Sweet Tooth Experiments – Discover my baking experiments of unusual flavours and combinations, as well as traditional international sweet treats.

Hello and welcome to Sweet Tooth Experiments

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Ella Posted in Uncategorized .

Photographer: Margaret Paola Minero

Welcome to my blog centred around baking with delicious and interesting flavour combos as well as textures to uncover unusual bakegood gems. In addition, this blog discovers traditional sweet treats, opening up taste buds to different cultures and flavours from all over the world.

Ovaltine Icing

Posted on April 19, 2019 by Ella Posted in Icing .

Ovaltine Icing

Quite a while ago I did some experimenting with Ovaltine where I ended up coming up with some amazing tasting biscuits. As it has been some time since I revisited this childhood flavour I decided to get back and do some some experimenting.

A slice, cake and an icing recipe later, the simple and delicious icing won out.

To me this icing holds such great unique properties that is also a little left of center (you expect chocolate flavor but are pleasantly surprised with a twist you just can’t place your finger on…that being the malt).

So if you want to turn a plain cake into something with personality and character this icing will create something special.

Ingredients:

90g butter
1/2 tsn vanilla essence
1/2 cup Ovaltine
1 cup icing sugar
1 tbsn milk

Method:

Beat the butter and essence in a bowl with electric beaters for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Beat in the Ovaltine, icing sugar and milk until well combine.

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Raspberry Layered Apple Yoghurt Cake

Posted on April 13, 2019 by Ella Posted in Cakes .

Raspberry Layered Apple Yoghurt Cake

Ok so the flavor pairings for this cake is not ground breaking. Raspberry, apple and vanilla has no real ‘wow interesting twist factor’. How this cake made it to my website….? Due to it being absolutely delectably delicious, as well as the unusual way the cake is constructed. The main feature of this cake is not the flavor pairings but the layers of batter and apple that structure the cake. Every bite has an ever-so-tasty yoghurt based cake with the twist of sliced apple layered texture. This cake is a must with a cup of tea, in fact I dare you to find another cake that satisfies your cake craving more when paired with a cup of tea at 3pm!

Ingredients:

Cake:

125g butter
180g sugar + 1 tbsn extra
1 tsn vanilla essence
4 eggs
90g raspberry yoghurt
170g self-raising flour
2 large apples (260g apple)
180g raspberries

Topping:

100g raspberries
40ml condensed milk
20ml thickened cream

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 25cm cake tin with baking paper.
Place the butter and sugar into a bowl and using electric beaters whisk the mix for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla essence and whisk until combine.
Add the eggs, one at a time beating, in between each addition.
Add the yoghurt and beat until combine.
Add the flour and beat on low until just combine.
Peel the apples with a fruit peeler.
Using a hand slicer mandolin cut the apple into thin slices.
Add the raspberries to the mix and carefully stir through.
Add half the cake batter into the tin and flatten the top with a spoon.
Add half the apple slices in a fan pattern.
Add the remaining batter and flatten the top with the back of the spoon.
Add the remaining apple slices in a fan pattern.
Sprinkle the extra 1tbsn sugar over the apple slices. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Place the cake onto a cake rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile to make the raspberry sauce, place the raspberries into a saucepan with the condensed milk.
On a high heat stir until the raspberries have disintegrated.
Pour the sauce through a sieve to remove the seeds.
Pour the sauce over the cake.
Pour the thickened cream over the cake and enjoy!


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Festive Popcorn Honey Bark

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Ella Posted in Slice .

Festive Popcorn Honey Bark

This recipe was inspired by playing around with left over ingredients that I had in the cupboard from previous bakes that I wanted to turn into something. I hate wasting food and tend to buy quite a lot of ingredients in which I only use ¼ of for a recipe.

Therefore I decided to make my own version of ‘chocolate bark’, but instead of using chocolate as the base I would use caramel and instead of the usual nuts, seeds and dried fruits that go into ‘bark’, I opted for what I had in the cupboard.

