Cherry, Chocolate and Kahlua Brownies

Baked this delicious brownies and while they are still warm, three quarters of it are gone in less than half an hour! My nieces and nephew came for a visit and thought I bake something chocolaty, their favorite. These brownies are perfect! I would suggest using a slightly bigger pan as when the brownies are baked, it really puffed up in the centre. And as usual, I reduced the amount of sugar used, from the original 500gm to 280gm, believe me, it is sweet enough! The brownies turned out really good, with a delightful Kahlua liquor taste, moist and chocolaty. This would definitely go on my 'to-do-again' list!

I'm sharing this with Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story

Cherry, Chocolate and Kahlua Brownies

(adapted from "Brownies and Bars" by Liz Franklin)
Makes 15
Preparation Time : 1 hour, plus 30 minutes soaking
You will need a lightly buttered roasting tin or cake tin measuring 20x30cm/8x12inches

100g/3-1/2 oz dried cherries (I use dried cranberries)
4-5 tablespoons Kahlua
250g/9oz butter
500g/1 lb 2oz caster sugar (I use 280gm)
100g/3-1/2oz dark chocolate
60g/2-1/4oz cocoa powder
4 eggs, beaten
125g/4-1/2oz self-raising flour

Soak the cherries in the Kahlua for 30 minutes or so.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Melt the butter, sugar, chocolate and cocoa powder together. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
Stir the eggs into the chocolate mixture and then fold in the flour. Stir in the cherries and soaking liquid.
Spoon into the prepared tin, and then bake for 35 minutes or so, until just firm but still slightly fudgy.
Leave to cool in the tin and then cut into squares. Store them in an airtight container.

Cherry Speckled Lemon and Almond Bars

Cherry Speckled Lemon and Almond Bars. The name is very pretty, that's what I think when I first saw this recipe, there's no photo of this cake in the book. So I can only imagine it will look like speckled bits of cherries in the cake, very pretty indeed!  Do my cake looks like it has speckled bits of cherries?  Of course it does, the only thing is .....

.....I speckled it with dried cranberries instead! Did not have any dried cherries in my pantry. Have not seen any dried cherries being sold at the local bakery supplies stores before.  I am in the midst of clearing my pantry, so the last batch of cranberries goes into this cake.  This cake is not as moist as I expect it to be. It is not actually dry either, I think the amount of ground almonds plus the flour is maybe a little bit too much.  Or maybe when I reduce the sugar, it does have some affect on the moistness of this cake. The original amount of sugar is ridiculously at 500gm!

So conclusion : This is not a really bad cake actually, a little more moist to it would make it perfect! Perhaps extra butter can be added! But if you would like to give this a try, here's the recipe :

I'm sharing this at

Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen

Cherry Speckled Lemon and Almond Bars

(adapted from "brownies and bars" by Liz Franklin)

Makes 15

Preparation Time : 1 hour and 10 minutes

You will need a lightly buttered, deep roasting pan or cake tin measuring 20 x 30cm/8 x 12 inches

250gm/9 oz butter

500gm/1 lb 2 oz sugar ( I use 250gm)

4 eggs

200gm/7 oz self-raising flour

200gm/7 oz ground almonds

150gm/5 oz dried cherries

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp caster sugar, for sprinkling

Method :

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.  

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs a little at a time, stirring in between each addition, until the mixture is smooth and all the eggs are incorporated.

Stir in the flour and the ground almonds, and then add the dried cherries, lemon zest and lemon juice, mixing well.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and firm to the touch.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin, sprinkle with caster sugar and then cut into bars.

Store in an airtight container.

Apricot And Coconut Squares

Apricot and Coconut Squares. I did not plan on making this.  I wanted to make something else which I had planned to bake for the last couple of days.  Took out my flour, sugar, etc.. and,  my recipe book, "Brownies and Bars", which happens to be my favourite, at the moment. But somehow, I found myself turned to another page, and that's it, I'm making this now!  So another unexpected recipe came to see the light of day, and the other one being shoved away until later!  Has this happened to you before?  Well, this is not the first time for me! 

This is a sweet delightful treat. The addition of desiccated coconut gives it a soft chewy texture.  Of course there is the delicious tanginess from the apricots and the walnuts gave an added slight crunch. As usual, the sugar is reduced, which turned out perfect.  

I'm linking this recipe to Recipe Swap Thursday #5 at Prairie Story. Check out other yummies at Prairie Story and link yours too!

