Recently I decided I wanted to make a cake that captured the flavours of a Sticky Toffee Pudding, a family favourite in this house. I found a recipe on another blog for a date cake, and made it - it was great - but I have gradually added to it and adapted it until I feel it's pretty much 'mine'. But of course, thus far it's all been in my head, so I felt the time had come to commit it to the long-neglected blog.
This cake is superbly easy. I love this kind of 'all in one', chuck it in the food processor kind of recipes, and the fruit content means it's always moist. It keeps well for about a week, and I have even frozen it in slices to no ill effect, ready to defrost for unexpected guests. It works well as a cake with morning coffee, afternoon tea, or warmed with custard as a pudding (a drizzle of toffee sauce on it would be perfect too). All in all a great cake to have in your baking repertoire!
Sticky Toffee Date Cake
Ingredients
250g dried dates
275ml boiling water
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
175g soft light brown sugar
150g butter
3 eggs, beaten
175g self raising flour
100g raisins or sultanas
50-100g crystallised ginger (optional, and to taste)
Method
Pour the boiling water over 3 quarters of the dates and leave for 15 minutes or so to soften
Meanwhile chop the remaining dates - and the ginger, if using - and put aside.
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celcius.
In a food processor, blend together the butter, sugar and dates, including the still-warm soaking water.
Add the eggs, then the flour and bicarb, and blend until smooth.
Stir in the chopped dates, chopped ginger (if using) and the raisins.
Pour the mixture into a greased and lined (well, I just line the base) 24cm round tin.
Bake for 40 minutes until firm in the middle, and the edges are slightly pulling away from the tin. I usually check it at 35 minutes, but in my oven 40 is pretty much spot on.
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Sunday, 5 May 2019
Tuesday, 5 September 2017
The Apple Diaries 2017 - Au Pair's Cake
A recipe from my friend Barbara. She produced this cake when I last popped round and I devoured a slice warm from the pan, topped with full fat creme fraiche! She very kindly sent me home with another chunk for Rob and I to share for supper which we ate with Greek yoghurt.
It's more a pudding than a cake, with a batter-like liquid holding the apples together. Totally moreish!
It's more a pudding than a cake, with a batter-like liquid holding the apples together. Totally moreish!
Thursday, 26 January 2017
A John Deere Birthday Party
My tractor-mad boy had his 4th birthday 7 months ago now, but I have had it in mind to blog about his party for ages. He insisted that he wanted a John Deere theme... 'No problem' I thought and started scouring Pinterest for ideas. There *were* lots of ideas, but I found myself searching through countless blogs and websites to collate them all, so I thought it could be useful to write a blogpost with them all in one place. So if you're planning a tractor or farm-themed party, I hope you find this useful.
Firstly, I think a themed table-setting really gets you off to a flying start. I browsed Amazon and found this brilliant 'grass' tablecloth for less than 3 pounds, bargain! It'll definitely be usable again for future parties. The tractor napkins were also from Amazon, as were the plain yellow paper plates. Cheap and simple. The spotty cups and plain blue paper plates on which I served some of the food were from Tesco. I dotted the table with various toy tractors and farm animals.
I decided to make all of the food fit in with the theme, but wanted to keep this as simple as possible as well as making foods that your average child will actually eat!
I did however make some 'Cheesy Chicks', just cheese biscuits using Nigella's 'Cheesy Feet' recipe:
Judging from the carnage left after the tea, all the guests enjoyed the meal. I did too (thankfully the mums of Ted's friends are a brilliant bunch) - but obviously I collapsed in a state of exhaustion, glass of wine in hand, as soon as everyone had left!
Firstly, I think a themed table-setting really gets you off to a flying start. I browsed Amazon and found this brilliant 'grass' tablecloth for less than 3 pounds, bargain! It'll definitely be usable again for future parties. The tractor napkins were also from Amazon, as were the plain yellow paper plates. Cheap and simple. The spotty cups and plain blue paper plates on which I served some of the food were from Tesco. I dotted the table with various toy tractors and farm animals.
I decided to make all of the food fit in with the theme, but wanted to keep this as simple as possible as well as making foods that your average child will actually eat!
Well, OK, the kids mostly ignore the crudites! But it makes me feel better to put some out. 😉
Just breadsticks.
Tesco own-brand crisps. I love those bacon ones, and enjoyed the humour of displaying them next to the toy pig!
Obviously you could make your own of all the above hot foods, and if I'd been in a 'Supermum' kind of mood I definitely would have done so. However, my husband was away and my son and I were going out on the morning of the party (in a fabulous co-incidence, it was 'Open Farm Sunday' so we popped over to the local dairy farm to ogle at the awesome machinery!) so I just bought everything from the supermarket.
I did however make some 'Cheesy Chicks', just cheese biscuits using Nigella's 'Cheesy Feet' recipe:
And now the puddings:
I had these cute little foil cases in the cupboard which I'd bought *years* ago from the Dollarstore when we lived in Canada! Great to find a use for them. This was just green jelly with green grapes cut up in it. If I was catering for more children I'd have done some yellow ones too.
