On our first day in Copenhagen, my sister and I were starving and after walking for quite a distance, I started whining for food. As it was a Sunday, most places were closed and so we walked around hoping to find a place that could keep my stomach quiet. Alas, came Cafe Metropolitan. As it was a late morning we were planning to have brunch. Opening the menu, we were greeted with two brunch options, expensive but we were desperate. However the (cute) waiter told us they were having a weekend buffet brunch. At that moment, my sister and I looked at each other and nodded. We have a weakness for buffets. It is my comfort food and satisfies my grabbing vice. As we approached the buffet spread, we saw a beautiful selection of pastries, ham, cheese and a small but great selection of hot food. Immediately, we requested for a table and went about stuffing ourselves.

There was a widespread selection of delicious ham, smoked salmon (!!!) and salami. I liked the spread on the table was presented so beautifully. Plus there were a lot of nicely cut fruits.

For cheese lovers.

I liked the yoghurt cups. There were plain yoghurt with raspberry sauce and about a tablespoon of granola in each cup. Extremely pretty.

For the hot food, there were Danish meatballs (tasted like the Swedish), cocktail sausages which my sister and I loved, liver and mushroom hot pate and scrambled eggs. Holy smoke! Free flow of eggs, I was in heaven!

All in all, my sister and I had a brilliant time in Cafe Metropolitan. She liked the pastries, I liked the ham selection. Together we ruled the table and so stuffed at the end of it, we skipped dinner. This was also perhaps the nicest buffet I have ever been to. Plus there were many cute Danish babies which I wanted to eat as well. Just kidding!

My sister brought me to Copenhagen on 22nd June for a couple of days. ‘They are not really foodies’ was the first thing she warned me and to be honest, I was a little disheartened. However I found out the Danish really liked their hotdogs and saw many hotdog roadside stalls. My sister and I decided to try this stall really close to our hotel. Another thing, food is not cheap. The hot dogs cost from 22 to 28 kroner. However I was more than happy to find the sausages did not taste like the cheap disgusting ones I frequently ingest in England.

A simple no stools stall.

Bacon-wrapped Sausage

Sausages on the grill waiting to be eaten.

A white sausage with mustard and ketchup. The ketchup in Denmark looked more like Maggi Chilli Sauce and did not have the slight tangy feel as the normal Heinz type.

A traditional hot dog. Instead of the usual side split buns one would typically expect, this was a hole at the top of the bun and a sausage slid in to it. With mustard and ketchup of course!

Here in the town I study, D, there is a Pancake Cafe but we students call it Pancake House. It is small, lovely, quaint and serves simple but amazing pancakes. Unlike MacDonald’s, this place serves thin ones. Almost like crepes. The menu is simple. 3 savoury and 4 sweet pancakes. In the past week alone I have been there twice! I so wanted to go back today but it does not open on Monday. A big disappointment for me.

Every time I am there, I always order the Feta, Spinach and Mushroom Pancakes followed by a Cinnamon, Honey and Banana Pancake. I share with a friend of course as the portion is simply too big.

Sweet Pancakes come with either Creme Fraiche, Cream or Vanilla Ice-cream. I always have it with the Vanilla Ice-cream. It is so creamy and sweet.

The first time I was there, my friends and I ordered the Orange, Caramel and Grand Marnier to share. It was good but I did not taste much Grand Marnier, which is brilliant, in my opinion!

On to savoury. Below is my favourite Feta, Spinach and Mushroom Pancake, which I know does not look attractive but it tastes amazing!

My friend ordered the Smoked Salmon with Asparagus. The asparagus was a little wilted, salmon a little too salty but my friend, who is in love with smoked salmon, just loved it.

That is all for now!!

Today I woke up with a goal and that was to bake Hummingbird Cupcakes. I found a video of Martha Stewart making it and I thought it looked so fun! In this cupcake, there are bananas, coconut, nuts and pineapple. At first I was a bit hesitant as I am not really a banana-flavoured fan but the taste of the banana in this cupcake was so refreshing and I was genuinely impressed by the different texture and taste. Furthermore all that banana and pineapple made the cupcake feel really healthy (I wish!). And another thing I was really happy about was the Cream Cheese Frosting. Finally, one that came out the way I liked it though it called for nearly half kg of icing sugar (!!!) So there let me share with you some pictures and the recipe. Presenting Hummingbird Cupcakes!

Hummingbird Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes (I ended up with enough batter to make 33)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 large)
• 1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.with rack in center. Line cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, vanilla, and sugar until combined, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating each before adding the next. Beat at medium speed until mixture is pale yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together banana, pineapple, walnuts, and coconut. Add to egg mixture, mixing until combined. Stir in flour mixture. You batter should be extremely sticky and not runny by now.
4. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes.
5. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with dried pineapple flowers, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Cream Cheese Frostings

Makes 3 cups (Too much even for 33 cupcakes)

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
• 1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and vanilla until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. With mixer on medium speed, gradually add butter, beating until incorporated.
2. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually add sugar, beating until incorporated. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before using.

