RECIPE: Two-Bite Brownies

I can just see your eyes all lit up at the words ‘Two-Bite Brownies”. Well, yes, hold on to your seats as you’re in for a treat! These decadent bitesized babies are a cinch to make, and you’ll definitely have all the ingredient at home.

I made them bite-sized, rather than in a large pan as called for in the recipe. I mean, mini versions of food is always more fun to eat, no?

Another great thing about making two-bite brownies is that they are portable, and perfect for little kids.

These brownies are made without any chocolate at all! These are cocoa brownies. That means only cocoa powder, and a little flour goes into them, which creates an end product that is incredibly rich and sore-throat inducing. Let’s just focus on the fact that they are incredibly rich and bittersweet 😛

I think they come close to tasting like chocolate fudge, because of the richness and more-ish-ness of the mini brownie bites. I recommend chilling them, and enjoying them straight out of the fridge! These would be great alongside a glass of icy cold milk.

If you’re someone who likes sweet brownies, I suggest adding more sugar, or perhaps using a sweetened cocoa powder instead. These brownies are bittersweet, unlike those super sweet commercial brownies. But since these are cocoa powder brownies, the quality of your cocoa powder is essential to a good brownie.

This recipe while good, was not great. It was a tad dry in my opinion, but chilling it in the fridge did help. So give it a try, and let me know how it works out for you! I still chose to share the recipe with you all since the recipe received a ton of rave reviews, so maybe I’m just more inclined toward chewy brownies rather than fudgey brownies.

Oh yes, look at that, it really does resemble fudge, no? Just a single two-bite brownie will satisfy all your chocolate cravings. For that day at least.

 

I can’t help but associate these cute little brownies to sunflowers! It must be those adorable yellow mini muffin cups that I used.

Two-Bite Brownies

Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Bittersweet

Makes 18 mini brownies.

What you’ll need:
10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (65 grams, though some brands may weigh more) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process) –I used Hershey’s unsweetened.
1/4 teaspoon salt (or a heaping 1/4 teaspoon flaky salt, as I used)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup (65 grams) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (75 grams) walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Instructions:

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F/165 Celsius. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. OR Line a mini muffin tin with mini muffin cups.

2. Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Make sure the bowl isn’t touching the water!

3. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added.

4. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan/fill the mini muffin tins.

5. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes.

6. Let cool completely on a rack. (But if you’re making them in mini muffin form, and you don’t have to worry about cutting clean lines, then please do what I did, and enjoy one fresh out of the oven! Hehe)

Switch things up!
1) Add a Hershey’s Kiss on top, just for aesthetic purposes of course. There’s just the added benefit of extra chocolate!
2) Stir in some mini chocolate chips for some moisture
3) Use any kind of nuts (You aren’t limited to walnuts/pecans) for texture
4) Use a mix of brown sugar and white sugar for a richer flavour
5) Add a teaspoon of instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 tsp hot water to bring out the chocolate flavour even more.

Bon appetit!

 

 

WIAW: Mix and match

Good day everyone! Its my second round joining in the WIAW party, with the brilliant Jenn who’s hosting as always. I think WIAW is a brilliant way for bloggers to learn more about each other, even if its just by seeing what one another eats in a day. Kudos to Jenn for dreaming up such a fun event on the blogosphere.

Breakfast:

2 Weetbix topped with a cold banana, and soya milk. So simple and so delicious. I have a big appetite though, so I had two Jollipancakes to follow (below)

A Jollipancake is a thin pancake which is spread with peanut jam (crushed peanuts mixed to form a thick paste), and rolled up. The crunch of the crushed peanuts and sugar takes pancakes to a whole new level. I still prefer their normal traditional pancakes though, as you can see. But if you like western pancakes, then this would be a better bet.

Lunch:
I had hawker food for lunch today! I went to ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre, which has loads of good food. Lunch for me was Handmade Fishball noodles which were spectacular. The soup was tasty, and the fishballs were springy and stuffed with ingredients, unlike their processed counterparts.

If you have absolutely no idea what I am talking about, should you ever come to Singapore, do get your hands on some fishballs. Fishballs are made of fish meat, which is ground up into a paste, so it does not have a texture like meat at all. Sometimes, spices like chopped red chillies and green onions are added for a flavor boost. My favorite kind is the FuZhou Fishball, where the fIshball is stuffed with minced meat. When you bite into it, the juices from the meat just ooze into your mouth, and its like a party for your taste buds. They may sound and look strange, but they are fun to eat (be careful not to stuff the entire ball into your mouth though, or the Heimlich maneuver may come in handy). While fishballs are considered simple fare, they are still a novelty since you probably will not be able to find them outside Asia.

