Butter Cookie

Butter Cookies
makes 2-3 dozen cookies

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 ¼ cup sugar
1 egg
3 ½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp flavor extract (optional, your choice)

Cream the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl then add the egg and flavor extract, mixing well. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and salt together before adding in small portions to the butter mixture, combining well after each addition.

Divide the dough into portions, roll out each between 2 plastic sheets, till about 5mm thick. Place the rolled out sheets of cookie dough onto a baking tray to be chilled in the fridge, preferably overnight.

Before baking, preheat oven to 350F. Remove cookie dough sheets from the fridge and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Place cut shapes onto a cookie tray lined with silicone sheet or parchment paper, leaving about an inch between each cookie to allow for expansion. Re-roll the scraps of cookie dough into new sheets and chill it before repeating the whole process.

Bake for 8-15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies, until the edges start turning brown. Cool the cookies completely before decorating with icing.

Royal Icing

500g icing sugar
3 tbs meringue powder
8-12 tbs water

Sift together the dry ingredients and mix with water. Add more if the consistency is too stiff in order to get a suitable piping consistency. Add more water to get a consistency for flooding the outlines. Use only food colour gel to get the shade desired.

I used a a #2 piping tip for the outlines and a #3 or #4 tip for flooding.

Rich Fruit Cake

Every year around September, I start raiding my family's liquor cabinet for long forgotten bottles of brandy that rarely get used. Then by October, I would have bought the dried fruit and taken out the 2 largest canning jars that I have.

I soak the dried fruit in brandy until this time of the year when I make multiple batches of fruit cake to give away to those whom I owe favours to. The recipe can be doubled to quickly make a big batch but the baking time still remains long so I usually set aside at least half a day for my production.


Rich Fruit Cake
makes 3 loaves (7.5 x 3.5 in) or 24 cupcakes

1 1/2 - 2 lbs of dried fruit
1/2 cup brandy

Soak the dried fruit in brandy for at least a couple of days before baking. Drain the fruit well before dredging with flour during baking. Set aside the brandy left behind, it should have thickened to a sauce.

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbs treacle or golden syrup
6 eggs, separated
1/4 cup grape juice
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tbs ground cinnamon

Preheat oven at 300F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the treacle or golden syrup and eggs yolks until well combined then the grape juice. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and cinnamon together, setting aside about 1 cup to dredge the drained dried fruit with. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix well. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold in the dredged fruit then the egg whites. Scoop into cake tins or cupcake liners.

Bake for 90 minutes if making loaves or 40 minutes for cupcakes. Cover the tops with foil halfway through baking time to prevent over browning. Upon cooling, spoon the reserved brandy over the top of the cakes and let it soak in. Wrap and keep overnight before eating.

For a stronger brandy flavor, I sometimes fill a syringe (it helps to have doctor friends who are foodies) with brandy and pump more into the middle of the cake.

For the cupcake versions, I topped them with royal icing.

Apple & Cinnamon Cereal Muffin

Its not that I haven't been baking. I've been busy at work and working on perfecting my decorated sugar cookies which I'll hopefully post about before Christmas.

Anyway, this recipe came about because I had too many apples in the fridge. I also wanted to try a cereal topped muffin for a more interesting texture.

Apple & Cinnamon Cereal Muffin
makes 24 muffins

3 cups flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbs treacle or molasses
3-4 apples chopped

Topping
1 cup instant cereal
2 tbs sugar
1 tbs cinnamon

Preheat the oven at 350F. Sift the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Combine the milk and eggs in a smaller bowl and beat together. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter then stir in the sugar and treacle until there are no more lumps. Add the egg mixture and the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and fold together until just combined. Spoon into muffin liners.

Mix together all the ingredients for the topping and distribute a teaspoon or so over the top of each muffin before putting into the oven.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops of the muffins spring back when touched.


Verdict: Not the cakey texture I was going for but it was moist and the crispy and sugary cereal topping was a nice change from the norm.

Chocolate Cupcake

I made these for my god-daughter’s birthday celebrations at her kindergarten. Still inspired by the beautiful images in Crabapple Bakery, I adapted the chocolate cupcake recipe and topped it with their vanilla buttercream frosting.

Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 24-30 cupcakes

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tbs vanilla
3 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp instant coffee
1 cup cocoa
1 cup hot water
1 cup cold water

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. In another bowl, whisk together the coffee, cocoa and hot water until a smooth paste. Stir in the cold water until combined. Into the creamed mixture, add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the cocoa mixture in two additions. The end mixture will be runny. Scoop into cupcake liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when touched.

Verdict: The cakes are moist and not overly sweet, perfect for pairing with a buttercream frosting. I’ve frosted these with marshmallow crème and they were a hit as well.

Corn Muffin

I've had dinner at Kenny Rogers Roasters twice in the last week. I love their corn muffins and its the first thing I wolf down before eating anything else. I've managed to limit myself to one per meal but I wanted to make it at home just to see if I could replicate it.

I was surprised to find so many recipes for it online and I adapted the one from here.


Corn Muffins
makes 12-15 muffins

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mills fine grind)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup frozen corn

Preheat the oven at 400F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then blend in the cornmeal. Add in the milk and mix well. Finally, fold in the corn by hand and scoop into liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffin tops turn brown.

Verdict: Although I prefer the real thing at the restaurant, I guess this is as close to it as it gets. My colleagues commented that they were like the Kenny Rogers muffins even though I didn't let on that it was the same recipe.

Vanilla Daisy Cupcake

I'm usually not a sucker for beautiful pictures in cookbooks but this one has loads of pretty pictures and detailed instructions to inspire and ensure that you can't go wrong. I've adapted Crabapple Bakery's recipe for vanilla cakes and decorated them with gum paste daisies.


