Sugar et al, Author at Sugar et al

Blueberry Ricotta Cake

2|09|2022

Cake or Cheesecake, which one do you love? What if you could have something in between? This blueberry ricotta cake is just that. It has a soft, moist texture dense enough but not creamy like a cheesecake. Fresh blueberries add a burst of sweetness while the addition of citrus zest adds flavour and freshness. It is truly such a delicious combination.

It’ not only a very simple cake to make where everything is pretty much mixed in one bowl, I’ve kept the frosting simple by using whipped cream. It looks so colourful but it is basically just whipped cream, part of which is colored and then piped onto the cake. A simple dusting of icing sugar would work as well if a frosting is not your thing.

If you’re fond of creamy Ricotta cheese, you will love my Baked, Ricotta Cheesecake and 3 Delicious Ways to use Up Leftoover Ricotta Cheese

Blueberry Ricotta Cake
Makes an 8 inch round cake

250g smooth ricotta, room temperature
2/3 cups castor sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
90g unsalted butter, melted
1tbsp freshly grated orange zest (or lemon zest)
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (or 1tbsp lemon juice)
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Extra blueberries, to decorate

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease the base and sides of an 8-inch round pan with 3-inch height and line the base with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat the ricotta, sugar and eggs until well blended. Add the butter, orange zest and juice. Beat for 1/2 a minute. Fold in the flour and almond meal until just combined. Fold in the blueberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until cooked through. A skewer inserted in the middle of the cake should come out clean. Remove from oven. Set aside for 5 minutes, then gently turn onto a wire rack to cool.

Once completely cool, pipe or dollop whipped cream. Decorate with fresh blueberries.

Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

25|08|2022

It’s probably a good thing that blood oranges aren’t available all year or I would be baking three blood orange cakes every week. They are just the most beautiful citrus fruits to cook/bake and eat, not to metion how beautiful they are to look. This blood orange olive oil cake is light, bright and refreshing.

The cake like any olive oil cake, is light, full of texture from the almonds with a subtle flavour of citrus. Hoever, it is the glaze that makes the cake so special. There is no colour added to it. The bright pink colour comes from the blood orange juice.

It is just about spring here in Austraila and the trees look spectalcular with blossoms adorning every corner of my neighbourhood. They made the perfect decoration fo this cake.
PS : If you’re using fresh flowers on a cake, make sure the stems are either covered or you place a piece of baking paper between the flowers and the cake. Unless of course you are sure that they are suitable for consumption.

If you’re a fan of the beautiful crimson hued blood oranges, don’t forget to try my Blood Orange Cheesecake

Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
Makes an 8 inch round cake

3 eggs
1 cup (215g) caster sugar
3/4 cup (185ml) extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup (60ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup (150g) self raising flour
1/2 cup (55g) almond meal
1 tbsp finely grated blood orange zest

Blood Orange Glaze
3 tbsp freshly squeezed blood orange juice
1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar )

Make the cake : Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line the base of a round 8 inc (20cm) pan with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl until thick and pale. Add the oil and juice and beat until just combined.
Add the flour, almond meal and zest and use a metal spoon to gently fold until combined. Do not over-mix. Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Gently loosen the sides using a blunt knife. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely before glazing the cake.

Make the glaze : Sift the sugar into a medium bowl. Add the blood orange juice, continuously whisking until smooth and a glossy pink glaze is created. The glaze will set with time so pour it onto the cake (at room temperature) as soon as possible. Allow to set in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. Decorate, slice and enjoy!

Blood Orange Cheesecake

14|08|2022

It’s blood orange season in Australia. The best time of the year since it’s also beginning to look like spring. How bloody amazing are blood oranges! I wish they didn’t have such a short season and I could come up with a hundred recipes. That may be difficult but this one recipe of Blood Orange Cheesecake makes up for everything. It is absolutely DIVINE to taste.

This is a baked cheesecake with a biscuit crust a blood orange infused filling and blood orange jelly on the top made from freshly squeezed oranges. The smooth and creamy filling is balanced out beautifully by the strong citrus notes in the jelly. And for an outcome so amazing, there is barely any effort. All the layers can be made ahead and assembled later. The cheesecake takes a bit of time in the oven (first cooking, then cooling) and you need loads of patience to not slice it already.

Needless to say, if blood oranges are not in season, you could go with regular oranges. The only thing to be mindful of is the sweetness of your oranges. Adjust the sweetness in the jelly as required.

