I did two batches, a vanilla one and a flourless orange and almond one. The vanilla recipe is just my standard cupcake recipe which I’ve posted before (so too the buttercream icing). I also decorated the vanilla cupcakes with some passionfruit icing, an orange and sour cream icing and a plain orange icing.

I’ve given some approximate recipes for the icing, but it’s really up to how strong you want your flavours to taste (and fruit differs greatly in its ability to flavour) and how thick or flowing you want your consistency.

Passionfruit icing

adapted from Annabel Langbein’s “eat fresh – Cooking Through the Seasons” cookbook

Whip together the following:

• 3 tbsp passionfruit pulp (strained)
• 1 1/2 – 2  cups icing sugar
• 25g butter, well softened

Orange and Sour Cream icing

Whip together the following:

• 80 ml sour cream
• 1 cup  sifted icing sugar
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Plain orange icing

• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 cup sifted icing sugar

This cupcake tree was filled with plain vanilla cupcakes and iced with (going from top to bottom) buttercream icing, orange and sour cream icing and passionfruit icing.

The top cupcakes have simple orange icing and the others are the plain buttercream ones.

Close up of the buttercream decoration.

Close up of the passionfruit icing-ed cupcake - my favourite!

I decided to try a gluten free cupcake recipe from Susannah Blake’s Cupcake Heaven which was a present from my husband after I’d been eyeing it in the bookstore for several weeks. The cupcakes in it are wonderful but approachable. I doubled the recipe so it made 24.

Orange and Almond Cupcakes

makes 24

• 4 eggs
• 180g Caster Sugar
• grated zest of 2 oranges
• 160g ground almonds
• 6 Tbsps potato flour
• approx 80g flaked almonds
• icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 17oC (325F). Sift together the ground almonds and the potato flour, put aside. Whisk the eggs and sugar until thick and pale (this may take a while). Add in the orange zest, fold in the sifted ground almonds and potato flour.

Spoon the batter into cupcake cases and sprinkle the flaked almonds on top just before they go into the oven. Usually, you’d fill a cupcake case 2/3 of the way to allow for rise. Because these are flourless, there is no big rise so a bit higher is better.

The recipe calls for them to be baked for 22 minutes, however, my cases were on the small side so 15 minutes was plenty. You’ll know they’re ready when they are lightly browned. Turn them out on a wire rack and let them cool.

Once they have cooled off, dust with some icing sugar.

Gluten free orange and almond cupcakes

Close up of the flourless orange and almond cupcakes

My friend Sara's chocolate and hazelnut cupcakes! Very moist and tasty!

The following cupcakes were all cooked by Biff, Lexi and Tom of Fat little dumplings – and they posted the recipes too!

Strawberry cupcake assortment

More strawberry cupcakes!

Love the fruit artistry...

Lemon meringue cupcakes on show.

Cthulu and Evil Dead - courtesy of Tom. The Cthulu hair is rosewater Persian fairy floss.

Evil Dead cupcake up close.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time:  20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Dharm’s Ice Cream Recipe
Classic Vanilla Ice Cream
Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Recipe comes from the Ice Cream Book by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis (tested modifications and notes in parentheses by Dharm)

Ingredients
1 Vanilla Pod (or substitute with vanilla extract)
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Semi Skimmed Milk – in the U.S. this is 2% fat (or use fresh full fat milk that is pasteurised and homogenised {as opposed to canned or powdered}). Dharm used whole milk.
4 large egg yolks
75g / 3oz / 6 tbsp caster sugar {superfine sugar can be achieved in a food processor or use regular granulated sugar}
5ml / 1 tsp corn flour {cornstarch}
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Double Cream (48% butter fat) {in the U.S. heavy cream is 37% fat)
{you can easily increase your cream’s fat content by heating 1/4 cup of heavy cream with 3 Tbs of butter until melted – cool to room temperature and add to the heavy cream as soon as whisk marks appear in the cream, in a slow steady stream, with the mixer on low speed.  Raise speed and continue whipping the cream) or use heavy cream the difference will be in the creaminess of the ice cream.

1. Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod lengthways.  Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil.  Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse
Lift the vanilla pod up.  Holding it over the pan, scrape the black seeds out of the pod with a small knife so that they fall back into the milk. SET the vanilla pod aside and bring the milk back to the boil.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and corn-flour in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy.  3. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly.  Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time
4. When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it back into the bowl.  Cool it then chill.
5. By Hand: Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon.  Fold it into the custard and pour into a plastic tub or similar freeze-proof container.  Freeze for 6 hours or until firm enough to scoop, beating it twice (during the freezing process – to get smoother ice cream or else the ice cream will be icy and coarse)
By Using and Ice Cream Maker: Stir the cream into the custard and churn the mixture until thick (follow instructions on your ice cream maker)

Wendy’s Ice Cream Recipe
Vanilla Philadelphia Style Recipe
Preparation Time:  5 minutes
2 cups (473 ml) of half and half (1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of whole, full fat milk)
1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
2/3 (128 grams) cup sugar
Dash of salt
1 (12 grams) tablespoon of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together (we do this in a plastic pitcher and mix with an emulsifier hand blender-whisking works too).
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer
Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.

David Lebovitz link for making ice cream if you do not have an ice cream freezer.

Links to helpful tips:
Folding video demonstration.
Egg Whipping video demonstration.

———————————-

So that was the official recipe, this is how mine turned out…

When it comes straight out of the oven, it’s supremely gooey. You could cook it for longer but I think that would dry it out the edges.

