Strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream frosting

Strawberry Cake
Recipe by: Leelabean (Yield: 12 cupcakes or 2  8″ round cakes)

http://leelabeanbakes.com/blog/cake/berry-licious-strawberry-cake/


Cake

135g cake flour (135g)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
150g granulated sugar (170g)
1 1/2 tsp strawberry essence
57g unsalted butter, room temperature
5 tbsp Canola oil (or other neutral-flavored oil)
2 lg eggs, room temperature
2 tbsp fresh strawberry puree
118 ml milk 


Frosting

1 stick salted butter (110g)
60g icing sugar (sifted)
2-3 tbsp strawberry puree

Preheat your oven to 350°F. In a measuring cup, mix milk (or substitution) and vanilla extract and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt and set this aside, as well. To puree your strawberries, place a few (around 4 or 5) hulled berries in a mini-food processor and blitz until it looks smooth, like the picture below.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the butter, oil, sugar, and gelatin and mix using your paddle attachment for about 1 1/2 minutes until it is light pink in color.

Add the eggs one at a time and blend well, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Then add the strawberry puree and mix to combine.

Add the 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix for a few seconds. Then add 1/2 the milk and vanilla mixture and mix for a few more seconds. Repeat this process ending with the final third of the dry ingredients. Take care to not over-mix this batter. You may have to fold in the last bit of dry ingredients.

Pour the batter into your cake pans or cupcake liners and bake for:

 cupcakes: 20 minutes    8″ round cake: 26-30 minutes 

or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool on your counter, then un-mold and frost as desired.

This cake lasts, unfrosted, for about 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature and about 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. You may also freeze this cake, wrapped in plastic and placed in an airtight plastic bag, for up to 3 months.

Prepare the frosting by beating the butters in a stand mixer on low-medium speed. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar and strawberry puree (1 spoonful at a time). 

My Life, my business

I don't think I treasure life. At the beginning of a 10 years, I will set a goal of only 10 years. During these 10 years, I will do my best to destroy my health.

I deliberately put on weight so that my husband can have excuses to look for another woman elsewhere. To my dismay, till now he still refuse to.

So I added pressure into my daily life that leads to depression. I rejected doctors plan for recovery. I either missed my daily dose or deliberately overdose. Now I have liver due to overweight & overdosing. (3 more years to the next 10 years, hope I be able to fulfill my wish)

I refuse to love my ASD child. She is the cause of my unable to divorce marriage. I taught her not to love mummy, to use despicable word on me. (eg. Mummy go and die, Mummy when will you be killing yourself)

No one can understand why am I like that. I am just too tired to continue to pretend to be a nice lady. I just wanted to be myself and reached my goal of dying young.

Mother & daughter relationship

Never in my life I had a close relationship with my mum. And I also had no interest in bridging the gap between us.

I was taught from young that mother don't deserve any respect and it shall be continue this way. I also pass the same theory to my daughter - not to love & respect mummy.

My mum never did anything to make me love her but to dislike her as the days progresses.

I remember clearly, how she expected me to perform the duty of a son instead of a daughter - just because she does not have a son.

I remember clearly how she and my younger sister go all the way out to avoid going to the mortuary to process the paperwork when my dad passed away. They push all responsibility to me by giving rubbish excuses. Only till many years later, my sister accidentally told me that she did it to escape going to the mortuary as it is not a "lucky" place to go. Of course must push this awful job to the eldest child in the family.

Is it worthwhile?

It had been in my mind for a long time. Did I married the right man? We are not well off, we are just 2 average working adult when we decided to get married 12 years ago.

I go to the extreme to help him save money - I reject the use of maid in honor and bride maids so that we don't need to spend extra money on the outfit & ang paos for door opening and no need to rent extra car for them, I reject kind gesture from my nephew to open the car door - again to save money on ang pao.

I accept his family decision for wedding dinner in JB - his hometown cause it is cheaper. I reject my mum request for a simple wedding dinner for my relative in Singapore (the cost of the simple dinner will cost the same as the one in JB).

I reduced the amount for the bridal gift - again to help him cut cost.

My explanation to others were, I dislike all these Chinese traditions.

What did I get in return? He hit me if I never reach his expectation over the children issue.

Colourful Cupcakes

I am really bad at cupcakes and frosting. But I ran out of ideas to what to bake for my girl's class party. Came across this easy cupcake recipe at Rasa Malaysia. I make same changes to it.

Coloueful Cupcakes

Serves 12 | Prep Time: 25 Mins | Cook Time: 20 Mins
Adapted from: Food Network

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 mL) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 g) sugar
12 tablespoons (180 g) salted butter, melted
2 teaspoons (10 mL) cempadak essence
1/2 cup (120 mL) milk

Frosting Ingredients:

110g salted butter
60g powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp milk
red food gel
blue food gel

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
Make the cake by whisking together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside. In a stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar for 2 minutes. Add the butter and vanilla extract. Then beat in the dry ingredients and milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix until combined. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin, and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Prepare the frosting by beating the butters and shortening together in a stand mixer on low-medium speed. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Divide the frosting into three bowls. Mix red food gel in one bowl and blue food gel in another until the desired color is achieved. Fill a piping bag with all three colors, ensuring each frosting stays on its own side. Attach an icing tip and frost the cupcakes.

Cook’s Note:

If you want to avoid colors mixing, you can place each frosting in plastic wrap and create long tubes to insert into the piping bag. Snip off the end and pipe as usual.


http://rasamalaysia.com/red-white-and-blue-cupcakes/2/

I hate CNY

I used to like Chinese New Year but expectation of other for me increases. It upset me so much that I begin to dislike it.


Situation 1

If the host invite another family over for reunion dinner, well I take it as this host is very hospitable and all will enjoy the dinner.

Second year, the same family came again and it continue for the next few years to go. How would you feel? I felt that this visiting family is not "Auto". People invite for a year or two, you can't turn down the invitation, well acceptable. But if it continue for the third year onward, then this family is not that nice after all.

Since I cannot stop the host for inviting, I excuse myself from the family reunion dinner from this year onward.



Situation 2

When I offer to help out during the CNY cooking, I was sneer by the host's siblings and chase out of the kitchen. Behind my back, they said "She know how to cook our family dishes meh?"

So, I decided not to help out but sit at one corner for further CNY dinner. However, those people refuse to let go and started saying I refuse to help out.

To stop all these, I refuse to go back during CNY.



Situation 3

Neighbours like to knock on my door to give me CNY goodies, I politely told them we don't celebrate and please take it back. But each year they just come knocking at my door.

To put a stop to it, I paste a 不得好死 notice on my gate