Chocolate Archives - Page 3 of 24

Shiraz Chocolate Cake with Shiraz Wine Poached Pears

13|04|2022

Easter is somehow perceived to be a grand occasion for kids. Sure, I have two kids of my own and I love creating egg-citing treats for them. But I absolutely don’t forget the adults and the fact that it is a 4 day long weekend in Australia amidst a beautiful Autumn weather. So more reasons to enjoy a decadent cake with red wine poached pears.

Red wine poached pears and red wine cake

We enjoy a warm Christmas in December, unlike the rest of the world. So this is basically our season to indulge in warm, spice infused cakes. A bit of wine is so welcome in cake. This one is a showstopper, bothin looks and taste. The cake tastes rich an moist on account of the wine and I don’t think i need to say much about the pears. If you’re a fan of poached pears, you have to try them when they’re cooked in red wine. I used Shiraz as it complements the cocoa very well.

Overall, it’s such an easy cake to make with barely any effort. But the rewards are in the expressions on the faces of your family and friends.

If you love wine infused desserts, don’t forget to check out Moscato and Raspberry Cheesecake

Shiraz Chocolate Cake with Shiraz Poached pears
Makes a 7 inch round cake

1 and 3/4 cups plain flour
3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup (250 ml) Pepperjack Shiraz
1/2 cup (125 ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Red wine Poached pears
1 cup (250 ml) Pepperjack Shiraz
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp orange zest
4 just-ripe packham pears, peeled

Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Grease a 7 inch round pan and line base with baking paper.

Place flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Beat in eggs, buttermilk, wine, oil and vanilla until batter is smooth.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 45 mins to an hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven. Turn into a wire rack. Serve with poached pears.

To make the poached pears :

Combine the wine, sugar, star anise, cinnamon and orange zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Add the pears and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, turning occasionally, for 1 hour or until pears are tender. Use a slotted spoon to transfer pears to a heatproof bowl.

Orange KitKat Brownie Cakes

30|08|2021

I’ve always had a thing for Kitkat chocolates. Not only do I love eating them, I find them the perfect decorations for pastries and cakes. You might have come across them before in my posts and if you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed a few creations in the past using them in various desserts. I noticed this orange flavoured ones and I loved the two toned effect on the top. I just knew I wanted to make Orange KitKat brownie cakes with them.

In related news, have you seen the recent reels I have created? This is one of them. So if you’re keen on watching a snippet of how the brownie is decorated, go check out my Instagram reels. Unfortuantely, it only allows me a max of 30 seconds so I am unable to show the creations from scratch but hopefully it will be upgarded to the 1 min duration like it has for a few craetors.

The brownie cakes are soft and delicious. They don’t have a cracked top as I use this recipe for a cake like texture. But nonetheless they are AMAZING to taste.

If you’re a fan of chocolate desserts, you’d love this Easy Chocolate cake with raspberries or this Beet Chocolate Cake

Orange KitKat Brownie Cakes
Makes 6

150 g unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) castor sugar
3/4 cup (approx 80 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1tbsp orange zest
1/2 cup (65 grams) plain flour
KitKat bars, to decorate
Dehydrated orange slices

Chocolate Hazelnut whipped cheesecake
200 g cream cheese, room temperature
200 g Nutella

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease 6 fluted tart pans/baking cups/ramekins. If you are using the ones with a removable base, make sure you cover the base with foil.
Place butter, cocoa and sugar in a microwaveble bowl and microwave in short bursts constantly stirring until butter has melted and mixture is smooth. Keep bowl aside until just warm to touch.
Add the eggs, vanilla and orange zest. Whisk until smooth. Add the flour and whisk until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Pipe or spoon batter into pans. Bake for 20-25 mins or until a skewer comes out with few crumbs.
Cool to room temperature before decorating.
To make the frosting, blend Nutella and cream cheese together (don’t overwhip). Pipe onto cooled brownies.
Decorate with Kitkat bars and dehydrated oranges slices.

