Molten Chocolate Cupcakes

Molten Chocolate Cupcakes! (warning: Must be eaten instantly!)

I got bored of making cupcakes stuffed with chocolate bars because they harden and I don't own a microwave so I couldn't possibly be re-cooking my cupcakes again and again. So one day I had some excess chocolate sauce and this idea popped up in my head! They don't last very well in the heat of Malaysia though, but I think it was still worth the effort!

Note!
Try to make the chocolate cream a day earlier in order for it to set nicely. (Semi solid-liquid)

Ingredients:
Batter:
1 1/2 cup self-raising/all purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar (use less if white sugar)
6 tbsp cocoa powder - more if you like it more chocolatey
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
3-5 tbsp milk
1 cup butter

Filling:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 bar of cooking chocolate (6 squares)
1/2 tsp condensed milk
1/2 tsp coffee powder
1 tbsp butter

Directions:
Filling:
Using a double boiler / heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water, melt cooking chocolate. Add sour cream and stir. Add milk, powder and butter. Stir until combined. Remove from heat and let it set.

Be careful of the chocolate that you use. In Malaysia, cooking chocolate doesn't clump and mixes easily with cream. In England however, you might have to melt the chocolate initially, let it cool. Then heat up the cream and add it to the bowl of chocolate and mix vigorously.

Batter:

1. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and cocoa together. In a separate bowl, mix butter and sugar until creamy. Slowly add sifted ingredients and eggs alternatively (so that the mixture doesn't get too dry) and then add in milk. Mix until smooth.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. In a muffin tray, add a spoonful of batter. Then add a teaspoonful of the filling, and top it off with more batter until the cup is 3/4 full. Repeat on all cups and bake for 15 minutes. Be careful to place the filling in the middle of the batter so that it doesn't ooze out excessively.

P.S: Alternatively, use chocolate squares (just bars of any plain chocolate) as the filling. Use same recipe for batter but replace step 2. by adding a square of chocolate in the middle of the batter. They will be gooey temporarily but may harden later on. This will be fine if you have a microwave to heat it up. My original recipe makes the cupcakes more moist and gooey if you like that sort of thing. ;)

Walnut Carrot Cake

This is a simple recipe for a lovely walnut carrot cake that I just made. Of course, carrot cakes taste much better if the flour is light and fluffy. To make the cake extra "light", my grandma told me to measure the amount of flour needed and put it in a tray and leave it in the sun for a few hours. If you don't have the luxury of sun, then pop it in the oven for a few minutes (5 min on low temperature).

Ingredients:

• Walnuts, crushed (use half for filling and half for topping)
  
• Half a carrot, peeled and shredded
• 1/2 a block of butter (250g/ 1 cup)
  
• 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour [better if self-raising flour]
  
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 3 eggs
  
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 tsp ground cinammon
• 1 tsp coffee powder
• 1/2 cup milk
  

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, blend butter and sugar together until creamy. (some bits of sugar may be hanging around, don't worry about it).
2. Sift flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.
3. Add eggs one at a time, alternating with the sifted ingredients to ensure steady texture of the batter. Add coffee powder and cinnamon.
4. The batter must not be too dry or too wet. When you pick up the batter with a spoon and tip it slightly, the batter will fall smoothly into the bowl
5. If the batter is too dry, add milk slowly while stirring until desired texture.
6. Using a spoon or spatula, mix in the shredded carrots and crushed walnuts.
   
7. Pour the batter in an average sized cake tin (normally 9x9 inch). Sprinkle the rest of the walnuts on top of the cake.
   
8. Bake for 45 minutes at 180 degrees.

Note! Add as much walnuts as you like as it is your cake! The more the better, of course at a bigger cost. Also, don't overdo it as you want more cake than nuts really! :)

Most cakes have other spices put in the cake such as nutmeg etc, but I don't really like the smell. If you want you could add that but I personally think that coffee has the best fragrance. ^^

Chocolate Chip Cookies

There is nothing better than a warm batch of chocolate chip cookies to let yourself munch on the whole day~! Tastes so good with anything and everything, milk, tea, you name it! Made this bunch for my flatmates and they loved it! :D

Ingredients:

• 180g sifted flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
• chocolate chips
• 120g butter
• 140g sugar (caster or coarse sugar is fine)
• 1 egg
  

Procedure:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar and mix until blended. Add the egg in and mix.
2. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and bicarbonate soda together. Add the sifted ingredients into the mixing bowl of butter one at a time and mix. If the mix gets too dry, add a bit of milk but only about a tbsp a time.
3. Once the batter is mixed well, use a teaspoonful of batter and drop the it on a greased tray or a tray lined with greasing paper.
4. Put chocolate chips on top of each drop of batter. Alternatively, you can mix in the chocolate chips with the batter before dropping it onto the tray.
5. Bake at 180 degrees for 15 minutes and voila you have cookies!

Note: Cookies may seem more crumbly when just out of the oven and more crispy if you let them sit for a while. So don't judge a cookie till it sits long enough!

Pancakes for Pancake Day

I have never heard of pancake day but when the UK introduced me to it, I was celebrating it like a true pancake lover! Unfortunately, unlike many English people, I made American Pancakes! Boo me I know but I also had some English Pancakes so I'm going international here.
American Pancakes:

• 350g of self-raising flour
• 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 310ml milk (1 1/4 cups)
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp melted butter
  

Procedure:

1. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Add salt and sugar
2. Stir the dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle of the sifted ingredients and crack in one egg, 3 tbsp melted butter and 300ml milk. Mix until batter thickens. Set aside
3. Using a frying pan, heat up oil or butter (about 1 tbsp oil). Coat the pan. Scoop about 1/2 a ladle of batter into the pan and swirl the pan to spread the batter. Leave it for a while.
4. When the batter starts to bubble slightly on the top, flip the pancake over. When both sides look golden brown, remove and serve with ice cream and strawberries.
   

English Pancakes:

• 100g flour
• 1egg
• 300ml milk
• pinch of salt

Procedure:

1. In a bowl, sift flour. Make a well in the flour and add salt, egg and milk. Mix the batter until smooth.
2. Heat oil/butter in the frying pan. Pour batter slowly until it coats the base of the pan.
   
3. When the sides form a crusty look, flip pancake over. When golden brown, remove and serve with lemon juice and sugar or with chocolate sauce.
   
4. For other ideas, make savoury pancakes by adding ham and cheese in the middle or chicken cream cheese.