dessert Archives - Page 4 of 57

Pistachio Cake with Rosewater Buttercream

26|06|2019

Who else is not a big fan of winter? This year it has been especially cold in Sydney and the rains haven’t made it any easier. I can’t wait for Spring and it’s abundant produce. Meanwhile, there are apples, oranges, pears, pomegranates and persimmons that I’ve already baked with (you may have seen them on Instagram) and now I’m turning back to my favourite cosy flavours. Pistachio and Rosewater. I have a few different cakes with the same combo already on the blog but seriously it’s always so good and there is always another new version waiting to be created.

This cake is an absolute celebration of pistachios. There is a lot of it in the cake, hence the natural green hue. Also it can be easily made into a gluten free version by substituting plain flour for gluten free flour.

The buttercream is not essential but adds a nice, creamy and floral touch to the dense cake. My husband avoids the frosting so he scrapes it off but said that he still loved the cake just the way it was.

Pistachio Cake with Rosewater Buttercream
Makes a 7 inch round cake

220 g unsalted butter
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp castor sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
120 g almond meal (ground almonds)
120 g pistachio meal (ground pistachios)
50 g (approx 1/2 cup) plain flour
1 tbsp grated orange zest (optional)

Rosewater Buttercream

125 g unsalted butter
1 and 1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp rosewater
pink gel food colour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens. Grease the base and sides of a 7 inch round pan and line the base with baking paper.

Beat the butter an sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the ground nuts, flour and orange zest. Stir well to mix until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven, leave aside for 5 minutes, then gently turn the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cool, pipe or spread with rosewater buttercream. Enjoy!

To make the rosewater buttercream, Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a bowl until pale. Gradually add icing sugar mixture and milk, beating constantly until combined.
Add the rosewater and pink food colour and mix till uniform.

Raspberry Frangipane Tarts

12|03|2019

If you’re a fan of nut based desserts, you may have tried a frangipane filling. It’s an almond paste that is used to fill tarts, galettes or pastries and is particularly delicious when paired with fruit. Raspberries, when cooked in the filling not only look fabulous but also taste lovely in this tart. Short crust pastry, a delicious, sweet, nutty filling and tart, jam-like raspberries. Do I need to even explain how good all that is together?

Though it is Autumn in my part of the world, I am greatly influenced by spring vibes from across the world. When I posted a picture of these tarts on Instagram, quite a few said, they’re reminded of Spring. I wish!
But for now, I am slowly moving towards cosy crumbles, baked breakfasts and apples and pears. Can’t wait to share with you!

Raspberry Frangipane Tartlets
Yields 4 tartlets

For the pastry
1 cup 150 g plain flour
1/4 cup, icing sugar mixture
100 g chilled butter, roughly chopped
1 egg yolk

For the 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

To make the pastry, process the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and process until mixture just comes together. Gently knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Shape into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest.

Divide the dough into 4 parts. With your fingers, press the dough along the bottom and sides of 4, 10 cm loose bottomed pans to form an even crust. Trim edges. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (180 degrees C fan-forced). Place the tart pan on an baking tray. Line with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or dried rice or beans. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove paper and weights and bake for a further 10 minutes or until pastry is light golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Reduce oven to 180 degrees C.

Meanwhile, make the frangipane filling. Using an electric mixer or by hant 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. Divide and spoon the mixture between the tart pans. Arrange fresh raspberries and sliced almonds over the filling.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until frangipane has set. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Orange Amaretti Cookies

27|02|2019

Orange Amaretti cookies that are not only extremely easy to make but are flourless and without any butter/oil. The addition of citrus takes it to a whole new level.

It can’t get easier than this! True, this recipe is such a keeper. Do you like commercial breaks? I love them because I’m always trying to finish stuff around the house in between breaks. I would say, you could prep a bath of these cookies during a break like that. So quick and easy! Unless the blades of your hand mixer are in the dish washer because you whipped up some cream before that. Well, that’s me! I’m sure you are more organised than that.

These cookies are crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle. And I haven’t even come to the best part. There is NO flour, NO butter involved. Just a handful of ingredients and your house smells like an Italian bakery. I added orange zest to it as I was craving something citrus. You could totally leave that out and add vanilla essence perhaps.
If you don’t have almond meal where you live, you could grind the almonds at home.
If you’d like to try the classic amaretti cookies, you can try this recipe.

Orange Amaretti Cookies
Yields 20-22 cookies

2 egg whites
2 and 1/4 cups almond meal/ground almonds
1 cup castor sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
icing sugar, for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C (150 degrees C for fan forced ovens. Line a large baling sheet with baking paper. Place the icing sugar in a shallow plate.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Fold in the almond meal, castor sugar and orange zest until well combined. Take a tablespoon of the dough and roll into a ball. Roll the ball in the icing sugar to coat. Flatten slightly and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cookies start to turn golden. Remove from oven. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool. Store in an air-tight container.

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.