Clove-Scented Chocolate and Apricot Loaf

This is my third bake for The Cake Slice Bakers for this month. We have the option to bake from any of our previous featured books before we start with a new book in January. Those previous books are ;

Sky High : Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Southern Cakes

Cake Keeper Cakes

The Cake Book

Vintage Cakes

Great Cakes

The Southern Cake Book

Maida Heatter's Cakes

World Class Cakes

Once again I've baked from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. The cake I've chosen is Clove-Scented Chocolate and Apricot Loaf, which I've wanted to bake for ages. It is a chocolate cake, which has a spice ingredient that is not always used in bakes, ground cloves. Described by the author "Just a small amount of ground cloves gives this chocolate loaf a mysterious and complex flavor. Apricots add moisture, color, and a beautiful acidity that complements the chocolate and spice".

The cake is moist, with tender crumbs and delicious! Everything combines together perfectly, the cloves, cinnamon, cocoa powder and the apricots, with a very nice aroma from the spices. The only thing is, the chopped apricots sunk to the bottom of the cake, looks like I did not chop the apricots fine enough.  But not an issue, as the cake is really good. I will chop the dried apricots to smaller pieces the next time, as this cake is worth a repeat!

Clove-Scented Chocolate and Apricot Loaf
(from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)
serves 8 to 10
1 cup dried apricot, finely chopped
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan and dust with flour.
2. Combine the apricots and 1 tablespoon of flour in a small bowl. Set aside. Whisk together the remaining 1 cup flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a medium mxing bowl.
3. Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.
4. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
5. Turn the mixer to low speed and add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of the milk. Repeat, ending with the flour. After the last addition, mix for 1 minute on medium speed. Stir in the apricots.
6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake the cake until it is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack, then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely. Slice and serve.
7. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Do visit The Cake Slice Bakers official blog to see what everyone has baked this month. If you would like to join us, please leave a message with the administrator, you can find it on the left side bar.

I'm also linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #24 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

An InLinkz Link-up

Chocolate Marble Chiffon Cake

My second bake for The Cake Slice Bakers for this month. We have the option to bake from any of our previous featured books before we start with a new book in January. Those previous books are ;

Sky High : Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Southern Cakes

Cake Keeper Cakes

The Cake Book

Vintage Cakes

Great Cakes

The Southern Cake Book

Maida Heatter's Cakes

World Class Cakes

This second bake is from Cake Keeper Cakes, one of my favourite baking book. I like that the bakes in this book are fuss free and the cakes are all perfect for anytime snacking, makes a nice breakfast and tea-time treat with a cup of coffee or tea. 

According to Lauren Chattman, this is her older daughter's favourite cake out of all the bakes in this book. I can see why it is, the cake is light, fluffy, moist and so, so good! I've already made this a few times, and each time, it was gone pretty quick!

Chocolate Marble Chiffon Cake
(Cake Keeper Cakes, by Lauren Chattman)
serves 8 to 10
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
2 tablespoons water
1-1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1-1/3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 large eggs, 5 separated, 2 left whole
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup water * (refer notes below)

