Cakes and Puddings Archives - Page 19 of 46

Chocolate Chip Cake with Pomegranate

1|09|2017

Who doesn’t love a decadent chocolate cake? We all do but not everyone likes to mess around with melted chocolate or rather the process of melting the chocolate. Multiple dishes, careful supervision and then chocolate is extremely sensitive to heat. It can seize, it can solidify quickly if added to cooler ingredients like cream so yes it’s a bit tricky for the novice cook. Believe it or not, I get asked often as to how a chocolate cake can be made rich without adding melted chocolate. The answer is simple! A good quality cocoa powder (preferably Dutch processed) and lots of chocolate chips. Have you ever tried a warm cake with chocolate chips in it? Try it and let me know. The itsy bitsy pieces of chocolate when warm become like puddles of gooey decadence inside a cake and it’s oh so delicious!

Like most of my recipes this is one bowl, easy, small (because when you experiment for the first time, you keep it short and sweet and just for family or close friends). Double up if you want a bigger cake. All the decadence in the cake is balanced out by fresh pomegranate seeds that also gives the cake a fresh, tart flavour and a crunchy bite. It’s all about the texture! If you do not like pomegranates, like some of you said to me on Instagram yesterday, by all means add berries, oranges or just top with chocolate chips (there’s no such thing as too much chocolate, right?)

I made a simple buttercream for this recipe and not my usual Swiss meringue buttercream because I have budding bakers and novice chefs in my mind for this one. But the buttercream is still AMAZING! Really, you can’t go wrong with cocoa either!

To my Aussie friends, Happy first day of spring! If you aren’t already tired of hearing it, hear it once again..Spring is my favourite time of the year. It has always been associated with beautiful memories and happy times. Among the things I’m most looking forward to is my Mum’s visit a week from now and the Tulip festival at the Southern Highlands which is short drive from Sydney. To the others, enjoy the mellow beauty that is Autumn. We are so lucky to be connected with people from around the globe in this amazing virtual world, allowing us to take a peek into each other’s seasons and stories.

Chocolate Chip Cake with Pomegranate
Makes a 6 inch round cake

65 g butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup self raising flour
2 tbsp Dutch processed Cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Cocoa Buttercream

125 g unsalted butter, softened
11/2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp milk (more if needed)
3 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degree C for fan forced ovens). Grease the bottom and sides of a 6 inch round pan and line the base with baking paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together till smooth and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat till combined. Add the flour, cocoa powder and milk and mix to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan. level the top with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and leave in pan for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
When cool, frost (pipe o r just spread)with cocoa buttercream. Top with fresh pomegranates. Drizzle with chocolate sauce. Serve at room temperature or warm.

To make the Cocoa Buttercream, using an electric mixer or a hand mixer beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Add the sugar, a little at a time beating well until fully incorporated. Add the cocoa powder and milk and beat again until no white streaks appear and buttercream is fluffy. If it is too thick, add another tbsp of milk to lighten up.

Baked Ricotta Cheesecake

19|08|2017

What do you do when you have left-over lemon curd and ricotta cheese at home? It happens, right? Especially the lemon curd. You throw them together, add in a few other ingredients (all of which are in your pantry) and voila…you have a cheesecake! It looks and tastes every bit like a lemon cheesecake but it’s lighter, healthier and a whole lot simpler. Notice the golden crust all around? It’s created by baking the ricotta. In other words, you completely skip the cookie crust or shortbread base and all the butter that goes with it and you still end up with a golden crust and a soft, creamy interior.

This Baked Ricotta Cheesecake is truely a delight to make and eat. If you’ve ever tasted baked ricotta otherwise, it’s a healthy breakfast or dessert option. However, it is a bit bland and does not really have any flavour by itself. By adding lemon curd to the recipe, not only does it taste lemony and delicious but it’s way more convenient than juicing and zesting lemons. I’ve used store bought lemon curd for mine to keep it quick and easy. You’ll be done with the mixing in 10 minutes but the cheesecake takes a bit of time to bake. I don’t remember last when I’ve opened my oven door to take a peek as many times I’ve done for this one to see the golden crust. And then you patiently wait for it cool and set which is such a torture I tell you. But hang in there for you will be rewarded soon. Top the cheesecake with fresh fruit, fruit coulis, nuts, chocolate shavings or anything you like.

I’ve noticed that the cheesecake hardens up a bit if kept in the refrigerator, so it’s best eaten at room temperature. If you are planning on making it ahead of any occasion, you could store in the fridge but let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before you serve.

Baked Ricotta Cheesecake
Makes an 8 inch round cheesecake

1 kg fresh ricotta (full cream or low fat)
1 cup lemon curd (home made or store bought)
1 cup castor sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Fresh strawberries, to serve
Strawberry coulis/sauce to serve

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C (150 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Grease the base and sides an 8 inch springform pan.
With an electric mixer or an hand mixer, beat the ricotta, lemon curd, sugar and vanilla together till smooth. Add the egg, a little at a time and continue to beat till fully blended.

