Cinnamon Pear Surprise Muffins

I came back from a brisk early autumn morning running session yesterday and had a craving for a warm moist muffin (or 2!).  So, these were born from a mix of muffin recipes, cafe inspiration and a need to make them interesting enough for the kids to want to try them. The latter being the reason for the "surprise" and the fact that I again have many an Easter egg left over from the chocolate excesses of Easter (see my previous  Easter posts on Chocolate Prune Muffins and Double Chocolate Muffins).

Ingredients
100g raw sugar
3 medium pears (giving about 300g peeled and cored pear - doesn't have to be exact)
1 egg
60g canola oil (or vegetable/sunflower oil)
180g milk
120g Self Raising Flour
100g Wholemeal Flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
2 tblspn extra raw sugar
1/2 tspn extra cinnamon
12 mini Easter eggs (unwrapped)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Grease or line a 12 cup muffin tin.
3. Add sugar to TM bowl. Grind for 3 seconds on speed 9 to make caster sugar. Set aside.
4. Add pears to TM bowl. Chop for 3 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.
5. Add egg, oil and milk to TM bowl. Mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.
6. Add flours, baking powder, cinnamon and caster sugar to TM bowl. Mix for 5 seconds on speed 4. Scrape down sides with spatula.
7. Add chopped pears to TM bowl. Mix for 10 seconds on reverse speed 2 with aid of spatula.
8. Spoon two tablespoons of mixture into each muffin hole. Then place an Easter egg into the middle of each. Spoon remaining batter over the eggs to cover them.
9. Combine extra sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle over the top of the muffins.
10. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until tops spring back when you touch them.
11. Leave to cool for 5 minutes or until you can safely remove them from the tin.
12. Place on baking rack to cool or enjoy them warm with a hot cup of tea!

Variation: Instead of having one chocolate egg in the middle, you could just add chocolate chips throughout the muffin, by adding 50-100g milk chocolate buds (or broken easter eggs) when adding the pear. 

Chocolate Zucchini Brownies with Pecan Crumble Topping

Brownie Mission #3

I had two zucchinis laying idle in my crisper, mainly due to the fact that I rarely cook with zucchini because my kids don't eat it ... but now they do! (albeit unbeknownst to them).

I had heard of chocolate zucchini cake, but I thought I would venture on another brownie mission (see #1 and #2) and found Grandma's Chocolate Zucchini Brownies on All Recipes.com. I am so glad I did! The brownie is soft and moist and a little bit fudgy and goes perfectly with the crunchy crumbly nutty chocolatey topping. And of course one slice probably counts for at least one serve of vegies!

Here's my Thermotalk version:

Ingredients
150g pecans
750g zucchini (approximately 2 large zucchinis)
200g + 2 tbsp raw sugar
125g butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
300g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/2 tsp salt
100g chocolate chips

Method
1. Preheat oven to 170C. Line a 19cm x 28cm cake tin or a large square tin with baking paper.
2. Place pecans in TM bowl. Chop for 2 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.
3. Place zucchini in TM bowl. Chop for 10 seconds on speed 4-5. Put into rice basket and put rice basket on top of a bigger bowl to drain.
4. Place 200g sugar and butter into TM bowl. Cream for 1 minute on speed 3.
5. Add vanilla extract then add eggs one at a time with TM going at speed 3-4 until all combined (approximately 30 seconds).
6. Use spoon to push excess juice out of zucchini (freeze the juice for the next time you make a soup and use in place of water). Place zucchini in TM bowl.
7. Add flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate soda, salt. Mix for 30 seconds on speed 5 until combined. Use the spatula to assist if necessary.
8. Pour into prepared cake tin.
9. Mix 2tbsp sugar and the chocolate chips into the bowl with the chopped pecans.
10. Sprinkle on top of the cake.
11. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
12. Cool on cake rack, cut into squares and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Brownie

Brownie Mission #2

Okay so I've been a bit AWOL since declaring my first Brownie Mission but I am back with a goodie! Saw this one on a Foodbuzz Top 9 and just had to try it - particularly because they were declared to be "the best brownies in the world". Not quite akin to my Betty Crocker goal (as per my Brownie Mission statement) but really quite close.

