I can't believe I have so many cake recipes on this blog but not one for an actual frosted chocolate cake! This is one of the best chocolate cakes I've made- almost as good as lana cake's- with a super moist and fluffy cake interior and delicious thick, fudgy, goey, salted dark chocolate ganache. Good quality dark chocolate is really the key here, if you want a decadent chocolatey frosting, and I recommend anything about 50/60%, or something that suits your taste! I used a really good 70% dark cocoa for this one, complete with a generous sprinkle of fleur de sel.

I have to say I always tend to crave chocolate cakes- whenever I'm feeling down or moody I always feel like having some chocolate- like a really good chocolate bar or chocolate cookies or molten lava cake or deep dark chocolate cake. Like the chocolate has to be intense you know- it's a different kind of craving from a peanut butter and banana sandwich, though that will really benefit from a sprinkling of melty dark chocolate chips. Chocolate cake is one of my soul foods- and it's something I really cannot live without! Research shows that chocolate contains endorphins that make you feel better- but honestly I'll take any excuse to have my chocolate, whether good for me or not. 

I guess my food cravings has got something to do with my state of mind recently- I'm someone who eats when I'm stressed, and I take comfort in cookies after school: speculoos cookies dunked into a jar of crunchy peanut butter and a small packet of Danish butter cookies. Perhaps I'm tired- tired of working so hard everyday doing something I'm not quite passionate about, tired of stressing up over schoolwork and tests, tired of caring about my achievements and grades, tired of trying to please and impress other people, even as I find little satisfaction and liveliness in school days. Weekends are a little more productive though- with time spent with friends, family, baking, reading, and doing meaningful things. Taking a real break and really forgetting about all the midweek problems, and enjoying my time. Sometimes I do find it really difficult to take a break during school days- while I want to rest and all, I feel so guilty about not doing all I can and putting in my best effort for everything I do. It's a little difficult to really stop myself and know when enough is enough. I guess that needs a little practice- but I know that if I push myself too much right know I will only burst in time to come. 

So I'm going to take comfort in chocolate (who cares about calories) and all those things with chocolate in it, and really take time to enjoy these little things. 

180g butter/ vegetable oil 

150g sugar 

200g evaporated milk 

1/2 tsp vanilla 

2 eggs 

100g low protein flour 

50g cocoa powder 

1 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

Combine butter/oil, sugar and evaporated milk in a small saucepan over low heat, till melted. Mix in the eggs and vanilla, sift in the dry ingedients. 

Steam in a 7 or 8 inch round pan that has been greased and lined with parchment at the base, tops covered with aluminium foil, for 45 min.

100g chopped dark chocolate 

100g whipping cream 

Generous pinch of fleur de sel

Heat the whipping cream in a small saucepan till it just almosts boils. Pour over the chopped chocolate, leave to sit for 5-10 min before stirring together and adding a pinch of salt. Let cool before frosting the cake. 

Today I went for a volunteer appreciation lunch- I've been volunteering at this place for a couple of years (this would be my third year there), teaching kids life skills, helping them with their homework. Sometimes I think I'm as much of a kid as they are- innocent, altruistic, hopeful- and sometimes I really wonder how much of a difference I can make. But my 2 years + of experience has helped me grow in so many ways that even if my actions didn't make a big change, I'm still extremely grateful and happy! I've opened my eyes to so many things I never new existed- the number of people struggling to earn enough money for the family, single parent families, children from low income households who don't have enough to afford new clothes and toys, children who don't live in a safe environment, children who suffer, emotionally and physically, from the death of loved ones and who become withdrawn or extremely hyperactive. There are some children who experience so much more pain and exhaustion than most children their age- and it was saddening to see that so many of these things were happening right in front of my eyes and just right there and I couldn't do anything to help them. I guess we all have our limits in some way- there's only so much we can do to help, and only so much we can afford to give because we need to put our own lives together- but yet I can't help but feel we can only do more. 

If only if people really cared and really bothered to set aside a bit of their time for such causes. And only if more people did it because they wanted to - they truly wanted to help- and not because they wanted to build their portfolio. It bothers me and sometimes it really disgusts me when people do things just because they want to build up their portfolio. Pragmatically, I don't blame them. I just hope they find purpose in what they are doing and maybe their need to "build up their portfolio" leads them somewhere other than their life goal to be someone big and famous. I hope they find meaning in what they do and they do it with the heart to serve and not to gain from it. I hope they do it because they want to and not because they have to. I have to admit I started off because I needed to fulfill my hours- but I continued because I believed that I could bring purpose into my life and I believed that I could do something to make a change- even if I could have slept a few more hours every Saturday morning, spent that time baking or doing homework or going our with friends or lazing around, I chose to spend it with the children because I really cared. And I hope that one day others will care, too. They will care for these thousands of children out there, right here in our heartlands, and help them see how much more they can achieve for who they are and not limit them to their circumstances. I have to say I grew up in a very fortunate family and school where everyone seemed okay- I never really knew there were so many children who struggle to pass their primary school tests and exams, who cannot read and pronounce basic words at primary 6, just when I thought it was easy to get As and Bs in primary school, I realised that the people around me were just the lucky few who got things easy and so many other people got it hard. I really learnt to appreciate what I have and the help that I received. 

