Saturday Night Self-Saucing Chocolate Muffins

*in tune to Cold Chisels "Saturday Night"

"Saturday Night.....do do doooo, do dooo, do dooooooooo"

Once again, its 9:30pm, Bob and Marc are on the lounge watching Iron Chef and i want chocolate!

I haven't had any luck with puddings in the past which i think is Better Homes and Garden's fault.

Now, most of you that know me, know that i LOVE BH&G more than most things. i have a magazine subscription and refuse to go out on a Friday night unless i can schedule it around BH&G at 7:30pm. Only last week Marc and i went out for dinner but where home in enough time to watch the magnificence that is BH&G.

Despite how much i love BH&G, i can't make them write good pudding recipes for their magazine (although i did consider writing them a very angry letter).

A few months ago the magazine had a pudding section, which was filled with about 6-8 different pudding recipes. Of course, a fine lady like myself occasionally likes to indulge in a bit of pudding. i had never actually made one from scratch because the 99c home brand packet "Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding" was just too amazing. But, i wanted pudding and i was feeling adventurous.

I tried just the traditional self saucing chocolate pudding and chocolate and caramel pudding. i followed both recipes exactly, and they both turned out to be some of the most shit desserts i have ever made in my life! they where stuck to the bottom of the ramekins and completely un-edible. Sad Sad Sad. And of course i was obviously pissed because i had wasted a lot of chocolate and a perfectly good bag of caramel jerseys.

So i vowed never to cook a BH&G pudding recipe ever again.

I have never failed with my Baking Bible book however, and on Saturday Night (do do do), i had another crack!

Self Saucing Chocolate Muffins - Baking Bible

Ingredients
1 cup self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 cup soft brown sugar
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease muffin tins. (i used a cupcake tray with silicone cupcake patties, this is VITAL as the muffins will stick no matter what).

Sift flour and half the cocoa  into a bowl. Sift in white sugar.

Add milk and melted butter, and stir until just combined.

Half fill prepared muffin tins with mixture.

Mix remaining cocoa with brown sugar and boiling water and add to each muffin cup to take the level up to 3/4 full.

Bake for 15-20 mins.

To turn muffins out, place service dish over muffin tin and carefully flip over. scoop out any remaining sauce. (i used a knife and gently lifted the silicone patties out then turned it into the serving bowl. much less messier and a guaranteed good result.)

Makes 12.

Success!

Cheese and Chive Muffins!

Bonjour Friends!

Do you ever get that craving around 3:30pm for something yummy? So you go to the communal chocolate box and you realise all the Caramelo Koala's are gone (probably because you ate them all). So now you don't really feel like something sweet .....how about something with Cheese!

Then these are for you!

Cheese and Chive Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup self-raising flour

1 egg

¾ cup water

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups grated tasty cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 190oC. Grease muffin tins.

Sift flour into a large bowl, then mix in all other ingredients until just combined.

Spoon mixture into muffin tins and sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Makes 12

These muffins are super easy to make. I added some extra salt and pepper and i think some bacon would have been really nice as well. I used a cupcake tin and it made only about 10.

These little cheesy muffins are a welcome addition to my 3:30pm binge.

Now, who can i talk to about those Caromelo Koalas........

Stressful Red Devil Cake

The Sunday before last Sunday was a really shitty day. The weather was crap, i felt crap from the gym, we went to Coles and that's ALWAYS crap, we didn't get into a fight though so that was a bonus (a story for another time).

So i was feeling like crap..... which i have just established.

The only way to fix this depressive spiral was by making cake, a really big chocolaty cake.

I have had moderate success with cake baking. The cake usually tastes quite good/or delicious but i have a hard time with the "sinking". Hi my name is Lisa and my cakes sink. Not Stink, Sink.

But despite my "sinking" problem i was going to try attempt a cake....once again.

Red Devil Cake

Ingredients

1 cup grated dark cooking chocolate

½ cup milk, mixed with ½ tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar

2 cups soft brown sugar

4 egg yolks

120g softened butter

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

½ cup milk

2 cups plain flour

2 eggs whites

Chocolate butter icing

Method

Preheat oven to 180oC. Lightly grease and flour a 20cm round cake tin.

