Archives for January 2016

And now, something especially for my Australian readers…

26 January is Australia Day, which commemorates the arrival of English settlers to the Australian continent. For a change of taste this Australia Day, look no further than this delicious Tim Tam Cake. I’m doing my bit to make this cake an Australia Day classic.

Last year I had family visiting from The Netherlands and I was trying to think of an Australian dessert to serve them that was a bit different. With Pavlova still contested as a uniquely Australian dish, I wanted to create something distinctly Aussie. My solution – why not add Tim Tam’s to my rich chocolate mud cake?

Here is how it’s  done…

Sift and mix all dry ingredients together whilst trying not to eat all the Tim Tams!

Look at that! Crushed Tim Tam… delicious. Chop finely two packets of Tim Tams and set aside.

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy then add vanilla and mix. Then add eggs one at a time and mix on low until combined.

Gradually mix in dry ingredients (excluding Tim Tams) to the butter and sugar mix, adding buttermilk with each addition. Cake batter should look like this once combined.

Now it’s time to add those yummy Tim Tams. Use a spatula or spoon to fold in as  you don’t want to crush them any further.

Cake batter will look like this once Tim Tams have been added.

Bake on 160 degrees Celsius (320 Fahrenheit) for 45-55 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool for at least two hours otherwise the filling will be a gooey mess. Once cooled, cut cake evenly in half and begin making the creamy filling.

The creamy filling is simply whipped cream, a tea spoon of sugar and yet another packet of Tim Tam’s finely chopped.

For the cake icing I used a simple chocolate icing which you can find within the recipe link at the end of this post.

Before adding cocoa and chocolate to the icing, set aside approximately four tablespoons of white icing. I would suggest placing the white icing in a piping bag. In my case I have had this Tupperware Squeeze  for years which is easy to use, but is always difficult to clean as the icing gets stuck when washing up!

Layer on the icing thick!

Then smooth with a cake palette knife. If you don’t have one of these any knife or spatula with a smooth edge will do the trick.

It’s time to decorate!

Using two piping bags, one with white icing and another with chocolate, pipe a small amount of icing using any icing tip you like. I used the star tip.

Chop Tim Tams in half and add to each icing swirl.

All done! Looks so good.

The perfect Australia Day cake with a crunchy but moist texture.

Happy Baking and Happy Australia Day!