Winner! Molten Chocolate Cake with Kahlua

Molten chocolate cake with Kahlua, the warm center flowing out and mingling with pooling vanilla ice cream.

I am quite happy with the results of my last attempt at molten chocolate cake. Previously, my cake was less molten and more fudge-like, resulting in a lack of chocolate lava flow when struck with a spoon. This time, however, the chocolate spilled and bellies ached with the feverish joy of gluttony.


I changed two very simple things from last time:

1. I added liquor.
2. I watched it like a hawk (like I should have the first time around).

Molten Chocolate Cake with Kahlua

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Yields 2 ramekins

2 ounces (2 squares)  Baker's dark bittersweet chocolate
3 T + 1 tsp (50g)  unsalted butter
1/2 C  powdered sugar
2 T + 2 tsp  cake flour
1  egg
1  egg yolk

1 ounce (approximately) of Kahlua, Frangelico, or Baileys
butter or shortening for greasing
flour or cocoa powder for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 425F (220C).
2. Grease and flour two ramekins and set aside.
3. Combine the chocolate and butter in a bowl and microwave until the butter is melted.
4. Whisk butter and chocolate together until completely molten.
5. Add the sugar and flour and whisk well.
6. Add the egg, yolk, and about an ounce of liquor (more or less to get a nice semi-flowing batter texture) and whisk until completely mixed.
7. Divide the batter between the ramekins, set on a small baking pan, and bake 5-10 minutes (start watching it like a hawk after 4 minutes, until a skin has formed that doesn't jiggle when you shake the tray).
8. Remove from the oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes.
9. Slide a knife between the cakes and the ramekins to loosen the cakes before overturning onto plates.
10. Serve warm with ice cream for best results.
11. Enjoy!

Molten Chocolate Cake with Kahlua Reflections

Molten chocolate cake with the top layer removed, revealing warm chocolate innards.

The Kahlua doesn't particularly jump out at you, but the alcohol is more of a sensation than a flavor when you take your first few bites. I think it's a nice solution to the problem of batter being too thick to begin with (I admit the eggs are on the small side) and it gives the cake a bit of a kick. If you are living alcohol-free, you can always substitute it with vanilla (which can get expensive) or milk.


Be sure to plate your ice cream just before serving, otherwise your cake will end up swimming in it. It's a warm chocolate cake next to ice cream, not rocket science.


I advise you to share one cake between two people, particularly after a good meal. These molten bites of heaven are filling, especially if you like to heap on the ice cream like me.

Cowboy Cookies

Cowboy cookies, stacked half a dozen high.

During my university days back in the U.S., my friends and I would occasionally wander down to the Rosewood Cafe for a bit of warmed brie with fruit and a sliced baguette. One day, we came down and for some reason they couldn't fit us in, so we turned around with a sigh and began to walk toward the door when, "Would you like a cookie?" We instantly brightened. Is that even really a question? Rhetorical or not, we said yes with warmed hearts and child-like glee.

"Alright, let's see... Cowboy or cowgirl cookies?"

The dough, just before mixing in the coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips.

Not really knowing what the person behind the counter was getting at, we asked, "What's the difference?" Then it was pointed out that in the middle of these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies sat a pecan. Nuts, apparently, make a cowboy cookie. Ahem. We chose cowboy over cowgirl and merrily nibbled away at the cookies, forgetting almost entirely about the brie (and about gender issues mixed into the oven, but that's a different story).

Tablespoon sized drops of cookie dough.

That was many moons ago and surprisingly, I hadn't made cowboy cookies until a friend's birthday theme (cowboys v. indians, happy 30th!) inspired me to bake a batch. I decided to go with the cowboy cookie recipe at foodnetwork.com.

Cowboy Cookies
Adapted from foodnetwork.com


Yields about 3 dozen cookies, from what I can remember, heh

1/2 C  butter flavored shortening
1/2 C (96g)  sugar
1/2 C (101g)  brown sugar
1  egg
1/2 tsp  vanilla
1 C (99g)  all purpose flour
1/2 tsp  baking soda
1/4 tsp  salt
1/4 tsp  baking powder
1 C (80g)  oats
1/2 C (60g)  pecans
3 oz. (85g)  chocolate chips
1/4 C (15-20g)  dessicated unsweetened coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (177C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugars.
3. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.
4. Stir in the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder until just mixed.
5. Stir in the oats, pecans, chocolate chips, and coconut until just mixed.
6. Scoop the dough using a tablespoon and drop onto silicone mat lined baking sheets, approximately two inches apart, and flatten slightly.
7. Bake 12-15 minutes (14 for me) until cookies start to brown.
8. Remove to cooling racks.
9. Enjoy!

