( leftover ) cream cheese & sour cream loaf cake

I've been checking my  leftover cream cheese & sour cream if it's still okay & what cake could I bake w/ it . There's only a  measly 125 grams of cream cheese left , the recipe I've been eyeing to bake calls for 150 grams & what should I do with my sour cream ? So , because I find it wasteful :P :D ( ok ok I'm cheap hee hee ) just to throw it away  , why not include it to the recipe ? Since , I'm the guinea pig :D , why not ? . I based my recipe here ,  halving most of the ingredients & reducing the sugar . After baking it , I call  it ( leftover ^-^ " ) cream cheese & sour cream (loaf ) cake coz , it's not as dense as pound cake , more of a cake-like texture & even though I use 200 grams of sugar it's not as sweet , partly because of the sour cream that I use . The end result ? I'll say , crack at the top & some pockmarks inside but it's good hee hee

Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking 

295 grams all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
150 grams unsalted butter , at room temperature
125 grams cream cheese , at room temperature
87 grams sour cream
200 grams icing sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 175°C . Grease pan & set aside ;
2. In a large bowl , sift flour , baking powder , baking soda & salt ;
3. In another bowl , beat butter , cream cheese & sour cream until smooth ;
4. Add sugar , in 3 additions , beating well after each additon ;
5. Add eggs , one at a time , mix well ; add vanilla extract , beat until incorporated ;
6. Add flour to the above mixture , just until incorporated ;
7. Pour batter into prepared pan , smooth the top ;
8. Bake at 1 hour to 1 hour & 15 minutes ( I baked mine for an hour & a half ^-^" )

more brownie pls ......

So I baked these for the kids farewell party at school . You can adjust the sugar if you prefer, note that the lesser the sugar , the more cake-like the result of your brownies . Using good quality chocolate is a must , I use the combination of Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate & 75% Fruibel chocolate , though not as good when I use Lindt 70% cocoa that I bought for hk$ 10. Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens magazine .

Ultimate Brownies

3 oz ( 85 g ) unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup (115 g ) butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup ( 85 g )  all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup dark chocolate pieces
1/2 cup chopped nuts ( optional )

Stir-ins :
Sweet stir-ins - add 1/2 cup dried fruit soaked in sparkling wine for 30 minutes , drained &  chopped ; or  3/4 cup candy-coated peanut butter pcs to batter . 
Spice stir-ins - add 1 tsp ground cinnamon or ground ancho chilli powder ; 2 tsp orange peel ; or 1 tbsp espresso powder to flour mixture .

how to :

1 . Preheat oven to 350°F . Coarsely chopped unsweetened chocolate . In saucepan melt butter & chocolate over low heat , stirring occasionally . Remove from heat ; cool .
2. Line 8x8x2 -inch baking pan w/ foil .Spray w/ nonstick cooking spray ; set aside . Stir sugar into melted chocolate mixture until sugar is dissolved . Add eggs , 1 at a time , beating w/ wooden spoon just until combined . Stir in vanilla .
3. In a bowl stir together flour & baking soda . Add stir-ins . Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture ; stir just until combined. Stir in dark chocolate pieces & nuts . Spread batter in prepared pan .
4. Bake 35 minutes or until edges are set & begin to pull away from the sides of pan . Cool on wire rack . Cut into bars . Make 16 brownies .

late birthday post & banana refrigerator cake w/ white choco frosting

I got so many foodie pix but too lazy to blog :P Anyway , it's my nth :D birthday this month & I guess menopause is not far behind hahahaha . So , instead of buying my birthday cake , I decided to bake Rose Levy Beranbaum Banana Refrigerator Cake w/ dreamy creamy white choco frosting ( a mouthfull heh! ;) ) . I've been looking ( or not been looking enough , I guess ^-^" ) for a frosting the doesn't have copious amount of icing sugar  , & so happy when I borrowed this book at the library & found the recipe esp that it has a white choco in it :D , the frosting didn't have any sugar at all & as long as you use good quality white chocolate , the result will be good . really good hahahaha . I couldn't find a link of this recipe online but will update this blog later to write the recipe ( I'm too sleepy to zzzzzzzzzzzzz :D ) ........