Chocolate sour cream bundt cake

It’s been awhile since I’ve written a post.  Not that anyone notices.  With all the thousands of fabulous food blogs around.  But I’d like to keep writing as this keeps me creative.  Cooking.  Baking. Taking photos.  Then writing.  It’s a cliché, but it is therapeutic to write.  To compose one’s ideas on paper, or in blogging’s case tap, tap, tapping on the computer. Sometimes, well most times, ideas elude me.   The girls have been getting a lot of writing tasks from school and it helps that I am able to assist them with writing ideas.  Even though they don’t end up in the blog, the writing ends up somewhere.  At school.  To be graded for composition, narrative/persuasive texts, etc.  At least here its not being judged.  No grading.  Just open ended talk about generally anything under the Australian sun.  So what’s up with adobo down under....

The year has swooshed by so quickly.  And we are on the second half of 2015 already!  The first of July to be exact.

On the home front, the girls are onto their milestone years.  Big sister is in Year12 – taking HSC (Australian equivalent to SAT or NCEE) this year, just turned 18, and currently in NYC (and LA) for a performing arts tour at school.  The younger girls are in Year 6, just turned 12 and taking on many tasks at school mostly related to arts and crafts, have done several high school applications and one interview with a school principal.  It’s an exciting and busy year.  So the first half of blogging has been set aside, but there have been lots of cooking and cakes baked so far.  

Recently  we also celebrated our 10^th year anniversary in Australia.  I can’t believe it has been a decade.  It seems like only yesterday when we were at Sydney Kingsford International Airport, armed with 6 luggages and 2 massive boxes full of personal effects, memories and other stuff we wanted to hang on to from the past, as we started our new life in Australia.  A decade has passed and we have thrown some of those old stuff, acquired new ones, and have been creating new memories since we came.  It has been amazing.  Like everything that life is, there have been many down moments but the positives always overcome the negatives.   

So a milestone deserves a cake.  And to celebrate we made this cake.  A chocolate sour cream bundt cake.  It's a great cake for celebrations.  Or if you just want cake, really.

Recipe adapted from Leite's Culinaria

Ingredients

225 g butter (I used salted), plus extra for greasing the pan

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup water

2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting the pan

1 ¾ cup caster sugar

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

2 large eggs

½ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze

200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1 cup thickened cream

1 tablespoon butter

Method

Preheat oven to 175*C.  Butter and flour the pan the bundt pan

In a small saucepan, mix together the butter, cocoa powder, salt, and water and place of medium heat, stirring with a spatula until completely melted.  Remove from heat and set aside

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking soda with a spatula or whisk.  Add half the melted butter mixture and stir until thoroughly blended.  

 Add remaining butter mixture and mix until well combines.   

Add eggs one a time, stirring until completely incorporated before adding additional egg.  

 Fold in the sour cream and vanilla and stir until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Let the cake completely cook before inverting onto a rack.

Make the glaze.

 Place the chocolates in a bowl and set aside.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan until hot (but not boiling). Pour into the bowl of chocolates and stir with a spatula until chocolate is melted.   

Add the butter and continue to stir until you have a smooth.

Drizzle the glaze onto the cooled cake, letting it run down the sides. 

(Just like below. Extreme control measures needed to restrain from licking the bowl and spoon)

And let me just say, Australia you have been amazing.  We came here, fell in love and more than happy to call you home.

Cheers mate!

The "Baked" gluten free brownies with raspberries

I'm a sucker for brownies.  And brownie recipes.  There can never be just ONE brownie recipe and I thought that I will never reach my limit for trying new ones.   Until I found this.  345g of pure dark chocolate goodness with some espresso mixed in and voila!  I've struck gold through my social network!

I only found this "Baked" brownie recipe through Selina who I virtually met on Instagram and makes these brownies by the hundreds.  Well, hundreds of squares that is.  The rich, dense, dark look of the brownies on the photos got to me.  And I could not stop thinking about these brownies until I actually bought some espresso powder and made them.  Now I don't just think of them, I make them every so often just to eat at home.  I use gluten-free flour which makes it even more dense and rich, and also add some raspberries for that sour factor.  It's sensational! 

