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This is a healthier version of One-bowl brownies. I came up with this when I was trying to use up the last super-ripe banana languishing on the counter. Believe it or not, the single banana enabled the amount of sugar in the original recipe to be cut by half!
makes 24 small squares
- 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (e.g. canola)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2/3 cup sifted cocoa powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 mashed banana
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 tbs dark rum (optional)
- 9 X 13 inch baking pan or equivalent, greased
- Preheat oven to 180 °C or 350 °F.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, adding the baking powder last.
- Stir until just moisten.
- Pour into the baking pan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a satay stick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
This brownie will taste cake-like when freshly baked but becomes denser and more brownie-like on the second day!
Acknowledgment: This is a recipe adapted from Penzeys Spices Thanksgiving 2010 newsletter – “One-Bowl Brownies”.
I made these because I could not find any of these in the 3 supermarkets I visited in Mountain View. Compared to the ones I found in Singapore’s Cold Storage, these are way better so I think I would be making them from scratch from now on!
makes 24 large fingers
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup and 3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 9 X 13 inch baking sheet or equivalent, lined with baking paper
- Preheat oven to 205 °C (400 °F).
- Beat the egg whites in a electric mixer with 1 tbsp of sugar and till stiff and shiny.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, remaining sugar till pale and thick. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
- Sift together the flour and baking powder.
- Fold in half the egg white foam into the egg yolks, follow by the flour mixture, then the remaining egg white foam.
- Pipe onto the baking sheet with a pastry bag(or plastic bag) fitted with a 1/2 inch round tube.
- Bake for 7 to 9 mins, till a toothpick inserted into the middle of a ladyfinger comes out clean.
For tiramisu, the ladyfingers can be shaped to fit the containers you are using or just spread the whole mixture onto the sheet and cut into the desired shape later.
These tiramisu are made in individual ramekins because I do not trust my cutting and serving skills. If you wish to show off the beautiful layers, make the tiramisu in one 28 oz rectangular container and serve onto plates carefully!
makes 4 7 oz portions
- 2 eggs, separated
- 4 oz mascarpone cheese
- ½ cup whipped cream
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup strong black coffee, cooled
- 3 tbsp dark rum/brandy
- about 12 large ladyfingers
- 2 teaspoon cocoa powder/shaved chocolate
- Add 1 tbsp of rum/brandy to the cooled coffee.
- In an electric mixer, beat the egg whites on high till soft peaks are formed but not dry.
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a separate bowl till pale and creamy. Whisk in the mascarpone and 2 tbsp of rum/brandy.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold the whipped cream into the egg yolk mixture, then carefully fold the egg white foam into the cream mixture. Try not to lose too much volume.
- Dip each ladyfinger into the coffee mixture for around 3 seconds. Allow the excess coffee to drain off before lining the containers. Do not soak the lady fingers in the coffee or the lady fingers would disintegrate when you try to life them out.
- Using half of the cream mixture available, top each container with the cream mixture.
- Repeat with the ladyfingers layer, then with the cream mixture. There should be a total of 4 layers. Sprinkle with cocoa powder or shaved chocolate.
- Chill for at least 2 hours before serving but the tiramisu is at its best after at least 12 hours in the refrigerator, making this the perfect make ahead recipe for dinner parties.
Take care to drain each ladyfinger carefully before lining the containers to avoid unsightly liquid pooling in the containers.
The ladyfingers and whipped cream can be homemade easily for even better results.
These are called one-bowl brownies probably because all the ingredients are mixed in one bowl. No “mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients”
makes 24 small squares
- 1 cup melted unsalted butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2/3 cup sifted cocoa powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 9 X 13 inch baking pan or equivalent, greased
- Preheat oven to 180 °C.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, adding the baking powder last.
- Stir until just moisten.
- Pour into the baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a satay stick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Acknowledgment: This is a recipe adapted from Penzeys Spices Thanksgiving 2010 newsletter – “One-Bowl Brownies”.
In the spirit of halloween…pumpkin muffins! This was inspired by Steffiana’s wonderful pumpkin muffins in the Food Science and Tech Society halloween party!
