Belinda Jeffery's Flourless Chocolate, Pecan and Raspberry Torte

I love this cake. It fills all the criteria for a wonderful holiday dessert. It's rich and sophisticated, keep exceptionally well, is very simple to make and, all-important for a special occasion, look spectacular. The iced cake, minus the raspberries, keeps well in the freezer for up to a month.

Belinda Jeffery's Flourless Chocolate, Pecan and Raspberry Torte

Belinda Jeffery's Flourless Chocolate, Pecan and Raspberry Torte Recipe

(Adapted from AWW Christmas and Holiday Entertaining Cookbook)

Ingredients

• 250 g unsalted butter
• 250 g good quality dark chocolate
• 3/4 cup (75 g) sifted Dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 2/3 cup (200 g) roasted pecans
• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (330 g) caster sugar
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) brandy or cognac
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 punnets raspberries
• double thick cream, for serving

Chocolate Glace:

• 250 g good quality dark chocolate, chunks
• 125 g unsalted butter, chopped
• 2 1/2 tbsp water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Butter a 23 cm springform cake pan and line the base with buttered baking paper. Dust cake pan with flour or rice flour (if you're avoiding wheat) and tap out the excess. Set it aside.
2. Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate and whisk until melted. Take the pan off the heat, then add the cocoa, stirring it in until the mixture is thick and smooth. Set it aside to cool a little.
3. Meanwhile, whiz the pecans in a food processor to chop them as finely as possible. Stop the machine every so often to check them so they don't become oily and form a paste. Set them aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and sugar with a balloon whisk until they are just blended together, then whisk in the warm chocolate mixture until it's well combined. Mix in the brandy and vanilla. Finally, stir in the ground pecans - the batter will look very loose and sloppy, but don't worry, it's fine.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the torte for 40-45 minutes or until the side is set, but the middle 15 cm or so of the torte is still a bit wobbly when you gently shake the pan.
6. Cool the torte completely in the pan on a wire rack. Once cool, release the sides of the pan and carefully invert the torte onto the rack. Remove the paper.
7. Chocolate Glaze: Put the chocolate, butter and water into a medium-sized, heavy based saucepan over low heat. Let the chocolate and butter melt, stirring regularly, until they are smooth. (A small, flat sauce whisk is ideal for this, as it gets right into the corners of the pan where the chocolate tends to clump a bit.) The most important thing to keep in mind when you're making the glaze is that it mustn't get too hot and boil; If it does, it becomes oily and grainy and there's not much chance of salvaging it. Once it's silky smooth, take it off the heat. Let it cool until it's barely warm and a thick pouring consistency before using it.
8. To ice, place the torte on the rack over a plate to catch any drips, then pour a good amount of the barely warm Chocolate Glaze into the middle of the torte. Tilt the rack so the glaze flows evenly over the top and runs down the sides (for the smoothest finish, don't run a palette knife over it). If your room is cool, you can leave the glaze to set at room temperature. However, where I live, summer is hot and humid, so I generally transfer the lot - the torte on its rack on the drip plate - into the fridge to set. Once set, slide the torte onto a serving plate and cover it in plastic wrap - it will keep well like this for at least a week. Before serving, remove the wrap and return the torte to cool room temperature.
9. To finish off, sit a tightly packed layer of raspberries all over the top, then dust them very lightly with icing sugar. Serve with cream.

Sicilian Orange Cake

I love baking cakes with fruits. I have posted my favourite recipes for Blueberry-Lemon Cake and Apple-Cinnamon Cake. Now on to this Sicilian Orange Cake which is the best orange cake I have tasted so far. This verdict is further confirmed by all my friends who have tasted it.

This Sicilian Orange Cake is the famous orange cake from the once popular Café Agostini owned by Margie Agostini, in the heart of Sydney ’s suburb for the rich and famous, Woollahra. Customers have often been heard to say that “Margie’s orange cake is to die for”.

I found this recipe on Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escape Cookbook a while ago but was surprised to find out how this recipe was linked to Australia:

Rick Stein: "To be accurate, I suppose this cake should be known as Margie Agostini's orange cake. It was her signature dish at her greatly missed Caffe Agostini in Woollahra in Sydney. It seemed to me to be just made for Sicilian oranges. The recipe came from an article in the Times by Jill Dupleix, although I had eaten the cake at the cafe a few years earlier and I thought it was amazing. As Jill says, it has to be the richest, moistest, butteriest and yet lightest orange cake in the world."

