How to Make Fluffy Chocolate Cupcakes

An easy fluffy chocolate cupcake recipe that's perfect for a parties, bake sale or with your afternoon tea. For this recipe you will need 12 hole muffin tins and 18 muffin cases.

Ingredients
For the cupcakes
(A)
• 40g butter
• a pinch of salt
• 35g milk
• 45 cake flour
• 10g corn flour
• 10g cocoa powder
• 4 small egg yolks, cold

(B)
• 4 small egg whites, cold
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar or 1/2 tsp lime / lemon juice
• 70g sugar, optional

(C)
• 12 large, chocolate chunks, optional

Method:
Pre-heat oven, always bake with both top and bottom heat with fan assisted. To make sure your cake to succeed even better. It is best to use an oven thermometer and you'll always have the exact temperature of your oven in mind.

1) Heat the butter in a saucepan, over low heat, Add a pinch of sea salt and milk. Turn off the heat, sift the cake flour, add the egg yolks. whisk everything together, no need to well-combined.

2) In a separate bowl, Whisk egg whites until foamy. add cream of tartar and then add the sugar, a bit at a time, while still whisking, until stiff peak stage, about 5 minutes.

3) Using a whisker, and turn the small amount of egg whites into the batter, mix well and then turn back the batter into the whites. carefully folding until just incorporated. Spoon the mixture into prepared cases and add chocolate chunks on top.

4) Bake in preheated oven 150°C for 20 minutes or until the cake is set in the centre.

5) Transfer the cupcakes to a plate for serving. Any leftover cake can be covered and kept in the fridge for 2 days.

Helpful Tips:
1) Be careful not to get the saucepan hot because the oil will burn.
2) For guaranteed results it's important to follow exactly this recipe and baking at the right temperature is important. It's recommended to use an oven thermometer.
3) Do not bake the cake quickly at a high temperature and don't remove hot cake out of a baking pan. otherwise the cake could fall apart and crack on top. Baking cake at a lower temperature will help the cake rise much higher and bake more evenly.
4) Please understand that everyone's oven work differently. You should also check the temperature of your oven. if not, your cake won't rise well.
5) You can test the cake by poking it with a skewer, if it's cooked the skewer will come out clean. if not pop it back in the oven and bake until it's ready.
6) Folding egg whites into a cake batter. Do not stir and never use an electric mixer.
7) Use a clean, dry bowl, free of yolk and any other oil or grease while beating egg whites. Do not over or under-beat the egg whites.
8) If it's cooked the skewer will come out clean. if not pop it back in the oven and bake until it's ready.

Recipe Source: Josephine's Recipes

Pineapple Tarts 黃梨餅 入口即化 吃了停不了口~ 鳳梨酥

My favourite childhood pineapple tart, not too sweet and healthier version compare to store-bought. Best-ever pineapple tarts, just like melt in mouth cookies, the pineapple filling are so chewy and spice fragrant in flavor, non stop and so yummy! Try them, you will not regret.

Makes 27 
Ingredients:

(A)
For the pineapple jam:
• 1 large, 2 small whole pineapples
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2 star anise
• 5 cloves
• 80g-100g brown / white granulated sugar
• 80g-100g pure honey
• a few drops of lemon juice or skip it

(B)
For the pastry:
• 125g salted butter, at room temperature
• 20g powdered sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 180 plain flour
• 12g, 1 tbsp custard / milk powder

(C)
Egg Wash:
• 1 egg yolk with 1/2 egg whites, beaten

Method:
1) Using a blender, put in pineapple chunks and water, blend on high speed until smooth. Pour the blended pineapple into a large frying pan.

2) Add cinnamon, star anise, cloves and brown sugar and cook on medium high heat for 30 minutes until the liquid evaporates. Stir now and take it out cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves or wait until cool completely later. Add honey to keep an eye out, stand on stove and stir for another about 25 minutes, until the jam gets thicker, add a few drops of lemon juice or just skip it, then stir frequently to avoid it getting burnt. Leave to cool completely and ready to stored in the refrigerator. Wet your hand before roll the pineapple jam, about 8g into individual small balls until ready to use.

3) Place the butter in a large bowl and sit in the warm oven for a few minutes. Add the powdered sugar, egg yolk and plain flour a little at a time and use your hands to knead until the soft dough forms. If too hard, put back in the warm oven.

4) Use a spoon or with your hands to dividing the pastry dough, 13g each, into 27 pieces and wrap each about 8g pineapple ball as a filling.

5) Preheated the oven to 180C, middle rack, without fan, bake for 10 minutes, take the pastry out from the oven and brush the top with an egg wash,  reduce the heat to 150C, continue to bake for another 8 minutes. Allow to cool completely before storing in air tight container. 

Helpful Tips: 
1) The style 1 and style 2 pineapple tarts is baked in difference baking pans. Yes. the material used for the baking pan can affect on baking.

