dessert Archives - Sugar et al

Mini Gingerbread Bundt Cakes with Marzipan Pears

2|12|2021

I’m finally getting into the Christmas spirit. The last few weeks have been an absolute blur of activities since we got a new puppy. He is adorable and a little ball of joy. However, I never anticiapted the amount of work, attention and time I would have to give to this hyper active baby of mine. He actually makes me feel old since I struggle to keep up with him. To tell you the truth, managing twins wasn’t as hard as managing our baby Biscoff. I know, everyone remembers his name. The vet. doggie care, strangers…he is my dessert puppy:-)

Speaking of dessert, spices are the hero of the season. I have plenty of gingerbread recipes on my blog already so I thought I’ll create something that looks slightly different but is easy to make. Back in the day when I used to run high teas for my cafe restaurant, I worked with marzipan a lot to create sensational edible toppings. I’m not a big fan of the taste but it it such a versatile item. I like it much better than fondant.

With or without the pear decorations, the cakes are amazing. Golden syrup is indeed a beautiful ingredient. It adds a caramel-ish flavour to the cakes that goes so well with the spice. I coloured the pears red to create a wine poached effect that is so perfect for Christmas.

Mini Gingerbread Bundt cakes with Marzipan Pears (mini cake recipe adapted with variation from Taste.com)
Makes 12

125g butter, chopped
2/3 cup golden syrup
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 2/3 cups plain flour, sifted
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp powdered cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice

Vanilla Icing
1 cup icing sugar
1-2 tsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Marzipan pears
1 log maripan, home made or store bought
Maroon or red food colour (I used a mix of both)
icing sugar, for dusting work surface
Cloves for the stems

Method : Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 12 -hole mini bundt cake pan with canola spray.

Place butter, golden syrup, sugar and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes or until butter has melted and sugar dissolved (do not boil). Remove from heat. Add bicarbonate of soda. Stir to combine. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Add the egg. Whisk to combine. Add flour, ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice. Whisk until smooth. Spoon mixture into pan holes until half-full.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre of 1 cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. When cooled completely ice with glaze. Allow to set. Decorate with marzipan pears.

To make the Vanilla Icing : Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add more sugar or milk according to desired thickness. Dip the tops of the bundt cake in icing. Allow excess icing to fall back into the bowl. Place on a wire rack to set.

To make the Marzipan Pears : Divide the log into pieces depending on quantities and size. Knead colour into each piece working on the icing sugar dusted surface, to prevent sticking. Roll into a ball between your palms, then shape the top by tapering it like a pear. Insert a clove to replicate a stem. Place them on a baking paper lined tray to dry. once dried, store in ana air tight container until needed.

Mango and Coconut Mousse Bars

21|10|2021

It’s not summer until you get to enjoy mangoes. In Australia, the first mangoes appear as early as Spring. Though I woudn’t say that they are at their best, it’s impossible to resist the aroma as you pass through the aisles at your greengrocer or supermarket.

Mangoes pair beautifully with coconut. Together they are a burst of the tropics in your mouth. This a deceptively simple dessert to make, with absolutely no baking invoved. I have used sillcon rectangular molds. You could use round or square molds and even make them in serving glasses.

Mango Coconut Mousse Bars
Makes 4 bars

For the base

7-8 digestive biscuits
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

For the mango and coconut filling
3 tsp powdered gelatine
150 ml thin (pouring) cream
120 ml Coconut cream
40 g caster (superfine) sugar
3 tbsp mango purée

Mango jelly

3/4 cup mango purée
1/2 tsp powdered gelatine

Place the biscuits in a food processor and pulse to form fine crumbs. Pour the melted coconut oil into the processor and pulse to combine. Press the biscuit mixture into the base of rectangular silicone molds. Freeze until needed.

To make the mango-coconut layer, soften the gelatine in 2 tbsp cold water in a small bowl for 5 minutes. Warm 30 ml of the cream in a saucepan over low heat. Add the gelatine and stir through the warm cream until dissolved.

Cool slightly, then fold through the coconut cream.

Whip the remaining cream, sugar and vanilla bean paste until soft peaks form, then fold into the coconut cream mixture. Divine the mixture between two bowls. In one bowl, fold through 3 tbsp mango puree. In the other bowl add vanilla extract.

Spoon the mango mixture over the crust. Freeze for 15 minutes or until slightly firm. Sooon the coconut-vanilla mixture over the mango layer. Freeze for 15 mins.

Meanwhile, prepare the mango jelly. Place the mango purée in a small saucepan. Add the gelatine. Allow to bloom for 2-3 mins. Warm over a low flame, stirring continuously until gelatine has dissolved. Cool slightly. Pour over coconut layer. Place in freezer to set.

