Sweet Tooth Experiments

Monthly Archives: December 2018

Fig Lavender and Honey Mini-Tarts

Posted on Posted in Tarts .

Fig Lavender and Honey Mini-Tarts

Fig Lavender and Honey Mini-Tarts recipe

The taste of this tart is Christmas in a nutshell, but you do need to be a lover of figs that’s for sure!

After playing around with the size, flavours and quantities of a mince-pie alternative tart (I love mince pies apart from the filling aka the main part of a mince pie lol), I ended up happy with little bite sized tarts (almost canapé style).

If you like mince pies but prefer figs over sultanas this is the perfect mince pie replacement Christmas treat for you.

You never know, you may convert yourself to a new Christmas fav, others too!

 

Ingredients:

Pastry:

  • 100g flour
  • 50g butter
  • 25g sugar

Filling:

  • 20g honey
  • ½ tsn ground lavender
  • 225g dried figs
  • ¼ tsn apple cider vinegar
  • ½ tsn orange zest

Decoration:

  • Honey
  • Lavender flowers
  • Orange zest

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200c degrees.
  2. Place the pastry ingredients into a food processor and blitz until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.
  3. Add 25ml of water and process until the mix resembles dough and comes away from the sides of the bowl. If this does not occur and the mix looks too dry add an extra 5ml of water and process again.
  4. Place the dough on a floured bench and knead the dough for a minute. Following divide the dough into 12 balls of 15g each.
  5. With a rolling pin roll the balls into disks and place them into 12 mini (1 + ½ tbsn capacity) tart cases. OR as an alternative grease a small cupcake tin and place the disks in the bottom and sides of the tin cupcake holes (a 24 capacity – 33x22cm sized tin are quite common to have or find).
  6. Prick the pastry with a fork a few times and place the tarts in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile make the filling by placing the lavender into a mortar and pestle and grind until the lavender is too a powder consistency.
  8. Place the figs, 320ml of water, honey, lavender, vinegar and orange zest in a pan on a medium heat.
  9. Boil the mix for 15 minutes; stirring every few minutes until the figs are plumb and the water is to a syrupy sticky consistency.
  10. Place the mix into the food processor and blitz until the figs are at a paste consistency.
  11. Place baking paper in the center of each tart case followed with some rice or baking weights to weight down the rise of the pastry base while cooking.
  12. Place the tart shells in the oven for 10 minutes.
  13. Remove the baking paper and weights and bake in the oven for a further 8 minutes or until the tart shells are slightly golden brown.
  14. Place the fig mix into the tart shells and bake for a further 5 minutes.
  15. Remove the tarts from the oven and once cooled if you wish add a few lavender flowers and a little orange zest for decoration.

 

Fig Lavender and Honey Mini-Tarts recipe

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Fig Lavender and Honey Mini-Tarts recipe

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Fig Lavender and Honey Mini-Tarts recipe

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Fig Lavender and Honey Mini-Tarts recipe

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Berry and Granola Breakfast Cake

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Berry and Granola Breakfast Cake

Berry and Granola Breakfast Cake recipe

I’m a creature of habit when it comes to food. Pretty much every morning I have the same breakfast of blueberries, seeds, granola, yoghurt, nuts and desiccated coconut. Occasionally I may use mixed berries instead of blueberries but this variation doesn’t last long.

Breakfast is probably my favorited meal of the day and my usual breakfast never fails to satisfy me. So it’s not surprising one day whilst having breakfast I got an idea….I would use my fav breakfast ingredients and turn them into a cake.

This cake could have completely been a flop (even with the combination of tasty complementary flavours), however resulted in a super moist bake that was as tasty as I had hoped.

So simple and quick to make, this recipe is literally putting ingredients into a bowl, stirring and placing in the oven – as easy as that!

Berry and Granola Breakfast Cake recipe

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 45g dates
  • 2 tsn chia seeds
  • 100g flour
  • 1 + ½ tsn baking powder
  • 100g granola (mine had oats, nuts, seeds and coconut)
  • 70g sugar
  • 100g butter, at room temperature
  • 2 eggs
  • 80g blueberries

Frosting:

  • 115g butter, at room temperature
  • 80g strawberry jam
  • 35g vanilla yoghurt

Extra:

  • 15g granola (oats, nuts, seeds and coconut)

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Dice up the dates into small pieces and place into a mixing bowl.
  3. Add the chia seeds, flour, baking powder, granola and sugar to the dates. Stir until well combined.
  4. Add the eggs and butter to the date dry mix and whisk with electric beaters for 5 mins until the mix is creamy and fluffy.
  5. Add the blueberries and fold in until combined through the batter.
  6. Pour the mix into the cake tin and sprinkle with the extra granola on top.
  7. Bake the cake in the oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  8. Place the cake on a cooling rack until cold.
  9. Place all the frosting ingredients into a bowl and whisk with electric beaters until light and fluffy.
  10. Cut the cake in half horizontally, placing the bottom layer onto a plate.
  11. Top the bottom cake layer with the icing, then sandwich with the 2nd cake layer.
  12. Enjoy!…YUM!

