Vanilla cupcakes with choco surprise and smarties

Every so often my little niece gets bitten by the baker bug and then she puts on her cute little Miley Cyrus apron, dusts a little bit of flour on her hair (apparently this makes her look professional or so she seems to think) and then pesters me to help around in the kitchen (read..do the actual baking) while she walks around shouting instructions (I have a feeling she has been watching Hell's Kitchen on the sly) and looking harried and busy! So, today she started pulling me to the kitchen, I decided to take the easy route and make cupcakes. The extremely simple vanilla cupcakes with choco surprise and a smattering of smarties on top. The smattering of smarties, courtesy the niece. This is absolutely simple for all that is required to make them is to drop all the ingredients into the food processor and blitz until smooth and then bake em. Very simple yet very very satisfying to eat. Here are the things you need,

• 1 1/4 cups of flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 125 grams butter
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• small slabs of chocolate (Diary Milk, Lindt..whatever you have in your purse or in the fridge)
• Handful of smarties

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven 200 degree Celsius
2. In a food processor, blitz together all the ingredients except milk until smooth.
3. Then pour in the milk at the end and pulse until it combines well
4. Scoop the batter into your cupcake mould and press in a slab of chocolate in the middle.
5. Bake for 20 minutes until the cupcakes turn slightly golden on top
6. Remove and let it cool.
7. Sprinkle a few smarties on top
8. and then watch as your niece walks around telling everyone how difficult it was to bake the cupcakes but nonetheless how she did it on her OWN.
9. Sit back and smile!

Nuttty, Overdose on Chocolate Cake

Really! The title of the post is the best way to describe the cake. Its nutty..almondy to be exact and its packs in tons of chocolate. Its death by chocolate and boy! what a way to die. I honestly feel that there are two kinds of people in this world, those who can eat a chocolate cake and then those who devour a chocolate cake. This cake is for those devour-ers. Oh yes, its squidgy yet light and has that dampness to it that is almost fudgy. Yet like I said, it feels light. Miracles I tell you. I've based the recipe on Nigella Lawson's Nutella cake, but I've tinkered around a lot, like I'm always prone to do.

Here are the things you need,

For the cake,

• 1 large bottle of chocolate spread
• 125 grams of butter
• 100 grams  of ground almond (about half a cup)
• 1 tbsp strong coffee
• 6 eggs separated
• a pinch of salt
• 100 grams melted best quality dark chocolate

For the icing,

• 125 ml of cream
• 125 grams of dark chocolate
• 1 tbsp strong coffee
• Handful of toasted almond flakes

Method,

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius
2. In large bowl, whisk together the egg whites with a pinch of salt to form soft peaks
3. In a another bowl cream together the butter and chocolate spread.
4. Add to it the coffee, eggs and the ground almond one by one. Mix well.
5. Then fold in the melted dark chocolate.
6. Now, spoon a large dollop of the flully egg white in to the chocolate mix and combine thoroughly.
7. Fold in the remaining egg whites, one third at a time, until everything has been folded well. Don't be too heavy handed as we need the batter to be light airy.
8. Pour the batter into a greased springform tin and bake for about 35-40 minutes. 
9. Once done, remove from oven and leave the cake to cool.
10. Meanwhile, on low heat, add the chocolate to the cream.
11. As it begins to melt, add the coffee.
12. Once the chocolate has melted completely, take it off the heat and whisk well until the mixture thickens.
13. Now, pour the icing over the cake and spread well, over the sides too. Let it be messy. Messy is yummy! :)
14. Scatter the toasted almond flakes on top.
15. Dig in!

Note: I found the refrigerating the cake for about 15 minutes, helps in binding all the elements of the cake well and reinforcing the squidginess of the cake, which I particularly adored.

