Thursday, October 4, 2012

Thoughtfulness in the oven


It made my day when Saw Leng of “Treasure Memories" wrote to me on Quay Po's Facebook Page and informing me that she had successfully made my Orange Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes with orange vanilla custard cream



Later, we communicated through emails and she invited me to lunch. What a sweet lady she is. Of course I accepted her invitation and looked forward to meet her.

I got up very early on the day of our lunch and decided to bake banana chocolate cupcakes because I had some very nice bananas called "Pisang Raja" in my freezer. I thought it would be nice to let her taste my bake. At the same time, I could bring a box of the cupcakes to my good friend cum Insurance Agent whose office is in the same building with Saw Leng. I was happy I could killed two birds with one stone. LOL!

In return, I got a box of moon cakes from my Insurance Agent and butter cookies in the oven from Saw Leng of “Treasure Memories”.  She told me, she baked them. I love the cute box she put the cookies in. If I did not tell you, you might be thinking those cookies were really in the oven right?


Clicking on the picture will bring you to her recipe

The cookies were delicious and I really appreciate my new friend's thoughtfulness and her friendship. We had a wonderful lunch and it was so good to know her hometown is near to mine. No wonder, we had so much to share and talked about. 

I saved two of the cupcakes I baked, for my Quay Lo and he told me that this is one of the best cakes I have ever made. Then I reminded him about my carrot cake, 


Clicking on the photo will bring you to the recipe


butter cake, 


Clicking on the photo will bring you to the recipe

and white cake 



which he tasted and raved about. Is this sign of old age or what? LOL!

Later that day, my Insurance Agent’s secretary called to tell me that her boss had shared the cupcakes with her and she loved it. She found to be very moist.  Saw Leng also mentioned in my facebook page that she tasted it and would like to have the recipe. Like I always said, good things must be shared. Here is the recipe and trust me, you will love this super moist, chocolatey yummy banana chocolate cupcakes.

Banana chocolate cupcakes
Adapted from Joy of Baking with slight modification

Make 12 regular size cupcakes




Ingredients:
175 gm granulated white sugar
130 gms all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (regular or Dutch-processed)
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 jumbo egg
1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 1 medium sized banana)
1/2 cup (120 ml) warm water
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
1/4 cup (60 ml) canola, corn, or vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Fudge Frosting:
100 gms unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
113 gms unsalted butter, room temperature
100 gms icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line 12 regular-sized muffin cups with paper liners. Put sugar in a large bowl. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and sift them into the large bowl of sugar and whisk them together.

In another large bowl, whisk together the egg, mashed banana, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. (The batter is quite thin.)  Scoop the batter into the cupcakes liner to 3/4 full, and bake for about 20.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack before piping chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Frosting: Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

In an electric mixer bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy for about 1 minute. Add the icing sugar and beat until it is light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add vanilla extract and mix well. Add the melted chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated. Beat for another 2 to 3 minutes on  medium-high speed until frosting is smooth and glossy.


50 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks. Welcome to my blog and hope to see you again soon.

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  2. I woke up and this came into my timeline. Rolled over and showed the hubby and he asked "wow...Veron sure bakes well. Are you baking it like her?"

    Hahaha...looks like I have to follow your recipe real closely and not make my own modifications >.<

    And he then says "can decorate like Veron's one or not?" ...Can you take me in for a few sessions of plating and decorating please...

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    1. Evelyn, no problem, just let me know when you are free, it will be fun baking with you.

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  3. Looks almost too good to eat.....yummmmy

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  4. WoW! This really intrigues me to try. I bet my hubs and lil boy will love this!

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  5. Very moist and yummy! If I'm using sweet chocolate do you this the frosting can firm without icing sugar? As too sweet with added sugar. Bookmarked!

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    1. Yes Vivian, you can thicken your icing with either, corn starch, whipped cream or gelatin:D

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  6. Oh, my, so many wonderful recipes. They all look delicious. It's so sweet of you to share the lovely sweets. ;)

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  7. What great looking cakes! Now to choose which one to make this weekend...

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, don't choose, make a different one each weekend:D

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  8. Beautiful cupcakes, love the swirls on the frosting.

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  9. yeah the box is really pretty neat... yummy bakes :)

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  10. Ahhhhh!!!! I think Yee Ling made this too - hers looked very successful. You can check out her post on it in her blog.

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    1. Arthur, I did, she did a pretty good job on the chocolate cake. Yee Ling is getting better and better at her cooking and baking. I am sure her hubby and kids are very happy.

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  11. This is really good. The swirls are so lovely!

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  12. based on how it looks, i'm imagining the white cake might be one of my favorites too! it looks simple, i think, but there's a real beauty in it :D

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I love that white cake recipe, so simple to do and yet yield such a yummy cake.

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  13. Replies
    1. I did not change my layout for a long time. When was the last time you were here my dear?

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  14. Thank you Veron for the friendship and thank you for mentioning "treasure memories". Appreciate them greatly. Jaden and I love the cupcake. I must try baking it after Jared's school final exam. I love the cupcake photos too.

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    1. Saw Leng, looking forward to the your post on the cupcakes.

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  15. It's so great to meet like-minded friends and you just know the friendship would "click!" :)

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  16. Love the cupcakes! Banana and chocolate are a great pairing.

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    Replies
    1. You must try this recipe Phong Hong. You will love it.

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  17. Yummy cupcakes , V ! Love the moist and chocolaty cake so as the fudge frosting ! You can never go wrong with choco and banana pairing :D

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    Replies
    1. Yes, you are right. banana and chocolate is a pair made in heaven.

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  18. He obviously just loves your cooking! He is very lucky as you are such a good cook!

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    1. I think we are both lucky. He is a good cook too:D

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  19. banana king makes great desserts :) love to enjoy the tea with such lovely cupcakes

    Latest: Mookata: Smell your BBQ Flavour

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    1. I am sure you do. Maybe next time we meet, can let you taste one.

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  20. Yummy cuppies, Quay Po! oh yes, pisang raja is THE BEST bananas for cakes, bread, and all Asian desserts using bananas! I love love love this banana!
    Unfortunately, it's quite hard to find in Singapore - in my area where I live, to be exact :(
    Btw, I love the cookies box!

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    Replies
    1. I know, it is not easy to get here too. We have to order it.

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  21. so pretty !!and love how you present them on the "garden" wish that i was a butterfly nearby it! LOL!

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    Replies
    1. haha, you cannot be a butterfly already, you are a bird with frozen wings, remember?

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  22. You are so right...good things must be shared! Love your moist yummy looking cakes. So nice that they tell you how much they enjoyed your cupcakes and such. The best part of sharing is the smile that you get. I wish we could me for lunch!

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    1. Lyndsey, I wish I could sit own with you to have a cup of coffee someday. I will make you any of the cakes above:D

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