I was quite proud of these as I made up the 'recipe' and my son really enjoyed helping me make them. I simply melted a mixture of milk and dark chocolate and threw in raisins and chopped nuts (none of the guests have allergies), then plopped it onto a lined baking tray in suitable 'dollops'.
A genius idea from Pinterest was making rice-crispie cakes into hay bales. I displayed these in a trailer.
Lastly, my son's favourite popcorn (Coconut and Vanilla 'Propercorn').
I may not have made all the food myself, but I did manage to create the cake! I had seen some amazing John Deere cakes on Pinterest, but this was one I designed myself; extremely simple but I thought it was effective and Ted loved it.
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Rhubarb and Custard Cake
I realised with a jolt last week that I hadn't looked at Pinterest for weeks, months actually. For someone who has been known to fritter away hours of the day 'pinning' fabulous cooking/decorating/craft/clothing ideas, this is quite a change... But I've decided that I can only maintain one internet addiction during Ted's nap-times, and Facebook has won that competition! However, some 'pins' have stuck in my mind, and when I saw some lovely pink stalks of Hampshire rhubarb in the shops last week, I had a sudden recollection of a beautiful looking recipe that I had seen and pinned, so I bought them.
And here it is:
Not only does the cake look gorgeous, I love the way that this blogger (eat, little bird) has presented it, so appealing.
Anyway, I set about making it as soon as I got home. The cake batter is extremely thick but I suppose that this helps to 'support' the thick layer of custard that you put into the middle. I also stewed the rhubarb that I had leftover from patterning the top of the cake, and put a fruity layer in the pan on top of the custard. I ended up using my dampened hands to mould the top layer of cake batter so I could just place it in the tin on top of the custard and rhubarb.
It looked beautiful before baking... but not quite so attractive afterwards!!
However, as we all know, it's the taste that counts, and this tasted... OK. If I made it again I'd definitely make a couple of changes:
- Add an extra egg to the cake batter. It's a very dense cake and I think some more liquid would loosen it up a bit and make the cake a bit lighter.
- Not make the custard filling too thick. I made the rookie error of using a giant tablespoon to measure out the custard powder when I was making the filling. I should have used a proper 15ml measure. My fault.
- Don't over-bake it. Again, my fault, but in my defence it's quite hard to tell if it's done as a cake-tester will inevitably hit the custard filling and come up looking like it has uncooked batter on it.
My extra rhubarb layer was a good plan, as the sticks on top just aren't enough - but I love rhubarb!
I have just seen a variation of this cake on Facebook, where apple has been used in place of the rhubarb, with excellent results. I think I will definitely try that in the Autumn when we are always awash with apples.
I'm glad I tried it, but will refine it a little when I bake it again.
And here it is:
Not only does the cake look gorgeous, I love the way that this blogger (eat, little bird) has presented it, so appealing.
Anyway, I set about making it as soon as I got home. The cake batter is extremely thick but I suppose that this helps to 'support' the thick layer of custard that you put into the middle. I also stewed the rhubarb that I had leftover from patterning the top of the cake, and put a fruity layer in the pan on top of the custard. I ended up using my dampened hands to mould the top layer of cake batter so I could just place it in the tin on top of the custard and rhubarb.
It looked beautiful before baking... but not quite so attractive afterwards!!
However, as we all know, it's the taste that counts, and this tasted... OK. If I made it again I'd definitely make a couple of changes:
- Add an extra egg to the cake batter. It's a very dense cake and I think some more liquid would loosen it up a bit and make the cake a bit lighter.
- Not make the custard filling too thick. I made the rookie error of using a giant tablespoon to measure out the custard powder when I was making the filling. I should have used a proper 15ml measure. My fault.
- Don't over-bake it. Again, my fault, but in my defence it's quite hard to tell if it's done as a cake-tester will inevitably hit the custard filling and come up looking like it has uncooked batter on it.
My extra rhubarb layer was a good plan, as the sticks on top just aren't enough - but I love rhubarb!
I have just seen a variation of this cake on Facebook, where apple has been used in place of the rhubarb, with excellent results. I think I will definitely try that in the Autumn when we are always awash with apples.
I'm glad I tried it, but will refine it a little when I bake it again.
Monday, 29 April 2013
Brownies and Blondies - Rachel Allen
I sometimes feel that I shouldn't bake too much as, you know, I'd only eat it all myself... But I have recently solved that problem by rediscovering the satisfying glow caused by the giving of cake as a gift, specifically to 2 friends who have recently had babies. After all, what's a more welcome gift in that sleep-deprived and mind-numbingly-exhausting time than cake?! Not a cake that you need to find a knife to cut and plates on which to serve it - no, all too much to deal with when you have a newborn baby - you need a cake that you can grab, ready cut, from the bag, box or tin in which it is presented. Brownies seemed to me to fulfil that brief.
A few months ago I bought 'Cake' by Rachel Allen. It's a lovely book with many recipes that I have bookmarked as 'must makes'; my only criticism is that I wish there were pictures to accompany every recipe. However, I'm willing to forgive that as every cake I have made from it so far has been good. Really good.
