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In life, some difficulties are real and some are perceived.
In my youth, hurdles were an emotional challenge as well as a physical one ( I was and still is ahem, quite short ). They loom large as I raced towards them but I somehow managed to jump over them half the time. Of course there was the occasional injury where I swore I would stop trying. Even so, scars eventually heal but the glee of clearing those cumbersome hurdles never left me.
During this exam season, I would like to encourage those who face tremendous stress, coping with personal and family expectations to perform not to give up on themselves and to keep on trying. Now almost half a century old and with so many cobwebs in my foggy head, I have again hit the ‘books’ to appreciate how the little one is coping. There’s only this much tricks you can teach an old dog but struggling to move on makes me feel more alive than staying where I am.
For a very long time, I always thought lava cakes or such should be left to the experts. Besides, paying top dollars for such an item never fails to make me flinch.
To cut the long story short, I build upon my basic baking skills and finally crafted this in my kitchen. My heart swells with happiness knowing that days of costly lava cakes is over. I can now eat fresh. As for my friends who are not in the things of whisks and measuring cups, I am going to dazzle them with my newest works.
Between you and I, shall we keep it a secret that it is not as hard as it seems?
( Adapted from marthastewart.com )
Makes 17 mini barely sweet cupcakes
Ingredients :
85g butter, softened
¼ cup fine sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
300 g plain chocolate, melted and left to cool
½ cup flour
¼ tsp baking powder
pinch of fine salt
raspberries
Method :
- Preheat oven to 200C.
- Cream butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy, medium speed.
- Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Batter will appear watery. It is fine if butter clumps at this stage.
- Whisk in melted chocolate, in 3 portions, until batter is velvety smooth.
- Sift in flour, baking powder and salt.
- Whisk until all components are well mixed and batter appears glossy.
- Spoon ¾ Tbsp of batter to the cup liner, add 2 whole raspberries, and cover with another spoonful of batter.
- Bake at 200C for 9 minutes. Eat warm with ice cream.