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Have ready a 9-inch ungreased angel food tube pan with a removable bottom.
2. Whisk together the cocoa powder, water, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 tablespoon oil in a small bowl. Set aside. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk thoroughly to break up any lumps. Set aside.
3. Place the egg yolks and whole eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until lightened in colour, about 3 minutes. With the motor running, add 1 cup sugar in a slow, steady stream and continue to beat until the mixture is light and increased in volumn, about 5 minutes longer. With the mixer still running, slowly pour in the remaining 1/2 cup oil and continue to beat for 1 minute longer.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 the water mixture, then another 1/3 of the flour, the remaining water mixture, and the remaining flour mixture, scraping down the bowl once or twice as necessary. Stir in the vanilla.
5. With clean beaters and using a clean mixing bowl, whip the egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat on medium speed until the egg whites begin to turn white. With the mixer still on medium speed, pour in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a slow, steady stream and whip until the whites hold stiff peaks.
6. Fold 1/4 of the yolk mixture into the whites to lighten. Then fold the remaining whites into the yolk mixture, gently but thoroughly.
7. Transfer 1/3 of the cake batter to another bowl and gently fold in the chocolate batter. Pour half of the yellow batter into the tube pan. Top with half of the chocolate batter. Repeat with the remaining yellow and chocolate batter. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Use a butter knife to swirl the batters together, taking care not to overmix. Bake the cake until it is golden brown and the top springs back when you touch it, 55 minutes to 1 hour.
8. Remove the pan from the oven. If your pan has feet, invert the pan onto a heatproof surface and allow it to cool. If your pan doesn't have feet, invert 4 heatproof drinking glasses on the counter and rest the inverted pan on top of the glasses to allow air to circulate around the cake while it cools. Let the cake cool in the pan completely, about 2 hours.
9. To remove the cake from the pan, run a sharp paring knife around the edges, being careful to leave the golden crust intact. Remove the sides of the pan. Invert the cake onto a serving platter. Run the paring knife under the removable bottom of the pan and lift it off the cake. Slice and serve.
10. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Kitchen Flavours notes :
Some changes I've made to the recipe :
~ reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp for the batter, 1/4 cup for egg white meringue
~ instructions mentioned about adding water at step 4, water is not listed in the ingredients, so comparing with her other chiffon cake recipes in the book, I've added 1/4 cup water *, and it works out great

Do visit The Cake Slice Bakers official blog to see what everyone has baked this month. If you would like to join us, please leave a message with the administrator, you can find it on the left side bar.

I'm also linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #24 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

An InLinkz Link-up

Chocolate-Zucchini Bundt Cake : Bake-Along #65

We had a fantastic "Chiffon Marathon" on our last Bake-Along! Thank you everyone, for your overwhelming response. All of you are just so creative, baking the usual chiffon cakes with unique and delicious flavours combinations, some of them are really new to me, and the chiffon cakes made into layer cakes are just so beautifully done! Clearly, you are a group of talented bakers! There are recipes that I have bookmarked to try, one of it, is the ever so popular Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes, and me being the slow-coach to jump into the wagon, will bake it, eventually!

Today's Bake-Along #65 was selected by Lena to bake together with Zoe and everyone is welcome to join us. If you are hesitating whether to bake this cake, hesitate no more, bake it! This cake is really moist, chocolaty and so good.

No one would not know that there are zucchini in the cake, except the baker, of course! And your kids would be happily gobbling down this chocolate cake, without their knowing that there is some veggie in it. This cake is baked in a bundt pan, and my photos taken on day 1, before the cake was sliced, are missing from my camera, oops!! So, these photos were taken on the next day when there are some slices left. 

As usual, I have reduced the granulated sugar to only half for full recipe, and brown sugar to 3/4 cup, loosely packed. I have omitted the sliced almonds as my family are not in favour of nuts in cakes. I have replaced the sour cream with homemade yoghurt. You would need about 1 medium zucchini to get 2 cups of grated zucchini. And one of the ingredients is espresso powder, which adds a lovely fragrant and delicious flavour with the cocoa powder.

A really chocolaty, moist and delicious cake. I'm glad I've reduced the sugar amount, as the sweetness turns out just right. My son brought 5 slices to school to share with his best buddies, and they loved it, came back with an empty container and a request to make this cake again. This is a keeper recipe. Thanks Lena, for a delicious selection!

