Ricotta Apple Cake

I was meant to do a bit of a brownie experiment this weekend - had planned it out perfectly except for one thing... I forgot to buy eggs. What the hoohay? So I had only 3 eggs on hand and a hankering to bake this evening and quickly pivoted from the brownie experiment plan to make this stunning cake I had seen on Food52's instagram. It's called Louisa's Cake, an elegantly simple recipe to pull off yet yields such wonderful results.

It's made with just a small bundle of ingredients, and chances are you will only need to run to the shops to get just two items - a fresh crunchy green apple and a tub of ricotta. It's also so easy, that I made two this weekend! One for Kak Yati's birthday, and another to bring to dinner at my sister-in-law's place.

I'll save the brownie experiment for another night this week, and I'd really still like to do it before I fly off this Thursday for my 30th birthday weekend getaway. Oh well, who needs sleep? I'm still in my 20s, I'm sure I could pull it off! Hehehe

Recipe for Louisa's Cake or a Ricotta Apple Cake
From Food52

• 117g butter, room temperature
• 225g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 250g fresh ricotta
• 1 large green apple, peeled and shredded (and squeezed of excess moisture)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 160g all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 9" springform tin with parchment paper 
2. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy, then add the eggs in one at a time while mixing on low speed
3. Add the vanilla then beat in the ricotta, apple and lemon zest and continue to beat the mixture until combined (1-2 mins on low speed)
4. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and fold in with a spatula until the dry ingredients are just wet then pour the batter out into the prepared tin and bake for 35 minutes (fan) 
5. Cool the cake in the tin for about 10 minutes then move to a wire rack and cool completely before dusting with icing sugar and then cutting a slice out to "photograph" but really it was just in time for the hot mug of coffee you just made. 

Blood Orange Poppyseed Loaf

I'm gonna enjoy the blood orange season for as long as it's here (which is not long, considering I live in Malaysia and we get it imported from the States - so it's really touch and go) so I hope you guys really don't mind that I'm posting yet another orange based recipe. I mean, come on, these things are bloody gorgeous! 

So what are blood oranges? As my mum and various aunts have asked (we really don't see them around these parts), I feel we could all use a trip to Wikipedia (one of my top 5 favourite places in the world):

The blood orange is a natural mutation of the orange, which is itself a hybrid, probably between the pomelo and the tangerine,^[4]Within Europe, the arancia rossa di Sicilia (red orange of Sicily) has Protected Geographical Status.^[5] In the Land of Valencia, it was introduced in the second half of the 19th century.^[6]

Also, it's not ALL aesthetics: 

Blood oranges have a unique flavor profile compared to other oranges, being distinctly raspberry-like in addition to the usual citrus notes.

Ah, the reason we don't see it around these equatorial parts:

Blood oranges may have originated in either China or the southern Mediterranean, where they have been grown since the 18th century. They are now the primary orange grown in Italy. The anthocyanins which give the orange its distinct maroon color will only develop when temperatures are low at night, as during the Mediterranean fall and winter.^[3] Blood oranges cultivated in the United States are in season from December to March (Texas), and from November to May (California).

Interesting.... well, maybe not to you, but I now have 7 other tabs open linked from that one Blood Orange wiki page. It's a slippery slope... could easily spend hours going down this wikipedia rabbit hole.

Okay, now that I have wasted enough of your (and my) time, here's the recipe for my new favourite thing. Also, let's be honest ... 

... you can totally do these with normal oranges. I have, and I will - when the season ends. But for now... let's just enjoy the colours. 

Blood Orange Poppyseed Loaf

Slightly adapted from The Whole Bite blog

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup natural yogurt
• 2 tsp blood orange zest
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds
• 1/3 cup fresh blood orange juice
• 1 tbsp confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and prepare a loaf tin by greasing and lining with non stick paper
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the yogurt, orange zest and sugar until combined, then add the eggs, vanilla and vegetable oil and beat well
3. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and fold until all the dry ingredients are just wet, and stir in the poppy seeds
4. Pour the batter into the tin, top with thinly sliced oranges (optional) and bake for 50 - 55 minutes
5. When done, remove from the oven and prepare the orange glaze (whisk the orange juice and confectioner's sugar together to form a paste), pour this over the warm cake and let it sink in

That's it, hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Give the recipe a go this weekend, it really doesn't require a lot of hands on time and it's always nice to have something a bit extra for tea time. Lots of love,

x Nabs

Honey Lemon Poppyseed Cake

We've come to the point in the wedding planning stages where we are now counting down the DAYS! It's 7 days to go to the ceremony, and then we'll be home free to just be a married couple - no more wedding planning, no more invitation lists, seating charts, fabric samples, and endless other things. I can't wait.

In the madness of it all, I wanted - nay, needed, to get some solid baking time in. It's been almost 2 or 3 months since I actually full on made something in the kitchen that's worth sharing. 

