#53 - Baileys Biscuit Brownies

Have you ever had that moment in the middle of the night when you are having a serious craving for something rich and chocolatey? Like a slice of decadent brownie for instance? 

Yes I just had that moment! 

And the result of me having this super duper strong craving, was me rushing to the kitchen and whipping up these basic and easy brownies bars with whatever limited ingredients I can find in my pantry. I was lucky that I happened to have all the basics that I need. And of course, how can i forget my secret ingredient! Baileys Irish Cream! Almost everything taste better with a couple tablespoon of this, don't you agree?

And the end product was... nothing short of being RICH! How I regretted not having some homemade Bailey Ice Cream to go with the brownies! I am sure that will elevate the taste to a whole new level. 

Please be warned that this brownie is really thick and rich and packed with all chocolate goodness. If you are not a MEGA chocolate fan, please stay away. Otherwise, do enjoy a little midnight indulgence. Enjoy :)

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from Brownies & Slices

Free printable version of recipe - Click here (Updated!)

Ingredients

Chocolate, chopped into pieces – 350g

Butter, softened – 110g

Cocoa Powder – 25g

Instant Coffee Powder – 10g

Caster Sugar – 125g

Egg – 3nos (approximately 140g)

All Purpose Flour, sifted – 50g

Chocolate Biscuit, crushed into pieces – 80g

Baileys Irish Cream – 3 Tbsp

Walnut – 70g

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C and line baking pan (I used 9” square pan) with baking paper. Set aside for later use.

2. Using double boiler over low heat, melt the chocolate with the butter. Stir constantly until all the chocolate is melted.

3. Stir in cocoa powder, coffee powder and sugar. Make sure the mixture is well mixed. Remove the mixture from heat and allows it to cool for at least 10 minutes.

4. Beat in the eggs to the mixture until it is well blended.

5. Fold in flour to the mixture and add in the crushed biscuit. Combined well. Make sure the combined mixture is well mixed, with no trace of flour.

6. Add in Baileys Irish Cream to the final mixture. Mix well.

7. Pour the combined mixture into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle walnuts on top.

8. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until your tester come out clean when inserted in the center of the brownie.

#49 - Baileys' Chocolate Cookies with Macadamia Nuts

Off days are days when I can stay in the kitchen, tweaking recipes and trying ways to improve on their taste, texture and how they look. Project of the day - Baileys' Chocolate Cookies with Macadamia Nuts. 

Take a look at the recipe below and you will notice that I have done a huge reduction in the amount of sugar to include in the cookie dough. This is due to the reason that this particular bottle of Baileys' that I have with me happens to include a tint of caramel flavour to it. As such, the Baileys' itself was already kind of too sweet to me. To avoid having overly sweet cookies, I reduce the amount of sugar from 300g to 170g. 

These Baileys' Cookies has a slight crunch on the outside but definitely soft and chewy in the centre. You may even think that it kind of resembles a chewy, fudgy brownie. Not only so, it comes with a nutty twist with all the wonderful chopped macadamia nuts in it! 

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Recipe: Adapted and modified from Gimme Some Oven

Servings

Make approximately 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour (370g)

Cocoa Powder (40g)

Instant Coffee Powder (1tsp)

Baking Soda (1 1/4 tsp)

Salt (1/4 tsp)

Unsalted Butter, softened (230g)

Brown Sugar (170g) (Original recipe calls for 300g sugar)

Eggs (2 nos)

Vanilla Extract (1 tsp)

Baileys' Irish Cream (10 tbsp)

Macadamia Nuts, chopped (150g)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Prepare 2 baking sheets, lined with baking paper. Set aside for later use.

3. In a large bowl, sift and combine all the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee powder, baking soda and salt). 

4. In a mixer bowl, cream together butter and sugar until mixture is creamy and fluffy.

5. Add in eggs and vanilla extract gradually and beat the mixture until it is smooth. 

6. Add in Baileys' Irish Cream to the mixture.

7. Fold in dry ingredients in Step (3) to the mixture in Step (6), one third portion at a time and mix well. Make sure mixture is well combined until all dry ingredients are well incorporated. but take note not to over mix.

8. Add in macadamia nuts to the batter. Combined well.

9. Wrap dough in cling wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

10. Using a small ice-cream scoop, scope and divide the dough into small portions (ball-shaped). Place them on the baking sheets. Ensure they are slightly apart from one another.

11. Bake for 15-18 minutes. After removing cookies from oven, allows the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cookies are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container. 

#45 - No-Bake Baileys Chocolate Biscuit Cake

My first bake of the year 2016! No-Bake Baileys Chocolate Biscuit Cake. Chocolatey rich & simply irresistible. A slice of simple goodness. I simply love the slight tint of Baileys within the biscuit cake. Such a sweet & delicate flavour and it goes perfectly well with the rich & creamy chocolate ganache. I am so going to dig into another slice right now!

How about you? If you are looking for a twist to your usual decadent but boring chocolate cake? Try this! The crunch coming from the digestive biscuit base along with the nutty flavour from the almond and pistachios nuts - Yummy! Not to mention, my favourite of them all - The deliciously rich & creamy chocolate ganache on the top of the biscuit cake! Yummy Yummy Yummy!

From other similar recipes online, you will realise that many others also made similar version of this cake using Marie Biscuits instead. But personally, I prefer the crunch of the digestive biscuits in this case and feel that it goes really well with the pistachios nuts. It is a matter of personal preference I guess. 

To be honest, I wasn't counting on this recipe to be a huge success due to its simplicity. But to my surprise, it is really well-received in my family and even I (not much of a sweet tooth) enjoys the rich and creamy chocolate ganache alongside with the nutty biscuit cake base. You got to try it to believe it!

