Posts Tagged ‘baking’
Sunday, November 21st, 2010
My mother is German, our family coming originally from Eastern Germany; in fact, my maternal great great grandfather’s family were from even further east in modern Poland, being a headmaster for a school in Gdansk.
Slices Of Homemade Stollen
As a result, one of my favourite treats has always been stollen and lebkuchen which my grandmother used to send us from Lebkuchen Schmidt in Nurnburg. Everything came in gorgeous decorated tins or beautifully covered in pretty wrapping. It really was one of those magical things about my Christmases when I was young, but the mystery has gone a bit now that you can buy versions from Marks & Spencer through to Lidl, even if the quality just is not there; in the same way, Niederegger marzipan was a special treat, yet is now ubiquitous, and we used to get a 10 inch bar covered in chocolate, from which we used to cut off small slices to eat like manna. As I said earlier, ours used to come from Lebkuchen Schmidt and I have treated myself to a pack this year, so fingers crossed that will arrive by Christmas (the wonders of the world wide web and its power to connect).
But I really felt that I could/ should have a crack at making homemade stollen as, unlike the lebkuchen, this is something (a) I ought to be able to make; (b) the treat factor in stollen is less great. For reference, I used three books: Delia Smith’s “Christmas”, Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter’s “Bread” and my other favourite Elisabeth Luard’s “European Peasant Cookery”, with ”Bread” used as the key recipe. Interestingly, modern stollen (or shop bought stollen) has morphed into a relatively dry, sweet fruit cake with some marzipan in it and smothered in icing sugar (nor is it a rich fruit cake like Christmas cake or Yorkshire brack, but quite plain), which is not the real thing which should be an enriched bread; the best locally made stollen cake comes from Bettys & Taylors, which is worth treating yourself to.
Recipe For German Stollen
For the marzipan:
115g / 4oz / 1 cup organic ground almonds
50g / 2 oz / ¼ cup organic Fairtrade caster sugar
50g / 2oz / ¼ cup organic icing sugar
½ tsp natural almond extract
½ tsp lemon juice
½ medium egg, lightly beaten
Weigh out the organic sultanas and currants, then sprinkle the tea over these and leave to soak up the liquid until you need them later. Sift the bread flour and salt together into a large bowl, then add the sugar and stollen spices and mix thoroughly together.
Tip In The Stollen Spice Mix
Put the yeast into a small bowl and pour over the lukewarm milk, breaking up the yeast with a fork and mixing to a creamy emulsion. Make a well in the flour and pour the yeast mix into this and cover the liquid over with a bit of flour. Cover the bowl with some cling film and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. This stage gets the yeast active and growing.
Leave The Yeast To Get Active
Next, we make the rich bread batter. Add the melted butter and whisked egg and mix together to a soft dough. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough has a smooth, elastic texture. Put the dough into a lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to rise. This will take 2 – 3 hours and you are after it doubling in size; I left mine close to a warm fire and it doubled in about 1 hour, but be careful about the warmth as the ideal temperature is about 37C, i.e. human body temperature – too low and it will expand slowly, but if it gets too hot, you will kill off the yeast (that is also why the milk should be tepid or touch tepid).
Add The Melted Butter And Whisked Egg To The Bread Batter
Knead The Enriched Dough
While the dough is rising, you should make the marzipan. This is one of those mega-simple recipes where you simply mix all the ingredients together and knead to a soft, smooth paste. When made, put in the fridge until you need it.
When the dough has risen sufficiently, take the marzipan out of the fridge, then tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and punch (knock back) the risen flour. Flatten and roll the dough to 1 inch thick;. pour over the sultanas, currants, mixed peel and chopped almonds. Fold over the dough and press and gently knead the dough until all the fruits have become incorporated. Now roll out the dough to an oval shape about a foot long (30 x 23cm / 12 x 9 inches), then slightly depress the centre with the rolling pin to make it thinner like a crease on a card. Roll the marzipan to a long thin sausage shape and place it into the slight depression on the dough, leaving a short space at either end. Fold over the dough, so that it covers the marzipan and gently seal the edges.
Place The Marzipan Roll On The Dough
Place the loaf on a prepared baking tin that has been lightly oiled and cover with some oiled clingfilm. Leave in a warm place to rise to double the volume again, which should take about 60 minutes.
