cake Archives - Use Your Noodles

Spooky Chocolate & Meringue Ghost Cupcakes

October 24, 2022

A spooky Halloween recipe – chocolate & meringue ghost cupcakes! Learn how to make these easy and fun decorated cupcakes with a meringue topping and make the spookiest treat of the season.

Super excited to be sharing this recipe with you, guys. I got a ton of requests last year when I posted them on Instagram in collaboration with Kenwood Slovenija. Back then, the recipe was posted in Slovene.

And now I get to share it in English, and I can’t wait to see you make it!

I’m always fascinated by beautiful Halloween designs, so I thought I’d try making meringue ghost cupcakes. We’re big fans of meringue in my family. Yeah, I know it’s too sweet, but to be honest, we don’t have it all that often!

We get to splurge every now and then, right?

You know I’m all about simple recipes, and this one is no exception. The sponge is made in one bowl, so you have minimal cleaning. You’re only left with a bowl where you beat the meringue and a few extras, and that’s it. I’ve been very lazy with my cleaning lately, so I’m trying to make recipes that require less cleaning.

The recipe makes 12 middle-sized ghost cupcakes, but I assure you they will be gone fast. So if you’re making it for a party, I suggest doubling or tripling the recipe.

Print

Spooky Chocolate & Meringue Ghost Cupcakes

Course Dessert

Keyword cake, chocolate cake, halloween, muffins

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes

Rest Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 43 minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Chocolate Sponge

150 g all-purpose flour
50 g ground hazelnuts
50 g unsweetened cocoa
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
150 g sugar
1/2 cup + 5 TBSP milk
⅕ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
60 g chocolate chips

Meringue Ghost Topping

3 egg whites
140 g white sugar
½ tsp cream of tartar

Decoration

chocolate chips

Instructions

Chocolate Sponge

Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F)
Mix flour, hazelnuts, cocoa, cinnamon, and baking powder in a bowl.
Beat the eggs and sugar with a stand mixer for 1-2 minutes to get a fluffy batter.
Add milk and oil and mix again to get a uniform mixture.
Add the dry flour mixture and fold it with a spatula, just enough for the ingredients to combine.
Add chocolate chips and gently fold in.
Pour the batter into 12 muffin molds ¾ high and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Leave to cool entirely before decorating.

Meringue Ghost Topping

Pour egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar into a heatproof bowl and place it over a pot with simmering water (a double boiler).
Whisk for 5 minutes until the mixture becomes frothy, and all sugar is dissolved.
Add the egg whites mixture to a clean and dry bowl of a stand mixer and whisk for 5-7 minutes to get stiff peaks, the mixture is silky, and all the sugar has dissolved.
Use a round piping nozzle to decorate cooled-down cupcakes in ghost shapes.
Use chocolate chips to create eyes.

Looking for other delicious chocolate recipes?

Take a look at these:

Fudge Brownie Cake with Chocolate Ganache

September 24, 2021

I love it when you can make the most chocolaty fudge brownie cake with the simplest of ingredients. And to top it all, make a simple and most delicious chocolate ganache.

Anyone else here dreaming about chocolate desserts now that it’s become moodier and cooler?

I’m not normally the one dreaming about anything chocolate (many desserts come before chocolate!) but this year I can’t help myself 🙂

So the other day I made a chocolate fudge brownie cake and it was utterly drool-worthy. It would be a shame not to share the recipe with you guys. And I actually added a simple chocolate ganache recipe to use on the cake. Because more chocolate is just better (again, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I guess times are changing!).

Here I used a bunch of fruits from the garden (I shot these a while ago when we still had some blueberries and raspberries in the garden). You can add any fruit you like such as banana, figs, pears and similar or just keep it a simple chocolate cake. Be creative!

Like I’ve said here probably a million times, the best recipes are simple ones that don’t require a bunch of ingredients and equipment. This is a recipe just like that. And that’s why I’m such a huge fan of brownies. So simple and everyone always likes them. Win-win!

If you’re not into fudgy brownies and prefer a cakier one, I have another amazing recipe here.

Print

Fudge Brownie Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Course Dessert

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Cooling time 2 hours

Total Time 3 hours

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Fudge Brownie Cake

200 g bitter-sweet chocolate finely chopped
1/2 cup butter cubed
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Chocolate ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream (110 ml)
150 g bitter-sweet chocolate very finely chopped

Instructions

Fudge Brownie Cake

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and butter the sides and bottom of a 6-inch cake pan.
Place chocolate and butter in a heat-proof bowl and place it over a pan of simmering water. Stir often until chocolate and butter have melted completely.
Remove from the stove and add sugar and salt. Mix well.
Once the mixture is not anymore, add eggs one at a time and use a whisk to mix them in well. The mixture should not be too slimy.
Finally, add flour and mix it in to get a uniform batter.
Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. You can do a toothpick test, however you will see it be brown and sticky even when the cake is done. Just make sure the toothpick shows the sticky inside and not a runny inside.
Once the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.
Cool it to room temperature or keep in the fridge before decorating with chocolate ganache.

Chocolate ganache

While the cake is cooling, prepare the chocolate ganache.
Pour heavy cream into a pot and heat until steaming but DO NOT LET IT BOIL!
Pour the steaming hot heavy cream over the finely chopped chocolate and let it sit for 5-10 minutes or until the chocolate has completely melted. Stir with a spatula to create a smooth cream.
The cream will be pretty runny and it's okay to use it like this if you prefer.
To create a cream like in the photos, wait until the cream cools down to room temperature to become thicker and spreadable. If it still feels too runny, place it in the fridge until it gets the right consistency.
You can prepare the cream in advance and store it in the fridge, then take it out an hour before using it.

Dried Fruits And Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

December 10, 2020

This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It’s the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!

I tried not to bake too much this year, since we’re in a lockdown and we have no one to share the sweets with. But I couldn’t resist baking another Christmas bundt cake. Do you remember the chocolate hazelnut bundt cake from last year?

I had the idea of making a bundt cake and then my son insisted on us baking a cake. He’s not very friendly with bundt cakes, since they don’t usually include any cream filling. So I tried to find a way to make him love it. And found the perfect solution.

Adding lots of chocolate and dried fruits did the job. He’s a big fan of both! And I love how they made the cake a bit juicier and creamier. We also added some orange zest, because it’s almost Christmas and you can’t have Christmas without some orange zest, right? For me, it’s one of the most distinct flavors of Christmas.

