buttercream | forage in the pantry.

Pear and Cinnamon Cake with Lotus Buttercream

October 25, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

wanted to create an Autumn cake that would fit with the seasons. Having been a bit of a stranger to baking recently, a gloriously empty leafy weekend back home seemed like a good time to reassure myself that The Great British Bake Off hadn’t detered me from the cake world! Pears seemed like a good choice here and I’m a cinnamon addict. After recently discovering the delights of ‘Lotus spread’ I felt it needed a place in one of my recipes so is used here in a crunchy coffee tainted buttercream. The chocolate leaves are a nice Autumnal touch here for a special occasion but feel free to leave these off if life is far too short in your eyes…

Makes 2 small cakes or 1 large one

Cake

740g pears
40g butter
3 tbsp light muscovado sugar
½ heaped tsp cinnamon
200g butter
200g sugar
200g self raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
3 large eggs, beaten lightly

Peel, core and halve the pears and diced.
Heat the 40g butter, sugar and cinnamon in a frying pan until melted.
Add the pears and cook until the pears and softened and the caramel thickens and coats the pears. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 170°C. and grease and line 2 small cake tins (15cm wide) or one large one (24cm spring form tin)
Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
Add the eggs bit by bit with a little flour if it curdles.
Fold in the flour and baking powder
Finally fold in the pears and their syrup and spoon into the tins.
bake for about 35-40 minutes until springy to touch and cooked in the middle. Leave to cool.

NOTE: Cake tin size: I used two small tins. This isn’t really a recipe that could make a tiered cake due to the pears which make it more of a dense cake. So either use 2 small tins for 2 cakes or one large one. I also had some extra mixture so made a few muffins (which will take about 20 minutes to bake) as gifts to take to some willing friends.

Topping

160g unsalted butter, softened
80g ‘Lotus biscuit spread’, crunchy
90g ish icing sugar
40-50g dark chocolate
Handful mint leaves

Start with the chocolate leaves. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over some simmering water until melted.
Use a pastry brush and coat the back of the mint leaves very thickly. Done too thinly and they will snap when ready. Don’t worry about doing these really thickly. Lay over a rolling pin to dry and pop in the fridge.
Once set, remove from the fridge. I won’t lie, this bit is fiddly and I think I only ended up with 2 whole leaves. But, the effect is still good. Make sure your hands are really hot and carefully peel the mint leaf from the chocolate. Repeat and set these aside carefully.
For the buttercream, cream together the butter, spread and as much icing sugar to taste. This is a guide and your tastes will vary.
Spoon into a piping back and use to pipe your cakes
Decorate with the leaves and serve!

Caramelised White Chocolate and Rose Cupcakes

July 15, 2013 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

I imagine when you arrive at the Pearly Gates of heaven, St.Peter’s hunky Leonardo look-a-like assistant will be standing beside him with a tray of these welcoming you in. That would be nice.

So, this is not another generic chocolate cupcake…..oh no, that’s not my style. I had to play with my Green & Blacks stash somehow. Caramelised white chocolate is courtesy of David Lebovitz who has an ice cream recipe for this I’ve been meaning to try…I usually find white chocolate too sweet and the idea of the ice cream was enough to make my poor teeth ache so I thought I’d try (ok still sugary) but a less intense cupcake by sticking it into a cake mixture. The results were engulfed on a sunny early evening within the hour…success.

Cupcakes

150g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
110g butter, melted
100g sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
160g caramelised white chocolate (or simply use melted white chocolate 30% solids minimum- I used Green & Blacks)
60ml milk

White Chocolate and Rose Buttercream

250g icing sugar
110g unsalted butter
150g Green & Blacks white chocolate, melted
Drop of rosewater (Or to taste- its powerful stuff)
Drop of pink/red food colouring

1. Preheat the oven to 125°C. Start by making the caramelised white chocolate. Break the chocolate up into pieces and place on a lined baking tray. Place int he oven for 10 minutes and then spread out using a spatula. Place back in the oven for another ten minutes and repeat this process of smoothing it out every 10 minutes for up to 60 minutes but this will depend on the chocolate you use (DON’T use cheap stuff). It will look really weird and chalky but don’t panic….it should smooth out as you go. Tips can be found here from the man himself. If it doesn’t (like mine did) then after the hour, place in a food processor and whiz briefly and it will form a devine golden brown caramel ready to use in your cupcake mixture.

2. Now start the cupcakes by whisking the eggs and the sugar for a few minutes until really pale and fluffy and airy. Add the vanilla and then the milk followed by the white chocolate caramel mixture and mix well (If using normal chocolate, melt it in advance by heating the milk and then whisking in the chocolate and combine this way).

3. Sieve over the baking powder and the flour and fold in gently.

4. Finally, fold in the melted butter (it will look nasty at first but persist).

5. Spoon into cases and bake at 180°C for about 20 minutes before leaving to cool.

6. For the icing, combine the softened butter, sieved icing sugar and rose water together in a processor or by hand until well combined. Combine with the melted white chocolate until smooth adding a drop of pink colouring if you like. Add a splash of milk for a looser consistency. Spoon into a piping bag.

7. When the cakes are cold, pipe the icing on top in a rose pattern and scatter with dried rose petals if you like!

8. Your final mission…..make a man eat one!