This recipe is adapted from The Baked : New Frontiers in Baking via The Browned Eye Baker

Ingredients

1 and 1/4 cups gluten free flour*

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder*

345g dark chocolate 70% preferred, coursely chopped

250g unsalted butter, chopped into cubes

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1 and 1/2 cups caster sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

5 eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups frozen raspberries (optional)



Method

Preheat oven to 175*C

Grease and line the base and sides of a 9x13 pan with baking paper.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, salt and cocoa powder. 

Melt the butter, chocolate and espresso powder in a large bowl over a pot of simmering water.  Stir until the chocolate and butter has melted and the mixture is smooth.

Turn off heat but keep the bowl over the pot.  And add the sugars to the chocolate mixture and stir with a spatula or a whisk until completely combined.  Remove from heat.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and stir with a spatula until just combined. Add the remaining 2 eggs and continue to stir until eggs are incorporated into the batter.

Add the vanilla and stir.  Do not over mix.

Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture in 2 to 3, and gently fold with a spatula.

Pour onto the prepare tins. Scatter and press the raspberries on top of the batter (if using).

Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs.*

Tips and tricks:

* If you prefer the original version, use equal amounts of plain flour.  I used the local (Woolworths) brand gluten free flour which is a combination of tapioca starch, maize, corn and rice flour.

* I usually don't test with a skewer but when the top looks matte-like (not shiny) I take them out of th oven.  

Browned butter M&M and chocolate chip cookies (gluten free version)

 

A few years ago, early on in my blogging (through a different blogging platform) adventure, I wrote about my experience raising daughters and triplets for that matter.  They were still toddlers when we arrived in Australia and my eldest was 8yo.  It was a struggle adjusting to life without a nanny (called yaya back home in the Philippines) and suddenly facing the task of parenthood upfront.    Back in the PI, with a full time job and the luxury of having help around the house and with the kids, it was so easy to escape the responsibilty of being a parent, except when really necessary - taking them to their monthly pediatrician visits, attending school meetings and functions, organising birthdays, etc.    It was the standard of living for any working parent/s.   Those little milestones during the day are missed and forgotten, because we were not home.  We were both working.  

When we moved to Australia, it was not easy.  All of a sudden, I had to deal with my tween's dramas and the toddlers' tantrums, when all I had in my head was the idea of playing at home, dabbling with playdough and paint, quitely helping with homework, preparing home cooked meals, a spic and span home and all around having a grand fun time.  I must have had the idea of a 50s housewife wearing my hair in a bun and donning an apron with homebaked cookies wafting in the air from the kitchen oven.  Of course, there were a lot of dramas and crying and not wanting to go to school, not wanting to drink milk, potty training, dealing with getting sick, cleaning up after getting sick, dealing with the ups and downs of girl hormones - pre-teen and then teenhood, and more. 

Now that the girls are maturing, there is less yelling in our home and more conversations. Their beautiful personalities are coming through and they are they own person.  My eldest now 17 year old has slowly adjusted to her monthly hormonal roller coaster and there is less angst and moans and grunts and more words exchanged.  Although I missed having to lecture her about having her period and period pains and all other growing up topcis (no thanks to Healthy Harold).  And the girls while still adjusting to tweenhood, their interests is making me and hubby jump from one fad to the next - from One Direction to Rainbow Looms, to camps and sleepovers.  

Parenting, as it is - multiples or not, is a responsibility that is beyond anything.  There's a lot of hit and miss, trial and error, and even books and so-called experts tell us we're doing something wrong or right or we're this, and we're that and that our kids will grow up needing regular psychiatric meetings.  There is a lot of parenting books out there, parenting articles saying all these and before, I used to read them all, and then compare my kids developments to others.  Bad idea.  The truth is, we (parents) each have our styles and there is no cookie-cutter approach to a single child.  Each child is unique and usually, the parent style suits the family dynamics.    

These days, I wear my hair short.  There is the aroma of cookies (and cakes, and brownies) wafting from the kitchen oven.  We play Monopoly and Boggle more and watch reruns of Friends on TV.  We watch movies together (from Frozen to 100 Foot Journey).  There is the occasional groans and I-didn't-hear-you episodes, little dramas that add spice to our family, but over all, I think we're approaching a higher order of parenting in our own little way. 

