Muscovado Drizzle Cake with Pecan Nuts and Cream Cheese Frosting

I thought it was about time for another epic cake. There have been a few, this one, oooh and this one, and definitely this one! 

If I could, I would just create OMG cakes all day long, but then they wouldn't be special, right? And boy is this one special. See how many words are in the title? Life tip: when you see a cake with THAT many delicious things in it's name, you know it's going to be gooooooood. Just look at it... *moment of silence, please*

A cake this beautiful always has a muse and my muse for this one was real, proper Muscovado sugar. 

Dark Muscovado sugar has a more intense molasses flavour than it's Light counterpart

I've only recently discovered the world of proper unrefined sugar. Until now, I've kind of just thought that sugar is well, sugar; although it comes in different forms which can alter the texture of baked goodies it really just adds sweetness, not flavour. 

That was until I spotted a new Dark Muscovado sugar made in Mauritius by a brand called Natura Sugars. I brought it home, and ended up eating it straight out the bag, with a spoon. It is THAT good. Rich, dark, complex and dusky. 

Remember when you discovered proper dark chocolate for the first time? This is like that. The real friggin' deal. A total game-changer.

My general motto in life, is that if something tastes good on a spoon, it automatically tastes good in anything else. And this cake once again, proves my hypothesis (woah big word alert). The sugar takes it to a whole different level. 

FYI 'Muscovado' means 'unrefined' in Spanish - although in Spanish they say 'Mascabado' - and Muscovado sugar was first crafted in Latin America several centuries ago. 

 So, with my muse selected, I set out to create a cake to show off all the complex flavours of dark and light Muscovado sugar. Spices. Pecan nuts. Butter (always butter). A bit of cream cheese - okay, a lot of cream cheese,  and, of course, there had to be a Muscovado glaze; drippy cake glazes are, like, so in right now. 

Sorry, but it's hard to care about cake decorating trends when you know the cake is so delicious it's not going to last long enough to be Instagrammed! ;) 

Muscovado Cake with Pecans, Cream Cheese Frosting and Muscovado Glaze

Serves 8-10

4 large eggs

220g Natura Light Muscovado sugar

120ml buttermilk

120g butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

280g cake flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp salt

100g pecan nuts, finely chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting

50g Natura Dark Muscovado sugar

500g Natura Demerara Icing Sugar, sifted

100g butter, softened

250g full fat cream cheese*

Muscovado Glaze

50g Light Muscovado Sugar

50g Dark Muscovado Sugar

75g butter

125ml cream

To Serve

Crushed shortbread (I used chocolate-coated shortbread balls too)

Candied pecan nuts, crushed
Pecan praline shards (see Tip)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius.

Grease and line 4 x 20cm sandwich cake tins (or use two and slice the cake in half)

In a stand mixer, whip the eggs and sugar until very light (almost white), thick and fluffy. 

In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. 

Pour this mixture into the egg mixture.

Sift together the remaining dry ingredients and fold into the creamed mixture along with the chopped pecan nuts.

Divide the batter between the cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the sponge is golden brown on top and bounces back when pressed lightly. 

Allow the cakes to cool completely, upside down, before unmoulding. 

For the frosting, cream the butter, Muscovado and Demerara Icing sugar until light and very fluffy. Add the cream cheese and whip until very fluffy. 

To make the glaze, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until dissolved. Then bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute then set aside and allow to cool. 

Assemble the cake by layering the cake with the cream cheese frosting. To make layering easier, freeze the layers for 20-30 minutes before you begin assembling, this will make the cake more rigid and keep the frosting in place. Frost the sides of the cake, drizzle with the glaze, then decorate with pecan nuts, shortbread and extra frosting piped on top.

TIP: If you'd like to create the pecan shards, place 1 cup of light Muscovado sugar in a saucepan with 1 tbsp water and simmer until melted and caramelized. Pour over a handful of pecan nuts scattered on a greased and lined baking tray. Allow to cool completely then break into shards. I also crushed some to toss onto the side of the cake. 

*This post has been sponsored by Natura Sugars who produce a range of really special sugars that are unrefined and made according to traditional Mauritian sugar-making techniques. The sugars are non-GM, non-irradiated and unbleached with no preservatives, colourants or syrups added which basically means they are pure, natural and packed with flavour! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Microwave Double Chocolate Lamingtons

This chocolate cake recipe is legendary in the Williams household. 
It was the first thing I learnt to bake, probably the only reason we owned a microwave and definitely one of the last things I want to eat on this earth.
 The sponge is light as a feather and has been layered into birthday cakes, baked into a bundt and glazed with chocolate icing for bible studies, and poured into slabs and topped with swirls of tinned caramel for school fundraisers. It can be a cupcake, a swiss roll - and now, a lamington!

