Chocolate Paste I (Vanilla Swiss Roll)

Ingredients:

Chocolate Paste

2⅓ tbsp plain flour

40 mL sugar

1 egg white

80 mL milk, warmed

1½ tbsp cocoa power

10 g butter soften

2 tbsp Nutella/grounded nut (optional)

Vanilla Sponge

3 eggs, room temperature

65 g caster sugar

80 g flour

20 g butter, melted

3 drops vanilla extract

Method:

To Prepare the Chocolate Paste

In a small pot, mix together flour, sugar and egg white till smooth.

Mix-in milk and cocoa powder.

Over low-heat, stir the mixture to thicken.

Once reach a spreadable consistency, remove from heat.

Stir-in butter and Nutella to yield a smooth paste.

Keep in refrigerator till use.

To Prepare the Vanilla Sponge

Line a 23 x 30 cm baking tray with parchment paper, set aside.

Sift flour, set aside.

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and sugar on high speed till thick, pale and glossy then whisk at low speed for another 1 min.

Fold-in butter and vanilla.

Gradually, fold-in flour to yield homogeneous batter.

Spread batter onto the prepared tray.

Bake for 15 min or until the surface is golden brown and skewer inserted into the sponge and come out clean.

Remove tray from oven and cool sponge/paper on wire rack covered.

Dust a bigger sheet of parchment paper with icing sugar, inverse-on the sponge with brown side down and remove the attached former parchment paper.

Spread-on the prepared chocolate paste and roll-up sponge by lifting up the large parchment paper pressurized outward.

Transfer the Swiss roll with seam side down into fridge and chill for 30 min or more before serving.

Banana - Chocolate Zebra Cake

Ingredients:

Banana Batter

2 eggs
110 g sugar
25 g milk
85 g banana (1 banana), pureed
110 g oil
150 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Chocolate Batter

2 eggs
110 g sugar
110 g milk
110 g oil
2 tbsp coco powder
150 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

To prepare the banana batter:

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs with sugar till creamy, pale and glossy.

Pour-in banana puree, milk and oil, whisk for a short while to form homogeneous batter.

Fold-in flours mixture and stir to incorporate well, set aside.

To prepare the chocolate batter:

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs with sugar till creamy, pale and glossy.

Pour-in milk and oil, whisk for a short while to form homogeneous batter.

Stir-in coco powder, whisk for a short while to mix thoroughly.

Fold-in flours mixture and stir to incorporate well, set aside.

Preheat oven to 170 °C.

To assemble:

Gradually, scoop a ladle of banana batter into the center of the lined 22cm pan, follow by another ladle of cocoa batter onto the middle of plain batter.

Alternate the two batters topping and layering till finish.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake, transfer cake onto a plate for serving.

Coffee-Coconut Cupcakes

 

Ingredients:

150 mL sugar
1 egg
75 g (80 mL) cooking oil
2 tsp baking power
2½ tbsp plain flour
125 mL coconut milk
1½  tbsp soluble coffee powder
2 tbsp dessicated coconut powder

Topping

25 g dark chocolate, melted on double boiler
Some chocolate rice
Some dessicated coconut powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Line 8 foil cupcake molds with a paper mold each; set aside.

Dissolve coffee powder in coconut milk; set aside.

In a deep bowl, beat egg with sugar till thick, pale and fluffy.

Pour-in oil, beat to incorporate.

Sprinkle-on flour and baking powder and fold into homogenous batter.

Stir-in coffee flavored coconut milk and whisk thoroughly to mix.

Stir-in dessicated coconut powder.

Pour batter evenly into the prepared molds, place on baking tray, bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven.

Pour-on pre-melted chocolate on top of each cupcake the sprinkles-on immediately with chocolate rice and coconut powder.

Serves 8.

Jam/Nutella Crostata (Baked Dessert Tart)

Ingredients:

300 g all purpose flour
150 g butter, chopped
100 - 120 g sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract or lemon zest (optional)
150 - 200 g of fruit Jam or Nutella chocolate

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 °C.

Lightly grease a 22 cm cake pan, dust bottom and side of pan with flour and tapping out excess; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking power, salt and butter pieces.

Mix with fingertip to form crumbs.

Add-in egg yolks and knead lightly into combined dough.

Flatten the dough into disc, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

With fingertips, press 2/3 of the dough into the prepared pan with slightly height on all edges as wall.

Spread-on enough Jam and fill-in all over the curved surface.

