Pumpkin soup

This year the supermarkets seemed to stock pumpkins for eating rather than just carving which meant I just had to buy some. The only thing is, pumpkins are pretty big and take a long time to eat on your own. Thankfully my sister came over for dinner, so a pumpkin soup seemed to be a perfect starter.

This was one of the best pumpkin soups I have ever made. It's got a triple chilli threat (red chilli, pepperdews and chipotle flakes) which would normally scare me, but it works really well. The olive oil gives another type of complimentary pepperiness but the pumpkin can take it.

It is a very deep and warming soup - perfect for a cold and blustery winter's day. As always the garnish(es) are critical from turning a good soup into superb one. I think I hit paydirt this time. I had roasted the pumpkin seeds in smoked paprika and chipotle flakes, which added add a good crunch. Then rings of pickled pepperdew peppers added a real spark, much like a citrus kick.

Altogether a thing of edible autumnal (winter?) beauty.

One thing I thought would make it even better, was if I had reserved some small chunks of pumpkin for the bottom of the bowl. I thin thee need to be deeply caramelised and tender. Probably fried in butter for a few minutes to give a bit of bite.

Anyway, on to the recipe.

Pumpkin and chilli soup recipe

Note: This was very much made by eye, so quantities are rough.

Ingredients:
Pumpkin, cut into chunks/slices
11/2 onion, sliced thinly
Red chilli, chopped (seeds removed)
1/2tsp cinnamon
Vegetable stock
Double cream, if liked
For the seeds: sea salt, smoked paprika, chipotle chille flakes
To serve: cream, olive oil, sliced pickled pepperdew peppers

Method:
1. Slather the pumpkin chunks in oil and season. Bake until soft (try 200°C for 30min and go from there).
2. While the pumpkin is roasting, bake the seeds too. Toss in oil, sea salt, smoked paprika and chipotle chilli flakes. Spread out on a roasting tray and bake until dried out and crisp. This will take about 10min but keep an eye out and check regularly.
3. Sweat the onion and red chilli in oil.
4. Once the onion is soft add the cinnamon and fry for about a minute.
5. Scoop the soft pumpkin flesh from its skin and add to the pot.
6. Add enough stock to just about cover.
7. Bing to the boil and then turn down to a simmer and cook for about 10minutes.
8. Blend the soup until smooth. Manage the thickness to your liking adding more stock to thin. You can also add double cream for richness too. Season to taste - go easy on the pepper!
9. To serve ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and cream. Scatter the slices of pepperdew and pumpkin seeds across the top.

Cider Cake

I was thinking about this cake when I made the toffee apple cake, the other week. This is another seasonal autumnal cake, but in complete contrast it could not be easier. It takes about 10minute to know-together the batter and only about 30min to bake.

This is a really satisfying cake. There's just more than a hint of apples with a pleasant warmth. It's not too rich nor too moreish: a decent chunk leaves you completely satiated.

It did make me think that actually combining this with the toffee apple cake, such as boiling the dates in cider rather than apple juice, really would result in an absolute cracker-jack of a cake.

When I finally finished it off a week later, I may have slightly embellished with some caramelised apples. Yes, it was goooooooood!

Cider cake recipe (taken from Paul Holywood's receipe on Baking Mad)

Ingredients:

100g butter
100g unrefined light muscovado sugar
2 eggs (large)
225g plain white flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
150ml dry cider

Method:
1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a deep 18cm/7" round cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together with a handheld electric whisk until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon together.
3.Fold about a third of the flour mix into the whisked mixture, then fold in half of the cider, with a large metal spoon or spatula. Fold in another third of the flour, then the rest of the cider. Finally fold in the remaining flour until evenly combined.
4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared cake tin and gently level the surface. Bake for 30–40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
5. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and set aside to cool completely.

Toffee apple cake

I recently helped make a friend make toffee apples (yes, they turned out well - toffee that was very crisp and pleasingly "snap-ful" - although not quite the scarlet red orb that had been desired) and this obviously made me think about a toffee apple cake.

I remembered that during GBBO17, Prue tried Kate's toffee apple cake and declared it the "best cake I've ever had". Now normally, I'd work out my own "ultimate" recipe, but given this intel, I broke with precedent and simply followed the recipe (once I found it online). Having said that, I did make one tweak, which was to replace the internal toffee apples with an apple compote care of Michel Roux.

The cakes turned out pretty well. It's very interesting technique based on a sticky toffee pudding. Very tasty but they did seem a little dry (based on the trimmings from levelling them). And sticky toffee pudding usually comes with lashing of toffee sauce (and cream!). The combination of these factors prompted me to use the compote.

This is the cake equivalent of a warm hug on an autumnal evening in front of the fire, whilst leaves blow outside and drizzle patters against the windows.

The cake is incredibly satisfying and rounded, if you get a bit of everything in one go - the icing, the cake and the apple compote. The spices are gentle and warming. The icing is good and light, I'd prefer a bit more of a toffee hit. Also you don't get hit round the face with apple, but you know it's there providing background depth and sweetness.  Although the apple balls on top didn't quite turn out right, they added a great sharp contrast.

Next time to make it an even more cosy night in, I think I would:

• Try and get the toffee right for the decorative apple balls
• (At least) double the amount of apple rings
• Use a calvados and honey syrup on the cakes

BFG - not Dahl's giant but a Black Forest Gateaux

I think I spend too much time working at the minute (the 1h45 commute each way may be a factor too) which means I spend less time cooking and baking and have even less time to blog when I do.