I made 5 different varieties where this recipe I am posting was the star from the afternoon of experimenting.

Marshmallow, popcorn, coconut and white chocolate came close but it was the coconut, cranberry, orange, almond, popcorn and white chocolate recipe that was the tastiest.

Ingredients:

Popcorn mix:

40g popcorn, pre-popped and lightly salted
50g flaked coconut
50g cranberries, diced
1 tsn orange zest
40g roasted almonds, finely diced

Caramel:

40g butter
120g honey
160g sugar
1 tsn bi carbonate soda

Extra:

50g white chocolate

Method:

Line a 25cmx25cm slice tin with baking paper.
In a bowl place the popcorn, coconut, cranberries and zest, stir to combine.
In a saucepan place the butter, honey and sugar on a medium heat, stir until combine.
Turn heat to high until golden and thickened. You will know the caramel is done when you stir a spoon in the mix and place it in a cup of cold water, if the caramel is hard it’s ready.
Take off the heat and add ½ tsn of the bicarbonate soda to the mix and stir.
Add the almonds and stir.
Pour the caramel mix into the prepared tin, ensuring even distribution.
Working quickly sprinkle the popcorn mix over the caramel as evenly as possible and flatten with palms and fingertips to ensure the mix is in the caramel.
Place slice in the fridge to set for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile place the white chocolate over a double boiler and melt the chocolate.
Drizzle the melted white chocolate on the bark and place back in the fridge for 30 minutes or until the white chocolate is set.
Cut the bark into slices and enjoy.

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Clinker Cheesecake

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Ella Posted in Cakes .

Clinker Cheesecake

It’s been a while since I baked with lollies (see my Red Skin Candy Cake and Musk Candy Cake recipes).

To reignite this baking lollie twist I decided to start looking at chocolate lollies and incorporating these in my recipes.
One of the chocolate types I thought would be interesting and not commonly consumed was Pascall’s Clinkers.

Chocolate covered candy with a surprise of either pineapple, lime or strawberry in the middle…yum!

I have opted for a cheesecake in this instance as chunks of diced Clinkers in a traditional baked cake would leave holes and make the cake unstable when the chocolate and candy melted in the cooking process.

Ingredients:

150g chocolate biscuits
70g butter
500g cream cheese
30g sugar
2 tsn gelatine
60ml water
200g milk chocolate
350g clinkers
240g thickened cream

Method:

Line a 23cm spring form baking tin with baking paper.
Place the biscuits in a food processor and blitz until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Melt the butter, add to the biscuits and pulse until well combine.
Press biscuit mix into the base of the tin then place in the fridge to firm.
Using electric beaters whisk the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
Melt the chocolate and beat into the cheese mix until smooth.
Boil the water and mix the gelatine, using a fork to combine until the mix has no lumps and is silky.
Add the gelatine mix to the cheese mix and beat until well combine.
Clean the beaters and whisk the cream until peaks form.
Cut 250g of clinkers into medium sized pieces each so you have nice chunks and fold with the cream into the cheese mix.
Spoon over the chocolate base and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set.
Once set remove from the tin.
Place 100g of clinkers in the food processor and blitz until the mix resembles breadcrumb consistency.
Roll the cake onto its side once set to coat sides of cake with the clinker mix, then sprinkle the remaining on top.

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Clinker Cheesecake recipe

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Florentines

Posted on March 16, 2019 by Ella Posted in Biscuits .

Florentines

A Florentine biscuit (or, more correctly, a Florentine) is a sweet treat attributed to being invented in France, though is generally seen as an Italian delicacy.

Florentine’s are most commonly made from nuts and glaze cherries, in which are mixed with sugar, honey and butter and completed with their signature bottom chocolate coating.

There are many many version of this biscuit, and after baking 5 different versions I have worked up what I think is the best from multiple recipes. I know this is a little controversial but has resulted in an easy-as, ever-so-tasty gluten and egg free cookie.

