Mocha Walnut Choco Chip Muffin

According to my family, I am a chocolate addict. I eat chocolate day and night. I make so much desserts and cakes with chocolate that my hubby thinks I only know one ingridient and that is chocolate.
I am trying to make different desserts but I always tend to be partial to chocolate.
I can see on my expanding waistline too, that I have been too much indulging on chocolate.

Especially bloghopping is not helping, I look to blogs and If it is having chocolates then i bookmark them and tend to make as soon as I can.
This is one of those recipie I found in Deepa's place. I am sure you don't need a introduction to her place as you all will be knowing it, still what the heck I will say it :-) Passionate About Baking and the title says it all, she is really passionat in baking.

I have so many recipes I have bookmarked from her place.
The Moment I saw this Mocha Walnut Choco Chip Muffins I knew I was going to make them.
I made them for my daughter and her friends. I am sure I have mentioned , every tuesday my daughter brings her friend/friends home after school and she knows her mom will make somthing for her and her friends.

So that is what i did on tuesday, made these and oh yes I heard them saying wow really delcious muffin. And then yesterday her friends asked when is your mom going to make muffins again, so from that you can know how much they like these ones, so this recipe is a keeper.
You should go to her place , there is a whole information about muffins
I added less sugar and I have changed them in the recipe below.

I used orange callets for dcoration, which was yummy too.
Ingredients:
Hot water - 1/4 cup
Instant coffee/espresso powder - 2tbsp
Buttermilk - 3/4 cup
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Flour - 1 3/4 cups
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder - 4 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Walnuts - 1/2 cup / coarsely chopped / optional ; reserve a few halves for topping

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Line twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups with paper liners.
Stir 1/4 cup hot water and instant coffee in medium bowl until it dissolves.
Add buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla and whisk until well blended.
Mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
Add buttermilk mixture and stir just until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts (or pecans).
Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Bake until tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
Transfer muffins to rack and cool.
I am sending this to at Ruth Kitchen Expiriments for her bookmarked recipe event.

Apple, cranberry & cider cake

I saw this delicious cake recipe in Maria's place The Goddess"s Kitchen.
I love the name of her blog and she has writtten A blog dedicated to perfecting the art and joy of baking and cooking by an aspiring domestic goddess!

And I can assure you, if you jump over to her place you will see what she means by Perfecting the art and joy od baking.
Her place is raining with delicious baking goddies. Just like this Spiced Apple, Cranberry & Cider Cake
When I saw the cake I knew I was going to male them, but then I don't have the book she had written from were she got the recipe so I mailed her to ask her if she would be kind enough to send me the recipe and i think in a flash I got the recipe in my mail, whiwh I was so pleased and when I saw the ingridients , I was happy as I had all the ingridients here at home.
So this is what I made for sunday afternoon coffee. Ofcourse as it is sunday i took the cake to my inlaws place.
We all loved them.
I sreved with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.
Thankyou Maria for you wonderful recipe.

It was a real high cake

Ingridients:

3 medium red skinned eating apples
100 gm dried sweetened cranberries
200 ml dry cider
350 gm self raising flour
2 tsp ground cinamon
175 gm light muscovado suage ( I added 125 gm)
175 gm unsalted butter, melted
3 eggs beaten
For the topping
1 medium apple thinly slices and pips removed
3 tbsp of apricot jam, warmed.

For the cake peel and core the apples, then chop them rough.
Put the apple, cranberries, and cider in a saucepan and bring to the boil , then simmer very gentley for 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool completley.

Prehat the ocen to 180°C. Grease and baseline a 20 cm springform tin fitted with a flat base.
Sift the flour and cinamon into a bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the melted utter, eggs and apple and cider mixture. Stir untill just combines, then spoon into the prepared tin and lever the surface.
For the topping arrange the apple slices evenly over the top of the cake mixture.

Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or untill a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out into a wire reack.

Brush the apricot jam over the top of the cake while it is still warm. Leave to cool completleu , then serve in slices.

Serve the with whipped cream or custard.