** note : my changes listed in blue
Chocolate-Zucchini Bundt Cake
(adapted from "Cake Keeper Cakes", Lauren Chattman)
Serves 10 to 12
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder plus more for dusting the pan
1/2 cup sour cream (homemade yoghurt)
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
1 cup packed light brown sugar (3/4 cup, loosely packed)
2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup sliced almonds (omitted)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with unsweetened cocoa powder.
2. Whisk together the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla in a large glass measuring cup. Whisk together the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder in a medium bowl.
3. Combine the butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Add 1/2 of the sour cream mixture. Repeat, alternating flour and sour cream mixtures and ending with the flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions.Stir in the zucchini, chocolate chips, and nuts.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert it onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and serve.
6. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

**************************

To view this lovely cake that everyone has made, please visit Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and all our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below :

For our next Bake-Along, our bake is based on a theme which is Theme : Baked Pasta. Bake any pasta recipe and join us! The linky will start on 7th July until 16th August. Everyone is welcome! 

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, PLEASE FOLLOW THE BAKE OR THEME provided by us. Unrelated post will be deleted.

3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge in your post.

and I'm sharing this post with :

Cook-Your-Books #14 @ kitchen flavours

To join our blog hop, click on the link to get the codes:
get the InLinkz code

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Chocolate Cream Pound Cake : Bake-Along #51

Time for our Bake-Along #51, Chocolate Cream Pound Cake, chosen by my baking buddy, Lena from Frozen Wings.

A simple chocolate cake using some heavy cream as one of its ingredients. The heavy cream is heated up until just boiling and it is poured over the sifted cocoa powder to make a paste. Let it cool and use it for the cake batter as per the recipe below. The only changes I made was to reduce the amount of sugar by half! And the sweetness is just right. 

Overall, this is a simple and very nice cake, nothing exceptional, the kind of cake that is light enough and great for snacking anytime of the day. It has a moist, soft and tender texture and would go great with either tea, coffee or even a glass of milk. 

Chocolate Cream Pound Cake
(adapted from "Cake Keeper Cakes", Lauren Chattman)
Serves 8 to 10
6 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar (I use 3/4 cup)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan and dust with flour.
2. Sift the cocoa powder through a fine strainer and into a heatproof bowl. Place the cream in a microwave-safe measuring cup and heat until just boiling, 30 seconds to 1 minute depending on the power of your microwave. Pour the hot cream over the cocoa and stir and mash with a spoon to make a thick paste. Set aside to cool.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
4. Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary. Beat in the cocoa powder paste until smooth.
5. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
6. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. After the last addition, mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake the cake until it is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely. Slice and seve.
8. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

#91/100

To join our blog hop, bake this cake and link your post to our Bake-Along linky.

Please visit my baking buddies, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and all our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below :

For our next Bake-Along, we will be baking based on a theme where our theme is "Hokkaido Milk Bread". Bake any Hokkaido Milk Bread of your choice and link your post to the our blog-hop linky which will start on  25th September right up to 4th October. Everyone is welcome! 

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, related to the current bake or theme provided by us. Unrelated post will be deleted.
3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge in your post.

And I'm sharing this with :
Cook-Your-Books #4 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

To join our blog hop, click on the link for the codes :
get the InLinkz code

Cold Oven Cream Cheese Pound Cake : Free and Easy Bake-Along #38

Our first Bake-Along for 2013 kick-off with Lena's selection, Cold Oven Cream Cheese Pound Cake. This cake is different from other pound cakes; the batter is baked in a cold oven instead of preheating the oven before baking. According to Lauren Chattman, baking this cake in a cold oven gives it time to rise to great heights while developing a beautiful golden-brown crust.

I made the full recipe as I was rather curious about the "great heights" in a bundt pan! This is a rich pound cake, using 250gm of cream cheese and 250gm of butter! And a very interesting ingredient, it contains grated fresh ginger. Since I harvested my homegrown ginger a couple of days before from my garden, I was happy to use some of it for my bake! 

Some changes I made was, by reducing the sugar, from the original 2-1/2 cups to only 1 cup! Even with this drastic amount of reduction, you would not miss all that sugar, and it was just right! I always wonder why most recipes requires very high amount of sugar in the first place. Maybe it is all about baking science, but even with the lesser amount, the ones that I've baked always turned out fine for me. Can you imagine, 2-1/2 cups of sugar is half kilogram! You definitely do not need that much of sugar!

