Irish Cream Chocolate Cake

To date, I have tried out numerous chocolate cake recipes. Most of them are similar in one aspect - they usually turn out to be crumbly. This was something I had not expected when I made an Irish Cream Chocolate Cake just a few weeks back. 

Whenever I decide on any recipes to try out, I will take some time to read the brief write-up to learn more about the cake (if there is any), followed by scrutinizing the list of ingredients. What brought my attention to this particular pound cake is the use of Irish Cream, a generous amount of it compared to just a mere few tablespoons.

The author had described this particular cake to be dense yet velvety in texture. It does sounds contradicting that the cake can be dense yet velvety at the same time. However, I can attest to the fact that these two qualities are not mutually exclusive.  I could understand perfectly what she meant after having tasted the cake. There is hardly any crumbs falling when I took a bite into a slice of it, as opposed to the conventional chocolate cake which is ever-so-crumbly. Flavour-wise, there is a decent caramel hint of Irish Cream minus the alcoholic aftertaste that which some might not welcome.

Irish Cream Chocolate Cake (recipe adapted from 300 Best Chocolate Recipes by Julie Hasson) 

Taste and texture: Dense yet velvety, has a decent hint of Irish Cream. 

Serving size: 8-10 slices, makes one 9 x 5 inch cake

Equipment and materials:

• 9 x 5 inch loaf
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring spoon set
• Measuring jar
• Handheld mixer/ Stand beater
• Baking paper
• Flour sieve
• Rubber spatula

Ingredients:

• 185g cake flour
• 45g cocoa powder
• a pinch of salt
• 225g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 200g castor sugar
• 200g whole eggs, at room temperature
• 150ml Baileys Irish Cream

Making the cake:

Preparing loaf tin and oven - Line and grease a 9 x 5 loaf tin with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. 

Preparing dry ingredients - In a large mixing bowl, sift in cake flour, cocoa powder and salt. Use a wire whisk to disperse the dry ingredients evenly. 

Creaming the butter - Place softened butter and castor sugar in a mixing bowl. Cream the butter as mentioned in how to cream butter. 

Adding eggs to creamed butter - Add eggs to creamed butter in 4 additions, beating the mixture for 2 minutes on medium low speed after each addition is added. As eggs are added, the mixture tends to curdle. With continuous beating, the mixture becomes smooth and firms up. 

Alternating dry ingredients and Irish Cream - Add 1/3  of the dry ingredients to the egg-butter mixture. Beat on low speed until dry ingredients disappears and batter is smooth. Next, add in half of the Irish cream and continue to beat on low speed until Irish Cream is incorporated and batter is smooth. Repeat the alternating of dry ingredients and Irish Cream until all ingredients are used up and batter is smooth. Scrape down sides and bottom of mixing bowl with a spatula to blend in stray ingredients. The process should be as follows

1. Add first 1/3 addition of dry ingredients.
2. First 1/2 addition of Irish Cream.
3. Second 1/3 addition of dry ingredients.
4. Remaining 1/2 of Irish Cream.
5. Remaining 1/3 dry ingredients.

Baking the cake - Pour batter in lined loaf tin and bake at 180 degrees C for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10mins. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.   

Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

The American Carrot Cake is one cake that I hardly have any encounters with. One reason could be that it is not a staple cake in conventional bakeries and it is more commonly found in western style coffee chains like Starbucks or Coffee Bean. Once, I had a serving of it at a hotel buffet and I was immediately drawn to its spicy taste accompanied with cream cream frosting that is signature of carrot cakes. 

Flipping through and comparing my recipes, I decided that the carrot cake by Rachel Allen is the more authentic one, using a combination of mixed spice, nutmeg and cinnamon. My other recipes had cinnamon as the sole spice ingredient. 

