“He who likes cherries soon learns to climb”
German Proverb
Cherry & Plum Crisp … could there be a simpler way to celebrate summer? It’s a wonderful way to make Mothers Day special too. I am thrilled to find stone fruit lining the shelves in the local bazaar already. The first week of May and I was pleasantly surprised {read giddily ecstatic} to find the plumpest, juiciest and sweetest of cherries here already!
“Straight from the Himalayas for you” announced the ever charming vendor, knowing pretty well I see through his charm. Knows pretty well too that I cannot resist stone fruit. Year after year we play the same game. In the end the love of stone fruit rules!
This year the crops been better. Sweeter too. Deep, red and SWEET, pitting means a blood red splattered kitchen. Coloured hands, dripping juice and the temptation to gobble up mouthfuls mark this beautiful season.
The hotter and hotter it gets, the more unbearably the mercury rises, the sweeter the fruit get.The irony of life. The good and the bad go hand in hand and all proverbs fall true. No pain without gain, lose something to get something … and life goes on!
The same rings true with being a mother too. Agony and ecstasy? I constantly turn to one of my favourite authors Erma Brombeck for comic relief. Be it for mothers or otherwise, she always has something uncannily true, something that hits a home run each time.As for mothers, there are quotes and more quotes from time immemorial. Everyone has their two penny bit about mothers. For some reason every word makes sense. It doesn’t even matter which side of the fence you’re on!
Back to our bake. Nothing much to it.Crisp, cobblers, crumbles are no rocket science. Let your palette guide you. Throw in what you like. My recipe is really a rough guide to get you to enjoy summer and make the most of the abundance of summer fruit.
Crisps are baked with the fruit mixture on the bottom with a crumb topping. The crumb topping can be made with flour, nuts, bread crumbs, cookie or graham cracker crumbs, or even breakfast cereal. Crumble are the British version of the American Crisp.
Summer is for stone fruit. So much and more you can do. ENJOY!!
[print_this]Recipe: Cherry & Plum Crisp
Summary: A cherry and plum crisp that is simple and delicious. A celebration of summer!
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
350g sweet cherries, pitted
200g plums, pitted, chopped
75-100g brown sugar {depending on how sweet or sour the fruit is}
50g almonds, chopped {optional}
Few drops almond extract
10g cornflour
Topping
25g oats
50g flour
30g almonds
50g butter
Fresh cherries to serve
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C. Place 6 ramekins on a baking sheet.
Filling
Place the fruit in a big non reactive/glass bowl with all ingredients and toss well to mix. Divide between 6 ramekins, pressing down gently to level out.
Crisp Topping
Place all ingredients except butter in bowl ofd food processor and pulse briefly in short intervals until a breadcrumb like mix is achieved.
Divide the topping between the ramekins to cover the surface. Gently press into place.
Bake for 30 minutes until bubbly and golden brown on top. If the top begins to get too brown, tent with a sheet of aluminum foil.
Serve warm or at room temperature. We are happy to have them chilled too!
Serve with cream, vanilla ice cream and fresh fruit.
“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.”
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Savarins. It was the Daring Bakers time of the month on the 27th. I missed posting. Missed not because I didn’t complete the challenge, but despite baking very early in the month, something didn’t quite work out right. I lost the steam to post it. Yet, as a part of this fantastic group, I have a larger responsibility so here goes. Better late than never I guess!
Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling! We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes!
Time to share something that didn’t quite work out right, yet was pretty to photograph. Also time to ponder why. You win some, you lose some. I often lose some but that doesn’t reach my blog. The amount I experiment at home gives me huge ground for failure. Thankfully you are not at that receiving end as who would like to read about the ones that went wrong?
I loved baking these. The dough seemed good too, maybe didn’t pass the windowpane test. They came out looking rustic pretty. I made half the recipe suggested. Even half made loads of mini savarins. Where did the problem lie? Not sure what I did wrong, and why things went astray, but the savarins refused to ‘drink up‘!
I soaked the little ones in an Orange Spice Tea Syrup, then filled the centres with pastry cream. Some were topped with balsamic strawberries and others with candied kumquats. They looked irresistible.