Easy Chocolate Mousse Cake

5|08|2021

Is it weekend yet? Let’s pretend it is because this easy chocolate mousse cake is nothing short of a celebration. It is rich, decadent, sinful and oh so heavenly! You cant have too much in one go but you also can’t stop. This cake makes everyone happy!
Every time I open the refrigerator, I’m delighted at the sight of this cake.

Though it seems like there are a few steps to make this easy chocolate mousse cake’s different layers, they are really easy and hard to mess up. Making it a day ahead, helps to nicely set the mousse while you can top it with the shiny glaze on the day you serve it. The cake also stays for quite a long time in the fridge if you store it in an air tight container. Right now, it’s a week old and we are still enjoying the last few slices.

What is the best part about this easy chocolate mousse cake? That it is a no-bake cake yet there is no gelatine or egg used in the mousse. If you’ve made a no bake cheesecake or mousse cake before, you know gelatine is sensitive to the temperature of the other ingredients and can be tricky to use in these sort of recipes. Here, it’s just the magic of chocolate and cream. I’ve added a bit of orange zest to the mousse to cut down the richness. This is of course optional but I do recommend it.

If you love indulgent and easy chocolate cakes don’t forget to check out this Easy Chocolate Cake with raspberries

Chocolate Mousse Cake
Makes an 8 inch round cake

Cake layer
60 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
50 g unsalted butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup (50 g) plain flour
1/4 cup (40 g) self raising flour
1 tnsp cocoa powder
1 egg

Mousse layer
400 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
600 ml thickedned cream
1 tsp orange zest (optional)

Chocolate Glaze
120 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100 ml thickened cream
2 tbsp liquid glucose

To make the chocolate cake : Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (140C fan forced) Release base of a 22cm (base measurement) springform pan. Invert. Line with baking paper. Secure in pan, allowing edge to overhang. Grease side with melted butter.

Melt chocolate, butter, sugar and water in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat. Stir in flours, cocoa and egg. Pour in prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool cake completely in pan.

To make the chocolate mousse : Place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a metal spoon for 10 minutes or until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cool for 10 minutes.
Using an electric mixer, beat cream until soft peaks form. Fold cream mixture into chocolate. Add the orange zest, if using, mix. Pour chocolate mixture over base in prepared pan. Smooth with a spatula. Cover. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.

To make the chocolate glaze : combine chocolate, cream and glucose in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Pour over mousse. Place in the fridge for to set (about an hour).
When ready to serve, top with fresh berries, slice and enjoy!

Eggless Chocolate and Coconut Cake

26|11|2019

An eggless chocolate and coconut cake that can be easily made vegan and dairy- free by swapping with vegan chocolate. Easy to make and delicious.

I get a lot of requests for egg-less and dairy free recipes so I was really keen to come up with one. Well, if you’re able to swap the chocolate with dairy free chocolate in this recipe, then this cake can be made entirely dairy free as well.

It has a soft, moist crumb and subtle taste of coconut. Very delicious if I can say so! The ganache is simple too and I don’t recommend you skip it because it gives the otherwise light cake a rich finish which is what we all want in a chocolate cake. Or is it just me?
Top it with the freshest berries and you have a perfect summer treat!

If you like cakes like these you can also check out my eggless chocolate ricotta cake.

Chocolate Coconut Cake
Makes an 8 inch round cake

150 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 and 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar
2 and 1/4 cups self raising flour
1/4 cup fine desiccated coconut
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder

For the ganache frosting
100 g dark chocolate
1/4 cup coconut milk

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease the base and sides of an 8 inch baking pan and line the base with baking paper.
In a medium saucepan over low heat melt the chocolate with coconut milk and vanilla extract. Continue to stir until smooth. Remove from heat and leave aside. When the mixture cools slightly (just warm to touch) add the sugar and mix,
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, coconut, baking powder and cocoa powder. Add the dry ingredients to the saucepan and mix well until batter is smooth.
Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven. Lightly loosened the edges with a blunt knife, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, drizzle with chocolate ganache. Top with fresh raspberries. Add an extra drizzle of icing sugar.
To make the ganache, in a microwaveable cup or bowl, place the chocolate and coconut milk and cook in short bursts until chocolate starts to melt. Stir until smooth.