3 Ingredient Nutella Avocado Banana Mousse

Today I have a special treat for you: luxuriously smooth and creamy chocolate decadence which is actually healthy, and what is more, is ready in under 5 minutes. I know, it sounds too good to be true. This 3 ingredient mousse tastes and looks absolutely sinful, but it's creamy lusciousness hides a surprising secret: 

Nutrient rich avocados and a banana that are completely enveloped by the deliciousness of nutella or if you are allergic to nuts, simply melted chocolate, or even  cocoa powder and a bit of sweetener of your choice. Yes, yes! Believe! It is even more delicious than it looks! and no, you cannot taste much of the avocado or the banana. You probably wouldn't even guess they were there if I hadn't told you. All you taste is deep chocolate decadence and all you feel is smooth creaminess that your spoon will not have enough of! 

Whenever I think of avocados I remember those early months with the toddler when he had just started on baby food. Mashed bananas and avocados, roasted pureed sweet potatoes- these were our picky eater's favorites. Avocados were blended with a little sugar or maple syrup a lot in this house. Past the finger food stage however, we had rarely bought them, mainly because I actually don't like them very much. 

Then one day a couple of friends got together for a potluck and my friend Vijitha brought over a chocolate mousse. When I heard that it was made with cocoa and avocados I was pretty sure I wouldn't like it, because I just don't like the taste of avocados. I think they taste kind of eggy. But her mousse looked so creamy and irresistible I had to taste it, and gosh was I proved wrong! I LOVED it!  

The awesome thing about avocados, apart from their dreamy creaminess, is that although it has a pretty strong flavor on it's own, when it is mixed with something else, it completely takes on the flavor of whatever it is that you mix in. And what could be better than nutella?

We love desserts, T and I, and our little three year old has a big sweet tooth too. The last couple of years we definitely have indulged a little too much, thanks mostly to my baking obsession. So this year, at-least while my new year resolutions are still quite fresh in my mind, I was on the lookout for healthier alternatives to satisfy our sugar cravings.  

When some one tells me that something is healthy, I used to automatically expect it to taste "healthy". You know what I mean. Healthy desserts are a bit of an oxymoron right? Chalky, tasteless is what I had come to expect of most desserts that had been robbed of butter, cream, sugar, eggs and other sinful ingredients that make it awesome yet overindulgent.
If you are an unbeliever too then one taste of this mousse will convince you that going healthy does not mean missing out on delicious.

Since today is World Nutella Day, I couldn't resist making something rich and purely decadent and this secretly healthier mousse totally hits the spot.

Even though I waited till today to post this, I have actually made this mousse many times, especially since it is dairy-free, eggless and allergy friendly and wholesome for the three year old and not even T could tell that this was a "healthier" version of mousse. It can be slathered on anything, and I am also  planning on using it to fill crepes like the ones I always make sure to get whenever we head to Fisherman's warf in San Francisco. They make the crepes on large cast iron griddles, slather a big gloop of nutella on them and serve it to you hot and crispy, with sliced strawberries on the side.

I love going over to Pier 39. It is such a colourful, bustling place. I like playing tourist and going over to gawk at the sea lions, watching the street performers and eating nutella crepes are almost always part of the experience. These pictures were taken on our last visit to Fisherman's wharf over the holidays. 

This mousse it would make a really rich tasting, thick and creamy chocolate frosting for a layer cake, or sandwiched between cookies... I am sure I will be playing with this healthy mousse in many ways!

Recipe for 3 ingredient Nutella Avocado Banana Mousse 

Yield: Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2 Avocados ( Tastes best with ones that are just ripe, dent lightly when pressed with a finger, with green not brown flesh)
• 1 Yellow, not over ripe banana (Over browned bananas may have a stronger banana flavor)
• 1/3 Cup Nutella (Use less or more as per your preference)
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder ( optional- I use and love Ghirardelli's unsweetened, Cadbury's or Valrhona)

Directions:

• Whizz all of the ingredients in a blender or use an immersion blender until creamy and combined and no lumps remain ( Do not add any liquid) 

Note: 

Taste and add more nutella, a sweetener, or if you like, a shot of vanilla extract, or even balsamic vinegar or a little sea salt if you like some tang.

