hazelnut Archives - Page 2 of 3

Mandarin and Hazelnut Cake

31|08|2018

One bowl Mandarin and Hazelnut cake. Easy to make, moist, nutty and delicious.

It is the last day of winter here in Australia! Am I sad? No way, I’m too excited for Spring. The roads near my house are a treat to the eyes with cherry and apple blossoms trees plus huge magnolia flowers in full bloom. The end of winter in Australia is also a great time for some beautiful citrus fruits like the giant Sumo Mandarins that could give the navel oranges serious competition by it’s sheer size. I love cooking with these mandarins because not only are they way easier to peel and very flavorful, they are 100% seedless. Slicing them through the middle horizontally, makes them look like bright little flowers. So an effortless fruit needed an equally effortless recipe to go with it.

If you’re a fan of Mandarins like me, feel free to add small and big chunks of flesh in the batter before pouring into the pan. And of course, you don’t have to stick to hazelnuts, use any nut of your choice. It tastes delicious with almonds and pistachios as well.

Mandarin and Hazelnut Cake
Makes an 8 inch round cake

125 g unsalted butter, roughly chopped
1 cup castor sugar
2 eggs, lightly whisked
2 cups self raising flour
2/3 cup hazelnut meal (ground hazelnuts)
1 tbsp finely grated mandarin zest
1/2 cup mandarin juice
3/4 cup milk
Orange marmalade, home made or store
2 large mandarins sliced horizontally, to serve

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Grease the base and sides of an 8 inch round cake pan and line the base with baking paper. In a large saucepan, over low heat melt the butter. Remove from heat and leave aside for 10 minutes. Add the sugar and eggs and whisk till blended. Add the self raising flour, hazelnut meal, zest, juice and milk and mix to combine.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes to an hour or until fully cooked (a skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean). Remove from oven. Leave aside for 5 minutes. Gently, turn onto a wire rack. Poke holes all over the top and spread with orange marmalade. When ready to serve, decorate with sliced mandarins. Best served warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Chocolate Hazelnut Friands with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

22|03|2018

I am really excited today for a multitude of reasons. First, because this post involves chocolate and I am posting a friand recipe after a long time. They are a super favourite treat of mine. And secondly because I have guest posted for the first time. I have blogged for 5 years now (where has time flown by) and it’s nice to do something different.

Kankana from Playful Cooking is not only a talented photographer but also a busy Mum like me. Despite that she manages to come up with food that makes you want to eat your screens, week on week. Her images are a visual treat! So you can check out the guest post and the recipe for these Chocolate Hazelnut Friands on her beautiful blog.

Hope you enjoy them and have a great weekend everyone!

Hazelnut and Chocolate Chunk Friands (Financiers)

16|08|2014

Financiers or friands as they are known in Australia are a great way of using up egg whites. Personally, I find it hard to decide between a meringue based dessert and a friand if I happen to have egg whites at home. I love making and eating both immensely. The deciding factor ultimately is whether or not I want to use my electric mixer. Friands are simple to make with a few ingredients and can be put together with just a bowl and a whisk. But that is not really the reason why I love them. Friands use nut meal, ground nuts as a core ingredient. Therefore they have a nutty flavour and a crunchy bite to them which is so addictive. And textures are an important part of my recipes.

Though friands are relatively heavier on the butter as compared to a muffin or an unfrosted cupcake, they are truly a treat. The crispy exterior and nutty buttery centre is open to many different add-ins…fruits, chocolate, coconut, nuts and so on. Any ground nut works which means you have so many permutations and combinations to choose from. For me, chocolate and hazelnut are made for each other. In this case, big chunks of chocolate melt in your month as you bite into a warm crunchy hazelnut pastry. I love to use my oval friand moulds to bake these but they result in about 6 big ones that are a bit too much for my little ones to eat. I used a regular muffin pan that yielded 10 friands.

