Chocolate Zucchini Cake

One way to guarantee kids eat vegetables is to cover it in chocolate. Obviously it's for a treat, or in my circumstance a trick as my twins refuse to eat zucchinis. They will willingly forfeit screen time just to avoid eating zucchini. Madness right? Hence why I hid the deliciousness of the zucchinis or courgettes in a cake. I was totally inspired by Sally's Baking Addiction, lots of very fab recipes there. This recipe is almost all Sally's, with my little spin.

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour

approx 3-4 cups of grated zucchini (squeeze some, not all liquid out)

1 cup dark cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp bicarb soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 dark brown sugar

4 large eggs

1/3 cup sour cream

2 tsp vanilla paste

2 tsp instant espresso powder/granules

250g dark mini choc chips

Frosting

Use whatever you like but I wanted something creamy to counter all the dark choc in the cake.

400g  Better Crocker chocolate hazelnut frosting (you don't have to use all)

200g Cadbury dairy milk

a little drizzle of vegetable oil

1. Sieve flour, cocoa, bicarb, baking soda and salt into a big bowl. Then add coffee powder and mix, set aside.

2. In another bowl mix oil, both sugars, eggs, sour cream and vanilla paste until sugar has dissolved. Then add zucchini and mix some more. Once it's combined add it to the dry ingredients and mix well. I used a handheld mixer. Then stir in the choc chips.

3. Divide into 2 x baking pans or 1 large, whatever you want. Oven should be preheated to 180 degrees.

4. Bake for about 30-45 minutes depending on your oven. I would check with skewer from about 30 minutes. I think mine took a wee bit more time then the original recipe said. Let it cool before frosting.

5. Melt the Cadbury dairy milk with a little drizzle of oil, just enough to give it a nice runny consistency. I didn't really measure, sorry... maybe 3 tablespoons give or take.

6. Slap the hazelnut frosting between the cakes and drizzle the milk chocolate all over the top.

7. Shove in face!

Bananaberry Bread

One night as I was tucking my twins into bed, Master H very randomly said "I want banana bread please". I did what most mothers would do to settle the kids and get them to bed, I simply said "ok, tomorrow, go to bed or you won't get it". When tomorrow came I of course had completely forgotten about the banana bread request BUT Master H did not. He kept harping on and on about it and I knew there was no shutting this one down.

My problem that day was I was actually working from home. I couldn't afford to spend heaps of time in the kitchen pretending to be a lady of leisure who didn't have a job and who had all the time in the world. So I Googled (of course) the simplest recipe I could fine with ingredients that were already in my pantry and got to it as quickly as possible.

This recipe was fabulous as I didn't even need an electric mixer, just a bowl and a wooden spoon. In 15 minutes flat the cake was in the oven. Master H was happy his request was baking away. I could go back in my office and work with a smile as the house was starting to smell heavenly.

Bananaberry Bread

3 ripe bananas
a handful of blueberries
half a cup of diced strawberries
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 and 1/2 cup plain flour
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a loaf tin.

2. In a bowl add all wet ingredients. Mix well until sugar is dissolved. Add fruit to mix and stir.

3. Then add dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Pop in loaf tin, shove in oven for 1 hour.

5. Serve warm with butter melting all over it!

Flourless Chocolate Almond cake

One of my favourite nuts to have with chocolate is scorched almond. I had been craving for something almondey for a bit and since our twingroup catch up was coming up that was my perfect excuse to bake a cake. The mother's that come with their beautiful children are worth all the effort and time I can give for our fortnightly playgroups. Love em all to bits.

This recipe calls for roasting the almonds for 5-10 minutes, but I roasted mine for about 15-20 minutes until it went pass golden to brown, just on the verge of dark. I love the roasty toasty nuts breaking up the rich cake so it's up to you how far you take your nuts.

There are a gazzilion versions of flourless chocolate cakes but this recipe I love because it has a very high egg content which just takes the cake from airey to fudgey but not so heavy. The original is a gold old trusted taste.com.au recipe so you know it'll work and just be delish. This is my version, hope you like it.

Flourless Chocolate Almond cake

150g almonds (I used a mix of slivered and flake for the different texture)
125g butter, chopped
1 massive tablespoon instant coffee diluted in 3 tablespoons hot water
220g dark chocolate, broken to pieces
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup caster sugar
5 large eggs separated
cream, vanilla bean paste and strawberry for serving

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a springform cake pan. I used a 23cm round.