Start to finish? These lamingtons will take you 30 minutes flat (if that). 

Or your money back. Jokes! But seriously, just chuck everything in a bowl. 

Whisk. Microwave. Dip. Roll. Eat. Repeat. (The eating part, that is)

The recipe is really so easy that I've memorised it. Which is pretty handy, you know for cake emergencies and all.

I've made mine pretty ('cos I love pretty things - yes, even my lamingtons) by baking them in heart-shaped silicone moulds which you can buy super-cheap nowadays but you can simply bake the batter in a silicone muffin tray, or a microwave-safe dish and then cut them out with cutters or keep them in blocks. 

These are the classic lamington flavour (chocolate and coconut) but I will mention that my intention was to give them a tart twist by stuffing the insides with a raspberry sauce.  But I was craving the classic and they tasted just too darn good on their own. You can be more creative than I was and sandwich the cake together with jam, or caramel(!) or flavour the dipping glaze with coffee or liqueuer. 

You know what the only problem is with making a recipe from memory though? There's a very real possibility of leaving an ingredient out, say for instance, the sugar. Which I totally did! And yes, I flop recipes too. All the bloody time. And on that bombshell... go make these! Now! Just make sure to add the sugar ;)

Microwave Chocolate Lamingtons
Makes 18-20

1 cup (250ml) cake flour
1 cup (250ml) caster sugar
4 tbsp (1/4 cup) cocoa powder
4 tsp (20ml) baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup (250ml) hot water
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract

Chocolate glaze
60g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup (60ml) cream
2 tbsp (30ml) golden syrup or honey
1/4 cup (60ml) hot water

Toasted desiccated coconut, for tossing

Whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. 
Divide the batter between silicone heart moulds (or whichever you desire) sprayed with cooking spray - don't fill more than halfway as the cake mix expands quite a bit. 
Now pop the moulds into the microwave and microwave on full power/high for 2-3 minutes or until the cake springs back when you touch it in. 
Remove from the microwave and allow to cool slightly before unmoulding. 
Continue with the rest of the batter. 

TIP If your silicone tray doesn't fit in your microwave (mine didn't), cut it in half - the cakes will cook more evenly too. 

While the cakes are cooling, make the glaze by placing all the ingredients in a small microwave safe bowl and heat gently until melted and glossy. Allow to cool. 

When the cakes and glaze are completely cool, use a pastry brush to paint the glaze onto the cakes then toss in the toasted coconut. 

Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake with Spiced Clementines

This is gooey, chocolatey, messy, shove-your-entire-face-in-it good. 
Who wants to fiddle around with gelatine when you can just bake this and get a dessert that can only be described as the love child of a chocolate fondant and a mousse?! It's light but still deathly decadent. 

A slice of this would be heaven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or double cream (wait who am I kidding, we're all thinking the same thing - there is no way in friggin hell ONE slice is a serving.) Anyway, whatever size your serving is, be sure not to skip over the boozy clementines - they add a pop of brightness not only in colour, but also in flavour, so you can make your way out of the dark richness of it all. 

But if you honestly need another reason to make this? It's a source of Vitamin C*.

*sort of. 

Baked Chocolate Mousse Cake with Spiced Clementines

Serves 8-10

250g good-quality dark chocolate

125g salted butter

zest of 1 Clemengold

4 large eggs, seperated

110g white sugar

3 tbsp (60ml) cake flour, sifted

Spiced Clementines

6 Clemengold's, peeled

1 cup (250ml) sugar 

1/2 cup (125ml) water

3 tbsp (45ml) brandy (optional)

Cinnamon stick

3 cloves

1 vanilla pod, split

Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin (or standard loaf tin) and preheat the oven to 180C

Place the chocolate and butter in a large glass or metal bowl over a pot of gently simmering water and stir until melted and smooth. Stir in the Clemengold zest then set aside to cool slightly. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the egg yolks and sugar until very light, pale and thick. 

Whisk the egg whites in a seperate bowl until soft peak stage. 

Fold the egg yolk mix into the melted chocolate and then gently fold in the egg whites and flour in 3 batches until completely combined. 

