Chocolate Archives - Page 14 of 24

Chocolate Almond Ginger Cookies

24|10|2014

I just wanted to bake cookies. For no rhyme nor reason. Do you really need a reason to make a cookie or a reason to eat one? If I am not doing anything else, I just have to get my hands whisking some kind of dough. I have to be cleaning away bits of dough, wiping away tiny drips of melted chocolate or scraping bowls till I am convinced I cannot scrape out any more for a cookie, brownie or cake batter. The mousse and cheesecake variety have a different outcome where scraping can be replaced with licking and I have takers. My kitchen and countertops tell a story that I like to see and experience every day. I like to keep a tab on my stock of chocolate, sugar, butter and eggs so I can shop for refills before I run out of them. My head, heart and hands are so in tune with this that I don’t feel like myself if I go for several days without baking my favourite things…or rather just baking something sweet.

So I took out chocolate, rummaged through my cupboards for almond meal (I blame that on moving houses several times), studied my spice rack and in minutes I was mixing together a luscious, thick batter. There is huge sense of satisfaction that comes with rolling balls of dough between your palms. You know you are in your final stages of giving shape to something spectacular from a few things that were mere ingredients minutes ago. The thrill of opening the oven door as you are greeted by the whiff of freshly baked goods.

These cookies are like little brownie bites. The batter is similar as well. Almond meal adds a slight nutty texture while powdered ginger gives it a warm, spicy feel. You could replace the almond meal for the same amount of plain flour or leave the ginger out if you want plain chocolate cookies. I have also used glace ginger pieces in the batter which tastes amazing with the chocolate. The recipe makes a lot of cookies but they were gone quite quickly in my house. I baked them in two batches, one slightly longer than the other. The first batch resulted in soft chewy cookies while the second one came out to be crisper ones. I prefered the chewy ones as they did taste like brownies.

Chocolate Almond Ginger Cookies
Makes 24 medium cookies

120 g unsalted butter, chopped
120 g dark chocolate, chopped
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 firmly packed cup brown sugar
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 cup glace ginger, finely chopped
toasted whole almonds (10-12), roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let bowl touch water) and stir until melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs, vanilla and sugars with electric beaters until thick and pale. Add the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Sift over the flour and cocoa. Add the almond meal and ginger. Fold in the glace ginger and chopped almonds. If the batter is too sticky to handle, stick it into the fridge for 15-20 minutes.

Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place onto the baking tray, leaving room between them to expand (about 4 cm). Bake, rotating tray halfway, for 14 minutes or until set. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Well Naturally Chocolate+ A Spiced Chocolate Lassi + Giveaway

21|10|2014

I often come across people who associate weight loss, health and fitness with some kind of food deprivation, cut-downs and fad diets. I am certainly not an expert in this area but the word ‘deprivation’ does not exist in my culinary dictionary. Food is a gift..it is one of the greatest pleasures in life that we deserve. What we don’t deserve are the pangs of guilt we feel after consuming a big slice of chocolate cake or a cup of hot chocolate that we have craved for and have been refusing as it comes in the way of our fitness goals or our summer-ready bodies. On many occasions I find myself thinking if there was a better way to deal with this. Why can’t I eat chocolate cake and still look fab in my swimwear?. I guess the key is to eat mindfully, understanding what we eat and not taking away the pleasure from eating our favourite food. Mindful eating balances health and pleasure.

Well-Naturally has been doing that for over a decade. They have been producing high quality, sugar-reduced and better-for you goods that Australians have been enjoying minus the guilt. Their mission statement ‘Well Naturally helps you achieve your wellness goals – the delicious way!’ sums it all up. The Well Naturally No sugar added range just as the name suggests is made without any added sugar. They are sweetened naturally with Stevia, a plant-based ingredient which has zero calories and no impact on blood sugar levels. Isn’t that fabulous? You can check out the Well Naturally website for more information.

