Low-calorie Chocolate Beetroot Brownies

Eating Chocolate Beetroot Brownies doesn't need to be laden with guilt. Brownies are one of the chocolate lover's favourite styles of cake, and with this beetroot and dark chocolate recipe, if you are watching the calories during the week after an indulgent getaway, you can have your Brownie and eat it too.

Birthday Celebration Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

This is the perfect chocolate cake for a birthday celebration. It really tastes like chocolate cake, not all do, and this one has the softest crumb and is incredibly moist. I've made many chocolate cakes in my lifetime, but none of them have stood out above this one. 

Easter Chocolate Fudge Cake with Malted Buttercream

This fudgy chocolate cake with a decadent Malted Buttercream icing is the real deal for an Easter extravagance. It's not too late, this cake doesn't take long to make. I've previously posted this Chocolate cake with Nigella's Coffee Buttercream, and because I am absolutely smitten with this cake, I am posting it again with the Malted Buttercream. 

In My Kitchen April, 2023

The Easter Long Weekend starts tomorrow, and as I write this, I am under the lifesaving ceiling fan, as the Northern tropical heat hasn't abated like it's supposed to over Easter. I am in beautiful Cairns, in Far North Queensland at our daughter's home, and I know there is lots of chocolate "hidden" in the refrigerator waiting for Easter Sunday to be enjoyed by all of us. I the Easter bunny coming to your house? Delicious chocolate goodies and Hot Cross Buns are the theme of foodies and food bloggers around the world leading up to Easter, there's so much Easter excitement. However, my go-to fudgy, double layered Chocolate Fudge Cake will be our baked chocolate indulgence of choice over Easter. It will be the third time I've baked this beauty over the last few weeks. Whether it's iced with Malted Buttercream, or with Nigella Lawson's Coffee buttercream, it's a winner. 

This is my April submission to the #IMK series hosted by the wonderful Sherry from Sherry's Pickings. Each month food bloggers from around the world gather to share what is new in their kitchen.  I don't buy a lot of new merchandise for my Kitchen, just mainly food ingredients, but I love cooking and baking. This is a sample of what I've been very happily cooking In My Kitchen.

Chocolate fudge Cake with Nigella Lawson's delicious Coffee Buttercream

Mr. HRK prefers Nigella's Coffee buttercream version for icing. I also love a chocolate cake with just the old-fashioned chocolate icing which is so easy and very heat tolerant. It was almost Death by Chocolate when I made the Malted Buttercream version of the Chocolate cake for Jenny's birthday recently, so delicious, chocolatey and fudgy, and slightly challenging to transport in the North Queensland heat but we made it. Buttercream needs to be refrigerated, so as soon as I iced this cake which is the photo at the top of this post, it was in our frig, and she stayed there until it was transported very carefully over to Jenny's refrigerator to be eaten for dessert that evening. Here's the link to the Chocolate Cake and Coffee Buttercream recipe, and I'll post the Malted Buttercream recipe shortly.

On a more Savoury note, I made these cheesy vegetable muffins four days ago and I am thrilled with them, not only for how they tasted when first baked, but how after being refrigerated for a few days and now being reheated in Cairns for morning tea they are still light and fluffy in texture and even more improved in flavour. If you take a look at the recipe, you will see the various vegetable combinations that are possible for these muffins.

I baked a few loaves of sourdough bread in the morning and made Herbed Mushrooms with Goats cheese for lunch which was delicious on toasted sourdough.

I found a silver Beetroot server when I was in Brisbane shopping at my favourite Antique shop in Annerley. It's perfectly designed for serving Pickled Beetroot allowing all the beetroot juices to drain through. Let's face it, beetroot juice can be very messy. Here's a batch of my Pickled beetroot which is infused with cinnamon. It was really tasty.

And on a cooler, rainy day at home I made chicken soup. Here's a photo of the stock in the soup pot.

