Self-saucing chocolate cake

You know how chocolate cakes can be same-same...

Well, I found a very original one, in my favorite cake book: 'Cakes Bakes and desserts triple tested by Australian Women's Weekly'. They generally have recipes you can be confident about, but this one in particular is absolutely brilliant, it contains absolut gems...

Dieters abstain, of course!

It's one of these I had not made yet, and I was wondering about the result, slighly sceptical I suppose.
I reduced the sugar content as I am not a sweet tooth and also to make the dessert easier to remember, and I increased the cocoa coontent:

-60g butter
-125ml milk
-vanilla extract
-5 tblspoon 100% cocoa powder
-5 tblspoon 100% cocoa powder extra
-150g caster sugar
-150g self raising flour
-150g brown sugar
- 500ml boiling water

Grease a small oven dish, and preheat the oven if necessary at 180 degrees.
Melt the butter with the milk in a medium milk pan,
Remove from the heat and mix in the caster sugar and the vanilla extract,
Then add the sifted flour and cocoa.
Pour the mix in the oven dish.
Sift the brown sugar and extra cocoa pwder over the mix.
Pour very gently (you can use a turned up spoon to make the pouring more so) the boiling water over the cake - yes I know this part is weird!
Then cook in the middle of the onen at 180 degrees C for 40 minutes.

Wait 10 min approximately before serving (you don't want to burn your guests'tastebuds, do you?).

I am very pleased with this cake. Apart fromn being a brilliant party trick to finish a meal, it is a doodle to make, and takes no time. I was very impressed with the self saucing effect, and the sauce comes out tasting similar to the french chocolate pots from my youth.

So a big thumbs up for that one, and especially to my favorite book. I have no commission on it, but I do highly recomment getting it :)

Source: recipe, Australian Women's Weekly, Photography, myself.

Chocolate Birthday cake

Ok the rule is, if you make a Birthday cake, forget diet, and make it as chocolaty as you can.
Beyond that, I found this great recipe that fits the bill for a guy, and is moist, flavorsome, easy, quick to make. Humm yes indeed, this is the perfect cake! So yes how lucky are you, I am sharing the magic Birthday cake recipe with you:

Ingredients:
-200g plain dark chocolate
-125g soften butter -100g sugar
-50g flour (use soya flour for coeliacs)
-3 eggs

In a pan, place the chocolate broken into pieces with a tblspn of water, and a 25g of the butter.Let it melt on low heat.

In a bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar till the mix whitens, add the soften butter, mix well.

Add the flour, mix well, then add the chocolate.

I use silicon moulds now so no buttering and flouring, but do so if you use an old fashion mould. Pour the mix in the mould, place in oven at 150degC for 25-30 minutes.

Let the cake cool down, take it off the mould, decorate it, and there you are, a very successful chocolate cake! Easy no?

Source: www.linternaute.com (I modified the recipe)

Ode to Nutella

Just a mini post to make you hungry, a heart shaped puff pastry with a slap of Nutella on top.

Hungry yet?