Well Naturally No Sugar Added Dark and Milk Chocolates comes in an array of delicious tempting varieties

Well Naturally No Sugar Added Dark Chocolate Rich Dark (RRP $5.20 for 90 g)
Well Naturally No Sugar Added Dark Chocolate Mint Crisp (RRP $5.20 for 90 g)
Well Naturally No Sugar Added Dark Chocolate Acai (RRP $5.20 for 90 g)
Well Naturally No Sugar Added Milk Chocolate Creamy Milk (RRP $5.20 for 90 g)
Well Naturally No Sugar Added Milk Chocolate Fruit and Nut (RRP $5.20 for 90 g)
Well Naturally Dark Chocolate Melts For Baking (RRP $6.95 for 200 g)

I liked the Dark Chocolate Min Crisps the most while my husband liked Acai.

If you know me, I went straight for the Baking Melts (70 % cocoa) as soon as I received the pack. For me the real test of good chocolate is when I use it in my recipes. I was pleased with the product. Despite being a no-added sugar product I could substitute it easily for my regular chocolate. Minus the extra calories of course. The melts had a rich, intense chocolate flavour and a smooth texture and they melted easily. So they are obviously perfect for people with diabetes and those who intend to reduce their sugar intake. They are also gluten free with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

Here are some facts about sugar consumption and how Well naturally steps into the picture:
Australians consume approximately 54 kilograms of sugar per year – the equivalent of 37 teaspoons per person, per day. The World Health Organisation recently released guidelines for sugar consumption, recommending only around 6 teaspoons a day A regular chocolate bar contains about 55% sugar; 100 g of regular chocolate equates to 11 teaspoons of sugar.

How much sugar is in Well Naturally No Sugar Added Chocolate?
Dark Chocolate :No added sugar, sweetened naturally with Stevia, 0.7% sugar
Milk Chocolate : No added sugar, contains around 9% sugar (which originates from the lactose in the milk component of the chocolate recipe)

With the weather warming up on our side of the world, here is my absolute favourite summer drink with a chocolate twist. A healthier substitute to Chocolate Milkshake or for that matter even Hot Chocolate. Lassi is a sweet, yoghurt based Indian drink that is easy to make and is outright delicious. It is creamy, refreshing yet not as heavy as a cream based beverage. Traditionally, this is made using mangoes or just left plain but I have been dreaming of adding chocolate to it for quite some time now. With Well Naturally No Added Sugar Chocolates, I found a way to keep the health aspect intact while also making it indulgent. The spice gives the drink a little warmth and with the forthcoming Holiday season, this is a great drink to serve up to your guests.

Now for the fantastic giveaway. Not one but two lucky readers of Sugar et al. (courtesy Nuffnang and Well Naturally) will be winning a pack each of Well Naturally No Sugar added Products (priced at $35). For a chance to win, all you need to do is leave a comment below telling me what recipe you would create using the Well Naturally Dark Chocolate Melts?

The giveaway closes on 28th October, 2014, midnight. Please do not forget to leave your email behind for me to contact you if you win. The giveaway is open to Australian residents only. Wish you luck!

Disclaimer: Sugar et al. would like to thank Nuffnang and Well Naturally for the opportunity to try out Well Naturally No Added Sugar Chocolate Packs and develop a recipe using the same.. As always, the opinions expressed in the post are entirely my own.

Spiced Chocolate Lassi
Serves 2-3

1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp powdered nutmeg
100 g Well Naturally Dark Chocolate Baking Melts
11/2 cups Greek yoghurt (cold)
2 tbsp maple syrup
Ice cubes (optional)

1 tsp cocoa powder, to serve
1 tsp ground cinnamon, to serve

Place the milk and spices in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate and stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Cool to room temperature.

Place the Greek yogurt and maple syrup in a large bowl. Add in the milk-chocolate mixture into the bowl. Using a stick blender blend till smooth and slightly frothy. Alternatively, you could do this in your food processor.

