Fudgy Cocoa Brownies

I seem to go through stages where I crave certain foods. They play on my mind, niggling away, demanding to be eaten and tormenting me with all the choices. A few weeks back it was cheesecake – my birthday peanut butter cheesecake being the delicious results. These past few weeks I’ve been hankering after brownies.

“Ok, make a batch of brownies then” you might think, but I have yet to find my ‘perfect’ brownie recipe and have you ever tried searching the internet for a simple chocolate brownie recipe? The results must roll into the hundreds – if not thousands of different recipes, each one claiming to be ‘the best’ ‘the ultimate’ the ‘walk over hot coals good brownie’ leaving me bleary eyed and undecided about which one to try.

After a while adaptations of the same recipe kept popping up. A brownie recipe made by Alice Medrich called Cocoa Brownies which is made entirely with cocoa powder and no melted chocolate. What? A brownie recipe without any chocolate, how can that be good? Yet everywhere I saw it, it got rave reviews. So in the end I decided to test it for myself and this became my brownie recipe to end my brownie cravings.

The recipe is incredibly quick and easy to put together and uses only a saucepan and a spatula, meaning the clean up was quick too. The batter was dark, rich and glossy and smelt intensely chocolaty thanks to the large amount of cocoa powder called for. You’d never have guessed it didn’t have melted chocolate in there.

I used my new brownie pan to bake it in. A clever tin with a removable base with handles and even a centre divider that you insert before baking to allow the brownies to be baked in equal serving sizes. I think it also helped the outside pieces cook evenly, although my two middle pieces were definitely more under baked and gooey than the rest (not that I’m complaining!)

The finished brownies had the characteristic wafer thin sugary top crust with soft and gooey chocolate brownie underneath. They had a slight chew to them and a deep rich cocoa flavour, that certainly wasn’t missing the chocolate. I really liked how the bitter cocoa helped keep the brownies from being overly sweet.

They were very light in texture but defiantly headed more into the fudgy category rather than the cakey category. I baked them for 20 minutes but I may try just 3-4 minutes longer next time as the centre ones were a little too fudgy for me.

Incredibly moreish; they definitely satisfied my brownie craving. Alice Medrich refers to these as ‘The Best Cocoa Brownies’ and they may in fact be ‘the best’ cocoa brownies, but to me they are not The best brownies, close but not quite. I fully aware that everyone’s brownie preferences are vastly different and these are still delicious brownies so I’d encourage you to have a go and see for yourself.

Fudgy Cocoa Brownies
(Adapted from Bittersweet by Alice Medrich)

Ingredients
140g unsalted butter
280g caster sugar
50g cocoa powder
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
80g Gluten free (or plain) flour (I used Doves brand)

Method
Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and line the base and up two sides of a 9inch square baking pan with baking paper (or base only if using a brownie tin).
Dice the butter into cubes and add to a saucepan along with the sugar, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla. Heat gently, stirring every so often, until the butter is melted and combined with the cocoa powder and sugar. Beat briefly with a spatula to fully incorporate the ingredients – it will look grainy at this point - and remove from the heat. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
Beat the eggs in a small bowl until broken down before beating into the chocolate mixture, a little at a time. The batter should become smooth and glossy.
Scatter over the flour and beat in using a spatula. Start in the middle and work your way out towards the edge to prevent it clumping.
Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until a thin crust has formed and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with a few sticky crumbs attached, but no actual liquid batter.
Allow the brownies to cool in the tin before removing with the help of the baking paper or handles of the brownie tin.
Once cool, refrigerate for 30 minutes before cutting. This helps get a clean cut.
Cut into 12 brownies (or smaller for brownie bites).
Eat and enjoy!

The Cake Slice May 2011: Orange Almond Caramel Upside-Down Cake

This months Cake Slice cake intrigued me, orange, honey, caramel and almond is not a combination I have come across before I was a little unsure how it would taste. On reading the recipe, the caramel upside-down part reminded me of a sticky bun recipe. Toasted nuts and caramel are spread into the base of the cake tin before a cake batter is poured on top, baked and then turned out to reveal the nutty gooey caramel layer on top. It sounded delicious so I was more than happy to give it a go.

I decided to half the recipe and bake it in a smaller tin. Due to this I decided to use the zest and juice of a tangerine in place of the orange as this seemed more fitting to its size, plus I was all out of oranges. The only other alternation I made was to replace the vanilla extract with almond extract in order to tie the almond flavour into the cake as well as the nutty caramel topping. The cake was quick and easy to put together and I had high hopes for it.

