30.08.2009

r_dobos01

The Dobos Torta

Overwhelmed and drowning in work, I must say I feel quite guilty for abandoning this blog and keeping away from the kitchen for so long.

So this month I tried to get back to it, even if I still couldn’t keep up with the Daring Bakers’ reveal date.

But hey, better late than never, isn’t it?

The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus:  Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

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5 Comments

01.03.2009

r_valentino01

Bitter Valentino

I’ve been told I’m a sweet sort of person, but when it comes to Valentine’s Day… Boy, am I bitter! And as hard as I try to ignore this cursed date, hearts suddenly appear everywhere and make it impossible to bury my head in the sand. The Daring Bakers were no exception this month, with a heart shaped chocolate Valentino cake.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

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6 Comments

29.01.2009

r_tulip01

Orange mousse in chocolate tulips

Lately, work has been so crazy that I missed the December Daring Bakers, and almost missed January’s too. But after a whole month of postponing, I decided it was too good a challenge to miss, baked away until obscenely late, and hoped the sun would come out this morning for some nice photos.

This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

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13 Comments

31.08.2008

r_eclairs01

Chocolate drizzled egg cream éclairs

The night before this month’s challenge was posted, I dreamed it was going to be all about profiteroles. I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up the next morning and realised it was indeed a choux pastry recipe.

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10 Comments

08.06.2008

Chocolate Meteor Cake

Yet another chocolate birthday cake!

Truth is, tough to please birthday boy only likes chocolate cake, and even then, he’s very demanding. The brownies I made for him were a bit too dry, Claudia’s cake was a bit too strong… But I’m not one to give up.

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3 Comments

27.04.2008

Choc Overload for Cláudia

My friend Cláudia’s was 30 on Friday - Happy B’day C! - and I promised her a proper birthday cake for the dinner party. Continue reading…

5 Comments

03.01.2008

Just Brownies

My friend F. is extremely hard to please, specially when it comes to desserts. He only enjoys chocolate cake, and not all will do. So, after baking a disastrously dry chocolate cake for the Halloween party - one that would kill someone if thrown to their heads - I decided to bake him something slightly different for Christmas.

After some research I found this simple Chocolate Brownies recipe on Cooking for Engineers and gave it a go. It was fantastic on the first day, but they didn’t seem to keep very well. Is it always like this with brownies? I will have to try some other recipes and see what comes out. Still, this one is very very good if you plan on eating them straight away.

You can check the Cooking for Engineers website for step by step photos and very detailed instructions, but here’s the thick of it:

170 g dark chocolate
170 g butter
125 g all-purpose flour
300 g granulated sugar
3 large eggs
(the original recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla extract as well, but i really wanted to keep it simple, so i omitted it)

Preheat the oven to 160º C. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the butter. Stir in the sugar, then the beaten eggs and then the flour, trying not to leave any lumps. Butter and dust with flour a rectangular baking tray. Bake for about 35 minutes and cut into squares.

I love these warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream, topped up with chocolate sauce, but they are also great on their own.

3 Comments