My KitCHEn Experiments

I've never met a cookie I didn't like, and yes I love even the 'healthy ones', and while a plate of freshly baked cookies brings comfort like a warm hug kicking your cookie up a notch is like a warm hug and a kiss on top of the head! Cookie Dome Cake Ingredients: - cookies - milk - chopped chocolate - 1 small pack all all purpose cream - nuts, sprinkles etc for topping how to: - heat cream in a small saucepan - pour over chocolate, let sit for a few minutes and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. set aside - line bowl with cling wrap - dip cookies in milk and arrange in single layer in the bottom and along sides of the bowl - top with chocolate cream and your choice of toppings - alternate layers - chill for a few hours - invert unto a bowl and cover with remaining chocolate cream and toppings. yummeeehh!!!!

Here's another version of the healthy cokies I made before. It uses the same ingredients basically, except for the cocoa powder. I also baked it in brownie form with graham cracker lined bottom. ... Thus the chocolate chip graham craker brownie!

you'd never guess the secret ingredient to this healthy cookies! - well maybe you would, in anycase I'm telling!!!! it's chickpeas! - not the first thing that come to mind right??!! I really really do have a sweet tooth and am always on the lookout for healthier versions of cookie, cupcake and brownie recipes to satisfy my cravings without (much) guilt. This is one of my newest fave.

What do you do to salvage a sunken cake? make cake balls of course!!! I have done this even before cake balls became the rage - yeeaaaarrsss ago. I just could not bear to throw away my cake when the baking had failed and am left with a sunken center, I just had to do something and so i made cake balls and my tasters were none the wiser tee hee!! For New Year's Eve, I was tasked to make another cake. I was just planning a simple chocolate ring cake and drown it in chocolate fudge (as requested) and decorate it with colorful sprinkles and candy. So I made the batter and stuck it in the oven, but I must have lowered the oven temp to less than required - I was online and greeting friends and family over facebook and was scared I'd forget the cake and burn it, so the result was a sunken cake. I can not present it for NYE dessert so I rushed to start again and salvage the first one by making cake balls - the center was still so moist that frosting wasn't required, so yay!! ...

... It's been a while since I made a layer cake primarily because with my small oven, I have to bake 2 to 3 batches of cake base and I just get lazy sometimes that I just end up making cupcakes. I was thinking of making cupcakes for our Christmas party but decided to make a layer cake so I'd have more 'canvas' for decoration. I was thinking of trying to make a full fondant layer cake but with no days off from work I was pressed for time so I retorted to whipped cream frosting and decorated with white chocolate snowflakes.  3 layer cake with fruit and cream filling 

My friend requested that I make cupcakes for her daugther's cristening, I have posted a Serah project plan board a few days ago but some of my plans didn't quite come out successfully. The supposedly pink starberry flavored cupcakes did not stay pink after baking and I didn't have enough time to make the rainbow cookies. I have decided also, to go stawberry on stawberry and chocolate on mocha, that way the flavors won't be confusing to kids who will be at the party. My mixer also gave out the day I had frosting duties that I have to go out and buy a replacement in a rush, giving me just anough time go get everything together whew!        strawberry cupcakes with stawberry frosting decorated with pink sugar crystals fondant topped chocolate cupcakes      wrapped up the cupcakes to go!      chocolate cupcakes with mocha frosting with sprinkles mallow pops

I have always dreamed of hosting an intimate dinner party or get-together of sorts just so I can serve chocolate fondue for dessert. I bet dunking morsels of cake and fruit into creamy chocolate would be decadently fun. I haven't gotten to hosting that party - heck I haven't even got a fondue set but who's to say I can't have a chocolate dipping party for one???! Chocolate Fondue : ingredients: - package or can of cream - 1/2 tbsp butter - 2 tbsp of cocoa - 1 cup of powdered sugar - 1/4 cup hot water how to: - in a small bowl mix the cocoa and sugar into the hot water until dissolved. set aside - heat the butter and cream in a heavy saucepan on low fire - add the cocoa mixture. mix until cocoa is incorporated. - continue stirring for five minutes on low, not allowing the chocolate mixture to boil - transfer into a bowl and serve with sliced fruits, marshmallows, pretzel sticks, pound cake etc dip, dip and dip away!!!

my brother celebrated his birthday a few days back, he didn't want a big party but a birthday is not a birthday without a cake so I made one! I used the same recipe for Rainbow Cupcakes but baked them in a bundt pan and frosted it with chocolate ganache. happy birthday bro!!!!

I love to eat - I love to eat sweets and baked goods more specifically and if only all those calories don't go straight to my thighs, hips and tummy I would be eating them all day. It unfortunately isn't so thus I am always on the lookout for better recipes that call for less butter and sugar. I found this 'healthier' version of an oatmeal cookie that uses banana to cut the fat - it still requires a cup of sugar though so until I find a better healthier sugar substitute (honey maybe?!) am sticking to this one. Banana Oatmeal Cookies ingredients: - 1 cup all purpose flour - 1/2 tsp baking powder - 1/2 tsp baking soda - 1/4 tsp salt - 2 tbsp butter, very soft - 1/2 cup sugar - 1/2 cup brown sugar - 1/4 cup mashed banana (1 small/medium) - 1 egg - 1 tsp vanilla extract - 1 1/2 cups oats - 1 cup chocolate chips how to: - Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. - In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking...

when the mood to make something sweet and fast for a visit with friends strikes, Tiramisu is my go to recipe. It's fast, easy and no baking required!  Tiramisu ingredients: - 1 pack Italian Lady Fingers ( I used a 200 gram pack which was approx 24 pcs) - 2 packets dream whip and enough milk required to make 2 cups of whipped cream - 1/2 cup powdered cocoa - cup strong black coffee - 2 cups shaved chocolate or chocolate chips how to: - pour coffee in shallow bowl, dip each lady finger and arrange it in a single layer on an 8x8 pan - pour half of whipped cream on top and sprinkle with shaved chocolate or chips - lay down another layer of coffee dipped lady fingers - pour the remaining cup of whipped cream and top with remaining chocolate - with a small sieve, dust cocoa powder all over the cake - refrigerate until ready to serve  forgive me for using all instant! sorry no mascarpone cheese in this recipe just good ol whipped cr...

