This is one of my all-time favourite recipes courtesy of Ms. Nigella! Chocolate Fudge Cake is decadent, tasty and always gets great reviews...

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE: 400g plain flour 250g golden caster sugar 100g light muscovado sugar 50g best quality cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 eggs 142ml/small tub sour cream 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 175g unsalted butter, melted and cooled 125ml corn oil 300ml chilled water

FOR THE FUDGE ICING: 175g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids 250g unsalted butter, softened 275g icing sugar, sifted 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Serving Size : Serves 10. Or 1 with a broken heart.

METHOD
1.Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
2.Butter and line the bottom of two 20cm sandwich tins.
3.In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt. In another bowl or wide-necked measuring jug whisk together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla until blended. Using a freestanding or hand-held electric mixer, beat together the melted butter and corn oil until just blended (you’ll need another large bowl for this if using the hand whisk; the freestanding mixer comes with its own bowl), then beat in the water. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix together on a slow speed. Add the egg mixture, and mix again until everything is blended and then pour into the prepared tins. And actually, you could easily do this manually; I just like my toys and find the Kitchen Aid a comforting presence in itself.
 4.Bake the cakes for 50–55 minutes, or until a cake-tester comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for 15 minutes, and then turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely.
5.To make the icing, melt the chocolate in the microwave – 2–3 minutes on medium should do it – or in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water, and let cool slightly.
6.In another bowl beat the butter until it’s soft and creamy (again, I use the KitchenAid here) and then add the sieved icing sugar and beat again until everything’s light and fluffy. I know sieving is a pain, the one job in the kitchen I really hate, but you have to do it or the icing will be unsoothingly lumpy. Then gently add the vanilla and chocolate and mix together until everything is glossy and smooth.
7.Sandwich the middle of the cake with about a quarter of the icing, and then ice the top and sides too, spreading and smoothing with a rubber spatula.

And hey presto! A chocoholic's dream....


(c) www.nigella.com/courtesy of Nigella Lawson

 
Have a little fun with this summer with this awesome recipe! Your kids will love the rock n' roll red and the challenge of perfecting the delicious buttercream frosting should keep you on your toes....

- Makes around 24 cupcakes


For the cakes:

500g plain flour
165g unsalted butter, softened
500g sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tbsp red food colouring
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ tsp salt
330ml buttermilk
1½ tsp cider vinegar
1½ tsp baking soda


For the frosting:

6 tbsp plain flour
440ml milk
450g unsalted butter, softened
450g sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4. In a small bowl, sift the plain flour. Set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about three minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Whisk together the red food colouring, ­unsweetened cocoa powder and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

Stir the salt in with the buttermilk and add to ­the batter in three parts, ­alternating with flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are fully ­incorporated, but make sure you do not overbeat.

In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda and add to the batter and mix well.

Divide the mixture into cases, then bake each tray of cakes for 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 ­minutes. Remove from the tins and cool ­completely on a wire rack before mixing together the frosting ingredients and applying the icing.

• Footnote added 16 February 2010: Several readers have queried the quantity of red food colouring in the recipe above. Please note that some red colouring liquids used in the UK are banned in the US (where this recipe originates) and may not be recommended for consumption by children. Readers with a tendency to allergies might consider other options such as beetroot.

Dan Lepard's vanilla cupcakesWhat makes these new-look cupcakes magnificent is their size. They're baked in large muffin cases and topped with a jaunty swirl of butter frosting to give them a Dior glamour. But underneath beats the heart of an old-fashioned pound-cake, albeit one with a touch more flour to give a soft volcano peak.

For the cakes:

125g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, very soft
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
150g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder

For the frosting:

75g unsalted butter, very soft
250g icing sugar
75g sweetened condensed milk
75ml double cream

In the bowl of an upright electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla for three minutes on the highest speed until light and fluffy. Sift the flour and baking powder two or three times (this stops tunnels forming in the crumb), then add to the butter mix and beat for 30 seconds. Spoon into eight muffin cups placed in the pockets of a muffin tray, and set aside to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and firm. Leave to cool.

For the frosting, get the butter as soft as possible without melting, then put in a bowl with the other ingredients. Whisk until smooth and fluffy, then top each cupcake with a thick swirl. The sugar in the frosting means it will keep at cool room temperature.
 
So I hope you are all geared up ready for Easter and that Spring has you all inspired to try some new things and practice skills abandoned since this time last year! I love baking simple recipes that can be enjoyed by all the family - and I love that Spring is a great time to bring out bright pinks, blues, greens and yellows - that otherwise might be hard to get away with using at any other time of year :)The following Frosted Tea Cakes idea is a great way to include the kids. They make a great after school snack or as a welcome surprise when packed in lunch boxes. According to the 'Joy Of Baking' website, 'The best way to describe them is to say they are a cross between a vanilla scented white butter cake and a cream scone.'Let me know what you think of them...Bon Apeptit!
INGREDIENTS
Frosted Tea Cakes:1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butteroom temperature
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 large lemon
2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Confectioners Frosting: 
2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2tablespoons milkor light cream
Assorted food colors(if desired)
Lemon Zest- The yellow outer rind of the lemon that contains the fruit's flavor and perfume.  The rind being the outer skin of the lemon which consists of both the yellow zest and white membrane (pith)

METHOD:

Frosted Tea Cakes:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. 

