Flourless Chocolate Cake

If you haven’t got THIS Flourless Chocolate Cake on your bucket list, think again!

Advertisement

Molten Berry Lava Cakes

Molten Berry Lava Cakes  with an actual oozing berry centre! Say WHAT?

Tiramisu Cake

Getting real personal on the blog today, with a slice of this glorious Tiramisu Cake for company/comfort! ❤

Mini Chocolate Cakes

What’s better than Mini Chocolate Cakes making an appearance at your brunch or afternoon tea spread? ❤

Orange Chocolate Marble Cake

This gorgeous Orange Chocolate Marble Cake celebrates the classic combination of citrus-y tart oranges and rich dark chocolate like no other! Don’t believe me? Try this recipe out! 😀

Perfect Egg-less Chocolate Cake

Have qualms about egg-less baking? This recipe for the Perfect Egg-less Chocolate Cake is the only one you’ll every need, I promise! 😀

 

Molten Chocolate Cake

First off, Happy New Year to all you wonderful foodies out there! I hope you brought in 2016 with your favourite food. If not, now’s the time. Wait! Errrr, after you read this blog post is the time, actually! 😉

So, Molten Chocolate Cake. This dessert needs no introduction. The past couple of years have been what we can call ‘The Rise of the Molten Chocolate Cake’. It’s everywhere; home-bakers are acing it, it’s on pretty much every restaurant menu and if you do a Google search, there are a million different recipes for this chocolicious delight. It also goes by many names – Chocolate Fondant, Lava Cake, Molten Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Lava Cake.

Long before I began baking extensively, I wondered how this gorgeous pud was baked. After some research I learned that it had all to do with the baking technique. These little pots of pure chocolate indulgence are baked on high heat for a short time so as to have them firmed up on the outside while ooey-gooey and oozy on the inside; in which case, the egg yolks in the recipe help bring out that custard-y effect! But then I also came across a few recipes which suggested putting quick-melting cubes of chocolate in the centre of the mini-cake before baking to have a perfectly liquid centre. Personally, I prefer the former. And among the million recipes out there, here’s mine! 🙂

Here’s what you need:

• Dark Chocolate – 250 g, cubed
• Unsalted Butter – 113 g, plus extra for greasing ramekins
• Confectioner’s sugar – 200 g
• Eggs – 3 whole + 3 yolks
• All Purpose Flour – 120 g
• Vanilla Essence – 4 tsp

Here’s how you make this spectacular Molten Chocolate Cake:

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius and grease glass or ceramic ramekins with butter. In a large bowl, mix cubes of chocolate and butter. Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave at medium heat for two minutes. Take out and stir well until smooth.

Step 2: Sift in the icing sugar and all-purpose flour and beat until the mixture becomes doughy.

Step 3: Whisk in the whole eggs and egg yolks until the mixture is luscious and creamy. Add the vanilla essence and give it one final mix.

Step 4: Pour the batter into the greased ramekins until they are filled to about two-third of their capacity. Place the filled ramekins on a baking tray, pop into the oven and bake for 13 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Take the cakes out of the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. Carefully overturn the Molten Chocolate Cakes onto serving dishes and top with chopped strawberries. Serve Immediately.

We all know what the hero of the perfect Molten Chocolate Cake really is. That moment of joy when you cut into the cake and the molten chocolate lava flows out from the centre is unmatched. And that’s exactly what you will get from this recipe!

This Molten Chocolate Cake is mouth-wateringly delicious, to say the least. With the perfect balance of sweetness from the chocolate and confectioner’s sugar, the tartness from the strawberries and the richness of the molten centre, it’s everything you need to take you to chocolatey paradise (very a la the chocolate river in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’)!

If you’re a die-hard chocolate fan, this dessert is for you. But then, you already knew that! 😀 And for those of you who like a touch of chocolate in your lives every once in a while, make sure you don’t miss out on this classic dessert, made easy by The Foodscape!

Get in the kitchen and get baking! Those New Year’s resolutions can wait a bit! 😛

Christmas Tree Brownie Pops

Christmas is my favourite time of year! I love putting up the tree, lighting candles around the house, the sweet aroma of baked goodies and traditional kuswar (Mangalorean Christmas confectionery) being made in the kitchen while carols play in the background. The whole nine yards.

Last Christmas (no, I didn’t give you my heart! 😛 ) I was busy with what felt like a million orders for traditional Rich Fruit Christmas Cake, that I had little time to spare to make any other holiday goodies. I just whipped up a batch of last-minute chocolate fudge and that was that. This year I have tonnes of time on my hands and thanks to my major baking plans, that means tonnes of flour and frosting smeared all over my clothes. (Just how I like it!) No seriously, I ought to invest in a nice apron one of these days!

In between all the Christmas-prep madness last year, as I was flipping the pages of my favourite magazine BBC GoodFood (I love the Middle East, India and UK versions) I came across this feature wherein a circular cake had been cut into wedges and frosted to look like individual Christmas trees. It was a brilliant idea and they looked stunning and so rare – I was glad for once it wasn’t all about the gingerbread man . So this year, I decided to take inspiration from that feature, thus creating my very own Christmas Tree Brownie Pops and here I am sharing them with you!

