Moist Banana and Vanilla Cupcakes

We have a bad habit in our house, we keep buying bananas and then not eating them and most of the time they end up in the compost bin. If I remember, I try my best to use the over ripe bananas for baking. This morning I realised we had two over ripe bananas in our fruit trolley, so I decided to make banana and vanilla cupcakes.

Ever since I found the amazing cupcake recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, I have been using this recipe as the base recipe every time I make cupcakes. This recipe is so good and easy to follow that the cupcakes never turn out dry.

For the banana and vanilla cupcakes I used two over ripe mashed up bananas, I did not want the cupcakes to have a strong banana flavour.

The cupcakes were easy to make and were prepared in so little time and were baked in almost twenty minutes. I let the cupcakes cool on a wire rack for while and then I piped the cupcakes with yellow buttercream icing.

The banana and vanilla cupcakes tasted amazing, the cupcakes were so moist and the banana flavour was perfect. I was so relieved that the recipe worked out well.

Next time I may add some chocolate into the mixture, so the cupcakes are a little bit more naughty.

Banana and vanilla cupcake recipe

base recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Adventures

1 and 2/3 cup of sifted plain flour

1/2 teaspoon of  baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1 cup of caster sugar

113 grams of unsalted butter, melted

1 egg

1/4 cup of yoghurt

3/4 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 over ripe bananas

Icing

125 grams of softened butter

2 cups of icing sugar

1 tablespoon of milk

1 drop of yellow food colouring

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases. 
2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Whisk in sugar – mixture will be gritty. Whisk in egg whites, mashed banana, yoghurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. 
3. Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick.
4. Divide batter among 12 cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool.
5. To make the icing, mix butter and icing sugar in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and 1 drop of yellow food colouring and mix. If mixture is too wet add more icing sugar.  Pipe icing on the cupcakes cupcakes (I used Wilton 2D piping tip). 

Nutella Cheesecake with fresh cream and crushed hazelnuts

I have been on a Nutella hiatus lately because I have been too busy baking cookie instead. Today I decided to make something using Nutella because the jars were pretty much taking up too much space in the pantry. I decided to make Nutella cheesecake.

For this recipe, I used my friend’s base cheesecake recipe and I simply added 2/3 cup of Nutella. Too easy right?

To be slightly different, I decided to put the cheesecake into a glass that I bought from Daiso.

Putting the Nutella cheesecake ingredients into the glass proved to be challenging, it was really hard to get the ingredients to sit neatly into the jar. In the end I just gave up and just did the best I could. I let the Nutella cheesecake set in the fridge overnight. I put the left over Nutella cheesecake mixture in a container and put it in the fridge.

The next morning I took the Nutella cheesecake out of the fridge, I ended up whipping up some cream and crushing some hazelnuts to put on top of the Nutella cheesecake.  The Nutella cheesecake actually looked quite nice in the glass.

The Nutella cheesecake tasted really nice, the Nutella cheesecake was so creamy and hazelnutty. I was so pleased that I decided to only use 2/3 cup of Nutella, because the Nutella cheesecake did not taste so sweet.

I am really liking this idea of placing desserts into glasses, I think I might decide to make these for my baby’s first birthday party.

Please refer to my previous cheesecake post for the base recipe of the cheesecake.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

During Baketober I went on a crazy baking spree and one of the things that I baked was Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies. Due to my mumma brain, I actually forgot to blog about it.

For Baketober I was going crazy making different types of brownies and I finally decided to venture out into baking a very different type of brownie, that is when I found a recipe for Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies on Sally’s Baking Blog.

I was so excited to make the Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies because I love red velvet cupcake. I ended up tweaking the recipe a bit and I used my own cheesecake recipe for the brownies.

One thing that concerned me, was how much red food colouring that I had to use for the Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies, but I stuck to the recipe.

The Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies ended up tasting really nice, the combination of the cheesecake and the red velvet brownie worked really well. The Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies also tasted really moist, I was indeed in love.

