Sweet Tooth Experiments

Chocolate Chai Ice-Cream Sandwich

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Ella Posted in Ice-cream & Sorbet, Ice-cream cake .

Chocolate Chai Ice-Cream Sandwich

This recipe is like a premium-class version of a maxibon. My favorite ice-cream is definitely the maxibon, the soft biscuit sandwiched with ice-cream side is just amazing!

To give it a prestige makeover I decided on the beautiful flavour mix of chai, ginger and chocolate.

If you make this cake I can guarantee that you will opt for this treat every time over a maxibon!

Ingredients:

Sponge:

4 eggs
150g sugar
50g flour
1 tbsn cocoa powder
1 tsn chia spice powder

Extra:

100g chocolate ripple biscuits
10g chai powder

Ice-Cream:

480ml thickened cream
170g dark chocolate
4 egg yolks
2 eggs
100g sugar
Extra, 70g grated dark chocolate
40g chia spice powder
1 tsn ground ginger

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 30cm x 30cm cake tin with baking paper.
Place all the sponge ingredients in a bowl and using electric beaters on low whisk for 60 seconds.
Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave the sponge in the tin for 10 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack.
Line a 15cm x 25cm cake tin with 2 layers of aluminuim foil allowing for overhang.
Cut two 14cm x 25cm pieces of the sponge and place one piece in the lined cake tin.
Place the biscuits and 10g chai powder in a food processor and blitz until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.
Sprinkle 40g of the chocolate crumbs over the sponge and place in the freezer.
Place 180ml of the cream in a bowl in the microwave and heat until boiling. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth and glossy.
In another bowl with electric beaters whisk the egg yolks and eggs with the sugar until light and creamy.
Slowly pour the cooled chocolate mix into the egg mix while the beaters are going.
Place the mix in the fridge for 30 mins to thicken.
Beat the remaining 300ml cream until peaks form.
Add the extra grated dark chocolate into the cream as well as the chai powder and ground ginger. Fold until combine.
Fold the cream mix into the chocolate egg mix until combine.
Pour the mix into the cake tin on top of the sponge and smooth the top with a spoon.
Place in the freezer for 15 minutes or until almost set.
Sprinkle 40g chocolate crumbs oven the top of the ice-cream.
Place the 2^nd sponge on top of the ice-cream and place back in the freezer for 2 hours or until completely firm.
To serve invert the sandwich onto a platter, remove the aluminium foil and slice thickly.
Sprinkle the remaining chocolate crumbs over the sandwich to serve.

Note:

You can decorate with a dust of cocoa powder on the top.

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Chia Spiced Crispy Slice

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Ella Posted in Slice .

Chia Spiced Crispy Slice

You may have already noticed but I do like the mix of spices that make up chai. I have made amazing chai latte cupcakes and spiced chai cakes (recipe yet to be rleased stay tuned) but have gravitated towards these flavors yet again!

This recipe itself have evolved from a chocolate and chestnut roll cake using marshmallows and rice bubbles to a chocolate and chestnut rice bubble crisp slice to somehow a crispy slice but with chai spices.

To ensure the slice was sturdy I added a white chocolate layer, which actually excelled the chai flavors.

Ingredients:

60g butter
280g vanilla marshmallows
1 tsn vanilla essence
1 tsn ground cardamom
1 tsn ground cinnamon
1 tsn mixed spice
½ tsn ground ginger
¼ tsn ground nutmeg
½ tsn ground cloves
5 cups rice bubbles

Topping:

50g butter
190g white chocolate

Methods:

Line a 20cm x 20cm square slice tin with baking paper.
Place the butter, marshmallows, essence and spices in a bowl and heat in the microwave for 45 seconds or until the marshmallows swell to double size.
With a spoon mix the ingredients until a smooth fluffy paste is made.
Add the rice bubbles to the mix and stir until well combine.
Spoon the mix into the prepared tin and using fingers push the mix down to a solid flat base.
Place the butter in the microwave and heat until bubbling.
Add the white chocolate and leave to melt for 1 minute.
Stir the chocolate mix until smooth and glossy and pour over the top of the rice bubble base.
Place in the fridge for 1 hour to set before cutting.

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Malibu Rice Doughnuts

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Ella Posted in Doughnuts .

