Monday, April 12, 2010

White chocolate and vanilla fudge cakes and your opinion about something

White chocolate and vanilla fudge cakes / Bolinhos fudge de baunilha e chocolate branco

Today’s post is a sort of poll: what do you think of the new size of the photos here? Like it? Not so much? Couldn’t care less? Please, let me know – I can’t decide this one on my own. :)

You’ll find a magazine article featuring yours truly here (page 4) – it is written in Portuguese and I’m sorry for that, but at least you’ll be able to see who the girl that keeps asking you for votes and opinions is. :)

White chocolate and vanilla fudge cakes / Bolinhos fudge de baunilha e chocolate branco

White chocolate and vanilla fudge cakes
from Donna Hay magazine

150g white chocolate, chopped
100g unsalted butter, chopped
½ cup (120ml) whole milk
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (73g) caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped with the back of a knife
1 egg
¼ cup (35g) self raising flour
½ cup + ½ tablespoon (75g) all purpose flour
200g white chocolate, extra

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F. Butter well twelve 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity mini Bundt pans*.
Place the chocolate, butter, milk, sugar and vanilla seeds in a medium saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth. Allow to cool completely. Stir in the egg.
Sift flours in a large bowl and add the chocolate mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Spoon the mixture into prepared pans. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then carefully unmold onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
Place the extra chocolate in a small heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. Drizzle the cakes with the melted chocolate and set aside until firm.

* I made slightly larger cakes, using four 1 cup (240ml) capacity Bundt pans

Makes 12

45 comments:

Susan @ SGCC said...

I love the larger photos. Yours are so pretty, why not show them off.

And, your little cakes look so luscious, too!

Suelle said...

I prefer the smaller pictures - on my laptop, the new size photos are larger than the screen (from top to bottom), so I have to scroll a bit just to see all the picture. It was also quite slow to load, even though I have top speed broadband.

Lovely looking cakes! Does the 'fudge' in the name refer to the texture of the cake?

Aveen said...

Honestly I have to say I preferred the smaller photos. I tend to use google reader which reduces the screen size a bit and like Suelle, on my laptop I have to scroll to see the entire photo.

I like the magazine article, the lasagne sounds yummy and as we're trying to cut down on the amount of meat we eat I think it's definitely one I'll have to try for myself :)

Taranii said...

I prefer the larger size but then I have a high resolution on my monitor. The larger images show off all the lovely detail!

And, these cakes look delicious. The white chocolate on top looks divine!

my little expat kitchen said...

Hello there. I just discovered your blog about a week ago. You have some wonderful recipes. I have to say I prefer the larger sized photographs. You take beautiful pics and they look better like this.
The lasagna in the article look good. I wish I spoke Portuguese :)
Magda

KJB said...

I love your photos -- I think they are the best of all the food blogs. Just beautiful.

I prefer the smaller photos -- at work, the larger photos take too long to load, and at home, I use either my iphone or a netbook.

Many thanks.

Paula said...

mmm, sweet and so puffy

Dragana said...

Larger format - but that's because my monitor can handle the size! You pictures are lovely - make them 'pop' when someone enters your site!

Valen said...

I think I like it when the pictures are smaller, Its easier to see the whole picture. This recipe looks great! I love white chocolate!

Valerie Gamine said...

I wish I knew Portuguese so I could read the article. As far as your photos are concerned, I think I prefer the small size, they are compact and charmingly understated.

You look gorgeous btw! :)

WendyinKK said...

Large!!!

:)

oneordinaryday said...

Always gorgeous photos, but w/ the larger size, I have to scroll down to see the whole thing. Kind of takes away for the ooh and ahh factor.

Edana said...

Your pictures are always so beautiful--I'm jealous! But I agree--it's harder to see the whole picture when they're this big. They barely fit in my browser and I have to scroll to see them in my RSS feed, which I don't really mind all that much, to be honest. I also wish I could read the article. (Oh, and those cakes look wonderful!)

Snooky doodle said...

I like the look of your blog. these cakes look delicious. I m drooling!

Future Grown-Up said...

I do love the photos but would prefer something a little smaller...I have a 19 inch screen and need to scroll down to see the main focus of the photos.

That said, yummy cakes!

rudie2shoes said...

Love your blog. I would prefer smaller pics. Thanks!

Juls @ Juls' Kitchen said...

Just planned here from Foodgawker! Your blog is amazing!
I love larger photos, by the way!
ciao from Italy
Juls

Barbara said...

