Mocha Cake

It's no secret that i love a good cup coffee and love cake, so unsurprisingly coffee cake is one of my all time favourite cakes. My mocha cake came about over the weekend as I had spare chocolate buttercream and latte flavoured icing sugar so I thought of mixing the 2 flavours to make what would essentially be a mocha if I were making it up as a drink


No surprises i was pretty pleased with the overall result, so here is my take on a mocha cake

To make a 7 inch round cake you will need:

Equipment
1x 7 inch round loose bottomed cake tin
greaseproof paper
spatula

For the cake
4oz self raising flour
2oz dark cocoa powder
6oz golden caster sugar
6oz softened margarine
3 medium eggs
3 tbsp olive oil

For the chocolate buttercream
3oz softened salted butter
4oz icing sugar
2oz dark cocoa powder

For the coffee buttercream
3oz softened salted butter
6oz vanilla latte flavour icing sugar*
OR 6oz icing sugar with 1 tbsp of coffee powder
OR 1 tbsp coffee powder dissolved in 1 tbsp of cooled boiled water


For dusting
cocoa powder
crumbled Cadburys Flake

• Preheat your oven to 160c (fan assisted), grease and line your cake tin with greaseproof paper on the bottom and a collar round the inside going all the way around.
• Place all the ingredients for the cake into a bowl and mix either using a freestanding mixer or hand held electric whisk until you have a smooth fluffy batter.
• Pour the batter into the cake tin and level the top of the batter with either a spatula or a breakfast knife
• Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes until the cake has risen and springs back when lightly pressed in the middle. Alternatively, insert a skewer into th centre of the cake, and if it comes out clean the cake is ready, if not then leave for a few minutes. Once cooked, set aside and leave to cool completely
• Whilst the cake cools, make both the buttercreams. To make the chocolate buttercream place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with a hand held electric whisk (make sure you start off on the slowest speed to stop the icing sugar from flying everywhere) unitl the ingredients have all incorporated smoothly and you have a spreadable consistency. If the mixture is too stiff, add a tablespoon of milk to loosen the mixture.
• In a separate bowl, do the exact same for the coffee buttercream
• Once the cake is completely cool, split the cake into 2 halves using a large knife or a cake leveller
• On the bottom half, using a spatula, spread the chocolate buttercream so that it almost meets the edges of the cake all the way round (i leave a slight gap from the edges as when the top half is placed ontop, as you lightly press it to secure it in place, the buttercream will spread to the edges and not spill out)
• Place the top half on to the bottom half carefully ensuring the edges meet, and lightly press the top to ensure it's secured in place.
• Spread the coffee buttercream again using a spatula** all over the top of the cake, and if you've any left over, all over the sides of the cake. Dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder, sprinkle the crumbled flake all over and serve 

*For the vanilla latte flavoured icing i use flavoured icing made by sugar and crumbs icing, which is readily available from most cake supply stores and online
** If you dont have a spatula, you can always use a breakfast knife

Basic buttercream

I often get asked by friends & family for a simple buttercream recipe so i thought I'd share my go to recipe

The amount below will easily  cover 10-12 cupcakes, but can also be used to fill & crumb coat a sugar paste/fondant covered cake. Depending on the size of your cake you may need to double or even triple the amount below

To cover 10-12 cupcakes you will need

8oz salted butter ( soft at room temp)
16oz icing sugar

° Sift the icing sugar into a bowl & add the butter

° Using an electric hand held whisk or using a freestanding mixer ( I use my free standing mixer) mix the butter and icing sugar on a  slow speed  ( to stop the icing sugar flying everywhere)

° Once the majority of the icing sugar has incorporated, turn your mixer/hand held whisk up to a faster speed till you have a smooth & fluffy mixture. For it to be pipeable i always add 3-4 tbsp of milk & mix again. At this point I add flavorings

For vanilla flavour .. add 2-3 tbsp vanilla extract or seeds from a whole vanilla pod

For choc buttercream replace 3 oz of the icing sugar for cocoa powder or alternatively add in melted choc

For strawberry buttercream I add about 4-5 tablespoons strawberry nesquik powder or strawberry Angel delight

For oreo buttercream i in a good handful of oreo biscuits but blitz them in my food processor till really fine and mix into the buttercream - this would be perfect for filling but maybe no so much for crumb coating as there may still be chunks of biscuit that would you a lumpy surface if covering a cake with sugarpaste/fondant

For coffee buttercream replace 2 oz of the icing sugar for fine powdered coffee or 2-3 tsp of coffee granules mixed with 1-2 tsp of cooled boiled water- I add it straight in with the icing sugar

For other flavours just experiment as you go 😍

Coconut Macaroons

My recipe post for these came about purely out of  finding myself very bored one evening as the kids were fast asleep in bed and the husband was working. So there i was riding my cupboards thinking what to make and found quite a bit of packed dessicated coconut tucked away so coconut macaroons came to mind and my GBBO Book came to the rescue.

