So I've never been a Nutella freak. I am more of a chocolate kind of person, but ever since I have kids Nutella is always on the list of things that need to be in my pantry. When I found this recipe, I knew I had to try it, not because I needed a Nutella fix, but because I was dying to know whether something so simple could be so tasty as it looked on paper.

The verdict? This has to be the one of most simple recipes, not only in terms of ingridients but also in terms of the prep, which takes max 15 minutes and requires no baking. Nutella enthusiasts must try this!

For a 18 cm cake:

160 g butter biskuits
40 g gorund hazelnuts
60 g butter
400 g Nutella
60 g confectioners sugar
500 g Philadelphia or other cream cheese

100 ml cream
100 g dark chocolate
hazelnut crocant

This recipe is for a cake, which is only 18 cm in diameter, but you should really measure the pieces carefully, because this cake is really a monster. If you can eat a big piece of this cake, well ... then you really are a Nutella freak :)

Mix ground biskuits and hazelnuts with melted butter and a spoon of Nutella (approx 50 g).


Thoroughly mix the cream cheese, sugar and the rest of Nutella.


Put a form, lined with acetate foil, directly on the plate and spread the biscuit base on the plate. Press down so that it is really compact.


Spread the Nutella mix over the biscuit base so that it is completely flat.


Let cool in the frisge for at least 4 hours.

Chop dark chocolate and pour hot cream over it. Let it sit for a bit and then stir until the chocolate is completely melted. If the chocolate is not melted, heat in the microvawe in small increments, so that the chocolate is completely melted. Let it cool so that it is not hot to the touch and pour over the Nutella mix.

Decorate with hazelnut crocant and cool in the fridge again so that the chocolate is no longer runny. Once cooled, remove the form and the acetate foil.





januar 23, 2016

No intro this time. Just ... chocolate!

For approximately 50 cookies:
225 g dark chocolate
175 g flour
60 g cocoa
10 g baking powder
pinch of salt
60 g butter
170 g brown sugar
2 eggs
1 vanilla bean
75 ml milk

caster sugar and confectioners sugar


Chop chocolate into small pieces and melt it in the microwave or a double broiler. 
Mix baking powder, flour and cocoa in one bowl.

Mix butter and brown sugar in the other bowl. Once thoroughly combined, add the eggs, vanilla and salt. Continue mixing and the mixture will lighten in colour and expand a bit. Then add the melted chocolate.


Once mixed alternately add flour and milk.


Let the mixture cool in the fridge for at least four hours, even better over night.

Turn on the oven to 175° C. Prepare two deeper plates, one with caster sugar and one with confectioners sugar.

With your hands, shape the mixture into balls. You will need to work quickly, because the dough will melt because of the heat of your hands. You will have a hard time avoiding the mess altogether, s don't stress. The result will be well worth it. Because the batter is so sticky, it is easiest to make a few balls and let them sit in the caster sugar and then wash your hands. Then roll the balls in caster sugar until fully covered and then roll them in the confectioners sugar until again fully covered. Roll them a bit in your hand to get rid of excess sugar.

Lay the balls on a baking tray lined with baking paper. They will expand during baking so leave enough space in between. If you make the balls 2 centimetres in diameter, you will get cookies that will be 4-5 centimetres wide.  
Bake for 13 minutes. Once you take them from the oven, they will be very soft, so handle them carefully. Once they have cooled down, they will harden a bit, so that they will be easier to move from the tray. Store them in an airtight container so that they do not get hard.


These really are one of my favorite cookies, if not THE favorite. Purely chocolate and soft... mmmmm
januar 15, 2016

Ever heard of a sweet equation? Cheesecake + Brownie = Cheesecake Brownie. Or Brownie Cheesecake. Whichever, it is simple and oh so good.

For a 20 cm x 20 cm pan:
2 eggs
80 g flour
20 g dark cocoa
100 g dark chocolate
120 g butter
80 g sugar
1/2 vanilla bean

250 g cream cheese
1 egg
100 g sugar
1/2 vanilla bean

Mix flour and cocoa in one bowl and sugar, butter and chocolate in the other.


Melt butter, sugar and chocolate in a double broiler or in a microwave and add 1/2 vanilla bean. Once it has cooled down, add the eggs and whisk it thoroughly.


Add the chocolate mixture to flour and cocoa and mix.


For the cheesecake part beat together cream cheese, egg, sugar and 1/2 vanilla bean until the mixture is entirely mixed.


Pour 3/4 of the chocolate mixture into a greased and floured pan. Pour the cheesecake mixture over the chocolate one and end with the rest of the chocolate mixture. Now run a fork over the pan so that the mixture start to mix and you get a marbled effect.



Bake 45-55 minutes at 170° C until golden brown.




januar 11, 2016

Sweet little minions are perfect for a minion themed party!

The eyes and the ruffled hair need to be prepared a day in advance. The hair is made from modelling chocolate by shaping the chocolate into a tear drop shape and cutting the tip into 3 to 4 strands using small scissors.



Eyes are made out of fondant. Roll out the white fondant and cut out small circles with cutters.


Then use a smaller cutter to make a circle print into the fondant so that it looks like the eyes have goggles.


Paint the rim with silver food colour and finish by drawing a brown pupil.



I made the eyes in two sizes; bigger ones for minions with one eye and smaller ones for minions with two eyes. I needed 15 large eyes and 30 small eyes to make 30 minions altogether.

The next day, it is time to start to make the actual minions. The cake pops mix is almost always may way of using the leftover of previous cakes, that have been frozen and defrosted when needed. This time I had some Liz's chocolate cake laying in the fridge, which I combined with melted dark chocolate and mascarpone. The pops were larger than usual, approx. 30 g each. Instead of shaping them into balls, I shaped them to be a bit longer, like cylinders and let them cool in the fridge. As per usual I then dipped the cake pop stick into melted chocolate and stuck the minion on top and let it set. Minions were then dipped into melted white chocolate which was gently dyed yellow. Actually I could have dyed it a little more yellow, but I always have this fear of white chocolate seizing on me.


Before the chocolate sets, add the hair and the eyes.


It is best to draw the mouth with a toothpick, but only after the chocolate has partially set and before it has set fully, so you gotta pick your timing. To soon and the chocolate will be too runny to draw, too late and the chocolate will be too hard.


Once the chocolate is fully set, melt some dark chocolate and fill a piping bag. Cut only a small hole in the bag to first pipe the hair on those minions that are still bald and then make the hole a bit larger to pipe the goggle band around the head.




januar 09, 2016
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