In place of the nutella you can also use chocolate chunks that have been melted in warmed milk or soymilk
You can also just mix the mashed avocados with or without the banana with just cocoa powder and a sweetener like sugar or maple syrup as per the original recipe that this version was inspired by.

Can store the mousse for about a day or two in the fridge and serve either at room temp or chilled.

If you are as nuts about nutella as I am, you may like to check out other recipes celebrating nutella here

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Thanksgiving Macaron Centerpiece: Pumpkin Spice Macarons

Hey all! How are your thanksgiving preparations going? did you plan your menus, finish the grocery shopping and shine the silver already or are you more of a last minute type (like me?) I have been seeing posts and tweets about turkey thawing, and pie-crust rolling and I can't help getting caught up in the excitement. I always miss my large family during holiday season and wish there were more of us on the West Coast. But I can't complain too much since I was blessed to see my awesome cousins recently and had my mom-in-law visiting us until last week. So this year Thanksgiving looks to be a small affair with my little family and plans to meet a couple of friends after which we three are heading off for a short trip. It didn't seem natural to not do any cooking or baking though, so here is a thanks giving center piece idea: Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Macarons! 

Making these and piling them into glass jars or stacking them on cake stands along with little pumpkins, squash, pine cones and autumn leaves seemed like a good idea to add some festive cheer to your table. They would make great hostess gifts too I'm thinking :)

I haven't made macarons in a while and recently a couple of friends were discussing them and I felt that familiar itch to bake them all over again. Looks like my macobsession is back eeeeeks! These pint sized treats are perfect to nibble on while waiting for the caramel cardamom pumpkin pie or swirly pumpkin-ginger  cheesecake to be served. Another interesting fall macaron idea is this Ginger Spice Macaron

Oh and I discovered that you don't need cream to make ganache. Ok so I forgot to buy cream. But the important thing  is- you don't need it! Make ganache with chocolate and ...milk! You can thank me now and Nigella who apparently knew too. 

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bailey's & nutella cold coffee

If you know me then you know that I cannot be trusted around a jar of Nutella. My other two loves include Bailey's Irish Cream Liquor and coffee. So I decided to combine the three into my ultimate just-a-little-bit-naughty-treat which I should have posted on valentine's day when I actually made this ( just for me while T was at work!) but am remembering to post only now, coincidentally just in time for St. Patrick's day next weekend!

St. Paddy's day as it is now known , originated in Ireland and is also widely celebrated in the US. Now I am used to the multitudes of people dressed in bright green- a colour associated with St. Patrick along with shamrocks, the three-leaved plant that was used by St. Patrick to explain the Holy trinity-  God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as One. (Yes I did just look up the significance of shamrocks on wikipedia.) Apparently it is also a day of celebration when the Lenten rules are lifted so most people make full use of that as an excuse to go get drunk silly! I am taking it as an excuse to indulge in some Bailey's nutella cold coffee.. yum! 

Oops! 

This dreamy drink really doesn't need a recipe. I just spread some Nutella (you could also use melted chocolate. Melted white chocolate tinted green?) inside a champagne glass using a butter knife. Then I used a cotton bud to draw out a heart. You could draw a shamrock but that would be trickier. If you use a wider glass it should be easier.
And hey maybe you could even write stuff- just remember to write the  letters reversed as they will be seen from the outside of the glass. If you mess up- no issues, just spread the chocolate and start over. This was just done for prettification. You being much saner than I, can just mix in the nutella with the coffee!

I then filled my pretty nutella glass with some coffee that I had made with milk but wished I had made with condensed milk instead ( Hot coffee + 1 teaspoon of condensed milk and then let to cool) and chilled in the fridge.  Once chilled stir in a dash of Bailey's to the cold coffee. Stop here or add some toffee icecream. 

Drink up, twirling the glass so that some of the nutella gets mixed with the milk. When you are done you have all that nutella to lick up with a spoon!

A very happy Holi to my Indian friends who celebrated it yesterday and happy Purim too! And for those who are just happy that the weekend is here- have a good one my friends!

