Tag: sweet

Chocolate Berry Wine Gateau … a delicious, indulgent GF cake this Christmas

“Cake is happiness! If you know the way of the cake, you know the way of happiness! If you have a cake in front of you, you should not look any further for joy!”
C. JoyBell C

Chocolate Berry Wine Fallen Gateau … because when a smooth, indulgent dessert wine arrives, you have to do something special with it. These were thoughts that ran through my head when the well packaged bottles of Bellissima and Rosa Rossa arrived from Big Banyan.

With Christmas around the corner, my flavours and colours were pretty much sorted out. I knew what I wanted to bake. It was going to be a flourless fallen gateau, it was definitely going to have dessert wine, and the top would have strawberries. Well it all kind of fell into place. I had bought a ton of strawberries a few days ago and planned to make a preserve. Then along came dessert wine. Why not a strawberry wine jam?

With winter here, spices are part and parcel of almost everything I do, so I settled for a spicy Strawberry Wine Jam. The cake came out deliciously wicked. It’s great on toast and in lindzer cookies, fabulous to make dark chocolate truffles with, and makes for a much appreciated holiday gift as well. Strawberry jam is the easiest to make. You basically just cook it down to a nice chunky consistency, discard the whole spices, and bottle the jam. Dollop it over waffles, ice cream, onto parfaits, over breakfast oats … you will love it!

Jam done. That was so easy. When the jar of wine jam says time for cake, it’s time to bake!! This is one of the simplest gateaux you can bake. Don’t get misled by the long list of ingredients. It comes together really fast and is a fuss free, chocolaty, fudgy gluten free cake. The ingredients should all be good quality because that’s what makes the cake special. Dessert wine and spiced strawberry wine jam added oodles of oomph to it. Subtle undertones of sweet strawberry and a hint of wine make this special. It’s called a fallen gateau because it rises quite normally while baking, then collapses most dramatically.

I love the crater the so called collapse causes because that becomes ‘ground‘ for filling. An ugly duckling, rustic cake, moorish to boot, gets a snazzy dressing up. Christmas is here so it’s red, white and green. Chocolate pairs really beautifully with wine and fruit, so this was going to be a winning combination. The almond cream added further indulgence. Then came the ruby red, bursting with flavour, spicy strawberry wine jam topping that was literally the icing on the cake.

Did I forget to mention the chewy meringue top studded with pistachios? Yes, you can taste that as well as you savour every rich bite of this chocolaty wine goodness. It might seem tempting to skip the step, but I urge you not to. It’s small things like this that add to the final delight. We loved every little detail of this cake so much, I am going to bake it again soon. I have to give the wine full marks. I’d heard the buzz about the wine here and there, and it more than lived up to our expectations. I might not be a connoisseur, but yes, can tell a good wine.

The dessert wine glowed a beautiful gold, while the Rosé  blushed a beautiful cherry pink. I am quite partial to sweet dessert wines. The Bellissima was my first love with sensual smooth hints of apricot, pears, walnuts and raisins; so exotic in my opinion. Like liquid gold. Rosé got the better halves vote. With the acidity just right, whiffs of freshness and smooth flavour, this wine was good! I couldn’t stop clicking the wine. It added great festive cheer to my food and frame. As I have learnt, if the ingredients are good, you love the process, and then turn out amazing goodness. This is just what happened.

Do serve some wine with the Chocolate Berry Wine Fallen Gateau. It completes the experience!

