Happy Easter, everyone!
I know that sometimes Easter means putting up with family driving you a bit crazy…
And occasionally doing things that you don’t want to…
But I hope that in the end you had an Easter surrounded by people that you love (even if they drive you a bit crazy on the holidays), good food and lots of chocolate 
xoxo,
Ellie & Mr Woofy
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That’s right, folks. This is the second edition of Woofy Wednesday, where I assault you with the most ridiculously adorable pictures of my fur-baby and share some oddities about him.
For example, did you know that golden retrievers are bred to be swimmers, and even have the webbed feet for it? It’s true!
The problem with Mr Woofy, however, is that he loathes water. With a passion. Sure, he’ll let me soak him when he’s smelly/dirty or it’s a hot day, but other than that, he doesn’t want a bar of it.
There is ONE exception to the rule – if the body of water has a live, quacking duck in it, he will contemplate jumping in…but only so long as he can wade and doesn’t have to swim…
I’ve decided to turn Woofy Wednesday into a bit of a thing, so if you’re a blogger (not necessarily food) and have a fur-baby that woofs or meows, then feel free to put up a photo of them and link it in the comments section. I’ll then add it to the post in a sort of round-up. This isn’t some frantic foodie event, just a chance for us pet-lovers to unite and share the cuteness
So now, onto the next order of business!
Though it was announced on Twitter this morning, this is where I officially congratulate I Make Cake for winning the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker (thanks again to Kitchenware Direct for the prize) – it was sent this morning so hopefully will be with you by next week!
And last but not least – ANOTHER COMPETITION!
This time it’s for a customised cupcake baking & decorating pack, which contains one of each of the following:
This prize provides you with all the tools that you’d need to make and decorate cupcakes to look exactly like mine – as well as transport them to work or school to show them off to your friends and coworkers!
How’s that for a prize? 
So how do you enter?
Well, firstly I have to state that the competition is only open to Australian residents, so apologies to all those across the seas 
To get one entry into the competition, all you have to do is leave a comment here with your favourite cupcake flavour combination!
To get two entries, leave a comment with your fave cupcake flavour combo and RT this tweet – “I’m entering the Complete Cupcake Kit competition @Kitchenwench – http://bit.ly/gvzHP0″
How easy is that?
The competition will remain open till midnight, Sunday 22nd May and will be drawn randomly the next day – and this time I’ll film a video of the big reveal as to who wins this wonderful prize!
Whew, this has turned out to be quite a big post! Alright, I’m off to bed to try and get some sleep before having to wake up at 4:30am tomorrow morning for work…
Oh, and I promise a new Korean recipe up here before the week is out
xoxo
Ellie
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The current count is two.
Two what, you ask?
That would be two marriage proposals since I publicly debuted these utterly delightful devil’s food cupcakes this weekend.
Two marriage proposals in two days from two separate individuals. That’s gotta be some sort of record, right?
I mean, never mind the fact that the proposals came from two female friends… Not important in the slightest!
Though I do wish I’d taken audio recordings of the sorts of sounds which were made as each group of friends tasted these cupcakes for the first time. All I can say is that they would’ve put Meg Ryan’s fake orgasm from When Harry Met Sally to complete and utter shame!
I had someone ask me over the weekend what the difference was between devil’s food cake and regular chocolate cake. Quite simply, a regular chocolate cake should be somewhat heavy/dense whilst still remaining tender, whereas a devil’s food cake is much much lighter and fluffier, almost like a sponge if you will.
And let me tell you, these babies are as light as air – my brother actually marveled at how incredibly soft and almost weightless they felt in the hand before they had been iced! It’s the kind of chocolate cake that is a little less guilt-inducing because you can almost fool yourself into thinking that a cake this light surely CAN’T have as many calories as a rich, double chocolate mud cake.
Though you then have to ignore the sound of your thighs shrieking as the calories race straight to them!
