Uncategorized Archives - Page 7 of 10

Easy Vanilla Cheesecake Tarts for Mother’s Day

10|05|2019

Mother’s day is almost here and like every year I’m excited for this day. It’s about the sweetest celebration possible in the universe and we see a lot of flowers and pink treats around, which makes me so happy!

The launch of the Kitkat Ruby couldn’t have come at a better time. Ever since Ruby chocolate was introduced by Callebaut, I’ve been meaning to get my hands on it. If you haven’t heard about Ruby chocolate, it is the 4th type of chocolate after dark, milk and white. And it’s absolutely beautiful with a berry like flavour.

These cheesecakes are very easy to make. There is no baking involved, no use of gelatine and everything comes together in minutes. After that, just let them chill in the fridge while you take pride in being so organised. Whether you are treating your Mum or your girlfriends or looking for a pretty looking dessert for any occasion, these are perfect.

So what are your plans for the day? Are you doing anything special to celebrate?
I’ve made a pretty looking cake to share with my family. Look out for my post on Sunday.

Vanilla Cheesecake Tarts
Serves 3-4

150 g digestive biscuits
75 g unsalted butter, melted
250 g cream cheese softened
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup thickened cream/heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
pink food coloring
Kitkat Ruby wafers, to decorate
sugar flowers or edible flowers, to decorate

Place the biscuits in a food processor and pulse to form fine crumbs. Pour the melted butter into the processor and pulse to combine. Press the biscuit mixture into the base and sides of six 10 cm loose-bottomed tart pans. Place the tart pans onto a baking tray for ease of movement into and out of the fridge. Chill until required.

Meanwhile, make the cheesecake filling. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat until smooth. Gradually add the thickened cream and food colour and whip until the frosting is thick enough to pipe. Add more sugar or cream as needed to get the right consistency. In case you are using a brand of heavy cream that does not whip easily, then whip the cream separately to stiff peaks and fold it gradually into the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate till needed.

When ready to serve, fill up a piping bag fitted with a round tip with the cheesecake filling. Pipe little cheesecake kisses on the base of the prepared crust. If desired, pipe a second layer between the kisses of the first layer. Top with Kitkat Ruby wafers and decorate with flowers. Serve chilled!

Peppermint and Chocolate Tart

4|04|2019

I think people are divided when it comes to peppermint flavour. Some love it, some would never opt for it and there are others like me who won’t mind when it is paired with chocolate. Tell you a secret? This peppermint and dark chocolate tart is actually a double chocolate tart in disguise with the base being white chocolate and the roses made of chocolate fudge buttercream. So if you are a true chocolate lover (and may not love peppermint) you will love this tart.

The peppermint filling in this tart is just melt, pour and set. The tart base is store bought. You could of course bake your own using this recipe. These tart bases are inexpensive and I usually store a few in my pantry for days when I’m visiting a friend or am invited to an occasion and expected to take dessert (almost always). Then I can skip the baking part and just play around with the fillings.
The chocolate buttercream is enough to cover up the entire tart. If you’re going to use it to only pipe a border like me, you could halve the recipe or use the leftover buttercream to frost cupcakes. It is absolutely delicious!

If you’d like to skip the roses, you could go that way too. Instead generous shavings of dark chocolate will work equally well.

Peppermint and Chocolate Tart
Makes a 6 inch round tart

One 6 inch tart base (home made or store bought)
100 ml heavy cream
225 g white chocolate melts
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
1-2 drops mint green food color
sprinkles (optional)

Chocolate roses
120 gms unsweetened dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup (150 gms) unsalted butter, room temperature
11/3 cups (160 gms) icing sugar sifted
11/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

To make the peppermint filling Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over low heat until it just comes to a a boil (do not boil). Remove from heat and add the chopped white chocolate. Leave aside for 5-10 minutes until chocolate melts. Stir with a spoon to make a smooth mix. Add the butter, peppermint extract and food colour and mix to blend.

Pour the mixture into the tart base. Refrigerate until set (about 4-5 hours, preferable overnight). Once set, using a piping bag and 1M nozzle, fill up with chocolate buttercream and pipe rosettes around the edge of the tart. Decorate with sprinkles.

