Cinnamon, Hazelnut and Chocolate Swirl Bread

Now, I really should be writing my thesis. But after week after week of labouring in front of my computer, abusing my eyes by staring at the screen from morning till night, and gaining weight from sitting and eating all day long, I thought I should pick myself up and work on something else for a change.

I've said it many times, but I love love love bread making! I think all bread-makers do. There is just something that's so magical and captivating about the whole process. If I had to choose between baking a cake and making bread, I'd choose bread any day. I am still nothing but an amateur though, learning by reading (only onto Chapter 2 in Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish but I'm learning so much already!), watching (Paul Hollywood. Such a legend in the bread world. I love watching how he handles the dough with such confidence and care) and practicing. Slowly, I'm observing how small changes in the breadmaking factors can alter the structure and taste of it. (Can you tell I've been reading a lot of scientific literature?)

Two weeks ago I made Jamie Oliver's Sexy Swedish Buns. It came out alright. Everyone loved it. The flavours were bang on but I found the bread a bit too dry and dense for my liking. Then reading Ken Forkish, he mentioned that his doughs are highly saturated with water, which will facilitate the development of a softer bread. Makes sense. Also his breads are slowly fermented, starting off not by using warm water/liquid which so many modern recipes call for, but that of room temperature. The reasoning behind this is that slow ferments, as Paul Hollywood also mentioned, allows for the development of a richer and much more aromatic bread. Yeast and bacteria work together in this gentle process, releasing much esters, acids and other flavour compounds that would not have been produced at a higher temperature. Microbiology. Amazing.

In Michael Pollan's book Cooked, he discussed the symbiotic relationship between man and microbes. We rely so heavily on these microorganisms that we can't even see (90% of the cells in our bodies are bacterial cells!). In bread-making in particular, the yeasts break down the carbohydrates into components that are more easily digested. This only happens when they are allowed sufficient time in the fermentation process. The conventional 2-hour rise just doesn't cut it. Pollan also theorised that perhaps that is why so many of us develop gluten intolerances these days. The bread that we are eating nowadays have not been given enough time for the carbohydrates to be 'pre-digested' by the Saccharomyces. Our bodies have to work a lot harder in the digestion of bread and some people lack the enzymes for it.

So I tried the recipe again. This time adding more water and butter to the dough. All ingredients are at room temperature. Mixing the dough is pretty much impossible because of how wet it is. But I know the importance of developing that gluten to give strength to the bread. So I kneaded the super sticky dough for about 10 minutes. Because it was an enriched dough (it has egg and butter in it), it was almost like a brioche dough. And then I gave the dough lots of time to rise. It's such a hot summer day and ideally I should leave the dough overnight in the refrigerator for maximum development of flavour, but I wasn't THAT patient. I'll try that next time though.

After about three hours, I went to check on the dough. It has tripled in size and the gluten network is so much more developed compared to my first attempt of that recipe. I know it will turn out incredibly soft. After spreading, filling and shaping the dough, I gave it more time to redevelop that beautiful network structure. That structure is what makes the bread super soft and fluffy. So all in all it took about 6 hours to make the bread. That's a lot of time (though not as long as Ken Forkish's breads). But I only worked on the dough for 25 minutes. The rest of the time, it's all the yeast's and the bacteria's work.

The bread turned out incredibly moist, soft and fluffy. I'm so excited! This is only the beginning of my bread journey. I sincerely ask you to hop on my bandwagon. Twenty minutes worth of work and this is what you get. It's definitely much much better than any supermarket bread. It's so delicious and more importantly it doesn't contain any of the rubbish additives that those so-called breads contain. It tastes even more amazing knowing that you've nurtured it and brought it to life. And seriously, there's nothing better than the smell of bread and your family and friends would be so happy if you share it with them!

Cinnamon, Hazelnut and Chocolate Swirl Bread

For the bread:

350 g high grade flour

50 g wholewheat flour

80 g raw sugar, blended

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cardamom 

Pinch of nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp yeast 

180 ml soy milk (or any milk you have on hand)

70 ml water

50 g melted butter

1 egg

1 tsp salt

For the filling:

3 tbsp cinnamon

1 cup chopped hazelnuts 

20 g chopped dark chocolate 

For the decoration:

Raw sugar

Melted chocolate

1. Stir together all the dry ingredients. Set aside. 

2. Stir together all the wet ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. I find using a butter knife is the easiest and most efficient. You can use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment if you wish. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smoother. It will still be incredibly wet and won't really hold its own shape. 

