Vanilla Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes or 1 three-layer 9-inch cake

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar (I used 3 part Caster sugar, 1 part Brown sugar)

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 and 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. In a large bowl, one the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.
3. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Combine the flours and add in four parts, alternating with the milk and the vanilla extract, beating well after each addition.
6. Spoon the batter into the cups about three-quarters full.
7. Bake until tops spring back when lightly touched, about 20-22 minutes.  Remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on a rack before icing.

Vanilla Buttercream

24 cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft

6-8 cups confectioner’s sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Place butter in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and the vanilla extract.  Beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency (you may very well not need all of the sugar).  If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly.  Use and store icing at room temperature, as icing will set if chilled.  Can store in airtight container up to three days.

When I was in New York, my favourite cupcake flavour was Pisatchio Cupcakes from Sugar Sweet Sunshine. I loved it mainly because it was Pistachio-flavoured. For some strange reason, I just like Pistachio-flavoured food though not the nut itself. However I was still disappointed with the cupcakes from SSS as it was only subtle flavoured. So recently when I saw Poon Huat selling small bottles of Pistachio Composite, I was wayy too excited. Pistachio Composite is basically concentrated Pistachio paste. I wanted to bake a strong-flavoured Pistachio cupcake. Thus with my Earl Grey Cupcake recipe, I left the Earl Grey out and added in 1 tablespoon of the Pis Composite. The result? I was delighted. I was also extremely glad with how beautiful it rose. Such strong Pistachio flavour. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of it although my sister took one bite and declared her dislike for Pistachio. My mum, on the other hand, enjoyed it too.

This morning I decided to bake cupcakes again. This time, Earl Grey. I wasn’t looking for something challenging but something different. I liked the smell of Earl Grey Tea and wondered what it would be like in a cupcake. I didn’t think it would go as bad as Lavender-flavoured ones. Unfortunately the only Earl Grey tea available in my house was my mother’s decaffeinated, light flavoured ones so I used them. The results turned out to be surprising.

As you may see from pictures below, I used different baking cups this time round. I had purchased these free-standing cups yesterday and was eager to try them out. No muffin trays were needed and they looked so neat and pretty. On the other hand, a major pain to eat. How does one eat using these? Seriously. I found myself using my fingers halfway through to gorge out the content. So crude and untidy. Plus I too bought an ice-cream scoop at the same time. Martha Stewart uses them. And the cupcakes were more evenly sized so I was extremely pleased.

On to the flavour. At first bite I could not taste the Earl Grey but it came subtly. As I chewed my first bite, I could taste faintly the Earl Grey and I liked it. I liked that the flavour wasn’t overpowering and that the flavour came out so slowly. My sister and mum said I could do with a stronger Earl Grey taste. Next time.

I also decided to top the cupcakes off with Vanilla Buttercream. I was determined to master a frosting and my buttercream turned out to be so light and delicious. I almost could not stop myself from licking up all of them in the mixing bowl. Although it was too powering for the subtle-flavoured cupcakes.

For now, enjoy the recipe after the jump.

Earl Grey Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 egg
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp. Earl Grey tea (I used 1 bag and didn’t measure. I might add more next time.)

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, making sure they are thoroughly combined before adding the next one.
4. Mix together the dry ingredients, including the tea.
5. Beat in half of the dry mixture with the wet, then add the milk and the rest of the dry mixture, stirring until just combined.
6. Line the cupcake pan with 12 cups and fill them about two-thirds full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cool thoroughly before frosting.

Classic Buttercream Frosting
Makes enough to frost a 9″ cake or approximately 24 cupcakes

1 cup confectioner’s sugar (or granulated sugar, or a combination of the two)
6 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1 Tablespoon pieces, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon flavorings, like vanilla, almond extract, or liqueurs

1. Beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed until they turn a lemon-yellow color and you get a very thick ribbon.
2. Add the butter one tablespoon at a time, beating well between each addition.
3. When all the butter has been incorporated, add the flavorings.
4. Buttercream is easier to work with when it’s room temperature. If you’re making it ahead of time, store it in the fridge and allow time for it to come up to room temperature before proceeding with frosting. If the buttercream is very stiff, even at room temperature, try beating in a few tablespoons of whole milk or heavy cream.

Sunday morning I woke up with a vengeance. I was determined to successfully make Lemon Meringue Cupcakes. The cupcake was divided into 3 parts. The lemon curd, cupcake and meringue. Having successfully created lemon curd on Saturday morning, I proceeded with the cupcake and failed. The cupcakes failed to rise properly. So I spent the rest of Saturday wondering where I went wrong. At night I could barely sleep and lay on the bed wondering which step I had gone wrong. So on Sunday morning, with all my determination, I started the cupcake again. This time I was extra careful with the preparation and as I saw it in the oven, it rose beautifully! I was of course extremely pleased with the results. When the cupcakes were completely cooled, I pleased the lemon curd in the cupcake, put meringue on it and placed it in the oven. The cupcake was so pretty and I loved the lemon curd. Plus as the whole cupcake cooled down, the meringue became less moist and was delicious! My mother’s friends who came over for mahjong really enjoyed them.

Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes

For the lemon curd

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (About 3 medium-sized lemons)
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon fresh grated lemon zest

For the cupcake batter

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tablespoon fresh grated lemon zest
1 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

For the meringue

3 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

To make the lemon curd

1. In a heat-proof bowl, whisk lemon juice, eggs, egg yolk and sugar until smooth.
2. Add butter and place bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisking gently, cook mixture until it thickens and leaves a ribbon when whisk is lifted – this can take anywhere from 8 to 20 minutes depending on how high the heat is set and how cold the ingredients were.
3. Remove from heat and push through a fine mesh strainer. Fold in lemon zest, cover with plastic wrap and thoroughly chill before using.

To make the cupcakes

Preheat oven to 375

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder and salt.
2. In a large bowl, rub together the lemon zest and sugar with your fingers until the zest is evenly distributed and the sugar takes on a light yellow hue.
3. Add butter and cream together until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined.
5. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with the milk – beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
6. Evenly divide batter between 24 paper-lined muffin cups – they should be roughly half full.
7. Bake until cake springs back when lightly touched in the center and is just beginning to get a golden hue – about 16 to 20 minutes. Remove and place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the meringue

1. In a large mixing bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy.
2. Slowly add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue whipping until egg whites hold stiff peaks when beaters are lifted.

To assemble the cupcakes

Preheat oven to 400

1. Place cupcakes on a large baking sheet.
2. Use a paring knife to cut out a small cone out of the center of each cupcake.
3. Pipe about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the lemon curd into each cupcake.
4. Spoon dollops of meringue over the curd on each cupcake. Bake until the tops of the meringues brown – about 4 to 6 minutes.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Enjoy xxx

My current favourite Japanese restaurant in Singapore is Wasabi Tei. Located on Level 5 in Far East Plaza, it is a hole in the wall that sits only 16. It is my weekly ritual and I always find an excuse to eat here. There is always a queue. When my sister first went at 5.30pm (opening time,) there were already 12 people waiting in line. The second time round, I missed the first rotation and ended up waiting for 1 hour 15 mins. Another unusual aspect about this place is that everything has to be ordered at once or get charged an extra 20%. Some may find this stressful and unnecessary but I love the food too much to bother. For one thing, the chef is so incredibly generous with the sashimi. It is thickly-sliced, large and fresh. Plus the most affordable place ever.

The best Unagi I ever had in my life. It was thick, chewy, juicy and fat. Massive satisfaction achieved.

Salmon sashimi. It makes my heart go soft just looking at the picture. S$9 for 6 slices.

Oyaku Don. Unlike most places, they dont serve Tonkatsu Don. The chicken is healthier, boiled I guess. But I assure you it is superior in taste.

Steamed Egg. It is hard to find the egg in here. Generous amounts of mushrooms, prawn, chicken and crabmeat. I make it a point to order this every single time.

Mixed sushi set. Extremely fresh sashimi (no surprises there), a wide assortment of seafood present.

Fish head claypot. Healthy and so incredibly generous with the cabbage.

Sashimi. Perfect everytime.

Unagi sushi.

A couple of weeks back I went to Taipei with my parents. It was my first time and my mum’s second. Whilst there we did not miss Taipei’s famous Shilin Night Market. It was indeed heaven for foodies like me. The best thing was being able to try authetic Taiwanese food. One thing my parents and I were really keen on trying was Stinky Tofu. Stinky Tofu, I heard, was originated from Hong Kong but the Taiwanese know how to stink it up good. We passed by a little stall selling these beautiful but bad-smelling babies. So we bought a stick, that was stuffed with white cabbage, to share amongst the three of us and boy was it bad! We could only go as far as one bite each before binning it. Looks are most certainly deceiving. It smelled like sewage. Put in into your mouth to chew it and the sewage taste is even stronger. Swallow it and the strong smell still lingers behind. It was quite bad and I like Durians by the way.

PS Cafe in Dempsey Road, Singapore, is one of my sister’s favourite places to hang out and eat. The last time I visited PS Cafe, I was completely disinterested in cakes and found the food to be overpriced and the place pretencious. But lo and behold, a friend of mine from England, Alex, visited and my sister suggested PS Cafe for cakes after we had a heavy lunch. Now a dessert lover and absolutely willing to try anything, I was actually excited! There, four of us in all, had 4 different types of pie and cake.

The first, Florida Key Lime Pie.

The pie was absolutely amazing! My friend was so impressed with it. The crust did not do much for me but the filling was so refreshing! Alex and I declared it the best dessert we ever had. Better than the ones we had in England.

Alex ordered a Banana Cream Pie. It was like a Banoffee Pie. Bananas and caramel go so well together but the generous heap of cream freaked me out and deterred me from attacking it.

