Orange Thai Butter Cake

ORANGE THAI BUTTER ROYAL CAKE 

Serving: 8-inch square tin.

This version uses ONLY natural ingredients—no artificial orange paste, no colouring, no syrup.

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🍊 Orange Thai Royal Butter Cake (Natural Strong Orange Version)

Ingredients

A. For the Cake

Unsalted butter – 150 g (room temp, soft)

Fine sugar – 150 g

Eggs – 3 large

Cake flour – 150 g

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Salt – ⅛ tsp

Freshly reduced orange juice – 80 ml

Orange zest – 2 tbsp (from 2–3 oranges)

Vanilla – ½ tsp

Optional (natural booster): Orange marmalade – 1 tbsp

🍊 How to Make Strong Natural Orange Juice Concentrate

(Do this first)

1. Squeeze 120 ml fresh orange juice (from 2–3 oranges).

2. Pour into a small pot.

3. Simmer on low heat until it reduces to 80 ml.

4. Let cool completely before adding to the cake.

💡 This step intensifies the flavour without artificial ingredients.

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🍊 How to Infuse the Butter With Orange Aroma

This boosts fragrance dramatically.

1. Take 150 g butter (soft).

2. Add 1 tbsp of the zest into the butter.

3. Mix roughly.

4. Let it sit 15–30 minutes.

The citrus oils infuse into the fat → richer aroma.

(You will add the remaining 1 tbsp zest later.)

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🧡 Instructions

1. Prepare

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (fan) or 170°C (no fan).

2. Line and grease your 8-inch square tin.

3. Sift cake flour + baking powder + salt together.

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2. Creaming Step

1. Beat zest-infused butter + sugar for 5–7 minutes until pale and fluffy.

2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.

3. Add vanilla + the remaining 1 tbsp orange zest.

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3. Add Dry & Wet Ingredients

1. Add the flour mixture in 3 portions.

2. Alternate with the 80 ml concentrated orange juice.

3. If using it, add 1 tbsp orange marmalade during the wet addition.

⚠️ Mix gently. Do not overbeat or the cake will be dense

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4. Bake

1. Pour batter into the pan, level the top.

2. Bake 45–55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

3. Let cool completely.

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⭐ Why This Version Tastes Extra Orangey (Naturally)

✔ 2 tbsp fresh zest → strongest natural citrus aroma

✔ Butter infusion → oils from zest spread through the whole cake

✔ Reduced orange juice → concentrated, deeper flavour

✔ Optional marmalade → natural peel oils + moisture

✔ No artificial colour or paste

This cake will taste bright, floral, and intensely orange even without syrup.

Crepe Layer Cake (Milk)

 Crepe Layer Cake (Milk)

 

SERVING 

8" round 

Approximately 20 layers

INGREDIENTS 

3 eggs 

60g sugar

105g flour

540g milk, warmed

38g unsalted butter

600g cream

75g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

STEPS 

1. Mix all ingredients. 
2. Sieve. 
3. Cook one layer after another. 
4. Cool. 
5. Apply cream.
6. Refrigerate.

Kek Pisang Che Nom (Blender)

 Kek Pisang Che Nom (Blender) 

Adapted recipe from: https://youtu.be/k5H9Qn7U3g4?si=WQwVYhL3CvCrLSp0

Serving : 17 cupcakes / 8 inches square tin (lined with parchment paper) 

INGREDIENTS 

120g sugar

4 eggs

125g butter (melted)

90g veg. oil

1 teaspn vanilla essence

4 bananas (1 cup mashed) (about 240-260g) 

1/2 teaspn salt

190g all purpose flour

1 teaspn baking soda

1 1/2 teaspn baking powder

STEPS: 

1. Blend wet ingredients : eggs + sugar till slightly pale yellow.
2. Mix in oil and butter, vanilla essence and banana. Blend well. 
3. Pour mixture little by little to combine with dry ingredients (flour+baking soda+baking powder+salt). Mix well with spatula.
4. Slice banana thinly + choc chips to decorate the top.
5. Pour 80% full for each cupcake.
6. Bake in preheated oven at 160DC for 15 minutes (till toothpick comes out clean).

I reduced original recipe's sugar to half. It's perfect now. The texture of the cake is so soft and moist. Totally recommended. 

