Passionfruit & Lemon Trifle with Macarons

Today is Asian Gaga's birthday (I think she has outgrown the nickname I gave her for this blog a while ago but it's too confusing to come up with a new one). As my bestest friend in the whole wide world, I like to bake her something extra special for her birthday each year. Last year it was the Mint Slice Cake. The year before was the Lady Gaga Cake. And before that was the Lemon Meringue Cheesecake. This year she requested something with passionfruit and lemon in it. I decided I wanted to make her a birthday trifle. I love trifles. I may have gotten slightly carried away. I drew a diagram and everything.

Behold, my Seven Layer Passionfruit and Lemon Trifle. It includes (starting from the bottom); a Passion Pop mousse, lemon cake, lemon and passionfruit curd, passiona (passionfruit soda) jelly, chocolate and passionfruit macarons, whipped cream with fresh passionfruit and mini meringues on top. The inspiration for this epic trifle came from several different places. But before I tell you about it, I need to tell you about what happened while I was making this trifle. The event that will forever be known to me as The Trifle Disaster of 2012.

I started this trifle two days in advance because I knew that all the different elements would need time to be prepped and chilled. Day one went smoothly, I made the passion pop mousse, the cake, curd, jelly and macarons. The next morning I worked at a leisurely pace to make the meringues and cream and it was going very smoothly. I was pleased. I had been taking a shot of each layer as I added it for the animated GIF further down in this post. All the components were done and I just had to take a shot of it before adding the last meringue layer. I turned my back for a second to find my camera and turned back just in time to watch the trifle slide off the spot where I had placed it and completely upend itself on my carpet. SPLAT. Completely destroyed. I screamed. A horror movie kind of scream, followed by a full-blown hysterical meltdown. A day and a half of work down the drain and I had to either give up or START ALL OVER AGAIN. Ugly crying ensued.

Yep. This kind of shit happens to me all the time. Because I'm unco and careless and messy. Like the time I dropped my camera into the middle of some freshly baked cupcakes. This time some kind of insane determination took over, and I refused to be defeated by my clumsiness. I scooped the mess off the carpet, threw it in the bin and started over (after A talked me down from my hysteria and bought me a whole bunch of new passionfruits). I made an absolute mess of my kitchen but by the end of the second day I had nearly recovered. It wasn't quite as neat and perfect as the first time around, but it was good enough. By the next morning I had a fully assembled trifle. Sighs of relief were abundant.

Most of the inspiration for this dessert came from a great passionfruit dessert I had at Hemingway's Manly which used Passion Pop, the iconic Aussie chick drink. I thought it was a great way to add a hint of nostalgia for our teenage years. It was not surprising that I got my ID checked when I went to buy a bottle of the passionfruit flavoured sparkling wine, they must have thought I was 16 or something. But it was worth it, the passion pop mousse is a delight to eat. It might be my favourite layer of this entire trifle. The pretty cubes of passionfruit soda flavoured jelly and crunchy mini meringues on top were inspired by some fabulous desserts that I tried at Quay recently. I decided on a whim to add the layer of macarons, remembering how pretty they looked in a Donna Hay trifle recipe from a while back. I made a chocolate passionfruit ganache for the macarons, which is one of my favourite macaron flavours. The moisture from the other layers does make the macarons turn soggy pretty quickly, so the last three layers are best left to be assembled right before serving. So, this weekend I made TWO trifles. I am insane but it was worth it because it's for my bestie and she deserves it, she is amazing. If you are as insane as me, I have included the recipe below. I advise you not to dump the entire contents on the floor right after you finish making it. I think I lost several years off my life this weekend. P.S. See if you can spot where disaster struck and I had to start over in the gif below. It's not the best gif ever, I was shooting handheld and had no idea if I was taking it from the same angle each time. Plus it's shot with two different trifles :P

Passionfruit & Lemon Trifle with Macarons

(I used a 15-19cm wide x 15cm tall trifle bowl)

Layer 1: Passion Pop Mousse

I made a half batch of Sprinkle Bakes Champagne Mousse, replacing the champagne with Passion Pop. If passion pop is unavailable you can replace it with sparkling mixed with passionfruit pulp to taste. Pour mousse mixture directly into the bottom of the trifle bowl and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours.