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until just set but still gooey (trust the timings and resist the urge to keep baking). 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving with the spiced clementines. 

To make the clementines, slice the Clemengold's and set aside. 

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, brandy and spices over medium heat until dissolved. Bring to the boil then add the fruit and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Chocolate Marshmallow Log

This is an ode to the fabulosity that is the Chocolate Log; that delicious wafer-marshmallow-chocolate bar that is so deeply intrenched into each of our childhood’s. Those not from here, they just don’t get it. They don’t understand the utter joy in biting into a super-fresh chocolate log (you know the one’s when the wafer is still crispy?) or digging out the filling with your finger before eating the chocolate coating. And of course, there’s licking the squished marshmallow off the wrapper (and hoping no one will see and judge you for it). I've also just discovered that the serious chocolate log connoisseurs out there actually freeze the bar first, taking the squishy marshmallow to even gooier heights!

 This cake is by no means a replacement for the real thing, but it is almost as delicious! The gooey marshmallow filling is there (I’ve toasted it for added oomph), so is the chocolate coating - and the wafers - all wrapped up in a flourless light-as-air chocolate swiss roll.

If making your own marshmallow is too much effort, simply melt store-bought white marshmallows with a little water then spread that over. I won’t tell if you don’t. 

Chocolate Marshmallow Log

Serves 8-10

Chocolate log:

6 eggs (separated)

150g castor sugar

50g cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cocoa powder, for dusting

Marshmallow filling:

4 egg whites

1 cup (250ml) castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate glaze:

55g dark or milk chocolate

1/4 cup (60ml) cream

2 tbsp (30ml) golden syrup or honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate wafer biscuits, to garnish 

To make the Swiss roll: Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a large baking sheet with baking paper. 
In a large, clean bowl whisk the egg whites until thick and stiff, then slowly whisk in 1/4 cup of castor sugar. 
In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining castor sugar until the mixture is very thick and pale (about 10 minutes). Fold in the vanilla and sifted cocoa powder.
Lightly whisk 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mix to lighten it, then fold the remaining egg whites in, taking care to knock as little air out as possible. 
Pour the cake batter into the lined baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until springy to the touch. 

While the sponge is baking, prepare the marshmallow frosting. Place the egg whites in a large glass or metal bowl and set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Using a hand beater, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks, then slowly start sprinkling in the sugar. 
Whisk the meringue until it is warm to the touch, then remove from the heat, add the vanilla and beat until cool. 
Remove the cake from the oven ad allow it to cool a little before turning it out onto another piece of baking parchment which has been dusted in cocoa powder.

Make the glaze by combining all the ingredients in a bowl, microwave until the chocolate is melted and the glaze is smooth. Cool to room temperature before drizzling over the log. Top the chocolate log with remaining marshmallow frosting and sprinkle with chopped up wafers or chocolate wafer bars. 

To assemble, place the cake with the short side closest to you, then spread with the marshmallow, leaving a border at the end furthest from you. 
If you want, you can toast the marshmallow using a blow torch (or place under a very hot grill) until golden brown. 
Roll the cake up tightly, trim off the ends if necessary and dust with cocoa powder. 

Chocolate peppermint crisp fridge cake

This no-bake 5-ingredient recipe’s deliciousness revolves around three quintessential South African ingredients – sweetened condensed milk, peppermint crisp bars (can be substituted with any peppermint or mint-flavoured chocolate or sweets) and ‘Eet sum mores’ which are delicious, buttery shortbread biscuits. Of course, these yummy ingredients are bound together with lots of melted chocolate so if you haven’t realized it by now, your diet is pretty much destroyed. 

The great thing about this recipe is that it’s idiot-proof and even better is that you can use just about anything in it – nuts, biscuits, dried fruit, sweets, marshmallows, cherries, breakfast cereal, your favourite chocolate bars – have I left anything out?! ;)

When I created this recipe last year for a quick segment on Expresso, I had no idea just how popular it would be. I put it up on Facebook as I didn’t think it was worth a full blog post and then forgot about it pretty quickly. Except that now, it has been shared over 18 000 times (and so I'm eating my words... and the cake!)

Chocolate peppermint crisp fridge cake

Serves 8-10

100g butter

300g milk or dark chocolate, chopped

½ tin sweetened condensed milk (eat the rest of the tin with a spoon)

200g shortbread biscuits (Eet sum mores)

160g peppermint crisp bars, chopped (I also used some mint aero)

80g mini marshmallows (optional)

Line a standard loaf tin or baking tray with a sheet of baking paper and set aside.

