Fresh Cranberry Cake

Very refreshing
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Ingredients:
- 4/3 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup margerine
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- zest of 1/2 orange (optional)
- 4/3 cups all purpose flour
- 225 g fresg cranberries

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Line a 11x7 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
3. In a stand mixer, beat eggs and sugar for 7 minutes on medium speed until double in volume.
4. Add margerine, vanilla extract, and orange zest and beat for 2 more minutes.
5. Add the flour until just combined, and lastly add the cranberries, mix, and pour into the baking pan. The batter is a little thick, spread it with a spatula and flatten the top.
6. Bake for 45 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Comment:
This recipe does not contain baking powder, the volume is achieved by beating the eggs.

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Chocolate Swirl

Delicious soft and moist chocolate loaf.
Source: from a friend

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 4 (out of 5, because I hate rolling the dough)

Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 500 g all purpose flour
- 140 ml milk, lukewarm (between 32-43 degrees C)
- 25 g active dry yeast
- 80 g sugar
- 2 eggs
- 100 g margarine or butter, softened (if using unsalted, add 1/2 tsp salt)
For the chocolate filling:
- 80 g unsweetened cocoa
- 150 g brown sugar
- 150 g unsalted butter, melted
For the syrup:
- 300 g sugar
- 150 ml water
Total: 2 loaves

Directions:
1. Leave the yeast in warm milk for 5 minutes until it dissolves and bubbles appear.
2. In a standing mixer with dough hook, kneed all the dough ingredients for 7 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour.
3. Form a ball from the dough, and let rest in a bowl covered with a wet kitchen or paper towel for about an hour, until double in size.
4. Mix all the filling ingredients.
5. Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper.
6. Divide dough in 2. Roll out each half into a rectangle, about 3 times the size of your loaf pan. Spread half of the filling in a thin layer over the dough and roll the dough into a log. Cut the roll in half with a sharp knife, place 2 halves such that the cut middle faces up and make a braid. Place the swirl into a loaf pan and let rest until doubles in size again (about 40-50 minutes)7.
7. Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out dry.
8. Several minutes before the cake is ready to be taken out of the oven, prepare the syrup. In a small saucepan cook the water and the sugar on medium heat until the sugar melts. Do not mix. Once the cakes are out of the oven, pour the syrup over the cake using a pastry brush to spread it evenly. Let the cakes soak in the syrup and cool before eating.

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Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

Got too much mayonnaise?

Taste: 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Source: adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

For the cake:

- 1 1/4 cups milk

- 1 cup mayonnaise

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 cup sugar

- 3 Tbsp baking cocoa

- 2 tsp baking soda

- 2 Tbsp apple cider or white vinegar 

For the frosting

- 4 Tbsp sugar

- 4 Tbsp cocoa

- 4 Tbsp sour cream

- 4 Tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients and mix well until blended. Before adding the baking soda, mix it with the vinegar until bubbly. 

2. Pour into a greased 9-in. square or 11x7-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

3. For frosting, in a small saucepan, cook all ingredients on low heat mixing freaquently until fully combined. 

4. Spread warm or cooled the frosting on top of a chilled cake. 

Afterthoughts:

- Very nice texture, moist and not too sweet. 

- Does not contain eggs.

- Freezes well.

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Simple Fruit Cake

Only 5 minutes to make, and 45 to bake
Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Source: My mom

Ingredients:
- 100 g sugar
- 125 g margarine (+ a pinch of salt if using unsalted margarine or unsalted butter)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (160 g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 granny smith apple, peeled and sliced
Serves 8

Directions:
1. Beat margarine with sugar with a whisk or in a mixer.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
3. Grease a 9 inch pie pan, and spread the dough.
4. Add the fruit on top and gently press them in, just a little. In my case I added Granny Smith apples, but you can use plums, peaches apricots or other fruit.
5. Sprinkle the top with 1 tbsp of sugar. You can also add cinnamon or use vanilla sugar.
6. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F for 40-50 minutes. Check readiness with a toothpick.

Afterthoughts:
The top should be light golden, don't wait for golden brown - the cake might get too dry.

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Mochi Cake

Cake from mochiko - if making real mochi is too intimidating

Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
- 3 cups mochiko flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Topping: ½ cup Toasted unsweetened coconut, tossed with 1 tbsp sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 9x13 inch baking sheet with cooking spray
2. Whisk together sugar, eggs, coconut oil, vanilla and coconut milk until combined. Add mocha flour and baking powder and fold using using a rubber spatula. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake for 35 minutes, until lightly golden at the top and cool in the pan.
4. After the first 20 minutes, remove the cake from the oven and sprinkle the sugared coconut on top of the cake. Keep baking for 15 more minutes until fully cooked.
5. After bars are slight cooled, add a dusting of coconut flakes on top.

