chocoholics and cakeoholics look no further...

The last two days I have made cakes using chocolate and here are the recipes...

I made these brownies for my chocolate loving cousin to take to his office for his birthday.  I hope they liked them.

I wanted to make brownies because they are usually popular, very chocolatey, need no decorating and transport well.

I also really like making sweets so if you want to go a bit further you could make the nougat for the recipe too.

Toblerone Brownies

9 inch square tin (lined with baking paper)

Ingredients

250g soft unsalted butter

100g milk chocolate broken into pieces

175 dark chocolate broken into pieces

275g caster sugar

3 Eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp almond extract

1 tablespoon honey

150g plain flour

50g self raising flour

25g cocoa powder

½ teaspoon salt

100g toasted flaked almonds

100g bar of Toblerone coarsely chopped

75g almond nougat chopped into really small pieces (optional, and can be shop bought or homemade)

1.       Preheat the oven to 180˚C

2.       Melt the butter, chocolate and honey in a heavy based saucepan over a low heat, allow this to cool a little

3.       In a large bowl beat the eggs, sugar and extracts until fluffy and pale

4.       Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture

5.       Mix in the flours, cocoa and salt and mix to combine

6.       Add the Toblerone, nuts and nougat and fold through

7.       Pour into prepared tin and bake for 25mins (until the top is dry and slightly cracking and the middle feels only just set)

8.       Leave the brownie to cool in the tin

9.       Cut when it is completely cool

...enjoy x

I also thought it was about time that I made a cake for my colleagues at work after saying I will lots of times, so since I was on a chocolate roll, and inspired by a tweet, I made a Cadbury twirl cake

Here is the recipe:

Cadbury Twirl Cake

2 lined 8 inch sandwich tins

Ingredients

For the cake

175g soft unsalted butter

175g soft light brown sugar

150g Self raising flour

50g Cadbury Cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

3 eggs (beaten)

100ml sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the icing

225g Dairy Milk

125g soft unsalted Butter

4 tbsp Milk

200g icing sugar

To decorate

4 (2 finger) twirls

1.       Preheat the oven to 170˚C

2.       Cream together the butter and sugar

3.       Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl

4.       In a separate bowl use a fork to beat together the sour cream and eggs

5.       Very slowly and gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar (you can add a spoonful of the dry ingredients to prevent curdling)

6.       When the egg mixture is all mixed in add the dry ingredients and mix to combine

7.       Pour between the two tins and bake for 25mins

8.       Turn out and allow to cool whilst you make the icing

9.       To make the icing put the chocolate, butter and milk in a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water (don’t allow it to get too hot or the chocolate will split)

10.   Allow this to cool a little

11.   Weigh out the icing sugar into a bowl, pour over the chocolate and beat until cool, and forms soft peaks

12.   Pop one half of the cake on a plate, fill with some icing, crumble over one finger of a twirl

13.   Pop the other half on top, cover  the top and sides with the remaining icing using a small palette knife

14.   Decorate with the twirls however you like

...enjoy x