Despite loving this recipe, I have since turned off making brownies, maybe I shall bake these again one day.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies can be found on this website:

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/02/10/red-velvet-cheesecake-swirl-brownies/

Heart, Cat and Star Shaped Cookies

I have been looking for new recipes online lately, because I needed something different to bake. I found a recipe for heart shaped cookies on my new favourite blog Lauren’s Latest.

I meant to blog this recipe for Valentine’s Day, but I totally forgot..

The heart shaped cookies looked quite difficult to make, but it was actually quite straight forward. The first time I made them I stuffed up because I got distracted and I did not follow the instructions properly. ( I blame my baby for not sleeping. ;))

The second time I made the heart shaped cookies, I made sure I followed the instructions properly. The heart shaped cookies turned out really nice this time and I was quite pleased how pretty they looked.

I waited impatiently for the heart shaped cookies to cool down and then I tried one. The heart shaped cookies looked amazing and they tasted really nice, the cookie had a softer texture, they tasted buttery and not too sweet.

I was so impressed with this recipe that I made cat shaped and star shaped cookies.

I think I may have to go to Spotlight to buy more gel colours, I want to see if I can attempt to make other shapes and maybe try to make Eugene’s rainbow heart shaped cookies.

Heart shaped cookies recipe can be found on this website:

http://www.laurenslatest.com/slice-n-bake-valentine-heart-cookies/

Chocolate Coated Potato Chips

Ever since I have discovered Royce’s chocolate coated potato chips, I have obsessing over eating them, it is just a shame that they cost $19 a box. I decided that I would try making them for myself.

I figured that making chocolate coated potato chips should not be too hard to make because it is simply made with chocolate and chips. I Googled recipes and a lot of them involved vegetable shortening or coconut but I decided not to use either and to keep it simple.

When making the chocolate coated potato chips I used callebaut chocolate and Natural Company potato chips. The process of making the chocolate coated potato chips was so easy and it took not too long to make them, I was done in under half an hour.

I waited patiently for the chocolate coated potato chip to set. When the chocolate was set, the chocolate coated potato chips looked so good.

The chocolate coated potato chips tasted quite nice, it had the same sweet and salty taste as the Royce chocolate coated potato chips but just not the price tag. I will admit though that the Royce chocolate coated potato chips obviously taste better.

My friend has suggested that I add bacon to these chocolate coated potato chips, so this could be something that I might try next time.

Chocolate coated potato chips recipe

Chocolate melts or callebaut chocolate (as much as you like and depending how many  you want to make)

a packet of ridged chips

Method

Melt the chocolate in the microwave on 50% power for 1 minute and stir the chocolate in the bowl until chocolate is melted. You may need to put the chocolate back into the microwave if it has not melted.

Dip one side of the potato chip  into the melted chocolate, making sure the potato chip is fully covered in chocolate. Drip off excess chocolate that is on the chip into the bowl. Place onto grease proof or parchment paper and leave it there until set.

Best consume chocolate coated potato chips on the same day

Royce Chocolate

I love hearing about new types of chocolate and it seems that I have an obsession for trying new things, when I heard that Royce Chocolate had opened up in Chatswood, I was so excited, I have always been curious to what their chocolate tasted like, because it just looks so delicious.

Royce Chocolate originates from Japan and although I have never been to Japan, I have heard so many good things about their chocolate from friends.The first Australian Royce Chocolate store opened in Adelaide and just recently they opened up a store in Chatswood.

This week I made my way to Chatswood to try Royce Chocolate, I took my friend along because he was also curious about what their chocolate tasted. When we arrived at Royce Chocolate, I was in awe at all the different types of chocolate and the chocolate potato chips. The lady working at Royce Chocolate advised that we could sample any of their products before we bought them, this made me happy because I wanted to make sure I bought something I liked.

