So my resolution to cook more things without chocolate was short lived. Inspired by this thread I thought that the best way to celebrate the end of my (brief) Chocolate Drought was with dense, fudgey brownies. Yummo! I hear you say, and right you are. The title is no overstatement, these babies are BRILLIANT! Just the thing for a chilly Winter’s day.
Be warned, there is a lot of butter in this recipe. But if my scale says ‘0’ then… it cant be that much can it?
True to form, I doubled slightly upped the chocolate dose
Then licked the bowl. Did you expect any less?
I added 5 mins to the cooking time because I used a smaller tin so I was very worried when I took my brownies out and they were quite firm. The last few batches of brownies I had cooked were too dry and I thought I had overcooked these too
Then the top sank and I knew I was in the clear!
mmmmmmmm fudgey…
Now I felt a bit like Nigella when I was eating these. They were so gooey and fudgey that I wanted to roll around on the floor in ecstacy. I always thought her moaning was a little over the top, but if she enjoys eating all her food as much as I enjoyed eating these, I absolutely understand!
The recipe I used was Jamie Oliver’s Bloomin’ Brilliant Brownies found HERE
I did change the nuts and cherries for milk and white chocolate chips and used a 20cm tin because I was lacking a larger tin but they were the only changes I made.
So, my lovelies, what is your favourite chocolate recipe?
There are two things I love about winter. Well, there are more than two things but only two of them a relevant to this post! Those two things are as follows:
1. Its cold enough that I can cook whatever I like, whenever I like, for as long as I like
2. I can wear my onesie!
Now, for the uninitiated, a onesie is possibly the most amazing item of sleepwear ever invented. It’s jim jams with feet! Last year, the Ginger Ninja, Helen the Melon and I all bought onesies to keep us toasty through winter. Because everyone laughed at us, we thought we would celebrate our warmth and amazing foresight together at our own exclusive Onesie Party. And thus, the Annual Onesie Party was born.
For our party this year, joined by the Lawyer (onesie-less im afraid), we decided that we would attempt to make macarons. Surely some of the awesomeness of our onesies would rub off on these notoriously difficult biscuits? Unfortunately not. While they were passable, they were not quite a success.
We were not blessed with amazing piping skills…
But they looked alright on the tray…
But when cooked they didn’t really have that crisp outer layer and melt in your mouth center. More of a crinkly, paper thin outer layer and a gooey but mostly hollow centre. And, lets face it, they look a little like baby hamburgers. Or is that just me?
They looked ok, but still not a success.
And, after a full day onesie-ing, catching up with friends and cooking, I was knackered and needed a rest
I will post the recipe below and maybe you will have more luck with it. However, the quest for macaron perfection WILL continue until I succeed! Do you have any tips for me my lovelies? I would love to hear from you!
Pink Macaroon Recipe (Yes, its written “Macaroon” in the book) – From Australian Women’s Weekly Cookies Cookbook
Ingredients
3 egg whites
2 tblspoons caster sugar
pink food colouring
1 1/4 cups (200g) icing sugar
1 cup (120g) almond meal
100g chocolate
2 tblspoon thickened cream
Method
1. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form
2. A sugar and food colouring and beat until sugar dissolves
The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.
Well, this month was a challenge and a half! Although I have been able to finish most challenges a few weeks before the deadline, some how I found myself pulling this baby together last night in the nick of time. It wasn’t that I found the recipe unappealing (I love ice cream as much as the next woman) but I think I lacked motivation this month in pulling together a recipe that largely consisted of ice cream, in the dead of winter. Some how, trudging home in the cold and the rain after a long day at the chalkface didn’t make me want to complete this recipe. However, this is absolutely something i’m going to pull out when Summertime decides to roll around!
This culinary journey was not without its hiccups. I had considerable difficulty with the initial swiss roll recipe. For reasons unknown, no matter how closely I followed the recipe the damn thing would not rise! I made a few batches of flat, rubbery swiss rolls before finally baking my end product. After reading a few different recipes I decided to try whipping the egg and sugar mixture over a double boiler. Finally, I had the thick, creamy consistency required by the recipe. Finally, I had a light, spongy swiss roll!
