Devon Café (Devon by Night)

January 4, 2015January 2, 2019 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! And a very Happy New Year to all! I trust everyone enjoyed celebrating in one way or another. I spent the whole day sitting out in the sun with friends as we waited for midnight to strike. Watching the fireworks display by the Harbour Bridge was an amazing experience, and also such a tiring day of waiting really.

Anyway, hopefully I can keep this going as long as I have visited enough places and have the time to write up my dining experience. I feel like it’s been a while since I did a review – well that’s because it has been a while indeed! So, starting this New Years, I will be uploading a review every Sunday on top of 2 recipes a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

So I’ve been to Devon Café a total of 3 times now this year; twice for brunch and once for their dinner service. The both times that I went for brunch I ordered the same dish, and so did the one other person I went with, so I thought doing a review just on the one dish from their brunch menu was a bit meh. I had the Eggs Blini by the way which you can probably already tell because I had it twice (within two weeks) was so good and also apparently was the most Instagrammed dish from their menu at the time.

Anyway, the last time I visited Devon Café was actually in August of this year. Yes, that means that the food that you see in this review may not even be on their menu anymore as I am aware that menus here in Australia tend to change depending on the season. Therefore, the food that you see here are from their winter menu, and I have not been back to know whether their menu is different for the now summer season.

ENTRÉE: Prawn and Scallop Wontons
Scallop and Prawn Ceviche, Crispy Wontons, Green Mango, Peanuts, Nahm Jim ($18.00)

When the waiter first came to our table with these, I actually thought he got our order mixed up. In my head I was like “these aren’t wontons are they?” I was actually hesitant to have him place the dish on our table and I think he could tell that I was confused. I asked “are these the wontons?” He assured me that they were, AND then I saw him carrying the other plate that had the wonton wrappers. Yes I know, not quite how I’ve known wontons to be served, but nonetheless these tasted amazing! I really loved the freshness of the prawn and scallop ceviche paired with the kick of spice from the nahm jim sauce. Not to mention the crispy wontons that added that extra crunch to the dish!

ENTRÉE: King Salmon Sashimi, Avocado, Jelly, Ikura, Chives ($15.00)

Enticingly fresh salmon. What more can I say? This dish was spot on for me!

MAIN: Chinese Egg Custard, Shiitake, Fungus, Yellow Needle Flower, Chinese Fried Bread and Perigord Black Truffle ($29.00)

This dish gave me some mixed feelings – well, now that I think of it, the flavour didn’t quite sit well with me even though I think my other friends enjoyed it. I found the mushroom taste to be a bit too overpowering for me, which was probably the main reason why I didn’t not enjoy this dish. Also, the Chinese Fried Bread was not at all crispy, at least not as crispy as the ones I’d get back home. Their bread also didn’t look that fresh.

MAIN: Aunty Yulia’s Short Ribs
Slow Cooked in Indonesian Sweet Soy with Spicy Tomato and Basil Relish ($28.00)

This was probably the highlight of all dishes. The short ribs were cooked to perfection; falling off the bone tender and packed with that delicious kecap manis flavour. The relish was a nice refreshing touch to the palette and that him tot spice really gave it that kick it needed. I highly recommend this dish if it’s still on their menu!

DESSERT: Matcha Fondant (Green Tea Molten Lava Cake)
with Vanilla-bean Ice Cream, Honey Dew Balls and Pistachio Crumb ($13.00)

This dessert I believe is actually one of the main reasons why I wanted to go to Devon by Night. I saw it all over Instagram and I said to myself that I NEEDED to go here just to be able to get my hands on this dessert. The last time I had a green tea molten lava cake was 2 or 3 years ago at Tokkuri. That I loved, but I think now THIS I love more! The perfect consistency and paired with other flavours and textures that really enhanced the dish. The lava was thick and rich – just absolute yum! A definite must try!

