December 2016 – Sweet Tooth Experiments

Sweet Potato Spiced Pie

Posted on December 29, 2016 Posted in Pies .

Sweet Potato Spiced Pie

This recipe was created as I wanted to make a pumpkin pie for a Christmas catch-up dinner, however had limited time to make the pie and had no pumpkin on hand, only sweet potato. Thus a sweet potato pie was created.

After the sweet potato in the pie was deemed a dinner success I decided that I would play around with the ingredients to take the pie from great to scrumptious.

After a few alternations and tweaks the below recipe was formed.

Sweet Potato Spiced Pie recipe

Ingredients:

Base:

250g butternut biscuits
½ tsn ground cinnamon
¼ tsn ground ginger
¼ tsn all spice
100g butter, melted

Filling:

500g sweet potato
420ml milk
100g sugar
1 + ½ tsn ground cinnamon
½ tsn ground ginger
¼ tsn all spice
2 eggs

Topping:

300ml cream
1 tsn vanilla essence
½ tsn ground cinnamon
20g icing sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160c degrees.
Place all the base ingredients into a food processor and blitz until well combine and sand like in texture.
Pour the mix into a 25cm pie dish and flatten with fingertips on the base and sides of the tin, place in the fridge to set.
To prepare the potato cut into cubes and place into a saucepan filled with water.
On a high heat boil the potato until a skewer inserted into a piece glides in and out easily.
Place the pumpkin with 80ml of milk into the food processor and blitz until pureed, set aside until cooled.
Add the remaining milk, sugar, spices and egg to the potato mix and beat with a hand whisk until well combined.
Pour the potato filling into the prepared base and bake for 70 minutes or until set when touched on top.
Place the pie on a cooling tray to cool.
Meanwhile make the topping by whipping the cream with electric beaters until soft peaks form.
Add the remaining ingredients and beat on low until peaks form.
Once the pie is cold top with the cream and leave in the fridge for 4 hours to fully set before serving.

Sweet Potato Spiced Pie recipe

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Lemon, Thyme and Zucchini Layer Cake

Posted on December 24, 2016 Posted in Cakes .

Lemon, Thyme and Zucchini Layer Cake



I wanted to make a cake based on zucchini, but instead of the obvious and usually paired chocolate flavor with zucchini in cakes I wanted to do something else. As zucchini is a bland flavor by itself I saw this as an opportunity to come up with a unique strong flavor combo that could also be a savory flavor combo as well as sweet. The chosen flavors for this cake are savory but have successfully been turned sweet…being lemon and thyme. With the addition of the sweet glaze lemon and the moreish sweet cream cheese icing this cake is transformed to a tasty satisfying treat that not too naughty.

Ingredients:

Batter:

175g sugar
1 lemon (zest of whole lemon)
1 tbsn dried thyme
175g butter
3 eggs
200g self-rising flour
1 tsn baking powder
255g zucchini, grated

Icing:

100g white chocolate
250g cream cheese
120g vanilla flavored yoghurt
1 lemon (zest of ½ lemon)

Lemon syrup:

1 lemon (sliced into think pieces)
100g sugar
100ml water

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 x 25cm cake tins with baking paper.
Beat the sugar, zest, thyme and butter with an electric whisk for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time beating in between each edition.
Sift the flour and powder through a sieve into the bowl and fold until just combine.
Add the zucchini and fold until just combine.
Pour the mix into the 2 cake tins and place in the oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Leave the cakes aside to cool.
Meanwhile to make the lemon syrup place the lemon slices, sugar and water into a saucepan on a high heat and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the syrup starts to thicken.
Place the lemon slices on baking paper and leave aside to cool.
Cut the cakes horizontally in half.
Using a pastry brush brush the cake tops with the syrup.
To make the icing, melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave until boiling. Add the white chocolate piece and stir until smooth.
Add the cream cheese, yoghurt and essence into the butter mix and using electric beaters whisk until smooth and silky. Place in the fridge to set.
To put the cake together place one cake layer on a plate, top with ¼ icing. Repeat until the last layer is on the cake.
With the remaining icing ice the tops and sides of the cake.
To decorate place the candied lemon piece on the cake and enjoy.

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Honey and Almond Brittle Cake

Posted on December 18, 2016 Posted in Cakes .

Honey and Almond Brittle Cake

Ok so this cake isn’t based on a ground breaking unusual flavor or texture combo, however it is a must to post as it will become your favorite cake as soon as you try it.

After eating peanut brittle I decided that I wanted to make a cake around almond brittle as a twist of the usual peanut treat.

Thinking about something that would go with almond brittle and really make the sweetness and almond flavor standout I opted for honey as a complementary flavor to include through the cake, brittle AND icing.

Ingredients:

140g butter
100g brown sugar
70ml honey
1 tsn almond essence
2 eggs, 1 yolk extra
140g self-rising flour
50g almond meal
1/2 tsn salt
65ml buttermilk

Almond brittle:

95g sugar
80ml water
130g toasted almonds

Icing:

80g butter
100g white chocolate
250g cream cheese
100g vanilla flavored yoghurt
30ml honey

Method:

Heat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, honey and essence until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and yolk one at a time, beating in between each addition.
In a bowl sieve the flour, almond meal and salt, stir to combine.
Add half the flour mixture to the butter mix and beat until just combined.
Add the buttermilk and beat until just combine.
Add the remaining flour mix and beating on low until just combined
Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer in the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool on a cooling rack.
To make the almond brittle chop up the almonds into small pieces.
Place a sheet of baking paper onto a tray.
Place the sugar and water into a pan and heat on high, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Place a candy thermometer into the mix and allow to heat to 125c degrees and it just starts to golden.
Add the almonds and stir to cover.
Pour onto the baking paper to set.
To make the icing, melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave until boiling. Add the white chocolate piece and stir until smooth and silky.
Add the cream cheese, yoghurt and essence into the butter mix and using electric beaters whisk until smooth and silky.
Place the set almond brittle into a food processor on low and blitz until the pieces are small.
Place ¾ of the brittle into the icing and stir to combine, place in the fridge to set.
Cut the cake into 3 even horizontal layers and place the bottom layer onto a plate.
Top the layer with 1/4 of the icing.
Add the 2nd layer and 1/4 of the icing.
Add the 3rd layer and top with icing as well as spread onto the sides of the cake.
Sprinkle with the remaining brittle on top.

