banana cake with buttercream topping

Banana bread/cake has never failed our palate. I've baked it many times since I was still single many years ago and we always consumed it right away. I've tried a few banana cake recipe and this one's what I liked the best so far. The original recipe was from Lydia Teh.

I already posted a banana bread recipe here; however, I'll post it here again. I like the outcome of my banana cake this time. I divided the batter in 4 2-1/2 x 7 x 3" aluminum loaf pan because I intended to share the other 3 with my friends. It was however right on time when they invited us on an iftar at the park the next day. As I've said, I liked the outcome of my banana cake this time, the color and the sweetnes was just right. Maybe because of the bananas that I used? I used the banana that's in the verge of really getting spoiled. I believe that the best banana for a banana cake is of that kind. Another difference is that I topped or shall I say frosted the top with buttercream frosted (the recipe I got from Confession Nook). Hehehe... I was really happy with the outcome and taste of the buttermilk frosting I made for my chocolate cocoa cake that I baked a few days ago, that's why I decided to try it on my banana cake. Hehehe... The outcome? It was okay... It tasted well with the banana cake.

For the Banana Cake
Ingredients:
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1-1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup mashed bananas*
1-1/2 cup cake flour, sifted**

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 175°C. Grease and flour 4 2-1/2 x 7 x 3" aluminum loaf pan.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light. Add eggs and beat well.

Dissolve baking soda in the sour cream, add it into the butter mixture. Beat well.

Stir in mashed bananas and vanilla then fold in cake flour.

Pour batter into the loaf pans and bake for 35 minutes or until done.

For the Buttercream Frosting:
Ingredients:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Procedure:
Whip butter until light and fluffy; add sifted icing sugar little by little until well-incorporated. Beat in the yolk. Add vanilla extract to mix.

• • • • • • •

* The banana that I used was those that's almost in the verge of spoiling.

** To make 1 cup cake flour, in 1 cup measuring cup, place 1 tbsp. cornstarch then fill with all-purpose flour.

chocolate cocoa cake with buttercream frosting

I'm back baking cake and trying my luck again in decorating/frosting them. I don't know... I suck at decorating/frosting. I feel that I'm terrible at it. Hehehe... shameful. I badly need to enrol in a cake decorating class. Hahaha... Well, anyway, here's my another cake decorating/frosting attempt that seemed to be still "needs improvement" or somehow improved? Hahaha...

I used 6" cake pan here and the rst of the cake batter I made into cupcakes. Small cakes seemed to attract me these days. Perhaps that's where I'd start my decorating/frosting attempts. Kim said that the cake was yummy and best paired with his coffee. Hehehe... I'm smiling... =D

Here's another cake recipe using ready cake mix. I'm still sticking to cake mix these days because of busy schedule (taking care of kuya and the baby). Hopefully when the househelp comes by next month, everything will be okay and I'd be able to do more cooking and baking and picture taking. Hehehe...

Thanks to ACDEE of Confession Nook for sharing her buttercream frosting recipe. I've been trying many recipe to frost my cakes and cupcakes and so far I found her recipe suited well with what I am looking for. I just suck in cake decoration/frosting. Hahaha...

Chocolate Cocoa Cake
Ingredients:
485 g. cake mix
275 ml. water
60ml. vegetable oil
3 eggs
butter for greasing
flour for dusting

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 180°C .

Grease 6" round cake pan lightly with butter and lightly flour before lining bottom with wax paper and put cupcake paper on the cupcake mold.

Beat cake mix with water, vegetable oil and eggs in a large bowl until moistened. Pour into the cake pan and cupcake molds halfway only (since the cake will rise as it is cooked).

Bake for 35 minutes or until cake springs back when touched in the center or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Buttercream frosting
Ingredients:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Procedure:
Whip butter until light and fluffy, add sifted icing sugar little by little until well-incorporated. Beat in the yolk. Add vanilla extract to mix.

Note: You can add range of colors you like to the buttercream frosting.

5-minute chocolate cake?... and yano @ 2 months

Ying... Frem... if you both happen to visit me here. You might want to try this...

I was blog hopping one day looking for some nice freebies for my scrapbooking when I came to this scrapblog The Daily Digi. She has some good stuff other than scrapbooking. One blog she posted made me so curious to try was this 5-Minute Chocolate Cake just using microwave. I was so curious I immediately tried it yesterday just in time for my youngest son turning 2 months. I thought that if this would be for real and if it would come out satisfactorily for me, then chocolate cakes or cupcakes would be frequent at home. Hehehe...