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from Home Cooking Adventure.

Ingredients

Biscuit Cake Base
Mixed Nuts - 100g (I used 50g almonds & 50g pistachios)
Digestive Biscuits - 800g

Chocolate Syrup
Fine Sugar - 180g
Cocoa Powder - 60g
Baileys Irish Cream - 50ml
Milk - 200ml
Unsalted Butter (softened) - 150g
Vanilla Extract - 1tsp

Chocolate Ganache
Whipping Cream - 120ml
Bittersweet Chocolate (chopped) - 120g

Method

1. Grease and line cake pan (spring form pan, round, 23cm) with baking paper. Set aside for later use

2. In a saucepan, over medium heat, toast the mixed nuts for 5 minutes. Stir frequently to ensure even toasting. Set aside for later use.

3. Break digestive biscuits into small pieces in a large bowl.

4. Add in mixed nuts (Step 2) to the digestive biscuits (Step 3). Mix well.

5. In a saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa powder and milk together. Mix well to ensure that the mixture is well-mixed.

6. Place saucepan over medium heat. Add in butter and bring mixture to a boil while stirring constantly.

7. Remove from heat and add in Baileys and vanilla extract. Mix well and allow chocolate syrup mixture to cool for at least 15 minutes.

8. Once chocolate syrup is cooled, pour it over cake base mixture (Step 4) and ensure they are well-combined.

9. Transfer combined cake base mixture into cake pan and press down firmly using spatula (or back of a spoon).

10. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

11. After 1 hour, heat whipping cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it starts to boil.

12, Pour hot cream over chopped chocolate and stir well.

13. Remove cake from refrigerator and pour chocolate ganache over cake.

14. Refrigerator chocolate biscuit cake overnight before serving. 

#44 - Air-Fried Ice-Cream Sandwich

If you know me better, you'll know how much I adore simple and easy to do recipes at home. I believe in making food with simple ingredients and techniques that do not put beginners-in-kitchen off. This is one of such recipe! 

Air-fried Ice-Cream Sandwich, something I would even recommend you trying out together with your kids at home. I am sure they will have plenty of fun helping out with the scooping (of ice cream),  cutting & pinching (of the sandwiches). Not to mention, the yummy treat of their favourite ice-cream at the end of the day. 

And since we are using the air-fryer for this recipe, you don't have to worry about the mess that will be created. No greasy oil spills and definitely a healthier option in my opinion. Go try it!  

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from <The Baking Biatch>.

Serve 2

Ingredients

Wholemeal Bread - 4 slices
Ice cream - 2 scoops
Almond (diced) - 2 tbsp
Butter (melted) - 20g

Method

1. Place a scoop of ice-cream on one slice of the bread. 

2. Sprinkle the top with some diced almond before covering it up with another slice of bread.

3. Using a small bowl or a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out both slices of bread. Avoid cutting into the crust of the bread to ensure good sealing.

4. Make sure that the bread is sealed properly by pinching the edges together.

5. Repeat Step 1 to 4 for the other two slices of bread.

6. Keep the sandwiches in the freezer for at least 1 to 2 hours.

7. Remove from freezer and butter both sides of the sandwiches with some melted butter.

8. Air-fry the sandwiches at 180C, 3 minutes on each side, or until the sandwiches is golden brown.

9. Serve while it is hot.

#38 - Nutella Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

It is the strawberries season lately and these pretty red beauties are really big, juicy and sweet at this time of the year! Don't they just look really gorgeous? Such vibrant colours and sweet flavour are just perfect as gifts to friends.

 

As for the cake base, this is probably one of the most tasty yet simplest cake base I have made among all other cupcakes. With just 3 basic ingredients, you get a rich, moist and fudgy nutella cake base that is most certain to wow your mind. How delightful is that! 

As if this wasn't enough, the absolute reason why I love this recipe is because of the  … FROSTING. 

Couple of months back, I learnt this trick from a fellow baker and ever since then, I have fallen in love with it. This trick does not require you to go through the whole process of whipping up the cream with powdered sugar to get a firm icing (which we all know can be challenging at times if your cream is not at the right temperature or fats content). Let's be honest, even if you are a seasoned cupcakes decorating professional, you wouldn't turn down a trick like this where you are have a perfectly pretty looking cupcake without going through the hassle of frosting. Would you? The magic is just to make use of toasted marshmallows instead. Not only do they look like actual frosting (and hence, making the cupcakes looking close to perfection),  the toasted marshmallows are pretty yummy too! 

As for the toppings of the cupcakes, you can make use of any fruits you like (e.g. strawberries, blueberries) or even chocolate balls. As long as they are yummy, anything goes! 

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings
10 cupcakes

Ingredients
100g Self Raising Flour, sifted
2 Eggs
375g Nutella

(Optional)
Nuts, chopped (eg. macadamia, almond or hazelnuts)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Line muffin tray with paper liners and set aside for later use.

3. Combine all ingredients together and mix well until batter is smooth. Do not over mix.

4. Using an ice-cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into muffins tray (with paper liners) prepared. Each muffin cup should be filled up to 1/2 to 2/3 of the way.

5. Tap muffin tray on tabletop gently to ensure that the batter is level and evenly spread out. This also help to make sure that any excess air is removed from the batter.

6. If you would like to, sprinkle chopped nuts on the batter before baking it.

7. Bake for 20 - 22 minutes until top of the cupcakes are firm. Remove from oven.

8. Top each cupcake with a marshmallow and return tray back to oven to toast it for 2 - 3 minutes until marshmallow is melted. 

9. Lastly, remove cupcakes from oven and top with a strawberry before transferring to wire rack to allow cupcakes to cool completely before serving.