dessert Archives - Page 18 of 57

Baileys Glazed Doughnuts for Easter

13|04|2017

Baked chocolate doughnuts with a decadent Baileys Chocolat Luxe Glaze, topped with hazelnut praline and mini chocolate eggs. The perfect Easter treat for adults.

This year I’m hosting an Easter Brunch. Am I excited? I’m super egg-cited. Not only because I have a delicious spread planned well but more so because I am making sure my guests are totally impressed with my menu. Easter is a great time to have fun as a family but amidst the egg hunts, candy eating and bunny costumes, adults can sometimes feel left out of the loop. It’s a long weekend plus gorgeous autumn weather and a great occasion so every reason to indulge with food. Like always my menu includes plenty of make ahead dishes. Dessert of course, was a no-brainer!

When I need a true blue, blow-your-mind-off kind of dessert, I just have to turn to Baileys. Who doesn’t love Baileys? This time I decided to use the Baileys Chocolat Luxe liqueur. Rightly named, it is luxe, it’s dainty, it’s indulgent, it’s special and oh so amazing! Picture the fusion of Belgian Chocolate, Irish whiskey and cream in a liqueur. And then imagine this liqueur in your dessert (that is if you can stop yourself from not drinking straight away. Go on, I dare you to). Sheer pleasure!

I created a Baileys glaze (you could also call it ganache) that would be perfect on doughnuts. The idea is to serve something cute as well as cheeky for my adult guests. Because the doughnuts are baked and not fried, they are light and soft. Paired with the Baileys glaze, they are irresistible. A little sprinkle of hazelnut praline gives the doughnuts a delicious, crunchy bite. Then make them festive by adding a mini chocolate egg.

The great thing about this glaze is that it is versatile. Drizzle it on your pancakes, glaze muffins or mini cakes or even spread it on toast. It makes for a super luxe dessert sauce that can be stored for weeks in the refrigerator.

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you spoil yourself and others with great food and indulgent desserts.

Disclosure: This post is brought to you By Baileys. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Baileys Glazed Doughnuts
Makes 10 regular size Doughnuts

11/2 cups self-raising flour
½ cup cocoa powder
½ cup castor sugar
½ tsp baking soda
a pinch, salt
¾ cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Baileys Chocolat Luxe Glaze (recipe below)
Hazelnut praline (recipe below)
Mini chocolate Eggs (store bought)
Baileys Choc Luxe Glaze
½ cup heavy cream
120 g dark chocolate roughly chopped
½ cup Baileys Chocolat Luxe

Hazelnut Praline
1/3 cup castor sugar
2 tbsp water
½ cup hazelnuts (lightly roasted)

Method

Preheat oven to 210 degrees c (190 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Lightly grease a 6 capacity doughnut pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another medium bowl mix together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract and vegetable oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredient mixture and gently mix till smooth.

Place the batter in a large piping bag fitted with a round tip. Alternatively, you could fill up a zip lock bag whose tip has been cut off with scissors. Pipe out the batter neatly till about 2/3 full of each doughnut hole (as they will rise and become bigger in size).

Tap the pan a few times against your kitchen counter gently to release any air bubbles. Bake doughnuts for about 8-10 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them onto a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

Once cooled, dip the doughnuts in Baileys glaze. Let the excess drip off, then leave aside on a wire rack to set up. Top with hazelnut praline and chocolate eggs.

To make the Baileys Chocolat Luxe Glaze, place cream in a medium saucepan over low heat. Bring to a boil (do not boil) and immediately remove from heat. Add the chocolate and set aside for 10 minutes. Stir with a spoon to mix together until chocolate has melted completely and mixture is well blended. Pour into a bowl.

Add Baileys Chocolat Luxe and mix again. Let the glaze cool slightly so that it starts to thicken.

To make the Hazelnut Praline, line a large baking tray with baking paper. Place sugar and water in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and starts boiling. Using a pastry brush dipped in water, brush sides of pan to remove any sugar crystals. Increase heat to medium and boil for 5-6 minutes until caramel starts to form. Stir in hazelnuts, remove from heat and pour the mixture on to the prepared tray. Take extra care as the mixture is extremely hot. Leave aside until cool and hard.
In a food processor (or using a rolling pin and a zip lock bag), pulse the praline until coarsely chopped. Use to top desserts or add to truffles.

Plum Fools With Rosewater

30|03|2017

Don’t be ‘fool’-ed by the appearance of this dessert. It looks like one of those pretty, mousse like treats in a glass that take a bit of time and effort to make but not this one. A fool is nothing but a dessert where cooked, pureed fruit is folded into whipped cream or custard. Its a light, refreshing treat and depending on the type of fruit you choose, it’s like a celebration of that fruit because that is what you taste all through. No eggs, no flour, I’d say it’s a brilliant idea whoever came up with the thought. Plums are abundant since the last one month and the fruit is pulpy and juicy so Plum Fools were my first choice. And of course, consider this an an official announcement that I cannot live without rosewater so a few drops in my desserts here and there should come as no surprise to you.

If you notice, I’ve added a little yogurt to my cream to make it lighter and I quite like the taste of yogurt. To decorate the Plum Fools, I’ve added dried pomegranate seeds, smashed raspberries, edible rosebuds and edible violas. Feel free to add stewed fruit (because you will be stewing them in the process) as a topping, or chocolate chips or anything else you like.

Have a great-rest-of-the-week and weekend guys. We are getting ready for a lot of rain in the next dew days. Not happy but as always staying indoors and baking is never a bad idea either.

