Saturday, June 16, 2012

Happy Father's Day with Chocolates!

Thinking of what to make for your loving dad on Father's day tomorrow?? 

How about a slice of Torta Alla Gianduia also known as Nutella Cake!
(Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson: How to be a Domestic Goddess)

All you need are:

Cake:
6 large eggs, separated 
pinch of salt 
125g soft unsalted butter 
400g Nutella (1 large jar) 
1 tablespoon Frangelico, rum or water 
100g ground hazelnuts/hazelnut meal 
100g dark chocolate, melted 
23cm Springform tin, greased and lined 

Icing:
100g hazelnuts (peeled weight) 
125ml thickened cream
1 tablespoon Frangelico, rum or water 
125g dark chocolate

All you need to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. 

2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry.

 3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, and then add the Frangelico/Rum/water, egg yolks and ground hazelnuts. 

4. Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a large dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in 1/3 at a time.

5. Pour into the prepared tin and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake’s beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on a rack. 

6. Toast the hazelnuts
a) In a dry frying pan until the aroma wafts upwards and the nuts are golden-brown in parts: keep shaking the pan so that they don’t burn on one side and stay too pallid on others.
b) In the oven for 15 minutes at 180ºC. Toss/Stir is occasionally so that it don't burn.
Transfer to a plate and let cool. 

7. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the cream, liqueur or water and chopped chocolate, and heat gently.

8. Once the chocolate’s melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice the top of the cake.

9. Unmould the cooled cake carefully, leaving it on the base as it will be too difficult to get such a damp cake off in one piece. Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and dot thickly with the whole, toasted hazelnuts. 

Tip: Do not put the Hazelnuts on the ganache while hot, it’ll turn oily.

Print this recipe!

Or something easier perhaps? 

How about a Dark Chocolate Cookies & Cream Rocky Road!
(Recipe adapted from Nigella Christmas)

All you need are:

250g Dark Chocolate
150g Milk Chocolate
175g Unsalted Butter
4 x 15ml tablespoon Golden Syrup
(225g)1.5 pack Chocolate Oreos, chunks
125g Mini Marshmallows

All you need to do:

1. Melt both chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a heavy saucepan. Once all is melted, remove from heat.

2. Add the Oreos and mini marshmallows in the pan. Stir.

3. Transfer all into a foil tray (236x296mm), try smoothing the top, it’s okay if it’s bumpy.

4. Refrigerate until firm enough about 2 hours before cutting it in slices. Sift some icing sugar on top just before serving. 

Other versions of Rocky Road...

Hope you'll have a lovely day with your daddy tomorrow! :)

p/s: these are the countries that celebrates Father's Day on the 3rd Sunday in June. 
(facts from Wikipedia)

Afghanistan, Albania, Antigua, Argentina, Aruba, Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cambodia, Chile, People's Republic of China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Greece, Guyana, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Laos, Macau, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Squeeze & Stir Heinz Soup

I received this lovely pack from the Nuffnang team. Looks like a mini picnic take-away doesn't it?
 
There's a nice Heinz soup mug, a spoon, picnic napkin and 2 flavours of the new Heinz Squeeze & Stir soup - Tomato with Basil & Ripe Tomato & Vegetables.

What's better than to keep warm with a nice hot cuppa soup this COLD winter! Now you can just squeeze and stir Heinz new instant Tomato soup into a mug. Easy-peasy.

I can smell the tomato paste, full of flavour. The paste is thick.

Next, just add boiling water and stir. No lumps. 

Overall, I like how easy it is to have a hot cuppa soup in a mug. The flavour isn't too bad, but I would probably cut down on the water, as I prefer my soup to be more concentrated.

Now you can get some for yourself from any major supermarkets or independent retailers. There are 4 flavours to choose from Big Red Tomato, Mediterranean Vegetable, Rip Tomato & Vegetable and Rich Tomato with Basil. It comes in a 70g sachet and costs AUD$1.25 each.
pix: nightwolfsden

Keep warm with a hot cuppa Heinz tomato soup! :)


This isn't a paid sponsored post, I have received a product to sample and review. All opinions are my own.