dessert | Sam's Kitchen

Tag: dessert
- Citrus and Apple Rose Tea Cake
  
  Posted at 4:40 pm by samskitchen, on May 7, 2016
  It’s Mothers Day tomorrow. A wonderful day that gives us the opportunity to thank our Mothers for all they gave and are still giving us, make them feel special, loved and cherished. A day to celebrate motherhood, give gifts of love and receive them back. Share the joy and pride of being a mother with our mothers, grandmothers, sisters and girlfriends. It’s the day that celebrates giving life!
  
  This rosy cake is for all you darling Mothers and Mothers to be.
  Wishing you all a day filled with love and happiness, and may you all feel cherished and appreciated. Happy Mothers Day!!!
  
  The cake is made with both lemon and orange zest and juice and has a delicious citrus aroma and taste. The texture is light and soft.
  Tastes exceptionally delicious served warm with a generous dollop of double cream.
  
  Ingredients
  
  200g butter cubed and brought to room temperature
  200g caster sugar
  4 eggs room temperature
  1 tbsp orange and lemon zest mix
  1/2 cup orange and lemon juice mix
  1/4 cup milk
  350g self-raising flour
  1 cup almond meal ( ground almonds )
  4 apples halved and cored
  
  To Serve
  
  Icing sugar
  Double cream or thickened cream
  
  Method
  
  Preheat oven to 175C.
  Line and grease a 24cm round cake pan.
  
  In a bowl of a stand mixer beat butter and sugar until white and creamy.
  Add eggs one at a time ( ensure eggs are at room temperature ), beat for 1 minute with each added egg.
  Add self-raising flour, almond meal, lemon and orange zest and juice.
  Fold gently with a spatula.
  Pour the mixture into prepared cake pan.
  
  Slice apples thinly using a mandoline or a very sharp knife.
  Place in a bowl, add lemon juice and enough water to cover the top.
  Microwave for 1 minute on high or till apple slices are pliable.
  Drain and leave to cool.
  
  Arrange apple slices into different size roses. To make roses, swirl one apple slice into a little tube and place it into the cake batter, then keep adding one “petal” at a time till the “rose” reaches the desired size.
  
  Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or till middle is set and a skewer comes out clean.
  
  Dust with icing sugar if desired.
  Serve warm with double cream or thickened cream.
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  Posted in Sweets | 21 Comments | Tagged afternoon tea cake, apple cake, apple roses, baking, beautiful cake, cooking, dessert, easy recipe, morning tea, mothers day, recipe, sweets, tea cake
- Hazelnut and Chocolate Biscuits
  
  Posted at 10:52 am by samskitchen, on March 27, 2016
  Happy Easter to all you lovely folk! This is what my inner Easter Bunny brought us this Easter – four ingredient chocolate cookies; made with just hazelnuts, egg whites, sugar and cocoa. They are light, a little bit chewy and have a yummy chocolatey – nutty taste.
  
  And they make the perfect foodie gift!
  
  Ingredients
  
  3 large egg whites
  300g icing sugar sifted and extra for coating
  350g hazelnut meal ( ground hazelnuts )
  4 tbsp dutch cocoa ( or any other good quality unsweetened cocoa )
  
  Method
  
  Preheat oven to 160C.
  Line a cookie tray.
  
  In a bowl of a stand mixer beat the egg whites to a soft peak stage, then gradually add the icing sugar and continue beating for a few minutes. The mixture will resemble a soft runny marshmallow.
  
  Sieve the cocoa and mix with the hazelnut meal, gradually add it to the egg white and sugar mixture while folding in gently. You will end up with a soft cookie dough.
  
  Roll out 26-28 little balls (about the size of a walnut) and roll them in icing sugar.
  
  Place them on a lined cookie tray and bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and move to a cooling rack.
  
  Cool, and enjoy. They go beautifully with both coffee or tea.
  
  The mixture will resemble a soft runny marshmallow.
  
  Sieve the cocoa and mix with the hazelnut meal and gradually add it to egg white and sugar mixture while folding in gently using a spatula.
  
  Roll out 26-28 little balls and roll them in icing sugar.
  
  Place them on a lined cookie tray and bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.
  
  Remove from oven and move to a cooling rack.
  
