Category Archives: My Virtual Cakes Shop

Cakes, cookies, pastries, etc that I’ve made when I’m in baking mood.

Tiramisu

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Ingredients:

Base: 18 pieces sponge fingers (halved)

Filling

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 100ml milk
  • 500g mascarpone cheese (at room temperature).
  • 250ml UHT whipping cream (whipped)
  • 4 tbsp Kahlua

Coffee syrup

  • 4 tbsp instant coffee powder/espresso
  • 4 tbsp caster sugar
  • 180ml hot water
  • 180ml Kahlua

Decorate: Cocoa powder
Few glasses

Method：

  1. Filing: Place egg yolks, sugar and milk in a double boiler. Mix over simmering water. Stir until slightly thickened, leave aside.
  2. Stir mascarpone cheese with a spoon until soft. Add in item 1 above and whipping cream. Beat until well-combined and soft peak. Add in Kahlua.
  3. Coffee syrup: Dissolve coffee powder and sugar in hot water. Add in Kahlua.
  4. Soak sponge fingers in coffee syrup. Prepare glasses. Place sponge fingers into glasses. Pipe in filing to fill half of each glass. Place more sponge fingers on cheese filing. Top with cheese filing.
  5. Chill until set. Dust with cocoa powder before serving

Chocolate Chips Pecan Cookies

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For this year’s Christmas Mini Project, I decided to bake Chocolate Chips Pecan Cookies. I used to bake these Chocolate Chips Pecan Cookies many years ago but had not been baking them. I started to bake these cookies again after Jared ate and likes those bought by Auntie Christina from Kenny Hills Bakers.

This time, I used Anna Olson’s recipe. What I like about this recipe is the adding of corn-starch which made the cookies the balance of crisply outside, chewy inside. However, it was too sweet. For the second bake, I reduced the sugar by 20% and doubled the recipe so that I can use the entire block of butter and have more cookies to share with family and friends. My parents and siblings love them.

Today, Jaden ate them and said “Very nice. What changes did you make?”. Clever boy. He remembered I’ve told him to give me feedback so that I improve on it, keep the good ones and stop baking those that he didn’t like. My sister told me “The cookies go so well with coffee”.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 160 g packed light brown sugar
  • 160 g granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 370 g all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp corn-starch
  • 1tsp baking soda
  • 1tsp salt
  • 3 cups (500 g) chocolate chips
  • 2 cup (200 g) lightly toasted, coarsely chopped pecans (optional but recommended)

Directions:

  1. Cream butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar together well.
  2. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
  3. Sift in flour, corn-starch, baking soda and salt to the butter mixture and stir until blended.
  1. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans (if using).
  1. Using a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, scoop spoonful’s of dough, shape them into a ball and place onto a parchment lined baking tray or a plate.
  1. Chill the scooped cookies for at least an hour, or once chilled, the cookies can be frozen for baking later.
  2. Preheat oven to 180 C
  3. Arrange the chilled scooped cookies onto parchment-lined baking trays, leaving 2 inches between the cookies. If baking cookie dough that has been frozen, arrange the frozen cookies on the baking tray and let them thaw for 20 minutes at room temperature before baking.
  4. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until browned around the edges.

10. Cool the cookies on the baking tray.

Tips:

  1. Use room temperature for butter and egg
  2. Chill the cookies before baking. This ensures they all bake to the same size and don’t spread too much while baking.
  3. For the balance of crisply outside, chewy inside cookies, add corn-starch which holds in moisture for a soft-centred and tender texture to the cookies.
  4. Scoop 2 tbsp of dough for big cookies or 1 tbsp for medium size cookies and shape them into a ball.

Crunchy on the outside, chewy inside. Taste of chocolate and crunchy pecans. It goes well with a glass of cold milk or hot cup of coffee.

From my family to yours, may your Christmas be bright and merry!

Orange Butter Cake

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I had been thinking of baking orange butter cake for a while. It’s hard to find orange butter cake made from pure orange juices and not flavouring.

This morning sunrise was beautiful, with orangey egg yolk. Sunrise reminds us every day is a fresh start, a new chapter in our life waiting to be written. I sent the sunrise photo to my condo WA group chat as morning greeting. My neighbour said “Nice. I steal this ya. So I don’t have to forward other people morning wish 😅”. That made me laugh. What a good start to the day and made me feel like baking.

