Chocolate Nutella Mug Cake... Prep, Cook & Devour in just 5 mins!!!

It was a rainy evening and I was craving for Nutella Hot Chocolate but instead I made this really yummy, decadent and super easy cake in a mug which can be made in microwave. It takes only 5 minutes to prep, cook and devour!

My husband and I have sweet tooth and crave for dessert every night. If he doesn't find anything, he eats a chocolate or spoonfull of Nutella. One day I came across this recipe which has both Nutella and chocolate and I have been a big fan of this recipe since then. So I decided to share it with you guys so that you can make this whenever you crave for dessert :). Absolutely decadent and sooo easy to make!

Makes one mug full which can be easily finished between 4 but I would say just share with your loved one ;)

Ingredients: 
All Purpose/Self rising Flour - 4 tbspn
Sugar - 4 tbspn
Unsweetened powder - 2 tbspn
Nutella - 3 tbspn
Egg - 1
Milk - 2 tbspn
Oil - 3 tbspn
Baking Powder - 1/4 tspn (if you are using All Purpose Flour)

Procedure: 
Make sure you have a big coffee mug. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Microwave for 1.5 mins on high power (It varies based on microwave) and that's it!! Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Note: Make sure you watch it closely while it is cooking in microwave and stop it when it is nicely risen (approximately 1.5mins).

Variations: 
You can distribute it in 3-4 ramekins and cook it for 30-40 secs each. It will serve up as individual dessert cups.

Conclusion:
Really decadent chocolate cake made within minutes and devoured in seconds ;)

Scrumptious Chocolate Pecan Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is one of the yummiest and not-so-fattening desserts. I love the fact that you can modify a lot in this recipe and make it as per your taste. I referred to the recipe from Epicurious and made my own changes to it. I made it thrice trying out different permutation combination and now I am posting the one I liked the best.

This one is my new favorite as it is easy to make and has a lot of protein (I cannot hog on food as much as I did during my pregnancy, so being super conscious).

Ingredients (Serves 6-8): 
Bread Slices - 8
Eggs - 3
Milk - 2 cups
White Sugar - 3/4 cup
Brown Sugar - 2 tbspns
Butter - 2 tbspns
Vanilla Extract - 1 tspn
Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 tspn
Milk/Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips - 1 cup
Pecan - 1/2 cup

Procedure: 

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F and after 5 mins place the breads in the oven for 5 mins
2. In the mean time, beat the eggs, white sugar, milk, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon together for 2-4 mins.
3. Now break 4 slices of the bread into small pieces and place them in an 8 inch baking pan. Sprinkle half the melted butter on the bread and add half the eggs mixture to it. Throw some chocolate chips and pecans on top and some brown sugar. 
4. Repeat step # 3 for the rest of the ingredients and bake it for 40-45 mins. The pudding will rise.
5. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.

Variations: 
I once added banana to it but my family is not a great fan of it so didn't prefer that one. If you plan to add any sweet fruit to the pudding like banana, make sure you adjust the sugar accordingly.

Conclusion:
My mom has recently joined the people on whom I experiment my food and she loved it.

Chocolate Walnut Torte

In mood for something healthy and yummy for dessert?? How perfect would the world be, if fried chicken became healthy and eating salad would count as the most unhealthy food. In search of that health+deliciousness, I thought of something similar to Almond Torte but used chocolate and walnuts instead. The Chocolate Walnut Torte is deliciously yummy and healthy. It tastes very much like Brownie but just that there is no butter and flour in it. This was made to suffice my husband's post dinner dessert cravings. I tried to follow the recipe from Elana's Pantry with the modifications as per my taste. I hope you enjoy this!!

