Warm Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Just found this recipe from when I first started PC-ing.  I may need to try it out, purely for research purposes, you understand.  🙂

 55 g (2 oz) hazelnuts

 375 g (13 oz) hazelnut chocolate spread, divided

 300 ml (1/2 pint) water

 4 tablespoons sunflower oil

 3 eggs

 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 1 packet (500 g) devil’s food cake mix

 55 g (2 oz) plain chocolate chips, coarsely grated (optional)

Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and prepared fresh fruit such as strawberries, blueberries and raspberries (optional)

1. Brush bottom and sides of Rice Cooker Plus with oil using Chef’s Silicone Basting Brush. Coarsely grate 25 g (1 oz) of the hazelnuts into rice cooker using Deluxe Cheese Grater, turning rice cooker to coat completely. Allow excess grated nuts to evenly coat bottom; set aside. (If hazlenuts are chopped already, will not have to do this step)

2. Place 200 g (7 oz) of the hazelnut chocolate spread in Classic Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 30-40 seconds or until slightly melted. Gradually add water, whisking using Stainless Whisk. Add oil, eggs and vanilla extract; whisk until smooth. Add cake mix and coarsely grated chocolate chips; whisk 2-3 minutes or until smooth and thick.

3. Pour cake mixture into prepared rice cooker, spreading evenly. Do not cover with lid. Microwave on HIGH about 9 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean (cake may appear slightly wet on top – do not over-cook cake). Remove cake from microwave; let stand 5 minutes. Invert cake onto large plate. Place remaining hazelnut chocolate spread in Prep Bowl and microwave on HIGH 1-1 1/2 minutes or until melted and warm, stirring after every 30-second interval; spread or drizzle over top and sides of cake. Coarsely chop remaining hazelnuts using Food Chopper; sprinkle over cake. Serve immediately using Slice ‘N Serve®; serve with ice cream and fruit, if desired.

The most dangerous cake in the world

This cake has been referred to as the most dangerous cake in the world.  Do you know why?  It’s because you now know that you are never going to be any more than 5 minutes away from the most delicious chocolate cake.  It goes beautifully in the 500ml prep bowls and serves 2-3.  However, as I found yesterday, it only serves one on a ‘drown your sorrows’ sort of day!

Mix 4 tbsp self raising flour, 4 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp cocoa in a mug.

Add one egg and mix.

Stir in 3 tbsp milk, 3 tbsp vegetable/sunflower oil and a few drops of vanilla.  Feel free at this point to swap the vanilla for orange or mint extracts, add 2 tbsp of chopped nuts or chocolate chips or raisins or mini marshmallows or chunks of cookies.  Or all of the above! Go wild!

Stir.  Place in microwave.  Cook for 4 minutes.  Eat.

Lunchbox Doctor Sweet Potato Scones

I love the Lunchbox Doctor’s recipes, and this is a great way of getting secret veg into my children (and me!).  The plan was to make these last night for today’s lunchboxes, but unfortunately, they were so delicious, we ate them all before they had chance to cool down.  Oops!  Another bonus is that the dough felt so smooth and warm that Charlotte did it all by herself, and because the measurements are in cups, I didn’t weigh anything!  Just used the Large Measure All Cup!!

Ingredients:

1 and 3/4 cups or 245g wholemeal or spelt flour

1 tbsp baking powder

A pinch of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt  (I just missed this out, because I don’t like adding salt to anything, especially ‘sweets’)

2 tbsp unrefined sugar (available in supermarkets)

1 cup or 250g cooked, mashed orange sweet potato (this means baking 350g from raw with the skin on and removing the insides once cooked).  I forgot about this, so just stabbed my potato with a knife and baked it in the microwave for about 8 minutes.

1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil

1/4 cup or 60ml milk of your choice (dairy or non dairy but ideally organic)

1 egg,  beaten

Instructions:

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients together i.e. flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt and sugar.

In a separate bowl combine the mashed sweet potato, oil, milk and egg.

Then combine the dry and wet ingredients until mixed.

Roll the dough out onto a floured board to about 2 cm thick.

Cut scones into shapes and place on the Medium Round Stone.

Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes at 190°C until golden brown.

Leave to cool slightly before placing on a cooling rack.

