Death by chocolate. Think, a dense, fudgy base of flourless dark chocolate torte. Top that off with an ethereal layer of rich silky Guanaja chocolate mousse. Rich and lush as it melts in the mouth. The circle of fresh blueberries, with their burst of tanginess refreshes the palate between mouthfuls. Mhmm.. there is a reason why this cake is tiny, about 4.5 inches in diameter.
The contrast between the two components somehow works beautifully together. Oh, not forgetting the mix of bailey’s irish cream, whiskey and kahlua thoroughly infused into the cake. Next is the Guanaja mousse which, despite it delicate whipped texture, packs some pretty intense flavour. The smooth, velvety nature enhances the bittersweet flavours of this indulgent cake. Something which I felt was lacking was a crunch or crisp — maybe a praline feuilletine layer at the base the next time?
Another off the list! I love figs and apples, but combined together in a cupcake? Seems unusual but I was dying to test this flavour pairing out. Moist vanilla bean buttermilk cupcakes were filled with a fresh apple-fig compote, buried in the batter before baking. While the cupcakes were cooling, I got to work on the frosting – a satiny, light and not-too-sweet swiss meringue buttercream flecked with tiny specks of Madagascar vanilla and a touch of cinnamon. Apart from my absolute favourite cream cheese frosting, this sure is one of my most loved cupcake frosting of all time. It delivers a luscious and silky mouthfeel that’s most importantly, stable enough to hold up in our sweltering heat and humid weather. No doubt this takes quite abit of work to make (from the meringue to the seemingly endless process of whipping it where it turns from a soupy, curdled mess to a billowy cloud of frosting), but the efforts are always worth it. Finally, the frosted cupcakes were garnished with a little slice of dried fig and a spiced caramel drizzle.
Despite being one of the most complicated, multi-component cupcakes I’ve done so far (cupcake base, fruit compote filling, frosting and caramel drizzle), I was surprised that it didn’t take as much time as anticipated. Here you go, another original cupcake creation – the Fig & Apple. I’m super excited the share this recipe. Do try it for yourself and let me know what you think!
It seems like I hardly feature anything savoury over here. Apart from having an incredibly sweet tooth, I rarely gravitate towards baking savoury items like quiches, meat pies, etc. For a change, here’s something that I’d made some time back during my bread-making phase. After several attempts (and filling the pantry with all sorts of flours for breads) I decided to take a rest from the usual crusty artisan free-form loafs and bake these Italian Focaccia instead.
Aromatic with a nice bite, they were even better dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. However, these were a little dry the next day and not as chewy as we’d liked (maybe my proportions were a little off?) Well, at least they did make an awesome sandwich when lightly toasted with some Emmental cheese, smoked ham and peppery arugula/rocket leaves!
This post has been largely influenced by all the scrummy mango sticky rice I had during my trip to Bangkok last week! Mango pudding is such a classic dessert at Chinese restaurants. Softly-set, chilled pudding infused with the heady aroma of mangoes. A while ago, we had a little stash of Indian Alphonso Mangoes which were on the verge of over-ripening. In a bid to use them in a recipe, I decided to make Mango Panna Cotta. The traditional mango pudding recipe called for agar agar which might result in a tough, rubbery texture if not handled properly. No way was I gonna waste the delicious seasonal fruit on something that might go wrong. So I adapted the recipe by adding mango puree and coconut milk. The result? A silky, soft creamy pudding with intense mango flavour. I might have gone a little too heavy handed on the sugar, so feel free to cut back depending on the sweetness of your mangoes!
