Primrose Bakery flourless chocolate cake

Pregnancy often calls for late night cravings and when you crave your favourite flourless chocolate cake which is 10,000km away from your home, well, you do the next best thing... bake it yourself... even at 10pm !!!

This melt in your mouth ooey gooey cake recipe is taken from the Primrose bakery cook book (click here to purchase), it's the first of their recipe that I try at home and seen the success of this one I really can't wait to try many others soon!

There was no time for a full step by step photo reportage as it was late night but here is a little glimpse of the final result, I served it with freshly whipped cream, strawberries and heart shaped sprinkles, just to stay in the Valentines mood :)

Ingredients:

200g dark chocolate ( I used Valrhona 70%)

200g unsalted butter

4 large eggs (separating yolks and whites)

220g golden caster sugar

Cocoa powder or icing sugar for dusting

Method:

- Preheat the oven at 180 C and grease a 23cm cake tin with butter

- In a heat resistant bowl, melt the chocolate pieces and butter over a bain marie stirring continuously 

- In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks with half of the caster sugar, then fold in the melted chocolate and butter mixture, set aside. 

- In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and beat in the remaining sugar

- Fold the egg white mixture into the chocolate one being careful not to overmix it in order to keep it airy

- Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean

- Leave to cool 

- Dust with cocoa powder or icing sugar 

Enjoy!

Winter berry napoleon

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A long overdue wintery post!!! 

These are the sweet treats I prepared for the winter festivities back in December, they are so easy to make and you are sure to impress your guests with these delicious mini bites :)

Why not try this recipe by replacing Christmas tree shapes with heart ones for the upcoming Valentines  celebrations? Your Valentine will fall head over heels for them! 

Ingredients:

1 packet of ready made puff pastry

Creme patissiere (click here for my recipe)

Your favourite berries ( I used blueberries and raspberries)

Icing sugar

Method:

-Roll out the puff pastry and cut into your favourite shape with a cookie cutter (picture 2 & 3)

- Pierce the pastry with a fork or toothpick (picture 4)

-Dust the top of the puff pastry with a icing sugar ( picture 5)

- Bake in the oven at 190 C until golden brown (about 10 mins)

-Leave the puff pastry to cool at room temperature and pipe the creme patissiere onto it (picture 6 & 9)

-Add a layer of berries and top with a layer of puff pastry (picture 10)

- Dust with icing sugar and enjoy !! (picture 11) 

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Crème pâtissière

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If I'm given the choice between chocolate and vanilla I wouldn't hesitate 1 second on choosing anything vanilla! 

2 years ago on our honeymoon in French Polynesia, we visited an amazing vanilla plantation on the Island of Raiatea (click here to see pics), I felt like a kid in a candy store, it was such a unique experience to see where these precious vanilla pods come from. We brought back quite a few pods from our trip and kept them vacuum sealed for them to keep their freshness and as I opened a pack for this recipe, they tasted just like when we picked them 2 years ago.

Here's a very simple creme patisserie recipe which I then used to fill little Christmas treats back in December (post to follow). 

Ingredients:

6 egg yolks

140g caster sugar

45g cornstarch 

400ml whole milk

2 vanilla pods

100ml heavy cream 

Method:

- In a sauce pan, bring the milk, heavy cream and split vanilla pods to a simmer, turn the heat off, set aside and let the mixture infuse for at least 15 minutes (picture 2,3,5)

- In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until they turn pale and subsequently  amalgamate the sifted cornstarch into the mixture (picture 6,8,9)

- Remove the vanilla pods from the saucepan (picture 10) and pour the egg mixture into it, whisking continuously bring the pastry cream to a simmer until the desired thickness is reached (picture 11,12,13)

- Place the ready custard in a bowl and cover with cling film directly on the pastry so that it doesn't form that unpleasant skin on the top (picture 14)

-Once the creme patisserie has cooled down, place it in the fridge and use to fill your favorite baked goods!

* Original recipe from Giallo Zafferano 

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Cape vs Blanket

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*Left- Fendi Cape*Right- Valentino Cape - available at http://www.net-a-porter.com*  

1 week to go until we fly to LA for the holidays and I couldn't be more excited!

It's finally time to leave the summer clothes and sticky weather behind and think of wrapping up in some cozy knits.

Before I leave, I'm on the look for a cape coat and the more I search the net for the perfect one, the more I come across the " Cape vs. Blanket' trend, so as I make up my mind for the perfect LA weather cape or blanket coat, here are a few street style inspirations as well as my high street selection: 

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*1. H&M - 2. Zara - 3. Mango - 4. River Island - 5. H&M*

*Photo Credits: http://www.harpersbazaar.com, http://atlantic-pacific.blogspot.sg, http://www.theblondesalad.com, http://www.tuulavintage.com, http://www.whowhatwear.com, http://www.happilygrey.com, http://www.style.com, Pinterest