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Category Archives: America

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Posted on Posted in America, Cakes .

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

 

We saw cake-pops, marshmallows and salted caramel sweet treat baking trends last year. This year is an interesting one, where one trend really caught my eye and became a must on my list to experiment with – the sweet and salty combo, more specifically salted bacon praline.

Very interesting, sugar and bacon – how gross. However, the sugar and bacon comb delivers sweet and salty, which is the big craze at current.

French toast with maple syrup and bacon is a norm in America on diner breakfast menus that is slowly migrating onto AUS breakfast menus (think brioche bread, mascarpone cheese, bacon and maple syrup – sometimes with poached pears).

So after doing some research (at a few cafes for breakfast of course) I decided to make a choc bacon cake and cupcakes and top it off with maple icing and bacon praline. Don’t knock this until you try it, you can’t taste the bacon in the cake but the sweet-salty taste is quite amazing.

 

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

 

Ingredients:

  • 250g bacon, diced
  • 2 cups of cake flour
  • ¾ cup of cocoa powder
  • 1 + 3/4 cups of white sugar
  • 2 tsn baking powder
  • ¼ tsn salt
  • 1 tsn baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup strong coffee
  • 1 + ½ cups buttermilk
  • ½ butter

Frosting

  • 135g butter
  • 2 cups icing sugar
  • 1 cup rice flour
  • 140g maple syrup
  • Extra, ¼ cup white sugar (optional)

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180c and line a 25cm round cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Place bacon in a frying pan and fry for 10 mins or until crisp and brown.
  3. Place the bacon onto paper towel to drain off excess oil.
  4. Place the bacon in a food processor until fine.
  5. Sift the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a bowl, mix together.
  6. In another bowl whisk by hand the eggs, coffee, buttermilk and butter.
  7. Place the wet mix and ¾ cup bacon into the dry mix bowl and whisk together until just mixed through.
  8. Pour into the cake tin.
  9. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
  10. Cool in tin for 10 minutes then on a baking rack until cool.
  11. To make the icing – cream the butter in a bowl with electric beaters for 10 minutes.
  12. Add the sugar, flour and maple syrup and hand stir until almost combine. Now beat for 5 minutes until fluffy.
  13. Cut the cake into 3 even layers, spread the frosting in between the cake layers, top and sides.

Optional:

  1. To decorate place the left over bacon on some baking paper.
  2. Place the extra sugar in a pan on the stove and stir until sugar starts to dissolve. Once sugar has turned into a syrup pour over the bacon.
  3. Once set place into the food processor until fine pieces have formed then sprinkle over the cake top.

 

Notes:

 

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Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Ingredients

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Step 3

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Step 4

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Step 5

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Step 6

 

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Devil’s Food Cake

Posted on Posted in America, Cakes .

So my all-time favourite dessert in the world is Tiramisu. Coffee, chocolate and Marsala is there a better flavour combo in the world? (I don’t think so)!

This got me thinking about other desserts that hold similar flavours, where I was led to the Devil’s Food Cake. This cake has many variations, some with red food colouring, some with beetroots for the colour, some with coffee, some with chocolate, and some with only cocoa powder for the taste.

After assessing variations I decided on my ingredients mix that would provide the most rich (but not too sweet) result with a lovely dense texture.

To do this I have elected for coca powder and only used chocolate in the icing. I have a good amount of coffee, which complements and amplifies the chocolate taste. Also I have used sour cream for the icing to pull back the sweetness again (as the icing is mostly chocolate).

 

IMG_5026

Devil’s Food Cake

Ingredients

  • 180g butter
  • 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
  • 2 tsn vanilla essence
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups self-raising flour
  • 1/2 cup plain flour
  • 2/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsn bicarbonate of soda
  • 4 tsn (5 if you are a coffee fan) instant espresso coffee powder
  • 5 drops red food colouring
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/3 cup milk

Chocolate ganache

  • 300g dark chocolate
  • 3/4 cup sour cream

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c and line a 23cm round cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Using electric beaters beat the butter, sugar and essence for 5 mins or until it is light and fluffy.
  3. Add in the eggs one at a time and ensure you beat thoroughly between each addition.
  4. Sift in the flours, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda into the sugar mix, stir.
  5. Add 3 tsn of the coffee powder to the water, stir.
  6. Add remaining tsn of coffee powder to the mix as well as the food colouring, water mix and milk.
  7. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Once cooked leave the cake in the tin for 5 mins, then place onto a cooling rack to cool.
  9. To make the chocolate ganache place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium (50%) for 1 minute, and then stir every 30 secs with a spoon until just melted. Following stir in sour cream.
  10. Cut cake into 3 layers. Spread the ganache on top of the 3 layers as well as the side of the cake.

