Chocolate Brownie Cake with Cinnamon Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Italian Macarons

So this week I finally handed in my PhD thesis (and started a new job to boot!). To thank my lab for all their hard work looking over the thesis, I decided to bake an elaborate cake. The base cake is a deep chocolate-y brownie - so delicious I may use it for my standard chocolate cake in the future! I also decided to try out a new kind of buttercream that I've seen on quite a few American baking/cake decorating shows, but not many in the UK. Swiss meringue buttercream is silky and smooth, and not as rich as classic buttercream (which still holds a dear place in my heart). Using brown sugar and cinnamon gave the buttercream a delicious deep flavour of a cinnamon roll (divine!)

I gave the cake a slight ombre effect (where the buttercream goes from dark to light), but I admit, it's pretty subtle.

The macarons are optional - I think they add a nice touch - I slightly modified a previous recipe, and this makes a lot of macarons (at least 30 halves). If you don't fill them, they freeze really well to be used on another occasion OR just fill them as an extra delicious treat :) I filled them with the spare Swiss meringue buttercream for macaron bliss :) My other macaron recipes (cinnamon spiced and chocolate raspberry) have some other filling recipes.

One important point for the Swiss meringue buttercream - your butter MUST be at room temperature. The best way to achieve this is to leave it out of the fridge for 24 hours prior to use. It's very tricky to get the butter to the correct temperature in the microwave so this will save you a big headache.

Makes one 20cm cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 250g (1 cup) unsalted butter
• 200g (1 & 1/3 cups) dark chocolate (55% cocoa solids)
• 300g (1 & 1/2 cups) granulated sugar (or brown sugar for an extra caramel note)
• 4 tbsp water
• 100g (2/3 cup) dark chocolate chips
• 4 medium eggs
• 200g (1 & 2/3 cups) plain flour
• 75g (1/2 cup) chopped walnuts
• 30g (4 tbsp) cocoa powder

For the cinnamon brown sugar Swiss meringue buttercream:

• 6 egg whites
• 300g (1 & 2/3 cups) brown sugar
• 400g (1 & 3/4 cups) unsalted butter, cut into 1-2cm cubes (ROOM TEMPERATURE)
• 1-2 tbsp ground cinnamon (to taste)
• 2 tsp cocoa powder (optional)

For the chocolate drip:

• 150g (1 cup) dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
• 100g (7 tbsp) unsalted butter

For the macarons:

• 170g (1 & 2/3 cups) icing sugar
• 160g (1 & 1/3 cups) ground almonds
• 4 medium egg whites
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 160g (3/4 cups & 1 tbsp) granulated sugar
• 50ml water
• ivory food colouring (optional)

To finish:

• 30g (2 tbsp) chopped walnuts
• 50g (1/3 cup) milk chocolate

Method:

To make the cake layers:

1. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan)/ 355F/ gas mark 4 . Grease two 20cm springform or loose bottomed round cake tins, then tip in about 1 tbsp of cocoa powder. Tap the tin to evenly distribute the cocoa.

2. In a saucepan melt together the 200g dark chocolate (broken into chunks), unsalted butter (chopped into chunks), sugar and water. Once all of the butter and chocolate have melted set aside to cool for a few minutes.

3. In a large mixing bowl pour in the chocolate/butter melted mixture. Add the chocolate chips, eggs, flour, chopped nuts and cocoa powder, and beat until smooth.

4. Pour into the prepared cake tins (get them as even as possible), and bake for 18-20 minutes, until the top of the cake feels springy and the top feels crisp. If you shake the tin, there should be a small amount of wobble in the very centre of the cake - this will make the layers moist and delicious.

5. Leave the cakes in their tins to cool for 10 minutes, then remove onto a wire rack to cool completely.

6. Level the top of the cakes using a serrated knife (eat the cut offs if you want a chef's perk!)

To make the buttercream:

1. Place a few tablespoons of water in a small saucepan, and get a heatable mixing bowl (i.e. not a plastic one!) that can fit on the saucepan without touching the water. Into this bowl add the egg whites and brown sugar.

