August 2014 – Sweet Tooth Experiments

Coconut and Beetroot Tart

Posted on August 25, 2014 Posted in Tarts .

Coconut and Beetroot Tart

If you’re not a big fan of beetroot then I recommend you check out the below posted recipe…If you love beetroot this pie will put you in heaven.

An addictively strong beetroot flavour gem with an after hit of coconut, the interesting mix of flavours and use of one of the sweetest vegetables will surprise and satisfy.

In previous beetroot baking I have mastered what I think is the best version of Beetroot and Chocolate Brownies, however without the strong taste of chocolate this tart lets the beetroot shine!

Ingredients:

Pastry:

220g plain flour
100g butter
55g white sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbsn desiccated coconut
½ tsn vanilla essence

Filling:

420g can of beetroot (you will need 250g drained)
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsn group mixed spice
2 tsn lemon juice
1/2 tsn coconut essence
1 cup coconut cream
4 eggs

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 190c.
Place the flour, butter, sugar, egg yolk, coconut and vanilla in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Now process until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.
If mix is to dry add 1 tbsn on water and process.
Place the mix into a bowl and kneed until combined, shape into a ball and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Roll the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface and place the dough into a tart tray.
Place baking paper on top of the tart and blind bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the paper and beans/rice and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Reduce the oven to 180c.
Place 100ml water, brown sugar and spice in a bowl, mix together then microwave on high for 1 minute or until the mix starts to bubble. Leave aside to cool.
Place the beetroot, juice, essence, coconut cream and sugar syrup into a food processor and process until smooth.
Whisk the 4 eggs until thick and pale.
Add the beetroot mix into the eggs and fold until combine.
Pour the mix into the tart shell and bake for 40 minutes or until the filling is set.

Note:

I have sprinkled a little desiccated coconut on top of the tart for presentation.
You can use coconut milk instead of cream, however it will change the texture creaminess slightly.
Blind baking means the tart will cook but the rice/beans stops the centre of the tart from puffing up, allowing for sufficient space for the filling to sit in.

Ingredients

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Multi-layer citrus cake

Posted on August 18, 2014 Posted in Cakes .

Multi-layer citrus cake

I have absolutely no idea where this recipe came from and what possessed me to go crazy experimenting with variations of citrus fruits in a cake.

I had been investigating to find the best possible buttercake recipe to be able to use as a base for some of my recipe experiments and after finally creating a recipe that I though was amazing I started to think of ingredients I could add.

As mentioned above I don’t know what made me think Citrus, however, I was on a run and came up with the concept of creating heaps of different citrus fruit layers for a cake using only zest and seeing what the taste outcome would be.

I did try many different layers, tangerine, lime, lemon, mandarin, orange, grapefruit and clementines. The outcome orange, lemon, mandarin and lime are the tastiest combination that packs a flavour punch in every bite!

Ingredients:

Cake:

260g butter
2 cups sugar
 4 eggs
1 + ½ cup cake flour
1 + ½ cup plain flour
1 tsn baking powder
½ tsn bicarbonate soda
1 cup milk
1 tsn vanilla essence
1 lime (you will need 2 tsn of zest)
1 mandarin (you will need 2 tsn of zest)
1 lemon (you will need 2 tsn of zest)
1 orange (you will need 2 tsn of zest)
Green, yellow and orange food coloring (optional)

Icing:

270g butter
3 cups icing sugar
1 tbsn milk

Method:

Grease and line 2 x 24cm cake tins and pre-heat the oven to175c.
Using electric beaters, cream butter and sugar for 5 mins until creamy and smooth.
Add eggs one at a time beating between each addition.
Sift in the flours, powder and soda. Add the milk and vanilla beat on slow until just combined (do not over beat).
Divide the batter equally into 4 bowls.
Add the lemon zest and yellow food coloring to one. Lime zest and green coloring to another bowl. Add mandarin zest and orange to another bowl and the orange zest to the last.
Pour 2 bowls batter into 2 tins and bake for 15mins until a skewer inserted come out clean.
Cool in the pan for 5 mins then place on a cooling rack.
Using the same tins pour the last 2 batters into the tins and bake for 15 mins.
Cool in ban for 5 mins then place on a cooling rack.
To make the icing beat the butter, sugar and milk for 10mins until fluffy and creamy.
Once the cakes are cooled place the orange layer onto a plate and spread a layer of icing on top. Add the lemon layer and top with icing. Add the mandarin layer and top with icing then the lime layer. Top with icing and using the remainder of the icing spread around the sides of the cake.

