Oreo Cupcakes

For the Chocolate Cupcakes:

Dry ingredients

• 1 1/3 of a cup of cocoa powder
• 2 ½ cups of flour
• 2 1/4 cups of white sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 ¼ of a teaspoon of salt

Wet ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 of a  cup of  warm water
• 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups  of milk
• 2/3 of a cup of coffee
• 2/3 of a cup of vegetable oil

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Grease your muffin tins
3. In two separate bowls, mix your dry ingredients in one and the wet ingredients in another
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix them with a hand mixer (or do it old school and get your wooden spoon out)
5. Pour the batter in your muffin cups (about half to 3/4 of the way full.. mine rosse like crazy)
6. Bake for about 15 minutes (stab them with a knife and make sure it comes out smooth just to be sure) and them cool before icing

For the Oreo Icing

Please note I suck at measuring things and I always encourage you to taste as you go. I made wayyyy too much icing but, this is APPROXIMATELY how much of what I used:

• 100 grams of Philadelphia cream cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons of softened butter
• 3/4- 1 cup of ground oreos (plus full oreos left aside for garnish)
• 3 tablespoons of icing sugar 

Once you have iced your cupcakes, garnish them with an oreo cut in half! Ohm nom. 

Chocolate Milkshake

2 cups of chilled full milk

3 scoops of chocolate ice cream

3 teaspoons of chocolate sauce

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of cocoa powder

Whipped cream

Blend & top with whipped cream!

Double Chocolate Cookies

1 cup of flour

1/2 a cup of cocoa powder

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 a teaspoon of salt

1/2 a cup of softened butter

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup of baking chocolate (melted)

1/4 a cup of dark chocolate (coarsely chopped)

1/4 of a cup of white chocolate (coarsely chopped)

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius & line your cookie tray with paper.
2. Combine the butter, sugar and vanilla extract and mix well before adding beaten eggs. Slowly add in the melted chocolate.
3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder.
4. Combine the separate mixtures and then add the chopped chocolate.
5. Drop the cookies on the sheet (about 2 tablespoons of dough each and 3 inches apart).
6. Bake them for about 15 minutes.
7. Brag to all of your friends that your cookies taste better than the ones at Starbucks. 

Chocolate Fondant Cake

1/2 a cup of dark chocolate

1/2 a cup of butter

1 cup of icing sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

6 tablespoons of flour

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius (425 Fahrenheit) 
2. Melt the chocolate and butter and whisk together the mixture (don't burn it!)
3. Beat the eggs until they are frothy and add them along with sugar and mix well before adding the flour.
4. Grease your muffin cups or ramekins before filling them 3/4 of the way up with the fondant mix. 
5. Bake them for about 11 minutes and let them sit for a moment before gently flipping them and serving.  
6. Top them with fruit and or whipped cream!

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Icing

A heavenly recipe from Spinach Tiger

Ingredients

• 3⅓ cups all purpose flour
• ⅔ cups Hershey’s dark chocolate unsweetened cocoa powder
• ⅔ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1⅓ cup brown sugar
• 1⅓ cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces butter (3 sticks)
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 5 eggs
• FROSTING INGREDIENTS
• ½ cup dark chocolate cocoa
• ½ cup regular unsweetened cocoa
• 5 cups confectioner’s sugar 5
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces butter (2 sticks)
• 4 tablespoons cream cheese

Instructions

1. Sift together cocoa, flour, baking soda, salt into a bowl.
2. Put flour mixture all the rest of the ingredients in mixer and mix for 3 minutes.
3. Pour into cupcake pans or three cake pans.
4. Bake at 350. Cupcakes take between 15-20 minutes. Mini bundt cakes take 20-25 minutes. One large cake takes between 50-55 minutes. Layer cakes take anywhere from 35-50 minutes.
5. FROSTING INSTRUCTIONS
6. Mix together butter and cream cheese. Add salt and confectioner’s sugar and mix well. Pour in heavy cream which will begin to thin the frosting. Once the frosting is at the consistency you like, add in vanilla and mix until done. You can make the frosting a day ahead, cover with plastic and once ready to frost cakes, take out for 30 minutes.
7. NOTE: This makes ample frosting, but I always double this recipe because I like to use a lot of frosting.

Chocolate Loaf Drizzled with Jam

• 1 cup of butter softened
• 1 and 2/3 of a cup of dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 100 grams of baking chocolate melted
• 1 and 1/3 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of boiling water
• 3 tablespoons of marmelade 
• 1 tablespoon of water

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius 
2. Combine the eggs, butter, sugar, melted chocolate and vanilla
3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda & salt and slowly add the two mixtures with the boiling water
4. Pour the batter into greased baking pans and bake for about 30 minutes
5. In a bowl with the tablespoon of hot water, mix in the marmelade and drizzle it over the cake

Oreo Milkshake

• 6 Oreo cookies
• 1 and 1/2 cups of milk
• 2 large scoops of vanilla ice cream
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup

BLEND!