Here is my Thermotalk version:

Ingredients
150g milk chocolate easter egg (or choc chips)
120g dark chocolate
200g unsalted butter
4 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
150g raw sugar
75g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
100g walnut pieces (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Line a 20cm x 30cm cake tin with baking paper.

2. If using leftover easter eggs, chop milk chocolate on speed 7 for 3 to 5 seconds until it resembles choc chips. Set aside.

3. Place dark chocolate in TM bowl and grate for 5 seconds on speed 8.

4. Add butter. Melt for 3 minutes at 50C on speed 3-4.

5. Add eggs, vanilla and raw sugar and mix for 10 seconds on speed 4.

6. Add flour, salt, choc chips and walnuts (if using) and mix for 20 seconds on reverse speed 3.

7. Pour into cake tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

8. Can be left to become completely cool in the tin and dust with icing sugar, or remove and eat warm with icecream or double cream if you can't wait!

Variations: For a darker richer brownie use dark choc chips instead of milk choc chips. For a thicker brownie, use a 20cm x 20cm cake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Chocolate Prune Muffins

Yes I know this might sound like an odd and unattractive combination, but I was looking to add some fibre to my toddler's diet.

The prunes make the mixture look nice and chocolatey and you can't really taste them. The original recipe is actually a cake but I wanted a quick baking / easy to freeze snack and so made them in muffins tin.

The toddler only got plain un-iced ones, but I fancied them up a bit for my older kids (including hiding a little surprise in the middle!)

Here's my Thermotalk version:

Ingredients

150g pitted prunes

65ml boiling water

140g oil

200g raw sugar

20g cocoa powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

250g buttermilk

375g plain flour (I used 200g wholemeal, 175g white)

2 1/2 tsp bicarb soda

2 tsp baking powder

12 small easter eggs, wrapping removed (optional)

Method

1. Soak prunes in boiling water for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease muffin tins. (I used 1 x large muffin tin and 2 x mini muffin tin).

3. Place sugar in TM bowl, grind for 3 seconds on speed 9. Set aside.

4. Place prunes and buttermilk in TM bowl. Blend for 10 seconds on speed 7.

5. Add oil, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, eggs and vanilla. Mix for 5 seconds on speed 5.

6. Add flour, baking soda and baking powder. Mix for 15 seconds on speed 4 with the aid of the spatula.

7. Spoon mixture into muffin tins.  For the larger muffins, if you want to add the easter egg in - spoon a heaped tablespoonful of the mixture into the muffin tin. Place the easter egg in the middle and top with another heaped tablespoonful of mixture.

8. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes for mini muffins and 18-20 minutes for larger muffins, so that when you push it gently in the middle the muffin springs back.

Icing: Dust with icing sugar or make a chocolate ganache (100g chocolate, grated 10 seconds speed 8, add 30g cream, melt together 2 minutes 50C speed 4) and spread over the top.

Variations: Add chocolate chips - white, milk or dark to add extra chocolatieness to it!

Chocolate Crumble Cheesecake

Here's a recipe that combines two things that I love - Chocolate and Cheesecake! Perfect for the Thermomix as all three components can be made in it and you only have to wash it once.

Thank you CaffeIna for the recipe. Here's my Thermotalk version:

Ingredients - crumble topping
75g raw sugar
75g butter, cubed
150g plain flour
15g cocoa powder

Ingredients - crust 
100g raw sugar  
150g butter, cubed
1 egg
250g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
15g cocoa powder
pinch of salt

Ingredients - filling
150g raw sugar
100g butter
5 eggs at room temperature
500g ricotta

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line the bottom of a 23cm springform pan.
2. Make the topping first. Place sugar in TM bowl. Grind for 3 seconds on speed 9. Add remaining ingredients and mix for 10 seconds on speed 6 so that the mixture resembles chocolate breadcrumbs. Set aside
3. Make the crust next. Place the sugar in TM bowl. Grind for 3 seconds on speed 9. Add the remaining ingredients and mix for 15 seconds on speed 6. Press into springfom pan, ensuring it comes all the way up the sides. Use a small glass to help give you an evenly pressed base and sides.
4. And finally, make the filling. Place sugar in TM bowl. Grind for 3 seconds on speed 9. Add butter and cream for 2 minutes on speed 4. With the TM on speed 4, add the eggs one at a time until all incorporated. Add the ricotta and beat for 5 seconds on speed 5 to obtain a smooth creamy mixture.
5. Pour the filling into the crust. Top with the crumble and bake for about an hour or until the middle of the cheesecake stops looking wobbly.
6. Leave in tin until completely cool before removing sides of springform pan. Enjoy!

