Lemon Rosemary Cupcake

OMG, I didn't realise it is 30th of November today . Gosh , I really had a very very busy life in office , seriously so busy till I don't even get to sit down on my office chair at all... I really want to post this very last one for Aspiring Bakers #13 before it ends. So here we go , as I am really short of time , I will just cut short my blabbering for now .. I mean for this time... Heehee

Man.. the smell of rosemary is really comforting when it fills the air while baking this sweet little thing in the oven ....

Ingredients
3cups     All Purpose Flour
1tsp       Baking Powder
1tbsp     Dried Rosemary ( can substitute with Fresh Rosemary if available )
1/2tsp    Salt
240g      Butter
300g      Sugar ( original recipe calls for 400g )
4large     Eggs ( at room temperature )
3tbsp      Finely Grated Lemon Zest
2tbsp      Fresh Lemon Juice
1tsp        Pure Vanilla Extract
1cup       Milk / Buttermilk
Lemon Curd 

Method

• Preheat oven to 165C . Line cupcake tray with cupcake liner 
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl
• In a mixer, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy 
• Add in egg, one at a time, making sure that each well combine before adding another
• Add in lemon zest and vanilla. Add in flour mixture in 3 batches alternating with milk and lemon juice , beating until just combine after each addition. Add in dried rosemary and stir until well combine 
• Fill 3/4 of each cupcake and bake at preheated oven at 165C for 25-30 minutes , until skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean 
• Remove cupcake and let it cool on a wire rack 
• To finish , spread lemon curd in the middle of the cupcake and top with lemon slice. Yippee Enjoy your delicious cupcake !!!

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes ! ( November 2011 ) hosted by Min of Min's Blog

Key Lime Cupcake

As usual , I was sitting down at the dining table , surfing the internet to either updating my blog or reading other interesting blog when I saw Bake Along No. 13 which was organise by Frozen Wings , Kitchen Flavours and Bake for Happy Kids . It was just the right recipe which I have wanted to bake since last week. I was just plain lazy to bring my ass to the market to get some key lime ( limau nipis ) .. Heehee .Shhhhhhhh... this is a small little secret between us yeah . I am a lazy bum.. LOl..

This little thing actually makes me drool..... Seriously .. Well I am glad that I decided to join the "clan" for this Key Lime Cupcake . Will definitely make this again and again........... Sad thing is, Ryan is back in my hometown with my mom to spend their holiday there. So I was unable to let him try this delicious little green devil .. LOL

Ingredients
1cup          All Purpose Flour
3/4            Self-rising Flour
1/2cup      Unsalted Butter
3/4cup      Sugar ( Original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cup )
2large       Eggs
2 1/2tbsp  Lime juice
1tbsp        Finely Grated Lime Peel
1/4 tsp      Neon-Green Food Colouring ( any green of your choice will do )
3/4            Buttermilk

Frosting 
1 1/2cup   Icing Sugar
8 oz          Cream Cheese ( room temperature )
1/2cup      Unsalted Butter
1tbsp        Lime juice
1/2 tsp      Vanilla Extract

Method 
Cupcake 

1. Preheat oven to 177C . Line cupcake tray with cupcake liners
2. Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk all purpose flour and self-rising flour till well mix
4. Bet in eggs , 1 at time , mixing well after each addition 
5. Add in lime juice , finely grated lime peel and food colouring 
6. At low speed , add in flour in 3 addition alternating with buttermilk ( start with flour and end with flour ) 
7. Spoon batter to fill 2/3 of cupcake liners
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 177C , until skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean
9. Remove from pan and leave it to cool on a cooling rack 

For Frosting :

1. Beat all ingredients till smooth. Spread it on the cupcake and garnish with grated lime peel 

Yippeee !!! Enjoy your yummy Key Lime Cupake !! 

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit Desserts

I am joining Bake Along No. 13 which was organise by Frozen Wings , Kitchen Flavours and Bake for Happy Kids. Hop over to their blogs to view the list of participants . Enjoy !