Layer 2: Lemon Cake

Prepare the lemon cake from this recipe, using a 17cm round cake tin instead of a rectangular tin. You may need to add 5 minutes to the baking time. Trim the edges of the cake if needed so that it will fit tightly over the top of the mousse layer.

Layer 3: Lemon & Passionfruit Curd

3 passionfruit

Juice and grated zest of 1/2 a lemon (about 2 tbsp juice)

2 eggs + 1 egg yolk

100g (bit less than 1/2 cup) sugar

70g (5 tbsp) butter, softened

Place all ingredients except the butter in a saucepan and place on low heat. Stir continously (and I mean it, stop watching it and it will turn to scrambled eggs within seconds), until it's thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 5-8 minutes.  Remove from the heat, strain to remove passionfruit seeds (if you prefer) and whisk in butter until smooth. Pour into a bowl and cover surface with clingfilm. Keep chilled in the fridge until ready to spread over top of cake layer.

Layer 4: Passiona Jelly

2 tbsp powdered gelatine

200ml (about 3/4 cup) + 600ml Passiona (about 2 1/2 cups) (or any passionfruit flavoured soda, I used Kirk's pasito)

Place 200ml passiona and powdered gelatine in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the gelatine is well dissolved. Pour gelatine mixture plus 600ml passiona into a cake tin or rectangular tray to set (I used a 24x32cm tray so that the jelly set 1cm thick). Chill in fridge until set, then cut using a long sharp knife into 1cm cubes. Keep chilled in the fridge until ready to sprinkle over curd layer.

Layer 5: Passionfruit Chocolate Macarons

I used my plain macaron shell recipe, using yellow gel colouring to tint the shells and only piping regular 4cm rounds. For the ganache, I placed 150g chopped dark chocolate and pulp and seeds from 1 passionfruit in a bowl and then heated 100ml heavy cream in a small saucepan until nearly boiling and poured it over the chocolate. Leave it to melt for 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth (if there are still unmelted bits, place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until smooth). Strain mixture to remove seeds, then chill until thick and cooled but still pipable. Pipe or spoon between macaron shells. Refrigerate in an airtight container until you are ready to assemble your trifle for serving.

Layer 6: Passionfruit Cream

300ml (about 1/4 cup) thickened/whipping cream

1 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

1 passionfruit

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream and sugar on high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold through pulp and seeds from passionfruit. Chill until ready to assemble your trifle for serving.

Layer 7: Mini Meringues

I followed the instructions from Butter Me Up Brooklyn (but mine look no where near as pretty!), minus the orange zest. Keep in an airtight container until you are ready to assemble your trifle. Right before serving, assemble macaron layer, cream layer and place the mini meringues on top. Serve straight away.

Lemon Cake Squares with Cherry Meringue Icing

Ahhh I love long weekends. All that extra sleep, lazing around catching up on TV shows and doing all those extra chores you usually don't have the time for. And of course, more baking time. I was inspired to make this bright and light cake slice because of the beautifully sunny weather we had this weekend, and the big bunch of white daisies that I picked up on a whim. I really love daisies and I wanted to bake something that was equally sunny and happy. So here are some delicate Lemon Cake Squares with a Cherry Meringue Icing. They are a lot lighter than a big slice of cake, which makes them perfect for afternoon tea or brunch.

I adapted the lemon cake squares from a lemon pound cake recipe and it turned out just like I hoped it would. There's not much rising agent in the cake so it doesn't have much height, but it's not too dense or heavy. It has a lovely fine crumb, crisp golden edges and it's bursting with lemon-y goodness thanks to all the lemon juice and zest in the batter, leaving a really gorgeous lemon flavour lingering in your mouth. It's almost like a lemon brownie but it's more cakey than fudgy. So derrricioussss!