Here’s what you need to make these cute Christmas treats.

For the Brownies:

• Dark Chocolate – 150 g
• Butter – 113 g, cold and cubed
• Cocoa Powder – 2 tbsp
• Sugar – 160 g
• Eggs – 3
• All Purpose Flour – 95 g
• Vanilla Extract – 1 and 1/2 tsp
• Walnuts – 100 g, coarsely chopped

For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

• Butter – 120 g, softened
• Icing sugar – 200 g, sifted
• Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
• A few drops of green gel food colouring
• Sprinkle of your choice
• Pop sticks

Here’s how you make them:

Step 1: In a bowl, mix together butter and dark chocolate and place the bowl over a pot of simmering water. Allow the butter and chocolate to melt, giving it an occasion stir, until it is well-combined and luscious.

Step 2: Take the bowl off the heat and sift in cocoa powder and sugar.

 

Step 3: Beat in one egg at a time, making sure to beat quickly in order to trick the egg into not cooking in the warm chocolate mixture.

 

Step 4: Blend in the flour and the vanilla extract until just incorporated. Then add in the chopped walnuts and give it a final mix.

 

Step 5: Pour the batter into a 9-inch circle baking tin greased and lined with parchment paper. Pop it into the preheated oven and bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 20 – 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs attached to it.

To make the Vanilla Buttercream: Blend butter, icing sugar, food colouring and vanilla extract until it forms a light and creamy frosting that holds its shape when piped.

The Last Step: Once cooled, cut the brownies into wedges. Then watch the below video wherein I show you how to decorate these pretty Christmas Tree Brownie Pops!  (Psst, this is The Foodscape’s first video; please do show some love. And follow the channel too!) 🙂

These brownie pops are gooey, nutty and just spectacular. The dark chocolate really gives it a wonderful rich flavour, while the walnuts add that crunch and welcome bitterness that I love in my brownies! And the concept of brownies in a Christmas Tree avatar is a complete winner! 😀

It’s a great idea for an edible gift too, though I would suggest decorating it with royal icing instead of buttercream in that case. You don’t want your frosting decorations all smudged, so the quick-drying properties of royal icing will come to your rescue in such a situation. Oh, and without a doubt, everyone, both young and old, will surely love these. They are colourful, Christmasy and chocolaty, what’s not to love?

Through this post, I hope I brought a little Christmas cheer to your home! 🙂 Try this recipe out, it is easy-peasy and ready in a jiffy. Happy holiday baking! 😀

 

 

Crownies

Combination sweet treats have been making waves for quite a while now; and I think they are just awesome! I mean, isn’t it great that you get to fulfill your longing for two baked delights at the same time? 😀

Can’t decide between a croissant and a doughnut? Have a Cronut! Confused between picking up a bag of pretzels or a cupcake on your way home from work? There’s no need to rack your brain when you can indulge in a Pretzel Cupcake! If all your heart wants is a slice of cheesecake AND a slice of red velvet cake – here’s an idea, bake The Foodscape’s Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies! (Oh wait, that recipe doesn’t just combine red velvet cake and cheesecake, but brownies too! Win-win, isn’t it? Or should I say, win-win-win? 😉)

The idea of creating a fusion of two desserts to make one delicious masterpiece is just genius! And quick that I am to learn from the world of baking, here I am integrating two classic coffee-time munchies into one – to make Crownies!

Brownies + Cookies = Crownies! Yes; these Crownies are packed with the goodness of both Dark Chocolate Brownies and Chocolate Chip Cookies. Many call them Brookies, but I like to call them Crownies; look at them – they are more brownie-ish than cookie-ish, aren’t they? But hey, once you take a bite, it doesn’t matter what they are called. Well mostly because you can’t stop eating them! 😛 They are that incredible!

Here’s what you need:

For the Brownie layer:

• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – 160 g
• Unsalted Butter – 113 g
• Cocoa powder – 2 tbsp
• Sugar – 150 g
• Eggs – 3
• All Purpose Flour – 100 g
• Vanilla Extract – 1 and 1/2 tsp

For the Chocolate Chip Cookie layer:

• All Purpose Flour – 1 cup
• Unsalted Butter – 1/4 cup
• Brown Sugar – 3/4 cup
• Salt – 1/2 tsp
• Baking Soda – 1/2 tsp
• Cinnamon Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Egg – 1
• Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
• Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips – 1 cup

This is how you make Crownies. 🙂

The Brownie layer:

Step 1: Place the semi-sweet chocolate chips and butter in a heat-proof bowl; place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure that the water isn’t touching the base of the bowl. Leave it to melt.

Step 2: Take the bowl off the heat and mix in cocoa powder and sugar until well incorporated. Beat in the eggs until the batter is fluffy.

Step 3: Add in the flour and vanilla essence and beat the batter until it is glossy and smooth.

