Cream Cheese Brownies

Two days ago, our Prime Minister has announced to further lock down to another 2 more weeks till 28th April! I know there are a lot home cooks out there dreaded to hear this news as cooking for 3 meals a day for their family has been a tiring chores.  And I believe these words are getting common for them ..."what to cook?" Or "what to eat". 😂.

Today post is this yummiest Cream Cheese Brownies. This is my 

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES
Recipe sourced from Bake For Happy Kids
Makes one 20 cm / 8 inches square

For the cream cheese swirl:
250g cream cheese, softened at room temperature
50g caster sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

For the brownies:
250g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), coarsely chopped
100g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
35g cornflour
25g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS 

For the cream cheese swirl:
Spoon mix the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until combined. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until mixture is smooth. Set aside.

For the brownies:
Preheat oven to 180°C.  Line baking pan with 2 overlapping layers of baking paper, leaving an inch overhang on all sides.

Whisk combined cornflour, cocoa powder and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.

Place the coarsely chopped chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionaly until the chocolate butter are melted and smooth . (You may do this in your microwave if you have one).

Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla. Then, mix in the eggs, one at a time. Sift in cornflour, cocoa powder into the mixture and use a spoon to mix until just combined and batter is smooth. (Do not over-mix.)

Pour chocolate batter into your pan. Dollop half the cream cheese mixture over batter, using your butter knife or small spatula to create swirls in the batter. Then, dollop the remaining cream cheese mixture over batter to create more swirls in the batter.

Bake the brownies for 30 minutes until the top is just set (do not over baked it). It is alright if the center still looks jiggly. 

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cook for 15 to 20 minutes.  Lift the overhang parchment paper, to cool further on the wire rack before cutting the brownies.

NOTE

Do not cut down the 200g sugar, as we are using a dark chocolate with 70% cocoa , the brownies turn out just the right sweetness .

Any left over, store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. 

I love chocolates, and this brownies absolutely so yumm. My kind of desserts... hahaha

Wish I can share a piece with you  😘

Coconut Buns

As we are in the lockdown because of Covid-19,  we have to stay home stay safe from 18th March till April 14th.

So no where to go and stucked at home, other than eat, watched TV, browse online, I spend my time cooking and baking away. Before the lockdown, I have stocked up different types of flour knowing that I will have to bake bread for my breakfast.  Im sharing here one of my favourite buns that is, coconut buns.

COCONUT BUNS

INGREDIENTS

Fillings
180gm-200gm fresh grated coconuts
60gm dark brown sugar (黑糖) or palm sugar
1 tbsp water
(Note: Save some fresh grated coconut for later use to sprinkle on the buns before putting into the oven to bake)

Cook the brown sugar and water till dissolved. Add in the grated coconut and stir constantly to cook till it almost dry up. 
Set aside.

Dough *
260gm bread flour
3g instant yeast
160gm Egg + Fresh Milk (use XL egg )
30gm sugar
2gm salt
30gm butter

Method
Place all the ingredients into your mixer (except Butter) and using your hook, knead till to a silky and elastic dough.
Add in the butter and knead till window pane stage (a must!)

Let the dough proof till double in size (about an hour) .

Punch out the air and divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll round and let rest for 10 minutes before shaping.

Grease the baking tin / pan and preheat the oven to 180C.

Flatten the dough and fill it with coconut filling (20-25g). Place all the buns on a greased baking sheet, and let rise for 30mins.

Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle some grated coconut on it. Then bake in the oven for 30mins or until golden brown.

* This dough recipe is the famous killer toast from Victoria Bakes with slight adjustment to it. 


**  You can send the buns straight to oven to bake after the 30mins (2nd proof) ....  I didnt do egg wash the buns and sprinkle grated coconut on top and it look great after baked!