I think of Boiled Fruit Cake as contingency baking. If there's a boiled fruit cake in the pantry or the refrigerator there's always cake on hand to have with a cuppa for surprise visitors. 

This Cherry and Brandy Fruit cake recipe makes two 20 cm cakes. One has travelled to Cairns with us, and the other one is in the refrigerator at home. It'll be there on our return. I've made this cake so many times, as whole round cakes and muffins, it's my friend Mr. P's Mothers recipe and is a real goody. 

Sometimes it's handy to have a retro recipe up your sleeve, and Salmon Rissoles or fishcakes are very retro, but these have a couple of optional surprise ingredients. Anyhow they were really good, coated in egg and breadcrumbs and pan fried and very crispy, what's not to love. Besides being tasty, retro food generally also stretches the budget, that's pretty important right now don't you think?

Those of you who know me well will be expecting a new Traybake in this edition. Here it is my friends, Moroccan Baked Chicken with Fennel and Chickpeas.  Very tasty.

Creamy French Tarragon Chicken transported me to France, which was my intention and this dish lived up to expectations. I'm hoping the airlines do the same for me in a couple of weeks. I'm off to France, to visit our son and my beautiful grandchildren, and hopefully sample some delicious French cuisine while I'm there. Did you know Cuisine is the French word for cooking? Seems obvious, doesn't it? 

Mr. HRK gave a couple of little visitors a tour of our beehive. They loved it, morning talk about bees coming up. We're hoping there will be fresh honey to harvest in Spring. Usually our bees are quite placid, no gloves needed, however they didn't appreciate being visited at 4 pm in the afternoon and were quite angry for some reason. Mr. HRK was stung twice, once on his face and on his hand. His hand really swelled up for a couple of days. Thankfully the girls were well covered and were standing right back from the hive. After all, bees are wild insects.

Gracing my daughter's dining area, is this newly acquired and endearing painting and drawing of an owl gifted to her for her birthday, by a talented friend. Aren't the eyes just full of so much expression? 

Mr. HRK picked these flowers from the garden this morning while he was pruning. Tropical flowers are just so colourful.

Hoping you have a very special, restful and meaningful Easter. Safe travels if you are travelling.

Warm wishes,

Pauline

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Coffee Buttercream

"If the answer is chocolate, who cares what the question is."

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Coffee Buttercream

I'm in "Chocolate Heaven" with this cake. I might have mentioned previously that I've been working through chocolate cake recipes in my quest to find what I think is the perfect chocolate cake for all occasions, my go-to no fuss chocolate fudge cake, my signature cake. This is it for now, my perfect chocolate cake. MasterChef Winner Emelia Jackson says that this cake will always produce the same amazing result, whether it be for a birthday party, or a casual get together with friends where dessert is required, just decorate it accordingly. Dress it up with a heavenly ganache or go simple with a dusting of cocoa or icing sugar, and a serving of cream. Bake it into cupcakes, use it in a trifle, loaf cakes, there is no limit to how you can bake it or use it. Instant coffee is the secret weapon in this cake, it enhances the flavour of the chocolate without adding its own coffee flavour. I also like that there's no melted dark or milk chocolate in this cake batter, just rich, dark Dutch cocoa.

I have been debating whether or not to post this recipe just yet as there is another buttercream that I would like to fill and cover this cake with, and hopefully that is coming when the weather continues to cool down. I'll let you know when that happens, because Emelia's Malted Buttercream that I'm talking about looks like a real showstopper for a special occasion. This cake recipe is extracted from "First Cream the Butter and Sugar", by Emilia Jackson, and I can't wait to try some more of her recipes, because I love this cake. Needless to say, I couldn't wait and had to share the recipe with you.

Mahjong table setup in the air-conditioning and waiting for my Mahjong friends to arrive.

