Marian Keyes' Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

I was very excited to find out that Marian Keyes has written a cookbook, especially when I discovered the title was 'Saved by Cake'.  I think I've read all of Marian's books and I'm sure for many people, like me, Watermelon and Sushi For Beginners were a right of passage when growing up.


'Saved by Cake' obviously isn't a novel however but her warm,witty writing means you do end up reading it from cover to cover.  I have a coupe of cookery books which I constantly turn to, one being Bill Granger's 'Everyday' for dinner ideas and I can see that Marian's is going to be my baking one. I literally want to try every recipe. Her book does have a story behind it however. It is a very honest account of how Marian recently suffered from depression and how baking helped her get through it, day by day.


Marian has kindly let me share one of the recipes from the book here.  I decided to go for the Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes as they sounded like they would completely hit the spot - and they did.  Mine came out as the very pale little sisters of Marian's rather more tanned older siblings. I'm not quite sure what happened but it seems like the chocolate in mine sunk to the bottom of the cakes. Oh well, they still tasted delicious and a liberal dusting of cocoa powder, the self tan of the cake world in this case, meant they looked a little more glowing.


As this recipe contains cheese and chocolate, it's my (rather late) entry into this month's We Should Cocoa Challenge too.

The Recipe


100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
250g mascarpone cheese
200g Philadelphia full-fat cheese
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tspn vanilla extract
100g milk chocolate chips


1. Line a 12 hole cupcake tray with paper cases (or use silicone cupcake cases as I did) and preheat the overn to 150c/gas mark 2.


2. Melt the chocolate (I did mine in the microwave).  Beat the cheeses together, then add the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and beat again.  Add the melted chocolate and mix well (Marian advocates the use of a purple spatula - mine is red - spatulas at dawn?), then add in the chocolate chips so they are evenly distributed. 


3. Divide the mixture among the paper case, filling them generously as the mixture doesn't really rise.


4.  Put the cupcakes in a bain-marie and bake for 40 minutes.  Once they are cooked pour the water away and place the cupcake tray on a cooling rack. Leave fora about an hour before you take the cupcakes out of the tin then refrigerate them, overnight if possible (I lasted a couple of hours before trying one!). Serve with whipped cream or just on their own.

Chocolate & Pistachio Biscotti

This month Chele from Chocolate Teapot has chosen something 'green' for the We Should Cocoa Challenge.  I'm not a big fan of making food a deliberate colour, especially a shade as bright as green, so that ruled that option out.  I considered making something chocolately while wearing my birkenstocks but closer inspection of the rules showed that we weren't talking eco credentials for this challenge.  So after a little deliberation I decided to make something containing pistachio nuts - the greenest ingredient that came to mind.  After some Google research I came across this recipe for Chocolate and Pistachio Biscotti from the Martha Stewart website.  


I've never made biscotti before but was surprised firstly how quick they were to make and secondly how nicely they turned out.  Mr CB maintains that they had a strange aftertaste but I really wasn't getting it. I then made a friend try one and she said they just tasted of chocolate and pistachio. They are still quite soft in the middle for biscotti but this is apparently how this version should be - not as dry as the true traditional Italian ones. I didn't have quite as many pistachios as the recipe stated hence why they could be slightly greener.  The original recipe can be found here.

Chocolate Cake with a Twist

I love black beans, especially in home made soup with smoky bacon added to it.  Knowing they are good for you is an extra bonus too. That is actually a bit of an understatement - they are seriously good for you - high in fibre, folate, protein, antioxidants and vitamin B, along with numerous other vitamins and minerals. In fact in Brazil, one of the world's key black bean producers, they have even been given an exclusive place on the Brazilian Food Pyramid, which means they are essentially recommended as their own unique food group.


But I digress and the aim of this blog isn't to sound like a public health broadcast!  I am leading to the fact that I was intrigued to read about a chocolate cake containing black beans as one of the main ingredients on  the blog A Hippie with a Minivan. I had been toying with what to make for the We Should Cocoa January Challenge where this month Chele at Chocolate Teapot has set us the task of making something 'healthy' with chocolate. Things such as relatively healthy flapjacks sprung to mind but when I saw this recipe I knew it would fit the bill nicely.  While the cake does contain butter and sugar the black beans are the main ingredient, replacing flour, so also making it gluten free. The other bonus is this cake is so quick and easy to make.  It is best served warm with a nice dollop of creme fraiche (low fat of course....).


The recipe can be found here on A Hippie with a Minivan blog.

