First off, whilst we are still in the month of January, let me take this opportunity to wish all a very Happy New Year!
If you're looking for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe, I say look no further because they are readily available for free on the internet! I cannot believe how delicious these cookies are!
First up is the Cornflakes Chocolate Chip Cookies by Momofuku Milk Bar. You will be pleased to know that not only is the chocolate chip cookies recipe available but many other recipes of their signature cakes and they are all for FREE! After trying several recipes, including the chocolate chip cookies recipe here, all of which taste phenomenal, I was convinced to buy their book. It is worth every penny even though some of the recipes can be found on their website. Crunchy on the edges and chewy in the center, the cookies have a caramel like sweetness from the melted marshmallows and each bite is buttery, crunchy and chewy.
Next, is a soft chocolate chip cookie from Baking is a Science, a fun and insightful blog by a home baker on the chemistry of baking. There are interesting posts on the writer's baking experiments where the writer provides useful explanations of how different ingredients react differently and why they would produce different outcome in a recipe. According to the writer, the secret in achieving soft and chewy cookies is to use bread flour instead of regular all-purpose flour. The writer experimented with different flour in her chocolate chip cookies and she liked the cookies with bread flour the best as it was crunchy on the edges and moist and chewy in the center. Unfortunately, the blog is down when I tried to access it today.
Both cookies were good but there was a clear winner between the two since most of my tasters and I included liked one more than the other.
I have never made a pumpkin pie before. It is not something that is popular on this side of the world. We have pumpkin dishes but it's not something that people would make into a dessert here, which is strange because we use yam and sweet potato which have a similar texture to pumpkin in our local dessert, bubur cha cha.
This pumpkin pie is super easy to make and I was surprised how delicious it turned out even though it's my first time making a pumpkin pie.
I love the creamy and sweet taste of pumpkin. It tastes great whether as a savoury dish or made into a dessert.
Though pumpkin pie is commonly eaten during Thanksgiving in North America, it would make a nice Christmas dessert as well. Don't you think cinnamon and ginger taste very christmassy?
It's that time of the year. It really isn't Christmas without mince pie. I always have a mince pie or two when Christmas is near. It's something I picked up while studying in the UK and it stuck ever since. This year I decided to bake my own. Home made pies always taste great because you get to use as much butter as you want and control what goes into the pies. These mince pies are rich and buttery and filled with boozy fruits. Go ahead, tis the season to indulge.
I used store bought mixed fruits for the "mince meat" (it's called mince meat even though there's no meat in the filling -_-). If you're up for it, make your own mince meat. I think Mary Berry's or David Lebovit's recipes are good. Traditionally, suet ( pork fat) is used to make the filling. If you can't find suet, don't sweat, just use butter. These mince pies are super easy to make.
My "baked main course challenge" would have to take a back seat for awhile to accommodate my current obsession with red velvet cake. Earlier, I baked a red velvet from a recipe by the man who came up with the "best ever red velvet cake", Cake Man Raven, but I found the cake to be very oily. I thought that I would not bother baking another red velvet again but I was wrong. Clearly, there is something intriguing about its taste. I tried three different recipes in order to come up with the red velvet that I like, one that is light and fluffy compared to the usual red velvet which is dense and has fine crumbs. For the third recipe, I use two different frosting and that explains the four cakes above.
It's almost midnight, you're already in your pjs and you're craving for Doritos. You go downstairs to your kitchen to look for a snack to satisfy your cheese cravings. You open your pantry. No Doritos in sight, but you see a box of cornmeal. You knew from preparing the club sandwich this afternoon that there is leftover mature cheddar in the fridge. What do you do?
Being the little Masterchef you are, you decide to bake some cheese muffins to munch which could double as breakfast the next morning. Without further ado, you pulled out the Sweet Chilli Cheese Muffin recipe from mum's recipe box.
Being a lover of white chocolate and strawberries, I wanted to come up with not just a good, but a great white chocolate and strawberry muffin recipe. I won't say I'm there yet but this muffin recipe which is adapted from Bouchon Bakery blueberry muffins is definitely a keeper.
If you have not tried making Bouchon blueberry muffins, you absolutely must try this weekend. It is the best muffin recipe. This recipe is perfect if you prefer your cake light and fluffy compared to denser fine crumbed cakes. If you want a different flavour, try my version which uses the same basic cake recipe but with strawberries and white chocolate.
There will
be a temporary shift of direction in the type of food I bake as I will be
baking/cooking food to pack to work. This means you'll be seeing a lot more posts on savoury baked goods.
If you're sick of having leftover dinner for tomorrow's lunch, I suggest you jump on the bandwagon and start preparing tasty little baked treats for lunch at work. It's fun to plan a menu and workday lunch can never be as satisfying as enjoying your own tasty creation in your office pantry. If you have other people living with you, such as family or housemates, share your creations with them. Nothing like putting a smile on their faces and reminding them of what a sweetheart you are when they open up their lunch boxes.
It will be a challenge to look for main courses to bake. The first baked main that comes to mind is quiche. So here's the curry quiche recipe I made to kick start my "baked main course challenge".
