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Orange Lemon and Chocolate Cannoli Tart

Posted on Posted in Tarts .

Orange Lemon and Chocolate Cannoli Tart

Orange Lemon and Chocolate Cannoli Tart

I have this absolutely awesome Cannoli recipe where I usually cheat and buy the Cannoli shells from my Italian grocery down the road. I buy the shells as I’m not a fan of deep frying food and to be honest try to opt for the more healthier versions of sweets if I can.

Now, my Italian grocery has recently been taken over and I don’t like my chances of being able to get my hands on the usual traditional Italian products I have in the past. So I had a though…What would happen if I tried to make my awesome Cannoli’s in a tart instead of the fried shells?

Sweet pastry is quite simple to make (especially if you have a food processor) therefore by turning my Cannoli’s into a tart I won’t have to deep fry or make my own shells.

The outcome – This by far would have to be one of the best sweets I have made in a long time. The only difference from my Cannoli recipe is I added an egg and baked this version and OMG I had people telling me how much they adored my tart that had never commented on my baking before.

Orange Lemon and Chocolate Cannoli Tart recipe

Ingredients:

Pastry

  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ tsn salt
  • 2 tsn cocoa powder
  • 100g butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbns milk

Filling

  • 375g ricotta
  • 165g icing sugar
  • 1 egg
  • I lemon
  • 1 orange
  • 100g 70% cocoa dark chocolate

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 175c and spray a tart tin with oil.
  2. Place the flour, sugar, salt and cocoa powder into a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
  3. Dice the butter into small pieces and process until combined.
  4. Add the egg and milk and process until combined.
  5. Wash hands and turn dough out into a ball onto baking paper.
  6. Using a rolling pin roll the dough into a circle shape and place into the tart tin and place tin into the fridge for 20 mins.
  7. Place the ricotta, egg and icing sugar into a bowl.
  8. Grate the chocolate, orange zest and lemon zest into the bowl.
  9. Stir until all ingredients are combined well.
  10. Spoon the mix into the tart tin and smooth the top.
  11. Place into the oven and cook for 25 mins or until the party is browned and the filling has puffed up a bit.
  12. Once cooked let the tart cook before removing from tin.

 

Notes:

  • If you don’t have a food processor combine flour, sugar, salt, cocoa ponder and diced butter in a bowl. Rub butter with dry ingredients until it resembles breadcrumbs. With your hands mix in the egg and milk until the dough is formed.

Orange Lemon and Chocolate Cannoli Tart recipe

Ingredients

Orange Lemon and Chocolate Cannoli Tart

Step 5

Orange Lemon and Chocolate Cannoli Tart recipe

Step 6

Orange Lemon and Chocolate Cannoli Tart recipe

Step 9

Orange Lemon and Chocolate Cannoli Tart recipe

Step 10

 

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Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Posted on Posted in America, Cakes .

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

 

We saw cake-pops, marshmallows and salted caramel sweet treat baking trends last year. This year is an interesting one, where one trend really caught my eye and became a must on my list to experiment with – the sweet and salty combo, more specifically salted bacon praline.

Very interesting, sugar and bacon – how gross. However, the sugar and bacon comb delivers sweet and salty, which is the big craze at current.

French toast with maple syrup and bacon is a norm in America on diner breakfast menus that is slowly migrating onto AUS breakfast menus (think brioche bread, mascarpone cheese, bacon and maple syrup – sometimes with poached pears).

So after doing some research (at a few cafes for breakfast of course) I decided to make a choc bacon cake and cupcakes and top it off with maple icing and bacon praline. Don’t knock this until you try it, you can’t taste the bacon in the cake but the sweet-salty taste is quite amazing.

 

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

 

Ingredients:

  • 250g bacon, diced
  • 2 cups of cake flour
  • ¾ cup of cocoa powder
  • 1 + 3/4 cups of white sugar
  • 2 tsn baking powder
  • ¼ tsn salt
  • 1 tsn baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup strong coffee
  • 1 + ½ cups buttermilk
  • ½ butter

Frosting

  • 135g butter
  • 2 cups icing sugar
  • 1 cup rice flour
  • 140g maple syrup
  • Extra, ¼ cup white sugar (optional)

