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Sweet Creativity

Sarah Mary Kuruvilla, Year 13

An exciting blog with some delectable, scrumptious recipes which everyone can try in their kitchens. This initiative does not only aim to share recipes but it is based on the premise that baking can accentuate wellbeing.

Studies have shown that baking can help lower stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine. Not only is this good for lowering your levels of stress and anxiety, but that also has a knock-on impact on your sleep, immunity levels, blood pressure and more, thus making baking good for your overall health too. Furthermore, studies affirm that people who engage in small creative projects, such as cooking and baking, feel more enthusiastic about what they did the following day. 

Chocolate Truffle Cake

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A chocolate truffle cake is one the most delicious cakes you can bake for your loved ones on a special occasion but of course a tasty cake is good any day of the year. Baking a cake for someone is a great way to show your love as it depicts thoughtfulness and is a handmade good that can be personalized. The time and effort put into making baked goods is more valuable than anything else. Seeing the ones you love smile and being the reason for their smile is one of the greatest joys . So when you have the time try making a cake for someone special to you even if it is just an ordinary Monday and make their day.

Prep Time: 1 hour 50 mins  |  Cooking Time: 40 mins
Ingredients

For the Chocolate Frosting (make in advance):

  • 18 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate (finely chopped)

  • 2 cups heavy cream

  • 1 cup unsalted butter

For the Chocolate Cake:

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 ½ cup granulated sugar

  • ¾ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (sifted)

  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 2 large eggs

  • ¼ cup vegetable oil

  • ¾ cup buttermilk (room temperature)

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • ¾ cup hot water

Preparation

Make the Chocolate Frosting (in advance)

  1. Place chopped chocolate into a large heatproof bowl.

  2. In a medium saucepan, combine heavy cream and butter. Cook on med-high, stirring often, until just simmering.

  3. Pour hot cream over chopped chocolate and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit 5 minutes.

  4. Stir gently until completely smooth.

  5. Place plastic wrap  on top of chocolate. Allow to thicken and set overnight.

Make the Chocolate Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 8″ cake rounds, dust with cocoa powder and line bottoms with parchment.

  2. Place flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until well combined.

  3. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Very slowly pour in hot water while whisking constantly.

  4. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium for 2 to 3 minutes. Batter will be very thin.

  5. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.

  6. Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

  7. Once cooled, cut each layer in half horizontally, if desired

  8. Finally assemble the cake as you desire and be creative!
     

Chocolate Chip Brownies

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Chocolate chip brownie is one of the easiest baked goods to make and is normally one of the first desserts made by amateur bakers. So if you are having a bad day not only would baking help but chocolate is also known to have beneficial effects. Chocolate helps in releasing various happy neurotransmitters in the brain such as endorphins, serotonin, and other opiates. They trigger certain emotions and effectively reduce stress and decrease pain, this is the reason why chocolate is known to be comfort food. Take a break from busy days and prioritize your mental health, put yourself and your happiness first and enjoy tasty desserts!

Time: 20 mins  |  Serves: 8  |  280 Calories
Ingredients

  • 5 ounces (140 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

  • 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

  • 2 tablespoons (15 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (regular unsweetened or Dutch-processed)

  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

  • 1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

  • 1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure coffee extract (optional)

  • 3 large (150 grams) eggs, at room temperature

  • 3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour

  • 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) salt

  • 3/4 cup (125 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (optional)

Preparation

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottom and sides of an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan with foil. Butter the foil.

  2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl (I use stainless steel), placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and stir (or whisk) in the cocoa powder and sugar. Next, whisk in the vanilla extract and coffee extract (if using). Then, whisk in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Finally, stir in the flour, salt, and chocolate chips (if using).

  3. Pour into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon or offset spatula. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled. 

Chocolate Lava Cake

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This is a quick tasty treat to make but being precise with the baking time is vital in this particular recipe. The need to concentrate while preparing the dish is one reason why baking helps with your mental health. It helps take your mind of other things and focuses on ensuring that you don’t mess up this detail oriented preparation. It’s also important that you don't view the baking process as a dreadful task or challenge you need to overcome in order to get to the delicious baked good. So makes sure to enjoy the process and relax, put on some music or have a friend/family help you out with it so you can have some one on one time with the people you love.

Time: 35 mins  |  Serves: 6
Ingredients

  • 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter    

  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona

  • 2 eggs

  • 2 egg yolks

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • Pinch of salt

  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°. Butter and lightly flour four 6-ounce ramekins. Tap out the excess flour. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet.

  2. In a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the butter with the chocolate. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high speed until thickened and pale

  3. Whisk the chocolate until smooth. Quickly fold it into the egg mixture along with the flour. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 12 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes are firm but the centers are soft. 

  4. Let the cakes cool in the ramekins for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully turn each one over, let stand for 10 seconds and then unmold. Serve immediately. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time: 20 mins  |  Cooking Time: 15 mins  |  Serves: 12  |  Calories: 273
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Ingredients

  • ½ cup granulated sugar(100 g)

  • ¾ cup brown sugar(165 g), packed

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • ½ cup unsalted butter(115 g), melted

  • 1 egg

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour(155 g)

  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

  • 110 g milk 

  • 110 g dark chocolate chunk, or your preference

Preparation

  1. Whisk together the sugars, salt, and butter in a large mixing bowl until a smooth paste forms.

  2. Whisk together the egg and vanilla extract until light ribbons fall off the whisk

  3. Sift in the flour and baking soda, then fold with a spatula (Ensure to not overmix).

  4. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line the tray with parchment paper.

  5. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into a tray, leaving at least 4 

  6. inches (10 cm) of space between the cookies to ensure the cookies can spread evenly.

  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges have started to barely brown.

  8. Enjoy it with your family and friends!

Coffee Parfait

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This is an easy to make dessert that involves no baking, so people just starting off their baking journey this is a perfect stepping stone. Baking is also a way of feeling in control which is a way to help calm your mind. The way your dessert turns out no matter bad or good is directly related to the decisions you make which may sound scary to some but to others that kind of control is what they crave and baking is the perfect platform to get that. Another benefit of this dessert is that the worry of messing it up is slim to none as there is no actual baking and the parfait just needs to be refrigerated. So, enjoy a stress free, quick and easy dessert!

Time: 20 mins  |  Serves: 8  |  280 Calories
Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp Unsalted Butter (43 gms)

  • 3 tbsp Sugar

  • 1/2 cup Graham cracker crumbs (I used Digestive biscuit crumbs)

  • 1/2 tbsp of instant coffee powder 

  • 1/2 tbsp sugar 

  • 1/4 cup of hot water

  •  tin (395 gms) Condensed milk

  • 1 cup Chilled whipping cream

Preparation

  1. Melt butter in heavy small skillet/saucepan. Once it is melted, add sugar and stir until bubbling, about 1 min. Mix in the biscuit crumbs. Stir until colour deepens, about 3 mins. Turn out onto a plate and let it cool completely.

  2. Stir condensed milk, the coffee version, add instant coffee powder and sugar to hot water. Dissolve it and let it cool. Using electric mixer, beat whipping cream in a medium bowl until firm peaks form; fold the whipped cream into the lemon mixture.

  3. Place 1/4 cup of coffee and cream mousse in the individual serving dish. Top each with 1 tbsp crumb mixture, then 1/4 cup of mousse. Top parfait with remaining crumb mixture. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

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