Ingredients:

30g dried cranberries
25g almonds
25g walnuts
50g glaze cherries
30g cornflakes
90g condensed milk
150g dark chocolate

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 170c degrees and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Dice up the cranberries, almonds, walnuts and cherries into small pieces and place in a bowl.
Add the corn flakes and condensed milk and mix until well combined.
Place spoonfuls of the mix onto the baking paper and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
Once the biscuits have cooled place the chocolate in a pan over a pan of simmering water on the stove.
Stir the chocolate until it has melted then dip in the biscuits, bottom side to the chocolate ensuring an even layer of chocolate.
Place the biscuits on a cooling rack, bottom side up until the chocolate has set.

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Chocolate Banana Split Sundae Pie

Posted on March 9, 2019 by Ella Posted in Pies .

Chocolate Banana Split Sundae Pie

I have always been a fan of chocolate banana split sundae. Vanilla ice-cream, banana, chocolate, cherries, nuts and strawberry, how could this not taste absolutely amazing?

The only thing is that ice-cream is not a great ‘comfort food’ in the colder months, so to mitigate this I decided to turn the banana split sundae into a pie.

I have kept the core flavors and added a few secondary complementing flavors into the mix to make the pies even tastier.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

180g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
100g butter
50g sugar
45ml water

Filling:

180g dark chocolate
¾ cup sugar
750ml milk
¼ cup corn flour
5 egg yolks
2 tsn vanilla extract
20g butter

Topping:

150g thickened cream
20g icing sugar

Extra:

2 chopped bananas
200g strawberries chopped
200g chopped pineapple
20g peanuts
4 glace cherries

Chocolate Sauce:

30g cream
50g dark chocolate

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 220c degrees.
Place all the pastry ingredients except the water into a food processor and blitz until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add 45g of water and process until the mix resembles dough and comes away at the sides of the bowl.
Knead the dough for a minute then divide into 4 balls of 60g each.
With a rolling pin roll the balls to disks and place into 4 medium sized tart cases, trim edges. Place the remaining pastry aside back in the fridge.
Prick the pastry with a fork a few times in the center and place the tarts in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile make the filling by placing the chocolate, sugar, milk and corn flour in a saucepan on a medium heat and whisk with a hand whisk until the mix is thick.
Lightly beat the 5 egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl and add in 1 cup of the chocolate custard mix, beat.
Add the yolk mix into the chocolate custard mix and beat with a hand whisk for 2 minutes while the mix boils.
Take off the heat and beat in the 20g butter.
Place some baking paper on the top of the custard mix to stop a skin from forming and leave for 10 minutes to cool.
Take the tart cases out of the fridge and place on a baking tray covering the tarts with foil, baking for 10 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Once the tart cases have cooled place the chocolate custard mix in each tart base.
Turn the oven down to 160c degrees.
Roll the remaining pastry into 3 equal balls then roll out into a disk shape.
Top the remaining disks on top of the custard and trim excess.
Poke the top a few times with a fork and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
Remove tarts from the oven and leave to completely cool, then place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, with electric beats whisk the cream and icing sugar until peaks form.
Place the cream into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe on top of each chilled pie evenly.
Cut up the strawberries, banana and pineapple and place on top of the cream.
Chop up the peanuts and sprinkle on top.
To make the sauce place the chocolate and cream in the microwave for 1 minute, stirring every 20 seconds until a sauce is formed.
Allow sauce to cool slightly and drizzle on top of the pies.
Place a cherry in the center and into the fridge to fully set for 1 hour.


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Banana and Peanut Loaf

Posted on March 2, 2019 by Ella Posted in Bread .

Banana and Peanut Loaf

For a while now I have been meaning to create a healthier alternative to banana bread, that is scrumptious while being an acceptable high protein and high vitamin rich breakfast to fuel my morning.

After a taste test of flavour combos and brief-fitting ingredients I concluded that the flavours of peanut and banana were perfect.