Sadly, for me, the cake did not live up to expectations. That’s not to say there was anything wrong with it, it was a perfectly nice cake, but that’s as far as it goes – nice but not great.

It was very moist and the nutty caramel topping was sticky and I loved the texture of biting into a sliver of almond, but somehow eaten as a whole it just didn’t work for me. The flavours seemed confused with no one flavour standing out, only mingling into a slightly bland one-note taste.

I tried another slice the following day and found that the tangerine flavour had developed, which to me improved the cake, but I still wasn’t crazy about it. Despite my less than glowing review of this cake, by all means try it out for yourself as I know some of my fellow bakers absolutely loved it.

Click to see the Cake Slice blogroll for other members thoughts on this cake.

Orange Almond Caramel Upside-Down Cake
(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Ingredients – Topping
50g sliced almonds
75g unsalted butter
120g light brown sugar
55ml honey

For the Cake
180g plain flour (I used 100g brown rice flour, 40g buckwheat, 40g tapioca flour)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
80ml sour cream
2 eggs
55ml orange juice (I used tangerine)
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used almond)
100g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
1 tbsp grated orange zest (I used tangerine)
(I added 1 tsp xanthan gum)

Method - Topping

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 9 inch round non stick cake pan and line the base with parchment paper. Dust with flour.
Spread the nuts on a baking tray and toast until golden, 8 to 10 minutes (mine only took 4 minutes!!) Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Whisk in the brown sugar, turn the heat to low, and cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Drizzle over the honey and scatter over the toasted nuts.

Method - Cake

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Combine the sour cream, eggs, orange juice and vanilla in a glass measuring cup and beat lightly.
Combine the butter and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Stir in the orange zest.
With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour the egg mixture into the bowl in a slow stream, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the sides.
Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, a third at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Then mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
Pour the batter over the almonds, gently spreading it into an even layer.
Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let stand for 5 minutes.
Holding the pan and a plate together firmly with oven mitts, invert the hot cake onto the plate. Peel away the parchment paper. If necessary, replace any almonds stuck to the base of the pan. Let the cake cool for 20 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.
Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Note: I halved the recipe above and baked it in a 6inch tin for 35minutes.

Coconut & Almond Macaroons

Today is the start of Coeliac Awareness Week 2011. The aim is to help people better understand the symptoms of coeliac disease, how to deal with it on a day-to-day basis and generally improve the understanding. Coeliacs have to exclude all wheat, gluten, rye, barley and its derivatives from their diets as the protein contained within these grains can’t be dealt with by the body, damaging the gut and leading to other health problems.

I have been diagnosed as coeliac for less than a year but already I feel able and confidant enough to lead a perfectly normal life. I have discovered it’s not so much about cutting foods out, but more about substitutions. People shouldn’t feel deprived that they have to exclude cakes and treats from their diet, simply experiment and try out some different flours, you may get some odd results along the way but the resulting treats can be very rewarding, not to mention tasty. I am also starting to feel more confidant about going out for meals. I’ve learnt not to panic at the prospect of an evening out with friends. I have found that most places are more than happy to discuss dietary requirements and are very willing to swop rice or potatoes for the bread or pasta dish listed on the menu. If anyone is interested in more info I strongly recommend visiting the Coeliac UK website which is a hub of useful support and information.

Anyway, back to cookies! These macaroons are the good old fashioned, thick and chewy type of macaroons. They were around long before the delicate French Macaron came into fashion and for me, much tastier.

They are meringue based with lots of coconut and some ground almonds thrown in for texture and flavour. They are delicately crisp on the outside with a soft, slightly chewy interior. The gentle outside toasting enhances their nutty flavour, with the natural sweetness from the coconut coming through as you chew.

They are thick, substantial, sweet and delicious. Quick and easy to put together, not a grain of flour in sight and as an added bonus they’re also dairy free!

In support of Coeliac Awareness Week I challenge you all to look at what you’ve eaten today and see if you can adapt it to being gluten free, or go one better and try to eat gluten free for the day tomorrow. Missing gluten should never mean missing out!

