Melting Mocha Pudding

I have been having a bit of a pudding fettish lately! I guess it's just the weather for it - and let's face it, pudding is really comforting both to make & to eat!

MELTING MOCHA PUDDING

You'll need:

1 cup wholemeal self raising flour
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
2 Tablespoons dairy free chocolate chips (optional)
3/4 cup plant milk of choice (I used vanilla soy)
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 Tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 Tablespoons boiling water

1 Tablespoon instant coffee
2 Tablespoons muscavado or brown sugar
3/4 cup boiling water

In a small mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, cocoa and chocolate chips (if using). Stir until well combined and no clumps left in the cocoa. 
Gently stir in the milk, applesauce and flax mixture. Stir until the dry ingredients are just wet - do not over stir. 
Lightly spray a pudding dish with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the pudding mixture into the dish and tap til evenly distributed.
In a measuring jug combine the coffee and sugar and pour over the boiling water & stir until coffee and sugar have dissolved.
Then pour the coffee mixture over the pudding.


Bake in a preheated 160C oven for 40 minutes until pudding is cooked through & coffee mixture has soaked through to the bottom creating a 'sauce'. You will see it bubbling out the sides when the pudding is cooked.

 It may appear 'uncooked' but that is just the sauce. A skewer poked into the center will still come out clean.

Now admittingly these are not the greatest pictures! This is definitely not a 'pretty' pudding - but then again not too many are! None the less, it is still delicious! 
In the picture below I wanted to show the 'sauce' that is on the bottom of the pudding.

You can substitute coffee essence in place of the coffee if you are willing to share this with your children ;-)

 
Submitted for Meatless Monday - Xocolato: 
which is the Aztec word for Chocolate.

Meatless Monday - Instant Coffee

Today's Meatless Monday food is Instant Coffee.

 I have a confession to make....

I'm a coffee snob!

You see, I can't stand instant coffee! I like REAL coffee!

So I did have to buy a packet of instant coffee to complete this round of Meatless Monday!!!

I guess its handy to have some in the cupboard and when I saw this hazelnut flavoured one I definitely thought it was worth a try.

Now as for taste.... its tolerable, but NO I won't be giving up my espresso anytime soon to replace it with this ;-)

Mocha Mousse for one

150g soft silken tofu
1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 Tablespoon boiling water
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a mini food process or blender. 
Blend til completely smooth.
Serve.

Can be eaten straight away or if left in the fridge for a few hours it will be even thicker.

I was pleasantly surprised how much the hazelnut flavour came through - definitely a winner! 
I might even try this instant coffee for drinking ;-)

In My Kitchen June

Welcome to In My Kitchen for June.
This was a super easy month for me to find items to take pictures of because I got lots of birthday goodies at the end of last month that made it into my kitchen! 

We welcomed a new napkin holder into our home at the end of May. I love how slim this one is. It doesn't take up too much room on our tiny little dinner table, and it holds napkins quite neatly.

I was hugely excited when I was given this ultra cute kitty mug for my birthday from one of my friends! I love kitty's - especially grey kitty's. It is now officially my favourite coffee mug. Its the perfect size for a coffee too :-)

My husband got me this veggie chop for my birthday! I spend hours chopping vegetables each week so this came with great relief for me! It took me a bit of time and experimenting to work out how to use it but now, already it gets a great work out.

This rocket blender was given to me on Mother's Day. Prior to our blender breaking.....

Its such a practical size for making 'yogurts' or sauces/dressings. And the cups that are used to blend also come with lids so the item can be stored in the fridge. Not to mention that all the bits are dishwasher safe :-)

 

Our oven trays were black.... So now we have nice new pink ones. Thanks to a clearance at Woolworths! I swear cookies taste so much better being baked on pink trays ;-)

Yay for aprons! I was only thinking for my last post that I don't have any aprons! A pink one from my hubby to match the pink trays! The purple one came all the way from America! I'm tickled 'pink' to think that my friend would know how much I enjoy cooking & send me an apron! Its so very very beautiful - I wonder if I could wear it as a dress instead ;-)

I mentioned in a previous month that we had got a new rice cooker. So this month I'm showing you just how well it worked! I'm soooooooooo happy with it. It doesn't bubble over (like my previous one did) and it cooks rice so perfect. It cooks other grains too which I find really handy. I loved the way it cooks brown rice. Not gluggy or mushy and not still hard, but just perfectly done! :-)

Perfectly cooked brown rice

And last but not least - we got this blender to replace our verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry old one! I'm yet to use it. We were deciding if we needed a full size blender not with the rocket blender - however last weekend I missed green smoothies too much to live without a blender!