I could go on and on but I want to talk about my time spent with elderly. Honestly at first I thought I would've been able to get along with kids better- maybe because I just thought they were cute and adorable and easy to pacify- but I'm so glad I was given the opportunity to work with elderly, and although it's only been a couple of months, I think it's going to be a life changing experience for me. Basically I go for house visits to the elderly once a week and we talk to them- about their lives, their families, their friends, and they share, very openly, about their stories and experiences. I've really learnt a lot, listening to them share, or really just spending time with them, and there's really nothing more interesting than being in touch with the wealth of experience and knowledge they have gained through these years. And I've realised how important family is, especially when you're old and tired, family is what makes your life worth living- it's what makes you happy and makes your life fufilling. And a big, bonded, happy family is what never fails to bring a smile to your face. Old people, I've learnt, are just as adorable, or even more so, than children. And at this point in their life, what they really need is for people to be with them, to talk to them, to listen to them, to hear them, to respect them, to believe in them, to satisfy them, to make them happy. And life is just as simple as that- love, family, happiness, gratitude. 

500g (about 4 bananas), sliced into 1 inch pieces 

30g brown sugar 

30g bourbon/rum 

Cake 

375g wholewheat flour 

1 1/4 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

3/4 tsp salt 

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

3 eggs 

130g butter, melted 

160g milk 

1 tsp vanilla 

200g sourdough starter (100% hydration) 

30g cocoa powder 

Roast bananas + sugar + rum at 180 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes, stirring halfway, till caramelised. Let cool. 

Whisk together dry ingredients.

Mash bananas, combine with wet ingredients + sourdough starter still smooth. 

Fold in dry ingredients.

Combine half the batter with the cocoa powder. 

Grease and flour Bundt pan. Alternate layers of the batter, swirling with a knife. 

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius, 55-60 min. Drizzle with melted speculoos. 

Notes:

- used 1/3 recipe to fit my small Bundt pan, reduced baking time to 20-25 min 

- not very sweet: either use very ripe bananas on increase sweetness! 

It's been a month of ups and downs for me- I've been baking lots- mostly to test new recipes and to relieve some stress- and I've experimented with a couple of new flavours like yuzu and I'm thinking of new flavours and bakes that I'm so excited to share with you! There have been stressful moments, moments of doubt and worry, but also moments of excitement and joy that has called for celebration baking. Baking has also been my way of therapy- other than spending a lazy morning reading the newspapers and reading a book- it's my way of releasing energy and making me feel that the world is a better place. It feels good.

 

After leaving my sourdough starter in my fridge, dormant, for 2 weeks, I'm glad to say that he's still alive and bubbly after I've fed in the morning- matcha red bean bread proving away now! But for now I've got some pork floss cake to feast on. 

I know pork floss cake isn't something you would think of intuitively, unlike pork floss buns, but it actually is quite nice, especially when you pair it with a light, eggy cake that is not too sweet. I love this sort of cake- it's a little eggier and moister than a chiffon cake, and it has this distinctive light vanilla baked taste that I love so much. It's really just comfort cake- so, so good. 

Recipe from Victoria Bakes 

4 egg yolks 

50ml coconut oil 

60ml milk 

70g cake flour, sifted 

4 egg whites 

50g sugar 

A few handfuls of pork floss 

Line a 6 or 7 inch deep cake pan with parchment paper at the base. Do not grease the sides, do not use a non stick cake pan. 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 

In a mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks, coconut oil, and milk. Whisk in the cake flour until just incorporated but smooth. Set aside.

In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk egg whites until frothy, add the sugar gradually in three additions, and beat till egg whites are medium-stiff. 

Fold in the egg whites into the egg yolk batter in thirds. Fold until just combined. 

Pour half the cake batter into the prepared cake tin. Sprinkle over a generous layer of pork floss, then cover with the remaining cake batter. 

Bake for 40 min. After 7 min of baking, use a sharp knife to cut a cross on the surface of the cake. Cover with tin foil if the top browns too quickly. 

