Steamed Moist Chocolate Oat cake with gedangs

This is a long over due post! Haha, my sincere apologies again. :P I guess I am posting upon on demand now since I can see my followers' interest are. Well mainly from Instagram though since that is where I am most of the time now. :P Anyways, I am gonna post one of the more popular recipes today which I have repetitive requests on. It is Steamed Moist Chocolate Oat cake (with gedang). I actually first made this for Easter...yeah 3 months late, hahaha! Oops busted! LOL!

This is such an easy recipe to whip up! I guess the only tedious part is the blending the rolled oats and steaming the batter, haha! Anyways, I adapted this recipe from masak Crave but modified the recipe to a healthier version. Here is my recipe:

Ingredients for Steamed Moist Chocolate Oat Cake (makes about 12 standard 4oz)

120ml vegetable oil

200ml chocolate milk (low fat milk can be used)

2 large eggs

1/4 tsp salt

150g light brown sugar (I used 140g when I added gedang in)

80g cake flour

50g oat flour (blend rolled oats till very fine)

50g unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Valrohna) 

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

4 ripe gedangs, half or quartered to be inserted into cake

• Get ready steamer with cupcake liners or an 8" round cake pan, greased and lined with parchment paper. Set the steamer on low fire
• In a large mixing bowl, add oil, milk, eggs, salt and sugar. Stir well and make sure sugar has dissolved. You can speed up the process by placing bowl over double boiler.
• Sift the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into the milk mixture. aAdd in the oat flour at this point. Stir well making sure everything is combined and no visible lumps.
• Lastly add in the vanilla extract and mix. Batter will be runny.
• Pour the batter into the prepared containers. If adding gedangs, now you can insert them, letting them stand up right. 
• Make sure when you place the batter into the steamer, it is already on low boil. For a whole 8" cake, steam at medium fire for 40mins till cake tester comes out clean. For cupcakes, steam for 10-12 mins till cake tester comes out clean as well.

The addition of oats did not compromise the taste nor much of its soft texture. And with the gedangs, you can opt to not add more sugar as it will enhance the sweetness when you bite into the fruit. Yums!

Showing off the moist tender interior of the yummy healthy, yes healthy cake. :D Love the addition of the gedang...really makes this cake a whole lot more enjoyable haha!

Okay, that's all for now folks, will post up something savory next, stay tune!

 

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Strawberry and Cream Oat Muffins with Chia Seeds

Hi everyone! So sorry for my long absence again. Gosh I gotta stop doing this, disappearing and coming back being all apologetic, haha! But I reckon I will be slowing down in my posts here. No worries, I won't abandon it altogether but will still be lurking around, coming back with some awesome recipes to share, especially those that are in quite high "demand" in my Instagram account. I have to say it ain't easy to maintain two accounts....blog and IG. And since IG is a much easier posting, haha, I naturally lean towards that. Nonetheless will not leave my blog as I promised, so no worries!

Today's recipe is actually inspired by Jane's Sweets and Baking Journal. She has this really awesome recipe of strawberry cream cheese muffins which I made quite awhile back (not too sure have I posted it before, haha) But anyways, I decided to remaking it into a much healthier version, adding oat flour and chia seeds. Ok ok, back up you say? Chia what? Haha, it is the next BIG hit in super-food. Read all about its greatness here. Anyway, here is my baked muffin:

Note that all pictures posted on this post are taken using my iphone5...ehh yeah I kinda didn't expect to post this recipe so didn't even bother to whip out my DSLR, haha. So please pardon the slightly not up to standard qualities ya?  

