paste from sticking to your hand and spoon, wet the spoon and hand with water.
• Continue until the chicken balls form a layer in the water. Now turn on the heat but do not let it boil. Just simmer slowly without bubble....if not your chicken balls will not have 'bounce'. While cooking the chicken balls, any leftover paste should be kept in the freezer.
• Fill a big basin with icy cold water. When the chicken balls starts to float, leave for a few more seconds. (Cut one in half to see if it is cook. The inside should not be pink). Scoop out and let it cool in the cold water.
• After the chicken balls have cooled, use as required or freeze

Elephant cutout Cookie

Aren't these fellow cute....

White Cupcake

I have made numerous cupcakes and today I tried a new recipe for the white cupcakes.  It turned out as fluffy as a box mix and tasted delicious. I think I can finally say that I have found the best white cupcake recipe. These cupcakes will not last a day with my kids.  I frosted it with chocolate buttercream.


Ingredients

2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups (175 grams) sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

* if you do not have cake flour substitute with 1 cup of all purpose flour less 2 tablespoon and add 2 tablespoon of corn starch. Sift well.




Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

• While eggs are still cold separate the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room temperature before using (about 30 minutes).

• In a mixing bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

• In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 3/4 cup of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract. Then, with the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.  

• In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, (or with a hand mixer) beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over mix the batter or it will deflate.

• Evenly fill the 12 muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18 - 20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. With a knife or offset spatula, spread frosting on each cupcake. These cupcakes are best served the same day, but they can be stored at room temperature for a few days.