La Nina en la Cocina

Moist Banana Chocolate Cake

I am back in my baking mood again. I guess, it comes together with my domesticated phase. Last weekend, I have been sorting out my clothes, shoes and handbags in the walk-in wardrobe. Chris and I have been doing  a bit of gardening of late too. The baking is just an icing on the cake of my domesticated mood, really.

Oh yes. I also work. Normally, I do nothing else but work.

I don't mind being domesticated from time to time. It is good for my soul. I am glad I found this really yummy and easy Banana Chocolate cake recipe on Joy of Baking website (my favourite baking site). It is so moist but light tasting, it makes me feel like a superstar baker. Everyone who knows me know, when it comes to baking, I am as mediocre as the word mediocre can ever mediocrely be!

This is such an easy cake to make too. The preparation takes 15 minutes and after 45 minutes in the oven,  it is ready to be devoured.

I could have made the chocolate ganache to serve it with but I always feel terribly guilty when I eat chocolate cake so I prefer not too make myself feel worse by piling on the calories on top of the already sinful consumption of chocolatey deliciousness...

We took some of the cake to Judy and Duncan's place, who just had their second child Cleo. Milla decorated the slices of cake with pink-and-purple Princess delight decorative sugar sprinkles. I am telling you, if you are raising a girl, you should have one of those cylinders of Princess Delight decorative sprinkles in your pantry because little girls simply love decorating cakes (cupcakes and pancakes included) and ice-cream (and everything else too if you let them!) with those sprinkles.

I love this cake and I can recommend the recipe to anyone who loves banana and chocolate, moist (very moist) and light tasting, cake! It is also so easy to make! If I can bake it, everyone else can bake it with their eyes closed and standing on the head!

For the recipe, click here.

Otra ves! La Milla en la Cocina; Baking cookies

Today, we spent some Milly-Mummy hour in the kitchen baking some cookies. It is nothing special. One of those ready-made flour in the box (Kopmann's). The only thing I had to do was to mix the flour-mix with butter and knead the dough, placed in the fridge for 15 minutes, then take it out again. I rolled the dough flat and Milly started with the cookie cutting and decoration. 

After 20 minutes in the oven, the cookies came out really pretty. They taste quite good too!

 

Milly was chuffed with herself although she only ate the sugary sprinkles and decoration off  while watching an episode of Dora and sipping on her tea. 

Little Princesses are rather impossible to please.

Cupcakes - La Milla en la Cocina

In preparation for Milla's summer party, I baked 12 cupcakes and a loaf of poundcake. As I am a lazy bum of a mother/house working wife, I just prepared a simple butter cream frosting for the cupcakes and Milla helped me with the decoration - basically, putting M&M's on the frosting.

It was cheap and cheerful and it was a big hit! The kids (and adults) loved the cakes. Milla was proud to announced she helped mummy. That to me is the sweetest part of throwing a party (despite the fact, I was fighting a flu and was popping Nurofen as if they were M&Ms) - to have a happy child.

Chocolate, banana and hazelnut muffin

Last Saturday, Milla had a longer nap than usual. I had some unusual spare time to rummage through my pantry only to realise how much goodies I have there. I now have come to the shameful conclusion that I have an addiction to buy, collect and hog food items and ingredients from supermarkets.

I decided to use some of the ingredients in the pantry and my fridge (which was full even when Chris has been away almost the whole week... evidence of my addiction to food shopping) to bake chocolate, banana and hazelnut muffins.

I baked a dozen of them in colourful papercups and took half of them to Tatyana's when I visited her at her home last Sunday.

Tatyana told me my muffins were delicious. I have a good friend in her.

Orange and Blue Poppyseeds Cake

I am officially nuts. I have been cooking lots this weekend (more entries on different dishes coming up...). Seriously. And I ran. And walked miles....

Here's a cake which sounds bloody exotic and yummy but in fact, rather light and ooh, can I put it? Average? Unless you serve with the sauce made of fresh orange juice, butter, sugar and shredded orange peel...Which probably makes it bombastically superlicious. We had the boring way because we are on a healthy diet!

Here's the recipe which I've translated (hurrah me!!!) from Dutch. I got it from the Delicious food magazine.

For 8-10 persons
50g blue poppyseeds
125ml milk
180g soft, unsalted butter
220g fine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
finely shredded orange peel from 3 oranges
125 freshly squeezed orange juice
375g flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder

Syrup
125ml freshly pressed orange juice
55g fine sugar
20g unsalted butter
shredded orange peel of 2 oranges

(1) Put the oven to 20degrees and grease/prepare the baking tin (24cm in diameter)
(2) Soak the poppyseeds in the milk for 20 minutes
(3) Mix butter, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until light and creamy
(4) Add the eggs and continue mixing.
(5) Add the juice, poppyseeds and milk mixture and the shredded orange peel. Using the spatula, mix the mixture well before adding in the sieved flour and baking powder.
(6) Continue to mix until satisfied that the mixture is well mixed. Pur the mixture into the baking tin and bake in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes.