If you love blood oranges, don’t forget to check out my Blood orange Olive Oil Cake

Here is a fabulous Ricotta cheesecake for the cheesecake lovers.

Blood Orange Cheesecake
Makes an 8 inch (20 cm) round cheesecake

Cheesecake
250 g digestive biscuits
150 g butter, melted
500 g cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup castor sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest and juice of 1 Blood Orange
whipped cream, to decorate
dehydrated blood orange slices, to decorate

Blood Orange Jelly
Freshly squeezed juice of 4 large Blood Oranges (approx 1 cup), strained
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp castor sugar
2 tbsp water
1 and 1/2 tsp powdered gelatine

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Grease the base and sides of a springform pan and line the baking paper. Use a square sheet of baking paper larger than the base of the pan so there is an excess paper sticking out. This helps to move the baked cheesecake easily when done. Place the springform pan on a baking tray so it is easy to move it in and out of the oven.

Process biscuits until they resemble fine crumbs. Add butter . Process until combined. Press mixture over base and side of prepared pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile beat the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar until combined. Add eggs , one at a time, beating until combined. Add vanilla extract, blood orange zest and juice . Beat for 1 minute. Pour mixture into prepared pan, ensuring there is room on the top for the jelly so it does not overflow from the sides.

Bake for 60-70 minutes or until filling is just set (mixture should be slightly wobble in centre). Cool in oven with door slightly ajar. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before adding the jelly layer.

Make the jelly : Place the juice and sugar in a medium saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then remove from heat.
Combine gelatine and water in small bowl. Microwave for 10-20 seconds or until dissolved, then stir into hot juice mixture. Ensure there are no lumps and mixture is smooth. Strain again if required. Cool to room temperature, then pour gently on the top of the cheescake filling. Refrigerate until set (approx 2 hours). Gently release the sides of the cake pan and tranfer the cheesecake onto a plate or cake stand (it should slide off easily due to the baking paper underneath.

Decorate with whipped cream and dehydrated orange slices. Slice and enjoy!

Caramilk and Strawberry Madeleines

11|08|2022

Wow! Two back to back madeleine recipes. You might be wondering if there is a madeleine obsession happening here. Well, let me tell you that once you start baking these dainty Madeleines/french cakes aka caramilk cookies and strawberry cookies, you’re going to make them over and over again. So easy to flavour and decorate but thats not even the best part. The best bit is that the batter can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for upto 3 days. When you want them fresh, just bake them with your favourite fillings.

I filled half my batch with caramel sauce, then coated them in caramilk which is nothing but roasted white chocolate. The other half were filled with strawberry jam and coated in white chocolate (colored red).

I used these Madeleine molds to make them that make for easy release of the cookies.

The caramel sauce I used was was store bought and thick, almost the texture of dulce de leche. A thinner sauce might not hold up and get lost in the batter. That’s the only thing to be mindful of. Otherwise they are very simple and very delicious.

If you love Madeleine cookies, you’d love these Rosewater and Cardamom ones

Caramilk and Strawberry Madeleines
Makes 18

3 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup caramel sauce or dulce de leche
1/2 cup strawberry jam
100 g Caramilk, melted
100 g white chocolate, melted
red gel food colouring

Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease well, a 12-hole madeleine baking pan.
Place eggs, sugar and vanilla into a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until thick, pale and doubled in volume. Gently fold in flour, baking powder and butter using a metal spoon. Cover bowl with cling film and place in the fridge for 30 mins or up to 3 days.

Pipe or place approx half a tablespoon of mixture into each prepared madeleine moulds. Pipe or carefully spoon 1/2 tsp of caramel sauce or strawberry jam. Cover with 1/2 tbsp of madeleine batter to encase the filling. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and cakes spring back when pressed in the centre. Cool slightly before removing from moulds. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Caramilk cookies , pipe or spoon about 1.5 tsp of melted Caramilk into each clean mold of the pan. Gently place madeleines over the chocolate, pressing slighly. Place pan in freezer to set. About 25 mins. Remove from freezer. Madeleines should easily come off the pan. Store in an air tight container in room temperature.
For the strawberry madeleines, colour the white chocolate with 2 drops of red gel food colouring. Pipe (or spoon) small amount of melted white chocolate into a clean mold. Gently place madeleines over the chocolate. Repeat with remaining madeleines. Place pan in freezer to set. About 25 mins. ⁣
Remove from freezer. Madeleines should easily come off the pan. Store in an air tight container in room temperature.