We ate them. They were OK. The kids didn’t ask for seconds immediately. Quite perplexed at the fate as they were rather dry inside. Maybe I should have dunked them in hot spiced tea syrup.
I reserved the larger ones for later. They went into a filter coffee syrup, hot this time, and I had plans for Tiramisu Savarin. I was sure I had figured out the issue. Sadly I hadn’t. The blighters didn’t drink up the coffee and get soaking good! For a paired pastry cream, I had lofty ideas. I added some espresso and homemade irish cream to the pastry cream and whipped up some delicious Tiramisu pastry cream.
Didn’t hit the ball out of the park. At all. The good bit was that I used the little savarins for a food photography 30 day exercise I was part of with Neel @ Learn Food Photography. So many savarins on hand ensured that I had something to shoot for 3-4 days! The above pictures explore depth of field {f2.8/f11/f22}. Today is the last day of the exercise. It was a fabulous learning experience.
Did I regret that the savarins failed? I did feel sad, but didn’t regret it. No! Baking is always a learning experience, this was just a little steeper! I might not try the recipe again since it was quite involved. You can view it here, and I am sure you will have better luck. A lot of Daring Bakers certainly did. Check them out here.
I have included the CrèmePatisserie recipe below, and balsamic strawberries too. It is one that I make in the Thermomix and it takes me all of 7-9 minutes. You can try making it the traditional way keeping the ingredients the same. It’s a yum recipe. I put it to good use on the Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Fallen Gateau. Was delicious!
[print_this]Recipe: Crème Patisserie
Summary: Simple, easy and delicious, a crème patisserie recipe which is very versatile. Pour it over desserts, add whipped cream to it and fill a cake, or pipe into choux pastry.
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes Ingredients:
CrèmePatisserie
200ml milk 2%
60g sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 tbsp {10g} cornflour
1 egg
150ml low fat cream
Balsamic strawberries
200g strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped {optional}
1 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
Method:
Crème Patisserie{can be made the day before}
Stove top method
Bring the milk to a simmering boil. Reserve.
Whisk the egg yolk and sugar with a wooden spoon in a big bowl until the mixture becomes pale and light. Stir in the flour slowly until it is thoroughly mixed with the egg mixture.
Pour the boiling milk into the mixture a little by little while whisking continuously to avoid curdling. Then stir in the cream until the mixture is well combined.
Transfer the whole mixture into a pot, with the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean, and heat it under low setting. Stir it constantly with the wooden spoon or spatula scraping the sides and bottom until it has thickened.
Once the custard has thickened, take it off the heat, and strain / pour it into a clean bowl. Cool, cover and chill.
Whip the low fat cream to soft medium peaks. Gently fold into chilled cream patisserie.
Thermomix Recipe
Place sugar and vanilla bean in TM bowl, and process for 30 seconds on speed 10. Add remaining ingredients, plus vanilla bean shell and cook on 90C/Speed 4 for 7 minutes {until thick}. Strain into a bowl immediately to cool. I chilled it overnight.
Balsamic Strawberries
Place all ingredients in saucepan and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the strawberries soften. Strain strawberries, transfer to bowl. Return syrup to pan and reduce to a thick syrup. Pour back over strawberries and cool completely. Can be stored in a jar in the fridge for 4-5 days.
“I put everything I can into the mulberry of my mind and hope that it is going to ferment and make a decent wine. How that process happens, I’m sorry to tell you, I can’t describe.”
John Hurt
Mulberry Strawberry Buttermilk Sorbet & Mulberry Jam! Here we go round the mulberry bush tree, and looks like I’m going to stay right under it! We’re enjoying a very short and very sweet mulberry season. I feel so inspired! Seems like it’s going to be mulberries all the way.
Mulberries are actually a good source of raw food protein, a rarity in the fruit kingdom. They are also a good source of magnesium, potassium, riboflavin, iron, calcium, vitamin C, and fiber. One of the mulberry’s greatest health assets is it’s high concentration of resveratrol, an antioxidant currently being studied for its effects on heart health.
The sudden mulberry distraction {maybe madness} arrived unannounced as usual. This post is more about the story around the fruit, than the sorbet or jam itself. The latter would barely spin a tale, though the sorbet recipe is a real winner!