3. Oil a large bowl, place the dough inside and cover with cling film. Leave at room temperature to proof until it has tripled in size. This will take about 3 hours on a warm day. 

4. Knock down by punching the dough. Tip the dough out onto an oiled surface and spread the dough into a rectangle using your hands. Oil your hands to make the process easier. 

5. Sprinkle the filling on evenly. Roll the dough up like a log and shape into desired shape. Place on lined baking tray.

6. Leave to proof a second time for about 1 and a half hours. Remember to cover with cling film. Then preheat your oven to 200C. Place a bowl of water in your oven to create steam. This will allow for a more even bake. 

7. Once your oven is preheated, sprinkle raw sugar on the dough then place in the oven to bake for about 12-15 minutes until golden.

8. Remove from oven. Look underneath your bread to check whether your bread is done. It should be nice and golden. When you tap your bread, it should sound hollow. 

9. Cool on wire rack. In the mean time, melt some chocolate over a water bath. Drizzle onto your bread. 

10. Serve.

Tips:

1. Take your time with making bread. Use room temperature ingredients. A good pointer from Ken Forkish is treat time and temperature as ingredients. Long time at low temperature is what you're aiming for. 

2. It's important to use high grade flour, which contains larger amounts of gluten that will give you a really soft and fluffy bread. For this bread, I used 00 flour. 

2. Place a bowl of water in your oven to create steam. Remember to use a heat-proof bowl. Steam will create an even temperature environment so your bread will bake more evenly. Also, it will slow down the baking of the surface of the bread, allowing your bread to rise more. 

Triple chocolate cookies [Warning: Dangerously addictive!]

Lots of chocolate and lots of exercise makes one happy. Yesterday, I broke my own self restrictions and ate chocolate brownie cake (AMAZING, recipe will be up... eventually!) for breakfast, and lunch, and dessert. I was eating chocolate cake THE WHOLE DAY. Yum!! Then I felt guilty (but not really, since it made me happy) so I went to do some intense exercise and BAM, half an hour later, I felt so happy. Like so exhilarated about life. Like nothing will ever deter me. That's what a balanced life is about isn't it? Eating so much chocolate cake that I feel the need to exercise, then doing some intense work out so I could eat more chocolate cake!! Then repeat the next day.

Pretty much all the food I've been making these days involve chocolate. Just been craving this god-send gift everyday. What would the world be like without cacao beans? It would be a sad sad world indeed I tell ya. What would we turn to when we feel that there's an emptiness inside us that needs to be filled, a hole specifically dedicated to chocolate? Wow just thinking about that makes me wanna reach for more chocolate.

So these cookies. ARE AMAZING. Like addictively so. Like so addictive that you have to give them away to your friends to stop yourself from over-indulging in them. But then you only ended up giving away half because you wanted to keep the rest for yourself. *Sorry friends who missed out.* They're that kind of chocolate cookies that really really hit that spot, fill up that empty hole in you but then more holes just keep materialising inside you just so they could be filled with more of these cookies. These cookies are seriously that dangerous. Get in the kitchen now and start making them! Until then, you're seriously deprived.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Makes about 25 cookies 

100g butter, room temperature

3/4 cup raw sugar, blended

1 egg

1tsp vanilla essence

1 1/2 unbleached flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 cup dark chocolate, finely chopped

Chocolate truffle mixture 

225g dark chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup cream 

1tsp vanilla essence

1. For the chocolate truffle mixture: Bring the cream to boil, then pour over chocolate. Add vanilla and stir until smooth. Let sit in room temperature until cool. Place in refrigerator until use. 

2. Cream butter and sugar together until light, pale and fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla essence and beat until well incorporated. 

3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture and mix on the lowest speed until just combined. 

4. Add in the chopped dark chocolate and stir until just combined. 

5. Place mixture in refrigerator for 20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat oven to 170C. 

6. Take both the chocolate truffle and cookie dough out from the refrigerator. Take tablespoonfuls of cookie dough, flatten slightly, then take 1/2 teaspoonfuls of chocolate truffle mix and place in centre of cookie dough. Roll into spheres, place on tray and flatten slightly. Repeat until all cookie dough is used up. 