Sicilian Orange Cake Recipe

Makes 1 x 22-cm cake, to serve about 8. (Adapted from Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escape)

Ingredients

• 250 g lightly salted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
• 250 g caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 250 g self raising flour
• 85 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
• For the icing:
• 125 g icing sugar
• 5 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and line a 22-cm clip-sided round cake with non-stick baking paper.
2. Using an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar together for 4-5 minutes until very pale. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating very well between each one, if necessary adding a spoonful of flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from curdling. Beat in the orange zest. Add the flour all at once and mix in well, then slowly mix in the orange juice.
3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean. If it starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of lightly buttered foil.
4. Leave the cake, in its tin, to cool on a wire rack, then carefully remove the sides and base of the tin and peel off the paper. Put it onto a serving plate.
5. For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the orange juice until you have a spreadable consistency. Spread it over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides, and leave to set. Serve cut into slices, and store any leftovers in an airtight container.

Tip: Why not turn this Sicilian Orange Cake into these cute little Orange Cupcakes for the little people?

Beer Bread with Cheese and Sunflower Seed Crust

I have never thought of making my own bread when one can buy all sorts of fresh bread from the bakery. Not until I saw this recipe.

Beer + 4 other simple ingredients. No electric mixer is needed. Simply mix the ingredients together & into the oven for 45 minutes. I couldn't resist to give it a go. The results are fantabolous!

Beer Bread with Cheese and Sunflower Seed Crust Recipe (Serves 6-8)

(Recipe adapted from Delicious Magazine by Valli Little and Amanda Biffin)

Ingredients

• 3 cups (450g) self-raising flour
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 450 ml chilled lager (beer)
• 1/2 cup (80g) sunflower seeds
• 1 cup (120g) grated tasty (cheddar) cheese

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Grease and line a 7cm-deep, 10cm x 26cm loaf pan.
2. Combined flour, sugar and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Add beer and stir until combined.
3. Spoon mixture into pan and sprinkle with seeds and cheese.
4. Bake for 45 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when base is tapped.

Salmon and Brie Quiche

Yesterday was my bestie Miss M's birthday. I baked this Salmon and Brie Quiche, one of her favourite dishes, to wish her a very happy birthday.

Quiche is a very common lunch item in Australian cafes and bakeries. One of the interesting facts about quiche is that Bruce Feirstein's 1982 bestseller 'Real Men Don't Eat Quiche' typecasts quiche as a stereotypically feminine food.

Errr... I beg to differ though... Miss M's husband loves quiche... I bet he finished 3/4 of the quiche if not all by now.

Salmon and Brie Quiche Recipe (Serves 6)

Ingredients

• 2 sheets frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed
• 1 x 415 g canned Salmon
• 3 eggs
• 300 ml thickened cream
• 2 tbsp chopped dill
• 1 tbsp baby capers, drained
• Salt and pepper
• 150 g Brie

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F). Place a 23 x 3.5cm fluted quiche tin onto a baking tray.
2. Line quiche tin with pastry, cutting and joining pastry where necessary* (See note at bottom of post)
3. Trim excess pastry. Prick base with a fork, line with a sheet of bake paper and fill with dried beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes. remove paper and beans and return to oven for 5 minutes. Reduce oven to 180C (350C).
4. Meanwhile, drain salmon well and remove and discard skin and bones. Fake salmon with a fork. In a medium bowl, whisk egg, cream, dill, capers, salt and pepper together.
5. Scatter salmon into pastry shell and pour over cream mixture.
6. Cut cheese into wedges and arrange on top of filling.
7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until golden, puffed and set in the centre. Serve warm or cold with salad.

Note: To join pastry pieces, wet edges with a little water. Overlap edges and press together to join.

Mini Heart Shaped Vegemite Swirls

Mini Heart Shaped Vegemite Swirls Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen ready-rolled puff pastry, thawed
• Vegemite
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C (425F). Place pastry onto baking paper. Spread Vegemite over pastry. (Trust me, this ain't a pretty scene :-) I scribbled I ? Oz on it to add a personal touch.)
2. Starting with the short edge near you, and using the paper to help, roll pastry around the filling like a Swiss Roll. Stop in the centre and repeat the same from the opposite edge.
3. Put the roll in the fridge covered in plastic cling wrap for 30 minutes to make it easier for cutting.
4. Cut roll into slices about 2cm (3/4 of an inch) thick.
5. Place slices with cut side up on a lightly greased oven tray. Brush with lightly beaten egg yolk all over. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes or until pastry is golden.