Chocolate Banana Cake

Last Sunday was my son's birthday and he requested for a Chocolate Banana Cake, the same cake I baked for him two years ago.

A simple decoration of some strawberries and slices of bananas, which I brushed over with some apricot glaze. I followed the decoration  from the book, that way I do not have to think about the decorating part, as I am hopeless when it comes to cake decorating! :o)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR LITTLE BOY!!

This is a chocolate sponge cake, with layers of cream and fresh bananas in between. I baked the cake in a 9"  round pan, sliced it in three layers and in between these layers, there's a filling of whipped chocolate cream flavoured with a little instant coffee powder. A layer of sliced bananas are placed on the cream, and top with more cream. Repeat with the next layer. The top layer and sides of cake are spread with more cream. Leave the cake in the fridge for the cream to firm up. The chocolate ganache is made by melting the chocolate with some cream and a tablespoon of butter, and are poured on top of the chilled cake, flowing down the sides. Decorate as desired and refrigerate until set.

The sponge cake is spongy and soft, and I like the cream which has a nice lovely fragrance of the coffee. Overall, this is a lovely cake for a birthday, and since the cake uses oil instead of butter, this cake stays soft even when refrigerated, and great eaten cold, direct from the fridge. 

I'm sharing this with :

Recipe Box #4 hosted by Bizzy Bakes

Cookbook Sunday hosted by Couscous & Consciousness

Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Chocolate Banana Cake

(adapted from "Delicious Cakes" by Amy Heng)
For the chocolate chiffon cake :
Ingredients A :
30gm cocoa powder (dissolved with 120ml hot water, leave to cool)
4 egg yolks
100gm caster sugar
130gm self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda" 
60ml corn oil
1 tsp vanilla essence


Ingredients B :
4 egg whites
60gm caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar


For the cream filling :
500ml chocolate whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
1-1/2 tbsp instant coffee (dissolved with 1 tbsp hot water)
1 tbsp gelatine (dissolved with 40ml water)
5-6 ripen bananas (sliced)

For the chocolate ganache :
140ml whipping cream
350m cooking chocolate
1 tbsp butter


To make the cake :
Preheat oven to 180C.  Line and greased a 9" round cake pan. In a large mixing bowl, hand whisk thoroughly ingredients A until smooth.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar (sieve cream of tartar over egg whites) until foamy. Add in sugar and continue whisking until stiff.
Fold a third of beaten egg whites to ingredients A and mix with a spatula until well mixed, fold in the rest of the egg whites, fold gently till evenly mixed.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes until cake is well risen and a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Unmould cake immediately to a wire rack, remove baking paper and place cake right side up to cool completely.
When cake has cooled, trim top mounted layer and discard. Slice cake horizontally to get 3 even layers.


To make the cream filling :
In a bowl of a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, whisk the cream until stiff. Add in vanilla essence, coffee mixture and gelatine mixture. Whisk for a minute to combine. Use immediately.


To make the chocolate ganache :
Heat the cream in a double-boiler and add in chocolate and butter. Stir until chocolate has melted. Leave to cool slightly before pouring on top of the cake.


To assemble cake :
Spread some filling on 1st layer of cake. Arrange banana slices all over, top with more cream, spreading evenly. Place the second cake layer on top and repeat. For the top layer, spread cream all over and sides of cake. Leave cake in refrigerator for the cream to set and firm up.
Place cake on a wire rack over a large baking tray to catch the drips.
Pour chocolate ganache on cake, letting the ganache flow down the sides. Decorate cake as desired and refrigerate to set. 

"Choo-choo Train" Birthday Cake

Ask any kid what they would like to have for dinner, the answer is most likely one of those fast food. I asked my son what he wants for dinner and he immediately said "PIZZA"! I knew he would say that! Since yesterday was my son's birthday, he got his wish. We went to Pizzahut for dinner. After that, we had his birthday cake at home.

Made him this "Choo-choo Train" birthday cake which was taken from Betty Crocker's "The Big Book of Cupcakes" and they called this "Snow-capped Gingerbread Train". Since mine is not as beautiful as the one in the book, I'll just name it "Choo-choo Train" birthday cake!  :) 

I just made the basic chocolate cupcake instead of the gingerbread cupcake. The frosting is Cream Cheese frosting. The decorations I used are Smarties, gummy sweets, marshmallows, pretzels sticks for the joining of the wheels and cheezels for the rims of the wheels.

He was happy with his birthday cake. Guess what he reached for first as soon as he has blown the candles? Marshmallows !

My baby is 9 years old! And next year there will be two numbers to his age! Oh my, we are getting older too!   : o)

Chocolate Cupcakes
(adapted from "The Big Book of Cupcakes" by Betty Crocker)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup hot water
2/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
3/4 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar (I use 180gm)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. (I got exactly 8 regular muffin size and 12 mini cupcakes).
2. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder, set aside. In small bowl, mix hot water and cocoa until dissolved; set aside.
3. In large bowl, beat shortening with electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping bowl occasionally. Beat 2 minutes longer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture, about 1/3 of mixture at a time, and cocoa mixture, about 1/2 at a time, beating just until blended.
4. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans; place on cooling racks to cool. Frost with desired frosting.