Cream Cheese Brownies

Oh my God! I dont know about you but I did not know about cream cheese brownies until today and boy was it a revelation or what! I am hooked and I dont think I can go back to normal brownies anymore. The saltiness of cream cheese breaking out through the intense taste of sinfully dark cocoa is, well, indescribable. You have to taste it to believe it. If you are a fan of cheese and fan of chocolate like I am, then this one is for you.  I had even hardcore cream cheese haters reaching out for seconds. I can't say more, except..yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Here is what you need,

• About 6 overflowing teaspoons of cream cheese/cheese spread
• 100 grams of milk chocolate
• 75 grams of cocoa powder
• 1/2cup of flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• one stick of butter

(Gosh, my measures are all over the place. But I swear, I will get better soon! )

Method:

1. In a saucepan,over medium heat, melt together the butter and chocolate.
2. Then take it off the heat and while still hot, stir in the cocoa powder and leave it to cool.
3. In another bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar.
4. Then beat in the chocolate mix to it. Combine well.
5. Now slowly sift in the flour and continue to beat the mixture until everything has combined well.
6. In your brownie tray lined with foil, pour in half of the batter.
7. Then spoon in the cream cheese equidistantly.
8. Pour the remaining batter. 
9. Now bake the brownies for about 20 minutes in oven preheated to 170 degree Celsius, until a toothpick when inserted comes out with little gooey mix on it.
10. Leave the brownies to cool and then leave it in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes.
11. Cut into squares and prepare to be absolutely floored by it! (or so I hope!)

Bourbon biscuit ice cream and butterscotch sauce

Ever been in a situation when you are gonna have guests over and you plan and plan about the various courses and completely forget about dessert? Anybody? Somebody? Nobody? Well, It looks like I am the only person to get into fixes like this. Hmmm..It so happens that I have friends over for dinner tonight and I wanted everything so purffect that I spend eons of time planning on what the appetizer and main course would be and the scatterbrain that I am, completely forgot about dessert. I know, unforgivable right? I mean, the dessert is my most favourite part of the meal and still I somehow forget about it. And so here I was thinking I would pick up a cake or a tart or something else sweeter still from my local bakers when like a beacon of hope, Nigella Express began on TV. There are times when leaving the TV on with no one watching it pisses me off, but today was not one of those times. I just grabbing my keys on my way out when I heard Nigella go on and on about a quick fix dessert and boy was it easy or what. Its so simple that I'm sure most of you know about it already but to me it was lifesaver. Its a quick fix dessert and so quick that it already in the deep freeze and I even have time to write about it. It totally deserves a post dedicated to it.

Here are the things you need,

For the Ice cream:

• 1 medium tub vanilla ice cream
• 1 medium packet of bourbon biscuits
• 1 cup chocolate chips (or in my case the left over scraps from my Orange n Choco Chili snaps)

For the butterscotch sauce:

• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• 250 ml of cream
• A dollop of honey

Method:

1. Leave the ice cream to thaw in a mixing bowl
2. In a zip lock bag, put the biscuits and chocolate chips and pound the living living daylights out of it.
3. Add it to the thawed ice cream and whisk it all together really well.
4. Pour in into a cake tin and return to deep freeze for the ice cream to set
5. Now, in a pan, bring to boil the butter, honey and the sugars until it caramelises.
6. Then take it off the heat and let it cool slightly.
7. Add the cream to the sugars and mix well.
8. Reheat it slightly before serving.
9. Pour over the ice cream and enjoy!

 I so wanted a pretty pic of a slice of ice cream with the sauce on it, but in the mad rush of having people over, I completely forgot. However, the ice cream was a raging success. I personally thought that there was no need for the sauce as the ice cream itself was so good.