Malibu Rice Doughnuts

This little doughnut (though not really a doughnut) is a mix of a few recent baking treats I have played with. I basically took elements of some recipes I have trialed to make a unique, quirky and tasty sweet treat.

Not a fluffy usual doughnut you would eat, more a fritter, though fried and round like a doughnut with a little special something in the middle.

I wanted to take the texture of creamed rice and turn this into a doughnut backed full of a flavour infusion.

Therefore I decided to make a doughnut with rice and infuse the summer time pina-colada flavours such as coconut, rum, a little citrus and of course a big pineapple hit (or surprise in this case).

Thus introducing my Malibu (Pineapple surprise) Rice Doughnuts!

Ingredients:

550g milk
250g rice (arborio or sushi rice)
30g butter
1 tsn vanilla essence
1 lemon
140g plain flour
110g sugar, plus 130g extra
2 eggs
½ tsn bicarbonate of soda
4 tsn rum essence
1 tsn coconut essence
140g can pineapple pieces
Oil for frying

Method:

Bring the milk, rice, butter, vanilla essence and the zest of the lemon to the boil in a saucepan.
Stir the mix over a medium heat until the mix boils.
Turn the heat to low and simmer, covered for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Stir occassionaly.
Remove off the heat and set aside covered for 10 minutes.
Now place the cooked mix in a bowl and set aside to completely cool.
Add the flour, sugar, egg, soda, rum and coconut essence to the rice mix and stir to combine.
Place in the fridge for 3 hours to completely set.
Once the mix is set, with wet hands roll the mix into 30g balls, poke a hole in the middle of the ball and place a piece of pineapple in the middle.
Push the sides of the ball in the hole to seal the pineapple in and roll again with your hands to ensure a ball shape. Repeat with the whole mix. No pineapple should be showing or gaps.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan to 160c degrees.
Place the balls (no more than 6 at a time) in the oil and fry in batches for 3 minutes or until the balls are golden.
Place the cooked balls onto absorbent paper towel on a plate.
place the extra 130g sugar in a bowl and roll the balls to cover the doughnuts completely.
Enjoy!

Notes:

The pineapple piece should not be any bigger than a 5-cent piece.

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Almond Paris Brest

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Ella Posted in France .

Almond Paris Brest

You will notice every now and then I dabble in traditional global sweet treats, where Italy, France and America tend to feature more often than not.

The latest traditional treat I have explored is the Almond Paris Brest. This beautifully elegant pastry treat is a French ring-shaped pastry that is filled with cream patisserie and sprinkled with almonds (or topped with an almond paste) and icing sugar.

The delicacy was created in 1891 by a pastry cook whose patisserie was positioned along the route of the bicycle race from Paris to Brest (hence the name).

This treat is a mix between a Profiterole and a Éclair, with an almond twist.

Elegant, tasty, rich and creamy this treat is satisfaction!

Ingredients:

Choux Pastry:

125g butter
250ml water
150g flour
2 tbsn sugar
4 eggs

Almond Paste:

130g flour
90g butter
70g sugar
40g almond meal

Crème Patisserie:

750ml milk
6 egg yolks
160g sugar
55g corn flour
1 tsn vanilla essence

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 200c degrees and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Draw 14 x 5cm circles on the paper allowing for 2 cm apart.
Melt butter and water in a saucepan on medium heat on the stove. Bring to the boil.
Remove off heat and add the flour and sugar, stirring until a ball is formed.
Return to a low heat and cook for 1 minute.
Place the dough into a bowl and add the eggs one at a time, using a hand whisk, beating until the mix is smooth and glossy.
Place the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm star nozzle.
Pipe a 5cm ring around the drawn circles as a guide.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180c degrees and bake for a further 15 minutes until puffed and slightly golden.
Cut the puffs in half horizontally and place in the oven turned off for 2 minutes to dry out.
In a bowl mix all the almond paste ingredients and once combine kneed for a minute until smooth and pliable.
Place the paste in between 2 sheets of paper and using a rolling pin flatten to 3mm thick.
Cut 5cm rounds out of the paste (I used a 5cm cookie cutter) and place the circles on top of the pastry rings.
Place the rings on the top half of all the pastries and place back in the oven for 8 minutes or until golden, leave aside to cool.
To make the crème patisserie, place the milk into a saucepan on high heat and heat until boiling.
In another bowl add remaining ingredients and whisk with a hand whisk until the egg mix is well combine.
Still whisking, pour the boiling milk into the egg mix until well combine.
Place the mix back on the heat in the saucepan on low heat until boiling and thickened. Set aside to cool.
Once the crème patisseries has cooled place in a piping bag and pipe the mix on all the remaining pastries halves (that do not have the paste).
Once the mix is used up place the pastry top with the almond mix almont side up on the crème.
Dust with icing sugar and serve.