16 small muffins
- 110 mL vegetable oil
- 110 ml milk
- 200 g pumpkin flesh, cut into 2 cm cubes
- 2 tbsp olive oil for pumpkin
- 2 small eggs, lightly beaten
- 200 g all purpose flour
- 100 g castor sugar
- 100 g brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon or apple pie spices
- pinch of salt
- muffin/cupcake paper and muffin tray
- around 16 muffin paper
- Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 180 °C.
- Coat the pumpkin cubes in olive oil and bake for 20 mins or till slightly brown. Leave the oven on for the muffins.
- Meanwhile, mix the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- Beat the eggs with the milk and vegetable oil.
- Mash the pumpkin and when it is sufficiently cool to the touch, mix well with the wet ingredients.
- Using a rubber spatula, slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Do not overmix or the batter will become lumpy.
- Fill each muffin paper to 2/3 of its capacity.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
If the brown sugar is granulated instead of fine-grain, use a metal spoon to ensure that there are no lumps in the batter before filling into the muffin papers
If pressed for time, the pumpkin can be blended raw instead of baked and mashed. However, the pumpkin flavour would be milder.
This flourless dessert is similar to our Chocolate Pudding, but firmer and creamier. The taste and texture improves drastically if left in the refrigerator for more than 24 hours.
8 servings
- 20-24 lady fingers, halved crosswise
- 2 cups whole milk
- 6 egg yolks (Singapore eggs sized)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp gelatin powder
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 175 g bitter sweet chocolate, finely chopped
- chocolate curls for decoration
- 1 cake pan greased with butter
- Line the bottom of the pan with baking paper and grease the baking paper with butter lightly.
- Arrange the lady fingers around the side of the pan, sugar side out and flat side down.
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a heat resistant bowl till the mixture is almost white.
- Bring the milk to a simmer over low heat, then whisk the milk into the egg and sugar mixture.
- Return the mixture to the sauce pan and stir in the chocolate. Heat over medium heat, stiring frequently, till the chocolate melts and the custard is thickened enought to coat the spoon. This should take about 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, soak the gelatin in about 5 tbsp of water for at least 5 minutes, then place the bowl in very hot water and stir till the gelatin dissolves.
- Pass the custard through a wire sieve into a clean bowl.
- Stir the gelatin into the hot custard and place the bowl of custard in ice cold water. Stir often.
- Beat the cream with an electric beater till soft peaks form, then fold the cream into the custard gently when the custard is almost set.
- Spoon the mixture into the cake pan and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Decorate with the chocolate curls before serving.
Do not worry if the lady fingers do not stand up right on the cake pan before the custard is poured in. As long as the incline from the base of the pan is more than 45 degrees, the custard will push the lady fingers outwards, towards the side of the pan.
This incredibly sinful thing is just great stuff. We have a recommended baking time, but depending on your oven and size of the ramekins, some experimentation might be required to achieve the perfect balance between gooey and firmness.
8 servings
- 3 tbsp butter,softened
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 250 g unsweetened chocolate
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 large egg
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 8 ramekins sprayed with vegetable cooking spray or thinly coated with oil/butter
- Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 390°F (200°C).
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler
- Beat the sugar and butter together at high speed with an electric beater for at least 5 minutes.
- Beat in the eggs one by one. make sure that each egg is well mixed in after each addition.
- Also whisk in the vanilla using the electric beater.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in the shifted flour and salt, followed by the melted chocolate.
- Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- Dig in while warm!
The batter can be left at room temperature for up to 2 hours before baking. Do not refrigerate as the batter solidifies easily.