Place the butter, chocolate and condensed milk in a microwave-safe bowl and melt on a medium to low heat until smooth. 

In a separate bowl, break the biscuits into pieces and combine with the peppermint crisp chunks and marshmallows (or whatever other ingredients you're using).

Combine the cooled melted chocolate mixture with the biscuit mixture and stir until combined.

Pour into the lined loaf tin and place in the fridge until completely set.

Unmould and cut into slices.

SOMETHING ELSE YOU MAY LIKE:
Caramel peppermint crisp cake
Peppermint crisp milkshakes
Peppermint crisp ice cream sandwiches

OR HOW ABOUT MORE 5-INGREDIENT RECIPES?
Chocolate macaroon cake with raspberries
Nutty chocolate magic bars

Salted Caramel Coma Cake

A buttery malt sponge sandwiched together with layers of caramel and toffee buttercream with just a touch of sea salt. Can I get an 'Amen?'

 THIS cake is what I think of New Year's resolutions that involve exercising and dieting. Caramel on top of caramel, on top of more caramel - this, can never be a bad thing. 

I've written about my affinity for salted caramel before (although not to be confused with my infatuated love affair with chocolate) and while the world may move on from the salted caramel obsession. I refuse. And there is a very good reason why. 

I'm going to quote myself (can one even do that?! oh well here goes...) from a post I did 2 years ago but only because at the time, in my caramel-induced coma,  I (unknowingly) solved one of the world's greatest problems: Salted Caramel Cake Guilt

cake guilt

ɡɪlt/

noun

1. 1.

   the fact of having committed a specified or implied offence by indulging in too much cake.

"Add a pinch of salt to caramel and you have an earth-shattering combination that is basically the crack cocaine of the culinary world. The reason for this? Consuming fat, sugar and salt all together is a serious sensory overdrive for our brains - it releases dopamine and adrenaline and totally gets our neurons fired up. Exactly the way drugs do.

But before you feel guilty about shovelling another spoonful of caramel straight out the jar, don't, because genetically we're supposed to be attracted to foods with this tantalising trifector. It's a matter of survival, people! We need salt because we can't produce our own. We need fat for energy and our sugar cravings are linked to being able to tell which foods are edible (cave-man days)." 

So, the lesson here is, make this caramel cake and while you drift into a blissful toffee coma, do not feel one pang of guilt, because... you can't fight genetics. 

Salted Caramel Coma Cake
Recipe by Katelyn Williams

260g butter, softened
100g golden syrup
200g brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
250g cake flour
2 tsp (10ml) baking powder
60g malted milk powder (aka Horlicks)
40ml milk

Toffee buttercream
120g white sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) water
3/4 cup (180ml) cream
250g butter, softened

200g (1/2 tin) tinned caramel or dulce de leche spread
Sea salt flakes, for sprinkling
Caramel popcorn, to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celcius. 
Line the bottoms of 2 x 15cm springform cake tins and set aside.
Cream together the butter, syrup and brown sugar until very light and creamy (about 8-10 minutes).
Beat in the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. 
Sift in the cake flour, baking powder and milk powder and fold together, adding the milk to form a thick batter. 
Divide the batter between the two cake tins and spread evenly. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean and the cake has pulled away from the sides. 
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, upside down, on a cooling rack. 

To make the buttercream, place the sugar and water in a pan and heat gently until the sugar is dissolved. 
Bring to the boil and simmer, without stirring, until the mixture begins caramelising. 
Once the syrup reaches a toffee-colour, pour in the cream and swirl to combine. 
Allow to cool completely. 
Cream the butter until very white and fluffy (about 8-10 minutes) then add the toffee sauce and whip to combine. 

To assemble, slice each cake in half to create 4 layers. 
Spread the first layer with tinned caramel then a layer of buttercream and top with the next cake layer. Continue until 4 layers are formed. 
Frost the entire cake using the buttercream (I used some tinned caramel along the bottom of the cake to achieve an ombre affect). 
Place the remaining buttercream in a piping bag (to create a swirled effect, simply smear stripes of caramel in the piping bag before adding the buttercream) then pipe blobs onto the top of the cake. 
Place in the refrigerator to set. 
To serve, sprinkle with sea salt flakes and top with caramel popcorn (if desired). 

TIP: To make a 25cm cake with 4 layers, double the recipe above.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...

