Posts Tagged ‘Chocolate’

Delicious Dark Chocolate Cake

Friday, February 26th, 2010

This is the perfect dark chocolate cake to bake for a chocolate lover’s special day. It’s also delicious as a special holiday dessert or a sweet Valentine’s Day treat.

Ingredients

1/2 C  butter or margarine, softened

1/2 C  sugar

3/4 C  unsweetened baking cocoa

2 C  flour

pinch of salt

2 tsp  baking soda

1 tsp  baking powder

1 C milk

1 C strong coffee, cooled

1 tsp vanilla

Mixing and Baking Instructions

Sift dry ingredients together; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until it gets fluffy.

Add sifted dry ingredients alternative with milk, beating gently until combined.

Add coffee and vanilla, stir it until well blended.

Bake in 2 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans at 350 degrees F, or awaiting cake tests done. Begin testing layers after around 20 minutes baking time.

Cool cake layers for 20 minutes or until pans are easy to handle. Remove cake layers carefully from pans. Complete cooling on cake racks.

Assemble and frost the cooled cake layers with Chocolate Icing or your favorite butter cream icing or whipped cream.

Chocolate Icing

1/2 C. butter or margarine (1 stick), melted

1 box (2 C.) confectioners sugar/powdered sugar

2 tsp. unsweetened baking cocoa

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. milk

Melt butter in pan, remove from heat and stir in sugar and cocoa, then add vanilla and milk.

Stir icing until glossy and thick. Cool slightly and spread on cake with spatula.

White Chocolate Cake Recipe

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

This is a very dense, moist and delicious white chocolate cake – one of my favorites and perfect for Chocolate Week!
Ingredients
For the cake:
310g plain flour
5g baking soda
2g baking powder
3g salt
170g white chocolate, chopped
120ml hot water
225g butter, softened
300g caster sugar
3 eggs
235ml buttermilk
For the icing:
200g white chocolate, chopped
20g plain flour
235ml milk
225g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
5ml vanilla extract
Directions
1.    Heat the oven to 350F/175C/Gas Mark 4.
2.    Grease two 9 inches round cake tins.
3.    In a bowl put through a sieve together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and the salt.
4.    In a small pan mix together the white chocolate and hot water at low temperature until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth, leave to cool to room temperature.
5.    In a bowl mix together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy.
6.    Add eggs one at a time are well.
7.    Blend in the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately.
8.    Mix in the liquefy chocolates.
9.    Put the cake batter into the cake tins and bake for around 30 minutes.
10.    Use a fork to see if the cake is cooked, if it comes out clean then its ready, if it has some batter on it, cook it for a little longer.
11.    When cooked take out of the tins and cool on a wire rack.
12.    For the icing, add chocolate, flour and milk in a pan, and melt over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is   thick and creamy. Allow to cool completely.
13.    In a bowl mix together the butter, sugar and vanilla pull out until light and fluffy.
14.    Mix in the white chocolate mixture and beat until it’s thick and creamy.
15.    Extend between the two layers of cake and over the top and sides of the cake.
There you have it, your delicious, white chocolate cake. Enjoy it!

Chocolate Tea

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Earlier Chocolate was considered as a pleasure food but now science has proved that it may also be a heart-healthy food, too. Cocoa contains flavonoids, which are part of a group of antioxidants known as polyphenols and are found in a variety of foods including tea, red wine, and various fruits and vegetables. However, research shows that chocolates and cocoa powder ranks the highest above all antioxidant food because the highest levels of antioxidants are found in pure cocoa powder, which is the lowest in fat and calories. 

Therefore, dietary flavonoids, and their possible role in the fight against cardiovascular disease have gained recent scientific and medical interest due to their antioxidant properties. Increasing evidence from experimental and clinical studies using cocoa-derived products and chocolate suggest a vital role for these high-flavanol-containing foods, especially in vasodilatation, healthy blood pressure support and overall health. 

Chocolate plays a latent role in: 

1. support cardiovascular health.  

2. Support blood pressure and insulin levels.

3. Support  an arterial blood flow.

4. Helping people with chronic fatique syndrome .

5. support cholesterol levels.

Chocolate also play an important role in supporting healthy brain function. People who are often depressed find Chocolate benefits for their mood by possibly interacting with the natural serotonin and endorphin levels in the brain. Now combine the strength of chocolate and tea with resveratrol. Resveratrol is a phytoalexin produced naturally by grapes and other plants in response to fungal infection. 

The grouping of chocolate, tea and resveratrol results in a highly potent health drink. Every cup of chocolate tea yields 4000 mg of concentrated cocoa with elevated levels of flavonoids that offer a powerhouse of antioxidants to help the body protect itself from free radical damage. CocoPure is different as it does not contain any of the artificial fillers. It gives you the required resveratrol to give cardio-benefits.