More cupcakes

Same recipe used here as before (see labels) but with cocoa and/or coffee added.

Chocolate Raspberry Roulade

I put off making this cake, because it actually scarred me! But after a little research on YouTube on how to *roll*, I took the plunge. And I can honestly say "There is nothing to be afraid of" Most importantly is to *roll* straight from the oven using the prepared baking paper and a damp but clean tea towel. I added some booze to the cream to make it a little more adult, but you can leave it out if you wish.Ingredients...
100g Caster Sugar. (Plus a little more for turning out the roulade)
5 Eggs.
25g S.R. Flour.
40g Cocoa.
50g Almond Meal.

For the Cream filling....
250g Mascarpone.
100g Plain Chocolate (melted)
100g Icing Sugar. (Sifted)
2 tbsp Booze (I used VOK's Martini Chocolate)
200g Raspberry.
Cocoa or Icing sugar for dusting.

Method...
Preheat the oven to 180c. Line and butter a 30cm Swiss roll tin, and dust with caster sugar, shaking off any excess.
Beat the eggs until three times the volume, they should be pale and thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is taken out. This could take up to ten minutes so I hope you have a fabulous mixer like me! (The new KA)
Sift all the dry ingredients together and gently fold them in to the egg mixture, using a metal spoon and being very careful not to knock the air out of the eggs.
Spoon carefully in to the prepared tin and spread to the corners.
Bake for 12 to 18 minutes until the cake is firm to touch in the middle. Turn out on to a piece of baking paper scattered with caster sugar.
Peel off the backing paper and then start to *roll* lengthwise using the paper it is now on. When rolled, dampen a tea towel and then roll again. This will help to keep it moist while it is cooling.
Meanwhile, make you cream filling. Beat the mascarpone, melted chocolate, icing sugar and the booze together. Then fold in the mashed raspberries. Holding back a few for decoration. Put this in the fridge to set. When the *roll* and the cream filling are ready, unroll and spread the filling to all edges. Re roll, cutting off any tatty edges. Then dust and decorate. Put back in the fridge for a wee while. (I couldn't wait that long!) To firm up.
Now stop yourself from having more than one slice. ENJOY.
* Leave out the fruit and just have all chocolate.
* Note I didn't dust mine, I used shop bought chocolate swirls.

Chocolate Stout Cake.

This delightfully gooey and chocolaty cake I have made before. It comes from Nigella's FEAST. And I am sure she would not mind me playing around with it. In fact, I think she has said that recipes are meant to played with.

I found Young's Chocolate stout at Dan Murphy's grog shop, and thought this would be as good as Guinness. It is and more so. I also cooked the cake in two tins rather than one as Nigella suggests. Then I made the icing, adding cocoa and sandwiched the two together and put the remaining cheesy/chocolaty icing on the top.
For those of you that don't have Nigella's FEAST, you will find the original recipe here under CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE.
Thank you Nigella.

Brownies with a Coffee Cheescake Swirl

This is a marriage made in heaven. Dark sticky brownies all gooey and chocolaty with a swirl of coffee cheesecake for added yummieness.
Two recipes have been pulled together here, the first (brownies) I have made at least once a week since Heather gave me the recipe over on the forum I belong to Violet's Pantry.
http://pinkbytes.blogspot.com/2009/04/dark-chocolate-brownies.html The second part is from another member from V.P. our dear Granny, who writes a smashing blog called Tea and Wheaten Bread. http://teandwheatenbread.blogspot.com/2009/09/chocolate-cheesecake-brownies.html
Now for what I did.The Ingredients..
8 oz Butter
4 oz Cocoa Powder (good quality)
4 Eggs.
8 oz Dark brown Sugar.
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract.
4 oz S.R. Flour.
4 0z White Chocolate Chunks.
2 teaspoons Instant Coffee.

