Cakes and Puddings Archives

Mini Pistachio Cheesecake

22|03|2025

Pistachios are certainly having their moment of fame on the internet. I love that because they are not only nostalgia for me but my absolute favourite ingredient for sweet and savoury recipes. When it comes to indulgent yet elegant desserts, mini cheesecakes are an irresistible option. These creamy, nutty pistachio cheesecake treats offer a balance of rich flavors and light textures — perfect for a dinner party, afternoon tea, or even as a sweet snack to brighten your day.

A good cheesecake starts with the right crust. For these mini delights, a buttery biscuit base along with chopped pistachios works wonders. The heart of these cheesecakes is a luscious pistachio cream-infused cream cheese filling. If you haven’t got your hands on pistachio cream/spread/paste as yet, please do. I use this one and rank it above Nutella or even Biscoff spread. If you buy it from Costco, it costs half the price. You can of course make your own, which works very well too. I like this recipe.

No mini cheesecake is complete without a stunning garnish. For pistachio cheesecake, a dollop of pistachio cream, crushed pistachios and a sprinkle of edible rose petals create an elegant finish. Fresh raspberries can also elevate the presentation.

If you love pistachios, you will love my Mini Pistachio cakes

Mini Pistachio Cheesecake
Makes 10

7-8 digestive biscuits (120 g)
1/4 cup pistachios
75 g unsalted butter, melted
250 g cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated/castor sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream/greek yoghurt
1/2 cup pistachio cream, home made or store bought
Extra pistcahio cream, to top
Edible Rose buds or petals, to decorate
Chopped pistachios, to decorate

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with muffin liners.

Place the biscuits and pistachios in a food processor and process until they resemble a mix of fine and coarse crumbs. Add the melted butter. Mix to combine.
Divide amongst the muffin liners, pressing the crumbs with the back of a spoon to form a crust. Refrigerate until needed.

With an electric mixer or by hand, beat the cream cheese and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Fold in the sour cream and pistachio cream and mix until blended.

Spoon into prepared muffin liners about 9/10th of the way (they wont have much of a rise ). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just set (centre is still jiggly). Remove from the oven, place cheesecakes on a cooling rack to allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

When ready to serve, place pistcahio cream in a small microwaveable bowl and microwave in short bursts stirring from time to time, for 20-25 seconds. Top cheesecakes with melted pistachio cream. Decorate with rose petals and chopped pistachios.

Banana Tiramisu Cake

26|01|2025

There are a very few people on this planet who woudn’t have tasted a Tiramisu. But I’m not sure how many people would have tasted it this way. Well, a banana tiramisu cake is the best of both worlds. A moist, delicious banana cake topped with coffee soaked sponge fingers, slathered with a creamy mascarpone frosting and generous dusting of cocoa powder. And believe me, it works like magic!

I find it a genius idea to make an entire layer out of just sponge finger biscuits without the hassle of having to bake. To be honest, I think this technique can be replicated with any cake as the base. I would love to try a chocolate one. If you avoid eggs in your baked goods, an egg free cake would be a perfect base.

If you love cakes with bananas, you will love my Easy Banana Cake with Tahini Frosting or my Banoffee Pie with Nutella Mousse

Banana Tiramisu Cake
Makes an 8 inch round cake

Banana Cake
125 g butter, melted
3/4 cup (150 g)castor/granulated sugar
3/4 cup (165 g) brown sugar
2 large ripe bananas (about 1 and 1/4), mashed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk
1 and 1/2 cups (183 g) self-raising flour
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate

Coffee Layer
2 tsp instant coffee powder
3/4 cup (180 ml )water
1/4 cup (55 g) brown sugar
8-10 sponge finger biscuits

Mascarpone layer
250 g tub mascarpone
1/2 cup (120 ml) thickened cream/ heavy cream
2 tbsp (30 g) castor/granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cocoa powder, to dust

To make the banana cake : Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease the base and sides of an 8-inch (20-cm) round pan with 3-inch (8-cm) height and line the base with baking paper.

Place the butter, sugars, banana, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk until well blended and smooth. Add the buttermilk and whisk again. Fold in the self raising flour and bicarbonate soda until just combined. Do not over mix.

Transfer the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven. Run a blunt knife around the edges to loosen but leave aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool slightly. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Using a skewer, poke holes into the cake.

To make the tiramisu layer– Combine the coffee, water and sugar in a medium saucepan and warm over low heat. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Use an electric mixer to whisk the mascarpone and cream in a bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla and whisk until soft peaks form.

Dip sponge finger biscuits, 1 at a time, in coffee mixture. Arrange over the cooled banana cake trimming to fit if necessary. Spread the mascarpone mixture over the sponge fingers. Dust with cocoa powder.

Lychee & Raspberry Tiramisu

31|08|2024

Since you guys loved my Lychee & Raspberry Cheesecake so much, I decided to create the same flavour magic in a Lychee & Raspberry Tiramisu. After all it is such a delicate and beautiful combo. the best part about this Tiramisu is that it does not require you to add eggs other than the store bought ladyfinger biscuits that may have eggs in them.

