Oreo Yogurt Chocolate Cake

Past 2 weeks had been a madness for the mummy ! Totally washed out. I was scrambling to decide what cake to make for my younger son's 10th birthday. Panic. 2 days to count-down ! I have 10+ hungry kids to feed for his birthday home party ! And that's only the cake saga..

As always, my beloved Chatty one had gone ahead to tell his friends that mum's cooking crabs for this birthday ! Wow..That's super Sales talk, unbelievable thrown-in freebies ! He had totally forgotten his recent sudden onslaught of crab allergy , hmm..how convenient ! And that's only the crab saga...

As ever the "Gung-ho" mummy, as ever the sacrificing mummy, oh.. , there is no backing out. My son nonchalantly flipped through the cake recipe book and pointed out a gorgeous looking Oreo cake picture - a white fondant cake with Oreo toppings. And so, sealed my fate !

It's a change from the usual Chocolaty cake. I guess this will be fun to experiment with my version of Oreo. It's still Oreo, without doubt .. ** fingers crossed **.

My whipping cream was running out. So, I thought why not add yogurt as well.

What I did .. for a 12" by 12" square tin

(A) Chocolate sponge cake
10 egg yolks
400 gm. cake flour
200 gm. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup water
1 cup cooking oil
2 tsp. vanilla essence
4 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. cocoa powder

(B) 10 egg white
1 tsp. cream of tartar
150 gm. sugar

(C) Filling - Oreo Cream
150gm oreo biscuit (crushed)
200gm plain yoghurt
150gm sugar
300 gm Dairy Whipped cream
50 gm pure cream

(D) Decoration :
Oreo biscuits, chocolate twists , icing sugar



1. Mix all the ingredients (A) together until smooth.
2. Whisk ingredients (B) to create a stiff peak, suggests using a cake mixer.
3. Add this whipped egg white into (A) and fold with a spatula.
4. Put a grease proof paper at bottom of tin. Pour into a 12" by 12" square tin and bake for about 45 mins to 50 mins till cooked at 180C. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack. Slice into 2 layers.
5. To make oreo cream, mix yoghurt with sugar. Fold in whipped cream and pure cream. Add in the crushed oreo. Blend in until all mixed.
6. Spread oreo cream over 1st layer of sponge cake. Add the top layer of the sponge cake and spread all oreo cream all over.
7. Decorate with oreo biscuit and other desired toppings. Use a sieve to sprinkle icing sugar




I love the final touching up.. it so so fun..




Only managed to taste the cake on my son's big day. The kids went crazy over the chocolate twist... grabbing and gorging down the side Oreo biscuits ! Thank goodness, the taste came out right !

ALL I can say is that fantastic kids .. well done ! His friends was like "Aunty.. you bake this cake..?" I was like Who me ?? Best of all..was the appreciation from the birthday boy who said.."mummy..this cakes taste very good".

Kids are real honest ! I agree.. ;-)

Moist Chocolate Cake

I made this Moist Chocolate Cake during the weekend but did not have the time to put it up in the blog until now. Too hectic over the weekend having to attend a wedding dinner, send sons to swimming lessons on Saturday and again on Sunday, going to 2 OpenHouse Secondary schools for exploration (for my elder son) ... Tough life.. I mean for me !

Here's the moissy chocolatey one, my crave ... it's very soft and deliciously moist that melts into one's mouth. So if you do like chocolate, this is one that you cannot miss doing it. Simple and yet heavenly.

In fact , this is a recipe from chowtimes. You got to try it to believe it !

What is Required
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons white vinegar
8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) oil
a handful of semisweet chocolate chips.

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C

How To Do
Sift the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a bowl.
Whisk sugar and wet ingredients, water, vanilla, vinegar and oil in another bowl.
Pour the batter into a parchment lined 9 x 13″pan and bake for 45 minutes at 180C
Cake is slightly moist in the middle when baked.

Hmm.. all packed..not sure if this will last through the week since the 2 boys love this moist chocolate cakes !

Chocolate Banana Cake

School Exams are out! What joy from. guess who.. the Mummy ! Last Friday was the end of the whole exam saga. Not that I help that much with my boys' school work. At least now, I have the boys undivided attention, to be part of my gourmet tasters again in my creation of Food ! Haha..

