The BEST chocolate cupcakes EVER!

Seriously though. These are honestly the best chocolate cupcakes I have ever eaten!! This recipe was given to me by my beautiful Sea Gypsy friend, and every single time I devour one, or two, or seven of them, I think of her (love you!) They are so good that I am actually reluctant to share them with you because I so jealously love them!  

What you need:

Dry ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cups cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of bicarbonate soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

Frosting:

• 125g softened butter
• 2 1/2 cups sieved icing sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence 
• 2/3 cup cocoa

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. 
2. Sieve and combine all the dry ingredients.
3. Whisk the wet ingredients together and add to the dry mixture, folding together gently.
4. Add 1 cup of boiling water (this is the ultimate secret!) The batter should be a rich dark and glossy colour and very runny. This makes the cupcakes wonderfully moist. 
5. Bake for about 15 minutes.
6. To make the frosting, just combine the ingredients and mix till smooth. (This icing is SO good, it tastes just like the pilsbury chocolate frosting, and it was basically all I ate all day long today - as well as my sisters and dad, whipping spoons in and out of the bowl!)
7. Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost and fall in love!

Thank-you Sea Gypsy!! 

Lemonade

What is more refreshing and thirst quenching than sipping lemonade in the sweet, Spring sunshine, or the almost blazing Summer heat? This is quick and easy, and if frozen, makes the perfect ice-lollies for Summer :)

On hot days my mom makes this for the family, and it often doesn't even last the afternoon! It is as simple as squeezing lemons, finely grating some fresh ginger, drizzling in some honey, slices of cucumber optional and tossing a handful of mint leaves from your garden into a jug with ice cubes and water. Make it taste to your own desire - strong, sweet, just a hint of lemon... And make your ice cubes even more amazing by freezing them with slices of lemon, lime and a sprig of mint, that way the flavour does not felt away. Enjoy!

White chocolate, raspberries and macadamias

What could be more wonderful than baking on a Sunday afternoon for your family? They will love you! If you haven't already realised, I have a great love affair with food, and this weekend I treated my mouth to delicious farm rye with handcrafted chili cheese, smoked mozzarella, camembert, pestos, humus, my mom's warmly baked scones with jam and whipped cream, and chocolate fudge cake. Extend the love affair, and treat your family, or those loved ones around you, with white chocolate, raspberry and macadamia brownies, well actually "blondies" :)

What you need?

• 125g butter, chopped
• 200g white chocolate (or more, much more!!)
• 3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten lightly
• 3/4 cup (110g) cake flour
• 1/2 cup (75g) self raising flour
• 100g of white chocolate, extra, chopped
• 1/2 cup (75g) macadamias, toasted and chopped coarsely
• 150g fresh or (thawed) frozen raspberries
• 1 Tbsp of icing sugar, to sprinkle

What you do?

1. Preheat the oven to 180-190C /(or 350-375F).
2. Grease a cake tin, and line with baking paper (which I didn't do... and it turned out alright-ish)
3. Melt the butter and white chocolate in a glass bowl placed above a pot of boiling water, stirring over the low heat, without boiling, until the mixture is lovely and smooth. Cool until just warm.
4. Sitr in the sugar, eggs, sifted flours (and you all know that this is for hardcore bakers only, us lazy one just throw it all in), add in the extra chocolate pieces, nuts and raspberries.
5. Place the mixture into the pan and spread out.
6. Bake for 40 minutes, or until firm, allowing to cool within the pan. Dust with icing sugar, cut into slices and let them sweetly kiss your tastebuds. 

Weekend waffles

What you need?

• 1 cup of flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 Tbsp melted butter

What you do?

It is as simple as throwing everything into a bowl and then whisking it well to make sure there are no lumps. We usually double or triple the recipe - depending on how many hungry people are present :) About 1/2 a cup of batter makes 1 waffle.

Waffle topping ideas:

• The classic of maple syrup and a dollop of creamy butter.
• Any berries: strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, blackberries or any sweet and sticky jam or marmalade with a sprinkle powdered sugar.
• Walnuts, cinnamon and a drizzle of honey.
• A huge smear of nutella with thinly sliced banana, whipped cream and toasted almonds.
• Who doesn't love and ice-cream sandwich with chocolate sauce?
• Lemon and lime with a powdered sugar. 
• Fancy, flavoured butters - like apple and cinnamon or ginger cookie.
• Feeling tropical - kiwi, pineapple, mango, coconut shavings, granola and yoghurt.
• A child's creation of oreo cookie crumble, sprinkles, white and dark chocolate chips.
• Crushed graham crackers with whipped cream.
• Thickly spread caramel and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. 
• Bacon, syrup and creme fresh with a good, strong cup of coffee. 

