Rocky road cupcakes

When I saw these cupcakes on DH magazine, I though they were chocolate cupcakes. But I was wrong – they were rocky road cupcakes! With marshmallow and Nutella... Yum. :D

It was like the first time I heard “Crazy” on the radio – I could’ve sworn it was Moby...

Rocky road cupcakes
from Donna Hay magazine

250g unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups + 2 tablespoons (274g) caster sugar
4 eggs
2 cups + 2 tablespoons (300g) all purpose flour
¼ cup hazelnut meal*
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (240ml) milk
200g dark chocolate, melted – I used 70% cocoa solids
12 large marshmallows
½ cup store-bought chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella)

Whipped chocolate cream:
2 cups (500ml) whipping cream
3 tablespoons icing sugar
½ cup (45g) cocoa powder + extra for dusting

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift over the flour, hazelnut meal and baking powder and beat until combined. Fold through the milk and chocolate and spoon the mixture into two 6-hole 1-cup capacity muffin pans lined with paper cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked when a tested with a skewer. Allow to cool slightly. While still warm, make a hole in the center of each cupcake using a serrated paring knife. Remove the cake center and set aside. Fill each hole with 1 marshmallow and 1 teaspoon chocolate hazelnut spread. Press the centers back into the holes.

To make the whipped chocolate cream, place the cream, sugar and cocoa in a non-metallic bowl and whisk until soft peaks form (I did not understand this “non-metallic” issue; used a stainless steel bowl and it worked fine). Spread the whipped chocolate cream over the cupcakes with a palette knife. Dust with a bit of cocoa powder and serve.

* I used almond meal (ground almonds)

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe above and got 12 cupcakes, using 1/3-cup (80ml) capacity pans; because my pans were smaller I added 1/3 of one marshmallow + ½ teaspoon Nutella to each cupcake

Roasted cheese, bacon and tomato salad

I told you the other day that desserts are my favorite part of a meal – indeed, they are. But the savory recipes on the DH magazine are impossible to resist – I especially love the soups and salads, like this one.

I’ve tweaked it a bit, using arugula and balsamic vinegar instead of spinach and red wine vinegar; minor changes – nothing silly like choosing John Malkovich over Hugh Laurie. :D

Roasted cheese, bacon and tomato salad
slightly adapted from Donna Hay magazine

250g haloumi*, sliced
4 bacon slices, coarsely chopped
200g sourdough bread, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
250g cherry tomatoes
100g arugula leaves

Dressing:
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed**

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF. To make the dressing, place the ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.

Place the haloumi, bacon, bread and olive oil on a baking tray and toss to combine. Roast for 5-6 minutes. Turn the haloumi and add the tomatoes. Roast for a further 6-8 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked and the croutons are golden. Place in a bowl, add the arugula, drizzle with the dressing and toss to combine.

* I used queijo coalho, which is very easy to find here in Brazil and is similar to haloumi

** I used garlic infused olive oil and omitted the garlic clove

Serves 4

Vanilla buttermilk cake with whipped passion fruit ganache for a very special someone

Last year, it was lemon and strawberries; this time, vanilla and passion fruit take the stage to celebrate my sister’s birthday.

I don’t bake layer cakes as often as I would like to, but when I do this is the first book I reach for – again, the results were great. The cake layers turned out tender and the ganache was delicious and light, yet easy to spread and firm enough to hold the cake together (I adapted a white chocolate ganache recipe from the book).

Not completely sure if Jessica’d liked the cake, I asked: “wanna take some home?” - when she smiled and eagerly said “yes!” there was no doubt left. :D

Vanilla buttermilk cake with whipped passion fruit ganache
adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Cake:
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (300ml) buttermilk – divided use
3 cups (420g) cake flour, sifted*
2 cups (400g) sugar – I used vanilla infused sugar
4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

Passion fruit ganache:
168g (6oz) white chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup + 1 ½ cups (440ml) heavy cream – divided use
2 tablespoons sugar
½ cup (120ml) pulp of passion fruit

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Butter the bottom and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans or spray to coat with vegetable oil. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and grease the paper.

Put the eggs and the yolks in a medium bowl, add the vanilla and ¼ cup (60ml) of buttermilk. Whisk to blend well.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl – it has to be large, because there will be a huge amount of batter; whisk to blend. Add the butter and the remaining 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk and butter to these dry ingredients and with the mixer on low, blend together. Raise the mixer to medium speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the egg mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing only until thoroughly incorporated. Divide the batter among the prepared pans.

