Tag Archives: recipes

Smore’s Streusel Chocolate Muffins

After making a few variations of muffins over the years, I’ve learnt that a winning secret ingredient for a moist crumb (which is what we live for in muffins!) is yoghurt. When I got my hands on the new Nutriday Double Cream Plain Yoghurt, I just HAD to concoct an absolutely decadent muffin and on that note, I introduce you to the Smore’s Streusel Chocolate Muffin!

It’s  eye-rolling divine moist chocolate muffin, filled with pools of chocolate and to complement it with the Smore’s elements is a crunchy streusel topping made up of crushed biscuit, cinnamon,  brown sugar and chocolate chips, finally topped with toasted marshmallow. To even out the sweetness, it’s best served with dollops of Nutriday Double Cream Plain Yoghurt  which is a total game changer!

Smore’s Streusel Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:

Chocolate Muffins:

  • 130g roughly chopped, good quality chocolate
  • 115g butter
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 90g Nutriday Double Cream Plain Yoghurt, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 40g cocoa powder
  • 60g flour
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 big pinch of salt
  • An extra cup of roughly chopped, good quality chocolate

Streusel:

  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 50g crushed biscuit (I used Lotus biscuits)
  • 1/4 cup roughly chopped chocolate/chocolate chips

Topping:

  • Marshmallows (mini marshmallows or cut the bigger marshmallows in quarters like I did)

Method:

  • Preheat the oven to 220C and prepare a muffin pan with muffin wrappers.
  • To make the muffins: In a bain marie or in a heatproof bowl over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate and allow to cool slightly
  • In a separate bowl mix the sugar, yoghurt, eggs and vanilla then pour in the slightly cooled chocolate butter mixture and combine.
  • In a larger bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, bicarb and salt. Gently fold in the wet ingredients, careful to not over mix.
  • To make the streusel: Combine all the streusel ingredients in a small bowl
  • Fill the muffin 3/4 way with the batter and top each with the prepared streusel.
  • Bake for 5min in the 220C preheated oven (this will allow them to rise nicely) then reduce the temperature to 175C and bake for another 17 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for a few minutes before popping them on to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Finally, top with some marshmallows and either blow torch them or pop them for a few minutes in the oven on a preheated oven on grill until they’re golden.
  • Serve with a dollop of Nutriday Double Cream Plain Yoghurt or as is 🙂

Chocolate Fondant

Just in time for the weekend, ready to impress your guests or just your tummy! Because you deserve it, you made it through January and February! 🙂 How manic have these first two months been? With all that’s happening in the world and the jam-packed kick start to the year, we need a moment. This Chocolate Fondant recipe is quick and easy and oh-so-lusciously-delicious!

If you do whip them up, please do send or tag me in the pics and let me know what you think?

Ingredients:

  • 125g butter (have some extra for greasing)
  • 1 Tblsp cocoa powder (have some extra for dusting)
  • 125g good quality chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 60g caster sugar (Natura Sugars golden caster sugar is great!)
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 100g flour, sifted

Method:

  • Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare your ramekins (or ovenprood moulds if you want to pop them out when plating) by greasing them with the extra butter and lightly dust them with the additional cocoa powder.
  • Melt the butter and chocolate in a bain marie or create your own bain marie by placing them in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (make sure the base does not touch the simmering water).
  • Using an electric whisk, beat the sugar, eggs and egg yolks until they’re pale and fluffy.
  • Pour the melted butter/chocolate mixture over the egg mix and gently fold in the sifted flour and cocoa, using a metal spoon.
  • Place the ramekins/moulds on a baking tray. Fill the prepared ramekins with the batter and bake in the preheated oven for roughly 8 minutes.
  • Once removed from the oven, they are ready to devour! The centre should be soft with a silky chocolate sauce. Serve with a scoop of your favourite ice cream, whipped cream or creme fraiche and a dusting of cocoa powder. Yum!

Salted Caramel Brownies & Toasted Meringue

My obsession with salted caramel continues…these delicious gooey brownies topped with toasted meringue has the best salted caramel surprise and is just a magical flavour combination.

If you want to make them in advance, bake the brownies and keep them airtight sealed and also make the caramel and store it in a jar in the fridge, keeping both ready until you’re ready to serve them (should preferably be within three days). Just top and toast the meringue when you’re ready to serve them and they’ll be absolutely perfect.

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Gingerbread Men

As a parent, you always try to find kid-friendly, enjoyable-for-all recipes. As a baker and a mother, I always try to find a recipe which is fuss-free and easy enough to rope the kids into – without creating too much mess and which wouldn’t flop due to the overhandling that is sure to happen due to kids excitement. Alas, I have found another recipe, perfect for kids to sharpen their baking skills with. It also has so many fun steps for them – creating the dough, pressing out the gingerbread men and later on, decorating them!