I feel the need to point out that despite what everyone may think of me, including myself, I haven't been a Bridezilla at all throughout this whole process! I honestly thought I would be, what with all my Pinterest boards, my Disney, fairy tale wonderland personality, etc. I suppose, at the end of the day, all I really care about is being married to the man I love, and being able to spend the rest of our lives together doing completely mundane things. The thing I look forward to the most is spending Saturday mornings and afternoons with him in our own home, having a lazy brunch and cleaning the house after ignoring it all week cos we're both too busy at work. And foot massages. Yes, I look forward to being on the receiving end of those, whenever I want them. For free. 

Hehe, anyway, last weekend while we were trying to pull our invitation list into some semblance of sense to then be able to convert it into a seating chart... I was struck by the overwhelming desire to make something. I was also lucky that the recipe I chose to test is one that uses a lot of readily available ingredients. I'm really happy with how this turned out, and I think this frosting might possibly my new favourite thing. 

Honey Lemon Poppyseed Cake
Recipe from the Hungry Rabbit

For the Cake

• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
• Smidge of fine sea salt
• 240g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3 tbsp blue poppy seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, and line 3 8" round cake tins with parchment paper
2. In your mixing bowl bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt until evenly spread
3. Whisk the eggs, coconut milk and vanilla extract in a small bowl before adding the mixture to the flour with the mixing paddle set on low speed
4. When all the egg mix has gone in, add the butter and increase the speed to low-medium while you mix to ensure everything combines and the butter is even
5. Stir in the poppy seeds by hand, then divide the batter into three tins, spread it out and bake for 15-20 minutes or until your kitchen smells like cake and a tester inserted into the cake at an angle comes out clean
6. Cool the cakes in their tin for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely

For the (amazing) honey lemon curd filling

• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 cup honey
• 30g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into tiny cubes
• 1 tbsp heavy cream
• A few drops vanilla essence
• Pinch of fine sea salt

1. While the cakes are baking, make the curd (haha I've been watching too much GBBO and am tempted to stop here)
2. Seriously though, over a low heat and in a heavy bottomed heat resistant saucepan, heat the lemon juice until just hot but not boiling
3. Whisk the eggs and yolk in a medium heat resistant bowl, and gradually add the honey as you're doing so
4. Gently trickle in the hot lemon juice, whisking as you do, then return the mixture to the saucepan to cook over a low-medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Be careful of scrambling the eggs. 
5. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter until incorporated, then stir in cream, vanilla and salt. Strain the mix through a fine mesh strainer into a glass bowl, cover with cling wrap - directly onto the curd to prevent a skin from forming - and pop it into the fridge until ready to use

For the (ridiculously delicious) honey cream cheese frosting

• 114g unsalted butter, softened (but not melty and slouchy)
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 240g cream cheese, chilled but softened (trust me, warm cream cheese makes for gross looking frosting)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup honey

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk the sugar, cream cheese and butter with the paddle attachment until fully combined (the original recipe says to do sugar and butter first, then adding the cream cheese after, but I'm lazy) 
2. Add the cream, honey and vanilla and beat again on medium to high speed until just combined (take care not to over beat as this will result in a too runny frosting). 
3. Cover the bowl with a clean, damp tea towel and refrigerate until needed

Assembly

• When the cake has cooled completely, swipe a small teaspoon of cream cheese frosting onto the bottom of the cake plate and place one piece of cake on top (I do this to prevent the cake from sliding around while I'm frosting). Spread half of the honey lemon curd on top, until about 1/2" off the sides of the cake, then top with another layer and the remaining curd. Place the top layer bottom side up and gently press down to level
• Apply a crumb coat of frosting on the top and sides of the cake and refrigerate for half an hour to set. Spread frosting on the top and sides of the cake, drizzle with honey or any remaining curd, and refrigerate to set for at least 30 minutes before serving 

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake

I have my favourite chocolate cake recipe, and despite having tried multiple other recipes since then, I still go back to it as my number one. So these days, the purpose of my trying out other chocolate cake recipes isn't to try to find a better one, it really is just to try different ones. I tried one this weekend that I quite enjoyed, and so have decided to share it with you guys.

The problem is, I wrote this recipe down over a year ago in my tattered recipe book, and can't remember where I got it from. It was when I was going through my salted caramel phase (thanks to Tat Wei and his Forty Licks ice-cream), so was definitely quite a while ago. If anyone knows where this recipe is from, please leave a message and I'll give give credit where credit is due. Cos seriously, this was a fun cake to bake. 

We celebrated Chinese New Year and were given a fantastic four-day weekend, so I had some time to try it out. Also, the siblings are all out of the country and my parents were away for a wedding... and you all know how much I love experimenting with messy, complicated recipes with multiple components when I have the house to myself. 