I made these for my ex-flatmate's birthday. I still remember the first birthday party of Wendy's that I attended. It was held at one of the hottest nightspots in town and she had booked the entire place for her own private function. Every year since I've known her, she throws a birthday bash for herself. This year's theme is flower power.

Vanilla Cupcakes
makes 30 cupcakes

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Scoop into cupcake liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes and cool before frosting.


Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
makes 4-5 cups

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tbs vanilla extract
9-10 cups icing sugar

Cream the butter until pale before adding in the milk and vanilla. Mix in half the sifted icing sugar. Beat until well combined before adding in more to get the right consistency. Spread or pipe over cooled cupcakes and decorate as desired.

Verdict: Everyone thought they were really pretty and said they loved the texture of the cake. I found it too sweet and had to scrape off most of the frosting to enjoy it with the cake.

Lime Coconut Cake

My camera is still being repaired so I apologise for the poor quality of the pictures but I didn't want the lack of great pictures to prevent me from blogging about this great cake I tried.

Lime Coconut Cake
makes an 8-inch cake

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
2/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/2 tbs finely grated lime zest

Icing
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp lime zest
2 tbs lime juice

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Fold in the coconut and lime zest. Scoop into lined cake pan.
Bake for 40 minutes or until skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cook completely.

To make the icing, combine the sifted icing sugar, lime zest and enough lime juice to make a thick enough icing to drizzle over the cake. Sprinkle with additional desiccated coconut if desired.

Verdict: The cake was moist and slightly buttery. The lime presence would have been stronger if kept overnight but my colleagues polished off the whole thing. It was also suggested that I add rum the next time to the icing, for a more tropical good time!

Orange Poppy Seed Muffin

I dropped my camera and this was the only decent shot I managed on my camera phone. The contrast in picture quality really makes my long for my camera which is now in the hospital undergoing repairs.

I made these simple muffins for some of my dearest colleagues. They're all busy individuals who don't really cook at home so I thought I would provide some convenience at breakfast or snack time.

Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
makes 18 muffins

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup orange marmalade
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tbs finely grated orange zest (I used grapefruit)

Preheat the oven at 350F. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and marmalade to combine well. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, stir in the poppy seeds and sugar and make a well. Whisk together the rest of the ingredients and pour into the well. Add the butter and marmalade mixture. Fold gently until just combined, do not overmix. Spoon into muffin liners.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm with additional marmalade.

Verdict: A nice breakfast treat, especially with milk.

Pumpkin Yumkin

This month's WCC#21 theme is Halloween. Halloween isn't really a big holiday here although the supermarkets stock up on pumpkin, coloured corn and candy for the expatriate community.

I've only ever gone trick or treating once when I was a kid. I went with my cousin who lived in a neighbourhood with many American families. The only reason we went around knocking on doors was for the candy (of course). However, we needed to at least look the part and dress up. The only thing available so last minute was an old orange tablecloth of my aunt's.

So we 'borrowed' it, cut 2 holes to fit out heads through and walked around the estate in our giant poncho. I don't know what we were suppose to be but it must have been rather comical to watch us move in a coordinated direction lest we strangle each other.

Hence I've always associated the colour orange with Halloween. I wonder if my aunt ever found out what we did with her tablecloth.


I'm sure there are a plethora of pumpkin recipes for Halloween and I'm going to add to it. This one is adapted from The Pastry Queen, another of my good reads. The author, Rebecca Rather, describes this recipe which she found among her grandmother's things as a cross between a muffin and a cupcake.

I didn't have a can of pure pumpkin so I used a pumpkin pie mix. Dried dates are also all over the supermarket shelves here since we're in the midst of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Chopping them up was a bit of a pain since they were all so sticky. I wonder if a mezzaluna would have helped... or maybe I should have oiled my knife?


Pumpkin Yumkin
makes 12-15 cupcakes/muffins

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 15oz can pure pumpkin or pumpkin pie mix
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup pecans

Preheat oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla until well combined then add in the pumpkin. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sifted mixture in and mix well before folding in the dates and pecans. Scoop into liners, about 3/4 full.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the yumkins are firm to touch. Cool before frosting.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
100g or 3 oz cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp orange juice
1 orange's zest

In a mixer bowl, combine all the ingredients, adding more orange juice to get the desired consistency if needed. Coat the tops of the cooled yumkins.

Verdict: The pumpkin taste was not distinct enough, probably because I didn't use pure pumpkin. However, these yumkins are versatile. Left plain, they're lovely as muffins. Dressed with frosting, they're very pretty cupcakes. But then anything tastes good with cream cheese frosting!

Update (6 Oct): I tried this again with the pure pumpkin and the taste is much better!

Apple Cake

A request for an apple recipe sent me back to my books and I remembered flagging a couple of them in More from Magnolia.

The recipe made quite a lot of batter and since I was bringing these to work, I made these in cupcake size. I topped half the batch with 1 cup of walnuts and the other half with cinnamon sugar (2 tbs sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon).


Apple Cake
makes 36 cupcakes or 2 9-inch layerrs

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 1/2 tap vanilla extract
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
3 apples, chopped

Preheat oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then add in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Fold in the chopped apple. Scoop into cupcake liners or lined cake pans. Top cupcakes with walnuts or cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 25 minutes if making cupcakes or 40-50 minutes for 9-inch cakes. The original recipe recommends icing the cooled cake layers with Butterscotch Cream Cheese Frosting.


Verdict: The cake is light and fluffy as promised. The taste of the apple was definitely present but not overpowering and it was also nice biting into the soft juicy chunks. Will try it with the Butterscotch Cream Cheese Frosting next time.