DESSERT: Fried Ice Cream Bao with Dark Chocolate Sauce ($7.00)

This was the day that I broke my fried ice cream virginity as well – and I am glad that I lost it to Devon’s Fried Ice Cream Bao! Such a clever and innovative way of fusion cooking; serving fried ice cream in a bao. The only let down with this was that they served it with a dark chocolate sauce – don’t get me wrong, the sauce was perfection, but I was expecting a kaya (coconut jam) sauce instead, as from what I’ve seen all over Instagram. I seriously believe that it would’ve tasted a hundred times better! I’m probably being biased here since I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, but KAYA?! My fellow kaya-loving friends/followers will be able to imagine magic happening in their mouth just thinking about this flavour combination.

Devon Café is quite a popular breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner spot to both the locals and the tourists. So if and when you get the chance to Sydney, or are currently residing in Sydney, this should be in your places to eat in Sydney list. A MUST! They’ve recently opened a new branch in Waterloo on Danks St. which I was able to visit with two other friends for a nice brunch just this week actually. Unless their menu has changed at the original Devon Café, their menu is quite different so I will be doing a review on them too! Soon I hope!

Devon Café
76 Devonshire Street
Surry Hills, New South Wales
Australia, 2043

– Ally xx

Cherry Ripple Black Forest Cake

December 28, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen6 Comments

Hello Everyone! Yes, I know it is a Sunday which for those of you who are new to my blog, I don’t normally post on a Sunday – but I wanted to get all the Noche Buena recipes up before the New Year because I’ll probably have another batch of recipes to post from a New Years Day Lunch (maybe dinner depending on how energised I am to cook after a long day/night out the previous night) that I am planning to host – a small one though with probably 2-3 dishes maximum. Noche Buena was hectic and I don’t want to have a repeat that’s a week apart from each other. I won’t be doing Media Noche because I will most likely be camping out the whole day/night for a good spot by the harbour to view the Harbour Bridge Fireworks at midnight.

Anyway, tonight’s recipe is from our Noche Buena dinner that Jialing and I hosted on the Eve of Christmas. This Cherry Ripple Black Forest Cake is one of the many desserts we had on the menu for the night. When deciding on a cake to make for the festive dinner, we found it difficult to decide on a cake that felt festive – besides a Yule Log. Even though I wasn’t too fond of a Black Forest cake, that is what we decided on. The reason why I am not fond of it is because every time I indulged in a store bought Black Forest cake, they ALWAYS use those horrible canned/tinned/jarred Maraschino Cherries that I absolutely hate. Not for our Black Forest cake NO! I was determined to use fresh cherries and if I had to use cherries from a can, at least not the maraschino ones!

Before Jialing and I went to do our groceries for the dinner, we talked about how we haven’t been seeing any fresh cherries at the local supermarkets. But when we got to Coles, we saw that cherries were on special and looking very fresh! I was so happy! Also, please do check out the original recipe over on Taste. Like how I’ve probably been describing over and over again in my previous posts, the recipe says to use a little more than 1/4 cup of Jim Beam Black Cherry Bourbon, but I didn’t want to buy a 700ml bottle for $30 for that amount. So from the leftover vodka I had from the East Orange Frosting I made for my Gingerbread Men, Jialing had the idea of infusing that into the cherry syrup for that boozy touch. Also, our sponge didn’t rise that much to be able to cut it into three layers, so we ended up having a two layer cake.

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 1 HOUR 20 MINS | SERVES 8-10

INGREDIENTS

For the chocolate sponge

1 & 1/4 cup self-raising flour
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cocoa powder
200g dark cooking chocolate, melted and cooled
200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large free range eggs

For the cream-jam filling

1 can (425g) pitted black cherries in syrup, drain and reserve syrup
300ml double cream
250ml thickened cream
1/2 cup black cherry jam

For the choc-cherry ganache

100g dark cooking chocolate, chopped
60ml thickened cream
Vodka-infused cherry syrup*

Fresh cherries
Chocolate curls

*Add the reserved syrup to a small sauce pan together with about a tablespoon of vodka to the reserved syrup and bring to a simmer to infuse the flavours. Use this to brush onto the sponge cake layers and in the chocolate ganache.

