Strawberry Pancakes

 

Last week, the boyfriend insisted on having pancakes at McDonalds for breakfast. Having eaten pancakes less than 5 times in my entire life so far (I kid you not) and also not that big a fan, I wasn't too pleased about waking up early just to have pancakes. I am SO not a morning person! ;) Anyhoo, thereafter I went hunting for a simple but awesome-tasting pancake recipe. Why pay, when you can make some yourself in the comfort of your home? Furthermore, I'm willing to wager two dollops of ice-cream on a bet that you already have the following ingredients for a pancake rendezvous at home without knowing! 

Ingredients (make sure all are at room temperature!)

1 cup plain/all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons of fine sugar 

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup of strawberry milk 

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Directions

• In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and sugar using a whisk. 
• Make a well in the center before adding the egg, vanilla extract, milk and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Mix until well combined. 
• Oil a non-stick pan or griddle lightly with the last tablespoon of vegetable oil and turn up the heat. 
• Scoop approximately 1/3 cup of batter and pour onto the pan. Once you see air bubbles rising to the surface, gently flip them over and they're ready to be served when both sides are brown. 

Notes

• I used Meiji Strawberry Milk. 
• The recipe makes approximately 6 servings. 
• Entire preparation & cook time takes less than 20 minutes.

I made these yummies a few days ago for the boyfriend. Initially, I planned on baking him a surprise cake but what the heck, I decided that he had eaten too much of my cake so I might as well try something new such as strawberry pancakes since he loves strawberries too. These are light and fluffy (& probably even more so had I used buttermilk instead; I'll try that out soon!) and the strawberry taste is pretty subtle. I'm not a fan of strawberries so these are perfect for me. 

I served them with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream and strawberry syrup; the boyfriend was a happy camper. :) Same goes to Lissy, who turned up later at my place for pancakes and took the above photo. 

Happy cooking! :) 

Classic Cheesecake

Hello hello! :) My bad for the lack of updates; April was absolutely hectic and so stressful that I pretty much don't have time for anything. It was assignments and projects and finals back to back. I had a nervous meltdown but it's getting better now. =) I am now unofficially graduated from university and also unemployed at the same time lol. Besides combing for jobs online and offline, I have had more time to spend with the boyfriend and his family and indulge in some baking. But you don't want to hear me rattle on and on; I'm here to share with you a Classic Cheesecake recipe that I found on kraftrecipes[dot]com but I've make some minor changes to mine. My two young cousins and my grandmother gave me the thumbs-up for the cheesecake yayyyy. But, as of now, I've yet to let the boyfriend try it so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping he really likes it because I baked it specially for his birthday. =]

(I had these 2 sticks because, you know, I had to try it first before giving the rest to him. ;) #excuses)

Hmmmm.. this reminds me of cheesecake sticks that were sold at an exorbitant price at Parco Bugis Junction eons ago. Those massive gorgeous slices of cheesecakes that you see at Starbucks, dessert buffets etc look intimidating at first glance but the baking process is really easy once you get the hang of it and of course, an understanding of your oven. For example, you switch it to 180 degree celcius but the temperature is actually 170. Or 190. Best to buy an oven thermometer if you have the extra cash. I don't, so I eyeball. Eyeballing isn't ideal for temperatures but I've more or less worked out my cranky oven and my baking adventures passed.

Mostly.

Before we start, just a reminder that all ingredients have to be at room temperature, especially for desserts such as cheesecakes and macarons. My preferred method is to cut the required amount of cream cheese and butter into cubes first and let it sit on the counter for 10 to 15 minutes.

Ingredients 
Digestive biscuits (or Graham crackers)
4 tablespoons of butter
500 grams of cream cheese
170 grams of fine sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3 eggs
200 ml of sour cream

Directions

• Preheat oven to 170 degree celsius. 
•  Melt butter in a double boiler or microwave oven. Once melted, set aside for it to cool. 
• Place digestive biscuits in a ziploc bag and crush it finely. Make sure you have 1 1/2 cups worth of crumbs.
• Mix the cooled melted butter and crushed biscuits together in a bowl before pressing onto the bottom of a springform or baking pan. Put pan in the freezer once you're done for 15 minutes. 

With your hand or electric mixer on low speed,

• Beat softened cream cheese for a minute before adding the sugar (slowly) followed by vanilla extract.
• Add in the 3 eggs one at a time. Stop beating once they are all incorporated into the batter because overbeating will result in more air bubbles, causing your cheesecake to crack in the oven. 
• Remove pan from freezer and pour batter over the crust. Use a spatula to spread the batter as evenly as possible and bake for an hour. 

To check for doneness, give the pan a gentle shake. The center should have a little jiggle and the edges lightly browned. Don't worry if the center jiggles because the cheesecake is still continuing to be baked in the pan even though you have switched off the oven. Let cheesecake rest in the oven with the door ajar for half an hour, before transferring it onto the counter to cool. Once it's cooled, put into the refrigerator for at least 4 hours (best overnight) before serving.

Notes

• I use Australian cream cheese bought from Phoon Huat. They cost $3.90 for 250grams, and $6.90 for 500 grams. 
• I use Bulla Premium Sour Cream, bought from Cold Storage. 
• I use Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract. I wouldn't say to avoid vanilla essence completely, but when you use extract, the flavoring is so much stronger! 
• To avoid that nasty crack in your cheesecake, in addition to not over-beating it, you can place your pan in a larger pan and fill the larger pan with boiling water until halfway through, before you place the entire set-up into the oven. This is called a water bath. I've read from food blogs that it more or less guarantees you a crackless (ha) cheesecake but of course, that is also subject to you using room temperature ingredients and not over-beating it man. We really do not want our typical Singaporean trait - kiasu, to come into place when we are making cheesecakes. :) 
• If you are not using a springform pan but the usual baking pan, let your knife stand in a small pot of hot water for about 10 seconds before running it around the edges. This helps to release cheesecake neatly. 
• In between cutting, do the same above to get that really clean and neat look for each slice.

Remember to store it in the refrigerator at all times and consume within three days! :)