The first thing I tried was their chocolate covered potato chips. I tried the milk chocolate one first, the milk chocolate potato chip is simply a potato chip covered in milk chocolate. Upon my first bite, I was so amazed at how good it tasted, I loved the sweet and salty combination of the chocolate covered potato chips, I could have easily devoured a whole bag of these in one sitting.

The next one I tried was their fromage blanc potato chip chocolate. The fromage blanc potato chip chocolate is a potato chip coated with fromage white chocolate. I did not particularly like this one because cheese and white chocolate tasted weird to me.

The next item I tried was the Mild Milk Nama Chocolate. Nama chocolate is velvetety ganache chocolate which comprises of mostly cream or liquor. I chose only to try this one, because some of the other varieties contained either liquor or caffeine (tea), two things I can not consume whilst breast feeding. I had eaten Nama chocolate before whilst I was in Hong Kong and I loved it. The Mild Milk Nama chocolate from Royce Chocolate tasted divine, the chocolate literally melted in my mouth, the texture was so smooth and creamy.

I did not end up trying any more items, because I had to go home so I could beat the peak hour traffic. I ended up buying two boxes of the Mild Milk Nama Chocolate and two boxes of the milk chocolate covered potato chips. I was so happy that the store placed my Mild Milk Nama Chocolate in a mini cooler bag with a mini ice pack, this kept my chocolate cold for a few hours.

As soon as I am finished eating my Royce Chocolate goodies, I am going to buy more!

Mild Milk Nama Chocolate $24 (sorry I ate some lol)

Milk Chocolate Potato Chips $19 (worth every bite)

Royce Chocolate is located at:

Chatswood:  Westfield Chatswood, 1 Anderson Street, Chatswood NSW 2067

Adelaide: Westfield Marion, 297 Diagonal Rd, Oaklands Park SA 5046

Website: http://www.royceaustraliapacific.com/

Crunchy Cookie Butter Cupcakes

For the last few weeks, I have been asking my friends online to provide me with some new cake ideas so I can bake them. My friend Eloise showed me a Instagram photo of cookie butter cupcakes, so I decided that I would try making them.

I was a little bit apprehensive to use my beloved jar of Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter to make the cupcakes, but I had no choice. I was just hoping that the cupcakes would turn out okay so the cookie butter does not get wasted.

For the base recipe of the cupcakes, I used my trusty cupcake recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction and all I did was add crunchy cookie butter. For the icing I used my basic recipe and add cookie butter and sprinkled crushed speculoos on top.

The Crunchy Cookie Butter Cupcakes tasted really nice. The cookie butter gave the cupcakes a nice cookie flavouring with a hint of crunch. The icing was divine, especially with the sprinkling of speculoos on top.

I was so pleased that this recipe turned out okay, I might even make them again if my aunty sends me more Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter.

Crunchy Cookie Butter Cupcakes Recipe

base recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Adventures

1 and 2/3 cup of sifted plain flour

1/2 teaspoon of  baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1 cup of caster sugar

113 grams of unsalted butter, melted

1 egg

1/4 cup of yoghurt

3/4 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

3/4 cup of crunchy cookie butter

Icing

125 grams of softened butter

2 cups of icing sugar

1 tablespoon of milk

1/2 cup of less of cookie butter (depending how sweet you want it)

1/2 cup of crushed speculoos

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases. 
2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Whisk in sugar – mixture will be gritty. Whisk in egg whites, crunchy cookie butter, yoghurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. 
3. Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick.
4. Divide batter among 12 cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool.
5. To make the icing, mix butter and icing sugar in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and mix. Add cookie butter and mix thoroughly until combined. If mixture is too wet add more icing sugar.  Pipe icing on the cupcakes cupcakes (I used Wilton 1M piping tip). Sprinkle speculoos on top of the cupcakes.

New Cake Creations

I have been in an experimental mood lately, so I have been busily baking whole cakes. The reason for the experimenting is because I have decided that I will bake my baby’s 1st birthday cake. Usually baking a whole cake scares me, but I had a good recipe to rely on, so I was not fearful.