While I was reading and following the instructions, one particular matter caught my attention. The method of mixing is in fact the conventional mix-dry-wet ingredients muffin method. Being cautious, I made sure not to over-mix the ingredients, ensuring that the mixing stops once the dry ingredients were moistened. Apart from the tedious process of grating the carrots, this is one very simple cake to make. To my amazement, the outcome was a fluffy, moist and pleasantly spiced cake with moist plump raisins and chunky walnuts, topped with a refreshing citrusy orange cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese frosting is one delightful icing on the cake, with vanilla added to accentuate the orange flavour. 

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe adapted from Bake from Rachel Allen)

Taste and Texture: Mild-spicy, moist, fluffy and chunky with moist plump raisins and crunchy walnuts.
Serving size: 8-10 slices, Makes a 9 x 5 inch loaf
Equipment and Materials:

• 9 x 5 inch loaf tin
• Baking paper
• Grater
• Mixing bowls
• Wire whisk
• Handheld beater/ stand beater

Ingredients:

• 110g whole eggs, lightly beaten and at room temperature
• 150ml vegetable oil
• 185g brown sugar
• 280g carrot, finely grated
• 90g raisins
• 90g walnuts, chopped
• 190g self-raising flour
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
• 1 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated (I omitted this)
• 1 tsp mixed spice

Making the carrot cake:

Prepare loaf tin and oven - Line a loaf tin with baking paper and preheat oven to 180 degrees C. 

Mixing dry ingredients - Sift flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice into a large mixing bowl. Use a wire whisk to whisk the mixture until it is evenly distributed. 

Preparing wet mixture - In a mixing bowl, add  in the eggs, oil, sugar, grated carrot, raisins and chopped walnuts and mix well with a large spoon. 

Adding dry ingredients to wet mixture - Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and very gently stir the mixture with a spoon until dry ingredients are moistened (the last bit of dry ingredients disappear). Batter will be very watery. 

Baking the cake - Pour prepared batter into prepared loaf tin and bake for 1 hour at 180degrees C, or until a cake tester/ wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Allow cake to cool in the loaf tin for 15 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Orange cream cheese frosting:

• 250g cream cheese, softened
• 50g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g icing sugar ( add more if desired)
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Making cream cheese frosting:

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter to combine. Beat in icing sugar until it is incorporated and mixture is smooth. Lastly, add in the vanilla extract and orange zest beat well to obtain a smooth frosting. Spread cream cheese frosting over the top of the carrot cake. 

Notes:

1. Add more icing sugar to stiffen the frosting or add some milk/orange juice to thin out the frosting according to desired consistency. 
2. You can omit the raisins and use chopped pecans instead for a nutty carrot cake.

Chocolate Lava Cake - Pudding or Cake?

The air seems rather quiet in the regional blogosphere lately. Most blogs which I frequent seem to be taking breaks. I have been taking short breaks myself, doing blog-hopping less frequently and not leaving comments as often. In the meanwhile, I am still baking and trying out recipes as usual and the inspiration for baking never cease to end. For the month of may, I seem to be going on a chocolate streak or rather a chocolate rampage to satisfy the chocoholic in me. 

Now that I have been baking for a while, I have clear vision on the direction I am heading for. The impression of fondant cakes has been stubbornly stuck in my mind recently and I cannot help but want to think of opportunities to get my hands working on them. With that in mind, I will be planning fondant cupcake projects fortnightly or once every month so as to gain some practice and experience. Since my mum's birthday is around the corner, it would be a great theme to kick start the cupcake project. I am excited just at the thought of it. Great man!

When it comes to desserts, I am not a big fan of desserts that are served warm. There are some exceptions though, one of them being the Chocolate Lava Cake or Chocolate Fondant Cake. Even though the name suggests that it is a cake, it is more like a rich chocolate pudding instead. To get the best experience out of your chocolate lava cake, do serve it warm and top it with a generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream. The coldness and the velvet texture of the ice-cream helps to contrasts the warm-rich-gooey pudding and adds colour to your gastronomic experience. 

With a hint of coffee aroma, this chocolate lava cake is a potent dessert, maybe even too rich for the palate when one asks for additional servings, which is most possibly attributed to the additional 4 egg yolks. Death by Chocolate Lava Cake would serve as a suitable name for this dessert. 

