Thursday 5 December 2013

Blueberry Jam Wholesome Loaf (Breadmaker recipe)




My Kenwood breadmaker has been serving me well for the past half year and it is one of my best investment so far. Ever since I started using  it, I have stopped buying 'Gar....." or "Sun....." brands loaf bread off the shelf. I prefer homemade bread these days as it is healthier and without any preservatives. I am also happy that after I have introduced the breadmaker in my baking, more than a dozen of friends have bought the bread machine and started baking healthy bread at home. 

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Souffle style Chocolate Cupcake 软嫩可可小蛋糕 (中英食谱)



Last Thursday was my son's kindergarten class farewell party. Two days before the celebration, his form teacher said he had told her that mummy's oven has broken down and he didn't know what he would be bringing to school as mummy usually would bake something for any events or occasions. I assured his teacher that with no oven, I can still bake with my Airfryer. :)

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Non-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake 免烤蓝莓芝士蛋糕 (中英食谱)




It is almost two weeks since my built-in oven has broken down. The oven has been with me since I moved into my marital home fourteen years ago. It has been a white elephant in the kitchen for many many years until I picked up baking two years ago.

Friday 25 October 2013

Taiwanese Pineapple Tarts 台湾凤梨酥 (中英食谱)

 

I recently returned from a great vacation in Taiwan, a country with warm and friendly people and great food too! Barely a week from returning, my kids are already missing it and so do I. This morning, I decided to bake something that would bring back the nice memories we had during our holidays.

Friday 4 October 2013

Non-Bake White Chocolate Square Cookies 免烤白巧克力方块饼干(中英食谱)


 

Today is Children's Day and I made these easy non-bake cookies for my two darlings. It is a sweet treat from mummy here who saw this recipe from a book -孟老师的100多道手工饼干  which she got recently. It is an easy and no-fuss recipe using only three ingredients.

Farm Truck Chocolate Fudge Cake



Last Saturday was my son's six years old birthday. I decided to attempt this 3-Dimentional cake at the last minute. I didn't have time to plan it earlier as the month of September is a busy and stressful one for me.

Monday 16 September 2013

Rainbow snowskin mooncakes 彩虹冰皮月饼 (中英食谱)








Last week we had rainbow cake and cupcakes to celebrate my daughter's birthday. This week we are welcoming the mid-autumn festival with rainbow snowskin mooncakes.

Sunday 15 September 2013

Rainbow Cupcake & Cake 彩虹蛋糕 (中英食谱)










This week my elder child turns twelve years old. She has requested for a rainbow cake for her birthday. I was not very keen to bake this cake initially as it is quite tedious and time consuming.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Shanghai Mooncake 上海月饼 (中英食谱)

  




The mid-autumn festival is just around the corner. Last week, I made my first trip to Kwong Cheong Thye and was awe to see so many types of lotus paste for making mooncakes. This place is highly recommended as the lotus paste is not so sweet compared to those which I have bought in the past from other baking supplier shops.

Friday 30 August 2013

Matcha Nutella Zebra Cake by Airfryer



I bought my Philips Airfyer two years ago when it was newly launched. I was intrigued by this new revolution in home cooking which enables one to fry food up to 80% less fat than a conventional fryer due to it's patented Rapid Air technology.

Tuesday 27 August 2013

抹茶魔术卡士达蛋糕 Matcha Magic Custard Cake (中英食谱)



Few weeks ago, when my good friend Joyce posted her bake of this magic custard cake in her facebook, I was curious and wonder why it is called a magic cake. She explained to me that three different layers were formed when the cake is baked. I thought, "Wow, what an interesting recipe, I gotta try it!"

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Baking Taitai's Hokkaido Milk Matcha loaf with Azuki Paste fillings (Breadmaker recipe) 烘培太太的北海道牛奶抹茶小麵包加红豆馅 (面包机食谱)





Those who follow me on Facebook would have seen me posting matcha bakes for the past week in my facebook page. Tis the season of Matcha for me as I have got a big pack of Matcha powder (bought in Japan recently) in my fridge.

