Molten-ish Chocolate Cake

The other day I was craving a chocolate dessert and I came across this recipe on Food 52 for an ooey gooey molten-ish chocolate cake. The article begins by explaining how difficult molten chocolate cakes can be to unmold and then goes on to say that the authors have created a foolproof recipe. It seemed like the perfect Friday night dessert.

Roasted Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Did you know you could eat roasted buckwheat kernels without cooking them? I didn’t. I bought a bag at Bulk Barn and when I opened it, the smell was so delicious that I just had to try one. Surprisingly, it was soft enough to crunch into!

That’s when I knew I had to use them in a dessert recipe.

Snack Attack: Two-Ingredient Thin Mints

I never remember when girl-guide cookie season is, but I do know I can easily polish off a box of thin mints in one sitting.  

Well, now, girl-guide cookie season can be whenever you want it!  And all it takes is two ingredients:

Five Minute Chocolate Cake (With Two Ingredient Chocolate Frosting)

I love this cake recipe.  It has so many things going for it.  First of all, if you use a kitchen scale, you can avoid all measuring cups.  Second, it only uses one bowl and one whisk.  

And of course, it’s fast.  So fast that you might be done making it before the oven is done preheating. 

Chocolate Stout Caramel Sauce

The Holidays are over and we’re back plodding through seemingly never ending weeks of work.  Maybe you’re lucky enough to be going on a tropical vacation soon, but the rest of us Canadians have no warmth in sight.  It’s time for comfort in a major way.

Torta Caprese (Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake)

A couple weeks ago, we decided it was probably time to change to winter tires.  I offered to go with Alex; we could get brunch while waiting for the car and make a morning of it.  So we woke up early on a Saturday and made our way there.  We knew there was trouble as soon as the guy at the desk couldn’t find our name on the list.  Apparently our appointment was incorrectly booked for the day before, and we were stuck with no car, hoping that it would at least get done before closing at 7pm.  

Chocolate Cherry Almond Galette

When I was little, I liked to hang out in my older sister’s room and look at all her things. They always seemed so grown up and cooler than what I had.  She had a bookshelf with books (of course), but also knickknacks, little figurines, and photographs.  

Game of Thrones: House Targaryen Cake

The third and last in my series of cakes dedicated to the main houses of Game of Thrones. See my Stark Family cake here and my Lannister cake here.  

Possible spoiler alert!

Game of Thrones: House Stark Cake

In honour of tonight’s Game of Thrones Season 4 premiere, I present a series of cakes for some of the main GoT families.  I have tried not to spoil anything, but just in case here is a SPOILER ALERT.  

Spicy Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies

So remember these spicy pecans?  I put them into cookies.  I warned you this was coming.

S'mores Cookies

I feel like grad school has made me a pessimist.  Usually while doing experiments, I assume that they won’t work.  This means that if they don’t, I won’t be disappointed, and if they do, I will be pleasantly surprised.  Sometimes I do the same thing in life.
 

Dark Chocolate Cherry Cookies

I’ve been having a heck of a time at work lately.  Nothing seems to be going my way.  And when the sun is shining outside and I am juicing lemons, roasting strawberries, or spreading/arranging brightly coloured fruit on sweet crusts, it just feels ironic. 

Sometimes you need a dark and stormy dessert to go with your dark and stormy mood.  

Chocolate Pots De Crème (With Olive Oil and Sea Salt)

On the way back home from our trip to Strasbourg last week, we had to spend a night in Paris because of the odd flight schedule.  Yeah, we HAD to.  What a terrible life. 

Fever-Worthy Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Last Monday I came home feeling a bit under the weather.  But like any adult, I pushed through; I went to work on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Tuesday I even went for a last training run before the big 10k race on Sunday.  By Thursday morning I knew something was more seriously wrong, but I took a Tylenol and went to work.  My boss’s birthday was the next day and last year I had made a cake for the lab in celebration.  I couldn’t do any worse this year.

I left work early but still went to the grocery store and bought all the cake-making necessities.  Chocolate is my boss’s favourite, so this cake was going to be intensely chocolaty.  By the time the cake was baked and cooled and the filling was made my fever had sky-rocketed.  Would a normal person have stopped and called someone else from the lab to buy a cake?  I don’t know, because that person is not me.  I am a baker, and I can’t allow store-bought cake for a lab celebration!

I almost gave up when the original frosting recipe I tried turned into a weird gloopy mess.  But I turned to my staple chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and forged on.  The final step: a chocolate fudge layer for the center and to swirl on the outside. 

Oh man, this was good.  This was so worth it.  With the heat radiating off my body and my throat screaming with pain at every swallow, I ate cake scraps with this chocolate fudge topping.  Finally, chocolate curls on top and I was done.  I pulled the covers up to my chin and sweated through the night. 

The next day I somehow carried the cake to lab.  My mission was complete.  I couldn’t even wait until the big unveiling.  I went to the clinic and was diagnosed with strep throat.  Just in time for the weekend, and definitely no racing on Sunday.  But the cake was done and I still had leftover fudge topping at home.  Life was not that bad.

