Tag: cake

07Feb

Gâteau au Chocolat

I think chocolate lovers like me are always in the search for the perfect chocolate cake. I know a lot of people try numerous recipes with often the same result: too sweet, too dry or not chocolatey enough. Sometimes you get all these disappointments in one cake! How many times has a chocolate cake enticed you because it looked so amazing, and then after the first bite you were filled with disappointment? I think my husband and I suffer even more compared to your average chocolate lover as we are both lactose intolerant so a lot of recipes are no good for us, and the substitution of cow’s milk with soy or almond milk loften leaves the cake dry as the substitutes do not have as much fat. So after a lot of trying and testing I am sharing with you a chocolate cake recipe that has become one of my true favourites. It is not your average children’s birthday cake, it’s a french recipe so by nature I feel it’s a little more refined. And it fits the saying “less is more”, and believe me reader I have this recipe ready on by Iphone’s copy and paste clipboard because
3 mins read
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28Nov

Chai spiced fruitcake

A British essential for the holidays is definitely a boozy fruitcake, they are everywhere this time of the year. The whole left side of the bakery aisle in my local supermarket has been transformed in the most amazing selection of dried fruits and citrus peel. I love dried fruits, I love booze and I certainly love cake but not fruitcake. Never been a fan of the traditional recipe and I reckon it’s because the ones I have tried in the past left me feeling underwhelmed, they were either too dry, too boozy or have a ratio of 95:1 fruit to cake, and that is just not the balance I am looking for. So I have adapted a family recipe to share with you a lovely spiced fruitcake. It is based on my grandmother’s orange cake recipe which was always an amazing treat when I was growing up and I’ve packed it (a good balance) with fruits soaked in Amaretto and chai tea, a drink which I have felt in love with recently and it adds an amazing mix of spices. Now as you can see by the pictures I lost my normal 20cm cake tin and had to use one
3 mins read
587 Views
06Nov

Mini apple and cinnamon cakes

Cinnamonn is a flavour I look forward to when Autumn arrives. Boy, do I love to sprinkle it everywhere: biscuits, cakes, puddings. So when October comes I start looking for recipes where I can sprinkle some cinnamon. Generously. Over here I am trying to catch up with a lot of things, since the baby’s arrival I have little time to be in the kitchen and that makes me a little sad. We would cook e-v-e-r-y day pre-baby but now the priorities have changed. I am still getting into the new routine (or lack of) and also trying to get used to making much simpler recipes that can be done in a short amount of time. The thing with babies is that they are unpredictable. When you think you’re putting them down for their usual 2hr nap and they only sleep for 20 minutes you kinda need a plan b. So I tried my luck with these cakes which are very simple and delicious. And if you don’t have a baby but have unexpected guests these are a good choice. Mini apple and cinnamon cakes (makes 12 mini cakes) 4 cooking apples 3 tbs lemon juice 150g cream cheese 1 egg 6
2 mins read
635 Views
14May

Banana cake with nut streusel

There was no big planning behind this recipe, it was a spur of the moment thing: I had very, very ripe bananas at home and had to do something with them. When you grow up in Brazil you learn that you wait for a banana to be over ripe before you eat it. In Germany however people think that because the banana starts to form those little black spots it is no longer good to eat. So I have a lot of bananas laying around because my German husband won’t eat bananas with the little black spot. I don’t get it, but what are you going to do? I looked through my recipe books and found an interesting recipe to use them up. It is adapted from Lecker Magazine. Super easy, delicious and moist. Banana cake with nut streusel (serves 12 slices) For the streusel: 85g butter, melted 100g nuts, chopped 125g flour 60g brown sugar 1 tsp cinammon Pinch of salt For the cake: 125g butter 100g brown sugar 1tsp cinnamon zest of a lemon a pinch of salt vanilla pod or a tbsp vanilla extract 3 tbsp flour + 100g flour 3 eggs 3 very ripe bananas 100g
2 mins read
700 Views
23Apr

Almond and pear upside down cake with salted caramel

I am not even joking: you have to make this cake. It took me three attempts to perfect this recipe and yeah I am proud of how it turned out. The inspiration for this recipe came after I made some waaaaaay too sweet peach upside down cake. Plus I made a massive batch of salted caramel sauce like a month ago and have been struggling to figure out what to do with it. I put them in nice little jars to give them out as presents, but they turned out too salty because I did not listen to Nigella’s advice about being too confident on the amounts of salt you add! So before making this cake I added a little extra golden syrup and sugar but if you follow her recipe you should be alright. Also I have heard that upside down cakes are better served warm but I found that when this one reached room temperature it was heaven: the sauce soaked into it and it got gooier and gooier (this my new favourite comparative adjective). Another life changing discovery that came about while eating this cake (life changes while you’re eating) is that pears are not as boring as I thought they
3 mins read
1009 Views
25Mar

Sweetcorn and coconut cake

I worked in a cafe for four months and I was in charge of cakes. The recipe below was one of the most popular at the cafe, never failing to get positive feedback from customers. It is stupidly easy to make, if you have all the ingredients ready it takes five minutes to get the cake batter ready. Funny thing is I never thought such a traditional Brazilian recipe could be such a success with Europeans, so let’s see what you guys think. And if you want to make a lactose free version you can substitute the milk for coconut milk, soy or almond. It is also gluten free! The measure you use throughout this recipe is the tin the sweetcorn came in, so don’t bin it! Sweetcorn and coconut cake 3 eggs 1 tin of sweetcorn ¾ tin sugar 1 tin of cornmeal or polenta ¼ tin of oil 1 ½ tbsp baking powder 1 tin milk ½ tin desiccated coconut (if you can use fresh grated coconut even better) 1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 2. Drain the sweetcorn and with exception of the coconut, add all ingredients into a blender and mix well. 3. Add the
2 mins read
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