Recipe: Chocolate Berry Wine Fallen Gateau

 

A deeply indulgent, satisfying flourless {read gluten free} dark chocolate cake that celebrates the best of the holiday season. Sweetened with dessert wine and strawberry wine jam, festival baking doesn’t get better than this Chocolate Berry Wine Fallen Gateau with a strawberry wine jam topping. A cake for Christmas! Serves 8-10

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes {plus cooling time}
Ingredients:

  • Strawberry Wine Jam
  • 400g strawberries, diced
  • 100ml Big Banyan Dessert Wine
  • 75-100g brown sugar
    Juice of 1 lime
  • 2 star anise
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 4-5 cloves
  • Chocolate Berry Wine Fallen Gateau
  • 250g dark couverture chocolate
  • 100ml Dessert wine
  • 35g strawberry wine jam
  • 3egg yolks
  • 3 egg whites
  • Pinch cream of tartar
  • 175g brown sugar {100+75g divided}
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 50g almond meal
  • 25g pistachios, blanched, peeled
  • Strawberry Wine Jam Topping
  • 100g cream, chilled
  • 25g icing sugar
  • 3-4 drops almond extract
  • 100gm strawberries, quartered
  • 25g brown sugar
  • 2 tsp strawberry wine jam

Method:

  1. Strawberry Wine Jam
  2. Place all ingredients in a heavy bottom sauce pan, and simmer gently for about 30 minutes until the strawberries are soft and the consistency is a little thick and jam like. {It will thicken a little more as it cools}
  3. Cool, discard the whole spices and transfer to a jar.
  4. Chocolate Berry Wine Fallen Gateau
  5. Preheat oven to 180C. Line the base and sides of a tall 7″ round spring form baking tin with parchment paper.
  6. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl and microwave for 1 minute on high, until the chocolate has almost melted {else melt over a double boiler} Stir until smooth, and then stir in the dessert wine and strawberry jam.
  7. Beat egg whites with 75g brown sugar and cream of tartar to stiff peaks.
  8. Place egg yolks with remaining 100g brown sugar and vanilla extract and whisk to mix. Whisk n the melted chocolate-berry mix. Fold in the almond meal.
  9. Reserve 1/2 cup of the beaten egg whites for topping if desired.
  10. Add 2-3 tbsp of the beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture and fold in gently. Add the remaining beaten egg whites in two lots, gently folding into the batter so that the air is not released.
  11. With an offset spatula, spread the reserved beaten egg white mixture over the top of the cake. Sprinkle over the pistachios.
  12. Bake at 180C for approximately an hour, until done. The cake will fall as it cools.
  13. Cool in tin until cooled completely, then gently peel off parchment and transfer to serving platter. {I cooled it in the fridge overnight as I find the flavours mature really well. Take out of fridge half an hour before serving}
  14. Top with whipped almond cream, and strawberry wine jam topping {Recipe follows}
  15. Almond whipped cream
  16. Whip the cream with icing sugar and almond extract until medium peaks form. Fill the fallen gateau cavity with it.
  17. Strawberry Wine Jam Topping
  18. Place quartered strawberries in a heavy bottom pan with brown sugar. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until the strawberries just begin to soften. Add the wine jam and stir well until the topping is nice and glossy, a minute. Cool and chill. {Can be made a day ahead}
  19. Note: Is a great on parfaits, ice cream, fresh waffles etc too

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Orange Almond Chocolate Gateau … as delicious as cake can get

“You have a slice of cake and what it reminds you of is someplace that’s safe, uncomplicated, without stress.
Jeanne Ray

Orange Almond Chocolate Gateau, actually as delicious as cake can get. These are flavours that really gel well together, bring out the best in each other, and are quite easily available. Simplicity is the best and this is a fine example of just that. I don’t bake layered cakes very often now. More often than never it’s a birthday in the family that spurs me into action. This was the case here too.It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and even though I wanted to bake a coffee something {like I always do}, I was at my laziest best. As a last minute thought, I whipped together these Ginger Jaggery Wholewheat Tea Cakes and have to say that they were quite the best wholegrain cakes I have made. What made them great was the combination of flavours. They screamed comfort, the spices painting the air. Orange was a great addition there. Here as well….

