what's cookin - Victoria Sandwich Cake; a true British classic ;)

Victoria Sandwich Cake...emmmm sedapnya...walaupun simple basic resepi je pun tapi gabungan kek butter, whipped cream dengan strawberries memang mengancam! sekali sekala memang menjelma jugak mengidam kek ni kat anak tekak...maka ke John Lewis cafe lah kami dua beranak, tak pun pergi satu cafe  tu yg memang dah tau ada Victoria Sponge yang sedap. (hasil exploration mama yang pantang nampak cafe comel and secluded)

tapi kali ni saya terpengaruh lagi bila ternampak kek ni kat dapur Kak Rima Spore, kena pulak time tu tengah puasa (ye ye sangat notty baru terkedek2 nak ganti belen2 puasa ganti) apa lagi terus call mi amor mintak beli butter balik ofis nanti...kelakar sebab bila singgah kedai on the way balik rumah dia siap call;


mama, nak apa tadi?
butter dengan telur..eh jap pastu nak gula, eggs and fresh milk heh heh heh
eh ado yo laie rasanya tadi butter je makin banyak pulak list..ni butter nak yang mana? 
oh lurpak pleaseeee....
kalau yang co-operative salted boleh?
tak nak nanti busuk.


balik tu dia mengomel, mahal betul butter mama ni dekat £3 ha..nasib baik papa cukup duit.
whoopsie! hehe...rupanya butter tu yang bosa patut la mahal sket, perli ke hape beli bosa2...men ey, mana la diorang tahu beza rasa kek pakai butter ke marjerin jenama supermarket kan.

anyway, kek ni memang a true British classic...sebaris dengan Bakewell Tart *nyums!*, Eton Mess *tak minat sangat*, Scones *oh yes!*, Lemon Drizzle Cake *tangy i like* and Shortbread *come to mama!*...slurpp! sedapnyaaaa la haii...so so  quintessentially British! to cut it short, i LOVE anything that have butter and sugar in it...memang masalah besar bagi diriku...oh crap! ;P

potong dua slice untuk jiran sebelah...kesian diorang tu kerja keras sebab sebelah ni dental lab, and kalau terserempak dengan the wifey yg selalu keluar masuk rumah buat delivery tu dia sangat baik selalu tegur and lambai2 even kalau time tu dia tengah kat dalam ofis...dan juga untuk meringankan beban dari kena habiskan kek sorang2...mi amor tak layan sangat lorr....excuse my paper plate, lagipun pintu sebelah je kan...serius tak de stok bekas makanan yang fancy2 -_-'

the basic recipe is; equal weight of eggs, sugar, flour and butter. some recipe did add baking powder and a little milk to losen. kalau ikut yang Kak Rima buat tu dia timbang berat telur then go from there. for mine, i use Mary Berry's from goodtoknow, senang sebab all-in-one method, campak-semua-beat-then-bake and dah siap a few sukatan according to the size of your cake tin. the recipe just use a layer of jam, sandwich together between two layers of cake, it is said by Women's Institue to be the original version of the cake, refer wikipedia. but kita lagi suka yang ada layer cream and fresh strawberries, more lighter in terms of taste but not the calorie obviously. ;P

Victoria Sandwich Cake

Source: Mary Berry's from goodtoknow recipes.com

• 2 large eggs
• 100 g (4 oz) of softened butter
• 100 g (4 oz) of caster sugar, (1/2 cup sugar)
• 100 g (4 oz) of self-raising flour (1 cup self raising flour)
• 1tsp of baking powder.
• 2 x 15cm (6 in) greased and lined sandwich - i used 8" cake tin, bake 2 portion of this recipe to get 2 layer cake
• 1 tablespoon milk, to losen - ni tambah sendiri
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste - tambah sendiri

For the filling and topping:

• 4tbsp strawberry or raspberry jam
• A little caster sugar, for sprinkling on top
• 150ml double cream, whipped until slightly stiff with 2 tablespoon icing sugar - tambah sendiri, ikut preference masing-masing ye
• fresh strawberries slice - tambah sendiri
• 
  
• METHOD:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/gas 4. Grease two sandwich tins then line the base of each tin with baking parchment.

Measure the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, milk if using and baking powder into a large bowl and beat until thoroughly blended. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins and level out.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes or until well risen and the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly pressed with a finger. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.

When completely cool,take one cake, layer with whipped cream then spread some jam and arrange strawberries slices and top with another layer of cake on top. Sprinkle icing sugar for garnishing before serve.

Storage: any leftover sandwiched-cake can keep in the fridge, make sure letak dalam bekas yang bertutup and allow 15 minutes in room temperature before eating. Somehow selepas di war warkan dalam fb mayday mayday mintak tolong kawan-kawan yang interested utk dtg rumah to take the leftovers datang la Cik Thirah aka supermummy datang lepas habis lab last nite. phewww...  -_-'  so rasanya max 2-3 days if kept in the fridge will be ok.

what's cookin - Fruits Pastry Cake

kek ni buat masa birthday Anisah last week, sebagai buah tangan dan jugak spare cake in case Mya pun nak mengendeng tiup lilin jugak (which is memang pun, tengok la anak sape kan? Mya the drama queen junior =P )

although people said that it looks so cantik, my cake didn't turn out as beautiful and tasty looking as other masterchef blogger...nak tengok yang comel try jenguk kat rumah Happy Home Baking(HHB), or Nasi Lemak Lover...memang nampak tempting sangat nak try tau...mine not only the fruits sunk into the cake, it also a little bit on the drier and dense side...i wish i can blame it to the oven for this but i think i was getting a little excited and overbeat the batter hehe... (back from the party bukak buku baking and baca tips buat kek cakap tak boleh overbeat batter or the cake will be hard and dense) and maybe i kept on increasing the cooking time as i found my toothstick doesn't come clean when coming out from the cake huhu...so Sonia, if you reading this please give your advice; is there any possibility the cake will be dense if i overbeat the batter? because i only beat like crazy with the sugar and eggs and slowly stir with spatula after putting in the flour..hmpphh....