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake

3x8" layers

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder 
• 1 1/4 cups hot water 
• 2/3 cup sour cream 
• 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour 
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 180g unsalted butter, softened 
• 114g vegetable shortening 
• 1 1/2 cups caster sugar 
• 1 cup light dark brown sugar 
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and prepare 3 8" round baking tins
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix the cocoa powder, hot water and sour cream, and set aside to cool
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
4. Cream the butter and vegetable shortening, then beat in the sugars and beat until light
5. Add the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed
6. Add the flour and cocoa mix, alternating between the dry and wet mixes, beginning and ending with the flour
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean

Salted caramel filling

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes 
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup sour cream

1. In a small saucepan, heat the cream and sea salt flakes over a low flame
2. Meanwhile, in another larger saucepan, heat the sugar, corn syrup and water over a medium-high flame until the mixture turns amber. Take this off the heat and allow to cool for a minute, then whisk in the heated cream and sea salt
3. Whisk in the sour cream, then allow the caramel to cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to assemble the cake

Chocolate caramel ganache frosting

• 450g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 450g butter, cubed and chilled (but not hard)

1. Place the chopped chocolate in the bowl of your stand mixer
2. Follow the same steps as the salted caramel filling for the cream, sugar, corn syrup and water. Once the cream has been whisked in, pour the mixture over the chopped chocolate and allow it to sit for a minute before stirring to melt the chocolate
3. Let the mixture sit and cool then beat with the paddle attachment of your mixer on low-medium speed until the bowl has cooled to the touch. This will take 10-15 minutes depending on your climate
4. When it has cooled, gradually add the butter and beat at medium-high speed until incorporated. Pop the bowl in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to bring it to a spreadable texture

Assemble the cake

Place a cake layer on your cake plate, pour the salted caramel filling over the layer and let it soak, then top with the chocolate ganache, sprinkle a tsp of sea salt flakes and cover with the next layer. Repeat, then coat the cake with a crumb coat of ganache and put the cake in the fridge to solidify for around 30 minutes. Then finish coating the cake with another layer of ganache, and sprinkle the top with sea salt flakes. 

I found this cake a little TOO sweet for my liking, and I think it's the amount of sugar in the ganache. I generally don't add that much sugar to my chocolate ganache, preferring a darker and more bitter frosting. I think in future, I'll go back to a simple chocolate ganache and content myself with salted caramel filling. The cake texture is incredibly moist and dense, and I think if served with a simple coating of dark chocolate ganache and drizzle of salted caramel, would be quite perfect. 

Chocoberry Cake

What is there to do when one is stuck in Friday night traffic for close to three hours? Why, devise a new concept for cake, of course! I was on my way on Friday night, the rain beating down on my windshield, hungry and craving for everything under the sun, when I thought of a dessert my friend Nisa and I used to indulge ourselves with every now and then. The Chocolicious Sundae from Delicious was our favourite, and we recreated it several times for potlucks and barbecues. And boy, I got a sudden hankering for it the other night.

However, I wasn't really in the mood to have a solitary dessert outing (seriously... nobody wants to spend time with me when I'm home in Setia Alam), so I wondered if I could make a cake version of it instead. The elements of the dessert are simple: chocolate, meringue, strawberries and ice cream. Voila, my Saturday baking excursion was planned.

I present to you, the Chocoberry cake! Wow, terrible name. It's a work in progress, please excuse me. I welcome suggestions for a better name *points to comment box*.

Chocolate Beet Cake

• 1 large beet (or 2 small-medium ones) - 3/4 cup grated for the cake, 2 tbsp grated for the frosting
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 170g butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup natural yogurt

1. First of all, some prep work: Wrap the beets (unpeeled, just trimmed of greens and scrubbed clean) in foil paper, wipe down with the vegetable oil and pop in the oven for an hour or so at 200C, or until a knife poked through the beets go through easily. When they're ready, remove and cool for a while, then peel and grate the beets on the fine grate of a box grater and set aside
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line your 8x8 round baking pan with butter and parchment paper
3. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside
4. Cream the butter and sugars until light, then beat in the eggs (one at a time), vanilla and beets
5. Beat in half of the flour mixture until incorporated, then pour in all the buttermilk, followed by the rest of the flour when the milk has mixed completely
6. Divide the batter between your pans, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer poked through at an angle comes out clean. You don't want to overcook this cake, trust me. When it's done, allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then move onto a cooling rack to cool completely

Balsamic reduced strawberries

• 2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
• 5 tbsp brown sugar 
• 3 - 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 180°C, toss chopped strawberries in sugar and balsamic in a baking tray and roast for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely

Whipped cream

• 200ml double cream, chilled
• 1 tsp vanilla

Chill your mixing bowl and whisk, then pour the cream and whisk until soft peaks form, pour in the vanilla and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form. You need the cream to be thick to hold the weight of the cake layer on top. Stir through half of the roasted strawberries and dollop half of the cream on top of one layer of cake, top with the second layer, then spread remaining cream over the top

Meringue topping

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 cup caster sugar

Preheat oven to 180°C/fan. Whisk the egg whites until foamy, then gradually add all the sugar and continue to whisk on high speed until mounds form (not too stiff). Spread the meringue mixture onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and pop into preheated oven, drop the temperature to 165° and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven when done (tap the meringue with the back of a spoon to check doneness) and allow to cool completely. 

Now you've got all the components of the cake done, just crack the meringue into large pieces and arrange on top of the cake, then finish by drizzling remaining roasted strawberries on top.