2. Place the saucepan on a low heat, and place the mixing bowl on top. Use an electric whisk to beat the egg whites/brown sugar, until the mixture reaches 71c/ 160F. This will take about 10 minutes.

3. Remove the bowl from the heat, and tip the egg white/sugar mixture into another large mixing bowl (this will help the meringue to cool a bit faster). 

4. Use an electric whisk to beat the meringue until it is glossy and a stiff peak of meringue forms when the whisk is lifted from the mixture (i.e. a peak falls where the tip stays upright and doesn't fall to either side).

5. Whilst whisking, add the butter chunk by chunk. Don't be tempted to add more than a chunk at a time, as the mixture may curdle. Keep beating, until all of the butter has been added and the buttercream is smooth.

6. Add the cinnamon and whisk in briefly. If you want to try out the ombre effect, take out 3 tbsp of the buttercream into another bowl, and whisk the 2 tsp of cocoa into that buttercream. Set aside until ready to use.

To start assembly:

1. Place a small amount of buttercream on the serving dish/cake board and stick the first cake layer onto the board. 

2. Using a palette knife, spread buttercream onto the cake so that it is about 1/2 cm high and reaches the edges of the cake.

3. Top with the other cake layer. Smooth over a layer of buttercream on the top and around the edges of the cake - this is known as the crumb coat, and is a thin layer of buttercream that will make your cake seem more professional when done. 

4. Place the cake in the fridge to set for 20 minutes.

5. Place a few large spoonfuls of buttercream on the top of the cake, and use a palette knife to smooth the buttercream over the top as evenly as possible.

6. If attempting the ombre cake, place the cocoa buttercream in a piping bag, and cut off 1cm from the tip. Pipe around the base of the cake two times to form to rings.

7. Place the remainder of the cinnamon buttercream into another piping bag and cut as previously. Pipe rings around the rest of the sides of the cake. Use any remainder buttercream to fill macarons!

If you don't want the ombre effect, simply dollop on a large amount of buttercream on the side of the cake so that vertically it covers the whole section. Then use a palette knife to spread the buttercream around as much of the side as possible. Repeat until the whole of the cake is covered, then run the knife around the cake one more time to remove any "seams" the knife may have made.

8. Place a long palette knife (or a dough scraper) vertically against the side of your cake, and slide it around the sides of the cake. Place any excess buttercream into a bowl. Don't worry if you have some bald patches, just take your time and add more buttercream to those areas. Then smooth over again.

9. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes to set.

For the chocolate drip:

1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a saucepan. Once all of the butter and chocolate have melted, pour into a measuring jug and leave to cool until it is 30c/ 86F. This will take at least 10-15 minutes.

2. Pour onto the middle of the top of the cake, and use a palette knife to smooth the chocolate to the edges. Gently use the knife to smooth over the edge and create the drip effect. Ideally you want the drips to be different lengths so smooth over more or less of the chocolate drip when you want a longer or shorter drip, respectively.

3. Place in the fridge to set.

For the macarons:

1. Blitz the icing sugar and the ground almonds in a food processor, pulsing it around 10 times until well mixed. Sieve into a mixing bowl.

2. Add 2 egg whites to the icing sugar/ground almonds and beat to a paste.

3. Clean a mixing bowl well, and wipe the lemon juice over the inside of the bowl and the beaters for an electric whisk. Pour the remaining 2 egg whites into the bowl, and whisk until it is foamy and stiff peaks form.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan heat the granulated sugar and water until the sugar syrup reaches 118c/ 244F.

4. Whilst whisking (being careful to not touch the sugar syrup), pour the sugar syrup slowly onto the egg whites. Keep whisking on a high speed until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks. You have essentially now made Italian meringue.

5. Spoon one third of the meringue mixture onto the macarons, and beat in - at this stage you don't need to worry about over beating.

6. Add the remaining meringue mixture, and gently fold in. Once no more egg white can be seen, divide the mixture into two separate bowls. Colour one ivory and leave one plain.

