Molten Lava Cake

Afnan looooves lava cake.
The easiest one to get is from Dominos Pizza.
But the cake alone is close to RM9.
(Kedekut pulak.. padahal my tall latte costs more than that.. haha)
Anyway, inspired by the recent Masterchef episode recently (no, not the Malaysian version), I decided to try my hand at this. I mean, it only needs 5 ingredients.
It doesn’t need a mixer. And since today Unaisah behaves well (she’s the new addition to the family), I had time.
And succeedeed!! Yeay.. so gave me a reason, purpose to blog… Hahahahaha

Here’s the recipe that I tweaked from here.
(i cut the recipe to one egg).

Molten Lava Cake

2oz of dark chocolate (or any old cooking choc)
2 oz butter
—-
Melt the chocolate over double boiler then add the butter
Put aside to cool

1 egg
20g sugar
——
Beat these till bubbly and slight foamy.
Add in the chocolate mixture.

10g flour
—–
Blend into the chocolate mixture.

2 medium size Rameskin
—–
Grease and flour the rameskin and pour chocolate mixture into rameskin.
This mixture is enough for two medium rameskin.
Since mine was smaller, it fitted into 3 small rameskin (just enuff for Sorfina, Afnan and I).

Bake in preheated oven for 10mins (15 mins max, else you wouldnt get that lava ooey goeey stuff. Maybe less for smaller rameskin). My oven was set to 180ºC. This slightly higher than the usual temperature I use to bake cakes. What you want is the outer to cook quickly, but the inside stays liquid.

So, there. Little ingredients. Little time. Minimum effort.
But a whole lot of deliciousness…
Sorry no pics though.

ps: what i love about the recipe is that it is easy to remember. Here’s my train of thought:
1 egg
Double oz choc = 2oz
Butter same as choc = 2oz
Sugar in gram, but same as above. 20g
Last, flour, half of sugar. 10g.
Easy, no?

Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake, My Version

Remember I once (or twice) blogged about red velvet cake? There are so recipes out there.
But nothing really fits my tastebuds. Until, my birthday last year. Everyone said Anis’ cake was the best.
And I can’t agree less… It’s moist, it’s has that balanced taste of tanginess and cocoa.
But it was on the sweeter side for me. So I decided to try that recipe and altered it according to my taste.
And so, this is what I ended up with:

And little note before we start:

1. This version is a recipe that I altered from Rima’s blog.
2. For this recipe, I separated the egg whites from the yolk, an idea I got from the book, the Undomestic Goddes by Sophie Kinsella. I like the outcome of cakes from this technique as cakes become from fluffy and less dense. But some people prefer rich and dense cake (especially butter cake), so you may not want to use this technique. Or if you’re a LB like me, can just dump the single egg at one go like the original recipe.
3. It is best to use a mixer with a power of 250watt above, so that you don’t have to whip you egg whites forever to achieve the desired result.
4. I prefer to add color to the yogurt / buttermilk because it is less messy.
5. I’ve converted the measurements to metric so that I aim to get the same result everytime. But it’s ok if you want to stick to cups/spoons for quick and easy measure (like the original recipe).
6. This is just the recipe for the cake, not inclusive of the frosting/icing (typically me).

Enough ramblings, here ist the recipe:

Part A
113g / 4oz flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (skip if using salted butter)
1 tbsp (about 3g or so) cocoa powder
——————
Sift and set aside

Part B
1 plain yoghurt (1/2 cup) (or buttermilk: 1/2 milk + 1 tsp vinegar)
1 tbsp red coloring
——————
Mix well, set aside

Part C
1 egg white
——————
Beat till stiff, set aside

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part D
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp vanilla
2 oz butter
100g / 3.6 oz sugar
——————
Beat butter and sugar till soft and fluffy (basically the coarse sugar)
Add in the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until well mixed.

Add in 1/3 of the flour mixture (Part A)
Mix well.
Aid 1/2 of the yoghurt mixture (Part B)
Mix well.
Repeat (A, then B) until for remaining mixture.

Fold in the white egg mixture (Part C) just till combined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part E
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vinegar
——————
Mix the baking soda and vinegar and with all that fizz, pour in to the cake batter.
Mix well.

Bake for 35- 40 mins for an 8×8 pan.
Or 20 mins for cupcakes.

3 Cake Recipes to Share

Here are my top three favorite cake recipes because it’s easy. I’m such a lazy baker that I only do easy cakes. And more often than not, they are the stir and bake type. What’s that? Well, for S&B cakes, (if the term is correct), you just dump all the ingredients in a bowl and stir, then you bake and done. So here are the recipes:

1. Easiest Cheesecake

Before Baking

The Oreo Bottom

Baked.. all the m&m's color had ran out

 

I got this from the Internet, as I was looking for a quick and easy cheesecake to whip. But unfortunately, I totally forgotten the source. So sorry.. x dapat bagi credits.

