Matcha Mushipan

Mushipan are Japanese steamed cup breads. The texture is more like our Chinese steamed cake. A simple and healthy recipe to share with all of you! :)

Matcha Mushipan

Ingredients (Makes 5)
100 g rice flour / cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp matcha powder
1 egg
50 g castor sugar
80 cc milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method
1. Sift rice flour, matcha powder and baking powder together. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg and sugar together. Add in milk and oil and mix well.
3. Add in flour mixture and mix well.
4. Pour the batter into the moulds.
5. Steam over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes

My first greetings in 2013!

Earl Grey tea is my favourite tea and I love these tea-scented cupcakes to every bit. After staying away from the kitchen for so long, I do not know that I will miss baking so much! To me, baking is a little time for myself to indulge in a fun and therapeutic activity. This little cupcake makes me itch for another baking time soon! :)

I love the look of the generous specks of Earl Grey tea powder in the cupcake. If I were to make this again, I will add in some lemon zest to enhance the flavour. :)

Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes
Adapted from: 好想为你亲手做出美味的甜点! by 检见崎聡美

Ingredients (Makes 8 cupcakes of 100 cc)
100 g cake flour
2 tbsp (4 satchels) Earl Grey tea leaves / tea powder
100 g butter, softened at room temperature
80 g granulated sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 tbsp rum
Some lemon essence

Method
1. Line the paper cases in the cupcake tin.
2. Place the cake flour and ground tea leaves (or tea powder) in a bowl and mix using a hand whisk, loosening / breaking up all the lumps in the flour.
3. Whisk the butter till smooth and glossy and resembles mayonnaise. Add 70 g sugar in 3 additions and whisk till sugar is dissolved and the batter is pale and increase in volume.
4. Add egg yolk one at a time, whisking well in each addition. Continue whisking until the batter is thick, creamy and lemon in colour.
5. Add in rum and essence and give it a quick mix.
6. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites till foamy. Add 10 g sugar and beat till stiff peaks form.
7. Add ⅓ of the beaten egg whites to the egg yolk batter and mix using a hand whisk swiftly without deflating.
8. Sift in the ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix using a hand whisk.
9. Add in the rest of the beaten egg whites and fold using a spatula swiftly without deflating.
10. Sift in the rest of the flour mixture and fold using a spatula.
11. Spoon the batter into the cases until 90% full. Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C – 180°C for 50 minutes.
12. Remove and cool in tin, then unmold and cool completely.

Notes
- I replaced rum and lemon essence with 1 tsp vanilla essence.
- I sifted Earl Grey tea powder together with the flour.

Purple Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Blogging from my sister's laptop...

I found the rare yet popularly raved purple sweet potatoes during one of my grocery shoppings. Imagine my excitement and joy! :)

I really love these cupcakes. The cupcakes have a wonderfully soft texture and exude the lovely sweet potato fragrance. Strongly recommend! :)

Purple Sweet Potato Cupcakes
Adapted from: Anncoo Journal

Ingredients (Makes 6)
120 g butter
80 g sugar
2 eggs
120 g fresh milk / whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
140 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
200 g purple sweet potatoes, steamed and mashed

Method
1. Sift plain flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar until creamy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add in ½ of the fresh milk (or whipping cream) and vanilla extract, mix well.
5. Add in the mashed sweet potatoes, mixing well at low speed.
6. Add in the remaining fresh milk (or whipping cream) and flour mixture alternately until all has been used up.
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20 – 25 minutes.

Gula Melaka Cupcakes

These rich and flavourful cupcakes get a perfect score in the taste department, largely attributing to the divine pairing of gula melaka and coconut. Strongly recommended! :)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011) hosted by Min of Min's Blog.

