Roasted Cherry Brownie Sundae

My version of the Cherry sundae from Shawnda (Confessions of a foodie bride)  
For the brownies I used my favourite brownie recipe (omitted the walnuts and put the roasted cherries in)

I used lemon zest and juice, balsamic vinegar as a substitute for the port so this is a non alcoholic version.  Also topped with french vanilla ice cream and whipped cream which began to melt in the heat, it was a great dessert though!

Kalter hund

Here's a fun recipe! Great for kids too, no baking required.

My mother used to make a few variations of this German cake, but this time I did a simple melted chocolate and cookie (there were some hazelnuts in the chocolate) and it made a perfect snack for gaming on the pc (Yes you heard that right, I prefer the PC to console gaming :))

Basically it's very simple, just melt your favourite type of chocolate and get some of your favourite cookies, we usually use the social tea cookies (we call them "Baby cookies" in our house) but you could do an arrow root cookie, or digestive biscuit or graham cracker, whatever you like!

Layer the chocolate with cookie and set in the fridge then slice it, it may break a bit but it's ok because the crumbs make a nice topping for ice cream ^_^

You could add some heavy cream to your chocolate for more of a softer "ganache" or my mother did a chocolate pudding cake like this where the cookies softened up nicely like layers of cake while it set in the fridge.

Enjoy!

P.S it was a super rainy day today, drizzle would not stop so it made it hard to take some good shots but I gave it my best shot. The rain is great for the garden but I hope the sun returns soon.

Carrot cake, with pineapple

Carrot cake (with pineapple)

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 cups vegetable oil

1/3 cup crushed pineapple

1 cup of each white sugar and brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 taspoon allspice or 1/8 ground clove

3-4 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugars and 2 teaspoons vanilla as well as the crushed pineapple.

Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Carrot cake (without pineapple)

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 cups white sugar/brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon/nutmeg/allspice

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.


Original recipe courtesy of Allrecipes

Cherry pierogi (dessert)

Dough

2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup sour cream

2- 4 tbsp water

Place the flour, egg, salt and sour cream into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a dough blade. Pulse a few times. If the dough doesn't form into a ball and pull away from the sides, then add a tablespoon of water at a time until it does. You want a soft, slightly sticky dough.

Process the dough for a few seconds, then place it into a buttered bowl and cover with a damp kitchen towel while you make the filling.

Filling: Fresh cherries, pitted (I use this technique!)

Berries & Cream Cake

Here's a lovely dessert that comes together in minutes!

All you need is:

- Store bought angel food cake

- Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, whatever you fancy

- Heavy cream

- Real vanilla extract (it's worth investing in the good stuff here because we're working with pure simple flavours)

- A few tbsp powder sugar

Begin by unmoulding your cake and placing it on a plate.

Handle your berries delicately and wash then lay them on a paper towel to dry, be careful not to squish them.

In a bowl pour your chilled heavy cream and add some vanilla, powder sugar (about 2 or 3 tbsps)

Whisk by hand or use a mixer/hand blender until it is creamy but still has a soft peak texture without seizing up too much.

Gently scoop the whipped cream all over the top of the cake.

Now layer all the berries on top and chill!

With the berries that didn't make the cut I threw them in a small pot with some sugar and as soon as they come to a boil I smashed them with a fork, ran them through the strainer and saved the juice. This makes a great sauce when plating.

Serve & Enjoy!


**Whenever there is whip cream on sight kitty comes by for a taste. He needed a good distraction while I shot the cake

Pink Lemon Poppy seed cake

Here's a fun cake!

A little contrast with the frosting made this lemon poppy seed cake POP!

The frosting is a new recipe, normally I make swiss meringue buttercream but not having any egg whites on hand (sometimes a bad thing can turn into a great thing!) I ventured out to try something new.

A cooked buttercream recipe, the milk, sugar, heavy cream and a tad bit of flour are cooked into a bachamel type consistency then it's cooled down and whipped while small cubes of room temp butter are added.

It's really amazing!

The recipe is courtesy of Bourbonnatrix without the caramel part, and even so the sugar amount was perfect.

She mentioned having a little trouble with it going soupy and thankfully that did not happy with me, I cooled the creamy mixture down really well and actually made the entire process by hand (I know, totally stupid but my kitchen aid broke down!! Check out the bang up marks on my hand from whisking like mad with my teeny tiny whisk)

It worked! Had to put it in the fridge a few times before it was about to split, and also while adding the food colouring. You could use red food colouring or concentrated beet juice (if I had any I would have gone with it - natural colours are so much healthier than artificial)

Frosting:

Cooked Frosting

Inspired by Baked Explorations recipe

In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Add:

1 1/3 cups milk (I used 2% honestly)

1/2 cup heavy cream

If using whole milk use 1 1/2 cups and 1/3 heavy cream.

Cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened, about 10-15 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat with the paddle attachment until cool. Reduce speed to low, and add:

1 1/2 cups softened butter, cubed

1 tsp pure vanilla

Mix until thoroughly incorporated, the increase speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.

If using food colouring add it in at the end or mix it with the creamy milk mixture.


Cake recipe is thanks to Technicolor kitchen

I varied it slightly by using up some extra coconut milk I had instead of the water in the glaze.

Also using sour cream instead of buttermilk and thinning it down to the consistency of buttermilk also using canned coconut milk.

She got 3 cakes out of the batter and I measured 2 and 6 cupcakes. All the syrup was used to drench the two cakes.