Banana muffin recipe

I've never baked a banana flavoured cake before this. In fact, I haven't made muffins ever since I fell in love with the light and fluffy sponge cakes. However, things changed when I found out that my little one actually loves banana muffin from her carer! So, I decided to bake some banana muffins for her afternoon tea. I had baked a few batches of banana muffins now by constantly adjusting the ingredients to achieve a lighter version of banana muffins. 

Below is the recipe that I'm happy with. Please note that I've reduced the sugar significantly as it is meant for kids. Hence, please adjust the sugar amount to your liking. 

Recipe:

(make 10 muffins)

150g cake flour (cake flour makes the cake lighter)

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

2 large eggs

50g castor sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

60g canola oil 

80g buttermilk 

200g banana puree

30g rolled oats (Optional. A small amount of oats were added merely for making the muffins more nutritional)

1. Sift cake flour, baking powder and baking soda onto a mixing bowl. Mix in a pinch of salt and leave the flour mix aside. 

2. Beat eggs in another mixing bowl using medium speed for about 30 seconds. 

3. Add in sugar and beat for another 30 seconds on medium speed. 

4. Add in vanilla extract and canola oil and beat further for another 1 minute on the same speed. 

5. Add in half buttermilk and half flour mix. Mix evenly using a whisk. 

6. Mix in the remaining butter milk and flour mix until combine.  

7. Gently mix in banana puree and oats until everything is evenly combined. 

8. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 1/2 full each. I find it easy to use an ice-cream scoop to evenly allocate the batter onto each cupcake case. 

9. Bake in the preheated oven at 175c for about 12-15mins on the lower rack.

10. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the wired rack.

Chocolate sponge cupcakes recipe

Whenever I've friends over to visit, cupcakes would be the first thing that comes to mind for a light refreshment. And so it's time for cupcakes again! I chose to bake some chocolate flavour cupcakes this time thinking that who doesn't like chocolate? The cupcakes turned out really well. Seriously, I would never get bored of these spongy cupcakes. They're so light and fluffy regardless with or without frosting.

If you're looking for a simple chocolate sponge cupcakes recipe, you've come to the right place. However, please note that I've significantly reduced the amount of sugar as I was catering for some junior guests. :)

Recipe:

(make 16 small cupcakes)

Chocolate sponge cupcakes:

50g vegetable oil
20g Dutch cocoa powder
60g egg yolks
25g castor sugar
80g milk
Pinch of salt
85g cake flour

180g egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
55g castor sugar

1. Heat the vegetable oil until hot but not until smoking point.

2. Pour hot oil onto the cocoa powder in a mixing bowl and leave it aside to cool.

3. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until pale and thick.

4. Add milk, salt and stir to combine.

5. Add cocoa mix and stir thoroughly.

6. Sift half the cake flour into the mixture and mix evenly.

7. Sift the remaining cake flour into the mixture and mix evenly. Leave the mixture aside.

8. Beat the egg white in a mixing bowl.

9. Add cream of tartar as soon as the beaten egg white starts to foam.

10. Gradually add in the sugar when the egg white starts to thicken. Beat until stiff peak stage.

11. Add the egg white mixture onto the egg yolks mixture in 3 batches. Mix until they are almost combined on each addition. Lastly, scrape down and fold until everything is evenly combined. Bang the batter on the table for a few times to release the big air bubbles.

12. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 3/4 full each.

13. Bake in the preheated oven at 165c for about 25mins on the lower rack.

14. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the wired rack.

Mascarpone cream for frosting:

250g mascarpone
2 tablespoons castor sugar*
A few drops of vanilla extract
150ml whipping cream

* Adjust the amount of sugar based on your liking.

1. Cream mascarpone, sugar and vanilla extract in a chilled mixing bowl over a bowl of ice water until combine.

2. Add in whipping cream and beat until stiff.

To assemble the cupcakes:

Chocolate sprinkles

1. Pipe the mascarpone cream on the cupcakes.

2. Sprinkle some chocolate sprinkles on the cream and serve.

Green tea Swiss roll recipe

I got to admit that I'm a really stubborn person. In my previous post about the chocolate Swiss roll, I was convinced that a single sponge cake recipe can't be used for making other types/shapes of sponge cake such as a Swiss roll. However, I later baked a green tea Swiss roll using my green tea Hokkaido cupcakes recipe as an experiment. And of course, it proved that the theory is correct! Well, the Swiss roll wasn't unedible. However, it's definitely not the right texture for a Swiss roll. Unlike the light and moist green tea Hokkaido cupcakes, the Swiss roll was dense and dry. The only plus point was that it was very easy to roll as it never cracks! LOL.

Therefore, I decided to bake a good green tea Swiss roll after that. This time, I followed the recipe from Kitchen Tigress as the previous chocolate Swiss roll turned out really well. As expected, the result was excellent. The green tea Swiss roll was really moist and soft. Two thumbs up! :)

Recipe: 

The sponge cake

(Original recipe asked for 13”x10”, I used a 37x25cm cake pan which resulted in a thinner cake)

60 g egg yolks

20 g castor sugar

30 g corn oil

1 tablespoon green tea powder mixed with 4 teaspoons of hot water (about 20g) just enough to dissolve the green tea powder into thick green tea mixture. Let it cool before using.

30 g cake flour

140 g egg whites

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

40 g castor sugar

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until pale and thick.

2. Add corn oil and whisk to combine.

3. Add green tea mixture and stir thoroughly.

4. Sift in cake flour and mix well. Leave the batter aside.

5. Beat the egg white in a mixing bowl.

6. Add cream of tartar as soon as the beaten egg white starts to foam.

7. Gradually add in the sugar when the egg white starts to thicken. Beat until firm peak stage.

8. Loosen the egg yolk mixture by slowly stirring the mixture from the bottom of the mixing bowl using a whisk.

9. Add the egg white mixture onto the egg yolks mixture in 3 batches. Mix until they are almost combined on each addition. Lastly, scrape down and fold until everything is evenly combined.

10. Grease the cake pan and line cake pan with parchment paper. The length of the parchment paper should be the same length of the cake pan but the width should be slightly longer so that the batter would directly contact with only 2 sides of the cake pan. Example: use a 12”x12” parchment paper on a 12”x10” cake pan.

11. Pour batter onto the cake pan and spread the batter evenly. Lightly bang the cake pan on the table top twice to release the air bubbles.

12. Bake on the middle shelf in a pre-heated oven at 200c for about 10 minutes.

13. Remove the cake from the oven; lightly bang the cake pan on the table top a few times.

14. Unmould the cake and let it cool on a wire rack with the parchment paper peeled from the sides of the cake but still intact with the bottom of the cake.

Green tea whipped cream:

150ml whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon green tea powder

A few drops of vanilla extract

Note: adjust the amount of sugar and green tea powder according to taste.

1. Pour whipping cream onto a chilled mixing bowl over a bowl of ice water. Add in sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until the cream is at soft peak stage.

2. Add in green tea powder and beat until stiff. You can always adjust the sugar and green tea powder from time to time.

To assemble the cake:

1. Gently remove the parchment paper that was attached to the cake after baking. Place the cake on a clean sheet of parchment paper.

2. Spread the green tea whipped cream evenly on the cake.

3. Gently roll the cake with the parchment paper.

4. Chill the cake in the fridge with the parchment paper until the filling is set.

5. Cut and serve.