Vegan Tofu Brownies with Walnuts and Chocolate Chunks

So here is the guilt free chocolaty treats that I have been wanting to try for the longest time. :) I guess many bakers are actually venturing into this area since many of us are more health conscience nowadays. And substituting some of the ingredients from the usual recipe, we can convert these everyday recipes into more healthy versions. I guess we just need to experiment it and see how it taste haha! Well, today this Vegan Tofu Brownies is one of them successful experimented recipe which I will be sharing with everyone! Excited!

 

So ya the picture pretty much says it all haha! Chocolaty goodness that is guilt freeee! OMG haha! Okay okay, lets get on with the recipe!

Ingredients for Vegan Tofu Brownies (makes 4" by 6")
250g firm tofu
120g brown sugar (I used 100g)
100g dark chocolate (65% cocoa), melted 
50ml coconut oil
100ml fresh chocolate milk
80g cake flour
40g wholewheat flour
15g cocoa powder (I used Valrohna 55% cocoa)
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda

100g Toasted walnuts
100g dark chocolate chunks

• In the blender, add the tofu, coconut oil and zap till smooth
• Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease & line a 4" by 6" cake pan with parchment paper.
• In a heat proof bowl, add in milk and sugar and cook at low heat or microwave the mixture till slightly bubbly on the side. Stir till sugar has melted in.
• In a large mixing bowl add in the tofu mixture, then add in the chocolate milk mixture and stir till well incorporated. 
• Then sift in both flours, salt and baking soda into the tofu milk mixture till everything comes together into a smooth batter.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Now put in the walnut chunks all over the batter, pushing in some and leaving some over the top of the batter. Do the same for the chocolate chunks.
•  
• Bake in the oven for a good 28-30minutes. DO NOT over bake.
• Remove from oven and let cool on rack before slicing and noming haha!

 

Moist chocolaty goodness that uses no egg, no butter and lesser sugar, how much better can it get!! Haha! Love the addition of the extra walnut and the chocolate chunks,giving it more texture and creamy chocolate goodness.

 Okay if I have not convinced you enough to try this, perhaps staring at the picture for another minute or two might just help haha! Okay, do tag me in Instagram if you tried it, "ig_honeybeesweets"

Okay, goodnight everyone! Hope you have dreams as sweet as these yummy brownies heehee

Earl Grey Cake

I have always been in love with Earl Grey, whether it is the tea itself, or baked cake, cookies or even ice cream, it's just yummy to me. I have baked Earl Grey Chiffon before but not a normal cupcake or loaf cake. So here it is! I have finally did it, my version of earl grey cake:

Ingredients for Earl Grey Cake: (Makes 12 four oz)

150g unsalted butter, room temperature
80g caster sugar
2 large egg yolks
100 ml concentrated red tea (from keycoffee)

-alternatively, you can use two tea bags soaked in 150ml of hot water, let sit for 15 minutes)
2 packets earl grey tea sachets (to use the tea leaves inside)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
150g cake flour

2 egg whites
20g caster sugar

• In a mixing bowl, beat the butter with caster sugar till light and creamy. 
• Add in the egg yolks and mix well till well combined.
• Add in the concentrated red tea and combine. The mixture may seem a little separated, no worries, it will come together when the dry ingredients are introduced.
• Add in the tea specs from the tea bags and combine till it is uniformly mixed through.
• Sift in cake flour, salt and baking powder and gently mix in.
• Preheat the oven to 170C and prepare cupcake liners
• In an another mixing bowl, beat the egg white with the remaining 20g caster sugar till stiff peaks.
• Combine the white to yolk batter in 2 separate portions and fold in gently till all is combined.
• Scoop in cupcake liners till all the batter has been used.
• Bake in the oven till tester comes out clean. 

Soft, fine crumbs, really really please with the texture of the cake! So glad that my first attempt turned out so well. I topped it with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting which complements the overall taste of the cake and brighten the whole taste.

Ingredients for Lemon Cream cheese frosting:

170g cream cheese, soften 

110g unsalted butter, room temperature 

100g confectioner's sugar ( I can't really recall the exact amount)

2 tsps fresh lemon juice

Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, and then lemon juice; mix until smooth. 

I also baked a mini loaf with the remaining batter and then top it with lemon icing ....I cannot decide which one I like more haha!

Super love this and can't wait to bake this again for my friends to try it. ;) Do try and let me know if you do or just tag me in Instagram on ig_honeybeesweets

Okay, till the next time, have a good day/night ahead

Bosch's latest launch: MaxxiMUM Kitchen Machine and MaxoMixx Hand Blender

I was cordially invited last Saturday to attend the Launch of the Bosch Master Gourmet range. The launch included the New Bosch MaxxiMUM Kitchen Machine and MaxoMixx Hand Blender. Frankly speaking this is my first Home appliance launch event and truly an eye opener for me as well. Much to my pleasant surprise, it was a lively and interactive session conducted by Chef Srephan Zoisl and the Relish PR Agency. Attendees not only learn how the new Bosch appliance worked "its magic", we also get to taste and create a dessert using the appliances! Cool right?

