This 19th-century fridge cake has stood the test of time. It’s the perfect make-ahead treat that will always impress. 

Makes 1x 21cm cake 

Ingredients   

2 packets (200g each) ladyfingers biscuits 

For the chocolate mousse: 

2 tsp gelatine powder
2 Tbsp cold water
2 slabs (150g each) dark chocolate, chopped
½ cup milk
2 eggs, whisked
400ml cream
2 Tbsp castor sugar
½ punnet (80g) fresh raspberries, torn 

 For serving: 

1½ cups cream, whipped
Fresh raspberries and cherries 

Method  

1. Wrap the base of a 21cm round loose-bottom cake tin with cling wrap, keeping the edges on the outside of the tin. Place a round piece of baking paper on top.
2. Spray the sides of the tin with cooking spray, then cover with cling wrap.
3. Arrange a layer of ladyfingers in the base of the tin, cutting and breaking the biscuits where necessary to fill tiny gaps.
4. Arrange biscuits in a ring around the sides of the tin. (Be sure to place the rounded sides of biscuits facing outwards, so the flat sides face inwards.) Set aside.
5. For the mousse, stir gelatine through the water and set aside to bloom for 5 minutes. (See Cook’s Note below.)
6. Place chocolate and milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, or until a smooth ganache forms, stirring in between. (Alternatively, melt over a double boiler.)
7. Melt the gelatine in the microwave for 3 seconds at a time, or until completely dissolved, stirring in between. It should never boil.
8. Whisk gelatine through the ganache, followed by the eggs.
9. Whisk cream and sugar in a separate bowl to stiff peaks. Gently fold cream through the chocolate mixture in two parts, being careful not to overmix and knock out all the air.
10. Pour half of the chocolate mousse into the tin and smooth over gently.
11. Arrange another layer of ladyfingers on top, then scatter with berries.
12. Pour the remainder of the mousse over the berry layer and smooth over.
13. Wrap the outside and top of the cake entirely with cling wrap, twisting ends together to seal. (Be careful not to push the biscuits inward onto the mousse.) Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
14. Uncover and unmould to reveal the set cake.
15. Top with whipped cream and dot with fresh berries just before serving. Slice and serve.

Cook’s Note 

Blooming the gelatine helps incorporate it smoothly into the dessert. The process hydrates the gelatine. Afterwards, it can easily be melted to ensure no crystals remain, preventing any lumps. 

Also Read: Layered chocolate tiramisu 

Recipe & Styling: Sjaan Van der Ploeg 
Photography: Zhann Solomons  

The post Chocolate charlotte cake   appeared first on MyKitchen.

From soft, naturally sweet banana muffins to crunchy rusks, these two sorghum bakes offer a fresh take on homemade favourites, perfect for breakfast or your next tea-time spread. 

Sorghum Banana Muffins 

A versatile muffin mix with a subtle banana flavour. Use the same gluten-free batter for a loaf or rusk (see right). We made our own sorghum meal by blitzing the dry grain in a food processor. 

Makes 18 

Ingredients  

2½ cups (400g) sorghum meal or flour
4 tsp baking powder
2½ tsp (12.5ml) corn flour
½ Tbsp (7.5ml) xanthan gum powder (optional)
1 cup (220g) castor sugar
1 tsp (5ml) salt
1 tsp (5ml) cinnamon
1 large (110g) ripe to overripe banana, mashed + extra slices for topping 
2 eggs
½ cup (125ml) vegetable oil
2 tsp (10ml) vanilla extract
¾ cup (180ml) milk  

Method  

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Spray two 12-cup muffin trays with non-stick spray.
2. Combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mash the banana until fine. Add eggs, oil, milk and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients and whisk to create a batter.
3. Fill the muffin cups just ¼ full. (Wipe any empty muffin cups clean of spray before baking.)
4. Top the muffin batter with a banana slice or two, sprinkle with crumble (see Cook’s Note) or simply leave as is.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
6. Cool the muffins in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
7. Best served warm (heat for 20-30 seconds in the microwave if needed) with a generous smear of butter. 

