Sugar et al, Author at Sugar et al

White Chocolate Mud Cake With Pineapple

11|03|2015

White Chocolate Mud Cake made extra delicious and moist by the addition of pineapple. A simple honey whipped cream completes the frosting.

Growing up in the tropics, pineapple flavored sweets were a prominent part of my childhood. I don’t think I had ever spotted canned pineapple back then. Fresh pineapple was the way to go and despite the work involved, prepping the pineapple never seemed daunting to anyone as much as it is to me today. My mum’s favorite thing to make was a fresh pineapple chutney with a generous squeeze of lime and two big dried red chillies. The blend of sweet, sour and spicy flavors would make my palate dance. Another flavoring agent was the pineapple essence. Pretty common and more popular than orange or strawberry. I would love to eat the tea cakes that were flavored with this essence and speckled with dried pineapple. I was a bit disappointed not to find the pineapple cake as popular in Australia when I came to live here.

Mud cakes however are pretty popular in Australia. Though I have never come across a white chocolate mud cake with pineapple before I made one, I could envision quite clearly how it would taste. Since mud cakes are rich and dense, I could foresee the pineapple totally blending with the texture and turning into a pineapple enriched fudge. Biting into the fudgy cake, you could taste tiny bits of crunchy pineapple. Mud cakes almost always have chocolate in them and here I’ve used white chocolate. It definitely adds to the sweetness of the cake but the primary flavor is pineapple.

Since the cake is quite rich, I chose a simple whipped cream frosting swirled with honey. With this recipe, I baked two cakes. Which means, I divided the batter between two cake pans. Then I served the first one with whipped cream while I dusted icing sugar on the other one to eat with tea. The cake on it’s own is not very sweet so I preferred the frosted one over the plain one, You could bake the cake in one pan as well but the baking time will increase. Or simply use half the recipe for the size and thickness of the cake you see in the picture. Mud cakes do take a long time to bake as they are cooked under low temperatures.

The cake keeps well for quite some time (about 4-5 days) even when stored outside the refrigerator. I find that it actually tastes better the next day. Frost the cake just before serving.

White Chocolate Mud Cake With Pineapple
Serves 8-10

350 g butter, chopped
150 g white chocolate, chopped
1 cup castor sugar
400 g can of crushed pineapple in syrup
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 cups plain flour, sifted
3/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted
1 cup heavy cream/whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks.
1/4 cup honey (or more)

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C ( 140 degrees C for fan-forced) Grease two 19 cm round cake tins and line the base with baking paper..

Place butter, white chocolate, sugar and vanilla in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. Leave aside for 15 minutes to cool.

Add the crushed pineapple and mix till blended. Add eggs one at a time and stir to combine. Add plain flour and self-raising flour. Stir to combine. Divide mixture equally between prepared pans. Bake for 50 minutes-1 hours or until a skewer inserted in the centre has moist crumbs clinging. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Fold in the honey gently with the whipped cream. Once the cake has cooled completely, spread the honey-cream frosting over the cake. Slice and serve.

Lemon, Chocolate And Pistachio Muffins

7|03|2015

Delicious Pistachio Muffins with a lemon cake base, dipped in chocolate and topped with ground pistachios.

‘You can lift up the lids now’ the voice echoed across the large hall as anxious hands moved in unison. I said a quick prayer ‘Please let there be lemon…please..please!’ With bated breath I peered inside.
There was lemon! A whole lemon! Bright yellow, gleaming in the light. But..there was a problem! There was chocolate. As well. Now what! I was in a fix. Without a doubt Chocolate is my favorite ingredient but I wasn’t expecting it. It just seemed too unlikely to have such an easy and versatile ingredient to work with. I ran through all the chocolate recipes in my mind..cooking times, accompanying ingredients and such. I looked at the mammoth clock hanging on the wall. 50 minutes to go. How on earth was I going to make my famous chocolate ginger torte in such a limited time? Show skill..show technique..understanding of flavors..multitask…was all over my mind. Scaling down a recipe? How would I make it look pretty inside a ramekin..Oh no! Panic. I looked around. Gigantic saucepans….large baking pans. A single serve dessert was my only option but in monster baking gear..how? More panic.
’30 minutes to go’..the voice sent a chill down my spine. Nope. Sorry Chocolate! I decided to stick with Lemon. Lemon and Meringue…Yesss! Meringue spells technique. Add more elements. Lemon Curd…Lemon custard…Candied Lemon. I leaped forward and grabbed a zester.

