Banoffee blondies...sheer heaven

Ok, so if you haven't ever eaten banoffee then you are really missing out on one of life's greatest desserts. I mean banana and toffee were really just made for each other and that's where the whole banoffee idea came from. This version of banoffee is a little different to the pie version but it still has all the amazing flavours in there. The only problem I have with making these is the use of the dulce de leche because as we all know it involves boiling the be-jeepers out of cans of condensed milk for hours and hours. However, luckily for me, I got to have the cheaters way out as I was able to get my hands on some soft toffees which I could melt down in the microwave and put into the blondies. I love when you get an easy way out!

Banoffee Blondies (from raspberri cupcakes, makes approx 20) 

115g (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted 1/2 cup (110g) packed light-brown sugar 

1/3 cup sugar 

1 large egg 

1 tsp pure vanilla extract 

1/2 cup ripe banana, mashed (about 1 medium banana) 

1 cup (130g) plain flour (spooned and leveled) 

1 tsp salt 

1 cup chocolate chips 

1/4 cup dulce de leche or soft toffees

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line 9 x 9 inch baking pan with a piece of baking paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter paper. 

In a large bowl, lightly whisk butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in egg and vanilla and mashed banana. Add flour and salt; stir just until moistened (do not overmix). Fold in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Use a teaspoon to place dollops of dulce de leche (or melted soft toffees) over the top of the batter. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Bake until top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean (25 - 30 mins). Leave to cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!

Almond butter granola bars

So, I've been struggling recently with sensitivities to gluten and yeast and have been making a big effort to seek out healthy alternatives. I mean just because you have to reorganise your diet shouldn't mean you have to cut out everything mildly delicious. I've always loved granola bars. They are a handy inbetween meal snack that makes you feel full and satisfied. However, the ones sold in supermarkets are full of strange ingredients and lots of sugar. So, I decided to make my own. Truth be told, these are even more delicious than ones I've bought in the supermarket. Perhaps tasting even better because I know exactly what went into them. I based these on a recipe I found online but changed the nuts/seeds that went into it.

I started off by making my own almond butter by just chucking a load of almonds in the food processor and remembering to be patient while the nuts go through their various stages before reaching butter. Then this goes in a pot with two mashed bananas and is heated gently to soften it up. I like to add a splash of vanilla and a sprinkling of cinnamon to ring out flavours. While the butter and banana is gently heating I throw into a bowl lots of nuts, seeds, some wheat free oats, cranberries and to be just a little bit naughty some chopped up dark chocolate. 

Then pour your melted butter and banana onto your oat and but mix and mix thoroughly. Then put into an oiled brownie tin and press down. Pop into the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool. Slice up into bars and refrigerate. These last in the fridge for quite a while and I usually get a week out of them.

Almond Butter Granola Bars

1/2 cup almond butter

2 bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1/2 cup cranberries

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

80g chopped dark chocolate

Heat oven to 180 degrees. Oil a brownie tin.

Heat banana and almond butter until soft and well combined.

Place nuts, seeds, oats, chocolate and cranberries in a bowl and mix together.

Add banana and butter and mix thoroughly. Press mixture into tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Cool and slice into bars.

Store in the fridge and devour shamelessly when hungry.

Brownies to die for...

Yes, you heard right...to die for...Here in Indonesia, the term 'brownies' is used very loosely to describe a number of chocolate-y items. Mostly they are chocolate cake cooked in a tray. They are spongey and lacking in taste or flavour. To be blunt, they are vile. I wouldn't eat them personally nor buy them for friend or even foe. They are that bad, probably due to the fact that lots of cakes here are baked using this terrifying substance called 'Blue Band' which I suppose is a type of margarine but tastes synthetic and the other frightful ingredient would be 'chocolate compound' again synthetic-like and tasteless...I like to call it plastic chocolate. 

Brownies, should NEVER resemble in any way 'cake' for they are in a category entirely of their own. There is nothing spongey about brownies. Instead there is a crunchy, chewy exterior and a soft, gooey interior. That, to me, is the perfect brownie texture. I chuckle like a snob behind my palms when someone plops a spongey, mildly chocolate square in front of me and dares to be so bold as to call it a 'brownie', the audacity, really! How can they not know? Then whoever has created the spongey square tries to cover up the lack of flavour by smearing some chocolate frosting on the top...no, no, no. The beauty of the brownie is in its spectacular ability to stand alone and yet fully satisfy. A sprinkling of icing sugar on the top is purely for decorative value, the best of brownies needs nothing else.

