Showing posts with label Chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chocolate. Show all posts

Friday, 14 March 2014

Salted Rolo Brownies

I have couple of brownie recipes in my blog, I think I shoudn't bore my readers again with more infromation of  the orgin of the brownies and the popularityof this delicious bake.
I had no plans to make any brownies untill I saw this brownie post in Sra's page and then for days I only thought about brownies.
Had planned to make the one she made but I didn't had drinking chocolate.
So then I thought I will make another recipe which I have been eyeing too.
When I saw the recipe in the Delicious magazine , I knew I will make them as they were looking so good.
Ok in the recipe they said serve with ice cream which I didn't do.
I would suggest do the recipe exact if you love sweet brownies, as the first time I made them, I made with chocolate which is 90% cocoa solids and lesser the sugar and also didn't add all the rollos.
After tasting them if you are not a fan of really bitter chocolate I would say do like the recipe in below and be sure to add all the rolos as I thought it was a mistake I didn't add them all when I made them.

Ingredients
  1. 200g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
  2. 200g plain chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
  3. 125g light muscovado sugar
  4. 125g caster sugar
  5. 4 medium free-range eggs, beaten
  6. 1 tsp vanilla extract
  7. 125g plain flour
  8. 1 tbsp cocoa
  9. ½-1 tsp sea salt flakes to taste
  10. 126g bag Rolos, half chopped, half left whole

Pre heat the oven to 170°C/fan150°C/gas 3½. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin so the baking paper comes higher than the tin. Melt the 200g butter and the chocolate together in a saucepan, stirring, over a low heat. Don’t overheat as the chocolate may seize. Allow to cool slightly.
  1.  In another mixing bowl, beat together the sugars, eggs and vanilla extract until pale and fluffy, then stir in the cooled melted chocolate to combine. Sift in the flour and cocoa, then fold through the batter with the sea salt to taste.
  2.  Mix the chopped Rolos into the batter, then pour into the prepared tin. Press the whole Rolos into the surface. Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm to touch but still gooey in the middle – they’ll continue to cook as they cool. Leave to cool completely in the tin, then transfer to a board and slice. If you’re stuck for time, put them in the fridge to set.

Monday, 10 February 2014

Salon du Chocolat Brussels / Chocolate Show in Brussels

 
Saturday we went to Salon Du Chocolat In Brussels.

 
 
 
 
 
I had received two Tickets from Apolina so I dragged Hans with me on saturday morning and went to Brussels.

I had been to Salon Du Chocolat in Lille in France couple of years back and I must say Hans and I agreed that it was much more better in Lille, .
Ok but then I think here in Belgium we are so much used to soo chocolate, pralines etc... that it is difficult to get impressed :-)

But I would say it was ok as we tasted chocolate and macarons etc there and it was a day out as after the chocolate fest we met up with Apolina and her family which was wonderful too.
So here I am sharing few pics from the chocolates.

Wednesday, 31 October 2012

Chocolate Marshmallow Teacakes

I love the BBC Show called Great British Bake Off  , I think this is the their 3rd series, and I have been watching it every year and I love the show.
As I love the show and I don't want to miss it I will be watching when they show every week in the evening so in the end Hans will be watching with me too and, both of us will be telling to each other who was the best baker, and which bake was the most good looking etc.....and each week the contestant have to bake something which is choosen by Marry berrry or Paul Hollywood and the contestant don't know and one week it was this Chocolate Marshmallow Teacakes, the moment I saw that I was like I must make them as I have been wanting to make them for a while.


All in all we loved it, but none of us like the biscuit as it was made with whole wheat, I thought it was not that biscuite , so I think next time I will make them with white flour to have a more crumblie texture.
Another minus point is you can't keep them for more than 2 days, well atleast I coudn't keep it as they started getting a bit runny could be the egg whites.
But then I think normally as they are so yummy nothing will be left over in the same day.
I had left overs because how much can two people eat.
I am sure if Marry Berry and paul hollywood see my creation they will be saying the biscuit is too thick, the chocolate cover doesn't have a smooth shiny finish etc.... because that is what they told some of the contestant.
They both really look to each and every detail.
So when I finished making them Hans came in to the kitchen and said you know this one is a bit too thick, the chocolate is no shiny, it is having some bubles etc :-)






.


Monday, 26 March 2012

Ginger Jazzed Brownies

I had a wonderful one month holiday with my sister and her family in Houston- Texas.
It was just nice just to hang around without no responisibilties, just enjoy the delicious food she made for me and also sightseeing and shopping etc......
The days and weeks seems to fly but as you all know no holiday's has to come to a end, so here I am back home.

