Simple Ginger Cake with Butter Cream

Main Ingredients:

Eggs: 5
Flour: 2 cups
Sugar: 1.25 cups
Vegetable oil: 1/2 cup
Milk: 1/2 cup, cold
Ginger powder: 1 tbsp
Baking powder: 1 tbsp
Vanilla powder: 1/2 tsp


Butter Cream Ingredients:

Butter: 1 stick (1/4 lb or 100 grams), at room temperature
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Water: 1/2 cup
Honey: 2 tbsp
Vanilla powder: 1/2 tsp
Chocolate syrup: to decorate


Directions:

1. Using your electric mixer, beat all the main ingredients together for 3 min.

2. Preheat the oven to 375F.

3. Place parchment paper around your cake pan. Pour in the cake mixture.

4. Bake the cake for 30-40 min or until golden. Let it cool down for at least 15 min.

5. Meanwhile to make butter cream, in a saucepan, boil together sugar, water, honey and vanilla powder. Reduce to half and let it cool down.

6. Using your mixer, beat butter for 1 min. Add the reduced syrup and beat for 1-2 min.

7. Pour butter cream over the cake and decorate with chocolate syrup.

Hummingbird cake with cream cheese frosting

Preparation Time


20 - 30 minutes

Cooking Time


95 minutes

Ingredients


Olive oil, to grease
20g (1/3 cup) flaked coconut
265g (13/4 cups) self-raising flour
200g (1 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
45g (1/2 cup) desiccated coconut
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 x 440g can crushed pineapple in natural syrup
3 small ripe bananas, peeled, mashed
185ml (3/4 cup) extra light olive oil
2 eggs, lightly whisked
Cream cheese frosting
1 x 250g pkt cream cheese, at room temperature
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
450g (3 cups) icing sugar mixture
3 tsp milk

Method

Preheat oven to 160°C. Brush a round 22cm (base measurement) cake pan with olive oil to grease. Line the base and side with non-stick baking paper. Spread the flaked coconut over a baking tray. Bake for 5-8 minutes or until toasted.
Combine the flour, sugar, desiccated coconut, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the pineapple, banana, extra light olive oil and egg and stir until well combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake in oven, covering the cake with foil if it browns too quickly, for 1 hour 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, to make the cream cheese frosting, use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Add the icing sugar and beat until well combined. Add milk and beat to combine.
Place the cake on a plate. Spread the cream cheese frosting over the top and side of the cake. Sprinkle with toasted flaked coconut and serve.

Godiva Chocolate Cake With Whipped Cream

Chocolate Cake:
4 bars (1.5 ounces each) Godiva Dark Chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature

Raspberry Glaze:
2/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 tablespoon water

Chocolate Ganache Frosting:
2/3 cup heavy cream
5 bars (1.5 ounces each) Godiva Dark Chocolate, coarsely chopped

Finishing:
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon raspberry flavored liqueur

Garnish (optional):
1 pint fresh raspberries

Make the cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter side and bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Line bottom with a round of parchment paper.

Place chocolate in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium (50% power) for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds more or until chocolate is softened. Stir until smooth and let cool.

Sift together flour and salt and set aside.

Beat butter and 1/2 cup sugar in mixing bowl until light and fluffy, using electric mixer at medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in melted chocolate.

Whip egg whites in another bowl until whites are opaque and begin to hold soft peaks, using electric mixer at medium speed. Gradually add remaining sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until firm peaks form.

Using a rubber spatula, stir about 1 cup of the beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten it. Then fold chocolate mixture into egg whites. Fold in flour in 3 additions. Spread mixture in prepared pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the cake begins to come away from the sides of the pan. Cool cake in pan on wire rack.

Invert cooled cake on a wire rack. Carefully remove the round of parchment from the bottom of the cake. Place cake, bottom-side-up, on a cardboard round, slightly smaller than the cake and place on a wire rack set over a baking pan. Dust off any excess crumbs from the cooled cake.

Make the raspberry glaze:
Combine raspberry jam and water in a small saucepan and heat to a low boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and let the glaze cool until tepid, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Using a pastry brush, apply the tepid glaze to the top and side of the cake. Allow the glaze to come to room temperature before frosting the cake.

Make the chocolate ganache frosting:
Heat cream in small saucepan until it comes to just under the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and add chopped chocolate. Let stand for about 3 minutes to melt the chocolate. Gently whisk the ganache until it is well blended and smooth. Allow to cool slightly.

