Alice In Eatland

Recipes . Eateries . Inspiration

Desserts

White Blueberry Cake With Stable Fluffy Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

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White Blueberry Cake with Stable Fluffy Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

White Blueberry Cake with Stable Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting is the cake of the year for me. It was also my birthday cake this year.

My obsession with white cake means that I’ve pinned almost every white cake recipe on Pinterest onto my White Cake Board and tried and tested more than several white cake recipes over the years.

I adore the white cake recipe by Goodie Godmother and that is the one I’ve used here with a few alterations. You can find the original recipe and photos of her very pretty perfect white cake here.

Fresh blueberries are a fabulous addition, providing a bright, tart flavour and contrasting texture to this tender-crumbed milky vanilla cake.

White Blueberry Cake with Stable Fluffy Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Additionally, the deep purple of the blueberries dotting the pale white serenity of the cake in places is quite the visual treat.

I feel baking emulsion works really well for non-cocoa cakes (especially white cakes) and I have used LorAnn’s utterly gorgeous Butter Vanilla Emulsion in this recipe. Obviously any vanilla extract or your go-to vanilla essence is equally good too.

I use the reverse creaming method here created by ultimate cake authority and baking guru Rose Levy Beranbaum whom I hold in divine culinary reverence. Her “The Cake Bible” which my mother has owned since 1989, is one of my most loved and trusted books ever when it comes to baking and cake making.

Good fluffy cream cheese frosting is a thing of joy but can also be a nightmare when it comes to stability.

Add to that the challenge and despair of not being able to find brick-style cream cheese in Lahore and that equals grounds for a possible unstable cream cheese frosting situation.

White Blueberry Cake with Stable Fluffy Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I had the very rare good fortune of stumbling upon a couple of Philadelphia Cream Cheese bricks just once at Essajee’s (February 2015 to be precise). I joyously bought them to make the most stable cream cheese frosting ever for the Rainbow Cake at my birthday that year. Sadly I have never come across that product again in Lahore.

Luckily, I found a recipe by the baking perfectionist Cleobuttera, calling for cream cheese squares, easily found at many grocery stores here. The result is a super stable, slightly tangy and ultra creamy frosting. Her original recipe and close ups of her beautiful cream cheese frosting swirls on a delicious carrot cake can be viewed here.

Since special frostings call for special extracts, I have added Nielsen-Massey’s dazzlingly heady Mexican Pure Vanilla Extract to the frosting. I am equally happy adding any other vanilla extract or a beloved vanilla essence to the frosting.

The edible pansies I have decorated the cake with are from Macroorganics, who grow a frankly staggering selection of edible flowers, fruit, vegetables and herbs, both the local and the exotic varieties. The variety of their produce grown in Okara and shipped as fresh as can be to other parts of the country is unmatched.

Thank you if you’ve read the post so far. For those wanting to skip directly to the recipe, I am quite obviously behind times and will upload the “Jump To Recipe” button as soon as I can figure out how to add it.

On to the recipe.

White Blueberry Cake with Stable Fluffy Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

 

White Blueberry Cake With Stable Fluffy Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting 

 

Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Alice In Eatland
Serves: 8 -10

 

Milky tender white vanilla cake dotted with fresh blueberries & filled and topped with a stable fluffy lemony cream cheese frosting + edible pansies

 

WHITE BLUEBERRY CAKE 


INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar or fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 cup cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 2 teaspoons LorAnn’s Butter Vanilla Emulsion OR vanilla extract OR vanilla essence
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
  • 2-4 cups fresh blueberries
  • 3 cups flour
  • 6 tablespoons cornflour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 2/3 cup oil

 

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
  2. Line (either with grease proof paper or foil), oil and flour two 8 inch round cake pans (the heavy and deep kind will give the best results).
  3. To make the sour cream, stir vinegar or lemon juice into the milk and then stir this buttermilk into the cream.
  4. Lightly combine the sour cream, 1/4 cup milk, vanilla extract, almond extract (if using) and egg whites.
  5. Toss the blueberries in a couple of tablespoons of the flour until evenly coated. Set aside.
  6. Combine the remaining flour, cornflour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  7. Beat in the oil and the remaining 3/4 cup milk till combined followed by the egg white mixture in 3 batches.
  8. Finally fold in the flour-dusted blueberries.
  9. Divide the cake batter evenly between the 2 prepared pans.
  10. Bake 30 – 60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted near centre of the cakes comes out clean.
  11. Remove cakes from oven, let cool 10 minutes then remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.
  12. To frost, thinly trim away any crusty tops and brown bottoms of the cold cakes if you wish.
  13. Slice each cake into 2 horizontally.
  14. Sandwich the layers with Stable Fluffy Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below).
  15. Trim sides with a serrated knife (optional).
  16. If you choose to leave the sides of the cakes unfrosted like I did, you may have leftover frosting which can be frozen in an airtight container for another use.
  17. Decorate the cake with washed and dried edible pansies or any other edible flowers.
  18. Keep refrigerated but serve at room temperature.

 

STABLE FLUFFY LEMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 – 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1/4 cup cream
  • 150 grams Lurpak Slightly Salted Butter
  • 3 cups icing sugar/confectioner’s sugar, well sifted
  • 2 teaspoons Nielsen-Massey Mexican Pure Vanilla Extract OR any vanilla extract OR vanilla essence
  • 400 grams cream cheese squares such as Kiri or Almarai, cool & not at warm room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon rind, very finely grated (optional)

 

METHOD

  1. Combine the lemon juice and milk and stir into the cream to make sour cream.
  2. Beat butter until pale in colour and fluffy.
  3. Add the sifted icing sugar/confectioner’s sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy.
  4. Beat in the sour cream.
  5. Add the cream cheese squares, one at a time, beating very well after each addition and scraping the bowl from time to time.
  6. Whip the frosting until smooth, lump free and fluffy.
  7. Add the very finely grated fresh lemon rind, if wished.
  8. Use.

