Christmas Chocolate Madeleines

It's almost Christmas time! Now you can bake loads of stuff but I like to keep it easy. Madeleines are slowly making their way back in to the home baking scene. They are really easy and always good. They originate from France and so is my recipe. Good luck and I wish you a very merry Christmas!  

Ingredients for 40 small madeleines:

- 200 grams of caster sugar

- 2 tsp of vanillasugar or 1 tsp vanilla essence 

- 4 eggs

- 250 grams of self-raising flour

- 2 tsp of full fat milk

- 125 grams of melted butter

- 100 grams of dark chocolate 

- powdered sugar to decorate (optional)

Method:

1. In order to make madeleines you'll need a baking tray for madeleines like the one in the picture.

2. Preheat your over up to 190 degrees. 

3. Mix the sugar, the vanilla en the eggs.

4. Sift the self-raising flour and mix it into the sugar and the eggs. If you have a kitchen aid or another machine it's quite simple to do it like this:

5. Melt the butter and mix it together with the milk in to the batter. Your batter should look like the picture below.

6. Chop the chocolate in to small pieces and mix in in to your batter by hand! You want the consistency of the chocolate chunks. 

7. Grease in your baking tray and fill them up to 3/4 with the batter. Place them in the oven for about 10 minutes until they are golden brown. Watch them closely because they bake really quickly! 

The perfect madeleine has a lump on the top. They say you can get the lump by opening your oven door swiftly when the sides of the madeleines are baked but when the centre is still soft. 

Let them cool down completely 

8. You can remove the madeleines by taking a sharp knife and to gently peel them of the baking tray.

9. Decorate the madeleines with a small amount of powdered sugar. Add some Christmas details for the full seasonal effect :)

Good luck and a very merry Christmas!

Summer Chocolate Fruit Cake

Summertime! This lovely chocolate cake is fudge. It has a nice bite because of the melted chocolate and it is topped with a soft buttercream and berries!

Ingredients:

- a box of strawberries

- a box of blueberries

- a box of raspberries

- a box of blackberries

- 75 grams of dark chocolate

- 3 dl water

- 90 grams cocoa powder

- 250 grams self-raising flour

- 500 grams sugar

- a pinch of salt

- 10 grams vanilla sugar

- 3,5 dl buttermilk

- 130 grams sunflower oil

- 3 eggs

- 250 grams powdered sugar

- 175 ml milk

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Boil the 3 dl of water. Solve the cocoa powder in it. Use good cocoa powder.

2. Keep on stirring until you see a chocolate paste. 

3. Mix in a bowl the self-raising flour, the sugar and the pinch of salt. When this is a good mixed powder, add the vanilla sugar, the buttermilk, the oil and the eggs.

4. Add the chocolate paste in to the batter.

5. Let the batter rest for an hour.

6. Preheat the oven up to 180 degrees. Bake the cake for an hour and let it cool.

7. Melt the dark chocolate au bien marie and cover the cool cake with it. Wait until the chocolate has solidified. 

8. Mix the powdered sugar, the milk and the vanilla into a moist paste. Cover the cake with the buttercream icing. It doesn't have to be neat. Just apply it, it will give your cake a way better look then when it's looking pretty.

9. Start by adding the blueberries and slowly fill up your cake.

Quick Chocolate Milk

Ingredients for one mug:

- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder

- 2 teaspoons sugar

- 180 grams milk

(whipped cream or marshmallows)

Method:

1. Mix the cocoa powder with the sugar.

2. Boil the milk and add it to the cocoa powder mixture. Keep on sturring until you have a nice cup of chocolate milk!

3. You can add some whipped cream or marshmallows.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingrediënten:
- 160 grams flour
- 115 grams butter
- 1 egg
- 180 grams sugar
- 200 grams dark chocolate


Method:

1. Chop the chocolate in to small pieces like the picture below.

2. Preheat the oven up to 200 degrees.
3. Mix the egg, the sugar and the butter.Slowely add the flour and mix it into one sticky dough.

4.  Mix the chocolate into the dough and make little balls.Press the balls flat and place them on your baking tray.

5.  Bake the cookies for 15 minutes. Make sure to keep a good distance between the cookies because they get bigger in the oven! They tend to double in size!