I like the larger size. Gorgeous cakes too.

Katie said...

The cakes look yummy and I love the big photos. It seems to add a clarity to them and really makes them stand out.

Nisa-mom said...

Medium image, please. And don't forget to put your watermark on your every picture. Please considering this as a friendly suggest, since I had bad experience my images was stolen. And than the otherhand, large picture will giving an easy way for some people to stolen your images.

Patty said...

I love the larger photos, but since my screen is small, unfortunately I can't see a whole image. Maybe something in between?

Beautiful cakes. :)

xo Patty

Abby said...

Large! Of course one glimpse at my blog and that's obvious. Show off that talent!

pam said...

I vote for smaller. Your photos are beautiful no matter what size, but I like to see the whole photo without having to scroll.

Topher said...

I think the size is pretty good. Maybe if anything just a tad shorter (vertical). Otherwise they're great.

Grandma B said...

Love your blog...I prefer the smaller photos.

Jennifer said...

BEAUTIFUL little cakes!!!!

I love your photos, you are so talented! I vote smaller so I can see the entire picture on my screen :)

Lori said...

Beautiful photos. That cake looks super yummy.

Lizzie said...

the picture sizes look great in google reader, which is how i read your blog. and also, your photos have been getting even better in general--i especially love this one with the vanilla beans. fantastic!

Jade said...

I love the larger photos!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Hi! I visit your site often but don't always comment. Sorry. But in my opinion the photos are a bit too big. In order to see ALL of your gorgeous photo I have to scroll down and I still I don't see the whole thing at once. Perhaps just making them a tad smaller? Either way I'll be back. :)
~ingrid

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Beautiful cakes and, as always, lovely photos. My vote is for the smaller photos. I have to scroll, scroll, scroll on my laptop to see the larger ones.

Congrats on the magazine spread. That's exciting!

Monica H said...

I generally believe that bigger is better, but I have to agree with everyone else's comment about having to scroll down to see the entire image.

So in this case I prefer the smaller image.

Manggy said...

I don't mind either way (by the way, the mini-cakes look so lovely and cute!), but I can see why the super-large images might be a bane for some people. They are more than a megabyte per image. The thing is, they are really more than 2,000 pixels wide and are just being resized by blogger to 500 pixels wide, so there's actually a lot of information that isn't needed. If you can resize them to 500 pixels wide (or use the less-large but still sizable options in Flickr), then that could solve your problems :) Give me a ring if you need help!

dolomitix said...

I follow your blog since some weeks, and I love your recipies. Some of them i have even made a couple of times. Thank you for sharing.

I do prefer the smaller pictures, they feel so light just as the whole blog feels light and airy.

Manuela

Erica Lea said...

Your photos are gorgeous - I like them large!

These little cakes look delicious. So feminine. I really like the shot of the vanilla bean as well. :D

Kman said...

this looks so good i love those little cakes.. and the photoes- WOW!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

I really enjoy your posts and pictures, including these cakes. But personally prefer the smaller ones (the large size in Blogger).

The smaller ones load faster and I also think its easier to view.

Lisa said...

I love the larger size photos...and congratulations on the magazine article! That's wonderful, and it's great to put a face to a name now! =)

tracieMoo said...

I like the new larger version. Could see every bit of the chocolate melting right on top of the beautifully done cakes! Love em!

Patricia Scarpin said...

My dear readers, thank you for all the feedback, you guys are too wonderful!

Valerie, thank you! I thought my face looked too rounded on the photo - 10 pounds of cheeks. :)

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

Lovely photos and tempting cakes. I wish I could buy mini pans like that but I already have way too much baking equipment O:). The larger size does allow the detail to come through, but I agree with others that it barely fits onto my screen.

Farkinguy said...

Hi. I don't know anything aout you, I just found your website while searching for white chocolate cakes and I don't even know if I'll use your recipe. But I do know that you are my new favorite person, because you use Susie Derkins as your profile image. If I wasn't married already, I'd propose to you. Umm...and your cakes look nice too.

moinette said...

I know this post is like a year old, but gorgeous! I love how it's fudge, but not your typical chocolate fudge. & the daisy is such a cute touch =).

xx

Katie Stevenson said...

The large photo is great. A quick question - could you make this recipe as a large wedding cake or do you have to do them as you have?

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, Katie - I don't know it this recipe would work as a wedding cake. I don't think it's sturdy enough to hold the weight of rolled fondant and such.

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