Saturday, April 23, 2011

♥ making the easter bunny proud! ♥



other than 2010, this is the first easter that i'm not with my family celebrating easter as if we had it confused with christmas - enough food for a small african country and lil chocolate easter eggs and bunnies just where you look! normally we have the braai out, and not like it's that much different from our average weekend with the fam, but eating non stop - the awesome thing about easter, just like christmas is that for some reason - it's ok. it's ok to have so much pudding you can't even stand just looking at the dish it came in, it's ok to have a 4th and 5th helping at lunch and dinner and it's ok to eat choccies as if all the factories in the world will be closing down tomorrow. this easter though, my hubby and i decided to come to clanwilliam so that we can enjoy what seems like the last weekend with weather nice enough that we can take the boat and the wakeboards out on the dam - we're staying with good, good friends of ours, but it is their weekend/holiday house so we're not as spoiled as we would be in our kitchens back at home. so no lamb and veggies and baked puddings this weekend. i did however remember to bring my magazines with and in one of them i discovered a little piece of heaven. a chocolate guinness cake! i know, i know - at first i also felt a little iffy about this one, but trust me after reading the article, i can't wait to get home to try this lil fella out! and on that, i def couldn't wait to share the recipe, so here goes:

chocolate guinness cake (om nom hommmmm)
15 minutes to make, 40 minutes to cook plus cooling!

what you'll need...
250g softened unsalted butter plus extra for greasing
200g soft dark brown sugar
100g good quality dark chocolate, melted
2 large eggs
200ml guinness
275g self raising flour
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

for the icing:
200g cream cheese
75g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp sour cream
125g white chocolate, melted

what you'll do...
1. preheat oven to 180C. grease and line a 23cm loose bottomed cake tin.

2. beat the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy - about 5 mins... gradually beat in the melted chocolate until smooth, then beat in the eggs one at a time.
3. gradually whisk in the guinness. you will have a smooth batter at this point. sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, then carefully fold it into the chocolate mixture.

4. pour into the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. leave to cool in the tin, turn out onto a cake plate.

5. for the icing - beat the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract together until smooth, then mix in the soured cream and melted chocolate. spread evenly over the cake and serve!

some useful info:
per serving - based on 12 servings
*455 kcals, 33.9g fat (21g saturated), 4g protein, 35.7g carbs, 33.4g sugar and 0.6g salt

a little piece of heaven on earth!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

♥ yummy winter snackies to go with yummy winter cuddles ♥



today's probably the first winter day for 2011. i'm sitting at my desk warmly wrapped in my obviously oversized scarf sipping on about my 4th cup of coffee. just as summer reminds me of watermelon and drinks next to the pool, winter comes with its own wants and needs. pancakes with the most amazing fillings, home made hot chocolate and a daily dose of ten times the recommended amount of calories anyone should take in on a daily basis. I love sweet snackies almost as much as i love watchin my hubby devour my sweet home made snackies! BUT being a 17 week preggo comes with its own battles - as much as i'd love to work through all my recipe books and make all the sweet lil things i can lay my hands on - after a day at work, i also find it extremely hard to keep my eyes open past 20h30 - so a recipe that wouldn't require my to stand in front of a stove or oven is exactly my cup of tea - excuse the pun.
a few minutes ago i googled a few recipes for some new information, so without any further adleu, please find below my sweet lil treat for this week!

OM NOM HOM CHOCOLATE FINGERS:

What You'll Need...
225g butter or marge
1 egg beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
450g icing sugar
1 table spoon cocoa
1 packet marie biscuits

What You'll Do...
1. melt butter over medium heat. mix in egg and stir well.

2. add icing sugar and cocoa and stir into creamy mixture.

3. take off stove and stir in vanilla and biscuit pieces.

4. mix gently to cover biscuits with chocolates.

5. put in greased tin in fridge

im smiling already!



Monday, April 18, 2011

♥ a fresh new, vanilla scented, start! ♥



i've had this idea to start my own food blog for some time now, and everytime i think about it i tend to add something to it! not necessarily a bad thing, just a new thing. as mentioned in my intro i love food! as soon as i wake up in the morning, my 1st thoughts are pretty much based around what i'll be putting on the toast that i'll be having with my tea this morning! as soon as i get to work and i'm done with my first batch of e-mails and my second cup of joe i start to peek at my blackberry every other minute to see if a lunch invitation has been extended to me from my gorgeous husband (which if i could, i most def would eat up) this is where my day normally splits up. if 1) i do get that bbm saying: "lunchie?" i smile and i jump in my car to meet him at our fav lunch spot - gourmet - in cape town. if 2) i don't get that bbm and i'm left to find something to numb the cravings - i'll probably have to take on the ever so exciting streets of sea point, cape town. nando's opposite the road, a REALLY questionable cafe below our office, a whole string of indian food shops and fisheries and the odd lil shop with tinted windows that you'll never ever find me in. luckily for me i'm pretty close to the v&a waterfront and luckily for them there's this one lil place that i would die for...... the caviar deli! part of the beluga/sevruga and blonde chain of restaurants - this lil place gives me butterflies just thinking about it..... i love the lil sushi lunch boxes as i call them - perfect size to just grab and enjoy at my desk back at the office OR the chicken roll - that's not the real name, it literally blows my mind every time i have it - no wonder i can't remember the name! a spicy chicken mayo mixture on the most divine roll you'll ever have! do yourself a fav and grab one next time you're in the area.... but it's 16:14 now and probably time for me to start thinking about what i can make for dinner tonight - can't be very complicated and can't take too long - not that i mind, it's just it's monday and that means it's master chef! can't think about anything better than a fabulous plate of food watching a fabulous foodie show with what is undoubtedly the worlds most fabulous husband!