Muffin Muffin

It's longgggg holiday and I get stuck at home. I am amazeded how the weather changes swiftly from winter to spring. I want to go city-walk but better do that late afternoon. So my plan is to make something nice and quick out of loganberries I bought last nite from street vendor, 5 yuan for a small basket.

Muffin can be nicely paired up with a good cup of coffee. I wish I have an expresso machine to make a nice cup of my own. May be I stop by coffee house later.

Mmm... I have colorful muffin cup but decided to use perchment paper. It looks retro yet give the sense of homemade muffin.

Here is the recipe from Elise's website.

Mix these dry ingredients together

2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk these wet ingredients together

2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream ( I use yoghurt)
1 teaspoon milk
2/3 cup sugar
8 Tbsp warm melted butter (1 stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla


Set aside 11 oz of fresh blackberries

Once you put the dries with the wets, do not overwork or the batter forms gluten and you'll end up with rubbery/dense muffin. The batter should not be smooth though. Lightly flour berries and mix in the batter gently. Fill in 3/4 of muffin pan. On the middle rack, I bake at 180 for 30 min or until wooden tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. I dont' think next time I need to grease the perchment paper as the batter is lubricated by a fair amout of butter.

Verdict: Moist, fluffy and butter-rich. This is a no fuzz recipe and a keeper.

Got to go for a hot cup of latte. bye!

Mochi (modified)

This is a modified Japanese Mochi. The ingredients is nowhere near the original. I guess small bite-size that resembles mochi that make people call it this way.

You can consider this as a healthy snack, I do. I love to have a few bites and drain down with a cup of tea. If you want to make this, get prepare well ahead of time to soak the beans overnight though.

Here is recipe.

Mix together these dry ingredients
All purpose flour 250 g
Baking powder 3 g
Baking soda 2 g

Mix together these wet ingredients
Egg yolks 1
Melted butter 40 g
Water 100 g
Sweetened condensed milk 125 g





Mix the wets to the dries to form dough. It should be soft but not gooey. The texture should be similar to that of clay. Add little flour if needed. Rest for 15 minuntes.

Black-bean filling
Black beans 250 g (soaked over night)
Sugar 150 g
Melted butter 40 g
Baking soda ½ tsp
Vegetable oil 2 tbsp
A pinch of salt

Bring black beans and baking soda to a boil for 20 minutes. We will put these in the mixer and dry it out again in the pan. So you have to drain out excess water. I cannot tell exactly how much liquid each machine needs in order to mix it finely. Different makes handles dryness differently though. I drained out too much water and that my cheap mixer got stuck so I poured little water back in.

In the mixer/blender , add sugar, butter and oil. Mix until form fine paste. Return ingredient to the pan under low heat. Dry it out a bit. You can test it by scoop out a portion and spat down back to the pan. If it disappears of blend with the rest of the paste….dry it out a bit more. Remember don’t over dry coz when it’s completely cooled down, it forms harder, more manageable texture. Oh you know what, you can taste the paste if it’s just as sweet as you like. I stick with the recipe as I don’t like it too sweet. Once finished, let it cool down.

Now the fun part begins. Cut the dough in to a golf ball size. Use the thumbs and yr finger tips to spread it out in circular motion. Ensure the trim is thinner than center coz you will finally put the trim together to form the ball. Add fillings, ah-ah, not too much, I know you love fillings, everybody does !. But believe me you don’t want to end up in a mess where black bean paste splats around your hands. Try your best to wrap it up. You may use water to ensure the dough is firmly sealed.

Bake 170 C for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.