I am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #7 - Chocolate Delights May 2011, hosted by DG from Tested and Tasted. 

Chocolate Lava Cake (recipe adapted from Cooking for Beginners by John Burton Race and Angela Hartnett)

Taste and Texture: Rich and thick-gooey.

Serving size: 4-6

Equipment and Materials:

• Heatproof bowl
• Mixing bowls
• Ramekins or 3.5 inch round tart tins (1.5 inch deep)
• Saucepan
• Wire whisk

Ingredients:

• 185g dark chocolate buttons/callets/pistoles (I used 63%)
• 180g unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 200g whole eggs + 45g egg yolks
• 2 tbs instant coffee powder (I used Nescafe)
• 85g caster sugar
• 80g plain flour

Making the pudding:

Melting chocolate and butter - Place chocolate and butter chunks in a heatproof bowl. Sit the heatproof bowl over a saucepan filled with simmering water placed over low flame, without the base of the heatproof bowl touching the water. This is known as a double-boiler.  Allow the chocolate and butter to melt, stirring the mixture frequently. 

Adding egg yolks to melted chocolate mixture - When the chocolate and butter have fully melted and results in a smooth mixture, remove the heatproof bowl from the heat. Whisk in the egg yolks into the chocolate-butter mixture until well combined. Set aside to allow the mixture to cool.

Combining whole eggs and rest of ingredients - In a mixing bowl, combine whole eggs, coffee powder, sugar and flour to obtain a smooth mixture. 

Obtaining final batter - Fold the cooled chocolate-butter-yolk mixture into the whole egg mixture and mix well. 

Chilling the batter - Spoon batter equally into prepared ramekins (greased and floured) or tart tins and chill for at least 30 mins. 

Baking the chocolate lava cake - Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Bake batter for 8-10 mins. Serve warm in ramekins/ tart tins or allow the pudding to cool and set for a while before running a small knife round the perimeter and turning them out onto serving plates. Serve with vanilla ice-cream. 

Notes:

1. Flour the ramekins/tart tins well if you are intending to turn the puddings out. There is less chance of the pudding sticking to the tins/ramekins if they are greased and floured. 
2. Bake one pudding to test the timing. The middle should be molten and the sides are set. If overbaked, there will not lava gushing out when a spoon is dugged into the middle. 
3. Do not skip the part on chilling. It helps the pudding achieve its fudgey-gooey-ness. 

Chocolate Mud Cupcakes - Chocolate Fever

As I am writing this post, I am impatiently waiting for my Google Chrome browser to be allowed access to my blog. It turns out that I have to rely on my backup browser, Mozilla Firefox, to sign in to my blog. 

Sometimes, I wonder. Have we become slaves to technology? Access to the internet and the use of cell phones have officially become our next basic needs after water, food and air. Sadly, I am guilty of being enslaved to technology myself. When my internet lines are down, I feel helpless without access to my Windows Messenger, Hotmail and Blogger. Luckily, I am not much of an addict to Twitter and Facebook yet. Perhaps one reason would be that I am at present not an owner of a smart phone. I have to admit that I am slow in catching onto the technology train, for I am still using a Sony Ericsson non touch-screen flip phone. 

Now that my cell phone is sending me hints of retirement having served a two-year term, I am evaluating my needs and the functionality of various smart phone models available on the market. Apart from the search for a new phone, I am also toying with the idea of getting a new camera. 

My point and shoot digital camera (Sony DSC-T2) has been serving its purpose well when it comes to food photography. There is little need to adjust the manual settings and all I have to bear in mind is the minimizing of camera shake which will cause pictures to lose focus. What caught my attention initially is the touch screen capability which makes navigation throughout the interface a breeze. However, there seem to be a limit to the level of sharpness. Even with the aid of digital enhancement (I do simple edits in Photoshop), some pictures still look a little blurry.

