. Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting topped Lemon Tea Jello filled Earl Grey Cupcakes.

(My first picture upload in years yay!)

This is this
Everything was lovely, but I'll need to cut a big hole in the centre of the cake instead and fill with the jello. Also, I'll need to chill the cakes first before I fill. Perhaps even freeze them slightly. And perhaps I'll also need to chill the jello slightly so they're slightly solid.

The frosting was

1 pkg cream cheese
1/5 (or so) unsalted softened butter
Orange and lemon zest
2 cups sugar

Next time, a pinch of salt.

. ...Some Cake with Peanut Butter in it .

So maybe a Reese's cup inspired cupcake?
A chocolate cake with a peanut butter centre, and a peanut butter cream cheese frosting.
The peanut butter will be home made. Ground peanuts (till creamy) with salt and honey/sugar/maple syrup/palm sugar and maybe vanilla?

Method 1

Enclose a dollop of pb in melted chocolate then freeze? So these are made maybe the day before.
After making chocolate cake batter, put a dollop into each cupcake wrapper and push a piece of home made Reese's piece into e relative centre and cover with another dollop of batter.

Method 2

Dollop cake batter, dollop pb into centre, fill the rest with batter. Bake. Cool. Frosting.


Frosting
Not sure if I can combine this home made peanut butter with cream cheese
1 1/4 cup smooth, creamy pb
1 pkg cream cheese
Vanilla extract
125g softened unsalted butter
4 cups brown or palm sugar (well-blended)
2-3 tbs milk or heavy cream.

or
Two Chicks from the Stick's
6 tbs unsalted butter
1/2 cup creamy smooth pb
4 cups brown or palm sugar (well-blended)
Pinch of salt
6 tbs heavy cream or milk

(Frosting for 4 dozen cupcakes. So maybe we can take it down a notch eh?)

After!

. Recipe Idea - Lemon Tea Jello Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting .

Here's another reason why I absolutely love my cousin (not that I've ever mentioned it here before, but he is one of my favourite persons in the world). Brainstorming recipes with him tonight, about what I'm going to make for him when he gets back (he has a standing order, unlimited use, to request any baked goods and I will make em for him because he is darling).

He wants something with peanut butter and something with jelly but not pbj haha
So I asked him what flavour jello and told him I'm thinking of flavour combinations. And bless the dear! Lemon Tea he throws out! And of course I exclaimed as my brain juices started flowing! Lovely hot tea to mix with lemon jello. This will be poured into an Earl Grey tea cake ridden with holes (nice big ones made fr a straw perhaps or a big fork twisted, not poked to the bottom). A cake or a cupcake....haven't decided. And then he said and a cream cheese frosting! Genius! The flavours will go together perfectly! And I shall add lemon zest to the cake as I have done before....or orange zest to the cream cheese, ala my Earl Grey cupcakes (which is another story I haven't written about. Hmm long story short, I don't take to having many kitchen helpers very well). Probably the cream cheese.
And yes! They shall be cupcakes (cos easier hahaha)! In my ducky wrappers! Or my floral ones (cos *affected accent* Earl Grey cupcakes Sir?).

. Moisture substitutes in cakes, and other ideas about matcha cake and homemade white chocolate .

Instead of milk for cakes.....
So I won't forget...

• Cream cheese
• Butter milk
• Sour cream
• Yoghurt

Yet to be testeds...

• Mascarpone
• Apple puree
• Ricotta (might create grainy texture)
• Heavy cream
• Heavy cream + ricotta

Feel like using our packet of matcha in a cake. Maybe use the cocoa butter and turn that into white chocolate, caramelise that white chocolate, add cream and have that with the matcha cake. Make 2 batches - one with proper white chocolate and the other with browned white chocolate. Or layer them.....oooooh the possibilities.

Recipe ideas for white chocolate

White chocolate requires cocoa butter, a sweetener, milk solids and vanilla. There are so many different combinations that could be made.

I think I remember reading that there shouldn't be any water, but I'm not sure if vanilla extract would cause the cocoa butter to seize. So,

Sweeteners:
- Sugar: muscovado sugar, coconut sugar, palm sugar/gula melaka, maple sugar
- Honey
- Maple syrup

 Milk solids:
- Milk powder,
- Coconut milk powder

Vanilla:
- Vanilla bean paste
- Vanilla seeds

Wonder if I should buy a candy thermometer.

. Brown Butter Cupcakes .

Note to self: don't use yoghurt as a substitute. Sour taste overpowers the browned butter. Perhaps mascarpone next time. Recipe follows kiwi cupcakes. However, half of the butter is taken to be browned while half is creamed with light muscovado sugar. Is there a dark one? If so, next time I'll try that. Maybe caramelise the sugar while browning the butter. Also as with all recipes now,  yolks and whites are separated.

. Hello! Buttermilk! .

Well, it's been a while.

I've moved back home and it's taken a while for me to get used to equipment and humidity here re: baking. I believe I'm getting back on my feet.
Baked 2 cakes recently, from the Little Teochew's blog. I bought buttermilk on a whim and also because I was craving pound cake and had the idea of possibly trying buttermilk out in cake. So Google led me to the Little Teochew's links below:

http://www.thelittleteochew.com/2012/03/lemon-buttermilk-pound-cake.html
and
http://www.thelittleteochew.com/2012/04/chocolate-buttermilk-cake-again.html

I know I didn't follow the recipes to a T (as I usually do, out of habit), and can't really remember what I changed up (cept subbing 1/4 or so cup of  Bailey's for the rum in the latter cake; and increasing the measurements of everything but the sugar, to use up ingredients) but they both turned out pretty magnifique. So I believe the cat might have finally landed on her feet.

Tomorrow, I find out if the chocolate cake managed to stay soft, moist and luscious.

No pictures because I really suck at doing justice to the food, and also I'm lazy.

Update: The cakes were absolutely luscious. The chocolate chunks which I added also gave lovely solid little chocolatey velvety crunches. Big brother chided me for him just absolutely having to gorge his face on cake because he just could not stop himself. Lovely =)

. Honey Cupcakes/ Cookie Batter .

1 1/3 cup plain flour minus 2 1/2 tbsp

2 1/2 tbsp corn flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

125g butter

1-2tbsp honey

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

Dash of coffee essence

Vanilla essence

180deg....

Timing = ??? Maybe about 20 mins or so

Makes a crusty cupcake but might've been the semi unmelted butter chunks

Might make good cookie batter

Excellent topped with Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Icing