Baked Lunchbox

Rainbow Cupcakes: I can finally taste the rainbow!

I’ve always wanted to experiment with colors on cupcakes and now that I found the time to do it, I dove into the whole idea! First of all, I know I have to use a lot of bowls and spatulas for this one, I didn’t realize it really was A LOT. Nevertheless, making rainbow cupcakes was the most relax I’ve had in the midst of school work piling and piling over.

So, the first rule, prepare all the ingredients and bowls needed. In this case:

5 bowls

5 spatulas

5 spoons (to go hand-in-hand with the spatula)

small bowl for dry ingredients

small bowl for wet ingredients

Ingredients

Prepare all the ingredients according to recipe instructions, but I didn’t use a recipe anymore. I already have the recipe in my head! A must for baking/cooking! Memorize the ingredients by heart ❤

Don’t mind the messiness, it naturally comes with baking, and the fact that I used a lot of colors.

Pour each color carefully into the cupcake liners. I strategically followed ROYGBIV… but with 5 colors only.. xD and added chocolate chips in between colors!

For some gravitational reason, the batter swirled itself while I was adding them one by one.. Not complaining or anything, I like how it turned out!

After 5 hours of carefully preparing the batter, not to flatten out the air bubbles, I’ve created an army of Rainbow Cupcakes ready to spread happy rainbows all over!

I know the outer kinda turned a bit brown, it’s really like that. So when you slice the cupcake in two, SURPRISE!

Last rainbow picture before this post ends! :D

I bet you all are like this now:

(Source: bakedlunchbox)

Just whip those cupcakes with Skippy and Nutella straight out of the jar!

And so I went shopping for baking stuff! It was like I wanted to grab everything and just go straight to the cashier without even looking at the prices since everything was way cheaper! Yeah, this was also when I bought a cookie cutter set to add to my mini collection. I got addicted to buying a lot of tools for baking (i.e., pans in different sizes, spatulas, cupcake/muffin paper liners, etc) Especially the cupcake/muffin paper liners!! This is just one of the many I bought! How oh so cute! I also got the one with the reindeer, gingerbread man, candy canes…!! A LOT, I tell you!

So I decided to bake chocolate cupcakes with it! Bad idea, I warn you! Hahaha! The graphics and color drowned from the darkness of the chocolate! xD Yeah, decorated cupcake liners are meant for light-colored cakes only…

But everything went well in terms of the taste and texture. It was a very very soft cake with rich bitterrsweet chocolate taste, so I just whipped it with Peanut Butter and Nutella straight out of the jar! Didn’t have time to mix it frosting style… Too mouth-watering!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)

(Source: bakedlunchbox)

Chocolate Pull-Apart Bread + LOTR + Mumford & Sons

I was baking 2 things last Saturday, Chocolate Pull-Apart Bread and Ginger cookies (will post later) and it took me until 2AM to wrap up everything! Whew! Good thing The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy Soundtrack kept me company! :) I finished all 3 soundtracks + Mumford And Sons album… imagine THAT’S how long it took me to bake this bread! xD

Mumford & Sons

Anyway, so here’s what happened:

Prepare all ingredients all the time before starting. This helps save time and energy, and it’s just really easy to bake with everything in front of you.

Melt the butter together with the milk on a sauce pan. Bring until just simmer.

Then using a swirl attachment of the mixer, mix the melted butter + milk to the flour and other dry ingredients.

Transfer all the batter into a well-greased bowl. Cover it with a clean humid cloth/towel and let it sit for about an hour until it doubles in size. This is where all the waiting begins!

I waited, but instead I made cookies! Haha! ;)

Prepare your work table and flour it. Flour it all over! I mean it! Or else the kneading will not go smoothly.  So after an hour, knead your dough which supposed to be doubled in size. Knead it properly. If it sticks to your hand, flour it. 

Just keep on kneading even if the dough is very sticky. It’s okay that it’s sticky. Knead. Knead. Knead. Flour your hands several times if needed. 