Sunday 18 August 2013

Matcha Chiffon Cake 抹茶戚风蛋糕 (中英食谱)




I have never baked a chiffon cake in a tube pan before. (other than the Hokkaido chiffon cupcakes) I was told that the failure rate of baking a chiffon cake is rather high so I was a little nervous but delighted that it turned out alright on my first attempt. :)

A chiffon cake is a very light cake made using vegetable oil instead of butter and it is so versatile that you can come up with many variations of it.


Saturday 3 August 2013

Baking Taitai's Hokkaido Milk Buns with Cream Cheese & Dried Cranberries fillings (Breadmaker recipe) 烘培太太的北海道牛奶小麵包加奶油乳酪与蔓越莓干 (面包机食谱)

  
My breadmaker is my current favourite 'toy'. There is definitely no regret buying it as it has served my family well and we are enjoying homemade bread with my various creations using my basic loaf recipe here.  I wanted the breadmaker to do more than just baking loaf bread so I did an experiment recently and baked buns in it. I was not disappointed, the buns turned out to be soft and fluffy!


Tuesday 30 July 2013

My birthday cake - Tutorial on how to do a dartboard or checkered cake



Today is my birthday and I feel really special as this year my 5-year-old son helps in baking my birthday cake. Few days ago, he came to me and said, "Mummy, I have no money to buy you a present. Can I bake a cake for you? Ok?" I was very touched by his sweet thoughts and agreed that we shall bake the cake together. So I asked him if he has any cake in mind that he would like to bake and he said, "Let's do something that you have not baked before." So, we looked through my long list of to-do bakes and settled for a 'dartboard' layered cake. Not sure what is the correct name for this type of cake, each layer does resembles a dartboard though.☺

Thursday 25 July 2013

Tapioca Sesame Buns 树薯面包

 
Tapioca Sesame Buns is the first recipe which I tried in 周淑玲老师 's latest recipe book. What attracted me to this recipe is, it does not use any yeast at all in this bread making. With the right technique in making the dough, the buns will rise and expand during baking. The dough is really sticky and seems impossible to handle by hands thus using a stand mixer with the flat beater attachment is the best. I am happy to bake it successfully on my first attempt by following the instructions to a T. The result is a tasty bun with a crispy outer layer and QQ texture inside. Black sesame seeds also contributed to the fragrance of the buns.


Homemade Nama Chocolate

Royce Nama Chocolate Versus my homemade ones!
   
Royce Nama Chocolate is well known in Japan and it's overseas outlets in Singapore, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea. This Japanese delicacy is so rich, moist, delicious and addictive that you can't stop at one! I love it's melt in the mouth texture and the secret ingredient is Hokkaido fresh cream. 

Pineapple buns, Bo Luo Bao, 菠萝包



The pineapple buns, more well known as the Bo Luo Bao (菠萝包) does not contain any pineapple at all. This popular Cantonese bun has a golden, sweet, crunchy topping which resembles the pineapple due to the crackling patterns on the topping caused during baking when ammonia powder is used. As I prefer not to use the ammonia powder, I scored the top pastry with a knife to make crisscross pattern instead. This bun is one of the Hongkongers favourite breakfast bun and I believe most of us would not give this tim sum a miss when we go for Yum Cha (饮茶) too .


Light Cotton Yogurt Cake



We have often heard of the Japanese light cotton cheesecake but this is the first time that I have come across a light cotton yogurt cake. So I baked it out of curiosity, the result indeed is like the more well known cake, soft and light. If you want to try something different, I would recommend this recipe to you.
ssssss

Cantonese Egg Tarts 港式蛋塔

Don't they look like Sunflowers?

