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I am so excited to be sharing this modified recipe with you all! Well, I said “modified” because I didn’t exactly follow the recipe’s original ingredients and I simply modified it to suit my tastebud! My first carrot cake failed (again I blame it on the recipe! Hehehe), so I guess second time’s the charm for me! LOL! This recipe makes more sense than the previous one I used. Anyway, here it is!

Ingredients (A):

375ml corn oil [I ended up using about 225ml]
170g castor sugar [I used 150g]
140g brown sugar [I used 120g]
4 egg yolks
1 ½ cup carrot shreds [I’d recommend at least 2 cups!]

Ingredients (B) [sifted]:

250g low protein flour [I don’t have the flour and didn’t want to rush out to buy either, hence, I used my existing self-raising flour]
2tsp five spice powder [I used mixed spice since I didn’t have the five spice, and I used about 1 ½ level tsp]
1 ½ tsp baking powder [only use this if you’re using the low protein flour]
1 tsp salt

Ingredients (C):

4 egg whites

Ingredients (D) for decoration:
150g cream cheese
90g butter
2 tsp vanilla essence
150g icing sugar
1 cup carrot shreds
Some carrot particles

Method:

1. Whisk egg yolk and sugar in a mixing bowl, gradually adding the corn oil into the mixture, and lastly the carrot shreds (of Ingredients A).

2. Add in Ingredients B into the mixture and mix well.

3. In another mixing bowl, beat Ingredients C till stiff. Then, add in the mixture from Step 1 and mix them well together.

4. Pour into a cake tin lined with greaseproof paper and bake at 180C for 45 to 55 minutes (till cooked).

5. While waiting for the cake to cool, prepare the cream cheese icing by first creaming the butter and cream cheese together till soft and fluffy.

6. Gradually add in icing sugar and beat till smooth. Now we have the cream cheese icing ready.

7. Spread the cream cheese to cover the whole cake, then decorate with carrot shreds and carrot particles of Ingredients D. Chill the cake for at least 2 hours before serving.

Some comments on the method above:

In Ingredients A, 375ml of corn oil is just too much. I followed my baker’s instinct when I noticed that it’s getting pretty oily and stopped at about 150ml. I’d suggest that you start out with 200ml of oil first, then gradually add in if it’s not enough and stop if you feel that it’s too oily. As usual, I always reduce the amount of sugar I used, coz’ the icing is gonna be sweet and I wanted to balance it. Oh, and try using 2 cups of carrot shreds instead!!

In Ingredients B, DO NOT use 2 teaspoonful of five spice or mixed spice powder coz’ it has a very strong smell (similar to cinnamon), and I only used like 1 ½ level tsp of the spice. When I say ‘level’, it means the powder comes FLAT on top of the teaspoon, not like a mountain! In my next try, I’ll use only 1tsp instead coz’ 1 ½ still smell overwhelmingly strong. Oh, and be careful, if you’re using self-raising flour, there is NO need to put in the baking powder! Otherwise, God bless you for making a BALLOON cake!

In Ingredients D, the cream cheese icing is only enough to cover the entire cake. In my next try, I’ll double the amount of the icing, cut the cake into two or three layers and spread them evenly on each layer! I think that will surely taste even better!

In Step 4, I took almost an hour to bake my cake. So I guess it still depends on the type of oven we use. Anyway, just remember to check your cake using a cake tester, begin with 45 minutes, then add another 5 minutes and so on till it’s cooked. Oh, and there were bubbles all over the top of my cake! I wonder why! LOL!

In Step 7, you must at least chill the cake for 2 hours. For best results, chill beyond that! Say, maybe 4 hours? The cream cheese icing will hardened a little and when you cut in the cake…ah…the icing didn’t melt nor drip like blood and the cake’s texture didn’t crumble either. And one more thing, I turned the cake upside down before spreading the cream cheese coz’ it’s a totally flat surface at the bottom and it looks nicer compare to covering the cake like a mountain due to the raised centre portion.

Ahhh…so there you have it! A simple carrot cake for tea time (or breakfast!). Do let me know how yours turn out!

To be honest, I am pretty frustrated lately due to uhm…well, work-related stuff. So, after work today, I went home and ransacked the cupboard where I stored all my baking stuff, and found that I still have a chocolate muffin ready-mixed package that will expire next month! Ahhh…so, the immediate remedy to my frustration is…baking!!!!!

But…there’s a big BUT…after my first batch of muffins came out of the oven and cooled down thereafter…the top of the muffins were ROCK-SOLID!!!! What. The. Fart?! Again, this would be my last time ever buying a ready-mixed package! Dammit!!! I still haven’t taste it yet coz’ it’s still hot. Sigh…

Nonetheless, I’m feeling slightly better now. Oh well, guess I better start doing my Spanish revision now! Level 2 begins next month! Buenas noches!

