Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Chocolate Mint Squares...Or Is It Mint Chocolate Squares?

It was a tough call, on a Tuesday evening, after a lousy day at work, whether to go for back to back classes of Body Pump and Body Combat, or veg out a bit and only go for one class... Then I happen to glance at the book that I bought at the MPH sale, THE GOLDEN BOOK OF CHOCOLATE, and flipped the page to a bookmarked "Mint Choc Squares" recipe. I just needed to "mix" something, stir up something....it can be very theraupeutic. I can understand why witchcraft is such a popular hobby. All the stirring of cauldron and throwing in of ingredients into a boiling soup does wonders for the soul.

So, I was quite pleased to see that this particular recipe did call for some stirring, but not overbearingly so. Really wasn't in the mood for full fledged dodol or concrete.

To make the base, you need:
150gm flour (approx 1 cup)
2 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup castor sugar

Sift the above ingredients, and rub in
2 tablespoons butter (I just chucked in about 50gm)

I just pulsed in the butter with the dry ingredients in a food processor.

Add in 1 egg beaten in 1/3rd cup water. It should form a thickish batter, almost like cookie dough, but less not as thick. I honestly expected my base to turn out like one large cookie. Spread evenly onto a 8"x8" square (obviously, if its 8 by 8 its a square la) tin, and bake for 15 minutes, in a 180C preheated oven.

Meanwhile, to make the mint filling:
Sift 350gm icing sugar
Add 2 -3 tablespoons of milk

Book called for 1 tablespoon peppermint liquer, but since I didnt have any (gasp!!! what a disgrace), I added 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint essence, which turned out a tad too strong, so maybe try 1/3rd.
Stir until the mixture becomes creamy and spreadable. I think I may have ended up adding too much milk, (I think I went up to 4½ tablespoons), which seems okay while spreading, but as I left it out of the fridge, it started melting.

For the Chocolate topping, use:
125 gm dark chocolate
60gm butter


Melt together on double boiler, OR microwave.

When the base has cooled, spread the mint filling, followed by the chocolate topping. I chose to refrigerate it awhile, as the choc topping was still runny.

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Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

20 comments:

daphne said...

very rustic looking. Chocolate makes me feel better..even if I can only look at it.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

so u missed both classes and cooked instead?

fatboybakes said...

haha daphne, where you are, chocolate is easily accesible wor.

nipple, no la, missed only 1 class lar. i work very fast one la.

Big Boys Oven said...

those stacking of chocolat squares look so awesome delicious!

backStreetGluttons said...

wow ! your quickie looks easy and delicious ! hats off to the original one

Precious Pea said...

That was supposed to be a quickie?? Gulp!

JOjo said...

I love this recipe which calls for THREE!!! Yup, three of my fav things which are Choc, Milk & Mint!
And it's such a easy recipe~ Wuahaha, definitely will try doing this for my aunties after my exam!!WhooHoo~

Cynthia said...

Hi, thanks for stopping by and leaving that comment that had me smiling all day - the one about the photos being so good and wondering if I had a studio :) No, I do not, it's all part of a learning process.

I was just looking through some of your stuff from one of your other blogs. Can you share with me your recipe for the Afternoon tea scones? I'd really like to try making them. Oh and if you have a recipe for cheese scones, I'd like to try that too.

Looking forward to seeing you around and enjoying your fabulous food!

HairyBerry said...

a rather interesting mix-and-match, i thought. personally, i would have taken out peppermint layer and sandwiched the butter/choc between 2 of them bases. then again, the peppermint does bring out a certain zing to the rich cocoa.

maybe can substitute with cream cheese also, hor?

fatboybakes said...

nickhkl, if you did that, it wouldnt be called mint squares oridi la. actually, minty cream cheese would be an idea. oh, nice meeting you finally, although i wish it were under soberer circumstances.

cynthia, so nice of you to drop by. give me your email, i will send you the scones recipe. have not tried making cheese scones, but will dig up a recipe for you.

jojo, i cant understand how some people can dislike mint hor.

precious pea, ya wat, very fast to make leh, try la.

team bsg, yalar, old liao, cant make complicated recipes. has to be easy, otherwise dont dare try.

BBO, actually i was trying to copy the picture from the book, but decided against comparing the two la, since my stack was like the leaning tower of pisa.

Anonymous said...

Love how you piled them squares up with the alternating folds of wax paper (or whatever you professionals call them waxy paper)... a bit tumbly, a bit crumbly, very authentic, yes? :)

boo_licious said...

ooooh, this looks good. Btw, do you know, yr fav domestic goddess is on a DIET! She has a personal trainer to whip her into shape too. Hope she does not lose her "bountiful bosoms"

Rasa Malaysia said...

That article is a New York Time's article...http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/dining/05glute.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Thanks for telling me.

fatboybakes said...

hi rasa, ya, so honored to know famous person like you.

boolicious, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, nigella on a diet? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! oh well, she could lose some kgs off her hips la, which is now large enough to screen a movie on, i guess. but notttt those bountiful buxom bosoms..

jackson, you so busy, next time is probably next year right?

kenny mah, i was imitating the picture in the recipe book, and it was a poor imitation. i not so imaginative ler.

rokh said...

oh gosh i want sink my teeth on those now!! btw can you please drop me an email - rachel.ooikh@gmail.com :) thanks

Breadpitt said...

mind add me up n msn ? koichong8@hotmail.com, or visit http://profiles.friendster.com/sweetpleasure
more about me , thx !

Anonymous said...

Hi FatBoy,

My name is Shannon and I'm the editorial assistant at Foodbuzz.com. I am very impressed with the quality of your posts and to that end, I’d like to invite you to be a part of our newly launched Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program. I would love to send you more details about the program, so if you are interested, please email me at Shannon@foodbuzz.com.


Cheers!

Shannon Eliot
Editorial Assistant, Foodbuzz.com
shannon@foodbuzz.com

fatboybakes said...

breadpitt, what a cute nickname. thanks for dropping by.

rokh, oridi dropped you an email.

shannon, sure, i'll be interested.

Deepa Kuber said...

lovely cakes.loved ur blog.

fatboybakes said...

thank you anjali j. thanks for dropping by.