METHOD

Preheat oven to 160C. Grease the sides of a 20cm round springform cake pan with melted butter and line the base with baking paper.
Chocolate Sponge Cake: Sift the flour, almond meal, and cocoa powder into a medium sized bowl. Whisk until combined and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar using an electric handheld mixer until pale and creamy. Beat in the melted chocolate and eggs, and fold in the dry ingredients and buttermilk until well combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside to cool slightly before transferring the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
Choc-cherry Ganache: While the cake is baking in the oven, stir all the ingredients (leaving about 1/4 cup of the vodka-infused syrup for brushing) for the choc-cherry ganache in a small saucepan over low heat for 5 minutes or until the chocolate has melted and is smooth. Set aside cool slightly.
Cream-jam Filling: Using an electric mixer, beat the double and thickened cream in a large bowl until firm peaks form. Then fold in the jam to create a swirled effect.
Assembly: Cut the cake horizontally into 2 (or 3 if you can) even layers. Place the cake base on a round cake board and brush the cut surface with half of the vodka-infused syrup and spoon over the cream-jam mixture. Dip each pitted black cherry into the ganache and place on top of the cream filling. Brush the vodka-infused syrup on the cut surface with the other half of the cake layer and top over the base. Pour the choc-cherry ganache over the cake and decorate with fresh cherries and chocolate curls. Sprinkle with a bit a icing sugar for a Christmasy finish.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Ferrero Rocher & Nutella Cake with Hazelnuts

November 18, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen7 Comments

Hello Everyone! I would like to dedicate today’s post to my partner in crime, my matchy-matchy twin, and all round foodie & gym/boxing buddy, Maria the Mew (also known as Jialing), the happiest of birthdays! Happy Birthday my love, and I hope you had a most fantabulous day today! Hope you also liked my essay-like birthday card and present that I got for you 🙂

Though it wasn’t a particularly sunny day, we celebrated an early birthday on Saturday afternoon at Coogee Beach with lots of cake, dessert, drinks, and food. Oh and BARBECUE! Then ending the night at Beach Burrito Company with some margaritas and tequila. We also celebrated her birthday today by having dinner at Pizza e Birra on Crown Street at Surry Hills and having left over cake and flan for dessert.

So today’s recipe can originally be found on Better Baking Bible, and was actually baked by Jialing while I assisted in preparing the decorations for her cake. I also helped crush the hazelnuts and slap them on to the sides of the cake. On Friday night after work for the both of us, Jialing came over to my place to bake her cake while I made flan for her birthday celebration the next day. We actually started making stuff at around 7pm and seriously did not finish making her cake until about 1am. We honestly had no idea where all the time went – we didn’t even get to bake her quiche as planned originally. Well, we did have an hour and a half or so of a dinner break in between. I mean honestly, this is how I’ve spent two Friday nights in a row – baking until 1am (my birthday cake last week).

I also think time went into having to make another batch of cake batter and waiting for that to cool down as well. The original recipe actually says to split the cake into 2 even layers, however when we took the cakes out of the oven, they looked like an okay size for a single layer and would appear to be too skinny if we had sliced them in half. So Jialing decided to make another batch of batter for just one more layer to make a three layer cake (two is never enough, and honestly probably wouldn’t look as epic). I have adjusted the quantities from the original recipe specifically to Jialing’s cake, as well as adding extra ingredients such as hazelnuts into half of the frosting mixture.

PREP TIME 20 MINS | COOKING TIME 25-30 MINS | SERVES 8-10

INGREDIENTS

For the cake

10 large free range eggs
3 cups hazelnut meal
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp cocoa powder
4 tbsp plain flour
4 tsp baking powder

For the frosting

300g unsalted butter, softened
2 & 1/4 cups dark chocolate, roughly chopped (or chocolate chips)
1 & 1/2 cup wafer biscuits, crushed
1/2 cup Nutella
1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For decorating

8 Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
3/4 cups roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped (some whole)
1 packet (125g) vanilla wafers, crushed (reserve some whole)

