Nestle Corn Flakes: Raisin Cupcakes

      Hi readers! Here we are on the subject of cupcakes once again. But these aren't any old cupcakes, they contain Nestle Corn Flakes! I know, it sounds a little bizarre, but you've got to try new things in life don't you? Got this recipe from the back of a cereal box. And I'm telling you, I will hunt down as many recipes as possible for my blog and my readers. So please enjoy.

Raisin Cupcakes

Ingredients:

250g butter

200g castor sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

3 teaspoons grated orange rind

150g self-raising flour, sifted

150g Nestle Corn Flakes, finely crushed

1 cup raisins, soaked in hot water

& drained before adding to batter

1/4 cup orange juice

How to Bake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until well mixed. Add eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add vanilla essence and orange rind into the mixture. Fold in flour, Nestle Corn Flakes and raisins alternately with the orange juice. Position paper cupcake cups in a muffin or cupcake pans. Spoon mixture 2/3 full into the prepared cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly brown.

The happiest of people don't have the best of everything,

they just make the best of cupcakes.

~ Cupcake Quotes (Twitter) 

      So, there you have it. Sorry about the picture, I took it from the back of the box so it isn't very clear. So, yes please give it a try and I'll be back with more recipes very soon. ❤

Banana Crumble

     Hey Guys! Here's a recipe I did in Home Economics class, Banana Crumble, and let me tell you, the crumble is just awesome. And I wrote this down by memory without a book or recipe to share it from. And its dead simple. Soo... Give it a go.

Banana Crumble

Ingredients:

100g flour

50g softened butter

50g sugar

2 ripe baby bananas

(ripe ones are easier to mash)

How to Bake

Sift the flour, then add the butter. Cut it into smaller pieces and sort of rub it into the flour, then add the sugar. Mix well until you have a crumbly mixture. In a glass pan (approximately of 6-inch diameter and 2-inches deep), peel and mash the bananas into a paste and spread it out evenly at the bottom of the pan. Bit by bit, sprinkle the crumbly mixture onto the surface. Don't press down on it as this will reduce the crumbly texture. Make sure the surface is more or less flat before baking it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. After that, remove it from the oven and use a fork to shift the crumbly layer around so the inner surface can be baked too. Pop it in for another 5 minutes, take it out and your good to go. : )

      So, that's it then. You can also try Apple Crumble and Blueberry Crumble using the same method. You can also try topping it off with a drizzle of some icing sugar or honey. So, please look out for more, my brain's kind of empty now so I'll have to stop before more nonsense comes pouring outta my mouth.

Healthy Cooking For your Kids: Cranberry and Pecan Slices

      Heyo people! How are ya? Today from Healthy Cooking For your Kids, I bring you: Cranberry and Pecan Slices! There kinda like homemade muesli bars! How cool is that?! 

Cranberry and Pecan Slices

Ingredients:

unsalted butter for greasing

250g no-added-sugar muesli

75g dried cranberries

50g shelled pecan nuts, chopped

100g demerara sugar

3 tablespoons clear honey

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

175ml apple juice

How to Bake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line a 8 and a half inch square baking tin. Mix the muesli, cranberries, nuts and sugar together in a large bowl. Warm the honey in a saucepan over a low heat, then stir in the muesli mixture. Stir in the egg whites and apple juice and mix well. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tin and press down firmly. Bake in for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin then, cut into 12 slices. Makes 12 slices.

Mmm... Okay I can't find or think of any quotes related to this subject.

~ Chee An Lyn

      Well, okay, that's all for today, hope you enjoyed it and blah blah blah. I'm working on the next What's Bakin', so hold your horses, this is gonna be a good one. Isn't it always? ; )

Cheesyful Cake

      Hi guys, I know this blog hasn't been very well maintained over the past few weeks, but that's about to stop now. Exams are over and I'm as free as ever, so about time this blog gets a boost up!

      I got this from my sister's friend's Geronimo Stilton book, The Quest for Paradise ~ The return to the Kingdom of Fantasy. When I was young I used to love Geronimo Stilton books. I still do, but not as much anymore. Anyway here's an easy Cheese cake recipe you can make.

Cheesyful Cake

Ingredients:

Crust

2 cups graham cracker crumbs, finely ground

4 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup butter melted

Cake

4 8-ounce packages of cream cheese softened

1&3/4 cups sugar

5 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

Topping

5 tablespoons sugar

2 cups sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

melted chocolate for design (optional)

 

How to Bake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush the graham crackers in a food processor until very fine. Add butter and sugar and mix well. Pour the sugar into a 9-inch springform pan and press it into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside to cool. In a bowl beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Pour the mixture into the pan until it is 3/4 full bake at 350 degrees about 6o minutes, or until center is firm. Remove cake from oven. Combine sugar sour cream, and vanilla for topping. After the cheese cake has cooled for 10 minutes, spread over top. Return to the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until topping is set. Melt chocolate in a double boiler (make sure they're in small pieces before you melt them). Squeeze or pour the chocolate over the cake in a decoration. You can make any design you want. Put the cake into the refrigerator until the chocolate solidifies and the cake is set. (2 hours). Finally remove the cake from the springform pan and enjoy!

Because you don't live near a bakery doesn't mean you have to go without cheesecake.

~Hedy Lamarr

      I'll be sure to look for more recipes from Geronimo Stilton books. I've come across some, just have to find them again. Okay, well that's all for today...

Healthy Cooking For Your Kids: Sweet Potato, Cheese and Leek Pie

      Hi guys, we're doing pies today! I just realised that I might not have featured pies before on this blog. I mean, there are so many recipes I've lost track. Ooh, maybe there are some from the Eggs Over Evie chapter. I'll go look, meanwhile, you enjoy this Sweet Potato, Cheese and Leek Pie recipe.