Pour ganache over the top of cake and use an offset metal cake spatula to spread the ganache evenly over the top and side of the cake, allowing any excess to drip off. If desired, pipe small dots of ganache around edge of cake.

Assembly:
Combine heavy cream, confectioners' sugar and raspberry liqueur in a large chilled bowl. Using a hand-held mixer set at medium speed, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Refrigerate until needed.

An hour or less before serving, spoon or decoratively pipe whipped cream on top of the cake. Refrigerate until serving time.

To serve, cut cake with a sharp thin-bladed knife, dipping the blade in hot water and wiping it dry after each slice. Garnish each serving with a few raspberries.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients

1 (18 ounce) package small chocolate chip cookies
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1 cup hot fudge topping
2 quarts vanilla ice cream
1 cup whipped cream
12 cherries


Directions

Crush half the cookies (about 20) to make crumbs. Combine crumbs with melted margarine and press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan or pie plate. Stand remaining cookies around edge of pan. Spread 3/4 cup fudge topping over crust. Freeze 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, soften 1 quart of ice cream in microwave or on countertop. After crust has chilled, spread softened ice cream over fudge layer. Freeze 30 minutes.
Scoop remaining quart of ice cream into balls and arrange over spread ice cream layer. Freeze until firm, 4 hours or overnight. To serve, garnish with remainder of fudge topping, whipped cream and cherries.

Strawberry Cream Cake

Ingredients

Cake

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs (2 whole and 3 separated), room temperature
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 Tbsp water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Strawberry Filling

2 pounds fresh strawberries (medium or large, about 2 quarts), washed, dried, and stemmed
4-6 Tbsp sugar

Pinch salt

Whipped Cream

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 cups heavy cream

Method

Bake the cake

1 Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour round 9 by 2-inch cake pan or 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, by hand, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and all but 3 Tbsp of the sugar in mixing bowl. Whisk in 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks (reserving whites), butter, water, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
2 Using a mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat remaining 3 egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. With machine running, gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form, 60 to 90 seconds. Stir one-third of whites into batter to lighten. Add the remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto greased wire rack; peel off and discard parchment. Invert cake again; cool completely, about 2 hours.
Strawberry filling

3 Cut in half 24 of best-looking berries and reserve. Slice or quarter remaining berries; toss with 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (depending on sweetness of berries) in medium bowl and let sit 1 hour, stirring occasionally. The sugar will macerate the strawberries, making them soft, and generating liquid. Strain the juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cup). Put the strawberries in a bowl and use a potato masher to mash them; set aside.
In small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine. Set aside until cake is cooled.
Whipped cream
4 When cake has cooled, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow, steady stream; when almost fully combined, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes more, scraping bowl as needed (you should have about 4 1/2 cups).
Assemble the cake


5 Using large serrated knife, slice cake into three even layers. Place bottom layer on cardboard round or cake plate and arrange ring of 12-20 strawberry halves, cut sides down and stem ends facing out, around perimeter of cake layer. Pour one half of puréed berry mixture (about 3/4 cup) in center, then spread to cover any exposed cake. Gently spread about one-third of whipped cream (about 1 1/2 cups) over berry layer, leaving 1/2-inch border from edge. Place middle cake layer on top and press down gently (whipped cream layer should become flush with cake edge). Repeat with 12-20 additional strawberry halves, remaining berry mixture, and half of remaining whipped cream; gently press last cake layer on top. Spread remaining whipped cream over top; decorate with remaining cut strawberries.
Serve immediately, or keep chilled. If the whipped cream warms to room temperature it will be harder to keep stable while cutting. Serves 8 to 10.

Irish Cream Bundt Cake

Ingredients

1 cup chopped pecans
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur


Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over bottom of pan.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in eggs, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup oil and 3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur. Beat for 5 minutes at high speed. Pour batter over nuts in pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto the serving dish. Prick top and sides of cake. Spoon glaze over top and brush onto sides of cake. Allow to absorb glaze repeat until all glaze is used up.
To make the glaze: In a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup Irish cream.

Sambuca Cake With Strawberries, Whipped Cream and Shaved Chocolate

Sambuca Cake With Strawberries, Whipped Cream and Shaved Chocolate
Ingredients
1 prepared pound cake, from bakery section or frozen foods, defrosted
3 ounces sambuca, or other anise liqueur
1/2 pint strawberries, halved or sliced
2 teaspoons sugar plus 2 tablespoons
1 pint whipping cream
Chocolate syrup, for drizzling
1 bar good quality dark bittersweet chocolate
Directions
Place 2-inch-thick slices of pound cake on dessert plates. Douse cake slices with sambuca or other anise liqueur.

