Chocolate Fest Cake & Cheesy Baked Rice

I guess by now it should come to no surprise to you that I bake a cake regularly...particularly chocolate cake. If I'm not wrong, at least once a month. Perhaps I have yet found the perfect one, or I am just trying out new recipes or simply just finding excuse to pig out on a slice of rich decadent chocolate heaven, haha! I just hope the people around me that share it with me won't get tired of my chocolate cakes! It's definitely my kind of comfort food. This time round I have decided to try out Yochana's Chocolate Fest Cake. Not too sure how the name comes about, but looking at the pictures is enough to get me trying it out.

If you are wondering why is the shape of cake so "special"? Well, indeed I used an eight inch flower shaped cake mould this time. No, it is not hard to unmould at all...so I was really glad that I bought it...sweet is it? ;)

Please pardon my piping skills...wobbly hands...getting old perhaps! Did not really planned how to decorate the cake, so just melted some dark chocolate and piped lines all around. Since there was a box of chocolate siting in my fridge....decided to just pop it on top and luckily it did help make a nice garnish to it!
The cake is not dense but somewhere between a butter cake to a chiffon. A relatively sturdy cake to work with. Furthermore, it is very fragrant too. ;) The frosting recipe includes some coffee powder, so it has a hint of coffee fragrance which really compliments the overall taste. I made some changes to the chocolate frosting which I added an additional 1 cup of sweetened whipped cream to it. I find it much lighter and easier to spread too, perfect!

If you love chocolate cake just like me, do try this one out. ;)
A few nights ago, while I was home alone with my girls. I did not want to cook the usual rice with dishes for dinner. So I decided to cook something simple yet delicious,;Cheesy Baked Rice! ;) Actually seen this dish served in several Hong Kong Cafes here, and it so happened to be my elder girl's favorite, so why not. I added several ingredients in the baked rice, no particular "theme" like seafood or chicken....I just used both, haha. Most of the recipes out there uses cream sauce base in the rice, as some of you might have seen in HappyHomebaker's blog. However my family is not much of a fan of carbanara sauce, so I decided to "twist" it and used tomato sauce instead. The outcome was wonderful...almost like eating Jambalaya, well maybe minus off the spices. ;)
Ingredients (serves 3):
1.5 cups rice, washed and cooked
1 tsp sugar
1 chicken drum chopped up
4 to 5 prawns, cleaned and devained
1 garlic, finely minced
1 cup tomato / pasta sauce (refer to recipe)
1/4 cup sweet baby peas
1 cup mozarella cheese, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
Salt and pepper to taste.


Method:

• In a cooking pot, add some cooking oil and stir fry garlic till fragrant. Add chicken and cook for a couple minus before adding the prawns.
• Do not overcook the prawns, quickly add peas and then follow by the pasta sauce.
• When the sauce is bubbly, add the cooked rice and stir well to incorporate everything evenly.
  
• Scoop the rice into a baking dish and preheat the oven to 220°C.
• Sprinkle parmesan cheese and mozeralla all over the top of the rice. Place it in oven to bake for 10 to 15 mins till the top is golden brown.
• Let cool for 10 mins before serving.
  

Since I always have ready made pasta sauce in my freezer, it's really very convenient to make this baked rice. My girls totally enjoyed it...my picky eater elder daughter even had 2nd servings! My girls kept telling me they like this '"pizza rice", haha! Want something different for dinner tonight? Try this out...you'll love it. ;)