Peanut Butter Chocolate Lava Cakes

Less than a week left to upheaving my entire life and moving to Kobe for new teaching experiences, understanding the deeper nuances of Japanese culture (LIKE, WHY THE HELL ARE THEY SO NICE?!) and yes, a form of escapism from the norms and expectations in Singapore. Though one of my greatest fears is not being able to bake in Kobe, their houses are notoriously small and my new apartment doesn’t have an oven. (YET!)

Cakes are not to be neglected in the flurry of packing, meetups and last minute errands. Finally got down to making a simple dream of molten chocolate cake -Pee Poo cake! Or officially, (but where’s the fun in that) – peanut butter chocolate lava cakes! I’d like to think of it as a cake one would cozy up to on a rainy / cold day, with Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series at the side. Nothing like chocolate cake to pair with a great book!

It’s dead simple, but pay attention to the steps. The eggs should be whisked to a thick, pale mixture. To enhance the chocolate flavor, I added ½ a teaspoon of espresso powder instead of the usual vanilla. Finally, a heaping glob of peanut butter in the middle of each ramekin, but I think white chocolate ganache or salted caramels would work great too. I adore Nutella, but skip it cos it’s more chocolate than hazelnut, so there won’t be much of a taste contrast in this cake. 

Finally, it’s a lava cake guys, so err on the side of underbaking to make sure you get the goo factor. Skip the powdered sugar and go straight for the vanilla ice cream! MmmMM HELLO HD’S MACADAMIA NUT BRITTLE 8-) (Sidenote : Is there such a thing as good vegan ice cream? A friend brought a pint of vegan Vanilla ice cream and it tasted just.. wrong – diluted and flavourless…)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Lava Cakes

200g dark chocolate, chopped (I used Cadbury 70% dark)

100gm unsalted butter

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup castor sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon espresso powder

4 heaping teaspoons of smooth peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 200° C. Generously butter 4 ramekins. Coat ramekins with sugar and tap out the excess. (This step gives the cakes a sweet outer crust!)

2. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate, espresso powder and butter until smooth–stirring constantly to avoid burning. Let cool.

3. Place the eggs, yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk with a hand mixer until thick and pale. Slowly add the cooled chocolate mixture while whisking until smooth. Gentle fold in the flour.

4. Spoon the mixture into each ramekin. Drop in a generous dollop of peanut butter into each cup and gently press the dollop into the chocolate. Spoon the remaining chocolate batter evenly into each ramekin, using up all the batter. The ramekin should be ¾ full. Place the ramekins in the oven and bake for 16 - 18 minutes until tops appear dry and are slightly puffed. Let cakes rest for about 2 minutes until warm enough to handle and turn out onto a plate for serving and gild the lily with a scoop of ice cream!

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Dark Chocolate Pudding Buttercream

Singapore is in mourning, the whole island is shrouded in a heavy curtain of grief and sorrow for the passing of our founding father, H.E. Lee Kuan Yew. Floods of tributes, stories, pictures and videos have been pouring in from the Singaporean public and international media. People are patiently waiting, queuing for up to 9 (!!!) hours to pay their final respects. My heart feels heavy with grief and sadness that the man who built Singapore, whose entire life revolved around our tiny island is gone. Yes, not all of his policies were just and politically correct. But the policies set in motion, were for his vision of a prosperous, successful Singapore. And for that we will always be thankful for, and will always remember.

I see his memory in the thousands of Singaporeans grieving together as a nation, the little acts of kindness – restaurants passing out free drinks and snacks for the queuing public under the scorching heat, and even florists handing out white lilies. I see it in my own students, and their somber appreciation and acknowledgement of our country’s greatest loss. My heart was touched when even my Malaysian students confided that they queued for 4 hours to pay their final respects, stating matter of factly, ‘It’s only the right thing to do, he did a lot for Singapore.’ And I saw in that moment, regardless of nationality, that Singapore is as much their home as it is mine. LKY might be gone, but his legacy will live on in Singaporeans as we carry out and live his vision for a successful island nation, a successful Singapore.

Rest in peace, Mr. Lee.

And thank you, for everything. For my Singapore.

Though I’m fairly certain Mr. Lee would not have been a fan of this dark chocolate olive oil cake, (his breakfasts were steadfastly simple – a bowl of unsweetened tauhway) it still reminds me slightly of him – dark, richly bodied with a meltingly soft centre. Just like the romantic soft side he had for his wife, Kwa Geok Choo.

The recipe is slightly adapted from my cooking heroine, Nigella Lawson. She made the cake look so simple and luscious in her video, that I had to try it out for myself. And easy peasy it is! I did make some minor adjustments though - swapping out hot water for coffee and adding additional spices to pair with the chocolate flavor. The extra virgin oil I used is undetectable in the cake and just makes the cakelets extra moist and melt in your mouth tender.