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180c and line a 25cm round cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Place bacon in a frying pan and fry for 10 mins or until crisp and brown.
  3. Place the bacon onto paper towel to drain off excess oil.
  4. Place the bacon in a food processor until fine.
  5. Sift the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a bowl, mix together.
  6. In another bowl whisk by hand the eggs, coffee, buttermilk and butter.
  7. Place the wet mix and ¾ cup bacon into the dry mix bowl and whisk together until just mixed through.
  8. Pour into the cake tin.
  9. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
  10. Cool in tin for 10 minutes then on a baking rack until cool.
  11. To make the icing – cream the butter in a bowl with electric beaters for 10 minutes.
  12. Add the sugar, flour and maple syrup and hand stir until almost combine. Now beat for 5 minutes until fluffy.
  13. Cut the cake into 3 even layers, spread the frosting in between the cake layers, top and sides.

Optional:

  1. To decorate place the left over bacon on some baking paper.
  2. Place the extra sugar in a pan on the stove and stir until sugar starts to dissolve. Once sugar has turned into a syrup pour over the bacon.
  3. Once set place into the food processor until fine pieces have formed then sprinkle over the cake top.

 

Notes:

 

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Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Ingredients

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Step 3

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Step 4

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Step 5

Chocolate Bacon Cake with Maple Frosting

Step 6

 

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Devil’s Food Cake

Posted on Posted in America, Cakes .

So my all-time favourite dessert in the world is Tiramisu. Coffee, chocolate and Marsala is there a better flavour combo in the world? (I don’t think so)!

This got me thinking about other desserts that hold similar flavours, where I was led to the Devil’s Food Cake. This cake has many variations, some with red food colouring, some with beetroots for the colour, some with coffee, some with chocolate, and some with only cocoa powder for the taste.

After assessing variations I decided on my ingredients mix that would provide the most rich (but not too sweet) result with a lovely dense texture.

To do this I have elected for coca powder and only used chocolate in the icing. I have a good amount of coffee, which complements and amplifies the chocolate taste. Also I have used sour cream for the icing to pull back the sweetness again (as the icing is mostly chocolate).

 

IMG_5026

Devil’s Food Cake

Ingredients

  • 180g butter
  • 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
  • 2 tsn vanilla essence
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups self-raising flour
  • 1/2 cup plain flour
  • 2/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsn bicarbonate of soda
  • 4 tsn (5 if you are a coffee fan) instant espresso coffee powder
  • 5 drops red food colouring
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/3 cup milk

Chocolate ganache

  • 300g dark chocolate
  • 3/4 cup sour cream

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c and line a 23cm round cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Using electric beaters beat the butter, sugar and essence for 5 mins or until it is light and fluffy.
  3. Add in the eggs one at a time and ensure you beat thoroughly between each addition.
  4. Sift in the flours, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda into the sugar mix, stir.
  5. Add 3 tsn of the coffee powder to the water, stir.
  6. Add remaining tsn of coffee powder to the mix as well as the food colouring, water mix and milk.
  7. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Once cooked leave the cake in the tin for 5 mins, then place onto a cooling rack to cool.
  9. To make the chocolate ganache place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium (50%) for 1 minute, and then stir every 30 secs with a spoon until just melted. Following stir in sour cream.
  10. Cut cake into 3 layers. Spread the ganache on top of the 3 layers as well as the side of the cake.

Notes:

  • This cake is super rich with flavour, however I have deliberately have not had it super sweet. The sugar level is lower than most devils food cakes and there is no chocolate in the actual cake only cocoa powder. Additionally instead of cream I have used sour cream again to slightly off set the ganache sweetness. Though I LOVE sweet but I think this cake the flavour needs to dominate. Though it is still very much sweet blisss…
  • If you don’t like coffee you can omit the coffee powder, however it more enhances the chocolate taste not so much had its own flavour. This will then just be a red velvet cake.
  • I added an extra 2 steps to this for decoration. I placed kit kats around the cake which held in place thanks to the ganache. Then I placed M&Ms on top.
  • Deciding against the coffee and red food colouring would mean this is just a dense chocolate cake.

 

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Devils Food Cake

Step 10

Devils Food Cake

My additional step 11 (see notes)

 

 

 

 

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Strawberry Cake Biscuits

Posted on Posted in Biscuits .

strawberry cake biscuits

Strawberry Cake Biscuits

I don’t tend to make many biscuits, I more skew to cakes and slices. Biscuits (or cookies if you’re from the states where some of my lovely readers are) tend to be either chocolate, chocolate chip or chocolate with nuts. You don’t get many biscuit variations like slices and cakes (when was the last time you ate a strawberry biscuit or orange and poppy seed?)!

