Ultimate chocolate cake

• 3 cups self-raising flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda, sifted
• 200g butter, softened
• 1 cup milk or unsweetened yoghurt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup boiling hot coffee

- Preheat oven to 180deg C

- Grease two loaf tins or one LARGE cake tin

- Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl (large mixing bowl, mine was overflowing)

- Bake for approx. one hour or until knife comes out clean.

Banana choc chip muffins

I lost the recipe for these, but they were AMAZING

Lemon Sour Cream Muffins

1/2c sour cream
50g melted butter
1tbsp lemon rind
3/4c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2c self raising flour

- Preheat oven to 180deg C & line a 12 hole muffin tin
- Beat sour cream, lemon rind, butter, sugar, eggs and flour on low speed until ingredients are just combined. Increase speed and beat for 2 mins until thick and creamy.
- Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 mins
- While warm, stab holes with a tooth pick and pour over a mixture of equal parts sugar and lemon juice. Remove from trays soon after, otherwise the sticky lemon juice mixture makes them stick.

These were delicious! A little tougher than muffins should be, but such a good flavour!

Upside down brownie

1 1/2c flour
1/2tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/6c cocoa
115g butter + 55g butter
1c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2c milk
1/4c peanut butter
1/2c brown sugar
2 bananas, cut length ways

- Preheat oven to 180 deg C and line a baking dish with non stick paper
- Beat butter (115g) and white sugar until fluffy, beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
- Stir in dry ingredients and milk and mix well.
- Put the banana in the bottom of the baking tray.
- Mix together peanut butter, brown sugar and remaining 55g butter and spoon over the bananas
- Pour over the brownie mix
- Bake for 45 mins, let cool for 10 mins and then invert onto a platter to finish cooling.

Hmm this is a bit weird. Not as rich as I like my brownie to be, and 45 mins was definitely overcooking it so I'd go 35-40 mins if I did it over again.

Chocolate cake

• 250g unsalted butter, chopped
• 200g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/3 cups milk
• 1 ½ cups caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• ¼ cup self-raising flour
• ¼ cup cocoa

-Preheat oven to 150 deg C
-Place butter, chocolate, milk, sugar and vanilla in a large saucepan and melt over a medium heat
-Set aside to cool (IMPORTANT, or you will scramble the eggs!!)
-Add eggs and whisk
-Pour into a large bowl and add flour and cocoa. Mix well
-Pour into a slightly greased 20cm cake tin and bake for approx 1hr 25 mins. Allow to cool completely in tin. NB: My cake cracked like a desert, before it was cooked on the inside. It turned out fine.
-Ice when cool (I just used normal chocolate icing, cocoa, icing sugar, butter and hot water)

I don't know what this tasted like! It was Tom's birthday cake so he took it to work, but the mixture worked well, no issues with the cake rising, looked nice and rich so I would imagine it was good! And Tom didn't bring any home which is always a good sign.

Lemon syrup loaf

2 eggs
100g butter, melted
2 Tbsp grated lemon rind.
1 cup castor sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk

- Preheat oven to 180 deg C
- Beat eggs and butter
- Add lemon rind and sugar and mix until creamy
-  Mix in flour, salt, baking powder and milk
- Bake in a loaf tin for approx 45 mins or until golden
- While hot, pour over a mixture of 1/4c lemon juice and 1/4c sugar and leave to cool in tin

This was really good! I love lemon flavoured stuff, and I love how it went crispy on top from the lemon sugar poured over. My oven burnt it on one side which was a shame, but it was a hit at work anyway.

Chocolate chip muffins

2 cups plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
100g butter, melted
3/4 cup Caster Sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup milk

- Preheat oven to 180 deg C
- Mix all ingredients with electric beater. Do not overmix or muffins will be tough.
- Put in muffins cups or greased muffin tray.
- Bake for 10-15 mins or until golden - I think mine took 20 mins

Lime slice

3/4c plain flour
1/2tsp baking powder
60g softened butter
1/4c icing sugar
3 eggs
1/2c castor sugar (I used normal sugar)
2tbsp flour
Juice & zest of two limes (I only used juice, because I didn't have actual limes)

-Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Grease or line a 20x20cm baking dish (ideally smaller, I used this size and the base doesnt quite go that far, it cracked)
-Either rub butter into flour or beat well, add baking powder and icing sugar.
-Pat into the tin and bake for 15 mins or until cooked. Let cool.