You can get the recipe at her blog; however, I made my own step-by-step photos as well.

What you'll be needing:
4 tbsp. flour
4 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons of milk
3 tablespoons of oil
a splash of vanilla extract
a coffee mug
some mini m&m's (optional)

Here's how:

1. Combine flour, sugar and cocoa in a coffee mug. Mix very well.

2. Add egg and mix thoroughly until combined.

3. Add the milk, oil and vanilla. Mix again until combined. (If you are using chocolate chips, now is the time to add them in as well. Mix well again.)

4. Place the coffee mug in the microwave and cook for 2-1/2 minutes at 1200 watts. (Just adjust the time - more or less - depending on the wattage of your microwave.)

5. Take it out of the microwave and cool before turning over to a plate or saucer. Don't worry if the cake rises over the coffee mug.

6. Then decorate as you desire or just leave it as is. What I did with mine was topped with cream and sprinkle some mini m&m's.

This was what I made to mark Baby Yano's turning 2 months yesterday. Kuya Makuy ate most of it. As for my verdict... maybe I cooked it a little longer as for the wattage of my microwave. It was soggy when I turned it over to a saucer but turned harder when fully cooled! Huh! Perhaps i'll try it next time and experiment more on the timing of the microwave. I found another recipe for this 5-minute chocolate cake. I wanted to try this one since she made an effort to investigate on this matter. You might want to try this at home... get the recipe here.

• • • • • • •

Another matter to post... a celebration of my youngest son's turning 2 months old. Yes, Baby Yano turned 2 months yesterday and he became very heavy now. "Tabakokoy" (chubby), that's what we call him now. And here's a layout I made for his special day.

cakes for kuya mak...

Here it goes… my 2 birthday cakes for my eldest son’s 5th birthday. I just used the ready cake mix since I am still having a bit of a hard time moving around especially with a baby and a boy at home alone. Hehehe… Excuses I know. Hehehe… I was thinking of not baking him a cake instead just order from the bakeshop but I planned to make him his birthday cake months ago. Yes, its cake mix but I still failed in decorating, icing and frosting the cakes. Huhuhu… Now I know that it’s much easier to decorate and frost cupcakes rather than cakes. Hahaha… Anyway, I’m still glad though, friends liked my vanilla moist cake with choco frosting. They ate it all. Hmmm… maybe because they’re my friends? Hahaha… As for the moist dark chocolate cake with buttercream frosting? We end up scraping the icing and just consuming the chocolate cake. The cake was yummy but the icing was too sweet and rough for our tongue. Hehehe… As I said, it’s failure.

Here are some shots of the moist dark chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. I’d rather not share my failed recipes here. I’ll try this again someday and when it becomes a success, I’ll definitely post it here… right away.

Here are some shots of the vanilla moist cake with choco frosting. Here, my frosting was a bit runny and it didn’t really set. When I touched it after an hour, it’s still wet. Hehehe…

Even the candles didn’t do well… because of the hot weather, the candles almost melted.

Anyway… what matters most to me was that I made my birthday boy happy on his 5th birthday. Hopefully, next year, I’ll be able to bake him a successful birthday cake. *crossing fingers*

• • • • • • •

To all: I’m very much open for suggestions, advices regarding baking cakes and icing and frosting cakes. I really wanted to develop my skill on this and I’m eager to learn more. If I could only enroll in baking class or cake decorating class I would; but time, finances just don’t allow me. *sigh*

By the way, here are some photos from the 2 birthday celebration of our kuya makuy.

This one's "just us" celebration at the house. Kuya was so happy because Papa Kim bought him the skate shoes last August 9 which he requested a few months ago. Then on his birthday, Papa Kim surprised him with a Hot Wheels bike. It was a very simple celebration... just us... with spaghetti, garlic sliced bread, almost like corn dogs, peaches and cream, birthday cake and juice.

This one was yesterday at the park near our house. We celebrated his birthday with friends from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and around Al Ain. It was also a weekend get-together for the big ones and play time for the kids.