When the batter was poured into the bundt pan, the amount was rather huge, it almost reached the top of my bundt pan, maybe 1/2" almost to the top, and I was worried that it might overflow during baking, since the recipe says it will bake to "great heights"! I decided to take the chance and go ahead with the baking. Luckily it turned out fine. The cake rose nicely and the colour of the crust, like what Lauren Chattman says, a beautiful golden brown.

The cake has a very moist, soft texture. Since there are grated ginger used for this cake, you can get some gingery taste in some bites, though it is not overpowering at all, very nice actually. And with most pound cakes, I find the flavour improves and tastes much better overnight. Overall, a very nice cake.

Please visit my baking buddies, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and all our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below :

For the next bake, we will be baking based on a theme, "Theme : Souffles". The linky will start on 30th January right up to 8th February. Do join us, everyone's welcome.

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, related to the current bake or theme provided by us. Unrelated post will be deleted.
3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge in your post.

Cold Oven Cream Cheese Pound Cake
(adapted from "Cake Keeper Cakes" by Lauren Chattman)
3 cups cake flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2-1/2 cups sugar (I use only 1 cup)
6 eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with flour. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Combine the butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
3. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, ginger, and lemon zest.
4. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. After the last addition, mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
5. Place the cake in a cold oven. Turn the oven to 325F and bake, without opening the oven door, until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 65 to 80 minutes.
6. Cool the cake in pan for 15 minutes. then invert it onto rack. Cool completely before slicing and serving.
7. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

#5/100

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World's Quickest Yeasted Coffee Cake : Free And Easy Bake-Along #34

Time for our Bake-Along and my turn to select a recipe. Since I have always wanted to bake World's Quickest Yeasted Coffee Cake, so that's my selection for this week. This is a super easy and quick way of enjoying a slice of bread, though why is it called coffee cake and not coffee bread? After all, it uses yeast. Well, since it is called yeasted coffee cake, I suppose that makes perfect sense. Though I still think that "bread" would be more appropriate than "cake"! What do you think???

Cake or bread, it does not matter, when the end-result is just wonderful. 

The recipe uses all-purpose flour, but I substitute with bread flour instead. And it uses quite a lot of yeast, I did thought of reducing the yeast amount, but decided against it at the last moment, since this bread is to be baked in a cold oven, I suppose that amount of yeast used would help it to rise more in a shorter time.  Lena and Zoe has given me some tips that this bread is extremely sweet since both of them have baked this earlier than me. So I have adjusted the sugar amount (refer to the recipe below, my changes in purple), and sweetness turned out just right. Thank you, girls!  And I have used walnuts instead of pecans.

The texture of the bread is moist and very soft. Even though the bread did not rise really high as what I was expecting, especially with the amount of yeast used, but the bread is very soft and really nice. The topping is sticky and goey and absolutely delicious, the walnuts added a crunchy, delightful nutty taste in every bite. 

A lovely bread, great for breakfast and for a tea-time break. Very easy, quick and really simple to make.

Overall review :  Good. Great when eaten fresh from the oven. When left overnight, it has gone a little stale, just like most breads. Reheat before eating.

Please visit my baking buddies, Lena and Zoe and all our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below. 

Bake-Along will be taking a month-long break and we shall be back on 12th November. For our next bake, we will be baking based on a theme bake, Theme : Linzer Tart. The linky will start on 12th November right up to 18th November. Do join us, everyone's welcome.

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, related to the current bake or theme provided by us. Unrelated post will be deleted.
3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge in your post.

