Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake

Chocolate Double Stout !!!!!!

Chocolate and Stout !!! Whaoooooooooo.. who can resist this recipe. I knew I have to bake this when I came across the recipe.

I just had to go and get a bottle of stout for this !

Gosh... the combination of chocolate and stout is heavenly. My small apartment smelled so good when the cake was baking in the oven.

Ingredients:
1 cup stout ( I use chocolate stout)
1 cup ( 2 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cup all purpose flour (220g)
2 cup sugar
11/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup of sour cream

Direction:
1. preheat oven to 350F

2. Spray the bundt pan well. Make sure that it is well -coated

3. Bring the stout and butter to simmer over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk till mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool

4. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl

5. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream till well combined

6. Add stout mixture and beat just to combine

7. Add the flour mixture and beat a slow speed till just combined

8. Pour batter in the bundt pan and bake for approximate 60 minutes or when tester inserted into centre comes out clean

9. Cool for 5 minutes in pan and turn cake out to rack to cool completely

Chocolate Ganache Drizzle
6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoon heavy cream

1. Melt the chocolate and heavy cream over a double boiler until smooth and warm.
2. Drizzle over the top of the cool cake.

~bel~

Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake

I think I am addicted to Bundt. I have been looking at bundt cake recipes since I made the root beer bundt cake last week. I saw this recipe and just could not resist the temptation to try it. The combination of chocolate and banana is lethally sinful !

Ingredients

1 ¾ cup flour
1 cup sugar
¾ cup non-dutched cocoa powder
1½ tsp baking powder
1½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
3 mashed bananas, VERY RIPE
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1egg
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp almond or vanilla extract ( I omitted this by mistake)

Direction
1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray

2.In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt

3.In a large bowl, blend buttermilk, bananas and brown sugar. Add egg , then stir in oil and almond extract. This large bowl will be very runny

4.Gently add flour mixture to liquid, mixing until just combined. Some lumps are good, but make sure to fully incorporate

5. Pour into bundt pan and bake about 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean

6.Let cool on wire racks for 20 minutes and then remove from pan. Let cool fully on wire racks

I used the Hershey's recipe for the glace
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups powdered sugar

Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Stir in cocoa and water. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Do not boil. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating with whisk until smooth. Add additional water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency. About 2/3 cup glaze

~Bel~

Chocolate Root Beer Bundt Cake

First Bake for the Year !!! Gosh I must have been really lazy. It is almost mid April and I am just doing my first bake for the year. Well, I have been battling with allergy and flare up on my face since Nov 2010. I had to avoid the heat from the oven to prevent flare up. My face just got better last few weeks and so here's my bake again :)
I have been eyeing this recipe for a while. I bought a bottle of root beer in January hoping to be able to try baking it. But had to wait till today due to the constant flare up on my face. Of course.. I had to go and buy another bottle of root beer since the one I bought in January has done really flat.

This is really an easy bake. No cake mixer. Just 3 bowls. The results is amazing.. a really moist and soft chocolate cake.

Ingredients

2 cups root beer (don’t use diet)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

Directions
1. Preheat even to 325 degrees F. Spray the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray, or butter generously and dust with flour, knocking out the excess.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until butter is melted. Add sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. ( I combine all the ingredents together and heat it gentle until the butter is melted)

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

4. In a small bowl whisk the eggs until just beaten. Then whisk into the cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy. You can give it a quick whisk if you like, but don’t over beat the batter or it could cause the cake to be tough. Don’t worry, the batter is very loose.

5. Pour the batter into prepared pan and cook for 35-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking until a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely then loosen edges with a butter knife and turn out onto a cake plate.

I sprinkled the cake with confectioners sugar for the finishing touch. The Joy of Baking page has a recipe for a root beer frosting which looks really awesome. I need to try it next time.

A double thumbup recipe !

~bel~

Macaroni Salad

Yes... Yet another party tonight. I had anticipated a busy day today. I had a race this morning and knew that I would not get home till afternoon and would be too tired to do anything. Hence, decided to prepare something simple last night.

I thought that a simple macaroni salad sound good.

Ingredient
1 pack of macaroni
1/2 pound of ham
14 oz of celery -sliced finely
4 hard boil eggs chopped


Dressing
2 cups mayonnaise
1 table spoon fresh lemon juice
1 table spoon of celery seed
1 table spoon of paprika


Direction:
1. Boil the macaroni as per package direction. set aside to cool
2. whisked the dressing together till combined
3. Mixed the ingredients together and add dressing
4. Chill for 1 hour or more before serving. Overnight will be better for the flavour to sink in

~bel~

Roasted Chickpeas

I had always wanted to try this. Roasted Chickpeas ! You can find many recipes if you google it.

Here is my version:

Ingredients

1 can of chickpeas ( I used the unsalted version)

Sal)

Paprika

Directions

1. Pre heat the oven to 350F

2. Open and rinse the chickpeas until no bubble. Drain and season with salt and paprika

3. Roast in oven for about 1 hour or until crunchy

This is really a easy healthy snack. I would suggest double the quantity of chickpeas as they are gone in no time. Other seasonings which I would try next time- cayennes pepper, soya sauce, chinese five spice powder :)

~bel~

Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Truffles for New Year Party !!!!! Its easy and really yummy. I used the recipe from Simply Recipe

Ingredients
8 ounces of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (high quality, 62% cacao or higher), well chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Truffle coatings
Cocoa powder
Finely chopped pecans

Direction
1 In a small, heavy saucepan bring the heavy whipping cream to a simmer

2 Place the chocolate in a separate bowl. Pour the cream over the chocolate, add the vanilla, and allow to stand for a few minutes then stir until smooth.

3 Allow to cool, then place in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. Remove and with a teaspoon roll out balls of the ganache. Roll in your hands quickly (as it will melt from the heat of your hands) and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the refrigerator overnight

4 Roll in cocoa powder or chopped nuts and serve, or place back in the refrigerator until needed.

Other optional coating includes chopped walnuts toasted almond. In fact, I think this really goes well if coated with Milo powder.

~bel~

Easy Pesto Pasta Salad

I have a Christmas Party tonight and wanted to bring a simple dish. I would love to bake but my rosacea has been giving me some grief and I decided that it is best to stay away from the hot oven.

After much thought, I finally decided on a simple pesto salad. I have to admit that I am not a fan of Pasta. In face, this is the first time I am making a pasta dish. But surpisingly, it turned out pretty good.

I adapted my recipe from the Easy Pesto Pasta Salad with Olives and Roasted Red Peppers from Kalyn's Kitchen

Ingredients:
12 oz basil pesto
1 packet of rotinni pasta
1 can of olived ( sliced)
7oz of cherry tomatos ( more if you like)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of soya sauce ( the asian in me just could not resist the soya sauce)
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese


Direction
1. Cook the pasta according to instruction
2. Cool the pasta and add the pesto, olive oil and soya sauce
3. Stir in the olives and tomotos
4. Chill for one hour.
5. Add grated parmesan cheese to serve

I used a ready made basil pesto from the store. Kalyn has a good recipe for a home made pesto for those who preferred home made dressing

Enjoy !

~bel~