Strawberry Wholemeal Bread Loaf

Strawberry season is so exciting! Trays of ripe and beautiful strawberries in various shades of bright red can be found everywhere in open-air markets, green groceries and supermarkets. The fresh and sweet fragrance hits you in the face as you walk past them.
I've had this recipe for a while and I finally had the chance to test it out. It is such an easy-to-follow recipe it only took me 15 minutes of preparation time before it was ready for the oven.
The cake loaf does not rise much and is quite filling. I have more than halved the amount of sugar from the original recipe and found the sweetness is just right. The lightness and the freshness of the strawberries really stand out and help balance out the sugar.

Strawberry Wholemeal Bread Loaf

1 punnet of 250g fresh strawberries
1 1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs, well beaten

1) Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.
2) Dice strawberries into small chunks. Place in a bowl and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Set aside.
3) Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and baking soda in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Blend oil and eggs and combine with the strawberries. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the strawberry mixture. Blend until dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
4) Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Leave in pan for about ten minutes. Turn the loaf out and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Serves 8

Nutritional value per serve:
Calories 191.1
Total fat 8.6g
Saturated fat 1.4g
Polyunsaturated fat 1.0g
Monounsaturated fat 5.5g
Carbohydrate 25.5g
Dietary fibre 3.8g
Sugars 8.1g
Protein 4.9g

PS Nutritional value is calculated using the recipe calculator by SparkRecipe

Chocolate Pomogranate Cake

It is amazing how much can happen within two weeks' time. The coming few weeks are probably going to be BIG. And these special times call for more special cakes. To farewell my lovely colleague, I have made a Chocolate Pomegranate Cake.
I first thought that the idea of using pomegranate juice in a chocolate cake was a bit weird. In my mind chocolate and fruit juice are not something that go together very often. But again don't we add lemon juice and orange juice to teacakes and muffins all the time? I could not find the POM pomegranate juice so I used Blackford instead. The flavour of pomegranate does not really stand out but the juice helps keep the cake soft and light. The cake is delicious, rich in chocolate flavour without being too heavy at all.
This is probably the first time ever when I thought adding chocolate chips to the recipe is completely necessary. The cake itself is so soft and fluffy that adding any other texture seems to ruin it. I think a chocolate icing or thinly shaved chocolate would have worked better.
The original recipe was for a bundt cake. Since I do not own a bundt tin, I made it in a bread loaf tin, which worked just as well. As an experiment I have also baked some cupcakes using muffin tins. They won't fill up your moulds at the beginning but the cake would raise quite a bit, almost double in size.

Chocolate Pomegranate Cake

2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup pure pomegranate juice
dark chocolate chips

1) Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and slightly grease.
2) In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
3) In a medium sized bowl, whisk cocoa powder with butter until smooth. One at a time, incorporate the eggs and vanilla extract. Add chocolate mixture, pomegranate juice into the flour mixture and stir until batter is well combined. Do not over-mix. Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle the top with chocolate chips.
4) Bake for about 40 minutes, until until a tester inserted into the centre comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
5) Leave the cake in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning out to wire rack to cool completely.

For cupcakes, reduce cooking time to approx 20-25 minutes

Cranberry & Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

I have been so sleep deprived this week. Having worked six days in a row did not do much good to my energy level either. I wish I am one of those people who can sleep in for as many hours as they want. I was craving some sweet treats so I ended up making these cookies.
I love oatmeal cookies for their chewiness. These have dried fruits in them, giving them a lighter and fruity sweetness. I suspect they would taste really good with choc chips in them too~

Cranberry and Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, adopted from Baking Bites

1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/4 cup rolled oats

1) Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
2) In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Stir in vanilla extract.
3) In a separate bowl, mix together flour, wheat germ, baking soda and baking powder. Add in dried fruits.
4) Slowly incorporate the dry mixture into the butter mixture. Add in the rolled oats and stir well.
5) Drop 2.5cm balls on the lined baking sheet, about 2cm apart. Slightly flatten the balls. Baking for approx 11-12 minutes or until the edges start to turn brown. Leave cookies on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes before putting them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate & Walnut Birthday Cake