Café Con Tres Leches Cake

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Café Con Tres Leches Cake
A hauntingly beautiful plant based Café Con Tres Leches Cake with fresh, tart berries and dark chocolate skulls is just the kind of dessert I need this Halloween. Or anytime of the year, really.

Making and assembling the cake is pretty straightforward, though you do need to plan slightly ahead due to the number to steps involved. A little time consuming maybe but not complicated at all.

Café Con Tres Leches Cake

Use your preferred combination of plant based milks, either store bought or homemade. The milks listed in the recipe are my personal preference and I have made both the almond and pistachio milks myself.

Some may feel that a chilled Café Con Tres Leches Cake is perhaps a little summery for autumn/fall since the season mostly calls for warming desserts and cosy sweets.

Café Con Tres Leches Cake

The cream white pumpkin & dried foliage autumn/fall centrepiece that I made for Halloween 2021

 

If you’re one of those folks, please be assured that this is pretty good enjoyed at room temperature too.

Tips For Making A Stunning Café Con Tres Leches Cake:

  • The cocoa can be omitted from the cake base for an uninterrupted coffee experience.
  • I added cocoa + coffee to the lovely Vegan Tres Leches Cake recipe by Cook’s Hideout for 2 reasons:

Café Con Tres Leches Cake

-For visual drama, since the topping, berries and skulls show up more vibrantly on a darker base

-The flavour combination, as coffee is one of my favourite pairings with chocolate based desserts.

The chocolate skulls are of course, in honour of Halloween though if you’re a true horror fan like me, you wouldn’t mind adding these to your celebratory desserts throughout the year.

On to the recipe for this easy and eerily elegant Café Con Tres Leches Cake.

Café Con Tres Leches Cake

 

CAFÉ CON TRES LECHES CAKE

 

Recipe Type: Dessert    Author: Alice In Eatland
Serves: 6 – 8

 

Milky mocha sponge, creamy topping, tart berries & dark chocolate skulls make this elegant vegan Café Con Tres Leches Cake perfect for Halloween or for any time of the year.


CAKE

  • 1 cup plant based milk (oat, almond, coconut or any milk of your choice)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoons instant coffee dissolved in 1 teaspoon boiling water, cooled completely
  • 3/4 caster sugar
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
  • 1 1/4 cups plain flour
  • 3 tablespoons cornflour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

3 MILK SOAK

  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee
  • 1/4 cup sweetened coconut condensed milk *(recipe below)
  • 1/4 cup almond milk **(for homemade option, please see the recipe below)
  • 1/4 cup pistachio milk **(for homemade option, please see the recipe below)

TOPPING

  • 1/2 – 3/4 cup coconut cream, well chilled
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
  • Raspberries, blueberries or any fruit of choice
  • Chocolate skulls*** (recipe below)

 

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
  2. Oil & flour an 8” square cake pan.
  3. Stir plant based milk & lemon juice or white vinegar to make buttermilk & set aside for 5 minutes.
  4. Whisk in the cooled coffee, sugar, oil & vanilla until combined.
  5. Sieve flour, cornflour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
  6. Stir dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredient mixture until just combined. Do not over mix.
  7. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 30 – 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center of cake comes out clean.
  8. Remove cake from oven and let cool in pan 10 minutes.
  9. Poke the entire surface of the cake with either a fork, a skewer or a toothpick.
  10. For the 3 Milk Soak, stir the coffee, coconut condensed milk, almond milk, pistachio milk & vanilla together in a pan and bring to the boil.
  11. Lower the heat, let simmer 5 – 7 minutes & pour evenly over warm cake.
  12. Let the cake cool completely and then chill covered for at least 2-4 hours. Overnight is best.
  13. To make the topping, whip the cold coconut cream with icing sugar & vanilla until thick and fluffy.
  14. Spread or pipe topping all over the top of the chilled cake.
  15. Decorate with fresh fruit & chocolate skulls, if using. I also added some well-washed leaves of a rose plant from my garden.
  16.  Keep refrigerated.

 

*Sweetened Coconut Condensed Milk

Stir 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk & 4 tablespoons sugar in a pan over medium heat.

Bring to the boil, stirring constantly and then lower heat and cook stirring frequently, until milk thickens & reduces by half ( 20 minutes or so).

Cool completely & store airtight in the fridge.

 

**Nut Milk

Soak 1/4 cup raw unroasted almonds or pistachios in 1 cup water for 8 -12 hours.

Drain, rinse with clean water and add to blender jar with 1/2 – 3/4 cups drinking water.

Blend until smooth and then strain through a nut bag, cheesecloth or muslin, squeezing all the milk out.

Save the leftover nut solids airtight in the freezer and add to things like roti dough, pizza dough or cookie dough for a nutty flavour & texture.

Stir a drop or so of vanilla extract into the strained milk, if you wish.

Cover airtight & store in the fridge.

Stir before using and consume within 2-3 days.

 

***Chocolate Skulls

Break a bar of vegan friendly chocolate (I used a bar of Nestlé Bourneville Classic Dark Chocolate) into pieces.

Microwave on high in 20 second increments, stirring every time until the chocolate is completely melted, being careful not to burn it.

You can melt the chocolate on top of a double boiler instead of using the microwave.

Pour melted chocolate into silicone skull moulds (I purchased my skull mould from Darak.pk) and freeze for an hour.

Unmould and store chocolate skulls in a paper towel lined airtight container in the fridge.

 

The raspberries & blueberries adorning this Café Con Tres Leches Cake were purchased from Al Fatah Gold Crest Mall, Lahore.

Chocolate Custard Cream Cake

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Moist cake layers & fluffy custard cream – Chocolate Custard Cream Cake is an elegant cocoa-based take on the classic vanilla custard cake of yesteryear.

A WhatsApp conversation with some of my school friends got us all dreaming of a certain custard cake that used to be a popular thing to bake when we were growing up in Daharki back in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

The confection in question was a simple sponge-style cake filled and covered with vanilla custard made from Rafhan Custard Powder – in truth, the sort of homely, old-fashioned baking one rarely comes across that often now.