Roll the remaining dough into 1 cm wide strips and arranges them in a crisscross pattern or any of your preference pattern over the Jam.

Bake the crostata for about 40 minutes or until fragrant and golden.

Rich Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

300 g dark chocolate, chopped
150 g butter
1 ½ cup brown sugar
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a 20 or 22 cm square pan, dust bottom and side of pan with flour and tapping out excess; set aside.

With double boiler, melt chocolate (I used 200 g of 70% dark chocolate and 100 g of standard dark chocolate) over low heat till smooth (about 10 minutes).

Add-in butter, stir to form smooth batter.

Remove from heat and stir-in sugar till dissolves fully; set aside.

In a bowl, mix together flour with baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.

Add the dry ingredients into the chocolate batter, stir well to mix thoroughly.

Beat-in eggs solution till the batter become thick and glossy.

Pour batter in the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes (not to over bake, toothpick inserts into the middle of brownies NEVER comes out clean).

Yield 28 squares.

Asian/Tropical Tiramisu

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Filling

150 g cream cheese
250 g whipping cream
80 g icing sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp kahlua or any coffee flavored liqueur or instant coffee powder

Chocolate Sponge (Each Layer)

40 mL cake flour
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional)

1 egg white
pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
3 tbsp sugar

40 mL milk/water with 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ½ tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

1 egg yolk
20 mL vegetable oil

Coffee Syrup

1/2 cup coffee
2 tbsp brandy or coffee flavored liqueur

Topping Option

unsweetened cocoa powder
shaved chocolate
dessicated coconut

Method:

To prepare the cheese filling

In a large bowl, whisk thoroughly cheese with sugar, salt and liqueur until homogeneous cream resulted; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk cream till stiff.

Gradually, fold-in stiffed cream into cheese mixture and chill in fridge till use.

To prepare the chocolate sponge

Preheat oven to 170 °C.

In a bowl, combine together flours and baking powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg white and cream of tartar till frothy; gradually add-in sugar and continue whisking till stiff peaks form (I always whisk egg white first because I use the same whisk for egg yolk mixture later without washing); set aside.

In a cup of warm milk, dissolve-in cocoa powder, sugar and salt; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk egg yolk till pale and glossy.

Stir-in oil and chocolate solution, continue whisking till batter is fully incorporated.

Fold-in flours mixtures, stir-well to form homogeneous batter.

Gradually and gently, fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter.

Pour batter into a baking paper layered cake pan (18 cm) and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before assembly.

With a flexible thin knife or spatula, loose cake from pan and invert onto a serving plate for cake assembly.

Repeat the recipe for another layer or double up the recipe volume and slice into 2 layers.

To Assembly

Brush each sponge with the mixture of coffee and brandy syrup till the mixture is used up.

Lay one layer of sponge into same size springform cake pan.

Top the base sponge with two third of the filling or fill to about 1/2 inch thick.

Lay-on another layer of sponge.

Spread on the rest of the filling or to the desired thickness.

Sprinkle-on shaved chocolate and chill in fridge overnight till serve.

Right before serving, sift-on a thin layer of cocoa powder.

Chocolate-Milo Doggie Cookies

Ingredients:

Milo Dough:

1 cup butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup milo powder
2 cup flour
1/4 cup corn flour

Chocolate Dough:

1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened chocolate powder
2/3 cup flour
1 tbsp corn flour

70 pieces chocolate rice

Method:

Line a baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

To prepare the milo dough:

In a large bowl, cream butter and icing sugar together till creamy.

Add-in milo powder, whisk to incorporate fully.

Gradually stir-in flour and corn flour to form dough.

Divide dough and shape it into small balls, set aside.

To prepare chocolate dough:

In another bowl, cream butter and icing sugar together till creamy.

Add-in chocolate powder, whisk to incorporate fully.

Gradually stir-in flour and corn flour to form dough; set aside.

Preheat oven to 140 °C.

Each small ball of milo dough, insert two chocolate rices to form eyes.

Take two enough portions of chocolate dough, shape it into log and attach on both sides to form ears.

Take another smaller portion of chocolate dough, shape it round to form nose in the center.

Place shaped cookies onto the prepared tray.

Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or till fragrant and firm to tough.

Remove cookies from oven, transfer onto wire rack and set aside to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Yields about 35 cookies.

