The drooling Nutella Swirl Pound Cake

I made this today and I think everybody wants to know and try this twisted classic recipe! The cake turned out great! So Soft and so nutella-y! I don't know anybody who doesn't like Nutella...

The picture that I posted was not the one that I baked today because my swirl didn't look that pretty. I guess I need to learn how to swirl beautifully! hehehe...

I adjust this recipe a little bit, just to balance the sweetness to my liking. I found this recipe from the Food and Wine Mag. and I immediately had a special connection with the recipe! hahaha...

Here's the Mise en Place:

- Mixing bowl with paddle attachment

-2 small/medium bowls

-Sifter

-Whisk

-Spatula

-Either 9x5 in. loaf pan or 8x8 in. pan that I used.

-Nonstick cooking spray

Here's the very simple ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 4 large eggs, at room temp.
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 sticks of butter, soft
• 3/4 cups of sugar (The original recipe was 1 1/4 cups of sugar, YIKES!)
• 3/4 cups Nutella

Here's the very simple steps:

1. Preheat oven 325F and spray the pan with nonstick spray.

2. Cream butter ans sugar together in med-high speed until light and fluffy. About 3 min.

3. Meanwhile, in one bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.

4. In another bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla lightly.

5. After the butter mix is light and fluffy, in low-med speed, gradually beat the egg mix until fully incorporated. Scrape.

6. Add the flour mix into 3 batches in low speed. Mix just until incorporated. Scrape each time you add the flour.

7. Final mix just until incorporated. About 10 secs.

8. Pour 1/2 of the batter into the pan. Add 1/2 of Nutella. Repeat that step again.

9. Take a bread knife or fork to make swirl.

10. Bake for 1 hour 15 min (for 9x5in. pan) or 50 min. ( for 8x8in. pan)

One of the thing that most people do when they bake is to Over mix the cake batter! You cannot overmix it if you want a fluffy cake! What I mean is when you are in the stage of adding the flour, just mix it just until incorporated. Not mixing it for 5 min. with the flour in because you want to make sure the batter is smooth, etc.etc.... So, the key is to go easy with your mixing once you add the flour.

So... Happy trying and keep your feedbacks comin! Or maybe if you have any request, let me know... Im gonna eat another piece of this cake now! With hot tea perhaps... Enjoying my day off's teatime!

Moist vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting

My sister said: Find a moist vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream please... It's for her daughter's 1st birthday... My niece that I haven't met in Malaysia... Little Isabelle...

So I searched the recipes on the internet and I found this good review cupcake recipe at Martha Stewart's website. It's called Billy Vanilla Cupcakes. This recipe actually a very EASY recipes. Just mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and bake it.. Pretty simple right?

The mise en place for this recipe is:

- Electric mixer with paddle attachment

- sifter
- 1 bowl to mix all the wet ingredients
- whisk
- spatula
- cupcake pan with cupcake liner

Here's the recipe: (This recipe suppose to make 30 cupcakes... I tried half recipe and I got only 10 cupcakes. Probably because I filled the batter a bit more)

• 1 3/4 cake flour
• 1 1/4 all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 sticks of butter, cut into 1 in. pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The direction:

1. Preheat oven 325F

2. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners

3. In the bowl of electric mixer, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed until combined.

4. In another bowl, whisk egg, milk, and vanilla.

5. Add the wet ingredients into dry ingredients in 3 parts. Scraping WELL after each addition. Mix only until the ingredients are combine. DO NOT overmix if you want soft and moist cupcakes. The problem most people have is that they overmix the batter to make sure it's all incorporated. Remember, the more you mix the batter (containing flour), the tougher the cake will be because more gluten will develop.

6. Fill the batter 2/3 of full of the liner.

7. Bake for 17 to 20 min. Rotate the pan half way through the time.

Now... The frosting... I personally think that the recipe called too much sugar! I already reduced the amount of powdered sugar but it's still too sweet and it overpower the cake flavor.

So... here's the recipe: (For 30 cupcakes)

• 4 sticks of butter, room termperature (whewww... a lot of butter! Yesterday I only use 1/4 of the recipe to ice 10 cupcakes. It's just about right)
• 12 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled (Alternative, you can use bittersweet chocolate rather than semisweet so when you add the powdered sugar, it's not going to be too sweet)
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp khalua (this is not on the original recipe, I just add it to make it smell better!)

Here's how u make them:

1. In the bowl of electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter for 3 min. until smooth and creamy.

2. Mixer on low, add the chocolate until just combined.

3. Add milk, vanilla, and sugar.

4. Mix until combined. Do not evermix because the buttercream can break.

It's a pretty easy recipe, I shall say... It's great for parties and gathering... Happy trying and please leave a comment how it turns out...

Have a great great weekkkk!

Big Giant Chocolate Chip cookies

Sometimes you just need food that brings comfort to your soul. To me, one of my faves is Chocolate chip cookies and milk. This recipe is extra special because the cookies are super giant! If you have ever seen the "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" on Food Network channel, this cookie was one of the throwdowns. That means, it's really good! This original cookie idea is from Levaine Bakery in NY. My good friend, Ivana, told me about some food blog websites that has a "copycat" recipe of this cookie. Why not try it, right? The differences between this recipes and other classic recipes are the butter temperature and the amount of flour used. The butter used is cold butter so I guess that will make the cookie fluffier. Also, the flour used is more than the usual amount. So that makes the cookie heartier.

The mise en place:

• Mixer with paddle attachment
• Measurement cups
• Baking sheets, sprayed with nonstick spray

The ingredients: (This will make 12 cookies)

• 2 sticks, cold and cubed unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup pecan or walnuts, optional

Here's the steps:

1. Preheat oven 350F

2. In a bowl of electric mixer with paddle attachement, cream butter and sugars together until well blended and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, scrape well. Mix until well blended.

3. Add sifted flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda into the butter mixture and mix just until combined. You dont want to mix it too long because you dont want tough hard cookies, right? =)

4. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using. Scrape well and make sure everything is mixed beautifully...

5. Divide into 12 portions into baking sheets.

6. Bake them for 16-23 min. (Depends how u like your cookie. Mine is 16 min. because I like them to be super soft on the inside!)

Dont be tricked by the "raw" looks on the cookies by the time you take them out because the cookie will cook more and set after that. You want to let it cool for a little bit before you enjoy them with a glass of milk!

It's a must try cookies definitely! Especially if you feel like you need a dessert after a longggg day!