A rather yummy Christmas cake ... in the Thermomix

It's getting around to the festive time of year again and my how quickly the year has zoomed past. This year, like the year before, and the year before that, I am responsible for making the dessert on Christmas Day lunch.

Previously, I've made my famous creme brulee in the Thermomix and that was very well received. In actual fact, my mom had asked for the creme brulee again but since we are traveling 2 hours to get to Christmas Day lunch, the creme brulee is not going to survive in the car for that duration so I had to think of something else to make and I landed upon Christmas cake.

Now, those of you who know me will know that I am no baker by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I am no baker at all and I like all my baking to be simple and done in the Thermomix, as you can tell from my banana bread and zucchini bread recipe.

I, of course, immediately rang my friend Yanna and asked for a recipe.

This is what she gave me:

Ingredients:

• 1kg mixed dried fruit
• 620g full cream milk, white coffee or chocolate milk
• 280g self raising flour

Instructions:

• Soak fruit in milk for at least 4 - 6 hours
• Preheat oven to 150°C
• Line a 25cm cake tin with baking paper and set aside
• Place fruit mixture and flour (put the flour in the bottom) into mixing bowl and mix for  60 sec / Reverse / Speed 3
• Pour into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean

Which I varied a little bit, but not by very much, because I know enough to know that baking is a lot more exact than cooking.

I added 250g of sherry and the remainder in fat free soy milk instead of 620g of full cream milk, because (1) I wanted the Christmas cake to be drunken, and (2) I'm lactose intolerant and can't have full cream milk. Plus, I soaked the fruit overnight instead of just for the few hours that the recipe requested.

I also baked them in my customary single serve muffin tin sizes, rather than a full cake tin, since I like my cakes and muffins in single serves. In the single serve sizes, the Christmas cake took 45 minutes to cook.

The cakes turned out very well and very fruity. It's kind of an odd recipe because it's like 95% fruit. It's the sort my mom really likes too cos she likes her cake with lots of fruit and very little "cake". In fact, just enough cake to hold it all together. :-)

The Boy who is not a fan of Christmas cake at all liked it, which says a lot for it since he usually cannot be convinced to eat the stuff. I will take it as a win.

This recipe made exactly 12 single serve mini Christmas cakes.

The next time, I am going to try adding nuts to the recipe and maybe a bit more flour. That would take a little bit more experimenting.

In the meantime, if I do not post again before Christmas, have a very Merry Christmas and may you have a blessed day with family and friends.

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Moist orange and almond birthday cake

Looking at my blog archives tonight, I noticed that I have only posted 10 (11 including this one) blog posts this month compared to 43 in February, which is totally pathetic. My only excuse is that I have started working full time and I haven't been cooking as much at night or even doing dinner parties. It's no excuse, I know, but still ...

This month is my birthday month. Yeah, I'm a March baby. My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and The Boy treated me very well.

I had a pre-birthday dinner at our favorite pub - HUX @ Nortons, followed by a birthday lunch at our favorite seafood restaurant - Fish at the Rocks, and finally a post-birthday dinner with some friends at home, catered by the incredible Jay Huxley.

It was a lovely ride, of course. I love birthdays and I especially love my birthday. I get all silly and giddy about it being my birthday and The Boy knows how much I love it, so he makes a big fuss.

Each year, as a tradition, which we've done for many, many years now, we both take the day off work for the day of my birthday and we spend the day together. This year was no different, and thanks to a very understanding new boss, I got the day off.

The Boy took me to one of my favorite stores to let me pick out my birthday gift, which he had already decided on but wanted me to be happy with before he picked it up. Then lunch at our favorite seafood restaurant and a lovely night in just hanging out and enjoying each others' company. I even got an extra cuddle on account of it being my birthday.

The dinner which Jay catered was incredible and I'll share the photos from that dinner on another post. I really should have done that sooner but I've been remiss.

