fluffy

NUTELLA CINNAMON BUNS – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

RICH, COFFEE DOUGH Ingredients:

  • 1 + 1/8 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
  • 125ml (1/2 Cup) Milk, Warmed
  • 1 Sachet of Strong Coffee Powder
  • 50g (1/4 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 38g Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Large Egg
  • Extra Egg For Egg Wash, Beaten
  • 250g (2 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour

 

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 150C (302F).
  2. Whisk in a sachet of strong coffee powder (use more if you want the flavour even more) into the warm milk.
  3. Make sure the temperature is tepid (feels neither hot or cold but about body temperature – should feel neutral to you) before whisking in the active dry yeast.
  4. Set it aside while you prepare the other ingredients, so that it has time to activate and froth up.
  5. In your mixer bowl, combine butter, sugar, salt & egg.
  6. Begin to mix with dough hook on med-low speed, while you stream in the activated yeast mix.
  7. Now begin to sprinkle in the flour.
  8. Once the flour is completely incorporated, begin to add 2 tablespoons worth flour at a time, mixing it in completely before adding more.
  9. Be careful not to add too much or your dough becomes tough and chewy, rather than soft and fluffy – it also affects the level of proving you can get.
  10. What you are looking for is enough flour to get the majority of the dough to come away from the sides and gather in the hook. BUT, you want a film of dough still clinging on the sides of the bowl.
  11. Check with your hands, scraping off the dough to gather into a bowl. It should feel like it is tacky, but leaves almost no residue or mess on your hands.
  12. Tuck the dough downwards to form a smooth surface of a ball on top.
  13. Place it back into the bowl, cover with a cling wrap or damp kitchen towel.
  14. Switch off the oven and place the bowl inside to prove in the closed oven till it is double in volume.

 

CINNAMON NUTELLA FILLING Ingredients:

  • 100g (1/2 Cup, Packed) Dark Brown Sugar
  • 25g Ground Cinnamon
  • 40g Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
  • 375g (1 + 1/4 Cups) Nutella

 

METHOD:

  1. Stir together the sugar, cinnamon and butter until a smooth paste is formed.
  2. Take the proved dough and press down to deflate the air inside.
  3. Place on a lightly floured surface, form it into a level, long rectangle shape.
  4. Roll it out so it is about 3-4mm thick, shaping it as you go to keep it neat.
  5. I prefer my hands, you can use a spatula to spread the cinnamon paste evenly all over the dough till it is well covered.
  6. Dollop the nutella all over and then gently drag or spread it with a spatula so that the majority of the surface is covered. Then use the tip of the rubber spatula to level it out.
  7. Now rolling the bun from short end gives you many rings and it is great for a jumbo sized bun – which is what I was after. Lengthier side gives more rolls but less rings but are both just equally delicious.
  8. Start by rolling a tiny roll as tightly as possible, then working half a roll at a time begin to roll it up until you have an entire roll.
  9. Use your hands to stretch and smooth the roll so that it is even in thickness.
  10. Use dental floss to loop around the desired thickness of your jumbo buns, and then pull until it cuts through a clean slice.
  11. Gently using both hands hover the bun above the muffin tin or silicon mold (I actually liked the silicon mold results better, they didn’t stick as much so didn’t damage my buns, and also have a slight different texture.) and gently drop it into place. The aim is to keep the nice swirl and shape of the bun 🙂
  12. Use the same method of proving to prove in the off oven until doubled in volume.
  13. Egg wash with beaten egg all over and bake for 20 minutes or so in a preheated oven at 180C (350F) until golden brown. It will be really nice and dark, crispy but fluffy and soft full of gooey goodness inside.
  14. I recommend always heating these up before serving, even just nuking in the microwave 🙂

NUTELLA CASTELLA – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

NUTELLA CASTELLA Ingredients:

  • 8 Large Eggs, Room Temperature
  • 200g (1 + 2/3 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour
  • 250g (1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons) Caster Sugar
  • 250g )3/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons) Nutella, Warmed
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Demerara Sugar

METHOD:

