Raspberry Frangipane Tart (Possible LF)

Raspberry Frangipane Tart is sweet, tart and full of fruit. I made this one for a dinner party as the dessert after a delicious roast chicken; it went down well. I even made separate mini lactose-free ones for my partner - to do the same replace the butter with margarine and milk with soy milk and it tastes just as fantastic!

Raspberry Frangipane Tart

INGREDIENTS:

For the pastry:
125g sugar
155g butter
40mL milk
270g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp salt


For the filling:
180g butter, softened
180g icing sugar
180g ground almonds
70g flour
1 size 6 egg

For the tart:
300g frozen raspberries, thawed
1/2 cup apricot jam

METHOD:
For the pastry:
Beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
Add milk, flour, baking powder and salt and mix until combined.
Wrap in pastic wrap and refrigerated for at least 30 minutes.

For the filling:
Beat butter, icing sugar, almonds and flour until well combined.
Add the egg and mix until combined.
Set aside.
Gently simmer the apricot jam with 4 tablespoons of water for 5 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

For the tart:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius.
Roll out pastry to 4mm thick and line a 24 cm loose-bottom tart tin.
Spread filling into pastry.
Place raspberries evenly over the top of the filling.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.
Allow to cool before removing tart from its tin.
Glaze with apricot jam mixture.

Serve with vanilla ice cream and berries.

Enjoy!

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Chocolate Cherry Mousse Cake

Chocolate Cherry Mousse Cake is like a combination of desserts...black forest gateaux and chocolate mousse. I think it works well and most of it was destroyed at the girl's night I made it for. It is a bit of effort to make but I loved the challenge and thoroughly enjoyed the result. 

Chocolate Cheery Mousse Cake

INGREDIENTS:

For Chocolate Genose Sponge:
75g flour, sifted
60g cocoa, sifted
4 size 6 eggs
125g castar sugar
30g melted butter

For Cherries:
400g of pitted cheeries, from a jar or tin.
150g castar sugar
Zest of 1 orange
2 cloves

For Chocolate Mousse:

500mL milk
125g castar sugar
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped.
200g dark chocolate (at least 50% cocoa solids)
6 eggs yolks (size 6 eggs)


METHOD:

For the chocolate genose:
Preheat oven to 190 degrees celcius
Grease and line a 23cm springform cake tin

Whisk eggs and sugar together in a bowl for about 15 minutes or until the misture leaves trails when you lift the whisk.
Fold in flour and cocoa.
Add melted butter and fold into mixture until just combined.
Pour into prepared tin.
Bake for 30 minutes or until springy to the touch.
Remove from oven and invert onto a wire rack to cool.

For the cherries:
Put cheeries into a saucepan, cover with juice from the can/tin, add water if necessary to ensure the cherries are covered.
Add sugar, orange zest and cloves.
Over medium heat stir until sugar has dissolved.
Remove from heat and leave until required.

For the Chocolate Mousse:
Make a creme anglaise... slowly bringing to the boil, the milk, two-thirds of the sugar, vanilla seeds and the vanilla pod in a saucepan.
Whisk egg yolks and remaining sugar in bowl until pale and leaves a light trail when the whisk is lifted.
Whilst whisking, pour hot milk mixture into egg yolk mixture, then pour back into saucepan.
Cook over a low heat but do not allow it to boil or it may curdle.
Once it thickens and lightly coats the back of a spoon, remove from the heat.
Break up the chocolate and place ina bowl.
When the creme anglaise is 75 - 85 degrees celcius, pour onto the chocolate and stir with a wooden spoon.
Whisk until smooth.
Whip the cream in another bowl until a trail is left when the whisk is lifted out.
Fold the cream into the chocolate mixture until just combined.

To Assemble:
Drain the cherries, discarding the cloves and orange zest.
Pour syrup into a saucepan and bring to the boil then remove from the heat.
Split the chocolate genose sponge horizontally and soak the cut sides with hot syrup.
Place outer ring of the springform pan on a flat plate.
Place top half of sponge, cut side up int he ring.
Spread a layer of chocolate mousse over the sponge about 1.5cm thick.
Evenly scatter the cherries over the mousse - reserving a dozen for serving.
Place second sponge, cut side down, on top and lightly press down.
Spread a thin layer of mousse on top.
Place int he fridge to set for at least 4 hours, until ready to serve.

