Chocolate Pudding? Yes Please!

My friends and I go over to each other's houses, and the host gets to cook for the rest of the group. I absolutely love doing this as it is great to spend time with each other and get a little bit creative at the same time! I had my night the other week and decided to go a little bit crazy in the kitchen and did Homemade Garlic Bread, Curry Chicken (recipe to come) and Chocolate Pudding :)

The chocolate pudding was so good I decided to make it again a few nights later! So much for the 6 serves I put in the fridge, it was gone in 4!

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Cornflour
2 Tablespoons Water
1 1/2 Cups Milk of Choice (I used Soy)
1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Sugar to taste ( I only used a pinch, but you may want it a little bit sweeter!)

Method:

1. Mix Cornflour and Water in a separate bowl
2. Place Milk, Cocoa Powder and Vanilla Extract in a Saucepan on a medium heat
3. Add Cornflour and Water to the mixture
4. Simmer on a medium heat (You do not want the mixture to boil!) until the mixture starts to thicken.
5. Take off the heat and stir before pouring into serving dishes (Cups, Bowls etc)
6. Let it cool for 10 minutes or until the serving dish is cool to touch before placing in the fridge till serving

NOTE: Top it with whatever you want! I did crushed Freedom Foods X and O's and fresh mint leaves and I also did Berries and Chocolate Chips (Sweet William) :)

You can also add whatever extract you want instead of vanilla! I've also played around with coffee extract, orange flavour (juice etc) and it tastes great!

The Perfect Allergy Friendly Buttercream!

I have been baking allergy friendly for years and years, but I have always struggled to make a delicious icing to go with cakes and cupcakes!

Because Nuttelex and other dairy free margarine/butter options do not hold the same consistency or amount of oil as regular butter, the proportions were often wrong for the ingredients and it ended up tasting too sugary, too buttery or just being a mess on top of a cake. But I have found a recipe that had people wondering how I made it so allergy friendly! I thought I would share it with you all, let me know how it goes!

185 grams of Butter (I used Nuttelex)
2 and 1/4 cups of Icing Sugar
2 Tablespoons of Milk or Water ( I used water and it came out perfectly! But Milk also works well)
Flavouring/Colour of choice

1. Beat Butter until it is paler than normal
2. Add sugar and water gradually until combined
3. Add desired colouring/flavouring

NOTE: When I made this, I added coffee extract and cocoa powder which did alter the consistency a little bit. In the end it is all about playing around and adding tiny bits of each ingredient until you make it perfect for you. But this recipe is the best one I have done thus far! I found I added a little bit more water after I put the cocoa powder in, but it all balanced out in the end. This Icing is perfect for piping as well!

Good Luck and let me know how your Buttercream goes!