This week has been so crazy. My brain is literally on fire and I feel like my thoughts are spewed out everywhere. I want it to slow down but it won't. I haven't been sleeping well and I am exhausted. Even after only 4 days of work.
So in between all this craziness I managed to find time to bake a birthday cake. I did not have time to search for a recipe online so I used one from the Easy Baking book. When it just came out from the oven, I thought it had to be the saddest-looking cake ever existed! It did not rise as much as I expected and I probably over-baked it a little, making the surface look dry and rough. For the first time in my life I actually iced it too - otherwise it would have been too unpresentable. I was even worried about how it would taste because I could not cut out a small for tasting. But when everyone ate it at dinner, they all liked it and it was delicious. It was rich in chocolate, packed with nuts and not too sweet. The cake actually had a good height as well. And most importantly the birthday boy loved it so that's all that matters :)

Chocolate & walnut cake

4 eggs
100g brown sugar
75g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), broken into pieces
125g plain flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp butter, melted
115g walnuts, finely chopped

icing:
50g dark chocolate
80g butter
125 icing sugar
2 tbsp milk

1) Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Grease a 18cm deep round cake tin and line with baking paper.2) Place the eggs and caster sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk with an electric whisk for 10 minutes, or until foamy and a trail is left when the whisk is dragged across the surface. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water until melted.
3) Sift the flour and cocoa together and fold into the egg and sugar mixture with a spatula. Fold in the melted butter, melted chocolate and walnut pieces. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes, or until springy to the touch.
4) Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
5) To make the icing, melt the chocolate as above and leave to cool slightly. Beat together the butter, icing sugar and milk until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Whisk in the melted chocolate.
6) Spread the icing over the top of the cake.

Wholemeal oatmeal muffins with mixed dried fruits

After making all those sugary cakes and sweets I feel like baking something healthy. Something I can snack on during the week and not feel bad about it. Something that can help me through a eight-hour day and stop me from reaching for more jelly beans.
These muffins are exactly what I need. They are made with mainly wholemeal flour and rolled oats so they are really filling. They are quite light in texture but have a lot of bite in them. The muffins themselves are not sweet at all but the dried fruits make them really flavoursome. I used raisins, dried cranberries and dried goji berries but any other dried fruits, chopped toasted nuts and seeds should work well too.

Wholemeal oatmeal muffins with mixed dried fruits
(from Baking Bites)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup pack brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda pinch salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup mixture of raisins, dried cranberries and dried goji berry
1 cup rolled oats, slightly chopped
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup water

1) Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.
2) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in dried fruits and oats. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and water.
3) Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredient and pour in the milk mixture. Stir until just combined. Let stand for 20 minutes.
4) Spoon batter into prepared tins using a 1/4 C measuring cup.
5) Bake for 15-20 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and spring back when gently pressed.

These muffins smell absolutely amazing !!

According to my dad and many websites, goji berries are meant to be packed with antioxidants and really good for you. They are a bit dry and hard to bite into so probably not the best thing as snacks on their own. But they are great with porridge or muesli.
Plus they have an orangey-red colour that is so pretty!

PS As suggested by the original recipe, I divided the batter into halves and store one half in the fridge. It has kept very well over an entire week. It is still very moist and lumpy and easy to scoop out. And the muffins turned out to be equally delicious. I ended up adding three more minutes to cooking time.

Hazelnut, apple and lemon yoghurt cake loaf

Lately I have been neglecting my blog more than I would like. This is probably the longest I have gone without uploading a new entry! It's not that I have not been cooking. But I have been lacking the effort to pick up my camera and to spend a few moments to put down a few thoughts into words. I guess that is what work can do to you sometimes.
I have dedicated today as an absolute day off (well, almost absolute day off anyway), ie not going to shopping, not doing meeting up with anyone, not reading Australia Pharmacist trying to get a few lousy CPD points. I went to a new hairdresser to have my hair cut. I wonder why most gay men make better hairdressers and make up artists than straight women? It must be quite an interesting job to be a hairdresser. It is almost like part of their job descriptions to gather gossip and chit chat with the clients. I used to feel so devastated to have my hair cut short because I had such difficulties growing it. Today I must have had about 25cm of my hair cut off and I feel great (my mum would be proud - she's all for short hair). Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to get a bob :P
I used the yoghurt cake loaf recipe again. I really like how moist and dense the cake is. Only this time I've halved the recipe so I ended up with a flat loaf.