I am also submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes ! ( November 2011 ) hosted by Min of Min's Blog

Baileys Oh Baileys !!!

I have a bottle of Baileys sitting on my kitchen top . Whenever I sit down on my dining table , finishing my work on my lappy , I will see the bottle of Baileys sitting there on the kitchen top waiting for me . LOL.. I have the feeling that the Baileys is asking me to " try me on cupcake " kind of thingy. Heehee .... I have wanted to try making cupcakes with the Baileys since 2 weeks ago. Considering , my little ones might not appreciate Baileys cupcake , I have put my thoughts aside until last night when I suddenly have the urge to really smell Bailey all over my kitchen .

I was in doubt to follow the Cream cheese Frosting. I have then decided to make Bailey Buttercream Frosting instead of bailey Cream Cheese Frosting . Results : Satisfying !! It turn out to be a prefect match . Gosh , I didn't know that piping small tiny roses over the top of a medium size cupcake is really time consuming and believe me it is not an easy task at all. Heehee.... But, the results is really satisfying . I just love the sight of the frosted cupcakes .

Ingredients 
1 1/2cup     All Purpose Flour  ( sifted )
2 Eggs
1/2 cup      Unsalted Butter
1cup          Sugar ( I have lessen it to 1/2 cup )
1tsp           Vanilla Extract
4tsp           Baileys Cream
1tsp           Baking Powder
1/2tsp        Baking Soda
1/4cup       Milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Line cupcake pan with liners 
2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy 
3. Add eggs one at a time , beating well after each addition 
4. Beat in vanilla extract and Baileys 
5. Add in flour, baking powder and baking soda to egg mixture 
6. Add in milk and beat at low speed until all ingredients are well combine 
7. Bake for 18-20 min at 175C until top are slightly brown or until skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean 
8. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool . Once the cupcake has cool completely , decorate with frosting of any toppings of your preference 

Recipe adapted from Cookingetcetera

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes ! ( November 2011 ) hosted by Min of Min's Blog

Lemon Yoghurt Cake with Passion Fruit Curd

I was carrying baby Ryan while flipping thru some magazines and recipe books when I stumble upon this very colourful and attractive FLAVOURS magazine. You know it is really not a very easy task to carry Ryan especially when I attempt to carry him with one hand while doing another task with the other hand... Gosh , it was like carrying a 12kg dumbell on one hand. Since the cover looks pretty attractive to me, I did not think much , pay for the magazine continue with our shopping spree . Until recently that I have time to actually enjoy my FLAVOURS magazine to the fullest . Guess what , thats when I discover this yummy recipe . The looks of it really makes me drool... LOL... Oooopppssss.............

Whats more to complain ?.... this is so far the best ever chilled cake I ever tasted . Thanks to Fatboybakes for sharing his fabulous cake recipes.

Cake 
200g     Butter( softened)
150g     Caster Sugar
125ml   Lemon Juice
120g     Yoghurt
2 Eggs
250g     Plain Flour
2tsp      Baking Powder
1tsp      Bicarbonate of Soda
Zest from 2 Lemons

Passion Fruit Curd Later 
5          Egg Yolk
2tbsp   Cornflour
100g    Caster Sugar
375ml  Milk
80g      Butter ( diced into cubes )
Pulp from 3 Passion Fruits
3/4      Gelatine Powder ( mixed with 50ml water and cook until dissolved )

Topping
Pulp from 2 Passion Fruits ;  Physallis Fruit

Method 
For Cake : 

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Line a 25cm X 35cm Swiss roll tin
2. Place butter, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and heat on high for 2 minutes in the microwave
3. In a large mixing bowl , whisk together yoghurt and eggs , then add in melted butter mixture. 
4. Sift flour , baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and fold the flour mixture and lemon zest into the egg mixture to form a light, frothy batter 
5. Spread batter out to 2cm thick on Swiss roll tin ( don worry about excess batter ). Bake for 12 minutes or until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean . Remove from oven and cool the cake in the tin.

