It has been a roller coaster of a weekend! We finally went for Junior's hearing test and thankfully he did not need to be sedated cos he sat like a good boy listening via the earpiece. Thank God.
Went home, cooked lunch of our version of ayam masak merah. I still can't get the gravy texture same like my mum's. I wonder why. Makes me feel like getting a handheld blender and blend the onions etc.
Later that evening, was part 1 of project caterer for SIL's house: making brownies. I decided to add in a little twist and include red velvet swirl brownies too, but because it's a bit more tedious, I only made 2 batches. The normal cocoa brownies I made 4 batches and sprinkled with lots of chopped almonds. I used a cocoa recipe from ovenhaven. Below is the recipe:
I got the recipe from foodnetwork, by Sunny Anderson. I love her cookshow Cooking for Real. Here's the recipe:
Red Velvet Swirl Brownies
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa (I use dutch processed)
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp vinegar
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1 tbsp red colouring (or more, depends)
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Melt butter, then add in sugar and sifted cocoa. I panicked when I saw the colour was so dark! But all was fine when I added flour. Haha. After flour & salt, add eggs, vinegar and colouring.
For the cream cheese topping, you need to whisk using electric mix to make sure there's no lumps. Cream the cheese with the sugar, then add in egg and cream till fluffy.
Pour 3/4 of the red velvet batter into an 8x8 inch pan, then put in the cream cheese mix. Add the remaining red velvet batter in blobs and swirl using the tip of a butter knife.
Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for about 35 minutes.
I doubled the recipe and I got one 8x8 inch pan, and one 7 inch round pan (above). This round pan's swirling effect was done by Junior with my help of course.
Verdict: Husband approved as well! YAY! I really like this brownie. I will make it again since it's so good aesthetically and taste-wise!
In other news, we've started Junior on chocolate milk now. Milo has been banned. Haha. I'm still looking out for a nice chocolate milk brand, so far I've tried Marigold and Magnolia and both aren't to my liking.
And here's baby boy with me on the way to his play gym! He loves taking the bus :)
Went home, cooked lunch of our version of ayam masak merah. I still can't get the gravy texture same like my mum's. I wonder why. Makes me feel like getting a handheld blender and blend the onions etc.
Later that evening, was part 1 of project caterer for SIL's house: making brownies. I decided to add in a little twist and include red velvet swirl brownies too, but because it's a bit more tedious, I only made 2 batches. The normal cocoa brownies I made 4 batches and sprinkled with lots of chopped almonds. I used a cocoa recipe from ovenhaven. Below is the recipe:
Cocoa Brownies
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not dutch processed)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
Melt the butter, add in sugar and sift cocoa and mix well. Add in sifted flour, salt, vanilla and then eggs. Bake in an 8x8 inch pan, bake for 180 degrees Celsius for 20-22 min. I made twice the batter and put in 9x13 inch pan (see above picture!), but silly me didn't measure properly my oven's dimension. I thought my big oven can fit this, well technically yes it can fit but it can't turn round so it was stuck! Haha. I happily lined the pan with butter and baking paper, poured the batter and sprinkled almonds, then realised it can't turn. The horror. Best thing is I bought 2 of these trays!
A point to note. I hate using baking paper. I shall not use it ever again. Previously I had trouble with the paper taking all sorts of shapes, but I did it correctly this time round by greasing the pan so the paper sticks, and cutting the corners so the paper won't bunch up. But the paper stuck to the batter! Peeling the paper off the bottom is torturous!! Especially when the cake breaks apart! Gaaaaah. I'd rather grease my pan and that's it. The cakes come out better that way. Even the red velvet brownie turned out well without the paper.
Verdict: Husband approved! Even FIL! Yay! I decided not to use dutch processed cocoa and opted for callebaut cocoa cos I know my audience aren't dark chocolate fans. It was a hit! Easy to remember recipe too, the denominations are easy peasy.
So on to my bonus brownies, the red velvet swirl brownies! Red velvet is a fave of my SIL & BIL so I thought of baking it for them. I wanted to make same amounts for both, but Junior messed up my cream cheese by adding the red batter into my bowl of cream cheese and I had to scoop a lot out. That left me with like 1/2 a block cheese less, and hence less to go round.
Here's my first tray, (8x8 inch this time round hurhur) with my best ever marbling effect! Yes I'm really bad with marble cakes.
I got the recipe from foodnetwork, by Sunny Anderson. I love her cookshow Cooking for Real. Here's the recipe:
Red Velvet Swirl Brownies
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa (I use dutch processed)
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp vinegar
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1 tbsp red colouring (or more, depends)
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Melt butter, then add in sugar and sifted cocoa. I panicked when I saw the colour was so dark! But all was fine when I added flour. Haha. After flour & salt, add eggs, vinegar and colouring.
For the cream cheese topping, you need to whisk using electric mix to make sure there's no lumps. Cream the cheese with the sugar, then add in egg and cream till fluffy.
Pour 3/4 of the red velvet batter into an 8x8 inch pan, then put in the cream cheese mix. Add the remaining red velvet batter in blobs and swirl using the tip of a butter knife.
Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for about 35 minutes.
I doubled the recipe and I got one 8x8 inch pan, and one 7 inch round pan (above). This round pan's swirling effect was done by Junior with my help of course.
Verdict: Husband approved as well! YAY! I really like this brownie. I will make it again since it's so good aesthetically and taste-wise!
In other news, we've started Junior on chocolate milk now. Milo has been banned. Haha. I'm still looking out for a nice chocolate milk brand, so far I've tried Marigold and Magnolia and both aren't to my liking.
And here's baby boy with me on the way to his play gym! He loves taking the bus :)
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