Cheesecake Swirl..
8 oz Soft Cream Cheese (I used Philadelphia full fat)
4 oz Castor Sugar.
2 teaspoons Instant coffee (melted in a touch of boiling water)

Method..
Preheat oven to 180c. Line the bottom of a shallow baking tin with greaseproof paper (very important to do this)
Melt the butter, then add the cocoa powder and coffee, stirring well to remove any lumps.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the sugar and mix until smooth.
Stir in the cocoa mixture, white chocolate chunks and vanilla extract and mix well.
Add the sifted flour and mix gently with a spoon. Pour this mixture in to your tin and spread it around.
Now make the cheesecake swirl by mixing all ingredients together in a bowl, when soft and well combined, spoon on to brownie mix already in your tin. Then with a skewer just swirl it around until you have the desired affect.
Place the tin in to the oven for around 25 minutes. When done the brownies should be crisp on top and soft in the middle. Leave to cool before turning out and cutting, then dust with a little icing sugar.

If you wished, you could leave out the coffee element to this recipe, but I think it was HEAVEN. Hope you enjoy.

Madeleines (3 sorts)

I have been wanting to make these for such a long time, and finally last week I managed to buy the proper baking tray. Then it was a hunt through Google to find that perfect recipe, and I found it finally on http://www.taste.com.au Thank you Dixie Elliott.

Ingredients...

3 Eggs
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
1 Lemon, rind only, finely grated
1 large Lime, rind only, finely grated
3/4 cup plain Flour
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
60g unsalted Butter, melted and cooled
Icing Sugar, to dust

Method...

Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 12-hole Madeleine baking pan. Place eggs, sugar, lemon rind and lime rind into bowl. Using an electric hand beater, beat mixture until thick, pale and doubled in volume. Gently fold in flour, baking powder and butter using a metal spoon.

Place tablespoons of mixture into prepared Madeleine moulds. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden and cakes spring back when pressed in the centre. Cool slightly before removing from moulds. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar. This is for the Citrus Madeleines.

For the chocolate Madeleines, I left out the lemon and lime rind. I replaced 1 tablespoon of flour with Cocoa powder and added some grated cooking chocolate. Then when cooled I dipped the Madeleines in melted chocolate.

And for the Cinnamon Madeleines, again I left out the citrus and added 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon and when cooled I dusted with Cinnamon sugar.

Chocolate Madeleines dipped in
Chocolate.













Cinnamon Madeleines.













Citrus Madeleines.

Chocolate and Raspberry Cake

This recipe was found in a lift out magazine called Sunday Life, dated May 2004. The cake is based on a prize winning recipe from Peter Bennett, a regular entrant in the cooking section of the Royal Melbourne Show.

Dead Easy Chocolate Cake.
Ingredients:
200g S.R. Flour.
25g Cocoa Powder.
250g Dark Brown Sugar.
125g Butter (at room temperature)
2 Eggs.
2 tsp Vanilla Essence.
160ml Water.
200g fresh or thawed Raspberries.

Chocolate Glaze:
80ml Pouring Cream.
150g good quality Dark Chocolate. (chopped in to small pieces)

Method:
Preheat oven to 170c. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.
Place all ingredients (except the raspberries) in a large mixing bowl and mix for 2-4 minutes until all combines , light and fluffy.
Fold in most of the raspberries (keep back some for decoration if you like). Pour the cake mix in to the prepared tin and smooth the top with a spoon. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Stand cake for 5 minutes in tin to cool a little, then turn out on to a rack to cool more.
Meanwhile, make the chocolate glaze.
Heat the cream in a saucepan until almost simmering. Pour the cream over the chocolate that is in a heat proof bowl. Let stand for 1 minute, then stir until smooth.
Pour over the now cooled cake and decorate with the spare raspberries. Allow the glaze to set a little before cutting. Enjoy, we did.

