Chocolate Muffins with Marshmallow Toppings

After several months of not doing any baking at all,
an urge to bake chocolate cake
came to me
unexpectedly
last Sunday. It was almost 12:00
midnight, I prepared all the ingredients for
the chocolate cake and all the baking utensils
and baking pans.

I chose that night to bake just a simple chocolate cake recipe and I turned them into muffin pans.
I was so wide awake that I enjoyed Facebook-ing while waiting for the cake to get done until at about 1:30 in the morning. By the time my cake is out of the oven, I'm already very tired and sleepy so frostings was done in the
morning.

I got up early to frost the cake with a simple 7 Minute Icing. I twirl some of the white icing on top of every muffin, then top each with some colorful candies and marshmallows.

It looks awesome, definitely awesome and appealing to kids at church when they saw them.
And also, it was so timely that a couple was celebrating their anniversary that very day, so I was able to give them a box of the chocolate muffin cake to bring home.
What a blessed day! ^^

Antioxidant

I’ve been hearing about “antioxidants” here and there for a long time now but never really bothered to check it out. But recently, I was challenged to check its meaning in relation to another word I recently heard, “oxidative stress.” What do these words mean? Are they related? Here’s what I found out.

Let’s start with oxidative stress. I found out that it has to do with our breathing. When we breathe, there’s something that goes on inside our bodies without our knowing it. Our body cells produce energy which in turn produces “free radicals” (highly reactive cells) that may cause damage to our other cells inside us – cancer, stroke, heart disease and the like.

Antioxidants are what we need to fight against oxidative stress. These are produced naturally by our bodies to protect itself from free radicals that cause damaged tissues. But our bodies can only protect itself up to a certain extent depending on the following: 1) the person’s genetic makeup, 2) the environment where the person is, 3) the person’s diet and his lifestyle. Thus our bodies need some help to produce more antioxidants to combat all these tissue-damaging diseases and to help in anti aging (protein damage), against cancer (DNA damage), diabetes, heart diseases, etc.

Oxis International Inc. is a top ranking company leading in the fight against oxidative stress. They have pioneered with patented oxidative stress technologies to fight against oxidative stress and boost production of antioxidants. Their primary products are mixed with the super antioxidant compound called, L-ergothioneine (“ERGO”) for its main component. It also uses glutathione, a major antioxidant.

The company’s shares are considered penny stocks but it is ready to soar according to the management as it continues to lead in oxidative stress technology. Aside from its website, Oxis International Inc. is also on Facebook and Twitter.

Egg & Vegetable Soup

I just
thought of taking photos
of some of the meals I prepared
lately like this soup of eggs
and vegetables.

I served the soup in toppings or as a plain soup.

Fruits and Veggies for Dinner

I love veggies. I love fruits. But my family
likes to eat only a few of them.

Their favorite at all times is none other than the very
popular 'fried chicken'. =)) They also love chicken cooked
with lots of 'sabaw' like chicken tinola and chicken sinigang.
They love chicken adobo, chicken cooked ala'steak',
chicken curry, chicken menudo, as long as these
chicken menus has some sauce in it.

But for quite sometime now, slowly, I served more
veggies and fruits in our meals.

I served fruits in shake. I'm so glad they love it this time.
I prepare varieties of sliced fruit as dessert accompanied with a
scoop or a couple of scoops of ice cream. I include some
fruits like grapes for example on our fresh vegetable salad.

They're not eating a lot of these fresh veggies, especially
my youngest daughter, but, they're getting used to having
these kind of food in their daily meals.

Healthy Breakfast

This morning's breakfast was really good.
I had mixed fruits (which consists of banana,
melon and papaya), oat bran muffin and coffee.

I normally have either bread and coffee or
oats with milk and cereals for breakfast.

Churros and Donut

CHURROS
Ingredients

• Vegetable or olive oil, for frying
• 1 cup water
• 4 ounces butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Chocolate Dunking Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Prepare to fry the churros by heating 1 to 1 1/2 inches oil in a deep pan to 360 degrees F.

To make churro dough, heat water, butter and salt to rolling boil in 3-quart saucepan; stir in

flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute; remove from the heat. Beat eggs all at once; continue beating until smooth and then add to saucepan while stirring mixture.

Spoon mixture into a piping tube with large star tip. Squeeze 4-inch strips of dough into hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 strips at a time until golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Mix the sugar and cinnamon. Roll churros in the cinnamon sugar. Serve with Chocolate Dunking Sauce.

Plain Doughnuts

This recipe makes one dozen donuts.

Microwave 1 cup of milk so that it is warm (not hot) add
the 5 teaspoons of yeast (2 packets) and a pinch of sugar and stir.
Let stand for about 5 minutes

In a bowl combine:
2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of warm mashed potatoes (see the bottom of the page)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of sugar

Then in the bowl add:
The milk mixture (from above) and
2 Tablespoons of oil

Mix the dough well by hand or in a mixer with a dough
hook for 3 minutes.