I did a German evening tonight which was borne out of an aborted trip to the Black Forest to find the ultimate black forest gateaux. I don't have any photos of any courses but the BFG. Mind you the menu did seem to go down quite well:

Sharing pretzel with cheese and beer dip and a mustard dip

***

Rouladen with home-made sauerkraut and spaetzle

***

BFG

The cake turned out pretty well. I think the best comment was "this reminds me of the cakes of my childhood".

It was very satisfying combination of chocolate, cherry and cream. Amazingly my guests didn't take any home, so I was left eating a slice a day for the next week. Tough gig.

It was incredibly difficult trying to get hold of the right cherries. I wanted morello cherries but could not find them for love nor money. Fortunately, Waitrose came to the rescue where Aldi and Lidl had failed.

The cakes (care of the ever-reliable Felicity) were soaked with a combination of kirsch and the syrup from the cherries. Then a thick layer of rich dark cherry jam was added. Next was Chantilly cream spiked with the kirsch/syrup. I put nearly a whole jar of cherries on top of the cream before the next chocolate sponge layer. Repeat again. The third and final layer of cake was covered with a thick ganache and crowned with glace morello cherries

Blackcurrant mousse cake

After a ridiculously successful Pick Your Own session, I found myself with nearly a kilogramme of black currants to find a use for. I was thinking about a mousse cake, but because I've been watching Bake Off - The Professionals, I thought I'd turn up the pressure and have a go at an entremet.

The cake had a coffee genoise sponge base, a milk chocolate "mousse" (I'll explain the inverted commas momentarily), caramelised almonds (as a substitute for a feuilletine layer), a blackcurrant mousse topped with a  blackcurrant glaze.

It wasn't half bad. It had a very long flavour. My mouth was constantly excited with each bite. The crunch of the almonds was an excellent foil to the luxurious mousse. The blackcurrant mousse and coffee cake combination is both complex and complementary. The bitterness of the coffee contrasting with the sweet fruit. The chocolate layer helped to seamlessly transition from one to the other. The glaze was intense and provide a real hit of fruitiness.

The only bit that didn't really work was the chocolate mousse. This was supposed to be a ganache, but had added egg yolks and sugar. I think the problem was that I didn't whisk the egg yolks and sugar together enough to form a sabayon, so when combined with the melted chocolate and cream, it didn't really for a mousse.

It's a very complicated recipe with many components, that I ended up making over night. I also wished I had a ring mould rather than a springform tin. De-moulding would have been much easier! I'm actually quite pleased with myself.

I'll give the chocolate ganache another bash and see if I can improve it. Maybe this is the start of an obsession with multi-layered desserts...

Cheesecake brownies

I made this cheesecake-brownie mash-up because of a number of reasons:

• I quite enjoy Paul Hollywood's City Bakes on the Food Network and I caught a repeat of the New York episode where he made these.
• Last week I made an amazing baked cheesecake (I should have taken photos. I was surprised at how smooth it was: remarkable!).
• I had a block of chocolate sitting in the cupboard.
• At work, JW has declared his love of cheesecake on numerous occasions and I thought these would be a good way of sating that appetite.

They turned out pretty well. They are very rich and very chocolatey. They are more of a dessert than a brownie; at room temperature a plate and fork are definitely required. They are incredibly satisfying - you get a big chocolate hit. These do not leave you wanting.

I made some slight alterations to the recipe, based on my successful cheesecake the week before and instinct. I added a little cocoa and substituted in white chocolate chunks.

I think they could do with fewer chinks of chocolate and more cheesecake. I think I'd like the contrast between the brownie and cheesecake to be more pronounced, which I think you'd get if you upped the cheesecake content by 50%. I think it might be better to make them bigger pan thus making the brownies thinner and emphasising the contrast.

Recipe for cheesecake brownies (based on Paul Hollywood's original)

Ingredients:
For the brownie:
200g plain chocolate, 45% cocoa solids
200g unsalted butter
3 large eggs
200g caster sugar
75g plain flour
15g cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
175g white chocolate, chopped into small chunks
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the cheesecake:
180g full fat cream cheese
1tbsp cornflour
15g caster sugar
1 medium egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
60ml ready-made custard

Method:
1. Line a brownie tin 22x29cm, 8 ½" x 11" with baking parchment. Heat your oven to 170°C.
2. Break 225g of chocolate into small chunks and place in a heatproof bowl with the butter. Place over a pan of simmering water and heat until melted. Leave to cool.
3. Beat the eggs and sugar together until pale and the mixture has thickened. Add the melted chocolate and butter mixture to the eggs and stir until thoroughly combined. Fold in the flour, cocoa, salt, chocolate chunks and vanilla extract. Pour into the prepared in.
4. Using an electric whisk on a slow speed, beat the cream cheese with the custard, sugar, vanilla extract and cornflour. Mix until smooth and all the ingredients are combine.
5. Drop spoonfuls of cheesecake mix onto the brownie then using a spatula fold through the brownie to create swirls. Bake for 25 minutes. A little mixture should still stick to a skewer when inserted in the middle of the brownie.
6. Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Coffee and cardamom cake

This cake came about with a need to provide cake for a cocktail party, which turned into a desire to produce a cake version of an espresso martini (although things took a bit of a turn when I started researching, especially when I read a James Martin recipe) and the need to provide a fiesta of buttercream.

It turned out really well. It's very delicate in flavour and the cardamom makes it incredibly fragrant. It's well balanced, not too sweet, and very long on the palette. It leaves you with a very satisfying hit of cake.

I was toying with making a white chocolate and coffee ganache for the top, or perhaps serving with a chocolate sauce (which would make it more of a dessert) but I think both of these would be over-powering. You could forgo the icing on the side, as well (but that depends on your predilection for buttercream...)

It's especially good with a cup of coffee the day are after baking. On to the recipe...

