INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1.5 large slabs Bourneville dark chocolate, chopped in the blender)

PREPARATION

Line large baking sheet with double thickness of foil. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then vanilla. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in semisweet and white chips. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheet in two 10- to 11-inch-long strips, spacing 3 inches apart. Using metal spatula or wet fingertips, shape strips into 11- by 2 1/2-inch logs. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake logs until tops are cracked and dry and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes; cool 10 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. Using foil as aid, lift logs onto work surface. Line baking sheets with clean foil. Using serrated knife, gently cut warm logs crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange half of slices, cut side down, on each prepared baking sheet. Bake biscotti until just dry to touch, about 8 minutes. Turn biscotti over. Bake until top is dry to touch, about 8 minutes. Cool on sheets.

(Dip in melted chocolate of your choice & then drizzle with remaining chocolate – I used 1.5 large slabs Bourneville dark chocolate, melted)

And then you will have to get together all these goodies so that you can start making the dessert filling!

6 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cups half-and-half or whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (heaped) semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped cream for topping
Chocolate sprinkles

Directions

1. Into a medium saucepan, sift together the cornstarch, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Slowly whisk in the half-and-half, until the mixture is combined and smooth. Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time, until smooth.
2. Cook the pudding over medium heat, whisking continuously, until the pudding starts to thicken and large bubbles form and plop, like slowly bubbling hot lava, on the surface of the pudding. Reduce the heat to low, and continue cooking, stirring continuously for 1 minute. Check the consistency of the pudding by running your finger across the back of the stirring spoon; if it leaves a trail that does not immediately fill in, it is thick enough.
3. Remove from the heat and stir the vanilla, peanut butter, and chocolate chips into the hot pudding until thoroughly melted and combined.
4. Place eight 4-ounce custard cups or ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the pudding into the cups, using a damp paper towel to clean up any drips. Cover the custard cups with plastic wrap. Alternatively, pour the pudding into a large bowl and cover the surface of the pudding with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate the pudding until very cold, at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
5. To serve, top the custard cups with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of chocolate sprinkles (also called chocolate vermicelli). If refrigerated in the larger bowl, you can scoop it into small dessert dishes or the Chocolate Balloon Cups and top with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Grease a 22cm square cake pan
Sift dry ingredients together twice
Mix water, vanilla and Mayonnaise together and add to the dry ingredients
Mix lightly. Fold in cherries and nuts, if using
Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until done
Turn out to cool
Combine the caramel condense milk and melted chocolate together and spread over the cake
Decorate as desired
If serving as a dessert, simply omit the topping and serve warm, with custard, cream or ice cream

Here’s what the packet looks like…

And here’s the end product…

The first batch turned out a bit darker, the packet instructs the baking time as 20minutes which seemed a little too long judging by the colour & texture.  I took the second batch out after 12minutes, when they were cooked through.  Not sure if it has something to do with my oven, but the 12minute batch was tastier.

For a quick treat, this is ideal!   If you like cappuccino flavour, you should definitely give this a try!

For those who don’t live in South Africa, let me explain a bit more.  In SA its the norm to have someone clean your house for you, do your washing, ironing and pretty much all other household chores.  When we were in the UK a few years back I realized for the first time that this wasn’t so common in all other countries.

Now having lived here for my whole life, I must admit that I am one of the odd ones out to not have a domestic worker, and I’ve had to get used to people’s reactions when I tell then that I do all the housework myself, on top of working at the office for a full day.  Now this is not some kind of noble act to gain favor with anyone, or some money saving plan.  Instead I am just too distrusting to allow anyone strange into my home to come and clean & organize it for me.

I’ve been having these arguments with myself, and even with my husband about who we should pick, who we can trust, and who would be able to work with such care that our perfectionism will be satisfied.

Well, we have now finally found someone, and she did excellent for a first day.  I’m hoping that she will continue to be so thorough in future as well, as the trend is to slack as soon as you’re settled in – in many jobs that is.

For now, I am ecstatic with a lovely clean home, and NO IRONING – Yay!! So I’m going to busy myself with baking a banana bread.

Happy “rest of the” weekend all

I found that questions several times as a comment to my post on Chocolate Cake In A Mug, and I decided to do a whole post about cake flour. It never occurred to me that there might be other countries in which cake flour isn’t as popular or widely available as in South Africa.  For those of you who mostly use all purpose flour, I have below the definition of what cake flour is, and then also a substitute for it

When I searched the internet for a proper explanation, I found this…

Cake flour is a highly specialized type of wheat flour, intended for use in making cakes, cookies, and other delicate baked goods. Several characteristics differentiate cake flour from other wheat flours, making it unsuitable for certain tasks like baking bread. Many markets carry cake flour, and in a pinch a substitute can be made with ¾ cup sifted bleached all purpose flour and two tablespoons of cornstarch.

When baking a cake, most cooks aim to create a light, fluffy cake with a tender crumb. This requires a flour with a low protein content, as protein promotes the production of gluten, which can make baked goods more tough. It also means that the flour must be very finely milled, to keep baked goods from getting heavy. Finally, a flour which is starchy and able to hold large amounts of fat and sugar without collapsing is required.

All of these needs are addressed with cake flour, which is made from the endosperm of soft wheat. The endosperm is the softest part of the wheat kernel, making cake flour the finest flour available. As cake flour is milled, it is heavily bleached, not only to make it white but to break down the protein in the flour. Typically, cake flour is around seven percent protein, much lower than other flours; bread flour, for example, has twice that amount of protein.

The delicate, fine texture of cake flour is accomplished by heavy milling. The fine grain absorbs fat readily, ensuring that butter and other fats in cakes are well distributed throughout the batter. Cake flour can also carry a high volume of sugar when compared to higher protein flours. Since cake flour is a high-starch flour, it is extremely well suited for certain baking tasks. Cake flour is also lighter than conventional flour, which is why the substitution above falls short of a full cup.

Cookie and cake recipes which call for cake flour should be made using cake flour, if possible. In the production of certain other baked goods, cake flour can replace ordinary flour for a lighter end product, using one cup and two tablespoons of cake flour for every cup of flour called for in the recipe. Cake flour should not be used to make breads and other leavened products, as it is not strong enough. Also, as a general rule, a recipe which calls for “sifted flour” requires the cook to sift the flour before measuring, while “flour, sifted” is flour which is measured and then sifted. Since sifting changes the volume of flour, this seemingly petty distinction is actually very important.

However interesting it might be to know what cake flour really is, I managed to also find a substitute for it, which might be a bit more interesting for you if you want to use a recipe which uses cake flour.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch

Directions
To make two cups of cake flour combine 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup cornstarch; proceed with your recipe.

We’ve been sharing some ideas on what to cook for Valentine’s day, and some great recipes surfaced.
Personally I would love to try out Kristyn’s Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe (which, by the way, I think she got from her Mom ). Not for Valentine’s day in particular, just because I love Chicken Cordon Bleu, and its something new for me to try out.

Once I started thinking about how to make chocolate fondue (I usually just make it according to what looks right), I searched for some recipes on the internet, and found this Original Chocolate Fondue Recipe pretty interesting. The cake together with the chocolate fondue sounds really delicious, but I’ve never tried it before. Maybe I’ll give it a shot!

What are you cooking for Valentine’s day? And I’m asking this specially to the MALES who will be doing the cooking this year. I know its easier to take your honey out for dinner to a fancy restaurant, but honestly we’d like it much more if you’d cook for us yourselves (except maybe the stuck up chicks )

So if you have any plans already, share them, and if you don’t we’ll help you with some ideas