3 works combo post - Chocolate mousse, chocolate coated cornflakes, lemon cupcakes

I am still making and baking but too lazy to blog. What have I done?

I made Nigella's instant chocolate mousse. I spent quite some time finding mini mashmallows and gave up after awhile and bought big ones to cut into smaller pieces. I think the reason behind using mini is for easy melting? Anyway, I got to try reduce mashmallows to see if it affects the final product. The mousse is oh sooooo sweeeet.

Not sure what got over me, but the process in making did not go so smooth. First, I am not sure if I measured the chocolate chips correctly. I am using my going to expire coverture chocolate buttons. I totally forgot how much did I measure out just 5 minutes after measuring (blame it on pregnancy). I also over whipped my Bulla Pure cream, and even thou I sourced for recovery way (which is to add more cream and whip somemore - according to internet searches) but I did not have enough "raw material" to try. So in order to try bringing it back to a more liquid state, I try adding milk. Sorry, that doesn't quite work. So in the end, I still go ahead to add the melted chocolate and then just stir and fridge the final product. You may click her website to get the recipe or refer to below.

Nigella's Instant Chocolate Mousse (Serving Size : Serves 4–6)

INGREDIENTS 150g mini marshmallows 50g soft butter 250g good dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), chopped into small pieces 60ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle 1 x 284ml tub double cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract METHOD 1. Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan. 2. Put the saucepan on the hob, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt the contents, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat. 3. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture. 4. Pour or scrape into 4 glasses or ramekins, about 175ml each in capacity, or 6 smaller (125ml) ones, and chill until you want to eat. The sooner the better! Here is sharing my Nigella's Instant Chocolate Mousse. I still have marshmallows, and I hope to try again since I did not whip my cream properly. It still taste very much a mousse thou. I hope I can get a 284ml double cream too. The Bulla Pure Cream is 200ml only and I have to adjust the recipe according. Next in line, I made Chocolate coated Cornflakes cookies (ya, trying to use up the expiring chocolate buttons). My son got 2 packets of K-diet (I think so) cornflakes from his school's health event. Cornflakes sure do not go well with coffee that I need every morning. I google for recipes, and some uses butter, some just use chocolate. So to simplify my job, I chose one with just chocolate. I melt the chocolate over hot water, and crushed the cornflakes a little before I pour them into the melted chocolate. After much stirring, I put them into the paper cups, then put them into the fridge after the kids sprinkle the color balls. I think without the colours, the chocolate cornflakes are so boring. (Sad annoucement : the cornflake cookies turn moldy the next day in the air tight container. Likely reason (after much discussion with friends in FB) : condensation happened after I took them out to room temperature as advised by the recipe, so the mold. Damage : half portion gone.) In remembrance of the tasty chocolate coated cornflakes cookies. (Maybe I used wrong chocolate too? Perhaps the normal eating chocolate will do better.) Besides the above, I baked the lemon cupcakes again. It is still a hit. Just out from oven, the kids ate two each, and today (2nd day) they ate 2 each again. They still say the cupcakes are yummy. I did not have time to do the frosting, but previous batch, I did the frosting. Here are the frosted cupcakes. Very pretty with the color balls though the frosting are not well done. Has sandy texture in the mouth perhaps due to the icing sugar as it is just whip by hand. My friend advised me to whip by mixer, so I hope to try again and have the extras on swiss roll or something. The kids love the frosting! So back to the 2nd try. This time, not much different from the previous. I am not busy today so I can witness the whole baking process. The batter starts to "melt" about 5 minutes into baking, and starts rising about 15 minutes into baking. The cakes finally looked baked with brownish top after 30 minutes. I think I must buy a new oven thermometer to test the temperature of my oven. Ta Da! The cupcakes. This time, the batter is nicely distributed (by luck and chance!) resulting in a good shaped cupcake. My kids asked for frosting, but I really do not have time. Hmm... now I am hungry.

Rachel Allen's Lemon Cupcakes

Tada! Very on recently hor, baking and baking.

I have been watching Rachel Allen's and Nigella's show. So the recent episode has Rachel teaching her students lemon cupcakes and I have lemon at home, so .....

I involved my girl in my baking recently, but after the works, while baking, I have to carry on washing and preparing meals so my girl is still neglected.

She helped me to sift in the flour and read the readings on the weighing machine.