Prepare your kneading surface by spreading a few
tablespoons of flour on a smooth surface.

Put the dough in the middle of the flour and sprinkle a
little flour on top and on your hands. Knead the dough a few times.

Once the dough has been kneaded, spread it out to be a
half inch thick with your hands or with a rolling pin.

Now it is time to cut out the donuts with donut cutter.

Place the donuts on a floured pan to let rise as you get the oil ready.
Let them rise for a total of ten minutes (it takes about five minutes for the oil to heat up).

(Photos by Jojie. Taken during baking demo by Oliver Mina @ 'Baking Club' @ SEP2010 @ Villa Julia, Silang, Cavite)

Mango Fruit Shake

Fruit Shake is a beverage made of fruit, milk, ice and sometimes flavoring, and ice cream are added, shaken or whipped.

I've been making fruit shakes a lot for my family this summer time, whether during meal time or snack time. Mango and avocado are their favorite. Today is mango shake. It is truly refreshing.

(Photos by Jojie)

Choco Muffin

I'm back to baking again. I haven't done any for some 2 months now. I didn't have the initiative, the inspiration nor a good reason to bake at all.

But yesterday, after talking with the lady next door, I told her that I might bake a cake and send some to her. She said her brother and sister and "mga pamangkin" are coming over. I was told that it was "fiesta" in our barangay.

So I baked a Chocolate Cake recipe but I turned it into muffin cake pans instead. I decorated each muffin piece with simple leaves and pink flower-like decorations, using the plain boiled icing. It turned out quite well. I gave some too
to our newly-transferred neighbor in the other door.

Jinjie quite missed it. She asked for more than a couple of helpings. Len had a couple too.
They did miss my baking. ^_^

(photos by MC)

Durian Shake

A friend gave me an idea that durian is really good for smoothies.

Just put some ice on your osterizer or blender then add some milk, of course the durian meat and some vanilla ice cream then blend.

Hmmm...smells heavenly!!!
...blend...blend some more...
now pour some on a glass and serve...

Wow!!! It tastes really, really good. So yummy!
It very much complement the
very hot weather these days.

*Btw, I used Double Dutch ice cream - that's what I have in my freezer - on this shake. It still is deliciously good! :)

Try It! You'll love it. Hubby did.



(Photos by Jojie)

Veejay's Blueberry CheeseCake

Blueberry Cheesecake was for a time, while still in college and after that, a favorite staple food for Veejay. We would often try and taste every blueberry cheesecake in coffee shops, bakeshops, restaurants, and other places we went to and made comparisons of their taste, goodness, texture, and presentation one from the other.

It was fun doing all these taste tests adventure with her. And because of her love for blueberry cheeesecakes, she even learned the recipe and made her own (see photos). And the result? I'd say it leveled up with those that we have tasted, even better (that is according to our taste preference for blueberry cheesecakes) compared to some of those we have tasted so far.

(Photos by Jojie)

Delightful Banana Cherry Bread

Delightful...yes...I baked this Banana Cherry Bread last night with some cherry slices on top.

It is not dry or airy nor crumbly. Its a bit heavy but not sticky in texture.
The sweetness is just right.

It is more delightful if served with whipped butter on every slice.

Once again, this is lovingly prepared and baked for a banana cake fan...my hubby. :)

More Cake Photos

Here are a few more photos of my creations from the early years.

In the first photo (topmost) on the table was a Chocolate Refrigerator Cake.

My eldest daughter Veejay, in the photos here, was still a little girl. She loves chocolate cake a lot. And she still does up to now.

Helpful Tips (part 2)

Here are some helpful tips, they're not mine but I got these from other people and other sources:

• If you ran out of baking powder when you need some, use 2 level teaspoons cream of tartar to one teaspoon soda. This is the equivalent of four teaspoons of tartrate baking powder, the one you usually have in the kitchen.
• A teaspoonful of vinegar added to the water in which eggs are poached keeps the whites from spreading and makes the whites cook over the yolk.
  
• When cooking pancakes, dip the spoon in milk or water, and the batter will drop off the spoon easily.
• The whites of eggs will whip more readily if a pinch of salt is added to them. If the eggs are place in cold water for a time before being broken, they will whip easily.
  

Plain Waffles for breakfast

Want some waffles for breakfast? Here's an easy one, a plain waffle recipe that's really, really good. You can add banana, honey, cinnamon, jams... anything in it or on top of it. You can cook it in a waffle iron or in a plain non-stick pan. The thickness and the size, its up to you.

All you'll need is: 2 cups sifted flour, 4 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 2 eggs separated, 1-1/4 cup milk, 6 Tbsp. melted butter.

• Sift the dry ingredients together.
  