Chocolate Custard Cream Cake

Luckily, one of my friends still has the recipe and inspired by that, I made this cocoa version with a slightly different take on the custard filling & frosting.

The cake is my basic go-to chocolate cake recipe and you will find more ideas based around this recipe on the blog.

The custard here is made from scratch and “lightened” (in the textural sense only obviously) with a little whipped cream that gives it an airier, fluffier quality.

Try it.

Chocolate Custard Cream Cake

 

CHOCOLATE CUSTARD CREAM CAKE

 

RECIPE TYPE: DESSERT    AUTHOR: ALICE IN EATLAND
PREP TIME: 60 Minutes    COOK TIME: 60    TOTAL TIME: 2 HOURS
SERVES: 6 – 8

 

Moist cake layers & fluffy custard cream – Chocolate Custard Cream Cake is an elegant cocoa based take on the classic vanilla custard cake of yesteryear.

 

MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup milk
  • 4 tbsp white vinegar
  • 2 cups caster sugar or superfine sugar
  • 1 cup + 3/4 cup plain flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or essence
  • 2 tsp instant coffee
  • 1 cup boiling water

 

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
  2. Grease two 6.5” x 2.5” round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
    Grease and flour the paper.
    Or do what I usually do: line cake pans with aluminium foil and grease and flour the foil. Set aside.
  3. Stir the milk and vinegar together in a small cup or bowl to make buttermilk. Set aside.
  4. Combine all the dry ingredients, except coffee, in a bowl.
  5. Whisk the eggs. Stir the buttermilk and add to the eggs along with the oil and vanilla.
  6. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and beat until well mixed.
  7. Stir the instant coffee into the boiling water and carefully stir into the cocoa mixture. Batter will be quite thin.
  8. Divide the batter into two and pour into the prepared cake pans.
  9. Bake 30 – 40 minutes or until the cakes have risen and a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean.
    This can take up to an hour depending on your oven.
  10. Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack.
    Invert so that the top of the cakes is up and cool completely.
  11. Your cakes may have domed tops so trim off carefully with a long serrated knife and discard (by “discard” I mean eat with chai like I do).
  12. Slice each cake horizontally into two so you have 4 layers.

 

CUSTARD CREAM FILLING & TOPPING

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 4 – 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 – 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, well chilled
  • A few tablespoons of icing sugar, sifted

 

METHOD

  1. Whip the cream till thick & fluffy. Cover & keep in the fridge.
  2. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar & milk in a pan until combined.
  3. Place the pan on a medium-ish heat and keep whisking or stirring the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon thickly.
  4. Keep stirring and remove from the heat just as the custard begins to reach a gentle simmer. Do not let the custard boil as it may split or curdle.
  5. Once off the heat, stir in the butter and vanilla.
  6. Cover the entire surface of the hot custard with plastic wrap and cool completely.
  7. Push the cooled custard through a sieve so that you have a smooth custard & no tiny eggy lumps. Chill covered.
  8. When cold, fold in 2 tablespoons of the whipped cream.
  9. Sandwich the cake layers generously with this custard cream.
  10. Chill the cake in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
  11. You may need to insert a long wooden skewer or satay stick into the centre to stabilise the cake layers.
  12. Fold any leftover custard cream into the remaining whipped cream and taste to see if it’s sweet enough. If not, beat in enough of the icing sugar till desired sweetness is reached.
  13. Frost the cake with the custard cream.
  14. Keep filled & frosted cake refrigerated.

 

 

 

 

AUTUMN APPLE CARAMEL CAKE

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Autumn Apple Caramel Cake

Autumn/fall is well and truly here and as the temperatures fall, for me nothing feels cosier than pottering about the kitchen in general and some good old-fashioned baking in particular.

So here’s my Autumn Apple Caramel Cake, which can obviously be made any time of the year but is special particularly during the beautiful season it has been named in honour of.

And with classic autumnal things like pumpkins, caramel apples, falling leaves and Halloween in the air, I feel this is one of the most perfect cakes to celebrate the fall season with.

Autumn Apple Caramel Cake

A classic bundt cake is as old-fashioned as it gets. Add a retro style apple cake into the equation and you have all the makings of my ideal way to spend an autumn/fall afternoon.

I will admit that I am a bit obsessed with bundt pans which is frankly, a rather tragic obsession as at the moment I own just two bundt pans in total. Boo hoo!

I would love to get my hands on a couple of those intricately sexy Nordic Ware bundt pans but in the meantime, my trusty old and much less intricate no-brand-in-particular bundt pans will have to suffice. And honestly, they don’t do a bad job at all.

Autumn Apple Caramel Cake

This Autumn Apple Caramel Cake is moist, fragrant and nutty and can actually hold its own without the caramel drizzle.

My family loves this cake either with or without the caramel drizzle and we enjoy it cut into generous slices with cups of hot tea.

There is a subtle hint of cinnamon in there too – you can tell it’s somewhere in the background but just enough so as not to overpower the delicate apple taste and fragrance.

Autumn Apple Caramel Cake

And of course, the dehydrated apple wheels on top transform this simple cake into a stunning masterpiece.

This Autumn Apple Caramel Cake is also a fond reminder of two food related memories from my childhood.

One is of a cookbook brought from London by my eldest maternal Aunt back in the ’80s that had, amongst some rather imaginatively named recipes such as “Lightning Cake” (with the tag line ‘Made in a moment, gone in a flash!’), an old-fashioned “Farmhouse Apple Cake”.

Autumn Apple Caramel Cake

I loved imagining myself in a rustic English farmhouse and munching on slices of that apple cake with a thick caramel icing atop.

The other memory this cake triggers is that of a cooking class in Daharki during the early ’90s.

A group of French engineers were on a visit to the Engro (Exxon back then) plant and their wives held a cooking class for the colony ladies, teaching them some French recipes.