To Serve:
Soak a tea towel in hot water, wring out and wrap around the tin then slowly lift off the outer ring.
Scatter chocolate shavings over the top of the cake and around the sides.
Dip a sharp knife into hot water, quick wipe dry, and cut the mousse cake into 12. Cleaning and dipping the knife into hot water between each slice.
Serve with a cherry on top and a quinelle of cream or fresh fruit to cut through the rich chocolate goodness.

Tips:
-Make sure the genose sponge is soaked as much as possible to give a moist and delicious result.
-Fresh cherries can be used too, just simmer them with the sugar, orange zest and cloves until they are soft.
-This can be made the day before serving and the leftovers kept in the fridge for the following day (ie lasts for 2 days).

Enjoy!

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Lemon Polenta Cake (LF) (GF)

Lemon Polenta Cake is Gluten free and lactose free aswell as moist and delicious. Containing a bunch of lemon zest and being soaked in lemon syrup this is definitely packed full of natural lemon essence. I'm not usually a big fan of the testure polenta creates but the addition of almond meal seemed to have made for quite a nice surprise; just make sure the cornmeal you use is not too coarse otherwise you'll be enduring bits of grain stuck in your teeth!

Lemon Polenta Cake

INGREDIENTS:

175g margarine
175g caster sugar
3 size 6 eggs, beaten
75g coarse cornmeal
175g almond meal
zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
1tsp gluten-free baking powder

25g caster sugar
2 lemons, juiced

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius.
Grease and line a 23cm springform loose botton cake tin.
Cream margarine and first measure of sugar together.
Whisk in eggs a little at a time.
Fold in polenta and almond meal.
Fold in lemon zest and baking powder.
Spoon mixture into prepared tin and smooth off the surface.
Bake cake for 50-60 minutes until springy and a skewer comes out clean.
Leave in tin for a few minutes before placing onto a wire rack - baked side up.
Heat lemon juice and second measure of sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.
Poke holes in the top of the cake whilst warm.
Pour hot lemon syrup over the top surface of the cake, a little at a time. Waiting for the syrup to soak into the cake before adding more.
Once cooled serve at room temperature with a sprinkle of lemon zest and if you like it, a spoonful of cream.

Enjoy!

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Feijoa, Ginger, Walnut & Pistachio Cake (possible LF)

Feijoa, Ginger, Walnut & Pistachio Cake is just pure moist yumminess. I recieved 8 kilos of feijoas from my mum one day and I figured this looked like a delicious way of getting rid of a fair few of them. With feijoa pulp and cream cheese filling between layers of delicious cake with the wonderful surprise and texture of a pistachio and walnuts every now and then, I don't think you can go wrong with this cake - unless you're not a fan of feijoas of course. I even made a mini lactose free version for my partner - see note at bottom for lactose-free icing option which will make this recipe lactose free :).

Feijoa, Ginger, Walnut & Pistachio Cake

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cake

450 g flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
440g caster sugar
4 eggs
500ml soybean oil
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups mashed feijoa pulp
450g can crushed pineapple, drained
100g Walnuts, chopped
50g Pistachio nuts, chopped

For the Filling

2 cups feijoa pulp, mashed
60g caster sugar
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 lemon, zested

For the Icing

200g softened butter
500g softened cream cheese
1 lemon zested
3 tsp grated fresh ginger
225g icing sugar

METHOD:

For Cake:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Grease and line 23cm loose bottom cake tin with non-stick baking paper.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl.
In another bowl beat together sugar, eggs, oil, cinnamon and ginger until well combined.
Stir through feijoa pulp.
Slowly add the dry sifted ingredients and beat until mixture has a smooth consistency.
Fold through pineapple and nuts.
Pour into prepared cake tin and bake for 80-90 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
After an hour of baking, cover with foil to stop the top from burning.
Once cooked through, remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

For Filling:
Place, feijoa pulp, sugar, ginger and lemon zest into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat.
Once boiling reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Set aside to cool.

For Icing:
Beat butter, cream cheese, lemon zest and ginger until creamy.
Add icing sugar and beat until smooth.

To Assemble:
Once cake is cooled, slice horizontally to give 3 even layers of cake.
Place one layer of cake on a cake plate and spread one third of the icing over it. Then spread half the feijoa filling over the icing.
Place a second layer of cake on top and spread with icing and filling layers.
Place third layer of cake on top and cover with remaining icing.
 
Slice and serve on its own or with sliced feijoas and chopped nuts.

Note -  to make this lactose free, beat together 225g icing sugar with 225g margarine until smooth and creamy then use it in place of the icing recipe given above.

Enjoy!

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