With a bunch of bananas quietly getting blacker by the day in my fruit bowl, I was quickly drawn to the recipe for Banoffee Blondies. This requires the extra step of making an almond praline (just melting sugar in a pan with the almonds, then tipping it onto a tray to cool before blitzing it to rubble in a food processor) but believe me, it's an extra step well worth taking; the nutty crunch that results provides a fantastic texture within the moist cake. I also, purposely, didn't completely melt the white chocolate so there were some chunks remaining within the mixture.
The recipe can be found here, although to be ever-so-slightly smug, I can't help but feel that mine look a lot nicer than the ones in the link. To me they look too dry and cakey, whereas mine had the requisite 'squidge' that any blondie or brownie worth its salt should have.
Next on my list was Cheesecake Brownies. This isn't a new idea, but a cream-cheese layer swirled onto the top of a brownie mix makes a classic combination. I have found previous attempts at this idea tricky to 'swirl', as the two different batters can be of different consistencies, but I had no such problem with this recipe. Mine didn't look quite as artistic as the ones in the book, but they tasted great. I love the tang of the cream cheese with the sweetness of the brownie. Again, these turned out dense and squidgy, just perfect. The recipe can be found here.
I was really pleased to find two recipes in one week that I could mentally bookmark as 'keepers', I'll definitely be making both again. Next however on my list from this book is (a request from my husband) Peanut Butter Brownies... watch this space!
A few months ago I bought 'Cake' by Rachel Allen. It's a lovely book with many recipes that I have bookmarked as 'must makes'; my only criticism is that I wish there were pictures to accompany every recipe. However, I'm willing to forgive that as every cake I have made from it so far has been good. Really good.
With a bunch of bananas quietly getting blacker by the day in my fruit bowl, I was quickly drawn to the recipe for Banoffee Blondies. This requires the extra step of making an almond praline (just melting sugar in a pan with the almonds, then tipping it onto a tray to cool before blitzing it to rubble in a food processor) but believe me, it's an extra step well worth taking; the nutty crunch that results provides a fantastic texture within the moist cake. I also, purposely, didn't completely melt the white chocolate so there were some chunks remaining within the mixture.
The recipe can be found here, although to be ever-so-slightly smug, I can't help but feel that mine look a lot nicer than the ones in the link. To me they look too dry and cakey, whereas mine had the requisite 'squidge' that any blondie or brownie worth its salt should have.
Next on my list was Cheesecake Brownies. This isn't a new idea, but a cream-cheese layer swirled onto the top of a brownie mix makes a classic combination. I have found previous attempts at this idea tricky to 'swirl', as the two different batters can be of different consistencies, but I had no such problem with this recipe. Mine didn't look quite as artistic as the ones in the book, but they tasted great. I love the tang of the cream cheese with the sweetness of the brownie. Again, these turned out dense and squidgy, just perfect. The recipe can be found here.
I was really pleased to find two recipes in one week that I could mentally bookmark as 'keepers', I'll definitely be making both again. Next however on my list from this book is (a request from my husband) Peanut Butter Brownies... watch this space!
Friday, 26 October 2012
Lemongrass Coconut Cake
Whilst I am quick to dismiss those who express surprise that I still manage to bake with a small baby in the house - I just enjoy it, I'm not Superwoman - I have to admit that I'm finding myself increasingly drawn towards a simpler style of cake nowadays. I've never been one for overly-elaborate baking, I don't really have the patience for that, but right now my very favourite things to make have to be super-low-effort, super-tasty, and ideally keep super-well so I don't feel that I have to eat it all too quickly before it goes stale (one of the perils of being at home all day).
Nigella's Lemon Syrup Loaf Cake fits the bill very nicely and is one I make often (the link will take you to a nice write-up and the recipe on another blog). The addition of the lemony syrup poured over the still-hot cake keeps it beautifully moist, and I can have the whole thing made, baked and mixing-bowl washed up within the hour.
But thanks to a cooking group that I am part of on Facebook, I have discovered a new favourite: Lemongrass Coconut Cake. When I saw the name I thought I'd like to try it, but when I saw how amazingly simple the recipe was I just knew I'd have to bake it. This is a cake from Rachel Allen's latest series (and I assume an accompanying book?) 'Cake Diaries', but the recipe can be found online here.
As you can see, it's one of those lovely bung-it-all-in-a-food-processor recipes - fabulous! The smell of the lemongrass as it's blended into the sugar is incredible, and I have to say that the unbaked mix nearly didn't make it into the tin as it was so flipping delicious.
Once baked it looked plain, yet elegant, and when I'd doused it in the syrup I sprinkled over a little more dessiccated coconut; the recipe calls for 125g and I'd bought a 150g box of it so this seemed a good way to use up the annoyingly small amount left over.
The recipe suggests serving this as a dessert, but the first few slices were simply eaten alongside cups of tea and coffee. Last night however we did have some for pudding, accompanied by the creme fraiche indicated in the recipe, but also with some chunks of papaya spritzed with lime juice. We ate papaya regularly when we lived in Brunei, so as well as being a perfect marriage of Asian flavours, this was a little trip down memory lane.