This recipe uses cream patisserie and before you think, ' no way can i make creme pat '  honestly its a very little amount so its very quick and easy - a great way to practice for any recipes that require larger amounts of cream patisserie. 

To make about 20 macaroons you will need 

For the cream patisserie :
5 tbsp milk
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 medium egg yolk

For the coconut mixture:
3 medium egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
100g caster sugar 
200g desiccated coconut

For the chocolate glaze (optional)
100g good quality dark chocolate
2 tbsp sunflower / vegetable oil 

• Start by making the creme patisserie, heat the milk in a small pan until it just comes to boil and remove from the heat. In a bowl, beat together the caster sugar, egg yolk and cornflour until pale and fluffy. 
• Gradually stir in the milk and whisk together. Pour the mixture back into the pan, and over a low-medium heat, whisk together until it boils and begins to thicken. You should end up with a smooth paste- it shouldn't be thick and lumpy. Scrape the mixture out into a small plate or bowl, press and seal it with a piece of cling film directly on to it - this stops a skin forming whilst it cools.
• Whilst the creme pat is cooling, Preheat your oven to 170c/gas mark 3. Add your egg whites to a bowl with the vanilla extract and beat till the egg whites become frothy. Add in the caster sugar and whisk together till the sugar has dissolved.
• Stir in the coconut until completely coated in mixture, then add in the creme pat and again stirring through till all the coconut is evenly coated and there are no lumps 
• Line a large baking sheet with greaseproof paper and using a teaspoon, scoop up the coconut mixture, making sure it's packed up tightly and place on to the baking tray and shape into a mound with your hands if you wish to. Repeat this with the rest of the mixture and you should end up with 20 macaroons.
• Bake in the oven for 20 minutes and they should be golden in colour with slightly darker edges.
• One they have completely cooled, melt the chocolate with the oil in a small heatproof bowl/plate in the microwave in 30 second bursts or in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Taking one macaroon at a time , dip the base into the chocolate, evenly coating it with the chocolate slightly coming up the sides. Place the coated macaroons on a clean sheet of baking paper and leave to set completely before serving.*

*alternatively you can drizzle the chocolate over the top of the macaroons using a teaspoon or leave them as they are without any chocolate at all.

Raffello fudge

Ferrero Rocher are definitely in my top ten of the yummiest chocolates ever and I think I love the white coconut version even more than the classic chocolate hazelnut version. Trawling pinterest the last few days for recipe inspiration and there seems to be a craze for fudge, from the classic vanilla fudge to new twists such as salted caramel.. The thought of making fudge with rafello pieces in it sounded absolute scrumptious so I gave it a go 




To make about 15-20 pieces of raffello fudge you will need:

1 x 379g carnation condensed milk
300g white chocolate
300g bounty spread*
25g butter
125g icing sugar 
Broke up pieces of coconut and white chocolate rochers 

• Line a square 8 inch tin with greaseproof paper, I've found it helps if the paper comes out over the sides of the tin as it makes it easier to lift the fudge out once its set.
• Pour the condensed milk, bounty spread and all the chocolate into a saucepan and melt on a low heat till all the mixture has combined. Make sure to stir continuously to stop the mixture sticking and burning.
• Once its all melted, pour into a bowl, add the icing sugar and mix together well - it will take a bit of effort to get it all together but it will come together. 
• Pour the mixture into the tin and sprinkle over the broken pieces of white ferrero rocher and gently squash into the mixture.
• Place into the fridge for at least 5 hours and cut up into squares and place back into the fridge for another couple of hours or even overnight if possible ... and devour 

*Bounty spread is divine and you'll find it in most of the large supermarkets 

 

Deluxe chocolate orange brownies

I genuinely LOVE brownies .. Not just because they're a perfect combination of  having a crispy outside and and scrumptious chewy and gooey inside as well as tasting divine straight out the oven or actually even better the next day, but that the flavour combinations are pretty much endless. 