Hazelnut, apple and lemon yoghurt cake loaf


1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/8 cup wheat germ
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup plain natural yoghurt
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp brown sugar
1 extra-large egg
grated lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped and roasted hazelnuts
1 small apple
Freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1/2 lemon

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.
2) Sift together the flour, baking powder and wheat germ. Peel the apple and chop one half into small cubes. Mix the chopped nuts and apples into the flour mixture.
3) Whisk together yoghurt, 1/3C sugar, egg, lemon zest, vanilla extract and oil. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and whisk in the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined.
4) Pour batter into the prepared tin. Core the remaining half of the apple and cut into thin slices. Arrange the apple slices on top of the batter and bake for 40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
5) Heat up the lemon juice, ground cinnamon and 1tbsp sugar until sugar dissolves. Set aside.
6) When the cake is cooked through, allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to the cooling rack. Use a chopstick or toothpick to create holes on the surface of the cake. While still warm, pour the syrup over the cake and allow to soak in.

Hazelnut & orange yoghurt cake with orange syrup

I think I am slowly steering myself away from bakegoods that are loaded with choc chips. Not that there is anything wrong with them. In fact I have a theory that adding choc chips can always make a cake taste better. But I also love the crunchiness and flavour that are so unique to nuts and seeds. I have never used hazelnuts in baking before (in fact I have never eaten hazelnuts on its own before today) so I decided to give it a try. It is, after all, the magic ingredient of the heavenly Ferrero Rocher and the creamy Nutella. Instead of lemon as in the original recipe, I have used orange zest and juice for its mellow acidity. A simple orange syrup is poured onto the cake at the end to further intensify the orange flavour and keep the cake moist.

Hazelnut & orange yoghurt cake loaf with orange syrup


1/2 cup white all-purpose flour
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup pack brown sugar
100g hazelnuts
zest of a whole orange
3 eggs
1 cup plain natural yoghurt
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 vanilla extract

For the orange syrup: juice from a whole orange + 1 tbsp brown sugar

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a loaf tin.
2) To toast the hazelnuts, pour them in a microwavable container and heat on high setting for thirty seconds. Shake the container to move the nuts around and heat for another thirty seconds. Repeat until the nuts are lightly toasted. Place them in a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin until they reach the desired size.
3) In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and hazelnuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, eggs, orange zest, vanilla and oil. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Gently mix just until all ingredients are well combined and there is no sign of flour.
4) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in pan for ten minutes.
5) Meanwhile make the orange syrup. In a small saucepan, heat the orange juice and the sugar until all sugar is dissolved. Set aside. Transfer the loaf to the cooling rack and poke the surface of the cake with a chopsticks to make small holes. Pour over the orange syrup while the cake is still warm. Serve after the juice has soaked into the cake.

When the cake is still dry with no syrup

Chocolate and Pear Pudding

I do think having friends over for dinner is one of the biggest pleasures in life. You do a bit of cooking, exchange a bit of gossips, have a bit of laughs, share a tasty home-cooked meal (and share the washing-up afterwards). And you really don't have to cook anything too impressive. It's often simple, familiar and comforting food that people enjoy the most. And there is nothing better to end a lovely meal than a delicious dessert.

Chocolate Pear Pudding, from Nigella Express

1x815g canned pear slices in juice
125g all-purpose flour
75g brown sugar
25g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
100g soft butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence

1) Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C and grease a 22cm square baking dish with butter.
2) Drain the pears and lay them on the base of the dish.
3) Combine butter, eggs and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl and the rest of the ingredients in another. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated into a batter.
4) Spread the batter over the pears and smooth the surface. Bake for approx 25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the centre of the pudding comes out clean.
5) Let stand out of the oven for 5 to 10 minutes and cut into slices. Serve with chocolate sauce or chocolate ice-cream if desired.

