After Taste presents Sweet New Zealand…….

After Taste is hosting Sweet New Zealand again this month, so get your entries ready!

This event was originally started by Alessandra Zecchini in 2011 and really encourages food bloggers to share their secret recipes, discover new delights and of course, get to know other New Zealand food bloggers, living both here and overseas. Here are some super simple rules:

1. This event is open to all bloggers living in New Zealand (even if you are not a Kiwi), as well as all Kiwi bloggers living and blogging overseas.
2. You can enter anything sweet (as simple or complicated as you like): cakes, biscuits, slices, desserts, even drinks, and you may submit as many entries as you like, including old posts if you like.
3. Your entry must contain the following: the phrase “Sweet New Zealand”, a link to the host (my blog homepage), a link to this post and include the Sweet New Zealand badge (just right-click and download the image from this post), and if you are submitting an older post remember to update it accordingly with all of the above.
4. To submit your entry email me at aftertasteblog@gmail.com by 30th May with:

- your name
- your blog name
- a link to your blog
- a link to the post you’re contributing (and name of recipe)
- a photo from your post (not more than 250 kb if possible)

I’ll do a round up of all entries at the end of May. I am really looking forward to seeing all the entries

After Taste

Chocolate Guinness Cake

I’m pretty sure I’ve come across a winner here. The first time I sampled this gorgeous cake, which a friend made, it was absolutely to die for. That was it, I sourced the recipe and I don’t think I’ve made another chocolate cake recipe since.

I’m not a huge beer fan but it works perfectly with the chocolate, and the end result is super moist, chocolaty with an ever so slight taste of the Guinness.

For a slightly less elaborate presentation, you can definitely get away with a dusting of icing sugar. However, because I am pretty much in love with cream cheese, I definitely can’t pass up a decent spread of icing. And the combination of the creamy white topping on the dark black cake is visually stunning in my books.

This is hands-down the best chocolate cake ever. Moist, dark, chocolaty, and with a great silky texture so make sure you try it

Chocolate Guinness Cake

For the cake

• 250 ml guinness
• 250 grams butter
• 75 grams cocoa powder
• 400 grams caster sugar
• 142 ml sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence
• 275 grams plain flour
• 2 1/2 tsps baking soda

For the icing

• 300 grams cream cheese
• 150 grams icing sugar
• 50 grams butter

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, and butter and line a 23 cm springform tin.

Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter – in spoons or slices – and heat until the butter’s melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and the baking soda.

Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.

When the cake’s cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the icing. Lightly whip the cream cheese with the butter until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and then beat them all together until it makes a spreadable consistency. Spread the icing on top of the cake.

Late Summer Plum Cake

My family love stone fruit, especially plums! I have wonderful memories of eating loads of fruit in the summer holidays as we traveled to our favourite holiday spots across New Zealand. Being one of three kids, we sat shoulder-to-shoulder, often sandwiched between pillows, or clothing, or nursing a picnic basket on our laps – maybe a fresh bag of plums Mum had picked up from a stall on the side of the road. My memories are endless.

When I came across this cake recipe by Helen Jackson a few months ago on Foodlovers, it only made sense to make it for my Mum on her birthday. I have this thing about people making their own birthday cakes – it just isn’t right to me.

I was pretty happy with the way this plum cake turned out. We served it, dusted with a light sprinkling of icing sugar, and a dollop of unsweetened yoghurt on the side. It is moist, tender, and wonderfully fruity. It has just the right amount of sweetness.

You can of course use any kind of plums to make this cake. Do note, if the plums are too ripe, they will turn a bit mushy while baking. If they are not ripe enough, they won’t soften enough to infuse the cake with their wonderful juices. Choose ripe plums that are still quite firm to touch.

Alternatively, you can make it with apples, nectarines or peaches!

Late Summer Plum Cake
Serves 12

• 8 large plums
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 300 grams butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Icing sugar for dusting

Slice the plums and toss with sugar in a bowl, set aside. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Line a round cake tin with baking paper.

Beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy, add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add milk, vanilla and then combined flour, almonds and baking powder, gently mix.

Spread batter evenly into cake tin and then cover the surface with sugared plums.
Bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour, until cake tests cooked.  Serve fresh and almost warm with a dollop of yoghurt. Enjoy!

