MISSION BROWNIE

 

 

What makes brownies so tempting? Is it because they are gooey, fudgy, slightly crisp on the outside and moist on the inside? Or is it because they are like fudgy chocolate cubes that are considerably bigger than well chocolate bar cubes :D.

Whatever be the reason, my mouth starts watering just thinking about them :P.

So, I wanted to try my hand at baking some warm fudgy dark chocolate brownies. The results were ,well, not that satisfying but close enough to try and gain perfection next time. I felt my brownies turned out a bit overdone and weren't as fudgy as I would have liked them to be. I have been struggling to get the right temperature with my oven because my cakes don't get made in the recipe dictated time no matter what! Hence I fiddle with the temperature, sometimes its a hit and others a miss (May be I need an over thermometer).

In any case, I have found a recipe that works for me and is promising me the elusive, perfect brownie I seek. This recipe is super easy,the brownie batter deliciously lickable. Even if the brownies don't turn out perfect, save some brownie batter to console yourself later. That's what I did. I can still taste the luscious chocolaty batter with bursts of crunch from the chocolate chips...Sslurpppp!!.

You can try it for yourself, here's the link:
http://sweetannas.com/2013/10/the-best-fudgy-homemade-brownies-from-scratch.html

A few tips:
1. Brownies are better underdone than over (Sigh!)
2. Stir the batter, don't whisk!! You want it to remain dense for that extra fudginess. Work those arms :P
3. My brownies had too much height, make sure to use a larger baking tin so that batter is spread more thinly

Here are a few pictures of the brownies I baked. I dunno if these pictures are good enough for you to climb out from under your blankets and get baking. But they might motivate you to step out in the chill to get some store bought brownies instead :D.

DATE DIARY
Moist Date & Walnut Cake Recipe

I baked this cake on the special occasion of my son completing 5 months (already!)and on special request from my in laws. This is a classic tea cake, but with the addition of a butterscotch drizzle and the punch of cinnamon, it becomes a moist Christmassy dessert.  

I had to go through a number of recipe websites to find the recipe that suited me. Mainly because most recipes had measurements in grams and oz ???!! I mean who has the time and energy to get a weighing scale and weigh each ingredient. Also I was dying to use my newly bought measuring cups :D.

For the recipe visit the following site:
http://www.readersdigest.com.au/date-and-walnut-cake

So the cake turned out to be brilliant, despite the fact that:
1)The oven was set to grill for the first five minutes instead of bake ;) ( thanks to the the klutz that is me).
2) Also, I used one teaspoon cinnamon powder instead of  1 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice as mentioned in the recipe.
3) ADDITION TO THE RECIPE : The butterscotch toffee/ caramel drizzle was stolen from Donna Hay's Date & walnut Cake Recipe, which was my original choice. BUT.. looking for Butterscotch Flavored Schnapps didn't fit into my "new mommy" schedule. The drizzle also required the Schnapps but I just had to make it anyway :D. It just sounded so yumm..


The Result - a nice hearty winter cake with the right amount of cinnamon to make it Christmassy (Sigh). Perfect with a steaming mug of HOT CHOCOLATE :).After all where's the fun in December without a few cinnamon dusted treats :)).  




Here's the link to the Donna Hay recipe (in case you try it, let me know how it turned out):https://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/long-weekend/date-and-walnut-cake-with-butterscotch-toffee-icing

And this is how its supposed to look (Slurp!)



This just reminds me I need to start taking better pictures of my baked goods. :(

COMING UP NEXT -
Who wants Chocolate Brownies??

BACK BUTTON FOCUSSING

I had recently read in many articles that back button focusing is a method used by advanced photographers to get better focused images. Although I am far from an advanced photographer, I decided to explore the technique and find out for myself if it really is a lifesaver as many article claim it to be. 



