Chocolate sticky date & pecan loaf

I had a hankering for sticky date pudding and just happened to stumble across this disturbingly good recipe, with a little bit of a twist!

 

Note that this recipe calls for a Kitchen Aid mixer, but you will achieve the same results with a hand mixer.

Chocolate sticky date & pecan loaf

Ingredients

Loaf Mixture

250ml water
250g pitted dried dates
1½ tspn bicarb
80g unsalted butter, cubed & softened at room temperature
100g (½ cup) dark brown sugar
I tspn mixed spice
100g good quality dark eating chocolate, roughly chopped
1/3 cup (40g) pecan nuts, roughly chopped
1½ cups (215g) plain flour, sifted
50g good quality dark eating chocolate, extra, roughly chopped
2 tbspn dark brown sugar, extra

Butterscotch Sauce

250ml thickened cream
80g unsalted butter
1 cup (160g) dark brown sugar
premium vanilla ice cream, for serving

Method

 

Preheat oven to 180°C (160o C for fan forced oven). Grease and line a 13 x 24cm loaf tin with baking paper and spray lightly with oil.

 

Combine water and dates in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and stir through soda. Allow to cool.

Place butter and sugar into the mixing bowl of the stand mixer. Attach the flat beater and pouring shield (if available). Mix on speed 2 until incorporated, then increase to speed 6 and mix for 2-3 minutes, or until light and creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl regularly with a spatula.

Add date mixture, mixed spice, chocolate, nuts and flour and mix on speed 1 until just combined. Do not over mix. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes on middle shelf.

Combine extra chocolate and brown sugar together and sprinkle over top of cake. Bake for a further 5 minutes or until cake is firm to touch. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

 

Prepare Butterscotch Sauce: Combine cream, butter and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer for 3 minutes or until sugar has dissolved.

 

Slice cake and serve with Butterscotch Sauce and ice cream.

 

Once again I got caught up in eating this beautiful dessert that I forgot to snap a photo of my own...



Photo and recipe courtesy of the Kitchen Aid Website

What a tart...

Recently, I lost my motivation to bake. This is particularly sad considering our super generous 'BFF couple'  gave us a beautiful Kitchen Aid as a wedding present! So over the weekend, I decided it was time to regain said motivation. And that I did.

I had every intention of making my own pastry and ice cream, but as per usual I got distracted and ran out of time. Oooo! Shiny object!

 

Alas, here is what I came up with:

Hazelnut tart with red wine poached pears and 'home made' ice cream

Ingredients

Tart base & filling
Sweet shortcrust pastry
125g softened butter
125g sugar
2 beaten eggs
25g plain flour
125g ground hazelnuts
Good quality ice cream (home made if possible!)

Red wine pears
Half a bottle of red wine
125ml red port
250 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
Zest of 2 oranges
Zest of 1 lemon
1 bay leaf
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 sprig of rosemary
1 cinnamon stick
250g sugar
3-4 ripe but firm stewing pears

Method

Start with the red wine pears. Place all ingredients, except the pears, in a large saucepan and slowly bring to the boil. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

 

Peel and core the pears but leave the stalks on. Halve the pears length ways and lower into the syrup.

 

Cover with greaseproof paper and gently poach for 20-30 minutes until the pears are tender. Remove from the syrup and leave to cool. Reduce the poaching liquor until syrupy, then strain and cool.

 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease your tart tins. Roll out the pastry if you're clever and have made your own, or use a glass to cut out circles of pastry. Once your tins are lined, chill for 30 minutes (the tarts, not you).

 

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer. If using a kitchen aid, use the flat beater on speed 4 until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs on speed 6 until well-blended. Fold in the flour into the creamed mixture on speed 2, then fold in the hazelnuts. Spoon the mixture into the tart tins.

Slice the pears length ways into thin slices, so you can fan them out by gently pushing down on the pears. Push the pears into each tart and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the mixture has set. Leave to cool on a wire rack and serve lukewarm or at room temperature with ice cream and a drizzle of red wine syrup.

 

I would love to say that this is  a photo of my finished product, but the tarts were THAT yummy (and we were a little 'pissy pants' when it came time to serve them up) that I forgot to take a photo of them...



Courtesy of Kitchenaid

Enjoy! And if you happen to try these yourself, make sure you post a picture on our Facebook Page!