Woah. that was an unexpected paragraph on fishballs. Haha, well moving on, here’s what I had for dessert!
I got these bowls of deliciousness from a stall called “Creo Desserts“. With stalls like Blackball, and Beanstalk taking Singapore by storm, I have to say, this is my kryptonite. Affordable, and in my opinion, better than Blackball and Beanstalk (*gasp*), these are just plain delightful. Crushed ice drenched in syrup, and topped with grass jelly, red beans, and taro balls (or taro for my foodie-in-crime)… the ideal dessert for a hot day in sunny Singapore.

Here’s a close up! Isn’t it pretty? 🙂

Dinner:
For my fellow health nuts, this should ring a bell. Sumo salad for dinner anyone? Here are the few variations I’ve had lately. I love how generous they are with the portions, literally stuffing the box with the salads of your choice.

Kumara/Sweet potato Couscous, Jamaican Chicken and Pumpkin with chickpeas. Eating the rainbow indeed! This was my favorite combination.

Chicken avocado salad, Couscous and Jamaican Chicken. Still loving the Jamaican Chicken.

Chicken Avocado Salad, Chickpeas, Couscous with Sausage, White bean and Kumara. I got greedy and mixed 4 types of salad together. Don’t follow my lead.. sometimes, less is more.

And, if you have leftovers, what better way than to add more veggies, and serve it up again the next day? The perfect way to get more greens into your diet. I’d say this WIAW has more greens than my previous WIAW 😀 Achievement unlocked!

Well, all good things come to an end, and this concludes my WIAW #2, I certainly hope you had fun reading 😀 or at least looking at the photos.

Have a brilliant day, may God bless you always.

A thousand layers of happiness? Featuring First Love Patisserie’s Mille Crepe.

My apologies, its been ages since I last posted. But I have been so caught up with school and CCA, I simply could not find the time to write a review. (I had no trouble trying out new places of course, so my list of places to be reviewed is piling up!)

Fret not, you guys are in for a treat today! Today’s post is all about the trendy thousand layer Mille Crepe. Some call it the thousand layer cake, others call it a mille crepe.. I call it.. literally-layers-of-crepe-and-cream cake.

The crepe sure is a beauty, don’t you think? Its like an atas version of kueh lapis. I certainly respect the chefs cause it must be hard work having to prepare hundreds of cakes layer by layer daily.

Hopefully you are as intrigued by the many layers of crepe as I am, because I went crazy with food shots, so prepare yourselves for a visual feast.

The brochure, filled with hilarious spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. You ready to see more “devine” photos of this cake? 😛

I’m pleased to announce that First Love Patisserie’s Mille Crepe looks just like what is shown on the brochure/box, so thumbs up for no false advertising!

Look at the meticulously layered cake… visually stunning in every way.

Before I tried it, I always imagined the Mille Crepe to taste like a creamy, yet light cake. While I was a tad disappointed to realise that it was literally just layers of crepe and cream, the lightness of the cream definitely lived up to what I had fantasized it to be.

You can definitely taste the quality of the ingredients, and the fact that they use real vanilla beans in the cream helps to bring out the flavor even better. If you look very carefully at the photos, you can see specs of vanilla bean dotting the layers of cream. 

This is the less photographed side of the Mille Crepe.. what can I say? I like to show both sides of the picture 🙂

The Mille Crepes are sold in slices, with each slice gingerly placed on a thin sheet of aluminium foil. You could order the whole cake, of course, but I think it would be hard to slice it as deftly as they do. With so many fragile layers of crepe, I recommend leaving the slicing to the professionals.

A close up of the back.

Side view. I still can’t get over how beautiful a Mille Crepe is. Food is an art, we really ought to put more effort into our food presentation.

Here’s what one layer of crepe looks like. Thin, spongy and sweet, with a smooth layer of vanilla cream. Yum.

Cross section of the cake. See the specks of vanilla bean?

On hindsight, the cream filling is reminiscent of Beard Papa’s cream puff. And the crepe layers are like softened pastry, so this could be aptly described as a deconstructed Beard Papa Cream Puff  reconstructed in a cake. Phew, try saying that 10 times!

Personally, I like the cake frozen, cause it tastes more like an ice-cream cake (I adore ice cream cakes), and the firmness of the cake made it easier to eat. However, my foodie-in-crime preferred it cool, with its softer, melt in the mouth texture. Like everything in life, its based on personal preference, so there is no right or wrong way to eat the Mille Crepe.

Despite having been singing praises thus far, I must say that it is rather expensive at $6.50 a slice… but you should try it at least once. Just so you can level-up in the foodie world.

Oh, and one more thing, despite seeming like its from Japan (Hokkaido Thousand Layer Cake).. First Love Patisserie is actually a Jakarta brand. They sell other flavours like Cookies and Cream, and Strawberries too. Do give them a shot, and let me know how you find it!