 

Note:

  • Using your fav store brought granola is prefectly fine (yu dont have to use the same granloa mix as me).
  • I used frozen blueberries but you can use fresh if you prefer.

 

Berry and Granola Breakfast Cake

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Jam Doughnut Cupcakes

Posted on Posted in Cupcakes .

Jam Doughnut Cupcakes

Jam Doughnut Cupcakes recipe

I have made jam doughnuts before, both fried and baked, and though they have turned out delicious they are quite a bit of work…proving…pushing back…rising…hours of waiting…

I wanted to make something that was easy quick and tastiest as close to a jam doughnut as possible.

My solution to this? Hello jam doughnut cupcake. This sweet treat is a mix between doughnut batter and cupcake batter with the traditional jam in the center.

Yes these are baked therefore the texture is different to a usual doughnut but I have kept the butter and sugar cinnamon element alive.

Lastly, true to a cupcake mandatory I have made a jam frosting for extra creaminess and jam emphasis.

Ingredients:

Cupcake:

  • 310g self raising flour
  • 70g plain flour
  • 180g sugar, plus 2 tbsn extra
  • 110ml cooking oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 240ml milk
  • 1 tsn vanilla essence
  • 150g raspberry jam

Icing:

  • 60g butter, plus 40g extra
  • 70g raspberry jam
  • 120g icing sugar
  • 1 tsn cinnamon

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200c degrees and line 18 medium cupcake patties into a medium sized cupcake tin.
  2. Sift the flours and sugar into a bowl and make a well in the center.
  3. In a separate bowl place the oil, eggs, milk and vanilla. Whisk with a hand whisk until well combined.
  4. Pour the oil mix into the flour mix and beat with the hand whisk until well combined.
  5. Spoon half the batter into the 18 cupcake patty cases.
  6. Spoon the 70g of jam evenly into the middle of the cupcake patties on top of the batter.
  7. Spoon the remaining batter on top of the jam, covering the jam completely.
  8. Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 15-18 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean (being mindful of the jam in which should still be of jam consistency).
  9. Place cupcakes onto a cooling rack until cold.
  10. Use a pastry brush to brush the cupcake tops with the 50g of melted butter.
  11. Sprinkle the 2 tbsn of sugar and the 1 tsn of cinnamon into a bowl and stir.
  12. Place the cupcake top side down onto the cinnamon sugar bowl and push to coat the top of the cupcake well.
  13. Place the icing ingredients into a bowl and using electric beaters beat until light and fluffy.
  14. Using a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle pipe the icing onto the cupcakes.
  15. Enjoy!

Jam Doughnut Cupcakes recipe

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Olive Oil and Vanilla Cupcakes with Ricotta Frosting

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Jam Doughnut Cupcakes recipe

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Jam Doughnut Cupcakes recipe

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Jam Doughnut Cupcakes recipe.

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Jam Doughnut Cupcakes recipe

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Alegria

Posted on Posted in Mexican .

Alegria

Alegria recipe

Alegria is a Mexican sweet treat, similar to a muesli bar, however instead of oats as the main ingredient this recipe uses puffed amaranth.

Similar to most traditional countries dishes Alegria has endless versions, with many variations on nuts, dried fruits and seeds.

The traditional version is generally a simple amaranth and honey mix.

For something a little different and to put my spin on the recipe I opted to add in bitter dark chocolate pieces. Additionally, I added my chosen dried fruit and nut combination that works brilliantly with honey. Using salted nuts will add a salty savory offset to the honey, while the sweet fig will complement the bitter chocolate.

Amaranth, itself is an ancient grain, similar to quinoa (a super grain with high protein and is gluten-free). Amaranth is a great source of vitamins and minerals, it keeps you regular and is said to lower bad cholesterol. Based on this, how could you not want to eat this ‘muesli bar’ alternative that has no processed sugar and is packed full of body loving nutrition.

