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.

chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chips & almond toppings

same thing with the vanilla cupcake, this entry has been on my hard drive for months now… i was not able to post them here. so, here it is, a simple ready-mix cake that I’ve only added some chocolate chips and almonds for toppings.

m as well as k enjoyed it.

ingredients:
485 g. cake mix
275 ml. water*
60ml. vegetable oil
3 eggs
butter for greasing
flour for dusting
24 cupcake paper
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup almond flakes

procedure:
preheat oven to 180°c .grease cupcake mold lightly with butter and lightly flour before putting the cupcake paper.beat cake mix with water, vegetable oil and eggs in a large bowl until moistened. pour into cupcake molds halfway only (since the cake will rise as it is cooked).

top with either chocolate chips or almond flakes.

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.

• • • • • • •

* instead of water, you can use fresh milk.

vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting

just had to post this entry. i had this since late last year on my hard drive and i thought i have posted this already but not. i made this as a gift to a friend whose daughter was celebrating her 3rd birthday and they invited me and m. i was not able to buy a gift, that’s why i just baked some cupcakes for her.

i got this recipe from ms. connie of pinoycook and i was happy to try it. easy and yummy.

makes 14 large cupcakes.

for vanilla cupcake:
ingredients:
3/4 c. of butter, softened
1-2/3 c. of white sugar
2 large eggs
2-2/3 c. of all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsps. of baking powder
1/4 tsp. of salt
3/4 cup + 2 tbsps. of skim milk
2 tsps. of vanilla extract

procedure:
in a bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.

in another bowl, stir together the milk and vanilla extract.

in a large bowl, beat the butter (with a wire whisk or a hand mixer) until light and fluffy. add

the sugar and continue beating until well combined. add the eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.

add the flour and milk in batches to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the flour.

spoon into paper-lined cupcake pans to about 3/4 full.

bake in a preheated 350F oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

cool the cupcakes before frosting.

for the cream cheese frosting:
ingredients:
1 225 g. block of butter
1 255 g. block of cream cheese
2 tbsps. of vanilla extract
4 cups of confectioner’s (powdered) sugar

procedure:
in a bowl, beat the butter until light. add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. stir in the vanilla extract. add the confectioner’s sugar, a cup at a time, until a smooth paste is formed. add a few drops of food color if you like. pipe on cooled cupcakes and top with your favorite sprinkles.
you can also use this cream cheese frosting for your chocolate cupcakes.

puto (steamed rice cake)

i saw this recipe for a puto and since i have rice flour in the kitchen i decided to give it a try. i got it here from cafe munchkin. this is a puto you would want to pair with a chocolate drink. i didn't know what went wrong with my recipe because the puto came out very crumbly but it really tasted like the puto though. however, i still prefer the previous puto i've made, the puto cheese.

ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 400ml can (approximately 2 cups) coconut milk

procedure:
sift all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. then add the coconut milk and blend well until smooth.

fill greased puto/muffin molds 2/3 full.

steam for 30 minutes and test for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center of the puto. the putos are done when the toothpick comes out clean.

corn muffin

second attempt in baking muffins. still not satisfied with the result and still no high peaks or breaking top even. huhuhu... i'll rest for a while in baking muffins. can somebody help me out here? tnx... :p

i got the recipe here.

ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk
shredded corn from 2 cobs¹

procedure:
shred the corn using a sharp knife. don’t cut too close to the cob. you can scrape off what you can’t cut.

place the softened butter, sugar, honey and eggs in a large mixing bowl. beat with a wire whisk (you can use a hand mixer but it really isn’t necessary) until smooth.

add the flour, baking powder, salt and yellow cornmeal. mix together, pouring in the milk as you do.

when the batter is smooth, add the shredded corn and fold in.

bake in a preheated 180°C oven for 25 minutes.

