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No-Bake Chocolate Christmas Pudding

No-Bake Chocolate Christmas Pudding

by | Nov 13, 2016 | 0 comments

Does anyone actually LIKE Christmas pudding? Sure, it wouldn't be Christmas without it, but in our hot South African climate, who wants to eat a heavy, steamy, piping hot custard-coated winter pudding? Bleh. Yes, our Christmas is peppered with all kinds of snow-covered European traditions but that doesn't mean we can't put our own twist on them. Forget reindeer - we should have springbok instead! But let me not get ahead of myself here, let's start with the important stuff; dessert.

 
Looks like a figgy pudding - yes! Tastes like a figgy pudding? Well, erm no. It's a gajillion times better!

Firstly - it has chocolate in it.

2) Condensed milk

3) It's no-bake / no-steam / no-effort

4) It's still got all the Christmassy stuff in, but it's cold

5) You can put whatever the heck you want in it!

6) It's low-fat - JOKES! Oh heck no. Hear that? It's the sound of diets crashing everywhere! But hey, that's what January is for, right?!

Now, you might be thinking, this looks familiar. Remember my Peppermint Crisp Fridge Cake recipe? In celebration of it being shared over 21 500 times on Facebook (see there are LOTS of sugar addicts out there like us) I gave it a festive makeover with an unhealthy amount of Christmas cheer (and treats)!

I've added ginger biscuits, cherries, pistachios, toasted hazelnuts, candied peel, dried figs, booze-soaked raisins, heck I even threw in some spices and drenched it in white chocolate.

It's like a Christmas party - in your mouth! But also, it's muesli.

No-Bake Chocolate Christmas Pudding

Serves 6-8

 

100g butter

300g The Kate Tin Milk or Dark Baking Chocolate, chopped

½ tin (190g) sweetened condensed milk (eat the rest with a spoon)

1 tsp mixed spice

200g biscuits, crumbled (I used spiced ginger biscuits)

240g of toasted nuts/soaked dried fruit/cherries/candied peel/caramel popcorn/marshmallows (you can use any ratio of ingredients, as long as the total weight is 240g)

100g The Kate Tin White Baking Chocolate, melted

Start by lining the inside of a medium-sized 1.5L mixing bowl with 2-3 layers of clingwrap. In a saucepan, combine the butter, milk chocolate and condensed milk over low heat and stir until melted. In a separate bowl, mix together the spice, biscuits, nuts and fruit. Stir into the chocolate mixture and mix well. Pour into the lined mixing bowl then place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or until set. Remove from the mould and turn onto a serving plate. Spoon the melted chocolate onto the top and coax it down the sides. Decorate with sprinkles or Christmas decorations. Serve thin slices with strong coffee or a glass of brandy.

Does anyone actually LIKE Christmas pudding? Sure, it wouldn't be Christmas without it, but in our hot South African climate, who wants to eat a heavy, steamy, piping hot custard-coated winter pudding? Bleh. Yes, our Christmas is peppered with all kinds of snow-covered European traditions but that doesn't mean we can't put our own twist on them. Forget reindeer - we should have springbok instead! But let me not get ahead of myself here, let's start with the important stuff; dessert.

Looks like a figgy pudding - yes! Tastes like a figgy pudding? Well, erm no. It's a gajillion times better!

Firstly - it has chocolate in it.

2) Condensed milk

3) It's no-bake / no-steam / no-effort

4) It's still got all the Christmassy stuff in, but it's cold

5) You can put whatever the heck you want in it!

6) It's low-fat - JOKES! Oh heck no. Hear that? It's the sound of diets crashing everywhere! But hey, that's what January is for, right?!

Now, you might be thinking, this looks familiar. Remember my Peppermint Crisp Fridge Cake recipe? In celebration of it being shared over 21 500 times on Facebook (see there are LOTS of sugar addicts out there like us) I gave it a festive makeover with an unhealthy amount of Christmas cheer (and treats)!
I've added ginger biscuits, cherries, pistachios, toasted hazelnuts, candied peel, dried figs, booze-soaked raisins, heck I even threw in some spices and drenched it in white chocolate.

It's like a Christmas party - in your mouth! But also, it's muesli.

No-Bake Chocolate Christmas Pudding

Serves 6-8

 

100g butter

300g milk or dark chocolate, chopped

½ tin (190g) sweetened condensed milk (eat the rest with a spoon)

1 tsp mixed spice

200g biscuits, crumbled (I used spiced ginger biscuits)

240g toasted nuts/soaked dried fruit/cherries/candied peel/caramel popcorn/marshmallows etc

100g white chocolate, melted

Start by lining the inside of a medium-sized 1.5L mixing bowl with 2-3 layers of clingwrap. In a saucepan, combine the butter, milk chocolate and condensed milk over low heat and stir until melted. In a separate bowl, mix together the spice, biscuits, nuts and fruit. Stir into the chocolate mixture and mix well. Pour into the lined mixing bowl then place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or until set. Remove from the mould and turn onto a serving plate. Spoon the melted chocolate onto the top and coax it down the sides. Decorate with sprinkles or Christmas decorations. Serve thin slices with strong coffee or a glass of brandy.

