Deep Dark Chocolate Sour Cream Courgette Cake

Another event another cake to bake!

This weekend was the FUSS craft market and considering I've been a bit slack with FUSS recently due to work commitments and also stretching myself thin - doing stuff for the WI, and DIY stuff in my flat, I decided I should make up by baking a load for the market...

Fortunately I have started baking on random nights I have free and freezing them straight away. Which has turned out to be a godsend for such situations! So I pulled out an Apple & Banana Bundt out of the freezer yesterday and last night baked a batch of my mum's famous flapjacks and also a chocolate courgette cake. Again something my mum used to make when I was a kid. Ironically we never really had carrot cake but instead had chic courgette cake, which I found out today was pretty unheard off!

I love recipes that have a story, a bit of history to them.. I ended up combining my mum's recipe with an american bundt recipe, thus the 'cup' measurements.

NOTE: This cake was devoured off the FUSS stand rather quickly!

1/2 cup Stork Margarine

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cup caster sugar
3 medium eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
2 cups grated unpeeled Courgettes (about 2 smallish, or 1 large)
3/4 cup Plain chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180°C and oil a Bundt pan & lightly dust with flour. 

In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil and sugar on high speed with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes, until thick and pale yellow. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

In a smaller bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add a third to the butter mixture and beat just until blended; add half the sour cream and do the same. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture, the rest of the sour cream, and the rest of the flour. Stir in the zucchini and the nuts and/or chocolate chips, if you’re using them, and pour the thick batter into the pan, smoothing the top.

Bake for an hour & 10mins, until the top is cracked and springy to the touch. 

Invert onto a rack and allow too cool or pop on a cake stand & serve with creme fraiche while still warm! 

Or you can make a Sour Cream Chocolate Ganache (as seen on the bundt below!)

Still working in cups....

1 Cup of chocolate (dark or milk or both, whatever you have to hand)
3/4 Cup of Sour Cream
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Break up the chocolate into pieces into a heat-proof bowl.
Bring a pan of water to boil, pop a heat-proof boil over the top and turn off the heat.
Leave for a while (good point to look at the horrific mess you've created in the kitchen and potentially clean it up). Enough faffing...
Mix the vanilla essence into the sour cream and then pour into the melted chocolate. Beat until you get a smooth consistency and then pour over the cake and dust with cocoa powder.

Serves 8-16.

Cookies The Size of your Hand!!

February is here already and I'm desperate to see signs of spring...summer soon..please!!
Now I realise the start of the year is time for 'detoxing' and diets. Well personally I think that January and February are better known for being miserable and dowdy months... SO! I am encouraging "re-toxing" to help with the February blues :) Re-toxing as i read on another blog is a term used for eating foods that make you happy!! Now who could deny happiness!?
On that note I present the BIGGEST cookies I've ever made, courtesy off The Humming Bird Recipe Book.

White chocolate and Pecan nut Cookies Recipe
250g Unsalted Butter (yes I know - A whole block!?)
100g caster sugar
200g Soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
11/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
400g Plain flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Baking powder
100g white choc, chopped
100g Shelled Pecan nuts, chopped

Put the butter and sugars in a bowl and using a handheld electric whisk, cream until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraing any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a spatula after each addition. Turn the mixer down to slow speed and beat in the vanilla extract.

Add the flour, salt and baking powder and mix well until a smooth dough is formed. Stir in the chocolate and pecan nuts until evenly dispersed.

Divide the mixture in half and shape each half into a roll 15cm in length and 3cm in diameter.wrap the rolls in cling and put them in the freezer to set completely for a couple of hours.

Preheat the oven to 170oc.

Get the rolls out of the freezer and take off the cling. Cut the dough into disks around 2cm in thickness. Arrange the cookies on prepared baking trays with parchment. make sure the cookies are well spaced as they will spread to around double the size when baking. Bake in the preheated oven for around 10-15minutes, or until golden brown around the edges and quite flat. Leave the cookies to cool slightly on the trays before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

The cookies should be soft and slightly chewy :)
See if you can resist eating one warm with a glass of ice cold milk!!!

Enjoy!
I plan to do these again but using dark choc and hazelnuts, it has to be done and tried :D

 

BOURBON BRILLIANTS

So as it turns out my fav biscuits are bourbon biscuits and so I decided to have a go at making my own. Using the brilliant World Wide Web I found a recipe...which I followed...then tweaked by adding random handfuls of extra flour / sugar and an egg. In other words this recipe could be a little off.

I plan to make them again as they were a HIT. 

I promise to double check the measurements and post accordingly. But until then you'll have to do with this 'guess' of a recipe.. yeah sorry about that!! But hey who said 'creating art' was a precise science!?!