World's Quickest Yeasted Coffee Cake
(adapted from : Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Serves 9

3/4 cup whole milk

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

2 envelopes (1-1/2 tablespoons) instant yeast

1-3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup granulated sugar (I use 2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup dark corn syrup (I use 3 tablespoons golden syrup)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (I use 3 tablespoons)

3/4 cup finely shopped pecans 

1. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and dust it with flour, knocking out any extra.
2. Heat the milk and 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan until the butter is melted and the milk is very warm to the touch. Pour into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the yeast to dissolve. Stir in the flour and salt and beat with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until you have a sticky dough. Press the dough into the prepared pan.
3. Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar evenly over the batter.
4. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Combine the corn syrup, brown sugar, and melted butter in a medium bowl and stir. Spread over the dough. Sprinkle pecans evenly across the top.
5. Place the pan in a cold oven. Turn the heat to 350 degrees F. Bake until the cake is golden and set in the center, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve warm.

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Everyday Yoghurt Cake : Free and Easy Bake-Along #32

This is a really simple cake, just as its name, Everyday Yoghurt Cake, the cake chosen by my baking buddy, Lena from Frozen Wings for our Bake-Along No 32.

I think that there will be mixed reviews from my baking friends for this bake. For one, this cake is quite unlike other cakes. According to Lauren Chattman, this plain cake has a light and airy texture, and can be "dressed" up in various ways by placing a paper doily on top and dust with confectioners' sugar for a lacy decoration. And it can be served with some yoghurt and sliced fruits on the side.

I decided to leave it plain as it is. This cake rises well and bakes up beautifully. 

Light and airy? The texture that I got was a little dense, but very soft, moist and smells really good. This is the kind of cake that goes well with a cup of coffee or tea, something simple but satisfying.

My overall review : I like this cake. The dense texture is really a soft, moist, and good dense. This cake is made from very simple basic ingredients, that I was surprised it could turn out rather tasty.  I kept a few slices and ate them the next afternoon, and the slices has got a little more dense but still remains soft.  I enjoyed these slices with a cup of black coffee. Very nice!

To see the others review on this cake, please do visit my baking buddies, Lena and Zoe, and all our baking friends who has baked along with us in the blog-hop linky below.

For our next bake-along, we will be baking the following, do join us:

Theme : Cream Puffs (bake any Cream Puffs)

Date : 27/09 to 03/10

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, related to the current bake or theme.

3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge in your post.

Everyday Yoghurt Cake
(Cake Keeper Cakes, Lauren Chattman)
Serves 8
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yoghurt or lowfat yoghurt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake and dust it with flour, knocking out any extra. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the yoghurt, oil, eggs and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Pour the yoghurt mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just moistened.
2. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the top of the cake is light golden and a toothpick inserted into the center is clean, about 40 minutes.
3. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioner's sugar, then slice and serve.
4. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

kitchenflavours notes :

For half a recipe, I used 1/3 cup sugar, baked in a 7" round cake pan for 32 minutes

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Honey And Walnut Cake : Free and Easy Bake-Along #23

It's time for our Bake-Along! For our 23rd Bake-Along, Zoe has chosen this cake, Honey and Walnut Cake from Cake Keeper Cakes. When this cake was chosen, I was rather sceptical about this cake, not for any reason except that it has honey as one of its "star" ingredient. Not that I do not like honey, I love honey when drizzled over hot buttered waffles, when drizzled over pancakes, ice creams and when mixed with yoghurt over fruit salad and also when used as a glaze over barbecue chicken! But I have never like honey when it is used in baked cakes, weird isn't it? I wonder if there is anyone out there who feels the same way!

This cake uses walnuts that are toasted and then process until finely ground. I use the dry mill blender to ground the walnuts, and I was pretty sure it would end up pasty! As from my experience with peanuts, I need lots of flour to mill the peanuts so that they do not end up pasty,  and according to the book, only 1 tablespoon of sugar is added to the walnuts. I went ahead anyway. True enough, the walnuts, are getting  pasty and wet! I ended up using the rest of the flour, mixed with the walnuts and continue to mill them till finely ground. Even then, the walnuts looks lumpy like coarse crumbs in pastry-making. I wonder if using a food processor, would it turn out differently? I have not seen ground walnuts being sold before and thought of substituting with ground hazelnuts, which are easily available, but decided to have a go with the walnuts instead.

