Breakfast Chocolate Muffins with a warning

PLEASE READ FIRST!!!

I don't know how to post this recipe.

It started out with my daughter requesting for chocolate muffins for breakfast. The glutton in me screamed yeah! But the Mom in me frowned disapprovingly. So in order to meet in the middle, I adjusted my go-to muffin recipe and try making it healthier with whole wheat flour and oatmeals. They turned out GORGEOUS!


I posted it on the FaceBook and the members of the baking group loved how it looks. But when I took a bite, it turned out that it was a tad dry.

Don't get me wrong, it tasted DELICIOUS and I loved how the wholewheat flour and oatmeal added a little texture and flavour to it. But still, a little dry. I tried baking another batch with more buttermilk. It's softer, but it turned out like cupcakes, which defeats the point of a muffin. A muffin is SUPPOSED to be firmer than a cupcake FYI.

So. After much deliberation, I think I should just post the recipe as it is. I think people should be smart enough to adjust the recipe according to their own liking? Let me know how it goes!

1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp instant oatmeal

1/3 cup vegetable oil (try 1/2 cup instead)
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk (you can use milk with a tablespoon of white vinegar)

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 
2. Sift all the dry ingredients except for the oatmeal. Add in the oatmeal to the sifted ingredients. 
3. Mix all the wet ingredients together. 
4. Gently FOLD the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until they are just incorporated. Do not overmix! 
5. Scoop muffin batter into lined muffin trays and fill it up to the brim to get a nice muffin top. 
6. Bake for about 20mins. You know it's done if you insert a skewer into the middle of the muffin and it comes out clean.

Devil's Food Birthday Cake

My baby boy loves trains, so for his 2nd birthday, I decided to make him an extra special birthday cake! A 3D train cake!

I used a devil's food cake for the cake base instead of the usual sponge cake as I love a good, rich chocolate cake. I experimented with a few different recipe and this (original recipe from Ina Garten) is definitely THE jackpot! It's so rich, chocolaty, moist and yet not too sweet. PUUURFECT! For the frosting, I love the Swiss Meringue Chocolate Buttercream I used the other time, so I'll just stick to it.

INGREDIENTS

Cake:
Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, (I used 1 cup of milk + 1 tablespoon white vinegar)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Swiss Meringue Chocolate Buttercream: (about 840g) (from my original post)
195g egg whites
220g caster sugar
385g unsalted butter, softened but still cold
100g cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)

Let's Bake!

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. I used 1 9-inch x 9-inch square cake pan. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. 
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. 
3. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. 
4. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. 
6. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Since I'm using one big pan, slice the cake into 2 and frost accordingly.

Preparing the Swiss Meringue Chocolate Buttercream:

1. Place 195 egg whites and 220g granulated sugar in a heatproof bowl. Sit the heatproof bowl on a saucepan filled with water. The base of the bowl should not be in contact with the water. This is known as a double boiler. Bring the water in the saucepan to a slight simmer. Use a balloon whisk and stir the egg whites and sugar constantly until the sugar has fully dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch (test by inserting your finger).
2. Remove the heatproof bowl and beat the warm egg white mixture on medium high speed to obtain stiff peaks using an electric beater. (It takes a longer time when sugar is added.) At stiff peaks, the beaten egg whites will not budge when bowl is overturned. When the beaters are lifted from the beaten egg whites, the surface of the egg whites should form stiff upright peaks (not drooping peaks). The beaten egg whites should be cool to the touch (room temperature), not warm like when it was removed from the saucepan.
3. Beat in 385g butter into the beaten egg whites in 3 batches, ensuring each batch is incorporated before adding the next. The egg whites will deflate furiously when butter is added. Continue beating until the mixture is creamy and fluffy (Initially when the butter is added, the mixture may become watery. As more butter is added, the buttercream thickens up).\
4. Lastly, sift in 100g cocoa powder and continue beating to obtain a smooth chocolate buttercream.

If you are making the cake a day ahead, just cool the cake completely, wrap it up carefully in cling film and keep in the fridge. After cake has been frosted, and there are leftovers, don't worry, just keep in a airtight container and keep in freezer. It can keep for up to a week! The cake is best eaten at room temperature, so just leave it on the table for a few hours and it's ready to be served with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee.

If you love chocolate cake, you will love this recipe. Try it. You won't regret it!