As mentioned previously, I am in quite a chocolate mood these days since May is a month of Chocolate Delights, the theme for Aspiring Bakers May 2011. My idea of an ideal chocolate treat is one that is moist and fudgey/gooey. This Chocolate Mud Cupcake fits the description aptly, with its light moist gooey texture. When eaten warm, it is particularly comforting and even more so when accompanied with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

I am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #7 - Chocolate Delights May 2011, hosted by DG from Tested and Tasted.   

Chocolate Mud Cupcakes (recipe adapted from Tempt: Cupcakes to Excite by Betty Saw)

Taste and Texture: Tender, gooey with tiny bits of almonds.

Serving size: 10 medium sized cupcakes

Equipment and materials:

• Cupcake liners
• Medium size muffin tin
• Electric beater
• Spatula
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring scale
• Wire whisk

Ingredients:

• 30g cocoa powder
• 120ml boiling hot water
• 110g dark chocolate, melted and cooled (I used 63%)
• 110g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 165g brown sugar
• 100g ground almond
• 80g egg yolks
• 120g egg whites

Making the Cupcakes:

Preparing muffin tin - Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Preparing egg-yolk batter - In a large mixing bowl, combine the hot water and the cocoa powder. Stir well to remove the lumps and ensure cocoa is well dissolved. Next, add in melted chocolate, melted butter, brown sugar and ground almonds. Stir to obtain an evenly mixed mixture. 

Using an electric beater, beat in egg yolks on medium low speed, one at a time, ensuring each egg yolk is well combined before adding the next.

Beating egg whites - In a separate clean metal bowl, beat egg whites on low speed until it turns foamy. Gradually increase the speed to medium high when the volume increases. The egg whites should stiffen in the process and the volume will increase about 6 times. Continue to beat the egg whites until they form medium-firm peaks. This is when the beaters are lifted from the egg whites, snowy egg white peaks are formed and they are slightly wobbly when the bowl is shaken.

Folding egg whites into egg-yolk batter - Fold one third of beaten egg whites gently into egg-yolk batter to lighten. Incorporate the remaining egg whites and fold gently to obtain a smooth, watery-foamy batter. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl to ensure even mixing.

Baking the cupcakes -  Spoon batter into cupcake liners until they are nearly filled. The batter will not rise much. Bake cupcakes at 175 degrees C for about 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cupcakes will sink noticeably in the middle when cooled.

Notes:

• There is no gluten in this recipe. Hence, it might be one factor why the cupcakes tend to sink and shrink.

Homemade Subway Chocolate Chip Cookies

When Jean posted her chewy chocolate chip cookies, my instincts told me that these are the cookies that I have been searching high and low for. I have always looked forward to chocolate chip cookies that promise a signature subway chew, firm yet almost crisp-free. So far, the chewy cookies that I have tried are too tender for my liking, so much that they are more appropriately described as cakey.  

Most cookie recipes that are categorized as "chewy" usually consist of a large amount of brown sugar. While it imparts a nice caramel undertone to the cookies, it does not necessary result in cookies that are chewy to the bite. Grasping the baking time for these so-called chewy cookies can be tricky; a short baking time will result in overly tender cookies while over-baking the the cookies would mean that they will become crispy. 

What caught my attention were the ingredients called for, more specifically melted butter and bread flour. The use of bread flour seems to promise a firmer mouth-feel and there was something alluring about using melted butter, a method of making cookies that is somewhat foreign to me. Perhaps it is this unfamiliarity that draws my curiosity and attention to this particular recipe, hoping that it would churn out results the way I was expecting.

My expectations were put to the test. The first batch turned out tender in the middle with crisp edges, but they were noticeably firmer compared to cookies I have baked in the past. Great, I am one step closer to my aim.

Moving on, I checked the results on subsequent batches, extending the baking times. Baking the cookies longer would meant they would turn out crispier on the whole. Making use of the high humidity levels to my advantage, I allowed the cookies to rest in the open for some time for the sake of softening them. It worked, and it work brilliantly indeed!