After experimenting around with a few flavours, so far this recipe is one of my favourites - made that little bit extra special with fresh orange zest and Terrys chocolate orange 

For 9 brownies you will need 

85g butter

140g caster sugar

100g soft brown sugar

125g orange chocolate*

2 eggs

zest of 1 whole orange

100g plain flour 

1/2 tsp baking powder 

2 tsp cocoa powder

6-8 Terrys Chocolate orange slices

icing sugar to dust (optional)

• Preheat your oven 180c/ 350f/ Gas mark 4, grease a 20cm / 8 inch square tin, and line the base with greaseproof paper.
• In a bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt together the sugars, chocolate and butter until smooth and completely combined. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool 
• In another bowl, whisk the eggs together with an electric whisk till light and fluffy and almost doubled in volume.
• Sieve the flour and baking powder into the whisked egg, add in the zest, pour in the cooled meted chocolate and fold in quickly but gently with a metal spoon** 
• Pour the mixture into the tin, place the slices of terrys chocolate orange over the top and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top is crisp and the edges of the brownie shrink away from the tin. 
• Leave to cool slightly and finish off with a light dusting of icing sugar and serve 

*I used Terrys Chocolate orange, you can use whatever you personally prefer- for extra indulgence  I'd do a swap for Green and Blacks chocolate orange 

** Using a metal spoon helps fold in quicker than a wooden spoon would as well as keeping is as much air as possible to keep the fluffiness in your brownies

That's the way the cookie crumbles

Cookies are the one thing that i've always struggled with ever since the baking bug bit me. I've lost count of the  different recipes that I've tried where they either are a complete sludgy mess or worthy of chipping your tooth 

After countless attempts, I think it's safe to say I've found an unbelievably quick and easy recipe and gives me the perfect fix for soft chewy morsels of yumminess  


This recipe is for the good old chocolate chip cookie but the variations you could experiment with are endless. Swap half the flour for porridge oats, instead of chocolate chips add dried berries or nuts and fruit for a slighty less guilty version or why not try something a little more adventurous like a rocky road twist ? Id love to see what versions you can come up with 

 so for 10 milk chocolate chip cookies you will need :

125g softened butter
100g soft light brown sugar
125g caster sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt 
1/2 tsp vanilla paste/ seeds of a vanilla pod
200g milk chocolate chips 

• Cream together the butter and sugars till light and fluffy
• Add in the egg and mix well together
• Add in the salt flour vanilla paste and the chocolate chips. Combine with a wooden spoon to form a soft dough
• Chill the dough in the fridge for 15- 20 minutes
• Roll out the dough into 10 balls, place on greaseproof paper lined baking trays.
• Bake at 180c ( fan assisted ) for 7-10 minutes for soft chewy cookies, 10-12 minutes for slightly firmer crunchier cookies 
• leave to cool slightly ( if you have the patience) before removing from the trays and devour away 

Cheesecake cured my bloggers block

Bloggers block - if there is such a thing- is something I have been seriously suffering from, along with being too worn out in the evening from the everyday housewife and mother duties on some days to be able to string a coherent sentence together, never mind post a recipe … But reading through all my posts reminded me of how much I enjoyed blogging so I'm going to make more of an effort to post a recipe regularly, even if it is only once a week. Hopefully *she says* I won't go months without posting something.

So to ease myself back into it, I thought I'd share 2 desserts that I made for the family last night and they went down rather well. I've said earlier on that this would be a blog of mainly Asian food but I'd be sharing recipes for other cuisines as well as desserts since I do have a sweet tooth. So this post is all about the cheesecake… I have the classic strawberry cheesecake and a Ferrero Rocher version for you 

Both these will serve 10 - 12 people easily and they are no bake, only require chilling in the fridge. 

 First up is the Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake , you can find the post for the strawberry version HERE

130g butter 

350g digestive biscuits 

500g cream cheese

300ml double cream 

5-6 generous tablespoons Nutella

Ferrero Rocher chocolates to decorate 

• Start with the cheesecake base, melt the butter either in the microwave or in a small pan on a low heat. Crush the biscuits in a food processor till you get fine crumbs. If you don't have a processor to hand, you can put the biscuits in a food bag & crush using a rolling pin. Add the melted butter to the crushed biscuits, stir till combined, tip into a 23cm springform tin and press the crumbs into the tin evenly , leave to chill in the fridge.
• In a bowl whip together the cream cheese and the Nutella. I found that I needed to slightly melt the Nutella as it was quite cold and set hard in the jar
• Whisk the double cream in a separate bowl till you get stiff peaks, and gently fold in the cream cheese & chocolate mixture
• Pour the mixture into the tin over the biscuit base, smooth the mixture with a spatula to level it out. Leave in the fridge to chill for at least 4-5 hours, or preferably overnight if you can.
• When ready to serve, decorate the top with Fererro Rocher chocolates - either crush and sprinkle over the top or leave them as whole
• As an extra, finish off with a drizzle of melted chocolate all over the top