Dense Chocolate Cake

Dreaming of cake, mom and I went into the kitchen to pop one into the oven. She wanted chocolate and I wanted it moist. I remembered a friend telling me she had this recipe that was part of a chocolate mousse cake that made the most delicious moist (and although I am not a fan of the word, I feel okay using it to describe cake) cake. It didn't take us long to whip it up and pop it in the oven. The result was a beautifully dense, deliciously moist chocolate cake whose recipe I will treasure.

Ingredients:
2 cups (400g) sugar
1 1/4 cups (245g) flour
3/4 cup (90g) cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp (7.5ml) baking powder
1 1/2 tsp (7.5ml) bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp (5ml) salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (250ml) milk
1/2 cup (125ml) vegetable oil
2 tsp (10ml) vanilla essence
1 cup (250ml) boiling water

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180ºC
Grease and line a 26cm cake pan
Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt
Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla essence, and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed
Stir in the boiling water - the batter should be runny
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the centre of the cake springs back when lightly pressed
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out

Apple Cake

Mom sent me a message to say she had just stuck a quick apple cake into the oven and that it would be ready shortly. Sitting far from home and alone most of the time... it made me just want to eat a piece of that cake hot out the oven. I guess sometimes I do just want to eat my feelings. It came out really well and I enjoyed it with a big cup of tea. You can use any fruit, it doesn't have to be apple.

Ingredients:

3-4 apples, peeled and sliced

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method:

Place the sliced apples into your baking dish (I did add a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of cinnamon onto the apples before covering with the batter)

Beat the eggs, oil, sugar, flour, baking powder and vanilla essence together

Pour over the apples and bake for 1 hour at 180ºC

Honey Cake

I love Honey Cake! We normally make it over Rosh Hashanah but to be honest that's a real shame as this is a delicious cake. The Honey Cake is a symbol of a "good and sweet year" in the Jewish religion so I suppose having this at my 30th bithday tea party can only bring good things for the year to come : )

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup honey (plus a little extra for good luck)
1 cup sugar
1 cup warm coffee
3 tablespoons margarine
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Additional spices (optional)

Method:
Cream margarine and sugar
Add eggs then honey and continue to mix
Add sugar and mix again
Mix baking soda into coffee, then add to the mixture
Add remaining ingredients (optional cinnamon, ginger and ground cloves) and beat together well
Bake at 160ºC for about 70minutes
Sprinkle with icing sugar once cool

Chocolate Brownie Cheese Cake

Micky made this cake for a dinner party to celebrate the second half of Succot... we were lucky enough to have leftovers brought home! I absolutely love a good Jewish baked cheese cake, so when I cut a slice I tried to spoon out that part from the chocolate. Cheese and chocolate? I wasn't too sure about that. I am now however sold, ka'ching! The cheese cake part was soft and moist, and then came the chocolate. The chocolate brownie texture that I love... dense and chocolaty but not too rich, with crumbly melt in your mouth edges. The sweet flavour of the chocolate with the softer more "savoury" flavour of the cheese balanced this cake out beautifully.

Cheese Cake Ingredients:
250g creamed cheese (30% fat)
250g cream cheese (5% fat)
100g melted butter
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
3 eggs
1 tablespoon (10g) corn flour

Chocolate Brownie Ingredients:
300g dark chocolate
200g butter
4 eggs
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 cup (240g) dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cup (180g) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (100g) chopped walnuts (optional)

Cheese Cake
Mix the cheese, butter, sugar, vanilla essence and eggs together
In a separate bowl mix the corn flour with a cup of the cheese mixture, then combine it all together

Brownies
Melt the chocolate and butter together
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the white and brown sugar then add the melted chocolate
Add the flour, baking powder, salt and mix together. If you chose to add nuts, add them here

Put 2/3 of the brownie mixture into a greased baking dish
Slowly pour the cheese mixture over the chocolate
Spoon the rest of the chocolate mixture on top
Bake at 170 degrees for an hour until the cheese is brown and the whole cake is stable. Cool and put into the fridge for at least 2 hours