Sweet Tooth Experiments

Sweet Potato Spiced Pie

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Ella Posted in Pies .

Sweet Potato Spiced Pie

This recipe was created as I wanted to make a pumpkin pie for a Christmas catch-up dinner, however had limited time to make the pie and had no pumpkin on hand, only sweet potato. Thus a sweet potato pie was created.

After the sweet potato in the pie was deemed a dinner success I decided that I would play around with the ingredients to take the pie from great to scrumptious.

After a few alternations and tweaks the below recipe was formed.

Sweet Potato Spiced Pie recipe

Ingredients:

Base:

250g butternut biscuits
½ tsn ground cinnamon
¼ tsn ground ginger
¼ tsn all spice
100g butter, melted

Filling:

500g sweet potato
420ml milk
100g sugar
1 + ½ tsn ground cinnamon
½ tsn ground ginger
¼ tsn all spice
2 eggs

Topping:

300ml cream
1 tsn vanilla essence
½ tsn ground cinnamon
20g icing sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160c degrees.
Place all the base ingredients into a food processor and blitz until well combine and sand like in texture.
Pour the mix into a 25cm pie dish and flatten with fingertips on the base and sides of the tin, place in the fridge to set.
To prepare the potato cut into cubes and place into a saucepan filled with water.
On a high heat boil the potato until a skewer inserted into a piece glides in and out easily.
Place the pumpkin with 80ml of milk into the food processor and blitz until pureed, set aside until cooled.
Add the remaining milk, sugar, spices and egg to the potato mix and beat with a hand whisk until well combined.
Pour the potato filling into the prepared base and bake for 70 minutes or until set when touched on top.
Place the pie on a cooling tray to cool.
Meanwhile make the topping by whipping the cream with electric beaters until soft peaks form.
Add the remaining ingredients and beat on low until peaks form.
Once the pie is cold top with the cream and leave in the fridge for 4 hours to fully set before serving.

Sweet Potato Spiced Pie recipe

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Lemon, Thyme and Zucchini Layer Cake

Posted on December 24, 2016 by Ella Posted in Cakes .

Lemon, Thyme and Zucchini Layer Cake



I wanted to make a cake based on zucchini, but instead of the obvious and usually paired chocolate flavor with zucchini in cakes I wanted to do something else. As zucchini is a bland flavor by itself I saw this as an opportunity to come up with a unique strong flavor combo that could also be a savory flavor combo as well as sweet. The chosen flavors for this cake are savory but have successfully been turned sweet…being lemon and thyme. With the addition of the sweet glaze lemon and the moreish sweet cream cheese icing this cake is transformed to a tasty satisfying treat that not too naughty.

Ingredients:

Batter:

175g sugar
1 lemon (zest of whole lemon)
1 tbsn dried thyme
175g butter
3 eggs
200g self-rising flour
1 tsn baking powder
255g zucchini, grated

Icing:

100g white chocolate
250g cream cheese
120g vanilla flavored yoghurt
1 lemon (zest of ½ lemon)

Lemon syrup:

1 lemon (sliced into think pieces)
100g sugar
100ml water

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 x 25cm cake tins with baking paper.
Beat the sugar, zest, thyme and butter with an electric whisk for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time beating in between each edition.
Sift the flour and powder through a sieve into the bowl and fold until just combine.
Add the zucchini and fold until just combine.
Pour the mix into the 2 cake tins and place in the oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Leave the cakes aside to cool.
Meanwhile to make the lemon syrup place the lemon slices, sugar and water into a saucepan on a high heat and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the syrup starts to thicken.
Place the lemon slices on baking paper and leave aside to cool.
Cut the cakes horizontally in half.
Using a pastry brush brush the cake tops with the syrup.
To make the icing, melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave until boiling. Add the white chocolate piece and stir until smooth.
Add the cream cheese, yoghurt and essence into the butter mix and using electric beaters whisk until smooth and silky. Place in the fridge to set.
To put the cake together place one cake layer on a plate, top with ¼ icing. Repeat until the last layer is on the cake.
With the remaining icing ice the tops and sides of the cake.
To decorate place the candied lemon piece on the cake and enjoy.

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Honey and Almond Brittle Cake

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Ella Posted in Cakes .

Honey and Almond Brittle Cake

Ok so this cake isn’t based on a ground breaking unusual flavor or texture combo, however it is a must to post as it will become your favorite cake as soon as you try it.

After eating peanut brittle I decided that I wanted to make a cake around almond brittle as a twist of the usual peanut treat.

Thinking about something that would go with almond brittle and really make the sweetness and almond flavor standout I opted for honey as a complementary flavor to include through the cake, brittle AND icing.

Ingredients:

140g butter
100g brown sugar
70ml honey
1 tsn almond essence
2 eggs, 1 yolk extra
140g self-rising flour
50g almond meal
1/2 tsn salt
65ml buttermilk

Almond brittle:

95g sugar
80ml water
130g toasted almonds

Icing:

80g butter
100g white chocolate
250g cream cheese
100g vanilla flavored yoghurt
30ml honey

Method:

Heat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, honey and essence until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and yolk one at a time, beating in between each addition.
In a bowl sieve the flour, almond meal and salt, stir to combine.
Add half the flour mixture to the butter mix and beat until just combined.
Add the buttermilk and beat until just combine.
Add the remaining flour mix and beating on low until just combined
Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer in the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool on a cooling rack.
To make the almond brittle chop up the almonds into small pieces.
Place a sheet of baking paper onto a tray.
Place the sugar and water into a pan and heat on high, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Place a candy thermometer into the mix and allow to heat to 125c degrees and it just starts to golden.
Add the almonds and stir to cover.
Pour onto the baking paper to set.
To make the icing, melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave until boiling. Add the white chocolate piece and stir until smooth and silky.
Add the cream cheese, yoghurt and essence into the butter mix and using electric beaters whisk until smooth and silky.
Place the set almond brittle into a food processor on low and blitz until the pieces are small.
Place ¾ of the brittle into the icing and stir to combine, place in the fridge to set.
Cut the cake into 3 even horizontal layers and place the bottom layer onto a plate.
Top the layer with 1/4 of the icing.
Add the 2nd layer and 1/4 of the icing.
Add the 3rd layer and top with icing as well as spread onto the sides of the cake.
Sprinkle with the remaining brittle on top.

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Lemon, Thyme and Zucchini Layer Cake recipe

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Milo Mud Panna Cotta Slice

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Ella Posted in Slice .

Milo Mud Panna Cotta Slice

Milo Mud Panna Cotta Slice recipe

If you frequent my site you will be aware that I have baked with quite a few ingredients that you’ll find in any household that’s not traditionally used for baking, Ovaltine and chai powder to name a few. Milo (malt powder) is one that I haven’t experimented with yet, thus I decided to make a Milo based mud cake.

Unfortunately the cake was way too dense and rock solid on the outside, therefore to save it I blitzed the cake up with some cocoa powder and rolled the mix into balls covered with chocolate. However as tasty as the malt balls were they were a bit too boring and not special enough to warrant being placed on the site.

So I went back to the drawing board and tweaked the cake recipe to be stable, while brownie like in texture. As milo is best in combination with milk, to complement the rich Milo brownie I decided to make a ‘milk’ like panna cotta as a second layer to resemble a glass of Milo.

This slice actually tastes like a glass of cold Milo and we all know how super tasty that is.

Ingredients:

Cake:

190g cup butter
140 cup sugar
150g Milo
3 eggs
185ml vanilla yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla essence
230g plain flour
¼ tsn salt

Panna Cotta topping:

400ml cream
40g sugar
2 tsn vanilla essence
2 tsn gelatin

Method:

Preheat the oven to 175 and line a 30cm square slice cake tin with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes.
Add the milo to the sugar mix and beat until combined.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, the yoghurt and then the vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix the flour and the salt until combined.
Slowly add the dry mix to the wet mixture a little at a time, beating in between each addition until a thick creamy batter is formed.
Place the batter in the cake tin, using a spoon to flatten the top and bake for 60 minutes or until the cake is cooked through when you test it with a skewer.
While the cake is cooling you can make the topping by placing 100ml of the cream, vanilla and sugar into a saucepan on a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the gelatin and whisk with a hand whisk until the gelatin is smooth and dissolved into the cream mix and boiling.
Pour the remaining cream into a bowl and pour in the hot mix through a sieve.
Whisk the cream mix with electric beaters until well combine and place thein the fridge for 20 minutes to thicken.
Stir the cream mix and pour over the top of the milo, leaving in the fridge for 3 hours to set.
To serve remove the slice from the tin and slice into bite sized slices.

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Lemon Cranberry and White Chocolate Babka

Posted on December 4, 2016 by Ella Posted in Bread .

Lemon Cranberry and White Chocolate Babka

Apart from a little inclusion in my Quinoa Berry Christmas cake recipe I haven’t experimented with cranberries. After my eye catching them in the shop the other day I decided to purchase some and come up with a recipe. For something different I decided I wanted to make a bread with the cranberries.

As cranberries are so sweet I paired this flavour with the zesty taste of lemon and added in white chocolate to produce a marbled flavour effect throughout the bread.

Making the ‘Babka’ bread came about as a fourth attempted in this baking session as the original recipe experiment of a sponge roll log cake was not a success at all. The experiment aim was to make a sweet treat that allowed me to produce a spiral effect and a babka dough would allow for exactly this. Babka is bread that a) is rolled up and b) involves platting the dough together to intensify flavour bursts.

I actually had quite a few versions of this where 2 were serious standouts, this Lemon Cranberry and White Chocolate Babka being one of these.

Ingredients:

Dough

210g flour
25g sugar
4g yeast
1 egg
85g warm water
35g butter, at room temperature

Filling

80g cranberries
100g white chocolate
40g butter
30g icing sugar
3 tsn lemon zest

Method:

Place the flour, sugar and yeast in a bowl and mix until combine.
Whisk the egg and add to the mix with luke warm water.
Using a wooden spoon stir until the mix is combining and resembles a dough.
Flour the bench and place the dough on the flour. Kneed for 5 minutes of until the dough is elastic and smooth.
Place the mix in an oiled bowl and using hands massage the butter into the dough until it is combine and glossy.
Place a towel or plastic wrap over the bowl and leave in a warm place for 2 hours or until the dough triples in size.
Dice up the cranberries.
To make the filling place the butter in a bowl and heat until boiling in the microware.
Add the white chocolate and allow to sit for 1 minute. Stir the white chocolate until the mix is smooth.
Punch down the dough and knead until smooth.
Add the icing sugar to the chocolate mix, lemon zest and the cranberries.
Roll the dough out to 40cm x 20cm shape with a rolling pin.
Spread the filling over the dough evenly.
On one of the short ends brush water with a pastry brush.
Roll up the dough from the small end with no water and finish at the water end (the water will seal the roll).
Place the dough onto the baking tray, cut a slit down the middle longways, almost to the top of the roll.
Plat the 2 halves by crossing them over each other, place the towel or plastic wrap back on top of the bread and leave for 45 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 190c degrees and place the bread in the oven for 25 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.
Cut into slices and serve with a spread of butter, delish!

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Miso Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Ella Posted in Cupcakes .

Tamarin Chocolate Cupcake recipe

This recipe is not the first time I have baked with Miso paste (see my Miso Doughnuts), so it’s safe to say I have previously identified that Miso can actually work quite well on the sweet side of eating.

However, what I haven’t done is paired the miso flavor with another taste that it can work in balance with. After a few pairing combo trials, it was the sturdy and always reliable dark chocolate that came up trumps.

What the miso did was took the chocolate to the next level, placing a beautiful twist on the flavor and turning it into a completely unique palate.