I chose to make Nigella Lawson's Coffee Buttercream this time because I love it, and I've made it before with a different chocolate cake recipe. I was in a bit of a rush because I'd made this cake for the Mahjong afternoon tea at home, it comes around quickly, and I wanted a buttercream that I could depend on when made in advance. Even though the air-conditioning was on at home the day I iced this cake, there were a lot of other things going on around me. Aren't there always though?

Ingredients:

Makes a 20 cm two tier cake 

380 g light brown sugar

250 g cake flour (store bought or see tip below for making your own)

100 dark Dutch cocoa powder (I used Plaistowe premium Dutch processed from Woolworths)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon fine salt

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder

200 ml boiling water

100 ml neutral-flavoured oil, such as vegetable or canola

200 g sour cream

4 eggs

chocolate shavings to garnish (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160 deg. C (140 deg. C fan forced)

Line two 20 cm round cake tins with baking paper

Whisk the brown sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt to ensure that there are no lumps. (No need to sift)

Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water in a largish jug, then add the oil, sour cream and eggs and whisk until thoroughly combined. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Fold until just combined. We want a lovely tender cake, with a good crumb, overmixing will prevent this from happening.

Split the batter between the cake tins and bake for 50 minutes. This was perfect for my oven but test it with a skewer inserted into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.

Leave the cakes to cool for 15 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Pauline's baking notes:

Adding coffee to the cake batter enhances the flavour of the chocolate. You can't taste the coffee.

What I also love about this cake is that it doesn't sink in the middle as some do.

Cake flour: After making this cake, I am really on board with using cake flour, for a superior and tender cake crumb. Cake flour is a low protein flour that creates a very tender fluffy and light cake. You can make your own. Just measure out 430 g plain flour, then add 70 g corn flour and sift together. By adding the corn flour, the gluten content in the plain flour is reduced from 11 per cent to between 7 and 9 per cent. (Emelia Jackson). I've started making it in a large batch so I am always prepared for a cake making session.

For medical reasons the only nuts I eat now are walnuts as they are the softest nut, so I didn't add any chopped nuts to the photo of the cake. However, it looks and tastes lovely with chopped pistachios on top of the buttercream.

Nigella Lawson's coffee buttercream

Generally, when I make icing for a cake, I just do it the traditional way as I have always done and add the ingredients until it looks, feels and tastes right. However luscious Buttercream is a different story so I followed this recipe.

Ingredients:

350g icing sugar.
175g soft Unsalted Butter. softened
Instant Espresso Coffee Powder, 2 1/2 teaspoons, dissolved in 1 x 15ml tablespoons just-boiled water
(All of my tablespoon measurements are 20ml and that is what I probably used in this recipe with no problems)
This icing is a cinch to make in a food processor. Because it is warmer and more humid where I live than where this recipe was probable tested, I thought I might have problems with the icing melting all over the cake, but it held its consistency beautifully.

Method:

• Pulse the icing sugar in your food processor a few times to remove any lumps but make sure the feeding funnel on the lid is covered so that icing dust doesn't fly everywhere:)
• Add the softened butter and blitz to mix, scraping down the bowl once or twice.
• With the motor running again, pour the coffee down the funnel of the processor and quickly blitz. Remove the blade carefully and scrape down the blade with a spatula.
• Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or stand, flat side up. It is probably better to place the highest cake as the base. Spread the lower layer generously with half the coffee butter cream, then make a sandwich with the second layer, with the top of the cake facing upwards.
• Pile the rest of the buttercream on top and use a wide icing knife or spatula to spread the icing, over the cake. Nigella uses the word "swirlingly" to describe this technique which I love.

The bottom layer of the Chocolate Fudge Cake is iced. 

One iced layer of the cake might be enough for morning or afternoon tea, so sometimes with a double layer cake I freeze one of the layers for another occasion.

This is a different chocolate cake recipe that I made a few years ago when I used the Coffee buttercream as well.

Cake bakers say that money can't buy happiness, but a divine chocolate cake can. Decorate as you wish. I sometimes use smashed pistachio nuts, or you could use chocolate covered coffee beans as Nigella Lawson did or white chocolate buttons for contrast. It is your choice.  There is so much to choose from.

