Milo Nestum Muffins

This is one of the very long overdue posts as I was caught up with work, events, children and myself getting sick, etc. Finally able to sit down in front of my computer to properly type out this recipe. I apologised for the delay.

Came up with this recipe as I wanted to make some muffins for the children's breakfast on the morning of my sister's wedding day. Elder son requested for something with Milo since it was ages I made Milo-flavored food. I wanted something easy to eat and to bring around as the day will be a very busy one. So this was it!

This time I used condensed milk to replace sugar as I wanted to replicate the taste of the usual Milo that we drink in the coffeeshops. The response from my children was a big thumbs up!

The only negative comments was that I was too stingy on the almond bits! Hmph!

Here's the recipe...


Milo Nestum Muffins (Makes 8 - 9 muffins)

150g self-raising flour
35g nestum cereals
60g cooking oil
100ml milk (I used full cream UHT milk)
4 tbsp milo powder ( I used the big packet type, not the 3-in-1)
4 - 5 tbsp condensed milk (depends on how sweet you want your muffins)
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
Some almond bits (to sprinkle on the top of muffins)


Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Pre-lined the muffin tray with paper liners or set aside the muffin paper cups if using.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the oil, condensed milk, eggs and milk until well combined.

Sift in the flour and milo. Add in the nestum cereals and mix until just combined. It is usual to have some lumps. Do not overmix.

Pour the mixture into the pre-lined muffin trays or the muffin cups until about 90% full.

Sprinkle the almond bits onto the muffins. Bake the muffins for about 20 mins or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

When done, set on cooling rack to cool.

This is definitely a recipe that Milo lovers will like. I hope you do too!

Happy Baking!

Kopi Huat Kueh

The hub has some very nice colleagues who has rendered help to him at various occasions. So last nite when I wanted to de-stress myself from the pressure of upcoming tests (both my son and my students), I decided to make some huat kueh for them to show my appreciation. Also to ask them to be my guinea pig...haha

I wanted to try new flavours and since the whole bunch of them love their coffee (including the hub), I decided to experiment with instant coffee mix.

Now the basic recipe is not something new. I have feedbacks from some readers who attempted my previous huat kueh recipes and went to further research on other's recipes so that I can obtain that moist texture without having the sticking to the teeth situation. I adapted my recipe from the Sunkist Huat Kueh that Sophia Tan of Baking Corner (Facebook). The original recipe can be found here.

This is a relatively simple recipe with a few ingredients but the aroma of the coffee is simply heavenly. The kueh is moist but does not have the usual sticky feeling that sometimes happens in rice flour huat kueh.

For this round, I used the Owl brand coffee (brown sugar flavour). You can choose an instant coffee mix of your choice.Now, I would suggest here that you use good, strong coffee and not those coffee that have very light coffee taste. It will make a difference in the taste in the kueh!


Here's the recipe...

Kopi Huat Kueh (Makes 6 big muffin-sized kueh)
Recipe Adapted from Sophia Tan of Baking Corner (Facebook)

250g self-raising flour
1.5 packet instant coffee mix (can increase to 2 packets if you prefer a stronger kopi taste)
220ml hot water
85g raw sugar
50g cooking oil
1 tsp baking powder


Directions

In a bowl or large cup, mix the instant coffee mix and water until all dissolved. Set aside to cool. You can do this step first before measuring the other ingredients so that the coffee will be cooled more or less by the time you are ready to proceed to the next step.

When coffee is cooled, mix the coffee and sugar in a large mixing bowl until all the sugar is dissolved.

Add in the oil and mix until combined.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix well.

Transfer the batter into pre-lined cups and steam in a pre-heated steamer or wok for 20 mins over high heat. The water must be bubbling hot when you put in the cups.

When the kueh is done, off the heat and leave in the steamer for about 1 min for the kueh to set.