Chocolate and Almond cake

Honestly, there has been so much of yumminess about of late, that I just cannot seem to get the time to try everything. Case in point, Sugar Slut's Honey and Almond Cake. It looked so divine and so 'gotta have it' that well, I couldn't resist. And today, that's exactly what I made, well almost. Now is about a good time know this about me, but I absolutely detest making short runs to the supermarket. I mean, I do go grocery shopping, but once a week or once in two weeks is all the shopping I can take at a time.Why am I saying all this? Well, it was only after I began get the ingredients together that I realized that I was short of honey and so, I decided to improvise. Yet again. Instead of honey, I used chocolate and the result was, thankfully not disappointing.Not that you can ever go wrong with chocolate. The best part about the cake is its understated sweetness. Its such a perfect companion to your tea and nothing about this cake is overpowering. Its harmonious, if you know what I mean. However, from the aesthetic point of view, I think the Honey and Almond cake kicks the Chocolate and Almond cake's rear! Perhaps I should have put some sorts glaze on the cake to mimic the honey effect. Anyways,

Here are the things you need,

• 1/2 a slab of chocolate (about 125 grams)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 100 grams of butter (close to a stick)
• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup of almond flakes
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp milk (only if necessary)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degree Celsius. 
2. In a pan, gently simmer the chocolate, sugar, lemon juice and butter until it forms one smooth mixture.
3. Then remove from heat and quickly add the eggs one by one, whislt stirring well.
4. Then fold the sifted flour and baking powder mix into the egg mix
5. Once you've folded everything together, if the mix appears a tad too thick, then add about 1 tbsp of milk to it to slightly smoothen the batter, otherwise, omit the milk.
6. Now pour half the batter to a buttered cake tin and then stop to sprinkle some almond flakes.
7. Pour the remaining batter on top and sprinkle some on almond flakes and bake for about 30-35 minutes.
8. Serve!!

Note:

My batter required the addition of milk because it was a tad too thick for my liking, perhaps because I used a special edition Brazilian chocolate bar which had a sticky consistency. Like I've mentioned above, check if your cake batter really needs the milk before adding it.

Orange n Choco chili snaps!

Ok, so ever since I saw Procrastobaker's Peppermint Crisps, I've been dying to bite into one. I mean, Chocolate and peppermint are two of my all time favourite things and here it was both together in one amazing looking cookie. I couldnt wait to make it and one of the first things I did today morning was to make up my mind make it today itself. It only required minimal ingredients, all of which was there in my pantry. Turns out I was wrong. I did not have peppermint extract and there cannot be peppermint crisps without peppermint, now cant it? But I was so looking forward to my chocolate fix and so I did what I do best, Improvise. I knew I definitely had orange extract in my kitty and plus there were a couple of fresh oranges handy, so I decided that instead of peppermint, orange it would be and so was born my orange and choco chili snaps. Why snaps and not bars or cookies? You'll know soon enough. :)

Here are the things you need,

• 250 grams of chocolate chips or roughly chopped bars
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup grated coconut 
• 1/2 tsp orange extract
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp zest of orange
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• 1 green chili cut along the length (for a bit of spice. Omit if you are not a chilly fan) 

Method:

1. Boil water,sugar and chili together until all the sugar dissolves.
2. Then remove the chilly and let the sugar syrup remain untouched until it caramelizes. As soon as it the sugar syrup changes colour and turns a pale yellow, switch off the heat.
3. Now add the orange extract and swirl the pot to incorporate the sugar syrup and the extract.
4. Now in a baking tray lined with parchment paper, pour the sugar syrup and let it sit for 15 minutes or until it hardens.
5. Once it hardens, break the sugar into pieces and pulse it in a food processor until it becomes sandy.
6. On double boil, melt the chocolate and remove from heat.
7. Then add the coconut, orange juice and the finely ground orangy sugar. Mix well.
8. Once again, in a baking tray lined with parchment paper, spread the chocolate mix evenly
9. Sprinkle the orange zest on top and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
10. Serve! Yummy!

Apologies for the really poor photograph. Its that, as soon as I was taking the chocolate off the fridge, in walked my 6 year old niece with her gang of friends and this pic was all I could manage before the attack. :)

Few notes:

** Because I live in a humid environment, the formation of the orange sugar sheet was extremely tricky as the moment I took it out of the fridge the sugar would turn sticky. So, all those people living in hot and humid conditions, keep this in mind and take care to pulse the sugar sheet into sandy sugar only in the last minute just before you add to the chocolate mix.

