This recipe is a mix of a few and I wanted to make something a little different with the cinnamon as part of the Master Baker’s challenge.

This is the first challenge I’ve entered being blissfully unaware of these food blogging events. I wanted to do something a little spicey (chili), a little aromatic (cinnamon) and a little rich (chocolate mud).

I received this Dagoba Chili Cinnamon organic hot chocolate mix for my kitchen tea as part of a large chocolate basket from my friends Gina and Teena from Peters of Kensington. The chili and cinnamon chocolate ganache gives it that little bit extra. If an overload of chili and cinnamon is not to your taste, you could always just add the chili and cinnamon mix to the ganache and have a regular cupcake on the outside or you could always reverse it and have the chili and cinnamon in the cupcake and leave the topping as a regular gooey chocolate ganache. As it is, the quantities that I’ve stated are for those who like a little tingle of chili but an all-enveloping hug of cinnamon. If you don’t have access to Dagoba chocolate powder I would suggest a home made version with a ratio of perhaps: 2 tablespoons chocolate powder (not cocoa) to 1/4 or 1/8 teaspoon chili powder and to 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or play around with that ratio to your taste. It also depends on how hot your chili powder is.

The decoration is not hand made (I am not that dextrous) but rather some individually wrapped Sasha chocolates bought for me by my sister from Tokyo. Please don’t be scared off by the combination of flavours, my husband declared these his favourite cupcakes ever as did A&D whom we brought a fresh batch to that evening. Make no mistake, the chewy dense chocolate mud cake is gorgeous and a must bake.

Cinnamon, chili and chocolate mud cake

• 165g butter
• 100g dark eating chocolate chopped coarsely
• 1 1/3 cups (290g) caster sugar
• 2/3 cup (170ml) water
• 1/4 cup (60ml) coffee liquer (optional)
• 8-12 tablespoons Dagoba chili and cinnamon powder (depending on how hot you like your cupcakes)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (150g) plain flour
• 2 tablespoons Self raising flour
• 1 egg

Chili, cinnamon and chocolate ganache

• 300g dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cream
• 4-6 tablespoons of Dagoba chili and cinnamon powder depending on how hot you like it
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon extra

1. Preheat oven to moderate 170C degrees/150C fan forced. Line 6 hole texas or 12 hole standard muffin pan with paper cases

2. Combine butter, chocolate, sugar, the water, liquer and powder in small saucepan, stir over low heat until smooth

3. Transfer mixture to large bowl; cool 15 minutes. Whisk in sifted flours, then egg (at this stage it will look like liquidey dark chocolate ganache). Divide mixture among cases.

4. Bake large cakes for about 1 hour, small cakes about 40 minutes. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.

For Chocolate, chili and cinnamon ganache
Combine chocolate and cream in a small heatproof bowl; stir with metal spoon over pan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Stir in chocolate powder and cinnamon. Cool in fridge until it reaches a piping consistency and pipe over cupcakes.

You ought to know that before I go on with my story that this pie is not just for kids. Its delicious, vegetarian and perfect hot or cold served for a picnic. I knew that I had to feature little toadstools in the story. The question was, where on earth would I find some? Should I call all of my friends and ask them “Do you have any toadstools? No? OK bye”. But my husband told me no that would mark me as crazy and may come up in a future court appearance. So I fashioned these toadstools and I was on my way.

Although I don’t have children and I remain immune to the unsubtle hints thrown my way to have them, I like injecting a child like perspective into this dish. Amy Sedaris came up with the name of course, I just ran with it. So to make this vegetarian dish more appealing to your child or to anyone who has the heart of a child, I have a story for you:

An Echo in the Forest by Not Quite Nigella

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a frog called Gerard who lived in the Enchanted Echo Forest. He lived there alone but loved company. And before you ask, he wasn’t a pervert or anything, he was just very, very shy around other animals and could never strike up a conversation. Every time he tried his very long tongue got caught up in itself and no one could understand what he was saying “Ribbititigibbit” was all he could come up with.

Every day he walked through the forest to get to work to pay off the mortgage on his cottage. One day on the way home he saw a red and white spotted toadstool. “How wondrous!” he thought and sat on it and day dreamed for a while before heading off home.