Chocolate-Coffee Gateau with Favored Ricotta Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

Chocolate Sponge

40 mL cake flour
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional)

1 egg white
pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
3 tbsp sugar

40 mL milk/water with 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ½ tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

1 egg yolk
20 mL vegetable oil

Coffee Sponge

40 mL cake flour
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional)

1 egg white
pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
3 tbsp sugar

40 mL milk/water with 2 tbsp instant coffee powder
2 ½ tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

1 egg yolk
20 mL vegetable oil

Nutella-Coffee Butter Sponge (Base Layers)

125 g butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp Instant coffee powder
1 tbsp nutella
4 tbsp milk
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ⅓ cup cake flour
2 tbsp corn flour
3/4 tsp baking powder

Method:

Chocolate Sponge

Preheat oven to 170 °C.

In a bowl, combine together flours and baking powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg white and cream of tartar till frothy; gradually add-in sugar and continue whisking till stiff peaks form (I always whisk egg white first because I use the same whisk for egg yolk mixture later without washing); set aside.

In a cup of warm milk, dissolve-in cocoa powder, sugar and salt; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk egg yolk till pale and glossy.

Stir-in oil and chocolate solution, continue whisking till batter is fully incorporated.

Fold-in flours mixtures, stir-well to form homogeneous batter.

Gradually and gently, fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter.

Pour batter into a baking paper layered cake pan (18 cm) and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before assembly.

With a flexible thin knife or spatula, loose cake from pan and invert onto a serving plate for layered cake assembly.

Coffe Sponge

Preheat oven to 170 °C.

In a bowl, combine together flours and baking powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg white and cream of tartar till frothy; gradually add-in sugar and continue whisking till stiff peaks form (I always whisk egg white first because I use the same whisk for egg yolk mixture later without washing); set aside.

In a cup of warm milk, dissolve-in coffee powder, sugar and salt; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk egg yolk till pale and glossy.

Stir-in oil and chocolate solution, continue whisking till batter is fully incorporated.

Fold-in flours mixtures, stir-well to form homogeneous batter.

Gradually and gently, fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter.

Pour batter into a baking paper layered cake pan (18 cm) and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before assembly.

With a flexible thin knife or spatula, loose cake from pan and invert onto a serving plate for layered cake assembly.

Nutella-Coffee Butter Sponge

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a cake pan ( 18 cm), dust bottom and side of pan with bread crumbs (or flour) and tapping out excess; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk butter and sugar till pale, thick and glossy.

Add eggs, one at a time and whisk until homogeneous batter forms.

Add-in coffee powder, nutella, milk and cocoa powder, whisk to fully incorporated.

Add-in flours and baking powder, whisk thoroughly.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in pan for at least 10 minutes (allow cake to shrink from cake pan).

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake, invert cake onto a plate and assembly as desired.

Ricotta Cream Frosting

250 g ricotta cheese
125 g icing sugar

Whisk thoroughly cheese with sugar until homogeneous cream resulted.

3 tbsp cream and fresh fruits / 3 tbsp cream and 1 tbsp fruits jam / 3 tbsp cream and 1 tsp instant coffee with 2 tbsp sultanas / 3 tbsp cream and 2 tsp cocoa powder

Peanut Butter Bonbons

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 egg or 1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour (reduce to 1 cup if using egg yolk)

Chocolate Coating:

100 g bittersweet chocolate
10 g butter

Method:

Line a baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and peanut butter together with sugar till creamy.

Add-in egg and baking powder, whisk to incorporate fully.

Gradually, stir-in flour to form dough.

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Shape dough portion by portion into small balls (about 1 inch each).

Place shaped cookies onto the prepared tray.

Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or till set and lightly browned.

Remove cookies from oven, transfer onto wire rack and set aside to cool completely.

To prepare the coating: In a saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stir thoroughly to incorporate and remove from heat to cool slightly.

Gently, dip cookies into the coating paste (one at a time) and turn to coat well.

Transfer coated cookies onto waxed paper or aluminum foil and chill in refrigerator till firm.

Store in container and keep cool in refrigerator.

Yields 20 cookies.

Pineapple Filled Chocolate Tart

Ingredients:

Shortcrust Pastry:

1 egg yolk
1 tbsp cold water
110 g all purpose flour
55 g butter
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1/8 tsp salt

Filling:

80 g dark chocolate
2 ½ tbsp (40 g) butter
2 eggs
3 ⅓ tbsp all purpose flour
2 tbsp brown sugar (4 tbsp if using plain chocolate)
1/2 cup cubed ripe fresh pineapple or canned pineapple

Method:

To prepare the pastry:

Mix yolk with cold water; set aside.