Chocolate Banana Cake

I have some bananas that's ripening too quickly. Must be due to this crazy hot weather! But it's ok, at least now I can bake! Let me think.. muffins? cookies? cupcakes? Banana cake? Boring... unlike chocolate cake! OMG I love chocolate cake! I wondered if there's such a thing as chocolate banana cake and Goggled it. Apparently there are! I surfed around and found a good looking one from Joyofbaking.com I made some adjustments to the recipe of my own, and this is the end result.

Heavenly..! It's the most moist, fudgy, chocolately cake I've ever tasted. A super rich chocolate cake with a light banana taste. So good, I'm speechless. So... let's bake!

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups white sugar
1 cup cake flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (I didn't have enough to make 1 cup -_-")
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flavorless oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 180C and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter a 23 x 33 cm pan. 
2. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside. 
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. 
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. You will notice that the batter is quite thin. 
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. 
6. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cooled, frost with the Ganache.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting:
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel, or heatproof bowl. Set aside.
2. Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat and bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. 
3. When Ganache has completely cooled, beat until soft and fluffy. Then spread the frosting on top of the cake.

*I didn't wait long enough for the ganache to set so it was quite liquid when I poured onto the cake. But it tasted awesome anyway!*

Tell me you don't want to put that into your mouth! Come on..!

Rich Chocolate Cupcakes

Lately there has been quite a few cupcake stores selling cupcakes, but I've never bought a single one. I felt that cupcakes are simple to make and I can't find a reason why should I fork out money when I could make one myself. I bought some home from Twelve Cupcakes, just out of curiousity, and was grumbling at the crazy pricing until I took a bite. OMG... Now I know what the fuss was about. It was sooo moist, yet firm! Oh so rich and chocolaty, but yet not overly sweet! I became obsessed. How did they do that? Can I achieve such awesomeness in my kitchen??

I searched online for the right recipe, making sure that my key words include "rich", "chocolate", "cupcakes" and "moist" and this is what I found. Rich Chocolate Cupcakes. My review is... it is freaking awesome! It's sooo rich and moist and chocolatey and it's perfect when you are feeling low or just have the chocolate cravings! Definitely a keeper!

CUPCAKES
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup Baking Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup (113g) butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

MILK CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1 3/4 cups Semi sweet chocolate chips
85g butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

CUPCAKES
PREHEAT oven to 180°C. Paper-line 20 muffin cups.
1. COMBINE flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
2. Beat sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl.
3. Gradually beat in flour mixture alternately with milk.
4. Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each prepared muffin cup.
5. BAKE for 18 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Frost with Milk Chocolate Frosting.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1. MICROWAVE chocolate chips, butter and salt in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; STIR. The morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted.
2. Transfer to large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in sugar alternately with milk. Stir in vanilla extract.

MY NOTES

• Know your oven! My oven is hotter, so it's 160°C for me. To achieve a flat surface for your cupcakes, always go for LOW AND SLOW.
• I baked for 18mins which gave me very moist cupcakes that's juuuust cooked. But the paper muffin cups tore away from the cupcakes which bugs the hell out of me. Did some research online and turns out that this problem bugs the hell out of many people too! One of the many many possible reason was underbaking the cupcakes. Yes it does gives you a sexy, moist cupcake but the sight of the paper casing falling off is nothing to be proud of. Also, too little batter also means that there's not enough cake to "cling" onto the paper casing. Therefore, on my next cupcake project, I will make the following adjustments. 
• I've already lowered my temperature, so will increase baking time by 3-5mins. 
• Increase amount of batter to 1/2 or 2/3 for a fuller cupcake, hopefully will keep the cupcake casing on. Hope it works!

Chocolate Mud Cupcakes

Bought a book titled 500 Cupcakes on impulse the other day, so I thought I try out one of the recipes.

300g plain chocolate chips
300g unsalted butter
5 eggs
115g caster sugar
115g self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Place paper baking cases in the muffin tin.

2. In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring well. Leave it to cool a little.

3. Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick. Fold the flour into the egg mixture and then stir in the melted chocolate and butter until well blended.

4. Spoon the mixture into cases and bake for 20mins. The cupcakes would be soft and gooey in texture and appearance. Remove tin from oven and cool for 5mins. Then remove cupcakes from the tin.

5. Serve swiftly, dusted with cocoa powder.

I didn't dust with cocoa powder, but it still tasted delicious!!!

The book used the word "gooey", but it's not. Maybe I have to under cook it by 5 mins in order to get that consistency. But still, it was crazy moist and chocolatey! It's really simple to make and this batch was quickly snatched up when I brought it to a friends's party. I will definitely make this again.

Until then, Bon appetit!