A nice breakfast or tea-time snack for those who love their coffee and anything made with coffee. For people like me, who are very sensitive to the effects of coffee, try not to have this too late in the day in case of sleepless night. It happened to me...so you have been warned! :)

Next up, I shall be experimenting with another special huat kueh flavour to commemorate 10,000 views for my blog, maybe during the weekend. Something sweet to thank the readers for their support. Stay tuned!

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Cheese Nestum Cereals Muffins

I am making myself try to make time to bake and cook more for the family. It helps that the "supporters" try to encourage me by giving huge compliments. But with my tuition work and tests are around the corner again, I tend to go for those that are easier and faster to make for breakfast/ snack - Muffins!

I'm trying a new flavour today as I am trying to use up the Nestum cereals at home before it expires. As usual, the children and the hub are always partial to anything that has cheese. So mixing this two together seems the right thing to try out.

This time round, the hub was around to watch me bake and he commented that it seems so easy that he can bake the muffins himself! Ha, I do hope so then I can have more ME-Time!

The muffins smells lovely and it's like melt in your mouth. The golden brown muffins simply to enticing! I had to stop myself from stealing another piece!

My elder son started smiling the moment he saw the muffins. So school snack settled. Great.

Time to think about the next bake...

Meanwhile, here's the recipe...

Cheese Nestum Cereal Muffins (Makes 7 muffins)

150g self-raising flour

70g cooking oil or melted butter

100ml full cream milk

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

60g raw sugar

25g Nestum cereals

3 slices cheddar cheese, shredded into small pieces

2 eggs

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 180 degree Celcius.

In a large mixing bowl, add sugar, egg, oil. Use a hand whisk and whisk until combined. 

Add in the shredded cheese, vanilla essence and milk and mix until combined.

Sift the flour and baking soda into the mixture and add in the nestum cereals. Mixed until combined. It is usual to have lumps in the batter. Do not over-mix.

Line the muffin tray with paper cups and transfer the mixture into the cups.

Bake for 20 mins or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

A very simple muffin recipe that is perfect for that busy morning breakfast or as a snack for your children's school break.

Hope you like it as much as I do, Happy Baking!

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Super Moist Chocolate Huat Kueh

Had some praying to be done today so decided to make some Huat Kueh for the praying, in addition of preparing for son's school snack for the next day.

Wanted to try something new so went and search my bucket-list and found Victoria Bakes recipe. This is something my son will definitely like 'cos he is a huge fan of anything chocolate. Also the niece and the nephew are around so this is something they will like too.

Did a little modifications to the recipe. Instead of using cocoa powder, I used my dark chocolate drink mix to attempt this recipe. In addition, due to me using the drink mix, I reduce the amount of sugar.

Final product - a super moist and chocolatey Huat Kueh that is oozing with the goodness of chocolate!

Thumbs up by my tasters!

Here's the recipe...

Super Moist Chocolate Huat Kueh (Makes 5 muffin-size kuehs)
Recipe adapted from Victoria Bakes

1 packet of Dark Chocolate Drink mix (35g)
125ml full cream milk
30g raw sugar
70g rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
30g chocolate chips


Directions

In a large mixing bowl, sift in the rice flour, dark chocolate drink mix and the baking powder. Add the sugar. Whisk and ensure that there are no lumps in the mixture.

Add in the milk, and mix until well combined. Add in the chocolate chips.

Lined the muffin tray with liners and transfer the batter to the cups.You should fill the cups until almost to the brim.

Steam in the steamer using high heat for about 15 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Off the heat and leave the kuehs in the steamer for about 1 min before transferring to a rack to cool.

I certainly enjoyed the kuehs and it was wonderful seeing the children enjoying them too!

Hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Oreo Chiffon Cupcakes

This is another flavour of cakes in my chiffon cupcakes series. My elder son has been pestering me to make another batch ever since I made the Cheddar Cheese Chiffon Cupcakes. He requested for his favourite flavour - Oreo. This round he insisted that he wants to be my assistant. Must be the Junior Masterchef show having an effect on him...haha!