Coconut & Almond Macaroons

Ingredients
2 eggs whites
1 tsp lemon juice
100g caster sugar
50g ground almonds
200g desiccated coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method
Line a large baking tray with a silicone mat or greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 170C.
Whisk the egg whites until just starting to foam. Add the lemon juice and whisk until soft peaks form.
Keep whisking, adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Whisk until glossy, thick and shiny.
Scatter over the almonds and coconut and fold in using a spatula.
Use a tablespoon to measure out moulds of the coconut mixture. Place onto the lined baking tray, with 2inches in-between each one.
Press the tops lightly, until they become level in height, but still remain very thick.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden brown (10 minutes to start, then rotate the tray and bake for 5-10 minutes more).
Cool on the tray for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Makes 11-12 large macaroons

A Tour of the Lake District

I had a truly wonderful time in the Lake District. We stayed in a little town called Bowness-on-Windermere which was a great centre spot for exploring the area. The weather was glorious, it was sunny all week and not a spot of rain until the evening before we left. I hear they have thunderstorms now, so we were very lucky.

We were out walking every day, exploring a new town around Windermere, hiking in the fells, clambering up to waterfalls, hunting out local food shops and taking in the spectacular views!

I was also very impressed with the availability of vegetarian restaurants in the area. There isn’t even one vegetarian restaurant in the town I live in and yet I managed to eat in three different vegetarian restaurants in one week whilst in the Lakes. Not only that but in all three I should think that over half the menu was also gluten free, meaning I was in my element and quite giddy with all the menu choices.

Below is a little summary of some of my holiday highlights and places I would recommend visiting if you are ever in the area.

A ride on the ferry from Bowness-on-Windermere to the other side of Windermere Lake. It’s only 50p for a foot passenger and you get some wonderful views of the lake – bargain!

After stepping off the ferry you can take a short hike up some steep stone steps to an old Water Station with some interesting history and yet more views of the lake.

I was amazed to discover that almost any patch of ground near water or in woodland was sprouting an abundance of wild garlic! I’ve never seen so much. We picked a bit and had it with some salad at dinner. It was quite strong but sweeter and milkier tasting than raw bulb garlic. I’d have loved to have picked some more and made it into soup.

Do you have a powerful car? Are you are confidant driver? If so then this next trip is for you! A drive through Hard Knott Pass leading into Wrynose Pass. It’s a long, steep, twisty, narrow, often cliff edged path through the valley. It takes you right up into the mountains and gives some amazing views but some of the roads and so steep and narrow it will have you clutching at the dashboard, especially if you meet a car coming the other way and have to reverse down a cliff!

Half way through Wrynose Pass you can pull over and walk up onto the hilltop to explore the ruins of Hard Knott Fort. It’s very open and exposed so go prepared to tackle the wind.

A walk to Stanley Ghyll Force Waterfall, situated between Eskdale and Boot is a definite must. It may in fact be the most enjoyable and scenic walk I did whilst in the Lakes. You have to walk through some woodland, following rocky streams, before climbing up narrow stone steps and crossing over wooden bridges to reach the waterfall. The walk is so peaceful and tranquil and the surrounding vegetation is so lush that it is almost tropical!

A hike up Loughrigg Fell near Grasmere is very rewarding and perfect for anyone not keen on attempting one of the bigger mountains like Scarfell or Coniston. It’s still a challenge, being very steep and quite rocky in parts but we got up and down in one afternoon and, as always, the views were spectacular! On one side we had Windermere and the other views of Grasmere.

It was very windy at the top, so much so my hair was flying all over the place and I could barely see where I was walking, but gosh, the wind and the views really made me feel alive!

No walk would be complete without a rewarding ice cream at the end. There was a company we discovered called The Windermere Ice Cream Co who made over 30 different flavours of ice cream and as luck would have it, they had a scoop shop in the village we were staying in, so we were able to indulge quite often. The ice cream was divine – if not a little pricy. My tip would be to go for a single scoop tub over a cone – they give you more ice cream! My absolute favourite one I tried was the cinnamon and plum ice cream – heavenly, but we also sampled tiramisu, rum & raisin, damson, cherry and coconut.

Lancrigg Vegetarian Restaurant in Easedale is a hidden gem. Set in a huge manor house its completely vegetarian with many of the dishes being adaptable to gluten free. Its hidden just on the outskirts of Grasmere, in a stunning location and is well worth a visit. We went for lunch and were really impressed at the variety and care that had obviously been put into planning their dishes.