It’s super easy to make this dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake!

One of the reasons I love bundt cakes is how easy they are to make and how well they usually last in terms of freshness. Definitely not in terms of not-eating them, because we finished it in a day!

All you need to do to make a perfect bundt cake is beat sugar and butter together. There’s not so much butter in this recipe, so don’t get scared if the mixture is not as fluffy as for example a buttercream. It still needs to get airy and brighter, though. You add the eggs one at a time and finish with flour and milk. At the very end, you add chocolate chips and dried fruits and pour it all in a bundt pan.

It’s a very simple cake and you can eat it as is or make a simple glaze with icing sugar and milk.

Print

Dried Fruits And Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Course Dessert

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

1¼ cup all-purpose flour (180 g)
¾ cup sugar (150 g)
1 stick unsalted butter (110 g)
2 large eggs
¼ cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla seeds (or vanilla extract)
zest of half an orange
pinch of salt
¼ tsp ground cinnammon
½ cup chocolate chips (80 g)
¼ cup raisins (35 g)
¼ cup dried cranberries (35 g)

Simple glaze

1 cup icing sugar
1-2 TBSP milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and grease a 6-cup bundt cake pan with butter.
In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes, until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, and make sure to incorporate the first fully, before adding the second.
Add vanilla and orange zest and mix quickly.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Then add 1/2 of the milk and mix on low speed. Continue with 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the milk, and finishing with the remaining 1/3 of the flour mixture.
Add chocolate chips and dried fruits and use a spatula to gently incorporate them in the batter.
Pour the batter into a greased bundt cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. If you're doubling the recipe add 10-15 minutes to the bake.
The bundt cake is done when the toothpick comes out clean.
Wait for 10-15 minutes before removing the bundt cake from the pan.

Simple glaze

For the glaze mix together icing sugar and milk to get a smooth paste. First, start with 1 TBSP of milk and add more, little by little, until you get the consistency you like.

You can find the recipe in Slovene here.

Spiced Mandarin Upside-Down Cake

October 27, 2020

This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It’s super simple to make!

I just love the season of mandarins! They take me back to my childhood when we spent afternoons with my family eating them and having a good time. They come at the perfect time when the autumn is getting moodier and cooler. So we get to hang out together, talking and playing games over healthy snacks, and also add have some extra vitamins.

I feel like this is even more important this year than any other. An extra dose of vitamins is super important. I hope you’re doing well! Please take care of yourself and the people around you. One way to do that is also by baking this delicious mandarin upside-down cake.

This mandarin upside-down cake is super simple!

I know I say this with most of my recipes, but this is probably the simplest cake ever. You can make it in only one mixing bowl. This means less cleaning, and this is a big win for me already 🙂

It’s a little denser and moister than a regular sponge cake, which I find perfect for colder days. Together with some warm tea or mulled mandarin juice, it makes for a perfect afternoon dessert.

I used some yogurt, which I use a lot when I want to make a sponge a bit juicier and when I want to add that milky flavor. Because yogurt already makes it a bit denser and heavier, I used oil instead of butter. And the end result was amazing.

Imagine baked caramelized mandarins on top of a delightful cake. I can’t imagine anything better to have right now. I hope you try the recipe and enjoy it just as much as we did.

Print

Mandarin Upside-Down Cake

Course Dessert

Keyword cardamom, mandarins, spiced cake, sponge cake

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 1 7-inch cake

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

½ cup + 2 TBSP sugar
¼ cup sunflower oil (olive oil is great too)
½ cup Greek-style yogurt or crème fraîche
¼ cup mandarin juice (you can cut slices first and use the ends to squeeze out the juice)
2 medium-size eggs
1 tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup hazelnut flour (or finely gorund hazelnuts)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp powdered cardamom
pinch of salt
3-4 mandarins
2 TBSP sugar for sprinkling
butter for greasing the cake tin

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Cut mandarins into 0,5cm (1/5 inch slices). Save the ends and use them to sqeeze out the juice. Save it for later.
Butter a 7-inch cake tin and place mandarin slices on the bottom in one layer.
Mix sugar, oil, yogurt, and eggs at a high speed until well combined.
Add mandarin juice and vanilla (if using vanilla extract) and mix again.
In a separate bowl mix together flour, hazelnut flour, baking soda, cardammon, vanilla (if using vanilla seeds) and salt.
Add flour mixture in two increments and mix on a low speed.
Sprinkle the mandarins in the cake tin with sugar and add the cake batter.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Wait to cool completely, before removing the cake from the tin. If the cake has a big dome, cut it away, before turning the cake around.

You can find the recipe in Slovene here.

Summer Berry Pavlova

July 7, 2020

The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.

We’re super excited here because of all the Summer berries. We only grow strawberries, blueberries, and red currants at home, but our family, friends, and neighbors have others as well, so we go pick them up almost on a daily basis. This year is a very good year for all kinds of berries. There are so so many of them everywhere and I’m not complaining 🙂

So last week I had this huge amount of all the colorful berries so I made pavlova. Because there’s no dessert that screams summer like a pavlova. Don’t you agree?

Although I really love a chocolate pavlova, Summer screams for a more refreshing version like this berry pavlova. Just a little bit of cream, fresh summer berries, and quick homemade berry syrup. I mean, aren’t berries and cream the best flavors of Summer?

This recipe makes more syrup than is necessary, because it’ very hard to make syrup from a very small amount of berries. But you can store it in the fridge and use on ice creams, fruit salads, coctails or simly make a refreshing drink by diluting it in some cold water 🙂

So is this berry pavlova hard to make?

The good thing about Pavlova is that it’s actually pretty easy to make, once you know a few basics:

Know your oven. I was baking it in my mom’s oven (since my oven is dying and the temps are all over the place). I almost never bake in her oven so I’m not used to it and the first pavlova came out too baked on the outside (brown). Nothing wrong with that actually, it still tastes good, but I wanted a nice snow-white pavlova (we ate the brown one too, of course)
Humidity. Very humid weather can mess with your pavlova. If your pavlova fails, this could be the reason.
Timing. Timing really depends on how thick your pavlova is and also the temperature you’re baking at. Since you shouldn’t open the oven while baking, you should do some research on timing or follow the recipe 🙂
Really beat in the sugar. The sugar needs to completely dissolve otherwise the eggwhites will turn liquid and you’ll end up with a weeping pavlova.

