Chocolate Keeps Me Sane

Okay, so I've been rather pissed, frustrated, and jaded these past few days. All triggered by that stupid MS midterm which i failed really badly. And i mean REEEEALLYY badly. So bad tt everytime i remember it, I felt like taking the paper out (which I've put right at the bottom of my papers pile) and tear it into tiny little pieces while screaming "Damn u, MS. DAMN U!"

Well, of course there are many other reasons that had sorta built up. But yea, that bloody MS - it's worth 30% and it's MS for heaven's sake. Not AFA.

And so to keep myself sane, I turned to whatelse but chocolate! I ate them, made them into brownies, truffles and muffins in the past 4 days. Chocolate therapy works wonders ^^

I've just realised that we have so much chocolate at home. Thanks to bro's friend who got us a big box of Ghirardelli assorted chocolate fr US. Then there's a container-ful of white and dark choc balls my sis bought couple of mths ago (still taste good), few bars of snickers from last cell group's retreat, couple bars of different milk choc i bought for my experiments (still can't find meltable white choc ): ) and a bar of baking choc :D

Seiously, whoever discovered chocolate should be given a Nobel prize. If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, I'd say, "A piece of chocolate a day, keeps the psychiatrist away."

Mayb it's just me, but I don't even need exp choc to keep myself happy. I love kitkat, snickers, and even those cheapo choc gold coins.

The brownies were for Pris. The heart Yuppies spells "happy bday Pris". Took me quite sometime to stick the hundreds&thousands to the gummies. One of them got burned by the candles. Hee...Had wanted to make choc cupcake cuz i like frosting them but she likes brownies more. She's got expensive taste :P

Made these cuz still have the ingredients left from making the choc truffles bouquet for Kris and Yola. They're the not the normal choc truffles with ganache filling btw. They're Oreo truffles and Tim Tam truffles. But I think I won't be making them in a long long time. Too much hassle. And seriously, working with chocolate when u're living along the equator is a real challange, unless u don't mind blasting ur air-con while making it. But my kitchen doesn't have air-con :(

Those pics are taken in my room with the air-con on and even then the humidity made the chocolate 'sweat'. Sigh....But they still look better then the first ones I made. When I took the pics of the bouquet, they were already melting cuz the weather was warmer. Still contemplating if I shud post the pics cuz they don't look as pretty as I had intended :(

I love taking pics of chocs! They're so photogenic, don't u think? Don't think we have this brand in Singapore. Read about them in some American flog. Their choc is good! Had to eat all 4 squares cuz I've lyk touch them here n there while taking the pics. But not complaining :)

Used the dark choc one to coat the truffles. My fav is the raspberry one. The sourish raspberry filling compliment the dark choc real well. It's just slightly too sweet for my taste. Me not a big fan of mint choc, but I must say I really like their mint choc. After Eight is another good brand.

Will post the muffins pics later and listen to AMA prof now. Ah.... I love chocolate!

Double Chocolate Brownies

After failing the last two (it wasn't that bad really. Still edible, but a bit dry and hard), I went to find some more brownies recipe, even borrowed this brownies recipebook from the library (man, am I glad they finally build a library in Bishan). There are quite a lot of brownies recipe in that book, but somehow i prefer getting my recipe online from foodblogs, cuz I thot those recipe must be more do-able, and it seems easier when people have actually tried out those recipe.

But I still visit the library for recipe books. I still believe in Jamie and Nigella, and occasionally Martha and I need to satisfy my fettish for drool-inducing, yummy pictures on recipe books. That's why I really can't figure out why people would publish recipe books without pictures. I mean it's so silly. People need to sort of have an idea how the end product should look like, especially noobs like me, right?

I forgot the name of the book, but the chocolate frosting recipe was great! Neways, I found this brownie recipe online and tried it out during the weekend.

Double Chocolate Brownie
adapted from Martha Stewart's Double Chocolate Brownie recipe

What's in it:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
200 grams good-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed firm)
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

How to concoct it:
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degree celcius. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper.
2. Put butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until completely melted. Let cool slightly.
3. Mix your flour, baking powder, and salt well and aside.
4. Using an electric mixer (or a handwhisk if you prefer), mix sugar, egg, and vanilla well until pale, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture; mix until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until well combined.
5. Pour brownie batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a skewer, when inserted in the brownie, comes out clean.
6. Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes then lift out to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

It turned out pretty good. See... (I took more pics actually, but my ever-so-smart sis deleted them *grrr*)

I sprinkled some chopped Brazil nuts on top. Aunt Soh gave us a big container full of nuts (brazil nuts, pecans, macadamia nuts etc). I've never tried Brazil nuts before and never came across a recipe that uses it. It tasted quite bland when eaten on its own. But it went really well with the brownies. It tastes kinda like walnut but with a tinge of coconut taste. The texture is also more dense than walnut, kinda like almond.

Oh btw, I know the recipe asks for pure vanilla extract. But I've read in several recipe books that imitation one is good enough and they are really close to the real thing. Unless you're a real pro, you won't be able to taste/smell the difference. But if u are a purist and/or have lots of dosh to spare, by all means, get the real thing.

Neways, although the the brownies was not bad at all, I wasn't really satisfied. The brownies was a bit too cakey I think. I prefer it to be more fudgy. But well, Ralph said it was good. I guess different folks different strokes.

I really like the brownies from the Secret Recipe. It's just nice for me. Top it off with vanilla ice cream to make it even more 'mmm :):) I shall look for more recipes that'll give me that kind of brownies. Yup!