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Buttermilk Pie Bars

Custardy, light and super easy to make
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)

Source: adapted from here and there

Ingredients:
For the crust
- 150 g animal crackers
- 1/3 cup (70 g) butter, melted
For the filling
- 4 Tbsp flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup butter, melted
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp orange extract (or lemon extract, or omit)

Instructions:
1. Grease a 5'x7' pyrex pan and preheat the oven to 350F
2. Place the crackers in a food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs
3. Pour melted butter into cracker crumbs, mix well, and spread to cover the bottom of the pyrex pan
4. Mix all the filling ingredients and pour over the crumb base
5. Bake for 55 minutes or until the top is light golden and the pie is still soft but no longer liquid.

Afterthoughts:
- This was a really easy recipe and worked very well the first time around. But I used 1 1/2 cups of sugar and the aftertaste in the mouth was a bit too sweet. So I will cut the sugar to 1 cup next time.
- Might be wise to check the pie after 40 minutes or so depending on the oven.

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Hot Milk Cake

Soft moist rich custardy cake, pretty fun to make
Source: slightly modified from Taste of Home
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)
Taste: 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups of sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp of baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups of milk
- 140 g of butter or margarine, cubed
Total: 16 servings (9x13 inch pan)

Directions:
1. Beat the eggs on high-speed for 5-6 minutes, add the sugar and the vanilla extract and continue beating for another 2-3 minutes on high.
2. Mix the flour and baking powder, and gradually add to the eggs with the mixer on low speed, until just incorporated.
3. Heat the milk and the butter on medium heat until the butter melts. Gradually add to the eggs and flour continuing mixing on medium speed.
4. Grease a 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 35 to 50 minutes or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
5. Let the cake cool before serving. Nice to serve with whipped or custard cream and fruit.

Afterthoughts:
This is a very soft, moist cake. The original recipe had 2 cups of sugar, and I think that turned out a bit too sweet, so I will try 1.5 cups next time, as listed here.

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Banana Bread Muffins

Really simple recipe, moist and fluffy muffins, great way to use those old black bananas
Source: family recipe
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Taste: 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 50 g margarine, melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda (pour 1 tsp lemon extract or vinegar over the soda and mix until all bubbles up, to prevent soda taste)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 bananas, smashed with a fork
Total: 6 muffins

Directions:
1. Mix eggs, sugar, salt, margarine, milk, flour, baking powder, and bananas (in that order). You can do all the mixing with the same fork you used to smash the bananas. No need for a mixer here.
2. Pour into 6 muffin tins (I used silicon, this way there is no need to line them or oil them). Bake for 30 minutes in an over preheated to 350F (or 380 for my oven - it wants to feel special).
3. Let the muffins cool before removing from the muffin tins.

Afterthoughts:
- These are very moist, light and not overly sweet. Great for breakfast or snack or picnic.
- The prep is less than 10 minutes. The longest part is pouring the batter into the muffin tins.
- They also freeze really well.
- If you double the recipe, you can use a 9x13 inches baking pan.

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Canele muffin

Custard muffin would be more accurate 
Source: Bruno Albouze

Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup milk
- 23 g butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 egg yolks
- 112 g white sugar
- 60 g all-purpose flour
- 15 g corn starch
- 10 ml rum
- 10 ml Grand Marnier
Total: 6 caneles / canele muffins

Directions:
1. In a small pot combine milk, vanilla and butter and bring to 180F.
2. In the meantime, in a stand mixer, beat together the egg yolks with the sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and the corn starch.
4. Pour the warm milk into the egg yolks while beating to temper the egg yolks.
5. Add the flour and continue whisking / beating, until combined.
6. Add the rum / Grand Marnier.
7. You will get about 1 1/2 cups of batter. In my case it was pretty liquid. Not sure if that was the intention. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours.
8. I used a silicon mould for 6 muffins (about 1/2 cup each). Preheat the oven to 425F (or 450F in my hypo-energetic oven).
9. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into each mould (no need to grease when suing silicon.)
10. Bake at 425F for 25 minutes and then at 380F (400F for me) for another 30 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and let the muffins cool in the moulds. When cool, they will come out very easily.