Allow to thaw 30 mins before serving. Decorate with edible flowers or shaved coconut.

Orange KitKat Brownie Cakes

30|08|2021

I’ve always had a thing for Kitkat chocolates. Not only do I love eating them, I find them the perfect decorations for pastries and cakes. You might have come across them before in my posts and if you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed a few creations in the past using them in various desserts. I noticed this orange flavoured ones and I loved the two toned effect on the top. I just knew I wanted to make Orange KitKat brownie cakes with them.

In related news, have you seen the recent reels I have created? This is one of them. So if you’re keen on watching a snippet of how the brownie is decorated, go check out my Instagram reels. Unfortuantely, it only allows me a max of 30 seconds so I am unable to show the creations from scratch but hopefully it will be upgarded to the 1 min duration like it has for a few craetors.

The brownie cakes are soft and delicious. They don’t have a cracked top as I use this recipe for a cake like texture. But nonetheless they are AMAZING to taste.

If you’re a fan of chocolate desserts, you’d love this Easy Chocolate cake with raspberries or this Beet Chocolate Cake

Orange KitKat Brownie Cakes
Makes 6

150 g unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) castor sugar
3/4 cup (approx 80 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1tbsp orange zest
1/2 cup (65 grams) plain flour
KitKat bars, to decorate
Dehydrated orange slices

Chocolate Hazelnut whipped cheesecake
200 g cream cheese, room temperature
200 g Nutella

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease 6 fluted tart pans/baking cups/ramekins. If you are using the ones with a removable base, make sure you cover the base with foil.
Place butter, cocoa and sugar in a microwaveble bowl and microwave in short bursts constantly stirring until butter has melted and mixture is smooth. Keep bowl aside until just warm to touch.
Add the eggs, vanilla and orange zest. Whisk until smooth. Add the flour and whisk until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Pipe or spoon batter into pans. Bake for 20-25 mins or until a skewer comes out with few crumbs.
Cool to room temperature before decorating.
To make the frosting, blend Nutella and cream cheese together (don’t overwhip). Pipe onto cooled brownies.
Decorate with Kitkat bars and dehydrated oranges slices.

Easy Chocolate Mousse Cake

5|08|2021

Is it weekend yet? Let’s pretend it is because this easy chocolate mousse cake is nothing short of a celebration. It is rich, decadent, sinful and oh so heavenly! You cant have too much in one go but you also can’t stop. This cake makes everyone happy!
Every time I open the refrigerator, I’m delighted at the sight of this cake.

Though it seems like there are a few steps to make this easy chocolate mousse cake’s different layers, they are really easy and hard to mess up. Making it a day ahead, helps to nicely set the mousse while you can top it with the shiny glaze on the day you serve it. The cake also stays for quite a long time in the fridge if you store it in an air tight container. Right now, it’s a week old and we are still enjoying the last few slices.

What is the best part about this easy chocolate mousse cake? That it is a no-bake cake yet there is no gelatine or egg used in the mousse. If you’ve made a no bake cheesecake or mousse cake before, you know gelatine is sensitive to the temperature of the other ingredients and can be tricky to use in these sort of recipes. Here, it’s just the magic of chocolate and cream. I’ve added a bit of orange zest to the mousse to cut down the richness. This is of course optional but I do recommend it.

If you love indulgent and easy chocolate cakes don’t forget to check out this Easy Chocolate Cake with raspberries

Chocolate Mousse Cake
Makes an 8 inch round cake

Cake layer
60 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
50 g unsalted butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup (50 g) plain flour
1/4 cup (40 g) self raising flour
1 tnsp cocoa powder
1 egg

Mousse layer
400 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
600 ml thickedned cream
1 tsp orange zest (optional)

Chocolate Glaze
120 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100 ml thickened cream
2 tbsp liquid glucose

To make the chocolate cake : Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (140C fan forced) Release base of a 22cm (base measurement) springform pan. Invert. Line with baking paper. Secure in pan, allowing edge to overhang. Grease side with melted butter.

Melt chocolate, butter, sugar and water in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat. Stir in flours, cocoa and egg. Pour in prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool cake completely in pan.

To make the chocolate mousse : Place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a metal spoon for 10 minutes or until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cool for 10 minutes.
Using an electric mixer, beat cream until soft peaks form. Fold cream mixture into chocolate. Add the orange zest, if using, mix. Pour chocolate mixture over base in prepared pan. Smooth with a spatula. Cover. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.

To make the chocolate glaze : combine chocolate, cream and glucose in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Pour over mousse. Place in the fridge for to set (about an hour).
When ready to serve, top with fresh berries, slice and enjoy!