However, when a friend arrives to visit and brings a bag of pure bliss (aka Reese's peanut butter cups) I find myself trying to find a worthwhile recipe to use them in so I don't just sit down in a quiet corner and devour the whole bag shamelessly. Enter the brownie and not just any brownie but quite possibly the most delicious brownie I have tasted in a long time. I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen blog and it sounded too good not to try. I stuck to it exactly with the addition of the pure bliss (aka Reese's peanut butter cups) being the only change. Oh god...so much for my great idea...when these brownies came out of the tray I found myself wanting to seek out that quiet corner even more and devour peanut butter cup brownies instead. Luckily I work with a number of people and I forced myself to slice up the brownies promptly and hide them away in a tupperware to bring to share, delighting at every piece that crumbled a bit as I cut it and made me have to do some evening out...the uneven bits being entirely for me, of course.

If you make one batch of brownies in your life, it really must be this one. That's all I need to say to you. What? You are still actually reading this? Just go! Do it now!

A Tunnel of Fudge Bundt Cake...full of chocolate love!

With my dads birthday approaching I knew I needed to find a whopper of a cake to bake for the occasion. I clicked and searched and searched and clicked and finally stumbled across this genius recipe. You can find it here http://www.annies-eats.com/2012/04/27/tunnel-of-fudge-cake/

What a sheer revelation! Even the name of the cake caused a giant grin to spread from one ear to the other. How could this not go down a treat in a hungry household?

It was a breeze to make, popped it in the oven and did have a few moments of worrying whether it was overcooking or not. After all, we couldn't very well have a tunnel of fudge cake with no fudgy tunnel! Anyway I held off until the 45 minutes then whisked it out. I left it for the full half an hour in the tin and it came out so easy. The chocolate ganache was deliriously good and I had to stop myself from just pouring the whole lot into my mouth rather than putting it on the cake. I did find that the bottom was a little crispy when I took it out, however with the chocolate ganache this helped soften it up. What really set this cake over the edge was a 20 second blast in the microwave to ensure the middle was gooey and two scoops of vanilla bean ice-cream. Warm chocolate cake and vanilla ice-cream...bliss! I really did die and go to heaven. So did everyone else. If you make one chocolate cake...make this. Just make sure you don't scrimp at the supermarket. Buy good expensive chocolate, it makes the difference between an ordinary and an extraordinary cake. You wont regret it!

Brown rice flour banana bread...experiments into the healthier side of life continue...

So after my success with the spelt flour cookies, I thought it was time to give the bag of brown rice flour lurking with intent at the back of the cupboard a go. You can't usually go wrong with banana bread. So I found a recipe using brown rice flour. It was fairly easy to make as most banana bread is and I had it in the oven in no time at all. I felt like my bananas could have been a bit larger but I had to make do with the two little ones in the fruit bowl. I liked the addition of the peanut butter because I think it goes very well with banana. I didn't have milk chocolate chips so I just hacked up a dark chocolate bar and put that in. It seemed to take ages to bake and I had to cover the top about half way through with tin foil because it seemed to be browning a tad too quickly. Once it was out and cooled a little, it was time for the taste test. I can't say that I particularly noticed the brown rice flour, it doesn't have a strong taste at all. I think spelt has a far more nutty taste to it than brown rice flour. There was no change in texture which I was pleased about as I had read that sometimes this particular flour can have a gritty texture. I felt the bread was a little bit dry, but nothing that a good cup of tea or coffee with my slice didn't remedy. I would definitely tweak the recipe next time to try and get a moist bread. It has however, inspired me to continue my healthy experimentations with alternatives flours and I will see what I can seek out in the local health shop.

Health kick...chocolate chip spelt cookies...