Bake the cake layers for 28-32 minutes or until a cake tester or a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes; then carefully turn out onto wire racks, peel off the paper liners and let cool completely.

Prepare the ganache: put the white chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring 1/3 cup (80ml) of the cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, let stand for 1 minute then whisk until smooth. Let stand until cool to room temperature.
Process the passion fruit pulp in a food processor or blender to crack the seeds. Pass through a fine sieve directly onto the white chocolate mixture and mix well (I left a bit of seeds in the ganache just to make the cake look more like a passion fruit).
In a chilled bowl, with chilled beaters, beat the remaining 1 ½ cups of cream (360ml) with the sugar until softly whipped. Stir in the passion fruit cream and beat until fairly stiff, taking care not to overbeat the mixture, which would cause the ganache to separate.

To assemble the cake, place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread about ½ cup of the whipped ganache over the layer right to the edge. Repeat with the next layer. Plate the last layer on top and use the remaining ganache to frost the top and sides of the cake.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

Serves 12-16

Strawberry ice cream with caramel sauce and my new email

Before today’s recipe, there’s something I need to share with you: I’ve been having some problems with my email account and therefore I’ll use my Gmail from now on. Because I don’t know when I’ll be able to log in to the old account again, can I ask you guys something? If you have emailed me in the last couple of days, would you please resend me the email at patricia (dot) scarpin (at) gmail.com?
Thank you!

After all the trouble with my email, I needed something to cool off – nothing better than ice cream for that. And after spotting the gorgeous redder-than-red-strawberries Joao’d bought, I knew exactly which flavor to try. :D

This is not an overly sweet ice cream and goes perfectly with the caramel sauce.

Strawberry ice cream with caramel sauce
slightly adapted from Donna Hay magazine

½ cup (120ml) whole milk
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
½ vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
3 egg yolks
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (74g) caster sugar
500g strawberries, hulled
¼ cup (50g) caster sugar

Caramel sauce:
1/3 cup (80ml) water
¾ cup (150g) caster sugar
2/3 cup (160ml) heavy cream

Combine milk and cream in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan. With tip of a knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into mixture, then add pod. Heat the milk, cream and vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat until it starts to boil. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 30 minutes.
Reheat cream mixture over medium heat, stirring, until hot. Place the egg yolks and sugar (74g) in a bowl and whisk until thick and pale. Slowly pour hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Return to the saucepan and stir over low heat for 4 minutes or until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl, return vanilla pod to mixture, cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
Place the strawberries and extra sugar (50g) in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the strawberry purée to the cooled custard, mix well, then pour into an ice cream maker (remove vanilla bean). Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Make the sauce: place the water and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to high and boil for 7 minutes or until golden in color – do not stir during this time, just swirl the pan around. Remove from the heat and allow the bubbles to subside. Carefully add the cream and stir – mixture will bubble. Set aside to cool.

Serves 6-8

Lavender lollipops

I’d planned a salad for today’s post – a very good one, actually – but I’m desperately in need of something sweet and colorful, even if virtually. :D

These were really fun to make and turned out better than the first lollipops I tried - can’t wait to try new flavors. Any suggestions? :D

Lavender lollipops
adapted from this recipe

½ cup (120ml) water
2 teaspoons edible dried lavender buds
1 cup (200g) sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
few drops of purple food coloring – I used Wilton’s and added it using a toothpick

Start by making a lavender infusion: place water and lavender in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside until completely cold – I made the infusion the day before and left it covered at room temperature. Strain the infusion.

Oil a marble slab or baking sheet. Have ready at least a dozen wooden sucker sticks.

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and 1/3 cup (80ml) of the lavender infusion; stir to blend. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover and boil for 2-3 minutes. Uncover and insert a candy thermometer in the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 143ºC/290ºF. If sugar crystals form on the pan sides, wash the down with a pastry brush dipped in warm water.
Remove the pan from the heat and immediately dip the bottom of it into a pan of cold water to arrest cooking, removing quickly before the mixture gets too cold. Place on a dry kitchen towel and add the food coloring.
Using a large metal spoon, immediately spoon a little less than 4cm (1½ in) pools of syrup onto the prepared marble slab/sheet*. Lay one end of the lollipop stick in each pool of syrup while still soft and push gently to secure in place. Dot a little extra syrup on the embedded end of the stick. Let cool at room temperature until completely set, about 2 hours.

Wrap each lollipop in cellophane or waxed paper. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

* once the mixture got cold and difficult to mold, I returned the pan to medium heat, stirring, until it became soft again (30 seconds or so)

Makes about 12