Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread

I baked this Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread on Sunday afternoon together with my younger girl who was bored at home with no one to play with as her elder sister was at her friend's place.

This is a relatively fuss-free sweet bread to make. It was moist, full of cinnamon flavor and still very soft this morning when we ate it for breakfast. Certainly a bread which I will bake again.

When I told my girl that we are making Monkey Bread, she found it amazing. "What is a Monkey Bread? Why it is called a Monkey Bread?' These were the two questions she asked and I had no answer for her. Hence, we googled and get this information - Monkey Bread is also known as Hungarian Coffee Cake or pinch-me-cake. Some believe that when you pinch a piece to eat it, it resemble the eating behavior of monkey. LOL.

I adapted the recipe from Namelymarly. I halved the quantity for a single ring bread and also made some slight variation to the steps. Below is my adapted recipe.

Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

• 2½ teaspoons instant dry yeast
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2.5 cups all-purpose flour + 1/2 cup more for kneading
• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water in a small bowl. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it becomes frothy. Then add the oil and stir slightly.
2. In a large bowl combine 2.5 cups of the flour and the salt. Stir until well combined.
3. Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and stir.
4. Turn the dough onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. I used all the 1/2 cup flour.
5. Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double; this should take about 1 hour.
6. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out.
7. Prepare a bunt pan by lightly oiling the bottom and sides.
8. Mix the sugar and cinnamon on a plate.
9. Pinch off a small piece of the dough and shape the dough into small ball and roll it in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Drop it into the bunt pan.
10. Repeat step 9 until all the dough are used up. I formed 2 layers of cinnamon sugar-coated dough ball in the pan.
11. Bake in preheated oven at 175 degree C for 25 – 30 minutes.
12. Once the Monkey Bread is done, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool. Invert the pan onto a serving pan to remove the bread from the pan.

Let the Pictures Do the Talking

Sharing some photos taken during my recent 10-day holiday in Taiwan. Enjoy!

The Scenic Sights

   

    

The abundant food choices and vibrant night markets

 

And I did not forget to take time to smell the flowers....

Christmas Yule Log (Bûche de Noël)

It is the time of the year for Christmas baking again!

Besides the 2-tiered cake which I have backed for my ex-colleagues for early Christmas celebration, these are the rest of my festive baking:

Cranberry Scones

Animal Cookies (Recipe here)

Last but not least, a Yule Log Cake to end the year with a smile :)

I followed the recipes of my first yule log cake  closely, except the yoghurt fillings which I replaced plain yoghurt with mango flavoured yoghurt:


Swiss Roll Cake:
(adapted from dessertfirst)

• 5 large eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 200 degree C. Oil a Swiss roll baking pan with butter and line with baking paper. Oil the baking paper with butter too.
2. Whip egg whites in a stand mixer bowl until they hold soft peaks.
3. Add 1/3 cup of the sugar in a steady stream and whip until white hold medium firm peaks.
4. In a clean mixer bowl, whip the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and remaining 1/3 cup sugar on high until mixture is thick and pale, about 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl down as needed.
5. Add in flour and salt and whip on low speed just until incorporated.
6. Using a spatula, carefully fold one-third of the egg whites into egg yolk mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the rest of the egg whites until combined.
7. Turn out mixture into prepared pan and spread out evenly with an offset spatula.
8. Bake in oven for about 8 minutes, until the top is pale golden and the center springs back when you touch lightly. It should not get very dark.
9. Remove from oven and place on wire rack. Place a tea towel over the top and let rest for 10 minutes.
10. Run a thin knife around the border of the cake to loosen it. Using a strainer, dust the top lightly with confectioners' sugar.
11. Re-cover the cake with the towel, and place a  baking paper on top. Invert the pans together so the cake turns out onto the towel, on top of the baking sheet. Peel off the baking paper and let the cake finish cooling.

Mango yoghurt filling:
(adapted from pengskitchen)

• 250g mango flavoured yoghurt
• 4 tsp gelatin
• 3 tbsp warm water

1. Dissolve gelatin with water. Mix yoghurt and gelatin together. Chill in fridge until needed.
2. Spread the filling evenly over the surface of the cake, leaving an inch border on the long sides and a narrower one on the short sides. 
3. Starting with the shorter side closest to you, roll up the cake into a Swiss roll
4. Wrap the roll with a plastic wrap tightly, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let the cream set a bit.

Mocha buttercream frosting :
(adapted from allrecipes)

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup baking cocoa
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 tbsp brewed coffee
• 2 tbsp milk

1. Beat all frosting ingredients together until smooth.
2. Remove the plastic wrap from the Swiss roll, cut a portion of the roll out, and further cut it diagonally to attached it above the bigger piece of the roll, to form the log cake shape. I used tooth pick to ensure the 2 pieces are attached to each other firmly.
3. Frost the Swiss roll with the buttercream all over the log cake.
4. Use a fork to scratch the surface of the frosting to create the tree bark effect. Decorate with Christmas ornament.
5. Sprinkle some shredded white chocolate to form the snowy effect before serving.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #14 - Creative Christmas, hosted by Hankerie.

Have a Merry Christmas and a good year ahead.


I will be back next year with more baking and cooking posts. :)

Cranberry-Yoghurt Cupcakes

After 2 weeks of continuous baking for my ex-colleagues last month, I have not done any baking in December until tonight. There is a cup of plain yoghurt in the fridge which will be expiring in month end. Since I am going to be away for holiday in the last 2 weeks of Christmas, I thought I had better use up the yoghurt soon. The recipe I have selected was a French Yoghurt Cake but I had made some variations based on the ingredients that are available at home. At the end, what came out from my oven are 12 aromatic Cranberry-Yoghurt Cupcakes.

