Gingerbread macaron Christmas tree decorations

Why buy Christmas tree ornaments when you can make them yourself, and then eat them?! This was the very epiphany I had last week when after moving into a new house I suddenly realised I had nothing to decorate a tree with (in my spring-cleaning chuck-everything-away state they were tossed in the bin). But if you're a baker, who needs glass/plastic baubles when you can make your own which coincidentally look and ARE good enough to eat. My infatuation with macarons continues this year (I tried to convince you all last year to give them a bash with this Christmas mince pie macaron version) with my spiced gingerbread macaron - which I might add, if Christmas had a taste, would taste like this! And with the beautiful edible copper, gold and silver dusts and glitter you can buy these days, it's super easy to add sparkle to your tree. Hang them up and after Christmas dinner, when the family asks where's dessert? Channel your inner Heston Blumenthal and just point to the tree!

I know macarons are daunting but I've tested this recipe so many times I can recite the quantities and it works every time. My five crucial points to success are:

1. Grind and sift the almonds and icing sugar thoroughly

2. Beat the egg whites until very stiff - they should form very stiff peaks. 

3. Fold until the mixture looks like lava - it should ooze when dropped from your spoon. 

4. Check your oven temperature! 

5. Bake on the lower third rack of your oven. 

Gingerbread macaron Christmas tree trinkets

Makes about 30

120g ground almonds
200g icing sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

100g egg whites (about 3 large eggs)

1/4tsp cream of tartar

35g castor sugar

Spiced white chocolate ganache

110ml cream

peel of 1 orange

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

250g good-quality white chocolate, chopped

Edible copper or gold dust and glitter, for dusting

Line 2-3 baking sheets with good-quality baking paper or even better, silicone sheets. Using a tot glass, trace circles onto the baking paper then flip it over – you’ll need these as a sizing guide (unless your piping skills are of Martha Stewart quality!)

Blend the almonds, icing sugar and spices together until fine. Sift the mixture to remove any clumps then blend any leftover mixture and sift again until nothing remains. 

Begin beating the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed. Once the egg whites are very foamy and white, begin sprinkling in the sugar as you beat. Increase the speed to medium, if necessary, and beat the meringue to very stiff glossy peaks. The meringue should be very firm.

Add about 1/4 of the almond/sugar mixture and fold until no streaks remain. Continue to add the almond mixture in quarters, folding until incorporated. The mixture should be a lava consistency so when dropped, it should start spreading and oozing. 

Spoon the batter into a piping bag and pipe rows of batter onto the baking sheets using the circles as a guide, giving them enough space to spread. Tap the pan on the counter to bring up any air bubbles and quickly pop them with a toothpick if necessary. 
Allow the cookies to rest on a level surface for 30-60 minutes until they are no longer tacky to a light touch. This is a very important step so don't be tempted to be impatient!
While they rest, place an oven rack in the lower 3rd of your oven and preheat to 150C (conventional oven, if fan-forced, reduce by 20C). Check your oven isn't too hot or too cold by using an oven or sugar thermometer.
Bake the cookies for 16-20 minutes. They’re ready when you lightly touch them and they no longer have any ‘give’.

Make the ganache by heating the cream and orange peel together until just simmering. Set aside for 1 hour to infuse before heating again and pouring over the white chocolate. Stir until melted then mix in the spices and allow to set until spreadable.

Sandwich the macarons together with the ganache. Using a clean soft paint brush, coat the macarons with edible copper or gold dust. 

TIP To turn the macarons into tree decorations, insert a long piece of wire with a hook at the top into the macarons while sandwiching them. Allow to set before hanging them up with ribbon or thread.  

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 millionaire shortbread cake

This is one of those 'I've had a horrific week and I need to eat my body weight in copious amounts of chocolate and sugar to make it better' cakes. The cake itself is my absolute favourite and ticks all the boxes of the perfect chocolate cake: moist, not too sweet and easy. It has an absurd amount of water in the batter but rest assured, this is the secret to a deliciously moist cake as the flour absorbs all the liquid when you give it a chance and that's exactly what stops the batter from being dry. It's perfect for tray-bakes for church bazaars or even as cupcakes. 

As if the cake wasn't good enough on it's own, I've piled it with layers of chocolate, caramel and shortbread, inspired by my favourite millionaire treat. If this cake doesn't have the wow factor then I dunno. 

Chocolate millionaire shortbread cake

Recipe created for October issue of Food and Home Entertaining Magazine

Serves 8-10

Chocolate cake

1/2L water

240g vegetable oil

450g brown sugar

200g dark chocolate, chopped

115g cocoa powder

4 large eggs

325g cake flour

5g baking powder

2g salt

10g bicarbonate of soda

Shortbread

500g butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup castor sugar

200ml maizena or cornstarch

2 cups cake flour

Chocolate topping

450g dark chocolate

1 cup cream

Salted caramel sauce, for drizzling

Chocolate shortbread biscuits, to garnish

Preheat oven to 160C.