I had the daily special which was oven baked cashew nut and lemon falafel served on a fresh tomato sauce with fresh cranberry chutney accompanied by a side salad, a warm ratatouille and paprika potato wedges. It was huge plateful and all so tasty. Using cashew nuts in falafel was a real eye opener for me. It gave them such a rich creamy flavour, I’ve never cooked with cashews like this before but I’m longing to try it out myself.

Desserts were equally impressive. I had a chocolate espresso mousse with coconut sorbet. The mousse was so rich and intensely chocolaty, while still being soft and light. It was the perfect contrast to the cool silky coconut sorbet.

Another diner had the simply named pavlova, and was presented with a mountain of delicate meringue topped with freshly whipped cream and a mix of lightly stewed and fresh summer berries. It was a fabulous meal and everyone left absolutely stuffed!

In Grasmere we discovered a shop dedicated to tote bags printed with amusing things, with their brand being ‘…. Are Good’ ranging from things like chocolate to piano teachers. I ended up buying two, one for myself and one for a friend. I couldn’t resist the Cakes Are Good bag.

More? Artisan Bakery in Kendal is well worth a visit if you love bread. They have a fabulous array of breads, pies and brownies. I’d looked them up for a visit as I’d heard they made gluten free award winning brownies – what they refer to as ‘muddies.’ Let me say they deserve their award. YUM! One of the best bought brownies I’ve ever eaten, even before I went GF. It had a thin sugary top crust and was packed with chocolate flavour. The texture was almost that of flourless chocolate cake – so good!

The Staff of Life Bakery, also in Kendal, is another good bread shop. It’s a tiny shop hidden down a side street but the smell was just incredible and you could see the breads being handmade in the back. Sadly nothing GF but other family members raved about the bread.

In Kendal yet again, The 1657 Chocolate House is the place to go if you fancy a hot chocolate and cake. They have 18 different flavoured hot chocolates on the menu as well as about 6-7 different chocolate cakes. We stopped by mid morning and sampled the mint hot chocolate, almond and the cinnamon spice. All delicious.

Low Sizergh Barn is situated on a running farm and their shop has a fantastic display of local meats, cheeses, pickles, jams, fruit and other assorted goodies. I picked up a bottle of rosemary extract which I’m longing to try out in a lemon cake. They also have a tea room which if you visit between 3:30pm and 5pm you get to watch the cows being milked below from a huge picture window. Not something I’ve ever experienced before!

Finally I would highly recommend Zeffirellis in Ambleside. It’s an Italian restaurant attached to a cinema, although can go just to one or the other. Being attached to a cinema may make you think that the restaurant would be a little substandard, but rest assured this is not the case. The restaurant was very sleek and stylish, with dim lighting and an arty glass water feature thing in the middle of the room. It had been recommended to us, but imagine how delighted I was to discover that it was also completely vegetarian. Not only that but all of their pizzas and most of their pasta dishes were able to be made gluten free. I had a delicious gluten free pizza and it was so nice to have such a wide choice from the menu.

As you can see the Lake District has such a lot to offer and I feel there was still more we didn’t get chance to explore. Guess I’ll just have to go back again next year!

Update: Blogger was playing up yesterday and for some reason it's deleated all the comments from this post - humpf!?

Off to The Lakes

I'm off to the Lake District in a few hours time, so won't be around until next weekend. I can't wait to dust off my hiking boots and do some hill walking and exploring. I used to hike every weekend when I was at uni and I've missed it. Hope everyone has a great week and enjoys the Royal Wedding!

Peanut Butter Birthday Cheesecake with Raspberry Balsamic Swirl

Happy Easter everyone. Today is not only Easter Sunday, but also my birthday! One of the main birthday treats, often involves birthday cake, but I’ve been baking and eating a lot of cake recently, so this year I decided I wanted something a little different and decided on a birthday cheesecake – it still has ‘cake’ in the title.

I adore cheesecake but for some reason never bake them that often. A few months back I saw Nigella Lawson make a peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake on tv, and its been on my mind ever since, pestering me to bake it. The only slight problem was that the rest of my family are not really peanut butter fans, but I thought ‘it’s my birthday and if they don’t like it, well all the more for me.’

Using Nigella’s recipe as a starting point, I adapted it to suit my own tastes. I’m not a fan of biscuit bases, I find their crumbly gritty texture detracts from the smooth creaminess of the cheesecake, so instead I baked a thin layer of chocolate roulade sponge directly into the tin, before adding the peanut butter cheesecake mix on top. I had a slight culinary set back when my hand mixer broke just as I was about to make the sponge base. I had to whisk and egg and sugar together for 10 minutes until ribbons formed using an old fashioned rotary whisk – it certainly gave the arm muscles a work out!

