Baking | Coconut Lime Cakes

I couldn't be bothered to document this recipe as 1) I wasn't well and B) I didn't have time and 5) It was a test that I didn't expect to work but it did etc...

This recipe made 18 small cakes (fairy cakes or cupcakes).

I overfilled the cases as they were foil cake cases. I find the foil cases challenging as they continue to cook the cakes after removing from the oven, but they do hold moisture well and look nice. So I overfilled them so they were more substantial and harder to dry out.

8oz recipe again, 

INGREDIENTS:

8oz Self Raising Flour

8oz Butter

8oz Eggs 

(Which was 3 Large Free Range British)

6oz Desiccated Coconut

Juice and Zest of 2 Limes

1 tsp Baking Powder

The icing was lime, no coconut.

I added 2oz butter, juice and zest of 1 lime and about 8oz Icing Sugar to a bowl and whizzed with an electric hand mixer until thick, light and fluffy. 

I used a fork to dollop icing onto the cakes as it's quicker than piping!

I made them on Sunday and they were still perfectly moist today (Tuesday) and I imagine they will be ok for another 2 days. Just keep them in an airtight container in a cool place but NOT in the fridge.

Recipe | Raspberry Tiramisu

 

Recipe to follow…!

Beetroot Chocolate Cake (Gluten Free) with Cream Cheese Icing

GLUTEN FREE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

200g Dark Chocolate

I used 100g of 70% and 100g of Bournville

Check your chocolate is Gluten Free, Bourneville is GF but others may not be.

250g Raw Beetroot, grated.

4 Large Free Range Eggs, separated. 

150g Golden Caster Sugar.

120g Ground Almonds.

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder (Use Gluten Free variety)

1 Tablespoon 100% Cocoa Powder.

20cm Spring Form Cake Tin

Butter to grease the tin

Cocoa Powder for dusting the tin 

(instead of plain flour which of course is NOT gluten free!)

Pre heat oven to Gas mark 4        

Takes 50 to 60 minutes to bake, until a skewer is stuck into the centre and comes out clean. 

METHOD

1) First melt the chocolate in a Bain marie.

2) Grate the raw beetroot on the chunkier side of your grater, or you can use a food processor. Put into a mixing bowl.

3) Separate the eggs, you can put the yolks straight in with the grated beetroot and the whites in a second bowl. We will be beating them separately.

4) Mix the egg yolks in with the beetroot.

5) Add the golden caster sugar, the ground almonds to the beetroot and mix well.

6) Then add the baking powder and cocoa powder and melted chocolate into the beetroot and mix really well.

7) In the second bowl, whisk the the egg whites with an electric mixer until you have stiff peaks.

8) Use a metal spoon to fold a quarter of the egg whites into the beetroot mixture to loosen, then once combined, fold in the rest but try not to over mix.

9) Add the mixture to the prepared cake tin and gently spread out using a spatula.

10) Bake in the hot oven for around 50 minutes.

11) Leave the cake to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then carefully take out of the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

As you can see, I stabbed the cake 5 times with a skewer as I couldn't tell if it was cooked. I would usually check by pressing the top but a strong crust had formed so that didn't work.

My oven is dodgy and the temperature fluctuates but this took 60 minutes in total. I put a square of foil over the top for 10 minutes as I was worried it would catch. 

When I removed the cake from the tin I broke it, as a flourless sponge the cake is very fragile and I handled it too much.

I also do not recommend using a flexible cake "tin". Definitely use a spring form tin. 

I will make this again, probably as cupcakes or even as a tray bake then sliced into bars.

RECIPE | CREAM CHEESE ICING

GLUTEN FREE RECIPE  

100g Full Fat Cream Cheese

200g Icing Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

In a big bowl, whip the cream cheese, add the vanilla and then sieve in the icing sugar. 

I find some types of cream cheese (supermarket own brands and Phillidelphia) more wet than others, if you find this then just add more icing sugar to thicken the mix. 

PLEASE NOTE | GLUTEN FREE

I checked the ingredients (01/04/2014) but your own ingredients may differ. 

Please check the brands of products you're using for gluten. Some cheaper products or lower fat alternatives may add ingredients containing gluten to thicken or prolong shelf life. 

Recipe | Rhubarb Curd

First I had to juice the rhubarb. You need 600ml of the juice.

My juicer couldn't cope with processing rhubarb, it left a wet pulp behind. My Juicer is by Phillips and is usually pretty good but the rhubarb was so fibrous that I removed the rhubarb pulp from the pulp container on the juicer and pushed it through a metal sieve. This was definitely worth doing as I gained an extra 150ml of juice.

The juice was a pale brown pink with a green foam / scum. I wasn't sure if I should skim the top or not so I did, just in case it dirtied the colour of the finished rhubarb curd.

Ingredients:

600g Rhubarb

(250ml Rhubarb Juice plus 100-200ml more to add once cooked)

4 Large Eggs

200g Butter

4tsp Cornflour 

175g Caster Sugar

Splash of beetroot juice (for colour)

Place the eggs, butter, cornflour, sugar and 250ml rhubarb juice (save the rest) to a pan and set over a very low heat. I used a large heavy bottomed saucepan on a small gas ring.

Whisk until all the butter has melted, then use a spatula and stir and keep stirring, scraping the bottom and sides of the saucepan until the curd has thickened to a consistency a little thicker than custard. 

Do not increase the heat or you will curdle the eggs. Do not let the curd catch.

Sieve the curd into a clean bowl to get rid of any lumps or curdled bits, I passed it through a fine muslin. 

Then mix in 100ml more of the thubarb juice and a small splash of beetroot 

Once cooled, taste your curd and add more rhubarb juice if it needs it. This is to your own palette.

The curd will keep, stored in the fridge, for about a week.

I wasn't pleased with this recipe, although I think it was mainly the rhubarb I bought as it wasn't very tart and didn't have much flavour.

I will try this again and look into how I can improve it.