I do have lots of pending posts but I wanted to make something in my Kitchen after a month and I thought why not indulge with chocolate and as you see that is exactly what I did, make this gooey super delicious ginger Brownies.

The Brownie, one of America’s favorite baked treats, was born in the U.S.A.— just aren’t quite sure where—although evidence points to New England in the first few years of the 20th century.

A chocolate brownie is a flat, baked square or bar introduced in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century and popularized in both the U.S. and Canada during the first half of the twentieth century.
The brownie is like a cross between a cake and a cookie in texture. Brownies come in a variety of forms.
They are either fudgy or cakey, depending on their density, and they may include nuts, frosting, whipped cream, chocolate chips, or other ingredients. A variation that is made with brown sugar and no chocolate is called a blondie.

Brownies are common lunchbox fare, typically eaten by hand, and often accompanied by milk or coffee. They are sometimes served warm with ice cream (à la mode), topped with whipped cream, or topped with marzipan, or sprinkled with powdered sugar. They are especially popular in restaurants, where they can be found in variation on many dessert menus.

Although cake-like and baked in a cake pan, the brownie is classified as a bar cookie rather than a cake. There are thousands of recipes, both “cake” types and “fudge” types. Either is perfectly correct—and delicious
iT easy to see that the brownie got its name from its dark brown color. But as with most foods, the origin of the brownie is shrouded in myth, even though it is a relatively recent entry to the food pantheon, first appearing in print in the early 20th century.

The legend is told variously: a chef mistakenly added melted chocolate to a batch of biscuits...a cook was making a cake but didn’t have enough flour. The favorite, cited in Betty Crocker's Baking Classics and John Mariani’s The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, tells of a housewife in Bangor, Maine, who was making a chocolate cake but forgot to add baking powder. When her cake didn’t rise properly, instead of tossing it out, she cut and served the flat pieces. Alas, that theory relies on a cookbook published in Bangor in 1912, six years after the first chocolate brownie recipe was published by one of America’s most famous cookbook authors, Fannie Merritt Farmer, in 1906 (and the Bangor version was almost identical to the 1906 recipe).

Now I must have had my first brownie some 12 years ago.
When i was growing up in India unlike now they didn't sell anywhere Brownies and here in Belgium they only started comming up a decade ago.
I fell in love with it when I took the first bite and I have made them before . Which was super super delicious too.

The recipe is from Dorie Greenspan book Baking from my home to yours which I love.

According to her it's Ginger, both fresh and dried , that makes these brownies slightly hot.It you want to jazz then up a bit more, glaze the top with a shiny ganache, top each portion with a spoon full of lightly sweetend giner whipped cream.
Tips she has given in the book is, In order to soften the fresh ginger before mixing it into the batter, she stir in a little sugar into the minced ginger and let it sit a while, while she work on the rest of the recipe, that is exactly what I did too.

I have given bleow the original recipe from her book, but I have written in another color how much sugar I have added, as I think every time I make a recipe from a book it is too sweet so I always less the amount of sugar and that is what I did with this recipe too.

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground giner
2 tbsp finley minced peeled fresh ginger
1 cup plus 1 1/2 tbsp of sugar ( I only add less than half cup of sugar)
4 ounces unsweetend chocolate, coarsley chopped
2 ounces buttersweet chocolate coarsley chopped
1 stick unsalted butter at room tempertature
1/3 cup light corn syrup ( I only added half)
1/2tsp pure vanilla extract
3large eggs

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F.
Line 9 inch squate baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet;

Whisk the flour, salt and ground ginger together.
Put the mince fresh ginger and 11/2 tbsp if sugar , stir and set aside.

Melt the chocolates ( I did in a MW) and let it cool.
Working the a stand mixer or hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter untill it is creamy and smooth.
Beat in the corn syrup, then the remaining sugar and continue to beat for 2minutes or so untill the butter is smooth agai and the sugar is incorporated.
Add the vanilla.On a medium speed add the aggs one by one, beating for 1minutes after each one goes in and scraping down the bowl as needed.
Beat for 1more minute then lower the speed and add the macerated ginger ( and any liquid) then the dry ingridients, mixing only untill the flour disapears.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, gentley and throughly stir in the melted chocolate.
Scrape the batter into the pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or untill an even sugar crust forms. A think knife inserted into the center of the brownies should have a streaks of moist, fudgy chocolate on it. ( I only had to bake for 18 minutes)
Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.
When the brownies are completley cool, turn out onto a rack, peel away the foil and invert into a chopping board.Cut into 16 sguares, each roughly 21/4inches on a side.

