Little Box Brownie

A Baking Blog from Melbourne, Australia

Sweet

Celebration Chocolate Cake

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This past year has flown by, one year ago today Little Box Brownie was born. I started the blog with no idea how it would go, how long it would continue or where it would head. In fact the first 6 months I kept Little Box Brownie to myself as I was unsure about the whole idea. It wasn’t until the start of this year I actually started to tell people the blog existed and put it out there into the big wide world for others to see. I am so overjoyed to see how people have responded to Little Box Brownie and how they have embraced it. I wanted to say a huge thank you to each and everyone of you for all your support and words of encouragement over the past year. If anyone anywhere is thinking of starting a blog all I can say is go for it!! It has been so rewarding. I know the whole idea is daunting and you think wow how could I ever put myself, my words and my work out there. But really its amazing how people respond and where your photos pop up in the world wide web. One step at a time, is all it takes, all you have to do is start.
So I leave you with this decadent little chocolate cake to celebrate our 1st Birthday. 


Chocolate Cake

2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups white sugar

 

1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 cup hot instant coffee
 
Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder together add the sugar and stir through. In a separate bowl combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, essence and coffee. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Pour into two lined 20cm cake tins, and bake for 40minutes or until cooked.
 
250g chocolate
200g butter at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
 
Heat the chocolate in the microwave until melted, then leave to cool slightly.
Place the butter in a bowl and beat with an electric beater, sift in the icing sugar and cocoa powder and beat until smooth and fluffy. Pour in the chocolate and beat until smooth. 
 

 

Chocolate Mocha Cookies

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Afternoon pick me up? I always need one, don’t you? It baffles me how some people have so much energy all the time, they’re like little energiser bunnies, always go, go, go. I used to think maybe its the food they eat but you know what I think its just the way they’re programmed.
If you’re like me and need a pick me up or suffer from three-thirtyitis and need something to get you through the rest of the day, well at least until dinner, I’ve got the thing for you. I have combined all the wake me up foods into one cookie, coffee, chocolate and sugar. Drum roll please………
Mocha Cookies. They’re soft and gooey, just the way I like my cookies. Be warned they do have a bit of a coffee hit though.
Enjoy xx
Sophia

Mocha Cookies
 
200g butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee
 
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy the add the eggs in one at a time beating after each addition.
 
Sift in the flour, baking soda, cocoa and coffee together and add to the mixture. Stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.
 
Pre heat the oven to 150C
 
Roll the dough into balls and place on a lined baking tray, bake for 10 minutes or untill cooked.

Peanut Butter Oat Cookies

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Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy do I have a treat for you today. Peanut butter oatty cookies, she says as she devours the last one. These were so good, I am dreaming about making them again. And bonus they really can’t be that bad for you, lets see.
Peanut butter – good
oats – good
egg – relatively good
chocolate- super good
brown sugar- not so good, but way better that white sugar
This is my kind of super food.
Ahh who am I kidding this is after all a baking blog, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have a sweet tooth and enjoyed the odd baked good once in a while.
So enjoy!!
 
Oat Cookies
 
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup oats
3/4 cup chocolate chips
 
Pre heat the oven to 180C
 
Cream the peanut butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla essence. Stir though the baking soda, oats and chocolate chips. Roll in to balls and place on a baking tray, press down lightly with the back of a fork, place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until cooked.

Chocolate Pavlova

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So I made Julie and Julia’s chocolate pie in the last post with 3 egg yolks and I had the whites remaining. So naturally I had to find a way to use them up, and really what on this earth could be more delightful than a pavlova? Nothing, nothing at all, well I thought maybe chocolate pavlova but I’m a traditionalist at heart and do prefer a plain pavlova, I know!! How can that be being the chocoholic that I am, but come on who messes with a good pavlova? Me, I do, but I wish I hadn’t. Its good don’t get me wrong but it’s not like Mum’s pavlova, which you can find here.

Anyway my great scheme to uses up the egg whites resulted in me having too use more eggs thereby having left over yolks again, but don’t worry I solved this by making some ice cream. Waste not.

 
Chocolate Pavlova
 
6 egg whites
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 teaspoons cornflour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
 
Pre heat the oven to 180C
Place the egg whites in a clean dry bowl. With an electric beater whisk until the eggs form peaks, then slowly pour the sugar in, while still whisking. Sift in the cornflour and cocoa powder and pour in the vinegar and vanilla and fold through.
Draw a 20cm circle on three pieces of baking paper and place on baking trays. I do this so they all end up about the same size. I also put a little blob of the meringue on the down side of each corner of the baking paper so it doesn’t move. Place the pavlova’s in the oven and turn down the temperature to 100C. Bake for 1 hour then turn off the oven and leave the pav in the oven until cooled.
 
I have decorated the pavlovas with whipped cream, pomegranate and black berries from a tin. I also reduced the juice from the berry’s with about 3/4 of a cup of sugar then swirled it on top.