Sweet Tooth Experiments

Monthly Archives: March 2017

Pacoca De Amendoim

Posted on Posted in Brazil .

Pacoca De Amendoim recipe

This sweet treat is a Brazilian beauty. A traditional candy (thought in my opinion more a slice than candy), this treat is simple, quick and super tasty.

Pacoca De Amendoim or ‘Pacoca’ is very common to serve during the Festa Junina, an annual Brazilian festival among many other occasions.

With only 5 ingredients this ”candy” can we whipped up in 10 minutes with no need for any baking as the fridge will do the setting for you.

Caramelized peanut aroma in flavor this recipe is a must to make!

 

Ingredients:

  • 130g coconut flour
  • 180g peanuts
  • 1 tsn salt
  • 170g brown sugar
  • 270g sweetened condensed milk

 

Method:

  1. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Place the flour into a saucepan and stir on a medium heat for 5 minutes, pour into a bowl (sounds wrong but makes a huge difference to flavor).
  3. Place the peanuts in the oven under the grill until slightly golden.
  4. Pour the peanuts into the flour bowl and add the the salt and sugar, stir to combine.
  5. Place the peanut mix into a food processor and blitz until well combined.
  6. Add the condensed milk and blitz until the mix balls together.
  7. Press the mix into the tin until flat.
  8. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.
  9. Remove from the tin and cut into squares, enjoy.

 

Note: I have topped with additional chopped peanuts.

 

Pacoca De Amendoim recipe
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Pacoca De Amendoim recipe

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Pacoca De Amendoim recipe
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Chamomile Floral Spice Cake

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Chamomile Floral Cake recipe

Tea is a common flavor enhancer I use in my baking, Jasmine, Early Grey, Melbourne Breakfast and Green have been featured in my past recipes to name a few.

However, chamomile has only been in 1 of my recipes and not as a feature ingredient (check out my amazing Hazelnut Cake with Spiced Syrup recipe) so when I came up with the idea of doing a floral cake this was the perfect opportunity to use the lovely flower as they hero ingredient.

By combining rose, orange blossom, chamomile and lavender I created a beautifully fragrance-kissed cake that by no means taste like soap! The inclusion of spices compliments the chamomile and offsets the floral sweetness.

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 450g honey
  • 2 tsn grated orange zest
  • 1 tsn grated lemon zest
  • 3 chamomile tea bags
  • 450g self-raising flour
  • ½ tsn salt
  • 2 tsn ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsn ground mixed spice
  • ½ tsn ground nutmeg
  • ½ tsn ground ginger
  • 160g brown sugar
  • 180ml cooking oil
  • 1 tsn rosewater essence
  • 1 + 1/2 tsn orange blossom water
  • 4 eggs

Syrup:

  • 25g butter
  • 40g sugar
  • 100ml water

Icing:

  • 500g cream cheese
  • 140g icing sugar
  • 1 tsn grated lemon zest
  • Pinch ground lavender (optional)

Extra:

  • Chamomile dried flowers

 

Method:

  1. Place the honey and zest into a saucepan and stir on a high heat until boiling.
  2. Add the tea bags to the honey mix and stir.
  3. Leave the mix aside for 30 minutes, stirring each few minutes. Remove the tea bags.
  4. Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 x 25cm cake tins with baking paper.
  5. Sift the flour, spices and sugar into a bowl and stir to combine.
  6. Add the oil to the honey mix and stir.
  7. Pour the honey mix into the flour mix and using a hand whisk beat until well combined.
  8. Add the eggs, essence and blossom water and beat with the hand whisk until well combined.
  9. Pour the mix evenly between both cake tins and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  10. Invert the cakes onto a cooling rack until cooled.
  11. Place the icing ingredients into a bowl and using electric beaters whisk for 5 minutes or until fluffy and light.
  12. Cut the cooled cakes in half.
  13. Meanwhile to make the syrup place the butter, water and sugar into a pan and heat on high stirring continuously until the mix is bubbling and slightly thickens.
  14. Take the syrup off the heat and allow to cool slightly.
  15. Using a pastry brush brush the top of 3 cakes on cut side with the syrup leaving the best non cut side layer aside.
  16. Place one cake on a plate and top with ¼ of the icing, repeat with all layers and top with the remaining ¼ icing,
  17. Dirty ice the cake by going around the sides and removing any extra icing.
  18. Top with edible rose pedals and chamomile flowers.

 

Chamomile Floral Cake recipe
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Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake

Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake recipe

This cake is actually a massive fluke. Originally I wanted to make a creamy soda cake and planned to use my Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake recipe and substitute the cola for creamy soda.

After I made this cake I soon realised that the creamy soda taste is so subtitle that it just tastes like a plan vanilla cake. As I was in the baking mood I then decided that this was a flop and I would make a new cake.

I still wanted to do a drink based cake so I took inspiration from the night before – Saturday nights drinks.