In another bowl, mix flour, butter, sugar, lemon zest and salt till fine breadcrumbs.

Add-in yolk mixture and continue mixing till chunky breadcrumbs.

With floured hand, form the mixture into dough (not to knead).

Wrap dough with plastic wrapper and chill for at least 30 minutes or till use.

To prepare the filling:

Over a double boiler, melt chocolate with butter.

Gradually, incorporate-in eggs.

Add-in flour and sugar, stir to homogeneous batter.

To assembly:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

With rolling pin, roll out dough between two plastic sheets into the thickness of about 1/4 inches.

Carefully transfer the pastry into a 18 cm cake or tart pan and line up side to about 3 cm height.

Layer-on a large parchment paper and fill with raw rice as a weight.

Bake blind in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Remove paper and weight and bake again for another 10 minutes.

Line-in pineapples cubes and pour-in filling.

Bake for 20 minutes or till just set.

Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely (may dust surface with cocoa powder).

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich with Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Filling:

3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
80 g dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg yolks

Cookies Dough:

2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
50 g bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks

Method:

To prepare the ice cream:

In a saucepan or small pot, heat milk, butter and cocoa powder over medium heat till smooth and bubbling at edges.

Remove from heat and add-in chocolate, stir well still smooth paste, set aside.

In another small pot, bring milk, sugar and salt to boil over medium heat.

Remove milk mixture from heat and whisk-in yolks till smooth paste.

Return milk-yolks mixture to heat and stir for the entire time to thicken a bit.

Remove from heat and pour into chocolate mixture, stir to smooth paste.

Pour cream mixture into a container and freeze covered still set (whisk mixture occasionally for every 1 hour to enhance the lightness and fluffiness).

Alternatively, refrigerate cream mixture in a container covered for at least 6 hours then prepare according to ice cream maker's instructions.

To prepare the cookies dough:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Line a big baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar till pale and glossy.

Add-in egg and whisk well to incorporate.

Add-in flours mixture, and mix to homogeneous mixture.

Stir-in chocolate chunk.

Shape dough into a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap with plastic wrapper and chill for at least 30 minutes.

In between two pieces of plastic wrapper, roll out dough flat by using rolling pin to thickness of about 1/3 inch.

Cut dough into circular shape by using opening part of glass.

Transfer cookies onto the prepared tray and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until aroma and cooked through.

Remove from oven, leave cookies to stand on tray for 5 minutes, transfer cookies onto wire rack and set aside to cool completely.

To assemble:

Remove ice cream from freezer and set aside at room temperature for 3o minutes just to soften.

Place enough ice cream in between two cooled cookies and press lightly to firm the assembly.

Wrap individual ice cream with plastic wrapper and return to freezer till serve.

Best serve after remove sandwiches from freezer to room temperature for about 10 minutes.

Yield 15 sandwiches.

Lemon Cream Strippers

Ingredients:

Lemon Cream Filling:

250 mL milk
1 ½ tsp lemon zest (from half lemon)
5 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup cake flour

Dough:

1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup granulated/caster sugar
5 tbsp butter
1 large egg white

Chocolate Glaze:

30 g bittersweet/dark chocolate
1 ½ tbsp milk

Method:

To prepare the filling:

In a saucepan or small pot, bring milk together with lemon zest to boil over medium heat.

Meanwhile in a bowl, whisk egg yolks with sugar till pale and glossy, stir-in flour.

Pour-in hot boiling milk mixture, and stir to incorporate.

Return mixture to heat, simmer with consistent stirring for another 15 minutes or till thicken.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

To prepare the dough:

Preheat oven to 190 °C.

Line a big baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar till pale and glossy.

Add-in egg white and whisk well.

Add-in flours mixture, knead to smooth and stiff dough.

Over lightly floured surface, divide dough into 2 portions.

Roll each portions to long log.

Transfer logs onto the prepared tray.

Create about 1/2 inch deep indentation lengthwise over the center of each logs with finger or spoon.

Fill-in enough lemon cream and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or till lightly browned.

Meanwhile, melt chocolate over double boiler, pour-in milk and stir to homogeneous paste; set aside (keep warm).

Remove strippers from oven, immediately drizzle-on chocolate glaze, slice logs diagonally and leave on tray to stand for 10 minutes.