Coffee and cardamom cake:

Ingredients:
8oz butter, softened
8oz caster sugar
4 eggs
3tbsp strong coffee
Cardamom seeds, ground from 10 pods
8oz plain flour
2tsp baking powder
2oz ground almonds
Coffee liqueur
For the buttercream - this is enough to cover the sides:
9oz butter, softened
18oz icing sugar
Coffee/coffee liqueur, to taste, approx 6tbsp
Chocolate, to decorate

Method:
1. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale.
2. Beat in the eggs, one by one.
3. Stir in the coffee and ground cardamom seeds.
4. Fold in the flour, baking powder and ground almond.
5. Split the cake mix between two greased and lined 8" cake pans, and bake at 180° for 25 mins (or until done).
6. While the sponges are cooling, make the butter cream.
7. Beat the butter, icing sugar and coffee together until smooth, adding coffee/liqueur to taste.
8. Once the cake are cool, split each cake in twain and drizzle with your choice of coffee liqueur.
9. Slather each cake with buttercream and stack.
10. Cover the top and sides with butter cream (if wanted) and decorate with grated coffee.
11. Grab a fresh mug of coffee or shake up an espresso martini, sit back and enjoy a slice.

Chestnut chocolate torte

Now anyone that knows me, must know that I think the chestnut is massively underused during the festive season on our fair isle. So, when a friend of mine was leaving for New Zealand, it seemed to me that a fitting farewell cake might be some kind of brownie laced with chestnuts. After reading rave reviews of those from Dan Lepard, they were promptly produced and enjoyed. But that was just the start.

It started me wondering if some kind of chocolate chestnut torte might be in order...

Turns out I was right. The dense brownie base is a perfect foil for a light mousse topping united by the subtle flavour of chestnut. This is a really deep (I think that's the effect of the chestnut puree)rich torte which has a long chocolate flavour which the booze gives a very gentle kick. The chestnuts in the brownie base give textural contrast to the light delicate mousse to sit atop. It's not too sweet. It's a simply beautiful balance.

I'd like to try this with chestnut flour, to see what that adds. You could also get away with twice as much mousse if you wanted. I probably would...

Chocolate Chestnut Torte

Ingredients:

For the brownie base:

100g cooked chestnuts, chopped roughly

100g dark soft brown sugar

50ml bourbon/rum/brandy (your choice) 

1tsp vanilla extract

1 egg, separated

100g butter

100g dark chocolate

35g plain flour

15g cocoa

1/4tsp salt

100g chestnut puree

1tbsp double cream

For the mousse topping:

250g mascapone

300ml double cream

200g chestnut puree

50ml Bailey's Irish cream

Icing sugar (to taste)

To decorate:

Icing sugar

Cocoa

Grated chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease and line a 9" round baking tin.

2. Mix the chestnut pieces, 50g of the sugar and the alcohol in a bowl.

3. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bain marie.

4. Meanwhile, whip the egg white until stiff. Gradually add in the remaining sugar to create a meringue.

5. Beat in the egg yolks.

6. Slacken the the chestnut puree with the double cream and beat into the melted butter and chocolate along with the salt.

7. Sieve in the flour and cocoa.

8. Fold in the meringue.

9. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, until barely set in the middle. Leave to cool.

10. Once cooled remove from the tin and put on a serving plate. Replace the wall of the tin over the base to allow you to build the torte.

11. Whip the cream to light peaks with the Bailey's and icing sugar.

12. Beat the mascapone and chestnut puree, then mix with the Bailey's cream.

13. Cover the brownie base with the mousse and leave to set for a few hours.

14. Once set, unmould and decorate with icing sugar, cocoa and grated chocolate.

Lemon Drizzle cake

 

I took my first proper cake into work today: a lemon drizzle. This was the same cake as I did for a wedding a couple of years ago, (I never quite managed to blog that one...) so I was reasonably confident but you never quite know. It did seem to go down quite well though.

When making it, it seems like it's more drizzle than cake, so to say it's a moist slice, is an understatement. As someone in the team rightly pointed out though, that's the point! It's still retains a pretty good structure. The different drizzles, I think, give maximum penetration and using different types of sugars gives pleasing textural differences. Oh and it's unashamedly lemony!

Lemon drizzle cake recipe

Ingredients:

200g caster sugar

4 eggs

150ml sour cream

Zest 1 lemon

60ml lemon juice

150ml oil

200g plain flour

1.5tsp baking powder

0.5tsp bicarbonate of soda

Drizzle 1:

4tbsp icing sugar

45ml lemon juice

Drizzle 2: 

70ml lemon juice

Zest 1 lemon

80g demerara sugar

NB: One lemon has about 30ml juice

Method:

1. Line and grease an 8" cake tin and pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy.

3. Add the sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice and oil. Whisk together.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarb and fold in.

(NB. The batter will seem very liquid, but don't worry it'll be OK)

5. Bake for 45 minutes at 180°C

6. Whilst the cake is baking make the two drizzles by simply mixing together the ingredients until the sugar has dissolved.

7. Once the cake is baked, use a skewer to make holes all over the cake. 

8. Brush on drizzle 1 all over the top of the cake using a pastry brush.

9. Brush on drizzle 2, waiting for each stroke to be absorbed before adding more. This'll take some time.

(NB. It'll seem that there's no way the cake will take that much moisture - it will) 

10. Leave to cool. Unmould and devour.

Celeriac soup with smoked haddock and leeks

One of the perks of working at home is the ability to make lunch in a full kitchen. Sometimes, I might take that just a tad too far. This might have been one of those times.

I had some celeriac in the fridge and I have been trying to eat more fish recently, so there was some  haddock too. Consequently I came up with this mongrel of a recipe, but it's tasty. Very tasty.

