secret recipe club: mini cinnamon roll cakes

we are spending the holiday weekend camping with both boys - a two year old and four month old - for the first time. the intent was to make this cinnamon bread from sweet as sugar cookies to snack on or appease a grumpy two year old. after a disastrous first try - scroll down for the result - i turned the bread into mini bundt cakes and topped them with a cream cheese frosting. they taste like cinnamon rolls with about a quarter of the work. needless to say, all six were long gone before we left for our camping trip.

the first time i made this, i ended up with a mess in my little oven. i still have no idea what i did - too much baking powder? too much baking soda? pan too small? but i'm sure it was my fault, rather than the recipe. i've followed lisa at sweet as sugar cookies for years and have participated in her "sweets for a saturday" posts in the past. i have made a handful of her recipes in the past and they always turned out well. regardless, i was able to salvage two slices out of the middle for me and my favorite two year old to have for breakfast. the rest went in the trash. it wasn't all bad - the flavor was good and i noticed the ratio of filling to bread was way off. after a few tweaks, i baked it again in mini bundts and was excited with the results. but not nearly excited as my two year old who had "cake" for breakfast. 

for more information on the secret recipe club, including the list of participating bloggers, featured recipes from members, and instructions on how to join, visit the secret recipe club website!

check out my previous secret recipe club posts: double chocolate zucchini muffins with chocolate butter, butterscotch M&M oatmeal cookies, 30 minute baked tortellini, snickerdoodle bars & slow cooker chicken fajitas, meyer lemon iced raspberry yogurt cake & slow cooker chicken cacciatore, almond strawberry jam thumbprints, almond butter cookies, enfrijoladas, chocolate snack cake, bacon topped maple french toast cupcakes, cherry sorbet, slow cooker beans & mushrooms, mojito chicken tacos, maple glazed whole wheat spiced apple pizza, pig out cookies, pasta with blistered tomatoes & arugula and iced grapefruit cookies, mushroom barley soup, scalloped ham and potato bake & andes mint cake, chicken souvlaki with tzatziki, asian pork chops, lemon lime meltaways, blueberry peach crisp, minted lemon ice, white chocolate macadamia nut blondies, raspberry cream filled eclairs, jam swirled cheesecake, whole wheat grapefruit cake, chewy no bake granola bars & carrot cinnamon waffles, cannoli, gingerbread muffins, double chocolate peanut butter chip oatmeal cookies, butterscotch peach cake, whole wheat honey pancakes, minted pineapple lime agua fresca, breakfast tacos, simple almond sandwich cookies, & roasted banana rum cake.

mini cinnamon roll cakes

adapted from sweet as sugar cookies

30 minutes plus cooling time, 6 mini bundts

for the cakes:

2 tablespoons very soft or melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

for the filling:

1/4 cup brown sugar

about 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

for the icing:

5 tablespoons very soft butter

4 ounces very soft cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1. generously grease or grease and flour a mini bundt pan or line a cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside. preheat your oven to 350F.
2. to make the cake, mix the butter and sugar until well blended. whisk in the egg, salt, and vanilla. add the baking powder, baking soda, and about half of the flour and mix until combined. add the milk, mix until combined, and add the rest of the flour. mix until well combined.
3. to make the filling, mix the sugar and cinnamon together. spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into each mini bundt. top with about a half tablespoon of filling. repeat with another layer of batter and filling.
4. bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then turn out and cool on a wire rack before topping with icing.
   
5. while the cakes are baking, make the icing by mixing the butter and cream cheese together. mix in the vanilla and then gradually mix in the powdered sugar until combined.
6. top cakes with icing right before eating. store cakes in an airtight container at room temperature. store icing in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
   

An InLinkz Link-up

8/31/14 ChefElla's Back To School Quiche Sandwiches

The first day of school can be so busy.  School supplies, new clothes, backpacks, lunch, waking up on time, and your little sister complaining can leave you forgetting the most important thing, breakfast.  It is so easy to skip breakfast when you are busy.  Everything else seems more important, and you just don't miss breakfast until you are sitting at your desk and your stomach starts talking to you and by then it is too late.  Eating breakfast doesn't only make you smarter it keeps you going all day long.  My breakfast quiche recipe helps you keep on track and on time while getting ready for school and it might even free up enough time for your parents to eat breakfast with you too.

For this recipe you will need to use a knife and the oven.  If you are not allowed to use a knife
or the oven by yourself you can have a grown up help.

1. Wash your hands.

2. For this recipe you will need measuring spoons and cups, a whisk, a knife, a cutting board, a
    large mixing bowl, a small bowl, and a 12 cup muffin tin.

