The Devils Own Chocolate Cupcake

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I love a good cupcake, in fact I love them so much, I sometimes make them the size of muffins but that is another story. As we most definitely move into the autumnal months, comfort eating is what is required to see you through the transition.  The majority of the harvest has been brought in and you need to start fattening yourself up for the long winter.  Besides who can resist a gooey chocolate cupcake, so dark and devilishly good that it surely must be the work of Beelzebub himself.  You’ll struggle to avoid scoffing these in one sitting.

This recipe provides a beautiful soft, moist chocolate base that you can the spoon any frosting of your choice on (I recommend a chocolate or coffee topping though). These are the sort of cakes you should have with a relaxing cup of tea in the evening, once the best part of the day is behind you, now that the dark is drawing in. This recipe should make eight cup cakes of normal size.

Ingredients

  • 160g caster sugar
  • 110g flour
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • 60g butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp bicarbonate soda
  • 1/2 juice lime
  • 90g Natural Yoghurt

Method

  1. Turn the oven on to 180 degrees c.
  2. Whizz together the butter and sugar until very fluffy.
  3. Add the vanilla extract and the egg and continue to whizz until the paste is smooth and uniform.
  4. Sift together all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.
  5. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the wet paste that you have been whizzing.
  6. Add a third of the yoghurt to the mix.
  7. Mix both elements in thoroughly.
  8. Repeat step 5, 6 and 7 twice more until all of the ingredients have been mixed together and you are left with a silky smooth dark chocolate cake mix.
  9. Add the lime juice and stir in slowly.
  10. Place mixture in cupcake liners until 3/4 full.
  11. Place in the oven for 15 minutes or until baked, so that a toothpick will come out clean.
  12. Decorate!

Perfect Macaroni Cheese

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Macaroni Cheese is one of the all time comfort dishes.  The simple delight of a cheese sauce smothering pasta with an added baked crunch makes for the perfect supper after a long day.  It is quite straightforward too.  I have changed this recipe quite a bit over the years and added and taken away various ingredients, although the measures can change depending on the roux (I can never be bothered to weigh the butter or flour).  I don’t tend to add Worcester sauce these days as I prefer the mustard and nutmeg to come through more strongly.  I am also optional on the bread crumbs depending on what is left over in the bread bin.  When I baked this for the photos, I had no stale bread so it went topless for a change.  Although the breadcrumbs if you have them do add that extra texture to the dish to make it perfect.

The real thing to concentrate on though, is the quality of the cheese.  I like a strong cheddar in my macaroni cheese and recently have been plumping for Cornish Cruncher from M&S (my newest love affair with cheese with a strength of 7!), although I used to use five counties cheese as that imparted a wonderful flavour throughout the sauce with the different cheese types melting together.  Today I had some left over Gruyere, so I used that with a mix of the Cornish Cruncher cheese which made for a delightfully melty sauce.  This recipe is enough for one so will need to be scaled up.

Ingredients

  • 75g Macaroni (or hollow tubed pasta)
  • 150g Cheese – grated (use your favourite cheese – as long as it melts it will be fine)
  • 5g butter
  • Flour
  • 50ml Milk
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Parmesan Shavings

Method

  1. Boil water in a saucepan.  Add the macaroni for 12 – 15 minutes until cooked.
  2. Meanwhile, gently heat the butter in a saucepan, once melted add in flour until you have a dry (ish) paste in the bottom of your pan (the roux).
  3. Add the milk to the paste bit by bit (to avoid lumps forming), stirring slowly with a wooden spoon.  You should end up with a white sauce base.  If it still looks too dry and not sauce like, add more milk until you are happy with the consistency.
  4. Add the cheese and stir until melted into the sauce.
  5. Add the mustard and nutmeg and simmer for two to three minutes to allow the sauce to thicken slightly.
  6. Pour the cooked macaroni into a oven proof dish and pour the cheese sauce over the top.
  7. If you are adding breadcrumbs, mix them with the Parmesan and sprinkle over the top of the macaroni and cheese.
  8. Place in the oven for 10 minutes on 180 degrees.
  9. Serve.

Chicken Katsu Curry

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Chicken Katsu Curry.  If I am ever in Wagamama this is always my meal of choice.  I just like it.  It is simple, honest food and it is one of those comforting meals that you just can’t help returning to over and over.

It is quite quick and easy to make although you need to be organised to get your timings right in order to bring together the rice, curry sauce and chicken at the same time.  Provided you do that, it is a simple recipe for a mouthwatering treat.  Whilst this is an attempt to replicate this wagamama dish, I am still not quite there with curry sauce, but this is my current version.

Ingredients

  • Chicken Breast (1 per person)
  • Rice (preferably some Thai sticky rice or basmati) (75g per person)
  • 1 egg beaten (1 egg per two to three chicken breasts)
  • Flour
  • Breadcrumbs (A lot of recipes recommend Panko Breadcrumbs but I just use whatever has gone stale in my breadbin)
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin (per person)
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander (per person)
  • 1 garlic cloves – sliced thinly (per person)
  • 125ml Chicken stock (per person
  • 1 chopped red chilli (or chilli flakes)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp Honey
  • 1tsp Soy Sauce
  • Glug of Sunflower Oil
  • 1 knob of butter

Method

  1. Turn oven to 180 degrees.
  2. Take the chicken breast and dip it in flour, next dip it into the lightly beaten egg and then into the breadcrumbs.  Dip it back into the egg and then back into the breadcrumbs.  I find that this double dip approach makes a much better crumb.
  3. In a frying pan our the sunflower oil and heat.  Drop in the knob of butter.  Place the chicken breast into the pan and shallow fry for about two minutes on each side until the breadcrumbs are golden.
  4. Place the chicken breast onto a baking tray and place into the oven for 20 minutes.
  5. Place the rice in a saucepan over medium heat or in rice cooker with twice the volume of water to rice.
  6. Pour away the majority of the oil in the frying pan and fry up the cumin, coriander, garlic and chilli on a low heat. After about a minute and when you can smell the spices frying drop in a little flour to make a roux.
  7. Slowly add the stock to thin the mix, stirring as you go to ensure you do not get any lumps of flour in the sauce.  Place in the bay leaf and add the honey and soy sauce.  Leave to simmer and reduce down for five to ten minutes.
  8. Take the chicken out of the oven, slice thinly and arrange on the plate with the rice.
  9. Pour the sauce over the top of the rice and chicken.
  10. Voila!