Other Bailey's spiked treats:
Bailey's Macaron Mactails
Low Fat chocolate and Bailey's truffle mousse from Alice Medrich 
Swan shaped puff with Bailey's maple mousse  

Here's also a super easy no yeast no knead Beer Bread 
And a bright green Spinach chicken curry that you can also make vegetarian by making it with paneer or chickpeas instead of the chicken 

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nutella swirl steamed cupcakes in 15 minutes

This is what I made for World Nutella Day yesterday. I've been excited about it for weeks. Sooo many ideas for nutella oozing desserts to make kept buzzing around my brain. I have been happily digging into my jar of nutella all week in anticipation. Finally I was jolted out of my daydreams to realize that I had better make something or it would be too late to post even by today. It was quite late in the evening and the sun had already set so the pics were going to be quite terrible to begin with. I reached into the cabinet for that little jar to see that we were nearly out. Of nutella. There was probably a few tablespoons left in the jar. Great, just great. I had to make a nutella dessert for world nutella day  with a couple of tablespoons of nutella.

That's when I chanced upon a recipe for these steamed cakes. I loved that the recipe calls for very little amounts of ingredients so that it yields only 4 cup cakes- perfect for my current obsession for portion control and small batch baking. And all I had to do was swirl a spoonful of nutella into the batter to make a perfectly delicious nutella dessert. They take about 15 mins to make, use basic ingredients and all you need is a saucepan or skillet with a lid and a stove. No oven required. But best of all is the texture! oh the texture!- its  moist but not dense, fluffy and airy without being dry! I did find the basic cake to be a little less sweeter than I like but that spoonful of nutella will take care of that :)

This is a nutella-tised version of Mushi-pan a Japanese steamed cake. Steaming is a common alternative for baking in Asian cuisine. In Kerala we have a variety of steamed rice flour appams as part of our traditional cuisine. A lot of western style sponge cakes are also made in steamer baskets or pressure cookers in Asia because not many people have ovens. Growing up some of my birthday cakes were cooker cakes since most ovens in India run on electricity and we are plagued by frequent power cuts and voltage problems. Even during my last visit to India in December I had rotten luck with the power cuts seemingly scheduled for the exact moment that I put a pan full of batter into the oven!
Brands like Pillsbury even make cake mixes especially meant for pressure cookers in India and those were some of the first cakes I made, often for roommates birthdays when we had a stove but not even our dinky little toaster oven yet.
These little cakes brought back a lot of memories of those birthdays and they are quick and easy enough that I will be making them in other variations soon. Stay tuned.

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Love Joy Peace Cuppiecakes!

We put up our Christmas Tree today and got into the spirit of the Holiday Season with these drippy chocolate cuppiecakes.

Used my all time favourite so easy to make and yum chocolate cake recipe that I have posted many times already  poured the batter into greased cupcake tins and baked them for 20 mins

Then I dipped their tops in this easy peasy melty chocolate ganache frosting from my post here

Wishing you all much Love, Joy, Peace and baked goodies this holiday season! 

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nutella ganache frosting roses & ruffles cake by you and me!

I have been having a bit of a blogging block lately. I have been cooking and baking and taking loads of pics with my brand new camera (!), and enjoying this wonderful summer bounty of  luscious berries and sultry peaches and enjoying trips to county fairs and bbq's, but just haven't been able to post anything for some reason or the other. 

But there is something I have been looking forward to for a long time, my mom will be here in two days! I am just waiting for her to arrive and hopefully do so much more this time than at her last winter visit. Looking forward to all the cooking we will be doing together too, and all that I will learn and have to share with you! And most of all, hand over the little monkey to the long awaiting hands of his grandmother :)
Then receiving this talented women blogger award by Femina Magazine what just the shot of motivation that I needed and I knew I had to post this cake that I have been meaning to for weeks and weeks. Since my birthday is long gone, this is the perfect occasion to post it!

