Chocolate Brownie Cake Recipe!!!

Hiiiiii loyal readers!
I know I'm really on and off with this beloved food blog... but the last couple of days have been a major rollercoaster in my life, and hence, a huge eye opener. My life basically has flashed in front of my eyes, and it has only taught me one thing... to seize the day. CARPE DIEM. I do not think I can fully grasp the idea of seizing my long summer days, and I don't think kissing Brita will do it for me either (Community reference).

But with this being said, everyone is different. Do you often find yourself inside on a warm day?  Do you find yourself bored and lifeless? Do you ever feel the need / want / desire to bake????????????? Well I've got good news for you buddy... here is a lovely recipe for a chocolate brownie that my sister has handed down to me! It's absolutely foolproof and idiotproof and has amazing results. It tastes better than Coles mud cake, that's for sure. I will endeavour to upload more recipes that I come across and have worked well for me.

Send me some photos of your work, if you ever do try this recipe :)

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Servings: 8-10 depending on how you cut the slices.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of melted butter / margarine 

3/4 cup of cocoa

1 1/2 cups of caster sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup of plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Icing sugar for decorations.

1. Preheat the oven to 160'c for fan forced ovens.
2. Line your baking tray with baking paper. The cake tin should be approx 22cm in diameters but whatever you have lying around in the kitchen is also fine too.
3. Combine the melter butter, cocoa and caster sugar in a bowl.
4. Add yo eggz and mix well (on medium) with a mixer.
5. Sift flour and baking powder into the mixture. Mix well.
6. Pour the mixture into the cake tin. Bake for approx 25 mins, or until the cake is firm but still moist in the centre. If you stick a chopstick in there, and there is residue when you remove the chopstick... then it's prrrrobably not ready and you should leave it in there for a couple of minutes.
7. Allow the cake to cool down and dust it up with icing sugar.
8. Enjoy! And take some photos to show me if you try this easy to make recipe!

A couple of my ingredients!

Free range is a little bit more expensive but goes a long way :)

anddddd VIOLA :)

a beautiful chocolate man, i mean... cake.

^ served up with fresh strawberries and boysenberry icecream :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan!

29th July 2010 marks the day my gorgeous nephew was born. 

Being the youngest of two, I was never blessed with a younger sibling to play pranks on and be protective of. I still remember the day Ethan was born. Coming home from a long day of year 12 classes, my dad and I were called into the hospital because my sister was due. The anticipation. The excitement. Was it a girl, or a boy? How was my sister doing? What do I do while waiting for two hours? I couldn't even concentrate in the hospital lobby room. Giving birth is seriously one of the most amazing wonders of the world. That a woman can carry a baby in her body for nine months and give the gift of life.

Ethan has certainly been a gift in our lives. His smile. His cheekiness. His clever reactions and observations. His parrot attitude, mimicking everything we do. Two years of his existence has not only brought my family closer together then we already were, but he has been like a little sibling I never had. I am extremely repulsed by baby vomit and poo, but being an aunty gives you the resilience and understanding of what it is like to take care of another human being. Having a younger sibling/niece/nephew and taking great care of them shows how much you should appreciate your parents and everything they have done for you to be healthy and for them allowing you to be where you are now. Happy birthday Ethan!!! I love you so much!!!

^ the cheeky bugger isn't even looking at the camera!!!

^ cutest baby everrrrr

^ Ethan sniffing and playing with this sock puppets and bubble gun.

Bopha Devi, Docklands

Aha! Finally new month to look forward to. Can you believe we're caught the mid year bug already? So much for the world ending in 2012... *touches wood*
Apart from starting my examinlametions tomorrow, I highly anticipate being able to try many new and exciting places during these upcoming holidays. All the places have been listed in this trusty Marbig food diary, so keep an eye out as I will be updating v. v. v. frequently :-)

Today I will be sharing my lovely experience at Bopha Devi, located in Docklands. If you're looking for something refreshing and largely portioned, this is your safest bet. Expect high prices but you get your moneys worth because the food is delish! I do not eat Cambodian often (although I should because half of my roots is from that country) but Bopha Devi in Docklands is cosy, warm and has wonderful presentation in terms of the food. There is one located in Yarraville but it is A LOT smaller and the menu is slightly different which was really annoying when I was ordering on Saturday night. I guess it's always good to try something new every now and then.

The main reason why we went there was because it was my beautiful fwend's 20th birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A big, sloppy kiss and happy birthday to Joanne!!! You can find her here; she doesn't blog ver often, but when she does it is definitely worth reading. Pictured below are the three gorgeous J's with their fried rice, tofu curry and chicken rice salad.

The fry rye (pictured above, no. 30 on the menu) was definitely a winner. I don't really like vermicelli when it's not in watery/soupy substances. So the picture below was a bit bland for me. The fry rye had all the right ingredients, cabbage, carrots, chicken, bean shoots and egg. As if the sound of these put together isn't enticing enough! The service was fast as well, considering we had around 20 people seated for Jo's and the rest of Bopha Devi was full house! That's always a good thing to look out for when you're in a restaurant, try to check their ratings before you go. I remember having to wait for an hour at a uni restaurant, only to find out that they completely f*ed up our order! Never going back there again (*cough* eagle bar in Latrobe). 

As you can tell from the nicer quality of my photos, I have gotten my trusty camera fixed (luckily within a mere two weeks, tyvm Canon!!!). I'm so happy that I don't have to take photos on my iPhone anymore! But this really only means that I'm back on board of the 'asians constantly taking photos of their food' bandwagon! Woooohoooo! I ain't got nothing to be ashamed of... apart from my bulging appetite and constant cravings for food.  P.S happy birthday Joanne!!!

LuxBite ♥

"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."

Ernestine Ulmer 

LuxBite. One word. A hundred thoughts and emotions of happiness and a helluva lotta drool. Located on Toorak Road, it is a small and quaint cafe that is recognised for their amazing macarons and cakes. Although the sweets are beyond amazing, I have tried the savoury food as well, it's different, I quite liked it. You get to choose your own menu, spinach/pumpkins/salmon ... everything you can think of! But stick to the desserts, they are much better. I know, I know, you probably think that macarons and whatnot are overrated but when something is so delectable, you really can't consider it in that aspect.

LuxBite have taken an amazing spin on macarons and created ones as big as NICKI MINAJ'S ASS. Just kidding. But no really, they are so amazing and the filling is the perfect amount of sweetness and there are fresh fruit to suit.

I love places that have a story behind it. People who have create something out of a mere dream. People who did something good with their lives. People who can take to their graves that they've done something for the better, or changed someones life. People who open sweet shops with the most AMAZING desserts... *standing ovation*

Don't order the iced chocolate because as you can see from the image below, it's a mug of milk with a blob of chocolate and it's so hard to mix, and therefore hard to drink. Just stick to water to clean out all the sugar from the sweets :-)

Hopetoun Tea Room

Stanley (from the office) couldn't have said it any better. If I don't have some cake soon, I might die. I obviously don't eat cake everyday (but if I could, I would). Blah blah health issues blah blah the fat goes straight to your thighs yadda yadda yadda.
No.
To me, it releases so many endorphins that make me so happy beyond belief. So when my amazin friend Vivi took me to Hopetoun Tea Rooms two Fridays ago, it was heaven on earth. It is a little quaint place located in the arcade off Collins Street..... this is the shop window:

We ordered a CHOCOLATE PECAN cake and a BERRY cheesecake which both tasted amazing and gave justice to the wonderful reviews that I had read about the tea room. It's probably a good idea to order  some tea with your cakes and scones because it helps to wash it down and cleanse your stomach. I ordered a chocolate milkshake and it was an overload of sugar (if there was such thing). High tea is such an amazing experience and a really creative way to eat - we didn't order sandwiches or macarons but fortunately we didn't because we were totes stuffed afterwards. Pretty much had to waddle out of the tea room and we came in with an empty stomach mind you!!!

I'm looking forward to exploring what Melbourne cafes have to offer. Starbucks, Gloria Jeans, San Churros etc are conventional and boring places to be. Instead of going to those typical places, you should definitely wander around and support small businesses!

And eat cake, no matter how many calories it has! Just work it off afterward. Duh.

P.S the two last photos were taken with instagram: badasiandriver ;)