(For regular size, bake for 20-25 minutes and for mini size, bake for 12 to 16 minutes)

Cream Cheese Frosting 

1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 to 3 teaspoons milk

4 cups powdered sugar (I use about 3 cups)

1. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla and 2 teaspoons of the milk with electric mixer on low speed until smooth, beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time.
2. Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting is too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar.
3. Leftover frosting can be tightly covered and refrigerated up top 5 days or frozen up to 1 month. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature to soften; stir before using. Frosts 24 cupcakes (about 2-1/2 cups).

Decorations :

Assorted candies (such as candy-coated chocolate pieces, round chewy caramels in milk chocolate, chewy fruit snacks, licorice twists, hard round peppermint candies, fruit-flavoured ring-shaped hard candles and gumdrops)

Pretzel sticks

Sample-size cones

To Assemble Train :

Make Cream Cheese Frosting, reserve 1/2 cup frosting for decorating. Frost cupcakes with remaining frosting leaving one regular size cupcake unfrosted. Place 5 regular cupcakes on serving platter. Cut unfrosted cupcake in half; place upside down at front of train as shown. Attach mini cupcakes to both sides of train with frosting and connect with pretzel sticks. Add additional cupcakes to front and back of train as shown. Decorate with candies, pretzel sticks and cone, as desired (attaching with frosting as needed). 

1st Blog Anniversary!

Kitchen Flavours is one year old! Still a baby at blogging! I just couldn't imagine that it has been a year of blogging. I started blogging with the encouragement from my sisters. At that time, I thought that it was silly of them to encourage me! (yes, dear sisters!), mainly because I do not know what blogging is all about, whenever someone mention about blogs, I am totally ignorant! Blogging is totally alien to me. My sisters explains that since I enjoy baking and cooking so much, I could blog about it and meet other bloggers to share recipes with. And I thought that who would go to the trouble of typing out the recipes when there are other million things to do like housework, which never seems to get done! My sisters managed to convinced me to 'give it a try, you can stop anytime you want to'! So I thought, OK, I'll give it a try. Now the first step is to choose a name, and it took me days to make up my mind! LOL! My sis helped me to register and set the whole blog thing out for me.

Then I have to publish my first post! Gosh, I do not know what to write about! Besides my family, who else are going to read my blog? And if anyone else should read it, it will be complete strangers! I am not good at writing, so my first post is a very brief introduction of my favourite tree! For the first few months, only a few read or commented on my post. The numbers grew and my followers grew very slowly. My very first follower and commenter, other than my sisters, was Angie from Angie's Recipes. Angie is very sweet and very supportive. She still is, thanks Angie!

As I cooked and baked for my family and friends, most posts are created along the way, and my confidence in blogging grew. I even started another blog on gardening! I can never imagine that a year later, I would have a follower of more than 70 and page views of more than 20,000. And all this is because of your support and encouragement. The 'strangers' that read my blogs has now become  foodie cyber friends across the globe. It has been an interesting year of sharing and learning. I have learnt so much from all of you, the interesting food and recipes that I have not seen or heard of. Food and desserts that I have heard of but not interested in trying out, now has been bugging at the back of my  mind until the day I try them out! Read about your family, tradition, celebrations, the ups and downs in our daily life, all this reflects how similar we all are even though we are at different corners of the globe. 

Thank you to all of you for the support and encouragement.  Here's to another year of great blogging. Wishing all of you a great and happy 2011, and another year of  sharing and learning from each other. Cheers!

Happy New Year!

Hi friends, 

*** HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 ***

Wishing all of you a great 2011, with good health, happiness, love, laughter and contentment! 

Enjoy your New Year ! Have fun!

Above picture, courtesy from hubpages.com

A Happy Yummy Christmas Celebration!

Hello, friends, thank you for your Christmas wishes!

As usual, we celebrated this year's Christmas at my sister's place with lots of munching, chewing, talking, laughing whilst savoring the delicious Christmas dinner. It is my niece's sixth birthday too, so each year, she gets double presents during Christmas, and she's thrilled to bits! Here's some photos taken.

Presents around the lovely Christmas Tree

Our Christmas Menu.... oh...oh, the 'r" is missing from "Starter"...my BIL is probably too hungry when he is writing this!  (Hey J, is your mind on the turkey while writing this? He! He! I would too! ^..^)

My sister's delicious roasted turkey and my youngest sis's pumpkin rice. They are delicious.

My youngest sis's roasted lamb. Yummy!

My sis's sister-in-law's fresh salad with sour cream and chives. Refreshing and delicious!

Baked potatoes with cheese and bacon! Yummy!

Mince Pies, from my eldest sis, the filling is full of flavour from the brandy and rum. Really good!

Fruits with Chocolate Fondue. Needless to say, this is a hit with everyone! Absolutely addictive!

The birthday girl, my cute little niece, Ashleigh, with her mommy. My sis baked a really delicious cheese butter cake for her little princess who requested for a "clown" cake. 

Her cake is really cute and beautifully done! Great job, sis!

Due to the excitement, (there are about 30 of us!) and hungry kids, the adults too, I have forgotten to snap some photos of the Chili and Nachos (made by me) and the Spaghetti with Mince Meat Tomato Sauce (made by my nephew, which is really delicious, the kids had seconds!). I have forgotten the Gingerbread Man (cookies) and his family too! We really had fun and already planning for our New Year's get together pot-luck dinner!!