chocolate

Couldn’t Resist….

Posted by annauk1 on March 29, 2014

Posted in: Baking, Cake making, cakes, chocolate. Tagged: caramel, chocolate, peanut butter, Reeses peanut butter cups. 8 Comments

I’ve made it again – the stunningly awesome and brilliant peanut butter cake from The BBC Good Food website 😀

It HAD to be done! It’s a complete show stopper of a cake, elicits ‘oohs and aahs’ left, right and centre! And more importantly – tastes completely delicious!

This time I went completely overboard! I’m not really one for the ‘understated’ look 😉

Decorated with candied peanuts, Reese’s peanut butter cups and extra caramel….

Here’s the original blog post, where you can find the link to the recipe 😀

Have an enjoyable weekend everyone and a fabulous Mother’s Day if you’re celebrating!

Gooey low-carb chocolate pudding

Posted by annauk1 on October 9, 2013

Posted in: chocolate, coconut oil, low-carb, Puds. 4 Comments

The older I get, the more difficult I’m finding it to lose weight, whereas years ago I could afford the odd slip-up (or three!) and still lose weight, now I find it’s nigh on impossible. I really don’t want to live a life of severe restriction, I mean fair play to those that do and succeed, but it’s just not for me.

What is life without chocolate?

I have been trying however, to cut-down on ‘bad’ carbs, white flour, white rice and the like. But today a chocolate craving appeared out of the blue. I could have had a couple of squares of dark chocolate, but I wanted something comforting, warm and gooey.

Cue a recipe that a friend of mine, Jane, shared with me a few years ago. I altered it slightly by using coconut oil instead of butter and adding a couple of tablespoons of coconut milk to slacken the mixture slightly.

Jane’s Gooey Low-carb Chocolate Pudding
Serves 1.

30g ground almonds
30g Xylitol
30g coconut oil, melted
1 egg
pinch of baking powder
pinch of bicarbonate of soda
drop of vanilla extract
2 tbsp coconut milk
2 tbsp Cocoa.

Simply mix all the ingredients together and place in a coconut oil oiled ramekin.

Bake at 180 deg.C (Fan oven) for 15-20 mins.

Dig into the middle to find the molten, coconutty, chocolate centre and, above all, enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bottomed Cheesecake

Posted by annauk1 on July 14, 2013

Posted in: American recipes, Cheese/Cheese products, Cheesecake, chocolate, Desserts. Tagged: chocolate, peanut butter, peanut butter cups, Reese's. 15 Comments

How can the very title of this post not make you want to rush to the nearest supermarket and purchase the ingredients needed to make this delicious delight? That’s exactly what happened to me when my brother George sent me a link to this recipe and asked very nicely if I’d make it next time he and his family came to visit us.

Now, if you know me well, you’ll know my obsession with American recipes, also my like of, er, how shall we say, trashy recipes….and my big, no HUGE adoration of Reese’s peanut butter cups….so, when all three of these obsessions occur in one recipe? It absolutely has to be made!

It has my name all over it.

Destiny.

Here it is in all it’s beautiful, bountiful glory! It’s ok, you can tell me, how over the top it looks!….I can take it. I already know.
And isn’t that just a huge part of it’s charm? I meant, just imagine the chocolatiness, the peanutiness, the denseness of the baked cheesecake!

The recipe can be found HERE on the Tasty Kitchen website. It’s Erika’s recipe, so thank you, thank you Erika from the bottom of my greedy heart!

After the brownie bottom is baked, a layer of chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and Reese’s peanut butter cups are scattered on top. By this point I was almost sighing in delight as the chocolate started melting. Oh. My. Gosh.

The cheesecake filling is made, poured on top and baked:

Isn’t that just a lovely sight? Waiting to be decorated with yet more chocolate peanut butter yumminess.

I’m not one for subtlety, me.
So when all was done and dusted, I sprayed a tiny bit of gold shimmer spray on top. The Midas touch as it were.

Excellent! And completely OTT.

Love.

