For Mom with Love - Mango Mousse Cake

This Mango Mousse Cake was for my mom who celebrated her 66th birthday in March.

 

Mango Mousse Cake

Ingredients:

For the base:

• 15 pieces digestive biscuits, crushed into crumbs in a zip-lock bag
• 90g unsalted butter, melted

For the mango mousse:

(Adapted loosely from finebaking blog)

• 300g mango fresh
• 50g caster sugar
• 3 tsp gelatin
• 350ml whipping cream

For the top layer mango mirror:

• 200ml fresh mango puree
• 4 tsp gelatin powder
• 100ml hot water

 

Methods:

1. For the base: Mix the biscuit crumb with the melted butter. Press the mixture into the cake mold. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
2. For the mousse: Puree the mango flesh with the sugar. Strain to remove fiber from mango.
3. Put one third of the mango puree into the pot and stir in the gelatin until dissolved, over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining mango puree. Set aside to cool.
4. Once the mango puree has cooled down, whip the cream to soft peak stage.
5. Gently fold the cream into the mango puree and scoop the mousse into the cake mold, on top of the biscuit crumb base. Spread it evenly with a spatula. Chill in the fridge for several hours until set.
6. For the top mango mirror layer: Once the mousse is set, dissolve gelatin in hot water. Add gelatin mixture into the mango puree and mix well. Strain and spoon the mixture over the mousse. Leave the cake into the fridge overnight to set.



Jelly Hearts

 

 

 

Jelly Hearts - A pretty and delicious cheesecake desserts.

 

Recipe adapted from here

 

Ingredients

 

For the base:

• 9 Digestive biscuits, crushed (I used 11 pieces, to ensure the base is thick enough)
• 70g butter, melted

 

For the cheesecake layer:

• 250g cream cheese, room temperature (I used low fat)
• 295g condensed milk (I reduced to 200g)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tsp gelatin powder (I added 1/2 tsp extra for a firmer cheesecake)
• 50ml hot water
• 6 strawberries

 

For the jelly layer:

• 90g jelly powder (I used 120g for thicker jelly layer, peach flavoured)
• Water, amount as stated in the jelly packaging

 

Methods:

 

1. Crush the biscuits into crumb and mix with the melted butter.
2. Pour the biscuit mixture into a square baking tin lined with aluminum foil for easy lifting up. Press the biscuit mixture evenly and firmly into the base.
3. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
4. Beat the cream cheese until smooth using a fork. Add condensed milk and lemon juice. Continue to mix till well-combined.
5. Dissolve the gelatin in the hot water. Strain it if there are insoluble granules. Add to cream cheese mixture and mix well.
6. Pour cream cheese mixture over the biscuit base and spread evenly.
7. Cut the strawberries into halves and trim each halve into heart shape.
8. Before the cream cheese is set, gently press the heart-shaped strawberries on top of the cream cheeses in a symmetrical pattern.
9. Cover with cling film and leave it to set in the fridge overnight.
10. The next day, make the jelly solution according to the instructions on the package. Let it cool to room temperature.
11. Gently pour jelly solution over the cheesecake and the strawberries. Place the baking tin back to the fridge for a few hours until the jelly set.

To serve, remove the tin from the fridge, carefully lift the cheesecake up using the aluminum foil and place it on a tray. Cut into 12 square pieces, with each piece has a strawberry heart at the centre.

 

Fruity White Wine Jellies

These pretty looking and delicious Fruity White Wine Jellies were dessert I made for our 2013 Countdown Party earlier.
 

 

 

 

 

I have a "Strawberry Red Wine Jellies"  recipe from a Christmas Baking Recipe booklet that came with the New Zealand Woman's Weekly Magazine I bought while holidaying in New Zealand years ago. I have made this same dessert for several times since and they never fail to impress my guests. This time I used fruity white wine instead of red wine and they turned out equally well to compliment the festive mood.

 

Fruity White Wine Jellies

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cold water (250ml)
• 1/2 cup boiling water (125ml)
• 6 tsp gelatin powder
• 3 cups fruity white wine (750ml)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• A variety of fresh mixed berries for the topping (I used strawberries, blueberries and kiwi)

 

Methods:

1. Sprinkle the gelatin powder over the surface of 1 cup of cold water in a shallow bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes .
2. Meanwhile, place white wine and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolve. Add in 1/2 cup of boiling water. Stir to combine.
3. Remove from heat. Continue to stir over an ice bath while slowly pour in the gelatin mixture. Stir to incorporate.
4. Pour into small serving cups, top with fruits.
5. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours until firm and set. Serve cold.