This dessert is so easy and quick to make (no surprise since the book is called Nigella Express). The sponge cake layer is moist and soft and the chocolate flavour goes really well with the sweet and tangy pears. We reduced the amount of sugar used in the recipe and thought the level of sweetness was just right. In fact more sugar would probably overpower all the other flavours. We ate the pudding on its own without any sauce and it was really delicious. It is definitely my type of dessert, and definitely the type of dessert for any chocolate-lovers!

Sweet and Nutty Cake Loaf

I am so happy today 'coz I tried out two recipes and they are both fantastic! I won't fit both of them in the same entry because that just won't do them justice and they both deserve to be on their own :P The first dish that I made was the Sweet and Nutty Cake Loaf, adopted from Baking Bites. I was looking for something that differs from my usual blueberry muffins or choc chip coffee cake. The fact that this recipe used sunflower seeds caught my attention. So I decided to bake this to use up the half-empty packet of seed mix and half-empty bottle of almonds in my cupboard.

Sweet and Nutty Cake Loaf

1 cup white all purpose flour
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups of a combination of sunflower seeds, almonds, dried cranberries and sultanas

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Lined a loaf tin.
2) In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and the seeds, nuts and dried fruits.
3) In a separate measure cup, whisk together egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Stir until just combined. Do not over-mix and keep the batter slightly lumpy.
4) Pour mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and cooked through when tested with a skewer or a chopstick.
5) Turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

This cake just has so much texture - the loaf itself is dense, at the same time you get the crunchy almonds, crispy seeds and the juicy cranberries. It is not too sweet and there is the combined flavour of almonds and dried fruits in every bite. I imagine it will make a really good breakfast when heated with a bit of butter or honey on the top. On its own it is really good as a snack. You can be really creative and add whatever nuts or dried fruits you have on hand. Being low fat and loaded with heaps of seeds and almonds, a tea cake cannot get any healthier than this.

Cinnamon Banana Bread

Today I made another banana bread. I believe it's the 3rd banana bread recipe I've put up in the blog but it is just as good, probably the best one!! It is so moist and dense and full of banana flavour. The crusty is slightly smokey but the inside is so fluffy and soft. It uses yoghurt in the batter which keeps the bread moist and smooth. Yoghurt in bake goods is so good indeed I should use it more often. By the way sour cream would do the same too but it does contain more fat than yoghurt.
I have kept the banana bread plain as it is but you can just as easily mix in chocolate chips, rolled oats, some chopped walnuts or even some chopped apples.

Cinnamon Banana Bread
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 Overripe bananas, mashed (about 1.5 cup)
1/2 cup plain natural yoghurt
1 cup white all-purplse flour
1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

1) Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees C
2) In a mixing bowl, cream together the oil, applesauce and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition. Add vanilla, bananas and yoghurt and combine well.
3) In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the flour, wheat germ, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the wet ingredients. Gentle fold the mixture until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix.
4) Pour batter into a lined or silicon loaf tin and smooth the top. Bake for about 60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to finish cooling.The batter will remain slightly lumpy. Don't overmix or you'll get tough instead fluffy bread.


I have officially become one of those people who like to browse around cookware stores. Today I went to DFO hoping to do some trans-seasonal shopping. Instead of winter clothes, I ended up getting a baking dish and a kitchen scale! It's one of those small mechanical scale that looks just like the one we have at home. But I really need a kitchen scale though - I am sick of having to convert measurements from weight to cups everytime I use a recipe written by a British cook!

Cookie Craving

On my train ride back home from work today, I had the biggest craving for cookies. I could have used my old recipe but decided to try a new one. I have never used self-raising flour for cookies before so I went with this one from the book Easy Baking.I have to say I am not 100% happy with the recipe. I do not have a scale at home so I converted the measurement to cups from grams. I have also adjusted baking time slightly but otherwise followed the recipe to the T. The amount of butter stated just was not enough to bind all the flour together. After combining the wet and dry ingredients together, the dough was really crumbly even after a lot of mixing. I ended up having to stir in excess butter into the batter in order to bring all ingredients together. And that is probably why the cookies turned out to be extremely buttery and crunchy. I divided the batter into two portions and made two different types: Chocolate & almond and Chocolate & cranberry.