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

For the Cake:

• 4 handfulls of fresh raspberries

Dry ingredients

• 1 1/3 of a cup of cocoa powder
• 2 ½ cups of flour
• 2 1/4 cups of white sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 ¼ of a teaspoon of salt

Wet ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 of a  cup of  warm water
• 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups  of milk
• 2/3 of a cup of coffee
• 2/3 of a cup of vegetable oil

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Grease your baking pans
3. In two separate bowls, mix your dry ingredients in one and the wet ingredients in another
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix them with a hand mixer (or do it old school and get your wooden spoon out)
5. Pour the batter in your 2 cake pans
6. Bake for about 30 minutes and let cool before icing

For the Icing:

• 1/2 a stick of room temperature butter
• 2/3 of a cup of icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons of tepid water
• 1/4 of a cup of cocoa powder

(Line the centre of the cake with raspberries and garnish the top with them as well)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cups of flower
• 1/2 a cup of white sugar
• 1 cup of packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 of a cup of unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 2 cups of chocolate cut into chunks

1. Preheat the oven to 165 degrees Celsius 
2. Grease a baking sheet
3. Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ingredients - including the sugar - into another bowl. Then slowly combine them.
4. Place balls of dough about 3 inches appart

Chocolate Chunk & Macadamia Nut Cookies

• 3 cups of flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 tablespoons of baking soda
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of sea salt
• 280 grams of butter 
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups of chocolate (cut into large chunks)
• 1 1/2 cups of chopped macadamia nuts

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius
2. In a bowl, combine the softened butter, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs and nuts
3. In another, mix together the baking soda, powder, flour and salt
4. Slowly combine the two bowls and add in the chocolate chunks
5. On a baking sheet, place a tablespoon of dough 2 inches appart
6. Bake for about 13 minutes

Caramel Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

Today Alvaro came over to do another interview for Radio Frontier for the food show, Hot Stuff, and I made him yummy hot chocolate. Aside from the fact that I was pretty sick and had spent most of the day in a dressing gown, looking like garbage, and of course, ended up sounding like a man for the interview, we had a good time.

For two mugs...
You will need:

• 2 cups of milk
• 1 deciliter (100 ml) of hot chocolate powder
• 2 heaping tablespoons of Nutella
• Salt
• Caramel
• Optional: whipped cream and chocolate

Directions: 

1. In a saucepan, pour in your two cups of milk

 Tip: I am pretty terrible with measurements so I usually fill up the mugs I am going to use to measure the milk. I fill them about 3/4 of the way up with the milk before adding it to the saucepan... yet somehow, I always make too much.

2. Add hot chocolate powder and nutella to the milk
3. Put in a pinch of salt (weird, I know... but sooo good)
4. Stir until well mixed and warm
5. With a spoon, rub caramel all around the inside of your mugs
6. Pour in your hot chocolate (I find it easiest and cleanest to do this with a funnel)
7. Garnish with whipped cream, grated chocolate and caramel

And thennn I spent the rest of the evening wallowing in self pity with a hot water bottle, a frightening amount of tissues... the dressing gown returned. Obviously, I was really attractive. But hey, my friend Oliver showed me a pretty fabby song. So I can't complain.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I have no idea why I always thought this was difficult to do, maybe strawberries dipped in chocolate just have a fancy connotation. But this is the easiest dessert to make and is utterly delicious.

• 1/2 a cup of any chocolate you'd like (I use milk chocolate)
• 1 & 1/2 cups of strawberries

1. Wash your strawberries and leave them to dry on a paper towel. Make sure they are dry before you dip them in the chocolate
2. Melt the chocolate on a low heat in the microwave at 40 second intervals, stirring in between
3. Do this until the chocolate is smooth and fully melted
4. Dip each strawberry half way, feel free to use a teaspoon to make the dip line smooth and straight  if you'd like
5. Set to cool on a foil sheet and leave in the fridge
6. Peel off the foil carefully once the chocolate has fully solidified and serve!

Chocolate Strawberry Cake

For the Strawberries:

I made about 15 chocolate covered strawberries but you can serve as many as you'd like.

This is so easy to do, all you need is a block of good quality chocolate and washed strawberries. Warm your chocolate in the microwave (taking it out frequently after very short intervals and stirring), dip the strawberries in and let them sit on a sheet of foil and place them in the fridge to cool.

For the Cake:

• 3 hand fulls of fresh strawberries

Dry ingredients

• 1 1/3 of a cup of cocoa powder
• 2 ½ cups of flour
• 2 1/4 cups of white sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 ¼ of a teaspoon of salt

Wet ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 of a  cup of  warm water
• 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups  of milk
• 2/3 of a cup of coffee
• 2/3 of a cup of vegetable oil

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Grease your baking pans
3. In two separate bowls, mix your dry ingredients in one and the wet ingredients in another
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix them with a hand mixer (or do it old school and get your wooden spoon out)
5. Pour the batter in your 2 cake pans
6. Bake for about 30 minutes and let cool before icing

For the Icing:

• 1/2 a stick of room temperature butter
• 2/3 of a cup of icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons of tepid water
• 1/4 of a cup of cocoa powder

The middle is full of icing and sliced strawberries, very yummy!

Carl liked his cake :)