Definitely a winning recipe, I think I'll be baking this one again and again.
Nigella's Lemon Syrup Loaf Cake fits the bill very nicely and is one I make often (the link will take you to a nice write-up and the recipe on another blog). The addition of the lemony syrup poured over the still-hot cake keeps it beautifully moist, and I can have the whole thing made, baked and mixing-bowl washed up within the hour.
But thanks to a cooking group that I am part of on Facebook, I have discovered a new favourite: Lemongrass Coconut Cake. When I saw the name I thought I'd like to try it, but when I saw how amazingly simple the recipe was I just knew I'd have to bake it. This is a cake from Rachel Allen's latest series (and I assume an accompanying book?) 'Cake Diaries', but the recipe can be found online here.
As you can see, it's one of those lovely bung-it-all-in-a-food-processor recipes - fabulous! The smell of the lemongrass as it's blended into the sugar is incredible, and I have to say that the unbaked mix nearly didn't make it into the tin as it was so flipping delicious.
Once baked it looked plain, yet elegant, and when I'd doused it in the syrup I sprinkled over a little more dessiccated coconut; the recipe calls for 125g and I'd bought a 150g box of it so this seemed a good way to use up the annoyingly small amount left over.
The recipe suggests serving this as a dessert, but the first few slices were simply eaten alongside cups of tea and coffee. Last night however we did have some for pudding, accompanied by the creme fraiche indicated in the recipe, but also with some chunks of papaya spritzed with lime juice. We ate papaya regularly when we lived in Brunei, so as well as being a perfect marriage of Asian flavours, this was a little trip down memory lane.
Definitely a winning recipe, I think I'll be baking this one again and again.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Let Them Have Cake - Baking in Brunei
I love blog-world. Most of the people who read this blog are people who I know in 'real life' - it feeds to my Facebook profile, so my FB friends can see it, various family members in the UK read it, and several of my cooking-forum friends also pop in and say hello. However, occasionally a 'stranger' happens upon my blog, and sometimes you get to chatting...
This has happened with my new blog-friend Ben. Ben found this blog whilst looking for information on macarons (this post to be specific), and was surprised to find that I lived in Brunei - because he is Bruneian! He's a teacher, like me, but to escape the stresses of his job (teaching secondary - I couldn't do it!) he bakes. He plans to enroll in pastry school one day, but in the mean time he makes - and sells - the most amazing looking cakes, cookies and macarons.
I've been really impressed to read that he always uses the best and freshest ingredients. These things don't come cheap, and so often it's all too obvious that commercial bakeries here just don't use good quality products. That incredible-looking cake that you bite into to find bland over-aerated sponge, sickly-sweet shaving-foam-style icing, and nasty fake chocolate - sadly a common disappointment.
But Ben's cakes? I think they're the 'real deal'! For any of my friends here in Brunei who might be interested in ordering that special celebration cake, or just treating yourself to something hand-made and delicious, here is a link to what's available. Ben's phone number is also on the blog so you could make contact via text to place an order. I'd guess he'd need some notice - he's a teacher as well as a baker.
Ben's Products and Prices.
I wish Ben all the best with this. Good cake is hard to find here, so it's great to find someone making and selling great quality baked goods.
This has happened with my new blog-friend Ben. Ben found this blog whilst looking for information on macarons (this post to be specific), and was surprised to find that I lived in Brunei - because he is Bruneian! He's a teacher, like me, but to escape the stresses of his job (teaching secondary - I couldn't do it!) he bakes. He plans to enroll in pastry school one day, but in the mean time he makes - and sells - the most amazing looking cakes, cookies and macarons.
I've been really impressed to read that he always uses the best and freshest ingredients. These things don't come cheap, and so often it's all too obvious that commercial bakeries here just don't use good quality products. That incredible-looking cake that you bite into to find bland over-aerated sponge, sickly-sweet shaving-foam-style icing, and nasty fake chocolate - sadly a common disappointment.
But Ben's cakes? I think they're the 'real deal'! For any of my friends here in Brunei who might be interested in ordering that special celebration cake, or just treating yourself to something hand-made and delicious, here is a link to what's available. Ben's phone number is also on the blog so you could make contact via text to place an order. I'd guess he'd need some notice - he's a teacher as well as a baker.
Ben's Products and Prices.
I wish Ben all the best with this. Good cake is hard to find here, so it's great to find someone making and selling great quality baked goods.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Happy Birthday to the Crown Prince!
On Friday it was the birthday of the Crown Prince, the son of the Sultan. The military held a party at the officers' mess at Bolkiah Camp, and at Friday lunchtime I had a text from Rob saying spouses were allowed to come along too - so would I like to?
Never one to miss out on a slice of birthday cake I jumped at the chance. Always nice to shake the royal hand again too...
The food was great - I only managed to get a photo of the debris after the meal - but we had chicken curry, roti, and some lovely savoury pastries.
I wish I'd managed to get a photo of the cake before it was cut - it was awesome! Huge, and shaped like a golden star. It was pretty tasty too!
