Gluten Free Chocolate Cake- Annabel Langbein

For some reason I just can't seem to get the motivation to post on my blog. I'm still baking but because life is so busy and at times chaotic, blogging is the last thing I feel like doing. However one of the things I love about this blog is that I have a record of some great recipes that I use all the time. This is one of those recipes I don't want to forget about so here it is! As I have said over and over Annabel Langbein is one of my favourite cooks. This recipe is so easy and so satisfyingly good! Yesterday was Dons birthday and as she is gluten free, this was the cake Harry and I chose to make for her. We served it with the most delicious and incomparable Lewis Road Creamery Cream and strawberries (imported as they are out of season here). This cake is rich and dessert like so it really helped having the strawberries to cut through the richness of the cake. Apparently it lasts for ages....I'm taking some to ballet tonight to share the love so I don't think it will last for too long here.

Gluten free Chocolate Cake

• 250g best-quality dark chocolate, chopped
• 2 tbsp brandy
• 2 tbsp strong, hot black coffee
• 200g butter, chopped
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1¾ cups ground almonds
• 6 eggs, separated

Preheat oven to 170°C. Line the base and sides of a 23cm-diameter springform cake tin with baking paper (I just greased the sides and lined the base).

Combine chocolate, brandy and coffee in a pot over a low-medium heat and stir until the chocolate has melted. Add butter, sugar and vanilla and stir until butter has melted. Remove from heat and stir in ground almonds. Lightly beat egg yolks and stir into the chocolate mixture.

Place egg whites in a large, clean bowl and beat to firm peaks. Stir a big spoonful of beaten egg white into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, then fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Spoon into prepared tin and bake until risen and set (about 55 minutes). The cake will still be a little gooey in the centre. It may look a little cracked as it develops a crust and can be quite fragile, but this is normal.

Cool completely in the tin, then transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with chocolate shavings, if using. It will keep in an airtight container for more than a week and also freezes well.  

Harry's cake decoration with strawberries making up a love heart

Harry and Mama with his thoughtful present to her

Buttery Orange Cake and a Looooonnnng Break

I know it has been months and months since I posted. If I am to be totally honest my blogging mojo has kind of waned a bit. I have still been baking and even taking photos but when it comes to sitting down and actually focusing on blogging about it I just haven't had the motivation or desire to do so. So I figure that maybe I have to change tack and aim to still blog but do so less frequently? Who knows? All good intentions maybe? It doesn't help that life seems so busy...I think that is the working mothers cry internationally. I'm lucky I have a much older son who, at 16 years old, is pretty independent, but my 9 year old is still dependent and as he dances 3-4 times a week as well as ballet competitions etc etc our lives are pretty much taken up with all of that. 

Anyway I whipped this cake up for work on Waitangi Day for those of us working on a public holiday while the rest of NZ enjoyed the sunny day, which explains the paper towel and very average photos...taken on my phone before it all disappeared. However this cake was anything but average. I loved the texture and the flavour. I didn't glaze it like the recipe said and instead iced with some orange cream cheese icing to use up half of a container of cream cheese before it expired. 

Buttery Orange Cake

250g unsalted butter, softened

2 Tbsp orange rind
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1/2 c plain flour
¾ cup (180ml) orange juice 

METHOD

Preheat the oven to moderate (170°C/150°C fan-forced). Grease a deep 23cm round cake pan, line base with baking paper (I used a 20cm square tin).

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined between additions. Fold in sifted flour and orange juice in 2 batches. 

Bake about an hour.

Ante Turns 1! The Very Hungry Caterpillar.....

Ante turns 1

Very hungry caterpillars waiting for their cake

Amazing cake made by Bex (Ante's mum)

Harry, Holls and Grayson

Dons

Marcel and Bubba

Bex and Ante

Jack- now a black belt in Karate

Jules

Dion and Tia

Jimmy

Jen

Fiona and Kiwi

Tarn and Beau beau

Kiwi and Billy

Tam and Jimmy

Selfie with the sister in laws

Mons and Cooper

Our most precious nephew Ante turned one the other week and we got to celebrate it on a beautiful sunny day with all the whanau. The theme was The Very Hungry Caterpillar and his mum Bex made the amazing cake. I whipped up some cupcakes and after doing a search online I found these cute little fondant caterpillars. I think my ones turned out pretty well.

Baking for Nightshift- Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

This is one delicious banana cake. I have to say I am not a big fan of banana cake at all, in fact it's my least favourite flavour. However I have made this a few times since I found this recipe. What I like about it is that it's a pure and simple and unadulterated banana cake with no frills, spices or additions. AND it tastes great....that could have something to do with the fact that sitting on top is a layer of cream cheese icing maybe? It makes a big cake which is made in a tray tin so although it isn't tall it's certainly big enough. You can find the recipe here. The girls at work that night loved this cake and one of them adores banana cake so surely that has to some sort of endorsement?

