Quick and Easy One Bowl Chocolate Cake and my Early-life crisis

Its been a while hasn’t it? I’ve missed you guys very much :) I apologize for the delay the past few months have been quite….hectic. I’ve been going through quite a few things in my personal life that have left me without much time or desire (gasp!) to bake and blog. But that’s all going to change now. Hopefully.

To make a big story short, my biggest problem right now is that I do not know what to do. For those of you who know me well you will know that I am the kind of girl who thinks 5, 6, 8 and 10 steps ahead. I like to have a plan. Having a plan makes me happy. And as such, I have always made and modified and perfected my ‘life plan’. Many have laughed at me, others were puzzled at this teenage girl whose got her life planned and goals set for age 30 age 40 and beyond (when many adults still do not have it figured out).

So what is this plan? Well, I’ve had it planned out since 9th grade so I can tell you quite clearly. Step 1 : Obtain really good grades in high school in order to go to  university and get scholarships (check!) Step 2: Get a 4 years degree (in law and Politics) and work your ass off to get high grades and a ‘competitive’ record. (check!) Step 3: Apply to Law School, Step 4: Go to Law School, Step 5: Get a prestigious job in one of the best Law Firms in Bay Street Toronto (Canada’s equivalent to the big shot law firms in Manhattan NYC) I could go on and on and on about how this plan I have planned oh so well, but there would be no point. I have come to the conclusion that I will NOT be pursing this path anymore!

Early this summer I ended up having not a mid-life crisis, but an ‘early-life crisis’. I’m not sure I could fully explain the thought process (and believe me there was a lot of it!) but I realized that I no longer had a desire to become a lawyer! The optimistic side of me says that perhaps it’s a good thing I realized this before going to law school, going $150,000 in debt, and THEN realize I did not like it. But I cant help feeling very sad and a bit scared about all this. It is a very scary thing to go from having a plan only to have it go down the drain. Especially considering the fact that I am in my last year in my undergraduate degree, I am so very very very close to law school and all of my dreams, but now I feel I no longer want it? So what do I want? I have no idea. And for someone who NEEDS to have a plan….this is a very scary time.

Well perhaps to say that I have ‘no idea’ is unfair…I have quite a few ideas… (that’s the problem) and the reason I am stumped. The biggest issue is that the ‘options’ are very varied – from policy analyst to diplomat to getting a MBA or maybe even medical school? Thankfully because of my efforts the past 4 years I have a good enough GPA to have options. Unfortunately options can sometimes be frustrating! :p

When you are feeling the blues as I am and are not sure at all of your future, you know what helps? Chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. And cake too. But what’s even better than chocolate cake? EASY one bowl chocolate cake. Because the last thing you want to do when having an early life crisis is to worry about washing the dishes. I found this cake to be super decadent and I decided to sprinkle on some pomegranate for decoration, but oh my god….it improved the flavor so much more! It added an excellent contrast : nice cool sour crunch with fudgy chocolate cake.

One Bowl Chocolate Cake

* 150g unsalted butter

* 220g brown sugar

* 100g good quality dark chocolate
* 
50g Dutch-processed cocoa
* 
160ml milk

* 3 large eggs, room temperature

* 170g plain flour

* 1.5 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 tsp baking soda

* 1/2 tsp salt (skip this if using salted butter)


Method


Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 20-21cm square tin. (I used a 9 inch round)

In a large pot or mixing bowl over simmering water, add the butter, sugar, chocolate, cocoa and milk. When butter and chocolate has melted, remove from heat and whisk to combine. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Add the eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Sift over the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt then gently stir to mix.
Scrape batter into tin and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in tin for 5 minutes then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack. Cake will keep for a few days in an airtight container (a quick zap in the microwave will get it all warm, melty and soft again).

Chocolate Fudge Frosting
(source)


Ingredients


* 100g good quality dark chocolate

* 50g unsalted butter, softened and at room temperature

* 150g icing sugar, sifted

* Pinch of salt
* 
1-2 Tbl of milk (I ended up using 3)


Method


In a bowl over simmering water, melt chocolate then remove from heat. Beat in softened butter (make sure it is room temp. Cold butter is bad news in this case). Sift over icing sugar and salt then beat until combined. Add enough milk until it is a spreadable consistency.

