Challenge No. 29 – Chocolate Panda Cupcakes (Gluten Free)

Posted on July 23, 2015 by MyGastroAdventure

This challenge wasn’t actually suggested by any friend or family for Challenge52, however, it is a bake which I owed to a friend from a couple of years ago. Chloè absolutely loves pandas and she found some photos of panda cupcakes and sent them to me. I offered to make them for her birthday but unfortunately life got in the way and I didn’t manage to do it. So I added this one to Challenge52 myself as a special gift for Chloè’s birthday.

These cute mini panda cupcakes have been inspired by Bakerella. Whilst Bakerella gives you all the tips you need to decorate the cakes, I needed to find a gluten free cake recipe for Chloè. I did a quick search and found this recipe for a gluten free chocolate cake.

To make these gluten free chocolate panda cupcakes you will need the following ingredients:-

100g unsalted butter, diced, plus extra for greasing
140g best-quality dark chocolate, with 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
6 large eggs, separated
140g ground almonds
pinch of salt
85g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter
300g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
Popping candy
Chocolate chips
Chocolate sprinkles
A black icing pen

Bakerella uses sanding sugar which is a special type of sugar used in baking and cake decorating. It has an extra sparkle compared to normal granulated sugar and it can be cooked and added to icing without dissolving. I couldn’t find any sanding sugar in my local shops so I thought I would try it with popping candy as it was the closest colour to what I needed.

The cupcakes are made with petit four cases and the above quantities made 50 mini cupcakes, with leftover cake mix! So unless you are making these for a big groups of people, it might be worth reducing the quantities 🙂

I started by putting my diced butter and broken chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. I kept string and then once the butter and chocolate were melted I took it off the heat and mixed until it was well combined.

I let the chocolate butter mixture cool for 5 minutes and spent the time separating the eggs.

I then added the ground almonds and egg yolks to the chocolate/butter mixture.

I added a pinch of salt to my egg whites and whisked them into soft peaks. I then added a little of the caster sugar at a time and kept whisking until I had stiff peaks.

I added 2 large tablespoons of the eggs whites to the chocolate mixture. Once it was combined, I gradually added all of the eggs whites, folding it in carefully until all the white was gone. This took longer than I thought it would but I kept my patience as I didn’t want to beat the air out of the egg whites.

With the cake mixture ready, I put all my cases on a tray and used a measuring spoon to put a teaspoon of mixture into each case.

I then put them in the oven for 8 minutes at 200 degrees celsius until cooked through.

Once the cakes were cool, I got started with the panda decorating. I started by putting 150g softened butter into a bowl and whisked it with my handheld electric mixer. As said in Challenge No. 13, it is important not to rush this stage and so I did this for about 5 minutes.

I gradually added the icing sugar, covering the bowl with a clean tea towel and whisking between each addition until combined. I continued adding a bit at a time until all the icing sugar was incorporated and I added the vanilla extract towards the end.

I put 1/4 of the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a No. 2 nozzle and the remainder into another piping bag fitted with a No. P6 nozzle.

Now for the fun bit, making the little panda faces. I took each cupcake and pipped icing on top using the wide nozzle before dipping it into a bowl of popping candy (ensuring it was fully covered). I added 2 chocolate drops for ears, 2 for eyes and one for the nose. I then added a chocolate sprinkle for the mouth. Finally, I used the smaller nozzle to pipe the whites of the eyes onto the chocolate drops. Once the whites were set, I used my icing pen to add the black centres.

And there you have it, mini chocolate panda cupcakes.

I think these are just so cute! They tasted really nice too 🙂 The only problem was that my popping candy very quickly lost its pop! As I was decorating the cakes, I kept hearing the faint sound of the candy popping on the finished cupcakes. By the time I had one the next day, there was no pop left. But this doesn’t take away from how cute they are.

Coming up next week, Challenge No. 30 – fig and goats cheese tart.

Challenge No. 28 – Pizza

Posted on July 16, 2015 by MyGastroAdventure

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love pizza! My dad is a pizza supplier and there was always a lot of pizza in the house growing up, so much so that I think my brother and I perhaps share a slightly unhealthy love for pizza. If I had to choose one meal to live on for the rest of my life, I’m pretty sure it would be pizza. So when my mum suggested this as one of the challenges, I thought it was brilliant.