Fever-Worthy Chocolate Fudge Topping
From The Best of Fine Cooking: Chocolate

3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 cup granulated sugar
4 oz unsweetened chocolate

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt over a double boiler or in 30 second bursts in the microwave, stirring after each interval. 

Combine evaporated milk and sugar in a blender and blend until the sugar has dissolved (to check, see that there are no grainy bits when you dip your finger in and rub).  Add the melted chocolate and blend until thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. 

That’s it!  The sauce will thicken a little more upon standing.  Can be used to fill, frost, or ice cakes or cupcakes, can be drizzled over ice cream, or used for dipping fruit or crackers.  Cover with plastic wrap to store.  Will keep for up to two days at room temp or for up to a week or more in the fridge.  Just warm up a little in the microwave and stir well after taking out of the fridge.

Raw "Brownies" or The Best Healthy Snack Bar

Sometimes I wish I was the type of person that went running every morning.  I wish I could eat a salad for dinner and then not crave dessert.  I wish my house was ready to entertain at a moment’s notice.  I wish I knew how to do my hair in a variety of different styles. 

But the truth is, I would much rather sleep in then get up early to run.  I chew flavored gum after dinner to trick my dessert craving.  There is a food processor in my entertainment unit and a box of different types of flours on the dresser in the bedroom.  The dining room table is never actually used for eating.  My desk is covered in post-its with recipe ideas and to-do lists.  And my hair is always up in a pony-tail bun thing. 

But I’m happy to clean up if you say you’re coming over.  I will gladly bring baked goods to any event.  I would go running with you if you asked me to (you’d probably beat me).  You’re welcome to join me for dinner on my cozy couch while watching something fun.  I have the best intentions. 

These raw brownies were full of good intentions.  I wanted to believe that I could replace my regular brownie recipe with one full of healthy ingredients like dates and nuts.  But as good as these bars were, don’t call them brownies.  They are however, some of the best healthy snack bars I’ve ever tasted.

One thing I’ll give these bars is that they are fast!  No baking.  Just press into a pan lined with parchment and refrigerate until ready to cut.  They are also vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar free! 

Walnuts and cocoa powder provide the base.  Dates add a caramel sweetness and bind everything together.

Making these will make you feel like a better person.  They can totally calm a sugar craving after having a salad for dinner.  But if someone asks me to bring brownies to a party, butter, chocolate, sugar, and eggs will be on the ingredient list.  That’s just me. 

Raw “Brownies” or The Best Healthy Snack Bar 
From My New Roots

2 cups whole walnuts
1 cup cocoa powder (or raw cacao if you can find it)
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 1/2 cups pitted Medjool dates
1 cup raw, unsalted almonds (optional)

Process walnuts in a food processor until they are finely ground.  Add cocoa and salt and pulse to combine.  Add dates one at a time through the processor feed tube while it is running.  At the end, the mixture should look like moist crumbs that will stick together when pressed with your fingers.  If they don’t stick together, add more dates. 

Give the almonds a rough chop and mix them into the date mixture.  (I had the almonds in, but next time I’ll either chop them finer or not put them in at all.  I found they broke up the texture too much and made everything fall apart a little too much.) 

Press the moist crumbs firmly into an 8 inch square pan lined with parchment paper.  Refrigerate to make them easier to cut. 

Chocolate-Dipped Pretzels

We all need to chill out.  Sometimes things get so wound up.  Sometimes, I realize that things that I started doing for fun are making me worry.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the little things that aren’t working out, that we forget to appreciate the things that are.  

Caramel S'mores or How to Deal With Rejection

Last Friday I had my heart broken.  Not by my husband (thank goodness), but by a much crueler mistress that is the scientific peer review process.  

Chocolate Stout Cakes with White Chocolate Whiskey Glaze

Just in case the last couple posts have made you think that I am all about being green and healthy, I give you this decadent cake recipe.  Green is only part of St. Patrick’s day celebrations.  The other part being composed of beer and whiskey, and this cake contains both!  

Brownie / Oreo / Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes {For the SPCA National Cupcake Day!}

It’s National Cupcake Day in support of the SPCA and Humane Society!  And really, any excuse to make cupcakes it a good one.  But when you think of all the poor abandoned and abused animals out there that need our help, doesn’t that make it even more worth it to participate? 



For this cupcake recipe I wanted to do something really over the top.  The inspiration came from “slutty” brownies that have been making the internet rounds.  This brownie has been around my friends!  It has had an affair with Oreo AND chocolate chip cookies.  Essentially an Oreo brownie with a chocolate chip cookie base. 

Blackberry White Chocolate Pavlova

I am done with winter.   Totally over it.  I am dreaming of leaving the house without having to put on a coat and a scarf and a hat and mittens.  I am dreaming of patios and tank tops and sandals.  I am dreaming of juicy summer fruit and airy whipped cream.