Thanks to The Kitchen 70's for sharing the recipe. :)

Gula Melaka Cupcakes
Adapted from: The Kitchen 70's

Ingredients (Makes 3)
62.5 g unsalted butter
40 g gula melaka, chopped finely
1 egg, lightly beaten
50 g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Some desiccated coconut

Method
1. Sift plain flour and baking powder together. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and gula melaka till smooth.
3. Add beaten eggs in separate additions, beating well after each addition.
4. Fold in the flour mixture with a spatula.
5. Pour the batter into the cupcake moulds till 80% full and sprinkle some desiccated coconut on top.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 20 – 25 minutes.

Notes
- I used freshly grated coconut and moistened with a little hot water.
- I folded in some grated coconut after the flour mixture and sprinkled the rest of grated coconut on top.

Osmanthus Cupcakes

Osmanthus plays a subtle yet important role in these soft and delicate cupcakes. So faint is its scent that it could be easily overlooked in the midst of the crunchy pumpkin seeds. Savour these cupcakes slowly and you will be allured by the flowery and natural sweetness that it brings to these cupcakes.

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011) hosted by Min of Min's Blog.

Osmanthus Cupcakes
Adapted from: Fruity Cakes by Alex Goh

Ingredients (Makes 4)
62.5 g unsalted butter
40 g castor sugar
1 1/2 tsp dried osmanthus
1 large egg
90 g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of baking soda
45 g sour cream / plain yogurt
25 g sunflower seeds
25 g pumpkin seeds

Method
1. Sift plain flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, beat butter, castor sugar and dried osmanthus until light and fluffy.
3. Add in eggs one at a time and beat until smooth and light.
4. Add the flour mixture and sour cream (or yogurt) gradually and alternately. Mix well after each addition.
5. Add the sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds and mix until well combined.
6. Pour the batter into the greased cupcake moulds and sprinkle some sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds on top.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 175°C for 25 – 30 minutes.

Notes
- I used plain yogurt, omitted sunflower seeds and used 35 g pumpkin seeds.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins
Adapted from: 孟老师的100道小蛋糕 by 孟兆庆

Ingredients (Makes 5)
1 egg
40 g castor sugar
50 g vegetable oil
35 g fresh milk
80 g plain yogurt
100 g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of baking soda
50 g blueberries, dried or fresh

Method
1. Whisk the eggs and sugar together till pale and sugar is dissolved.
2. Add in vegetable oil and mix well.
3. Add in the milk and yogurt, continue to mix well until thick.
4. Sift in cake flour, baking powder and baking soda and fold gently with a spatula. Do not over-mix; mixture should be lumpy.
5. Add in the blueberries and fold gently.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups till 70% full. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 25 – 30 minutes or till golden brown.

Notes
- Fresh milk was replaced with hot water and cake flour with plain flour.

Oreo Muffins

Thanks to Jane's Corner and Forbidden Garden for sharing the recipe. :)

Oreo Muffins
Adapted from: Jane's Corner and Forbidden Garden

Ingredients (Makes 5)
60 g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
35 g castor sugar
50 g (1) egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
60 g fresh milk
40 g buttermilk / plain yogurt
105 g plain flour
4 g baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (Optional)
6 - 8 pieces Oreo biscuits, coarsely crushed
Some chocolate rice (Optional)

Method
1. Sift plain flour, baking powder and cinnamon powder together. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar till pale.
3. Add in egg and continue to beat until well-combined.
4. Heat up the fresh milk and buttermilk (or yogurt) till slightly warm. Add the milk mixture into the egg mixture and mix well.
5. Add in vanilla essence, followed by the flour mixture and mix well.
6. Add in the coarsely crushed Oreo biscuits and chocolate rice, mix gently until just combined.
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups until ⅔ full. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20 minutes or until cooked.
8. Cool the muffins on a wire rack after baking.

Notes
- I omitted cinnamon powder and chocolate rice. 8 pieces of Oreo biscuits were coarsely crushed with the cream.
- Plain yogurt was used and fresh milk was replaced with hot water. I mixed yogurt and hot water together and did not heat up the mixture.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

"Oh, what a plain looking muffin!" I bet this thought is crossing your mind right now as you are reading this post. Most likely, you will even reject it if I were to offer you one. Hold on, I urge you to reconsider before you start to regret what you are missing. Hehe... :P

Surprise!!! Full of chocolate chips inside. Now I am pretty sure that you will not resist this muffin any more!