It's not too fishy, but the flakes of white fish under the earthy creamy soup are great combination. The cheesy crouton even works as well. (I'm normally a staunch advocate of the "no fish with cheese" rule). The crispy chorizo and pumpkin seeds for a garnish worked remarkably well too.

Altogether this was a meal born of opportunity but was perfectly fitting for a cold winter's day.

Celeriac soup with haddock and leeks

Ingredients:

~300g Smoked haddock, boned removed, skin on

~500ml milk

Bay leaves

Peppercorns

1 leek, finely sliced

Celeriac, peeled and cut into large dice

Bunch parsley, roughly chopped, stalks reserved

Optional crouton and garnish:

Slice of bread

Strong cheddar, grated

Slices of chorizo, large dice

Pumpkin seeds

Method:

1. Put the haddock skin up into a frying pan and use enough milk to just cover. Add bay leaves and peppercorns.

2. Bring the milk to a gentle simmer. Take the pan of the heat. Turn the fish over and cover. Leave for 20minutes.

3. Meanwhile, sweat the leeks in a generous knob of butter over a gently heat until soft. (I find a pinch of sat and use of lid works well).

4. Remove half the leeks from the pan and reserve, if you want to make the crouton.

5. Add the celeriac to the leeks and fry briefly to add a bit of colour.

6. Drain the milk from the haddock and add to the celeriac and leeks. Top up with water, if required. Add the parsley stalks.

7. Bring tot eh boil and simmer until the celeriac is soft, ~15min.

8. Remove the parsley stalks and blitz the soup until smooth. Add more water/milk until it reaches your required consistency. 

9. Put the soup in a pan and the chopped parsley leaves and keep warm. Season to taste (I'd suggest being aggressive with the pepper)

10. To make the garnish, dry fry the chorizo and pumpkin until the meat is crisp and the pumpkin seeds "popped"

11. To make the croutons, toast the bread and smother with leeks. Cover generously with cheese and grill to melting perfection.

11. To serve, put flakes of the haddock in the bottom of the serving dish and cover with the soup. Scatter over some chorizo and pumpkin seeds and finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Pecan Squares

A few weekends ago I wanted to make a cake version of a pecan pie for work colleague so I was inspired to make pecan squares from The Great Big Cookie Book (Walden, H., 1999). They weren't too bad but as they were double baked the shortbread was too crisp and the whole thing just too brittle. The lemon in the shortbread was inspired though.

Consequently I had another go this weekend, changing the caramel to mirror that from a millionaire's shortbread. These were, I think, much better. The shortbread held together and the topping felt much more luxurious and comforting. Salt in the caramel offset the sweetness although the flavour of the maple syrup didn't really come through. A small square 2" is more than enough to give you a sugar hit be that as a pick-me-up at for threeses at work or

If I made them again I'd probably slightly reduce the amount of caramel (or increase the amount of pecans halves) to showcase the nuts a little more. I'm not quite sure how to increase the maple syrup factor though; a drizzle, maybe? 

Clearly further experiments are required. However, if you want to give this work in progress a go, here's the recipe.

Pecan squares (makes about 20)

Ingredients:

For the shortbread:

7oz plain flour

4oz caster sugar

2oz pecans, toasted, finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

Zest 1 lemon

Pinch salt

For the caramel:

150g butter

397g condensed milk

100g soft dark brown sugar

50g maple syrup

1/2 - 1tsp sea salt

400g pecan halves, toasted

Method:

1. Line and grease a 30 x 20 cm shallow baking tin (a swiss roll tin) and pre-heat the oven to 190°C.

(While the oven is heating up you might as well toast your nuts, having spread them on a large baking sheet. Just be sure to watch them like a hawk and check them every few minutes. The last thing you want is burnt nuts.)

2. Sift the salt and flour into a bowl and mix with the caster sugar.

3. Rub the butter into the flour to create breadcrumbs. Stir in the pecan pieces and lemon zest.

NB Steps 2 and 3 can be done by pulsing in a food processor

4. Add the egg and bring the mixture together, with a very gentle quick knead on a floured surface.

5. Press into the tin and chill for 30 mins.

NB The mix may be very sticky so be careful.

6. After 30min fork the biscuit all over and bake for 20min until golden. Once baked leave to cool.

7. While the biscuit base is cooling, make the caramel topping.

8. In a heavy bottomed pan place the sugar, condensed milk and butter. Slowly bring to the boil and simmer gently for 5 minutes.

9. Stir in the salt and maple syrup. Mix in the pecans and cover thoroughly.

10. Pour the caramel-pecan mix over the shortbread and try to distribute evenly. Leave to set.

11. Once cool, cut into squares using a large heavy knife.

 

Carnitas

!WARNING!

If you are a pork fan this recipe may have a significant impact on your life

 !WARNING!

I had some unexpected time this evening and with a spare avocado on my hands (as you do) had decided I needed guacamole. My freezer held some cider braised pulled pork which floated my boat but was just not appropriate with guac.

Consequently, I decided to go "full Mexican" and bought a pork shoulder (as you do) to make carnitas. Clearly a very restrained mid-week meal...

Holy moly, I'm glad I did. This pork was so unbelievably tasty, I must have eaten at least as much as I put on the plate just whilst I was plating. It was so tender yet with a real bite and a caramelised exterior all combining to burst into a beautiful mouthful of porky goodness. It was just immense. Utterly delicious. 

On top of that it was ridiculously easy to make and far far quicker than I had imagined.

To have with the carnitas, I had the aforementioned guac, crackling chunks from the shoulder skin, some re-fried beans and feta, all atop a tortilla. I realise I could have made a burrito roll but this seemed more refined.