Oranges of all sorts are falling off carts that line the city roads, the local hybrid, keenu, one of the best. The odd cartloads filled with local farm fruit are also making an appearance . Less glossy than their city cousins, yet they are tangy and juicy. I bought some the other day, the local or ‘desi’ variety. I also had keenu in the fridge, glossy, juicy and very rind worthy! And then, last but not the least, the little kumquats. That’s a lot of citrus these days, so citrus is the cake was a given.The other flavours just fell into place as I normally do sponges on the go. Any flavour that comes to mind {often coffee}, or then a seasonal flavour that I can use. I was thinking cinnamon or pie spice but the cartloads of oranges changed my mind. Almond meal of course because I love the flavour so and it pairs really well with almond. And finally dark chocolate ganache for the frosting, since it’s the easiest way to go when you have no time {and are as badly organised as I am}.

The only brainwave I caught was to add orange flavour to the ganache and it tied up the flavours beautifully. Talk about good luck! You could use orange zest as I did, or maybe an orange liqueur like Cointreau if so inclined. I dare say that a kumquat liqueur might work some magic in there too, truly making it a sinful dessert cake. Try it; you’ll love it!

I also shot a step by step of sorts using the ASUS ZenFone2 Laser that was sent to me to review since I love food photography, and it boasts of great camera specs. Well, I put it to test while baking & assembling the Orange Almond Chocolate Gateau and was pleasantly surprised with how well it captured the process. Here’s a step-by-step {well almost}, as I threw the cake together at supersonic speed. You can see how well it took images in low light as I began baking the sponge quite early in the morning when winter light is very low. The entire collage was shot with the ASUS ZenFone2 Laser which houses a 13MP primary camera with auto focus {really good}, and has wide view with LED flash. The good folk also sent me a ‘Lolliflash‘ which is a handy, sweet little accessory that improves the quality of low light photos.

Recipe: Orange Almond Chocolate Gateau

Summary: The Orange Almond Chocolate Gateau combines the best of flavours, each complimenting the other beautifully. The gateau is moist, bursting with fresh flavour and quite indulgent. It’s a great party cake. Serves 8-10

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:

  • Almond Orange Sponge
  • 6 large eggs {or 7 medium}
  • 225g granulated sugar
  • Zest of 2 oranges
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 115g plain flour
  • 35g almond meal {or almonds}
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 15ml clarified butter
  • 4-5 drops almond extract
  • Orange syrup
  • Juice of 2 oranges
  • 25g sugar
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
  • Filling
  • 400ml cream
  • 50g sugar
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • Frosting/Ganache
  • 200ml low fat cream
  • 125g dark couverture
  • 1 tsp Cointreau or zest of 1 orange
  • Slivered almonds, orange slices for topping

Method:

  1. Almond Orange Sponge
  2. Preheat oven to 180C. Line 2 8″ loose bottom tins with parchment.
  3. Run the flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt in food processor to blend well, and loosen. Reserve.
  4. Place the clarified butter with almond extract in a heatproof bowl and heat in microwave for 30 seconds, until melted.
  5. Place the eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with a hand beater for 7-9 minutes until tripled in volume and mousse like. Add the zest and vanilla extract, and beat again
  6. Fold in the plain flour mix in 4 lots, gently so that the beaten air is not released.
  7. Fold in the clarified butter blend.
  8. Divide the batter into prepared tins. Bake for approx 45 minutes until tester comes out clean, and light golden brown.
  9. Turn onto cooling racks, peel off parchment immediately  and leave to cool. Slice horizontally into 2 layers each.
  10. Orange syrup
  11. Place ingredients in heavy bottom small sauce pan. Simmer gently until sugar melts and syrup thickens slightly. Discard vanilla bean.
  12. Orange cream filling
  13. Place all ingredients in big bowl. Whip on high speed until medium high peaks form.
  14. Ganache
  15. Place chocolate and cream in heatproof bowl and heat for 1 minute in microwave {or melt over a double boiler}
  16. Assemble
  17. Sandwich the layers of the cake with the orange cream filling, painting each layer first with the orange syrup.
  18. Frost all over with the chocolate orange ganache, sprinkle slivered almonds over, and orange slices f desired.

