Baking Addictions

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Recently I got to know about this baking blog and discovered an earl grey cake recipe from this website:
https://avocadosassemble.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/earl-grey-cake/

I've been wanting to bake earl grey cake cos I've been really into earl grey nowadays (many of my friends are into earl grey too!!) but have procrastinated it for months. Finally, I got the motivation to do it today!! So here's the recipe adapted from the blog:

Ingredients

180g all purpose flour, sifted

30g corn flour

1.5 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

115g unsalted butter, softened

120g sugar

3 eggs

1.5 tbsp vanilla extract

225ml milk

5 tbsp Earl Grey tea leaves (I used Twinnings)

Methods

1) Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy

2) Add in the vanilla and 2 tbsp of earl grey tea leaves

3) Add one egg at a time, mixing well in between each addition

4) Bring the milk and the remaining tea leaves to a boil. Remove from heat and let it steep for 5 minutes at least.

5) Sift to remove the tea leaves

6) While leaving the milk mixture to cool, combine flour, corn flour, baking powder and salt together and add it into the mixture

7) Mix in the milk mixture

8) Pour the batter into a pre-greased/lined 8 inch cake pan.

9) Bake for 40 minutes at 170 degrees, or until a toothpick comes out dry. (once again, I need to emphasise that the timing and temperature differs for different ovens. For me, I actually didn't put it at 170 degrees. Instead, I put it at ard 150 degrees and baked at ard 40-45 mins. My tip for this is that usually I will put mine at a lower temperature as compared to what is stated in the recipe cos it's better to lower the temperature and then slowly increase rather than having it too high right from the beginning. I'm not sure if it works for everyone but it definitely works for me :) )

The ingredients. I forgot to capture the sugar and corn flour in it hahaha! Anyway, the milk that I should have used is full cream milk instead of low fat milk. Apparently full cream milk is better for baking. I'll have to find out why that is the case 😅

This is after I added 2 tbsp of earl grey tea leaves.

The batter~

TADA!! I love the taste of it!! It's not too sweet and the taste of the earl grey is just right :D

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Sunday, February 4, 2018

HELLO!

As CNY and Valentine's Day are approaching, I decided to post the recipe for red velvet cupcakes! Actually it doesn't have much links with CNY (just that it's red and it's a prosperous colour for CNY haha!).

Before I start, let's delve a little into the history of red velvet cakes. Velvet cakes have been made since the 1800s. Most of us would know that the main ingredient in the cake is cocoa (cocoa is used to soften the flour & make finer texture cake) and it is red because of red food colouring. However, in the past, people didn't use red food colouring. Instead, they used beet juice to give the cake its red colour. It was used not just to enhance the colour of the cake, but also to retain the moisture of the cake. So I guess this was roughly how red velvet cakes came about. And before we know it, red velvet has become so popular over the years that there are cupcakes, ice cream, pancakes, cookies, etc etc. that comes in red velvet as well.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

The recipe that I used was from Georgetown Cupcakes (a very famous cupcake shop in Washington, DC). I think you can find it on YouTube. I made it for my friend's birthday party and even made it into a cake for another friend's birthday back in 2015.

Ingredients (for cupcakes)

3¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

1¾ cups sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature

4 tablespoons red food colouring (no-taste liquid food colour; e.g. McCormick)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2½ tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted

1½ cups whole milk, at room temperature

1½ teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar --- this is impt!! it keeps the cake moist, light & fluffy

Ingredients (for vanilla cream cheese frosting)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

4 cups confectioner's sugar (aka icing sugar), sifted

¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6 ounces (around 170 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature

Methods (Cupcakes)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius

2. Sift together the flour & salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter & sugar at medium speed for 3-5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.

5. Using a whisk, whisk together the red food colouring, vanilla and cocoa powder. Slowly add this to the mixer bowl, mixing slowly until well incorporated.

6. Add ¹/₃ of the flour, followed by ¹/₃ of the milk & mix. Repeat. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the last third of the flour, followed by the last third of the milk, & mix until incorporated.

7. In a small bowl, add the baking soda to the apple cider vinegar. You will see the baking soda & vinegar fizz up. Mix thoroughly and add this to the batter. Mix until incorporated.

8. Using a standard size ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into a cupcake pan so each well is ⅔ full. Bake for 16-18 minutes.

Methods (Frosting)

1. Place all ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until well combined.

2. Be sure to beat on high speed at the very end for at least 2 minutes to ensure that the frosting is light and fluffy.

3. When the cupcakes are done baking, let the cupcakes cool down for some time before frosting. If frost immediately, it might be too hot and cause the frosting to melt. You can top it with a red heart fondant to complete the look of the cupcakes 💗

I used the recipe to make it into a double layer red velvet cake hahaha! My first attempt in baking red velvet cake (see below for the cake with frosting)

I must say the frosting failed that time LOL super bad at frosting but oh well, it's the thought that counts right hahaha 自我安慰 and yes, look at the heart fondants! they improved the overall appearance of the cake xP

3 months later, I baked red velvet cupcakes for another friend's 21st birthday party. 2015 was the year that we turned 21 so I got a few opportunities to bake for my friends' birthday parties.