I just want to wish you all the best Christmas with lots of wonderful hugs and good times with those you are close to.  Enjoy, eat, drink and chat!

And if you are feeling adventurous this holiday season, you could try to make a traditional New Zealand dessert called a Pavlova.  If you haven’t experienced such a dessert you are missing out.  When I last lived in the US I frequently made them and it quickly became a favorite amongst my American friends.  It is light and fluffy, sweet and crunchy.  It is divine!  And although egg whites are involved (it’s like a giant meringue but better) it is simple to make.

This is what it looks like without being dressed up - not very exciting but oh, so delicious

This is what it looks like dressed!

My favorite recipe is here on the ecook site – and the last time I made it, I doubled the recipe.  Take a read of the tips as well to help you get through your first.

Merry Christmas!

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Well after yesterday’s ‘feel sorry for me’ post, I decided to trial a new recipe – perfect for the post-breakup blues.  Or the breakup bitch session you might have with your girlfriends.  These are a little fiddly, but not difficult and came out perfectly!  I made the chocolate filling with 60% dark chocolate but the author recommends about 45% – depends on how much you love dark chocolate!  Eat them warm from the oven or warm them slightly to make the filling go runny.

Check the Double Chocolate Fudge Muffin recipe out here.

Yes, I think I would add this to the fail-safe chocolate recipe book – intense, dark and sweet.  Just how we like it (especially when we aren’t getting enough sex!).  If you like these, you might also like my chocolate brownie recipe…yum!

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So you’ve got the gals coming over for a post-breakup bitch session.  You need brownies!  The gals are great friends and they need to be fed.

Try this recipe out – it makes the most perfect, delicious, amazing, fantastic brownies, that are so rich that just a couple will be enough for any chocolate head and so EASY anyone can make them, even if you’ve never really baked much before.

It is a recipe a friend sent me, it makes a big batch of rich chocoholic brownies to die for.  You can freeze them if any are left over (just kidding – as if you’ll have leftovers!).

Best breakup chocolate brownies ever

100g or 3/4 cup Cocoa
200g or 3 1/2 oz Butter, melted
400g or 2 cups caster sugar/baker’s sugar
4 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
90g Flour or just under 3/4 cup
1 tsp Baking powder
200g or 7 oz Dark Chocolate Chips

1) Sift cocoa into a large mixing bowl
2) Add melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla
3) Mix to a smooth paste
4) Sift in flour and baking powder and then add chocolate chips
5) Pour into a 20cm x 30cm greased baking dish
6) Bake in a preheated oven at 150 Celsius or 300 Fahrenheit for 65 minutes

The mixture should feel a little undercooked – and depending on your oven you might want to take them out earlier for a softer brownie. I take them out at about 50 minutes.  You should keep an eye on them if you use a fan oven as you don’t want to dry them out. I use a brownie pan like this, they end up nice and thick.

You are meant to slice when completely cooled, but they taste pretty damn fine hot.

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