To get a strong lychee flavour, the spongefingers are dipped in the lychee syrup from the can of lychees. How convenient is that! There is no wastage and saves you the time to make a syrup from scratch. The raspberry puree in the Lychee and Raspberry Tiramisu is a wonderful contrast to the creamy mascarpone and sweet lychee soaked biscuits.

Overall it is an elegant dessert, a delicious twist to a classic Tiramisu and very easy to put together. It can be made ahead and perfect for a crowd.

Lychee & Raspberry Tiramisu
Makes a 9 inch dessert (if round)

18-20 Ladyfinger biscuits, depending on the size of your pan
1 can pitted lychees in syrup (560 g)
1 tbsp frreze dried powdered raspberries
Raspberry Puree Layer (recipe below)
Mascapone Layer (recipe below)

Raspberry Puree
1 cup frozen raspberries (can use fresh too)
1/4 cup castor/granulated sugar
2 tbsp lychee syrup from the can

Mascapone filling
250 g mascapone cheese (or use cream cheese if mascarpone is not available)
1/3 cup (66 g) castor/granulated sugar
1 cup (240 ml) cold thickened cream/heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare the lychees and lychee syrup : Place the syrup from the can in a shallow dish, reserving 2 tbsp for making the raspberry puree. Chop lychees into quarters. Set aside.

Make the raspberry puree : In a medium saucepan, place the raspberries, sugar and lychee syrup. Over low-medium heat, cook until raspberries break down and mixture has thickened. Approx 10-12 mins. Remove from heat, allow to cool down.

Make the mascarpone layer : With an electric mixer or by hand, beat the mascarpone and sugar until light (about 2 min). Pour the heavy cream and vanilla and beat until almost stiff peaks are formed. Cover bowl with cling wrap and store in the fridge until needed.

Assemble : You could use a 9 inch cake pan or pie dish or an 8×8 square cake pan. Working one at a time, dip about half the quantity of ladyfinger biscuits in the lychee syrup and place in a single layer in the bottom of pan. Make sure to do it quickly, not letting them soak too long or they may fall apart. Break ladfingers in half and quarters if needed to fill up gams until you have an even layer.

Spoon half the raspberry puree and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Scatter half the chopped lychees over the raspberry layer.
Dollop about one-thirds of the mascarpone filling over the lychees and even out with an offset spatula.
Repeat the process with the remaining ladyfingers, raspberry puree and lychees. For the last layer, place the mascrpone filling into a piping bag and pipe kisses or you could just spread it with a spatula if you don’t want to use a piping bag.

Dust with raspberry powder. Cover the dish with cling wrap taking care not to smudge the piped mascarpone. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours, preferably overnight.

Raspberry and Chamomile Cake

18|08|2024

If you thought tea was just an aromatic beverage that made your mornings and afternoons and sometimes nights better, you have to try them in baked goods. I’m not just referring to Chai and Earl Grey or the populat matcha tea. I’m talking about the delicate, floral flavour of chamomile tea. Who knew a couple of tea bags steeped in milk could pack so much flavour into this Chamomile Cake.

If like me, you’re a little tired of the same old flavours in cake and have made enough Biscoff and cookie dough treats, it’s time to try out this new sweet tea infused number that will blow you away with it’s elegant simplicity. The raspberries lend a gogeous colour as well as a taste punch in every mouthful. The ground almonds provide a delicious nutty texture while the sour cream icing ties them all together. This Raspberry and Chamomile Cake comes together very quickly, yet with an impressive outcome.

If you’re a fan of raspberry cakes, check out this Raspberry and Yoghurt Cake or this No bake Raspberry and Lychee Cheesecake

Raspberry and Chamomile Cake
Makes a 7 inch round cake

½ cup (120 ml) milk
2 teabags, chamomile tea
1/3 cup (75 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (81 g) granulated/castor sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup (94 g) self-rising flour
1/2 cup (51 g) almond meal (ground almonds)
1/2 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen), extra for decoration

Sour cream icing
2/3 cup (79 g) powdered sugar
2 tbsp (30 ml) sour cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

Make the cake: In a small saucepan, over low, warm the milk. Remove the saucepan from heat and place the tea bags into the milk. Allow to infuse for 30 minutes. Press the tea bags with the back of a spoon to extract more flavour from the tea bags. Discard the tea bags and set the milk aside to cool to room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease the base and sides of a 7-inch round pan and line the base with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar mixture until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour and the almond meal alternating with the milk until just combined. Fold in the raspberries. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of a cake comes out clean.  Remove the cake from the oven. Leave aside, then gently run a blunt knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Carefully turn it onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled down, pour the sour cream icing over the sides and the top of the cake. Top with fresh raspberries and decorate with dried chamomile flowers.

To make the sour cream icing: In a small bowl, sift the powdered sugar. Add the sour cream and vanilla essence. Stir the mixture with a spoon until well combined.