Chocolate Orange Marble Bundt Cake

I love Terry's Chocolate Orange to the point where I can eat one almost in one go on my own,  usually secluded away in a quiet corner at some point between Christmas and New Year. No one else gets a look in.  My addiction started when my late Auntie May used to give me one each Christmas as a present along with a £5 note. Every year without fail. When she sadly passed along my Mum made sure, and still does, that I always get a Chocolate Orange in my stocking.  The strange thing is that despite this absolute love of them, especially the core of chocolate that gets left in the middle, I never eat them other than at Christmas, not even the bars you can buy. In fact I can safely say that I've never even bought one. I guess however that is what makes them so delicious to me. 


I saw a display in the supermarket the other day and it got me thinking about my love of these little balls of loveliness.  I was thinking that I really should make a Chocolate and Orange cake.  Last night I realised I hadn't checked out the We Should Cocoa Challenge hosted by the very talented Choclette of the Chocolate Log Blog and when I did what joy - this month's ingredient is orange.  I think the Terry's Chocolate Orange God has been doing his magic.  I thought about melting and adding an actual Chocolate Orange to my cake but it would just ruin my anticipation of eating one at Christmas (there is no way I could cook with one and not snaffle a piece or ,who I am kidding, a half).  Instead I settled on this marble cake which is a basic plain and chocolate mix but with a twist.  To the plain half I added some orange zest and some fresh orange juice. For the chocolate mixture I added in melted Lindt Dark Orange Intense and my secret ingredient - a teaspoon of Seville Vino Cotto.  It's not so secret really as I'm telling you about it - my friend bought me a bottle as a present - it is made Maggie Beer which is an Australian company.  It is, according to the bottle, 'a bitter sweet, highly aromatic velvety syrup thick with Seville oranges'. I've previously used it in dressings and on meat but not in baking. It gave the orange flavour a real depth.  I also used a teaspoon in the ganache topping. 


I gave Mr CB, who can always be trusted for an honest opinion (still smarting that my new outfit the other day apparently made me look a glam modern hippie goth....), a slice to try.  I hadn't told him about my thought process in making it and he said, 'It tastes like the best bits of a Chocolate Orange'. That pleased me (and made me forgive said hippy comment).  My kitchen also smells amazing to boot.


The Recipe


175g Butter
175g Caster Sugar
175g Self Raising Flour
1 tbspn fresh orange juice
zest of one orange
1 tbspn cocoa powder
100g dark chocolate (Lindt dark intense orange) melted
1 tspn Seville Vino Cotto


For the ganache


100g dark chocolate 70%
225ml double cream
zest of half an orange (save some to decorate)
1tspn Seville Vino Cotto
touch of icing sugar if you prefer some sweetness


1. Preheat the oven to 180c.  Grease a bundt or normal cake tin.
2.  Cream together the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and flour.  
3.  Divide the mixture into two bowls.  Add the orange juice and half the zest to one bowl and mix well. Add the remaining zest, melted chocolate and cocoa powder to the other half and mix that together. 
4. Put alternative dollops of the mixture into the tin and swirl to marble slightly.  Bake for around 25 mins until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Remove from tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
5. To make the ganache break up the chocolate and place in a bowl. Bring the cream to the boil and pour over the chocolate.  Mix well until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Add the orange zest and Vino Cotto. 
6. Dip the cake into the ganache mixture. Decorate with some orange zest and leave to cool. 

Chocolate Chip Apple Cookies

These cookies are my entry for this month's We Should Cocoa Challenge hosted by lovely Chele at the fantastic Chocolate Teapot  blog.  The ingredient to be paired with chocolate for November is apple.  I'm not overly keen on chocolate and fruit combinations but I do like being challenged to try making something I might not normally bake.  I wanted to do Chele's challenge early this month - partly because I failed miserably to enter last's month's event and also because I'm going on holiday so won't be posting for a couple of weeks. 


I thought about making an apple and chocolate cake but it just wasn't doing it for me. I then thought about doing an apple crumble incorporating white chocolate into the topping but I'm a bit of a crumble purist.  So after some internet research I finally decided on making these cookies whose recipe I found on www.food.com.  I'd say the chocolate slightly dominates the apple but only a little bit.  The apple was grated which meant it didn't produce a soggy cookie, in fact they are very cake like.  I'm just not sure about them but it then occurred to me as I tried my second that they fit my 'Jaffa Cake theory'.  I'm just not sure either about Jaffa Cakes but every time I'm offered some I always have to have at least two to check that I still don't like them. Let's face it if you don't like something you don't go back for more so these cookies are in the same category.  I'm not wild about them but I don't dislike them. Mr CB however loves them so it is definitely just a personal thing. 

