flourless chocolate brownies anyone?

I made this the other weekend, a last minute decision when contemplating on making dessert for my brother and his family who were coming down from Setiawan to visit my parents. It was on a Saturday evening, so it was my usual time with the boys to have dinner with their grandparents, and my other brother and his daughter were joining us as well. The more, the merrier and the more reason I wanted to bake something for dessert to be enjoyed by the whole family. Thoriq for the past number of times have been wanting to eat flourless brownies and I never made any, and while contemplating on what to bake, I actually "ran" into the recipe of flourless brownies by that gorgeous kitchen diva, Nigella Lawson. Checked the ingredients required and eventhough there were one or two items that I do not have and need to improvise by replacing them with what I do have, I thought ok this is it. So brownies again, but totally different from my usual walnut and chocolate brownies or that sinful brownies with the orange zest cream cheese topping. This one as the name says is flourless and because of that, comes out really gooey, and you simply have to make the hot chocolate sauce to drizzle over the brownies and vanilla icecream (which you do not need but I must say is a must-have to complete this whole dessert).  Anyhow I baked it, took it to the parent's and it went down well with the kids and adults. There were some leftover and eventhough I would have loved to bring a little back, I needed to ensure that Ruiz sticks as close as possible to this diet I am putting him on (cut him off sodas and any sugary drinks, and make him have water 99 percent of the time, and cutting out all the sweets which means I have to bake less or I can bake but please donate or give away three quarter of what I baked, have brown rice at home which I have already introduced and makes up half of the rice cooked nowadays, and I am considering just buying only brown rice when I finally run out of the white rice I have currently, cutting his portions to half, and having more sandwiches, omit the white bread of course). The reason he has to be put on a diet is because he weighs more than mommy does and although he is cute and round and chubby and you just want to hug him and wish you can pinch him and roll around with him all day long (which he hates), I don't want his weight to get out of control which will be a lot worse for him if I start later. I just started him on this diet like for the past week and a half and we will see how it goes.

Anyway coming back to the brownies, due to that diet for Ruiz (which helps me control my chocolate and sweets intake as well), I did not bring any leftovers home. Mak told me last night when I saw her that the leftovers were gone rather quickly the next morning, so I am glad everyone enjoyed it. Therefore, I would love to share the recipe with you brownie lovers out there. Make sure you make the hot chocolate sauce, plonk a good scoop of vanilla icecream over the brownies, drizzle the hot chocolate over but do not overdo it, and have a great time. And since I did not have the chance to take pictures of it, I am sharing Nigella's picture of the brownies (which are professionally taken by the way as compared to any of mine). So enjoy and have a chocolatey brownie Sunday everyone.

flourless chocolate brownie
pic via nigella.com

Brownie:
225g dark chocolate
225g butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
150g ground almonds
100g chopped walnuts

Chocolate sauce:
75g dark chocolate
125ml double cream
2 x 15ml tbsp Camp coffee or 2tsp of instant espresso powder 
dissolved in 2tbsp water (I replaced this with 2tbsp or slightly less of nescafe)
1 x 15ml tbsp golden syrup

Method:
for the Brownie:
1. pre-heat oven to 170C
2. Melt the chocolate and butter gently over low heat in a heavy based saucepan
3. Take the pan off the heat, mix in vanilla and sugar, and let it cool a little
4. Beat the eggs into the pan along with the ground almonds and chopped walnuts

Turn into a 24cm square tin or use a foil one. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. The top will have set but the mixture will still be gooey (the top for my brownie was rather crisp i must say). Once cooler, cut carefully (recommended to cut four down, four across into 16 squares, though I cut smaller and had more squares).

for the sauce:
1. break up the chocolate and put into a heavy based saucepan
2. add the remaining ingredients, place pan over a gentle heat and let everything melt together
3.once everything has melted, stir well, take off the heat and pour into a jug to serve

mocha peach trifle

in the last few weeks, thoriq had been pestering me to make him some trifle, specifically the one with mocha and peach. i was going to do it before i left for my last trip to baling to see thaqif, but i was out of cream. and after that i decided to make chocolate chips for thaqif and thoriq basically had to wait for another week before mommy got her act together. i finally made some last monday and instead of a big bowl for the boys, i separated it into two bowls, with one being for my dearest friend vanessa and her family. when she heard me mention the trifle the last time, she was going "i want some too" and i would not be able to forgive myself if i made the trifle without giving her any. so the initial plan of one big bowl of trifle became two smaller bowls and believe it or not, the trifle i made in the evening lasted only until lunch time the next day. oh well, there goes my plan of having a few days of trifle. regardless what is important, i made thoriq happy and eventhough vanessa did not enjoy it as much as i was hoping (her complain being maybe too much mocha custard, which is weird because she is a coffee person and that is the reason she wanted it in the first place), i believed her boys and husband C enjoyed the trifle to a pretty far extent. anyhow, after posting the pics of the trifle, i was flooded (well i am exaggerating a little there) with requests for the recipe from friends. infact in the last few weeks, i have been recieving requests for a number of recipes including this chocolate chips i made for thaqif using oatmeal and three types of nuts. well i will post that recipe up and some pictures too to share here but for today, should you feel the need to have some trifle with a mix of mocha and chocolate, here goes:

1. coffee sponge cake
6 eggs
225 gm castor sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp instant coffee, dissolve in a little hot water
225 gm all purpose flour
in a heatproof bowl, placed over a pot of simmering water, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla essence and instant coffee until slightly warm, about 55C/130F. transfer to a cake mixture and beat vigorously until fairly cool. sift flour into the batter in small batches and mix well. pour the batter into a 24cm cake pan lined with greased parchment paper and bake for 25mins at 185C/365F.


