Category: baking

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Seriously decadent chocolate brownies

I asked a foodie group on FB to suggest a dessert that would travel easily as we were going to my brother in Tel Aviv via the train.

One of the suggestions was Nigella Lawson brownies.

I googled and found this recipe.

Now, I have to admit, I have never made regular* ‘from scratch’ brownies. I’ve always used a box mix. Never again! I am never ever buying box mix brownies again. These were so easy and so amazingly yummy! Will definitely be making them again and again. And again!

Seriously decadent chocolate brownies
Yields 32
I used slightly different quantities, mainly because they are the amounts I had available. And it turned out ok, so I am giving you what I used. If you prefer, click on the link above for the original recipe.
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
45 min
Ingredients
  1. 250g softened margerine (I used marge since I wanted my dessert to be dairy free)
  2. 300g dark, milk free chocolate
  3. 6 large eggs
  4. splash of vanilla extract
  5. 500g caster sugar (I used brown sugar that I whizzed in the blender to make it fine like caster sugar)
  6. 225g flour
  7. pinch of salt
  8. 300g chopped walnuts
Instructions
  1. In a large pan, over a low heat or in a double boiler, melt the margarine and chocolate (break the chocolate into squares so it melts evenly).
  2. While that is melting mix your eggs, sugar and vanilla in a separate bowl.
  3. Check on your butter and chocolate and give it a stir to make sure that it is melting properly.
  4. Measure out your flour and add the pinch of salt.
  5. Once your marge and chocolate are melted remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
  6. While it is cooling, throw the walnuts into the blender and whiz until they are mostly chopped finely, leaving a few larger chunks if you like.
  7. Now, add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture while beating with a hand held beater or in your mixer, the reason you are beating while pouring is so that the eggs don’t scramble in the hot chocolate.
  8. Once that is mixed together well, add the flour a bit at a time until it is completely mixed in.
  9. Lastly mix or fold in the walnuts.
  10. In a deep pan lined with baking paper, pour in your mixture.
  11. There will be mixture that doesn’t fit in the pan (regardless of how big the pan is, there WILL be left over mixture), make sure your kids are not around and using a spoon or spatula, scoop all that left over mixture into your mouth, thank me later!
  12. Bake the brownies at 180°C for about 25 minutes. The top of the brownies will look pale and slightly bubbly.
  13. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for an hour or so.
  14. Slice the brownies straight in the pan, you should get about 32 pieces.
  15. Serve with whipped dairy free cream and enjoy.
Notes
  1. Oh! These are even better the next day, if any of them survive that long!
Adapted from Nigella Lawson
Adapted from Nigella Lawson
A Bit of This A Bit of That https://gnatj.com/

*I have made ‘from scratch’ Pesach brownies but thats not really the same…

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The Melktert Saga

If you follow me on Facebook you would have seen that for Shavuot I was going to make a melktert (this one from FB). Well I did, except it did not set. The custard part is supposed to set enough that you can cut the tart into slices. Mine was still liquid enough that you had to eat it with a spoon in a bowl.

So I was chatting to some friends about it and they suggested that I freeze it and make ice cream, so I popped it into the churner and a yummy melktert ice cream was born.

Below is the recipe I used, I’m not sure if it was the recipe itself, the fact that I did it on the stove top and not the microwave or if it was the ingredients (Israeli not South African) I used that caused it not to set, so if you want to try it out as a traditional melktert give it a go, if it does not set then carry on with the freezing/churning part and make it into an ice cream like I did.

Melktert (Ice Cream)
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
3 hr
Total Time
3 hr 20 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
3 hr
Total Time
3 hr 20 min
Base
  1. 125g
  2. 85g melted butter
Filling
  1. 1 can condensed milk
  2. 1 can milk
  3. 2 cans hot water
  4. 2 tablespoons butter
  5. 4 eggs
  6. 6 tablespoons corn starch
  7. pinch of salt
  8. cinnamon
Base
  1. Crush the biscuits either by placing in a zip lock bag and smashing with a rolling pin or by pulsing in a blender until the biscuits are crumbs.
  2. Mix the melted butter into the biscuits.
  3. Press the mixture into a greased dish and either bake for 8 min on 180°C or chill in the fridge for an hour.
Filling
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a microwave proof bowl.
  2. Place in microwave on high for 7 minutes, remove and beat.
  3. Microwave for 5 minutes, remove and beat.
  4. Microwave for 3 minutes, remove and beat.
  5. This could be where I went wrong, I didn’t have a microwaveable bowl so I heated the custard on the stove, stirring continuously for about 25 minutes. It did thicken quite a bit.
  6. Let the custard cool down, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t form a skin, alternatively cover the custard with cling wrap on the surface so the skin cant form.
  7. Once cool, pour into the dish over the back of a spoon so you don’t break the biscuit base.
  8. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top.
  9. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours so the custard sets.
Ice Cream (If your custard didn’t set this is the point where you turn it into ice cream)
  1. Pour the unset custard into your churner and churn as per instructions.
  2. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer proof bowl,cover and freeze until hard.
  3. If you don’t have a churner you can place the custard into a freezer proof bowl, cover and freeze for at least three hours, remove every hour or so and mix well so ice crystals don’t form.
  4. I scraped the biscuit base into the churner at the very beginning, you can leave out the base and crumble it on top after the ice cream is made or you can add half to the churner and half over the top later, totally up to you.
Notes
  1. I am going to attempt a new recipe for the melktert so watch this space!
A Bit of This A Bit of That https://gnatj.com/
Posted on

