Basic Home Cooking

Decadence. What defines this word that so many of us have indulged in in a time of need, you may ask? Well I can define it in one word….CHOCOLATE!
Everyone knows that ultimately chocolate is the answer to everything. Ask yourself, have you survived a breakup without a block of Cadburys by your side? Or the loss of a job without Mr Lindt’s chocolate in the palm of your hand? Considering it comes in anything from ‘pistachio milk chocolate’, ‘mint intense’, ‘toffee crunch’ to ‘poire intense’(pear flavoured chocolate with almond flakes) (to name a few), I DONT think so!

Of course there are people who don’t like chocolate. I don’t mean to sound presumptuous or rude, but I’m sure sometime in their childhoods, someone must have scolded them with a wooden spoon covered in hot chocolate pudding or perhaps someone stole the Hershey’s kisses out of their Christmas stocking. Never the less I will try to do my best, starting with this very insightful quote:

‘It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man.’ Miranda Ingram

And if you can’t trust a woman of the world, then who can you trust?  So with all this vital information in mind, I have decided to make this entry, a chocolate based affair.

Hazelnut chocolate hearts

 

I saw a picture of these biscuits in 'the golden book of chocolate' cookbook somewhere in my travels  and thought they looked very sweet as cut out hearts so I decided to make up my own recipe.

120g butter (cold)
1 ¾ cups of plain flour
½ cup ground hazelnuts
3 tablespoons cocoa powder (sifted)
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
12 lindt dark chocolate squares

Milk (1/4 cup to brush biscuits with)
¾ cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Put the flour into a medium sized bowl and rub in the butter til the mixture is the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the sifted cocoa powder, ground hazelnuts and brown sugar. Mix lightly, and then add both the eggs. Mix to a soft dough. Break the lindt chocolate into squares and mix through the dough evenly. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat your oven to 180˚C, line 4 trays with baking paper. Chop your hazelnuts, so they are ready to use.

Dust your bench area lightly with flour (always use the same type of flour, as in the recipe when rolling out dough). Roll the dough out to a little less than 1cm in thickness. Of course it depends on how thick you want your biscuits. As this is a very soft dough, so you will need to dip your biscuit cutter in flour each time you cut the pastry. Use a metal spatula if you find that your biscuits are sticking, lifting up the tip of the heart and carefully pulling up backwards as if you are pealing it off. Brush each uncooked biscuit with milk and coat evenly in chopped hazelnuts. You should fit a maximum of 6 biscuits per tray. Bake each tray for 10 minutes.

Soft and rich chocolate brownie

I could not do this blog entry justice without adding in a brownie. So this afternoon I cooked up this super easy, (and I really do mean easy) recipe. Preheat your oven to 180˚C.

200g dark chocolate (I just used regular coles brand)
120g butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon treacle (you can use golden syrup also)
½ cup castor sugar
½ cup brown sugar
⅔ cup plain flour
¼ cup milk mixed with:
juice of 1/3 a lemon

Fill a small saucepan with water about half way up and put on your stove top on medium heat. Grab a heat proof bowl, big enough so it sits over the edge of the saucepan. Break up the chocolate into small pieces and put into the bowl, stir til completely melted. Carefully pour chocolate into a separate large bowl. Empty the saucepan and put in the butter til melted.

Pour into the chocolate and mix well, using a whisk. Add eggs and mix well again. Next add the vanilla, treacle and both sugars, whisk together. Combine the milk with the lemon juice and add to the chocolate mixture along with the flour, mix til completely combined.

 

Grease a slice tin and line with baking paper. 

Pour mixture into the tin, chuck in the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes. The cake will feel soft, so to check if it’s ready, a skewer should come out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin. 

White chocolate raspberry cupcakes

Yes I know this has been done a hundred times before, but it really is one of those recipes that never ceases to give everyone a sudden appetite. These rich yummy cakes are perfect for a girls night in, a birthday party or even for a much needed treat after a hard day at work. Try them out and see for yourself.

Preheat your oven to 180˚C.

125g butter
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract
1 ½ cups self-raising flour
½ cup milk
¾ cup frozen raspberries
½ cup white chocolate chips

Cupcake icing

75g butter (room temperature)
75g cream cheese (room temperature)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract/essence
1 ½ cups sifted icing sugar
white chocolate chips
frozen raspberries
hot water if needed

Cream butter and sugar together til light and fluffy, with a whisk or a beater. Beat in the vanilla essence and one egg at a time. Fold in sifted flour, chocolate chips and milk in lots. FOLD in the frozen raspberries so the mixture doesn’t go to pink.

Take out your butter and cream cheese, so it comes to room temperature to make the icing.

Take a muffin tray and line it with patty pans. Fill the cases ¾ full and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Place on a cooling rack, til cold. Combine together the butter and cream cheese and beat til smooth. Mix in the vanilla and icing sugar. Add in some hot water, one tablespoon at a time til you have the right spreading consistency, if needed. Fold in white choc chips, then raspberries, separately. You don’t want the raspberries to bleed into the white icing too much.

I cannot remember my first chocolate experience; it could have been from the bertie beetle show bags that we so religiously bought every year at the royal Melbourne show, or from the lolly bags purchased at the milk bar around the corner from our house. Whatever it was, chocolate has grown on me…..really, on my thighs, but all that put aside it was worth every mouthful.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this entry, as much as I have sampling the recipes. My next entry will be CHRISTMAS!, so watch out for lots of tips and easy non-stress recipes for enjoyable cooking, as it is the season for it!

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