Banana Walnut Bread

For some unknown reason....I kept thinking of banana bread. It kept running in my head and I knew that I had to bake it.

Banana bread is easy and fast to bake. It is basically a "quick bread" which is bread prepared with leavening such as baking soda or powder, rather than yeast. As a result, the bread does not have a long proofing and rising time, like yeast breads.

I used a recipe from Joyofbaking which is currently my favourite website for bakes

Ingredients
1 cup (115 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Direction

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position.

2. Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.
( I used an 8 inch... my bread raised way too high because the loaf pan was too small)

3. Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

4. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts. Set aside.

5. In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.

6. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (Do not over mix the batter. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.)

7. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes.

~bel~

Soba Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce

I have a "Vajajay potluck" this evening. One of the girls moved to a new house and invited us to a potluck party.

Took me a while to decide what to bring as some of the girls are vegans.. no diary product and meat. It is hard to find a recipe that does not use diary product....no eggs, no butter, no milk.

I finally decided on to a soba salad with spicy peanut sauce. This is an adaptation from a recipe 101 cookbook
My version :
Ingredients
1 package soba noodles
Broccoli
Carrots
(or any other vegetables)

Dressings
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup soya sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tsp of cannye pepper ( more if you like it spicy)
1 cup hotwater ( less if you like it thicker

Garnish
1 small bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced
1 small bunch of parsley
1/2 cup peanuts ( roasted and unsalted)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot to boil. Boil the soba according to package instruction
2. Remove and run under cold water
3 Boil the broccoli and carrot ( or any other vegetables)
4. Set aside

Dressing
1. Combine the ingredient and whisk till smooth
2. Add water to achieve the consistency you prefer

Gently toss the noodles and the vegetables with the dressing and sprinkle withe the garnish
Chill for one hour prior to serving. ( You can also serve this at room temperature)

~Bel~

Blueberry Muffin

Fresh from oven ...with the blueberries oozing out!

The berries are in season. I just could not resist making a berry recipe. I settled for a simple blueberry muffin since it is work night and I do not have the time to bake something fancy.

I really like making muffins. No need for cake mixer...just 2 bowls- one for wet ingredients and one for dry ingredient.

I used the basic muffin recipe and added in the blueberries

My house smells really good now.. with the freshly baked muffins

~bel~

Japanese Cotton Cheese Cake

My friend, Ee Fern, baked this and posted it on Facebook. I could not resist the temptation to try this recipe.

This is not an easy recipe. Most people have a difficult time getting the soft cotton like texture. The recipe called for folding flour into the cheese, whipping egg white to soft perks and folding the egg white mixture to the cheese mixture. Not easy for an amateur baker like me.

I tried baking it twice. Both time unsuccessful. The cake turned up dense at the bottom both time. I did some research in the Internet and was glad to find that I am not the only one facing the same problem. I finally realised that this is because the egg white was not fold thoroughly into the cheese mixture.

I tried it again this morning... and whhhhhaaaaaaoooooooooo.. a real Japanese Cotton Cheesecake.

Recipe from Diane Dessert:

Ingredients:
140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
50g/2 oz. butter
250g/9 oz. cream cheese
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh milk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
60g/2 oz. cake flour /superfine flour
20g/1 oz. cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 tsp. salt

Direction:
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.

3. Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan (Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper).
( This is a large cake. I used a 9-inch cake pan)

4. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).
( I baked the cake in the lower rake to prevent the top from burning)


~Bel~

Chocolate Brownies

I did not realised that Brownie are such easy bake...This is another recipe form Joy Of Baking which is really quick and easy....and yummy

Ingredients
4 ounces (120 grams) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Ganache:
3 ounces (90 grams) semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon (14 grams) unsalted butter


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C)
2. Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan.
3. Melt the chocolate and butter in a large stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water
4. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar
5. whisk in the vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
6. Finally, stir in the flour and salt.
7. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs
8. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache
1. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl
2. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat
3. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes
4. Stir with a whisk or spoon until smooth
5. Let cool to room temperature and then spread the ganache over the brownies

~Bel~

Carrot Cupcake

I have been thinking of carrot cake for a while.... a LONG while and have been putting off baking them as I hate the thoughts of grating carrots. But I just could not resist the temptation when I saw this recipe at Joy of Baking.

Just have to bake them...with some modifications to the recipe



Ingredients
2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
1 cup (240 ml) safflower, corn, or canola oil
2 cups (210 grams) finely grated raw carrots
1 cup grated apple (I omitted this)
1/2 cup (55 grams) pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped ( I used a mix of pecans and walnuts)
1 cup (100grams) raisin or currants ( I omitted this)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups (330 grams) confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C)

2. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.

3. In another large bowl whisk the eggs, sugar, and oil until slightly thickened

4. Fold in the flour mixture until incorporated

5. With a large rubber spatula fold in the grated carrots and chopped nuts,

6. . Evenly divide the batter between the 20 muffin cups and bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

7. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

8. Pipe or with a knife or small metal spatula spread the cream cheese frosting on top of each cupcake.

I omitted the frosting. But here is the recipe for frosting :
In the bowl of your electric, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until very smooth and creamy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract

~Bel~

Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate Ganache frosting

This is another recipe which I had wanted to try from Joy of Baking - Vanilla Cupcake. Instead of using butter cream or cream cheese frosting, I used a simple chocolate ganache frosting and decorated the cake with some candy flowers :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 large lemon (optional - I did not add this as I did not have lemon at home)
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk


Chocolate Ganache:

3/4 cup of whipping cream

6 ozs of semi sweet baking chocolate

1 tablespoon of butter

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt

3. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

5. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

6. Evenly fill the 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

7. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool

Frosting :

1. Heat the butter and whipping cream in a sauce pan

2. Removed and stir in chocolate

3. Stir until smooth

4. Let the chocolate stand for an hour or chilled till thick

4. Frost on cool cupcakes

~bel~