Low fat choc chip almond cookies

These are probably the healthier cookies I have ever made and eaten. Low in fat, high in fibre, they can probably lower cholesterol level, I think. Don't be put off by how unphotogenic they are. They are chewy, moist, chocolatey and very satisfying. I brought them to work and people loved them. And you don't have to feel guilty while enjoying them. They are Low fat oatmeal choc chip almond cookies.
This is a really versatile recipe base that can turn into many variations. Skip the choc chips, add other dried fruits such as raisins, dried cranberries, dried strawberries, chopped walnuts, etc, to create your own version of low fat cookies :)

Adopted from Baking Bites

1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tbsp wheat germ
1 tbsp cocoa powder (Should have used more - the dough did not turn out as dark as I wanted it)
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 brown sugar 1 egg
1/4 cup applesauce 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
toasted almond, chopped

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2) In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, wheat germ and cocoa powder.
3) In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in egg, followed by applesauce and vanilla extract. Working by hand, stir in the flour mixture, oats, choc chips and chopped almonds until all ingredients is combined well.
4) Drop tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking tray, flatten each cookie slightly. Bake for about 10 minutes. Cookies will be light brown at the edges when done. Let cool on the tray for 3-4 minutes to allow them to continue cooking. Then transfer to a wire rack to coll completely.

5) Store in air-tight container.

Before they went into the oven

After they are cooked

Only 2 tbsp of butter in ALL these cookies (plus one that I sampled after baking)
- didn't think that would be possible!

Marbled chocolate & banana bread

Bananas have been so cheap lately I can't help but get a bunch whenever I walk past the supermarket. I still remember a few years ago they were once almost $10 per kilos because of a hurricane that had destroyed most of the banana crop. It is funny how the price of something as basic as fruits can fluctuate that much.
I have always liked my bananas a bit unripe - just before they start turning black and when they still have a little bit of crunchy and bite in them. As soon as black dots start appearing on the peel I find them unappetizing. That is, of course, except when I bake them with. These bananas were so ripe in fact when I took them out of the plastic bag I saw a tiny bit of mould starting to grow on the end of them. Pretty gross I know. But I decided they were just on the skin and chose to ignore them. It could be a health hazard but so far I feel fine after eating two large slices in the afternoon.In fact this banana bread is so good I could finish the entire loaf. This is the first marbled cake/bread I have made and I reckoned it looked quite pretty, at least from the outside. And I have also made buttermilk from milk and lemon juice for the first time. Simply add 1 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar into 1 cup of milk and let it stand for 5-10 minutes and that can be used as sour milk. Alternatively sour cream or plain natural yoghurt is fine too.

Recipe adopted from So Good and Tasty
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup ripe banana, mashedchoc chip
1 tbsp dark chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a 9-inch loaf tin
2) In a mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together. Set aside.
3) Cream sugar and oil together. Mix in buttermilk. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the mashed bananas, vanilla and choc chips. Stir to combine.
4) Make a well in the dry ingredients and fold in the wet mixture until just combined. Divide the batter in halves. Add in cocoa powder and chopped dark chocolate in one half of the batter and mix until combined. Do not overmix or the bread can become tough.
5) Alternatively, add the plain and the chocolate batter into the loaf tin. Run a knife through the layers to create a swirl pattern.
6) Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a cake tester. Cool in tin for 10 minutes. Remove from tin and cool completely on wire rack. Enjoy!

Sour milk made with 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tbsp lemon juice.
It's used in a lot of cake and muffin recipes to make the finish product lighter and fluffier.

