One Bowl Chocolate Cake

This recipe is a keeper and is one of the moistest chocolate cake I've ever made, and it's so so simple!

I suggest watching this video to see how Donna Hay wraps the tin for easy removal of the cake.

If you're planning to eat it not long after it's been baked, then just refrigerate for 1-2 hours to firm it up. However if you are planning to make ahead of time, then just leave it to cool on the counter until you are ready to eat it.

Keeping it too long in the fridge will make the cake rock hard. 

Best eaten with whipped soft cream.

Ingredients

125g butter, chopped

375g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup (175g) brown sugar

¼ cup (35g) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup (120g) almond meal (ground almonds)

5 eggs

cocoa, for dusting

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F).
2. Place the butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl and either microwave in short bursts until melted or melt in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
3. Into this bowl, add the sugar, flour, milk and almond meal and mix to combine with a spatula.
4. Add the eggs in and mix well.
5. Pour mixture into a greased 22cm round springform tin lined with non-stick baking paper.
6. Cover the tin with aluminium foil and bake for 40 minutes.
7. Uncover and cool in the tin.
8. Dust with cocoa and serve with cream and berries.

Oat, Raisin & Chocolate Chip Cookie

Been looking out for a Oat & Raisin Cookie, and this recipe from Donna Hay is a keeper.

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• ⅓ cup caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 175g unsalted butter, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of (baking) soda
• 2 cups rolled oats
• ¼ cup raisins
• 150g dark chocolate, chopped
• 
  

Method

Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). I used a turbo fan setting.

Place both the sugars, vanilla, butter and egg in the bowl of a food processor and process until well combined. 

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and oats and process until combined. 

Add the raisins and chocolate and using a spoon, mix to combine. 

Roll 1 tablespoon of dough at a time into balls and place on baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper, leaving room to spread. 

Bake for 10–12 minutes or until golden. Cool on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 24.

Recipe : Blueberry Muffins & Chocolate-Banana Muffins

Donna Hay's tagline for her recipes are - fast, fresh and simple!

And that's exactly what her blueberry muffins are.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2½ cups (375g) Self-Raising flour - sifted
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 cup (220g) Caster Sugar
½ cup (125ml) Vegetable Oil
1 Egg
½ cup (125ml) Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
300gm Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
Granulated Sugar for Sprinkling - optional

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). 
2. Place the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. 
3. Place the oil, egg, milk and vanilla in a separate bowl and whisk to combine. 
4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the blueberries and mix to combine. 
5. Spoon mixture into a 12-hole ½-cup capacity (125ml) muffin tin lined with paper patty cases. 
6. Sprinkle the tops with sugar and bake for 30–35 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. 
7. Remove from tin and cool on a wire rack.

The entire recipe probably took me only 15 minutes or less to prepare. How awesome is that!

This was my first time baking anything with blueberries.
Tip : Use frozen berries instead of fresh. They taste better!
Tip : If you don't have muffin cases, use big size cupcake cases, you'll get about 16 muffins.

Few days later I bought some bananas and voila!

Chocolate-Banana Muffins

And I thought this tasted even better than the blueberry muffins.

Donna even has a simple video that you can follow along if you're not too confident in baking. But trust me, it's really simple to do!
 

Stash from BBW Sale : The Oprah Magazine Cookbook @ RM25

A must get book with recipes from especially all the celebrity chefs that appear on The Oprah Winfrey's Show.

Recipe : Chocolate Ice-Cream (with egg)

This is a slightly more complicated recipe compared to the Chocolate Ice-Cream (without egg) one. But it's worth the trouble, trust me.

To make this classic, use good quality chocolate to give the best flavour.

Serves 6.

Got this recipe from 500 Delicious Desserts Book.

Ingredients:
750ml / 3 cups milk
10cm / 4inch piece of vanilla pod
4 Egg Yolks
150gm / 5 oz or 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
225gm / 8oz Dark (bittersweet) Chocolate, melted
* If Milk Chocolate is used rather than Dark Chocolate, you'll get a very sweet ice-cream. Too sweet for my taste buds. Good quality bittersweet dark chocolate is best!

Method:
1. To make the custard, heat the milk with the vanilla pod in a small pan. Remove from the heat as soon as small bubbles start to form. Do not boil. 

2. Beat the egg yolks with a wire whisk or electric beater. Gradually incorporate the sugar, and continue beating for about 5 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow. Strain the milk, and slowly add it to the egg mixture, drop by drop.

