Chcolate Lava Cake

How good are recipes?
Recipes are only as good as you make them to be. If you follow a recipe and don’t like the taste, you will say the recipe is bad.
Recipes that have stood the test of time have been around for many years. This means the majority of people like them, and fel they are worthy of being kept around for the next generation.

Here is this week’s recipe:

Chocolate Lava Cake

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients
10 oz (280 g) semi or bittersweet chocolate (preferably 70 % cocoa)
4/5 cup (200 g) butter
8 eggs
1 1⁄4 cup (260 g) sugar
11⁄4 cup (160 g) all-purpose flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F (Gas mark 4 or 180 deg C).
2. Grease 10 large muffin tins or cups; paper muffin bake cups can also be used.
3. Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it with butter over hot water.
4. Beat the eggs with sugar and mix with flour.
5. Slowly fold in the melted butter and chocolate.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for only 8-12 minutes; the outer part should be cooked and the inner part liquid.

The Chocolate Lava Cakes may be served hot on its own or with custard, whipped cream, ice cream and / or berries. The Lava Cakes may be dusted with icing sugar. If your Lava Cakes stick to the tin/cup after baking, you should try lining the tins/cups with aluminum foil and grease the lined tins/cups well before use. You can also use paper muffin bake cups.

Variations

1. You may use pudding/soufflee cups instead of muffin cups and serve the Lava Cakes in the cups in order to avoid the difficulty of removing the Lava Cakes from the muffin cups.
2. You may add two tablespoons of orange liqueur and finely grated rind of one orange. This gives a delicious orange-chocolate flavor.
3. You may try adding some ground cinnamon and nutmeg or cloves to the chocolate and butter mixture.
4. You may add some mint flavoring.
5. You may add a little coffee essence to mixture.
6. Place moulds in freezer then brush with melted butter to give a thin even coating. Use cocoa powder to "flour" the molds so when you turn out the Lava Cakes there is no white flour marks.
7. Serving suggestion: serve with an orange and star anise ice

Chocolate pound cake

For those of you wanting a low-fat chocolate recipe, here is one.

Chocolate Pound Cake
16 servings

2 1/4 cups cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon cake flour
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup prune puree
3/4 cup sugar
3 egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup dutch process cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces vanilla low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon powdered sugar

1. Coat bottom and sides of a loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. flour and set aside.
3. Cream margarine with prune puree.
4. Gradually add sugar and beat well.
5. Add egg whites and beat 4 minutes or until well blended.
6. Add vanilla.
7. Combine remaining flour, cocoa, soda and salt.
8. Add to creamed mixture alternatively with yoghurt (beginning and ending with dry ingredients).
9. Pour batter into prepared pan.
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
11. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing.

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving:
Calories 143
Calories from Fat 31

Percent Total Calories From:
Fat 21%
Protein 8%
Carbohydrate 70%
Totals and Percent Daily Values (2000 calories):
• Fat: 3g (Saturated Fat: 1g)
• Cholesterol: 1mg
• Sodium: 139mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 25g
• Dietary Fibre: 0g
• Sugars: 0g
• Protein: 3g
• Vitamin A: 177 units
• Vitamin C: 0 units
• Calcium: 0 units
• Iron: 1 units’

Tiramisu 2

warning: This week’s recipe is one I would not recommend for those who are alcohol intolerant. If you are making this for guests, then please make sure you don’t use this recipe if they cannot ingest alcohol.

Tiramisu II

2 cups mascarpone cheese
3 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons coffee liqueur
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1 (10-inch) sponge cake
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Combine in a large bowl, mascarpone cheese, cream, sugar, vanilla, coffee liqueur, and instant coffee. Whip until stiff.
2. Split sponge cake in half, creating a top and bottom layer. Spread cream mixture on bottom layer, and replace top half of cake. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Just before serving, dust top of cake with cocoa powder.

Makes 12 to 14 servings.

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Well… there’s not much else to tell you, except for recipes. From this point, I will give out one recipe to try per week. I will cull the recipes from a list I have. Here is this week’s recipe:

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 (8-ounce) package plus 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 cups frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed
1 (9-inch) graham cracker pie crust

1. In a saucepan, melt semisweet chocolate chips until smooth when stirred. Set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, beat softened cream cheese, sugar, and butter until smooth. On low speed with an electric mixer, blend in the melted chocolate. Fold in non-dairy whipped topping until blended; spoon into a graham cracker pie crust. Cover and chill until firm.

Makes 8 servings.

Black and White Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

Desserts – what are they?
Desserts are the last course of a meal. It is usually sweet, but can be strong, in the case of cheeses. The word dessert is commonly used in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland and France. In the UK, and some other commonwealth countries it is called: afters, sweet, or pudding.
Before sugar became cheap and readily available, fruits and nuts used to be eaten for desserts. There are many types of desserts.

Here is this week’s recipe:

Black and White Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

1/2 cup white chocolate pieces
1/2 cup milk chocolate pieces
20 whole fresh strawberries, rinsed, patted dry, stems left on

1. Place white chocolate pieces in a small heavy saucepan; melt slowly over low heat. Cool slightly and transfer to a small deep bowl.
2. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Holding onto the stem end, dip strawberries one at a time in the white chocolate three-quarters of the way up to the stem. Place apart on wax paper and refrigerate for about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, slowly melt milk chocolate in a small heavy saucepan. Remove strawberries from the refrigerator and dip in the milk chocolate, leaving part of the white chocolate showing. Return to the refrigerator to chill. Serve chilled.

Makes 4 servings.

Chocolate pudding

Did you know…
Cocoa is actually good for the body, but don’t eat the sweet ones you find in the stores. The sugar and fact counteract the goodness in the cocoa.
Do not eat too much cocoa though… like everything, too much cocoa is no good for you.
This week’s recipe:

Chocolate Pudding

2 Cups whipping cream

1/2 Cup milk
1/2 Cup cream

3/4 Cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon. vanilla extract

5 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

9 egg yolks

Heat oven to 300°F. Combine whipping cream, half-and-half, sugar and vanilla in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat just to a simmer; remove pan from heat. Add chocolate; stir to melt completely.

Whisk in egg yolks one at a time until blended. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer. Divide pudding among eight 6-ounce custard cups; place in a deep baking pan and place in oven. Fill pan with enough scalding-hot water to come halfway up sides of custard cups. Cover with foil.

Bake puddings until set, 50 minutes. Allow puddings to cool in the pan 10 minutes. Remove from water bath; cool. Cover with plastic or foil, refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

brownies with cocoa recipe

Why do we use recipes?

Simply put, most people in modern society don’t have time to experiment while cooking. Also, a lot of ways of cooking have been established. A recipe is a sure-fire way of ensuring something works. You can always tweak the recipe later to suit your taste.

Recipes also have an added advantage of being time tested. The best recipes, and the ones that work have been kept over the years. For time restricted individuals, recipes with minimal preparation and cooking time are good.

This week’s recipe:

Brownies made with Cocoa

Yield: 24 servings

Ingredients

¾ cup butter
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt (optional)
3 oz (100 g) chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F (Gas mark 4 or 180 deg C).
2. Line a 13 x 9 in (33 x 23 cm) cake tin with grease proof or other non-stick paper and grease the tin.
3. Melt the butter.
4. Beat eggs with sugar, and add vanilla, flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt (optional) and melted butter.
5. Add chopped nuts.
6. Bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 20-30 minutes.
7. Cool the cake. Dust with powdered sugar or glace with your favorite chocolate frosting.

Variations

1. Instead of all-purpose flour + baking powder you may use self-raising flour.