Print

Summer Berry Pavlova

Course Dessert

Keyword berry pavlova, meringues, pavlova, summer pavlova

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Resting time 5 hours

Total Time 6 hours 40 minutes

Servings 8 slices

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Meringue

3 large egg whites (100g)
3/4 cup caster sugar (150g)
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp lemon juice
pinch of salt

Berry Syrup

2 cups strawberries cubed (250g)
½ cup sugar (100g)
2 TBSP lemon juice or white vinegar

Other ingredients

1 cup whipping cream (250ml), use coconut cream for a non-dairy version
2 cups fresh Summer berries

Instructions

Meringue

Preheat the oven to 130°C. If you're using a fan oven, shut off the fan. Draw a 18cm circle on a baking paper and place it on a baking tray.
Beat eggwhites and a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Then add caster sugar a tablespoon at a time. At the end add the lemon juice or vinegar and cornstarch. Beat gently until thick and glossy. You can make a test if the meringue is done: place a bit of the meringue between two fingers and see if you can feel the sugar. If you can still feel some sugar, then you need to beat them a little longer until you can't feel the sugar no more.
Spread the meringue evenly into a circle, making the edge a little higher that the center. Alternatively, you can pipe the meringue onto the paper for a different look.
Move into the oven and reduce the temperature to 100°C. Bake for about 90 minutes. It should look crisp on top and feel dry, but when you press it you should feel soft in the centre.
Turn the oven off, open the door slightly and leave in the oven to cool overnight.

Berry Syrup

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook for 15-20 minutes until the syrup starts to thinken. Leave to cool completely, befor pouring it over pavlova. The syrup will thicken more as it cools down.

Assembling the cake

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment add the heavy whipping cream and whip until soft or stiff peaks form (depending on your taste).
Top the cooled meringue with cream right before serving. Top with berries and pour over a little berry syrup.
If you're not eating the entire pavlova at once, it's better to pour syrup on cut pieces separately, otherwise the pavlova will get soggy. If you store an assebled pavlova, take into consideration that it will get softer.
Store a non-assembled pavlove covered on the counter (not air-tight) for 1-2 days before assembilng.

Cherry Pistachio Pound Cake

June 16, 2020

Soft and fluffy pistachio pound cake with a sweet cherry glaze. Just what you need for the afternoon tea!

Hello sweet cherries!

While I still mourn our cherry tree that we had to cut last year, I got some very delicious ones from the farmers market and even though we ate almost the entire bunch in a day, I managed to save some to make a delicious pistachio pound cake with a cherry glaze and some fresh cherries on top.

Since most pound cakes I’ve made so far were buttery and a bit denser, I decided to try a fluffier and more delicate one. I switched a part of the butter for oil which creates a different texture since the oil doesn’t firm as it cools, while the butter provides a nice milky taste.

I don’t have pistachios on hand, can I use something else?

In this recipe, I’ve used ground pistachios, since I’m a huge fan of pistachios in sweets. You can replace them with some other nuts like almonds or hazelnuts with no problem.

I prefer grinding nuts myself, since the only storebought I can find, usually contain some larger particles and are not really very fine. These work great too, but I prefer no particles for this cake in particular. But if you can’t find a well ground nuts or you don’t have a grinder at home, that’s fine too 🙂

How to make cherry glaze?

The cherry glaze is very simple to make. Like any icing glaze, you need icing sugar and a tiny amount of liquid. With glaze, you really need just a teeny-tiny amount, less than you’d think.

For this recipe you need 2/3 cup icing sugar and only about 2 TBSP cherry juice.

You can make the juice two ways:

with a blender: Just pop deseeded cherries in and mix until you get a very fine purée and then run it through a mesh strainer to remove the particles.
with a juicer: pop cherries with seeds in the juicer and let it work its magic.

I have to sneak in the third option: You can use a store bought juice as well, but I prefer the taste of freshly squeezed juice 🙂

More cherry recipes:

Vegan Almond Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches

Cherry Braised Beef Brisket With Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Cherry, Brie & Bacon Grilled Quesadilla

I hope you enjoy this cherry pistachio pound cake just as much as I (and my neighbours) did 🙂

5 from 1 vote

Print

Cherry Pistachio Pound Cake

Course Dessert

Keyword cherry glaze, pistachio cake, pistachio pound cake, pound cake

Servings 1 4-cup pound cake tin

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Pistachio Pound Cake

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup ground pistachios
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
seeds of 1 vanila pod
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk room temperature

Cherry Glaze

2/3 cup icing sugar
2 TBSP cherry juice (instructions for making homemade cherry juice in notes)

Instructions

Pistachio Pound Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 4-cup loaf pan with baking paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together softened butter and sugar for one minute then add oil and mix for a few minutes until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time and mix until combined before adding the next.
In a separate bowl mix together the rest of the flour, ground pistachios, baking powder and vanilla seeds.
Add flour and milk to the egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
Pour the batter into a prepared baking tin and bake for 45-55 minutes. Check after 30-35 minutes and if you see the top browning too quickly, cover with alluminum foil or the rest of the bake.
The cake is ready when the toothepick comes out clean.
Let cool completely befor adding the glaze.

Cherry Glaze

Mix icing sugar and half of the cherry juice and mix well. Add more juice ½ TBSP at a time to reach a desired consistency.
For instructions on making homemade cherry juice check notes.

Notes

How to make cherry juice:

with a blender: Just pop deseeded cherries in and mix until you get a very fine purée and then run it through a mesh strainer to remove the particles.
with a juicer: pop cherries with seeds in the juicer and let it work its magic.

Chocolate Hazelnut Bundt Cake

December 13, 2019

This simple but super rich chocolate hazelnut bundt cake recipe is guaranteed to impress at your Christmas dinner.

Omg guys, I can’t believe Christmas is less than two weeks away! I’ve already made a ton of cookies. Most of them are already gone, so there’s more baking ahead. One more thing I love to do at Christmas is a bundt cake. This year I’m making this chocolate hazelnut bundt cake again for sure.

It’s a super-rich dark chocolate cake as you can see from the dark almost black color 🙂 And I also added one of my favorite nuts – hazelnuts. You can use any other nuts, but let’s face it. Chocolate and hazelnuts are a classic for a reason.