Sweet Potato, Cheese and Leek Pie

Ingredients:
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
200ml creme fraiche
1.3 kg sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon butter, plus extra for greasing
2 leeks finely sliced
75g Gruyere cheese, grated
25g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
pepper 

How to Bake

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mix the oil, garlic and creme fraiche together in a large bowl, add the sweet potato slices and toss until well coated. Melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan and cook the leeks until soft. Add to the sweet potatoes and mix until evenly distributed. Season to taste with pepper. Lightly grease a gratin dish. Layer in the Sweet potato mixture and top with cheese and breadcrumbs. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, removing the foil for the last 5 minutes of the cooking time.

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
~ Carl Sagan

      Okay, SO  I've found a 2-in-1 post from Eggs Over Evie that contains a recipe for Hot Apple Pie and Quiche! How awesome is that?! With my handy "Search This Blog" bar, I can find anything on this blog with a few simple key words and a click of a button. Click HERE to read it!

Chinese Ginger Tea

      Hey guys so Aunt Flo came for her monthly visit (if you know what I'm sayin' girls, *wink wink), and she gave me the cramps as usual. So Mom made Ginger Tea to help ease the pain. She said it helps blood circulation. 

      So of course you could be a lazy bum and just buy some in powder form and dissolve it in hot water, but there's no fun in that! So, I decided to share my mother's recipe for Chinese Ginger Tea. Yup! This time, no books or recipes to share from, this one's all mine. : D Okay, fine technically it's my mother's but I'm sure she wouldn't mind.

Chinese Ginger Tea

Ingredients:

2 cups of water

1 fresh ginger root

8 Red Dates

half a handful of Wolfberry Fruit

a slice of Chinese Angelica Root

5-6 pieces of rock sugar

(if rock sugar is unavailable, use 4-5 teaspoons of sugar)

 

How to Make:

Fill two cups of water, pour it into a pot and bring to a boil. Slice the ginger root into thin strips lengthwise and cut a slice from the Chinese Angelica Root. Toss the ginger into the pot first, then after five to ten minutes, add the Red Dates, Wolfberry Fruit and the slice of Chinese Angelica Root. Let boil for a few more minutes, then add in the rock sugar and stir till dissolved. Pour the tea through a filter into a teapot or cup and discard the rest of the herbs in the filter. Serve warm. (P.S. If you want, squeeze a few drops of lemon into your tea, it makes all the difference.)

Being a singer now I have to get all fussy...

I must have my ginger and lemon and all that.

~Graham Coxon

      I've tried it, totally helps. And its much better than the instant powder type that come in packets. Now, don't be too overwhelmed by the strange Chinese spices and their names. I bet you can find it in Chinatown or buy it online. But just to help you, here are some pictures of them:

 

These are Red Dates (Hong Zao  紅棗), my grandma makes wonderful Red Date Tea. I'll give you the recipe sometime.  All these Chinese herbs have lots of health benefits, this one treats the stomach and spleen.

 

These little dried orange seeds on your right are the Wolfberry Fruits or gou qi zi 枸杞子 as said in chinese. It's used for treating the kidney, lung and liver.

 

This here little thing, is the Chinese Angelica Root (dong quai 当归 ). It helps moisten dry intestines due to blood deficiency. There are also other uses and health benefits. It is also known as Angelica sinensis. What a pretty name.

      So, I really hope you enjoyed this recipe. I totally recommend it. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelica_sinensis http://www.yinyanghouse.com/theory/herbalmedicine/dang_gui_tcm_herbal_database http://chinese.herbs.webs-sg.com/articles_31.html http://chinese.herbs.webs-sg.com/articles_21.html

Healthy cooking for your kids: Cherry Rascals

      Hey guys! I've got a real sweet treat for you today! Cherry rascals are just the thing to get your day started. They're also great treats. Check it out.

Cherry Rascals

Ingredients:

75g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

75g light brown self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

50g diced and chilled, unsalted butter

 50g demerara sugar

finely grated rind of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

75g dried cherries

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons full-fat milk, plus extra for brushing

2 tablespoons chopped Brazil nuts

How to Bake

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the flours, baking powder and butter together in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, lemon rind, spices and cherries and pulse briefly to mix. Add egg and milk and pulse again to form a soft dough. Alternatively, mix the flours and baking powder together in a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, lemon rind, spices and cherries, then mix in the egg and milk to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead briefly. Divide the dough into 6 pieces, form each piece into a ball and place on a baking sheet. Press down lightly, brush with milk and sprinkle with the nuts. Bake for 15 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold. Makes 6.

      If you liked that, go purchase the book Healthy cooking for your kids by Sarah Banbery. Totally awesome. If you're not convinced, check out some other recipes from this book.

Healthy cooking for your kids: Baked Banana

      Sorry its a little late to be posting, exams are coming up and I have to focus. But I can still find some time. Here's a simple recipe of Baked Banana, I'm sure it'll leave you less stressful. Take a bite!

Baked Banana

Ingredients:

1 banana, unpeeled

8 chocolate buttons or half a chocolate flake

natural yogurt, to serve

How to Bake

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Make two slits along the length of the banana, cutting slightly into the flesh, but keep it attached at one end. Push the chocolate buttons of chocolate flake into the slit and cover with the skin. Wrap in foil. Keep it upright, and bake for 5-10 minutes until the chocolate has melted. Remove from foil and serve with yogurt.

      Now, don't be disgusted, I know the photo doesn't look very appetizing but I assure you its awesome. Look for more on this blog from Healthy cooking for your kids.