Freeze: Rich Chocolate Torte

So, what are you waiting for? Happy Baking!



Rich Chocolate Torte

Ingredients:
(make one 18cm cake)

150g oreo cookies
40g melted butter

180g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped 
50g unsalted butter
50ml coffee
2 egg yolks
45g cake flour

2 egg whites
90g caster sugar

icing sugar (or cocoa powder) for dusting


Method:

• Line the bottom of an 18cm round pan (with removable base) with parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides.
• Remove the cream from the oreo cookies. Crumb the cookies, either with a rolling pin or in a food processor. Place the crumbs and the melted butter in a bowl. Mix thoroughly with a spoon until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly into the base of the prepared pan. Use the back of the spoon, smooth out the crumbs and press firmly. You can also use a glass (with a flat base) to press down firmly. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least 30mins.
• Melt chocolate and butter over low heat in a saucepan, stir to combine. Add the coffee, stir to combine. Remove from heat. Let cool.
• With a balloon whisk, whisk egg yolks gently. Add in the melted chocolate/butter mixture. Whisk to combine. Sieve over the flour and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Add half of the sugar amount and turn to high speed and beat the mixture. Continue to add in the remaining sugar and beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage. The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy. (Do not over beat the whites still stiff, it is better to beat the whites still soft peaks for easy folding with the yolk batter.)
• Add 1/3 of the egg white to the egg yolk mixture. Fold in with a balloon whisk to loosen the batter. Add the remaining egg white in 2 separate addition, change to a spatula and each time fold in gently, making sure all the egg whites are incorporated into the batter. (Note: take care not to deflate the batter. The finished batter should fill up the pan to at least 3/4 full.)  
• Pour batter into the prepared cake pan. Tap the cake pan lightly on tabletop a few times to release any trapped bubbles in the batter. 
• Bake in preheated oven at 160 degC for 40 ~ 45 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with a few moist crumb. 
• Remove cake from oven, leave it in the pan for about 5mins. Unmould and let cool on wire rack. Dust with icing sugar (or cocoa powder) as desired. Serve with whipping cream or a scoop of ice cream. The cake is best eaten at room temperature. If stored in fridge, bring the cake to room temperature before serving.

Recipe source: adapted from Delicious magazine

Freeze: Pizza Muffin

These delicious savoury muffins smell just like pizzas when they are baking in the oven! They are great for afternoon snacks and certainly a great way to use up any left over pizza ingredients :)


Hawaiian Pizza Muffins

Ingredients:
(makes 9)

225g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs (optional)
105g grated cheddar (divide into 60g and 45g portion)
100g ham, chopped
100g chopped pineapple, drained
80ml vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
1 tablespoon tomato paste (I replaced with 2 tablespoons pasta sauce)
1 egg
120ml milk

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Sieve flour, baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add salt, mixed herbs (if using), 60g of the grated cheese, ham and pineapple, mix to combine. 
• Place the oil, tomato paste (I used pasta sauce), egg and milk in a bowl and whisk to combine. 
• Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture, with a spatula mix until just combined. 
• Spoon into 1/3 cup-capacity (80ml) paper muffin cups and sprinkle top with remaining cheese. 
• Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. These muffins are best served freshly baked. Any leftovers can be stored in air tight containers. Warm them in the oven before serving. 

Bake: Rainbow Cake

Ingredients:

You will need to make this sponge recipe twice (so you will need to double the sponge ingredients below) to make six layers.

For the sponge

225g butter, softened
225g castor sugar
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
4 jumbo eggs, at room temperature (/6 small eggs)
225g self-raising flour, sifted
Food colouring – red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. We used the Wilton Gel Food Colouring.

For the icing

100g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup (125ml) icing sugar, sifted (plus a little more just incase)
4 x 250g cream cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Lightly grease 3 x 20cm PushPan cake tins and set aside. Cream the softened butter and sugar together using an electric beater or stand mixer until pale and cream in colour.
3. Add vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, making sure you beat in each one before you add the next. Fold in the sifted flour and then divide the mixture into three mixing bowls making sure that the weight of all three mixtures is equal.
4. Pick three of the colours (remember you’re going to be making the recipe twice to get all six colours) and add a little into each batter bowl, adding more until you are happy with the colour. Be careful not too add too much colour in the beginning, as you can always add more food colouring to achieve a brighter coloured cake.
5. Pour each batter into the three prepared baking tins and place into the oven for about 15–20 minutes or until the cake is cooked and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
6. Remove cakes from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes in the cake tin before gently pushing out and carefully placing on a cooling rack to cool completely. If the cakes rose with quite a peak in the centre you may want to trim this level with a bread knife. Don’t be disheartened by the dulled outside colour of the cake. The baked food colouring will look odd but the inside of your cake with be delightfully bright still, rest assured. Repeat this recipe using the remaining three food colour gels to achieve your six layer rainbow cake.

7. To make the icing, place the softened butter and vanilla extract into a large mixing bowl and, using an electric beater, cream until smooth.
8. Add in the sifted icing sugar and beat until well incorporated. Add cream cheese and whisk until smooth.
9. Taste the cream cheese icing and add more icing sugar if you would prefer a sweeter icing.

V: The sponge cake is good!