Every Day is a Donna Hay Day - Buttermilk and Vanilla Panna Cotta

Since moving to Australia I have been buying the Donna Hay magazines, beautifully photographed delicious looking dishes and I have tried cooking or rather baking several of them I decided there is so many tasty recipes I am missing trying. So last week I made a decision to make a Donna hay recipe every day and this is the start of my week.

The recipe - Buttermilk And Vanilla Panna Cotta
1tsp powdered gelatine
2 tbsp water
1 cup/250ml buttermilk
1 cup/250ml single pouring cream
1/2 cup/80g icing sugar
1 vanilla bean split and seeds scraped out
fresh raspberries to serve

The Method

1. Place the gelatine and water in a bowland set aside for 5 minutes to absorb.
2. Place the  buttermilk, cream, icing sugar, vanilla bean and seeds in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the gelatine and cook stirring for 2-3 minutes or until dissolved. Strain and allow to cool completely. Poor into four 1/2 capacity moulds and chill for 2 hours or until set.
3. Turn gently out onto a plate and serve with raspberries, I used strawberries which were quite sharp and went perfectly with this dish.

Unfortunately I did something wrong and my panna cotta did not fully set, it turned out into a low mould which slowly sank into a mess on the plate. Tasted delicious all the same.

Chocolate Banoffee Cupcakes

The lovely ladies at work were giving me suggestions yesterday as to what to use my over-ripe bananas for. Camaryn wanted Banoffee pie where as Alice wanted Banana Cake, so I thought I would come to a sit on the shelf decision and combine both of those to make these banoffee cupcakes. I made them this morning before 6am!! Nothing like an early morning baking session, far better than an early trip to the gym!

I had spent at least an hour last nice searching for a recipe and come across nothing I fancied and then this morning I came across this recipe from kittens in the Kitchen http://kittensinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/banana-cupcakes-with-chocolate-goo.html

The Recipe - Choclate Banoffee Cupcakes from Kittens in the Kitchen
3 ripe bananas
1 cup plain white flour
0.5 cups wholewheat flour
0.5 cup soft brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp groundnut oil
6 tbsp yogurt
1 tbsp honey
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the 'frosting'...
1 tin condensed milk
150g plain chocolate
1 tbsp butter
pinch saltPreheat oven to 165c.

The Mehtod
Prepare the Batter...

1. Sift together the flours, baking powder and baking soda, then mix in the salt.
2. Whisk together the oil and sugar, then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mash up the bananas with a fork and add to the egg mixture along with the vanilla extract.
3. Add a third of the flour mix, then a third of the yogurt and mix until just moistened. Repeat until flour and yogurt finished!
4. Line muffin tray with cases, and divide the mixture between them.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of one.

Now make the frosting

1. Put the condensed milk into a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Gently bring to the boil and cook gently for 5 minutes.
2. Break up the chocolate and add to the milk. Melt it up until you have a gorgeous gooey chocolatey mess.
3. Add the butter and stir gently until combined.
4. Let it cool a bit, then smear on top of cooled cupcakes.

Wedding Cake Attempt 2 - The Ultimate Chocolate Cake

The weekend is here again and I'm back to baking and the purpose today is a birthday cake. I can cook a thousand cakes for no purpose at all and they will all end out perfact, delicious and wonderful and the time I actually want the cake to be great hell no!! It just aint going to happen.


So it's 11:45pm and I have just put my second cake in the oven. The first one had gone perfect until I had started talking to my very good friend on spark and forget my cake was in the oven. The cake wasn't burnt to a cinder but did end up very cooked and very hard. I think if I threw it at a window it would definitely break the glass!!


Even Andy my other half thought it was solid and suggested I bake another cake, so right now, I am in my nighty with my apron on waiting for a cake which is going to take at least another hour to cook. I can't even use the excuse that its a new recipe, because nope, I've made this one before with excellent results.


Anyhows, thats enough of my trials and tribulations - here is the recipe, it is taken from Hotel Chocolate 101 Best Chocolate Recipes.