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Slice

Brownie Mission #1

(Background) I was at a friend's place for a playdate and she brought out a plate of fabulous looking brownies, which tasted even better than they looked. Never one to be shy of asking for a recipe, I was surprised to learn that they were courtesy of Betty Crocker! Now Betty Crocker used to be my best friend in the pantry until I got married (yes even way before my TM acquisition). Hubby (who's mum is a fantastic baker) said cakes from scratch taste so much better than those from the packet. And I tended to agree, that is, until, I tried those Betty Crocker brownies! So now I am on a mission to replicate the fantastic fudgy goo-iness of them without having to buy the pre-mix.

If you have a great brownie recipe that you want to share, feel free to send it to me (whether in TM format or not) and I will happily (and lovingly) put it through my TM test kitchen (and tastebuds!)

In the meantime, I thought this Caramel Pecan one was a good way to start. I took my inspiration from recipes posted by Burn Me Not and Cook Like a Champion. I didn't have caramel but I did have caramel filled chocolates from my Cookbook Adventure #12 that I wanted to use up (rather than devour all by myself).

The chocolate / caramel component made this a bit too dense to call it a brownie, but it is a really delicious slice (albeit one that you slice vertically rather than horizontally)! The roasted pecans combined with the salty caramel make it very more-ish and very hard to stop at just one piece!

Here's my Thermotalk version:
Ingredients
80g pecans
180g dark / milk chocolate (yes, I am still using up Easter Egg Chocolate!)
100g unsalted butter
50g raw sugar
50g brown sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
90g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
100g caramel filled chocolates
50g pouring cream

Method 
1. Preheat oven to 180C and line a 20cm x 20cm tin with baking paper, leaving some overhang over two sides so that you can easily remove after cooking.
2. Place pecans in TM bowl and chop for 2 seconds on speed 5. Then roast for 5 minutes on Varoma reverse speed 1. Set aside.
3. Place chocolate in TM bowl and grate for 10 seconds on speed 8. Add butter and melt together for 2 minutes at 50C on speed 3.
4. Add sugars, vanilla and eggs and mix for 10 seconds on speed 4.
5. Add flour and salt and mix for 5 seconds on speed 5.
6. Pour mixture into baking tin.
7. Without washing TM, place caramel chocolates into TM bowl and grate for 5 seconds on speed 10. Add cream and melt together for 90 seconds at 50C on speed 3.
8. Add half of the pecans and mix for 10 seconds on speed 2.
9. Pour pecan caramel mixture onto cake batter and use spatula to swirl through cake batter.
10. Sprinkle remaining pecans on top and bake for 40 minutes (or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean).

11. Cool in tin, remove, slice and eat! Store in an airtight container for up to a week (if not consumed before then!)

Double chocolate muffins

Cookbook Adventure #11 - Sweet & Savoury Muffins

Hubby said he had a craving for chocolate muffins and given our excess of leftover Easter chocolate I was only too happy to oblige.

I've had this cute little recipe book for years. It was an often used one in my early baking days - muffins being one of the easiest and quickest treat for a hungry amateur cook.

I have to admit that I was slightly sceptical as to whether the Thermomix would achieve the right texture for a muffin - the trick to muffins (as some of you experienced bakers would know) being a very gentle short mix - otherwise overstirring = tough muffins.

But shame on me for my lack of faith! They were moist and soft and everything you could want in a chocolate muffin.





Here's my Thermotalk version:

Ingredients
200g milk chocolate chips (or easter eggs!)

150g butter

3 eggs

180g milk
270g plain flour
50g cocoa
3 tsp baking powder
130g brown sugar

Method
1. Preheat oven to 190C. Grease muffin tin or line with paper cases. Makes about 12-15 (depending on the size that you want).
2. If using easter eggs - place them in TM bowl and chop into choc chips for 1-2 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.
3. Place butter in TM bowl and melt for 3 minutes on speed 3 at 50C.
4. Add milk and eggs and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.
5. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, sugar and choc chips and mix for 5 seconds on speed 4 with the aid of the spatula. Check to see whether all ingredients are just combined, otherwise mix for another couple of seconds. Take care not to overmix!
6. Three-quarters fill each hole in the muffin tin.
7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when lightly touched.