Hazelnut and Chocolate Chunk Friands (Financiers)
Yields 10

6 egg whites
180g butter, melted and cooled
1 cup (100g) hazelnut meal
1/2 cup (75g) plain flour
1 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture
1 tsp vanilla essence
100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped into small and big chunks

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease or line a 12 capacity muffin pan with paper liners.
Combine the egg whites, hazelnut meal, icing sugar, flour and vanilla essence in a large bowl. Add the butter and stir to combine. Add half the chocolate chunks and stir to combine
Pour the friand mixture evenly among the prepared pans. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chunks over each friand. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Set aside for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Eat warm or at room temperature.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Praline Mousse

8|06|2014

When I think of posts for my blog, there are a few things that drive my decision. Amazingly enough , the driving factors have changed from the time I started out about a year ago. In the beginning, it was primarily recipes. Some favourites, some I had developed by simply playing with ingredients and many that were inspired by fresh produce, cookbooks, blogs I followed, trends and so on. Today, though recipes continue to form the crux of my inspiration, there are other aspects that come to play while I consider a post. Styling, colours, photography, individuality, what my readers, pinners and followers want from me. I find myself constantly experimenting and that is probably what makes blogging so exciting. A lot has changed but a few things haven’t. Some constants. Like Chocolate.

It is no secret how much this blog loves Chocolate. I can never be short on inspiration with Chocolate as a cooking ingredient. When I buy chocolate, I have a hundred ideas about why I need it. When I melt chocolate…another hundred recipes racing through my mind. Often I start with a single recipe and end up with two recipes. Then I photograph them in at least more than one way (like I’ve done here). There is something mesemerizing about Chocolate…the look, the feel, the intensity. I love photographing Chocolate desserts as much as I enjoying cooking them.

I have used my favourite mousse base for this recipe that uses egg yolks. I don’t think I have much to say about the taste. With Chocolate and Hazelnut Praline together in a dessert, there’s no doubt how indulgent this would be. The texture is intensely creamy with crunchy bits of praline within the mousse. Top them with cherries, berries or shaved chocolate and you have an impressive dessert in your hands.

Talking about Chocolate, I am delighted to connect with Chocolate lovers all over the world through Roxana’s lovely Chocolate Party where Chocolate is paired with different ingredients. This month Chocolate has been paired with Hazelnuts and if you are equally excited, do check out all the creations by other bloggers here.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Praline Mousse
Serves 4

For the Praline:
100 g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
100 g castor sugar
1 tbsp. water

For the Dark Chocolate Mousse
½ Cup heavy cream
4 Egg Yolks
¼ Cup Sugar(or to taste)
3/4 Dark Chocolate, chopped
1 Cup Heavy Cream, whipped to stiff peaks
Maraschino Cherries, to serve

For the Praline :Heat the sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan without stirring until it caramelises and turns a golden colour. Add the hazelnuts and pour the praline mixture onto a sheet of greaseproof paper. Take care as the mixture is extremely hot.
Allow the praline to cool to room temperature. Using a rolling pin smash the praline into small pieces.

For the Chocolate Mousse: Heat the ½ cup cream over medium heat in a saucepan.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl till light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). When the cream reaches boiling point take it off the heat, add it to the egg mixture slowly, whisking constantly. This is done gradually so as to ensure that the eggs don’t scramble on pouring the hot cream. Return the egg-cream mixture to the pan.

Heat the mixture under a medium-low flame, again whisking constantly till the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. The mixture will resemble a thick custard.

Place the dark chocolate in a bowl. Remove the custard from heat and pass it through a sieve into the bowl of chocolate. Let the mixture remain undisturbed for a while. Stir to smoothen out the chocolate. Cool to room temperature. While the custard is cooling, whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream to stiff peaks. Store in the refrigerator till needed.

When the chocolate mixture has cooled down completely add it to the whipped cream little at a time & fold in till no white streaks appear. Gradually fold in the crushed praline. Pour into serving glasses. Refrigerate till set, about 4 hours or preferably overnight. Garnish with shaved chocolate or fresh fruits. Serve cold.