This cake is very easy to prepare. I feel like I say this for every recipe I post, but I really love sharing easy recipes, what can I say. This bundt cake is guaranteed to impress. I especially love it with a cup of tea now that it’s so cold.

Yesterday, it was snowing for the first time this season. Yay for that! It’s been a strange year and I was almost sure we wouldn’t get to see the snow for a while. So today we go sleigh-riding! I’m keeping my son at home all throughout December and while I still work a bit, I decided to take it easy and make more time for my family, enjoying the stress-free time. I feel like holidays often put us in a lot of stress even though it should be the most wonderful time of the year.

So like I promised last week, I made some edible Christmas gifts yesterday and still have more to make. I made some flavored sugars inspired by the recipe from Linda Lomelino.

And right now it’s snowing again so I’m going to put my winter gear on and go out with the kiddo. And I’ll leave you with the recipe…

Print

Chocolate Hazelnut Bundt Cake

Course Dessert

Keyword bundt cake, cake, chocolate cake, Christmas

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (300g)
1 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts (125g)
3 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (120g)
2 2/3 cups sugar (500g)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk
1 cup melted butter
4 eggs
extra butter and cocoa (or flour) for the pan

Instructions

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
Grease and dust a bundt cake pan with cocoa powder or flour.
Combine melted butter, milk and cocoa powder until smooth.
Beat eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes.
Add the cocoa mixture to eggs and beat until thoroughly combined.
In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients. Add them to the chocolate mixture in thirds combining well before adding more. Use a low speed or mix by hand.
Pour the batter into the bundt cake mold and bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If the bundt cake starts to get too black at the top, cover with some aluminum foil, to prevent burning the top.
Wait until the cake cools down completely before removing from the pan.

No-bake Chocolate Chestnut Pie

October 17, 2019

This no-bake chocolate chestnut pie is an indulgent autumn dessert that everyone likes. Surprise your guests with this recipe that is full of flavor.

Ever since I was a child, I remember loving to pick chestnuts and boy, I loved eating them even more. I still do!

I remember the whole family sitting in our dining room peeling a whole bunch of cooked chestnuts. It was a time of gathering when the whole family bonded over this amazing nuts. Actually, my preferred method of eating them is squeezing out the flesh with my teeth. I’m not very skilled with getting them out of their skins with a knife…

The inspiration

Although I love chestnuts, I never really liked chestnut desserts. They always seemed so heavy and not at all light and fluffy. But then I went hiking with my husband and they had the most delicious and fluffy homemade chestnut cake in the cabin on top of the mountain. So it left me inspired to try and make a light and creamy chestnut dessert. Somehow I ended up making a no-bake chestnut pie and it turned out better than I expected. Like seriously mouthwatering.

And from now on, I’m a fan of chestnut desserts. PERIOD!

How to make this creamy no-bake chocolate chestnut pie?

Easy peasy. Cuz it doesn’t involve any baking.

First, you wanna make the cookie crust. I used a mixture of Oreos and plain butter cookies, but you can go with whatever kind of cookies you prefer. Grind them finely and add melted butter and chocolate. Yes, I added chocolate in the cookie crust. Yum! After you press the cookie base in the pie tin, you need to let it cool in the fridge or the freezer.

What about the filling?

You start with cooking chestnuts as you would normally. Cooking them for about an hour after the water has boiled.

This is the hardest part – peeling. I’m not a fan, so I asked my mom to do it for me. I feel so spoiled right now 🙂 Did I mention I hate peeling chestnuts?

Okay, so you peel the chestnuts, but then you need to cook them again in heavy cream with some sugar. Just to thicken the whole thing and to cook those nuts some more. Done! Blend and pour over the cookie base and wait to set.

You can leave it here, or you can add chocolate icing on top. In that case, make it a day in advance, because it needs to chill in the fridge overnight. Recipe included below!

If you decide to make this no-bake chocolate chestnut pie, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! I love hearing from you and seeing how you make my recipes!

Print

No-bake Chocolate Chestnut Pie

This recipe makes one 20cm (8 inch) pie. Double the recipe to make a 28cm (11 inch).

Course Dessert

Keyword chestnut pie, chocolate pie, no-bake pie

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Cookie Base

100 g Oreo cookies
100 g butter cookies
50 g ground hazelnuts
80 g butter
70 g semi-sweet chocolate

Chestnut cream

180 ml heavy cream or whipping cream (¾ cup)
150 g cooked and peeled chestnuts
25 g sugar

Chocolate cream

25 g chocolate
50 ml whipping cream

Instructions

Chocolate cream

Cut chocolate into small cubes.
Add cream to a small pot and add chocolate. Over medium heat cook until chocolate has completely melted, about 5 minutes. Use a whisk to mix constantly.
Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Move to the fridge and leave to rest overnight.
After the mixture has chilled whip it using an electric mixer like you would whip cream. Transfer to a piping bag with the desired nozzle. If you whipped the chocolate cream before making the pie, leave it in the fridge to wait for decoration.

Cookie base

Use a food processor to finely grind the cookies.
Meld butter and chocolate in a small bowl over a pot with simmering water. Add to the ground cookies and mix well.
Transfer the cookie mixture to the pie tin and press to the bottom and the sides to form a firm pie crust.
Leave to set for at least two hours in the fridge or 30 minutes in the freezer.

Chestnut cream

Add cooked chestnuts, sugar and cream to a small pot and bring to a boil. Then immediately lower the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Transfer to a blender and mix until smooth.
Pour onto the chilled cookie base and let cool for at least 3 hours.

Decoration

Pipe the chocolate cream around the edge of the pie.
Store the pie in the fridge. Leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Blackberry Almond Sponge Cake

August 15, 2019

This luscious blackberry almond sponge cake is easy to make for any family occasion. Very easy delicious almond sponge and fresh summer blackberries are a winner combo!

Are you enjoying the Summer berries? It feels like each week a new sort of berries is ripe and ready to be eaten or turned into delicious dishes and desserts. Right now, we’re drowning in blackberries.

The forests are full of those tiny sweet and tart berries. I love using blackberries in desserts because they add some tartness and therefore make the dessert taste fresh and not too sweet.