Chocolate Malteser Cake - Happy Birthday We Should Cocoa!

To celebrate the 1st Birthday of the We Should Cocoa bloggers challenge Chele at Chocolate Teapot challenged us to create a chocolate masterpiece to bring to the virtual party. I've been wanting to try a chocolate Malteser cake for ages and the girls in my office all asked demanded that I make this one after they spotted it in Woman and Home magazine. And, after all, it's a 1st birthday and let's face it such an occasion demands a chocolate cake of some description. I like the fact it requires buying a jar of Horlicks, thus necessitating me to have a cup at night without feeling too old before my time! I have to say that the plastic jars just aren't as nice as the old glass ones though. Talking of days gone by does anyone else remember Horlicks Tablets which I used to buy at Boots and eat as sweets?


So the cake - the Horlicks in the frosting definitely gives it a lovely Malteser taste - slightly salty against the sweet.  I didn't add the egg to the frosting as per the recipe as I'd run out. The cake itself is quite dense - I think it could have been slightly more chocolately.  The dense mixture also caused my poor Kenwood handmixer to go into a smoking meltdown. Who knew the flames inside would cause the plastic to actually glow yellow?! Needless to say it is has been consigned to the bin.  I was wondering what it would be like with the odd actual Maltester dotted in the batter rather than adding the Horlicks to the actual mixture?  All in all though it pretty much fits the bill and on that note - Happy 1st Birthday We Should Cocoa!


The Recipe


300g butter
300g light muscovado sugar (I ran out so used a mixture of light and dark)
5 eggs
225g self-raising flour
75g cocoa powder
3 tbspn Horlicks
200ml milk


Frosting


100g butter
125g dark chocolate (70%)
50g Horlicks
350g icing sugar
4 tbspns milk


1. Preheat the oven to 180c, gas mark 4.  Butter 2 x 20cm sandwich tins. 
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in the eggs one by one.  Then add the flour, cocoa, Horlicks and milk.  Divide between the sandwich tins. Bake for around 45 mins or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
3.  Leave the cakes to cool for about 10 mins in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack.
4. To make the frosting melt the butter, chocolate and Horlicks together in the microwave (the melted mixture has a slightly gritty texture due to the Horlicks).  Then beat in the icing sugar and milk.
5.  Assemble the cake using half the frosting for the middle and the remainder for the top of the cake. Decorate with maltesers. 

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes

I have always loved Strawberry Shortcake - it started with the doll I had as a child and then moved on to the food version. So for this month's We Should Cocoa Challenge I decided to make a chocolate version to meet their strawberry and chocolate theme. The rich cocoa biscuit works nicely with the strawberries.  I added a little rosewater to the cream too as like how it goes with the fruit. 


The Recipe


180g plain flour
60g cornflour
30g cocoa
180g unsalted butter
90g sugar
1 punnet of strawberries
100ml double cream
rosewater (optional)


1. Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4.
2. Put all ingredients in the bowl of a processor and mix until the mixture forms a ball.
3. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for half an hour.
4. Roll the mixture out thinly between 2 sheets of baking parchment/greaseproof paper. Use a 3 inch cutter to make rounds. Place on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper.
5. Prick all over with a fork (I forgot to do this but didn't seem to matter).
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Leave to cool on the tin. 
7. But a small amount of cream (whipped) on the centre of the biscuit then add sliced strawberries. Repeat until you have your stack.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Roulade

This month's We Should Cocoa Challenge was set by Chele of the brilliant Chocolate Teapot blog. Chele challenged us to create a Swiss roll or a roulade, of course containing the obligatory chocolate element. I have previously made one roulade before which was a lemon sponge version and was basically pretty awful. Let's just say if I had dropped it on my foot it would have resulted in a trip to A&E. For this reason I was a bit dubious how this challenge would work out. I also decided to put a little extra pressure on myself by making it for pudding for friends who were coming round for lunch yesterday. Having completely slept in I didn't have much time to get this ready let alone the rest of the lunch!


I found the recipe for this White Chocolate roulade which is meringue based on a magazine website. So I got out my newly bought Swiss roll tin and got going. Yes the roulade cracked when I rolled it but according to Delia that's fine and let's face it what Delia says goes. I love this recipe and was also pleased as it was my first meringue attempt too. I made a raspberry coulis which I drizzled over the roulade when I served it. In hindsight I should have taken the photo after the addition of the coulis as my poor roulade does look a bit anaemic in this picture.  I had actually planned to take a photo of a leftover slice but it all went. I blame the 3 year old who came back for seconds!