Rather than making a regular buttercream or glaze, I decided that a very fluffy Italian meringue icing would be a great match for the not-as-fluffy cake. I had heaps of frozen cherries leftover so I defrosted and pureed them, folding them through the Italian meringue to give it a beautiful pink tinge. The cherry flavour works well against the lemon in the cake too. I'm not usually a huge meringue fan, but I do love the velvety texture of the cooked Italian meringue, it looks so pretty spread over the top of this cake. It's sorta like a marshmallow cream spread, so fluffy! (But not too sweet) If you're not too keen on that idea, you can alway substitute it with a butter icing, or a glaze of some sort.

Anyway I hope everyone had a good long weekend, I have to spend the next few days weaning myself off the chocolate egg diet. Back to work we go, but at least I can comfort myself with these pretty cake squares. And by the way, thanks to anyone who has commented, tweeted or emailed me photos/feedback of their own versions of the Cheesecake Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs, it makes me super happy to see all the people who were inspired to try it out after seeing my post :) Also, I honestly didn't realise it wasn't that easy to find hollow eggs in the US, they're so commonplace in Australia! That was a bit of a bummer, I love hollow chocolate easter eggs!

Lemon Cake Squares with Cherry Meringue Icing
(makes about 16 squares, cake recipe loosely adapted from Martha Stewart's Lemon Pound Cake)
70g (5 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing tin
170g (about 3/4 cup) sugar
125g (1 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking (bicarb) soda
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice, plus finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup milk
2 large eggs

For the icing:(meringue icing can be substituted with a regular butter icing or a glaze)
2 large egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
170g (about 3/4 cup) sugar
3 tbsp water
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup (about 70g) fresh or frozen pitted cherries, pureed (if frozen, drain excess liquid before pureeing) (can be replaced with strawberry or other berries)

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F), grease and line the base of a 17x27cm rectangular slice/brownie tins (or a 20cm square cake tin) with baking paper. Whisk together flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. Stir milk and lemon juice together in a cup. Place softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on high speed with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about two minutes. Add zest, and add eggs one and a time, beating until well combined. Reduce speed to medium-low and add half the flour mixture, followed by half the milk mixture mixing until just combined, then add the rest of the flour followed by the rest of the milk and beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for about 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the cake is golden brown on the outside. Cool in tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes then carefully remove from tin and cool completely on wire rack.

Prepare the icing; in a large mixing bowl beat egg whites and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Place sugar, salt and water in a small saucepan with a sugar thermometer attached. Stir over medium heat until the mixture dissolves, increase heat and let it come to the boil. Cook without stirring until it reaches 115°C (238°F) (about two minutes), then remove from the heat and very carefully pour a thin stream of the hot sugar syrup over the egg whites as you beat them at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the cherry puree. Spread an even layer of icing over the top of the cooled cake with a spatula. Chill in an airtight container in the fridge for about 30 minutes, then cut into equal sized squares before serving. Can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for several days, you can also make the cake a day or so in advance and prepare the meringue right before serving.

P.S. I nearly forgot to mention, I finally got around to putting a Pinterest button on my posts for all the people who have been asking! It's hiding next to the Facebook 'like' button at the end of each post. You can't see it from the home page of my blog, so you'll have to click on the title of each blog to open the post page to find it. I freakin' love Pinterest. I also included a link to my own Pinterest, and created a board with pins from my blog for anyone who wants to repin my stuff easily. I was reluctant to do it at first (in the same way that I am still resisting the urge to make a Facebook page for my blog due to sheer laziness) but went ahead and made it after getting a few requests. So feel free to follow me on Pinterest!

Funfetti Marshmallows

I confess I did not feel like baking this weekend. It was a very jam packed weekend, and I hardly had any free time. So I wanted to do something fun and easy. Rainbow sprinkles are always fun, and you know how much I love them so. It's the easiest way to give something very simple that extra little bit of brightness and craziness. And so, inspired by some of the wonderful funfetti recipes that are around at the moment (see Bakers Royale and Sweetapolita), I turned some very normal vanilla bean marshmallows into these happy rainbow funfetti marshmallows.

