The Recipe Room

This nutty meringue cake is a light and nutty delight that makes for a perfect treat on a hot summer’s day. Although the end result is quite impressive and looks like it was difficult to make, the process itself is actually rather simple.  Just be careful to not leave the meringues in the oven too long so that they don’t burn!

For a fruity meringue flavour, try this iced fruit mountains and hot chocolate snow recipe.

 

If there’s one thing I’m completely ‘over-the-top passionate’ about, it’s chocolate.  And you can’t get much more chocolaty than this!  This melt-in-your mouth chocolate fudge cake with cream cheese frosting is like a little piece of heaven on your tongue.  Other versions have a hint of Earl grey, although the cake itself is very, very rich, the tanginess of the cream cheese frosting offsets that richness in just the right way, making this the perfect dessert for any occasion. A spot of tea is a nice complement for my recipe or try this Earl Grey chocolate fudge cake.

If you want to go all the way over the top, try adding around a half-cup of cocoa powder to the icing mixture for a true chocolate lover’s delight.

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

• 45g (½ cup) of pure cocoa powder
• 235ml (1 cup) of boiling water
• 8 tbsp. butter, softened
• 250g (2 cups) of sifted all-purpose flour
• 400g (2 cups) of granulated white sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. of baking soda
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 2 eggs
• 120ml (½ cup) of sour cream or Greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp. of vanilla extract

For the cream cheese frosting:

• 200g of cream cheese
• 320g (2 ½ cups) of icing sugar
• 1 tsp. of vanilla extract

Instructions:

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC.
2. Mix the cocoa powder, the boiling water and the butter in a large bowl.  Make sure the cocoa powder is completely dissolved and the butter is completely liquiefied.
3. Let the mixture cool.
4. In a different bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
5. Mix the dry ingredients into the cooled cocoa mixture a little at a time.
6. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.
7. Add the sour cream (or Greek yoghurt) and the vanilla extract and stir well.
8. Pour the batter into a buttered and floured tube pan.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife can be inserted into the centre and comes out clean.
10. Cool the cake on a wire cake rack.

For the frosting:

1. Combine all the ingredients and blend very well, either by hand or with an electric mixer.
2. Cool the icing in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
3. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and serve.

Prep Time:  20 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Serves:  10

Difficulty: Medium

Chocolate and mint, it’s a combination made in heaven!  This mint chocolate cake with almond frosting is so delicious it’s hard to resist a second or even third serving, so if you’re watching your waistline, you’ve been warned! (Also try these chocolate lava cakes.)

I used to make this sponge with mint chocolate frosting too, but I eventually had to admit it was too rich even for my taste and decided to try almond flavour frosting instead.  I think the result speaks for itself, so get baking and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

• 220g butter
• 600g granulated sugar
• 3tbsp instant coffee granules
• 2tsp coffee liqueur
• 3 eggs
• 285g cake flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• 1/4tsp salt
• 250g cocoa powder
• 315ml buttermilk
• 2tbsp fresh mint  leaves

For the frosting:

• 375g icing sugar
• 6tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 60ml water
• 1tsp almond extract
• 20g almond shavings

Instructions:

For the sponge:

1. Preheat the oven to 175ºC.
2. Grease and flour a 23cm cake pan or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. In an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter until light and fluffy.
4. Gradually add the sugar and beat until it turns light in colour.
5. Add the coffee granules and liqueur and mix well.
6. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.
8. Add this flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
9. Stir in the mint leaves. Mix until just blended.
10. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
11.  Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
12. Remove the cake from the oven and cool in its pan on wire cooling rack for 10 to 15 minutes.
13. Carefully remove the cake from the pan and continue to cool on the wire rack.
14. Remove and discard the baking parchment.

For the frosting:

1. Blend the icing sugar, almond extract, cocoa powder and water with an electric mixer until just blended.
2. Beat on medium speed until thick and smooth.
3. Spread on the cooled cake with a spatula.
4. Sprinkle the almond shavings on top.
5. Serve immediately.