Until your dough comes together. It’s soft to the touch, not sticky, doesn’t easily fall apart and whole. See my work table, it’s all floured up! ;)

Put this ball of dough back to the greased bowl and cover it with the clean humid cloth/towel and let it sit for about 10 minutes before the next step.

Roll it out to more like a rectangular shape than a square, and sprinkle brown sugar/cinnamon/anything you want to add to the bread.

I also added bits of chopped dark chocolate and white chocolate! Omnomnom!

Slice it up and stack to pre-buttered loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mix on top.

Let it sit again! This time, the pan should be standing vertically and also covered with a clean humid towel/cloth. Let it sit for about 45 minutes. 

See how flat the slices are, they’re just the same level with the pan… then POOF! Take a look inside the oven!

I just enjoy watching the bread as it rises up and it looks so cool every time it doubles in size. Just look at that! Before, it was just sticky icky dough, and now it turned to pastry bread! Amazing, isn’t it! :)

All the waiting and effort put to this bread, it was worth it! Because I like how it turned out; soft to the bite and not too sweet. With the right soundtrack to motivate me and keep me company, I can do anything! So you can too! :)

Not-So-Old-Fashioned Chocolate Chunk Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks

Instead of chocolate chips, I swapped it with chocolate chunk! The chunkier the better! ;P

At first, I was like “baking cookies is so easy-peasy!”  But no it wasn’t! Haha! I had to put some cookies back into the oven because they were under-baked. Others were a bit over-baked resulting to a crunchy bite. I just want chewy cookies! And for the last 2 batches, I made it! Woohoo! :D

Chocolate CHUNK Cookie dough with White Chocolate Chunks

Make cookie balls in the size of a, hmmm.. it’s hard to describe it, maybe as big as a regular-sized lollipop? Haha! Line them on a cookie sheet. My cookie sheet could fit 1 dozen cookies, so 1 batch = 1 dozen :)

Bake for 8-10 minutes, Cool on cooling rack for a while. Ready to eat! Dip it in a glass of milk for 10 seconds til it absorbs the liquid then eat it, soo yummy!

Perfect for a cloudy/windy day! Or a to-go snack when you’re running late for school ;)

(Source: bakedlunchbox)

Mini Oreo Cheesecake Cups: tummy got so full with just one bite! [RECIPE INCLUDED]

Cheesecakes are being such an “it” thing in bakeshops and coffeeshops, and I just need to know how to make it. I’ve already done non-baked cheesecakes before but this time, it requires baking.

It turned out to have a velvet texture and richness to it.

First, prepare the crust: grind some oreos and mix a little bit of butter or cream cheese to harden it up a bit.

Another option for the crust would be placing an Oreo cookie at the bottom of each cup. This is an easier and faster method. Either one will taste equally delicious anyway ;)

Pour in cheesecake batter, sprinkle the Oreo crumbs on top and pop it in the oven for 22 minutes.

Bring it out and chill for at least 1 hour. Ready to serve!

It’s okay if center looks under-baked because it will come together when chilled.

If you eat this fresh out of the oven, it wouldn’t taste as good as it is chilled. Actually, I find it yucky to eat hot cheesecakes! xD

Well, this New York-style cheesecake was okay. I still like the non-baked better. I have bias preference when it comes towards cheesecakes! Haha! xD

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OREO CHEESECAKE:

6 whole Oreos

6 Oreos, chopped

1/2 pack cream cheese

1/4 Cup sugar

1 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 Cup sour cream

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1) Using an electric mixer, medium speed, cream the cream cheese until smooth.

2) Gradually add sugar until light & fluffy. Add vanilla. 

3) Low speed, drizzle in egg.

4) Add sour cream.

5) Stir in half of chopped Oreos.

6) Pour into prepared cups, fill top. Sprinkle chopped Oreos on top.

7) Bake 22 minutes under 275ºF. Rotate pan halfway.

8) Bring out before center looks done. It will be wobbly and shiny but it will still cook while the pan is still hot. 

9) Cool in room temperature for 30 minutes. Place in fridge, chill at least 4 hours to overnight. Do not remove from pan.

10) Serve with caramel syrup or fresh fruit!

ENJOY!