I use my fingers to separate the lumpy ground walnuts the best I could. I carry on with the rest of the instructions and when the walnuts was added into the batter, it was all lumpy! Gosh! Lumpy batter!  So I increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 30 seconds longer. Viola! the batter is now smooth! But I was concerned whether the high speed in beating would actually affect the rising of the cake, as the instructions says to mix in the flour just until incorporated, but I'm glad that in the end it turns out well!

This cake is just as Lauren Chattman says in her book, "This is a delicious, moist, rich cake with the beautiful fragrance of honey". It is true, but she has missed three more words when describing this cake, "soft, buttery and tender"!

My overall rating : A lovely cake! But one I would personally not make for myself, simply because I still could not get used to the honey in baked cakes. There's nothing wrong with the cake, it is wonderful! I only ate half a piece to try, and find that I still do not like honey in baked cakes! I know, it's weird, but don't let that stop you from trying this out. It's a lovely cake!

Please visit Lena and Zoe and other friends who has baked along with us in the linky below. And to know what's in store for our Upcoming Bake-Along, please refer to the details below :

Bake-Along No. 24 (14 May)

We will be baking based on a theme, "Baking With Four Ingredients". Does this sounds challenging? Go on, start sourcing for recipes and join us on 14/05.  It would indeed be interesting to see what everyone's four-ingredients bake will be!

Bake-Along No. 25 (29 May)

It's our Bake-Along 1st Anniversary! Yup, Bake-Along has been going on for a year now, so the three of us thought that it would be fun and wonderful to bake something special just to celebrate our 1st year at Bake-Along! We have decided on baking "layer cake"! Come and celebrate with us, bake any layer cake, join our blog-hop on 29th May for "Bake-Along 1st Anniversary Layer Cake"!

Honey and Walnut Cake

(adapted from "Cake Keeper Cakes" by Lauren Chattman)
1-1/2 cups walnut pieces
1/3 cup sugar (I use 1/4 cup)
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 tablespoons honey
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper. Grease the parchment. Dust the pan sides and parchment with flour. Spread the walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
2. Combine the cooled walnuts and 1 tablespoon of sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until the nuts are finely ground. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and pulse to combine.
3. Add the butter, honey, and remaining sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the zest and vanilla. Add the nut and flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until just incorporated.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out dry, 35 to 40 minutes. If the cake starts to brown too much around the edges, loosely tent it with foil after about 25 minutes.
5. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up again to cool completely. Dust heavily with confectioners' sugar before cutting into wedges and serving.
6. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Join our blog hop, get the codes here :
get the InLinkz code

Fresh Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Chips : Free And Easy Bake-Along #21

This is one lovely cake. I have chosen this cake for our 21st Bake-Along, one of the recipes that I have wanted to try out ever since I got my book, Cake Keeper Cakes. The name of the cake sounds really yummy, Fresh Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Chips.

The cake is really moist and soft. Love the bits of fresh strawberries scattered throughout the cake.

The top crust is really soft. As usual, I reduced the amount of sugar. 

This is great for tea-time and for a quick snack with a cup of tea.

Another keeper recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes.

I would probably make this without the white choc chips the next time, it is nice actually in this cake, but I'm not exactly a fan of white choc chips, preferring the real choc chips instead! :)

Please visit Lena and Zoe to see their bake and also visit our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below. Feel free to join in our Bake-Along, this linky will stay open from 27th March to 2nd April.

