Sweet Tooth Experiments

Monthly Archives: January 2016

Vegan Black Bean and Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Vegan Black Bean and Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

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I have a friend who is converting from a vegetarian to a vegan and she is heavily interested in vegan cooking.

After a few conversations around vegan food and deciding we would spend a day experimenting I got excited to have my own baking experiment and make her a cake.

I do actually have a vegan cake on my blog that I have previously created (see Vegan Chocolate Cake), a nut dense cake, however I wanted to make a cost effective and easy recipe for anyone to be able to make.

To add my unusual spin on things I ended up basing the cake on black beans to ensure a sturdy and moist cake, used seeds to mimic eggs and avocado to substitute cream.

The outcome is a healthy vegan friendly moreish cake that was gone in minutes of hitting the table.

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Ingredients:

  • 15g flaxseed
  • 3 tbsn water
  • 140g cooked black beans
  • 70ml water
  • 125g sugar
  • 70ml canola oil
  • 90g plain flour
  • 45g cocoa powder
  • 2 tsn baking powder
  • ½ tsn bicarbonate of soda

Frosting:

  • 40g maple syrup
  • 1 avocado
  • 20g cocoa powder

 

Method:

  1. Grind the flaxseeds in a mortar and pestle until it resembles a sand like consistency.
  2. Add the 3 tbsn of water and stir. Leave aside to gel.
  3. Pre-heat the oven to 180 c degrees and line a 25cm cake tin with baking paper.
  4. Rinse the cooked black beans and place in a food processor with the 70ml of water, blitz until pureed and smooth.
  5. Add the sugar, flaxseed mix and oil to the bean mix. Blitz until smooth and silky.
  6. Pour the mix into a bowl and add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarb.
  7. Using a hand whisk beat until the mix is combine and silky.
  8. Pour the mix into the cake tin and flatten the top with the back of a spoon and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  9. Place the cake on a cooling rack until cold.
  10. To make the frosting place the maple syrup, avo and cocoa powder into the food processor and blitz until silky sooth.
  11. Cut the cooled cake in half horizontally.
  12. Using a spatula spread half the frosting on the bottom cake layer and top with the second layer.
  13. Using the remaining frosting to ice the top and sides of the cake.

 

Note:

  • If you would like to make cupcakes instead of a cake you can pour the mix into cupcake patties and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. You can then use a piping bag and star nozzle to pipe the icing.

 

Vegan Black Bean and Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

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Vegan Black Bean and Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

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Vegan Black Bean and Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

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Vegan Black Bean and Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

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Vegan Black Bean and Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

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Vegan Black Bean and Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

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Vegan Black Bean and Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

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Vegan Black Bean and Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

 

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Green Tea and Raspberry Slice

Posted on Posted in Slice .

Green Tea and Raspberry Slice

Green Tea and Raspberry Slice recipe

 

I have no idea where this recipes inspiration came from. I believe I wanted to use up some Matcha powder I had left over from recent baking.

To mix things up from the norm I wanted to play around with weird and unusual flavors I could pair with the Matcha’s green tea taste that would surprisingly work like partners in crime.

After a bit of experimenting it was the Green Tea and Raspberry pairing that was an interesting and tasty concoction of flavors.

Now if you are a follower of my blog you will note I have struggled in the past with green tea, which was a frenemy ingredient of mine until my recent Green Tea Melting Moments. This influenced me to make the green tea cake base as simple as possible.

It’s the raspberry layer where I have added in my unusualness by making a somewhat jelly style raspberry icing layer.

Another creation that has succeeded in impressing 🙂

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 125g butter
  • 115g sugar
  • 1 tsn vanilla essence
  • 1 egg
  • 175g self raising flour
  • 3 tbsn matcha

Icing:

  • 200g raspberries
  • 155g butter
  • 80g icing sugar
  • 2 tsn gelatine powder
  • 75ml hot water

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 20cm square cake tin.
  2. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat with electric beaters for 5 minutes of until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the egg and beat for a further minute.
  4. Sift the flour and matcha and fold the mixture until combine.
  5. Place the mix in the tin and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until lightly golden on top.
  6. To make the icing place the gelatine and 75ml of boiling water in a small bowl and whisk until the gelatine has dissolved and thickens.
  7. In another bowl using electric beaters beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  8. Mash the raspberry with a fork then beat the raspberry until well combine.
  9. Add the gelatine and beat until the mix is smooth and combine.
  10. Pour the icing mix over the cake base then place in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set.

Notes:

  • Matcha is a green tea powder that can be found in Asian supermarkets or specialty stores.

 

Green Tea and Raspberry Slice recipe

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Green Tea and Raspberry Slice recipe

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Green Tea and Raspberry Slice recipe

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Green Tea and Raspberry Slice recipe

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Easy Gateau St Honore

Posted on Posted in France .

Easy Gateau St Honore

Easy Gateau St Honore recipe

Names after the French Patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs, the Gateau St Honore is another French beautiful pastry based dessert. Think crockenbush with a cookie dough base that is fixated together with beautiful toffee.