7. Bake in oven for about 12 minutes. 

8. Remove from oven, cool on rack and refrain from eating until cookie has cooled!

9. Enjoy. Refrain from eating all cookies in one go. 

Chocolate Cupcake - with a secret ingredient!

It has been a while. I have been putting off writing this post. So much is happening in my life right now but I don't know how to share, where to begin. These past few months have definitely surpassed my expectations. In terms of emotions, my silly little heart has been tossed and yanked here and there. It's been crushed, and more tears than I know existed squeezed out. But it's also being patched and filled. I never expected so much love to flow inwards from all these directions. So many warm hands extended forth. They have touched me, truly. 

Life really is an adventure when you finally decided to fearlessly live it. I don't believe in regrets. Rather, I believe that every single thing that has happened, by choice or not, are like little knots making up this glorious knit of our lives. Each encounter in our lives make us who we are. It's rather coincidental in a wonderful way that several people that I talked to mentioned how incredible life is, how if it wasn't for one small incident, or one person, we would never have met. If we stop and think about the string of people in this network of our lives, and recall how we met each other, we would get so very amazed. If it wasn't because of that day when we spontaneously said yes to a spontaneous dinner invite, we would never have met. What if he'd never craved ramen? If it wasn't because that we decided to attend that club orientation, we would never have met. If we have never met, we would never have experienced so much richness in our lives, we would never have met so many other significant people in our lives. What would've happened if at that moment in time, he happened to be on the other side of the park, talking to some other people instead of us? What if it wasn't raining on that day and we never got to share that umbrella and started that conversation? What if we didn't end up sitting next to each other in that lecture? What if I was too chicken and didn't go for that audition?

Life is a series of choices. There is no right or wrong. It is ok to not know. It is ok to wait. Sometimes we really must take that leap of faith and jump even if we are scared. If we don't, we'll be stuck in the same spot forever. But we must also use sensical judgement and trust in our gut instincts. Right now, I don't know where I am going or what I am doing. I am merely following my gut, doing what feels right even though it seems like the wrong thing to do. It's healthy once in a while to just ignore our logic and listen to that voice in our hearts. And friends really are the chocolate chips in the cookie of life. From these past few months I have discovered who the people that truly care are. Without them, I'd feel lost and empty. Thus, I am eternally grateful. Grateful for those accidental and improvised encounters. Grateful for all these seemingly insignificant choices that we make every day. Grateful for a hello. Grateful for tearful laughter and ugly tears. Grateful for sleepless nights and exhausted days. Grateful for warm hugs and soulful stares. Grateful for fate and trust.

So, to celebrate these little wonders in life, let's have cake. Better still, let's have chocolate cake that errs on the guilt-free side!

Indulgent Chocolate Beetroot Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk

Serves 12

250g dark chocolate, broken up

3 large free range eggs

150g raw sugar, blended

100ml vegetable oil

1tsp vanilla essence

100g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

250g raw beetroot, finely grated 

Cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with cases. 

2. In a bain-marie, melt chocolate gently, then allow to cool. 

3. Whisk together eggs, sugar and oil using an electric mixer until thick and creamy. Stir in the vanilla essence. 

4. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gently fold into the egg mixture. 

5. Fold the beetroot into the cooled chocolate and fold this mixture into the egg mixture. Stir until combined. 

6. Transfer into pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes. 

7. Cool on wire rack then dust with cocoa powder.

8. Serve!

Tiramisu-esque cake

8am wake up, go to the bathroom, drink some warm water, do my 20 minute stretches, read the newspaper, shower, eat breakfast, get ready for uni. That's my morning routine. It's the fourth week into my academic year and I feel like I've been here for months. My days are long, I'm stuck in front of my computer all day, reading articles after scientific articles, searching for that light, that spark that goes 'Yup! This is it woman! You found me!' I'm so close. So close to defining my Masters project. And i tell ya, resilience pays off. When I first started searching for a topic, the only way to start was the obvious 'where on earth do I start?' I felt that it was such an impossible task to find a topic that's novel, and on top of that, my ambitious self demands me to find a topic that is significant, that contributes to society AND that I'm passionate enough about that I can spend one year dwelling on it. But the best advice anyone could give was read, just read, doesn't matter what, just read. And read I did. But something else I should add too. Don't read blindly. Pause and reflect. Pause and re-surface to re-connect with the world around. What is the world up to these days? What are people into? What would our ancestors say about the world today?