Note I say 'art' - I'm sure by classing anything as 'art' you don't have to follow any rules as it ruins your creative streak!! (well this is what I'm going with anyway - and who's gonna question that!?!??)
RECIPE:

125g Plain Flour
60g Caster Sugar 
25g Cocoa Powder
1/2tspn Bicarbonate of soda
50g Stork or Butter
1 Egg beaten
1 tbsp syrup

75g Icing sugar
50g unsalted butter - room temp
1 tbsp Cocoa powder
1 tbsp Camp coffee essence
50g of 70% dark chocolate to decorate

METHOD:

Pop the oven on at 170oc or 160oc for Fan assisted. Get out as many baking tray as you have and line with baking parchment. Prep done!Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix.Place the butter/stork in a saucepan with the syrup and heat until melted. Pour into the melted concoction into the the dry ingredients and stir. Then add the beaten eggs. Now get your hands in there and mix up up into a good ball of tasty dough.Pop in the oven for 12-18 minutes until golden brown. Once ready pull out the oven but leave them on the hot baking trays until the tray has gone cold, which at this point you can pop them onto a wore rack to finish cooling. *really important to leave on the hot baking tray as this will make sure they'll have that crunch!Once cooled you can melt off some delicious dark choc in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Then using a spoon or spatula, get some of the melted choc and squiggle over the top of the biscuits. Leave to set on the wire rack.

I've decided that is actually COMPULSORY to have a glass of ice cold milk whilst eating these. It makes the experience much more IMMENSE!
Enjoy & Merry Christmas for tomorrow. Hope you all have a festive food filled feast!!xx

Cook-athon Part 2 - Millionaire Shortbread

As I'm yet to become a millionaire or be whisked away by a millionaire, Millionaire shortbread seemed to be the only option!
This was the traditional treat until it was transformed into the choc bar known as TWIX. Oh and before i continue don't get any clever ideas of trying the toffee before it's cooled!! It's like ruddy lava and stay hot for ages - thus I now have burnt fingers, that'll teach me...

Recipe

Shortbread:
125g Butter (salted is better)
50g caster sugar
175g plain / rice flour

Topping:
125g butter
100g sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
200g condensed milk - usually sold in tins of 397g, so roughly use half a tin.
200g milk chocolate

Grease a & line a 20.5cm x 40.5cm baking tray (or one roughly rectangle and a bit deep :) Preheat oven to 150oc/300oF/gas 2.

Rub all the ingredients for the shortbread together as if you were making crumble, but keep going until it starts to form a very stiff, crumbly dough. Don't add any liquid!!

When the dough forms press it evenly into the baking tray using your fingers (rustic look!) - as it cooks it tends to level out. Bake the shortbread for 20minutes then set aside and allow to cool.

Heat the butter and sugar in a saucepan. When the sugar has dissolved add the syrup and the condensed milk. bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. it will thicken and go a toffee colour. As soon as this happens spread it over the shortbread and allow it to cool.

Now melt the chocolate with 4 tbsp of water, either in a bain Marie (bowl over a pan of hot water) or in a microwave. As soon as you can, pour it over the toffee and biscuit and even it out with a knife. The reason for adding the water to the choc is so that it makes it easier to pour & also prevents it from going brittle (next time may use less water, as it quite nice for it to be a bit brittle).

Allow it to chill / cool for at least an hour, then cut it into whatever shapes sizes you desire. Once made it will keep in the fridge for up to a week. So by next sat you may have won the lottery and be paying me to make some of this shortbread!! lol!!

My sister's Easter 30th!

So this Easter bank holiday weekend was taken over by my Sister's 30th celebrations. For someone who suggested she had no friends(!?), an impressive 49 people turned up to help her celebrate her departure from 'young life!' -  lol sorry just winding her up, she's my sister after all!

My sister attacking me whilst I was baking her cake & treats! :O)

As it was her birthday I made her some tasty treats!! Firstly a huge batch of Chocolate chewy morsels , a Blueberry zest cake with a twist ( added 100g blueberries & 100g raspberries), a three tier Blackout Cake which I made on a previous post but didn't give you the recipe :-o. And finally some ubber posh JELLIES!! I've been meaning to make some jellies for my blog considering it's in the title. They were spiced mulled wine jellies with 24 carat gold in them! Yes I suppose Lou's worth it :)

So here are a few photos from the celebrations and the yummy creations I made (I'll post the recipes in the next couple of posts).

Everything seemed to go down well. There was no choc muchies, Blackout cake or Lime drizzle cake by the end of the night. The Spiced white wine gold jellies didn't seem to get the same reaction as the rest...

