Chocolate Lava Cakes

Ingredients

• 5 squares (1 oz./28 g each) semisweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 additional egg yolks
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. (10 mL) vanilla
• 1 tsp. (5 mL) instant coffee powder
• 1 tbsp. (15 mL) all purpose flour
• whipped cream and berries as an accompaniment

Cooking Instructions

1. Grease four 3/4 cup (175 mL) custard cups or individual souffle dishes.
2. In a small saucepan, melt together the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
3. In a mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, additional egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and instant coffee powder until very thick, about 5 minutes. The mixture should be thick enough to form a ribbon when you lift the beater from the bowl. Gently fold in the flour and the chocolate mixture, mixing just until combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared baking dishes, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until about one hour before you're planning to serve dessert. (You can prepare the batter as much as 24 hours before serving -- great for do-ahead entertaining.)
5. Remove baking dishes from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before baking.
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
7. Arrange baking dishes on a large pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the top is just barely set. (A toothpick poked into the center of one of the cakes will come out with batter attached.) Let cool for 5 minutes, then very carefully loosen the sides of the cakes by running a knife blade around the inside surface of the dish and turn them out onto individual serving plates.
8. Serve immediately with whipped cream and, if desired, fresh strawberries or raspberries. 

 My favourite!!!

Green Tips!

It’s getting a lot of attention these days. We’ve heard the statistics, with a variety of figures and percentages, but the point remains the same: the number of cars worldwide will roughly double by 2030. Anyone who has spent any time in a traffic jam on a freeway, or in smoggy city streets in summertime, will agree that there just simply isn’t space for all those cars. Cleaner fuel and alternative energy sources are all well and good but the simple truth is that we need to use our cars less.

Here are some quick and easy ways to make a big change to your routine:

If it’s nearby, walk. Don’t drive to the corner store. Don’t drive to the gym. Walk or bike to work a couple of times a week. In most cities, you can probably get by without a car or using it once or twice a week at most.
Take public transit. It’s cheaper, greener, and in many cases faster than driving. Get over the stigma, and take the bus. Many governments now offer tax rebates on monthly passes.
Carpool. When you are driving somewhere, rideshare.
Foster these ideals in your children,and expect the same from them. If they want a ride to the mall, to baseball practice, to school, help them find a greener way to get there. They may not make it easy on you, but you’re planting a seed for a future generation of people who aren’t as dependent on their cars as you are on yours.

Waiting for your green tips!

Scandinavian Brownies

(One-layer Chocolate Cake)
Yield: 24 servings
 

Ingredients

1+1/3 cup (150 g) all-purpose flour
1+½ cup (330 g) sugar
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (170 g) butter
3 fl oz (0.9 dl) boiling water
3 eggs
4 oz (120 g) chocolate chips (40-50% cocoa)
5 oz (150 g) chopped walnuts or pecan nuts

Frosting

1/3 cup (75 g) butter
8 oz (220 g) sweet or semisweet dark chocolate
2 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 tablespoon hot espresso or very strong coffee

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F (Gas mark 4 or 180 deg C).
2. Line a 13 x 9 in (33 x 23 cm) cake tin with grease proof or other non-stick paper and grease the tin.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan.
4. In a bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and vanilla extract.
5. Add eggs, melted butter and hot water and mix until smooth.
6. Add chocolate chips and nuts.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 20-30 minutes.
8. Cool the cake. Glace with the chocolate frosting.
9. For the frosting, mix butter, chopped chocolate, syrup and coffee and heat in a double boiler until melted. Stir until smooth and spread over the cake.

Enjoy!!!

Presents!

We shouldn't be glad only when we get presents, but also when we give too!

Thoughts

When you take up a hobby or another activity, you are full of happiness and enthusiasm for it, and so willing to become the best in the class, team, or even compete yourself. Sometimes, you feel great, these fellings do affect your hobby's improvement  as well as affect it negatively and making a lot of silly mistakes. Although I do well on almost everything I do, When feeling down and never complete my goals, I feel empty and useless. That is the moment that I keep thinking, that maybe I'm not good at this, maybe I am not made for this or that I've unconsciously given up. And actually these thoughts, make me feel a lot worse. Always my teachers ( almost all of them) were telling me ''Come on try it, don't be so reluctant, if you make a mistake you will learn from it''. This was a possitive thought to go on with my education and my hobbies. And this is what we should do, making mistakes and learning from them and not staying in our ''plastic bubble'' protecting ourselves from the any dissapointment. We should be open to new ideas and new expiriences and not stuck on the old and retrogressive and also not give up so easily...remember ''Difficulties and Obstacles are standing there for a reason''

 Well thats all folks!
 Goodnight!!!
  23-11-10

Thoughts 22-11-10

Wow.... 33  days till Christmas, one of my favourite holidays! Just the idea of it: cold outside maybe snowing, in my warm and cozy armchair and a cup of chocolate with me all  the time and why not a good movie or book to keep me company. I usually spend my holidays with my family and good friends and this makes me feel very nice and cozy however, such moments, I keep thinking of people who don't have their families and friends with them these days, days that are supposed to be dedicated to family. People who face many problems in their life but they keep looking on the bright side of life knowing that if they don't, they will collapse and this will be hard for them.
It a possitive thought that a lot of things has the Goverment done to help every person facing difficulties in every factor of their life, but the actions taken for many problems are never enough...
Also we must 'reduce' our egoism and start showing some interest for others people problems. It would be nice idea the New Year not to find us completely careless and apathetic to people living next door.

Well these are my thoughts for today.
Goodnight

Snowflakes

Snowflakes

Makes about 66

1 cup butter
1 3-ounce package cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar. Beat in egg yolk, vanilla and orange zest. Sift together flour, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually blend flour mixture into butter mixture. Fill cookie press. Form cookies on ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugar, if desired. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Remove at once to cooling racks.