What I Did for Valentine’s Day

I’ve had quite an eventful weekend. This was the first weekend where I forced myself to do homework, tons of homework, after work  and throughout the week, instead of waiting for the weekend. This was because Friday, February 15 was my Valentine’s Day. I haven’t had a chance to really hang out and see Boyfriend the past three weeks or so. And I know there’s a chance I won’t be seeing him this weekend either (thanks odd work schedule). So we decided to be indulgent, and extravagant, and lovey-dovey (sort of), and have a Valentine’s Weekend.

Not so much because we’re lovers of the holiday (and I’ve read plenty of blog posts about how Valentine’s day should be every day, and why should men assume that they can be awesome this one day, and completely romantic and the rest of the time be completely ignorant in the ways of love) but because we haven’t seen each other in a long time, and we haven’t been alone in a long time, and just, couple-y, therefore Valentine’s way the perfect excuse to go over the top.

That being said, I was so happy with how our plans turned out that I, sadly, didn’t take many photos (being so lost in the many moments). My apologies. I did take a few photos. And I hope to be better in the future about it, however, there are recipes that I made (even though two photos are missing), that were completely amazing, and I can’t wait to make them again!

But first, say hello to my three new Otto fishes. I could only get a shot of two at a time, so you’ll have to imagine the third

First recipe up, is this lovely Molten Chocolate Cake. 

This was my first time making this recipe, so I followed it to the T, except for used two larger ramekins (to serve two, obviously), and adjusted the cooking time to 15 minutes. The original recipe follows.

4 pieces (squares) Bitter-sweet or Semi-sweet or just plain sweet Chocolate (this is a matter of preference)*

½ cups Butter, chopped into several pieces

1 cup Confectioner’s or Powdered Sugar plus an extra 1-2 Tablespoon for dusting, separated

2 whole Eggs plus 2 Egg yolks

6 Tablespoons Flour

*I actually used chocolate chips, and eyeballed what I thought 4 squares would be. It really doesn’t matter here how much chocolate you use. I think mine was roughly 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chips.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease/spray about 4 custard molds/cups or small ramekins with a non-stick spray and then place them on a baking tray (cookie sheet).The next step requires melting the butter and chocolate. You can use the microwave, in 20 second increments till the butter is melted and the chocolate is softened. Or, you can use a double boiler. (I used the microwave. It’ll look scary with all that butter surrounding the chocolate, at least it was scary for me, however you have to keep stirring, and it’ll all work out).

Add 1 cup powdered sugar then whisk together until smooth.

Add the 2 eggs and the 2 egg yolks then whisk together again until smooth. Stir in the flour till just combined. Divide the batter into the four (or two) ramekins you’re using.

Bake until the sides and top are firm, but center is slightly wobbly and gooey. Let sit for 2 minutes (no more and no less, I MEAN IT), and serve by inverting to a plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with whipped cream.

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Next recipe comes without a photo. This one came from Add A Pinch, and was really an amazing recipe. The only thing I can say I followed was the gorgonzola butter and improvised, to taste, the rest. Below is my rendition of the recipe, but you can follow the link to view the original.

Skillet Steaks with Gorgonzola Butter

2 Ribeye steaks

Salt and pepper

Herbs de Provance

1/2 cup cognac

Gorgonzola cheese, about 4 tbsp

4 tbsp butter, softened at room temp

Pat dry the steaks to they are free from blood. Take a fork and liberally stab the steaks throughout, on both sides, and by the fat areas. Season with salt and pepper on both sides. Place the steaks in a ziplock bag and add the cognac. Close the bag and refrigerate for about 30 minutes, and up to several hours.

Next, season your cast iron skillet* and heat it over medium heat. Take out the steaks and let them come to room temperature (about 10 minutes) while the skillet is heating up. Dry the steaks again, when taking out of the cognac marinade. Do not do this liberally. I did because I was so hungry and in a hurry, and my steaks did not brown as well as I would  have liked.

Place in skillet, and cook about three minuets each side. I started off with two minutes a side, but had to turn mine about two and a half times because they were thick .

While the steaks are cooking, mix the butter with the gorgonzola cheese, and place in fridge, to wait for the steaks.

When the steaks are ready, sprinkle top with herb de provance and let sit for three minutes before plating. When placing on plate add a generous tbsp of the gorgonzola butter to melt and ooze around the meat.