The next day there was another toadstool and he sat on both of them and stayed a little longer. Even though he was alone, he felt very much like he wasn’t the only frog alone on earth, as if there were friends around him. The next day there was another mushroom and that evening he stayed for a few hours gazing up at the stars.

On the fourth day, he was walking home after having a run in with the boss, a nasty beaver, and what should he come across but an enormous toadstool pie! He almost fell back in astonishment and his mouth was agape with surprise. From the corner he heard a giggle and a buzz. He saw a Bee fly around the corner. “Why hello!” said the bee whose name was Tiddlywink. Gerard smiled broadly back at Tiddlywink and stammered out “Hellohowareyou?” in a rush. He was amazed that he could talk and all he had to do was smile when he spoke.

Tiddlywink said “I made this mushroom pie in the hope that you would stay longer tonight and help us all eat it. Would you care to join us friend?” and out from the forest popped up all of the other forest animals. They had a lovely evening full of dancing and eating with no inappropriate behaviour by anyone.

Gerard smiled, his tongue no longer tied. He was no longer alone.

The End!

Tiddlywinks Toadstool Pie from I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence

• 1 baked piecrust (I used ready made puff pastry for this which was baked in a 20cm flan tin)

Cream Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 1 cup of light cream
• Salt and Pepper

Mushroom Filling:

• 1 lb./500grams fresh mushrooms, sliced (I added 100g cubes of firm tofu to this)
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 small garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 shallots, minced
• 2 egg yolks mixed with 1 tablespoon of light cream
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 tablespoons of white wine

Topping:

• 1/2 cup of grated Swiss cheese

Instructions
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour and cook until smooth. Add cream and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

2. Saute mushrooms in butter with garlic and shallots. Drain off any liquid. Add the mushrooms to the cream sauce and the egg mixture. Add salt, pepper, and wine.

3. Pour into pie shell (and its best piled high in a smaller dish, it looks better bountiful). Top with cheese. Bake at 350F/180C degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is brown.

From Amy Sedaris’ I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence.

Story by Not Quite Nigella

So I’ve been tagged by the lovely blogger airyfairycupcakes so I feel it my civic duty to retag others. Forgive my tardiness in retagging, I’ve been very busy. There are just a few rules to tagging

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

So let me see, 5 facts about me….

1. I am the proud owner of over 120 pairs of shoes

2. I am phobia ridden: heights, snakes, the ocean yet I have a pet spider called unimaginatively “Spidey”. I recently bought some small crickets from the pet store to feed her. She’s terribly smart and knows the rules i.e. don’t leave your web.

3. I love to sing but never in public, only to myself and around my husband.

4. I am a television addict whose favourite shows are Medium, Ghost Whisperer, Men in Trees, Family Guy, Desperate Housewives (I even have a “Desperate Housewife” apron), The F Word, Kitchen Nightmares, Seinfeld, Little Britain, Sex and the City, Cashmere Mafia, The Office UK version and of course Nigella’s cooking shows.

5. I collect Chanel nail polishes. An odd thing to collect I know but they’re easier to store than some of the other things I’ve been known to collect…

And 5 blogs that I just visited (these just happened to be the last ones I visited although I visit quite a few):

1. Grab Your Fork (the site that got me interested in food blogging)
2. Chefspiration
3. Ironchefshellie
4. Sweet-treats-from-oz
5. Frantichomecook.com

Its been literally years since I visited Chinta Ria, at least 5 years to be exact, so when Gina, Teena and I go there for a girl’s weekend lunch we’re all curious to see whether things have changed. Walking through the heavy wooden doors with the sashes of colourful cloth and a large smiling buddha with incense and pineapple offerings for the gods, it appears that little has changed. As its a glorious summer’s day, we are sitting outside amongst the little garden under large umbrellas. As with all girls’ lunches, we take a while to decide what to order as catching up seems more important and the patient waiter comes several times to see whether we’re ready to order.

As its hot I feel like a salad but the menu doesn’t have any salad or cooler offerings. Fair enough, after all its Malaysian hawker food. What the menu does have are funky sounding names such as “Satchmo’s Squid”, “Blakey’s Beef”, “Ikan Melody” and “Sassy’s Duck”. We’re steered towards an entree item that always has us laughing, Parker’s Gems. And I don’t mean to offend, you do see, but Teena’s husband’s last name is Parker and we always have a giggle that we’re consuming his “gems” . Along with these, we order one of the specials: Udang Merah aka Red Prawns ($28) as well as the Fried Kway Teow ($17) and the Ayam Blues ($22.50).