If using ice cubes, divide ice cubes between serving glasses. Pour the lassi into serving glasses. Sprinkle with cocoa powder and powdered cinnamon. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Chocolate Beetroot Cake + Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting + Candied Beetroot Leaves

11|10|2014

In my previous workplace, I had two awesome friends. We were a group and since we always hung out together, most of the other colleagues called us ‘The Three Musketeers’. Perhaps for lack of a creative or better expression. I guess if there’s three of you, that is the most likely thing that comes to one’s mind. Nevertheless, going to work was fun and so were the long lunches, group meetings, gossips and just being able to connect with two people who were completely different personalities and you still got on like a house on fire. So even though the nickname wasn’t cool, our friendship was. Let me tell you what else is cool when three personalities come together. This cake.

Gingerbread meets chocolate cake meets beetroot. Sounds complicated. Well, it really isn’t. This is hands down the best chocolate beetroot cake I have ever tasted. You don’t taste the beetroot. What you taste is rich chocolate flavour which is intensified by the addition of treacle. Golden syrup and maple syrup will work too but treacle gives it strong flavour and rich colour. It is truly a treat! You know by now that my kitchen is nothing short of a test kitchen and I am constantly trying out different things. But in this case the stakes were high. I mean sky-high. I made this cake for my husband on his birthday who is not a big fan of sweet things. The only sweet treats he would like are the ones that have bittersweet chocolate, not overly sweet. Once he had a taste of my ginger cupcakes and asked me ‘What’s in there? Something strong that I cannot quite figure out but it tastes good’ He was obviously referring to treacle. So this was the excuse for me to combine the two. But I also needed an extra something to complement the two that would give body and moisture to the cake. The ginger cakes/cupcakes I make are quite moist and sticky and I didn’t want a sticky birthday cake.

The cake was everything I wanted and more. Luscious, moist, chocolate-y and now it was time to try out a gorgeous frosting that was not going to be buttercream. I love liquid and whipped ganache but I am beginning to get a bit bored with it. Enter this 2-ingredient, 5-minute chocolate frosting which I was dying to try out since months. I had come across something similar on Epicurious. I made a few changes and it worked. Wow! A fabulous addition to my frosting repertoire. I know this is one recipe I am going to use over and over again. It is not too sweet and has a great consistency. Spread or dollop or sandwich between your creations.

The man loved the cake. He was surprised when I told him there was beetroot in it. I decorated the cake with berries and candied beetroot leaves. Isn’t the colour amazing? I love candying things..it makes them look and taste lovely. I was a bit concerned if the beetroot leaves would bleed into the egg whites and spoil everything but they didn’t. In fact they were irresistible. We kept munching on them even before I put them on the cake.

Do give this cake a try with the frosting, candied leaves et al. It cannot get simpler than this. You are going to love it.

Notes :Please do ensure that you use a Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder or else the colour and flavour will not be the same. Do not grate the beetroot too finely or it would just get lost in the batter. While candying the leaves ensure that all the excess egg white is scraped off or they will take forever to dry up.

Chocolate Beetroot Cake + Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting + Candied Beetroot Leaves (minimally adapted from here, here and here)
Serves 8-10

For the cake
1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
1 cup (220 g) firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (125 ml) treacle (can be substituted with maple syrup)
60 g dark chocolate (70%), chopped
250 g (around 2 cups) raw beetroot, coarsely grated
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups (225 g) self-raising flour
1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
Chocolate sour Cream Frosting, to frost
Fresh fruits or berries, to decorate
Icing sugar, to dust
Candied beetroot leaves, to decorate

For the Chocolate-Sour Cream Frosting
150 g dark chocolate (semi-sweet)
50 g milk chocolate
1/2 cup sour cream (do not use the lite version)

For the Candied Beetroot Leaves
1 egg white
1/4 cup castor sugar
12-15 small beetroot leaves

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease and line the base of a 18 cm round cake tin with baking paper and set aside.
Warm the oil in a medium size sauce pan on very low heat. Add the brown sugar, treacle and chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat. Add the grated beetroot. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and then add them to the sauce pan. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together and stir into the beetroot mixture. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin, before turning out and cooling completely.

Once cooled, dollop the frosting (recipe below) on top. Decorate with fresh berries/fruits. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with candied leaves.

Make the frosting: Melt the two chocolates in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat. Cool for 2 minutes. Add the sour cream and mix till smooth. The mixture thickens as it cools. If it sets faster than you want, warm slightly again before using.

Make the candies leaves: Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the egg white in a small bowl and the castor sugar onto a small plate. Make sure the leaves are dry before you start. If not pat dry with a kitchen towel. Working one at a time, dip each beetroot leaf into the egg white (scrape off excess against the bowl) and then dip into the plate of castor sugar, turning it to ensure an even coat on both sides. Lay the leaves in a single layer on the tray lined with baking paper to dry out. Leave aside for 24 hours, turning once in between.

Upside Down Chocolate Trail-Mix Cake

9|10|2014

Life is not always magical and not all days are the same. There are days when you will run out of brown sugar by as little as a quarter of a cup when you have every other ingredient to make your favourite chocolate cake. You will then make your way to the shops to get some as the cake has to be made that day and you don’t want to compromise. (Please don’t tell me that you will substitute with castor sugar…that doesn’t make me happy!) Then just when you think that everything is going well, the cake sinks in the centre leaving you wondering where you went wrong.. There are days when you will swear that your bathrooms scales are inaccurate and your mobile network will tell you ‘you are not connected’ when you so want to see the response to your latest post on Facebook. There are days when you will splurge for a little ‘feel good’ and end up regretting every purchase you made. Everyone has these days. Perhaps changing perspective helps or even better a bar of chocolate. Then why not cake! Yes, cake all the way for me.. So here is a cake to turn your frown upside down. An upside down chocolate cake!

There are no fresh fruits in this cake unlike the usual upside down cakes. But there are dried ones along with nuts. You can pick any nut of your choice or leave out the dried fruits. I found it very easy to use Trail mix as the assortment is prepped, mixed and ready to pour into the cake pan. Mine had whole almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, cranberries and raisins. I experimented with this cake without cocoa, the first time. My family liked it and I took photos. But for some reason, the urge was too strong to give it another shot for a chocolate version.

I love the simplicity of this cake. So delicious like a good chocolate nut cake. Fabulous texture, rich chocolate flavour and a caramelised nutty topping. Coming to think of it, you can achieve the same look my topping a regular chocolate cake with trail mix. But there is a difference. The toffee sauce in the bottom of the cake pan gives the nuts a luscious caramel like flavour and much of the sauce is soaked up by the raisins and cranberries that become plump with toffee.
Making the cake is a breeze but you will need to ensure the cake is thoroughly cooked at the bottom and centre before turning it upside down.

Upside Down Chocolate Trail Mix Cake
Serves 8

For the topping
75 g butter
1/3 firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup trail mix (or nuts and dried fruits of your choice)

For the cake
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
2 tablespoons plain flour, sifted
1 1/3 cups, firmly packed) brown sugar
3/4 cup milk
125 g butter, cubed
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, sifted
3 eggs, lightly whisked

Preheat oven to 160 degree C. Grease the base and sides of a 18 cm round cake pan and line the base with non stick baking paper. Heat the butter and brown sugar over low heat in a small saucepan till mixture is smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle trail mix over the mixture to evenly cover the base of the pan.

Place the two flours together in a bowl. Place the sugar, milk and butter in a large saucepan. Add the cocoa and bicarbonate of soda into the pan. Place the pan over medium-low heat and use a whisk to stir until the mixture is smooth (don’t boil the mixture). Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Add the flour mixture in slow additions gradually whisking to mix. Add the eggs and continue to mix till well combined. Pour slowly on top of the trail-mix mixture in the prepared pan. Smooth surface with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Set aside for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on the side..