Banana Cake Loaf

Banana Cake Loaf 

Original recipe taken from: Katherine Kwa (online) 

1 loaf tin bottom lined with greased paper 

INGREDIENTS

250g ripen bananas (I used Teo's bannanas; frozen and thawed) 

125g butter (I used Anchor) 

85g margerine (I used Westgold) 

1 teaspoon salt

180g brown sugar (I used 140g; just nice sweetness) 

3 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder
300g normal plain flour (wheat flour)

STEPS

1. Mash bananas. Set aside.
2. Whisk butter, margarine, salt and brown sugar until fluffy and light. 
3. Whisk eggs 1 by 1 until well combined.
4. Use spatula to fold in sieved baking powder and plain flour. 
5. Add in mashed bananas. 
6. Pour in baking tin. 
7. Bake at 170 degree Celsius for 50-60 minutes / until skewer comes out clean. 

I have done banana loaf before this but none of the recipes are worth keeping. This is exceptionally good! Soft and fluffy. Anchor butter is super fragrant! 

Fruit Cake

Fruit Cake 

Original recipe taken from my Mom's friend 

10" round circle removable bottom tin (lined and greased with baking paper)

INGREDIENTS

1 pound butter (453g butter - room temperature) 

1 pound flour (453g flour)

2 teaspoons baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder (subtle; more if you want a stronger taste of cinnamon) 

8 egg yolks 

8 egg whites 

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (or cream tartar) 

1 pound brown sugar (I used only 1/2 pound = 226g and I think it's sweet enough) 

1 pound dried mix fruits (453g dried mix fruits)

100g liquor (I used my failed coffee liquor made from 40% vodka) 

2 oranges (require juice only) 

100g chopped walnuts (no need to pre-toast) 

4 tablespoons liquor (for brushing: I used failed coffee liquor) 

STEPS

1. DAY 1: Squeeze out juice from 2 oranges. Remove seeds and any fiber. Soak dried mix fruits with orange juice. Refrigerate. 
2. DAY 2: Pour 100g liquor to continue soaking the dried mix fruits (by this time, you will notice the fruits have almost fully absorbed all the orange juice). Refrigerate. 
3. DAY 3: Little excess liquor left which is not absorbed by the dried mix fruits. It's okay. Put aside to be used later.
4. Sieve flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon powder a total of 3 times to make sure everything is well blended. Put aside. 
5. Whisk egg whites with apple cider vinegar and approximately 3/4 of the brown sugar until you achieve medium-stiff peak. Put in freezer to chill while quickly prepare egg yolk batter. I chill it so that it won't deflate while I'm preparing egg yolk batter. I started off with egg white so that I don't have to wash the mixer when I'm preparing egg yolk batter.
6. Cream butter and remaining 1/4 brown sugar until dissolved for about 5 minutes. 
7. Add in egg yolks one by one and continue mixing. 
8. Add in flour mixture and fold with spatula. The batter will look a little thick. 
9. Fold in 1/3 of the egg white into the egg yolk mixture. It will require some effort as the mixture is a little stiff. Continue until all egg whites combine with egg yolk mixture (chiffon method). 
10. Add in the soaked dried mix fruits and fold into the batter. 
11. Add in walnuts and continue mixing for a while a more. 
12. Pour cake batter into the baking tin. 
13. Bake in preheated oven at 140 degree Celsius for 40 minutes. Then, continue baking at 160 degree Celsius for another 50 minutes. Skewer will come out wet/oily but no sticky crumbs. That means it is thoroughly cooked already. 
14. Let cake cool for 10 minutes in the baking tin. 
15. Poke small holes using a satay stick. 
16. Using a straw, slowly insert the liquor into each hole. Brush remaining alcohol on the cake. 
17. I served the cake after 2 days and it's still moist. 

Before baking

 After baking

The cake did rise a little

10" tall cake 

Brush alcohol on the surface lastly

Lots of small holes

Straw to insert alcohol 

I only removed the cake from the tin on the 2nd day when I'm about to serve it. 

I didn't manage to brush the sides so it's a little dry at the sides.

