Candied Rhubarb and Strawberry Brown Sugar Sponge with Dulce de Leche and Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

This was the pretty pink cake made for Mums birthday last year. This was quite an extravagant layered cake. I started off as a brown sugar sponge that was lightly spiced with ginger and cinnamon. I then put a generous layer of a Dulce de Leche caramel, topped with whipped cream cheese icing then with an abundant layer of candied rhubarb and fresh strawberries! It was taken to one of Sunday family lunches and enjoyed by all!
The cake seen in the photo was not gluten free however the recipe below is my vanilla cake recipe which i have adapted for this cake. I has been tests many times on both gluten free and regular flour and always works a treat! Enjoy xx

Recipe: 

2 cups all-purpose Gluten Free flour *

2/3 cup corn-flour ** 

2 tsp baking powder **

 1 teaspoon salt 

4 large eggs 

1 cup (250 grams) unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup caster sugar 

3/4 cup soft brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1/2 tsp ground ginger 

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup milk

* Can also use regular flour if not needing to be GF

** Doubled check to make sure these products do not contain Gluten

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray / line two 7inch cake pans. 

Beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth and light in colour. Add brown & caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy, add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and mix well

Add the flour, milk, corn flour, baking powder and ground spices be careful not to over mix, beat till just combined. Be careful not to over-mix as this will toughen the mixture and result in a heavy cake.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two cake pans and bake for 25-30min or till golden. Insert a tooth pick towards the centre of the cake, if this come out clean, the cake is done. Leave to cook for 10 minutes before taking out of the pan and cooling on a rack.

Once the cakes are cool, use a wire cuter (if you have one) or a sharp knife to cut each of the cakes in half - this will create the layer of the cake.

Whipped Cream Cheese icing:

250g Cream Cheese 

150g Butter 

3 1/2 cup Icing Sugar 

1 T Milk (may need more or less depending on desired consistency) 

2 tsp Vanilla Essence or Vanilla paste 

Method: Beat cream cheese on high until light and whipped. Add the butter and continue to beat till light and fluffy. Add vanilla and icing sugar (about 1 cup at a time) till icing has a fluffy and whipped constancy - this may require more or less milk than stated in the recipe. 

Assembly:

You will need the: 1. Dulce de Leche pre made (can buy or other make a thick caramel sauce) 2. The candied rhubarb (can be made by roasted cut chunks of rhubarb in the oven, sprinkled with a generous layer of sugar for 10mins at 180'c - needs to be watched) and 3. Freshly cut Strawberries 

Place one layer of the cake on your chosen board, cake plate or turn table. Add the layer of the Dulche de Leche or caramel sauce and spread around the middle of the cake, leave the edged clean. Pipe or carefully spread the cream cheese icing around the edges and continue to fill the rest of the layer with icing. Sprinkle the fruit even throughout the layer of the cake. Add the next layer of cake and continue these steps. On the top layer be care if you are using any caramel as it may leak down the cake. Make a small pile of the fruit, on tops of the icing, in the middle and top with a pretty pink flowers. Now is the tome to add any sprinkles if you are wanting to use any <3

Skinny Brownies - Gluten & Dairy Free and Low Calorie

I thought it was time to get back in the kitchen and start experimenting....

Now that i am back at uni, i am on the go a lot which can lead to back snacking, so this my attempt to stop that. I am not usually a fan of healthy baking as it is never as good as the real thing and is usually time consuming and expensive... here is my take on a healthy chocolate brownie bar!

It is both gluten and dairy free, has high amounts of protein and is low in calories. Uses pretty standard every day ingredients and is not time consuming at all!! 

This is the first attempt, with many to come to make this a healthier, low carb (sugar) and higher protein snack. Resulted in a very light and spongey bar with a good chocolate flavour and texture. will defiantly be making these again with more protein and less sugar - will post any more attempts.

Let me know your thoughts if you have any or any suggestions. Enjoy ♥

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour 

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder (make sure its gluten free)

1/2 cup Ground Almonds (Almond Meal)

1/2 cup Cocoa (can use cacaco if you want it to be superfood)

4 Scoops (1/3 cup) Vanilla or Chocolate Protein Powder 

1 cup Caster Sugar

1 cup Almond Milk 

2 Eggs 

2 tsp Vanilla essence 

1/2 melted Coconut Oil 

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 C.
Place all ingredients in a cake mixer and mix until smooth, be careful not to over mix.
Pour into a lined square cake pan / slice tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until cake tests cooked.

Leave brownie in pan for 10mins before removing to cool. Cut when cooled to room temperature and ENJOY!

Note: can be frozen for up to 2 weeks <3

Scanned and added all my ingredients into my fitnesspal app so here is the Nutritional information if bars are cut into 20 pieces! 

Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes filled with Caramel Marshmallow - Gluten free

Chocolate, coffee and caramel.. what a perfect flavour combination.  These cupcakes are a rich and decadent treat for those chocolate and caramel lovers. These fluffy chocolate cakes are filled with a caramel sauce and marshmallow fluff, topped with a espresso buttercream with caramel corn to add an extra crunch to the cupcake. 

This basis of this cupcake just came to me one morning in the kitchen and next thing you know, here we are with 12 chocolate, espresso and caramel morsels of goodness. 

ENJOY xx

Chocolate cupcakes: Makes 12 cupcakes 

1 1/4 cups gluten free flour (Healtheries baking mix) 

1/3 cup ground almonds 

1/2 t baking soda 

1 t baking powder 

1/2 t salt 

1 1/2 T instant coffee 

1/2 cup hot water 

1/2 cup cocoa 

1/2 cup cold water 

100g softened butter

1 1/4 cup caster sugar 

2 eggs 

2 t vanilla

Method: Preheat the oven to 170'c and line one 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake papers. In the bowl of your electric mixer cream the butter for 2 minutes.
Add the castor sugar a third at a time, beating for 2 minutes after each addition. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy and sugar had almost dissolved. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each. Add vanilla extract.

Sift together the four, ground almond, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the coffee, hot water and cocoa until you have a smooth paste. Add the cold water and mix until evenly combined. 

Add a quater of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat on a low speed until combined. Add a third of the cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Repeat this process twice more. Add the reaming quarter of flour and beat until thoroughly combined. Do not over beat or it will toughen the mixture.

Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about 3/4's full. Bake for 15-18mins. Removes cupcakes from tray and cool for at least 30mins before icing.

Once cupcakes are cooled, use a knife to gently core out the centre. 

Fill a piping bag with about 2 heaped spoons of caramel sauce on one side of the bag and 2 headed spoons of marshmallow fluff on the other side. (These can be homemade or you can use pre-made versions e.g. top and fill caramel). Fill middle of cupcakes with the caramel marshmallow combination.

Fluffy Espresso frosting: 

4 cups icing sugar 

100g softened butter 

2 T milk 

1 T vanilla 

2 t Espresso Powder

Method: Cream the butter for 3-4 minutes or until very pale. Add milk, vanilla, espresso powder and half of the icing sugar mixture, beat for at least 1 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add remaining icing sugar and beat for a further 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy or at a spreadable consistency. (You may need to add more milk / icing sugar to reach your desired constancy).

Top cupcakes with the fluffy espresso buttercream. To add an extra texture/crunch to the cupcakes i topped them with caramel corn - optional but adds an extra something special to the cupcakes.