Prepared Loaf Ready For Second Rising
Preheat the oven to 200C/ 400F. Bake the stollen loaf for about 30 minutes until it is brown and it sounds hollow when tapped. While warm, brush the surface with some melted butter and leave to cool. When cool, dust it with icing sugar.
Sprinkle Icing Sugar Over The Baked Stollen
Tags: almond extract, baking, Blog, Christmas, Christmas food, cooking, food and wine, foodandwine, organic food blog, recipe, Recipes, spice, spices, Steenbergs, Steenbergs spices, stollen, stollen recipe, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe
Posted in Recipes, food & cooking | 2 Comments »
Sunday, November 14th, 2010
I am winning with Christmas food preparations this year, which seems unbelievable considering how little time I seem to have to do anything at the moment;. I am running about one week behind last year. However, as a man who cooks, I do actually find baking strangely therapeutic and calming at the weekend. I think it gives me some peace and quiet, allowing my thoughts to settle themselves down after a hectic week at Steenbergs, and this week has been one of those business nightmare weeks.
So Christmas cake was baked 2 weekends ago, Christmas pudding last weekend and this weekend I have made a new batch of mincemeat. I always make a mammoth sized Christmas cake and extra Christmas puds, giving one to my parents and another to some great friends of ours, both of whom deserve just a little something for their help during the year. As for the mincemeat, I have usually made one that does not include any sugar as I feel the dried fruit, apple and juices are usually sweet enough, however after some gentle prompting last year, I thought I would try a more traditional version and add some sugar, which is what I did this morning.
Basically, it is my normal mincemeat recipe with the addition of 250g / 8oz dark molasses sugar from Billingtons crumbled into it and a reduced amount of apple as it seems to ferment a little over time. Still simple and easy, so my old recipe is now called the “No Added Sugar Mincemeat Recipe” and this will become our “Traditional Mincemeat” recipe. It really is worth the effort making this as it is really just a case of chucking some ingredients together and leaving to develop flavour over the short time to Christmas.
Ingredients
175g/ 6oz raisins (Organic and/or Fairtrade if possible)
175g/ 6oz sultanas (Organic and/or Fairtrade if possible)
250g/ 8oz currants (Organic and/or Fairtrade if possible)
85g/ 3oz chopped mixed peel
85g/ 3oz flaked almonds, toasted
125g/ 4oz eating apples (Cox’s are good), cored and chopped but not peeled
125g/ 4oz shredded suet (I use Community Wholefood’s vegetarian suet, but Atora also do one)
250g / 8oz dark muscovado sugar (Organic and/or Fairtrade if possible)
1tsp organic Fairtrade nutmeg powder
½ tsp allspice powder
½ rounded tsp organic Fairtrade cinnamon powder
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange (or 50:50 orange and lemon)
75ml/ 1/8 pint “good” whisky or brandy (I use Bruichladdich from Islay)
1. If possible, use organic ingredients and/or Fairtrade ingredients, as they are good for the environment and the communities that grow the crops.
2. Simply mix all the ingredients together and seal in a large tub, or ideally a bucket with a lid.
Ingredients For Mincemeat Weighed Out
Mix The Dark Muscovado Sugar Into The Fruit And Nuts
Traditional Mincemeat All Mixed Up
3. Stir it once or twice in the maturation period – at the end of November and maybe mid December. Pot it up into a couple of good sized Kilner-style jars on or about the 20th December.
4. It lasts for a good 2 – 3 years, so don’t worry if you haven’t used it all in one Christmas period. It is good to use in baked apples or to make a quick mincemeat tart for pudding anytime in the year.
Tags: baking, Blog, Christmas, Christmas food, cooking, Fairtrade, Fairtrade blog, Fairtrade mincemeat, Fairtrade spices, food and wine, foodandwine, foodie, foodie news, homemade mincemeat, mince pies, mincemeat, organic, organic food blog, recipe, Recipes, spice, spices, Steenbergs, Steenbergs spices, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe
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Friday, November 5th, 2010
Continuing from the first part of my review of blogs, at Not Without Salt Ashley has been making Homemade Honey Roasted Peanut Butter, which sounds so easy and is something I would never have thought of making, like making Homemade Nutella, which seem to be just timeless purchasing items. How terrible and consumerist we have all become. And her Pumpkin Rice Pudding recipe is perfect and will solve the pumpkin problem next autumn, plus also (as you will find out over next week) I have been going through a rice pudding phase myself and need to write up my efforts.
