My Cupcake Notebook: chocolate

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Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts

Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Healthy Banana Bread with Chocolate Chunks

Hello everyone!

Today's recipe is great for breakfast. Apart from being really good -chocolate-melting-in-your-mouth good- is very energetic and healthy! What else could you ask for?

This recipe is an adaptation from The Hummingbird Bakery's Banana Bread. I have made some changes -mild olive oil instead of butter, delicious dark chocolate chunks- and I am very happy with the results.

It is spongy and soft; trust me, you won't be able to eat only one slice! It also keeps really well, it can last a week or so, if you have enough willpower to resist it!

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake

Hello everyone!

I must confess that, hadn't it been for the surprise party of two of my friends (to which I was supposed to bring dessert) there would not have been any recipe to publish today. It is sooooo hot in here and, truth is, I had ZERO intentions of getting anywhere near an oven.

In this awful heat, a cheesecake seemed to be the wisest option. Nothing too heavy, or with a frosting that could melt easily. However, I had already published a cheesecake recipe so I had to innovate a little bit. Hence the Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake!!!

It was a risk to do it just a day before the party (specially since I had never tried this recipe and I hadn't looked at any other similar recipe) but it turned out pretty great. Also, I'm sorry about the quality of these photographs but they were taken minutes before the cake was devoured!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

How to do Crepes and Rhubarb and Strawberry Jam

Hello everyone!

Today's recipe is one of the first things I ever learned to do in a kitchen. I must have been around 11 years old, spending my summer at the Mediterranean coast with my parents, uncles and cousin. It was my cousin Núria, actually, who taught us how to do crepes. I remember being very excited about it, too. I was completely blown away when she just flipped the crepe in the air, with a skilled flick of her wrist. We would melt some chocolate and everyone would fill their own, topping them with some whipped cream or simply with some jam.

Doing crepes at home is easier than you may think. You can even do them without a specific pan, it is enough if it is a nonstick pan. The ingredients are so simple that you probably have them in your kitchen right now.

This crepes are filled with delicious greek yogurt and some homemade rhubarb and strawberry jam. It will be a very fresh and healthy dessert (or breakfast, or mid-afternoon snack!). Both recipes are under the following cut so, keep reading!

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Chocolate Almond Tartlets

Hello everyone!

Today's recipe is, maybe, kind of not seasonal. At least, not suitable for a picnic, and I should know... Let me explain myself; this is a recipe that I had been meaning to do for a long time. It has always looked amazing to me, the crispness of the shortcrust pastry combined with the sweetness of the chocolate, to feel the crunch of the almonds in your mouth as you eat... and all of it on a thin layer of salted caramel.

Yes, I was very eager to do this. However, the heat in Barcelona was way ahead of me. I was planning to bring these beauties to a picnic with some of my friends. The size was perfect and they could be eaten without a spoon or fork or anything, really. Right?

Wrong. Heat doesn't go well with chocolate. Also, doing them the same morning I was supposed to bring them to a picnic wasn't my brightest moment either. I had to speed up the cooling process and even then, by the time we had finished lunch and it was time for dessert, the chocolate was quite a mess.

We ate them, of course. And they were delicious, a gooey, sweet mess. We ended up licking fingers and cleaning our chins full of chocolate as if we were children again. And I would have love to take a photo but, I'm not going to lie, my hands were full of chocolate as well!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Cookies and Cream Cake

Hello everyone!

Do you remember how last year I made some Oreo® Cupcakes for a friend's birthday??? Well, the day has come again, and I decided to make some changes...

I must say that those cupcakes are usually a success when I make them. That's why I hadn't attempted to make too many changes on them. However, I had changed the frosting for a softer (and less-sugary) one and my friends weren't completely convinced.

So, this time, although the concept is basically the same, the recipe has changed. Both cake and frosting are, in my opinion, less heavy. Truth is, the preparation has turned a little bit more complicated, but I think it was worth it. The frosting is a swiss meringue buttercream with cookies and cream flavor!!!

So, if you are willing to brave it, here's the recipe!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Chocolate French Macarons

Hello everyone!!

I have wanted to do this recipe for a while now. After the success that the Praline and Salted Caramel French Macarons had in my family, I wanted to do macarons again.

And they were a success again! Of course, this time I decided to go with chocolate, which is always a safe bet with my family.

The ganache is so rich and velvety! I thought that it may be too strong with the amount of chocolate that has in it but it pairs with the Macarons incredibly well.