Serve to mum's friends and gracefully accept the admiration

World's Best Cake

What do you bake for your mother on her birthday? Out of all the recipes in your multiple recipe books, favourite blogs, magazines, and Pinterest board... which is the one that is good enough for the woman who brought you into this world? I thought long and hard about this, and finally decided to try Sweet Paul's "World's Best Cake", as it seemed like nothing less could possibly be worthy of the world's best woman. I'm sure most people out there would say the same of their mother, but in this world, in mine, Dayang Norjanah is the holder of that title.

So let's get to this World's Best Cake... An excerpt from Sweet Paul's website:

"This cake was awarded the title of Norway’s National Cake a few years back. It’s called verdens beste in Norwegian, and I agree that it just might be the world’s best. You may be skeptical of its superiority, since it isn’t iced as are many American cakes."

In fact, the reason I decided to go with this recipe is because it's not iced, or frosted, or whatever you like to call the action of putting rich sugary butter/cream cheese based beautifiers over a cake. My mum's not a fan of frosting, and while I find it terribly frustrating that she scrapes the stuff off whatever cake I make, I have to say that personally... I find it a little too much as well. So a cake that has a crispy pavlova-like meringue to act as a frosting seemed like just the way to go!

The first time I tried the recipe, I followed the instructions to a T and was not quite fond of the outcome. The cake was a bit too dense, and it lacked a certain something to just cut across the meringue layer. Not to say it wasn't wonderful, but just in our house, we like it slightly different. So I hope I'm not committing a sacrilegious act by changing the recipe and sequence a wee bit, but the instructions in this post are the ones I use at home. For those who would like to try the original, you may find it here.

World's Best Cake - the lemony version
Adapted from Sweet Paul Eat & Make

• 150g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 2/3 cups caster sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 4 egg yolks + 1 full egg
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup milk
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 5 egg whites
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C, grease and line 2 6" round springform pans
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, then add in the 4 egg yolks and 1 egg and beat until fully incorporated
3. Combine the flour and baking powder, then add half to the butter mixture. Add all the milk and lemon juice, beat until combined, then beat in the rest of the flour mixture
4. Divide the batter between the two pans 
5. Whisk the egg whites and caster sugar until soft peaks form, then fold in 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Spread the whites over each layer of the cake and bake for 35 minutes 
6. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing onto a wire rack to cool completely. Whisk the cream and vanilla bean paste until stiff peaks form, then dump the whole thing onto one layer of the cake and top with the second layer. Chill in the fridge for up to an hour before serving 

Victoria Sandwich

A cake fit for a queen, they say. This humble, no-frills, cake may not be fancy or fashionable, but its origins are far from humble. I spent the most recent public holiday reading up on random Wikipedia offerings, offset by the sudden urge to research Bran Castle (apparently it's on the market), wandering through the subject of morganatic marriages (there goes the princess fantasies), the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and somehow or other I ended up at Victoria sponge cakes. I can't tell you how I got there, but through endless right-clicking and new-tabbing, my general curiousity led me to one of my favourite tea time snacks! And wouldn't you know it, it was almost time for tea too!

It is said that Queen Victoria absolutely loved desserts, and during her reign she had carriage-loads of cake sent to all royal residences on a daily basis. Apparently she wasn't allowed sweets as a child, and I suppose when she grew up to be queen of England, she fought back against the man and said "I'll have whatever dessert I want, whenever I want." I can understand that decision.

I toyed around with the idea of doing up a tropical twist Victoria Sandwich, maybe bring a taste of Sarawak (what would that be? Black pepper?) to the classic British tea time favourite... but why change something that works so well? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. This comforting sandwich cake may not be revolutionising dessert as we know it, but on a rainy afternoon in with the family, familiar is good.

I pulled out my new cake stands from the recent trip to Melbourne for this recipe post. I'm absolutely in love with the cake stands, and I only wish I had a bigger baggage allowance... though it may be a blessing that I didn't. I shudder to think of what that would have done to my bank balance. I've already got so many cake stands of different heights and widths, but I'm afraid I have a bit of an obsession with them, and there's still so many different types that I'd like to own in multiple colours. I suppose they'll come in handy for when I finally open up my cake shop.

Three Years with Ellebug, or The Happy Hufflepuff

I went to nine schools throughout my academic career, moved houses 13 times, I work at one of the Big 4 accounting firms as a management consultant (which, besides having an incredibly high employee turnover, the nature of our jobs is that we do short term projects). Permanence is not a concept I am familiar with. So to be celebrating my third year of baking and writing this blog is kind of a B.F.D.

The past three years have seen quite a lot of changes in my life, my baking, and my work. I like to think I've grown and that writing here has helped me grow up and get to know myself a bit more... Imagine that, internalising through broadcasting my thoughts and other stuff out there. As a result of Ellebug (or The Happy Hufflepuff as we began so humbly three years ago), the work I've been doing, and the people I've met and become close to, I've built a strong appreciation for the art of reflection in the course of self discovery. I still have a long way to go, but it's nice to have these handy tricks and tools to help me cope with feelings of stress and the occasional unprovoked discontentment that many of my fellow Gen Ys suffer from.

