So I’m kind of in a hurry today – it’s my b-day!

Heading off to a beautiful beach here in Mozambique with my besty!

So, I leave you guys with one of the best birthday cake’s I’ve made – the best

would be MY birthday cake that I made for today. I’ll make sure to post the recipe

and lots of pictures soon.

As for the 4 weeks of Christmas posts – this week will not be missed, I’ll post a recipe

either on Wednesday or Thursday.

Alright, so that’s about it, enjoy and thank you for all of the recent support and comments!

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INGREDIENTS:

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Cake

2 ¼ cups flour

1 ¾ cups sugar

¾ cup butter/margarine in room temperature

1 ½ cups milk

150 g semi sweet chocolate melted

1 ½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

3 eggs

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract/essence

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Swiss Meringue

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup sugar

3 egg whites

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DIRECTIONS:

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Cake

Pre heat the oven to 170º C/340º F

Grease and flour 2 medium cake pans.

Sift flour into a large mixing bowl and add sugar, butter, 1 cup of the milk, the melted chocolate,

baking soda and salt. Beat with a hand mixer for 2 minutes and add the rest of the milk, eggs,

baking powder and vanilla. Beat for another 2 minutes and pour into the cake pans.

Bake for 30 minutes or until you get a clean toothpick once inserted into the cake.

Let the cake cool for an hour before frosting.

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Swiss Meringue

Over medium heat, mix the water, corn syrup and sugar, DO NOT STIR.

Let it over the heat for about 10 minutes, or until you get a stringy texture by putting a

spoon in the mixture and lifting it.

Beat the egg whites until strong peaks form (about 10 whole minutes).

Add the sweet mixture (while its still hot) and beat it all together until it cools.

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Assembling the cake

Spread a thick layer of the meringue on top of a cake layer and “sandwich” the other on top.

Spread the rest of the meringue all over the cake.

Now to make it really pretty, melt 100 g of milk or semi sweet chocolate and pour it generously

over the top of the cake, immediately swirl it with a fork or toothpick.

Store the cake in the fridge for 1 hour before serving.

You’ll get a hard chocolate swirl on top of the most heavenly, rich meringue.

If you want to make things interesting, before frosting the cake, add a couple of drops of rum over

the cake.

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Hello fellow foodies!

You see? I have kept my word for posting a new recipe EVERY WEEK.

Yesterday I started to panic a little for not having anything to post yet.

As to cooking, it has been a slow week for me… I have been quite lazy.

So no better opportunity than to post a Bite From The Past recipe!

For more information to these posts, click here.

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In the Northern Hemisphere, winter has arrived and there is nothing better than having a hot bowl of soup.

This recipe is perfect for winter days, especially because the ingredients are all in season at this time.

A creamy and indulgent soup that can be made in large batches and kept in the fridge for up to 5 days.

For me – a dash of cinnamon makes it that much better, enjoy!

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INGREDIENTS:

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Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large brown onion, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp chilli powder

600g orange sweet potato, peeled, diced

500g carrots, peeled, sliced

6 cups reduced-salt chicken stock

300g can chickpeas, drained, rinsed

1/2 small lemon, juiced

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Cheesy Baguette Slices

1 tbsp butter

12 1/4-inch-thick baguette bread slices

1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese or 1/4 Gruyere and 1/4 Mozzarella

1 tsp minced fresh thyme or dry

1 tsp ground sage

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DIRECTIONS:

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Soup

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic.

Cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Stir in coriander, cumin and chilli powder.

Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add sweet potato and carrot. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

Add stock. Cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

Add chickpeas to soup and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or until chickpeas are tender.

Blend soup, in batches, until smooth. Return to saucepan over medium-low heat.

Season with salt and pepper. Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Heat, stirring, until hot (do not boil).

Pour into bowls. Top with croutons or my cheesy baguette slices. Sprinkle with pepper. Serve.

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Cheesy Baguette Slices

Preheat broiler. Butter 1 side of each bread slice. Arrange bread, buttered side up, on baking sheet.

Broil until golden, about 1 minute. Turn over. Sprinkle cheese, then thyme and sage over.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil until cheese melts, about 1 minute. Pour soup into bowls.

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Sorry for taking so long to update.

The truth is, I didn’t really know what to post next!

Since Halloween is getting close I thought to myself, “it has to have something to do with the holiday!”.

The next time I post, it will be.

For now, here’s a little Bite From The Past recipe, you know, recipes that have been posted before in older

blogs of mine.

Not everyone read those blogs, so now, all my new readers can read recipes never before seen to them.

If your still a little confused read my previous post, “An Introduction To The Site” for more information

on the Bite From The Past posts.

Now, moving on to the recipe! This recipe was originally posted in February 21st, 2008.

I was a chocoholic at the time, always in need for something, anything, that contained all things CHOCOLATE.