Healthy Banana Quick Bread - Low in Fat and Sugar, High in Fibre

Whenever there is ripe bananas stocking up at home, my kids know it is banana cake time. This is a new recipe that I tried last week, adapted from here, with some slight variations to produce a healthy and yet delish banana cake, that is low in fat and sugar and high in fibre. We absolutely enjoyed this much healthier bake.

Healthy Banana Cake/Quick Bread

Ingredients:

(Makes one loaf, about 12 slices) 

• 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 120 ml low-fat plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp of milk
• 40ml canola oil
• 90g light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 130g all-purpose flour
• 35g whole wheat flour
• 30g ground almond
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

 

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix the mashed bananas with the baking soda and yogurt. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, sugar, egg and vanilla.
4. In another large bowl, whisk together the flours, ground almond, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt.
5. Combine the banana mixture with the oil mixture and add to the flour mixture. Throw in half of the sliced banana pieces. Stir just until all the ingredients are combined and there is no dry flour. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Top with the remaining banana slices.
6. Bake for about 45 - 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. To prevent the top from over browning, I cover it with a foil after 35 minutes and continue the baking for another 20 minutes before it came out nice and golden brown.
7. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

 



French Apple Tart

Another bake with apple.

French Apple Tart or Tarte Aux Pommes

Recipe adapted from Sugareverythingnice
(Yields a 10-inch tart)

Ingredients:

For the tart shell

• 200g plan flour
• ½ tsp of salt
• 125g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 – 3 Tbsp iced water

For the apple filling

• 4-5 apples, peeled and cored
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon powder
• 50g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 4 – 6 tbsp apricot jam

 

Method:

1. Sift flour and salt in a bowl, throw in 125g butter cubes. Use the pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour. Add in egg yolk, mix it in using the pastry cutter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add in water bit by bit and mix until the mixture comes together to form a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling out. (This will allow the gluten in flour to rest or the pastry will shrink when cooked.)
2. Return the dough to room temperature before rolling out (about 5-10 minutes). Preheat oven to 200 degree C.
3. Roll pastry thinly on a lightly floured work surface and fit it into a 10-inch loose based tart tin. Chill tart shell for about 30 minutes.
4. Slice apples thinly and coarsely chop up the uneven smaller pieces. Arrange the smaller pieces in the base of the tart shell. Arrange the apple slices in your desired pattern. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon powder all over the sliced apples. Then dot with the remaining cubed butter.
5. Bake the tart for about 45 - 60 minutes until the apples are very well browned and the pastry golden in colour. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tart tin.
6. Brush the top of the tart with warmed apricot jam.

Banana Flognarde

My family loves this Banana Flognarde so much that I made this custard-like french dessert with fruit filling consecutively over two nights last week. But I was more than happy to be obliged and please them as this flognarde is so easy to make.

 

This is not the first flognarde that I had baked (see Mango & Peach Flognarde post and Peach Flognarde post) but this latest one with bananas fillings is sure the most yummy one.  
 

  

 

Banana Flognarde

Ingredients:

• 3 bananas (ripe but not too ripe), skin removed and sliced
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar
• 65g all-purpose flour
• 40g Castor sugar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 230 ml milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 

Method:

 

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Butter a loaf pan thoroughly.
2. Mix together the sliced bananas, cinnamon and brown sugar, then spread the bananas evenly over the bottom of the pan.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, milk and vanilla extract until well combined.
5. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, whisk it into a smooth batter.
6. Pour the batter over the bananas in the prepared baking pan.
7. Bake for 35 minutes until surface lightly browned or until a small knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven, let cool in the pan. Slice and serve.

 

Cinnamon Apple Braided Bread

I like to bake with fruit as they add moist and natural sweetness to the baked breads/cakes. Among the many, apple is my first choice, followed by bananas. Both are relatively cheap and available all year round.

 

This Cinnamon Apple Braided Bread is another of my fruity bakes. Sometimes back, I have made a similar one, using puff pastry (Apple Braided Pastry). This time, it is a yeasted bread with cinnamon apple fillings. They are soft, sweet and flavourful.

