Okonomiyaki 大阪烧

This is yesterday's dinner, Okonomiyaki 大阪烧. I have always wanted to make this, and it turns out to be a success! Super yummy! It's very simply, just shredded cabbage with flour, mix with water. Pan fried it till done, then quickly spread Okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, and bonito flakes.!Absolutely wonderfully delicious.... =D .. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake made with varieties of ingredients, but I only used cabbage since I only have cabbage. 

Enjoy =)

Spongy Banana Cupcake

Banana cake is one of the cakes that is a must-to-make in my cake lists because the fragrant smell is irresistible. No idea why banana cake always smell so good after baked. My boyfriend always says that it is the best to eat right after it came out from the oven. He is always my guinea pig right after the cake was taken out from the oven. I usually eat it after I am done with every baking chores. I love to enjoy eating it after everything has been taken care of..>.<..

Spongy Banana Cupcake
Ingredients:
3 eggs
100g sugar
200g banana, mashed (2 large bananas)
150g cake flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tbsp baking soda

100g vegetable oil
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
2. Beat eggs and sugar till foamy and pale.
3. Beat mashed bananas, vanilla extract and slat into the batter till foamy and bubbles are seen.
4. Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda and mix into the mixture.
5. Fold in oil till surface looks shiny.
6. Scoop into cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes or toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Cool completely on wire rack.

I wanted to put slices of bananas on top of each cupcake, but I should have put the sliced bananas after the cupcakes were put into oven for 5 minutes to prevent the sliced bananas to sink to the bottom. This is what happened to my cupcakes. =( Anyway, it's still the same.

Enjoy =)

3-Color Butter Cupcake

Initially, when I wrote this recipe down, I had in mind to make a butter loaf cake. I changed my mind after I have made the banana cupcake. It's easier to make it into cupcake form. Save me some time for cleaning the pan after the baking. Hehe.. Just too lazy I guess. I love to minimize all the workloads...>.<..

3-Color Butter Cupcake (16 cupcakes)
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
130g sugar

4 eggs
230g flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
(a)*1 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp coffee powder, 5 tbsp hot water
(b)*1/2 tbsp green tea powder, 4 tbsp hot water

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 360 F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
2. Cream butter and sugar till creamy and pale in color.
3. Beat eggs one by one to avoid forming lumps.
4. Add sifted flour mixture (flour+baking powder) into batter. Add milk and vanilla extract.
5. Divide the batter to 3 portions. Put aside 1 portion for original taste. Add (a) into the 2nd portion and mix well. Add (b) into 3rd portion.
6. Scoop batter into cupcake liner. First put original batter, then green tea batter, then cocoa batter. (Any combination will do too. You can swirl the batter with toothpick or not, based on own choices, I did both.)
7. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Cool completely on wire rack.

Very moist cupcake, and you can smell three different smells, not a bad combination! Although I think loaf pan format will be nicer, you can see the color difference more obvious.

I did this on Friday, I said that I will make something once I'm home. Make me happy and tired at the same time. Haha.. Okay, till next time!

Enjoy =)

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cupcake w/ Chocolate & Peanut Butter Frosting

     What a normal, usual, boring day... It's very ineffective that I have nothing much to do, stuck in a place whereby I cannot go home nor can I do something else.. Sitting is my job now...@@... Okay.. I'll take it... Have to blog somehow.. Later have to bake something to make myself feel useful again...Too many ideas, yet I have no clues on which idea to choose.Sometimes too many choices aren't so good as well. I'm not a person who always have immediate decision, I need more time to think before I act, unless I have a certain adrenaline rush on that day, I guess... At the mean time, I think I will just post a baking project that I have done in the past to kill time...It has a very long name though, blame the words and the author >.<..

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cupcake w/ Chocolate & Peanut Butter Frosting
(Please mind the long name, LOL)
Ingredients:
3 eggs
100g sugar
100g vegetable oil
50g milk
80g peanut butter
130g all-purpose flour
20g cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Frosting
1 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp milk

toasted peanuts, chopped
marshmallow, mini

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking pan with cupcake liners.
2. Beat eggs, sugar and oil till mixed. Then, add milk into the batter.
3. Sift the flour mixture and mix into the batter.
4. Add the peanut butter.
5. Scoop batter into cupcake liners till 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.
6. At the mean time, beat butter, powdered sugar, peanut butter, cocoa powder, and milk till creamy and smooth. Add more milk if the frosting is too thick; add more powdered sugar if the frosting is too thin and runny.
7. Spread the frosting on top of the cooled cupcake, or you can pipe into piping bag of own choices.
8. Top with toasted peanuts and marshmallow.