Well, does this sound like the sets of a reality show? A cooking competition, maybe? For some of us who love cooking/baking and cooking shows, to be on one is like a dream. Except this was real. Except it was turning into a nightmare. Nothing quite I had pictured before. And every movement..every expression..helplessness being captured on what looks like a hundred professional cameras. This was many moons ago but truly the experience of a life time. Cooking in the comfort of your own kitchen is different from cooking for the first time in a commercial kitchen under the watchful eyes of professionals and celebrities. Anyway, I did put up a decent dessert that I saw the staff and crew photograph even on mobile phones. But maybe that was not enough.Maybe things would be different if I had some control on my nerves. Maybe I was always meant to be behind the lenses. The last one actually, I am sure of. I can see things through my camera that I may not notice otherwise.

Back to the present, I totally loved how these muffins tasted. They are lemon muffins with thier tops covered in dark chocolate ganache and ground pistachios.The citrus is not overpowering, neither is the chocolate. They are in complete harmony while the pistachios add life and texture to these muffins.To be honest, I wasn’t very happy with the muffin batter. While spooning them into the muffin cases I felt that they might turn out dry just as they did. If you have an alternate lemon muffin recipe..feel free to go with that. If you are using this recipe, take care not to over-bake. They taste amazing but are not as moist as some of the other muffins I have made before. I am a bit of a perfectionist so perhaps I could be a tad bit critical. My family loved them. The combination of lemon, chocolate and pistachio however, is sensational. Which is why I am sharing this recipe. I would probably add sour cream or yogurt next time instead of milk to test them out.

So, when life gives you lemons, make sure it doesn’t give you Chocolate!
If it does, well, you know now what to do:-)

Lemon, Chocolate And Pistachio Muffins (lemon muffin recipe adapted from here)
Makes 8 large muffins

2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
90 g butter, melted
chocolate ganache, to coat
ground pistachios, to coat

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan-forced). Lightly grease a 12-hole, 1/3-cup capacity non-stick muffin pan.

Sift flour into a large bowl. Add caster sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon rind and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre. Combine milk, egg and butter in a jug. Pour milk mixture into the well. Using a large metal spoon, stir until just combined (don’t over-mix).

Spoon mixture into muffin holes until three-quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 1 minute. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Once cooled dip the tops into chocolate ganache and then onto a plate of ground pistachios. Leave aside for 15 minutes to set.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

110 g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream

Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan. Before it reaches boiling point, remove from heat, add the chocolate. Leave aside for 10 minutes. Mix till chocolate is well blended and smooth. Alternately, you could place the cream and chocolate together in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for a few seconds.

Rhubarb Cake With Pomegranate And Rosemary Buttercream

4|03|2015

Speaking of rhubarb, I think we people broadly fall into two groups. The ones who love rhubarb and the ones who are unfamiliar with rhubarb. I belonged to the second category until a couple of years ago but now I am very much in the first one. I love Rhubarb! I am always drawn to it’s beautiful colour…specifically the pink stains it leaves on baked goods and of course it’s juicy, tart flavor. When balanced out with right amount of sweetness in a recipe, it can do wonders to the dish. Fortunately, I have had success every time I’ve cooked/baked with it so I was able to dream up a three layered rhubarb cake.

The rhubarb cake by itself is not too sweet so it makes a great pairing with buttercream. The rosemary snugly fits into the recipe lending a subtle earthy touch which is quite refreshing. When I went to my favourite fruit market looking for inspiration, I was torn between rhubarb and pomegranate. I wanted to bake cakes with both. Fresh produce markets always seem to have that effect on me. Then instead I combined the two. If you like both Rhubarb and Pomegranate, this cake is recommended. If you are a fan of one of them, then this is a must-try because you never know, you may fall in love with the other one as well. It might seem like an unusual combination but trust me, they pair well here. Colour, texture and taste!

The rhubarb cake is dense (but not heavy) like a typical sour cream cake. You will surely taste the rhubarb and the rosemary but the pomegranate flavour is not too strong. The fresh pomegranate on top does give the cake a nice crunchy bite whilst making it look like a pomegranate cake. Frost the cake the way you like. The frosting is again a Swiss meringue buttercream which is what I generally use for my cakes…light, fluffy and not overly sweet.

I’ve had a really busy week and have barely been able to keep up to my posting frequency. I hope this cake makes up for my absence:-)
So tell me dear friends, do you fall into one of those groups? Do you think there could be a third group..not liking rhubarb?

Rhubarb Cake With Pomegranate And Rosemary Buttercream
Serves 10-12

Three-Layered Rhubarb Cake
90 g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
11/2 cups self-raising flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
450 g sour cream
400 g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2 cm lengths

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Lightly grease 3, 19 cm round pans and line the bases with baking paper.

Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in sifted dry ingredients and cream in two batches. Fold in rhubarb. Divide mixture among prepared pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cakes come out clean. Remove cakes from pans after 10 minutes and cool on wire rack.