My cupcakes came right out of the oven looking like this…

They rise quite a bit.

Then I had the time of my life frosting!!!!!

After frosting half of my lot.

Cupcakes waiting for my friends to enjoy!

Have fun baking!

I am soo happy! I successfully made Carrot Cupcakes this afternoon. Actually I made it twice. This first time, it was a complete failure. And I sat around thinking about it for an hour before I realised I was not ready to give up and started all over again. The second time I made a few adjustments and the cupcakes came out beautifully! I am extremely happy and my friends absolutely loved it too! Anyhow I got my recipe from here but I am still going to post it here nonetheless.

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 12 perfect cupcakes.

½ cup caster sugar

¼ cup brown sugar (I used light brown)

½ cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup plain flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 ½ cups grated carrots, around 4 medium carrots (Please use paper towels to pat your grated carrots dry before adding into the batter. The moisture might keep it from rising.)

¼ cup pecans, chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting

125g cream cheese, room temperature

30g unsalted butter, softened

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

6 pecans, cut in half

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease or line with papers a 12-hole muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the sugars and oil on medium to high speed until combined. Add the eggs one by one and mix until smooth (Mixture should be gooey and sticky). Add the vanilla extract.
3. Sift all the dry ingredients into the bowl and beat on low speed until just combined. Please do not over beat. Add the grated carrots and pecans (Do not beat this in, just stir it around.)
4. (By now your mixture should still be gooey and sticky. If it is runny, I suggest you bin the whole thing and try again.) Divide the batter between the muffin pans and bake for around 20 minutes or until golden brown and springy to touch. Allow to cool.
5. For the frosting, mix the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and until smooth. Frost the cooled cupcakes and top with the pecan halves.

O.k. now let me show you my first and second attempt.

My first attempt is on the right. As you can see, the cupcake did not rise. You don’t have to be Nigella Lawson to know this is wrong…. It turned out my fresh carrots were too moist and prevented the cupcakes from rising. So the second time around, I took 4 kitchen towels and squeezed all the moisture from the grated carrots and cupcakes rose so beautifully. I nearly cried whilst standing in front of the oven.

Carrot Cupcakes fresh off the oven.

Topped with Cream Cheese frostings.

Topped with Pecans!

What it looks like on the inside.

The cupcakes were not too moist nor dry and extremely spongy! Too good to be true!

Oh and look what came through the post today.

My new Tala measuring cup and Alan Greenspan’s book. :))

The Tala measuring cup is different because…

See inside Tala? It has clear markings for measuring different types of ingredients. Such as…

This has only made my baking adventures so much more fun and easy! :)))

This afternoon, I gave the oven a rest and popped down to Newcastle, England with my housemate, J. It is about 10 minutes by train from the little town where I study and in Newcastle, there is a (rather small) Chinatown. In this Chinatown, there is a buffet restaurant. Chinese buffet restaurants in England, in my opinion, are horrible. But there is something about the wide selection of greasy deep-fried or stir-fried “chinese” food that is rather comforting. A restaurant my friends and I recently discovered is No. 1 Oriental Buffet Restaurant. For 12.99 pounds, you get both the cooked food buffet and a steamboat/ hotpot buffet too. It actually is quite a good deal since it is a pain to make our own steamboat. What I really like about this place is that they have a wide selection of pork dishes and one of my all-time favourites…

Tofu!! :))) I heart Tofu. But every time I look at them in the supermarket whilst grocery shopping, my heart breaks a little. Here is why. I always buy the Organic Firm Tofu from Waitrose which used to cost 1.38 pounds. However it is no secret food prices have hit sky-high and my tofu have also been affected. Right before I left for my New York holiday at the end of March it increased to 1.45 pounds per pack and when I came back a week later, the price had climbed to 1.55 pounds. With that, I ended my love affair with tofu. Thus when I first visited this restaurant I was so beeswaxly excited about the tofu that I ate all I could!

Anyhow moving on to the buffet. One can not expect Wagyu beef or abalone but one can expect luncheon meat, more tofu, crabs, fishballs and crab sticks. Er yes, I pay 12.99 to eat all the luncheon meat my tummy can hold. Oh, and another thing this place has, Bubble Tea. Er yes again, I pay an extra 2 pounds for Bubble Tea. Rest assured this is not an everyday thing.

Bubble Tea in a pint glass. Only in England

Left is a Chicken Stock Base and on the right, Chongqing Spicy Soup.

Here is the story, I wanted to bake something different from cupcakes and had excess sour cream sitting in my fridge so I decided to bake a Sour Cream Cake and searched on tastespotting for a recipe. I found this. It looked easy and all the ingredients were just sitting in my kitchen. So today, with high hopes I baked it. First of all to begin with, looking at the recipe closely, it said coffee but there is no coffee anywhere under the ingredients list which puzzled me big time. I even went to the website of the originial recipe and sure enough no coffee! So why is it called a Sour Cream Coffee Cake? Second I did not have one of those tube pans and had no wish to go out to the shops to purchase one just so I could make use of my sour cream. I should have known. Using a normal springform pan, it took a long time to cook. 15 more minutes to be exact. And the result, extremely moist, densed and sponged-like. It wasn’t very sweet and the streusel on top of the cake made a very nice crust. I didn’t like the cake itself though. I thought it was too bland. I have never tried a Sour Cream (Coffee) Cake in my life but is this what is supposed to be like?

