Archives for "Recipes"
Big Chocolate Cookies
A few days ago, Annie’s Eats posted this recipe on her blog. Her photos are so incredible, I can almost taste the cookies! Almost, but not quite… so I printed out the recipe and decided to make a batch.
As I didn’t have enough chocolate drops/bits, a whole block of dark chocolate went into the mixture.
250g block of chopped dark chocolate
It was a very simple recipe to make. It wasn’t too sweet (which was great). It was rich and chocolatey, and I would definitely make this again – Miss S sized, so she can have a “whole” cookie rather than a 1/4 of a massive one.
1 large cookie waiting to be eaten
Chomp.. yum.... soft cookie, melted chocolate... you get the idea..
Spinach and Broccoli
Mr K walked in the door after work yesterday and said “Yum. Pizza.”
Then, “It’s vegetarian, isn’t it?”. His enthusiasm fell a notch.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When I saw this recipe on Annie’s Eats, I wanted to try it. It’s like a broccoli and spinach gratin but in pizza form – who wouldn’t love that? Well, apart from those who do not like broccoli or spinach or both.
I overloaded the pizzas with baby spinach leaves and went overboard with the cheese and baked them till the cheese was bubbly and golden. Then, I topped it off with flaked salmon pieces (salted a fresh salmon fillet liberally and grilled it while the pizza stones were heating) – so, it’s not vegetarian.
Mr K took a bite, “It’s not half bad.” And proceeded to eat 4 more pieces. Miss S loved it too, despite the adamant “I don’t want any green stuff”.
Salmon, Broccoli & Spinach Pizza Slice
It tastes nice by itself, but the grilled salmon adds another dimension to the taste and texture.
Proof in the telling – Miss S asked to have the leftovers for lunch just now and polished off 2 pieces with no complaints – greens and all!
BAKED brownies
Yep.. this is the 3rd recipe I’ve tried from the Baked book. And I have to admit, I really REALLY wanted to drizzle the tops of the little brownie cakes and the big pan with a LOT of chocolate ganache.
But I held back. After all, I’d already used 350 grams of good chocolate in the mixture (minus a couple of pieces – hey, I had to sample a few pieces) and the cream I had in the fridge had expired. Besides, chocolate ganache on top seemed to be over-kill – NOT.
Verdict? They are just about the bestest (if there’s such a word), moistest brownies that I’ve ever tasted.
-
- Melt the butter and chocolate over a pan of simmering water
-
- Get your tins ready while the choc + butter is melting
-
- Stir in the sugar
-
- Add the first 3 eggs and mix well
-
- Add the last 2 eggs + vanilla extract
-
- Add all the dry ingredients
-
- Fold in the dry ingredients gently
-
- One final stir
-
- Look at that chocolatey mix!
-
- Uncooked brownie cakes ready for the oven (12 are sprinkled with dk choc drops)
-
- Ready to be baked in the oven
-
- Warm brownie cakes
Here is the purple foodie’s adaptation of the recipe. Definitely a ‘must-try’ for people who love chocolate.
Malt-Ball Cake
When I saw this recipe in the Baked book, I thought, “Hmm.. interesting…”.
It’s 9:30 pm and I’m waiting for the last of the cupcakes to finish baking so I can make the frosting. See, the husband has to go to work at 2:30 am tomorrow (in 5 hours time), and I thought why not try this recipe on him and whoever is game enough to sample it.
Anyway, the recipe calls for malt milk powder. Here we were, combing the aisles in the supermarket trying to find this, then Mr K googled it on his phone. Horlicks! So we got a container and the other ingredients and trotted on home.
The recipe makes one 8-inch cake, but I managed to get 24 medium cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes out of the mixture.
If you like Horlicks, Maltesers and chocolate, this is definitely a recipe to try. The end result is delicious!
Malt-Ball Cupcake
Sweet and Salty Cake
I love cook books – especially ones with LOTS of pictures. I don’t have a collection of cook books (even though I would love to have one). However, my local library does and I usually “max out” my library card whenever I visit. What’s even better is I can order the books from the library’s online system and pick them up when they are ready – at no charge. Pretty cool, isn’t it?