Ingredients: 
Walnuts, coarsely ground - 1 cup
Sugar - 6 tbspns
Eggs, separated - 3
Salt - 1/2 pinch
Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips - 1/2 cup

Procedure: 

1. Grease an 8 inch pan (I used a spring form pan) and preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. In microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips stirring every 1 min (It will take only 2 minutes for the chocolate to melt). Mix it well and keep it aside.
3. Now whisk the egg yolks and 4 tbspns sugar for 2mins (till it is pale yellow in color).
4. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with salt till soft peaks form. Now add remaining sugar (1/2 tbspn at a time) and beat till stiff peaks form. 
5. Now mix the chocolate and walnuts in the egg yolks and then fold 1/3rd of the egg whites and mix well. Then again add another 1/3rd of the egg whites and mix well. Repeat it once again and mix the batter till it is just combined and white streaks are not seen.
6. Pour the batter in the greased pan and bake it for 20-25mins (or until the cake springs back when pressed gently).
7. Sprinkle some white powdered sugar to garnish and serve warm with some vanilla ice cream (come on, you can have one small bite of that ice cream once in a while) and / or chocolate syrup!!! 

Variations: 
You can try different sauces with it. I am planning to make a raspberry sauce which go perfectly with it.


Conclusion: 
Super delicious Chocolate Walnut Torte is done in less than an hour!  

Intense Chocolate Truffle Cake (Gluten Free)

It's been a while I have tried my hand at baking as I don't get many opportunities and time to bake. This weekend I had some time on hand and it was a friend's birthday who has twin babies (4 months old). So I thought of celebrating her birthday at (her) home by taking some food and baking a cake for her. I had to make a decadent chocolate truffle cake knowing that she would like Sugarless cake.
I always try to substitute things I have at home instead of buying something just for the recipe as it saves me time and $$. So I decided to use 4 types of chocolates (which I had at home) - semi-sweet, 60% dark, milk and white chocolate - and it turned out yummilicious! This cake/truffle was a good contender for restaurant style dessert for which I pay $$$. I hope you try making it and love it just like my friend and her family did (couldn't feed the twins as they are very young :( ).

Note: Please use a good quality chocolate for a great experience and restaurant style taste. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients (for 6-8 servings):
For Truffle 
Butter - 1/2 cup
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips - 1cup
60% Dark Chocolate Chips - 2/3cup
Large Eggs, chilled - 4

For Ganache
Heavy Cream - 1/4cup
Any Chocolate Chips - 1/2 cup (I used Dark and Milk)
Corn Syrup - 1Tbspn (This is used for getting a glaze to the ganache, so it is optional)

Garnish:
Milk Chocolate Bar, for curls - 1
White Chocolate Bar, for shaves - 1


Procedure: 

1. Melt the chocolate chips and butter (Truffle ingredients) on a double boiler till they are smooth. Let it sit aside and cool.
2. In the mean time, pre-heat the oven on 350 degrees and then whip the eggs on medium speed for 5-7mins.
3. Now fold the whipped egg (1/4th portion at a time) in the chocolate mixture and mix till it just assimilates.
4. Now grease a cake pan and line it with parchment paper (optional). Pour the batter in the greased pan
5. Prepare a water bath for the cake by filling a large pan (larger than the one used for cake) with hot water (hot tap water can be used) and then placing the cake pan in the water bath. Make sure the water is half way up the sides of the pan.
6. Bake it for 50mins or till the cake is done. When it is done, cool it on a rack (do not remove it from the pan) and then wrap it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight. The next day (or after 7-8 hour) remove the cake from the pan, dip the pan in warm water halfway up the sides and then run a knife around the inside of the pan and then invert it on a plate.
7. Prepare the ganache the next day. Boil the heavy cream and then melt the chocolate chips in it (heat it if need be) till they are smooth. Add the corn syrup and mix well. When the ganache is slightly warm, pour it over the cake to make it look like it is oozing out or you can use an offset spatula to make it look nice and clean.
8. Now use a peeler to make some curls out of the chilled chocolate bar and grate some white chocolate bar over the cake. Play around with the decoration and have fun!

Ganache Poured Over the Chocolate Truffle

The end result. Just Love the glaze over the ganache!

Variations: 
You can use sugar free chocolate bars to make sugar free truffle.
Also, if you don't find chocolate chips, don't get disappointed, you can use chocolate bars and chop them or use a peeler to make curls and use them instead.


Conclusion:
A very decadent and rich chocolate truffle is ready to be devoured :). Dark chocolate contains a large number of anti-oxidants which protects from aging. Also, the eggs are a good supplement of protein. So enjoy the dessert you just made.