On a lighter note, I will sprinkle some chocolate chips on top if I were to make these little delights again, something which I honestly did not put much thought when I was baking them. :)

Thanks to pReCiouS MoMentS for sharing the recipe. :)

Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from: pReCiouS MoMentS

Ingredients (Makes 8)
120 g plain flour, sifted
50 g castor sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
50 g canola oil
150 g plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla essence
55 g chocolate chips

Method
1. Combine plain flour, castor sugar, baking soda and salt together in a mixing bowl and mix well.
2. In another bowl, whisk egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla essence together.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and give it a quick mix using a spatula. Add in the chocolate chips and continue to mix gently until just combined. Do not over-mix; mixture should be lumpy.
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups until ½ full.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for around 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Notes
- You can replace the fillings with Oreo biscuits, strawberry jam or Nutella spread. If you are using jam or Nutella spread, fill the muffin cups with the batter halfway, add the jam or spread, and top up with the batter till ¾ full.

Blueberry Muffins

Who can resist soft and moist blueberry muffins for tea? Certainly not me! :)

Don't the plentiful blueberries look rather squeezy in a small cupcake? Believe me, if you are a fan of blueberries like me, you will welcome them lovingly with open arms mouth. Hahaha...

Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from: 500 Cupcakes & Muffins by Fergal Connolly

Ingredients (Makes 12)
110 g castor sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
265 g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
225 ml milk
115 g unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla essence
225 g blueberries, fresh or thawed frozen

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Place 12 paper baking cases in a muffin tin.
2. In a medium bowl, stir the sugar, lemon zest, flour and baking powder with a spoon.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, butter and vanilla with an electric whisk until smooth, about 1 minute.
4. Add the dry ingredients and stir until the blueberries are just combined.
5. Spoon the batter into the cases.
6. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove tin from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Serve muffins immediately.
7. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

It is a good thing that the people in the supermarket have cut and repackaged pumpkins into smaller pieces as I could not imagine finishing a whole big pumpkin!

The recipe calls for a single baking pan but I have baked them in cupcake size. Soft and fragrant, I thoroughly enjoyed the generous serving of pumpkin all over the cake. I will certainly make more pumpkin bakes in the future.

A question though: For the pumpkin skin, should I remove prior to or after the steaming? :)

Pumpkin Cupcakes
Adapted from: Fruity Cakes by Alex Goh

Ingredients (Make 18)
250 g butter
150 g castor sugar
3 eggs
150 g pumpkin, steamed and mashed
320 g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
60 g coconut milk / fresh milk
90 g pumpkin seeds
220 g raw pumpkin, diced

Method
1. Sift plain flour and baking powder together. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and beat until light and smooth.
3. Add in the mashed pumpkin and mix until well-blended.
4. Fold in the flour mixture and coconut milk and mix until well-combined.
5. Add the pumpkin seeds and 120 g diced pumpkin, mix until well-incorporated.
6. Pour the batter into cupcake moulds and sprinkle the remaining of the diced pumpkin on top.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 175°C for 25 minutes.

Notes
- You can add in ½ tsp ground cinnamon to enhance the flavour.

Dried Plum Muffins

At the back of my mind, I remembered that I have some dried figs at home. But when I was preparing the ingredients, I couldn't find it! Well, since I have already melted the butter and juice, I continued on and substituted with dried plums. Lesson learnt: To check all the ingredients before baking! :P

Thanks to Happy Home Baking for sharing the recipe. :) I made some modifications to the recipe to make Dried Plum Muffins.