Cowboy Cookie Reflections

You don't really taste the coconut, so for people looking for more coconut flavor, increase the amount to your liking, perhaps use sweetened coconut and reduce the sugar in the recipe. I think it mostly adds to the texture and structure of the cookie at the amount given.

It's best to slightly flatten the dough balls before cooking because they spread slightly; given all the chunky yummy things you mixed in, not flattening them a little leads to a less even distribution of the chocolate and nuts, as well as less round cookies. They're nothing wrong with less than circular cookies (in my kitchen, they're the ones that get eaten first), they taste just lovely, but if you're a little neurotic and compulsively eat the less than photo quality ones fresh out of the oven, then a little flattening couldn't hurt.

I used a mix of dark chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips, mostly because I was nearly out of both. Given the choice between using just one, I would say semisweet would work better in this cookie; I like my cookies reasonably sweet and all dark chocolate might not be sweet enough.

These make a nicely crispy cookie and are excellent with a tall glass of milk.

Molten Chocolate Cake, Nearly

Nearly molten chocolate cake. Extremely tasty with a fudge-like center.

The thought of a warm piece of chocolate cake supplying its own chocolate sauce makes me feel a bit dreamy, especially when said cake is served with vanilla ice cream.

You'd think it would be a bit of a toughie, right? Absolutely wrong. Molten chocolate cake is quick and easy, the only tricky part is getting the timing down. This is not something you pour over for hours, transferring this melted thing from the stove, whisking a bit in this bowl here then mixing it back in on the stove, letting it chill, adding these three things and whipping, blah blah blah...  Okay, maybe there is a little bit of that, but it really doesn't take much time. The thing that took the longest for me was preheating the oven and, of course, waiting a couple minutes so I wouldn't burn my tongue.

Molten Chocolate Cake
Adapted from allrecipes.com


Yields 2 ramekins

2 ounces (2 squares)  Baker's dark bittersweet chocolate
3 T + 1 tsp (50g)  unsalted butter
1/2 C  powdered sugar
2 T + 2 tsp  cake flour
1  egg
1  egg yolk
butter or shortening for greasing
flour or cocoa powder for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 425F (220C).
2. Grease and dust each ramekin with flour or cocoa powder (grease it well, this is important!).
3. Heat the butter and chocolate on medium in the microwave until melted. Whisk together.
4. Add the sugar and flour and mix well.
5. Add the egg and yolk and mix well.
6. Divide the mixture between two ramekins and bake about 8 minutes, or until the tops look just set.
7. Remove from the oven and let sit for a minute or two.
8. Run a knife around the edges and carefully invert onto dishes.
9. Garnish with powdered sugar and enjoy (possibly with a big heaping pile of vanilla ice cream).
10. Keep enjoying! It's really good!

Molten Chocolate Cake Reflections

Molten chocolate cake before being attacked by spoons and vanilla ice cream.

My middle wasn't quite molten. I had walked away and left them all alone for eight and a half minutes, which gave me a fudge-like center. WATCH THESE LIKE A HAWK. You know, for the best lava-flow-of-chocolate results.

I gave it a try with white chocolate, adding a splash of almond extract and a tablespoon of Greek yogurt, and boy did that sucker live up to the word molten. The almond extract was unnecessary and overpowered the white chocolate, so leave that out or use vanilla. I have yet to encounter a grocery store white chocolate that melts smoothly all on it's own, but it worked fine with butter.

This was done on the spur of the moment, another one of those, "Well gosh, it's kind of gloomy out. What can I whip up for a cheer up?" That's why there aren't many pictures and also why the light quality is terrible (thanks, night time). Maybe I'll give this another shot later this week and update with better pictures.

[UPDATE 15JUN2010]

I made it! I really did! It's pretty tastetastic and full of oozing chocolate wonder! Check it out here.

Cornbread Muffins and Apologies

When I think cornbread, I think of the southern U.S. as well as Southern Kitchen and childhood dinners from KFC.

I'll admit it, I'm vastly behind in my posting. I've got a camera absolutely full of delicious goodies from the oven that I've been slacking on sharing. Now, thanks to the oven being temporarily out of service, the feeling that I should stop procrastinating, and my memory card needing a break after a trip to Ho Chi Minh with a lot of baked baggage, updates will appear more frequently until I'm back on track and back in business.