A large number of us joined the very large hearted and talented Neel at Learn Food Photography to polish our photography knowledge and skills. A few of you might know that I am still very lost about the technicalities behind the camera and am a compulsive auto shooter.
So thanks to this 30 day exercise, we are down almost 3 weeks doing what we like to do best. That includes virtually meeting and interacting with a huge like minded community. {The photograph below is one of my favourite shots from last week.}
In addition to some serious photog learning, the interactions are also a huge take away. It’s fascinating to see how food photography can reunite folk from India to Mexico! Together we’ve played with light, angles, DOF, backgrounds, props, diffusers and so much more. Maybe you can catch bits in my photographs. You can see the sorbet in many different hues, from an early morning shot, to a rather deep pink late evening one. An enriching experience!
It was on the forum that I chanced upon a photograph of mulberries that Ozan from Turkey shared. That made me sit up. What happened to our mulberry season? Why didn’t I remember? Man Friday was immediately summoned and commissioned with ‘the mulberry task’.
He never fails…never!He soon brought me a bag of pretty, juicy mulberries, sweet as sweet could be. Morning saw me stirring mulberry jam! Nothing to the recipe. Just the berries with equal sugar, a vanilla bean, a dash of lime juice. I threw in some aged balsamic too. Simmered until soft over low heat, then cooked until it thickened somewhat. TADA! Jam! No pectin, nothing!
I get a HUGE bagful every alternate day. I’ve frozen some. Throw them into smoothies for the kids. A strawberry mulberry smoothie is beautiful. Then I wanted to make something I’ve waited long to make, a buttermilk sorbet. I added some mulberries instead of just a strawberry sorbet. Delightful!
This mixed berry sorbet is light, refreshing, summery and beautiful! I shot it in many different ways in the ongoing LFP exercise. It included styling – napkins, garnish, Pinterest inspiration etc. I got some right shots, and some very wrong. So much fun, and so much to learn.
It was three days of ‘mulberry shots‘! Another huge bagful came in this morning so the head is buzzing with mulberry coloured thoughts again. Any recipe suggestions are more than welcome. Hopefully I’ll have another mulberry centric post out this month!
Until then, please help yourself to really really refreshing and pretty Mulberry Strawberry Buttermilk Sorbet. The Mulberry Jam is quite sweet and makes for a nice addition in a berry dessert sauce, added to whipped cream into a fool, dolloped over breakfast cereal or slathered onto a warm buttery toast! I love cooking in season!
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Recipe:Mulberry Strawberry Buttermilk Sorbet
Summary: Sweet, tangy, refreshing, light, the berry buttermilk sorbet is addictive good. Great way to use summer berries. Makes about 1 ltr.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
200g mulberries, frozen
200g strawberries, frozen
150g vanilla sugar
2 tbsp kirsch
Juice of 1 lime
500ml buttermilk, frozen in ice cube tray {for Thermomix recipe}
Method:
Thermomix
Place all ingredients in bowl of TM and process at speed 10 for a minute at a time until pulverized to smooth consistency Use TM scraper to scrape down sides now and then.
Transfer to freezer safe bowl and freeze until desired {or serve immediately!}
Ice cream maker
Remove the stems of the mulberries if you like {I didn’t}
Place all the ingredients in bowl of processor and blend well until smooth. Taste and adjust sugar if required.
Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer instructions.
Recipe: Mulberry Jam
Summary: Sweet, simple and full of berry goodness, this is another great way to use the seasonal berry. Makes about 2 jars.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Ingredients:
500g mulberries
500g sugar
1 vanilla bean
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Method:
Pull out the stems of the mulberries.
Place the berries in a heavy bottom saucepan, crush them with the back of a spoon so that they release their juices. Bring to a simmering boil, then add the remaining ingredients.
Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook to desired consistency, about 15 minutes.
Transfer to sterilised jars. I refrigerated mine as I didn’t seal them.
“What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.”
Katharine Hepburn
A Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Fallen Cake adapted minimally from an Alice Medrich recipe. This gateau is like an ugly duckling, almost flourless cake, which gets dressed up to go out. Reminds me of a shakespearean tragedy as it bakes ; the rise and then the tragic collapse. Left ‘undressed’, it’s a moorish, rustic sunken cake, beautiful in my eyes. Barely any flour makes this cake more special.