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Bipolar weather and Fudgey Homemade Brownies

I swear our weather is bipolar.

In the past few weeks we have had extremely hot and humid days reaching 38C (100F), and then two days later we will have rainstorms, then a day later it’ll be 14C (57F), and then the next day, will be like today, with awful thunderstorms.

How awful? I’ll tell you how awful. Zahra was fast asleep when at 3:30 am she woke up with a start, and sat straight up in bed going “huh? What?” Yah. That’s right. The thunder storm was sooo loud it woke me up at 3 in the morning. ME. Ms.sets-an-alarm-clock-2-hrs-before-she-gets-up-so-she-can-press-snooze-20-times. Ms.litterally-slept-through-a-fire-alarm. So you kinda get a picture of just how BAD it was. Now I don’t know what’s worst - waking up like that? Or then being wide awake in your dark room with a crazy thunderstorm all around you, threatening to engulf you as your bedroom walls shake with the vibrations. I tell you, I was *this close* to running into my Mommy and Daddy’s bed, just like I did years ago when I was a kid. *this close*

Anyways, needless to say I woke up a few hours later - after somehow falling asleep after an hour of lying awake in bed - confused and disoriented and my dad asking me if I was not going to work today, since my bus leaves in 10 min and I’m still lying in bed. To make matters worst, when I finally stumbled into the office with a killer headache, (and a forgotten lunch at home) I opened my secret snack drawer and realized I was all out of teabags.

This.is.panic time.

I was already exhausted from the thunderstorm, and now Zahra the caffeine addict, the must must MUST have her tea girl….stuck…without tea?! Lets just say that this was one of those Mondays.

So when I got home, I made myself a nice big cup of dark, strong, Black tea and gulped it down. But I still needed an extra…something….so I made these delicious brownies. The perfect comfort food after one of 'those days'. They are those chocolatey no non-sensey fudgey brownies, that probably have a million calories each but you honestly dont care, because you've had 'one of those days'.

 Fudgy Homemade Brownies

 Source

Ingredients:
1 1/3c semi-sweet chocolate chips (use best quality-Guittard or Ghiradelli)
5 Tbsp butter
1tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4c sugar
1/4tsp salt
3 Tbsp baking cocoa
1/3c flour

Directions:
1. In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips and butter together. Stir in vanilla and set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until light yellow and in the ribbon stage (you know you’ve reached this when you can lift up your whisk and the egg mixture drip down in a steady ribbon rather than in gloopy clumps). Stir in salt and cocoa and mix well to combine.
3. Stir chocolate mixture into egg mixture and combine well. Sift over flour and fold in until just mixed. Do not overmix, or you will have tough, dry brownies and I will cry for you.
4.Pour into a sprayed 8 x 8″ baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

**do not over bake and allow to cool completely before cutting*

Recipe Review: These were fudgey. I think that about somes it up. I mean just look at those pics and you just know you are in for a bite of intense, luxuriously sinful chocolatey bliss. These are on the fudgey full blown chocolate end of the brownie scale, which is exactly what I was looking for. However, if you are more in the mood for a 'cakey' brownie than a fudgey one then check out my go to brownie recipe. Overall, these were yum and I will make again! :)

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My Secret Recipes: Addictive Banana Squares

It's been awfully hot here, the kind of weather where turning on an oven is probably illegal. And a suicide mission. Probably both. Ottawa has never had this hot a weather and we broke quite a few records! (Something I wish I could be proud of)

All this to say that I haven't been able to bake for about a week, but thankfully I have a few recipes I have yet to post on...so...I uh...will. ya. :D

Ok so as I have shared with you guys before, I have a series of recipes that, if I say so myself, taste really really REALLY good. And for some reason that is somewhat foreign to me I feel a bit 'over protective' of these recipes, almost like a 4 year old who doesn't mind (in fact loves) to share all her toys with the neighborhood kids, but for some reason clutches greedily to that one special doll. And lord have mercy on your soul if you try to yank that doll away from her.