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Ginger Jaggery Wholewheat Tea Cakes #inspiredbaking

Ginger Jaggery Wholewheat Tea Cakes. These were delicious little babies. Light, warm, spicy, moist and just right for the season. This time around no chocolate. They were still divine; apt for holiday baking which should be in full swing now!The folk from Asahi Kasei, a Japanese brand, sent me a selection of Cooking Sheet or silicon coated parchment paper, Premium Wrap {popularly known as Saran Wrap in the US} and Frying Pan Foil to use. The products are being marketed in India and it’s really nice to see how good the quality is.  While the cooking sheet or parchment caught my eye, it was the frying pan foil that had me fascinated. Silicon coated on one side, it fries, or rather cooks, without oil, making food  a lot healthier especially for people who are diet conscious or need to avoid oil. Obviously the easiest way to experiment was to fry an egg. Felt like child’s play. The Frying Pan Foil required no oil, cooked the egg sunny side up to perfection, and it slid off like a charm. Magic! And guess what, no wash up as the pan stayed clean. The Premium Wrap is really good quality too. Essentially it is Saran Wrap, the most popular plastic wrap in the US, and the best selling one in Japan. I have tried different varieties of cling wrap here locally. This one was markedly different; has the same Saran Wrap mark of quality. It’s great to freeze food in, wrap half cut fruits etc in to refrigerate, as also to use in the microwave. In my kitchen it’s a wrap for bread or cookie dough, or for left over salad. Use it and experience the feel.  Screams quality.

Then came time for what I use the most, baking parchment or Cooking Sheet as it is called at Asahi Kasei. Really good quality parchment, silicon coated on both sides which prevents the food sticking to it. I had bookmarked these little tea cakes from Cookaroo. Instead of using Nordic ware mini bundt tins for the whole batch as initially planned, I used a combination of dessert rings and a bundt. The sheets turned out as good as can be. Nothing stuck, clean peel off – a JOY to use.

The good thing about these cooking sheets is that they work really well in the microwave too. You can steam marinated fish with vegetables, maybe just vegetables in a light marinade,  or interestingly even cheese and sesame crackers! Like all Japanese products, the whole range is top on quality and easy to use. I love the bright cheerful packaging too.

Back to the bakes. I changed the recipe as I went along. Made it whole grain, added pie spice and the zest of an orange and everything came together really well. These are best served warm from the oven, though can be reheated before serving.  A drizzle of unsweetened single cream makes them more special. Next time, I might add walnuts to the recipe, maybe dried cranberries.


Recipe: Ginger Jaggery Wholewheat Tea Cakes

Summary: Light, warm, spicy, moist, delicious and just right for the season, these Ginger Jaggery Wholewheat Tea Cakes come together in next to no time. Serves 6-8

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 135g jaggery granules {or jaggery, chopped fine}
  • 45ml honey
  • 30ml water
  • 1tsp dried ginger powder {saunt}
  • 1 tsp pie spice {or cinnamon or 1/2 tsp garam masala}
  • Zest of 1 orange {or 1/2 tsp orange extract}
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 175g wholewheat flour {aata}
  • Dried orange crystals or demerera sugar for sprinkling over

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with parchment and lightly grease 5 mini cake molds, {or line one 6-7″round baking tin}
  2. Place the jaggery, butter, honey and water in a heatproof bowl. Heat in microwave for a minute, until the butter has melted. Whisk well with a balloon whisk until the jaggery and butter have combined.
  3. Add the ginger powder, pie spice, orange zest, vanilla extract, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk well to mix.
  4. Whisk in the eggs one by one. Now fold in the whole-wheat flour gently.
  5. Ladle into prepared tins, sprinkle over dried orange crystals. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until risen and light golden brown {40-45 minutes for a larger cake}. Use tester to check if done.
  6. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then gently loosen sides to demold. Serve warm as is, or with a drizzle of unsweetened single {low fat} cream.