Gently heat chocolate, soured milk, half the brown sugar and 1 egg yolk until chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool.

Cream butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Add remaining egg yolks, bicarbonate of soda dissolved in milk, and sifted flour.

Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into creamed mixture and chocolate mixture.

Pour into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes.

Ice with chocolate icing.

Chocolate Butter Icing

Ingredients

60g dark cooking chocolate, chopped

125g softened butter

2 cups icing sugar

1-2 tablespoons warm milk

Method

Melt chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water or on Medium in the microwave. Cool.

Cream the butter in a bowl. Gradually add sifted icing sugar, alternately with the milk, until soft and creamy. Beat in melted chocolate.

Makes ¾ cup

It was roughly 7pm when i started on this adventure, Dinner Time. Poor Marc was trying to make Laksa around me and i had bowls and chocolate EVERYWHERE!

The chocolate grating in this recipe is HARD CORE! i was sweating up a storm, which I'm sure added to the overall flavour of the cake :)

Also the amount of bowls used is RIDICULOUS! i think i had about 6-8 bowls going. So be prepared if you want to make this cake.

Anyhoo, the cake was in the oven and i was eating Laksa which is always amazing. I checked on the cake and it looked fine, maybe a little bit "sinky". Once the cake was out, it sunk a bit more.

When it was time to get the cake out of the tin i had a revelation........"maybe....if i turn the cake upside-down no one will even know it sunk". So that's exactly what i did, and it bloody worked!

I made the icing and iced my now totally flat topped Red Devil Cake. Perfection!

And the taste.........wonderful!

The question to be asked is, is this Red Devil Cake as good as Betty Crocker's Devil Food Cake that can be bought in a packet and made with only 1 bowl? The answer is No.

This cake tasted really good, but I'm pretty sure if want a really chocolaty cake without having to rehydrate myself post baking i will always choose good old Betty.

Concentration......

Upside-down cake with no icing



Finished Product!

Saturday Night Swiss Lemon Slice

Like most Saturday evenings, around 9pm, i get the urge to bake something. Usually Marc and our friend Bob are on the lounge watching Iron Chef or something and possibly trying to dodge each others farts.

This Saturday night was no different.
This is my queue.

So off to the pantry i go, Baking Bible in hand to search for a recipe that consists of whatever is lurking around in there.

And so we have......

Swiss Lemon Slice

Ingredients

1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup desiccated coconut
115g butter, melted
1/3 cup soft brown sugar
lemon glace icing (separate recipe below)

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease and line a 19-cm x 29-cm slice tin. *I very rarely grease tins, i mostly just use baking paper. if you leave some over hang its easier to pull the slice out with.

Sift self-raising flour, then mix with coconut, butter and sugar.

Press into the tin. Bake for 15 mins. When Cold, ice with lemon icing.

Makes 24


So at this point i was really excited because base turned out great! I was even boasting how easy it was.

Another trip to the pantry. WHAT NO ICING SUGAR! How can a person that bakes so often not be in possession of something as simple as icing sugar?

I had let the troops down, and by troops i mean the Stink Brothers on the lounge.

12 hours later i was at Coles picking up numerous bags of icing sugar. If Queanbeyan ever comes under attack (well it kinda already is......by bogans), we will at least be able to survive on icing sugar.


Lemon Glace Icing

Ingredients

2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons warm lemon juice

Method

Sift the icing sugar (i never sift icing sugar FYI) in a bowl. Gradually add the lemon juice, beating until the icing is smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Use immediately.

Uneven cutting, but tasted really good.

I highly recommend this recipe, especially if your Nana is coming over for tea or for hurling at attacking bogans.

Raspberry and Rhubarb Ginger Nut Crumble

For Miss Veronicas birthday I contributed to the afternoon tea with a Raspberry and Rhubarb Ginger Nut Crumble, hand picked by Miss V herself.