Dried Plum Muffins
Adapted from: Happy Home Baking

Ingredients (Makes 5)
15 g dried plums
45 g unsalted butter
125 ml apple juice
Lemon zest, grated from 1/2 lemon
157.5g plain flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
50 g castor sugar
30 g brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method
1. Heat apple juice and butter in a saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted.
2. Remove from heat and add in the dried plums and lemon zest. Leave to cool until the plums are softened, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease muffin cups with butter or line with muffin liners.
4. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugars, salt and baking powder.
5. Make a well in the centre and add the cooled plum mixture, eggs and vanilla. Stir until just combined. Do not over-mix, the batter will be slightly lumpy.
6. Spoon the batter into muffin cups, filling to the rim of the cup.
7. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until golden, and the skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Transfer the muffin pan to a cooling rack and let it cool for 5 mins. Unmold the muffins and cool completely.

Earl Grey Tea Muffins

I have seen many interesting bakes using Earl Grey tea, which is one of my favourite tea. Hence during one of the grocery shopping months ago, I grabbed a box of Dilmah Earl Grey tea bags without hesitation. Yes, you hear me right, months ago. But as time goes by with the depleting teabags, I realise that I have not done a single Earl Grey bake at all! =.='''

At least once, I must use this box of Earl Grey tea for its original intended purpose. Muffins using my favourite traditional muffin method is the most obvious choice! Hehe... :)

I wonder did I overbake these Earl Grey Tea Muffins as the top of the muffins appear to be slightly hard and the inside though soft is kinda dry. If I remember correctly, Min of Min's Blog made a similar comment that her Earl Grey Tea Muffins are also slightly dry. Nonetheless, these muffins have a light tea fragrance, just the way I love my tea to be. :)

Thanks to Min's Blog for sharing the recipe. :)

Earl Grey Tea Muffins
Adapted from: Min's Blog and 孟老师的100道小蛋糕 by 孟兆庆

Ingredients (Makes 3)
2 satchels Earl Grey tea powder
30 g fresh milk
1 egg
40 g castor sugar
50 g vegetable oil
100 g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder

Method
1. Cut open the satchels and put the tea powder into the milk. Warm for a few minutes. Set aside to infuse for around 10 minutes.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together till pale and sugar is dissolved.
3. Add in vegetable oil and mix well.
4. Add in the milk tea and continue to mix well until thick.
5. Sift in cake flour and baking powder and fold gently with a spatula. Do not over-mix the batter. It is ok for the batter to have lumps.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups till 80% full. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 25 – 30 minutes or till golden brown.

Notes
- I replaced 50 g vegetable oil with 35 g melted butter and 15 g vegetable oil.

Red Bean Muffins

It has been quite a while since I bake any muffins using the creaming method. Most of the times, I opt for muffin recipes that are using the traditional muffin method, i.e. mixing the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together. The reason is simple: To save the trouble of taking out the electric mixer and less effort to wash up afterwards. Oops, did I just reveal my plain laziness? Haha... :P

You probably have heard this from me many times: I am always baking to clear the existing ingredient inventory. If not for the sweetened red beans that I desperately want to finish up, I will not discover the wonders of the creaming method of muffins. These muffins are closer to a cake texture and the crumbs are so light and fine! :)

Red Bean Muffins
Adapted from: 君之

Ingredients (Makes 5)
60 g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
60 g castor sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
50 ml milk
15 ml lemon juice
100 g cake flour
1/8 tsp tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
60 g sweetened red beans

Method
1. Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until the batter turns pale and increases in volume.
3. Add the beaten egg in 3 additions, beating well after each addition.
4. Add in milk, lemon juice and flour mixture and fold using a spatula till well-combined.
5. Fold in the red beans and mix well.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups till ⅔ full and sprinkle some red beans on top.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 185°C for around 30 minutes.

Notes
- I added lemon juice to the milk and set aside before use.
- I used 65 g sweetened red beans and mixed all the red beans into the batter. I did not sprinkle any red beans on top.