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Flourless GF Mini Dark Chocolate Layered Cake

“When you celebrate, there is sure to be cake.”
Florence Ditlow

Flourless GF Mini Dark Chocolate Layered Cake … it was a cake that was meant to be a Swiss roll. As it often happens, there was a last minute change as it popped out. Wasn’t sure if it was malleable enough to roll, the dessert rings caught my glad eye. Before I knew it, I was stamping out circles to create the sweetest mini layered cake I have ever made!

So if your skills at baking are minimal, if you are scared the sponge might crack up and laugh at you, if you are a sucker for punishment like me and insist that cakes must be dark chocolate and flourless, here’s the perfect answer. STAMP IT OUT! Being experimental at times can throw up the most amazing of options.

Whoever said that dark chocolate is the only therapy you need, is a 100% spot on! This is the prefect little sweet treat, big enough for 3-4 servings, small enough to control temptation. Blink and it’s gone; but oh my, leaves you satiated with quite a happy feeling in the tummy.

I also did a festive version of the cake, Chocolate Sparkler Cake {GF} for this months Diwali issue of Femina, with DIY steps and all. This version had rose petals and pistachios and was  great fun to put together.

Recipe: Flourless GF Mini Dark Chocolate Layered Cake

Summary: Deep, intense, chocolaty and sinful, this Flourless GF Mini Dark Chocolate Layered Cake makes for a creative and fun holiday bake.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:

  • Flourless Chocolate Cake
  • 130g dark chocolate
  • 2 tbsp orange juice or water
  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar, divided
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Mousse filling and frosting
  • 100g dark chocolate
  • 200ml cream
  • 15g raw sugar {boora} or icing sugar
  • Garnish
  • Fresh mint leaves, seasonal fruit, cocoa powder

Method:

  1. Flourless Cake
  2. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
  3. Melt the chocolate with orange juice {or water} either over a double boiler, or in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Leave to cool.With an electric hand beater, beat the egg whites and 1 tbsp brown sugar in a large clean bowl until stiff peaks form. Reserve.
  4. Place egg yolks and remaining sugar with vanilla into a big bowl. With the same beaters, beat yolks until tripled and mousse like, 5-7 minutes.
  5. Drizzle in the melted chocolate and gently fold in, and then add 2 tbsp of beaten whites. Fold gently so that the beaten air is not released.
  6. Gently fold in 1/3rd of the egg whites, then another third, then the remaining whites.
  7. Turn batter into prepared pan. Bake at 180C for 18-20 minutes, until firm to touch.
  8. Take out of oven. Sift over 1 tbsp cocoa thick, and then swiftly yet gently turn the warm cake onto a sheet of parchment paper. Peel off lower parchment gently, and sift more cocoa over it.
  9. Allow to cool, and then cut into shapes. 3 X 4.5″ circles and 3 X 3″ circles. {use a cookie cutter, doughnut cutter, katori etc}
  10. Mousse filling and frosting
  11. This can be made first so that it chills while the cake is being made.
  12. Melt chocolate with 50g cream over a double boiler or in the microwave. Whisk until smooth. Cool completely.
  13. Whip remaining cream with icing sugar. Fold into chocolate mix gently. Leave to chill in the fridge. The mousse should be quite firm, yet spreadable.
  14. Assemble
  15. Place one 4.5″ circle in base of tin top with 1/2 layer of mousse filling, top with next layer, mousse filling, then third layer. Repeat for smaller circles.
  16. Place bigger stacked layer on serving platter and gently remove the ring mold using a sharp knife to free the sides. Use 2/3rd of the remaining mouse to frost the cake, and then top it gently with the smaller cake stack. Frost the smaller cake with remaining mousse and leave to chill for 30minutes.
  17. Chocolate Lace Collar
  18. Cut out parchment paper borders to fit around the base cake. Place the melted chocolate in a ziploc bag and snip off a corner. Doodle designs over the border and place flat in the fridge for 5 minutes until just set but malleable. When just about to set, place snugly around the cake, pressing into place ever so gently.
  19. Leave the cake in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes for the chocolate to harden, and then gently peel off the parchment.
  20. Sift the cake with a little cocoa powder. Garnish with sliced strawberries and fresh mint leaves.
  21. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Sweet Potato Pound Cake with salted butter caramel sauce

” Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”
George Eliot

Sweet Potato Pound Cake with salted butter caramel sauce.  Autumns here. There’s a nip in the early morning air, and the nights are getting cooler each passing day. The weather’s changing and suddenly earthy, warm, spicy feels good. I love the way one season gives way to another, inspiring you to move from one ingredient to ingredient, light spices to moorish ones. Fall is in the air. With it cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace all dance in the air with heady aromas.The tin of pumpkin pie spice calls my name come October. It’s a strange connect and a warm one too. Felt like a Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting was to be baked again. I did shift gears suddenly. All thanks to a rather late discovery over the past couple of years, the sweet potato. This very humble root vegetable, earthy, flavourful, unassuming, surprisingly sweet and quite delicious, offers immense possibilities.Sweet potatoes are also a quintessential part of Old Delhi, especially in winter. Street carts piled high with sweet potatoes roasted in coal, that taste is quite unparalleled, best enjoyed then and there. Chopped up and tossed in lime juice and a typical chaat masala, or spice mix, I don’t bother recreating that at home. It’s the ambiance of the old city that adds to the flavour! So at home it is often a salad, tikkis, oven roasted fries {absolutely delicious}. Then 2 days ago, this cake happened. I tried to keep it a whole food cake – sweet potato puree + brown sugar + whole wheat flour + homemade sweet butter. An experiment with fingers crossed. An experiment off an earlier wholegrain pound cake recipe. You will notice optional walnuts in the ingredients listed. I was never really sure how edible the cake would turn out to be, so I skipped them. It turned out unexpectedly delicious. Moist, full of flavour and even better the next day. Was even good cold out of the fridge. An earthy rustic treat!The deep dark salted butter caramel sauce made a good experiment better! That I am addicted to it is all the fault of the Cookaroo. She swears by this sauce from Smitten Kitchen and is never far from deliciousness. It’s  fabulous to store in the fridge. Drizzle over just about anything to add to the oomph. Reminds me  of the chewy taffy that the nuns used to sell at the tuck shop at school in Bangalore. Also of the gooey insides of the 5 Star bars that fascinated and tempted the sweet tooth when young.  The salted edge is what makes this sauce a winner. Must warn you that it is very addictive, and can burn the greedy tasters tongue. Pairs beautifully with cakes and especially fall flavours – pears, apple, pumpkins,walnuts …

Did I forget figs? With fall here, the produce is changing. Exciting times ahead as far as food goes. I am having a field day literally! With the camera my trusted companion, this cannot be a better time of the year for moody shooters like me. From buying up sweet potatoes like there’s no tomorrow, to foraging wild figs {goolar}, autumn is keeping me busy.

[print_this]Recipe:  Sweet Potato Pound Cake with salted butter caramel sauce

Summary: Sweet Potato Pound Cake with salted butter caramel sauce. A whole food cake – sweet potato puree + brown sugar + whole wheat flour + homemade sweet butter. The cake turned out unexpectedly delicious. Moist, full of flavour and even better the next day. Even good cold out of the fridge. An earthy rustic treat!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • Sweet Potato Pound Cake
  • 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 200g brown sugar
  • 250g sweet potato puree {I boiled and mashed 2 small ones}
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4tsp baking soda
  • 150g whole wheat flour
  • 50g walnuts, chopped {optional}
  • Deep dark salted butter caramel sauce
  • 200g granulated sugar
  • 70g salted butter
  • 60g low fat cream