Caramel latte loaf cake 
Creme caramel
Caramel macarons with chocolate sea salt
Caramel peppermint crisp cake

Dark Chocolate and Coconut Ganache cake (Gluten and Dairy-free)

 Gluten-free, dairy-free, fat-free... these are not terms that you will often find me using. In my opinion, anything that ends in '-free' might as well begin with 'fun'. Fun-free desserts just don't do it for me, but, with that said, I think everyone deserves the right to eat a slice of chocolate cake. And if your body has issues with dairy and gluten, then that should not stop you! 

This recipe was given to me by my much-better-half who is a supremely better pastry chef than I am. It is the darkest, richest, moistest chocolate cake you will ever have the pleasure of tasting. It's also low on sugar (excuse me swearing like this, but you could even use ahem... xylitol which would make it Paleo or banting or whatever diet people are going on these days). But because there is no place for sugar-free desserts on this blog, my version will feature in all it's sugary glory. 

If you're not a fan of coconut, then swop out the coconut flour and milk for extra ground almonds and almond milk, although you'll need to add some more oil as almond milk isn't nearly as fatty as coconut milk. If you want a sweeter cake, simply add more sugar or honey but the bitter chocolate is really quite delicious!

Dark chocolate coconut ganache cake

For the cake:

75g coconut flour

30g ground almonds

120g cocoa powder

14g baking powder

250g muscovado sugar

800ml tinned coconut milk

7 large eggs

For the ganache:

200ml tinned coconut milk

60g brown sugar

120g cocoa powder

50g dark chocolate, chopped

Coconut shavings, toasted, to garnish

Combine the flour, almonds, cocoa, baking powder and sugar.

Mix together the coconut milk and eggs and add to the dry ingredients.

Whisk well to combine then pour into a 2 greased and lined 15cm cake tins.

Bake in a preheated oven at 175C for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

For the frosting, combine the coconut milk, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until smooth then allow to cool.

Assemble the cake by sandwiching with the ganache then topping with remaining ganache. Sprinkle with the coconut shavings to decorate.

For imperial measurements, find my handy conversion chart HERE

Chocolate tiramisu cake

Tiramisu, meet chocolate cake. 

Photograph by Gunther Schubert of Vorsprung Studio

Why it's taken me this long to introduce these two decadent desserts to each other is beyond me because they are sweet soul mates. Meant to be. BFF's. You get the point.

The secret to making ANY cake special (and I'll even go out on a limb and include box cake mix here) is to soak the cake in a simple syrup - even the driest sponge can be magically transformed with a slathering of flavoured (and liquored) syrup. And of course, tiramisu has sponge soaked in espresso syrup - coincidence? I think not. All that's missing is the light and fluffy mascarpone which I transformed into a not-too-sweet frosting and a generous dusting of cocoa powder and it's like the two were destined to live happily ever after...   

Photograph by Gunther Schubert of Vorsprung Studio

Chocolate tiramisu cake

Serves 10-12

3 large eggs

3/4 cup (180ml) melted butter or oil

3/4 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

375ml (1 1/2 cups) cake flour

180ml (3/4 cup) cocoa powder

7,5ml (3/4 tsp) bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

410ml (1 2/3 cups) brown sugar

Espresso syrup

250ml sugar

250ml water

125ml espresso coffee, cooled

80ml coffee liqueur (optional)

Mascarpone frosting

250ml cream

1 tub (240g) mascarpone cheese

½ cup icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cocoa powder, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line 2 x 22cm springform cake tins.

Beat the eggs and oil for 3 minutes on high speed. Add the water and beat for 1 minute on high speed. 

Sift the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt together. Add the sugar and mix into the wet ingredients. 

Divide the batter between the tins and bake for 55 minutes or until cake is cooked when tested with a skewer. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is cooked.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.

Remove from the tin and place on cooling rack, cool completely before cutting each cake in half horizontally with a sharp knife.

To make the syrup, gently heat the sugar and water together and stir until melted then bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly before adding the coffee and liqueur. Allow to cool completely.

To make the frosting, whip the cream and mascarpone together until stiff peaks then whisk in the icing sugar and vanilla. Place in a piping bag with a fluted nozzle.

To assemble the cake, place a cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand, soak the cake in the espresso syrup then pipe frosting on top. Repeat the layers with the cake, syrup and frosting finishing with a layer of frosting on top. Pipe dollops on top of the cake to decorate and dust with a little cocoa powder.