The Baking Medic

Cupcakes appeal to me for a variety of reasons — they are petite individual desserts, don’t require a plate and fork to eat, have a high icing to cake ratio and there is almost an infinite number of ways to decorate the wee things.  From a simple smear of buttercream, to elegantly piped designs, to cupcakes that look like Cookie Monster to these darling Hamburger cupcakes.  With such scope for innovation and creativity, it’s no wonder that cupcakes are so popular.

I wish I could say I thought up the idea to make these ingenious cupcakes — but alas, I did not.  I saw them on Bakerella and I knew immediately that I had to try them myself.  They’re the perfect edible trompe l’oeil — the round of brownie sandwiched between the two halves of cupcake and covered with the brightly coloured icing makes for a very convincing burger! If you want, you can also serve these “burgers” with sugar cookie “fries” (seriously… check out the Bakerella link.  She is incredible).

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I’ve had a craving for my favourite brownie recipe recently — an almost overpowering desire to sink my teeth into a fudgy moist square of chocolate heaven.  But this blog is all about discovering new recipes so I didn’t want to just make the same old brownies, as delicious as they are.  So I decided to turn them into Rocky Road brownies, by adding a gooey topping of toasted marshmallows, peanuts and mini milk chocolate chips.

I must say that these brownies are very fudgey.  Since it was an experiment, I was unsure about how long I should bake the brownies before adding the topping.  The problem is that once the topping is on they have to go back into the oven.  Put the marshmallows on too soon and you’ll either burn the topping or have a gooey centre.  Put them on too late you could be left with dry, burnt edges.  So, knowing that brownies taste good even if really gooey I erred on the side of caution and perhaps underbaked these brownies a little bit.

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Making all those wee white chocolate raspberry mousses. NOM.

A few weeks back, I taught a Chocolate Baking Class for the Fine Chocolate Society.  The amazingly talented Frank George, Sarah Wilford, and Verena Walsh were such a great help! Luckily, Verena had the foresite to bring her camera and she has just passed on the photos to me.  If you’re interested in some of the recipes, I’ve made the Zebra cake and White Chocolate Mousse before.  You can find the Zebra Cake here and the White Chocolate Mousse here.

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Cheesecake Brownies with Raspberry Marble

Although I routinely get the ‘brownie-shakes’, it’s not often that I crave cheesecake.  But last week, the urge hit and I couldn’t ignore it: I just had to make something with cheesecake in it.  Since I had decided that bars would be more practical if I wanted to share these with my colleagues at work, it was just a matter of choosing the type of base I wanted.

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So I’m very much behind on my posting again.  That’s not to say I haven’t been baking! Indeed, I feel like Ive been baking more than ever.  Perhaps it’s in procrastination – I’ve got a midterm this afternoon! *gulp* Go figure that I choose the morning of the midterm to post and not anytime in the past two weeks.

This post will be a quicky.   Just some pictures to let you know that I haven’t given up on this blog. :) If you want the recipe, just give me an email and I’ll be happy to send it too you! » Read the rest of this entry «

Last week there was another happy occasion on which my busy life required me to bake.  Not just cause I wanted to and felt like some sugar (I think I’m always up for some sugar. ;) ) but because the Fine Chocolate Society was having a film night and bake sale.

I mentioned before that I thought the Green & Blacks brownies were among the most godly things on earth.  I stand by that statement.  For sweetness, texture, and cocoa flavour I am convinced that these brownies can’t be beat. They are exquisitely moist and are sweet without being too sweet.  And did I mention how I love brownies with a dark chocolate flavour?

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For any of you who occasionally stop by my blog, you’ll have noticed a discrete lack of posts in the last few weeks; many apologies for this.  In the past few weeks I’ve moved back to Scotland and begun my first year as a medical student, living in my own flat, with my own kitchen, and a whole new set of responsibilities.  Truly, I was spoiled in hall last year, not having to worry about things like bathroom doors falling off and mould on bedroom blinds. Ach weel, welcome to the real world, I suppose.

I’ve also been quite busy between my studies, my taekwon-do, and my involvement in the Fine Chocolate Society.  All of these I love, but all of these demand my time and attention, leaving me with much less time to blog.  Indeed, I’m embarrassed to admit how much porridge I’ve eaten in the past few weeks (it’s so fast and easy, and you can do it sweet or savoury!) and the other vegetable and bean concoctions I’ve come up with.  Sadly, this leaves me with a very small amount of time with which I can bake, and an even smaller budget. » Read the rest of this entry «

As promised, I brought in my Marbled Chocolate Almond Brownies to work this past Friday.  If I do say so myself, they were as good as I remembered them! ;) And the container, empty save a few crumbs, is one of my favourite sights. » Read the rest of this entry «