I had a quick search online and found a recipe for a mozzarella and pesto pizza with homemade base and sauce. I used different toppings but the dough and sauce recipe was just perfect for what I wanted. So to make this recipe, you will need the following ingredients:-

500g bread flour (plus more for kneading)
1tbsp salt
330ml tepid water
2 tbsp olive oil
1tbsp golden sugar
1 7g sachet of dried yeast
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tsp of oregano
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp of salt

I started by sifting my flour and salt into a large bowl and then made a well in the centre.

I mixed the water, oil and sugar together and then added the yeast. I gave it a good mix and waited 3 minutes before pouring the mixture into my flour well.

I used a metal spoon to slowly stir the flour into the liquid until it was well combined. I ended up having to add a little bit more water as it seemed a bit too dry. I just added a few drops at a time until it came together as a relatively sticky dough.

I floured my work top and tipped out the dough ball. I gave it a good knead for about 10 minutes until it was smooth and springy. I popped it in a clean bowl which I had covered with a fine coating of flour, sprinkled some flour on top of the dough and then I covered the bowl with a damp tea towel. I put the bowl in the hottest part of my flat, in front of the working tumble dryer and set the timer for 1 hour.

Practical tip: in case you missed Challenge No. 16, remember to develop your own method of kneading. This may sound silly but when I first starting making bread, I tried to replicate other people’s kneading styles. Unfortunately, I have bad joints, particularly bad in my hands and I found it painful to use some of the methods I’d seen on TV. Instead I found I rolled and stretched the dough between my two hands, using more of the heel of my hand than my fingers. It takes a little longer for me to knead like this but I always get there in the end and it is less painful 🙂 So find a method that works for you and just go with that.

Whilst the dough was proving, I set about making the pizza sauce. I drained the juices from the tinned tomatoes and popped the leftover tomatoes into a jug. I added the oregano, garlic and salt and then blitzed it with my handheld mixer. The smell was absolutely beautiful and instantly reminded me of a lovely fresh cooked Italian pizza! Just what you want from a pizza sauce 🙂

When the timer went off for my dough, I turned the oven on to 220 degrees celsius and put in two tray upside down. According to the recipe I found, this helps crisp up the base of the pizza.

I tipped out the dough onto a well floured surface and divided the mixture into 4 equal balls. I took the first one a kneaded it for about 5 minutes until it felt right to start stretching. I gave it a bit of a roll with the rolling pin and then decided that, if I am making pizza, I’m going to do it properly…so I started throwing it in the air, spinning it into a flat oval. It kind of worked too!! I still had to give it a bit of a stretch to get it to the right size but I soon had a base ready to be topped. I popped it onto some floured foil and got started on the toppings.

Practical tip: this recipe makes 4 pizza bases. If you don’t want to eat all four at once, just knead and shape any extra dough. Layered the extra bases together with foil to separate them and then pop them in the freezer for another day.

I made Dave’s pizza first and added some sauce before layering up some grated cheddar, pepperoni slices, ham slices, some barbecue chicken, some pulled mozzarella and then a drizzle of chilli oil.

Practical tip: don’t cut your mozzarella, always pull it. I’ll be honest I don’t know why this is but its something my dad always says to do when topping a pizza and having been in the industry for a long time, I’m inclined to listen to him 🙂

With Dave’s pizza put to one side, I took the next ball of dough to knead and stretch into my base. I topped it with some of the sauce and then added my ingredients. I covered a quarter of the pizza with goats cheese, a quarter with gorgonzola, a quarter with mozzarella and a quarter with a cheddar/parmesan mix. I then topped it all with ham and some chilli oil.

I put each pizza onto one of the heated trays and put them in the oven. I set the timer for 8 minutes and when this went off, I broke an egg into the centre of my pizza. Trust me, don’t knock this until you have tried it. Egg on a pizza is one of life’s little food secrets that no-one should miss out on (although Dave still wont try it!).

I let the pizzas cook for another couple of minutes and then decided they needed a little longer. I hadn’t made my bases quite as thin as the recipe suggests and I know Dave prefers his pizza slightly overdone. I ended up cooking the pizzas for about 16 minutes in total and this was just about right for us.

These were absolutely amazing! They was much less greasy than a takeaway pizza and I’m amazed at how simple it was to do. Once I’ve used the 2 extra bases I have in the freezer, I will definitely be making some more.

