"Knock You Naked" Brownies

"Knock You Naked" Brownies, cleverly named by the one and only, Pioneer Woman

Wow... I cannot begin to describe how incredibly scrambled I feel at this moment. You see, I JUST took the brownies out of the oven to shoot 15 minutes to go and have got less than an hour to churn out this post to meet the deadline! @_@

So, I've been looking forward to participate in this event called the "Sweet Adventures Blog Hop" after being inspired by all the marvellous entries by fellow bloggers since the beginning of the event. For all of you unfamiliar with this event, it's basically a fun way for bloggers all around to share a food that they've created based on the theme of that month.

For last month's Christmas edition of the blog hop, I had it all planned out way early on and knew exactly what I wanted to make. Been looking forward to it for so long. Even went out to buy all the ingredients and kitchen utensils JUST to make that dessert. Unfortunately, when the day came for me to make that dessert for a Christmas dinner our family was hosting, I fell incredibly ill. Was bedridden for 4 days and unable to eat anything but porridge that whole length of time. Sad, I was...

THAT'S WHY, I am super rushed but I'm determined to finally get my entry in after all my hard work. KYAAAAAAAAA!!!

So when it came to this month's blog hop, themed: Death by Chocolate, I knew it would be a fun one to do. It was actually my upon my brother's request that I make brownies for him. And the first place I went to look for a recipe was, The Pioneer Woman's website, no questions asked. I knew that this woman would be THE place to go to if I wanted easy, delicious yet creative recipe ideas. Also, she's known to be a bit naughty, naughty when it comes to Chocolates or Butter, which is sorta fitting towards this month's theme, no? And the moment I read the title of the post, "Knock You Naked" Brownies, I was sold.

What's great about this brownie recipe is that it was a layer of caramel + choc chips in between. BUT, I couldn't find any caramels here in KK so decided to make a Butterscotch Sauce, which I've made in the past for a Sticky Date Pudding dessert instead. The sauce was absolutely delicious and I knew would make a great substitute, maybe even better, than the original caramel sauce.

Anyway, the addition of Butterscotch Sauce + Choc Chips in the middle does give this, otherwise plain brownies, so much more character. Definitely slightly more on the rich and fudgey side, if that's yerr thang. But, again, the theme is DEATH by chocolate lol. I enjoyed the piece that I had and can't wait to go back for another one after dinner. This time, with a nice cold glass of milk by my side to wash it down. Bliss...

Hope you enjoy, and GONG XI FA CHAI to all you wonderful people out there who's celebrating Chinese New Year today. Am sure you're all eating too much for your own good so keep it up!

Cheers,

Wince =)

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"Knock You Naked" Brownies

(adapted from this recipe by The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:

1 box German Chocolate Cake Mix *

1 cup finely chopped nuts

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

Butterscotch sauce (see below)

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Powdered sugar/melted white choc for decor

* I used Betty Crocker brand

Method:

Preheat oven to 180degC. Prepare the Butterscotch Sauce with the recipe below, set aside. In a large bowl, pour the cake mix and chopped nuts in. Create a well in the middle and pour in the melted butter. Stir the mixture from the middle. Halfway through, mix in the evaporated milk in the middle as well and stir through until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Press half the mixture into a well-greased/lined 20cm square baking pan. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

Pour in the butterscotch sauce and sprinkle all the chocolate chips on top until even. Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Using a spatula, form a large square approximately the size of the 20cm tray. Then, remove from surface and set on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature. To decorate, either generously sift powdered sugar or, like me, melt some white chocolate in the microwave and pipe them loosely all over the surface. Enjoy =)

Butterscotch Sauce

(taken from this recipe by Hunger Hunger)

Ingredients:

4 tbsp unsalted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tbsp vanilla extract

large pinch of salt

Method:

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir with a wooden spoon. Stir frequently over low heat, 3 to 5 minutes. Be sure to get the sugar that's sticking to the sides of the pot. When sugar caramelises, it will bubble, turn out more liquid and look like thick sand.

