Birthday Cupcakes

Ok, I haven't been updating my blog for quite a while.  Getting really lazy and proscatinating.  So here I am updating what I have been keeping in my picture file of recipes for the pass one month.   First of all, celebarted my girl's birthday with a nice pink birthday cupcakes.  I used my carrot cakes recipe from my old post, then top the cake with a super tasty cream cheese frosting which I dyed it pink and use the nice pink cups that I bought from Phoon Huat, sprinkle some colured sprinkles and wa la....a sweet birthday cupcakes.

 

Here's the recipe for the Cream Cheese Frosting:

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 package of cream cheese (250g), soften
• 1/4 cup of butter, soften
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup of icing sugar

1. In a bowl, cream cream cheese and butter until creamy.
2. Mix in the vanilla extract.
3. Fold in the icing sugar.
4. Now you can start piping.  Store leftover in refridgerator.

Gingerbread Man or Christmas Molasses Cookies

Ok, this is a delayed post cause was caught up with all the Christmas Celebration. 

Made another batch of Gingerbread cookies cause the previous one doesn't take as nice.  This time round, I manage to find another recipe and modified it a little myself and opmitted all the spices except ginger as I don't like spices. The cookies turns our beautifully and based on the feedback from my friends and kids, it tasted really good.  But the best of all, the dough is super easy to work with and it doesn't require me to put it in the fridge so I can work at it immediately.  I frosted the cookies with white chocolate (I just melted a bar of white chocolate over the microwave for 1 minute).

 

Here's the recipe:

Christmas Molasses Cookies

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt 

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter.
2. Blend in orange juice and molasses.
3. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture and mix well.
4. Roll dough, a portion at a time, on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut into desired shapes.
5. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-14 minutes. Cookies will be soft and chewy if baked 12 minutes; crunchy if baked longer.

Gingerbread Cookie with a hint of Orange

Personally not a fan of Gingerbread, but as the Christmas Season is coming, I thought I just have to try making some for the kids.  So, search the net and found this Gingerbread Cookies that include orange zest and decided to give it a try.  I replaced the corn syrup with Molasses to give it a more gingerbread taste. The final product turns out quite nice but I think I did not add enough ginger and orange, so the taste doesn't come out.  Next time, I'm going to put the amount according to the recipe instead of cutting it down.  I then iced the cookies using a mixture of egg white and icing sugar, the frosting was really easy to work with and it drys beautifully.  Add got my boy to help me put the m&ms for the buttons, he have a great time eating the m&ms.....Enjoy!

 

Gingerbread Cookies with a Hint of Orange

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tablespoons orange zest
• 2 tablespoons dark corn syrup (I replace this with molasses)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I obmitted this as I hate the cinnamon smell)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (I obmitted this)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

 Directions

1. Cream the butter and the sugar together. Add the egg and mix well. Mix in the orange peel and dark corn syrup. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves and salt, mixing until well combined. Chill dough for at least 2 hours, I like to chill overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are firm and lightly toasted on the edges.

 Royal Icing

 

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

 

1. Beat egg whites in clean, large bowl with mixer at high speed until foamy (use only grade A clean, uncracked eggs). Gradually add sugar and extract. Beat at high speed until thickened.

NOTE: When dry, Royal Icing is very hard and resistant to damage that can occur during shipping/handling.