Apricot and Coconut Squares

(adapted from "brownies & bars" by Liz Franklin)

Makes 15

Preparation time : 45 minutes

You will need a lightly buttered deep roasting tin or cake tin measuring 20x30 cm/8x12 inches

Base

100 gm/3-1/2 oz self-raising flour

100 gm/3-1/2 oz desiccated coconut

100 gm/3-1/2 oz caster sugar (I use 80gm)

100 gm/3-1/2 oz butter, melted

Topping

200 gm/7 oz dried apricots, chopped

150 gm/5 oz caster sugar (I use 110gm)

50 gm/1-3/4 oz desiccated coconut

100 gm/3-1/2 oz walnuts, roughly chopped

2 eggs, beaten

50 gm/1-3/4 oz dark chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/gas mark 4.  To make the base, sift the flour into a bowl and add the coconut and caster sugar.  Stir in the melted butter and spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.

To make the topping, mix the apricots, sugar, coconut and walnuts together in a large bowl and stir in the eggs.  Spread over the base and then bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden and springy.  Leave to cool.

Drizzle the cold cake with the melted chocolate to decorate and then cut into squares or bars.  Store them in an airtight container.

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Ever seen this flower?  Can you name the plant of this flower?

Cranberry, Apple and Almond Squares

Another delicious recipe from Liz Franklin's, "brownies and bars". I really like this book! The few recipes that I have tried, have turned out really well. I love cranberries and almonds, and this recipe is just perfect. As usual, I reduced the sugar and sweetness turns out just right.  This cake has a lovely soft texture with a light buttery moist.  I will be making this again, for sure!

I am linking this to :
 Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen 
Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen

Cranberry, Apple and Almond Squares

(adapted from "brownies and bars" by Liz Franklin)

Makes 15
Preparation time : 45 minutes
You will need a lightly buttered deep roasting tin or cake tin measuring 20 x 30 cm/8 x 12 inches
Ingredients :
250 gm/9 oz butter
250 gm/9 oz caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling (I use 180gm)
4 eggs, beaten
250 gm/9 oz self-raising flour
150 gm/5 oz dried cranberries
2 dessert apples, cored and chopped
150 gm/5 oz flaked almonds

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.  Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and then add the eggs, a little at a time until they are all fully incorporated.  Stir in the flour, followed by the cranberries and apples.  Add half the almonds and then spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.

Scatter over the remaining almonds and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden and springy.

Leave to cool in the tin, sprinkle with a little caster sugar and cut into squares.  Store in an airtight container.

Crunchy Oat Flapjacks and Award

First of all, I'm very excited to have been given my very first award!  I'm gonna fill with the details right after this delicious flapjacks.  This flapjack is absolutely fabulous.  Crunchy Oat Flapjacks are crunchy right after baking but it gets chewier when it cools.  This is easily the best flapjacks I have eaten, not that I have eaten that many flapjacks, as I am not a big fan of flapjacks. Each time when I flip through my book, I would always go back to this page.  I am not particularly fond of flapjacks, but this recipe has really caught my attention.  So in order to sort of put an end to it, I decided to give it a try.  I was pleasantly surprised that after making and eating this, I have change my mind, flapjacks are indeed delicious, especially with a tall glass of very cold milk, yummy!   I went ahead with the variation by adding raisins,  make sure you soak them first so that they are juicy and plump.

I only made half the recipe but I add more sunflower seeds, I use  2 tablespoons.  If you do not have any particular favorite flapjack recipe, give this a try, this might just be the one!  It is a great snack.

Crunchy Oat Flapjacks
(adapted from "brownies and bars" by Liz Franklin)
Preparation time : 40  minutes
Makes 12
You will need a roasting tin or shallow tin measuring 20 x 25cm /8 x 10 inches

180 gm/6-1/2 oz butter
180gm /6-1/2 oz light brown sugar (for half a recipe, I use 60gm)
4 tablespoons golden syrup
375 gm/13 oz whole porridge oats ( I use jumbo rolled oats)
50 gm/1-3/4 oz cornflakes

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350F/gas mark 4.  Gently melt the butter, brown sugar and golden syrup together in a saucepan set over a low heat. (Alternatively, microwave on high for 1-2 minutes).
Gently stir in the whole porridge oats and cornflakes, taking care not to break them up too much.  Spoon the mixture into the baking tin.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the flapjacks have turned golden and become firm.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes or so and then cut into bars.   Leave the flapjacks to cool completely before lifting them out of the tin.  Store in an airtight container.

Variation:
A handful of raisins (about 85 gm/3 oz) makes an excellent, juicy addition to these flapjacks.  A tablespoon of roasted sunflower seeds adds an extra crunchy dimension.