Right now, where I am... there are a few big decisions that I will have to make over the next year, sort of the big ones to take me through the last few years of my twenties. Hard to believe when I started this thing that I was in a different age bracket. Goshdarnit.

Okay, enough wallowing and vague sharing, let's get down to business to defeat the Huns. I saw this recipe in my favourite food magazine, Delicious UK last year and knew that it would be THE cake I'm baking for my three year blog anniversary. Eric Lanlard's epic celebration chocolate cake may have a longer list of ingredients than I usually prefer, but ooooh baby, was this cake worth it! I'm definitely going to be making this cake again, though in future I may substitute the butter icing filling with something more tangy. This cake was also the perfect one to go with cos it showcases my three favourite things: chocolate, ganache frosting, and berries.

And to make it extra special, I used only the best Lindt dark chocolate (75% single source) for the cake, the butter icing, and the chocolate ganache. It's ok to splurge every now and then.

Blackberry Lindt Cake (Eric Lanlard's Chocolate Celebration Cake)
For the cake:

• 350g unsalted butter, softened
• 350g golden caster sugar
• 50ml black treacle
• 8 large free-range eggs
• 50g dark chocolate (at least 70 per cent cocoa solids), melted
• 1 tbsp chocolate extract 
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp coffee extract
• 300g self-raising flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 50g ground almonds
• Blackberries to decorate (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan and line and grease 1 6" deep round baking pan and 1 8" deep round baking pan
2. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light, then add the treacle and continue to beat gently 
4. Beat the eggs in one at a time, until light and fluffy then slowly add the melted chocolate
5. Add the chocolate, vanilla and coffee extracts
6. Add the flour until thoroughly combined then fold in the ground almonds with a rubber spatula
7. Divide the batter between the two baking pans, filling each to roughly 3/4 up the pans
8. Bake for 55 minutes for the 6" cake, and 1 hour 15 minutes for the 8" cake, or until a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn them upside down onto a wire rack to cool completely

For the butter icing:

• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp chocolate extract
• 30g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids), melted
• 2 tbsp whipping cream

Whisk the butter and icing sugar until mixed, then add the extracts and dark chocolate. Continue to whisk until combined, then beat in the whipping cream. Pop the bowl into the fridge to allow it to solidify slightly while the cakes cool, but be sure to take it out before you fill the cakes to let it soften.

For the ganache:

• 250g single cream
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup
• 250g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids), melted
• 25g unsalted butter, softened

1. Heat the cream in a saucepan over a low heat, then add the vanilla and light corn syrup and stir gently with a spatula until mixed
2. Chop the chocolate and place in a medium sized heatproof bowl, pour the heated cream over the chocolate and let it sit for a few seconds before stirring with a spatula to melt it down. If necessary, put the bowl in the microwave for 20 seconds to reheat 
3. Stir in the butter, pop the bowl into the fridge to chill slightly before decorating

Assembling the cake:

Slice both cakes into three layers using a long serrated knife, then top each layer with the butter icing. Once all six layers are stacked, cover with ganache frosting in a happily haphazard manner. Top with fresh blackberries, or raspberries, or strawberries, or chocolate curls, or really anything you like. Enjoy with a cup of coffee. 

Also, you may have noticed that the look of the site has changed a little bit. In conjunction with my three-year anniversary, I've decided to give Ellebug a little treat! The new logo is care of the brilliant Zurisha over at Tinytype: Propfolio. Please go check out her stuff, order from her, just go talk to her. She's lovely! Thanks so much, Sha, I'm completely smitten by the little ladybug B and the whole thing! So cute! So terribly, terribly cute!

On a different note, is it smitten with, or smitten by? Couldn't find a conclusive answer to this, and now I am legitimately worried I may have been making a mistake my whole life and will continue to make this mistake if I don't find out!

Brush My Hair & Feed Me Grapes

"She's so sweet. I just want to feed her grapes and brush her hair." said Joey Tribbiani. That, my friends, is love. I'm kidding!

I baked this amazing grape tea cake over the weekend, and made two batches cos it's just that good. This is not the first time I tried this recipe from Steph (raspberricupcakes.com) but the last time I made it, it disappeared so fast that I couldn't get a picture! I've made it one more time since then, and the three times I attempted this recipe, I changed 1 variable in the recipe each time... with excellent results regardless!

Steph used Moscato in her recipe, a sweet dessert wine. The first time I tried it, I used Sauternes wine as I had some left over (and I kinda love that sweet scent a lot). The second time, I made it for my grandmother - who doesn't take alcohol in any form - and used store bought white grape juice. And it it's latest reincarnation in my kitchen, I used Moscato, specifically bought to bake this cake. Each change yielded slightly different results, but deliciously fresh and fruity regardless. I think my favourite so far is definitely the Sauternes wine version.

Anyway, enough dilly-dallying, let me share that recipe with you. And when you get bored, or can't sleep, or just need some sort of baking inspiration, please do check out www.raspberricupcakes.com. Steph's recipes and photography are to die for! I can only hope to one day be able to take pictures as beautifully as she does.

