Chocolate Minicakes (chiffon method)

I was in the mood for chocolate.

 
Chocolate with something else.
But I couldn't decide on that 'something else'. 
So I made them all!

Chocolate cake with Ferrero Rocher.
Chocolate cake with almonds.
Chocolate cake with chocolate chips.

This time round, I decided to try my usual cupcake recipe with a twist.
Instead of the usual creaming method, I made these using the chiffon or egg separation method.

The result: a lighter fluffier cake but a little drier.
I reckon it's the meringue.

I can't say if this yielded a better result or not. It's really a matter of personal taste. If you like lighter cakes, this is the way to go; but if you favour denser, richer, moister cakes, then the creaming method would be your choice.

CHOCOLATE CAKE (chiffon method)
Makes 8 regular sized cupcakes.

50g chocolate, plus milk to make 1/2 cup or 120ml volume
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (optional)
30g sugar
80g butter
70g sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
120g plain flour
10g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

In a glass measuring cup, measure 50g of chocolate.
Then pour in milk till it reaches the 1/2 cup or 120ml mark.
Microwave the mixture, stirring frequently, till the chocolate is melted and thoroughly mixed with the milk.
Set aside to cool.

Combine egg whites, cream of tartar and 30g sugar in a mixing bowl.
Whisk till soft peaks form.
Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Add egg yolks one at a time till well combined.
Add vanilla extract.
Add cooled chocolate milk mixture and mix well. 

Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
Add to batter and mix on low till just combined.
Add the meringue and mix on low till just combined.
Or for an even lighter cake, fold in the meringue using a spatula or balloon whisk.

The batter is now ready for the cupcake liners.
For the Rocher cake, fill cupcake liner 3/4, then place a Rocher on top.
For the almond cake, sprinkle some sliced almonds on top.
For the triple choc chip cake, stir some choc chips into the batter, then fill the cupcake liner. Sprinkle top with more choc chips!

Bake at 150*C for about 25 mins.
Best served warm.
Or better still, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream :)

Enjoy!

* * * * * * *

More cake recipes can be found HERE.

Coconut & Double Choc Chip Cupcakes

This is my largest batch of cupcakes so far.  A grand total of 48 mini cupcakes in 2 flavours - coconut, and double choc chip.

Hope my friend and his colleagues enjoy these tomorrow. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

More christmas baking....

These choc chip cookies were made for my colleagues.  I also made 3 other flavours:
* double choc chip cookies
* raisin and white choc
* oatmeal raisin & coconut
but I was in such a rush that I didn't have time to take photos.

Recipe was adapted from Baking Library's Crunchy Choc Chip Cookies.  His recipe is a winner!

Brownie Minicakes with double choc topping

Brownie Cakes make a can't-go-wrong party treat. Great eaten on its own or with some vanilla ice cream, it appeals to kids and grown-ups. For the latter, a generous shot of alcohol is always a welcome addition to the recipe. 

To make an 8" square cake:
120g unsweetened chocolate
110g butter
180g sugar [reduce to 150g if using semi sweet choc]
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbs Amarula liqueur
3 eggs
115g flour
Some nuts, choc chips, and melted choc for topping


1 - Melt choc and butter bain marie. Stir till completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool. 
2 - Stir in sugar, vanilla and liqueur. Mix well.
3 - Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 
4 - Mix in flour till well combined. 
5 - Pour into an 8" greased and lined baking pan. Sprinkle desired amount of nuts and choc chips over batter. Press topping gently into the batter.
6 - Bake at 170*C for 40-45 min. Cake is done when a toothpick holds a few moist crumbs.  

To make chocolate for drizzling, simply melt some chocolate, transfer to a piping bag, and drizzle randomly over brownies. 

Blitzer Cakes

Why are they called Blitzer Cakes?

Because they are made using a blitzer - a.k.a. food processor. 

There couldn't be an easier way to bake.

4 easy steps to 8 mini-cakes...

Step 1:
Put all the following ingredients into the blitzer.

• 65g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 45g sugar
• 30g butter
• 30ml oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbs milk

Step 2:
Blitz everything till smooth.

Step 3:
Scoop batter into muffin cases. Sprinkle choc chips or nuts if you like.

Step 4:
Bake at 160*C for about 15 min.

See, I told you it was easy!

Brownie Cakes

I almost forgot why I preferred baking little individual portions rather than a large cake. The original recipe for this batter was for cupcakes, but I figured I could make a larger square cake and cut it into cute little squares. Same thing right?

Sure... just have to increase the baking time from 20 minutes to 60 minutes!! And being the impatient sort, the waiting almost drove me nuts!

Anyway, this recipe is like a cross between a brownie and choc cake. Sorta like a light brownie; not so heavy, but with the same fudgy taste. Give it a go, and you'll see what I mean.


Recipe for 8" square pan:
160g semi-sweet chocolate
150g butter
200g sugar (add more if using unsweetened choc)
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
140g plain flour


Toppings: (adjust according to taste)
chocolate chips
chopped nuts
marshmallows
sprinkles

1 - Melt chocolate and butter bain marie. Stir till smooth. Set aside to cool.
2 - With a mixer, combine chocolate mixture, sugar, and vanilla.
3 - Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4 - Add flour and mix well. 
5 - Pour into a greased and lined pan. Sprinkle choc chips and nuts on top (as much as you like).
6 - Bake at 160 degC for about 60 min, or until you get moist crumbs from the centre.
7 - When still warm, sprinkle marshmallows and sprinkles and return to oven for 10-20 min till marshmallows are slightly melted and binds to the cake. Allow to cool completely before slicing. 