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Chocolate and Banana Cup Cakes


I do hope all my friends and readers of MKT had a fabulous New year.
I know it is a tad bit late to ask about Newyear but then here they say the whole month of January you can wish new year :-)
I wanted to share a super dessert I made for Christmas eve party, but then I got this New lens from Hans as a present so I wanted to try that lens for taking food picture so instead of posting that super special dessert I am posting this simple and easy cupcake.

It is ages ago I made cup cake , I do love them though there has been so much cup cakes here in blog that I say to myself should I post again another one.
But then I think cupcakes are so easy to make especially for afternoons coffee which I have been doing ,has Shyama is home as she is having study holiday as her exams in college will start in middle of january.
So I try to spoil ehr with my baking and I for one is so glad that she is home and that I can bake :-)

Now to the recipe, I love chocolate and banana combination, that is a real classic combo.
Now about the frosting for this cupcake, I made the frosting and when I added sour cream the mix looked like it curdeled, so I started again throwing the firts frosting, and I was carefull when I mixed in the sour cream, but it still look a bit curdeld than the usual frositng I have which is always so smooth and fluffy. So i guess it is the adding of sour cream which makes it look like curdeled.
I was saying to my family maybe then i should not sue sour cream for the frosting and then shyama said oh no she loves the tnagy taste the sour cream gives to the frosting.

According to the author this makes a rich chocolate dark cupcake. ( I do agree)
Serious chocoholics should opt for a chocolate butter cream frosting which i will try next time as I love chocolate.
The recipe is from the Book Cupcakes by Janet Smith
Makes 24 regular size cakes.
1/2 cup ( 130g ) soft butter
1/2 cup ( 130g ) fine sugar
1 cup ( 130g ) self raising flourµ2 heaping tbsp of cocoa powder
3 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 lever teaspoon baking powder

For the Whipped sour cream frosting. ( the amount which i given below is the amount given in the book, as they just gave a small amount I like lots of frosting so i doubled the recipe )
1/4 cup ( 50 g ) soft butter
2/3 cup ( 110g ) icing sugar
4 heaping tablespoon thick sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract ot to your taste
Food colour of your choice if you are using.

Preaheat the oven to 350° F (180° C/ Gas 4) and put 24 regular paper case into the cupcake pan.
Put the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa and eggs in a bowl and beat together until it is free from lumps.

Put the bananas in a another bowl and mash, leaving a few chunks.
Sprinkle the baking powder over the bananas and mix again.
Tip the banana mixture into the chocolate mixture and stir together.
Divide the mixture among the paper cases and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until nicely risen and springywhen presses.
Remove the cakes and allow to cool on the wire rack/
Swril or pipe your frosting.
For the Frosting.
Put butter and sugar in a bowl and whisk with a electric hand held whisk until very pale. Add the sour cream and keep whisking to make it light and frosting.
Add vanilla extract to taste. And the food color if you are using.
Swril the frosting on top of the cakes.

Monday, 21 November 2011

Jaffa Cakes


I have noticed again and again, that I usually don't do bloghopping on weekends, sometimes I think it is unfair to the bloggers who blog on weekend ( even i do sometime post on weekends) as each monday morning when I open up my google reader and se so many blogs to read I usually delete all of them as I did today morning as I know if i have to catch up with all that blog I will have to sit in front of my computer for few hours. I know i know it is unfair, but then that is me beeing lazy and inconsiderate.

Now to the recipe, I accidently came across this blog while I was searching for Jaffa Cakes, and the moment I saw the picture in the MojeWypieki blog with these cakes I knew I was going to make, the minus point was it was in Polish and as I don't have no knowledge of the this language, I used google translator which as you all know sucks, but still I could use my little brain cells and make them.
Just that I didn't used the home made jelly method which i would have loved to do as that looked so good, but with translation dificulties I thought I will just use jam.
But have to say we loved it,I think the first day itself we ate few with our coffee, but have to say it is a tad too sweet maybe becaus I used for filling jam.



