Chocolate Vanilla Slice

I have my bad and good days. Some days, I really really miss my grandmother. Grief is a throbbing pain in your heart that doesn't seem to go away. It becomes slightly duller but it aches. The image of her smiling face, the twinkle in her eyes and her old fashioned styled hair with heaps of hair spray stays with me.

Last year this time, there was so much excitement. I was heavily pregnant. My family was planning their big trip to stay with us for 12 weeks. An pending new arrival to the family brought a buzz. Who would have thought the past year would be filled with so many memories- both happy, troubled, happy and sad?

We are planning Asher's first birthday and then it hit me that granny won't be here physically to celebrate with us. I'm holding on though, to the memories of our family waking up together and looking forward to seeing Asher in those early days when he arrived. The laughs during his full month celebration and cooking lessons that grandmother gave me (yam cake and chill). The precious cuddles they shared.

Of course, we had our trips back where grandmother spent mornings and days seeing Asher play at my parents flat, or helped entertained Asher while I do a quick workout at the exercise park.

And the worrying times where Gran rebelled against death and came back from heart failure and her stint at ICU in February.

The sadder times when we lost her.

I was browsing photos of treats and bakes I made when this caught my eye again. This was made for a family gathering. At that lunch, we spoke about grandmother's likes and dislikes, and how the whole family became closer together (extended family included) this year. That is what my grandmother would have love to know. She would have love to take an adventurous bite of these small chocolate vanilla slices and give me her two cents about how it's not sweet enough, or it's too hard, or that it's "ok".  But she would eat it with a smile anyway.

Chocolate Vanilla Slice (makes 24 mini ones) Adapted from Spunky Coconut.
Base
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup cacao powder
2 tablespoons of linseed meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup of almond butter
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of vanilla paste

"Vanilla"
1 cup of coconut butter
1/4 cup of water
2 tablespoons of honey
2 tsp of vanilla paste

Chocolate Ganache
100 grams of dark chocolate
1/2 cup of coconut milk

Pre heat oven to 180C. Line a 8x8 square dish.

To make the base- mix the wet ingredients using a mixer. Then fold in dry ingredients. Press it to the pan and bake for 30 minutes or so. Cool.

To make the Vanilla- Mix everything in a mixer. Spread frosting over the base.

Chocolate Ganache- In a saucepan, melt chocolate in coconut milk. Pour ganache over the frosting. Fridge it over night.

Cut into small pieces and enjoy.

Walnut Chocolate Brownies

They say friendships change when you become a parent. For me, its an opportunity to meet more new friends who are parents. Asher have been attending gymbaroo since he was around 8 weeks young. From there, I met a few other mums whom I click with. One of them is also from Singapore and her husband is from Malaysia!

Our sons are only born 2 weeks apart. We started meeting fortnightly for play dates and hosting lunches at respective homes. It's so cute to see the boys watching one another and playing with toys. Of course, they are not at an age where they would play with each other but they appeared to be curious about each other's presence.

I made Elana's Pantry's Walnut Chocolate Brownies for this lovely mother. By the way, she cooks such nourishing lunches for me after knowing how I eat (think pan fried salmon with asparagus with corn, pumpkin soup, and a grilled chicken tenderloin with a side pumpkin and goats cheese salad). That said, she said these brownies were a hit with her family and can't believe it has no gluten and minimal refined sugar in it.

Walnut Chocolate Brownies (I cut it to 24 small bites)
100 grams of dark chocolate chopped roughly (I used lindt)
1/4 cup of coconut flour
2 eggs
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup of coconut oil
2 tablespoon of honey
1/3 cup of crushed walnuts
handful of chopped dark chocolate

Preheat Oven to 180C. Line a brownie tray with baking paper.
Using a food processor, pulsed dark chocolate. Add in all other dry ingredients first. Pulse till it is well mixed. Then add in all other wet ingredients except the walnuts and handful of dark chocolate.
Pour mixture into pan. Sprinkle crushed walnuts and chocolate over the mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Chocolate Almond Coconut Slab Cake

If you come to my house any given day, open my fridge and you will find that I have been baking and experimenting with slices and muffins. I whipped this slice quickly the other day as we were going to a friend's house for lunch. I thought, better to give it away than to store it in our fridge! Hubby never mind though as that means he can just grab and go with whatever he fancies to work. He also said he could eat without the guilt that it is not nourishing his body.