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Butter three 8-inch round pans.
Cake batter: In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Mix in the hazelnut meal and set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, whip the eggs and sugar using an electric mixer on high, for about 5 minutes (when it has tripled in size). Slowly mix in the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and then divide the batter evenly between the three pans. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when pierced. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling wire rack to completely cool down before frosting.
Frosting: Add the chocolate to a microwave safe bowl and melt the microwave, stopping every few seconds to stir and prevent the chocolate from burning. Once melted, remove and allow to slightly cool to room temperature. Transfer the chocolate to a mixing bowl and whip together with the unsalted butter, Nutella, and vanilla extract until well combined. Take half of the frosting mixture and place it into another bowl and stir in the crushed roasted hazelnuts.
Assembly: Place the wafer biscuits in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Place the first layer of the cake onto a round cake board. Spread with half of the hazelnut frosting mixture of the frosting and sprinkle with some of the crushed wafers. Repeat for the remaining layer.
Decorating: Cover the whole cake and sides with the plain chocolate frosting. Press the roughly chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake and decorate the top of the cake accordingly or however you wish to. Serve!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Red Velvet Cheesecake

November 11, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! I just want to start off by saying that I AM FINALLY DONE WITH MY DEGREE! Well, more like I am free from formal classes FOREVER for my Bachelor of Design degree! I’m still not entirely free as I still have my internship to complete until mid-Fenruary next year. This just means that I will have more time to spend in the kitchen, cooking up meals and experimenting with recipes. It will also give me more time write up these recipes for my blog, which makes me happy! So to keep this blog up to date on a regular basis, I have decided to run an upload schedule every Tuesday & Thursday nights. Tuesday posts will feature Muffin Making Monday recipes every two weeks, while Thursdays will predominantly be for other recipes and reviews.

Yesterday was Muffin Making Monday, but I will save that recipe for Thursday’s blog post as today will be a special one. For those of you who don’t know me personally, my birthday was 2 days ago. I celebrated my 23rd with my closest friends from uni, from primary/highschool friends from Brunei, and old/new housemates. On the Saturday I hosted a high tea & water balloon party just at the lodge – cheese & deli platters, quiches, salads, sangria, scones, and tea! Oh and of course, how could I fail to mention Red Velvet Cheesecake? Despite that everything went well, we probably spent close to 4/5 hours making water balloons that only lasted less than two minutes. Barely any of us got wet, well, I was soaking because I took a bucket of water to the head and got sprayed with the hose after stupidly approaching Marissa to genuinely lend her my slippers because ‘her feet hurt’.

On Sunday, which was my actual birthday, I celebrated with more friends at the Potting Shed at the Grounds of Alexandria. We had drinks, lots of food, and always room for some self-saucing chocolate pudding! Afterwards, we roamed around the grounds, looking at more food stalls and the on-going markets. We visited Kevin Bacon (the pig) as well and apparently it was also his birthday weekend! After the Grounds, Zargham, Jialing, and I went to the Ritz Cinema Randwick to watch Interstellar – 10/10! Brilliance is all I can say. Yvonne then join us afterwards for dinner in Kingsford and that was basically the end of a perfectly sunny spring/summery birthday weekend.

Though the weekend was perfect, can’t say the same for the week that led up to it. I had a photography assignment due the Monday of that week. Pretty much all the photographing was done – it was coming up with a bloody concept that took forever – but in the end, I got there and was able to convince my tutor for my choices. On Thursday afternoon, I decided to get a start on making my Red Velvet Cheesecake, basically just the sponge so that I would have it ready and cooled to layer with the cheesecake the next day. On the night before my celebration at home, I had a 2000w essay that needed finishing. I also had work that morning so it was indeed a stressful day/night. Once I was done and over with that essay, I submitted it online at 11:57pm and contemplated on whether I should start my Red Velvet Cheesecake or do it early morning. Knowing that I would probably end up sleeping in until very late, I decided to make my cheesecake right after submitting. And so I did. I probably started at around 12:30am and didn’t finish until an hour later (considering I had to be quiet as to not disturb my the other tenants in the house). Placed it in the fridge and went to bed happy that the cheesecake was done and setting (kind of) overnight in the fridge. The next day, Jo Yee helped me make the frosting while Jialing frosted and decorated the cake while I was busy preparing all the other foods, setting up, and lending my face to Daniel to make me pretty (not that I wasn’t pretty to begin with). But enough babble, as I’m pretty sure Vidhya has read enough to last her until Thursday, let’s get on with the recipe!