Autumn Apple Caramel Cake

There were two types of quiches, a basic quiche and a mushroom quiche and two kinds of rustic cakes – an almond cake and an apple cake.

I still have those recipe printouts somewhere and this apple cake reminds me of that time.

I hope you enjoy making this Autumn Apple Caramel Cake as much as I do. Thanks to STL Cooks for the apple cake recipe, Cooking With Ruthie for the recipe that I based the caramel drizzle on and to Entertaining With Beth for the decorating idea.

Autumn Apple Caramel Cake

AUTUMN APPLE CARAMEL CAKE

 

Recipe Type: Dessert    Author: Alice In Eatland
Prep Time: 20 Minutes    Cook Time: 40 Minutes    Total Time: 60 Minutes
Serves: 6

 

Autumn Apple Caramel Cake – moist, fragrant & nutty with a hint of cinnamon & a beautiful caramel drizzle. Perfect for autumn / fall!

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar
  • 1 large egg (or 2 small eggs)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
  • 1 1/2 cups plain flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups grated apples*
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

 

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
  2. If using a small bundt pan (around 5″ or so in diameter) please refer to the note** below in which I also detail the pan size and shape I used to bake the cake in these photos.
  3. If using an 8″ round pan, a 7″ square pan or any other similar sized pan of your choice, oil it evenly.
  4. Sprinkle some plain flour and shake and tilt the pan until it is evenly coated. Tap off any excess flour.
  5. Now on to the cake batter. Toss the nuts in a few teaspoons of the flour until well coated***. Set aside.
  6. Beat the oil, sugar, egg(s) and vanilla until thick and pale.
  7. Stir the flour, salt, baking soda and ground cinnamon together and fold into the wet mixture.
  8. Stir in the grated apple followed by the flour dusted walnuts or pecans.
  9. Pour mixture into your prepared pan.
  10. Bake 30 – 40 minutes or until skewer or toothpick inserted near the centre of the cake comes out clean.
  11. Remove baked cake from oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 – 15 minutes.
  12. Loosen the edges of the cake slightly with a knife, turn upside down onto the cooling rack, gently removing the pan as the cake inverts out onto the rack.
  13. Cool cake completely to room temperature.
  14. Store airtight.

 

DEHYDRATED APPLE CHIPS

 

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminium foil.
  3. Place 1 medium or large apple on its side on a chopping board.
  4. Using a sharp knife, slice the apple as thinly as possible into wheels.
  5. Place the apple wheels in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
  6. Place in preheated oven.
  7. Keep an eye on the apple chips. They should begin to turn a pale brown, look dryish and the edges should begin to curl up in places.
  8. Make sure they don’t over brown or burn!
  9. Once this stage is reached, flip them over with a pair of tongs.
  10. Continue baking until the other side is also brownish, dry and curling up.
  11. Remove from oven, transfer the apple chips to a wire rack and cool completely to room temperature.
  12. Store in an airtight jar if not using right away.

 

CARAMEL DRIZZLE

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/4 cup light or dark soft brown sugar, packed
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
  • 1/4 cup icing sugar, sifted

 

METHOD

  1. Place the brown sugar, butter and milk in a pan and stir over medium heat.
  2. When the butter and sugar have melted and the mixture reaches the boil, remove from heat.
  3. Stir in the vanilla.
  4. Whisk in the icing sugar until smooth.
  5. Place cake on a wire rack with a parchment paper lined tray underneath to catch icing drips.
  6. Spoon the warm caramel drizzle all over the top of the cake so that it runs down over and drips down the sides.
  7. I pour the warm caramel drizzle in a Pyrex measuring cup and pour it all over the cake. I find this much easier and quicker than the spoon method.
  8. If using dehydrated apple chips / wheels or any other decoration (such as nuts), place them into position immediately after pouring the glaze so that they adhere to the cake before the icing sets, which it does rather quickly.

 

NOTES

 

*I used two kinds of apples to make this cake – one and a half each of Granny Smith apples (my favourite) and local red apples.

I did not peel the apples and used a box grater to grate them.

Peeling the apples before grating makes the process easier so it is definitely recommended.

 

**Oil your bundt pan very well, using a pastry brush if you have it, making sure you reach and coat all crevices, nooks and crannies evenly.

Place your well greased pan upside down on a rack with a parchment paper lined tray underneath to catch excess oil.

Oil begins to pool inside bundt pans once they’re greased so this step will prevent it from doing that while you finish preparing your batter.

You can spray your bundt pan with a cooking spray containing flour instead of oiling it.

I do not flour my bundt pans because I find that the baked cakes seem to crust in places if flour is used.

I have used a 10″ silicone bundt pan and double the recipe to make the cake in the photos.

This particular bundt shape is known as The Cathedral.

A cake baked in a silicone bundt can take longer to bake compared to a metal pan.

If using a silicone bundt, place the prepared pan on a baking sheet before pouring in the batter and place it in the oven on top of the baking sheet.

The baking sheet will provide stability to your silicone bundt pan which can sometimes be a bit wobbly and unsteady.

 

***This step of tossing the nuts in a little flour will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the pan while baking.

Zafrani Shahi Tukray

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Zafrani Shahi Tukray My absolute favourite traditional Pakistani dessert has to be Zafrani Shahi Tukray!

Golden deep fried bread, soaked in a saffron flavoured and cardamom scented milk base, garnished with edible silver warq and chopped nuts – what’s not to love about this comforting desi style bread pudding?

I almost always get a recipe request whenever I serve this at a dinner, party etc.

If you’re serving a traditional desi menu and thinking of a really smashing dessert to go with it, Zafrani Shahi Tukray are a pretty great choice. Zafrani Shahi Tukray Pakistani desserts and sweets are lovely but I’ve noticed that not everyone likes every traditional meetha.

For example, I’m not a fan of Kheer but love Firni. I know people who absolutely adore Gajar Ka Halwa and there are others who don’t care for it at all.