oh peach...tenggelam kau kat situ..huhu...nevermind, next time harus cuba lagi

resepi ambil dari Little Corner of Mine, sebab dah siap sukatan dalam cawan =)

FRUITS PASTRY CAKE

Source: Little Corner of Mine

1 1/2 cups (210g) all-purpose/plain flour
1 cup sugar (200g) + 2 Tbsp. for sprinkling on fruits
3/4 stick (100g) butter
2 Tbsp sour cream (I used 2 Tbsp. strawberry flavored fromage frais...curi mya punya =P)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tsp. lemon or orange peel (i only use lemon juice, so maybe that is why it tasted quite bland)
3 eggs
500g fruits of your choice, just not the juicy kind

Method:
1. In a strainer, placed the prepared fruits (pit removed and cut into slices) and sprinkled them with 2 Tbsp of sugar.
2. Preheat oven to 350'F. Spray and floured a 8-inch square pan or 9-inch round.
3. Beat butter, sour cream and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time. Add flavorings. Beat til combined. Then, add in flour and baking powder, mixed until smooth.
4. Pour batter in the pan, level nicely and arranged the fruits on top (don't press). Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.

what's cookin - Moist Butter Cake

somehow i always find myself crave for an old fashion, moisty, buttery plain butter cake...the smell and aroma that linger around your house when they baked in the oven was heavenly and waiting for the cake to be done is so temptingly let alone for the cake to cooled completely before i can slice it off, well of course i always failed to do that..haha..maybe that's why all my cake were slightly undone but that's ok because i loveeeeeee undone cake, yes i'm a weirdo =P

beware friends, this recipe is definitely a keeper! by far THE BEST butter cake i've ever bake...it was so moist,so fragrance and buttery, just make sure you use high quality butter when you bake this baby (SCS Butter is the best, other butter like Anchor and Lurpak also taste devine)

i did find the taste were a little too sweet to my liking, but hey don't worry, it won't stop you from taking another slice and another slice and another.....yeah baby, its truly obsession....it was so so so deadly easy to make, even you don't have fancy mixer or hand mixer like me there is no way that you can go wrong with this recipe...the key is mix extremely well when you cream butter and sugar together and don't overmix when you added flour, you don't want to disturb or kinda 'wake-up' the gluten in the flour to prevent having a dense texture cake...

enough said, just try this..thanks Ju from The Little Teochew for sharing this recipe! (she is so gorgeous, true hot mama!)

MOIST BUTTER CAKE

Source: The Little Teochew

195g all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

170g butter, softened

225g sugar ( can be reduce to 200g)

1 large egg, plus one large egg yolk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

12 tbsp whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius. Butter and line a 9-inch cake pan.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Using a mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugar until fluffy for about about 2 minutes. (This is the most important step, make sure the butter were totally fluffy)

4. Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla until well-combined.

5. On low speed, add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with milk.

6. Switch mixer to medium and beat for 10 to 15 seconds, just until batter appears uniform.

7. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula or knife.

8. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until it reaches a dark-gold color and an inserted cake tester comes out clean.

9. Let to rest in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a cake stand or platter. Sift with icing sugar if desired.

Nota Kaki: hehe tetibe nak berbahasa inggeris, mimpi apa ntah..tapi hari ni memang 'pelik' sket, tetibe snow balik...hhhmmpppphfffpffsk...sangat menyerap tenaga -_-'

what's cookin - EVO and Yogurt Loaf Cake (Dorie Greenspan's)

rupa loaf cake yang tak berapa nak cun =P

bila jumpa resepi ni cam terasa sangat-sangat lah nak mencubanya, sebab resepi ni tak pakai butter and used Extra Virgin Olive instead...saje la kan tak cuba tak tahu sedap ke tak...nak buat memang la senang...zus zas zus zas dah siap masuk oven hehe...resepi ni dari chef terkenal, Dorie Greenspan from her column in Serious Eats: Baking With Dorie

hasilnya, just plain everyday loaf cake with a little tangy zesty taste from the lemon zest...rasanya much more better kalau tambah perahan lemon form 1 whole lemon kut, sebab rasanya agak manis so kalau ada sikit rasa masam lemon tu balance sikit...dan yogurt pulak buatkan kek ni moist..apa pun, kek ni sedap juga buat minum petang atau tiba-tiba dapat tau ada tetamu nak datang mengejut, sebab mudah nak dibancuh, just kena spare some time memandangkan kek ni agak lama juga nak di bakar...satu lagi, kualiti olive oil pun memainkan peranan, disebabkan i ni just ambil the cheapest EVO time pergi cari kat kedai hati tu, so flavour olive oil tu macam takde effect sangat hehe...jimat punya pasal =)

oven i tu kan memang tau...tahap kepanasannya memang over sikit habis kek ni senget2 and ter sun burn sikit kulit dia hehe...

for recipe, click here okey....terasa kemalasan nak copy paste hehe...lagipun better kalau kita baca sikit note from the chef and komen-komen dari orang yang dah try resepi ni...happy baking! (^_^)