To make the chocolate roses Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water.( Or you could use the microwave and melt in short bursts of 10 seconds) Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy(about 1 min). Add the sugar and beat until it is light and fluffy(about 2 min). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until buttercream is smooth and glossy (about 2-3 min)

Strawberry and Apple Frangipane Galettes

26|03|2019

When two opposite seasons merge, people benefit greatly from the variety of produce on offer. Over here in Australia, apples are at their best, so are the berries. And we are one month into Autumn! I feel so blessed to be living in a country where we are spoilt for choice and our colourful produce is inspirational.

Remember the raspberry frangipane tarts (my last post) I made recently. I had a bit of leftover frangipane filling. Not enough to make another big dessert or another batch of tarts, but a free form galette was a nice, quick solution. I also had left-over apple pie filling from another recipe I was working on so these galettes seemed like delicious way of killing two birds with one stone. That is the thing I love about galettes. Throw in a mish mash of ripe fruits and nuts and a host of other things and you have a freshly baked treat ready for afternoon tea.

This recipe is more about the idea rather than accurate measurements. I am going to put in the recipes for the individual elements, though I have used leftovers as I mentioned earlier. If you’re short on time, skip the apple pie filling and use thinly sliced apples instead.

Strawberry and Apple Frangipane Galettes
Serves 8

4 sheets ready, rolled shortcrust pastry, slightly thawed
Frangipane filling (recipe below)
Apple pie filling, home made or store bought (recipe below)
Strawberry filling (recipe below)
1 egg
1 tablespoon water

For the frangipane filling
100 unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1 yolk
1 cup almond meal
1/4 cup plain flour
fresh raspberries
sliced almonds

For the apple pie filling
3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used red delicious apples)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups water
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp powdered cinnamon
20 g unsalted butter

For the strawberry filling
1 punnet (250 g) fresh strawberries, hulled, halved
2 tablespoons castor sugar
1 tbsp cornflour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Cut out eight 14 cm round from pastry and place on the baking tray. (You can store the leftover sheet cutouts in the freezer for making pie designs later).
Spread 2 tablespoons of frangipane paste (recipe below), leaving a 3 cm border. Top with 2 tablespoons each of apple pie filling (recipe below) and strawberry filling (recipe below), leaving the same space for the border. Fold over pastry edge in a pleated pattern to enclose the fillings partially, pressing down lightly with your fingers to seal.

Whisk the egg and water together.
Brush pastry edges with egg wash and sprinkle with extra sugar. bake until 25 minutes or until pastry is golden. Serve warm with ice-cream or custard on the side.

To make the frangipane filling
Using an electric mixer or by hand beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. Beat in the egg and egg yolk. Add in the almond meal and flour and mix with a wooden spoon. Wrap in cling film and store in the fridge until needed.

To make the apple filling, coat the apples with lemon juice.
In a medium saucepan, place the apples, water, sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Over low heat, bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Continue to cook until apples are soft and sauce has thickened (approx 15 mins). Add more water if needed.
Add the butter, stir, remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool, store in an air-tight container until needed.

To make the strawberry filling , In a medium sized bowl toss the strawberries, sugar and cornstarch together. Cover and leave in the fridge until needed.

Eggless Vanilla Cake

20|02|2019

Eggless recipes are constantly requested on this blog. Whether you are vegetarian or allergic to eggs or just want to keep an eggless recipe handy for those days when you’re running short of just one egg (yeah, it happens to me all the time), this cake recipe is for everyone. It is not only simple with no fancy ingredients, the cake is moist, light and delicious. In other words, you’re not going to miss the eggs.

If you want to have fun with the recipe, try adding nuts, berries or chocolate chips to the batter. It’s basically a blank canvas for you to paint on. I’m planning to make it again this week with apples. The weather is inching towards Autumn and apples are filling up the fruit aisles of the markets.

Eggless Vanilla Cake
Makes a 6 inch round cake

1 and 1/2 cups self raising flour
3/4 cup castor sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup greek yoghurt
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

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

In a large bowl place the flour, sugar and baking soda and stir together to mix. In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients, yoghurt, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold in gently (do not over-mix).
Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through (a skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean). Remove from oven. Leave aside for 5 minutes. Gently loosen the sides with a blunt knife bu running it around the sides. Turn the cake over onto a cooling rack.
When ready to serve, dust with icing sugar. Decorate with fresh berries.