Variation: Use white chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate.

Choc Fudge Brownies (with a twist)

Cookbook Adventure #10 - Deceptively Delicious

This is the newest book in my collection and even though I am reluctant to obtain any more cookbooks (see my first Cookbook Adventure post), when I heard about the recipes in this one from a dance school mum (amazing what you learn sitting around waiting for your children during their extra curricular activities), I just couldn't resist. 

Now I am a big fan of including vegies in all food and have done so for years (getting 5 serves a day into kids and even hubby can be difficult), but this book takes it to a totally different level. Essentially it is based on batch cooking vegetable purees and then including them into everyday foods where other ingredients disguise the taste of the vegetable. 

So you can start with this:

and together with a few other ingredients, you can produce this:

Interested? The Disney website has the original recipe and here's my slightly adulterated (and a bit more wicked) Thermotalk version:

The vegetable purees
Ingredients
5 medium carrots, peeled and sliced lengthwise into thin sticks
1 bunch of spinach, washed

Method
Place 600g water into TM bowl. Place carrot sticks into Varoma receptacle and tray, each in a single layer. Steam at Varoma temperature for 20 minutes on speed 2 or until carrots are tender. Remove carrots and steam spinach at Varoma temperature for 3 minutes on speed 2.
Reserve a small amount (about 20g) of steaming water and remove the rest from the TM bowl. Place steamed carrots into TM bowl and blend for 20 seconds on speed 6 or until you get a smooth puree. Remove carrot puree and set aside.
Place steamed spinach into TM bowl. Blend for 20 seconds on speed 6 or until you get a smooth puree. Remove spinach puree and set aside. If making brownies immediately after making the purees there is no need to wash the bowl.

The brownies
Ingredients
100g dark chocolate (I used 85% Lindt but next time I would use the 70% Lindt)
30g butter
120g carrot puree
120g spinach puree
120g brown sugar
20g cocoa powder
2tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
110g plain wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
60g milk chocolate chips (or smashed Easter eggs!)

Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 20cm x 20cm tin with baking paper.
Place chocolate into TM bowl. Grind for 20 seconds on speed 8. Add butter to TM bowl and melt at 50C for 90 seconds on speed 3.
Add carrot, spinach, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and egg. Mix on speed 5 for 30 seconds.
Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix on speed 4 for 10 seconds.
Add chocolate chips and mix on speed 4 for 10 seconds.
Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool completely in the tin. Decorate with sprinkled icing sugar or drizzled milk chocolate ganache (see EDC page 160 (but substitute dark chocolate for milk chocolate to get the contrast in colours)). Cut into squares or bars.

Serving tip: best eaten at room temperature (apparently if eaten warm you can taste the spinach). Due to the vegetables' moisture content, the brownies get fudgier and more dense the longer you keep them. I love the fudgy texture but my kids were more keen on them when freshly baked and lighter.

Double-Decker Mud Cake

Cookbook Adventure #9 - The Australian Women's Weekly "chocolate cakes"

Happy Easter! 

I offered to make dessert for Easter Sunday dinner, so of course this was the perfect cookbook for this adventure. Some colleagues kindly gave it to me in place of a birthday card given my predilection for all things chocolate! 

This double-decker mud cake was a winner from the start and it may turn out to be an Easter regular (or for a post Easter "use up all my kids' easter eggs" baking frenzy).

The original recipe can be found on the Australian Women's Weekly website and here is my Thermotalk version:

Ingredients

150g white cooking chocolate

250g butter

220g raw sugar (original recipe had 440g!)

250g milk

225g plain flour

75g self raising flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 tbsp cocoa powder

500g milk cooking chocolate 

210g cream 

Method

Preheat oven to 150C. Grease two deep 20cm round cake pans; line bases and sides with baking paper.

Place white chocolate in TM bowl. Grate for 5 seconds on speed 8.

Add butter, sugar and milk. Mix at 50C for 3 minutes on speed 2.

Add flours, vanilla and eggs. Mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.

Pour half of the mixture into one of the prepared pans (half is when you can just see the pointed end of the TM blade sticking out of the remaining mixture in the TM bowl).

Add cocoa and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.

Pour into other prepared pan.