Chocolate Mud Cake

Chocolate Mud Cake

Adapted recipe from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqGLgcnP2HQ

10" round removable bottom cake tin (lined with paper at the bottom only, greased)

INGREDIENTS: 

A

250g unsalted butter

250g semi-sweet chocolate (I used 75% Beryl dark chocolate couverture)

2 tablespoons instant coffee powder + 175g hot water 

350g brown sugar 

B

125g milk (25g milk powder + hot water to dissolve) 

4 eggs

30ml vegetable oil (I used canola cooking oil) 

C

1 teaspoon salt 

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

300g all purpose flour (I used wheat flour)

55g cocoa powder 

STEPS:

1. Grease a piece of baking paper to place at the bottom of the baking tin. 
2. Double boil all ingredients A until melted. Remove from heat. 
3. Add ingredients B, one by one into the mixture using electric whisk.
4. Add in sieved ingredients C, mix well until everything is well combined. 
5. Pour the cake batter into the cake tin. 
6. Bake in preheated oven at 160 degree Celsius for 70-80 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean, cake feels compact upon touching). 
7. Leave to cool for 5 minutes. 
8. Use a knife to slide through the side and overturn the cake. Remove the baking paper at the bottom. Leave to cool completely. 
9. Frost the cake with chocolate ganache. 

Chocolate Ganache 

Recipe from: http://www.laurainthekitchen.com/recipes/chocolate-ganache/ 

Yields 1 cup

* For the 10" round chocolate mud cake, I made 1 and 1/2 of this recipe to cover the entire cake sufficiently, with no middle frosting. 

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup heavy cream (I used topping cream because my dark chocolate is really bitter)

1 teaspoon butter (I used hotel supply 25g butter cube) 

1/8 teaspoon salt (I omitted because I'm using salted butter)

4 ounces dark chocolate (I changed unit to ounces on my weighing scale)

STEPS:

1. Boil heavy cream just right before it boils (I boiled mine and therefore my chocolate ganache is a little tacky looking). 
2. Remove from heat. Add in chocolates. Let it sit there for 5 minutes without stirring or doing anything to it. 
3. Then, stir the chocolate and add in butter and salt. Mix well until everything is well combined. 
4. Chocolate ganache is ready to be used. 

NOTES:

• This cake is extremely rich and heavy. Chocolate lovers will love this cake to death. Haha.. 
• I am not sure how it's gonna taste like with other chocolates but 75% dark chocolate is definitely my choice. 
• Make sure to serve the cake in room temperature. Otherwise, you will be serving rock to your guests. This cake butter content is quite high. So, by common sense and a little Science knowledge, butter gets hard when it is chilled in the fridge. So, always remove cake from fridge for an hour in room temperature before serving. Do not be mistaken with the cake being dry, crumbly and hard (this only happens when you put the cake in fridge and eat straight away).
• I ruined my ganache because the temperature is too high but as you can see, it still spreads pretty well and the taste is still top notch.
• A standard slice of this cake is really huge to keep you feeling full. Do not attempt to eat 2 slices! =) 
• The aroma of the cake sitting next to me is driving me crazyyyyy.. Trust me, I can literally smell the chocolate aroma because the cake is beside me now. 
• This is a really easy cake to make for beginners, people who do not like too much cream frosting, chocolate lovers and lazy people who want to get a fancy cake done without much effort. 

After melting ingredients A

Cake batter poured into the cake tin.

Before baking.

As you can see, the cake batter doesn't look very smooth and there's little areas where flour can be seen.

So I think it is best to use an electric whisk like recommended in the recipe.

I used hand whisk to make this.

The cracky cake after baked.

Let it cool for 5 minutes and remove cake from mold.

They do look like they are kinda dry.. but it is really very moist when you eat it.

The beautiful triangle cut when the cake is as hard as rock after getting out from the fridge. 

Wrong move! 

This is the cake that I ate half way.. 

Look at how moist and sinfully chocolatey the cake is.

All chocolate lovers will know how good this cake is simply by looking at its texture.

The darker, the better, yummmmmmm 

L'invisible Pomme-Vanille

L'invisible Pomme-Vanille 

Original recipe from:  Emojoie (check out the video HERE) 

6" inches round mold, lined with baking paper
(I used a small loaf baking tin, lined with oiled baking paper) 

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs 

50g sugar (I used 40g brown sugar) 

20g melted butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

a pinch of salt (omit if you are already using salted butter)

100g milk (I used 20g milk powder + water) 

70g cake flour (I used all purpose wheat flour)

3 red apples (I used Tru-Cape red apples)

STEPS:

1. Peel the skin of the apples. Slice the apples as thin as possible. 
2. Simply whisk eggs and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. 
3. Add in all the other ingredients one by one, except the sliced apples.
4. Put in apple slices into the cake batter. Make sure EVERY apple slices is soaked with the cake batter. 
5. Put the soaked apple slices into baking tin using a spoon to arrange them nicely. 
6. Bake in preheated oven at 170 degree Celsius for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and cake is cooked. 
7. Put in the fridge to chill before serving. 
8. To store the pudding, place them into a tight container in the fridge. 