**Also, if storing, keep the chocolate under refrigeration as well, the humidity can cause it to melt.

** And finally, why did I call these chocolate bars, SNAPS? Because, I forgot to score the chocolate before setting it to harden and so had no choice but the snap the chocolate. I had no shapely chocolates! but it tasted awesome nonetheless!

Crumbly silky chocolate pie

The first thing I read today morning was a post by Tara of Butterdish and everything about the post touched me. It was moving and inspiring and it made you wanna bake, not for yourself but someone else. This chocolate pie was a result of that post. Agreed, the post asked for a peanut butter pie but due to certain reasons, I just could not make a trip to the supermarket and so had to make do with what was in my pantry. Well, the pie turned out B E A U T I F U L. It was just like its name, crumbly, silky, chocolaty and felt velvety in the mouth. I wish I could have shared a slice with you, just so that you would know that I am not fibbing. You must try this!

Here are the things you need,

For the crust:

• One 250 gram packet of Bourbon biscuits
• 50 grams of butter

For the filling:

• 2 squares of chocolate bars (approx 250 grams)
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 tbsp gelatin
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp zest of orange (for a tangy-ness only) 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, separated (not divorced, only separated..sorry sad joke, I know)

Method:

1. Mix together the biscuits and butter together in a food processor.
2. Now tip the mixture on to your tart tin and press it in so that it spreads evenly. Make sure it covers the edges of the tin too
3. Refrigerate the crust for about 30 minutes.
4. Now, mix the gelatin in cold water and allow it to  rest for 15 minutes
5. Boil 1/2 a cup of water and mix the chocolate in to.
6. Once the chocolate is fully melted, add the gelatin and bring the mixture to a simmer.
7. Keep stirring until all the gelatin has dissolved.
8. Now add 2 egg yolks to the mixture and mix
9. Then add the vanilla essence.
10. Take off from heat and allow the mixture to cool. 
11. Now, whip the egg whites with the sugar until it forms still peaks.
12. Fold the cooled chocolate in to the mix and pour into the tart tin.
13. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
14. Serve! Yum!

No Frills Chocolate Cupcakes

Like I said, absolutely no frills. Simple and easy

Things you need:

Flour- 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Butter - 1 cup
Eggs - 3
Milk - 1/4 cup

Pre-heat oven to 175 degree Celsius.
On low speed or by hand whisk together the butter and sugar till its light and fluffy.
Now add eggs one at a time and whisk well.
Mix the flour, salt and baking powder well.
Also, mix the milk and vanilla essence.
Now add one part of the flour mix to the whisked egg mix and fold it in.
Then add one part of the milk mix and fold well.
Go on doing this alternately till all the flour and milk is well incorporated in to the egg mix.
Now, spoon the mix into the cupcake/muffin tray, about 1/2 or 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Easy Peasy Yummy Brownies

This is such an easy recipe and the best part is that there is hardly any prep time required. Trust me, once you try it, you will be hooked for life.

Things you need:

Flour    - 3/4 cup
Butter   -1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Eggs - 2
Sugar   - 1/2 cup
Semi Sweet chocolate - 120 grams
Salt - a pinch

Ganache frosting

Butter - 1/4 cup
Chocolate - 100 grams
Cream - 3 tbsp (optional)

For the brownie:

Pre-heat oven to 170 degree Celsius.
On a double boil melt sugar and chocolate and mix well.
Remove from heat and quickly add the sugar and mix well.
While the mix is still warm add the eggs one by one and whisk well.
Then add the flour and salt mix and combine it well with the chocolate mix.
Pour it in to the greased pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the ganache:

Melt chocolate, cream and butter on double boil till it mixes well. Then remove from heat and pour over the cooled brownie and refrigerate for 10 minutes till the frosting hardens. Cut into squares and serve.

Pic courtesy, Finecooking.com