I am going to lay down my observations under three main heads:

1) What is back button focusing? 
A DSLR camera when in autofocus mode, focuses on a subject when the shutter button is half pressed and on fully pressing the shutter button the image is recorded. Back Button Focusing assigns this focusing function to a button marked as AE/ AF L on the back of your camera instead

2) How is this better than regular half pressed shutter mechanism?
a)You can lock focus once and continue to click images of a stationary object with the shutter button. You no longer have to keep the shutter button half pressed to keep the subject in focus, which can be tiring.

For instance, you want to take candid shots of a stationary person and are waiting for the person to look up or smile. You would want the shutter to release fast to capture the expression at the right instance. Back button focusing allows you to do that easily.

The same reasons apply for using autofocus for a moving subject e.g., in sports or wild life photography. If something or someone comes in the frame with half pressed shutter method you might have to refocus. But with back button focusing your focus is locked on your chosen subject and you can repress the AE/ AF L button once the unwanted object/ person is removed from the frame.

No more refocusing every time you press the shutter button.

b)Focusing Once & Recomposing the shot is easier. Again you don't have to keep the shutter button half pressed while recomposing. Focus is locked on desired subject given that the distance between subject and camera remains same.

How this technique might help me?
Well my favorite subject - my son - has recently gained some control over his body and is constantly making sudden movements. Making taking pictures of him seem like wildlife or sports photography. The half pressed shutter button method often makes you miss the moment with the refocusing every time you press the shutter. A few tries with BBF did seem fruitful but it will take some getting used to.

This is a link on how to set up back button focus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gd2zk9FRjUE

Hope this post was of some use to some of you.

Coming Soon..

An Exciting Date & walnut Cake Recipe

 

MINDBLOWING MOUSSE

The first item I am striking off my list is Chocolate Mousse. Phew!

This recipe I found on the internet is by none other than the angry chef, GORDON RAMSAY!

Its super easy and super fast. Mr. Ramsay does it in 4 minutes, I was able to make it in ten. The result was a stunningly smooth and airy mousse with a rich chocolate flavor.

Few Notes to self:

1. Whip the ganache longer with the cream to make it airier.
2. Another mistake I made was to keep the ganache in the iced water while folding in the meringue.
3. I used 55% dark Chocolate. Next time ill use 70% dark chocolate like it says in the recipe.
4. Plate better and take better picture :D
5. Don't get greedy, eat less ;)

The Mousse turned out pretty awesome despite these deviations from the recipe. I hope with the above mentioned observations, next time the outcome will be fantastical. :)

Here's the link to the recipe:
http://www.instructables.com/id/4-minute-Chocolate-Mousse/


HAPPY COOKING !!

BLOG MOTIVATIONS

Motherhood has been very rewarding and satisfying in many ways. The break from my day job has been a welcome gift besides ofcourse, my lil' bundle of joy. All the help from enthusiastic newly appointed grandmother aka mom in law has allowed me to spend hours on pinterest :D. I have finally started to get into the technicalities of photography – one hobby I have been passionate about for so long. I have also managed to get over my fear of baking and whipped up a few mean treats over the last few months.

I have been telling myself to reinvest some time into my small home décor / accessory venture but just don’t seem to get to it. Sometimes I feel I am pinning stuff more than actually doing anything. And its frustrating. This is my endeavor to push myself to do more, coz maybe with an audience I will make a conscious effort to commit more to my dreams :D .

So here's my to do list for this month:

Cooking                                  

1)      Apple Caramel Custard  Tart

2)      Chocolate Mousse

3)      Chocolate Brownie

4)      Perfect the Texas Sheet Cake Recipe

5)      Nail the icing on Nathans Lemon Cake

6)      Date and walnut cake on special request from inlaws

7)      Bake a Christmas Cake

8)      Ginger Bread

Photography

1)      Try Back button Focusing

2)      Understand light better - experiment

3)      Exposure Compensation Learn to Correct

4)      Find the prime lense's sweet spot

5)      Capture detail of the eye

6)      Take Pictures of  a Water Drop – Learn to play with shutter speed

 

I will try to strike each item off this list by 31st December 2014.

Lets see how I fare!