A belated post

I have been so busy the past weeks and loving every minute of it. My son's exam finally over. That poor boy perhaps was stressed out that he developed fever during the exam period. He was such a brave boy and braved through it all. Though he didn't do fantastically well but I think it was good enough for us. Then after, my daughter's turn to fell ill. It was a roller coaster ride for her, the fever simply didn't go away. Luckily, she recovered after a week and in time for our short get away to Malacca.

Been good too for my little venture too. Since my "black out" period early this year due to the house move, little angels have been steadily knocking back on my mail. Each time I made a delivery, I love to watch the happy and satisfied look. This really makes my day.

We didn't get a chance to celebrate Mother's Day as mommy dearest is away babysitting my new born nephew. I guess she is having a good time as she looks radiant. Ha, I think the fresh air really do her good. But the climate has turned cold now and her lungs are not really strong to take it so they will be heading home earlier than planned. Boy, I do miss them alot.

Anyway, I am sharing with you what I have accomplished these past days. Yah, perhaps I bored you again with my cuppies.

Brain food?

I read somewhere that chocolate is really good for the brain in terms of memory, so I have been eating alot. *wink*

Thanks to my sister's good friend who had a short working stinct in Switzerland, he located a factory that manufacture the famous Lindt chocolate. Thus, he so kindly shipped back cartons and cartons of these lovelies for us.

I simply adores dark bitter chocolate but unfortunately this love is not shared by my family who prefers milk chocolate. Nevertheless, today, I tried out That Chocolate Cake from the book The Essence of Chocolate.

This is a really rich and moist chocolate cake and it definitely live up to how the author describes it - satisfying.

I have modify the recipe alittle.

What you need

Frosting

100g castor sugar

1 cup heavy cream

5oz 99% unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

4oz unsalted butter, cubes

1 tsp vanilla essence

Cake

100g castor sugar

260g plain flour

72g unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup whole milk

1 cup boiling water

Method

Frosting

Combine sugar and cream and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occassionally. Reduce the heat and simmer for 6 mins. Add the chocolate and butter and stir until melted. Transfer to a bowl and stir in vanilla essence.

Cool the frosting completely. It should have a texture like mayonnaise. If not, chill in the fridge for a short while.

Cake

Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius.

Lightly greased, floured and lined two 9" cake pans.

Combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

With mixer on low speed, mix in the eggs, oil and milk.

Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 mins. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the water. The batter will be watery.

Divide the batter evenly into two pans. Bake for 30 - 35 mins till skewer comes clean.

Remove and cool on rack for 5 mins. Remove cake from pan to cool completely.

Frost and serve.

Healthy

My kids simply love pasta and I do find this relatively easy to feed them. So this time round, I bought some whole wheat pasta having in mind it is more nutritional for them. Somehow, I find it takes a longer time to cook it. So my al dente pasta didn't quite make it. Nevertheless, my kiddos still finished up up their dinner.

Thanks kids for making mommy happy.