 

I was so excited about baking my own fancy birthday cake with layers! and frosting! and filling! that I asked you for suggestions and what glorious ideas you all came up with! Each one was more tempting than the other. So instead of baking some 50 different cakes like I soo wanted to, I decided to control myself and combine all my favourite suggestions into one dreamy cake which was a true collaboration of ideas between me and you, and some of my favourite bloggers too!


Special thank you to those whose suggestions I just had to incorporate:


Cool Lassie: who suggested Red Velvet Cake, 
Aparna who suggested Martha Stewart's Ruffle Cake, 
Vimitha Anand and Divya Kudua who both know me soo well and said that birthday cakes are meant to be chocolate! 
Jardeeling who suggested an intriguing vertical layer cake! 

Soma who suggested a chocolate cake with a strong coffee flavor (aaahh!my own idea of Heaven! )

I chose these not because the other suggestions weren't awesome as well, but because I ( the birthday girl afterall) had a hankering for nutella and needed to narrow it down to the ones that would complement and not overpower the nutella. I tried making a ganache frosting with nutella and chocolate and it was  totally awesome! It is now my favourite frosting, the one of my dreams and just soo easy to whip up with just 3 ingredients: Cream, Chocolate and Bliss Nutella!

And now finally on to the recipe that I am truly sorry for having kept from you for so long!

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Whole Wheat Brown Sugar Chocolate Cookies

Are you as excited as I am about the upcoming long week end? Are you planning on flying out? Do carry these cuties for your fellow passengers or the flight crew, especially if you are taking a noisy and probably troublesome little monkey along! I can guarantee that your flight will be much smoother, and your neighbor might even let you use the armrest :)

If you don't have an airplane shaped cookie cutter, you can even draw or print the shape and make a cut out of thick paper or the thin plastic lids of containers like for yogurt, and then use it as a template to cut out the dough with a knife, or simply make whatever shape-hearts, stars (and stripes in honour of the upcoming holiday maybe?) or even roll the dough into a log and slice off rounds and bake them. Leave them plain, or decorate with glaze or royal icing. Whatever you do, and whether you are baking them for others or your self, these hearty whole wheat, brownsugar chocolate cookies from Joy the Baker will make the weekend nicer. I found that they have a heftier and rather coarser texture than melt away butter cookies I must warn, but  you will love them especially if you like the nutty whole wheat flavour in general as I do. If so, you must also try favourite cookie ever- these wholewheat cardamom nankhatais 

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Chocolate Oreo Cake with Quick Fluffy frosting- Happy Birthday Ria!

"Birthdays are Nature's way of telling us to eat cake ;) Here's one filled with wishes for you Ria! Hope the year ahead is as awesome as you are!"

I am always looking for an excuse bake cakes. And what could be a better reason to bake a moist chocolate cake and slather it with fluffy clouds of marshmallow like 7 minute frosting ( which takes about 10 mins to make by the way) and crumbled Oreos than a galpal's special day! 

Yesterday was my friend and awesome blogger Ria's birthday and of course I immediately wanted to bake her a cake. Even though she lives at the other end of the country and would only get to see the cake, while I get to eat it, on her behalf of course :P  I then proceeded to happily spend all day looking for the perfect cake recipe and thinking of a pretty pink girly cake. As I called to wish her I asked her if she had any preferences, the birthday girl revealed that she would like chocolate. We got to talking about one of our favourite cakes to bake, which I know as my sis-in-law's easy but perfect chocolate cake, and which Ria knows as the Hershey's Perfect cake. 


The interesting thing about this cake is that it is made with oil instead of butter. Now there are lots of arguments about butter being the vital ingredient in cake and oil is like a dirty word when it comes to baking.  I agree that butter imparts a lot of flavor, but the thing about oil based cakes is that apart from being easier to make without all that creaming of the butter etc., they are incredibly moist and stay moist longer too. I have dabbled quite a bit with butter-less cakes since this discovery. 

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Nutella stuffed butter cookies and Nutella swirl cookies, to celebrate a sweet victory!

