Olive Oil Cake

 

I have wanted to bake the perfect Olive Oil cake for years, and I believe I have at last. This cake is moist, fresh and tastes absolutely fantastic!

I sprinkled it with icing sugar, it is so pretty when you do that, but if like icing as much as my other half, you can make some with a little bit of lemon juice instead of water. To keep the balance of sweet and sour.

This cake is perfect for tea, and also as we have discovered, for breakfast…

 

Ingredients:

Finely grated zest of one large lemon
250ml of extra virgin Olive Oil, warmed (NOT HOT!)
5 large eggs, separated
250ml of caster sugar
5ml vanilla essence
750ml of cake flour
10ml baking powder
250ml full cream milk

Method:

1. Add the lemon rind to the warmed olive oil and let it infuse it
2. In a large bowl, beat the yolks and caster sugar together until it is light in colour
3. Add the vanilla essence and the cooled olive oil with the zest
4. Sift the flour and baking powder together and mix it into the egg mixture. Don’t get a fright if you think it looks wrong. It does look “crumbly”
5. Add the milk, and mix well. You will notice that it is a very thick dough. That is ok!
6. In a separate bowl, whish the egg whites until stiff, and then fold them into the mixture. Folding is important to keep the air in! Otherwise the cake will be too dense.
7. Spray a 23cm cake tin with baking spray, and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 min. after 40 min turn the heat down to 160 degrees Celsius and bake for another 10-15 min. until a knife comes out clean.

If your cake cracks at the top, don’t worry about it. That makes it look as if it came out of your grandmother’s kitchen.

Now you can either sprinkle it with icing sugar once it is completely cooled on the wire rack, or put on some lemony icing.

This is a delicious cake! You won’t regret making it.

Kalte Schnauze (Cold Snout), or as we call it: G-wagon

This is a no bake chocolate cake. It is beyond delicious, incredibly easy to make and a winner at every event.

I usually make this as a birthday present for someone that really likes chocolate. Which is almost everybody!

I first ate this at my mother-in-law’s house, she is almost famous for this cake, and she gave the recipe to me. I played around with it a bit, and this is now my favourite version. The original recipe calls for coffee and whiskey, but since I am not a huge fan of either, I took it out. The recipe makes two 20cm bread tins worth of cake. If you want to halve the recipe, just use 2 eggs. (Can’t divide and egg!)
Ingredients:
12x 100g slabs of chocolate (yes, I said 12!) – split up 50-50 between milk and dark chocolate
500g butter
3 eggs
A good glug of your favourite liqueur, I prefer honey liqueur.
3x packets of Marie Biscuits, broken (you can use any biscuit you want really, digestive biscuits also work great)
1x packet of Smarties or Astros to put on top

Method:
1. Melt your chocolate, careful not to burn it!
2. Melt you butter separately
3. Beat your 3 eggs until they are foamy
4. Add the butter to the eggs and mix it well.
5. Add the glug of your liqueur while it is still warm. (It is here where the original recipe called for a a tablespoon of good instant coffee, which I don’t put in, but are f course welcome to)
6. Add the melted chocolate to the butter mix and mix it well
7. Stir in your broken biscuits
8. Pour the mixture into your molds, sprinkle your Smarties or Astros on top and freeze overnight!

Brigitte usually puts foil in the forms before she puts them in the fridge. I don’t do it because I hate picking the foil out of the cake. I just cover it with clingfilm or foil before I put it in the freezer, and just quickly dip the form in hot water so the cake slides out. It will be a little bit melted, but just pop it back, upside down, into the freezer for 5 minutes.

Happy eating!

Butternut Pie

How about some pie? I made this for the first time last year for Dom’s birthday. It has the texture of a milktart, and in fact tastes a bit like one too. Everybody looked at it funny when I told them what it was, but it was the first dessert that was finished…

Ingredients
250g butternut, peeled weight, cubed
250g shortcrust pastry
¼tsp ground cinnamon
¼tsp ground nutmeg
100g light soft brown sugar
3 large eggs
250ml double cream
Icing sugar, to dust

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Steam or boil your butternut until it is done. Let it dry and cool a bit.
3. Roll out the pastry and line a 23cm flan tin. Prick the base, line with foil and weigh down with baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Put in oven for 4 minutes more. Reduce heat to 180 degrees Celsius.
4. Purée the squash with the spices and sugar. Whisk eggs and cream together in a large bowl until well combined. Whisk in the squash purée and pour the mixture into the pastry case.
5. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until set in centre.

