Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes

Guess what? I have finally found my favourite chocolate cupcakes recipe. It is so easy to make and you could certainly whip this up at the very last hour if you have unexpected guests coming, except for of course, you might need to let the cupcakes cool down for a little while before you put on the ganache.

I've over-whipped the ganache, so it looked quite grainy and not very appetizing. But hey! Who cares what it looks like as long as it's delicious! :D

Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes - Makes 20
from Bisousatoi

Ingredients

• 5 eggs
• 125g caster sugar
• 75g flour
• 40g cocoa powder
• 50g dark chocolate
• 65g butter
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Ganache topping

• 250g whipping cream/heavy cream
• 250g dark chocolate
• 30g unsalted butter

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 180C.

2. Melt dark chocolate with butter using a double boiler. 

3. Beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add in the sifted flour, cocoa powder and bicarb.

4. Next add in the melted chocolate. Stir well and scoop into cupcake liners. 

5. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Once baked, let it cool.

6. Prepare the ganache by heating the whipping cream using a double boiler. Then add in the chocolate and butter. Once melted, take off from heat.

7. Let the ganache chill in the refrigerator. After it has been chilled, whip the ganache until fluffy and it is ready to be piped. 

I halved the recipe and got 8 cupcakes out of it.

Lasagna

When I was small, I used to hate lasagna as I find it being too rich and cheesy. However, as I grow up, I begin to fall in love with this Italian dish. I still remember, it would always be my eldest sister who would make this. Now that I have developed an intense passion towards baking, I too, can make the dish. :)

I used the recipe provided behind the lasagna sheets box but have made several adjustments to suit our taste buds. I used combinations of cheddar and mozzarella cheese this time but you could use any other types of cheese if you wish to. The vegetables that I would normally put in lasagna are tomatoes and carrot but I also included a medium-sized green zucchini this time around.

Lasagna


For the meat sauce :

• 800g minced beef
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 3 tbsp of oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 green zucchini, diced
• 3 large tomatoes, diced
• 5 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tsp chili sauce
• 1 cube of chicken stock.
• salt
• pepper

1. Heat a pot with some oil in it over medium heat. Once hot, put in the onions and cook until they wilt or become translucent.

2. Next put in the garlic and meat. The meat will releases its juices.

3. Put all the other ingredients in, and let it simmer away.

4. Season to taste and turn off the heat once the sauce is dry (no more pools of water).

For the bechamel sauce :

• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp flour
• 1 litre milk (4 cups)
• 250g cheddar or mozzarella cheese
• salt, pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter over medium heat and put in the flour. Cook the flour for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Quickly whisk in the milk to avoid lumps. Put the saucepan back on the heat.

3. Stir continuously until the sauce thickens. 

4. Put in the cheese and season it. 

5. Once it boils, turn off the heat.

Assembling :

• Grated parmesan or mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Start with a layer of meat sauce, followed by lasagna sheets and then bechamel sauce. It would be nice if you could have at least 4 layers.

3.  Finish off with the bechamel sauce and topped with grated cheese.

4. Bake for about 40 minutes or until it browns a little.

Homegrown tomato plant.

Dark Chocolate Tart

Few more days to go before holiday starts! I seriously can't wait for holidays, I've been aching for it long enough. My body is tired, my mind is exhausted. I'm in a serious need of a break. Oh Wednesday, do come fast!

I had a very packed schedule last week, with the Minggu Bahasa Antarabangsa going on, in which our class had to join 3 competitions. To our disappointment, we didn't win anything. But it's alright, at least we had fun and we got to eat Big Apple doughnuts in the end. :P

So today I made dark chocolate tart which I adapted from this website. It's weird that my sister didn't like it so much because it would always be her who loves and finishes what I cook or bake. But she still ate 2 slices of it. Guess it wasn't that bad huh? :D *Update : It tasted even better (my sister agreed on this) after it has been sitting in the fridge for a night* My mom likes it though. Only chocoholic would appreciate this rich and chocolatey tart! :)

Dark Chocolate Tart - 9 inch

For the crust :

• 1 cup digestive biscuit crumbs
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp caster sugar

1. Preheat oven at 180C.
2. Process everything in a food processor and press it onto a 9-inch tart pan.
3. Bake for 10 minutes until slightly puffed up and let it cool for 15-20 minutes.

For the filling :

• 227g dark chocolate, chopped (not more than 65% cocoa)
• 1 1/4 cup of heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil.

2. Pour over the chopped chocolate and whisk gently. Then, let it cool slightly.

3. Add the vanilla, eggs and salt to the chocolate mixture.

4. Pour over the slightly cooled crust and bake for 22-28 minutes. I baked for 28 minutes and it burnt a little bit, so I would reduce the cooking time in another try. But remember, it all depends on the oven. 

5. After it has baked, let it cool for at least an hour.

For the glaze :

• 50g dark chocolate, chopped
• 2 tbsp of heavy cream
• 1 tbsp of water
• 1 tsp of golden syrup

1. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil.

2. Pour over the chopped chocolate and stir.

3. Mix in the water and golden syrup.

4. Pour over the tart, tilt around to even out the glaze.

5. Let it set for another hour or refrigerate for at least 4 hours and remove at least 2 hours before serving.