Anyhow recipe and more pictures after the jump.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising) (I substituted every cup with 7/8 cups of AP flour and 2tbsp of cornstarch)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the streusel:
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

For the glaze (I skipped this):
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan (I used a springform pan instead).

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.

Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes (Extra 15-20 minutes with a springfoam pan), until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.

(See that bowl in the background? It is a big bowl of delicious Beef Rendang my friend made. It was delicious!)

The inside of the cake. The brown bit is the streusel.

I baked again this afternoon to pass the time. Another flavour I was keen to ‘conquer’ was Oreo Cupcakes because I love cookies and cream.

So anyway I got the recipe from here and halfed the quantity because after yesterday’s little incident, there is no way I am going to bake 42 cupcakes…

Oreo Cupcakes (24 cupcakes)
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg whites, room temperature
3/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cups crushed oreo cookies (10 cookies)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 24 muffin cups with baking cups.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla extract, then beat in the egg whites one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next.
Working in 4 or 5 additions, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the sugar mixture. Keep the mixer on low speed while you do this. When just combined, stir in the crushed oreos.
Spoon batter evenly into muffin tins, filling each about 2/3 full.
Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350F, until a toothpick comes out clean (a few chocolate cookie crumbs are fine, but not batter).
Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Store in an airtight container if not serving the same day.

Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1 stick butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla paste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat, with an electric mixer, until frosting is creamy, 3-5 minutes.

Frost cupcakes with frosting using a butter knife or offset spatula. Add as much or as little frosting as desired. If making oreo cupcakes, garnish with additional chunks of Oreo.

This cupcake was extremely sweet and I tried to “create” an element of surprise by placing one cookie on the bottom to create a base. However the baking paper kept getting stuck to it and I ended up throwing away quite a bit of the cookie.

The texture was also extremely different from the Red Velvet yesterday. It was not as moist and was much more chewy. My housemate also preferred the Vanilla Cream Cheese Frostings.

Anyhow more pictures because I am one of few words..

Little fresh oreo babies from the oven.

I love using concentrated vanilla paste in my frostings.

Its a cupcake and it is red…. Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting!

Warning. Many photos of my little creation after the jump.

I was so incredibly bored yesterday as my exams are over that I decided to bake to pass the time. It was a good idea as it took up my whole afternoon. As I browsed Tastespotting for ideas, I could not decide if I wanted to bake a cake or cupcake but I was very sure I wanted it to be Red Velvet. First of all, the colours drives me crazy. The red cupcake and white frosting makes me head spin. Furthermore I wanted an easy recipe. So after searching high and low, I found this. Magnolia Bakery’s Red Velvet Cupcakes. I heart Magnolia. When I went to New York during my Easter break, it was my second favourite bakery (first being Sugar Sweet Sunshine.) I also wanted Vanilla Cream Cheese Frostings so I got the recipe from here. Anyway I needed a beater and purchased the cheapest from Argos which came with a large bucket and may I say, godsend too. Bought my ingredients and set about baking. First the recipes and the changes I made.

Magnolia Bakery’s Red Velvet Cupcakes

3 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising) Not being able to find cake flour, I read online that I could substitute each cup with 7/8 cup of all purpose flour and 2tbsp of cornflour.
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tbsp red food coloring
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk No buttermilk in the supermarket, I also read on line I could substitute every cup with 1 cup whole milk and 2 tbsp lemon juice.
1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar I used malt vinegar instead.
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour 2 cupcake pans (24 cupcakes).

To make the batter: In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and bake the cupcakes, switching positions of the pans halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack before icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting, adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook (I decided to use this recipe instead as it seemed simpler.)
8 oz cream cheese (no need to soften)
5 Tbsp butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla I used Vanilla Paste instead.
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Cream cream cheese, butter, and vanilla on med-high speed. Sift the powdered sugar after measuring. Add the powdered sugar to the bowl in batches, beating on low until just combined and then beating on high until desired consistency is reached. For a stiffer icing, add more powdered sugar.

Anyhow here are my results. The recipe said to make 24, I ended up with enough batter to make 42 (!!!)

What I loved most about making this cupcake was the red batter.

Fresh cupcakes from the oven.

Cooling the babies.

A closer look at what they looked like.

More cupcakes waiting to be frosted.

Have you ever seen so much cupcakes in your life before??

A little creation by my housemate, J.

More!

Waiting to be eaten. YUMMY!!

A little something from my housemate, J.

The picture on the left is after some playing around on GIMP whilst the one on the right is the original. I am posting to see if there is a difference with the images.