Do you like having picnics at the park? I didn’t when I lived in the Philippines, mainly because of the heat. When I moved to Australia, there are so many beautiful green spaces that it was just unacceptable not to have picnics! Don’t you agree?

Centennial park is such a great location, it has unlimited parking, a bicycle rental, a few playgrounds, BBQs, picnic tables, plenty of trees, a number of well-maintained gardens, coffee kiosks, and public toilets scattered around. It’s a great place to host a picnic. So I did just that, and it was a lovely sunny day perfect for a gathering with friends.

The food was simple and stress-free. I prepared salmon, green beans, chicken and pesto, plus a variety of desserts. The standout dessert was my version of Better than Sex Cake. Which I called Better than Anything because there were young children present and I didn’t want to be the bad aunt!

To be honest, I don’t get why anyone would say anything is better than sex, but this cake is better than any bundt I’ve made or had! So should I call it Better than Any Bundt? Hmm.. Yeah, I’m sticking with it! Better than Any Bundt!

The recipe is pretty easy, there are a couple of components, like the Chantilly cream, salted caramel and crushed flake bars. Read the notes section for substitutes and vegan option! Now here are some photos from our picnic!

Difficulty: Easy

Better than Any Bundt

Makes 1 x 10-cup bundt

Ingredients

    Chocolate Cake
    • Caramel sauce
    • Chantilly cream

Instructions

0/10 Instructions
    For the cake:
  • Preheat oven to 170C. Grease a 10-cup bundt pan with softened butter diligently then dust with cocoa powder.
  • In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bi-carb soda. Mix in salt and sugar. Make a well in the center.
  • Add the eggs, yogurt/sour cream, oil and vanilla and mix until smooth. Whisk in the boiling coffee. The batter will be runny, so don't worry.
  • Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 65 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and cover with a plate. Leave for 10 minutes.
  • Remove plate and gently pull the sides of the cake away from the pan. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and it should slide out easily. Cool completely.
    • Make the caramel
  • Place sugar in a heavy-based sauce pan. Leave it on medium heat until it melts and starts to colour.
  • Once sugar turns amber quickly whisk in the diced butter. If it separates, remove from heat and keep whisking. Once it comes back together return to the burner and cook for 1 minute.
  • Turn heat off then add the cream slowly. It will sputter so be careful. Then add the salt and cool down.
    • Make the Chantilly cream
  • With a cold and cold whisk, whisk the cold cream until stiff but doesn't look grainy. Whisk in the vanilla until incorporated. Set aside in the fridge.
    • Assembly
  • Once the cake is completely cool, pour the cooled down caramel sauce in the middle of the bun then cover with the whip cream. Drizzle remaining caramel sauce on top with the chunks of flake bars.

Notes

  1. You can use other chocolate that you like, I've tried Malteser and Twix
  2. Sour cream and yogurt work well in this cake, although I like the result with yogurt better.
  3. For a vegan version: replace the cream with plant-based cream for the Chantilly cream and the caramel, replace the butter with Nuttelex, the flake bars with vegan chocolate bars and use my vegan chocolate cake recipe here.
  4. For tips on preventing your bundt cake from sticking, please read this post.

Tags

#beautiful cake recipes  #better than sex bundt  #better than sex cake  #better than sex cake recipe  #bundt cake  #bundt cake recipes  #cake  #chocolate  #chocolate cake  #chocolate recipes  

What is a Lamington? It’s an Aussie bakery staple of sponge cakes sandwiched with a raspberry jam filling dipped in chocolate then rolled in coconut. Here, I take the flavours of a classic lamington and make a cheesecake from it. Why? Because I like lamingtons and cheesecake and was inspired by the Delicious Bake Club Challenge when they featured a Lamington Cheesecake Recipe. I made this to compete and win the Breville Wafflemaker–which I unfortunately didn’t! I didn’t follow their recipe and used my no bake cheesecake as a base. Their recipe is baked in the oven and contains eggs, my recipe is no-bake, no eggs and uses different ratios.

Will this measure up to a lamington? Unfortunately not, much as I wanted it to. The flavours are there but a good cake base makes a really good lamington and obviously, there’s no cake here. But the flavour combination is still delicious! I hope you like it. Remember to bring all your ingredients to room temperature for a smooth finished product.