Third Attempt: Finally 

Lined the paper carefully into the baking tin. 

I brushed oil on the paper. 

Next time, I think I need to brush more and ensure every part is oiled properly.

I laid the apple this way after removing its seeds and skin. 

Then, I slice them thinly.

This is how thin I sliced my apples.

I don't like to bite the apples in the cake.

It looks more invisible too, when the apples are sliced thinner.

My apples turned brown a little while waiting for me to prepare the cake batter.

The entire process of preparing the cake batter and soaking apples with the batter.

Before and after baking. 

The height of the cake doesn't change much although it did rise while baking.

It will collapse after it's done baking.

The middle part of the cake still looks a little wet actually but I decided to stop baking.

Used a knife to go through the 4 edges and get the cake out easily when it's lined with paper.

Still a little sticky but much better than the first time when I didn't brush any oil at all. 

I was impatient and trying to slice a piece when it's not refrigerated.

As a result, the cake isn't cut nicely.

Moral value: Chill the cake completely before cutting. 

After the second day, I really think this cake tastes really good. 

Second Attempt: Not careful with the top 

NOTES:

• I might try to do this again to see if I'm able to get it looks prettier. After all, this is a healthy cake, so no harm redoing. 
• Previously, I had problem with RAW cake. Gahh.. No matter how long I bake it, the cake's top looked brown already but it seems to have water oozing out. When I put in my skewer, it is still wet. So, I decided the first attempt was a failed one and decided to remove it from the oven and transformed it into a secret ingredient for my applesauce cocoa muffins.
• In my second attempt (the pictures above), I used high temperature 170 degree Celsius to bake it for approximately 50 minutes. The top has browned but the cake still contains some moisture. So, I used 200 degree Celsius for the last 20-30 minutes, which resulting in the burnt top. However, nobody tasted the burnt at all. 
• IMPORTANT: To slice the apples as thinly as possible. For the second time, I couldn't even feel the bite of the apples. It's great. It is easy to slice the cake (even before refrigerating it). Basically, it's really pudding the second time. The first time was more like.. sauce or soup. 
• I didn't have a 6" round baking tin. So I used my small bread loaf. Layered the sides and bottom with baking paper. I think next time, it is better to spray some oil on the paper to prevent it from sticking. 

Old Taste Cheesecake (Pillow Cake)

Old Taste Cheesecake (Pillow Cake)

古早味CHEESE蛋糕 (枕头蛋糕） 

Original recipe taken from Hong Xiao Le 

http://mbreakfasts.blogspot.my/2017/02/blog-post_27.html?m=1

8" square mold 

INGREDIENTS

100g milk

100g vegetable oil (canola oil)

20g Parmesan cheese powder 

124g low protein flour (wheat flour+corn flour)

124g egg yolks (5 1/2 omega egg yolks)

280g egg whites (7 omega egg whites) 

90g sugar 

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

6 cheddar cheese slices

Parmesan cheese powder (sprinkle on top)

cream of tartar (apple cider vinegar)

STEPS

1. Cook milk, vegetable oil and Parmesan cheese powder in a pot till 70 degree Celsius (when it feels hot using finger test).
2. Mix in sieved flour. 
3. Add in egg yolks and mix well. The batter is thick and gluey looking.
4. Whisk egg whites with salt, baking powder and apple cider vinegar until stiff peak (short tail hook).
5. Fold in 1/3 of egg whites into the egg yolk batter using spatula (can't use whisk because mixture is very thick).
6. Pour everything into the remaining egg white batter and fold well altogether.
7. Pour half of the cake batter into the pan.
8. Place the cheese into a layer, covering the entire cake batter. 
9. Pour the remaining cake batter to cover the cheese layer. 
10. Bake in preheated oven at 140 degree Celsius for 55 minutes. 