  1. Warm the milk & mix with nutella till smooth. Cool to room temperature before use. This step is very crucial as one of my failed attempts resulted from hot liquid in the egg batter that caused a dense layer.
  2. Preheat oven to 170C (340F), oven rack set to the middle. Grease a 7″ square pan x 3″ with non-stick vegetable oil spray and line the pan neatly with baking paper.
  3. Sprinkle evenly with some Demerara sugar, set aside.
  4. Sift the flour 3 times, set aside.
  5. Bring a pot of water to a simmer, place mixer bowl over with the eggs and sugar inside.
  6. Lightly whisk the eggs frequently until all sugar is dissolved and the mixture feels warm to the touch. You want it just warmer than body temperature to stabilize the eggs.
  7. Whisk on medium speed until the eggs are tripled in volume and is thick enough to drip back in ribbons when lifted high. The ribbons should stay on the surface for 5 seconds or so, very slowly settling back into the egg mix. Be patient, this will take about 15 minutes to achieve the right texture on this speed.
  8. Switch to low and whisk for another 1 minute or 2 to stabilize the bubbles.
  9. On medium speed, stream in the nutella mix gradually to ensure an even incorporation. Otherwise this may all settle on the bottom.
  10. Turn the speed down just by a notch so that the flour will not fly everywhere. Sprinkle in the flour gradually in about 3-4 parts making sure there’s enough time in between for the previous flour to get incorporated.
  11. The batter will deflate a little, don’t worry this is normal at this point. It will lose about 1cm or so in height.
  12. Scrape down the sides in case some flours are stuck there, then give it a 30 second mix on medium-high speed.
  13. Check with a long spatula that the flour and butter mix are all well mixed by scraping the bottom and checking for any settlement. If it is all uniform then the batter is perfect!
  14. Pour into the prepared pan and tap firmly on the counter twice to release large, unstable air bubbles.
  15. Use either a knife, skewer or small palette knife to run zig-zag across both directions of the tin to pop excess air bubbles.
  16. Bake for 15 minutes at the initial high temperature, then 160C (320F) for another 70-80 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out crumb-free, and still damp/moist. Unless your oven bakes very differently, I would advise to leave your oven closed until at least hitting the 70 minute mark.
  17. Firmly tap the cake pan on the counter 2 times to prevent the cake from shrinking.
  18. Invert onto a baking tray that is lined with plenty of cling wrap in order to wrap it airtight right away.
  19. Remove the pan, keeping the paper on the cake and wrap with cling wrap.
  20. Store in fridge immediately whilst hot for one day or overnight at least. This will retain lots of moisture for the cake, but make sure it is well covered – I noticed corner areas that weren’t don’t look the dark, smooth texture that characterizes the aesthetics of this cake.
  21. Slice a thin piece of both ends to remove the crust. Use a damp towel to wipe the serrated knife clean between each cut and be gentle with the sawing action to get nice little slices. Slice down the middle to get two bars, and portion into 2cm or so thick pieces.
  22. Can be stored at room temperature for about 5 days or chilled in an airtight container, served at room temperature. You can also wrap individually and freeze for a month.

SALTED CARAMEL & HAZELNUT FILLED SOFT COOKIES – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

SALTED CARAMEL & HAZELNUT FILLING Ingredients:

  • 150g (2/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 50ml (4 Tablespoons) Water
  • 60g (1/4 Cup) Thickened Cream
  • 35g (2 + 1/2 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter
  • 1/2 + 1/8 Tsp Salt or to taste
  • 180g (1/2 + 2/3 Cups) Hazelnuts, Coarsely Chopped

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 150C (300F), roast the hazelnuts on a pan for 10-15 minutes.
  2. Rub the skins off with a damp tea towel, repeat this process until the hazelnuts are skinned and golden in color.
  3. The tougher to skin ones I find will come right off after you let it cool off, then just rub between your fingers.
  4. Chop them coarsely into sort of 1/4’s irregular pieces. They do not need to be neat, it gives more texture that way but avoid having too many full nuts as it would be hard to fill cookies.
  5. Over medium-high heat, cook the sugar and water in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan without stirring.
  6. Once the sugar dissolves and mixture turns a dark amber color, add the cream. * Be careful as the mixture will bubble and spit a little.
  7. Swirl and stir it until it subsides, about 30 seconds – remove from heat.
  8. Stir in the butter & salt, then the chopped hazelnuts till combined.
  9. Allow to cool completely and check if it is almost firm but barely pliable. This is the correct level of cooking for the caramel.
  10. Spoon mixture whilst lukewarm onto one inner side of cookie, then sandwich another over the top. About the thickness of the cookie or less is good.
  11. The more you add the richer it is and messier it may get – and you want the flavour to be balanced.