 

For our next Bake-Along, we will be baking based on a theme and our theme will be "Theme : Creme Brulee". Ever made any Creme Brulee before, or has it been on your list for ages? It certainly has been on my list of to do! Treat your family with some delicious homemade Creme Brulee and join us on 10th April, the linky will stay open right up to 16th April. See you!


Fresh Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Chips
(adapted from "Cake Keeper Cakes" by Lauren Chattman)
Serves 9
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup sour cream (I use homemade yoghurt)
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar (I use 140gm)
8 ounces strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks (I use 3/4 cup)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and dust it with flour, knocking out any extra. Combine the egg, egg yolk, sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla in a large glass measuring cup and lightly beat. Combine 1-1/4 cups flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.
3. With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour the egg mixture into the bowl in a slow stream, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the bowl.
4. Turn the mixer on low speed and add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. After the last addition, mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
5. Combine the strawberries and remaining 1/4 cup of flour in a medium bowl and toss to coat. Fold the flour-covered berries along with the chocolate chips into the batter with a rubber spatula.
6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely. Cut into 9 squares and serve.
7. Store uneaten squares in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Join our blog hop, get the code here :
get the InLinkz code

Nectarine Cake with Cinnamon-Nut Topping : Free and Easy Bake-Along #8

Together with my baking buddies, Lena and Zoe, we baked this Nectarine Cake for our Free and Easy Bake-Along #8. How does this cake fare? Delicious! I love it!

Gorgeous rosy nectarines.

We are not sure whether it was an error in the sugar ingredient for the topping, at least the three of us thought so! :)  In the ingredient listing, the amount of sugar was listed as 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon, whereas in the instruction for mixing the topping, only calls for 1 tablespoon! We guess that 1 cup of sugar for the topping is way too much! Zoe was the first to bake this, and alerted us on the sweetness even after she reduced the sugar. Thanks, Zoe!

Since I do not like sweet cakes and always reduced the sugar in most recipes, I did as I always do, reduced the sugar, especially after Zoe informed us that it is very sweet! I only use 2 tablespoons for the topping and 80gm for the cake batter. It was perfect for me. The smell is wonderful, the sweet aroma of the cinnamon fills the house when this cake is baking.

The topping is really nice, the walnuts coated with the sugar and cinnamon is so good. The cake balances well with the topping and the soft nectarine, which I left unpeeled.

Overall rating, this is a delicious cake! It did not last long in my house! Baked this in the evening and finished it all by the next morning!

Do drop by Lena of Her Frozen Wings and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids to see their version of this cake. For our next Bake-Along, we will be baking Sweet Potato Sandwich Rolls  from King Arthur Flour website, and we will be posting it, on 10/09. 

I'm sharing this with

Bake with Bizzy at Bizzy B. Bakes

Sweets For A Saturday at Sweet As Sugar Cookies

Sweet Tooth Friday at Alli n Son
Cookbook Sundays at Mom's Sunday Cafe

Nectarine Cake with Cinnamon-Nut Topping
(adapted from "Cake Keeper Cakes" by Lauren Chattman)
For The Topping :
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar (guess this is an error! I only use 2 tablespoons sugar)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped


For The Cake :
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (I use 80gm)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 medium ripe nectarines, halved, pitted and peeled


Make The Topping :

1.  Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease the inside of a 10-inch round springform pan.
2. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar, the cinnamon, and the nuts in a small bowl. Set aside.

Make The Cake :

1. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Combine the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary. With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Arrange the nectarines, cut side down, on top of the batter. Sprinkle with the topping. Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Release the sides of the pan and use a large spatula to slide the cake from the pan bottom to a wire rack. Cool completely, cut into wedges, and serve. (I did have a problem sliding the cake from the pan bottom, so I just let it cool completely in the pan. It turned out fine).
4. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

I would like to wish all my Muslim blogger friends "SELAMAT HARI RAYA ADILFITRI", and everyone "HAPPY HOLIDAYS"

Have a safe 'balik kampung' journey and see you when you get back!

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