Thanks for looking... =)

mango-cream cake

i've been craving for something sweet lately... i thought of asking kim to buy some ripe mangoes since i still have a lot of graham crackers in the pantry. so, last night, while kim was watching baby yano, i had the chance to make this dish. i even asked kim to buy canned peaches since mangoes here in uae are far different from our philippine mangoes... really. i was thinking ahead; if mangoes don't work, i already have the peaches ready for substitute. hehehe...

i have been making mango float or mango refrigerator cake way-way back but since we arrived here in uae i was able to make it just now. this is very easy and no-bake cake. although it has a different procedure or looks from what i usually do it's still the same.


i saw this recipe peaches and cream from pinoy cook and i based it from there. but since i have canned peaches already, after consuming this mango cream cake, i'll make the peaches and cream. hehehe... i just scraped the remaining meat from the mango seeds then added it to the cream and milk mixture for added flavor.

ingredients:
1 cup of crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup of melted butter, cooled
2 cup of all-purpose cream
1 cup of sweetened condensed milk
3 pcs. ripe mangoes, sliced
scraped mango meat from the mango seeds

procedure:
chill the cream and sweetened condensed milk for several hours in the fridge — not the freezer. the cream should no longer be of pouring consistency after chilling. instead, if you scoop it with a spoon, the cream shouldn’t fall off.

mix together the melted butter and graham crackers and press onto the bottom of a glass dish which must be at least three inches in height.

stir the chilled cream and milk together. scrap the remaining mango meat from the seeds of the mangoes and add to the cream-milk mixture. mix well until fully incorporated. pour over the graham cracker crust.

arrange the mango slices on top. cover with cling film and keep chilled until needed.

pineapple upside down cake

pineapple upside down cake, k said it's one of his favorite. and so i tried baking it. i was just wondering what made my cake so crumbly. i thought maybe because of the baking powder. instead of teaspoon, i used tablespoon. then when i realized that i put a tablespoon, i immediately took it out and placed the right measurement of the baking powder. hmmmm... maybe that's the reason for my crumbly cake? well, anyways, it crumbly yes but it's good. a comment from k... it's too sweet for him. hehehe... maybe because i used muscovado sugar instead of just regular brown sugar... hehehe...

next time, i hope it would be much better.

i used the recipe here, just omitted the cherries since i didn't have it at that moment.

ingredients:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
9 slices pineapple in juice (from 14-oz can), drained
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

procedure:
heat oven to 350°F. in 9-inch square pan, melt butter in oven. sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar.

in medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. pour batter over pineapple and cherries.

bake 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. serve warm. store cake loosely covered.

simple celebration

june 1, 1997, cebu city... k and i became officially on. from then on, we always see to it that we could celebrate our monthsary (so to speak) for the first year and our yearly anniversary for the following years. today, even if we are already married, we still somehow celebrate the day we became boyfriend-girlfriend even in little ways... cooking food or eating out. this time, i chose to prepare a simple pasta dish with my first time-to-make frozen brazo.

this was our dinner, for the 3 of us. still quick and easy to make, my spaghetti with shrimp and tomato sauce.

ingredients:
a handful of spaghetti, cooked as per package direction
1 cup shrimp, cleaned, shelled, deveined, heads discarded
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 onion, minced
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1-2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup cheese, grated
1/2 cup cheese, grated for the topping
2 tbsp. cooking oil

procedure:
season shrimps with salt and pepper. heat oil in a wok and fry the shrimps for 2-3 minutes. set aside.

using the same wok, saute garlic and onion until aromatic. then add chicken stock. let simmer until the stock is reduced in half. then add the spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. let boil. season with salt and pepper, sugar and cheese. mix well. then add the cooked shrimps. simmer for another 3-5 mintes more.

pour over the cooked spaghetti and topped with the grated cheese.

then for the dessert, something special for a special occasion... frozen brazo de mercedes. i saw this recipe in a cooking show at qtv11, true confection and seemed to be easy to prepare... just changed an ingredient and then instead of using a 4x7 pan, i used 2, 2-1/2x6-1/2 pans. k and m loved it so much that they kept on asking for more. hehehe...

ingredients:
for the meringue:
4 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp. confectioner's sugar

for the graham crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp. sugar

for the custard:
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup butter, cubed

for the ice cream layer:
1 liter vanilla ice cream

procedure:
for the meringue:
preheat oven to 250ºF.

grease and line the bottom of an 8x12 inch pan. grease and flour the paper again then spread the meringue on the pan.

beat the egg whites with cream of tartar in a bowl of an electric mixer on high until fine bubbles form. then gradually add the sugar. whip to stiff peaks but not dry.

