Coffee Mocha Sponge Cake

Over the 3 years of intensive baking and self learning, I have accumulated a vast collection of books and written literature on cooking and baking. If you weren't into books hoarding (like I am!) you could still find lots of great recipes shared by bloggers out there. When I first started, I never had any official training in baking but through the easy accessibility of the internet and youtube I managed to learn fairly enough to bake decently for home consumption.

In return, I decided to start my own blog to share back what I have learnt plus my personal experiments on recipe adaptations according to the family palette preference and also based on the limited ingredients I have during time of baking. 

Today I am making another coffee related dessert to use up the untouched nescafe instant coffee granules which might expire anytime. My other half is a coffee drinker but ever since the evolution of the 3-in-1 or 2-in-1 individually packed coffee, he choose the convenient route to ease his caffeine cravings. 

I remembered seeing from a blog (not quite remember where) on the application of  cocoa powder as the dividing layer between various cake batter, so I thought I could at least give it a try for this cake. The layered effect is not so prominent for my case. The best would be when you combine different color or flavored cake batter for better effect. Shall try again soon.

Coffee Mocha Sponge Cake
Recipe inspired and adapted fm Peggy's Homemade Mocha Cake

Ingredients
(A)
6 Egg Yolks
1 Egg (Grade A)
2 Tbsp Soft Brown Sugar
100g Corn Oil
130g Self Raising Flour

(B)
2 Tbsp Nescafe Gold Instant Coffee Granules
2 Tbsp Hot Water

(C)
6 Egg Whites
130 Icing Sugar

(D)
2-3 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder


Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C degrees.
2. Line the bottom and side of a square 22x22cm baking pan with parchment paper.
3. Combine instant coffee granules with hot water until evenly mixed. Set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, egg and sugar until evenly mixed. Add oil and gently stir until combined.  Reserved 1 Tbsp of the coffee mixture and stir in the balance into the egg mixture and whisk till evenly combined.
5. Sift the flour over the batter and use a hand whisk to combine gradually until fully incorporated. Do not over mix. Set aside.
6. In a clean, dry and spotless mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites with an electrical mixer at medium low speed for 1 minute, or until frothy. Gradually add in icing sugar and continue whisking at medium high speed until the egg whites reaches soft peak stage. The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks curl over with slightly drooped hook. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy at this stage.
7. Using a spatula, gently fold the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, until just blended.
8. Take 2 Tbsp of the batter and mixed with the balanced 1 Tbsp of the coffee mixture and set aside. 
9. Pour 1/2 of the balance batter into cake pan and level. Sift a thin layer of cocoa powder over the top of the batter. 
10. Using a ladle or spoon, gently top or layer the remaining batter onto the cocoa coated batter until fully covered the cake pan.  This is crucial as the batter would sink into the bottom layer of the batter if done too hastily.  Patience and gentleness is required here.
11. Drop or spoon few droplets of the coffee batter (8) onto the top of the cake batter.  Swirl with chopstick or cake tester to make designs.
12. Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles. 
13. Bake in middle lower level of a preheated oven at 140-150C degrees for 30mins and 135C degrees for 10mins.
14. Unmould and remove parchment paper. Leave cake to cool on wire rack before serving.

Oops, I have forgotten to include the pictures on the meringue batter. 

White Coffee Mooncakes......almost traditional but not

Last year was a really busy year for me as I traveled more than I ever did throughout my entire life. For a non working full time housewife, I considered myself lucky and blessed to have the luxury of  traveling to lots of beautiful holiday destinations and shopping freely without having to worry about my other half's restraint.  Ironically, the desire to shop for luxury goods and traveling no longer appeal to me but rather, I started to enjoy the simplicity of life and having less. 

I begin to relish in the freedom of lesser attachments. Ultimately, when the day comes we would still depart this world empty handed, like the way we arrived when we were born. With that realization in mind, I slowly learned to let go of the years of accumulated negative emotional feelings which I willingly trapped myself into. Once I change my perception of people, seeing the goodness in each person rather than through the lens of my ego, I begin to feel less agitated and are at peace finally.