School has started for me! It's more or less a week of just meeting friends and settling in and trying not to lose my way in the huge campus. For me the part I look forward to most though is meeting up with friends I haven't seen for a while and really just being with the people I care about. It's comforting to know that there all people who would always be there for me in tough times and in good. 

Sometimes, though, it feels a little pointless to give so much and get nothing in return at the end. I help and do things that I'm not obliged to do- but yet sometimes I don't feel like I've done anything to help, or if anyone really appreciates it. Or if my presence would be missed if I weren't there. Perhaps good things will be repaid some other day, and maybe people will be notice someday. Have faith in yourself, and do what you feel is right. 

I'm leaving you with some comforting treats for a midday snack. They're delicious and super quick to make if you don't bother with Madeleine humps- these are just as good without chilling in the fridge. Eat these warm or dipped in dark chocolate- or simply with a cup of tea. 

You can get plenty of pandan chiffon cakes out there- they're quite cheap, and easy to please, (I mean who doesn't like the fragrance of pandan and coconut?) but there's nothing quite like the homemade stuff. My version is probably healthier than all those storebought versions- I make my own pandan juice and instead of using coconut milk (which is always a hassle for me because I have open one whole carton of coconut milk for just a few tablespoons in this cake) I use coconut oil, which I always seem to have on hand. 

Homemade pandan chiffon cake tastes better too. Feel free to reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe- it suits my taste perfectly, but try it out for yourself. Reduce the amount of sugar only on the yolks though, because you do need some sugar to whip up with the egg whites to achieve a stable meringue for your cake. If you prefer not to make your own pandan juice (I don't blame you, it's quite a hassle), you can use pandan paste/ extract and mix it up with some water. What I usually do, though. Is to make a huge batch of pandan juice and freeze it up in small bottles so that I've got pandan juice whenever I need it. 

Pandan Chiffon Cake 

7 egg yolks* 

40g sugar 

1/4 tsp salt 

4 tbsp coconut oil

4 tbsp pandan juice**

110g self raising flour OR 1 1/4 tsp baking powder + 105g cake flour 

7 egg whites 

130g sugar 

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. 

In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 40g sugar. Add in the salt, coconut oil and pandan juice, combine till smooth. 

Sift in the self raising flour, fold gently. 

In another large, clean bowl, whisk together the egg whites, adding in the 130g sugar gradually in 3 additions, till the egg whites form firm medium peaks. 

Fold the egg whites into the pandan batter one third a time, till no more white streaks remain. 

Pour batter into a large chiffon cake pan (not greased, not lined). Jiggle and tap on the counter to smoothen the top and remove large air bubbles. 

Bake for 50-60 minutes till evenly golden brown on top, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Invert immediately onto a wire rack to cool. Remove from tin once completely cool. 

* I usually have spare egg whites in the freezer from making custards and pie dough. I like using them in chiffon cakes, so I can use less whole eggs. For the 7 whole eggs, replace up to half the whole eggs with egg whites. For example, I'll use up to 3 egg whites and 4 whole eggs (4 egg whites + 4 egg yolks), which is a total of 7 egg whites and 4 egg yolks. The egg yolks do not change the texture of the cake too much, but do not change the number of egg whites used in this recipe! 

** To make your own pandan juice, you can put it through your juicer, or you can blend it with a splash of water and then strain to remove pulp. Try to make it as concentrated as possible so you get maximum pandan flavour in your cake! If you prefer not to make homemade pandan juice, you can replace it with 1 tsp or so of pandan paste and then 3 tbsp + 2 tsp of coconut milk/ milk/ water.

I love a good ol' pound cake. There's nothing like mixing a cake batter by hand- from creaming the butter and sugar with a whisk, adding in the eggs, vanilla, and then using a wooden spoon to stir in the dry ingredients. Once you're familiar with a basic pound cake method, you can go on to add whatever ingredients you like to make it your very own. And pound cakes are so easy to make you really don't need a stand mixer or hand held beaters to make them. You just need basic tools and good hands. 

The recipe I'm sharing with you today isn't the traditional pound cake recipe, where you would use equal amounts of butter, sugar, eggs and flour to create a dense, moist pound cake. The recipe I have here is from a Japanese cookbook- it yields a moist but not too dense pound cake, with a little bit of leavening to ensure you get enough rise in your cake. The original recipe used some matcha powder- I've swapped it out for genmatcha powder. Genmatcha is roasted brown rice green tea, which has a roasty, toasty flavour with a lot of depth and a slight bitterness from the green tea which I think pairs beautifully in a pound cake like this. Since genmatcha powder isn't quite commonly available, I've ground the genmatcha tea leaves by myself using a mortar and pestle (you could use a spice grinder or coffee grinder if you have one) and just pass it through the sieve to get rid of the large pieces. A couple of small lumps is perfectly fine, you just don't want to bite into a whole tea leaf when you're eating your pound cake, right? 