ChefElla's Back To School Quiche Sandwiches (This recipe will make 10-12 servings)

Ingredients:
12 ea.           Whole Wheat or Multi-Grain Mini-Bagels
                     -You can use a small roll or biscuit if you prefer.

5 ea.             Eggs

1 1/4 Cup     Milk, or Milk Alternative (Use a non-flavored milk alternative)
6 oz              Ham, Small Diced
                     -For your mini-quiche you can use whatever kind of meat you like (sausage, bacon,
                     steak, lox, chorizo, or soy crumbles).  If you do not want meat in your quiche you
                     can substitute vegetables (mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, or a
                     combination of vegetables).
6 oz              Cheddar Cheese, Shredded                
                     -For your mini-quiche you can use whatever kind of cheese you like (jack, feta,
                     pepperjack, colby, soy cheese, etc).
                     -If you are making a cheese only quiche just double the amount of cheese in the recipe.
1/2 tsp         Kosher Salt
1 tsp             Hot Sauce
                     -The hot sauce is not for heat, it adds a nice flavor.  You can use any brand of hot
                     sauce, but I would recommend Tabasco Sauce or Franks Hot Sauce.
As Needed   Pan Spray (Pam, etc.)

3. Pre-heat oven to 375F.
4. In your medium bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, salt, and hot sauce.
5. In your small bowl mix ham and cheese.
6. Spray each muffin tin cup liberally with pan spray (liberally is a big word meaning use a lot).

7. In each cup add 1/4 cup (not packed) of your ham and cheese mix.

8. Pour about 1/4 cup of egg mix into each cup.  Do not fill pan with egg more than 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes.  You can check to see if it is done by piercing the middle of the quiche
    with a skewer or knife.  If the skewer or knife comes out without liquid on it, the quiche is done.
10.  Let mini-quiche cool down for 20-30 minutes.  Remove min-quiche cover and place in
       the refrigerator.
       If you would like to freeze quiche for later put them into a freezer safe container or bag and put
       in the freezer.  Let frozen quiche thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
11.  Before school, toast a bagel in the toaster.  Take your quiche from the refrigerator put on a plate
       and heat in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.  If it is not warm heat for 20-30 more seconds.
12.  Put your quiche on your bagel top with the other half of the bagel and enjoy.  If you heat more
       then one quiche at a time just at 10-15 seconds to your reheat time.

The fun thing about this recipe is that you can make as many different flavors of quiche as you want at a time.  My little sister does not like anything I like so I made her some broccoli and cheese quiche when I made my ham and cheese quiche.

Try your favorite ingredients and create your own special quiche recipe.

Enjoy

- ChefElla

fruit pastry cake - by Angeline Neo

I'm gg to a party.... I'm gg to a party... And I made fruit pastry cake!!! Hopefully will pass all shifu taste bud!!!! Pray pray pray.....


Thanks all!! The party is sooo fun.

200g fine sugar
150g butter (room temperature)
75g low fat yoghurt
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon zest ( I love lemon. You can reduce if you don't like it that much)
4 large eggs (whisk lightly set one side)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
310g cake flour
Fruits as you like as long as it's not too wet.
(Eg, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, apples, pineapples, pear etc)

Beat butter, sugar and yoghurt till light and fluffy.
Add in eggs one by one until fully mixed
Add in vanilla extract while adding in eggs
Combine flour and baking soda and sieve all into mixture. You might want to fold it in before using mixer to beat mixture till smooth. (So that flour won't fly around)
Pour mixture into 9" cake mold and arrange fruits as you like. Don't press in the fruits.
Pre-heat oven @ 170 degrees Celsius
Bake for 60-70 mins until stick comes out clean.
You might want to put aluminum foil over the cake so as not to burn the top.
After cake is baked, let it cool for 15 mins in mold before turning it out on cooling tray.
Cool completely before you sieve icing sugar over the top.

Butter cookies - by Elsie Lee

Butter cookies for teachers done by my 14 yr old son .mummy is Feeling proud
Recipe
400g self raising flour
250g butter
120g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2tsp vanilla essence

1) cream butter n icing sugar until well combined
2)put few drops of coloring n vanilla essence to the yolk, mix well
3)pour egg mixture to batter
4) gradually add in the flour n combined well

German Cookies 'melt in the mouth' - by Deniece Tui

Melt-in-mouth German Cookies 德式酥饼

Ingredients (makes 60 pieces)

125g butter
40g icing sugar, sifted
125g potato starch
80g superfine flour (I use plain flour, tried out both 50g and 80g, both good)

Method

1. Beat butter and icing sugar till fluffy and lighter in colour.

2. Sift in potato starch and flour, mix to form a soft dough.

3. Roll into small balls (about 2cm in diameter), arrange on lined baking pan and press lightly with a fork (dip the fork in water after each press to prevent cookie dough from sticking to the fork).

4. Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg C for 15 mins, upper rack (need not bake till cookies turn brown).

recipe credit to small small baker

Rich chocolate cupcakes - by James Ong

Thanks and my pleasure to share with you
120g Unsalted butter
55g Semi sweet baking chocolate
95g All purpose flour
1g Salt
2g Baking soda
3g Baking powder
2 (L) Eggs
95g Sugar
50g Brown sugar
5ml Vanilla extract
120ml Butter milk (( 10ml of lemon juice and add enough milk to bring to 120ml..and let stand for 5 minutes.))

Chocolate frosting
330g Icing sugar
80g Unsweetened cocoa powder
90g Unsalted butter,at room temperature
95ml Heavy cream
5ml Vanilla extract
~~Preheat the oven to 180c .Line a 12 cup cupcake pan with cupcakes liners.Set aside.
~~Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat on the stove top.Stir until smooth and set aside to slightly cool.
~~In a medium bowl,sift the cocoa powder,flour,baking soda,salt,baking powder together until thoroughly combined.Set aside.In a large bowl,whisk the eggs,sugar,brown sugar and vanilla together until smooth.Add the cooler chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth.Add half of the flour mixture,then haft of the butter milk.Repeat until everything is added.Stir until JUST combined,(Do Not Overmix).The batter will be very thick like pudding.
~~Divide the batter between 12 liners in your cupcake pan.Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.Allow to cool completely before frosting.
~~For the frosting ;sift together the icing sugar and cocoa powder to assure there no lumps,Set aside.With hand mixer ,beat the butter on medium speed until creamy.Gradually add sifted icing sugar/cocoa powder alternately with heavy cream and vanilla.Beat on the low speed after each addition.Once all added,beat on high speed until creamy and combined for about 2 minutes...

German cookies! - by Lilian Quek Sng

Recipe adapted from happyhomebaking.blogspot.sg
 
ingredient:
125g butter at rm temp
125g potato starch 太白粉 / 风车粉
40g icing sugar
80g cake flour
 
1. Cream butter n add sifted icing sugar till light n fluffy.
2. Sift in starch n flour. Mix to form a soft dough.
3. I added lemon juice n a few drops of lemon essential oil.
4. Put dough in piping bag n pipe desired desire.
5. I scooped pieces of citron into ctr n added a red cherry. 6. Bake in pre heated oven at 170 c for about 12 to 15 min.
Have fun. Glad u like my creation.
Oh i also made milo ones too

macarons... earl grey macarons & green tea macarons..- by Fanny Huang

 Macaron Shells (Makes about 24 Macarons)

135g ground almonds (I used extra fine)
125g icing sugar
100g aged egg whites (I keep it at least 2 days so must prepare beforehand)
100g castor sugar (I used extra fine)
1 tablespoon egg white (I used the aged egg white)
Color Gel (Optional) (I never use the color gel for my earl grey and green tea macaron)

For green tea macarons
Reduce 10g of ground almonds to 125g
10g green tea powder

Steps
1) Preheat oven to 150 degree (I used top and bottom heat. I only preheat the oven when I place the macarons to dry in aircon room)

2) Line the tray with baking paper / parchment paper (I put my macarons template under the baking paper)

3) Put the ground almonds and icing sugar into the food processor or chopper to chop it into very fine mixture. (Thanks for the chopper, save my time to sieve it). Leave it aside once

4) In the dry and clean bowl, put the egg white in it and use a hand beater to whisk it until it reach stiff peaks. Add in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue whisking it. Once all the sugar has been added, continue to whisk it for about a minute to allow the sugar completely dissolve. The mixture should be stiff and glossy by then.

5) Use a spatula, gently fold in half of the dry mixture (almond and icing sugar). Fold until just combined – the mixture should still be quite stiff,

6) Add in the 1 tablespoon of unwhisked egg white and color gel (if you using) to the mixture, which will help to loosen the consistency of the macaron. Fold through the mixture until you have the color and the mixture is shiny. When you lift it up with your spatula, the mixture will flow down slowly like lava. Then is done.

