chocolate pistachio fingers

27 August 2013

Chocolate Pistachio Fingers

With the array of pinterest recipe boards and online recipes nowadays, recipe books hardly make an appearance in our kitchen anymore. But once in awhile, they show up and we get to try some yummy recipes from them (:

These chocolate pistachio fingers came together in no time at all and the salty pistachios gave a nice contrast to the chocolate.

Chocolate Pistachio Fingers

Makes: 12
Baking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Scant 1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup golden superfine sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup shelled pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped
Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a shallow square 7-inch pan with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour and cocoas powder. Add to the butter mixture and work in using your hands until the mixture is smooth. Add the pistachios and knead until soft and pliable.
Press the mixture into the pan and smooth the top using the back of a tablespoon. Prick with a fork and mark into bars.
Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Do not allow to become too brown or the cookies will taste bitter.
Allow to cool slightly then cut through the marked sections and remove from the pan. Cool on a wire rack and dust sparingly with cocoa powder.

Try it and let me know what you think.
Happy Tuesday!

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Adelia Makes is a blog series featuring my very own little sister and all the fun things she makes. Read more about Adelia Makes here.

Adelia Makes no. 013// chocolate mint brownies

20 August 2013

Chocolate Mint Brownies by Joy of Baking

Chocolate + mint have always been one of my favorite combinations. So I absolutely loved these chocolate mint brownies. They especially make a good post-dinner dessert, like those After-Eight mints. Mmm.

These were pretty simple to make – the brownie was nice and fudgy, and the balance of all three layers was good. Adelia used more peppermint extract than was stated in the recipe but really, I think it’s up your personal preference and how minty you like your brownies to be. And instead of chocolate glaze, Adelia used a chocolate ganache (cream + melted chocolate) since we already had some of those on hand.

I think these make a fancy-looking dessert, which actually isn’t as hard as it seems. That, is always a plus.

Let me know what you think if you try this out!

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Adelia Makes is a blog series featuring my very own little sister and all the fun things she makes. Read more about Adelia Makes here.

Adelia Makes no. 011 // salted caramel chocolate cupcakes

6 August 2013

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes by Annie’s Eats

As I’ve mentioned before, Adelia can be pretty ambitious. In a totally I-can-do-this-because-I-put-my-mind-to-it sort of way (which is good!). While I, on the other hand, much prefer to well, take things easy sometimes.

So while I’ve made several cupcake recipes in my life, Adelia decided to tackle this salted caramel chocolate cupcake recipe all by herself, for her very first cupcake recipe attempt. For that, I have to give her major props because I most certainly wouldn’t have picked this slightly complex recipe. But because she’s determined like that, she did.

This cupcake has a filled center that oozes caramel when you bite into it. But piping it in takes a little bit of work, especially if you don’t have a pastry bag (which we didn’t). Adelia tried using a regular disposable plastic piping bag. But with hot caramel and all, things got a little messy. So the pastry bag is mucho importante. She eventually settled on just using the cone method – using a knife to cut out some of the cupcake, adding some of the caramel, and then putting the cone back on top. This method was much better and much less time-consuming. Sometimes, you gotta improvise to make things work.

In addition to the caramel filling, this chocolatey cupcake had a Swiss Meringue buttercream, which is more buttery than the usual American buttercream. The butter taste isn’t as strong if you stick it in the refrigerator, but then your caramel filling hardens up. So it’s a little bit of a dilemma. But it’s probably best to store it in the fridge, then take it out to room temperature for a bit before eating.

Adelia made a mini version of these instead of using regular-sized cupcakes. And personally, I think the mini-size was just right – a perfect amount of goodness without making you feel (too) guilty.

Overall, the salty caramel + buttercream + chocolate cake made for a pretty tasty combination.

Until next time!

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Adelia Makes is a blog series featuring my very own little sister and all the fun things she makes. Read more about Adelia Makes here.

21 recipes // chocolate cupcakes with creamy nutella frosting

8 July 2013

Chocolate Cupcakes with Creamy Nutella Frosting by Sally’s Baking Addiction

This recipe was part of the search for the perfect Father’s Day recipe. But it seems like I’ve been a little out of my element for baking lately, because the Nutella frosting for this batch of cupcakes didn’t quite turn out and hold together like how I’d expected it to.

Since I’m writing this about two weeks after Father’s Day, I don’t quite remember what I did wrong that turned this frosting upside down. (I should’ve written it down, I know.) It might’ve been me sticking the frosting in the refrigerator and coming back to frost the cupcakes later. Or maybe I added too much icing sugar in an attempt to fix it, but it didn’t end up quite as smooth as I would’ve liked in the end.

In any case, I eventually settled for a good ol’ brownie recipe for Father’s Day, instead of stressing myself out with trying to master a new recipe within the week. Looks like I haven’t had too much success with cupcake recipes lately. But to be sure, I’m going to keep trying them until I nail at least a couple of pretty (and edible) ones! (;

17 down, 4 to go.

P.S. If you try this recipe and have better luck with it than I did, let me know how it turns out!

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The 21 recipes are part of my 21 list, a list of 21 things I’m working to accomplish during my twenty-first year. Check out my other 21 recipes here.

21 recipes // chocolate cheesecake cupcakes

4 July 2013

Determined to find the perfect Father’s Day cupcake recipe, I set out to find the recipe that would help me successfully bake something to my satisfaction for Father’s Day.

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes by Very Best Baking with chocolate ganache

So I found this recipe and really liked the idea of these cupcakes – chocolate, with a surprise of cream cheese in the middle. But somehow, my baking skills failed to execute this one and the cream cheese filling didn’t manage to fill the middle of this cupcake. So I ended with chocolate cheesecake cupcakes all mixed together. It actually still tasted really good, just not quite how the recipe intended for it to be.

But if I didn’t tell anyone what it was supposed to be like, it was actually a pretty yummy cupcake. Make that a pretty and yummy cupcake, topped with this chocolate ganache frosting which I chose to whip. I love the richness of the chocolate and cream together. The original recipe actually came with just melted chocolate. But because it was for Father’s Day, I wanted to try something a little fancier that could be piped.

In my Father’s Day quest for the perfect cupcake recipe, this one didn’t quite make the cut because the whipped ganache had to be refrigerated (which I wouldn’t have during/after transportation), and I would end up with melted ganache with this humid Singapore weather that we have. But straight from the refrigerator, these are actually quite good.

16 down, 5 to go.

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The 21 recipes are part of my 21 list, a list of 21 things I’m working to accomplish during my twenty-first year. Check out my other 21 recipes here.

Lately

23 August 2012

Lately: It’s been quiet around here, I know. I’ve been busy catching up on random important things. Add to that the fact that my computer died last week. So I’m making do and hoping it gets fixed soon.

Source: joythebaker.com via Amelia on Pinterest

Last week: I made this banana walnut chocolate cookie cake from Joy the Baker – two times round! I was so distracted by how yummy it smelled and looked that I didn’t take pictures. Mine was without the cast iron skillet and ice cream. But, it was just as gooood. So you can just salivate over this delicious cookie cake made by Joy herself!

Yesterday: It felt like Christmas had come early this year because I got my shipment of scrapbooking supplies from Two Peas in a Bucket. Happiness. I can’t wait to start creating with these (:

Today: Making tons of lists to keep my head straight. Also, trying not to stress out over how behind I am on Project Life and how much catching up I need to do.

What have you been busy with lately?

Only one more day till the weekend! (:
xo.