I think I need to tell you all that I'm not a chocaholic, in fact I rarely eat chocolate at all, however I love a delicious chocolate cake. How about you?

Warm wishes, 

Pauline

Honey Chocolate Cake, Bee Keeping in the Tropics, and our Honey Harvest

Hello to all Chocolate Cake lovers. I'm not a chocoholic, in fact I can give or take chocolate most of the time, but it is one of life's little luxuries along with honey. However, I do love a slice of Chocolate Cake. On the weekend, when I had a craving for chocolate and chocolate cake I was unaware of what was to follow. 

Chocolate Beetroot Cake - In My Kitchen, September 2021

             "Food connects people, and the Kitchen is where the magic can happen."                                                                    

There are days when nothing but a rich, moist chocolate cake will do. I'd been wanting to make a Chocolate Beetroot cake for a while, ever since I went out to coffee with some friends at the Soul Food Market in Mackay, North Queensland, where we had a slice of Chocolate Beetroot cake, which was gluten free, lactose free, sugar free, and perhaps egg free, but not delicious free, because as you have probably already guessed, it is a health food shop and a bulk foods shop, which also specialises in vegetarian foods for dine in or take away. It's an amazing little business tucked away in an unpretentious arcade.

There is always a delicious aroma floating out of the front door, with soups and ratatouilles etc cooking on the stove. One of my friends has allergies to everything it seems, so we chose to eat at the Soul Food Market so that she could enjoy something delicious to eat without any after effects.  My Chocolate cake recipe isn't vegetarian or vegan or sugar free but it does contain beetroot, and dark chocolate, both healthy additions, which also makes it exceptionally moist. These comments about the Soul Food Market are purely my own and we all paid for our own morning tea. So here's the recipe my friends, it is adapted from a Taste.com recipe. 

Chocolate Beetroot Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Note: This is a one pot saucepan recipe. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (125 ml vegetable oil or light olive oil)

1 cup (220 g) firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup (125 ml) maple syrup

60 g dark chocolate (70 %) chopped

250 g (around 2 cups) raw beetroot, coarsely grated

3 eggs, lightly beaten, room temperature

1 1/2 cups (225 g) self raising flour  or 1 1/2 cups plain flour sifted with 3 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 cup cocoa powder

Ganache

3/4 cup (185 ml) thin cream

150 g dark chocolate, finely chopped

1 tbsp. maple syrup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160 deg. C.

Grease a 20 cm round cakepan and line with baking paper.

On a low heat, warm the oil in a medium size saucepan, which is large enough to hold all of the ingredients when needed.

Add the brown sugar, maple syrup and chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted. Remove saucepan from the heat.

Add the grated beetroot to the pan.

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and then add them to the saucepan.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder together and stir into the cake and beetroot batter.

Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 50 minutes - 1 hour or until the mixture pulls away from the side of the tin and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool for 5 minutes in the tin, before turning out and cooking completely.

Ganache Method:

Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan over a low heat. 

Stir over a medium-low heat, for 5 minutes, or until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes, when the mixture should thicken slightly, and pour small amounts gradually over the cake. Cover the top of the cake first, and then smooth the ganache around the sides of the cake.

Perfecto.

This post is part of the In My Kitchen series hosted by the lovely Sherry from Sherry's Pickings, where we share lots of interesting stories from our kitchens over the last month. Today is the deadline to post so my apologies that this might be a bit of a rush job.

Cumquat Marmalade, 2nd Batch 

We were given some more cumquats, a completely different variety of cumquat to last time. These were almost the size of half a small mandarin, and had the largest seeds, and lots of them.