Okay, here is my version of the recipe:
Ingredients for Strawberry & Cream Oat Muffins with Chia Seeds (Makes 16 of 4 oz cuppies)
1 cup buttermilk (I used 2 tsp of fresh lemon juice, combined with 1 cup fresh milk, rest 5 mins)
113g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
180g cake flour
50g oar flour (50g rolled oats, blend till very fine)
140g light brown sugar
1/2 salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp chia seeds (adjust amount to your liking but do not add too much)  

Cream cheese filling
125g cream cheese, room temperature
1 and 1/2 Tbsp. of liquid from one whole egg that's been beaten lightly
1 tbsp of strawberry jam (optional)
3 tbsp confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
 
1 cup fresh ripe strawberries cut into small chunks

• In a small mixing bowl, add in cream cheese, powder sugar, egg, strawberry jam and vanilla. Stir and mix well till everything comes together into a smooth consistency.
• Chill the cream cheese mixture in the fridge till needed. 
• Preheat the oven to 175C.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar till light and creamy. 
• Crack in an egg at a time, making sure it is well combined before adding the next one.
• Add in the vanilla extract and mix well.
• Next shift in half the amount of cake flour, baking powder and salt. Combine well.
• Then add in all of the buttermilk and again mix well.
• Add in the oat flour and combine, then lastly shift in the rest of the cake flour and stir well to combine.
• Sprinkle in the Chia seeds at this point if you are using and stir to mix it in evenly.
• Line the muffin cups and scoop about 1/3 amount of the cake batter in cupcake or muffin liners.
• Then scoop about 1 tsp amount of cream cheese mixture right in the middle of that cake batter.
• Then sprinkle a few chunks of cut up strawberries over the cream cheese. Then cover all this with another 1/3 amount of the cake batter.
• Making sure all these does not fill up more then 80% of the cupcake or muffin liner.
• Repeat till all the liners or tray are filled. Sprinkle some coarse brown sugar over the top for a nice sparkle.
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•  Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes till the top is golden brown and the cake tester comes out clean.

There you have it guys! For all those that has been bugging....sorry asking me for this recipe, hahaha! Just kidding! Happy baking ya! Oh wait!

How can me miss out this all important picture of how the cake look inside! Crisp on the outside and yet creamy on the inside. Not too sweet, just right with a slight tang from the fresh strawberries inside. You won't taste the Chia seeds at all if you are worried. It just add a tiny bit of crunch to every bite. ;) Hope it has tempt you enough! Thanks for staying with me and let me know how it turned out for you. ;))

Have a good one all! Cheers!

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CNY Bake: Multigrain Snake Buns

My, it's less then 20 days to Chinese New year!? Where did the time go? Didn't we just had a festive Christmas celebration last week? Well, nothing wrong with my sense of time, but it sure feels like last week, lol! I guess most of us home bakers are frantically baking the new year masakies in preparation for the celebration and to give away as well. As usual, I baking the pineapple tarts, almond masakies etc etc. But since there is a blog event over at Sonia's in lieu of CNY, I decided to join in the fun. :) I made snake buns! Lol, sound creepy and unappetizing isn't it. No worries, no snakes are harmed in the making of these buns. :P Haha...

 

 I know, not exactly snake looking buns...but you can imagine soft sticky dough ain't exactly that easy to mould either. :P But I had loads of bun making them! Haha, like a big kid with "play dough"!

 This dough recipe is actually similar to the one I used for my healthy cinnamon buns I baked last week. But instead of the red bean, red dates & black rice trio puree combo, I used almond, oats and walnut puree instead. I will still post the recipe here for easier reference.

Ingredients for Healthy Cinnamon Buns (recipe by HoneyBeeSweets)
420g bread flour
105g five grain flour (you can sub this with rice flour)
50g caster sugar
6g salt
7g instant active yeast
170g almond+walnut+oats puree
160ml fresh milk
200ml water (+- 10 ml ; add as per needed )  

30g unsalted butter

Filling:
mini smoked sauages

tuna mayo (1 can of chunky tuna, drained and mixed with 2-3 tbsp mayo, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2tsp sugar, pinch of pepper)

some red beans for eyes 

• In a large mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients except the butter. Stir and mix till everything comes together to form a pliable dough.
• Continue kneading till the  dough becomes elastic and pulls away from the side of the bowl and not sticky anymore.
• Add in the butter and continue to knead till it reaches window stage. 
• Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover to let proof for 1.5-2hrs till it doubled in size.
• Punch out the air and divide the dough into 40g and 50g portions. (Note:  I made at least 12 of these snakes buns. But you can make less and use the rest of the dough to make a loaf)
• First take the snake body, so take a 50g portion and roll flat into a rectangular shape:
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• Roll it up lengthwise and seal the edges nicely. Then roll the whole thing into a coil to look like a snake body:
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• Next, make the snake head. Cut the sausages into 3 length wise and cut the tip to make it look like a snake tongue. Then wrap the sausage with the 40g dough portion like a drumstick shape. Then place the head over the coil dough:
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• Repeat till all the dough portions has been used up. Let proof for 30-45minutes covered. Preheat the oven 175C while waiting. Brush egg wash if desired.
• Place 2 red beans on top of the head to make it look like it's eyes.
• Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown. Enjoy!