Boil water then add oil and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and then pour over the chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth. Whisk eggs lightly then stir in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the combined dry ingredients. Let mix stand covered for 1 hour. Place the batter into 2 x 24cm springform cake tins lined with baking paper and bake at 160C for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

For the shortbread, cream the butter or margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.  Gradually add the combined dry ingredients to form a soft dough.  Roll out the dough and cut into a 24cm disc. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crisp and golden. 

Assemble the cake by starting with a shortbread layer, spread some salted caramel on the bottom then place the chocolate cake on top followed by the chocolate topping. Repeat this process finishing with chocolate and a drizzling of salted caramel. Decorate with the leftover crushed shortbread.

TIP: Take a shortcut by buying ready-made caramel and chocolate spread instead of making your own!

Liquorice Macarons

Your search of the perfect French macaron ends here, with this Italian-inspired recipe. 
Macarons are notorious for making even the best bakers cry. I, myself, have shed many a tear while sitting on my kitchen floor in the dim light of my oven whilst peering through the warm glass while praying that my macarons would make feet. If my relationship with macarons was on Facebook, my status would be set to 'it's complicated' but hey, that doesn't stop me from dating them (totally normal analogy I just used there, by the way).

On my brother's last visit, his Milanese girlfriend brought me a beautiful black glossy bottle of Italian liquorice liqueur. The bottle was so gorgeous I simply had to create something that was just as jet black - enter the liquorice macaron with black sesame seeds. I added the sesame seeds because Italian boyfriend brought me 1kg of them the other day (he brings me foodie things in leu of flowers). And yes, our family obviously has a thing for Italians.  

Liquorice is one of those tricky flavours, like banana, that people either love or hate. There are no in-betweeners. Apparently 53% of people don't like it (and 66% of people who don't sleep on their side don't like the treat either - yes, you needed to know that) and although scientists have tried to figure out why, they've agreed it probably comes down to how you were brought up. If liquorice Allsorts were a regular part of your family's sweetie tin then you're probably a fan and it's no biggie. But if you don't care for the treat, then by all means, omit it from the recipe and replace it with whatever other liqueur takes your fancy! 

Liquorice macarons with black sesame

Makes 25

120g ground almonds

200g icing sugar

3 tbsp black sesame seeds, crushed into a paste

100g egg whites (about 3 large eggs)

1/4tsp cream of tartar

35g white sugar

black gel food colouring

Liquorice ganache

60ml cream 

250g white chocolate, chopped

40ml liquorice liqueur

Line 2-3 baking sheets with baking paper.

Sift together the ground almonds and icing sugar to remove any clumps. Blend any leftover mixture then sift again until nothing remains. 

Begin beating the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed. Once the egg whites are very foamy, begin sprinkling in the sugar as you beat. Increase the speed to medium, if necessary, and beat the meringue to stiff glossy peaks. Beat in the sesame paste and black colouring until desired shade. 

Add about 1/4 of the almond/sugar mixture and fold until no streaks remain. Continue to add the almond mixture in quarters, folding until incorporated. 

Pour the batter into a piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle and pipe rows of batter onto the baking sheets, giving them space to spread. Tap the pan on the counter to bring up any air bubbles and quickly pop them with a toothpick.

Allow the cookies to rest on a level surface for 30-60 minutes until they are no longer tacky to a light touch. 

While they rest, place an oven rack in the lower 3rd of your oven and preheat to 150C. 

Bake the cookies, one tray at a time, for 16-20 minutes.

Make the ganache by heating the cream until just simmering. Pour over the white chocolate and stir until melted then stir in the liqueur and colouring. Allow to set until spreadable.

Sandwich the macarons together with the ganache. 

World Baking Day Challenge: Milk tart cake

It isn't every day that two men in black suits with aviators and ear pieces arrive at your office carrying a locked box. It also isn't every day that you hear the words, 'Katelyn, do you accept the challenge to bake brave?' Erm, hells yes I do! Even though I had no idea what that meant! What kind of an awesome/stupid question is THAT?! After tweeting my answer (I had to resist the urge to just type 'duh') I received the secret code that unlocked the padlock. 'What was in the box?!' I hear you screaming, well, in it was everything I needed to make a ridiculously beautiful-looking milk tart cake. This cake.

It was created by gateau queen Katrien van Zyl for the World Baking Day website and is ranked at level 45/100. Those chocolate curls?! That intricate collar?! Oh my, this was going to be quite a challenge! So the box sat on my counter for a week in the run up to World Baking Day on 19 May in the hope that it would  psyche me up and drum up my bravery. Instead it haunted me until that fateful Sunday morning... 

First up, I sussed out my ingredients (brace yourself, it's quite a list!):

‘Milk tart’ Filling Ingredients

500 ml (2 cups) full fat milk

30 ml (2 tbsp) butter or margarine

1x 385 g can of sweetened condensed milk

1 large egg

45 ml (3 tbsp) cornflour

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence

Powdered cinnamon, to taste

Cake Ingredients:

360 g (3 cups) self-raising flour

350 g (1¾ cup) white sugar

350 g (1½ cups) butter or margarine, softened (or at room temperature)

6 large eggs

80 ml (⅓ cup) milk

15 ml (1 tbsp) vanilla essence

Ganache Coating Ingredients:

125 ml (½ cup) whipping cream

15 ml (1 tbsp) butter or margarine

1 cinnamon stick

375 g white chocolate, chopped into small pieces

Decoration:

50 g dark chocolate, melted

500 ml (2 cups) full fat milk

30 ml (2 tbsp) butter or margarine

1x 385 g can of sweetened condensed milk

1 large egg

45 ml (3 tbsp) cornflour

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence

Powdered cinnamon, to taste

1 x Chocolatier (optional, but definitely advised), preferably Italian, and hot 

Although the original recipe started with the cake, I made the milk tart filling first so it could cool. The filling  is basically a creme patisserie made with condensed milk, because in South Africa, everything is made better by adding condensed milk. Fact. I wanted mine a little lighter, so I folded in some whipped cream once it has cooled. More whipped cream is never a bad thing - ever.

Heat together the milk, margarine and condensed milk in a pot on the stove at medium heat until the margarine has melted. Whisk the egg, cornflour and vanilla essence in a bowl and while whisking, pour some of the heated milk mixture onto the egg mixture. Pour the milk and egg mixture back into the pot and heat it on medium heat on the stove while stirring continuously for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture thickens. As soon as the mixture starts to boil, remove from the heat. Pour the thickened mixture into a bowl, place cling wrap over the surface to prevent a skin forming and place it in the refrigerator until cool, preferably overnight.

That wasn't SO hard! I felt quite chuffed with myself. 

Next, I tackled the cake. I've never actually prepared a cake using this method before - the ingredients list hints at it being a pound cake but the process is somewhat different. Chocolatier then informed me that it is actually a German 'Sandkuchen' or sand cake (you will notice that Chocolatier comes in handy quite often in this post). 

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, softened margarine and eggs. Mix for 30 seconds with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the milk and vanilla essence and beat for another 1 minute and 30 seconds or until the mixture looks light and fluffy. Spoon equal amounts of batter into two 20cm lined cake tins and bake for about 50 minutes at 160C or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Cakes done, filling done - now for my favourite part, the chocolate! Chop the white chocolate finely so it melts properly - or get a chocolatier to do it for you. I just happened to have one lying around so...

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Gently heat the cream with the cinnamon stick in a pot on the stove. Bring the cream to just below boiling point. Remove the pot from the heat and leave the cream to cool for the cinnamon stick to infuse the cream with its subtle flavour. Place the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Remove the cinnamon stick from the cream and pour the cream over the chopped chocolate. Heat the chocolate and cream mixture in a microwave oven at 20% power or at the Defrost setting. Stir at 2-minute intervals until the mixture is melted and smooth. Leave the ganache in the refrigerator to set for a few hours or overnight.

The next part of the recipe made me shake in my apron. Chocolate curls? Ask me to eat them, I can totally do that. Make them? Ain't nobody got time for that! So, again, having a Chocolatier lying around I put him to work and watched him melt his magic while I sat and enjoyed a glass of wine. This is advisable. No wait, actually it is a must.

Chocolatier warmed the slab of chocolate with his hands (although I strongly suspect the chocolate actually melted because he was standing near it... If you know what I mean!) and then used a knife and a round cookie cutter to make beautiful chocolate curls for the top of the cake. 

Spread three of the layers with ‘milk tart’ filling; sprinkle powdered cinnamon between the layers and stack the layers on top of one another. (It's advisable to assemble the cake back in the springform tin to stop everything squishing out!) Spread some of the ganache over the cake to cover completely then refrigerate until set. Melt the remaining ganache and pour over to make a thin coating. 

Oh be still my beating heart! I got hot Chocolatier to put 2 layers of ganache on the cake, mainly so I could watch him do it twice. Oh yes. 

Measure the height and circumference of the cake and cut a piece of greaseproof paper to this size. Pour 50 g melted chocolate into a zip-lock bag, snip off a small piece at one corner of the bag to make a piping bag and pipe swirls on the greaseproof paper. Before the chocolate sets, lift the paper off your workbench and fold it around the cake with the decorations on the inside. Peel the paper off the chocolate to reveal a lace pattern on the cake.Decorate the top of the cake with powdered cinnamon, cinnamon sticks or chocolate curls.

And then it should look like this... ta-da! NAILED IT! 

This cake really was delicious and not just a pretty face! The challenge here is the chocolate work, leave that out and it's actually a pretty straight-forward, simple and yummy cake! So give it a go!

Now, to come up with another excuse to get hot Chocolatier back in my kitchen...