Tag Archives: baking with cointreau

Walnut, Dark Chocolate and Honey Flourless Cake

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Some unions seem to make perfect seasonal sense. Think spring and a bowl of freshly picked, oozy strawberries to dip in cream, comes summer and hardly anything will come as close as the perfect marriage of stone fruit and almonds. Autumn is heralded by an abundance of figs best served along with pistachios and ripe cheeses and as the weather cools ever further, what could we crave more than opulent, dark chocolate and freshly shelled walnuts? As much as they are wonderful enjoyed as they are, as an after dinner treat (better still with a shot of Grappa…), they give their very best when turned into a rich, molten cake batter, enriched by Italians cream cheese of choice, mascarpone.

INGREDIENTS, serves 8

170 gr of dark chocolate chips

170 gr of Mascarpone

2 tablespoons of Cointreau

2 tablespoons of honey

120 gr of shelled walnuts, ground in a food processor

200 gr of brown sugar

2 tablespoons of dutch cocoa powder

1 scant tablespoon of baking powder

3 eggs, whole

HOW TO

1. Melt the chocolate in  a double boiler or in the microwave. Add honey and liquor and mix through. Add the mascarpone and set aside to cool slightly.

2. Process the nuts with the sugar and cocoa. Add the baking powder and mix through.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the nuts mixture.

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4. Line a cake tin (or a muffin tin, if making individual cakes) with grease-proof paper, pour in the batter and bake in a medium over (170 C, 340 F) for 35-40 minutes or until the sides are slightly cracked but the centre is still a little wobbly (if using a muffin tin, baking time will shorten by 5-10 minutes). Allow to cool at room temperature in the tin before serving.

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5. Serve dusted with icing, sugar, cocoa powder or drizzled with honey, preferably along with a generous helping of vanilla gelato or whipped cream.

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6. Start dieting tomorrow…

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Note:

Check out my other flourless chocolate cake recipe, Torta Gianduja (hazelnut and Chocolate Cake)

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Almond, Orange and Blackberry Cakes

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As I opened my freezer a few days ago, I noticed a couple of punnets of blackberries I had been keeping for a rainy day.

Rainy it was indeed. In fact it had been so wet in Sydney that I was starting to wonder whether we’d have any dry days at all this year!

The decision of devouring those dark, gleaming gems had been promptly made, but how to turn them into a heart-warming, scrumptious delight?

With the aid of a few usual suspects, flour, sugar, almonds and perhaps the citrusy kick provided by a splash of Cointreau, I felt sure I could give it my best shot.

INGREDIENTS

(this will yield 8 cakes baked in large muffin tins and there with some left over batter for mini cakes)

190 gr (just under 1 cup) of castor sugar

1/8 teaspoon  of salt

200 gr (just under 2 cups) of self-raising flour, sifted

50 gr (just under 1/2 cup) of almond meal

3 eggs

70 ml (1/3 cup) of grape seed oil

4 tablespoons of Greek yogurt

3/4 cup of blackberries

3 tablespoons of icing sugar

juice and zest of 1 orange

1 tablespoon of Cointreau (or any other orange flavored liquor)

HOW TO

Put the berries in bowl and dress with the juice of 1 orange, the Cointreau and the icing sugar. Macerate for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, cream the eggs with the sugar and the salt until they are pale and fluffy.

Add the yogurt and the oil and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Gently incorporate the sifted flour and the almond meal.

Add the berries and their juices, pour batter into a greased and floured 8-hole muffin tin and bake at 180 C (340 F) for 20/25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Take the tin out of the oven and cool for 30 minutes before taking the cakes out.

Dust with icing sugar and serve with fresh berries and a flute of Moscato, for extreme pleasure!

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