Notes:

I have made my site’s butter cream icing, however just tripled the quality.

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Ingredients

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Pomegranate Orange Ginger and Cardamom Cake

Posted on August 11, 2014 Posted in Cakes .

Pomegranate Orange Ginger and Cardamom Cake

So I have never cooked with Pomegranate before, nor have eaten it from memory. This fruit has been getting lots and lots of exposure lately so I decided that I wanted to make a cake with this ingredient.

It is quite an interesting fruit that I felt would lead to a good challenge for me as I am so unfamiliar with its flavour and texture.

After doing some research on flavours that may work with this fruit I ended up baking 3 very different cakes. These being:

Chocolate and pomegranate
White chocolate, cranberry and pomegranate
Orange, ginger, pomegranate cardamom (and almost cinnamon but thought that was going too far).

The outcome, as much as I wouldn’t have thought this the Pomegranate Orange Ginger and Cardamom Cake was amazing! It tasted like Christmas Cake without the fruit in it. I’m no fan of Christmas cake but this cake it very very tasty indeed!

Ingredients

1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
100g dark brown sugar
110g golden syrup
3 pomegranates
100 grams butter
1 orange
2 tsn ground ginger
½ tsn ground cardamom
3 cups plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, sifted
¾ cup white sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 160C and line a 30cm cake tin with baking paper.
Using electric beaters beat together the buttermilk, eggs, sugar, golden syrup, 2 tbsns pomegranate juice, butter and zest of the orange in a bowl.
Sift in the ginger, cardamom, flour and bicarbonate of soda and beat until just combine.
Pour into the cake tin and bake for 1hour 15 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
Place the remaining pomegranate juice into a pot with the white sugar on the stove and mix to combine, cooking on medium until the syrup starts to slightly thicken.
Pour over the cooling cake until the cake is cool, then you can remove from the tin.
Scatter the pomegranate seeds on top of the the cake and well as a few orange zesting’s.

Notes:

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Lavender and Lemon Cheesecake

Posted on August 4, 2014 Posted in Cakes .

Lavender and Lemon Cheesecake

So for a while now I have been super interested in baking with lavender. I have heard many stories how it’s a tricky ingredient that can be ever so overpowering to the point where it tastes like your eating soap or perfume.

I figured if I baked a cake with lavender I would need another ingredient that also has a strong flavour so they could complement each other.

After doing some research I came across many cake variations featuring lavender and almond, lavender and lemon, lavender fairy cakes, even lavender and blueberry. However these were all cupcakes or cakes…this got me thinking…introducing my Lavender and Lemon Cheesecake

Ingredients:

250g plain sweet biscuits (I used Nice)
150g butter
100g sugar
1 tbsn edible lavender
3 tbsn cornflour
750g cream cheese
2 eggs
100ml double cream
1 lemon (for ¾ of the zest)
4 drops purple food colouring

Method:

Grease and line a 24cm spring-form cake tin and preheat the oven to 180c.
In a food processor process the biscuits until fine. Melt the butter and mix with the biscuits.
Press the mix into the tin and cook for 10 mins or until slightly golden.
Place the base aside to cool and turn the oven up to 200c.
Place the sugar and lavender in the food processor and process until the lavender is fine like the sugar.
Combine the lavender sugar, cornflour and cream cheese in a bowl and beat with an electric beaters until smooth and creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well in between each addition.
Add the cream, zest and food coloring, beat until smooth.
Pour the mix in the tin and with a spoon smooth the top – bake for 40 mins or until the top is brown.
Remove from the oven and let the cake cool. Now place in the fridge for 3 hours to set.

Notes:

I have decorated with a sprinkle of icing sugar.
You can use full fat thickened cream instead of double cream if you cannot find double cream.

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Ingredients

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