Method:

  1. Sweet Potato Pound Cake
  2. Grease well 1 X 6″ and 2 mini heavy duty bundt tins {or a 7″ spring form tin}
  3. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  4. Place butter, sugar and sweet potato puree in  a big bowl and beat well at high speed until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
  5. Beat in vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and baking soda.
  6. Beat in eggs one by one.
  7. Fold in the walnuts if using, and whole wheat flour in 4-5 lots.
  8. Turn into prepared tins.
  9. Bake at 180C for 35-40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
  10. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out gently onto a rack to cool.
  11. Pour over about 1/2 cup of salted butter caramel sauce, and top with walnuts if desired.
  12. Deep dark salted butter caramel sauce
  13. Place the sugar in a deep heavy bottom saucepan and melt over medium low heat until dark amber. Swirl around if needed.
  14. Add the cream and butter together. Be careful as it will splutter at first before it comes together. Stir to combine. Pour into a jug once warm else store in a jar. You might need to heat it gently before serving as it tends to harden in the fridge. {Can be made ahead}

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Dark Chocolate Cream with Coffee Panna Cotta

“As long as there was coffee in the world, how bad could things be?”
Cassandra Clare

Dark Chocolate Cream with Coffee Panna Cotta. OK, it’s another ‘dessert in a glass’, yet another panna cotta, chocolate again, and coffee all over again! That’s the combination that rules my world, makes me happy, is a comfort fix, is uber indulgent too. To top it off, it’s a quick make ahead dessert that everyone enjoys a lot. Justifies it a bit, right?

If you’ve never made a panna cotta, maybe the time is now. Since I’ve shared panna cotta so often before, this is going to be a short post.  If you love it as much as I do, then you know what I mean. We’re on the same page. Play around with the recipe to suit your palette. If coffee is not your thing, then maybe do a dark chocolate vanilla version. Or one that we really enjoyed equally when I did one with the bitter orange marmalade. That was phenomenal too.

Just penning these words has given me a whole bunch of new ideas. What is you favourite way to a panna cotta?


[print_this]Recipe: Dark Chocolate Cream with Coffee Panna Cotta

Summary: Indulgent and ever so pleasing, this Dark Chocolate Cream with Coffee Panna Cotta offers a match made in heaven. Set in glass goblets to enjoy its visual appeal! The dark chocolate cream on it’s own is quite indulgent too.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes {plus setting time}
Ingredients:

  • Dark Chocolate Cream
  • 300ml low fat cream
  • 125gm dark chocolate, chopped {I used 70% couverture}
  • 25ml honey
  • 25g good quality cocoa powder
  • 10ml Kahlúa {optional}
  • Coffee Panna Cotta
  • 300ml low fat cream
  • 125 ml whole milk
  • 2 tsp gelatin
  • 1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee powder
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar {use slightly less first, then adjust as required }

Method:

  1. Dark Chocolate Cream
  2. Place the cream, chocolate and honey in a large heat proof bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, stir until smooth.
  3. Whisk in the cocoa powder and Kahlúa if using.
  4. Place 6 wine glasses at a slant in a loaf pan, and pour the chocolate mixture into them. Leave these to set in the fridge for 2-3 hours till they hold shape.
  5. Coffee Panna Cotta
  6. Sprinkle the gelatin over a 1/4 cup of milk and place the bowl over hot water for gelatin to melt.
  7. Bring the cream, sugar, coffee powder & remaining milk to a simmering boil over low heat, simmer for 5 minutes.
  8. Take cream mixture off heat, whisk in the gelatin until mixed uniformly. Adjust sugar if required. Cool to room temperature and then pour over the set dark chocolate mousse.
  9. Chill until set for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Top with dark chocolate curls dusted with cocoa powder.

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