using an offset spatula, spread the meringue over the prepared pan making sure to fill even the edges. use a cake comb to create texture on the meringue.

bake in the oven for 30 minutes. dust with confectioner's sugar and allow to cool until ready to use.

for the graham crust:
combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in a bowl. mix well. place the graham cracker crumbs in a 4x7 rectangular baking dish and evenly spread on the bottom of the pan.

for the custard:
in a double broiler, mix the eggs, condensed milk and vanilla. stir for about 30 minutes or until pouring consistency.

add butter a little at a time until melted and blended in. cook longer to make it thicker. pour over the graham crust and allow to cool to room temp.

for the frozen layer:
leave ice cream at room temperature for about 15 minutes or until softened. mix until consistency of soft serve ice cream. place over the custard layer.

finish off by cutting a 4x7 rectangle from the meringue to fit the size of the container and placing over the ice cream.

place in the freezer for at least 4 hours or until stable before serving.

• • • • • • •

happy 12 years of togetherness to us... xoxo

rich fudge and marshmallow crusted chocolate cake

remembered that i won this marvelous set of gifts from munchkin mommy's blog anniversary a few months ago? and i've been wanting to try this chocolate cake recipe from one of the cookbook which i received from her, "crazy for chocolate". at last i was able to bake one.

it didn't looked like the one in the cookbook photo since i didn't have a template that created a nice design on top. i just sprinkled powdered sugar instead. hehehe...

here's the recipe from the book...

ingredients:
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup self-raising flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup soft brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla essence
60 gm. butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
125 gm. mini marshmallow¹

procedure:
preheat oven to moderate 180°C (350°F/gas 4).

brush a deep 23 cm (9 inch) round cake tin with melted butter or oil. line base with baking paper.

sift flours, cocoa and soda into a large bowl. add the sugars; make a well in the center.

add combined egg, vanilla essence, butter and milk. using a wooden spoon, stir ingredients until mixture is smooth. stir through marshmallows.

pour mixture evenly into prepared tin; smooth surface. bake 40-45 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when inserted at the center of cake. leave cake in tin for 25 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool.

dust with icing sugar using a template before serving.²

• • • • • • •

¹ if mini marshmallows are not available, use chopped larger ones which i used.

² just dust the top with powdered/icing sugar if you have no template.

7-up bunt cake

i saw this bunt cake recipe at blog chef's foodblog and since i have the ingredients in my kitchen and i have a new bunt pan, i tried the recipe. i was glad on the outcome and it looks similar the bunt cake of blog chef. hehehe... i specially enjoyed the glazing part, it's my first time to do glazing. i'm just happy to have a successful bunt cake for my first attempt. lol...


my bunt cake turned out to be moist with crunchy crust and with a lemony kick on it. k said that it's delicious but it's too lemony for me and you can really taste the 7-up. maybe i should have just added 1 tbsp. lemon extract and 1/2 cup 7-up. but if you're into citrus, then you'll definitely enjoy this cake. m also liked it and that's good to know.


you can view the recipe here. i just adjusted a bit.

ingredients:
1-1/2 cup butter, soften at room temperature
3 cups white sugar
5 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp. lemon extract
3/4 cup 7 up¹

for the glaze:
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice

procedure:
pre-heat the oven to 230°C. in a large bowl cream butter and sugar for 20 minutes. add eggs one at a time beating and scraping the sides and bottom after each addition. add flour and lemon extract. fold in 7 up. pour into a greased bunt cake pan.

bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. remove from oven and allow to cool.

to make glaze:
in a bowl mix powered sugar and lemon juice.

when the cake has cooled drizzle the glaze over it.

because my bunt cake pan was not large enough for the batter, i was able to make 2 little cake more which i shared to a couple of good friends.