Bob's Red Mill organic medium grind cornmeal.

Here's a quick baking project I did a couple weeks (ahem) ago. I felt like steamed corn on the cob and homemade chili deserved some good old fashioned cornbread on the side. This recipe comes from the back of the Bob's Red Mill organic medium grain cornmeal bag.

Dry ingredients.

Golden Cornbread Muffins
Adapted from Bob's Red Mill

Yields 6 muffins

1 C  ground cornmeal, any grind
1 C  whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp  salt
4 tsp  baking powder
1 T  sugar (optional, increase to 2-3 T if you like sweet cornbread)
1  egg
1 C  milk
1/4 C  unsalted butter, softened
shortening or extra butter for greasing tins

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C) and grease six muffin tins.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix.
3. Add all wet ingredients and fold together until just combined.
4. Optional: Cover and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight for a softer, smoother texture.
5. Divide the batter between tins and bake 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
6. Enjoy warm (and with a smear of softened salted butter if desired).

Golden Cornbread Muffins

Cornbread, fresh from the oven and ready to serve with some butter and a bowl of chili.

Two notes: sweetness and texture.

For those of you that like a sweet cornbread, definitely at least double the sugar; I find that a scant tablespoon of it just tempers the slight bitterness of plain whole wheat flour. You could also give them a quick sprinkle of coarse sugar on top before baking.

The recipe says nothing about letting the batter sit, but if you are using medium to coarse grind cornmeal and would like a cornbread that's not grainy, let it have a rest in the fridge. I borrowed the "3 hours to overnight" solution from the Smitten Kitchen pecan cornmeal butter cake recipe.

Though I have yet to let cornbread batter sit, increase the sugar content, or even try the aforementioned cake recipe, I think it's all worthwhile advice based on sampling the cornbread as written and Smitten Kitchen's reputation as being pretty great.

Come back soon for more posts on delicious things like molten chocolate cake, dark rye bread, cowboy cookies, crepe cake, and more.

Readers' Choice: Coconut Macaroons

Coconut macaroons are easier than you think!

Thanks again to everyone that voted (all eight of you). I sort of wonder why you picked what you did; not because it's weird or anything, I'm just curious. Is it because macaroons seem like a challenge? Do you just like coconut? Are they your favorite sweet fix?

Step 1: frothing the egg whites.

I just ate two of them right after doing some final photos, so my reason for making them (other than baking democracy) would be that they're tasty. I'm not going to lie, I have made them before. But! This prior experience does not mean that they aren't just as easy as I'm telling you they are. They're just about as easy as (eating) pie (because making pie can pose a challenge every now and then).

Step 4: filling the macaroons with white chocolate and hazelnuts. Optional, but delicious.

I take my cues from Lulu & Phoebe for coconut macaroons. Happy news for people sensitive to gluten: these are gluten free! Hooray!

Steps 5 and 6: it's okay to crowd them, they won't spread into each other, just make sure they have 30 minutes to dry a bit before heading into the oven.

Coconut Macaroons
Adapted from Lulu & Phoebe


Yields 12 macaroons


1 1/2 C (115g)  mixed sweetened and unsweetened coconut (I do half and half by mass)
1/3 C (65g)  caster sugar
2  egg whites
pinch of salt
1 tsp  vanilla
1/4 tsp  almond extract
24  white chocolate chips (optional)
12  hazelnuts (optional)
3 oz. (85g)  dark or white chocolate (optional)

1. Gently froth the egg whites and salt (no more than a minute of whisking).
2. Mix in the sugar, extracts, and salt.
3. Mix in the coconut.
4. Line a tablespoon with macaroon mix, place a nut and 2 chocolate chips inside, and fill with more macaroon mix (or leave out the nuts and chocolate and go straight up coconut macaroon).
5. Give the tablespoon a good whack onto a silicone mat (or parchment) lined baking pan and shape the dome a little by hand if it comes apart. You can pack them pretty close on the sheet since they don't spread.
6. Let them sit for 30 minutes at room temperature to dry a little.
7. Heat the oven to 325 F (160 C).
8. Bake macaroons for 15-25 minutes, until they're as golden as you like.
9. Cool on sheet for about 5-10 minutes (until cool enough to touch) and then remove to a rack to cool completely.
10. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and drizzle over cooled macaroons (ooor not, if you don't feel like it).
11. Enjoy!

Coconut Macaroon Reflections

I like mine lightly toasted, but you might prefer them snowy white or even deeper brown. These were in the oven about 17 minutes.