Serve with potatoes, salad, bread, and good wine.

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Lastly, this recipe has been in the making for a while. I added more cheese than the recipe called for and added my own spices to the mix, however, the recipe basics were thanks to allrecipes.com.

This recipe too, was too good to be photographed. I even forgot to photograph this while writing up this post, when eating leftovers. So Sorry!

Baked Ziti

1 lb dry ziti pasta

1 onion, chopped

1 lb gound beef

2 (26 oz) jars of your favorite pasta sauce (I used tomato and basil flavor)

1 tbsp salt and pepper (or to taste)

1 tbsp herbs de provance

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tbsp grouond garlic and ground onion powders

dash of liquid smoke

1 1/2 cups sour cream

6 oz of provolone cheese (sliced)– again, I used I believe 8 oz, a full Sargento bag of sliced provolone

6 oz of sliced mozerella—again from sargento, and I used the whole bag

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.

In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F . Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese, provolone cheese, and remaining sauce mixture. Top with remaining mozerella cheese slices and grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

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Lastly, I want to say Happy Valentine’s Day again to all those that celebrate or enjoy the lovey stuff that comes with the holiday. The photo above has become a standard dessert treat I’ve been making myself after working out and a light dinner. I’m feeling great and happy, and I must say, nothing makes me feel better than strawberries, chocolate sprinkles, and whipped cream.

The Baking Frenzy

Well the Christmas holiday is right around the corner, and I suppose you could say I’ve gone a bit mad with the baking. Christmas Eve will be celebrated at Boyfriend’s family home (his cousin’s) to be  exact. I usually bring dessert or some sort of after dinner treat, simply because it’s what I do. Growing up I was taught that the Hostess had to have something for herself, a bottle of wine, some nice cheese, a spa set, etc, and she shouldn’t ever have to worry about dessert.

Well, I have taken care of dessert, and then some!

First, I started off with  some chocolate crackle cookies with frosting and holiday sprinkles and some Ruby Thumbprint cookies, not to mention a new snickerdoodle recipe.

It’s a little difficult to imagine how many people these cookies alone will serve, however I have vanilla cake and chocolate guinness gingerbread ahead! I’m almost positive that I’ve started to crack. But in the most delicious way.

Chocolate Christmas Cookies with Glaze

1 1/8 cups soft butter (2 1/4 sticks, 18 tbsp)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Topping:
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
candy sprinkles or sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F Line a cookie sheet with parchment or Silpat.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Sift 1/3 c cocoa powder into the mixture and beat well. Sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder, and add to mixture. (Optionally, combine everything in a food processor and mix until combined.).

Form 1 tbsp sized balls. Place on cookie sheet at least 2″ apart, pressing down into fat discs. (The dough will be very sticky; gloves may be a good idea.).

Bake 15 minutes. The tops will develop a cracked appearance. Cool 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled. (Placing a sheet of newspaper under the rack will help catch drips in the next step.).

For the topping, combine 2 tbsp cocoa powder with confectioner’s sugar, boiling water and vanilla in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat and whisk until smooth. Cool 10 minutes.

Drizzle 1 tbsp of glaze on each cookie, spreading lightly with the back of the spoon, then sprinkle with sprinkles or sanding sugar. Work with 6 cookies at a time so the glaze doesn’t dry out before applying the sprinkles.

Saveur Snickerdoodles

3 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
1 3⁄4 cups sugar
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Using a handheld mixer on medium speed, beat 1 1⁄2 cups sugar and the butter together in a medium bowl until pale and fluffy, 2 minutes.

Add 2 tsp. cinnamon and the vanilla; beat for 1 minute more. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add reserved dry ingredients; mix on low speed until just combined.

Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 375°.

Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Remove dough from refrigerator and, using a 1-tbsp. measure, spoon out 48 portions, rolling each portion into a 1″ ball as you go. Roll each ball in cinnamon–sugar mixture to coat.

Arrange dough balls 2″ apart on 2 parchment paper–lined baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.

Guinness Gingerbread

1 1/4 sticks 10 (tablespoons) butter, plus some for greasing
1 cup golden syrup (such as Lyle’s)
1 cup (packed) plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.

Line your cake pan with aluminium foil and grease it, or grease your foil tray.