 Happy waffle weekend :)

Nutella hot chocolate

We are all in need of some serious tender loving care! It's Monday, I am back at varsity feeling like I have forgotten what sleep is and already wrote a test. Yes, bring on the TLC! 

And so here is a recipe for Nutella hot chocolate. Yes. NUTELLA HOT CHOCOLATE! (Everyone please calm down!!)

What you need:

• 1 cup of Milk
• 2 tablespoons of Nutella (or a bit more!)
• 1 teaspoon of cocoa (suggested if you'd like a more intense chocolate flavour) 
• Pinch of cinnamon
• Whipped cream and marshmallows

What to do:

1. Pour about 1/4 of the milk into a saucepan on medium-low heat. 
2. Add the Nutella and whisk until blended. Slowly stir in the remaining milk. 
3. Add a pinch of cinnamon and whisk until hot and frothy. 
4. Carefully pour the mixture into a mug, add whipped cream and marshmallows if you so desire.
5. Let the hazelnut hot chocolate happiness begin!!

{Taken from: deliciousdrinkrecipes.blogspot.com}  

A burst of flavour!

The weather these past few days has been phenomenal! Let's celebrate the warmth, the sunshine, the birds singing with this very easy (and guiltless) berry frozen yoghurt recipe! My mom makes it and we just devour this treat :)

Take a punnet, or however many you so desire, of berries - strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, blackberries - and puree them into a smooth, fine, or chunky (your preference) mixture.

Add this richly coloured berry mixture into a bowl of plain low fat vanilla yoghurt.

Add a tablespoon (or more if you wish for a sweeter treat!) of clear honey.

Allow to freeze for a few hours and then enjoy this fresh, tart, burst of summer flavours!

Served well with a scoop of creamy vanilla bean ice-cream and shortbread cookie crumbles if you feel like you need to indulge just a little bit :)

Decadent chocolate mousse

So I have survived this weekend's brutal storm of terrifying thunder, flashes of white hot lightning slicing through the midnight sky, pelting hail, gale force winds shaking my windows in their paint-peeled wooden frames, pelting hail, the churning ocean and bitter coldness. 

I definitely think that we all could use some comfort food (also my lovely's family is down for the weekend!) And so this recipe came to mind:

I made this to impress my future in-laws... and let's just say that they were seriously impressed :) I love anything with chocolate and this is pure decadence and will satisfy any craving (I highly recommend doubling the recipe - a single recipe is shown below - because you will definitely be wanting more!)

What you need?

• 100g  (or 3 1/2oz) of dark chocolate (good quality)
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 2 eggs, separated
• 35g of castor sugar
• 150ml (or 5fl oz) of double cream

What to do?

1. Place the dark chocolate and milk in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Melt and combine until smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. Place the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until thick a creamy.
3. Whisk in the melted chocolate gently. (When I did this I so brilliantly got my one finger stuck in the moving whisk/mixing things - and yes, the mixer was ON - needless to say it was VERY sore! So just be careful, or make sure that it is switched off at the wall before you push those prongs into the handheld mixer - lesson learnt). 
4. Whip the cream in a bowl until peaks form. Gently fold in the chocolate mixture until combined - take care not to over mix. 
5. Whisk the egg whites until still and fold into the chocolate mixture. (Yes, now you may lick all those yummy spoons!)
6. Spoon (I like to use a spatula) the chocolate mousse mixture into a serving bowl, or individual serving containers, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (it is worth it).
7. Decorate with chocolate shavings, or crunchy biscotti and strong coffee, or a dollop of whipped cream :)

Go and impress your family!