Cook’s Note  

To make a crumble topping, rub 50g of each butter, sugar, cake flour and sorghum flour together to resemble wet sand. Sprinkle on top before baking.   

Sorghum Banana Rusks  

From muffin to rusk, this handy batter does it all! 

Makes 16-20 

Ingredients  

1 batch sorghum banana muffin batter (recipe above) 

Method  

1. 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. 2. Line a 10x22cm loaf tin and spray with non-stick spray. Add batter to the tin and bake for 50-55 minutes, until cooked through. Cool on wire rack.
3. Once cold, slice into 8x 2cm rusks. Place on top of a wire rack positioned on a baking tray. Ensure the rusks don’t touch each other.
4. Dry out at 70°C, with the door slightly ajar, for 6-7 hours or overnight until dry and hard.
5. Cool completely and store in an airtight container or a tin for up to a month

 Also Read: Zandile Finxa: Serious about sorghum

Recipe & Styling: Sjaan Van der Ploeg 
Photography: Zhann Solomons 

The post Sorghum bakes to try: Banana muffins + Sorghum rusks appeared first on MyKitchen.

For an ode to the traditional, cook rice pudding along with ⅓ cup raisins. 

Serves 4 

Ingredients  

¼ cup Cremora powder
2 cups milk
2 cups leftover cooked white rice
¼ tsp salt
⅓ cup brown sugar + extra for serving
2 Tbsp (30g) butter + extra for serving
2 tsp vanilla extract
Ground cinnamon, for sprinkling 

 Method   

1. Place Cremora in a pot and stream in milk while whisking, to create a lump-free mixture. Place over medium heat.
2. Stir in rice, salt, sugar and butter.
3. Cook for 12-15 minutes, or until thick and saucy, stirring regularly.
4. Remove from heat and stir through the vanilla.
5. Divide rice pudding among four serving bowls and top with a scattering of brown sugar, cinnamon. 

Craving more Cremora? Check out our Cinnamon and White Chocolate Cremora Tart recipe.  

Recipe & Styling: Sjaan Van der Ploeg 
Photography: Zhann Solomons  

The post Cremora rice pudding   appeared first on MyKitchen.

 For extra flavour, sprinkle a layer of sugar onto each slice of banana and toast with a kitchen torch to brûlée, then top with whipped cream. 

 Makes 1x 25cm tart 

 Ingredients  

1½ packets (200g each)
Eet-Sum-Mor biscuits
¾ cup (150g) melted butter 

For the caramel: 

1 cup (250g) butter
1 cup (200g) treacle sugar, tightly packed
2 cans (385g each) condensed milk
2 tsp (10ml) sea salt
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla 

 For the topping: 

3 ripe bananas, sliced
2 cups (500ml) whipping cream
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla paste
½ slab (40g) dark chocolate 

Method   

1. Line the base of a 25cm fluted tart tin with baking paper. Spray the sides with cooking spray. Blitz biscuits in a food processor to a fine crumb. Alternatively, place in a resealable bag and crush with a rolling pin.  
2. Mix crumbs and butter together. Press into the base of prepared tin, lining sides with crumbs too. Refrigerate.
3. For the caramel, place butter and sugar in a large pot over medium heat. Melt, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the butter is golden, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the condensed milk and stir through. Cook while continuously stirring until thickened and a light caramel colour, about 4 minutes. (Be sure to constantly scrape the bottom of the pan when stirring to prevent burning.)
5. Pour caramel into a heatproof bowl. Stir through salt and vanilla. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
6. Pour caramel onto the biscuit base and smooth over, then refrigerate for 1 hour or until set.
7. Slice bananas at a slight diagonal angle into 0.5-1cm pieces. Arrange banana slices on top of cooled caramel, creating two layers.
8. Whip cream and vanilla together to stiff peaks.
9. Dollop cream on top of banana layers. Hold chocolate bar over the tart and use a vegetable peeler to “peel” chocolate into curls, letting them fall onto the cream before serving. 

Recipe & Styling: Sjaan Van der Ploeg 
Photography: Zhann Solomons  

The post Retro eats: Banoffee pie   appeared first on MyKitchen.