Slice berries and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar, then toss and reserve.

Beat whipping cream with 2 tablespoons sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

Top cake with berries and drizzle with zigzags of syrup. Top cake and berries with whipped cream. Using a vegetable peeler, shave dark chocolate over each dessert plate and serve.

Homemade Ice Cream Banana Ice Cream Recipe

Homemade Ice Cream Banana Ice Cream Recipe Ingredients:
3/4 pint (375ml) milk or cream
(or a mixture of both according to taste),
4oz (100g) sugar,
3 ripe bananas (to purée)

Purée the bananas place in a mixing bowl. Pour in the milk/cream and sugar, mixing in well as you do so. Transfer the whole mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.


Extras idea - add some small fudge pieces 5 minutes before the end of the freezing time. Read more about adding extras to ice cream recipes.

Vanilla Custard Ice Cream

Ingredients
- 2 cups milk (whole, 2%, or 1%) - 1 cup sugar - 1/4 teaspoon salt - 6 egg yolks, beaten - 2 tablespoons vanilla extract - 4 cups chilled whipping cream
Directions

Scald milk in a double boiler or heavy saucepan. (Scald by simmering the milk over medium heat until the milk reaches approximately 175° F. Then remove from the heat.)
Combine sugar, salt, and egg yolks in a separate bowl and whip them together with a wire whisk or a hand mixer until the mixture thickens enough to leave a trailing on the surface, approximately 3 minutes.
Gradually add the scalded milk to the thickened egg mixture. Beat on low or whisk while slowly pouring in 3/4 to 1 cup of milk at a time. Do not over beat; beat just until the milk is evenly mixed into the egg mixture.
Once all the milk has been added into the egg mixture, pour the combined ingredients back into the double boiler or saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture almost reaches boiling point, approximately 180° F. Stir constantly and do not allow mixture to boil (boiling may cause it to curdle).
When the custard has thickened properly, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool before placing it in the refrigerator to chill. Pour the custard into a glass bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a film from forming on the surface.
After the custard has cooled, place it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but ideally for 24 hours. This aging process will give the mixture better whipping qualities and produce ice cream with more body and a smoother texture.
After the mixture has chilled in the refrigerator, stir in the cream and vanilla. Stir just until mixture is well combined. The ice cream is now ready for the freezing process.
Follow the ice cream maker's instruction manual for the freezing process.

Prep Time: 6 or more hours Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 6 or more hours

Chai Ice Cream

Ingredients



1 star anise star
10 whole cloves
10 whole allspice
2 cinnamon sticks
10 whole white peppercorns
2 cardamom pods, opened to seeds
1/4 cup full-bodied black tea (Ceylon or English Breakfast)
1 cup of milk
2 cups heavy cream (divided, 1 cup and 1 cup)
3/4 cup sugar
A pinch of salt
6 egg yolks (see how to separate eggs)


Method

1 Into a heavy saucepan put the 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of the cream and the chai spices - star anise, cloves, allspice, cinnamon sticks, white peppercorns, and cardamom pods, and a pinch of salt. Heat the mixture until steamy (not boiling) and hot to the touch. Lower the heat to warm, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
2 Reheat the mixture until steamy hot again (again not boiling), add the black tea leaves, remove from the heat, stir in the tea and let seep for 10 minutes. Use a fine mesh strainer to strain out the tea and spices, pouring the infused milk cream mixture into a separate bowl. Return the milk cream mixture back to the heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the sugar to the milk cream mixture and heat, stirring, until the sugar is fully dissolved.
3 While the tea is infusing in step 2, prepare the remaining 1 cup of cream over an ice bath. Pour the cream into a medium size metal bowl, set in ice water (with lots of ice) over a larger bowl. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.

4 Whisk the egg yolks in a medium sized bowl. Slowly pour the heated milk cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm mixture, but not cooked by it. Sc**** the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
5 Return the saucepan to the stove, stirring the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon so that you can run your finger across the coating and have the coating not run. This can take about 10 minutes. The minute this happens the mixture should be removed from heat immediately, and poured through the sieve over the ice bath to stop the cooking (step 6).



6 Pour the custard through the strainer (from step 2) and stir into the cold cream to stop the cooking.
7 Once initially chilled in the ice bath, chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (at least a couple of hours). Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
8 Store in an airtight container in your freezer for several hours before eating. Note that the ice cream will be quite soft coming out of the ice cream maker. It will continue harden in your freezer. If stored for more than a day, you may need to let it sit for a few minutes to soften before attempting to scoop it.