7. Grease and line the base of 3 baking trays with baking parchment. Pour the macaron mixture into a piping bag, and cut off the tip 1cm from the end. On two baking sheets pipe 4cm circles of macarons, leaving at leave 1&1/2 cm between each macarons. On the third sheet pipe 1cm circles.

8. Tap the base of the baking trays against the kitchen surface and leave for at least half an hour for a "skin" to form - this means that when you touch the macaron lightly, no mixture sticks to your finger.

9. Preheat the oven to 170c (150c fan)/ 340F/ gas mark 3. Before placing in the oven tap the baking sheets once more against the kitchen surface. Bake the larger macarons for around 8 minutes, until the tops look crisp and firm. Bake the smaller macarons for around 4 minutes.

10. Leave to cool.

11. Fill with the remaining buttercream (or spare chocolate drip).

To assemble:

1. Melt the milk chocolate in a microwavable bowl on high power for 20 second bursts in the microwave, stirring well after each addition. 

2. Once melted pour into a piping bag and cut off the 1/2 cm from the tip. Pipe drops (around 1cm in diameter) onto a sheet of baking paper. You could also pipe any other shape or design you wanted :) 

3. Place some of the macarons on the top of the cake as you like. Scatter over the chopped walnuts and chocolate drops.

4. Enjoy!!

Black Bean Coconut Brownies

I wanted to try to make some healthy brownies that didn't have loads of nuts in them, as I know plenty of people who need nut-free recipes :) I had heard about switching butter for black beans, and also switching out flour for coconut flour - I used a quarter of the amount of coconut flour to that of flour (the original recipe said 100g) but kept the quantity of black beans the same as that of the butter (240g). This makes the brownies gluten-free and nut-free, as well as being low in sugar and pretty high in protein :)

These brownies are fudgy and delicious. Don't be put off by the black beans, they replace the butter in the recipe and really are what make the brownies soft and yummy. They are also a great source of dietary fibre and good sources of other goodies like iron, magnesium and vitamin B1.

Makes 36

Ingredients:

• 100g cocoa powder
• 240g drained tin black beans
• 2 tsp stevia
• 100g desiccated coconut
• 25g coconut flour
• 2 tbsp almond milk (unsweetened)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 tsp baking powder (gluten free)
• Pinch of sea salt (I used smoked)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/ 355F/ gas mark 4.

2. Grease and line the base of a 20 x 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment.

3. Finely blend the drained black beans.

4. Add all of the remaining ingredients and beat together until smooth. If the mixture is too thick to beat add another tablespoon of almond milk.

5. Once spreadable consistency, place in the prepared baking tin.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking after 10 minutes that it isn't browning too much. When the top feels crisp to the touch, it is ready.

7. Leave to cool, then cut into squares and store in an airtight tub.

8. These will keep for about a week.

Nutrition per serving:
45.7kcal, 2.2g total carbohydrates (0.3g sugar), 2.9g total fat (2g saturated fat), 2g protein

My Opinion About - Sweeteners

Every month, I'm going to write an article that doesn't contain recipes! I know, weird for me. However, as well as a baker, I'm also a keen rock climber and runner, so nutrition is key for making gains in both of these sports. Sadly, this means I'm cutting down on cake (though don't worry, I still am making delicious cakes, just not getting to enjoy them myself as much as I used to).

This month, I'm focusing on sugar. I am a sugar fiend, and I don't mind admitting it. Through my University days, I tried to cut down, but ended up eating masses of fruit (which doesn't actually solve the problem). Then I drank sugar free drinks...this is what I want to discuss in this article.

If you normally drink sugar-laden drinks, sugar-free drinks are a good option for cutting down on calories (especially if you need to lose weight). A 500ml bottle of full sugar coca cola has 210 calories, and 53g sugar for instance. If you switched to coca cola zero, this decreases to zero calories or sugars.

BUT...

These sugar-free drinks often contain several artificial sweeteners. Coca Cola Zero contains both asapartame and acesulfame K for example. Other common sweeteners include sucralose and saccharin.