The original recipe can be found on Jamie Oliver’s Foodtube that features Eric Lanlard & Donal Skehan. I stumbled across this video on Youtube about 2 months ago and bookmarked it for I instantly knew that this was the cake I wanted to make for my birthday.

PREP TIME 30 MINS* | COOKING TIME 35-40 MINS | SERVES 8-10

*Add extra 4 hours (or overnight) for chilling and assembling

INGREDIENTS

For the red velvet cake mix (double quantities if you want to make a 2-layer cake)

185g butter, at room temperature, plus extra melted, to grease
125ml buttermilk
2 large free range eggs
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup self-raising flour, sifted
1/4 cup plain flour, sifted
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp red food colouring
1/4 tsp baking soda

For the cheesecake filling

300ml double cream, whipped
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp hot water
1 & 1/2 tsp gelatine powder

For the cheesecake frosting

250g cream cheese, at room temperature
60g butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup icing sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Prepare cake tin by slightly greasing the bottom and sides, and adding a piece of baking paper at the bottom of the tin.
Red Velvet Cake Mix: Sift the baking soda, cocoa powder, plain flour, self-raising flour into a medium-sized bowl and set aside. Meanwhile in a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar using an electric handheld mixer. Mix until pale and creamy. Add the eggs and beat on slow speed, making sure that it’s all blended in. Add the flour mixture into egg mixture and gently fold it in. Finally, add in the buttermilk and red food colouring. Mix together. Transfer the mixture to your prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through. Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool down for about 20 minutes. Trim the tops of the sponge cake, saving the trimmings to decorate with later.
Cheesecake Filling: Combine the cream cheese and caster sugar using a handheld electric mixer until it is nice and smooth. Add in the lemon juice and combine further. In a small bowl, add the gelatine powder to the hot water and mix through until it is well dissolved. Straight away add the gelatine mix to the cream cheese mix and combine. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mix until well combined.
Assembling: Line a springform cake tin with cling film. Take one layer of the red velvet sponge and gently press down. Add about a quarter of the cheesecake filling to the tin, pushing it all the way to the sides to get a nice edge. Add the second layer of sponge, again pressing down gently, and add the remaining cheesecake filling. Fold in the cling film to give it a nice smooth edge, and place in the fridge to fully set (minimum 4 hours, but preferably overnight so that it is nice a firm).
Cream Cheese Frosting: Smooth the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla together using an electric handheld mixer. Fold in the icing sugar, and then use the mixer again to beat it until it is light and fluffy.
Assembly & Decoration: Gently remove the cake from the springform and place the cake on a plate. With a palette knife, push the icing on top of and around the edges of the cake to make a nice thin layer of frosting. To bring some colour back to it, take your sponge trimmings and crumble it on the top and edges of your cake. Lightly dust some icing sugar on the top of the crumbs and it is ready to serve!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Layered Chocolate & Salted Caramel Cake

September 7, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmen3 Comments

Hello Everyone and welcome back to reading another blog post! So this recipe was actually made (and consumed) yesterday, but I would like to take this opportunity to tell you all what the cake was for. Basically last week when Jialing and I were having our lava cake bake off session, Lydia asked if I was free next week (which was yesterday), to make a chocolate cake for her birthday (which is today, Sunday). So first off, Happy 21st Birthday once again to my housemate and friend, Lydia! So on Thursday, I was going through chocolate cake recipes to make, and I came across this one on Taste. Chocolate and Salted Caramel – the ultimate flavour sensation! Jialing, and most specifically the birthday girl, were happy with this selection. So Saturday morning, Lydia and I met up with Jialing at Kingsford, had a gigantic lunch, and then headed over to Maroubra Junction to do our grocery shoppings, and also of course cake ingredient shopping. While shopping – may I just point out, we saw a tub of ready made salted caramel. We debated over whether we should just buy one, and I made the call to just make our own caramel – I mean why not? We were already making the cake from scratch!

