Tag Archives: chocolate

Domo Cookies

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Early this week was one of my good friends’ birthday. We have the misfortune of living on opposite sides of the country, so catchups are non-existent. She spent a long time encouraging me to join deviantART and has always been such a huge supporter of my work there since. She’s always telling me how much she wants to eat the stuff I post and I keep promising her ‘one day’. So for her birthday, I decided it was time I made good on my promise and attempted something I haven’t before: shipping baked goods across the country.

I sent her a gift box of various baked goods, which I’ll show you in upcoming blog posts, but these cookies were the main feature. Domo has always been this thing between us. I don’t remember how it started. It might have been some dancing domo emoticon we always used on chat. We’re so random and hyper when conversing it could have come from anywhere. But it developed into one of those ‘our thing’ things you have with friends. In-jokes you will cry with laughter over while everyone else stares at you like you’re insane. We’ve sent each other various domo paraphernalia and merch over the years, and receiving it has always made me cackle wildly.

I don’t remember when the idea of domo cookies popped into my head, but once it did the idea was just so obvious and perfect it began to feel like it had always been my intention.

Then I just had to hope they survived the trip…

Cook Book Challenge: Week 38

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One thing that's delightful about this challenge is that I'm starting to run out of books. And when I say run out, I mean I've used all my regulars. I'm starting to delve into books I've shelved and have never picked up after that first flick through. This weeks book, "Cadbury Chocolate Cookbook," is one I have little memory of. Perhaps that's because there's very few pictures in the book. I'm drawn too books with mouth-watering pictures. I'm also what's called a VAKs learner: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic. It's great because I have no weaknesses, but then no strengths either. I need to hear or read the instructions, I need to see how it's done, but I don't truly learn anything until I dive in and try it myself. When a recipe lacks a photo, when I can't see what the end product is supposed to look like, I feel like I'm flying blind. Or at least one third blind.

A lot of people often argue that a good cook book doesn't need pictures to be a good cook book. So I attempted to shove my picture-snobbery to one side and pick a recipe from how it sounded. There were a few recipes that sounded alright. Many I had tried before, or were just too simple for this challenge. There was a mocha bread recipe I liked, but lacked ingredients for. I'd almost given up hope of finding something I could make today when I stumbled upon on of the last recipes: the roulade. It's a thought that still intimidates me. I almost skipped that, too, when I reminded myself that that is the point of this challenge. To challenge myself. I took a deep breath and collected the necessary ingredients.

French Chocolate Roulade…

Orange and Cinnamon Macarons

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I'm addicted to making macarons lately. And I have no intention of stopping until I iron out the little creases that are the imperfections in my biscuits. As if I'm going to stop when I do finally get them perfect. Ha!

They're so addictive and so appealing to make. It's becoming and\ obsession. There are so many colours and flavours and possibilities just begging to be explored.

My major challenge at the moment is getting the biscuits all the same size. No matter how carefully I drew the circles and how carefully I piped, they'd always be different. I'd spend ages trying to match up same-sized biscuits, getting grumpy about the misshapen ones. So I thought it was time to try something new.

Breaking habits…

Strawberry and Nutella Mini-Calzones

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There was this one restaurant in the city my boyfriend and I used to frequent. They had gorgeous meals for cheap prices and we always had a positive experience there. Amongst our favourite meals were these delicious calzones, and enormous ones at that. They were the size of half a dinner plate and choc full of filling. The savoury calzones were delicious, but the dessert ones even more so. We'd often order the strawberry and chocolate calzone to share, because imagining we could get through one alone was madness.

Some time ago we had an event in the city so decided to go back to this place for dinner and were devastated to find it was no longer there. They have other branches around, but our experiences there were… well, we'll just say they were nothing like their city counterpart. We've missed their meals like crazy, and their strawberry calzone was definitely one on the most pined after list.

Last week, while planning the meal for the night, I had a craving for it when it finally occurred to me: It's just a calzone. How hard could it be to replicate?

The answer is not very hard at all…

Chocolate Bubble Cake

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Last Sunday was my 25th Birthday. Shh, yes, I’m getting old. As the only baker in my house, of course the cake duties fell to me. Something I love because I get to experiment with new things.

I had an idea. An idea involving chocolate bubbles. But then I decided to hang out with my friends instead and left myself only 6 hours to complete the cake. What ended up happening was one disaster quite literally flowing into the next.

Pop…

Chocolate Mousse Cake

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It's no secret I love me any excuse to make a cake, so a gathering with Cameron's family at Easter was the perfect excuse. I always make something nest-themed at Easter so I knew it just had to have some nest component. I'd already done the fondant and the spun sugar thing, so it had to be different. I sat down and did a little brain-storming and eventually came up with this beast.

But this cake has a little hidden secret: it's completely vegan.

Not that you’d ever know…

White Chocolate Mousse Eggs

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This is a dessert I've had sitting in the recesses of my mind for some time now, but have been waiting for the proper excuse to make. Easter seemed like the perfect time, what with eggs being so central to the festivities, so I held onto it until it finally rolled around.

One of my favourite things to do is to make food look like something it's not. It's been some time since I've done that 'trick food' so I couldn't wait for the excuse to delve into this one.

But really, who needs Easter to enjoy trick food?

Home-made Easter Egg Tutorial

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It's that time of year again where you can barely take a step outside the house without seeing chocolate eggs beckoning from every corner. It's also that time of year where warnings about products that contain not-so-animal-friendly ingredients flood the news feed of every social networking site, advising you who to support and who to boycott. Or maybe that's just because half my friends are Zoologists? Either way, it can be daunting trying to remember who and what is safe to buy from. I find such an appeal in making my own Easter eggs. Knowing exactly what's going into them and knowing that they're definitely palm oil free is a big plus for me.

But the best part is they're so fun and easy to make. You get to pick your own designs, colours, flavours and fillings. The only limit is your imagination.

If you've never made chocolate eggs before, here's a basic tutorial to get you started. After this, you can let the creative juices flow and add your own twist to it!

Let the chocolate making begin!

Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

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My favourite thing about Easter is hot cross buns. As soon as it starts getting close I get ridiculously excited at having an excuse to make some. Every year I promise myself I'll make more when it's not Easter, but I never do. Another year rolls by and I'll realise I haven't had them for a year.

This recipe is the favourite in my household. Most aren't keen on hot cross buns with dried fruit in them, but the choc chip alternative disappears almost as quickly as I can make the.

One ha’ penny, two ha’ penny…