Coca Cola Chocolate Cake

COCA COLA CHOCOLATE CAKE

Here's part two of the birthday cakes I cooked last weekend for friend's birthdays. This one was one of my boyfriend's closest friend's, Elyse, who's also become a great friend of mine. Now Elyse loves a drink of Coke, we joke she's addicted. Now I had heard you could put Coke in cakes and it tastes great, but hadn't tried it. This was my chance to have a go, and wow it was worth it. This is one of the best cakes I've made in a longtime. The Coke made the cake light and fluffy, and combined with my standard ganche recipe, it was perfect. I always know when the cake is good because it goes fast. We cut the cake up and everyone had a slice and ate it all - a sure sign the cake was a hit. People said they had hints of coke as they ate it. So have a go at this cake and I know you'll love it.

There's a few things I want to try over the next few weeks, experiment a little. Some may work, some may not. So I look forward to sharing the successes with you.

Original Recipe from: http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/coca-cola-chocolate-cake-L1378.html

INGREDIENTS:

For the cake:

1 1/2 cups Marshmallows

1/2 cup Oil

1/2 cup Margarine

3 tablespoons Cocoa

1 cup Coke

1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

2 Eggs

1 1./4 cups of Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

1/2 cup Buttermilk

2 cups Self Raising Flour

Ganache:

400g Milk Chocolate, roughly chopped

300g Thickened Cream

Lolly Coke Bottles to decorate

DIRECTIONS:

1 - Preheat oven to 160°c and grease line a springform tin with baking paper.

2 - Place marshmallows, oil, margarine, cocoa and Coke in a saucepan and heat and stir on medium heat until melted.

3 - Mix in bicarbonate soda.

4 - Beat flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla essence and buttermilk.

5 - Mix all ingredients together, including flour, and pour into springform tin. The mixture will be runny, so don't worry.

6 - Bake for one hour or until cake bounces back or skewer comes out clean.

7 - Let cool in pan. When cool, cut in half, ready to ice.

8 - To prepare the ganache, place cream in a small saucepan over a medium heat and bring just to boil.

9 - Remove from heat and pour over chopped chocolate (in a heatproof bowl). Leave for 5 minutes and then whisk mixture together. Chill in fridge, stirring every few minutes until it gets thicker.

10 - Spread the ganache liberally over the cake and the side. Refridgerate to set.

11 - Top with fizzy Coke bottle lollies and enjoy.

Catch you on Tuesday for the results of my national cheesecake day bake.

Wayne

xx

Baked Eggs with Sausage

BAKED EGGS with SAUSAGE

Time for something a little different today, some breakfast. This is something very easy, with only three ingredients. I wanted to make something nice for breakfast for my boyfriend before I deserted him for the day and went to work on a Sunday. I'd tried some baked eggs before and they were nice, I wanted to try it with sausages as they have become my favourite companion for eggs. Plus, it was a good way to use my cool ramekins. Now I used a little too much salt on top, so be careful not to use too much. Match it with some toast, and freshly brewed coffee and you will have a great Sunday breakfast.

INGREDIENTS (To make two serves):

4 Eggs
2 Sausages
Pecorino Cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS:

1 - Preheat oven to 180°c and grease 2 ramekins.

2 - Cook sausages, make sure not to overcook.

3 - Slice up sausages into small pieces and place half of each sausage in the bottom of each ramekin.

4 - Place first egg over top.

5 - Repeat process with the rest of the sausage and the next egg.

6 - Sprinkle cheese over top and use a little salt and pepper on top.

7 - Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until egg whites set.

8 - Enjoy!

Have lots of baking to do next few days, some complex cakes I can't wait to share with you!

Wayne
xx