Plum Fools with Rosewater
Serves 5

3-4 ripe plums, stoned and roughly chopped
1/3 cup castor sugar
1 cup heavy cream/whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks and refrigerated until needed.
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 tsp rosewater
Dried pomegranate seeds, to serve
Fresh raspberries, to serve
Edible flowers, to serve

Place the plums and sugar in a heavy bottom saucepan over low heat (add a few tbsp of water if required). Simmer till plums have broken down and mixture has thickened. Puree the plums in a food processor and then return the puree back to the saucepan.
Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer till it is considerably thick ( and not watery). Cool to room temperature.

In a separate bowl whisk together the cream and yogurt. Add the rosewater and 3/4 cup of the plum puree. Gently fold in. Pour into serving glasses and refrigerate. Serve chilled with your favorite toppings.

Coconut And Raspberry cake

22|03|2017

Layers of Coconut and Raspberry Cake with a sweet-tangy, delicious cream cheese frosting and fresh raspberries. It’s easy to make and looks impressive.

This Autumn hasn’t been anything like I expected. Can I call it Monsoon because it has rained pretty much every single day since the last one month? Back in the tropics where I grew up, there would be a whole season dedicated to the rains called Monsoon. Rugby and Soccer matches have been cancelled for the boys for weeks and that means we have been indoors every evening. While it was a huge relief to escape the 40 degree plus temperatures of summer, I’m still waiting for the perfect picnic weather. The great news however is that we’ve still got beautiful summer produce at amazing prices and that means no dearth of inspiration. I know! I just can’t get past Summer and it’s bounty. Amidst my busy workload of new recipes for clients my heart has been craving Cake. I think this Coconut and Raspberry Cake is the first layer cake for the year. Quite shocking really for a person who loves making them. Now I don’t want to stop. It’s quite like therapy..helps me unwind and takes my mind off the stress of work and home.

I am personally not a big fan of coconut cakes but readers and my friends seem to love them. For me they are great when you want to bite into a bit of texture but you don’t want a nut cake. They are also pretty amazing when you pair them with other flavours. I have a few frosted coconut cakes on my blog already so I wanted this one to be really simple and more like a Victoria Sponge cake. But instead of cream we have a sweet-tangy cream cheese frosting, fresh raspberries and layers of coconut cake that are light like sponge. It is a great marriage of freshness and flavour.

Coconut and Raspberry Cake
Makes a 6 inch layered cake

180 g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup castor sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
11/3 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup milk

Cream Cheese Frosting
225 g full fat, cream cheese
50 g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups icing/powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees for fan-forced ovens). Lightly grease the base and sides of 3, 6 inch pans and line the bases with baking paper. Beat the butter and sugar together using a electric mixer (or an hand mixer) till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla essence. In a separate bowl mix together the self-raising flour, plain flour and desiccated coconut. Fold in the flour mixture and milk slowly into the egg mixture and mix till blended.

Divide uniformly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.Remove pans from oven. Leave aside for 5 mins, then turn cakes carefully onto a wire rack. Cool to room temperature. Once cool, frost with cream cheese frosting and top with fresh raspberries.

To make the Cream Cheese frosting :place the cream cheese and butter in a bowl and whip until smooth and blended. Add the icing sugar and vanilla essence and beat until light and creamy. Add more sugar, if needed.

Coffee Cake

11|03|2017

Coffee is one of those things that is indispensable to me. Of course, I’m not alone. My morning begins only when I’ve taken a sip from my favourite mug. Admittedly, I have been late in joining the coffee-drinkers club (only after I moved to Australia) but the love for coffee flavoured desserts dates back to my early baking days. It started with the first time I tasted mocha truffles and grew with the discovery of the Tiramisu. But this one is different. nothing fancy. You can call it a Coffee flavoured Coffee Cake.

This is a moist, not too rich cake with a strong taste of coffee which is what I was after. Unless there’s enough coffee flavour in there, you really can’t taste it. Then I am happy drinking coffee. Why bother adding it to a cake? So after a few trials I came up with this recipe that I was finally happy with (because you don’t want it to taste bitter either). It is quite easy to put together, actually everything is mixed in one bowl. To dress it up I just piped some whipped cream (that has also been infused with coffee) and topped the cake with chocolate shards. I think there is no better pairing with Coffee than chocolate. You can also glaze the Coffee cake with chocolate ganache if you don’t feel like making the chocolate shards. It’s delicious either way.

The Chocolate shards are not difficult to make. I am sharing a video that I found on YouTube. If you are making it for the first time, use a little quantity of chocolate to just have a go. Once you get a hang of it, you’ll find it hard to stop. It is a great way of dressing up your desserts and cakes.
Have a lovely weekend guys! I am so pumped up to bake with the weather cooling down bit by bit every day.

Coffee Cake
Makes a 6 inch round cake

1 tbsp heaped instant coffee powder
1/4 cup boiling water
125 g unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
11/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Grease the base and sides of a 6 inch round cake pan and line the base with baking paper. Add the coffee to the boiling water and mix till blended.

In a large bowl, whisk the butter together with the brown sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix well. Add the coffee, flour, Greek yogurt and milk and mix to combine.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface with the back of a spoon. Bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and leave aside for 10 minutes. Run a blunt knife around the sides of cake gradually to loosen it and turn it out on to a wire rack to cool.

Once cooled completely, decorate with sweetened whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa. Alternatively glaze the cake with chocolate ganache. Top with chocolate shards.