The orangey egg yolk sunrise inspired me to bake Orange Butter Cake. Today, I attempted to bake it for the first time.

Ingredients:

  • 250g of unsalted butter (I used salted butter as I like the cake to have a little salty taste and Anchor salted butter is sold at 250g block)
  • 200g of castor sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 230g of cake flour or all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • Orange zest from 1 orange
  • Orange juice from 1 orange

I always prefer cake using natural, pure ingredients and not any colouring or flavouring. For this orange butter cake, I used orange zest and juice from 1 orange.

Tip: For a stronger, tangy taste of oranges, use juicy and sweet oranges like Sunkist 3107 (Navel, medium) or zest from 2 oranges.

Instructions:

  1. Preheat over at 320°F / 160°C.
  2. Sift the flour and baking powder. Set aside
  3. In a mixing bowl, add in butter and sugar. Mix it on low speed until the sugar disappear. Then increase to medium speed and mix for 15 minutes, until the butter is white, light and fluffy.
  4. Add in eggs, one by one and mix until the yellow eggs disappear.
  5. Add in the sifted dry ingredients, spoon by spoon.
  6. Add orange zest and orange juice. Continue mixing for another 3-5 minutes.
  7. Pour the batter into a baking pan.
  8. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Test the cake using a cake tester.
  9. Cool the cake on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes.

I baked using 3 small trays (reduce baking time to 50 minutes) and gave 2 to my friends.

Love the orangey colour of these butter cake which is not from colouring.

My sister asked me “Your first attempt and you’re giving to your friend? What if not nice?”. She’s right but it can’t be that bad, I hope.

Orange is the color of joy and creativity. It is stimulating, vibrant, and flamboyant.

This orange butter cake goes very well with coffee and especially cup of tea. It’s soft, moist and refreshing.

Another addition to my butter cake collections. This is a good replacement for pure butter cake for those who don’t like the strong buttery taste.

Apple Kefir Butter Cake

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CMCO Day 12 – Teatime: Apple Kefir Butter Cake

Another Sunday of baking experiment with the 2nd attempt of Apple Kefir butter cake. This time, the cake is much nicer with texture that is soft, fluffy and nice crusty outer layer.

Apple kefir butter cake is not a common cake sold in bakeries and cafes. I first tried this cake in Yin’s Sourdough when our lunch took longer time to be served during lunch busy period. The sweet lady from Yin’s Sourdough offered 2 slices of this cake complimentary to us while waiting for our lunch. We told her 1 slice will do. We ate, loved it and wanted to ask if we may have the 2nd slice back 😁. So yummy, healthy and refreshing.

During this CMCO, I missed eating this cake and placed delivery order for 5 boxes of this Apple kefir butter cake to share with family and friend to cheer everyone up during this CMCO.

This is my feedback on Yin Sourdough’s Apple Kefir butter cake, as posted by them on their IG stories.

Ingredients:

  • 113g (1 stick) of unsalted butter
  • 115g of castor sugar
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 120ml of milk kefir at room temperature to prevent soggy cake bottom and allows good bacteria to grow for airy texture. May substitute milk kefir with sour cream or yogurt thinned with milk (30ml of milk mixed with 90ml of plain yogurt)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 190g of cake flour or all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 60g of raisins soaked in rum or apple juice
  • 2 cored, peeled and thinly sliced crisp apples
  • Topping: 50g castor sugar mixed with 1 tsp of cinnamon

 Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C.
  2. Line the bottom of a 8” (20 cm) round tin with removable base or spring form tin with parchment paper. Lightly grease sides and apply thin layer of flour or spray with non-stick baking spray.
  3. Core, peel and thinly slice apples and place in lightly salted water, or lemon juice, to prevent them from premature browning
  4. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and set aside
  5. In a mixing bowl, add in butter and sugar. Mix it on low speed until the sugar disappear. Then increase to medium speed and mix for 15 minutes, until the butter is white, light and fluffy.
  6. Add in eggs, one by one and mix until the yellow eggs disappear.
  7. Add milk kefir and vanilla extract. Continue mixing for another 3-5 minutes.
  8. Add in the sifted dry ingredients and raisins and fold together until just combined.
  9. Pour half the batter into the baking pan.
  10. Place a layer of sliced apple on top of batter and sprinkle with thin layer of sugar and cinnamon.
  11. Pour the balance half of the batter into the baking pan.
  12. Place sliced apples on top of batter
  13. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over top of apple layers

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Test the cake using a cake tester. Cool the cake on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar (optional).