This is my entry for Sweet New Zealand. This month is hosted by Monica at Delissimon. Get along to her blog and check out all the mouthwatering recipes at the end of the month.

Baked Eggplant Rolls with a Tomato Basil Sauce

This meal was BEAUTIFUL! The sauce, the filling and everything about it was delicious.

I made this dish last week as an entree and I have to say, it was a delight to eat. I even  went back for seconds and that was after I’d consumed a slow-cooked chicken dish and a ramekin of rhubarb and apple crumble! Greedy, much?!

The dish takes a little bit of time to prepare but it really is worth it. I added a small amount of crumbled cow’s feta into the ricotta mixture and bit more on top with some basil as a garnish. Enjoy!

Baked Eggplant Rolls with a Tomato Basil Sauce
Serves 4

• 2 fresh eggplant, trimmed, sliced lengthwise into 6
  
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 800 g whole tomato canned in tomato juice, chopped
• 2 tbs fresh basil, torn
• 1 zucchini, finely diced
• 150 g reduced-fat ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 tbs fresh basil, chopped
• 3 tbs grated parmesan cheese, chopped
• 1 small egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• Oil spray

Preheat oven to 230 degrees. Spray a baking tray with oil and set aside.

Lay eggplant in a single layer on prepared baking tray and spray with oil. Bake for 20 minutes, turning once or until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

To make filling, spray a large non-stick frying pan with oil and place over medium-high heat. Add onion and zucchini and cook for 5 minutes, or until onion starts to soften. Add 1 clove garlic and cook for a further minute. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile combine ricotta, parsley, basil and 2 tablespoons parmesan in a seperate bowl. Stir to combine. Add the cooled onion mixture to ricotta mixture, then add egg and season well with salt and pepper.

To make sauce, place the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add remaining garlic and saute for 2 minutes, or until light brown. Add crushed tomatoes and stir to combine then reduce heat to low. Add basil and season well with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat and set aside.

To make eggplant rolls, reduce oven temperature to 210 degrees. Spoon 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce into the base of a 20 cm square ceramic baking dish. On a clean chopping board place a slice of eggplant. Spoon 2 tablespoons of ricotta filling at narrow end and roll up. Place in prepared baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices.

Arrange rolls in a single layer in dish. Spoon over remaining 1/2 cup tomato sauce and sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and cheese has melted. Garnish with chopped basil and a sprinkling of feta. Enjoy.

These can be made a day ahead of time and stored in an airtight continer in the fridge. They are best reheated in a moderate oven for 15 – 20 minutes, though I didn’t have any left for the next day to reheat!

Gooey Salted Caramel Slice

I first tried salted caramel in the form of fudge at a popular London market last year. Best. Decision. Ever. It was absolutely mind-blowingly delicious! I’m pretty sure I ate my fair share of fudge that day. I definitely remember the sore tummy afterwards.

Recently I found this slice recipe in the Bite section of The Herald newspaper a couple of weeks back and I thought, why not! It was really just too good not to share with you lovely folk!

After I got this fix, I was on the hunt for more salted caramel and came across a recipe for  ice cream so watch this space!

Enjoy. Have a great weekend everybody!

Gooey Salted Caramel Slice

• 250 grams butter, softened
• 100 grams sugar
• 100 grams cornflour
• 50 grams icing sugar
• 350 grams flour
• 50 grams walnuts, chopped

Caramel

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 150 grams butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt

Heat oven to 170 degrees and line a 20 x 30 slice tin with non-stick baking paper.
Cream butter and sugar, add cornflour, icing sugar and flour. Mix together until it forms a ball. Divide the mixture in half, use one half to press it into the tin and place the other half in the fridge.

Bake for 20 minutes until just starting to colour. Remove from the oven and cool.

Make the caramel by melting the butter, golden syrup and condensed milk in a pot until well blended. Make sure you keep stirring to avoid burning. Take off the element and cool – I placed the pot in the fridge for about 20 minutes to speed up the process.

Spread the caramel evenly over the cooled base. Sprinkle over the walnuts. Dice up the remaining dough and sprinkle evenly over the top. Return to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes.

When cool, slice into squares and store in a biscuit tin. If it lasts that long. Let’s be honest.