Got home and immediately started on the cake because we knew it was going to take a while. Of course, Lydia was on dry ingredient duty, Jialing took over the wet, while I helped Lydia with the dry. Popped the mixture in the oven, and then it was onto the salted caramel. Seriously, so many problems with this, but nonetheless, it tasted #amazeballs. Also, while I was working on this, Jialing and Lydia started to prep the frosting for the cake. Also, somewhere in-between all that, Vidhya, our acting supervisor (not really) sat around and watched the chaos unfold in the kitchen – okay she did help a little bit as well before going back to sleep again (after having just woken up from her slumber). It was then more or less time to take the cakes out of the oven, left to cool, and then assemble! We assembled the first two layers and then, disaster struck. Our top layer wasn’t cooked all the way through so we had to pop it back into the oven. Once we got it out of the oven, we still had to wait for it to cool down. While that was happening, we left everything to where it was and headed out to get a take out dinner. We were so engrossed in our cake making session that we totally forgot about dinner! So went to the Indian place nearby and got dinner for 6 – by then Abdullah, Marissa, and Vidhya (when she woke up) joined us.

We then assembled the cake. Once that was done and over with, we had Vidhya distract Lydia so that we could put candles on her cake (which by the way she was not expecting). It was hilarious because whatever Vidhya needed doing was basically a one-man job turned two/three person job just to keep Lydia distracted and away from the dining room for a bit. When she finally walked back into the dining room, she was SO happy and even had a little jump/skip when she saw the candles on her cake. Priceless moment. We then took photos, sang happy birthday, had more housemates join us, ate cake, drank wine, and had a good time. So yes, if you took the time to read all that, thank you! And if you are just here for the recipe, fear not, it begins here…

PREP TIME 20 MINS | COOKING TIME 30-35 MINS | SERVES 8-10

INGREDIENTS

For the cake

2 cups plain flour
1 & 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 & 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 & 1/4 cups caster sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
395g can caramel*
4 free range eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 tsp if using concentrated extract)
1 & 1/2 tsp sea salt rocks
1 tsp baking soda
Sea salt rocks, to decorate (optional)

For the chocolate frosting

400g dark chocolate, melted and cooled
250g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted
1/4 cocoa powder, sifted

*If you read all of the above before scrolling down to the recipe, I actually made my own salted caramel which I will be uploading the recipe to tomorrow (hopefully), so stay tuned for that!

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease three 9″ round disposable aluminium tins (we didn’t have cake pans to work with so we bought these instead, and since they came in a pack of three, we made a three-layer cake instead).
Sift flours, sugar, cocoa, baking of soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt into a large bowl. Add in the eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract, and 1 cup cold water. Combine using a spatula. Then, using and electrical mixer, beat the mixture over medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes or until the mixture is smooth.
Divide the batter between the tins and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Stand in pans for 5 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool.
Meanwhile, gather ingredients for your salted caramel while waiting for your cakes to cook (if making from scratch).
Chocolate Frosting: Whisk the cocoa powder and 1/4 cup of warm water in a bowl until the cocoa powder has dissolved. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the melted chocolate, then cocoa mixture until combined.
Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes. Then, transfer the base of 1 cake to a plate. Spread with 1/3 of the caramel. Top with another cake layer and spread with 1/2 of the remaining caramel. Repeat layering with 1 cake layer and remaining caramel mixture. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread top and sides of cake with chocolate frosting. Serve!

You can’t really see the layers of caramel in-between because while we were assembling we realised that the top layer wasn’t cooked all the way through. So while waiting for that to bake away in the oven, on top of getting take out and eating dinner, the caramel that was on the other layers of cake either seeped into the cake or dripped over the sides. Sad times, but still oh so decadent in flavour!

Once again, Happy Birthday Lydia! ❤

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Red Velvet Chocolate Lava Cake

September 2, 2014December 31, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! Back with another recipe for you! I know right? It’s a weekday and she’s actually uploading a post? If you read yesterday’s post, I mentioned that I had a baking session with my good friend/lover Jialing. What happened was that she was feeling bait down that she couldn’t do the internship that she really wanted due to requirement issues with our University – and so she contacted me and basically wanted to bake a chocolate lava cake to drown her sorrows in. So, we decided to do that! I suggested that we make a red velvet lava cake – drooled instantly as I made that suggestion. So Sunday we met up at the grocers and bought our ingredients for it. While shopping, Jialing decided that she wanted to make a dark chocolate lava cake, and bought ingredients for those too. Lava cake bake-off!

