Homemade Crunchies (Chocolate Honeycomb)

Honeycomb was one of the first things I created that made me fall completely in love with baking. It's got that magic - like meringue - where you can make something glorious out of a handful of very basic ingredients. It really comes down to science, but it's still damn cool when you sprinkle bicarbonate of soda into a molten pot of caramel and it fizzes up like a heavenly volcano. (If there are volcanoes in heaven, I'm pretty sure they will ooze bubbly honeycomb...#justsaying)

There is not a South African alive that doesn't have an affinity for, what we call, crunchies. As a kid, my memory of them is of Friday after-school drives home, eating crunchies while letting the chocolate melt on my fingers so I could lick it off. When I say 'letting the chocolate melt' I mean it was done purposely, because chocolate bars never have time to melt in my hands! We'd buy the crunchies from this glorious little factory shop in George that sold all Cadbury's rejected chocolate bars. Rejected by them and welcomed by me! 

I've covered my homemade version in dark chocolate because I love how the bitterness balances the sweetness of the honeycomb, but feel free to coat yours in milk or even white chocolate. A sprinkling of sea salt also gives these a deliciously grown-up twist!  My memory of them is not quite the perfectly formed crunchies most would be used to, but I urge you to embrace this because cutting honeycomb into perfect bars? Ain't nobody got time for that!  What you will have time for though, is slowly letting the chocolate melt so you can lick it off your fingers! 

As seen on Food24.com 

Homemade Crunchie Bars

Makes 8

50ml water

190g Natura Golden Caster Sugar

50g Natura Light Demerara Sugar

140g glucose (available from pharmacies or baking shops)

60g honey

10g bicarbonate of soda

500g dark chocolate, melted (for coating)

Grease and line a 20cm-square baking tin with non-stick baking paper.

In a medium pot, over low heat, combine the water, sugars, glucose and honey until completely dissolved. Turn the heat up and simmer until the syrup reaches 144°C*

Remove from the heat and, working quickly, add the bicarbonate of soda all at once. Whisk until the honeycomb foams up then immediately pour it into the prepared baking tin.

Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Once completely cold, use a sharp serrated knife to cut the honeycomb into bars.

Dip the bars in the chocolate (you can also use a pastry brush to paint the chocolate on) and allow to set on a sheet of baking paper.

It is very important to store honeycomb in an air-tight container to avoid it becoming sticky. If you have silica gel sachets saved from shoes or handbags, place one of them in the bottom of the container to help absorb humidity.

*if you don’t have a sugar thermometer, simply drop the syrup into a small cup of tap water. It is ready when it forms a hard ball almost immediately.

Halloween Poison Toffee Apple Cake with Caramel Peanut Brittle Buttercream and Snow White Apples

Halloween isn't really a big deal here in South Africa, I mean there are a few spooky decorations and the odd ghost-shaped sweet in the supermarkets but definitely not as big of a deal as it is in America. BUT let me just warn you, 'cos it seems to gradually becoming a thing. Last year? Kids came trick or treating at my door and I had NOTHING to give them! The horror! And before you go and say I was tricking them - how could THE biggest dessert-o-holic NOT have sweets in her house, let me just say that it's because I'm an all or nothing kind of gal. Meaning, I eat them all so there's nothing left.

But I digress. This year the lovely folks over at Food & Home Entertaining Magazine asked me and my ridiculously talented sister to do a little something for Halloween. Scary tales was the brief - the spooky side of fairy tales (which frankly are bloody terrifying). This cake is an evil (but delicious) spin on Snow White and the poison apple; layers of spiced apple cake, toffee buttercream, peanut brittle and some snow white apples on top. Sugar, sugar and more sugar - basically, if the poison apple hadn't done the job, this cake certainly would've!

Halloween Poison Toffee Apple Cake with Caramel Peanut Brittle Buttercream and Snow White Apples

Serves 8-10 

210g salted butter, softened

270g Natura Dark Demerara sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract

200g self-raising flour, sifted

½ tsp (2.5ml) bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp (15ml) cinnamon

½ tsp (2.5ml) nutmeg

80ml (1/3 cup) milk

145g finely grated Golden Delicious apples, squeezed well

75g flaked almonds, toasted

TOFFEE BUTTERCREAM

240g Natura Light Demerara Sugar

250ml (1 cup) water

360ml (1 ½ cups) cream

250g salted butter, softened

SNOW WHITE APPLES

8 small lunchbox apples

8 wooden skewers or clean sticks

200g white chocolate, chopped

Peanut brittle, crushed, to garnish

Preheat the oven to 180C (conventional) and grease and line 3 x 20cm sandwich cake tins.

Cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy (about 8-10 minutes).

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well in between each addition.

Beat in the vanilla.

Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices and stir into the cake batter alternating with the milk.

Stir in the squeezed apple and flaked almonds then divide between the 3 tins and bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes, comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool, upside down, completely then remove from the tin.

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 caramelizing.

Once the syrup reaches a dark toffee-colour (137 degrees celcius on a sugar thermometer), pour in the cream and swirl to combine.