Plain and chocolate batter

Orange and Almond Cake

I've been watching a set of DVD named "Nigella Feast" lately and I have really enjoyed it. It is a collection of the entire TV series hosted by the English chef Nigella Lawson. She has a really fun and casual attitude towards cooking and does not use many fancy ingredients or advanced culinary techniques. Most of the dishes she makes are quite down-to-earth and they are recipes that you can really reproduce in day-to-day cooking. And she has an incredible way of describing the flavour, aroma, texture and the presentation of food. I think she has enough vocabs to describe food to write a food dictionary.
So naturally that results in me googling her name and browsing her website, which has a vast collection of recipes posted by both Nigella and members of the website. Based on her "Mother-in-law's madeira cake", I made a wholemeal orange and almond cake.

50g softened unsalted butter (the original recipe calls for 240g of butter but that was all I had in the fridge so I added additional fat using olive oil)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
grated zest and juice of an orange
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
3/4 cup wholemeal plain flour

1) Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
2) Cream the butter, olive oil and sugar together and add orange zest to the mixture. Add the eggs one at at time, with a tbsp of flour for each. Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and, lastly, orange juice.3) Grease and line a 23x13x7 cm loaf tin and pour the cake batter in. Sprinkle the top with flaked almond.4) Bake for 1 hour or until cooked through. Let cool in the tin on a wire rack before turning the cake out.

Quick Chocolate Brownies

There is not much that offers more comfort than cooking up one of your favourite recipes. You can visualise the finish product before you even begin. You know the recipe is going to work. And most importantly, you know it will taste GOOD.

And that is why I made my chocolate brownies today. This recipes does not call for any chocolate and, instead, uses cocoa powder for the chocolate flavour. So if you can't be bothered melting chocolate this is a handy recipe for you. Obviously the quality of the cocoa will affect how the final product will taste. So if you can get something like Valrhona that will be perfect. As a variation I added roughly chopped walnuts into the recipe. This will add some crunchy nuttiness and bitterness to the slice so amount of sugar may need to be adjusted accordingly. As usual I did not frost my brownie but a chocolate frosting can definitely be spread on the top while the brownies are still warm to add sweetness and moist.

1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
Walnuts, roughly chopped or broken into halves

1) Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Line a square baking pan.
2) Mix together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat in cocoa powder, flour, slat and baking powder. Stir in walnuts. Spoon mixture into the prepared pan.
3) Baking for approx 25 minutes.

My brownies today are slightly overcooked today and they taste a bit dry to me. And you can tell by the bubbles appearing on the top of the slices. I'm blaming this to the pan that is larger than I thought, making the brownies a bit thinner and therefore faster to cook through. But that did not stop me from enjoying 2 slices after they came straight from the oven - again chocolate goodness has saved the day :P

And I saw this on smitten kitchen today. and OMG how good do they look!!!! I can't wait to try to make some!!

Banana Orange & Choc Chip Cake

So what's the difference between a banana cake and a banana bread loaf? Apparently it's the icing. And I think the cake is meant to be sweeter than the bread, or at least that's how I would make it. But since I have never been a fan of icing, I improvised and made a banana cake sans icing. This is based on a recipe called Banana & Lime Cake from the book Easy Baking.

Banana, Orange & Choc Chip Cake

1.5 cup plain flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
small pinch of salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp grated orange rind
3 small bananas, mashed with ~2 tbsp orange juice
1 egg
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp ground cinnamon
choc chips

1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Line cake tin with baking paper
2) Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in sugar and orange rind. Mix well.
3) Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the egg, banana, olive oil, applesauce, vanilla, cinnamon and choc chips. Mix evenly.
4) Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Sprinkle extra choc chip over the top if desired. Bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
5) If you wish, you can prepare a topping by mixing 125g sifted icing sugar and 1-2 tsp orange juice to form a soft but not too running icing. Stir in some grated orange rind and drizzle the icing over the cake while it is still warm.

This cake is quite a dense and filling one, probably due to the amount of bananas. (I already feel satisfied after eating one slice!!) They also help keep the cake moist, despite the reduced amount of oil. Next time I would probably use the rind from a whole orange and more orange juice as the flavour needs to be a bit stronger to cut through all that banana richness. Overall, another easy and delicious recipe :P