Friends asked me how do I control myself given that I have baked goods in my fridge frequently? I was puzzled by that question. I never see that as a self control thing. Rather, it's a "what does my body feel like having". Most of the time, it's water or yogurt with some of my granola. When I bake, I bake to share and to make sure my husband, family and friends eat well. I do tastes my bakes, but I rarely finished everything by myself. I guess I taste and I'm satisfied by it.

This recipe comes from Elana Pantry. I think I didn't do it justice because I changed the ingredients amounts. Hence it became more cake and slice like rather than the chewy texture that Elana posted on her blog. Nevertheless, we enjoyed this little cake and it's good for a weekend afternoon treat with coffee.

Chocolate Almond Coconut Slab Cake 
4 eggs
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup of coconut flour
3 tablespoon of honey
pinch of salt
1 tsp of bicarb soda
1/2 cup of shredded coconut + extra
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180C. Line baking slice tray with baking paper.
In a jug, whisk coconut milk, honey and eggs together. Then put almond meal, flour, salt, bicarb, coconut and some chocolate chips in a bowl. Pour wet to dry and fold. Spoon into tray and top it with the remaining choc chips and shredded coconut. Bake for 30 minutes.

Banana Yogurt Chocolate Slice

As usual, I'm late in preparing for Chinese New Year!! This year though, I have a good reason :) I'm drooling with all the lovely bakes in blogs in preparation for CNY.

I did however spring clean the house and kitchen. I'm so proud of myself! I cleared the kitchen of old plates and bowls that we never use anymore. I even wiped down all the cupboards! Yes! time for more pretty plates and bowls no? (I can see hubby shake his head).

Over summer though, we did clear the house of things we realised we have never used for some time. We have shifted in our home for 1.5 years now and there were items given to us by friends who moved overseas in our garage. Upon sorting those out, we realised that those items plus others were things we do not need to use or will use. Yes, they were donated to good causes.

I have also cleared my wardrobe of pregnancy/maternity clothes. Wow. I'm glad I could fit into some of my pre-pregnancy clothes although I'm supplementing it with nursing items as well. It felt like yesterday when Asher was in me and I was walking waddling to work. Again, a clean wardrobe means newer clothes right? After all it is CNY! (this time, I can really see hubby shaking his head).

I was experimenting with slices and made this one up. A pregnant friend of mine who eat cleans is struggling with her cravings with sugar. I know how that feels because I went carb-o-lic in my pregnancy with Asher. I thought this might cheer her up. It was so good, we ended up eating half of the batch ourselves! oops. This is certainly a good snack box item for hubby for work as well.

Banana Yogurt Chocolate Slices (25 bite slices)
2 bananas
1/2 cup Almond Butter
1/2 cup of Coconut Flour
1/4 cup of greek yogurt
1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips
1 tsp of vanilla paste
1/4 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of baking powder
1 generous tablespoon of cinnamon.

Line brownie tray with baking paper. Preheat Oven 180C. Blitz everything but chocolate chips in a food processor. Fold most of the chocolate chips into the batter and spoon it into the tray. Sprinkle rest of the choc chips on top. Bake for 35 minutes.

Wishing you a healthy and prosperous  Lunar Chinese New Year! 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Slice

When I'm standing in front of a counter of a cafe, trying to decide if I want a cake, slice, tart or cookie, my choices are often down to either a slice or a tart. For some odd reason, they seem to look more appealing. I glance at the pastry, and the filling and conclude that anything with different texture will make my money more worth it than a cake with a single flavour.

