#29 White Chocolate Mud Cake

AWW Top Ten Cakes, cake #2 and it's a chocolate cake that I can eat. I know white chocolate may be anathema to dark chocolate lovers, but beggars can't be choosers and there is a dark chocolate mud cake to come.

This is an easy melt and mix cake with a white chocolate ganche topping. It is a dense cake and takes quite a long time to cook.

White Chocolate Mud Cake serves 12

• 180g good white chocolate
• 350g butter, cubed
• 2 2/3 cups caster sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 cups plain flour
• 2/3 cup self raising flour
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• 3 eggs

Ganache

• 1/3 cup cream
• 200g extra white chocolate

Preheat oven to 160*C (140 fan forced) and grease and line a 22 cm round tin.

Put the chocolate, butter, sugar and milk in a saucepan and melt over a low heat, stirring. Don't let it boil. I removed it before all the chocolate was melted and just stirred it until it was smooth. Cool for about 15 minutes.

Add the eggs and vanilla and then the flours and whisk till smooth. Pour into the tin and then bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Cool the cake in the tin.

To make the ganache, heat the cream till it is almost boiling and then pour over the chocolate. I stood the bowl in some hot water and left it for a few minutes. Then stir till it is smooth. The ganache must then rest, either at room temperature in Winter or in the fridge or a cool place if it is a warm day, for about 30 minutes. Stir regularly, and it is ready when it is thick. Pour onto the top of the cake and then spread out to the edges.

The recipe actually calls for 540g of chocolate and 3/4 cup of cream, and this will be enough to cover the top and sides of the cake.

#28 Lemon Sour Cream Cake

And so it begins, My Australia Women's Weekly Bake-a-thon. I am starting with #2, mainly because I haven't quite got around to making the ganache for #1. I took this cake to afternoon tea at The GardyGardeners'. It is suggested the cake be served with a dusting of icing sugar and some strawberries.

Lemon Sour Cream Cake serves 12

• 250g butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups plain flour, sifted
• 1/4 cup self raising flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 160*C or 140*C fan forced.

Grease and line a 25cm tin.

Cream the butter, zest and sugar until it is light and fluffy and pale in colour.

Then beat in the eggs, one at a time. I break each into a little jug first. If any eggshell falls in, use another big piece of eggshell to scoop it out. It really works!!

Fold in half the flours and half the sour cream, and then the remaining flours and sour cream until the mixture is smooth.

Spread the cake mixture into the tin and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. It will also come away from the edges of the tin.

I checked after 40 minutes and rotated the cake.

Stand the cake in the tin for 10 minutes in the pan and then turn out, upside down, onto a rack to cool completely.

To decorate: lay a doily on top and dust with sifted icing sugar. Carefully remove doily.

#27 Brunchy Fritatta

I saw this recipe recently in a magazine, but I have no idea which one. Indeed, I am just remembering the recipe a bit and checking the photo and general recipes to make sure the proportions are correct!! These were so nice that I ate them in two days: for breakfasts and lunches!!! There was no fresh basil to be had in our town at all last week, so I used parsley and chives instead.

Brunchy Frittata serves 3 or 6 or 2!!!

• 6 slices of pancetta
• 100g feta cheese, cut into tiny cubes
  
• fresh herbs- basil, but I used parsley and chives
  
• 50-100g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup milk or cream
• 9 tiny Roma tomatoes, halved
• salt and pepper

This recipe calls for a Texas muffin tin, which means each little pan has a 3/4 cup or 180ml capacity. Preheat oven to 180*C.
The six steps start at the top left and then proceed in a clockwise direction to end at the bottom left!!

1. Place a tiny circle of baking paper in the bottom of each pan and then place one piece of pancetta on top.
   
2. Next put 1/6 of the feta into each.
3. I put two tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese next.
4. Then a sprinkle of chopped parsley and chives.
5. I whisked the eggs (I always use free range from the greengrocer or deli) with the 1/4 cup cream (or milk) and some salt and pepper and then pour it in evenly.
6. Finally decorate with three of the little Roma halves. And a little extra Parmesan if you like.

Bake for about 20 minutes. The frittata should be just set, but still a tiny bit wobbly in the centre. It will continue cooking and set after it leaves the oven. To release them from the pan, let them sit for about 10 minutes then run a knife around the edge. A plastic bendy implement is good and you can scoop it under each individual frittata and ease them out. These are delicious served straight away with a salad, but I can vouch for their tastiness later on!!!

#26 Raspberry Pudding Cake

I am quite surprised that I have stuck to my Monday Munchies, in sickness and in health, and today I am officially half way through the year. Which is both exciting and scary.

Today I have cooked Nigella's Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake. Back when I could eat chocolate and drink coffee this was one of my favourite desserts. What could be better than chocolate and raspberries?? This is also easy-peasy lemon-squeezy: melt and mix and pour into the tin, but it is very impressive. This recipe is from the Delicious Let's Entertain book which I won, with a recipe, from the ABC.

Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake serves 8

• 250g good dark chocolate, broken into chunks
• 3/4 cup espresso coffee plus 3/4 cup water OR 370ml hot water and 2 tspn instant coffee
• 250g butter, cubed
  
• 95g light brown sugar
• 95g caster sugar
• optional-2 tbspn Raspberry liqueur
  
• 185g self raising flour, sifted
  
• 3 tbspn cocoa, sifted
  
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 250g raspberries

Preheat the oven to 180*C then grease and line a 22-23cm springform pan and then cover the outside with a layer or two of foil.

Put the chocolate, coffee/water, butter, sugars [and liqueur if using it] into a medium saucepan and melt slowly over a low eat. Stir frequently, if not all the time, till it is melted and glossy.

