Caramel and Cream Cheese Frosting

I love to mix and match! As I search for my next challenge, I see many recipes with endless potential for deliciousness, but they are lacking a certain flavour. I am always looking for something fresh and new, and I often will make a cake from one recipe and use an icing from another. With any leftover frostings, I usually save them for macarons or other cakes. Ganache freezes very well and once thawed, comes together perfectly (it may need a teaspoon of milk to prevent cracking though!). I have made these macarons and used my spare Caramel Cream Cheese frosting to give them a sweet and creamy flavour. I also used a local boysenberry jam, which I couldn't miss an opportunity to try.

This macaron recipe is the one that I have found works time and again.
http://whippeddream.blogspot.com/search/label/Macarons

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 125g butter, room temperature and divided
• 1/3 cup cream
• 250g cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup icing sugar

Method:

In a medium saucepan, melt 50g butter and sugar over medium heat and continue to stir until the sugar is completely melted. Bring to a boil, and then remove from heat. Whisk in the cream until the caramel is smooth. Allow to cool.

Place the remaining butter into a large bowl and beat in the cream cheese until the mixture is smooth. Beat in the vanilla and the salt. Gradually mix in the caramel until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Beat in the sifted icing sugar until the icing is smooth. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag and decorate as desired.

Apple Cider Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

For me, baking is a creative outlet. There is something soothing and therapeutic about getting the batter just right, and seeing the transformation into something amazing. I love trying new things and pushing myself with more difficult techniques, but I think what I love most about baking is the response from my friends and family. I love seeing the surprise people get from trying something new and delicious.

When I decided to start this blog, I wanted to create a way for my friends and family to share some of our favourite recipes. I love looking through boards on Pinterest and seeing some of the amazing recipes that people come up with, and really enjoy being able to try, test and experiment with some of these ideas. This is where today's recipe comes from. I saw this recipe and knew that I had to try it, and lets be honest, I was delighted!

I am a lover of cider and there is something amazing about the crisp clean taste of local cider after a long day. So when I found this recipe I was intrigued and I knew that I had to try it. Prepare to be amazed!

Apple Cider Cupcakes
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup of brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 2/3 cup of plain flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of apple cider

Method:

Preheat oven to 180'C. Grease and line a 12 hole muffin tray. 

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a separate bowl. Gradually add the flour mixture and cider into the creamed butter. (Flour, cider, flour, cider, flour). The mixture will be quite soft, this is because brown sugar is moist as opposed to castor sugar, which is very dry.

Transfer the batter into the prepared tins, filling each muffin hole to about 3/4 full. Place the tray into the oven and bake for 16-20 minutes, my oven was 17 minutes, but they are ready when a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. 

Remove from oven and allow to cool, before icing.

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 125g butter, room temperature and divided
• 1/3 cup cream
• 250g cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup icing sugar

Method:

In a medium saucepan, melt 50g butter and sugar over medium heat and continue to stir until the sugar is completely melted. Bring to a boil, and then remove from heat. Whisk in the cream until the caramel is smooth. Allow to cool.

Place the remaining butter into a large bowl and beat in the cream cheese until the mixture is smooth. Beat in the vanilla and the salt. Gradually mix in the caramel until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Beat in the sifted icing sugar until the icing is smooth. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag and decorate as desired. 

ENJOY!

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with a Maple Bourbon Cream Cheese icing!

So everyone has that one cake that got away. I have always had this love of dense cakes, there is nothing better than that friend's carrot cake with cream cheese icing or a hummingbird cake (I recently had a hummingbird cheesecake which was phenomenal! I am also on the hunt for the elusive pavlova cheesecake!).

This recipe came about when I volunteered for the cake duty for my sisters birthday barbecue. My sister and I have always loved baking and I knew that I would have to pull off something amazing for this occasion. Now birthdays in our family always have homemade cakes (usually myself or my sister bake) and because she is so talented herself, I decided that I would do something a little different. This recipe is a compilation of a few separate recipes that my darling husband put together for her (the brief being- something different, maybe like a carrot cake except better?). The hubby pulled through with a sweet potato cake and topped it off with a maple bourbon cream cheese icing, it was destiny....

The cake turned out to be the most delicious, dense and unique cake that we have had recently. The sweet potato gives a rich and sweet flavour, and the maple cream cheese icing is perfectly finished with that dash of bourbon. I decided that it had to be made again for the Biggest Morning Tea! This time I made the recipe into cupcakes to take into work for a great cause.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes
Ingredients:

• 1 cup of butter, softened
• 2 cups of castor sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3 cups of plain flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 2 cups of sweet potato

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 180'C. Grease a couple of muffin tins and line with paper cases (this mixture will make about 36 cupcake sized cakes (it is brought down from a full sized cake).