Allow to cool completely and divide the mixture in half.

Cream the butter until very white and fluffy (about 8-10 minutes) then add one half of the toffee sauce and whip to combine – the buttercream should be very light and fluffy. 

To assemble, slice each cake in half to create 4 layers.

Sandwich the layers together with the buttercream, sprinkling a little of the peanut brittle in between each layer, then cover the top and sides with the remaining buttercream.

To make the snow white apples, insert the sticks into the apples then set aside.

Melt the white chocolate gently over a double boiler then dip each apple into the chocolate. Allow to drip thoroughly before placing on a lined baking sheet to set completely.

Place the apples on top of the cake then drizzle with the rest of the toffee sauce, to serve.

TIP: If the buttercream gets stiff while assembling the cake, simply whip again until fluffy.

No-Churn Amarula Ice Cream Cake with Malted Chocolate Balls

Maltesers, Whispers, Whoppers - malted chocolate puff balls have many names, but I have a special place for the ones we call Chuckles here in South Africa. Mainly because the 40g suggested portion size Woolies has placed on the packet makes me LOL. Do you know how much 40g is?! Not enough. 

This no-churn ice cream is AMAZING - what's not to love about it? 
It's got condensed milk - YES, Amarula - YES! Chocolate sauce - Yes! 
Chuckles - A million times yes! 

The most difficult part of making this cake is chopping the malty chocolate balls in half. Warning: they do NOT like being chopped - I had quite a few runners who tried to escape the wrath of my knife. They of course didn't escape the wrath of being eaten though! Mwahaha. 

Note: I give an amount of malty chocolate balls in the ingredient list, but of course, you need to buy double - if you need to know why, then we can't be friends.

You may also leave out the Amarula; I would replace it with some Milo or hot chocolate powder (Nesquik!) dissolved in a bit of milk. I poured my ice cream mix into a fancy silicone bundt mould, but let's be honest here, no one will actually care what it looks like once they taste it because all you REALLY need is a spoon!

No-Churn Amarula Ice Cream Cake with Malted Chocolate Balls

Serves 6-8

600ml fresh cream

60ml (1/4 cup) Amarula (optional: use Milo or Hot Chocolate mixed in 60ml milk)

1/2 (400g) tin condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g dark chocolate, melted and cooled

100g malted chocolate puffs, halved plus extra to decorate 

Amarula Chocolate Sauce

55g dark chocolate, chopped

60ml cream

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp Amarula

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip the cream until stiff peaks then add the Amarula and whip until combined.

Fold the condensed milk, vanilla and chocolate into the whipped cream. 

Pour into a lined cake tin or silicone mould, sprinkling in the halved chocolate malt puffs as you go. Freeze for 4-5 hours (or overnight) until firm. 

To make the sauce, place all the ingredients in a jug and microwave until melted and smooth. Allow to cool slightly. 

Unmould the ice ceam cake by briefly dipping into water and unmould it onto a chilled plate. Serve drizzled with the sauce and sprinkled with the malt puffs. 

MORE FROZEN DELICIOUS THINGS:

Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake                              

 Peppermint Crisp Ice Cream Sandwiches

Demerara Toffee Fudge Bars with White Chocolate and Sea salt

Should I even bother typing an intro to this? I mean, with a title like that, I know you’re already thinking ‘Get in mah belleh!!!’ and working out how you can get to the shops and back in the quickest amount of time. I’m thinking it too. ‘Cos I know how flipping amazing these are!

For those of you still reading, let me break it down for you: cocoa shortbread, slapped with a thick layer of fudge, slathered with white chocolate and sprinkled with salt flakes. Jip, that’s fat on top of sugar, on top of butter (somewhere a dietician just quit her job cos she discovered what I do for a living… awkward!). BUT the key here is that it’s not just any sugar - it’s scrummalicious sugar (there are just too few food adjectives out there okay - inventing my own starting now).

I’ve used the crunchy caramelly Natura Demerara sugars for the job (Demerara sugars is crystallized from the first press of sugarcane juice). The Light Demerara is perfect for shortbread - the texture is fine (like wiggling your toes in beach sand!) so it dissolves while baking but still adds flavour. The Dark Demerara has gorgeous amber crystals (so pretty I used them as decoration on top of the white chocolate) which are perfect 

for making a kick-ass caramel fudge. I’ve realised that sugar is so much more than 

just adding sweetness and using proper unrefined sugar will add heaps of 

flavour to your baking!

In my opinion, the best part, is the sexy off-cuts! I pretty much spent the entire morning munching on them while shooting - don’t think for a second they made it back into any sort of storage container (what is this ‘storage container’ you speak of? What is it used for?!). 

Well, now my camera is covered in fudge… Wait, my camera is covered in fudge!