There is also something about a slice that makes it ok to have a small piece. Nothing says that about a cake. You just have to have a large slice right? Well, that's the deceiving factor of a slice- we usually have more than just a small bite.

I came across this peanut butter and jelly slice and know I just have to make it. Not many people can resist that combination- myself included. I did not grow up with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches though- being in an Asian household, sandwiches are more often made out of Kaya (coconut jam) or pork floss (dehydrated pork) with butter- kinda like a fairy bread except it's more savoury than sweet.  In fact, at one point, I was puzzled by why jam is called "jelly"- before I realised they meant the same thing in the context of a peanut butter and jam sandwich.

I was invited to a housewarming party and packed these little babies in a box with a  ribbon as part of our gift to the new home owner. It was sticky, warm and sweet- just what we need on a cold winter night.

Peanut Butter and Jam Slice (Source from Taste.com)
100 grams butter melted
1/3 brown sugar
1 cup of plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup of strawberry jam
a tin of condensed milk (I used 97% fat free)
1/3 cup peanut butter with no sugar and salt
3/4 cup toasted peanuts

Preheat Oven to 180C and line a slice pan.

Make base- mix butter, brown sugar, plain flour and baking powder together. Press mixture into tin and bake for around 15 minutes till brown. Cool

Topping- mix condense milk, peanut butter and toasted peanuts together.

Spread strawberry jam/jelly on to the base. Then top it with the condense milk/peanut butter mixture. Return to oven and bake for further 30 mins. Slice, lick fingers and serve.

Paleo Friendly Caramel Cheesecake Bars

Cheesecake bars without cheese. Is it even possible. OMG paleo did it. I re-created it in my own kitchen. It was creamy and nutty. A small slice is a good protein hit I am sure.

I would have never thought that dates could create a caramel-look and taste texture. I am usually not a fan of caramel anyway, but this is the magic touch to the slice.

A few disasters did happen. My base and 2nd layer merged and became one big layer. Oh well, That's not the biggest problem. I changed the recipe to reflect that. The date-icing saves the day.

Is this really low in sugar? Not really. The dates would probably have increase the sugar content a few folds. A good treat? You bet. One word of caution, remember to serve directly from the freezer or fridge as it does soften too easy... I learned the hard way and had to spoon it from the plate!

Paleo Friendly Caramel Cheesecake Bars 

Crust/filling
1 cup of almond butter
1 cup of coconut flakes
2/3 cup of walnuts
1 cup of roasted walnuts
1 tablespoon of honey
2-4 tablespoon of canned coconut milk
2 tablespoon of coconut oil

Caramel
12 dates- soaked for 1 hr
5-6 tablespoon of water
sea salt
1 tsp of vanilla paste

Blitz the crust/filling in the food processor. Pressed down onto lined pan. Freeze for 1 hr. Meanwhile, blitz the caramel together. Spread caramel over cheesecake. Sprinkle sea salt. Freeze for another 30 minutes or so.

Mocha Caramel Nut Slice

I have always assume that caramel slice is an aussie dessert. But wikipedia said it is of a scottish decent! How surprising is it! I suppose with the scottish shortbread, creamy filling and chocolate topping, it makes sense that the Scottish invented this.

Caramel slice is such a popular dessert in cafes and bakeries though. It's everywhere! At first, caramel slice is a tad too sweet for my liking- sugar in shortbread, sugar in caramel and sugar in chocolate seems overkill to me.

But like all things, I have grown to appreciate it and do like the texture that comes with it. The crunch from the shortbread, chewiness from the caramel and the smooth chocolate won me over!

I adapted this from Delicious Sweets cookbook- it's a coffee version of the caramel slice. A lovely twist and worth your time in making this. Coffee was pretty much in everything but the chocolate. I omitted the essence and used instant coffee instead which I think tastes more real than essence. ;P  It is probably not a good idea to add coffee while melting the chocolate though as it will seize and you would have to add butter to make it smooth again!