The taste of milk kefir is natural and infused with probiotic. The addition of kefir to this cake will make the cake extra soft, airy and lighter texture.

Afternoon tea with a slice of cake and coffee. Heavenly.

Enjoying afternoon tea at home during this CMCO. So grateful that we can bake simple cake to enjoy at home.

 

—Bottom: 1st attempt. Middle: 2nd attempt. Top: 3rd attempt

Different attempt of decorating the cake.

Butter Cake

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COVID-19 Movement Control – Day 45
Tea time: Butter Cake

Back to basic, sometimes that’s all we need.

The rainbow message is true… Beautiful days are ahead of us. And today we received a pleasant update that MCO is partly lifted, can go back to office next Monday. But I know I will miss this MCO, the new normal of life and what I have learnt about myself during this period. I actually can cook 😏 but No, I don’t like to spend too much time in the kitchen and do house cleaning. There’s more things in life. I want to have more time to do other things…. attend Bodyjam classes, family time, connect with people, go for massage and facial, take photos and update blog, listen to music and read before sleep, etc.

I baked this butter cake to celebrate it. This cake is soft, moist and smells so, so good. Butter cake is an easy, simple and basic cake that usually first-time baker will bake when they started baking.

Tips:
  • As this is butter cake, use good quality of butter and vanilla extract. The cake will smell and taste very different.
  • Mix the butter and sugar long enough to make the cake rise and a light, soft and fluffy butter cake.
  Ingredients:
  • 250g of unsalted butter (I used salted butter as I like the cake to have a little salty taste and Anchor salted butter is sold at 250g block)
  • 200g of castor sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 230g of cake flour or all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 50g of milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:
  1. Preheat over at 320°F / 160°C.
  2. Sift the flour and baking powder. Set aside
  3. In a mixing bowl, add in butter and sugar. Mix it on low speed until the sugar disappear. Then increase to medium speed and mix for 15 minutes, until the butter is white, light and fluffy.
  4. Add in eggs, one by one and mix until the yellow eggs disappear.
  5. Add in the sifted dry ingredients, spoon by spoon.
  6. Add milk and vanilla extract. Continue mixing for another 3-5 minutes.
  7. Pour the batter into a baking pan.
  8. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Test the cake using a cake tester.
  9. Cool the cake on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes.

Update: Feedback that I received on this butter cake:

Mary “”Perfect 10″ is how I would describe this butter cake. Thank you, Saw Leng”

Athena “having your butter cake now as afternoon tea. My gosh, it is so so so yummy!!! Thankiuuuu so much ❤️❤️❤️”

Jennifer “A small celebration with my favourite butter cake. Thanks to Saw Leng’s easy but yummy recipe.”

Jayla “Can I have more, pls”

Dora: “Your butter cake tastes amazing what recipe did you use? I was thinking last night when i was enjoying your butter cake how lucky i am”.

Amy ” I still kept your recipe and use it every time I want to eat butter cakes. It’s the best!”

 

Palm Sugar Jelly (Agar-agar Gula Melaka)

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Palm sugar, coconut milk and pandan leaves are good combination. You can find them in a lot of Nyonya Kueh and Chinese tongsoi (dessert) recipes. These food reminds me of childhood life in Teluk Intan.

My late Ah Ma (grandmother) and Ah Yi (mother’s sister) were good cook. I enjoyed making CNY cookies with them and always look forward to finish my school homework and weekend so that I could join them in making all these festive cookies. Ah Yi was good in making mee rebus, tongsoi and many other food. I wish I obtained all those recipes from them then.

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My Mom was always busy sewing clothes and she did occasionally make simple dessert for us. One of it is Palm sugar jelly.