Bake cakes for about 50 minutes or when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Stand cakes in pans for 5 minutes then turn cakes, top-side up onto a wire rack to cool.

Wash the TM bowl and then make the frosting. 

Place milk chocolate in TM bowl and grate for 7 seconds on speed 8. Add cream and heat at 50C for 4 minutes on speed 3. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate for about an hour (or until spreadable), stirring occasionally.

To put the cake together - split each cooled cake in half. Place one layer of cake on serving plate. Spread with milk chocolate mixture. Repeat layering alternating colours. Cover top and sides of cake with remaining chocolate mixture. 

Decorating the top of the cake is optional. The Lindt white choc bunny was just perfect for this occasion. 

But of course it had to be shattered to be shared!

Cleaning tip: After making the frosting make yourself or your choc loving child a yummy hot chocolate by placing 150ml of milk into TM bowl and heating at 70C for 4 minutes on speed 2. This will ensure every last skerrick of chocolate is consumed and the TM bowl will only need a quick rinse afterwards!

Choc Chip Hot Cross Buns

It's Easter time and I've been busy hot cross bunning! (If you count 3 batches baked in 10 days as busy). The recipe is in the EDC (page 117 sans the choc chips). However I've decided to post my own version which came about purely by accident!
When making my first batch of the season I didn't realise my TM cord was caught up under one of its legs and resulted in serious weighing errors (something one should have learnt in Thermomix 101!)  I only discovered this once I had put in the milk and was weighing in the flour so there was no going back.  As I hate waste, I didn't throw it out but plowed ahead and did it all by "feel".  It produced the best batch I have ever made.  And therein lay the problem - I was not sure I could recreate it because of the errors!  Anyway a couple of experiments (and many calories) later, I think I have it.  

So here's my Thermotalk version of this month's "hottest" bun:
Ingredients
400g milk
60g raw sugar

15g dry yeast (4 tsp)

650g bakers flour
2 tsp salt
90g butter
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
200g mixed dried fruit (or your own favourite combo of any or all of sultanas, raisins, currants, cranberries, cherries, mixed peel (but don't use more than 20g of this unless you really like the orange/lemon rind taste))
Approximately half a cup of dark chocolate chips
Extra butter

Method
Place milk into TM bowl and cook for 2 minutes at 60C on speed 1.
Place remaining ingredients (in order of the recipe list) into the TM bowl except the dried fruit and choc chips, and mix for 6 seconds on speed 7.
Place dried fruit into the TM bowl and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.
Set dial to closed lid position and knead for 4 minutes on Interval setting. 

Dough before first prove

Remove from TM bowl and put into a bowl to prove. As the  dough is quite sticky, use buttered hands to make it easier to remove from the TM bowl.

Doubled!

Put in a warm place to prove for 1 to 1.5 hours until dough more than doubles in size.
Grease a large baking tray (30cm x 40cm) (you can use baking paper but I find that I get a better bun if it is baked directly on the tray).

With buttered hands pull off enough dough for a dinner roll size bun, press 4-6 chocolate chips into the base and fold over to enclose and create a smooth top on your bun. Makes about 24. 

Buns  before second prove

Place onto baking tray about 1cm apart so that they have room to grow. Cover and let prove for about an hour until the buns are touching each other.

Crossed & ready for the oven

Pipe with crosses and bake in a pre-heated oven at 220C for 12 minutes or until a golden colour. Leave oven on.

Brush with hot sugar syrup and then place back into the oven for another minute to set the glaze.

Piping Mixture
Place 50g water, 40g plain flour, 1/2 tsp light olive oil and a pinch of salt in TM bowl and mix to combine for 30 seconds on speed 4. Scrape down sides if necessary and mix again until mixture is smooth and of pancake consistency. Pour into a piping bag (or a ziplock/freezer bag and snip a tiny bit off the corner) and pipe out the crosses onto the buns.

Sugar syrup
Dissolve 3 tbsp raw sugar in 3 tbsp of boiling water by stirring vigorously.

Best eaten straight from the oven whilst warm! Still good to eat a day later, and if (in the unlikely event) you have any leftover pop them in the freezer for a yummy snack another day.

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake

 Cookbook Adventure #4 - "Cook"

This book by the Australian Women's Weekly is the fattest (in more ways than one!) recipe book in my collection and claims to be a book about "how to cook absolutely everything"!  

