chocolate – Valerie

Flourless Chocolate Torte

By: Valerie February 11, 2024February 11, 2024

Cakes and Cupcakes, Pies and Tartschocolate, torte, flourlessLeave a Comment

This chocolate torte is one of the best desserts I’ve ever made, certainly one of the top three of this cookbook to date. It is truly decadent.

Tiramisu Torte

By: Valerie November 16, 2023

Cakes and Cupcakeschocolate, coffee, tiramisu, vanilla1 Comment

This tiramisu torte is intricate to make and requires several hours, but it is delicious and sure to make an impression.

Chocolate Shavings

By: Valerie November 5, 2023November 6, 2023

Frosting, sauces and garnisheschocolate, garnish1 Comment

Simple but effective garnish for various desserts such as cakes, tarts or cupcakes.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

By: Valerie July 7, 2023July 9, 2023

Cakes and Cupcakescake, chiffon, chocolate, dairy-freeLeave a Comment

This chocolate chiffon cake is fabulous. Not too sweet with a nice chocolate flavour enhanced by a coffee undertone. It feels airy and light to eat, which is different than your typical cake and very enjoyable.

Chocolate Peanut Pretzel Squares

By: Valerie April 19, 2022April 21, 2022

Cookies, Bars and Biscottibars, chocolate, peanuts, pretzel3 Comments

These chocolate peanut pretzel squares are very scrumptious, the perfect combination of sweet and salty, soft and crunchy. I had actually made it more than a month ago, but never got around to posting it. It was so good, however, that I had to make it again. Definitely a favourite.

Fully Loaded Cranberry Coconut Marshmallow Brownies

By: Valerie January 13, 2021January 13, 2021

Cookies, Bars and Biscottibrownies, chocolate, coconut, cranberries, marshmallowsLeave a Comment

Whether it is good news or bad, I have always found joy or solace in baking. So I return once more to my trusty cookbook, which has now seen better days. It is very well-loved, to say the least. In an attempt to balance my love of baking and the fact that I am, in this current situation, mostly baking for one, I have decided to try making a recipe from “Back to Baking” once every two weeks.

Pumpkin Cheesecake and Chocolate Tart

By: Valerie October 23, 2020December 3, 2020

Pies and Tartschocolate, cream cheese, pumpkin, tart11 Comments

Fall is truly my favorite season. The beautiful trees changing colour as the weeks go by, the breezy but still warm air, the walks and the crunchy leaves, the hot chocolates, sweaters and long coats. But also, I feel like baking in autumn is just that much better, for some reason. A warm tray of cookies or a hot pie coming out of the oven just taste and smell better when it is a bit more chilly, I think. In any case, someone at work mentioned that they liked pumpkin, which I do not, and I was reminded of the pumpkin tart recipe that I have flipped through and ignored several times in the cookbook throughout the years.

Chocolate Pavlovas

By: Valerie July 1, 2020December 3, 2020

Cakes and Cupcakeschocolate, gluten-freeLeave a Comment

It is clear to me now that I really am not good at making meringue desserts. I have tried twice now to make Pavlovas, and they always crack. Very finicky desserts, these. I don’t know what I am doing wrong but I can never get them right. I followed tricks on the internet to try to prevent it from cracking, the main one being to let them cool down in the oven after baking by shutting off the temperature and cracking the door open.

Chocolate-Dipped Orange Madeleine Cookies

By: Valerie May 23, 2020December 3, 2020

Cookies, Bars and Biscottichocolate, cookies, orange2 Comments

As the weeks of quarantine are prolonged, my supply of flour is decreasing at an alarming rate. I have only a few more recipes’ worth of flour as there is a nation-wide shortage and I have been unable to get my hands on some, so I have to choose my last few bakes carefully. Of course I was looking for a little cookie or hand-held dessert to eat with tea in the evenings. And so came these chocolate-dipped madeleine cookies.

Dobos Torte

By: Valerie January 5, 2020December 3, 2020

Cakes and Cupcakescaramel, chocolate, dobos, hazelnut1 Comment

This recipe is one that I have been avoiding for years. Every time I was looking for a beautiful and impressive dessert to make for a special occasion, I would look through the cookbook, come across the Dobos Torte and immediately think to myself that it looked way too complicated, so I would pass on it and do something else, something that was in my comfort zone. Again, looking for an elegant dessert, ideally a cake, to make for our New Year’s Eve party at friends’ place, I stumbled upon this recipe.