Amazingly, it seemed that every quart in each cumquat contained a seed, we were still removing them from the pot even as the jam was nearly ready to be bottled. Mr. HRK and I both removed all the seeds, or so we thought, the day before so that they could be soaked to extract the pectin, which is the jam thickener. Well weren't we in for a surprise, when seeds kept popping up in the pot as the jam was cooking, until the end of the cooking time. I also had to remove half of the skin when I sliced them up to soak, as some of the skin had dark spots on it.

Anyway not to be deterred, I followed exactly the same formula to  make this marmalade as I did a couple of weeks ago when I made my first batch, although I had a lot more cumquats this time, I just increased the ratio of quantities according to weight. This batch is still delicious, and thickened well, but isn't as clear as the first batch. I'm blaming it on the fruit which I think had been left on the tree too long, anyway it still tastes delicious. "I'm certainly not looking a gift horse in the mouth". Cumquats are a precious commodity. This is the link to my previous Cumquat Marmalade batch recipe in August if you missed it. Dear reader, if you are gifted a jar of Cumquat Marmalade by a friend or relative, please be very appreciative. The maker of this marmalade put her/his heart and soul into making this jam. Jam making is a labour of love and every batch can turn out differently given the differences in fruit quality. I am getting better at it and feel a lot more confident now with jam and marmalade making. This one such a delicious marmalade.

Did I tell you about my new pot? I cooked this latest batch of marmalade in my new beautiful Blue cooking pot. It's a Baccarat Le Connoisseur Limited Edition 6.3 litre model. (I think that's the correct volume.) I needed a large pot that I could transfer from the stove top to the oven and then to the tabletop. I know I'll use it a lot. 

My daughter in Cairns was unwell recently, so we sent her a Care Package from Mum and Dad which she always loves to receive and so did our Son in Law. I hope it helped her recovery. So I did some baking and made a a large Cherry and Brandy cake and a batch of Lemon Crispies. The secret ingredient in the Lemon Crispy slice is corn flakes, and here's the link to the recipe.  So delicious

Lemon Crispies

Nasturtiums from our garden give the slice some colour for afternoon tea at home.

I often make this Boiled fruit cake into two smaller cakes, but this time I used a large square cake tin and sent the whole cake North. Two packets of cherries, lots of mixed fruit and a swig of brandy give this cake a delicious flavour. Here's the recipe and it's story for you.

It's Spring here, and we've been doing a lot of gardening, planting new seedlings, repotting and enjoying being outside in the beautiful weather. I pruned my Pineapple Sage plant a couple of weeks ago and it has responded beautifully by thickening up and flowering. The red flowers bring some nice colour and attract the bees and insects. I added some of the Pineapple Sage leaves to my

 Chickpea and Vegetable Korma curry during the week and they brought a nice little burst of flavour to the dish, in addition to the fresh curry leaves.

Pineapple Sage coming into flower

I've planted beans under the trellis, and two rows of radishes. They are coming along nicely in the warmer weather.

I'll leave you with a couple of photos from our Spring garden. There is a close synergy between the garden and the kitchen at our place, and most gardeners who also enjoy cooking know how beneficial and rewarding it is to grow some of their own produce and how lovely it is to share it with friends and family. Only this morning, our friends P & J dropped off some excess cucumbers and eggplants from their garden which are very much appreciated. Our vegetables are only at the seedling stage, however some orchids are flowering nicely. Mint is a wonderful herb to grow in a pot, however it won"t be long and I'll need to move it into the orchid house for protection from the Summer heat. I love having mint on hand for cooking.

Spring orchids are flowering. This is the Phais Tankervilleae or Swamp Orchid, which I am thrilled to have in flower.

This yellow soft cane Dendrobium orchid is as pretty as a picture.

The Lemon Tree in a pot below has lots of small lemons on, the bees have done their work.