While at Orangette, Molly Wizenberg made a gorgeous sounding Rustic Plum Tart with a so simple pastry; I like plum tarts and cakes but only ever seem to buy them and never get round to making them myself, which seems strange, perhaps one day soon, perhaps? And Gazpacho is another thing I have never made, so you never just never know. The use of heirloom tomatoes and the bite of the sherry vinegar sound like a lovely combination – sweet and sour.
Ree at The Pioneer Woman Cooks has come up with an amazing twist on sweet potatoes, which I like to add into mash to give an extra dimension, but she has made a soulful pudding with them by making the sweet potato into a custard style filling and then covering them with a full on pecan crumble crust. Now that’s different and I am truly intrigued by it. I love the rich umami depth of Beef With Snow Peas which is a classic stir fried beef recipe that anyone can make at home; I like this sort of dish with some soy sauce infused with Birds Eye Chillis close to hand to dip the beef into. Then there is Creamy Cheese Grits With Chili which are a real American piece of cuisine and are a great alternative to potatoes, like pap in South Africa or polenta in Italy, and what better to finish off with that Ree’s classic Skillet Cornbread recipe. Well, there is one thing, she provides a link to an older recipe called Tres Leches Cake, which sounds a must – rich, moist and sweet…what more do you need in a home made cake.
While Luisa Weiss at The Wednesday Chef makes an intriguing sounding Soft Zucchini, Harissa, Feta and Olive recipe. At Wild Yeast, Susan has been making soudough recipes with two catching my eye – Bread Crumb Sourdough and Soft Semolina Sourdough.
Tags: baking, Blog, Blog Review, cooking, Food, food and wine, food blog, food blogs, foodandwine, foodie, foodie news, Not Without Salt, Orangette, recipe, Recipes, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, The Wednesday Chef, Wild Yeast
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Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
I cannot really believe that it is already November, the clocks have fallen back and I am preparing for Christmas, with the Christmas cake baked and Christmas pudding slated for this weekend. So on a cold, windy, dark November morning, I looked back with joy at the tail end of autumnal style cooking and my favourite bloggers’ articles on the web.
At A Slice Of Cherry Pie, Julia Parsons has been cooking in Turin at the Slow Food Show, making sausages and a British pasta dish; all good reading and sounds like an amazing event. And in a Halloween vein, there are recipes for Halloween biscuits and Roasted Winter Squash With Nutmeg.
At Cannelle et Vanille, where as always the photography is awesome, Aran Goyoaga has made some delicious Pumpkin, Quinoa And Hazelnut Gnocchi which sound amazing; I have never really liked gnocchi and I get tired of pumpkin soup at this time of year, so this seems to sort out two problems at once. While earlier, the smells of the mouth-watering Pear, Hazelnut and Brown Butter Cakes just leap out of the screen and they look so dainty and perfect in the photography, shaped as they are in mini bundt circles. I have also worked out why her blog looks so perfect, she is a food stylist and photographer, so I do not need to feel too down on my own inabilities in my blog, where everything seems made at home, so rough and ready, which actually is how it is.
Some time back, I experimented with recipes for the ideal Almond Cake and came up with something that seemed to pass muster, however Clotilde Dusoulier at Chocolate & Zucchini has come up with a great alternative, Quince Almond Cake, which I reckon you could also do with pears if you cannot find any quinces. Clotilde has also posted an intriguing Savory Sesame Cookies recipe that has been adapted from a recipe by Clea at Clea Cuisine.
At Chubby Hubby, they have created a fusion slow-cooked Pot Au Feu that mixes French cuisine with Vietnamese pho. It sounds like an ideal winter warmer as the nights draw in.
CookSister has been very active with lots of photography, restaurant reviews and some inspiring recipes. I like the Individual Beef & Guinness Pies, where I might substitute a local stout or dark beer from a microbrewery around us like Monkey Wrench Ale from Daleside Brewery or Riggwelter from Black Sheep Brewery. These would be accompanied nicely by the Runner Bean And Feta Gratin and with Creme Brulee for pudding.