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Lemon, Thyme and Zucchini Layer Cake recipe

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Milo Mud Panna Cotta Slice

Posted on December 11, 2016 Posted in Slice .

Milo Mud Panna Cotta Slice

Milo Mud Panna Cotta Slice recipe

If you frequent my site you will be aware that I have baked with quite a few ingredients that you’ll find in any household that’s not traditionally used for baking, Ovaltine and chai powder to name a few. Milo (malt powder) is one that I haven’t experimented with yet, thus I decided to make a Milo based mud cake.

Unfortunately the cake was way too dense and rock solid on the outside, therefore to save it I blitzed the cake up with some cocoa powder and rolled the mix into balls covered with chocolate. However as tasty as the malt balls were they were a bit too boring and not special enough to warrant being placed on the site.

So I went back to the drawing board and tweaked the cake recipe to be stable, while brownie like in texture. As milo is best in combination with milk, to complement the rich Milo brownie I decided to make a ‘milk’ like panna cotta as a second layer to resemble a glass of Milo.

This slice actually tastes like a glass of cold Milo and we all know how super tasty that is.

Ingredients:

Cake:

190g cup butter
140 cup sugar
150g Milo
3 eggs
185ml vanilla yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla essence
230g plain flour
¼ tsn salt

Panna Cotta topping:

400ml cream
40g sugar
2 tsn vanilla essence
2 tsn gelatin

Method:

Preheat the oven to 175 and line a 30cm square slice cake tin with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes.
Add the milo to the sugar mix and beat until combined.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, the yoghurt and then the vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix the flour and the salt until combined.
Slowly add the dry mix to the wet mixture a little at a time, beating in between each addition until a thick creamy batter is formed.
Place the batter in the cake tin, using a spoon to flatten the top and bake for 60 minutes or until the cake is cooked through when you test it with a skewer.
While the cake is cooling you can make the topping by placing 100ml of the cream, vanilla and sugar into a saucepan on a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the gelatin and whisk with a hand whisk until the gelatin is smooth and dissolved into the cream mix and boiling.
Pour the remaining cream into a bowl and pour in the hot mix through a sieve.
Whisk the cream mix with electric beaters until well combine and place thein the fridge for 20 minutes to thicken.
Stir the cream mix and pour over the top of the milo, leaving in the fridge for 3 hours to set.
To serve remove the slice from the tin and slice into bite sized slices.

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Lemon Cranberry and White Chocolate Babka

Posted on December 4, 2016 Posted in Bread .

Lemon Cranberry and White Chocolate Babka

Apart from a little inclusion in my Quinoa Berry Christmas cake recipe I haven’t experimented with cranberries. After my eye catching them in the shop the other day I decided to purchase some and come up with a recipe. For something different I decided I wanted to make a bread with the cranberries.

As cranberries are so sweet I paired this flavour with the zesty taste of lemon and added in white chocolate to produce a marbled flavour effect throughout the bread.

Making the ‘Babka’ bread came about as a fourth attempted in this baking session as the original recipe experiment of a sponge roll log cake was not a success at all. The experiment aim was to make a sweet treat that allowed me to produce a spiral effect and a babka dough would allow for exactly this. Babka is bread that a) is rolled up and b) involves platting the dough together to intensify flavour bursts.

I actually had quite a few versions of this where 2 were serious standouts, this Lemon Cranberry and White Chocolate Babka being one of these.

Ingredients:

Dough

210g flour
25g sugar
4g yeast
1 egg
85g warm water
35g butter, at room temperature

Filling

80g cranberries
100g white chocolate
40g butter
30g icing sugar
3 tsn lemon zest

Method:

Place the flour, sugar and yeast in a bowl and mix until combine.
Whisk the egg and add to the mix with luke warm water.
Using a wooden spoon stir until the mix is combining and resembles a dough.
Flour the bench and place the dough on the flour. Kneed for 5 minutes of until the dough is elastic and smooth.
Place the mix in an oiled bowl and using hands massage the butter into the dough until it is combine and glossy.
Place a towel or plastic wrap over the bowl and leave in a warm place for 2 hours or until the dough triples in size.
Dice up the cranberries.
To make the filling place the butter in a bowl and heat until boiling in the microware.
Add the white chocolate and allow to sit for 1 minute. Stir the white chocolate until the mix is smooth.
Punch down the dough and knead until smooth.
Add the icing sugar to the chocolate mix, lemon zest and the cranberries.
Roll the dough out to 40cm x 20cm shape with a rolling pin.
Spread the filling over the dough evenly.
On one of the short ends brush water with a pastry brush.
Roll up the dough from the small end with no water and finish at the water end (the water will seal the roll).
Place the dough onto the baking tray, cut a slit down the middle longways, almost to the top of the roll.
Plat the 2 halves by crossing them over each other, place the towel or plastic wrap back on top of the bread and leave for 45 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 190c degrees and place the bread in the oven for 25 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.
Cut into slices and serve with a spread of butter, delish!