Afterthoughts:
- I made these twice last week. They taste good, but come out custardy. Caneles should be drier and have a more cake-like texture. I am not sure if this is the fault of the recipe, my oven or the lack of an appropriate mould.
- This blog is called trial and error. I would put this in the error category, unless you want a custard muffin.

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Simple Loaf Cake

Simple base recipe. Makes a perfect loaf cake every time. Add more flavours and ingredients as you like.
Source: a friend

Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Taste: 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 200 g salted margarine
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda mixed with 1 tbsp lemon concentrate
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tbsp rum
Total: 2 loaf cakes, 560 g each, 5300 calories, 20 servings, 265 calorie / serving of 55g

Directions:
1. Beat the margarine and the sugar until uniform and light (3-5 minutes in a stand mixer on medium speed).
2. Continue beating and add remaining ingredients in the order listed.
3. Divide the batter equally among 2 loaf pans (greased or lined with parchment paper). In my case each pan with batter weights about 940g.
4. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F for about 40-50 minutes until the loafs are golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. The ovens may vary. In my oven I bake at 375F for 45 minutes.
5. Let the cake cool to room temperature before eating. If you want to store the cake, slice it, lay out individual slices on a baking sheet and freeze (if you freeze them together, they will stick to each other and will be hard to separate). Take out the slices as needed and defrost at room temperature for 15-30 minutes or in the refrigerator for about 1 hour or overnight. Freezing only adds moisture to the cake.

Afterthoughts:
- I've been making this cake for years, it's a really fail-proof recipe, and requires very simple ingredients that are pretty much always on hand.
- If you have self rising flour, skip the baking powder and the baking soda.
- You can add cranberries or raisins, walnuts, chocolate chips or apples (about 100g of each.) Of coarse, not all at once, or the cake will not rise. If you are adding these, you might need to increase the baking times.
- You can also add vanilla essence or mango / lychee, orange, etc., about 1/2 tbsp.

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Cassava Cake

Flourless custardy cake with amazing tropical flavors
Source: adapted from AllRecipes
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1 package / 1 lb / 2 cups frozen grated cassava, thawed
- 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 eggs
Total: 12 servings

Directions:
1. Reserve 2 tbsp. of condensed milk and 2 tbsp. of coconut milk and mix them together.
2. Mix all ingredients in a large blender (about 30 seconds on power 10 in a Vitamix.)
3. Preheat the oven to 350F (or 375F for my oven - it likes special attention.)
4. Grease a 6x9 inch baking dish with coconut oil (not sure this step is really needed, but just in case.) Or if using a smaller dish, you can pour some of the dough into individual serving ramekins and have more variety.
5. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Your oven might be more agile than mine, so I would check after 1 hour, if the cake looks golden brown and seems to have solidified, you are ready for the next step.
6. Remove the cake from the oven, pour the mixture of condensed and coconut milk over the cake and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
7. With the cake in the oven, turn the broiler on high for about 2 minutes until the top caramelizes.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool. Chill completely in the refrigerator.

Afterthoughts:
- Tres leches cake with cassava and coconut. Perfect with ice cream.
- I thought it would be too liquid, but it turned out moist and just right. The only thing is: it separated into 2 layers with some cream accumulated in the middle. I suspect it's because I poured the extra liquids towards the end. Probably the top was still unbaked but the bottom solidified and the milk could not penetrate it. Maybe I will skip the step of adding milk towards the end next time to see what happens.

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Pecan Pie or Bars

Delicious, crumbly, soft and gooey - all that a pecan pie should be
Source: Adapted from allrecipes

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
For the crust:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup margarine
For the filling:
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 unpacked brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp margarine melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
Total: 16 squares or 1 9 inch pie

Directions:
1. Grease a 9 inch pie pan or a 10x10 baking dish, if making the bars. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix the flour, the sugar and the salt. Add cold margarine or butter and work it into the flour using Pastry Blender
3. Press the dough (with your hands or a small rolling pin) into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
4. In the meantime prepare the filling. Melt the margarine and let cool slightly (it should be tepid, but still liquid).
5. Lightly mix the eggs with corn syrup and brown sugar until the sugar dissolves.
6. Add vanilla extract and margarine and mix well again.
7. Mix in the pecans.
8. When the crust is ready, pour the filling over it and continue cooking for another 35 minutes, until the filling solidifies.
9. Leave the bars in the pan on a wire rack to cool completely. It's better to refrigerate the pie overnight before removing from the pan and slicing.