David Lebovitz has been enjoying visiting markets again with the Arabian exoticism of the Sharjah Market in the United Arab Emirates. But life will never be the same after the recipe for Chocolate Mousse cake which is a must for any cake-a-holic and chocoholic and has already entered our repertoire. I love his post about Oatmeal Raisin Cookies as they sound lovely, as well as the truth behind David’s life about being a chef and that it is grunt work; I think TV has a lot to answer for as it makes everyone feel they can be the next superstar singer earning gazillions or Gordon Ramsay or Prime Minister, which is plain folly as most of us are really just going to have to work hard to scrape a living, pay our taxes and get by – that’s the plain and simple truth. My father talks about “winers, diners and grinders” in the business world, where most are permanently left in the grinders (or grunts) camp, so for example a policeman friend of ours says that they are really just well paid muscle willing to do the stuff that no-one else will do. But the piece de resistance for me is the Swiss Chard Tart where David has topped the normal pastry filled with chard with apples on the top layer and then enclosed this in even more pastry; this sounds a delicious combination with all those heady baking spices and different textures from raisins and pine nuts.
Helen at Fuss Free Flavours has been busy making Double Chocolate Madeleines which I need to make alongside the David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Mousse Cake mentioned earlier, and I like the idea of Healthier Chocolate Crispies, which I do not feel will catch on for kid’s parties but sounds a perfect excuse for adults to indulge in children’s foods – why should they have all the fun? Chocolate seems to be the theme and Spiced Chocolate Stout Beef Casserole sounds amazing even after Chocolate Week, finishing off with the very adult Chocolate Stout Brownies to help the waistline.
Tags: A Slice Of Cherry Pie, baking, Beef Casserole, Beef Pie, Blog, Cannelle Et Vanille, Chocolate And Zucchini, chocolate cake, cooking, Cooksister, David Lebovitz, Food, food and wine, foodandwine, foodie, foodie news, Fuss Free Flavours, organic food blog, recipe, Recipes, spice, Steenbergs
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Monday, October 25th, 2010
When I made the Chicken Tikka the other day, I also made a Lamb Korma. The end result was nothing like the British Kormas that I had been used to, so I decided to investigate the concept of the korma further. The first thing to say is that I liked to alternative korma style that I had stumbled on, and secondly that the British korma has little linkage back to the true korma.
What seems to have happened is a story of early British curries. When the curry house started appearing in a wave in the 1960s – 1970s, the style of cuisine was rural Bangladesh and these early “Indian chefs” realised soon that their new clientele wanted inter alia a range of curries that included a hot curry, a medium one and a mild one. These morphed into the Anglo-Indian vindaloo, chicken tikka and korma classics of modern British-style Indian food. For us Brits, korma now means a mild, creamy meat dish, whereas the true korma originated out of the Islamic courts of the Moghuls and other Muslim rulers of India over the 10th to 16th centuries. This korma from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is a rich banquet dish that is showy and uses lots of yoghurt together with expensive flavourings like cardamom, nutmeg, rose water, saffron and nuts like almonds and dried fruits.
My first trial was a variation on a simple korma, called Korma Narendra Shahi, which is slightly sweet and mild, with a pretty rose water flavour which some might not like, but is something I enjoy and is a key flavour of Arabian and Indian banquet-style-food; if the rose flavour is an issue just reduce the levels of rose water you use. It is based on a recipe from one of my favourite little gems of Indian cooking “Cooking Delights Of The Maharajas” by Digvijaya Singh; this is a collection of recipes collected from the Royal kitchens of India by Mr Singh who really would be the Maharaja of Sailana, hence he was able to collect these recipes and continue his father’s quest to find some of the best recipes from his contemporaries’ households.
The next korma recipe will be a mash-up between two of the really fine recipes in the same book, mixing up the Persian style Korma Shiraz with a recipe for Korma Asafjahi from the kitchens of the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1905 and will follow in my next blog…
Recipe for Korma Narendra Shahi
500g / 1lb lamb chopped into 2cm / 1 inch sized peices
2tbsp + 2tbsp ghee, sunflower oil or vegetable oil
500g / 1lb onions, half chopped finely and the other half sliced thinly into rounds
115g / 4oz plain yoghurt
¼tsp – 1tsp chilli powder (vary this to taste, but it is meant to be mild)
1tsp cumin seeds (or powder)
3 green cardamom pods, broken open
Pinch of turmeric
1 pinch of salt
A pinch of saffron diluted in warm water
30ml / 2tbsp rose water
1tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1tsp garam masala
Start by dry frying the cumin seeds, if you are beginning with whole ones. When nicely toasted, crush them in a pestle and mortar. Make the saffron infusion by placing the saffron filaments in a mug or glass and pour over newly drawn water that has just been boiled and leave to infuse for 30 minutes then strain out the saffron.