Matcha Mochi Cake

Using the same recipe as Red Bean Mochi Cake, I went on to explore the matcha version with red beans. This time round, I am using a muffin/cupcake mould. The texture seems slightly more dense and chewier than the previous Red Bean Mochi Cake, as shown in the photo below. :)

Thanks to My Buttery Fingers and Lemonpi for sharing the recipe. :)

Matcha Mochi Cake
Adapted from: My Buttery Fingers and Lemonpi

Ingredients (Makes 12)
2 eggs
100 g castor sugar
85 g unsalted butter, melted
180 g fresh milk
220 g mochiko / glutinous rice flour
5 g matcha powder
1 tsp baking powder
140 g sweetened red beans

Method
1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Line the cupcake mould with paper liners.
2. Gently rinse the red beans in a sieve and let them drip dry. Pat them dry with a paper towel, and toss with around ½ - 1 tsp mochiko.
3. Sift mochiko, matcha powder and baking powder together. Set aside.
4. With an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Fold in the melted butter and milk.
6. Fold in the flour mixture.
7. Fill the cupcake mould with some batter, followed by the red beans and fill with more batter.
8. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
9. Cool the cake on a rack, then remove from pan.

Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Sugar Crust

The main highlight of these muffins is the crunchy lemon sugar crust! Plus, the refreshing lemon and the fruity blueberries are so welcoming in these muffins. :)

These blueberry muffins are extremely soft and fluffy and the credit goes to *drums rolling*... Yogurt! I never know that yogurt makes so much difference to the texture and these muffins have definitely changed my opinion of yogurt in bakes.

Thanks to Table for 2 or more for sharing the recipe. :)

Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Sugar Crust
Adapted from: Table for 2 or more

Ingredients (Makes 6)
125 g cake flour / superfine flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
100 g sugar
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
60 g blueberries
1 egg
40g butter, melted
100 ml (150 g) plain yogurt

Method
1. Prepare the lemon sugar topping by removing 2 tbsp of sugar and combine it with 1 tsp lemon zest. Set aside.
2. Sift cake flour with baking soda and baking powder together into a bowl. Mix in the balance of sugar and lemon zest.
3. In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs and combine with melted butter and yogurt.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in wet ingredients. Give it a quick mix using a spatula. Do not over-mix; mixture should be lumpy.
5. Add in the blueberries and mix lightly.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and sprinkle with some lemon sugar.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Matcha Yogurt Cupcakes

The top of these Matcha Yogurt Cupcakes may look bumpy and ugly but they are nicely soft with distinct matcha buttery taste. One is just not enough! :)

Matcha Yogurt Cupcakes
Adapted from: Y3K Cookbook Volume No. 24 Cupcakes 小蛋糕 by Coco Kong

Ingredients (Makes 14)
120 g butter
50 g icing sugar
2 eggs, beaten
50 g plain yogurt
135 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp matcha powder
100 g red bean paste, pinch into small bits

Method
1. Beat butter and sugar until smooth.
2. Add in the beaten eggs slowly, followed by the plain yogurt, mix well.
3. Mix in the flour mixture.
4. Add in red bean paste, mix well.
5. Spoon into the prepared paper cups till ¾ full and arrange on a baking tray.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C for 20 – 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes
- I replaced icing sugar with castor sugar and omitted red bean paste.

Red Bean Mochi Cake

Mochiko flour is most commonly used to make mochi, a Japanese sticky rice cake which is served as a traditional food during the New Year or as a popular snack at all times. Besides mochi, I learnt that many bloggers have also used mochiko flour to make Mochi Cake with countless interesting variations.

I settled upon the Red Bean Mochi Cake at Little Corner of Mine. The mochi cake is slightly crisp on the outside; soft and slightly chewy on the inside. It has a very "mochi"-like taste and the addition of red bean paste reminds me of glutinous rice balls with red bean paste (红豆汤圆). Interesting, unique and delicious! :)

Thanks to Little Corner of Mine and Lemonpi for sharing the recipe. :)

Red Bean Mochi Cake
Adapted from: Little Corner of Mine and Lemonpi

Ingredients
2 eggs
100 g castor sugar
85 g unsalted butter, melted
160 g fresh milk
20 g coconut cream
225 g mochiko / glutinous rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
200 g red bean paste

Method
1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Line the cupcake mould with paper liners.
2. Sift mochiko and baking powder together. Set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Fold in the melted butter, coconut cream and milk.
5. Fold in the flour mixture.
6. Fold in the red bean paste.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake mould.
8. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
9. Cool the cake on a rack, then remove from pan.