Nostalgic home-made birthday cakes are making a comeback, and we are totally here for it! They’re more affordable and, in our opinion, much more fun than the store-bought variety. Here’s how to make two sporty cakes from scratch using a sheet tray or two round cakes. It’s a hole-in-one, if you ask us.   

S-SHAPE DIRTBAKE CAKE 

BAKE

Ingredients: 

1 (800g) chocolate box cake mix
2 cups (500g) butter, at room temperature
8 cups (1kg) icing sugar, sifted
3-4 Tbsp (45-60ml) milk
Yellow, blue and green food colouring
2 cups (170g) desiccated coconut

For the cake bushes: 

2 Tbsp (30ml) sugar
2 Tbsp (30ml) melted butter
1 egg, whisked
½ tsp vanilla essence
⅓ cup (50g) flour
¼ tsp (1.5ml) baking powder
2 Tbsp (30ml) milk

For decorating: 

½ packet (100g) chocolate sandwich cookies, roughly chopped
1 packet (60g) chocolate-covered raisins
Star piping nozzle, piping bag and a toy dirt bike, to decorate

Method: 

1. Grease the base and sides of two round 20cm cake tins. Line the bases with baking paper. 
2. Prepare and bake cakes according to packet instructions, adding any extra ingredients called for. Cool completely. 
3. Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat for 30 seconds, until light. 
4. Add icing sugar and beat on low until the mixture forms crumbs. Increase speed and beat into a fluffy, light buttercream for about 3 minutes. (Scrape the sides of the bowl down occasionally.)  
5. Add milk and beat through to achieve a smooth, pipeable consistency. Then add drops of yellow and blue food colouring to achieve a dark green colour. Set aside. 
6. Add coconut and a generous drop of green food colouring to a bowl. Rub coconut together to saturate it with colour. 
7. For the cake bushes, whisk together the sugar and butter in a bowl for 1 minute. Add egg and vanilla and whisk through to combine. Add the flour and baking powder and stir through, then whisk through the milk. 
8. Colour the batter a light green, using yellow and blue food colouring to achieve the shade. 
9. Microwave for 60-80 seconds, until cooked and risen. Set aside to cool completely. Tear into rough chunks to make the bushes. Set aside.  

SHAPE 

Step 1  

 Align the two cakes vertically on a tray or serving platter, positioning one directly above the other. Use a 5cm round cookie cutter (or use a cooldrink glass if you don’t have a cutter) to cut out a ring from the centre of each cake.  

Step 2  

Using a knife, cut out about quarters slice out of each cake. Set aside the off-cut cake. 

Step 3  

Arrange rings together on a serving platter to form an ‘S’, turning the cakes carefully as needed. (You may need to cut away a little excess to make it fit perfectly.)  

DECORATE 

Method: 

1. Cover the entire cake with the green buttercream, saving a portion for the piped trees. 
2. Crumble the cake cutouts into small crumbs and sprinkle along the shape of the cake to create a bike ‘track’.
3. Place cake ‘bushes’, crushed cookies and chocolate-covered raisins along the side of the bike track. 
4. Scoop the remaining buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe trees along the cake. Pipe three blobs on top of each other, ranging from biggest to smallest, to make a tree.
5. Scatter green coconut ‘grass’ around the cake to finish. 
6. As an optional final touch, put a dirt bike toy next to the cake – ready to hit the track! 

 NUMBER 4 GOLF COURSE CAKE 

 BAKE 

Ingredients: 

 1 (800g) vanilla box cake mix
2 cups (500g) butter, at room temperature
8 cups (1kg) icing sugar, sifted
3-4 Tbsp (45-60ml) milk
Yellow, blue and green food colouring
½ packet (100g) Eet-Sum-More biscuits
Ateco piping nozzle 234 (for the grass) and piping bag (optional)
Blue paper, white plastic lolly stick and red paper, to decorate

Method: 

1. Grease and line a 20x30cm sheet tray.
2. Prepare and bake cake according to packet instructions, adding any extra ingredients the recipe calls for. Cool completely.
3. Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat for 30 seconds or until light.
4. Add icing sugar and beat on low until the mixture forms crumbs. Increase speed and beat into a fluffy, light buttercream, about 3 minutes. (Scrape down the sides of the bowl down occasionally.) Add milk and beat through to achieve a smooth, pipeable consistency.
5. Scoop ¾ cup icing into a separate bowl and use yellow and blue food colouring to create a light green colour, adding a small drop of each at a time and mixing until the desired colour is reached.
6. Colour the remaining buttercream a dark green, combining the blue, yellow and green colours until the desired shade is reached.