I am very happy with the result - these cupcakes are very moist, smell and taste wonderfully good. They are easy to make and light for the weight-conscious too. :)

Cranberry-Yoghurt Cupcakes

(Adapted from Cookbook Addiction with modification)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup ground hazelnut
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt (low fat)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup of dried cranberries

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degree C. Line 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake liners.
2. Whisk together the flour, ground hazelnut, baking powder and salt.
3. Put the sugar, yogurt, eggs and vanilla in a bowl and whisking vigorously until the mixture is very well blended. Still whisking, add the dry ingredients, then fold in the oil and dried cranberries with rubber spatula. Fill the cupcake liners with the batter, not more than 3/4 full.
4. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and transfer the cupcakes to a rack to cool down.

Blueberry Buckle In A Cup

Besides apple, blueberry is the other fruit that appears very frequently in my baking ingredient list. Among the many blueberry cakes that I have tried, my favorite is none other than this Blueberry Buckle Cupcake that I have adapted from Joy of Baking and baked countless times.

The crispy toppings coupled with moist and soft cake-texture, it is well-liked by many of my colleagues who have tried it.

The recipe below can be used for individual cupcakes or one round cake. I usually baked into individual sized cupcake as it will be quite messy to cut and serve it by slices because of the streusel toppings.

 

Blueberry Buckle In A Cup

(Yield 6 large cupcakes or 8 inch (20 cm) round cake) 

Streusel Topping:

• 45g all purpose flour
• 65g granulated white sugar (I used golden castor sugar)
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 56g cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Cake Batter:

• 130g all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 56g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 100g granulated white sugar (I used 60g golden castor sugar)
• 1 large egg
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• 80 ml milk
• 2 cups fresh blueberries (I used only 1 cup)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
2. For streusel topping: mix together the flour, sugar, and ground cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
4. With a hand mixer, beat the butter in a separate bowl until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add the flour mixture, alternately with the milk, over 3 times. Beat until just combined.
5. Divide the batter equally into 6 cupcakes. Scatter the blueberries on top of each cup of cake batter and then cover them with the streusel topping.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a small knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly.

Note: I over-filled the cups and thus resulted in these over-flown, extra large cup cakes :(

A Cake for the Season of Sharing

Even though Christmas is still few weeks away, but I baked and brought this cake to the office for a surprise early Christmas celebration last week before my last day with the company that I've worked for more than a decade.

  

 

I borrowed the idea from this Swimming Pool cake and created this 2-layer cake, with “green grass” on the 1^st layer and “snow flake plus a pond” on the 2^nd layer. Instead of baking the usual sponge cake, I baked 2 cakes – a big blueberry yoghurt cake for the 1^st layer and another small matcha-flavoured sponge cake for the top.

Here is the recipe and steps:

Blueberry-Yoghurt Cake

Recipe taken from my earlier post here. Instead of a ring pan, I used a 20-cm round cake pan and baked for 50 mins at 170 degree C, when a knife inserted in come out clean.

Matcha-Sponge Cake

For the 2nd layer Matcha Sponge Cake, I used the same sponge cake recipe which I had used for in Sep for my Strawberry Yoghurt Jelly Cake. I reduced the flour to 95g and added 5g of matcha powder. I poured half of the batter into a 9-cm round cake pan and the remaining batter in 5 muffin cups. They came out from the oven in perfect spongy texture in 20 mins at 170 degree C.

Leave both cakes to cool completely before assemble.

Chocolate Butter cream

Beat together the following ingredient until smooth:

70g unsalted butter, 1/2 cups icing sugar, 30g melted chocolate and 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder.

Other ingredients needed:

1 packet of pocky stick biscuit

2 boxes of chocolate-coated Biscuit sticks

Shredded white chocolate

Green/blue-colored agar-agar

Christmas ornaments for decoration

To assemble:

1. Trim the top of the bigger cake to get a flat base.
2. Position the smaller cake on top centre of the bigger cake (I used 3 tooth-picks inserted to the middle of the cakes to hold them together). Using a small fruit knife, carefully scrap out a small and round shallow well at the top of the 2^nd layer (I used the cap of a bottle as a guide).
3. Using your fingers, lightly rub the green cake crumble that was scrapped down from the matcha-cake for later use as the green grass.
4. Spread a thin layer of chocolate butter-cream all over the surface and side of the 2-layered cake, except the round shallow well on the top which is reserved for the pond.
5. Break the poky sticks into small pieces (about 3-4 parts), pin them around the top layer cake to form a fence of equal height. Next, do the same for the bottom layer cake, using the chocolate-coated sticks.
6. Using the bottle cap as a guide, cut out the agar-agar into a round shape of the the same size as the well for the pond. Carefully place the agar-agar onto the well, cover it with the cap to prevent the shredded chocolate from spilling over to the pond.
7. Carefully sprinkle the green cake crumble onto the top surface of the bottom layer to form the green grass. Next, carefully sprinkle shredded white chocolate on the surface of the top layer cake.
8. Surround the circumference of the bottom layer with a ribbon to hold the chocolate sticks and also to add a festive touch to the cake. Decorate it with Christmas ornaments.
9. Keep chilled in the fridge. Remove the cap cover to unveil the pond when ready to serve.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #14 - Creative Christmas, hosted by Hankerie.