Key Lime Tarts

Since I started blogging, I have often read about and longed to try key lime pie, but somehow, the right moment never came around. However, when I was going through my freezer this week, my piece of Loretta Sartori's "1,2,3" shortcrust dough jumped out at me, and I couldn't have imagined a better way to use it than to make key lime pie.

For convenience when sharing with the troops, I made little key lime tarts instead of one big pie (and made friends with my new pastry scraper).

Of course, I didn't have real key limes, just ordinary ones, but no matter - the filling in these tarts was amazing! I used this recipe from Nikki of Baking Bites for the filling, and just loved it. At first, I wondered how on earth the filling was going to set, but was surprised when it firmed up even before I refrigerated the tarts.

What else can I say - I adored these tangy yet creamy little tarts, which more than satisfied my citrus craving.

TWD - Savoury Corn and Pepper Muffins

This week's Tuesday with Dorie has a spicy zing - hosted by Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake, she has chosen Dorie's Savoury Corn and Pepper Muffins. When I first read the title of this recipe, I thought "pepper" referred to the spice; in actual fact, it refers to jalapeno peppers and capsicum (called a pepper in the US).

I have joined baking groups to make me try things that I would never otherwise have tried, whether because of the perceived skill level required or my expectation that I would not like the taste. These muffins would have fallen into the latter category if I had not joined Tuesdays with Dorie, because my only prior experience with savoury muffins is of horrendous tasting store bought versions, which taste more like dust than a muffin. I also generally prefer sweet things.

However, these muffins surprised me - I really liked the flavour. Although they looked a little odd to me with their rough, bumpy tops, the flavour was a winner, starting off sweet with the corn, coriander and capsicum, and then developing a real zing as the chilli flavour hits you. They were really really tasty, and - shock horror - I'd make them again!

I followed the recipe for these muffins to the letter, except that I couldn't find jalapenos, so I left them out, and I made mini muffins instead of the full size versions. I also made microwave chilli jam, ostensibly to eat with the muffins, but it turned to rock toffee that hardened in the jar. Oh well, these muffins were so good on their own, so I didn't even miss the jam.

The troops liked these muffins too. I wasn't sure how they would be received, as they are very different to what I usually make, but I was pleasantly surprised at the response.

All round, these muffins were a pleasant surprise. Thanks to Rebecca for hosting TWD this week. To see all the other TWDers versions of these muffins, check out the TWD blogroll (and don't forget to check out a few of our new members' blogs).

Happy birthday Matt & Julien - Carrot Cake

While we were away on Christmas vacation, our CE "twins", Matt and Julien, celebrated their respective birthdays on 29 December. So that they did not miss out on cake just because their birthdays fall during Christmas vacation, I made them a carrot cake on the same day as Susie and Racquel's pina colada cake and made a special trip to take it in (as I was on secondment all this week).

Matt's favourite cake is carrot cake, so I made carrot cake for both of them. As it was late at night and I didn't want to have to dig through recipe books, I pulled out my reliable The Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander, which contains recipes in in order of key ingredient, and lo, under "Carrots", she had a recipe for "simple carrot cake".

I substituted cashews for walnuts in the recipe, as that was what I had on hand. Unfortunately, the cake turned out a little flat because I used a larger tin than recommended, so I sliced it in half and filled it with cream cheese frosting to plump it up a bit. While I didn't get to taste the cake, the frosting was to die for (yep - I licked the bowl :)). The cake is dead easy to make, so if you are feeling a little world weary but need to whip up a cake, this recipe is a winner.

To make this cake, you will need:

125g self-raising flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup oil
2 lightly beaten eggs
2 cups grated carrot (~ 2 large carrots)
60g chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and grease and line an 18cm cake tin.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the oil and eggs, and beat with an electric mixer for around one minute. Stir in the carrot and chopped nuts, then spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for one hour.

.Remove the cake from the oven and cool it completely in the tin before turning out.

To make the cream cheese frosting (enough for the top of the cake only), beat together 60g cream cheese, 125g icing sugar and 30g butter. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence, then ice the top of the cake. This frosting is delicious, and not at all runny like the other cream cheese frostings that I have made to date.

Hope you had a great birthday guys!

Triple Layer Pina Colada Cake

I read with shock this week that Woolworths in the UK has ceased to be as a consequence of the current economic crisis. For just under a year, I lived near Lancaster Gate tube station in London, and I relied on my local Woolworths at Marble Arch for all of my general household goods. Unlike Australia, supermarkets in the UK (at least, the ones I went to) do not sell general household items like mops and brooms, so Woolworths was my "go to" store for such things. The lovely blue stripey plates that appear on my blog came from Woolworths in Marble Arch, London. Even my copy of Crowded House's Recurring Dream came from Woolworths at Marble Arch. Accordingly, I feel a personal touch of nostalgia and sadness for the fate of Woolworths stores in the UK.

On a happier note, there have been four recent birthdays among my work colleagues. For Susie and Racquel, whose birthdays were the most recent, I turned to Sky High: Irresistable Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman, Peter Wynne and Tina Rupp to make a cake, because Racquel had previously expressed her love of the triple-layer cake. (I've said it before and I'll say it again - this is a great book.) I chose the Pina Colada Cake for Susie and Racquel, simply because what girl doesn't like a cocktail?

The cake consists of three layers of brown sugar cake soaked with rum, a pineapple filling, and a coconut buttercream. The pineapple filling was delicious (I tasted a spoonful of it while assembling the cake), but unfortunately I cannot report on the taste of the remainder because I wasn't around when the cake was served. I only made a half recipe of pineapple filling, which seemed more than enough to me. I also substituted lemon juice for lime juice in the filling, as I couldn't find lime juice for the life of me in the City Coles, and the supermarket limes that I have experienced are usually small and dry, yielding very little juice.