I realize I’ve never posted a berry sponge cake like this here yet, but I actually make this kind of cake all the time, probably more than any other. Why? Mostly because they are so easy and quick. If there are friends coming over and I have to bake in the last minute it’s either something like this or some brownies. And the simple desserts usually end up being the ones that people like the most.

So don’t get scared because there’s cake in the name of this recipe. It’s foolproof, I promise!

I just remembered I haven’t talked about what’s happening in my life for a while. Lots of photography work and some vacations in between 🙂 I had my first wedding photography gig this past Saturday and I really enjoyed it, especially because everyone was amazing and so nice. I found myself forgetting that I’m actually working sometimes.

And now I have 3000 photos to go through and find the best of the best. The worst part of being a photographer, in my opinion, is culling… omg, I hate it, but it needs to be done.

If you have any berries growing right now, not only blackberries, you can use them in this sponge cake. Please let me know if you do!

Print

Blackberry Almond Sponge Cake

Course Dessert

Keyword blackberries, cake, sponge cake, summer berry cake

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 8 slices

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond flour
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup yogurt
1/2 cup sunflower oil
zest of one orange
3 tsp baking powder
150 g blackberries (about 1 1/2 cup)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F).
Mix all-purpose flour, almond flour and baking powder in a bowl.
Whip the eggs and sugar in a stand mixer on high speed for about 1 minute, then add yogurt and mix until well incorporated.
Add oil and orange zest and continue mixing until the oil is well incorporated.
Set the mixer to medium speed and add the flour mixture one tablespoon at a time until you have a uniform smooth batter.
Line a 23cm (9 inch) cake tin with baking paper or alternatively brush the inside of the tin with softened butter.
Pour the batter in the tin and top with blackberries.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin before taking the cake out.

No-bake Frozen Coconut Cakes

August 2, 2019

These no-bake frozen coconut cakes with sweet creamed coconut and Greek yogurt on top of a no-bake almond crust are the perfect summer desserts. Add some whipped cream and seasonal berries and you’re in it for a win!

Hi guys! We’re back from our summer vacations and I’m ready to go back to work. We went to the seaside, tried camping with our son for the first time, we went to a spa, hiking, biking and lots more. So pretty active as we like it. I must admit I missed cooking and shooting food a little bit, so I’m excited to start new projects next week.

But today, I’ll be sharing a recipe for these delicious mini no-bake frozen coconut cakes which many of you liked on Instagram. It wasn’t intended for the blog, but for the Eat Capture Share Summer challenge that was organized by Kimberly from The Little Plantation.

Lots of people have been asking me if I’ll share the recipe and it’s finally time. These really ended up not only beautiful but also very delicious and refreshing.

First, I wanted to use coconut yogurt, just try it out. I’ve never tried coconut yogurt, so I have no idea how it tastes. If I ever test it with this recipe, I’ll let you know and add that version if I find it tasty. All I had at home was Greek yogurt which I love and always have some in my fridge. I mixed it with some creamed coconut and icing sugar and… omg the taste! If you love coconut, you’re gonna love it.

I added some whipped cream and red currants on top, but you can add any seasonal fruits or something more exotic like mango or honey-roasted bananas.

What is creamed coconut?

Have you ever made anything with creamed coconut? It’s the solid version of ground-up coconut flesh. You’ve probably heard of coconut milk and coconut cream. Both of them are made using creamed coconut mixed with some amount of water. Coconut cream has lower water content than coconut milk. If you ever want to make something with coconut, but don’t want the liquid then creamed coconut is what you need.

It’s actually very simple to make at home as well. All you need is a good food processor or a coffee grinder and some desiccated coconut. By grinding the desiccated coconut as finely as possible, you’ll get a thick paste called creamed coconut. I assume that the bought version is somehow additionally dried or stripped of fat. I’m not sure. I assume since it’s harder and drier than the homemade version.

Both are delicious and both can be used in this recipe.

Print

No-bake Frozen Coconut Cakes

These no-bake frozen coconut cakes with sweet creamed coconut and greek yogurt on top of a no-bake almond crust are a perfect summer dessert. Add some whipped cream and seasonal berries and you're in it for a win!

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword bundt cake, coconut cake, frozen cake, no-bake cake, yogurt cake

Prep Time 10 minutes

Freezing time 3 hours

Total Time 3 hours 10 minutes

Servings 6 mini cakes

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

No-bake Crust

60 g Medjool dates pitted (2-3 dates)
2 TBSP desiccated coconut
2 TBSP almond butter
1 TBSP coconut butter

Coconut Cream

2 cups Greek yogurt (about 400g)
1/4 cup creamed coconut
1/2 cup icing sugar

Toppings

1/2 cup whipping cream
seasonal berries for topping

Instructions

No-bake Crust

Add all ingredients to a food processor and mix until just sticking together.
Divide the mixture into 6 silicone muffin moulds and press down with your fingers to cover the bottom.

Coconut Cream

Add all ingredients to a food processor and mix until smooth.
Top the no-bake crust with the cream.
Place the cakes in the freezer for 2-3 hours or until frozen enough to take from the moulds. If you save them for later, take them from the freezer 30 minutes before serving.

Decoration

Right before serving whip the whipping cream until stiff and top the cakes. Decorate with seasonal berries.

Tahini Bundt Cake With Kiwi Glaze

March 14, 2019

Make this tahini bundt cake to wow everyone with a new exciting flavor! Plus a sweet kiwi glaze on top. What can be better?

It’s Saint Patrick’s Day on Sunday, so I have a little treat for you guys. A tahini budt cake with a very delicious kiwi glaze. It has to be something green, right?

I used the last of our homegrown kiwis for this glaze. I love having kiwis because they hold very well during the Winter. Leave it in a cold place and they’ll be good until Spring. Isn’t it great to have some homegrown fruits available during the Winter?

We don’t have a huge garden but it’s better than nothing. In fact, you don’t need a lot of space to grow your own food. Even a balcony works for a lot of produce. My mission this year is to expand the garden to my balconies. I have two, one facing East and one facing West, so I can have some produce on one and some on the other, depending on what each plant prefers.

Let’s get back to the tahini bundt cake.

