Showing posts with label peanuts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peanuts. Show all posts

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing



Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing


I don’t eat a great deal of cake. When I was a kid I baked a lot, and I love it…but there’s not a huge need for cake in my day-to-day life and I wouldn’t want it to go to waste, so I don’t bake terribly often. Which is why there isn’t a great deal of desserts on my blog, seeing as this is more a food diary more than anything else. This means, when I do have to bake cake for something, I tend to go ridiculous. These cupcakes are ridiculous.

I was designated cupcakes for a Cousins’ Catch-Up games night, and these are what I brought along. This chocolate cupcake recipe is my go-to chocolate cake/cupcake recipe. It is simple, it’s easy and the cakes are always great. It produces a nice, moist and fluffy cake. I then cut a little hollow to fill with salted caramel, because I’m obsessed with my caramel at the moment. You’ll remember it from my Salted Caramel ChocPavlova, and I used it for Chocolate Tacos, and for my bacon bark and Lance has taken to making salted caramel and melted chocolate dessert nachos with it. Oh. My. Goodness. That is delicious. You should do that. And then I added icing. I must admit, I’m not a big buttercream fan. To me, buttercream icing is just plain icing you used to make when you were a kid, but then it got a fancy name and now it’s the shizz. But really, it’s just butter and icing sugar. Nice and it definitely has it’s place, but nothing spectacular, and too much when piled high on a cupcake. I tend to scrape half of it off. Give me cream cheese icing with that delicious cheese-cakey tang and you have me won, though. This cream cheese icing is peanut butter flavoured. Because peanut butter and chocolate is a match made in heaven. You'll see I used Maple Peanut Butter - that's because it was the only smooth peanut butter I had. You can mimic that by adding 2 tsp maple syrup to normal peanut butter. To just make it the most ridiculous cupcake ever, I then topped it with peanut praline. Epic, yeah?

These are not for the faint hearted. They are *quite* sweet. I recommend keeping them refrigerated after icing them and taking them out around 30 minutes before serving. The warmer they are, the sweeter they are. You can tone them down a bit by having just the cupcake and icing, but at Cousin’s Catch-Up Games Night, I play to win!

Speaking of ‘when you were a kid’…we played Nightmare that night. Do you remember that ol’ VHS game? Yeah, it was awesome…my little maggots!



Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing



Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing

Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups plain flour
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
85g butter
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing

1 cup icing sugar
250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
4 tablespoons Peanut Butter

1/4 cup Caramel Sauce
Peanut Praline, chopped

Preheat oven to 170. Line a 12 cupcake tray with cases.

In the bowl of a standmixer, blend together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and butter on a slow speed until it combines to look like breadcrumbs.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, then the buttermilk and vanilla. Pour half of this into the flour mix, then beat on high to make sure there are no lumps. Turn the mixer down to low and slowly pour the rest of the milk mixture in a steady stream. Mix for another minute or so until completely smooth.

Spoon batter into paper cases until 2/3 full, then place in the oven for 20-15 minutes. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean. Let cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Whilst cooling, make the icing. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, blend the peanut butter and cold cream cheese until combined. Add the icing sugar a little at the time and beat on medium high for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Don't overmix as it can separate. Refrigerate until ready to use.

When cool, use a thin pointed knife to cut a cone shaped circle down into the centre of the cupcake. Slice the pointed bottom off (and eat!!) and reserve the circular 'plug'. Spoon 1/4 tsp or so of caramel sauce into the hole, then cover with the cake 'plug'.

Use a knife or piping bag to decorate the cupcakes with the peanut butter cream cheese icing

Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing

 

Monday, March 31, 2014

Dinner Party Dessert - Choc Peanut Butter Tofu Mousse


This recipe is inspired by Connie from Urban Bakes’ Banana Choc Tofu Mousse. When I saw her recipe I immediately knew it was something I would try. Super easy, relatively healthy and potentially delicious. Just my kind of dessert! Lance isn’t the hugest fan of banana in anything except smoothies – and even then he likes them to have lots of chocolate to disguise the banana – which granted this does have - but I thought I would still omit them. When I made this, I was also having people over for dinner, and not knowing where a few of my guests stand on bananas (they tend to be a bit of a love/hate item in my experience) it just seemed like a safer bet. I decided to add peanut butter, because I’m obsessed with the choc/peanut butter combo and I sweetened it with dates to add a slightly caramelly flavour that dates naturally have. So, on the whole, this is a pretty healthy dessert (dark chocolate is totally good for you!).
 It is also great for dinner parties, because it can be prepared in advance and popped in the fridge to set. I was a little worried that this seemed more like 6 servings, but I divided it up between my 7 guests, but it turned out pretty perfectly. The mousse turned out quite dense and decadent, so a slightly smaller serving didn’t go noticed. I did forget to take photos of it served with the chopped up peanut praline, but it was the perfect accompaniment.
 My full menu was actually pretty brilliant in that the prep work was all done before my guests arrived and I wasn’t a slave to the kitchen, apart from bruleeing the top of the Ceviche, everything was done and just needed to be served.
Salmon Ceviche Brulee
Puerco Pibil with Cashew Crema and Roast Potatoes
Choc Peanut Butter Tofu Mousse
 


