Golden Sweet Cornbread

If you love Kenny's corn muffins, then this recipe is for you. I almost abandoned the thought of making these cornbread until i saw the big package of cornmeal i bought months ago in my first (failed) attempt in making corn muffins (it was so bad, i threw it out since no one would touch it!). And now, gathering all that was left of my courage, i retrieved the almost untouched cornmeal and did a remake of those muffins, now disguised as cornbread. Armed with a good recipe, i whipped this golden loaves literally in a flash, since i was in a "super tensed" mode to feed the family in time for lunch. I served this as a side dish for the oven-roasted chicken that i prepared last Sunday.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups yellow cornmeal
5 teaspoons baking powder
11/8 c sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2 cups low-fat milk
2/3 c vegetable oil
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Preheat oven in 400F (200C).

Combine all the dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients and mix until well combined and no lumps are formed. Bake in a greased loaf pan for 45 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Low-Fat Banana Bread

Banana cake is one thing i learned how to perfect during high school. I got my first banana cake recipe from the Del Monte Kitchenomics newsletter to which i am subscribed to years ago. I've kept that recipe hidden inside a broken fridge at the back of our old house (why oh why...), forgotten about it till after we transferred to another house, and technically lost it in the process. The original recipe requires the addition of crushed pineapple due to the fact that the club is trying to sell their del monte product. But you wouldn't imagine how good the combination is until you taste it. I tried google searching the recipe but to no avail. It's just so sad i lost a part of my baking treasures because of sheer laziness to organize my stuffs. Anyway, i was able to use the loaf pans i bought months ago to bake this low-fat banana bread. These loaves were extremely moist you would never guess it was low-fat. I was able to make about 5 medium loaves out of the recipe that i'm posting here. I was supposed to add some chocolate chips to one of the loaves but lost track of my supplies and run out of it. Also, the youngest monster has been complaining that he's been getting too much of the sweet stuffs recently and wanted something healthy. And so i thought of adding pineapple. Also a nice way to remember my good old banana cake recipe. =)

8 eggs
3 1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/3 c sourmilk (i added the juice of 4 large calamansi to 1 1/3 c low-fat milk)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons vanilla extract
7 c all purpose flour
8 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons salt
10 over ripe bananas (mashed)
1 can crushed pineapple, drained ( i forgot the exact size but i'm pretty sure it's the one next to the smallest)

Preheat oven in 320F/160C.

Beat the eggs and sugar using an electric mixer at medium speed until light and frothy for 5 minutes. Add the milk, oil, and vanilla and mix well. Add in the bananas and pinapple. In another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients with the egg mixture and fold in until completely mixed. Bake in a greased loaf pan for about an hour or until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Best served while the bread is still warm, or piping hot in our case.=)

P.S. Just a tip, i experimented on using banana leaves to line my pan to do away with additional grease and it worked perfectly well.

Chocolate-Filled Walnut-Oatmeal Bars

I discovered the secret recipe for this goody bars Christmas of last year and i never stopped baking this ever since. This is supposedly the monster's prize for setting up the christmas tree before their long sem break ended just this Sunday. Best served warm with ice cream on top. I reheated mine in the microwave just until the chocolate filling started oozing out of the oatmeal bars. YuM!

gusto ko nung bangs ni mommy!!!
Posted by puFF

A Birthday Cake for Neil (and me!)

I did it! I finally got around to baking an honest-to-goodness chocolate cake for Neil's birthday party two Sundays ago. For the super moist and fudgey(!) chocolate cake, i used the Black Magic cake recipe i found at the ever reliable All Recipes site. I was supposed to frost it with a basic chocolate icing but changed plans at the last minute and decided to go for a marshmallow icing instead. OMG! i'm so happy i did it considering the strong objections i got from the monsters upon hearing this. At any rate, i felt guilty, and so i made a separate batch of chocolate frosting which i used to frost the middle of the 2 10" layer cake. It was so good, from the cake itself to the icing, and i got nothing but rave complements the entire night. Of course, i made use of child labor to create that baby. The monsters + 1 cousin were all too eager esp. in the dressing-up-the-cake part that resulted to the all colorful finished product. I used the extra cake batter to make the cupcakes that were used to decorate the cake as well. To sum it all up, the black magic cake turned out oh-so-rich with the slightest hint of bitter chocolate goodness, oozing with chocolate frosting in-between layers. The lightness and gooeyness of the marshmallow icing reminds me of the moment i ate clouds in a dream...

A Lunch Made in Heaven ('n Eggs)

I finally got to try out Heaven 'n Eggs with my college girlfriends for a pahabol lunch treat the Saturday after my birthday at Glorietta 4. Good thing, Khriz came really early (straight from work) so she was able to get a prime spot (the one with swings!!!) before the rest of us arrived. Now let's move on to food. Serving is really BIG, so sharing is a must. For starters, we had a platter of Pinoy Nachos (128php), their own version using fried wonton with tomato-ground beef-mango salsa generously topped with cheese sauce. Never ever leave the place without ordering this one (!) Its so good i think i must have eaten almost half of it. We also had the Deep Fried Calamari (145php), the Crabmeat Asparagus Omelette (145php), and the Breakfast Chicken Teriyaki (175php). The Calamari comes with the mayo-wasabi dip, you can however, request for other dips such as the tomato aioli and tartar at no extra cost. The big omelette plates comes with your choice of hash brown or french fries, rice or rolls, and 2 pancakes on top of all that, while the chicken was served with eggs and stir-fried veggies on the side. I really had a blast trying out their pancake syrups which comes in four flavors: coconut, lemon, peach, and maple. My fave is lemon! Don't forget to try out their blueberry and apple jams in your pancakes as well.

It was after all, a lunch made in heaven ('n eggs).

Choc-nut Chip Cookies

You can never go wrong with this cookies. I made a big batch one Saturday afternoon, divided the cookie dough into three, giving 1/3 each for myself and the two monsters. Neil took me by surprise when he rushed to the nearby grocery to buy the secret ingredients to his ultimate ultimate cookies. He went completely wild creating his own version with maltesers, almonets, choc chips, and teeny weeny cookies. The conservative PJ settled for the classic chocolate chips, while i finally gave in and folded in an entire pack of choc-nut and a handful of walnuts for a radical change. A very productive way to keep the angry monsters away from the computer.

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

1 (8 oz.) pack butter, melted

3 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla

choc-nut (sky is the limit)

In a large mixing bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients. Slowly add in the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix well. Lastly, fold in the choc-nut and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and bake in preheated oven (325F/ 160C) for about 15 minutes or until slightly brown in color.