Tag Archives: cake

February 18, 2013 · 9:45 pm

Chocolate Honeycomb & Almond Ice-Cream Cake

But first, a little note on my absence of late…

Dear Blog,

We started growing apart towards the end of last year, and I’ve cruelly abandoned you since Christmas. In fact, over the past several weeks I haven’t been sure if we should continue our relationship in 2013, because I’ve been questioning my commitment to you, and our future.

After much thought, I’ve decided that I do want to keep you. You’re a fun hobby to have, you’re my ‘me time’, you’ve allowed me to have some wonderful experiences, and I’m probably your biggest fan as I often cook from recipes posted here (yep, I do).

So we’re sticking together.

Going forward I may only post a couple of times a month, or maybe more, and I doubt you’ll have many readers, but that’s ok, I still love you. You’re just my little corner of the internet – my online food journal.

With (Cats) Love (and Cooking),
Chanel.

Honeycomb & Almond Ice-Cream CakeChocolate honeycomb & almond ice-cream cake.

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Filed under Cake, Chocolate, Christmas, Dessert, Easy, Frozen, Ice-Cream, Recipes

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August 19, 2012 · 1:50 pm

Melt & Mix Chocolate Chunk Cake

When I first fell in love with baking and cooking, I found a chocolate cake recipe on Taste that was successful each time I baked it – an important factor for a newbie’s baking confidence.

While I don’t particularly like chocolate cake, and I especially dislike chocolate mud cake, everyone else seems to, and I do like this chocolate cake.

It’s not sickeningly rich or dense, it has delicious chunks of dark chocolate through the centre, and it is lovely finished with a simple dusting of icing sugar, and served with fresh strawberries and double cream, if that’s your thing. This cake reminds me of a brownie, rather than a mud cake or a chocolate sponge cake, and for this reason I prefer simple finishes.

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March 12, 2012 · 8:18 pm

Hummingbird Cake (aka ‘The Best Cake Ever’)

Hummingbird CakePaul’s Birthday Hummingbird Cake (September 2012)

When I was a teenager, there was a restaurant in Darlinghurst that my Mum, sister, and I visited for dinner quite frequently. For a long period of time, each weekly dinner there would finish with dessert at the cafe across the road.

This cafe was run by a small group of wonderfully flamboyant gay men, and their frequent customers, whom we came to know, included a transsexual also named Chanel (they dubbed me ‘The Real Chanel’; she didn’t mind), and many other colourful Kings Cross locals. Many laughs and great times were had on those nights, just by listening to their hilarious conversations. Not your traditional family dinner outing perhaps, but we loved it ;)

Unfortunately I can’t remember the now-closed cafe name, but such is the power of food memories that those weekly visits left a lasting impact, for one particularly good reason. It was there that I discovered an unforgettable cake. It was at that cafe, during those frequent visits, that a true love was formed.

You see, it was there that I first met… the Hummingbird Cake.

Coconut. Banana. Cinnamon. Pineapple. Sometimes Walnuts. Sometimes Pecans! Cream Cheese Frosting. Oh my.

THIS is my ultimate cake. If I were on a cooking show and asked to cook the dish that best represents my tastes and love of food, the Hummingbird Cake would be it. It is tropical, sweet, lush, and as a bonus, it is very easy to make.

If you haven’t heard of, or tried Hummingbird Cake before (OMG), allow me to introduce you…

hummingbird
My Birthday Hummingbird Cake (January 2013)

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November 27, 2011 · 9:38 am

My Favourite Pavlova

Pavlova

Growing up, one of my favourite perks when having a birthday was choosing my cake. When I was younger I would always have an ice-cream cake which was perfect for my January summer birthday. Though as I got into my teens, my cake of choice was a pavlova.

My Mum would buy the pavlova from The Cheesecake Shop, and my requested toppings were always kiwifruit, strawberries and passionfruit. I was never too keen on the rockmelon.

Even now, for me those tart, fresh fruits are the perfect complement to the pavlova’s exceptionally sweet, light marshmallow meringue and crunchy exterior, and will always be my favourite combination.

Sometimes I feel tempted by recipes of chocolate pavlova with bright raspberries on top, or layers of meringue with lemon curd, but I always choose my favourite classic fruity Aussie pav.

The pavlova is definitely not for those who don’t like super sweet desserts. That was never an issue for me though, as I was a child who would secretly drink undiluted red cordial by the spoonful, as if I was in Mary Poppins (‘a spoonful of sugar…’). Terrible, I know. I’m lucky I still have all my teeth.

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Filed under Baking, Cake, Cookbook Author, Dessert, Donna Hay, Easy, Recipes

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September 26, 2011 · 8:23 pm

Cherry & Coconut Bombe Alaska

So remember in my last post I spoke about how easy it can be, as a food lover, to consume loads of calories? Yeah… this is one of those times.

You see it was Paul’s birthday earlier this month, and being the loving wife that I am I try to make the day special for him, and I tend to show my love through food. On recent birthdays I’ve hand delivered cupcakes to his work, and another year I took a day off work to cook and surprise him with a 3 course dinner when he arrived home.

This year for his birthday I made him a breakfast of eggy crumpets with bacon and maple syrup (thanks Not Quite Nigella), ordered a surprise Crust pizza delivery to his work for lunch (inspired by Chocolatesuze), and took him for dinner (blog post coming soon).

As usual I also asked Paul what cake he’d like me to bake for his birthday. His answer was swift: the MasterChef Bombe Alaska *cue fear-inducing music*. Despite not being interested in MasterChef, Paul did see the Bombe Alaska pressure test episode and had been hinting at it ever since. Neither of us had eaten one before, and I had been curious about it for a while… Then the June issue of MasterChef Magazine arrived with that Bombe Alaska displayed on the cover, and with the 2 page recipe inside how could I say no?

There are different variations of this dessert. The meringue on a ‘Baked Alaska’ can be finished with a blowtorch or in a 220C oven for a few minutes or until golden. The meringue acts as insulation for the ice-cream centre which prevents it from melting.

Some recipes have cake only as the base, the cake can vary from sponge to Christmas cake, and a true Bombe Alaska (technically the MasterChef version is a Baked Alaska) is all dining room theatre: with dimmed lights, liquor such as brandy or rum is set alight and poured over the meringue for some tableside flambé action.

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