The Recipe - Angela Nilsens - Ultimate Chocolate Cake
200g butter, plus extra to grease
200g dark chocolate (about 60% cocoa solids) in pieces
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
125ml cold water
85g self raising flour
85g plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarb of soda
200g light muscavado sugar
200g golden caster sugar
25g cocoa powder
3 medium eggs
75ml buttermilk


Ganache
200g good-quality dark chocolate , as above
284ml carton double cream (pouring type)
2 tbsp golden caster sugar 

The Method

1. Butter a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep) and line the base. Preheat the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/ gas 3. Break the chocolate in pieces into a medium, heavy-based pan. Tip in the butter, then mix the coffee granules into 125ml/4fl oz cold water and pour into the pan. Warm through over a low heat just until everything is melted - don't overheat. Or melt in the microwave on Medium for about 5 minutes, stirring half way through. 
2. While the chocolate is melting, mix the two flours, bicarbonate of soda, sugars and cocoa in a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps. Beat the eggs in a bowl and stir in the buttermilk. 
3. Now pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth, quite runny consistency. Pour this into the tin and bake for 1 hour 25- 1 hour 30 minutes - if you push a skewer in the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm (don't worry if it cracks a bit). Leave to cool in the tin (don't worry if it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4.  When the cake is cold, cut it horizontally into three. Make the ganache: chop the chocolate into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Pour the cream into a pan, add the sugar, and heat until it is about to boil. Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. Sandwich the layers together with just a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over the cake letting it fall down the sides and smoothing to cover with a palette knife. Decorate with grated chocolate or a pile of chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days.

You can also find this recipe at http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3092/ultimate-chocolate-cake . I played around with using a white chocolate ganache as well as the one in this recipe, both work really well and taste delicious.

Chocolate Wedding Cake Attempt 1

For my Australian wedding I am looking at making my own wedding cake so will be trying out a series of chocolate cake recipes until I find the cake most suitable for me. It has to be rich dense and fudgey and to be honest I am not so sure where to start. Before I attack my own recipe books I plan to have a good search and find some decent recipes online.


The first one I plan on trying is one from the BBC Good Food Website http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4577/wedding-cake--rich-dark-chocolate-cake It sounds right up my alley, I don't have a 30cm pan and there is no way one would fit in my oven anyhow so I will be halving this recipe and using a 20cm pan. 


The Recipe - Attempt Number 1 - Chocolate Wedding Cake from BBC Good Food website
650g unsalted butter
650g plain chocolate (70% cocoa)
100ml very strong coffee- espresso is ideal
3 tsp vanilla essence
650g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
950g light soft brown sugar
10 eggs
2 x 284ml/9.5 fl oz soured cream

The Method

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into the biggest bowl you have. Add the sugar, breaking down any lumps with your fingertips if necessary. Beat the eggs and soured cream together in a jug or bowl and pour into the flour mix. Pour in the melted chocolate mix as well, then stir with a wooden spoon until you have a thick, even chocolaty batter.
3. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 2½ hrs - don't open the oven door before 2 hrs is up, as this will cause the cake to sink. Once cooked, leave in the tin to cool completely. The unfilled cake will keep for up to four days, wrapped as before, or frozen for a month.
4. to decorate and fill this cake I made a simple white chocolate ganache by bringing 100ml cream to almost boiling point and pouring it over 220g white chocolate. Once the chocolate was smooth, Iet it cool before using it to fill and top the cake

The height on this cake was awesome, if it had rose anymore it would have spilled over the top of the paper, which wouldn't have been good. Once cool, I took of the cracked top (the recipe had mentioned to not open the over for 2 hours or the cake would crack), sliced it in half and filled it with the ganache. the cake inside was light chocolatey and rich looking, and once filled gave off a beautiful aroma.

So I took half of this cake into work and asked people to rate it out of ten, here is how it scored:
Camaryn:  10
Alice: 8
Lynton: 7
Scott: 7.5
Me: 7
A total of 49.5, not bad!!

Monkey Business Perhaps?

Last week whilst having breakfast in Cranked in Leederville I spotted upon their menu a breakfast item called monkey business. The description was something like 'Toasted banana bread with raspberries and almonds served with a ricotta, yogurt and vanilla topping.

Just add raspberries and I'm in!! What was delivered to be was two huge slices if you could call them that they were so thick, that looked heavy but were utterly delicious. The ricotta topping freshened up the already moist, fruit and nutty bread. There was too much for just me, this is the type of bread to share with a friend.

I have been thinking about this bread ever since and so have tried to amend a recipe to produce something similar. I used a Simple Banana Cake recipe from Stephanie Alexander's 'The Cooks Companion'.