My cousins compared them to 'Deep Heat' rather than wine flavor and as for Mr Nigel, well you can see his reaction below! Not quite the look I was hoping for?!

Hmmm, back to the drawing board I think. Don't worry I'm not one to give up!! The search begins for the best Jelly recipe I can find. If you know of any let me know.. please......

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekends too!
Mx

Chocolate Rose cake

After receiving such a fab teatowel off Lacey I decided to surprise her with a cake, to say thank you. 

It's a new recipe, I haven't tried before... One of the 'healthy cakes' that are made using vegetable instead off butter/oil. Can you imagine a healthy chocolate cake!! Yum

 

This is one of Harry Eastwood's recipes, I've made a couple of her cakes now and they've turned out rather good. I must say though it isn't half strange some on the veggies you use but HEY if it works it works! And following the response from Lacey's studio and can safely say I think it was a success!! :D

 

Chocolate Rose Cake

Recipe

3 Free-range eggs

160g Golden caster sugar

200g peeled & grated Butternut Squash

120g Rice flour (I use Doves)

3 tbsp Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp Salt

125ml Buttermilk (you'll find this near the cream in the supermarket)

Chocolate Icing

50g Unsalted butter, softened

200g icing sugar, sieved

50g Mascarpone

4 tsp cocoa powder

Pre-heat the oven to 180oc . Line two 18inch sandwich tins with parchment and rub the sides with a bit of butter, so it doesn't stick.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl for 4 full minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in the grated butternut squash, followed by the flour, cocoa powder, ground almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add the buttermilk before beating again one last time to make sure that all the ingredients are well introduced to one another.

Pour the mixture evenly into both tins, then place in the middle of the oven for 30minutes (Now don't open the oven before 20mins! but do check around 25mins, depends on your oven...)

Once cooked, remove the cakes from the oven, unmould, peel off the baking parchment and leave to cool down completely on a wire rack.

Whilst the cakes are cooling, start on making the icing (do not put the icing anywhere near the cake until it's stone cold). Beat the butter with 100g of the sugar in a large mixing bowl. You will need to work them together patiently, using a back of a spoon. It will seem like an impossible task at first, but they will eventually turn into a lovely paste.

Once you reach this stage, beat vigorously for 10 seconds to loosen the butter even further. Add mascarpone, cocoa powder and salt, as well as the remaining sugar. Beat once again to combine.

Spread half the icing on each sponge, placing one on top of another. Then cut the stems on several rose at around 2cm and place on the cake. Volia!

A light chocolate cake in more ways than one :D

Fancy a Guinness?

Chocolate Guinness Cake with a White chocolate Froth.

Now this is a proper chocolate cake! A rich dark chocolate sponge that gives a kick of cocoa followed by a silky soft white chocolate froth to contrast. A perfect marriage of flavours :O)

 It may look small but it is 19cm in diameter, it's just that it's quite a deep cake. The froth on top adds to it's height too, making it look more like a cube..... and a stunning cube at that!

If you have strange issues with cube like cakes you can bake it in a bigger cake tin, thus making it thinner... (wimps!)

Just realised that I blogged about drinking Guinness the other week... and now currently finishing of the bottle from baking the cake "Waste not want not!" well it's full of iron - must be good for me :O)

Anyho here is the recipe :o)

125g Stork Marg (makes tastier cakes + is healthier than butter)  

250g Light Muscovado Sugar

175g Plain flour

50g Cocoa Powder (extra for dusting)

half tspn Baking Powder

1 tspn Bicarb-of-soda

3 Eggs, beaten

200ml Guinness (see you do need to finish the rest off!)

White Froth:

200ml Double cream

200g White choc (plus extra for curls)

Preheat the oven to 160oc

Grease 19cm loose bottom cake tin & line the bottom with parchment.

Cream the butter and sugar together, so it's an even consistancy. Then in a seperate bowl sift all the dry ingredients together. Have your measured out Guinness and beaten eggs to hand....

Gradually beat in alternative spoonfuls of the Dry ingredients, Guinness & egg into the sugar/butter mixture.

Spoon into your cake tin & bake in the oven for 55minutes. At this point check your cake, by inserting a skewer into the cake. If it comes out clean it's ready. I had to pop it back in for another 10mins (all depends on your oven).

Once ready, leave in the tin for 10mins before popping out onto a wire rack (remove the parchment paper) to completely cool. 

Bring on the froth!

Put half the cream into a pan and bring to the boil. Take off the heat and drop in the chopped white chocolate - Leave for 10mins - then stir - then pop into the fridge & chill for 15mins.