As I was walking back to my car after the party I was excited to see the royal motorcade driving past, complete with motorcycle out-riders.
And a trumpet fanfare as they drove out of the gates.
The royals are much-loved here in Brunei, and being such a small country they're pretty 'visible' - a friend of mine first met the Sultan in one of the local supermarkets (OK, he wasn't doing his weekly shop, I think it was something official, but even so..!). They open the Palace for 3 days every Hari Raya, and the Sultan and members of the royal family are constantly in the papers, photographed at various events all over Brunei. I don't remember the last time I saw one of the British royal family 'in person' (probably when I saw Charles and Di in Hereford when I was about 10 years old!), so I still find it quite exciting to meet Bruneian royalty!
Never one to miss out on a slice of birthday cake I jumped at the chance. Always nice to shake the royal hand again too...
The food was great - I only managed to get a photo of the debris after the meal - but we had chicken curry, roti, and some lovely savoury pastries.
I wish I'd managed to get a photo of the cake before it was cut - it was awesome! Huge, and shaped like a golden star. It was pretty tasty too!
As I was walking back to my car after the party I was excited to see the royal motorcade driving past, complete with motorcycle out-riders.
And a trumpet fanfare as they drove out of the gates.
The royals are much-loved here in Brunei, and being such a small country they're pretty 'visible' - a friend of mine first met the Sultan in one of the local supermarkets (OK, he wasn't doing his weekly shop, I think it was something official, but even so..!). They open the Palace for 3 days every Hari Raya, and the Sultan and members of the royal family are constantly in the papers, photographed at various events all over Brunei. I don't remember the last time I saw one of the British royal family 'in person' (probably when I saw Charles and Di in Hereford when I was about 10 years old!), so I still find it quite exciting to meet Bruneian royalty!
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Easter Treats
I didn't do as much baking as I had hoped for Easter. This was largely due to the fact that the school term didn't end until Maundy Thursday, so rather than the usual week-either-side-of-Easter holiday, we have the 2 weeks after Easter. I'm not complaining of course - it's lovely now to have so much time after the Easter weekend - but it has meant less cake. Oh well.
I've never got round to making my own Hot Cross Buns, but we have enjoyed plenty of bought ones. Halved, hot from the toaster and slathered in butter... sometimes with Marmite too. Although everyone who've ever seen me spread Marmite (or even Bovril) on a Hot Cross Bun thinks I'm some kind of madwoman. But it's nice, trust me!
The one thing I did manage to bake was a Simnel Cake. I don't use a 'proper' Simnel Cake recipe, but instead make Nigella's Marzipan Fruit Cake from the recipe in How to be a Domestic Goddess. Instead of the traditional layer of marzipan in the middle of the cake, this recipe calls for a block of marzipan to be cubed, then frozen overnight before being stirred into the uncooked cake mix. This means that there are nuggets of marzipan throughout the cake - as well as the layer, plus 'apostles' (just 11 - Judas doesn't get one), I put on the top.
Looking at the finished cake I think I should have made the effort to make my own marzipan. The pack I purchased, labelled 'Golden Marzipan' should perhaps have been renamed 'Scarily Vivid Yellow Marzipan'... although maybe that might not have made it a best-seller. Our attempts to burnish the marzipan topping using our kitchen blow-torch nearly ended in disaster (Rob lost all the hairs on the back of one hand, and I consider myself lucky to still have my eyebrows...) But, it's the taste that counts, no? And this cake tastes good.
It's a very fruity cake, made with glace cherries, sultanas and, slightly unusually, dried pears. These give the cake a wonderful fudgy graininess and help keep it moist, even when accidentally overcooked.
I think I left it in the oven for 10 minutes too long, but in my defence it was very hard to test its 'doneness' as inserting a skewer without hitting some gungy marzipan was impossible. However, it was far from ruined as the marzipan and fruit kept it pleasantly squishy.
The recipe can be found here, on the Nibb'lous website. I didn't change the recipe much, although I don't keep white rum in the house so ended up soaking the dried fruit in medium sherry, with a splash of rum flavouring and some extra orange-flower water (not, incidentally, an essential addition to the cake).
I hope you all had a very Happy Easter.
Monday, 7 December 2009
The Weather Outside is Frightful...
But the scene in front of the fire has been delightful. What could be nicer than sitting on the sofa, warming up after a brisk walk with a cup of tea and a toasted crumpet, and surrounded by recipe books? I'm thinking of making the Incredibly Easy Chocolate Fruit Cake, as pictured in Nigella's Christmas book. It's the phrase 'incredibly easy' that's tempting me... oh yes, and the word 'chocolate'. I'm also keen to find an excuse to use my 'Hologram Gold Disco Glitter' once again - it looks stunning on top of a dark cake such as this one.
The Jane Asher book is from the local library. I'm glad I didn't buy it, her writing style really irritates me, although there are some nice-looking recipes that I might just take note of before returning the book.