2. Roast the almonds for 5-10 minutes if you want just toasty and golden or 15-20 minutes if you want slightly scorched and intensely nutty.

3. In a microwave safe jug add butter, chocolate and coffee mixture. Heat in microwave for 2-3 minutes on medium high power but stir after each minute.

4. Once mixture is melted, smooth and glossy sift in the cocoa powder. Stir through and then add 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks and nuts. Mix that well making sure sugar is well stired and not clumpy. Transfer to bigger mixing bowl (unless your bowl is already a big one).

5. Whisk egg whites to soft peaks and then add the remaining sugar a little at a time. You want the meringue to be stiff. Then fold into chocolate mixture and mix well. (but try not to knock all the air out of the egg whites)

6. Bake for approx 40 minutes. Test with skewer, you want to see moist bits on skewer. If the skewer is completely covered in batter it's not cooked enough, if skewer is completely clean then cake might be too dry.

7. Cool cake before removing pan. You'll see a lovely crunchy shell over top of cake, almost macaron like in texture, try not to peel it off and eat (I failed).

8. I whipped cream and vanilla paste to serve with cake along with some luscious strawberrys to cut into the rich cake. Cake is also lovely when zapped in microwave for 15 seconds as it makes the middle fudgier and warm.

 

Raspberry Meringue Cake with Rosewater Cream

The month of May is a busy month for birthdays in my family. This May was extra special as my husband turned 50 and his sister from London who also had a birthday a day before his was with us to celebrate it. Uber special! I really wanted to make a cake for dear Linda and I wanted it to be different and beautiful and just yummy. After all London is a long way away and the fact she came with her husband was cause for celebration enough but to have a birthday with us as well was too fab!

One of Linda's favourite fruit is raspberry so I wanted to showcase raspberries. I love raspberries with cream and with these 2 ingredients in mind I knew I had to make her a meringue cake. I wanted it to be a little more than just raspberries and cream though so I added rosewater to the cream and can I say, those 3 together, raspberries, cream and rosewater .. OMG! The plan to take the cake to another level was to add crushed pistachios between the layers with the rosewater cream but I ooopsied and forgot. So if your memory is better than mine add some for that crunch, it'll be delish.

Raspberry Meringue Cake with Rosewater Cream
2-3 punnets of raspberries
4 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/4 cup caster sugar
500ml cream
2-3 tablespoons icing sugar
1-2 tablespoons rosewater
1 cup crushed pistachios (optional)
red food colouring (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 120 degrees.

2. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and draw 3 circles (I used a saucer).

3. Beat egg whites on low speed until frothy then add cream of tartar. Beat on high until peaks hold.

4. Add sugar a little at the time whilst beating to firm peaks.

5. Pour mixture into drawn circle making sure it's not too thin.

6. Bake for an hour and turn off oven. Loosen meringue discs with a spatula just to make sure the bottoms are not stuck. Leave in oven to cool and dry.

7. Beat cream and icing sugar until firm. Add rosewater to taste and just a drop of food colouring for a tinge of colour.

8. To assemble simply place cream on a disc of meringue. Sprinkle raspberries and pistachios (optional) and then sandwich with another disc. Repeat for the next layer. Then garnish the top however you like.

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

Until I made this cake I had never ever had a red velvet cake before. It's not a type of cake that automatically pops in my head when I think "I want cake". It's very American in origin and popularity and not one that I've seen in shops here. Excuse my ignorance but I had always thought that all a red velvet cake is is a red coloured sponge. It didn't excite me. But thanks to my very discerning cousin's suggestion that I try to make one I now know better.

After baking and eating one I can say that the red velvet cake lives up to it's name. The colour of the cake is rich and bright and very pretty and contrasts so well with the clean white of the cream cheese frosting. The taste and texture is just amazing. A complete mouthful of this cake should make you think velvety yet fluffy, airy yet substantial. It's light enough to not feel dry but full enough yet not dense. You will taste and smell a very playful hint of chocolate without it being overly chocolatey. It's a sexy cake, even the batter is sexy in colour and texture. It's really hard to describe but all you need to know is this ... it's amazing!

I looked at many recipes online and decided to adapt the cake from Epicurously and my own cream cheese frosting. It's a match made in heaven! It's not an easy add it all in one bowl and stir type of cake but if you follow the required steps and components, I promise you the end product will be delicious.

