Light Oreo Swirl Butter Cake

Yes yes, another Oreo bake. :) In fact I have been wanting to bake Oreo flavored butter cake for the longest time. :P Finally I got to do it, yah! And it was all that I have imagined it will be, buttery, delicious and "Oreoy"...not sure if that's even a word, lol! I actually made this cake a month back but was so busy that I didn't manage to post it up until now. :P Anyways, here it is!

I have used the egg separation method for this recipe, so here is my recipe if you are interested:

Ingredients for Light Oreo Swirl Butter Cake: (makes a 8" by 3" round):

Set A:
130g (1 tube) Oreo cookies, pulverized in blender together with the cream

Set B:

6 egg yolks
125g caster sugar

130ml fresh milk

160g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

100g cake flour
100g plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

Set C:

7 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

130g caster sugar

Method:

• Using a mixing bowl placed over a double boiler at a low heat, add the egg yolks and caster sugar in. Using a hand mixer, beat the mixture till ribbon stage.
• Gently fold in the milk and cooled butter to the yolk mixture till incorporated. Next sift in the flours and baking powder in 3 separate portions into the mixture and gently mixing it in to no visible flour.
  
• Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease and lined a 8" by 3" round.
  
• In a stand mixer, beat the egg whites & cream of tartar till foamy. Continue to beat the whites at high speed and gradually adding in the caster sugar. Continue to beat the mixture till stiff peaks.
  
• Gently fold the whites into the yolk mixture in 3 separate portions till all is mixed in. Then pour half of the batter into another bowl. Add the Oreo crumbs in Set A into one of the batter portions, mix well.
  
• Alternating, pour the plain and Oreo batter into the prepared pan. Using a chop stick or butter knife, swirl the batter to create patterns.
  
• Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes or till the cake tester comes out clean.
  

The only downside for me was the cake kind of deflated a little after it cooled. :P Perhaps I had not beaten the eggs well enough? I can only guess. :P But good thing the cake still tasted great and my family loved it especially my younger kid...kept asking me for "The Oreo cake Mummy, I want the Oreo cake."

I love the swirls in the cake. I could have done the Zebra patterns but I figured that will be in another post, heehee. :D As you can see the "waist-line" of the cake, it's pretty figure friendly! Lol! Just kidding. :)

Anyway, hope you will have a go on this recipe and better luck with no  "shrinkage"". :))
Have a wonderful weekend all! Cheers!

Fluffy Soft Steam Buns & Chocolate Swirl Mantou (超软蒸包和巧克力卷馒头 )

I have been looking for the perfect steam bun / bao recipe for a long time now. And it almost seems like most of the recipe turns out the same. Soft when just steamed but not so a few hours after it cooled down and needs to be reheated to get the same soft texture. Ohh...but it's not so for this new recipe. :) It stays fluffy soft for a good whole day or longer. Really! But you know what, I discovered this recipe through trial and error.....lucky me right? Lol!

This recipe is adapted from Carol 自在生活's 奶黃包. Initially, I had the full intention to use her recipe, but in the midst of multi-tasking in the kitchen, I added 74g of unsalted butter into the dough (by accident) and it was all good there after, lol! Trust me, it still turns out wonderful. :) You must be thinking, who uses butter for steam buns? Aren't you suppose to use shortening or something? You're right...but the butter scent wasn't evident at all, besides I would choose butter over shortening any day. :) Curious how it all comes, well here is my version:

Ingredients for fluffy Steam Buns recipe:

Starter dough:

120g pau flour (original calls for plain flour)

1/2 tsp active instant dry yeast

80ml warm water

pinch of salt

Method:

Knead all the ingredients together till it comes together to form a soft, smooth dough. Chill in the fridge up to 6-8hrs before use.

*Note: I increased the portion to about X1.5 to have more to make chocolate swirl mantou. So feel free to portion to your own liking.

Main Dough:

All of the above starter dough, approximately 165g

1.5 tsp active instant dry yeast

450g pau flour (Carol's recipe uses plain flour)

270ml fresh milk

40g caster sugar

1/4 tsp salt

74g unsalted butter, room temperature

Red Bean / Lotus paste filling

Method for Red bean / Lotus paste steam buns:

1. Place everything in a large mixing bowl except the butter and knead till it comes together. Once it forms into a dough, add in the butter and continue to knead for a good 5 to 7 minutes on the mixer or 10 minutes by hand till it is elastic and smooth.
2. Place the dough in a greased bowl and let proof till double in size. Punch out the air and divide the dough into 12 X 40g each. (Since I increased the recipe, I only weighed out 14 of the 40g portions and the rest I made into the chocolate mantou.) Reserve the rest of the dough for chocolate swirl mantou (chill in fridge) while you work with the buns.
3. Take a dough portion and flatten it into a disc, making sure the center is thicker then the edges. place about 2 tbsp's worth of red bean / lotus paste filling in the center. Seal up and roll round. Place on a greased proof paper and put the bun into the steamer (already prep with water) to further proof for about 40 minutes. Repeat.
4. 
5. Once proved, start the steamer and steam at medium high for 10 to 15 minutes. Note that do open the lid completely after steamed, open partially with a small gap for 15 minutes to let the buns cool slowly to prevent them to deflate.

For the Chocolate Swirl Mantou , here's the steps:

1. Add 2 tbsps more of confectioner's sugar into the reserved dough and knead into it. Then I divide it to 2 equal portions and knead 1 heaping tbsp of Valronha cocoa powder to one of the portions. Let it rest for 10 mins covered before shaping.
2. Roll both portions into 10cm by 20 cm rectangles. Brush a little water on the plain rectangle surface and place the chocolate rectangle on top. Seal the edges and roll up from the long side like a swiss roll and seal it nicely.
3. Using a knife and cut the dough in to equal portions about 3cm thickness each. Place on a grease proof paper squares and also place in steamer prep with water. Let it proof for 40 minutes before steaming.
   

Just like any other mantou, it's pretty much plain in taste. Perhaps with a hint of chocolate taste and a wee bit more sweet then the dough used for filled ones. But the best part of all is the softness of this bao and mantou...fluffy! :) Check it out yourself:

This recipe is definitely a keeper for me. Perhaps will make it again with meat filling. :)

I will be submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #7 - Chocolate Delight (May 2011) hosted by DG from Tested and Tasted. Have you joined in the fun and submitted yours?

Okay folks, hope you all have a wonderful weekend! ;) Cheers!