There is plenty of research showing severe negative side of effects of many of the popular sweeteners.

The problem with sugar is that it obviously increases your blood sugar levels, making you feel happy and full of energy. This is only short term however, and you then suffer the crash we all know. This is even worse if you have caffeine filled drinks by the way.

Sweeteners like aspartame (I think this may be banned in the USA), sucralose and saccharin have all been shown to increase your blood sugar levels too. For artificial sweeteners like aspartame, this seems crazy - it's not sugar, so how is it doing this?

From reading some scientific papers (nicely summarised in Scientific American here), all of the above sweeteners have been shown to increase the risk of mice becoming diabetic or obese. Research suggests this is because of the bacteria in your gut (known as the microbiome) - sweeteners change the population of bacteria to that which more efficiently extract energy from food and convert that energy into fat.

Furthermore, it has been shown in a study that people taking (a daily safe level) of saccharin for a week (when previously they had not been consuming it), dramatically increased their blood sugar level (I watched this on a good BBC programme called "Trust me I'm a doctor" and here's their report on their findings). Having consistently high blood sugar levels can itself be indicative of diabetes, so this is definitely not a good thing! To all of the patients whose blood sugar level significantly increased, they all had a change in their gut bacteria. All of this made me want to quit sweeteners for good!

So, although there are no calories in sweeteners, these blood sugar level fluctutations may firstly cause bad sugar cravings, but also your gut may be changing to end up storing more fat than if you had actually had a sugary sweet!

I tested this myself accidentally. I'm a scientist and was helping students do a practical all about blood sugar control. The group was split into two - one half drank a sugary drink, another had water. To show the group how to use the glucose meter, I tested myself. Twenty minutes previously I had drunk a low sugar hot chocolate, containing a whole lot of aspartame. Lo- and behold, my blood glucose level was really high, as if I'd had a spoonful of sugar.

So if you can, drink water. If you live in the south of the UK, sorry guys...(they have super hard water, which makes the tea much worse than in the north! Just saying...). Filtered water is great if you don't like the taste of tap water, and there is research to suggest drinking filtered water is better than tap (not that I believe it entirely - I may write about it in a future post...)

There is one sweetener I turn to when the sugar cravings are high but I don't want to give in. Stevia is a natural sweetener, and all research on it has deemed that it doesn't cause these peaks in blood sugar - this was tested in the same study as the saccharin one mentioned above, and there was no change in blood sugar or gut bacteria following stevia consumption. It has however not been around that long for the majority of us, meaning a lot more research needs to be done. It could be too good to be true, if you get a nice brand (some have an odd aftertaste - my favourite is Truvia), you can have sweet coffee or tea, and not worry about having sugar crashes.

My favourite brand of stevia to use in baking

I stopped eating/drinking other sweeteners (wherever possible) since I read the research about them  - so I switched to stevia 6 months ago, and very rarely drink sugar-free drinks (i.e. artificial sweetener filled ones). I drink water and coconut water instead. To my massive surprise, I have had some real benefits - I used to have a very sensitive stomach, I had become lactose intolerant and couldn't really handle any fatty foods. Now however, milk never sets me off (though I still have to be careful with high fat dairy products), and the number of times I've needed to lie down with a hot water bottle on my stomach drinking peppermint tea has decreased dramatically.

So yay! My stomach's all better (95% of the time), and although I still would like to eat less cake, I feel like my sugar cravings are far better than they used to be. Meaning that when I am trying to tone up (for my climbing or marathon training), I am actually toning up. That's the other benefit of cutting out the cordial and artificial sweeteners - water retention stopped being an issue.

So I love that I now don't consume artificial sweeteners, and am still hopeful about stevia as an alternative. What about you guys? What's the press like in the USA or in other countries about sweeteners?

