Chocolate Cake Crazy!

I've gone chocolate cake crazy for the billionth time - can't tell you how much my mouth is watering just looking at the lovely things people make.

How about this chocolate overdose cake? Or these molten chocolate cakes? This deep dark chocolate cake looks like the cake from the Matilda movie - yum!

I have to do some serious baking in my spare time this week.

Great recipe links

Hello happy bakers!

UKTV has one of the most scrummy collections of recipes online:

Check out their recipes for cocktails, pies, romantic desserts, and romantic starters, and this wonderful recipe for baked rice pudding - yum!

Toffee bread and butter pudding with creme anglaise

by Dean Edwards from MasterChef Goes Large Serves 4

Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour

Ingredients
1 loaf brioche, sliced
75g/3oz sultanas
50ml/2fl oz toffee liqueur
50g/2oz unsalted butter, for greasing
caster sugar, for dusting
For the crème anglaise
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out
750ml/1¼ pints milk
8 free-range egg yolks
160g/5½oz caster sugar

Method
1. To make the crème anglaise, add the vanilla pod and seeds to the milk in a pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
3. Put the yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale. Bring the milk back to simmering point and slowly whisk into the egg and sugar mixture.
4. Return the mixture to the pan and stir over a medium heat until thickened slightly.
5. Pour half the crème anglaise into a bowl and add the liqueur.
6. Grease four ramekins with the butter, then dust with sugar. Layer the brioche and sultanas in the ramekins and pour over the toffee crème anglaise.
7. Place the ramekins in a roasting tray and pour boiling water from a freshly boiled kettle into the tray to come halfway up the ramekins. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until set and golden.
8. Turn the puddings out into serving bowls and serve with the remaining crème anglaise heated through.

More great recipes!

Butternut fritters
by Malcolm of 10 on Russell

It’s a vegetable…

# 50g cooked drained and puréed butternut
# 1/2 cup flour
# 1 tsp baking powder
# Good pinch salt
# 1 egg
# 100g butter

Mix butternut, flour, baking powder and salt together, making a light soft mixture. Whisk egg and add to mixture. Drop spoonful of mixture into hot butter in pan. Fry until light brown on both sides. Remove it and drain. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and enjoy.

No… it’s a dessert!

# 1 orange, sliced
# 50g sugar
# 100ml sour cream

Add some sugar to the melted butter in the pan and grill the orange slices. Arrange the fritters and orange slices and top with a good spoonful of sour cream.

Delicious!

Baked Coconut Pudding

Moments with Malcolm
by Malcolm of 10 on Russell

A Good Old Favourite: Baked Coconut pudding

4 eggs; 250ml sugar; 125ml cake flour; 2ml salt; 3ml baking powder; 250ml desiccated coconut; 60ml melted butter; 10ml brandy or brandy essence; 500ml milk.

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Whisk eggs. Separately mix sugar, flour, salt, baking powder and coconut. Add eggs, butter, brandy and milk and beat well. Rub a pie dish with butter, add mixture and bake for approximately 50 minutes until golden and set. Serve warm.

Christmas Cookies strike again!

Just found the most amazing website in my search for yummy Christmas food - it seems I can't move away from the cookies. See Christmas Cookies for fabulous recipes including reviews - can't wait to start baking!! :) It's just a matter of time...

Happy baking,
Kelmonkey

Mauritian chicken sivet

Another great find from Leigh: Danielle's chicken sivet
While in Mauritius, you can't help but get excited about the incredible flavour combinations stemming from the mixed French, Chinese and Indian influences. Check out this recipe for chicken sivet. Yum!
Danielle’s chicken sivet 4 chicken pieces on the bone 2 cloves of chopped garlic ½ tsp of crushed ginger ½ onion 1 tsp whole cloves small handful of chopped coriander 1 spring thyme 1 spring of rosemary 400ml of red wine 50ml vegetable oil Chopped chilli to taste Place all of the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Leave in the fridge for three hours to marinate, remove and simmer on a low heat for a further hour. Serve with rice.