Transfer strippers to wire rack and let cool completely.

Yield 18 strippers.

Eggless Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Yogurt Mousse Topping

Ingredients:

White Chocolate Yogurt Mousses:

500 g plain yogurt, drained on cheesecloth for at least 12 hours
50 g white chocolate
3 egg whites
3 tbsp sugar

Cake:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp cornflour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup vegetable oil
125 g plain yogurt
juice of 1 large lemon

Method:

To prepare the white chocolate yogurt mousse:

In a heat resistance deep bowl, whisk 3 egg whites together with sugar over double boiler till soft peak form; set aside.

In another heat resistance bowl, melt chocolate over double boiler.

Add-in drained yogurt residue, stir to incorporate fully.

Fold-in egg whites mixture till homogeneous mixture and chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours or till use.

To prepare the cake:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a springform cake pan (18 cm in diameter) or 11 x 25 cm loaf tin, dust bottom and side of pan with bread crumbs and tapping out excess; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix-well all cake ingredients.

Pour cake batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake, transfer cake onto a plate to cool completely.

Frost-on the prepared yogurt mousse all over cooled cake.

Decorate accordingly and chill in refrigerator till serve.

Chocolate-Lemon Zebra Yogurt Cake with Chocolate Mousses Topping

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

200 g butter
3 cups sugar
4 egg
250 g plain yogurt
4 tsp zest of lemon

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice

Lemon Syrup:

1 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp zest of lemon

Dark Chocolate Mousse:

200 g bittersweet dark chocolate
50 g butter
40 mL espresso coffee
200 mL whipped cream
2 eggs, separated
1 tbsp icing sugar

White Chocolate Mousses:

100 g white chocolate
25 g butter
20 mL whiskey
100 mL whipped cream
1 egg, separated
1/2 tbsp icing sugar

Method:

To prepare the cake:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a springform cake pan (26 cm in diameter), dust bottom and side of pan with bread crumbs and tapping out excess; set aside.

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar till creamy, pale and glossy.

Add-in eggs, yogurt and lemon zest, whisk till homogeneous batter forms, divide batter into 2 portions; set aside.

Add cocoa powder and lemon juice into one portion, whisk to smooth batter; set aside.

Gradually, scoop a ladle of plain batter into the center of the prepared pan, follow by another ladle of cocoa batter onto the middle of plain batter.

Alternate the two batters topping and layering till finish (do slowly to allow batters to spread by it own).

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Meanwhile to prepare the syrup, mix all the syrup ingredients in a pan, cook till sugar dissolves; set aside.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake, transfer cake onto a plate and pour the prepared syrup all over the warm cake; set aside to allows it to soak till cool completely.

To prepare the chocolate mousses:

In a deep bowl, whisk 300 mL whip cream until stiff, divide into 3 portions and keep in refrigerator.

In another deep bowl, whisk 3 egg whites with 1 ½ tbsp icing sugar over double boiler till soft peak form; divide into 3 portions; set aside.

Dark Mousse: Over a double boiler, melt dark chocolate and butter; pour-in espresso, stir to incorporate; remove from heat; add-in egg yolks to the chocolate mixture one at a time, beat to mix; gently stir-in 2 portions of whipped cream to the chocolate mixture; gradually fold-in 2 portions of egg whites, stir to incorporate well; set aside.

White Mousse: Over a double boiler, melt white chocolate and butter; remove from heat and pour-in whiskey, stir to incorporate; add-in egg yolk to the chocolate mixture, beat to mix; gently stir-in 1 portion of whipped cream to the chocolate mixture; gradually fold-in the remaining 1 portion of egg whites, stir to incorporate well; set aside.

To assemble:

Spoon half of the dark mousse onto the cooled cake and spread out mousse evenly.

Spoon-on the white mousse and gently spread out evenly.

Spoon-on the remaining dark mousse onto the white mousse and gently spread out evenly (spread down some of the final layer of dark mousse all over the sides of cake for sides-frosting.

Coat cake sides accordingly and chilled well before serving.

Viennese Mocha-Vanilla Bi-Whirls Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

Vanilla Batter:

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 egg
3/4 cup all purpose flour

Mocha Batter:

30 g bittersweet dark chocolate, melted
1/4 cup butter
1/8 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp espresso coffee
1/2 cup flour
1/8 cup cornstarch

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 °C.