Elena’s 14th Birthday Chocolate Overload Cake

Posted by annauk1 on March 31, 2013

Posted in: cakes, chocolate, Nigella. 2 Comments

So, my baby is 14.
And this year, we decided to go down the chocolate route. Or rather the chocolate overload route.
Chocolate cake, Nigella’s old-fashioned chocolate cake to be precise. The BEST chocolate cake EVER. Surrounded by kit-kats, topped with maltesers, white chocolate maltesers, oh and a little gold glitter.
Tied with a gold ribbon and surrounded by mini chocolate doughnuts.
Easy, cute and impressive.
Well, my family thought so anyway. As did the Birthday girl! And surely that’s what counts?

Love Bakery Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted by annauk1 on January 16, 2013

Posted in: chocolate, Cupcakes, Off the Shelf. 18 Comments

Aided by the recommendation of my lovely friend Caroline of ‘The Patterned Plate’ fame, I think I have stumbled upon the loveliest chocolate cupcakes thus far in my quest.

What, you didnt know I was on a quest to find the perfect chocolate cupcake?
Darling, that has been one of my missions in life! That and finding out once and for all where all the socks go when they disappear from the washing machine….

What makes them so successful? Think dense, chocolatey crumb, that holds together well, moistly tangy (must be the buttermilk and vinegar) topped off with a chocolate frosting that’s just too delicious! And not a melted chocolate bar in sight!

I was sold. Are you?

Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted from the ‘Love Bakery’ by Samantha Blears.

Makes 12.

For the cakes:

60g unsalted butter (room temperature)
150g caster sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
20g cocoa powder, sifted
150g plain flour
140ml buttermilk
1/2 tsp, Bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 tsp. white wine vinegar

For the frosting:

60g unsalted butter (room temperature)
125g icing sugar
50g cocoa sifted
4 tbsp semi-skimmed milk.

1. Preheat oven to 160 deg. C (Fan oven) Otherwise 180 deg. C.

2. Cream butter and sugar together in a mixer for 7 minutes until light and fluffy.

3. Add egg and mix for 1 minute.

4. Add flour, cocoa and buttermilk and mix for 2 minutes.

5. Add bicarb and vinegar and mix for another minute.

6. Divide equally between 12 muffin cases and bake for approximately 25 minutes.

7. Once the cupcakes are cold, cream the butter and icing sugar together in the mixer for 2 minutes, add the cocoa powder and mix in by hand, then add the milk and mix (in mixer) for 2 minutes.

8. Top the cupcakes with the frosting. I used a ‘large star’ tip and decorate as you wish.

9. Apply to face, ensuring the correct ratio of cupcake to frosting. Repeat.

Marks out of ten? 10.

Would I make these again? Oh yes, again and again……

Would I do anything differently? Nope.

*Update*

It’s Easter Day 20th April 2014.

Ive made these cupcakes again, using a different make of cocoa powder and found them rather too chocolatey for me, verging on a ‘dark chocolate’ taste.

While the rest of the family loved them, they were a little too bitter for me, so do bear this in mind if you also choose a different cocoa powder from normal.

I would perhaps use slightly less in the buttercream next time, maybe 25-30g and increase the amount of icing sugar slightly to compensate.

Hope this helps.

I quite like the odd bit of sluttiness…

Posted by annauk1 on October 18, 2012

Posted in: Baking, Betty Crocker, brownies, chocolate. 9 Comments

….Especially when it comes in the form of these heavenly decadent Oreo-stuffed brownies!

Slutty Brownies

Have you ever seen anything so gorgeous in your entire life?

No, neither have I!

But what if I tell you that all you need are 2 boxes of cake mix and 2 packets of Oreos?

Hello, hello…..Are you still here with me dear reader?

Either you’ve completely switched off now, or if you’re still here, read on!

I’ve gone a bit Twitter mad lately. Being off work with a wrist injury means I’ve loads of time for Social Networking. My days, at the minute, consist of gym, facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Forkly and back again. It’s true – Sad, but true.

