Chocolate and Apple French Toast

Ok, this isn't how it was supposed to happen this morning.

I'm usually pretty good with breakfast.  I have my heart healthy oatmeal or quinoa and a whole lot of fruit on a normal day. And if you have been reading my blog, you'd know that I do try to post healthy recipes and enjoy taking out 'bad' ingredients in my meals and substituting them with more wholesome alternatives.

But maybe today just wasn't a normal day.

You see, I woke up craving for chocolate. And some jazz. A strange morning indeed.



Then a block of chocolate with raisons and pistachio from Koko Black was just sitting on top of my dressers.

It was meant to be sent to a friend in Sydney last week but unfortunately I left it near my window and the sun melted the chocolate and turned it slightly wonky shaped.

That can only mean one thing. I need to buy another block of chocolate...and eat the wonky one myself.

So I turned it into a french toast along with apples. 

Oh my...I'm not sure if this was a good idea afterall.

Because I don't know if I can ever go back to my oatmeal. 

As if french toasts aren't tempting enough, the addition of the melting chocolate goo and the crunch of the apples makes eating this so finger-licking good. I think bananas or strawberries would work well here too.

Chocolate and Apple French Toast

Inspired by Masa

Serves 4

• 8 slices of toast (I used multi-grain)
• 1 Fuji apple (don't use granny smith)
• 2 blocks of chocolate
• Handful of Almond slices

Flour Batter

• 1 tbsp of flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp melted butter

Milk Batter

• 1 egg
• 200ml milk
• 1 tbsp sugar (I used brown sugar)

1. Mix all the ingredients from the Flour Batter section of the ingredients together in a small bowl.

2. Peel and slice the apple thinly and place evenly on the toast. 

3. Break a block of chocolate in half, and place it on top of the apples on the toast.

4. Use a spoon to carefully ladle the flour batter onto the side of the toast before placing another slice of toast on top of it. Place a plate on top of the 2 slices to ensure they stick together.

5. Mix the ingredients from the Milk/Egg Batter together in a large bowl and dip the 2 'glued' slices of toast into the batter on both sides. Make sure you don't dip it for too long otherwise the toasts will be soggy.



6. Turn the gas on low heat, add some butter as once it's melted add the sliced almonds and gently stir around the pan.

7. Place the batter-dipped sandwich onto the pan directly on top of the almonds and leave it there until it is golden brown on the bottom side. Flip the sandwich over and again wait until it is golden brown. Remember the gas/stove is to be set on low, you don't want the crust to be burnt and the chocolate not melting inside.

8. Once out of the pan, place on a board and cut it in half!

Oh, and it might be a good idea to sprinkle some icing sugar (powder sugar) on the toast. I didn't have them in my pantry.

But yeah, you know the rest.

Go make yourself some tea or coffee and sit back. Watch the rain outside (raining on Melbourne Cup weekend!) and and turn on some sweet vocal jazz ;)

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Quinoa with Apple & Cinnamon

It's been a while since my last post - my apologies dear readers! I've been doing a whole lot of traveling in the past month and have just returned to Sydney! 

One of the signs of a relaxing and carefree holiday is when you return home and put on your baggiest pair of jeans to find that it's not so baggy anymore! 

One of the things I missed during the time away was cooking a simple meal. I've been completely spoiled during my travel with my parents and friends taking me out to eat out like a king! But you can only have so much of delicious food before you crave for something healthy and nourishing...hmmm right? No? Okay, I'm pretty sure in about a week's time - after a week of this so-called simple food - I'll be craving to eat out again. The grass is always greener. Not sure if this phrase works here but you understand...right?

One of the food I bought since I've been back was quinoa. I've wanted to try this for a long time just because it sounds exotic...keen-wah! And is healthy of course. I bought it to replace my usual oatmeal for breakfast this week. You can get it in health food stores or most supermarket nowadays. Just make sure you give it a good rinse before you cook it capice? The surface contains saponin - a chemical that needs to be washed off!

One of the privileges of being temporary unemployed is that I can take my time eating breakfast. No more running out of the kitchen with my weetbix or cereal in a bag and eating out of a mug at work. Not a good sight!

After a sleep-in (no alarms!), I can take my time stirring my pot of bubbling creamy quinoa. Is it done yet? Then I can savour each bite of this nutty and crunchy porridge-like goodness while gazing out at the clear blue sky and feel like I'm about to catch a cold again from this freezing Spring breeze...and then I thank God for this brand new day that He has made. Rejoice and be glad! 

This is how food should be enjoyed, no?

Quinoa with Apple & Cinnamon
Inspired by Canelle and Vanille

makes about 2 servings

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 1/2 apple, diced
• 1 cinnamon bark
• chopped walnuts

1. Place the quinoa in a strainer and rinse it with cold water for a few seconds.

2. Combine the milk, cinnamon and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the quinoa and stir. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 15 minutes stirring every few minutes. If skin starts to form on top of the milk, just stir it back in. The milk will reduce and thicken. Ladle into bowls or jars.