My kids had a bite right after the cupcake cool off and they say yummy. Let's see what they say tomorrow.

The steps for this cupcake are simple and since I have them all done in a mixer, the time taken is not too long. However, I do not have a oven thermometer now, so I set the temperature according to the table on the oven manual. The cupcakes took much more longer to bake to a brownish top. Almost 10 minutes into the 20 minute baking time, the cupcakes still not risen. It is almost 20 minutes before I see the cupcakes rise and I think my batch took almost an hour to get the brownish top. The brownish top of individual cupcakes are also not even in colour and I see specks of brown (I assume they are sugar) too. Perhaps I should soften the butter longer, or to cream the butter and sugar longer? The sugar just doesn't melt into the butter. Can creaming melt the sugar into the butter anyway? Any experts out there want to answer the question?

As usual, I did not do the frosting (but an improvement, I measured out the butter for the frosting) today, not sure if I will do it tmr. I do not know how to store the cupcakes if there are frosting.

Here is how mine look and as for the recipe, I can't provide one because I copy as I watch the show. I tried googled and a few links came out. So maybe you can google and follow anyone of them?

Non fancy lemon cupcakes.

Perhaps I will update the taste after I taste them.

I am still baking - Honey Cornflakes

Wonder if you would consider me cheating if I tell you I am still baking but they are honey cornflakes.

I have four packets of cornflakes sitting in my cupboard for a long long time. I got them when I had Mcdonald's breakfast in Mcdonalds Malaysia. I had always wanted to try honey cornflakes but it make no sense to buy a packet just to try for once, so I reserved those for the purpose. It is not until I see Aimei's post on her attempt on the honey cornflakes that spurs me to try it. Thanks Aimei.

So on this weekend evening where I did not cook, and not heading anywhere with the kids, I quickly set to try this out. I promptly use my phone to keep her page in sight, measure out the ingredients and start working. (Oh, actually I also read the comments in the post that she took the recipe from.)

I added about half a teaspoon more of honey since I am worried the flakes may not stick. I also purposely scooped the sweet sticky mixture sticking on the base of the saucepan into the cases for the same reason. Then, I send the little cuppies into oven. I am suppose to bake for about 5 minutes, but I did not see any changes to the flakes so I thought, perhaps a little while more and soon, I see changes. There are bubbling liquid filling in the cases. I started to panic and switch the oven off. I still see the flakes half submerged in the bubbling liquid when I took it out. However, after it cooled down, I did not see it anymore. I happily think that I have successfully done it.

So when I tried on one after it cooled down..... I find that they stick very well and am so happy until I find them sticking to the paper cases as well. I have to play tug of war with the flakes because there is a layer of thick sticky yellowish honey like substance underneath the flakes.

See that? Not sure if that is alright, but I certainly do not see such "remains" in those that are sold during the Hari Raya or was it Haji?

Anyway, the kids love the honey cornflakes. They bring them to school for snacks. Don't you find them sweet looking, esp with the colourful sprinkles.

Here are some other stuffs that I am busy with (thus cannot find time to bake) ..

Making snacks/simple "bento" for kids

recess bentos

snacks (must remember not to use orange - 2nd pic, in agar agars)

Doing crafts with and for kids

The routine cooking

ok ... end of sharing ... and hope to shorten my to do list in baking (not forgetting beading too). :-)

Beading challenge #3

This is done 2 days before it is due. It is suppose to be for Mothers' Day. My girl is tired and I asked to nap. In that 1.5 hour, I tried and tested various ways I wanted to hook up the pearl and the shell. I finally decided (or forced to decide, since with my poor skills and knowledge, this is the only possible way) that this is the way.

I can only say this thing looks simple to make, but it requires alot of my effort. Furthermore the eye pin I used are not of high quality and they broke easily. If someone is interested in this design (fat hope), I will go buy the highest quality eye pin I can get hold of and remake one more. Hahahaha.

Since it is for Mothers' Day, I chose pearl. I had another design at first, it is still a WIP in my working tray ... then this idea came along and I decide to try it since it is easier than the previous.

Here it is.

