The muffins were simple, nothing fancy, but absolutely worth your calories. Second time I’m making them actually! The first time was slightly disastrous since I added the egg into the hot orange juice and it got slightly cooked. A little price to pay for my impatience, but they tasted good enough for a second try

Adapted from For the love of cooking

• 2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp orange rind
• 3/4 cup of fresh orange juice + 1/4cup if batter is too dry
• 1 cup of dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup of canola
• 1 large egg
• Coarse raw sugar

2 months away from the oven and I think I’ve lost some of my mojo for baking Made a few little mistakes here and there, and I wasn’t all that excited about stepping into the kitchen. Gotta get back on track soon or my dream of opening a bakery will go up in smoke. There’s only a 100 more days to the A’s, but I reckon there’s still the long break next year for me to get things right :> For now, it’s back to the books

Recipe from Food.com

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup frozen corn

• Preheat oven to 400F/205C.
• Mix butter, sugar, honey, eggs, and salt into a large bowl
• Add flour, cornmeal, and baking powder and blend thoroughly
• Add milk while mixing
• Add corn to mixture and work into mixture
• Do not mash corn, the whole kernel is baked into the muffin
• Fill a muffin pan with 12 paper/foil muffin cups and fill 2/3 full with batter
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until muffins are light brown

They look like muffins but they’re supposed to be buns. I was too lazy to get another tray so I filled the cups to the brim and they muffin-ed out. Texture wise, it was 3/4 muffin and 1/4 mochi-like. The addition of cream cheese makes it a little more dense, but I was hoping for something denser, perhaps a cross between bread and cheesecake. This recipe comes from Magnolia Bakery in New York and the buns are one of their most popular breakfast items. I thought they were quite good, but Dad tried 1/4 and said he’ll stop there because he’s afraid of getting fat. Maybe I didn’t bake them well enough, or perhaps muffins just aren’t his thing. The last time I remembered, he devoured the entire durian cake.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Buns, recipe from Bake or Break – maybe if I didn’t overfill my muffin cups, they’ll look almost as delicious as hers!

1 cup + 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup yogurt)
1 cup granulated sugar (I used slightly less than 2/3 cup)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1/4 to 1/3 cup raspberry preserves

Preheat oven to 175°C. Grease and flour a large (1-cup capacity) 12-cup muffin tin.*

Combine 1 cup flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Beat cream cheese, butter, and sugar on low speed of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla. Add dry ingredients, alternating with milk. Add remaining 3/4 cup flour and mix until combined.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. Top with 3 small dollops of preserves and swirl into the batter using a small knife.

Bake for 20-25 minutes,* or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.

Makes 12 buns.*

*For regular sized muffin tins, decrease baking time by 2-3 minutes. Makes about 20 buns.

Graci wanted a giant brownie for her birthday party, and so a giant brownie it is. It was my first big project, and I was honestly afraid of screwing up. I tripled this recipe, but realised that it wasn’t enough to fill the ginormous tray I bought. At 10 pm, I started on 2 more batches of batter but forgot to double the sugar and eggs. I threw in more eggs after adding the flour but left out the sugar. With 5x the recipe but only 4x the sugar (that’s a whopping 800g), the brownies were still sweet. Maybe too even too sweet for Asian palate; I blame it on the M&Ms. I had no idea that the milk chocolate M&Ms were diabetically sweet, and they cost a bomb in Singapore. $6.50 for a 230g bag, that’s a total rip off.

Mum and Dad wanted to try the brownies so I brought some back. Honestly, I think it looks better all mashed up. Because I made 5x the recipe but upped the baking time by only 10 minutes, the brownie had an extremely gooey interior that ended up looking like a dirt cake. I was too afraid to bake it any longer, for fear that the edges would turn out hard and dry.

When we turn up at your barbecue in pyjamas and Spongebob boxers (because you requested so), you know we really love you. Happy 18th Graci! And churning up a (decent) post at 2 in the morning? Sometimes, I surprise myself

The cookies were a little soft, but not chewy in the way I wanted them to be. I’m always at the 2 extreme spectral ends; they’re either crunchy (I like crunchy!) or cake-like soft. If only I could make cookies like the ones sold at Subway. Somebody, teach me?

