Myrtle & Thyme

Showing posts with label Cake. Show all posts

We are just starting the big birthday week for my family, 4 birthdays all lie within 10 days of each other! So this cake is for the first of these birthdays, it is light and fresh, and doesn’t weigh too heavily in your tummy like a mudcake might. You will have to excuse my pictures for the cake but they were taken just before we had to rush out the door for the birthday dinner so my styling is a little non-existent.

Raspberry Shortcake:

2 C frozen raspberries

2 ¼ tsp gelatine powder

3 Tbs lemon juice

225g ‘Nice’ biscuits (any plain sweet biscuit should do)

100g butter, melted

500ml whipping cream

½ C caster sugar

In a food processor blitz the biscuits until you have a fine crumb (if you don’t have a food processor put the biscuits in a large zip lock bag and bash with a rolling pin until fine). Transfer to a bowl and stir through the melted butter. Press this firmly with the back of a spoon into the base of a 22cm springform tin, lined with cling wrap (this will make getting the cake out a doddle). Place this in the fridge while you work on the raspberry mousse.

Microwave the raspberries for approximately 1 and a half minutes until they are warmed through. Force the warmed berries through a sieve with the back of a spoon, make sure you get all the lovely pulpy bits off the bottom of your sieve! Place the berries in a small saucepan and add the sugar, place over a medium-high heat. Put the lemon juice in a small bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine and allow to sit for 5 minutes without stirring. When the gelatine has activated in the juice and the raspberry mix is beginning to bubble (almost at a simmer) add the gelatine to the hot berries, turn off the heat and stir continuously until it dissolves. Transfer the mix to a bowl so that it can cool down to room temp, around 30 minutes.

When the berry mix is cool whip the cream on medium-high with a machine or by hand. When you have stiff peaks, gently fold through the raspberries until fully combined. Pour this into your tin and refrigerate for at least 5 hours but preferably overnight.

You can top this however you would like, a pile of fresh berries in the centre, chocolate shavings, I served mine with a large pile of pistachio pashmak (fairy floss) in the centre.

This is such a luscious cake and its simplicity allows the raspberries to really shine through. The raspberries are from the FarmgateMarket which is held on a Sunday on Bathurst St. in Hobart. It is a beautiful market full of fresh food and produce and I urge you to check it out if you are in the area.

You can certainly get creative with this recipe and use any fruits you like. A mango puree or mixture of blueberry and strawberry perhaps, you are only limited by your imagination!

If you try this let me know! If you tried a different flavour how did it go? I’d love to hear from you.

Much love M&T

It’s just one week until the official start of winter here in Tasmania, with the weather turning colder, my mind turns to comfort food that will lift the spirits. This recipe is my twist on a Banoffee Pie, to make it just that touch more gorgeous and decadent I have added a hint of chocolate to this traditional banana, caramel and cream pie.

CHOC-BANOFFEE PIE

200g Choc Ripple Biscuits (plain chocolate ‘cookies’ if you are in America)

100g unsalted butter, melted

2-3 bananas

1 tin (approx. 250g) dulce de leche (also called canned caramel)

250ml of whipping cream

2 Tbsp Nutella

1 Flake bar (or chocolate bar of your choice to top the pie with)

In a food processor blend the biscuits until you have a fine crumb (if you don’t have a food processor put the biscuits in a large zip lock bag and bash with a rolling pin until fine). Transfer to a bowl and stir through the melted butter. Press this firmly with the back of a spoon into the base of your pie dish. Place this in the fridge while you work on the toppings.

Place the whipping cream and nutella into a bowl and beat either by hand with a whisk or with an electric mixer until you have soft peaks. Take care not to over whip your cream or it will have an unpleasant texture and won’t spread as easily.

Slice your bananas into 1-2cm (½ to 1 inch) sized pieces. Remove the biscuit base from the fridge. Spread your caramel evenly over the base, then carefully layer on you banana pieces, starting with a ring around the outside and working your way into the centre. Top your pie with the gorgeous velvety nutella cream and smooth it out until even. Finally crush the Flake (or whichever chocolate bar you like best, honeycomb is great!) and sprinkle over the top of the pie for that final touch of chocolatey goodness. There are finally no more steps to this easy but impressive dessert, but to simply eat, share and enjoy!

If you are after something not quite as chocolatey, whip the cream with 1tsp of vanilla extract, and to give your pie a slight edge use gingernut biscuits instead of the traditional plain ones.

The leaves are golden and floating to their new homes on the ground, and winter for my family is a time of coming together to celebrate the beautiful changes this season brings. With some luck I will be heading off to Cradle Mountain soon and at this time of year it is blanketed with snow and looks like a gingerbread fairy-tale creation. I hope to be testing out my new camera so stay tuned for photos.

Please do try out this recipe and tell me what you think, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to ask any questions you may have, I’m here to help!

Thanks for dropping by and happy cooking,

Much Love, M&T

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Myrtle & Thyme

Chai Spice Loaf Cake

Quince and Persimmon Teacake #TASMANIAWEEK

Raspberry Shortcake

Choc-Banoffee Pie

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