Mission: Find the Perfect Brownie

I have been dreaming of a brownie, a dense, chocolaty, fudgy, maybe a little cakey, thick, yummy brownie. I have to confess that I have a favourite and go to recipe for almost every dessert or cake but I don’t have one for the humble brownie.

Don’t get me wrong I have made some pretty tasty, delicious brownies but I am yet to find the one that I can give my whole heart to.  And so I have embarked on a mission to find that brownie that can fill this gaping hole and I’m going to chronicle this little mission. Let the brownie games begin!

Attempt no. 1: I found a well recommended recipe on Pinterest (No Pics…) and it did prove to be chocolaty and fudgy and richly delicious. It just wasn’t what I’m looking for.

Attempt no. 2: I found this recipe through the Brown Eyed Baker website, in fact there are a few recipes on there. Again this made amazing rich, fudgy, chocolaty  pieces of brownie heaven and everyone was pretty happy. Needless to say these didn’t last very long, they were pretty much wiped out as a testament to the tastiness.

These were epic, delicious and like a warm chocolaty hug, however still not the brownie I’m looking for. The top was cracked and inviting and the brownie itself was thick, fudge richness. I used this French Chocolate Brownie recipe and I would definately recommend it to anyone! In fact it will probably make an appearance here soon!

So if anyone out there has a great brownie recipe for me to try leave a comment. Also I want to add that going on a mission to find the perfect brownie is a great idea, even if I don’t find what I’m looking for I still get delicious brownies to console me.

 

 

This is what love is!!

Valentines Day is almost upon us!!

I wanted to post this recipe mainly because I think it is the perfect treat for some Valentines Day celebrations or any celebrations, ok not even a celebration, at any time at all really.

I’m having some difficulty naming this delicious tasty dessert since there are so many wonderful aspects and flavours. Rich white chocolate, vanilla bean , chocolate butter pastry, fresh berries, creamy marscapone cheese and delightful cream cheese.

Then there’s the shape, I managed to make two one dainty and beautiful in a fluted tart pan and another rustic and wholesome in pie form both were delicious although the pie had more of the delicious filling. Finally, would the addition of cream cheese lean towards a part cheesecake making it a cheesecake pie/tart….

Names such as

• Black & White berry cheesecake pie
• Chocolate Vanilla tart
• Double Chocolate Berry pie….

URGH!!! I don’t know what to call it other than delicious and amazing!! Any suggestions???

So the story behind the tart/pie debate came about since I made both with one recipe. I made the tart for a dinner with friends and for the beautiful blog pictures and I made the other with the remaining batter and crust in pie form for family consumption. The tart was delicious and beautiful and I managed to halt us devouring it so I could take some beautiful pictures for the blog post but alas the pictures just weren’t as great as I wanted. It was so delicious I knew I had to try get better pictures with the pie version. Hence the identification debate.

The inspiration for this dessert came about from Chocolate Marscapone Tarts over on La receta de la Felicidad and I used the pastry recipe which worked out perfectly. I completely redesigned the filling and i can vouch for how well it turned out.

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Recipe: Double Chocolate Vanilla pie wonder (Another name…)

Serves : 24cm Tart / 20cm Pie

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 200 g flour (1 3/4 cup)
• 40 g unsweetened cocoa powder (1/3 cup)
• 1 pinch powdered cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 80 g sugar (1/2 cup)
• 150 g butter, very cold, and cut into squares (2/3 cup)
• 60 ml Full cream milk

Filling:

• 100 g good quality white chocolate
• 250 ml fresh cream
• 100 g butter
• 1 tub mascarpone cheese at room temperature
• 1 Vanilla pod
• 200 g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar, sifted)

Topping:

• Strawberries or any berries of your choice
• Chocolate sauce drizzle

Method:

1. To prepare crust: Combine Flour, sugar, cayenne pepper and salt in a large bowl. Using a grater, grate butter into bowl and using your hands work the butter into the flour mix until mixture is crumbly. Slowly add milk to the mix until it combines and comes together. Cover dough and place in a freezer for 15 min whilst heating the oven to 180C /350F.
2. Remove crust from freezer and roll into circular form that will comfortably fit into a tart pan or pie dish. Place crust onto tart pan/pie pan cutting away excess dough at the top. Blind bake pastry for 25 – 30 min at 180 C (350 F). Allow pastry to cool completely.
3. To prepare Filling: Place a medium saucepan on a low heat setting with the fresh cream. Once cream comes to a light boil, remove from heat and add chopped white chocolate and butter. Stir until all ingredients melt. Add vanilla seeds from 1 vanilla pod and stir all to combine.
4. In a seperate bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer blend cream cheese and icing sugar together, until a smooth mix forms. Add marscapone cheese and blend again until smooth. Slowly add cream, butter and chocolate mixture into the cheese mix until a thin, smooth mix results.
5. Once pastry is cooled add filling into pastry and refridgerate until set or overnight.
6. Remove from pan and decorate with berries and chocolate sauce to your hearts content.

Don’t forget to let me know what you think.

Level 4 @ 54 on Bath

My Husband and I just celebrated our 8th Wedding Anniversary!

To celebrate the event we booked for dinner at the level 4 restaurant at the Tsogo sun’s 54 on bath hotel in Rosebank. I was super excited as I hadn’t been yet and I’d heard great things about it.

The Outdoor Terrace seating area

The restaurant is stylish and contemporary, it’s located on the terrace level, and has seating both indoors and outdoors on the terrace. We chose to be seated outside with the hope that the warm weather would hold out and we’d avoid a summer thunder shower.

Before I proceed I must admit that I played a rookie move and was armed with nothing but my Iphone camera, and the combination of romantic outdoor lighting, whilst wonderful for us did nothing for my photo’s. I ode to do better next time.

Complimentary Champagne to celebrate 8!

We decided to go all out and get a full 3 course dinner. Since we were celebrating the restaurant kindly provided a complimentary glass of champagne, which was a wonderful touch.

Coal fired peri-peri prawn , avocado, coriander and lime dressing

Starter – Calamari variations (Ceviche, grilled and fried) with corn salad and kimchi

For starters my husband went with the Coal fired Peri-Peri prawns, avocado, coriander and lime dressing and I went with the Calamari variations (Ceviche, grilled and fried) with the corn salad and kimchi. The Calamari was tasty and the kimchi added a wonderful dynamic. The prawns were absolutely delicious the flavour combination of the peri-peri prawns with the avocado were on point.

Sustainable farmed sea-bass, artichokes, smoked olive salsa and dill cream

For mains we ordered the Sea bass with artichokes, smoked olive salsa with dill cream and the Afrikaner cattle rib-eye, with baby vegetables (as per Andre, our server’s suggestion) . The fish was perfectly prepared and the olive salsa really  made the dish. I ordered the rib-eye medium rare and it was prepared to perfection. It was served with a bechamel sauce, and although it was a simple dish it was rich and wholesome.

Afrikaner cattle Rib – eye with baby vegetables and bechamel sauce

Pistachio Molten Cake dessert

Cheesecake dessert

Finally for dessert…(yes we went all out)… between us we ordered the Pistachio Molten cake which is Grand Cru 64% Manjari chocolate & pistachio molten cake with fig, rose pearls &
pistachio ice cream  and the cheesecake. The cheesecake was a vanilla cheesecake with stone fruit carpaccio, plum sorbet & grapefruit meringue. The cheesecake was a deconstructed cheesecake with a plum sorbet and peach slices, so it wasn’t a heavy or overly rich dish but was appropriately sweet. My husband devoured the Pistachio molten cake, I just about barely got a picture so I infer that he enjoyed it a whole lot.

Overall, I would say level 4 does a wonderful job of providing good food, great friendly service and comfortable surroundings. I would definately make my way back for brunch or even afternoon drinks with friends (a la the Veuve Cliquot champagne bar). The terrace itself is relaxed and the little garden fit for a game of croquet would be an interesting afternoon activity.

View from terrace

The stand out meal for the evening was the Coal fired peri- peri prawns and Andre who was stellar.