A Dairy Free Christmas

 

 

Merry Christmas to all my loyal followers. It's been fun setting up this blog and I'm happy that I am slowly gaining more followers each week. I've only been doing this since August, so feel free to spread the word!

 

Well, what a lovely Christmas Day we have had. Very relaxed, good food and good company. Today's blog post is for my Chocolate and Coconut Bundt Cake, which I served as our Christmas pudding, since none of us are fans of the traditional mixed fruit pudding.

I took this recipe from Brooklyn Homemaker's Chocolate Peppermint Bundt cake, but since my son doesn't like peppermint, I altered it to a coconut flavour instead. I will admit, I loved the sound of the original, but I love all things mint, so it's to be expected.

 

Anyway, I made some slight adaptions to the recipe to make it dairy free, so I will post it below, but you can click the link above to see the original.

 

Today I used my new NordicWare Heritage Bundt Pan, which I only bought last week. I was so very pleased that the cake came out so cleanly. I just love it!

 

 

 Chocolate Bundt Cake with Dark Chocolate and Coconut Ganache

• Servings: 12
• adapted from Brooklyn Homemaker

 

For the Cake:

1 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder(or bi carb soda if using buttermilk)
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups soya milk (or buttermilk if you can have dairy)
1 cup sunflower oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

 

For the Coconut and Dark Chocolate Ganache:

 200g best quality dark chocolate, chopped (I used Sainsbury's dark cooking chocolate as it is dairy free)
 3/4 cup coconut milk
 Desiccated coconut to sprinkle on top

 

 

1. Place an oven rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 180 degrees C.
2. Liberally butter and flour a 10 to 12 cup Bundt pan and set aside.

3. Whisk water and cocoa powder in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Remove from heat and let come to room temperature.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix together sugar, salt, baking soda, eggs and egg yolk on low for just one minute. Add the milk, oil and vanilla extract and mix on low again for another minute.
5. Add the flour and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes more.  Add the cooled cocoa mixture and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes. The batter will seem quite loose and liquid.  Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 55-65, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

6. Let the cake cool completely in the pan and then invert onto a cooling rack. Once cooled I trimmed off the top to make it level once inverted.

7. To make the ganache, heat the coconut milk in a heavy pot, just until it begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Let the chocolate melt for a minute or so, then whisk to combine.

8. Drizzle ganache over the cake while it’s still warm and liquid. Sprinkle desiccated coconut over the ganache.

9. Let the ganache set for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

10. We served with hot custard....soooo good!

 

 



Candy Cane Crush Marshmallows

 

I have been wanting to try these for about twelve months now after seeing them in a  Donna Hay Christmas magazine. Anyway this year I took the plunge! I have made marshmallow a number of times before so I was quite confident, but I must say these were the best I have ever done, texture wise.

However, a word of warning, they looked great the day I made them and rolled them in the candy canes, but a day later, the candy canes had virtually dissolved, leaving the marshmallows very sticky. I had to do some emergency lathering in the icing sugar/cornflour mix, which was fine, but by the time I gave them to Thomas' teachers, they looked nothing like this!

They still tasted amazing though! I would recommend, making and serving on the same day for the best visual effect.

 

Candy Cane Crush Marshmallows

 

Ingredients for Basic Vanilla Marshmallow

 

1/2 c (125ml) warm water

2 tablespoons gelatine powder

1 1/2 c (330g) caster (superfine) sugar

2/3 c (230g - or 2 tubes if in the UK) liquid glucose

1/2 c (125ml) water, extra

1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped (I actually used vanilla bean paste, 1 teaspoon)

 

Icing Sugar Mixture

1 1/2 c (240g) icing sugar, sifted

1/4 c (35g) cornflour (cornstarch), sifted

 

10 medium candy canes, roughly chopped.

 

Method

1. Place the warm water in an electric mixer, sprinkle over the gelatine and stir to combine. Set aside.

2. Place the sugar, glucose and extra water in a medium saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

3. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Add a sugar (candy) thermometer and cook, without stirring (for approximately 5-7 minutes), until the temperature reaches 115 degrees C (239deg F) or soft ball stage.

4. With the mixer running on high, gradually add the hot syrup in a thin, steady stream to the gelatine mixture. Add the vanilla seeds and beat for 5-7 minutes or until thick and fluffy.

5. Working quickly, spoon the mixture into a lightly greased 20cm x 30cm tin lined with lightly greased baking parchment (get this ready BEFORE you start making the marshmallow).

6. Using a spatula, smooth the top and cover with lightly greased non-stick baking paper. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours to set.

7. Place the candy canes in a food processor and process until fine crumbs form, set aside.

8. To make the icing sugar mixture, place the icing sugar and cornflour into a bowl and mix to combine. Turn the marshmallow out onto  a surface dusted lightly with some icing sugar mixture.. Dust the knife in the icing sugar mixture and cut into squares.

9. Roll the sides of the squares into the candy cane crumbs.

 

Enjoy these on the day of making if using candy canes. If making plain marshmallows, they will keep in an airtight container dusted with icing sugar mixture, in the fridge for up to a week. Be sure to take your marshmallows out of the fridge just before serving to avoid them going sticky from humidity.

 

 

Cranberry Hazelnut Tartlets

 

My friend made these last night for our craft club and boy, they were absolutely delicious! And I mean, DELICIOUS! I ate 4 in a row and had to restrain myself from eating them all. They were bite sized, after all.

Anyway I am sharing the recipe.....there's a few elements to make, but I promise you, it's worth the effort.

It's taken from Annie's Eats - apparently a great blog, but this is my first time seeing it. I will spend some time checking it out further.

Click here for the recipe.

A perfect recipe for those Christmas parties coming up!

Try it out.
Kris

These frosted cranberries are simply the most beautiful, Christmassy things I have ever made.

Update - Jan 2016
I made these again yesterday for New Year's Eve, so, so delicious and they were a huge hit at the party we went to. I've added a couple of extra photos from this batch into the post. One batch of this recipe makes about 30 tartlets. and the cranberry curd makes A LOT...be prepared for lots of leftover curd to use on icecream!

Christmas Candy Cane Marshmallows

 

 

I've just made these tonight to put in the goodie bags for the children in my class tomorrow as they finish for the Christmas holidays. I wanted something super easy, but also something that looked impressive and tasted delicious. These fit the bill.

I bought the cutest mini candy canes from Iced Jems, one of my favourite suppliers. But I crushed normal sized candy canes for the bits. Bits That's a technical term, by the way! One day I'd like to try these with homemade marshmallow but I simply didn't have time tonight.

 

Mini Candy Cane Marshmallows

 

Ingredients:

Store bought marshmallows

mini candy canes

chocolate - melted

crushed candy canes

 

Method:

1. Crush the larger candy canes using a food processor or in a tall glass using the end of a rolling pin like I did.

2. Poke a mini candy cane into each marshmallow.

3. Dip the marshmallow half way into the melted chocolate. Tap off excess.

4. Dip and roll into the crushed candy cane so the chocolate is covered. Place on a plate to set.

 

It's as simple as that!