It has been my habit to make goodies for friends, office mates and family for no special reason other than I wanted to try some new recipe or cooking idea. It's a win win situation you see - I get to satisfy my cooking curiosity and they can feast on the results - that is if it is edible enough!!! I had been seeing poke cake recipes on Pinterest made with vanilla pudding and though it didn't interest me at first, it kept on appearing on boards so I decided to give it a try with the results of which I will share with co workers from a branch of our office where I had been reporting to for the last two months. Poke Cakes were invented in 1969 primarily as a way to increase Jello sales,  jello poke cakes became popular thanks to its festive looks and easy of assembly - all youe need to do is holes in th cake and pour  jello (or pudding) on top which seeps into the holes thus you get colorful lines of flavor. I m...

Eversince I saw that episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S wherein Ross smashed that piece of scone in his fury over his ex-wife Emily, I was intrigued. As I have written before I like having tea and what better way to enjoy an afternoon cuppa tea than with dainty baked British pastry to go with it. I love Harry Potter, I love their accent and though it is on a completely unrelated level, sometimes I just like to pretend I am having afternoon tea under the sun in a frilly girly dress, sipping tea from a dainty fine cup with my pinky sticking up. Chocolate Chip Scones ingredients: -2 cups white all purpose flour - 1 teaspoon baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon salt - 1 cup sugar - 4 tablespoons cold butter, sliced - 1 egg - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract - 3/4 cup milk  - 1/2 cup chocolate chips or morsels how to : - Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar - cut the butter into the flour mixture with a fork or ...

Last year for christmas I made caramel apples - I know, I know its for Halloween treats, but I had just experimented making them a few days before the holidays and liked them so much I thought I'd share the sweetness with everyone. During ordinary days when I crave for some sweet, tart treats I make caramel apples but slice them up and pop them in the fridge to cool - ready for snacking after I finished my chores. Caramel Apples Slices ingredients : - 2 green apples - lemon juice - 2 to 3 tbsp milk - 6 to 8 caramels - chopped nuts - chocolate morsels how to: - slice the apples and toss in lemon juice to prevent discoloration and arrange in a serving plate, set aside - melt the milk and caramel in a bowl on top of a double boiler, add more milk or caramel depending on the consistency you want - drizzle on top of sliced apples, top with chopped nuts and chocolate morsels. Chill until ready to serve  tart, sweet, crunchy and cho...

Whenever I get a day off work (like today yay!) I make myself some fancy breakfast. Well when I say fancy I meant something my brother does not normally eat - something sweet for breakfast like pancakes and french toast. Today I made myself some banana chocolate pancakes. Pancakes I think is one of the most versatile breakfast items ever. You can make it sweet or savory, healthy or sinful, decadent or skinny from a box or from scratch. I made them from a box, sweet and a bit sinful. I had some left over banana from a previous baking experiment that I wanted to use. I normally just slice the bananas and put them on top of the pancake but since they are a bit over ripe I roughly mashed them (I wanted some chunks) into the batter and omitted the egg instead. I added some chocolate chips of course but opted to sprinkle them on top - sandwiching them in  between pancakes instead of throwing then into the batter. I did not want the chocolate melting an...

When I heard that my friend who gave birth to a healthy baby girl a couple of weeks ago was going to visit the office to sort out her planned extended vacation I immediately thought of baking something as a present for them. I have not visited as often as would have liked because I don't really know when would be a good time, I am sort of worried to be a nuisance when she could be sleeping or spending time with her kids. I know she must be tired with having a newborn baby and a three year old son to take care of so I felt that I should postpone my visit until she has settled on her routine. I first though of trying out that no yeast cinnamon bread recipe that I found but decided to make chocolate chip cookies instead. I made 2 batches actually - one with chocolate chips and almonds for the grown-ups and one with M&M's for my godson - her three year old son, to gobble up on.  Chocolate Chip Cookies ingredients: - 1/2 cup softened butter - 1/2 cup w...

I sort of made two mis-steps in making these 'monkey bars' that they turned out be more like banana bread than bars. First I forgot to add the sugar and only just remember after I had poured the batter into a (second boo boo here) smaller baking pan so the batter cooked much thicker than bars should. Monkey Bars or Banana Bread ingredients: - about 5 bananas  mashed ripe bananas - 3/4   cups    packed light-brown sugar - 1/4   cup    oil - 1/4   cup    milk - 2    eggs - 2   teaspoons  vanilla extract - 1   teaspoon  each baking soda and cinnamon - 1/4   teaspoon salt - 1 3/4   cups  white whole-wheat flour - 1   cup  mini chocolate chips how to: - h eat oven to 350ºF. Line a baking pan with nonstick foil with a little overhand and slightly grease it. - whisk mash...