As these ingredients are full of healthy protein building nuts and potassium richness fruit I decided to produce a recipe that was as healthy as possible while still attaining a delicious flavour and fluffy texture.

I also wanted it to be as easy as possible to bake that could be whipped up in 5 minutes.

The outcome = Fluffy fruit and nut bread with no added fat (oil/butter) that I think tastes much better than traditional banana bread (which is full of fat and large sugar quantities).

I’m actually impressed with myself, as soon as I served this I was asked for the recipe. Easy one step low fat fruit based loaf that is just divine sliced, warmed and if you desire topped with a flick off low fat margarine.

Ingredients:

160g brown sugar
200g vanilla yoghurt (low fat)
220g Banana (3 large bananas)
2 eggs
130g low fat peanut-butter
160g self raising flour

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170c degrees and line a 14cmx24cm loaf tin with baking paper.
Place the sugar, banana, yoghurt, eggs, peanut butter and flour in a food processor and blitz until all the ingredients are well combine and pureed.
Pour the mix into the cake tin.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the loaf is just set on touch.
Allow the loaf to cool in the tin, then cut and serve.

Notes:

You will need 3 large or 4 medium sized bananas for this recipe.
I blitzed up 15g of peanuts to decorate the top of the loaf and sprinkled before baking.

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Apple Raspberry Cider Caramel Candy Cake

Posted on February 24, 2019 by Ella Posted in Cakes .

Apple Raspberry Cider Caramel Candy Cake

After recently enjoying a thirst quenching cider while out at the pub one Friday sunny lunch it got me thinking of baking a cake with cider as the key ingredient.

This particular cider was a raspberry flavor but I wanted to trial a few flavor combos, focusing on traditional cider flavors as well as the raspberry one I was enjoying.

The experimenting in the kitchen included raspberry cider, pear cider and apple cider, in which I played around with grated apples, grated pears and raspberries as complementary ingredients to the alcohol.

After around 7 different cake variations I ended up completely satisfied with the long-shot winner of apple cider, raspberries, apples and caramel chew candy. The candy being a bit of a last minute addition to this recipe, in which was added to gave the extra unusual twist I was looking for, unsurprisingly working hand-in-hand with the apple it also worked with the raspberry.

A delicious almost pudding like cake, one bite and you will be going back for a second piece…or if you are like me a third!

Ingredients:

Cake:

135g butter, softened
100g brown sugar
3 eggs
2 small apples, peeled and cored (135g apple)
90g caramel chew candy
80ml apple cider
225g self raising flour
1+ 1/2 tsn baking powder
90g raspberries

Icing:

200ml apple or raspberry cider
100g caramel chew candy
90g butter, softened

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 170c degrees and line a 30cm cake tin with baking paper.
Whisk the butter and sugar with electric beaters for 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition.
Grate the apple and add to the egg mix.
Dice the caramel chews into small pieces, add to the egg mix and stir until combine.
Pour the cider into the egg mix.
Sieve the flour and baking soda into the egg mix and whisk on low with electric beaters for 30 seconds or until just combine.
Add the raspberries and fold through the mix until just evenly combine.
Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack until cold.
Meanwhile make the icing by placing the 200ml of cider into a saucepan on a medium heat until reduced down to 80ml.
Add the 100g of caramel chews and whisk with a hand whisk off the heat until smooth and glossy.
Once the caramel mix has cool to room temperature whisk 100g of the caramel mix with the 90g butter with electric beaters until light and fluffy.
Cut the cake in half horizontally, spread the caramel icing onto the top of the bottom cake layer, top with the second layer.
Place the remaining caramel back on the saucepan until just lukewarm and pour over the top of the cake.
Serve and enjoy!

Apple Raspberry Cider Caramel Candy Cake

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Chickpea Chocolate Coconut and Almond Cookies

Posted on February 16, 2019 by Ella Posted in Biscuits .

Chickpea Chocolate Coconut and Almond Cookies

I’ve made chickpea chocolate cake in the past, chocolate coconut slice, almond and chocolate cake, coconut and almond cupcakes….however I have never mixed these 4 flavors together. As they all taste like a dream with chocolate I thought there could be a combo potential.

