Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Cranky. Need Chocolate.

At times or moods like this, nothing beats brownies.


Triple-Chocolate Brownies, to be more precise.

Uh, no photo of full brownie, people started digging in before I remembered.
That, and I think all brownies kind of look the same.


Texturewise, I think this brownie is pretty perfect, or at least the closest I've gotten to perfect brownies so far. And people usually have different brownie preferences but the feedback from everyone for this one was all great. A light, flaky shell with a moist, slightly gooey middle. And no need to choose between dark, white and milk chocolate it's all there! =D


Triple Chocolate Brownie Recipe

Ingredients:
200g dark chocolate
190g butter, cut into cubes
3 large eggs
270g caster sugar
90g all purpose flour
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
60g white chocolate, cut into chunks
60g milk chocolate, cut into chunks

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180C/ fan 160C. Butter and line a 18cm square, deep cake tin.
2. Melt the dark chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl, placed into a large pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool.
3. Whisk eggs and sugar till thick and creamy, and till the mixture has doubled in volume. Fold this gently into the cooled dark chocolate.
4. Sift flour and cocoa into the mixture, fold. Gently stir in the chopped white and milk chocolate.
5. Pour mixture into prepared tin, spread evenly. Bake about 30 minutes, or until the brownie has started to form a shiny, slightly flaky, papery crust. Leave to cool in tin before cutting into squares.

Spot the chocolate chunks.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

I may be rushing the season...


But it IS only one month till Christmas.






The seson to be jolly is almost upon us.





So, have you been naughty or nice this year?

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Cappuccino Cupcakes

Can't keep a girl with a dead laptop away from her blog for too long.

But you can really slow her down with a super-cranky old borrowed laptop. However it's definitely better than nothing at all, so I'll take what I can get. (Please, please, please don't die on me dear borrowed laptop I mean no offence =S.) Also many thanks to the laptop contribitor, it's not the first time this laptop's been borrowed.

On another note, I feel like giving myself a good kick for not transferring a whole lot of photos that were taken during the past few weeks into my exteral memory. Here's to hoping they'll be recoverable when I finally get around to getting my own precious laptop fixed.


Enough about me, lets move on to happier things, like Cappuccino Cupcakes.

Chocolate-coffee sponge, coffee cream, chocolate coated coffee beans.
Yummy.
I do need to mention though that the coffee taste is pretty strong I didn't use much sugar so it might be a bit coffee-bitter for some but great for a coffee lover like myself.
Wouldn't reccomend it for kids though, might keep them awake.



Cappuccino Cupcake Recipe

Sponge ingredients:
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee powder
110g all purpose flour
90g golden caster sugar
110g butter, cut into small cubes
2 medium eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder

Coffee cream ingredients:
100 ml double cream
1 tablespoon boiling water
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
30g icing sugar

Also, chocolate powder and chocolated coated coffee beans, to decorate.



Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan oven. Line cupcake tins with about 14 cupcake liners.
2. Start with the sponge. Mix 2 tablespoons hot water with the coffee and cocoa powder and instant coffee to create a paste. Leave to cool to room temperature.
3. Place all the ingredients, including cooled paste into a large mixing bowl and mix until creamy.
4. Fill cupcake liners about two thirds full and bake for about 18 minutes or until well risen and tops and springy to touch.leave to cool completely before making cofee cream.
5. To make coffee cream, start by mixing one tablespoon water with coffee powder to create a paste and leave to cool. Whisk cooled coffee, icing sugar and double cream until stiff.
6. Drop a teaspoon of coffee cream over each cupcake and dust with chocolate powder. Top with chocolate coated coffee beans.

Coffee-lovers unite!
Okay it might be carrying it a bit too far to call myself a coffee lover.
But I do like coffee ocassionally.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Rant

My laptop DIED. AGAIN!!!! *Sobs*

Will be back as soon as I possibly can.

In the meantime will probably be baking loads. Have I ever mentioned that I find baking therapeutic? You can tell I've had a bad day when I walk into the kitchen and immediately dig out my big box of baking paraphernalia. I've been doing that a lot this week.

Deadlines piling up, dead pc, god awful flu. Typing this out before I have to head for work. It's been a bad week =(

Need some comforting. NOW.

Thus ends the rant.


Edit: I also need lots and lots of retail therapy.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Raspberry Fairy Cakes With Orange Sugar Drizzle

Impress your friends with your baking prowess.

A seriously easy-peasy recipe for dainty, pretty cupcakes. And they taste impressive too. Like much more effort was put into them than what is really needed. Read on for the recipe, which I found in one of my BBC GoodFood magazines.

Raspberry Fairy Cakes With Orange Sugar Drizzle
Whew, that's a mouthfull of a name.
But I kind of think super long names make food sound more impressive.
Or hard to make.


Raspberry Fairy Cakes With Orange Sugar Drizzle Recipe (and now that sounds like some sort of tongue twister. Don't mind me I'm just rambing on. I do that sometimes.)

Ingredients:
200g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
200g unsalted butter, softened
4 eggs, lightly beaten
200g golden caster sugar
3 tablespoons milk
50g ground almonds
zest of one medium orange (I used a large one I love the tangy citrus taste)
150g raspberries, lightly crushed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180C/160 fan. Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
2. I love this part. Simply toss the first 8 ingredients (yes, everything but the raspberries) into a large bowl. Mix with an electrix mixer till smooth.
3. Gently fold in the raspberries till evenly distributed throughout the batter. Half-fill the cupcake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes till golden and just firm. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

For the Orange Sugar Drizzle
Stir 4 tablespoons of caster sugar into the juice of one medium orange until well blended. Using a pastry brush, liberally brush the orange sugar mix over the lightly cooled cupcakes. Leave to cool completely before serving.


Red raspberries.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Chocolate Chocolate-chunk Cupcakes

More chocolate. Chocolate makes me happy.

Okay, so maybe you can't see any chocolate-chunks.
But they're there.
Under the surface.
In all their gooey chocolate glory.


These were the cupcakes I used for Anne's Cupcake Basket.


Chocolate Chocolate-chunk Cupcake recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup self-raising flour+1 heaped tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup/230g butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
200g milk chocolate cut into chunks

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.
2. Beat butter and sugars till light and fluffy. Add in vanilla, and eggs one at a time, mix well.
3. Add in milk and flour in two parts, mixing until just combined, do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chunks with a spatula.
4. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter. Bake for about 20-25 mins or till inserted toothpick comes out clean.