However, the trade-off when it comes to devil’s food cake vs chocolate mud cake is that with the lack of textural body and weight in the former, it also comes with a much more subdued chocolate flavour. In fact, I’ve had devil’s food cake in the past where the chocolate flavour almost seemed like a suggestion rather than an actual present entity.
That, folks, is not my idea of chocolate.
No, if something is chocolate flavoured, then I want to be able to dive into it and have some form of a choc-gasm in my mouth, not just a sprinkling of cocoa powder. And a good devil’s food cake should always have freshly whipped vanilla cream in it to act as a foil to the sweetness and chocolatey-ness – creating a beautiful symphony on the tongue.
(I originally wrote “oral symphony” in that last sentence, but then realized when reading it back that it just sounded all sorts of wrong so I rewrote it. Which there really isn’t much point to now since I’ve just TOLD you about it… but it’s 1:30am and I’m tired and sleep-deprived so I can’t actually tell what is or isn’t a good idea right now!)
Look, I could waffle on and on about how these are the most awesome devil’s food cupcakes that I’ve ever made, and that your life and the lives of those who are graced with your baked goodness will be richer for you making them…
But it’s 1:30am in the morning (well, now 1:32am), I have to wake up in 4 hours for work for what will undoubtedly be a long and tiring day due to the fact that I’ve had less than 4 hours sleep, so let me just leave it on this note – TWO marriage proposals.
Sure, they were from platonic girlfriends of mine, but hey, a proposal’s a proposal, right? That should be enough of a vote of confidence for you right there!
So what are you waiting for?
Delightful Devil’s Food Cupcakes
Cupcake ingredients
140g good quality dark chocolate, melted
2 cups cake flour (though it works perfectly well with plain / all-purpose flour as well)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp baking soda / bicarb soda
4 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
120g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
360g caster sugar
OPTIONAL:
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water
Cream filling ingredients
1 cup double cream (45% fat)
1/2 vanilla pod or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp caster sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, then put the chocolate, vanilla, cocoa powder and buttermilk in a heatproof jug and mix together over a bain-marie till the chocolate is completely melted and incorporated.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, making sure you beat well after each addition.
3. Once the mixture is fluffy and pale golden, beat in the buttermilk mixture and the flour till everything has been evenly mixed in and the mixture as the texture of barely whipped cream (the mixture should be light, thick and liquid without being completely watery)
4. Fill your cupcake cases 1/3 full (the mixture will approximately double in size after baking), and bake for 15 minutes or till a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out with moist (but not wet) crumbs).
OPTIONAL: To keep the cupcakes wonderfully moist and extend their life by a few days, boil the 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar together till the sugar has completely dissolved, then boil for another 2-3 minutes. Brush it over the top of the cupcakes as soon as they are out of the oven so the liquid is completely absorbed by the cupcakes.
This is also a great way of rescuing overbaked cupcakes – though if they’re overbaked, I’d recommend brushing them with sugar syrup twice to ensure the cupcakes take in the moisture they need.
5. The cupcakes can be kept in an airtight container for 3-4 days unfilled, and should only be filled the day they will be served.
To make the filling, beat the cream with the vanilla and sugar till you have soft peaks, then fill a piping bag with a filling tip (such as Wilton #230), push the tip right to the bottom of the cupcake and slowly fill the cupcake while pulling the tip up.
6. You’ll feel the pressure push against the piping tip as you go and make sure you don’t attempt to overfill in case the top of the cupcake explodes with cream! Once the cupcakes are filled, you can either top them with chocolate ganache or this lovely chocolate buttercream!
To make the chocolate buttercream:
Chocolate buttercream ingredients
250g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
60g dark chocolate, melted
3 tbsp cocoa powder
6 tbsp milk
6-8 cups icing sugar / icing mixture (depends on how stiff you like your icing)
Melt the chocolate till smooth, then mix it together with the cocoa powder and milk till it forms a smooth paste.