Chocolate Cola Cake

I am totally in love with James Martin, a yorkshire lad who knows his way around a kitchen, and the way to my heart with a wonderful selection of cakes and desserts. This cake is from his book called DESSERTS
I did change the icing a little though, used softened butter only and added the icing sugar cocoa and cola, then mixed until smooth. The sugar flowers on top of my cake are from my 50th birthday cake and were not made by me.

Ingredients:
oil, for greasing
250g self-raising Flour
generous pinch of Bicarbonate of soda.
3 heaped tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder.
300g golden Caster Sugar
2 Eggs, (beaten)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
250g Butter.
175ml Cola
250ml Milk.

For the frosting:
200g Icing Sugar.
100g Butter.
2 tbsp Cola.
2 tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder.


Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Grease a 24cm loose-bottomed cake tin.
2. Sift the flour into a bowl. Mix in the bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and sugar.
3. Stir in the eggs and vanilla extract.
4. Put the butter in a saucepan and melt over gentle heat.
5. Add the cola to the butter and stir to mix, making sure mixture does not boil. Stir in the milk and remove from the heat.
6. Quickly whisk the cola mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix gently but thoroughly.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Leave to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Put the butter in a saucepan and melt over gentle heat. Stir in the cola and cocoa powder. Bring the mixture to the boil, then pour it over the icing sugar. Beat until smooth.
10. With the cake still in the tin, pour the frosting over it and leave in the tin until completely cool.
Hope you enjoy this cake as much as I did, have eaten 2 pieces now in an hour. YUM YUM

Yummy, Gooey, Fudgey Slice.

This is so easy, and can be made up, chilled and sliced in well under an hour. Very sweet, and fudgey, and very moreish.

The recipe..
8 oz of Butter.
8 oz of Sugar. (I used half brown and half white)
8 oz of Digestive Biscuits (crushed)
1 tin Condensed Milk (395 gms)
8 oz melted Milk Chocolate (I had more 'cos wanted a thick layer on top)

How to make..
Line a Swiss roll tin with foil and crush the biscuits, set a side.
Melt the butter, milk and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and continue boiling for 3 - 5 minutes. Add in the crushed biscuits and stir. Melt the chocolate over simmering water in another saucepan. Pour the milk/biscuit mixture in to the prepared tin and level out with a spatula. Then pour the melted chocolate over the mix in tin and again, level out. Decorate with sprinkles or coarsely grated chocolate. Chill in the fridge. When chilled, remove from pan and slice to your desired size. Stores well in the fridge for a few days in a covered container. I bet you don't just make this the once.
Next time I shall try different biscuits, like ginger snaps maybe, and change the chocolate from milk to dark.

Ginger Crunchies

These actually come from NIGELLA EXPRESS and have been made by Coby from
http://vipantrywedonthaveablogblog.blogspot.com/ So she asked the question about rice malt syrup, which is used in the original recipe. "Yes," was the reply from NIGELLA, "You can use Golden Syrup instead." Yay, that's two people that are happy now down under, as we can't get Rice Malt Syrup. I also left out the quick cook oats as I didn't have any and upped the amount of cornflakes and rice bubbles. And another twist, I added crystallised ginger finely chopped. To give a more adult feel and taste to them. Here is the original recipe..http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?key=L&rid=157
And here is what I used.
50g Milk Chocolate.
150g Golden Syrup.
55g Butter.
80g Rice Bubbles.
50g Cornflakes.
75g Sesame Seeds.
75g Crystallised Ginger.

Method.