I'm passionate about dietary practices and folk remedies - those practices that have passed down generation after generation for hundreds and even thousands of years - especially Chinese dietary advices and Chinese medicine. There is such a wealth of knowledge and wisdom in these practices. They've had people experimenting and testing them out for centuries and they've survived the test of time to be passed down to us. Yet most people these days do not believe in them, preferring to trust in science. I am studying science. I can tell you, yes there are so many amazing things science has done. Science has come such a long way over these past few centuries. But compared to ancient practices, science is but an infant. There is this thing about scientist, the urge of every scientist to discover something new, be it a novel gene, or a magic bullet for curing cancer. It is nobel to have these ambitions. But personally, I think we shouldn't rush to discover something new before we've learnt from existing knowledge. And this wealthy mine of knowledge and wisdom has large been left neglected as scientists dig elsewhere.

Take the concept of nutrition. Most advice these days focus on telling you what fibre or vitamins or omega-3 fatty acids you should be eating, what saturated fats, refined carbohydrates you shouldn't be eating. The world of nutrition has become so focused on the nutrients that they've forgotten about food itself. This sort of thinking is downward. Because we don't just eat singular nutrients. We eat food containing many many types of nutrients. We eat many types of food. Nutrition is so focused on discovering good nutrients and their benefits (which is not a problem. But) it's forgotten that each individual is different. We all have different lifestyles and habits. We all have different needs at different times. Yes, say... an orange is good because it contains lots of vitamin C. Yes, we all need vitamin C, but if we're not deficient in vitamin C, it's not particularly 'good' for us. But for someone with scurvy, orange is very good for them, because they need it. And also, if you just take vitamin C tablets, the effect might be lost. Why? Because an orange isn't just made of vitamin C. There are hundreds of other compounds in there. Ones that probably haven't even been discovered. Maybe the effect of vitamin C is dependent on those other compounds. Otherwise why would nature make an orange? Why doesn't nature just make vitamin C tablets?

Oh by the way, I'm hoping that my Masters project will be on grapefruit (or maybe orange) and how the bitter compounds are affected by processing. Why? Because bitter compounds (flavonoids and limonoids) have been shown to have anticancer and cardio-protective effects.  I know... it's a bit contradictory that I'm singling out bitter compounds to study. Like, how did epidemiologists know that it is those bitter compounds that lead to decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases? Yes, bitter compounds have shown to elicit antioxidant, radical scavenging properties, but this happens only in the petri dish and what happens in the human body, when there are millliioooooons of other compounds around? But hey, I actually have back-up. Traditional Chinese medicine, which dates back THOUSANDS of years mentioned that bitter foods are good for heart. I guess I'm just making the most of what I have? I'm trying to make my little contribution and nudge science that bit further in its long long long long long (x10000000000) way to go? And anyway, my thinking is that those bitter compounds play a part in the larger picture of food that gives its beneficial effects. Gosh... trying to justify myself... On a side note, I'm actually rather enjoying this whole research thing. Never ever thought i would, but as long as I don't lose track of what my values and beliefs are, and try to integrate them into my research, it's not too bad. At times I'm even like... PhD doesn't sound too bad either. Dr... Lol no I won't go there just yet.

SORRY I've blabbed on so much about science. I can't help it. It's what I've been and will be breathing and living all day, all night, all week, all YEAR. I'm so sad that it's taken my baking and blogging time away from me! I've only baked TWICE in this past month. TWICE. What is this atrocity? All I've cooked is fried egg and (made) sandwiches... which incidentally involved slicing two slices of bread, slapping on some jam and peanut butter. BAm. Guys. I wouldn't be alive without my mum. Like, seriously. Without her cooking all those delicious and healthy meals, I'd just be eating plain bread and store bought muesli bars. Sad sad situation. OR, I'd be mean to my equally sad looking bank account and buying $9 paninis everyday (yum, but so not worth the money). And soon, I'll be sculling coffee by the gallons.

Anyway, this cake was one I whipped up for my friend who requested it for his birthday! I didn't actually plan out what i was gonna make. I pretty much just went with the flow. Scrounged around the kitchen for ingredients and bashed them all together to create this beauty. Obviously it took longer that it should because I silly-ly (hehe) chose not to follow a recipe for the cream cheese-cream bit. I was going to buy savoiardi biscuits to layer them in because my friend requested tiramisu. BUT oh my god, I can't believe it, they stopped selling them at both my local supermarkets! (More atrocity). But I just made a sponge to substitute the 'cakey' bit, because it'd take less time than to make lady fingers. For the coffee drizzling, I omitted the alcohol because they wanted it to be an alcohol-free party, but if you sloshed in some Kahlua of Baileys, it'd kick the awesome level for this cake up. And one more thing, since I couldn't make it to his birthday party (sadface), I didn't get to try the cake NOR take photos of the insides of the cake. I'm sorry, you'll just have to make do with the exterior. I was told that everybody loved the cake though (yay!)!