Beat the butter till light and fluffy, then add the chocolate paste and 2 cups of icing sugar and beat at high speed till it is well mixed in and fluffy again.
Add the icing sugar, 1 cup at a time, and make sure that you beat the icing at high speed for 5 minutes after each addition. I found that 6 cups of icing sugar was enough for me, but you can add another 2 cups if you want your icing a bit thicker and stiffer.
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I’m sorry that I haven’t updated in awhile.
It’s been crazy busy at the moment.
The sort of week where you simultaneously want to live in a cave removed from the rest of the world just so you can get some peace and quiet, while running on pure adrenaline to get yourself to the finish line, or as close to it as possible. The insomnia doesn’t help, but when you’ve built up such a tolerance to the pills that it’s either sleeplessness or taking four pills to get to sleep, the former is better than the latter.
The only thing that makes it bearable is coming home at night to a darling puppy (okay, not puppy but more 11yo golden retriever with Peter Pan syndrome) who quietly lays his head on your knee and looks up at you to ask if you’re okay.
The best cure in the world for these long, tiring days is a puppy hug.
xoxo,
Ellie
p.s. Any tips on combating insomnia are welcome. Well, any that don’t involve warm milk / meditation / sleeping pills / valerian / chamomile tea / late night exercise (walking, skipping and weights) and wine since all the above have been tested and went down in a glorious flaming pile of FAIL.
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It appears that I’m not the only person out there who enjoys a bit of a sensory challenge. Talking to a colleague of mine at work (well, whining about the bitter bitter cold today in Melbourne is closer to the truth), she noted how one of her absolute favourite things to do in winter was to turn the heater up to blasting, wrap herself in a big blanket, and demolish a bowl of ice cream.
Geezus, and I thought I was strange!
(If you are reading this, my dear, don’t worry – you’re still fabulous and I adore you. I just think you’re a nutter as well!)
When I received a surprise email from IMPACT Communications last week advising that they had sent me a box of Williams’ and Packham’s Triumph pears, the thoughts that came to mind were in the following order:
And all those thoughts proceeded to race through my mind in the space of about 15 seconds. Thinking about it now, it’s actually pretty amazing that I’ve managed to keep this blog going for 5 years when you consider the fact that I have the attention span of a meerkat crossed with a goldfish…
(Apparently it’s quite amusing to witness when I suddenly race off whilst halfway through a sentence in the middle of a conversation because I’ve spotted a fluffy dog that I can snorgle on the other side of the street)
Okay, so where was I?
That’s right. Pears.
I do tend to enjoy my fruit raw and without any sort of cooking, but after enjoying a delectable roasted pear, walnut and brie salad at a cafe a few months ago, I had it in mind that I’d love to do something with roasted pears myself. Team that with my current obsession with my relatively new ice cream maker, and making a roasted pear ice cream seemed to make perfect sense!
I toyed very briefly with the idea of a roasted pear, walnut and brie ice cream…but decided that there had to some limits to the absurdity that I was willing to pursue and set it aside pretty quickly. But hey – there’s an idea for you if you’re so inclined!
Myself, I decided to go with some autumn flavours and pair the pear (hehehe) with some wonderfully fragrant cinnamon that I had lying around, as well as some pecans that I happened to pick up the other week.
And then I decided to up the ante and turn the pecans into praline. This later almost resulted in tears when I came THIS close to spilling a pot of boiling, furiously bubbling caramel all over myself as I tore around the kitchen with it in hand. Thankfully, I managed not to trip and can now proudly say that I am writing this sans sugar burns.
Which takes me to my next aside – darling readers, please do not follow my example and run around the kitchen with a pot of boiling sugar. It is Not. Very. Clever.