Mocha Caramel Nut Slice (cut into around 30 tiny pieces)
395grams can of sweetened condense milk
1/3 cup brown sugar
50 grams butter
3 tsp of coffee (i mixed 2 tsp of instant coffee with 2 tsp of water)
1 cup or 100 grams walnut pieces
200 grams dark chocolate (

Base
1.5 cups of plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup of brown sugar
150 grams butter melted
2 tsp of coffee (as above)

Preheat Oven to 180C. Line slice tray with baking paper.

whisk flour, sugar baking powder together. Whisk melted sugar and coffee into it. Press it to base and bake it for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat up the condense milk, sugar, coffee and butter. Whisk till it becomes thick. Don't take your eyes off the pan and the caramel could burn. It should take around 10 minutes.

Remove base from oven and cool, Sprinkle walnuts onto base. Pour caramel on it and smoothen it. Bake for another 10-12 minutes till it bubbles around edges. Cool completely.

Melt chocolate in a microwave- blitz it every 30 seconds stirring it. Pour chocolate on slice. Fridge it for it to set for 2 hours or so. Cut it in small pieces-it's rice so it goes a long way!

Flourless Chocolate Brownies

Oh ok. I admit. I'm a brownie snob. I love my brownies. And since I know I have a no fail, my ultimate chocolate brownies recipe, I rarely look at another brownie recipe again.

But never say never. Nigella Lawson's Flourless Chocolate Brownies caught my attention and I gave it a go on our double dinner date with friends. It was so good that I regret being a brownie snob. Coincidentally, it's also on Nigella's cook-a-long which means it is just calling out to be shared.

Funny enough, I don't have a Nigella Lawson cookbook and since this brownie was made, guess what did hubby surprised me with?

A "How to be a Domestic Goddness Cookbook"

I know I know! It's a oldie but since I haven't one of hers, it was exciting. The funny thing was, my hubby came and said "I'm going to buy you a Nigella Lawson's cookbook as a surprise but when I got there, I realised I have no idea...so I took photos of the cover.. which one do you want?"

haha..Sweet. Now look at the tabs- These are all the bakes I want to make soon!

But back to these brownies. They are really moist in the middle and I do recommend that it be made the day before and warm it up before serving with ice cream. It's messy but really awesome. I HAD to take a few bites even when it wasn't on my cheat day!

I didn't bother with the sauce as I think ice cream is sufficient. I reduced the sugar and it still tastes fantastic. Oh what a treat!

Flourless Chocolate Brownies 
225 grams of dark chocolate- I used lindt and cadbury baking
225 grams butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
150 grams castor sugar
3 eggs
150 grams ground almonds
125 grams crushed walnuts

Preheat Oven 170C. Line brownie tray. Melt dark chocolate and butter in saucepan. Take pan off heat. Stir in vanilla and sugar. Slowly add beaten egg into saucepan. Then fold through almond meal. Lastly the walnuts. Spoon into tin and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool and fridge.

Sticky Goodness- Pecan Pie Bars

 Oh if there is a dessert I could rave about, it would be sticky pecan pies. I spotted this recipe from Joanne- Eat Well with Others. I couldn't... just couldn't resist making it.

It's sticky, it's sweet and it has nuts! Surely that would have been good for you? Makes all the exercise worthwhile. One thing though, I found that the crust is more biscuit like than pie like. Still, it was hard to stop at one. Best thing is that it is mini bites... so it does not hurt to reach out to have another one.

Check out Joanne's recipe on her blog!

My Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

If there is ever one recipe that I have attachment issues with, it would be my brownies.

It was year 2002 or was it 2003? I can't quite remember now. All I can remember was I survived many moments with these brownies.

• Stack of assessments to complete at Uni. Brownies. 
• Tears over bad grade. Brownies.
• Stressed friends. Brownies
• Helping a friend to impress her boyfriend. Brownies
• A big thank you to a supervisor? Brownies
• Break up tears? Brownies
• I hate statistics. Brownies
• Marking assignments. Brownies
• Celebration in completion of thesis-s. Brownies
• Farewells at various internships. Brownies 
• Impress the potential (and now quite real!) extended family members of in laws. Brownies 

Brownies were actually one of the first most successful bakes I have ever done. Ask my hubby. He survived rock cakes (I mean rock!). We weren't even dating yet! What about floury cookies? Or raw ones? Oh I have done it all. My poor friends who survived through my years of disasters (and more to come). 

