Classic Carrot and Pineapple Cake, perfect for a Springtime celebration or just anytime

 

Look carefully, as yes there is a delicious Carrot and Pineapple Cake hiding under all of the edible flowers, fruit, foliage and cream cheese icing. Let's celebrate the arrival of Spring in the Southern Hemisphere on the 1st September, with cake, dressed up in time for the Spring carnival. It seems like Spring here already, with the warmer weather, hence I am sharing this with you a few days early.

Stem Ginger and Pear Cake

This stem ginger and pear cake is so easy to make, resulting in a top layer of pear, a very moist cake texture and lots of warm, cosy spice and ginger flavours. We love using stem ginger when baking sweet things, and this cake gives a perfect result. It is now one of my favourites to bake.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins, delicious and comforting

  

When I baked this brilliant batch of Apple Cinnamon Muffins, it was the perfect homecoming gift after 3 months away, to myself and Mr. HRK. Baking to me says welcome home. I gave some away to visiting friends and neighbours, because this recipe makes a dozen, and they were all gone in two days. So delicious!

Mackay Lime Tart or Key Lime Pie

This sweet and tangy lime tart is simply sensational to eat, and is so easy to make. The filling rests in a baked biscuit and butter case, and the cooked tart keeps well when refrigerated and can also be frozen. Using freshly juiced and zested limes brings so much authentic flavour to this dessert. When life gave me fresh limes, I made this tart. Serves 12 people.

Chai-spiced Pear Cake

Emelia Jackson in her latest book, "First, cream the butter and the sugar" has developed this glorious chai tea flavoured cake, it's a Chai spiced Pear Cake. It's absolutely delicious with a very tender crumb, and was a pleasure to make this week. I'm delighted to be able to share the cake making process with you, at last. Thanks Emelia.

Rhubarb, Meringue and Almond Celebration cake

Just Sweet Talking about Rhubarb

My Rhubarb, Meringue and Almond cake just out of the oven

This is a really delicious German cake with layers of rhubarb, ground almonds and meringue, and I urge you to bake it. Rhubarb, a very inconsequential yet colourful stalk before it is cooked, almost a red celery look alike, comes into its own in desserts, and when this cake is served by the slice, the rhubarb provides colour and it's wonderfully unique flavour. 

Light and Fluffy Weekend Cheese Muffins with Roasted Capsicum, Basil and Baby Capers

Homemade Savoury Muffins are at their best eaten on the weekend for an easy relaxing lunch. Are you feeling a bit peckish? As with most muffins the basic ingredients of flour, salt, cheese, oil or butter, eggs, and buttermilk, cream or sour cream need to be used with these, but then after that they are one of the most versatile baked goods on the planet. I made these this morning rather impulsively after I had baked a cake, using up bits and pieces left in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Coffee Buttercream

"If the answer is chocolate, who cares what the question is."

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Coffee Buttercream

I'm in "Chocolate Heaven" with this cake. I might have mentioned previously that I've been working through chocolate cake recipes in my quest to find what I think is the perfect chocolate cake for all occasions, my go-to no fuss chocolate fudge cake, my signature cake. This is it for now, my perfect chocolate cake. MasterChef Winner Emelia Jackson says that this cake will always produce the same amazing result, whether it be for a birthday party, or a casual get together with friends where dessert is required, just decorate it accordingly. Dress it up with a heavenly ganache or go simple with a dusting of cocoa or icing sugar, and a serving of cream. Bake it into cupcakes, use it in a trifle, loaf cakes, there is no limit to how you can bake it or use it. Instant coffee is the secret weapon in this cake, it enhances the flavour of the chocolate without adding its own coffee flavour. I also like that there's no melted dark or milk chocolate in this cake batter, just rich, dark Dutch cocoa.

I have been debating whether or not to post this recipe just yet as there is another buttercream that I would like to fill and cover this cake with, and hopefully that is coming when the weather continues to cool down. I'll let you know when that happens, because Emelia's Malted Buttercream that I'm talking about looks like a real showstopper for a special occasion. This cake recipe is extracted from "First Cream the Butter and Sugar", by Emilia Jackson, and I can't wait to try some more of her recipes, because I love this cake. Needless to say, I couldn't wait and had to share the recipe with you.

Mahjong table setup in the air-conditioning and waiting for my Mahjong friends to arrive.

I chose to make Nigella Lawson's Coffee Buttercream this time because I love it, and I've made it before with a different chocolate cake recipe. I was in a bit of a rush because I'd made this cake for the Mahjong afternoon tea at home, it comes around quickly, and I wanted a buttercream that I could depend on when made in advance. Even though the air-conditioning was on at home the day I iced this cake, there were a lot of other things going on around me. Aren't there always though?

Ingredients:

Makes a 20 cm two tier cake 

380 g light brown sugar

250 g cake flour (store bought or see tip below for making your own)

100 dark Dutch cocoa powder (I used Plaistowe premium Dutch processed from Woolworths)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon fine salt

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder

200 ml boiling water

100 ml neutral-flavoured oil, such as vegetable or canola

200 g sour cream

4 eggs

chocolate shavings to garnish (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160 deg. C (140 deg. C fan forced)

Line two 20 cm round cake tins with baking paper

Whisk the brown sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt to ensure that there are no lumps. (No need to sift)

Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water in a largish jug, then add the oil, sour cream and eggs and whisk until thoroughly combined. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Fold until just combined. We want a lovely tender cake, with a good crumb, overmixing will prevent this from happening.

Split the batter between the cake tins and bake for 50 minutes. This was perfect for my oven but test it with a skewer inserted into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.

Leave the cakes to cool for 15 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Pauline's baking notes:

Adding coffee to the cake batter enhances the flavour of the chocolate. You can't taste the coffee.