• • • • • • •

¹ if you don’t want to use 7-Up any carbonated lemon-lime beverage will work as well.

banana bread

banana bread, the very first cake i baked when i was still single and finally bought my table top oven. then i have been enjoying baking them for years. then when we got here in uae i stopped since we didn't have oven until last year. but wasn't able to bake banana cake... no banana for the banana cake. in the philippines, i baked banana cake using the right banana for it (oopppssss... i forgot the name... hehehe...). then i couldn't find it here in uae.

because of the hot weather now, fruits and vegetables easily get spoiled specially when not placed in the refrigerator. and before the 4 remaining bananas on the table go to waste, i tried to use it for banana bread (didn't know what the result would be, since as far as i was concerned, it was not the kind for the banana bread).

and so i baked this banana bread and the result was extremely satisfying. hehehe... it tasted and smelled like banana bread. i liked it much better than the usual recipe i used before since this just had the right sweetness. i can bake this now often specially when there's banana on the verge of getting spoiled. hahaha...

got the recipe here but i'm posting it here as well.

ingredients:
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1-1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup mashed bananas
1-1/2 cup cake flour, sifted¹

procedure:
preheat oven to 175°C. grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan.²

in a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light.

add eggs and beat well.

dissolve baking soda in the sour cream, add it into the butter mixture. beat well.

stir in mashed bananas and vanilla then fold in cake flour.

pour batter into baking pan and bake for 45 minutes or until done.

• • • • • • •

¹ to make 1 cup cake flour, in 1 cup measuring cup, place 1 tbsp. cornstarch then fill with all-purpose flour.

² i used 2 3-1/2" x 7" loaf pans.

basic pound cake

this is a basic pound cake recipe I got here. but i liked the condensed pound cake much better than this one. but maybe i missed out on something that’s why it didn’t look like the one in the internet. although it still tasted good, i just didn’t like the appearance.

i baked a couple of this for k’s after basketball practice. he was the one who brought the food (pork pata nilaga) and i baked this for their dessert.

ingredients:
3/4 cups (230 grams) cake flour, sifted
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup (226 grams) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) superfine or castor sugar¹
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
zest of a lemon or orange (optional)

procedure:
preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and place rack in center of oven. butter or spray with a pan spray, a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter or spray the paper.

in a large bowl, sift together twice, the flour, baking powder, and salt.

in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until creamy and smooth. gradually add the sugar, beating continuously on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (this will take about 5 minutes). scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. after about five minutes the batter should be light in color and fluffy in texture. then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. you will notice that the batter will look curdled. don't worry as the batter will come together again after you add the flour mixture. add the vanilla and lemon zest, if using, and beat until incorporated.

add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

bake for about 50-60 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. remove the cake from the pan and cool completely. serve warm or at room temperature.

will keep several days well wrapped or it can be frozen for a month.

• • • • • • •

¹ to make your own superfine sugar - place 1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar in the bowl of your food processor. Process until very fine, about 30 seconds.

lemon - condensed pound cake

this was my second pound cake. my first was the condensed pound cake i got from simply anne's. i added lemon zest to my batter and the result was much better. i can really taste the lemon and the lemony kick was nice for my taste bud. the last pound cake i baked, i used loaf pan and this time i used my round cake pan and sprinkled some powdered sugar on top (i even made a pattern for a design).

you can view her recipe here.

ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1-1/3 cups cake flour¹
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk²
3 large eggs
1 tbsp. lemon zest

procedure:
preheat oven to 325°F. butter and line a 8-inch cake pan and set aside.

sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

in a bowl beat butter and white sugar until light and fluffy about 2 minutes. add condensed milk and vanilla beat until well incorporated.

add the sifted dry ingredients and beat until no traces of flour remains. add the lemon zest.

beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl after each additions.

transfer batter into the prepared pan. bake until the top is dark golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

cool, sprinkle top with powdered sugar... and slice.

• • • • • • •

¹ since i didn't have cake flour, i substituted it with cornstarch and all-purpose flour. (in 1 cup measuring cup, i placed 1 tbsp. cornstarch and then fill it with all-purpose flour to make 1 cup cake flour.)

² condensed milk was used as the primary sweetener thereby resulting in a buttery cake rich in texture. it added richness to the cake but not at all sweet. (from simply anne's)

condensed milk pound cake

i was blog hopping yesterday and i stumbled on this wonderful foodblog simply anne's. as i was scanning her recipes, i came to this dish that's also simple to make and the ingredients are in my kitchen. after making the roast pork belly that night, i made this one and i'm so happy with the result.

surely, i'll be making this more often... just something for a snack and for k's office snack and m's school snack.

you can view the recipe here. i just made some adjustments.

ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1-1/3 cups cake flour¹
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk²
3 large eggs

procedure:
preheat oven to 325°F. butter an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan and set aside.

sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

in a bowl beat butter and white sugar until light and fluffy about 2 minutes. add condensed milk and vanilla beat until well incorporated.

add the sifted dry ingredients and beat until no traces of flour remains.

beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl after each additions.

transfer batter into the prepared pan. bake until the top is dark golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

cool and slice.