Step 4: Pour the Brownie batter into a greased and lined 10 inch square tin. Smooth out the batter until it is in an even layer. Set aside.

The Cookie Layer

Step 5: In a bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, butter and cinnamon powder until the mixture is well combined, yet crumbly.

Step 6:  Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat well. Mix in chocolate chips and give the batter a final mix.

The Crownies

Step 7: With your palms, make little rounds of batter, flatten each of them and place them on top of the brownie layer until the surface is covered with a layer of cookie dough.

Step 8: Pop the Crownies into a preheated oven and bake at 165 degrees Celsius for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top of the cookies are crisp and golden brown, but a toothpick inserted all the way into the brownie layer comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Take them out of the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, cut yourself a piece and EAT!

These Crownies are the perfect amalgamation of an array of flavours and textures that are sure to make you go “Wow!” The ooey-gooey lusciousness of the Brownie layer with all that chocolaty goodness oozing through, paired with the crisp bite of the Chocolate Chip Cookie layer giving way to the moist cookie with welcome bursts of chocolate – I’d say that’s heaven right there!

Though I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, this was Ah-Mazing! And I had to exercise a great deal of self-control to stop myself from gobbling up the entire batch! Mom loved it; she took a very skeptical bite, but my, was she pleased! The boyfriend took a bite, closed his eyes and drifted away to paradise… and it was a good three minutes before he came back to earth and said, “This is so good! I’m so lucky!” (State the obvious, much? 😉)

If you like to hear such wonderful feedback from friends and family about your culinary prowess, I suggest you get into the kitchen and get baking! You’ll surely earn lots of brownie points, and some cookie points too! 😛

Skillet Brownie Cake

A couple of weeks ago, one of my oldest friends looked at my post on Dark Chocolate Cake Pops and sent me a message asking me to do a post on something super chocolatey that is easy to make with ingredients that don’t require one to go on a drawn out treasure hunt to find them. On a whim, I promised her that I would soon do a post on a Skillet Chocolate Cake. Though I didn’t get around to doing it immediately, I sure didn’t forget.

So over the past weekend, on the occasion of The Foodscape’s 1st Anniversary, I baked this chocolicious Brownie Cake in a skillet. Baking this cake was very special – it felt like I was connecting with my roots again. Many of you may not know this, but when I first started baking back when I was only 13, I didn’t own an oven and so I would bake on the gas stove on an open flame. And for this cake, I did just that! 🙂

Wondering how it’s even remotely possible? Well, here’s the deal – all you need is a diffuser to place directly in contact with the flame; a deep, flat bottomed pan with a lid that fits perfectly; and a couple of heavy wooden blocks or slabs. When you’re all stocked up and your cake batter is ready, grease your pan, pour in the batter, switch on the gas on a low flame, place the diffuser over it and then place the pan on the diffuser. Cover it with the lid, and place the wooden slabs on top to make sure that air does not escape from the pan during the baking process. Sweet and simple, isn’t it?

This is the arrangement to bake directly on the gas stove: Place the diffuser (the thin silver iron plate) on the gas, place the pan over it, cover with the lid and place the wooden slabs on top to make sure air doesn’t escape during the baking process 🙂

So here’s my recipe for this anniversary special Skillet Brownie cake…

Here’s what you need:

• Semi-sweet Chocolate – 75 g + extra for garnish
• Unsalted Butter – 60 g
• Cocoa Powder – 1 tbsp
• Granulated Sugar – 80 g
• Eggs – 2, small
• All Purpose Flour – 50 g
• Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
• Salt – a pinch
• Walnuts – 50 g, chopped
• Maraschino Cherries – 20 g, chopped
• Your choice of sprinkles – for garnish
• Strawberries – for granish

Here’s how you make it:

• Mix together 75 grams of semi-sweet chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl over a vessel of simmering water – making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water – and allow the chocolate and butter to melt.
• Once melted, take off the heat. Add cocoa powder and sugar and stir vigorously until well incorporated. Add in the eggs and whip well.
• Mix the flour into the chocolate mixture until just completely incorporated; then pour in the vanilla essence and the salt.
• Add in the chopped walnuts and maraschino cherries and give the batter a final mix.
• Pour the batter into the greased skillet and place on top of a heated diffuser in contact with an open flame. Cover with the lid and press down with wooden blocks. Allow to bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs attached to it.
• Once done, take off the heat, frost with melted chocolate, sprinkles and berries.
• EAT, NOW!

This cake is truly the ultimate chocolate indulgence. Exceptionally gooey, this brownie cake is rich, luscious, velvety and crumbly all at once. Decadent good quality chocolate combined with the sweetness of maraschino cherries and the walnuts lending it some crunch and bite, this cake is pure heaven to the senses! If you’re a chocolate lover, this will be your favourite go-to recipe for a homemade cake; and for those of you who don’t love chocolate, this will take you to the dark sinful side! I should know, it has me sold!

So what are you waiting for? Get caking and indulge in The Foodscape’s version of Chocolate Paradise 😀