 

 

 

 

Cinnamon Apple Braided Bread

(Adapted from here; Yield : 2 loaves)

 

Bread Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup warm milk

 

Apple Filling Ingredients:

• 3 medium apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp brown sugar (add 1 more tbsp if preferred)
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

 

Method:

For the bread dough:

1. Combine flour, sugar and instant yeast in a mixing bowl.
2. Combine milk, melted butter and salt, stir until well incorporated.
3. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir using a wooden spoon to form into a soft dough.
4. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead by hand until you get a smooth and non-sticky dough, about 8 minutes.
5.  Place dough in a oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a cool dry place for about 60 to 90 minutes, or until it doubled in size.

 

For the apple filling:

1. Place the apple slices in a mixing bowl, coat them with lemon juice.
2. Mix sugar, flour and cinnamon together and sprinkle them over the apple. Toss to coat them evenly.
3. Set aside until the dough is ready.

 

To assemble:

1. Punch down the dough and divide it into 2 balls.
2. Working with one ball at a time, roll the ball on a floured surface into rectangle (about 1 cm thick).
3. Visually divide the rectangular dough
4. into 3 rectangular sections. Spread half of the apple filling in the centre section.
5. On the two remaining rectangular sections, use sharp knife to cut 6 diagonal stripes of around 45 degree angle on each section.
6. Cross the stripes over one-another to form criss-cross pattern.
7. Repeat the same for the second dough ball.
8. Rest the assembled loaves for 45 minutes, covered.
9. Bake the loaves in pre-heated oven at 190 degree C for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter over the surface of the loaves.

Let cool on the rack before serving.

 

I am linking this to Yeastspotting.

 

 

  

 

Banana Crumb Muffins

Breakfast for today was these airy and tasty Banana Crumb Muffins that I baked last night.

Having baked banana bread/cake in loaf tin for countless times, I decided to try on this recipe from  The Galleygourmet last night as it uses oats to make the crumby toppings, which my girls like.

 

Banana Crumb Muffins

(The ingredients supposed to yield 12 standard muffins but I only got 9)

 

For the Crumb Topping:

• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp (14g) cold unsalted butter, cut into little cubes

 

For the Muffins:

• 1 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 large bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/2 cup soft brown sugar)
• 1 extra large egg
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted (I used about 70g)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar

Baking Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF (I set my oven to 180ºC). Line the muffin pan with muffin cups. To prepare the topping, place the dry ingredients in a bowl and cut in the butter to form a crumby mixture. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl stir together the mashed bananas, sugar, egg, butter, vanilla, and vinegar.
3. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined. (Do not over mix else the muffin will not be airy but hard).
4. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then remove to a wire rack to cool. 

Strawberry Shortcake

I made this cake for my daughter's friend as she spent her birthday with us due to her parents' work commitment.

I baked a peach buttermilk cake and frosted the top with cream cheese frosting, 'fenced-up' the cake with lady-fingers and top it with big red strawberries.

Peach Buttermilk Cake

Adapted from forkspoonnknife's Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

• 1 cup flour 
• 65g butter, softened 
• 1/3 cup sugar + 2 T sugar for the meringue 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence 
• 2 egg yolks 
• 1 egg white 
• 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 pieces of peach halves in syrup, discard the syrup and chop the peaches into small cubes

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Butter and line a 8 inch round cake pan (I used a smaller 6-inch pan with removable base as I wanted a taller cake).
2. Mix the dry ingredients together. Cream together butter and 1/3 cup of sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. 
3. Add the egg yolks and beat well. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, mixing until just combined. Set aside.
4. Beat the egg whites till frothy. Gently drizzle in the sugar and continue beating until the meringue holds stiff peaks.
5. Fold about a 1/3 of the meringue into the batter to loosen it. Gently fold the remaining whites just until you no longer see any white streaks. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. 
6. Scatter peach pieces over the top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes (mine took much longer, about 45 minutes), until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Leave the cake to cool down completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from http://www.taste.com.au/

• 60g cream cheese, softened (I used low fat)
• 30g unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup icing sugar

Place the cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Using a electric mixer, beat until pale. Gradually add in the icing sugar, beating until combined.

To assemble the Strawberry Shortcake:

Frost the top of the cake with cream cheese frosting. Spread the side with a thin layer of the frosting too so as to allow the lady fingers to stick to the cake.Surround the cake with lady fingers then place strawberries in the centre. Leave it in the fridge until ready to serve.

Easy, right? :) Have a nice weekend!

  

Oatbake with Blueberries and Chocolate Chips

This recipe caught my attention as rolled oats are used in the baking. Any recipe with rolled oats must be healthy, isn’t it?

This is truly a healthy and yummy loaf of baked rolled oats with honey and fresh fruits. I added some chocolate chips as my younger girl does not really fancy blueberries. Another good option for home-baked breakfast.