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Ingredients:

  • 750 ml (3 Cups) water
  • 220g (1 block) palm sugar (gula Melaka), roughly chopped
  • 20g agar-agar threads, washed and squeezed or 4.5 tsp agar-agar powder
  • 1 stalk of Pandan leaves, washed and tied into a knot
  • 450 ml coconut cream
  • Pinch of salt

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  1. Put water, palm sugar, agar-agar threads and pandan leaves in a pot and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer until agar-agar threads completely dissolve.
  2. Remove pandan leaves.
  3. Stir in salt into coconut cream and pour this into the jelly mixture.
  4. Return the mixture to the heat and bring it up to a boil and turn off the heat immediately.
  5. Pour jelly through a sieve into a jelly mould and leave aside to set at room temperature.
  6. Chill jelly in refrigerator.
  7. Remove jelly from mould. Cut into bite sized and serve cold.

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Jelly mould given by Mom

When jelly cools, the coconut cream floats to the top leaving the bottom half layer a beautifully translucent amber of palm sugar.

My first attempt was when my MIL and SIL were in town. The jelly was rich with the flavours of coconut milk and palm sugar. The texture was right and the jelly was light and refreshing.

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Unfortunately, it did not separately nicely into 2 layers but only a very thin layer of coconut cream.

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And today I made this again.

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This time, I replaced the agar-agar threads with agar-agar powder.

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I like this texture better but I need to boil the jelly longer for the palm sugar and agar-agar powder to melt completely.

Rich Chocolate Mousse Cake

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Today is already the 1st of November and another 2 more months to new year 2016.

On Friday evening, I love to watch my favourite shows “Bake with Anna Olson” and “Summer Home“. My love for baking and home design.

Anna Olson shared lots of baking tips and experience in her show ie why egg must be at room temperature, the functions of vinegar in merengue, what should you do if you over-beaten the eggs, etc.

In Summer Home, I love the sweet, girl next door, design star, Samantha Pynn. I like her taste in colours and home design of earthy, yet freshen up the entire house. Lots of inspiration and ideas circling in my head each time I watch the show. Give me a home to realize it. And I really hope it will be soon.

This morning, I had roti canai and teh halia for breakfast. I had not been having these for a long time until our relatives from Melbourne and US came back for visiting. The roti canai was nice. Not oily and yet crispy with nice fish curry, dal and chicken curry. The less sweet teh halia had a strong ginger taste to it and gave a nice soothing to my itchy throat from coughing.

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Roti canai kosong with teh halia.

This weekend, I decided to bake another chocolate cake from “Bake with Anna Olson’s Chocolate cake series, the ultimate in chocolate cake – Rich Chocolate Mousse Cake. This is a challenging, time consuming cake with the skill stated as “Hard”. Since my mind is clear, no stress and I’ve watched the YouTube several times, I decided to give it a try.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 125ml (1/2 cup) boiling water
  • 56g (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 60g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 100g (1/2 cup) sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 160g (1 1/4 cup) plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 125ml (1/2 cup) hot, strongly brewed coffee

For the mousse

  • 720ml (1.5 cup + 1.5 cup) whipping cream, divided
  • 340ml (12 oz) milk chocolate, chopped
  • 3 large egg yolks, room temperature
  • 100g (1/2 cup) sugar
  • 80ml (1/3 cup) water

For the chocolate glaze

  • 125ml (1/2 cup) water
  • 100g (1 cup) sugar
  • 60ml (1/2 cup) whipping cream
  • 60g (1/2 cup) Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1½ tbsp unflavoured gelatine powder