-Beat eggs and sugar for approx 5-8 mins until pale and creamy and volume has increased (I didn't read this bit, so I did it after I added the flour)
-Add flour and lime juice. I also added vanilla essence as the original recipe called for 'vanilla infused castor sugar')
-Pour over the cooled base and bake for another 18-20 mins. It should be golden and set.


Hmm well my egg/sugar mixture didn't thicken, and it turned out very flat and chewy and a bit bitter! not the worst thing I've ever made though.

Tararua banana cake

Thanks Tararua for this recipe... http://www.tararua.net.nz/recipes/The-Best-Banana-Cake?r=8&i=4

2 1/2 cups Edmonds Self-Raising Flour
1 tsp Edmonds Baking Soda 
1 cup caster sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups of mashed bananas (about 4 ) 
1 cup oil

- Preheat oven to 180 deg C
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix well.
- Bake cake for approx 90 mins

Icing
250g Cream Cheese
100g Butter
2c icing sugar

Mix all ingredients thoroughly (butter stays lumpy for awhile, keep mixing) and spread over cooled cake.

I made this in two loaf tins, so I could take one cake to work and leave one for Tom. It was delicious, as always! It never dries out, always rises, this is the most fool-proof banana cake recipe EVER. It's worth using a ridiculous amount of oil, I promise.

Chewy chocolate chunk cookies

2c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
170g melted butter, cooled
1c brown sugar
1/2c sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
2tsp vanilla
Chocolate chips/chunks

- Preheat the oven to 165 deg C
- Mix flour, baking soda and salt
- Combine the melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until well mixed
- Add dry ingredients, stir well
- Add chocolate chips
- Place on lined baking trays and bake for approx 15 mins until browned. The darker the cookies, the crispier they'll be

Sour cream chocolate cake

1c cocoa
1c boiling water
1c softened butter (225g)
2.5c sugar
4 eggs
2tsp vanilla
3c flour
2tsp baking soda
1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1c sour cream

Preheat oven to 180deg C
- Dissolve cocoa in the hot water and set aside to cool.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. USE A BIG BOWL. This is alot of ingredients, and a big cake.
- Add eggs one at a time, mix well after each.
- Add vanilla.
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and sour cream to the butter/sugar bowl.
- Lastly add cocoa mixture and combine. Is your mixing bowl overflowing yet?
- Bake in 9inch round cake tin, but I used two loaf tins because I only have a small cake tin and I had a sneaking suspicion this mixture was going to be too big.
- Bake for 30-35 mins until you insert a knife and it comes out dry. Be careful not to overcook as rumour has it this cake can dry out easily.
- Cool for 10 mins then turn out onto a cooling rack.

This was terrible. It was dry. I don't know if that's because I had it in the oven for closer to an hour because it wouldn't cook, and if this was because there was two of them? It literally had a cake crust on it. I refused to take it to work for my work-mates (the original destination for the cakes) so they will be going to the ducks or more likely the rubbish bin. Such a shame, because I know people who have had major success baking with sour cream.

Caramel slice

BASE:
1.5c regular flour
1tsp baking powder
125g melted butter
1/2c brown sugar

Mix all together and press into a lined baking tin approx 15cmx30cm. Bake at 180 deg C for 10 mins.

TOPPING:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2tbsp golden syrup (I used a bit extra)
1tbsp butter

Combine in a sauce pan, bring to the boil for approx 5 mins stirring constantly. Pour over baked base, a return to the oven for another 10 mins-15 mins until the centre is no longer liquidy.

ICING:
150g cooking chocolate
50g butter

Place butter and chocolate in a metal bowl. Boil water in a saucepan. Remove from heat and place the metal bowl firmly over the top. Do not let any water/steam get into the chocolate or it stiffens. Stir until chocolate is melted. Spread over the cooled filling.

Chill until chocolate is set then cut into slices using a warm knife. Store in a airtight container in the fridge.

This is REALLY hard to cut. I think I used a too small pan, resulting in a too thick base. Tom really loves it, I think it's too sweet... I don't usually like caramel slice anyway, it's the one thing in the world that I think is too sweet so no surprises there!