Also, if you are diabetic, make sure to talk to your doctor before making any major decisions based on what I've written :) I'm not a doctor, just a curious scientist :)

Chocolate and Raspberry Macarons

Since making cinnamon spiced macarons (my recipe is here), I decided to try a few different flavours. This one was my favourite - chocolate macarons filled with a whipped chocolate ganache and raspberry jam. Deep and chocolatey with a zing of fruit. So good! The macarons turned out really well (I think), so this recipe is definitely a keeper.

Makes 20 macarons

Ingredients:

For the macarons:

• 150g (1 & 1/4 cups) ground almonds
• 10g (1 & 1/2 tbsp) cocoa powder (the best quality you can afford)
• 175g (1 & 1/2 cups) icing sugar
• 4 (125ml/1/2 cup) medium egg whites
• 165g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 50ml (3 tbsp and 1 tsp) water

For the filling:

• 150g (1 cup) dark chocolate (55% cocoa solids)
• 150g (2/3 cup) double cream
• 75g (5 tbsp) seedless raspberry jam

Method:

1. Place the ground almonds, cocoa and icing sugar in a food processor (or high power blender) and blitz for 2-3 second bursts, until the mixture is very fine and the cocoa is evenly distributed. Be careful not to blitz for too long as the almonds can turn to butter!

2. Sieve the almonds/cocoa/icing sugar into a large bowl. Add 2 of the egg whites, and beat until a smooth paste is formed.

3. Heat the granulated sugar and water in a saucepan, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Then stop stirring and place a sugar thermometer in the pan. In a grease-free bowl, add the remaining two egg whites. Once the sugar/water has reached 112C, start whisking the egg whites (I tend to use a hand-held electric whisk, but a stand mixer would be even easier!).

4. Once the sugar/water syrup has reached 118C, the egg whites should be white and frothy (like shaving foam). Carefully pour the syrup onto the egg whites, whisking constantly. Be very careful not to touch the syrup as it is super hot! Keep whisking until the mixture is shiny and forms peaks when the whisk is lifted from the mixture (this should take between 5 and 7 minutes).

5. Use a metal spoon to fold a third of the egg white mixture into the almond/cocoa/sugar paste. Once incorporated, gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

6. Fill a piping bag with the macaron mixture, and cut off 1cm from the end (or use a large round nozzle). Grease and line two baking trays with parchment paper and hold the piping bag vertically above where you want to pipe. Pipe directly down onto the tray until you have a circle 3cm wide. Repeat across the two trays, leaving about 1&1/2cm gap between each macaron shell.

7. Tap the tray on the surface a few times, then leave at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, until a "skin" has formed on the macarons - this means that when you gently touch the macaron, no mixture goes on your finger.

8. Preheat the oven to 170c (150c fan)/ 340F/ gas mark 3. Before you place the baking trays into the oven, tap the trays against the surface again. This gives the perfect "foot" of a macarons. Bake the macarons for 10-12 minutes - keep an eye on them after 8 minutes in case they are browning too much. Remove the macarons from the oven and transfer the macarons (with the baking paper still attached) to a wire rack to cool.

9.  To make the ganache, finely chop the dark chocolate. Meanwhile heat the double cream in a saucepan until bubbles are forming on the surface of the cream.

10. Pour the cream over the chopped dark chocolate, and stir until all of the chocolate has melted. If there are some chocolate chunks remaining, place the ganache in the microwave on full power for 10 second bursts, stirring well after each burst, until all of the chocolate has melted. Leave to cool, then place in the fridge for 45 minutes until it is spreadable.

11. Take the ganache out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature (10-15 minutes). Use an electric whisk (on the lowest speed) to whip the ganache, which gives a lovely light texture to eat.

12. Once the macarons have fully cooled, gently peel the baking paper away from the macarons shells.

13. To assemble flip half of the macaron shells over so that their base is pointing upwards. Fill a piping bag with the ganache and pipe on each of the flipped shells - I overfilled some of mine but they still tasted great!

