Spiced Hot Chocolate

Winter's definitely here. Today was a cold & frosty wintery day. It was bright at the same time and V was like "Look Mummy... Sun is out". Little does he understand that Sun doesn't necessarily mean warm. And there's no point in explaining it to him.

Given a choice, we would've stayed at home the whole day. But it was a very close friend's b'day so we went to visit her. Its been sometime since we went to her place so we were just sitting and chatting. V was busy with their cat. :).

He tried to get the cat to move but it wouldn't budge. Finally when it did get up, V ran away and climbed the sofa. That's the proof he's my son - I am petrified of pets as well. I don't hate animals - definitely no. Just scared.

Back at home, I wanted to drink something hot and spicy after the cold outing. I made this Spiced Hot Chocolate and P and me absolutely loved it. I am sure this is going be a regular in our house during these winter months.

Serves: 1

Ingredients
200 ml Milk
3 tsp Drinking Chocolate Powder
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/4 tsp Red Chilli Powder
Sugar to Taste

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients in a microwave safe mug / cup.
2. Microwave high for 1 and 1/2 minutes.
3. Mix well and enjoy.

Note 1: My MW is 1000W and this time is just right for me. Adjust the time according to your microwave.
Note 2: The Cinnamon Powder didn't dissolve completely. If I try a variation, I'll post it here.

This goes to the following events:

Kalyani's Magic Mingle #1 - Chillies and Cinnamon
 

Srivalli's Chocolate Mela

Srav's Cooking Concepts #6 - Chocolate Fest
 

Eggless Chocolate Cake

I had bookmarked this recipe from Rak's Kitchen about 3 weeks ago. Never got the time or chance to try it. I kept postponing. But on sunday, I thought I had to try it. I had bought the cocoa powder also - only for this recipe.

With P away at work (he had a weekend shift) and V taking his nap, I started making this cake. No sooner had I put the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients to mix, V got up. So I got him, put him on the counter and mixed the batter. He got excited seeing it. He knew it was cake.

I put the batter to bake in the oven and gave(fed) V his lunch. When P came home (he works half days), he was surprised to see the cake. He hadn't expected it. He was the main reason that I hadn't baked it for so long. He tells that I don't clean the kitchen counters after I cook and that he had to clean every time.

But seriously speaking, there wasn't much to clean after making this dish. I think the key was to take a big enough dish so the flour wont fly when whisking. Anyways, me and P had our lunch and the three of us had the cake.

I am relatively new to baking. I have only baked a sponge cake about 3 years back. Nothing from then on. I followed the recipe almost word to word. But my cake was done in 20 mins. Here's the recipe for my records:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Plain White Flour
4 tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of Soda / Sodium Bicarbonate)
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup Sunflower Oil
1 tbsp Vinegar
1 1/4 cup Water
1/2 tbsp Vanilla Essence
1/4 tsp Salt

Method

1. Pre heat the oven to 180^oC
2. In a large bowl, add water, salt and sugar and microwave on high for 1 minute. This will help dissolve the sugar fast.
3. Whisk till the sugar dissolves completely.
4. Add the Vinegar, Oil and Vanilla Essence and mix well.
5. Sift Flour, Cocoa Powder and Baking Soda into this bowl and whisk well so no lumps are formed.
6. Trasfer this batter into a greased and floured baking pan / cake tin. I used cocoa powder to flour.
7. Bake for about 20 minutes or till a tooth pick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out dry. If its not baked, keep checking every 5 minutes after the 20 minutes.
8. Let it cool and enjoy.

I am not such a big fan of chocolate cake but this was an exception. The outer crust of the cake was hard, but the inside was moist and soft. That's just the way I like it. After this, my husband wants me to experiment with more cakes / icings. I'll need to strike a deal regarding the clean up with him. :).

See how V is enjoying it below. He used both his hands to eat. Can you notice the cake all over his mouth???

This goes to Priya's Bookmarked Recipes - Every Tuesday, Torview's Food palette series brown and Priya's Crazy for Cakes.