Eat either warm with a smattering of butter or cool.

http://www.lunchboxdoctor.com/sweet-potato-scones/

Microwave Christmas Pudding

1 eating apple

55g/2oz dried cranberries; 125g/4 ½ oz raisins, 125g/4 ½ oz sultanas,

100ml/4fl oz brandy or cola beverage or unsweetened apple juice;

85g/3oz blanched almonds, coarsely chopped;

1 lemon;

115g/4oz light brown soft sugar;

85g/3oz plain flour;

55g/2oz breadcrumbs;

¼ teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon mixed ground spice; ¼ teaspoon ground cloves;

115g/4oz chilled butter; 1 tablespoon black treacle; 2 eggs.

Grease Small Batter Bowl with butter; set aside. Peel, core and slice apple using Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer. Use Food Chopper to chop apple. Combine apple pieces, dried cranberries, raisins, sultanas, and cola beverage in Large Micro-Cooker. Coarsely chop almonds using Food Chopper; set aside. Finely zest lemon using Lemon Zester/Scorer to measure 1 teaspoon or use Adjustable Microplane Grater; juice lemon to measure 1 tablespoon. Add chopped almonds, zest and lemon juice to Micro-Cooker; mix well. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Allow fruit mixture to stand.

Place light, soft brown sugar, flour, breadcrumbs, mixed ground spice, ground cloves and salt in Classic Batter Bowl. Cut chilled butter into large chunks; add to Batter Bowl. Using Pastry Blender, coarsely blend butter into flour mixture (mixture should be very coarse and crumbly). Whisk eggs and treacle in small bowl. Stir in egg and fruit mixtures into Batter Bowl; mix until well blended.

Spoon pudding mixture into greased Small Batter Bowl. Cover tightly with a piece of cling film and pierce top with Hold ‘N Slice. Microwave on high for 10 minutes; transfer to Cooling Rack. Remove cling film and gently loosen pudding from edges of Batter Bowl using Small Spreader. Carefully invert pudding onto serving platter. Cool 10-12 minutes or cool completely. Serve using Slice ‘N Serve

Chocolate fudge slice

I recently found this recipe again in my old cookbooks, and I remember making it at school, but I have no idea where the recipe came from.  We made it last week, but then we had to make it again, just to double check it still worked! 😉  I’ve called it a Chocolate Fudge Slice here, but it could quite easily be called a Chocolate fudge brownie baked cheesecake!

300g butter

150g crushed biscuits (I used digestives)

150g brown sugar

200g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

40g cocoa

200ml milk

Melt 100g butter in the microcooker and then stir in the biscuits (finely crushed in the Food Chopper).  Ensure all the biscuit is coated and then press into your baking tin.  I used the stoneware Mini Baker, but you could also use the Round Covered Baker or Springform Pan.

Beat remaining butter and sugar until creamy.  Add flour, baking powder and cocoa, stir in milk and mix well.

Spread over biscuit base and bake at 180C for 45 minutes, or until skewer comes out clean.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Topping

50 g butter

50 g light soft brown sugar

7 canned pineapple slices, drained

7 cocktail maraschino flavour cherries, drained

Cake

175 g self-raising flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

175 g golden caster sugar

100 g butter, melted and slightly cooled

100 ml semi-skimmed milk

2 eggs

1. For topping, melt 50 g butter in Rockcrok™ (2.35-Litre) Everyday Pan over a medium heat 1 – 2 minutes or until melted. Add brown sugar; cook until sugar is dissolved and bubbling, stirring continuously. Remove from heat.
2. Arrange pineapple slices in a single layer in base of pan. Place a cherry in centre of each pineapple slice.
3. For cake, place flour, baking powder and caster sugar in Classic Batter Bowl; mix well. In Small Batter Bowl, whisk melted butter, milk and eggs together until well combined using Stainless Whisk.
4. Pour egg mixture into the flour mixture; whisk together until well combined and smooth. Slowly pour cake batter over pineapple. Microwave, covered, on HIGH 9 – 10 minutes or until a wooden cocktail stick comes out clean when inserted into centre of cake.
5. Remove pan from microwave. Run Skinny Scraper around cake edges to loosen. Immediately invert cake onto serving plate. Serve warm.

Chef’s Corner

To oven bake: Preheat oven to 190ºC/fan 170ºC/Gas 5. Prepare cake as directed in steps 1 to 4, but oven bake, uncovered, for 35 – 40 minutes or until sponge is fully cooked. Remove from oven and finish as recipe directs.

Serves 7

Nutrients per serving: Energy 1768kJ/421kcal, Protein 4.9g, Carbohydrate 60.1g,

Sugars 40.4g, Fat 19.7g, Saturated fat 11.8g, Fibre 1.3g, Salt 0.6g

Lemon and Cranberry Muffins

I started off with a basic muffin recipe that I found on the BBC Good Food website (www.bbcgoodfood.co.uk), and then added my own bits and bobs.  As I wanted to add some lemon juice, I reduced the amount of milk slightly.

