Little Chocolate Dessert Cakes with Chocolate Whipped Cream

CHINA

I'm back. Did you miss me? 

I've been in China, but I guess you already figured that out. I've been lucky enough to have visited China three times in the past. I LOVE so much about this amazing country. I love its natural beauty, its culture, its history and its FOOD. What I don't love is its firewall. Like everybody else in China, I was denied access to Facebook, Twitter and Milk and Honey. Whaaaa! I was suffering withdrawal symptoms within hours of landing in Beijing. Fortunately there was a lot of hiking, sight-seeing and eating to keep my mind off it. 

On this particular occasion, I traveled with my intrepid family starting in Beijing. We traveled to Luoyang, then to Song Mountain and Shaolin, to Xi'an, Guilin, Yangshuo and to Hong Kong. It was an amazing adventure.

We all attended the Yangshuo Cooking School and learned some new recipes and techniques which I will share with you in future posts. But for now I give you Little Chocolate Dessert Cakes with Chocolate Whipped Cream, because I think if I presented my children with one more platter of dumplings, plate of fried green beans or bowl of rice right now, they'd divorce me.

PS: I missed you. xxx

PSS: And if I haven't bragged about it enough already, have I told you I got a mention in the The Daily South - Southern Living for my Homemade Oreos?  Coming home to that news made jet lag and the endless unpacking a little more bearable!
http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2012/10/17/homemade-halloween-candy/




Little Chocolate Dessert Cakes with Chocolate Whipped Cream
from Donna Hay's Instant Entertaining
Makes 4

For the Cakes:
100g dark chocolate, chopped
50g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup plain flour, sifted
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

For the Chocolate Whipped Cream:
1/2 cup cream
2 tablespoons, unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 cup icing sugar
extra cocoa powder for dusting

Makes the Cakes:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool. Add the sugar, vanilla and eggs and mix to combine. Add the flour and cocoa and mix to combine.

Pour the mixture into 4 x 1/2 cup capacity non-stick greased muffin tins and bake for 12-15 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Remove from the tins and cool on a wire rack.

Make the Cream Filling:
Combine the cream and sifted cocoa and icing sugar in a small bowl. Whisk the mixture with a hand-held electric mixer until it is softly whipped.

When the cakes are cool, split in half, fill with the chocolate whipped cream and dust with extra cocoa powder.