 SHAPE 

Step 1  

Place the cake on a tray or serving platter, with the short side facing you. Slice into three equally rectangles, cutting down vertically.  

Step 2   

 Cut out two squares and a smaller rectangle from the second rectangle.  

Step 3: 

 For the final slice, cut both short ends off diagonally last rectangle looking like a pyramid. 

Step 4: 

To assemble: 

Transfer the long rectangle (A) to your serving platter.  

Place the smaller rectangle (B) on the inner side of the large rectangle.  

Place square (C) on the bottom right-hand side of large rectangle to create the outside edge of the four-shape.  

Place pyramid shape (D) diagonally across to connect the four-shape together. Fill up any gaps with cake offcuts. 

DECORATE 

Method:

1. Use scissors to cut out a shape from the blue paper for the water hazard. Arrange on the cake.
2. Add the lighter green buttercream to three different spots on cake, shaping into funky rounds to create the golf course. Use a spatula to smooth out the surface.
3. Using the crumbled biscuits, add some ‘sand’ to the sides of the light green patches.
4. Scoop the dark green icing into a piping bag fitted with the grass nozzle. Squeeze icing through the nozzle, swirling, blotting and dolloping to make the ‘grass’, covering the remainder of the cake.
5. Cut out a small triangle from red paper and secure to a lolly stick using sticky tape. Insert your ‘flag’ somewhere in a light green section on the cake. 
6. Add a white round sprinkle for the golf ball and you’re all set. Tee off with candles and serve.

Recipes & Styling: Sjaan van der Ploeg
Photographs: Zhann Solomons

The post Nostalgic kids’ birthday cakes: A step-by-step guide  appeared first on MyKitchen.

For a stronger thyme flavour throughout the cake, poke all over with a skewer once baked and pour syrup into the holes to be soaked up. 

Serves 6-8 

Ingredients   

½ cup canola oil
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla essence
1 tsp (5ml) almond essence
2 large eggs
13 cups (250g) flour
½ Tbsp (7,5ml) baking powder
¼ tsp (1,25ml) salt
1 cup (250ml) double-cream yoghurt, at room temperature
1 can (410g) peach halves, drained and patted dry
3 Tbsp (45ml) brown sugar
1 tsp (5ml) ground cinnamon
¼ packet (30g) flaked almonds
Icing sugar, for dusting 

 For the thyme simple syrup: 

1 lemon, zested
½ cup (110g) castor sugar
½ cup (125ml) water
15 sprigs of thyme, washed 

Method  

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease sides and base of a 22cm round springform cake tin. Line base with baking paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk oil, sugar and vanilla and almond essence together for 1 minute.
3. Whisk through eggs, one at a time, beating for 2 minutes in total.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Whisk yoghurt through egg mixture until combined.
6. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and fold through to incorporate, creating a smooth batter.
7. Spoon batter into the tin and smooth over.
8. Toss peaches, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
9. Press peaches into cake batter, then sprinkle excess sugar mixture over cake.
10. Sprinkle almonds around the outside edge of cake in a ring.
11. Bake for 50-60 minutes, covering with foil after 30 minutes to prevent it from browning too much.
12. Meanwhile, place simple syrup ingredients in a pot over high heat and boil, stirring, until sugar has completely dissolved.
13. Leave to simmer and thicken for 10 minutes. Remove. (Reheat just before cake is done baking.)
14. Remove baked cake and liberally drizzle with hot syrup. Cool before dusting with icing sugar. Serve or store in a cake tin for up to two days.

Recipe & Styling: Sjaan Van der Ploeg 
Photography: Donna Lewis  

The post Thyme & almond peach cake   appeared first on MyKitchen.