A little later on and the tea and crumpets are replaced by wine... and the Christmas socks have emerged! Ho ho ho. It's still a little early for us to be decorating the house, although we nearly went to buy the Christmas tree this last weekend - we've decided to go next Saturday instead. We did however collect some lovely holly. Last year it was almost impossible to find any with berries on it, so this year we were keen to grab some as soon as we saw it. We put some behind every picture in the sitting room, and I'll add some ivy too soon. I like to use as much natural greenery as I can... but leaving plenty of room for some tasteless kitch decorations too!
Talking of kitch, we've also started playing our extensive collection of Christmas music. Before we went to Canada we had a very tasteful selection of classic Christmas carols and festive choral music. Now we have a broad range of other 'classics' such as Elvis' Christmas Album and The Beach Boys sing Christmas (thanks to a crazy moment in the cut-price music section of Walmart!). My favourite album is a double CD I bought - rather oddly - at a Bath and Body Works shop in Las Vegas, entitled Glitter and Glow. It has a fantastic selection of Christmas hits, some classics, some new recordings. One of my very favourite tracks is this one from Bing Crosby:
Now if only the rain would stop... let it snow!
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Apple Spice Cake
Apple foraging season is over, but if you've still got some cooking apples in store then this is an ideal recipe to use a few.
I made this cake in October, and it was fabulous. I have been meaning to blog about it ever since. The recipe came from 'The Week' magazine, and is taken from Mary Berry's Baking Bible which I think is a new publication, bringing together recipes from several of Mary Berry's previous cookbooks. The official title for the recipe is Apple and Cinnamon Cake, but I renamed it Apple Spice Cake as I used a selection of spices instead of simply cinnamon.
We took the cake on holiday with us to Yorkshire (and I hasten to add that we were holidaying in a self-catering cottage... we don't make a habit of packing cakes into our suitcases!) and it kept fantastically well. We ate a generous slice each day along with a cup of tea on return from our hearty walks, and even when we finished it on day 5 or 6 it tasted as good as it had done at the start of the week.
Mary Berry's Apple and Cinnamon Cake
225g softened butter
225g light muscovado sugar (plus a little to finish)
3 large eggs
100g chopped walnuts (I omitted these as I had none in the cupboard!)
100g sultanas
225g self-raising flour (I substituted 100g of this with Hemp Flour which gave it a lovely nutty flavour and texture)
2 level tsp baking powder (I added an extra tsp because of the Hemp Flour)
400g cooking apples, peeled, cored and grated
1 level tsp ground cinnamon (I used 'Pumpkin Pie Spice' which I had brought back from Canada. It contains a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc)
Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160/gas 4. Grease a 23cm deep round cake tin and line the base with parchment paper.
Put the butter, sugar, eggs, walnuts, sultanas, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat well until thoroughly blended.
Spoon half the mixture into the tin, smooth it down, then tip the grated apple (which you have mixed with the spices) in an even layer on the top. Spoon over the remaining cake mixture, level the surface, then sprinkle over a generous amount of muscovado sugar.
Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until the cake is well-risen and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Serve warm or cold. It's great either way.
I loved the way that the apple layer provided a slightly tart middle layer, which offset the sweetness of the cake. It also kept the cake deliciously moist.
I made this cake in October, and it was fabulous. I have been meaning to blog about it ever since. The recipe came from 'The Week' magazine, and is taken from Mary Berry's Baking Bible which I think is a new publication, bringing together recipes from several of Mary Berry's previous cookbooks. The official title for the recipe is Apple and Cinnamon Cake, but I renamed it Apple Spice Cake as I used a selection of spices instead of simply cinnamon.
We took the cake on holiday with us to Yorkshire (and I hasten to add that we were holidaying in a self-catering cottage... we don't make a habit of packing cakes into our suitcases!) and it kept fantastically well. We ate a generous slice each day along with a cup of tea on return from our hearty walks, and even when we finished it on day 5 or 6 it tasted as good as it had done at the start of the week.
Mary Berry's Apple and Cinnamon Cake
225g softened butter
225g light muscovado sugar (plus a little to finish)
3 large eggs
100g chopped walnuts (I omitted these as I had none in the cupboard!)
100g sultanas
225g self-raising flour (I substituted 100g of this with Hemp Flour which gave it a lovely nutty flavour and texture)
2 level tsp baking powder (I added an extra tsp because of the Hemp Flour)
400g cooking apples, peeled, cored and grated
1 level tsp ground cinnamon (I used 'Pumpkin Pie Spice' which I had brought back from Canada. It contains a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc)
Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160/gas 4. Grease a 23cm deep round cake tin and line the base with parchment paper.
Put the butter, sugar, eggs, walnuts, sultanas, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat well until thoroughly blended.
Spoon half the mixture into the tin, smooth it down, then tip the grated apple (which you have mixed with the spices) in an even layer on the top. Spoon over the remaining cake mixture, level the surface, then sprinkle over a generous amount of muscovado sugar.
Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until the cake is well-risen and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Serve warm or cold. It's great either way.
I loved the way that the apple layer provided a slightly tart middle layer, which offset the sweetness of the cake. It also kept the cake deliciously moist.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
CSI: UK
Anyone walking into my kitchen yesterday would have been forgiven for screaming and running for the door, calling the police as they did so.