Parker’s Gems $8.60

Its not long before our Parker’s Gems (bite sized pieces of minced chicken with potatoes, coriander, silver thread noodles and special spices, lightly battered and then snap fried) arrives. I am not sure if its my dirty mind but I recall these being rounder in shape, more testiclé like, not the square fried objects we have before us. I’m sure that Your Honour, the shape was what originally made us think of “Parker’s Gems” as something a little tawdry. In any case, we try these and are disappointed. Bizarrely, the minced chicken has a distinct fish taste, much like the asian fish paste that you can buy by the tube. Certainly not chicken like and as we’re given 4 of them, the last one is left behind as if it were radioactive.

Udang Merah (Red Prawns) $28

Our mains come out together, the first I try is the Udang Merah aka Red Prawns (fresh prawns sauteed with red spiced sauce with chili, garlic galangal, lemongrass and tomato paste). The prawns are very fresh and butterflied (just the way I like them) and the sauce is fairly interesting although it seems to lack something. Its not bad by any means, but not something we’d be dying to order again.

Ayam Blues $22.50

The Ayam Blues (light battered chicken fillets wok tossed in a subtle tangy mayonnaise coating infused with lemon juice and tomato paste) is a much more successful offering. The small chicken pieces softly tender and perfectly coated with the slightly sweet mayonnaise sauce. This is a dish to order again and again and again.

Fried Kway Teow noodles $17

Lastly we try the Fried Kway Teow (wok fried rice noodles with fish cake, prawns, eggs and bean shoots, lightly spiced). Its fairly good and they’re generous with the king prawns and it has the requisite “breath of the wok” which is compulsory with good Kway Teow but its a touch underseasoned in parts. The fish cake is perfectly delicious but the noodles lack some flavour.

Temple of Love I’m not quite sure but Temple of Ayam Blues, I’ll say a definite yes to that.

Chinta Ria, Temple of Love

On the Roof Terrace of the Cockle Bay Wharf, next to the Pyrmont Footbridge entrance
201 Sussex Street Sydney
Tel +61 (02) 9264-3211
Fax +61 (02) 9264-1411
Open daily
Lunch: 12noon-2.30pm
Dinner: 6pm-11pm (except Sundays 6pm-10.30pm)
Reservations taken for lunch only
http://www.chintaria.com/

This is our second “documented” visit to Green Gourmet made in an effort to convert my sister, a dyed in the wool carnivore into something close to a vegetarian, if only for a few hours. But they are dinner hours so these are crucial. Surprisingly she actually suggests it, I think she is almost daring the tofu and gluten to be tasty.

Its quiet as we’re early on a Saturday night, frightfully early really as the staff are eating their dinners. But with my parents there is no such thing as eating too early. My dad eats his lunch at 11am and his dinner at 5pm. So for him we’re right on time and what on earth are you rolling your eyes for?

Eggplant parcel 3 pcs $4.20

We choose a range of dishes, some that we’ve tried before and some that sound intriguing such as the ” Golden slices in plum sauce Tofu pillow stuffed with taro mash deep fried served with pinenuts, bamboo and plum sauce $15.80″ and we leave room for dessert, the Crispy lotus seed crepe with ice cream and the vegan deep fried ice cream, too alluring to pass up this time.

Our entrees arrive first, they’re familiar and well loved sights with the eggplant parcel 3 pcs $4.20 and chicken drumsticks 3 pcs $4.20. The eggplant parcels are crisply fresh and hot on the outside and soft and oozing but stil with a texture as only eggplant can have. We’ve ordered two serves for the five of us and each serve is 3 pcs and its a lucky person (me!) that gets the extra remaining parcel of soft gooeyness.

“Chicken” drumsticks 3 pcs $4.20

The chicken drumsticks impress Blythe with their innovation with their leg bones made up of halved paddle pop sticks. Whilst its a different texture to chicken as gluten tends to be more layered it still hits the spot. We’re onto a good thing here Blythe knows.