Recipe Source: Josephine's Recipes

Kueh Lapis | Steamed Layer Cake 椰汁千层糕 - 九层糕的做法

These old fashioned steamed layer cake are so popular in Malaysia. Just as delicious as they are decorative and perfect dessert for any occasion. I have so many memories of sitting at my Nanny’s table and eating these every Sunday. Every one of those memories is special to me. when I was a child, they were the ones I loved the most.

Ingredients
165g hot water
80g sugar
6 pandan leaves
130g tapioca flour
10g rice flour
220g coconut milk
a pinch of salt

Method:

1) Pour hot water and stir with sugar until dissolved.

2) Wash the pandan leaves to remove dirt, cut into small pieces and put them in a blender with 20g sugar water (1) use a fine strainer to squeeze the juice out or cheese cloth instead. you can also re-use the pandan fibres and blend it again to squeze out the second time. of course the first pandan extract is more concentrated.

3) Mix tapioca flour and rice flour together, add coconut milk and sugar water, stir until well combined. Divide mixture in two equal portions and add pandan juice about 20g into one portion, keeping one portion white.

4) Grease a 1 lb loaf tin, or floral leaf silicone molds (safe to use at hot temperatures). Place in steamer and steam over medium-high heat for a few minutes over high heat. Pour about 4 tablespoons of green liquid into the heated pan and steam at high heat for 4 minutes or until batter is cooked. then add 4 tablespoons of white liquid for another 4 minutes. repeat the process until all the batter has been used. you'll need to stir the batter before pouring the liquid to steam for each time. Until 8 to 9 layers double the time to 8 minutes for steaming, and leave in the hot steamer for at least 15 minutes and cool completely. Cut steamed cake into slices using a greased knife or wrapped in cling film.

Recipe Source: Josephine's Recipes

Tasty Wholemeal Bread Recipe (No Butter, No Sugar) Very Healthy and Super Soft! 无黄油，无添加剂，松软，全麦面包吐司

This wholemeal bread loaf is made without butter and sugar. Here's the best bread is rich in flavour and packed with nuts and seeds. try pumpkin seeds, poppy, linseed or peanuts. Also can lose weight, lower cholesterol and more. The softest, fluffiest and healthy bread you will ever eat, free from artificial ingredients and preservatives. There's nothing better than freshly baked bread.

Makes 1 
Ingredients

(A)
To make the roux:
• 140g water, cold
• 25g bread flour

(B)
• 140g water roux
• 70g cold milk
• 40g pure honey
• 1 tsp, 5g allinson yeast
• 220g bread flour
• 60g wholemeal seed & grain flour
• 20g chopped walnuts & sunflower seeds
• a pinch of sea salt

(C)
1/2 tbsp, mild olive oil / vegetable oil

Method:
1) In a saucepan, mix water and bread flour together until combined to avoid lumps. cook until thickened and smooth paste forms. The roux can also stored in the freezer for a month or fridge up to 3 days if you making for a few batches just triple the recipe in above.

2) Add water roux, cold milk, honey, and the yeast into a large bowl. combine bread flour, wholemeal seed & grain flour, chopped walnuts and sunflower seeds with sea salt. Use a spatula to stir until well combined. before kneading rest for a few minutes.

3) Kneading a bread dough by hand about 10 minutes to form adequate gluten. slowly adding oil to the dough as it is kneaded prevents sticking. Your dough should be smooth and elastic when it’s ready. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, flip the dough over to coat it in oil, then cover with a sheet of cling film. Cold rise overnight in the upper of the fridge. or cover with a wet cloth and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, this will take about 1 hour.

4) Once doubled in size, knock out the air bubbles, Shape the dough into an oval roughly the same length as your tin. Place in the greased loaf tin and leave to prove, rise in the warm oven for 30-45 mins until it has nearly doubled in size again. Gently press a finger into the loaf to check if it has had enough proving time.

5) Heat fan oven to 150°C. Lightly brush the top of the dough with milk. sprinkle over the remaining nuts, seeds and oats and place on a lower rack and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 mins before slicing.

Helpful Tips:
1) Why is my dough getting stickier while kneading? If dough is over-kneaded, it could be causing the gluten structures to actually break down or when the protein content of the flour used is unsuitable for bread. The dough gets stickier and starts to tear a lot. If it is a very wet dough, like a very high hydration, it might be more appropriate to stretch and fold rather than trying to knead it by sprinkle some flour on it. 
2) These bread are best eaten within a day. Leftover breads can store in an freezer bag and seal tightly or airtight bag. It can also be frozen for up to 1 month. If you prefer toasted bread, you can toast bread slices straight from frozen.
3) Yeast is best stored in the refrigerator, as the fungud in it will be killed at high temperatures. Before using yeast check the production date and storage life of your yeast. Refrigerate it as soon as possible after each use. The main cause of bread falling to rise is bad yeast.
4) It's recommended to use an oven thermometer.
5) If it's a winter day, the common problem is that dough won't rise. Ideal rise temperatures are between 35°C-37°C. Using a warm oven by turn your oven on and off or with boiled water on the underneath to help your dough rise perfectly. 

Recipe Source: Josephine's Recipes