Nutella can make me weak in the knees. Mostly I end up eating huge gobs of it straight from the jar ( Sssh! don't tell!) but then sometimes I save it ( well some of it atleast) to bake stuff with, like these oh-my-goodness-so-awesome Nutella Brownies  or these buttery crunchy Nutella swirl cookies as well as cookies stuffed with gooey Nutella. These golden brown swirly beauties are my second entry to my week long sweet celebration, Yes, I will be posting one sweet dish everyday of the week till Saturday! Joining me today is

Sarah of Spoonful of Delight with Marble Cupcakes and Sneha of Inspirational art of cooking with chocolate muffins! if you want to join in the sweetness, just leave a comment with a sweet dish you posted this week and I'll include it in my post the next day :)Would be nice if you could add a link back to this mini-event in your post too.

I was thrilled to bits that these chocolate chunk cookies a.k.a World Peace cookies and Nutella swirl cookies were sold out almost as soon as they were placed on the table at the bake sale for Japan  this Saturday- in about 10 mins flat!

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World Peace Cookies- Chocolate Choco-chip brownie cookies after the war!

"What use are cartridges in battle? I always carry chocolate instead." - George Bernard Shaw in Arms and the Man

Cricket is like a religion in India. There is nothing that can incite more passion or patriotic zeal. When there is a major match happening, offices are empty, children mysteriously fall "sick" and can't attend school. In my family my father and brother are the fanatics, and sometimes my mom joins in the fun too, making 'patriotic' food- green mint, cheese and tomato pasta, sandwiches or tri-coloured pulao to reflect our national flag! This one time my normally stately grandmother who was visiting during a world cup final got so involved she was actually praying that our team would win!
Yesterday, I guess because I am so homesick, I got all excited and stayed up with T ( another sports fanatic) to watch THE match between India and Pakistan. Our rivalry runs deep, because our two countries are often like squabbling siblings. When the 6th wicket went down and the sun was out already, I couldn't take the tension or the sleep deprivation any longer and missed out on all the excitement that ensued. But what wonderful news to wake up to! We had won! Time to celebrate, and what could be more apt on the day after a raging war than World Peace cookies :)

These may not be as pretty as these cherry blossom lemon cookies, or colorful macarons, and Ria's Whole wheat cardamom Nankhatais still remain my favourite cookie ever, but these intensely chocolate cookies come close, really close. They are the world famous Korova sables better known as World Peace cookies from Dorie Greenspan's book Paris Sweets. So named by her neighbor who said that if everyone in the world ate these, they would be so happy, there would be no more fighting.
They are more like fudgy chocolatey brownie tops than cookies, with puddles of melty bittersweet chocolate chunks- sooo goood. My Pakistani friends, I offer you these cookies, to soothe your troubled hearts :)

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Chocolate filled Orange Whole Wheat cookies

I discovered my favourite thing to bake ever a few days ago- a deliciously nutty, crunchy, cardom scented, buttery, Indian style whole wheat cookie called Nankhatai. They are so easy to make- just mixed in a bowl and so incredibly tasty that its hard to resist baking  and eating them every day.

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Low fat chocolate truffles from Alice Medrich & me :)

I made some heart shaped chocolate truffles today! Don't you think it looks adorable? Yes- it is a little rough around the edges, but just like your sweet valentine-it is perfect!

The slightly bitter exterior gives way to a melty soft, sweet chocolatey interior. I was talking about the truffles- Why, did that remind you of someone particular? I guess we all have that someone in our lives- someone who may seem gruff but who has a heart of gold. I think that someone deserves these truffles. They make the most adorable, most delicious, most easy to make Valentines day gift. 

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Low fat Chocolate Truffle Mousse from Alice Medrich

I promised to post a couple more dreamy desserts I made from the book I'm currently madly in love with "Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts" by Chocolate guru Alice Medrich and just in time for Valentines day I present to you this decadent, versatile chocolate mousse.
It's rich, silky, extra chocolate-y with bittersweet chocolate and cocoa and has less than half the fat of regular mousse because it is lightened with egg whites and contains no cream! It can be eaten as it, or used as fillings and in the coming days I'll be showing you the many delicious uses I put it to :)

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Nutella Brownies for World Nutella Day

Happy Nutella Day! After "Wear a green shirt day" and what not, now here's something worth celebrating! Not that I need a particular day to dig into that jar of Nutella I have been hiding.