Oma's One and Only Dutch Apple Tart- Chelsea Winter

OMG have I got a ton of stuff to blog about. In fact no doubt I will have forgotten where I got a recipe from it's been so long since I have made it! I'll do my best to remember but I really can't promise anything. Life for our household is pretty full on. With working shifts full-time (and having 6 weekends in a row), my boys being at school and all of that routine, trying to keep on top of housework, varying other commitments and all of Harry's dance stuff there is precious little time for anything else. While I always talk about having people over for dinner or lunch, the reality is that we barely see anyone socially. Time for a change.....she said.....famous last words I think!

Anyway I made this delicious and easy tart/cake for my recently bought Chelsea Winter cookbook. For those NZ Masterchef followers out there, you will know she won it last year. I can't say she was my pick and I can't even remember what converted me to liking her but regardless of what it was she is actually a very good and accessible cook. Her book is well worth it and if you have a Facebook account 'like' the page. You might find yourself a convert like me! This recipe is really yummy and would make a good afternoon tea cake or a simple dessert.

Oma's One and Only Apple Tart (Chelsea Winter 'At My Table')

5-6 medium apples (I used Braeburn and Granny Smith)
1 Tbsp each lemon zest, lemon juice and cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp grd ginger
1 Tbsp sugar
150g butter, slightly softened and cubed
200g sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
220g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp milk
1/2 c blueberries
2 Tbsp apricot jam
1 Tbsp boiling water

Preheat oven to 160 C fan bake (or 180 C). Grease a 20cm springform tin with butter and dust with some flour (tip out the excess).

Peel and core the apples and cut into segments (cut into quarters then again 2-3 times). Put into a bowl and add the lemon zest, juice, cinnamon, mixed spice, ginger and the 1 Tbsp sugar. Mix well to combine and coat the apple and set aside.

Cream the butter and second measure of sugar together until thick and pale. Add the eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Add the flour and baking powder and mix until just combined then mix in the milk. You will have a thick creamy batter.

Spread and thin layer of batter in the base of the tine. Gently place a ring of apple slices very close together all the way around the inside edge of the tin, lightly pressing them down. Put the 'fat' end of the apple towards the outside of the tin.. Repeat with another layer inside each previous ring until the batter is totally covered with apples. Pour over the lemony liquid (I barely had any) over the apple. If there is a lot only put over half. Scatter over the blueberries. Put the remaining batter over the top and spread as best you can do. Repeat with the apple slices.

Bake about 1 hour or until golden, puffy and set in the middle.

Make a glaze with the apricot jam ad boiling water and brush all over the cake.

Do not store in the fridge.

Passionfruit Macarons

No recipe here just photos. With Harry being sick for the last 3 days I have been stuck in the house. Although I have made sure to do a lot of sorting etc, I have done a bit of baking to keep myself sane. I thought I would have another go at macarons as these are notoriously fickle and I have had some hits and misses in the past. I made these ones with a creamy passionfruit centre using my freeze dried passionfruit. All I can say is that I think they look pretty good and I love the little 'feet' I managed to achieve. AND they taste fantastic too!

Baking for Nightshift- Chocolate Mud cake

In the last Canvas magazine was a selection of Chocolate cakes by Donna Hay. So far I have made two of them (the next one to be posted once I photograph it). I find her recipes a bit hit and miss sometimes. I love her photography and food styling however so still subscribe to her magazine on the ipad even though I rarely cook from them. Both of the cakes I have tried have been right off with the timing. In fact this one I baked for a full 20 mins less and I feel it was still a little overcooked. It was, however, rich and delicious and very easy to make. It's probably more suited to a dessert as it could have done with some cream on the side but the girls still managed to eat it all over the busy night shift we had. As you can see in the photos above the ganache was still pretty runny but who cares....chocolate is chocolate is chocolate!

Chocolate Mud Cake

250 g butter, chopped
200 g dark chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 c milk
1 1/2 c caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 c plain flour, sifted
1/4 c self raising flour, sifted
1/4 c cocoa, sifted

Preheat oven to 150C and lightly grease and line a 22 cm non stick pan.

Place butter, chocolate, milk, sugar and vanilla in a pot over a medium heat and stir until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

Add eggs and whisk to combine. Pour into a large bowl and add the flours and cocoa and whisk until smooth. Bake about an hour but check after 50 mins or so until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool completely in the tin.

Either dust with extra cocoa powder or else ice with ganache for an over-the-top chocolate hit.

Ripe's Quinoa Fruit Cookies

I know you are looking at these photos and wondering what the hell I made these for. I know they look pretty ugly and unappetising but looks are deceiving as these biscuits are pretty bloody delicious. You can even justify eating them because the are reasonably healthy....except for the butter. Quinoa seems to be the next best thing and rightly so for it's health benefits. I only made half the recipe and got about 20 good sized biscuits out of it so the whole recipe would give a pretty good yield. The uncooked quinoa gives them a lovely crunch and the mix of dried fruits and flavours makes them taste like a zhooshed up Anzac biscuit. Yummy!