Ingredients:

Cupcake:

160g self-rising flour
½ tsn salt
150g brown sugar
50g cacao powder
2 eggs
1 tsn vanilla essence
½ cup oil
135ml buttermilk
2 tsn miso paste

Icing:

60g cacao powder
240g butter, at room temperature
80g brown sugar
1 tsn miso paste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 12 cupcake patty tin with patty cases.
Sieve the flour, salt, sugar and cacao powder into a bowl and stir to combine.
Place the eggs, vanilla, oil, buttermilk and miso into a bowl and using a hand whisk beat until combine.
Pour the wet mix into the dry bowl and stir until well combined.
Pour the mix evenly into the patty cases.
Bake in the oven for 14 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Place the cupcakes onto a cooling rack until cooled.
Make the icing by placing all ingredients into a bowl and beating with electric beaters for 5 minutes or until light and creamy. Place in the fridge to harden.
To ice the cupcakes place the icing into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe evenly on all cupcakes.
Enjoy!

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Banana Yoghurt Mocha Date Cake

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Ella Posted in Cakes .

Banana Yoghurt Mocha Date Cake recipe

The idea of this cake came from wanting to bake with the flavor combinations of chocolate, banana, coffee and dates. Yes this seems like a very weird combination but it works!

How I came up with this recipe, well we know chocolate and coffee are a dream together. Banana and chocolate are also an obvious paring. The dates were a way of cutting down the sugar amount in the cake, however they also go really well with banana. After playing around with these ingredients and the quantity of each one the final cake recipe came out absolutely delicious. The flavor just works together so well – I even surprised myself with this hit.

Ingredients:

Cake:

230g self-raising flour
40g cocoa powder
110g brown sugar
140g sliced banana (2 large bananas)
1 egg
140g vanilla yoghurt
130g butter
2 tsn coffee granules
90g dates
50g dark chocolate

Icing:

200g thickened cream
20g icing sugar
1 tsn vanilla essence

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 30cm cake tin with baking paper.
Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and sugar into a bowl.
Make a well shape in the center of the dry mix.
Mash the banana until smooth in a bowl.
Add the egg and yoghurt to the banana mix and whisk with a fork until well combine.
Melt the butter and add the coffee granules, stir. Add to the banana mix and stir until combine.
Dice the dates and chocolate into small pieces and add to the dry mix, stir to combine.
Add the wet mix into the center of the dry mix and using a spoon stir until well combine.
Add the dates and chocolate and stir to combine.
Spoon the mix into the tin and flatten the top with the back of a spoon.
Bake the cake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Place the cake on a cooling rack until cold.
Meanwhile whisk the cream, icing sugar and vanilla until peaks form.
Spread over the top and sides of the cake.
Decorate with shavings of chocolate and a few extra chopped dates.


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Banana Yoghurt Mocha Date Cake recipe

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Mandarin Cupcakes

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Ella Posted in Cupcakes .

I’m not really a big fan of mandarins, they are ok but I’d much prefer an orange over mandarins any day. However as this fruit is not common in baking I of course had to create a recipe that not only included this fruit as an ingredient but “heroed” the fruit and had to tasted bloody delicious. For this reason this recipe makes it to my blog – I was super surprised at how amazingly tasty these cupcakes are.

Ingredients:

180g butter
1 cup white sugar
1 tsn vanilla essence
2 mandarins (2 zest and juice)
3 eggs
2 cups self raising four
¾ cup yoghurt

Icing:

250g cream cheese
2 + 1/3 cups icing sugar
1 mandarin (zest for icing and segments for decoration)

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180c degrees and line a 16 hole cupcake pan with patty cases.
Beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla and zest until pale and smooth.
Add the eggs one at a time.
Squeeze the 2 mandarins with a juicer for the juice.
Fold through the flour, yoghurt and juice until the batter is well combined.
Spoon batter into cupcake patties until 2/3 full.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool on cooling tray.
To make the icing beat together ingredients for 5 minutes until smooth and creamy .
Pipe icing on top of the cupcakes and top with half a mandarin segment.

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Sago Bread Spiced Chocolate Pudding Cake

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Ella Posted in Cakes, Pudding .

Sago Bread Spiced Chocolate Pudding Cake

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For a long long time I have been experimenting with Sago but until today all attempts to bake with this ingredient have been fails, really really big fails.

Inspired by my own past breadcrumb based cake I again opted for breadcrumbs to ensure the foundation of the cake was moist and stable.

By using breadcrumbs made from gluten free bread, this cake is easily gluten friendly. By using the dates as a natural sweetener this allowed for a minimal amount of sugar required for the cake.