I know there's nothing ground-breaking about this idea, and it has most likely been done before, but I had so much fun making them and photographing them. It was the perfect excuse to pull out these pretty sprinkles that I picked up recently. I cannot stress enough how much better homemade marshmallows are compared to the store-bought kind. If you have never tried homemade marshmallows, you need to try making them at least once. They are SOOO much better, trust me. Anything with a candy thermometer and boiling glucose/corn syrup can seem a little intimidating at first, but it's really not that bad. And it's so much fun watching it whip up in your mixing bowl, into this huge fluffy white cloud.

I mixed these sprinkles throughout the marshmallow mixture, and also sprinkled them on the outside as well. I would definitely recommend using the softer type of sprinkles rather than the crunchier nonpariels variety. You don't really want to encounter those super hard sprinkles throughout your fluffy, soft marshmallows. But imagine how cute these would be in smores and hot chocolates!

Of course you could make these marshmallows whatever flavour or colour you want, I'm totally wishing I had made some Bailey's flavoured ones with green sprinkles for St Patrick's Day now! I was really really tempted to try making rainbow marshmallows as well as using rainbow sprinkles, but I just didn't have the time.

I totally confused myself on the quantities I usually use for this recipe (I fixed it up in the instructions below), so I ended up with double the amount of marshmallow than I needed, which is why the sprinkles throughout the marshmallow mixture might seem a little on the sparse side. So I made one tray of regular marshmallows, and used the leftover mixture to make a funfetti marshmallow and oreo slice. It was just a matter of crushing some oreo biscuits and baking it with butter to make a crust. I love the contrast of the dark biscuits against the white marshmallow! And if you're a fan of the combination of oreo and marshmallows you should check out these ones.

Funfetti Marshmallows (and an Oreo Slice)
(adapted from my Oreo Marshmallow recipe, makes about 25 marshmallows)
250g (about 1 cup) sugar
2 tsp liquid glucose or light corn syrup
1 tbsp gelatine powder
1 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1/2 tsp extract + 1 /2 tsp vanilla bean paste)
1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles, plus extra for decorating (softer ones are better than the crunchy ones)
Vegetable oil (or melted butter) for greasing
1/2 cup (75g) icing sugar, sifted
1/2 cup (75g) cornflour (cornstarch)

Grease and line the base and sides with baking paper in a 20cm square cake tin or a 17x27cm slice tin. Place caster sugar, glucose and 100ml water in a small saucepan. Place on low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Place 100ml cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatine powder over it and set aside to soften. Increase heat on saucepan to medium-high and insert a sugar thermometer. Boil for 3-5 minutes, until sugar thermometer reaches 120°C (250°F) (I got my candy thermometer from a $2 dollar shop for those wondering). Remove from the heat and carefully add gelatine to mixture and whisk until gelatine dissolves and no lumps remain (if you are worried about this step you can heat the bowl of gelatine over a pot of simmering water first to make it smoother before adding it).

Place egg white in a large mixing bowl and start beating with an electric mixer with a whisk attachment on high speed. Gradually add hot sugar syrup to the egg white while mixing, if you are using a hand mixer you should beat your egg whites to a stiff peak before you start adding the syrup, but it works fine to add it as soon as you start beating the egg in a stand mixer. Beat until mixture is glossy and white, about 5 minutes on a stand mixer and closer to 10 with a hand mixer. Fold in vanilla and 1/4 cup of sprinkles (or more if you wish!). Before mixture starts to cool too much, pour mixture into prepared tin and use a spatula to quickly smooth top. Leave to set at room temperature overnight. Use a greased knife to cut into 25 squares. You can then roll or top with extra sprinkles on the outside of each marshmallow. Mix icing sugar and cornstarch together and use to dust each marshmallow. Place on a piece of baking paper to dry about an hour, then store in an airtight container. Best eaten within two days.

Alternately, if you want to make this into an Oreo slice, before making the marshmallow mixture press 2 packs of oreo crumbs (centres removed) mixed with 1/3 cup (90g) butter melted into the bottom of your tin and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-15 mins, then pour the marshmallow mixture over the top. Top with more sprinkles and chill in the fridge until set.