Coconut Whispers

A month or so ago I bought what has become one of my all-time favourite recipe books, Ladies, a Plate. This book, written by New Zealand author Alexa Johnston, is jam-packed full of traditional home baking. It gives a fantastic insight into New Zealand baking classics (some of which I did not know) over the years.

Alexa’s interest in old-fashioned recipes began with her mothers copies of the New Zealand Women’s Institutes Home Cookery Book and the League of Mothers Cookery Book, as well as a number of church fundraising cookbooks. She also collects a large number of community recipe books.

The thing I love most is that each recipe comes with a tale, along with a wonderful full-page photograph. At the back of the book is a list of all the places these recipes were sourced from and I’d love to get a hold of some of the originals. Some of the cookbook titles just make you smile..

These biscuits are small and simple. They don’t require expensive ingredients and they don’t take long to make. They are extremely easy, light, and moorish. You can use dessicated coconut, as stated in the recipe, but the only coconut I had on hand was coconut thread and it worked just as well. This is coming from someone who loves the texture of cocunut, so perhaps stick with the dessicated stuff if you’re not so keen.

Her book is full of words of wisdom and helpful hints for successful home baking. Alexa also states and I have to agree:

A cup of tea without a biscuit is a missed opportunity.

On that note…

Coconut Whispers

• 55 grams butter, softened
• 115 grams white sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 150 grams dessicated coconut

Cream the butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Mix in the egg and the vanilla. Using a spoon, stir through the coconut.

Place teaspoonfuls of dough onto trays lined with baking paper, leaving space for spreading, and flatten slightly with a wet fork. Bake in a pre-heated 160 degree oven for 25 minutes or until golden, and cool the biscuits on the paper on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Healthy Pizza with a Cauliflower Crust

A couple of weeks ago I saw a great recipe posted on Twitter. This was a healthy alternative to pizza which used cauliflower as a primary ingredient in the base.

To be quite honest, I was a little unsure about using cauliflower to make an entire pizza crust, but trust me when I say this – it is pretty amazing, and I will definitely be making it again!

This recipe is easy to follow and shows pizza can be healthy, and still deliciously good. The crust already has cheese so you don’t really need much more on top.

Also pays keep in mind that the cauliflower crust isn’t quite as hearty as most regular pizza dough so you don’t want to weigh it down with a lot of ingredients.

Healthy Pizza with a Cauliflower Crust
Serves 8

For the crust:

• 1/2 head cauliflower (about 2 cups)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup parmesan (an alternative can be mozzarella)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano

1. Pre-heat oven to 400° F. Grease and line a baking tray.
2. Remove the stems and leaves from your cauliflower and chop the florets into chunks. Add to a food processor and pulse just until the texture is similar to rice. If you don’t have a food processor, you can grate the cauliflower with a cheese grater or chop it.
3. Place cauliflower in an uncovered microwave-safe bowl and cook for 8 minutes. In a bowl combine the cooked cauliflower with all remaining ingredients.
4. Spread dough out evenly over the baking paper. The pizza should be about 9-10 inches in diameter.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden, crispy on the edges and cooked through the middle.
6. Remove the crust from the oven.
7. Top with pizza sauce and toppings. You can top the pizza with whatever you like desire. Keep is simple. Be careful not to add too many heavy toppings as you don’t want to weigh down the crust.
8. Bake the pizza for 5 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted. Allow the pizza to cool for 2-3 minutes then cut and serve immediately.

Tip: I found the pizza only lasted 1-2 days in the fridge, so it is best eaten in one go!

 

Mini Baked Chocolate Cheesecakes

Well, Happy New Year! I hope you’ve all had yourself a nice indulgent, and refreshing break. I admit I had intended to blog about this a little sooner but, you know…holidays happened. Hasn’t that sun been great?! Well, recently anyway

I found this recipe, by Donna Hay, in the New Zealand Herald last year.  Despite regularly browsing the lifestyle (namely food) pages of our online newspapers, I was instantly drawn to the rest of her equally indulgent and mouth-watering recipes. You can check them out here

The dessert itself is not heavy at all, and melted in my mouth with a slight moussy texture. I found the sliced fruit (berries, mainly) helped complete the richness and also made it perfect for someone who doesn’t have quite a sweet tooth.

