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Monthly Archives: July 2020

Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake

Posted on July 25, 2020 Posted in Cakes .

Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake

Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake recipe

Pear is such a difficult ingredient to profile in a recipe, not only due to the subtlety of the flavour but also the limited flavour combos that compliments the ingredient (instead of overpowering).

I wanted to make a recipe that would be unique in flavour whist bringing out the pears earthiness. To maximise the flavour, I poached the pears in syrup, used pears pieces in the filling and used the fruit grated in the batter for extra cake depth.

Orange, spices and thyme were used as the flavour combo with the pear and for an extra flavour and custard powder was used in the icing for a twist.

The result –  a very tasty, unique cake recipe.

Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake recipe

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 170g butter
  • 140g caster sugar
  • 300g cake flour
  • 2 tsn dried thyme
  • 1 tbsn orange zest
  • 1 tsn vanilla essence
  • 2 tbsn orange juice
  • 300g pear, grated
  • 6 eggs
  • Pinch, cream of tartar
  • Pinch, salt
  • 40g caster sugar, extra

Syrup:

  • ½ tsn vanilla essence
  • 1 tsn mixed spices
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 pears, peeled

Icing:

  • 215g butter
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 90g custard powder

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 175c degrees and line a 30cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Using electric beaters whisk the sugar and butter for 2 minutes or until light and creamy.
  3. Add the egg yolks to the butter mix, beat.
  4. Add the flour, thyme, zest, essence, juice and pear to the butter mix.
  5. Beat until the mix is creamy and fluffy.
  6. In another bowl beat the eggwhites until soft peaks form.
  7. Add the salt, tartar and extra sugar to the eggwhites and beat until well combine.
  8. Fold a quarter of the eggwhite mix into the batter to loosen the batter up.
  9. Fold the remaining eggwhites into the mix.
  10. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
  11. Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes to cool, then place on a cooling rack until cold.
  12. Meanwhile, place the vanilla, spices, sugar and 1 cup water into a saucepan on medium heat until sugar has dissolved.
  13. Bring to the boil then reduce to a low simmer.
  14. Cut the pears in half vertically and place into the saucepan for 20 minutes, flipping the pears every 5 minutes.
  15. Remove the pears placing on a plate and leave the syrup in the pan to cool.
  16. To make the icing beat the butter, powder and icing sugar with electric beaters until creamy and smooth.
  17. Add the cooled syrup to the icing mix and beat until well combine.
  18. Cut the cooled cake in half horizontally.
  19. Place 1 cake half on a plate and spread with 1/3rd of the icing.
  20. Cut 1 and 1/2 of the pears into slices and place them ontop of the icing on the 1st cake layer.
  21. Place the 2nd cake half on top of the pears then spread the remainder of the icing on the sides and top of the cake.
  22. Top with the remaining pear for decoration and enjoy!
Pink Strawberry Almond Cake with Rosé Frosting

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Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake recipe

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Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake recipe

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Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake recipe

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Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake recipe

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Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake recipe

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Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake recipe

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Tags: custard powder, orange, pear, poached pear, thyme, Thyme Orange and Poached Pear Cake .

Avocado Strawberry Lemon Cake

Posted on July 18, 2020 Posted in Cakes .

Avocado Strawberry Lemon Cake

Avocado Strawberry Lemon Cake

In a previous bake I loved the Avo, strawberry and lemon pairing but not the texture the avocado was doing to the cake…a chewy cake is not ideal! That’s what I found on first attempt of making this cake, but I continued to experiment with an Avo Strawberry and Lemon cake as the flavours were so delightful and tasty. Adding in some butter and downweighing the avo quantity slightly was the solution to getting this cake recipe to perfection.

Delicious filling, addictively scrumptious frosting and now a sturdy and delectable base, this recipe ticks all the boxes.

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 180g caster sugar
  • 180g avocado,
  • 60g butter, softened
  • ½ tsn strawberry essence
  • ½ tsn lemon zest
  • 3 eggs
  • 285g strawberry jam
  • 270g self raising flour

Filling:

  • 90g avocado
  • 90g strawberry jam
  • 30g custard powder

Frosting:

  • 90g strawberry jam
  • 90g butter, softened
  • 150g icing sugar
  • 90g strawberry jam
  • 30g custard powder
  • ½ lemon zest
  • 3 drops pink food colouring

 

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180c degrees and line a 30cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Beat butter, sugar, avocado, essence and zest for 5 minutes or until creamy and pale with electric beaters.
  3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in between each addition.
  4. Puree the jam in a food processor until smooth, leave aside.
  5. Sieve the flour into the butter mix along with the strawberry jam puree. Beat with electric beats until just combined.
  6. Pour the mix into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  7. Wait 5 minutes then invert the cake onto a cake tray to cool completely.
  8. Meanwhile make the filling by beating the ingredients together for 3 minutes.
  9. Next, make the frosting by beating all the ingredients together with electric beaters for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
  10. Cut the top of the cake horizontally to even the surface (if needed) then cut the cake in half horizontally.
  11. Spread the filling between the 2 cake layers.
  12. Spread a light layer of frosting on the sides of the cake and the remaining on the top – enjoy!