If you don't have genmatcha tea leaves or matcha powder, you could certainly swap it out with equal amounts of other teas you like- I think houjicha (roasted green tea) and walnuts would work beautiful here, but earl grey, chamomile, oolong and osmanthus would work beautifully too, I imagine. You might need to experiment with varying quantities of tea though, to suit your taste. And you could definetly leave out tea to put in whatever you fancy- vanilla, chocolate chip, citrus, berries etc. 

Oh and the trick to getting a beautiful crack on your pound cake? You help it crack. About 1/3 through its baking to use a knife to make a slit in the top of your cake, just deep enough to cut through the "skin" it has formed on top from baking. As the cake continues to bake, the cake batter from beneath will rise up to fill up and expand the slit so you get a beautiful rounded top. I feel this helps the cake to rise better too. I know some people don't like cracks on their pound cake, but this crack is just at the perfect place and I think it looks rustic, homey and comforting. 

Happy baking, and I hope to see what variations you make from this pound cake! :) 

Recipe adapted from Tokyo パン屋 | 东京面包屋

Makes 3 8x15cm cakes 

160g unsalted butter, room temperature 

160g sugar 

4g salt 

18g rum (optional)

4 eggs, room tmepersufre 

120g plain flour 

46g corn flour 

1 tsp baking powder 

6g genmatcha or matcha powder 

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line and grease 3 8x15cm loaf tins. 

Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla, rum and salt, mix to combine. 

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, till incorporated and smooth. 

Sift in the flours, baking powder and genmatcha powder. Fold in gently till just combined. 

Divide evenly between the 3 loaf tins (about 250g batter in each). 

Bake for 12 minutes until lightly golden on top. Remove from the oven, using a sharp knife, make a long cut in the centre of the cake. 

Bake for another 20 minutes at 190 degrees Celsius, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the top is evenly golden. 

There are some things that really really make me happy. Like a good book or a walk in the park just after a light drizzle in the morning. Or having lunch with a friend you haven't met in a while. It's these simple things that brighten up everyday life- simple things that we sometimes don't see. The simple pleasures of life that are more often that not, taken for granted. 

This apple upside down cake is one of those simple pleasures of life. It's sort of like a copycat of a traditional pineapple upside down cake (that I uh actually haven't tried baking before hehe oops) but with the warmth and familiarity of apples and cinnamon and caramel and vanilla. All my favourite fall flavours. 

The idea for an upside down cake is simple- you slice up some fruits, make a buttery sugary caramel, pour it into a greased and lined cake tin, top with your sliced fruits, and then make a cake batter and pour it over. Once it's baked, you serve it upside down, fruits side up, to reveal that beautiful golden brown caramelised fruit top. It's delicious and gorgeous too! 

Happy baking! 

Recipe adapted from Laura in the Kitchen 

Caramel:

1/4 cup unsalted butter 

2/3 cup brown sugar 

Cake: 

2 large/ 3 small apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

1 tsp lemon juice 

1 1/3 cup plain flour 

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/8 tsp grated nutmeg 

1/2 tsp grated orange zest 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 

2 eggs 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 cup whole milk

2/3 cup granulated sugar 

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Grease and line an 8 by 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper. 

Combine sliced apples and lemon juice and set aside while you prepare the caramel. 

In a small saucepan over medium height, combine butter and brown sugar, stirring, until the mixture starts to bubble. Pour into the baking pan. Arrange apple slices on top in a decorative pattern, then set aside while you prepare the cake batter. 

Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. 

In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugar till pale and creamy. Add the vanilla, orange zest and the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is well incorporated. 

Add half of the flour and half of the milk, mixing slowly to incorporate, then add the remaining flour and milk, folding it in till incorporated. 

Pour into the baking pan, on top of the apples and smooth it out. 

Bake 55-60 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minfues before inverting to a serving plate to serve. 

If you have ever eaten fatt gou (Chinese 发糕), the texture of this cake is quite similar to that, except without the signature split open top and Gula Melaka. Both cakes are steamed, giving it lots of moisture and cakey texture without adding any fat into the batter!

