Hi Bluehue; you are a gem!!!! Thank you so much for all those fantastic web sites. I've just had a quick look through them and they are stacked with lots of very useful information.
Good one!
Cheryl

Living in the UK for eight years, a few things to add:

I think the best substitute for graham crackers (taste and texture) are the Hovis biscuits shaped like the little slices of bread. They are often found in the Hovis biscuit selections, but can also be purchased in their own sleeve. However, I haven't found a good substitute for vanilla wafers.

Trex is the closest Crisco substitute, White flora will also work, but is a bit softer.

In the UK a lot of icing (confectioners) sugar is made from beet sugar. But the Tate and Lyle brand is made from cane sugar and results in a whiter white icing. (Important to some, particularly for royal icing work.) Most icing sugar in the UK does not contain corn starch/corn flour. Thus, the progression to mid, hard peaks is more gradual... not the sudden change you get with the corn starch in there.

Baking Cocoa powder is not usually found in the baking aisle, but in the coffee/tea aisle with the drinking cocoa. It took me years to figure this out.

In the U.S., "half and half" is not really half milk and half cream, it's more like 25% cream. If you need one cup half and half, use 1/4 cup heavy cream and 3/4 cup whole milk, or 1/3 cup cream and 2/3 cup low-fat milk.

Here are some common dairy products in the U.S.:
Heavy cream is 36-40% butterfat
Whipping cream (sometimes called light cream) is 30-35% butterfat
Half and half is about 11% butterfat
Whole milk is 3.25% butterfat

Love the thread! My translation question: What exactly is a mud cake? Is that just what chocolate cake is called in Australia? Or is a certain type of cake? I think I'm going to have to try one!

[quote="mclaren"][quote="sabriana"]Dreamwhip is a non-dairy whipped topping = sold under the name Angel Delight or Tesco makes an equivalent and puts the word delight in its name - be sure to use the VANILLA only.
HTH[/quote]

Hi Sabriana,

Would you care to share the exact name of the Dream Whip equiv that Tesco sells? The one you mentioned Angel Delight isn't the one that Tesco produces, is it? Sorry I'm a bit confused. .. [/quote]

You can use Birds Dream Topping instead of Dream Whip

Thank you Saffronica. I've started collating information into a table. It's going to have to have some flexibility, with comments and alternate suggestions. It also needs to be an ongoing project, if possible.

Chocolate mud cake is denser, richer, chewier and yummier than regular chocolate cake. It's made with real chocolate and is more satisfying for that chocolate craving, doubly so when combined with chocolate ganache. It can also be kept longer than regular chocolate cake (if there aren't too many chocoholics hanging around).

I like the recipe from "The Essential Guide to Cake Decorating". Natalie Marie provides that recipe on CC, dated Monday 14th september 2009. In the book it provides ingredient quantities for various cake sizes; so I can help with that if you like.

It has buttermilk in it. It also has coffee for a richer flavour (not for a coffee flavour) but I reduce the coffee. I also boil the water,dissolve the coffee in it and cool it again to use. (I saw another recipe that used Tia Maria instead of coffee - I must try it.)

If you decide to have a go, I'd love to hear what you think of it.

All the best,
Cheryl

Hi Cher2309b,
sorry to go a little off topic, but the mud cake recipe you mentioned from the book "the essential guide to cake decorating"...have you found that to be a good recipe? and does it work for the various pan sizes it mentions? I'm still looking for a good all-round recipe for mud cake..I have the book but haven't tried it yet..
Thanks..

Hi Cakemummy.

I really like that recipe and the recipients have all been happy. (Actually, great book!) With the larger cakes, especially, I always line with 3 layers of baking paper. Sometimes I'll place another 3 layers on top of the cake if I'm worried that the top is cooking too much.

I've had a crunchy top at times but I always trim the top anyway. The grandchildren love to be around at that time; they're my special helpers when it comes to getting rid of scraps.
All the best,
Cheryl

Here is a lovely Chcolate Mud Cake recipe i use -
Very moist - and delicious at the same time.
Have posted a link to enable comverting of measurements for those outside of Australia.
Plus a link to show what i am talking about when i say *cherry ripe*

You do not need to add the cherrry ripe - just make the plain Choc Mud Cake - i am sure you will enjoy it.
Never had a complaint yet.

