Category: Cakes & Bakes

Cakes & cupcakes

Another pumpkin-goodie: Pumpkin cheesecake roll

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Happy Thanksgiving y’all, to all my American readers! This time of year, everything is pumpkin-themed, flavoured and inspired.. I must say, pumpkin cakes and things are not very big here in SA, although I’m sure it’s starting to take off. Pumpkin’s friend, Mr Carrot is much more popular with us Afrikaner folk! {Although a ‘pampoen koekie’ is quite traditional!}

Anyways, I was assigned to bring cake to my son’s playgroup this week and I decided to make a pumpkin roll. I’ve been wanting to make this and just haven’t gotten round to doing it – and it was surprisingly simple and easy to do. {And did I mention quick?! I quickly whipped it up the morning it was due.}

Cream cheese pumpkin roll

You will need the following for the batter:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda {baking soda}

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice {mix cinnamon, mixed spice & a pinch of nutmeg}

1/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar {I used a light brown sugar}

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup pumpkin puree

Mix the eggs and sugar together until it is nice and thick & creamy. Add vanilla and pumpkin. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour the batter into a shallow, rectangular pan lined with baking paper AND greased with butter. Bake at 190C for about 15min.

When this is baked {a toothpick should come out clean when inserted}, invert onto a tea towel sprinkled with icing sugar. Gently peel off the baking paper and roll with the tea towel. Leave it to cool all rolled-up.

You will need the following for the filling:

1 tub of cream cheese {230g}

3 tbs butter, softened

1 cup icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Whip the butter and cream cheese until soft and fluffy, add icing sugar and vanilla.

When the cake has cooled, gently unroll, spread the filling onto the cake and sprinkle with the nuts. Carefully roll it back up again and wrap it tightly in cling wrap. Refridgerate for at least an hour before serving. Dust it with some more icing sugar when serving.

Enjoy! X

Pumpkin Season in the Vissers household…

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Yes – it’s pumpkin season! Well, in the US in any case, but also here at our house in the Southern Hemisphere. {And seeing as half my family lives in the States, I think it’s quite appropriate that we have our own little pumpkin season to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving.}

The Jack-o-lanterns from Halloween have not suffered in vain – no, they have been up-cycled into baby food, Moroccan meatloaf {yesterday} and scrummy cheesecake-stuffed cupcakes {today}.  But don’t fear – there will be plenty more pumpkin dishes popping up over the next few days, as I have a LOT of pumpkin purée!

I found a really yummy recipe for pumpkin cupcakes on Pinterest at:

http://www.silvanaskitchen.com/gluten-free-cheesecake-filled-pumpkin-cupcakes/

{Mine are not gluten-free; if you’re going to have a cupcake, have it properly with all the gluten in tact! Unless of course you are gluten-intolerant and the only way to have your treat is to substitute with a GF option…}

Anyways – drifting off topic again – here is the recipe:

For the cream cheese mixture:

1 tub of cream cheese {230g at room temperature}

1/2 a cup of icing sugar

1 egg white

1/2 a tsp of vanilla

Whisk the cream cheese and sugar and add the egg white. Whisk until fluffy and add the vanilla. Whisk some more until everything is mixed.

For the pumpkin batter:

1 1/2 cups of flour {normal, gluten-free, whatever you prefer}

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice {use equal parts cinnamon, mixed spice and nutmeg}

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of puréed pumpkin

2 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1/2 a cup of melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, egg, sugar, butter and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake cases.

Fill the cases: one spoonful pumpkin batter, one spoonful cheesecake mix, another spoonful pumpkin batter. The cases should be almost full, but not quite to the top.

Bake for 25 minutes until cooked. A toothpick will come out clean.

For the frosting:

1 cup yellow sugar {or brown, but the yellow adds some nice colour.}

4 egg whites

1/4 tsp salt

230g butter {chilled and cubed}

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Mix the egg whites, sugar and salt and whisk over a pot of simmering water until the sugar has melted. Remove from the water and continue to whisk at high speed until it reaches room temperature.

Add the butter, one cube at a time while whisking, until the mixture is thick and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla.

Transfer to a piping bag with a large round nozzle and pipe large swirls onto the cooled cupcakes.

{I think I will bake these a lot just to get that ‘American’ smell wafting through the house! It’s just the best smell and so typically ‘American Holiday’, it will always fill me with nostalgia.}

A must-bake – enjoy!

Halloween lanterns Cheesecake pumpkin cupcakes Cheesecake pumpkin cupcakes

Lemon curd cupcake

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Our precious little hen has been laying her butt off to supply us with her golden-delicious eggs! {she would lay one every second day}

I had to save up a few days’ worth to be able to make something and before I knew it, I had half a dozen. What to do..?

I made lemon curd and cupcakes with a lemon curd icing.

For the cupcakes:

115g butter

115g castor sugar

115g self-raising flour

2 eggs {freshly laid is best!}

1 tbs milk

Beat together the sugar & butter until nice and fluffy.  Lightly beat the eggs and slowly add to the sugar & butter mixture until well incorporated.  Sift the flour and fold into the butter mixture. Gently fold in the milk until you have a smooth & silky consistency.