Egg Tarts is one dish which you will find on the menu or on the push-carts at any Chinese restaurant serving Tim Sum. I grew up eating these tarts that look like Sunflower which can cheer one up instantly.  My mum used to buy it often from the Tong Heng confectionery in Chinatown in my younger days and I always look forward to it. Biting into each mouthful of smooth, wobbly custard with flaky pastry crust is a pure enjoyment for me. :)

Healthy Mango Yogurt Ice-Cream


Ice-cream are great desserts with the young and old especially on a scorching hot day! I just love to make ice-cream even though I do not have an ice-cream maker at home. In fact, you do not need one to churn out the ice-cream if you have a good recipe to follow. I will often think of making ice-cream whenever I have left over heavy whipping cream from making cakes. This is a fast way of using it up without having to discard it as the shelf-life of an opened pack of whipping cream is 3 days. This mango ice-cream recipe which I am sharing with you uses the thick and creamy Greek style yogurt to replace half a portion of the heavy whipping cream used originally, so it is definitely healthier. :)

Chocolate Fudge Cake


I love anything chocolate especially dark ones with at least 70% cacao. As you can see, dark chocolate is used very frequently in my bakes and it sure lift me up whenever I sunk my teeth into these delectable chocolate cakes!

Baking Taitai's Breadmaker Wholemeal French Loaf 全麦法式面包



法国面包是我老公最爱吃的面包, 自我烘培开始,他就说有一天你一定要做给我吃。但是我有太多太多的蛋糕食谱都想尝试,所以就渐渐的把这事给忘了。直到有了面包机,看到有法式面包的程式,才想起一直都没满足他的要求。所以就做了这个健康的全麦法式面包。 我还记得当天面包做好时,拍了照片,马上用Whatspp传给他. 他非常高兴,还让同事看呢!

French Loaf is my husband's favourite bread. He would often buy it from bakeries that sell artisan bread. He has long expressed his wish for me to bake this bread for him but I have too many cakes which I want to try on my very long list of to-bake items so this was not my top priority. Until, I got the breadmaker and saw that it has a French loaf function that I came up with this healthy recipe and bake for him. Immediately after the loaf was out of the breadmaker, I took a photo of it and whatsapp him on his mobile. He was on cloud nine and showed off to one of his colleague!


Baking Taitai's Healthy Pizza Dough Recipe


My family loves pizza and it is fun making pizza at home especially when you have kids around who are very excited to sprinkle their favourite toppings on the pizza dough. The pizza dough compared to the bread dough is easier to make and and handle as it only requires one stage of proofing. Being a health conscious me, I came up with my own healthy pizza dough recipe as follow and hope you will like it.

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Baking Taitai's Black Sesame Buns with Cranberry Cream Cheese Filling



This is another recipe which I use the Tahini Black Sesame Spread. This spread was first used in making Black Sesame Cupcakes in my earlier post here. When black sesame is used as one of the ingredients to make the bread dough, the nutritional value will increase, so why not give it a try?

Soft & Fluffy Banana Cake 柔软蓬松香蕉蛋糕 (中英食谱)

Photo updated on 24 August 2018.
This recipe is featured in the “Gourmet Living - 食尚品味” bilingual magazine Aug/Sep 2018 issue.  

This recipe adapted from Richard Goh is my favourite banana cake recipe as it yields a soft, moist and light fluffy cake. I would highly recommend it to anyone who are looking for a banana cake recipe to bake!

Hershey's Cinnamon Chips & Raisin Loaf


Few weeks ago, I brought my kids to Resort World S.E.A. Aquarium and we had a great time discovering the many sea creatures which are found in the mysterious underwater world. My boy was especially excited as he went there with a purpose, to look for the bottlenose dolphin as he was given a project to work on this sea creature in the June school holidays by his kindergarten teacher. Before we head home after the end of our educational and exciting outing, as usual we will pop by Candelicious which is just a stone's throw away. Candelicious is the world's largest candy store. Any kids ( let's include the adults) who step into the store will go 'Wow' or I should say 'Wild' by the large collections of candies and chocolates!


Black Sesame Cupcakes with Matcha Cream Cheese Frosting 黑芝麻小蛋糕抹茶奶油乳酪霜(中英食谱)


Black Sesame & Matcha are great combinations

I love the fragrance and taste of black sesame and the many health benefits it provides for our body. As you can see from the chart below, it not only lowers blood cholesterol level and helps to maintain strong bones too.

Baking's Taitai's Signature Dark Chocolate Banana Cake



Chocolate and Bananas compliment each other very well. This is my very first dark chocolate banana cake which I made and it's for 2013 Valentine's Day. The other half who seldom gives praises actually said. "This cake has got Standard!" You should have seen the big grin on my face! :p

The following are orders of this cake which I have done for my friends. Want to thank them for being so supportive of my baking interest and entrusted me to bake the cakes for their special occasions. :)

* Sorry that I am unable to share this recipe as it is a secret recipe from a very dear friend.