In a large saucepan, boil and mash the sweet potato. Let cool.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until the mixture becomes lighter and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl and mix until combined.

Starting and ending with the flour mixture, mix the flour and mashed sweet potato in alternating batches into the butter and sugar mixture. Beat until just combined- the mixture will be stiff.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans.

Bake the cakes for 20-22 minutes, checking with a skewer. They will be ready when the tester comes out clean. Turn out the cakes and cool.

Maple Bourbon Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

• 500g of cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon of bourbon
• 1/2 cup of icing sugar, sifted

Procedure:

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add the maple syrup and bourbon and mix until well combined. Slowly add the sifted sugar and beat until smooth. (The icing will be thick).

Use the icing to decorate the cakes and garnish as desired. (We used fried sweet potato chips to give it a beautiful look!).

Fried Sweet Potato Chips

Heat vegetable oil in a deep saucepan (about 2cm of oil), using a vegetable peeler, shave thin slices of peeled sweet potato into a bowl of iced water. When soaked, dry the sweet potato chips into the hot oil and fry until a lovely golden brown colour (DO NOT SKIP THE DRYING OF THE CHIPS- ADDING WATER TO HOT OIL WILL CAUSE IT TO SPIT AND POTENTIALLY BURN SKIN). Dry the fried sweet potato chips on paper towel to remove any excess oil. After the chips have cooled, dust with sifted icing sugar for a sweet caramel style topper.

Additional notes:

• The cake will come out as a dark caramel colour- don't be disheartened, this is perfect.
• Using a deep bundt tin, this cake will need to be baked for 50-60 minutes or until the tester comes out clean.
• Using a 22cm deep round tin, the cake will need to be baked for ~60 minutes.

Devilish Devil's Food Cupcakes

Has your ganache cracked? Don't stress!

Ganache is a tricky icing that can be super easy, but it can crack very easily. Ganache should look smooth and shiny but sometimes the mixture cracks and looks greasy and appears like the early stages of burnt chocolate. Don't PANIC! There is a SUPER easy fix. When the ganache cracks, gradually add in teaspoon amounts of milk and keep mixing until the ganache comes back to that lovely shiny look.

Today, I am going to share with you my secret weapon. This is a devils food cake that is aptly named because it has to be sinful to indulge in something so amazing! I came across this recipe a little while ago and it was originally a full sized cake, but I brought it down to individual cakes to save myself from overconsumption...

If you hadn't noticed by now, I am a bit obsessed with chocolate!

I recently made these cupcakes for my work colleagues as an easter treat. Needless to say, I wasn't taking any spare cakes home...

Devil's Food Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cake:

• 1 cup of boiling water
• 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup of whole milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of unsalted butter (250g), softened
• 1 1/4 cups of packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup of castor sugar
• 4 large eggs

For the sour cream ganache:

• 2 cups of dark chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups of sour cream
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Method:

For the cakes:

Preheat the oven to 180'C and line muffin tins with decorative patties. This mixture will make more than 12 cupcakes because it is a full cake recipe~ 24 cupcakes. (If making a cake- grease and line 3x 20cm cake tins with baking paper.)

Whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in the milk and vanilla. Set aside. In another bowl sift the flour, baking soda and salt.

With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar (both brown and castor) until pale and fluffy, the add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In alternating batches, add the flour and cocoa mixtures, starting and ending with the flour mixture. (The batter will look curdled- but this is NORMAL!)

Divide batter into the tins (if making a whole cake use 3x 20cm round tins and smooth the tops). Bake the cupcakes for about 18 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean (20-25 minutes for a cake). Once out of the oven, cool completely.

For the sour cream ganache:

Melt the chocolate using a double boiler, once melted remove the top bowl from the heat and whisk in the sour cream then vanilla. (I find that this can be really tricky to not split, I find that mixing really quickly helps and also making sure that the sour cream is at room temperature makes a big difference). Let the ganache come to room temperature and stir occasionally to ensure it remains that beautiful, shiny appearance.

Assembly:

With a piping bag, pipe the sour cream ganache to the top and decorate the tops to suit your tastes!

Alternative ideas:

• For a bundt cake: bake the cake for 35-40 minutes. Drizzle a ganache over the top.
• Brown Sugar Buttercream:
• http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/brown-sugar-buttercream-104580

Limoncello Cupcakes!

