Sweet Tooth Experiments

Monthly Archives: December 2015

Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake

Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake recipe

For a few weeks now I have been experimenting with Limoncello in recipes, where though outcomes have been tasty they are not the amazing outcome I have been looking for.

I realized that Limoncello as the sole hero ingredient was producing cakes that were not really special.

To tackle this I looked at pairing the Limoncello up with flavors that tend to go well with Lemon but weren’t too sweet (as Limoncello is a lot sweeter than Lemons).

After playing around with Limoncello & Almond, Limoncello & Blueberry and Limoncello & Lavender it was the latter pairing that made the best flavor combination.

To allow for the strongest Limoncello flavor I decided on a mousse to hero the liquor as I could have a heavy hand and would not jeopardize the texture of the cake.

As ground lavender will have limited effect on the cakes texture I opted for my never fail plain vanilla cake recipe with the inclusion of the lavender.

The outcome was a beautiful light and soft lavender cake topped with a smooth and fluffy white chocolate based Limoncello mousse.

A moreish and exquisite cake outcome.

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 160g flour
  • 1 + ¼ tsn baking powder
  • ½ tsn baking soda
  • ½ tsn salt
  • 2 + 1/2 tsn ground lavender
  • 2 eggs
  • 120g sugar
  • 120ml vegetable oil
  • 60ml limoncello
  • 60ml buttermilk

Mousse:

  • 300g white chocolate
  • 470ml thickened cream
  • 45g icing sugar
  • 95ml limoncello
  • 1 tbsn lemon zest
  • 2 tbsn water
  • 1 tbsn gelatin

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 175c degrees and line a 25cm spring form cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Place the lavender into a mortar and pestle and ground into a powder texture.
  3. Place the flour, powder, soda, salt and ground lavender into a bowl and stir until combine, set aside.
  4. With electric beaters whisk the eggs and sugar until thick and creamy.
  5. Add the oil in a steady stream, then the limoncello then buttermilk until well combined.
  6. Add the flour mix and beat until just combine.
  7. Pour into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Turn the cake out of the tin onto a cooling rack.
  9. Meanwhile make the mousse by placing 200ml of the cream in a saucepan with the white chocolate and stir on a low heat until the mix is creamy and smooth. Set aside to cool completely.
  10. Place the remaining 270ml of cream into a bowl with the icing sugar and using electric beaters whisk on high until peaks form.
  11. Add the limoncello and lemon zest to the cream mix and beat on low until combine.
  12. Place the water and gelatin into a bowl and stir until combine then heat in the microwave until warm and the mix is smooth.
  13. Add the gelatin mix to the cream mix and whisk with the electric beaters on low for 5 seconds or until combine.
  14. Place 2 pieces of plastic wrap over the cake tin and place the cooled cake into the tin.
  15. Pull the overhanging plastic wrap to the sides of the tin.
  16. Pour the mousse mix over the top of the cake and place the tin in the freezer for 4 hours to completely set.
  17. To serve the cake pull the plastic wrap on the sides until the cake comes out clean.
  18. Place the cake on a plate with the mousse on the top and durst with icing sugar and in desired some additional lemon zest and ground lavender.
  19. Enjoy.

 

 

Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake recipe

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Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake recipe

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Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake recipe

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Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake recipe

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Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake recipe

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Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake recipe

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Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake recipe

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Lavender and Limoncello Mousse Cake recipe

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Semolina Spiced Mini Cakes

Posted on Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes .

Semolina Spiced Mini Cakes

Semolina Spiced Mini Cakes recipe

Recently I have been playing a lot with syrups for cakes, which has resulted in quite some playing with a variation of spices and essence (some I am familiar with and some not so much).

One of the syrups I made up was so amazing that I decided to create a cake purely based on the key spices and essence.

After thinking about what cake foundations would best hold and complement my new favourite spices and essences I ended up deciding on a semolina (almost polenta) cake.

It did take me 3 tries to get to this final recipe:

Attempt 1 –  was to produce a thin syrup, which just overtook the cake and flooded it.

Attempt 2 – was to make the syrup more of a caramel consistency, almost to a praline level. This just didn’t suit the cake, it needed to have an ‘icing’ element that would work with the strong spices and tone down the sickly sweetness.

Attempt 3 –I gave up on the syrup idea and decided that this cake would be best eaten with ice-cream and cream as it would work wonders with the strong moist richness of the cake. Therefore whipped up some cream and success!

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 180g butter
  • 1 tsn vanilla
  • 1 tsn cinnamon
  • 1 tsn cardamom
  • ½ tsn star anise
  • 6 threads of saffron
  •  ½ tsn rosewater essence
  • 240g natural yoghurt
  • 1 cup semolina
  • ½ cup self raising flour
  • ½ tsn baking powder

Topping:

  • 300g cream
  • 2 + ½ tbsn icing sugar

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c degrees and fill 2 x 12 cupcake tin trays with cupcake liners/cases.
  2. Using electric beaters beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, rosewater, saffron diced and star anise until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the yoghurt, semolina, flour and baking powder and beat until the mix is just combine.
  4. Spoon the mix into the 24 cupcake patties.
  5. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
  6. Remove the cakes from the tin and place on a cooling tray until cold.
  7. Meanwhile to make the topping whip the cream and sugar in a bowl with electric beaters until peaks form.
  8. Using a piping bag and star nozzle pipe the cream on the top of the cold cake.
  9. Remove the cakes from the patty cases and sprinkle with a little cinnamon on top.

 

Notes:

  • I have decorated the cakes with a sugar almond on top.