Banana cake with lemon icing

1c white sugar
100g melted butter
3 eggs
3 Mashed bananas
1tsp baking soda
1/2c milk
150ml yoghurt (any flavour, I used apple crumble Fresh n Fruity)
2c flour
3tsp baking powder

- Preheat oven to 160 deg C. Grease a 20cm round cake tin.
- Beat sugar, butter and eggs until smooth
- Add mashed bananas and mix well
- Heat milk in microwave for approx 1 min and add baking soda, stir well. Add to other mixture.
- Add yoghurt, flour and baking powder. Mix well
- Pour into cake tin and bake for 45-50 mins. Cool in tin for 5 mins before releasing onto cooling rack.

This was good! I really liked the addition of yoghurt, and I really like bnana cake. The use of yoghurt meant that I didn't have to use a cup of oil like my usual recipe!

Sticky lemon slice

125g butter
1c flour
1/2c icing sugar
1c castor sugar
1/2c lemon juice
1tbsp grated lemon rind
1tbsp custard powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs

- Combine butter, flour and icing sugar in food processor until it looks like breadcrumbs
- Press into a lined baking tin and bake at 180 deg C for 15-20 mins until lightly golden
- Mix castor sugar, lemon rind & juice, custard powder, baking powder and eggs in food processor until well combines.
- Carefully pour over warm base and bake for a further 25mins until set
- When cool, dust with icing sugar and slice.

YUM! SO GOOD! Seriously, someone take it away before I eat it all.

Chocolate buttermilk cupcakes

- 120g softened butter

- 1.5c sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1tsp vanilla

- 1.5c flour

- 1/2c cocoa

- 1tsp baking soda

- 1/4tsp salt

- 1/2c buttermilk

- 1/2c water

Cream Butter and sugar with electric mixer.

Add eggs one at a time. Don't overbeat.

Add vanilla and stir.

In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients

In a separate bowl combine water and buttermilk

Alternately add dry ingredients/buttermilk mixture to the butter and sugar bowl

Pour into muffin cups, fill to about 2/3

Bake at 180deg C for 15-20 mins
Cool for 10 mins before removing from muffin tin
Let cool before icing

Well, turns out I forgot the vanilla! These still tasted good though. I'm not icing them, because I used re-usable silicone muffin cups which aren't suitable for taking these in to work for my colleagues. These are VERY light, fluffy, spongy and fragile. As soon as you pull the muffin cup away the cupcake will break so if iced I imagine will be pretty difficult to eat! 

Blueberry buttermilk pancakes

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries

-In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

-In a separate bowl, whisk wet ingredients (without blueberries)

-Combine well.

-Spoon into fry pan and sprinkle blueberries (I used tinned blueberries) over the pancake

-When holes appear on the top and/or sides shrink back, flip the pancake.

-Serve with your favourite pancake topping

Black forest brownie

200g melted butter
1 1/2 c sugar
1c cocoa
3 eggs
1/2c standard flour
200g block of black forest chocolate, chopped as finely as you can - I am lazy and impatient, and cut mine as below

- Preheat oven to 150deg C and grease a 20x20cm dish

- Use electric mixer to cream butter and sugar

- Add cocoa and beat for 3-5 mins until creamy

- Add eggs one at a time, beat well after each

- Sift in flour gradually

- Stir in chopped chocolate

- Bake for 1 hour. Brownie should appear cracked on the outside but the inside should appear undercooked. 

- Let it cool in the tin, then cut into squares and dust with icing sugar (optional, I think it tasted delicious without it)

Yum, just as delicious as the slice I had at work the other day! My favourite is when I get a mouthful with the little jellies. 

Chocolate peanut butter cookies

125g softened butter
3/4c brown sugar
1 egg
3/4c peanut butter
1 1/3c plain flour
1/2tsp baking soda
1/4c cocoa
175g chocolate melts

- Preheat oven to 180 deg C
- Use electric beater to combine butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Gradually add egg.
- Add peanut butter and beat until combined.
- Add flour, baking soda and cocoa gradually until it forms a soft dough.
- Roll tablespoons of mixture onto a lined baking tray. Flatten with a fork.
- Bake for 15-20 mins and allow to cool for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack.
- When they are completely cool, melt the chocolate in a metal pot over a saucepan of boiling water.
- Either dip cookies in chocolate or drizzle over the top.