As far as I know, Shahi Tukray are one of those traditional desserts enjoyed by almost everyone – both kids and adults alike.

Everyone seems to love my Zafrani Shahi Tukray so here’s the easy recipe that I initially found on FoodViva. Zafrani Shahi Tukray

 

Recipe Type: Dessert    Author: Alice In Eatland
Prep Time: 30 Minutes   Cook Time: 30 Minutes    Total Time: 60 Minutes
Serves: 4

 

Zafrani Shahi Tukray, a traditional Pakistani bread pudding made of golden fried bread soaked in thick saffron flavoured & cardamom scented milk.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 4 – 6 green cardamoms
  • Good pinch saffron strands
  • Oil for deep frying*
  • 4 – 6 white bread slices**
  • Chopped pistachios & almonds
  • Edible silver leaf / warq

 

METHOD

  1. In a stainless steel pan, stir together the whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, sugar, cardamoms and saffron strands.
  2. Place over medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring frequently.
  3. When milk mixture reaches the boil, reduce the heat to medium-low.
  4. Let mixture cook uncovered until almost reduced by half – this can take anywhere from 10 – 20 minutes.
  5. When mixture has reduced and seems a bit thick, remove from heat.
  6. Cool completely to room temperature.
  7. Either pick out the cardamoms or strain the mixture to get rid of any seeds that may be lurking in the milk.
  8. Get oil ready for deep frying in a roomy pan.
  9. Line a couple of trays or flat plates with paper towels / kitchen paper.
  10. Trim the crusts from all four sides of the bread slices and then cut each slice into quarters so that you have 4 triangles.
  11. When the oil is hot enough, deep fry bread triangles on both sides a few minutes in batches, until golden all over.
  12. Remove golden fried bread triangles to lined trays / plates.
  13. After about 5 minutes, when the paper towels have absorbed as much oil as possible, remove fried bread to another tray or plate lined with fresh paper towels / kitchen paper, placing bread triangles the other side down.
  14. This step ensures that you remove as much excess oil as possible from the deep fried bread.
  15. When ready to assemble Zafrani Shahi Tukray, using tongs, dunk each bread triangle in the cooled milk mixture, making sure both sides are soaked thoroughly and arrange in serving dish.
  16. Pour about 3/4ths of the remaining milk all over the arranged bread, reserving the rest.
  17. Place edible silver leaf / warq over the bread triangle points.
  18. Sprinkle with the chopped nuts, cover with cling film and chill at least 30 minutes to an hour – the longer it chills, the better.
  19. Let Zafrani Shahi Tukray come to room temperature 5 – 10 minutes and drizzle over the remaining milk before serving.
  20. Store leftovers covered with cling film in the fridge for up to 2 days.

 

NOTES

*I’ve come across recipes that recommend shallow frying the bread in very little oil or even toasting it to cut down on the fat.

I deep fry my bread because it is not possible to get an overall golden crust without it, plus I feel deep fried bread holds up better when it comes to absorbing the milk and doesn’t get too mushy.

Since this is usually a special treat and not made on a daily basis, I don’t feel too guilty about deep frying the bread.

You can try the shallow frying or toasting method but I cannot guarantee if the results will be the same because I’ve never tried those methods with my Zafrani Shahi Tukray.

 

**The number of white bread slices you will need for this recipe depends on the size of your slices and that of your serving dish.

In these photos, I have made double this recipe and used 11 bread slices to fill up my rectangle Pyrex dish.

The bread slices I’ve used here measure about 3.5″ x 3″ (with crusts) and the dish measures around 9″ x  5.5″.

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes

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Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes, small rustic looking discs of pure indulgence – quick to make and usually gone in a flash.

So this is the second Sophie Dahl recipe adaptation in a row on the blog. I know I should’ve posted it at least a few days earlier for folks who might want to make it for Valentine’s Day.

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes are fairly easy to put together and don’t require a lot of time to make. However,  these cakes are not picture perfect pretty little rounds – they are very rustic looking, cracked and even broken in places. Their beauty lies in imperfection.

And obviously, no one has to wait for Valentine’s Day to make these Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes. I make these at times just to brighten up an otherwise regular meal. It’s a lovely dessert to make for gluten intolerant family or friends.

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes

I would describe the texture of these cakes somewhere between a fudgy brownie and a softened bar of chocolate. I might try making these with white chocolate one day, which is my favourite type of chocolate.

Good dark chocolate works best here but if you’re not a fan then semisweet is fine. If you must use milk chocolate, do a 50/50 with dark chocolate otherwise your Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes may become overly sweet and lack the depth that dark chocolate imparts.

Sour cream or crème fraîche provides a slightly tart and refreshing contrast. You can use plain whipped cream to top these as well if you wish plus a bit of fresh fruit or edible flowers to garnish. I used rose petals and leaves from a home grown rose plant to crown my Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes.

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes

 

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes

 

Recipe Type: Dessert    Author: Alice In Eatland
Prep Time: 10 Minutes    Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Resting Time: 2 – 4 Hours   Total Time: 2 – 4 Hours
Serves: 2

 

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes – discs of deep dark chocolate goodness topped with contrasting tart crème fraîche. A rich & decadent dessert. Gluten free.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • Butter to grease ramekins
  • Cocoa powder to dust ramekins
  • 75 grams chocolate (dark, semisweet or half dark chocolate + half milk chocolate), broken into pieces
  • 60 grams salted butter
  • 60 grams caster / superfine sugar
  • 1 medium egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon instant coffee powder dissolved in 1/4 teaspoon boiling water
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
  • Sour cream, crème fraîche or whipped cream to serve
  • Fresh fruit (strawberries, cherries, blueberries, kiwi etc) or fresh edible unsprayed flowers to decorate

 