7) Pour in the mixture into the piping bag with Wilton 2A tip and pipe it on the baking paper. And bang it on the table to let the air out. By banging, it also helps to set the ‘feet’.

8) To avoid cracking, you must ensure the skin of the macarons did not stick to your hand and the layer of the skin is totally dry.
• For this part, I put the earl grey tea which I use my hand to make it to powder form and put it on top of the macarons before it dry up.

9) Bake in the oven for 15mins. The feet will totally form around 8mins.

10) When cool, you should be able to lift up each shell cleanly off the tray.

Earl Grey Buttercream
80g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar
1 tablespoon earl grey tea (I used loose tea leaf)
25ml whole milk

1) Soak the earl grey tea leaf into the whole milk for few hours beforehand. (drain it out after that)
2) Beat the butter and icing sugar in the mixer.
3) Once mixed well, add in the earl grey milk mixture.
4) Let it beat for at least 5 minutes
5) Done!

Green Tea Buttercream
80g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar
20g green tea powder
25ml whole milk

1) Beat the butter, icing sugar and green tea powder in the mixer.
2) Once mixed well, add in the milk
3) Let it beat for at least 5 minutes
4) Done!

okie.. this is super duper long.. hahaha... it has both my earl grey and green tea macarons recipe. together with the buttercream that i used,

Honey yogurt light cheese cake -by Karen Ling

recipe credit to   Karen Ling
recipe link : http://cook1cook.com/recipe/8460
Honey yogurt light cheese cake
Ingredients:
80g honey yogurt(70g yogurt add 10g honey mixed well)
100gm cream cheese, cubed
48gm butter, softened at room temperature
2 egg yolks
24gm cake flour
8 gm corn flour
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar
2 egg whites
35gm caster sugar

Preheat oven to 150C (302F).
1)Use a large bowl, pour in yogurt,butter and cream cheese. Place the bowl over simmering water,stir occasionally, until completely dissolved and the mixture turns smooth. Remove from heat. Let cool down a bit, then add the egg yolks and combine well. (Note: Make sure the mixture is not too hot, as you don’t want to cook the egg yolks at this stage.)
2)Combine cake flour and corn flour place over the simmering water. Sift in the flours into the cream cheese mixture, a small amount at a time. Mix well between every addition, and make sure there aren’t any flour lumps. Set aside.
3)Place egg whites in a large clean bowl. (Note: Make sure there’s no oil or water in the bowl at all.) Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites for 3 minutes, then add lemon juice or vinegar and blend again. Pour sugar in the egg whites and blend until very stiff peaks form.
Fold-in the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture gently with a rubber spatula just until all ingredients are incorporated. Do not stir or beat.
4)Pour the mixture into the 6inch baking pans. Place the pans into another larger baking tray. Add hot water in the tray up to half way. Bake for about 60 minutes. Test with a needle or skewer that comes out clean.
Turn off the oven. Remove from the oven and remove from the pans. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Chill in a fridge for about 4 hours. Enjoy!
If you like to see the pictures step by step with how to made this cheese cake,you can click this link,,http://cook1cook.com/recipe/8460

ORIENTAL CHICKEN PIE - by Kim Heahsk

 Hi dear friends, here's the recipe...

ORIENTAL CHICKEN PIE~ recipe credit to EvelynTai

*PIE BASE*
(A)
Butter 130g
Brown Sugar 40g

(B)
Plain Flour 100g
Quick Oats 140g

-Egg wash-
A pinch of salt & 2 tsp water into 1 egg yolk, mix well.

-Garnishing-
Black sesame seeds and rolled oats 

*CHICKEN FILLING*
Chicken Meat
Onion
Mixed Beans
Mushroom
Cooking whip Cream

Method for chicken pie fillings :
Heat up oil into a pot, put onion to cook until soft then add chicken meat to cook for around 1~2 minutes then add in slice mushroom , mixed bean and 2 tbsp whip cream. Seasoning with some salt, black pepper, sugar and cook well. Set aside and start preparing the pie base.

Method for Pie Base :
1) Beat (A) until light and creamy.
2) add in (B) until well combined.
3) press a ball of dough onto a tart mould. Spread out a thin layer of dough evenly over the base of the mould and gently trim off excess dough at the edge of mould.
4) Roll out the dough and cut out appropriate size for the cover.
5) Place fillings into tart. Put on pie cover and press gently to seal up the edge. Brush the top with egg wash and decorate with black sesame seeds.
6) Bake into preheated 180°C oven for 20~25 minutes or until golden brown.