The process of firming the cookies up adequately and softening them to offset the crisp churned out cookies that had a firm chew 70% similar to that of Subway cookies. Flavour-wise, they were extremely good since the whole lot was loaded with an abundance of chocolate chips and there was a nice caramel fragrance. What else more could I have possibly asked for?  

Since the type of fat used is said to determine the texture of cookies, I have always suspected that the type of fat used for subway cookies is something else other than butter, possibly shortening. Now that melted butter works well, I shall not be toying with the idea of experimenting with shortening, margarine or even a combination two fats. 

Some thoughts on cookies I would like to consolidate and share:

1. All cookies will firm up when the baking time is extended. However, it does not necessary means that all cookies will becomes crispy when baked for a longer time. 
2. Freshly baked cookies have the best crisp. After being subjected to humidity, they lose their crunch/crisp. Simply re-bake the cookies and allow them to cool. The crunch/crisp will return. 
3. To keep crunchy/crispy cookies well, store them in air-tight containers when they are completely cool.
4. Not all cookies are created equal. Their texture differ from chewy, sandy, crunchy/crispy, melt-in-the-mouth, crumbly, fudgy to cakey. 
5. The type of sugars used affect the taste and texture of cookies. Icing sugar are used more for melt-in-the mouth cookies. Plain sugar is said to impart crunch while brown sugar is imparts a chewy characteristic. 
6. The type of fat used affects the flavour and spread of cookies. Butter cookies spread the most, compared to cookies containing shortening or oil. Personally, I feel that butter imparts the best flavour. 
7. The amount of chilling time and presence of nuts and chunky ingredients also affect the spread of cookies. Chunky cookies loaded with nuts and chocolate chips do not spread as much as plain cookies. Well chilled cookie dough do not spread as much as cookies that are unchilled. Vary the chilling time to get thick or flat cookies as desired. 
8. When cookies melt into an oily pool after baking, it means there is insufficient flour. Usually, the weight of butter will not exceed the weight of flour. 

I am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers # 7 - Chocolate Delights (May 2011) hosted by DG from Tested and Tasted.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe from Good Eats by Alton Brown)

Texture and taste: Chewy and firm. Has a distinct caramel flavour and is loaded with chocolate chips

For the recipe, refer to :

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

My adaptation:

• sugar cut down to 30g
• brown sugar cut down to 230g
• increased vanilla to 2 1/2 tsp 
• Mixed melted butter while it was warm instead of letting it cool completely
• Bake 3 tbs sized cookies for 17 mins (or firm enough) at 190 degrees C and allowing them to cool and soften. 
• Makes about 20 jumbo sized cookies. 

Note:

• When overbaked, the cookies turn crisp crunchy. Quite a versatile recipe that yields either firm chewy cookies or firm crunchy cookies. 

Double the Chocolate Goodness

What is the best thing to do when you have a sweet tooth? The answer is - learn to bake. And that was what I did exactly. Now that I have been baking for some time, I can satisfy my sweet cravings whenever I feel like it, customized the way I want it to be.

Now that this month's Aspiring Bakers theme is chocolate, I have a list of chocolate bakes making their way to my to-do-list. I am so going to abuse my chocolate books for this period of time, one particularly worth mentioning being Chocolate Chocolate by Lisa Yockelson. The book promises a myriad of lip-smacking chocolate treats, and one treat that caught my eye was a Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe.

Previously when I made similar double-dosed chocolate cookies, they turned out supremely fudgy,gooey and slightly on the sweet side, very much like brownies in the form of cookies. In contrast, these Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Lisa Yockelson turned out to be firm and sandy (I usually like my cookies to be firmer). There were little pockets of 'molten lava' enveloped amidst the crumbs, thanks to the use of chocolate chunks (I used chocolate callets/pistoles) instead of the conventional chocolate chips. If chocolate chips were used, they would melt to a paste-like consistency instead. 