If you have tried my Cheddar Cheese Chiffon Cupcakes, this is a similar recipe except I used oreo this round.

The nice and sweet chocolatey smell of the cupcakes while baking and even now, the smell is still lingering in my kitchen. Ahhh....pure heaven! For those who love cookies and cream, this would be an ideal recipe to attempt and it is simply easy!

Here's the recipe...

Oreo Chiffon Cupcakes (Makes 10 - 12 large cupcakes)

80g cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
50g cooking oil
2 egg yolks (from large egg)
25g castor sugar
1/2 packet oreo biscuits (68g), roughly crushed
1/8 tsp salt
75g full cream milk

60g caster sugar
3 egg whites (from large egg)


Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

In a large mixing bowl, hand whisk the egg yolks and 25g caster sugar until it becomes pale yellow and thick.

Add in cooking oil and salt. Mix to incorporate.

Add in the milk and oreo crumbs and mixed until just combined.

Sift in the baking powder and cake flour and whisk until just combined. Set aside.

Using a clean electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until it turn foamy. Gradually add the remaining caster sugar in 3 batches while continuing to whisk. Whisk until almost stiff peak form.

Add 1/3 of the egg white into the egg yolk mixture and fold in until almost even. Do the same for the remaining egg white in 2 batches.

Scrape down thoroughly and fold in until just combined. Do not over-fold. Bang bowl on tabletop for a couple of times to release big air bubbles in the mixture.

Fill the pre-lined containers with the mixture until about 80% full. Bake the cakes about 20 mins or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Transfer the cakes to wire racks to cool before storing.


These chiffon cakes are soft and fluffy and very easy to make. It is a hit with children and will be ideal for play dates or picnics or even just as an afternoon snack!

I hope you will enjoy the recipe. Happy Baking!

Cheddar Cheese Chiffon Cupcakes

I am down with flu. But itchy hands just cannot seem to stop doing things. So in the end, I went ahead and baked some chiffon cupcakes for my children's breakfast and snack. The hubby took a couple to eat and proclaimed it the best cupcake ever! (*smile*)

Soft and fluffy cakes that is filled with the fragrance of the cheddar cheese and milk. Perfect marriage of the ingredients, I would say.

Sorry there isn't much pictures this round as I was quite sick. I am already quite surprised that I was able to finish baking the cupcakes without any mistakes, let alone take pictures. So limited pictures, do forgive me. I shall take more pictures the next round and post it up again.

Here's the recipe...

Cheddar Cheese Chiffon Cupcakes (Makes about 10 - 12 large cupcakes)

80g cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
75g full cream milk
2 egg yolks (from large egg)
25g castor sugar
50g cooking oil
2 slices cheddar cheese
1/8 tsp salt


3 egg whites (from large egg)
60g castor sugar


Directions

In a saucepan, heat the milk and cheddar cheese until the cheese melt. Do this with low heat and do not boil the mixture. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

In a large mixing bowl, hand whisk the egg yolks and 25g of castor sugar until it becomes pale yellow and thick.

Add in cooking oil and salt. Mix to incorporate.

Add in the cheese mixture and mix until combined.

Sift the baking powder and flour into the mixture and whisk until just combined. Set aside.

Using a electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until it turns foamy. Gradually add the sugar in in 3 batches while still whisking. Whisk until almost stiff peak form.

Add 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and fold in until almost even. Do the same for the remaining egg white in 2 batches. Scrape down thoroughly and fold in until just combined. Do not over-fold. Bang bowl on the tabletop a couple of times to get rid of big bubbles in the mixture.

Fill the pre-lined bowls with the mixture until about 3/4 full. Bake the cakes for about 20 mins or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Transfer cakes to wire racks to cool.



Hope you will like this recipe!

Grape Chiffon Cupcakes

Haven't been baking much in my oven lately as I was so busy with the kids and tuition. But last night, I realised that I have plainly forgotten about my son's school snack (Bad mummy!), I decided to do up a chiffon cupcake. I have been wanting to try chiffon cupcakes for a very long time but keep putting it off.