 
Difficulty: Easy

Chocolate Lamington Cheesecake

Makes 1 x 20cm cheesecake

Ingredients

    For the crust
    • For the cheesecake
    • For the Chantilly cream

Instructions

0/5 Instructions
  • Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small pot, bring coconut cream almost to the boil then pour on top of the chocolate. Let it stand for a minute then whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool down.
  • In a large bowl, mix digestive biscuit crumbs and brown butter until it resembles wet sand. Take a 20cm (8in) round springform pan and press crumbs into the bottom and all the way up the sides with the back of a measuring cup. Chill until filling is done.*
  • In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, whisk cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Turn up mixer to high speed then add sugar a spoonful at a time and mix until smooth.
  • Turn mixer down add the melted chocolate and cream. Whisk until smooth. Pour filling into prepared pan, then with a hot offset spatula or spoon, flatten the top. Chill to set for at least 4 hours.
  • To serve: Warm raspberry jam to make it more liquid and easy to drizzle. Whip cream and sugar until medium. Dollop or pipe the cream on the cheesecake, drizzle jam on top and sprinkle coconut flakes.

Tags

#cheesecake  #cheesecake recipes  #chocolate  #coconut cheesecake  #lamington cheesecake  #no bake dessert  #no bake recipes  

These days so much of our way of life is influenced by what we see on social media. Take food trends for instance, bakeries get a cult following from people posting their products and rating it as “lit” or whatever the new word for cool is. I’m sure the younger generation can’t imagine what life must have been life before Facebook or Instagram or Tik Tok, but the recipe I’m sharing with you today pre-dates social media. It became famous all over the world that they kept the recipe in a vault–or so the story goes.

My recipe has been adapted from the recipe published on Hotel Sacher’s website, Hotel Sacher is a world famous hotel in Austria. It was built by Eduard Sacher, the son of pastry chef Franz Sacher who developed the cake recipe. The cake is made of a generous helping of apricot jam sandwiched between two sponge cakes and covered with a shiny chocolate glaze. There are plenty of recipes out there, most of them have almond meal, but I’m a stickler for tradition, so I went straight to the source and worked on that recipe.

I tried the sachertorte at Hotel Sacher in Salzburg. Pictured above is Mirabell garden in Salzburg.

The sponge cake is a chocolate genoise, meaning the recipe does not use a chemical leavener. Egg whites are used to give the cake height, so it’s important to gently fold them in. The generous apricot jam helps moisten this otherwise dry chocolate cake, and the chocolate glaze also protects it from further drying out. A word of caution, cool down the cake before even starting the glaze. The glaze sets quickly and will form a skin if left out too long, so it’s best to make it when the cake is ready to be glazed. You don’t need fancy piping techniques, just an offset spatula. Oh and try not to move the cake until the glaze is completely set, otherwise you will get cracks, just like mine below. The glaze should set in a couple of hours in room temperature or an hour if chilled.

Again, this is a very basic recipe, quite easy to follow and make at home, so please, if you are just starting off baking cakes, give this one a try. The cake is traditionally served with a big helping of whipped cream, but my recipe calls for white chocolate chantilly cream. However, vanilla ice cream also pairs well with this cake. Or just have it as is with coffee is great too.

 
 
 
 
 
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Finally, like I said, if you’re looking for a super moist chocolate cake, this is not the recipe for it. But this is delicious and easy to make with no frosting involved. Below is a photo of the original sachertorte that I had in Salzburg, and next to it is my homemade version, finished in 2 hours. I enjoy it by itself with coffee, and I didn’t find it too dry at all. Let me know what you think if you give this recipe a try. If you post photos, feel free to use #mrsfancypantsrecipes or tag @mrs.fancypants.recipes, this helps me see your creations and gives me feedback on what recipes I should post. If you also have any questions, comment below and I’ll make sure to respond. That’s it for my sachertorte recipe. Again, if you’re after a simple, delicious and quick cake recipe, don’t wait any longer. Preheat your ovens and bake away! Happy baking!