Coming up next week, Challenge No. 29 – panda cupcakes (gluten free).

Challenge No. 25 – Sweet Potato Brownie (Gluten Free)

Posted on June 25, 2015 by MyGastroAdventure

This challenge was due to be posted last Thursday, however, on Wednesday evening I received the terrible news that my brother’s soon to be father-in-law had been killed in a motorcycle accident. Dave was a wonderful man who was so full of life and laughter. It is a heartbreaking loss for his family but also all those who knew and experienced Dave (it has been said that you didn’t just know Dave, you experienced him!). Sadly Dave died as a result of a car driver pulling out in front of him, the type of accident bikers cannot account for. His family have already tried to increase awareness for other bikers and so I start this post with my condolences and love to the Cook family but also a message to all those who use the roads – please be aware of motorbike riders, look twice maybe even three time before pulling out. That final check could stop another family having to go through this painful experience. Rest in peace Dave, you will be sadly missed by all those who had the pleasure of knowing you.

And so, through teary eyes, I continue with this post…

This challenge was suggested by my friend Danny and it was a bit of a tricky one for me. Sweet potatoes have soared in popularity in the UK recently and a quick search online revealed lots of recipes for sweet potato brownies. However, Danny specifically requested the brownies be gluten free. Trying to find a simple recipe for gluten free sweet potato brownies was more difficult. All the ones I found used ‘cups’ for the ingredients measurements (which I never use!) and also gluten free flour. I wanted to avoid using a gluten free flour and so I searched until I found a recipe which used other ingredients.

Eventually I found this recipe by Lindsay on The Lean Green Bean blog (be sure to check it out)! I’ve converted the recipe away from ‘cups’ and to make these delicious sweet potato brownies, you will need the following ingredients:-

175 g chopped, pitted dates
130g cooked sweet potato, mashed
190g nut butter (I used peanut butter)
2 eggs
63g applesauce
40g unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g dark chocolate chips

I started off by cooking the sweet potato. I’ve made sweet potato fries before, but I wasn’t sure of the best (and quickest) way to cook the sweet potato for mashing purposes. I did a bit of research and decided to use the microwave. I simply pricked the potato with a fork and popped it in the microwave on high for 8 minutes (turning it over half way through). After cutting the potato open, I realised this wasn’t quite long enough to cook it all the way through. However, the outside bits were soft enough to give me 130g of mashed potato.

Whilst the potato was in the microwave, I added my dates and peanut butter to a food mixer. I then added the mashed sweet potato and blitzed it until smooth. This actually took quite a while because the mix was so thick. I was slightly worried the motor on my mixer was going to blow, it definitely got very hot but managed to survive the challenge!

Once the mixture was smooth, I added the eggs and applesauce and blended the mixture until it was combined.

I then decided to tip the mixture into a large bowl before adding the final ingredients. This is mainly because my mixer is small but also the motor was really hot after working such a thick mixture so a rest was clearly needed! Once the mixture was in the bowl, I sifted in the cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda.

I tried mixing this together with a spatula but it was so thick, the tip came off the handle! So I switched to a nice sturdy wooden spoon and it came together nicely.

Finally, I added the chocolate chips before spooning the mixture into my dish (9×9 inch pan) which I had lined with baking paper.

I popped the dish into my pre-heated oven on 190 degrees celsius. I checked the bake after 15 minutes and re-set the timer for another 5 minutes. I then checked it again and decided to give it another 3 minutes. When I inserted my skewer it wasn’t coming out completely clean but the coating was melted chocolate rather than uncooked batter so I decided it was done.

I left the brownie to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before popping it onto a cooling rack to cool completely. I then chopped it up into squares and packed the brownies up to take round to my friend’s for the evening.

Dave and I spent the evening with our friends Matt and Helen, where we enjoyed a beautifully cooked lasagne and a homemade victoria sponge cake made with lemon curd and a coconut topping – all courtesy of Helen.

Helen is a keen baker, a celiac and a chocaholic making her the perfect taster for my gluten free brownies. The verdict – a success.

We all enjoyed these little chocolate treats; even Dave who had turned his nose up at the idea of potato in a brownie (he didn’t believe me when I tried to tell him all brownies have potato in! hehe). The peanut butter added a really nice flavour to the brownies and I will definitely be making these again!

Coming up next, Challenge No. 26 – chilli con carne.

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