Sweet Tooth Experiments

Monthly Archives: September 2017

Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes

Posted on Posted in Cupcakes .

 Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes

Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes recipe

This recipe was designed specifically to challenge me. I’m not a fan of parsnip at all, however as I have baked with almost every other root vegetable I decided to really push my taste buds to not only come up with a Parsnip based recipe but a recipe that is super tasty.

I am so surprised at how good this recipe is, who would have though such a tasty cupcake treat could come from one of my least favorite vegetables.

The spice combos with dates, honey, walnuts and orange took a bit of tweaking I won’t lie, but it was well worth the experimenting to get it right!

Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes recipe

 

Ingredients:

Cupcake batter:

  • 180g self-raising flour
  • 1 + ½ tsn baking powder
  • 120g brown sugar
  • 1 + ½ tsn ground ginger
  • 1 + ½ tsn ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsn salt
  • 1/3rd tsn ground nutmeg
  • 1/3rd tsn mixed ground spice
  • 80g dried dates
  • 60g walnuts
  • 180g parsnip
  • 3 tsn orange zest
  • 3 eggs
  • 120g vegetable oil
  • 70ml honey
  • 1 tsn vanilla essence

Frosting:

  • 300g cream cheese, softened
  • 70g butter, softened
  • 1 tsn orange zest
  • 100g icing sugar

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 175c degrees and line a cupcake tin with 12 patty cases.
  2. Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and mixed spice into a bowl and stir until well combined.
  3. Dice the dates and walnuts into small pieces and add to the flour mix, stir.
  4. Grate the parsnip into the flour mix as well as the orange zest, stir until well combined.
  5. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with electric beaters until light and fluffy.
  6. Add the oil, honey and vanilla to the egg mix and beat for 4 minutes, until well combine and bubbly.
  7. Evenly spoon the batter into the patty cases.
  8. Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  9. Leave for cupcakes for 5 minutes before placing on a cooling rack until cold.
  10. Meanwhile make the icing by placing the softened cream cheese, softened butter, orange zest and icing sugar into a bowl.
  11. Using electric beaters whisk until fluffy and well combine.
  12. Place the icing into a piping bag fit with a star noddle and pipe the icing on top of the cupcakes.
  13. Enjoy!

 

Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes recipe

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Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes recipe

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Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes recipe

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Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes recipe

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Churros Chocolate Caramel Cake recipe

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Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes recipe

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Chocolate Ricotta Cheese Pudding with Ricotta Ice-Cream

Posted on Posted in Pudding .

Chocolate Ricotta Cheese Pudding with Ricotta Ice-Cream

Chocolate Ricotta Cheese Pudding with Ricotta Ice-Cream recipe

Recently I needed to make a gluten free pudding for a dinner party, however I didn’t want to use a gluten-free flour as I wanted a really really fluffy texture, almost like a soufflé lightness and from my experience gluten-free flour tends to produce a bit of a denser texture.

Therefore, I ventured into the kitchen and did some experimenting with a range of alternative base ingredients. Surprisingly (almost bizarrely) the ricotta experiment produced the most amazingly light texture that just melts in the mouth.

Keeping with the ricotta theme I completed the dish with my always successful crowd pleasing ricotta ice-cream.

This recipe is super moreish but not too sweet thanks to the dark chocolate and limited sugar in the pudding.

Ingredients:

Ice-cream:

  • 450g ricotta cheese
  • 300ml sweetened condensed milk
  • 3 tsn vanilla extract
  • 450ml thickened cream
  • 60ml vanilla flavored liquor (optional)

Pudding batter:

  • 40ml thickened cream
  • 20ml milk
  • 160g dark chocolate
  • 220g ricotta
  • 15g cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsn coffee granules
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 tsn salt
  • 80g sugar

Sauce:

  • 100g dark chocolate
  • 180ml thickened cream

Extra:

  • 20g butter

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c degrees.
  2. In a food processor blitz the cheese, condensed milk and vanilla until smooth.
  3. Whisk the cheese mix and cream with electric beaters in a bowl until peaks form.
  4. Stir the liquor until well combined and place in a bowl in the freezer to completely set.
  5. To make the pudding place the cream and milk into a bowl and heat in the microwave until steaming.
  6. Add the chocolate in pieces to the milk mix and stir until silky smooth and well combined.
  7. Place the chocolate mix, ricotta, cocoa powder and coffee granules into a food processor and blitz until well combined.
  8. Separate the egg yolks from the whites and add the yolks to the chocolate mix, blitz until smooth and well combine.
  9. Place the egg whites into a bowl along with the salt and beat until soft peaks form.
  10. Add the sugar to the eggwhites and beat for 5 minutes or until the mix is glossy and smooth.
  11. Fold the chocolate mix into the eggwhites until only just combined.
  12. For the sauce, place the cream into a bowl and heat in the microwave until steaming.
  13. Add the chocolate pieces to the cream and stir until silky smooth and well combined.
  14. Add the 20g of extra butter, melted, to a pudding bowl and roll the bowl  around to ensure all slides are covered in butter.
  15. Pour the pudding mix into the bowl and cook in the oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out almost clean.
  16. Spoon the pudding into serving bowls, top with the chocolate sauce and a scoop of the ricotta ice-cream.

 

Masala and Coffee Ice-Cream Cheese Cake recipe

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Chocolate Ricotta Cheese Pudding with Ricotta Ice-Cream recipe

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Chocolate Ricotta Cheese Pudding with Ricotta Ice-Cream recipe

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Dark Chocolate and Lemon Bombe recipe

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Chocolate Ricotta Cheese Pudding with Ricotta Ice-Cream recipe

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Chocolate Ricotta Cheese Pudding with Ricotta Ice-Cream recipe

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Chocolate Ricotta Cheese Pudding with Ricotta Ice-Cream recipe

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Mixed Bag Truffles

Posted on Posted in Truffles .

Mixed Bag Truffles

Mixed Bag Truffles recipe

I do love a good chocolate truffle and after eating some the other day I thought that the truffle base ingredients of chocolate and cream leave open a massive opportunity to play with different flavor combos into the plain chocolate mix.

As truffles are super easy to make and the variety of flavor combos and alternative ingredients to use are endless I went experimenting craziness.

Jelly crystals, oils, essences, lollies, candy, zest, dried fruit, jams, purees, cordial, spreads…basically anything I could think of that would add a unique flavor I tried and tested in a standard truffle recipe.

Out of the many many truffle recipes I made up, 3 were significant standouts. These being Peppermint, Mandarin and Pineapple Coconut flavors.

My easy, quick and super tasty recipes below 🙂

Mixed Bag Truffles recipe

 

Ingredients:

Peppermint Truffles:

  • 1/8 tsn peppermint oil
  • 30ml thickened cream
  • 125g white chocolate

Mandarin Truffles:

  • ½ tsn mandarin zest
  • 30ml thickened cream
  • 125g white chocolate

Tic-Tac Truffles:

  • 34g Tic-tac’s (pineapple coconut flavor)
  • 40ml thickened cream
  • 90g white chocolate

Extra:

  • 35g desiccated coconut
  • 35g orange sprinkles
  • 35g green sprinkles

 

Method:

  1. To make the peppermint truffles place the ingredients into a bowl and heat on medium in the microwave for 90 seconds or until the cream just starts to steam.
  2. Allow mix to sit for 2 minutes then stir until well combined and smooth, place in the fridge to set for 3 hours.
  3. To make the mandarin truffles zest a whole mandarin until you get ½ tsn in volume.
  4. Add the mandarin zest, cream and chocolate into a bowl and heat on medium in the microwave for 90 seconds or until the cream just starts to steam.
  5. Allow mix to sit for 2 minutes then stir until well combined and smooth, place in the fridge to set for 3 hours.
  6. To make the tic-tac truffles, place the box of tic-tacs into a saucepan on medium heat with the cream and using the back of a metal spoon squash and breakup the tic-tacs into the cream.
  7. Stir the tic-tac mix until all the tic-tacs have disintegrated and combine with the cream.
  8. Add the chocolate and stir until the mix is smooth and well combine.
  9. Place the mix into a small bowl and into the fridge for 3 hours to set.
  10. Meanwhile place the desiccated coconut into a bowl, the orange sprinkles into a 2nd bowl and the green sprinkles into a 3rd bowl.
  11. Once the mixes are firm scoop out a 15g piece of peppermint mix, rolling in your palms to create the truffle ball.
  12. Place the truffle ball in the green sprinkle bowl and shake the bowl to coat the ball in sprinkles completely. Place onto a clean plate.
  13. Continue with all the peppermint truffle mix and sprinkles.
  14. Scoop out a 15g piece of the mandarin mix rolling in your palms to create a truffle ball.
  15. Place the truffle ball in the orange sprinkle bowl and shake the bowl to coat the ball in sprinkles completely. Place onto a clean plate.
  16. Continue with all the mandarin truffle mix and sprinkles.
  17. Lastly, scoop out a 15g piece of the tic-tac mix rolling in your palms to create a truffle ball.
  18. Place the truffle ball in the coconut bowl and shake the bowl to coat the ball in coconut completely. Place onto a clean plate.
  19. Continue with all tic-tac truffle mix and coconut.
  20. Place the plates in the fridge until ready to serve by arranging neatly on a plate or as desired. Enjoy!