Wow! These cupcakes are a delicious addition to any party table or afternoon tea. I found this recipe on the wonderful world of Pinterest and have made them a number of times as a go to recipe for instant WOW-factor. They cake itself is a dense lemony cake, filled with tart lemon curd and topped with the bitter-sweet limoncello cream cheese icing. They speak for themselves! Mmmmm....

Unfortunately, I got carried away in a baking haze and forgot to take the in-progress photos!

Limoncello Cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 60g of butter at room temperature (1/4 cup)
• 60g of cream cheese (about a quarter of a 250g block)
• 1 cup of castor sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons of limoncello
• 1/2 cup of buttermilk
• 1/4 cup of lemon juice
• Zest of 1 lemon

For the lemon curd:

• Zest of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup of castor sugar
• 1 whole egg, plus one extra yolk

For the limoncello cream cheese frosting:

• 60g of butter at room temperature (1/4 cup)
• 125g of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon of limoncello
• 2 cups of powdered/icing sugar, sifted

Method:

For the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 175'C. In a medium size bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and then set aside. In a mixer bowl, beat together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until the mixture is well combined and has paled to a light and creamy look: about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the limoncello and beat for an additional minute. On low speed, add in the flour mixture and buttermilk in alternating amounts, starting with and ending with the flour mixture. Fold in the lemon juice and zest until just combined (or on a low mixer setting). Divide the mixture into greased muffin tin or into muffin patties. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. The cake tends to be a bit denser than regular cupcakes, and is very moist.

For the Lemon curd:

If short on time, pre-made curd can be used, but as usual homemade is always better. In a medium saucepan, stir together the zest, juice and sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Whisk the egg and egg yolk together, when they are combined, slowly whisk in the lemon mixture before adding the combined mixture back into the saucepan. Once back on the heat keep whisking until the lemon curd thickens (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool. (It needs to be completely cool before assembling the cupcakes).

For the frosting:

Using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and creamy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the limoncello and beat for a further minute. Reduce the mixer to a slow speed and gradually add the sifted icing sugar and beat until smooth and fully mixed.

Assembly:

Cut a small hole in the top of each cupcake using a melon baller or a knife. Add a small spoonful of lemon curd into each whole before piping the cream cheese icing over the top. Decorate as desired!

Enjoy these cupcakes with iced tea and cream!

xx

Cheesecake Heaven

Now if I died and went to heaven, I expect that this cheesecake would be waiting for me. My boyfriend is always teasing me about the chocolate layer that he finds in all of my baking, well this recipe has 3 chocolate layers, a vanilla layer and Dulce de leche! In my opinion, the perfect balance!

I have been searching for the perfect cheesecake, and I think that this is the one! I had tagged this recipe for months before mustering the courage to attempt it, but I am SO glad I did!

I was convinced that the only cheesecakes worth eating were set cheesecakes (which I still LOVE), but this is the bomb-diggity of baked cheesecakes. The recipe looked too hard with a few layers and a long cooking time, but this may be the perfect dessert.

It's good to look at, but euphoric to eat. I can't even....

Cheesecake Heaven

Biscuit Base

450g Oreos, crushed

100g Butter, melted

Crush the whole Oreos in a food processor until fine, add the melted butter and blitz until well combined. Grease the whole spring form tin and line the sides with baking paper. (I always thought the base of the springform tins was flat at the top and the lip went underneath, which I found out was upside-down, but I prefer to do it this way so the cake slides straight off!). Press the biscuit base into the tin, on the base and up the sides. Refrigerate until ready to fill. 

The cheesecake is to be baked in a water bath to make the texture perfect, so it is really important to prepare the bath before making the filling. I used a large roasting tin, and formed a aluminium foil boat to prevent the water touching the springform tin. The oven needs to be set at 160C fan forced (320F). I was lazy and boiled the water in the kettle and added it to the water bath after the cheesecake filling was ready to bake.

Cheesecake Filling
2 1/2 Packets of Philly Cream Cheese (about 630g)
1 can condensed milk
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp Vanilla essence
3 large eggs
100g Dark chocolate
4-5 tsp lemon juice (optional)

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese and gradually add the condensed milk and beat until smooth. Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla essence and lemon juice and beat until beautiful and smooth. Melt the chocolate in a medium sized bowl and add a third of the cheesecake mixture and mix well. Put the chocolate mixture into the prepared base and then pour the rest in after.

Put the cheesecake in the water bath and add enough boiling water so that it reaches half way up the sides of the spring form tin. Bake at 160C for 1 hour and 15 minutes. It will be a lovely caramel colour on top and will move slightly. Take out of the water bath and let it cool enough to transfer to the fridge. Refrigerate for about 2 hours. Keep the water bath for the caramel.