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Chocolate Swiss Roll

Swiss roll, swiss roll…oh how intimidating you seem until you have the courage to give it a go and realise and its actually one of the easiest cakes to make. I saw this recipe posted by Mehnaaz Basha and it just looked delicious and quite quick and easy to make – when I attempted it, it was exactly that!

This swiss roll is airy, light and fluffy – everything you’d want from a swiss roll really 🙂 After I posted a picture of it on Instagram, I’ve been getting requests for a tutorial and have finally included one on my Instagram – featured in the story highlights. It’s incredibly quick to make and just like any other cake, you need it to cool down before decorating, so build in time for the cool down. Just like any chocolate cake – you can be as adventurous as you want with the filling and decorations.

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S’mores Brownies

It’s raining, it’s pouring, Sadie has an urge to bake something… 🙂 Yes, in Cape Town its a stormy, wet weekend. The best thing to do in this weather is stay indoors and indulge in warm chocolatey treats, curled up around a fireplace. I’m not sure about you, but a fire always reminds me of S’mores and toasted marshmallows. What better way to combine it all than S’mores Brownies.

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Chocolate Sablé Cookies

I know, I know…another cookie recipe??! It’s quite evident that my cookie jar has been overflowing this past two weeks with all the cookies I’ve been making, which includes a New York style choc chip cookie which I’ll share soon.

Sablé cookies are basically French shortbread cookies and sablé in English means sand, which you’ll completely understand when you make these cookies as the texture of the dough is sand and soil-like. Sounds strange but I promise you these cookies are one of the best you’ll ever have and are chocolate dreams with a magical texture! Have patience with these cookies as well, especially because the texture is so different, you don’t want to over-mix them as they’ll be tough, just enjoy the process and trust me it’ll all be worth while. On that note, I’m going to dig into yet another and leave you with the recipe…

Ingredients:

  • 275g plain flour
  • 40g cocoa powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 200g unsalted butter, diced (room temperature)
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 200g light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract OR 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 175g good quality chocolate (to your preference – i.e. dark or milk), finely chopped

Method: 

  1. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarb into a bowl and add the sea salt, then stir together and set aside.

  2. Using an electric mixer, put the butter in the mixing bowl and beat until fluffy and light. Add the sugars and vanilla and beat together for approximately 2 minutes until smooth.

  3. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until you have a mixture that looks sandy then add the chocolate and mix to combine. The dough should then look like soil; it should not have formed into one large ball of dough. This is the key to getting the correct sable cookie texture. NB: if you mix for too long the biscuits will be tough.

  4. Tip out the mixture onto a work surface and gently press together to form a uniform dough. Divide the dough into two halves and roll into two logs, 4cm thick.

  5. Wrap the dough in cling-wrap and place them in the fridge, allowing to chill for 3 hours.

  6. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan oven) and line baking trays with baking paper or a silpat. Remove the dough from the fridge and using a thin, sharp knife, cut into rounds about 1cm thick. Place the cookies onto the baking trays and bake for 10–12 minutes until set around the outside but still soft in the center. If you dare, because they’ll be quite hot straight out the oven of course but I definitely recommend snatching one straight out the oven – it is a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate dream.

  7. Leave the cookies to cool on the trays for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

  8. Once cool, leave as is or decorate according to your preference. The cookies will keep for up to one week stored in an airtight container.

  9. Enjoy!!!

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Churro’s

A fresh, hot churro dunked in a velvety chocolate sauce just sounds like heaven, right?

Churros have definitely become increasingly popular in South Africa, but to find the perfect one in Cape Town is somewhat rare. Instead of hunting for it, I opted for the easier route and whipped up a batch yesterday, using the recipe below.

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Swiss Meringue Buttercream

In Cape Town, we’re in the thick of winter but experiencing regular weather changes which as you all know means its flu and cold season. Snotty noses and high fevers have hit my home in full force with my daughters tag teaming over the past two weeks with terrible colds. That has resulted in lots of indoor home entertainment, which always leads to baking as more than anything else, we need freshly baked goods to keep our happy hormone levels at bay 🙂

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Choc-Chip and Marshmallow Cookies

I think I’ve made cookies every weekend for the past month and I have a number of excuses lined up but the truth is, I’ve been constantly craving a good cookie. Is it just me, or is it incredibly tough to find a delicious choc-chip cookie in Cape Town?!

If you think so too, I may soon be answering your prayers as I’m planning to start selling some of my baked goods, which includes cookies (the most delicious recipes I’ve conjured).

For now, here is the recipe for the choc chip and marshmallow cookie I whipped up today. This is the sort of cookie recipe you could throw anything into really, I just happened to have some marshmallows in the cupboard, staring at me… 🙂

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