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
  2. Line 2 ramekins (each 4″ in diameter) with foil. Each piece of foil should be big enough to be easily pressed onto the bottom and all the way up the sides of each ramekin.
  3. Butter the foil and sprinkle with cocoa powder, shaking and turning the ramekins round until the bottoms and sides are coated with cocoa. Shake off any excess cocoa.
  4. Place the broken chocolate pieces and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave uncovered, stopping and stirring every 10 seconds until both are almost melted. Stir thoroughly for the final melting of the chocolate. The mixture should be uniform and smooth.
  5. Put the sugar, the egg, the cooled coffee that had been dissolved in the boiling water and the vanilla in a bowl and beat until thick and pale.
  6. Fold in the melted chocolate and butter mixture with a spatula or spoon.
  7. Pour the mixture equally into the prepared ramekins and bake 20-30 minutes.
  8. The tops of the cakes will rise flat and look crusty. Keep an eye on them and the cakes are done as soon as you see the risen tops deflate slightly.
  9. You should also be able to smell a very chocolatey aroma in your kitchen – that’s your Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes telling you they are ready.
  10. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. The centres of the cakes will begin to collapse right after removal from the oven, with a crater forming in the cracked centre. The sides will also cool imperfect. That is the beauty of these.
  11. Let cool to room temperature and then place ramekins in the fridge for 2 – 4 hours or even overnight. You want them to be thoroughly cool.
  12. When ready to serve, carefully lift out the cakes using the foil lining. Gently peel away the foil and place cakes on serving plates. Don’t worry if the sides are cracked or even a bit broken in places.
  13. Top with a few dollops of whipped cream, sour cream or crème fraîche in the craters in the centre.
  14. Decorate with your choice of fresh fruit or edible flowers. Or both.

Gothic Chic Cupcakes

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Gothic Chic Cupcakes

Post Updated: 11.03.24

Gothic Chic Cupcakes have been my favourite Halloween dessert idea since 2017! Moist vanilla cupcake base topped with a very chocolatey black cocoa fudge frosting, these are perfect for any special occasion during the year and absolute showstoppers especially at Halloween.

The first cupcake recipe on my blog was for Chocolate Cobweb Cupcakes for Halloween 2016. Check that one out too for a fun but sweetly spooky Halloween cupcake recipe.

The first Halloween cupcake recipe had a chocolate cupcake base topped with vanilla frosting. The Gothic Chic Cupcake recipe is the other way around – my favourite moist vanilla cupcake recipe with a very old fashioned and very delicious cocoa fudge frosting.

As mentioned in my previous Halloween post, I did not grow up celebrating Halloween except for one year in the ’90s. As an adult now, I have been getting more and more excited about Halloween each year.

Gothic Chic Cupcakes

Instagram and Pinterest with their fabulous Halloween related food, decor and craft posts are definitely to be credited for making Halloween popular in parts of the world where it isn’t really celebrated as such.

I had decided that along with food, I would do some sort of Halloween DIY craft or decor project as well this year.

I had a very clear idea of something very chic and very minimalistic Gothic in mind hence the black, gold and silver theme for my Halloween.

Not being very “crafty” as such, I wanted to do something simple but effective so I chose the very aptly titled Creepy Black Twig Wreath – thanks to Earnest Home Co. for the fabulous idea and the easy tutorial.

I collected the branches and twigs off a basil plant and a rose bush – both from my garden and both completely dried up. I then put the twig wreath together bit by bit according to the step by step tutorial.

My brother says the finished wreath looks like something out of the horror movie “The Ring” – target achieved!

Gothic Chic Cupcakes

Pumpkins were next and after trawling through various pumpkin ideas on Pinterest, I decided on simple painted pumpkins for Halloween 2017.

Pinterest has a photo of a large pumpkin painted matte black sitting on a chair and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to have a black pumpkin this Halloween. I was finding gold and silver painted pumpkins on Pinterest quite appealing as well.

So my sister-in-law and I spray painted a few pumpkins black, gold and silver. I could not get hold of perfectly shaped pumpkins but after they were painted and were sitting in all their beautiful painted glory, I felt the irregular shapes, indents and imperfections here and there somehow added to the Gothic appeal that I was after.

And lastly, the Gothic Chic Cupcakes. I adore this moist vanilla cupcake recipe so much and for the life of me I can’t find the link to the original recipe because I wrote the recipe down the old fashioned way in my crumbling old recipe diary.

Like a fool, I completely forgot to write down the name of the blog where I took the recipe from. I am trying to search for that particular blog and hopefully if I find it I will update this blog post with proper credit to the original creator of this wonderful recipe.

Gothic Chic Cupcakes

The frosting recipe comes via My Gluten Free Kitchen with a deep cocoa flavour and dreamy pipeability. The idea was to dye the cocoa fudge  frosting a jet black with food colour.

As I was adding the black food colour to the frosting and mixing it in, I stopped when the icing reached a deep dark charcoal gray. It looked incredible and very broodingly sexy – so much cooler than the flat black I had intended to achieve.

I used gold and silver cupcake liners / paper bake cups for my Gothic Chic Cupcakes.

I wanted the vanilla part of the cupcake to show very clearly so instead of covering almost the entire top of the cupcakes with frosting, I opted to pipe rosettes that would leave room for the vanilla part to show.

I have been ‘piping partially’ this way lately and liking it. You can obviously cover the entire tops of your Gothic Chic Cupcakes in frosting like it is usually done.

Happy baking and frosting and a very happy Halloween to all!

Gothic Chic Cupcakes

Gothic Chic Cupcakes

 

Recipe Type: Dessert    Author: Alice In Eatland
Prep Time: 30 Minutes    Cook Time: 20 Minutes    Total Time: 50 Minutes
Serves: 8 – 10
Keyword: Gothic Cupcakes Recipe, Goth Cupcakes Recipe, Halloween Cupcakes,

 

These moist & fluffy Gothic Chic Cupcakes are perfumed with vanilla & frosted with a dark & intensely chocolate cocoa fudge frosting – so tasty & so chic!