Next up a classic Carrot Cake with cream cheese frostings. I was more than impressed with the frostings as it wasn’t melting all over the place, something I am still trying to “master” in this weather. Anyhow I still preferred the Key Lime Pie.

My sister liked this the most. It is called Pecan Crunch something something. Could not quite figure out what this cake/ pie was all about but midway through the slice, she mentioned there was chocolate fudge underneath the layer of pecans. It must have been all the other rich dessert because I could not tell at all.

My happy friend Alex.

Extremely bored one day, I decided to make my favourite Red Velvet cupcakes but using another recipe. I was so pleased with the result, I decided not to top them with sweet cream cheese icing as I just wanted to enjoy the beautiful texture of the cupcake. Also I liked that the recipe used vegetable oil instead of butter which creates a more moist texture.

So here is the recipe. It is extremely simple and the whole preparation time took less than 15 mins. Including baking time, these red babies took about 30 mins to be created! Quick and simple!

Red Velvet Cupcakes (makes 24)

(This was a Paula Deen recipe but I changed a little. Trust me, it is really good!)

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 heaped teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup milk + 1 tbsp white vinegar, room temperature (leave to stand for 5 mins)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
2. In a larger bowl, carefully whisk together oil, buttermilk, food coloring, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla.
3. Add the dry to the wet and mix until smooth and combined using an electric hand mixer.
   Divide batter between cupcake pans lined with papers
4. Bake 20 minutes (15 mins if you have a powerful oven, like mine)

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Recently my new oven arrived and I started baking up a storm. Cupcakes to be specific. However my father who is on a very strict diet now complained he was unable to eat my little creations as it contained butter and eggs – both of which are extremely bad for the heart. So I went online and on Martha Stewart, I found a recipe from Divvies Bakery in America. The recipe looked easy and ingredients were so easy to obtain. Just measure out, dump everything into the mixing bowl and beat it all together. The batter would be much runnier than usual because there are high quantities of water in the recipe but the cupcakes turned out to be extremely moist, spongy and delicious! My dad was so happy! I topped my cupcakes with Green Tea Cream Cheese Frostings which of course I left out for my dad’s cupcakes.

Divvies Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

Makes exactly 12 cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together oil, vinegar, vanilla, and water until well combined. Add flour mixture to the mixer and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Batter should look and feel more watery than normal cake batters.
4. Pour batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup 1/2 to 3/4 full. Transfer to oven and bake, rotating pan halfway through cooking, until a cake tester inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Immediately remove cupcakes from muffin tin and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely before frosting.

Green Tea Cream Cheese Frosting

• 12 ounces or 1-1/2 packages of Philly cream cheese
• 1/2 stick butter
• 4 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon matcha green tea powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Bring cheese and butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours
2. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl or onto parchment
3. Beat butter and cheese at medium speed until creamy
4. Add half of the sugar, the green tea powder, and the vanilla. Beat until combined.
5. Gradually add remaining sugar (more if you have to) until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.

Enjoy! xxx

After being away from Singapore for a good 8 months to finish my last year in university, I came back and was craving for some seriously good Chilli Crabs. So last week I mentioned to a group of friends my desire and two of them started raving about this place on Causarina Road that had brilliant Chilli Crabs and out of this world Oyster Omelette. I was desperate so I happily set aside a night for them to bring me to this place. When my friend turned up to pick me from my house, I was suprised to find that this ‘gem’ was just a 5 minute drive from my house! Where have I been the last 21 years?? It was a Thursday night and when we arrived at 7pm, it was surprisingly packed. All tables were occupied and of course there was a big bowl of Chilli Crab in the middle of every table. We quickly ordered a crab, oyster omelette and shrimp-paste fried chicken.

Ten minutes later our shrimp-paste fried chicken had arrived.

It was evenly fried, not at all oily but to be honest I have tasted better.

Then came the Oyster Omelette. I was expecting the usual whereby the egg would be mixed with some starch batter and fried with the oysters. This, however, came on a hotplate. There was a layer of egg, raw oysters on it topped with hot chilli sauce. When it was put on the table, the waitress would immediately set about mixing all three together.

The result?

It was GOOD! Spicy and the oysters did not have a strong seafood taste at all! We were so happy we decided to order another plate.

While eating the Oyster Omelette and waiting for the second plate, my friend mentions their Birthday Noodles were famous. I was intrigued. Birthday Noodles?!?! What exactly was that? And so we ordered a plate as I was curious.

It was a plate of Fried Mee Sua with generous amounts of squid, eggs, bean sprouts, prawns and unusually, deep-fried quail eggs. Why it is called Birthday Noodles I will never understand but I liked this dish tremondously!

Chilli Crab came and to be honest, it was sent from heaven. Amazing thick eggy chilli sauce coupled with a large Sri Lankan Crab. WOOSH! Took my breath away!

Then I was craving for Chilli Clams or La-la. So we ordered.

I am talking fresh, succulent and juicy clams cooked in a thick spicy sauce. This is really some pretty damn amazing stuff!

All in all a brilliant dinner and I know I will be back soon.