 Put the butter, syrup, dark brown sugar, stout, ginger, cinnamon and ground cloves into a pan and melt gently over a low heat.

Take off the heat and whisk in the flour and baking soda. You will need to be patient and whisk thoroughly to get rid of any lumps.

Whisk the sour cream and eggs together in a measuring jug and then beat into the gingerbread mixture, whisking again to get a smooth batter.

Pour this into your cake/foil pan, and bake for about 45 minutes; when it’s ready it will be “gleamingly” risen at the center, and coming away from the pan at the sides.

Let the gingerbread cool before cutting into slices or squares.

(I garnished my gingerbread after slicing, with some powdered sugar and pine trees with deer)

Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies with Glitter (Adapted from Curry and Comfort)

1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
almond meal as needed (about 2-3oz)
Strawberry jelly as needed ( or any jam/ jelly you prefer… strawberry, raspberry, grape, etc…)
Edible glitter (if you have any)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix everything except the glitter and almond meal,  in a large bowl, making sure it’s all well incorporated. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll again in the almond meal. I used a bowl to roll the dough in to make it easier to get the sides coated. The dough is very sticky, so this step isn’t necessary but a nice touch.

Using your thumb or index finger, indent a hole in the middle of the cookie, making sure not to go too low. Fill with your choice of jam/jelly.

Bake for 13-15 minutes. Let cool completely (about 15 minutes) before topping with glitter.

Train Rides and Nutella Muffins

This weekend was pretty darn close to perfect. I went on a vintage train with Boyfriend and we got lots of time to do homework together, do errands together, and even pretty up my apartment… together! We did everything together and I must say it was a great and lovely time.

Fillmore and Western Railway Train

Inside the amazing and old train

we were on a “scenic” weekend tour… it was a lot of farm land and trailer parks

LOOSE CABOOSE mini chicken farm

This fan is probably older than my grandfather!

 

I even looked after a friend’s doggies this weekend. My first time pet sitting for someone that isn’t my mom and Miss Kitty Cat. I’m excited to say that they are very healthy, well fed, and happy. I hope my friend doesn’t mind me showing off her pooches, they were really adorable. And a little insane cause of the lack of attention. Nonetheless, you can see they were still fun.

 

 

As a result of this very fruitful and amazing weekend I decided to clean and bake for the first time in about two-three weeks. The fact that I’ve been too busy to bake has been astonishing for me, the person that would sometimes bake cookies or muffins and a cake in the same day to have “variety” for the rest of the week.

I’ve had a small sweet tooth for warmth lately. I don’t even know if that makes sense, but that’s what I’ve been craving: cinnamon, apples, brown sugar, caramel, all those amazing things.

I’ve had this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction pinned on google chrome for a while now. And the last time I baked something I used one of her recipes, so I figured now is as good at time as any to get on the nutella train, knowing what I’d make would be delicious.

 

 

Nutella Stuffed Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

makes 8-9 muffins

• 1/3 cup (5 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk, but regular is fine)
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 tsp Nutella

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 425F.  Spray muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed.  Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and milk. Gently stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  DO NOT overmix – stir until *just* combined.

Spoon 1 heaping Tablespoon of batter into muffin cavity.  Layer with 1 tsp Nutella in the center and spoon another heaping Tablespoon of batter on top.  If the muffin tins are completely full, that is ok.  They will not overflow.  Repeat layering batter + Nutella into each muffin tin.  I got exactly 8 muffins.

Bake at 425F for 5 minutes.  Reduce oven to 350F and bake for an additional 13-17 minutes until batter is set. Allow muffins to cool for about 5 minutes.

While the muffins are cooling, make the cinnamon-sugar topping.  Melt the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave.  Stir and stick back in microwave if not fully melted.  In a separate small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon.  Dip the top of each muffin into the melted butter and dip into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Swirl them around in the cinnamon-sugar a bit to make sure you get a thick coating. Set upright on cooling rack.  Enjoy!*

 

 

*I didn’t make the streusal topping because I added a bit more nutella and I didn’t want them so sweet that I wouldn’t eat them, so I sprinkled some raw sugar over the top instead.

Peanut Butter & Banana Tiramisu

I was walking around the kitchen today and I noticed some very sad looking bananas. You know the type, all brown, sloppy looking, with a very ripe smell that suggests “mash me”.  I’ve made pudding with bananas before, bread and muffins as well, and I wanted to try something different. Also, I wanted to finish the jar of peanut butter that’s been looking at me from the corner.

