I had never tried a microwave cake before. Recently  my dear friend Deepali Paul's son Ishaan Paul gave me this recipe. Tried it and is such an easy recipe that have already made it 3 times in the last 3 months. Its an extremely gooey cake (almost a brownie) and tastes really good with vanilla icecream.



Method

1. Microwave 120 gms of butter and 100 gms of dark chocolate for 1 min in a bowl and let it cool.
2. Stir in 250 gm powdered sugar in the bowl and mix well
3. Add 2 eggs one by one beating it all the time with a spoon. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla essence
4. Stir in 80 gms of maida (flour) . Add 1/4 tsp baking soda and fold them both in the chocolate mixture.
5. Stir in 50 gms of chopped walnuts. Leave some for garnishing on top.
6. Line a baking glass tray with butter and spread the mixture. Garnish with walnuts
7. Microwave for 4 mins and 30 secs. Take the cake out and let it stand for 2 mins before you cut it into pieces

This is my first chocolate cake. Wanted to cook it the other day - as usual searched online for Nigella Lawson recipe and this is what I found. Was a pretty easy cake to make. The best part was that this turned out to be chocolatey, moist and almost like a mud cake.
Here is my version of the recipe with some variations.



Method

1. Preheat the over at 160 degrees Celsius for 15 mins.
2. In the meantime, add  200 gms flour, 200 gms powdered sugar, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda, 50 gms cocoa powder, 200 gms butter, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract , and 100 gms of Hung curd (Nigella uses Sour cream) into a  bowl and mix well. I generally mix with a wooden spatula but you could use a cake mixer.
3. Mix till you get a a smooth, thick batter. In case the batter is very thick you can add some milk to get it to the right consistency.
4. Prepare a baking tin with butter and sprinkle flour on it.
5. Add the cake mixture - spread it out evenly and out it into the oven
6. Bake it in the oven for 40 mins, but start checking at 30 mins.You can check the centre of the cake with a tester. The cake is ready when the tester comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the tin
8. To make the frosting, melt 100 gms of dark chocolate and 100 gms butter in a bowl in a microwave for 2 mins. I grated the slab of chocolate so that it melts easily. Add 100 gms powdered sugar and keep mixed well so that there are no lumps. You can add 1 tsp cornflour so that the mixture thickens. Add some 2 tsp hung curd and mix well. Make it so that the consistency is right to coat the cake. Dont bother if it is runny as it will harden over the cake eventually.
9. Spread it evenly over the cake. Let it cool.
10. Sprinkle some grated chocolate on top and the cake is ready to eat. 

I have to confess that I am not a big fan of chocolates...I know that makes me a weird person :). The only form of chocolates that I devour eating is the caramel and peanut butter variety. Snickers has been my favourite chocolate ever since I tasted it.

I had bought this peanut butter jar from the market but somehow did not like it with my sandwiches. It was lying in the fridge since almost 6 months now. This Sunday while spring cleaning, I came across the jar and then decided to look for recipes online to finish it off.

After being inspired by the numerous recipes online, here is my recipe for Peanut Butter Bars.

Method

1. Take a glass bowl and melt ½ cup of butter with ½ cup of peanut butter in the microwave for 1 minute. You can melt it on a pan too on the stove 
2. Take 8 Marie Biscuits (I used Sunfeast Marie) and frind them to a coarse powder in the mixer.Take ½ cup sugar and grind them in mixer 
3. Now fold in the powdered marie biscuits and sugar. I also folded in ½ cup white oats in an attempt to make it healthier ;) This is how the mixture looks at this stage.

4. Take a baking try or an aluminium plate and grease it with butter.


5. Now pour the above mixture to form the first layer


6. Again in a glass bowl, melt 1 cup chocolate chips with ¼ cup butter. Mix well and spread on the first layer. I did not have chocolate chips and as a substitute I added ¼ cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup milk powder, ¼ cup castor sugar and ¼ cup milk. Whisked them well and spread it on top of the first layer


7. Refrigerate for an hour. Cut into slices and serve.


The above measurements make about 20 one inch square pieces of chocolate.