I came across this cheesecake recipe (p614) and knew it was perfect for the Thermomix.  I set a new record for myself and used the Thermomix no less than 5 times for this adventure but never washed it until the very end!

You can find the original recipe reproduced on the following websites:
http://ironchefshellie.blogspot.com/2008/07/as-promised-recipe-for-crowd-favourite.html
http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dia/recipeID/2796/Recipe.cfm

And here it is in Thermotalk:

Ingredients
250g plain chocolate biscuits
150g butter (next time I would try reducing this to 120g)
2 teaspoons gelatine
60g hot water
360g packaged cream cheese
300g thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
110g caster sugar (optional)
180g white chocolate
150g cream filled chocolate biscuits
50g dark eating chocolate

Method
Line base of 23cm springform tin with baking paper (or if you want individual cheesecakes,  insert muffin liners into a muffin pan - makes approximately 18).
Place plain chocolate biscuits into TM bowl. Crush for 3 seconds on speed 7. Add butter and mix for another 3 seconds on speed 7 or until mixture is combined and comes together.   Press biscuit mixture evenly over base and 3cm up side of tin (with the individual cheesecakes I just pressed the mixture into the base of the muffin liners). Place in fridge.
Place cream filled chocolate biscuits into TM bowl. Chop for 3 seconds on speed 5. Remove from bowl and set aside.
Place lid on TM. Put small bowl on top of lid and measure out the water. Sprinkle gelatine on top of hot water and stir to dissolve. Set aside.
Place white chocolate into TM bowl. Grate for 20 seconds on speed 8. Add 100g of the thickened cream. Cook for 2 minutes at 50C on speed 5. Use spatula to help scrape out mixture into a bowl. Set aside.
Place cream cheese, remaining thickened cream, vanilla essence, (caster sugar, if using) into TM bowl. Beat for 30 seconds on speed 5. Keep TM running on speed 5 and add the white chocolate mixture and also the gelatine mixture until all combined.
Add crushed cream filled biscuits and mix on reverse speed 1 with the aid of the spatula until combined.
Pour cheesecake mixture over biscuit mixture. Refrigerate for about 3 hours or until set.
Drizzle with dark chocolate* or sprinkle with shaved dark chocolate to serve.

*To melt dark chocolate, place chocolate in TM bowl. Grate for 20 seconds on speed 8. Cook for 1 minute at 50C on speed 5. Place the melted chocolate in a small plastic bag and snip off a corner, then squeeze to drizzle the chocolate evenly over the cheesecake.

Sour Milk? Make Chocolate Cake!

Sour Milk Chocolate Cake

I overbought on the milk one week and ended up with gallons of "sour milk".  I googled and found this recipe -

http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post.html

So I made 3 batches of Sour Milk Chocolate Cake over the course of a couple of nights, froze them and then served them up at my son's baptism (iced with the brown sugar icing from the same recipe, cut into squares and topped with a malteser on each (I had a lot of maltesers to use up as well!)

Here is the recipe converted to Thermotalk:

INGREDIENTS
75g butter
1 large egg
250ml sour milk
60ml hot water
1 Tbsp vanilla
225g plain flour
60g cocoa
240g sugar (reduced to 200g sugar)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

METHOD
Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 cake tin and lightly dust it with flour, shaking out any excess. Set aside.
Melt butter at 50C for 2 minutes on speed 4 .
Add egg, sour milk, hot water and vanilla and mix for 3 secs on speed 5.
Add flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt and mix for 10 secs on speed 5. 
Scrape down sides, mix for another 5 secs on speed 5.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until it tests done when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. NO need to remove from the pan.

BROWN SUGAR FROSTING
Makes enough to frost the top of one cake

60g butter
30g soft light brown sugar
90g icing sugar
30g cream

Place the butter and brown sugar in TM bowl and mix speed 2 at 50C for 1 minute or until butter melts and sugar dissolves.
Add cream and icing sugar and mix for 30 seconds on speed 4.
Spread on top of cooled cake.
Sprinkle with chopped nuts, choc chips, maltesers etc!


Here's another batch made into cupcakes, iced with a chocolate icing (cocoa, icing sugar, butter mix) and topped with smashed candy canes (my kids received way too many for me to let them consume last Christmas!)