To begin my gastronomical journey, here's one dedication first to colleague Ms Ever-MamaDrama S, as she is so dearly known. Haha.. name is self-explanatory ! She is yet another very slim one, but since the title has clearly been taken by another colleague (the reigning Ms Ever-Slim J unless she puts on prosperously due to my good food), she's still the Drama Queen.

With the birthday "girls and boys" around the corner in December (sorry Nov "kids") , Ms Ever-MamaDrama requested for chocolate cake first, with additional toppings of Bananas. Oops, Me ? Did I get it right ??! I am not professionally trained. I am just the gutsy Passionate Cooking Foodie .

I decided I better test out first before the impending December. With my endless so-called excellent and well,..sometimes not-so excellent cakes track record (now you know !) , I am not always sure of how it turns out. Hmm..perhaps, I tend to experiment too much, so each time is never the same. Now, with so many gourmets around me, my name-sake is at stake. Humpyh..

So if you ever want to try anything, do what it takes, join me in my maiden journey in the Sea of Gastronomy.

What is Required

Chocolate Sponge Cake
(A) Sponge Cake
125 gm. Cake flour
30 gm. Cocoa powder
1/4 cup hot water
1 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
75 gm. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 egg yolks

(B) 4 egg white
120 gm. sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

(C) Ganache
300 gm. dairy whipping cream
250 gm. melted chocolate
50 gm. butter

Toppings
4 slices of cut Bananas
250 gm whipping cream
30gm. cocoa powder

What to Do

1. Use hot water to dissolve cocoa powder
2. Add rest of sponge cake ingredients together and mix into a smooth batter
3. Whisk (B) ingredients until stiff peak
4. Fold into the cocoa powder batter.
5. Pour into a 9" round cake tin and bake at 190C for about 45 mins.
6. Set aside cake to rest and cut into 3 layers
7. Mix all the ingredients for Ganache in a double-boiled bot.
8. Whip the fresh cream and add in cocoa powder mixture.
9. Spread between 2 layers of cake. Add the cut-up bananas.
10. Pour Ganache on the top layer
11. Let the cake set in the fridge

Yummy.. cut and slice up ! Ooo.. I can't wait to give out the title of Ms Ever_Prosperous Looking..LOL..

Chocolate ButterScotch Bar with Cashew Nuts

Yesterday evening was a happy moment.

My colleague, Ms ever-slim J SMS me on a piece of good news !!! I checked my emails, yes, we did it ! I couldn't have done it without Ms ever-slim J and Mr ever-amusing C. I am so happy , I must do a food workout .. LOL

If ever I want to do something now, this is the time to unleash the last few days of penned up energy. Yes, this calls for Chocolate Butterscotch Bar time ! I have been wanting to make this for quite some time , did not have time for this until now.... Let's see how a weekday nite express creativity will turn out !

Time 9.45 pm. Let's target to finish off by 11pm. ** wink **

Quickly got my camera to capture the moment, hmm.. Checked what I have in my kitchen store, not bad for a last minute decision. I guess I can survive with most items that I have, plus my multi-talented improvisation, I guess I could get away with this... hehe

As usual, my "little" curious one, tagged along.. How's this for his picture contributions to my eventful nite. Oh..isn't he a dear !


Let's call this picture "Little One's nite-out with Cashew Nut"






Mr H made his appearance as well, wondering what the wifey is doing at nite like this , and start meddling the camera...

His pictures' contribution , let's call it "Goofing around with chocos !", it could have been worse !! hehe







Hmmm....

I am just waiting for the next dramatic entrance of the elder one into the kitchen ..where could he be ?? ** my guess, he is playing catch-up time on his MapleStory ! after the whole PSLE saga **


Now ..Here's my ever-humble ingredients.

To the "Left" for the Biscuit Foundation
225g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

115g unsalter butter

50g butter

50g brown sugar

150g dark chocolate melted

30ml ground amonds

To the "Right" for the Toppings

175g butter

115g castor sugar

30ml golden syrup - I use "honey" for the last minute improvisation

175ml condensed milk

150 whole toasted Cashew nuts - usually it's the hazel nut

225g plain chocolate

PreHeat oven to 160C or 325F
First grease a shallow 10" by 10" square pan.

Add the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.

