dessert Archives - Page 45 of 57

Chocolate Almond Coconut Cake

8|08|2014

A few days ago, I chanced upon a carton of almond milk. You can read about it here. It is no secret how much I love almonds and I use them quite often in my recipes. However, creating with almond milk was a first. I made simple and healthy banana blueberry almond popsicles to get a feel of how it would work in a recipe. The nuttiness was there and it proved to be a great dairy alternative. I was impressed. I wanted to add it to anything and everything. Most of all, I was curious to know how almond milk would work in a cake or a baked item. Would it add an element of texture? Would it take away some of the moisture that regular milk/buttermilk/sour cream contributes? Will I get a crisp crust on my cake? Anything that lends itself well to a cake is up there on my ingredient list. So I put it to the cake test.

Chocolate and coconut are another combination that works well together. I discovered that when I made the Chocolate Coconut Slice. In bar form, when they tasted so good, I could imagine what it would do to a cake. The cake turned out just the way I wanted it to be. It was moist, it had texture from the coconut and almonds. It had the richness of cocoa and a crisp crust like a brownie. You could taste all the elements in the cake. And I loved how rustic it looked.

I have put my carton of almond milk to good use. Some sweet recipe and a savoury. The cake would still work if you use regular milk instead of almond milk. But if you like almonds or if you get your hands on some almond milk, it is worth a try. I like the cracked top and rustic appearance so much that I decided against adding a ganache or glaze to the cake. A generous sprinkling od icing sugar did it for me. I kept the styling along the same lines. You could glaze it if you are looking for more chocolate in the cake. Or even add chocolate chunks to the cake batter. In any case, this cake is going to go through a few different variations in my house. With almond milk as a constant, of course. I can’t wait to share more with you.

Chocolate Almond Coconut Cake
Serves 6-8

160g butter, softened
1 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 cup self-raising flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup almond milk
Icing sugar or dessicated coconut, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Grease a 18 cm round cake pan. Line with baking paper. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla essence together. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition

Sift the flour and the cocoa over butter mixture. Add the coconut and the almond meal. Stir to combine. Add the almond milk. Stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan. Smooth top. Bake for 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar or dessicated coconut.

Pear and Raspberry Pie

5|08|2014

I had my first real pie when I came to Australia. My excitement knew no bounds when I discovered a charming little bakery a short distance away from my new home. I went back every day. I had pie every day. For dinner, and for breakfast the next day. My kitchen ware were still in boxes so living on something that was convenient to bring back home, didn’t need too many dishes and filled up our empty stomachs while satisfying our taste buds, saved me a lot of trouble. I walked all the way to the bakery and back, convinced that it was the workout I needed to burn those pie-enriched calories. Till one day the bathroom scales told a different story!

I still love pie. What is there not to love about warm meaty and fruity fillings encased in pastry! However, when making pie at home, I tend to skip the bottom layer. The deep dish ones are my current favourite. It is a like a cross between a crumble and a pie. Plus you can play around with the pastry on top. I especially get my little boys to help me with the top and it makes for a wonderful afternoon activity with kids.

The pie is inspired by a slightly different recipe I had come across in Donna Hay magazine using white peaches and raspberries. The pie crust caught my eye and decided to make my own version using pears. This one is not a large one so if you plan a standard size, you may want to double the measurements.

Pear and Raspberry Pie
Serves 4

For the crust
3/4 cup plain flour
60 g unsalted butter, chilled, chopped
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 egg yolk (from an extra-large egg)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp. iced water
1 egg white
raw sugar for sprinkling

For the filling
3 ripe pears, skin removed and roughly chopped
1 cup frozen raspberries
1/3 cup castor sugar
1 tbsp. corn flour
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Place the flour, butter and icing sugar in a food processor and process in short bursts until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. With the motor running, add the egg yolk, vanilla and water and process until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough into a lightly floured surface and bring together to form a ball. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Pre heat oven to 200 degrees C. Place the pear, sugar, cornflour and lemon juice in a non stick pan over high heat till the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. Remove from heat and stir through the raspberries. Spoon the mixture into a baking dish (I used a 20 cm by 13 cm oval Pyrex dish.)

Roll the pastry out between two sheets of non-stick baking paper to a 3mm thickness. Using a 5 cm round cookie cutter, cut out circles from the dough and place on top of the filling, overlapping until the entire top is covered. Brush the pastry with the egg white and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden. If you like the top of the pie, really browned and crisp like this one, switch over your oven to the grill mode
and brown the pastry for 2-3 minute. Remove carefully from oven. Serve warm with ice cream on the side.