Still on topic but to give you some context to this recipe, I was at the supermarket the other day and noticed a whole massive section to cake mixes, cupcakes and muffins but only 2 types of biscuit packs – chocolate and choc chip.

People must want to try other flavours…or maybe they just don’t sell..guess I will never know.

However, this got me thinking, what happens if I buy one of the more unique cake mixes and turn it into biscuits instead?

I don’t recall the last time I ever used a pack mix for baking but this could be a very interesting experiment indeed.

That brought on the Strawberry Cake Biscuit recipe.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 (500g approx.) cake packet mix – I used Betty Crocker Strawberry
  • 1 tsn baking power
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • ½ tsn vanilla extract
  • 1 cup of small white chocolate chips (optional)

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 175c and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
  2. Mix together the cake mix and the baking powder.
  3. Whisk by hand the eggs, butter, and vanilla extract.
  4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until the dough is formed.
  5. Mix in the choc chips if you are opting for this ingredient.
  6. Using hands with a little oil/butter roll the dough into balls about 30g in size (this is about the size of a 50c piece). Place on the baking paper.
  7. Bake for 10 minutes or until they are almost (but not) about to get slightly brown.
  8. Wait a few minutes and transfer onto a baking rack to cool. Once on the rack slightly push them down with a spatula if they have risen a lot in the center.

 

 

Notes:

  • You can use any cake mix. I almost went for the white chocolate and raspberry swirl.
  • This is a bit of a cheat recipe but it is just so simple and you can make biscuits you have never even tasted before!
  • They take a whole of 20 minutes to make and bake!
  • The biscuits are quite sweet so it wouldn’t hurt to make them smaller than I have recommended if you don’t like things too sweet.
  • The mix I bought came with an icing mix, if yours does too you can make the icing and use it to make a biscuit sandwich (similar to a melting moment type biscuits).

 

Strawberry Cake Biscuits

The ingredients

strawberry cake biscuits

Step 4

 

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White Chocolate Icing

Posted on Posted in Icing .

This may just seem like another icing recipe but I guarantee you if you try this icing it will be one of the most amazing icings you have ever tasted!

Once you try this icing you will never make another white cholocate or butter cream icing again!

 

white chocolate icing

White Chocolate Icing

 

Ingredients:

  • 3 egg whites
  • 160g white sugar
  • 300g butter at room temp, chopped.
  • 180g white chocolate, melted.

 

Method:

  1. Stir egg whites and sugar in a bowl over a pan of half filled simmering water for 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves.
  2. Whisk with electric beaters until soft peaks form and the mix has cooled down slightly.
  3. Add the butter one piece at a time, beating in between each piece until the mix has become thick and creamy.
  4. Now beat in the melted chocolate until glossy.
  5. Refrigerate for 20 minutes then pipe away.

 

Notes:

This recipe makes enough icing to cover a 21cm cake or 24 medium sized cupcakes.

 

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Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

Posted on Posted in Slice .

 

Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

 Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

Caramel slice has been a favorite slice for many for years. Nut caramel bars of late are also quite popular. As both of these sweet treats involve caramel with either biscuit, nuts and chocolate layers I figured combining them together would work quite well. I have made similar recipes to this in the past, however this is by far the most tastiest caramel slice, where the nuts actually bring in a great neutralizer to the sweetness of the caramel.

Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup desiccated coconut
  • 1 cup SR flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 125g melted butter
  • 395g can condensed milk
  • 2 tbs golden syrup
  • ½ cup cream
  • 15g butter, extra
  • 2/3 cup chopped mixed nuts
  • ¾ cup milk chocolate
  • 15g cream, extra

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180c. Grease and line a 28cm x 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Combine the coconut, flour, sugar and butter in a bowl. Mix together then press into the tray until flat and smooth.
  3. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, cool in tin.
  4. Combine the milk, syrup, cream and butter in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 8 minutes stirring constantly until darker and thick.
  5. Pour the caramel over the base, sprinkle with the chopped nuts and place back in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden. Allow the slice to cool in the tin.
  6. Place the cream and the chocolate in a microwave on low stirring every 20 seconds with a metal spoon until chocolate is smooth and creamy.
  7. Drizzle the chocolate over the slice, let it set and slice away.