My first cake I made was a simple vanilla cake with buttercream centre and icing. I piped roses on top. This cake was quite challenging to make because making sure the icing was smooth around the cake was hard. The cake thankfully looked okay tasted deliciously moist.

The second cake I made was a Rainbow Cake. This cake was also quite challenging because I honestly did not know how to start. I ended up buying some cute heart shaped tins from Daiso.

These tins were great for baking a multi layered cake and they only costed $2,80 each. I ended up using three of these.

For the cake I used pink, blue and green food colouring and put white buttercream between the layers. I then used buttercream to ice the cake and then piped roses on the top of the cake.

The Rainbow Cake turned out well and I was very relieved that it tasted moist and delicious. Next time I may try some of the rainbow designs that I saw online.

My next challenge will be to bake a bigger cake, I am absolutely terrified!

Arnott’s Coconut Cream Tim Tam Biscuits

When I found out that Adriano Zumbo was doing another collaboration with Arnotts to make some new flavours of Tim Tam biscuits, I was super excited and then I found out one of them was a coconut cream flavour, I almost fell off my chair.

As you all know, I am obsessed with all things coconut, so Arnotts Coconut Cream Tim Tam Biscuits are right up my flavour alley. So it was only natural that when I found out I went to the supermarket ASAP!

Unfortunately when I got home I had no  time to sit down to try a Coconut Cream Tim Tam biscuit because I had to feed and bathe my baby, so I had to wait a few long excruciating hours until I had to the chance to try them.

When I finally had the chance, I immediately tried one. I really loved the taste of the Coconut Cream Tim Tam biscuit, it tasted divine, the coconut cream part actually tasted like real coconut and not artificial like some coconut flavoured biscuits. The coconut cream part was also creamy and of course the biscuit part tasted like the regular delicious Tim Tam.

I am so excited about these new Tim Tam biscuits that I may even try the Choc Raspberry flavoured Tim Tam.

Let me know what you think

Stockists:

Arnott’s Coconut Cream Tim Tam biscuits and Choc Raspberry Tim Tam biscuits are available at Woolworths, Coles and most other supermarkets

Easy Homemade Bounty Ice Cream (without using an ice cream machine)

As you may or may not have noticed, I am obsessed with easy 3 or 4 ingredient recipes. Today my eyes popped out when I found a recipe for two ingredients ice cream made without an ice cream machine, it almost seemed too good to be true. Luckily it was not!

I have tried making my own ice cream in the past and have failed miserably, the Chill Factor Ice Cream Maker did not work and it seemed too hard to make without an ice cream machine.

This easy ice cream recipe starts off with the base ingredients of sweet condensed milk, thickened cream and then you add whatever ingredients you want add. I decided because I love coconut so much, I would make a coconut based ice cream.

For the first time in a LONG time, I got to use my whisk tri-blade attachment to whisk the cream, this process seemed to take a while. The recipe was otherwise very easy to make.

Six hours later the ice cream was set. The Bounty Ice Cream tasted so good, it was so creamy, chocolately and coconutty. The Bounty Ice Cream even looked and tasted like real ice cream. The ice cream tasted divine, even my husband liked it.

I am so excited that this recipe worked out so well, I cannot wait to see what other flavours of ice cream I can make next. Honestly, who needs an ice cream machine when making ice cream this way is so easy?!

Homemade Bounty Ice Cream recipe

Base 

1 and 1/2 cups of thickened cream

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

Additions

1/2 cup of coconut cream

3/4 cup of Lindt chocolate flakes

1/2 cup of desiccated coconut

Method

Whip thickened cream and coconut cream to form stiff peaks in a large bowl. Mix sweetened condensed milk, coconut and chocolate flakes in large bowl. Gently fold in whipped cream (do not over mix).

Pour into a container and cover. Freeze for 6 hours or until firm. Store in the freezer.