3 ingredient Nutella Brownies

I'm a little late to the game but better late than never. It was World Nutella day on Feb 5th so I baked some Nutella brownies but have not gotten round to blogging about them. This recipe has been going round the blogosphere and I finally got to try it. Only 3 ingredients for amazing chocolatey, gooey brownies. It does make you realise how much fat and sugar Nutella contains but I'll just ignore that for now and munch on these brownies! These are really quick to prepare and would be perfect to impress last minute guests especially if like me you always have a spare jar of Nutella in the house.

I've baked these 3 times now as they are just so good and everyone keeps asking for the recipe. If you've tried it or are planning to try it, do let me know. I think it would taste great with some added chopped nuts or chocolate chips for extra decadence. 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month.

Treat Petite which is guest hosted by Lisa from United Cakedom on behalf of Kat from The Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Like It, Love It, Gotta Have It. I love Nutella and can (sometimes) be found eating Nutella straight from the jar. 

Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen. The theme this month is anything goes and this recipe uses 2 large free range eggs. 

#FoodYearLinkUp hosted by Charlotte from Charlotte's Lively Kitchen for World Nutella Day. 

Cook Blog Share hosted by Kirsty from Hijacked by Twins

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too. 

 3 ingredients - Nutella, eggs, plain flour 

 

 Lovely gooey brownies 

(You need a double recipe for a 8.5inch x 8.5inch square tin, otherwise use a 18cm sandwich tin for 1 recipe)

Ingredients for ONE recipe

2 large free range eggs

370g Nutella

65g plain flour, sifted

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together until smooth.
• Pour into a greased and lined tin and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes depending on the size of your tin.
• The brownies should be cooked round the edges but still soft in the middle.
• Allow to cool in the tin before slicing into squares.

Plum and Blueberry Yoghurt Cake

When Caroline announced that this month's AlphaBakes letter is 'Y',I immediately thought of yoghurt. I love baking with yoghurt and tend to use it in muffins and banana bread. I found this great recipe online for a Peach and Blueberry Greek Yoghurt Cake so I decided to give it a go. Plums were on sale in the supermarket so I used plums instead of peaches and it worked beautifully. I'm sure nectarines or even pears would work well too. The cake is really colourful and visually appealing. The sponge is light and the added fruit on top makes it feel almost healthy. 

I'm sending this to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes this month and myself on alternate months. The letter is Y for yoghurt. 

It's also going to Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too

 sponge base 

 adding lovely fresh fruit on top 

 

 look at all the lovely colours 

Recipe from Julia's Album
The only changes I made was to reduce the amount of sugar, replace the peaches with plums and adding in some brown sugar before baking.

185g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
56g butter, softened
180g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
125mls Greek yogurt
4 plum, sliced
170g blueberries

3-4 teaspoons light brown sugar (optional) 

• Preheat oven to 180C. 
• Grease and line a 23cm diameter springform tin.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. 
• In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together for a few minutes.
• Add in the eggs, one at a time and mix well.
• Add in the yoghurt and vanilla extract.
• Stir in the flour mixture and continue mixing. 
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
• Arrange the plum slices in a circular fashion on top.
• Sprinkle the bluberries on top.
• If using, sprinkle a few teaspoons of light brown sugar on top before baking. 
• Bake for approximately 45 - 50 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool completely in the tin before releasing and serving. 

Chcocolate Peanut Butter Monkey Cake

Happy Chinese New Year! Today is the first day of the lunar calendar and it's the year of the Monkey. Wishing all my readers good health, prosperity and happiness. We had a little party at the weekend to celebrate the occasion. As it's a monkey year, I decided to make a monkey cake. Unfortunately I didn't deocrate it in time for the party so J has taken it to work today to share with his colleagues. It's a chocolate cake filled with peanut butter frosting. The decoration is simple yet effective albeit a bit messy to decorate! If you have kids, they will definitely enjoy decorating this cake with you. Chinese New Year goes on for 15 days so you have plenty of time to impress your family and friends with this cake. 