 

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Mixed Bag Truffles

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Mixed Bag Truffles recipe

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Mixed Bag Truffles recipe

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Mixed Bag Truffles recipe

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Mixed Bag Truffles recipe

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Mixed Bag Truffles recipe

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Mixed Bag Truffles recipe

NOTE: If you don’t have green sprinkles you can blitz icing sugar and green food coloring in a food processor and roll the balls into the mix.

Mixed Bag Truffles recipe

 

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Banana Berry Lemon Ice-Cream Sandwich

Posted on Posted in Biscuits .

Banana Berry Lemon Ice-Cream Sandwich

Banana Berry Lemon Ice-Cream Sandwich recipe

In summer one of my favorite ways to cool down at home is by blitzing frozen berries, bananas and yoghurt to make an ‘ice-cream’ that is made of healthy ingredients as well as being delicious.

One day I decided that I wanted to take this fruit and yoghurt ‘ice-cream’ to the next level and turn it into an ice-cream biscuit sandwich.

For a lift in flavor I added in further complimentary ingredients and played around with different taste combinations until I landed on a combo that is absolutely super moreish and delicious.

To turn this ice-cream into a sandwich I relied on my never fail melting moments biscuit recipe that I tweaked to boost the lemon and berry flavor of the ice-cream. The outcome, so addictive!

 

Ice-cream:

  • 500g bananas (260g peeled)
  • 240g frozen raspberries
  • 100g honey
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 1 tsn strawberry essence

Biscuits:

  • 180g butter
  • ¼ tsn lemon zest
  • ¼ tsn strawberry essence
  • 60g custard powder
  • 60g icing sugar
  • 160g plain flour
  • 1 tsn baking powder
  • Pinch salt

 

Method:

  1. Make the ice-cream by placing all the ingredients into a food processor and blitzing on high until the mix is completely smooth.
  2. Line a slice pan (lamington pan for best results) with plastic wrap, allowing for overlap.
  3. Pour the ice-cream mix in the slice pan and place the pan into the freezer to set for at least 4 hours.
  4. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
  5. Place the butter in a bowl and using electric beaters whisk for 3 minutes or until the butter is light and fluffy.
  6. Add the lemon zest, essence, custard powder and sugar and whisk until well combined.
  7. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the butter mix and whisk until just combined.
  8. Roll the mix into balls of 30g each and place on the trays (8 balls on each tray).
  9. Place a cookie cutter around the balls on the trays and using the back of a spoon press down to the sides of the cookie cutter.
  10. Remove the cookie cutter and repeat with all 16 balls ensuring 5cm between each biscuit.
  11. Place the trays into the oven for 16 minutes or until lightly golden.
  12. Leave biscuits to cool on the trays for a few minutes then transfer onto a cooling rack until cold.
  13. Once the biscuits are cold place in the freezer for later use.
  14. To assemble, pull up the plastic wrap from the slice pan and place on the bench plastic wrap side down.
  15. Dip the cookie cutter into hot water and cut out an ice-cream circle.
  16. Place a biscuit on the bench, top with the ice-cream circle and finish with a second biscuit on top of the ice-cream circle, place completed ice-cream sandwich onto a plate.
  17. Repeat with the remaining ice-cream and biscuits until 8 ice-cream sandwiches are make.
  18. Place the plate into the freezer and freeze for at least 1 hour.
  19. To serve I topped the sandwiches with melted white chocolate and a small piping of royal icing. A dust of icing sugar will be just an nice.

Note: these sandwiches will melt if left out for a long period of time so take them out of the freezer when your ready for dessert.

 

Banana Berry Lemon Ice-Cream Sandwich recipe

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Banana Berry Lemon Ice-Cream Sandwich recipe

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Banana Berry Lemon Ice-Cream Sandwich recipe

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Banana Berry Lemon Ice-Cream Sandwich recipe

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Banana Berry Lemon Ice-Cream Sandwich recipe

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Banana Berry Lemon Ice-Cream Sandwich recipe

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