When I first tried the raw macaroon mix, I thought it was way too sweet. I trudged around while they baked, thinking they were ruined before they even made it to the oven. The Resident Taste Tester gave them a try after they were baked and said they could actually be sweeter. I popped one in my mouth, and was pleasantly surprised: not too sweet at all! I felt they were lovely with just that much sweetness, but the Resident Taste Tester suggested a little more sugar next time.

I thought they might be too dry when I had them straight out of the oven. The following morning, after having a sleep in a tin container, they were juuust right. I don't think I'd want them any more moist.

I've had these without the hazelnuts and white chocolate and with just the dark chocolate drizzle. Both options are delightful, though if you can manage to cram another chip or two inside, the white chocolate would read better.

Thanks again for voting, folks! It actually makes me smile when you visit my blog and leave evidence. For the three of you rooting for the parmesan pretzels, don't you worry, a batch is going in the oven tonight!

Velvet Cupcakes: Minus the Red, Plus Cream Cheese Frosting

Velvet cupcake with pillowy cream cheese frosting, perfectly balanced.

Red velvet cake is an American classic; the Waldorf-Astoria was known for it's rendition in the 1920's.

To me, this cake has always manifested itself in gorgeous double and triple layers, slathered in cream-colored frosting, waiting out of reach behind glass. This elegant, untouchable feeling was left behind when one of my friends made incredibly delicious red velvet cupcakes last Valentine's Day. She frosted them, topped them with red sprinkles, and even did a chocolate drizzle on top. I savored the chocolate cake wonder for days. It helped that she gave me several cupcakes to work on. I love my friends.

I wanted to try out the red velvet cupcake recipe at mccormick.com, but like almost all RV cakes, it called for red food coloring. I can't remember the last time I used food coloring; why should I get a bottle of red just for these? It doesn't impart any flavor or texture, it's just a visual thing with some history in how buttermilk and other acidic ingredients used to react with cocoa (as well as the use of beets during wartime, but... eh).

I refuse to buy red food dye because it will hang out in the kitchen, untouched, until I feel like making RV cake again someday. Hence the velvet cupcakes. Not too sweet, these ultra moist chocolate cupcakes with slightly tangy cream cheese frosting are total winners.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Adapted from mccormick.com


Yields 8 cupcakes (original recipe quartered)

1/2 C  AP flour*
2 T WW flour
2 T  cocoa powder
1/2 tsp  bk soda
1/8 tsp  salt
1/4 C (1/2 stick or 60g)  butter, sft
3 T  sugar
1  egg
1/4 C  plain yogurt, greek or european style**
2 T  milk
1/2 tsp  vanilla

Photo: Step 2, dry ingredients before mixing.

*abbreviations: AP all-purpose, WW whole wheat, bk baking, sft softened
**the original recipe calls for sour cream, but thick yogurt and baking soda (1 C:1 tsp) combined is a suitable substitute

1. Preheat oven to 350F (177C).
2. Mix the flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
4. Add the egg to the butter mix and beat fluffy again.
5. Add the yogurt, milk, and vanilla to the fluffy mix and beat until homogeneous.
6. Add the dry mix to the wet (pretty unfluffy now) mix and beat until just mixed.
7. Divide batter into lined cupcake tins, filling each about 2/3 to 3/4 full. (Don't fill more than 8-9 cups, otherwise you won't have a nice domed cake).
8. Bake 15-20 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (17 minutes for me).
9. Cool 5 minutes in the tin on a rack then remove cupcakes to rack to cool completely.
10. Frost (optional) and enjoy!

Different stages of batter. Left to right: Step 3, creaming butter and sugar. Step 4, adding an egg. Step 5 + 6: yogurt, milk, and vanilla mixed in and dry ingredients on top. Step 6: wet and dry ingredients combined. Photo slice and dice credits to the Resident Taste Tester.

Step 9: Cupcakes cooled in tins, just before going to the racks.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Janni at allrecipes.com


Yields about 1 cup of frosting

1/2 (4 ounces) package cream cheese, softened
2 T  butter, softened
1/2 C  powdered sugar
1/2 tsp  vanilla

1. Cream the softened cream cheese and butter together.
2. Add the powdered sugar and beat smooth.
3. Add the vanilla and beat smooth.
4. Use immediately and store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge.