I'm sending this to #FoodYearLinkUp hosted by Charlotte from Charlotte's Lively Kitchen for Chinese New Year. 

It's also going to Love Cake hosted by Ness from Jibber Jabber UK. The theme this month is The Month Of Cake as it's the anniversary of the challenge. 

Finally to Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen as the theme this month is Anything Goes. There's 2 large free range eggs in this cake.

 The cake batter is very liquid - don't worry it bakes beautifully. 

 spread peanut butter frosting on top of the first layer of cake 

 Add second layer of cake. I used a cocktail stick to roughly draw an outline of a monkey face. I'm terrible at drawing!! 

 Spread the peanut butter frosting where the monkey face will be 

 

 Carefully spread the chocolate ganache over the rest of the cake including the sides

 Press chocolate rice cereal on to the chocolate ganache. I used 2 white candy melts for the eyes and piped some chocolate ganache for the eye balls, nose and mouth (which was a littlewonky!) The ears are tiny as I didn't have any ginger biscuits at home and used golden Oreo cookies instead. 

Recipe from Bird on A Cake 

I reduced the sugar amount, substituted chocolate extract for vanilla extract and used more milk in the frosting 

For the cakes 

1 cup (250mls) boiling water

350g caster sugar

220g plain flour  

85 cocoa powder, sifted

2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 large, free range eggs

1 cup (250mls) buttermilk

1/2 cup (125mls) vegetable oil

1 teaspoon chocolate extract 

Peanut butter frosting

250g smooth peanut butter

113g butter

250g icing sugar

40-50 mls milk

Chocolate Ganache

175g dark chocolate 

80mls double cream

20g butter

To decorate

2 white candy melts

2 large cookies for the ears - I used golden oreos but they are too small, recommend ginger biscuits or digestive biscuit

Choco rice cereal 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder in a bowl.
• Place the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and add in the eggs, buttermilk, oil and chocolate extract.
• Mix well.
• Slowly pour in the water and continue mixing at a low speed until you have a smooth mixture. 
• The batter will be very liquid, this is normal.
• Divide the batter evenly between 2 sandwich tins and bake for approximately 30 - 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow the cakes to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the peanut butter frosting, beat the peanut butter and butter until smooth.
• Add in the icing sugar and continue beating.
• Slowly add in the milk with the mixer running.
• You  may need to add a little more or a little less of the milk depending on the consistency of your icing. You want a smooth, spreadable paste. 
• To make the chocolate ganache, place the cream in a small saucepan and heat gently until bubbles are just visible. 
• Add in the chocolate and whisk until smooth.
• Remove from the heat.
• Add in the butter and continue whisking until smooth.
• Allow to cool and set a little before using.
• Decorate the cake as shown above. 

AlphaBakes "G" Round up

Welcome to January's "G" Roundup of AlphaBakes. It's hard to believe that we are at the end of January which has virtually disappeared! I'm guessing a lot of you have been busy and trying to get back into the swing of things. We've not had as many entries as usual so we are hoping that it will pick up in February. Caroline will be hosting so be sure to check out her blog to find out which letter we are using. 

First up is Caroline's mum with her chocolate and ginger cake. 

Following on with the same theme we have chocolate and ginger flapjacks by Suelle from Mainly Baking. She wanted to make something simple and chocolatey and came up with these flapjacks. It contains 100% cacao and Turkish crystallised ginger pieces which are quite fiery.

Kate from the Gluten Free Alchemist baked some Ginger cookies/biscuits which are of course gluten free and there's also the option for making them dairy free as well. These ginger biscuits have molasses, ginger and cinnamon. They are rolled in sugar before baking giving them a lovely sparkle. 