For the syrup, in a little pan placed over low heat, mix all the ingredients until the sugar melts. Pour mixture over the cake when serving.

Cake could be eaten warm or cold.

Strawberry Banana Muffin

Last week was my baking week. Well, I still do my regular house gig and on top of that I found time to squeeze in my new found passion, baking. OK, it is a trade off. I could have done other household chores like ironing or scrubbing the bathroom floor but guess what? I am not interested in the latter. I am, as some would label me, spoilt and self-indulgent especially when it comes to the things I love. Which are quite aplenty. I am not one of those "normal" people. I arrived from a different planet, landed on my bum when I reached Earth. Don't try to figure me out.

I am also a big fan of the Joy of Baking website (refer to previous posts). It is now my internet baking reference point. Uh...actually, it is my only baking reference point as I don't have any hard copy baking book at all. I don't want to repeat myself, baking is new to me. (yeah Chris get the hint for birthday presents tip. I don't need diamonds. Just get me a good baking book or baking utensil...how about a nice oven? Ha ha, kidding. Aliens have self-sufficient chip on her shoulders. Aliens like to buy nice/expensive things for herself so skip the oven and focus on the small stuff)

Last Friday, I baked some Strawberry Banana muffins(click on link for recipe at Joy of Baking) to take with us to Chris's parents. I could have gone beserked and make something more Easter"y". That would be too predictable wouldn't it? Aliens are not predictable.

Anasalwa commented on my other blog; "strawberry and banana would work together?". The answer is yes. Absolutely well indeed. Just imagine tasting and chewing on tiny pieces of fresh strawberry in vanilla banana flavoured moist cake. That is how it tastes. Simply gorgeous (if you get turned on by the idea of banana, strawberry and vanilla). So, try it if you have time.

(I used golden cake cups to present the muffins in a more festive way. I think it is quite fun. I also intend to visit some specialist baking/cook shops in Amsterdam and find myself other cute and fun paper cake-cups. I love beautiful things)

NB 1 - I thawed half of the carrot cake which I froze in the freezer last week and took it to Tatyana's where we were invited to the BBQ on Easter Monday. I think they enjoyed the cake too. I am secretly proud of myself. Hi hi hi. Well, we all need a little recognition as encouragement don't we?

NB 2 - Chris would be away for a business trip client visit/meetings (SPA, dinners, drinks in order of business...) in Scotland and England for 3 days this week. I am contemplating on making one of the most traditional Malay dishes ...Something in "masak lemak chili api". May be king prawns? I am drooling already. Aliens love Malay dishes.

Banana Bread

I am going through a "baking frenzy". I have no idea what on earth has gotten into me, some baking ghost or something as mad sounding as that but since my big success with the carrot cake last Saturday, my brain has been going "tick--tick-tock" thinking about what I could bake next. Chris thinks it is quite funny that I am going through my baking spurt.

This evening, after we finished with dinner (yes, it was already 8 something), I busied myself with the preparation to bake a banana bread. I used the recipe at the Joy of Baking again since the recipe for the carrot cake was perfect, I thought why wouldn't I give another recipe a shot?

I should have taken the bread out 5 minutes earlier but apart from the slightly darker rim, no damage was done.

Just after 10, I took the bread out of the oven. Put the coffie machine on for my decaf latté and sliced a (still warm) piece for me to devour.

Chris is still out playing squash and I am trying really hard not to have another slice. If I didn't bake the bread, I would probably sing it songs of praises. Since my fine hands baked it, I better be humble; have my cake and eat it.

When the cake has cooled down, I am going to freeze a portion of it to thaw and serve whenever we have our next victim guests. Lucky bastards.

What can I bake next?

*Thumbs up Joy of Baking (www.joyofbaking.com) for really good recipes! I was skeptical with internet recipes (in general) but I am amazed that I didn't have to spend some dosh for high quality recipes such as theirs. Some people put those words in hard bound covers! Thanks to them, I am now addicted to baking. The freezer will be full by the end of the month.

Carrot cake

Baking complicated cakes and biscuits has always been one aspect of kitchen life which I have steered away from for a wee while because it is somehow perceived (perhaps wrongly by me) as a discipline and one aspect of kitchen work which demands strict abidance to rules; temperature, exact proportion of ingredients and so forth.

When I was pregnant, I baked more often than I have ever baked in my whole entire life. I don't understand why I started baking more especially because baking has never been my strongest forte. I love cooking and spending time in my kitchen mostly because it is a space for me to unwind and be creative. I cook mostly with my imagination and desire to create, passion to enjoy.

Today, I baked a carrot cake which turned out to be the best cake I have ever baked in my life. It was so yummy, I might actually take baking more seriously.

I used the recipe at  Joy of Baking although not strictly since I decided to cut down on the sugar intake. I am still rejoicing in my "once again back in size 26" jeans moments since Milla's birth. Nonetheless, my oh my, the carrot cake was supremely delicious. I am freezing half of it in the freezer to thaw when we feel like spoiling ourselves with calories.

Oh well, we only have one life. What is a life lived without a mug of delicious coffee and a large slice of moist carrot cake on Saturday afternoon?