Chewy Chocolate Brownies

Ok..so this doesn't look like a typical brownie (Usually rectangular). But I guarantee you, it definitely taste like one!

It's been some time since I updated my page. Actually, I have been baking very very frequently. Unfortunately, most of them are not particularly successful. =(

This particular bake is from taken from Happy Home Baking's blog. Since the first day I stumbled across her blog, I've been constantly fascinated with her posts and this one on chocolate brownie caught my eye. I always thought it would be difficult to bake it and so didn't do it till last saturday when my hubby was called away to serve the country. With extra time on my hands, I tried out her recipe and it was delicious!!!

As you can see, I overbaked it slightly as I was not sure of the baking time. I wanted to bake it exactly like hers but in the end, as I did not have the proper tin, I decided to use my 12-piece muffin pan. The edges were a little crumbly due to my overbaking, but the rest of the brownie was moist, extremely chewy and fudgy. Just the way I like it. =) When they are warmed and topped with vanilla ice cream, they are mad yummy! I will definitely bake this again SOON!!

Coffee Chiffon

Another Chiffon cake! I love chiffon cakes for it's light and airy texture, as well as the spring in each bite. =) This is a far more successful chiffon cake as compared to my Pandan Chiffon made about a week ago. Well, at least it didn't collapse in the oven! This recipe is taken from Small Small Baker's blog.

I find this recipe very interesting as it uses self-raising flour instead of the usual cake flour. According to Chef Judy whose class I attended, self-raising flour has a higher gluten level compared to cake flour and it also has baking powder added to it. Hence, if we overmix, there is a chance that the cake will be tough. I was thus a bit apprehensive about trying out this recipe as I always mix quite a bit. Haha.. In the end, as my MIL had 3 kg of self-raising flour given to her, I baked it, in an attempt to finish up the flour. The resulting cake is a very soft and tender cake! I am a coffee lover and like the slight bitter after taste given by the coffee. However, my hubby prefers the pandan flavour and I guess I will not be baking this flavour as often as I like.

Pandan Chiffon

My first successful (sort of) chiffon cake! Had quite a few major failures with my sponge and chiffon cakes and was sooo discouraged. =( Lucky for me there are a lot of really helpful people around such as HHB and her advice really helped me a lot. I was perfectly contented to continue baking chiffon in my round tin but HHB pointed out that the tube is the ensure that heat can be conducted properly. Hence, I took the plunge and bought the tin. =)

As you can see, it's not perfect yet, as the cake shrank slightly while in the oven, resulting in a cake with a slightly dense layer at the bottom. Well, I guess I'll try again. =)

The recipe I'm using is one which I got from a baking class I attended with Creative Culinaire. Their recipes really yield yummy cakes! I actually baked 1 after another cos the first one I baked was finished by my hubby and me right after it cooled. =)

My tin is a 6" tin so I scaled the entire recipe to 2/3 of the original recipe as shown below.

Ingredients (for a 7" chiffon tin and 6 cupcakes)

3 Egg Yolks

20g Sugar

Pinch of salt

20g Corn Oil

36g Coconut Milk

54g Cake flour, sifted

1/4 tsp pandan paste

3 Egg Whites

50g sugar

1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar

Method:

1. Mix egg yolks and 20g sugar.

2. Using a hand whisk, mix corn oil, coconut milk and pandan paste till well blended.

3. Add in sifted cake flour, mix till smooth but do not overmix.

4. Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar till foamy and slowly pour in the 50g sugar. Whisk till

stiff peak.

5. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the flour mixture to lighten it.

6. Fold in the remaining egg whites.

7. Scoop/pour the batter into chiffon tin till 2/3 full. Scoop the remaining batter into

cupcake/muffin liners.

8. Bake at 190 deg c for about 30 min or till cooked.