Add all the cream and use a whisk to stir once in a while over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Remove from stove and let cool.

Whisk in half the vanilla extract and salt, taste and add more to taste.

For more info on how to join a blog hop, click here:

http://hungryaustralian.com/2012/01/15/death-by-chocolate/

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

A REALLY delectable afternoon snack =)

This holiday so far has really been about cooking and experimenting with recipes that I didn't have the time to try during semester. Which is why I've been baking a lot recently, of all things. And if you know me, baking is seriously not my forté. I've failed so many times in the past that I'm surprised I actually let myself bake again. BUT, I'm glad I did because I must say that I am very slowly, getting the hang of it (as well as my oven) with lots of practice and helpful recipes. Also, I find that it's a great way for Mum and me to bond in the kitchen =)

Also, VERY happy to announce that I've finally tested out this Cake Flour Substitute (which I've included in a separate post) that I came across on the Internet a long time ago. And let me just say, it works AMAZINGLY WELL. Very happy with the results. Try this out next time you happen to come across a baking recipe that calls for Cake Flour =D

So, Mum's been having a number of baking adventures back in KK as well recently. Only that she does it at Aunty E's house and she couldn't stop raving about this Carrot Cake Recipe so I decided to give it a go! I LOVE a good carrot cake. Though, I wanted to do it in cupcake form because I imagined it would be more fun to eat. Also, I can't remember the last time I actually made cupcakes, so here you have it. Oh, and we've reduced the sugar, butter and squeezed out some of the carrot juice to suit our liking.

Mum e-mailed me this recipe not too long ago (during my finals, actually. LOL MUM). It was taken from a cooking class conducted by a pastry chef of a 5-Star hotel in KK. Interesting. Honestly, making this recipe for myself, it really did turn out to be one of the BEST carrot cakes I've ever tasted! If I must say so myself... It's not me, it's the recipe.

It was so light and soft, but jam-packed with the sweetness of the carrots as well as the fragrance of the walnuts. Texture and flavour wise, this recipe really is an absolute winner. Also, I liked that the frosting had a higher concentration of butter, which made it almost like a Buttercream, but not quite. Easier to pipe/spread onto the cake after.

I've tried the carrot cake recipe from the Masterchef website before and though it was good, it didn't even come close. Compared to this, that one was rather stiff and a tad dry. ANYWAY, if you're looking for a really, really good carrot cake recipe, give this one a go and I promise you won't be disappointed. So easy to make, too!

Hope you get to try this out and share it with your loved ones sometime soon! Peace! =)

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Carrot Cupcakes

(makes 24 cupcakes or 1 big cake)

Ingredients:

50g + 10g (for garnishing) chopped walnuts

250g sugar

270ml cooking oil

4 eggs

240g cake flour (or 60g corn flour + 180g plain flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp cinnamon powder

340g (or 2 large) carrots, grated *

* TIP: Briefly squeeze out juice from one of the carrots. Otherwise, too moist

* Squeezing juice from just ONE of the carrots

Method:

Preheat oven to 190C. Toast the walnuts in a dry pan until fragrant, set aside. Cream sugar, oil and eggs in medium speed for 8 minutes.

Sieve cake flour, baking soda, baking powder into the mixture and fold. Add in vanilla essence, cinnamon powder, grated carrots and chopped walnuts. Fold to combine.

Line a 4 x 3 cupcake tray with paper moulds. Spoon batter into moulds until 2/3 full (or 2 scoops per mould with an ice-cream scoop). Bake for 25min or until cake tester comes out clean. Set aside to cool. Repeat with second batch of cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

150g cream cheese

75g butter

75g icing sugar

zest of 1 orange/lemon *

* For carrot cakes, orange goes better IMO but totally up to you =)

Method:

Cream all ingredients until smooth. When cupcake is cool, spread or pipe frosting on top. Garnish with more chopped walnuts and ENJOY =)

The PERFECT carrot cupcakes. OH! And I got a new cake stand from Big W, hur hur hur...