2 eggs

225ml milk

125ml vegetable oil

200g caster sugar

400g self-raising flour

1 lemon

100g dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Lightly whisk together the milk, eggs and oil.
3. Mix in sugar until dissolved.
4. Add the lemon zest (using Microplane Zester), lemon juice (using Citrus Press) and the cranberries. Stir in, then add the flour, stirring until smooth.
5. Using the Large Scoop, scoop the mixture into muffin cases in the 12 Cup Muffin pan.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

This mixture made 24 muffins, but could easily be halved if only 12 were needed.

White chocolate and lime cake

250g butter

400g caster sugar

5 eggs

150ml sour cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

300g plain flour

100g cocoa powder

50g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Filling:

600g mascarpone

50ml milk

175g icing sugar

Zest and juice of 2 limes

80g grated white chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 180c.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well.
4. Stir in the sour cream and vanilla.
5. Sift in the flour, almonds, cocoa, baking powder and bicarb, and fold into the mixture gently.
6. Pour into 2 greased, lined cake tins and bake for 35-40 minutes.
7. Place the ingredients for the filling into a large bowl and mix well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Once cool, cut the cakes to make 4 layers, if desired.  Make up the cake with a layer of mascarpone filling between each cake layer.  Decorate with chocolate shavings.

Christmas Muffins

Yes, I know this isn’t the time for these, but I don’t want to forget to put them on here!

2 cups self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground allspice

½ cup light brown sugar

1 cup fruit mincemeat

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ cup (4oz) butter, melted

¾ cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon milk

2 teaspoons Demerara sugar

Preheat oven to 400F / 200C 2.Mix the flour, baking powder, allspice, and brown sugar in Batter Bowl.

In Small Batter Bowl, mix together the mincemeat, egg, melted butter, buttermilk, and milk.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix briefly until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the Stoneware Muffin Pan using Large Scoop, dividing it evenly. Then sprinkle the tops with Demerara sugar.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden and risen. Cool slightly in the pan before turning out onto cooling rack. Serve warm or cold. 4.Makes 12

TOASTED MARSHMALLOW CHOCOLATE PUDDING (S’MORES CAKE)

30 g plain chocolate chips

175 g light soft brown sugar

150 g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

25 g cocoa powder

100 g butter, melted and slightly cooled

100 ml semi-skimmed milk

2 eggs

300 g regular-sized white marshmallows or 100g mini marshmallows (1-cm size)

2 digestive biscuits, coarsely crumbled (optional)

• Place chocolate chips in (250-ml) Prep Bowl, microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 60–90 seconds or until almost melted, stir until smooth. Set aside.

• Place sugar, flour, baking powder and cocoa powder in Classic Batter Bowl; mix well. In Small Batter Bowl, whisk butter, milk and eggs together until well combined using Stainless Whisk.

• Pour egg mixture into the flour mixture; whisk together until well combined and smooth. Pour sponge batter into Rockcrok™ (2.35-Litre) Everyday Pan. Microwave, covered, on HIGH 5–6 minutes or until the tip of a wooden cocktail stick comes out clean when inserted into centre of sponge. Meanwhile, preheat a hot grill.

• Remove pan from microwave oven; arrange marshmallows in a single layer over sponge. Place pan 5–10 cm from heating element; grill 20–50 seconds or until marshmallows are golden brown. Remove pan from grill.

• Sprinkle crumbled biscuits over marshmallows, if desired. Spoon chocolate into small polythene food bag; secure top with Twixit! Clip. Trim a small tip off one corner of bag; drizzle chocolate over marshmallow topping. Serve immediately using Spoon.

Serves 8–10

Chef’s Corner

To oven bake: Preheat oven to 190ºC/fan 170ºC/Gas 5. Make sponge as directed in step 2 and 3, but oven bake, uncovered, for 25–30 minutes or until sponge is fully cooked. Remove from oven. Preheat a hot grill. Melt chocolate as directed in step 1. Arrange marshmallows in a single layer over sponge and finish as recipe directs.

DS/25/11/13 TPC UK Show recipe 2014 Everyday Pan Toasted Marshmallow Chocolate Pudding 1/2

Serving 8

Energy                          1604kJ/380kcal

Protein                          5.6g

Carbohydrate                            65.8g

Fat                                           12.8g

Saturated fat                             7.5g

Fibre                                         1g

Salt                                          0.5g