Frozen mocha mud pie is a yummy dessert that is for all ages. Prepare mini pies for parties or for a classier presentation. You can also make these ahead of time and keep them for those days when you are craving for something sweet.

Serves 8

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 cup crushed chocolate cookies

1/4 cup butter, melted

For the filling:

2 pints coffee ice cream

Maltesers chocolate candy

For the toppings:

1 cup semisweet chocolate

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon brewed coffee

Combine the crushed cookies and melted butter in a medium sized bowl. Mix well. Transfer it to 9 inch pie plate or springform pan. Press the mixture onto the bottom and the sides of the pan. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Place the ice cream on a bowl and soften it. Pour the coffee ice cream over the chilled crust and top it with candy. Cover it and freeze it overnight.

Next, prepare the toppings by putting the chocolate chips, butter and coffee in a mixing bowl.  Place the bowl in the microwave or double boiler to heat it for 6-8 minutes or until the chocolate melts. Mix well until the mixture is smooth. Let it cool completely. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the frozen pies and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set. Slice and serve.

Photo Courtesy Of:  punzy

This recipe was inspired by the traditional Japanese summer treat. Since I love flavored coffee, I decided to use hazelnut flavoring to make this dessert tastier. You can use any coffee flavor you like. I think Irish cream, Amaretto and French Vanilla will taste wonderful too. If you do not want to buy the syrup, use flavored coffee instead.

Ingredients:

2 cups brewed coffee

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin

4 tablespoons cold water

2 tablespoons hazelnut syrup

Whipped cream for topping

Combine the coffee and the sugar in a medium sized pan over high heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

Dissolve the unflavored gelatin in cold water. Mix well. Add the gelatin mixture to the coffee mixture. Stir in the hazelnut syrup. Pour the jelly mixture in a container or into individual cups. Let it cool completely in the refrigerator until set. Slice the gelatin and top with whipped cream before serving. Serve cold.

Photo Courtesy Of:  Inanimatt

As if getting soaked in heels from my Saturday night out wasn’t fun enough, eh? Meh, what am I complaining about anyway. I got to sleep pretty comfy all day Sunday and be completely useless with a hangover from hell sans the AC , that should be a good thing , shouldn’t it?

I love long weekends. And this weekend was one of those easy breezy ones that had me enjoy that once in a while state of just vegetating on a Sunday.  And yeah, the rain was a good thing.  I just have to rewrite my mental  Filofax of things I know I may never get to do in the next 2 months. Baaah ! Sue me!

I like to linger and relish these bed weather days. Just staying indoors and doing absolutely nothing. Well, if there’s anything I love to do on a really wet weekend …it’s cooking up something fairly easy but tasty and homey. I guess whatever cooking skills I have managed to perfect were borne from rainy days like these that have been spent indoors experimenting on whatever dish.

Pancakes! Yeah, I love pancakes on raindy days. But what pancakes? I thought I’d look around the internet for something a little different than your basic flapjack.  And then I thought of crepes! That’s seriously tricky biz. Not everyone can turn out a nice set of crepes. It takes a lot of practice and a good pan or griddle. A crepe differs from a pancake as it is a very thin version of it. It’s French word origin stems from the Latin word “crispa” meaning curled. Crepes are considered a national dish in the northwest of France and traditionally, these crepes are served with cider. Crepes come in two species in France. One is for the crepes sucree which is made with anything sweet and the crepes are a tad sweet as well. The other type of crepe is the crepe salees or the galet which goes well with anything savoury. On my little reading spree, I chanced upon this recipe for snowpancakes. Let’s  see how I fair at this and how much rum gets left enough for the rum butter sauce!

Snow Pancakes with Rum Butter

Ingredients

735 g light brown sugar
50 ml dark rum
freshly grated nutmeg
220 g plain flour
4 large eggs
400 ml milk , mixed with 150ml water (or snow!)
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp melted butter
50 g butter , for cooking the pancakes

Instructions

1.For the rum butter: put the sugar in an earthenware bowl. Warm this in a low oven, or in a microwave. Melt the butter in another bowl, either in the low oven or in a microwave but don’t let it start to cook.
2.Once the sugar is warmed, mix in the rum and then carefully add the melted butter, stirring constantly until combined. Beat the mixture until it is creamy and stir in the nutmeg. Pour the mixture into another bowl and allow it to set for 1–2 hours, in a cool place but not in the fridge.
2.For the pancakes: sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it, then whisk them into the flour, taking in all the flour from around the edges. Now gradually whisk in the milk and the water. The mixture should be smooth and have the consistency of single cream. Stir in the vanilla extract and the 4 tablespoons of melted butter.
3.Melt a little of the butter for cooking the pancakes in a frying pan over a medium heat. When it is sizzling, add a ladleful of pancake batter to the hot pan. Swirl the mixture around the pan and leave to cook for 2–3 minutes, then turn it over and cook the other side for another 2–3 minutes.
4.Slide the finished pancake on to a warm plate, set it aside to keep warm and repeat with the rest of the mixture. Serve the pancakes with the rum butter.

Photo Credit: michele eats

I recently discovered that having fresh fruits for breakfast on an empty stomach reduced my cravings during the day. Since then, I usually have fruit shakes or eat fresh fruit in the morning and then I would eat delicious breakfast meals for brunch.

Here’s a healthy and filling recipe that is perfect for people on the go or who are not fond of breakfast. I am a big fan of almond and soy milk, so you can use that instead of low fat milk. The tofu can make the drink quite heavy and provide protein, but there is still room for other ingredients that contain fiber like oatmeal.

For those who do not like the taste of tofu, there is no need to worry. You can barely taste the tofu because the coffee masks it.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups low-fat milk

1/2 cup silken tofu

1 ripe banana (frozen)

1-2 tablespoons sugar or 1 pack sweetener

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder, preferably espresso

2 ice cubes

Ground cinnamon, (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth and frothy. Add more sugar if desired.

Pour it into a cup and sprinkle some cinnamon. You may also garnish it with fresh banana.

Photo Courtesy Of: Lara604

Try to keep them quite firm and light, and make sure that they’re quite thin –about a two or three centimetres in height to make sure that they cook evenly throughout.

To Make 24
250g Plain Flour, plus extra for dusting
1tsp Baking Powder
Pinch Salt
150g Golden Caster Sugar
2 Eggs, beaten
Rind of 1 Orange, finely grated
100g Whole Blanched Almonds, lightly toasted

1. Heat the oven to 180C, and lightly dust a baking tray with some Plain Flour to prevent the Biscotti from sticking
2. Sift the Flour, Baking Powder and Salt into a large bowl, before adding in the Sugar, Eggs and Orange Rind. Mix into a dough, before kneading in the Almonds – try to avoid having a large amount of Almonds all in one place, so check that they are evenly spread out through the mixture.
3. Roll the Dough into a ball, then cut in half. Roll each portion into a long log, about four centimetres around. Place on the baking tray, and bake in the oven for ten minutes, before taking out of the oven and leaving to cool for five minutes.
4. Use a serrated knife, and cut the log into centimetre wide, diagonal slices, and re-arrange on the baking tray. Return for the Oven for fifteen more minutes, or until slightly golden brown and then remove from the oven, and place on a wire rack to cool and go crisp.

Photo Courtesy of: mccun934