Braised fresh river noodle flat rice noodle with soy meat shredded snow pea, carrot and cabbage $12.80

Our mains arrive and the Braised fresh river noodle flat rice noodle with soy meat shredded snow pea, carrot and cabbage $12.80. Its just like an omnivore’s version, tasty and full of mock meat by the way of gluten. Interestingly they don’t use onion or garlic here yet the taste doesn’t appear to suffer greatly at all.

Peking not duck $11.10 5 pieces

The dish I’ve been looking forward to, as a mad duck lover is the Peking not duck $11.10 5 pieces (usually 4 pieces, we asked for an extra) resembling the Flying Nun’s habit. Whilst its probably impossible to get the “skin” as glossy and lacquered as a real duck, the result is still very good. Its flavoured with the exact same spices and comes wrapped in the same type of pancake with sauce and veges although admittedly I ate it so greedily I can’t be sure that its cucumber and shallot and a quick glance of the picture shows that it might be radish.

Crispy not chicken with Shangtung sauce $15.80 Crispy fried wheat protein pickled vegetables, pickles, chili, coriander, vinegar and peanuts

We’re on a roll now, the next dish is probably my favourite main here, the Crispy not chicken with Shangtung sauce: Crispy fried wheat protein pickled vegetables, pickles, chili, coriander, vinegar and peanuts $15.80. Now if this is strange so be it, but I hate Shantung chicken, its too vinegary and too much for me but I have to say that I love Green Gourmet’s version of it. Its sweeter and the “chicken” is crispy fried and lacks the pungent vinegar of real Shantung Chicken.

Fried rice $8

The fried rice $8 is good, but I am not sure how to elaborate on fried rice except to say that it was pretty tasty and like the “real” stuff

Golden slices in plum sauce Tofu pillow stuffed with taro mash deep fried served with pinenuts, bamboo and plum sauce $15.80

We’re thoroughly enjoying our dishes and out comes a new one for us, the Golden slices in plum sauce: Tofu pillow stuffed with taro mash deep fried served with pinenuts, bamboo and plum sauce $15.80. Its delectably good, the sweet plum sauce verging on a little too much but never getting to sweet and tangy. The crispy fried tofu is soft inside and juicy with sauce and the table is divided on which is the favourite, this dish or the Crispy not chicken with Shangtung sauce.

Black sticky rice and coconut in pandan leaf $5.50

Thankfully, for once, we’ve left room for dessert. Our first choice of black sticky rice and coconut in pandan leaf $5.50 comes out. Its a touch dry and the shredded coconut on top only emphasises it and the rice is a little hard.

Vegan deep fried ice cream with caramel sauce $5.50

Our next choice, Blythe’s favourite is the vegan deep fried ice cream $5.50. Blythe is firmly against veganism (probably feeling pity at missing out more than anything) so her choice is perplexing. The icy soy ice cream though is good, very similar to “regular” ice cream and by now we are stretching to full and this huge globe of golden fried cake encased ice cream almost has us beat. Almost…

Crispy lotus seed crepe with ginger lotus ice cream $5.50

As the last dessert arrives, my choice is the Crispy lotus seed crepe with ginger lotus ice cream $5.50. This is very much like the fried red bean pancake from Shanghai Night but filled with lotus. The ginger ice cream is gorgeous albeit a bit more icey than creamy, completely gingery with real ginger, not the powdered old shelf bound ground ginger that barely has a scent. This is for ginger lovers most definitely. The fried crepe goes wonderfully with it and eating the ice cream with the aforementioned abandoned black sticky rice gives it much needed moisture.

Blythe is impressed. I think she will rethink her stance on vegetarianism. Well she’s finished rethinking now but it lasted for a whole 2 hours.

Green Gourmet Vegetarian Vegan restaurant

538 Pacific Hwy, St Leonards
T: 9439 6533
F: 9439 5993
Lunch: Tues-Sat 11.30-2.30pm
Dinner: Tues-Sun 5.30-9.30pm
Friday and Saturday open until 10.30pm
Closed MondaysAlso Green Gourmet in Newtown
115-117 King St, Newtown
T/F: 9519 5330They also run Vegan’s Choice Grocery
113 King St, Newtown
T: 9519 7646