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

For Cookies: Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter and egg mixture and beat until combined.Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and, with a floured rolling pan, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch (1.25 cm). 

Using a 2 - 2 1/2 inch (5-6 cm) round cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles. Save the scraps and reroll. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them a few inches apart. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes (baking time will vary depending on the size and shape of cookies) or until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cookies have completely cooled, frost with icing.

For Frosting:In an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed.  Tint the frosting with desired food color (I use the paste food coloring that is available at cake decorating stores and party stores).

Makes about 16 cookies.

Courtesy of the wonderful: Joy of Bakinghttp://www.joyofbaking.com
 
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I trust you all had wonderful holiday season? As we all get back to work and try our hardest to shift the pounds we gained over the Christmas break, figuring out WHAT to eat as winter leaves us and spring approaches can sometimes be challenging.  But fear not! The Love Cafe is here to recommend another delightful recipe courtesy of our friends at Good Food magazine.

As the weather warms up [never mind that its ever-so-slightly], we tend to want simpler, fresher textures that fill without bloating. Spring therefore is a perfect time for light salads, fish, gentle grains like cous cous, and flavours like lemon and lime. here then is our first foray into a simple dish that packs a flavoursome punch whilst remembering to be kind to the waistline! Happy cooking....


Sea Bass with sizzled ginger, chilli & spring onions

Ingredients

  • 6 x sea bass fillets, about 140g/5oz each, skin on and scaled
  • about 3 tbsp sunflower oil
  • large knob of ginger , peeled and shredded into matchsticks
  • 3 garlic cloves , thinly sliced
  • 3 fat, fresh red chillies deseeded and thinly shredded
  • bunch spring onion , shredded long-ways
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
Method
  1. Season the fish with salt and pepper, then slash the skin 3 times. Heat a heavy-based frying pan and add 1 tbsp oil. Once hot, fry the fish, skin-side down, for 5 mins or until the skin is very crisp and golden. The fish will be almost cooked through. Turn over, cook for another 30 secs-1 min, then transfer to a serving plate and keep warm. You'll need to fry the fish in 2 batches.
  2. Heat the remaining oil, then fry the ginger, garlic and chillies for about 2 mins until golden. Take off the heat and toss in the spring onions. Splash the fish with a little soy sauce and spoon over the contents of the pan.
Buying fish
Ask your fishmonger or supermarket for line-caught fish, for a sustainable choice.

Chinese New Year
Fish has a very special place in the Chinese New Year menu as it symbolises abundance. Normally it would be served with the head and tail on, bringing a good beginning and end to the New Year. Here it is filleted for simplicity, but you can easily adapt the recipe if you like.

Per serving 202 kcalories, protein 28g, carbohydrate 2g, fat 9 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 0g, sugar 1g, salt 0.26 g

(c) Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2007.
 
Nigella Lawson remains one of my all-time favourite British cooks. A woman with a true understanding of cooking and baking and the luxurious textures to be found in the best of foods. Here is her famous recipe for chocolate brownies sans flour . The most perfect treat over Christmas-time...

Flourless Chocolate Brownies - Courtesy of Nigella!

INGREDIENTS
225g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids 225g butter 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 200g caster sugar 3 eggs, beaten 150g ground almonds 100g chopped walnuts

METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3. Melt the chocolate and butter gently over a low heat in a heavy-based saucepan. 2. Take the pan off the heat, mix in the vanilla and sugar, and let it cool a little. 3. Beat the eggs into the pan along with the ground almonds and chopped walnuts. Turn into a 24cm square baking tin or, most sensibly, use a foil one. 4. Bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes, by which time the top will have set but the mixture will still be gooey. Once cooler, cut carefully, four down, four across, into 16 squidgybellied squares.

*Courtesy of:  www.nigella.com
 
Don't you just love the season to be jolly? Christmas is always a real treat for us baking enthusiasts - the only time of the year when people actually expect to eat something sweet and spectacular! I'm always on the look-out for easy recipes that work - minimal ingredients, maximum flavor, I'm talking 1-2-3! These recipes are always easy to ad to Mum's list of chores and even easier on Dad's wallet! Here is one of my favourite new discoveries...

Butter Pecan Shortbread
Shortbread cookies are a must to make for the holidays, and these pecan-filled, buttery biscuits are simply irresistible. Be sure to use real butter, never margarine, for best flavor.

Ingredients
  • 1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup (125 mL) light brown sugar
  • 2 cups (500 mL) flour
  • 1 cup (250 mL) ground pecans
  • 2 tsp. (10 mL) vanilla
  • pinch of salt
Cooking Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or a food processor, beat together butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add flour, ground pecans, vanilla and salt and beat just until it forms a smooth dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow it to firm up just enough to shape.
  3. By hand, roll dough into 1-inch (2-cm) balls. Place them on the prepared cookie sheet and flatten very slightly (to about 1/2-inch/1-cm thickness) with the bottom of a glass that has been dipped in flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the glass. (If you have a cookie stamp, you can use it to flatten the cookies instead of the glass.)
  4. Place in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until set and very lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from pan and let cool on a rack.
Servings: About 2-1/2 to 3 dozen almost authentic shortbread cookies.

How kids can help
Roll the dough into balls and flatten them on the cookie sheet. Decorate, if desired, with icing or sprinkles.


*Courtesy of: www.recipes.kaboose.com