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Posts Tagged ‘quick’

I just got back from a blissful 5 days in the hills.


Every meal I ate consisted of portions of food that in any other place would be enough to feed at least five adults.



I stared in amazement at beautiful mountains and dark trees.




Told a few monkeys and at least one gorgeous butterfly how I was feeling.





Went on long drives through winding roads and felt alive. Saw some breathtaking sights.



Drank out of these darling mini bottles. Aren’t they just the perfect size?



Spent time with my baby cousins and realized they’re growing into wonderful people. Made me wish I could slow down time a little.




The problem is I’m back now and it’s back to the grind.


I’m not complaining really – but that’s because of these divine, dark, delicious things.



Will you look at them? I know you can’t compare it to a beautiful misty mountain, but I promise this tastes better ;)



So easy to put together, these dark brownies will put you in a holiday mood no matter where you are.


Make some today and be transported!


Quick and Easy brownies
Recipe from: Donna Hay


Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 35 mins
Serves: 10


Ingredients:


150g butter
275g caster sugar
75g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
75g flour, sifted



Method:


1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Place the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder in a pan over low heat and stir until the butter has melted. Pour into a bowl and add the vanilla and eggs (one at a time), whisking well. Add the flour to the mixture and whisk to combine.
2. Spoon the mixture into a 20cm-square cake tin lined with baking paper. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until centre is just set. Cool in tin and cut into squares to serve.


Here’s a bonus picture of me goofing around. Thank you Dad for patiently taking pictures of me while I danced around tall trees. (Some of the other pictures are taken by him too.)




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It’s Friday. And that means happy things are near.


The weekend. Late nights and sleeping in.


Brunch. Friends and laughter.


Reading. Baking cupcakes.


Long phone conversations. Not setting the alarm.


Small things. But happy things.


This chocolate mousse is a bit like that.



Small, yet it carries the power to bring closed-eye smiles and deep contented sighs.


The best part is it only takes about 15 minutes to make.


Try it, and watch your weekend get even better :)



5-ingredient Dark Chocolate Mousse


Prep time: 15 mins
Makes: 4 large servings


Ingredients:


300 ml cream
100 g dark chocolate, chopped into pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg white
50 g caster sugar


Method:


1. Heat about half the cream in a pan until it just starts simmering. Take it off the flame and add the chopped chocolate. Stir well until the chocolate melts and you have a rich ganache.
2. Fill another large bowl with ice and make the pan with the ganache sit in it. Add the remaining cream and the vanilla extract, and beat with an electric whisk for a few minutes, until the cream is incorporated. The mixture should be at the soft-peak stage.
3. In another clean, dry bowl begin to whisk the egg white. Add the sugar a little at a time and keep whisking until you have stiff peaks.
4. Fold the egg-sugar mixture into chocolate ganache gently until it’s well mixed. Transfer into serving bowls or wine glasses (if you’re feeling fancy :P ) and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before eating.



Giveaway winner: The winner of my first ever giveaway -the Cakes and Cupcakes book (chosen by random draw) is Archana_Kartha! Congratulations! Email me (charis1984@gmail.com) your postal address so I can send this book out to you. For the others- this is the first of many giveaways, I promise. I wish I could send each and every one of you cupcakes! :)


Have a fun weekend :)



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It’s been a while since my last post, but that’s only because I was up to my ears in an office project.

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It was a Show and Tell/Open House for our department.

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Other teams came to look at the kind of work we do, and we had a ton of fun in store for them!

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Side note: Have I ever told you about my job?

I edit books. REALLY fun books.

Books like these :)

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We had some super fun activities planned for everyone, based around the theme of our books.

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The Gardening section, had tiny (and very cute!) saplings that people could take home and grow.

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More plants to encourage people to go green!

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We also had a craft section in which everyone could make their own photo frames using some wonderful (and unusual!) items.

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We set up a photo booth, with a vintage car cut out and some crazy props!
I like me in red hair :)

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And then there was the food and drink section. What fun :)

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We had a “Decorate your cupcake” stall that was very popular!

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A Masterchef guess-the-ingredient-stall.

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And a path breaking “Quickest-chocolate-cake-in-history-stall, manned by these two cuties!

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This cake is perfect for those insane cravings that come out of nowhere.

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All you need are some basic ingredients at hand, and you can have chocolate cake in 50 seconds! Yes. You heard that right.

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Recipes for this marvelous cake have been doing the rounds on the internet, but after several (failed!) experiments, we discovered the perfect ingredient ratio.

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This is a very basic recipe. Feel free to add some chocolate chips, dark chocolate pieces, or even liquor chocolate (yum!) in the mug! I’ve tried all these and they work really well.

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The cake starts to harden a bit when it hits room temperature, so eat it warm. If you like your cake a bit gooey, then up the liquid content very slightly.

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The Quickest Chocolate Cake in History

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Prep time: 30 secs

Cook time: 50 secs

Makes: 1 mug

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Ingredients:

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2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp ground sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp oil

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Method:

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1. Mix all the ingredients in a microwave-safe mug until you have a smooth batter. Microwave for 50 seconds. Eat straight from the mug! :)

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Here’s a fun picture of the people I work with. Their wonderful madness makes this a happy place to work in! :)

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