The Recipe - Banana Cake with Raspberry and Almonds
125g softened unsalted butter
11/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe banana
few drops of pure vanilla extract
250g plain flour
1 tsp bicarb of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/2 cup of butter milk or 1/2 cup milk with 1 tsp lemon juice
1 hand dessicated coconut
1-2 hands frozen raspberries
1-2 hand toasted almonds

The Method

1. Butter and flour a 22cm square cake tin (I used a loaf tin), then line the base with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs banana and sugar.
3. Sift the dry ingredients and add to the mixture, alternating with buttermilk.
4. Stir in the toasted almonds, coconut and raspberries until just combines.
5. Spoon into a tin and bake for 1 hour or until a fine skewer  inserted comes out clean.

Savory Muffins - Chorizo and Piquillo Muffins

My other half is always on my case to bake more savory items, there is some crazy notion in his head that if its savory its not half as bad for you. I suppose with a lot less sugar if any the savory dish does have that going for it, but usually sugar is replaced by cheese!!


So hungover and half awake on a Saturday morning I've been searching for a savory muffin recipe which sounds interesting. I have come accross the 'Cook Almost Anything Once' blog which had a recipe which took my fancy and low and behold I had pretty much all of the ingredients to make (if not with a minor substitution).


The Recipe - Chorizo and Piquilla Muffins from Cook Almost Anything Once
220 grams self-raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
150 grams potato, grated and squeezed to remove any excess moisture
120 grams chorizo, sliced
50 grams piquillo peppers, diced
100 grams Manchego, grated
1 egg
100mls milk, approx
fresh parsley, chopped

The Method

Prepare the chorizo:
You can either dice or slice the chorizo, in these I've used slices. Sauté the chorizo until crisp, then drain on paper towels to remove any excess fat. Cool before using.

Sift the flour and baking powder together into a large bowl. Add in the potato and toss it through the flour so it's evenly distributed. Next, add in the chorizo, pepper and manchego, being careful not to break them too much as you stir.

Whisk the egg and milk together and pour this into the dry ingredients - sprinkle over the parsley and then fold until the mixture has just incorporated.

Divide the mixture into 6 muffin cases, filling them about three-quarters full.

Bake in a preheated 170°C oven until golden and cooked through - about 20-30 minutes.

Recipe Taken from: http://cookalmostanything.blogspot.com/

I used a hot and spicy chorizo purchased from Re-Store an Italian Deli on  oxford Street, I substituted the piquillo peppers with a standard red capsicum and used a vintage cheddar instead of the manchego. The muffins were light with  delicous crispy topping and very yummy. Another successful recipe, although I think using the piquillo peppers would have given it a sweeter tatse.

Zucchini and Lemon Cake with Sugar Frosting

I've been wanting to try my hand at a courgette (sorry zucchini) and lemon cake for ages, but have always been tempted with other things or not had the correct ingredients available. Well this week I set off to make such a cake, my first hurdle was finding the correct recipe. I wanted a cake which wold be fresh with plenty of lemon and has the kind of topping which crunches under your bite.

Nothing, I cold find really was just what I was looking for and then I stumbled upon David Lebovitz blog and decided to use his recipe as my base. In fact it was not his recipe but one he had adapted from Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the babbo kitchen.

The Recipe - Zucchini Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze from David lebovitz
For the cake:
1 cup (135g) almonds, pecans, or walnuts, toasted (I used walnuts)
2 cups (280g) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 3/4 (350g) cups sugar (I reduced this to 270g as I tought it looked like it might be a little too sweet)1 cup (250ml) extra-virgin olive oil (I used 50% olive oil, 50% walnut oil)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (300g) finely grated zucchini
For the lemon glaze:
1/4 cup (60ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar
1 cup (140g) powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
I also added the zest of a lemon to the cake mixture for extra zing

The Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease a 10 cup (2.5l) bundt or tube cake pan* with non-stick spray or butter, dust with flour, then tap out any excess.
2. Pulse the nuts in a food processor until finely chopped.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, 1 3/4 cup (350g) sugar, and olive oil for 3 minutes on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Stop and scrape down the sides of the mixer, then add the vanilla.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the mixer bowl to make sure everything is mixed in well, then beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.
6. Stir in the chopped nuts and zucchini, this is when I add the lemon zest as well.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, smooth the top, then bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake has begun to pull away from the sides of the pan.
8. During the last few minutes of the cake baking, make the glaze by whisking together the lemon juice, 1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar, and powdered sugar.
9. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then carefully invert it onto a cooling rack. Brush the glaze over the cake with a pastry brush and let the cake cool completely. 

This cake was amazing and everyone loved it. Fresh, moist and with a delicious crunchy glaze. I will definitely be making this cake again  and with all that zucchini I can also kid myself that this cake is healthy, surely it must count towards my five a day :)