3. Pour the mixture into a double boiler with the melted chocolate. Stir over moderate heat until the water in the pan is boiling, and the custard thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

4. Pour mixture into an ice-cream maker and let it mix till thickened. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If you would like a firmer consistency, place them into a container and in the freezer for 2 hours.

5. If you don't have an ice-cream maker, after point 4 - Pour mixture into a freezer container and freeze until set, about 3 hours. Remove from the container and chop roughly into 3 inch pieces. Place in a bowl of a food processor and process till smooth. Return to the freezer container, and freeze again until firm. Repeat the freezing-chopping process 2 or 3 times until a smooth consistency is reached, then freeze until it is to be served.

I don't have a picture of this ice-cream cos we walloped it before I could manage to snap one. =p

Perfect Gift

Mum got me this book on her last trip to Singapore. A book just on desserts!! The perfect gift!

I've tried out 2 recipes from this book so far, the chocolate ice-cream and vanilla ice-cream and they both turn out perfect! (ah, just realised I've not posted the recipe for the chocolate ice-cream from this book).

Saw this book and variations of it at the Big Bad Wolf Sale, going for really cheap prices. If you are looking out for good recipes book, one with recipes that actually turn out well, this is definitely the range to go for.

I've recently looked through this book again and marked out the recipes that I want to try out next. Stay tune for that!

Stash from BBW Sale : Mediterranean, Food of the Sun @ RM8

Got this book thinking mainly of Z =p She loves experimenting new cuisine and has made quite a few Middle Eastern dishes. This is a really thick book filled with healthy, hearty, light meal, and only at RM8.

Recipe : Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies

These delicate cookies are quickly and easily made and taste distinctly better than any shop-bought version. Using ready-toasted chopped hazelnuts can save even more time. 

Ingredients:
4oz / 110g Dark Chocolate Chips - good quality
1 Vanilla Pod
4oz / 110g Soft Butter - good quality (I use either Tatura or Anchor)
4oz / 110g Light Soft Brown Sugar
1 Medium Egg
2oz / 50g Toasted Hazelnuts - chopped
3oz / 75g Plain Wholemeal Flour

Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
- Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

1. Begin by splitting the vanilla pod lengthways and, using the end of a teaspoon or a small sharp knife, scoop out the seeds.

2. Put the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the egg and vanilla seeds before adding the remaining ingredients, then stir until thoroughly mixed.

4. Take spoonfuls of the dough, sufficient to form small rounds about the size of a walnut, then arrange them, well spaced out on the baking trays. (You will find it easier to bake one batch at a time).

5. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies turn golden color and feel firm in the centre when slightly pressed. Once baked, remove from baking sheets with a palette knife. Cool them on a wire rack and when cold, store in an airtight container.

* Makes about 60 small cookies or 30 big cookies.
** The dough will spread out quite a bit while baking.

Stash from BBW Sale : Grill @ RM8

Another steal at the BBW Sale. Will come in handy now that we have a BBQ grill at home, thanks to my lovely mum who got the grill for me.

Recipe : Hazelnut "melt in your mouth" Cookies

2 batches of this 'melt in your mouth' cookies just fresh out of the oven for Christmas. I love simple and yet great tasting cookies. This recipe is mum's genius invention, also published in her second book, Heritage Cookbook.

Ingredients:

175 grams Salted Butter

75 grams Icing Sugar

125 grams Plain Flour

75 grams Cormflour

50 grams Ground Hazelnut

75 grams Roasted & Chopped Hazelnuts

Method:

1. Mix plain flour, cornflour and ground hazelnut together in a medium sized bowl.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. (tip : use good butter like Anchor or Tatura, the quality of your butter determines the quality and taste of your cookies)
3. Mix in the dry ingredients, followed by the chopped hazelnuts.
4. Keep mixture in the fridge (not freezer) to firm up a little.
5. Remove from fridge, make small balls and flatten a little with a fork.
6. Bake for 15 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius.
7. Remove and cool on rack.

* makes about 64 good sized cookies per batch.

No longer a virgin...

to the Big Bad Wolf Sales. 

Check out the plunder mum and I came home with!

Sadly though, the 3 main cooks I wanted to get were not available. But I got some pretty good deals on some other books.

Got mainly cooking, baking, biographies, true stories and some Christmas gifts. Can't wait to start on them.