On the whole, most recipes from this chocolate compendium by Lisa Yockelson look very promising. However, there tend to be many similar recipes, for example, several recipes on flourless/ near flourless chocolate cakes with little explanation on how the texture and taste would vary. Readers from certain parts of the world might also be short-changed since different varieties of chocolate sweets (Snickers, Reese Buttercups, Heath etc) are often used, but some of them may not be easily available. 

Even though the recipes I have tried all work out really well, I must say she has a tendency to produce extremely sweet chocolate frostings, some of which require 4-7 cups ( 1cup icing sugar is 100g) of icing sugar. These are the recipes I am never going to try out. 

I am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #7 - Chocolate Delight (May 2011) hosted by DG from Tested and Tasted

Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies (recipe adapted from Chocolate Chocolate by Lisa Yockelson)

Serving size: 40 cookies

Taste and texture: Crunchy, sandy, bittersweet chocolatey with pockets of molten chocolate. 

Equipment and Materials:

• Stand beater/ handheld mixer or wooden spoon
• Flour sieve
• Measuring spoon set
• Spatula
• Mixing bowls
• Wire rack
• Baking trays/ cookie sheets
• Baking/ parchment paper

Ingredients:

• 220g plain flour
• 1 tbs cocoa powder
• a pinch of salt
• 165g unsalted butter, softened
• 135g castor sugar
• 60g brown sugar
• 50g egg, beaten and mixed with 2 tsp vanilla or 1 tbs Baileys
• 60g unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
• 230g coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate, or bittersweet chocolate in pistole/callet form (around 60%)

Making the cookies:

Mixing dry ingredients - Sift the plain flour, cocoa powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Whisk with a balloon/wire whisk to ensure even distribution. 

Cream butter - Cream butter on medium low speed until fluffy. Add in castor sugar and continue to beat for 2 minutes. Add in the brown sugar and beat for 1 minute. The creamed butter should be sandy and fluffy. 

Making the cookie dough - With the mixer on medium low speed, add the beaten egg mixture in two additions, ensuring each addition is incorporated before adding the next. Add in melted unsweetened chocolate and beat until combined, scraping sides and bottom of bowl of ensure even mixing. 

Next, add in the flour and mix on low speed until the flour just disappears. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chunks   and ensure that they are evenly distributed. Chill prepared dough for 30 minutes. 

Baking the cookies - Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Scoop levelled tablespoons of dough onto baking trays lined with baking paper, spacing each dough apart to allow space for spreading. Bake cookie dough for 16-20 minutes at 180 degrees. Cookies will be slightly firm to the touch when done and will firm up further upon cooling. Allow cookies to firm up for a bout a minute or two on their baking trays before transferring them to cool on wire rack. Ensure cookies cool completely on wire rack before storing in air tight containers. 

Notes:

• Do a test batch (3 or 4 cookie dough) to determine your ideal baking time and texture. It might not be the same as mine since every oven is different. My cookies usually take 20 minutes to bake. Do note that a longer baking time would result in a firmer cookie and a shorter baking time produces softer cookies. 
• The 30 minute chilling time prevents the cookies from overspreading. To get nice thick cookies that do not spread much, freeze the dough for 5 minutes after they are shaped. 
• Unsweetened chocolate is not the same as cocoa powder. 
• You might want to add more bittersweet chocolate. I will be doing that for my next round. 
• To re-crisp the cookies, return the cookies to the oven and bake at 180 degrees for about 7 minutes. Allow to cool completely. The crunch will return. 

Rising temperatures and a Cheddar Cheese Loaf

General election is officially over. The election heat might be slowly subsiding but the heat from the warm weather these days is getting unbearable. Very often, I have to rely on my fix of iced drinks and my air-conditioner to keep myself cool. I don't usually turn on my air-conditioner when I sleep but I am quite dependable on it now to get a cool, comfortable night of sleep. 

Even though I am a cake lover, I have not made much butter cakes to date. I was looking forward to make a simple butter cake and this particular cheddar cheese loaf struck my mind. It struck my mind that I had the same book too and it would be a good opportunity to give the recipe a try. 