Seriously, carnitas vs. pulled pork is now a very close contest. You need to try this out.

Carnitas (recipe taken from Williams-Snoma "Mexican")

Ingredients:

~1.5kg boneless pork shoulder

6 cloves garlic, peeled and halved

Strips of zest from one orange

180 ml orange juice

2tsp sea salt

Oil, if required

Method:

1. Trim the fat from the pork and put in a wide heavy saucepan.

2. Cut the shoulder into 1" strips and then cut in to chunks ~1"x2".

3. Add the pork cubes to the pan with the garlic, orange zest, orange juice and salt. The meat should be in a single layer, if possible.

4. Add enough water to barely cover the meat and bring to the boil over a medium heat.

5. Reduce to a medium-low heat, cover partially and cook for ~1hour until the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally.

6. If the pork isn't quite tender, add a bit more water and continue cooking.

7. Once the pork is tender and the liquid has evaporated, remove the orange zest and garlic cloves (if possible) then brown the meat in the fat (adding more if required).

Nut and caramel cake

This was a cake-based penance. Somehow I was not informed of an impending colleague's birthday thus failed to provide a cake at a suitable moment. Although there wasn't a great burden of expectation (fortunately), I still felt I had failed so to make up for it I offered to make a bespoke cake. I created this based on the direction of:

I love nuts ... and I love anything fudgy/caramely/toffee ...

It's a triple threat: two layers of pistachio cake sandwiching a walnut cake, held together by a maple and pecan cheese icing and smothered in a caramel buttercream doused liberally with assorted nuts (pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts and pistachios).

I spent ages searching Soho for pistachio paste as I really wanted a green cake. Unfortunately it was all in vein as I just can't find it, anywhere (not even in Italian delis!). If I ever do find it, I will definitely be repeating this cake.

Both the cake recipes are quite unconventional and when they came out of the oven I wasn't that confident with how the bakes had gone. I was really quite worried how this was going to turn out. I needn't have been. All the parts came together remarkably well and complemented each other. The different cake textures came together. The light fragrant flavour of the pistachios was a good counterpoint to the heavier walnut (the lemon providing a delightful, gentle, refreshing zing). The various icings complimented the nuts giving a really rounded flavour: neither too sweet nor too bitter. After a while in the fridge it actually cut remarkably well. On top of that it's actually one of my better looking cakes. And the recipient was very happy with it.

Ridiculously I only managed a quick slice before rushing downstairs to an event and when I came back it was all gone. I was quite disappointed. Both in missing out on cake and not being able to do a more thorough set of tasting notes. Oh well. 

On to the recipe. Be warned: it's not short.

Nut and caramel cake recipe

Ingredients:

Pistachio cake (adapted from a Ruby Tandoh recipe):

200g pistachio

250ml sunflower or almond oil
250g caster sugar
1½ tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
100g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt

Walnut cake (from a Jeremy Lee recipe):

350g walnuts, shelled and peeled
4 large eggs, separated
225g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp extra
The finely grated zest of 1 lemon
50g unsalted butter, melted and kept just warm
Pecan maple cream
50g pecans, toasted and chopped
250g mascapone cheese
~60g maple syrup
50g icing sugar
Double cream, if required
Caramel buttercream
100g caster sugar
50ml water
30g butter, cubed
60ml double cream (or replace half with 30ml milk)
150g butter, softened
100g icing sugar
To decorate:
~200g assorted nut, toasted and chopped (I used 50g each of pecans, walnuts, pistachios and hazelnuts)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. 

2. For the pistachio cakes, grease two 8" round cake tins.
3. Using a food processor, blitz the pistachios until finely ground. Beat the oil with the caster sugar, vanilla extract and eggs to create a batter. In a separate bowl, combine the pistachio, flour, baking powder and salt, then lightly fold it into the batter.
4. Divide the batter between the two tins, level the tops and bake for 25 minutes, or until the cakes are just beginning to shrink from the sides of the tins and a knife inserted into their centres comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins before removing.

5. For the walnut cake, line an 8" cake tin with parchment.
6. Grind the walnuts quite finely, retaining a little of their texture.
7. Put the egg yolks and sugar into a mixer, beating until pale and greatly increased in volume. Take your time here as the lighter and silkier the mixture, the better the resulting cake.
8. Beat the egg whites in another bowl until peaked and stiff. Add the extra 1 tbsp of caster sugar, continuing to beat until stiff once more.
9. Partially fold the nuts and zest into the egg yolk and sugar mixture. Add one‑third of the beaten whites, mix well, then stir in the remainder. Add the melted butter and mix gently. Swiftly decant the batter into the prepared cake tin.
10. Bake for 45 minutes, or until cooked through, ensuring this by inserting a sharp knife into the middle. If clean when removed, then the cake is done. Rest upon a rack until cool.
11. For the pecan maple cream, beat the mascapone until soft then beat in the maple syrup and icing sugar. This is a balancing act between sweetness and flavour - adjust the proportions of each until you are happy. Add a splash of cream to change the texture to your taste. Stir in the pecans. Firm in the fridge.
12. Level off all the cakes and sandwich together with half the maple pecan cream: pistachio, walnut, pistachio.
13. The butter cream is flavoured with a fresh caramel. To make the caramel put the water and sugar in a pan and heat over a medium heat until it reaches a light golden brown.
14. Add the butter, whisking until melted and combined. Take off the heat and whisk in the cream and milk. Decant into a bowl and leave to cool.
15. Beat the butter until soft and then beat in the icing sugar. Finally beat in the cooled caramel. Again change the amount of icing sugar to taste. Firm in the fridge.
16. To finish the cake. Apply a thin crumb layer of the butter cream all over the cake and refrigerate.
17. Liberally apply the rest of the butter cream to the cake and then press the nuts in to decorate.