Ok, so post Christmas I generally tend to feel like a giant walking pudding! I know I have eaten way too much turkey and ham, my had has slipped into the Roses box to the point that I believe it has a will of its' own and I can't kid myself that I am just shaving bits off the Christmas cake...hell I'm slicing off chunks...then February hits and you tell yourself that a few chocolate biscuits here and there to maintain the sugar high will be easy to lose and before you know it, March smacks you in the face and your skinny jeans don't make it past your ankles. EVERYTHING feels a little too snug and the misery begins to really sink in that you only have a couple of months before the (so called) summer hits. Of course, with summer comes the bikini...the bane of every woman who has every struggled with their weight! However, if the truth is indeed meant to be out there, I'm adding one more. I like sweet things...actually no, I LOVE sweet things. I bow down to the comfort, satisfaction and sheer joy they bring. I could never give them up. NEVER. EVER. Anyone who has managed to live their life and restrict the wonder of chocolate in all its forms...you idiots! You have deprived yourself of one of the greatest foodstuffs the world has ever known. Ok, so now we have the fact that I am a chocoholic down...we get to the next point. What does one want to do when one needs to desperately have chocolate in their lives AND squeeze into the official uniform of summer? Get creative! Hence, introducing spelt chocolate chip and almond cookies. I am intrigued by spelt flour and its benefits. So much so that I decided the best way to get to grips with it was to buy a bag and see what could be done. To my surprise, the flour producers made it very easy by listing some recipes on the back. They were for bread, bread, bread and cookies....HELLO! The recipe couldn't have been simpler. The batter took about 5 minutes to get together. Now, of course, the recipe on the flour bag didn't call for almonds and chocolate chips. However, they sounded insanely healthy with just the cinnamon that I had to make an über healthy version and a sneaky little chocolate fix version. Surprisingly both were good. Sneaky little chocolate version won simply because it contained the worlds greatest foodstuff...of course. Über healthy version was also satisfying, sweet and had a good kick from the cinnamon. The wholemeal spelt flour gives quite a nutty taste and texture to the cookie, but it's good, filling and satisfying. I would recommend anyone trying to stay away from the baddies in the biccie jar to try these. After all they are gluten and dairy free but yet still taste like you are having something naughty. Also, when you make them be sure to press them down with a fork to flatten them out. They don't spread much during baking and if you don't flatten them then you are left with nice little mounds!

Chocolate and peanut butter bundt - a special request

Ok so I've just moved back to Dublin and my precious bundt pan from Bali is still in transit somewhere between here and there. Well, a baker just ain't a baker unless she has her bundt pan so I headed into the city on a mission to find one. It took awhile, and I did end up with blisters on my feet. I also had to spend the entire search convincing my younger brother that every step we took in this mission was a step closer to obtaining a baking pan that created a piece of heaven. Naturally, I had to live up to this statement. I mentioned some flavours and he jumped at peanut butter and chocolate. So that's what I made. This is a delightful cake. Richly chocolately but yet a nice nutty surprise in the middle. And the verdict from my brother was a big thumbs up followed by a discussion on how the bundt cake does seem to just epitomise the absolute essence of yumminess in its shape, size, form and ultimately taste. I must say that since I first discovered the bundt I have developed a complete and utter love for it. I do find it aesthetically to be such an attractive cake shape that it surprises me that so many shops here had no pans available for sale. I could spend hours salivating over the many shapes and sizes of bundt pans available in America and want to cry that hardly any are available here. How could anyone not fall in love with this charming cake form? As you can see from the photos, I didn't even manage to get the chocolate drizzle on before a piece had gone!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bundt

For the filling :
2/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For the cake batter :
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
12 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
3/4 cup boiling water
3 ounces quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
12 tablespoons sour cream
12 tablespoons butter, softened
1 2/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350

To make the filling :
In a large mixing bowl, beat peanut butter, cream cheese and butter until combined. Add egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until combined. Mix in vanilla. Be sure to scrape down the sides. Pour in sugar and flour, mix until combined. Fit a pastry bag with a large plain tip and scoop the filling into the bag. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To make the batter :
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a medium metal or glass bowl, add cocoa and whisk in boiling water. Add in chopped chocolate and whisk until smooth. Mix in sour cream.
In large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs, one at a time, and then beat in vanilla. Alternatively mix in the dry ingredients and the cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. For example - mix in 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the cocoa mixture, another 1/3 of the flour, the rest of the cocoa mixture and finishing with the final 1/3 of the flour. Mixing just until combined with each addition.

Spray a bundt pan with a nonstick spray that has flour included (like Baker's Joy or Pam with Flour). Spoon a little less than half of the batter into bottom of the bundt pan. Using the pastry bag that has the peanut butter mixture, carefully pipe a ring of the filling over the center of the chocolate batter. Pour the remaining batter on top and gently tap the pan to remove air bubbles.

