Tag Archives: chocolate

Rainbow Sprinkles Cake!

Posted in Cakes by

Rainbow Sprinkles Layer Cake One Perfect Mess easy recipe chocolate buttermilk cake Donna Hay four layers vanilla swiss meringue buttercream frosting celebration hundreds and thousands colourful 17

This cake definitely deserves an exclamation mark in the title. And a few more here!!!!!! Because it’s just so darn happy! And pretty! And bright! This big guy is a mountain of rainbows and sugar, but his true beauty is in his simplicity. Four layers of my favourite soft chocolate cake sandwiched together with vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream, millions of sprinkles and some ever-so-fancy chocolate freckles from Australia’s own Haigh’s Chocolates. It’s the kind of cake you bake when you’re buzzing and bursting with glee, but can’t be stuffed with extravagant flavours and technical flourishes. It’s just simple, honest, delicious goodness.

Continue reading →

Pear and Dark Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Posted in Bread by

Pear and Dark Chocolate Maple Glazed Hot Cross Buns easy Easter recipe baking One Perfect Mess Donna Hay cinnamon mixed spice pull apart bread 10

Happy Easter friends! I was strolling through the quaint little country town by my house this morning, and turned a corner to be met by the warm, spicy smell of fresh hot cross buns floating through the crisp air from the bakery nearby. My gosh it was lovely. For me, the start of Autumn is marked by dark and misty mornings, gentle forest rain and a warm hot cross bun, dripping with melted butter, aside a tall steaming mug of tea.

Continue reading →

Crazy Cookies and Cream Cake

Posted in Cakes by

Crazy Cookies and Cream Oreo Celebration Layer Cake One Perfect Mess recipe four layers layered chocolate swiss merinuge buttercream sprinkles ganache baking 24

Cake just got cray cray. Welcome to a new recipe full of chocolate cake layers,chocolate sprinkles, chocolate ganache and swiss meringue butter cream packed with smashed oreo cookies. It’s a carnival of culinary happiness that will make your inner child giggle with delight. And it’s just quite frankly delicious. I kept helping myself to ‘another slither’, until I’d essentially eaten a third of the darn thing. And then I slathered the off-cuts in leftover buttercream. So yes, this Crazy Cookies and Cream Cake and I become rather well aquainted!

Continue reading →

Dark Chocolate and Beetroot Cake

Posted in Cakes by

Dark Chocolate and Beetroot Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Fresh Raspberries recipe One Perfect Mess moist rich soft raspberry easy 2

Before you raise your eyebrows in suspicion of this cake’s unusual secret ingredient, let me argue its case. I was served this Dark Chocolate and Beetroot Cake upon arrival in London last year. It was baked lovingly by my cousins, drizzled with dark chocolate ganache and intricately decorated with a white chocolate welcome message. I was so taken aback by how incredibly rich and velvety the first bite was. The idea is not to actually taste the beetroot, but there is a dark, seductive, earthy tone to the cake that is utterly delicious.

Continue reading →

Cherry, Chocolate and Coconut Slice

Posted in Brownies and Slices by

Cherry Chocolate and Coconut Slice recipe One Perfect Mess Cherry Ripe cherries easy Christmas fudge 2

Here is a slab of joy that I’m smitten to share with you; I’ve re-incarnated Cadbury’s gift to the world in slice form, and it is destined to unite cherry ripe lovers and convert cherry ripe haters. Is there such a thing as a cherry ripe hater? What a sad soul. Let’s not dwell on such pitiful things, back to this swanky ol’ Cherry, Chocolate and Coconut slice! A crunchy chocolate biscuit base sets the stage, and is a worthy foundation for the soft, sweet, chewy coconut and cherry filling, bursting with juicy chunks of cherry. Atop all that lies a silky layer of chocolate and coconut ganache, that catches clouds of coconut flakes.