To further enhance the peanut butter element I also added a couple of crumbled peanut butter cups which added some delicious chunks dotted throughout the cheesecake.

I also love the combination of red fruits and jam with both peanut butter and chocolate and so decided to incorporate all three into my cheesecake. I had a little bottle of raspberry balsamic vinegar glaze sitting on the side which I used to add a decorative swirl to the top the cheesecake. The swirl alone looked pretty, but a few strokes with a pointy knife transformed the swirl into a feathery flower effect. (If you can’t find a balsamic glaze, just heat a few spoonfuls of raspberry preserve and stir in 1 tbsp good quality aged balsamic vinegar.)

I love how this baked and set into the top of the cheesecake, I think it looks striking against the creamy cheesecake background. My cheesecake cracked a little on cooling, but if you notice it only cracked along the outer edge of the feather effect, which actually made it look quite attractive and my family thought I had done intentionally – hurrah!

The finished cheesecake was everything I’d hoped it would be. Smooth and creamy with an indulgent rich peanut taste. The chunks of peanut butter cups added bursts of sweet melty chocolate with the slightly salty peanut filling giving the perfect contrast. This too worked wonderfully with the fruity intensely flavoured raspberry balsamic.

The thin chocolate sponge base added a whisper of chocolate flavour, while its light soft texture didn’t detract from the ultra smooth cheesecake top. Mmmmm divine!

It was so good that I must confess I was a bit greedy and had a slice at lunchtime and another after dinner. I also polished off the leftover bits from my brothers plate who tried a slice to be kind, but admitted it wasn’t for him. Oh well, I don’t feel too guilty, it was my birthday afterall, plus this means all the more for me – what a shame. It’s certainly a ‘must’ for peanut butter fan.

Today is my actual birthday, although I celebrated it with my family yesterday due to everyone having other Easter day engagements planned. Hence the reason I had my birthday ‘cake’ a day early too!

Peanut Butter Birthday Cheesecake with Raspberry Balsamic Swirl

Chocolate Sponge Base
10g buckwheat flour
10g cocoa powder
1 egg
40g caster sugar
1 tsp water

Peanut Butter Cheesecake
350g cream cheese
80ml sour cream
180g smooth peanut butter
3 eggs
120g caster sugar
3 peanut butter cups

Decoration
Raspberry Balsamic glaze
OR
2 tbsp raspberry preserve
1 tbsp good quality aged balsamic vinegar

Method – Chocolate Sponge Base

Grease an 8inch/20cm deep springform tin and line the base with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 190C.
Whisk the egg and sugar together until thick and ribbons form on the surface when you lift the beaters out of the mix, around 5 minutes.
Sift over the cocoa powder and flour and fold in gently using a spatula or metal spoon until no streaks remain. Fold in the water. Do not over mix.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin (it will be only a thin layer) and bake for 7 minutes until set and slightly puffy.
Leave in the tin to cool and reduce the oven temperature to 170C.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Beat the sugar and cream cheese together until soft and well combined. This is easiest to do if the cream cheese is at room temperature. Heat it for 30seconds in the microwave, on low, if you’ve taken it straight from the fridge.
Beat in the peanut butter, beating until no lumps remain.
Add the sour cream and eggs and whisk once more. The batter will be fairly runny, but should be a smooth even colour.
Chop the peanut butter cups into chunks and stir through the batter.
Pour the cheesecake mix on top of the cooled chocolate sponge base.
Drizzle over a swirl of the raspberry balsamic glaze. Use the tip of a sharp knife to drag the swirl out towards the edges, starting from the centre, at each quarter (think N, S, E & W on a compass). In-between these four lines (NE, SE, SW & NW), drag the knife in towards the centre to create the ripple/feather effect.
Bake in the 170C oven for 45 minutes until just set and a little wobble remains.
Turn off the heat, but leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door propped half open for 30 minutes to allow it to relax and cool down gradually.
Then remove for the oven and leave to cool for an hour before placing in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Raspberry Balsamic Glaze

Use a premade fruity balsamic glaze or melt the raspberry preserve in a small pan until liquid. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir until combined. Drizzle over the top of the cheesecake batter and swirl as above of leave in blobs.