Pour the mixture in to the prepared pan. Smooth the top and tap the pan gently a few times on the bench top to get rid of air bubbles. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a crust starts to form all over the cheesecake (the top will become golden) and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn off oven, leave the door ajar and let cheesecake cool completely before releasing the sides.

Served best at room temperature with fresh strawberries. and strawberry coulis.

Blood Orange Polenta Cake

17|08|2017

So many ways of making a citrus cake! Because the citrus flavour is deliciously predominant in a recipe it is used in, it is interesting how you can play around the textures by using different ingredients. I’ve already told you how much I love nuts and oranges together. This time I’ve added in some polenta for a nice bite in the cake. The texture is quite similar to coconut cake and you get a nuttiness without using too much almond meal. Nut meals are expensive so this is a cost effective option.

Blood Oranges just taste sensational with mascarpone cheese so I decided to top the cake with whipped Mascarpone which is pretty easy to make. A drizzle of blood orange syrup bursting with tangy-sweet flavour takes the cake to a new level. And finally, fresh blood oranges gives the cake a pop of colour.

Can you believe it, it’s just 4 months until Christmas? The reality is hitting hard now that my work has gone up by 3 folds. I’m working on Holiday recipes for my clients and it feels festive already!
Stay tuned, I’ll be posting the Baked Ricotta Cake this Saturday. I know many of you are waiting but this one just had to go first as the Blood Orange season will end soon. See you soon!

Blood Orange Polenta Cake
Makes a 7 inch round cake

180 g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup castor sugar
2 tbsp finely zested blood oranges
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup polenta
1 cup self raising flour
100 g almond meal
3/4 cup blood orange juice

Mascarpone Frosting
110 g mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Blood Orange Syrup
1 cup fresh blood orange juice
3/4 cup castor sugar

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Grease the base and sides of a 7 inch round pan and line the base with baking paper.

Beat the butter, sugar, orange zest and vanilla extract together until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Place polenta, flour and almond meal in a bowl. Add the polenta mixture to the butter mixture alternating with the blood orange juice.

Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven, Set aside for 1o minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, spread mascarpone frosting, drizzle with orange syrup and top with sliced blood oranges and fresh mint.

To make the Mascarpone frosting : Beat mascarpone cheese,whipping cream, icing sugar and vanilla together in a bowl until smooth and fluffy. Refrigerate until needed.

To make the Blood Orange Syrup : Place the orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat. Simmer for 5-7 minutes until the syrup thickens. Please note that the syrup will thicken further upon cooling.

One Bowl Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

27|07|2017

I baked this chocolate cake yesterday and I knew I had to share this recipe quickly with you. I always receive heaps of fantastic reviews on my Easy Chocolate Cake with Raspberries (yes, it is the most popular recipe on this blog) but I think I just found something even better, even more decadent and just oozing with choclatey deliciousness. The frosting is a bomb! It tastes like chocolate silk (haha! if there was a term like that) and doesn’t have the rich after-taste of the chocolate fudge frosting. And the best part? Its dead easy to make. Both the cake layers and frosting are one bowl, quick mix, simple to assemble and incredibly delicious.

I think the fun part is sticking chocolate sprinkles all around the cake. This is a great way of covering any imperfections (if any) in your cake and I did this a lot when I wasn’t confident about frosting a cake a few years ago. And it looks like it’s ready for a party, doesn’t it? If you can’t find chocolate sprinkles, just go with grated dark chocolate. It works the same way!

One Bowl Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes a 3-layered 6 inch round cake

250 g unsalted butter, room temperature
180 g dark chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup milk
1 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
11/2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
250 g (1 tub) cream cheese, room temperature
100 g unsalted butter, room temparature
2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (140 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Lightly grease the base and sides of 3, 6-inch pans and line the bases with baking paper.

Place butter, chocolate, 1 cup of water, milk and sugars in a large saucepan over low heat. Stir occasionally. Once chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth, remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.
Sift flours and cocoa directly onto the chocolate mixture. Mix. Whisk in the eggs. Mix until smooth and mixture is well blended. Divide mixture uniformly between prepared pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of each cake layer, comes out clean.

Remove from oven, run a blunt knife gently around the sides (to loosen slightly) and let the layers cool in their pans. Once cooled, turn out on to a wire rack. Frost with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.

To make the frosting: With a hand mixer or electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla essence and whip till well blended. Divide frosting for applying around and between the cake layers and for piping on top.

To assemble : Place a layer of the mud cake on a plate or cake stand. Dollop 1/2 cup of the frosting and spread with an offset spatula.
Place the second layer and repeat the same process.
Cover with the third layer. Frost the outside (top and sides) with chocolate cream cheese frosting. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Using your hands stick the sprinkles all around sides and top of the cake. Pipe remaining frosting on top of the cake.
The cake is best served at room temperature.