Pomegranate And Rosemary Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1/4 cup fresh pomegranate juice (made by running the seeds through a food processor and straining)
1 sprig rosemary
4 egg whites
1 cup castor sugar
300 g unsalted butter, room temperature
1-2 drops, pink food coloring (optional)

Over medium heat in a saucepan, simmer the pomegranate juice along with the sprig of rosemary until it is thick and reduced to approx 2 tablespoons. Remove the rosemary sprig and keep the juice aside to cool down completely.

Place the egg whites and sugar in a large bowl that is placed over a saucepan of simmering water (over low heat), and whisk continuously, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the bottom of the bowl is warm to touch

Remove the bowl from the heat and whip on high speed until meringue holds stiff peaks and looks glossy. The bowl should have completely cooled by now.
Add the butter, 2 tablespoon at a time, until thick and fluffy. If it begins to look curdled, continue to whip until it comes back together, before adding in remaining butter.

When the buttercream has come together, add the reduced pomegranate-rosemary juice and mix in till smooth and well blended. Add the pink food coloring (if using) and mix till you get the desired shade.

To assemble : Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or plate. With a large round nozzle, pipe buttercream kisses all over the cake. Place the second layer and repeat. Repeat with the third layer leaving room in the centre to place fresh pomegranate seeds. Decorate with fresh sprigs of rosemary.

Butterscotch Cake With Orange Sour Cream Glaze And Figs

26|02|2015

A delicious butterscotch cake that is topped with an orange sour cream glaze and decorated with fresh figs. Made in one bowl and tastes amazing.

In summer every year, I take on a new role. Not the one I enjoy but more like an involuntary participation. Traffic police! Yes, supervising refrigerator traffic! You don’t know what that means? Let me explain. During my growing up years in India, traffic on the roads was not controlled by traffic lights or signage. It was manually controlled and supervised by a human being..a policeman stationed in the middle of important roads. As scary as it sounds, this was how entire cities functioned. He would signal with his hands and typically all driver’s eyes would be glued on to his actions. He obviously had to be completely perfect and alert at his job or else I cannot even imagine the repercussions! On my way to school every day, I would pass a very stern looking traffic policeman on a busy intersection. My sister and me would wave at him and he obviously would never wave back. Thankfully, he didn’t. I find it quite funny though when I remember how silly we were.

So, summer time for me is about managing inventory, reading labels, organizing contents only to re-organize in a couple of days and of course, gaining weight. Where do you think the fridge contents will end up? Because I am a fresh produce freak who gets so carried away looking at the beautiful fruits and veggies, my refrigerator is loaded to the point of things falling out if you opened the door. And the situation is somewhat like this ‘ricotta out…cream cheese in’….nectarines for lunchbox….strawberries have made it. Yay!

On Monday, I came back with two boxes of fresh figs. Beautiful, ripe, delicious figs…you can’t be accused of buying FIGS, right? Even with a loaded fridge. We ate a few in a salad, then with yogurt. Then I told my husband ‘how can we eat beautiful figs without putting them on cake?’ And I made this Butterscotch cake. Butterscotch is my favorite flavor from childhood but we hardly come across it these days. To get the flavor into the cake, I have used golden syrup. Golden syrup is just so effective to get the caramel-ish flavor into a recipe. You could substitute it with honey, if you do not have golden syrup at home but the taste is not exactly the same. This Buttersctch cake is really easy to make and the batter comes together in one bowl. You could also enjoy it like a tea cake by adding dried figs or fresh pears into the batter and skipping the glaze. The texture is soft, moist and the citrus glaze gives it a nice punch. The figs are a lovely addition to the not-too-sweet cake.

Having said this, our Summer is officially over in less than a week. Makes me sad. But yes, I can do without this supervisory role for some time:-)

Butterscotch Cake With Orange Sour Cream Glaze And Figs
Serves 8

180 g butter, room temperature, softened
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3 eggs
1/4 cup golden syrup (or honey)
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
1/2 cup dried figs (optional)

Preheat oven to 160 degrees c.(140 degrees C for fan-forced). Grease a 19 cm round cake pan and line the base and sides with baking paper.

Place all the ingredients together in the bowl of your electric mixer excepting the dried figs (if using). Beat on low for 1 minute or until just combined. Beat on high for 3 minutes or until mixture is pale and thick. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean (cover cake with foil if over-browning during cooking). Stand cake in pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Once cooled completely, pour over the citrus glaze (recipe below) and allow to set. Serve the cake with fresh figs and grated orange zest.

Orange Sour Cream Glaze

1/4 cup sour cream
11/4 cup icing sugar,sifted
Grated zest of 1 orange (leave some for garnish)

Mix everything together in a medium bowl. Stir until well combined.