The cupcakes are tasty, nothing can go wrong with the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. The toasted peanuts gave the cupcakes a crunch while biting into the soft cupcakes.I really love some crunch texture in my cupcakes/cakes/cookies/bars/breads. It's like I'm really biting into something. I'm a weirdo, I guess...>.<...

Enjoy! Hope you will enjoy it as much as I do... =)

Pork Floss Ogura Cake 肉丝相思蛋糕

     Today, was another windy, cloudy, gloomy day.. But, if it is not raining heavily during the day, I am fine with this kind of weather, at least it is not too hot or too cold. It is the perfect weather without the sun and the rain.. Hehe... I am a gloomy person..>.<.. So, I plan to make Pork Floss Ogura Cake 肉丝相思蛋糕. I never regretted in making this, and I think you will never too, try it when you are free. =)

Pork Floss Ogura Cake 肉丝相思蛋糕
adapted from Qi Qi in the House
Ingredients:
5 egg yolks
1 whole egg
50g vegetable oil

80g cake flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
80g milk

5 egg whites
80g sugar
1 tbsp cream of tartar

150g pork floss (you can use chicken floss or fish floss)

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 360F. Line parchment paper on the bottom of the square pan.
2. Beat egg yolks, whole egg, vegetable oil till slightly pale.
3. Add in milk and flour mixture. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, beat egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar till form stiff peaks.
5. Mix the egg yolk and egg white mixtures together. Do not over fold it.
6. Pour half of the batter into the pan. Then sprinkle the pork floss on top of the batter, and pour the rest of the batter on top of the pork floss till all covered.
7. Bake in oven for 60 minutes till it has a springy touch on surface when touch.
8. Cool completely before taking out from pans.
9. Enjoy.

The cake did not rise like what I want it to be. Not really sure what happen. I think most likely is because I did not put into a water bath or I over beat the batter. Hope next time will be better. Only the middle sink, the rest still fine. The taste still excellent! Not too sweet, not oily at all. Yummilicious! >.<

Till next time =)

Spice Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cupcake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

     This week has been a stress week, lots to do with test and presentation. I have no idea why things have to happen at the same time.@@.However, the test and the presentation have all passed, I'm a happy girl once again! On Tuesday, to release my stress, I actually still have time to do some baking, but no time to blog about it.. So today will be the time I guess.. LOL... I searched my pantry and I saw that I have a can of pumpkin puree left, so I decided to make a Spice Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cupcake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting. This recipe is not hard, first time doing after so many promises. LOL.

Spice Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cupcake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree
100g chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (might need to add more if the frosting is too runny)
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp milk

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
2. Beat eggs, sugar, and oil till mixed.
3. Combine all dry ingredients till well mixed. Add in the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, and then add milk and pumpkin puree into the batter till well mixed.
4. Add in the chocolate chips.
5. Pour into the cupcake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Cool on wire rack till completely cooled.
7. While waiting, beat up all the ingredients for the cream cheese frosting. Adjust accordingly. Pipe into a large piping bag, and pipe onto the cooled cupcakes. Ready to serve!

The piping job for this batch of cupcakes were not the best, but the taste is still the same. Hehe.. Need to improve more on piping skills!

Enjoy! =)

Matcha & Red Bean Layer Cake

Matcha & Red Bean Layer Cake
Ingredients:
4 eggs
100g sugar
100g vegetable oil
20g matcha powder
40g milk
140g cake flour
2 tbsp baking powder

200g sweetened red bean
100g whipped cream

toasted peanuts
matcha powder
sweetened red bean
melted chocolate

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line two 9-inch round pans with parchment paper.
2. Beat egg and sugar till slightly pale. Add in oil.
3. Alternately add in milk and flour mixture into the batter and mix well.
4. Pour into the 9-inch pans evenly, and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
5. Cool in pan, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
6. While waiting the cake to cool, beat the whipped cream till form still peak. (I did not add red bean into the whipped cream)

Assemble:
Apply the whipped cream on top of one slice of cake. Then apply another layer of red bean, then whipped cream again. Place the second piece of cake on top of the whipped cream. Apply the remaining whipped cream over the outer layers of the cake. Put toasted peanuts around the cake. Put some red bean at the middle of the top of the cake. Place some harden chocolates on top of the cake. Then, sprinkle matcha powder over the top of the cake. (Any kind of decorations are suitable, and welcome here)

 Enjoy =)