Red Velvet Cake Reflections

Velvet cakes are so wonderfully balanced and just plain nice. I've been told multiple times that Singaporeans and Asians in general don't like their sweets too sweet. While there are always exceptions to the rule, I've never had a single complaint about a baked good being too sweet for the Asian palate. I did reduced the sugar in the cupcakes by 25% (the quantity above is down said 25%); I tend to be on the scant side of measurement with sugar in most of the recipes I try.

This more-chocolate-than-sweetie-sugar cupcake goes well with the cream cheese frosting. It was so pillowy when I pushed it around on the cupcake tops that I grinned at the fluffy, sky-high frosting possibilities. I refrained from piling it on because I often find mounded frosting a tragic beauty; pretty to look at, but overwhelming for a baby cake.

The yogurt and extra baking soda made for a crazy moist cupcake that domed perfectly. Not too dense and incredibly moist; I don't think I've ever had a cupcake come out of my oven with that texture and yet there they were.

I brought my favorite chefy*** a cupcake when we met up for lunch. LOVED it. So much so, that he giddily reminded me that I'll be around for his birthday this year and should make his celebratory cupcakes. With pleasure, my dear, with pleasure.

Perfection.

***He cooks, I bake; when we get together, it's gastronomic bliss.

Bumpin' Pumpkin Scones

A full plate of scones, ready for friends on a Saturday afternoon.

My mom and I both love scones. Their delicate, crumbly texture and softly sweet flavor make me think of tea time, weekend ladies brunch, or breakfast enjoyed on a warm, sunny day in the countryside. My go-to recipe at home was for white chocolate scones; my mom liked them with jam and butter while I preferred them straight from the oven.

Last winter in Tacoma, WA, the Resident Taste Tester (with his draw to coffee) and I had pumpkin scones from a corner cafe. These were large, much larger than scones I would make (which is the tendency of many coffee houses and their coffee accompanying treats). They were moist, a bit more dense, and covered with icing that dreamily poured down their sides. I knew that one day I would make them.

When I told a friend of my scone ambitions, he told me he'd never met a scone he liked. Crumbly. Dry. Tasteless. Ha! Undaunted and armed with this pumpkin scones recipe from recipezaar.com, I  forged ahead with my plan to destroy his concept of scones as mediocre pastries.

After familiarizing myself with the recipe, I went to the store to buy canned pumpkin and a few more spices. Canned pumpkin is (as far as I've seen) a common item in US grocery stores and is available all year round; this is not the case in Singapore. I'm sure I could find it if I checked other places, but I couldn't be bothered. So, after some substitution confirmation from the internet, I bought half a butternut squash (labeled as butternut pumpkin in SG) to steam and mash on my own. This grocery store also lacked ground cloves, so I grumpily bought mixed spice, a combination of cassia, coriander, caraway, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. It would have to do.

Home made pumpkin mash, a fresh alternative to canned pumpkin puree.

I mashed out nearly 3 cups from the half a butternut squash. See how I did it here.

Pumpkin Scones

Originally submitted at icollectcookbooks.com, submitted by Rachel-Snachel to recipezaar.com, and loosely interpreted by me

Yields 16 scones

2 C  all-purpose flour*

scant 1/2 C  sugar

1 T  baking powder

1/2 tsp  salt

1/2 tsp  ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp  ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp  mixed spice (substituted for cloves)

1/4 tsp  ground ginger

1/4 C + 2 T  cold butter

1/2 C  fresh mashed butternut squash

3 T  evaporated milk, buttermilk, or half and half
1  egg

*using 1 1/2 C plain and 1/2 C whole wheat turns out great if you want more nutritional value (a.k.a. fiiiber)

plain glaze

1/2 C + 1/2 T  powdered sugar

1 T  whole milk

spiced glaze

1/2 C + 1 1/2 T  powdered sugar

1 T  whole milk

1/4 tsp  ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp  ground nutmeg

1 pinch  ginger

1 pinch  mixed spice

Dry mix with butter cut in and a well formed (above). You can use a pastry blender or a butter knife in the palm of your hand to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it looks crumbly. Make a well in the ingredients (a bowl-shaped indent) and pour your wet mix inside (below, top right). Fold until dough just comes together (below, bottom right).