This was my first time trying out this recipe and I don’t particularly like making lava cakes because I always end under either undercooking it, or overcooking it until it’s rock solid and dry. Jialing’s dark chocolate lava cakes were slightly overdone and not very molten, while mine on the other hand were slightly undercooked – the sides were perfect, but the tops (as in when you invert them) weren’t cooked at all, even when they were in the oven for the maximum amount of time they should be in. Nonetheless taste and texture were spot on – and in my opinion made the presentation of the dish more dynamic! Please check out the original recipe on The Dinner Pages. I SO wanted to make the cream cheese ice cream, but I didn’t have an ice cream maker so I mean, store bought Cadbury vanilla ice cream did wonders as well anyway!

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 15-18 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white chocolate buttons
85g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cocoa powder
2 large free range eggs
2 tsp red food colouring
pinch of salt

METHOD

Preheat oven to 200C. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the white chocolate and butter until smooth, at intervals of 20-30 seconds to prevent the mixture from burning (approximately 2 minutes altogether). Grease the moulds with the extra butter.
Add in the cocoa powder and sugar to the white chocolate and butter mixture. Stir until well combined.
Beat the eggs in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add in the chocolate mixture in small amounts, stirring together to allow the eggs to warm slowly (temper) and avoid scrambling. Add in the remaining chocolate batter in small amounts as well and stir until fully combined.
Stir in the red food colouring, flour, and pinch of salt until well combined. Then divide the batter amongst the 4 well greased moulds (should go up to about 3/4 of the way).
Bake for 15 minutes (or as I found that my cakes didn’t quite cook at the top, add an extra 2 minutes, maybe).
Remove from the oven and run a knife around the edges right away. Invert each mould onto an individual serving plate and let sit for 2 minutes, then carefully lift up the mould. Top with vanilla ice cream to serve.

I mean, look at that gloss on the lava! So much loves!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Diabetic-friendly Chocolate Lava Cake

May 1, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Here’s to another year. Happy Birthday to the strongest woman I know; my chef, my role model, my bestfriend, my queen, Mama G. Thank you for making me into the person that I am today. Thank you for supporting me in my decisions. Thank you for being kind and generous to my sisters and myself. Thank you for feeding me and most of all thank you for teaching me how to cook! Thank you for everything. I love you ❤

Today (May 1st) as you can see, is my mother’s birthday. Unfortunately for the past four years, I have not been able to celebrate with her and the family back home being away for university. But today I decided to bake her a cake, a chocolate lava cake. A diabetic-friendly chocolate lava cake. For her birthday. Even though she’s not here to eat it.

I initially looked at this recipe by theurbanbaker but changed the portions slightly to make 2 chocolate lava cakes (I had to eat them all in the end since my Mom isn’t actually here to eat it with me, and 4 seemed a bit too much to handle for me).

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 6-7 MINS | MAKES 2 CAKES

INGREDIENTS

3 tbsp unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the ramekins
50g Nestlé 70% cocoa dark chocolate for cooking, chopped
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp granulated sugar substitute (in this case I used Equal)
1 tsp plain flour
Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

METHOD

Preheat oven to 230C. Grease the ramekins with room temperature butter and light dust with sifted cocoa powder.
Add the chocolate and butter to a small bowl. Melt in the microwave for about a minute. Stir until smooth.
In a medium bowl beat the egg, egg yolk and sugar substitute together until lightened in colour and thickened. Add the chocolate mix and stir until smooth and combined. Stir in the flour and divide between the ramekins.
Bake for about 6-7 minutes. The sides will be cooked but the centre will be soft.
Invert onto a plate and wait 10 seconds before sliding the ramekin off. The cake will fall into place. Light dust with confectioners sugar, garnish with a strawberry and serve with a glass of chilled St. Andrew’s Pink Moscato (optional).