I enjoyed the smaller individual-sized portions which are great if you are making them for a small group of people. There wasn’t any leftovers laying around in the fridge to taunt me in the days following!

So, welcome back to After Taste for 2013 – you can expect all sorts of exciting and tasty recipes to surface in the coming months and in the year ahead.

See you all again soon!

Mini Baked Chocolate Cheesecakes
Serves 4

• 100 grams chocolate biscuits
• 30 grams butter, melted
• 2 tbsp ground almonds
• 400 grams cream cheese
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 150 grams milk chocolate, melted
• Small amount of extra chocolate, for flaking on top
• Berries, to serve

Preheat oven to 150 degrees. Place the biscuits, butter and ground almonds in the bowl of a small food processor and process until roughly chopped. Spoon the mixture into the base of 4 x 1 cup-capacity ovenproof dishes and press down using the back of a spoon.

Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until smooth and thick. Fold through the chocolate and spoon over the biscuit bases.

Place the dishes on a baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm to touch. Allow to cool completely at room temperature before placing in the fridge for 2 hours.

Dust with roughly chopped chocolate flakes and top with berries of your choice. Enjoy.

This recipe is my entry in Sweet New Zealand for February 2013! Check out all the great recipes at Greedybread at the end of the month!

 

Raspberry and White Chocolate Fudge

My favourite brand of chocolate would have to be Whittaker’s, especially the delightful and fairly newly created White Raspberry chocolate block.

This delicious new flavour was an initiative of Samuel Marsden Collegiate School here in Wellington. As part of the Young Enterprise Scheme, a group girls put their thinking caps together and came up with this pink block in support of Breast Cancer.

Their pitch was so successful, the chocolate-maker adopted their idea and included a raspberry white chocolate in their line.

For each block of the chocolate sold, 20 cents will go to the Breast Cancer
Foundation. What a great reason to go out and get some and make this fudge in time for Christmas! I really think the raspberries beautifully complement the scrummy white chocolate. Enjoy!

Raspberry and White Chocolate Fudge
Makes 40 pieces

• 2 x 400g cans sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups firmly packed soft brown sugar
• 250 g butter
• 100 ml liquid glucose syrup (try your local pharmacy)
• 3 tbsp golden syrup
• 2 x 250 grams Whittaker’s White Raspberry chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Spray and line a slice tin or container with non stick baking paper.

Place all ingredients, except the white chocolate and vanilla, in a large heavy based saucepan and stir over medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.

Bring to the boil and boil gently until it becomes very thick and changes colour to a dark caramel brown paper shade – about 6 minutes, to the soft ball stage, 116 degrees on a sugar thermometer.

Stir often to prevent catching on the bottom. Remove from heat and stand until the bubbles subside. Stir in the white chocolate and vanilla until melted and smooth.

Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Cool to room temperature (about 3 hours ) then refrigerate until firm.Sprinkle over some leftover white chocolate once cooled. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 6 weeks – if it really does last that long.

Lemon Cornflake Slice

Rules to live by #1: You can never ever have too many lemons. Add to that, raspberries, passionfruit and cream chesse. Okay, the rest are entirely optional…

If you’re a reader of my blog, you will know I’m rather passionate about recipes that use lemon juice, rind, or zest.

So, for all you lemon lovers out there, here is yet another recipe for lemon slice I found in the weekend. This one is slightly chewy, fruity and particularly moreish. It slices up really well and is very deserving of a big slab of thick lemony icing! No holding back here

Happy Friday!

Lemon Cornflake Slice
Makes 32 pieces

Base:

• 100 g butter
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup coconut
• 1 cup cornflakes
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ¾ cup white plain flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder

Lemon icing:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 3 tbsp lemon zest
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 180°C. In a large saucepan melt butter, golden syrup and sugar together. Add remaining ingredients, and blend well.

Press the mixture into a greased 20cm x 30cm slice pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. Once the slice has cooled to room temperature, ice.

For the icing, beat together butter and icing sugar until smooth. Blend in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Spread over the base.

Slice up when the icing has set and store in an air-tight container.

This is my entry for Sweet New Zealand this month. Head along to The Kitchen Maid and check out all the super tasty entries on offer! Click here to enter!