Triple Chocolate Almond Brownies

January 23, 2017January 23, 2017 ~ Agata @BarkTime ~ 9 Comments

Super rich in flavour, dense yet chewy in the middle, those brownies offer the perfect cross between cookies and a cake.

Purposefully made to not be a sweet as traditional brownies whilst retaining all the wonderful flavours you would expect they offer a more intense experience. The chewy middle encapsulated with a crunchy exterior is complimented with the nuts for that pleasing crunch the mouth adores and all backed up with a small tingle from the coffee buzz… could you ask for more.

Ingredients:

150g dark chocolate; roughly chopped
150g caster sugar
115g butter; cubed
100g almonds; roughly chopped
55g plain flour
50g white chocolate; roughly chopped
30g drinking chocolate
2 eggs; beaten
1tbsp instant coffee
1tbsp filtered hot water
1/2tsp vanilla essence

Super rich in flavour, dense yet chewy in the middle, those brownies offer the perfect cross between cookies and a cake. Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C and prepare an 8-inch square tin by lining it with baking paper, unless you, like me, bake in a silicone tray in which case no lining is necessary.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, over a very low heat melt the butter and dark chocolate slowly. Once melted remove from the heat and add the sugar, stir constantly until it is all dissolved.

Put aside the mixture to cool down.

In a small cup mix together the hot water and instant coffee and again set aside to cool; once cold add the vanilla essence.

Beat the eggs with a fork or whisk in a small bowl or cup.

In yet another bowl sift the flour and drinking chocolate together.

Once your dark chocolate has cooled down to around room temperature pour into a mixing bowl and then add the whisked eggs, the coffee and vanilla mixture and stir the mix until combined.

Fold in your flour and drinking chocolate; finally gently fold in the chopped almonds and white chocolate chunks.

Spread the mixture out evenly in your pre-prepared baking tray and bake for 28-30 minutes or until just set in the middle… avoid over baking as over baked brownies will tend to be dry and hard, I like to check on them once my timer hits the 25-minute mark just to keep a close eye on them.

Remove from the oven and place the tray on a cooling rack to allow them to cool completely.

Cut into your desired serving portion size and enjoy!

Black Forest Muffins

December 30, 2016December 30, 2016 ~ Agata @BarkTime ~ 17 Comments

Super rich in flavour, light and fluffy these Black Forest Muffins tick all the right boxes plus they are easy to make and best of all, they can be on your table within the hour! Though they do taste better if you can resist until they are cooled completely 🙂

Super rich in flavour, light and fluffy these Black Forest Muffins tick all the right boxes plus they are easy to make and best of all they can be on your table within the hour! Almost everyone loves a classic Black Forest Gateaux but who has access to or even afford one every day? So as we fancied one but didn’t have access to one our creative juices started to flow and this is what we came up with - a black forest muffins!

Ingredients:

150g butter
150g caster sugar
125g flour
25g organic unsweetened raw cocoa
4 eggs; separated
1tsp vanilla essence
1tsp baking powder
75g cherries in juice; drained

For the syrup:

3tbsp cherry juice
2tbsp caster sugar
1tbs cherry liqueur

For the decoration (optional):

150ml whipping cream
10 cherries
Chocolate shavings

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Prepare 10 cups in a muffin tin tray by lining them with paper muffin cases or lightly greasing.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, on a low heat melt the butter and sugar, gently bring to the boil and cook for a minute or two stirring constantly till the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from the heat, transfer into a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool.

In a clean and dry bowl whisk the egg whites until peaks form.

Once the butter and sugar mixture has cooled down, stir in the egg yolks followed by the vanilla essence, then sift over flour, cocoa and baking powder and mix well.

Then gently fold in the cherries and whisked egg whites.

Spoon the batter into the earlier prepared muffin cases and bake for around 15 minutes or until well risen and firm to the touch, use a wooden toothpick to check, it should come out clean when you stick it into the middle of the muffin.

Whilst your muffin are baking mix up the syrup by combining all the listed ingredients. If you are struggling with dissolving the sugar simply heat the cherry juice up a bit.

Once the muffins are baked remove from the oven and whilst still hot slowly drizzle a little bit of the syrup mix onto each muffin. It will give them a wonderful shiny finish 🙂

If you are opting for the fully loaded version of the muffin with whipped cream then whip the cream (I don’t add sugar but if you fancy more sweetness, you might want to add a tablespoon of icing sugar… or two) so it is ready for serving.

Once you are ready to eat, simply decorate your shiny muffins with the whipped cream and place a cherry on top; finish with some chocolate shavings sprinkled all over…

Perfection!

Super rich in flavour, light and fluffy these Black Forest Muffins tick all the right boxes plus they are easy to make and best of all they can be on your table within the hour! In the past we used to only bake these muffins for special occasions, especially if we opted for the whipped cream finish but lately we have decided that actually, every day is a special day, so why not treat ourselves for no particular reason at all!

What is your favourite special occasion dessert?

No-Bake Coconut Squares

July 14, 2016July 14, 2016 ~ Agata @BarkTime ~ 8 Comments

This super easy, totally fool-proof dessert will be perfect for any coconut lover. Sweet, chewy coconut goodness set over a crunchy chocolate flavoured base… simple perfection!

Ingredients:

397g / 1 tin condensed milk
350g digestive biscuits
200g desiccated unsweetened coconut
150g unsalted butter
2tbsp cocoa powder

Method:

In a medium size bowl mix together the coconut and condensed milk. Use a silicone spatula to mix it well. Put it aside to allow the coconut to soak up some of the milk.