Warm wishes,

Pauline x

Homemade Chocolate Ganache Cake

Over the Easter break the only kind of cake that I want to make is a chocolate cake, and with lots of icing. It was our lovely friend's birthday yesterday, which was also Easter Sunday, so for her birthday I made this rich, moist cake with luscious frosting which we all enjoyed  at home after lunch accompanied by Mr. HRK's special espresso coffee. This was my first attempt at making chocolate ganache. Normally I make traditional chocolate icing, but this was a birthday celebration and Easter Sunday as well, so I thought ganache would be quite  special. It's also nice to decorate chocolate cake with raspberries don't you think, however it's not essential. I also placed some chocolate coated ginger around the edge of the cake because the birthday girl loves ginger.

When I saw this recipe in Silvia Colloca's recipe book, Love Laugh Bake!, I was captivated and had to try it. I'm on a mission to find the best chocolate cake to add to my baking repertoire, and my friends it's tough going. This one just might be it, and would be fine served just with whipped cream, traditional icing or the ganache frosting from this recipe. It's a cinch to make, and whilst not every chocolate cake needs to have dark chocolate in it's list of ingredients, yes sometimes just good quality cocoa powder will do, I think that for an elegant touch, and one that warrants becoming an impressive birthday centrepiece, this rich, moist chocolate cake is a winner. 

Let's Bake:

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

 180 g  dark chocolate chips

200 g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the tin

250 g brown sugar

4 eggs

350 g (2 1/2 cups) self-raising flour, sifted (or plain flour + 5 teaspoons very fresh baking powder)

3 tablespoons Cocoa powder, sifted

200 ml buttermilk

125 g (1 cup) raspberries

Ganache Frosting

300 ml thickened cream

300 g milk chocolate chips

100 g dark chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat your oven to 160 deg. C. and grease and line a 22-23 cm round cake

Melting the chocolate and butter:

Select a medium sized pyrex bowl that fits over a saucepan ensuring there is no space between the bowl and the rim of the saucepan. Place the chocolate and butter in the pyrex bowl, set approx. 3 cm of water in the saucepan to simmer, and then place the bowl over the simmering water. The bowl mustn't come in contact with the water, and steam mustn't enter the bowl or the chocolate may separate. (Sorry to sound bossy about this but it has happened to me.) Set aside to cool.

Mix the eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy using your electric mixer. 

Remove the bowl from the mixer. 

Sift the flour and cocoa together and add to the beaten egg mixture. Then add the buttermilk, and the cooled melted chocolate and fold this mixture to combine.

Pour the mixture into the lined baking tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. Just to be sure, test with a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.

Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, and then ease onto a wire cooling rake to cool completely. Cut the cake in half horizontally using a serrated knife, so that it can be filled in the centre with ganache a bit later, but this isn't essential.

Making the Ganache:

Pour the cream into a small saucepan and bring to simmering point on a low heat, small bubbles will start appearing and light steam will rise from the cream. Remove from the heat, then add the chocolate to the saucepan and wait for it to melt into the warm cream. 

Whisk the mixture lightly until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl, cover very tightly with cling wrap and place in the refrigerator for 60 minutes to set to a spreadable consistency. If you leave the melted chocolate in the saucepan it will take longer to set. I left the ganache in the frig for a whole morning, and it was perfect to spread on the cake in the early afternoon. Mine took longer to set than 60 minutes. We are still experiencing humidity here so the ganache started to soften quickly after being removed from the frig. and was great to work with. 

If you have cut your cake into two halves, place the bottom layer on a cake stand cut side up. Spread one-third of the frosting onto it, and scatter with half of the raspberries. Place the top layer of the cake over the raspberries, and spread the frosting over the top and around the sides. Scatter the remaining raspberries over the top of the cake.

We don't buy each other Easter eggs or chocolates anymore at Easter time, especially when we have chocolate cake to look forward to. However we managed to have some chocolate eggs delivered to our grandchildren in the Falkland Islands as part of a special grocery hamper for our sons 40th birthday just before Easter.  They all loved it. More about that story later.

Mr. HRK and I  hope you have enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing Easter with family or friends or both, wherever you are. 

Warm wishes,

Pauline