3 eggs seperated
80 gm sugar
75 gm flour
Couple of big tbsp of any kind of jam.
For the chocolate glaze
180 gm dark chocokate
one and a half tbsp of oil ( tasteless)

Beat the eggwhites,stiff, Slowly adding the sugar ( don't pout all the sugar at the same time). Add to this mix the egg yolks, blend. Slowly sprinkle the flour and foil in. Making sure you mis it all gentley.
Add the mix into a pipping bag with a thick round cap and pipe them it round size leaving space betweek each of them.
Preheat the oven to 180° c and bake the small cakes for 10 minutes.
Melt the chocolate with the oil in the MW  mix well making sure all teh chcolate is melted and leve it aside for ( the recipe said 15 minutes I cooled it for some 7 minutes)

Cool on a wire rack.
When the cakes are cooled; add a tsp of jam on top of each cake and using a tbsp pour melted chocolate one top of each cakes and leave the chocolate to hard on top.
Enjoy this sweet Jaffa Cakes.
I do have step by step ocures of the making the cakes, will add them when I finish editing the pic.


Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Chocolate Cups


I have met a lot of people through my blog virtually.
And with some of them I have become really good friends
But one of the friends I have met through Facebook is Caroline Martis, she doesn't have a blog but she cook up a storm in her kitchen especially in baking.
I do hope once she will start blogging all her goodies she makes in her kitchen.
So one fine day she tagged few of us in FB with this particular link and there was this video of making chocolate cups.
I have been wanting to make chocolate cups for a while, but I was always lazy saying it took too much effort to make them untill I saw this video, it was so easy that I had to try it and as you can see below it is indeed easy, so a big thankyou to my Dear FB friend Caroline for sharing the link with me.

Iced Shapes
Dipp them into the chocolate
Keep them upside down.
Ready to use.
  
Actually there is no recipe for this.
What you have to do is fill a flexible pan  ( any design you like) with water the day before .
I filled it and then when the water was half frozen poked a stick inside each of the shape.
Next day you melt 200 gm chocolate or depend on how many cups you want to make, take the pan out from the freezer take a shaped ice cube , dip into the melted chocolate and keep on a rack upside down and after few minutes the chocolate gets hard and you can easily remove it from the ice shape.
Leave it too fully dry.
You can only do one case with one shaped ice. I tried to use second time but the chocolate didnt get sticked.
You also have to work fast, with the chocolate ,as after sometime with the left over chocolate i wanted to make it didnt work, don't know why, will tell you next time when I make this again if it was the same.
Soon I will post what I did with these chocolate case.



Monday, 9 May 2011

Pear Tart with Chocolate Sauce


After almost 2 months I made a dessert.
And that too something from myown blog with a bit of change to the original recipe. There is also a step by step pictorial.

Not that I had to make any thing new for posting here as I have so many pending pictures and recipes for posting.
As you all must have noticed I am still not visitng the blogs I used to visit regularly before my life was turn upside down.
I once in a while and I mean once in while I go to a blog.
I think I must have gone just to few blogs in total, not that I don't want to visit , just that I don't have the patience  to  visit and write a comment, I am sure in time I will get back to my regular bloghopping.

Ingridients.
3 firm pears, peeled
400 ml water
Few ornage peels
1 vanilla stick split
1 bay leaf
50 gm sugar
Few table spoon of Poire William ( optional)
6 square sheets of puff pastry
25 gm soft butter
50 gm walnuts chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 egg lightly whisked
A bit of sugar to sprinkle

Half the pears and remove the middle and scopp a bit out from the middle.
Bring the water to boil in a pan abd add the orange peel, vanilla essence, sugar and bat leaf and poire williame.
Bring it to boil and add the pears.
Boil them for 10 minutes in slow fire with a cover

Now take the pears out and keep the sugar syrup aside ( remove the ornage peel and the bay leaf) Let the pear cool down.


Preheat the oven to 200°cNow take the pastrt sheets and cut them into pear shapes ( shown in the pic).

Apply egg wash over the whole pastry
Mix the butter ,sugar and the walnuts in a bowl.
Take a tsp of the filling and fill the holes of each pear.


Lay the pears the filled side down on the puff pastry.
Sprnikle with sugar.
Bake the tarts 15 to 20 minutes or untill it is golden brown

In the original recipe you make a chocolate sauce from the syup.
But this time I just MW 100 gm of chocolate with a bit of milk and poured over the tarts.
Enjoy.

Tuesday, 11 January 2011

Devil's Food Cake


I have to say the cake is absloutley delicious. I am a chocolate person, but even I have to say if you make this make sure you have plenty of people to share this with as it is a really rich cake.
And if you share you wont feel guilty of eating this super moist delicous cake and if you are not a chocolate lover don't even go there.