Bake until top springs back when lightly touched or a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs attached - about 50-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Place a wire cooling rack on top of the cake and carefully turn over - remove the pan and let cool completely.

Zebra cake - get stripey!

Easy peasy! The final effect though is stunning. Just make up any regular sponge cake batter you have. Separate the batter equally into two bowls. Mix some cocoa into one half. Then the fun starts...using a large spoon alternate your vanilla and chocolate batters until the batter is finished. This is the time consuming part. Once you've finished though it looks pretty impressive in the cake tin. Pop in the oven and bake. Once it's out and if you're lucky to live in a household where you actually can let it cool, let it cool. Cut into it and be amazed by the gorgeus zebra stripes. This is definitely a cake to make to impress friends. I used a sponge recipe that used oil instead of butter. The cake was lovely and moist and absolutely delicious.

Zebra stripe cake

Ingredients:
Dry:
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Dutch-processed Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tbsp

Wet:
Canola/Vegetable oil - 1 cup
Large eggs - 3
Sugar - 1 cup (Sugar is considered a wet ingredient, don't ask me why)
Skim Milk - 1 cup
Pure vanilla essence - 1 tbsp

Method:
Sift the all purpose flour and baking powder together and set aside. This is to aerate the flour.
In a mixing bowl, using a hand mixer combine oil, eggs, sugar, milk for about two minutes till creamy. Add flour mix.
Divide the mixture into two equal halves and to one half mix the cocoa powder and vanilla essence and mix using a hand mixer. Do not add vanilla essence to the white half of the mixture.
Grease a 8" round cake pan with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 350F.
Use separate equal size ladles for each half of the batter. Ladle the white batter first, then immediately add the brown batter as shown in the picture. It should automatically spread out in the pan, there is no need to wait or tilt pan.
Keep alternating batter until you have exhausted both batters.
Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for about 45 min or till a toothpick when inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let it rest for about 15 min in the pan.
Invert and cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!

chocolate ganache topped devilish cupcakes...

so, i have always wanted to try making ganache but for the longest time thought it was a really difficult process. how wrong was i? it really couldn't be easier. you just make sure you have decent dark chocolate...I like 70% or more for the flavour and some cream. you melt the chocolate. heat up the cream. mix the two together and there you have it. the best part is how the consistency changes as it cools. if you want a thin glaze you pretty much pour it over your cake straight away. if you want butter icing type consistency you let it cool for twenty minutes or so. or if you'd like to make some chocolate truffles, pop it in the fridge until it is a thick fudge like consistency. it's wonderful and I can't believe I shied away from using it before...as you can see it make a perfect topping to my devil's food cupcakes...

Marbled Banana Chocolate Bundt Cake...now there's a mouthful!

banana and chocolate, chocolate and banana...always a good combination in my book and in this bundt cake a little bite of perfection in every piece. i've been making this recipe for a while now and it is a firm favourite in my household and is frequently requested...again i am blessed to be living in a country where when you go to the supermarket there is a selection of maybe 5 or 6 different types of bananas on sale and each variety perfect for different uses. i think this is the secret that makes this cake so good. i use pisang ambon, which means banana ambon, ambon being a place in Indonesia where the banana comes from. the bananas are deliciously sweet and soft and the longer you leave them the more sweeter the taste. the original recipe calls for 4 mashed bananas, i use 6 when i make this because the bananas gives such a lovely moistness to the cake as well as the addition of a cup of yoghurt. there's something about bundt cakes...they just look so comforting and adorable that i love making cakes in my super-expensive but most worth it bundt pan...ABSOLUTE comfort food!

cheesecake brownies...a perfect combination

i totally forgot i made these while i was in ireland and was browsing through my photos and found them. cheesecake brownies...don't knock 'em till you've tried them...the combination of chocolate and cheese together is so incredibly good and these were so delicious hot, straight from the oven with a big blob of vanilla ice-cream. i could have eaten them all (and probably nearly did!) because i fell blissfully in love with these two paired together, so as to create a cozy little love-triangle between us. i think, if i also remember correctly there was guinness mixed in with the chocolate batter because i was on a guinness kick, what with being back at home. and i remember now that the guinness enhanced the chocolate particularly well, making it rich and fudgy. don't ask me where the recipe is...i think scribbled on a piece of paper down the back of some table in my parents house in ireland. i know i scoured the internet for a couple of recipes and then did a bit of a merger between them. it might reappear though...at some point

kek batik...