The cream puff filling adds the soft and fluffy texture, the choux pastry brings a moreish smoothness and the toffee provides a sweet crunch to the treat.

A great mix of texture and simple (but addictive) flavour.

I have modified this a little to make it easier and a little more appealing (I have piped the filling into the puffs and made a vanilla cream filling instead of crème chiboust). I’m not one to change traditional recipes but the crème chiboust is way too temperamental and to be honest will be difficult to master – unless you are a professional chef.

Easy Gateau St Honore recipe

Ingredients:

Pastry:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 4 tsn icing sugar
  • 50g butter
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tbsn cold water

Choux Pastry:

  • 125g butter
  • 250ml water
  • 1 cup flour
  • 4 eggs

Toffee:

  • 1 + ½ cup sugar
  • 1 cup sugar

Crème:

  • 450ml-thickened cream
  • 90g icing sugar
  • 2 tsn vanilla essence

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200c degrees.
  2. Place flour, sugar and butter in a food processor and blitz until mix resembles fine bread crumbs.
  3. Add egg yolk and water and blitz until dough forms a ball.
  4. Roll dough in between 2 sheets of baking paper with a rolling bin until you have a 25cm round circle.
  5. Place dough in the fridge.
  6. On baking paper draw 15 x 4cm circles, 2cm apart.
  7. Place the butter and water in a saucepan on medium heat and stir until well combine.
  8. Add the flour to the water mix and whisk with a hand whisk until a ball is formed.
  9. Take off the heat and whisk in eggs, one at a time.
  10. Spoon mix into a piping bag and pipe the pastry into the circles.
  11. With the remaining pastry pipe a border around the biscuit base.
  12. Place in the oven for 10 minutes.
  13. Turn the heat down to 180c degrees and bake for a further 15 minutes.
  14. Using a knife pierce the balls and leave in the oven for a further 5 minutes to dry out.
  15. To make the toffee place the sugar and water in a saucepan on a high heat on the stove until the mix becomes lightly golden (this will take around 15 minutes).
  16. Using tongs dip all the puffs bar 3 into the toffee and place around the border of the base.
  17. With the remaining 3, roll in the toffee and place in the center of the pastry.
  18. Spoon the remaining toffee around the puff border, leave to cool.

 

Easy Gateau St Honore recipe

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Easy Gateau St Honore recipe
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Easy Gateau St Honore recipe

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Easy Gateau St Honore recipe
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Easy Gateau St Honore recipe

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Easy Gateau St Honore recipe

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Easy Gateau St Honore recipe

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Easy Gateau St Honore recipe
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Whisky Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiked Ganache

Posted on Posted in Cupcakes .

Whisky Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiked Ganache

Whisky Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiked Ganache recipe

Ok so this is a little similar to recipes I have made up in the past but I promise it is still experimental.

I don’t actual think I have ever consumed whisky before, in fact, I know that buying it for this recipe was the first time I have ever purchased the liquor but after a few interesting conversations with whisky lovers I was inspired to experiment with whisky baking.

After I had the whisky I brought a few different types of chocolate and did the taste test thing. Outcome, dark chocolate was a goer and to be honest the subtitle whisky flavor against the rich chocolate was actually quite appealing (even to a non drinker)!

After a bit of playing around with ratios I finally came to a recipe that I was quite happy with.

And how do you top a moreish and rich cupcake? With a moreish and rich spiked ganache!

 

Ingredients:

Cupcake:

  • 200g brown sugar
  • 125 butter
  • 90ml Whisky
  • 100g dark chocolate
  • 150ml milk
  • ¼ tsn salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 120g self raising flour
  • 60g cocoa powder

Icing:

  • 375g dark chocolate
  • 30ml Whisky
  • 135ml cream

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 20 medium sized cupcake patties in a cupcake tin.
  2. Place the sugar, butter, Whisky, chocolate, milk and salt into a saucepan and stir continuously on a simmering heat until smooth.
  3. Take off the heat and allow to cool in the pan completely.
  4. Using a hand whisk beat in the eggs one at a time into the Whisky mix.
  5. Sift the flour and the cocoa to the Whisky mix and whisk until well combined.
  6. Pour the mix into the prepared patties until ¾ full.
  7. Place the tin in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Leave aside to cool completely.
  9. To make the icing, place the cream in a bowl in the microwave and heat until boiling.
  10. Add the chocolate and leave for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth and glossy.
  11. Add the Whisky and whisk until combine.
  12. Place the icing in the fridge for 20 minutes to thicken and cool completely.
  13. Place the icing in a piping bag fit with a star nozzle and pipe the icing over the top of the cupcakes.

 

Whisky Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiked Ganache recipe

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Whisky Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiked Ganache recipe

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Whisky Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiked Ganache recipe

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Whisky Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiked Ganache recipe

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Whisky Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiked Ganache recipe
 

 

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