Chocolate and peanut butter bundt - a special request

Ok so I've just moved back to Dublin and my precious bundt pan from Bali is still in transit somewhere between here and there. Well, a baker just ain't a baker unless she has her bundt pan so I headed into the city on a mission to find one. It took awhile, and I did end up with blisters on my feet. I also had to spend the entire search convincing my younger brother that every step we took in this mission was a step closer to obtaining a baking pan that created a piece of heaven. Naturally, I had to live up to this statement. I mentioned some flavours and he jumped at peanut butter and chocolate. So that's what I made. This is a delightful cake. Richly chocolately but yet a nice nutty surprise in the middle. And the verdict from my brother was a big thumbs up followed by a discussion on how the bundt cake does seem to just epitomise the absolute essence of yumminess in its shape, size, form and ultimately taste. I must say that since I first discovered the bundt I have developed a complete and utter love for it. I do find it aesthetically to be such an attractive cake shape that it surprises me that so many shops here had no pans available for sale. I could spend hours salivating over the many shapes and sizes of bundt pans available in America and want to cry that hardly any are available here. How could anyone not fall in love with this charming cake form? As you can see from the photos, I didn't even manage to get the chocolate drizzle on before a piece had gone!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bundt

For the filling :
2/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For the cake batter :
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
12 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
3/4 cup boiling water
3 ounces quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
12 tablespoons sour cream
12 tablespoons butter, softened
1 2/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350

To make the filling :
In a large mixing bowl, beat peanut butter, cream cheese and butter until combined. Add egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until combined. Mix in vanilla. Be sure to scrape down the sides. Pour in sugar and flour, mix until combined. Fit a pastry bag with a large plain tip and scoop the filling into the bag. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To make the batter :
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a medium metal or glass bowl, add cocoa and whisk in boiling water. Add in chopped chocolate and whisk until smooth. Mix in sour cream.
In large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs, one at a time, and then beat in vanilla. Alternatively mix in the dry ingredients and the cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. For example - mix in 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the cocoa mixture, another 1/3 of the flour, the rest of the cocoa mixture and finishing with the final 1/3 of the flour. Mixing just until combined with each addition.

Spray a bundt pan with a nonstick spray that has flour included (like Baker's Joy or Pam with Flour). Spoon a little less than half of the batter into bottom of the bundt pan. Using the pastry bag that has the peanut butter mixture, carefully pipe a ring of the filling over the center of the chocolate batter. Pour the remaining batter on top and gently tap the pan to remove air bubbles.

Bake until top springs back when lightly touched or a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs attached - about 50-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Place a wire cooling rack on top of the cake and carefully turn over - remove the pan and let cool completely.

Chocolate Stout Bundt cake for a real stout lovers birthday

Ok, so what kind of cake do you make for your total stout loving husband? A Guinness chocolate bundt cake, of course! And what is it about Guinness that when you add it to chocolate it just makes the chocolate taste 100 times richer and more delicious? I don't know, but it really does. This is a fabulously rich and moist cake. The chocolate flavour is divine. I got the recipe from Nigella Lawson's website and it was a great decision to use this recipe. I topped it with the cream cheese icing. Normally for bundt cakes I would use a more drizzly icing but in this case I wanted the cake to actually look like a pint of Guinness with the frothy head on top. So, I went with the cream cheese icing. It looked great contrasted against the dark chocolate. This cake was devoured by all and went down easily. It wasn't as heavy as some chocolate cakes can be. The flavour was fantastic.
This was especially appreciated by my husband who is such a Guinness fan but yet finds it amazing that it can be put in recipes and used to make wonderful creations. It was also a welcome to Ireland treat for him as he arrived from Indonesia today and what better way to greet someone arriving in Ireland than with our greatest export.

Zebra cake - get stripey!

Easy peasy! The final effect though is stunning. Just make up any regular sponge cake batter you have. Separate the batter equally into two bowls. Mix some cocoa into one half. Then the fun starts...using a large spoon alternate your vanilla and chocolate batters until the batter is finished. This is the time consuming part. Once you've finished though it looks pretty impressive in the cake tin. Pop in the oven and bake. Once it's out and if you're lucky to live in a household where you actually can let it cool, let it cool. Cut into it and be amazed by the gorgeus zebra stripes. This is definitely a cake to make to impress friends. I used a sponge recipe that used oil instead of butter. The cake was lovely and moist and absolutely delicious.

Zebra stripe cake

Ingredients:
Dry:
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Dutch-processed Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tbsp

Wet:
Canola/Vegetable oil - 1 cup
Large eggs - 3
Sugar - 1 cup (Sugar is considered a wet ingredient, don't ask me why)
Skim Milk - 1 cup
Pure vanilla essence - 1 tbsp

Method:
Sift the all purpose flour and baking powder together and set aside. This is to aerate the flour.
In a mixing bowl, using a hand mixer combine oil, eggs, sugar, milk for about two minutes till creamy. Add flour mix.
Divide the mixture into two equal halves and to one half mix the cocoa powder and vanilla essence and mix using a hand mixer. Do not add vanilla essence to the white half of the mixture.
Grease a 8" round cake pan with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 350F.
Use separate equal size ladles for each half of the batter. Ladle the white batter first, then immediately add the brown batter as shown in the picture. It should automatically spread out in the pan, there is no need to wait or tilt pan.
Keep alternating batter until you have exhausted both batters.
Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for about 45 min or till a toothpick when inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let it rest for about 15 min in the pan.
Invert and cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!