Melt the chocolate, syrup and butter gently in a heavy-based saucepan.
Add all the other ingredients, turning to coat everything well.
Using your hands (encased in latex CSI gloves)(I didn't, wanted to lick my hands and the bowl once I had finished), shape the mixture into walnut-sized balls. You should get about 25; you could also make this using 2 x 12-bun muffin tin lined with muffin papers to get 24 cupcakes.
Let them set in the fridge for an hour or so, and they will keep quite happily in there for a week of treats.
As you can see, I made them into little cupcake treats and got 24.
Now, a funny story.
My hubby is a coal miner, each Thursday night shift the men have a little party to celebrate the end of the week. So at *breaktime* there are these fully grown great lumps of men in the *crib* room, all in their very dirty overalls, head gear and lamps on, sitting around a table eating the goodies of the day. Some take in soft drink, or crisps, sausage rolls and chocolates. My hubby is taking in these tonight (Ginger Crunchies) Hope you enjoy them guys.
Please remember I said Coal Miners. So they are underground about a kilometre down. Can you imagine it? Scare the poo out of me!

Dark Chocolate Brownies.

Hevz's Chocolate Brownies again. Sorry. But I did make these ten months ago and blogged them then. Yes, I have made them lots of times in between then and now, but these are the very best. I used dark chocolate and white chocolate chips, then dusted with a cocoa/icing sugar mix.
For those of you that would like the recipe (there can't be too many people out in blog land that haven't made these. LOL) Here it is again.

Ingredients..
100g/4oz Butter.
50g/2oz Cocoa Powder (I use Green and Blacks)
2 Eggs.
225g/8oz Caster Sugar.
1 tsp Vanilla Extract.
50g/2oz self-raising Flour.
50g/2oz white chocolate chips (I usually use choc chunks, they're bigger)

Method...
1-Preheat oven to 180c/350f/gas 4
2-Take a shallow baking tin, approx 23cm/9inch square, and line the bottom with non-stick liner or baking parchment (very important you do this).
3-Melt the butter, then add the cocoa powder, stirring well to remove any lumps (I use my mini whisk)
4-Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the sugar and mix until smooth.
5-Stir in the cocoa mixture, white choc chunks and the vanilla extract and mix well.
6-Add the flour and mix gently with a spoon, be careful not to over mix.
7-Pour mixture into the lined baking tin and place in the middle of the oven for about 25 mins.
When done the brownies should be crisp on top and soft in the middle. Leave to cool for 10 mins in the tin before turning out onto a board and then cutting into squares.

This time I doubled the recipe, used 100gs Dark Chocolate 86% chopped and the white chocolate. Instead of the caster sugar, I used dark soft brown sugar. And dusted with the cocoa/icing sugar mix.
So why have I blogged them again? Well, I just love using my light box, learning new things with it all the time. See my labels to find out more about it.

Chocolate Cake (Oxfam)

Chocolate cake, sandwiched together with cherry jam and Chantilly cream. 175g (6oz) plain flour.
3tbs Fair Trade cocoa.
1tsp baking powder.
1tsp bicarbonate of soda.
150g (5oz) fair Trade golden caster sugar.
1tbs black treacle.
2 eggs.
150ml (5fl oz) vegetable oil.
150ml (5 fl oz) milk.
apricot jam, cream or butter icing to finish.
Method..
Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas3 and grease 2X18 cm. (7inch) cake tins.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in the food processor and whiz the ingredients until thoroughly blended.
Add the liquid ingredients and process again scraping the sides of the bowl until they are all incorporated. If you do not have a food processor you can do it by hand.
Pour the mixture into tins and bake in the oven for 45mins. Cool and sandwich with apricot jam, cream or butter icing - whatever you prefer.

This is a recipe from Michael Barry. He was one of the first TV cooks to give publicity to Fair Trade products. This recipe is from Oxfam's Fair World Cookbook, published by Cassell in 1997.

I used St. Dalfour's Black Cherry conserve and a Chantilly cream to sandwich my two halves together. And dusted with icing sugar.