Red Velvet Cake
2 1/2 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
35ml red liquid food colouring
125g softened butter
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon bicarb of soda

Cream Cheese Frosting
125g softened butter
500g cream cheese
3 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 cups icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line the bottom of 2 x 22cm round cake tins or 1 deep one. I used a deep one and cut the cake into 3 layers when it cooled. It's a personal choice. Easier to to have multiple cans.

2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and set side.

3. In a small bowl stir the cocoa powder and food colouring into a paste. Try to make it as lumpless as possible.

4. Cream butter and sugar until light and pale. Add eggs in one at a time. Then add vanilla and cocoa paste. Beat batter well until the colour is even all the way through.

5. Mix in a third of the flour to the mix. Beat well then add half cup of buttermilk. Then mix another third of the flour, then the rest of the buttermilk and finally the remaining flour. Beat until everything is mixed well. Scrape the sides of bowl down to make sure everything gets incorporated into batter.
*** The batter will now look rich and luscious and velvety and just sexy!!!***

6. Mix vinegar and bicarb of soda. It will start to fizzle and froth. Stir this through the batter quickly with a wooden spoon until combined.

7. Put batter in cake tin or tins depending on what you decide to do. If cooking in multiple tins bake for 25-30 minutes. If baking all that batter in one tin it will take about 60-70 minutes. Check by sliding a skewer into the thickest part of the cake. If skewer comes out clean cake is cooked.

8. Put aside to cool. I decided to cut cake into 3 layers but only cut when cake is completely cool.

9. Make frosting by beating butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Then add icing sugar and mix well. Pipe or decorate any which way you like.

10. I added frosting between the layers and then crumb coated the cake. I then piped rose swirls around the cake and topped with silver balls and sprinkles of edible red glitter.

Caramelised Banana Cheesecake

Last week I was chatting to a girlfriend about caramel cheesecakes. Everyday since that chat all I could think off was caramel cheesecake. So when twingroup rolled around it was my perfect excuse to make one. I am normally a fan of quick and easy but effective and delicious. This recipe is a bit more involved than what I would normally do as there are several parts to it and it does span over 2 days as there's a lot of time needed to let the cake chill. But for all the time and effort required, I promise you, definitely worth it.

I had never made it before so I looked online at several recipes and used bits that I liked from 2 recipes. One was from Yummly and the other by Anna Olson at the recommendation of my Mom. My mother simply adores her.

So after many hours of fun fun fun here is my version of a Caramelised Banana Cheesecake.

For the pastry
13 digestive biscuits
1/2 cup pecan nuts
1/4 cup melted butter

For the caramelised banana
3 firm bananas
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the cheesecake filling
500g cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg, beaten
1 extra yolk
2 egg whites,lightly beaten

For the caramel sauce
1 1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice

PASTRY
1. Wrap a greased 23cm springform tin in foil. It will be immersed in a water bath later. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Blitz pecans and biscuits until fine. Then add melted butter and blitz until well combine.
3. Press onto bottom of pan (not up the sides) and bake for 12 minutes and see aside
to cool.

                    

BANANAS
1. Melt butter and add brown sugar until melted and bubbly. Add lemon juice and sliced bananas.
2. Warm bananas through the hot caramel until well coated. Pour onto cooled crust and set aside.


CHEESECAKE FILLING
1. Beat cream cheese until fluffy. It must be soft to begin with or you'll get a lumpy filling.
2. Add sugar then sour cream and eggs.
3. Combine well and top the caramelised banana in the springform tin. Put tin in a deep baking dish and pour hot water half way up the tin.
4. Put in oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees and then another 30-40 minutes at 160 degrees. The cake should be puffed but still jiggly. Remove from water and completely cool before letting it chill in fridge overnight.







CARAMEL TOPPING
1. In a pan combine water, sugar and lemon juice. Don't stir. Let it boil until it reaches a golden colour.
2. Remove from heat and add cream. Be careful as it will be quite sputtering and bubbly. Return to heat for another 5 minutes or so to let it reduce a little. Stir occasionally.
3. Let caramel sauce cool. I cool it in the fridge until it thickens but can still pour and flow.
    4. Pour sauce on cake and chill completely.

FINALLY
1. Loosen and remove pan. The sauce will start to slowly ooze down the sides so think about what you use as a plate or serving dish as if it's not deep or big enough caramel will ooze everywhere (learn that the hard way)

2. Have the strength to share cake with friends because it really is delicious!!