Chocolate & coffee cake

It seems I have created my own tradition. I've never created a tradition before, so I don't know if it actually counts...
My friend Steph and I have breakfast together on our birthdays. Breakfast with just us, because everybody else works and can't have breakfast during the week.
This started last year, when I wanted to do something for my birthday, but everyone in my family was busy, and so Steph took care of me and we went out for breakfast together.
This year, Steph's family were all busy, so I took care of her and we went out for breakfast.



Does this count as a tradition? If it happens two years in a row, that's a tradition, right?
I guess we'll have to wait until next year to see if it sticks, but I hope it does.
Another good birthday tradition that I did obviously not come up with, is cake.


Cake and presents. That's a good tradition that everyone should get in on, if you're not already.
Cake and presents and candles. I know I said that when you turn 23 you don't get candles, but 22 is different. You still get candles when you turn 22. Didn't you know?


It was hard deciding what cake to make for Steph. She doesn't like cheesecake, or carrot cake. She does like coffee though, so that's the direction I went in.
Coffee and chocolate, what a good combination! Perfect for a girl with a coffee addiction.
I actually baked this cake in a vintage jelly mold, because I didn't have a decorative bundt pan, which is what I originally wanted to use. The jelly mold wasn't very big, so I made 6 cupcakes as well.
If you wanted to make all cupcakes, I think this recipe would make 12. Just raise the temperature of the oven and shorten the baking time by about 5-10 mins.



Chocolate and coffee cake:
From Sweetapolita


225g butter
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tbsp instant coffee dissolved into 3/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream (1 x 220mL tub)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and flour a 10 cup bundt tin.

Melt butter in a large saucepan. 

Add cocoa, stirring until smooth. 

Whisk in coffee water. Remove pan from heat.

Stir in sugar, sour cream, vanilla and eggs.

Add remaining ingredients, stirring until well blended.

Pour into prepared tin. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until skewer inserted into center comes out clean.

Cool in tin for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. Cool completely before icing.

Chocolate and coffee glaze:

Adapted from Sweetapolita

100g dark chocolate

75g unsalted butter

1 tbsp instant coffee powder dissolved in 2 tbsp water

1 1/2 tsp glucose syrup

Melt all ingredients in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water.

When mostly melted, stir until smooth.

Pour over cooled cake.

Optional: Shave dark chocolate over iced cake using a vegetable peeler.

Chunky Brownies & Madness.

I've got a confession to make.

I wasn't studying when I said I was. I wasn't even busy.

The truth is, I've been watching Mad Men. I'm sorry. I just got so tied up watching Joan, Peggy, Betty and all the boys, that I didn't want to be disturbed. Also, I'm a little bit behind the times. Mad Men has been out for ages and I've only just discovered it. (And Brent likes it too! Win).
And I know that the girls of Mad Men wouldn't eat brownies, because they'll make you 'stout', and if you're stout, then you'll never find a man. But honestly, I'm halfway to stout now, and I've already got a man, so I may as well keep eating brownies.

I looked at lots of brownie recipes before I decided on this one. I didn't want a recipe that was too fancy, and I didn't want a recipe that had lots of chocolate in it, because I didn't have very much and I didn't want to stop watching Mad Men to walk to the shop.

The recipe that I decided on, one by Stephanie Alexander, fitted the bill perfectly. I halved the recipe (because I don't want to get too stout), and I made the whole thing in one bowl. Or rather, one saucepan.
First you melt the butter, and then you mix all the other ingredients in, one by one. These brownies are fudgy and richly decadent (the photo doesn't really do them justice). You can use all plain flour, or all whole wheat flour, or half and half. I've made them all and they are all delicious. If you make the full recipe and bake it in a small tin, you get big fat squares of brownie that are hard to fit in your mouth, but taste extra fudgy (If you do this, you'll have to bake the brownies for an extra 5-10 mins. Remember: the smaller the tin, the longer the baking time.) But if you bake the brownies in a bigger tin, you get good, regular sized brownies, they just don't seem to be quite so fudgy. Whatever you choose, be sure to be richly rewarded for such little work.

This recipe reminds me of one that I used to make with my best friend in high school, Courtney. Courtney lived up the road from me, and we used to make brownies at one of our houses, leave all the mess, then walk to the other person's house to watch movies and eat brownies (Usually we'd watch the movie Camp. Did you ever see that? It's pretty good).

So go on, eat some brownies, watch some Mad Men, and think about high school a little bit (but not too much).

Recipe:
Adapted from Stephanie Alexander's 'The Cooks Companion'.
Here is the full recipe, but halve it, like I did, if you like.
Oven - 160C

180g butter
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs
100g plain flour or whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup choc chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts)
pinch of salt

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, sugar and vanilla and stir. Then add the eggs.
Add everything else, stir, and pour into a lined baking tin.
(Remember, the smaller the tin, the longer the cooking time).
Bake 20-25 mins, until cooked but still a bit gooey.
If you can, wait until the brownies are cooled before cutting them.