Quinoa Fruit Cookies (Ripe Recipes- A Fresh Batch)

1 c quick cook rolled oats
1 c wholemeal flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 c quinoa, uncooked
1/2 c desiccated coconut
1 c sultanas (I used raisins as I prefer them)
1/3 dried dates, finely chopped
1/4 c dried apricots, finely chopped
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp hot water
180 gm butter, melted
3 Tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 180 C and line baking trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl combine oats, flour, sugar, spices, quinoa, coconut and dried fruit.

In a medium bowl dissolve the soda in the hot water. Whisk in the melted butter, golden syrup and vanilla. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.

Place heaped tablespoons onto trays leaving space for them to spread. Flatten lightly with a fork.

Bake 10-15 mins until golden. Remove from the tray and cool on a rack.

Baking for Nightshift- Chocolate and Banana Brownies

I haven't been baking much for night shift as I have been so busy with just living life and being a working mum. When I have baked it has been something I have made before so I haven't blogged about it or else I have taken photos and then waited so long I have forgotten where the recipe was from. I saw these on a blog I follow called Baking Makes Things Better which is  NZ run blog now attached to Food TV. The site is not too bad....mostly I find it's a bit basic, but I sometimes find a recipe I want to give a go and this one I saved a while ago for when I had motivation and some over ripe bananas. I'm not a huge fan of banana cake and I often have lots of ripe bananas due to the fact that in our household three out of the four of us will only eat a banana when it's almost green. As soon as it goes yellow we aren't interested. Thank goodness for the Yonanas!

Anyway this is yummy. It has a rich chocolate taste and a slight banana flavour. Delicious and easy to make and well worth making again. 

Chocolate and Banana Brownies

175g dark chocolate
175g butter
150g brown sugar
2 medium sized bananas
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
100g self raising flour
2 teaspoons cocoa
¼ cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

Preheat your oven to 180°C.  Grease and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.

In a large saucepan over a medium heat, melt the chocolate, butter and sugar together, stirring until smooth.  Once melted and mixed together, remove from the heat.
In a bowl, mash up the bananas roughly with a fork (I like to have chunks of banana in the brownie).  Add the eggs, bananas and vanilla into the chocolate mixture and stir until well mixed.

Sift in the flour, cocoa and chocolate chips (if using) and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30 – 35 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin before cutting into squares and serving.

Caramel, Apple and Raisin Scrolls

Yum yum yum yum yum! The actual name of this recipe started with the word 'Quick'. I have to say that while they weren't overly time consuming one thing they weren't was quick. There are a few components like cooking the apples, making the caramel/nut topping, the butter filling and the scones. Then the putting everything together. However if you like sweet you will like these. they were delicious on the day and are still delicious today. I found I need to melt the butter a bit for the filling to get it to a more spreadable consistency, and add a bit more buttermilk to the scone  mix as I find a pretty wet scone mixture makes them so much more tender. As well as that take my advice and use a tall tin (or a normal sized cake tin). Mine was shallowish and some of the caramel bubbled up and over in my oven making. I used a 20cm square tin as I don't have a 24 cm tin....that will have to be the next thing I purchase I think. I got the recipe from Dish Magazine on the Facebook page where they post a baking recipe every Friday and knew I would try it the very next day when I wasn't working so here it is for those of you who don't have Facebook.

Caramel, Apple and Raisin Scrolls

2 apples, peeled and sliced ½ cm thick

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon caster sugar

Base

¼ cup melted butter (60g)

½ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

½ cup roughly chopped nuts, I used pecans (they used hazelnuts)

Filling

3 tablespoons butter, very soft but not melted

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup raisins, finely chopped

Dough

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice (I used buttermilk as this is what I had and I used maybe 1/4 more)

3 cups plain flour

3 tablespoons caster sugar

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease a 24 cm square cake tin and fully line with non-stick foil, bringing it right up the sides of the tin. Take care not to pierce the foil.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C.

Melt the butter in a sauté pan and add the sugar and apples. Cook for about 8 minutes until the apples are soft but not falling apart. Set aside to cool.

Base: Combine the butter, sugar and maple syrup in a bowl then spread evenly into the base of the tin. Scatter over the nuts. Set aside.

Filling: Place all the ingredients in a bowl and beat until combined. 

Dough: Stir the milk and lemon juice together and leave for 10 minutes. This makes a quick buttermilk.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the milk, butter and vanilla and pour onto the dry ingredients. Combine with a fork to make a shaggy looking dough.

Tip onto a lightly floured bench and gently bring the dough together. Roll out to a 20 cm x 40 cm rectangle. Don’t over-work the dough or the buns will be tough. 

Spread the soft filling evenly over the dough and place the apples in a single layer over the top. Starting at the long side, roll the dough into a log. Cut into 12 even pieces and place cut side down in the tin.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed and golden and the caramel is bubbling up around the edges. 

Place a piece of baking paper then a plate over the top and invert the buns, taking care not to get hot caramel on you. Remove the foil. Serve warm