I love any kind of bundt cake really. But tahini bundt cake is so special I’m wondering if it is my favorite so far? Probably yes! Every bite is so full of flavor. I made this cake with oil, not butter. We all know butter adds amazing taste but oil in cakes adds softness and keeps the cake moist for a longer time. This time I added olive oil, instead of plain vegetable oil, because it adds such a nice flavor and goes so well with tahini.

Even when I make my own tahini paste I use olive oil. It just makes it taste so much better! Trust me, it’ GOOD 🙂

Okay, I’m ready to share the recipe. Are you excited? I sure am! And Happy Saint Patrick’s Day everyone 😀

Print

Tahini Bundt Cake With Kiwi Glaze

Course Dessert

Keyword bundt cake, cake

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Resting time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

Tahini Bundt Cake

2 large eggs room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup tahini paste
3/4 cup milk room temperature
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla seeds

Kiwi Glaze

3 small ripe kiwis
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Tahini Bundt Cake

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease a 6 cup bundt cake pan with butter or cooking spray.
Place the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat together at high speed until the mixture gets fluffy.
Add oil, tahini paste, and milk and mix at medium speed just to combine.
Add baking powder and vanilla seeds and mix on medium speed again just to combine.
At the end add flour and mix on low speed to combine.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and leave the cake in the pan. Cover with a cloth and leave to rest for 10-15 minutes. This will make the cake come out easily.
Remove from the pan and leave to cool down before glazing.

Kiwi Glaze

Blend kiwis in a blender. Pour the pureé in a bowl and add icing sugar. Whisk until well combined. Add heavy cream and mix again.
Pour the glaze over the cooled tahini bundt cake

Lime Poppy Seed Elderflower Cake Roll

June 9, 2017

This poppy seed elderflower cake roll is a delicately light spring tea-time treat.

It’s finally here and almost over – the season of elderflowers. I’m in heaven! The smell of those amazing flowers everywhere I go..uhm, so good!

I was thinking about making a cake with elderflowers, but then I changed my mind and challenged myself to make a elderflower cake roll. Weird, but I’ve never made a cake roll. My mum makes amazing cake rolls, so why even bother 🙂 She gave me her cake roll sponge recipe and I tweaked it a little and make a delicious elderflower mascarpone filling. I added lime and poppy seeds to the sponge to make the basic recipe even more yummy 😀

Thanks mom for this super simple recipe!

There are actually (at least) two ways you can scent your filling with elderflowers.

Cooking the cream: That’s a faster way, but it involves cooking. You place elderflowers in a pot and cover it with cream. It needs to cook for about 10 minutes, but the cream should not boil.
Infusing the elderflowers in cream. This method takes longer, but you infuse the eldeflowers in cream and leave it in the fridge for one day and the cream will get a nice scent of elderflowers. So no work at all.

Both of this methods are simple and basically give the same delicious result 🙂

I made elderflower panna cotta a while ago and used the first method, because you’re cooking cream anyway. Panna cotta was sooo good, you should definitely try it! Use a basic recipe and cook the eldeflowers in the cream for ten minutes. Together with some fresh strawberries it’s an amazing no bake dessert for the hot days 🙂

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

This poppy seed elderflower cake roll is a delicately light spring tea-time treat.

Print

Lime Poppy Seed Elderflower Cake Roll

Ingredients

Lime Poppy Seed Sponge

1/2 cup sugar (100g)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (80g)
4 TBSP ground poppy seeds (20g)
6 eggs
zest of one lime
juice of 2-3 limes

Elderflower Cream Filling

500 ml whipping cream chilled
250 g mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup honey
2 TBSP lime juice

Instructions

Lime Poppy Seed Sponge

Separate eggwhites from the yolks and beat them until they form a firm peak (When you turn the whisk upside down eggwhites should hold, but the tips should fold back.)
Add sugar and beat for a minute or two.
Add egg yolks and beat them in.
Add flour, poppy seeds and lime zest and use the lowest setting of the mixer to fold it in or use a spatula and do it manually.
Transfer the mixture to the baking tray and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Place a clean tablecloth on a flat surface and place the baked sponge on the tablecloth top side down, leaving the baking paper on. Roll in the cloth.

Elderflower Cream Filling

Cold method: In a big bowl cover elderflower heads with whipping cream and leave to infuse for 24 hours in the fridge. After 24 hours run the cream through a fine sieve to remove the elderflower heads.
Warm method: Place elderflower and cream into a pot and cook on low heat for ten minutes. Don't let the cream boil! Leave to cool to room temperature, then remove the elderflower heads and leave in the fridge overnight.
Both methods:
Whip the cream just befor entirely firm.
Use a fork to cream the mascarope cheese.
Add mascarpone and honey to the whipped cream and use the lowest settng to incorporate it in the whipping cream.
Add lime juice and use a spatula to mix it in.

Assembly

Once the sponge is cool unroll and carefully remove the baking paper.
Juice 2 -3 limes and use the juice to soak the sponge.
Frost with elderflower mascarpone cream and tighly roll.
Leave in the fridge for an hour for easier cutting.

Macerated Strawberry Chocolate Cake

March 22, 2017

This strawberry chocolate cake with honey macerated strawberries and chocolate rhubarb truffles is perfect for any celebration and is super easy to make and so yummy.

So, guys, it’s my birthday!

I only have one more year before I enter a new decade.

My wishes for me:

Cook more delicious foods and try lots of new combination.
Be the best mum to my precious baby, that’s still hiding in my belly.
Love every moment with my husband and our little one.
Take time for my friends and also for myself.
Continue being happy and positive.

Enough about me, let’s talk CAKE!!!

I couldn’t resist but making something chocolaty with strawberries and cream. Anyone else anxiously waiting for fresh straberries from the garden? We have a few strawberry plants and I can’t wait for them to grow fresh little fruits.

I’m not a big fan of heavy cakes, with heavy buttery fillings. That’s why I love using whipping cream in cakes. Remember the chocolate hazelnut pavlova? I think it makes cakes light and fresh, especially if you add some fresh fruits. I used plain whipping cream without sugar or anything, but you can add a little icing sugar or some vanilla.

This sponge is rich and decadent on its own and doesn’t need a heavy filling anyway!

The sponge I used in this strawberry chocolate cake is one of the best if not the best chocolate sponge I’ve ever tried. The amazing recipe is by Add A Pinch. I changed it just a little, so I’m posting my version of her delicious recipe. The recipe contains a little less sugar and the layers are thinner so they can hold the light whipped cream filling. Seriously you need to try either my or her version, both are yummy!!