There are still so many wonderful truth to unfold and beautiful people to meet. No matter how bad a person is, there is still goodness in them. Anyway, back to the subject of this recipe, traditional mooncake. Two weeks ago, I found a packet of green bean lotus paste among my baking supplies which was intentionally bought for the making of mooncake last year. Obviously I was too busy and not around during that time to make good the packet of lotus paste. Instead of waiting for the  arrival of this year's mooncake festival, I launched into a pre-festive baking mood to revisit the making of home made mooncake.

While making the skin/ crust, I discovered that corn syrup can also be used to in place of the golden syrup which is a stipulated active ingredient. It wasn't deliberate but I was late to notice the depleting state of the golden syrup at home and I was already in the midst of preparation. Thankfully, the corn syrup also helps to bind the flour intact for the fillings and shaping.

The use of 3-in-1 instant white coffee mix was a deliberate move as I wanted to enhance the flavor of the mooncake.  As for the salted egg yolks, I had to buy the raw preserved salted eggs and remove the yolk and steam it together with some soy sauce and sesame oil for 10mins. Another precious lesson learnt through youtube on  how to cook and prepare the salted egg yolks.

White Coffee Mooncake
Recipe adapted from 花前月下by Alan Ooi

Ingredients
(Good for 14-15 pcs of 100g Mooncakes)

For the Skin (A)
200g Low Protein Flour
25g (1 Packet) of Super 3-in-1 White Coffee Mix
160 Golden Syrup (I use 70g Golden Syrup and 90g Corn syrup)
42g Canola Oil
4ml Alkaline Water

For the Filling / Paste (B)
1kg Mung Bean Lotus Paste (Store bought)
3 Tbsp Melon Seeds

Salted Egg Yolks (optional)

Egg Wash (for coating)

Instructions

Combine all ingredients (A) and mix to form a smooth dough. Cover with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for 2 days.

Mix melon seed with lotus paste (B) until even. Divide filling into 75-80g each and shape them round. Set aside.

Dust work table with flour. Divide dough into 35g each and shape them into round balls.

Flatten dough and place filling onto center of dough. Wrap dough over the filling and shape into round ball. Dust some flour into the 6cmx6cmx3.5cmH square mooncake mould as well as coat the wrapped rounded dough with flour.

Firmly press the ball into the mould and gently knock / press out (depending on the type of mould you use) the mooncake and place them on the tray laced with preferably, non stick baking mat or parchment paper.

Lightly spray sprinkles of water onto the mooncakes before baking. Bake in a preheated oven of 175C degrees for 10 minutes.

Remove the baking tray from oven and allow the mooncakes to cool completely between 10-15 minutes before applying egg wash onto the top.

Transfer the mooncakes back into the oven and bake again for another 13-15 mins until golden brown.

Store the mooncakes in a air tight container for minimum 2 days for 回油 mooncakes to soften before serving.

Do link back to Coco Sweet Tooth if you have used any information as published in this blog.

This post is linked to Cook Your Books Event #24hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Korean Mochi Bread

Every time before returning back to KL, I usually be swamped with days of continuous bread and cake baking to fill up the fridge bread supply for the maid (while I am away) as well as to fill up my hand carry luggage with various bakes requested by my buddies. So far I always managed to fulfill both parts until lately when I started my own blog. For me, it is indeed a time consuming hobby which leaves me not much leftover time to perform as many baking trial as I used to.

I attributed it to my lacking in writing skills plus the photography, editing, baking, selecting of baking subjects and photo shoot of the finished product. Of course, I could make it easier by eliminating the photography, editing part by randomly shoot the end product with my iPhone. Then again,  the reason I started baking was mainly to feed my photography interest thereby I couldn't complain much.

So when I came across the Korean Sesame Tapioca Bread recipe by Mimi Bakery House, I started surfing the internet for equivalent recipes as I couldn't get hold of the required Sesame Tapioca Bread Flour Mix.  In the end, I opted for Guai Shu Shu's version of the bread which he made from scratch. 

This is one of the easiest and least time consuming bread I have made. The bread has a crispy outer crust but chewy inside. It's like eating freshly made salty fritters 油條. The original recipe suggested to bake 40g dough but I find the bread rather small, hence, I decided to add more volume to the bread by increasing it to 60g each, plus a little bit of baking powder.

Personally, I feel the bread tasted best on the day of baking. On the 2nd day, the crust would have hardened slightly, but still, received positive feedback from my buddies who wolfed down the bread in no time.