2. sugar syrup
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup water
4 tbsp kahlua liquer ( i use 1 tbsp vanilla essence as a substitute. can use coffee flavouring if you have any. otherwise, can also omit)
bring sugar and water to a simmer. cool before flavouring with kahlua (or vanilla or coffee flavouring)


3. mocha custard
4 cups fresh milk
2 tbsp instant coffee
10 egg yolks
2 tbsp custard powder
100 gm butter, chilled and diced
bring milk and instant coffee to a simmer in a saucepan. in a separate bowl beat egg yolks with sugar and custard powder until fluffy. add half of the warm milk from the saucepan. stir to mix and pour back into the saucepan with the remaining milk. stir and continue cooking until the custard boils and begins to thicken. remove the heat and add the chilled butter. stir until dissolved. chill the custard before use.


4. chocolate cream
200 gm bittersweet chocolate
1 cup whipping cream
place chocolate and whipping cream in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. stir until the chocolate melts. remove from the heat.


to assemble:
you need coffee sponge cake, sugar syrup, mocha custard, chocolate cream and you also need 1000 gm canned cling peaches, drain ed (about 3 to 4 cans of halved or/and sliced peaches. i use masterchef brand. i like putting halved as layers and the sliced ones on top. alternatively, i also use the halved ones when i do not have the sliced ones available).


place slices of coffee sponge cake at the base of trifle bowl. drizzle with sugar syrup. arrange a layer of peaches over the syrup. top with custard and drizzle with chocolate cream. repeat until all the ingredients are used, ending with a layer of peaches. (i top choclate cream on the final layer before peaches and drizzle bits mpre on the last layer of peaches). chill overnight before serving. but if you cannot wait just like my boys, chill for at least a few hours  or one if in urgent need, before you start eating.


**psssttt...time for a confession. i do not bake the coffee sponge cake. i kinda cheated and got a coffee swiss roll from the neighbourhood bakery instead. cannot find any existing or available coffee sponge cake so far, but hey it's worked well so far. if you want to bake the cake, then the recipe is up there, so bake away. have fun trying and happy eating.

cupcakes to chase the blues away

been over a year since i last met adam, on a cold winter morning last january. my butt was freezing but my heart was warm. it has been a year and i never knew i could go on this long...

time can be kind when you're counting the weeks and years pass together, but swift-handed and cruel when you're watching the days float away since you last saw each other.

i took that picture last year while i was visiting adam during one of the rare occassions when he actually had the time to go for walks with me. it was silly to be walking out in the cold, but we did not have much time together and every hour we got to spend together was magical and meaningful, and the cold was something we could bear, before of course having him laugh at seeing me freezing and before running into one of the nearby stores for some warmth. i miss those times with him. today somehow the pain at missing him feels an awful lot more, gets unbearable at times, that i wish i can turn the days, the hours, the minutes... just so that i can have that one day to spend with him.

well maybe it is a good day to take myself off from my research work which i have been struggling to concentrate on and retreat into the kitchen to find some sanctuary there. maybe it is the day to try and make some good nutella cupcakes that i have been meaning to try out for some time. maybe it will add some life into this heart of mine and give me happiness to have my boys enjoy some little sweetness i can give, and maybe it will be able to tuck away the sadness and loneliness in the far corner of my heart.


cupcakes with magical nutella buttercream frosting

choc cupcakes ( u can use any cupcake recipe u find good, choc or vanilla) 
makes 15-16

1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla

preheat the oven to 350F / 177C

in a mixing bowl, beat with butter until softened and smooth. add sugar and beat for a few minutes, until light and fluffy. add eggs one at a time, beating after each until well combined.

in a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. in a separate small bowl, combine milk and vanilla.

add about 1/3 of dry ingredients to butter and sugar and mix until well combined. add about 1/2 of wet ingredients to mixture and mix until combined. continue alternating dry and wet and mix until combined. continue alternating dry and wet, mixing in between, and finish with remaining dry ingredients.

fill cupcake tins/ cups about 1/2 full (do not overfill). bake around 20-25 minutes.

** if u want just nutella butter cream swirled on top of your cupcake, try this:
nutella buttercream

1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 cup nutella
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1-2 tbsp milk

beat butter until smooth. add nutella and beat together until throughly combined. slowly add powdered sugar, mixing until combined. add 1 tbsp of milk. add additional milk or powdered sugar as needed to reach desired consistency.

**if u prefer what i prefer, some nutella in the cupcake and some frosting on top, here's
the magical nutella buttercream frosting
enough for 24 cupcakes

2 sticks (227gms) unsalted butter, softened
1 13oz jar of nutella
pinch of fine grain sea salt (or fine salt)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 pounds (3-4 cups) confectioners/ powdered sugar, sifted
6-8 tbsps heavy cream/ milk

in a large mixing bowl, cream butter  and nutella until well combined. slowly add in confectioners sugarand continue creaming until well blended.

add salt, vanilla, and 3 tbsps of heavy cream or milk. blend on low speed until moistened. add an additional of 3-5 tbsps of heavy cream or milk until reach desired consistency. beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

the magical part: hollow out small center of cupcake, pipe in nutella ( i use my watermelon scoop). top with buttercream and a piece of chocolate hazelnut candybar (if u can find any or replace it with hazelnut mini wafer bar).


let's eat some cupcakes to chase the blues away...