Now, about strawberries. Have you tried macerated strawberries, yet? They are simply the most delicious thing. Adding a little honey makes them obviously a little sweeter, but brings the juices and creates a lovely sauce. Imagine that over icecream.

Um, de-li-cious!!!

I was feeling a little playful with this cake, so I made some chocolate rhubarb truffles. Super simple, but so good! They are made of sponge and rhubarb jam only 😀 Last year we had loads of rhubarb so I tried making my own rhubarb jam and I’m telling you I’m making it again this year.

I made this cake a day ahead, but it’s already half gone and it’s not even noon on my birthday 😛 Luckily I have my mum making me more sweets today!

This strawberry chocolate cake with honey macerated strawberries and chocolate rhubarb truffles is perfect for any celebration and is super easy to make and so yummy.

5 from 1 vote

Print

Macerated Strawberry Chocolate Cake

Total time includes cooling time.

Sponge recipe adapted from The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever recipe by Add A Pinch. Link in the text!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

Chocolate Sponge

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Honey Macerated Strawberries

200 g fresh strawberries
2 1/2 TBSP honey

Chocolate Rhubarb Truffles

chocolate sponge from one of the 7 inch tins
rhubarb jam (or strawberry jam) (40g jam per 100g sponge)

Other

300 ml cold whipping cream

Instructions

Chocolate Sponge

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Butter four 7 inch baking tins.
Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a stand mixer bowl and whisk through to combine.
Add milk, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla seeds and mix on medium speed until well combined.
Change mixer speed to low and slowly add boiling water to the mixture. It will get quite liquid, but that's what makes it moist and rich in the end.
Pour the mixture into four baking tins and bake for about 25 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the baking tin for 10 minutes then remove form the tin and leave in a cool place to cool completely. Once it is room temperature, you can place it in the fridge to continue cooling.

Honey Macerated Strawberries

Thinly cut strawberries and place them in a bowl. Add honey and mix well, so the honey coats all strawberries.
Leave to macerate in the fridge until you are ready to assemble the cake, but at least an hour.

Chocolate Rhubarb Truffles

Take one cooled chocolate sponge and use your fingers to turn it into crumbs. Add 40g rhubarb jam per 100g of sponge and incorporate it in the crumbs. Shape 1 cm balls using the palms of your hands. The mixture shouldn't be too sticky, but moist enough to hold the shape of a ball.
Place in the fridge until you are ready to assemble the cake.

Assembling The Strawberry Chocolate Cake

Whip whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks. Place it in a piping bag with a round or a star nozzle.
Place one sponge on a serving tray and pipe one layer of whipped cream in the middle, leaving one centimeter of uncovered sponge at the edge. Pipe small balls of cream one centimeters away from each other on the edge. Place chocolate rhubarb truffles between the cream balls.
Top with one third of honey macerated strawberries.
Continue in the same way for the remaining two layers.
Refridgerate for at least an hour before serving.

Dried Fig Blood Orange Tart

February 9, 2017

One of the best flavor pairings – dried figs and orange in a perfect Valentine’s day dessert – a decadent dried fig and blood orange tart. Simple chocolate tart crust is holding a dried fig jam and a zesty blood orange curd, which is decorated with tiny orange hearts. What a treat!

It’s almost Valentine’s day.

Me and my husband don’t really celebrate it, but this year we made plans to have dinner with two our friends, so we’re having a double date. They are cooking the main dish, we are making dessert. And I think this pie is perfect for the occasion. Only change I’ll have to make is the crust, because my friend is gluten free. I’ve never made a gluten free chocolate tart crust before, so any suggestions are welcome 🙂 If I manage to do a nice one, maybe I’ll even add the recipe here.

First of all, I’m in love with the dried fig and orange combo. Blood orange or regular orange, both is super delish! I tried it for the first time in a smoothie. I was combinig these two just because I had nothing else to put in and it sounded like a great combination. Yes, yes, you’re missing a lot if you’re never tried those two together. I mean it! Go ahead, make this blood orange tart or simply take an orange and eat it next to a fig. How is it? Are you loving me right now? 😉

Okay, so I was thinking about what to make for Valentine’s day. I’ve shared a brownie recipe last year, this year I wanted something more fruity. Yesterday we celebrated the death of our greatest poet, which is also the biggest cultural holiday in Slovenia. We had a big celebration in the town where he lived, just a couple of kilometres from my village. Wow, way too many people, I had to hug my belly to protect it from the accidental bumps.

This poet liked to give out dried figs to the children. One of his nicknames was also Dr. Fig, for that reason. So I used figs as an insiration and added the oranges, because AGAIN they are perfect for each other 🙂 Of course I couldn’t go without just a tinsy bit of chocolate, so I not-so-secretly added some cocoa powder to the crust.

I’m absolutely in love with the color of the curd. I know, you’d expect a red color, especially if you look at the red juice from the orange, but the eggs and butter make it a more pale yellow to orange color. So it might look like an orange, not blood orange tart. The oranges I got were not red all the way through, if you try with oranges that have a completely red flesh you might get a slightly different result. But the eggs and butter will still make it pale. I think it’s such a romantic color, but I’m probably under pregnancy hormones influence 😛

Now let’s make a blood orange tart with dried fig jam and have the best Valentine’s day ever!

Print

Dried Fig & Blood Orange Tart

Makes one 22 or 25 cm (9 or 10 inch) tart.

Course Dessert

Keyword blackberry pie, blood orange tart, fig tart, puff pastry tart

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Chocolate Crust

1⅓ cup all-purpose or wholegrain wheat flour (190g)
½ cup icing sugar (55g)
¼ cup cocoa powder (25g)
¼ tsp salt
140 g cold butter cubed

Dried Fig Jam

⅔ cup dried figs hard stem removed and quartered
1 cup 100% apple juice

Blood Ornage Curd

3 large eggs
2 egg yolks
¾ cup blood orange juice freshly squeezed
½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
zest of one big orange
150 g room temperature butter cubed

Instructions

Chocolate Crust:

Preheat the oven to 190°C
In a food processor, mix toghether dry ingredients. Add butter and pulse about 10-15 times to get dry crumbs. Add the egg and pulse just unil the dough starts to come together, but does not form a ball. Gently form a ball with your hands, no kneading is needed. Wrap into plastic foil and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes roll the dough into a circle of the diameter of your tart tin + two times the height of the sides. (My tin is 25 cm + 2,5 cm height, so I rolled it out to 30 cm). For easier rolling place a slightly wet teatowel on the counter, then baking paper over it, then the dough and another piece of baking paper. This way the dough doesn't stick to the rolling pin and the teatowel prevents the baking paper to slip. If you notice the dough is starting to stick to the baking paper, flour it lightly.
Transfer the crust to a buttered tart tin, cut away the excess dough. Make a few holes in the bottom with a fork, cover with tin foil and place baking weights (I use old coins) over the foil.
Bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for 10 more minutes.
Leave to cool in the tin, before taking out or you might break the crust.