Place your biscuits into a strong zip lock plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them down until you are left with fine crumbs.

In a medium size saucepan melt the butter and then add the biscuits, cocoa powder and mix until well combined.

Place your buttery biscuit mixture into a square 20cm tin (the ones with a loose bottom would be ideal but not necessary). Use something heavy and flat to press it down evenly.

Once the bottom layer is nicely flat, spread your coconut mixture over the top. At this time your coconut goodness should be very thick and not very pliable as the coconut will have soaked in a lot of moisture from the milk. Use plastic bag to make a glove or simply use food grade plastic gloves if you own any and press it down using the palm of your hand.

When you are pleased with the final effect pop it into the fridge and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before digging in.

Cut into your desired size of squares and enjoy!

This super easy, totally fool-proof dessert will be perfect for any coconut lover. Sweet, chewy coconut goodness set over a crunchy chocolate flavoured base… simple perfection!

So easy yet so delicious!

Normally we keep these coconut squares in the fridge at all-times but once they are properly chilled they don’t have to be kept refrigerated; they will still keep theirs shape and form.

Do you like coconut?

Coconut Cream Puffs

April 12, 2016April 12, 2016 ~ Agata @BarkTime ~ 10 Comments

A super easy to make, sugar free treat for all coconut lovers who don’t want an overly sweet indulgent mouthful of scrumptious heaven. This is a reworking of the classic profiterole recipe with a more healthy bias for the modern health conscious person (who has a love for the wonders of coconut).

Ingredients:

1 tin coconut milk (not shaken)
~125ml water
50g butter
75g raw organic coconut oil
200g flour
4 large eggs
100g desiccated coconut
Icing sugar (optional)

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC.

Line 3 large baking trays with baking paper.

Open the unshaken tin of coconut milk and split out the thick creamy part from the watery part. Place the collected creamy part into a large bowl and the remaining watery part of the coconut milk pour into a measuring jug.

Add water to your measuring jug until you have a total of 250ml of the milk / water mixture.

Pick a medium sized heavy bottom cooking pot; add the milk / water mixture, butter and coconut oil. Cook on a medium heat and bring to a boil.

Once boiling reduce the heat to low, add the flour and stir vigorously (seriously vigorously) keep the pan over a low heat for about 1 minute whilst stirring or until the mixture forms a ball and comes off from the edges of the saucepan.

Remove from the heat and put aside to cool.

In the meantime prepare the filling by adding the desiccated coconut into the creamy part of the coconut milk and mix until well combined.

Once your puff mixture is nice and cool, beat in to the dough the eggs, one at the time.

You are aiming for fairly thick mixture…

Use a teaspoon to measure out your puffs… one full teaspoon of mixture equals one puff (you should ended up with around 24 puffs).

Spread them nicely on the lined baking sheets you prepared earlier and space them out evenly as they are going to grow.

In case your fretting because you only have one baking tray then rest assured so do I… I just bake mine one tray at a time in the middle of the oven. The dough will wait quite happily until it is time to create the puffs for tray number two and three.

Bake your puffs for 18-20 minutes at 200ºC.

Do not open the door to check on them as they are prone to simply collapse 🙁 you are looking for just turned golden in colour puffs.

Once baked, remove from the oven and move immediately onto a cooling rack.

Allow them to cool completely before filling.

To fill them simply cut them in half, thickly spread some coconut filling across the bottom half and pop the lid back on.

If desired, to make them look even more delectable sprinkle with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

I hope you will like them as much as we do.

*This recipe is an entry into the #Swearbyit challenge with Vita Coco. Find even more great coconut oil recipes and tips on using coconut oil at www.swearbyit.com

Pomegranate & Passion Fruit Muffins

January 28, 2016January 28, 2016 ~ Agata @BarkTime ~ 11 Comments

If you love fruits you will love these muffins; they are moist, zingy and very fruity, filled with crunchy seeds offering an unusual sensation in your mouth and a wonderful flavour combination on top, not to mention their totally divine smell… just being close to them you will instinctively know there are passion fruits somewhere around. Unfortunately for some of my readers this is not a sugar free recipe but I might just try to develop a sugar free version of them as they are truly something special.

To be honest I wasn’t planning on baking such fruit rich muffins but as I had some passion fruits close to their use by time and also I had just returned from a foodie shopping expedition carrying a small carry bag full of pomegranates (lately, this seems to be my “go to” fruit) and Mark was nagging me for some “normal” muffins, I decided to give these flavours a try. And oh boy, am I glad I did because I totally love the final effect. It’s so aromatic and unusual. I think the sensation of the crunchy seeds when biting into them makes them one of the kind.

Ingredients:

150g flour
120ml milk
100g caster sugar
30g butter; slightly melted
4 passion fruit
1 egg; lightly beaten
1tsp vanilla essence
1/2tsp baking powder
Giant handful of pomegranate seeds

Method:

Preheat your oven to 200C and line a 6 muffin baking tray with paper or silicone muffin casings.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar.

In a second bowl mix the milk, butter, egg, vanilla essence and passion fruit pulp then gently hand whisk until combined.

Add the wet ingredients mixture to the dry ingredients mix and fold in until just combined. Do not under any circumstances over mix them or the muffins will come out tough.

Add the pomegranate seeds and mix in gentle till evenly distributed. Finally spoon the batter into your earlier prepared muffin cases.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 20-22 minutes. You want them well risen and lovely golden brown on top.

Remove from the oven and move onto a cooling rack.

Let them cool completely before serving (if you can withstand the super intense fruit aroma around the house that is).