Green Tea Muffins

I started baking these muffins back in 2009~! I had recently graduated from Nursing school and was trying to find another hobby. I liked to feed people so baking became an evident choice LOL. My friend wanted to learn how to bake so I had him beside me as I was trial running this recipe. This was adapted from a recipe that I found on www.allrecipes.com. At the time I couldn't believe how much matcha green tea powder cost. I sent my friend to get it for me and he ended up at Steepes. For a little tiny tin it was like $40 for the fresh stuff o_O"... so he ended up getting old stuff which cost him $20 but he played the poor university student card and managed to get it for $15~! FTW lol ^_^

Green Tea Muffins
-1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp baking powder
-2 Tbsp matcha green tea powder
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1 egg
-1/3 cup melted butter
-1 cup milk
-2 tsp Vanilla extract
-1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease muffin cups or line with paper liners
2. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, matcha and sugar together and set aside. Whisk eggs, melted butter, and milk in another bowl. Stir milk mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened. Stir in walnuts. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake in preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed- about 20 min.  Cool in tin for 5 minutes then remove to cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla Glaze (adapted from allrecipes)
-1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
-2 1/2 Tbsp milk
-1/8 tsp salt
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 Tbsp butter

1.  Melt butter and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix until creamy.

Poppyseed Cranberry Strudel

There is so much I want to write about~! I started this blog because well, I was inspired by several food bloggers out there and being out of school for a few years now, I felt my writing was declining. One of my very first blogs I started following was Smitten Kitchen (check it out, Deb's awesome--> www.smittenkitchen.com) . A girl at work introduced me to it 2 years ago and I've been following it since. So I have 2 years of backlogged recipes that I haven't shared with people!! WHERE TO START!?! My initial post to this blog was a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. I already had it typed up and posted on my facebook so it was easy enough to copy and paste over~! I just wanted to see what it would look like once I published a post! I would like to share with you one of the things that I tried before I even really got into baking, I had just recently gotten the Food Network and turned on the TV one random afternoon to find Anna Olson`s show: Sugar. They were doing a segment on Cranberries. This was one of the recipes featured in that segment~! Being a baking noob at the time, if I could it, you can do it~! :D

Poppyseed Cranberry Strudel

Poppyseed Filling
-3/4 cup poppyseeds
-4Tbsps sugar
-1/3cup 2% milk
-1Tbsp unsalted butter
-1/2tsp vanilla extract

Strudel
-2 1/2cups fresh or frozen cranberries
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/4 cup honey
-1tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
-10 x sheets phyllo pastry
-1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
-poppy seeds for sprinkling

Directions
1. Filling: Grind poppyseeds and sugar in a food processor. Removed and scrape into a small sauce pot. Stir in milk and simmer, stirring often, until milk is absorbed. Stir in butter and vanilla and set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 375F. Toss cranberries with sugar, honey, vanilla and cinnamon. Spread out one sheet of phyllo pastry and brush lightly with butter. Lay another sheet of phyllo on top and brush with butter. Continue layering and brushing phyllo sheets until all are used. Spread cooled poppyseed filling along one long edge of the pastry and spoon cranberry filling over poppyseeds. Starting with the filled side, roll up phyllo pastry to cover filling. Tuck in outside edges of pastry to seal in fruit (like folding a wrap) and continue rolling. Place strudel, seam-side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush top of strudel with butter and sprinkle with poppyseeds. Bake for 20-25 min, until pastry is rich golden brown. Cool for 15 min before slicing/serving

*best served warm or at room temperature

Chinese Five Spice Cake

I found this site a few months ago and it has quickly become one of my favourites due to the vast number of recipes, articles, and give aways: http://leitesculinaria.com/ . Have I won anything yet?- No, but it's still fun to try and hope~!! One day maybe it will happen >_<....

One particular recipe from this site, caught my attention: The Chinese Five Spice Cake~! Like seriously, who puts five spice in a cake? o_O' When I was little, my mom used to make five spice chicken so I have fond memories of five spice but I never reallly knew what it consisted of because my mom never gave me a straight answer when I asked her (I think it's because she didn't know LOL). For those of you that don't know- Chinese five spice powder is made up of a combination of ground up cinnamon, aniseed, cloves, ginger, and fennel seed. The recipe is from a book call Chocolate Cakes; By: Elinor Klivans

Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/Chocolate-Cakes-Elinor-Klivans/dp/0811868729/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322454194&sr=8-1


Ingredients

1 3/4 cups cake flour

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup canola or corn oil or other mild vegetable oil

7 large eggs, separated

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

6 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped

1/3 cup heavy (double) cream

1 teaspoon corn syrup

6 ounces milk chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon five spice powder, for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, 1 cup of the sugar, the five spice powder, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Use a large spoon to make a well in the center of the flour mixture.
3. Add the oil, egg yolks, water, and vanilla to the well and combine the liquid ingredients, then gradually begin to draw in the flour ingredients. Switch to an electric mixer on medium speed and beat the mixture until smooth and thick, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. In a large bowl using clean beaters, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed until the whites are foamy and the cream of tartar dissolves. Increase the speed to medium and beat the egg whites until they look shiny and smooth and the beaters leave lines in the whites. When you stop the mixer and lift the beaters, the beaten whites should cling to them. Increase the speed to high and slowly beat in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat until the whites form firm, glossy peaks, about 1 minute.
5. Use a rubber spatula to fold the chopped milk chocolate into the reserved cocoa and egg yolk mixture. Stir about 1/3 of the beaten whites into the yolk mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites until no white streaks remain. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and gently smooth the top.
6. Bake until the top of the cake feels firm when lightly touched and any small cracks on the top look dry, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Invert the pan onto a narrow-necked bottle (a full wine bottle works well) and let cool for 1 hour.
7. Turn the pan right side up and run a thin, sharp knife around the side of the pan and the center tube to loosen the cake. Turn the cake onto a wire rack so it is bottom up. Cool the cake thoroughly on the wire rack.

Make the chocolate glaze

1. In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat the cream and corn syrup over low heat just until the cream is hot. Do not let the mixture boil. Remove the pan from the heat.
2. Immediately add the milk chocolate to the cream and let set until the chocolate softens, about 30 seconds. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in the vanilla.

Give the cake its final five-spice flourish

1. Use a thin metal spatula to spread the glaze over the top of the cooled cake, letting it dribble down the sides. Let the glaze firm for about 1 hour.
2. Place the five spice powder in a small strainer and dust it lightly and evenly over the glaze. Slip a large metal spatula or 2 smaller spatulas under the cake and slide it onto a serving plate. Cut the cake into slices using a serrated knife. The cake can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

I made this cake for the owner of the token Chinese-Western Restaurant in my hometown (you know, the one chinese restaurant that is in all small towns LOL). The only critisim I received was that the cake didn't taste enough of five spice. The Chinese man expected more flavor of the five spice and just calling this a chocolate cake T_T... Will try again to please Asian parents later lol >_>....