While I’m no expert on making ice cream, I can without a doubt say that this is the most incredible ice cream that I’ve made to date! Using a simple cream/milk base instead of a custard means it is much lighter and has a cleaner mouthfeel than custard-based ice creams, and the awesome pairing of roasted pears, cinnamon and CANDIED PECANS brought me closer to a taste-gasm than any ice cream that I’ve had to date.
While some of you may curse the fact that I am rubbing the awesomeness of my latest kitchen creation all over your collective faces, the darlings over at Kitchenware Direct (being the enablers of kitchen gadget-obsession) have offered to give one of my Australian readers their very own ice cream maker.
Entry into the competition is easy enough – all you need to do is make a dish that reminds you of Easter or autumn, then blog it (if you have a blog) or take a photo and email the recipe to me if you’re not one of the blogging hordes
If you don’t have an ice cream maker and are sitting there, reading this and pining for some of your own home-made ice cream…well, if you don’t enter a dish into this competition then you really have nobody to blame but yourself 
Roasted pear, cinnamon & pecan praline ice cream
Ingredients
3-4 large ripe pears, something with a creamy texture like Williams rather than Nashi
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup full cream milk
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed firmly
1 cup roughly chopped pecan praline (or plain toasted pecans if you prefer)
Pecan praline ingredients
1 cup toasted pecans
1 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp liquid glucose **
** The liquid glucose is not necessary, but it’s something that I’ve always used as a fail-safe against caramel becoming crystallized after cooking. It’s available at most supermarkets in the baking goods aisle, but you can substitute it with corn syrup, malt syrup or just exclude it entirely.
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Trim your pears, then peel them, cut them into quarters and cut off the cores.
2. Line them on a baking tray with the inner side up and bake for approximately 1 hour, or till a knife can be inserted into the thickest segment with no resistance. Set aside and allow the roasted pears to cool.
3. While the pears are roasting, combine the milk with the brown sugar and cinnamon in a pot and stir over a low heat till the sugar is completely dissolved. When the sugar has dissolved, set the mixture aside for 30 minutes to allow the cinnamon to infuse (if your cinnamon is very fresh and pungent, you can probably cut this time by half).
Once the roasted pears are cool, gently mash them with a fork – large pear chunks will freeze and become icy in the mixture, so the aim is to get the pieces small enough so that they won’t form solid frozen chunks in the ice cream, but still provide concentrated bursts of pear flavour and texture.
4. Add the mashed pear to the cream and stir thoroughly to combine. Place the mixture in the fridge for at least 1 hour or till chilled, then pour into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s directions. Once the mixture begins to transform from liquid to ice cream, add your pecan praline (or plain toasted and chopped pecans) to the machine and allow it to churn in.
Once that’s done, you can either enjoy it as soft serve or place it into a container and into the freezer for decadent pleasure later!
5. TO MAKE THE PECAN PRALINE: Place the sugar, water and (if you’re using it) the liquid glucose into a small pan. Over a medium flame, melt the sugar till it is dissolved (DO NOT STIR IT), giving the pan an occasional swirl to even out the mixture. Once the caramel begins to take on a pale yellow colour, tip in the nuts and swirl till the caramel is a amber – you want it close to bitter but not actually burnt!
Once the toffee is ready, you can pick out the nuts and place them on a baking tray lined with good-quality non-stick baking paper, or just pour the lot out as a sheet. You can enjoy the candied nuts as is, but to make the praline you need to stick the toffee into a food processor and blitz till it’s roughly chopped (but not powdered).
So here are the details for the competition to win your very own ice cream maker again!
If you’re a blogger who is based in Australia and want to take part, all you need to do is:
To non-blogging readers out there in Australia, it’s pretty much the same deal!
To double your chances of winning the gadget, all you have to do is retweet the link to the previous post (some clarification – this will only double your chances if you also submit a dish. Retweeting the post itself without entering a dish does not give you an entry to the random draw!)
The draw closes at midnight on Monday 18th April, so what are you waiting for? Go on and get cracking for your chance to be making your own ice cream for Easter!
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