Stir in the flour and cocoa and then the eggs. Beat well by hand till it is smooth and glossy again. It will be quite runny, but Nigella says that as the chocolate in the pudding cake cools, it will set.

Pour 2 cm of the chocolate mixture into the pan and then pour in the raspberries and then cover with the remaining chocolate mixture. Push any raspberries that pop up back under the batter.

Place in the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes. I like to put it into another pan and add 2 cm of boiling water around the outside, bain-marie style, to help it cook more slowly and gently. That's optional.

After 40-45 minutes you can tell it is cooked when the top is firm all the way to the centre, and dry and slightly cracked. You can't test with a skewer!! It will be very fudgy in the centre.

Cool for 15 minutes in the pan and then turn out and dust with cocoa or icing sugar. Serve with yoghurt(!!) or whipped cream. Good hot, warm and cold.

#25 Pastisto

I won't lie to you, this is not a "Quick, I need something on the table in half an hour" kind of meal. Well, not unless you cook it the day before. This is more of a leisurely weekend kind of meal, but it is one of my favourites. It all started when I was a teenager and the Australian Women's Weekly had a recipe for Greek Spaghetti: pasta topped with a bolognaise and then a bechamel cheese sauce. My mum cooked it regularly and we delighted in her exotic fare!!

I later discovered it was a pale copy of the Greek Pastisto, so here is my cobbled together version.

Pastisto serves 8-10
Pasta

• 300g short macaroni-like pasta
• 1 egg and two egg whites* (see yolks in the sauce!!!)
  
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Meat Sauce

• 2 tbspn olive oil
  
• 1 kg lamb mince
• 2 onions, diced
• 3 tbspn tomato paste
• 1 tbspn brown sugar
• salt and pepper
  
• 100ml passata or diced tomatoes
• 1/4 tspn cinnamon
• 1/2 tspn nutmeg
• 3/4 cup white wine or chicken stock

Cheese Bechamel Sauce and Topping

• 100g butter
• 1/2 cup Plain Flour
• 1 litre milk
• 125g grated tasty cheese
• 1/4 tspn nutmeg
  
• 3 egg yolks*
• grated Parmesan cheese

1. Grease a 4 litre casserole dish, mine is rectangular. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packet. Drain and then add the egg and egg whites and the Parmesan cheese. Cover the base of the dish evenly with the pasta. Set aside.
2. Cook the mince, making sure you break it up well so there are no lumps. Add the onion and cook till browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for a further minute or two. Then add the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce is thickened. Spoon this over the pasta to create a second layer.
3. For the cheese sauce, melt the butter over a low heat, add the flour and cook over a medium heat till it boils. Cook out for 1-2 minutes, stirring well. Then remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the milk a little at a time. I find that heating the milk makes it easier. When the mixture is smooth, put back on a low-medium heat and stir till it boils and thickens. Take off the heat and pour a few tablespoons of the sauce over the egg yolks and whisk furiously. Then gradually pour back into the sauce, along with the grated tasty cheese and nutmeg. Stir till smooth then spoon over the meat layer. Finish with another generous grating of Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake in a 180*C oven for about an hour. It will be golden brown on top. Leave to rest for 15 minutes and then serve.

This freezes very well and it good hot, or cold with a salad. The cold Pastisto cuts into beautiful slices where you can see all the layers!!!This recipe works well if you cook the pasta, and then the meat sauce and while that is simmering away, you make the cheese Bechamel sauce. A very efficient use of your time!!!

#24 Upside Down Rhubarb Cake

Here is a delicious cake using rhubarb. This is a small cake, so it is quick to make and quick to cook. You need about half a bunch or 5-ish stalks of rhubarb. I found this recipe on the old AWW cooking website but I found one like it in one of their books as well.

Upside Down Rhubarb Cake serves 8 ( 4 really!!!)

Topping

• 60g butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
• 2 cups chopped rhubarb
  

Cake

• 60g butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 cup Self Raising Flour
• 1 tspn cinnamon
• 1/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 180*C and line a 20cm square or round cake tin with baking paper. I line the base twice.

Put the sugar and butter for the topping in a saucepan and cook over a low heat for 3 minutes or until it is smooth.

Pour into the cake tin, swirl to cover the base and then tip in the rhubarb. Cover the base evenly and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar for the cake and then add in the eggs, one at a time, beating slowly. Fold in the flour and cinnamon and then the sour cream.

Spread the cake batter over the rhubarb. I dip my spoon into some boiling water before each 'smooth' and I find this helps!!

Bake for 40-45 minutes. The top will be quite brown and the cake will come away from the side of the tin. A skewer will come out clean when the cake is tested.

Rest for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a plate.

Serve with cream, ice cream or custard.

#23 Very Lemony Tartlets

MrsDrWho's Dad really likes lemon and so at tea tonight there were lemon tarts. I cheated and bought the tart cases, frozen. Too many things are happening and I couldn't guarantee nice home made pastry. This is the easiest recipe and it tastes, and looks, pretty fabulous with minimum effort!!

Sometimes I don't want to make enough lemon filling to feed an army, so this is just enough for four people, I think.

Very Lemony Tartlets makes 12

• 12 small lemon tart cases or your own!!
• 1 egg
  
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 heaped teaspoon of cornflour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of plain flour
  
• 40g of melted butter, cooled

Cook the tart cases as per instructions and cool. Set oven to 180*C while you make the filling.

Put all ingredients in a bowl and whisk till combined.

That's it. Make sure there are no lumps of flour.

Fill each tart case almost to the brim and then bake for 10-15 minutes. The filling should be set.

Cool for a few minutes to eat warm with cream and a sifting of icing sugar. Or refrigerate for delayed gratification.