Pastel Rainbow Chiffon Cake.- by Alicia Wong

Pastel Rainbow Chiffon Cake
Ingredients (17 cm chiffon tin):
5 egg yolks
33g sugar
65g vegetable oil
38ml water
30 ml fresh milk
100g cake flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
Wilton colours

7 egg whites
75g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Prepare a tray of water at the bottom of the oven (I used the lowest rack to bake the cake).
2. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil, milk, water and vanilla extract.
3. Next add in sieved flour and whisk till no trace of flour found.
4. Divide the batter into 6 (approx 9 tsp). Mix in respective rainbow wilton colours. Pastel shades only require a tiny bit of the colours.
5. Meringue: Beat the egg whites with ¼ tsp cream of tartar till stiff peak, mixing in caster sugar in 2 additions.
6. Divide the meringue into 6. Gently but quickly fold in the meringue into the 6 colours batter. You need to work very fast for the meringue not to deflate.
7. Scoop the pink batter into the chiffon tin, gently level the batter. Then repeat with orange, yellow, green, blue and violet respectively, levelling the batter at each layer. Gently tap the tin on the counter top 3x to remove air bubbles.
8. Bake the chiffon cake for 15 min at 160°C and then 35 min at 150°C, or when skewer comes clean.
9. Invert the chiffon cake once removed from oven.
10. Unmould the chiffon cake by hand. Gently pull the cake from the sides of the tin at each angle and push the removable base up to unmould the sides. To unmould the cake from the base, gently lift up the cake from the base using hands, repeating this at each angle before turning the base over

recipe source and credit to  http://lovingcreations4u.blogspot.sg/2014/06/pastel-rainbow-vanilla-chiffon-cake.html?m=1

Home made GOLDEN SYRUP -

Golden Syrup

 recipe source shoongyin

Ingredients:

400 gm caster sugar
200 ml water
50 ml fresh lemon juice, sifted



Method:
1.Use a stainless pot, add sugar and water. Lightly swirl the pot to combine the sugar and water.

2.Turn on the heat to medium and bring it to a boil. Add lemon juice. When it boils again, reduce heat to low. Don’t ever stir or touch the sugar solution. Continue to cook up to 110 - 115C (230 - 240F), for about 45 minutes. Along the way of cooking syrup, damp a brush with water and brush away the sugar on the sides of the pot and avoid the sugar from being crystallized

3.When the syrup becomes amber, with a consistency close to honey but not yet. Remove from the heat. Let it cool and transfer to a clean air-tight jar. It’s ready for use after one or two days. The golden syrup can be stored up for several months to a year at room temperature. The longer the syrup matures, the more fragrance and favour it would bring up.

Notes:
1. During cooking , don’t leave the cooking sugar mixture unattended.
- The temperature of cooking syrup is crucial as the heat affects the consistency of sugar once it cools down. We are looking for sugar to be cooked up to 110-115C, suitable for making mooncake pastry.  When the syrup turns golden brown, spoon out a bit of syrup and make sure it’s cooled down. Place a drop between your thumb and index finger. A thin thread can be formed when separate your fingers. Or just simply cook to the consistency a bit thinner, or runny than honey.
2. When the syrup is still hot, it looks rather watery and runny. Once it cools down, it becomes thicker.
3. Use stainless steel pot to make syrup. Don’t ever use utensils that are made of steel or aluminum.
4. The longer you cook the syrup, the darker it becomes. Thus, make sure the stove heat is not too high, otherwise you’d lose all the water before getting the amber colour you want.
5.  If the syrup turns too hard after cooling down, this is because the syrup is cooked too long and lose too much water. Just add some more water, then re cook again, to your preferred consistency. Or vise versa, if the syrup is too runny, you can also heat it up and cook again.

Milk Pudding with Honey Citron Tea (柚子茶) aka Yuzu - by Pris Wang

Here is my recipe :

Ingredients ( makes 2 cups )
1 egg
120g fresh milk
3 tsp of Honey Citron ( jam form , no peels , no water )

Method
1. Add egg, milk and Yuzu and mix well . Don't beat or mix too much , else there will be too much bubbles .
2. Pour into cups using a sieve. (you need to sift so that pudding will be smooth )
3. Cover the cups. If your cup does not come with a cover, use cling crap or foil.
4. Steam for about 10-12 mins using low heat. ( see note point 2 )
5. Garnish with Yuzu peel and serve warm.

Note :
1. This recipe is not too sweet , just the minimum. You can increase Yuzu if you prefer sweeter desserts.
2. Pudding should not wobble too much when done. Don't over steam as well or the top will not be nice.

Enjoy !