Recipe Twenty Nine: Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding.

This pudding contains no eggs, no chocolate & very little butter, but don't let that put you off.

What this pudding is:

 moist, saucy, rich and very inexpensive to pull together.

This recipe originally comes from the Australian Womens Weekly.

I'm not sure when it was published but my mum had been making it for as long as I can remember.

Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding

60gms of butter

1.5 cups of  self raising flour

1/4 cup of cocoa

1 cup of caster sugar

3/4 cup of Milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of cocoa

2 cups of boiling water.

In a large microwave safe bowl melt your butter.

Mix into the butter: flour, the 1/4 cup of cocoa, caster sugar, vanilla and milk. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Sprinkle the top of this batter with combined brown sugar and  the 1/3 cup of cocoa.

Very gently pour the boiling water over the batter and sugar-cocoa mix.

Place in the microwave and cook for 9 minutes or until just firm in the middle.

Serve immediately.

xx 

Recipe Twenty Three: Double Chocolate, Sour Cherry Cheesecake.

Here is the culminating recipe of Friday night's dinner at The Kindled Kitchen. 

Now aside from being amazing to eat with all of it's sweet and sour goodness I actually started making this at 6pm for a 7pm dinner so it is also amazingly quick and easy!

What you will need:
220gm of plain chocolate biscuits
125gms of butter, melted.
500gms of cream cheese
200gms of dark chocolate.
70gms of brown sugar.
1 tablespoon of boiling water
1 teaspoon of gelatine.
1 670gm jar of Morello/Sour Cherries.
2 tbs of caster sugar
1 tbs of cornflour

Line the base of a 24cm spring form tin with baking paper.
Process the chocolate biscuits to a fine crumb & then add in the melted butter.
Press this mix into the base of your tin and chill in the fridge for 20minutes.

Either in a bowl over boiling water bain-marie style of in the microwave in 30 second bursts, melt your chocolate. Leave to cool slightly whilst you make the rest of the filling.

In a bowl beat together cream cheese & brown sugar until smooth.
Sprinkle gelatine over hot water and mix until it has dissolved.
Add this & the slightly cooled chocolate to the cream cheese & brown sugar and beat until combined.
Spread over chilled base and refrigerate.

In the meantime drain your cherries, place syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Taking 1 tablespoon of the syrup dissolve the caster sugar & cornflour in it and return to the pan stirring constantly. Cook until it comes to the boil and then add cherries.
Set aside.

Once you have removed the cheesecake from the pan & are getting ready to serve. Pour the cherries & syrup over the top of the cake.

Serve

PS- This post is part of The Sweet Adventures Blog Hop 'Death By Chocolate Addition'

Click through some of the thumbnails below for more amazing chocolate recipes 

I know you want to....

Or even better, you could join in?

xx

Resolutions & Recipe Twenty: Choc Chip Cookies

I was taking down our Christmas decorations yesterday  a week ago and I thought to myself what is life going to be like when I pull these out again? 

I read an amazing post "Pardon Me, Your Awesome is Showing" (go read it you will be inspired). 

I remembered the writing at that moment and thought: 

'Actually, how do I want life to be when I pull these out again?' 

I think about my Mum who took the leap of faith and made her creative passion her occupation. 

Who, even with 5 children (and adding another along the way) went back to University then moved the whole family and a cousin states to do her Masters. 

Now she blogs (go there too, also inspiring) and is currently writing her first book.

She took responsibility for making her life how she wanted.

My resolution for 2012 is to do the same.

(Make my own life amazing that is not have 6 children, become an Art Therapist and start writing a book)

Now I think I was writing a recipe.... 

I know it's two cookie posts in a row but I'm not feeling well & Miss MT (with her amazing aquamarine nail polish) said she would come over and bake some for the blog. 

How could I say no? 

I have such an awesome little sister.

150gms of Butter

120gms of Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Caster Sugar

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

1 egg + 1 yolk

2 1/2 cups of Flour

1/2 a teaspoon of Bicarbonate Soda

250gms of Choc Chips

Preheat your oven to 170C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Melt your butter and set aside to cool for two minutes.

Put your sugars in your bowl and then pour over your melted butter.

Beat together.

Add egg, yolk and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Add your flour in thirds, combining each time before adding more.

Fold in your chocolate chips.

Roll tablespoon sized amounts into balls and place about 3 inches apart on your baking tray.

Bake for 17-20 minutes or until cracked on top and very lightly brown.

Cool of racks and serve!

xx

Recipe Eight: 'Off With Their Head" Cookies

I first made these cookies for our family cafe and expected, like other batches of cookies they would last us 2 days...they lasted 3 hours. 

Beautiful food sells and although beautiful the original recipe never seemed to taste as good as it looked.

 Here is my slightly tweaked version.

You'll need:

1.5 cups of Plain Flour

3/4 of a cup of Almond Meal

1/2 a cup of pure Icing Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tablespoon of Milk

125gm of Butter (Chilled)

100gms dark Chocolate Chips

1/4 cup of Strawberry Jam

2 Tablespoons of Water

Preheat your oven to 180C

You're going to want to put all of those dry ingredients into your food processor along with the chopped, chilled butter and whiz until it looks like breadcrumbs.

Then pop in your milk and egg and whiz again until it starts to come together like this:

Now knead the dough until it forms a smooth disk, wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Roll out your dough and cut out as many large hearts as you can fit.

Now cut smaller hearts from the center of half of your larger hearts and bake for 8-10 minutes until JUST before they begin to turn brown...it happens quickly so keep and eye out.

Once your shapes are baked and cooled separate the hearts with the middle cut out on a
piece of baking paper.
 Melt your chocolate and pour into a zip-loc bag.

Snip the corner of the bag and drizzle the chocolate over the hearts with the cut outs.

Once the chocolate has set melt your jam and water together.

If you wish you can then sieve out the seeds but I leave them!

 Spread a little on the solid hearts and then place one of the chocolate covered hearts on the top.

Once all of your hearts are stuck together spoon in one tablespoon of the melted jam mix into the centre of each cookie.

Leave to set and then you're done!

xx