 

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Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

Step 2

Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

Step 5

 

 

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Popcorn Slice

Posted on Posted in Slice .

popcorn slice

Popcorn Slice

This recipe doesn’t feature any usual ingredients (apart from baking with popcorn, which is a little off-center). However the texture of this slice is very interesting and we all know that you can’t go wrong with chocolate and caramel.

 

Ingredients:

  • 250g butternut snap biscuits
  • 175g butter
  • 395 sweetened condensed milk
  • 40g salted popcorn
  • ½ cup desiccated coconut
  • 185g milk chocolate

 

Method:

  1. Line a 25cm square baking tin with baking paper.
  2. Process the biscuits and 125g melted butter until combined. Press the mix into the cake tin and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  3. Combine the condensed milk and 30g butter in a pan on the stove stirring over a medium heat for 10 minutes until the mix turns to caramel.
  4. Take off the heat and add in the popcorn and coconut stirring quickly.
  5. Transfer the mix into the cake tin and press with wet hands to flatten.
  6. Melt the chocolate with 20g butter until you have a smooth consistency then pour over the popcorn layer.
  7. Place back in the fridge for 30 minutes, cut and serve.

 

Notes:

  • For a more intense chocolate flavor you can use chocolate biscuits instead of butternut snap biscuits.
  • This recipe does not involve an oven only a fridge to set.

 

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Beetroot and Chocolate Brownies

Posted on Posted in Brownies .

beetroot and chocolate brownie recipe

Beetroot and Chocolate Brownies

Beetroot…this vegetable is one of the sweetest veggies around, making it perfect to incorporate into baking. I have tried many beetroot recipes from cakes to tarts and have never been happy with the end result.

I think this beetroot recipe is my 5th attempt at baking with the ingredient and finally I’m onto a winner!

Ingredients

  • 500g beetroot (almost a whole 825g can that has been drained).
  • 175g butter, chopped
  • 255g brown sugar
  • 200g dark chocolate
  • 3 eggs
  • 100g plain flour
  • 35g cocoa powder
  • ¼ tsn ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsn ground nutmeg
  • 90g walnuts, coarsely chopped

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c and place baking paper in a 25 cm square cake tin.
  2. Process beetroot in a food processor until finely chopped, following do the same with the walnuts.
  3. Place the beetroot, sugar, butter and chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat until all ingredients are melted and the mix is smooth.
  4. Place mix in a bowl and whisk in the eggs with a hand held whisk.
  5. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and sift over the beetroot mix, whisk with a hand held whisk to combine.
  6. Stir in the walnuts.
  7. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 45 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  8. Let the brownie cool in the tin then place in the fridge for 30mins (this will ensure it is set), cut.

 

Notes:

  • Remember this is a dense brownie so it will look a little under cooked and not set. When you take it out of the fridge it will have the most amazing texture. It will melt in your mouth but will not be gooey.
  • I’m not really a fan of walnuts, however added some in for texture purposes. It makes no difference to the taste to go without them.
  • This brownie tastes like a rich chocolate brownie, however has a little zing from the beetroot as an after taste.
  • I had people who don’t like beetroot telling me they loved this and someone who doesn’t like chocolate cake telling me they enjoyed this.

beetroot and chocolate brownie recipe

Step 1

beetroot and chocolate brownie recipe

Step 2

beetroot and chocolate brownie recipe

Step 6

beetroot and chocolate brownie recipe

Step 8

beetroot and chocolate brownie recipe

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Chilli Chocolate Cookies

Posted on Posted in Biscuits .

Chilli Chocolate Cookie recipe

Chilli Chocolate Cookies

So I have had these cookies on my radar from quite a while. I love chocolate and do like some chilli in my cooking and have notice how Lindt and Cadbury have come out with their chocolate chilli sku’s so I thought I must give these a go already.

I shouldn’t be surprised that the flavours did in fact work perfectly together and I think the touch of cinnamon is quite complementary to the flavour combo.

These cookies are crunchie and soft in the center with a chocolate taste and a burst of chilli that hits after.