 This recipe is adapted from Ree Drummond - The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

225g salted butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups + 2 tablespoons gluten free flour*

2 (heaping) teaspoons espress powder (or coffee granules)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup mini M&Ms

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 180*C

In a bowl, combine the flour, espresso powder, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.

Melt the half of the butter in a pan until golden (with brown bits in the bottom).  Transfer to a small bowl including all the brown bits. Do not burn.  Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the brown and caster sugar until combined.

Add eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and beat until mixed through.

Add the cooled melted butter and continue to beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl every now and then, until incorporated.

In three batches, add the flour mixture while continuing to beat the dough.  

Using a small ice cream scoop, or teaspoon, scoop dough onto a parchment lined (or if using silicone mat) baking tray. 

Chill in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.

 Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden.

     

Tips and tricks:

* I used a local (Woolworths) brand free from gluten flour which is a combination of tapioca starch, maize starch corn flour and ice flour which made for thinner and crispy cookies

* Use regular plain flour like PW if you're not avoiding gluten

* Bake in 160*C oven for longer if you prefer more golden cookies

Gluten free fudge brownies with raspberries

A month ago, we had experienced a tragic loss in the family.  An aunt who is very close to my heart was in an accident during Typhoon Glenda in mid July, which led to her passing.  It was a matter of days and everything happened so quick that we barely had time to process it all in.  And being overseas did not make it any easier.  I was constantly on the phone with my cousins, anticipating good news after the accident, and then after the sad news came, it was a matter of waiting.  There were no wounds or scars but pain can be felt from thousands of miles away.  The day she was laid to rest, I could feel a knot in my throat, in my chest and the only comfort was tears.  Tears that kept flowing sporadically.  While cooking.  I’d be sitting in the lounge and tears just flowed.   It was hard to say good bye.  My only consolation was the time spent with her when we went to Manila the last week of May.  It was brief but full of laughs and memories that I hold onto now.  She hugged me so tight and asked me not to go back to the city yet.

I look back at how she was a big part of my life growing up.  She was the aunt who let us kids browse through her records and play ABBA on repeat, The Beatles and the Bee Gees.  Later on, she’d support us with our love for Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran and Rick Astley.   Taught us dance moves that we would use for pretend beauty pageants she’d host at her place.  She was the aunt who knows secrets you’d never tell your parents.  When I broke up with a boyfriend, she was the first one on the phone – inquiring, asking, consoling. She meant a lot to the nieces and nephews she’d help and spend time with growing up, as she did not have a family of her own.  She was single.  But had a family who loved and supported her till the very end.  She was 61.

Loss is a difficult experience and it brings out humanity’s vulnerability. For days I felt really uneasy, fearful even.  My head felt literally off centre and I found myself with bouts of anxiety – while driving, while at work, while cooking.  My thoughts were filled with so much negative energies that I felt like I could just collapse while walking or doing some chores.  All of a sudden, I am back in that dark space late 2012 when I experienced a panic attack.  It’s a dreadful place to be.  My headspace was so dark that I could only see shadows.  But I’m thankful for family and friends who unknowingly pull me up from the abyss I created for myself with the simple words and actions they do every day.  As simple as picking me up for a yoga session, or calling up to say hello.  Those surprise hugs from behind and words that say “I love you” indirectly.  I am back to meditation and yoga and walking.  It clears up my headspace and puts me in a calm state.  Baking gives me that too. And so does reading.  And writing.  Coping with loss, we move on and try to grab onto distractions to keep us busy and preoccupied with new things, not because we want to forget. But because we want to mask the pain.

So I've been trying new things in the kitchen.  Pinterest and Instagram inspires me.  There is endless talent in IG alone and there's always something new to try because someone else baked/cooked/made it.  And for weeks now, I've been trying different brownie recipes - gluten free, with fruits, with more chocolate, with more nuts, etc.  And this is one of them.



As I write this post I can still feel a subtle knot in my chest and in my throat as I remember her.   She will like this for sure.  She loves dark chocolates.