I will continue hunting for the original bread flour mix recipe and make the original version one day. 

Korean Mochi Bread
Adapted from Guai Shu Shu

Ingredients

270g Glutinous Rice Flour
15g High Protein Flour / Bread Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
15g Milk Powder
180g UHT Milk
90g Corn Oil
30g Black Sesame Seeds
1-1/2 Tbsp Light Soya Sauce
2 Eggs
1/2 Tsp Salt

Roast black sesame seeds in preheated oven at 130C degrees for 10 mins. Set Aside.

In a mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder and milk powder together. Set aside.

Combine milk, oil, soya sauce and salt into pot and bring the wet ingredients to boil. Stir in the flour and powder mixture. 

Remove the pot away from heat and use a wooden spoon or spatula to combine by stirring the wet and dry ingredients until mixture become a loose, crumbly dough. 

Transfer the dough into the mixing bowl. Add in eggs and continue beating the eggs into dough mixer using a electric mixer until a smooth batter is achieved. Add in the toasted sesame seeds and continue beating the batter until well combined. 

Should the dough be overly sticky to handle, add in some glutinous rice flour.

Transfer the dough onto a work surface sprinkled with glutinous rice flour.  Divide the dough into equal parts of 60g each and shape it round. Arrange the dough onto a baking mat / pan and spray some mist of water on the surface of the bread. 

Bake the bread in a preheated oven at 180C degrees for 15minutes before turning the baking pan / mat and bake for further 15 mins or until golden brown.  This will give the crust a crispy texture.

Store any unfinished bread in a freezer or air tight container. Lightly toast the bread with bread toaster for a min or two prior to consumption. 


Do link back to Coco Sweet Tooth if you have used any information as published in this blog.

玉米三层糕 Three Layer Corn Cake

I am a huge fan of local kuihs, particularly the sweet and savory ones. However when it comes to making the kuih myself I started to withdraw away. Why is that so? I guess it has something to do with the santan preparation (coconut milk) and the cooking method ....steaming, which, I rendered troublesome. 

That was the wrong perception I held, considering the fact cakes and pastries making require more (before and after) preparation work than that of making our local steam kuihs, in general. Of course there are still some which need advance preparation of the base ingredients since most of the flavor comes from unprocessed sources of fresh vegetables, roots, leaves or raw sugar. In summary, they use simpler cooking method, usually through steaming than oven baking. 

Given that the batter from the kuih can be baked with an oven instead of using steamer alone, I could end up eating  a hardened, cracked or dried out cake. Or maybe not. The enjoyment of eating the local sweet and savory kuihs come from the 'Chewy Melt in the Mouth' sensation right down to the part when the cake smoothly glides down the throat. I doubt I could still get this wonderful feeling from the coarse cake like texture once the kuih come out baked from the oven. 

Perhaps I might try out one day.

Right now, I am going to enjoy this batch of Three Layer Corn Cake / Kuihs and leave the issue of oven baked kuih till another time.  Along with the 椰林风光 Coconut Flavor Kuih I recently posted, both of these wonderful recipes are taken from the book 'Malaysian Kuehs and Snacks 粿香满堂' by Andrew Kow 许孙祥. I am linking back this posting to Cook-Your-Books-24 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavors. 

Enjoy....

玉米三层糕 
Three Layer Corn Cake

Ingredients
(A)
250g Canned Corn Kernel

(B)
100g Rice Flour
50g Tapioca Flour
20g Corn Flour
25g Custard Powder
100g Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
250ml Fresh Coconut Milk
230ml Water

(C)
100g Rice Flour
50g Tapioca Flour
40g Corn Flour
100g Sugar
250ml Fresh Coconut Milk
230ml Water
8-10 Drops Pandan Essence
Green Coloring (Optional)


Method

1. Grease and heat up (steam for 5 mins) several heat proof muffin cup moulds before using.
2. Combine ingredients (B) and filter. Cook the mixture under medium low heat until slightly thickened. Stir in (A) and mix until evenly combined.
3. Combine ingredients (C) and filter. Cook the mixture under medium low heat until slightly thickened.
4. Fill the muffin cups with 1 to 1-1/4 Tbsp of the pandan batter (C) as the first layer and steam at medium high heat for 10 minutes.
5. Fill the muffin cups with 1 to 1-1/4 Tbsp  of the corn batter (B) as the second layer and steam for another 10 minutes.
6. Repeat the process until you finished using the batter. Steam the last layer for 15 minutes until set.
7. Remove from heat and allow to the steamed cakes to cool in the baking cups until set and cool.
8. Serve.