And of course, my first alteration to the recipe was to make it a different colour…
Pink! Yes, i’m predictable.
I had decided that I was going to steer clear of my traditional chocolate on chocolate on chocolate approach. After seeing the amazing creations of many fellow Daring Bakers I knew it was high time I experimented a bit! So instead of vanilla ice cream, I tried…
Rosewater! P.s. I whipped that cream by hand baby!
I had to go with chocolate sauce for the middle because I couldn’t for the life of me figure out a sauce to go with rosewater ice cream.
I have to mention here that I did find the sauce mesmerising. It was like looking into a swirling galaxy
A cross section of swiss roll, ice cream and chocolate sauce.
Next came the final layer of ice cream. But what flavour to go with rosewater? I have to admit that I did cop out a little bit in this section. I thought that pistachio ice cream would go nicely with the other flavours in this cake. However, I decided to make this ice cream on a night where I was just too tired and over it to do a good job. So I blended up a bunch of pistachios and whacked them in the ice cream.
While the texture was a little grainy as a result of my laziness, the flavour was delicate and pistachio-y
I held my breath while inverting the cake… and crossed my fingers!
Success!!
Cross section!
Thanks again Daring Bakers for a truly challenging month! This is absolutely a recipe I will use again when the weather turns. However, I suspect I may return to my chocolate overload ways 😀
Alterations to the Recipe
I only slightly altered the recipe which you can find here.
1. I whipped my egg mixture for the swiss roll over a double boiler until it reached the desired consistency
2. I added about 4 or 5 teaspoons of rosewater to the vanilla icecream mixture instead of the vanilla
3. I added just over half a cup of pistachios (ground well) to the second ice cream mixture rather than adding cocoa or chocolate flavouring
When I saw this cake as baked by the gorgeous Not Quite Nigella I thought “it can’t be done”. Even though the proof was staring me in the face. Yes, I am quite adept in the art of disbelieving certain indisputable facts. I think thats why I was never much good at maths.
Despite my irrational doubts, I knew it was something I needed to try. After reading the instructions once, twice, three times I thought I might be ready to attempt this recipe. And for once, I took progress shots! Savour it now because we all know that it wont last.
Ok so not quite progress shots, but look how great that springform tin looks! Aint no water getting into that baby!
Cake tin avec cake mix!
I like to think of the above picture as my “ta dah!” moment. A sort of “now you see it now you don’t” in reverse. Im starting to wonder whether my inability to document the actual construction of the cake might bear testament to my inability to believe it could be done. Did I mention that I very much subscribe to the belief of “out of sight, out of mind”? Still, it was only a tin of raw cake mix, all a manner of things could go wrong before the cake was finished…
I don’t think you can really see it in the picture but the roasting pan is full of water. Pretty nifty water bath hey!
It seems that all a manner of inexplicable forces are wrapped up in this cake. Note the mystery of the shrinking edges! I think there are a good few centimeters between the cake and the edge of the tin. Where did they go? Nobody knows!
But boy, it sure looks good!!
And look at those stripes! Success!
While this cake was unbelievably light, it was a little too delicate in flavour. The Mother Ship demanded the addition of chocolate. So I obliged.
Do you think there’s enough ganache there?
So, my lovelies, I urge you to try this cake yourself. If you are into the more subtle flavours then this is absolutely for you. If you like your cakes to pack a little more punch, then add some of your favourite ganache and rub your little hands with glee! Whatever your tastes are, you can be sure that you will be the proudest person ever when you successfully complete this recipe!
Be warned, there is a lot of butter in this recipe. But if my scale says ‘0’ then… it cant be that much can it?
True to form, I doubled slightly upped the chocolate dose
Then licked the bowl. Did you expect any less?
I added 5 mins to the cooking time because I used a smaller tin so I was very worried when I took my brownies out and they were quite firm. The last few batches of brownies I had cooked were too dry and I thought I had overcooked these too
Then the top sank and I knew I was in the clear!
mmmmmmmm fudgey…
