iGirl's Chocolate Party!

iGirl, @ iDream is having a Chocolate Party, click here so see the rules and what you need to do.

Here is my entry.

Mexican Hot Chocolate (4 mugs)

Ingredients

*225 (8oz) dark cooking chocolate

*1 litre (2 pints) of milk

*1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

*2 drops vanilla essence

1. Weight the chocolate and then break into small pieces. Put pices in the top of a double broiler or into a heat-proof bowl.

1. Fill bottom of double broiler or a large saucepan with cold water. Bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat down to keep water gently boiling.

1. Place the container with the chocolate over the one with the boiling water. Stir the chocolate with a wooden spoon until melted.

1. Measure out the milk and pout it into another saucepan. Heat the milk gently; don't let it boil. Pour the melted chocolate into the hot milk.

1. Add the cinnamon and vanilla essence to the mixture and bring it to a boil.

1. Turn the heat down and whisk the mixture for 2 minutes until it is foaming.

1. Pour the chocolate into mugs and use a small whisk to foam the chocolate mixture in each mug.

Please ignore all the number ones beside each step, (I couldn't fix it up on the computer).

Aztec Feast!!

I'm really excited because tonight, Naomi and I are preparing an Aztec feast for the whole family.

First of we are going to be having a Aztec Bean soup. (Beans were one of the Aztecs main food supply). The we are having some Aztec avocado dip with corn chips and tortillas. (Aztecs grew and ate avocados and corn was another one of the main food supplies, they also made their own tortillas).

Then to finish of the night we are going to have some Mexican hot chocolate. (As most if us should know, the Aztecs were the ones who invented chocolate).

So there you have it. Naomi and I found all the recipes in an Aztec history book we were using.

I'm hopping to get some photos so I can put them on my blog but I might not be able to.

Basic Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 tbsp of fresh cake yeast or 1 1/2 tbsp of active dried yeast

1 cup of lukewarm water

pinch of sugar

1 tsp of salt

3 1/2 cups of plain flour

Serves 4

1 Warm a medium sized mixing bowl by swiring some hot water in  it. Drain.Place the yeast in the bowl, and pour on the warm water. Stir in the sugar, mix with a fork, allow to stand until the yeast has dissolved and starts to foam, 5-10 minutes.

2 Use a wooden spoon to mix in the salt and about one-third of the flour. Mix in another third of the flour, stirring with spoon until the dough forms a mass and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

3 Sprinkle some of the remaining flour on to a smooth work surface. Remove the dough from the bowl and begin to knead it, working in the remaining flour in a little bit at the time. Knead for 8-10 minutes. By the end the dough should be elastic and smooth. Form in to a ball.

4 Lightly oil a mixing bowl. Place the dough in the bowl. Stretch a moistened and wrung-out dish towel across the top of the bowl, and leave it to stand in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume, about 40-50 minutes or more, depending on the type of yest used. (If you do not have warm enough place, turn the oven on to medium for 10 minutes. Turn the oven off. Place the bowl with the dough in in the oven, leave it in there to rise.) To test whether the dough has risen enough, poke to fingers in to it. If the indentations remain, the dough is ready.

5 Punch the dough down with your fist to release the air. Knead for 1-2 minutes.

6 If you want to make 2 medium pizzas, divide the dough into 2 balls. If four individual pizza, divide the dough in to 4 balls. Pat the ball of dough out into a circle on a lightly floured work surface. With a rolling pin, roll out to a thickness of about 5-7 mm in. Place in the a lightly oiled pan, folding the extra dough under to make a thicker rim around the edge.

After that you can top it with anything thing you want to top it with.     

Pizza Base

I love to cook. Some times it doesn't go to plan but it does most the time. The thing I hate about cooking is needing to wash up the mixing bowl and the spoon and everything else. Here I'm making pizza for dinner and I wanted to make my own pizza base for it so a found a recipe that my sister Elise had used before and of I went to make it.

Yeast dissolving and making foam

I was so surprised at how quick it was to make. You just add this and add that a Ta-Da. I added the yeast and water together and and then I kneaded to let it dissolve and foam for ten minutes. Then I added the salt and 1/3 of the flour and mix mix mix mix and then another 1/3 of the flour then I shaped it in a ball and then I needed to knead for around 10 minutes. After that I let it rise for 45 minutes.

This is a photo of me rolling at the dough

After I let it rise, I needed to punch it in the middle to release all the air. Then I rolled it out, put the topping on, and put it in the oven for 10 to 20 minutes and it was ready to eat.

This is a picture of one of the pizzas

If you would like the recipe leave a comment and tell me.