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Alice Medrich's simple low fat chocolate pudding and a Joconde imprime /entremets which is not!

T is convinced that I am obsessed with Alice Medrich. It's true- I am! It all began very innocently. I needed a quick baking fix and so made this batch of cocoa brownies which took about 20 mins to make, with really simple ingredients. Then there was this Mocha tart- again simple to make, but a decadent chocolate experience. Since then Alice has become my chocolate Guru. 

My favourite thing to eat these days is pudding. Warm, uncomplicated, familiar like a good friend, pudding. So the first thing I made out of Alice Medrich's gorgeous Chocolate and the art of low fat desserts is this pastry cream or chocolate pudding which is rich and sinfully decadent although it has no cream, no butter or other naughty ingredients- and gets its rich chocolate flavor from Cocoa powder!

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Baileys Macaron Cocktails- Mactails!

Winter is the time for boozy desserts and while I am not a huge fan of the rum soaked fruit cake, I do like a little liqueur in my desserts. Remember my recent cocktail cupcake fascination? Lately I have been playing around with the idea of  Macarons flavored with sweet dessert wine, Tequila, Grand Mariner, Chocolate Liqueurs .. to create macaron margaritas, macaron mojitos and other mactails! Many, many possibilities!

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Alice Medrich's Warm Mocha Tart- Chocolate and coffee Tart

This month's "Monthly Mingle" theme is something that's hard to resist- chocolate! Plus it's being hosted by my good friend Ria so I had to take part. To coincide -a friend was throwing a holiday party and immediately I was dreaming up the fantastical chocolate drenched creation I was going to make. But what would it be? Cake? Cookies? Decadent Brownies? I decided to leave it to Alice. 

Have I told you how much I love the chocolate queen Alice Medrich? When I'm craving a chocolate dessert, I can't think of anyone I'd rather have than Alice, looking over my shoulder, making sure my oooey gooeey chocolate is set to the perfect lever of oooey gooey-ness.

So I finally zeroed in on the gorgeously delicious looking but very simple to make sounding Warm Mocha tart.

It's made with very simple ingredients- cream, cocoa, a stick and a half of butter, an egg..No need to chop up that bar of chocolate I've been hiding, and best of all- a very non intimidating recipe for a buttery tart crust! My very first crust from scratch and I am kissing Pillsbury off for good!

Warm Mocha Tart

Recipe Source: Alice Medrich from Bittersweet from here

Serves 8 to 10

Special equipment: A 9 1/2-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom

Ingredients

For the crust

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

For the filling

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process- I used my favourite Ghiradelli's Dutch process but Valrhona would be even better)

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/4 teaspoons instant espresso powder (such as Medaglia d’Oro), or 1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee crystals

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Make the crust: (makes exactly enough for a 9 1/2 inch pie plate )

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. Mix the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a medium bowl with a fork. Add the flour and mix just until well blended with a pastry blender or a large fork. Don’t worry if the dough seems too soft. Press all of the dough very thinly and evenly into the sides and bottom of the tart pan. ( It's ok if it seems very thin- it will thicken when baked) If it seems like the butter is getting too oily and it's becoming difficult to manipulate the dough, simply put it in the fridge for a few minutes, it'll become easier to handle.

3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is a deep golden brown. Simply beautiful!

Make the filling

1. Place the butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and cream in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the mixture is blended and smooth and begins to simmer around the edges. Remove from the heat and stir in the espresso powder and vanilla.

2. Just before the crust is ready, whisk the egg thoroughly into the hot chocolate mixture.

3. Pour the filling into the hot crust and turn off the oven. Leave the tart in the oven until it quivers like tender Jell-O in the center when the pan is nudged, about 10 to 12 minutes. ( it took me about 10 more mins) Cool on a rack. As it cools it will thicken more.

4. Serve the tart warm or at room temperature. If you are storing it in the fridge then let it rest at room temperature for about 2 hours before serving since it doesn't taste as good cold- but that's just my preference.

You could also decorate it with some grated curls of bittersweet chocolate like I did, or strawberries sliced in half or even just a coating of powdered sugar or cocoa powder.

