Sunday, April 07, 2013

The Sunday Salon: Bloglovin & Chocolate


After much hoopla over the soon to be demise of Google Reader and umming and ahhing on my part (I hate change) I bit the bullet and decided on Bloglovin. I was going to test Feedly and Bloglovin extensively and make an informed decision (ha) but I'd probably still be undecided come 1st July ... so Bloglovin it is :)

  
Follow on Bloglovin

What I was happy with:
  • very simple transfer from Google Reader to Bloglovin, blog list imported at the press of a button
  • all my categories transferred - Favourite Blog Visits, Australian Bloggers, Scrapbook Blogs etc
  • Bloglovin app works well
  • I liked claiming my blog and seeing who was already following
  • Option to like a post and return to it later
Not so happy with:
  • only option for a profile pic is using your facebook photo (I don't want to)
  • only option for customising the layout that I can see is by Blog or Date 

And Google Friend Connect is NOT disappearing with Google Reader but it probably won't be around forever so it might pay to follow by more than one source. I keep many of my favourite visits in my blog roll but I like to give readers options - see left hand side bar.


On the state of my mental health, I needed chocolate and lots of it to post my review of Nameless by Lili St Crow so I made this 




Chocolate Brownie Pudding 
recipe from the Merry Gourmet who minimally tweaked it from Barefoot Contessa Back To Basics 2008. 

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter (or 227gm for us metric users)
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar (that's normal sugar for us not castor)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tblsp Grand Marnier (optional) I didn't use it

Directions: 
Preheat oven to approx 160 degrees Celsius - 150 fan forced (325 farenheit) and grease a 2litre baking dish. 

Melt butter and set aside to cool.
Beat eggs and sugar with electric mixer on medium to high speed until mixture very thick and pale, about 5 - 10 mins. Whisk together cocoa and flour and set aside.

When egg/sugar mixture is ready decrease the speed to low & add vanilla, then the cocoa and flour mixture. Mix until just combined. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in cooled butter and mix until just combined. 

Pour batter into baking dish and place in larger baking pan. Add hot tap water to pan until it comes halfway up the side of baking dish. Bake 1 hour. Allow to cool slightly, serve warm with cream or icecream or both :)

Warning: This is for serious chocolate lovers. Rich, oozy chocolatey goodness. The top is crunchy and chewy and the inside is gooey and delicious. Beats therapy ;)

PS: I just found out this is actually freakin awesome cold. OMG I've died and gone to heaven





Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.



21 comments:

  1. Those photos look pretty chocolately! I think I'd have to have vanilla ice cream to cut the chocolate, but it sure looks good.

    I tried Old Reader, which I like except it is very, very slow to update and Feedly, which I like except I can't alphabetize my blogs. Nothing is going to be as good as the old Google Reader. Grrrrrrrr. I have a Bloglovin account but I don't really like it either. *whine* I don't want GR to go away.

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  2. That is certainly good mental health food. I am a huge brownie fan, and chocolate desserts.
    I totally agree with you and Beth about tje demise of G Reader. have not tried bloglovin as if yet.

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  3. I'm hoping that by subscribing to follow by email I'll continue to get word of your new posts that way.
    The recipe looks yummy - definitely going to try it. I can see why it would be great warm or cold!

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  4. I too went to Blog Lovin.... we shall see how it goes. The pie looks..... to die for. YUM!

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  5. Following you on lovin' now :) And that LOOKS YUMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

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  6. That recipe looks amazing! I've been really happy using feedly but I plan to experiment with Bloglovin' too since so many bloggers seem to be using that one.

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  7. I agree! Chocolate is definitely a health food...lol.

    Great post!

    Enjoy your new reader...here's MY SUNDAY SALON POST

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  8. Oh my goodness. This pudding looks sinful and amazing. YUM. Thanks for posting!

    As for your Feedly/bloglovin decision, I know what you mean! Will either be better than the other? Who knows. I've set up Feedly but may check out bloglovin as well.

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  9. Oh, yum. I do love chocolate. This looks very rich - two sticks of butter! Probably worth it for a special treat, though - mmmm!

    Sue

    Book By Book

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  10. The recipe looks awesomely delicious!

    I'm curious -- I signed up for Bloglovin, but it only shows how many people are following. I can't figure out how to see who they are. (I'm curious to know if they are people who are also following via GFC, or whether the two groups are separate.) Is there something I'm missing?

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  11. This Google Reader thing is annoying, arrgh. But your Brownie Pudding looks tasty.

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  12. I think I would need vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, too, which would make it so decadent that it'll have to wait for either a celebration or a day of indulgence!

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  13. I 'claimed' my blog with blogluvin, too, but don't like it as much as google reader. Luckily, chocolate makes everything better... and this looks like chocolate at its finest!!

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  14. I like Bloglovin' for the most part. I added your blog even though nothing could stop me from following you!! OMG!...I want that chocolate decadence!!

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  15. I don't use a reader to visit my favorite blogs, I use m blogroll for that, but I signed up for Bloglovin anway. I want people to have as many ways to follow as possible. I signed up for feedly as well, but I got too confused within 10 mintues and deleted the account.

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  16. You've got me thinking now....I was gong to try Feedly but now I'll have a look at Bloglovin. Am considering getting both going to trial and see which I like better....I hate it when things change!

    Did you see Amazon how now bought into Goodreads....I hope it doesn't change. I know Book Depository doesn't seem to have changed too much, although I do believe the prices have increased slightly.

    That choc pudding looks DIVINE! I think I gained a few kgs just looking at the picture.

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  17. this looks like an amazing/addictive dessert. I'm off dairy and I don't know that it would be the same with a vegan margarine. Instead, after I leave my comment, i'll scroll back up and drool over the photo again.

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  18. My teeth are aching just by looking at that delicious chocolate!
    Hope you had a lovely week and thanks for sharing the recipe :)
    Now to check out that review...

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  19. i need to organise the whole blog loving thing too. thanks for this post, and making it easy to see how easy it is all going to be (i often procrastinate these things based on perception of how much effort it will all be.

    that dessert looks amazing, btw :)

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  20. I need to bite the bullet and find a replacement for Google Reader. Maybe I should do that now :) Since I'm here I may as well check out blogluvin.

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