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Coffee Almond and Marsala Cake

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Ella Posted in Cakes .

Coffee Almond and Marsala Cake

I am a massive massive fan of Tiramisu. In fact my mum’s Tiramisu is the best dessert I have ever tasted in my life.

I do like the taste of coffee, however I think it is the mix of coffee and the Marsala that together make the most amazing flavour. Considering I have a big sweet tooth and this is actually not the most sweetest of desserts out there the flavour combo must be brilliant (which of cause the Italian’s have known for centuries).

To take this to the next level and turn it into a sweet treat that’s a little more friendly to eat (let’s face it Tiramisu is not the easiest dessert to plate up and eat without a bowl), I have created a cake with the flavour combo and added in a few complementary additions.

So keeping with the alcoholic trend of this dessert and amplifying the flavour (and inevitability alcohol) I have added in the not so traditional inclusions of Kahlua for extra coffee flavour and Amaretto for an almond flavour (which works like magic with coffee and Marsala).

Coffee Almond and Marsala Cake recipe

Ingredients:

30g coffee beans
5 eggs
175g sugar
110ml Marsala
1 + 1/2 tbsn Kahlua
1 tbsn Amaretto
75g butter
115g almond meal
115g flour

Topping:

200g thickened cream
20g icing sugar
2 tsn Kahlua
1 tsn Amaretto
100g mascapone cheese

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 160c degrees and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
Place the coffee beans on a tray and roast in the oven for 5 minutes until you smell the beans aroma. Place aside.
Place the beans in a food processor and blitz until fine.
Beat the egg yolks and 120g sugar in a bowl with electric beaters until thick and pale.
Stir in the coffee, Marsala, melted butter and almond meal to the yolk mix until smooth.
In another bowl beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar.
Fold the egg whites, Kahlua and Amaretto into the almond mix until just combine.
Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Leave the cake for 5 minutes then place on a cooling rack.
Place the cream and sugar in a bowl and beat with electric beaters until peaks form.
Beat the mascapone cheese until smooth add the Kahlua and Amaretto and beat until combine.
Carefully fold in the mascapone cheese into the whipped cream mixture.
Cut the cake in 3 horizontally, spread 1/3rd of the cream mix in between the 2 layers and the remaining on the top of the cake.

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Marzipan Pear Chocolate and Almond Cake

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Ella Posted in Cakes .

Marzipan Pear Chocolate and Almond Cake

I have never previously baked successfully with marzipan but absolutely love the flavour. Now this ingredient is one that you either love or hate. Its weird as I love the taste of marzipan and almond essence, but find plain almonds bland and boring in taste.

Marzipan and Almond clearly makes sense (as Marzipan is made from almonds). When thinking of a flavour combo I automatically through almonds and chocolate. On top of this, I was still to make up and post a pear recipe that I am actually really happy with, and chocolate and pear are a great flavour marriage.

Therefore I experimented with these 4 ingredients and just like I had expected they all work in harmony together.

A very different but satisfying, moreish cake indeed.

Ingredients:

250g butter
250g marzipan
150g sugar
½ tsn almond essence
6 eggs
450g pear
120g dark chocolate
150g self raising flour
120g almond meal
½ tsn ground cinnamon
½ tsn ground ginger
½ tsn ground cloves

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170c degrees and line a 30cm cake tin with baking paper.
Using electric beaters whisk the butter, marzipan and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the almond essence and beat.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating in between each addition.
Place the flour, almond meal, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in bowl and stir until mixed.
Dice up the pear into small pieces.
Cut up the chocolate into small pieces.
Fold the pear and chocolate through the batter.
Fold the flour mix into the batter until just combined.
Pour the mix into the prepared cake tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Leave in the tin for 5 minutes then place on a cooling tray until cold.

Notes:

I decorated with extra pear slices and and shaved chocolate.

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Spiced Bourbon Marshmallow Slice

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Ella Posted in Slice .