Ingredients: Oreo Biscuits, 250g cream cheese, 1 egg, 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla essence, chocolate chips.

Method:

• Put half of an oreo biscuit in a baking cup (for cupcakes).
• Mix cream cheese and sugar till white and fluffy.
• Beat in egg and vanilla.
• Pour the mixture into the cups filled with oreo, sprinkle some chocolate chips* and bake for about 20-25 minutes.
  *Alternatively, you can top with blueberries or any other topping.
• The cake is best eaten when cooled and chilled overnight.

2. Carrot Cake

The Carrot Cake in Cups

I got this recipe from youtube. But I altered it a little bit, reducing the sugar and replacing pecan with walnuts.

Ingredients: 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs, 1 1/2 cup of oil, 2 tsp vanilla essence, 1 cup of chopped walnut, 1 cup of raisins, 3 cups of grated carrot

Method:

• Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Combine in sugar.
• Mix the dry ingredients with eggs, one by one.
• Pour in the vanilla essence and the oils. And stir.
• Fold in the chopped walnut and raisins, and lastly fold in the carrot.
• Pour into a baking pan and bake for about 30 – 40 minutes.
• Cake is best eaten with a cream cheese topping. (Which I am so lazy to prepare, as usual).

3. Easiest, Tastiest Chocolate Cake

chocolate cupcake

Inspired by Anna from Bake-Freshly

This recipe was passed down to me by my mother. She gave it to me when I was in search for the yummiest chocolate cake recipe. I was considering whether or not to share this, but I thought, what the heck.. if I don’t, the internet is so full of it, anyway. What have I got to lose. As if I’m on cake business pon. If people make money out of this recipe, Alhamdullillah for them. Adalah “share” aku dalam menambah rezeki orang.

Anyway, what I love about this recipe is that, not just that it’s easy.. but it’s also flexible. Eh, panjang, nanti entry lain, saya cerita pasal recipe ni. So, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients: 1 cup superfine flour (I’ve tried ordinary, superfine tastes better), 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 cup cocoa powder (use the better brand to guarantee a chocolicious cake), 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 egg, 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup evaporated milk, 1/2 cup boiling water (must be boiling, ya).

Method:

• Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder.
• Pour in the sugar and salt.
• Pour in all the wet ingredients (egg, oil and milk) except boiling water and stir.
• When everything is evenly mixed, pour in the boiling bit by bit and stir until all the water have been mixed.
• You should have a flowy mixture.
• Pour into a baking pan (I use and 6″ round pan) and bake for about 40 minutes.
• Cake is best eaten with a chocolate topping or ganache.

So, happy baking and all the best!

4 Occassions that called for Cakes

1. Birthday Saya – 2 Jun 2007

These cupcakes were ordered by my officemate, Radin for my birthday, because I made him, from de`HearT Cupcakes. The cakes were delicious. Thank you to Radin, tahun ni belanja lagi eh…

2. My Daughter’s Birthday – 16 November 2007

Sorfina’s third birthday was on 16 November 2007. However, being the bad mommy, I ordered the cake a little bit too late. So, the baker could only take my order on the 19th November 2007. So, the little girl had her celebration at school on the 20th November 2007. Sorry, dear… this year mommy will do better, ya? Anyway, this wonderful cake was done by Kak Noresh from Baking With Passion. Sedap. Her brownies are wonderful as well. I brought to the office, my officemates mintak nombor phone nak order.

3. My Youngest Sister’s Birthday – 19 March 2008

 

My youngest sister’s 17th birthday was on Wednesday, 19 March 2008. Since I didn’t get her anything, I ordered these cupcakes for her, a change from the usual Secret Recipe cakes. Thanks to the good people from OnePieceBakery in Seremban, the birthday girl was so happy. So were my kids. Excited! My other sister, dah request for her birthday in August pulak. The cakes were blueberry flavored. Nice.. different from the usual chocolate, kan. Thanks to Fazla and Hajar for taking my order, even though last minute. Expect more from me!

4. Last, my sister being home – Last weekend.

These were baked, topped and glazed by yours truly. Hari tu, my sister in JB was home for my mother’s birthday. I wanted to bake some cupcakes for the occasion. Unfortunately, my cute oven was too small to fit in the cupcake tray. So, I baked the cake in a square pan, later cut it into small squares, and put them in cups. Put some chocolate topping and conteng. Horrible, I know. Tapi sedap.. heheh. At least, adalah something for her to nibble while driving to Pasir Gudang. And no, yours truly tak ambik order. 🙂