Molten Chocolate Pots

Chocolate ..... hmmmm,  you can never get enough of it, can you.  Though I must admit I personally am not a great chocolate fan.  Prefer anything citrus anyday.  But what to do - it is the ultimate in food fantasy :)


So it was all about chocolate these past few days - brownies, cakes, cheesecakes and of course the Decadent Molten Chocolate Pot.  Fairly simple to make and always a big hit.   Only once your spoon cuts through the crust do you find the molten center.

It rose beautifully - lovely cracked top - which you cannot see as I dusted it with icing sugar, and a soft molten center.  Do be careful when eating this because you will burn your tongue


What you need


Baking Chocolate - 115 gms
Butter - 115 gms
Eggs - 2 largs
Sugar - 75 gms
Flour - 40 gms


And now to make it

• Grease 4 ramekins with butter and keep aside.
• Melt the chocolate with the butter over a double boiler.  Please do not do this in the microwave nunless you are an expert in chocolate.  Its so easy to burn.
• Beat the eggs and sugar till light and fluffy.  I do find it easier to use a hand mixer rather than by hand.  This needs to be done for at least 5 min as this is what causes the cake to rise.  There is no baking powder or any other raising agent.
• Mix the melted, slightly cooled chocolate into the egg mixture till well incorporated.  
• Fold in the flour.  Fold and not mix - do not over mix.
• Pour into the ramekins, place on a tray and bake for 10-12 min at 180 C.
• Dust some icing sugar on top and serve with cream or strawberries

Note - to make options you could add coffee dissolved in water or cointreau to the chocolate.

Rum and Raisin Cheesecake

What you need

1 1/2 cups chocolate biscuit crumbs

100g butter, melted

1 cup raisins

1/4 cup dark rum

500 gm Cream Cheese, softened

1/4 cup rum

3/4 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

300g sour cream

1/4 cup caster sugar

4 tbsp gelatin + 1/4 cup water

100 gms melted chocolate

To make it

COMBINE biscuit crumbs and butter then press into a greased 8" springform pan; chill.

Soak the raisins in the dark rum and keep aside.

BEAT the cream cheese and sugar using an electric mixer until smooth. Add rum and vanilla beat until smooth. Mix in sour cream until well combined. 

Soak the gelatin in water and heat on low to melt. Mix into the cheese cream mixture.

Drain raisins and fold into mixture.

Separate the mix into 2 parts. Mix in the melted chocolate in one part, keeping the other white.

Pour the white mix over the biscuit base and keep to set for 10 min. Once slightly firm pour the choc mix over the white base.

Keep to set for at least 6 hours before serving.

Decorate as desired

Chocolate Frappe

Chilled Frappes on a hot summer day - This is a change from the normal cold coffees

You will need -  

1 shot [60 ml] of Espresso

25 ml of Chocolate syrup

120 ml milk

3 tsp sugar
ice cubes

Espresso is basically concentrated coffee. It typically is made using an espresso machine, but can be using instant coffee. Espresso can be make by using a lot of coffee and a little hot water to create a stout, strong and full-bodied espresso. 

• Boil 1 cup of filtered water. Once water comes to a boil turn off heat immediately.
• Place 3 teaspoons of instant coffee in a coffee mug.
• Add 60 ml [a teacup is 200 ml so this would be a little more than 1/2 the teacup] of the boiling water to the instant coffee.Stir until the instant coffee is completely dissolved.
• Drink the espresso or use it to make a latte or mocha [ this would be another story another day ].  

Mix the chocolate syrup, milk, sugar & espresso along with lots of ice in a blender and run till nice and chilled.

Pour and serve in a tall glass.    

Ice Cream Bombe

Hectic weekend with dinner and lunches out with friends.  Which automatically leads to the question from the kids - whats for us ?  So this was all about pacifying Aakash.  Poor Shreya had to take a backseat but its not such a problem cause she never eats the desserts anyways :)

So, courtsey my son, I did a icecream cake - my first attempt so its not finished the way I would have liked it to be.

Start with a good basic cake.  Not a sponge please.  I put some marmalade in mine to give it an orange twist.

Line a round basin with clingfilm and line this with the cake, sliced in the centre and cut into triangles.  Fill all the gaps with leftover cake and put in the freezer to set.  

Soften icecream - any flavour - I used vanilla and mango - and layer the inside of the frozen cake with this, following the shape of the cake.  First layer was vanilla and then mango.  I went adventurous and filled the centre with some Raspberry sorbet.  Cover with cling film and put back in the freezer to set.  

Made this in the morning so it got about 8 hours to set.  When ready to serve, upturn on a plate.  

  

Could have been a better looking presentation.  Next time this is going to get covered with Chocolate or cream. But I must admit it was really tasty

MERINGUES

One of the toughest things to find in Gurgaon or Delhi – meringues or meringue shells.  Fortunately one of the easier things to make if you have the time and inclination.  Made well, they are light and airy and only need a couple of ingredients to make them - something that can be found in most homes.  

The following recipe quantity is a reduced down version and is fairly simple. 

Serves – 8

Time – 30 mins + baking time

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
• 55 gms castor sugar
• 55 gms icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat a conventional oven to 110c.  Line a baking tray with butter paper
2. Separate the eggs when cold and bring the egg whites to room temp.  This is very necessary for beating the eggs to the required volume.  Using an electric beat, beat the eggs till they are fluffy and resemble a cloudy mass and should hold a stiff peak when the beater is lifted.
3. Gradually add in castor sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating well for 3-4 minutes between each addition.  When all the castor sugar is incorporated the mixture should be nice, thick and glossy.
4. Sift one third of the icing sugar over the mixture and fold in with a spoon.  Continue to sift in the balance till all is incorporated.  DO NOT OVERMIX.
5. Using a wet spoon, scoop up a tablespoon of the mixture and drop it on the baking sheet in rough rounds.  Or, place meringue mixture in pastry bag fitted with star tip. Pipe meringue onto parchment paper to form eight 3-in. cups
6. Bake for 1 1/4 hours or until the meringues are crisp.
7. Leave to cool on a cooling rack
8. Serve sandwiched with sweetened whipped cream or crumbled over ice cream