But I've been trying to be a good girl and learn to share a bit more. So from my list of uber secret recipes (that coincidentally happen to be my most requested recipes) I am slowly but surely trying to share a few of these with you. So if Banana isn't quite your thing (the insanity!:O ) then why not try my cinnamon bun recipe? Or perhaps some Hummus?

I made these babies to take to a family friend's house where we were invited for dinner. The final product was quite adorable (think little chocolate squares in cupcake liners topped with a swirl of chocolate frosting and a slice of banana!) but I wasn't able to catch a picture of them, so you will just have to take my word for it. :)

TIP: These banana squares taste EVEN BETTER the next day. So let them sit for a while...if you can stand it

Blogging is a way for me to connect with other foodies around the world and 'write down' my experiences and life through food, but it also serves the purpose of helping me keep track of my favorite recipes. Long story short I thought I had lost this recipe forever, and hopefully by writting it here I never will lose it again!

Enjoy!

The Most Addictive Best Ever Banana Cake


3 bananas
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup chocolate chips (optional)
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

1. Mash up the Bananas really well. Beat in the sugar, egg and vegetable  oil.

2. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and make sure you mix REALLY WELL. You can also stir in some chocolate chips if you like.

4. Bake at 350C until lightly brown on the edges and toothpick comes out clean.


"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Recipe Review: This is (clearly) one of my all time favorite recipes. It converted my banana hating sister into a banana cake eating crazy person! (To the point where you have to hide it from her!) What I love about this is its SOO easy to whip up, can be made in one bowl if you like, is fool proof and most importantly its SO yummy. When you have your first bite, you wont think oh my god insane! You will be like" hmm...this is good banana cake. nothing crazy...not sure what she was going on about..its just banana cake." But thats where you are wrong laddie. Ten minutes later you will find yourself reaching for another bite....and another...and another...They really are THAT addictive!

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Extremely Moist Banana Cake with Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting

Don’t you just love when things turn out as they are supposed to?

If you are like me, more often than not, they don’t turn out as they are supposed to, and you deal with it. However, today I got a sweet little surprise! You see these pictures? To my delight and surprise I didn’t have to do much editing at all! 

Usually I don’t do any major editing, I feel if I do that I’m not being genuine and that if I need to seriously Photoshop a picture, then its my crappy photography skills fault, and thus I just ditch the photos all together. That may be a bit harsh (I probably have a good 50 sets of pictures that I have taken but will probably never post because I feel the photography skills sucked), but at the same time I think it’s a good thing. I feel like I’ve grown as a photographer because I keep pushing myself to create photos that are as natural as possible and need limited editing, and thus have learned how to improve. Anyways, I’ll stop bragging about this. It just really made my day :)

Now on to this cake, I made it way back in March for my birthday (on March 6^th) and it was very delicious. In my opinion, the best gift a foodie can give themselves on their birthday is a day in the kitchen! This banana cake was very moist; something that I usually find is missing in banana cakes. This has a special little part to it where you have to pop it into the freezer right after you bake it. I personally have never heard of this ‘technique’ and was quite intrigued. I don’t know if it’s the freezing that causes the moistness but either way it was pretty good. I also made a chocolate sour cream frosting to top it off which, as you can imagine, topped off this banana cake quite nicely! This recipe is a keeper folks! :)

Best Ever Banana Cake

(source)

Ingredients

    * 1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe

    * 2 teaspoons lemon juice

    * 3 cups flour

    * 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

    * 1/4 teaspoon salt

    * 3/4 cup butter, softened

    * 2 1/8 cups sugar

    * 3 large eggs

    * 2 teaspoons vanilla

    * 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 275°. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.

2. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

4. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.

5. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture.

6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

7. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.