Afterthoughts:
- The bars taste great, but I would still like to improve this recipe.
- The original recipe calls for more sugar and corn syrup for the filling. I find it to be too much as it is. I might reduce corn syrup to 1/4 or 1/3 cup next time.
- The eggs create a little foam in the filling. I tried to beat them as little as possible, but could not skip the beating completely because I had to dissolve the brown sugar. Maybe next time I should try mixing the sugar with the melted margarine, and once the lumps are dissolved, adding the eggs.
- There were some dryer and wetter patches on the crust. The crust dough was very flaky. Maybe next time I should use a bit more margarine for binding, and bake the crust for 25 minutes,

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Magic 3 layer 1 batter cake

3 delectable layers from 1 simple batter - it's a kind of magic...
Source: Old Time Cooking Recipes

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 4 eggs, separated, at room temperature (280 cal)
- 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp water
- 3/4 cup / 150 g sugar (580 cal)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (20 cal)
- 1 stick / 125 g butter, melted (900 cal)
- 1 cup / 115 g white cake flour (420 cal)
- 2 cups / 500 ml milk, lukewarm (320 cal)
Total: 2520 cal, 12 servings, 210 cal/serving

Directions:
1. Whisk egg whites. When the peaks start forming add the vinegar, to stabilize the whites, and continue whisking until stiff.
2. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar, water and vanilla until light. Add melted butter and continue beating for another minute. Then sift in the flour and mix.
3. Add the milk (it has to be lukewarm, otherwise the butter will harden) and beat until well incorporated.
4. Add about 1/4 of the egg white mixture and whisk to lighten the batter. Then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites using a spatula.
5. Grease and dust with flour a 8x8 inch square pan or a 9 inch round pan. Do not use spring form because batter is too liquid and the pan could leak.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake in preheated 325F oven for about 60-80 minutes or until the top is golden.
7. Cool in the pan for at least 3 hours. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Afterthoughts:
- Yummmm - what more can I say! My favorite layer is custard :-)
- In my case the top was refusing to brown evenly and then eventually it cracked a bit, but it still tasted amazing!
- You can also make this into cupcakes. If using standard sized muffin tins, this makes 12 cupcakes. Line the tins and fill to the rim and bake for 30-35 minutes. The same magical taste only in individual servings :-)

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Chocolate Dream Cake

A cloud of chocolate Chantilly cream resting on hazelnut dacquoise and crunch. All coated with rich and creamy ganache. A chocolate dream come true.
Source:
Hazelnut Dacquoise adapted from foodilicOus
Hazelnut Crunch improvised
Cream Chantilly from "Chocolate: More Than 50 Decadent Recipes" by Dominique and Cindy Duby
Chocolate Ganache from Martha Stewart

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 4 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
Hazelnut Dacquoise
- 40g ground hazelnuts
- 7g flour
- 50g egg whites
- 50g granulated sugar
Hazelnut crunch
- 1/4 cup ground hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup puffed rice cereal
- 40 g dark chocolate
Cream Chantilly
- 50 g dark chocolate
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp Irish cream
- 1/4 tsp orange zest
Chocolate Ganache
- 50 g dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- pinch of salt
Total: one 6 inch cake, 6 servings

Directions:
Hazelnut Dacquoise
1. Preheat oven at 350F and line a 6'' spring form pan with parchment paper.
2. Beat the eggs whites, gradually adding the granulated sugar until stiff.
3. Sift the flour into the ground hazelnuts. Pour the hazelnut meal mixture into the egg whites and blend delicately with a spatula.
4. Use a little (about a teaspoon) of the batter to glue the parchment to the side of your pan. Then pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly.
5. Bake at 350°C for 15-20 minutes (depends on your oven), until golden. Then turn the oven on and leave the dacquoise in the warm oven for another 30 minutes. In the meantime prepare the crunch.
Hazelnut Crunch
6. Crush the puffed rice in a food processor, but don't bring it to the powder consistency - you want to keep that crunch.
7. Mix the rice with the hazelnut meal.
8. When the dacqouise is ready to be taken out of the oven, chop the chocolate and melt it in microwave for about 30 seconds, then stir and melt for another 30 seconds. Mix with the spatula until no chunks are left and all the chocolate is melted and uniform.
9. Add the hazelnut / rice mixture to the melted chocolate, mix well and spread over the dacqouise layer. Allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate.
Cream Chantilly
10. Chop the chocolate, and add the Irish cream and the orange zest.
11. In a small sauce pan heat the cream until it almost boils. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Mix well with a whisk and leave in the refrigerator to cool.
12. When the mixture is cold, whip it with a mixer on high speed until it forms firm peaks. Spread cream Chantilly over the chilled base and refrigerate again for at least 2-3 hours.
13. Before preparing the ganache transfer the cake into freezer. It will make it a little firmer for easier release from the pan.
Chocolate Ganache
14. Coarsely chop chocolate.
15. Bring cream just to a boil over medium-high heat. Pour over chocolate, and add salt. Let stand for 10 minutes (don't stir -- doing so will cool the ganache too quickly, making it grainy).
16. Stir with a whisk until smooth and shiny to break up any pieces and emulsify cream and chocolate.
To finish
17. Remove the cake from the freezer, release the spring form pan and remove the parchment paper from the cake. It should come off cleanly and easily.
18. Place the cake on a serving plate and pour the ganache over it.
19. Refrigerate again until ready to serve.

