My Favourite Chocolate Recipe

Here is my favourite chocolate cake recipe.

prep time - 15 mins

cook time - 30 mins

serves 12

Ingredients:
cake-
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 cups of sugar
- 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of instant coffee powder
- 1 cup of milk
- 1/2 cup of vegetable or canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1 cup of boiling water
icing-
- 1 1/2 cups of softened butter
- 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 cups of icing/confectioners sugar
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of salt

Method:
cake-
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F / 176 degrees celsius. Prepare 2 9-inch cake      pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering

- Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso  powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine  or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined  well.

- Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on  medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling  water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to  the batter.

- Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for  30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out  clean.

- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from  the pan and cool completely.

icing-
- Add cocoa to a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer. Whisk through to remove  any lumps.

- Cream together butter and cocoa powder until well combined.

- Add vanilla extract and salt and combine well.

- If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until it  reaches the right consistency. If it appears to wet and does not hold its form,  add more confectioner’s sugar, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right  consistency.

- Ice the cake by spreading icing on top of one of the cakes and put the other cake on top.ice the cake normally now.



ENJOY!! :)

slow cooked red lentil soup recipe

Slow Cooked Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

- 2 teaspoons of olive oil

- 1 brown onion, diced

- 2 carrots, diced

- 2 celery stalks, diced

- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

- 4 cm piece of garlic, peeled and           finely chopped

- 3 teaspoons of ground cumin

- 3 teaspoons of ground coriander

- 1 1/2 cups of red lentils

- 1 liter of vegetable stock

- warmed naan  bread

Method:

Step 1: Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add cumin and coriander. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Transfer to the bowl of a 5.5 litre slow cooker.

Step 2: Add lentils, stock and 2 cups cold water. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with lid. Cook on low for 4 hours or until thickened.

Step 3: Divide between serving bowls. Serve with naan bread.

Quinoa stir-fry with winter vegetables

In the Southern Hemisphere it's winter right now and is actually very cold so as soon as I get home from school all I want to do is curl up with some nice warm food and a good book. Here is a recipie of something you can cook

Quinoa stir-fry with winter vegetables

Ingredients:

-          200g quinoa

-          5tbsp olive oil

-          2 garlic cloves, finly chopped

-          3 carrots, cut into thin sticks

-          300g leeks, sliced

-          300g broccoli, cut into small florets

-          100g sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped

-          200ml vegetable stock

-          2tsp tomato puree

-          Juice of 1 lemon

Method:

1.      Cook the quinoa according to the pack instruction. Meanwhile, heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a wok or large pan, then add the garlic and quickly fry for 1 min. Throw in the carrots, leeks and broccoli, then stir-fry for 2 mins until everything is glistening.

2.      Add the sundried tomatoes, mix together the stock and tomato purée, and then add to the pan. Cover, then cook for 3 mins. Drain the quinoa, then toss in the remaining oil and the lemon juice. Divide between warm plates and spoon the vegetables on top.

Vegemite chocolate review

Hey guys,
Sorry I have been away for awhile but I have been caught up with other things but now I have time to continue this blog. I have decided to review Cadbury's limited edition vegemite chocolate. 

We know chocolate mixes with things. It works definitively with peanut butter. It works with caramel, nuts, fruit. But Vegemite? In practice, even though it sounds weird, Vegemite Cadbury is alright, but not great. At first I liked it, but then again, it just tastes like someone put straight Vegemite into a caramel wonderland, and it’s a bit weird. The salty nature of it all is a good fit with the sweet caramel, but at the same time it isn’t as satisfying as the equally savoury melted butter. And sometimes I think it’s spread a bit too heavily internally. It’s sort of sickly, in a way. It tastes odd.

As well, the caramel is equally out of whack thanks to the combo. It’s gooey, and the Vegemite is texturally out of place. But it reminds me a bit of mixing honey with Vegemite, which is an equally odd, though fun mix. I’d actually prefer Honey and Vegemite on warm toast to this, though that’s not really fair.

Maybe if the chocolate was warmed up, this would be cool. And if I were to choose, I might try it again, but it wouldn’t really go into my rotation. Chocolate and Vegemite are weird, as they should be. So I would rate it 3/5 stars. It is not the greatest Cadbury product bio would recomend it to someone who likes very salty food. 

I hope to post again soon!!

Nicole <3

Welcome to my blog!!!

Hi,
My name is Nicole Vandenberg and I live in Australia. I have started this blog so I can share my passion of baking to the world instead of just my friends. I hope that you all enjoy baking just as much as I do so we can show the world that baking is serious business.

I shall be posting approximately 1-2 times a week to share my recipies with you, talk about them and give you my friends (test subjects) reviews on how they tasted.

If you have any suggestions of what I should bake next contact me at,
Email: Nicole.a.vandenberg@gmail.com
Twitter: @bakingislife0

Stay tuned for my next post,
Many thanks,
Nicole <3