Notes from Alice: "This remarkable crust barely shrinks in the pan, so there is no need to weight or even prick it before baking. To ensure that the bottom remains crunchy, bake the crust fully, to a deep golden brown before pouring in the filling. Either natural or Dutch-process cocoa works well here. The former has a livelier, more complex, fruity flavor, while the latter has a cozy old-fashioned flavor reminiscent of chocolate pudding." 

Verdict: The crust was buttery and delicious and I will be using this simple recipe for all my tarts from now on. The rich chocolate pudding was delicious with the right balance of chocolate and coffee- just enough so that they both were prominent and complementary. However, the filling was a little too runny and liquidy even though I let it stay in the oven for 10 more mins. 

Maybe next time I'll put it in the fridge to set a little or maybe add a tsp of corn starch to thicken the pudding. 

If you are making this for a party I would suggest you make tartlets in mini tart molds and serve individual portions instead of making one large tart like I did since the runny custard might make it a little messey to cut and serve. Of course you could just make it for yourself- which I now sorely wish I had!

Am also sending this to the "In the Bag" event since I've used cream and chocolate 2 of the items in the bag :)
This is also going to Tammana's Winter comfort food event because what could be more comforting than warm ooey gooey chocolate? 

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Alice Medrich's Best One Bowl Cocoa Brownie

I had about 20 mins until a cousin dropped in for dinner and I had a sudden urge to bake brownies.
So while I waited for T to navigate the end of day traffic I grabbed a bowl and some simple pantry staples and whipped up a batch of these delicious, decadent brownies. We had some warm from the oven after dinner with ice cream and I ( hesitantly)  wrapped up the rest for him to take back.
Did I say one bowl is all I used? One bowl in which to melt butter in the microwave and mix up the other ingredients with a spoon. No need  to break out my fancypants stand mixer. I see myself baking these many, many more times.

Best Cocoa Brownies
Recipe source: Alice Medrich’s Bittersweet from smittenkitchen here

Makes 16 larger or 25 smaller brownies
Ingredients:
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks, 5 ounces or 141 grams) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (9 7/8 ounces, 280 grams) sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 7/8 ounces, 82 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt (or a heaping 1/4 teaspoon flaky salt, as Deb suggests)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup (66 grams, 2 3/8 ounces) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Method:
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.
( I used my silicone cupcake molds instead)

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added. (I just put it all in a medium size Pyrex bowl and microwaved it 10 seconds at a time until the butter was melted, as Deb also suggests is ok.)

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes is Medrich’s suggestion but it took me and Deb at least 10 minutes longer to get them set and for the bottom to get a little crisp -just the way I like it :) . Let cool completely on a rack. (Deb goes further and puts her's in the fridge or freezer for a while; to get them to cut with clean lines.)
Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

As you may have noticed I used my mini cupcake molds filled about one fourth instead since I didn't feel like messing around with lining. I placed the molds on my digital scale to make sure I was spooking equal amounts of batter- about 50 gms into each so they all were the same size and bake evenly. I got exactly 16 two bite size brownies. The easiest way to spoon the batter is to use two spoons one with the batter and the other to scoop it into the mold. Sometimes I use an ice-cream scoop.

Verdict: Rich, decadent without being overly so, crispy outsides and chewy on the inside as all good brownies must be. Alice and Deb certainly don't disappoint! The reason they are real winners are that they take so little time, effort and ingredients to make ( not to mention fewer dishes to clean!). A definite keeper recipe that will be made often- everytime I'm craving my chocolate fix :) And oooh the possibilities- nuts, choco chips, orange extract, cheese, caramel, peanut butter cups....some body stop me!

Am sending these brownies over to Divya for her brownie event! 

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The Easy but Perfect Chocolate Cake

This is the cake that restored my the faith that I can indeed bake. Before this cake, everything that I had attempted had flopped miserably and very literally. There was the cake I baked for my grandfather as a child under my aunt's supervision which cracked right in the center and we tried to cover up and prettify with fresh flowers from her garden, my very first own experiment later on that I cringe to even think about: A cake that called for vinegar and where, instead of baking soda used baking powder and instead of coca powder used drinking chocolate powder. The result was more a pancake than cake. A very sour, mud coloured pancake. 