Toffee Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 tin condensed milk, prepared as above
approx 100 g (4 oz) caster sugar
6 egg yolk
500 ml (18 fl oz) double cream

Method

Pour the cream into a saucepan. Bring to boiling point, then lower the heat and simmer gently for five minutes. Turn the heat off, put a lid on and allow to infuse for one hour.

Beat the sugar and eggs together in a large heat-proof bowl until pale and creamy. Add the toffee and whisk well in. Bring the cream to boiling point, then pour over the egg mixture, whisking all the time until thickened - this indicates that the eggs have begun to cook slightly. Allow to cool completely, then cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least four hours.

Now, if you have an ice cream machine tip the mixture in with the machine running and churn for about thirty minutes, or until thick. If you aren't going to eat the ice cream straight away, spoon it into a sealable plastic container, put the lid firmly on and store in the freezer. Half an hour before you want to eat the ice cream take it out of the freezer, allowing it to rest and soften - this is absolutely essential as ice-cream loses its flavour if served too cold and hard.

If you haven't got an ice cream machine, just pour the custard into a plastic tub and freeze for one hour, then mash it up with a fork every half hour, returning the ice cream to the freezer each time until the desired result is achieved.

Mango Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS
Alphonso mangoes, peeled and chopped
3-4
Sugar
3 tablespoons
Condensed milk
1/2 cup
Milk
2 cups
Lemon juice
1 teaspoon
METHOD
Puree the mangoes with sugar. Place the condensed milk, milk, lemon juice and pureed mangoes in a large bowl and whisk well. Pour the mixture in a shallow container. Cover and freeze till firm Remove and blend the mixture in a blender till smooth. Transfer into the shallow container. Cover and freeze till firm. Scoop and serve.

Kulfi Ice Cream

Ingredients:


5 cups canned evaporated milk
3 eggs whites
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp rose water
1 cup pistachios, chopped
plus extra to decorate
½ cup almonds
½ cup raisins
1 tsp ground cardamom
5-8 candied cherries to decorate (optional)


Procedure:

Start preparing the day before you want to serve ice cream. Place the cans of evaporated milk on their sides in a pan. Pour in enough water to come about three-quarters of the way up their sides and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat, cover tightly and let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, let cool, then let chill for 24h. Place a large bowl in the refrigerator to chill.
The next day, whisk the egg whites in al spotlessly clean, grease free bowl until soft peaks form. Pour the evaporated milk into the chilled bowl and whisk until doubled in size. Fold in the egg whites, then the sugar. Add the rose water, the pistachios, almonds, raisins and cardamom.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze for 4 hours, or preferably overnight, until set.
Scoop the ice cream into serving dishes, decorate with chopped pistachios and candied cherries to serve.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

CINNAMON ICE CREAM

In a bowl, beat until light and thick:
6 Egg Yolks
1/2 Cup Sugar

In a separate pan, combine and scald (heat until barely simmering):
2 Cups Whole Milk
1/2 Cup Sugar
A one or two inch piece of Vanilla Bean, split open

Slowly add half of the hot milk mixture to the yolks, beating constantly.
Return egg mixture to the pan and cook to 180 F. (82 C.) on a candy thermometer, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Remove and discard vanilla bean, and stir in:
1 Cup Heavy Cream
2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

Chill mixture for several hours or overnight, then Freeze in an ice cream freezer as directed.

Strawberry ice cream

STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM


Ingredients

500g strawberries
175g caster sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
500ml full-fat milk
500ml double cream
1 vanilla pod
10 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Method

Serves: 10-12.

Hull and roughly chop the strawberries, put them into a bowl and sprinkle over the 2 tablespoons of caster sugar and leave them to steep and infuse with flavour.
Pour the milk and cream into a heavy-based saucepan, and add the vanilla pod, split down the middle lengthways. Bring the pan nearly to the boil and then take it off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks and the 175g sugar until thick and pale yellow. Take the vanilla pod out of the milk and cream and pour, whisking the while, the warm liquid over the yolks. Put the cleaned-out pan back on the heat with the cream, milk, egg and sugar mixture and stir the custard until it thickens, then take it off the heat and pour it into a bowl to cool.
Puree the strawberries in a processor, and when the custard is cool fold in the lemon juice and strawberry puree.
At this point you can either freeze the ice cream in an ice-cream maker, or in a plastic tub in the freezer. If you do the latter you should whip it out every hour for 3 hours as it freezes and give it a good beating, either with an electric whisk, by hand or in the processer. That gets rid of any ice crystals that form and that make the ice cream crunchy rather than smooth.