Monthly Archives: October 2012

Cardamon Spiced Hot Chocolate

My current obesession is to burn scented candles. I have recently bought 2 Woodwick Candles.  One was vanilla scented for my bedroom and the other one was the delicious cinnamon chai. Oh yeah, I like my scented candles to be on the sweet side..just like moi ha! :P (Just kidding…)

I love my house to smell like dessert. I almost bought the Bakery Cupcake scented one. But my friend thought that I will be reminded of cupcakes and be craving for them all the time. She knows me too well. ;)

For those who knew about the Woodwick Candles, they create a sound of crackling fire as they burn. If you enjoy having a fireplace at home but don’t have one, this may be a temporary fix. To create a total cosy ambience, the light setting in my living room has been on dim pretty much all the time lately. And yes, hot beverage is a must to complete the cosy ambience. I have been rotating between stovetop spiced chai and spiced hot chocolate. When I say spiced…I meant I added cardomon pods to flavour the milk and it was divine. We all know cardamon and tea is match made in heaven. How about hot chocolate?

You’ll be surprise how complimentary the flavour between the cardamon and chocolate is.  Try it as you won’t regret it! :)

Cardamon Spiced Hot Chocolate

(tweaked slightly from Marie Claire – Drinks by Jody Vassallo)

What you’ll need to fill a big mug:-

  • 2 Cardamon pods (or  1/2 tsp to 1 tsp ground cardamon)
  • 250ml / 8 fl ounces Milk
  • 60ml / 2 fl ounces Cream
  • Sugar to taste *optional*
  • 1 to 2 tbsp cocao or drinking chocolate ( I actually added 3 tbsps  Lindt’s Hot Chocolate Flakes – Dark Chocolate)
  • White marshmallows

Method:-

Crush the cardamon pods (with the bottom of the container if applicable).  Combine cardamon pods, hot chocolate flakes, sugar (if using), milk and cream in a small pot and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat until the mixture is just coming to the boil (you will notice some foaming on the surface). Remove from the heat immediately. Then top with the marshmallows. (Since the Lindt Hot Chocolate comes in flakes form, I sprinkle a couple of flakes as decoration too! ;) )

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Written on October 31, 2012 by

5 Cup Fruit Loaf & Christmas Gift Idea

Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas?

It’s hard not to when the shops and supermarket have already put up the Christmas decorations and everything Christmas related. Oh I’m so excited and full of anticipation! This year is going to be extra special as I don’t have to worry about moving as what I have done for the past 2 years. This means I have more time to plan for Christmas and gifts! Finding gifts for family and friends is part of the fun (when it’s not last minute)!

Since I am surrounded with food enthusiasts, my choice of gifts often revolves around food, naturally. Think Christmas hampers. It is my go-to gift option when I’m not sure what to get for a particular person. Getting Christmas hampers online may be unorthodoxed to some people. I love the thought of surprising family and friends who are residing in different parts of the world by sending Christmas hampers online. If the world wide web works for gifting flowers, it totally going to work for Christmas hampers. So when I came across the Christmas hampers varieties from www.hamper.com, let’s just say I had a “scroll around” ;) . The site offers different price packages from budget friendly to luxury Christmas hampers. Although it is a UK based company, it offers shipping to many countries including Europe, non EU Europe countries, USA, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Australian and UAE.

One of the features I like about this site is you can choose alcohol free, vegetarian or children friendly Christmas hampers. It helps to narrow down the options in case you’re overwhelmed with choices.

In addition to checking out online Christmas hampers, I am also looking to try some Christmas themed baking recipes. I think this 5 cup fruit loaf is a good start. It reminds me a Christmas cake minus the booze which makes this children friendly. It is also super easy to make…seriously just look at the ingredient list below. It’s simply a 15 minute work to mix the batter together…or maybe less.

5 Cup Fruit Loaf

(tweaked very slightly from Bestrecipes.com.au)

What you’ll need:-

  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup mixed fruits (if you can’t find them in the supermarkets, try your local health food stores. Mine was gifted from a friend who used to own a online health food store) or you can substitute mixed fruits with raisin as per the original recipe.
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1  cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 + 1/2 tsps baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • Cooking oil to grease area which isn’t covered by the baking paper

Alternatively, you can replace 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1 +1/2 tsps baking powder & salt with 1 cup of self-raising flour.

I feel it can do with a little touch of spices such as ground cinnamon and nutmeg to make it more Christmassy.

Method:-

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C/ 320 degrees F. Line a baking paper on a loaf tin and grease area which isn’t covered by baking paper with some cooking oil. I diced the mixed fruits as mine was a little on the chunky side. If you use raisins, you can skip this step. Mix all the dry ingredients together including the mixed fruits with a fork. Then add milk and whisk the wet and dry ingredients until well combined with a fork. (Please note the batter is a wet mixture). Bake in the preheated oven for an hour or until the cake tester comes out clean.

This post is brought to you by Clearwater Hamper.

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Written on October 29, 2012 by
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