The Recipe


4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
5ml each cornflour and lemon juice
100g white chocolate, broken into pieces (I used Lindt)
200ml double cream
5ml vanilla extract
1 punnet raspberries


Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan) mark 3. Line a 33cm x 23cm (13in x 9in) shallow baking tin with parchment paper.
Put the egg whites into a large bowl and whisk until stiff but not dry. Gradually add the caster sugar, whisking all the time, until the mixture is thick and glossy. Beat in the cornflour and lemon juice until well combined.
Spoon the meringue into the prepared tin and spread out evenly. Bake for 25min until a light golden crust forms. Leave to cool in tin for 5min. Lightly dust with icing sugar a rectangle of greaseproof paper a bit larger than the baking tin, then invert the meringue on to the paper. Remove tin, leaving paper on the meringue, and leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, then remove from heat and leave to cool. Make the coulis by blending the raspberries and icing sugar until smooth. Sieve into a jug. In a medium bowl, whip the cream and vanilla until the cream just holds its shape, then fold in the cooled white chocolate.
Peel paper from the meringue, then evenly spread over the cream mixture. Sprinkle over hazelnuts and raspberries. Using the paper underneath it to help you, roll up the meringue from the short edge. Don't worry if cracks appear - they'll add to the log effect.
Transfer to a serving plate, drizzle over coulis, dust with icing sugar and serve.

Spanish Vanilla Cake

I'm not going to lie, I was a bit gutted when I saw this month's We Should Cocoa Challenge set by Choclette. The secret ingredient for April is marzipan. I loathe marzipan - the flavour, the smell, everything! However the key word in the title is 'challenge' and I was determined to try baking with it - maybe it would change my mind about the evil almond paste. I trawled the internet to find a recipe which combined marzipan and chocolate and eventually came across this one for Spanish Vanilla Cake on cooksunited.co.uk. I was with Mr CB when buying the ingredients - I didn't realise that he too has a shared dislike of marzipan, even commenting that he couldn't have a packet in the house. He is prone to exaggeration so I did ignore this comment and buy it anyway!

I ordered a bundt tin specially for this cake but it unfortunately hasn't arrived yet so I had to make do with a normal springform tin. I really like the fact that this mixture was so light due to the beaten egg whites and it does result in a great springy cake. It is very similar to those little madeleine type cakes you get in bags in Spanish (a clue in the name of the cake maybe?!) supermarkets - a little bland but strangely moreish at the same time. I would prefer this cake without the marzipan - while the flavour isn't overpowering it is definitely there. Mr CB however did manage a whole slice....

The Recipe

250g marzipan

150g sugar

1 vanilla pod

pinch salt

1 egg

6 eggs, separated

150g plain flour

50g cornflour

60g dark chocolate, roughly chopped + extra for decorating

1. Grease a springform tin and preheat the oven to 190c.

2. Whisk the marzipan with half of the sugar, the scraped out vanilla seeds, salt, egg and 6 egg yolks. Stir until creamy.

3. Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff and fold into the mixture.

4. Sieve the flour and cornflour over the batter and fold in. Finally fold in the chopped chocolate.

5. Pour the dough into the tin and bake for 60 minutes.

Flourless Chocolate Lime Cake

I decided that it was time that I did a blogger's challenge - firstly as it's a good way of making me bake something I might not usually try and secondly as all the other bloggers seem like a very friendly lot! So this recipe is for this month's We Should Cocoa challenge which is being hosted by Chele at Chocolate Teapot. The recipe this month has to include Chocolate and Lime. I was intrigued by this combination as it immediately brought back memories of eating Tilley's Chocolate Limes on car journeys as a child. I seem to remember I had a kind of love hate relationship with these sweets, not really being able to decide if I liked the combination of the two flavours. I was therefore curious to see whether many years on if if I liked this pairing any more.

I've done a Nigella recipe although I've omitted making her Margarita Cream. While I like the sound of the cream I don't have any Tequila at home - although I could have adapted it with something else it wouldn't really have been a Margarita Cream then. I was going to buy some Tequila and then remembered an encounter with Don Julio* in Mexico and thought better of it! The lime flavour in this cake is quite subtle and does cut nicely through the richness of the chocolate - I would have this over a Chocolate Lime any day!

*the tequila brand not the man!

The recipe can be found here on www.nigella.com.