The frosting is divine , a takeaway from Ovenly’s Brooklyn Blackout buttercream, a slightly tedious undertaking of making homemade salted chocolate pudding and mixing it into a regular buttercream. Tedious, but do it ANYWAY. The buttercream tastes delightfully of a silky chocolate pud and rich butter frosting. Yummy. If it still deters you, just make a regular batch, and you can freeze them well up to a month for future use!

Ingredients (Recipe slightly adapted from Nigellissima)

·       50 grams good-quality cocoa powder (sifted)

·       150 ml regular olive oil (plus more for greasing)

·       125 ml boiling coffee

·       2 teaspoons best vanilla extract

·       150 grams ground peanuts (or 125g plain flour / 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour)

·       2 teaspoons baking powder

·       ½ teaspoon of salt

·       1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

·       ½ teaspoon of all spice

·       200 grams caster sugar

·       3 large eggs

Directions (Makes 12 regular cakelets)

• Preheat your oven to 170°C/gas mark 3/325ºF. Line muffin pan with wrappers.
• Measure and sift the cocoa powder into a bowl or jug and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolatey, still runny (but only just) paste. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then set aside to cool a little.
• In another smallish bowl, combine the ground peanuts (or flour) with the baking powder, salt and spices.
• Put the sugar, olive oil and eggs into the bowl of a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment (or other bowl and whisk arrangement of your choice) and beat together vigorously for about 3 minutes until you have a pale-primrose, aerated and thickened cream.
• Turn the speed down a little and pour in the cocoa mixture, beating as you go, and when all is scraped in you can slowly tip in the dry mixture.
• Scrape down, and stir a little with a spatula, then pour this dark, liquid batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, still looks slightly damp. A cake tester should come up mainly clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.
• Let it cool for 10 minutes still in its tin, and then remove from the muffin trays. Leave to cool completely or do like I did and top with a dollop of chocolate pudding buttercream.

Baker’s Notes

1.    I used peanut flour instead of almond, as it gives a more nutty sweetness. However, I would experiment with a mix of regular and peanut flour in future, to tone down the nutty taste.

2.    Using hot coffee instead of water is recommended because the coffee really gives the chocolate flavor an oomph!

3.   I love adding spices to any of my chocolate cake recipes, they really tease the palate.  

Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Brittle

Chocolate cake has always been my go to dessert - be it fudgy, fluffy, moist or cakey - I LOVE THEM ALL. So I figured it was about time to start exploring all the recipes on the web but by a chance of fate, a friend recommended the Brown Betty's cookbook. 

                                           

An inter generational Southern style bakery in Philly that whips up rich, luscious and moist Southern style cakes - MY FAVOURITE KIND. The sour cream here adds moisture and some tang and extra eggs makes your batter more dense and rich. It was a sweet success - fudgey, moist and rich. 

I decided to skip the buttercream altogether and go with my own chocolate cream cheese frosting (a personal favourite). Do note the proportion of cream cheese to icing sugar is larger because I like mine more creamy and tangy! The peanut brittle was actually a food souvenir from Penang, Malaysia but can also be found in many traditional bakeries island wide in Singapore. 

                                  

For the Chocolate Sour Cream Cake (Adapted from Hummingbird High)

(makes one 9-inch, 2-layer cake)

•   Slightly less than 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature

•   ¼ cup + 1.5 tablespoons cocoa

•   1 large eggs, at room temperature

•   1 large egg yolks, at room temperature

•   3/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

•   1 1/8 cups cake flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

•   1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

•   7/8 cups granulated sugar

•   1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup water, boiling

For the Chocolate Sour Cream Cake:

1.) Preheat the oven to 175C

2.) In a medium bowl, mix together sour cream, cocoa powder, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla until smooth.

3.) Beat flour, sugar, salt, baking soda on low speed till just blended

4.) Add unsalted butter and half of the cocoa mixture (from the second step) to the flour mixture (from the third step) and beat until the dry ingredients are moist.

5.) Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the remaining cocoa mixture in 2 batches, beating well after each addition. Add 1/4 cup boiling water and beat until smooth.

6.) Bake until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30-35 mins. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

     (Tip : Let the cake (or cupcakes) cool for 5 minutes and seal in a ziplock bag to retain the cake's moistness!)

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (Makes enough for 1 9inch cake)

• 110g room temperature cream cheese
• 30g softened unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons Hershey's 100% cocoa powder

1.) Cream butter till soft and fluffy, then beat in vanilla.

2.) Added sifted icing sugar and cocoa, then beat till combined.

3.) Mix in cream cheese and beat till your desired consistency. (I like mine a lil stiff!) 

Frost cupcakes with a piping bag, or go 'rustic' with a frosting spatula like I did.