For Passion Fruit Curd Layer :

1. In a bowl, whisk egg yolks, cornflour and sugar until frothy
2. Bring milk to boil and add the milk into the egg mixture a little at a time , whisking throughout. Return mixture to the pot and whisk over low heat until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon 
3. Remove from heat and whisk in butter a few cubes at a time . Cover with cling film with the cling film touching the surface of the custard and set aside to cool 
4. Whisk passion fruit pulp and gelatine mixture into the cooled custard until combine

To assemble the cake :

1. Use a 7cm ring mould to stamp out 12 little cake disc . 6 ring moulds needed or a removable muffin tray to assemble the small cakes
2. Place a cake at the base of each ring mould . Divide 2/3 of the curd between cakes, then sandwich with another cake layer and top with the remaining curd 
3. Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight until set

To serve : 

1. Remove cake from the ring mould . Top with passion fruit pulp and physallis fruits and serve chilled. Enjoy your Chilled flavourful cake ;) !!

Recipe adapted from FLAVOURS magazine Featuring Cheng Yi aka Fatboybakes

Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcake- I actually stumble upon this recipe , quite some time ago. I bookmarked this recipe , wanted to try it out but time does not permit me to do so . I was flipping through some of my bookmark which reminds me about this cupcake . So I was thinking .. why not. The recipe looks good anyway .

Ingredients
225g    Self Raising Flour
150g    Golden Castor Sugar ( I substitute with white castor sugar )
Zest of 2 lemons
1tbsp    Toasted Poppy Seed
3          Eggs
100g    Natural Yogurt
175g    Butter , melted and cooled a little

Method

• Preheat oven to 180C . Line cupcake tray with cupcake liner 
• Mix flour, sugar, poppy seed and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl
•  Beat the eggs into yogurt and add it to the dry ingredients with the melted butter 
• Mix together with a wooden spoon or whisk until lump free 
• Scoop to fill cupcake liners till 3/4 full 
• Bake at preheated oven at 180C for 20-25 minutes , till skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake 
• Let it cool before frosting or serve it as it is . Enjoy your delicious cupcake !!

Recipe adapted from BBCgoodfood

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes ! ( November 2011 ) hosted by Min of Min's Blog

Encore !! Oatmeal Cupcake

Without me realizing, its gonna be end of 2011 soon. Gosh .. time really flies . Especially now that my job is really demanding , I really miss spending some quality time with my little ones . Today will be the last day of school for Justin and Nat ... and they went like " Yippee ... " . Man , they are really happy when it comes to " no need go school liao" LOL. Kids , they are all the same. So then I decided to bake them some cupcake for today's birthday party for November and December kids at school .

I always love looking at this cupcake. The oatmeal look so crunchy and delicious . Justin couldn't resist it . he was wandering around the cupcake wanted to eat it . he just couldn't wait for tomorrow. LOL . At last , I reach for a plate and gave him one of the oatmeal cupcake . He quickly sat down and started eating his cupcake . Within minutes , I only manage to see the empty cupcake case .

Look at his chubby cheek.. no wonder he can't wait to eat the oatmeal cupcakes . Please refer to my previous post here for the recipe. Enough of blabbering . Hope you enjoy this simple yet tasty recipe .

Recipe Adapted from Charming Cupcake Recipe Book

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes ! ( November 2011 ) hosted by Min of Min's Blog

Lemon Cupcake

I have some lemon lying in my fridge since 2 weeks ago. The scent of lemon has always been one of my favourite . Especially , Ryan, he is really one baby that loves lemon and anything made from lemon . It is truly a lovely sight to see him gnawing at my home-made lemon curd spread on a slice of gardenia bread . LOL . Whats more satisfying ? So then , the idea of baking lemon cupcake came to my mind just then.... The scent of lemon coming out from the oven while baking the cupcake.. Yummy

I saw this recipe on Martha Stewart's page and instantly fell in love with this recipe. I did twist the recipe a little bit tho. Since I have my lemon curd sitting in the fridge as I just made it yesterday , it seems like a perfect timing to make this cupcake.