Due to me doing this quite last-minute, I used the grape juice that was in my fridge.

End-results - the cupcakes have a slight grape fragrance and it is not overly sweet. It would be better if I can try to make the grape flavour stand out more. As I didn't whisk my egg white well enough, the cupcakes were a little denser than normal. Oh well, practice makes perfect I suppose!

Here's the recipe...

Grape Chiffon Cupcakes (Yields 6 large cupcakes)

3/4 cup cake flour
90g sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp kosher salt
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp vegetable oil or melted butter
1/4 cup grape juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Directions

Preheat oven to 160 degree Celcius. Line your ramekins with large paper cups.

In a large mixing bowl, sift the cake flour and baking powder and set aside.

Whisk the egg yolks with 1/3 of the sugar until it turns a pale yellow colour. Add the vegetable oil, vanilla extract until well combine.

Add 1/3 of the flour into the egg yolk mixture, followed by 1/2 of the grape juice. Mix until combine. Then add 1/3 of the flour, remaining grape juice and the remaining flour. Mix until the ingredients are incorporated. Do not over-mix.

In a large clean bowl, whisk the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar (must use clean whisk, it would be easier to use an electric whisk) until soft peak. Add the remaining sugar gradually and beat until stiff peak.

Fold in the egg white in 3 batches until just combine. Do not over-fold.

Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins. Bake for 30 mins at 160 degree Celcius or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on wiring rack.


Enjoy!

Gula Melaka Huat Kueh (Prosperity Steamed Cake)

Recently, I discovered quite a number of people in Facebook are doing Huat Kueh. It makes me think of the time when I was young and my mum will buy the Huat Kueh whenever we pray to the gods. The Prosperity Steamed Cake or better known as Huat Kueh is commonly used for offerings during ceremonies and during Chinese New Year celebrations. The cakes are usually light or dark brown in colour. Leavening during the production process produces a "bloom" that symbolize prosperity.

My nephew and niece loves eating Huat Kueh and often pester their mum to get them the kueh. So seeing all the posts online makes me start thinking that I should try to make some. I sourced through the web in search of a good recipe to follow but there were just too many different variations. In the end, I decided to ask my mother-in-law for her recipe. She provided me the recipe with all ingredients being estimated (common with the older folks) so based on that, I came up with this recipe and viola! Smiling Huat Kuehs that filled the room with the fragrant smell of gula melaka and pandan.

My niece and my hubby couldn't wait to taste the kuehs and they gave me the thumbs up after trying it. This is a big compliment from my niece as she can be very fussy about her food. I'm definitely going to use this recipe again!

Here's the recipe...

Gula Melaka Huat Kueh (Makes 5 muffin-sized kuehs)

200g self-raising flour
200ml coconut milk
140g Gula Melaka (palm sugar)
1/3 cup water (about 75ml)
1 tsp baking powder
4 - 5 pandan leaves, washed and bundled up.


Directions

Add the pandan leaves, coconut milk, water and gula melaka in a pan and cook with low heat until the gula melaka dissolved completely. Stir continuously during cooking to prevent the sugar from burning.

Prepare a steamer or large wok that can steam for about 25 mins (pre-heat plus actual steaming time) with sufficient water. Pre-heat the steamer.

In a large mixing bowl, sift the self-raising flour and baking powder. Add the gula melaka mixture and stir with a whisk until completely mixed.

Lined the muffin tray with liners and transfer the batter to the cups. You should fill the cups until almost to the brim.

Steam in the steamer using high heat for about 20 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Off the heat and leave the kuehs in the steamer for another 1 min before removing it from the steamer.

The kuehs are best eaten hot. If you would like to store the kuehs for a couple of days, cling wrap it when cooled and refrigerate them. Steam it for a few mins and the kuehs will be nice and moist again!