Location: ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn, #B4, Orchard, 238801

Rating: 7/10

Mixed Berries Tart from Fredo Galaxy

Fredo Galaxy at Tanglin Halt

Address: Blk 46-3 Commonwealth Drive, #01-388

Tel: +65 9185 2932

Opening Hours

Mon–Sat: 8.30am – 8.30pm 
Sun: 8.30am – 6pm 
(Closed on Tue)

  <— So that’s just a teaser of what you’re about to see.

Be warned. This is a berry tart of gastronomic proportions. Get some tissue ready, you may drool at first sight. 

Alright, so I jest. But the Mixed Berries Tart ($6.30 if I’m not wrong) from Fredo Galaxy is the best berry tart, or best fruit tart for that matter, that I have ever had.

Take a look at this little piece of heaven:

The first thing that hit me was how generous they were with the berries. Given the cost of berries in Singapore, this tart is actually quite worth it. Next, the sweetness and smoothness of the custard pairs perfectly with the crunchy tart pastry base. It was just so tasty. You should definitely give it a try. 

Fredo Galaxy sells other things like cakes and bread as well. I’ve only tried their marble cake and their brownie. The marble cake was pretty good! It tastes even better when you heat it up. I can’t really remember how the brownie tasted, so I don’t think it was particularly great. (They both look pretty tasty though, as seen below :D)

Rating: (for the tart) 9/10

Mixed Berry Tart from Fredo Galaxy

Berry Tart from Tanglin Halt

(Review coming soon 🙂 )

Recipe: Best (stuffed) Brownies

Brownie recipe (stuffed with oreo/ferrero rocher/hershey kisses)

Credits to Sarah on allrecipes.com

(http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mmm-mmm-better-brownies/)

Original Recipe Yield 1 9×9 inch pan 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×9 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Stir in walnuts, if desired. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 161 | Total Fat: 10.2g | Cholesterol: 26mg

This is one of the best  brownies I have ever made! Then again, these are the only brownies I have ever made from scratch. I can assure you, these brownies do not disappoint! I can confidently say that these are way better than Betty Crocker brownies (and equally easy too). I added my own twist to it by adding oreo/ferrero rocher/hershey kisses, into each of the individual muffin tins. You can always just bake a tray of brownies without adding the oreos/chocolate, but I’ve always wanted to try adding something into a brownie. 

So here you guys go! Enjoy the recipe, and share it with more people 🙂 Feel free to reply with photos of your own brownies as well.

Have a great day!

Cupcake Engineer

Cupcake Engineer

501 Bukit Timah Road, Cluny Court, #01-03A, Singapore, Singapore 259760 

After reading about the cupcakes made with natural ingredients, unlike many of the commercial cupcakes nowadays, I was determined to try these cupcakes to see if they were worth the extra effort of getting better ingredients. 

The cupcakes were displayed on dainty little trays behind a small glass counter, and there were flavors such as Ho-ho horlicks, Vanilla, Chocolate and Lemon (I can’t remember the cute names they used) There were only at most 3 of each flavor displayed at one time. Since the cupcakes are baked in-house, they do run out of flavors quite fast, so you’ll have to wait for them to bake another tray.

I bought two cupcakes, each priced at $4 (pretty overpriced for such small cupcakes)— Lemon and Horlicks.

The lemon cupcake had just the right amount of tanginess in the light, airy buttercream. And the lemon curd drizzled over it made it look and taste even better. The cupcake itself was light, and not to sweet. 

The horlicks cupcake was delicious too! The horlicks buttercream was nice and light, and it was topped with a Malteser. Another pleasant surprise was yet another Malteser buried underneath the buttercream. The cupcake was moist and had a nice, not too overpowering Horlicks flavour to it.

What I like about both the cupcakes is that they had a clean finish to it. They were light on the palate, and I didn’t feel like guilty after eating it.

So, the verdict? 

These cupcakes are worth it, since the quality ingredients set them apart from other cupcakes laden with sugar and colouring. The cupcakes focus on flavor rather than aesthetics, which is more important to me.

Rating: 7/10 

Snowflake Ice

Snowflake Ice.

Hey all, I just came back from a food trip to Kuala Lumpur, and we discovered this amazing dessert place called Snowflake Ice. They serve their desserts with their signature shaved ice (Soy ice, grass jelly ice, and other flavors like sesame once in a while) with toppings like grass jelly, red beans, peanuts, pearls and TARO BALLS.

Their chewy taro balls are supposed to be their signature topping.

They do sell hot desserts as well, which are tasty too, but I recommend the original soy ice with 3 toppings of your choice before you try their other creations.

Their cold dessert is even better eaten on a hot day (like today).

Rating: 9/10