Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

If you have seen my last post, I did a cake with cream cheese frosting for my little one's birthday. Followed the original recipe's measurements and came out with extra cream cheese frosting. So I was having a headache thinking of what I can do with the cream cheese frosting and I made some dark chocolate drink (bought from Value Shop) to help me think when an idea hit me - combine the dark chocolate mix and cream cheese frosting and make cupcakes!

Results - a yummy and rich cupcake that is not too sweet that is soft on the inside. (Pardon me on the ugly looking cupcakes though, did this in a rush before sending little one to school.)

Best thing, my leftover cream cheese frosting gets "recycled" and don't go to waste. :)

Here's the recipe...

Dark Chocolate and Cream Cheese Cupcakes (makes 6 cupcakes)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (plain flour also ok)
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 packet of dark chocolate drink mix
1/2 cup cream cheese frosting


Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 180 Degree Celcius. Line a 6-pc muffin pan with papper muffin cups.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and dark chocolate mix together.

Make a well in the centre and add egg, oil and milk and mix until well incorporated.

Add in the cream cheese frosting and mix well.

Scoop the mixture into the muffin cups and bake for 15 mins or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

This is a very simple recipe and I hope you will enjoy it. I am contemplating to try this again using steam method, but that will be another post.

Happy baking!

40 mins Spicy Tuna Mayo Buns

It is a ritual for me to go onto Facebook everyday to browse through dishes done by others and salivate. It is to the point that the hub has begun asking "So what's new today?" or "What's the latest food craze" But the hub and the in-law has commented that I have started to experiment more on food recently (Which I think the hub is secretly happy cos I'm not doing net-shopping as often as before.)

So recently the craze was to do bread and in fact a 40-min bread. Unbelievable as it seems, I began seeing posts by posts of others trying out the recipe. Is it really workable? I ask myself. So I went out to buy the ingredients and started doing it one late night after the kids were asleep. Turn out, the bread were fantastically easy to make and soft even on the next day! The hub and the kids loved the bread and asked me to do more the next time.

That made my day.

To make this wonderful and easy bread, here's the recipe.

40 mins spicy tuna mayo buns (Makes 9 - 12 buns)
Recipe adapted from Domestic Goddess Wannabe

1 cup plus 2 tbsp (280ml) warm water or milk
1/3 cup (83 ml) oil
2 tbsp (16g) instant yeast or active dry yeast
1/4 cup (56.25g) sugar (I used raw granulated sugar)
1 1/2 tsp (9g) salt
1 egg
3 1/2 cup (476g) bread flour
1 can of spicy tuna mayo

Directions

Heat oven to 220 degree Celsius.

In your mixer bowl combine the water, oil, yeast and sugar and allow to rest for 15 mins. Using your dough hook, mix in the salt, egg and flour.

Knead with hook until all incorporated and dough is soft and smooth. This will take a few minutes. The dough will be sticky.

Oil your hands and transfer the dough to your oiled workstation and knead it one to two times and it will become easy to shape. If the dough is too wet, add a little flour and knead a few more times.

Form dough into 9 - 12 balls (Depending on how big a bun you want). Flatten each ball with a rolling pin and add 1 tbsp of spicy tuna mayo and seal the dough. Place the buns in a greased  9 x 13 pan and allow to rest for 10 mins.

Glaze with egg wash . Bake for 10 - 12 mins or until golden brown.

Cheesy Hotdog French Toast Roll

Recently I started having the habit of browsing through the web and YouTube to search for recipes and ideas. It has become sort of a routine everyday for me after I drop my younger son at school. It was at one of the websites that i saw another French Toast recipe that is in roll form! Didn't think of that before so when my elder son woke up feeling hungry, I decided to give it a try, again with the ingredients that I have at home! Something to note here, I did mine savoury as my son prefers it that way, you can change to make it a sweet snack.

Turned out perfect and topped with maple syrup, my son wolfed it down in mins! ;)

This is a keeper for me, easy and yummy!

Here's the recipe...

Cheesy Hotdog French Toast Roll - Serves 2 - 3

6 slices of bread (of your choice)
2 eggs
6 cheese hotdogs, pre-soak with hot water
2 tbsp. milk
Black ground pepper (to taste)
2 tsp. mirin (optional)
salt (to taste)
grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tbsp. butter

Directions

Pre-soak the hotdogs in hot water for approx. 5 mins so that it can be "cooked" as the cooking time for the French toast roll will be rather short so if you skip this procedure, your hotdog will still be cold.

Remove the crust of all the slices of bread and flatten them with a rolling pin. If you do not have a rolling pin, you can use a bottle. I used my thermal flask but do remember to wrap your bread with cling wrap to keep them clean before you start rolling.

Place a hotdog on each slice and sprinkle some grated parmesan cheese. Can use any other cheese that you have.

Roll it tightly and place aside. Do the same for the rest of the bread.

In a deep dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, mirin, salt and pepper.

Heat the frying pan and add the butter, making sure that the pan is evenly greased.

Coat the bread with the egg mixture evenly and let the excess drip off. Place in frying pan.

Cook each side approx. 3 - 5 mins, making sure it is golden brown before flipping.

The French toast roll with be golden brown on all sides.

Served hot with maple syrup.

  

Bon Appetit!

Ham & Cheese French Toast

Saw the post from 365 days of Baking & More for Banana Nutella Stuffed French Toast and was itching to try out the recipe. However, didn't managed to buy any banana so I improvised the recipe with a couple of my kid's favourite ingredients - Ham & Cheese!

You can do it for breakfast or simply just as a snack. Drizzle with maple syrup or honey, this dish is a winner anytime with both adults and children!

Here's the recipe...

Ham & Cheese French Toast - serves 2 - 3

2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Approx. 3 tbsp. buttermilk
2 tbsp. flour
6 slices bread (you can use any bread you want, I used white or wholemeal bread most of the time)
3 slices of cheddar cheese
3 slices of picnic ham (thickly sliced)
butter or margarine spread for the bread
1/2 tbsp. butter

Directions

In a dish (preferably deep one), whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract.

Add in the flour and buttermilk and mix well.

Heat a frying pan using small to medium heat. (In my case, I use the Happycall pan so very little butter is needed. Please adjust according to the pan you are using)

Prepare the bread by spreading some butter or margarine on all 6 slices of the bread.

Place the cheese and ham each on 3 of the slices of bread and cover with the other 3 slices to make a sandwich. Gently press together.

Add some butter to the frying pan and spread it so that the surface area is covered.

Take one sandwich and dip it in the egg batter to a count of three. Gently turn over and do the same on the other side of the sandwich. Allow excess to drip off and place on the preheated pan.

Cook for 3 - 5 mins on one side, making sure it is golden brown before carefully flipping. (please adjust cooking time according to pan using)

Cook on the other side for another 3 - 5 mins.

French toast will be golden brown on both side, with the cheddar cheese melting inside.

Verdict by my son : Super!

Will be making this again and again!

Meanwhile, will be going to try the Banana Nutella Stuffed French Toast from 365 Days of Baking and More very soon!