Grape Tea Cake with Vanilla Bean Glaze
Recipe from raspberricupcakes.com 

• 190g all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 170g caster sugar
• 85g butter, room temperature
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp grated orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup sweet wine OR white grape juice
• 1 1/2 cup red seedless grapes

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line an 8" round baking tin with butter and parchment paper
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside
3. In the large mixing bowl of your stand mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and olive oil until fluffy. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then beat in the lemon and orange zest along with the vanilla extract
4. Add the flour in 3 additions, alternating with 1/2 cup of the wine or juice after each flour addition, and end with the flour, beating steadily after each addition
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and scatter the grapes on top
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean. Remove from the oven, cool in tin for 10 minutes before moving the cake to cool completely on a wire rack

Vanilla bean glaze

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 2-3 tbsp milk

1. Mix all the ingredients (start with 1-2 tbsp of milk), stir with a spoon until a thick, pourable mixture forms
2. Pour or drizzle the glaze over the completely cooled cake  

Lemon cake with Passionfruit glaze

I made this cake weeks ago to bring to a friend's house over Chinese New Year. For a while I wasn't sure if I was gonna share the recipe, but I revisited it the other day as my dad's quite a fan. Also, as I'm going through my Passionfruit Period, I have quite a store of the fruit in my house I needed to use up. I think this may be the last passionfruit recipe I share for a while (or maybe not).

This cake is soft and light, with a sweet and slightly tangy passionfruit glaze on top to give it a twist. Perfect for afternoon tea with a bitter black tea or coffee. It's also a super easy recipe to whip up at the last minute for a friend's do. I don't remember where I got this recipe, but have had this in my book for ages now... if anyone knows it's origin, please leave a comment and I'll edit it in. Thanks!

Lemon Cake

• 125g butter, room temperature
• 220g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 250g natural yoghurt
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 300g all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line an 8" round baking tin with butter and baking paper and set aside
2. In the large mixing bowl of your mixer, cream and butter and sugar until incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
3. Then in one go, dump in the remaining ingredients and beat until well mixed, but take care not to overbeat the batter as this will result in a dense cake
4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake at an angle comes out clean
5. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes before taking it out and letting it cool completely on a wire rack

Passionfruit syrup

• 2/3 cup passionfruit pulp
• 2/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup water

1. Place all the ingredients for the syrup in a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. When the mixture comes to a boil, lower the heat and let the mixture reduce to a thick syrup
2. Drizzle the syrup over the cake with a spoon, tease it around the top of the cake to fall gently off the sides and trickle down til it almost touches the cake plate 

I would recommend serving this cake fresh upon the day of baking, as it's soft and moist still. I've baked this in the past for my dad and mum put it in the fridge overnight, which of course just resulted in drying it out. I'm not a fan of refrigerating cake unless absolutely necessary. 

Vanilla & Passionfruit Cake

One of my closest and dearest friends celebrated his 25th birthday last week, and I was asked to bake a seaside themed cake for him. He's a diver and loves the beach, so why not? The thing is, this turned out looking like a baby shower cake! Considering he's one of my babies, I don't see anything wrong with that. 

Dearest Leslie, hope you had a great birthday week surrounded by family and best friends. It's been a while since our last holiday together, so lets go diving in May! Or rather, you go diving with E and I'll go sit on the beach with a cheesy historical romance novel with the rest of the FFs. 

This blog post & recipe is dedicated to one of the sweetest, kindest, and most protective friends I have. I'm so glad to have you in my life. 

Vanilla Bean cake with Passionfruit filling, covered in Passionfruit Cream Cheese frosting

• 440g all purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 240g butter, softened to room temperature
• 400g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• Seeds from 2 vanilla bean pods
• 1 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, line 2 8" round baking tins with butter and parchment paper
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until combined, then add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Dump in the seeds from the vanilla bean pods and stir to get it mixed
4. Add half the flour mixture and beat until combined, then pour in all the milk and stir until it's incorporated in the batter, then add in the rest of the flour. Don't overmix, just ensure all the ingredients are evenly coated, be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl
5. Divide the batter between the two baking tins and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean
6. Cool the cakes in the tin for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely (do this top side down to get flat, even layers)

Passionfruit cream cheese frosting

• 2 tbsp strained juice of a passionfruit
• 42g butter, softened
• 114g cream cheese, cold
• 2 1/4 cups sifted icing sugar

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of your stand mixer until thoroughly combined. Pour in the passionfruit juice and continue to beat for another minute or so
2. Add the icing sugar in one go and just beat until light and fluffy (you may need to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl), for about 5 minutes. Do not beat for too long as that will make it too runny

Assembling the cake
Place one layer top side down on a cake plate, and pipe a circle of cream cheese frosting around the edges of the cake. Fill the middle with passionfruit curd (I used about 1 cup of curd as I piped a thick layer) and place the second layer of cake on the top, bottom side down.
Apply a thin crumb coat and allow it to crust for about 15 minutes before frosting the rest of the cake. I chose to go with a simple frosting design this time around, placing the cake on a revolving cake stand and just running my offset spatula along the side, tilted at an angle while I spun the stand. I should try to make a tutorial video to show how I blended the colours... 

