TherMe: Black Sesame 'Chiffon' Cake

Credits to Isabel for teaching this yummy cake during one of the meetings & my cooking kaki for her notes <3

Ingredients:

List A

100g black sesame

100g unbleached plain flour

100g yogurt

60g organic raw sugar

40g cooking oil

7 egg yolks

5g sesame oil

1 tsp baking powder

List B

70g organic raw sugar

7 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar (will personally prefer to replace with 1 tsp of lemon juice)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Pour sesame into mixing bowl & grind 1min / Speed 10 (accidentally poured in the sesame oil too so blended both together..luckily it turned out alright..hee).

2. Add in remaining ingredients in List A then blend at 30s / Speed 6. Transfer to big bowl (skip this step if u've an extra mixing bowl).

3. Wash mixing bowl & dry thoroughly or use another mixing bowl if u've. Insert 'butterfly' whisk b4 putting List B's ingredients in to whip for 4mins / 37°C / Speed 4. Transfer to another big bowl.

(Note: added another 1min / Speed 4 to get a better whipped texture. Can try increasing 1/2 - 1min each time till u achieve stiff peaks if u prefer a fluffier chiffon)

4. Fold A's batter into B's egg white mixture in 3 batches & transfer to a chiffon tin.

5. Bake for 45mins or until a cake tester skewer or toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake. 

6. Invert the tin immediately on a cooling rack then let it cool completely. Remove tin, cut & serve.

For non-Thermomix readers, you can still follow the steps & pictures to grind the sesame using your normal blender & beat ur batter in a normal mixer but u may need to allow for additional preparation time accordingly.

(Note: Do check if ur blender is able to grind dry ingredients. If it can't, you may blend it together with the sesame oil but the sesame may not be ground as finely, depending on the power of ur blender.) 

Simply love the fragrant of this cake <3 Even though the texture differs slightly from normal chiffon cakes, the moistness of it more than compensates for that! 

TherMe: Healthier Wholemeal Butter Cake

Adapted from Butter Cake recipe in 'Perfection with Thermomix in 7 Days'

The "blur sotong" me thought I still had an unopened pack of butter but when I checked the fridge, I realised I was wrong. As I was already all set to bake, I decided to still go ahead. I managed to do some Googling & DIY-ed my own self-raising flour too ~.<

Ingredients:

125g butter, softened (leave it at room temperature for 30mins) & cut into cubes

120g organic wholemeal flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp pink salt

3 kampong eggs

80g organic raw sugar

25ml of fresh milk

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract (double strength)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Lightly grease & line a round tin with baking paper then set aside.

2. Mix flour, baking powder & salt together evenly.

3. Insert 'butterfly' whisk followed by butter & sugar into mixing bowl. Beat for 1.5min / S3.5.

4. Mix 40s / S3.5, adding vanilla extract, and one egg at a time & fresh milk thru the hole in the mixing bowl's lid onto the rotating blades to beat the mixture into a smooth batter.

5. Add flour mixture, mix 30s / S3.5 then transfer cake mixture into prepared cake tin. 

6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170°C for 20mins or until a cake tester skewer or toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake.

7. Allow to cool in cake tin for 10mins b4 transferring to a serving plate & cool completely. Cut & serve.

For non-Thermomix readers, you can still follow the steps & pictures to beat ur batter in a normal mixer but you may need to allow for additional preparation time accordingly.

This is my first bake using Thermomix & am loving it <3 It's so convenient with the in-built weighing scale & the batter only took less than 3mins to beat!!! Despite tweaking the original recipe, am glad it turned out successful, tasting as gd as it looks ^.^

BB's 1st (& Daddy said LAST) Spiced Applesauce Smash Cake

We had a small celebration at home on BB's actual birthday last month. While waiting for my hubby to knock off early from work, I prepared the batter for the cake.

Ingredients:

2 cups of organic wholemeal flour

1 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of cinnamon 

1/2 tsp of nutmeg

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup of VCO

1 cup of warm unsweetened applesauce (I steamed & blended 2 small organic apples using my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C & generously grease an 8" round pan with VCO.

2. Sieve flour, baking soda, cinnamon & nutmeg into a medium bowl then whisk them together. Add vanilla extract into applesauce & mix well. Pour VCO into another larger bowl then add flour mixture & applesauce alternately, blending them in. Start & end with the flour mixture & mix until just incorporated.

3. Spread batter into the prepared round tin & bake for 20 - 25 minutes until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Use an overturned small bowl to cut out 2 small cake rounds.

The first activity was Pressies Attack! He had a great time tearing the wrappers apart & playing with some of his new toys. As Daddy-O helped him to set up one of his bigger toys, I proceeded to assemble the cake.

Ingredients:

1/4 block of Philadelphia cream cheese

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/8 cup (1 ounce) of unsweetened organic apple juice (the very first time I'm using a bottled juice, with much reluctance though, as there may be browning if I used fresh apple juice)

Directions:

1. Soften the cream cheese.

2. Whisk the cream cheese with the apple juice & vanilla extract until creamy.

3. Spread some evenly onto 1 of the cake rounds. Place the other cake round on top. Reserve a bit of the cream cheese & spread the remaining mixture on the top & sides of the cake. Put the reserved cream cheese in your piping bag fitted with a star tip (I'm using an icing syringe set from Daiso) & pipe rosettes on the outer edge of the top of the cake (optional). 

I also bought a block candle & cake banner set to decorate the cake. Tadah! BB's 1st smash cake is done ;)

BB was kinda lost at what to do with it initially & just played with the cream cheese. I fed him a small bite to show him that it's actually a food. However, it was much bigger than what he usually has for BLW. After some contemplation, he decided to dive head first into his treat. We were pleasantly surprised at his improvised choice of feeding method & had a really good laugh. The aftermath was not the least bit pleasant however. Eventhough we had already lined the floor, he had adorned himself with cream cheese & crumbs from his head to toes & his nostrils were of no exception. Too bad we had forgotten to take a photograph when he was done but you can imagine the sight! I seriously regretted not stripping him down to just his diaper. Straight to the showers he went. Despite the terrible mess we had to clear afterwards (mostly done by his Daddy-O actually), this would be an unforgettable memory for many years to come.