• • • • • • •

¹ since i didn't have cake flour, i substituted it with cornstarch and all-purpose flour. (in 1 cup measuring cup, i placed 1 tbsp. cornstarch and then fill it with all-purpose flour to make 1 cup cake flour.)

² condensed milk was used as the primary sweetener thereby resulting in a buttery cake rich in texture. it added richness to the cake but not at all sweet. (from simply anne's)

egg custard cake

i wanted to give a thank you present to our friends who came over last weekend for the lechon night and gave us a surprised baby shower. i told kim i'll make cookies but he said to think of something else. okay... i'll make custard cake then... and so i did.

the first batch came out a bit bitter but the second batch came out just right. since i don't want to give them the bitter one, i decided to divide the second batch into six. i just hope they're able to taste it well since it's a bit smaller... and i hope they like it, too.

this was the second batch

here's a slice that i gave to them (the container's too big... hehehe...)

thanks to ms. connie of pinoycook for the recipe. and once again thank you to her for the step-by-step instruction, it's really a great help. you can view the step-by-step recipe here for caramelizing the sugar and here for the custard cake recipe but i'll still post it here for my record.

for the caramel
how to caramelize sugar:
there are only two things you need for caramelizing sugar — water and sugar. the ratio between water and sugar depends on how thin or how thick you want the resulting caramel to be. i know some cooks who simply melt sugar without any water but sugar burns too fast that way. (the caramel we are creating is of the consistency we need for glazing leche flan.)

first, place the sugar and water in a thick bottomed pan. for about half a cup of caramel, use 1 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Just place them in the pan — don’t stir.

turn the heat to high and bring the water and sugar to the boil without stirring. then, lower the heat to medium-high and continue boiling.

after about 8 minutes, the mixture will start to brown. if the mixture along the edges of the pan brown much faster, swirl the pan to even out the coloring.

continue boiling until the liquid is the color of amber.

the caramelized sugar is of perfect pouring consistency at this stage. use it at once. if you’re glazing leche flan with it, pour it into the mold immediately. caramelized sugar hardens fast — within a minute, you will no longer be able to pour it. you can’t keep it on the stove either, even over very low heat, because if you continue to subject it to heat, it will go on cooking and turn dark. and a few seconds after that? that’s called burnt sugar already.

for the custard cake
note: for best results, all the ingredients, the eggs and milk in particular, must be at room temperature.

ingredients:
for the custard :
6 eggs (yolks and whites)
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup skim milk (the ready-to-drink kind)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp. of finely grated lemon rind

for the cake :
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup minus 1 tbsp. of white sugar
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp. of baking powder
1/4 cup skim milk
3 egg whites
1/4 cup minus 1 tbsp. of white sugar (no, this is not a typo — you need two measures of the same amount of sugar)

procedure:
place all the ingredients for the custard in a bowl.

mix until the sugar is completely dissolved. do not beat as you do not want air bubbles in the mixture.

place a strainer (you can use a piece of muslin) over the baking pan and pour in the custard mixture.

sift together the cake flour and baking powder.

place the 1/4 cup minus 1 tbsp. of sugar and egg yolks in a bowl.

beat until smooth and lemon colored.

add the flour mixture and milk alternately, mixing after each addition.

after all the flour and milk have been added, mix until the batter is smooth.

in another bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. add the second 1/4 cup minus 1 tbsp. of sugar little by little while beating continuously. Continue beating until the egg white mixture is stiff.

now you mix the egg yolk and egg white mixtures together. remember that the reason you beat the egg white to stiff peaks is to create all those tiny air bubbles. it is these bubbles that will give volume and the light texture to your cake. work carefully so as not to break them.

add half of the egg white mixture to the egg yolk mixture and, using a rubber scraper and the cut and fold technique, blend the two mixtures together. remember to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

then, add this blended mixture to the remaining half of the egg white mixture, and continue cutting and folding until the mixture is well blended and the color is even. again, remember to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. no streaks of white nor yellow should be visible.

pour the cake batter over the custard. unless you overworked the mixtures and the tiny bubble burst, the cake batter should float on the custard.

using a spatula, smoothen the top of the batter carefully. it doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth. this is an upside-down cake and so the top becomes the bottom, and out of view, when you serve the cake. just make sure that all the sides are sealed with the cake batter so that the custard does not boil over it during baking.