• • • • • • •

¹ i used canned corn kernels. i just drained it well.

first muffin

not really satisfied with the result but i still intend to bake muffin the next time. i found the recipe at manang's foodblog with some tips on how to achieve muffins with high peaks. i tried to follow it but i obviously failed since i was not able to achieve that high peaks. i don’t know exactly where i went wrong (mmmmm... maybe the oven temperature?) and my muffin’s a bit tough the next day. since it was my first time to bake muffin, i just used the basic muffin recipe manang posted. next time, i’ll try the ones with fruits or variations.

even if it’s a failure, it’s still edible and k still ate it and brought some in the office for his coffee break (he has to, or else i will have to eat it all... hahaha...)

you can view the recipe here but i'm posting it here also. she got the recipe from KAF.
yield: 12 muffins, 24 mini-muffins, or six "crown" muffins.

ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil or softened butter (optional)¹
2 large eggs

procedure:
preheat your oven to 500°F.

blend together the dry ingredients as long and as vigorously as you want. if you use a little whole wheat flour in your mixture, it's easy to tell when everything is thoroughly mixed.

beat the liquid ingredients together -- milk, oil or butter, and eggs -- until they are light. if you have a 2-cup liquid measure (one with a lip above the 2-cup mark) it makes mixing the liquid ingredients very easy. most eggbeaters will fit right in the cup, so you can use it both as a measure, and as a small mixing bowl.

pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. take a fork or wire whisk and blend the two for 20 seconds -- no more! the secret to light and tender muffins lies in this final blending. it's ok if you've left some lumps that look as if they want more stirring; they really don't. so, no matter how hard it is, resist the impulse.

fill cups of a lightly greased muffin tin two-thirds to three-quarters full. place muffins in the oven and immediately drop temperature to 400°F². bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until muffins test done.

• • • • • •

¹ if you leave the oil out, you can reduce the calories in your muffins by about 30%; the flavor will still be excellent, but muffins won't be quite as tender, and won't keep as well should you happen to have any left over.

² when you put muffins in a very hot oven and immediately drop the temperature, you help create the high peaks that make them so appealing.

mammon (filipino sponge cake)

i saw this recipe in a foodblog i just recently visited. and it reminds me of the mammon that i always wanted to buy in goldilocks bakeshop in philippines.

i tried it right away since the recipe just called for simple ingredients available in my kitchen. i was super glad with the result... it may not equal that of the goldilocks but it tastes real mammon. hehehe...

so now, everytime i'll crave for mammon, i'll just bake it myself and we'll indilge a week of mammon at home. i even packed it for kim's office snacks and makuy's school snacks.

you can view the recipe here from simply anne's food blog.

ingredients:
A-
8 eggyolks ( size B )*
1/2 cup fine caster sugar**
1/3 cup UHT milk***

B-
1-3/4 cups sifted cake flour****
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp lemon rind

C-
8 eggwhites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar*****
3/4 cup caster sugar**

procedure:
beat egg yolks till lemon colour. slowly add sugar. continue to beat till pale yellow.

add milk slowly beating till almost white at low speed add dry ingredients (B) alternating with butter. add lemon rind. set aside.

in a separate bowl beat (C) till stiff but not dry. fold 1/3 of the eggwhites to the egg yolk mixture to lighten it. fold the rest of the eggwhites.

pour into moulds. bake at 180°C for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

brush with butter, top with sugar and grated cheese.

• • • • • • •

* i used large eggs.

** didn't have caster sugar. i just used granulated sugar.

*** i used evaporated milk.

**** to make 1 cup cake flour: in a cup measuring cup, i place 1 tbsp. cornstarch then filled with all-purpose flour.

***** didn't have cream of tartar. i just substituted it with same amount of lemon juice (or same amount of vinegar).

nutella cupcakes

aying called me just this morning informing me that we'll have dinner at awing's house tonight. awing's cooking a surprised baby shower for his wife resil. i wanted to bring something, a contribution, i looked for whats available in the kitchen and some recipes in my stack. the easiest was this self-frosting nutella cupcake. i was supposed to prepare this for this coming weekend with friends here at home. i'll have to think of some other dish to prepare by then.

makuy definitely likes it but these was for awing and resil. i will bake some for him since i still have nutella left.