The Best Bud brought dessert which also doubled as my birthday cake - which is that lovely orange cake. It's an almond and orange cake and it is the most moist cake I have ever had. It was incredibly delicious too. I'm sorry that I do not have a recipe for this cake, since he bought it from a store, but you can probably find a whole host of recipes online. Plus, if your baking skills are even a little bit better than mine, you'll get pretty good results.

So that's it for a quick post because I wanted to actually mention my birthday during the month of my birthday. :-)


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Blueberry buttermilk breakfast cake

We didn't do anything exciting for breakfast today, just the usual oatmeal, however, we did such a big breakfast yesterday, there's plenty to post on that.

Look at this lovely blueberry cake. It tastes wonderful too - not too sweet and just a little tangy and fruity from the blueberries. It was a hit with the breakfast guests. :-)

I got the recipe from Pinterest and here's a link to it.

Here's the RECIPE if you can't be bothered to look at the link:

Ingredients:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
• 7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• ½ cup buttermilk

Note:

• 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
• ** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF/170ºC. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
• Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.
• Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

The only thing I did differently is that instead of sugar I used a sugar replacement. I used the Hermesetas Granulated with Fructofibres®. It's great 'cos it is a 1 to 1 measure between it and regular sugar, which makes it a lot easier to measure for baking. I think using this made the cake less sweet.

One other thing I noticed too was the the amount of butter, sugar and lemon zest to cream was too small for my Kitchenaid, so it didn't work very well. I think next time I do this, I will have to do it by hand and then add it into the Kitchenaid when I'm ready to add the flour and buttermilk to for mixing.

Did I mention it was yummy? :-)

© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Happy Chocolate Cake Day!!!

In the continuing spirit of rather odd holidays (which I adore and totally works with my sense of humor) today is Chocolate Cake Day.

It is just about one of the most perfect holidays that anyone can conceive, in my mind, especially for the chocolate lover in me.

Here is what the Internet has to say about it:

When : Always January 27th

Chocolate Cake Day is a a chocolate lovers delight, and a day to eat cake. Why this a day to "bake your chocolate cake....and eat it, too!"
On this day, a white or yellow cake will not do. Nor, will part chocolate, part white suffice. It must be chocolate, all chocolate. You can make milk chocolate, dark chocolate, fudge, or any other type of chocolate cake.
The only reference to Chocolate Day on the Internet is from Ecard and calendar websites. This might lead you to conclude that this as a day for(and by) the Ecard companies. But, we know better. This day is for you, and all chocolate lovers.
There are three objectives of Chocolate Cake Day: To bake a chocolate cake. To decorate a chocolate cake. And, to eat a chocolate cake. Of course, if you are to busy to bake or decorate a cake, then just eating a chocolate cake will certainly do!  

And I certainly cannot leave you without a recipe to a lovely chocolate cake just in case you feel inspired to bake on this most appropriate of days. :-)

Here's a RECIPE for a lovely, rich, chocolate cake:

Ingredients (serves 8):

• 200g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups (300g) plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup good-quality cocoa powder, sifted

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease and line the base and sides of a 23cm springform cake pan.
• Place chocolate and 60g of the butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (don't let the bowl touch the water). Stir occasionally until melted, then set aside to cool.
• Place the sugar and remaining butter in an electric mixer and beat until pale and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, until just combined. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate, then add the almond meal. In a third bowl, combine the cocoa powder and 2/3 cup (160ml) of boiling water. Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture, alternating with the cocoa mixture, until all the ingredients are combined.
• Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, then remove the collar of the pan and cool completely.
• If you wish to fill the cake, carefully cut it into 3 layers horizontally. Place the bottom layer on a serving plate, then use a spatula to spread with half the whipped chocolate filling. Place the middle layer on top, and spread with remaining filling. Place the top slice onto the cake and carefully pour over the glaze, letting it drip down the sides. Allow half an hour for the glaze to set before cutting.

I never do anything different when it comes to baking because I find it always helps (me) to follow the instructions exactly. The few times I've messed around with the recipe things have not turned out so well.

Yum ... chocolate ....

© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd