Sadie's Bubble of Yum

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Isn’t it just amazing weather in Cape Town?! It’s been forever since I’ve defrosted 🙂 This beautiful weather has inspired me to finally post the utterly divine triple chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I attempted these yummy babies two weekends ago when I had a little baking frenzy. They are delicious and even warranted a comment “Aunty Saadiyah, you make such nice things” from my adorable nephew Zaydaan 🙂

If you have kids, this is the perfect recipe to make with them as it’s simple and a visual feast. They’ll just loooooove throwing in the various types of chocolate and watching it whizz away. As with most of my posts, this is the answer for any chocoholic (note to self, I really need to curb myself with the chocolate in take).

If you’re looking for a place to purchase these different types of chocolates, I bought them at Value Baking Supplies – It’s a bakers heaven and I find their prices are much better than most of the competing baking supply stores.

Aaaaaand here you go:

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup mini or regular chocolate chips (I prefer chopping up dairy milk chocolate)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a large baking sheet with a silpat liner or baking paper – I used this incredible non stick sheet that I purchased at Lindt Chocolate Studio
Place butter and sugars into an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy, approximately 2 minutes.

3. Add egg and vanilla mixing until well combined. Add flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, mixing to combine

4. Add all chocolate chips and mix to combine.

5. With a medium ice cream scoop, scoop dough onto baking sheet, spaced apart and bake for 12-15 minutes, until baked through.

6. Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Then it’s time to devour 😀

Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread

What a weekend it’s been, I’ve definitely baked to my heart’s content and have made up for my creative baking lull…well I’d say. On Saturday I whipped up I chocoholics ultimate cookie…triple choc chip! Keeping in tune with the chocolate theme, I mixed it up a bit and made a salted caramel chocolate cake. On Sunday I tried to steer away from chocolate, not that you could ever overdo it 🙂 and I attempted a banoffee roulade, which turned out great until I tried to roll it up – I killed it…literally! Poked holes into it which lead to caramel oozing out, it wasn’t pretty but it still tasted good! The final item on my weekend baking to-do list was a cinnamon roll pull apart bread….oh my goodness, what a perfect little treat for those wintery evening sweet cravings. My family seems to think it tastes like Cinnabon 🙂 I’d take that as a stamp of approval, right? Continue reading →

Chocolate Nutella Cookies

Has it been a month? Two months? No….it’s been forever since my last post! It’s not that I haven’t been baking…there just hasn’t been time for me to whip out my creative hat and try a new recipe. This year has also just been a rollercoaster, as I’m sure it’s been for most of you, leaving us exasperated, thinking “where has half this year gone”. I can’t believe it’s June already, well despite the freezingly cold winter we seem to be having in the lovely Cape, I absolutely love June! The kid in me, as anyone would know, is still very much a part and alive within me, which makes it pretty easy for you to understand that I still get excited about my birthday…which is on 13 June…just putting it out there 🙂 cough, cough…hint, hint…

Last weekend I attended a Lindt Macaroon Workshop with my mother at the Lindt Chocolate Studio in old Cape Quarter and oh…my…golly…miss molly was it amazing! Chef Dimo Simatos demonstrated both the hot and cold method of making the absolutely mouth-watering macaroons along with quite a few filling variations from delectable ganaches to lemon curd.

It was definitely the workshop that ignited my longing to get back into the kitchen and whip up something chocolatey and delicious 🙂 With that stroke of inspiration, I made my first batch of Chocolate Nutella Cookies – which is basically two chocolate biscuits sandwiched with a generous layer of Nutella.

Enjoy!

xxx

Ingredients:

– 250g butter

– 250g castor sugar

– 5ml vanilla essence

– 3 eggs

– 500g cake flour

– 50g cocoa powder

– Probably a jar, if you really want to be generous 🙂

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees and either grease your baking trays or line them with baking paper.

2. Cream the butter, castor sugar and vanilla essence until light.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each.

4. Sift the cake flour and cocoa powder into the butter mixture. Mix this until combined, be careful to not over mix.

5. Wrap the dough in clingwrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

6. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut into desired shapes.

7. Place onto the baking trays and refrigerate again for 10 minutes before baking for 15 minutes in the pre-heated oven.

8. Remove from the oven and cool down slightly before transferring to cooling racks. Allow the cookies to cool down completely before sandwiches the biscuits with Nutella.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

With Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour out the way and everything mellowing down, life is finally beginning to settle down. To say that I’ve been busy at work is an understatement, it has been absolutely manic, but thoroughly enjoyable (aside from being constantly exhausted 😉 ). Watching the thousands of cyclists lining up at the start line and basking in the infectious atmosphere from start to finish has definitely stung me with the cycling bug. Completing a Cycle Tour is definitely on my bucket list – stop laughing…I can do it! 😀 109km’s piece of cake…ok maybe I should just stick to the cake… Continue reading →

Cream Cheese Frosting

As mentioned in my Red Velvet Cupcakes post, cream cheese frosting just simply perfects the taste and provides the perfect balance to the richness (if that’s a word) of the cupcake with its sweet and tangy (the good type of tang) and oh-so delectable flavour.

I’m not going to ramble too much…here you go 🙂

Ingredients:

– 100-120g softened butter

– 1 tub cream cheese

– 2 cups icing sugar

– 1 tsp lemon juice

– 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

– Simple….just whip it all together until well combined and voila!

Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Oh how I love these little rosy-red cupcakes of love. When I first heard about Red Velvet Cupcakes and Cakes, I was completely sold by the concept. Firstly, red is my favourite colour and who could resist any cake which has a velvet texture?? The first RVC I ever had, was one from my very own homemade batch. It was at that very moment that I decided to hunt down a shop-made version to compare and really get to grips with what it should taste and look like. After testing quite a few recipes and sampling about a dozen of different versions, I finally found a recipe which I personally love, although I think the best part of any Red Velvet Cupcake is the delectable cream cheese frosting. Honestly, that must be the epitome of a “match made in heaven”. The cream cheese frosting brings the perfect tangy balance to the rich cupcake.

To all those fabulous ladies who ever asked me for the recipe, here you go lovelies!

Ingredients:

– 485g flour

– 1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

– 1 1/4 tsp salt

– 1 1/4 tsp cocoa

– 1 1/2 cups oil

– 1 2/3 cups sugar

– 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

– 3 eggs

– 40g red food colouring

– 1 1/4 tsp vinegar

– 1 1/4 tsp vanilla essence

– 1/8 cup water

Method:

– Preheat oven to 175 degrees

– Sift flour, bicarb, salt and cocoa – set aside

– Using a cake mixer, combine oil, sugar and buttermilk. Add eggs, food colouring, vinegar, vanilla essence and water.

– Add dry ingredients to mixture, a little at a time, mixing on low and scraping down the side of the bowl to ensure that the mixture is well combined.

– Spoon the mixture into cupcake holders within a cupcake tray and bake for 20-30 minutes.

NB: Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting them 🙂

Just playing around with the camera setting…

Cinnamon Sugar Roll Cookies

It’s been ages! With Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour and the Two Oceans Marathon just a few weeks away our office has turned into a manic station of late nights and sugar-highs. As the PR agency of record for both these major events, to say we’ve been busy is an understatement, luckily it’s the good kind of busy. I’m thoroughly enjoying every bit of it, the hype leading up to these events are phenomenal – the world of cycling and running is just another realm on its own.

Enough about me…on to the yumminess! I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for the past month along with my Red Velvet Cupcake recipe, which I will post soon…I promise! I’m a huge fan of cinnabons and when I stumbled upon this recipe, I was sold by the concept. If you’re a fan of cinnamon-sugar pancakes and cinnabons, you’ll love these!

Without further ado…here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 Cups sugar

1 Cup butter, softened

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 Cup sour cream

6 Cups flour

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons softened butter, (slice 2 Tablespoons 6 times totaling 12 tablespoons)

1 1/2 Cups light brown sugar, divided into 1/4 Cups

1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon, divided

Frosting:

8 oz softened cream cheese

1/2 Cup icing sugar

2-4 Tablespoons milk, to thin icing

Method:

1. Cream the sugar and butter using an electic mixer. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream and mix well. Slowly add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined.

2. For best results separate the dough into 2 batches, place in plastic wrap in a disc shape and chill for at least 2 hours.

3. Once chilled, cut each disc into thirds and roll into a 1/8 inch thick oval, about 12 inches X 5 inches. Spread each rolled pieces of dough with 2 Tablespoons softened butter, 1/4 Cup brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Start rolling from the long end closest to you, rolling into a log shape. Using a sharp knife, cut 1/2 inch pieces of dough then placing onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 175 degrees for 9-11 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

4. For the frosting, beat the cream cheese until softened and smooth, slowly add icing sugar and milk until desired consistency. Frost cookies then place in fridge until ready to serve.

Rainbow Cupcakes

Happy 2013 to all!!! Hope each and every one of you had a lovely break and was able to spend quality time with loved ones whether it was going away on vacation or simply staying at home and enjoying good company. My wish for my family, friends and readers is a 2013 filled with memorable moments, side-splitting laughter, happiness, contentment and success. Remember…if your day or year isn’t going as great as you’d hoped or you just feeling low on “happy hormones” you have the power to change it. I completely believe that your happiness is completely up to you (and our creator of course). It’s quite simple…if you want to be happy, you will be. Learn to appreciate what you have instead of dwelling on what you don’t. Continue reading →

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate…hmmmm…yum, yum, yummmmm!! I actually can’t believe there people who can’t stand chocolate…To all those people…I will never understand you! 🙂 Just kidding, you are the reason why there’s more than enough chocolate for me 🙂

Focus Saadiyah, focus…ok so I’m convinced this chocolate buttercream frosting tastes exactly like the frosting which tops the little Woolworths chocolate cupcakes…I love the fact that you include real chocolate in this frosting, which gives the traditional buttercream frosting a bit of a twist. Continue reading →

Chocolate Cupcakes

What a manic, emotional-rollercoster of a two weeks…I left my second home and family at marcusbrewster and joined the fabulous team at The Phoenix Partnership. For those of you who don’t know, I’m in the ever-exciting and unpredictable PR industry. During my third year of studying Public Relations Management at CPUT I completed my internship at marcusbrewster,was thereafter offered a permanent position and have been with the agency ever since – 4years! Continue reading →