 

INGREDIENTS FOR MOIST VANILLA CUPCAKES

  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup cream
  • 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1/8 cup cornflour or cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup + 1 tablespoon caster sugar or superfine sugar
  • 1 medium egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
  • 1/8 teaspoon almond extract or essence (optional)

 

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
  2. Line a standard size muffin pan / cupcake pan with gold and silver paper baking cups / cupcake liners. Set aside.
  3. Stir the milk and vinegar together to make buttermilk.
  4. Add prepared buttermilk to the cream and stir together to make sour cream. Set aside.
  5. Combine the flour, cornflour or cornstarch, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
  6. Beat the oil and sugar together for 30 – 60 seconds.
  7. Add the egg and extracts and beat until combined.
  8. Beat in the combined dry ingredients until smooth.
  9. Lastly beat in prepared sour cream until just mixed.
  10. Pour batter into a glass measuring jug.
  11. Fill the paper baking cups in the muffin pan between 1/2 – 3/4 full.
  12. Bake 18 – 20 minutes or until the cupcakes turn slightly golden and a wooden pick inserted into the centre of cupcakes comes out nearly clean. Do not overbake.
  13. Remove baked cupcakes onto a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
  14. Store cool unfrosted cupcakes airtight until ready to frost.

 

INGREDIENTS FOR COCOA FUDGE FROSTING

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1 1/2 cups + 1/3 cup icing sugar or confectioner’s sugar
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
  • Black gel food colour (prefereably from Wilton or AmeriColor)

 

METHOD

  1. Put butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave uncovered on high 10 – 20 seconds or until almost melted.
  2. Remove bowl from microwave and stir until butter is completely melted.
  3. Whisk in the cocoa and then microwave uncovered again on high for 30 seconds.
  4. Remove from microwave and beat in icing sugar and milk alternately until creamy.
  5. Beat in vanilla.
  6. Lastly add the black food colour, a little at a time while beating until desired colour is achieved.
  7. Frosting dyed with black food colour deepens in hue as the frosting sits, so wait 10 or so minutes after adding food colour to see how much the colour of the frosting darkens before adding more.
  8. Make sure the frosting is completely cool before piping onto cupcakes.
  9. Use a Wilton 1M tip to pipe rosettes of cocoa fudge frosting onto the cupcakes.
  10. Store your Gothic Chic Cupcakes airtight. These can be refrigerated but make sure you bring the cupcakes completely down to room temperature before serving.

Lemon Lime Mousse

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Lemon Lime Mousse

In my humble opinion, refreshingly creamy clouds of this Lemon Lime Mousse are probably one of the best summer dessert ideas I’ve tried recently.

Fluffy and tart with just the right amount of sweetness, this is fast becoming one of my go to desserts. And the fact that unlike many traditional mousse recipes, this one has no gelatin or raw egg whites and yet it still sets to a lovely moussey fluffiness.

To be entirely truthful, I’m on something of a Lemon Lime Mousse binge marathon these days. I seem to make it alarmingly frequently because it is easy to put together and because I adore lemon based desserts.

Lemon Lime Mousse

I’ve used near-equal amounts of lemon juice and lime juice to flavour my Lemon Lime Mousse since these citrus siblings (or cousins maybe?) obviously have pretty much the same flavour profile. The restrained sweetness of the lemon juice pairs very well with the outright tartness of the lime juice and makes for a fairly good combination.

We have a lovely lime tree in our garden so making Lemon Lime Mousse gives me a good excuse to use up some of our fresh limes. Zesting just picked limes is a refreshingly heady experience; the citrusy fragrance that emanates during the process is something else altogether and hard to replicate while zesting store bought limes.

Lemon Lime Mousse

I absolutely love lemon curd and could be more than satisfied just happily eating it with a spoon. The base of this Lemon Lime Mousse consists of an easy and yummy lemon & lime curd which gives it that lusciously creamy pleasant tartness.

I peel off the zest from the lemons and limes with a vegetable peeler, put the flat coils of peeled zest (no need to chop it or anything) and all the ingredients required for making the curd into my blender and then blend, cook, sieve and cool.

Lemon Lime Mousse

I usually make the lemon lime curd one day before putting the mousse finally together as I believe chilling the curd overnight gives a fluffier mousse and also because I prefer doing half the work in advance when it comes to making food that involves a couple of steps of preparation.

If you cannot find limes, just double the quantity of lemon juice called for in the recipe. My Lemon Lime Mousse has been adapted from this recipe.

Lemon Lime Mousse

 

Lemon Lime Mousse

 

Recipe Type: Dessert    Author: Alice In Eatland
Prep Time: 15 Minutes    Cook Time: 5 Minutes    Total Time: 2o Minutes + Chilling Time
Serves: 4 – 6

 

Creamy, sweet & tangy Lemon Lime Mousse made with an easy made from scratch lemon curd base. A beautiful dessert that’s a breeze to make & a dream to eat!

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/4 cup butter (preferably salted), melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 2 – 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 – 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon zest / rind
  • 1/2 tablespoon fresh lime zest / rind
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream (in Pakistan I would recommend Olpers Cream)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence

 

METHOD

  1. Put the butter, juices, zests, eggs, yolks and sugar in a blender. Blend until everything is uniform, slightly thick and light yellow in colour – this should take less than a minute.
  2.  Have a fine mesh sieve over a heatproof bowl ready.
  3.  Pour the blended lemon mixture into a non-corrosive pan and whisk the mixture constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture comes to the boil. Keep whisking for 1 – 2 minutes – the mixture will be thick and bubbly.
  4. Remove mixture from heat and pour through the fine mesh sieve waiting over the heatproof bowl, pressing the mixture with the back of a large spoon until you’re left with just the zest and bits of cooked egg in the sieve.
  5. Cover the surface of the sieved lemon curd immediately with cling film. Make sure that the cling film is in direct contact all over with the lemon curd – this will prevent a skin from forming on the surface of the curd.
  6. Cool to room temperature and then place in the fridge for 2 – 4 hours or until quite cold. Overnight works great.
  7. Whip cream and vanilla until thick and fluffy. Fold into cold lemon curd lightly with a spatula.
  8. Pour or pipe the Lemon & Lime Mousse into individual serving bowls or ramekins or into one large family style serving bowl.
  9. Chill 2 – 4 hours. This can be made in advance and does well from chilling overnight in the fridge. The colder the better.
  10. If wished, decorate mousse with whipped cream and fresh lemon and lime slices or wedges right before serving.
  11. Serve cold straight from the fridge.
  12. Keep refrigerated.