Afterthoughts:
- This cake is heavenly. The dacquoise layer is a little chewy, then the crunchy chocolatey layer, then the fluffy Chantilly cream and all topped with the rich ganache. So much texture and so much chocolate in all its manifestations :-)
- I think chocolate and hazelnuts were made for each other. I have this theory that the real reason for the discovery of America by Columbus was to unite hazelnuts, native to Europe, with chocolate, native to America. All other traditional reasons that they give you at school, like exploration, trade, imperialism, etc, pale in comparison, when one thinks about the world without Nutella, Ferrero Rocher or cakes like this one. Don't you agree?
- I might try to add a little gelatin to cream Chantilly at some point to make it a little stiffer and mousse-like, but I am not completely convinced it's needed.

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Pandan Cake

Delicious aromatic exotic and super simple cake that looks like a slice of Shrek and tastes like heaven
Source:Singapore Shiok!

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1 tsp pandan essence
- 1/2 tsp pandan paste
- 160 ml water
- 4 eggs (280 cal)
- 160 g sugar (620 g)
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 400 ml coconut milk (750 cal)
- 140 g all purpose flour (510 cal)
Total: 20 servings, 2160 cal, 110 cal/serving

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325F and grease with butter a 7"x10" baking pan.
2. Dissolve pandan essence and paste in water and mix well.
3. Combine eggs, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir with a whisk until well combined and sugar has dissolved. Don't overbeat or the batter will rise in the oven and then sink and form a depression in the middle.
4. Stir in the coconut milk and pandan mixture. Gently whisk in the flour in two or three lots. Again, don't overbeat.
5. If you get lumps of flour in the batter, strain it when pouring into the baking pan.
6. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until set.
7. Remove from oven and cool before slicing into rectangles, squares or diamonds or cutting shapes with a cookie cutter.

Afterthoughts:
- Delicious! It's like a Malaysian clafoutis: gooey, soft, custardy and smells like pandan. And it's so easy to make!
- Note that this cake does not have any butter or oil, only coconut milk, which is supposed to be healthier than other sources of fat. Right? Or at lease I would like to believe that.
- If you are lucky enough to have fresh pandan leaves, check out the original recipe on Singapore Shiok!. It also has some facts about this cake and deep aesthetic discussion on its resemblance to eraser ;-). And even if you don't have pandan or pandan essence, you should still head on to Singapore Shiok! for much prettier photos of the same cake as well as lots of other amazing recipes. Denise, the encyclopedia behind the blog, seems to know absolutely everything about food in Singapore, which is only limited to Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, and probably a dozen more cuisines. So whether you are interested in food or food for thought, her blog is a must read. And then you can also buy Denise's latest cook book "Mum's Not Cooking. Favourite Singaporean Recipes for the Near Clueless or Plain Lazy." Looks like this book was written especially for the likes of me, the lazy and the clueless ;-).

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Nutella Cheesecake

Love from the first sight and until the last bite

Source: Cheesecake adapted from Baker Street, crust adapted from The Heritage Cook, sauce adapted from Martha Stewart

Taste: 6 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
For the crust (1125 cal):
- 1 cup ground hazelnuts (525 cal)
- 1/4 cup sugar (195 cal)
- 1/4 cup butter, melted (405 cal)
For the cream cheese layer (2330 cal):
- 12 oz / 350 g cottage cheese (305 cal)
- 1/4 cup sugar (195 cal)
- 3 eggs (210 cal)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (10 cal)
- 1 cup Nutella (1600 cal)
- 2 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tsp boiling water
For the sauce (575 cal):
- 1/3 cup Nutella (535 cal)
- 1/3 cup milk (40 cal)
Total: 6 inch cake, 6 servings, 4030 cal, 670 cal/serving

