Fastest Fudge Cake

I have been not able to blog lately, thanks to the holidays. We went skiing in Wisconsin, caught up with friends and had a hell of a time. Couple of days back, I made this fudge cake in under 30 minutes. I was running short on time and had hardly enough time on hand to bake a cake for friend's birthday. I found this amazing recipe in a book called 'Birthday Cakes'. The cake came out super moist and yumm. Couldn't really capture a nice picture of the cake as we were getting late.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour - 1 cup

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Butter - 1/2 cup (1 stick), melted and warm

Brown Sugar - 11/4 cups, firmly packed

Large Eggs - 2

Hot Water - 1/2 cup

Method of Ingredients:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F, position the rack in the lower third of the oven. Butter the bottom of an 8 inch square or 9 inch round cake pan or line it with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, combine all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Use a whisk to blend the ingredients. If the cocoa remains lumpy, sift the mixture.

3. In a large bowl, combine the warm melted butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla essence and beat until well blended.

4. Add the flour mixture all at once. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir just until all the flour mixture gets moistened. 

5. Pour the hot water over the mixture all at once. Stir just until the water is incorporated and the batter becomes smooth.

6. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the cake pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool for about 10 minutes. You can unmold the cake onto a wire rack or leave the cake in the pan and frost only the top of the cake.

Ingredients For Frosting:

Butter - 5 tbsp

Granulated Sugar - 3/4 cup

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 2/3 cup

Salt - a pinch

Heavy Cream - 3/4 cup

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Method of Preparation:

1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the granulated sugar, cocoa and salt. Gradually stir in the cream. Heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and hot but not boiling.

2. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Let cool until thickened to spreading consistency.

3. Frost the top of the cake and enjoy.

No Bake Choco-Oat Cookies

Do you have old fashioned oats, cocoa powder and 5 minutes at hand? If the answer is yes, then you can easily make these no bake choco-oat cookies.

Ingredients:
Old Fashioned Rolled Oats - 1 cup
Brown Sugar - 3 tbsp
Honey - 1 tbsp
Butter - 3 tbsp
Unsweetened Cocoa powder - 3 tbsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
Walnuts - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Raisins - 1 tbsp

Method of Preparation:
1. In a small vessel add brown sugar, honey, butter, cocoa powder, milk and mix well. Bring the mixture to boil on medium heat, stirring frequently. Boil for 3 minutes or until the mixture thickens a little.
2. Remove the vessel from heat and add the chopped walnuts, raisins and oats to it. Mix well and let the mixture cool a little bit before making small rounds of the mixture and place them on wax paper or aluminium foil.
3. Let the no bake choco-oat cookies cool down completely and become firm before storing them in a tightly covered box.

Sending this recipe to 'Anyone can cook - 3' being hosted by Ayeesha 

Home Made Hot Cocoa

Hot Chocolate is a all time favorite not only for kids but for a lot of adults too. A hot cup of chocolate on a cold day is a perfect combo. Instead of shelling around 3 bucks for a small cup of hot chocolate, you can make your own home made hot cocoa, for a lot less cost and with the perfect amount of sugar you like. All you need is a natural unsweetened cocoa powder. I used the Hershey's brand of unsweetened cocoa powder, bought at Walmart.

Ingredients:
Cocoa Powder - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Salt - a pinch
Vanilla Extract - few drops(optional)
Hot Milk - 1 cup (You can even reduce the quantity of milk by adding hot water, I used 1/3 cup water and 2/3 cup milk)

Method of Preparation:
1. In a clean dry cup, add the dry ingredients - cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Mix well.
2. Heat the milk(add the water to the milk, if using any) in a microwave for 11/2 to 2 minutes or until hot.
3. Add a little hot milk to the cup and mix well, ensuring that no lumps are formed.
4. Add the rest of the milk and vanilla essence, mix well and enjoy your home made hot cocoa.