I must say it was a wonderful choice. Very tasty and very simple to make. If you have any pent up frustration or anger this recipe is perfect as you get to beat the crap out of some ginger nut biscuits.

Here is the recipe ya'll !

Here is the pic i took from the webiste which is listed here
http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=789916

INGREDIENTS

2 medium (300g) apples, peeled, cored, chopped
500g rhubarb, trimmed, chopped
½ cup (110g) vanilla sugar
500g frozen mixed berries
12 (180g) ginger nut biscuits, crushed finely
¾ cup (110g) self-raising flour
1/3 cup (75g) vanilla sugar, extra
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100g unsalted butter, chopped
¼ cup (25g) walnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, extra

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.

Place the apples, rhubarb and vanilla sugar in a medium saucepan; cook, covered, over low heat for about 10 minutes or until soft. Stir in berries.

Spoon fruit mixture into a 2-litre (8-cup) ovenproof dish. Place dish on an oven tray.

Combine the crushed biscuits, flour, ¼ cup of the extra vanilla sugar and spices in a medium bowl; rub in the butter, then stir in the walnuts.

Top fruit mixture with flour mixture, then sprinkle over the combined remaining extra vanilla sugar and the extra cinnamon.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until browned. Serve with custard and vanilla ice-cream, if desired.

Suitable to freeze. Fruit suitable to microwave.

Here are some pics from that super fun afternoon! Ps. We just had dance rehersal so our get up is more of the work-out variety as opposed to the smokin-hot look we usually sport. :)




Me, Kate and Ron





The ever wonderful Harry

We Like to Dance

And Love Each Other



And eat LOTS of SUGAR!!!

Happy Birthday Miss Veronica!

Old Cooking Adventures - Easter Friend Surprise!

As some of you may know I'm very enthusiastic about "Edible Holiday Gifts", i have only done a few but the process and the result is always really fun (and i usually get covered in chocolate, which is also a bit great).

For Easter this year i created "Easter Baskets" for my girlfriends Ron, Kate and Lex. I'm kicking myself now that i never took a picture of the final product (basket and all) so you will have to use your imagination.

Think pink, orange and yellow Easter egg baskets with those really long over the top handles filled with.................

Easter Ganache Slice!  from Taste.com (which is where i took the photo from)

Makes

24 pieces

Ingredients

• 300ml thickened cream
• 400g Nestle Plaistowe dark cooking chocolate, chopped
• 150g Woolworths marshmallows
• 150g Scotch Finger biscuits, broken into large chunks
• 150g Violet Crumble, chopped

Method

1. Line a 26cm x 16cm baking pan with non-stick baking paper, leaving 2 sides extended. Melt thickened cream and dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water). Stir until the mixture is melted and smooth.
2. Carefully remove the bowl. Stir in marshmallows, Scotch Finger biscuits and Violet Crumble until well combined.
3. Spread the mixture into the pan and place in the fridge for 4-5 hours or until set. Cut into squares to serve.

And..........

Easter Egg Slice

Makes 15

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
1/3 cups caster sugar
80g butter, chopped
1 egg yolk
500g mini solid Easter eggs (i used caramel and plain chocolate)
1 cup shredded coconut
395g can sweetened condensed milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 3cm deep, 16.5 x 26 cm (base) slab pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang on all 4 sides.
2. Combine flour, sugar and butter in a food processor. Process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and 2 tablespoons of cold water. process until mixture almost comes together. Using clean hands, press mixture into base of pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden. Set aside to cool.
3. Unwrap Easter eggs. Place eggs over slice base to cover. Sprinkle with coconut. drizzle condensed milk over the slice. Bake for 28-30mins or until edges are deep golden and centre is firm to touch. Allow slice to cool completely in pan.
4. Cut into pieces and serve

*no picture unfortunately.

Now, if you have any edible holiday ideas for me i would love to try it out. Christmas i will definitely try my Nan's Christmas Pudding recipe out (God help me), but I'm up for any kind holiday, if you can think of it, ill give it a crack.

Now come to think of it, i did see some fabulous plastic "Jack-o-Lantern" baskets in the $2 shop.......blood stained pumpkin pie anyone?