Fruit Cake

My husband's favourite -  fruit cakes.  So I dug out an old recipe given by my sis-in-law.  Though I didn't follow the actual amount of dried fruits in the recipe, it turned out well.  Being lazy, I just bought a packet of dried fruits and added some dried cranberries which I have in the fridge. My colleagues love it!

Ingredients

285 gm  (10 oz) flour     )
1 tsp salt                       )    A
2 tsp mixed spice          )

225 gm butter
175 gm (6 oz.) castor sugar
5 eggs (slightly beaten)
1 tsp. vanilla essense
4 tabsp brandy

500 gm or more dried fruits  (I added 4 tabsp of brandy to it)    -  B

3 tabsp sugar
2 tabsp water
6 tabsp. evaporated milk

Method

1)       Sieve A    Mix the dried fruits into (A) and set aside.
2)      Caramelize the sugar and water to a dark brown.  Add the evaporated milk and stir over
         low heat to dissolve the caramel.  Set aside.
3)      Cream butter and sugar until light.  Add beaten eggs one at a time.
4)      Put in vanilla essence, caramel and 2 tabsp. of the flour and mix.
5)      Fold in the remaining flour with the dried fruits and brandy.  Mix well.
6)      Pour batter into a 7" greased square tin lined with baking paper and bake at 180 deg. C
         for 1 hour or till cake is done.  Poke in a skewer and if it comes out clean, it is done.
         Enjoy!

Note:    I used two  7"L x 3.5"W x 3"H  tins and bake for 50 mins.

Shanghai Mooncake

Today is Mooncake Festival and here is my blog to celebrate this occassion.  I have not made  mooncakes for quite a number of years but this year I have decided to make these Shanghai mooncakes.  It is very easy to make these as  the lotus paste can be bought from the baking shop.  The salted egg yolks are the 2nd batch  of duck eggs  from the salt solution which I used in my earlier blog.  I am happy that  friends and colleagues like these moomcakes.

Hummingbird Cake

Baked this lovely Hummingbird Cake last weekend complete with creamcheese topping.  Is it because humming birds like to eat pineapple and bananas that it is thus called hummingbird cake!  It is a very easy cake to make.   Feedback from friends and colleagues gave this cake a thumbs up.  I have not tasted it yet due to a bout of diarrhoea.

This recipe from a magazine is given by my sister-in-law ,Wan Yee.

Here is the recipe to share.  I believe we can also use grated carrots in place of the mashed bananas.  I will give it a try next time.

Hummingbird Cake

　
3 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup rice bran or grape seed oil (I use corn oil)
440g can crushed pineapple, drained of juice
2 mashed bananas
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/3 cups self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Cream cheese icing
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup icing sugar

Finely grated zest and juice of half a lemon (I omitted this as I didn't have any
lemon at the time of baking this cake)

Method

1. Heat oven to 160°C fan bake. Grease and line the base of a 22cm round cake tin with nonstick baking paper.

2. Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat until pale and creamy, then beat in the oil. Stir in the drained pineapple (but not the juice), mashed bananas and coconut.

3. Sift flour, salt and cinnamon over egg mixture and stir to combine. Spread mixture into prepared tin and bake for 65 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove cake to cool completely.

4. To make cream cheese icing, beat cream cheese until smooth then beat in icing sugar, lemon zest and juice. Spread over cooled cake and decorate, as desired.

Enjoy!

Sugee Cake

I have long wanted to make a sugee cake and finally baked one. I found one recipe which uses 8 eggs and so I decided to use the pound cake measurement as a guide instead and just added some ground almond. The cake turned out well, just like a rich butter cake with the texture of the sugee except that it is quite crumbly.  I think I have to reduce the baking powder.  Perfect for tea time!

Sugee Cake

250gm oz butter
210 castor sugar
4 eggs - whisk slightly
125 gm self-raising flour              )
3/4 tsp baking powder                )   sieve together
125 gm sugee (semolina flour)     )
125gm ground almond                )
1 tsp vanilla essence
8 tabsp milk

Method

1)        Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2)        Add in eggs one at a time.  Add in vanilla essence
3)        Add in the sieved flour, sugee and ground almond alternately with the milk and ending with the
           flour.
4)       Pour the batter into a greased 9" pan and bake for about 50 mins at 175 deg. C. Test for doneness
          by inserting a skewer into the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is ready.