So if you want to have your cake and eat it too, Mushipan is the way to go! I mean with matcha, what's not to love? :) 

1 week + 3 more days of burden to go. I really don't know how this camp is going to turn out- I've done my best for my proposal planning, and I've tried to help out in my role in whatever ways possible. I don't know if that's enough, but I hope it is. It all comes down to the 4 days in camp and executing the camp with my teammates. As much as doubt my ability to lead others well, I just hope everything turns out okay. And no matter what the outcome is, as long as I think I've tried my best and done what I could, nothing else matters anymore. 

100g cake flour 

2 tsp matcha powder

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt 

60g sugar 

1 egg, separated 

80ml milk 

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, sugar and milk. 

Sift in the flour, matcha powder, baking powder and salt. 

In another bowl, whisk the egg white to stiff peaks. 

Gently fold the egg white into the egg yolk and flour mixture in 3 batches. 

Divide the mixture evenly between 6 cupcake cups, or ramekins/ cupcake tin lined with cupcake liners.

Steam in a preheated steam oven or a steamer over a pot of simmering water for 13 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

I haven't posted in ages (almost a month to be exact oops). Well mainly because I had exams, and after exams I had lots of other things going on, I've been deprived of baking for so so long and I haven't had the time to write a post. 

Well now I've got a few things off my sleeve and I can bake again (yay). 

Now these aren't a chiffon cake- chiffon cakes are made by separating egg whites and yolks, and beating the egg whites and sugar to an almost stiff meringue, but this sponge cake is made by whisking whole eggs till they reach a ribbon stage. This gives the cake a little more body- denser than a chiffon cake, not such a fine crumb, but equally moist and delicious. 

And I so love those adorable crisscross lines on the top of the cake caused by inverting the cake onto a cooling rack once it's out of the oven to cool (I'm a weird yet haha)

4 eggs 

105g cake flour 

75g castor sugar 

20g fresh milk 

25g oil 

20g Pandan juice 

Preheat oven to 165 degrees celsius. 

Line the base of a 6-inch cake pan (not non-stick) with parchment paper. Do not line or grease the sides. 

In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or a hand whisk, whisk together the eggs until pale, thick and fluffy. 

Gradually add in the sugar and whisk until a pale, thick ribbon. 

Whisk in the milk, oil and Pandan juice. 

In a separate small mixing bowl, sift the cake flour. 

Add in a few spoonfuls of the whipped egg, milk and Pandan juice mixture into the flour and mix to form a thick batter. 

Fold in the thick batter into the whipped eggs mixture until completely incorporated. 

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 25 minutes. 

Once the cake is baked, immediately invert onto a cooling rack and let cool completely before removing from tin and serving. 

I bought a couple of mini cardboard chiffon tins. 

Okay maybe not a couple. A stack of 25. 

They're little 5 inch tins with a dark brown serrated outside and smooth cardboardy inside. The moment my eyes fell on it I knew I had to get it. 

I had to. 

It was just soooo cute. 

People go around the shopping centre looking for clothes and shoes and bags.

I scan every bakery and the aisles of my favourite baking department store. Nothing beats the feeling of walking through the aisles of cake tins, muffin cups, flour, sugar, decorating kits and pretty sugar decorations. I'm just so happy and so excited looking at all the new things around me. 

My mum bought me some passionfruits this morning and I KNEW I had to make chiffon cake - with my new tins of course. I've made Passionfruit chiffon cake before, but this is the best recipe so far. 

This cake is moist, airy and extremely fragrant. You still get the tang of the passionfruit through the sweetness of the cake and the soft, fluffy texture. 

Next week will be off to camp for 3 days- lots of planning, running about, curling up in sleeping bags, and hot, sweaty days. But eating this puts me momentarily on cloud nine. (Get it? Tastes like sweet clouds, feeling like I'm on cloud 9) <---- I'm lame, yes. 

And this recipe is so versatile. Replace the Passionfruit juice with any juice or purée you desire- pomegranate, mango, pineapple, etc. Or put in your favourite drink into the cake! Imagine milk tea chiffon cake and earl grey lavender chiffon cake. I'm putting those ideas down. And stocking up on eggs for the next batch. 

Passionfruit Chiffon Cake 

Makes 2 5-inch chiffon tins or a 20cm chiffon tin 

4 egg yolks 

20g sugar 

30ml oil 

70g Passionfruit purée OR 50g Passionfruit juice 

80g cake flour / top flour 

4 egg whites 

50g sugar 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, oil, Passionfruit purée/ juice and flour. Set aside. 

In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until frothy. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, and beat until stiff peaks. 

Fold in the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture in 3 batches, folding gently until just combined. 

Pour into chiffon tin(s) and bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Invert the cake and cool completely before removing it from the tin and serving.