What's new in your kitchen this month?

Link your kitchen post up to the Fig Jam & Lime Cordial blog.

In My Kitchen - May

This month's edition is bought to you by the letter "M"...
Hang on, wait - that sounds a bit like Sesame Street doesn't it......?!?!?

I  thought I'd post some of my favourite "M" things for May's In My Kitchen.

MUGS & MEASURING CUPS

I must be honest and admit that I do have a bit of a fettish for kitchen bits and pieces and both mugs and measuring cups fall into that category!
I love having a big range of mugs to drink from. 

Here are some of my favourites currently in my mug cupboard: These are my standard tea & coffee mugs. I use them when I'm just having a drink by myself.  These cow mugs were picked from the shop by my daughter who is obsessed with cows. We have these when we're having a cup of tea together and are sometimes used when I have a friend over.

Here's 2 mugs that my daughter and I painted for each other :-) We take these to a coffee shop when we go out for a special treat together. I'm sure the people making our drink have a bit of a chuckle! We also use these for having hot chocolate.

Anything pink and French falls into my 'like' category! These are just too cute - and the perfect size for a cup of tea I must add!

This set (of 3!) is my most favourite set! These are for special occasions - so know that if you visit and you get served your hot drink in these cups then know that you are very important to me and that I value our friendship!!! ;-)

If I ever see this range available again I will buy a 4th just to complete the set!

Now onto measuring cups!

There are so many different types of ones you can get & I find them all so lovely and fascinating.

Here's what's currently in my cooking drawer:

This purple set formed part of my Christmas gift from my husband which was many purple kitchen items! I sure didn't need any extra measuring cups but they sure get used!!!!

I'm instantly attracted to a bright range of colours so I couldn't resist purchasing these ones! 

This set is really handy for baking with because it has teaspoon and tablespoon measurements on the ends!

This set is great for travelling - they all hold together with a mini ring clip. They are also great for measuring when you need to pour - eg. when a recipe calls for each waffle to use 1/2 cup!

This set comes from Tupperware!

Its so practical because it also has 3/4 cup and 2/3 measurements which not many sets contain.

This set is just way too cute! I just LOVE them!

Question of the day:

Do you have a special mug that you like to use for warm drinks?

Next month I hope to have a new blender to show you since our one broke on Friday!

You can share inside your kitchen on the Fig Jam and Lime Cordial blog. Thanks again to Celia for hosting! 

Christmas Drink #5 - Christmas Spiced Mocha

 Drink #5 - Christmas Spiced Mocha

You didn't think I was going to leave coffee off the drinks list did you??
Coffee is very close to my heart!

This is the perfect way to enjoy your coffee and make it feel like a real celebration!
Surprise your guests when they pop over with this wonderful spice-mix :-)


You'll need:

hazelnut flavour coffee (you can use plain but the hazelnut flavour just adds a wonderful aroma & taste to this mix)
150-200ml plant-milk
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch ground cloves

Warm the coffee machine for about 15 minutes before using.
Place the cocoa powder in a mug & then run your coffee on top of the cocoa. Stir to combine. Add the cinnamon, ginger & cloves. Stir well.

Froth the milk & pour on top of the coffee-spice mixture. 
Sprinkle with cinnamon or cocoa.

Don't have a coffee machine? Use a plunger & a milk frother instead! :-)

Serve with treats of course ;-) 

Homemaker Coffee Grinder

Product Review:

- Homemaker Coffee Grinder

I picked this up from K-mart for just $9!

Can you believe it? Just nine bucks!

I can't really vouch for the use of it with coffee...... to be honest - I haven't tried it yet with coffee. The main reason I haven't tried it for coffee is because I think it would be a pain to have to tip the coffee up-side-down into a container. I wouldn't ever just grind enough for one cup and it's obviously not big enough to grind large batches of coffee at one time.

However............. that said - the reason I bought this coffee grinder was to use with nuts and seeds.

And for that purpose it is PERFECT!

It does an amazing job.

It works really well at breaking them down, either into little pieces, or into a fine powder.

The lid has a button that you must hold down in order for the grinder to work so it stops the machine being accidently turned on if the lid is somehow left off - very safe for little fingers.

It's really easy to use & doesn't take long at all to grind the nuts. Its easy to clean just by using a cloth to wipe around the inside.

I love the small size as I find it very convenient to find a place for it in my cupboard (making more room for more kitchen gadgets - that's gotta be a good thing!).

Awesome value for money - a great investment for any nuts..... I mean nut-eaters ;-)

Rating 5/5