Brownies...

So, brownies: overdone? maybe. Well I'm quite particular when it comes to brownies; not too soggy, not too dry, crispy edge etc. So, where better to turn than trusty Nigel Slater for a recipe. He gets this kind of thing. And I can safely say he gets it right again. This is where I'm going to turn for brownies from now on.

Ingredients:
• 300g Caster Sugar
• 250g Butter
• 250g Dark Chocolate
• 3 Eggs & 1 Yolk
• 60g Plain flour
• 60g Cocoa Powder
• Half teaspoon Baking Powder

Method:
• Preheat oven to 180°C and line a 22cm square tin.
• Beat butter and sugar together throughly.
• Break the chocolate up and melt 200g of it, set aside to cool slightly. Chop the remaining.
• Gradually beat in the eggs into the butter and sugar, then mix in all the chocolate.
• Fold in the sifted dry ingredients, then pour into the tin.
• Bake for 30 minutes until slightly risen and a skewer comes out slightly less than clean. Cool before cutting up.

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ChocNut Squares...

Make. These.
I discovered these on Eat and Be Happy, another blog I've been reading. I couldn't resist the temptation of peanut butter and chocolate and promptly gave them a go myself. I had to adapt the recipe from cups into grams, and in so doing made a few modifications to the overall process. This included changing the base from a syrupy krispies to classic chocolate krispies base.

These need some refrigeration to set and are best kept in the fridge as the chocolate topping and peanut butter centre are so good when set and fudgey. As an alternative, you could substitute the fudge topping for straightforward chocolate like a caramel shortbread. I think the crackling of a thick chocolate topping as you bite into a square would seriously add to the eating experience.

• Melt the milk chocolate and 1 tbsp syrup. Stir into the rice krispies and press into the bottom of a lined 20 x 20cm tin.
• Set aside to harden.
• Meanwhile, melt 150g dark chocolate and the peanut butter in a pan over a low heat.
• Pour this over the rice krispie mixture and spread evenly. Place in the fridge to cool.
• After an hour of chilling, make the fudge topping.
• Melt the rest of the dark chocolate, the butter and 2 tbsp syrup in a pan over a low heat. Stir in the cocoa powder once melted.
• Allow to cool slightly in the pan for 5 minutes, then pour into the tin and spread over the top.
• Cool for a further hour until set, then turn out and cut into squares.

Notes:
• Makes about 25 squares
• Best kept refrigerated.

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Black Bottom Cupcakes...

We received the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook for Christmas, and so with a friend's birthday on 1st January it seemed the ideal occasion to try something out. I chose these Black Bottom Cupcakes. The idea is simple, chocolate cake topped with a blob of cheesecake. They look tasty and are tasty... although I think I will make some modifications next time to make them even tastier!

Cake:
190g Plain Flour
120g Caster Sugar
2 tbsp Cocoa
½ tsp Bicarbonate of soda
40ml Sunflower Oil
125ml Water
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
(the recipe also lists 1½ tsp White vinegar, but I can't remember using that so am guessing I didn't!)

Cheesecake:
250g Cream cheese
60g Caster Sugar
1 Egg
½tsp Vanilla Extract
100g Milk Chocolate Chips

Icing:
250g Icing Sugar
80g Butter
25ml Milk
Drop of Vanilla Extract

• Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa and bicarb together, then add the oil, vinegar, vanilla and water.
• Spoon the mixture into muffin cases to about 2/3 full.
• To make the cheesecake bit, beat all the ingredients except the chocolate in a bowl with an electric whisk on a medium speed until light and fluffy (roughly the consistency of loose whipped cream). Stir in the chocolate chips gently.
• Spoon on top of the cake mixture and bake in a preheated oven (170°C) for about 20 minutes (until the cheesecake topping is slightly golden at the edges.
• Whilst the cakes cool, beat the icing ingredients together until pale and fluffy.
• Decorate the cakes and dust with cocoa or chocolate shavings.

•Notes:
• Officially this mixture makes 12. For me the cake mix made 9 and the cheescake about 18, so next time I shoudl probably have a bit less cake and a bit more cheesecake per muffin and it'll be about 12!
• Also, the recipe calls for 140g cream cheese, I couldn't get this to thicken up without the extra 100g.

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