Dulce de Leche
2 tins of condensed milk

Add both tins into a ovenproof dish and cover in foil. Place into the same water bath and bake for 1 and a half hours or until golden caramel colour. Whisk until smooth. Can be refrigerated for up to a month in an airtight container.
Pour the Dulce de Leche over the cooled cheesecake and put back in the fridge.

Dark Chocolate Ganache
100g Dark chocolate
1/2 cup cream

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (over simmering water) until melted and smooth. Add in room temperature cream and stir until smooth and glossy. It should be thick enough to pour but not too runny.
Pour the ganache over the cooled cheesecake.

ENJOY!

 

Macaron Madness!

So many aspiring home cooks try to master the meddlesome macaron, and many fail. It usually takes about 5 batches before they work out nicely.

I have played with a few different recipes to find the best shell for these beautiful french treats. I have found that they are temperamental at the best of times, but this recipe has worked for me a number of times. This time last year, I became a little consumed by my need to make the perfect shells and through my travels I noted a few things-

1. There is a HUGE difference between grease proof paper and proper baking paper.
2. The more desperate you are for the shells to work, the less likely they will.
3. As perfect as you plan on making these delectable shells, over mixing will cause them to crack.
4. Ageing the egg whites can take forever! By zapping the egg whites in the microwave for 10 seconds, the shells still work because the microwave dehydrates the whites enough without cooking them.
5. Italian and French macarons have a slightly different technique and foot. I have found this french recipe that works for me.
6. The foot is the little ruffle that forms around the base of the shell after the piped mixture is let to set for half an hour before baking.
7. For some unknown reason, I could only get the batter to work if I used a glass bowl. Please share if anyone knows anything about this!

The paper fiasco took a while to sort out. I couldn't figure out why my shells would not separate from the paper. I was using grease proof and not baking paper. The recipe I use has been very solid the whole time and I have even added a few other ingredients without any trouble.

I have noticed that American recipes use a lot of pumpkin in their desserts, which in Australia is not very common. I came across a pumpkin pie spiced macaron recipe which was AMAZING! Although it should be noted that there is no actual pumpkin in the macaron. 

Macaron Shells

Ingredients

3/4 cup almond meal/ almond flour

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 egg whites, aged

1 pinch cream or tartar

1 tsp liquid food colouring

Method

Preheat oven to 130C. Line baking trays with grease proof paper. (Some people like to draw circles on the underside of the paper to make piping matching shells easier.)

Sift the flour and confectioners sugar. Sift them a second time. Set aside.

Beat egg whites on low-medium speed with an electric mixer until foamy, then add a small pinch of cream of tartar. Beat on medium-high speed until the whites start forming soft peaks. Slowly add food colouring and 1/4 cup granulated sugar until the mixture starts forming stiff peaks. (The peaks should form on the ends of the beaters, but should be soft enough that when tapped on the bowl, the peaks fall of the beaters).

Now- the business end. It is really important to not stir the mixture, folding will not cause over-beating if careful. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture in small amounts (at least three additions). I found only folding until there is no more dry powder was the right amount. Most recipes say until the mixture "ribbons" off the spatula, the mixture should be the consistency of lava- slowly moving back into place after folding, otherwise the shells might crack or be too runny to pipe.

Using piping tips, slowly pipe the mixture onto the prepared trays. Give them plenty of room, if the mixture is runny the shells can get bigger. If the shells have noticeable bubbles rising after piping, gently tap the tray on the counter top to get them to disappear (I have not had to do this much with this recipe). Now the piped macarons need to rest for 30 minutes. If you don't let the shells rest, they will not form a nice foot at the base of the shells.

After resting, the trays are put into the oven for 12-16 minutes. The top should look dry and you can tell they are ready if the shells do not slide if you gently touch them. The foot needs to be baked through properly.

After the shells are completely cooled, they can be removed from the paper and filled as desired. They will keep in an airtight container for a few days before filling.

Notes

You can add small amounts of spices to flavour the shells. Vanilla essence in tiny amounts should also work well.

Pumpkin pie spice: 4 tbs ground cinnamon, 4 tsp ground ginger, 4 tsp ground nutmeg and 3 tsp ground all spice. You only need to add a tiny bit of this to the shells for a beautiful flavour. This is AMAZING with a cream cheese icing.

Some nice fillings include-

1. Lemon or passionfruit curd- these tend to be a bit wet and can make the macarons soggy if filled too early.
2. Cream cheese frosting- chocolate or vanilla or anything else really. The more icing sugar, the firmer the filling will be and the longer the macarons will keep.
3. Buttercream frosting.
4. Ganache- white or milk are usually received well.