Chocolate Brownies

Those of you who are regular readers will know that I don't often do baking. This is mainly because I don't have the ingredients at home and the fact that I have difficulty following  a recipe to the letter. Indeed when I made these brownies I decided to add a bit of Vanessa. I decided to make these after finding a recipe in a supplement in the Telegraph, but an exact copy of the recipe can be found here. Instead of the white chocolate I added dried sour cherries as I love the combination of chocolate and cherries. I was slightly nervous as I would class myself as a baking novice, but these are incredibly easy if you follow the instructions carefully. The only difference I would make if I made them again is that I might use slightly less strong chocolate- I used one with 85% coco solids instead of the recommended 75%. This doesn't make then bad, it just makes them extremely rich, maybe too rich for some. But I will definitely make them again, probably around Christmas as they are perfect to offer to guests who have just popped in.
I would also add, in the reciepe it states to slice them into 16. I sliced mine into eight, a portion this size was just too big given how rich they are, also when it says leave to cool, as hard as this is to do, make sure that you do leave them to cool, they will taste so much nicer for it.

Nigella's Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake

I don't bake that often (well actually hardly ever). The last time I remember was a Christmas cake a couple of years ago. There are two reasons for this; firstly I live with just my boyfriend and as we are both trying to lose those extra pounds, baking a cake just for the two of us doesn't seem like a very good idea. Secondly I never follow a recipe, and I know with baking you have to be exact otherwise you won't get the desired results. So on that basis I more often than not just don't bother.

However last weekend my boyfriend decided to buy some jaffa cakes, I suddenly stated to crave the mixture of chocolate and orange and decided to bake this cake. The recipe is from her 'Kitchen' book, which I think is her most recent. It's actually really easy to make and very light and moist. Apparently it should keep for up to five days which means I have no excuse for wolfing it down in one day!!!!!!! I think I will give it another go, maybe when I've got more people around to help me finish it!!!!!!