Cherry and Cashew Nut Streusel Cake

27|07|2014

Fridays have fascinated me all my life. Like a lot of people, It has remained my favourite part of the week since I was a child. At different stages of life though, the interpretations varied. Before the twins came, I was employed with a bank where I worked for several years. I handled various roles and though the nature of work and work load were different, Fridays were always a treat. Most of the times, it meant long lunches at new restaurants each week with colleagues and friends. I had a printed list pinned on the board next to my cubicle and would tick away as we explored places, old and new.

After the birth of my boys, Fridays brought relief. The promise of a weekend. Of support and respite. It meant eating at the table. Eating food on a plate ,while my husband shared the responsibility of dealing with two infants who needed to be fed, consoled, carried, changed at a tiring pace. Time flew. The children grew up and help was outsourced in the form of Child Care. They would go twice during the week and Friday was one of them. Precious hours that I had all to myself, I would want to do things that made me happy. Like bake cakes. Sometimes one, sometimes more. The prospect of eating cake throughout the weekend made the twins excited as well. Win win. So Fridays turned out to be Cake days. It became a ritual.

Cakes were my blank canvas to play around with flavours, textures or look and my favourite subjects to photograph. I belong to the group of people who believe that with eggs, butter and sugar, there is little that can go wrong. The rest is left to one’s personal taste and creativity. For me, the best cakes are full of texture. And the simplest way to achieve that is to substitute the flour component, completely or partly with a nut meal (ground nuts). There are so many nuts to choose from. Fruits to go with them. The options are unlimited. As much as I love frosted cakes, the simplicity of a nutty and fruity cake freshly baked and served warm with a dollop of whipped cream on the side has a greater appeal. In this cake, along with ground cashew nuts, the texture is enhanced in the form of a crispy sweet crumble.

Cherries have started to show up at the markets. Although they are not exactly cheap at the moment, they are tempting. Since I love them so much, it was hard to go past them without buying a punnet. These were not very sweet but they were perfect for the cake. Cashew nuts have more bite to them than hazelnuts or almonds (which I use more often) so if you are nuts about nuts, this is a cake not to be missed. However, any nut or fruit would work.
The recipe uses egg whites but does not need to whipped up. In other words, this is a one bowl cake that takes minutes to put together. I have used a tart pan (with a non-removable base) to get a large but shorter (in height) cake. You can go with a 20 cm cake pan instead for a regular sized cake. In that case the baking time will need to be increased.

Do you have a favourite day in the week? Do you have a ritual that you would never like to miss?

Cherry and Cashew Nut Streusel Cake
Serves 8-10

200 g cherries, pitted and roughly chopped
6 egg whites
170g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
50g (1/2 cup) plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
125g ground cashew nuts
3/4 cup castor sugar

For the streusel topping

1/2 cup plain flour
50 g butter, chilled and chopped into cubes
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cashew nuts, roughly chopped

To make the crumble topping, place all the ingredients in a bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the mixture until the mixture contains large and small crumbs.

Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease a 23 cm round cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Place the egg whites, butter, sugar, flour, cinnamon and ground cashew nuts hazelnuts in a bowl. Mix gently until just combined. Spoon into tin, scatter with half the crumb topping, then cherries, then remaining topping. Bake for 35 minutes or until firm. Cool in tin for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Banana Blueberry Almond Popsicles

24|07|2014

A little box followed me back home on a recent trip to the grocer’s. I always took pride in being an ardent almond fan but here I was, intently studying the back of a carton of almond milk. Almonds in different forms adorn the shelves in my cupboard yet I had never tried out almond milk. Perhaps I thought it was a bit too ‘healthy’ for me and my blog. I did not buy it so I assumed that it was placed by mistake in my shopping bag by the people at the store.

The long list of checked boxes at the back…Gluten Free, Cholestrol Free, Lactose Free, Suitable for Vegetarians, No Cane sugar and so on caught my eye. I went back to return the carton and here’s what I did. I bought one for myself. Since the blog is not just about me but also my dear readers, I thought it was worth a try, And it had almonds in it, so it was certainly a safe bet.

You don’t mess around with a healthy ingredient and add sugar and butter to it. Or do you? Actually, we will keep that for later. Right now, sticking to the healthy philosophy, I preferred to add fruits and honey and turn it into a frozen milkshake. A popsicle, in other words. These days, things look better on a stick than in a glass. Especially to my four year olds.

So all you do is put everything together in your processor and blend. Blueberries are beautiful, they add a touch of purple to anything they are added to. Feel free to increase or decrease the quantities in the ingredients. If you are not concerned about sugar, substitute sugar for honey. Then freeze and enjoy your super healthy popsicles.

Banana Blueberry Almond Popsicles

2 cups Almond Milk
1 large banana
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 tbsp. honey

Place the ingredients in the bowl of your food processor and process until smooth. Pour into popsicle moulds and freeze for an hour. Insert sticks and freeze until firm (about 3 hours).