Anyway, a few months ago, I borrowed a book from the library. It was called Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. It was a gorgeous book – the pictures made me want to make and eat all the cakes I saw. But I had never attempted big cakes like the ones in the book. They all looked pretty daunting to make.
I was browsing through www.marthastewart.com one day. I was after some new cupcake recipes and happened to click on this page which featured one of the cakes in the book. There were a couple of video clips to show how it was made. I asked Miss S who was watching along next to me if I should even attempt to make it and she said “yes”. What almost 3 year old would say no to cake?
I had most of the ingredients in my pantry except for corn syrup and fleur de sel. Didn’t have any of that fancy salt but I did have a little package of pink salt flakes that came with a goodie bag from the Auckland Food Show.
It took one whole day to make – the cake, the caramel, then the butter cream. My poor hand mixer nearly had a heart attack. But ta-da, my first “proper” cake.
Sweet and Salty Cake
It was a very rich cake. One small slice was all I could eat, but thankfully Mr K took the rest to work for morning tea the next day. 
Would I make it again? Probably, but not with the caramel buttercream – I think it would taste better (to me, anyway) covered with a dark chocolate ganache. And the salt does add an interesting talking point to the cake. If I do happen to find fleur de sel, I’d make it again to see what the differences are.
Note: I substituted veg shortening for butter, the fleur de sel for sea salt and pink salt flakes, and omitted the corn syrup.
Cupcakes
I love cupcakes – both the making and eating parts. And I love cupcake cases. They make the simple cupcake look so pretty and dainty. I’ve amassed a small collection and I must say, I’m on the lookout for some more!
Cupcake cases
Chocolate Oat Cookies
Last week, Miss S and I spent a day with friends. This means that us 2 mums relax while the kids entertain themselves.
We had chocolate oat cookies with morning coffee and afternoon tea. These cookies were the most delicious oat cookies I have ever eaten. Golden, soft, chewy and chocolatey. I asked my friend for the recipe and she said that I’d have to ask A, another friend who made them.
So I did, and A kindly emailed me the link to her friend’s site and I made a batch today.
Coffee and Chocolate Oat Cookies
What would one do with the leftover condensed milk, you ask? Make another batch, of course! Or do as I did and make a cup of coffee – 1 tsp instant coffee, 1 tsp condensed milk and hot water (filtered coffee tastes best though – I only had instant in the cupboard). Or Milo or tea.
Mmmm… brownies
I found this recipe a few months ago. Just reading through the ingredient list made my mouth water. Last week, I made sure that mascarpone cheese was the first item on my list (in my head). And what do you know… I had to go back to the supermarket a few hours later.
The first “make” was perfect – I followed the measurements exactly. It also helped that Mr K took Miss S for an afternoon excursion so there was peace and quiet. I wish I remembered to take a photo.
The 2nd “make” … well, I wanted to use up the cheese and used 3/4C instead of 1/2C. Halfway through baking, the brownie was drowning in fat which had to be poured off. The lesson – follow the instructions!
Brownies - 2nd "make"
Despite the drama, they are still VERY nice and this recipe tops my brownie recipe list.
Now the search is on for the perfect chocolate mud cake recipe…
Oreo truffles
My siblings and I had our first taste of Oreo cookies when I was a kid. As it was an imported item back then, it was a special treat when Dad brought home a package from the grocery store. I remember him doing this only once.
I happened to click on bakerella.com when I was doing a search for brownie recipes and I must have spent about an hour looking at her photos and recipes. She’s got a whole range of mouth-watering recipes and wonderful things like cake pops (my daughter loves looking at the Sesame Street characters).
After much browsing, I found her recipe for Oreo Truffles. 3 ingredients! And they are so easy to make. Most importantly, they taste like you’ve spent hours making them
Oreo truffles
The toothpicks make the chocolate coating process so much easier. I should have removed them for the photos, but forgot all about it.