Dried Fig Jam

In a small sauce pan, soak dried figgs in apple juice for 15 minutes: After that bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor or a blender and mix. I prefer the jam to still have small pieces of figs, but you can mix it all the way to a smooth jam. At first, the jam will look a little too runny, but will thicken while it cools.

Blood Orange Curd

Place eggs, egg yolks, orange juice, orange zest and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl. Boil water in a sauce pan and place the bowl over it. Leave water so simmer on medium while whisking the egg mixture for 15-20 minutes or until it starts to thicken and it reaches 75°C (170°F).
Remove the bowl from the sauce pan and whisk in butter, a few cubes at a time.
Cover the bowl and leave to cool.

Assembly

Spread fig jam over the cooled crust and pour over cooled blood orange curd.
Leave to set in the fridge for at least 6 hours or better overnight.

Notes

The fig jam recipe is sightly adjusted from the Fig Butter recipe by Stephanie Cooks.

Beet Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

December 22, 2016

Even if you hate beets you’re gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top!

Ah, yes. The beet chocolate cupcakes… I love using fruit and veggies for a the liquid substite in muffins and cupcakes. Remember the Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting? I used pumpkin there, but here I’m using beets 😀

Fruit and veggie purées make cupcakes so soft and moist and in my experience they last longer before going dry. So perfect for baking them in advance 🙂

I know they don’t look very Christmasy, but hey… chocolate… who doesn’t love anything with chocolate on Christmas 🙂 or at any other time for that matter 😛

This Christmas I’m off cooking duty. We’re invited to my mum and dad’s on Christmas Eve and to my husband’s relatives on Christmas Day. Although I obviously love cooking it feels nice not having to prepare tons of food. We’ll only be making the traditional nut roll, everything else is done already. And then I can rest and enjoy the holidays!

I’ve been feeling very well these last couple of months, but pregnancy does a take some toll on my energy. Working hard these days before Christmas I think me and the little one deserve a little time off 😀 Thank god for mums!

Okay, back to the cupcakes!

You can actually make any other frosting if you prefer something else, but I’m a big fan of cream cheese frosting and honey. So I joined those two and I love how great the this sweet and sour frosting pairs with the earthy chocolaty taste of the beet chocolate cupcakes.

Yup, good life!

Let’s do some baking!

Print

BEET CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH HONEY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Course Dessert

Keyword chocolate cake, frosting cupcakes, muffins

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 20 cupcakes

Ingredients

BEET CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
3 TBSP cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP sunflower oil
2 cups beetroot purée
2 TBSP lemon juice

HONEY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

200 g cream cheese room temperature
150 g soft butter
2 tsp vanilla
5 TBSP icing sugar
3 TBSP honey

Instructions

Beet Chocolate Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 170 °C.
In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, vanilla and cocoa powder.
In the bowl of the electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, blend toogether the eggyolks, brown sugar and sunflower oil on a medium speed until well combined.
Add beetroot purée and lemon juice and blend again.
Keep your mixer on medium speed and slowly add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture.
In a separate bowl (using a clean whisk attachment or a handmixer) whip eggwhites and a pinch of salt until stiff.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the eggwhites into the batter until well combined.
Divide the batter among 20 paper lined muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 – 25 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in the baking pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

To make the frosting, take crwam cheese, soft butter and vanilla and beat until the mixuture becomes fluffy and has a much lighter color.
Gradually add icing sugar and honey and mix until well combined.
If the frosting looks too runny, rerigirate it until it has the right consistency.

Assembly

When the cupcakes have cooled completely, spread the frosting over them and sift over some cocoa powder.

Notes

To make homemade beetroot purée you can either purée cooked or roasted beetroot. For roasting, I’m wrapping the whole beetroot in foil and remove the skin afterward.

Tag Archive for: cake

Spooky Chocolate & Meringue Ghost Cupcakes

Ingredients

Chocolate Sponge

Meringue Ghost Topping

Decoration

Instructions

Chocolate Sponge

Meringue Ghost Topping

Fudge Brownie Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

Fudge Brownie Cake

Chocolate ganache

Instructions

Fudge Brownie Cake

Chocolate ganache

It’s super easy to make this dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake!

Dried Fruits And Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Ingredients

Simple glaze

Instructions

Simple glaze

This mandarin upside-down cake is super simple!

Mandarin Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients

Instructions

So is this berry pavlova hard to make?

Summer Berry Pavlova

Ingredients

Meringue

Berry Syrup

Other ingredients

Instructions

Meringue

Berry Syrup

Assembling the cake

I don’t have pistachios on hand, can I use something else?

How to make cherry glaze?

More cherry recipes:

Cherry Pistachio Pound Cake

Ingredients

Pistachio Pound Cake

Cherry Glaze

Instructions

Pistachio Pound Cake

Cherry Glaze

Notes

Chocolate Hazelnut Bundt Cake

Ingredients

Instructions

The inspiration

How to make this creamy no-bake chocolate chestnut pie?

No-bake Chocolate Chestnut Pie

Ingredients

Cookie Base

Chestnut cream

Chocolate cream

Instructions

Chocolate cream

Cookie base

Chestnut cream

Decoration

Blackberry Almond Sponge Cake

Ingredients

Instructions

What is creamed coconut?

No-bake Frozen Coconut Cakes

Ingredients

No-bake Crust

Coconut Cream

Toppings

Instructions

No-bake Crust

Coconut Cream

Decoration

Tahini Bundt Cake With Kiwi Glaze

Ingredients

Tahini Bundt Cake

Kiwi Glaze

Instructions