frosting Archives - Sugar et al

Caramel Cake with Caramel Condensed Milk Buttercream

2|03|2023

I don’t know which one I love more. The caramel cake or the condensed milk buttercream. Maybe I like the second one a tad bit more. If you’ve never tried condensed milk buttercream before, this is one frosting that is smooth, silky, not too sweet and very easy to make.

caramel cake with caramel condensed milk buttercream

There is no requirement for sugar, so a mess free frosting. The cake is dense, moist and rich as a mud cake should be. The flavour is absoloutely beautiful, tasting richly of caramel. The condensed milk buttercream reminds me of swiss meringue buttercream minus the hassle.

If you can’t find golden syrup which is quite an important ingredient in this cake, you could substitute with honey, however the cake will not taste the same. Golden syrup adds to the caramel flavour but the texture will be the same.

If you like caramel flavoured desserts, don’t forget to check out this Ginger cake with Salted Caramel poached pears.

Caramel Cake with Caramel Condensed Milk Buttercream
Makes an 8 inch round cake

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (198 g) unsalted butter, roughly chopped
7 oz (200 g) white chocolate, roughly chopped
1 cup (220 g) brown sugar
3/4 cup (180 ml) hot water
1 tbsp (15 ml) golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 cup (125 g) plain flour
1 cup (125 g) self-raising flour

Caramel Condensed Milk Buttercream
1 cup + 2 tbsp (255 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
7 oz (200 g/half tin) sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup caramel sauce (home made or store bought)

Make the cake : Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F/160 degrees C. Grease an 8 inch round pan and line the base with baking paper.

Place the butter, white chocolate, brown sugar, water, golden syrup and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat with a wooden spoon until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.
Add the eggs and both the flours. Beat until smooth and well combined. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 mins or until cooked through. Remove from oven. Turn onto a wire rack to cool. Once cool, first with caramel buttercream.
Make the buttercream, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add the condensed milk and continue to beat until blended and smooth. Add caramel. Beat until buttercream is glossy and thick.

Assemble : Place the cooled cake on a cake stand or plate. Using an open star tip and a piping bag, pipe swirls of frosting onto the cake. Slice and enjoy!

Easy White Chocolate Cake

24|02|2023

I think everyone should have a recipe for an Easy White Chocolate cake in their arsenal. When looking for a good white chocolate cake, I often come across mud cakes that are delicious but too rich and dense. For a long time I’ve been experimenting to come up with a cake where the white chocolate shines through but the cake is also light and not cloyingly sweet. I guess, I found the one!

The best part about this Easy White Chocolate Cake is that it comes together in one bowl. No melting the chocolate in a separate saucepan and no elaborate techniques. Just simple mix and bake.

To complement the beautiful taste of white chocolate, I’ve used a vanilla cream cheese frosting that is equally simple to make. If you are familiar with cream cheese frosting, you know how creamy and lovely it is. If you haven’t tried it yet, please go for it. It will become your go to frosting in the future.

The little chocolate decorations are there to enhance the colour and add another layer of white chocolate for the white chocolate lovers. You can get the silicone mold here.

If you love white chocolate, check out this White Chocolate and Strawberry tart
For tartlets are your thing try this Chocolate and Rhubarb tart

Easy White Chocolate Cake
Makes a 7 inch round cake

2/3 cup (150 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 g) castor/granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
11/4 cup (156 g) self-rising flour
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
3.5 oz (100 g) white chocolate bar, finely chopped

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz (113 g) cream cheese (not low-fat), room temperature
¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cup (150 g) icing/powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
purple gel food colour (optional)

White Chocolate Decorations

3.5 oz (100 g) white chocolate, finely chopped + pink gel food colour
OR
Pink chocolate melts

Make the White chocolate cake : Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease the base and sides of a 7-inch (18-cm) round pan with 3-inch (8-cm) height and line the base with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar mixture until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.

Fold in the flour alternating with the milk and mix until well combined. Fold in the white chocolate.

Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of a cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven. Leave it aside for 10 minutes, then gently run a blunt knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Carefully turn it onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the cream cheese frosting : In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth, about 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that the mixture is evenly mixed. Beat in the icing/powdered sugar, a little at a time until well incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and food colour, if using. Mix until combined and frosting is smooth.

Make the white chocolate decorations : Place the white chocolate pieces in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at low power for 20 seconds, remove and stir. Return to the microwave and repeat the process until all the chocolate has melted and has turned into a smooth liquid. Alternately, the chocolate can be melted by placing it in a heat proof bowl that is placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Add the gel food colour and mix.

Spoon the chocolate carefully into chocolate bar shaped silicone mold that is placed on a small baking tray or plate for ease of movement into the fridge. Place the mold in the fridge to set, about 15 minutes. Gently unmould and store in an air tight container in the fridge until needed.