Notes:

  • This cake is super rich with flavour, however I have deliberately have not had it super sweet. The sugar level is lower than most devils food cakes and there is no chocolate in the actual cake only cocoa powder. Additionally instead of cream I have used sour cream again to slightly off set the ganache sweetness. Though I LOVE sweet but I think this cake the flavour needs to dominate. Though it is still very much sweet blisss…
  • If you don’t like coffee you can omit the coffee powder, however it more enhances the chocolate taste not so much had its own flavour. This will then just be a red velvet cake.
  • I added an extra 2 steps to this for decoration. I placed kit kats around the cake which held in place thanks to the ganache. Then I placed M&Ms on top.
  • Deciding against the coffee and red food colouring would mean this is just a dense chocolate cake.

 

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Devils Food Cake

Step 10

Devils Food Cake

My additional step 11 (see notes)

 

 

 

 

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Hummingbird Cake

Posted on Posted in America, Cakes .

Hummingbird Cake recipe

Hummingbird Cake

I actually just realised, I love pineapple but don’t recall EVER making a cake with this ingredient…

Being a fan of making different and traditional recipes I became familiar with an American cake treat – the Hummingbird cake.

There are actually quite a few variations of this cake, some with carrot, some with banana, some with walnuts, some with pecans. However, after doing a little investigating I managed to track down the original recipe that was created by Mrs. L.H. Wiggins of North Carolina in February 1978!

Needless to say I opted for the ingredient mix that she used, however my recipe has key shortcuts and little tweaks to enhance the flavour. Outcome = This cake is sooo tasty. Think banana cake with a hint of a spiced carrot cake twist (thanks to the cinnamon and nuts).

Hummingbird Cake recipe

Ingredients:

  • 440g can of pineapple
  • 180g butter
  • 275g white sugar
  • 1 tsn vanilla essence
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 medium banana
  • 90g desiccated coconut
  • 80g pecans
  • 300g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsn cinnamon

Icing

  • 370g cream cheese
  • 60g butter
  • 150g icing sugar
  • 30ml pineapple syrup (reserved from earlier)

 

Method:

  1. Grease and line a 23cm round cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 180c fan forced.
  3. Drain the can of pineapple reserving the juice for later.
  4. Using a food processor process the pineapple pieces until coarsely chopped.
  5. Process the pecans.
  6. Process the banana until smooth.
  7. Using electric beaters beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating in between each addition.
  8. Stir in the pineapple, banana, coconut and pecans until combined.
  9. Add the flour and cinnamon, stir to combine.
  10. Pour mix into the cake tin, level out with a spoon and bake for 50 minutes or until the skewer in the center comes out clean.
  11. Let the cake stand for 15 mins then transfer onto a cooling rack.
  12. To make the icing add all the ingredients into a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
  13. Using electric beaters beat for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Place in the fridge until cake is cooled.
  14. Cut the cake in half, spread icing in the center, then the remainder of the icing around the outside of the cake.

 

Notes:

  • Decorate with any leftover pecans or you can do what I did which was place white sugar in a pan on the stove until it caramelises. Then using a fork place in the caramel and swirl over the cake in a circular motion until the caramel is used up.
  • You can replace the pecans with walnuts.
  • Or if you wish, you can replace the banana with a grated carrot.

 

Ingredients

Hummingbird Cake recipe

Step 11

Hummingbird Cake recipe

Step 14

Hummingbird Cake recipe

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See the original 1978 recipe at http://www.southernliving.com/food/entertaining/hummingbird-cake.

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Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake


Posted on Posted in America, Cakes .

coca-cola chocolate cake

Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake

Give me a sec to explain before you get scared off this post (you will be thankful).

Ok so I didn’t hit my head and decide to bake a cake with the first 2 ingredients that popped in my head. Believe it or not there are many versions of a ‘Coca-Cola’ cake. And I promise I wouldn’t post a recipe on my site unless the recipe was super awesome.

I also thought that this was taking things a little too far and it would be a disaster waiting to happen. But I promise you that was not the case. The outcome was the most moist and intense chocolate flavoured cake I have had in a while. The cola must intensify the chocolate flavour as only 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder go into this cake and no actual chocolate. Personally I couldn’t taste the Cola, the only remnants of it being there was an ever so slight cola after taste as such (which was surprisingly quite pleasant).