Bourbon & Brown Butter Brownies

As 2011 draws to a close and people make plans to welcome in the new year, I can think of nothing but brownies. Brownies are one of those things that I will randomly get cravings for every few months, and then I will make them and gorge myself to the point where I can't look at brownies for another few months. So this New Year's Eve, you could either work up the energy to make this stunning Pink Champagne & Strawberry Cake, complete with sparklers and chocolate covered strawberries, or you could take the easy route and make these incredibly quick and deliciously satisfying Bourbon & Brown Butter Brownies.

I've already gone on and on about the magic of adding brown butter to baked goods, so I knew that bit was going to be fantastic. But this time I took a leaf out of Lisa's book and boozed these babies up. These brownies are strictly for the grown ups. It's for New Year's Eve after all! The bourbon adds a wonderful depth to these gooey, fudgy brownies (extra gooey and fudgy because I doubled the amount of chocolate in them!). I was also tempted to whip up some boozy chocolate ganache to spread over the top but they tasted pretty great on their own so I decided against it, though feel free to do it if it tickles your fancy.

I hope everyone has had a lovely holidays and is ready for the new year. It's been an exciting, exhausting and tough year for me but I'm ready to take on 2012. These boozy brownies are the perfect dessert to make for any New Year's Eve dinner, serve it warm with some vanilla ice cream and everyone will love it. I am now going to eat way too many of them and will probably regret it later. See you in 2012!

Bourbon & Brown Butter Brownies
(makes 16 brownies)
250g good quality bittersweet chocolate (if you want them to be less gooey/fudgy then only use 175g)
100g butter
120ml (about 1/2 cup) bourbon
2 eggs
3 tbsp dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
75g (about 1/2 cup) plain flour
190g (about 3/4 cup) sugar

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Grease very well and line the bottom and two long sides of a 20x30cm slice/brownie tin (can be substituted with a 20cm square cake tin but you may have to bake it slightly longer as it will be thicker). Let the baking paper hang over the long edges, it will make it easier to lift brownie out later. Prepare the brown butter; place butter in a small saucepan on low heat until it melts, continue to stir over low heat but keep a close eye on it, as it begins to bubble and the milk solids separate and settle at the bottom of the pan. Stir it frequently at this point, so that the milk solids do not settle at the bottom of the pan for too long and burn. Continue until the mixture turns brown and smells nutty but take care not to leave it for too long or it will taste burnt. Remove from the heat.

Break up chocolate into small pieces place in a heatproof bowl. Heat over a saucepan of boiling water, or very carefully in 30 sec bursts in the microwave. Stir and set aside to cool for a few minutes, then add the brown butter and stir to combine. Sift cocoa powder, sugar and flour into a large mixing bowl. Add melted ingredients, bourbon and eggs to the dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Take care not to overmix or the brownies will be tough. Pour into prepared tin.

Bake for about 25 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (start checking on it from the 20 minute mark, it is better to undercook it and have to return it to the oven later than to overcook it and let it go dry). Remove from the oven and place tin on a wire rack. Cool completely in tin before removing and cutting into 16 pieces. Can be stored overnight in an airtight container (they actually taste best the day after).

Pumpkin & Brown Butter Blondies

I'm still in complete denial about that fact that it's Spring already, and it seems that the weather gods are too. It's been super chilly and rainy the last couple weekends in Sydney, which has been bad for any outdoor plans, but great for baking! While I am lucky enough to have a few more chilly afternoons, I've been loving everything to do with pumpkin. We've been eating tons of roasted pumpkin and parsnip with our dinners, and I've been wanting to use pumpkin puree in all my baking.

I decided to adapt my recipe for banoffee blondies with pumpkin, spices and white chocolate chips to make these Pumpkin & Brown Butter Blondies. I'm still completely in love with brown butter with it's nutty smell and gorgeous gold colour, it's a perfect match for pumpkin. I was excited to try using the blondie recipe again, it's honestly one of the most delicious and indulgent desserts I've baked. This one is a little less sweet and rich since it doesn't have the dulce de leche and chocolate sauce, but the addition of brown butter and all kinds of spices makes this slice moreish and fragrant. It's like the love-child of a brownie and a pumpkin pie. Sounds pretty good right? Assuming you like pumpkin pie and brownies...