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Exciting news!  Good news!   I have been given the following "Versatile Blogger Award" by one of the fabulous site whom I really admire, "The Ardent Epicure".  As a new blogger with less than a year of blogging, it has been a wonderful adventure and fun way to meet other bloggers who have something very much in common, the love for food!  For me, besides sharing our love of food, it is also a way to enable me to connect with friends from all over.  It is a reward, when at the end of the day, or some stolen moments during my busy hour, when I sit down in front of  my computer, I found someone out there, a blogger friend from far away, took sometime to read my posts and left a comment, however short, really makes my day. Thank you, friends!

In accepting this award, there are a few rules which I am happy to adhere :

The rules for excepting this award are :

1) Thank the person who gave it to you

2) List 7 things about yourself, and team members if you have them

3) Pass on to 10 bloggers that are new to you and you admire

I am really honored to receive this Versatile Blogger Award. I am really excited to bits!  The Ardent Epicure is a fabulous site comprises of three very talented persons and they are "Truffle Shuffle - Adam, Sugar and Spice - Grely and Magic of Spice - Alisha". They have an outrageously fantastic site and fabulous, really fabulous recipes!  Those of you who are familiar with them will know what I mean, if you have not look into their site before, please do, and you will see how much they enjoy food and their creativity and passion for good food really flows in their wonderful site. 

7 things about myself :
1) I read cookbooks every night at bedtime.
2) Trying hard to resist buying more cookbooks!
3) Worked for 20 odd years, now SAHM and enjoying every moment of it.
4) Really love spicy food.
5) My favourite places to be : bookstore and the market.
6) I love gardening and dream of a big garden to grow my veggies, especially tomatoes!
7) Read Harry Porter twice!

I would like to pass on this award to 10 blogger friends whom I really admire.  Please do visit them as each one of them is fabulous and unique in their own way.  Here they are, in random order :

1.  Simply Healthy Family
2.  Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner
3.  My Kitchen in the Rockies
4.  Mommy's Kitchen
5.  scrambled hen fruit
6.  My Fabulous Recipes
7.  Sankeerthanam
8.  Angie's Recipes
9.  Super Yummy Recipes
10. At Home With Rebecka

Please take a moment to click on  all of the above and and make some new blogger friends.  Have fun getting to know one another!  Thank you to all my blogger friends out there for the support and making blogging such fun!

Golden Pear and Thyme Cake

Golden delicious pear and thyme.    Both  have a  nice light fragrant.  This is the third pear recipe this month! I bought these from the market, I guess that they must be in season now, as I seldom see this variety.  It is very  sweet and delicious.  The pairing of this pear with thymes is wonderful.  The cake turns out to be very moist and soft.  This recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of thyme leaves, but I think that adding a little bit more, maybe half a tablespoon more, would give a slightly more stronger fragrance of the thymes, which I find that the original amount is not enough in terms of flavour and smell, as thymes has a lighter fragrant and taste unlike other herbs which can be very strong.

Overall, this is a really nice cake to bake, it is so soft and moist.  If you have some extra pears around, and some  thymes in your garden, try making this lovely cake, it is great with a cup of hot tea.  I'm bringing this to Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen.



Golden Pear and Thyme Cake

(adapted from "brownies  &  bars" by Liz Franklin)

Makes 15
Preparation time : 1 hour and 20 minutes
You will need a lightly buttered, deep roasting pan or cake tin measuring 20 x 30 cm/8 x 12 inches

280 gm/10 oz butter
280 gm/10 oz caster sugar
4 firm, but ripe pears, peeled, cored and diced
4 eggs
250 gm/9 oz self-raising flour, sifted
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon caster sugar, for sprinkling

Set the oven to180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Heat 30 gm/1 oz of butter and 30 gm/1 oz of the sugar together in a pan, until the sugar has dissolved.  Add the diced pear and cook for about 5 minutes, until the pear is golden and caramelised.  Leave to cool slightly.
Cream the remaining butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, a little at a time, stirring in between each addition, until the mixture is smooth and all the eggs are incorporated.
Add the flour, and then stir in the cooled pears with any buttery juices, and the thyme.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes, or until the cake is golden and springy.  Allow the cake to cool in the tin, scatter with the extra caster sugar, and then cut into squares.  Store in an airtight container.

(my notes :  I use only 160gm of sugar for the cake and 30gm for the pears)

Apricot and Oat Slices

I love dried apricots.  They are really yummy with a unique tangy taste unlike any other fruits that I have tried. This Apricot and Oats Slices are really good with a cup of hot tea.  It is great as a snack or treat yourself to a slice anytime of the day!  This recipe is so simple and easy to follow.  Another great recipe from Liz Franklin's "brownies and bars" . When eaten it barely warm,  the crumble has a very light crispy crumbly texture, which is very nice.  The taste gets even better the next day, when the crumble has soften and the apricot has cooled and set.  Do this in the evening, and enjoy it for breakfast, if it can last that long! I will make this again, for sure.  