Looks are deceiving...

Remember my Eggless Double Choc Chip Cupcakes?

I revisited this recipe today 'cos I had such a crappy day at work, I felt I needed a treat to cheer myself up.

Using my new silicone moulds in various shapes - round, heart, triangle, star - I quickly whipped up this batter and gleefully poured them in the moulds. After 15 minutes in the oven, and what seemed like the longest 20 minutes waiting for them to cool down, I finally sank my teeth into a soft, fluffy, chocolatey star shaped piece.  

Okay, feeling a little better now :)

And in all honesty, they really do taste better than they look. 

Damn, I really need a new camera.

Crisco Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband thought I went mad when I bought 2 huge cans of 1.36kg butter-flavoured Crisco. But it was a really really good deal (50% off), and I didn't want to miss this offer...


So now with almost 3kg of shortening in the pantry, that Crisco cookie recipe was just calling out to me. 


Recipe (adapted from Crisco website):


165g butter-flavoured Crisco
170g brown sugar
2 tbs milk
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 egg
225g flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
100g milk chocolate chips
30g white chocolate chips
40g ground peanuts


1 - Beat Crisco, sugar, milk and vanilla till well combined.
2 - Add egg and mix well.
3 - Add flour, salt and baking soda will just combined.
4 - Stir in choc chips and nuts. Add more or less according to your preference. 
5 - Roll cookie dough into small balls and place on ungreased baking tray.
6 - Bake at 190 degC for 8-10 min for chewy cookies; 11-13 min for crispy cookies. If you're using a dark pan, reduce the temperature by 10-20 degC. 

Join me for tea?

Eggless Double Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Many muffin recipes require one egg and a huge amount of flour, enough to make 12 mega size muffins.  Well, huge to me anyway.  And since there are only two of us at home, halving the recipe is tricky because... how do you halve an egg? And what do I do with the other half?

So I decided I would attempt the recipe without the egg, reduce the flour a little, add a bit more liquid, and see what happens.

The results were a pleasant surprise ~ moist, fluffy muffins; almost like cupcakes. Best of all, it's cholesterol free!

Amarula-intoxicated Chocolate Chip Muffins

It's been raining all day.  Perfect weather for indulging in some freshly-baked muffins. 

I started measuring my ingredients, only to discover I didn't have enough milk.  No worries... the bottle of Amarula in the fridge comes to the rescue!

For those who are wondering what is Amarula, it's a cream liqueur from South Africa, made with sugar, cream and the fruit of the African Marula tree.  The liqueur has a slight fruity caramel flavour, the perfect complement for muffins and loaves.  Add it to your bread and butter pudding - you'll be amazed!

Here's the super easy recipe:

the wet stuff
110g butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
240ml (1cup) milk or cream (in my case, it was about 200ml milk and 40ml Amarula)
1.5 tsp vanilla extract (I skipped this since I had so much Amarula in it)

the dry stuff
250g flour
70g white sugar
30g brown sugar (if you don't have brown sugar, just use white sugar)
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
170g chocolate chips (I used half choc chips and half white choc chips, and threw in the last bit of my chocolate bar)

1 - Whisk the wet stuff till well combined.
2 - In another bowl, whisk the dry stuff.
3 - Pour the wet stuff into the dry stuff, and fold till the dry stuff is just moistened.  Batter will be lumpy - this is just fine.  Do not overmix or you'll get tough muffins. 
4 - Fill your muffin cups till about 2/3 or 3/4 full.
5 - Bake at 180 deg C for about 20 min. 

Here's a trick: If your muffin tops come out hard, cool your muffins with a towel over it.  Or let it cool in your oven with the door ajar.


p.s. These are not the best pictures, I know. These were taken from my BB, since I have yet to replace my camera which has gone cranky.  

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I've never been successful with muffins. My earlier muffins always turned out to be either too dense, too dry or too moist, despite following recipes to the dot with great diligence and much effort.

This time, I decided to use the rub-in-butter method instead of my usual melted butter recipe. And since following instructions had not yielded any muffin that had the slightest resemblance to the lovely photos posted in recipe books and blogs, I also made a brave decision to do away with much of the ingredients' measurement. Afterall, they never worked. For this batch of muffins, the only things I measured were flour and butter. The amount for other ingredients were gauged by looking at the batter texture.

Surprise! Surprise! These muffins turned out to be great! They were completely light and fluffy, with the right moisture and texture. Parfait!!!

Here's how I did my muffins.
In a small bowl:

1. Lightly whisk 1 egg with a few spoons of sugar
   

In a big bowl:

1. Sift 200g of flour into a big bowl
2. Put 50g of soft butter into the bowl
3. Stir with a spoon till the mixture resembles bread crumbs
4. Pour in the egg mixture
5. Pour in milk until the texture of the mixture looks like ice cream
6. Scoop into paper cups
7. Bake at 180 degrees