Spoon into cupcake papers in a cupcake tin and bake at 180C for 15 minutes until cooked and a toothpick comes out clean. {makes 12 cupcakes}

For the lemon curd:

3 small free range eggs {freshly laid of course!}

100g sugar

2 tbs butter

2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice. Whisk together the eggs, sugar & lemon juice in a heatproof bowl and cook over a pot of boiling water {double boiler} while constantly stirring. When the mixture has thickened quite a bit, remove from heat and whisk in the butter. Place in a jar and refrigerate. {makes about 200ml}

For the lemon curd icing:

Mix icing sugar with lemon curd, add a little butter and a splash of milk – mix well to create a smooth icing. {sorry, but I just don’t always keep track of quantities – just go with the flow until you have the desired result!}

Pipe icing onto cooled cupcakes and top with more lemon curd.

Enjoy! X

Lemon curd cupcake image

Scrummy Cake Pops

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Cake pops – ok, nothing new there, but perhaps forgotten a little bit?

Now, you get cake pops, and then you get… Cake Pops! I’m not talking about small bite-sized ‘cakes’ – the ones you bake in special cake pop pans – although those are also yummy, I’m talking about ooey-gooey-yummy-scrummy cake pops!

These pops are made from proper cakes – call it cake-upcycling if you want. You can either take an entirely new cake – icing and all, or use leftover cake.

I used a whole vanilla sponge cake (about 1kg) with a bit of fondant icing and added some more plain butter icing (about half a cup mixed icing) and apricot jam (3 tbs – this makes it more ooey-gooey and helps to bind them together nicely).

Use a fork to crumble up the cake and mix in the jam and icing. Roll into small bite-sized balls and then roll into castor sugar – refrigerate until you need them, so they will set nicely. When you’re ready to serve, place onto sticks and vóila!

{You can do any flavour and dusting – another good one is to dip them into lime flavoured icing and roll into shredded coconut.}

Enjoy! x

Vanilla cake pops

Teatime Cupcakes

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I just love cupcakes – I mean, who doesn’t?!

‘Life’s better with a cupcake’ and ‘Keep calm and have a cupcake’ are two great cupcake quotes – I have no idea who originally said it, but it’s so true! My best days are all started with a cupcake (or cake) and a cup of good filter coffee. What can be better! Ok, it’s not the most nutritious or healthy of breakfasts, but as long as you follow it with a hearty bowl of fruit or some boiled eggs, you’re good to go!

These cupcakes are scone-inspired, with a dollop of jam (I used chunky apricot) and whipped cream (sweetened with a teensy bit of vanilla castor sugar).

2 cups of flour

2/3 cups of castor sugar

2 tsp baking powder

125g butter

2 eggs

1/2 a cup of milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all together – yes, all at once! Don’t you just love it?! Spoon into cupcake cases in a cupcake baking tray and bake for 20 minutes at 180C.

This recipe makes 12 large cupcakes.

Enjoy! X

Tea time cupcakes

#dessert tonight: Custard Cake

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Custard Cake

Truly delicious and super easy too!  I got this recipe from Pinterest – from another blogger I follow: white on rice couple… So I thought I’d try it out – and it didn’t disappoint! (I adjusted the recipe a tiny bit to work better for me…)

http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/magic-custard-cake/

113g butter

2 cups of milk

4 eggs, separated

150g icing sugar

1 tbs water

115g flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 160C, lightly butter baking dish.

Melt butter & set aside. Warm milk and set aside.

Whip egg whites to stiff peaks (add a few drops of vinegar to help eggs stay stable) and set aside.

Beat egg yolks & sugar, mix in melted butter & water until evenly incorporated.

Mix in the flour. Add milk & vanilla – slowly – until well mixed.

Fold in egg whites using a whisk – ensure all big chunks are mixed in properly (it will look a bit curd-like.. All normal!)

Pour batter (very liquid batter) into oven dish and bake at 160C for 40-45minutes until the top is golden and set. Let it cool completely before removing from dish, dust with icing, cut and serve.

This will be delicious with some fresh strawberries or raspberries!

Enjoy! X

Birthday cupcake – Red Velvet meringue

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Image

Today is hubby’s birthday and as you do on a birthday, you you have cake for breakfast!

Our favourite red velvet – from a cake recipe of a fellow baker friend, Rozanne Pieters, and my own twist: a light and fluffy meringue topping.

250g butter (I used salted)

125ml sunflower oil

2.25 cups of sugar

2 free range eggs

1 bottle of red food colour (40ml)

1 cup of buttermilk

10ml baking powder

2ml salt

2.5 cups of flour (all purpose)

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Cream butter, oil & sugar together.  Add buttermilk, red food colour & eggs.  Add all dry ingredients and fold into the wet mixture. Place dollops of the mixture into cupcake casings in a muffin pan. Bake in a pre-heated oven of 180C for 20mins.  A toothpick should come out dry when you test it.

For the meringue topping, whisk 1 egg white while slowly adding about half a cup of castor sugar.  Add shelf a teaspoon of vanilla essence and a pinch of cream of tartar. Whisk until glossy and soft peaks form.  Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Enjoy! X