So I decided to attempt this concoction. And it was amazing!

• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup peanut butter
• amaretti cookies, roughly 12
• 3 tbsp amaretto liquor
• instant espresso (not coffee make sure it’s espresso), 2-3 tbsp, to taste
• 1/4 cup hot water
• cocoa powder, for dusting

Add the bananas to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the peanut butter and heavy cream, and whip up till stiff, about 3 minutes on medium speed.

To make the espresso necessary, simply add the amount of instant espresso that’s to your taste, the stronger the better, here, and pour hot water over. You don’t need a lot here, just about 3 tbsp.

Crumble two cookies per each bowl/ serving (I used a pint jar, 3 total).  Pour a tablespoon of amaretto liquor into each jar, over the cookies. It’s okay if it doesn’t soak in perfectly, or if it’s sitting on the bottom, that doesn’t matter. Add a layer of banana-peanut butter-cream, crumble 1 1/2 -2 cookies on top of that per serving.

Pour a tablespoon of espresso over the latest layer of cookie. Follow by the final layer of cream. Sprinkle cocoa powder on top and chill for up to 3 hours.

I covered mine up with the jar lids to compress everything together.

Tea Party Part III: Butter Sugar Cookies in Festive Coating

Going off of my Tea Party theme I seem to have adopted for the month of July, I decided to make something that goes so perfectly with tea, dare I say better than Biscotti, I’m surprised it took me almost a week to figure out what I was missing out on!

What I’m babbling on about is of course, sugar butter cookies. Almost like the Danish cookies you get for Christmas and devour, more or less, within the week, these cookies are amazingly soft but have great bite. Perfect for dunking, dipping and doing what you must to a cookie and a cup of tea.

I’ve got to admit that I have a bit of a phobia when it comes to making cookies like these, for no other reason than that I have to roll and cut them out, and having limited counter space, all the extra work of cleaning and prepping and cleaning and putting away is too daunting. Thank goodness I was in a cookie mood, no matter the extra chores.

taken from Life’s a Feast

For the cookies:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tbs Amaretto, optional
• ½ tsp vanilla – increase to 1 tsp if omitting the Amaretto
• 3 ½ cups  flour

To decorate:

• 1 lightly beaten egg
• Colored sugar crystals, sprinkles/jimmies or sugared flower petal nibs

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and the sugar until light and fluffy (I felt like being completely domestic and wearing an apron, I’m quite proud to say I creamed the butter with sugar by hand).

Add the eggs one at a time, beating briefly after each addition just to incorporate.

Beat in the Amaretto and vanilla and then about a third of the flour until smooth. Gradually beat in as much of the remaining flour as possible using the electric beater, then stir in the rest with a wooden spoon or a spatula.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead quickly; if you haven’t stirred in all of the flour you can knead in the rest quite easily. Once you have a smooth, homogeneous dough, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Working with about half the dough at a time, roll it out to a thickness of not less than 1/8-inch , being careful that the dough is very evenly rolled out.

Carefully cut out shapes with your cookie cutters. Gently transfer to a cookie sheet. If you want to decorate, just gently lift the cookies one by one, brush around the edges with a beaten egg, then dip in the decorative sugar before placing on the cookie sheets.

Bake for about 10 minutes. They will be set and appear cooked but they will NOT brown (I’m bolding this for  a reason: they won’t brown, seriously, don’t even attempt it or they will be dry crackers).  You’ll know they are done because they will slide right off the cookie sheet when just nudged with a spatula.

Remove from the oven and gently lift each cookie off of the baking sheet and place on a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before enjoying.

Love of Pistachios and Tea: Chocolate Covered Biscotti

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything lovely and delicious. It’s been a very long, slow, and mostly, workless summer. The latter is the reason why I’ve been scrimping and not producing anything delectable. However, being well stocked in the pantry as I am, I realized that most of the recipes I wanted to try and make over summer were very do-able. I had everything necessary to make them all along!

It’s sort of like that moment in Wizard of Oz when Dorothy realizes she’s had the means to go home all along, but she was never told– which is not only unfair, but sneaky, and a little cruel.

I digress.

The reason for this lovely number is a desire to turn British, in a way. I’ve no desire to move to London, start saying “Bloody Hell” (that’s the only slang that comes to mind at the moment, sorry), etc. but I’m every eager to start drinking afternoon tea. According to my research (google and wiki), the three points in the day when drinking tea is acceptable is 11am, 2:30pm, and 4pm. Otherwise, you’re just pushing you’re luck.

But I’m in America, and I’ll be taking my tea at noon, or 1:30. And if I’m feeling very risky, perhaps even 8pm!

This is my first batch of biscotti, and one of many recipes that go well with tea, or are classics to be expected at a tea party.

As it was my first attempt they were a great experience. And while I had a few doubts and tried out a lot of different things, I was glad they came out wonderfully.

Makes 12 Biscotti (for me)

Slightly adapted from Buttermilk Party Cake

• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 tbsp honey
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup chopped pistachios
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• seeds from 10 cardamom pods
• 1 egg (for egg wash), optional
• raw sugar, approx 1/4 cup, optional

*1 tbsp milk (I used coconut) if too dry

 

Chocolate Ganache:

• 1 cup chocolate chips, I used semi-sweet
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Mix your dry ingredients with the sugar and honey. Beat the eggs and add them into the dry mix a little at a time, until a wet dough forms. Then mix in the pistachios, lemon juice and zest, and cardamom seeds. If you’re dough isn’t wet enough, go ahead and add in the tbsp of milk. Mix, and with hands coerce  into a log.

Turn the dough out onto a very well floured surface, and roll it into a log shape. It’s ok if it won’t stay perfectly cylindrical—the log will flatten out a little.

 

For a bit of color, I added some egg wash on top.

 

Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment at 300 degree  for 30 minutes,  then remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Cut the cooled log on the diagonal, in about 3/4 inch slices. Arrange the slices back on the baking tray, adding egg wash if desired (I also added on some sprinkled raw sugar just for fun), and bake for 10 minutes. Flip the biscotti over and bake for a further 10 minutes.

Dip into chocolate ganache if desired.

For the Ganache: in a microwave safe bowl add the chips and cream and heat on high for 1 minute. Stir, and continue to heat through in 20 second bursts till melted through. If it starts to thicken, pop into the microwave. This isn’t a traditional ganache recipe, but it’s close enough; I wasn’t patient enough to do the double boiler thing this time around.

Chocolate Bundt Cake for a Dear Friend

My friend was coming over today to visit from Vegas. I haven’t seen her years, and while we used to converse daily (because worked together) and went out all the time to cheer each other up during those bad times in life, we’ve been bad keeping in touch. Family, work, school, life, tends to get in the way.

In any case she was able to stop by and we had a wonderful time, thanks, in part, to this lovely cake.

This recipe was adapted from Food Librarian

Chocolate Bundt Cake

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp (or 5 tbsp) cocoa

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon

• 2/3 cup minus 1 tbsp taken out of vanilla flavored coconut milk
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp baking soda

• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

Bring to a boil in a pot: Water, oil, butter and cocoa

In a large bowl, combine together with a whisk: flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon

Add the chocolate mixture to the flour and mix until combined.

doesn’t look appetizing I know. But that’s what happens when you don’t stir and take the picture.

Add a tbsp of white vinegar in a 1/3 cup measure and fill to top with coconut milk (I used vanilla flavored) and pour into a small bowl. Add another 1/3 cup of coconut milk, and the 1/3 cup of heavy cream. (If you have a 2/3 measuring cup or some other way of measuring it, just add 1 tbsp of vinegar first to the bottom then fill up with coconut milk till you get 2/3 cup. Then add the heavy cream till you get a full 1 cup of liquid).

Add milk mixture to the batter with baking soda and mix together.

not too appetizing at the moment, but lovely when you mix it

In a small bowl, combine the eggs and vanilla. Add to the batter and combine.

Pour batter into greased 10 or 12-cup Bundt pan and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. Mine took about 37 minutes, it was very liquidy, and although I added more liquid than the original recipe called for I think it added a lot of tenderness to the cake it wouldn’t have otherwise had to the extreme amount of cocoa powder necessary.   Don’t forget to cool in the in pan, about 13 minutes or so.

Top with a dusting of powdered sugar or a simple glaze of powdered sugar and milk or water (though I opted for the powdered sugar, not the glaze).

The Divine Chocolate Strawberry

I recently made these lovely babies and I realized that I didn’t share my successes with you all!

Ingredients:

• About 15-20 strawberries
• 12 oz (whole bag) milk chocolate chips, any brand
• 1 tbsp heavy cream

Clean and dry your strawberries leaving the greens in tact. As you can see, that just makes them that much more delicious! In a microwave safe bowl dump out all the chips, and microwave for about 2 minutes. Check on them and stir with spatula to check if all are melted. If most (approx 90% melted) are, them add in the heavy cream, mix, and pop in the microwave again for 15 seconds to get completely hot.

Take your strawberries and dip, in a twirling motion to get all the sides covered, in the chocolate and place on a plate. *

Keep doing this, going around the place in a circle till all the strawberries are covered. I only needed one plate but you might need to use a couple. Plate in the freezer (yes, must be freezer, not refrigerator) for 10 minutes. When times up, check if they are done and chocolate had properly hardened by peeling a strawberry off the plate. If it doesn’t stick and the chocolate comes off clean, you’re ready to feast!

 

*I arranged mine on a plate that which I had taped wax paper to.

Orange-Chocolate Loaf Cake

...lightly dusted with powdered sugar

1 1/4 stick (10 tablespoons) soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

dab flavorless veg oil, for greasing syrup spoon

2 tablespoons golden syrup, such as Lyle’s (or dark corn syrup)

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar (I used light brown sugar, cause that’s all I had)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons best-quality unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

2 eggs

zest of 2 reg oranges and juice of 1

1 x 2-pound loaf pan

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line your loaf pan with parchment paper and grease the sides, or line with a paper loaf-pan liner.

Beat the already soft butter with the syrup– if you dab a little oil on your tablespoon measure with a sheet of paper towel, the syrup shouldn’t stick to the spoon– and the sugar until you have a fairly smooth caffe Americano cream, thought he sugar will have a bit of grit about it.

non-curdled batter

Mix the flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder together, and beat into the syrup mixture  tablespoonful of these dry ingredients before beating in 1 egg. Then add another couple of spoonfuls of the dry ingredients before beating in the second egg.

Carry on beating in the remaining dry ingredients and then add, still beating, the orange zest and finally, gradually, the juice. At this stage, the batter may suddenly look dimpled, as if slightly curdled, No need to panic! (Mine didn’t).

Pour and scrape into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes, though check 5 minutes before and be prepared to keep it in the oven 5 minutes longer as well, if needed.A cake tester wont come out clean entirely, as the point of this cake, light though it may be, is to have just a hint of inner stickiness. Let cool  a little in its pan on a wire rack, then turn out with care and leave on the rack to cool.

If it looks sunk in in the middle this is normal. This recipe was made out of Nigella Kitchen  and most of her cakes are slightly sunk in, in the center. This makes the cake look more inviting, and rustic, which is even the more better!

Rum Chocolate Bread Pudding

I have recently been obsessed with bread puddings. They are just the ultimate comfort food and you can make them with anything as long as you know the basics.

I have decided since it’s Easter, to add some pizazz to my bread pudding by adding some rum and chocolate chip morsels.

The bread I use is simply the kosher kind, it’s got a nice fluffy center with a sweet taste that makes adding sugar to the bread pudding unnecessary.

This bread here

I lined my dish (8″ X 8″ square glass casserole dish) with foil just to make clean up easier. This recipe is just as simple.

Cut up the bread, as much as you can fit into the casserole dish as possible. add 3 cups milk and 1/2 cup whipping cream to a bowl. Add 1 egg and 1/3 cup rum. Mix together, then add the spices: a teaspoon of cloves, 2 teaspoons of nutmeg, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon.

Pour over the bread and press down with your hands. If you feel you need more liquid or the bread is too dry in areas, just add more milk (not an egg or cream. You can also add more rum if you like). Take the chocolate chips or morsels (I used semi-sweet, but milk chocolate should be just fine, too) and just sprinkle to get into the crevices and over bread. Sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Let sit for 10 minutes, then cover and cook at 425 degrees F for 35-40 min. Uncover and cook for 25 more minutes.

The center could be slighly giggly when you take it out but it should settle when it cools. Before you serve you MUST cool this dish at least for 7 minutes, so that the juices settle and everything marinates into  a yummy mixture.

ENJOY ALL!