Lime Cookie vs Choc Chip Cookie

I took a half day from work, and guess where could I be? I was at Sunlik to pick up some baking stuff and followed by MPH bookstore at Raffles City. It's not difficult to find me as I'm always at my favourite baking section.

MPH has a few selection of books, compared to Amazon.com. I bought a cupcake and muffin recipe book which may come in handy in future.

Back home...

My baking stuff from Sunlik

These are cute teddy bear sprinkles.

I started preparing the cherry filling for the birthday cupcakes for my Oct gals from my Uni.

It's pretty sweet if you don't have a sweet tooth.

I was baking lime cookies this day as I wanted to put my lesson taught from my last cookie baking to good use.

Lime rind

Beating of butter, rind, sugar and egg yolk until light and fluffy.

Kneading the ready dough slightly on floured board.

I added more than 2 tsps of the lime rind, otherwise you won't be able to see them in the cookies at all.

The cute little buttons!

It's crunchy and yet not too hard at all.

Preparing the icing for the lime cookies.

The icing was a little runny, but it would dry with time.

Hope my colleagues like them, as I do.

I was getting real hungry by the time I finished with cookies. MH had made steamed tapioca the other day.

I love my steamed tapioca covered with lotsa shredded coconut.

My 500 Cupcakes & Muffins by Fergal Connolly

A peek into book

My bro was whining that he wanted choc cookie so I took a recipe off my recipe book and started baking some the next day.

I used white choc chips

I baked the cookies a second round as I found them rather soft. Wrong move!

The cookies turned out very crispy and dry.

Tangy Lime Cookies (The Australian Women's Weekly - Biscuits & Slices)

Makes about 25.

60g butter
2 tsps grated lime rind
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups self-raising flour
1 tbsp lime juice, approximately

Icing
3 tsps soft butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp lime juice, approximately

Beat butter, rind, sugar and egg yolk in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Stir in sifted flour and enough juice to make ingredients cling together.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, knead gently until smooth.
Roll 2 level tsps of mixture into a ball, place onto greased oven tray, flatten slightly. ( I placed them onto tray of grease-proof paper)
Repeat with remaining mixture, allowing about 4cm between cookies.
Bake in moderate oven (180 Deg C) for about 15mins or until lightly browned.
Cool on trays. Spread cold cookies with icing.

Icing
Combine butter and sifted icing sugar in bowl, stir in enough juice to make smooth and spreadable.

Choc Fudge Cookies (The Australian Women's Weekly - Biscuits & Slices)

Makes about 20

2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
180g dark choc, melted
1/2 cup oil
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/4 cup self-raising flour
100g white choc, roughly chopped (I omitted this)
1 cup (190g) Choc Bits (I added white choc chips)

Beat eggs and sugar in a small bowl with electric mixer until frothy.
Stir in combined cooled dark choc and oil, then sifted flours, white choc and Choc Bits; cover, refrigerate for 1hr.
Roll 1 1/2 level tsps of mixture into a ball, place onto greased oven tray.
Repeat with remaining mixture, allowing about 4cm between cookies.
Bake in moderate oven (180 Deg C) for about 10min or until just firm, cool on trays.

Caramelized Banana, Peanut Choc Cupcakes for Est and Dear Mrs Ng

It's the first time my group of Uni group mates would be tasting my cupcakes. And it's also thanks to Ms Est's birthday, that I made these batch of choc cupcakes for her and the rest. It was after some planning that I decided to this combination of choc+peanut butter+caramelized banana disks. Sounds yummy!

For the choc cupcake base, I used cupcakeblog's Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake recipe.

The batter was a little runny, so I decided to test on one 1st.

While the sample cupcake is baking, I started with slicing some bananas.

Another recipe by cupcakeblog, my caramelized banana disks looked more soft than the pictured ones in cupcakeblog. Probably my bananas were over-ripe.

Meanwhile, the sample cupcake had finished baking. As you can see, the oil had seeped through the cupcake case.

Another recipe from cupcakeblog; peanut butter filling.

Now for the real stuff, I dropped a tsp of the peanut butter into each of the choc batter.