But somehow, as I grow tougher, more adventurous... I neglected my brownies. I say mine with a big possessiveness neon sign on it.  When a few colleagues took turns to bring their version of chocolate brownies, something in me stirred.

I HAD to make brownies.

Over my uni years (~8 years!!!), many late nights, allowed me to change and alter the recipe till it I can call mine finally. It's seriously my pride and joy. Even though it's a simple, everyone can do it dessert.... the smell of the mixture, the chocolate.. .. it brought me back to yester-years.

So finally, I decided to share with you my ultimate. It's my favourite of all favourites. It's dark, rich, slight crisp on outside and soft/fudgy on the inside. And perhaps then you could create more tomorrow, future years of memories. 

My Ultimate Chocolate Brownies 

1/3 cup plain flour
1/2 cup of Nestle Cocoa Powder 
1 cup of sugar
1.5 cups of chopped toasted pecans/walnuts
250 grams of Lindt dark 70% chocolate (Sometimes, I used a mixture of 60% or 70%. I even experimented with peppermint versions as well)
250 grams of butter melted
2-3 tsp of vanilla essence
4 eggs lightly beaten 

Preheat Oven to 180C. Line slice tin with baking paper.

Sift flour and cocoa. Toss sugar, nuts and broken pieces of dark chocolate in mixture. Make a well in the middle. Pour butter and fold gently. Slowly add in eggs and vanilla. Continue to fold. Then pour into tin, smooth surface and bake for 45-50 minutes. It will still be slightly soft inside-that's perfect! Cool. Chill for 2 hours or overnight before slicing.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Slice

 

I know I try hard.

Very hard to control my diet. Whenever it is my turn to bring morning tea, or a treat to a friend's place, I do my best to choose something reasonable healthy-minimizing the use of butter, while using olive oil or yogurt as a base.

But once in a while, I can't help it but to make something sinful and delightful. Afterall food is to be enjoyed.

I made these slices for a gathering recently. Truth be told, I am selective on what to bring to different groups, meetings..etc. I know that because this is a rather big group, this treat will be shared among more people. This means, I would resist the temptation to reach out for another slice.

That did not stop me from munching on the crumbs and those "oops, that piece fell off and it won't look in the box so here it goes into my mouth" moments.

I can assure you that this is worthwhile your calorie intake. It has chocolate and peanut butter- a winner combination already. But somehow, I like how the crumbly base goes with the chocolate. Oh, and the white chocolate peanut drizzle is awesome as well.

I adapted this recipe from ABC Delicious Sweets. Another "older" cookbook that hubby bought for me but I have not yet tried ANYTHING in there! Oh well, never too late than ever!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Slice

125 butter
1 cup of smooth peanut butter plus extra to drizzle
1 1/2 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar (reduced from 3/4)
1 cup of desiccated coconut
1 egg beaten
250 grams of good quality dark chocolate (I used 3 types, Lindt, Volahora dark-from Paris! and Club dark chocolate)
50 grams of white chocolate
50 grams of additional milk or dark chocolate

Pre heat oven to 180C. Line slice pan with baking paper.

Combine butter and peanut butter in sauce pan, melting it.

Combine flour, sugar coconut. Pour melted mixture and mix well. Press into pan. Bake for 15 minutes or so. Cool

Meanwhile, melt dark chocolate by placing chocolate in heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir till smooth and melted. Pour chocolate onto base. Chill overnight.

Melt white choc and whisk around 1 tablespoon of peanut butter. Melt the remaining milk or dark choc. I did it by zapping it in microwave for 30 seconds each. Once ready, drizzle slices with the white and milk chocolate. Chill briefly. Slice and serve!