The beautiful seaside themed cake toppers you see in these pictures was made by Zurisha over at Tinytype: Propfolio, a local designer who takes orders for themed cake toppers and the like. If you're in the KL area, you can contact her at tinytype.propfolio@gmail.com to order some or check out her instagram page @TinyType to see her work. I'm definitely looking forward to getting more of these to go with some of my upcoming dessert spreads.

Apple Crumble Cake

Freshly baked cake, sweet and tangy fruits, cold ice-cream. Is that not one of the most comforting combinations you can imagine? If you're like me and find comfort in the act of baking (and then enjoying the spoils of that well spent afternoon), this is one recipe you should try. It's easy enough to whip up in less than 15 minutes, but takes up enough of your energy that it works perfectly to shut down the background noise going on in your head.

I've baked four of these cakes in the past 3 days (one for an order, one for an office potluck lunch, one for my mum, and another for an aunt) and have gotten to enjoy approximately 3 bites of it. Sometimes I wonder if I bake because I love desserts, or if I bake to distract myself from myself. I'm not entirely sure what I'm feeling right now, and to be honest, I'm not too keen to confront it just yet. Work has been fantastically rewarding lately, pushing me to my known limits of existing knowledge and making me learn a lot more as I go along, and I'm loving every single second of it.

You know, I should probably edit this entry to talk of something more meaningful, but you're not here to read about my life. So I'm going to just give you the recipe you came for.

Apple Crumble Cake
adapted from Valli Little's recipe on Delicious. au
Preheat oven to 180C and line a 9" springform tin with baking paper and butter

The cake:

• 145g softened butter
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1tsp vanilla bean paste
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup cream
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced

The crumble:

• 50g cold butter, cubed
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamo

1. For the cake: Pop the butter and sugar in your electric stand mixer and beat until fluffy, then add the eggs and vanilla bean paste and beat until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, baking powder, cream and milk in one go and beat with the paddle attachment until fully incorporated. Transfer the batter into your prepared cake tin and arrange the apple slices on top. 
2. The crumble: Rub the butter and flour with your fingers until they resemble coarse crumbs. Stir the sugar and cinnamon through the crumble with a fork. Pour the crumble over the apples and cake and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool slightly and serve with ice-cream!

Thomas the Tank Engine Cake!

I had another recipe lined up to share here, but I just wanted to share this cake I made over the weekend for a friend's son. Okay, so he's more, actually, my boss, but whatever. Semantics. Anyhoo, his son turned two last week, and he (the little boy, not my boss) is currently obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine (choo choo!), so I was asked if I could make a cake for roughly 50 people and in the theme.

Didn't think I could do it until I did. You all know how scared I am of working with fondant! I was actually toying (heh heh) with the idea of sculpting a Thomas the Tank Engine out of cake, but with limited time on my hands... it was safest to just go with a toy to perch on top.

The birthday boy with his new toy :) 

The cake is two tiers, the bottom tier being my favourite chocolate beetroot cake, and the top tier is vanilla bean cake with lemon curd filling (mmm!). I have yet to share the recipe for that, but I've got another birthday cake to bake this coming weekend for one of my dearest friends which I'll be using that recipe on. With some changes, as after the first time, I think there are minor adjustments I'd like to make. Anyway, I'll wait and share that version once I've tweaked it. 

For now, enjoy the joyful pictures of Oli's Twoo Twoo cake!

And if you would like to order a kid's birthday cake, please email me at nabmac@gmail.com or ring me if you have my number. I would appreciate two weeks notice so I may plan it around my day job :)

Much love! Had so much fun at the birthday party, thanks Andrew & Serena for trusting me with your son's birthday cake! Throwing in this pic of me on a giant revolving teddy bear lol

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

If you find that the sun on your skin doesn't quite warm you to the core, or the rain pattering on the roof outside your bedroom window sounds a bit too much like your insides, my darlings... it's time to put on an apron, pull out the sugar jar, and bake yourself a carrot cake. With cream cheese frosting, lots of it.

Carrot cake

• 280g grated carrots
• 50g chopped pecans
• 300g soft light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 300ml sunflower oil
• 300g all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 8" round pans with butter and baking paper
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside
3. In the large mixing bowl of your stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to beat the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and sunflower oil
4. Beat in the flour mixture until just combined
5. Stir in the grated carrots and chopped pecans
6. Divide the batter evenly between the two baking pans and bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely

Ruffles & Roses

I haven't been testing out new recipes lately due to being busy with some orders I've received from friends and friends of friends for their weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, and the such. It's been a very looooong few weeks, and I've been thinking that it's time to try out some new recipes.

What though? It's getting harder to just bake a dessert when I've made the conscious decision to get fit. LOL. All that holibaking really wasn't great for the waistline. So, I hope you'll bear with me as I regroup and find new recipes to try and share. There will probably be a few big ones coming up in the next two weeks ;)

In the meantime, I leave you with this lame filler post, and some pictures of the wedding cakes I've done in the past few weeks.