 
Difficulty: Easy

Sachertorte

Makes 1 x 24cm cake

Ingredients

    For the cake:
    • For the glaze:
    • For the white chocolate cream

Instructions

0/12 Instructions
  • Place milk, chocolate and sugar in a small heatproof bowl and place on top of a pot with simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom your bowl. Once chocolate is melted, take the bowl of the heat then mix in the cream. Chill for at least 2 hours.
  • Preheat oven to 170C. Greases and line a 24cm cake pan.
  • In a medium bowl, make a meringue by whisking the egg whites and sugar together on medium until glossy. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add yolks one at a time mixing after each addition. Add warm melted chocolate. Fold in flour then fold in meringue.
  • Pour batter into the cake pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs.
  • Remove from oven and let cool completely. Remove from the pan and cut in half so that you have a sandwich. Place the halves on a cooling rack, cut part facing up.
  • Warm the apricot jam until smooth. Using a palette knife or brush, spread the jam onto the cut side of each layer of the cake. Put the cake back together like before, the jam should be in between the cake sandwiches. Place the cake on a rack and put a tray underneath the rack. Set aside.
  • In a small sauce pan, mix together water and sugar. Bring to the boil, and keep boiling for 5 minutes. Take off from heat and let cool for 2 minutes until the bubbling subsides.
  • Slowly pour the sugar syrup on the chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon until glossy. Keep stirring until the mix thickens and cools slightly. If it becomes too thick just use an offset spatula to spread it.
  • Cover the whole cake with the glaze, use an offset spatula if the glaze is too thick. Leave the cake to set until the chocolate glaze is hard. If you move or touch the cake at this stage it will crack. You can place the rack in the fridge of you want it to set faster.
  • When you're ready to serve, whisk the white chocolate cream until stiff. Place in a piping bag with a large star nozzle.
  • Dip the blade of a knife in hot water and cut cake slices. Pipe the white chocolate cream on the side.

Tags

#beautiful cake recipes  #cake recipes  #Sacher cake  #sachertorte  #sachertorte recipe  #Valrhona recipes  

Chocolate tart is probably one of my favorite desserts to serve. It never gets old, it’s a crowd pleaser and goes well with anything from fresh berries, berry puree, vanilla ice cream, salted caramel, and the list goes on. Be forewarned though, this dessert was made for the chocolate lovers, and this is not extremely popular with kids. I recommend using Valrhona Guanaja 70% or an equivalent high quality dark chocolate, this is not the dessert to skimp on your chocolate, use your cheaper chocolate for chocolate chip cookies or brownies, but for this, I can’t emphasise it enough, USE HIGH QUALITY CHOCOLATE. Why? Because there’s no sugar in the filling, so the chocolate flavour is intense and if it’s not the great kind, it will just be bitter and not pleasant at all.

My recipe was adapted from the late Joel Robuchon’s Tarte au Chocolat recipe. I added a few of my own tweaks and I think mine has richer flavours compared to the original. I wrote this recipe as simple to follow as possible, and I give you the option to make everything from scratch or to get store-bought pastry for the shell. I also have some optional ingredients like brown butter and raspberry puree, depending on how special you want the tart to be. The addition of these two things makes this tart next level, I promise. So if you can, I suggest you go all out. Otherwise, without the optional ingredients, the tart is still amazing with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or even by itself.

I cool my tart down in the oven with the door left ajar. I leave it in there for an hour to two hours and by then the chocolate sets. Note thought, I live in Sydney, Australia and I don’t know if this would work the same in warm places, if the tart still looks super soft after 2 hours, refrigerate it until it sets. This process of cooling down the tart slowly, prevents cracking. I recommend serving the tart on the same day, but you can make it ahead a day before and keep it at room temperature, again, if you live in warmer climate, best to refrigerate. If you need a visual guide, you can watch the video below on how to make this chocolate tart. Don’t forget to like and follow!

 
Difficulty: Easy

Baked Chocolate Tart

1 x 25-28 cm tart

   

Ingredients

    For the tart:
    • To serve:
    • Optional raspberry puree:

Instructions

0/14 Instructions
    Make the tart:
  • Follow the recipe for the shortcrust pastry (see notes for my recipe or the packet instructions if you bought your pastry). The tart shell should already be blind baked and should just be cooling down.
  • Preheat oven to 120C.
  • Start making the filling. Chop chocolate and brown butter (if using) into small pieces and place in a medium bowl.
  • In a small sauce pan, bring the cream, milk and vanilla to the boil then pour on top of chocolate.
  • Let sit for a minute then start stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon or mariz (rubber spatula) until smooth.
  • Add eggs one at a time whisking until combined.
  • Pour the mixture into the tart shell and bake for 45 minutes. The centre of the tart will still be wobbly.
  • Turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar. Let the tart cool down in the oven for 1-2 hours until it's set. At this stage it shouldn't wobble at all.
    • Optional raspberry puree:
  • Bloom gelatin by sprinkling it on top of the water. Set aside.
  • Bring all other ingredients the boil. Blend until smooth, being careful with the hot liquid.
  • Add the gelatin, mix and strain. Refrigerate until set.
  • Blend to a smooth puree and serve alongside tart.
    • To serve:
  • Slice tart with a hot sharp knife with a thin blade. This will ensure you have sharp edges. Wipe knife after each stroke for a clean cut.
  • Serve chocolate tart slice by itself or with vanilla ice cream and raspberry puree or fresh raspberries (if using any).

Notes

  1. You can either use store-bought shortcrust pastry or use my simple sweet shortcrust pastry recipe.
  2. Brown butter adds a nice nutty flavour to the tart, but it's optional. You can watch how to make brown butter here.