Amaranth is fast becoming a health isle stable, where I was able to buy the puffed amarath (and grain amaranth) at my local supermarket.

Ingredients:

  • 70g dried figs
  • 80g lightly salted almonds
  • 125g 85% cocoa dark chocolate
  • 100g popped/puffed amaranth
  • 185g honey
  • ¼ tsn salt

Method:

  1. Dice the figs, almonds and chocolate into very small pieces and place in a bowl.
  2. Add the amaranth to the fig mix and stir until well combined.
  3. Place the honey into a saucepan on a medium heat and cook for 4 minutes or until the honey is about to caramelize.
  4. Take the honey off the heat and stir through the salt.
  5. Pour the honey over the amaranth mix and stir until the mix is well combine and the honey is evenly covering all the mix.
  6. Line a 20cm x 20cm slice tin with baking paper.
  7. Spoon the mix into the slice tin and flatten the top until completely level.
  8. Place the slice in the fridge for 30 mins minumum to set.
  9. Remove the slice from the tin and cut into bars, enjoy!
Alegria recipe
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Alegria recipe

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Chocolate and Orange Marmalade Sponge

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Chocolate and Orange Marmalade Sponge

Chocolate and Orange Marmalade Sponge recipe

For a long time now (around 18 months) I have been attempting to make the ultimate amazing ‘Jaffa inspired’ treat.

I have gone through choc-orange flavoured mousse , focaccia, truffle balls, biscuits, mud-cake, pastries, flan…and the list goes on…Though some of these experimental sessions produced bakes that were not actually bad they were not absolutely amazing either, thus not good enough to post.

This sponge cake recipe was not part of the choc-orange original baking experimental sessions, I actually came up with this recipe a few months later as I wanted to turn my favorite (never fail) sponge recipe into a chocolate sponge to see if it would work (you don’t come across a good chocolate sponge very often so I thought I would challenge this).

When I made the sponge and was happy with the outcome I started thinking about some jam fillings that are a bit unusual (not the normal raspberry or strawberry jam options we typically see). As I had some marmalade left over from the choc-orange experiments I ended up opting for this. Once I spread the layers of jam with cream and sandwiched the cake layers together I was left with either a massive fail or new sponge recipe.

Next step was to drizzle with chocolate sauce, cut and devour. I must say the devouring part was not a difficult task at all.

Finally chocolate orange flavor combo success!

Ingredients:

Sponge:

  • 2 tsn plain flour
  • ½ tsn bi carbonate of soda
  • 1 tsn cream of tartar
  • 100g corn flour
  • 30g cocoa powder
  • 4 eggs
  • 165g sugar
  • ½ tsn vanilla essence

Filling:

  • 300g thickened cream
  • 2 tsn icing sugar
  • ½ tsn vanilla essence
  • 270g orange marmalade

Ganache:

  • 100g dark chocolate, broken up
  • 40g thickened cream

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 190c degrees and line 3 x 20cm cake tins with baking paper.
  2. Place the plain flour, bi carbonate or soda, cream of tartar, corn flour and cocoa powder into a bowl and sift 3 times.
  3. Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and using electric beaters whisk for 10 minutes on high speed.
  4. Add the vanilla essence to the egg mix and beat for 1 more minute
  5. Turn the beaters on low speed and add the flour mix, beating for 1 minute.
  6. Spoon the mix evenly into the 3 cake tins and bake each cake for 20-25 minutes or until the sponges spring back when touched on the top.
  7. Remove the tins from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes, cakes still in the tin.
  8. Turn the cakes onto a cooling rack and leave until cold.
  9. To make the filling whisk the cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence with electric beaters until peaks form.
  10. To assemble place one cake layer on a plate and spoon the jam evenly onto this cake as well as a second cake.
  11. Spoon the cream evenly on the top of the jam of both cakes.
  12. Place the second filled cake onto the plated cake (cream side up) and top the cake off with the third/remaining (non-filled) cake layer.
  13. To make the ganache, place the cream in a bowl and microwave until boiling.
  14. Add the chocolate to the cream and leave for 1 minute.
  15. Stir the chocolate and cream until glossy and thick.
  16. Drizzle the chocolate ganache over the top of the cake.

 

Notes:

  • I dusted the top cake layer with icing sugar and cocoa powder before I drizzled the ganache for extra decoration.

 

Chocolate and Orange Marmalade Sponge recipe

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