So anyways…
I was sat at home the other night, feeling very sorry for myself, waiting for my friends to come round and relieve me of the boredom and monotony, but one by one they let me down. Dont get me wrong – usually they don’t, so we’ll forgive them.
This time.
That left me at home, sat alone with the Oreos.

Trouble.

Big trouble.

And when you have time for trouble and you’re bored, that’s when Twitter steps in.
Two minutes hadn’t passed before my gorgeous, little London -Jewish-Gym-mad- friend Naomi told me about Slutty brownies and how good they were…..

http://www.thelondoner.me/2011/06/slutty-brownies.html

Do I need telling twice? No, I do not!

Oreo filling, on top of cookie dough base mmm

Pouring over the brownie mix…

Finished brownies (Yes, I know HUGE brownies!)

So, Thank you Naomi, from the bottom of my heart, for telling me about these fabulous brownies, for being a sweetheart of a Tweeter and for the constant conversational tweets!

I will make them again….and again….and again……

Nigella’s Snow flecked Brownies

Posted by annauk1 on June 6, 2012

Posted in: brownies, chocolate, Feast, Nigella, Off the Shelf. 20 Comments

My girls, if you’re reading this, one day you will no doubt have need of a really, really good brownie recipe – fudgy, squidgy, chocolatey and with that ‘proper’ crackly top that good brownies have.

Listen to your mother! I have found just that recipe for you both…..These are just The Best!

I’ve made brownies which are too ‘cake-like’, too under-cooked, too over-cooked, but these beauties really are perfect! And how apt that they come from my most loved cookbook of all time, Nigella Lawson’s awesome masterpiece ‘Feast’.
I have halved Nigella’s recipe, as otherwise it makes far too many (Can one have too many brownies?)

Snow-Flecked Brownies
Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s ‘Feast’.

190g butter
190g dark chocolate
3 eggs
175g Caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
115g plain flour
Half tsp salt
125g white chocolate chips or chunks
icing sugar for dusting.

1. Preheat oven to 160degC (fan oven)

2. Line the sides and base of a small rectangular brownie pan (mine is 24cm x 27cm) with foil or baking parchment.

3. Melt the butter and dark chocolate (I do it in the microwave in short bursts, stopping before the chocolate has completely melted. It finishes melting in the residual heat)

4. In a bowl beat the eggs with the caster sugar and vanilla.

5. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool a little, then add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. Fold in the flour and salt, then stir in the white chocolate chips/chunks.

6. Pour the mix into the prepared tin.

7. Bake for 25 minutes.

8. When cool dust with icing sugar.

December ‘We should Cocoa’

Posted by annauk1 on December 6, 2011

Posted in: chocolate, How to be a Domestic Goddess, Nigella, We Should Cocoa. 9 Comments

I was determined this month, as soon as I read about the December ‘We should cocoa’ challenge, that I would be entering. I always have such good intentions to enter, but when time is limited, as it has been lately, sometimes it’s just not possible.
So, I was really pleased to read on Chocolate log blog that this month’s added ingredient, chosen by Choclette, is orange,

because chocolate and orange together ROCK!

What could be easier than Nigella’s storecupboard chocolate and orange cake?
Basically a cake made with chocolate and most of a jar of orange marmalade!

It’s a lovely cake, because the texture is moist and fudgy (I suppose because of the marmalade) and the finished article is not sickly sweet, but has that bitter, orangey edge.

Nigella’s Storecupboard Chocolate and Orange Cake
Recipe adapted from ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess’ by Nigella Lawson.

125g unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
300g thin-cut marmalade
150g caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 lg eggs, beaten
150g self-raising flour

20cm springform tin, buttered and floured (I always line mine with baking parchment too, because this cake is moist and I’m always scared that it will stick!)

Preheat the oven to 180 deg.C (Gas mark 4)

1. Put butter in a pan, melt over low heat, stir in the chocolate, leave for a moment, take off the heat and keep stirring until butter and chocolate are both melted.