 

SOFT, VANILLA COOKIES Ingredients:

  • 113g (1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
  • 100g (1/2 Cup) White/Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Large Egg, Room Temp
  • 1 + 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 156g (1 + 1/4 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/8 Teaspoon Salt

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
  2. Grease & line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
  3. Whisk together the dry ingredients until combined.
  4. Cream butter and sugar till fluffy and pale.
  5. Beat in the vanilla & egg.
  6. Scrape down base and sides and beat in flour mix just till combined.
  7. Take 1 teaspoon or so of dough and roll into a ball.
  8. Leave 2″ between every cookie and bake for 12 minutes until set and lightly golden around edges. These are very soft, if you prefer a bit more crisp then bake for few more minutes till more colored.
  9. Cool completely before filling with nut-caramel.
  10. To apply filling, simply warm the caramel if it is set just until it is soft and pliable.
  11. Spoon as much as you like and place it onto one side of the cookie, use greased finger to smooth it out till it is just within the edge.
  12. Lightly press the other biscuit of the pair on top. They caramel can ooze a little if it is still too warm so have a bit of room for that.

CHOCOLATE ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Posted on by misterbowtie

  • 25g (1/4 Cup) Cake Flour
  • 25g (1/4 Cup) Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
  • 75g (1/3 Cups) Caster Sugar
  • 6 Large (240g) Egg Whites, Room Temp
  • 3/4 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 75g (1/3 Cups) Caster Sugar
  • 3/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • Fudge Sauce (optional)
  • Pure Icing/Powdered Sugar

 

METHOD:

  1. Note: I didn’t use a loose bottom angel food pan designed for easier removal so the sides are not perfect when removing.
  2. Preheat the oven to 190C (375F). The pan should not be greased as this is a cake that will be turned upside down during cooling and greasing the tin would make the cake fall out.
  3. Whisk together one of the two portions of caster sugar with cake flour and cocoa powder till well combined.
  4. Whisk the egg whites on medium-low speed just enough to start whipping and frothing it up.
  5. Once frothy enough to cover all the liquid on the surface, add in the salt and cream of tartar.
  6. Continue on that speed until it is doubled in volume and is airy enough to spoon a dollop that will sit on top of itself.
  7. Now begin to sprinkle in the sugar very slowly as it continues to whisk on the same speed.
  8. Once it is at least tripled the volume of what it started out to be, and hardly slides in the bowl when tilted (just vaguely) then it is ready.
  9. Sprinkle the cocoa mix evenly all over the top and then switch to a paddle-attachment on low speed to gently fold in.
  10. Once it is about 90% incorporated, switch to a rubber spatula to gently fold the rest by hand till barely any streaks can be seen. A few vague streaks are okay.
  11. Smooth off the surface as much as you can.
  12. Rap or firmly tap the pan on counter top from a height to release unstable air bubbles.
  13. Bake for 25-30 min until the top springs back when lightly pressed.
  14. Immediately rest cake upside down on a thin bottle or can so it won’t sink and can vent and cool properly. The bundt shaped pans are crucial for this part.
  15. Once completely cool, you can flip it upright again & use all fingers to gently pull the cake away from the sides in an almost massaging motion.
  16. To be sure you can then run a spatula or knife around the edges carefully to not damage the cake.
  17. I then just flip onto a plate and firmly shake down a few times to feel for the cake releasing – you usually feel the weight of it.
  18. If not use an offset spatula to try and release some areas around the base to help it along.
  19. Drizzle with fudge sauce or dust with icing sugar & simply enjoy!
  20. They can dry easily if left uncovered so make sure it is airtight when not serving.

COCONUT & CRANBERRY MUFFINS – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

COCONUT CRANBERRY MUFFIN Ingredients:

Makes 6 Jumbo Muffins or 12 Regular **

  • 250g 2 Cups Plain/All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 113g 1/2 Cup Butter, Room Temperature
  • 225g 1 Cup Caster Sugar
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 120ml 1/2 Cup Coconut Milk
  • 270g 2 + 1/4 Cups Craisins
  • Small handful of Desiccated Coconut (Optional)

METHOD:

  1. Line jumbo muffin tin of 6 with muffin paper.
  2. In a processor pulse together the dry ingredients except the fruit and sugar.
  3. In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy, a good 5 minutes or so on medium-high speed.
  4. Transfer into the processor and pulse together with the dry ingredients, stirring the bowl halfway if needed.
  5. Add vanilla extract and one of the eggs, pulse till well combined.
  6. Stir and add the last egg, pulse once more till combined.
  7. Pulse to combine half the milk, then repeat for the remainder, stirring in between if needed.
  8. Stir in the dried cranberries just till mixed in/scattered. Do not mix too much or you develop the gluten.
  9. Scoop and divide evenly among all the muffin cups (an ice cream scoop is great for this). If you have some left over cranberries or you can hold some back, gently scatter some on top.
  10. Freeze for 1 hour or overnight if you are not baking it tonight (I would not recommend more than a night).
  11. Preheat oven to 240C & bake for 10 minutes, then drop the temperature down to 180C for 40-45 minutes till it is lightly golden and feels a light bounce at the center.
  12. I would cover the muffins with a sheet of foil or baking paper about 15 minutes into the second temperature baking. This is to prevent over coloring the coconut and the fruits on top.
  13. Don’t over bake or it will be dry.
  14. NOTE: Freezing is highly recommended as it helps give the muffin more time to rise as the sides set first whilst the center slowly thaws whilst rising. This gives a really lovely dome on top 🙂

CASTELLA HONEY CAKE – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

CASTELLA HONEY CAKE Ingredients:

  • 7 Large Eggs, Room Temperature, separated
  • Pinch of salt
  • 200g (1 + 2/3 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour (Or bread/pizza flour for a more bouncy, traditional texture)
  • 250g (1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons) Caster Sugar
  • 100ml (1/4 Cup + 1 Tablespoon) Honey
  • 40g (3 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter, Melted & Cooled

To adapt for matcha version add the following ingredients:

  • 1.5 Tbsp matcha powder
  • 3 Tbsp Boiling water
  • Combine these to get a smooth liquid then add to butter honey mix before use.

Baking time is closer to 15 + 60 min

For coffee flavour:

  • Swap honey for chicory essence syrup

For Mandarin Flavour:

you’ll need to zest 4 mandarins (I used seedless mandarin delight) and juice them. About 120ml juice – add these to cooled butter mixture.

For Green Jasmine/Chai Tea:

  • 50ml Honey + 50g Sugar for butter mixture
  • 30g finely ground jasmine/chai Tea
  • 120ml boiling water

Note: you’ll want to start with preparing the tea along with water, butter and honey, etc to steep the tea flavor while you prepare the other ingredients.

For PUMPKIN SPICE flavor

Replace honey with:

67g (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon of Water

2 Teaspoons Pumpkin Spice

Replace all white sugar with brown.

METHOD:

  1. Melt butter & mix in with honey. Cool to room temperature before use.
  2. Preheat oven to 170C (340F) with a tray of hot water on lower rack to go under the baking cake. Grease a 25 X 14cm or 10″X 5″loaf pan with non-stick vegetable oil spray and line the pan neatly with baking paper. or you can use two small disposable loaf tins as shown in picture.
  3. Sift the flour 3 times, set aside.
  4. Whisk egg whites until foamy on medium speed then add salt.
  5. Whisk until doubled in volume, where it’s not stiff but a dollop of it can sit on top of itself.
  6. Gradually stream in the sugar while whisking.
  7. Once you reach stiff peaks and the meringue is still glossy, whisk in yolks one by one till combined.
  8. Pour in the honey butter mixture on medium speed just until combined.
  9. Gradually pour in the flour on low speed in 3 parts, to allow time to incorporate before adding more.
  10. Scrape down the sides and base in case some flour is stuck there and gently fold to incorporate, but don’t over mix.
  11. Pour into the prepared pan and tap firmly on the counter twice to release large, unstable air bubbles.
  12. Use either a knife, skewer or small palette knife to run zig-zag across both directions of the tin to pop excess air bubbles.
  13. Bake for 15 minutes at the initial high temperature, then 160C (320F) for another 60 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out crumb-free. For the small loaf tins it took only 55 min for second temp cooking.
  14. Firmly tap the cake pan on the counter 2 times to prevent the cake from shrinking.
  15. Invert onto a large sheet of cling wrap in order to wrap it airtight right away, without the baking paper.
  16. Store in fridge immediately whilst hot for half a day or overnight at least. This will retain lots of moisture for the cake.
  17. Slice a thin piece of both ends to remove the crust. Use a damp towel to wipe the serrated knife clean between each cut and be gentle with the sawing action to get nice little slices.
  18. Can be stored at room temperature for about 5 days or chilled in an airtight container, served at room temperature. You can also wrap individually and freeze for a month.

MAPLE BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE COOKIES – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

THUMBPRINT COOKIES Ingredients:

  • 225g (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
  • 63g (1/2 Cup) Pure Icing/Confectioners Sugar
  • 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 250g (2 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour

 

METHOD:

  1. Beat butter and sugar on high till pale and creamy.
  2. Scrape down the bowl, beat in vanilla and salt.
  3. Mix in flour on medium-low speed just till combined.
  4. Bring dough together into a ball, cover and chill for 30-60 minutes until it is firm.
  5. Roll tablespoons of dough into a ball.
  6. Place on baking paper-lined large baking tray and press down each ball with a your thumb to make an indent at the centre. Use index finger and thumb to start shaping the sides neatly whilst also pressing the indent down to make a neat cookie with an indent about 1cm in height. This should fix any cracks too.
  7. The idea is to make it deep but not too wide.
  8. Fill with cheesecake filling just a little under the brim to leave room for the macerated berries.
  9. Bake for 20 minutes at 160C (325F) or until golden and puffy on middle rack of oven.
  10. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring onto cooling rack.
  11. Cookies can be stored airtight at room temperature for couple of days. Otherwise store in fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.

 

MACERATED BLUEBERRIES Ingredients:

  • 125g (1 Punnet) Fresh Blueberries
  • 113g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest
  • 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
  • 3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

METHOD:

  1. Combine all ingredients except maple syrup in a bowl or airtight container.
  2. Let stand for 15 minutes before giving it another stir to mix evenly.
  3. The sugar should mostly be dissolved and drawn out the berries liquid after an hour or so.
  4. Stir in the maple syrup.
  5. Macerate for at least a day or overnight. Two days should be fine for a thick-skinned berry like this, but keep an eye on the condition. Do not go for too many days as the berry can also break down too much.
  6. You can store in the fridge after the first day.
  7. Strain out the berries to bake into cheesecake filling or serve on top of baked cookies.
  8. Keep chilled in airtight container until serving. Good at room temperature or cold.

 

CHEESECAKE FILLING Ingredients

  • 115g (4 Oz) Cream Cheese, Room Temp
  • 84g (Heaped 1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 1 Large Egg Yolk
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • Pinch of Salt

METHOD:

  1. Beat cream cheese till smooth and lump free, scraping down base and sides of bowl halfway.
  2. Beat together with rest of the ingredients till smooth & creamy.

UBE & AVOCADO LIME SWISS ROLL – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

SWISS ROLL SPONGE Ingredients:

  • 3 Large Eggs, Separated
  • 70g (1/3 Cups) Caster Sugar
  • 40g (1/3 Cup + 1 Teaspoon) Cake Flour
  • 1 Tablespoon Milk
  • 25g (2 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter, Melted

 

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
  2. Line a 30 x 30cm baking sheet with baking paper.
  3. Whisk egg whites till soft peak stage, a small dollop just sits on top of the meringue.
  4. Gradually add in the sugar and beat until stiff peaks.
  5. Whisk in egg yolk one at a time.
  6. Fold in cake flour in two parts. Adding milk in between.
  7. Stir in the melted butter till incorporated.
  8. Transfer to prepared pan, smooth out surface with spatula.
  9. Bake for 9-10 minutes just until the surface turns lightly golden.
  10. Lightly mist a clean kitchen towel till slightly damp. I don’t have a spray to mist so i just soak in water and wring out all the excess water.
  11. Invert cake onto the towel immediately from the oven.
  12. Peel off the paper, cut lengthwise into two long sheets and roll up with the towel.
  13. Cool completely before unrolling and filling with cream fillings and rolling it up again. Spread about 1cm thick ube cream on top, then pipe on thin layer of avocado cream over the top for dual layer look.You don’t want the avocado cream to be thick or it will be too overwhelming.
  14. Wrap with cling wrap & refrigerate the two thin rolls a few hours till firm before slicing into small short or tall logs as you like (Mine is shorter as it needs to be transported), plus they are quite rich after you eat a certain amount so i kept it short.
  15. Place upright on serving platter or board, pipe some whipped cream & garnish with the dragon fruit melon balls. I did a large star tip rosetta on one side, then a kiss shape next to it so you can see the two-tone filling. Garnish with one melon ball of dragon fruit and sprig of mint.

 

UBE CREAM Ingredients:

  • 200g (1/2 + 1/3 Cups) Thickened/Heavy Cream, Whipped
  • 250g (3/4 Cup) Purple Yam/Durian, Pureed
  • 1 Tablespoon Gelatin Powder
  • 50ml (1/4Cup) Cold Water
  • 1/2 Large Avocado, Mashed
  • Zest of Lime
  • Juice of 1/4 Lime
  • 1 Tablespoon Caster Sugar

 

METHOD:

  1. Sprinkle gelatin over the cold water to bloom for 5 minutes.
  2. Gently nuke in microwave without boiling just till dissolved.
  3. Stir gelatin mix into the ube puree.
  4. Whip cream until stiff peaks, then fold into the ube mix.
  5. Separately, stir in zest and juice of lime into the mashed avocado.

 

GARNISH Ingredients:

  • Dragon Fruit (Optional)
  • Fresh Mint Sprigs
  • 300ml (1 + 1/3 Cups) Thickened/Heavy Cream

 

For the melon ball process, if you dont have a melon baller you can just dice into cubes or use something else altogether, it is up to you. I found the trick to using a melon baller for the dragon fruit is to slice the fruit open in half, dig the spoon down to submerge it. Then twist left and right in all directions to form a ball.

COFFEE CARAMEL MOUNTAIN COTTON CHEESECAKE – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

FUDGE CAKE BASE

  • 70g (1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 100g (1/2 Cup) unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs or 1 Large Banana, Mashed
  • 100g (3/4 Cup) Plain Flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 100g (3.9 Ounces) Bittersweet Dark Chocolate, Coarsely Chopped

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven, grease and line with baking paper, a round pan that is 18cm (7-8″) wide & equally deep. You can also make one with different pans you have in the house if you can’t find any you need. For example in the video I used an adjustable mousse cake making ring mould fitted on a shallow loose bottom cake pan. Well fitted and well lined it worked like a charm.
  2. Wrap two large sheets of foil around the pan and make sure it will be higher than water level in the baking dish or pan you will place the cake pan in. Wrap it well as water may get into your cheesecake batter otherwise.
  3. Melt butter & chocolate in microwave by nuking on 20 second blasts, stirring between each time, until completely smooth.
  4. Stir in the sugar & mashed banana/eggs.
  5. Stir in the flour & baking powder till well combined.
  6. Transfer into the pan and shake to level out.
  7. Wrap & store in fridge till cheesecake mix is made.

 

 

CARAMEL SPREAD

  • 150g (2/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 30ml (2 Tablespoons) Water
  • 140ml (1/3 + 1/4 Cup) Thickened/Heavy Cream
  • 15g (1 Tablespoon) Unsalted Butter

 

METHOD:

  1. The caramel is simple, combine sugar and water in a pot over medium heat.
  2. Watch carefully as it bubbles up. Once it starts to colour in a spot the sugar should all be dissolved, you can swirl the pot to even out the colour.
  3. Continue cooking till the colour is a dark amber (too light it will just taste like sugar), add in the cold cream being careful of the splatter.
  4. Stir until it is smooth over the heat.
  5. Once it is boiling, cook it for 1 minute before removing from heat and stirring in the butter till smooth.
  6. Cool completely in fridge before using.
  7. The consistency should work out perfectly but if yours becomes too thick or runny here’s how to fix it.
  8. Thick: To get it runnier, simply loosen it by warming caramel a little, stir in more cream and adjust consistency from there. Cool to check consistency.
  9. Thin: Return to heat & give it a rapid boil 30 seconds more then cool and check.

 

 

CAPPUCCINO COTTON CHEESECAKE Ingredients:

  • 250g 1 (Cup) Cream Cheese, Room Temp.
  • 3 Sachets of Instant Strong Cappuccino Powder
  • 6 Large Eggs, Separated
  • 70g (1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar (Yolks)
  • 60g (1/4 Cup) Unsalted Butter
  • 100ml (1/3 Cup + 1 TBSP) Full Cream Milk
  • 2 Teaspoons Fresh Lemon/Lime Juice
  • 60g (2/3 Cup) Cake Flour / (2/4 Cups) Plain Flour
  • 20g (2 Tablespoons) Corn Starch/Flour
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
  • 70g (1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar (Egg Whites)

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F), place rack on lowest level.
  2. Line bottom and grease sides of a 8″ round cake pan.
  3. Over double boiler on simmering water, whisk cream cheese, coffee, butter and sugar slowly until smoothly combined. Whisking time to time, whilst you prepare other ingredients.
  4. Whisk in cold milk to drop the temperature so the yolks don’t scramble.
  5. Whisk in egg yolks one at a time.
  6. Whisk in the vanilla, salt and lemon/lime juice at once.
  7. Sift in the flour then whisk gently till combined.
  8. In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk egg whites on medium low speed till frothy and you can no longer see the liquid parts.
  9. Add the cream of tartar & continue to whisk on same speed till twice the volume.
  10. Begin to add the sugar gradually in small portions constantly till it reaches about 3/4 up the bowls capacity/height.
  11. It should be soft peaks, easily mounds on itself, still glossy and moves just a little when you tilt the bowl.
  12. Stir in 1/3 of the meringue to lighten the mix.
  13. Fold in another third of the meringue with the whisk gently.
  14. Fold in the last third until almost combined, use spatula to ensure base and sides have no mix that is not combined. Careful not to overmix.
  15. Pour batter into prepared pan over the chilled fudge cake batter. Tap pan gently on counter to release air bubbles.
  16. Bake in waterbath 20 minutes, then reduce to 135C (280F) for 150 minutes. Switch off oven & allow to cool completely. The water should be boiling and fill up to 5cm (2 inches) high at least.
  17. Remove from oven, ensure cake is cool before wrapping and chilling for couple hours or overnight. The fudge base needs the chilling more than the cheesecake as it is super fudgy but supports the cheesecake weight, so don’t unmold till you’ve chilled it thoroughly.
  18. Remove pans, baking paper and set on wire rack with bowl just bit smaller than cheesecake under the cake.
  19. Drizzle with thickened caramel sauce. Make sure each slice will have decent amount of caramel on it as it really makes the flavours work together.
  20. Keep airtight and chilled.

FRESH MINT CHOCOLATE RUSTIC SPONGE – Vegan Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

Ingredients:

  • 188g Plain/All Purpose Flour
  • 288g Caster Sugar
  • 50g Cocoa Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 330ml Non-Dairy Milk of Choice (I used soy)
  • 80ml Light Oil (such as canola or vegetable)
  • 1 Tablespoons Fresh Lime/Lemon Juice
  • 1 + 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Bundle of Fresh Mint Leaves, Finely Chopped

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Line a 23cm (9″) round pan with baking paper.
  2. Simply place all ingredients into processor and process till well combine (will chop leaves finely for you too, yet won’t over develop the gluten).
  3. Otherwise, in one bowl combine all the wet ingredients & add the mint.
  4. Sift cocoa powder into another bowl, add in rest of the dry ingredients.
  5. Whisk till combined, add in the wet mix and whisk till no pockets of flour left.
  6. Pour into pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until a knife or skewer inserted at centre comes out with moist crumbs.
  7. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before turning out & flipping back upright onto serving board or plate.
  8. Dust with icing sugar or serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
  9. Enjoy warm or cold. You can store for few days at room temperature, but best to keep in fridge airtight when hot and humid.