Black and White Raspberry Slice

I found one place selling raspberries cheaper than most places by about 30% and so, how could I resist but get one punnet. I made this on impulse after googling for something to do on a Sunday afternoon.

When the kids heard I was in the kitchen doing something, they ran in. Each asking me if they can help. With this being an easy bake, I agreed to let them help, all 3 of them. Lydia did the sifting and cream cheese mixture and Lyanne mixed the wet ingredients and helped with the final mixing. Not forgetting my boy with the raspberries. It was fun and enjoyable.

Sweet Potato 'Better' Brownies - Sweet Potato #3

I won’t say this is a healthy brownie, but just a better choice. That is if you want to use less sugar for a fudgy moist brownie. Brownies typically need lots of butter and sugar for that delicious mouthfeel and when one uses sweet potatoes, it acts like a humectant that retains moisture and it also lends natural sweetness to the batter.

Triple Chocolate Brownies

I’m not much a brownie eater, actually never eaten a fudgy brownie before. It was always cakey brownie. So, this is my first fudgy brownie.

The fudgy look of the brownie caught my attention and with specks of white and brown all over, hidden and peeking at me. I just got to make this someday… But I need choc lovers to help me eat up the brownies.
Then came the chance, I needed to visit an aunt and uncle and I wanted to bring some bakes for them. And that weekend, her daughter Esther was back with baby Tristan. Esther told me she loves brownies and chocolate cakes… AH-Ha!!!! The chance to bake brownies has finally arrived!!!

I adapted the recipe from Anna Olsen. I used almost less of everything by cut down the choc to one pack size of 250gm. I was lazy to break another pack for the other 50gm. Then I cut down 1/3 sugar and butter. I slightly increased the choc chips cos here, the smallest packs that suppliers will sell is 100gm, so why leave the 10gm behind if I were to follow the recipe to go at 90gm. And I also had some chopped roasted walnuts leftover from a cake, and so in it went too.

250gm dark chocolate (I used dark compound chocolate)

100gm butter
100gm sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
60gm all purpose flour
100gm chocolate chips (There are no milk chocolate chips here that are light brown in colour)
100gm white chocolate chips
Small handful of walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven at 140/160C. Line an 8 inch shallow square pan with overlapping sides.
2. Place dark chocolate and butter into a mixing bowl. Place mixing bowl over another bowl of hot water and let the butter and chocolate melt, stirring gently.
3. Remove mixing bowl from hot water and mix in sugar and vanilla extract.
4. Put in eggs and mix.
5. Sift in flour and mix.
6. Put in 2/3 of both choc chips and nuts and mix.
7. Pour batter into pan and sprinkle balance of nuts and choc chips.
8. Bake for 35- 40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Steamed Brownies

Steamed brownies.... ha!

Frankly never liked brownies as I found them to be too dense and crumbly for my liking, some even taste dry. But this one... is steamed. So it's better.

The recipe uses emulsifier, so it's pretty easy to make. I might try another time w/o the ovalette, change the method and see how it goes.

Mike loves this, but people who are not crazy for chocolates will find this way too chocolatey. I adapted the recipe from Pennylane's Kitchen but u may still follow the original recipe exactly.

Ingredients
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
180gr caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
10 gr emulsifier (ovalette)
1 Tbsp baking rhum (I omitted this)
150 gr flour, sifted
10 gr cornstarch
50 gr cocoa powder (dutch processed), sifted
150 gr butter
220 gr milk cooking chocolate ( I used Cadbury milk chocolate, which is a eating chocolate, and I didn't half the amount, used the whole big bar, therefore I reduced some sugar and some butter amount from the original recipe . The original recipe also called for chocolate paste, which I omitted, so I took up the courage to replace that with more chocolate)
Rice chocolate/chopped dark cooking chocolate, for filling.(I used choc rice, somehow I regretted it. Maybe dark cooking choc will be a better choice)

Instructions:

1. Line 8 inch round pan with baking paper. Prepare your steamer(it’s gotta be bigger than the pan ). Fill it with sufficient water and bring it to boil on high heat.
2. Melt butter, and milk cooking chocolate. Let cool.
3. Beat egg yolks, egg whites, sugar, salt, emulsifier, baking rhum (I omitted this), flour and cornstarch at high speed until pale and thick.
4. Fold cocoa powder into egg batter with spatula until well blended. Fold in the butter-chocolate mixture, mix well. Make sure there are no butter left at the bottom of your bowl.
5. Divide the batter into 3 equal parts (weigh it if you’re not sure). Make sure the water is steaming hot now. Pour 1 part of the batter into prepared pan, steam for about 10 minutes or until the surface sets.
6. Open your steamer, sprinkle rice chocolate/chopped dark cooking chocolate evenly on the first layer, then pour the second part of the batter. Steam for about 10 minutes or until the surface sets.
7. Open your steamer, sprinkle rice chocolate/chopped dark cooking chocolate evenly on the second layer, then pour the third part of the batter. Steam for about 20 minutes or until the whole cake is done (do the toothpick test, if necessary).
8. Take the pan out of the steamer, let cool down totally on a rack. Turn the cake into cake board. Slice it nicely, serve.

Oh ya one thing, I found that after I changed my wok lid from aluminium to stainless steel, steamed cakes seem to have taken the waves. So to my readers who tried my steamed cupcakes and had waves, is the cover u used stainless steel? My friend who made my seri muka also confirmed my point. Test first, it's just my assumption. If ur steamer cover is stainless steel, try high heat for the first layer, if it's wavy, steam the 2nd layer with medium high. If it's still wavy, use medium. I used medium high for my last layer and it had less waves than my first 2 layers.

I cut this brownie way too sooon...... See how the gooey chocolate flowed down like a waterfall????

I waited longer, let it cool down further and it was much better.

DO NOT REPEAT MY STUPID MISTAKE OF CUTTING THE BROWNIE TOO SOON!!!

Patience is a virtue..something that I lack :)

Care for a slice?
Yum yum!!!!