I wanted a hint of citrus, so I prepared some orange zest which I absent-mindedly left out while making the batter. The white chips from Phoon Huat were also too minuscule to be savoured. What a pity… BUT STILL, despite my little mistakes, they were awesome. Next time round, I’ll remember the zest and use Ghirardelli white chips. It’s so hard to find quality ingredients in Singapore. Some niche supermarkets carry the more interesting ingredients, but price wise… If I could go to Australia again, I’ll ship a truckload of chocolate and cream cheese back!

And when time and money permits, I’ll start investing in some food props.

White chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies, from The Green Wife

• 1 cup  butter, softened
• 3/4 c  brown sugar
• 1/4 c  white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 c  flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp  baking soda
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 2 cups  quick oats
• 1 1/4 cup  white chocolate chips
• 1/2 or 3/4 cup dried cranberries

• Preheat oven to 175C.
• Put water on to boil.
• Mix butter, brown & white sugars and vanilla thorougly.  Add in flour and salt.  Mix.
• Dissolve baking soda in boiling water and mix into dough.
• Mix in oats, white chocolate and cranberries.
• The dough will be thick and not gooey.  Form into 1 1/2″ balls and put on parchment paper.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes.
• Gorge yourself.

When the class did the baking on Saturday, we only had to wait 30 minutes for the shells to form before we popped them into the oven. I had to wait two whole hours before a barely passable shell formed. It could be because the eggs were too cold, or that there was excessive moisture in the air (I read somewhere that it affects, I don’t know). Not to mention that the weather has been a bitch recently, jumping from scorching hot to pouring rain throughout the day.

My second attempt with the piping bag, so please cut me some slack!

I suppose this happens due to under-baking. The second batch wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t clean either. They were kinda over chewy, but I read that macarons taste better on day 2. I hope so!

You know what, I actually ate 3 bloody macarons after 10pm! There goes the run I did today and I’m gonna do a 100 sit ups now to make up for that. I can’t believe that I’m baking and munching away when I have my A level Chemistry SPA tomorrow. After Wednesday, the only experiment I’ll ever carry out again is baking! I will, will, will master these some day!

These creamy lemon oat bars were god-like. Sinking your teeth into soft, chewy baked condensed milk topped with crumbly oats on a moody Monday morning might just send the blues away. You do see some burnt milk, no? It tasted like caramel. My only grouse was that there wasn’t enough condensed milk. The bars were sweet enough, (and maybe even too sweet for Asian palate) but would you say no to a thicker layer of creamy goodness? The recipe called for one can, but I never knew the cans in Singapore were slightly smaller. I’m usually skeptical about bars (they’re not the easiest thing to digest), but hey, I’m sure the oats will save the day no?

Here’s heaven sandwiched between 2 healthy layers of oats! A friend even suggested having condensed milk as a bread spread. I used to have chilled condensed milk with macaroni when I was young, hmmm. If you’re a die-hard fan of PB and condensed milk, you’ll have to try the thick toasts at the Hong Kong cafes!

Alright, so there goes my baking session for the week, time to hit the books! Oh, and did I mention that VJ soccer girls won national champion?! Yeeha!

Creamy lemon oat bars, recipe adapted from Simply Daily Recipes

• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar ( I used 2 T less)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 375ºF/ 190ºC. Coat 8×8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mix milk, lemon zest and lemon juice in medium bowl until thickened; set aside. Mix remaining ingredients in medium bowl until crumbly.

Press half of the crumbly mixture in pan; bake about 10 minutes or until set.

Spread lemon milk mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture over the lemon milk mixture, press down gently. Bake about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and center is set but soft. Cool completely. Cut 4 rows by 4 rows.

Honey roasted sounds so darn good! I know this is the exact brand of PB that was once recalled over salmonella in 2007, but I only found out after I made my purchase. Ah well, it’s safe for consumption now anyway. It’s like how you can’t boycott milk forever because of China’s melamine scandal.

The dough was easy to work with and the cookies tasted good! I really, really hate working with overly greasy and soft dough. I ran out of brown sugar and PB, and also reduced the butter just in case I get a greasy mess. There were patches of oil every where, but the cookies weren’t as moist as I thought they’d be. Maybe I could use more PB and throw in PB M&Ms the next time round; no one ever says no to PB!

