In His Great Mercy

 Last week was holy week where Christians across the world commemorated Good Friday and celebrated Easter Sunday.

The Lord Jesus died on the cross for our mankind. He endured pain and sufferings.  His death on the wooden cross is proof of the powerful love that God has for each of us. Therefore, let us glory in His cross, and praise the Lord for what He did for us. He has paid our debt, those who place their trust in Him for salvation are delivered from the debt of sin. All can be saved if we come to Him by faith.
"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."

I baked these chocolate hot cross buns with recipe adapted from Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover.

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients

350g bread flour
40g caster sugar
20g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
240g fresh milk
25g unsalted butter, room temperature

Flour paste

40g cake flour
40g fresh milk
15g melted butter
Method

• Preheat oven to 170C. Add in all ingredients except butter. Knead till smooth.
• Add in butter, Continue kneading until dough is shiny and smooth. 
• Cover and proof in a greased bowl until double in size.
• Punch down the dough and divide dough into 9 portions. Roll in round balls and rest for 15 minutes.
• Shape the dough into roll and place on baking tray.
• Make the flour paste for the cross. Mix the ingredients till smooth. Fill in piping bag and draw cross lines on top of the bread.
• Bake at 170C for 20-25 minutes.

Christ is risen! What joy we have on Easter Sunday as we celebrate Jesus' Resurrection.  All who have believed in Him have been raised to a new life in Christ. Christ has transformed the lifeless and gives all new birth, a living hope through the resurrection of Christ.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"1 Peter 1:3

These mini vanilla cupcakes with strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream were baked for Sunday school Easter party.

I always like my vanilla cupcakes recipe. I think they're great! moist and soft. These cupcakes were baked in my new oven and I noticed they were very unevenly browned:(  This recipe yields 36 mini cupcakes.

Swiss Meringue Butter Cream(Strawberry)
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
5 egg whites
3/4 cup caster sugar
220g unsalted butter, cubed,
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tablespoons strawberry jam or home made strawberry puree
red gel coloring

Method

• Combine egg whites and sugar in a pan over a pot of simmering water.
• Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm and sugar is non grainy. 
• Transfer to the mixer bowl with whisk attachment and beat on low to medium speed.
• When bowl is cool, add the butter cubes, one at a time. Add in vanilla extract.
• Switch to paddle attachment and continue beating on low speed until mixture is smooth.
• Add strawberry jam/puree and gel coloring.( use a toothpick to dip gel)

Leftover butter cream can be kept in freezer for 3 months.  To use, bring butter cream to room temperature and beat cream until smooth.