so this is batik...indonesia's famous fabric designs that they are very proud of...

and this...

is kek batik or batik cake...which i am very proud of...

and no, it wasn't baked in my antique oven...i seem to be having a bit of a blockage with the oven for the moment and found out about this delightful cake when i was in Singapore recently. a friend had it at their house for Hari Raya and when i tasted it i fell instantly in love with the taste, flavour, the whole deal...the cake was very chocolately, with a fudgey-cake like consistency and yet the sweetness of the biscuits mixed in there too. a perfect combination! so when i got back to Bali i had a search on the internet and found a few recipes and decided to just take my chances, pick one and hope for the best. making the cake was easy. it's all done on the stove top - eggs, butter, sugar, milo, cocoa, condensed milk and vanilla extract. then when you reach the right consistency you mix in the broken up biscuits, put it in a baking tin and stick it in the fridge overnight. i was worried that it wouldn't set and firm up properly. but it set wonderfully and was easy to slice too. i made this for a get-together at a friend's place and it went down a treat. seconds all round and lots of lip licking and tongue smacking! oh, the joy to be able to add another no-bake to my repertoire!

an absolute MUST to make and try yourself!

italians do it better...with italian brownie muffins

i came across this recipe on a blog called italialicious and it just kinda caught my eye in that it had a whole cup of olive oil in it! i mean first of all, i have NEVER used olive oil when baking muffins so i was curious to see what the effect was. the blog itself is a delightful array of italian recipes from pasta to tiramisu. i have thoroughly enjoyed reading through the many recipes.

so anyway, i got everything together and was surprised at the texture of the batter. i mean it was pretty dense and kinda had a gelatinous quality to it...i had a moment of...'oh no' but pushed on because one of the many joys of baking (thank god) is that don't always be fooled by the batter.

i deviated from the original recipe a bit in that i don't trust essences here in indonesia. mostly because, most of them look like substances you might have used in chemistry lab experiments when you were at school...bright orange, yellow...thick, scary, flourescent...you get the idea...(i'll take a picture next time i'm in the supermarket just in case you don't!) so i didn't add any orange essence or zest. but everything else i kept to.

popped them in the oven and they rose really well. still need some fiddling with the oven though, because a couple were a tad too well done on top for my liking - someone mentioned i should go to the beach and get some sand and spread it on a tray and leave it at the bottom of the oven to distribute the heat more evenly, it could be time to do this as the muffins on the sides of the tray are baking faster than the ones in the middle.

anyway out they came (i'd also sprinkled some chocolate chips on top) and cooled off.

then came the taste test...these were very cake-like, as opposed to fudgey (which some more american brownies can be, but often i find fudgey textures to be very heavy) and had a very good strong chocolate flavour (which probably had a lot to do with the one cup of ghirardelli cocoa that went in - carried with love from singapore as not available in indonesia!) i really enjoyed them and found them to be rich, without being heavy and moist without being fudgey. a nice combination both of flavour and texture.

in this case...i might just have to agree that italians definitely do it better :)

peanut butter-y goodness in a cup!

so a friend of mine is a mad, crazy peanut butter fan...so when we were invited over to his place for a hot dog extravaganza...how could i not make something with peanut butter in it. so a lot of the time when i think peanut butter...i think Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, i don't know why, but they are just the epitomy of peanut butter-ness in a little cup. and it just so happened that a certain candy store here in Singapore in Vivocity were having a one for one deal on aforementioned product...so how could i possibly pass up a bargain like that! 12 peanut butter cups for the price of 6! i'm a sucker for bargains and especially the sweet variety...
so anyway...i thought i'd try and drop the Reese's cup into the bottom of the cupcake and hope for the best that it would bake in. i used my brownie cupcake recipe - which is always a hit and dropped the peanut butter cup in first then topped with the batter. baked as usual...and the result...well, once they had actually been allowed to cool off properly (a few suspects couldn't wait and ate them while still cooling and the result was that the peanut butter cup dropped straight off the bottom...duh!) the Reese's cup held quite nicely and the cupcake was this yummy chocolate-y delight with a lovely layer of peanut butter at the bottom. very very more-ish! all you peanut butter fans out there...this is NOT to be missed!

charming chocolate mulberry cupcakes!

