Now I love chocolate cake as much as the next person. But lately, ive found the usual flour, eggs, cocoa, sugar, butter varieties a little… unsatisfying. I feel a bit like an addict. I need something more and more chocolaty to get me through the day. Thank god for the Chocolate Mousse Cake!
This cake has been on my “to cook” list for so long that i’d forgotten it was even there. Now, be warned, I use the term ‘cake’ very loosely here. This is more a cross between a rich fudgey devils food cake and a decadent dark chocolate mousse. Not that i’m complaining!
Its important to follow the instructions to the letter. It may seem that 12 mins is not long enough for this cake to cook, but any longer and it might start to burn! Otherwise, its a pretty easy recipe and damn tasty too!
I seem to be accruing cooking magazines at an exponential rate. They come home with me, then sit on the coffee table for weeks until they get stacked on top of all the other cooking magazines in random places around the house. Under the desk, on top of books on the shelves, under the bed, in the closet… oh dear. I do flip through and ooh and ahh at the pictures thinking how i’d love to try cooking xyz. Somehow, I never seem to get my act together. Until now…
With the sudden chill factor, I couldn’t go past the rice pudding recipe in this month’s Delicious magazine (which I love!). I did think that 1.2 L milk to 1/3 cup rice was a little excessive, but, its Delicious! Who was I to question such authority? Damn right, thats what I was.
I ended up with a very tasty rice soup. Looks a bit like an omelette…
However, I do like my rice pudding more… well… puddingy! So I began to search for a good pudding recipe. Luckily, I didn’t have to look too far! I went straight to the Australian Women’s Weekly cookbook and tried their rice pudding. I substituted the cup of skim milk for a cup of cream (If you’re eating rice pudding you cant be worrying about your waistline!) popped it in the oven and crossed my fingers.
Looks good so far, no excessive liquid
Hooray! I can see the rice!
It was so so tasty, and with a little bit of cinnamon on top… mmmmmmm!
Be careful though, keep it stored with the silver foil over the top as it did develop a little bit of a skin. Im not sure if it was the cream substitution, but it still tasted good the next day so a little bit of a skin was no worry. Don’t worry Delicious! I still love you! But AWW did win this round, you’re going to have to pull something pretty special out of the bag next time…
So my lovelies, what is your favourite dessert to warm you up on a cold winters night?
Rice Pudding – From The Australian Women’s Weekly Cookbook
Ingredients
1/2 cup (100g) medium grain rice (I used arborio rice)
2 cups (500ml) full cream milk
250 ml thickened cream (you can use skim milk if you want, but why?)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
Method
1. Rinse the rice under cold water and spread on the bottom of a shallow, 1 litre baking dish
2. Combine the milk, cream, vanilla and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil
3. Pour the hot milk mixture over the rice and mix gently with a fork
4. Cover the dish tightly with silver foil, bake for 1 1/4 hours at 150 degrees celsius
They broke the mould when the made my grandpa. He was a man who was intensely loving and my moral compass for most of my adolescent and adult life. My grandpa was also the sharpest dressed man i’ve ever known. He was a man who always had several suits already hung up in his wardrobe along with matching shirt, tie and pocket hankie. He had a stack of hats up to my waist (a different one for every possible occasion) and he even changed his shoelaces according to the seasons. According to my Great Auntie, when he had one of his strokes many many years ago, he wouldn’t let my grandma call the ambulance until he had put his shoes on. Of course, you couldn’t go to emergency with bare feet!
He was the strongest person i’ve ever known, serving in World War Two, living through several strokes and caring for himself for the past ten years despite being paralysed down one side of his body and suffering from macular degeneration. All through this, he never left his house without first donning a clean suit with freshly polished shoes and a carefully chosen tie, hankie and hat combination. Even people at the bank and the post office remarked to me about what a gentleman he was and how he never came in without being immaculately dressed. He died last year, and although I remember him every day, I wanted to do something special to remember him. I know he would have loved these.
Some well dressed cupcakes!
He was man enough to wear pink!
Every man looks good in blue
Every man needs a black tie for special occasions.
So thats a little piece of my heart sent out into the universe. These are just a small tribute to a man who genuinely brightened up so many people’s lives.