The Mail Today, a daily in India, invited me for a photoshoot with some selected women home bakers in the National Capital Region. I was asked to carry something I baked for the shoot. It was a last minute thing, and I was all set to go out for an Old Delhi trek with my girlfriends, something we had long planned.
Considering I was the only ‘non commercial‘ home baker amidst all these very talented girls, the oldest among them too {dinosaur age…blah blah blah}, I thought I’d make something different. The Bittersweet Fallen Chocolate Gateau was it! It’s an adaptation of Alice Medrich’s earthy rustic style of baking. It really appeals to me.
One look and I thought it would be good; Alice Medrich never fails. Baked within an hour, it was done as I raced off to catch the metro into Delhi. On the train, I made mental plans on how to dress up the cake as I’d be home late, and the shoot was early the next morning. { Also made a teenie cake for home just we knew if it tasted alright}.
I had a batch of crème patisserie in the fridge. It’s always handy to have on hand. A L W A Y S! Fold in whipped cream to sandwich a cake with, pipe it into eclairs or profiteroles, serve it over cake or fruit, or then just make it into ice cream. So versatile, and so fun!
And there was also a nice little jar of balsamic vanilla basil strawberries in the fridge from the day I made Strawberry frozen yogurt. That would be UPLIFTING and would contrast nicely with the chocolate and crème patisserie. A few fresh strawberries on top, and a sprinkling of mint leaves and I knew I was set.
So simply constructed that I had time to spare the next morning. Thats when I got ambitious and made a dark chocolate lace border to embrace the cake. Once done, the hour drive into Delhi at 30C was not something I had taken into mind. Fortunately for me, the gateau survived.
Mail Todays ‘femail magazine’ editor is the very young and sweet Lipla Negi. Bubbly, energetic, considerate she effortlessly brought the group together. We were meeting each other for the first time, and within half an hour had hit it off.
It’s always nice to meet like minded folk. It doesn’t get better than a bunch of women home bakers I tell you! {The shoot took place at the beautiful Shiro, Samrat Hotel, New Delhi.With it’s signature high ceilings, majestic statues, stone and water interiors, an aura of splendour hits you as you enter.}
As for my Bittersweet Fallen Chocolate Gateau, it was special. Bittersweet chocolate is my first love, and into this gateau went a beautiful Belgian dark 72% chocolate from The Cocoa Trees. It’s one of 40+ varieties of premium chocolates they have on offer. They sent me a variety of dark chocolates to sample – Chocoholic Dark, Belgian dark 72%, Fry Extra Dark 85%, Cadbury Old Gold Dark Original & Old Gold Dark Peppermint. Chocolate heaven I tell you.
The Cocoa Trees is a chocoholic’s dream come true offering over 40 plus varieties of international chocolate brands which include the fine cocoa filled mouse from Ritter Sport, dark smooth chocolate of Anthon Berg, the unmistakable heavenly crunch of Ferrero, chocolaty pralines from Sorini, and many more. A Singapore based chocolate boutique store, The Cocoa Trees, offers a delicious spectrum of branded chocolates which cater to a variety of individual needs. Since its launch in 2011, the boutique store has expanded its presence with its launch of its two new stores at Nature’s Basket, Bandra and R City Mall, Ghatkopar. You can also find one at the Domestic Terminal {T3}, IGI Airport, New Delhi.
Each bar was of premium quality, and divinely delicious. The Cadbury’s Old Gold collection true to it’s name … exquisite. I enjoyed each one of them, deeply satisfying. I also enjoyed the quality it leant to my gateau. Your bake will only taste as good as what goes in.
Thank you The Cocoa Treesfor sending me this fine selection of dark chocolates. The promise of dark chocolate marries really well with strawberries. The Bittersweet Fallen Chocolate Gateau reflects my love of baked desserts, bittersweet chocolate and including fruit in almost everything I do. Thank you Mail Today for the generous feature. Last but not the least, thank you Urban Dazzle for the Cake Plate. I love it and use it often!