Tiramisu-esque Cake

Serves 10

Sponge cake

Recipe from Wholefood Baking by Jude Blereau

4 eggs

1/2 cup blended raw sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup minus 1 tbsp (120g) wholemeal flour

40g butter, melted and cooled, placed in a bowl

Cream cheese filling

250g cream cheese, softened

200ml cream

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp really strong coffee

1 tbsp Kahlua or Baileys or Tia Maria (optional)

1/4 cup blended raw sugar

150g dark chocolate, melted

Coffee drizzle

1/3 cup strong coffee

1 tsp raw sugar

Chocolate decoration

About 50g dark chocolate, melted

Extra chocolate for shaving

For the cake

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line base of 8 inch round cake tin. 

2. Whisk together eggs and sugar using a stand mixer until very thick, pale, creamy and tripled in volume. As Jude says, the mixture is thick enough 'when you can lift the beaters and the mixture falls back into the bowl in a ribbon that rests on the surface for about 10 seconds'. Add in the vanilla and whisk until just incorporated.

3. Sift 1/3 of the flour onto the egg mixture and fold in very gently until just incorporated. Add in the remaining flour in two additions, folding really gently. 

4. Add about 1 cup of batter to the melted butter and mix until incorporated. Gently fold this back into the egg mixture. Transfer to tin and bake for 20 minutes until folden and the cake springs back when lightly touched. Leave the cake in the oven and the oven door ajar so the cake can cool slowly. This prevents the cake from collapsing. 

For the cream cheese filling

5. Beat the cream cheese and cream together until well mixed. Continue beating so the mixture becomes more light and fluffy. Add in the rest of the ingredients and beat until mixture is smooth. Reserve about 1/2 cup. Beat the cooled melted chocolate into the rest of the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate before use.

Assembling the cake

6. Once the cake is cooled, cut the cake into three layers. Using a brush, spread the coffee drizzle onto every surface of the cake. 

7. To assemble, spread on about 1/3 of the chocolate cream cheese lavishly. Layer on the sponge and repeat. Cap on the final sponge layer. Spread the remaining 1/3 chocolate cream cheese on to cover the cake. The reserved cream cheese mixture should more or less be of a pouring consistency. Carefully pour it over the cake. This will give a smooth finish. Refrigerate until the icing has set.

8. Using a spoon, or a piping bag, drizzle on the melted chocolate in your desired fashion. The chocolate will solidify quickly once it hits the cold cake. Shave some extra chocolate on top. Refrigerate the cake.

9. Serve the cake chilled.  

"Snickers" cake

I remember this time last year there was an abundance of stone fruits. Peaches, nectarines, plums, all these shades of crimson and canary lined up beautifully in the markets. Peter's favourite cake was peaches and cream sponge cake and I earnestly wanted to make him one that brings him back to his childhood. I got to the supermarket and there they were. Peaches and nectarines side by side. This is quite embarrassing because being someone that not only cooks/bakes, but also LOVES fruits, I should know the difference between peaches and nectarines right? But I didn't. And the signs were pretty ambiguous. Being on a hurry that day, I just grabbed 3 of the one I thought was peach. And guess what? Yup, I grabbed nectarines. 

                

But matters not, I used them in the cake anyway. The cake was organic, simple and covered with delicious cream (shown in the pictures above). I actually screwed up with the icing of the cake. And in my attempt to fix it, the strokes of the palette knife on the icing gradually and organically led to a rather radical decoration. I loved it. It was so different from the usual icing, but it was bold and it showcased what the cake was. Though the nectarines were on the raw side, the cake was delicious. And I was determined that next year, I'd get it right and make PEACHES and cream cake! 

Flash-forward a year, and it is now time to reconquer that cake. But low and behold, I combed through the markets and there were no signs of peaches OR nectarines! Or any kind of stone fruits for that matter! The only peaches I found, besides the canned ones swimming in those sugary pools that I absolutely refuse to use, were some sad looking ones that were flown thousands of miles here from America. And they were $9/kg. No thanks! So, no peaches and cream birthday cake yet again this year. But of course I had to come up with a brilliant enough cake to make. 

