Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

For those of you who have been following my blog, you might have noticed that I have taken a new interest, that is baking.  Honestly speaking, after my few quite successful (ahem...) in baking, I am thrilled as well as my family.

Even my friends are excited (cos' they got to be my guinea pigs besides my family!) and their expression would be like "Wow, you can BAKE???" or "Never know you have interest in baking..... blah..blah....".

I have also tried various cupcakes which is very easy and even my girls have no problem trying their hands in it.  This Chocolate Chip Cupcakes is my first cupcakes experience and we like it very much.  Since then, we have fun creating different flavor of cupcakes according to our palate and stay tuned for more cupcakes to come.

Recipe source : Wokking Mum (with minor modification)

Ingredients :

- 220 gm butter (soften)

- 180 gm sugar

- 4 eggs

- 220 gm self-raising flour

- 150 chocolate chip

- 1tsp vanilla

Method :

1)  Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

2)  Add 1 egg at a time and continue beating.

3)  Add vanilla and mix well.

4)  Add in flour and beat well till mixture is smooth and pale.

5)  Fold in chocolate chip till combined.

6)  Spoon batter into muffin cups.

7)  Bake for 20 minutes in pre-heat oven at 180 Celcius.

8)  Cool on rack.

Easy peasy cupcakes 

Great to serve it for breakfast or tea time

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Canadian Lemon Pound Loaf

Know what?  I am in cloud nine ever since yesterday!  A dear friend, Shane, gave this Canadian Lemon Pound Loaf recipe to me quite sometimes back and I have doubts that I am able to bake it successfully.  Still remember my Elvis Presley's Favorite Pound Cake where I failed at my first attempt and only succeeded thereafter?  Yes, I have this fear and doubts and worst of all, no self-confidence to try my hand at this Canadian Lemon Pound Loaf.  So, in order to have more baking skill practices, I have tried baking a few easy peasy cakes and they did give me quite good results.  Hence, yesterday, I told myself, it's time for me to give a try on this Lemon Pound Loaf.

My family members are thrilled (ahem..) to see that I can produce a cake like this and are very excited too.  While I was clicking away at my "beyond my expectation cake", hubby also busy clicking away and sharing it with his sisters and nieces.

As usual, my cake still cracks but to me, it's perfectly ok as long as the cake is delicious and beautiful.

See.... get what I mean?  This lemon pound loaf is very moist, soft, lemony and beautifully glazed with sweet, tangy lemon icing.

Recipe source : Shane (with minor adjustment)

Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp grated lemon rind
- 1 tbsp  lemon juice (I used 1.5 tbsp)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour (I used superfine flour)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 baking powder
- 1/2 cup light sour cream (I used Greek yogurt)
Glaze:
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (I used 1.5 tbsp)

Method :
1)  In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; beat in eggs, 1 at a time.

2)  Beat in lemon rind, lemon juice and vanilla.

3)  In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder; stir into butter mixture alternately with sour cream/yogurt, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of sour cream.

4)  Scrape into greased and floured 9x5 inch loaf pan.

5)  Bake in 160°C oven until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let it cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes.

6)  Turn out onto rack; let it cool completely.

Glaze:
In a small bowl, whisk sugar with lemon juice; pour over cake, spreading over top and letting the icing drip down sides.

This cake if wrap in plastic wrap can be stored for up to 2 days or wrap in heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to 1 month.

This Canadian Lemon Pound Loaf is a very wonderful versatile cake.  You may serve it as a snack, breakfast, dessert or for tea time.

If you like cakes, then, this recipe is a keeper!

If I can do it, so CAN YOU!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and do have an awesome week ahead :)

*Shane, the first song is specially dedicated to you :)*

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Rolled Oat Apple Bread/Cake

Who doesn't like quick and easy as well as hassle-free baking?  As for me, I am always on the look out for such recipes.  Moreover, when comes to baking, I am hopeless. So when I happened to see Ann's Oat and Pear Bread, wow, I told myself, this is indeed absolutely easy peasy and even no kneading or bread machine is needed!  That means, less washing, hehehe... Without wasting anytime, I immediately tried my hands at it that very night with whatever ingredients that's available.  

Luckily I still have rolled oats in the pantry as nowadays I used to have overnight oat for breakfast.

A peek at my usual healthy breakfast which consists of overnight oat

Overall, the bread or should I say cake (as the crust tasted like bread but inside it tasted like cake) is good and healthy too. The bread cake is more yummy the following day. It's soft and moist. Give this a try if you need something fast and quick for breakfast the next morning. Thanks Ann!

So, here is the recipe with some modifications according to my available ingredients, hehehe...

Ingredients:
- 1 cup milk
- 65g rolled oats
- 60g butter (softened)
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 60g sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 175g self raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 chopped red apples

Method:
1)  Preheat oven to 180C. Grease  pan with butter.

2) Combine and mix milk and rolled oats in a large bowl. Set aside for 30 minutes to soak.

3) Add butter, egg, sugar and vanilla to oat mixture. Stir to combine. 

4) Sift flour and baking powder over oat mixture. 

5) Add chopped apples and stir to combine.

6) Transfer mixture into greased pan. Sprinkle extra oats on top. 

7) Bake for 45 minutes or until skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. 

8) Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.   

