Mulberry Yogurt Cake and Health Benefits of Mulberry

We love mulberries, especially homegrown ones.  Fresh mulberries are succulent and delicious. Besides having it fresh, you can also make jam or dessert with these very delicious fruits.  The whole plant of mulberry is edible and it has many health benefits.

My delicious and succulent homegrown mulberries

Facts About Mulberries:
Mulberries are a natural food colorants due to their rich dark potential color and can be used as a natural food dye instead of toxic synthetic artificial dyes that can cause many health problems. Mulberries are considered an important food remedy in Chinese medicine and are a traditional folk remedy in many countries where mulberries have been eaten for hundreds of years. Mulberries are also an ancient fruit of Asia and known in medicinal folklore as a remedy for ringworm, insomnia, arthritis, and tapeworm.

Health Benefits of Mulberries:
1) Great source of Nutrients – Mulberries are an excellent source of vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin K, and iron. They are also a good source of dietary fiber, protein, riboflavin, phosphorus, magnesium, folic acid, and potassium. These vitamins are function as co-factors and help body in the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

2) Antioxidant - Mulberries contain antioxidant powers that lessen the damage caused by free radicals. According to the University of Texas Health Science Center – mulberries contain one special antioxidant that has recently been touted for its anti-aging and longevity abilities –“Resveratrol. Resveratrol is an polyphenol flavonoid antioxidant that is also found in red grapes a red wine. The power of the antioxidants in mulberries can also help to prevent cancer and aid in treatment of existing cancer.

3) Anti-Inflammatory - Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine have used mulberry as a remedy for inflammation. A recent Romanian study discovered that a curcumin and mulberry leaf combination may be a new lead into natural remedies for inflammation.

4) Lower Your Blood Pressure - According to the March 2008 issue of the “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” mulberries health benefits include a positive affect on blood circulation and lower your blood pressure, make you less susceptible to blood clots, strokes, help to prevent heart disease, and lower cholesterol.

5) Weight Loss Benefits - Mulberries can help you lose weight because 1 cup of raw mulberries has only 60 calories, is high in fiber, and has a high water content.

6) Immune System Support – Mulberries are beneficial for the immune system. They contain alkaloids that activate macrophages. Macrophages are white blood cells that stimulate the immune system, putting it on high active alert against health threats.

7) Retina Protection for your Eyes – Mulberries contain Zea-xanthin, an important dietary carotenoid selectively concentrates into the retinal macula lutea, where it thought to provide antioxidant functions and protects the retina from the harmful ultraviolet rays through light-filtering actions.

8) Help Anemia – Because of their high iron content mulberry juice may help those that suffer from anemia.

9) Regulates Blood Sugar –This amazing fruit helps to regulate the blood sugar levels and prevents diabetes. More formal research is needed, but mulberry is thought to contain compounds that support balanced blood sugar levels. Traditional medicine in China, Trinidad and Tobago have all used mulberry leaves to promote balanced blood sugar levels.

10) Good for Digestion – Because mulberries are high in fiber it acts as a mild laxative.Eating mulberries on an empty stomach with a glass of water helps to treat constipation. Adding mulberries to your regular diet can help to prevent indigestion.

For more info on mulberry, please click -->here  

We used to eat mulberries fresh or make it into juice or dessert, however, this time I choose to make cake with it.  I am glad I give this a try as it turned our very delicious and this recipe is a keeper too!

This recipe is adapted from Lovely Butter Cakes page 20 with some minor modifications in red.

Ingredients :

- 150g margarine (I used butter)

- 130g caster sugar (I used 120g)

- 3 eggs

- 200g self-raising flour

- 50g blackcurrant (I used 60g  mulberries)

- 100g yogurt

Method :

1)  Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

2)  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3)  Fold in self-raising flour in batches and mix well.

4)  Lastly pour in yogurt and mulberries and mix.

5)  Pour batter into 8x3x3 baking mould.

6) Bake at preheated oven at 170c for 40 minutes or till skewer inserted comes out clean.

Great for tea time or breakfast

I am linking this post to "My Treasured Recipes #3 - Taste of Autumn (Oct/Nov 2014)" hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders & co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

and Cook-Your-Books #17 @ kitchen flavours

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Zucchini Carrot Loaf

When I first saw Phong Hong's Zucchini bread, I told myself, wow, this is great! Why???? Well, I like zucchini and another main reason is that this recipe is healthy and so easy to make. Being so excited, I baked it the following day and I am glad that I did it without any procrastination. We like the bread/cake so much that I baked it again for a karaoke session with a group of childhood friends.

However, for this get-together, instead of a loaf, I baked it into 'cupcakes'; reason was for easy handling and besides, this is also great as party food.

The loaf is soft and moist and taste like a cake

However, the 'cupcake' is not too moist and soft and taste more like bread

Which one do you like?

Zucchine Bread
Recipe source : adapted from Phong Hong (with some minor modification)

Ingredients :
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 200g self-raising flour
- 50g sugar (due to the addition of raisins, I reduced the sugar)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 cup grated zucchini
- 1 cup grated carrot
- 1 cup of mixed raisins

Method :
1. In a large bowl, mix sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
2. Stir in the grated zucchini and carrot. Then followed by the oil. Mix till well blended.
3. Sift in flour 1/3 at a time over no. 2 and mix well.
4. Add raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Mix well.
5. Pour batter into a lined or greased 4" x 9" x 3" loaf pan or cupcake/muffin cups.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 160C for 40 to 45 minutes (for loaf) or 180C for 20 minutes (for muffin or cupcake cups) or until cooked; depending on individual oven temperature.
7. Let cool in pan for about 10 mins before unmoulding onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Do head over to Phong Hong's Bake for her original recipe. Do give this a try and you will love it.

The loaf tasted like fruit cake

Whereas the 'cupcakes' is more towards like bread

It tastes even better after one or two days

Do have a great week ahead and cheers :)

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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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