Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

I tweaked a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe and made it my own by adding powdered coffee, this always disappears faster than I can bake them. Im going to post the pictures later on but here is the recipe :)

MOCHA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Butter, unsweetened 1 cup (1 bar)
Brown Sugar, firmly packed 3/4 cup
White Sugar 3/4 cup
Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon
Eggs 2 pieces
All-purpose Flour 2 1/4 cups
Baking Soda 1 teaspoon
Salt 1/4 teaspoon
Powdered Coffee 1 tablespoon
Chocolate Chips 1 cup
Walnuts, chopped 1 cup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit, line a baking sheet with wax paper. Using paddle attachment of Kitchenaid mixer beat butter, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla and eggs until light and fluffy. Add in flour, baking soda and salt and coffee. Mix well. Remove from mixer, scrape sides and stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and cool.

Dark Fantasies

Whenever I have a craving for chocolate, it's always the dark ones that tempt me. I love all kinds but when I really really want chocolate, I find myself rummaging through my dad's stash in the fridge...look what I came up with today!!! So I'm going to indulge myself and hopefully not finish all these by myself!

Curried Carrot Soup

Rainy days always make me want to stay home and curl up with a good book (I can always read the Twilight series again) but of course I can't do that, I'd still have to go to work--the responsibilities of being an adult :)

I just need a really hot soup (preferably thick and filling) before I head out the door with my umbrella and brave the rain. This carrot soup hasn't failed as a rainy day comfort food.

CURRIED CARROT SOUP

Carrots, peeled, diced 1/2 kilo

Onion, peeled and minced 1 piece

Garlic, minced 2 cloves

Chicken stock 750 ml

Tomato paste 15 grams

Curry powder 2 teaspoons

Bayleaf, dried 1 piece

Canola oil, 30 ml

Preheat heavy pot with canola oil, saute onions, garlic and carrots, add in curry powder, bayleaf and tomato paste. Cook for a further 2 minutes until fragrant and paste is cooked. Pour in Chicken stock, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 45 minutes. Take off heat, and puree using blender. Strain through a sifter making sure that soup is smooth and lump-free. Bring back to heat, taste and season. Serve hot with a slice of warm focaccia.

When Toast Isn't Enough

I usually just have toast and egg for breakfast but there are days when toast just isn't enough and that's when a hot plate of eggs (over cooked until the edges curl up in golden brown perfection) and our family's version of carne frita is the best alternative. I don't remember not having this kind of breakfast while I was growing up. My grandmother used to marinate a big batch and just fry as needed. Waking up to the smell of frying carne frita brings me back to my childhood.

CARNE FRITA

Sirloin, thinly sliced

Soy sauce

Pepper

Calamansi (a type of Philippine lemon)

Garlic, minced

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix until meat is coated with the mixture. Marinate overnight. Fry in very hot oil and serve with eggs for a great breakfast :)

Almond Gateau with Praline Buttercream--July Daring Bakers' Challenge

...I finally made it!! Because of my crazy schedule I wasnt able to post my Almond Gateau in time but I persevered and I finally did it. It was a very complicated cake, with so many components but it tasted really great. I probably won't be making this cake anytime soon again but I have to admit it's one of the best tasting cakes I've ever made!!

I used almonds instead of filberts because they're hard to find here in Manila. I used rum for my flavoring. I almost cried when I was making the buttercream because it looked like curdled cheese at first but I kept on mixing it with the paddle attachment and the final product looked great.

Graduation/Welcome Home Cake (Red Velvet Cake)

Sliced red velvet cake

A closer look at the decorated red velvet cake

A mixture of white and semi-sweet chocolate shavings

Fresh from the oven (look at that gorgeous red color)

Red batter with my red spatula

Mise-en-place

My sister S is coming for her summer vacation--Yey!! She called me from Beijing last Friday lunchtime to tell me she just came home from her graduation, i felt happy and sad at the same time, happy because all her hardwork has paid off but sad too because i wasn't there to celebrate with her. But, because she was coming home today (Monday!!) I promised her I'd make her a graduation cake. And so after we said our goodbyes, I quickly went online to browse for a cake recipe...lo and behold--I saw this recipe for red velvet cake, knowing my sister's sweet tooth and her penchant for all things red, I thought this would be perfect, and so I woke up early today and baked her cake.



RED VELVET CAKE



1 cup SHORTENING (I used butter instead)



2 EGGS



1 1/2 cups SUGAR



1 teaspoon COCOA POWDER



2 ounces RED FOOD COLORING



2 1/2 cups CAKE FLOUR



1 cup BUTTERMILK (I substituted 1 cup milk + i teaspoon vinegar)



1 teaspoon SALT



1 teaspoon VANILLA EXTRACT



1 teaspoon BAKING SODA



1 teaspoon VINEGAR



Crean butter, sugar and eggs. In another bowl, mix together cocoa and red food coloring, blend into a paste. Add paste to butter mixture. Sift flour and salt together. Add it alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions. Add vanila extract. Fold in baking soda and vinegar. Pour batter in a greased 9inch cake pan. Bake 45 minutes or until cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean. Let cool and invert on cooling rack.



WHITE FROSTING



2 tablespoons ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR



1 cup MILK



1 cup UNSALTED BUTTER



1 cup CONFECTIONER'S SUGAR



1 teaspoon VANILLA EXTRACT



Over medium heat, cook flour and milk until thickened. Let cool. Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in flour mixture. Use as desired.

Next time I make this cake I'm going to make more frosting, the sides weren't frosted so nicely because i ran out of it. I decorated the top with white and semisweet chocolate shavings which i made with a microplane.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER--A Really Late Birthday Cake

My sister J (who, if given a choice would eat cake every single day) celebrated her birthday last June 6 but because I was busy or preoccupied or both (I can never really tell...) I wasn't able to bake her a proper cake. So...now that I'm in a baking mood (thanks to the DB challenge) I've decided to bake her a cake--better late than never, tee-hee. Deciding to bake which cake was a little challenging but finally I found one which didn't look too time-consuming and at the same time would taste good (I really hope so..) This one was in Celebration Cakes (The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks) which was given to me years back by a friend who now lives in Melbourne.

BUTTER CAKE

Butter 250 grams

Vanilla Essence 2 teaspoons

Caster Sugar 1 1/2 cups

Eggs 4 pieces

Self Raising Flour 3 cups (I substituted 3 cups all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons baking powder)

Milk 1 cup

1. Grease and line base and sides of cake pan with one thickness baking paper (I just lined the bottom)

2. Beat butter, essence and sugar in bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions. Transfer mixture to larger bowl, stir in sifted flour and milk. Spread mixture into prepared pan.

3. Bake in a moderate (350 degrees farenheit-375 degrees farenheit) oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

4. Test cake by inserting a wooden or metal skewer into centre of cake; if cooked, skewer will come out clean, if there is moist cake mixture on skewer, return cake to oven further 10 minutes before testing again.

5. Stand cake 5 minutes; tun onto wire rack to cool.

FLUFFY FROSTING

1 cup CASTER SUGAR

1/3 cup WATER

2 EGG WHITES

Combibe sugar and the water in small saucepan; stir over heat without boiling, until sugar is dissolved. Boil, uncovered, without stirring until syrup reaches 116 degrees celsius on candy thermometer (soft ball stage). Remove from heat allow bubbles to subside. Meanwhile, beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. While mixer is operating, add hot syrup in thin stream. Beat on high speed about 10 minutes or until mixture is thick and cool.