So for an English project, where our class would have to make a TV channel, I offered to do a cooking show, of course!

The show was called “Cooking Like a Chocoholic” – I know, obsessed!

With the help of two friends, we filmed the show in my kitchen, where I made these Chocolate – Chili Cupcakes.

They were so good that my friends and I  finished them on our own before sharing it to the class. xP

For those of you who don’t know, my favorite combo of tastes has got to be Peanut Butter and Chocolate.

I guess you could say that these are my favorite cupcakes. The perfect balance of flavors and texture!

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INGREDIENTS:

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Cupcakes

150 g unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup boiling water

1/4 cup warm milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. finely chopped chili pepper (or 1 tsp chili powder)

2 sticks butter (200 g)

1-1/2 cups dark brown sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

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Peanut Butter Frosting

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup heavy cream for beating

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DIRECTIONS:

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Cupcakes

Combine chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in a medium sized bowl, add boiling water

and warm milk, whisk until smooth, set aside.

Sift flours, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Add the 1 tsp. of chopped chili, set aside.

In a standing mixer, beat butter until creamy.

Add the brown sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

At medium speed, add eggs one at a time, beat well between each.

Add sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined.

Add about a third of the flour mixture, beat briefly until combined.

Add about half of the chocolate mixture, beat briefly until combined.

Repeat, adding flour, chocolate, then flour. Beat until just combined. Scrape down bowl if needed.

Fill cupcake papers about 3/4s full. Bake at 350°F oven for 25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

For the frosting, beat in all ingredients, starting with creaming the butter with the peanut butter.

Once it’s smooth add in the rest of the ingredients.

Peanut Butter Frosting

Beat in all ingredients, starting with creaming the butter with the peanut butter.

Once it’s smooth add in the rest of the ingredients.

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Let cupcakes completely cool, frost with a piping bag, and sprinkle over with chopped peanuts.

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Makes 30-35 cupcakes.

Hello fellow foodies!

I’m trying my best to keep those recipes coming, my goal is to post 2 recipes per week for now.

The last time I posted a “Bite From The Past” entry was about 4 months ago!

If you’re not familiar with my “Bite From The Past” posts, well they’re simply recipes I have posted before a long time

ago in a different website, Teamsugar.com.

This recipe is more of a breakfast one for me, waking up and warming these babies in the microwave, eating them

along with some coffee or tea is delightful.

Biting into the crunchy topping and sinking your teeth down into the soft banana infused muffin is oh so yummy! For

me, when it comes to sweet things, there has to have crunch in there, it can’t just be all soft or all crunchy, you have to

combine the two textures to create that special something!

Ok, enough of me fantasizing about eating these babies and making you drool like crazy, end your misery and GO

BAKE THEM.

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INGREDIENTS:

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Muffins

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 heaped tsp baking soda

1 heaped tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 bananas, mashed

1 cup sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup butter/margarine, melted

1/2 cup of any kind of nut (I used cashews) – optional

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Topping

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

2 tbsp oats

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tbsp butter/margarine

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DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Lightly grease 24 mini muffin cups/12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 3/4 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter.

Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 3 tbsp flour, oats and cinnamon. Cut in 1 1/2 tbsp butter/margarine until

mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Cover muffin completely with topping.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

From time to time I’ll be posting recipes here that I’ve posted 2 years ago on the sugar network.

This is a Portuguese recipe (my moms Portuguese) filled with tiny pieces of the traditional Portuguese chorizo.

The Portuguese love chorizo, it’s in almost all of their savory dishes.

If there’s something the Portuguese love more or as much, that’s bread, in every meal, a piece of bread.

So it’s no surprise that chorizo and bread together was invented!

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Here’s Portuguese cooking for you:

INGREDIENTS:

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1/3 cup warm water

3 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup milk

4 egg whites

1 teaspoon salt

5 cups flour

1 1/2 cup diced chorizo/pancetta

1 cup diced mozzarella cheese in little cubes (optional)

Sesame seeds to drizzle over rolls

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DIRECTIONS:

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In a small bowl, combine water, yeast and a pinch of sugar.

Stir to mix and set aside for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter, milk, egg whites, salt and 2 cups of flour.

Beat on medium for 2 minutes.

Add the yeast mixture and an additional cup of flour to the batter.

Beat for a minute or two.

Continue mixing the batter while slowly adding the remaining flour, then the chorizo.

Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes.

Place the dough in a large bowl. Thinly coat the top of the dough with oil.

Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Remove dough from the bowl and place on a floured surface. Divide into 24 equal pieces.

Make rolls (balls) of the dough and open each one, filling with chorizo and cheese,

brush over with a beaten egg.

Add sesame seeds over and place rolls on an oiled baking sheet.

Cover rolls as mentioned above and let rise for 40 minutes.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.