They turned out a little bit thinner than the banoffee blondies, maybe the puree made them slightly more dense so they didn't rise as much, so I've adjusted the recipe to use a slightly smaller baking pan. They're definitely not the prettiest things I've ever baked, the white chocolate chips go all brown on top in the oven which makes them look kinda fugly, but I love the little pops of sweetness that the white chocolate gives them.

The colour of these blondies is as gorgeous and bright as anything else I've ever baked with pumpkins. Maybe next time I might try mixing all the chocolate chips into the batter rather than sprinkling it on top so it won't have the ugly brown bumps on top. I still have heaps of leftover pumpkin puree so I think I might have to whip up some pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon butter. I must be one of the few people in Sydney who is hoping we have a few more cooler days so that I can enjoy my pumpkin desserts. For those of you in the northern hemisphere this recipe is perfect for autumn, enjoy!

Pumpkin & Brown Butter Blondies
(adapted from my Banoffee Blondies, makes approx 20)
115g (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (110g) packed light-brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree fresh or canned (I made fresh by steaming chopped pieces of butternut pumpkin til tender and blitzing in food processor, you won't need more than 1/4 of a pumpkin)
1 cup (about 150g) plain flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice (if unavailable just use ground cloves)
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Brush a 20cm (8-inch) square baking pan (I used a 17x27cm slice/brownie tin but found it was a tad too large) with some melted butter; line pan with a piece of baking paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter paper.

Prepare the brown butter; place butter in a small saucepan on low heat until it melts, continue to stir over low heat but keep a close eye on it, as it begins to bubble and the milk solids separate and settle at the bottom of the pan. Stir it frequently at this point, so that the milk solids do not settle at the bottom of the pan for too long and burn. Continue until the mixture turns brown and smells nutty but take care not to leave it for too long or it will taste burnt. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, lightly whisk browned butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in egg and vanilla and pumpkin puree. Add cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, flour and salt; stir just until moistened (do not overmix). Fold in 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle with remaining white chocolate chips.

Bake until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes (25-30 mins for the larger pan). Set pan on a wire rack, and let cool completely. Using parchment overhang, lift cake from pan and transfer to a cutting board; cut into 20 pieces. Blondies can be stored for several days in an airtight container in the fridge. Serve at room temperature.

Pandan Lamingtons

Lamingtons. They are so quintessentially Aussie. We all have our preferences, some of us swear by the classic version, some like the cream/jam filled ones. And then there's pandan. It's leaves are so widely used in Malaysian dishes that it was a total shock to my system when I came back to live in Sydney 11 years ago and found that hardly anyone had heard of it. I've been over the moon with the gradual increase in Malaysian cuisine in Australia, and the eventual appearance of pandan in desserts, like Dan Hong's pandan chiffon cake on Masterchef (my only gripe is that they kept pronouncing it on the show like 'pang-dang' which made me cringe so friggin much. It's meant to be pronounced more like 'pahn-dahn').

I've put these elements together, one totally Australian and the other bringing me straight back to Malaysia, to create these Pandan Lamingtons. Lamington purists will probably be totally offended by this bright green monstrosity but if there was ever a dessert which I would use to describe myself, this would be it. It brings together my two loves, my happy childhood memories in Australia and my love of Malaysian food (including my Mum's awesome cooking). They may not be the prettiest cakes ever but they are wonderful to eat. I'd been planning them for ages and I'm quite pleased with the way they turned out.

I adapted a recipe for plain lamingtons by adding some pandan essence paste to the sponge cake. It was quite convenient that the recipe used a chocolate ganache rather than a cocoa icing for the coating, as I was able to switch it to white chocolate ganache which was a much better match for that lovely soft & fluffy green pandan cake. Coconut and pandan are always perfect together, plus the shredded coconut on the outside is exactly the type of coconut that they use in Malaysian desserts and kuih. The finished lamingtons even remind of Malaysian kuih with that hint of green hiding underneath the layer of coconut (which was a total accident, the white chocolate ganache ended up being a lot more transparent than I had expected).