 This recipes makes a rather large slice.  For half the recipe, I use a 7x7 inch baking pan.  I would advise that all four sides of the pan, lined with parchment paper, to avoid the apricots becoming too dark at the sides of the pan.  I mashed the apricots lightly even though the recipe doesn't call for it, its your preference.  You can still see bits and pieces of the apricots, a little bit chewy in every bite, just as I like them!

Apricot and Oat Slices

(adapted from "brownies  & bars" by Liz Franklin)
Makes 15
Preparation time : 1 hour, plus cooling.
You will need a baking tin measuring 24 x36 cm /9-1/2 x 14 inches

Filling

500 gm/1 lb 2 oz dried apricots, chopped
100 gm /3-1/2 oz sugar

Crumble

250 gm/9 oz butter
350 gm/12 oz flour
200 gm/7 oz caster sugar
50 gm/1-3/4 oz jumbo oats

To make the filling, put the apricots and sugar in a saucepan with 100 ml/4 fl oz water.  Simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, until the apricots are soft.  Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C/375 degrees F/gas mark 5.  Rub the butter and flour together until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.  Add the sugar and oats.

Sprinkle half of the mixture over the base of the tin and press down gently.  Spread the apricot mixture over the base.  Scatter the remaining crumble evenly over the apricots.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and cut into squares or slices.  Store in an airtight container.

Rum & Raisin Brownies

Moist and delightful. The rum makes a difference. There is this wonderful smell and a light taste of the rum, which I think is just nice, and not too overwhelming. The contents of the sugar, however, is too much, for me anyway. I cannot bring myself to mix in 500gm of sugar in a cake, brownie included! They may contain more chocolate and therefore more sugar is needed to balance off the bitter taste of chocolate, but 500gm?? I reduced it to 200gm initially, and as I melted the butter, sugar and cocoa powder, I add in more sugar gradually until the sweetness is just right, and stopped at 300gm, no more! And I have not used this much of sugar in a cake before! (feeling guilty as it is!) The result is a moist and delicious, not-to-sweet rum and raisin brownie.

Rum and Raisin Brownies(adapted from "brownies & bars" by Liz Franklin)
Makes 15
Preparation Time : 1 hour, plus 30 minutes soaking. You will need a lightly buttered roasting tin or cake tin measuring 20 x 30 cm/8 x 12 inches

Ingredients :50 gm /1-3/4 oz raisins
3 tbsp rum
250 gm / 9 oz butter
500 gm /1 lb 2 oz caster sugar (I only use 300gm)
100 gm / 3-1/2 oz cocoa powder
4 eggs, beaten
100 gm / 3-1/2 oz self-raising flour
100 gm / 3-1/2 oz walnuts, roughly chopped
Method :

1. Pour the rum over the raisins and set them aside to soak for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Melt the butter, sugar and cocoa powder together. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
3. Stir in the eggs into the cocoa mixture and fold in the flour. Stir in the raisins and soaking liquid, together with the walnuts. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35 minutes, or until just firm but still slightly fudgy.
4. Leave to cool in the tin and then cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.

Chocolate and Orange Marble Squares

This is a lovely cake. I wouldn't call it a moist cake, but it is definitely not dry either. The texture is just nice and soft. I will definitely make this again, only this time I will try adding some instant coffee to the cocoa mixture to make "Mocha and Orange Marble Squares". This lovely recipe is from one of the books on my shelf "brownies and bars" by Liz Franklin. There are many lovely recipes in this book and I am really looking forward to make every one of them!

Chocolate and Orange Marble Squares
(adapted from "brownies & bars" by Liz Franklin)
Makes 15
Preparation time : 1 hour and 10 minutes.
You will need a lightly buttered deep roasting tin or cake tin measuring 20 x 30 cm/8 x 12 inches

Ingredients :
250 gm / 9 oz butter
250 gm / 9 oz sugar (I use 180 gm)
4 eggs, beaten
250 gm / 9 oz self-raising flour, sifted
juice and zest of 1 orange (I got 1/3 cup)
3 tbsps cocoa powder

Method :
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / gas mark 4.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, a little at a time, stirring in between each addition, until the mixture is smooth and all the eggs are incorporated. Stir in the flour. Add the orange juice and zest. Spoon half of the mixture in dollops randomly over the base of the prepared cake tin.

Add the cocoa powder to the remaining mixture and stir until fully incorporated. Spoon the mixture in between the dollops of the orange mixture. Drag a wooden spoon handle lightly through the mixtures to create a slight swirl effect.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or so, until golden and springy.

Cool in the tin and cut into squares. Store them in an airtight container.