Add in the Butter and rub it in until it looks like the bread crumbs (I use the mixer , thanks to the wonders of invention , can't live without it !)

Add in the Brown Sugar until it is well-combined !

Add in the melted chocolate, followed by the ground almonds... this is actually the tasty biscuit dough !

Mix it all well until it looks like this ! ** nope , that's not what you think it is... **

Spread the dough out on a pan and use a fork to prick the surface evenly on the dough (to prevent it from rising up !) This is good for the oven for 30mins. Once out, leave it to rest for around 15mins for it to form to a biscuit dough.

In the meantime, let's start with the making the delicious topping... my fav !

Mix the butter, sugar, honey and condensed milk into a pan.

Heat gently (I mean real gently.,.. could get burnt here !)..

Stirring until the butter and suger have melted.

Simmer till you see golden and stir in the cashew nuts.

Spread the toppings onto the biscuit dough using a spatula.

Leave it to set for around 5mins.

Pour the hot melted dark chocolate onto the cashew nut toppings. Spread the chocolate evenly.

Don't this look Heavenly... yummy, cannot wait.. sneak a taste !... my younger keep asking me when he can have his bite of choco !

Oooh... it's done and it's 11.30pm and my younger son is still waiting for me..

Now the waiting game, leave it in the fridge for a day to set and harden.

Yes, this is the next morning-after, ie. today 7.30am ! ohhh...., I am so so proud of myself ! Just got to let my colleagues try this !...

Kenny Rogers Corn Muffins

I always love to go to Kenny Rogers for their chicken meals which have fantastic choices of side dishes. This is especially so when I am a great fan of the ever so-tasty Kenny Rogers corn muffins. Ohh... I simply love the warm corn muffins that always adds an endearing sweet after-taste to the whole meal.

Hence, this begins my journey of looking for this Great Recipe that captures this buttery sweetness (yes, I am a sugar person, full of sweetness as you can tell... hehe)

Honestly, I never imagined that I could ever get hold of this recipe by surfing the internet. This happened many many moons back. Lo and Behold, somehow I managed to get hold of this. But, I was not convinced of the authentic taste of it, as there were no pictures, but just a simple recipe. Anyway I had to try it !

As you would have guess, eversince that first try, I have made these muffins a couple of times.. so you know the answer..it's close to the real thing ! Because I love eating them and the children loves eating them , I make them quite often, with my new chocolatey invention ones as well !

Don't they look tempting ...hmmm.... I swear I can smell them from the pictures !

These are the simple but respectable ingredients required to perform the Grand Finale !

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup frozen yellow corn

Instead of the yellow cornmeal, I have replaced it with the Red Man Cookie Cornmeal which I find has a finer texture and taste better.

Cream together butter, sugar, honey, eggs, and salt in a largebowl.

I use the electric mixer to help in the creaming ! Much easier... ;-)

This is followed by some whisking ... whisk away !!

Errh... this is how it looks.. not to worry , it gets better after this , trust me ..

Add in the flour, cornmeal and the baking powder

Pour in the milk ... look how the milk flows

Whoo... whisking again !

This is how it looks after the whole whisking process.. doesn't it look inviting ..

You can dip your little finger to sneak a taste ...

Add in the yellow corns .. (no more whisking please)..

Gently fold in the corns with the mixture using a spatula.

Place the muffins cups in the baking muffin tray . Add in 2 to 3 tsps full of the mixture.

Sprinkle a few of the remaining corn over the muffins. Look how beautiful they are !

Nothing beats having an micro-wave cum convectional oven. It's much faster than the conventional oven to preheat. Whichever yours is, do remember to Preheat to 200 C or 390 F .

Put the muffin baking tray into the oven. Set the timer to 20mins.

While waiting, separately, I have added some 20g of cocoa powder into the remaining mixture , without the corn. My elder son saw me baking and couldn't resist the request for a chocolatey version... hehe..

So here is another Chocolatey version of the Kenny Rogers muffin ! .. LOL .. wonder what Kenny Roger will make out of this ..

Added some hersley toppings as well.. I am getting so So so CrEatIve !

Here ...some of my first bite into the muffins .... hehe..

Here's the fuller version ... Aren't these the cousins version..!! LOL

Ohhh...Kenny, I would love to be ON your muffin team , Pleasseeeeee!