This is my first time baking cupcakes but it looks a lot like muffins! Dammit! Well, at least it’s edible, taste pretty good (although there’s nothing to shout about) and kinda moist inside. I actually used the Nestum Cake recipe, modified its ingredients and managed to bake 18 small cupcakes! Here’s the recipe that I’ve altered:

Ingredients:

240g butter
170g castor sugar (initial recipe calls for 200g of sugar!!)
4 eggs
100g Nestum (50g is the original recipe but trust me, it’s not enough!)
200g self-raising flour, sifted
150ml milk

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

2. Add in eggs one by one, beating well after each addition till creamy.

3. Add Nestum and mix well.

4. Divide flour and milk into 3 parts and fold in alternatively till well-combined.

5. Spoon the mixture into each greased muffin holes lined with paper cups, slightly more than three-quarters full.

6. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180C for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

7. Remove from oven and leave to cool before serving.

Some comments on the method above:

In Step 4, it is very important that you fold them in alternatively. Otherwise, the entire mixture will become too watery and the result is…well, a disaster! Hence, divide your flour into 3 parts, and divide your milk into 3 parts, which means you fold in the first part of the flour and 50ml of milk as Round 1, then second part of the flour and 50ml of milk as Round 2 and lastly, the third part of the flour and 50ml of milk as Round 3. Make sure you mix them well in each round before proceeding with the next round. Another tip is to make a small well in the centre and pour the milk into it. That way, when you use the electric mixer to mix it, the milk wouldn’t splatter all over you.

In Step 5, I think I should have made a hollow hole in the centre so that it doesn’t rise up and looks like muffins! You can try doing that and let me know the results! LOL!

The weird thing about my muffins cupcakes is that…well, did you notice the different colours of the cupcakes? Although all of them were put into the oven in the same tray, it yields different colours after baking (strangely, they were all cooked). I guess the most logical explanation I could think of is…the fan in my oven is not really working properly as it does not circulate the heat evenly in the oven! Hmm…time to change to a bigger, leaner and meaner oven! LOL! Any sponsors? I’ll bake you FREE** goodies if you buy me a good oven!

MIERDA.

There goes my first batch of muffins! I thought buying those ready-mixed baking ingredients would be easy (yes it was) and supposedly delicious (no it wasn’t!) It took me less than 20 minutes to prepare everything and shove it into the oven! The texture was rubbery and I couldn’t taste the blueberry flavour (it’s a blueberry muffin mix).

Lesson learnt: NEVER ever buy a ready-mixed package!!!

Now that I’m pissed, I’m gonna do it the traditional way…bake from scratch! I’ll try with mango or peach muffins next time! As if failing to make muffins in a day is not enough, I failed in making apple carrot cake too! Yes, all these muffins and apple carrot cake were my first time, and I hope I won’t have to bake these for the third time to get lucky! The apple carrot cake was too dry and once I sliced it into pieces, it’s like earthquake everywhere coz’ it sort of crumbles! As for the taste, well…so-so.

Perdón, I’m just gonna go cool my temperature now by slashing and beheading devils, giants and creatures in God Of War. Adios!

I have absolutely no idea how many times I have been baking this cake!! Each time I bake, it yields a different result! LOL! Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not well-cooked, sometimes it’s too moist, yadda yadda yadda…I guess it has to do with techniques and skills (and I think I have not perfected it yet!) Nevertheless, this is one of the simplest cakes to bake, and I’m sure you’ll be able to do it!

Ingredients:

160g butter
150gm castor sugar (I reduced it to 120gm to 130gm)
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
40ml freshly squeezed orange juice
2tbsp condensed milk
90gm mashed banana
180gm self-raising flour, sifted
¼ tsp baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 180C (about 15 – 20 minutes). Lined a rectangular cake tin with a greased baking sheet.

2. Cream butter and castor sugar till creamy.

3. Add in the eggs one at a time, followed by egg yolk, and mix well.

4. Slowly add in orange juice and condensed milk. Mix well.

5. Fold in mashed banana and combine well.

6. Pour in sifted flour and baking soda, mix until totally well mixed.

7. Pour mixture into the cake tin and bake at 180C for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Some comments on the method above:

In the Ingredients, I always reduce the sugar content by 20gm to 30gm because the sweetness from the banana itself is sufficient for the entire cake. It will taste too sweet (well, at least for me!) if we stick to the original 150gm of sugar! Oh, not to forget, the condensed milk is also sweet!!

In Step 1, you have to line the cake tin with a greased baking sheet because the texture of the mashed banana is sticky, hence, it will sort of ermm…get burnt in the cake tin if it’s not lined, or if you’re lucky, it will not burnt but it’ll stick to the tin so bad that you’ll have to soak it in water for several hours before washing the remains off!

In Step 5, although the recipe says to “fold in”, but I still use my electric beater to “fold in” the banana! LOL! Oh, make sure you mash it up properly, do not leave big chunks in the cake!

In Step 6, I pour in the flour tablespoon by tablespoon. Oh, and go easy on the baking soda! If you put too much, you’ll have a huge crack line in the middle of the cake!

In Step 7, I don’t know about you, but my baking time varies from 40 minutes to an hour! I guess it has to do with the type of oven I have. Anyway, try baking for 40 minutes, and then check whether it’s cooked enough. If not, place the cake back into the oven, bake for another 10 minutes while keeping a watchful eye on your cake.