What I also love about this cake is that it doesn't sink in the middle as some do.

Cake flour: After making this cake, I am really on board with using cake flour, for a superior and tender cake crumb. Cake flour is a low protein flour that creates a very tender fluffy and light cake. You can make your own. Just measure out 430 g plain flour, then add 70 g corn flour and sift together. By adding the corn flour, the gluten content in the plain flour is reduced from 11 per cent to between 7 and 9 per cent. (Emelia Jackson). I've started making it in a large batch so I am always prepared for a cake making session.

For medical reasons the only nuts I eat now are walnuts as they are the softest nut, so I didn't add any chopped nuts to the photo of the cake. However, it looks and tastes lovely with chopped pistachios on top of the buttercream.

Nigella Lawson's coffee buttercream

Generally, when I make icing for a cake, I just do it the traditional way as I have always done and add the ingredients until it looks, feels and tastes right. However luscious Buttercream is a different story so I followed this recipe.

Ingredients:

350g icing sugar.
175g soft Unsalted Butter. softened
Instant Espresso Coffee Powder, 2 1/2 teaspoons, dissolved in 1 x 15ml tablespoons just-boiled water
(All of my tablespoon measurements are 20ml and that is what I probably used in this recipe with no problems)
This icing is a cinch to make in a food processor. Because it is warmer and more humid where I live than where this recipe was probable tested, I thought I might have problems with the icing melting all over the cake, but it held its consistency beautifully.

Method:

• Pulse the icing sugar in your food processor a few times to remove any lumps but make sure the feeding funnel on the lid is covered so that icing dust doesn't fly everywhere:)
• Add the softened butter and blitz to mix, scraping down the bowl once or twice.
• With the motor running again, pour the coffee down the funnel of the processor and quickly blitz. Remove the blade carefully and scrape down the blade with a spatula.
• Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or stand, flat side up. It is probably better to place the highest cake as the base. Spread the lower layer generously with half the coffee butter cream, then make a sandwich with the second layer, with the top of the cake facing upwards.
• Pile the rest of the buttercream on top and use a wide icing knife or spatula to spread the icing, over the cake. Nigella uses the word "swirlingly" to describe this technique which I love.

The bottom layer of the Chocolate Fudge Cake is iced. 

One iced layer of the cake might be enough for morning or afternoon tea, so sometimes with a double layer cake I freeze one of the layers for another occasion.

This is a different chocolate cake recipe that I made a few years ago when I used the Coffee buttercream as well.

Cake bakers say that money can't buy happiness, but a divine chocolate cake can. Decorate as you wish. I sometimes use smashed pistachio nuts, or you could use chocolate covered coffee beans as Nigella Lawson did or white chocolate buttons for contrast. It is your choice.  There is so much to choose from.

I think I need to tell you all that I'm not a chocaholic, in fact I rarely eat chocolate at all, however I love a delicious chocolate cake. How about you?

Warm wishes, 

Pauline

Orange Cake for a birthday Afternoon tea

 Whole Orange Cake

I love a flavoursome orange cake in Summer and when I saw this recipe I decided to make it for myself on my birthday. Such a treat. It is so easy, as there is no zesting, juicing or peeling involved, the washed orange is just mulched up in the food processor and if you have an orange in your fruit basket, and enjoy baking there is a very strong chance that you will also have all of the other ingredients on hand. I am finding that using plain flour and baking powder gives better results than using S.R. flour.

As you can tell by the rich yellow colour, it is full of orange flavour and the taste of summer. I also had some beautiful organic eggs that a friend gave me which were laid by her chickens. Lemon icing provides a wonderful tart contrast to the sweetness of this cake.

I am calling my cake Orange Sunshine.

Find the original recipe here:

INGREDIENTS:

1 whole orange (organic if possible)
3 eggs
180 g melted butter (6.3 oz)
1 cup white sugar (or you can substitute with 3/4 cup of dextrose if you are avoiding sugar)
1 1/2 cups Self Raising Flour or (1 1/2 cups Plain Flour sifted with 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder)

Let's Cook:

• Preheat your oven to 180 C/350 F.
• Grease a 20 cm round spring form cake tin or a small loaf or bar tin.
• Wash your orange carefully if bought from a supermarket, however if it is organic or from your backyard tree this is not as important.
• Cut the orange into quarters, and place the pieces into your food processor. Pulse until the pieces are completely broken down. You may need to use a spatula to wipe down the side of the bowl and the lid a couple of times during this process.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and process again until all the ingredients are combined together, about 50 seconds.
• Scrape the batter with the spatula into the cake tin and cook for around 40 minutes. When I used the loaf tin it took about 50 minutes to completely cook.
• This cake also bakes very well in a loaf tin.

Your cake will be moist and delicious with a wonderful orange flavour. 

Whenever I combine Oranges and Lemons together it reminds me of the singing game we used to play as kids, where we would all hold hands and form an arch and sing the song Oranges and Lemons until one person was left standing and met an unfortunate end. A bit gruesome but as kids it was just great fun, and of course we didn't think about the history or the meaning of the words. As we didn't with the also gruesome fairy tales.  It was based on the traditional English nursery rhyme and singing game which referred to the bells of several churches, all close to or within the City of London. How appropriate that I am also writing this on a Sunday, speaking of church bells ringing that is.

Oranges and lemons 

Say the bells of St Clement's

You owe me five farthings

Say the bells of St. Martin's

Last verse:

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,

And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!

Chip chop chip chop the last man is dead.

I'm sure that back then we didn't sing all of the verses but we always enjoyed singing the last verse where somebody dropped to the ground. They were innocent days back then. We took great delight in catching the last person in our arch and they were out of the game.

Do you remember playing this game as children and do children still play it?

Thanks for dropping by.

Warm wishes

Pauline x