Summary: This rustic Bittersweet Fallen Chocolate Gateau is given a charming uplift with a chocolate lace collar. Crème Patisserie & Balsamic Vanilla Strawberries complete the dramatic look to make the chocolate experience even more special. adapted minimally from an Alice Medrich recipe.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour Ingredients:
Bittersweet Fallen Chocolate Gateau
100g bittersweet dark chocolate {72%}
175g granulated sugar {divided 100g + 75g}
120ml boiling water
50g cocoa powder
pinch sea salt
2 eggs, separated
pinch cream of tartar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
25g plain flour
30g almond meal
15ml kirsch
1 tbsp powdered sugar
Topping
100g low fat cream, chilled
Few sprigs fresh mint
Dark chocolate shavings
CrèmePatisserie {1/4 portion}
200ml milk 2%
60g sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 tbsp {10g} cornflour
1 egg
150ml low fat cream
Balsamic strawberries {1/4 portion}
200g strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped {optional}
1 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
Method:
Bittersweet Fallen Chocolate Gateau
Preheat oven to 190C. Line the bottom and sides of a 6″ or 7″ springform tin with baking parchment.
Place the egg whites in a clean bowl with the cream of tartar and beat to soft peaks. Add 75g sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Reserve.
Place the bittersweet chocolate in a large bowl and microwave for 1 minute to soften. Add the remaining 100g sugar and boiling water. Whisk until the chocolate has melted completely.
Add the vanilla extract and egg yolks. Whisk until smooth.
Add the cocoa powder, whisk in well.
Now add the kirsch, almond meal and flour. Stir in to mix completely.
Add 2-3 tbsps on the beaten whites to loosen the batter, then add the remaining beaten whites and fold in gently.
Turn batter into prepared tin and bake for about 30-35 minutes {mine took about 45 minutes} until a tester inserted into the centre comes out moist with a few crumbs hanging.
Cool completely in tin on rack.
Gently demold and sift powdered sugar over the top. Serve with cream patisserie and balsamic strawberries if desired.
CrèmePatisserie{can be made the day before}
Bring the milk to a simmering boil. Reserve.
Whisk the egg yolk and sugar with a wooden spoon in a big bowl until the mixture becomes pale and light. Stir in the flour slowly until it is thoroughly mixed with the egg mixture.
Pour the boiling milk into the mixture a little by little while whisking continuously to avoid curdling. Then stir in the cream until the mixture is well combined.
Transfer the whole mixture into a pot, with the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean, and heat it under low setting. Stir it constantly with the wooden spoon or spatula scraping the sides and bottom until it has thickened.
Once the custard has thickened, take it off the heat, and strain / pour it into a clean bowl. Cool, cover and chill.
Whip the low fat cream to soft medium peaks. gently fold into chilled cream patisserie.
Thermomix Recipe
Place sugar and vanilla bean in TM bowl, and process for 30 seconds on speed 10. Add remaining ingredients, plus vanilla bean shell and cook on 90C/Speed 4 for 7 minutes {until thick}. Strain into a bowl immediately to cool. I chilled it overnight.
Balsamic Strawberries
Place all ingredients in saucepan and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the strawberries soften. Strain strawberries, transfer to bowl. Return syrup to pan and reduce to a thick syrup. Pour back over strawberries and cool completely. Can be stored in a jar in the fridge for 4-5 days.
“I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.”
Ruth Stout
The Raspberry Pistachio Roulade captures the colours of spring nicely. It’s light, refreshing, moist and quick to make. Even better that you can make it ahead. I made it while experimenting with GF roulades. Made one with just almond meal and didn’t let it bake enough, so it stuck to just about everything in sight. I was really annoyed as I had baked in a hurry!
The word roulade originates from the French word “rouler” meaning “to roll”.
Sometimes you should just sit back and relax and bake with time on hand. Hurry does make curry and that’s just what happened. While the failed roll was baking, I got the filling together. The filling was finger licking good. {My earlier Gluten Free Strawberry Almond Roulade came out really well}
I did unroll the sticky roulade and dry bake it and served up some sort of Eton mess! Yet the filling played on my mind, so another normal Swiss roll was baked at leisure the next morning. The good thing was that the filling was ready!
So while the roll baked and then cooled, I spent the morning out with Coco in my little garden. While I was ‘shooting’ ladybirds, she stuck her nose into every tomato plant, tried to catch a butterfly or two, begged for a game of ball … she’s a little busy body!