After much deliberation and loads of ideas jumping around in my head, I decided to make a vertical swiss roll. The recipe for swiss roll on Sorted Food seemed easy enough to make. Five minutes to whip up and only takes 5 minutes to bake! Win. Since I haven't made anything chocolatey in a while, I decided to bash some good old dark cocoa powder in and make it a chocolate cake. For the icing, the extra cream cheese leftover from my previous shopping spree found its way into the equation. Mix in some shiny melted dark chocolate and the richness instantly leveled up 10 notches. The chocolate sand(!) from What Katie Ate's cake sounded too good to not be included. Instead of hazelnut, I used peanut. So, this cake is basically an amalgamation of much foodie genius and brilliance. 

First time making a vertical swiss roll (Scroll down for photo of what it looks like inside), I didn't know what to expect. The cake turned out smaller than I wanted it to be. I was contemplating whether or not to make more, but the prospect of having to do all the washing up again pushed me to deciding against that idea. And it turned out that after slicing up the cake, each person got a perfect portion! As the cake was so rich, any more than that would've been severely overkill. Some people even thought that smaller pieces of cakes would've been better.Although I think my chocolate sand didn't turn out quite how it was supposed to (my meringue was too soft, and my ground peanut was slightly too fine, so it turned out more like chocolate mud?), the gooey meringue gave a nice caramel touch. The combination of flavours - chocolate, peanut, some caramelly notes resonated with the taste of a Snickers bar. So, unknowingly, I've created a Snickers cake! And comparing the cake from last year and this year, I just realised they both have that similar organic touch. 

[Snickers Cake]

Serves 8

The recipe has many components and seem quite long, but it is actually pretty easy to make and put together. 

Chocolate swiss roll

Recipe adapted from Sorted Food

3 eggs, separated

Pinch of cream of tartar

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

90g raw sugar, blended

90g flour

45ml olive oil

Chocolate cream cheese icing

Recipe adapted from Cupcake Project

250g cream cheese, room temperature

50g butter, room temperature

3/4 cup raw sugar, blended

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

1/2 cup dark cocoa powder

90g melted dark chocolate 

Chocolate sand

Recipe adapted from What Katie Ate

45g ground, roasted peanuts

50g roughly ground meringue**

50g dark chocolate, melted

1. For the cake: Line a swiss roll pan, or any flat pan. I used a 32cmx32cm pan. Preheat oven to 200C. Beat together the egg yolks with half the sugar and vanilla until thick and pale. In another bowl, whip up the egg whites with the cream of tartar until you form soft peaks. Add in the other half of the sugar and whip until the sugar is well incorporated and the mixture appears glossy. Fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Add in the flour and olive oil and stir gently until there are no lumps, but take care not to knock out the air you have whipped in. Pour the mixture into the lined pan, spreading it evenly and well into the corners of the pan. Bake for 5-6 minutes until golden. Tear out a piece of parchment paper big enough to put your cake on. sprinkle on some sugar and cocoa powder. Remove cake from oven and flip onto the sugared parchment paper. Peel back the other parchment paper carefully, so as to not tear the cake. Roll up the cake + sugared parchment to form a swiss roll shape (do this while the cake is warm so it's easier to roll!). Set aside. 

2. For the icing: Beat the cream cheese on low speed until it has softened and is slightly aerated. Add in the butter and beat until well mixed and light. Add in the sugar, vanilla and cocoa powder and beat until smooth. Finally, beat in the melted chocolate* until well incorporated. 

*To melt the chocolate, heat up some water in a pot. Place a bowl on the pot. The bowl must be able to cover the pot so no steam can escape from the sides. The bowl must not touch the water, because you only want heat from the steam. Once the water has boiled, turn it down to a simmer. Add the chocolate, which you have chopped up. (Add in the portion for the chocolate sand as well). Leave the chocolate, don't be tempted to stir it! Gradually, the chocolate will turn glossy as it starts to melt. You can aid the melting process by pushing the unmelted pieces into the melted pool of chocolate. Turn of the heat and once the chocolate has melted you can give it a little stir. The chocolate will appear silky and glossy. Cool it slightly before adding it to the cream cheese mixture. Reserve some chocolate for the chocolate sand.

3. For the chocolate sand: Mix the ground peanuts and meringue** together. Add them into the melted chocolate and stir. 

**For the meringue, you can either buy it, which probably will ensure that it's crunchy. Or you can make it like I did. For a my melty, gooey meringue, whip up 2 egg whites + pinch of salt + 100g of raw blended sugar, until you form stiff peaks, and when you tip the mixture upside down, it doesn't fall off the bowl. Drop little tablespoon fulls of meringue onto a lined tray. Bake at 100C for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 

4. To assemble the cake: Unroll the swiss roll. Cut into three equal sized strips. On each strip, pile on some chocolate cream cheese icing. Smooth the filling out into every inch and corner of the swiss roll. Sprinkle on the chocolate sand. It's fun to use your fingers! Take one strip of cake and start rolling it up as you would a normal swiss roll. Make sure to roll it up firmly and quite tightly. Once it's rolled up, line the end of that first roll with the start of the second strip (so the roll is continuous), and roll the second cake over the first, again make sure it is firm, tight and nicely aligned. Repeat with the third strip.*** Now, flip the cake so that it stands vertically, and walah! You now have a vertical swiss roll. Apply icing onto the cake how you would a normal cake. Decorate the top with some nuts. 

Refrigerate the cake before serving. 

***If you don't want your cake as tall as mine, you can always cut the cake into 4 strips instead of 3.

Almond, coconut and chocolate cookies (Gluten Free)

It's Friday afternoon and there's an abundance of soaked shoes, icy nose, numb fingers and upturned umbrellas. On the other side of the window, my life is also saturated with the same sort. You know that situation that you're in where you just have too many things on your list that you couldn't bring yourself to doing any of it? Yeah, that happened. And of course, there are the many things that popped up that HAD to be done instead of sitting down, with a cup of tea, some snacks, in front of my laptop, with 8 hours ahead of me to write my essay. I'm the biggest pro at procrastinating I tell ya. Even in the wake of exam, I could STILL be browsing blogs. 

Anyway, seeing that my test IS next Monday (ie. two and a half days away - gasp) and I DO have TWO assignments due (which includes one which I have TRIED - honestly, I have - many many times to write but after literally 3 weeks, my word count still remains at 23, which constitutes of my title and subheadings - whoop! At least I've done that?)in a week, I think I REALLY HAVE TO sit down with a cup of tea, some snacks, in front of my computer and just start writing the damn 6000 words on myoglobin. I swear though, there was something blocking me from writing that assignment. EVERY SINGLE TIME I tried to start wri- ok, I'll stop. 

Ok, I promise I'll start writing it, after I finish this blog post. This cookie is sort of a marriage between THIS HOTTY by Top with Cinnamon and THIS BEAUTY from Sprouted Kitchen. Like, these people - Izy, Sara and Hugh are so talented (and hardworking). I just get so inspired everyday. And of course all the other amazing blogs out there like My Darling Lemon Thyme, Local Milk, Happyolks, Not without Salt just to name a few, are what kept my passion for food burning. Argh everything just looks so delicious and the photos! They make them look so effortless. A-mazing. Really. I have to say thank you to these guys for doing what they do, for continuously making such delicious food and for sharing them. In all honesty, this is probably what kept me from writing that 6000 word essay haha. Maybe.

Well before I rant on for too long, here's the recipe.


Almond, coconut and chocolate cookies (Gluten Free)

3 tbsp olive oil
Any herb (I used what I found in my garden, which was sage and... some really fragrant herb with cute leaves that i unfortunately don't know the name of >.<)
1 1/4 cups almond meal 
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup raw sugar (blended)
1/4 chopped dark chocolate 
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla 

1. In a clean (make sure it is clean! as oil easily absorbs flavour) saucepan, add in the oil and herbs. Cook on low-medium heat for several minutes, until fragrant. Remove herbs and cool oil before using. 
2. Combine all the other dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. 
3. Beat egg and vanilla together until thick (homogenized and doubled in volume). Drizzle in the cooled oil while beating continuously until well incorporated. 
4. Mix into the dry ingredients and stir together until just combined. The recipe said refrigerate for at least half an hour, although I skipped this step. 
5. Shape into balls, approximately 1 tablespoonful of dough each. Place on tray then flatten slightly.
6. Bake in preheated to 180C oven for about 8-10 minutes, until slightly golden brown. 
7. Cool before serving!