I couldn't make up my mind with how to decorate it...a few royal icing flowers in the middle? no...one cute tiny one...no....I settled for banana slices and shaved dark chocolate! mmm :)

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Yummy gooey Brownies

Guess who decided to go and catch a cold again? Yah. Brilliant old me. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I keep getting sick! This is actually starting to get ridiculous! Anyone know of quick and easy ways of boosting your immune system? If so, hook me up. Come to think of it, I should probably do a google search on that when and if I get the time.

You see I’ve been really busy with school and extracurriculars that I’ve barely had time for baking. *gasp* I know right? Too busy to bake? Has the world gone mad? Is the sky still blue? What is my realityyyyy?!?!?

*ahem* yes. Back to topic. I’ve been pretty busy and will probably be busy until the end of April. However, I will try my very best to update at least once a week. I probably wont have time to bake but I have about 3 recipes I’ve made who are just waiting to be given their moment in the spotlight, which I will probably get to every week during my criminal law or public law class(yup, I’m THAT good a student :) ).

Now, enough of my babbling, on to these delicious little babies. I made these about 2 weeks ago when I was recovering from my LAST cold. I was looking for something chocolaty and yummy…and, well, comfort foody. And yes, that is a word.

I stumbled over this recipe through tastespotting, and decided to try something new – and not jump to my go-to yummy but easy brownie recipe. And man oh man, I did * not * regret that decision!

Rick Katz’s Brownies For Julia

(found the recipe here)

* 1 c. all-purpose flour

* 1 tsp salt

* 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces

* 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped (Or substitute like I did)

* 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped ~~I used semi-sweet

* 2 c. sugar

* 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

* 4 large eggs

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350º F. Put a 9 inch square baking pan (I like to use Pyrex for this) on a baking sheet. Whisk flour and salt together.

Set a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the butter and chocolate in. Stir frequently until the ingredients are just melted-you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates. I melted these in the microwave in my usual fashion. Add 1 c. sugar and whisk gently just to incorporate it, then remove the bowl from the pan of water. Stir in the vanilla and transfer to a large bowl.

Put the remaining cup of sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer or a medium bowl and whisking a whisk, stir in the eggs. Switch to a rubber spatula and little by little add half of the sugar-egg mixture to the warm chocolate, stirring very gently without stopping-you don’t want the heat of the chocolate to cook the eggs.

With the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, or have your chef son beat the reaming sugar and eggs on medium-high for about 3 minutes, or until they double in volume. Using a spatula and a light touch, fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate, stopping just short of blending them in completely.

Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the batter and delicately fold them in, working only until they disappear. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the spatula.

Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until the top looks dry. Poke a thin knife intot he center and take a peek: The brownies should be only just set and still pretty gooey.

Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

The brownies are fragile and best cut in the pan. Cut eighteen 1½ x 3 inch bars.

Overall Rating:

I really, really, REALLY, liked these brownies! Granted they are a bit more complex than my go-to-brownies, but they are well worth it if you are craving something extra special! I accidentally over baked mine by a few minutes so it was a tad bit too chewy…but I didn’t mind. Who would love this? Anyone who loves a really chocolatey, chewy, and gooey brownie! I would give it a 7.5 on my tasting guide…which is the best any brownie will ever get ;) totally on my favorite list!

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Marshmallows

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to thee the new and revamped Edible Moments! With the same great recipes and your favorites still all in one place, but with a prettier and more user-friendly layout! 

Now step right up my dear laddie, for you are part of the lucky few chosen to be given a private tour! Now if you look on up to the wee banner up there you will see a picture of a yummy cup of hot chocolate which is what we will get into later today. The banner will be changing about 4 times a year to fit with the 4 seasons…amazing no? ( I decided to just make my own layout...after searching for days and days and sifting through thousands of layouts...I decided...if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself ;))

**BEFORE I GO ANY FURTHER…I could use your guys’ help…anyone know how to add an extra column on the side?:/ let me know…I will love you forever :D

Now follow me on over to the little bar underneath. Right over here ladies, come on now, don’t be shy! As you can see there is a new “about me” section, which has an ACCURATE not at all fibbed or tailed account of my life story(check it out for a chuckle ;) ), followed by a contact me page and my tasting guide which is a rating system to help all of you ladies and germs follow how I rate each recipe.