Cake-in-a-cup :)

Craving something chocolate? (Trick question - OF COURSE!) Also, it is Monday, so what better excuse that to treat yourself after making it through today? This is the quickest, easiest chocolate cake-in-a-cup recipe ever! Within just minutes you will be spooning pure yumminess into your mouth :)

What you need:

• 4 Tbsp self raising flour (or plain flour with 1 tsp of baking powder)
• 4 Tbsp white sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp cocoa 
• 3 Tbsp nutella (yes, really!)
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil

What you do:

1. Mix everything in a bowl and whisk with a fork - or directly into a REALLY large mug!
2. Divide the mixture into 2 mugs. 
3. Cook in the microwave for 1-3 minutes - it'll depend on your microwave strength. If you want it to be all gooey and fudgy in the middle, cook it for a little less. Be careful of the mixture overflowing. 
4. It is seriously that simple! Serve with a dollop of melted marshmallow, vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, nutella, caramel treat - INDULGE :)

Chocolate chunk cookies

Winter is raging. It is icy. Rain clouds have replaced the clear blue skies and wonderful warmth of the past few days. Across the country snow has fallen. And so, here is something that you can do to keep warm - bake American-style chewy chocolate chunk cookies. In my family we make these at least once a week - they really are THAT good! Within thirty minutes you will have gone from wanting, to making, to baking, to eating.

What you need:

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups of firmly packed brown sugar (that yummy sticky sugar, or you can just use white sugar and add a good squirt of golden syrup)
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla or caramel essence
• 1 1/4 cups of self-raising flour (or normal flour with a tsp of baking powder)
• 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips (or at least 2 100g slabs of dark chocolate roughly chopped into lovely large chunks of goodness) - personally, add as much chocolate as you like, for a true chocoholic believes that you can never have too much chocolate!
• 1 to 1 3/4 cups of either oats, walnuts, raisins or coconut (or a combination) - we usually add either oats (to make us feel "healthy") or crushed pecans 

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180/200 C (or around 400 F).
2. Using an electric mixer (or your arm and a whisk - which will really warm you up!) beat the eggs and sugar together - for about 1 minute or until the mixture changes to a lighter colour.
3. Stir in the oil, essences, sifted dry ingredients and remaining ingredients (basically throw everything else into the bowl).
4. Cover and cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (I don't think we have ever done this step before - we just cannot wait!) But for those of you that have a little bit more baking patience, this is so that the mixture hardens to prevent the cookies from spreading while they bake (for us the oats usually hold the cookies together nicely).
5. Place spoonfuls of the cookie dough mixture onto a grease baking tray or two. If you have a really sweet tooth you can roll your cookie balls in icing sugar and then place them on the tray to bake.
6. Bake for about 10 minutes or until slightly brown. Allow to cool for 5 minutes (like that is going to happen!)
7. Enjoy while still warm - with a tall glass of cold milk or crumbled over a bowl of ice-cream :)

When I lay in bed, under my blankets, licking the melted chocolate off my fingers, all warm and cozy, I remember all those who are less fortunate than me... I have been so blessed and have so, so very much, while many in SA suffer in this freezing cold. Give thanks, be humble, share! Leave your safe, comfortable life and help those who go without, let your prayers become action, take a plate of cookies to your neighbour, go through your cupboards and fill boxes for the shelter down the road, donate blankets at your local supermarket, get involved in a church outreach or community project, smile at a stranger, make a small but loving difference :)

Lemon poppy seed loaf

This in an old family favourtite. I remember my mother making this for us on sunny Sunday afternoons, using the lemons grown from my grandfather's lemon tree. And my older sister making it for us as we eagerly waited, listening to the rain against the windows, crowded around her in the warm kitchen. Now the kitchen smells fresh and lovely, sticky and sweet, cozy and content, as R lovingly makes it for us to devour... Lemon poppy seed loaf. And we never need a reason to make this delicious treat :)

What you need:

• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups of sifted white flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup of milk
• The rind of 2 lemons
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of poppy seeds

Lemon pour:

• At least 1/2 cup of lemon juice (or 2-4 fresh lemons squeezed)
• And 1/2 - 1 cup of white sugar
• Mix together and allow to dissolve (you can add the sugar slowly as you stir, but it is perfectly alright if the sugar doesn't fully dissolve - ours doesn't!)

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 160-180 C (or 325-350 F). 
2. In a large bowl mix the melted butter and sugar together.
3. Beat the eggs into the butter/sugar mixture.
4. Add the sifter flour, baking powder and salt slowly, adding the milk in between and the essence in finally.
5. Add the grated lemon rind and poppy seeds, and beat the mixture just enough to blend.
6. Pour the batter into a grease dish (loaf tin, glass dish, cake ring, muffin tray) and bake for 45-55 minutes. 
7. Cool for 10 minutes.
8. Pour the lemon/sugar syrup over the baked loaf (we usually poke little holes everywhere with a toothpick to help the syrup to soak in) and allow it to soak into the cake (anything from 10-30 minutes).
9. Ideally you should store, foil wrapped, for 1 day before slicing and serving - to enjoy the full flavours, but if you are anything like me, we still eat it while it is warm (although I will admit that having a slice in the morning with a cup of tea is pure magic too!)
10. Last quick tip: we love to mix a little lemon juice with some icing sugar and drizzle it across the loaf - yummy!

