Spiced Layer Cake

One cake that was always a special treat when I was little was the Indonesian Layer Cake. It has layers and layers of thin delicious cake filled with aromatic spices. It wasn't a cake that was had often for 2 reasons, one was that it was a little pricey and secondly it's a very rich cake so a little goes a long way. Because it wasn't eaten often and when you did it wasn't copious amounts of it, I have always remembered it as special.

When I found this recipe and decided to give it a go I realised why it was so amazingly delicious and crazily rich. It's all that eggs and butter. Delish! It's also a very time consuming cake to make but very worth it. The recipe I used was from Poh's Kitchen and I made 2 changes. Poh's recipe called for 5 spice powder but I opted to use mixed spice instead with extra cinnamon and I had no brandy so I made it without.

Spiced Layer Cake

6 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g icing sugar, must be sifted
15 egg yolks
390g butter, softened and beaten lightly
120g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
2 tablespoons brandy (optional)

1. Whisk whites and vanilla to soft peak.

2. Gradually add sifted icing sugar till stiff peaks form.

3. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well between each yolk.

4. Add butter and beat till well incorporated.

1. 5. Sift the flour, baking powder, mixed spice and cinnamon powder together. Fold in to mixture in 3 batches. Add brandy if you have some.
2. 6. Grease a 20-22 cm square springform cake tin and line the outside of the tin with foil so batter does not leak through any gaps.
3. 7. Turn the oven to grill function.
4. 8. Put about a third of a cup of the cake mixture onto the base of the cake tin and spread it evenly over the base.
5. 9. Put the tin under the grill for 3-5 minutes or until the top is a golden brown. Keep an eye on it or it might burn.
6. 10. Remove from oven and scoop the same amount of batter for the second layer. (There is no need to wait for the cake to cool between layers). Repeat the same process. Keep going until you have finished all the batter.

 

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Crunch Roll Ups

There's something about cinnamon sugar that I just love to bits and back. The only donuts I will eat are cinnamon donuts, forget the glazed ones or the jam filled ones or whatever. My favourite kind of french toast has a generous dash or two of cinnamon. Same goes with custard, there's just something about a light dusting of cinnamon that just does it for me. It's such a fantastic spice, I use it in soups and stews and curries and desserts. I love it. LOVE IT! Enough said.

I saw a recipe for Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rollups on Pinterest a few weeks ago and told myself I must add it to my to-do list. Then a few days ago a girlfriend sends me the very same recipe and said I MUST make it. Well, not one to disappoint, I did and wow, simple ingredients, relatively easy and super uber yummy. Complete crowd pleaser. Everyone who tried it asked what pastry I used and everyone was pleasantly surprise to hear the answer was "pastry? what pastry?". The fact white bread can be transformed into this heavenly crunch with just butter and cinnamon sugar is just crazy. Give it a go.

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Crunch Rollups

20 slices white bread -decrusted (should be a real word)
250g cream cheese - softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 cup sugar - for filling
3/4 cup sugar - for cinnamon sugar
2-4 teaspoons of cinnamon powder - personal choice but I went with 4 of course
75g butter - melted

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray or 2 with baking paper.

2. Use a rolling pin and roll bread until flattened.

3. Mix cream cheese, egg, vanilla and 1/4 cup sugar. Then spoon about a tablespoon of cream cheese mixture on each slice.

4. Spread the mixture and roll bread into a little cigar.

5. Mix remaining sugar and cinnamon until well combined. Brush rolled bread with butter all over, roll in cinnamon sugar and place on tray.

6. Place in oven for about 20 minutes. The rolls will plump up a little so don't place them too close together.

7. Let cool slightly, just enough not to burn your tongue and then shove in face warm. It's pretty good cold too but having it warm and fresh from the oven is something else!! Enjoy.