Granadilla Cake

So here is the Granadilla Cake recipe. Love this cake! Can never have enough! Enjoy!

Recipe: Granadilla Cake
This cake was in the house quite regularly. It is still a regular in my mother’s house, as well as mine. It is a wonderful combination of sweet and sour. It leaves a wonderfully fresh taste in your mouth.

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives.” Oscar Wilde

Ingredients:
For the cake:
125g butter
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs – separated
2 ¼ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 fresh granadillas

For the icing:
Soft butter
Icing powder
1 fresh granadilla

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Cream the butter, sugar and the egg yolks.
Fold in the flour, baking powder, and milk.
Beat until smooth in texture.
Add the vanilla and fresh granadillas.
Mix well.
Fold in the egg whites and bake for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of your pan.
When done, let it cool in the pan before you take it out.
Mix the ingredients for the icing together, you can make enough to completely cover the cake, or just the top.

This cake always tastes better the next day, but don’t expect it to last that long.

Lemon and Lime Tart

Hello all my friends! Here is a little tart to perk up your senses and tastebuds… Enjoy! ♥

Recipe: Lemon and lime tart

This tart is perfect after a heavy meal. It is light and the tart flavour of the lime is a fantastic cleanser; so you can start on the leftovers sooner…

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” Julia Child

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup flour
Pinch salt
½ cup butter
2 tablespoons icing sugar

Filling:
7 limes
3 lemons
6 large eggs
250g castor sugar
175ml double cream

Method:
Crust:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Mix all the ingredients for the crust together.
Pat into the pie shell, and bake until golden – approximately 20 minutes.

Filling:
Reduce heat of oven to 150 degrees Celsius.
Very finely grate the zest of the lemons and limes into a bowl.
Add the juice of the lemons and limes, the eggs, castor sugar and cream. Beat it lightly, making sure it doesn’t make foam.
Pour it into the tin, and bake for 45-50 minutes.
Let it cool and serve!

Chocolate Velvet Pie

This took me FOREVER to get right. I am a lot better with food than I am with baking things…

Recipe: Chocolate Velvet Pie
Ingredients:
For the crust:
125g butter, diced
175g cake flour
1 tablespoon cocoa
25g caster sugar

For the filling:
4 teaspoons powdered gelatine
3 tablespoons cold water
125g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornflour
600ml milk
2 tablespoons strong coffee granules
50g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
some milk chocolate to decorate

Method:
For the crust:
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Rub the butter into the sifted flour and cocoa powder
3. Add the sugar and mix until it forms a dough
4. Press in evenly into a deep 20cm tin and bake for 20 minutes.

For the filling:
1. Soak the gelatin in the water
2. Whisk the sugar, yolks, cornflour and 2 tablespoons of the milk together
3. Boil the rest of the milk with the coffee, and once it boils, whisk it into the egg mixture
4. Place the mixture on the stove again, and heat on a medium heat until it starts to thicken, stirring the whole time
5. Once it has thickened, remove it from the heat and beat in the gelatin until it has dissolved
6. Add the dark chocolate and stir until it has all melted
7. Let is cool a bit, about 15 minutes, and then pour it into the tart case
8. This has to chill for several hours, but once it has, make some chocolate shavings with your milk chocolate and decorate your pie with them.

This is a little bit of work, but oh so very worth it. ♥

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

This is the only way I can get my fiance to eat beetroot. Delicious beyond belief!

Recipe: Chocolate Beetroot Cake

This cake is perfect for those moments when you are most satisfied with yourself. It’s a treat, while being healthy at the same time. Well, as healthy as a chocolate cake can be.

“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.” Jim Davis. And may I add: Chocolate Beetroot Cake…

Ingredients:
For the cake:
80g cocoa powder
180g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
250g castor sugar
400g cooked beetroot, drained
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon almond essence
2/3 cup sunflower oil – or canola, if you want to make it really healthy

For the icing:
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
¼ cup butter – melted
2-3 tablespoons icing sugar

Method:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Sift the cocoa, flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl, stir in the sugar, and forget about it for now.
In a blender, blend the beetroot until it is smooth.
Add the eggs one a time, blending a bit after every one.
Add the vanilla and almond essence, as well as the oil and blend until it’s very well mix and smooth and velvety.
Add this to the flour mixture. Stir it in. don’t whisk it.
Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Mix all the ingredients for the icing together. It should be runny.
Poke little holes here and there into your cake while it’s still warm and in the baking tin.
Pour over the icing, let it cool, and then remove from the tin.

Voila! A spectacular, moist cake that is 50% veg… What could be better?