There was also the incident where my roommate and I were baking a cake for a friend's birthday and as we watched it baking through the clear glass of the oven were horrified to see it grow and grow and grow, like a volcano waiting to erupt. A triangular cake that was rock-hard but which we could atleast pass off as a brownie. A tasty birthday brownie.


These and many more such incidents have taught me that Baking is a science and there is a lot of chemistry and interplay between ingredients so substitutions and in accurate measurements can lead to doom- or volcano cakes!

So my sister-in-law who is an awesome cook actually wrote down her favourite recipes into a little red book for my husband and me while we set up our kitchen here. It has became almost a bible for me and many of those recipes I have shared here, as well as new ones she emails me. They are fail proof and instant hits and so is this chocolate cake recipe.

This has now become my go-to chocolate cake recipe. I bake this beforehand, whenever I have people over and almost always get recipe requests. It has a rich decadent chocolate taste even though it does not call for butter or cream, and instead uses oil. The ingredients are pretty much always on hand and its very easy to make too-comes out perfect every time..

The taste is heavily influenced by the type of chocolate powder used, so make sure it's a brand you really like I use the Ghiradelli brand though a dutch processed chocolate powder would be best.
In India I have made it with the Cadbury's coco powder which I love, and is easily available there. Did not have much success with other brands like the Bakers brand of coco powder. 

Even though I have made this many many times now, we never seem to get tired of this tender, moist cake which is great on its own or with chocolate sauce or ice cream, and its all gone in a flash!

Perfect Chocolate Cake

Recipe source: My sister-in-law ( She got it from a NZ newspaper where it was called Serena's Cheating Chocolate cake. A little googling and I unearthed the Serena in question to be Serena Bass author of Serena, Food & Stories : Feeding Friends Every Hour of the Day )

Dry Ingredients

3/4 cup cocoa pwd (preferably dutch processed)

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking pwd

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp table salt

Wet ingredients

1 cup buttermilk ( I use half a cup of curd and half a cup of water)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C

Lightly grease base and sides of a 23 cm deep round cake tin with oil

In a large bowl sift cocoa sugar flour baking pwd, baking soda and salt and combine.

In another bowl put the eggs, and all the other wet ingredients (except the water) and whisk

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until half combined.

pour the boiling water and whisk till fully combined and the batter is smooth

Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and place in oven for 40-45 mins until skewer inserted into the center of cake comes out clean

You could also pour the batter into prepared cupcake tins and bake for about 20-35 mins or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

( I have also added 4 tsp of coffee pwd into the boiling water and some chopped toasted walnuts which I dusted with flour and stirred into the batter towards the end. I also tried to use white chocolate bits which however just melted into the batter so that didn't really make a big difference unfortunately.)

Verdict: this cake is moist and fluffy and has come out perfect every time I've baked it. The second time after I have tried a recipe I'm back to my old tricks of substituting and adding random things. But in this case with the addition of coffee and nuts it was sensational. Would also like to try incorporating Kahlua or even orange extract sometime.

I don't know why but I like the idea of using oil to bake instead of butter. I think I'm quite obsessed with the idea that oil makes the cakes very moist and that it's somewhat healthier than butter. Also for making a recipe dairy free its very easy to just substitute the buttermilk for soured soymilk ( just add about 1/4 cup lemon juice to 3/4 cup of soy milk)  or almond/rice milk  ( though I have not tried almond or rice milk) and not have to worry about butter substitutes since there will always be a bottle of canola oil in my kitchen. Thankfully there are lots of food bloggers out there that fuel my obsession. For why else would someone make a red velvet cake with oil? See here for a wonderful recipe from smitten kitchen for red velvet cake that I just have to try.


Update: Ria pointed out that this recipe may be the Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate cake  which I just checked out and it does seem very similar but they use 1 cup milk instead of buttermilk/yougurt & water as this one does. I have not tried it with milk. The site also lists some info on frosting and baking in alternate pans which I found very useful:


ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

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