On the left:Bosch MaxxiMUM Kitchen Machine MUMXL40G 
On the right: Bosch MaxoMixx MSM87180 Hand Blender

I am sure many home cooks out there (like me) will know the importance of owning good kitchen appliances. So in this post, allow me to introduce these new Bosch products(as seen above) which will demonstrate not only its main functionality but with add on attachments which will further broaden its capabilities.Click on the above link to read in more details about the product.


The launch session started off with Chef Stephen using the MUMXL40G preparing a welcome smoothie for everyone. It was my first time seeing a ThermoSafe Blender being attached to the kitchen mixer machine! This Thermo blender is capable of blending hot or cold mixtures! (Capacity 1.75Liters) It even "crushed" the ice cubes at ease which yield a very delicious smoothie with a nice crunch in it.

Sure makes having a glass of delicious cold smoothie at ease! This is like one of the coolest idea of having a blender "attachment" to a kitchen mixer haha! Who needs multiple tools if you can have a all in one haha!

Doesn't this cup makes you wanna have one everyday? All that healthy smoothies out there just costs a bomb, why not just make one yourself. The above smoothie contains 2 pcs banana, 1 wedge of pineapple, 500g blueberry, 500g plain yogurt, ice cubes...then zap away! Volia, smoothie made easy for you with a press of a button heehee.

Chef Stephen then went ahead to make some Cheese Souffle and Bacon ice cream for the crowd. I know...the name already sounds awesome enough! He uses both Bosch MaxoMixx Hand Blender and the Bosch MaxxiMUM Ktichen Machine for this recipe. 

 This dish is like sweet and savory in harmony, quite a tantalizing one. The following is the recipe of how Chef Stephen churns out this interesting dish:

Recipe for Cheese Souffle(Serves 4-6)
50g butter, extra for greasing
25g breadcrumbs
50g plain flour
300ml fresh milk
4 large eggs
100g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

• Prepare the souffle dish: Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and place a baking sheet on the middle shelf. Butter 4x5 souffle dish generously, sprinkle in the breadcrumbs and rotate the dish to ensure the butter is evenly coated. Tip out any excess breadcrumbs.
• Making a thick white sauce: In a pan, melt the butter over a medium heat; stir in the flour and mustard. Cook, stirring, for a min. Take off the heat and gradually stir in the milk, mixing it in thoroughly before adding more. Return to the heat and stir continuously until very thick ~10 mins. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. Crack the eggs, placing the whites into a clean bowl and stirring the yolks into the sauce. Stir in the cheddar and season well.
•  
• Adding the egg whites: Using the MaxoMixx Hand Blender whisk attachment to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks. Then take a metal spoon and gently stir the whipped egg whites into the white sauce in eight separate portions.
•  
• Top hatting: Spoon them mixture into the prepared dish. Run a cutlery knife around the edge to create a "Top hat" effect, this ensures the souffle rises above the rim and doesn't stick. Place on the baking sheet and bake for 25-30 mins until the top is golden and risen with a slight wobble.
•  
• Serve immediately with the bacon ice cream.

Recipe for Bacon Ice Cream (using dry ice takes 5 mins)
(Serves about 8)
600ml fresh full cream milk
200g Streaky bacon
100g sugar
8 eggs
450ml cream

• Roast the bacon in a pan - till crisp. Remove from the pan and drain on a kitchen towel.
• Preheat the milk and cream, add bacon & infused for 2-3 hrs (best overnight)
• Separately whisk the sugar and the egg yolk till creamy, stir well, add the bacon infused milk mixture into the egg mixture - strain and return back onto the stove. Stir constantly till you have reached a custard stage. Cool down and transfer into the fridge.
• Once the mixture has cooled down - transfer into a mixing bowl & add dry ice. Stir and wait till properly frozen. Be careful as dry ice has a temperature of -78.5C!
•  
• Alternatively: You can simple use an ice cream machine and run the program till the ice cream is set. (This is definitely easier for us home makers!) 
• Check out the creamy thick vanilla ice cream!
  

Serve immediately with the cheese Souffle baked earlier.

The next recipe shared by Chef Stephen was Pasta Bolognese. A classic dish which I am sure many of us have cooked before at home. But how about getting the meat freshly ground right at home? In this recipe, the chef demonstrated using the meat grinder attachment.

How cool is this? No more worries about whether the meat you bought at the grocer contains unwanted parts or even other meats. 
This Kitchen mixer MUMXL40G is really a versatile equipment, because there's more! Chef Stephen also made fresh pasta by using another pasta attachment to help ease the rolling and cutting of the noodles. Endless possibilities!

Look how pro chef Stephen handles the fresh pasta at ease! Makes me wanna make some pasta myself again too! If you have not made fresh pasta before, I strongly suggest you do. It taste nothing like the box version seriously. Although it is a little more hassle to prepare but owning a pasta maker just makes a world of difference. They attachments allows you to make not only lasagna sheets, fettuccine, linguini & raviolis too! I personally owns a manual pasta machine but seeing how easy it was for Chef Stephen at the demo really made me think twice about owning one....makes fresh pasta making at 1/2 the time!