Prep Time:  15 minutes

Cooking Time:  70 minutes

Serves:  10

Difficulty:  Medium

This yellow layer cake with orange chocolate frosting is a small variation on your typical yellow sponge cake.  I was getting a bit bored of plain old chocolate or vanilla frosting and decided to get a bit more adventurous.  Of course, if you prefer, you can just make the sponge and use whatever frosting you prefer, but where’s the fun in that?!

This recipe uses only two layers of sponge cake, but I sometimes use three, depending on your mood. You could also make fun shapes, like in this chocolate orange Valentine’s cake.

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

• 4 eggs, whites separated from yolks
• 225g butter, softened
• 400g granulated sugar
• 240g cake flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• 1/4tsp salt
• 250ml milk

 

For the frosting:

• 125g cream cheese
• 315g icing sugar
• 125g cocoa powder
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 3tbsp orange juice
• Grated rind of 1 orange

 

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 175ºC.
2. Grease and flour two 25cm round cake pans, or line them with baking parchment and set aside.
3. In an electric mixer with a wire whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until they are soft but not dry. Set aside.
4. With the electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and gradually add the granulated sugar, beating until light in colour.
5. Mix in the vanilla extract.
6. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
8. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until batter is smooth.
9. Carefully fold the flour mixture into the egg whites.
10.  Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
11.  While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting as follows:

• Mix all the ingredients together by hand or with an electric mixer, setting aside just a pinch of the grated orange rind.
• If the icing is too runny, add a little more icing sugar until the desired consistency is achieved.
• Refrigerate until you’re ready to frost the cake.

1.  Remove the pans from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack for 5 to 10 minutes.
2.  Carefully remove the cakes from the pans and continue to cool on the wire racks. Remove and discard parchment before decorating.
3.  When cool, frost with the orange and chocolate frosting you prepared earlier and sprinkle over the remaining orange rind. Slice and serve.

Prep Time:  30 minutes

Cooking Time:  30minutes

Serves:  10

Difficulty:  Medium

This rich and creamy chocolate roll, similar to a chocolate roulade, is a bit labour-intensive, but I guarantee that the result is worth it!

Ingredients:

• 150g of semi-sweet milk chocolate
• 100g (½ cup) granulated sugar
• 30ml (¼ cup) of water
• 6 eggs with the yolks separated from the whites and the whites stiffly beaten
• 1 tsp. instant coffee granules
• 356ml (1 ½ cups) of double cream
• 2 tbsp. of icing sugar
• ½ a tsp. of vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. Kirsch (or neat cherry brandy)
• 1 tbsp. cocoa powder

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC and line a jelly-roll pan with buttered and floured parchment paper.
2. Melt the chocolate in a double saucepan over simmering water.
3. Mix together the granulated sugar and water in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil and cook for two more minutes over medium heat.
4. Place the egg yolks in a bowl in the meantime.
5. Pour the hot sugar syrup over the yolks and beat vigorously with a whisk for around 5 minutes, until the mixture is light, smooth and pale yellow in colour.
6. Mix in the coffee and the melted chocolate.
7. Add 1/3 of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and whisk vigorously until well mixed.
8. Add the rest of the egg whites and fold them in with a spatula.  Mix them just enough to combine the ingredients, but take care not to overwork it.
9.  pour in the batter.  It should be about ½ inch thick.
10. Bake in the preheated oven 15 minutes, until the cake springs back when you press on it.
11. Cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic film and let it cool for at least 2 hours more.
12. Start whipping the cream until it is thick but not stiff yet.
13. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and Kirsch and keep beating until the cream is firm.

Now for the hard part – rolling the cake:

1. Remove the plastic wrap and slide a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake.
2. Spread the whipped cream on the cake.
3. Start at one end and begin rolling up the cake with the paper still on.
4. Peel off the paper as you go a little at a time with each roll.  Try not to press down so that the cream doesn’t get squeezed out.
5. Continue rolling and removing the plastic until the roll is completed.
6. Using two spatulas, slide the cake onto a serving platter with the end on the bottom so that the top looks smooth.
7. Sprinkle cocoa powder over the top with a sieve to garnish, then refrigerate.

Prep Time:  45 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Serves:  6

Difficulty: Difficult