Chocolate Fudge Baskets

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes made into little baskets for Easter. Coloured pipe cleaners got from a craft shop have been used. So easy and loads of fun. Ingredients..
140g Butter (softened)
140g Caster Sugar.
3 medium Eggs.
100g S.R. Flour.
25g Cocoa (sifted)
Method..
Preheat the oven to 170c, and place cases on a tray, I got 18 out of this mix. Cream the butter and sugar together in your mixing bowl. Add eggs 1 at a time and mix in well. Sift the flour and cocoa together and put into bowl. Fold in the flour until well combined. If at this stage, you think it is a little dry, add a small amount of milk. I added about a tablespoon full.
Put the mix into the cupcake cases and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes. Then cool on a wire rack and start on the fudge icing.

For the Icing.
85g Milk Chocolate (broken in to small pieces)
85g Butter (soft, also broken in to small pieces)
140g Icing Sugar.
Put the chocolate in to a glass bowl and melt the choc over simmering water.
Cream the butter and icing sugar together. Then beat in the melted chocolate.
When the cakes are cooled, spread on the fudge icing.







Decorate however you like. I used small chocolate Easter eggs covered in foil. But you could use Maltesers, candy type eggs or make a nest with coconut that is shredded and place an egg in the middle. Last, cut the pipe cleaners to the required length and bend to form a handle. Poke two little holes either side of the cake and put in your *handle*.

Mocha Fudge Brownies

If you like Brownies, then why not try these. Mocha Fudge Brownies.
Ingredients..
Brownies.
1/2 cup Shortening (Copha)
1/2 cup Butter.
1 cup Cocoa.
2 cups Caster Sugar.
1 tablespoon hot Water.
4 teaspoons Instant Coffee.
4 Eggs.
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract.
1 cup S.R. Flour.
1/2 teaspoon Salt.
Icing..
1/2 cup Butter.
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract.
2 cups Icing Sugar.
1 and 1/2 tablespoons Milk.
2 teaspoons Instant Coffee.

Method..

Preheat the oven to 180c. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking tray with tin foil and grease it lightly with some butter. Melt butter and shortening in the microwave. (Please note, if you can't get shortening, just use butter, 1 cup in all)

Pour melted butter in to a large mixing bowl, add cocoa and blend in well. Add sugar and mix well again. Dissolve coffee in hot water and mix in to the cocoa mixture.

Add eggs one at a time and beat in well by hand. Stir in vanilla, sifted flour and salt.

Pour mixture in to prepared baking tray and smooth out evenly.

Bake for 25- 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to get cold.

While the brownies are cooling, make the icing.

In a bowl, cream the butter and vanilla. Add the icing sugar and beat on medium speed. Dissolve the coffee in the milk and add to the mixture, beat until light and fluffy. Spread over the cake. (Make sure it is cold) Cut in to slices and then lift out from the baking tray. Or lift out and cut in to slices, which ever you find easier.

I dressed mine with Chocolate coated Coffee Beans which gave another taste and texture to this delicious Brownie.

The Chocolate coated Coffee Beans were got from http://www.byronbaycoffeeco.com.au/

I dare you to stop at one slice. (Mine's all gone, in two days)

Chocolate Cupcakes with Mint Butter Icing.

These were made yesterday specially for St. Patrick's Day. I think on this day, we all have a touch of the Irish in us. A large Guinness was drunk by my hubby and Colcannon was served with sausages for dinner.
These chocolate cupcakes were had after that.

Ingredients.
2 cups S.R. Flour. (Minus 2 tablespoons)
3/4 cup Castor Sugar.
2 Eggs.
3/4 cup of Milk.
1/2 cup softened Butter.
2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder.
1/2 cup good quality Chocolate. (Grated)

Method.
Cream the sugar and butter together, add eggs and mix again.Now put in the milk and mix a little and then slowly,a little at a time, add the flour and cocoa which you have sifted together. Lastly, add the grated chocolate and stir in. I used my hand held mixer for the creaming and adding the milk. Then switched to a wooden spoon for the folding in of the flour.
Place mix into cupcake cases and cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 170c
When the cupcakes are cooled, top with your favourite butter icing. To mine I added 1 cap full of Peppermint essence and 1 cap full of green food colouring. Then dressed them with grated chocolate, After Dinner Mints and Mint Aero. I made 18 cupcakes with this recipe.