Do link back to Coco Sweet Tooth if you have used any information as published in this blog.

This post is linked to Cook Your Books Event #24hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Yoghurt New York Cheesecake

Ever time I come across a rich creamy and dense looking New York Cheesecake or related recipes, I promised myself that I 'would' get to start try making one soon. That promise took me almost 3 years to make good, even despite being a frequent baker who had whipped / used up dozens of blocks of cream cheese.  

Yes, I have made numerous cheesecake over the past three years but mostly were either souffle cheesecake or the lighter version with minimal cheese content.  This time I decided to go full fledge.....almost, but with the addition of yogurt which I wanted to dispose.

For this cake, I used sponge cake as the base instead of the crushed biscuits which this recipe normally prescribed. First, I am too lazy to crush the biscuits and the pressing of the crumbs into the cake pan. Somehow I don't fancy such task. Secondly, I dislike handling and the slicing of the cake with the biscuit layer. From past experience, the biscuit layer disintegrates or did not remain intact with the cheese cake layer when I sliced the cake.  

Thirdly, I get to select the flavor and color for the cake base when its made from a sponge cake made from scratch.

I am extremely happy with the outcome this time. By baking this cake over another layer of a larger fixed based cake pan, I do not risk having the cake getting moist at the base while also saving money on the usage of aluminum paper.

Yoghurt New York Cheesecake
Recipe adapted from Vivian Pang

Sponge Cake For The Base (A)
20g Corn Flour
20g Plain Flour
20g Self Raising Flour
2 Grade B Eggs
Salt
20g Corn Oil
80g Sugar
Few Drops of Chocolate Coloring

1 Tbsp Instant Coffee Powder
1 Tbsp Hot Water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C degrees. Line and grease the bottom of a 8-1/2 or 9inch cake pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, Sift and combine in all the various flours (A) together and set aside.
3. Prepare coffee mixture by mixing instant coffee powder with hot water and stir until well blended. Set aside.
4. In another mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in salt and continue beating for a minute before adding in corn oil and coffee mixture.
5. Fold in flour swiftly and gently until thoroughly combined. 
6. Transfer the batter into the prepared cake pan and tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of nay trapped air bubbles in the batter. 
7. Bake at 180C degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Unmould the cake and allow to cool on a wire rack.

For The Cheese Cake (B)
565g Cream Cheese (softened to room temp)
160g Castor Sugar
2 Lemon Zest
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Tbsp Plain Flour
3 Grade A Eggs
225g Plain Yoghurt

Topping (Optional)
Cocoa Powder
Whipped Cream and shredded cheddar cheese

Method

Place the sponge cake layer into an 8 inch lined removable bottom pan or springform pan. 

Preheat the oven to 125C degrees.

Using an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese with the sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture turn light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low, beat in  3Tbsp of flour and mix till combined.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir in the yogurt until just combined.

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan. Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter. 

Place the 8 inch baking pan into another 9 inch or larger fixed based baking pan which could sufficiently accommodate the original baking pan. I prefer to use this method rather than to secure the cake pan with aluminum foil as usually (for me) the moisture / water managed to seep through the many layers of aluminum paper I wrapped the pan with. Thus, I choose to use this method and it also saves on buying the aluminum paper.  

Bake in water bath at 120-125C degrees for 70-75 mins or till set. 

Allow the cake to cool completely at room temperature before refrigerating for at least 2 hours before serving.

Top with whipped cream or dust with cocoa powder.

• Tip

  Mixing the ingredients

  The way you blend the ingredients is crucial: under-beating can lead to a lumpy mixture, over-beating can whip in too much air. This can result in uneven cooking, bubbles, and cracking.