Bluehue



Cherry Ripe Mud Cake

this is the conversion chart i use when making recipes from other countries-I find it the best one...
http://www.dianasdesserts.com/.....asures.cfm


Makes 1 8 inch round or 2 x 6 inch round


Ingredients


250g unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon instant coffee powder
1 & 2/3 cup coconut milk
200g dark chocolate
2 cups caster sugar
3/4 cup self raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder (I use Dutch cocoa)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 x 85g cherry ripe bars, chopped coarsely

this is a cherry chocolate bar we have over here - http://www.google.com.au/image.....tbs=isch:1

thought i would send this link so as you know what i am talking about.



Method


1. Preheat oven to 150C A SLOW OVEN FOR US IS = 150c = 275/300F
And Line tins with baking paper.

2. Combine butter, coffee powder, coconut milk, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan and stir until melted. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

3. Sift dry ingredients in a bowl, add chocolate mixture, whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla, whisk. Stir in cherry ripe (set aside a small amount)
.
4. Pour into tins and scatter remaining cherry ripe over the top of batter.

5. Bake in slow oven for about 1hr and 45 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and cool in tin.

This cake improves each day and is at its peak on about day 3. It also freezes really well


If you don't like the cherry ripe bits - just omit - it won't affect the texture of the cake at all.

Its just that this is the chocolate mud cake i prefer to use - and when i found it was under the cherry ripe mud cake heading - never got around to changing the recipe in my file -

You can add some other chocolate bar if you wish - say a peppermint chocolate bar - or even chocolate coated honeycomb - i haven't done that but a friend did and she said it was delish.

Oh yum!!!! Thanks Bluehue; the Cherry Ripe chocolate mud cake sounds fabulous. (We have Cherry ripe here.) I have a few birthday cakes coming up; so I'll try it out soon. I may try a honeycomb one too.
Regards,
Cheryl

Back to some earlier discussion on non-dairy "cream". For those in Sydney (and no doubt many Australian cities):

I just popped into Stark's Kosher Deli near Bondi Beach to check out their non-dairy "creams". They had 3 brands (and I'm told they're all similar):

Haddas Non-Dairy Topping
Grandma Moses Ready-to-Whip Non-Dairy Topping
Rich's Whipping Base

Has anyone tried any of these in ganache, mousse or other recipes? How are they?

Does anyone know whether they are a good substitute for Dream Whip? (I don't really know which recipes use DreamWhip.)
All the best,
Cheryl

Not me - i use full cream only in Ganache..


Blue.

Thank you! I'm excited to give mud cake a try, but I've been resisting the baking urge lately. Stupid diet! My brother-in-law lived in Australia for a couple of years, so maybe I'll try it for his birthday in a few weeks.

Thanks!

Hi; I'm back. I've started to draw up a table of everyone's oh-so-useful substitutes, in between working on a couple of cakes.

I've noticed a number of CCers mentioning that they add "pudding" to cake mixes. What is "pudding" and when, why and how do you add it? Is this a recommended practice? I've only made cakes from scratch.
Cheryl

hi Cheryl

I use cottees instant pudding. its in the dessert aisle at my local supermarket
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vh5o7mAcvO0/S6S7XmpInAI/AAAAAAAAA58/bHw-NzZemCo/s1600-h/Chocolate+Pudding+with+Nuts+packet.jpg

i use it when i make this cake recipe
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/1972/durable-cake-for-3d-and-wedding-cakes

it is great. Though we seem to be limited for flavours over here. I have only found vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Though i have managed to find a wildberry and honeycomb flavour once.

I used the wildberry with a betty crocker vanilla cake mix and it was really good!!

In the US, pudding is a dessert something like mousse, but thicker. Jello makes the brand that most Americans are familiar with. When added to a cake recipe, it adds both flavor and moisture. Most of the recipes that call for one small box of pudding mix are referring to a 3.4 oz (96g) box. Here's a link so that you can see some of the flavors available (some are available only regionally or seasonally:

http://brands.kraftfoods.com/jello/products/pudding/instant-pudding-and-pie-filling/

Thank you Melave and Miss Sweetstory for the information on puddings. Melave, where is "over here"?
All the best,
Cheryl

sorry i thought i had it in my info thingy

I'm in north west of western australia