Brown Sugar Cake

To make the brown sugar cake, you will need:

3 3/4 cups plain flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
230g butter, softened
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and line 3 x 9 inch cake tins.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Add the brown sugar, butter and 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, then blend together using an electric mixer on low speed. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

In a jug, whisk together the eggs, the vanilla extract and the remaining 1/4 cup of buttermilk, and add to the cake mixture in 3 batches, stirring until just combined after each addition.

Divide the cake mixture evenly between each of the 3 cake tins, and bake the cakes in the preheated oven for approximately 25 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before unmoulding onto a wire rack and allowing to cool completely.

Pineapple filling

I made a half recipe as follows:

440g tin crushed pineapple in juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 cup lemon juice
1 split vanilla bean

Put the pineapple (including juice), sugar and lemon juice in a large saucepan or frypan. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the pan, and add the pod. Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring until the sugar is disssolved. Turn the heat up to medium and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the juices have evaporated and the pineapple mixture has thickened.

Remove the pineapple mixture from the heat, remove the vanilla pod, and allow it to cool completely.

Coconut buttercream

3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
290g softened butter
2/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I used the light version)
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract

Place the egg whites into an electric mixer bowl.

Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, and stir over medium heat to dissolve the sugar. Bring the mixture to the boil, then allow it to boil without stirring until it reaches 238 degrees Farenheit on a candy thermometer. Remove the mixture from the heat.

Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer for a short time, then pour the hot sugar syrup in a slow stream into the eggwhites while still beating, and continue to beat until the meringue has cooled to room temperature.

Turning the electric mixer to low speed, beat in the butter, two tablespoons at a time, then turn up the mixer speed to medium and beat until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.

Beat in the coconut milk in several batches, then stir in the coconut extract.

Cake assembly

2/3 cup rum
shredded or dessicated coconut

Place one cake layer on a cardboard cake disk, and soak the cake with three tablespooons of rum. Spread half of the pineapple filling over the top of the cake, then place a second cake layer on top. Repeat, topping with the third cake layer, and sprinkle the top cake layer with the remaining rum.

Frost the cake with the coconut buttercream, and press the dessicated or shredded coconut onto the sides of the cake to decorate.

Although I can't tell you how the cake tastes, I can truthfully say that it smells delightful! As with all triple layer cakes, it also looks impressive, so you can wow your friends at your next dinner party.

Make Your Own King Cake - Galette des Rois

Today, 6 January, is Epiphany. To celebrate, Zorra of Kochtopf has invited us to buy or bake a King Cake and to discuss our family Epiphany tradition. Although there is no family tradition on my part, and I in fact only learned about King Cakes when I started reading food blogs, I've always wanted to make a King Cake. You can find out more about the origin of the King Cake here.

Originally, my plan was to make the yeasted American version of the King Cake, as featured at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. However, my heart was stolen by the elegant French galette des rois. Armed with home-made puff pastry from my Essential Ingredient baking class (the last piece!), how could I resist?

I used this recipe for the Galette Des Rois, but omitted the feve (as I don't think my colleagues would be very appreciative of it, given that King Cakes are not a tradition among any of them either, to my knowledge) .

Basically, you cut out two 9 inch rounds of puff pastry. Place one round of pastry on a silpat mat, and brush a one inch border around the edge of it with egg wash.

You make a pastry cream and an almond cream, combine them, and then pile the mixture into the centre of the puff pastry ring, inside the egg wash border:

Finally, you top the tart with the other round of puff pastry, and seal the edges together by crimping them with a fork. You carve a design in the top of the tart using a sharp knife (I used a traditional swirly design), and cut a hole in the top of the galette to let out steam during baking:

The galette is then refrigerated for half an hour before baking in a hot oven for 40 minutes. The finished result is shown in the photo at the top of this post.

This galette was really quite fun and not very hard to make. I love pastry cream, so couldn't resist licking the bowl - any excuse to make it ;).

You can check out the King Cakes and shared traditions from everyone who came to Zorra's event after 12 January at Zorra's site.

TWD - French Pear Tart

I honestly didn't think I could make TWD this week - but given that Dorie Greenspan herself made the choice, how could I resist?

This week's dish is French Pear Tart. This is a dish that I have long admired, but have never made before.

The tart starts off with a crumbly French sweet pastry shell:

The tart shell is then filled with almond cream, and topped with poached pears which have been halved and sliced:

The tart is then baked until it is puffy and golden, as in the photo at the top of this post.

The pears are supposed to look like spokes on a wheel - hmm, my funny short pears don't quite look like that, but I still think it looks elegant. I haven't had a chance to taste it yet, but it looks and smells wonderful.

Thanks to Dorie for joining TWD this week and choosing this recipe. You can see all the other interpretations of the French pear tart by going to the TWD blogroll.

Abi's birthday - White Chocolate Mud Cake

Happy New Year to all!

My first post for this year is a "catch up" post, showing Abi's birthday cake from last December. Abi is a work colleague and friend, who requested "pink" and "chocolate" when I asked what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday.

To cover off the chocolate angle, I made the base cake for Ispahan cupcakes by Lorraine E of Not Quite Nigella:


It is a white chocolate cake with a crispy, macaron-like top, and it is absolutely delicious. However, be warned that, as a single cake, the recipe only makes a small cake. This means that you may need to multiply the recipe, depending on the size and appetites of your audience.

The icing is a thick white chocolate ganache (you can use your favourite recipe) coloured pink, then decorated with commercial red writing gel, flowers cut out from "ready to roll" fondant, baby pink edible glitter (which doesn't show up well in the photo, unfortunately) and silver cachous.

Abi was stoked with her pink girly cake - which is all that matters. Hope you had an amazing 25th birthday Abi!