What does Masterchef Australia and The Whitefield Baking Company have in common? - Kate Bracks!!!

Masterchef Australia can be credited with starting a revolution that completely altered that way that anyone approaches food. It has within the span of three years turned the nation (and I mean India here) into a completely food obsessed one. Not that we were not connoisseurs of the good stuff already, but the appreciation and knowledge of a variety of cuisines and techniques definitely stems from there. The regular dal-chawal eating home was now attempting to get a perfect crust on their pie!  Dinner time (the holy thread that bonds us in an Indian family) was moved to an hour earlier, so that we could all sit down to watch Masterchef at 9:00 PM. Who ever heard of a food show being given a prime time slot?

Masterchef Australia Season 3 was one of my favorite seasons.  I don’t think I missed even one episode. I knew each and every contestant by name and followed their escapades in the kitchen closely.  And Kate Bracks - Dessert Queen and  mother of three, took home the title with a sweet flourish! For people like me who live and breathe food – these are our celebrities! So do you think I missed a chance to meet Kate when she came down to Bangalore – no freaking way!!

Chocolate Torte in Twenty (Flourless Chocolate Cake)

I know I’m a day late, but Merry Christmas nevertheless! I had planned to put up a Christmassy recipe, but after seeing the blogosphere jam packed with everything plum pudding-y and fruit cake-y and mince meat pie-y, I decided otherwise. I’m no expert in this area anyway, so why bother trying?! With my friend coming down to town, my mom’s birthday and finally Christmas - the past week had so many things happening all at once, that I’ve had an overdose of going out and partying (No, Seriously!).

All I wanted to do today was withdraw into my cocoon (curl up into a ball under my quilt) and read a book. A nice chocolate something for company, would be a bonus. I had two bars of glorious dark chocolate with cocoa nibs stashed away for just such an occasion. Of course slaving over the stove (or oven in this case) and curling up under the quilt seem like two diametrically opposite goals. But the Chocolate Torte is hardly a culinary taskmaster! So twenty minutes later, I’m curled up on the couch with a book in one hand, the fantastic torte in the other and my two cat babies (Muesli and Blanco) nestled against me. They look up sleepily and I hear a contended purr…oh wait, that was me!

Cherry Chocolate Muffins and Love as I know it...

Yes, we all know Valentine’s Day is around the corner. And though I personally don’t do cart wheels because of it (overrated to say the least!), it does make me think about Love. It’s a bit like this Muffin. Don’t give up on me yet… I know not everything is about food, but the comparison makes it easy for me to rationalize the subject in my head! I started out with a recipe for this muffin from a completely trusty source. The recipe seemed simple and the pictures were gorgeous enough to make me want to try it right away. So I dived headlong into it. The results were ‘nice’ but I felt sorely cheated. Not because it din’t taste good or look divine, it just din’t hit the spot like how I pictured it in my overly imaginative mind. So did I mope around whilst eating it, knowing all well that this is not what I wanted? Hell no! I knew the ingredients were right but the quantities didn’t add up. So I rolled up my sleeves and played around with the proportions till it felt just right. Then I baked it… and voila … muffins like I wanted – light, fluffy, cherry filled awesomeness!

So coming to my point about muffins and Love.  Lots of people will tell you what ideal Love is and paint you glory pictures while they’re at it. You’ll dive headlong into it and when match the following doesn’t work – come out disillusioned. (Insert expletives!) Here’s where I step in and give you my two cents. (Backed by 10 years of being in love with one man – ok, in and out :P) The ingredients for love are the same. A little bit of passion, lots of respect, loads of understanding, truckloads of generosity and some space to be yourself, blah blah blah. Each one needs to work out the proportions themselves. What’s good for the goose may not always be good for the gander! And you need to work at it… it’s never going to be ‘perfect’ the first time. (It’s not called a ‘labour’ of love for nothing!) And when you get it right, finally – you can sit back and enjoy a muffin or two together. (P.S. you don’t have to labour to get this muffin right… I’ve done it for you this time!) and ….Happy Valentine’s Day!

Cherry Chocolate Muffins
(Recipe inspired from Sin-a-Mon Tales)

Prep time: 25 mins

Baking time: 20-22 mins

Makes: 12

What you need:

1 cup Flour

¾ cup powdered Sugar

¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

½ tsp Baking powder

½ cup Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Egg

¼ cup Vegetable Oil

½ cup freshly brewed Hot Coffee

¾ cup pitted Cherries, halved (I used the ones in Syrup)

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the muffin tins with paper liners and set aside. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a big bowl. In another bowl whisk the egg with the oil till well incorporated and airy. Now add the Milk and vanilla essence and give it a quick whir. (I use an electric whisk). Now slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and run the mixer on low speed to just combine. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula to being the ingredients to the center. Now add the coffee and run the whisk for a 30 secs to combine all the ingredients. (The batter will be runny… don’t worry). Fold in the pitted halved cherries. (Or you could add them when you pour the batter into the muffin cups).

Distribute the batter into 12 muffin cups, filling each one 2/3 full. (I added my cherries in stages while filling the batter). Bake for 20-22 mins, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Wait till completely cooled to enjoy their true flavor.

Inspired by Sin-A-Mon's Black Forest Muffins