Toffee Apple Cake with Caramel Peanut Buttercream

Toffee Apple Cake with Caramel Peanut Buttercream

by | Oct 26, 2016 | 1 comment

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.

Caramel Peppermint Crisp Mousse Cake

Caramel Peppermint Crisp Mousse Cake

by | Sep 22, 2016 | 25 comments

Caramel Peppermint Crisp Cake

Is there anything more South African than the classic peppermint crisp tart? Well, I hope this Caramel Peppermint Crisp Cake comes close! I've basically made a hobby out of coming up with new riffs on the combination of tinned caramel, whipped cream, coconut biscuits and peppermint crisp - cakes, ice cream sandwiches, fridge cakes - and I'll probably come up with a few more creations to add to that, but in the meantime, this Caramel Peppermint Crisp Cake is my favourite! Layers of coconut sponge cake, light and creamy mousse made from tinned caramel, flecks of crushed up peppermint crisp and it's all covered in more of all of that!

Caramel Peppermint Crisp Cake

While I realise I might upset quite a few purists, not for the fact that I turned a tart into a cake, but that I use whipped cream in mine. Guys, we need to sit down and talk about that Orley Whip nonsense. It needs to stop. True friends don't let friends eat Orley Whip. (Loophole: unless you're a vegan friend, then, by all means, go ahead and get your fix).

I made this Caramel Peppermint Crisp Cake for the September issue of Essentials Magazine - they've given me a page in every issue called #KateBakes and they've been mad enough to basically let me loose and make whatever my heart desires!  So this month, my heart desired a big fat decadent cake with a hint of local heritage and something that you can take to a braai. Because if you go to a bring 'n braai and there's no peppermint crisp tart, was it really a braai after all?

Caramel Peppermint Crisp Cake

Caramel Peppermint Crisp Cake

Serves 8

 

120g butter, softened

400g Natura Golden Caster Sugar

360g cake flour

1 ½ tbsp baking powder

40g desiccated coconut, toasted

pinch of salt

3 large eggs

360ml coconut milk

 

Caramel Mousse Filling

2 tsp gelatine powdered (3 gelatine sheets)

3 tbsp water

2 x 400g tins condensed milk, boiled (or take a shortcut and use tinned caramel)

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

500ml cream, whipped to stiff peaks

 

400g peppermint crisp chocolate, crushed

200g coconut tea biscuits, crumbled

 

Preheat the oven to 170C and line 3 x 20cm springform tins with baking paper. Beat the butter, caster sugar, flour, baking powder, coconut and salt together on a low speed until a sandy texture forms. Whisk the eggs and coconut milk together in a jug then slowly add to the dry ingredients while the mixer is running, to form a batter. Divide the cake batter evenly between the prepared tins and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean, and the cakes are golden. Allow to cool a little in the tin before turning out onto a cake rack. Trim the cooled cakes by levelling the tops. Place one cake layer back inside one of the cleaned springform cake tin.

Next, make the mousse; sprinkle the gelatine over the water and allow to bloom. Microwave in short bursts until just melted the stir in half the tin of cooked condensed milk (reserve the rest), vanilla and salt. Fold in the cream until no streaks remain. Spread the remaining caramel on top of the sponge then pour half of the mousse on top. Crumble over 1/3 of the peppermint crisp and biscuits and top with another cake layer. Repeat with the remaining caramel, mousse, peppermint crisp and biscuits, ending with a cake layer. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. To unmould, run a warm palette knife around the edges. Decorate with peppermint crisp shards, tennis biscuits and caramel.

 

