My firstborn just turned ten! Farewell Miss 9, hello Miss 10! My lovely gal requested a chocolate mud cake for her birthday and her wish was my command.
This was the first time I had made a dark chocolate mud cake from scratch and I was thrilled with the result. It was rich without being cloying, dense without being heavy and perfectly moist. Continue reading
This is the story of a cake that almost wasn’t eaten. I made this simple chocolate peppermint cake from scratch to take to my friends at the newspaper where I work as a journalist. Then, the next morning, the usual pandemonium to get out the front door ensued and cake got left behind. Poor cake. Continue reading
I kept seeing recipes for cakes/cookies/brownies with dulce de leche, a thick caramel sauce that tastes like heaven. Often these recipes would suggest buying the dulce de leche at a deli. Problem was, when I did eventually track down the dulce de leche it was super expensive. Quite honestly, the price was unjustifiable. So I did some research and blamo – I found you could make dulce de leche easily from scratch at home.
I know what you’re thinking – red wine IN chocolate cake? Red wine while eating chocolate cake – sure. Red wine while cooking cake, of course. But red wine IN chocolate cake? Trust me… red wine chocolate cake is amazing! Continue reading
Up until a year ago I could take or leave chai. As a coffee lover I often don’t have time for tea. But after discovering some amazing chai tea leaves, rather than the awful powdery stuff favoured by some cafes, I am a chai convert.
Another reason for my love of chai: it melds so well with butter, sugar and flour. It is the perfect pairing for many baked goods, as it adds a lovely depth and flavour. Need proof / inspiration?
Here’s my chai tea sultana cake: https://thehungrymum.com/2015/10/07/chai-tea-sultana-cake/
And my chai tea bundt cake recipe: https://thehungrymum.com/2015/08/30/chai-bundt-cake-from-scratch/
I recently had the idea of mixing chai with chocolate and my recipe for chocolate chip chai cookies was born. The tea leaves and the dark chocolate are just made for one another, and the ginger creates a warmth that you will love.
Miss9 took over the making of these bickies! They are large and rustic – next time I would probably make them a bit smaller. Either way, these choc chip chai cookies taste amazing.
I was inspired by a recipe from the Australian Women’s Weekly called basic vanilla biscuits.
GATHER:
200 grams unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 egg
½ cup dark chocolate chips
1 ¾ cups plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarb soda
2 teaspoons chai tea leaves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 170C and grease and line a baking sheet with non-stick paper.
In bowl of electric mixer beat the sugar, butter, egg and vanilla together until creamy and smooth.
Stir in flour, bicarb, cinnamon, ginger and chai leaves and mix until combined. Using a silver spoon mix in the chocolate chips until just combined.
Roll into balls, place on tray and gently flatten.
Bake for 11-14 minutes, depending on size of your bickie. Cool on trays for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
I had such an urge to bake a chocolate bundt cake this morning. I was planning to bake shortbread but some invisible force was telling me to create a cake with chocolate and rum that I thought – who am I to argue with the Jedi-minefield that is permeating my kitchen? Continue reading
Until you have tried burnt butter, either as a sweet or savoury dish, you cannot imagine how wonderful it tastes.
Simple kitchen alchemy transforms it into a creation heavenly enough to eat with a spoon – although don’t tell your cardiologist I said that.
Burning your butter is an easy peasy way to elevate baked goods into rich, decadent treats. These burnt butter brown sugar cupcakes are sophisticated enough to serve at an adult party – no sprinkles or food colouring here. Miss9 highly rated them, saying they were light and fluffy and less sweet than my usual vanilla cupcake recipe.
Serve these cupcakes au naturel, with a dusting of icing sugar, or a smothering of my all-purpose chocolate ganache – see below. This recipe was adapted from Nigella Lawson’s iconic ‘How To Be A Domestic Goddess.’
GATHER:
150 grams unsalted butter, diced
1 cup self-raising flour
just over ¼ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of milk
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 180C and line a 12-hole cupcake pan with wrappers (my batch only made 11).
In a small pan over low heat stir the butter frequently until it turns dark golden – this will take some time but don’t walk away or you will end up with a ruined pan and butter that will end u p in the bin. When it starts foaming like crazy is when you when to remove it from the heat.
Place all ingredients into a food processor and whiz until combined – it is quite a thick batter.
Spoon into the pans and bake for 16 minutes / until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
In a small saucepan over low heat melt 125g dark chocolate [broken into chunks] with 1/2 cup pouring cream. Stir until melted, thick and glossy. Allow to stand 15 minutes until thick. Use knife to spread over cakes.
For reasons yet to be fully understood I recently bought a huge packet of pretzels at the supermarket. I’m not a fan of pretzels at all so just chalk this purchase up to momentary madness. I don’t even think they were on sale. Every time I open the pantry they wink at me, taunt me, as if to say – now what? Continue reading
Sometimes you want to bake something technical, intricate and delicate. Other times you want something you can throw together with pantry staples in mere moments. Or your sugar craving needs to be address – stat. Or a child comes home with an until-this-moment forgotten about request for something sweet as a friend is coming over for a play. This is the recipe for you.
This easy to bake Nutella coconut bars / slice/ squares recipe is so delicious – the crunch of the base contrasts so well with the lush chocolate filling. Make these and try and stop at just one piece!
GATHER:
125 grams butter, at room temperature, diced
100 grams brown sugar
1 teaspoon best vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups self-raising flour
½ cup Nutella
topping:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups desiccated coconut
1/3 cup caster sugar
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 180C.
Grease and line a rectangular slice pan, allowing a 3cm overhang of paper.
In bowl of electric mixer beat sugar, butter and vanilla until pale, then using a spoon stir in flour.
Scrape into pan, distributing evenly, and cook for 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Set aside until completely cool.
Meanwhile, mix all the topping ingredients together in a small bowl.
Spread Nutella over cold base, sprinkle over topping – ensure it is even.
Return to oven and cook for 20 minutes.
Leave in pan until cold, then cut into squares to serve.
Many moons ago, in another life, I used to eat a chocolate chip muffin every day for breakfast. I commuted from one side of Sydney to the other and at the train station at my destination there was a muffin shop. I would alight, grab a behmouth of a choc chip muffin that probably had 10 gazillion calories and eat it on the walk to work.
It wasn’t until I started baking that I realised muffins weren’t supposed to be the size of a toddler’s head. Also, muffins are about a healthy a breakfast as birthday cake. Continue reading
the hungry mum 