April 29th, 2008 by alice
Tags: Banana, Cake, Caramel, Chocolate, Chunk
INGREDIENTS
- 2cupsplain flour
- 1teaspooncinnamon
- 1/2teaspoon gratedfresh nutmeg
- 1/4teaspoonground cloves
- 1teaspoonsalt
- 1teaspoonbaking soda
- 3largeeggs
- 1 1/4cupssunflower oil
- 1 3/4cupscaster sugar
- 1tablespoon purevanilla essence
- 3/4cup coarsely chopped toastedpecan nuts
- 3ounces goodchocolate, broken into chip size pieces(I favour Green and Blacks)
- 3 ripebananas, peeled and diced
-
CARAMEL TOPPING
- 1 1/4cups of firmly packed softlight brown sugar
- 1tablespoonmilk
- 1tablespoondouble cream
- 4tablespoonsunsalted butter, cut into pieces
DIRECTIONS
- Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Grease and flour a 12 cup tube or bundt pan, shaking out all the excess flour.
- Sift together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda. Set aside. Beat together the eggs, caster sugar and oil with your electric beaters on medium speed until the sugar is totally emulsified, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla essence. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients, scraping down the bowl to make sure it all gets mixed in well. Fold in the pecan nuts, chocolate and banana chunks very carefully with a rubber spatula taking care not to mush the bananas up. Scrape into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes. Test with a wooden skewer to see if it is done. It should come out clean if it is. If not, bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
- In the meantime combine all the topping ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat and cook until the butter and sugar are melted and it begins to boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes while you are waiting for the cake to finish.
- Remove the cake from the oven and poke holes all over the hot cake (without removing from pan) and spoon the caramel glaze over the top, stopping every now and then to let the cake absorb it. If it starts to pool, poke some more holes in the cake. Let cook completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing and unfolding it onto a plate. I then put another plate on top and flip it over until the flat side is on the top again. Delicious!
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April 24th, 2008 by alice
Tags: Basic, Cake, Sponge
INGREDIENTS
- 4eggs, separated and at room temperature
- 1/2cupsugar, plus
- 2tablespoonssugar
- 1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
- 1/2teaspoonlemon extract or1 teaspoonlemon zest
- 1/2cupcake flour, sifted
- 1/4teaspoonsalt
- 1/4teaspooncream of tartar
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Grease only the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan and cover with a circle of parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan.
- In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until light, gradually adding in the sugar. Add in vanilla and lemon and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy, about 1 minute at high speed, then beat in the salt and cream of tartar. Continue beating until the eggs reach soft peaks. Fold egg whites, working in 3 or 4 batches, into the yolk mixture.
- Sift the flour over the egg mixture, again working in 3 or 4 batches, and gently fold it inches When the batter is uniform, pour into prepared cake pan and bake unil a tester comes out dry and the top of the cake springs back when gently pressed, about 35-45 minutes.
- Allow cake to cool in the pan before cutting around the sides with a sharp knife and turning it out.
- Slice the cake into 2 or 3 layers (or squares) and fill as desired.
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April 22nd, 2008 by alice
Tags: , Cake, Crumb, Pudding, Use
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2cupscake crumbs
- 2largeeggs, slightly beaten
- 2cups hotmilk
- 4-6teaspoonssugar
- 1/4teaspoonsalt
- 1/2teaspoonvanilla
- 1/2cupraisinsor walnuts
DIRECTIONS
- Pour hot milk mixed with sugar, salt, and vanilla slowly into eggs whisking all the while.
- Then pour over crumbs and pour into dish.
- Place dish in a pan of hot water.
- Bake 350 for 40 min or until knife inserted comes out clean.
- Serve hot or cold with cream.
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April 21st, 2008 by alice
Tags: Cake, Chocolate, Double, Mousse
INGREDIENTS
-
Cake
- 2 (8 ounce)packagessemisweet baking chocolate(16 1 oz. squares)
- 2cupsbutteror margarine
- 1cupsugar
- 1cuphalf-and-half cream
- 1tablespoonpure vanilla extract
- 1/2teaspoonsalt
- 8largeeggs
-
Glaze
- 1cupsemi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2tablespoonsbutteror margarine
- 3tablespoonsmilk
- 2tablespoonscorn syrup
-
Garnish
- 1 (1 1/2 ounce)envelopewhipped dessert topping mix
- 1/2cupmilk
- 1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
- Prepare the cake a day ahead of when you want to serve it.The cake is very dense, and takes a long time to cool, so don’t start too late in the day. :).
- Place a cookie sheet on the oven rack in case the springform pan leaks.Preheat oven to 350°FGrease a 10″ x 3″ springform pan.
- In a 3 quart saucepan, over low heat, heat chocolate, butter or margarine, sugar, half & half cream, vanilla, and salt until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly.
- In large bowl, stir eggs slightly with a fork.Do not use a mixer, as this will over beat the eggs and the cake will scorch on the edges and fall in the middle.
- Slowly stir chocolate mixture into eggs until well blended: pour into springform pan.
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until center of cake is level and not concave.
- Cool cake completely, in pan, on wire rack.When cake is cool, run a sharp knife around the side of the pan, and remove the side of the pan.Wrap cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled - minimum 6 hours, but overnight is best.
- After cake is chilled, place cake, still on pan bottom, on a cake plate.Put strips of waxed paper between the pan bottom and the cake plate, to catch the drips of glaze.(Helpful Hint: Use a clean piece of that grippy carpet underlay between pan bottom and plate to keep the cake from sliding around as you try to slice it.).
- If the top edge of the cake is higher than the center of the cake, or very uneven, you can trim it with a sharp knife if you want a prettier cake.
- Prepare Chocolate Glaze as follows.
- In 2 quart saucepan, over low heat, heat chocolate chips and butter or margarine until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth.Remove pan from heat.Beat in milk and corn syrup.
- Spread warm glaze over top and sides of cake.Discard waxed paper.
- Prepare whipped topping, beating until stiff peaks form.Pipe whipped topping around edge of cake.Refrigerate if not serving right away.Leftovers keep well in the refrigerater for a few days, or can be sliced and frozen, though the whipped topping is not as nice after freezing.
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April 14th, 2008 by alice
Tags: Cake, Fudge, Strawberry, Trifle
INGREDIENTS
-
CAKE
- 1 (18 ounce)box super moistfudge cake mix
- 1 1/3cupswater
- 1 1/2cupsvegetable oil
- 3eggs
- 2cupsfresh strawberries
-
GANACHE
- 24ouncessemi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/3cupsheavy whipping cream
- 1/4cupreal butter
-
GARNISH
- 1/2cupwhite chocolate chips
- 1/2teaspoonvegetable oil
- 1 wholefresh strawberry
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.In large bowl combine cake mix, water, oil and eggs on low speed with electric mixer until combined.Beat an additional 2 minutes on medium speed.Bake in 9 x 13 pan for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.Cool completely.
- Pour chocolate chips into a large bowl and set aside.In meduim saucepan bringwhipping cream and butter to a boil over medium heat stirring occasionally.Pour mixture over chocolate chips and stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.
- Line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with wax paper.Cut cake into 1 inch cubes.In large bowl beat ½ of cake cubeswith electric mixer until crumbly.Add remaining cake cubes and 1 ¾ cups of ganache.Beat 30 seconds on low speed then beat medium speed until well blended (mixture will look like fudge).Add 2 cups strawberries and stir to combine.Spoon mixture into springform pan.Smooth top and cover with plastic wrap.Place in freezer for until firm enough to unmold from pan about 1 hour.
- Remove cake from pan and place on serving dish. Frost with ganache.Melt white chocolate chips and oil over low heat stirring until smooth.Arrange fresh strawberries on top of cake. Spoon white chocolate garnish into decorator bag or Ziploc bag with corner snipped off and drizzle over top of cake.
- Store leftover cake in refrigerator.
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