Assemble : Once the cake has cooled to room temperature, pipe cream cheese frosting swirls using a piping bag fitted with an open star tip. You could also spread the frosting with a spatula if you don’t want to pipe. Decorate with mini white chocolate bars. Slice and enjoy!

Blackberry and Cardamom Sour Cream Cake

4|03|2019

It’s officially Autumn but I’m still not ready to let go of summer. I’ve spent the most part of summer overseas so I feel that I haven’t made enough treats with berries. Raspberries, being red somehow make way into a lot of my Christmas recipes and I use strawberries and blueberries round the year. Blackberries tend to be ignored! It’s sort of unfair as they impart the most beautiful and varying shades of pink/purple when cooked and used in different intensities. Ranging from light pink in a frosting to a deeper purple in cocktails, I am forever mesmerized by their addition. And how good do they look just as they are!

This cake is again a simple one layer cake but one that is very flavorful. A subtle flavour from the cardamom and a creamy sourness from the sour cream. Texture wise it is slightly denser than a regular cake but it melts in your mouth while the blackberries within the batter add a tangy burst to every bite. You could skip the buttercream and serve it like a tea-cake. It’s quite good on it’s own. Or if you’d like to experience some blackberry magic, go ahead with the frosting.

Blackberry and Cardamom Sour Cream Cake
Makes a 6 inch round cake

125 g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp powdered cardamom
300 g sour cream
1/4 cup milk (optional, if batter is too thick)
1/2 cup blackberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (140 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Grease the base and sides of a 6 inch cake pan and line the base with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer or by hand, beat the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flours and cardamom together. Fold in the dry ingredients, sour cream and milk (if using) to the butter mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Push the blackberries into the batter with your fingers. Bake in the oven for 60 – 70 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven, leave aside for 5 mins, then turn onto a wire rack to cool to room temperature. Once cool, pipe or spread blackberry buttercream (recipe below). Decorate with fresh blackberries.

Blackberry Buttercream

125 g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 and 1/2 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp fresh blackberry puree, strained
1 tsp vanilla extract

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Add the icing sugar, little at a time beating continuously until incorporated.
Add the blackberry puree and vanilla extract and beat until buttercream is smooth and well blended.

Blueberry and Lavender Cake

31|01|2018

I can’t seem to have enough of blueberries this season. These blue- purple berries are the easiest and a delicious way to decorate and flavour desserts.While I’m truely a fan of the entire berry family, I think blueberries are the most hassle free of the lot. No hull, no seeds just plain purple gorgeousness. If you didn’t know already they are high in antioxidants, low in calories and come with a number of health benefits. Lavender on the other hand comes from the same family as some of our popular herbs like mint, rosemary and sage. I absolutely adore lavender in desserts. it took me a while to master the right proportion and right pairings. You know the concept of ‘how much is too much’! It is so important. We don’t want a dessert that smells like soap.

Culinary lavender is available in quite a few stores as well as online in Sydney. I bought mine over 6 months now and it is till fragrant and very easy to use. I’ve made this cake a few times, with and without lavender. In fact I put it into my children’s lunchboxes without the frosting. Depending on the type or brand of yogurt I use, I’ve noticed a difference in the texture or rather thickness of the batter. A very thick batter is generally not what I’m after. So in that case, a little milk helps to lighten it up. You will notice that I’ve mentioned that in the recipe.

Overall, it’s a simple cake with great results. The lavender adds a beautiful , subtle aroma to the cake (almost like Earl Grey) whilst the blueberries add a moist, flavour packed bite within the cake. You could skip the buttercream and just serve the cake with a drizzle of icing sugar. I have to admit, this is one of those cakes that I look forward to having with my coffee every now and then.

Blueberry and Lavender Cake
Makes a 6 inch round cake

150 g unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup self raising flour
200 g Greek yogurt
1/4 cup milk (optional, if batter is too thick)
1 tsp culinary lavender
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Grease the base and sides of a 6 inch round baking pan and line the base with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, or by hand beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add half the flour and half the yogurt and fold to combine. Add the remaining flour and yogurt and milk (if batter is too thick.)
Stir in the lavender and blueberries and just fold one or twice to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven. Leave aside for 10 minutes. Slowly turn out cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, frost with lavender frosting and decorate with blueberries.

Lavender Frosting
1 tsp culinary lavender
2 tbsp milk
125 g unsalted butter, softened
11/2 cups icing sugar
A tiny bit of mauve food coloring gel

Place the lavender and milk in a microwaveable cup and microwave on low until it is about to boil (do not boil). Remove and leave aside to infuse for 1-2 hours. Strain the lavender buds and reserve the milk for the buttercream.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter till pale and fluffy. Gradually add the icing sugar, a little at a time and continue to beat till incorporated. Add the lavender infused milk and beat to combine. Add the food colour if using, and mix till fully incorporated.