Chocolate Cake with Ganache and Cranberry

I love Chocolate.. ! Chocolate Drinks, Chocolate Praline, Chocolate Cakes, and I have tried Chicken that cooked with Chocolate from my Mexican friend.. I just love them ! :)

I had found a good chocolate cake recipee and willing to share with all of you. This original recipee is from Ina Garten. I am fans of her ! :)
For this time, I have a little bit modification for her recipee, I decrease the amount of sugar, change the frosting style and add a cranberry..

They are so light, moist, delicious, and easy to make too.. Enjoy this chocolate cake with your loves one.., and you will have the bad effect from chocolate : make you feel happy !!
Enjoy.. :)


Ingredients Cakes :

• Butter and flour, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all purposed flour
  
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
• 1 cup Cranberry ( fresh or dry )

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Put the shifted flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt into the bowl, and mix on low speed with electric mixer until combined.

In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.

With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal.

With a knife or offset spatula, pour the chocolate ganache on it.

Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and pour chocolate ganache evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Dusting with Fine Icing Sugar or Sprinkle with Cranberry on top .

*Chocolate Ganache :

Combine 1/4 cup (60 ml/2 fl oz) cream and 150 g (5 oz) dark chocolate in a small saucepan.

Stir over low heat until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Pour the ganache on to the cake, then smooth the top and around the side with a flat-bladed knife.

Cherry Tomato & Olive with Cheese Salad

I got a mild and delicate soft white cheese Camembert from Tasmania. The texture is chewy, sticky and melt in your mouth. It is delicious..
With this cheese, I made a salad from cherry tomato & olive that I had. All the ingredients blend very well and I really enjoy this Tasmanian Heritage Cheese.Ingredients :1 1/2 Cup Fresh Cherry Tomato - Clean & Cut into 2 (optional)
3 Tbs Stuffed Green Olives with Pimiento or Green Olives
75 gram White Cheese

Dressings (mix all the ingredients well) :
2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbs Lemon Juice
a pinch Salt
a pinch Pepper
1 Tbs Sugar

Directions :

* Mix well Cherry Tomato, Olives with Dressings.
* Cut cheese into small bite and put in the top.
* Refrigerate before serving.

Pineaple & Papaya Juice

It is too sweltering today. We got this hot humid weather almost weeks.. I really need to refresh my body with something not to sweet beverage but will make me instant fresh !

I open my refrigerator and check what fruits I have. I found Papaya and Pineaple.
Hmmm..., just to look at them I imagine the sweetness of Papaya, the freshness and juicy of Pineaple will flow in my throat, make me quick grab them at put it into my juicer..

Here I am.. Enjoying the fresh and cold Pineaple & Papaya Juice with smile.. :)


Ingredients :

1 Cups Fresh Papaya
1 Cups Fresh Pineaple
1 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 Cups Ice cube

Directions :

* Put all the ingredients into juicer, mix them until well blended.
* Transfer to serving glass to enjoy.

Stir Fry String Bean with Shrimp

Wanna enjoy Veggi with tasty taste. This Stir Fry String Bean with Shrimp is the one.
It's simple to prepare, simple to cook but tasty to enjoy..

Ingredients :

500 gram String Bean - clean and cut 1 inch length
200 gram Fresh Small Shrimp - clean and peel the skin
3 pcs Garlic - smash / chopped
1 block Kitchen Broth Stock
1/2 cup Hot Water
2 Tbs Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil
a pinch of Salt to taste.
Directions :
* Heat oil in the Wok with high fume.
* Put garlic and stir until garlic starting to fragrance.
* Put Shrimp, and keep stirring, until the color starting change become pink.
* Put String Bean into it and stirring well.
* Follow with hot water, chicken broth stock, and salt to taste.
* Keep stirring until bean cooked, but still crispy.
* Turn off the heat, transfer to serving bowl .

Yam Kolak (Indonesian Dessert Yam in Coconut Milk)

Last weekend I visited Bogor, a city near Jakarta to enjoy the culinary from this city. Bogor is also famous of Talas (white Yam). I bought 3 medium size of this Yam, and today I have chance to make this Yam into Kolak.
Kolak is an Indonesian dessert made with coconut milk, palm sugar with pandanus leaf for flavour. In some versions is always use banana or plantain and sweet potato or cassava, pumpkin and sometimes added with jackfruit. In Indonesia Kolak is popular during the Ramadhan.
I like the texture of Yam, a combination of sticky and chewy. So today I made this Yam into Kolak to everyone in my home to enjoy..

Ingredients :

3 medium size White Yam ( Peel the rough skin until you can see the white meat of Yam and Rinse Yam with water and 1 Tbs of Salt ) - Cut Yam into small bite ( Soak into Water and 1 Tbs Salt) - Drain the Water.
1000 ml      Water
400  ml       Coconut Milk
8     Pcs      Pandanus Leaf
400  gram    Palm Sugar or Brown Sugar
1     Tbs      Salt

Directions :
* Bring water to boil
* Put the Pandanus Leaf and Yam, and bring to boil or until Yam is half cooked (become tender)
* Add the Coconut Milk and Palm Sugar.
* Bring to boil.
* Turn Off the heat. -- Take out the Pandanus Leaf.
* Enjoy the Yam Dessert. 
 