Take the other half of the cream & whip up! Add the white choc mixture & whip up again - Then chill for 15min again. Phew... Now you can spread the 'beautiful' mixture onto your cake & decorate.

Use a veggie peeler to make the curls & a small amount of cocoa to dust.

"To be sure, to be sure" this cake is always a hit!

 

Guinness cake with additional white choc curls & cocoa powder... YUM!

Final Christmas Creations

This is my last post for the festive season.
Here are some of the gifts Pete and I created for our families...

I had a go at growing some hyacinth bulbs. I started them at the end of October, in the hope they'd be in flower by Christmas.... as you can see they weren't, but they were still well received anyway - have been promised photos for when they bloom!


After so many people comenting on my 'Pete's Chocolate chewy morsels' (see previous post for recipe) I decided to make a few tasty gifts. Now these went down a storm!! Only thing was I didn't make any for my sister, but I had made some for her husband - Note to self Louise likes chocolate and John doesn't like to share :-o It was entertaining never the less!!


Christmas Day was spent at The Williams household, half of which work in finance. This in mind Pete and I created some FT Times crackers, including individual 'designer' FT hats! They went down a storm. The only snagg was that on Christmas Eve, Pete's dad told his favorite xmas jokes!! All of which Pete had put in the crackers :D The good old ones never tier.

"How does the snowman get about?"
"On his iclicle!"


Here are the Christmas cards that we sent out this year. We made them using a "merry christmas' stamp, that Pete designed on the inside and an image I'd retouched & comp'ed together. Doesn't that Robin look merry & well fed!

Merry Christmas to all.
Hope you all had a fab day!!

x

Pete's Chocolate chewy morsels

These are quite simular to the chocolate fingers on a previous post I did, but these are very different and are Pete's fav. He says it's cause they are more chewy :)

So again dead easy to make...

Recipe:
200g Digestive biscuits
100g Butter
3 tbsp Golden Syrup
2 tbsp cocoa powder
50g raisins
100g dark choc

1. Butter a tin (can be whatever you have about - cake tin, bread tin ) an 18cm sandwich tin is good. I used a bread tin to help with the square edges.
2. Now the best bit, all that pent up anger - take it out on those biscuits. Put them in a bag first & bash into uneven crumbs.
3. Melt the butter and syrup in a pan. Stir in the cocoa and raisins and then the biscuit crumbs. Spoon into the tin and press firmly.
4. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water and then spread over the biscuit base.
   
5. Chill for at least half and hour. Cut up and serve!

Chocolate Brandy Fingers

These chocolate brandied currant fingers, really give you that cocoa choc hit!
And are also really easy to make:

75g currants
60ml Brandy
250g plain choc biscuit digestives
85g unsalted butter
330g dark choc chopped
190ml pouring cream

Place the currants and brandy in a small saucepan over a low heat and cook until the brandy is absorbed. Set aside to cool.

Place the biscuits and butter in a food processor and process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Press mixture into a 10cm x 35cm loose bottom tin.

Put the choc and cream in a saucepan over a low heat and stir until the choc has melted and smooth. Add the currents, pour over the base and refidgerate for 2 hours until firm...

can serve as a pud with cream and rasberries......

The Healthy Veggie Cake!!

So I had a go of one of my 'healthy veggie' cakes today! :D
With great results, Pete even loved it !!

It was a chocolate, pistachio & courgette cake.
At only 300 cals a slice, that's definately worth two slices!! :D

Look at all the courgette that went in...

And the ground pistachios ...

The finish article....
And do you know what ..... it was delicious especially with a couple of blobs of vanilla ice cream :D Well you can't have it being to healthy now....

A Blackout With One Torch

After bringing many samples of my cakes and bakes into work (Pete refusing to eat any more cake..) One of my colleague's, Ben, asked if I would bake his Misses a Big birthday cake. Of course not one to turn down an excuse to bake, I said yes.

His main requirement was that it needed to be:
"Chocolate overload, with more chocolate!"

So I decided to bake my "A Blackout With One Torch" cake. Strange name I know, it's to decribe a three sponge chocolate cake that is drenched on all layers and topped in rich chocolate custard. Except for the center section of the cake that has a smooth white chocolate cream frosting - that'll be the torch.. Then finished with wizzed up cake crumbs over the top. Don't think it could get more chocolate!

Here are some pics of the cake during the "building" of it and the finished product. Ben did say he'd take a photo of Jazz enjoying it for the blog too - so watch this space...


Nearly forgot...

"HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY Jazz!"

Hope you enjoy the cake and have a fab day on Monday, also hope you have a superb weekend celebrating! :D