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“Lovely Chocolate and Lovely you. And lovely are the things you do, but the loveliest is the friendship of the two, one is me and the other is you. HAPPY CHOCOLATE DAY”

My day started with this message. Most people I know love Chocolates (and chances are, you too) and when a day is dedicated to this, it ought to be celebrated.

Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate Day

Chocolate Day is 2^nd day of the Valentine Week. As promised, each day of the Valentine week, I would post recipes befitting the occasion. I started with Matar Paneer with a Bengali twist on the Propose Day, and here’s  chocolate cake for the C-Day.

Uh oh, not so soon. Before jumping to the recipe, lets talk about Chocolate for a little while.

History of Chocolate

Cocoa trees grow in the wild in Latin America, and that’s where Chocolate is said to have originated from. It was the Olmec tribe who started preparing chocolate as early as 1000BC. Chocolate beans used as currency in many parts of Latin America almost till 19^th Century. The Mayas also used chocolates for rituals and ceremonies, but it was strictly for drinking. The first chocolate bar came from Cadbury’s in England in 1842, and that started a new era of chocolates. [Source: Wikipedia]

Benefits of chocolate

No, seriously. You may be surprised to know that Chocolate has its own share of benefits.

Besides being a mood enhancer, chocolate has a very high food value, delays aging and helps avoid cardiac problems. It is believed that chocolate consumption releases chemicals in the body very similar to ones when you are in love. So, the next time you indulge yourself with a bar of chocolate, just think about all its good effects. J

Note: Indulging in chocolate doesn’t mean watching this movie.

Cooking Chocolate Cake in Microwave Oven

I tried making a chocolate pudding that I read in a Thai recipe book. The pudding was to be steamed in braine marie, but I tried doing that in the microwave. Now, here’s the news. The pudding didn’t seem to be like the one in the book pic, but it was a perfect cake like texture. That was my eureka moment, baking cake in a simple microwave oven. The tasters loved it.

Prepare Chocolate Cake

Serves: 6

Preparation time: 15min

Cooking time: 6min

Ingredients for Chocolate Pudding

For the cake

• Plain flour (Maida): 1 cup
• Caster sugar (Guro chini): 1 ¼ cup
• Egg (Dim): 3
• Cocoa powder: 4 tablespoon
• Unsalted butter (Sada Makhan): ½ cup + for greasing
• Plain chocolate: 100gms

For chocolate sauce

• Unsalted butter: 2 tablespoon
• Cocoa powder: 2 tablespoon
• Milk (Dudh): ½ cup
• Caster sugar (Guro chini): 3 tablespoon

More Chocolate Pudding

Preparation steps for Chocolate Pudding

For cake

• Beat the egg and caster sugar together, whisk well till frothy
• In another bowl sift the flour and cocoa powder
• Gradually add flour and cocoa powder into the beaten egg, whisk well
• Pour in individual bowls and place in large tray filled with water
• Microwave high for 6 min or till a tooth pick inserted at the middle of the cake comes out clean

For the chocolate sauce

• Melt the butter and cool down to room temperature
• Mix milk, caster sugar and cocoa powder well, whisk well
• Pour in the butter and stir again

Decoration

• Take a dessert plate and place the cake on it, pour in the chocolate sauce and garnish with chocolate chips

Further Reading – Black Forest Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Dessert

Happy Chocolate Day folks!

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