NOTES

• Most people will put a layer of paper in the tin before pouring in the cake batter. I try not to this time because I'm using removable bottom cake tin. So, I did overturn my cake after I get it out from the oven. It does shrink a little but still a very tall cake given that it uses so much eggs. 
• If the cake didn't rise properly or mix properly, it will have a strong egg scent (first experiment wasn't quite a success).
• I followed the recipe exactly this time. Previously, I skipped the Parmesan cheese powder sprinkle on top. This time, I made sure I sprinkled generously and a-ha! The crusty salty top is the bomb in this cake. You should NEVER omit that. 

Preparing the ingredients on the table.

Make sure you don't see any egg whites in the cake batter

It does look a little like pillow after it gets out from the oven.

However, the top shrunk a little. 

Maybe, I should get it out from the tin immediately after taking out from the oven, as suggested by many people who have attempted this recipe

Nevertheless, the cake is still very tall, the same height as the tin.

The cakes are wobbling when I slice them.

They are very soft.

The cheese layer in the middle 

Original recipe by Hong Xiao Le 

Low Fat Double Flavours Butter Cake

Low Fat Double Flavours Butter Cake 

8" square mold

INGREDIENTS

Homemade applesauce:

• 2 apples 
• water 

178g butter (room temperature)  

135g applesauce 

** The use of butter varies according to the applesauce yield. Supposedly, it is 50% butter and 50% apple sauce. However, if you didn't manage to get that much apple sauce and didn't want to have excess unused, then simply increase the butter usage to get a total amount of 313g 

313g flour 

150g brown sugar (original recipe calls for 

2 teaspoons of baking powder 

5 egg yolks

5 egg whites

6 tablespoons of concentrated pandan juice 

** I blended pandan leaves with water and leave it in the fridge overnight. Pour off the top diluted juice and use only the remaining one at the bottom.

2 tablespoons of coffee liquid 

** I used 1 teaspoon of instant coffee powder mix with 2 tablespoons of homemade coffee liquor + 1 teaspoon of cappuccino extract. 

Lecker chocolate chips

STEPS

1. Peel apple skin and dice the apples. Pour enough water just to avoid the apple from burning, approximately 2 cm height water. Boil with lid closing the pot until the apples become mushy and soft. Mash everything and applesauce is ready.
2. Separate egg yolks and egg whites and put in different bowls.
3. Whisk egg whites with 80% of the brown sugar to stiff peak. 
4. Whisk butter and remaining 20% sugar until well blended and slightly fluffy. 
5. Add egg yolks one by one and continue whisking.
6. Add in sieved flour and baking powder using spatula. 
7. Separate egg yolk batter half into another bowl. Fold in 6 tablespoons of concentrated pandan juice. 
8. In another bowl, add in the coffee liquid using the spatula like in step 7.
9. Fold in half of the egg white batter into each of the egg yolk batter mixtures. 
10. Pour the coffee batter into the baking tin and flatten the surface using spatula.
11. Pour the pandan batter on top and flatten the surface once again.
12. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. 
13. Bake in preheated oven at 150 degree Celsius for 50 minutes till skewer comes out clean.
14. Leave cake to cool on rack for 5-10 minutes. 
15. Remove cake from the mold. 

REMINDER: This cake is moist due to the use of applesauce. It is best to finish up the cake within 2 days when leave in room temperature. Otherwise, please keep in the fridge.  

Chocolate Cotton Cake

Chocolate Cotton Cake 

Original recipe by Jeanica

Screenshot from Samantha Needs Vacation's Facebook

I'm too lazy to retype.... 

#请注意这里 👉 棉花蛋糕熟透，关电源，烤箱门打开细缝约5分钟，让蛋糕稍微降温，之后，取出，在桌面上敲两下（记得放一片布在桌上哦，要不然，你的模具会哭的叻）连模放在网架上（无需倒扣）大约3分钟后，蛋糕边缘会自动离模一些些，这时候，将模具稍微倾斜45度，轻敲模具一圈（再啰嗦一次，记得放一片布在桌上哦，要不然，你的模具会哭的叻）之后，将蛋糕倒扣在盘子上（如果扣不出，再敲一圈哦）取去模具，轻轻撕去烘焙纸，再将蛋糕倒扣在另外一个盘子上，大功告成。

注：模具无需涂油，只需底部铺一张烘焙纸。

A reminder from Samantha Needs Vacation on how to remove the cake from its mold.