Lots of love, Nabs

Chocolate Raspberry Mille Crepe Cake

Two of my favourite people came to visit today, under the pretense of wanting to watch me bake. Really, they came to nap, watch telly with my siblings, and eat whatever I baked while they did the above. I love them anyway though, and perhaps a little bit more now as they made the effort to trek all the way over to where I live safely ensconced in the suburbs.

I've been thinking of what to make while they were here all week; banana butterscotch cake, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, or mille crepe cake? I've wanted to try my hand at a mille crepe cake since Jessica first had me try one years ago, but have always been a bit put off by what I thought was the difficulty of making crepes. Pfffffttt. Once I found the perfect recipe (ie easy), it all comes down to testing the consistency and my own ability to swirl and flip a crepe in the pan.

So, Jess and Angie came by to spend their day off with me, and while they ate Sarawak Laksa with my family, watching The Avengers (Hollllaaaaa, Thor!), and I mixed and made crepes 5 feet away. It was actually really fun, and I think I can get used to being watched while I bake. (hello, tv people, Nigella wannabe #394 standing right here?)

Let's just get on with the recipe, and trust me, you don't need a fancy crepe pan and spreader (though I imagine it would definitely make perfect crepes). I just used a regular frying pan (not even sure if it's non-stick), and a silicone spatula. Just flip as you would a normal pancake.

Chocolate Crepes:

• 200g all purpose flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 600ml milk
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp melted butter

In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and sugar, then make a well in the middle to pour in the eggs, vanilla, milk, honey, and butter. Whisk the mixture together by hand, or with your electric stand mixer if you have one. Leave the batter to rest for 30 minutes, then heat your pan, drop a smidge of butter on and use a ladle to scoop up the batter for the crepe. I used around 1/4 cup of the batter for each crepe. Swirl the pan to get the batter all around the pan, leave for 1-2 minutes, then flip over and cook for another 1 minute. Remove to a cooling rack, where you have to let the crepes cool completely before you stack them. I find that it takes the duration to make 2 crepes for 1 to cool completely. Anyway, I'm sure you're smart enough to figure this out on your own. 

I then used leftover chocolate sour cream frosting from this cake to spread in between each crepe. You can use whipped cream (200ml whipping cream, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup icing sugar, whisk until soft peaks form), drizzled with chocolate sauce (100g choc, 15g butter, 1 1/2 tbsp honey, 70ml milk, whisked together in a bain marie) instead.

Then I topped the entire thing with fresh raspberries, and sifted confectioners sugar over the lot.

Cover and chill the cake for an hour in the fridge before serving. Or whatever, eat it right then and there, as we did.

Happy Holiday Cake!

Holidaaay~!

It's been a very, very long time since I've taken a good break from work; with TWO public holidays falling on Tuesday and Thursday of this week, I did what any sane person with too much annual leave left over and took the three other days off for a total of 9 days to do whatever I want to do (or not do, rather).

So in addition to all the pampering and self indulgence I've been doing, catching up with my friends and family, I have obviously been taking this opportunity to try out recipes I've shelved for a while now. This particular recipe I'm about to share with you is of the cake I made for my sister's birthday earlier this year but was unable to snap pictures of. I finally have the time to revisit this cake, for no other reason than the fact that I want to eat it and take pictures of it.
I came across this recipe in Smitten Kitchen's blog years ago when browsing for classic birthday cake recipes, and it remains one of my top 5 cakes to bake for friends and family. Or really, just days off. Let's quit pretending to have reasons for cake. 

Here we go, according to Deb (Smitten Kitchen) the best birthday cake ever:

Yellow Cake

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 225 g unsalted butter
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 2 tsp mexican vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, grease and line 2 8-inch pans with butter and parchment paper then set aside
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside
3. In the large mixing bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter until light and creamy with paddle, then toss in the sugar and continue to beat until mixture turns white and fluffy
4. Beat in eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla. Be sure to scrape down the side of the bowl to ensure the entire mixture is incorporated well
5. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter and beat shortly, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, and continue adding the flour and buttermilk alternately and end with the flour
6. Divide the batter in between the two pans and bake for 35-45 minutes at 160C, until a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean. Take the cakes out and cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to cool completely on a wire rack

Chocolate Sour Cream frosting

• 450g good quality dark baking chocolate
• 2 tsp instant espresso
• 2 1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 tsp mexican vanilla extract

1. Melt the chocolate and espresso in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Once the chocolate has melted completely, remove from heat and allow to cool til tepid (basically just slightly warmer than room temperature)
2. Whisk the sour cream, light corn syrup, and vanilla, then slowly pour in the melted chocolate while whisking to ensure the mixture is fully incorporated
3. If you need to, pop the frosting in the fridge until it solidifies enough to spreading consistency (think, Nutella)
4. To assemble cake, dollop a good 1/2 cup - 1 cup of frosting on top of one layer of cake, then smooth it out before putting the other layer on top. Use an offset spatula to spread the frosting around and over the cake, then decorate as you please. I just used my spatula and went around, then dropped silver dragees around the edge of the top