It certainly looked as though I had been committing bloody murder... (that'll teach Rob for leaving the toilet seat up again!)
But the reason for the dramatic red spattering was in fact these beautiful cherries. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have discovered several wild cherry trees in the locality. But it turns out that there are rich pickings even closer than this - we even have a cherry tree in our GARDEN! And so apparently do many of our neighbours. Now, our tree is producing quite small, scarlet cherries. They have a nice sharp flavour, but still sweet enough to eat unadorned. However, they are a real pain to pit as they simply pop straight through the hole in the pitter! But... over the road, in Abbi's garden, is a tree which is producing these wonderful dark red, large, juicy cherries. So yesterday saw me once again balancing precariously on a garden chair with a punnet in one hand, and cherry juice dripping down my arm. I hasten to add that I had asked her permission to pick them, and as she wasn't intending to pick them she was very happy that I should use them.
Cherry-pitting has to be one of the most tedious kitchen jobs there is. As well as being extremely messy, it's also slow and boring. And it makes your hand ache. What I really need is one of these nifty gadgets, as demonstrated on Amy Karol's lovely blog... Still, making do with the far less amusing but still pretty effective cherry-pitter from the local hardware shop, I battled through the freshly picked kilogram of cherries.
And you know what? It was worth every tedious minute. The cherry season is so short, it's worth making the most of every opportunity to use them, especially when they are available for free!
I had decided that I wanted to bake something with them, so went for the now famous Plum Torte recipe from the New York Times, but substituting half of the flour for ground almonds and leaving out the cinnamon. Instead of plums I tumbled several handfuls of pitted cherries, along with a generous scattering of sliced almonds. I had intended to use crushed amaretti biscuits to make a crispy topping as seen on this divine looking Cherry Amaretto Cake baked by the always-inspirational Mannix... but I couldn't seem to find the amaretti I thought were stashed in the cupboard. That will have to wait until next time.
I was however very pleased with the resulting cake. Like it's Plum cousin, this is perfect eaten warmed as a dessert, but I wouldn't refuse a cold slice to accompany my afternoon cup of tea. In fact, I didn't refuse one, and utterly delicious it was too.
Having recently got the cupcake bug, I was keen to try some kind of cherry cupcake too. I had tried - with great success - filling cupcakes using the cone method... last time I used stewed rhubarb, but this time it was cherries, made into a light compote with just a touch of sugar. I strained the juice before filling the cupcakes so that the cakes didn't become too soggy.
I 'invented' the topping - beating together cream cheese and icing sugar, and then stirring in 100g of melted white chocolate. This meant that the icing hardened slightly on cooling, and didn't slide off the cake.
I thought it was only fair to thank the neighbours from whom I had picked the cherries, so packaged up a couple of cute punnets of cupcakes for them... All I can say is that my neighbours are lucky I delivered them before I tasted one of these. They're so gorgeous I would have struggled to give them away had I eaten one first!
It certainly looked as though I had been committing bloody murder... (that'll teach Rob for leaving the toilet seat up again!)
But the reason for the dramatic red spattering was in fact these beautiful cherries. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have discovered several wild cherry trees in the locality. But it turns out that there are rich pickings even closer than this - we even have a cherry tree in our GARDEN! And so apparently do many of our neighbours. Now, our tree is producing quite small, scarlet cherries. They have a nice sharp flavour, but still sweet enough to eat unadorned. However, they are a real pain to pit as they simply pop straight through the hole in the pitter! But... over the road, in Abbi's garden, is a tree which is producing these wonderful dark red, large, juicy cherries. So yesterday saw me once again balancing precariously on a garden chair with a punnet in one hand, and cherry juice dripping down my arm. I hasten to add that I had asked her permission to pick them, and as she wasn't intending to pick them she was very happy that I should use them.
Cherry-pitting has to be one of the most tedious kitchen jobs there is. As well as being extremely messy, it's also slow and boring. And it makes your hand ache. What I really need is one of these nifty gadgets, as demonstrated on Amy Karol's lovely blog... Still, making do with the far less amusing but still pretty effective cherry-pitter from the local hardware shop, I battled through the freshly picked kilogram of cherries.
And you know what? It was worth every tedious minute. The cherry season is so short, it's worth making the most of every opportunity to use them, especially when they are available for free!
I had decided that I wanted to bake something with them, so went for the now famous Plum Torte recipe from the New York Times, but substituting half of the flour for ground almonds and leaving out the cinnamon. Instead of plums I tumbled several handfuls of pitted cherries, along with a generous scattering of sliced almonds. I had intended to use crushed amaretti biscuits to make a crispy topping as seen on this divine looking Cherry Amaretto Cake baked by the always-inspirational Mannix... but I couldn't seem to find the amaretti I thought were stashed in the cupboard. That will have to wait until next time.
I was however very pleased with the resulting cake. Like it's Plum cousin, this is perfect eaten warmed as a dessert, but I wouldn't refuse a cold slice to accompany my afternoon cup of tea. In fact, I didn't refuse one, and utterly delicious it was too.