When I read about the event I remember telling to myself I might fir sure join in.
I watch all her cooking Shows the moment they show in BBC.
If I don't jave the time I record the programme and then watch it later.
There are times when I watch together with my teenage daughter and every time she sees a chocolate dish Nigella Makes , she will ask Mama would you make that etc......
So While I was watching her recent TV show in BBC 2, we both saw her making this and I had promised I will make this for her.
Sarah at Maison Cupcake has started this new event

The theme of this month was , If you are thinking Christmassy, you can look for inspiration in the Christmas chapters in How to Eat, How to be a Domestic Goddess, Feast and of course – Nigella Christmas.

 And I have to say you cant have a party without something chocolarey according to me and this Devils Food Cake.

You want to join in the fun and try to be Nigella of course you cant be her not that may people can be sexy and cook like her ;-) you will find all the details hereHere.
Want to make this cake you can find the recipe here in BBC food only chqnge I made is adding less sugar to the cake batter.


Thursday, 16 December 2010

Chocolate Rice Krispie


Today it Has been such a dull weather, but still Hubby and I went to Brugges City for doing frw Christmas Shopping and the worst things was while we were there it started pouring down. And I was saying that it is not a good weather to go nside and out to the shops. The best thing about shopping on a rainy morning is that there is not that much people in the shops and one can look to things without people looking over you.
Now to the recipe, this is not the firs time I makes these delicious Rice Crispies, I have made them before, but didn't get achance to take a picture .
This I made last month and send a box full with Shyama for her friends. And thekids they loved it , S said it was finished in a flash and even a kids who don't like chocolate ate it .
If you want to give home made gifts this would be excelent.
The original recipe is from  What the Fruit Cake here
Chocolate Rice Krispie
Ingredients
45g Unsalted Butter
280g Marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies
400g Dark Chocolate
Wilton pink food color or any color and brand you like.
200 to 250 gm chocolate as mine had a real thick layer of chocolate on top.
Method
Butter a 9"x9" dish or line with parchment paper I used foil and overlapped the sides .
This is her Tip; Tip: I prefer using parchment as it's easier to remove the treats by lifting them out by the parchment overhang which makes it easier to cut into portions once it's out of the dish
In a low heat in a saucepan, melt the butter .
Add the marshmallows and stir until melted
Stir in the food color.
Remove from heat
In a large bowl, combine the Rice Krispies  with the melted marshmallow mixture

Stir until thoroughly combined. I ;ust say this took a bit of stirring as it is stick a bit.

Tip: This is the really sticky part and if you're in a cooler climate it's best to do this with your bowl over simmering water so that the marshmallow stays warm, I agree as i used this tip and it worked for me very well.
Press into your prepared dish
Tip: Her Tip :I found it best to use a small piece of buttered parchment paper to spread and press the mixture a clever tip use it as it really helps.

Leave to set while you prepare the chocolate
Melt the chocolate in a heat resistant bowl over simmering water. I did in the MW.
Pour the chocolate over the Rice Krispies and tilt the dish a little in each direction so that the chocolate moves around and coats the top evenly or spread with a spatula
Allow the chocolate to set.
I have ;ade this twice and i usually am in a hurry so i put the tray in the freezer for a while and the take it out and cut in squqres with a sharp knife.

 


Wednesday, 3 November 2010

Brownie Buttons


It was a long weekend here and Shyama was home for four days which was a delight.
And in these four days we had party four evenings well I have to say I can't stand anymore special food, after eating so much for days.
And hubby is on a week of holiday so I am sure we will be opening up bottle of wine here at home or in the evening go to my inlaws place and then MIL will say shoudn't we have a glass of wine and we will tell her sure and then won't stop after one glass.

Oh and I bought baking stuff online today morning which was absloutley a delight , but have to admit I love buying things from a shop than online, I like to feel and see the things I buy, but alas I coudn't resist the temptaion for buying online.
These cute looking Brownie Buttons are made from one of my favourite book Baking from My Home to yours from Dorie Greenspan. i love her book, everything which I have tried from this book have come out perfect and delicous just like these brownies.

Ingridients:
Grated zest of 1/2 Orange (optional)
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1/4 cuo plus 2 tablespoon all purpose flour.
Pinch of salt
1/ stick ( 4 tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 1/2 ounces bitterswet chocolate, coarsley chopped
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
For the Glaze ( optional)
2 ounce of white chocolate , finley chopped

Getting ready.
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.
Lightly butter two miniature pans each with a dozen cups, and place them on a baking sheet.
If you are using the orange zest, combine the zest and sugar in a small bowl, rubbing them inbetween your finger tipsto blend, set aside.
Whisk together the flour and salt.