 

Ingredients:

  • 120g butter
  • 120g dark chocolate
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsn vanilla essence
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 white white sugar
  • 1 + ¾ cups of plain flour
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 2 tsn cinnamon
  • 1 tsn chilli powder
  • 180g dark chocolate

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180c and line a 2 baking trays with baking paper.
  2. Melt the butter in the microwave for 45 seconds. Break up the dark chocolate and stir with a metal spoon through the butter until glossy and smooth.
  3. In a separate bowl whisk with electric beaters eggs, vanilla and sugars until pale and thick.
  4. Stir in the chocolate mix until combined.
  5. Sift in the flour, cocoa, cinnamon and chilli powder, stir to combine.
  6. Chop chocolate into small pieces and stir into cookie dough.
  7. Roll the dough with hands into 25g balls and place onto the baking trays. Use fingertips to flatten slightly.
  8. Bake for 10 mins or until set.
  9. Place cookies onto a cooking rack, enjoy.

 

Notes:

  • I actually kneaded the cookie dough to quickly ensure the dough was well combined.
  • I used scales to weight the cookie dough balls to get them all the same size.

Chilli Chocolate Cookie recipe

Chilli Chocolate Cookie recipe

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Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake


Posted on Posted in America, Cakes .

coca-cola chocolate cake

Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake

Give me a sec to explain before you get scared off this post (you will be thankful).

Ok so I didn’t hit my head and decide to bake a cake with the first 2 ingredients that popped in my head. Believe it or not there are many versions of a ‘Coca-Cola’ cake. And I promise I wouldn’t post a recipe on my site unless the recipe was super awesome.

I also thought that this was taking things a little too far and it would be a disaster waiting to happen. But I promise you that was not the case. The outcome was the most moist and intense chocolate flavoured cake I have had in a while. The cola must intensify the chocolate flavour as only 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder go into this cake and no actual chocolate. Personally I couldn’t taste the Cola, the only remnants of it being there was an ever so slight cola after taste as such (which was surprisingly quite pleasant).

If you didn’t know it wasn’t a plain chocolate mud cake you would be none the wiser. Having said this though I did get feedback from people saying they could taste a little of the cola…each to their own I suppose.

 

Ingredients:

  • 220g plain flour
  • 250g white sugar
  • 1/2 tsn bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/4 tsn salt salt
  • 1 egg
  • 125g milk
  • 1 tsn vanilla essense
  • 125g butter
  • 2 tbsn cocoa powder
  • 190ml Coca-Cola
  • 250g icing sugar
  • 1 tbsn butter
  • 4 tbsn coco-cola
  • 1 tbsn cocoa powder

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c and place in a baking tray. Line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. In a bowl add the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, bicarb soda and salt.
  3. In another bowl beat with electric mixer the egg, milk and vanilla.
  4. In a saucepan on low add the butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola until the butter is melted.
  5. Add the butter mix to the dry bowl, stir until combined. Now add the milk mix to the bowl, beat with electric mixer until smooth.
  6. Pour into cake tin and place onto tray. Bake for 50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.
  7. Let it cool for 10 minutes then place on a cooling rack to cool.
  8. To make the icing melt butter in the microwave. Once melted add  coco-cola and cocoa, stir until smooth, add vanilla.
  9. Stir in the icing sugar until cominbed then beat until thick and glossy. Set aside for 15 mins to cool and thicken.
  10. Spread over cooled cake.

 

Notes:

  • I used gluten free plain all-purpose flour. I think this was a contributor to the cake being so moist and mud cake like.
  • I split the cake in half and spread half the icing in the center of the cake and the rest I pipped on top of the cake.
  • The cake is so rich that I don’t actually believe you need the icing, as an alternative I would serve this with a dollop of cream instead.
  • Only 250g of sugar is in this cake and no chocolate as the cola is quite sweet already, therefore making the cake extra sweet.
  • I used diet Coke when I made this as this is what I had in my cupboard, however if you are a fan of cherries you could use Dr. Pepper or Lemon twist Coca-Cola for example for a little hit of complementary favour fusion with the chocolate.

A helping hand:

coca cola chocolate cake ingredients

The ingredients.

coca cola chocolate cake steps

Step 1. Lining the cake tin.

coca cola chocolate cake steps

The 3 mixes.

coca cola chocolate cake steps

Icing ingredients.

coca cola chocolate cake steps

Step 9. The icing cooled.

Like this recipe? If you love the rich texture ayou may also like my Red Wine Chocolate Cake and my Chocolate Zucchini Cake. Subscribe via RSS or email to get my new entries and more scrumptious recipes with reviews.

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