Vegan Chocolate Ganache

Description:
This ganache recipe (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) goes perfectly well with vegan chocolate cupcakes (obviously) but this chocolate frosting is good whether or not you have dietary preferences. A note though, this vegan ganache is a bit runny and it doesn't set like the regular ganache (the one made with cream) so better let it sit at room temperature until a little thick and of more spreadable consistency. If you can't wait, then use it as a sauce instead!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup soy milk
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Directions:
Place chopped chocolate and maple syrup in a heat-proof bowl.
Heat soy milk to a gentle boil then pour over the chocolate.
Combine using a spatula until chocolate is melted.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

These are really good cupcakes--- so moist and chocolaty. You wouldn't even think that these don't have any dairy in it. Love, love, love these cupcakes.

Birthdays this weekend

Made two birthday cakes this week- chocolate cake for my bro-in-law Bryan and carrot cake for Quincy :)

Girlie's Bridal Shower Cake

This wa my first time to make a decorated cake for a bridal shower, and this was the sexiest design I can come up with (looks more like a cake for Valentine's). Trixie kept on asking why there was a baby on top of the cake! I really had fun making this one, although it took me the entire day to bake, assemble and decorate (plus the extra day to make the filling ahead). But more than anything else, it was a darn good chocolate cake. Trixie just loved licking the ganache off the spatula!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

These are sinfully amazing. Every bite is a pleasure. I got the recipe from the ever reliable America's Test Kitchen.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Mint Buttercream Frosting

Description:
I now enjoy baking with Trixie more than ever. She is good at mixing, sifting and recently, she learned how to crack eggs, measure ingredients and lick the batter bowl. We made these cupcakes yesterday, while Brandon was watching the Pacquiao match. These moist cupcakes were amazingly vegan. I got the recipe from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World." I usually don't frost cupcakes, but due to insistent Trixie demand, we made mint icing (but the icing recipe is not vegan) to go with these wonderful cupcakes.

Ingredients:
Basic Chocolate Cupcake

1 cup soy milk (I used the unsweetened kind)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (use the real one)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Valrhona)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt


Mint Buttercream Frosting (My less sweet version)

1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp soy milk
1/8 tsp mint extract or oil
2-3 drops liquid green food color

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin pan.
Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar and let stand for a few minutes to curdle. Add oil and vanilla extract and beat until foamy.
In a separate bowl, sift and combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add in two batches to the wet ingredients and beat well.
Pour into muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes or until done. Let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:
Cream the butter, then add the powdered sugar. Add the milk (you may add more milk if the texture is too dry).
Add the mint extract and food color. Frost the cupcakes.

Valentine's Chocolates

Brandon surprised me this morning with three boxes of premium Japanese Nama Chocolates (where he got them, he wouldn't tell... ). He also kept them discreetly in the fridge, so I was really surprised. This is the first time he gave me chocolates and I was really impressed :) Pure chocolate pleasure.

Silk Organic Chocolate Soy Milk

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

I haven't been fond of drinking cow's milk and I think I passed that on to Trixie. From breastmilk, Trix switched to soya for her milk needs. Then my mom gave us Silk Organic Chocolate Soya Milk to try and we just love it. It is made of organic soy beans and the chocolate taste is reminiscent of Magnolia Chocolait. We buy Silk at S&R (a bit pricey though, around P120 a liter, but for me it's worth it) and there are two other flavors- Vanilla and Unsweetened, but Chocolate is the favorite hands-down. With the milk catastrophe in China and certain studies showing the disadvantages of cow's milk, Silk Soya gives Trixie something to smile about each day (haha, with a chocolatey smile).

It's Chocolate Cake once more.

I'm obviously obsessed with baking chocolate cakes this week (three times in a row to be exact) and I blame it on the rainy weather hehe. This time, I made it into a two-layer cake and I frosted it with Cote d'Or Belgian Dark Chocolate which I got as a "pasalubong" from Gatch (I'm blessed with generous friends, really). This version, I must say, is the best among the three. It really pays to use top quality ingredients; it's so worth it. This is my official chocolate cake from now on. Side comment: I decided to put Trixie's photo in the end because she helped me bake the cake and she happily waited for Brandon to finish taking the photos so we could sing a birthday song and blow an imaginary candle. :)

Ghirardelli Chocolate Cake

Thanks to my kumare Maybelle who gave me a big can of Ghirardelli cocoa (best gift ever!), I am happy to present this chocolate cake for everybody's visual enjoyment. This is just a simple but moist chocolate cake that I topped with satiny, bittersweet chocolate glaze, dark chocolate chips and chopped pistachio nuts-- really satisfying! Photos by Brandon who was rewarded with a slice after the shoot :)

Rainy Day Bread Pudding

What to do on a stormy day—this is one question I have an easy answer to.  Aside from keeping updated on the latest weather bulletin, I just find it so enticing to make something rich yet comforting on any rainy day.  We were lucky enough to experience only an hour of blackout, so while Brandon and Trixie practically napped the whole day, I made Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding.  I got the recipe from Periplus’ Crazy for Chocolate Cookbook (gift from Stew from way, way back) and the result was just what I wanted.  It’s really rich and satisfying being made from dark chocolate, yet it’s so homey and so easy to prepare since the base is just white bread.  It was great served warm with vanilla ice cream but it tasted heavenly served cold the following day.  I’m posting the recipe here for you to enjoy this on your rainy days! 

 

Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding

60g butter (I used only half)

6 slices fruit-loaf bread (I used soft white bread)

½ cup milk

2 cups thick cream

½ cup caster sugar (Plain white will do)

100g dark cooking chocolate, chopped (I used bittersweet couverture)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup dark choc bits (I used less than a half cup of Hershey’s semi-sweet choc chips)

2 tablespoons golden syrup (I didn’t have any so I omitted this)

 

Procedure

Preheat oven to 160C/ 315F.  Brush a 4-cup capacity baking dish with oil or melted butter.

Spread butter on bread.  Cut bread into diagonal quarters.  Place bread in dish in single layer, overlapping it.

Combine milk, cream and sugar in medium pan, stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Bring to boil, remove from heat.  Add chocolate; stir mixture until melted and smooth.  Cool slightly; gradually whisk in eggs.

Pour half the custard mixture over bread, stand 10 minutes or until bread absorbs most of the liquid.  Pour over remaining custard mixture.  Sprinkle with choc bits.  Drizzle with golden syrup.  Bake 40-45 minutes or until set and slightly puffed and golden.  Serve warm or cold with cream or ice cream.

Newest Chocolate Baby

Meet my newest cake- ChocoIate Cake with Fudge Icing and White Chocolate Curls (hmm... my cake name is so obvious naman... better think of a better name- I'm open to suggestions!). Anyway, I'm posting this photo for Stew's sake :) Hope your mom would love this cake.