This is a recipe sketch, implying that either we haven’t found the right proportion of ingredients, or that we’re too lazy to measure, or that it’s easy (and almost nothing can go wrong!). You’ve been warned! Now enjoy…
This dessert consists of sliced (or diced) avocado and bandung, a sweet, sometime sickeningly too sweet, pink drink that regaled the streets of Malaysia and Singapore. It is extremely simple to make, requiring almost no preparation time (okay, we took 5 minutes to prepare 4 glorious bowl, not too bad right?).  Avocado bandung, with the evaporated milk and rose syrup cordial at the background. Instructions
To make this dessert, you simply need a few ripe avocados, rose syrup, evaporated milk, crushed ice, and some warm water. For each serving, you would want half to two thirds of an avocado, and about half a cup of bandung. To prepare the bandung, mixed rose syrup and warm water well in a large bowl. Then add some evaporated milk to obtain an opaque pink color mixture (this is the basic of bandung drink). Taste it and adjust the amount of rose syrup and milk in the mixture. It should taste fairly sweet (in fact, it should be too sweet, since the crushed ice will melt and mix with the bandung and dilute the flavor). If the rose flavor gets too strong but the mixture is not sweet enough, you can try adding a tablespoon or two of sugar, dissolved in a third cup of hot water.
Prepare the avocado by slicing it lengthwise around the core seed. Then scoop out the meat using a spoon and slice it lengthwise to thin slices with width of about 0.5 cm. To prepare a single serving of avocado bandung, place about half or two thirds of an avocado in a small serving bowl. Top it up with some crushed ice and then about half a cup of bandung. (If, at this point, you realized that you didn’t make the bandung sweet enough—we told you so :p —you can add a tablespoon or two of rose syrup and mix it well.)
Acknowledgment: This is an original sketch inspired by es teler, a sweet avocado drink found in the streets of Jakarta.
The first time we made this moist, strongly-rummy chocolate cake was as a base for a black forest cake. The supposedly healthy (we are speaking in comparative sense of course) tastes great, but we found that it tastes even better after refrigerating for one or two days. It goes great alone and with sweet creamy sauce (wait up for our “fusion” creation that involves creamy banana-flavored sauce).
Make 1 10″ tube or Bundt cake (16 servings)
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 4 large egg whites
- 1¾ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2/3 cup corn syrup
- 2/3 cup rum
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 10″ tube or Bundt pan, sprayed with vegetable cooking spray or thinly coated with oil/butter
- Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C).
- Stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt together thoroughly. Sift once.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg whites and buttermilk just to mix. Whisk in the brown sugar, applesauce, cornsyrup, vanilla and rum, one at a time.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake the cake for about an hour, or until it is well risen and firm, and a satay stick inserted halfway at the centre of the pan comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold it to a rack to cool completely.
For advance preparation, double-wrap the cake in plastic and freeze for up to a month. Bring to room temperature before serving.
We have no idea what is a Bundt pan too. We used a disposable aluminium tray and it works too!
To make the apple sauce, cut two large apples into small pieces and place in a saucepan with just enough water to cover. Bring to boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. If the apples get very dry before that, add some water. Use a potato masher or fork to break any large pieces.
Acknowledgment: This is a slightly simplified recipe from Perfect Light Desserts by Nick Malgieri & David Joachim. 
The only reason why this is considered modern, is because our healthier version is titled “Old fashioned carrot cake”. We refuse to call this the unhealthy carrot cake, or the Pichet Ong’s carrot cake. Once again, our cake came out rather kueh like, much much less so than the old fashioned one!
Make 1 10″ tube or Bundt cake (16 servings)
- 290 g all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 large eggs
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 200 g brown sugar
- 4 cups peeled, grated carrots
- 220 g unsalted butter
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 10″ tube or Bundt pan, sprayed with vegetable cooking spray or thinly coated with oil/butter, line the bottom with baking paper and coat with butter again.
- Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C).
- Stir flour, baking powder, baking soda together thoroughly. Sift once.
- Put the paddle attachment onto the mixer and mix the butter and sugar, spices and salt till light and fluffy at a medium-high speed.
- Fold in the carrots with a rubber spatula, then beat the eggs in at a lower speed.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Bake the cake for about an hour, or until it is well risen and firm, and a toothpick inserted halfway at the centre of the pan comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold it to a rack to cool completely.
- Refer to Limey cream cheese frosting for the frosting and assembly.
For advance preparation, double-wrap the cake in plastic and freeze for up to a month. Bring to room temperature before serving.
For obvious reasons, the frosting is best prepared fresh, while the cake should be left overnight too cool before the slicing.
Acknowledgment: This is a recipe from a Pichet Ong book The Sweet Spot. 
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