My co host Caroline from Caroline Makes baked a Chocolate and Peanut Butter Goo Goo Cake. I've not heard of Goo Goo until now and I do wish I could try some! The cake is inspired by her trip to Nashville, America. Goo Goo Cluster is a candy bar with chocolate, caramel, peanuts and marshmallow nougat invented in Nashville. It sounds a bit like a rocky road to me and looks great on top of her chocolate and peanut butter cake. 

Next is my own entry with a Golden Syrup Cake. It's a really simple cake which showcases the star ingredient, golden syrup. The cake keeps really well and was delicious served with creme fraiche, greek yoghurt or ice cream. 

Kate from the Gluten Free Alchemist is back with a Banana, Melon and Strawberry Smoothie. The G here is from Galia melon which is one of her favourite fruits. Melon is quite an unusual choice for a smoothie but it clearly works well and it looks really pretty too. It's a great way of getting extra fruit in your diet and home made smoothies mean less additives and pure goodness. 

Laura from How to Cook Good Food baked a very delicious sounding Marmalade, Ginger & Blood Orange Loaf Cake. The inspiration for this recipe is based on a Diana Henry recipe and makes use of her homemade marmalade. She used spelt flour, freshly grated ginger and ground ginger. It pairs well with the marmalade and is perfect for this time of the year. 

Last but not least is Elizabeth from The Law Student's Cookbook with a Gingerbread Bundt Cake. It's lovely and gingery with an orange glaze. Cake for breakfast is a definite yes in my book and that's exactly what Elizabeth did with this cake which lasted a week. 

That's the end of the G roundup. Thank you to everyone who joined in this month and hope to see more of you in February. Remember to check out Caroline's blog on 1st Feb to find out which letter we are using. 

Courgette, Basil, Polenta and Cheese Wedges

This is a great recipe for a simple weeknight meal. It does take a little bit of prep time but it's well worth it.  It's also vegetarian if you are looking to eat less meat of if you are a vegetarian. The recipe is quite versatile and you can add in a few extra ingredients if you wish. It's great for lunchboxes the next day and will also be good for picnics in the summer. I've made this a few times at home each time with a slight variation so I thought I'd share it with you. Mine turned out a little soft but it tasted delicious warm with the tomato sauce. You can really taste the polenta and the chili and tomatoes added an extra kick and bite to it. I loved the basil as well and used a lot of it in my recipe. I think it's going on the menu plan again this week! 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month. 

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is fruit and veg. There's courgette and tomatoes in this recipe and as it's served in wedges I hope it qualifies for the challenge!

Cooking with Herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. This recipe uses a lot of fresh basil. 

Extra Veg hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Janie from The Hedgecombers and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. There's no theme this month and these would make for a great tea time treat! 

Meat Free Mondays hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes.

 courgette and cheese mixture

 polenta 

 ready to go in the oven

 making the tomato sauce

Recipe adapted slightly from The Veg Space

For the wedges
1 courgette, coarsely grated
50g cheddar cheese, grated
1 red chilli, finely chopped

2 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped (also works well with sundried tomatoes)
20g butter, cut into small cubes
large handful fresh basil, roughly chopped
120g instant polenta
450ml vegetable stock

For the tomato sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
6 pitted black olives, finely chopped
250g passata
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar

• In a large bowl, mix the grated courgette, cheese, chili, fresh tomatoes, butter and basil leaves. 
• Place the polenta in a medium sized pan.
• Add in the hot vegetable stock, stirring constantly.
• Cook the polenta and stock over a low heat whilst stirring continuously. 
• Remove from the heat and stir in the courgette and cheese mixture. 
• Pour the batter into a springform tin lined with greaseproof paper. 
• Allow to cool and then place in the fridge for about half an hour (I skipped this step once and it still turned out ok).
• Make the tomato sauce by heating the olive oil in a small saucepan. Add in the garlic and chili and cook over a low heat for a few minutes. 
• Add the passata, balsamic vinegar, sugar and olives and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. 
• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Bake the polenta for 45-40 minutes or until golden brown on top. 
• Slice into wedges and serve with the tomato sauce.