Pandan Lamingtons
(makes about 32, adapted from this Gourmet Traveller recipe)
8 eggs
250g caster sugar
3/4 tsp pandan paste (more if you use the more watery pandan essence)
250g plain flour
30g unsalted butter, melted
400g shredded coconut

For the white chocolate ganache coating:
600g white chocolate
300ml pouring cream (min. 35% milk fat pure cream)

Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Grease and line the base with baking paper in a 24x32cm lamington tray, or two 20cm square cake tins. Whisk eggs, pandan paste and sugar in a heatproof bowl (it will be freakishly green at this point but don't worry, it will lighten after you whip it) over a saucepan of gently simmering water for 5-10 minutes or until warm (about 40°C/105°F), lighter and frothy. Transfer to an electric mixer and whisk on high speed in a large mixing bowl for 10 minutes or until mixture has tripled in volume. Sift over plain flour in batches and, using a metal spoon, fold gently to combine between additions. Just before adding the last of the flour, fold through melted butter. Pour into prepared tin(s) and bake in centre of oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer withdraws clean. Stand in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes, then turn out onto racks and cool completely.

For the white chocolate ganache coating, combine chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. When chocolate begins to melt, stir gently until combined and smooth and set aside in a warm place.

Scatter shredded coconut over a tray. Cut sponge into 4-5cm squares. Using 2 forks, dip each square into the ganache and shake to remove excess. (If ganache starts to thicken, place bowl over gently simmering water to thin.) Roll each square in coconut, shake off excess and place on a wire rack (sitting over a tray). Stand for at least 1 hour or until chocolate sets. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 3 days.

Raspberry Creme Brulee

I love crème brûlée. The cracking sound of the toffee surface as you break through with your spoon always brings a mischievous grin to my face. I had to make some today, I didn't really care if it was for the blog or not, I just wanted to eat it. Of course I was too lazy to walk to the supermarket to get any extra ingredients, so I worked with what I had. The raspberries in my freezer were the magic ingredient today, giving my crème brûlées a lovely colour and a burst of extra flavour.

However, here is some advice: don't bake angry. Especially when a blowtorch is involved. Don't worry, I didn't burn myself or anything but there was a lot of burnt sugar, swearing and uneven toffee on top of my crème brûlée. Oh well. It still had the satisfying *crack* as I tapped it with a spoon. It's hard to tell from the photos but the raspberries gave the crème brûlée mixture a beautiful blush colour. That, plus the black flecks of vanilla bean were the perfect additions to the creamy custard hiding underneath that caramelised sugar layer.

The flavours in this crème brûlée are lovely on its own, but if you're feeling extra indulgent take a leaf out of Karen's book and serve it with a warm chocolate sauce. I had some leftover chocolate ganache from my Mint Slice Cake from the other day which I warmed up and dolloped on top. Absolute heaven. Dark chocolate and raspberry is such a killer combination don't you think?

So there might not be anything ground-breaking about this dessert, but I love what a bit of raspberry puree does to any sweet dish. I searched around the internet for recipes for raspberry crème brûlées but all of them just threw the raspberries in whole. I wanted to keep my mixture silky smooth and seed-free, and I loved how pink it made the custard. And the best part? There's Chambord in it too! You can do no wrong with Chambord!

Raspberry Crème Brûlée
(adapted from Ina Garten's recipe, serves 6)
1 large egg
4 large egg yoks
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/2 tbsp to top each serve
3 cups pouring cream (min 35% fat, pure cream)
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
2 tbsp Chambord
1 vanilla bean pod or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract/vanilla bean paste

Optional: Dark chocolate ganache to serve (see here for recipe)

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (300 degrees F). Puree raspberries in a food processor and strain to remove seeds. Place egg, egg yolks and sugar and use an electric mixer on low speed to mix until just combined (you could use a hand whisk to combine too). You want to avoid whipping air bubbles into the mixture. Place cream in a medium saucepan with the vanilla pod (split and seeds scraped) or vanilla extract on low heat and bring just to the boil. Strain out vanilla pod. With your electric mixer on slow speed (or while stirring with a hand whisk), gradually pour hot cream mixture into the egg mixture.

