yoghurt cake

I was looking for a way to use up some yoghurt and a quick search gave me quite a few options. They all seem to be based on this recipe - a traditional French recipe which is really rather quick and simple. I used the remainder of my coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, and cracked open my jar of vanilla bean paste (which I discovered actually comes from Australia!) - apparently using 1 teaspoon of the stuff is the equivalent of using one whole vanilla bean pod. I forgot that coconut oil solidifies very quickly once it starts to cool down, so I was a little unprepared when the batter became very stiff and didn't bother smoothing out the top of the cake before putting it into the oven. I ended up with a rather unattractive cake with a very bumpy top. But I think that using coconut oil really makes the cake something special - I haven't quite figured out how to describe the effect coconut oil has on a cake. The coconut flavour doesn't really come through in the taste, rather it gives the cake its own texture, different to what you get from butter or oil, and keeps the cake moist days after baking. When I ate the cake on day 1 I thought it was delicious but was unsure whether I'd be making it again, given all the other yoghurt cake recipes I had lined up. After eating more of it on day 3 I am convinced I will be baking and eating this cake again.

Verdict: Absolutely divine, tasting even better on day 3 than on day 1.
Score: 9/10

orange cake

Christmas means leftovers, and my basket of random leftovers included 2 really huge and beautiful oranges. I had a strong desire to try a 'whole orange' cake recipe and a search on google yielded this recipe. I halved the recipe (as is usual when more than 3 eggs are required) and used one of my ginormous oranges. The result was a very delicious and very moist cake - the flavour was perfect but I found the cake possibly a little too moist (I know I couldn't believe it too - there is such a thing as too moist!) because the texture was a bit more like omelette and less like cake. So the following weekend I tried again with my last orange, this time increasing the quantity of ground almonds to 200g for my 330-odd gram orange (nothing scientific about it - 200g is the equivalent of 2 small packets of ground almonds), and increasing the sugar quantity by another 25g. The flavour was still perfect, but this time I had a cake with a much more satisfactory cake-like texture. There really isn't any need to try any other orange cake recipes - this is it. However I still want to experiment with the recipe by adding more ground almonds, given a similarly sized orange - I'll report back once I've tried it.

Verdict: Even though I'm still playing around with the recipe I don't need any other orange cake recipe - that kind of shows how great it is right?
Score: 10/10

Adapted recipe below. Ingredients

1 huge orange (weighing about 330g)

3 eggs

200g ground almonds

150g sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees (fan forced) and line a baking tin (18cm I think)

Boil the orange in some water for about 2 hours and then blend to a pulp (remember to remove seeds)

Whisk the eggs and then add the pulped orange and vanilla essence and whisk to combine

Mix the sugar and ground almonds and baking powder together in a separate bowl then add to the egg and orange mixture and whisk to combine

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about an hour

chocolate cookies

Just discovered this recipe - cookies using just eggwhites? Another one to try next time I have some eggwhites looking for a good home. Ingredients Nonstick vegetable oil spray 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces), divided 3 large egg whites, room temperature 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1/4 teaspoon salt Preparation Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring twice, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly. Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow creme. Whisk 1 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. On low speed, beat dry ingredients into meringue. Stir in lukewarm chocolate and 1/2 cup chocolate chips (dough will become very stiff). Place 1/2 cup sugar in bowl. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon dough into ball; roll in sugar, coating thickly. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 minutes. Cool on sheets on rack 10 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool. Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/quick-recipes/2008/06/deep_dark_chocolate_cookies#ixzz2GllVY8pe