  A perfect yummy gift 🙂
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  Posted in Sweets | 5 Comments | Tagged afternoon tea, baking, biscuits, cookies, dessert, easy recipe, glutenfree, hazelnuts, nut cookies, recipe, sweets
- Pear and Almond Chocolate Cake
  
  Posted at 3:35 pm by samskitchen, on March 26, 2016
  For the pear and chocolate lovers a little easter treat – Pear and Almond Chocolate Cake. With a light texture, not overly sweet and a distinctive chocolate taste it’s a pure indulgence served warm with a big dollop of double cream or vanilla ice-cream.
  
  I would highly recommend using only ripe pears or poaching the greener pears for a little while before baking or you are likely to end up with undercooked pears and clashing textures of soft and luscious cake and harder pears. So if you bought green pears, simply leave them on the kitchen counter for a few days until they ripen and before using them.
  
  Using good quality chocolate is essential as it is going to directly affect the taste of the cake. Try using chocolate that has at least 55% cocoa for a more distinctive and richer chocolate taste.
  
  I coated the pears in demerara sugar for their big granules and effective look, but using white or brown sugar is perfectly fine.
  
  Sprinkle the cake with few pinches of sugar just before serving it.
  
  Ingredients
  
  3 ripe pears
  120g unsalted butter cubed
  150g good quality dark chocolate
  4 eggs
  1 cup brown sugar
  1/3 cup plain all purpose flour
  2 cups almond meal
  2 tbsp dutch cocoa
  1 tsp baking powder
  1 tsp vanilla essence
  1/3 cup demerara sugar
  
  Double or thick cream, or vanilla ice-cream to serve
  
  Method
  
  Preheat oven to 175C.
  Grease and line a 22cm round cake pan.
  
  Peel, halve and core the pears.
  Cube the butter and break the chocolate into small pieces, then place them into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 min or till the chocolate has melted, stirring every 30 seconds to prevent burning the chocolate.
  
  In a bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar till thickened and has reached a creamy consistency 5-8 minutes on high.
  
  Sieve in the flour and baking powder into the eggs and sugar, using a spatula gently fold in.
  Add the almond meal and cocoa in 2-3 batches folding in gently.
  Pour cooled chocolate and butter mixture along with vanilla essence and gently fold in.
  
  Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
  
  Coat the pear halves in demerara sugar and arrange them on top of the batter.
  
  Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in a pan. Serve warm with a good dollop of double cream.
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  Posted in Sweets | 11 Comments | Tagged almond cake, almond chocolate cake, baking, chocolate cake, dessert, easter, Easy, pear and chocolate cake, recipe, sweets
- Cookies and Pistachio Dark Chocolate Rocky Road
  
  Posted at 4:04 pm by samskitchen, on November 8, 2015
  Ah oh, Christmas is almost around the corner and it’s time to get edible Christmas goodie gifts ready!
  
  Get started with this yummy – easy to make Rocky Road :).
  
  I made a big slab of this yumminess yesterday.
  
  Cut them into squares and wrapped in cellophane to give as gifts.
  
  Ingredients
  
  250g marshmallows cut in half ( I used kitchen scissors )
  1/2 cup lightly toasted pistachios, roughly chopped
  1/2 cup lightly toasted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
  1/2 cup dry cranberries
  2 ( 55g each ) chocolate coated bars of Turkish delight cut into bite size squares
  1 cup butter cookies or any other cookies of your choice roughly chopped into bite size pieces
  2 ( 200g each ) good quality dark chocolate bars
  2 tsp peanut or canola oil
  Extra chopped pistachios for topping ( optional )
  
  Method
  
  Prepare a lined with a cling film tray or any square or rectangular dish at about 5 cm dip.
  Break chocolate into a small pieces, place into a heat proof bowl, add oil and melt over a double boiler or in a microwave. If melting in a microwave stir every 30 seconds to avoid over drying.
  In a very large mixing bowl mix all dry ingredients together.
  Pour melted chocolate over the dry ingredients mixing spontaneously till all covered in chocolate. Move the mixture into the prepared tray. Spread evenly gently pressing into place. Sprinkle the top with extra chopped pistachios and refrigerate for 2 hours or till set. Enjoy with coffee, tea or just by itself as a naughty snack 🙂 xx
  
  The little fingers photobombing was completely unexpected, but it was so cute that I decided to use this picture here. My little cheeky assistant is always there with me 🙂
  
  Line your tray with cling film to make it easy to remove once Rocky Road is set
  
  Perfect edible Christmas gift!
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  Posted in Sweets | 6 Comments | Tagged chocolate, dark chocolate, dessert, marshmallows, recipe, rocky road, sweets

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