 

Avocado Strawberry Lemon Cake

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Avocado Strawberry Lemon Cake

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Avocado Strawberry Lemon Cake

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Avocado Strawberry Lemon Cake

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Avocado Strawberry Lemon Cake

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Tags: avocado, lemon, strawberry, Strawberry Lemon Cake .

Chocolate Peppermint and Orange Cookies

Posted on July 11, 2020 Posted in Biscuits .

Chocolate Peppermint and Orange Cookies

Chocolate Peppermint and Orange Cookies

 

A random but delicious flavour paring, I experimented with chocolate, orange and peppermint cookies recently and as I made the recipe up on the fly I didn’t write down the ingredients or ratios I used. Of course the cookies were absolutely to die for in crunch, texture, taste and satisfaction. Pretty much this recipe took me 5 goes to get the right base cookie dough I was after as well as the right chocolate, orange and peppermint ingredient types (oils, essence, zest, peppermint crisp bars, cocoa, chocolate nibs), then there was the right ratios.

A week of a different recipe each night after work and I finally got to what I think I had in the first place. Lesson learnt – write down recipes when making them up!

 

Ingredients:

  • 100g butter
  • 110g caster sugar
  • 115g brown sugar
  • 1 vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 8 drops peppermint oil
  • 100g dark chocolate pieces
  • 1/2 tsn orange essence
  • 2 tsn orange zest
  • 150g plain flour
  • 1/3 tsn baking powder
  • ½ tsn salt

 

Method:

  1. Pre heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
  2. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla into a bowl and beat with electric beaters for 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy.
  3. Add the egg and beat until well combined.
  4. Add the orange essence, zest and oil, beat until combined.
  5. In a separate bowl place, the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and sieve.
  6. Beat in flour mix with electric beaters for 1 minute on slow.
  7. Use hands to fold in chocolate pieces evenly.
  8. Roll the dough into 20g balls and place onto the tray allowing for 5cm gaps between each biscuit.
  9. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.
  10. Leave the cookies on the tray to cool for 5 minutes then place on a cooling rack.
  11. Dust with icing sugar or drizzle with white chocolate for decoration, enjoy!

Note: I have used peppermint oil not peppermint essence. I find the oil is much stronger and richer in flavour with no artificial aftertaste.

Chocolate Peppermint and Orange Cookies

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Chocolate Peppermint and Orange Cookies

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Chocolate Peppermint and Orange Cookies

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Chocolate Peppermint and Orange Cookies

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Tags: chocolate, Chocolate Peppermint and Orange Cookies, cookies, orange, peppermint .

English Tea Passionfruit and Orange Cookies

Posted on July 5, 2020 Posted in Biscuits .

English Tea Passionfruit and Orange Cookies

English Tea Passionfruit and Orange Cookies

These cookies would have to be one of the best flavour combos I have done for a while.

I was making cookies the other day and divided the base mix into 5 portions to try out 5 different flavour parings where I was going to post the best recipe from the experiment (if any were post-worthy).

I could only think up 4 combos thus left the remaining cookie dough in the fridge to come up with something once I had a think about a pairing. I actually ended up not happy with any of the 4 cookies I had created so gave up on the bake session.

A few days later I saw the cookie dough in the fridge and threw a few ingredients into the mix I had in the pantry.

As I added the tea, orange and passionfruit pulp I started to play with the ratios until I got to a point that I was eating the dough raw as the flavour combo was so delicious. I baked the cookies and though I think the unbaked dough is more addictive, these cookies were simple and absolutely delicious either with a cup of tea or solo as a treat.

Ingredients:

  • 100g butter
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ heaped tsn orange zest
  • 2 tbsn (fresh) passionfruit pulp
  • 1 + ½ tsn loose English tea leaves
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 1/3 tsn baking powder
  • 1/3 tsn salt

 

Method:

  1. Pre heat oven to 180c degrees and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
  2. Place the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat with electric beaters for 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy.
  3. Add the egg and beat until well combined.
  4. Add the zest, pulp and tea and beat until combined.
  5. In a separate bowl place, the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and sieve.
  6. Beat in the flour mix with electric beaters for 1 minute on slow.
  7. Spoon 20g portions of the dough onto the tray, allowing for 5cm gaps between each biscuit.
  8. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.
  9. Leave the cookies on the tray to cool for 5 minutes then place on a cooling rack.
  10. Dust with icing sugar or drizzle with white chocolate for decoration, enjoy!

Tip: As soon as they came out of the oven I used a cookie cutter to cut heart shapes in each cookie (while still soft and pliable).

 

Passionfruit Orange Blossom Vanilla Cake recipe

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Tags: English tea, English Tea Passionfruit and Orange Cookies, orange, passionfruit, tea .

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