The last recipe that the chef shared with everyone was of course dessert ; Bombe Alaska. which is also commonly known as Baked Alaska. Basically a base sponge with ice cream frozen, surrounded with firm meringue and torched till golden brown. Lucky us, after a brief demo from Chef Stephen, we even get to have hands on making these "bombs" ourselves! Sounds like the "bomb" right haha!

Check out the tools and gadget we have for making the Bombe Alaska! This was definitely the highlight of the event for me! Getting my hands to cook / bake is my favorite part haha! Both the Bosch MaxoMixx Hand Blender and MaxxiMUM Kitchen Machine are relatively easy to use even for first timers like me. So now let me share with you the recipe from Chef Stephen:

Recipe for Bombe Alaska: (Serves ~4)
300g sponge cake
1 Liter vanilla / chocolate ice cream or any flavor you fancy
150g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g strawberries, sliced'20g icing sugar

• Cut out the sponge cake into 8 rounds and arrange on trays that can fit into your freezer. Using an ice cream scoop, place a scoop of ice cream into each slice of sponge cake. Cover with cling wrap and freeze for about 1 hr. Make sure the ice cream is hard prior to using.
• Cut the strawberries, place into the Bosch MaxxMixx Hand Blender compartment, add the icing sugar and blend well. Set aside for later use in plating.
• Use Bosch MaxxiMUM kitchen machine to beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Add the sugar gradually, beating well between each addition until the sugar has dissolve and the mixture is glossy. Beat in the vanilla. Transfer into a pipping bag.
• 
• Transfer the ice cream / sponge cake slices onto an oven proof tray - place the egg white mixture over the ice cream...pipping will be nicer of course. Make sure the ice cream is fully covered.
• Use a blowtorch to burn the meringue. Alternatively you can use the rum and flame the Bombe Alaska. If you don't have a blow torch, preheat the oven to 200C and bake for 4 mins.
• Place the Bomb Alaska onto a plate and serve with strawberry sauce (coulis)
  
  

Well check out the Bombe Alaska I made during the team challenge! Can pass? Haha! Although my team didn't win, still, I really had fun making this! Hopefully I can churn out one myself later!

Okay guys, if you are thinking about getting a new kitchen mixer to hand blender, may I recommend you the above two Bosch MaxoMixx MSM87180 Hand Blender & Bosch MaxxiMUM Kitchen Machine MUMXL40G ! Especially that Mother's Day is only a month away, perhaps you can pamper yourself by investing in one, haha! If there is more info needed on these products, do feel free to Bosch website for more details on their new products.  

Okay have a good day ahead all!

Tangy Orange Fish Fillets

Hi folks! Good to be back again posting! I am here in support of this month's theme "Orange" in Little Thumbs Up April event. Glad that my dinner dish was a little more useful then just filling my family's tummy haha! So here is the dish : Tangy Orange Fish Fillets

I opted to use fish instead of chicken or pork since I am trying to get my kids to eat more fish (brain food, haha) But bare in mind you can use any kind of white meat for this recipe, it should work just fine.

Ingredients for Tangy Orange Fish Fillets (Serves 3-4)

3 whole fillets of white fish(I used Tilapia this time) ~300-400g

2 large Navel Orange

2 ginger slices

1 garlic clove minced

Seasoning:

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or plain works too)

2 tsp sugar

Thickening coat:

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Chinese cooking wine

2 tbsp beaten egg

2 tbsp corn flour

2 tbsp water + 1 tsp cornflour (Thickener) 

• Cut the fish fillets into smaller piece, set aside.
• Zest the two oranges and set the zest aside for later use. Then slice out thin slices from the center of both the oranges for garnish purpose (optional)
• Juice both the oranges, remove pulp. Add seasoning into the juice and mix well. Then add in the fish fillets and let it marinate for a good 30 minutes before use.
• Remove the fish fillets from the OJ(reserve aside) and add the thickening coat ingredients together with the fish in another mixing bowl.Combine till all the fish is nicely coated.
• In the wok, add in 3 to 4 tbsp cooking oil and set at medium fire. Lightly pan fry the marinated fish fillets on both sides and remove from wok.
• Remove oil leaving only about 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Add in minced garlic and ginger slices, cook for a minute.
• Add the reserved OJ & orange zest and cook for awhile till it starts to bubble. Add 2 tbsp water+1 tsp corn flour mixture into it. Stir till it thickens slightly. Add the fish fillets back in to the gravy and gently toss to coat.
• Remove the fish fillets from wok and onto a serving plate. Garnish with reserved oranges slices, serve while still hot.

 

This dish in my opinion might not be as tasty as sweet and sour fish, but still it is much easier to prepare and healthier! Less sugar, salt used and no deep frying of the protein as well. But the tangy sweet flavor still satisfy one's craving haha! Yummy!

Another close up shot of this yummy dish. Best served with a bowl of steamy rice. :P Hope you all will try this out! Have a good evening all!

I am happy to submit this post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Bake For Happy Kids, and My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Ann of Anncoo Journal at this post.