Note:   Being too lazy to wash the baking pan, I use 3 small aluminium foil cake pan for the above cake. I baked them for about 35 mins.

Orange Butter Cake

Got this butter cake resipe from a colleague, Shin Yuan but I added in orange flavour.  Easy to make and taste good too.

Orange Butter Cake

250 gm butter
230 gm castor sugar (I use 210)
250 gm self raising flour
4 eggs
8 tabspoons of liquid (use orange juice from orange and remaining use milk)
1/2 tsp of vanilla
rind of one big orange

Method

1)     Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add in eggs one at a time and continue beating.
        Add in orange zest and vanilla.
2)     Fold in flour and liquid alternately ending with flour.
3)     Pour into a greased 8" pan.  The batter can fill 3 of the above foil containers.
4)     Bake at 180 deg. C for 50 min for the 8" pan or 40 mins if you use the foil containers.
        Test with a skewer.  If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is done.
        Do not overbake as the cake will be dry.

Royal Cocoa Cake

This yummy recipe is for my ex-colleague Aishah who requested for it though I have given it to her years ago.  She said she lost her whole recipe book when she shifted house.  Sorry there is no photo to show here.  So Aishah, do take a picture of the cake and email it to me so that I can put it in this blog.


Royal Cocoa Cake

(A)      12oz soft flour                      )
            2 oz  cocoa powder            )    Sieve together   
            1/2 tsp. baking powder       )
            1/2 tsp. salt                         )
            2oz water

(B)       2 oz. cooking chocolate    )     Mix well
            1 tabsp. corn oil               )


12 oz. butter
15 oz. icing sugar
6  oz. (1 tin) Nestle's cream
5  eggs

Method

1)    Beat butter and sugar together.  Add in eggs one at a time .
2)    Add Nestle cream slowly.  Beat till creamy.
3)    Add in  (B) and mix well.
4)    Fold in half of (A)  and 1 oz. water till well mixed.  Continue adding the other half of (A) and the left over
       1 oz water.
5)   Pour in greased and lined 10" cake tin and bake at  350 deg.F  (175 deg. C) for 1 hour and 10 mins.

Moist Chocolate Cake

My daughter came home for the holidays and I made one of her favourite moist chocolate cakes.  Don't be fooled by the appearance of this cake.    It tastes fabulous and is very easy to make.  Top it with chocolate ganache and it's even more yummy.  A lot of my friends ask for the recipe after tasting it and I gladly share it with them.

This recipe is from my sister-in-law Vivien who is a good cook and also bakes delicious and beautiful cakes.

Moist Chocolate Cake

6 3/4 oz. plain flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp sodium bicarbonate
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 oz cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
12 oz. caster sugar
8 oz. corn oil
8 oz. evaporated milk
8oz. hot water and 3 tsp. nescafe  -  mix and let cool
2 eggs

1)    Mix all ingredients together and use only hand whisk to combine them.
2)    Batter is very watery.
3)    Line the pan with baking paper and brush with butter.
4)    Bake it in 9 1/2" pan at 160-170 deg. C for about one hour.  Check your cake after 50 mins. by testing
       with a skewer and if it comes out clean then it is done.  It would be easier to bake the cake in 2 separate 
      7" x 3.5" cake tins.
5)   Make sure the cake is complete cool before you overturn the cake otherwise it will crumble.

Butter Cake

This is the second attempt of baking an almond butter cake. I used the normal pound cake recipe and added 125gm ground almond.It received good comments from my colleagues who tasted it. It is delicious when eaten warm. This cake reminds me of the kind of plain butter cake that we used to eat when we were young.

250 gm butter

210 castor sugar

4 eggs - slightly whisk

230 gm self raising flour  -  sieve

125 gm ground almond

8-9 tabsp milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1)   Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

2)  Add in eggs one at a time and continue to beat at a low speed.  Add in vanilla essence

3)  Add in flour, ground almond and milk alternately.  Pour mixture into a 8" buttered pan.

4)  Bake at 180 deg C for about 50 mins.    Check with a skewer and if it comes out clean, it is done.