Seems a little complicated, but I guarantee you that you will have loads of fun making this. Get your kids to involve too to make it a bonding project! How cool is that?

You can use any bread dough recipe you are comfortable to work with. The one I'm using can be a little sticky and require more kneading time. But the next photo will proof that it is all worthwhile, haha!

Feel free to use another kind of puree if you don't fancy nuts. And you can also reduce the recipe into half to make a smaller manageable portion. :)

I am happy to submit this fun post to Sonia's blog event :Chinese New Year Delights 2016 新春送礼. Have you submited yours? Do join in the fun! Thanks Sonia for hosting this! :)

Have a great week ahead everyone! And happy baking all!!

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Chocolate Granola Wreath with Holly Buttermasakies

It's the time of the year for giving again. Getting ready all those Christmas gifts does not necessary have to be such a long tedious chore. Sometimes, simple thoughtful gifts can also reflect your appreciation to your love ones. What better ways then baking up a batch of delicious homemade masakies? But besides the usual Christmas masakies or gingerbread man, what other fun delicious homemade goodies can you make? Well, I have a nice little idea to share with you all, much like the one I posted Chocolate Cornflake Wreath last year...but a healthier version, Chocolate Granola Wreath! :)

Okay, I know, but it sounds and look almost the same as last year, haha! But I guarantee you, this is equally delicious but much more wholesome! With the addition of rolled oats, it not only add on the wholesome goodness, it gives it that distinct texture (which I so love) and fragrant when you chew on it...delish!

In order to join in this month's Aspiring Bakers, I added the extra Christmas Holly butter masakies as part of the deco on the wreath. :) Why let a good post go to waste? Haha! Okay for the butter masakies, please kindly refer to the recipe here. Tint your masakie dough as desired and chill. Then merely use a paper template (self made) and cut out the masakies with a knife. 

You might just skip the step of making this granola and bake these holly butter masakies as a gift too! Not bad an idea too I think. ;) But anyways, who doesn't like a delicious granola to go with those buttery masakies? Lol! Here is my recipe for the granola:

Ingredients for Chocolate Granola Wreath (enough to make a 8"-10" ring)
120g bittersweet chocolate (I used 76% coco Lindt)
4 tbsp honey
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup rice crispies ( I used Kellogg brand)
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup dried cherries / cranberries / raisins

• In a heat proof bowl, place chocolate, honey and butter in. Either melt these ingredients over the double boiler or simply just microwave it. Mix well till combined.
• Lay some plastic wrap over the tube pan you will be using. (I used a 10" bundt pan)
• Stir the chocolate rice crispies, oats and dried fruit(if using) in and make sure all are coated.
• Spoon mixture into a tube pan (I used an 10" bundt pan). 
• Wrap the mixture up gently with the plastic wrap and chill in the fridge in the tube pan for at least an hour or freeze if you are bringing it to a dinner party. 
• Once the chocolate has set, remove from pan and remove plastic wrap. Decorate at will with colorful ribbons!   

A close look at the granola....loads of texture and goodness. It has a wonderful crunch from the rice crispies, slight tartness from the dried fruits and chewiness from the oats. Best of all, a rich chocolaty taste. Yummy! Remember to use quality chocolate to make this...every bite counts(calories)!

Hope you folks like this recipe and will give it a try. It's really good! You can even try with peanut butter or even white chocolate to have a different variation to this. ;) 

I am happy to submit this post to this month's Aspiring Bakers #26 - Creative Christmas Motif Bakes! hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies.

Okay, hope you all have a good week ahead!

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