Valentines Rocky Road treats

It's got to be the easiest treat to make, but looks so adorable when it's all wrapped up and tied with ribbon. I couldn't resist making these for all the teachers at work. I whipped them up pretty quickly the night before and had them all packaged up and ready in no time. The great thing about rocky road is that you are not tied to any particular ingredient. For the chocolate you can use white, milk or dark or evencombine all three to make a lively tri-coloured version. For the surprises inside there's the choice of maltesers, marshmallows, snickers bars, rice krispies, dried fruits, jellies to name a few...you are only limited by your imagination! Melt your chocolate, toss in the goodies, pop into a flat tin (lined with cling wrap) and leave in the fridge. These are great to make with kids. Just make sure you're not around when they start eating them! After 15 years of teaching one thing I know for certain is that children + chocolate = DISASTER!

Lemon crepes...lovely and light

The lemon kick continues...and as well as being a cake snob I am also a pancake snob. There's nothing I hate more than being served a big thick greasy pancake...especially one with doorstep sized chunks of banana or pineapple. Believe me, what I have just described are served up on a daily basis in just about every bungalow and homestay across Bali. When I make pancakes they MUST be like crepes...wafer thin. I have an amazing pancake pan that aids me wonderfully in this process. A simple batter of 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk and 1 egg usually does the job. Today however, I decided to put in 2 tablespoons of my deliciously divine vanilla infused whiskey. The concoction has been brewing away quietly in a dark corner for a few months and has now turned into a very rich vanilla essence. The addition of this ingredient really managed to enrich the batter with such an amazing vanilla aroma while they were cooking in the pan. It made the pancakes taste completely different. This will certainly be an ingredient that will be included every time. And how do I like my pancakes? With a sprinkling of sugar and a squeeze of lemon, of course. How do you like yours?

lovely lemon scones

I can still recall when I was working in Singapore not all that long ago, the lemon scones that were sold in the basement coffee shop. They were so good that fellow teachers and I used to gloat if we were lucky enough to get one of the few they had on sale each morning. And the reality...how incredibly simple they are to make. There is something about scones that is just so wholesome and good. Even more so when flavoured with one of my absolute favourite flavours - lemon. Of course, the key to it all is a generous lemon drizzle on the top and suddenly you have a fabulous start to the day...

christmas shortbread stars...

you just have to make star-shaped biscuits for Christmas. it really is a must because they just look so pretty. I got this recipe from a friend as when I tried her biscuits they just seemed to melt in your mouth. the recipe is incredibly simple...2 cups of flour, 1/3 cup of icing sugar, 2 tablespoons of rice flour and 250g of butter. you rub in the butter and then knead into a dough and roll out the dough. it's super easy and great to make with kids. you bake them for about 15 minutes until lightly browned and then dust with icing sugar. pop in a jar and serve to Christmas visitors...Merry Christmas everyone!

apple streusel bundt cake...full of surprises...

this was absolutely delightful. it came about due to a sincere craving for something that tasted like my nana's apple pie but yet had a cinnamon swirl going through it. so I used dorie's double apple bundt cake recipe, with apple butter and grated apple in it. I omitted the cinnamon and instead hunted down a streusel recipe so that I could but the streusel in the middle of the cake. I found a recipe with butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts. easy peasy! naturally I was extremely worried, as one always is with bundt cakes, that the streusel topping would stick to the pan and I'd be left with half a cake. thankfully though it came out pretty clean with only a bit of the skin missing. once it was iced with a vanilla bourbon glaze, it was ready to be delivered to the barbecue I was attending. the cake was delicious, however as it had only been baked that morning I feel it didn't have enough time to settle and the flavours to emerge. it also crumbled a bit, again I think in hindsight it would have been better to cook it the night before. the streusel swirl was delicious and gave a real intense kick to the cake. just wish I'd got a photo of the middle!

chocolate ganache topped devilish cupcakes...

so, i have always wanted to try making ganache but for the longest time thought it was a really difficult process. how wrong was i? it really couldn't be easier. you just make sure you have decent dark chocolate...I like 70% or more for the flavour and some cream. you melt the chocolate. heat up the cream. mix the two together and there you have it. the best part is how the consistency changes as it cools. if you want a thin glaze you pretty much pour it over your cake straight away. if you want butter icing type consistency you let it cool for twenty minutes or so. or if you'd like to make some chocolate truffles, pop it in the fridge until it is a thick fudge like consistency. it's wonderful and I can't believe I shied away from using it before...as you can see it make a perfect topping to my devil's food cupcakes...

a bundt full of rainbow...