Now, go bake yourself happy while I contemplate whether licking my camera is socially acceptable…

P.S. This is what was left of the batch:

Demerara Fudge Bars with White Chocolate and Sea salt

Makes 16-20

Shortbread base

150g cake flour

30g cocoa powder

130g butter, cut into blocks

60g Natura Light Demerara Sugar

Demerara Filling

130g milk powder (full-fat if possible)

150g Light Demerara Sugar

210g salted butter

100g Natura Dark Demerara Sugar

160ml boiling water

Topping

200g white chocolate, melted

Sea salt flakes

Dark Demerara Sugar, for sprinkling

Grease and line a 20 x 20cm baking tray with baking paper. 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 if you’re using a fan-forced oven).

Combine the flour, cocoa, sugar and butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix until it forms a soft dough. Alternately, get your fingers dirty and rub all the ingredients together until well combined. 

Press the dough into the prepared baking tin and prick the base with a fork. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool completely. 

To make the Demerara fudge layer, place all the ingredients in a  blender and blend for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and combined. Pour into a saucepan and stir continuously over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. 

Bring to the boil and cook until the mixture turns golden brown and reaches soft ball stage (118C on a sugar thermometer). To test if it’s ready, drop a small amount into a small cup filled with tap water, it should form a soft, pliable ball. Remove from the heat and immediately pour over the shortbread. Allow to cool completely. 

Spread the melted white chocolate over the top of the toffee then sprinkle with a little sea salt and the Demerara sugar. Allow to set then cut into bars using a hot knife. 

Disclaimer: 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! 

Heritage Almond Cake

 I don't know much about my great grandmother, Beatrice Versfeld except that her and my great grandfather, Alexander lived and farmed on the now wine-growing estate of Groote Post in Darling. It's where my grandfather and my mother also grew up. Judging from my genes, I've always thought it safe to assume that she was an excellent baker. 'Cos, well all the woman (on my mom's side of the family) are! Well, that was an assumption until I found the Cape's very first cookbook written by Hildegonda Duckitt amongst my Great Aunt's things the other day. 

You'll notice that, for a cookbook, it is suspiciously spotless - mainly because it came from my dad's side of the family ;)

The author, Hildegonda Duckitt also grew up on Groote Post (with my great grandmother) and is credited as being the first collector of typically South African recipes - Dutch, English, German, East Indian and Malay - which she started collecting in her teen years from servants and then later from the high society groups in which she moved. Basically, this book contains the who's-who of excellent bakers and cooks from the 1850's. And guess who I found... On the very first page in the 'cakes' chapter too!

Turns out my great grandmother's almond cake was legendary in the Cape. Not just legendary, but Hildagonda penned a 'very good' next to it too. 

Now, these recipes are so old that most of them indicate cooking on an open fire and there are a few that use a 'plateful' of flour as a measurement! (The ex-pastry chef in me gasps in horror!)

Mrs Versfeld's Old Dutch Almond Cake calls for one pound of loaf sugar - don't worry, I also asked what the heck is loaf sugar?! Turns out in the 19th century, sugar was sold in cones called 'sugar loaves' to ensure it's quality and weight, as it was such an expensive ingredient. To use it, you'd need sugar nips (tongs) to break off lumps which were then ground down to a finer consistency. 

Can you imagine grinding sugar like this for any of my recipes?
You'd be in the kitchen for days!

Great Granny Beatrice would turn in her grave if she saw how much of this 'expensive' sugar I use each week but I don't think she'd mind that I added my own touches to her beloved recipe. A few inky raspberries, a touch of lemon zest and a sprinkling of flaked almonds was it. This cake is light but moist and gets even better after a few days. 

The method is seriously on the vague side - something I noticed to be a trend in this book. The assumption in those times was that everyone could bake, so most instructions are only 3-4 sentences long. This cake, for instance, doesn't even explain that you need to whip the egg whites... Because, I mean, duh! 

Do you have any treasured family recipes? Why not dig them up and bake something truly special (rather than braaing - bleh) this Heritage Day 24 September. 

Great Granny Beatrice's Almond Cake

Serves 8-10

50g flaked almonds

5 large eggs

250g Natura Golden caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g ground almonds

80ml (1/3 cup) crushed plain biscuits (about 6 biscuits) - I used Marie Biscuits

zest of 1 lemon

1 cup frozen raspberries (optional), dusted in flour

Natura icing sugar, for dusting

Line a 18-20cm springform cake tin with baking paper then sprinkle half the almonds on the bottom. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius (160 degrees for a fan-forced oven).

Whip the egg yolks with 200g of the sugar and the vanilla with an electric or stand mixer until very pale, thick and light. 

In a clean, seperate bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peak stage, then gradually add the remaining 50g of sugar until thick and glossy. 

Combine the ground almonds, biscuits, and lemon zest and fold into the whipped egg yolks alternately with the whipped egg whites. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin then press the flour-dusted raspberries into the batter. Sprinkle with the remaining flaked almonds over the top and bake in the preheated oven for an hour and a half until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before unmoulding. 

Serve with a dollop of softly whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar. 

MORE OF MY OLD FAMILY RECIPES:

1954 Sticky Toffee Pudding

Homemade Romany Creams

My Family Milktart

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! 

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