WARNING: Don't let the chocolate cool down! It will not melt again! :( We ended up eating semi melted chocolate that looked like cottage cheese with a spoon from the bowl. My Nana has since advised that if this happens you can add cream and re-melt. Good to know!

These cookies were good, but not fantastic. Just tasted like peanut brownie cookies, and we burnt the bottom of one of the batches. But the boyfriend was just as grateful as always!

Choc-nut slice

Base:
1c self raising flour
2tbsp cocoa
1/2c castor sugar
2/3c shredded coconut
125g melted butter
1tsp vanilla
125g chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

- Preheat oven to 180 deg C
- Sift flour and cocoa into a large bowl. Stir in sugar and coconut.
- Add butter, vanilla and nuts and stir until well combined.
- Press mixture into a lined tin, approx 28x18cm, and take for 20 mins or until golden brown.
- Allow slice to cool thoroughly before removing from the tin and icing.

Icing:
1c icing sugar
1tbsp cocoa
15g melted butter
1.5-2tbsp milk
60g chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts)

- Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a mixing bowl and add melted butter and enough milk to make a smooth, spreadable icing.
- Spread evenly over the base (make sure it's cool!) and sprinkly the nuts over the top.
- Leave to set for approx 1 hour before serving.

This was delicious! This was possible my favourite thing that I have ever made (except banana cake, my eternal favourite). I LOVE hazelnuts, and walnuts, and peanuts.... you get the picture! Would definitely make this again!

Coconut slice

Base:
125g butter
100g sugar
1 egg
1 1/2c self-raising flour
Jam (raspberry, strawberry, blackberry etc. I used blackberry)

Topping:
1c coconut
1/2c sugar
1 egg
Juice of 1 lemon (I used vanilla essence)

Pre-heat oven to 170deg C
Mix butter, sugar, egg and flour until it forms a soft dough.
Press into a greased slice tin, approx 30cmx25cm - mine was smaller, therefore thicker slice.
Spread generously with jam.

Using the same bowl, mix ingredients for topping.
Cover base evenly with topping, the jam will show through.
Bake at 170deg C for 20mins or until lightly browned.

This. Was. Amazing.

We had eaten a quarter of it before the day was out. That's how good it was. A work-mate commented on my "Louise cake" but for some reason it just seemed different to how my flatmate used to make Louise Cake but I can't pinpoint the difference.. Not complaining though, maybe I'll try a Louise cake recipe next time...

Cinnamon scrolls

2c SELF RAISING flour (I forgot to add baking powder :( )
Pinch of salt
90g butter, chopped into small squares
2/3c milk

-Preheat oven to 210 deg C
- Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Rub butter into flour until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
- Add almost all of milk and mix using a butter knife.
- Add the rest of milk, if required.
- Kned dough lightly on a flour-covered surface.
- Roll out to 40cm x 25cm square, should be about .5cm thick

60g butter, softened
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

- Combine all ingredients and beat using an electric beater. Should be runny but smooth.
- Spread over the rolled out dough.

- Roll the dough up from the long side so it's a long log
- Slice into 1.5-3cm pieces and place flat side down on a baking tray.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until golden.

These were surprisingly good, even though i forgot the baking powder. No one complained so either they didn't notice that they were denser than intended or they were too scared to criticize my well-meaning attempt to make morning tea :) Aren't they nice... and smart..

Vanilla cake

1.5c standard flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2c (120gm) softened butter
1c sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla (I used 1)
1/2c milk (dark blue)

- Preheat oven to 200 deg C
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl (ideally in a cake mixer bowl)
- Add butter 1tsp at a time until it looks like bread crumbs
- Add sugar 1 tbsp at a time until it looks like damp sand
- Beat in eggs one at a time
- Add vanilla and milk and mix until just combined. Don't over-mix!
- Pour into an 8inch cake tin which is greased and lightly floured
- Bake for 30-35 minutes

Peanut butter muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/4 Cups Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

2/3 Cup Brown Sugar

85g Melted Butter

1/2 c Peanut Butter

2 Eggs

1 Cup Milk

3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips

- Preheat oven to 180deg C

- Combine flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar in a bowl.

