Passion fruit cake with coconut streusel

It was my dear friend Valentina who introduced me to Dan Lepard’s wonderful recipes years ago – I saw a beautiful cake on her blog and the recipe was Dan’s. However – and I do not know why – it took me ages to start baking some of his great recipes, and now that I have started I have no intention to stop. His latest (and fantastic) cookbook is one of my top favorites and each and every recipe made from it so far has been a huge hit.

Being a passion fruit maniac I could not resist this recipe: it is delicious and the seeds peeking out from the cake squares make them look beautiful – my coworkers loved it.

Passion fruit cake with coconut streusel
adapted from Lepard’s delicious column at the Guardian

Coconut crumble:
85g (¾ stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut in small cubes
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (125g) all purpose flour
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
½ cup (45g) unsweetened flaked coconut
pinch of salt

Cake:
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
1 cup (240ml) passion fruit pulp, with the seeds
4 tablespoons corn starch, packed
4 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup (160ml) heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 1/3 cups (325g) all purpose flour
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder

Make the crumble: in a medium bowl, rub the butter through the flour, sugar, coconut and salt with your fingertips until it turns crumbly. Refrigerate while you make the cake.

Cake: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) cake pan.
Place the melted the butter in a large bowl, then beat in the oil, sugar, passion fruit, corn starch, egg yolks, cream and vanilla. In another bowl, beat the egg whites and salt with a spotlessly clean whisk until it holds soft peaks when the whisk is pulled out. Sift and fold the flour and baking powder into the passion fruit mix, then fold in the egg whites gently and spoon into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.
Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the top of the cake then press gently to adhere. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.

Serves 15-18

Chocolate chip brownie double-deckers

Being someone who always has trouble choosing what to prepare, these double deckers were the perfect solution to my baking conundrum: two different layers, two delicious baked goods in one. To make things even better, the recipe is easy to put together and yields a lot, being great for sharing – they disappeared from the office quite fast the other day... :)

The recipe comes from a cookbook I bought on a day I was feeling bored to my bones and needed a little retail therapy – since I’m not into shoes and bags as apparently all the other girls are (or feel obligated to be as to feel they belong to a certain group of people), I bought a couple of books and Abigail Johnson Dodge’s "The Weekend Baker" turned out to be a very pleasant surprise: I have baked a handful of recipes from it and everything turned out delicious.

Chocolate chip brownie double-deckers
from the delicious The Weekend Baker

Chocolate chip layer:
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups (218g) firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/3 cups (187g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Brownie layer:
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, chopped
¾ cup (68g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy
1 ½ cups + 3 tablespoons (336g) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour

Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F*.
Line a 32x22cm (9x13in) baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang in two opposite sides. Butter the foil.
Chocolate chip layer: in a medium saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Slide the pan from the heat and add the brown sugar. Whisk until no lumps remain. Set the butter mix aside to cool while making the brownie layer.

Brownie layer: in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Slide the pan from the heat and add the cocoa powder. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition just until blended. Whisk in the vanilla with the second egg. Sprinkle the flour over the chocolate mixture and stir with a rubber spatula just until the ingredients are blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly with an offset or rubber spatula. Set it aside while you finish the chocolate chip layer.

To finish the chocolate chip layer: in a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk until it's well-blended. Once the butter mixture has cooled, add the egg and vanilla to it and whisk until blended. Pour in the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop the dough over the brownie batter in large scoops and spread it evenly with an offset or rubber spatula. Bake until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out with small, gooey clumps of brownie sticking to it, about 40 minutes. Don't over-bake or the brownies won't be fudgy. Transfer the baking pan to a rack to cool completely.

Cut the brownies into small squares measuring about 5cm (2in) each.

* Out of distraction I baked the bars at 180°C/350°F (and they worked out fine)

Makes 24 – I made the exact recipe above using a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan; I found the bars really rich, therefore I cut each square in half to make smaller bars

White chocolate, cranberry and strawberry rocky road

I’ve been meaning to make these rocky road bars forever: when I saw so many delicious ingredients combined I knew the candy would be great. And it really was (not to mention how ridiculously easy this recipe is).
I have the same feeling about “Carnage”: so many great actors directed by Polanski. It has got to be good. Too bad I’ll have to wait a while to find out. ;)

White chocolate, cranberry and strawberry rocky road
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Donna Hay Magazine

800g white chocolate, chopped
2½ cups quartered white marshmallows
½ cup chopped dried apples
1 ¾ cups (192g) sweetened dried cranberries
1 cup freeze-dried strawberries, sliced lengthwise

Very lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan and line it with foil (the butter will keep the foil from sliding around the pan).
Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water – do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water – and cook until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat, add the marshmallow, dried apples and cranberries – keep some of the cranberries for decoration – and stir until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the dried strawberries and reserved cranberries. Set aside until firm, 2-3 hours (the recipe calls for placing the pan in the refrigerator but I chose not to).
Cut into pieces, remove the foil and serve.

Makes 25 – I cut them a bit smaller and got 32