Spicy Chocolate Doughnuts

So perhaps 5 posts in 5 days was a little bit ambitious! Life and work got in the way a little last week, but I still have two recipes left to share from my week of spicy birthday posts and they're both pretty cracking, if I do say so myself!

Of course I had to do a recipe that combined chocolate and chilli, and I had already made spicy ice cream! So of course, I decided to turn it into a doughnut... With a secret ingredient... Chilli P! Okay, yes, I have been re-watching Breaking Bad...


I had never made chocolate doughnuts before but it definitely won't be the last time. I can see a world of possibility for potential flavour combinations. Originally I was going to coat them in a chilli/sugar mixture but ended up using a glaze for maximum chocolate-ness. As with most instances where chilli is used in baked goods, the heat comes through as more of a warm aftertaste than actually being spicy, and it works so well with the chocolate.

You could of course add any spices you like instead of the chilli in the glaze too, or omit the spice completely if you're after a classic chocolate doughnut. Top with sprinkles for the kids (or those of us who are kids at heart) or if you're game, some chilli flakes!

Stay tuned for the last recipe in the spicy series. I don't want to give too much away, but let me say that it's one of my favourite creations so far this year! xx

Sticky Ginger Spice Cake

The single best thing about winter is all of the awesome comfort food you get to indulge in guilt free, at least until the start of spring! If you've been reading for a while, you may remember how much I love sticky date pudding. I've made it so many times i think it deserves to have its own category in my recipe index! Its something I make at least once every winter, topped with ice cream and cascading with warm butterscotch sauce.

But this year I'm taking a different route with this delicious ginger cake. I have been wanting to make it ever since I saw it on Jamie Oliver magazine a year or two ago. I finally found the required stem ginger in syrup in the David Jones Food Hall one day while browsing for something completely different and snapped it up.


The cake is super easy to make either in the food processor or a stand mixer. Of course I added a few extra spices to the mix because its my spicy blog birthday week, but feel free to stick to ginger if you prefer. Jamie suggests dousing the cake in rum once it's baked I added some to the batter instead.

The cake turned out a little differently to how I thought - a little less sticky and syrupy and more like a pudding, which is why ice cream and butterscotch sauce were my go-to accompaniments, but its also lovely as an afternoon tea cake completely unadorned, or topped with jam. And with a discovery as tasty as this, my old favourite sticky date might be on the back burner for a while...

Chai Spiced Rolls with Cinnamon Glaze

Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever figure this whole grown up work/life balance thing out. The last few months have been crazy with work, freelance and managing three blogs (PS, you should all go check out the other two) but also so rewarding with a promotion to Senior Designer (!) and getting to work on some great projects with my clients. I think it's easier to become a workaholic when you love what you do, but the constant deadlines, lack of sleep and having to be creatively switched on all the time is a little draining.

Yet still, somehow, baking is like a never-fail mood enhancer. I woke up bright and early on Sunday and started making dough. While kneading, I didn't think about all the other crap I had to do, and while making the filling with the warm scent of the spices filled the air, I resisted the urge to check my email again. Stressed is just desserts spelled backwards, right?

 
The second recipe in my very spicy birthday week is a twist on one of my all-time favourites from my archives, originally published in Bon Appetit by Molly from Orangette, whose blog I've been reading for as long as I've had my own. I've made it a few times over the years and decided that it would be delicious with chai flavours in addition to the cinnamon. And oh boy, it was!

This time I made a very simple cinnamon glaze to accompany the rolls, but the cream cheese version from the original would be absolutely delicious here as well. Make sure you have heaps of friends around for brunch when you make these, because the recipe makes about 18 rolls and they taste best the day they're made. Serve with lots of warm chai, of course.

Spiced Mulled Cider

It's a very special week here on Spicy Icecream and I've got a lot in store for you, lovely readers!

Oh my, time has flown since I decided to start this blog, but here we are... five years later. Five whole years! I seriously can't believe it. I can hardly remember what I did on the weekends before I started spending them baking and photograhing. I’ve made some wonderful friends, shared so many wonderful meals, and so to celebrate, this week I’ll be posting five spiced up recipes over five days.

Warm spice recipes in the dead of winter is the perfect combination and I've had a lot of fun putting this series together. Even though it feels like I have barely any time in the kitchen these days, I still love the whole process of blogging – from coming up the recipe ideas (and often brainstorming them with other fab food bloggers) to making, photographing, writing about them, and then finally sharing them with you guys.

First up we have a seriously fabulous winter drink that I only discovered very recently at The Winery, but I couldn’t get enough! Mulled Cider is a great drink during cooler months, to warm you up from the inside out. Best yet, you can play around with the spices depending on your preference and even do a booze-free version with apple juice for the kids. I like cinnamon sticks, ginger, cloves and a teensy bit of vanilla in mine, but perhaps some peppercorns, nutmeg or even some bay leaves would be nice too!

And as an added bonus, it will also make your whole house smell seriously amazing, like Christmas. I think it would also be delicious with pear cider too. I’ll be back tomorrow with another spicy recipe. Stay tuned!