A friend was drinking spiced rum with ginger beer – so I thought of still using the coca-cola recipe as the base but replacing the cola with spiced Rum and added ground ginger to the mix. This though was still a little ordinary, therefore to add another layer I made ginger rum banana filling and topped the cake with some chopped dates. I figured the dates could play the same role as raisins do in the ‘rum & raisin’ combo. Additionally banana works well with ginger and rum so if could be a good inclusion.

Outcome – this cake hits the spot!

Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake recipe

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 260g self raising flour
  • 300g brown sugar
  • ¼ tsn salt
  • 1 tsn ground ginger
  • 1 egg
  • 125ml milk
  • 1 tsn vanilla
  • 125g butter
  • 180ml rum

Filling:

  • 300g banana (3 banana’s)
  • 60ml butter
  • 1 tbsn rum
  • 1 tsn ground ginger

Icing:

  • 1 + 1/2 cup icing sugar
  • 150g cream cheese
  • 75g butter
  • 2 tsn rum
  • 1 tsn ground ginger

Extra:

  • 150g dates, diced.

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 23cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Place the flour, sugar, salt and ginger into a bowl and stir until well combined.
  3. Place the egg, milk and vanilla into a bowl and using electric beaters beat until light and fluffy.
  4. Place the butter and rum into a saucepan and heat on low until the butter is melted, take off the heat.
  5. Stir the egg mix into the dry mix until well combined.
  6. Add the rum mix and beat with electric beaters until smooth.
  7. Pour the cake mix into the tin and bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
  8. Place on a cooling rack until cold.
  9. Meanwhile to make the filling mash the bananas until smooth (if lumpy pass through a sieve).
  10. Place the filling ingredients into a saucepan and stir on a medium heat until well combine and the bananas have absorbed the other ingredients. Set aside.
  11. To make the icing place all the ingredients into a bowl and using electric beaters whisk until smooth and creamy, set aside.
  12. Cut the cake in half horizontally and spread the banana mix evenly on the top of one cake layer.
  13. Place the second layer onto the banana mix.
  14. Spread the icing over the top and sides of the cake.
  15. Top with diced dates and serve.
Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake recipe

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Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake recipe

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Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake recipe

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Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake recipe

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Monkey Bread 

Posted on Posted in Bread .

Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread recipe
This recipe actually has quite a few variations online. I too created my own version, utilizing aromas and flavors I know taste like magic together.
This bread is an alternative to a cinnamon scroll, but in my opinion much tastier, simpler and interesting.
The ball method means every mouthful has delicious spices and nuts.

Think brioche bread, beautiful crunch of roasted nuts and swirls of tasty complementary spices.

Ingredients:

Dough:

  • 100ml milk
  • 45g butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 + ½ tsn dried yeast
  • ½ tsn salt
  • 225g bread flour
  • 25g sugar

Bread filling:

  • 80g butter, melted
  • 1 + ½ tsn ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsn ground ginger
  • ½ tsn ground nutmeg
  • 110 brown sugar
  • 150g roasted pecans, chopped

Icing:

  • 25g butter, melted
  • ½ tsn ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsn vanilla essence
  • 50g icing sugar

 

Method:

  1. Place the milk and butter into a bowl and microwave until steaming, stir until combine and butter is melted. Leave aside to cool to room temperature.
  2. Add the milk mix and an egg into your kitchen aid with a dough hook, kneed until combine.
  3. Sift the yeast, flour, salt and sugar into the milk mix and kneed for 10 minutes until silky and elastic.
  4. Spray a bowl with oil spray and transfer the dough into the bowl. Top the bowl with plastic wrap and leave aside the bowl for 90 mins to prove.
  5. Spray a bread load tin with oil spray.
  6. In another bowl place the spices and sugar and then mix until combine.
  7. Melt the 80g butter in a bowl and spoon 15ml into the base of the tin.
  8. Sprinkle melted butter with 1/3rd of the chopped nuts.
  9. Pull pieces of the dough and roll into 2cm sized balls.
  10. Place the remaining 65ml butter into a bowl and add a ball, completely cover ball with butter and remove with a spoon.
  11. Place the sugar mix into a bowl and swish the bowl around until the ball is completely covered in sugar. Repeat with remaining dough.
  12. Place the balls in the cake tin, evenly, covering the tin then add in 1/3rd of the pecans.
  13. Add the remaining balls into a second layer and top with remaining sugar and butter.
  14. Push down careful with hands to ensure no gaps.
  15. Leave the tin aside to prove for 90 minutes with plastic wrap on the top.
  16. Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and place the bread in the oven to cook for 30 minutes or until the bread is golden brown. Leave in the tin to cool.
  17. Once cooled hit the tin on the bench to allow for the bread to fall out inverted onto a plate.
  18. To make the icing beat the ingredients together with a hand whisk until smooth and pour over the top of the bread.
  19. Top with remaining nuts.
  20. To serve you can cut into bread slices or you can pull the balls off.

Note: This bread is amazing with a swipe of butter.

 

Monkey Bread Recipe
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