place the cake pan in a larger pan half-filled with hot (not boiling) water. bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 50 minutes to an hour. after 50 minutes, insert a toothpick at the center of the cake. if it comes out clean, the cake is done. if not, bake a few minutes longer, testing every five minutes or so.

after the cakes been cooked, the top should be nicely browned. it’s tempting to invert and serve the cake at this point — but don't! the custard is still soft and you’ll ruin the cake if you try and serve it at this stage. completely cool the cake. place it on the counter with a screen cover. after an hour or two, you can continue cooling it in the fridge if you’re really in a hurry to serve it.

when the cake has cooled, take a plate that can hold the cake and place it upside down on top of the baking pan. with one hand under the baking pan and the other hand on top of the plate, invert the cake onto the plate. i advise you to do this over the sink because there is always a chance that the caramel will spill. i so love this recipe and i'll surely bake this after giving birth (not now since i'm watching my sugar intake... hehehe...). thanks to ms. connie for sharing such wonderful recipes.xoxo

my first birthday cake attempt...

it's frema's birthday this coming sunday (feb.22) and i wanted to bake her a cake. they invited us to a small gathering at pizza hut with aying and jayson, so i decided to bake the cake today and give to her tomorrow.

i don't know what to do since it's my first time and i didn't have any cake decoration training except for the cooking/baking show i watched on pinoy tv here in uae. that's just it. this is a challenge for me. but everyone always have a first time and this is mine...

i used ready cake mix, cream cheese frosting with sprinkles, and strawberry jam for the filling. i have a small bread knife and that's the reason behind the crooked cutting of the cake in half. the cake is also a bit soft and the frosting is a bit tough but manageable, that's why i had a hard time covering the cake with the frosting because the cake tends to break everytime i spread the frosting too hard. instead of just sprinkling with sprinkles, i decided to cover the cake with sprinkles to hide the imperfect frosting (as you can see, it's really uneven). using the same cream cheese frosting, i used for the text. i chilled it before meeting up with them and placed it in a cake box i bought at daiso.

that's it... really needs improvement huh? hahaha...

happy birthday frem... hope you'll eat this. hahaha... :p

strawberry streusel cake

category: dessert
serving: makes 6-8 slices

after how many months of not cooking or baking, here's my first dish/cake for 2009.

i was supposed to do this yeasterday but we were invited by friends to a pictnic at the park. today i just had the desire to do it and i'm uber glad that the result is simply perfect. what she said of this recipe when she baked it herself was true... "the cake is soft, smooth and moist, and the the streusel topping, crunchy".

i'd like to thank ms. connie veneracion for posting this strawberry streusel cake recipe on here foodblog. i'm a fan of hers... she's not a chef but she's a great cook. i hope my cooking and baking mojo returns with this successful cake.

ingredients:
for the cake:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, allowed to soften at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup fresh milk
200 gm. fresh strawberry, stems removed and choped

for the streusel topping:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. powdered cinnamon
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into very small cubes

procedure:
do the cake:
place the butter in a large mixing bowl. take the wrapping and rub the remaining butter on the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan.

mix the flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl and stir to combine.

beat the butter with a wire whisk. add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light in texture. add the egg and beat until well incorporated (no egg steaks remain visible). add the flour and milk, alternately and in batches, to the butter-sugar mixture, starting and ending with the flour.

the batter will be thick. you have to scrape it off the mixing bowl to spread it on the springform pan. set aside.

do the streusel topping:
mix the ingredients for the streusel topping together in a mixing bowl until the texture resembles coarse crumbs. you can either mix it using your hand, a fork, or a wire whisk.

scatter the chopped strawberries on op of the cake. then add the streusel topping, filling the gaps between the strawberry pieces and making sure that no cake batter remains visible.

bake in a preheated 170ºc oven for 55 minutes.

test the cake for doneness by inserting a sharp thin knife or a toothpick at the center of the cake. if it comes out clean then it is done. however, in this recipe it's a little hard to do because the first and last thing that your knife or toothpick will hit will likely be a piece of a very wet strawberry which will leave a trace on the knife or toothpick. so, look closely and try to determin whether the smudge is uncooked cake batter or strawberry.

cool the cake in the pan for about half an hour. you may have to use a knife or spatula to loosen the sides cake from the pan.

this strawberry streusel cake is best served while warm but it is still great after resting overnight on the kitchen counter.