Steamed Rice Cake

When I first made this Steamed Rice Cake, I unknowingly swapped the amount of rice flour and plain flour. The result of my error was a soft and light rice cake. :) 

This time round, I used the correct amount of rice flour and plain flour. I am not sure if I have done correctly; the resulting rice cake is slightly on the chewy side and less fluffy. As for the texture, I preferred the first version, i.e. the mixed-up recipe. Haha. Nonetheless, the rice cake tastes marvelous and fantastic. :)

Below is the correct version of the recipe. Feel free to swap the amount of the flour like I did and let me know which one you prefer. :)

Steamed Rice Cake
Adapted from: Magic Steamed Cake by Alex Goh

Ingredients (Makes 3)
50 g rice flour
18.75 g plain flour
82.5 g water
25 g sugar
3/4 tsp double-acting baking powder
Few drops of pink colouring

Method
1. Mix rice flour, plain flour, water, sugar and baking powder until well-blended.
2. Add in the colouring and mix until well-combined.
3. Pour the batter into cupcake moulds lined with paper cups to 90% full.
4. Steam over high heat for 25 minutes.

Notes
- I mixed the pink colouring with water before adding to the dry ingredients and mixed until well-combined.

Honey Cupcakes

My health has not been good again recently, hence some of you might have noticed my lack of updates and I have not been visiting blogs for a while. :(

I saw these Honey Cupcakes at Small Small Baker some time back. It is strangely amazing that how one could miss a wonderful recipe while reading the book until you encounter the same recipe again much later at baking blogs. That goes the same for this Honey Cupcakes recipe.

I wish all readers a Happy New Year and hope that 2011 will be a great year ahead for all of us!! :)

Thanks to Small Small Baker for sharing the recipe. :)

Honey Cupcakes
Adapted from: Small Small Baker and 孟老师的100道小蛋糕 by 孟兆庆

Ingredients (Makes 5)
20 g vegetable oil
30 g honey
2 eggs
20 g castor sugar
50 g cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

Method
1. Place oil and honey in a bowl and heat up the mixture by placing the bowl in hot water. Mix well using a spoon and set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar at low speed. Gradually increase the speed to high and beat till the mixture turns creamy white and reaches ribbon stage. Reduce to low speed and beat for another 1 minute.
3. Sift in cake flour and baking powder and add in honey and oil mixture. Mix gently until smooth.
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups till 80% full and rest at room temperature for about 5 minutes.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 15 – 20 minutes.

Honey Cranberry Cupcakes

These days, I am in a "quick baking therapy" mode where I can get my bakes done in a short time. Hence I apologise if you are getting tired of seeing the frequent appearances of cupcakes and muffins over at my blog. :)

The original recipe in the book called for sweetened red beans. Seeing that Happy Flour has successfully modified the recipe into Honey Cranberry Cupcakes, I followed suit. :)

Thanks to Happy Flour for sharing the recipe. :)

Honey Cranberry Cupcakes
Adapted from: Happy Flour and 孟老师的100道小蛋糕 by 孟兆庆

Ingredients (Makes 8)
80 g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
100 g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
70 g eggs, lightly beaten
40 g castor sugar
1/2 tsp mirin
2 tbsp honey
100 g dried cranberries

Method
1. Sift cake flour and baking powder together. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and flour mixture until smooth, glossy and creamy.
3. Add in eggs and sugar and beat until well-combined, followed by mirin and honey.
4. Add in the dried cranberries and fold gently with a spatula.
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups till 80% full. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 20 – 25 minutes.

Notes
- I used plain flour instead of cake flour and omitted mirin.
- You may replace mirin with same amount of vanilla essence.