Method

  1. For the cake, preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease 2 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper and then lightly dust the sides of the pan with flour, tapping out any excess. *Please note that only 1 cake layer is needed for this recipe, but it is easiest to make this recipe in its full measure and freeze the second cake for a later use.
  2. Whisk the boiling water, chocolate and butter together until melted (it will be visibly grainy) and set aside.
  3. Whip the egg, sugar and vanilla until the mixture doubles in volume (about 2 minutes on high speed) and then fold in the chocolate mixture by hand.
  4. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt over the batter and fold in, then stir in the hot coffee (this will make the batter become fluid). Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans.
  5. Bake the cakes for about 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans.
  6. For the mousse, have ready a 9-inch springform pan, lining the bottom with parchment paper (in order to make the mousse-filled cake easier to remove from the pan). Whip 360ml of the whipping cream until it holds a medium peak when the beaters are lifted and chill.
  7. Heat the remaining 360ml of cream to just below a simmer and then pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let this sit one minute, then gently stir until incorporated. Set aside.
  8. Place the egg yolks in a bowl and whip for a minute on high speed. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepot over high heat and boil (occasionally brushing the sides of the pot with water) until it reaches 120°C on a candy thermometer. Start whipping the egg yolks on medium speed and then carefully pour the hot sugar down the side of the bowl to avoid splashing, and then increase the mixer speed until high and whip until this has doubled in volume and cooled to about 40°C (just above body temperature).
  9. Measure the temperature of the ganache to ensure it is close to 40°C as well, and fold the ganache into the whipped yolks. Let this cool for 15 minutes, or until just above room temperature, then fold in the chilled whipped cream in 2 additions.
  10. Pour half of the mousse into the ungreased springform pan. Slice one of the cake layers in half horizontally and place this over the mousse, as centred as possible. Pour the remaining mousse over the cake layer and gently place the other half of the cake layer on top, pressing gently just so the mousse covers the sides of the cake, but not so that it sinks in. Wrap the pan in plastic wrap and freeze the cake to set it, at least 4 hours, or overnight.
  11. While the cake is setting, prepare the glaze. Bring the water, sugar, and cream to a boil in a medium saucepot. Once boiling, whisk in the cocoa powder and simmer (reducing the heat if needed) for 4 minutes, stirring often, (the consistency will not change). Remove from heat. Soften the gelatin in 60ml of cold water and then whisk this into the hot cocoa mixture until dissolved. Cool the glaze to room temperature, then chill completely, at least 3 hours.
  12. To finish the cake, remove it from the freezer invert the pan onto a cooling rack placed over a parchment-lined baking tray. Use a hair dryer on a low, hot setting to gently warm the pan so that it releases from the pan, the sides first and then the top. Warm the chilled glaze while whisking occasionally until just melted and smooth and pour this over the torte, spreading gently with a spatula to ensure that it covers the top and sides of the torte evenly. Chill the cake for at least 30 minutes, then lift it onto your presentation plate and store chilled until ready to serve.
  13. The cake will keep, refrigerated, for up to 4 days

I made the cake and mousse yesterday and let them set overnight in the fridge.

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Cake and mousse set overnight in the fridge

This morning before went out for breakfast, I made the chocolate glaze.

We had it for tea today. The cake was moist, with a very nice and strong chocolate taste. I realised in making chocolate cake, it is very important to use good quality chocolate and cocoa powder. I used Belgium couverture.

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As a kid, I was a fan of chocolate cake. But with more varieties of cakes in the market, for a long time, I forgotten this was my favourite until I tasted this rich chocolate mousse cake again. It kind of reminded me why I love chocolate cake and I know why.

Another lovely cake addition to “My Virtual Cakes Shop“. Love it.

Pavlova with fresh berries

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I had egg whites from making tiramisu (which uses egg yolks only). Since I also had whipping cream, strawberries and blueberries in the fridge, I decided to whip pavlova which I served it for afternoon tea while my MIL and SIL were in town.

Pavlova is a dessert of Australian and New Zealand origin, consisting of a meringue base or shell filled with whipped cream and fruits.

Ingredients:

For the merengue (egg white with sugar):

  • 4 egg white (at room temperature, to stretch higher volume and stronger for more fluffy like merengue)
  • 100 g castor sugar
  • 1 tbsp. corn starch (to pull in moisture. As merengue bake in the oven, it holds moisture from the sugar in the centre of merengue for crispy exterior and soft marshmallow like in the interior)
  • ¾ tsp cream of tartar. Can be replaced with lemon juice or white vinegar but double up the measurement. (Acidity in this gives egg white strength and stretch to add volume to egg white)

For the whipping cream (assembly):

  • 1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp sugar (to sweeten the cream, bearing in mind the pavlova is sweet).
  • fresh strawberries
  • fresh blueberries
  1. Separate egg yolks from egg whites
  2. Place egg whites into a clean and oil free mixing bowl
  3. Mix egg whites until soft peaks formed
  4. Pour in sugar part by part
  5. Add corn starch part by part and whisk until firm peaks (if you turn the bowl upside down, the meringue will not fall out or when you lift the beater, a peak will form)
  6. Spoon onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. 2 of about 8″ diameter disc and nest. Or more of smaller diameter if you intend to serve individual mini pavlova.
  7. Bake at 120C for 1.5 hours
  8. Turn off oven (do not open the oven door) and leave the meringue and let cool down in oven overnight for the pavlova to be crispy on the outside.