So what would you think after you see it? Tell you frankly, to me it looks pretty awful. I think I should not use the half pearl that are drilled (the hole of the pearl I mean) this way. It should look better if the head of the eye pin is hidden at the bottom. Now it looks like a pair of eyes staring at you? Or to be more apt to the Mothers' Day theme, they look like a pair of motherly breast? :-)

Anyway, I am not too happy with this pair of earring. One of my friend encourages me, and says that the first one is usually not so nice. Anyway I did put in my "better" (maybe not best lor) for this project. Now awaiting the next challenge which I asked my friend to think about.

By the way, to have nice finish products, the raw materials should be nice first, agree? Imagine this earring only comprises of a shell piece and pearl piece, and if both the raw material is not right, the combination will not be right, isn't it? *sigh* still trying to find excuse and can't come to terms that I produced such work. I hope the next one will be better.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes (take 2)

No volcanoes this time. I half the recipe and it yields 16 cups, of which 3 are slightly taller cups (brown ones at the far end).

I also reduced the sugar. Hubby says this time is not as tasty as the first, but my kids still love it the same. I know the sugar and oil ratio affects the bake, but not sure by how much. Perhaps the sugar has changed something so hubby says not as tasty.

I noticed something weird this time. The chocolate chips seemed burnt. Look at the picture below, did you see a rim of black around the melted chocolate of the chip?

Can any expert visiting my blog enlighten me?

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Finally, I baked again. I baked 30 over very tasty cupcake last wednesday. They are called Ddouble Chocolate Cupcakes, but I feel that it should be called triple chocolate cupcakes, since it has chocolate chips, chocolate milk and melted chocolate.

Tasty they are, no doubt, but they don't look nice at all because I have them filled up too high, thou it is stated 3/4 full on the recipe, but I think my 3/4 is too much, thus all of them erupted like volcanoes. I have the ONLY near perfect one here.

I like this recipe because it doesn't add baking powder or soda (so called "artificial" ingredients), but of course, the self raising flour would have raising agent inside. I do not like this recipe because it uses alot of butter. Anyway the cupcake is so tasty and soft and fluffy right after bake that my girl ate 3 in a row. I ate quite a few myself *grin*. So in 3 days, all the cakes are gone.

However, this cake is a bit sweet (feedback from mother and brother). I replaced a certain portion of caster sugar with brown sugar since the teacher from the workshop says brown sugar gives better fragrance but brown sugar is sweeter, so I reduced the sugar by 50g and it is still sweet.

So here's the recipe. You got to try to believe it. Hehe.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

80gm melted chocolate

180gm plain flour

230gm butter (salted)

350gm caster sugar

4 eggs

200gm chocolate milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional)

100gm chocolate chips

Procedures :-

1. Cream butter and sugar until creamy. Add in melted chocolate and continue to cream.
2. Add in vanilla essence and continue to cream until well mixed. Add in eggs, one at a time and cream until well combined.
3. Mixed in sifted flour alternating with milk until all ingredients are evenly mixed Lastly, fold in chocolate chips into batter.
4. Scoop the batter into baking cups until 3/4 full and bake at 190 degree Celsius for +/- 20 minutes.

Now go bake and enjoy the cupcakes. :-)

Beading challenge #2

What has Earth Day got to do with my hobbies?

After the flower theme, I suggested to my friend about having Earth Day as the theme. She accepted. However, after 3 weeks, I still has nothing to show on the day of the deadline. I can name 101 excuses, but the most valid one is "my son is sick". He has fever for 3 weeks, on and off thou. But I did not slack. I think of ideas frequently. The day after the deadline, I finally got my hubby to tend the kids and try out my ideas. I spent almost half a day.

I started with wanting a mix of beads, chained inside a circle. The circle will be "earth", with brown chips as land, blue teardrop as water and green bicones as trees ... but I find that the beads just don't match. So I give up. Anyway kiddish idea isn't it?

Then I zoom down to only using blue teardrops as water for the design, since earth is 70% water. I quickly try ways to put the "water" together, in chain, in wire, but none is satisfactory .. and the headpins always break upon bending. Wasted alot of time here.

At last, for the sake of submission, and also a proper closure to this challenge, plus rushing time (to go kiddo's music lesson) I ... ended up ..... there .. silly piece of work .. "love the earth", blue heart and a brownish round ring (You should be able to guess why blue and brown, right?).

I think I am really not creative, and I really dislike this work. Not nice! Look at my friend's, gorgeous!

Now got to brainstorm for #3.