'here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush..' except today we're going round the mulberry cupcake - the chocolate mulberry cupcake! i was given some mulberries to play around with and felt the tartness of the berries would work well in the smooth, richness of chocolate.

mulberries are considered a kind of 'super food' because they are full of anthocyanins which are edible pigments which hold potential use as dietary antioxidants providing potential health benefits against a variety of diseases. i found a list of 10 health benefits of mulberries according to traditional medicine and although not scientifically verified, it makes for an interesting read...

Cancer Prevention

Mulberries are a good source of resveratrol, a potent phytonutrient also found in grapes that researchers believe can prevent cancer and aid in the fight of existing cancers.

Life Extension

Because of their resveratrol content, mulberries may be a tool in one's life extension arsenal, as resveratrol has shown in several studies to extend the life of mice.

Blood Tonic

In Chinese medicine, mulberries are considered a blood tonic, meaning that they cleanse the blood and increase its production, strengthening the entire system.

Kidney Strengthener

In Chinese medicine, mulberries are believed to strengthen the kidneys.

Liver Cleanser

In Chinese medicine, mulberries are believed to be effective in cleansing the liver.

Better Hearing and Vision

In China, tea made with mulberry paste is believed to strengthen one's hearing and vision.

Constipation Cure

In Turkey, a treatment for constipation is to eat white mulberries on an empty stomach with a glass of water.

Anemia Treatment

Because they are quite high in iron, mulberries are a great food to use in the treatment of anemia.

Cold and Flu Treatment

In Turkey, mulberry molasses is used as a treatment for colds and flu. Their effectiveness in this way may be due to their high vitamin C content.

Premature Gray Hair Remedy

In several countries, mulberries are considered an effective remedy for prematurely gray hair.

so what did i do...i used a previous recipe...one for black forest cupcakes and just swapped the mulberries for the black cherries. then i topped them off with some melted chocolate and a pecan! they were delicious. the mulberries provided these little bursts of tartness amidst the sweetness of the chocolate. and with all those anti-oxidants in there...what a perfect excuse to eat more!

no bake fudge biscuits

so what does one do when one cannot bake...one doesn't bake but instead scours the internet for recipes that involve 'no baking' and what a plethora of recipes there are out there! i wanted to start with something simple, but yet that would have the maximum enjoyment factor and seriously taste good! so i went with a no bake fudge biscuit recipe. ok so naturally it was easy...no prizes for getting through this recipe without a hitch but it was just comforting to be able to be in my kitchen and create something.

so what do you do...

No Bake Chocolate Fudge Biscuits

3/4 c. butter

1/2 c. sugar

4 T. cocoa powder

2 T. milk (i used soya milk)

1 large packet of marie biscuits

melt the butter, sugar, cocoa powder and milk in a saucepan until the ingredients are combined. add biscuits and then spoon into a baking tin. pop in the fridge (or freezer depending on how long you're willing to wait!) and then cut into squares. devour shamelessly, of course!

yes, it's that easy! and the taste? very good, seriously more-ish and just a great chocolate pick me up to have in the fridge at those moments when you need...well a pick me up! you could definitely experiment with these by adding raisins, peanuts or chocolate chips. it might also be fun to try and make some healthy granola versions that would be good for breakfast. i could see this happening by using honey instead of the sugar. there's definitely a lot you can do with it! but fear not, i shall not bore you with posts of the next 20 different versions that i try...nope, i shall be moving onto other no bake investigations until the staff village here where i am living in Bali has built the communal oven that we have been promised. it's going to be an amazing project - an adobe oven that will be built by the community and will use wood. i can see there being a few disasters but otherwise it will be exciting to experiment with a truly earthy oven!

chinese five spice chocolate loaf cake

chinese five spice powder is amazing! i mean the spicy aromatic smell of it is already enough to warm the cockles of your heart, no mind actually adding it to your food. it's a combination of fennel, star anise, cinnamon, black pepper and cloves. well this one is! i've seen other combinations where the black pepper is replaced with cardamom. anyway, i've seen it paired with chocolate once or twice and wanted to give it a go myself. i also wanted to use up that one remaining bar of salted chocolate that i still had in the cupboard. so i settled on a chinese five spice chocolate loaf cake.

i used the recipe that i've used in past loaf cake creations but with a few minor alterations - most obviously replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder! then i chopped up the salted chocolate and put it in as chocolate chips. i added about 2 tablespoons of five spice powder - i always get that moment of...is it too much or too little? but cross my spatulas and hope for the best. in this case, 2 tablespoons was just right for my liking. the flavours in five spice powder are pretty strong individually - when you put them altogether...whew! too much and you might just be five-spiced out for the rest of the year.