Alright now, for the final part of our tour there is the side bar on your right. Now if you haven’t already (cant imagine why not!;)) then either subscribe to my blog via the email subscription OR by scrolling down a bit more and becoming a follower!(or do both!)

Now scroll down a lil more till you see a little picture of a blue little bird that says follow me. Click on her and follow me on twitter. Go on. Do it. I’ll wait right here till you’ve done it.

* waits *

**whistles**

**checks watch**

**waits some more**

Alrighty then! All done? Good. Now, on to this here Marshmallow Recipe:

Home made Marshmallows

From Food Network

Marshmallows are one of the simplest confections to make. They take advantage of gelatins ability to set under just about any conditions. In this case the gelatin incorporates air as it stiffens yielding a fluffy, light marshmallow. By caramelizing the sugar base, the familiar flavour of campfire toasting is built in... Timing Hints: Marshmallows can be made a week in advance and refrigerated. Makes 24 large marshmallows. Yields 6 (source)

The recipe made me think it wouldn't make too many but it made A LOT of marshmallows...like ...a LOT. I filled a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan nearly to the top and had enough to fill up another pan too! So I think they either enjoy GINORMOUS marshmallows or they made a typo.

Ingredients

* 4 packages gelatin ( I used 4 tablespoons of Gelatin instead)

* 1 1/2 cups water

* 2 cups sugar

* 1 1/2 cups corn syrup

* 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

* 1 pinch salt

Directions

1. In a small bowl sprinkle the gelatin powder over ½ cup of the water. Place the sugar and the remaining one-cup of the water in a pot and heat until warm to the touch. Add the gelatin mixture to the warm syrup and stir until fully melted.

2. Pour the gelatin syrup mixture into the bowl of a large stand mixer (i.e. Hobart or KitchenAid) fitted with a whip. Add the corn syrup and vanilla and begin beating at high speed. You may find it useful to cover the bowl with plastic wrap while it beats to keep down the splatter.

**DON'T BE WORRIED! When I first started stirring it creeped me out enough to the point of almost throwing it out cause I thought it had gone wrong. at first the mixture was this icky brown color (because of the corn syrup) but after you beat it a LONG time it turns white :) )

3. Continue beating until the mixture cools, increases in volume, and forms soft peaks. Working quickly before the mixture fully sets in the bowl transfer to either a standard hotel pan dusted with powdered sugar for later cutting into cubes or transfer to a piping bag fitted with a straight tip and pipe mounds onto a non stick surface such as a silpat mat dusted with powdered sugar.

My Instructions for cutting/handling marshmallows:

I found that after they set the marshmallows were REALLY STICKY and wouldnt peel off the sides without ripping. I used an offset spatula to carefully poke at the sides while pulling the wax paper and the marshmallow started pulling itself back and it worked perfectly :)

Also for cutting I would reccomend using a big knife and not 'sawing' through it but just applying pressure down ONCE. Then carefully pick up the slice of marshmallow....they tend to stretch back into themselves providing a perfect cut.

I also found it helps to rub in a bit of icing sugar on the 'sticky sides' until its not so sticky...making it easier to handle :)

Dont forget to rub the cut up sides in icing sugar too!

Review of Recipe:

I would give this a jaw dropping 8.5 – a rare high rating for me;)

I really loved how it tasted. I usually hate how store bought marshamllows taste, so dry and overly chewy…*blegh* but this…THIS is how marshamllows are SUPPOSED to taste like. The best part about it is that its SO easy to make! I was actually really surprised by it…like…REALLY surprised. I would give this a 9 because it’s the best marshmallows I ever tasted, but they kinda stuck to everything a little too much before they were dusted with sugar…so when that’s fixed ill give it a 9.

I also love, love, love, LOVE how the marshmallows actually MELT in your hot chocolate! (as opposed to those store bough brands)

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