• Separate eggs.
• Beat yolks until light and add milk and melted butter.
• Beat the whites stiff.
• Add flour and sifted ingredients to milk and egg mixture.
• Fold in the whites.
  

Heart Shaped Cakes

Here are some photos of Heart Shaped Cakes I've made.
I thought of sharing it here since it is D' Heart season. :)

Strawberry Filled Heart Cookies

Last Sunday was fun for me because I was able to bake this Filled Cookies which I haven't done for a decade or so. It came out so well, the sweetness was just right. This gave me a feeling of joy and fulfillment with my baking. :)

It's basic ingredient is 3/4-cup butter or margarine creamed with 1-cup sugar and 2-eggs. Then 3-1/2 cake flour with 3-tsp.baking powder and 1/2 tsp.salt sifted together then added to the creamed butter alternately with 1/3-cup milk, and half a tsp. vanilla.. I rolled it on the board, flatten it to 1/8 inch thickness. Using a round cookie cutter, I made some round cuts and placed them on cookie sheets. In the center, a teaspoonful of strawberry preserve is placed on top. Then, another cookie, with a bit of pressing at the center using a heart shaped cookie cutter, was placed on top. I then sealed the edges with fork and baked it at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

What a delight to be able to share it to my family at the church.

(photo of the baked filled cookies by Mics Panlaqui)

Unforgettable March Birthday Celebration

My daughter and 11 of her friends (if I'm not mistaken) in Davao City are March birthday celebrants. There was a time that I asked them to celebrate their birthdays together at home. There were 6 of them who came. I prepared some pasta dish, fried chichen , chicken macaroni salad, sandwiches and of course I baked 2 birthday cakes for them.

For the girls, the cake was a Marble Chiffon Delight, with whipped cream, butter and cocoa filling. It was frosted with Buttercream icing and boiled icing for piped decorations.

For the boys, it was a Fudgy Choco Cake, filled also with whipped cream butter and cocoa filling, frosted with Whipped Cream Icing and semi-sweet chocolate cuts for decorations.

With some invited friends that came, they enjoyed the day singing songs accompanied by live piano organ played by one of the celebrants.

It was one unforgettable birthday celebration that my daughter had, celebrating her birthday together with her March-birthday-celebrant friends.

To see a a short video clip of the event, please click me.

Dreamy Banana Nut Cake

Banana cake is my hubby's favorite cake.

Yesterday, I thought of baking a different recipe of Banana Cake. It's a little airy though than the previous recipes I used to bake.
But just the same, it is good especially with an added cinnamon on top.

Here's the recipe.

The ingredients are the ff:

• 2 cups sifted all purpose flour
• 2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs well beaten
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana
• 1 cup margarine or butter
• 3/4 cup sugar

The procedure:

• Cream margarine and sugar.
  
• Add eggs one at a time.
  
• Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with bananas to the first mixture, beating hard after each addition.
• Place mixture in a greased cake pan.
• Sprinkle with topping and bake in moderate oven.

Topping:

• 4 Tbsp. sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 4 Tbsp. chopped nuts
• Mix together and sprinkle over cake.
  

Helpful Tips (part 1)

Some helpful tips in the kitchen:

• Always sift flour and powdered sugar before measuring. When recipe calls for flour, baking powder, soda, salt, sift all these dry ingredients together before adding to the rest of the batter.
• To measure a level spoonful, dip the spoon into the dry material, take up a heaping spoonful, and level it off with a knife or with the edge of the spoon.
• When separating the yolk from the egg white, if you drop a portion of egg yolk to the whites, moisten a cloth with cold water, touch to the yolk and it will adhere to the cloth.
• The yolk of eggs, left over when baking requires the white only, if dropped into a pan of boiling and salted water will cook and be ready for your noon salad.
• When bread os baking, a small dish of water in the oven will help to keep the crust from getting too hard.

(The photo above was taken in Camiguin Island during the Youth Summer Camp.)

Whole Wheat Loaf

As a young housewife and mom, i was concerned about the health of my family.

Learning that whole wheat products are more nutritious than refined ones, I looked for a recipe for whole wheat bread. Thankfully a friend of mine gave me a recipe and so goes my trial and error in making homemade whole wheat bread.

Here are the ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water (lukewarm), 2 Tbsp. yeast, 1-1/2 cup milk (lukewarm), 1/3 cup oil, 1/3 cup sugar or honey, 1 tsp. salt, 1 egg, 6-7 cup WW flour

Here's the procedure:

1. Mix water and yeast, let stand 5 -10 minutes.
2. Mix next 5 inredients and add to first mixture. Let stand 15 minutes.
3. Add 3 more cups of flour and knead using last cup for dusting. Use just enough to avoid sticking to your hands (about 10 minutes).
4. Let rise 1 hour or till double.
   
5. Punch down, shape and put in greased pans. Let rise again.
6. Bake at about 1 hour at 350 degreesF.