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 6-inch springform pan with parchment paper and butter the paper.
2. For the crust: In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts with the sugar until finely ground. Add the butter; pulse until the mixture resembles moist sand. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
3. For the cheesecake layer: While the crust is baking, in a very powerful food processor beat the cottage cheese until completely smooth and fluffy. Add sugar and process until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Lastly, add the Nutella and coffee mixture into cream cheese and beat to combine.
4. Prepare a bain-marie: When the crust finished baking, take it out of the oven (leave the oven on). Wrap the bottom and sides of the sprinform pan in one large sheet of aluminum foil. Place the 6 inch pan with the aluminum foil inside a larger non-springform cake pan. Fill the larger pan with about 1 inch of hot water. This is your bain-marie. Not too complicated, right?
5. Pour the batter over the crust and bake at 350F for about 1 hour. The center of the cheesecake should still be slightly jiggly.
6. Let the cake sit in the oven for one hour after it has been turned off.
7. Remove the cake from oven and cool completely before removing from the pan. Chill for 4 hours to overnight before serving.
8. For the sauce: In a small saucepan, combine 1/3 cup Nutella with 1/3 cup milk. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and whisk until smooth.
9. Pour the warm sauce over the cake right before eating. Serve with whipped cream and savor every bite!

Afterthoughts:
- This is one of the best cakes I've tasted. It is perfect in every way: great texture, amazing combination of flavors and it's extremely satisfying. It is so rich, that half a serving is more than enough (even for me).
- I fell in love with this cake from the moment I saw the Nutella Espresso Cheesecake recipe on Baker Street. I barely have any time to bake these days, but I simply had to make this recipe.
There was another cheesecake recipe that I was hoping to make, the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Walnut Crust from The Heritage Cook. So I decided to combine these two recipes and make a nut crust for the Nutealla cheesecake. To be consistent with the Nutella theme, I used hazelnuts and not walnuts for the crust.
Another great idea that I got from The Heritage Cook was making a sauce to serve with the cheesecake. But I was missing some of the ingredients for The Heritage Cook's sauce. So I did a quick online search and found Martha Stewart's Chocolate Hazelnut sauce. It was meant for pancakes, but it worked really well on this cake too.
- Some notes about the cheesecake batter. I was going to use cottage cheese instead of cream cheese to make the cake lighter. To compensate for the lighter texture I was going to use a little flour in the batter. But then I read Baker Street's very convincing advice against using flour in cheesecakes. I was still very hesitant, but eventually decided to skip the flour. And given that the cake was perfect, it must have been the right decision.
Another point that made me worried was adding coffee. I had tried several other coffee / chocolate recipes before where the addition of coffee ruined the final product. So I made the batter without the coffee, took out a teaspoon of the batter, added a couple of coffee drops, tasted, liked and added the coffee.
My conclusion from the points above: you can safely trust anything from Baker Street :-).

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Healthy Apple Oats Cheesecake Bars

Quick, delicious and as healthy as a cheesecake can possibly be.
Source: Adapted from Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake Bars as published on Cooking with Chopin, which, in turn, was adapted from The Pajama Chef

Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
For the base / streusel
- 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
For the cheesecake layer
- 8 oz / 220 g cottage cheese
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups apple sauce

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10"x7" baking dish.
2. Prepare the cookie base in a large bowl. Use a wooden spoon to stir together the oats, flour, salt, and baking powder. Pour 1 tbsp or lemon juice over the baking soda, mix until bubbly and add to the bowl. "Cut in" the butter pieces with two knives or with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Then stir in the honey with the spoon. Set aside 1/4 cup of the cookie base, add to it walnuts and mix again. Press the remainder of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes.
3. For the cheesecake layer, while the crust is baking, pour the cottage cheese into food processor and blend on high speed until it is uniform. Add the other ingredients, except apple sauce and process until combined.
4. After the cookie base has baked for 10 minutes, remove it from oven. Spread cheesecake filling over the partially-baked crust. Then spread the apple sauce on top. It will most likely sink partially, so you will have swirls rather than 2 separate layers. Sprinkle the reserved cookie topping over the apple sauce and bake for 30 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.
5. The cheesecake must cool down to room temperate (or even be refrigerated) before removing from the pan and cutting, otherwise it will break and sag.
6. Store in the fridge.

