Easy Chocolate Pudding

I found this fabulous recipe in the book 'Starbucks Passions For Coffee'. The recipe was quite simple and easy to make. I did not have white chocolate at home, so, I just used 2 types of chocolates. The pudding came out a tad thicker than what we had expected. We really were not bothered about the consistency though, we enjoyed the chocolate pudding.

Ingredients:(Serves 6-8)
Egg yolks - 4, extra large
Granulated Sugar - 3/4 cup
All Purpose Flour - 1/4 cup
Cornstarch - 3 tbsp
Milk - 2 1/2 cups
Semi Sweet Chocolate - 5 oz (11tbsp), finely chopped
Unsweetened Chocolate - 2 oz(4 tbsp), finely chopped
White Chocolate - 4 oz(8 tbsp), cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Whipped Cream - For Garnish(Optional)

Method of Preparation:
1. Add the egg yolks, sugar, flour and cornstarch to a medium bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of milk and mix all the ingredients to a smooth paste.
2. Add the remaining milk to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and let it start boiling.
3. Remove the milk from heat and stir into the egg mixture. Pour the milk-egg mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it begins to boil and thicken.
4. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly. Ensure that the bottom is not burned.
5. Remove the saucepan from heat and add the semi sweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate and vanilla extract. Stir until the chocolate melt and the mixture becomes smooth.
6. Let this cool for 5 minutes, then gently fold in the white chocolate pieces, just to incorporate.
7. Spoon the pudding into individual glasses and cool at room temperature, then refrigerate until serving time.
8. Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and enjoy the easy chocolate pudding.

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Chocolate and Almond Sandwich

A simple, easy and delicious cake. I made this last week, when we visited our friends. The cake was yummy.

Ingredients:
Butter - 1 stick
Sugar - 5 tbsp
Egg - 1, beaten
All purpose flour - 6 tbsp
Blanched Almonds - 6 tbsp, powdered/ground
Cocoa powder - 1 tbsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Milk - 3 tbsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

For the Chocolate Filling:

Semi sweet chocolate - 4 oz, grated

Milk - 11/2 tbsp

Confectioner's sugar/Icing sugar/Powdered Sugar - 1/4 cup

Butter - 6 tbsp

Almond Extract - few drops

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease twp 7 inch pans and bottom line with baking parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the well beaten egg to it.
3. Mix together the flour, ground almonds, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and sift into a bowl.
4. Add the sifted mixture alternatively with the milk to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Combine thoroughly.
5. Divide the mixture into two portions and transfer one portion to each prepared baking pan and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Let both the cakes cool down completely before proceeding to the next step. When cool, sandwich the cakes together with the chocolate filling.
7. To make the chocolate filling, mix the chocolate with milk and warm over a low heat or microwave until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat, beat in the confectioner's sugar and let the filling cool down. Cream the butter and then add the chocolate mixture and the almond extract, beat until the filling becomes light and creamy.
8. You can either cover the top of the cake with confectioner's sugar or can apply a  thin layer of the chocolate filling.

Sending this to Champa's 'Bake-off'

No Flour Chocolate Souffle

As the days are getting colder and colder here in Chicago, we are on the lookout for hot and warm things to eat. Today we thought of making a chocolate souffle and when I was going through the recipes to make one, I found a no flour chocolate souffle recipe in Nick Malgieri's book 'Chocolate'. The recipe was very simple and we had to try it. The souffle rose well, was baked through with a soft liquid center and we enjoyed it a lottt.

Ingredients:(Makes 4 servings)

Semi sweet Chocolate - 7 tbsp 

Strong brewed coffee - 2 tbsp

Butter - 2 tbsp, softened

Egg yolks - 2

Egg whites - 4

Salt - a pinch

Sugar - 2 tbsp

Method of Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F and butter and dust the ramekins with sugar and place them on a baking sheet

2. Add the chocolate and coffee to a heat proof bowl and place it over a pan of hot water. Mix often and allow the chocolate to melt. Remove from heat.

3. Stir in the butter and let the mixture cool down. Stir in the egg yolks.

4. Add egg whites and salt to a bowl and using an electric mixer beat them until they hold light peaks. Add the sugar gradually and continue to beat till the egg whites form soft peaks.

5. Take a quarter of the egg whites mixture and stir it into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the rest of the egg whites mixture using a rubber spatula.

6. Pour the batter into the buttered and sugared ramekins. Fill them to the top. Bake for around 12 to 15 minutes or until the souffles are well risen and baked through, except for the center which should remain soft and liquid.(You can use a spoon to lift the top off on one side and check, the top will fall right back into place)

7. Serve the hot no flour chocolate souffles immediately.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

My dearest hubby had a Halloween party in his office this week and wanted me to make him something for that. I baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for him and they turned out pretty good. The preparation was pretty easy and I added a few raisins to the cookie dough as well. The bake time for each batch was around 10-12 minutes.

Ingredients:(Makes about 25-30 cookies)
All purpose flour - 3/4 cup
Butter - 1 stick/8 tbsp, softened
Brown Sugar - 3/4 cup
Rolled Oats - 11/2 cups
Chocolate Chips - 1 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1/2 tsp
Raisins - 1/2 cup(Optional)
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line the baking sheet with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl add butter and sugar and beat them till creamy.
2. Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat till a smooth mixture is formed. Stir in the flour, cinnamon powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Add the oatmeal and chocolate chips and raisins, if using to the mixture and mix well. Drop the cookie dough using a tablespoon onto the baking sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly using the back of a fork or a spatula.
4. If you prefer chewy cookies, then bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and still moist else bake for 12 minutes.
5. Cool the cookies and store them in air tight container. Enjoy the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with your friends and family.

Sending this to Champa's 'Bake-off' event and Akila's 'DNSW:C'

Bourbon Biscuits

Bourbon biscuits are loved by many and my hubby is one of those. He likes munching on these biscuits and enjoys them with his cup of coffee. Few days back I was going through a book on chocolate and found a very easy recipe for making the bourbon cookies. Finally today, I took time out to try the recipe and make the bourbon biscuits. The biscuits came out very well, the only thing missing was the sugar granules on top, next time I bake them, I will add the sugar granules on top before baking the biscuits. The original recipe did not have vanilla essence, however I feel that addition of a little vanilla extract will make them taste even better.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Cocoa Powder - 3 tbsp
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Unsalted Butter - 4 tbsp, softened
Granulated Sugar - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla Extract - 1/4 tsp

For the Filling:
Hot water/Strong brewed coffee - 3 tbsp
Melted Semi sweet chocolate - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Mix them well and sift the mixture using a sieve.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar and then beat in the egg and vanilla essence. Stir in the dry ingredients until the mixture turns into a dough.
4. Knead the dough a little and place it on a floured surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough and roll it to form a 10 inch square.
5. Cut the dough into strips 21/2 inch in width. Then cut each strip into 1 inch pieces. Approximately you should have 40 1 X 21/2 inch rectangles.
6. Arrange the cookies on the baking sheet and using a fork, pierce each biscuit/cookie about four times. Bake them for around 20 minutes or until they become crisp and dry
7. Cool the biscuits in the baking sheet.
8. For the filling, mix the coffee or water into the melted chocolate and add the sugar. Mix well. Turn half the cookies over so that the bottom side is facing up. Spread a little filling on them. Place a cookies on top of the ones with the filling. Leave the cookies until the filling sets and hardens a little bit.
9. Enjoy the bourbon biscuits/cookies with coffee or tea.

Note: Do not over bake the cookies, else you will end up with hard biscuits.

Sending this recipe to Champa's 'Bake-off' event.