Serve

Do enjoy  :)

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Two-Ingredient Ice Cream Bread -The Picnic Game 2014 (2)

I first came across this recipe in Facebook and was quite skeptical about its two-ingredient recipe. Using ice cream and only self-rising flour for baking a bread? Someone must be kidding!  So, I wouldn't want to be tricked into it, hence, I googled for 2-ingredient ice cream bread and there, I found it all over the net! True enough, this recipe seems to be quite popular among food bloggers (how can I miss this?).  

So, I tried adding some salt to it. To me, it sure tastes better as a tinge of salty flavor goes well with the sweet taste of ice cream. This is just my personal opinion and preference.

Without wasting any time, I just made do with whatever ice cream I had in my freezer. Lady luck was on me and I still had a new tub of vanilla flavored ice cream with chocolate, cashew nuts and chocolate chips in the freezer.

This quick bread is so easy peasy and even my girls can also do it.  It tastes and looks like cakes, but who cares as long as it is quick and easy.  Besides, it's great for children to try their hands in baking too.

I am going on a picnic and I am bringing..... 

A - Angel Food Cake

B - Basil Leaves in Caramelized Prawns
C - Chicken Piccata
D - Darned Easy Potato Salad
E - Eccles Cakes filled with Leeks, Spinach and Blue Cheese
F - Fourth of July Picnic S'more Tartlets
G - Gluten-free & Eggless Chocolate Steamed Cake
H - Ham Cheesy Patties
I - Italian Frittata with Vegetables
J - Jelly Roll
K - Kahlua Zucchini Chocolate Chunk Bread
L - Lemon Lavender Cupcakes
M - Meringue Roulade with Raspberries
N - Nutella Rice Pudding
O - Old-Time Favorite Iced Red Bean Popsicles
P - Pickles
Q - Quinoa Blueberry Mango Salad
R - Raspberry and Fig Cobbler
S - Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
T - Two-Ingredient Ice Cream Bread
U - Uninvited Smashed Potatoes
V - Vegan Mango Salsa
W - Watermelon Salad
X - X'mas Coconut Wreath Cake
Y - Yellow Squash Crustless Quiche
Z - Zucchini Cake-Double Chocolate

Ingredients:
- 2 cups ice cream - softened at room temperature (any flavor)
- 1.5 cups self-rising flour
- 1/2 tsp salt (optional)

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease an 8" or 9″ loaf pan with butter.
2) Stir ice cream until smooth. Then, add self-rising flour and salt.
3) Stir until well combined.
4) Transfer batter to prepared greased pan.
5) Bake in preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until top is golden brown or when toothpick inserted in center come out clean.

Serve this amazing ice cream bread with your favorite hot coffee

This ice cream bread is slightly moist and soft.

Great to bake this 2-ingredient bread if you are in a hurry and need something quick for tea

Will definitely try this again with different flavor of ice cream

and you may also add your favorite nuts and even raisins into the batter

Oh yeah, the next round I am going to enjoy it with a scoop of ice cream on top too.  Yeah!

Here's your share.  Enjoy :)

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Elvis Presley's Favourite Pound Cake

Are you a fan of Elvis Presley???? I AM!!! Yes, I AM a big fan of Elvis Presley… Who else??? Wow, clap, clap , clap!!!! I can see all hands are high high up!!! Ok, ok, ok…. I see all your hands…! Yes, I think it’s almost impossible to see anyone, who is in that era, not a fan of Elvis Presley. He’s our evergreen idol but too bad, he left us at the age of 42 on August 16, 1977 in the bathroom of his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee.

With compliments from Shane Lee :)

We all enjoy Elvis Presley’s music but what about his favorite cake? Well, thanks to my friend, Shane Lee. He seeing my new interest in baking, gave me a recipe to try out.

It was Elvis Presley's favourite pound cake, baked by his mom, Gladys, and later his personal cook.

Overall, the cake was simply delicious and great to have it with a cup of hot coffee and it was even more delicious the following day!

It's just simply delicious

The bottom of the cake doesn't look that nice.

So here's Elvis Pound cake, with Shane Lee’s compliments

ELVIS PRESLEY'S FAVOURITE POUND CAKE
- 3 cups granulated sugar (I used 2 cups only)
- 1/2 pound butter, softened
- 7 eggs, at room temperature
- 3 cups cake flour, sifted twice, divided
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used vanilla essence)

Method :
1) Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
2) Thoroughly cream together sugar and butter.
3) Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4) Mix in half the flour, then the whipping cream, then the other half of the flour.
5) Add vanilla extract. Pour batter into prepared pan.
6) Set in a COLD oven and turn heat to 350 degrees F. (I set at 160 degrees Celsius as my oven heated quite fast. So, adjust the temperature accordingly ).
7) Bake 60 to 70 minutes, until a sharp knife inserted in cake comes out clean.
8) Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool thoroughly.

Wishing all of you a very happy and wonderful week ahead :)

Do take note that I am experimenting taking pics with 2 different camera. That's why you can notice the difference tone of the images. Which one do you prefer?

The clear sharp images or....

the special effect with blur background images? 
Your opinion is highly appreciated :) Thanking you in advance!

To receive new updates, do LIKE SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL AND HEALTHY LIVING on FACEBOOK. Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving me comments. I really appreciate all your visits and comments! Have a nice day :)