Pesach Chocolate Brownie Cake

Pesach Chocolate Brownie Cake
Pure decadence! This cake comes out with a soft gooey centre and a thin crispy top. It is very very rich and very very delicious.
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
25 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
25 min
Ingredients
  1. 250g dark parve chocolate
  2. 1 large egg, beaten
  3. 1 cup potato flour
Instructions
  1. Break the chocolate into pieces and slowly melt it over a low heat.
  2. Once the chocolate is almost completely melted, take it off the heat.
  3. While continuously, briskly, stirring the chocolate, add the beaten egg. Make sure to stir fast so that the egg doesn’t cook!
  4. Add the potato flour and combine.
  5. Transfer the ‘dough’ into a small, low sided pan.
  6. Bake for 12- 15 minutes at 180°C.
Notes
  1. Serve with cold custard or vanilla ice cream.
A Bit of This A Bit of That https://gnatj.com/
Posted on

Free* Banana Bread

*Free from eggs, gluten, milk, sugar.

So its Pesach, that means no flour and since Paul is diabetic I cant use sugar either.

I found {this} recipe on a FB food forum and I have tweeked it a little to suit us.

Ingredients

  • 1 large bunch of (over)ripe bananas
  • 2 cups chopped walnuts (I bought walnuts in their shells, my kids said they are not REAL if they are already shelled, I dont have a nut cracker, I improvised with a heavy bottomed pan and went all HULK SMASH on the poor walnuts, it was fun!)
  • 2 cups potato flour
  • 1 cup chopped dates
  • pinch of salt (I forgot about the salt, oh well)

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Method

  • Peel and mash the bananas.
  • Chop up your shelled walnuts, I blitzed them in a small food processor.
  • Pit your dates and cut or shred them into small pieces.
  • Add bananas, potato flour, walnuts, dates and salt in a bowl.
  • Mix until just combined.
  • Place in an appropriate sized loaf tin.
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes at 180ºC
  • Enjoy hot with butter slathered on!

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Pesach Rolls

Pesach, a time of matza, horseradish and lots of yummy food.

We decided to have cold meat for lunch today but the kids wanted rolls.

So I grabbed some matzo meal and made the yummiest rolls.

Ingredients

2 x cups matzo meal
1/2 x cup oil
1 and 1/2 cup boiling water
Teaspoon salt
Teaspoon sugar
4 x eggs, beaten

Method

Heat oven to 190C and grease a baking tray.
Add all dry ingredients to a mixing bowl.
Add the boiling water and the oil and mix.
Allow to cool.
Once cool add the eggs and mix.
Divide into six portions and place on baking tray.
Bake for 40 minutes.

And that’s it. They were very light and fluffy and went well with the cold meat and horseradish.

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Babke

Babke is a traditional Eastern European Jewish cinnamon bread.

Since it is a cold and miserable Jozi afternoon I thought a slight of warm babke, slathered in butter and a cup of tea would go down nicely.

And it did 😉

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 125g butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • cinnamon
  • 4 blobs of butter

Method

  • Set oven to 190°C and grease a loaf tin.
  • Mix the half cup brown sugar and the cinnamon together and set aside.
  • Beat eggs, sugar and salt until thick.
  • Heat butter and milk and add to the egg mixture.
  • Add flour and baking powder one cup and teaspoon at a time and mix well.
  • Pour half the mixture into the greased tin and then layer half the cinnamon and sugar mix over.
  • Pour the remainder of the mixture into the tin and sprinkle the remainder of the cinnamon and sugar mix over the top.
  • Press 4 blobs of butter into the top of the babke.
  • Bake for 45min.

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Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I got a hankering to bake dessert for tonight and to make something I had never done before.

I found a tin of diabetic friendly pineapple pieces and voila! Pineapple upside down cake was googled.

I found a really really easy recipe on Nigella Lawson‘s site.  You can see the original recipe over here.

I adjusted the recipe a little since I wanted it to be totally diabetic friendly (and also milk free).