I love this part of the year, spring as it should be, but a little muddled up. The weather really warmed up 2 weeks ago and we thought we’d skipped spring altogether.
Then some ‘western disturbances’ etc hit the area, some rain, scattered hail etc. It’s pretty much like Spring now. Whatever it is, it’s nice.
The plants are happy. Tomatoes are GROWING, Thai chilis’ full of flowers, eggplant and lime are in full bloom, and the kumquat tree laden again. The oregano sprigs have taken root and look quite happy, as does the mint. Dill and coriander play home to ladybirds and bees as the flowers on them bloom. Pretty all the way!
Pretty was the roulade too. Baked, rolled, cooled and ready to go, it got put together in a matter of minutes. I dressed it up with a little leftover cream and sprinkles prior to serving.
You could also use a berry preserve, maybe even a bitter marmalade. The filling was given a lift with some white baking chocolate that a friend sweetly sent, gifts like these a constant source of inspiration.
Pistachios went in for colour, and because I just love them! The good thing was that as the Raspberry Pistachio Roulade sat in clingwrap overnight, the cake and the pistachio nuts took in some moisture, the cake becoming beautifully moist. The nuts swelled up and added a nice texture to every bite.
You could just slather it with preserves and serve it for tea, fill it with whipped cream for a comforting dessert on the go, or give it an adult twist spiking the cream with your favourite liqueur. If you use kirsch, you could consider some balsamic cherries in the filling. Another good option might be Frangelico and Nutella, or maybe Kahlua and coffee cream. Let your imagination lead you.
The Raspberry Pistachio Roulade was plated on this classic white ceramic platter from one of my favourite online stores Urban Dazzle. It’s actually a snack platter that accommodates a dip or relish on the side quite nicely. I use it often, and this time it doubled up as a dessert tray! White always works!!
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Recipe: Raspberry Pistachio Roulade
Summary: The Raspberry Pistachio Roulade captures the colours of spring nicely. It’s light, refreshing, moist and quick to make. It’s a nice make ahead simple homey dessert. {serves 6-8}
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
Swiss Roll
3 eggs, separated
75g powdered sugar {50+25g}
50g plain flour
1 vanilla bean, scraped
Filling
150ml whipping cream
50g white baking chocolate
3-4 tbsp Castor sugar
30g shelled pistachios
75g raspberry fruit filling {or a fruit preserve}
Slivered pistachios and flower sprinkles for top
Method:
Swiss Roll
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a Swiss roll tin with parchment paper.
Beat the egg whites with 25g sugar to stiff peaks. Reserve.
In another large bowl, beat the yolks with the remaining 50g sugar until thick and mousse like. Add the scraped vanilla bean and beat again.
Sift the flour over the yolk mixture and gently fold in.
Next gently fold in the beaten egg whites in 3 lots.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with sliced pistachio nuts if you like.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes until light golden brown and firm to touch.
While this is baking, lay out a clean kitchen towel, bigger than the size of the tray, and sift sugar evenly over it.
Once the roll is baked {might look uneven but don’t worry. Mine was uneven, but came together quite fine}, overturn immediately {very carefully} onto the sugar sifted towel, and gently peel parchment off. Trim the edges if required.
Now roll with the towel lengthwise, and leave to cool completely. {The longer side will be the length of the roll}
Cream Filling
Place the white chocolate with 50ml cream in a heat proof bowl and run in microwave for 1 minute {until melted}. Stir until smooth, and then cool.
Beat the remaining 100ml cream and sugar until medium peaks form. Fold in the white chocolate mixture.
Assembling
Unroll the cooled cake, place on a sheet of parchment, and spread the raspberry fruit filling over it with an offset spatula.
Sprinkle over with chopped pistachios.
Sp
read the cream filling over it, leaving a little border right around to avoid the filling oozing out.
Now with the help of the parchment paper, roll it right back into a roll, pulling the paper slightly to make a tight roll.
Place seam down on clingwrap and chill for a couple of hours. {I left mine overnight}. Unwrap gently and lay seam side down on your serving platter.
Pipe over some left over cream filling, slivered pistachios and colourful sprinkles if you like.
Slice with a sharp serrated knife and serve! Happy SPRING!