Line a big baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

Vanilla Dough:

In a bowl, cream butter with sugar and vanilla till pale, thick and creamy.

Add-in egg, whisk to fully incorporate.

Gradually, add-in flour, mix well to smooth batter.

Spoon into cake decorating bag; set aside.

Mocha Dough:

Over a double boiler, melt chocolate, set aside.

In a bowl, cream butter with sugar till pale, thick and creamy.

Pour-in melted chocolate and coffee, whisk to incorporate.

Add-in flour and starch, whisk further till smooth batter.

Spoon into cake decorating bag, set aside.

Assembly:

Pipe the vanilla batter onto the prepared tray to snail shape by sparing some internal space for mocha batter (about 1 cm).

Pipe-in the mocha batter to fill the spared space.

With spatula or spoon, push-in terminals, close and smooth to seal.

Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven, set aside to stand on tray for 10 minutes.

Transfer cookies onto wire rack to cool completely before storing.

Yields 22 cookies.

Cinnamon Yule Log (Buche de Noel) with Besan Chocolate Paste Filling

Ingredients:

Chickpeas Chocolate Paste Filling:

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup besan/gram/chickpeas flour
1 cup ghee or butter

1/2 cup whipping cream
80 g bittersweet chocolate
25 g butter
20 ml milk
1 egg, separated
1 tbsp sugar

Genoise Cake:

2 eggs and 4 egg yolks (or use 3 eggs in total)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup cornstarch

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup (55 g) butter
1 ½ cups icing sugar
4 tbsp milk

Method:

To prepare the chickpeas chocolate paste filling:

In a deep bowl, whisk whip cream until stiff; set aside.

Over a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter.

Remove from heat, pour-in milk, stir to incorporate.

Add-in egg yolk to the chocolate mixture one at a time, beat to mix.

In another deep bowl over a double boiler, whisk egg white with sugar till stiff, set aside.

Gently stir-in one-third of whipped cream to the chocolate mixture, fold-in half of egg white, stir to just incorporate, fold-in the remaining white then whipped cream and stir to incorporate well, leave in refrigerator for at least 3o minutes.

In a nonstick pan, boil sugar in water till becomes a thick syrup.

Gradually, stir-in chickpeas flour.

Add-in 1/2 cup ghee, keep stirring the mixture till thicken and dry.

Scramble the paste into powder form.

Add-in the remaining ghee, continue toasting till fragrant and golden brown.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

Stir-in this fragrant chickpeas powder into the chocolate paste to incorporate fully; set aside in refrigerator if not use shortly.

To prepare the chocolate buttercream frosting:

In a large bowl, cream cocoa and butter over double boiler.

Add-in sugar and continue whisking till fully incorporated.

Add-in milk, whisk till frosting is smooth and spreadable.

Remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare the cake:

Preheat oven to 200 °C.

Line a 10 x 10 inch pan (or also 10 x 15 inch for thinner cake) with parchment paper and grease the paper surface with butter; set aside.

In a bowl, mix together flours; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, salt and cinnamon powder, whisk the mixture over double boiler till pale, creamy and glossy (about 5 minutes).

Remove from double boiler and continue whisking till cool completely (about another 2 minutes).

Gradually, fold-in flours mixture and stir well till homogeneous batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with spoon or spatula.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean (do the check by 1o minutes).

Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack together with parchment paper.

Run a spatula or knife all around the edges and bottom of the cake.

Inverse cake on to a large plastic wrapper (upside down) and peel off the parchment paper.

Spread-on chickpeas chocolate paste and roll cake up by the help of the plastic support into tight cylinder.

Wrap up properly with the plastic support and keep in refrigerator till set (several hours).

Carefully, unwrap the cake.

Trim both ends and cut one end out diagonally with the size about 2 inches as the branch.

Join two pieces of cakes together on a cake plate to form yule log and frost the prepared chocolate buttercream all over the surface.

Streak the surface with fork to resemble bark and decorate accordingly with meringue mushrooms.

DONE !

Chocolate-Pistachio Semifreddo with Espresso Sauce

Ingredients:

2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp whisky
1 cup whipping cream
40 g pistachio, coarsely crushed
60 g bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Espresso Sauce:

3/4 cup espresso coffee
3/4 cup sugar
40 g bittersweet chocolate
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Method:

Line a container (size about 7 x 10 x > 1 inches ) with food plastic wrap by covering the bottom, all side walls and also some extension for top surface; set aside.