Afterthoughts:
- The cheesecake is delicious. There were 2 minor issues with the crust: it was a little too salty, and there was not enough of it. The quantity was completely my fault. The original recipe used an 8"x8" pan, and I used a 10"x7" one, which is larger, but somehow I assumed they had the same area. That's why I had to add walnuts, because after I had filled the pan with the crust there was practically nothing left for the streusel. So next time I would increase the crust quantities by 1/4. Regarding salt, next time I might use 1/4 tsp, or skip it completely.
- The original recipe on Cooking with Chopin used cream cheese and a little less flour for the cheesecake layer. I wanted to save the fat and the calories, so I used cottage cheese. But to make the layer firmer I had to use more flour, and I think the consistency of the cheesecake was perfect. But be sure that you have a very powerful food processor that really can make the cottage cheese uniform. Otherwise you will have those small lumps and it's not the best cheesecake texture (I had already experienced it before).
- Now the funny thing is: the circle is round! I just discovered it now when I was finishing this post and pasting the links. Because this was the first time I visited the "original original" recipe on the Pajama Chef blog, which was later adapted by Cooking with Chopin, which was now adapted yet again by me... And it turned out that the Pajama Chef had Apple Cheesecake that turned into a Pumpkin Cheesecake on Cooking with Chopin and now was again transformed into an Apple Cheesecake ;-P.  I guess one could conclude that both apple and pumpkin are such natural choices for this cake that when one is thinking about changing something, they are the first things that come to mind :-)

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Nutella Buns

Soft, rich, Nutellish and very simple to make

This recipe is featured on RecipeNewZ

Source: Improvised

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5) - if you have the dough ready ;-)

Ingredients:
- 1 serving of Bullar Dough
- 1 cup of Nutella, or based on your own preference ;-)
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten + 1 tbsp water (for egg wash)
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios or hazelnuts mixed with 2 tbsp sugar (for sprinkling the tops)
Total: about 18 buns

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Divide the dough into 2 batches. Dust a work surface with flour and roll each half into a 1/4 inch thick square.
3. Spread Nutella over the dough. Roll the dough into a cylinder and cut into 9 pieces.
4. Line 3 silicone muffin pan with paper muffin cups (because Nutella will probably leak out a bit) and place the buns.
5. Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with the nut-sugar mixture.
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes, depending on your oven, until the buns are golden brown and the house smells like heaven.
7. Let cool slightly until you can wait no longer and enjoy :-).

Afterthoughts
- Wonderful buns, that's all I can say. Perfect for someone like me who is not a fan of cinnamon, and for anyone who is a fan of Nutella.
- I used the dough from the Swedish Bullar Buns by Delish, it has some cardamom in it, which rings "Eastern" to me, so I added Pistachios as a second "Eastern" flavor. If you are using dough without cardamom, I think hazelnuts would be a perfect accompaniment to Nutella. In any case, the crunch of the nuts compliments the softness of the buns extremely well.

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Brownies - in egg shells

The most delicious and simple brownie recipe ... also available in egg shells

This recipe is featured on RecipeNewZ

Source: A friend’s grandma

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients
- 200 g margarine, melted
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder if not using self rising flour
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Instructions
1. Mix all ingredients in no particular order.
2. Grease a 9x13 inches baking pan and pour the batter in.
3. Bake on 350F for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.

Afterthoughts
- This is my most favorite brownies recipe: it produces wonderfully chewy, chocolaty and not-too-sweet brownies. The main criticism is that it's very hard to stop eating them, and when a batch is over you immediately crave more. Fortunately, the recipe is so simple, that the craving is very easily satisfied :-)
- If you are using egg shells, empty, wash and dry them before baking. You can place the filled egg shells in muffin tins to bake. Egg shells are super-cute, but very high maintenance, both in terms of preparation and eating (peeling and all), so I only managed to make 6. The rest of the batter I baked in a smaller (7x11 '') pan. The egg shells keep the brownies moist for over a week, so you can make them well in advance.

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Mango Mousse Cake

Perfect for entertaining and a lot of fun making!

This recipe is featured on RecipeNewZ

Source: Base cake Improvised
Mango mousse adapted from Desserts for Breakfast
Mango jelly adapted from Baking Library

Taste: 4 out of 5
Difficulty: 4 out of 5

Ingredients
For cake base
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup / 100 g sugar
• ¾ cup / 120 g all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
For syrup
• ¼ cup syrup from canned peaches
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp fruit liqueur (optional)
For mango mousse
• 1 tbsp gelatin
• 2 tbsp water
• 350 g fresh mango puree
• 100 g sugar
• 1 cup / 250 ml whipping cream
• 1 tsp orange extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
For mango jelly
• 150g mango puree
• 2 tsp gelatin
• ¼ cup water
Total 3 3-inch cakes and 3 4-inch cakes (I’d say 9 servings)