Ingredients

  • Butter (for greasing) – I used spray and cook
  • 2 tablespoons sugar – I used Simply Delish Suki Sweetener that I bought at Dischem
  • 6 slices canned pineapple in juice (plus 3 tablespoons of the juice) – I had the tin of diabetic friendly pieces.
  • 11 glace cherries – I just used enough to make it look nice
  • 100g plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 100g soft butter – I used dairy free margerine
  • 100g caster sugar – again, I used the Suki sweetener
  • 2 large eggs

IMG_2380

Method

  • Heat the oven to 200°C and coat a 23cm cake tin with the butter or Spray & Cook.  Nigella says not to use a springform or loose base tin.  I only had a larger silicone ‘tin’.  Next time I will use a smaller tin.
  • Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar or Suki on the greased base, I sprinkled it around then swooshed the tin around so it was spread evenly.

IMG_2379

  • Arrange your pineapple slices on top of the sugar and place a cherry inside each piece and in between slices.  I mosaic-ed the pieces of pineapple and dropped cherries randomly between them.
  • Place flour, baking powder, bicarb, butter, remaining sugar/Suki and eggs into a bowl and beat until smooth.
  • Add the 3 tablespoons of pineapple juice to the batter and mix well.
  • Gently pour the batter over the pineapples and cherries, it really will only juuuuust cover them so be gently when you spread it around.
  • Bake for 30 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and immediately ease a knife or spatula around the edge of the cake, place a plate or cake stand on top and quickly turn it upside down.

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Enjoy!

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Chocolate fudge cake

Holy moly!

This is the second time I have made this cake and it is phenomonawesome!

Ingredients

  • ½ cup margerine, softened
  • 2 cups sugar (I used a sugar replacement so this is supposedly diabetic friendly)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup cocoa
  • 2 ¼ cups flour
  • 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 1 box chocolate chips (the original recipe didnt have this but I thought, what the hell, I have them, lets see what happens)

Method

  • Heat oven to 180°C.
  • Cream marge and sugar.
  • Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
  • Add cocoa and baking powder and salt, mix.
  • Add half a cup of water, mix.
  • Add 1 cup flour, mix.
  • Add half a cup water, mix.
  • Add 1 cup flour, mix.
  • Add remaining water and flour and mix well.
  • Add in the choc chips and combine gently.
  • Pour into a greased large springform tin.
  • Bake for 30 – 40 minutes.  The longer you bake the less gooey the middle will be.

 

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Peanut Butter, Nutella, Choc Chip, Fudge!

Ok, once you have stopped drooling over the title of this post, take a look at the recipe below!

I found the original over here.

Ingredients

  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup Nutella – I used the Pick n Pay Hazelnut Chocolate Spread (Its the closest one to Nutella I have ever tasted and its about a third of the price)

choc spread

 

  • 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed (I used light brown sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used my home made extract)
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch salt, optional and to taste
  • 170 grams dark chocolate, chopped (I used about half a box of dark chocolate chips)

Method

  • Using a hand beater (or stand mixer) combine the egg, Nutella, peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla and beat to cream ingredients for about 5 minutes. 
  • Add the flour, baking soda and salt.
  • Mix until combined.
  • Add the chocolate chips and using a wooden spoon mic until just combined.
  • Scoop out batter roughly the diameter of a R5 coin and using your hands squeeze into balls. They will be very oily!
  • Place on a sprayed baking tray.  About 5cm apart or about 6/8 balls per tray.
  • Place your trays in the fridge for no less than 2 hours.
  • Once chilled, set you oven to 180°C and bake each tray for 10 minutes.

iphone pics 116

Enjoy with a cup of coffee or a glass of cold milk!

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Scones and jam and cream! Oh my!

Yesterday I met up with some twitter ladies at the Irene Dairy Farm.

What a lovely place.  The kids had a blast!

I didnt take any photos because we were all having so much fun I didnt even think about taking my phone out…

What I did do is buy some of their famous fresh cream.

OMG! How delish…  Think and yummy, I just had to make some fresh scones this morning to go with it.

I found the scone recipe over here, I love this site, they deliver exactly what they promise: A South African guide to simple, tasty recipes!

Recipe

  • 2 x cups sifted flour
  • ½ x teaspoon salt
  • 4 x teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 x tablespoons marge
  • ¾ x cup milk

Method

  • Mix dry ingredients.
  • Add wet ingredients.
  • Mix together until they form a loose dough.
  • Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed for a few minutes.
  • Flatten the dough out and cut rounds using a glass.
  • Bake at 240ºC for about 7 minutes – I didnt read that properly and baked for about 10 minutes at 180°C.

scones

 

Enjoy with fresh cream and a dollop of strawberry jam 🙂