14. Top the ganache with half a teaspoon of raspberry jam. Gently press a non-covered macaron shell on top.

15. Enjoy!

These will last a few days in an airtight container, but taste so good, they probably won't last that long :)

Mini Fig and Walnut Cakes

I had dried figs and walnuts in my cupboard and rather than simply snacking on them, I decided to try making some mini cakes. To my surprise and joy, they worked amazingly! Soft and mourish, these little bites of joy really help me get through the day. They're also great boosts after a work-out! For the chocolate topping, I used a coconut oil that is quite strongly coconut flavoured - super yum, but if you have a flavourless coconut oil, you could add another flavour like a teaspoon of orange or lemon juice if you like :)

I think I may try turning this into a big cake next, and see how it goes :) I'd have to work out a delicious but healthy filling though (if you have any ideas, please comment and let me know!)

Makes 20 mini cakes

Ingredients:

• 100g walnuts
• 150g dried figs (any hard stems removed)
• 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk (other milks will also work fine)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey (or 1/2 tsp stevia and 1 tbsp of water)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• Pumpkin seeds to finish (optional)

Method:


1. Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/355F/gas mark 4.

2. Blend the walnuts, figs and almond milk together until all of the nuts have become finely ground.

3. Beat in the eggs, then add a heaped spoon to each cake pop mould (so that it fills the mould).

4. Bake for 7-9 minutes, until the top feels firm. Set aside to cool then remove from the moulds.

5. To make the chocolate, melt the coconut oil in a saucepan over a low heat. Once it has fully melted, add the sweetener (maple syrup, honey or the stevia/water) and the cocoa powder, and stir until all of the cocoa powder has dissolved.

6. Take off the heat and pour into a small bowl. Leave for a few minutes to cool - it will thicken slightly.

7. Dip each mini cake into the chocolate and place in the fridge to set.

8. I topped mine with a few pumpkin seeds, but if you have spare walnuts, you can use these instead. Both options give a nice finish to the mini cakes.

9. Enjoy!

Nutrition per mini cake (using maple syrup in the chocolate glaze):
69 kcal, 6.1g total carbohydrates (4.2g sugar), 4.6g total fats (1.1g saturated fats), 1.7g protein

Apricot and Pineapple Squares

Happy New Year everyone!! I'm going to do my best to make my blog as awesome as possible this year, so I hope everyone will like where I'm going with it.

After the Christmas binging, I know I'm not the only one who wants to cut down on the unhealthy food a little bit. I still have some of my Christmas recipes to share with you guys, but thought a nice healthy treat to save unruly snacking would be more appreciated this week.

These are really simple squares (or balls if you prefer) that take minutes to prep. Ideally chill them for about 20 minutes before cutting up, but then they're good to go! Only a few ingredients make up these squares, and there's no refined sugar in sight. Plus the dried fruit increase your fruit and vegetable count for the day.

Dried apricots are a great source of dietary fibre, as well as being high in potassium (great for the maintenance of blood pressure and regulating water levels) and iron. They're also high in vitamin A, an essential antioxidant. The nuts provide healthy fats that will keep you fuller for longer. Cinnamon is possibly my favourite spice, and has been shown to help lower blood sugar levels and enhance cognitive processing :) I added dried pineapple to the mixture as they taste amazing, and they are a great source of manganese (helps to develop strong bones).

Makes 16 squares

Ingredients:

• 150g (3/4 cup) dried apricots, chopped
• 75g (3/8 cup) dried pineapple, chopped
• 150g (1 cup) cashew nuts
• 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk (or coconut milk)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 15g (3 tbsp) desiccated coconut, for sprinkling

Method:

1. Finely process the apricots, pineapple, nuts, cinnamon and almond/coconut milk in a food processor or high powered blender until the mixture forms a ball - try not to over process the mixture as it's quite nice having some chunky bits of nut and fruit to chew on.

2. Line a 20cm x 20cm tray with cling film, and sprinkle the bottom with half of the desiccated coconut. Tip the mixture into the tray and pat down evenly. Sprinkle the top with the remaining coconut.

3. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes, then cut into 16 squares.

4. Enjoy!

Nutrition per serving (1 square):
94 calories, 12g carbohydrates (7.8g sugar), 4.8g fat (1.1g saturated fat), 2.2g protein