So, SO yummy... MMMMMM!!! =)

Orange Butter Cake Recipe

Harrow...

So while I was trying to decide on which of my recipes to post today, I realised that I've been sharing a lot of Asian recipes lately. I'm not complaining (and hopefully you're not, too ;p) but a change would be good. Starting with quite possibly, my all-time favourite, feel-good cake: The Orange Butter Cake.

For some reason, I'm not very much of a Dessert person, seriously (which is sad to say, sorry!!). I actually struggle to finish a whole slice of chocolate cake, cupcake, muffin or more than one macaron... My sugar tolerance is just lower than most and I feel full from desserts relatively quickly and I don't know why. That said, it doesn't mean I don't appreciate a good dessert, I really do. I just eat less of it.

But then again, there's certain types of desserts that I REALLY enjoy and can eat a lot of. I hope to share them all on this blog, eventually. And Orange Butter Cake is definitely one of them. Even friends that I know who aren't really into desserts enjoy this cake a lot. Boy oh boy, you have no idea how much Butter Cake I can eat especially when they're fresh out of the oven, warm and still crusty. Generally, I enjoy less sweet, light or warm desserts.

Mum wrote down this recipe for me on a piece of paper about a year ago. Though to be honest, I wasn't very sure about whether or not I should be sharing this recipe because it's such a common cake and I'm sure everyone's already got their own favourite good old-fashioned, classic Butter Cake recipe already. And there's not much variations across all of them anyway. Another thing, baking is SERIOUSLY not my forté. But, I've been making an effort to learn and improve in that department =)

But I guess that's besides the point. All I really want is just to share with you things that I love to eat. And also, what I LOVE to use when I'm baking this cake, i.e. Homemade Butter (!!!!). Ever since I bought homemade butter from Victoria Market for the first time about 3 years ago, I've never looked back. It is soooo much more fragrant and better in flavour than even the more "premium" brands, such as Lurpak or President. You have to try it for yourself to know what I mean.

But more than that, it is almost half the price. Only $10/kg which means my usual 2-stick-block of butter is only $2.50. How friggin' cheap is that?! Good for my student wallet. I buy it all the time and use it for everything now. Unless, I've run out and it's inconvenient for me to go to the market, then I would get butter from the supermarket. But, yeah. Please try buying homemade butter if you've never done so before. It makes a HUGE difference in recipes, such as this Orange Butter Cake and the aroma just comes through so beautifully with this cake =)

"Curds & Whey", where I normally buy my butter from in the deli section of Victoria Market

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Orange Butter Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter (softened) *

175g caster sugar

200g self-raising flour (sifted + 1/2 tsp salt)

5 eggs (separated)

zest and juice from 1 large orange (or 2 small) **

* Use the best butter you can find

** I normally prefer my Butter cakes more crumbly and fine. Some people prefer their butter cake moist. For that, use 2 large or 3 small oranges instead of one (as per picture below)

If prefer Classic Butter Cake, omit oranges altogether

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 deg C. Line a bread baking pan/20cm square cake pan with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric beater until light and fluffy. Drop in egg yolks, one at a time until well combined. Stop beater.

Fold in half the flour, orange juice and zest until well combined. Fold in remaining flour, orange juice and zest. Beat egg whites until soft peaks formed. Fold in egg white to get smooth consistent batter (do not over-fold!). Pour into baking pan and bake for 45 minutes (or test if skewer poked through the cake comes out clean). Rest on wiring rack for 10 minutes.

Optional: Dust with icing sugar after cake has cooled. Just to look purrty.

Baked sometime last semester at 11pm during a midnight cake craving after watching Masterchef lol

Baked for family when I was back in Malaysia during Winter

Baked about a month ago as an afternoon snack when my friends came over to study =)

Moist version with larger granules didn't rise as high but more orange flavour and still just as yummy

This Orange Butter Cake was really the first cake that I actually baked successfully all by myself (phew!). If you're a beginner baker like me, I definitely suggest you to try this recipe out too. Good luck! =D