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Spiced Pear and Sweet Potato Cake with Muscovado Frosting

Spiced Pear and Sweet Potato Cake with Muscovado Frosting

by | Jun 13, 2017 | 0 comments

This cake is an ode to my favourite time of the year: autumn. When you eat it, you feel like you’re being wrapped in a warm, knitted jersey. It’s packed with spices, healthy things like sweet potato, pear, sultanas and almonds but my favourite part is the muscovado frosting – I absolutely adore proper, unrefined muscovado sugar – it’s dusky, molasses flavour adds an amazing depth of flavour to this not-too-sweet cake. It’s a little more expensive, but to me, it is worth every penny!

I’ve topped them with wafers of pears which, if you want to make your own, are very easy. Simply slice the pears very thinly (using a knife or mandlin) then lay them onto a silicone baking mat or baking paper and place them into an oven (with the fan on if you have) at 100 degrees celcius for 1 hour 30 minutes until dried out – they’ll keep in an airtight container for ages.

Speaking of pears, please tell me you noticed the mini ones?! ? Look how itsy bitsy they are?! Aren’t they the cutest! You can get them tinned from most supermarkets and let me just say, they can rescue ANY dessert. Serve them warm, in a bowl, with piping hot custard and you have instant dessert – and everyone will be so distracted by their cuteness they’ll forget you didn’t actually DO anything. Sometimes I’m so clever I astound myself, anyway, back to the cake. Make it. And if you want to up the adorable factor, this recipe would make uber-cute cupcakes too!

Spiced Pear and Sweet Potato Cake with Muscovado Frosting

Serves 10-12

 

210g butter, softened

270g demerara sugar

3 large eggs

180ml cooked and mashed sweet potato

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g self-raising flour, sifted

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

120g finely grated pear, squeezed well

1/2 cup sultanas (optional)

75g flaked almonds, toasted

 

Frosting

200g butter, softened

2-3 tbsp boiling hot water

175g muscovado sugar

200g icing sugar, sifted

250g smooth cream cheese

 

Molasses Drip

55g white chocolate

1/4 cup (60ml) cream

4 tbsp (60ml) molasses

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Tinned baby pears, granola and pear chips, to decorate

 

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line 3 x 20cm sandwich cake tins. Cream the butter and demerara sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well in between each addition. Beat in the sweet potato and vanilla. Combine the self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices and stir into the cake batter. Stir in the grated pear, sultanas 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. For the frosting, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Pour the boiling water over the muscovado sugar to dissolve (pop in the microwave for a few seconds if needed) then allow to cool. Add the cooled muscovado syrup to the butter with the icing sugar and beat until combined. Mix in the cream cheese. Sandwich the cakes together with the frosting, leaving enough to cover the top. To make the molasses drip, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until melted. Allow to cool to room temperature before using. Spread the drip mixture over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Garnish with tinned baby pears, granola and pear chips.

Dark Chocolate Cocoa Crunch Cake

Dark Chocolate Cocoa Crunch Cake

by | Apr 4, 2017 | 5 comments

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Attention chocoholics (that’s all of you, really)! If you love chocolate as much as I do, you’ll be thrilled to know that we have a brand new local, bean-to-bar chocolate maker on the block – AFRIKOA. Now, I may be biased, considering the chocolate-maker at AFRIKOA is my future husband, but chocolate never lies, people so give it a try so you can enjoy it and I can keep my journalistic integrity in tact 😉
You may remember my trip to the cocoa plantations in Tanzania a year or so ago, well, my other half, Mr Chocolate was sourcing cocoa beans at the time. It was an eye-opening experience seeing cocoa trees for the first time (bizarre considering how chocolate is such a normal part of our lives – almost like drinking milk daily but never having seen a cow) but what really struck me was how much the cocoa farmers are exploited by huge companies. When one of the farmers asked me what we do with the cocoa beans, I was floored; in the remote area they grow cocoa in, you cannot buy a single chocolate bar – it’s too expensive for the 1 dollar (R13) these farmers live off each day. Mr Chocolate was equally disturbed by the fact that as chocolate-lovers, it comes at a premium price for us when these farmers clearly aren’t being paid what they deserve – this is because all the middlemen add their own profits along the way, for essentially doing nothing. This is how AFRIKOA and South Africa’s first direct-trade bean-to-bar chocolate was born; with the simple idea of a chocolate-maker buying cocoa beans straight from the cocoa farmer. This way, the farmers get 250% more for their cocoa beans than they normally would, Mr Chocolate gets fresh cocoa beans that haven’t been sitting in a warehouse for months on end and we get to enjoy chocolate knowing that our pleasure doesn’t come at the expense of anyone else. It’s a win-win.
While there are 4 different types of AFRIKOA chocolate; a 27% milk, 70% dark and an 80% sugar free, I’ve used the 55% semi sweet dark chocolate in my favourite chocolate cake recipe. It’s fruity got loads of toasted hazelnut flavours and really easy to bake with. This cake is definitely not short on chocolate; it has it in the sponge, buttercream and drip!  And the cocoa nib crunch adds an amazing textural surprise – a real showstopper!

Dark Chocolate Cocoa Crunch Cake

Serves 6-8

 

Chocolate Cake

½ litre water

240ml vegetable oil

450g brown sugar

200g AFRIKOA 55% Semi Sweet Dark Chocolate, chopped

115g cocoa powder

4 large eggs

325g cake flour

5g baking powder

2g salt

10g bicarbonate of soda

 

Chocolate Buttercream

100g egg whites (from about 3 large eggs)

150g castor sugar

340g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature

200g AFRIKOA 55% Semi Sweet Dark Chocolate, chopped and melted

 

Chocolate Drip Glaze

55g AFRIKOA 55% Semi Sweet Dark Chocolate

1/4 cup (60ml) cream

2 tbsp (30ml) honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

 

Preheat oven to 160C (fan-forced). Grease and line 3 x 24cm spring form cake tins. 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 the lined cake tins and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before turning out. Cool completely then level the tops with a sharp bread knife. For the buttercream, combine the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer set over a pot of gently simmering water and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture it hot to the touch or is no longer gritty when rubbed between your fingers. Transfer to the stand mixer and whip until glossy, stiff peaks form, about 5-7 minutes. Add the butter a few pieces at a time and whip until the frosting is creamy and smooth. Fold in the melted chocolate. 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. To assemble the cake, layer the sponges alternately with whipped ganache, leaving enough to cover the top and sides. Spread the glaze over using a palette knife to make sure it drips down the sides. Pipe a few rosettes on top using any leftover ganache and sprinkle with crunchy cocoa bits*.

 

TIP  To make the crunchy cocoa bits, place 100g sugar in a saucepan with 2 tbsp water and heat until caramelized and golden. Add 1 cup of cocoa nibs and 1 tsp of sugar and stir vigorously until the caramel starts to crystallize. Pour onto a baking tray and allow to cool. Melt 25g AFRIKOA 55% Semi Sweet Dark chocolate and then toss the caramelized cocoa nibs in the chocolate. Spread them out again and allow to set.