Story behind this cake.... I made this for my sister in law Zakiyya's Birthday. It reminded me of her previous Birthday when we all waited in line for Starbucks to open. Boy!!! What a long queue... But it was worth it... Memories were definitely made!

Poor confused Starbucks teller...He thought he was experiencing a severe case of dejavu...  What can you expect when all the men in our house are named Muhammad...He served one coffee after another to each Muhammad in our family...LOLL...   I wish I had the video, the way he handled it though... Left us in stitches... By then everyone in Starbucks were singing Happy Birthday to Zakiyya... And seeing smiles on everyone's face especially Zakiyyas, was priceless!

So ofcourse I felt inspired and wanted to try to recreate a cake after the coffee we enjoyed with my own twist...

Starbucks Salted caramel crunchie Chocolate cake

1 and 3/4 cup flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder 

1 and 1/2tsp baking soda

3/4tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk (or 1tblsp vinegar in 1 cup milk) 

115g butter melted

1 tblsp vanilla essence 

1 cup hot coffee (2tsp instant coffee in 1 cup boiling water) 

Fresh cream 500ml 

Crunchie chocolate x2 or more if you like 

1 slab wholenut chocolate 

Almonds roasted or other nuts... 

Grease either 3 round cake tins or 2.... But should have little left over... As this recipe is for 3...

Preheat oven to 175deg

In large bowl, mix the dry ingredients, then add the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla essence... Beat till smooth... About 3mins.

Then add hot coffee and mix with spatula. Batter will be runny.. Pour into tins and bake for 35mins..

Heat a tin of nestle caramel treat on stove top on low heat and add half or 1 teaspoon salt(taste as you go)  and mix well till smooth.. Till salt dissolved.. 

Whip 500 ml fresh cream with 6 tablespoons sugar and half teaspoon vanilla essence. 

Now add the melted caramel sauce to one layer and top with chopped Cadbury crunchie, roasted nuts, and Cadbury wholenut chocolate... Top with Cream.  Add your next cake layer and then coat the entire cake with fresh cream.. 

Heat the caramel slightly... Just till warm..mix and pour slowly on the top of the cake.. Use a skewer stick to make swirls with caramel and fresh cream...It's ok if it drips over the cake.. You can do it as you like...  And then top with chopped crunchie, wholenut chocolate and nuts.. 

Try other topping options like popping candy, snaxells choc Stix, caramel or other gourmet popcorns, peanut brittle(break into uneven shards and top the cake with the standing shards) toffee or caramel sweets... Fillings can be jam and fresh cream, or First Choice Velvet chocolate flavoured dairy dessert that's new and comes in a box... Should be in the custard section of your local grocer. 

Zakiyya loved the cake! We all did, so I'm sure you will too!  

By the way, Zakiyya makes Couture cakes and bakes, so if you'd love to see her creations, or have her make your special bake, follow her on instagram... Click here.. Couture Cakes and Confections by Z

Pic courtesy of Starbucks

Ramadaan is just a few days away. I cannot believe it! It will also pass by so quickly, so do your very best to make as much ibaadah as possible with a clean and sincere heart,  and may Allah accept our ibaadah, zakaah, sadqah and our fasts.. Make the most of it! It's a gift and it's freedom from the fire... What more can we ask.. InshaAllah ameen... All the very best... And lots of love and duas from me, as always!

Next up will be more on the HFWSA.... And I get cooking with aniseeds?? 

Recovering from a hectic work week, followed by a working weekend, and with just days to go to finally open my online store Stylexplora, I am thoroughly BEAT!

I can't believe the amount of rain following that weekend ...Alhumdulillah, SubhanAllah and indeed AllahuAkbar!

It was a fantastic weekend with the Stylexplora team! Fashion shoot done and dusted! I'm still in complete disbelief! I was stressing about the weather for the shoot, as news of Cyclone Dineo did its rounds and the venue constantly revised and changed. The day for the shoot approached and it was cloudy, sunny, and for the most part...a really hot day, and my clarity on the venue clearer than the day! Everything went far better than expected! Alhumdulillah!

I had  the pleasure of working with astute modest models, focused and dedicated to their work, and cannot wait to reveal both my line and my gorgeous ambassador. It's no easy task for models to change into more that 10 outfits per model, with the heat bearing down, hijab styling in the mix, and do a shoot of each outfit within a limited time with the photographer. I greatly appreciated their ability to work independently, as I combined my roles of stylist, make-up artist, hijab stylist and shoot coordinator. I am definitely going to include a post in future for a successful photoshoot, should you ever find yourself in the same position.

For  now though, I could do with the super power of a couch potato! Yes! I'd like the ability to sit and chill and not have annoying feelings of guilt over being unproductive. I have issues!....but cooking isn't always one of them;)...so here's a great recipe for Chicken Quiche:*

I've been making this one since high school...if you want it banting friendly...leave out the pastry crust and go crustless. You can also swop the chicken for tuna, salmon, steak, or veges. Excuse the blurry image, I had to capture a shot from my video of the quiche coming out the oven, because I forgot to take a pic. I made this one for my mum.

Chicken Quiche:

Ingredients:

Pastry

1 cup flour

5ml salt

120g butter/ margarine 

Rub above together till crumbs,

1 egg beaten slightly

3 tblspoon grated cheese

Quarter cup ice water

1 tspn lemon juice 

Add cheese to flour mix, then the beaten egg. Make a well in the centre off the flour mix and add the water a teaspoon at a time till you form a soft, pliable dough that is not sticky. I use my Kenwood food processor for the whole method.

Roll out your dough, in one direction (pastry works well this way!;)... grease your large round cake tin or glass casserole dish, and press the dough in. Use a knife flat, to trim round the edges of the dough that sticks out, and pierce dough with fork.

Filling:

Half onion, grated or processed

125ml butter/ margarine

Half green pepper (optional)

3 chicken fillets (500-750g) cut into cubes

Quarter tspn ginger garlic 

2 eggs,

62ml fresh cream/ nestle dessert cream

62ml fresh milk

Half cup grated cheese

Pinch of mixed herbs

salt and pepper to taste

Chilli powder 

Saute onions and green pepper in the butter. Cook till soft and then add chicken, with ginger garlic, salt, pepper and chilli powder to taste. Cook till tender. Beat egg, cream and milk together. Add the herbs to the milk mixture. Fill the pastry with the chicken mix, then pour over the milk mix and cover with cheese and more mixed herbs.

Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 30mins or till golden. 

Cut into slices and serve warm.

Kick it up a notch and try Amina's wonderspice in chicken tikka...love it mixed with a bit of yoghurt to marinate the chicken, you can then leave out the spices and salt. I even coat lamb chops with this marinade, their chops marinade is just as amazing! in fact marinated chops with this quiche and some veges on the side is a great meal.

Enjoy! Let me know how it turned out;)