“The beet is the melancholy vegetable, the one most willing to suffer. You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip…” Tom Robbins
A Dark Chocolate Beetroot Cake with Peanut Butter Filling seemed the best way to hide my gardens bumper crop of this earthy red vegetable. Veggies in my cakes are not new. I’ve made a Chocolate Beetroot Cake in the past, as also Tartines Zucchini & Orange Marmalade Tea Cake, and a Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake. However, the kids have grown up and are pretty much smarter now. They instantly pick the veggies out. More often than never, the poor beet gets the boot.
Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!!
Beets in soup didn’t work; the son hated the red even as my heart sang at the colour. Beets in veggie juice was given a thumbs down … “Do you have to Mama?“. Even the roasted beet salad that I love, didn’t work. Beet greens though went down happily in these Lamb & Beet Green Calzones.
Getting the veggies down isn’t as much a battle any more actually. The daughter LOVES char-grilled broccoli. Pizzas are made with a mushroom sauce, topped with an abundance of balsamic roasted thinly sliced veggies – bell peppers, onions, zucchini eggplant. Chicken and mozzarella play saviour! No one ever figures out what lies beneath!
Funnily enough, I made an absolutely delicious carrot cake in the first week of March. I hadn’t seen the challenge then. The veggies in that case were also home grown and not hidden in the cake. That was the best carrot cake we’ve ever eaten!
Obviously I was in sixes and sevens as I bravely made a beetroot cake. The Dark Chocolate Beetroot Cake wasn’t easy to ‘declare‘ and in many ways the fear was within me. I kept thinking of ways to make something good better!
The cake baked nicely in just under an hour. I contemplated filling and frosting, tossing peanut butter and chocolate in my head. Peanut butter frosting was new to me, but one suggested in the recipe. Chocolate ganache was safe, simple and always welcome.
I settled for both. Peanut butter frosting to sandwich the cake, and dark chocolate ganache for the top. It felt safe. I left a single slice for the lad, muttering that I made something in a hurry and he could have it if he wished. Came back to find both the slices on my cake platter which I had just set up for photographs gone! Crumbs!! He announced, “It was really good Mama. Was that peanut butter inside? Really nice cake!“
Day 2: “Is there any cake left Mama. Oh yum! It’s really nice you know. I never thought a peanut butter frosting would taste so nice”! Of course I contemplated {read forever} if I should let the beet cat out of the bag. Nah!! Decided against it. What they don’t know can’t hurt them, but the cake is going to be on the table often!
Do stop by here and check out some novel ways of hiding veggies in your baking the Daring Baker way! Thank you Ruth for the really novel challenge. Thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!!
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Recipe: Dark Chocolate Beetroot Cake with Peanut Butter Filling
Summary: A Dark Chocolate Beetroot Cake that is earthy, moist, dark and delicious. The peanut butter filling compliments the cake really well, and can be doubled if you wish to frost the top of the cake with it too. We did love the extra dark chocolate ganache lavished on top though! Minimally adapted from NZ Woman’s Weekly
1-2 tbsp chilled milk {if required for correct consistency}
Chocolate Ganache Topping
100g dark chocolate chips
100g low fat cream
1 tbsp honey
Grated chocolate for garnishing
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line the base and sides of a 7″ round baking tin.
Place the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract in a large bowl and whisk well with a balloon whisk.
Sift the dry ingredients together.
Mix the grated beetroot and chocolate chips.
Alternatively add the flour mix and grated beetroot in 3 lots.
Mix together lightly and place in the tin. Bake for an hour/ until a tester comes out clean.
Cool completely, then slice horizontally.
Peanut Butter Filling
Place all ingredients in a large bowl and whip until smooth. Add a tbsp or two of chilled milk to correct the consistency if required.
Also, taste and adjust sweetness if required.
Sandwich the cake with the filling.
Chocolate Ganache Topping
Place the dark chocolate chips, cream and honey in a heat proof bowl. Microwave 1 minute at a time until the chocolate has melted, stirring well each time. Whisk until glossy and cool a little. Pour over the cake.
Pipe rosettes of any left over peanut butter frosting on the ganache once slightly set, grate chocolate over the top if you wish. Enjoy!