Oatbake with Blueberries and Chocolate Chips

Adapted from Nordic Bakery Cookbook by Milsa Mink

Ingredients

• 100g rolled oats
• 300ml hot milk
• 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 60g caster sugar (I reduced to 35g)
• 50ml runny honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 125g plain flour
• 150g blueberries (I used one punnet)
• 150g raspberries (I replaced this with mini chocolate chips, at about the same quantity as the blueberries)

 Methods

1. Grease a 900-g loaf tin. Preheat oven to 180 degree C.
2. Heat up the hot milk in a small pot. Once it started to boil, off the gas. Pour in the rolled oats and set aside to allow the oats to absorb the liquid and cool down slightly.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Stir in the honey and vanilla extract. Gradually add in the beaten egg, a little at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then fold into the butter mixture. Drain any remaining milk from the oats, then stir the oats into the mixing bowl.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and sprinkle the blueberries and chocolate chips evenly on top.
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 50-60 minutes, until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clear. (Mine was done at 175 degree C for 45 minutes. I used a foil to cover the top of the tin after 35 minutes to prevent over-browning the top.
7. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Crepes with Cameralised Bananas, Ice-cream and Granola

I made some crepes on Saturday for our afternoon tea time treat. the warm crepe filled with sweet caramelised bananas, topped with a ball of cold yummy vanilla-chocolate ice-cream and sprinkled with home-made granola, this is the best dessert to us in a hot afternoon.

The crepes recipe below yield about 12 pieces of thin crepes. We finished up half of them on Saturday. I store the remaining half in the fridge (wrapped with cling film) and had another round of crepes dessert on Sunday afternoon, this time with fresh strawberries added too :).  







Home-made Crepes Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk (I used soya milk)
• 1/2 cup water
• 45g unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 tsp salt

Methods:

1. Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl, whisk until smooth (if there are small little flour lumps in the batter, use a sieve to filter them away)
2. Heat a lightly buttered non-stick pan over medium heat.
3. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter into the centre of the pan. Lightly move the pan in circular movement to let the batter spread evenly over the pan to form a thin layer of crepe.
4. Cook for a few minutes until the crepe is set and can be flip over without breaking. Flip over and cook until both sides are lightly browned.
5. Stack cooked crepes over each other on a plate .

Caramelised Bananas

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas, peel off the skin and cut into slices
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of caster sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Methods:

1. In a small pot, melt the butter over low heat.
2. Add in the bananas and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the bananas
3. Stir lightly to allow the bananas to be coated evenly with the caramel.

To assemble:

Place a piece of the crepe on a serving plate, fill about one tablespoon of caramelised bananas over the crepe, fold up 2 sides of the crepes. Top with one scoop of ice-cream and sprinkle crispy granola over it. Enjoy!

To heat up the crepes:

1. Heat up a non-stick pan on low heat.
2. Please one piece of cold crepe into the pan to warm it up. Flip to the other side once the first side is warmed up. Be careful not to burn the crepes.  

Granola with Mixed Nuts and Dried Fruit

My elder girl likes rolled oats very much. But this is not the case for the rest of us in the family. To satisfy her cravings while not making the rest of us to consume plain rolled oats against our liking, I incorporate rolled oats in my bakings.

I made Oat-baked Loaf with Blueberries and Chocolate Chips last week (posting up soon) and this delicious and healthy Home-made Granola with Mixed Nuts and Dried Fruit yesterday. We enjoyed the crispy granola as toppings for our after-dinner yogurts last evening and my daughter was looking forward to have granola with milk as breakfast for the morning.

Easy Recipe for Granola with Mixed Nuts and Dried Fruit

(adapted from Yummymummykitchen)

Ingredients:

3 cups organic rolled oats

1/2 cup assorted nuts (I used walnuts, pecans and almonds)

2 tbsp raw sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 cup maple syrup (or honey)

2 tbsp cooking oil

1/2 cup assorted dried fruits (I used cranberries and raisins)

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 135 degree C.
2. Combine rolled oats, nuts, sugar, salt and ground nutmeg in a large bowl. Mix well.
3. Combine oil and maple syrup and pour it over the oats and nuts mixture. Stir with spatula to ensure the oats and nuts are evenly coated with the syrup.
4. Pour the mixture over to a baking tray (lined with baking paper). Spread out the mixture evenly.
5. Baked for 25 minutes. Give the mixture a good stir and bake for another 25 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and let the granola cool completely before stiring in the dried fruits. Once cooled down, the granola will be crispy. Store the granola in air-tight container.