Since the cupcakes were baking, I went ahead to prepare the choc frost. I had leftover from the previous baking and kept it in the fridge.

This simple choc frost was made of 100g dark choc and 50g butter melted together in a double-boiler.

A taste of the sample cupcake - it's very moist indeed and not too chocolaty!

Ms Est's cupcakes were ready at last!

And the choc frost's ready too.

I made these extras for my dear chix as she's just given birth to a baby boy the previous night. Lovely choc cupcakes for the mommy and to welcome the dear boy!

Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake (http://cupcakeblog.com/index.php/2005/6/recipe-devils-food-cupcake-with-chocolate-buttercream)

makes 24 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

Ingredients:
2 cups flour2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Measure out everything but the eggs directly into your mixer bowl.
2. Mix on low speed just until incorporated.
3. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.
4. Add eggs, beat on high speed again for 2 minutes.Measure out into cupcake pan lined with cupcake papers. A 2″ ice cream scoop works great for this.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan then transfer to a rack to cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter-Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Glaze and a Caramelized Banana Disk by cupcakeblog (http://cupcakeblog.com/index.php/2005/8/peanut-butter-banana-chocolate-cupcakes-with-caramel-glaze-and-a-caramelized-banana-disk)

Peanut Butter Filling

Ingredients:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter1 egg

1. mix brown sugar, peanut butter, and egg in a small bowl and set aside

Caramelized Banana Disks2 tablespoons butter1 medium ripe banana, sliced into disks1. melt butter in a skillet over medium heat
2. carefully add banana disks and let caramelize slowly until brown and crispy (but not burnt)
3. flip with two forks, continue cooking the other side
4. top glazed cupcakes with the banana disks

Death by Choc Cupcakes Topped W/ Banana Crumble and Choc Buttercream

It's a surprise birthday cupcakes for my dear AM. After much sourcing for info and searching for recipes. I went ahead with cupcakeblog's banana cupcake recipe. Unfortunately, they didn't turn out well as expected.

It was the first time I used corn oil in cupcakes.

The cupcakes looked like models found in the toy shop's display shelves, don't they?

With the unfortunate failure infront, I couldn't afford another. I decided to combine choc & banana in 1 cupcake this time.

I took cupcakeblog's Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes recipe for the base.

As usual, being greedy did no good to me nor the cupcakes.

And I topped off the cupcakes with Banana Bars with Streusel Topping by howtoeatacupcake.

It tasted more like banana cake though.

Lastly choc buttercream from cupcakeblog again. Instead of using icing powder, I mistook castor sugar for it.

I had to use a blender in the wee hours as I couldn't get the consistency at all. I gave up after much trying.

And dripped the super sweet choc sauce, NOT buttercream, on top.

The sample was really death by chocolaty sweet!

The very next day...

My AM was pleasantly surprised and happy with the caupcakes on her table after her meeting.

Making her wish...

and blowing out the candles. Ain't she sweet? Happy Birthday Dear Ms Yap!

Cupcakeblog's Banana Cupcakes, A Few Ways (http://cupcakeblog.com/)
Makes 22-24 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt3 medium bananas
1/2 cup buttermilk3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. With a blender or food processor, blend banana and buttermilk until the banana is broken up.
3. In another bowl, combine banana/buttermilk, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla.
4. Fold dry mixture into the wet mixture.
5. Divide batter into three bowls. In one bowl, fold in toasted pecans and cinnamon. In the second bowl, fold in macadamia nuts and white chocolate. In the third bowl, fold in pistachios and cardamom.
6. Scoop out into cupcake papers.
7. Bake at 350 degree oven for ~20-22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (start checking after 20 minutes).

howtoeatacupcake's Banana Bars w/ Streusel Topping (http://howtoeatacupcake.net/search/label/banana)

Makes 2 dozen bars

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium or 3 small)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Streusel Topping (blogger's own addition)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1. Heat oven to 350F. Grease bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, mix sugar, bananas, oil, and eggs with spoon. Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Spread in pan.

(For streusel topping, in a small bowl combine ingredients with your fingers until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of batter halfway through baking time.)

2. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. (Eat them warm!)