Add raspberry puree and Chambord and mix on low speed until combined. Pour mixture into 6 ramekins (it's easier to do this if you are pouring out of something with a spout). Place ramekins on a tray with high sides and carefully pour hottest tap water into the pan so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Place in oven for 35-40 minutes or until the custards are just set when gently shaken. Remove the ramekins from the water and place on a rack to cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to serve. To serve, sprinkle half a tbsp of sugar over the top of each and use a blow torch or the grill of your oven to caramelise the sugar. Optional: Serve with warm chocolate ganache.

Rainbow Rice Krispies Treats

Don't ask me what madness led to this. All I know is, I had a huge bag of marshmallows to use up (kindly donated by Frickin'LaserBeam Man) and an urge to do something with rainbows. Again. Since I've used up my s'mores quota for the moment I felt the need to make some Rice Krispies Treats! (Or Rice Bubble Bars/LCMs for the Aussies. I still don't know what LCMs stands for...) So why not make them all the colours of the rainbow?! And as I was stirring up a pot of bright purple melted marshmallow all I could think was, 'This is so disgusting.' What can I say, I'm in a crazy baking phase.

I'd seen other versions of rainbow rice krispies squares, but all the different colours were usually mixed together. I wanted to do something different, by creating super thin layers of each colour stuck on top of each other. And the best part, hiding it under a layer of regular old plain rice krispies so if you looked from the top (see above photo), you'd be none the wiser. Then you cut into it and...

Tada! So bright! So vivid. (Yes I still love the Double Rainbow meme) Isn't it preeeettyy??? It looks even cooler when you put those two pictures right next to each other, look:

[Click here for the full-sized version]

And before I get any remarks about the evils of food colouring, use natural food colouring or don't make it at all. This was for fun! I was nervous to see if this idea was actually possible, it all sounded so fiddly and messy having to do each layer separately and spreading it out in a thin layer. But after a couple of layers I really got into the swing of things, the trick is to work really quickly while pressing it into the pan, using a piece of baking paper to help flatten out each layer. The most annoying part was having to wash out my saucepan after each layer. Use a non-stick pan if you can, the caked-on bits were a total pain to scrub off.

This doesn't really count as baking since it's just heating and mixing up ingredients in a saucepan but for something so simple it's a ridiculously satisfying snack. I know for sure that kids would love it because it really brought out the silly kid inside me. Plus the fact that I left the butter sitting on the heat too long for a few of the layers it ended up being browned butter rice krispies, which is pretty much the best mistake I've ever made. I mean, look at these ones on Smitten Kitchen, how amazing do they look??

There was some debate about if I should top these squares with a plain white layer of Rice Krispies or not. It might be unnecessary but in the end I think it was the right choice to have the white layer, to cheekily hide all the rainbow colours underneath (it made me think the most fantastic cake in existence, Whisk Kid's rainbow cake). Plus the having the red layer as the top layer looked a bit creepy.

Rainbow Rice Krispies Treats
(Adapted from the Original Treats recipe, makes 25 squares)
1 x 400g pack of marshmallows (I used white & pink ones), about 7 cups
100g butter (approx 7 tbsp)
7 cups rice krispies/rice bubble cereal (approx 280g)
Food colouring (I used mostly liquid, though I did have some Wilton paste as well, use whatever you prefer)

Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper. Place about 1 tbsp (14 g) of butter and one cup of marshmallows (approx 60g) in a medium saucepan and place on low heat, stirring until completely melted. Add purple food colouring and 1 cup of rice krispies (approx 40g), take off the heat and stir until well coated. Using buttered spatula or a piece of wax paper, evenly press mixture into the bottom of the lined tin, trying to make it as even and well-packed as possible. Repeat with the same amount for each other colour; blue, green, yellow, orange and red, pressing each layer tightly over the top of the previous one in the pan. Optional: top with another layer of with no colour added, making it 7 layers in total.

Set aside to cool and set. Lift out of the cake tin and cut into 25 square pieces using a long sharp knife. Best eaten on the same day but can be stored in an airtight container lined with baking paper in the fridge. Can also be frozen for up to 6 weeks.

So if you feel like a colourful, super easy treat, or you need something cute for a party - make these! It's worth the effort.