Orange Pound Cake with Nutella Swirling

12 loafs of Orange Pound Cake.

No, I do not bake for a living. These pound cakes were for my elder girl's school fund raising carnival. Her class was running a bakery stall she asked me to bake these pound cakes for sales at $5 for 3 slices. Besides pound cakes, the stall also carried cup cakes, fruit cakes, bars and cookies contributed by the parents of her other classmates.

The carnival started at 10am on Saturday morning. She excitedly called me at 1 pm to inform me that the pound cakes were all sold out. They are the first item being sold out among the rest. Many "customers" sampled the cake and gave very good comment on it. A few of them even bought the cake in loaf, instead of individual slices.

This is my first time baking pound cake as I am concern with the high fat and calorie content due to the relatively large amount of butter and sugar called for (compared to the many other type of cakes) in most traditional pound cake recipes.

I actually baked 13 loafs over 2 nights (5 on Thursday night and 8 on Friday night) as I wanted to sample my own cake to ensure that they are of "edible" standard. The citrus aroma from the baked cake was so nice and strong that I cannot resist to try a slice in the late Thursday night.

When hubby and my girls ate it on Friday morning, they love it too. Elder girl (she left the house for school before I woke up) left me a note to tell me that the cake is "soooooo yummy" :) She really knows well how to make me "work" for her without complaint.

The original recipe from Joy of Baking is for a standard buttery pound cake but as my daughter specifically asked for Orange Pound Cake, I have done some variations to the original recipe to come up with this Nutella-swirl Orange Pound Cake. I baked the 12 loafs over 3 batches and for each batch, I tripled the quantity. The recipe below yield one load (9x5x3 inch).

Orange Pound Cake with Nutella Swirling

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice (Original: 3 tbsp milk at room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (Original: 1½ tsp)
• Zest from 1 orange (Not in original recipe)
• 150g sifted plain flour (Original: Cake flour)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 100g caster sugar (Original: 150g)
• 185g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tbsp Nutella (Not in original recipe)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Butter the loaf pan and Line the bottom of the pan with baking paper. (I did not do the lining).
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, orange juice, vanilla extract and orange zest.
3. In another bowl, place the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar) and mix the ingredients until blended. Add the butter and half of the egg mixture. Mix on low speed with mixer until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about one minute to introduce air into the batter to develop the cake's structure. Slowly pour in the remaining egg mixture over 2 additions. Beating about 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the egg and strengthen the cake's structure. 
4. Scoop the one-third of the batter into the prepared pan and slightly smooth the surface. Drizzle 2 tablespoon of nutella along the top and cover it with the rest of the batter. Insert a knife into the batter and do a zip-zap swirling movement from one long end to the other end of the loaf pan. Lift up the knife only when it reaches the end so that the filling can be discretely hidden under the batter. Smooth the top with an offset spatula.
5. Bake for about 55 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. To prevent over-browning of the top before it is done, cover the top of the cake with a piece of lightly buttered aluminum foil after 30 minutes of baking.
7. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a lightly buttered wire rack.

Mango And Peach Flognarde

I baked a Mango and Peach Flognarde on Thursday night for the family. I adapted the recipe of a

Cherry Clafoutis by replacing the cherry with fresh mango and canned peach. 

Clafoutis is baked French dessert using cherries. When other kinds of fruit are used instead of cherries, the dish is properly called a Flognarde or flaugnarde. The last time I baked a Flognarde was more than a year ago. This time, I added 2 fresh Thailand mango which is selling only at S$1.40 each from the supermarket. They are so sweet and juicy that I am very tempted to get a few more this weekend to make the traditional Thai's dessert, Mango with Sticky Sweet Rice. :)

Anyway, first things first, here is my adapted recipe for Mango and Peach Flognarde:

Ingredients

• 125g self raising flour
• 2 fresh mangoes
• 1 piece of canned peach halve, without the syrup
• 40g caster sugar
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten 
• 300ml milk (I used low fat)
• 75g unsalted butter, melted

Method:

1. Cut the mango and peach into chunks and spread them in a greased baking dish.
2. Sieve the flour and sugar into a bowl.
3. Make a well in the centre and gradually stir in the beaten eggs and the milk.
4. Add in the melted butter and mix well.
5. Pour the mixture into the baking dish over the mango and peach.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 175°C for 30 minutes or until firm and golden brown.

This is best serve lukewarm but we had it over breakfast in the next morning and it is equally tastly and custard-like soft.