Spiced Bourbon Marshmallow Slice

So I know that bourbon and chocolate go together very well (hello my Bourbon Chocolate Cake with Peanut Bourbon Icing recipe), however I wanted to use up some bourbon by making something different. Chocolate goes with most things as flavour parings tend to enhance and put a spin on the cocoa/cacoa taste. What I wanted to do was make a bourbon recipe that enhanced the bourbon flavour. On top of this as we know I do have a sweet tooth and bourbon is not sweet so I had to somehow also make it super appealing and absolutely tasty for by palate.

My solution to this was to play around with a variation of spices, mixing and matching until I found a set that went extremely well together, had similar flavour properties and also brought out the sweetness in the bourbon.

Sound impossible? See the below recipe and become a lover of bourbon!

Ingredients:

½ cup self raising flour
½ cup plain flour
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ tsn nutmeg
1/8 tsn ground ginger
1 + ½ ground cinnamon
1 + ½ mixed spice
100g butter
1 egg
1 tsn vanilla essence

Marshmallow:

1 tbsn gelatine powder
140g sugar
180ml cup water
4 tsn bourbon

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 20cm x 30cm cake tin with baking paper.
Place the flours, sugar and spices into a bowl and mix.
Melt the butter in a bowl and add the vanilla essence.
Stir the egg into the flour mix, add the butter mix and stir until well combine.
Place the mix into the cake tin and flatten with fingers.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes then set aside to cool.
Make the marshmallow mix by placing the gelatine into half the water and stir to combine the mix.
Place the remaining water, sugar and bourbon into a bowl and whisk with electric beaters for 4 minutes.
Place the gelatine mix in the microwave until warm and syrupy in texture.
Slowly pour the gelatine in a consistent stream while the beaters are on high.
Continue beating for a further 8 minutes or until the mix is light and fluffy.
Pour the mix over the cooled slice base and place in the fridge for 2 hours to set completely.
Cut and enjoy.

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Lemon Avocado Meringue Pies

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Ella Posted in Pies .

Lemon Avocado Meringue Pies

You may notice every now and then I dabble with incorporating avocado in my baking. Is it actually a great substitute for quite a few ingredients, in particular the more naughty baking ingredients. An example of past recipes include; Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart or my healthily Guilt-free chocolate Icing .

Though this recipe does have condensed milk, (which let’s face it it’s exactly healthy – but better than refined sugar) I have used avocado as the lemon tart filling. So instead of the sugar dense lemon curd and/or mountain of sugar in the traditional filling (along with flour and who knows what in mass produced products) you are eating nutritional vitamin rich healthy fats.

As so much lemon juice is used in this recipe you don’t taste the avocado, it literally taste exactly like a lemon tart.

To complete the treat I have whipped up some meringue and placed on the top with just a dash of sugar to keep with the lowish (lower than usual) sugar trend.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

200 plain flour
100 butter
30g sugar

Filling:

1 large avocado (200g)
320ml sweetened condensed milk
100ml lemon juice

Meringue:

2 eggs
2 tsn sugar

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 200c degrees.
Place the pastry ingredients into a food processor and blitz until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add 40g of water and process until the mix resembles dough and comes away at the sides of the bowl.
Knead the dough for a minute then divide into 6 balls of 60g each.
With a rolling pin roll the balls into disk shapes and place into 6 small (3 tbsn capacity) tart cases.
Prick the pastry with a fork a few times on the base and place the tarts in the fridge for 30 minutes.
After 30 mins place some rice or baking weights onto baking paper and add to the center of each tart case to weight down the rise of the pastry base while cooking.
Place the tart shells in the oven for 10 minutes.
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, set aside to cool.
To make the filling place the avocado, condensed milk and lemon juice in a food processor and blitz until silky smooth.
Spoon the mix into the cooled tart cases and place in the fridge for 30 mins to set.
With electric beaters whisk the egg whites on medium until soft peaks form.
Increase speed to high, while beating in the sugar until thick peaks form.
Spoon the meringue on top of the pies and blow torch the meringue until golden brown on top, serve.

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Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Ella Posted in Cakes .

Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake

Chocolate and chai just work wonderfully together. Spices give the carrot a beautiful personality and carrots in chocolate cake produce the most moist and satisfying texture. This being said it makes perfect sense to take these flavours and produce a uniquely flavorsome cake.

