Molten chocolate cakes

" These are the yummiest cakes ever, my sons favorite. Use good quality chocolate, and avoid over-cooking, to be rewarded by crispy exteriors and meltingly soft centers. Its worth making them, just to see the joy in my kids faces ..."

   

Servings : 12 small cakes, enough for 12 people

Ingredients:

•  200 grams dark cooking chocolate
• 200 grams butter
• 4 eggs
• 125 grams castor sugar
• 60 grams flour

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C
2. In a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter (for double boiling, put chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of shimmering water (a double boiler), making sure that the water does not touch the chocolate bowl. So the chocolate is melted only by the steam).
3. Take it off heat and add sugar to the chocolate/butter mix, in a slow stream, while whisking well, for almost 5 minutes (use a beater if you have)
4. Whisk eggs slightly with a fork.
5. When the chocolate mixture is at room temperature, add the eggs in 4 parts, whisking well after each addition 
6. Fold the flour slowly, a little at a time,till it is incorporated. (to fold add a spoonful of flour at a time,mixing gently with a spatula or a metal spoon in a cut and turn motion, check web for technique)
7. Pour the mixture into single cup-cake molds, till half of the mold is covered 
8. Put the cakes in the oven for 7 - 10 minutes and take it out once the outside is done and the center is still soft and gooey ( when u check the center with toothpick, should be gooey and not dry)
9. Eat immediately for the yummiest molten cake ever .......

Notes:

• Incase you want to eat the cakes later half cook the cakes initially and then put them back in the oven just before serving
• You could use coffee or Kahlua liqueur for added flavor 
• Folding, basically implies, as little mixing as possible, to ensure the lightest batter possible
• Over cooking is a big possibility, so take out when center is really really gooey and you think its undercooked. If you wait for cake center to feel cooked, then the center will not be gooey, still tasty though)

Egg-less Brownies

"For my kids school fair I volunteered to do egg-less brownies, base was my tried and tested egg-less chocolate cake recipe and went thru some 20+ brownie recipes ( egg-less, vegan etc..)  and finally wound up with an absolutely yummy and easy egg-less brownie recipe. Baked some 3 kgs of it, enjoyed by all, hope you do so too..."

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups castor sugar
• 2/3 cups cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda (use baking powder if you do not have soda)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp vinegar 
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Pre heat oven at 170 degrees centigrade
2. Take a baking tin of 9" x 13" or similar size and oil the tin well.
3. Take 1 tbsp of flour and sprinkle it over the oiled tin making sure it is well covered, remove any excess flour by inverting tin
4. Warm milk, add the vinegar and let the mixture curdle  
5. Mix all dry ingredients - flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda,salt and baking powder in a bowl
6. Add the wet ingredients- curdled milk,oil and vanilla essence to the flour mixture
7. Beat with a whisk, by hand, till just mixed (mixture will be thick and sticky, do not over beat)
8. Pour into the oiled tin and if wanted add nuts ( coated in flour), pushing them in the batter slightly
9. Bake in pre-heated oven for 25 minutes or till done, and toothpick inserted in centre, comes out slightly sticky, with a few crumbs stuck to it ( Do not over bake, else it will be dry like a cake and not fudgy like a brownie)

Note :

• This recipe, makes approximately 1 kg, of 12 pieces of 3" x 3" brownies
• If you want to add nuts, be sure to coat them with flour, else they will sink to the bottom.
• Any other additions, like chocolate chips etc., all to be coated in flour before mixing in batter or decorating on top 

Fresh orange cake

"This is the best orange cake recipe, i have found to date, tried lots with orange juice, with zest etc.  but none of them were orangy enough for me, this one where we chop a whole orange with peel and all is fabulous, do give it one try and you will be converted ..."

Servings - 10 large pieces 

Ingredients:

• 1 unwaxed orange,washed
• 150 gms Butter 
• 1 1/4 cups castor sugar 
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tbsp plain yogurt 
• 2 tbsp superfine or granulated sugar for topping Or to taste 

Method:

All ingredients should be at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit / 170 degrees Celsius  
2. Butter a cake tin- loaf and put in fridge
3. cut the orange in half, save the other half for the topping
4. Cut the half in 8 pieces removing pips , process the orange into very small pieces 
5. Beat butter, sugar and chopped orange for 2 minutes till fluffy, with an electric beater, do not overbeat
6. Sieve flour,baking powder,soda and salt
7. Break the eggs into the bowl  add the flour mixture , add the milk and the yogurt and beat on low speed for 1 minute till  well mixed
8. Put the mixture in the buttered baking pan
9. Bake for 50 minutes till done ,test skewer is clean when inserted in the middle of cake
10. make topping - squeeze out the juice from the other half of the orange, add sugar (to taste) and stir to make a thick glaze
11. While the cake is still hot prick the entire loaf with a toothpick,spoon the orange syrup over the whole cake
12. Cool completely and take out of tin

Variations:

For a chocolaty twist , fold into cake batter chocolate bits (100 grams)before putting the mixture in the oven. i.e. after step seven.

Marble Cake - Chocolate & Vanilla

"This is one yummy moist cake, top with chocolate ganache for a more decadence..."

Servings - 12 large pieces

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cup / 310 grams flour                  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 200 grams Butter
• 75 grams chocolate (chopped to bits) 
• 1 tbsp Cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 cup hot milk
• 1 3/4 cup / 350 grams sugar
• 4 eggs 
• 2 tsp Vanilla essence 

Method:

All ingredients at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit / 160 degrees Celsius  
2. Butter a cake tin- bundt / ring / loaf and put in fridge
3. Whisk flour,baking powder,soda and salt
4. Melt over hot water - 2 tbs spoon butter, cocoa and chocolate till smooth
5. Beat butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes till fluffy, with an electric beater
6. Beat in eggs one at a time,take care do not over beat , beat only till eggs are incorporated 
7. Add vanilla extract and stir gentle or beat once
8. On low beater speed or fold flour and hot milk alternatively starting and ending with flour (flour - milk - flour - milk - flour )
9. Take half the mixture and put it in the buttered baking pan
10. Fold chocolate to remaining mixture and pour over the white mixture in pan
11. With a knife gently swirl through pan twice not more 
12. Bake for 40 minutes till done ,test skewer is clean when inserted in the middle of cake

Variations :

For a Red velvet- Vanilla Marble cake, delete the chocolate pieces substitute with one tbsp Red color.