If you didn’t know it wasn’t a plain chocolate mud cake you would be none the wiser. Having said this though I did get feedback from people saying they could taste a little of the cola…each to their own I suppose.

 

Ingredients:

  • 220g plain flour
  • 250g white sugar
  • 1/2 tsn bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/4 tsn salt salt
  • 1 egg
  • 125g milk
  • 1 tsn vanilla essense
  • 125g butter
  • 2 tbsn cocoa powder
  • 190ml Coca-Cola
  • 250g icing sugar
  • 1 tbsn butter
  • 4 tbsn coco-cola
  • 1 tbsn cocoa powder

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c and place in a baking tray. Line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. In a bowl add the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, bicarb soda and salt.
  3. In another bowl beat with electric mixer the egg, milk and vanilla.
  4. In a saucepan on low add the butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola until the butter is melted.
  5. Add the butter mix to the dry bowl, stir until combined. Now add the milk mix to the bowl, beat with electric mixer until smooth.
  6. Pour into cake tin and place onto tray. Bake for 50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.
  7. Let it cool for 10 minutes then place on a cooling rack to cool.
  8. To make the icing melt butter in the microwave. Once melted add  coco-cola and cocoa, stir until smooth, add vanilla.
  9. Stir in the icing sugar until cominbed then beat until thick and glossy. Set aside for 15 mins to cool and thicken.
  10. Spread over cooled cake.

 

Notes:

  • I used gluten free plain all-purpose flour. I think this was a contributor to the cake being so moist and mud cake like.
  • I split the cake in half and spread half the icing in the center of the cake and the rest I pipped on top of the cake.
  • The cake is so rich that I don’t actually believe you need the icing, as an alternative I would serve this with a dollop of cream instead.
  • Only 250g of sugar is in this cake and no chocolate as the cola is quite sweet already, therefore making the cake extra sweet.
  • I used diet Coke when I made this as this is what I had in my cupboard, however if you are a fan of cherries you could use Dr. Pepper or Lemon twist Coca-Cola for example for a little hit of complementary favour fusion with the chocolate.

A helping hand:

coca cola chocolate cake ingredients

The ingredients.

coca cola chocolate cake steps

Step 1. Lining the cake tin.

coca cola chocolate cake steps

The 3 mixes.

coca cola chocolate cake steps

Icing ingredients.

coca cola chocolate cake steps

Step 9. The icing cooled.

Like this recipe? If you love the rich texture ayou may also like my Red Wine Chocolate Cake and my Chocolate Zucchini Cake. Subscribe via RSS or email to get my new entries and more scrumptious recipes with reviews.

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Spiced Pumpkin Pie

Posted on Posted in America, Pies, Traditional .

Pumpkin Pie

Spiced Pumpkin Pie

I have mentioned before that zucchini is one of my favorite veggies, in addition to this though I LOVE pumpkin. This recipe could actually be classified as a traditional cultural recipe as Pumpkin Pie is renown as a sweet treat in America (especially at Halloween).

Similar to zucchini cake there are many many pumpkin pie recipes but this one is my favorite and has great spices incorporated.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of pumpkin that has been cooked then pureed in the food processor
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 + ½ thickened cream
  • 200g brown sugar
  • 2 tsn ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsn ground ginger
  • ½ tsn nutmeg
  • ½ tsn ground cloves
  • ½ tsn all spice
  • 1 28cm sweet short crust pastry shell or store brought sweet crust pastry

Method:

  • If using store brought pastry, roll out on a lightly floured surface then transfer pastry onto a lightly greased 25cm loose bottomed tart pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. If you are using a bought tart shell omit this step.
  • Preheat the oven to 180c.
  • Line the pan with baking paper and fill with rice (this is called blind baking which stops the center of the pastry in the tart rising).
  •  Bake for 10 minutes.
  • Increase the oven temprature to 220c.
  • Place all ingredients (how simple is this) into a food processor and process until smooth.
  • Pour batter into the tart case and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Now reduce the oven to 150c and bake for a further 30 – 40 minutes
  • Cool, then its ready to serve. I suggest serving with a dollop of cream and a good drizzle of maple syrup.

Notes:

  • This is not the most amazing tart in the world as its not as sweet as a choc pie (clearly) but it is very tasty, different and a must if you love different spices (also if you love pumpkin like me).
  • You can make your own pastry by placing 250g plain flour, 110g icing sugar and 110g chilled & cubed butter in the food processor for a few seconds until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add an egg until the mix comes away from the walls of the processor and place in plastic wrap in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then transfer pastry onto a lightly greased 25cm loose bottomed tart pan

 

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