Continue reading →

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake

Posted in Cakes by

Mexican Hot Chocolate Layer Cake with Toasted Marshmallows cinnamon chilli dark chocolate swiss meringue buttercream recipe One Perfect Mess 2

This is no ordinary chocolate cake; the four layered tower is held together by a rich and velvety dark chocolate buttercream, laced with cinnamon and chilli, and topped with toasted fluffy marshmallows. The result is a subtle, intriguing and devilishly delicious combination of sugar, spice and heat. A Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake that promises seduction, fascination and admiration. On a separate note, it’s ridiculously fun setting fire to the marshmallows just prior to serving. Technically you should hold a flame torch/match over the marshmallows until they just start to toast. But obviously I got a bit overexcited by my new toy, and ended up frantically blowing out the flames that threatened to engulf my latest creation! Not sure I’m old enough to play with fire without supervision.

Continue reading →

Rocky Road Celebration Cake

Posted in Cakes by

Rocky Road Celebration Cake with Peanut Frosting Swiss Meringue Buttercream Layer Chocolate Cake Peanuts Raspberries Mini Marshmallows Coconut One Perfect Mess recipe 13

I’m back! After a few weeks of resting the old broken arm, I am now mobile and full of energy and ready for some serious baking. I thought I’d crash back onto the blogging scene with something fancy, so I present to you this monstrously imposing and ridiculously delicious absurdity of a creation; 2 layers of rich, fluffy chocolate cake sandwiched together with slatherings of peanut swiss meringue buttercream, filled with raspberries, shredded coconut and mini marshmallows. I couldn’t help but drizzle the whole thing in dark chocolate ganache prior to piling rocky road and crunchy peanuts on top… Whoops.

Continue reading →

Dark Chocolate, Pistachio and Honey Cookies

Posted in Cookies by

Salted Dark Chocolate Chip, Pistachio Nut and Honey Cookies soft chewy moist crunchy crispy recipe One Perfect Mess 2

Fancy a batch of these pillowy-soft centred, crispy edged, slightly salted, honey-laced cookies? Packed with generous chunks of dark chocolate, crunchy pistachios and the promise of that perfect chewy texture, they’re a little exotic and utterly seductive. Perfect for late night snacking with a cup of tea, I used whole wheat flour for thicker cookies, and dark brown sugar for an almost caramel-like flavour. These devilish darlings don’t disappoint.

Continue reading →

Almond, Chocolate and Date Protein Bliss Balls

Posted in Healthy Recipes by

Almond, Coconut, Chocolate and Date Protein Bliss Balls recipe One Perfect Mess 3

Public service announcement; I have made a dessert that is purely, honestly, authentically healthy! I had my first ‘bliss ball’ last week after my last exam, and it was an awe-inspiring, eye-opening, life-altering experience. Ok perhaps that’s a slight overstatement, but it was pretty darn delicious! And as much as I love baking with butter and sugar and cream etc., in reality we can’t all stuff ourselves with cake everyday of the week (tragic, I know). But, the beautiful thing about these little treats is that although they are vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free and 100 % natural, they are entirely decadent and addictive. Packed with almonds, dates, coconut, seeds, cacao and some protein powder, just a single ball of bliss is satisfying and delicious enough to boost you through a slow afternoon, or accompany a cup of tea before bed.

Continue reading →

Salted Peanut Brittle Cookies with a Dark Chocolate Drizzle

Posted in Cookies by

Salted Peanut Brittle Cookies with a Dark Chocolate Drizzle One Perfect Mess recipe 7

This is a wickedly decadent little cookie, all crunchy and sweet and salty and sinful. The kind that leaves a few moist, chocolatey crumbs on your lips, and has you craving another when you’re only halfway through your first!  The recipe uses brown sugar to give the cookies a chewy yet crunchy texture, and each bite hides a crisp piece of homemade peanut brittle. The brittle recipe is a family favourite that my Nan has made legendary, except she has always used almonds. I decided to switch it up, and the result is a little irresistible; deadly for lovers of peanut butter.

Continue reading →