3. Place diced apples into the pot half way through cooking if you prefer less-crunchy apple, otherwise toss them in at the end.

4. Top the quinoa with the walnuts and cinnamon powder (optional).

This is a rather short post, but stay tuned for lots of yummy recipes to come in the next few days!  ;)

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Apple crumble + butterscotch pudding

Some days, a simply humble apple crumble just isn't enough.

You can perhaps dress it up...how about with a scoop of vanilla icecream?

No? Still not fancy enough huh?

Okay, how about this...a nice dollop of butterscotch pudding?

Butterscotch pudding...so smooth

Perfect! *nods happily*

Exactly what I needed on a lazy day like this...

The butterscotch pudding is the first recipe I have used from the book Baked: New Frontiers in Baking which I purchased last year. The authors are the owners of the famous bakery 'Baked' in Brooklyn, NY and there are so many creative recipes in there that I will hopefully make my way through one day! This is not the complete recipe however, as the pudding is supposed to sit on top of a oat-based tart. I'm too lazy to deal with pastry today...

The recipe for the apple crumble can be found here.

Butterscotch Pudding
From Baked: New Frontiers of Baking

Note: I halved the ingredients below and omitted the whisky addition

• 6 large egg yolks
• ¾ cup granulated sugar (I halved the sugar...as always)
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

- Put the egg yolks in a large heat proof bowl and set aside.

- In a small saucepan, combine the granulated sugar, and ¼ cup water and stir gently with a heatproof spatula. Brush down the sides of the pan to melt any loose sugar crystals. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, then increase the heat to medium-high heat and cook until the mixture begins to turn dark amber color. Swirl the pan, if necessary, to create an even color, but do not stir. Remove from heat and use the heatproof spatula to stir in the cream. Pour the caramel into small bowl. Set aside.

- In another small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in the milk and whisk to combine.

- Add the seeds from the vanilla bean and the vanilla bean pod. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the caramel. Whisk together until combined, then slowly pour one third of the mixture over the eggs, whisking continually. Keep whisking the egg mixture and add another third of the hot milk mixture. Transfer the egg mixture back to the saucepan with the milk minute and, whisking the whole time, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 3-4 minutes, or until very thick and a bit darker in color.

-Remove from the heat and whisk vigorously for about 1 minute to cool the pudding slightly. Let the pudding sit for about 15 minutes.

- Now that the pudding has cooled a tad, add the butter.

- Chill the pudding in the fridge for an hour, to thicken it. (I omitted this step and used it on the apple crumble straight away).

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Balzano Apple Cake

Moist and oh so delicious...

While the contestants on MasterChef was shucking their 4-dozen oysters to make oyster terrines on T.V, I was busy in the kitchen slicing my apples as finely as I could. While my job is not quite comparable to their task, I was almost losing my patience and thinking in my head, 'I'll know better to stick with banana cakes next time!'

Some days, I'm just lazy like that. But in hindsight, it's so worth it!

I was so keen to make this cake because this just shouts simple and homey to me. I also happen to adore cakes with fruits because I don't have to add too much sugar (everytime when I put sugar into my batter - I think of the diabetes episode on Oprah which was truly frightening).

I halved the amount of sugar in the recipe, and it was still a tad too sweet for my liking. That is just a personal preference.

sifting the flour into the egg batter

Pouring apple batter into pan...

All ready to bake!

50 minutes later....golden goodness!

Looks a bit like potato gratin, doesn't it?

Balzano Apple Cake
Adapted from New York Times 2004 and AlexandraCooks
Serves 8

• 1 stick butter, plus more for greasing pan (around 113 grams)
• parchment paper
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean 

• 4 Fuji apples (I used 5 small Fuji apples)
• ½ cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt such as fleur de sel
• ½ cup milk at room temperature
• powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350ºF (190ºC). Grease a nine-inch-circle pan with butter. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan and place inside pan.

Melt butter in small saucepan. Set aside. Beat together eggs and half of sugar in a bowl. Continue to beat while slowly adding remaining sugar until thick — it should form a ribbon when dropped from spoon.

Split vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape seeds into the egg-sugar mixture and add pod to melted butter.

Peel apples and cut straight down around the core into four big chunks. Discard the core then slice the apple pieces thinly.

Remove vanilla pod from butter and discard. Stir butter into sugar-egg mixture. Combine flour, salt and baking powder, then stir into batter alternating with the milk. Stir in apples, coating every piece with batter. Pour batter into pan.

Bake for 25 minutes, then rotate the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes more, until cake pulls away from pan and is brown on top. (A thin-bladed knife inserted into the center will come out clean when it is done.) Cool 30 minutes, then cut into wedges sprinkling each with powdered sugar if desired.

A piece before I sleep, a piece after I wake up...

Verdict?

This is one of my new favourite cakes. Even bite is filled with soft caramelised apple crunch and it's moist and can be eaten anytime during the day ;-)

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