The Macaron shell has no flavour in itself, but I sprinkled a little bit of cacao on them and, really, they do not need anything else.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Chocolate your Milk!

Hello everyone!

Today's post is very similar to some of the "hot chocolate in a stick" posts that you can easily find on Pinterest. I, however, do not agree with the fact that this is hot chocolate.
For me, hot chocolate is rich, and so thick that you can stick a spoon in it and it will stand. Hot chocolate is a Christmas morning, when my dad would go out and buy some "churros" for us to have breakfast. So no, this is NOT hot chocolate.

However, it can be a great alternative for a day you are feeling lazy and you want to treat yourself. Maybe it's rainy outside, and you crave something that will warm you up inside and you are not in the mood for tea.

This is it. I have made three different kinds: unsweetened chocolate with salted caramel, milk chocolate with hazelnut and white chocolate with cinnamon. Choose your poison!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Nutella Doughnut Holes

Hello everyone!

Today's recipe will show you how to easily fill the doughnut holes with delicious Nutella. On top of that, the icing of the doughnuts is also special: it's a hazelnut glaze!

You do not need more than a bottle (I used the same one I use to put the icing in the cookies), some Nutella and milk and you're all set.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Pink Velvet Cake + 1st Blogiversary!

Hello everyone!

I'm proud to say that this blog is just 4 days shy of being one year old! Happy 1st blogiversary "My Cupcake Notebook"!

To celebrate, obviously a cake was in order. It is, however, a mix of three recipes that have been featured in this blog, the Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream from the Chocolate and Vanilla Layer Cake, the Red Velvet Cake recipe (with a twist) and the DIY Colored Sugar.

A delicious combination, I must say! And so pretty!

It is moist and sweet, and the frosting is soft and fluffy.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes

Hello everyone!

Well, the Holidays are long gone! Now it's time to go back to our routines, right? I know, it doesn't sound too appealing...

Nothing better than a bit of chocolate goodness to forget about it! These Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes are an absolute delish. AND, best of all, are just the right size for you to have an entire cake for yourself!

It's true! I mean, you can share them, if you want to, but you probably won't!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Chocolate and Vanilla Layer Cake

Hello everyone!

Today's recipe was my very first order. My friend wanted a cake to celebrate her birthday with her family and she asked me to do it.

Pretty, huh? It's a chocolate and vanilla layer cake with milk chocolate swiss meringue buttercream.

The swiss meringue buttercream recipe was from Baking a Moment's blog, with a little change. You can see her recipe following this link, she has a very useful step by step.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Chocolate and Blackberry Cake

Hello everyone!

Today's recipe is three layer chocolate cake, with homemade blackberry jam and cream cheese frosting.

Although it demands a little bit of time, the recipe is not that hard, actually, and the results are really pretty.

Blackberries and chocolate are always a good combination, right?

And here comes the recipe!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

"Guiness" Cake

Hello everyone!

Today's cake was a special request from one of my co-workers in my previous job. She once did it herself and, when I asked what should I do next, this came to her mind.

It was meant to be, actually, having been talking about Ireland for days in our lunch break, and since she totally loves this special beer.

Although it was something I never thought about, I decided to give it a try. And the Guiness cake ended up being one of the moistest cakes I have ever made, with an intense flavor of chocolate, that melts in your mouth.

Have I convinced you yet?

Monday, September 29, 2014

Two-Chocolate Cookies

Hello everyone!

Today's recipe comes, once again, from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

These amazing chocolate cookies are amazingly chewy, almost brownie-like, melting in your tongue at the first bite.

Seriously, you must try them!

Although the recipe calls for only chopped chocolate, I used a mix of chopped chocolate and chocolate chips. Also, it was supposed to yield 12 cookies but the balls of dough I made were unequal and, therefore, I got more than 25 of them.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Triple Chocolate Muffins

Hello everyone!

Ever since I started baking, to make muffins has been something difficult for me. I could follow the recipe word by word but my muffins never ended up being as good as the bakery's ones.

I've come to discover that the secret of muffins is in the batter. You do not want to over-beat it, in fact, the batter needs to be slightly lumpy.

It would have been great to know that before baking dozens and dozens of muffins that ended up being hard as stone...

Today's recipe is, again, from the book "The Hummingbird Bakery Cupcakes and Muffins", by Tarek Malouf. However, I have slightly modified it and the muffins ended up being Triple Chocolate Muffins.

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