i topped it off with some melted dark and white chocolate. and had so much fun hoping that each drip would cool before they reached the bottom of the cake!

overall, i was quite content with the cake...it did seem to take longer to cook than the rosemary loaf cake i have made before and as such i might have left it in a tad longer than i wanted too. i felt the texture of the cake should have been a little moister and less crumbly. perhaps i could have also added a few more tablespoons of milk to the batter before baking to compensate for the addition of the cocoa powder. i'm thinking that even if this had not been baked until the tester came out clean, it still would have been fine as it would have been extra moist and maybe slightly gooey and that can only be a good thing when it comes to chocolate. however, everyone at home enjoyed it immensely, commenting on how the five spice powder seemed to enhance the flavour of the chocolate and bring a nice spiciness to the cake.

Chinese Five Spice Chocolate Loaf Cake

250 g soft unsalted butter
200 g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
300g plain flour (minus 4 T flour)
3 T baking powder
4 T cocoa powder
2 T chinese five spice powder
1 t vanilla extract
4 T milk
half cup chocolate chips
loaf tin

cream the butter, adding the sugar when it’s really soft, and creaming both together till pale and smooth and light.
combine and sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and five spice powder into a bowl.
beat in the eggs one at a time, folding in a spoonful of the flour mix after each addition, then add the vanilla.
fold in the rest of the flour mix.

add chocolate chips.
thin the batter with the milk - you’re after a soft, dropping consistency - and pour into the waiting tin.
put it in the oven, and cook for 1 hour, or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
leave to cool on a wire rack in its tin, unmould and devour shamelessly!

millionaire's cupcakes!

ok, so i'm a BIG fan of millionaire's shortbread. they sell it in the shops here and it's basically a biscuit/shortbread base, layer of toffee, layer of chocolate. it is so good! i could sit and eat square after square with no thought of expanding waistline because the sheer pleasure in the eating eradicates any other negative thoughts.

so i thought i'd like to try and recreate it in cupcake form hence millionaire's cupcakes! i figured a thin layer of biscuit base, then a vanilla cupcake on top with more bits of biscuit in it, then some homemade toffee popped into the middle of the cupcake and finally a nice topping of melted chocolate! perfect!

for the biscuits i used a mixture of ginger snaps and oatmeal biscuits, because i wanted the hint of gingery taste and also the chewy consistency of the oatmeal. i pressed the ground up biscuits mixed with melted butter into the bottom of each cupcake. the batter was pretty straight forward but i liked the addition of some more ground up biscuits in there. while these were baking in the oven, i started on the toffee.

hmmm, the toffee...there was a moment when i thought it was all going to end in disaster. i decided on making the toffee myself this time, rather than using pre-bought stuff. i figured that since i use toffee quite a lot i might as well figure out how to make it. well, when i loaded everything into the saucepan and put it on the heat, everything started bubbling up and getting really hot and splashing everywhere. i got a few burns courtesy of said toffee but it was worth it in the end because after it seeming to stay thin and runny for ages, it finally began to thicken up. after leaving it to cool it was nice and thick and the perfect consistency. phew!

everything came together nicely. once the cupcakes had cooled, using the cone method, i made some space in each cupcake and filled it with the thick toffee. replaced the lid and topped it with the melted chocolate and a marshmallow. i was hoping the chocolate would set...but strangely it didn't...mind you, i haven't checked them in awhile so maybe it has by now.

then came the taste-test...obviously these cupcakes had a lot to live up to as i have had more than my fair share of millionaire's shortbread and might be somewhat of a connoisseur on the delight! but yes, these lovely little creations completely passed the test. the biscuit base was lovely and moist and not hard and crunchy. the mild gingery taste was there and the oatmeal provided a little more texture which was good. the cupcake was moist and the toffee simply lovely - thick and creamy. the chocolate topping (although not at this point set) was perfect. all in all a very pleasing re-creation of a favourite treat.

Recipe

Base
8 oatmeal biscuits, ground up
8 ginger snaps, ground up
1/4 c. melted butter

mix the butter and biscuits together and then put one heaped tablespoon into each cupcake case. press down to form a thin base.