Katharine Hepburn’s Mint Chocolate Brownies

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Katherine Hepburn's Mint Chocolate Brownies

Katharine Hepburn’s Mint Chocolate Brownies are just what you need when looking for a decadent brownie fix – intensely fudgy brownie base, topped with a creamy cool peppermint frosting and drizzled with melted chocolate!

Anyone who knows me well enough is well aware of my fascination with Classic Hollywood – the time roughly from the late ’30s to the early ’60s when the Golden Age of Hollywood regretfully came to an end.

Other than famous Classic Hollywood films, I have this fondness for discovering obscure and relatively unknown old Hollywood movies and stars. YouTube has a staggering choice of such movies to choose from and I’ve found out about quite a number of long forgotten but good movies and little known yet talented stars there so a big thank you to all you wonderful classic movie uploaders!

I love all things Classic Hollywood, be it the movies, the stars, the fashion – you name it. I named my beautiful tortoiseshell cat Harlow because Jean Harlow was the original platinum blonde bombshell. Also because of the ’90s supermodel Shalom Harlow but that’s another story.

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Persian Love Cake Doughnuts

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Persian Love Cake Doughnuts

Post Updated: 07.12.23

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts: come fall in love with the dreamiest doughnuts ever!

These romantically named little beauties really do live up to their name: stunning in appearance and a sheer delight taste wise.

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts: The Discovery

I first came across Persian Love Doughnuts in the dreamy party and entertaining book “Celebrate” by the lovely Lauren Conrad and they had me intrigued so much that I decided there and then that these would be my next Valentine’s Day dessert.

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts: The Inspiration

Turns out that these little doughnuts are derived from classic Persian Love Cake, a delicious pistachio and rose water flavored cake.

Add other additional variations to the mix such as cardamoms, saffron etc. and you have what I like to call “Eastern Exoticism” in dessert form. Bliss.

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts: The Recipe

The base recipe for these is by Aimee Twigger of Twigg Studios in which she makes a Persian Love Cake recipe and instead of baking it in a cake pan, pipes it into doughnut molds – genius!

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts

So I adapted the recipe for her Persian Love Cake Doughnuts (which you can find here) very slightly and I am very happy with the results.

The cake part has classic pound cake proportions of equal amounts of butter, sugar and flour that make for a universally pleasing cake.

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts: The Flavours

The combination of pistachios, rose, cardamom and saffron take this simple cake to an entirely different level.

It may sound fanciful but honestly, these ingredients gives these little Persian Love Cake Doughnuts incredible depth and a pleasingly heady scent, both of which, conjure up images of what in my mind, were exotic, far flung places such as Isfahan and Samarkand that I would read about in books as a child.

 

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts: The Adornment

The Lemon Glacé Icing provides a wonderfully tart contrast and helps the toppings stay in place.

The fresh rose petals on top obviously make things more aromatic and I’ve used homegrown roses from my garden to decorate the doughnuts and as “props” for the photos.

The chopped pistachios that these beauties are topped with give a nice extra nuttiness while providing vivid green adornment.

Savour these Persian Love Cake Doughnuts on Valentine’s Day or any other special occasion.

Make them with love and eat them with joy!

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts

‏

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts

Recipe Type: Dessert    Author: Alice In Eatland
Prep Time: 30 Minutes    Cook Time: 20 Minutes    Total Time: 50 Minutes
Serves: 10 – 12

 

Persian Love Cake Doughnuts: easy recipe for these incredibly delicious, gloriously fragrant and absolutely stunning beauties.

 

INGREDIENTS

 

  • 50 grams pistachios
  • 1 tbsp warm milk
  • A big pinch of saffron strands
  • 100 grams flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 6-8 pods green cardamom
  • 100 grams salted butter, soft
  • 100 grams caster sugar or superfine sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp rose water OR 1/4 tsp rose essence

 

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C.
  2. Butter and flour a 12 hole mini doughnut pan.
  3. Grind the pistachios in a coffee grinder or food processor until finely powdered. Set aside.
  4. Add the saffron to the warm milk in a small cup and set aside.
  5. Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl.
  6. Grind the cardamom pods in a coffee grinder. Sieve.
  7. Cream the butter and sugar a few minutes until creamy. Add rose water or rose essence and eggs one at a time alternately with flour mixture.
  8. Add remaining flour, powdered pistachios, ground (and sieved) cardamoms and the saffron milk mixture.
  9. Put this mixture into a piping bag snipped at the tip or fitted with a plain round nozzle (I used a large Ateco 809 tip) and pipe the batter into the doughnut molds.
  10. You may have some leftover batter after filling all the mini doughnut molds. I used mine to bake a few Persian Love Cake Cupcakes!
  11. Bake 15 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the doughnuts comes out clean.
  12. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes.
  13. Loosen the edges with a small knife and invert doughnuts onto a wire rack.
  14. Re-invert and cool completely.
  15. Trim any edges if necessary to get a neat round shape.

 

To decorate with Lemon Glacé Icing:

  1. Stir 100 grams of icing sugar with 1 – 2 tablespoons or more of fresh lemon juice until of pouring consistency.
  2. Place a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper on a cookie sheet, tray or flat work surface.
  3. Place the cooled doughnuts onto the sheet.
  4. Drizzle the Lemon Glacé Icing with a spoon over the doughnuts.
  5. Decorate with fresh snipped or chopped rose petals (thoroughly washed and dried) and finely chopped pistachios.