The cinnamon and chili add complementary flavor layers to the chocolate, pushing it to the next level in taste.

A super easy, low sugar and low fat cake that is perfect to for a dessert or special treat. I was super impressed with how decadent this cake actually tasted.

Ingredients:

30g sago
250ml milk
30ml butter
175g dates
50g brown sugar
70g breadcrumbs
1/4 tsn cinnamon
Pinch chili powder
30g cocoa powder
1 tsn bicarb of soda
1 egg

Extra:

150ml cream

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 175c degrees and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
Place the sago in a bowl with the milk and leave for 4 hours in the fridge.
Place the dates and melted butter in a food processor and blitz until smooth.
Add the sugar, breadcrumbs, cinnamon, chilli powder and cocoa and blitz until well combine.
Place mix into a bowl with the sago milk mix and egg and whisk with a hand whisk until well combined.
Pour the mix into the cake tin.
Place the tin into a roasting tray and add enough boiling water to come halfway up the side of the tray.
Place a piece of aluminum foil on the top of the cake or a glass lid.
Bake in the oven for 60 minutes of unit a skewer inserted in the center comes out almost clean.
Place on a cooling rack until cold.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and drizzle with cream or custard.

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Blueberry Cardamom Sponge Pudding

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Ella Posted in Cakes .

Blueberry Cardamom Sponge Pudding

I have tried time and time again to make an amazing sweet treat with blueberries. As the flavor is quite subtle in a mix of other flavors it can get lost.

So I decided to come up with a recipe that really heroes the blueberry.

This time around I opted for a sponge cake pudding. The sponge cake element would do a great job of soaking up the juice, amplifying the flavor.

Adding cardamom and lemon complimented the blueberry and intensify the soft blueberry flavor.

This recipe definitely celebrates the blueberry and is ever so tasty!

Ingredients:

Sponge:

3 eggs
110g sugar
1 tbsn corn flour
110g self raising flour
1 tsn butter
80g water

Filling:

75g sugar
125g water
800g blueberries
1 tsn lemon zest
1/4 cardamom
2 tsn corn flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 180c degrees and line a 25cm x 30cm cake tin with baking paper.
Beat the eggs in a bowl with electric beaters until thick and creamy.
Add the sugar slowly while beating until the sugar dissolves.
Triple sift the flours into the egg mix and fold until just combine.
Add the butter to the boiling water and stir to combine.
Once the butter mix has cooled pour into the egg mix and fold until just combine.
Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool in the cake tin.
Place the sugar and water into a saucepan on a high heat until boiling, then turn to low.
Add the blueberries and stir until the berries are soft and squishy.
Add the lemon zest and cardamom and stir until combine.
Pour the mix through a sieve and reserve 180ml the syrup separately.
Place the remaining syrup in a bowl with the corn flour and whisk until the mix is smooth and flour incorporated.
Place the flour syrup back in the saucepan with the blueberries and stir on low heat until the syrup thickens.
Line a 5 cup pudding bowl with plastic wrap, ensuring overhang.
Place the pudding tin onto the sponge and cut around the tin the same size as the base. Repeat for the top of the tin.
Place the small circle into the bottom of the tin.
Cut the remaining sponge into strips to cover the sides of the tin.
Pour the berry mix into the cake tin.
Place the larger sponge circle on the top and push down with hands.
Pull the plastic wrap overhanging on the outside of the tin over the top of the cake.
Place a plate with a weight on top of the cake and place in the fridge for 3 hours (or the longer the better).
Turn the pudding out onto a plate, remove the plastic wrap and brush the remaining syrup on the outside and top of the pudding.
Serve with ice-cream.

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« Previous Page

Unusual sweets and global treats

Sweet Potato Spiced Pie

Lemon, Thyme and Zucchini Layer Cake

Honey and Almond Brittle Cake

Milo Mud Panna Cotta Slice

Lemon Cranberry and White Chocolate Babka

Miso Chocolate Cupcakes

Banana Yoghurt Mocha Date Cake

Mandarin Cupcakes

Sago Bread Spiced Chocolate Pudding Cake

Blueberry Cardamom Sponge Pudding

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