PERRINATOR.COM

I should really, really, and I mean REALLY stop baking anything…besides the escalating costs incurred for the ingredients that I can’t seem to stop buying, my tummy is becoming more and more like a two-layered sponge cake, or rather, a jelly Michelin tyre that bounces up and down with every step I take. Imagine how it would look like if I were to wear a bikini and run along the beach…

<* Perrinator feels nauseated at the thought of her jelly fats bouncing up and down, up and down, up and down, up and… *>

Ohh…STOP IT!!! This post is supposed to focus on the cookies I made a few nights ago! So, ladieeesss and gentlemeeennn…may I present, the making of Cornflakes Cookies, one of the easiest cookies to make!

Ingredients:

[ 1 ] 120g butter
[ 2 ] 80g icing sugar, sifted
[ 3 ] 1 egg yolk
[ 4 ] 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
[ 5 ] 120g plain flour, sifted
[ 6 ] 30g cornflour, sifted
[ 7 ] 30g milk powder, sifted
[ 8 ] 30g raisins
[ 9 ] 100g cornflakes

Method:

1. Pre-heat your oven at 170?C. Next, cream butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla.

2. Fold in sifted flour mixture (plain flour, cornflour & milk powder) into butter mixture.

3. Stop folding the mixture when the batter turns into soft dough.

4. Separate the raisins and crushed cornflakes in different trays.

5. Spoon the dough using a teaspoon and drop it onto the cornflakes. Gently shape the dough and put in one raisin (for each cookie dough).

6. Make sure that the tray / pan that you use is lightly greased before arranging the dough on it.

7. Bake at 170?C for 20 to 25 minutes (depending on the size of your dough) till golden brown.

Ta daaa! There you have it! A very simple way of making cornflakes cookies! I gotta tell ya, if you can’t wait for at least 15 minutes after it comes out hot from the oven and swallow it, you’ll most likely get a dry throat or worse, a sore-throat!

You’ll know you have successfully made these cookies if:

a) Your cookies does not get burnt (obviously)
b) The cookies sort of crumble easily in your mouth when you bite it with minimal pressure

So, if the cookies you made are like titanium hard when you sink your teeth in or its color turn to near charcoal, well, you have FAILED! Try again! Here are some of my comments for each of the method above:

In Step 1, the recipe book did not state how long I should pre-heat my oven. So I usually pre-heat for about 15 minutes.

In Step 2, you can either use a spatula or wooden spoon to fold in the sifted flour mixture. Do not use electrix mixer to fold it. Click here for the exact definition of fold.

In Step 3, when the mixture turns into a soft dough and/or when all traces of flour is fully incorporated into the mixture, stop folding it.

In Step 5, you can shape the cookies in any way you like, BUT, you must ensure that the SIZE of each cookie in a tray is similar. If you shape one smaller cookie and one bigger cookie and place them together in a tray and bake for 20 or 25 minutes, the smaller ones will get too brown (or burnt) before the bigger ones is even done.

In Step 6, if you don’t grease your tray with some butter, the cookies will most likely stick on the tray or its bottom get burnt a little after baking.

In Step 7, just remember this rule, if your cookie is bigger, it’ll take longer to bake (like mine, for about 20 to 25 minutes), if your cookie is smaller, it’ll take about 15 minutes or so to bake.

Take a look again at the picture in step 7. The raisin that I stucked into the middle of the cookie gets burnt a little on the tip. So, in my next batches of trays, I hide the raisins inside the cookie dough and voila, a nicely done one!

I usually use Golden Churn butter for all my baking activities. It’s pretty costly, at MYR8.25 (if I remember correctly).

My former neighbour’s mother recommended it because of its rich buttery texture. I think I’m gonna switch to a cheaper butter soon, judging at the rate my pocket gets burnt with all the butter that I stocked in my fridge! LOL! Happy trying!

It was his third birthday three days ago (21st April), and I’ve invited his ‘gf’ to drop by for the celebration (which simply means eating the cake together). I ordered the Muttloaf Cake from the same source…PawzBakery! This is by far, the most expensive cake that I’ve ordered for him. It costs me RM38…worth every cent of my money!

Last weekend, I have tried baking Autumn Apple Sponge Cake and Meringue Cookies, all of which, sadly and frustratingly to say, that it FAILED big time! Autumn my ass! Meringue my ass!! Hmmpphh!! Besides my mediocore baking skills, I’ve got a pretty good reason to blame it on the recipe itself! It didn’t exactly specify the proper steps or technique that I should use to add/mix in those ingredients!

I should really stop baking this month (I baked too many, and bought too many ingredients till I almost burn a hole in my pocket) but I’d definitely try that autumn recipe again, this time, with a little modification to the ingredients and steps of my own. Arrrghhh…’nuff said. I’ll share with you guys a very, very simple pancake recipe from Pillsbury.

Being a lazy pig, I always look for easy recipe to bake/cook. So, if you could find a Pillsbury Pancake Mix Buttermilk package, I suggest you buy it! It has instructions printed at the back of the box. I bet a 10-year-old could do it!

