Not Just Any Hot Chocolate!

Growing up on a healthy diet of Enid Blytons and Archies, I was besotted by the seemingly exotic Hot Cocoa. Sipped steaming with a tossing of marshmallows, seated on a warm rug in front of a roaring fireplace. A dog cuddled next you and a throw carelessly wrapped around the shoulders. Really, that was the romanticism of winter for me. I dreamt of staring out the window, watching the snow fall softly as I warmed my palms on my very own cup of Hot Cocoa, the aroma of chocolate wafting through my senses. 

Mum didn't laugh off my fantasies. She indulged me with her shorthand version of the Hot Cocoa. But warm milk with drinking chocolate just didn't have the same magical feel. Dad would add a capful of brandy and insist it was the secret ingredient to that elusive taste. But sigh! My literary tastebuds weren't fooled!

Many snowfalls and failed milky cocoas later, I found it! As Nigella beamingly stirred her pot of hot chocolate, I knew it was The One! I could almost inhale the aroma through the telly. And I wasn't wrong. I made it the very next evening. And as we sipped it under the wintry stars, my chocoholic cuz agreed every sip was a trip to heaven. We had found the Hot Cocoa of our literary dreams!

Over the past few years, I've played around with the flavours, tweaking it a lil here and there. Made it truly my own. And as the winter chill nips my toes, I tuck em under my snoring dog, pull my Naga shawl a little closer and revel in that warm, molten chocolate dreamily making its way down my throat. The magic is alive. And this is Not Just Any Hot Chocolate! 

Ingredients:
Milk                            2 cups
Dark Chocolate           100 gms, chopped or shredded
Cinnamon                    1/2 inch stick
Brown Sugar               1 teaspoon
Vanilla Syrup               1 1/2 teaspoon
Peppercorn                 4, crushed coarsely
Rum                            1/4 cup

Method:
Pour the milk, chocolate, peppercorns, sugar and cinnamon into a saucepan. Heat on the lowest flame till the chocolate dissolves completely. Take off the heat and add the rum and vanilla syrup. Whisk well. Strain and get ready to be transported to Chocolate Heaven!

Notes: I used Monin Vanilla syrup but you can easily replace it with vanilla extract mixed with honey. And if you want a more decadent experience, substitute half cup of milk with Amul fresh cream :) 

Cappuccino Walnut Cake

Valentine's Day is not really a biggie at our place. Blame it on hubby dear! He is quite the romantic, and my entire year is peppered with heartwarming gestures.. both small as well as extravagant. Love notes will find their way into the most extraordinary places and that outfit I casually termed nice, will suddenly show up in my closet! But by far the most romantic gesture took place two years ago.
I was preggers and craving desserts. However, we were living in this quaint hill station with a delicious but very basic bakery. Now, over the years, every time hubby asked me to choose a gift, I would promptly ask him to bake me a cake. It became a comic routine between us coz hubby dear's kitchen skills are limited to tea and instant noodles. But this time when we re-enacted the routine on my birthday, he steeled himself and out came a manly, " All right!"
I thought he was joking. But turned out he was quite serious. " I will bake you the fanciest cake you desire. But you will have to guide me through the sticky parts." It was the offer of  a lifetime and there was no way I was letting it go! So out came the recipe books. And the first recipe to pop open was the Cappuccino Walnut Cake!
Now that was a cake that required time, dedication, and above all skill. But the army man was not one to back down from a challenge! He could practically see me salivating over the page! So off he went with whiskey in hand and attacked it with the precision of a strategic battle. Of course, he needed the General's (moi) expert guidance once in a while. But he did it. And all by himself. The end result was the maid begging me to never let him enter the kitchen ever again! And the cake? Gosh! It was the best I had ever eaten. Utterly addictive and full of love! I had to eventually request him to hide it so I wouldn't devour it one sitting :p
So this Valentine's Day, ditch the conventional. And instead, pour your heart into making something your better half will forever cherish. It could be a self written poem, a handmade card, breakfast in bed, or this absolutely divine cake.

Ingredients:

Butter                           65 gm (4 tablespoon), melted and cooled

Maida                          100 gm (3/4 cup)

Baking powder           1 teaspoon

Eggs                            4 

Caster sugar                125 gm (1/2 cup)

Coffee powder            1 1/2 tablespoon, dissolved in a little milk

Walnuts                       3/4 cup, toasted, cooled and chopped

Decoration:

Walnuts                       1/2 cup

Sugar                           1 tablespoon

Cinnamon powder       1/4 teaspoon

Icing:

White Chocolate          200 gm (2 milky bars)

Coffee powder             4 teaspoon, dissolved in a little milk

Cream                           500 gm, lightly whipped

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190 C. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a food processor or with an electric mixer, over a pan of hot water. Beat till the mixture is fluffy. Remove the hot water and continue beating the eggs for another 10 seconds, till it is cooled and leaves a ribbon trail. Gently fold in the the rest of the ingredients. Pour into a greased tin and bake for 25 minutes. Cool. Split the cake into half horizontally. Spread half the icing onto the lower part of the cake. Place the top half. Spread the remaining icing on the top and sides. Coarsely grind the decoration ingredients together. Sprinkle onto the top and sides of the cake. 

For the icing: Chop the chocolate and microwave for 90 seconds, till melted. Beat the coffee and cream till smooth. Slowly beat in the melted chocolate. Icing is ready to be used.