2. Add the marmalade, sugar, salt and eggs, stir with a spoon, then add the flour bit by bit.

3. Pour into tin and bake for about 50 mins.

4. Cool for 10 mins, before turning out.

Now, full steam ahead, Dom’s challenge next!

‘Make space for some Christmas Charity’

Fat Witch Brownies

Posted by annauk1 on August 31, 2011

Posted in: brownies, chocolate, Fat Witch Brownies. 11 Comments

Brownies really fit the bill when it comes to wanting something home-made, sweet and chocolatey.
I love the way that you can get that great chocolate high easily and with minimum fuss!
Now that I don’t have as much time on my hands, due to working extra hours, it’s nice that we can still bake, but in a slightly less languorous way.
This was my first recipe from the ‘Fat Witch Brownies’ book. And it definitely won’t be my last! The only slight problem I have is the fact that, being an American book, the butter is measured in sticks and tablespoons, which I find slightly confusing. It’s not too difficult however to find conversions on the internet.

Fat Witch Brownies.

14 tbsp (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter. (I count each tablespoon as 15 g of butter)
Half a cup plus 2 tbsp bittersweet (plain) chocolate chips (I only had milk chocolate chips at home, so used those)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 lg eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Half a cup plus 2 tbsp plain flour
pinch of salt.

Grease a 9 x 9 inch pan with butter, dust with flour and tap out excess. I generally just line my pan with aluminium foil which I lightly butter, I find the brownies come out really well this way.

1. Melt butter and chocolate in a small pan over a low heat (I do mine slowly in the microwave in short bursts, checking every 20-30 seconds) Set aside to cool.

2. Cream the sugar, eggs and vanilla together. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and mix.

3. sift the flour and salt in next, mix the batter gently. Stir in any extras you desire eg walnuts, choc chips.

4. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake for 33 minutes at 350 Deg.F. or 160 Deg. C in a fan assisted oven.
Mine needed an extra 10 minutes.

5. Cool on a rack for 1 hour…..if you can wait that long…..

Marks out of ten? 9.

Would I make them again? I’m working my way through the book at the minute….

Would I do anything differently? No, they’re nigh on perfect.

And yes, I know I swore allegiance to Mary Berry’s brownies a couple of posts ago……. But a girl’s allowed to change her mind, right?

Recipe adapted from ‘Fat Witch Brownies’ by Patricia Helding.

What do you get when you mix up Mary Berry and the Hummingbird bakery?

Posted by annauk1 on August 20, 2011

Posted in: brownies, chocolate, Hummingbird bakery, Mary Berry. 27 Comments

You get my family’s favourite brownies! that’s what.

You may like to skip past this post if you like your brownies very fudgy, bitter and made with lots of extravagantly priced chocolate.

This is not that kind of recipe.

Think of a family-friendly brownie that both children and adults alike will enjoy, made with cocoa powder and chocolate chips, covered with a tangy, creamy chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Heavenly.

Mary Berry’s chocolate chip brownies:

275g softened butter
375g caster sugar
4 large eggs
75g cocoa powder
100g self-raising flour
100g plain chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 180deg. C or 160 deg. C if you have a fan oven.

Grease and line a 12x9inch tray with baking parchment or foil.

Measure all the ingredients into a large bowl and beat until blended.

Spoon mixture into the prepared tin, levelling the top.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. cover with foil if browning too much towards the end of the cooking time.

Leave to cool in the tin, then remove and cut into 24 squares. (I never, ever get 24 squares, LOL!)

Hummingbird bakery’s chocolate cream cheese frosting:

200g icing sugar, sifted
75g unsalted butter at room temperature
30g cocoa powder, sifted
150g cream cheese, cold.

Beat together the icing sugar, cocoa powder and butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attatchment on medium-low until mixture has come together.
Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until completely incorporated.
Turn mixer up to medium high, continue beating until frosting is light and fluffy, at least five minutes.

When the brownies are cold, spread the gorgeous frosting over the top.
Scrummy and yummy and gorgeous!