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Meringue of 8″ diameter

For fillings,
  1. Wash all berries
  2. Whisk whipping cream until firm
  3. Place the meringue on a plate
  4. Add one spoon of whipped cream on top
  5. Add berries on cream layer
  6. Add second meringue tier
  7. Add cream and spread remaining berries around
  8. Serve freshly

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A good pavlova should be crispy on the outside and marshmallow on the inside. Since the meringue and whipping cream are sweet, it is best to match with berries or any fruits with sour taste (mango, passion fruit, grapes, kiwi, etc) or fruits with bright colour ie jackfruits to light up, add some colours to the pavlova.

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This pavlova is a light, cool and refreshing dessert. I am glad that my SIL, MIL and family enjoyed eating it.

Fruits Pudding

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I wasn’t a fan of pudding until I tasted it at my previous employer’s function. The pudding was not too sweet, the texture was soft and smooth and I liked its flavour too. After a short chat with the event organiser, I bought the ingredients and made them at home.

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Mango puddings

These puddings are my family’s favourite, inclusive of my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. I’ll make them when we have family dinner, gatherings or guests at home.

Ingredients:

  • A packet of fruit bean curd pudding powder
  • 3 litre of water
  • 100 g of sugar
  • 400 ml of evaporated milk

I usually bought this Happy Grass fruit bean curd pudding powder, either the strawberry, mango or corn flavour.

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Fruit bean curd pudding powder

The method of making the pudding is also stated at the back of the packet.

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The tips of making a smooth pudding is to turn off the flames after boiling as strong flame will cause the pudding to become hard and rough. I have been following this tip every time I make this pudding.

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Strawberry puddings

Occasionally, I will decorate the puddings with swirl of whipping cream or fresh strawberries or mango.

 

Banana Cake

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It was 8.45am and I had banana cake baking in the oven. Really, really like the nice aroma smell from the oven in the early morning.

At this hour, I used to be on the road to office, caught in heavy traffic for an hour plus. Today, I’ve already made “Giap Giap” sandwich for Jared’s breakfast at home and for him to bring to school for recess time, baked this banana cake and washed up all the utensils.

I had some ripe Pisang Emas left from the bananas that I bought to bake Chocolate Banana Brownie. The dark spots and patches on the ripe banana skin doesn’t look nice to eat. However, the fully ripe banana produces a substance called TNF, which has the ability to combat abnormal cells, which has anti-cancer properties. I decided to bake Banana Cake from it. The ripen banana is also sweeter and is perfect to be used to bake Banana Cake.

This Banana Cake recipe is from Amy Beh. I changed the recipe to use up the entire block of Anchor’s unsalted butter so that I do not have any left over in the fridge.

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Ingredients:

  • 220g unsalted butter
  • 220g castor sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 cup well-mashed ripe banana, add 1 tsp. lemon juice when mashing to prevent banana from turning black
  • 300g self-raising flour, sifted
  • 1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda, sifted
  • 5 egg whites
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. grated lemon rind

Method:

  1. Grease and flour a 21cm cake tin
  2. Preheat oven at 170C.
  3. Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy
  4. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Add mashed bananas and beat well
  6. Fold in sifted flour gradually.
  7. Beat egg white until stiff and stir into banana mixture
  8. Add lemon juice and rind
  9. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 45-55 minutes or until cake is cooked
  10. Cool cake in cake tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

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Lena came over and we enjoyed the warm banana cake over cup of English tea.

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It was a good catch up with Lena and there’s always thing to learn and be reminded by just talking to her. She’s a direct person, super efficient and someone who does not procrastinate.

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