Directions
For the cake:
1. Using an electric mixer whisk the eggs with the sugar on maximum speed for about 5 minutes until soft peaks form.
2. Fold in the flour and the baking soda and pour the batter into a parchment lined 10x14 inch cookie sheet. Spread the batter evenly and bake in an oven preheated for 350F for about 30-40 minutes until the cake is golden brown.
3. Let the cake cool before peeling the parchment paper; then using the mousse rings or a cookie cutter, cut individual cake rings of desired sizes.
For the syrup:
4. Place all the ingredients into a small pot. Cook on medium heat until all the sugar melts. Remove from heat and let cool. Generously brush the tops of the cake bases with the syrup. Let soak for several minutes before assembling the cake.Now you can make the mousse.
For the mousse:
5. Combine gelatin with water and set aside for 5 minutes to bloom
6. In the meantime, heat half the mango puree with half the sugar, just until all the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, stir in the gelatin and again whisk until the gelatin dissolves. Mix in the remaining puree and the orange extract and let cool.
7. Whip the cream. Add the remaining sugar and the vanilla and whip until soft peaks form.
8. Fold in half the whipped cream into the mango puree to lighten it up. Then gently fold the puree into the cream.
9. Immediately pour over the syrup soaked bases and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
For the jelly:
10. Soak the gelatin in water, let bloom for 5 minutes, then heat in a microwave for 20 seconds until gelatin dissolves completely. Allow to cool and mix with the mango puree. Pour over the chilled cakes. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours until the jelly sets completely.
For assembly:
11. You will need 3 3 inch cake rings and 3 4 inch cake rings. You can also use cans, such as tuna cans with bottoms removed.
12. To line the molds I used transparency strips. Remember those transparencies used for presentations in the pre-laptop age? I cut them into strips, a little taller than the cake rings. It was a bit of work, but I will be reusing the strips for future cakes, so it was time well spent. You can also use parchment paper, but I am afraid cake edges will not be very smooth.
13. Before you start baking, prepare the rings and the lining.
14. First make the cake. While it’s baking make the syrup. Let the cake cool in the pan then invert it onto a cutting board, peel of the parchment and cut the individual bases. Re-line the sheet with parchment.
15. Place the lined rings on the baking sheet. Brush the bases with the syrup and place each base at the bottom of each ring.
16. Next make the mousse, when it’s ready pour it over the bases and place the baking sheet with the cakes in the fridge to set.
17. Make the jelly only once the mousse is completely set. Pour the jelly over the mousse and refrigerate the cakes once again.
18. To unmold, slide the cakes with the transparent lining out of the cake ring (that should be very easy). Then when the cakes are still cold, carefully peel off the lining. If you freeze the cake for 5-10 minutes before unmolding, the lining will come off a little cleaner leaving the sides, especially the mousse layer, smoother.
19. Can be served with almond crisps, chocolate shavings, whipped cream of fresh mango slices.


Afterthoughts
• This was my first attempt at individual mousse cakes. It was a long process (probably a fool day, including recipe research and up to posting, but now I feel like a semi-accomplished baker :-).
• I used 2 large Peruvian mangoes for this recipe, most for the mousse and some for the jelly. I simply pureed the mangoes in a blender. Took less than a minute.
• Taste wise, the cake was a little too dry. I should cook it a little less next time and use more syrup to soak. Or maybe add a little butter or oil. This cake is an angel cake, but it is very thin, so it actually tasted quite a lot like lady fingers. Which is great, because it can be used for Tiramisu, without the need to pipe out individual cookies, yey!
• The leftover cake can be used for English Trifle, or something similar. Cut it into small chunks and serve with canned peaches, fresh blueberries and whipped cream – just one idea.
• For the syrup, you can also use another juice or water, just add more sugar. Next time I will double the syrup for this amount of cake.
• The mousse was great. It gets 5 out of 5 taste-wise.
• For the jelly I used 3 tbsp water and 1 tbsp gelatin. It started to stiffen very quickly before it even got a chance to spread out evenly. If I make the jelly again, I will use a little less gelatin and more water. I will also add sugar or liquor. Also, because the surface of the mousse was not even, I would need maybe twice more jelly to create a smooth cover. So I should try doubling the mousse. But to tell the truth, the jelly did not taste too good. I think using an orange or peach Jell-o would give better results.
• You can also make one large cake. Then you would need a 9 inch spring form pan lined with parchment paper (on the base and on the sides). In this cake use ½ the cake batter.

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