Instead of using ready shredded cheddar, I diced a few slices of Cowhead processed cheddar cheese since I had it on hand. I am not sure if it would make any difference using ready shredded cheddar cheese. From my observations, the diced processed cheddar cheese was chewy and did not really melt when the butter cake was baked. The addition added a nice savoury touch and I think it would be good to increase the amount of cheddar used in future. 

Texture wise, the cake is midway between fluffy and dense. The crumbs are moderately fine and the amount of moisture was at the right level, making the cake neither moist nor dry. As I have mentioned before, it is imperative to use a good brand of butter since it is the key ingredient here and it would determine the characteristic of the cake. Some brands I would recommend are Golden Churn tinned butter, Elle & Vire unsalted butter (very strong, rich dairy taste in bakes) and SCS unsalted butter. Sometimes, I even find Elle & Vire butter to be too rich for my taste buds.  

Fearing that the amount of batter was too much for my tin to handle, I scooped part of it into cupcake liners to prevent the loaf tin from overflowing. Previously, I was plagued with shrinking cupcakes. What happened then was that the top deflated and sunk while the cupcakes pulled quite noticeable away from the sides. This time round, the top shrank a little, retaining the dome and the sides did not pull away from the cupcake liners. Comparing the two scenarios and base on experience, I observed that :

• Cupcakes tend to shrink noticeably upon cooling. I noticed that most cakes tend to shrink when cooled. 
• Cupcakes tend to shrink more (deflate and pull away from the sides) when they are slightly under-baked.
• The shrinking starts shortly after the oven door is opened and the cupcakes are checked for doneness. 

Cheddar Cheese Loaf (recipe adapted from Creative Making of Cakes by Alex Goh)
Serving size: 9 x 5 inch loaf + 6 medium sized cupcakes
Taste and texture: Buttery and savoury. Neither moist nor dry and midway between fluffy and dense.
Equipment and Materials:

• 9 x 5 inch loaf tin
• Balloon/wire whisk
• Spatula
• Handheld/ Stand mixer
• Baking paper
• Wire rack
• Wooden skewer/ cake tester
• Flour sieve
• Measuring spoon set
• Mixing bowls

Ingredients:

• 240g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 230g castor sugar
• 200g eggs, lightly beaten at room temperature
• 150g shredded cheddar or 8 slices of processed cheddar cheese
• 120 ml milk, at room temperature
• 270g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Making the cake:

Preheat Oven and preparing baking tin - Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 9 x 5 loaf tin with baking paper. 

Mixing dry ingredients - In a large bowl, sift in flour and baking powder. Whisk the mixture to ensure even distribution. 

Creaming the butter - In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy (as mentioned in how to cream butter).

Adding eggs to creamed butter - Add beaten eggs to creamed butter in 4 additions and mix on low speed, ensuring each addition is well incorporated before adding the next addition. The batter will become wet as more eggs is added but will slowly firm up when the last portion of eggs are mixed in. 

Adding flour mixture and milk - Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the egg-butter mixture. Mix on low speed until the last bit of flour is absorbed. Next, add in half the milk and continue mixing until the milk is incorporated. Repeat the mixing process by adding the next 1/3 flour mixture, followed by the remaining half of the milk, lastly followed by the remaining 1/3 of the flour mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula to incorporate loose ingredients. 

Adding shredded cheddar - Fold in the shredded/diced cheddar gently into the batter with a spatula, ensuring it is evenly distributed. 

Baking the cake - Pour batter into lined 9 x 5 loaf tin and 6 medium sized cupcake liners. Bake at loaf tin for 45-60 mins and cupcakes for 20-25mins at 180 degrees C. Remove cake from loaf tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Notes:

1. I baked the loaf cake first before baking the cupcakes. 
2. The butter egg mixture may curdle if the butter is not well-creamed, eggs are cold or eggs are added too fast to creamed butter.

Notice:

If you wish to post the recipe and instructions online, please give due credit (including original contributor) and do re-phrase the instructions. Thank you.