Durian Butter Cake

Every year during the period between June and September, this "spiky" green thorns fruit known as "Durian (榴莲)" can be found everywhere in the HDB market area or some local supermarkets fruit section (fruits remove from shells and tightly sealed). So is either you love or hate this fruit due to it's strong odour where some said it is fragrant while others might find it distinguishing.

Orange Vanilla Loaf Cake

Made this Orange Vanilla Loaf Cake for tea in order to try out the "Madagascar Vanilla Beans" that I received from one of my friends, Gertrude from My Kitchen Snippets. She is so kind and generous to offer her help to get some vanilla beans for me over at her end after knowing that I am keen in use it to bakes as well as making my own Vanilla Extract.

ORANGE VANILLA LOAF CAKE

This is my first time using vanilla beans in a baking recipe and I must admit it taste really wonderful with it's unique aroma that perfumed the pantry area during preparing and baking process. And when is out of the oven and ready to be served, you just can't help it but keep on picking one slice after another slice. 

Recipe adapted and modify from Food and Travel, Feb 2007 issue, Orange Loaf Cake.

(Make 2: 5.5 x 9.5 x 4.5cm | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 25 minutes)

Ingredients:
160g Cake Flour
180g Castor Sugar
Grated Rind from 2 Orange
60g Unsalted Butter, softened
3 Eggs(55g)
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
1 Vanilla Pod, halved
1/2 Cup Thickened Cream, optional

Method:-

1. In a mixing bowl, rub orange zest and sugar together using a spatula till moist and fragrant before adding butter and whisk using an electric mixer till well combined.

2. Add one egg at a time, beating well in between each addition. Next scrap the vanilla beans from the pod and stir it into the egg mixture.

3. Sift flour mixture(flour, baking powder and salt) together and fold into egg batter in batches alternately with thickened cream (or fresh orange juice) till there is no trace of flour. (do not over mix the batter)

4. Pour cake batter into prepared loaf pans and bake in preheated 175° Celsius oven for about 25 - 30 minutes until the top of cake is cracked and golden or a skewer inserted in the center and comes out clean.

5. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool on wire rack.

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HANDY TIPS:-

~ Thickened Cream can be replaced by 2 Tablespoons of freshly squeeze orange juice

~ You bake this recipe in muffin cups(medium size) or 1 loaf tin (20cm x 11cm x 7cm) instead of 2 mini loaf pan.

~ You can replace 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract instead of using the whole vanilla pod for this recipe.

Sometime a simple old school cake taste even better on it's own without having any fancy ingredients, frosting or toppings. I just simply adore butter cake on it's own, perhaps I should change this recipe further more into an Orange Vanilla Butter/Pound Cake to accompany my favourite Earl Grey Tea.

Blueberry Lemon Butter Cake

Nothing beats a slice of fragrant Butter Cake which is infused with lemon aroma together with bits of bursting blueberries in your mouth. To be honest, among all the different types of tea-cake, I simply adore butter cake especially those that are lightly infused with lemon fragrant.

If you still remember, a few months back I have shared two recipes on these "Lemon Yoghurt Butter Cake" and  "Chocolate Yoghurt Butter Cake" which is a hit for our family and friends. We love both version of the cake despite of either plain or chocolate.

Chocolate Lemon Yogurt Cake

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About two weeks back I have an entry on Lemon Yougurt Butter Cake which was quite well-received by most of my friends. So during my Kids' Pizza and Bento Workshop last week I decided to twist the recipe a bit in order to suit the kids with this Chocolate Lemon Yogurt Cake.

Each bites on this chocolate cake leaves you with a light and refreshing lemon fragrant mixing together with that rich chocolate taste that stays in your mouth for quite sometime which I am sure it would makes a perfect tea cake for the kids.

In order to make it more chocolatey, I added extra 100g of mini chocolate chips so that i will make the cake more moist and full of chocolate flavour.

Recipe adapted from Lemon Yogurt Butter Cake HERE.

Ingredients: (makes 2 small loaf tins, 17cm x 8cm x 6cm) 
175g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
200g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs, 60g each
200g Self Raising Flour
45g Valrhona Cocoa Powder
100g Mini Chocolate Chips
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Zest of 1 Lemon
4 Tablespoons Plain Yogurt

Method:-

1. Cream butter and sugar with mixer till creamy and pale (about 3 - 4 minutes on medium speed).

2. Add in eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition. If necessary scrap mixture off the side of the mixing bowl and make sure everything is well beaten.

3. Fold in the mixture of sifted self-raising flour plus cocoa powder in 3 batches.

4. Next add in lemon zest, juice, yogurt, mini chocolate chips and fold thoroughly till combined.

5. Divide batter equal into 2 mini loaf tins that are lined with greaseproof paper.

6. Bake in preheat 180 degree oven for about 35 - 40 minutes or when skewer insert and come out clean.

7. When cake is done, remove it from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

8. Transfer cake to cooling rack and cool completely before cutting it into serving slices.

Lemon Yogurt Butter Cake

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Time flies when you're busy so with another weekend approaching I would like to share a quick tea-cake recipe which you can bake for your family using common ingredients like lemon and plain yogurt. It has being quite sometime since I last baked butter cake(Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake) for tea-snack and I sure miss that buttery taste together with a cup of English Tea.

Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake

All along I prefer butter cake compared to those frosted cream cake, chiffon, fresh fruits or etc that is available in the bakery. And personally I crave for those traditional rich and moist butter cakes that served together with a cup of freshly brewed English tea that will refresh your soul for a great afternoon tea session.

After trying the 1st batch of Pumpkin Butter Cake that I made into small muffin cups, we love the soft texture, buttery taste as well as the natural flavour from the mashed pumpkin. And since I have another ½ portion of leftover pumpkin in the fridge, I decided to combine this recipe with the recent Marble Cake (HERE) that I have made and come out with the "Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake".

For these two recipes here, I used Lurpak Unsalted Butter which I prefer its smooth and creamy taste that is does not make you feel queasy even after having a slices of two of the cake. As for the pumpkin I used the Butternut because I love its sweet and nutty taste that is great for soups, casseroles, breads, and even cakes.

(adapted from 茄子, 袅袅烘焙香 HERE)
Ingredients For Pumpkin Butter Cake: (makes 6 muffins)
100g Pumpkin(without skin), steamed and mashed
150g Cake Flour/Top Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
100g Caster Sugar
100g Unsalted Butter, cubes and soften
3 Large Eggs

Toppings:
Some Pumpkin Seeds
Some Shredded/Sliced Pumpkin

Methods:-

1. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy, add in eggs one at a time and beat till well combined.

2. Stir-in vanilla extract then fold in the sifted flours (cake flour + baking powder) in two round till there is no trace of flour in the batter.

3. Add in mashed pumpkin (refer to the preparation method below) and preferably using a balloon whisk to give the mixture some quick stir to combine the pumpkin with the flour batter.

4. Spoon the pumpkin batter into prepared muffin case, top with shredded pumpkin or pumpkin seeds.

5. Bake in pre-heated 170 degree oven for about 15 - 18 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.


To Prepare The Mashed Pumpkin:

1. Place pumpkin cubes(without skin) into a microwave heatproof bowl together with 1 tablespoon of water.

2. Cook in high heat for 3 - 4 minutes with an interval stirring between each minute.

3. Mash the cooked and soft pumpkin with a fork and set aside to cool while preparing the batter. OR

4. You can steam the pumpkin cubes in a pot of boiling water using steaming rack for about 10 minutes or till pumpkin is soften.

As you can see from the photo despite of the beautiful swirl colours from the pumpkin and chocolate batter there are some setback of air holes which appears due to my oversight of mixing the two batters. But thanks God these flaws did not affect the texture and taste of this moist and buttery cake.

Ingredients For Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake: (makes 17cm cake )
120g Pumpkin(without skin), steamed and mashed
150g Cake Flour/Top Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
100g Castor Sugar
100g Unsalted Butter
3 Large Eggs
1 Tablespoon Dutch Cocoa Powder, sieved

Toppings:
Some Pumpkin Seeds, optional

Methods:-

1. To prepare the chocolate pumpkin butter cake, follow step 1 and 2 shown above for preparing the flour batter.

2. Scoop about 3 - 4 Tablespoons of flour batter into a small bowl together with 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, whisk till well combined. Set aside.

3. Whisk in mashed pumpkin into the remanding flour batter.

4. Drop 1 - 2 spoons of the pumpkin and chocolate batter alternately into the prepared tin.

5. When all the mixture has been used up, tap the bottom on the tin on your work surface to ensure that there aren't any air bubbles.

6. Take a skewer and swirl it around the mixture in the tin a few times to create a marbled effect.

7. Bake the cake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

8. Cool the cake completely before removing it from the baking tin/case, cut into slices and serve with coffee/tea.




Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake

Oreo Butter Cake

First saw this cake from My Kitchen:My Laboratory a few months back and I had KIV this recipe for further experiment. Until recently, when I saw a few blogger trying out this recipe. I also have the urge to do it. At first I wanted to try out like what MyCoffee had did, which is baked the cake in smaller size like muffins. But then I was too greedy on the portion and it ends up all the batter overflows from the muffins cup :(


But on the next day when I get hold of more ingredients, I decided to follow what Angie did to make a 7" cake and finally I managed to get everything right. This cake is moist and with good texture of the cookies. For my preference I add in 2 Teaspoons extra of the Coffee Liquor(Kahula) for that mocha fragrant. But in this cake, the butter content is less so it won't be having those strong buttery cake fragrant.

Pandan Butter Cake

Saw this interesting cake from one of my blogger's friend Angie's "My Kitchen:My Laboratory" blog. I was captured by that lovely jade green of her Pandan Butter Cake.


This cake is so different from our usual Asian Pandan Cake which require Coconut Milk/Cream as one of the Main Ingredients. In her recipe, she replace the coconut milk with plain unsweetened yogurts which make it much healthier. So I suggest for those who likes pandan cake but afraid of the coconut milk content, you should give this recipe a try.

It's really something different from an afternoon tea-break. The colour of my cake is slightly darker than her because it add in a bit more pandan essence colouring to make it more greener. :)