Oreo Surprise Chocolate Cupcakes

After baking batches and batches of New Year cookies for the past weeks, it seems all "refreshing" to bake up some cupcakes for a change. Plus my girls have been asking for some cupcakes with buttercream lately. I guess they had enough of fatt goh and kueh lapis for now, lol! So I decided to bake some moist dark chocolate cupcakes (with an Oreo surprise) and top them off with delicious Oreo cookie Swiss Meringue buttercream. Sounds good? It is. ;)

Ehh...where's the cake? Oopsie...guess I filled the batter a bit too short, and probably worried about all that overflowing of chocolaty goodness. :P So if you does attempt this recipe, remember to be a little more generous and fill to 75% to 80% full.

Nevertheless, the taste of the cupcakes didn't disappoint, it was chocolaty and very "Oreoy", just what I was hoping for. ;) If you are wondering what and where is that "Oreo surprise" I was referring to....read on.

recipe inspired by Bakegirl plus some modifications

Ingredients for Oreo Surprise Chocolate Cupcake with Oreo SMB (Makes about 12 cupcakes)

90g dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used Valrohna)

40g unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Valrohna cocoa powder)

3/4 cup hot coffee, preferably brewed

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder
100g all purpose flour

6 tbsp vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

12-15 Oreo halves with cream filling attached

Making the cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 175C. Prepare about 12 to 15 cupcake liners. The place the Oreo halves with cream at the bottom of the liners with the cream facing up. (That's the hidden Oreo surprise!)

• Place the chopped chocolates and sifted cocoa powder a heat proof bowl. Then heat up the coffee till very hot. Pour the coffee over the chocolate and cocoa powder and then gently mix it up till all combined and smooth. Let cool before use.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk in eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and vinegar till combined. Then add in the cooled chocolate mixture and stir in well.
• Sift the plain flour, baking powder, salt and baking powder in. Then gently stir well and do not over mix. Divide the batter equally into the cupcake liners and fill up to 80% full.
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or till the tester comes out clean or with soft crumbs. Let cool completely before topping with cream.
• For the cream topping, I have chose to use Swiss meringue Buttercream mixed with the reserved halves of the Oreo cookies blended till crumbs. You can use sweetened whipping cream if desired too. For the SMB recipe, please refer to here.

My kids love anything with Oreo...so this is such a treat for them ...and me too! ;)

I hope these little Oreo cupcakes will be part of your sweet deserts served over this weekend (last CNY weekend!). I had fun making them, hope it will be for you too!

Have a super duper nice weekend all! Cheers!

Stuffed Golden Purses，金钱袋 (Braised Stuffed Tofu)

Happy Dragon Year Everyone! Hope everyone had a wonderful break and ny celebration during the past week. \(^o^)/ Although this year was kind of rush due to the short "intermission" from Christmas, but I still manage to have a nice reunion with my love ones. Plus my long break from blogging too, about 2 weeks to be exact. I bet some of my readers might have already given up hope on me, lol! Apologies! However, truth be told, it will probably be lesser posts from me from now on as I feel the need to spend more time with my kiddos. But no worries, I will still be posting, just less. ;P

Before the Lunar New Year is over, I want to post up a savory dish that I made awhile back. And I believe this dish is a presentable one to serve during new year. Its actually Stuffed Braised Tofu but I changed its name to Stuffed Golden Purses (金钱袋), to make it sound more festive, lol!

I bet many of you out there know what Yong Dao Fu (酿豆腐 ) is. This stuffed tofu is pretty similar to that, just that instead of stuffing it with the usual fish paste, I used minced pork and loads of other ingredients. My family loves any kind of tofu dishes, so this was a good one to serve up to them. If you too love tofu dishes, read on!

Ingredients for Stuffed Golden Purses (Braised stuffed tofu, makes 6)

3 squares of Dao Gua (pressed tofu)

Filling:

250g fresh ground pork (can be replaced with any meat of your choice)

100g fresh prawns, peeled, devined and dice small

3 dried mushrooms, soaked till soft and diced small

1 tbsp minced ginger

2 tbsp diced green onion

Marinate:

salt & pepper

2 tsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornflour

Seasoning:

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup of water with 1 tsp cornflour mixed in)

Method:

• For the pressed tofu, take one and cut diagonally into 2 triangles, repeat for the other two tofu. The using a spoon, scoop out the a cavity in the cut surface, about 1 tbsp worth, see picture. (Those scooped out tofu can be added into the filling if desired.)

• In a mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients for the filling and marinate. Mix well and let sit for at least an hour in the fridge before use.

• After an hour, fill the tofu cavity with the filling and try to stuff it full so it will look nice and packed. (Just like what you wish your wallets to be, lol!) See Pic 1.

• Pat the stuffed tofu some cornflour and heat up a frying pan with about 1 cup of cooking oil. See pic 2 and 3 above.
• Pan fry the tofu till golden brown, dish up and drain on paper towels. See pic 4 above.
• Pour away the oil the pan and lower the heat to small. In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients in seasoning and pour into the pan and let it simmer till it thickens a little. Add in the stuffed tofu and let it coat with the seasoning sauce. After 2 to 3 minutes, dish up and sprinkle some fresh chopped green onions over as garnish if desired.

This is a nice homey dish that you can serve up any time. You can even add in some chopped water chestnut into the filling to enhance the texture too! Do try it when you get the chance. ;)

I am happy to submit this Stuffed Golden Purses (Braised Stuffed Tofu) to Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) which is hosted by Wen's Delight.

Okay folks, gonna end my post for now and be back REAL soon. Have a good evening!