Having recently got the cupcake bug, I was keen to try some kind of cherry cupcake too. I had tried - with great success - filling cupcakes using the cone method... last time I used stewed rhubarb, but this time it was cherries, made into a light compote with just a touch of sugar. I strained the juice before filling the cupcakes so that the cakes didn't become too soggy.
I 'invented' the topping - beating together cream cheese and icing sugar, and then stirring in 100g of melted white chocolate. This meant that the icing hardened slightly on cooling, and didn't slide off the cake.
I thought it was only fair to thank the neighbours from whom I had picked the cherries, so packaged up a couple of cute punnets of cupcakes for them... All I can say is that my neighbours are lucky I delivered them before I tasted one of these. They're so gorgeous I would have struggled to give them away had I eaten one first!
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Sweet as Honey
To be honest, if I'd seen a recipe entitled 'Wholemeal Honey Cake', I probably wouldn't have tried it. Why is it that the word 'wholemeal' sounds so... well... worthy? One thing that a cake should never be is dull, and I might have suspected that this one would be, except that I tasted it a while back, as made by my sister-in-law Anne, and it's amazing. The fact that it's made with wholemeal flour just adds to its amazingness as you can pretty much convince yourself that it's a healthfood. If you try to forget the fact that it contains 350g of butter that is...
Honey has featured high on my list of favourite foods recently, since practically the entire month of January has been spent with an ill person in our household. First I got 'the cold from hell' (resulting in a lost voice, among other symptoms, to the delight of my class), and then just as I was pulling out of the slough of sickness, Rob dived right in. Bummer. He has the 'pathetic' look perfected, as you can see.
Still, this provided ample opportunity to serve him cups of tea in our new (but clearly produced 3 years ago) Emma Bridgewater mug...
Where was I? Right, honey... Honey was recommended to me as a throat-soothing antiseptic, so both Rob and I have been eating honey on toast. I'm not quite sure why we didn't go down the hot-toddy route, but I seem to recall that the cold gave one that 'morning after' feeling all day, so the addition of alcohol somehow didn't seem appealing.
However, this cake ticked all the boxes as far as comfort food is concerned, looking - as well as tasting - utterly divine. The honey is not added to the cake batter, but drizzled liberally over the top while the cake is still hot. It permeates the top layer of the sponge making it deliciously moist, but also sits gleaming atop the flaked almonds.
The recipe comes courtesy of Anne, photocopied from the Guardian Weekend magazine, part of an article written by one of my favourite foodies Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Hugh says that this recipe was devised by his Head Chef at River Cottage, Gill Mellor, and suggests serving it warm as a dessert with lashings of cream, or cold with a cup of tea or coffee. We went for it warm from the pan, with frothing mugs of hot chocolate.
And a dollop of creme fraiche!
We found that this was a cake best eaten slightly warmed - just 10 seconds in the microwave is enough to make it even more meltingly tender-crumbed - but I wouldn't push it away if it were cold. It makes a large cake, and one that lasts for several days without suffering. We have been eating a slice a day all week.
I was on the verge of typing out the recipe when I did a quick search and found it here, along with the complete article - full of marvellous honey-facts - and many more honeyish recipes. I'm very tempted by the Honey Parfait.
Hurray for the bees!
Honey has featured high on my list of favourite foods recently, since practically the entire month of January has been spent with an ill person in our household. First I got 'the cold from hell' (resulting in a lost voice, among other symptoms, to the delight of my class), and then just as I was pulling out of the slough of sickness, Rob dived right in. Bummer. He has the 'pathetic' look perfected, as you can see.
Still, this provided ample opportunity to serve him cups of tea in our new (but clearly produced 3 years ago) Emma Bridgewater mug...
Where was I? Right, honey... Honey was recommended to me as a throat-soothing antiseptic, so both Rob and I have been eating honey on toast. I'm not quite sure why we didn't go down the hot-toddy route, but I seem to recall that the cold gave one that 'morning after' feeling all day, so the addition of alcohol somehow didn't seem appealing.
However, this cake ticked all the boxes as far as comfort food is concerned, looking - as well as tasting - utterly divine. The honey is not added to the cake batter, but drizzled liberally over the top while the cake is still hot. It permeates the top layer of the sponge making it deliciously moist, but also sits gleaming atop the flaked almonds.
The recipe comes courtesy of Anne, photocopied from the Guardian Weekend magazine, part of an article written by one of my favourite foodies Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Hugh says that this recipe was devised by his Head Chef at River Cottage, Gill Mellor, and suggests serving it warm as a dessert with lashings of cream, or cold with a cup of tea or coffee. We went for it warm from the pan, with frothing mugs of hot chocolate.
And a dollop of creme fraiche!
We found that this was a cake best eaten slightly warmed - just 10 seconds in the microwave is enough to make it even more meltingly tender-crumbed - but I wouldn't push it away if it were cold. It makes a large cake, and one that lasts for several days without suffering. We have been eating a slice a day all week.
I was on the verge of typing out the recipe when I did a quick search and found it here, along with the complete article - full of marvellous honey-facts - and many more honeyish recipes. I'm very tempted by the Honey Parfait.
Hurray for the bees!
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