Choc Peanut Butter Tofu Mousse12 dates, soaked overnight in water (just cover)
1 package silken tofu (300g)
2 tbsp smooth natural peanut butter
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (approx. 200g) dark chocolate chips
 ¾ cup raw peanuts
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
 In a glass bowl, melt the chocolate by microwaving in 30 second bursts until melted (mine took 3 lots of 30seconds). Set aside to cool slightly.
 Remove the dates from soaking water to a bowl, reserving the liquid. Using a hand beater, blend to a smooth paste. Add a few tablespoons of the soaking water, salt and the vanilla to the paste and blend to thin the mixture. Add the peanut butter and blend fully incorporated. Add the tofu and blend on high until completely smooth and combined.
 Using a spatula, fold the melted chocolate into the tofu mixture.
 Scoop into the serving containers, then chill for 30 minutes to ‘set’.
 To make the toffee peanuts, line a baking tray with baking paper. Melt the butter in a pan and add the sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Approx 2 minutes. Add the peanuts and toss around in the caramelly mixture and toast for a further 2 minutes. Pour the whole mixture on the baking tray and leave to harden and cool. Crack and break the toffee peanuts up to use as garnish




Sunday, February 2, 2014

Community Inspiration - Chilli Fig Jam with Chorizo tacos


So you might be looking at this and thinking, really? ANOTHER fig recipe? But they’re in season, they’re plentiful and they’re currently being supplied to me for free from a friend’s tree. So I am using them in everything. And loving every single dish of them! And as they are in season, they’re popping up on my Instagram feeds quite frequently and one that caught my eye was from Perth Breakfast – she was making a fig and chilli jam. Um…yum! Two of my favourite things in a jam! Something I was definitely going to try!

As you probably know by now if you’ve read this blog a few times, I am more than slightly addicted to tacos. So my mind immediately went to tacos for a good use of said jam. So beyond the fig jam, the next idea of these was to use a big range of textures. So you have the chewiness of the chorizo, the soft, squishiness of the zucchini, the pop of the corn kernels the crunch of the peanuts and the stickiness of the jam (is stickiness a texture??), the smoothness of the cheese and the crispness of the cucumber. All at once. And it was wonderful.

I used venison chorizo because I have a stockpile in my fridge. When we head down south for a weekend, we tend to stock up on a few products without fail. Venison chorizo, chilli beer sticks and kangaroo biltong from the Margaret River Venison Farm are high on that list. Being venison, it has a more intense flavour than standard chorizos, slightly gamey but not super obviously gamey. If that makes sense? It’s perfect for adding sweet flavours like fig jam to. But any chorizo you’ll have will work. I also served it with the jam still warm. Do this. It blends in with the cheese better as you eat it.
 
I was deliberately light on the chilli in the jam for two reasons. Firstly, the chorizo already has a heat to it and I didn’t want to overdo the spice, but for all other purposes, I think I would prefer it hotter. And secondly, the jalapenos I used are from my own shrub and they are so inconsistent in their heat. Some are basically capsicum, some will knock your head off – I tend to err on the side of caution. I’m sure you know your own tolerance, add the chilli to your tastes. As per our Instagram conversation (and because I prefer natural sweeteners) the jam is sweetened with honey rather than white sugar. And traditionally, you would add some water but this I deliberately wanted super sticky and thick. You can add a cup of water to make a runnier jam.



Chilli Fig Jam
(makes one 300g jar)
10 figs, cut into 1cm pieces
2 jalapenos, de-seeded and minced
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
¼ cup honey

First up, make the jam. Add the figs, jalapenos, vinegar and honey to a small pot, bring up to a medium low heat and allow to simmer away for half an hour so until the figs start breaking down and the texture goes all jammy. Around half an hour or so. Bottle in a clean glass jar when still hot.

Spicy Peanuts
1 tsp butter
½ cup raw peanut kernels (no skins)
¼ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp smokey paprika
Pinch sea salt

Heat a frypan, melt the butter and throw the peanut kernels in, toss around for 2-3 minutes. Add the cumin seeds, paprika and salt, toss everything very well to blend. When the cumin seeds are at the ‘popping’ stage, the peanuts should be slightly brown and toasty. Remove to a serving bowl and allow to cool.

Chorizo Tacos
(serves 2)
1 chorizo sausage (around 250g)
1 medium zucchini, diced
½ cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
handful chopped coriander
To serve
Tortillas, cucumber strips, fetta (try get one that’s smoother rather than dry and crumbly)

In the same frypan as above, add the diced chorizo pieces. Leave to fry 5 minutes or so for them to render out some of their fat and start to get crispy. Add the zucchini and corn, and cook for a further 5-10 minutes or so until the zucchini is cooked. At the end, stir through the coriander.

Serve all immediately with warmed tortillas.