Cupcake
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. plain flour
1 t. baking powder
1/3 c. ground biscuits
1/8 t. salt
2/3 c. milk
1 t. vanilla extract

mix together flour, baking powder, salt and ground biscuits. set aside.
beat butter in a mixer until soft. add sugar and beat until fluffy.
add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
add flour mix alternately with milk and vanilla extract mix in three additions, finishing with the flour mix.
pop into cupcake cases and bake for 25 minutes.
let cool on a wire rack.

Toffee filling
175g butter
175g caster sugar
1 can condensed milk
4 T. golden syrup

put the ingredients in a saucepan and heat over a low heat until butter melts. turn up the heat and bubble mix for 5-8 minutes until it has turned a golden brown and consistency is thick and fudge-like. leave to cool.

Topping
bar of plain chocolate, melted

Assembly
cut a cone in the top of each cupcake and remove some extra cake. fill with toffee mix and replace lid of cupcake. top with melted chocolate and marshmallow.
devour shamelessly!

*update*
the chocolate did set and i managed to snag a few pics of one of the last remaining cupcakes....

i've also decided to enter this for a blog event i found...Original Recipes : Culinarty Round-Up as this is my very own translation of a popular recipe to cupcake form!

dark chocolate and sea salt...did i hear correctly??

so this morning i received a most welcome package in the post...because let's face it whenever i receive anything in the post these days that doesn't resemble a bill, it is most welcome. i knew this wasn't a bill because it was a padded envelope...chubby and fat with goodies inside...

and what were those goodies...you might ask? can it really be what is mentioned in the title of this post...dark chocolate and sea salt...now why would anyone send me a bar of chocolate and a packet of sea salt? well of course they wouldn't...this is chocolate with sea salt in it! amazing right! the whole idea of the flavour just tickles me pink. it's so kooky and cool. and yes, you heard correct dark chocolate and SEA SALT! here's a close up to prove it!

and the story behind this wondrous delivery is in part due to my down right cheekiness! yup, you've seen chocolate like this before on my blog...if you scroll back to the rose tiramisu cupcakes i made a while ago you'll see that i topped them off with some very delicious rose and pistachio chocolate squares made by this very same company. so in a moment of...cheekiness, i emailed the company and told them how much i loved the chocolate and to just let them know what some of us crazy bakers get up to with a bar of chocolate and well, they offered me some of the dark chocolate and sea salt bars! hooray for me! so this post is hugely due to Emily at Cocoa Bean Chocolates a big chocolate-y smudged thank you to her for the chocolate that i have promised to bake into something fabulous!

and don't you just love it when people are thought-full. i mean not only does she send TWO big ol' bars for me to bake with, but she also sent me a little one for tasting too! which i did already and loved it! the chocolate is lovely and rich and the sea salt provides a hint of saltiness that just sets off the whole experience into something quite wonderful. and i must say that i do love the mix of sweet and salty together.

so now it's decisions, decisions, decisions...no, not what to bake, but whether i just eat it all now myself or actually use it for baking? with this now being the second bar i have tried i can honestly say that i am quite smitten. the rose and pistachio whicked me away to somewhere exotic and this...has brought me back to the salty shores of ireland.

a change of domain...and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!

i've been away for awhile hence the lack of cupcakes and now i'm in the process of switching domains so within the next few days, y'all can update the address for my blog and follow me to www.airyfairycupcakes.com
blogger will apparently post a message to let all those know to follow me there, so don't get left behind now!

on another note, i just found out that i won another treat courtesy of BlakeMakes and Amano Chocolate yup, yup, i won chocolate! my favourite creation...the very substance that i could quite happily walk around with being fed into me by an iv drip! might get some looks, mind you, but if it meant that i would forever be high on chocolate for the rest of my life, well what better thing than that! i won 3 bars of Amano chocolate and it should be on its way pretty soon so again i shall be checking the post box regularly to make sure that the current heat wave we are experiencing here doesn't melt it away before i get to it! and of course, shall be scratching my head and thinking about what to make and trying not to think about eating it all instead!
stay tuned!
and while we are on the subject of chocolate, the reason i'm away from the kitchen for so long is because i am in the midst of helping out with a production of none other than...Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. i do some part-time work with a drama school here and they are performing their end-of-year production at the Civic in Tallaght. so anyone in the area...get on down and check it out. last night was opening night, and though i spent it all back stage, controlling packs of oompa-loompas. i believe it went really well! the perfect play to get me in the mood for my soon to be arriving chocolate, no?