Melt the butter , chocolate and brown sugar in a medium pan over low heat, stirring frequently with a heat proof spatuala and keeping an eye on the pan si nothing over heats or burns. When the mixture us smooth remove fro the heat and cool for a minute or two.

Stir the vanilla, egg and the zest , if you are using it, into the chocolate mixture,
When the mixture is well blened, add the flour and stir only untill it is incotporated. You should have a smooth glossy batter.
Spoon thte batter into the cups, to fill each cup three quaters full.
Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or untill the tops of the buttons spring back when touched.
Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 3 minutes before carfully removing them.
Cool to room temperature on the racks.
To make the optional glaze:
Melt the chocolate in a smal heat proof bowl set over a saucepan with simmering water.
Stir constantly and don't leave the chocolate even for a minute - white chocolate scorch easly? As soon as the chocolate is smooth remove from the heat.
One by one, dip the tops of the buttons into the chocolate, twriling the buttons so that you get a swril at the center of each one.
Refrigerate the buttons for 15 minutes to set the glaze.

I will be busy till 11 th, so will come and visit your delicous blogs after that or inbetween when I get time.

Wednesday, 27 October 2010

Let's Go Nuts for Doughnuts October 2010 DB

Even before one realize it is time for .
The days are just flying by so fast that I have the feeling, I just sneezed and a whole month passed in that one sneeze.

When I saw the Challenge this month was, I really was excited as I have never made doughnuts at home. Well not the fried ones, have made the baked version some time ago.

I never do the challenge fast as I wait till some of the other group members have made it as when they finish doing the challenge they upload a picture in the Forum and also give tips.
And I am really greatfull for the tip Audax gave in the Forum.
He is always so fast in doing the challenge, mostly he do them the same day the recipe is posted in the forum, now isn't that fast.
And he gave a tip , he mentioned how ever soggy the dough is don't be tempted to add more flour. And I must say I am happy that I read the tip otherwise when I saw how soggy the dough was I would have gone on adding more flour, so if you do this recipe don't be tempted to add more flower it will all come together after the raising time etc...

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurio

Yeast Doughnuts:
Preparation time:Hands on prep time - 25 minutesRising time - 1.5 hours totalCooking time - 12 minutes
Yield: 20 to 25 doughnuts & 20 to 25 doughnut holes, depending on size
Ingredients
Milk 1.5 cup / 360 ml
Vegetable Shortening 1/3 cup / 80 ml / 70 gm / 2.5 oz (can substitute butter, margarine or lard)Active Dry Yeast 4.5 teaspoon (2 pkgs.) / 22.5 ml / 14 gm / ½ oz
Warm Water 1/3 cup / 80 ml (95°F to 105°F / 35°C to 41°C)
Eggs, Large, beaten 2
White Granulated Sugar ¼ cup / 60 ml / 55 gm / 2 oz
Table Salt 1.5 teaspoon / 7.5 ml / 9 gm / 1/3 ozNutmeg, grated 1 tsp. / 5 ml / 6 gm / ¼ ozAll Purpose Flour 4 2/3 cup / 1,120 ml / 650 gm / 23 oz + extra for dusting surface
Canola Oil DEPENDS on size of vessel you are frying in – you want THREE (3) inches of oil (can substitute any flavorless oil used for frying)
Directions:
Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening. (Make sure the shortening is melted so that it incorporates well into the batter.)
Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. It should get foamy. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm.

Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer (if you have one), combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.
Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well.

Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes (for me this only took about two minutes). If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky.

Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch (9 mm)thick. (Make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter).
Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch (65 mm) doughnut cutter or pastry ring or drinking glass and using a 7/8-inch (22 mm) ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365 °F/185°C.
Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown (my doughnuts only took about 30 seconds on each side at this temperature).
Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing, if desired
I glazed with dark and white chocolate and sprinkled sprinklers.

Thursday, 21 October 2010

Pink Macarons with a Ginger and Chocolate

Pink October a month dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness and Deeba and Jamie have choosed for the Mactweets Pink.
I have to say mine don't look pink , I used the pink color but i think i used a little bit too much.
As you know I have written in my earlier post that my hubby is never that thrilled to see me making Macarons.
But I think his opinion is changing, as I sneakly try to use exciting fillings in them.
So have to say these ones he really enjoyed.

As always I use my favourite Macaron recipe.
And for the filling I used a dark chocolate gnache and I mixed into the gnache crystalized ginger. And we all loved it.