 

Semolina Spiced Mini Cakes recipe

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Semolina Spiced Mini Cakes recipe

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Kahlua and Butterscotch schnapps Cake

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Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake

Posted on Posted in Cakes, Ice-cream cake .

Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake

Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake recipe

For a while now I have been experimenting with a flavor fusion in which I know absolutely works but just can’t seem to make a recipe that is super amazing. Nice and tasty yes but nothing special enough to make it to my blog.

Finally, after a failed ice-cream meringue cake that had an ever-so-tasty ice-cream filling I reworked the recipe to change the meringue into a sponge and the outcome was exactly what I was looking for.

A deliciously fluffy sponge structure and a tasty textured ice-cream filling.

If you’re a fan of gin and ginger cocktails you are going to love this recipe.

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 4 eggs
  • 140g sugar
  • 120g flour
  • 2 tsn ground ginger
  • 2 tsn lime zest
  • 45ml gin

Filling:

  • 1kg vanilla ice-cream
  • 1 tbsn lemon zest
  • 1 tbsn lime zest
  • 1 tbsn ground ginger
  • 80ml gin
  • 30g almond meal
  • 40g icing sugar

Extra:

  • 10g icing sugar
  • 1 tsn ground ginger
  • 1 tsn lime zest
  • 20g glace ginger (optional)

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 20cm x 40cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Place all the sponge ingredients in a bowl and using electric beaters whisk on a slow speed for 60 seconds.
  3. Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
  4. Invert tray onto a cooling rack and leave for 10 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, to make the ice-cream filling place the ice-cream into a bowl and place in the microwave on medium for 30 seconds.
  6. Add the zest, ginger, gin, almond meal and icing sugar and using a hand whisk beat until well combined.
  7. Peel the baking paper off the cooled sponge cake.
  8. Line a 20cm x 20cm cake tin with 2 layers of plastic wrap, keeping it in place with oil spray.
  9. Cut the sponge in half to make 2 x 20x20cm sponge pieces.
  10. Place one piece in the base of the tin, cutting slightly to fit if need be.
  11. Pour the ice-cream mix into the tin on top of the base until almost to the top.
  12. Add the second cake piece to the top of the tin, push down slightly and place the tin in the freezer overnight to completely set.
  13. To serve, place the bottom of the tin into hot water for 5 seconds, and pull the plastic wrap until the cake is out.
  14. Invert the cake onto a plate and remove the plastic wrap.
  15. To decorate I sieved the icing sugar and ginger over the top of the cake. Sprinkled the zest of the top and scattered the glace ginger.

Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake recipe

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Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake recipe

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Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake recipe

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Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake recipe

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Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake recipe

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Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake recipe

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Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake recipe

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Frozen Ginger Gin and Citrus Cake recipe

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Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake

Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake recipe

I was given a packed of Ferrero Roche’s recently and decided I wanted to incorporate them into a cake. I figured if I made a recipe with these chocolates in them a cake that is baked would be a flop (as the Ferrero’s would just melt) so I needed to make a cake that didn’t require baking. I know this is not very imaginative but all I could think of was a cheesecake.

So now I knew what cake I would make and I knew one of the key ingredients but I still needed to come up with a flavour combo and structure of the cake.

So Ferrero Roche’s are the collaboration of chocolate and hazelnut flavours. To make this cake a little unusual I decided to take these flavours to the next level. How I was planning to do this?

An intense chocolate hazelnut biscuit base (Oreo happiness), Hazelnut liquor (hello Frangelico) spiking the cheesecake filling with textural oreo chunks and of course the whole Ferrero Roche’s scattered within the cake its self for a special surprise.

This resulted in a very amazing hazelnut, chocolate surprise cake that is super easy, no oven required and has a silky texture.

This is the perfect celebration cake for the choc hazelnut fan. A little goes a long way and is a guaranteed epic birthday cake.

Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake recipe

 

Ingredients:

  • 240g Oreo biscuits
  • 30g hazelnuts
  • 60g butter
  • 340g cream cheese
  • 40g sugar
  • 80ml Frangelico
  • 1 +1/2 tsn gelatin powder
  • 140ml which chocolate
  • 170ml thickened cream
  • 10 Ferrero Roches

Method:

  1. Line a 25cm spring form cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Twist the Oreo biscuits and scrape off the cream in the center.
  3. Place the biscuits in a food processor with the hazelnuts and blitz until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.
  4. Set aside 70g of the Oreo mix for later.
  5. Place room temperature butter into the blender with the oreo mix and blitz until combined with the Oreo mix.
  6. Place the mix in the cake tin and using a cup press the mix into the sides and bottom of the tin. Place in the fridge to set.
  7. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until well combine with electric beaters.
  8. Place the Frangelico in a bowl and heat in the microwave until boiling.
  9. Add the gelatin powder and whisk until the gelatin has dissolved.
  10. Pour the cooled Frangelico mix into the cheese mix and beat until well combined.
  11. Place the white chocolate in a bowl and in the microwave until melted. Beat into the cheese mix until well combined.
  12. In a separate bowl with clean beaters use the electric beaters to whisk the cream until peaks form.
  13. Add the cream to the cheese mix as well as the remaining 70g of processed Oreo biscuits and beat on low until just combine.
  14. Pour half the mix into the cake tin and spread to flatten.
  15. Add the Ferrero Roches into the cheese mix in a circular pattern and push lightly into the mix.
  16. Add the remaining cheese mix over the top and flatten out.
  17. Place the cake in the fridge to set for 3 hours+.

 

Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake recipe

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Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake recipe

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Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake recipe

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Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake recipe

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Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake recipe

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Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake recipe

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Ferrero Oreo and Frangelico Chocolate Cheesecake recipe

 

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