i got this recipe from ms. connie of pinoycook. you can get the recipe here with step-by-step instruction (yes... she's so kind to show us how to do it step-by-step, so it's easier for us to follow, right?) hehehe... anyway, i'll post the exact recipe here but if you want to see the step-by-step instruction, do visit her foodblog.

ingredients:
140 gm. butter (that’s a little less than 2/3 cup), softened to room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
9-12 (depending on the size of your cupcake pan) heaping tsps. of Nutella

procedure:
preheat the oven to 325oF.

first, you need to have all your ingredients at room temperature, including the eggs and the nutella.

sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. set aside.

place the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl.

with a wire whisk or a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together.

just keep beating until the mixture is light and creamy.

add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

add the flour mixture and mix.

the mixture may appear lumpy at first but keep right on mixing until you have a smooth batter. note that the batter will be heavy and hardly pourable.

meanwhile, line the muffin pan with paper cups.

use an ice cream scoop (very practical) to fill the pans until about 3/4 full.

top with a heaping teaspoonful of nutella.

take a toothpick, dip into the unbaked cupcake until the tip hits the bottom of the pan. using a scooping motion, swirl the nutella with the batter so that some of the batter comes up on top of the nutella.

bake in a preheated 325oF oven for exactly 20 minutes. serve warm or cooled.

carrot cupcake

category: dessert
serving: 9 cupcakes

another pinoycook inspired dessert. this was based on ms. connie's carrot cupcake entry. i'm inclined on baking now a days and so far i get good results. i hope this would continue since i'm still beginning and still learning how to bake properly. hehehe... however, i only taste what i bake and my family's the ones eating them all and some we give to our close friends.

ms. connie's recipe calls for walnuts and since i couldn't find walnuts in store here i decided to use sliced almonds. i think it was still okay.



ingredients:
1-1/2 cup grated carrots (don’t squeeze out the juice)
1/2 cup muscovado sugar
3/4 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
2 eggs
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsps. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
1 cup almond flakes

procedure:
preheat the oven to 375oF.

in a bowl, mix the grated carrots with the muscovado sugar. set aside.

in another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

in a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until light. add the sugar and mix well. pour in the vegetable oil, mixing as you pour. add the crushed pineapples and vanilla essence. Stir to blend.

add the flour mixture and almond flakes. mix until blended.

spoon into paper-lined cupcake/muffin pans until three-fourths full. bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.

cool on wire rack for a few minutes.

dark chocolate moist cupcake

category: dessert
servings: makes 24 cupcakes

two months ago... i bought a pack of moist dark chocolate cake mix. i wanted to try our new oven; unfortunately i was hesitant since i had no idea how to use the oven and i didn't even understand the manual. hahaha... :0.... until now... i had gathered some guts to try it. i found out how the oven works, including the temperature thing. hahaha... :0 i read the manual... hahaha... :0 i don't even have to buy an oven thermometer but maybe i'd still buy one in the future.

quite an adventure really. my 1-6 molds pan fell inside the heated oven! yikes! first time to bake and my oven got dirty! sigh... i had to turn off the oven and took the grill and burner cover out and clean the oven burner. it would have been easier to clean had i not took out the dripping pan... sigh... :x so, i lost 6 cupcakes...

nevermind as long as i was successful in baking my dark chocolate moist cupcake... ready mix that is. the next time i'll bake again (this week if i won't get lazy), i'll try miss connie veneracion's vanilla cupcake. mmm... can't wait.



ingredients:
485 g. cake mix
275 ml. water
60ml. vegetable oil
3 eggs
butter for greasing
flour for dusting
24 cupcake paper

directions:
preheat oven to 180°c .grease cupcake mold lightly with butter and lightly flour before putting the cupcake paper.

beat cake mix with water, vegetable oil and eggs in a large bowl until moistened. pour into 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.

you can either frost it with icing or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

- - - - - - -

makuy really enjoyed eating the cupcakes... he ate so many! good thing is, i reserved some for his school snacks tomorrow though... and i had this small chiffon mold, so, i used them also... i'll give them to aying-jayson and frema-doming... for donna, 1 cupcake.

xoxo