I’ll have one for breakfast tomorrow before my run, just to make sure that they still taste good, and hopefully even better! Thank god these cookies are in time for Mothers’ day and the dance concert I’ll be attending tomorrow

One Bowl Criss-Cross Peanut Butter Cookies, adapted from Cookie Madness

100g unsalted butter, softened**
1/2 cup (100 grams) packed dark brown sugar, packed ( I used 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup (96 grams) granulated sugar
1 cup (260 grams) PB, smooth/chunky (less sweet peanut butters work best) (I only had 210g, could do with more!)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon (2ml) salt
1/2 teaspoon (2ml) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) vanilla
1 1/2 cups sifted flour (6 oz/168 grams))—if you don’t sift, use 1 1/3 cup
1 1/2 cups peanut butter chips (or however many you want; optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). Line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper or leave ungreased/un-lined.

Beat the butter and both sugars together. Beat in the peanut butter and egg; Scrape sides of bowl and beat in the salt, baking soda and vanilla. When well blended, add flour and stir until it is blended. Stir in the chips.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls (or scoop with a #70 scoop) and arrange on cookie sheets about 2 1/2-inches apart. Flatten balls with a fork making criss-cross patterns; Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges.

Makes about 3 dozen

**If you only have salted butter you can use that, but reduce the salt in the recipe to about 1/4 teaspoon.

I love white Toblerone so much, I can eat them with pancakes. What a pity that the muffins turned out disastrous

Honestly, the batter looked so promising! That was a hell lot of false hopes.

Right from the moment I set the pan in, there was a burning smell, which I casually dismissed. 20 minutes later, they came out of the oven charred. I tried some of them, and the muffin tops still tasted good. The muffin itself wasn’t too bad, but the unsightly carcinogenic parts were a huge turn off, and in my mum’s words, “a health hazard!” There goes my Toblerone

I’m going to try this again though, but only after some read up. Next time round, I’ll use baking chips and make sure they’re way hidden and away from the top so they won’t burn. I confess that I was greedy enough to add 10 additional grams of Toblerone and left them in relatively large chunks. Some of the submerged white chocolate chunks actually oozed out from the muffin tops, leaving a huge black mess on the muffin tray. Le sigh! Any advice anyone? Time to pull up my (baking) socks!!

I hate how ugly my cookies are!! It’s time to invest in better brown sugar. The recipe called for melted butter but I was too chicken to use that, lest I ended up with a greasy puddle. My cookie ended up being thicker in the middle, and not very chewy I’m gonna try it out with melted butter again. Think my dad’s gonna flip when the electricity bill comes this month.

Taste wise, they were quite good, but not yet perfect! My best choc chip cookies thus far are the ones made using William Sonoma’s recipe, and with nuts! Those are crunchy, but absolutely divine. I’ll have to continue hunting for the perfect chewy choc chip cookie recipe, something that will yield cookies similar to that of Subway’s! That probably involves a lot of butter and sugar, so I’ll have to make them after my Napfa test!

Next up on the list,

Dulce de leche cheesecake bars!
Carrot cupcakes!
Compost cupcakes!

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, adapted from Watch Me Bake

1 and 1/16 cups self-raising flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
80g melted and cooled unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 caster sugar (granulated is fine too)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips/chunks (semi or bittersweet)

1. Preheat oven to 165°C and line 2 baking trays with baking/parchment papers.

2. Mix flour and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

3. Beat butter and sugars together until thoroughly incorporated. Mix in the egg yolk, white and vanilla extract.

4. Gently mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips/chunks. Add in any other nuts or berries you want (optional) at this stage.

6. Drop the cookie dough onto the baking trays with about 3″ spacing (the cookies will expand a little). Bake the cookies for 13-15 min or until the cookies are light golden brown and the edges start to harden. The cookie centers should be still soft and puffy to ensure the cookies are chewy. Do not overbake!! If dough is frozen, the cookies would require another extra 1-2 min baking time.

7. Cool the cookies on the tray. Serve as is or store in an airtight container. Cookies are best eaten after cooling or when they are still semi-warm.