Caramel Peppermint Crisp Cake
Berry White Chocolate Drizzle Cake

Berry White Chocolate Drizzle Cake

by | May 5, 2016 | 1 comment

#SPONSORED

Excuse me while I get cheesy and shmooshy for a moment and dedicate this post to my beautiful mom. How she put up with me as a child I have no idea! If I look back at the mountains of washing up I used to leave her with, the various sauces and batters that splattered walls and ovens that I left her to clean up and the odd things I made her taste, I honestly don’t know how my sister wasn’t her favourite 😉 Although I used to rope my sister into the cooking shows I hosted in the kitchen as well (she was my trusty assistant (ie partner-in-crime), so that’s probably why! This was the time when Delia Smith was huge (juuuust before Nigella’s slap dash way of cooking arrived) and Delia had all her ingredients neatly measured into a gajillion little bowls – even the ½ tsp of baking powder had it’s own itsy bitsy bowl. So, of course, everything in my cooking show had it’s own bowl too. Which meant a simple one-bowl cake recipe resulted in at least 10 bowls to wash up!
I wanted to make this cake as pretty and naturally beautiful as possible – just like my mom (hey I need brownie points here!). I was so inspired by the delicious unrefined Demerara Icing Sugar that Natura Sugars make which has no colourants or preservatives (it’s unbleached too!) but has a lovely caramel flavour, and while I wanted a pink cake, I didn’t want to add artificial colouring (which would defeat the point!). So I tinted it a pretty pink using a little beetroot juice – a clever (and inexpensive) way of making your own food colouring!
The vanilla cake recipe is a little different – using just egg whites instead of yolks but it’s lovely and moist and with the smashed raspberries in the middle? It’s just the bomb! So if your mom is the bomb, bake her this cake for Mother’s Day this weekend - I can’t promise it will make up for all the naughty things you did as a child, but it’s so delicious it will make her temporarily forget about them! x

White Chocolate Berry Drizzle Cake

Serves 8-12

 

4 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted

2 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

375g unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 3/4 cups Natura Golden Caster sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

9 egg whites, at room temperature

2 1/4 cups buttermilk

 

Vanilla Buttercream

400g (3 ½ cups) Natura Demerara icing sugar

150g unsalted butter, softened

Milk, if necessary

 

Glaze

60g The Kate Tin White Baking Chocolate, finely chopped

1/4 cup (60ml) cream

2 tbsp (30ml) honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 beetroot, juiced

A squeeze of lemon juice

 

Variety of berries, flowers, to decorate the top

 

Preheat oven to 180C (conventional) or 160C (fan-forced) . Grease and line three x 20cm round cake tins. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Cream the butter, caster sugar and vanilla in a stand mixer until light, pale and fluffy - about 5 minutes. Add the egg whites one at a time, beating well in between each addition. Add one third of the sifted dry ingredients and mix just until combined, then add half the buttermilk. Mix well then add the remaining dry ingredients, and the last of the buttermilk. Only mix until the ingredients are combined - careful not to over mix the batter. Divide the cake batter between the three cake tins and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and a toothpick coms out clean. Allow them to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then invert the cake and allow to cool on a cake stand completely.

Make the frosting by whipping the butter until fluffy. Sift the Natura Demerara Icing Sugar and add to the creamed butter. Whip until light, about 5 minutes, adding a few drops of milk if necessary. Assemble the cake by layering the sponge with the buttercream, some frozen smashed raspberries and continue layering. Smooth the sides with a spatula - don’t worry about being neat that’s the beauty of a naked cake!

Prepare the glaze by melting all the ingredients (except the beetroot) together in the microwave until smooth. Allow to cool until thickened then tint it a pretty pink with the beetroot. Drizzle the glaze over your iced cake then decorate with roses, berries and beetroot chips for crunch!

Disclaimer: This post has been created in collaboration with Natura Sugars - I only work with brands I think are awesome and that I actually use myself.
Speckled Vanilla Cake with Marshmallow Easter Egg Filling

Speckled Vanilla Cake with Marshmallow Easter Egg Filling

by | Mar 18, 2016 | 4 comments

Who else feels like their annual speckled egg consumption contributes significantly to our country's GDP?! I do. Mister Sweet should give me shares dammit. Apart from the fact that I can inhale a packet of those multi-coloured jelly chocolates in about 2 minutes flat, I can also eat my bodyweight in those addictive marshmallow eggs (which is saying a lot considering they're made mostly of air!). Which actually leads me to a public service announcement, well two, really:

1. Do not attempt to buy the giant speckled eggs. You would think bigger is better. If your logic is like mine, I think 'well instead of eating 10 little ones I'll just eat one big one'. That logic is faultless but you will be misled by it! After much research (aka eating), my friend Lee and I determined that the ratio of chocolate is disproportionate to the amount of jelly and candy coating (she even drew a graph to prove it - we were very scientific about it all because this is a serious matter, people!). Lesson: Just stick to the little eggs! Related: Woolies listened to my gajillion emails and now make bulk packs. Yes! 2. Why do they inflict such torture on us by wrapping marshmallow Easter eggs individually?! Whyyyyyyy? For goodness sake can someone just sell them in bulk without wrappers on them?! *starts typing an email to Beacon* Rant over, let's get to this drop dead delicious cake! Obviously, it's an ode to both of my favourite Easter treats - chopped mallow eggs in the middle and speckled eggs on top - because I love you both equally and could never choose a favourite! Never. Who am I kidding, speckled eggs are life!