Apple beignets

On an idle Sunday morning, with nothing much but culinary exploration to fill my time, it seems apple beignets are a delightful breakfast*.

Hot apple swaddled in a crisp sweet batter. What's not to like? 

OK so it is a faff setting up the deep fat fryer, but there's not really any other way of cooking these; shallow frying just wouldn't do it. My fryer is ever so slightly too small, so I had to cook each slice individually, making it slightly more time consuming, but still worth it, I think. That may also account for the slightly reduced "puff".

I never realised beignets were so simple. I'm not entirely sure you need to rest the batter for two hours. I think you could get away with half an hour. I think it depends just how hungry you are...

The batter makes plenty for encasing two apples, which should give you 10-12 slices.

Apple beignets (original recipe from Dominique Ansel from The Guardian)

Ingredients:

125g plain flour
30g caster sugar

Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
50ml milk
60ml dry cider
2 eating apples 

Oil for deep-frying

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the eggs and whisk until combined.
2. Lightly whisk the milk, cider and eggs to combine and add to the dry ingredients, whisking until smooth. Add the liquids in little by little to avoid lumps. Let it rest for two hours.
3. Peel, core then slice the apples about 5mm thick. Dip them into the batter, then fry in oil at 180°C until golden brown.
4. Dust with sugar to finish and enjoy them while still hot.

*You should know by now that this blog is about eating tasty food, so don't judge. Besides it's one of your 5-a-day...

Chocolate and banana cake

I was "commissioned" (I use inverted commas because I wasn't actually paid) to make a cake for a colleague's birthday. 

It was the first time that I've created a cake by completely drawing on elements that I have previously used. The cake used all recipes that I have used before just in a new combination.

The specification was based on the recipients preferred flavours: chocolate and banana with come caramel thrown in to round things out.

It turned out quiet well, despite being an "assembly" job.

 (Yet again, I forgot about taking photos so rushed...)

The flavours all worked really well together. I was worried that it might be rather too sweet, but that fear was definitely not realised. The banana cream brought a freshness with a depth of flavour coming from the chocolate fudge icing. There was a pleasing banana "aroma" permeating through the whole cake. Despite each mouthful being comprised of different elements, the whole thing worked rather well. It has a well-rounded flavour that was long on the palette. 

I initially thought there many have been some benefit it using a butter-based chocolate cake rather than oil-based. however, this was based on trimmings of the cake in isolation. In combination with the other elements, however, I don't think anything need to change.

The recipe drew on the following elements:

Chocolate cake: Banana, chocolate and peanut butter cake with an added 100g melted chocolate added to the batter

Banana cake: Banana, chocolate and peanut butter cake

Chocolate fudge icing: Half the amount of Icing 4 from the wedding cake tasting with an added 1tsp of cocoa

 

Banana cream: Banana, chocolate and peanut butter cake

Caramel icing: Twice the amount of the external frosting from the Caramel cake

Strawberry gateaux

As part of my annual January task of "eating the freezer", I am often confronted by items that are quite difficult to find a discrete use for. One such item was some strawberry puree which I made with the remains of my glut of strawberries after my first adventure to a PYO last summer.

I was jammed out and had been stuffing myself for days with the beautiful berries and couldn't face any more. I pureed the remaining half pound and popped it in the freezer where it had quietly sat.

I wasn't quite sure what to do with the puree but once the idea of a strawberry cake stuck me, there was no going back. There are many American recipes available but the vast majority seem to include "jell-o" to get the requisite taste and colour. I was determined that jelly should play no part in my cake.

I was pretty pleased with the result. The cake itself clearly tasted of strawberry although it was more subtle. The jam added "smash-you-in-the-face" strawberry hit. There were clearly strawberries in there. The cake was rich and buttery with a slightly close  texture but it was still light. It wasn't too sweet (which I had feared) and the tang of the cream cheese in the icing was welcome.

The odd thing was the crazy grey-ish colour! I put this down to it being all natural ingredients - no colourings used (although I was tempted!). I'm aware it's a bit dull from the outside, I'd decorate with fresh strawberries, if they were in season.

I wonder if I used an oil-based cake rather than butter the flavour, and colour, might be more pronounced. Perhaps I might even make a foray into the world of chiffon cakes. I'll need a lot more strawberries though...

Recipe for Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing (adapted from Happy Foodie recipe)

Ingredients:
225g butter
225g caster sugar
4 large eggs
210g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
25g cornflour
225g strawberry puree
1tsp vanilla extract
Strawberry jam for the filling
For the icing:
4oz butter
4oz cream cheese
4oz white chocolate
100ml double cream
2oz icing sugar

Method:

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until white and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs one at a time and beat in. Sifting in a tbsp of flour with each egg will stop the mix splitting.

3. Beat in the strawberry puree and vanilla until combined.

4. Sift in the cornflour, flour and baking powder.

5. Divide the mix between two 8" lined cake tins and bake at 180°C for 25mins, or until done.

6. While the cake is baking, make the icing.

7. Melt the cream and chocolate together in a bain marie. Leave to cool.

8. Beat the butter until soft and pale. Gradually add in the  sugar. Beat in the cooled chocolate and cream mi.

9. Beat thoroughly and refrigerate to cool and thicken.

10. Once the cake and icing are cooled, it is time to construct.

11. Spread a generous layer of jam over one of the cakes. Followed by about a generous helping of the icing (no more than a third) and sandwich the cakes together.

12. Spread a thin layer of icing around the top and sides of the cake and refrigerate. 

13. Once the base layer of icing has set, slather on the remaining icing. 

Malteser cake: The revenge!