Ingredients
3cups     All Purpose Flour
1tsp       Baking Powder
1/2tsp    Salt
240g      Butter
300g      Sugar ( original recipe calls for 400g )
4large     Eggs ( at room temperature )
3tbsp      Finely Grated Lemon Zest
2tbsp      Fresh Lemon Juice
1tsp        Pure Vanilla Extract
1cup       Milk / Buttermilk
Lemon Curd 

Method

• Preheat oven to 165C . Line cupcake tray with cupcake liner 
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl
• In a mixer, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy 
• Add in egg, one at a time, making sure that each well combine before adding another
• Add in lemon zest and vanilla. Add in flour mixture in 3 batches alternating with milk and lemon juice , beating until just combine after each addition 
• Fill 3/4 of each cupcake and bake at preheated oven at 165C for 25-30 minutes , until skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean 
• Remove cupcake and let it cool on a wire rack 
• To finish , spread lemon curd in the middle of the cupcake and top with frosting to decorate . Yippee Enjoy your delicious cupcake !!!

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart 

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes ! ( November 2011 ) hosted by Min of Min's Blog

Lemon Curd

I tried this recipe once , way before I started writing my own blog, and I fell in love with this recipe of Lemon Curd . This makes a prefect jar of Lemon Curd which can be kept for 3 weeks . For those who loves lemon , this is definitely a keeper. This is my second attempt making it . Its so satisfying even baby Ryan can't resist it.

Look how beautifully the Lemon Curd store in the jar . Its smooth and soft texture makes this Lemon Curd really tasty and appetizing .

Ingredients 
6           Egg Yolks
1cup     Sugar
2tbsp    Grated Lemon Zest
1/3cup  Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2cup  Butter ( cut into big chunks )

Method 

• Place all ingredients into a sauce pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring continuously. 
• Scrap the side and the bottom , while stirring continuously till it thicken and are able to coat the back of a spoon, approximately 8-10 minutes 
• Remove from heat , add in butter bit by bit, stirring continuously till all butter melted and well combine 
• Spoon into and air-tight jar and cover with a cling film pressing to the surface of the curd to prevent from forming skin. Leave to cool before storing in the fridge for further use. 
• Can be kept for 2-3 weeks

Recipe adapted from About.com, American Food with a twist 

Kit Kat Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Raining season , gosh , imagine how many accidents happen during this period of time. Keeps me real busy with work now. I really do not wanna miss baking cupcakes , especially for Aspiring Bakers #13 this month . Since its a real busy month for me , I was thinking it might be a good idea if I could just bake something simple yet delicious . And ............. Kit Kat came to my mind ... Brilliant idea eh ... I am sure you will agree with this , especially my nephew Andrew.

Check out my first DIY cupcake wrapper... gorgeous isn't it ?  Well , I have no idea what makes me wanna make my own cupcake wrapper , but it does give me a kind of satisfaction . LOL....

I twisted a bit of the original recipe which calls for chopped dark chocolate. Instead, I add in chopped Kit Kat .. heehee.. Enjoy !!

Ingredients 
280g     Self Raising Flour
180g     Butter
100g     Sugar ( original recipe calls for 120g )
1/2tsp   Salt
1large   Egg
100g    Milk or Buttermilk
1tsp     Vanilla Extract
5pckts  Kit Kat Fingers Crispy Wafer ( 35g pack)

Method

• Preheat oven to 200C . Place 1/2 strip of Kit Kat at the bottom of each cupcake liners. Chop the remainder Kit Kat wafers 
• Sift flour in a mixing bowl. Rub in butter till it resembles breadcrumbs 
• Add in sugar and salt to mix well 
• Mix wet ingredients together , and add in to the dry ingredients. Stir lightly. Do not overmix
• Add in chopped Kit Kat and light stir to combine 
• Scoop batter to fill the cupcake liner till 3/4 full
• Bake in preheated oven at 200C for 20 minutes . Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting . Enjoy your Kit Kat Cupcake ... ;) 

Recipe adapted from Aunty Yochana

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes ! ( November 2011 ) hosted by Min of Min's Blog