2013

 







This one was made specially for my friend Ginny whose boy turned 9 years old. I wanted something different other than the usual strawberries as decoration., so I handmade these white chocolates to decorate the cake and was pleased with it.





2014






© Copyright 2013-2014 bakingtaitai.blogspot.sg

Easy 30 minutes Chocolate Yogurt Muffin 简易酸奶巧克力玛芬(中英食谱)


My friend Emily shared this simple muffin recipe with me and I have modified it to make it healthier. This recipe is so simple that preparation and baking time are all done within 30 minutes.


Chocolate Candy Theme Cake (2)


My secondary school friend ordered the chocolate candy cake for her son's birthday after seeing the first cake I have done. This time I used the Savoiardi Ladyfingers biscuit as the borders and load it with M&Ms candies. It's a great cake for any kids who will go all excited seeing the colourful candies and can't wait to lay their hands on it. :p








© Copyright 2013 bakingtaitai.blogspot.sg

Baking Taitai's Breadmaker Multigrain Loaf

Can you see every piece is filled with loads of goodness?

This is another one of my experiments with the breadmaker. This time I wanted to create something more wholesome so I bought the usual organic ingredients like the high protein 12% flour, wholemeal flour and raw sugar (you can find the photos of how the packaging looks like in my earlier post here) and a new ingredient - Organic raw wheat germ to add to turn it into a super healthy recipe !

Chocolate Candy Theme Cake (1)


This is my first cake order which I received from a college friend. He wanted a chocolate cake, so I proposed a chocolate candy cake theme for his 4-year-old son's birthday celebration in his childcare. He likes the idea as both KitKat and M&Ms chocolate candies are his boy's favourite.  

Cupcakes with thousand & hundred sprinkles to go along with the birthday cake






I am happy to find a nice carrier to hold the cake and even made my own special label to stick on the cover. Must give credit to my hubby who took time to design the logo for me. Thank you dear! :)


© Copyright 2013 bakingtaitai.blogspot.sg

Lemon Yogurt Cupcakes

My first attempt of these cupcakes was more than a year ago.


I like to use Greek yogurt in my baking and I prefer this type of thick, creamy yogurt than the normal plain ones. I first fell in love with the Greek yogurt when I visited Greece many years ago. It can be used to replace the heavy whipping cream which is often used in making non-bake cheesecake for a healthier choice and reduce calories.


Charlotte Cake


When my good friend Annie ordered a birthday cake from me for her son's one-year-old birthday in May, she specifically requested that no chocolate be used at all. As almost all the cakes I have done before for special occasions uses chocolate (my favourite ingredient in baking), I had to think hard of what type of non-chocolate cake to make as she has informed me one week just before the birthday celebration.

After my friend whatsapp me her order, within half an hour, I came up with this Charlotte cake idea (thank God for the inspiration) of using Marshmallows as toppings instead of M&Ms chocolate which I have done previously and proposed a 4-layered vanilla sponge cake with peach fillings. I have not done this cake before prior to my friend's order, so the actual birthday cake will be my first attempt.  (Don't you think I am taking a risk? ;p)

I am really blessed to have friends who trusted me and leave me totally to design the cake for them as I do not have any sample cake photos to show them how it will turn out since I only started taking cake orders from friends in February this year. I started to take orders upon encouragement from my friends who wish to enjoy healthy homemade cakes. Like to thank them again for such great support they have given me so far.




I like how the cake turned out and it's exactly what I had in mind. My friend was also very pleased with the design and thought it looked even nicer than the Chocolate Candy cake I have done before.  She has also given me feedback after the celebration that the cake was perfect. This is what she says, "The cake is light and soft. Not too sweet which is good. Thumbs up for both the look and taste!"

Isn't this a great encouragement to me? :)









Photo updated on 20 April 2014 - Charlotte 3 layer mango cake

© Copyright 2014 bakingtaitai.blogspot.sg