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F (218 C).
2. Mix 1/2 C mashed squash with cinnamon, nutmeg, mixed spice, and ginger and refrigerate overnight (you don't really have to let it sit, but I like to think the spices infuse a bit).
3. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
4. Cut butter into the dry mix until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Set aside (in the fridge or freezer if butter bits have warmed).
5. In a separate bowl, whisk spiced pumpkin, milk, and egg until homogenous (remove any large chunks of pumpkin).
6. Make a well in the dry mix and pour the wet mix inside. Fold one into the other until the dough just comes together (NO OVER MIXING!).
7. Form the dough into a ball on a floured surface and divide into 8 equal portions.
8. Pat each portion to rectangles approximately 3"x2"x1" and cut each into 2 triangles.
9. Place scones 1" apart on a silicone mat lined baking sheet.
10. Bake 8-12 minutes or until the tops are light brown and cool on wire racks.
11. Whisk powdered sugar and milk together to make plain glaze.
12. Dip tops of scones into glaze and place on wire racks (with silicone mat underneath to catch dripping glaze).
13. As the plain glaze sets, whisk powdered sugar, milk, and spices together to make the spiced glaze.
14. Once the plain glaze has set, drizzle the spiced glaze over the scones and allow to set.
15. Enjoy!

Scones fresh from the oven, pre-glaze.

Pumpkin Scones Reflections

Replacing 1/2 C of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour doesn't do much to affect the taste or texture of the scones. What is does do is add a tiny bit of fiber and make you feel a little better about having a sweet pastry. Next time I make these, I'm going to bump up the whole wheat to replace half the all-purpose flour and see how that goes. Whole wheat flour enthusiasts often recommend replacing half the called for plain flour with whole wheat, but I've had mixed results (sometimes the texture is too rough or dense and sometimes it imparts a slightly bitter flavor). I think it might be okay in the case of pumpkin scones because the texture and flavor of the squash should soften any undesired effects of adding whole wheat.

My friend that didn't like scones? He found these ones to be delicious; the same goes for a crowd of four friends over for a Saturday dinner and the ladies at the office. The Resident Taste Tester? Jonesing for a pumpkin scone fix midweek after we'd run out (luckily I had made round two with whole wheat flour that afternoon).

So there you have it; these scones are amazing and not difficult to make. The most important things to remember when making scones are 1. to keep your butter cold and 2. never over mix. Cold butter allows you to make a crumbly dough, a similar process to making pie crust, and keeps the scone texture lighter. Over mixing develops the glutton, not something you want in this case, and makes the scones tough. Warm butter and a thorough mixing ensures a scone that is less than desirable.

Try this recipe! Do it! You'll like it and so will all of your friends!

Finished scones, posing like ballerina shoes.

UPDATE [13JUN2010]

I tried these without the spiced glaze; I doubled all the spices in the pastries themselves and added just a sprinkle of mixed spice to the plain glaze, drizzling it lightly over the scones. I also just dropped the batter onto silicone mats and gently formed them into little hockey puck shapes. The Resident Taste Tester said the spice could be doubled yet again, which would be yummy, but I think this alteration works just fine in terms of flavor and sweetness.

A Quick Note on Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate pudding is much easier and faster to make than you might think. I grew up eating Jello pudding cups and never thought twice about them until now (just how, exactly, do they keep a skin from forming...).

Most of the ingredients can be found in your kitchen if you bake semi-regularly and if you don't have unsweetened chocolate squares on hand, you can substitute unsweetened cocoa powder with oil or butter.

Rich and Creamy Chocolate Pudding
From allrecipes.com and loosely interpreted by me


Yields 2 servings


2/3 C  low fat milk
4 tsp  cake or all-purpose flour (substitute for cornstarch)

1/6 C  sugar

1/8 tsp  salt

1  square unsweetened baking chocolate, finely chopped
1  egg yolk
2  tsp butter
1 tsp  vanilla

1. Whisk together flour and milk in a small saucepan until homogenous.
2. Add sugar, salt, and chocolate and whisk constantly over medium-low heat until chocolate melts and the liquid thickens.
3. In a small bowl, add a small amount of warm chocolate mix to the egg yolk and whisk. Repeat and then add back to saucepan.
4. Return saucepan to medium-low heat and whisky constantly for 2 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla.
6. Divide between two ramekins and chill for 20 minutes or serve warm.
7. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding Reflections

Really, just how do commercial pudding manufacturers keep a skin from forming? They must have traded a few dozen souls for the unholy ingredients that keep that skin away because the minute I stopped stirring, a skin started to form. It wasn't so bad, to be honest, but the longer you keep the pudding, the thicker the skin. I suppose this could be avoided by laying plastic wrap directly on the pudding, but I think that's an overly messy affair that's not worth it if you're eating the pudding the same day.

Sorry there aren't any pictures; this was really an it's-raining-and-I-got-splashed-by-two-buses-on-the-way-home quick cozy dessert.