what do you make someone on their birthday that guarantees a smile and exclaims of surprise? why, Rainbow Bundt Cake of course! the reaction to this cake is the same every time...just real looks of joy at a rainbow in a cake. followed by questions 'how did you do it?'. the procedure is surrisingle simple really...just takes a wee bit longer to add in the colours to the separated batter. the best part is that from the outside it just looks like regular cake. it's when the recipient cuts into it that the real surprise takes place. i like the colours to be really vivid to bring out the effect of the rainbow. you can't have a pale rainbow! this was made for Sarah's birthday and i'm so glad it filled her special day with rainbows :)

Lovely light lemon bundt cake

there is nothing like lemon. it just has a lovely zing to it that makes you feel fresh ad alert. it must be one of my favourite scents. and although i haven't posted for a VERY long time, i still have been baking. i'm particularly enjoying bundt cakes and have baked many over these past months. part of the reason i've been offline is because my domain expired and i have been to hell and back to try and get it back. however, i am without success and am now contemplating a name change. so it's back to my blogspot address until i figure out my next move. meanwhile, here is something to wet your taste buds...this is deliciously light. made with yogurt and real lemons, it was moist and fluffy. i made it to bring into work and it was gone in 5 minutes with hungry teachers slicing off doorstep slices and coming back for seconds :)

Marbled Banana Chocolate Bundt Cake...now there's a mouthful!

banana and chocolate, chocolate and banana...always a good combination in my book and in this bundt cake a little bite of perfection in every piece. i've been making this recipe for a while now and it is a firm favourite in my household and is frequently requested...again i am blessed to be living in a country where when you go to the supermarket there is a selection of maybe 5 or 6 different types of bananas on sale and each variety perfect for different uses. i think this is the secret that makes this cake so good. i use pisang ambon, which means banana ambon, ambon being a place in Indonesia where the banana comes from. the bananas are deliciously sweet and soft and the longer you leave them the more sweeter the taste. the original recipe calls for 4 mashed bananas, i use 6 when i make this because the bananas gives such a lovely moistness to the cake as well as the addition of a cup of yoghurt. there's something about bundt cakes...they just look so comforting and adorable that i love making cakes in my super-expensive but most worth it bundt pan...ABSOLUTE comfort food!

cupcakes dressed as rainbows...for halloween...and much more...

so i needed a challenge for this year's Halloween cupcakes and what better challenge than to attempt 'rainbow cakes'...because let's face it...anyone who is insane enough to go to all that trouble of dividing up batter, adding food colouring, then spooning each colour patiently into each cup in layers...well it takes time, patience and a whole lotta love for rainbows. and thankfully i have all those ingredients...as well as the ones necessary for the cupcakes! i just used a regular vanilla cupcake recipe that i'm sure is lurking around my site somewhere and then i divided it up and added the food colours. easy to make but time consuming to complete...but so fun when they come out of the oven and you see rainbows baked into cakes and then you take a bite...and wow! you just feel sunshine and love oozing out of you. unfortunately the one in the photo was not the best specimen, the rest had to be divided up amongst party guests so this one was the 'extra' photo model that i made but unfortunately didn't have quite enough batter for...hence the uneven lopsidedness to it...!

these were made for a halloween party last night, and not just to celebrate halloween because every year halloween has a special meaning for me now, for not only is it my favourite celebration of the year, it is also the day exactly a year ago when i met a very special someone who has cascaded into my life with such grace and brought all the colours of the rainbow with him back into my days. and so these were made for halloween, for a one year anniversary and for love...

i would absolutely make these again, even with all the time it took because the look on people's faces as they bit into them was joy unrivalled in itself. they are just such happy little cakes and next time i might attempt a big cake if it's someone's birthday because i think the effect of the rainbow might just be a little more perfect in a big cake.

sunshine and joy in a cup...on sale NOW!

ok today is a super happy, sunshine-y, joyfilled day...my cupcakes went on sale today at Green Ginger House in Jl. Pantai Brawa, Canggu, Bali...the flavour of the day...lemongrass-lime cupcakes...a lemongrass cupcake with lime cream cheese frosting and little candied limes to decorate. may this be the beginning of a beautiful realtionship and may airy fairy cupcakes be instantly snapped up and orders abound...here they are all happily lined up in their transportation case waiting to go...don't they look happy...i can almost hear them chirping...'we're going on sale, we're going on sale, hey-ho the merry-oh, we're going on sale'...:)

cheesecake brownies...a perfect combination

i totally forgot i made these while i was in ireland and was browsing through my photos and found them. cheesecake brownies...don't knock 'em till you've tried them...the combination of chocolate and cheese together is so incredibly good and these were so delicious hot, straight from the oven with a big blob of vanilla ice-cream. i could have eaten them all (and probably nearly did!) because i fell blissfully in love with these two paired together, so as to create a cozy little love-triangle between us. i think, if i also remember correctly there was guinness mixed in with the chocolate batter because i was on a guinness kick, what with being back at home. and i remember now that the guinness enhanced the chocolate particularly well, making it rich and fudgy. don't ask me where the recipe is...i think scribbled on a piece of paper down the back of some table in my parents house in ireland. i know i scoured the internet for a couple of recipes and then did a bit of a merger between them. it might reappear though...at some point