Chocolate Raspberry Hazelnut Cake

Sometimes when I make things up the photos and the story don't always end up here, mainly because it turns out slightly weird and I wouldn't recommend the recipe to anyone. It is to my delight this time, its actually really really good.

I took the base recipe for a plain sponge cake, halved that (it was for two sponge cakes) and added a few extras. I had it in my mind I wanted to make a chocolate raspberry and hazelnut cake. As I started to pour the mixture into the tin, I realised it was abit gluggy so in order to make it moist I added about half a cup of milk.


The baking time for the original sponge cake took only 20mins at 180c. From experience I knew the baking time for my cake will take longer because I've added a liquid ingredient and additional ingredients but after 30mins my cake was still runny in the middle. So I turned down the heat, to prevent burning on the sides, and baked it for 50mins (checking every 15-10mins).

Since the mixture was so gluggy to begin with (almost like brownie mixture), I thought the result would be like a brownie but no! It was so soft and airy (must have been the milk!). Needless to say, am very chuffed with the result. The best cake I've ever made up...


Chocolate Raspberry and Hazelnut Cake

Ingredients
150g butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup self-raising flour (or 1 cup plain flour + 2 tbsp baking soda)
1/2 cup raspberries
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 handful hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup milk

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 160c.

2. Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and beat in eggs one at a time until combined.

3. Mix in flour and cocoa powder. Then add milk. When combined mix in hazelnuts and raspberries.

4. Pour into a cake tin and bake on 160c for approx. 50mins. It is recommended that you check the cake after 30mins, then every 15-10mins after that until baked.

La Renaissance Patisserie

And so the obsession continues...

My other favourite cake place is La Renaissance Patisserie at the Rocks. I felt sorry the these guys as the big Guylian place moved in next door at the beginning of the year. Clearly La Renaissance is the superior patisserie but its always scary when a big multi-conglomerate giant wants to steal your business. So it was reassuring to see they were full were last week.

I've tried their cakes several times and its better than Guylian or Lindt. If you don't fancy something sweet you can always have their melt in the mouth croissants.

Craving for macaroons again, how can I not buy some?


From top L - R

Coffee: Nice intense coffee flavour.

Salted Caramel: This flavour pairing seems to be trend these days. I can understand why - its delicious.

Passionfruit: This was surprisingly good. I was expecting the usual passionfruit flavour but after you took a bite of it and started chewing, the passionfruit flavour intensifies and you get a sweet burst of passionfruit flavour. Perhaps the dark chocolate ganache helped offset this flavour?

Olive Oil: Has a subtle flavour - very smooth.

Chocolate Ganache: You can tell they've used Valrhona!

Strawberry: I love how this one is in the colours of the French flag. When you bite into it you think 'oh yes, the normal stuff.', but surprise! There's strawberry jam in the middle!

Rose Scented Butter Cream: Another with subtle flavours.

The macaroons are $10 for 100g. The above cost $20 but well worth it.

Pasta Disaster

So I attempted to make Maggie Beer’s Chestnut, mushroom and mascarpone ravioli. It was all going well, the filling was nice, the pasta was right, the raviolis might have been too big … but it was all fine and I gave myself a pat on the back for a good first attempt. Then disaster struck...

Since I wasn’t going to eat it until later that evening and it had cheese in it, I put it in a bowl and stuck it in the fridge for a few hours. After all I’ve dusted each ravioli to prevent it from sticking.

I started to get a pot of water going and looked at my bowl of ravioli. To my absolute horror the raviolis were all stuck together! After much cursing I managed to unstuck half the bowl and cooked those. Half of the salvaged raviolis had holes in them so the filling was floating all over the water. The remainder in the bowl had amalgamated into one giant ball of ravioli. As they would say on Masterchef “I came to a low point in my cooking career.” err, yes what career? haha.

But there was light at the end of the ravioli tunnel. I’ve managed to turn the ball of ravioli into …fettuccini! I had some filling left over and made it into a sauce, added some chicken and ta da … chestnut, mushroom and mascarpone fettuccini!


LHS: Mushrooms with sage. RHS: Chestnuts in chicken stock with thyme



Going well...



Still going well ...

****Disaster!****


Chestnut, mushroom and mascarpone fettuccini

Things I do for cake

1. Waking up at 8am to drive to Adriano Zumbo's

2. Arriving at the shop at 8.30am to find out the cakes don't come out until midday

3. Drove home

4. Left the house again at 11.50am to go back to the shop

5. Arrive at the shop at 12.20pm - still no cakes

6. Took a stroll for 17mins

7. Went back to the shop to find myself in line with 30 other people

8. Waited 15mins

9. Finally it was my turn! Unfortunately, most of the cakes and macaroons were sold out

10. Bought myself "1 of each of the macaroons", a passionfruit tart and 4 cakes

11. Total cost: $49

12. Carefully drove home, only to drop the passionfruit tart up-side-down in the lift (it was in a separate box)



At least I got the popcorn (white one on top) and the chocolate pinenut one (brown one next to the orange one). The rest, I have no idea! I utilised my random pointing once again.






No clue what I bought. Random pointing at its finest.



Passionfruit tart, after the accident

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie

The most awesomeness cakes on earth! Ever!

I have only heard about this place this year through many of the Sydney food bloggers. I drool at the keyboard every time I read a blog about Adriano Zumbo's and/or looked at the photos of the most amazing and inventive cakes. I had to make a trip to Balmain!

The shop is located on Darling Street, a few shops up from Woolworths, 1-2 blocks up from Balmain markets. It is a very small shop, single file only, and you will have to wait as I did for a few minutes out the door. The cafe is located a few doors from the shop, don't worry it's easily spotted by good signage and the crowd. The famous macaroons are $4 (I think) and cakes are $6-$8 but boy are they worth every cent.