Now, let’s begin, shall we?

Step 1: Pour in 1 cup of pancake mix flour into a sieve and sift it into a mixing bowl. Just pour in the remaining residue left in the sieve (it’s mainly sugar that couldn’t be sifted through the sieve).

Step 2: Add 1 cup of water into the mixing bowl.

Step 3: Mix well with a whisk until large lumps disappear.

Step 4: Heat the skillet/griddle/pan at medium-high setting (about 190?C or 375?F).

Step 5: This step is optional. I like to grease my pan with a little bit of butter instead of oil (it tastes pretty weird with oil). Anyway, if the skillet/griddle/pan is hot enough, your pancake wouldn’t stick.

Step 6: Use an ice-cream scoop to spoon out the mixture into the skillet/griddle/pan and spread it evenly in a circular motion.

Step 7: Cook for about 1 to 1 ½ minutes until the bubbles break on top. Then turn over and cook another 1 to 1 ½ minutes till golden brown.

The pancake is ready to be consumed! Depending on the size of the pancake you make, this one makes about 20 to 22 pancakes. Best served with maple syrup. You may also serve the pancakes with your choice of toppings. Here are some ideas if you are feeling a little creative:
(a) Stack several pancakes and top it off with a scoop of ice-cream. Drizzle with maple syrup or chocolate syrup.
(b) For a banana pancake, slice a banana or two, spread all over the pancake and drizzle with maple syrup.
(c) For chocolate pancake, sift together the pancake mix with 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, add in 1 cup & 2 tablespoon of water and mix well. Cook as described in the steps above.
(d) For blueberry pancake, drop 2 teaspoon blueberry filling onto the pancake batter in skillet/griddle/pan. Cook until bottom is golden brown and top is bubbly. Turn the pancake and continue cooking until done.

You can also try all kinds of fruits to serve with! Or top it off with whipped cream! There’s really no limit to what you can serve your pancake with. Happy trying!

NOTES:
In Step 1, it is not necessary to sift the pancake mix flour but I prefer to sift it to get a finer texture and minimize large lumps later. You’ll notice that there’ll be some sugar left as it cannot go through the sieve. Simply pour over the leftover sugars into the mixing bowl.

In Step 2 & Step 3, you can replace water with fresh milk to make creamier and fluffier pancakes.

In Step 4, I’m using a gas stove to heat up my pan, so I do not know the exact temperature. Fearing that it is not hot enough for the pancake NOT to stick to it, I grease my pan with some butter in Step 5. I’ve tried greasing with oil but it sort of ruin the buttermilk flavour in the mix.

In Step 6, you may use other utensils to spoon your batter into the pan. I’ve always use ice-cream scoop to get a better estimate on the size of my pancakes so that they are pretty much even and cooks well at the same time.

In Step 7, you’ll be cooking the first few batches of pancakes for 1 to 1 ½ minutes, but after like the third or fourth batch, your pan will gradually become hotter, so you would not need to cook for 1 to 1 ½ minutes, maybe within a minute or less. So watch out for your pancakes incase it get burnt!

If your computer is installed with Microsoft Office 2003 (which includes Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint) but you need to open and view an excel file in 2007 format (it has the extension of .xlsx), chances are, you won’t be able to open it. Fret not, there is a solution to this. Simply google for Excel Viewer 2007, select one link from the result list – in this case, I’ve selected: http://en.kioskea.net/telecharger/telecharger-52-excel-viewer#description – and click to begin downloading. After you have downloaded the file, follow these simple steps to install:

1. Double-click the ExcelViewer.exe file to begin. A dialog-box appears as shown below. Click the Run button to proceed.

2. The installation of the program will begin.

3. You will be asked whether to accept the End-User License Agreement. Check the checked box “I accept the terms in the License Agreement” and click the Next button.

4. Another dialog box appears. Browse the folder where you want to install the program, or simply accept the default location. Click Install to proceed.

5. The Excel Viewer installation will begin.

6. Click the OK button when complete.

This program is only meant for you to open, view and print the excel file. However, you will NOT be able to edit, save or create a new excel file with this program (after all, the name Excel Viewer obviously means you can only open and view!) Happy trying!

I have not been baking for a few years ever since work (and personal problems) unconveniently becomes part of my turbulent life. However, I managed to revive my interest in baking since end of last year when I sort of erm…sympathize my project partners who had to work night shifts (though I’m with them during the late nights, but I usually go off earlier and my task is pretty simple).

So, I’ve decided to bake something for them, hoping that they won’t get too bored, frustrated or hungry over the long hours of work. Since then, I’ve been baking on and off, right until last weekend where I sort of went totally berserk over baking and I baked lots of cakes (and cookies).

Looks as if every cake that I baked is successful, huh? Well, these pictures below screams the title “Baking Gone Wrong!”

I should be taking more pictures of my baking adventures the next time I bake! Say…I think I’m gonna try baking meringue cookies and autumn apple sponge cake this weekend! Somebody STOP me!!!