Happy baking :)

Chocolate brownies!

Is there anything more lovely on a freezing cold winter's day than eating chocolate brownies hot out of the oven? And so here is a moist, fudgy, and one of our favourite (and easy), chocolate brownie recipes:

What you need:

• 180g butter 
• 150g dark chocolate (about 2 slabs/bars)
• 1 3/4 cups of caster sugar (sticky brown or normal white sugar are also fine)
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1tsp vanilla essence
• 1tsp caramel essence (if desired)
• 3/4 cup of cake flour
• 2Tbsp self-raising flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 100g of your favourite sweet treat (see below)
• 1/3 cup of yumminess (see below)

What to do:

For me the fun has always been in the making: see it as a time to relax, no distractions, just you quietly leaving all worries outside of the kitchen door, adorable in your apron, creative genius if just for a few minutes... let yourself experiment, it is not about creating the "perfect" baked good but about trying new things, laughing, licking that chocolate drenched spoon and feeling yourself de-stress :)

1. Preheat the oven to 160C (or 325F) and grease a medium-sized baking tray. (Once I made these in a smallish tray where the mixture overflowed in the oven while baking causing the most horrible mess. I remember scraping burnt brownies for quite a while...)
2. Melt the butter (fact: butter makes everything better!) and dark chocolate until smooth. The "proper" way is to place them in a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water... but the microwave works just as well (for time pressed - not lazy - bakers).
3. Add in the sugar, beaten eggs, essences, sifted flour (let's be honest - who actually sifts their flour - unless they need to impress someone special right?) and cocoa (which really should be sifted to avoid clumps) to the butter/chocolate mixture. 
4. The "awesome" part of adding in your favourite sweet treat: I usually just add in another slab of chocolate chopped up, but this is where you can make the brownies your own - white chocolate chips, raspberries, cherries, chopped nuts like hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, your favourite chocolate bar all diced up like bar one, nougat, rolo, reeses peanutbutter cups, new york peppermint patties, fudge pieces, crushed meringues, honeycomb, a dollop of creamcheese or sourcream, whatever your heart desires! (I have a rule that the "baker" is allowed to eat as much of their treat while they are adding it to the mixture - but beware of hungry family members!)  
5. Pour your delicious mixture into into the prepared tray. This is where the "yumminess" comes in: take little spoonfuls of peanutbutter, nutella or caramel treat (use your baking inspiration) place them into the mixture and swirl through with a knife. 
6. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes (I promise that it is worth the wait - said by the most impatient chocoholic in the world!) or a little bit longer for a lighter, cake-like brownie. Tip: sometimes I find my brownies getting crisp on the edges but still gooey in the middle, I then turn down the heat (or turn off the oven) and leave them in there for about 10-15 minutes until firm.
7. Final, and BEST, step is to EAT your brownies while still wonderfully warm (or like my family which demolishes them within minutes) and preferably with ice-cream. Enjoy :)

One last baking idea:

Sometimes we truly just need to eat the most decadent imaginable baked creation possible - layered brownies: the bottom layer is chocolate chip cookie dough, the middle layer is double stuffed oreo cookies topped with your favourite treat (caramel, chocolate, marshmallows), and the top layer is brownie mixture. Repeat layers as your "need" demands,  bake and serve with, of course, ice-cream!

A taste of summer!

How to make a very yummy berry ice-cream*

Take 2 punnets of berries: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, blackberries! Place them in a pot with some water and castor sugar and boil to soften, until it creates a sort of syrup with the berries still whole.

Whip up some double cream while in a separate bowl until smooth and thick, careful not to overwhip it.

Add the berry mixture to the whipped cream.

Slice up a firm, tart fruit, such as a nectarine or peach, and add to the cream mixture.

To add a sweet crunch, crush some meringues into the cream mixture.

Slowly fold the mixture over to marble the cream with the berries, syrup, fruit and meringues. Gently scoop the cream mixture into a freezer proof bowl and allow to freeze for at least four hours before you enjoy your summer berry medley ice-cream!