Chocoffee Cake.

A delightfully chocolatey, gooey, yummy cake from Kazmarri. I changed the original recipe a little, by adding my own favorite chocolate and adding instant coffee granules to the hot water. See the recipe below. I think a warning should go with this cake. It is addictive.

You will need...

200 gms Butter.

300 gms good quality dark Chocolate (I used Whittaker's Dark Mocha)

1/4 cup hot Water.

1 tablespoon Instant Coffee granules.

1/4 cup Cocoa Powder.

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract.

1 cup Castor sugar.

3 Eggs (lightly beaten)

3/4 cup S.R. Flour.

Method....

Preheat oven to 160c. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin. Put butter, 200gms of the chopped chocolate (Yes, leave 100gms for later) coffee granules and the hot water into a large microwave proof bowl. Microwave on high, uncovered for 2-3 minutes, stirring every minute with a metal spoon until smooth. Add cocoa to warm choc mix. Stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and castor sugar, and when it is cooler add the beaten eggs. Sift the flour over the chocolate mix, stirring gently to combine.

Pour half of the mix into cake tin, then sprinkle half of the remaining chocolate you have chopped over the mix. Add remaining mix to the tin and top off with the remaining chopped chocolate.

Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it. Let cool in the tin. Then you can dust with icing sugar as I did or make your favorite icing to go on top. Serve with cream, ice cream or as I did, a chocolate sauce.

Do hope you enjoy this recipe, and again, Thank you Kazmarri.

Alpine White Chocolate Mud Cake.

This is my first attempt at making a mud cake and also my first go at icing and decorating a cake too. Yes, okay, it was a Bakels cake mix that I was trying out. The lovely Gail from http://vipantrywedonthaveablogblog.blogspot.com sent me a kilo of the mix from her 15 kilo bail to try. Who said ready mixes are not any good? This is moist, easy, and very tasty.
Once you get over the original panic stage and work out the weights and measures (weighing eggs and water in grams for instance) it really is easy.
Then there's the choosing of chocolates to use. Some are so yellow, I ended up using Nestles as this was the palest of them all once melted and the cream added to it.


Top picture is square on.




This one is side on showing the ribbon on the side.










And this is after it had been syrup basted and
crumb iced.


















Just out of the oven. It did rise a little and cracks appeared, but these soon settled once it had cooled.
This is a truely delightful cake, and I will be buying some more mix once the Christmas holidays are over. Freezes well too.

Another son, another birthday cake.

The same simple chocolate cake, which you can find here http://pinkbytes.blogspot.com/2008/11/birthday-cake.html but this time, I sandwiched the two layers together with Nutella. (Second sons' favorite sandwich filling) and then made a Carob butter icing and spread that over the top, and dressed it with Maltesers.
Thankfully, every one in my home loves all types of chocolate, including the two dogs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NUMBER TWO SON.

Fruit and Nut Chocolate Brownies.

A very simple chocolate brownie recipe with the additions of Sultanas and chopped Walnuts.

INGREDIENTS

200 gms. Milk Cooking Chocolate.
125 gms. Butter.
1 cup Brown Sugar.
2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence.
2 Eggs. (lightly beaten)
1 cup Self Raising Flour.
1/2 cup Chopped Walnuts.
1 cup Sultanas.

METHOD

Preheat oven to 160c.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a large bowl over
simmering water.
Stir in the sugar, vanilla essence and the eggs.
Mix well.
Add the flour, sultanas and walnuts and stir well.
Pour the mixture into a lined 28 x 18 cm slab tin.
Bake for 45-50 minutes.
Leave in the tin to cool.
Dust with icing sugar, if you wish.

These are really delicious when served still slightly warm from the oven and, just before going to bed with a big dollop of cream and a cuppa.