This recipe uses gluten free flour and inspired from taste.com.au

Ingredients

 200 grams dark chocolate, 70% cacao, roughly chopped

200 grams salted butter, cut into cubes

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

270 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) caster sugar

115 grams (3/4 cup) gluten flour 

(or a combination of 1/4c corn flour, 1/4c tapioca starch, 1/4c rice flour)

35 grams (1/3 cup) Nestle Plaistowe Dutch processed cocoa

1 125g punnet of raspberries, half roughly chopped the rest leave as whole

Method

Preheat oven to 160*C.

Lightly grease and line the base and sides of a square brownie pan.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, flours and cocoa powder.  Set aside.

On the stove, place a saucepan half filled with water and bring to a low simmer.

Put the chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl, and place over a sauce pan making sure the base is not touching the water.  

Stir with a rubber spatula until chocolate and butter has melted into a smooth and shiny consistency. Let it cool slightly - not hot to the touch, but warm.

 In a measuring jug (or a medium sized bowl), beat the eggs and egg yolks.

Using a whisk or a wooden spoon, add the eggs to the chocolate mixture and stir until incorporated.  About a minute of mixing by hand. 

Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour onto prepared pans.

Distribute whole raspberries on top of batter and scatter and sprinkle the chopped ones.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.  Crumbs should cling to the skewer when you do the test.

Set aside to cool for 6 hours or overnight.

Slice into equal squares.

Tips and tricks:

* I used Nestle Plaistowe dutch processed cocoa because that's why I  had at home.  Also it makes for darker brownies.  Any cocoa variety will do.

* Any kind of fruit would work well with this brownie recipe, even nuts.  So this is a great base brownie recipe.

Cocoa brownies with sea salt flakes

Hooray us!  We celebrated our 9^th year arriving in Australia last month.  It’s a significant occasion as I remember experiencing our first winter on arrival, armed with 3 2yos, an 8yo and 9 luggage’s packed full of what we wanted to hold on from the past and lots of hopes for the future.  We arrived full of fear, hope and excitement.  We haven’t looked back since. And to celebrate this milestone, of course there has to be cake.  Or maybe brownies this time.

This is a recipe adapted from Alice Medrich.  One of the icons in American desserts and chocolates, she is a cookbook author and well known for her chain of chocolate stores called Cocolat  chain of chocolate and dessert stores in the US (closed 1991).  I like her recipes because most of them are simple and straightforward, easy to follow.  There’s no fancy ingredients, just simple honest baking than any home baker can try. She shares her recipes on her website, and sometimes a few of them turn up via Food52.  Here’s one of them.

I especially like this cocoa brownies as it’s something I’ve never tried before.  Cocoa in brownies.  I’ve use chocolates in the past, a combination of both, but never just cocoa.  What’s interesting is that this can pass as decadent and as good as your chocolate-brownie varieties.  Sprinkled with some sea salt, it’s beyond indulgent.  It’s coined “Alice Medrich’s best cocoa brownies”.   I can’t argue with that.  

170 grams butter

1 ¼ cup caster sugar

¾ cup and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cold large eggs

½ cup plain flour

2/3 cup nuts or dried fruits (optional)

Sea salt flakes for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 180*C

 

Line a 20cm square brownie tin with baking paper.

Prepare a pot with simmering water.  In a heat proof bowl, combine the butter, sugar cocoa and salt, and place on top of the pot (works as a double-broiler).  

Stir the mixture with a spatula until the butter and sugar melts and the batter is smooth.

Set aside to warm. Don’t cool entirely.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in the vanilla.

Add the eggs one a time, stirring vigorously after each addition and the mixture becomes shiny. 

Stir in the flour and mix thoroughly.  (AM suggests 40 strokes with a wooden spoon or spatula).

Add nuts/fruits if using and stir through the mixture.

Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly with the back of a spoon.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the skewer test comes out slightly moist.

Place on a cooling rack.

Enjoy.

Tips and tricks:

* I've made this with some frozen raspberries, roughly chopped and it made for extra moist brownies.

What’s so good about this recipe?  It’s a one-bowl wonder.  You don’t even need to plug in your stand mixer for this one.  You can even make this with your kids.  Or kids can make this themselves (with adult supervision).

Now go on help yourself.  Have a brownie.  Or two.