So I decided to do some experimenting with these 4 flavors with biscuit variations. I looked at using butter vs. coconut oil, coconut flour vs. almond meal vs. rice flour, cocoa powder vs. chocolate, nil-chocolate biscuit dough, double chocolate biscuit varieties and the list goes on….

Suffice to say I made a few different batches that were slightly altered from the last.

This recipe I’m posting is the hands down winner. All flavors come out spectacularly. Even with the ‘gluten free’ component and legume inclusion they don’t taste ‘cardboard’ as some healthier versions of baking sometimes do.

So simple to make, literally throwing ingredients into a food processor and bake for 15 minutes and boom delicious biscuits at once!

Ingredients:

230g chickpeas (1 x 400g can, drained)
100g almond meal
100g brown sugar
40g coconut oil
1 tsn almond extract
1 egg
½ tsn baking powder
1/8^thtsn salt
40g desiccated coconut
80g roasted almonds
80g 70% dark chocolate, 80g extra

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
Place the drained chickpeas, sugar, oil, extract and egg into a food processor and blitz until smooth.
Dice the 80g chocolate and 80g almonds into small pieces.
Place the almond meal, baking powder, salt, coconut, diced chocolate and diced almonds into a bowl and stir until well combine.
Add the chickpea mix to the dry mix and stir until well combine.
Roll the dough mix into 20g sized balls and flatten well with the back of a fork onto the trays. Note they will not rise so you will want to flatten well.
Place the trays into the oven for 15 minutes to cook.
Allow the biscuits to set on the trays then move to a cooling rack until cooled.
Meanwhile place the remaining extra 80g chocolate into a shallow microwave proof bowl and heat in the microwave on medium, stirring every 30 seconds until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
Using a butter knife or spatula spread the melted smooth chocolate onto the bottom of the biscuit in a thin even layer.
Place biscuits chocolate side up onto the cooling tray until chocolate has set.
Enjoy!

Chickpea Chocolate Coconut and Almond Cookies

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Chickpea Chocolate Coconut and Almond Cookies

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Chickpea Chocolate Coconut and Almond Cookies

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Chickpea Chocolate Coconut and Almond Cookies

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St Clements Fudge

Posted on February 9, 2019 by Ella Posted in Fudge .

St Clements Fudge

German Spice Biscuit recipe

Oranges and Lemon’s say the bell’s of St. Clemens….This sweet treat may be named after a nursery rhyme but the favours are a heavenly match.

A twist on the usual dark chocolate fudge, this white chocolate, lemon and orange fudge is a super easy refreshing change to the stock-standard.

Ingredients:

300g condensed milk
1 cup sugar
130g butter
2 tsn lemon zest
2 tsn orange zest
200g white chocolate, 200g extra

Method:

Line a slice tin with baking paper.
Zest the fruit.
Place the condensed milk, sugar and butter in a saucepan on low heat and stir until the mix is glossy and the sugar has dissolved.
Add the zest and turn the heat to medium, stirring until the mix comes away from the side of the pan cleanly.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the white chocolate until melted and silky smooth.
Spoon mix into the tin and leave aside to cool.
Once cooled place the tin in the fridge for 1 hour to firm.
Using a spoon scoop the mix into 15g sized balls, rolling in between your hands for the circle shape.
Place the balls onto a plate and into the freezer for 20 minutes.
Place water in a small saucepan on high on the stove until boiling, turn heat to low.
Place remaining chocolate into a heatproof bowl over the saucepan, ensuring the bowl doesn’t touch the boiling water.
Use a wooden spoon to stir the chocolate until it’s melted and then remove it from the heat.
Take the balls out of the freezer and dip each ball into the melted chocolate using a fork to lower and place them onto a lined tray.
Next place the tray back in the freezer for 30 mins or until the chocolate has set.
Enjoy!

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