• Tip

  Keep everything at room temperature

  Keep everything at room temperature. To avoid lumps and ensure even mixing without over-beating, it is essential to have the soft cheese at room temperature before starting. Ideally, let it come to room temperature in its pack for 2 hours. If you're short of time, cut the soft cheese into chunks and leave to soften for 1 hour. It also helps to have a tabletop mixer with a powerful motor. But if you don't have one, a hand-held mixer works fine.

夏威夷豆杂果面包 Macadamia Fruity Bread

Another great bread recipe from Alex Goh's 'Magic Bread'. This bread book had been once my daily bread bible when I started baking two years ago. As I progressed in my bread baking experience, this book has been sitting idly among the array of cook books waiting for their turn to be discovered. 

Two years later, I woke this book from its deep slumber and began leafing through it for something to bake as my forthcoming photography subject. This is how this bread recipe got selected and featured in this blog, mainly due to me wanting to use up the Grand  Manier orange alcohol and macadamia nuts previously bought for baking purposes but still left untouched in their respective storage place.

This is my second attempt at making this bread since year 2013, and during then I chose to use orange juice to soak the dried fruits instead. As for whether are there any difference between using orange juice and orange alcohol to infuse the dried fruits, I suppose there are. Since I stopped consuming alcohol after becoming a vegetarian, I usually rely on my sense of smell to gauge the taste of any non vegetarian food I prepare. This batch of macadamia fruit bread not only have stronger aromas than the orange juice infused ones, it also camouflage away the yeasty scent of the bread.

Yes yes I know, another bread making through sponge dough method. Requires slightly more steps and time to follow for every process right up until baking time. I can assure you it is an effort worth making to create this 'commercial' looking bread. A crowd pleaser.

夏威夷豆杂果面包 
Macadamia Fruity Bread

Ingredients
(A)
120g Bread Flour 高筋面粉
85g Boiling Water 滚水

(B)
280g Bread Flour 高筋面粉
60g Sugar 糖
1 Tsp Salt 盐
20g Milk Powder 奶粉
6g Instant Yeast 即用酵母粉
1 Nos. Orange Zest 柳橙皮屑

(C)
100g Cold Water 冷水
3 Egg Yolks 蛋黄

(D)
80g Butter 牛油

(E)
30g Sultanas 葡萄干
40g Golden Raisins 金黄葡萄干
40g Dried Cranberries 蔓越莓干
1-1/2 Tbsp Grand Manier / Orange Juice 柳橙酒 

(F)
20g Chopped Macadamia Nuts 切碎夏威夷豆
(Bake the nuts in the oven at 150C degrees for 10-13 mins.Chopped into fine bits and set side to cool for later use)


(G) Mexico Topping
60g Butter 牛油 (softened to room temp 四室内回温)
45g Sugar 糖
1 Egg 鸡蛋
65g Plain Flour 面粉
1/4 Tsp Baking Powder 发粉

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in egg and continue creaming until smooth. Add in flour and baking powder until evenly combined. Transfer the mixture into piping bag and set aside for later use. Any leftover toppings can be refrigerated for another 1-2 weeks for future use.

Method

Sponge Dough Method. Combine ingredients (A) and mix evenly to form a dough. Cover and set aside to cool. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours before using.

Premix E and set aside for at least an hour before using.

In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook, combine ingredients (B) and (C) together with lower speed to form a rough dough. Add in the overnight sponge dough (A) and continue kneading until all ingredients are well combined. 

Add (D) butter and continue kneading with medium speed to form an elastic dough. Once the dough can be stretched to a thin membrane without breaking, it is ready for proofing.

Transfer the dough to a slightly greased bowl and cover with cling wrap. Allow the dough to proof in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in size. I kept mine inside the idle and unheated oven for proofing.

Test the readiness of the dough with a finger lightly dusted with cake flour. The dough is ready when the dough remain indented after the finger poked into it.

Punch down the dough and divide the dough into 90g each and mould it round. Let it rest for another 10-15 mins.

Place the rounded dough onto baking mat / tray. I placed mine into  individual 5.5" muffin paper liners. Apply egg wash onto the surface and sprinkle chopped macadamia nuts. Allow the dough to proof for another 50 minutes.

Pipe the mexico topping over the dough and bake in a preheated oven at 180C degrees for 15 mins.

Do link back to Coco Sweet Tooth if you have used any information as published in this blog.

This post is linked to Cook Your Books Event #24hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours