Chocolate Zucchini Cake

One way to guarantee kids eat vegetables is to cover it in chocolate. Obviously it's for a treat, or in my circumstance a trick as my twins refuse to eat zucchinis. They will willingly forfeit screen time just to avoid eating zucchini. Madness right? Hence why I hid the deliciousness of the zucchinis or courgettes in a cake. I was totally inspired by Sally's Baking Addiction, lots of very fab recipes there. This recipe is almost all Sally's, with my little spin.

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour

approx 3-4 cups of grated zucchini (squeeze some, not all liquid out)

1 cup dark cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp bicarb soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 dark brown sugar

4 large eggs

1/3 cup sour cream

2 tsp vanilla paste

2 tsp instant espresso powder/granules

250g dark mini choc chips

Frosting

Use whatever you like but I wanted something creamy to counter all the dark choc in the cake.

400g  Better Crocker chocolate hazelnut frosting (you don't have to use all)

200g Cadbury dairy milk

a little drizzle of vegetable oil

1. Sieve flour, cocoa, bicarb, baking soda and salt into a big bowl. Then add coffee powder and mix, set aside.

2. In another bowl mix oil, both sugars, eggs, sour cream and vanilla paste until sugar has dissolved. Then add zucchini and mix some more. Once it's combined add it to the dry ingredients and mix well. I used a handheld mixer. Then stir in the choc chips.

3. Divide into 2 x baking pans or 1 large, whatever you want. Oven should be preheated to 180 degrees.

4. Bake for about 30-45 minutes depending on your oven. I would check with skewer from about 30 minutes. I think mine took a wee bit more time then the original recipe said. Let it cool before frosting.

5. Melt the Cadbury dairy milk with a little drizzle of oil, just enough to give it a nice runny consistency. I didn't really measure, sorry... maybe 3 tablespoons give or take.

6. Slap the hazelnut frosting between the cakes and drizzle the milk chocolate all over the top.

7. Shove in face!

Chocolate Mint Truffles

If I had all the time in the world to cook or bake at leisure I wouldn't mind if whatever I was cooking required a gazzilion ingredients. Unfortunately I don't so I do love making things that don't require too many ingredients but still delivers maximum flavours and also very pretty to look at. When I saw this recipe online I must be honest, I was incredibly sceptical about how tasty it would actually be. I am so very happy to say my fears were ridiculous. These chocolate balls are ... amazeballs!!

The actual truffle itself only requires 2 ingredients, the 3rd is optional. For the chocolate coating that is completely up to you how you want to decorate. I chose to coat the balls in chocolate and drizzled some with a different coloured chocolate and some I sprinkled with crushed Peppermint Crisp bars.

It's easy, it's fun and incredibly delicious. Make them as big or as small as you want. I made 2 dozen little ones for the kids plus a bakers dozen of Mummy size ones. Happy faces all round!!

Chocolate Mint Truffles

2 x 200g Arnott's Mint Slice biscuits
250g cream cheese
1 teaspoon peppermint essense (optional)

For the coating/decoration
white chocolate melts
dark chocolate melts
Peppermint Crisp bars crushed for sprinkling

1. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor. Then add cream cheese and peppermint essense (optional) and blitz until well combine.

2. Roll into desired size balls and pop in freezer for 20-30 minutes. The harder the balls get the easier it is to work with it when you're dipping it in chocolate.

3. Meanwhile melt the chocolate for coating over a double boiler or in the microwave. Dip chocolate balls in and decorate to your hearts content.

** I chose to coat some with white chocolate, some with dark chocolate, drizzled green chocolate and also sprinkled some with crushed Peppermint**

Flourless Chocolate Almond cake

One of my favourite nuts to have with chocolate is scorched almond. I had been craving for something almondey for a bit and since our twingroup catch up was coming up that was my perfect excuse to bake a cake. The mother's that come with their beautiful children are worth all the effort and time I can give for our fortnightly playgroups. Love em all to bits.

This recipe calls for roasting the almonds for 5-10 minutes, but I roasted mine for about 15-20 minutes until it went pass golden to brown, just on the verge of dark. I love the roasty toasty nuts breaking up the rich cake so it's up to you how far you take your nuts.

There are a gazzilion versions of flourless chocolate cakes but this recipe I love because it has a very high egg content which just takes the cake from airey to fudgey but not so heavy. The original is a gold old trusted taste.com.au recipe so you know it'll work and just be delish. This is my version, hope you like it.

Flourless Chocolate Almond cake

150g almonds (I used a mix of slivered and flake for the different texture)
125g butter, chopped
1 massive tablespoon instant coffee diluted in 3 tablespoons hot water
220g dark chocolate, broken to pieces
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup caster sugar
5 large eggs separated
cream, vanilla bean paste and strawberry for serving

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a springform cake pan. I used a 23cm round.

2. Roast the almonds for 5-10 minutes if you want just toasty and golden or 15-20 minutes if you want slightly scorched and intensely nutty.

3. In a microwave safe jug add butter, chocolate and coffee mixture. Heat in microwave for 2-3 minutes on medium high power but stir after each minute.

4. Once mixture is melted, smooth and glossy sift in the cocoa powder. Stir through and then add 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks and nuts. Mix that well making sure sugar is well stired and not clumpy. Transfer to bigger mixing bowl (unless your bowl is already a big one).

5. Whisk egg whites to soft peaks and then add the remaining sugar a little at a time. You want the meringue to be stiff. Then fold into chocolate mixture and mix well. (but try not to knock all the air out of the egg whites)

6. Bake for approx 40 minutes. Test with skewer, you want to see moist bits on skewer. If the skewer is completely covered in batter it's not cooked enough, if skewer is completely clean then cake might be too dry.

7. Cool cake before removing pan. You'll see a lovely crunchy shell over top of cake, almost macaron like in texture, try not to peel it off and eat (I failed).

8. I whipped cream and vanilla paste to serve with cake along with some luscious strawberrys to cut into the rich cake. Cake is also lovely when zapped in microwave for 15 seconds as it makes the middle fudgier and warm.

 

Mini Nutella Cheesecakes

Feels like the Xmas season and New Year wasn't that long over yet as I write it's February. I must have blinked and the month of January disappeared without a trace. Slow down time!! What's the rush????

My oldest child has started her final year of high school, the troublesome twins are in Kindy, the hubby is back to lots of work travel and work for me has begun with gusto. It's been go go go since returning from our holidays. I won't have as much time to bake at will but when I do I will try to make it count.

My poor neglected blog needs some loving so I'm kick starting my 2014 entries with almost everyone's favourite spread... Nutella!! This recipe had me hooked at Nutella and the deal was sealed at no baking required. It's not an original recipe but I have adapted it a little to suit. I believe it was Goddess Nigella's recipe. I saw it on the Rasa Malaysia  Facebook page.

This recipe is perfect for one good size cheesecake but I was baking for a group of little people at our twin playgroup so smaller versions were a better option for us. I made 48 mini cakes as I used mini cupcake moulds. Mini cakes are great, little bite size pleasures, perfect for that instant fix or keeping a craving at bay. Perfect if all you need is 1 or 2 to satisfy the urges and also perfect if you had, errr say maybe 8 because they were all minis.

Nutella Cheesecake

280g Digestive biscuits
100g soft butter
400g jar of Nutella (or whatever hazelnut spread you like)
150g hazelnuts
500g soft room temperature cream cheese
1/2 cup icing sugar (sifted)
whipped cream for serving

1. Dry roast the hazelnuts and set them aside.

2. In a food processor add biscuits, 1 tablespoon Nutella and butter and blitz to a nice wet crumble. Then add 1/3 of the hazelnuts and blitz a little more. You want the hazelnuts to add texture to the crumble.

3. Press the biscuit mix in the moulds you have chosen to use. I used mini cupcake moulds so 1 teaspoon of mix was all I needed but adjust accordingly to your mould. The back of a spoon is the perfect tool to use as a press. Then chill the base to harden.

4. Beat cream cheese and add sifted icing sugar and mix well. Then add the rest of the Nutella and mix until well combined.
*** if a tablespoon of Nutella happen to jump out of jar into your mouth, and it can happen, it's quite ok and completely understandable! ***

5. Add the Nutella mix to the base, about 2/3 Nutella mix to 1/3 biscuit base. You can either add to mould and remove when set or remove chilled biscuit base from mould and pipe Nutella mix on top and then chill to set.

6. Chill for as many hours as possible. 3-4 is fine but overnight is better.

7. I find adding a dollop of whipped cream on top just before serving lightens the rich dessert. Top with hazelnuts too for that extra crunch.

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

Until I made this cake I had never ever had a red velvet cake before. It's not a type of cake that automatically pops in my head when I think "I want cake". It's very American in origin and popularity and not one that I've seen in shops here. Excuse my ignorance but I had always thought that all a red velvet cake is is a red coloured sponge. It didn't excite me. But thanks to my very discerning cousin's suggestion that I try to make one I now know better.

After baking and eating one I can say that the red velvet cake lives up to it's name. The colour of the cake is rich and bright and very pretty and contrasts so well with the clean white of the cream cheese frosting. The taste and texture is just amazing. A complete mouthful of this cake should make you think velvety yet fluffy, airy yet substantial. It's light enough to not feel dry but full enough yet not dense. You will taste and smell a very playful hint of chocolate without it being overly chocolatey. It's a sexy cake, even the batter is sexy in colour and texture. It's really hard to describe but all you need to know is this ... it's amazing!

I looked at many recipes online and decided to adapt the cake from Epicurously and my own cream cheese frosting. It's a match made in heaven! It's not an easy add it all in one bowl and stir type of cake but if you follow the required steps and components, I promise you the end product will be delicious.

Red Velvet Cake
2 1/2 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
35ml red liquid food colouring
125g softened butter
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon bicarb of soda

Cream Cheese Frosting
125g softened butter
500g cream cheese
3 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 cups icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line the bottom of 2 x 22cm round cake tins or 1 deep one. I used a deep one and cut the cake into 3 layers when it cooled. It's a personal choice. Easier to to have multiple cans.

2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and set side.

3. In a small bowl stir the cocoa powder and food colouring into a paste. Try to make it as lumpless as possible.

4. Cream butter and sugar until light and pale. Add eggs in one at a time. Then add vanilla and cocoa paste. Beat batter well until the colour is even all the way through.

5. Mix in a third of the flour to the mix. Beat well then add half cup of buttermilk. Then mix another third of the flour, then the rest of the buttermilk and finally the remaining flour. Beat until everything is mixed well. Scrape the sides of bowl down to make sure everything gets incorporated into batter.
*** The batter will now look rich and luscious and velvety and just sexy!!!***

6. Mix vinegar and bicarb of soda. It will start to fizzle and froth. Stir this through the batter quickly with a wooden spoon until combined.

7. Put batter in cake tin or tins depending on what you decide to do. If cooking in multiple tins bake for 25-30 minutes. If baking all that batter in one tin it will take about 60-70 minutes. Check by sliding a skewer into the thickest part of the cake. If skewer comes out clean cake is cooked.

8. Put aside to cool. I decided to cut cake into 3 layers but only cut when cake is completely cool.

9. Make frosting by beating butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Then add icing sugar and mix well. Pipe or decorate any which way you like.

10. I added frosting between the layers and then crumb coated the cake. I then piped rose swirls around the cake and topped with silver balls and sprinkles of edible red glitter.

Melting Moments and Chocolate Butter Cream

So our twin group get together has come around again and after several weeks of making kiddie fun food I wanted to make something that the Mamas could enjoy as well. I knew my week was going to be a hectic one so it had to be something uber delicious but with very little effort so I decided on melting moments.

I love melting moments, I think it's all that butter! It's also slightly magical the way the biscuit just crumbles and melts that makes it so much fun to eat.

I had a recipe that made the most stellar biscuits but I lost it. It was scribbled on a piece of paper that is normally tucked in a cook book but it's gone. I am terrible disorganised in the way I have my recipes kept. Some are scribbled on pages within cookbooks, some are just torn bits of paper from note pads and none are in a folder or any kind of smart system. I'm just chaos and one day I will get around to making my cooking life easier. But until then this recipe from taste.com.au will have to do. It's delicious.

Melting Moments with Chocolate Butter Cream

250g butter (room temperature)
1/3 cup icing sugar (sifted)
1 and 3/4 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cornflour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Chocolate Butter Cream
65g butter (softened)
2/3 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 heaped tablespoon cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees and line a couple of baking trays with baking paper.

2. Beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence until fluffy and pale and creamy.

3. Sift the flour and cornflour into it and mix on low until well incorporated and a crumbly soft dough forms.

4. With your floured hands roll small balls and place them on lines tray about 5cm apart. Dip your fork into the flour and flatten the balls into a flat but not too thin biscuit.

5. Bake for 15 minutes. Don't bake too long as you want to retain the pale colour of the biscuit and baking too long will make the edges brown. Cool on tray before putting icing.

6. To make chocolate butter cream simply add all ingredients and mix well.

7. When biscuits are completely cool put chocolate cream on one half and sandwich with another biscuit.