In a large bowl, fill with cold water or ice water; set aside.

In a heat resistance bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar and whisky over simmering water for about 1o minutes or till pale, thick and glossy.

Remove from heat and transfer to the prepared cold water bath, continue whisking the mixture till cold.

In another large bowl, whisk egg whites till stiff peaks; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk cream till soft peaks (it can be prepared a day or few in advance and keep in fridge covered till use); set aside.

Gradually, fold-in the stiff egg whites into yolks mixture.

Gently, fold-in stiff cream and mix carefully to incorporate.

Add-in chopped chocolate and pistachio crush, stir-well to mix (reserves some choclate and/or pistachio to base the container if desire).

Spoon into the prepared container, cover the filling all over with the extended plastic wrap, keep in freeze till firm (at least 2 hours).

To prepare the espresso sauce, cooks together hot brewed espresso with sugar and chocolate over low heat, stir constantly till the sugar is dissolved and the sauce is smoothed, remove from heat, stir-in lemon juice and mix well (the sauce can be prepared in advance and keep in fridge covered till serve).

To serve, unwrap the firmed semifreddo, invert on a plate with bottom side up, cut into serving size with sharp knife, plate on individual serving plates, let to stand for few minutes while at the same time, warm the espresso sauce, drizzle a tablespoon or more if desired of the warm/room temperature espresso sauce onto the semifreddo, ready to serve.

Serves 8 persons.

Chocolate Sweet Buns with Feta Cheese Filling

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
30 mL warm water

2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 cup (7 tbsp) sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk powder (optional if using milk)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp bread improver (optional)

80 mL milk/water
45 g (3 tbsp) butter

8 slices feta cheese, crushed individually
extra butter for surface brushing

Method:

Dissolve yeast and 1 tsp sugar in warm water, leave for 10 minutes or till foamy.

In a large bowl, mix flours, sugar, egg, salt, milk powder, cocoa powder and bread improver.

Pour yeast solution into the flours mixture.

Gradually pour-in milk and knead to form smooth and soft dough.

Knead-in butter till soft and elastic dough.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces.

On floured hands, flatten dough ball with two palms, fill-in a crushed feta cheese in center, twist all edges together to completely seal and roll this filled dough into smooth ball.

Place the filled buns on parchment paper and leave to rise till double in size covered for about 1 1/2 hours.

Transfer the proved filled buns together with parchment paper onto a baking tray and bake buns in preheated oven at 180 °C for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove buns from oven, brush buns' exposure surface immediately with melted butter.

Mung Bean Truffles

Ingredients:

1 cup mung bean, soaked overnight
2 cups water
20 mL milk
1 tbsp butter, softened
50 g dark chocolate (optional)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown cane sugar

Coating:

1/2 cup desiccated coconut/freshly shredded coconut
40 mL milk/coconut milk (only if using desiccated coconut)

Method:

Batter:

With rice cooker, bring water to boil, add mung bean, continue the boiling till mung bean is softened, cooked thorough and became almost dry (not to burn).

With blender, blend together the cooked mung bean with milk.

With double boiler, melt chocolate, add into mung bean paste.

Mix-in butter and sugars, stir till sugars are dissolved and well-incorporated.

Keep in refrigerator to set for few hours or preferentially overnight.

Coating:

In a bowl, mix desiccated coconut with milk.

Toast in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 15 - 20 minutes or till fragrant and golden yellow (stir occasionally for homogeneous toasting).

Remove from oven, set aside to cool completely.

Forming Truffles:

With a teaspoon or two, scoop-up batter, form into even and round balls.

Dip each ball into toasted coconut flakes.

Roll and turn to coat evenly.

Keep covered in refrigerator till serves.

Chocolate Scotch Shortbread

Ingredients:

50 g dark or bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups cake flour

Method:

Line a large baking tray with parchment paper, set aside.

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

With a double boiler, melt chocolate; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter till fluffy.

Add-in sugar, continue beating till very light, pale and fluffy.

Pour-in melted chocolate, stir to incorporate fully.

Stir-in flour, gradually knead and roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness.

With cookies cutter, cut into the desired shapes.

Place them onto the prepared baking tray, about 1 inches apart from each others.

Bake the cookies in a preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes or till aroma.

Remove cookies from oven, let them stand for 1 minute.

Transfer cookies on wire rack, let cool completely before store into air-tight container.

Yield 98 cookies.