Cream Cheese Brownies

These past two weeks tiba2 jadi rajin sangat baking walaupun sebenarnya tak berapa sihat lagi.

This time, aku kena habiskan cream cheese dalam peti. Kebetulan, ada extra chocolate ganache yang aku simpan leftover from the chocolate cake hari tu. So aku Google recipe and found this cream cheese brownies recipe from browneyedbaker. 

I made slight alteration to the recipe. Btw, the brownies nampak hitam sebab aku guna dark chocolate, bukan sebab hangus tau. So far Alhamdulillah aku bake tak pernah hangus coz I bake using lower temperature.  I prefer to bake using dark chocolate than bitter sweet chocolate. 

Monster High Again! :D

 Create A Mummy & Gorgon Girls

These are another pair of dolls we got from Mattel. Thanks! ^_^  Okay, when I first got these dolls, they weren't what I expected. I was quite surprised on the "ability" of the dolls. I have to say, they are very unique. And I totally love them. Maybe some kids will get freaked out though but they'll still love these dolls. :3  (Don't mind the paper behind them.) 

That is the first doll, The Mummy doll.This doll is just gorgeous and I love her. And by far, I think she has the nicest and softest hair. I can't seem to stop playing with her hair. By the way, all the mummies are gorgeous. xD  And now for the second one: 

The Gorgon doll. She's.. snake-ish..? I don't really know how to describe her, but my little cousins seem to love her for some apparent reason. :-) Her hair is plastic, so no combing activities. She has scaly skin where as the Mummy had carvings on her skin ( probably to represent the Mummy wrapping) 

Right, now about their "specialness". I was really, really surprised. super surprised. 

You can dissect them. Literally. And make a mutant. The heads can be pulled of too, along with the hair. :D I love them. And here's an example: 

Notice the change? :3  Recommended for kids that wants to become doctors and surgeons. :DD 

Beatty's Chocolate Cake

I really hate baking chocolate cake sebab susahnya nak dapat chocolate cake yang menepati selera aku and the girls. Tapi bila dah selalu sangat bake devil food chocolate cake and everyone is baking it, it's kindda boring, benda yg sama je diulang tayang. So, on wednesday, the day before my d&c (I lost my baby at 12 weeks), I decided to surf the net and after reading the reviews, I am on this cake!

Cake tu terbiar tanpa di frost selama 2 hari. Today, my sister, Ayu, tanya, apa kek yg ada kat rumah. Tak sampai hati la pulak nak kecewakan dia. Maka, aku pun gigihla duduk kat dapur buat the chocolate ganache. Iman and iffah loves this cake so much. Dia org cakap sangat sedap. Since my daughters are fussy eater, bila diberi rating yg sgt bagus, hati mama ni berbunga2.. hehe

Beatty's Chocolate Cake
by Ina Garten
Ingredients

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar (I reduced to only 1 cup of sugar and I used brown sugar)
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (I used 2tsp of instant expresso mixed into 1 cup of hot water)

Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows (I used chocolate ganache and cream cheese frosting)

Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake. 

Chocolate Frosting:
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

The Best Carrot Cake

This carrot cake memang yummy sebab it's so soft and moist. But hubby prefers healthy carrot cake that I baked before.

In this recipe, I cut the sugar by half and I used pineapple in heavy syrup bukan in natural juice.

The recipe is from mom on time out

For the cream cheese frosting, I use this recipe

500gram of cream cheese 

250 gram of butter - cold, cube

1 1/2 cup of icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

method

1. whip the cream cheese until soft add cold butter bit by bit til finish

2. whip for another 3 minutes, add vanilla and icing sugar. whip for 5-7 minutes until soft and fluffy.