One of the challenges I wanted to give myself was to try and pack this cake as full of veggies as possible. I wasn’t aiming for a big carrot flavour, I was more after the nutrients the carrot added to the cake and the texture it created with the grated carrot.

After some experimenting I produced an absolutely lovely cake that has a massive 3 cups of grated carrot! How’s that for a kick start to your veg intake for the day.

As you cannot taste or see the carrot (thanks to the chocolates strong colour and taste), it means you can trick the kids into eating some veg.

Ingredients:

1 + ½ cup self raising flour
45g cocoa powder
3 chai teabags
870g grated carrot
2 eggs
150g brown sugar
100ml vegetable oil
125g dark chocolate, melted

Icing:

250g mascarpone cheese
125g dark chocolate
300g icing sugar

Method:

Pre heat an oven to 175c degrees and line a 25cm cake tin with baking paper.
Place the flour, cocoa powder and contents of the tea bags into a food processor and blitz for 1 minute on high.
Place the carrot into a bowl and stir through the flour mix until all the grated carrot is completely covered.
Place the sugar, oil and melted dark chocolate into a bowl and beat with a hand whisk until well combined.
Pour the chocolate mix into the carrot mix and stir until well combine with no lumps.
Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Place the cake on a cooling rack until cold.
Meanwhile to make the icing place the cheese, melted chocolate and icing sugar into a food processor and blitz until the mix is smooth and fluffy.
Spread the icing on the top and sides of the cake.

Note:

I have decorated with carrot praline on top of the cake.

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Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake recipe

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Miso Doughnuts

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Ella Posted in Doughnuts, Unique .

Miso Doughnuts

Taking some flavor inspiration from Japanese cuisine and mixing it up with one of the most well know treats in the world being America’s Doughnut (assumed to have originated in Manhattan pre-mid 1900s), this recipe will surprise and delight.

I have dabbled in using Japanese stable ingredients in baking recently (black sesame macaroons to some) so I decided that I would make doughnuts but put my spin on them by using the black sesames as the chocolate sprinkles and miso paste with sugar as the doughut glaze.

To enhance the Miso flavor I have modified the doughnut batter to also incorporate the Miso paste.

The outcome was actually a really fluffy and surprisingly delicious doughnut.

I actually took these to work and no one knew they had miso paste and I had great feedback.

Ingredients:

Doughnuts:

180ml milk
1 tbsn dry yeast
60g sugar
300g flour
2-egg yolk
30g butter
1 tsn miso paste

Icing:

30g butter
50ml water
1 tbsn miso paste
290g icing sugar

Extra:

1 tbsn black sesame seeds
Oil

Method:

Place warm milk, 1 tbsn sugar and the yeast in a bowl and stir until the mix is combine.
Leave the milk mix aside to bubble for 20 minutes.
Place the remaining sugar, flour, yolks and the butter softened in a bowl.
Pour in the milk mix and stir until well combine.
Flour the bench and kneed the dough for 10 minutes until elastic and smooth.
Spray a bowl with oil spray and place the dough in covered with cling wrap for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Flour the benchtop again, adding the miso paste to the dough and kneed for 3 minutes.
Using a rolling pin roll the dough out to 1cm and using a 7cm cutter cut out the doughnuts.
Following cut out the holes with a 2cm circle cookie cutter.
Place the doughnuts aside for 30 mins and cover with a tea towel.
Place the sesame seeds in a saucepan and on a medium heat warm through until the seeds are slightly roasted and release their aroma.
Place oil for frying on a saucepan and using a candy thermometer heat the oil on medium until it reaches 175c degrees.
Place the doughnuts in the oil for 30 seconds on each side until golden brown.
Place the cooked doughnuts onto paper town to absorb the excess oil.
For the icing place the water, miso and melted butter into a bowl and stir until combine.
Add the icing sugar and using a hand whisk beat until combine,
Place the doughnuts onto a tray and using a pastry brush ice the top of all the doughnuts until all the icing has been used.
Top with the sesame seeds and enjoy.

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« Previous Page

Unusual sweets and global treats

Chocolate Chai Ice-Cream Sandwich

Chia Spiced Crispy Slice

Malibu Rice Doughnuts

Almond Paris Brest

Coffee Almond and Marsala Cake

Marzipan Pear Chocolate and Almond Cake

Spiced Bourbon Marshmallow Slice

Lemon Avocado Meringue Pies

Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake

Miso Doughnuts

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