It’s very very nice gooey, in the same way that it was very very nice licking the uncooked leftovers in the bowl. It’s more or less a mousse without the cream.

It was a little fiddly (it needs three bowls) but not hard and it’s pretty cool that all you need is three ingredients.

The recipe is definitely a keeper, but I recommend making it the night before or in the morning (for the evening) and putting it in the fridge as it tastes even better when it has had time to set. When set it turns into this wonderful melt-in-your-mouth chocolate-y denseness. It also keeps surprisingly well. I had it in the fridge for over a week and it was tasty to the end.

I used my easy ice cream again because I’m addicted to that stuff (this is no exaggeration) and raspberry complements chocolate so well. Later in the week (unfortunately, not in time for Valentine’s day) I picked up some heart-shaped ice cube molds and made yet another batch of ice cream to fill them.

Apart from challenging your baking skills and having more tasty things to eat than normally, the best thing about the Daring Bakers is seeing all the other Challengers’ ideas. Every challenge is executed uniquely. One of my favourites is a chocolate and cherry brandy ice cream cake from Audax Artifex – I’ve sworn that I will beat my addiction to easy raspberry ice cream and so the next ice cream I will make is cherry (though that might mean I don’t make ice cream for a while because making cherry ice cream has been on my list of things to do for over ten years…).

I also particularly liked evil lemon’s layering with raspberry. Cake and Commerce had an alternative recipe, L’Esperance’s Flourless Chocolate Cake which I do want to try and what looks to be a winning recipe for chocolate ice cream.

And check out Five Forks’ delicious Strawberry Mousse filled Chocolate Flourless sandwiches.

This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

Here are all my little butterflies waiting for something nice to land on…

One little butterfly has found some raspberry ice cream – mmmmmmmm….

I used the “The Chocolate Book” recipe, “written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck”.

Recipe:
Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / ½ cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

I’m participating in a Virtual Cookie Exchange organised by Notes from a Cottage Industry. The idea is to do an online bake swap for ideas for yummy Christmas treats. Last weekend I tried out a new recipe for Ginger Crunch from Jason Robert’s Graze and it went down very well (though you DO have to like ginger). I added some chopped crystallised ginger to the icing to make it even more gingery. I think it makes a nice alternative (or addition) to gingerbread so it’s my contribution to the bake swap!

To Christmas it up a bit, instead of cutting it into squares, you can use festive cookie cutters to shape them into Gingerbread men (I’d suggest pre-cutting them before putting on the icing and then cutting them out again after the icing has set).

Ginger Crunch Slice

(note these are Australian metric measurements – here’s a converter if you need it!)

The Crunch Part:

• 250g softened butter
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• a pinch of salt

The Icing Part:

• 1 cup sifted icing sugar
• 60g butter
• 1/4 cup golden syrup
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• 1/3 cup crystallised (or candied) ginger, chopped finely

Line a 20×30cm (approx 8″x12″) baking tin with baking paper.

Preheat your oven to 180C (356F). (I did the following all in my stand mixer) Cream the butter and sugar until they are white and fluffy. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt until well combined. It should be thick and sticky.

Press the mixture into the tin so that it is spread out evenly. Let it bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

While the crunch part is happily baking away, mix up the icing. In a saucepan over a low-med heat, melt all the icing ingredients and heat for a further two minutes. Pour over the crunch part while it’s still warn.

Slice into squares (or experiment with cutting it into Christmas shapes!).

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’ve been wanting to try this out for a while and cooking dinner for a friend tonight gave me that opportunity.

Put the following into a large bowl:

500g frozen raspberries

300ml fresh cream

1/2 cup caster sugar

Blend well using a hand held blender (or alternatively whizz it up in a food processor) until it’s all nice and smooth. Serve straight away.

You could use any other frozen fruit you like – mango or another berry would work very well.

My friend brought over a perfectly ripe pineapple and it went surprisingly well.

here’s the recipe for the easiest and tastiest chocolate brownies you will ever make.

• Chocolate Almond Torte by Stephanie Jaworski
• Chocolate and Almond Cake
• Scandinavian Flourless Chocolate Cake
• Jill Dupleix’s version of Elizabeth David’s famous Flourless chocolate and almond cake
• Delia’s Moist Chocolate and Almond Cake

And finally, the richest version with the most amount of butter and sugar is this recipe that is practically a brownie – this is definitely NOT diet friendly:
VideoJug’s How To Make Chocolate and Almond Cake:

How To Make Chocolate And Almond Cake

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup melted butter
1 egg

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Toss apples with 1 tablespoon of sugar, and pour them into a pie plate. Thoroughly mix together 1 cup of sugar with the flour, cinnamon, butter, and egg. Spread this evenly over the top of the pie.
Bake in preheated oven until the apples have cooked and the topping is golden brown, about 40 to 45 minutes.

I hope everyone had a similarly (or more) tasty Christmas!

Mesquite is a rare but apparently very healthy and tasty flour. I managed to find a supplier in Australia but it was very pricey. I got this nice comment from Peter Felker:

Good day I’m a partner in the USDA organic, Kosher production of mesquite flour in Argentina and in the USA. You can buy it from our web site for $9 for a 1 lb bag or you can order it bulk at much lower price. I would love to help you find a store in your area to carry it. Would you be kind enough to suggest a store close to you that we could contact.

I passed on a few stores to him so fingers crossed! I think I’ll also send an email to my food coop when they are back from holidays. Even at $9 for 1lb, it’s less than half the price!