I got there around 12.30pm on a Sunday and half of the cakes were already gone. So my suggestion is get there early (they open at 8am). There is not much time for decision making as you can't see what's there until the line reaches the counter. There's no description of the macaroon flavours, so you'll have to ask. The description of the cakes are a bit long so I just pointed. It is probably best to do some research on the food blogs to see which cake you want to get (if there are any left). I missed out on the 'lollipop' cake and the biscuit 'legs in the air' one. The cakes are very rich, so a little goes a long way.

Macaroons

I really wanted to try the popcorn one and the sticky rice one but half the macaroons were sold out when I got there. Clockwise from top L-R:
Liquorice - the aniseed flavour not over powering and if you look close enough there were specks of liquorice in the filling.
Chocolate - I am sure there were something to it other than chocolate but I couldn't remember what the guy said and I bought it because it was colourful. Nonetheless, it was as awesome as the others.

Lemon and chilli - This was fantastic! It tasted like lemon cheesecake with a hint of chilli.

Quince - The flavour was subtle and the colour was pretty.

Cakes

I can't remember the actual names of the cakes so I'm going to invent my own. Clockwise from top L-R:

Passionfruit mushroom (because it looks like one)

The dome is made of passionfruit mousse with a surprise sprinkling of nuts and vanilla inside. There is a layer of, I think, milk chocolatey hazelnut 'something' and biscuits 'cobble stones' on the bottom.

Passionfruit and coconut deliciousness

I bought this cake because looked so light, like the marshmellow on top, and it was just really cool. It reminded me of winter and snow. The two pieces were the same inside but just coated differently. Top layer was a chocolate mousse, then I think a white chocolate mousse, passionfruit curd, chocolate coconut biscuit and a very thin layer of chocolate at the bottom. I am not sure if I'm reading too much into it but the lightness of the cake reflects on the presentation. Light as snow and marshmellow.

Coke can (sorry about the side view. Silly blogger flipped it and I can't flip it back)

This cake contains dark chocolate mousse (really good dark chocolate) layered between crisp dark chocolate with a cocoa-berry liquid center. No, this is not just another self saucing 'ra ra ra'. I am most amazed by the concept of this cake.

When you put your knife/fork into the cake, the chocolate gave a beautiful 'crack' sound - similar to when you open a can of soft drink. The chocolaty-red center immediately oozes out (I advise a plate). The chocolate mousse and the crisp layers are wonderfully chocolaty. I started to eat the outside and discovered the red coating/dusting had a tang, almost like a fizz to it - like soft drink. The concept of a can of soft drink is captured in a cake!

My (hopefully correct) descriptions doesn't give it justice. You have to go eat it to understand what I'm talking about. Good thing is I have an excuse to go there again next week! Stay tuned for more.

Pea Risotto and Thyme Chicken with Parsnip chips

Elements of the dish was inspired from Maggie Beer's Maggie's Harvest cookbook. It's not as complicated as it sounds either.

I bought some parsnips from the farmer's markets last week but being a novice at cooking parsnips had no idea. What is the best way to cook it? With what herbs? Best served with? I tried roasting but it made it bitter - perhaps I didn't roast it long enough? At the right temperature? Time? Reading about parsnip chips reminds me of sweet potato chips, served in many Sydney cafes, restaurants and pubs (I think the trend started several years ago).

To make parsnip chips I peel the skin and using the vegetable peeler made long strips of parsnip. I patted dry the parsnip strips and heated some oil in a small saucepan to about 185c. Remember to test a small piece in the oil. Fry in small batches until golden, drain on paper towels and sprinkle with plenty of salt. I think you can fry any root vegetables this way.

Pea risotto is just your normal risotto with peas, chicken stock, splash of white wine and a bit of parmesan.

Maggie used this marinade on rabbit but I had chicken. The chicken is marinaded in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and thyme for 1 hour before browning the chicken in a pan, into a baking dish covered with foil and baked in a moderate oven. Double breast takes around 20mins. Covering with foil prevents the chicken from drying out. Don't forget to spoon some of the chicken juices into the risotto while cooking.

Cranberry, Fig and Almond Cookies

Cranberry, Fig and Almond Cookies



Ingredients
125g butter
1/2 caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 handful each of almond, dried cranberry and dried figs

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 180c. Roughly chop the almonds, cranberries and figs then set aside.

2. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add the egg and continue beating until smooth.

3. Add to the mixture flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Slowly add in the milk. The mixture should be very thick but not dry.

4. Stir in the almonds, cranberries and figs.

5. Using teaspoons, roughly shape the mixture into balls. Place on a baking tray for approx. 23-25mins.

Pyrmont Grower's Market

Got up at the crack of dawn on Saturday (well 7am) to go to the much anticipated Pyrmont Grower's Market. I've never found the time to go since it's on the 1st Saturday of every month from 7am-11am. There were stalls selling meats, fish, vegetables, cakes, breads ... that's if you can get to it after navigating through prams, dogs, toddlers, more dogs. I exercised some self control by trying to not buy everything and settled on the best ever zucchini flowers (flowers were big enough for stuffing and it tasted so sweet), hazelnuts from Mudgee, mixed mushrooms (got caught up and bought these even though you can find them at the vegetable shop), chocolate berry and pineapple gluten free cakes from the much heard about Manna from Heaven and a crusty white loaf.



By the time we left at 9.40am the crowd started to get bigger and noticed there were no street parking left, I recommend getting there at around 8am. There's parking in Star City and metered street parking.


the best ever zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and almonds