A while ago I tried out a Malteser cake. It was a mixed success:

• Decoration - epically good
• Taste - not quite the malty party in your pants I was after, more like a mingle in your mouth

I can't quite remember how a Malteser cake came up in conversation at work, but it did. Never one to shirk an opportunity to right a cakey-wrong, it meant this weekend the time was ripe to give it another go. 

 

It's fair to say it's not quite such a looker as the previous attempt (do you realise white Maltesers are about as rare as hens teeth?), but in terms of taste I think this is one of those occasions where there's a meme for that:

The flavour profile was everything I had hoped for: deeply malty with a really long finish. The perfect accompaniment to chocolate. I put it down to using malt extract (available from Holland & Barrett) rather than Ovaltine and in particular substituting some of the sugar to reduce the sweetness. This did mean the cakes were more delicate and needed a slightly longer bake, but that shouldn't be any cause for concern. Anyway you'll soon see what I mean >when you try this recipe yourself.

Malteser cake 

Ingredients:

For the sponge:
8oz butter
5oz Muscavado sugar
2oz caster sugar
4tbsp malt extract

4 eggs
7oz plain flour, sifted
1oz cocoa, sifted
2tsp baking powder

For the filling:
60g white chocolate50ml double cream
15g butter aka a small nob 

For the frosting (this will make plenty to cover the top and side):
8oz butter
150g icing sugar (approximately)
1.5tbsp malt extract

1tsp vanilla extract

Decorate with as many Maltesers as you dare (I used 6 packs)

Method:
1. Make the sponge in the usual way by creaming the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs and the malt extract. Fold in the sifted flour, baking powder and cocoa.
2. Divide the batter between two 8" pans and bake for about 20-25mins at 180°C (or until the top springs back to the touch, the sides are coming away from the tin and a skewer comes out clean from the middle).
3. While the cakes are baking and cooling make the ganache and frosting.

4. For the ganache, melt the white chocolate and cream together in a bain marie. Once melted, take off the heat, add the butter and stir to mix together. Allow to cool..
5. To make the frosting, beat the butter and sugar together until soft. Add the vanilla extract and malt extract and beat together. Add more sugar, if required, to suit your tastes.
6. Once the cakes have cooled, sandwich togther using the white chocolate gnache.

7. Cover the cake in a thin layer of icing (the crumb layer) and refrigerate to set.
8. Once set, use the remaining frosting to ice the cake liberally.
9. Decorate with as many Maltesers as you want.

Vegetables cakes

Today at work Millertime came to an end. What better way to mark the occasion than with an assortment of cakes?

Given that she proclaimed significant adulation at the recent carrot and courgette layer cake (and as a nod to her commitment of never having eaten meat) an array of vegetable-based cakes was the order of the day.

The first conundrum was just what vegetables to use (for once seasonality would have to be by-passed as this would have just been too restrictive)? Carrots were ruled out straight away due to the ubiquity of carrot cakes. After some research I was left with beetroot, parsnip and courgettes as my vegetables. The remaining question was just how to "cakify" them? I ended up going with: 

• Beetroot brownies;
• Parsnip cupcakes with maple syrup butter cream; and
• Courgette muffins with lime cream cheese frosting

These all went down remarkably well. (Mind you I was reasonably confident as the naked muffins and cupcakes had gone down very well in a little taste-test-preview with the Aussie yesterday)

The muffins were stupidly moist even two days after baking. They had a loose crumb structure making them very light. The lime flavour was very strong to begin with but faded to a subtle sweetness. Fortunately they weren't too sweet and the icing gave a good contrast (although arguably slightly dominant). It was a shame that the pistachio wasn't more prominent. This might have been down to chopping them too finely, bigger pieces may have worked better.

The parsnip cakes were like nothing else I have ever baked. The texture was fantastic: quite crumbly, so moist as to be almost on the verge of falling apart, but with a pleasingly slightly crisp top. The flavour was dominated by coconut. The maple syrup added a nice hit of sweetness. Overall it was a very pleasing little cake but with a surprising lack a unique taste given the remarkable blend of ingredients.

The brownies were excellent and possibly the best of the three. They were gooey but at the same time light (possibly due to my new found trick of whipping the eggs and sugar to ribbons stage). The flavour was fully developed and was deep, rich and long (I think due to the use of both cocoa and chocolate) with an ever so slight earthy undertone from the beetroot. All in all a crackin’ brownie.

On to the recipes.

Parsnip cupcakes with maple syrup icing (adapted from this Henry Dimbleby recipe from The Guardian)

Makes ~20

Ingredients:
250g butter, softened
250g caster sugar
4 eggs
150g rice flour
2 tsp baking powder
100g desiccated coconut
200g cashew nuts, finely chopped
250g parsnips, finely grated
About 4 tbsp milk
For the maple syrup icing:
4oz butter, softened
6oz icing sugar
4tbsp maple syrup
To decorate:
50g dessicated coconut

Method:
1. Cream together the butter and caster sugar in a mixing bowl, then add the eggs to the mixture one by one, beating well after each addition.
2. In a second bowl, sift the rice flour with the baking powder and mix well. Add the coconut, cashews and grated parsnip.
3. Combine the two bowls of ingredients, adding the milk slowly, until the cake mixture reaches “dropping” consistency.
4. Line a tart or muffin tray with 12 muffin cases.
5. Divide the mixture between the 12 cases (roughly fill each to approximately 3/4 full) and bake at 150°C for 35 minutes (check after 30mins), or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Set aside to cool.
6. To make the icing, beat the butter until smooth and gradually sift and beat in the icing sugar.
7. Beat in the maple syrup (add more to your taste) and add water as required to get a smooth consistency. Ice each cake with ~1dsp of icing
8. To decorate, dry fry the dessicated coconut until golden and sprinkle on top.

