white chocolate Archives - Page 3 of 4

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Red Berry Ganache

5|04|2014

I experience a unique thrill when I am posting a cake. More than satisfaction…more than excitement. Some kind of inexplicable joy. Right from the planning…the cake pans…dressing the cake, the props that will go alongside…the mood…the post processing to actually eating the cake. It’s almost like painting a picture. I finish with one and before that I am thinking about the next one.

When I made the Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Cake, I remember telling myself that there wasn’t going to be a red-brown combo my blog for a while. I was worried I was giving you an overdose of chocolate and raspberries in my posts. I even resisted the urge of pouring luscious chocolate ganache over the brownie cake. And maybe that’s why I had good reason to post a sauce dripping chocolate cake this time.

This a fudge cake therefore it is rich. The sweet berry ganache pairs well with the bittersweet fudgy cake. Pink is such a beautiful colour . And the sprinkles make it shine. Overall, this is quite simple to make with a great outcome. The texture is great for a bundt cake pan as it holds shape well.

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Red Berry Ganache
Serves 6-8

Chocolate Fudge Cake (adapted with variation from Taste.com)
250g butter, chopped
200g dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup castor sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
2 cups, cold water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
Fresh Strawberries and Raspberries, to decorate
Pink Sprinkles, to decorate

Red Berry Ganache
10-12 Strawberries and/or Raspberries (I used a mix), cleaned and hulled (fresh or frozen)
100 g white chocolate, roughly chopped
1/3 cup thickened or heavy cream
2-3 drops of pink food colouring (optional)

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Lightly grease a 20 cm bundt cake pan.

Place butter, chocolate, sugar, cocoa and 2 cups cold water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 8 to 10 minutes or until melted and smooth (do not boil). Remove from heat. Cool for 20 minutes.

Add eggs. Whisk to combine. Add plain flour and self-raising flour. Whisk until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 20 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the ganache: Puree and strain the berry mixture to discard seeds. Combine chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water). When chocolate is about halfway melted, remove bowl from pan. Stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Add the strained berry puree and stir till well blended. Add food colouring if using. Cool for 10 minutes and pour over the cake. Ganache will thicken and set on cooling. Top with fresh berries and decorate with sprinkles.

Peanut Butter White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake

15|03|2014

Peanut Butter and me haven’t been friends for long. Weird…I know! We are still getting to know each other. It’s a bit early to say whether its going to turn into a serious love affair but for now I am happy to have it for breakfast. Not on toast…in cakes! Anything that goes down well in a cake ranks high in my eyes. And yes, I can eat cake for breakfast!

This is light, moist cake with a subtle taste of peanut butter spiked with the occasional bite of white chocolate chips and raspberries. The last two and me are best friends so its one merry party…this cake! I used this recipe from BBC GoodFood as a base recipe for the peanut butter cake and made a few additions to it. The recipe used yoghurt which tends to leave a sour after taste in cakes in my opinion so I replaced it with sour cream. The cake as a whole is not too sweet so the white chocolate chips are a welcome addition. And raspberries add a little tartness that goes well with the rest of the cake.

The cake is a quick, one bowl process that comes together in minutes. If you like peanut butter, you can probably increase the quantity by a couple of more teaspoons.

Peanut Butter White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake
Serves 8-10

200g butter
4 tbsp smooth peanut butter
4 large eggs
1 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
1/4 cup roasted peanuts for the top (optional)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Grease a 22 cm round cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, eggs, sugar and sour cream together until smooth and creamy. Fold in the flour and 3/4 of the white chocolate chips. Then carefully fold in the raspberries.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Top with remaining chocolate chips and peanuts (if using). Bake for 45-50 mins or until risen and golden.

Candy Cane Cupcakes. White Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream

26|11|2013

I know I am starting early but it’s hard to resist with all the inspiration around. The shelves at the stores are filled with sweet holiday inspiration…Candies, cookies, puddings and so on..I am excited just looking at them. I so love this time of the year. And I plan to do a lot of baking in the next few days leading up to New Year’s.

I intended to post this along with my children’s favourite recipes last week but couldn’t do so. Kids and candies..classic pairing! So I had to do at least one candy based recipe. I’ve come across a lot of candy cane cupcakes mostly using dark chocolate, therefore I made mine using White chocolate. The frosting is a simple buttercream flavoured with peppermint extract. There is a subtle caramel flavour from the white chocolate in the cupcakes. I wouldn’t say I was blown away by the pairing, but it tasted good.

I have used my basic vanilla cupcake recipe (from Joy of Baking) with a little melted white chocolate added to it. I love the pink colour in the frosting…actually I love pink desserts. Which means you need to watch out for what is coming up next. Or can I say I have been painting the town pink.

I will be back with more of my pink creations shortly!

Candy Cane Cupcakes. White Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream
Yields 12

White Chocolate Cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter (113 g), room temperature
1/2 cup castor sugar
3 large eggs
100 g white chocolate, melted
11/2 cups all-purpose flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line a muffin tray with 12 paper liners. In the bowl of your electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the melted white chocolate and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk in three additionss, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 15-20 mins or just until set and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. (Do not over bake or the cupcakes will be dry). Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, frost with icing.

Peppermint Buttercream

2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp peppermint extract
3-4 drops pink food colouring

In an electric mixer or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. With the mixer on low-speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat on high-speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more sugar or milk as needed. Add the peppermint extract. Tint with pink food colouring.

White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Spiced Red Wine Granita

4|10|2013

I couldn’t wait. Four more months! Just couldn’t!

To express my love for you..

Red hearts were never my thing. I’d rather go for wine.

Words fail me. You’ve been amazing so far.
So I got you wine and chocolate!

I read this somewhere ‘Like fine wine, hangovers get better with age’. Oh dear! And I recently turned a year older!

Happy ~~Valentine’s day~~ Weekend my friends! I really do love you:-)

White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Red Wine Granita
Serves 4

White Chocolate Panna Cotta
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
50g white chocolate coarsely chopped
1 tbsp water
2 tsp powdered gelatine

Red Wine Granita (minimally adapted from Gourmet Traveller magazine)
150 ml red wine
150 ml water
1/3 cup castor sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise

For the White Chocolate Panna Cotta : Place the heavy cream, milk and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate and set aside for 1 minute. Stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla essence.

Place the 1 tbsp water in a small heatproof bowl. Sprinkle with the gelatine. Place the bowl in a small saucepan. Add enough boiling water to the saucepan to come three-quarters of the way up the side of the bowl. Use a fork to whisk the mixture until the gelatine dissolves. Alternately, add the gelatine to the water and set aside for 5 mins for the gelatine to bloom. Heat for 20 seconds in the microwave and stir to make it smooth.Add the gelatine mixture into the white chocolate mixture. Set aside to cool. Once it cools to room temperature, pour into serving glasses and refrigerate for a minimum 4 hours preferably overnight.

For the Red Wine Granita : Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a gentle simmer. Stir and cook for 3 minutes, remove from heat and cool completely. Strain and discard solids, pour mixture into a 20cm square shallow tray and freeze, scraping with a fork at hourly intervals to form crystals, until frozen (4-6 hours).