- In another bowl, mix butter, peanut butter, eggs and milk.

- Combine all ingredients, whisk and add chocolate chips

- Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 17-20 minutes 

Maple walnut muffins

2c flour
1tbsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1/2c (125g) butter
1/2c packed tightly brown sugar
1/2c maple syrup
2 eggs
3/4c milk
1/2c walnuts

- Preheat oven to 180deg C
- Sift four, baking powder and salt
- Cream butter and sugar, stir in maple syrup and beat in eggs.
- Add flour mixture alternately with milk until well combined
- Spoon batter into muffin cups about 3/4 full (this recipe made 15 muffins for me)
- Bake for 20 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

These turned out rather well, even though I'm not a huge muffin fan. I'll admit, I ate a couple, and I rarely eat any of my own baking (go figure!) Boyfriend particularly loved them, it makes a nice change from chocolate or banana muffins, that's for sure!

Marble cake

Ingredients
225g butter , softened
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
225g self-raising flour
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cocoa powder

- Mix all ingredients together except cocoa.
- Separate into two bowls, add cocoa to one bowl.
- Add alternative spoonfuls of mixture to greased cake tin, and swirl with a skewer
- Bake at 180deg C for 45 mins

I added chocolate chips to the chocolate part, and this cake turned out quite well. Not as good as mud cake, or banana cake, or carrot cake... but I liked it :) I liked it best when it was warm, but it curbed the chocolate cravings that I've been having since I gave up eating chocolate (bars) a week ago. Success!

Chocolate mud muffins

I forgot to record the recipe I used... but they were delicious, and here is photographic proof!

Vege frittata

8 eggs
6-12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, diced
4 button mushrooms
Frozen spinach (thawed)
Frozen peas (thawed)
Grated cheese
Salt & pepper
3/4c milk

-Lightly brown onion and mushrooms in a buttered fry pan. When browned, throw in cherry tomatoes for 30 seconds or so.
-Pour into the bottom of a lined baking dish, mine was about 25x15cm. Add spinach and peas.
-Whisk milk and eggs, add salt & pepper to taste. Pour into baking dish.
- Top with cheese. I also put cheese in the egg mixture, but not as much as I would normally add to cheese sauce.
-Bake at 180deg C for 30 mins

Brookies (brownies + cookies)

Cookie dough:
1c + 2 tbsp plain flour
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp baking soda
115g softened butter
1/2c brown sugar
1/4c white sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
160g choc chips

Brownie batter:
115g butter cut into cubes
3/4c plain flour
1tbsp cocoa powder
1/2tsp salt
140g chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
3/4c white sugar
1/4c brown sugar
3 eggs, room temp
1tsp vanilla

Make cookie dough:
- Add flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl, stir to combine and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix butter and sugars until smooth and creamy. Add egg and beat, and add vanilla.
- Slowly add flour mixture and beat to combine. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Cover bowl and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Make brownie mixture:
- Combine flour, salt and cocoa powder in a bowl.
- Put 2 inches of water in a large pot and bring to the boil. Set a heatproof bowl on top (make sure bowl isn't touching boiling water) and melt butter and chocolate. Take off the heat, but keep bowl on the pot, and add sugars. Leave to cool to room temp.
- Add eggs, whisk until just combined. Then, using a spatula (to avoid too much air in the batter) stir in the vanilla and fold in flour. Do not overmix!
- Pour into a greased muffin tin, have each muffin hole halfway full. Put in fridge for 1 hour.

- Preheat oven to 190deg C and place rack in centre of oven. Take brownie batter out of the fridge.
- Roll cookie dough into small balls and flatten into a disc, and then press discs on top of the brownie batter.
- Bake until cookies are golden, 17-19 mins ish.

Okay, these didn't cook properly. It may have something to do with me not leaving everything in the fridge for long enough, but it also may be our oven as 3 down one side cooked and the others didn't. Might be worth trying again, but given how many ingredients went into it, it was kind of a waste and I might be too scared to try again! but they smelt INCREDIBLE and they looked so cute!

You live, you learn.