It is served either hot (especially if fresh cooked) or cold. Enjoy.. :)

NASI GURIH BAKAR (Burn the Rice!!)

This weekend I cravings for this "Nasi Gurih Bakar". I don't know how to translate the name into English. But roughly said "Burn The Rice". It's make me smile when I type this word. :)

I know this food when I came back from state to my home country, Indonesia . It is sound funny also for me when the first time I introduced it. The taste was good.

The chance to make it - is today, when I really want make it with my style (ha..ha..!) ( --as always--). This time my modification for this food, I balanced the taste of savory, salty, sweet and spicy together. The fragrance from herbs like bay leave, lemongrass, and smell of banana leaf when we burn this "Nasi Gurih Bakar" is absolutely unspeakable. I added Basil into rice, and this recipee is just so perfect.. (at least for me..) ;-D

The appearance of this food is so plebeian but the taste is so excotic that you will not forget !

Ingredients :
( A) Savory Rice

3 cup Rice
1 cup Coconut Milk
100 gram Dried Anchovy -- rinse with a little bit of salt, and drain.
4 pcs Bay leave
2 pcs Lemongrass -- rinse and crushed or smashed flat
1 tbs Salt

* Cook your rice as usual but decrease the water 1 cup from amount that you usual cooked. Coconut milk substitute the water above. Add the Bay leave, Lemongrass and Salt into Rice Cooker.
* In the middle of cooking, when the water start boiling, add the Dried Anchovy into rice, mix well and continue to cook.
* Cook the rice until done.

Ingredients :
(B) Tempeh Bacem ( Indonesian Sweet Marinated Tempeh )

500 gram Tempeh (* Indonesian Cuisine made from soy bean) - cut into cube size
2 cm Galangal (crushed or smashed flat) or 2 tbs of galangal powder
2 pcs Bay leave
250 ml Coconut Milk
250 ml Water

Spice Paste :

4 pcs Shallot
2 pcs Garlic
1 tbs Coriander
1 tbs Tamarind
2 Tbs Palm sugar or Brown Sugar
1 tbs Salt

* Grind or blend the spice paste

* Boil the coconut milk, add the spice paste with Tempeh, Galangal and Bay leaves. Add the water and continue cooking until the spices and water are absorbed. Then cool them off - set aside.

Ingredients :
(C) Fried Dried Shrimp and Burnt Shallots

100 gram dried shrimp -- rinse with a little bit of salt, and drain.
60 pcs Shallots -- peel the outer skin, rinse and drain.

* Using frying pan, fry the dried shrimp into hot cooking oil until crispy and golden brown.
* set a side the fry shrimp.

* Pour the hot cooking oil that already used into bowl.
* Using the same frying pan, with the oil that still stick in the pan (do not need to clean), burn the shallots until burnt ( the shallots will more tender )
* set a side the burnt shallots.

Ingredients :
(D) Additional herbs and spices

30 Pcs 'Birds Eye' Chili (Cabe Rawit) -- very small size of chili, has a very hot taste. (boil the Chilis for 2 minutes)
30 Pcs Bay Leave
15 Pcs Lemongrass -- rinse and crushed or smashed flat
1 bowl (salad size) of cleaned -fesh basil --> (I like to use a lot !)

15 pcs Banana leaf -- clean and rinse
30 pcs wood skewer or stapler


DIRECTIONS

* Put the banana lead on the table.
* Arrange A) Rice , (B) Tempeh Bacem ( Indonesian Sweet Marinated Tempeh ) , (C) Fried Dried Shrimp and Burnt Shallots with 2 pcs of Boiled 'Birds Eye' Chillis, 2 pcs Bay Leaves, 1 pcs Lemongrass and fresh basil on the banana leaf.
* Wrapped roll tight all the ingredients above with banana leaf.
* Pin the left and right side with wood skewer or using stapler.
* Bake ( 0r grill) in the heated oven at 220 C for 10 minutes each side. (total 20 minutes)

* Make for 15 and Enjoy... :D

Corn Dog (Hot Summer Dog)

It's summer time ! What will you do for your hotdog when enjoyed them at your backyard ?
If you feel boring with the same style of hotdog, it's worth it to enjoy this one..

This recipee, I combined corn with the hotdog and it's come yummy.
This time I fried the hotdog , instead put it in the grill . Have a "hot summer dog" everyone ! :)

Ingredients :

4 Pcs Fresh medium Corn (husked and clean, separate corn from the core)
3 Pcs Eggs
1 Cup Corn Flour
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Cup Water (you can add more if you feel the batter to thick)
1 Tbs Chicken Stock Powder
1/2 tbs Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper for taste (optional)

1 Pack HotDog (8 - 10 pc) -- cut into two (optional)
Oil

For Serving :

3 Tomato
2 Onion
1 Pack Lettuce
1 Pack Sandwiches Bread
your favourite Mayonaise (and Ketchup - optional)

Directions :

- Mix together Flour, Water, Eggs, Chicken Stock Powder, Nutmeg, Salt and Pepper , make all become batter.
- Add Corn into batter.
- Wrap hotdog with this corn batter - Heat oil with medium high fume.
- When the oil is enough hot, put the hotdog and batter one by one until golden brown.
- Serve with your bread, tomato, onion, lettuce and your favourite mayonaise and ketchup .
- Enjoy the Hot Summer Dog !