Beetroot brownie (adapted from this Small Steps recipe)

Makes ~18

Ingredients:
250g dark chocolate chopped
200g unsalted butter, cut in cubes
250g beetroot, cooked
3 eggs
1/2tsp vanilla extract
200g caster sugar
50g cocoa powder
50g flour
1tsp baking powder

Method:
1. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bain marie.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until they reach the ribbon stage: light and fluffy and a trail of mix can be seen if the whisk is wafted over the top.
3. Whizz the cooked beetroot in a food processor, adding the egg and sugar mix and the vanilla. Mix until smooth.
4. In a separate bowl, sift the cocoa powder, flour and baking soda together.
5. Stir the beetroot mixture into the melted chocolate and fold in the dry ingredients.
6. Use parchment paper to line a rectangular tin, pour in mixture and bake at 180°C for 30-35mins, until firm to touch.
7. Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into portions.

Courgette muffins (adapted from this GoodtoKnow recipe)

Makes ~12.

Ingredients:
250g courgettes (about 2-3 medium-sized)
2 large eggs
125ml vegetable oil
150g golden caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp baking powder
50g pistachio, chopped
Juice and zest of 1 lime
For the lime cream cheese icing:
200g cream cheese
50g butter, softened
100g icing sugar
Juice and zest of 1 lime

Method:
1. Grate the courgettes and leave them to drain in a sieve hung over a bowl.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, vegetable oil and sugar and beat until well mixed and slightly fluffy
3. Sieve in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder and beat together.
4. Finally, add the drained courgette, pistachios and the lime juice and zest and divide the mixture between the 12 muffin cases.
5. Bake at 180°C for 20-25 mins or until the muffins are nicely brown and firm to the touch. Allow to cool completely before icing.
6. To make the icing, beat the butter with the icing sugar until smooth. Beat in the cream cheese and the lime juice and spread generously over the top of each muffin.
7. Decorate each muffin with a sprinkle of lime zest.

Peanut butter and salted caramel cake

Cakes for work have turned into requests recently. It was N's birthday on Wednesday and a cake was required to mark the occasion. Given that she is 

obsessed with salted caramel and love peanut butter also

what could I do but try and incorporate those into a cake? 

I went for layers of peanut butter cake and chocolate cake, sandwiched by a salted caramel and finished with a peanut butter butter-icing.

I'm always worried when I've made a cake to "order" as I just hope it lives up to expectations. Thankfully I think this one did. Remarkably when the e-mail went out to the team a queue formed!

The peanut butter cake was quite subtle which, it turns out, was a good think. The peanut butter hit came from the wondrously rich icing which was offset by the bitter chocolate layer (the chiffon cake that I had previously used for my banana, chocolate and peanut butter cake) and the salty caramel. (I was a bit worried about the salted caramel as it seemed to split slightly as it cooled. It was also terribly difficult to spread.) All the elements worked harmoniously together to give a rather satisfying cake.

Peanut butter and salted caramel layer cake

Ingredients:

For the peanut butter cake (adapted from The Woks Of Life Classic Peanut Butter cake):

145g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4tsp salt

4tbsp oil

65g smooth peanut butter

84g caster sugar

2 eggs

1/2tsp vanilla extract

118ml buttermilk

For the chocolate cake:

4 eggs
4oz caster sugar
3oz plain flour
1oz cocoa
3tbsp boiling water
2tbsp vegetable oil
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract

For the salted caramel (adapted from Felicity Cloake's perfect recipe):

200g white sugar
125ml water
100g butter, cubed
75ml double cream
1tsp sea salt

For the peanut butter icing:
6oz smooth peanut butter
3oz butter
9oz icing sugar

Milk

To decorate:

Reese's peanut butter cups, halved

Method:

1. For the peanut butter cake whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and set aside.

2. In a separate bowl beat together the oil, peanut butter, and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. 

3. Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold it all together gently until smooth.
4. Put the batter into a lined and greased 8" cake tin. Bake for at 180°C for 25-30 minutes at 180°Cor until the cake is done (a skewer comes out clean and the sides are starting to pull away from the tin). Allow to cool.

5. For the chocolate cake, separate the egg yolks and whites. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, oil, water and vanilla into a smooth batter.
6. Sieve in the flour, cocoa and baking powder and beat until combined.
7. Whisk the egg whites until stiff then fold into the chocolate mixture.
8. Put the batter into a lined and greased 8" cake tin. Bake at 180°C for 40mins or until the cake is done (a skewer comes out clean and the sides are starting to pull away from the tin). Allow to cool.

9. For the salted caramel, put the sugar in a wide, heavy-bottomed pan and pour over the water. Set over a medium heat and keep an eye on it as the sugar melts and begins to brown.

10. Once it turns a deep, but not dark, amber colour, take it off the heat and whisk in the butter until it is completely melted, then stir in the cream and ½ tsp salt.

11. Once you have a smooth sauce, scoop a little up on a teaspoon, allow to cool, and taste for seasoning; add more salt if you like. (Add a little milk if it is too thick).

12. For the peanut butter icing, beat together the peanut butter, butter and icing sugar. Use a milk to get a good consistency.

13. To construct the cake, first halve the two cakes. then sandwich together using a third of the salted caramel (this may be best spread slightly warm). Alternate between chocolate and peanut butter cake layers.

14. Use a small amount of the peanut butter icing as a crumb layer and cover the whole cake. Chill.
15. Generously ice the cake with the remaining peanut butter icing.

16. Decorate with the halved Reese's peanut butter cups.