Speckled Vanilla Cake with Marshmallow Easter Egg Filling

Serves 8 EASY 30 minutes

 

Vanilla Cakes:

185g butter, softened

225g castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs, at room temperature

200g (1 1/2 cups)  self-raising flour

185ml milk

 

To Decorate:

4 egg whites

1 cup (250ml) caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Turquoise gel food colouring

10 marshmallow Easter eggs, chopped into chunks

1 tsp (5ml) The Kate Tin Cocoa Powder

Speckled eggs and a variety of Easter eggs, to decorate

To make the cakes, preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius (conventional oven, 160 degrees celcius for fan-forced). Grease and line 2 x 15cm cake tins.  Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy and light. Gradually add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Sift the flour over and beat well. Mix in the milk. Spoon into the lined tins and bake fir 25-30 minutes or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before turning out and cooling completely. To make the frosting, place the egg whites and caster sugar into a metal or glass mixing bowl and set over a pot with gently simmering water. Stir the egg whites with a whisk gently (don’t whisk vigorously) until the egg mixture is very hot to the touch (about 40 degrees celcius). Remove from the heat and whip vigorously with a hand beater or in a stand mixer until light and fluffy and stiff peaks are reached. Continue beating until cool then add 1 tsp vanilla and tint it a pale sea-green colour. Assemble the cake by layering the cake with the frosting and scattering the chopped marshmallow eggs inbetween. Finish by frosting the entire cake in the green frosting. Mix the remaining vanilla with the cocoa powder and using a clean pastry brush, splatter speckles all over the cake. Decorate with Easter eggs.

 

Image and recipe as featured in the April issue of Food & Home Entertaining Magazine

Chocolate Stout Cake With Pretzel Brittle

Chocolate Stout Cake With Pretzel Brittle

by | Feb 16, 2016 | 4 comments

It was exactly 6 years ago to the day that I hit 'upload' on my very first blog post. Although back then, my blog was called Katelyn's Corner (none of my friends had yet thought of the fact that my name rhymed with cake tin!)  the very first post was, of course, sweet - cupcakes, to be exact. I was a scared, young food stylists' assistant who craved her own creative space, I was just beginning to style my own photo's, had never picked up a camera, didn't have my tongue-in-cheek writing tone and most importantly, had no idea that you all would share my love for sweet, decadent, delicious things!

Since that first post, I cannot believe how far my little blog has come  - from neglecting it and going weeks without feeding it sugar, or cookies, or chocolate, to older photographs I cringe at and recipes I've since retested and improved upon, I never dreamed that it would win two South African Best Blog Awards back-to-back! And while it gets used to it's pretty new design and logo (thanks Pieter Grobler!) I thought I'd celebrate The Kate Tin turning a whole 6 years old with, what else than CAKE!

For the occasion, I've baked a very grown-up Chocolate Stout Cake which is super delicious, moist, and is probably the antithesis to those pretty pink cupcakes I first posted back in February 2010.I want to thank all of you for reading, commenting and baking my recipes - and while The Kate Tin may not yet be of drinking age, cheers to the next 12 years of sharing deliciously over-the-top recipes with all of you!

Chocolate Stout Cake with Beer Caramel Sauce

Serves 10-12

 

250ml dark stout beer (I used Castle Chocolate Stout but you could also replace the beer with cold coffee)

250g butter, melted

80g The Kate Tin Cocoa Powder

400g Natura Sugars Dark Muscovado Sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

140ml buttermilk

280g cake flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp baking powder

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

50g butter, softened

300g Natura Sugars Demerara Icing Sugar

125g full-fat cream cheese

 

Caramel Beer Glaze and Pretzel Brittle

160ml Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar

60ml dark stout beer or water

2 tbsp honey

75g pretzels

1/2 cup cream

1 tablespoon butter

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut brittle or pretzel brittle*, to decorate

 

Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius (150C if your oven is fan-forced). Line 3 x 24cm sandwich cake tins with baking paper. Whisk together the beer, butter, cocoa powder, sugar, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk and set aside. Mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder together then add the wet ingredients and whisk well until combined. Pour into the lined cake tins and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly then remove from the tin and cool completely.

For the frosting, in a stand mixer whip the butter, icing sugar and cream cheese until light and fluffy.

To make the sauce and brittle, spread the pretzels out on a lined baking tray. Place the sugar, beer and honey in a saucepan and simmer until the syrup reaches hard ball stage (when a little syrup is dropped into a cup of water, it immediately turns brittle.) Pour half the syrup over the pretzels, then use the rest to make the sauce by adding the cream and butter. Stir until smooth then add the salt and vanilla. Allow to cool, adding a little water to thin out if necessary.

Assemble the cake by layering the cakes alternately with the frosting then drizzling with the caramel sauce. Decorate with the crushed up brittle.