Heat the ghee in a frying pan and add the onions and fry gently until translucent. Add the chilli powder, cumin powder and salt and fry together for 1 minute, then add the yoghurt, stir well and cook for about 10 minutes at a gentle simmer with the lid on.
Korma Sauce With Light Creamy Look
While you are frying the onions, start frying the lamb pieces in ghee in a separate frying pan. Cook these quickly to brown and seal the edges. When ready, which should be as the korma sauce is finishing its 10 minutes’ initial cook, add the lamb to the sauce, cover and cook at a medium heat for 1½ hours. Lift these pieces of lamb out of the ghee with a fork or slotted spoon, i.e. leave the fat behind.
When the meat is tender, which should be after about 1½ hours, simmer with the lid off to let the liquid dry up almost completely. Now add the remaining ingredients (saffron, rose water, coriander leaves and garam masala) and stir until warmed through.
Homemade Korma Narendra Shahi
Serve straight away, or even better leave a day and eat the next day when the flavours are much more subtle and have infused completely through.
Tags: baking, Blog, Fairtrade spices, Food, food and wine, foodandwine, foodie, foodie news, Indian cooking, korma, mild curry, rose water, spice, spices, Steenbergs, Steenbergs spices
Posted in Recipes, food & cooking | 1 Comment »
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
A Slice Of Carrot Cake
Jay kept on calling my “gingerbread” “carrot cake” over the last few weeks, so I took the hint and started trying to perfect a carrot cake recipe.
The first few attempts did not go down with the kids as firstly they contained walnuts (“I always have hated walnuts” was the response, but in our household it is more of a case that if I can see it then I cannot/must not like it) and then I found them a bit too dry. So walnuts removed and buttermilk added, I have come up with a carrot cake recipe that passes muster – moist and tasty. You can always add the walnuts back in again should you so wish; I would suggest 115g / 4oz / 1 cup of chopped walnuts.
The kids got to the icing and topped it with a vast amount of sprinkles which they loved eating as much as the cake itself. Overall, it is not a bad way to claim you have eaten one of your 5 -a-day.
For the cake:
175g / 6oz / ¾ cup unsalted butter
175g / 6oz / ¾ cup light muscovado sugar
3 egg yolks at room temperature and gently whisked
3 egg whites at room temperature
30ml / 2 tbsp sunflower oil or buttermilk
175g / 6oz / 1½ cups organic self-raising flour
5ml /1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt, finely ground
¾ tsp organic cinnamon powder
½ tsp organic ground nutmeg
50g / 2oz / ½ cup ground almonds
225g / 8 oz / 1½ cups freshly grated carrot
For the icing:
175g / 6oz / ¾ cup mascarpone cheese, or cream cheese
40g / 1½oz / 3tbsp icing sugar
1tbsp lemon juice
Walnuts or sprinkles to decorate
Set the oven to 160C / 325F. Line a large loaf tin with baking parchment (dimensions: 12 x 19cm; 4½ x 7½ inches).
Sieve the self-raising flour, salt, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl. Separate the egg yolks and whites; mix the egg yolks together gently with a fork or a whisk and set the egg whites aside.
Cut the butter into small pieces and put into a mixing bowl, then add in the soft brown sugar. Cream together the butter and soft brown sugar. Add the egg yolks and the buttermilk or oil and whisk until thoroughly mixed in.
Put Butter And Sugar In Mixing Bowl
Cream The Butter And Sugar
Add the self-raising flour together with the other dry ingredients and the ground almonds; mix it all up with a silicone spatula or hand whisk.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then add this and the grated carrots to the cake batter and fold in fully.
Add The Whipped Egg Whites And Stir In
Scoop the carrot cake batter into the prepared loaf tin.
Scoop The Carrot Cake Batter Into The Loaf Tin
Put into the centre of the warmed oven and bake for about 70 minutes. As the hour comes up, start checking the carrot cake by gently pressing the top in the centre to feel whether it feels springy and spongy rather than liquidy; when done a skewer should come out without any dampness on it.
Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then turn out of loaf tin, remove the baking paper and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Baked Carrot Cake, Cooled And Ready For Icing
When cool, it is time to start preparing the mascarpone ice cream. To make the cream cheese icing, put all the icing ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix together thoroughly. Spread this over the top of the carrot cake and decorate with sprinkles or walnuts or other nuts for that matter.
Spread The Mascarpone Icing Over The Carrot Cake
Decorate Your Carrot Cake
Enjoy with tea or a coffee, or indulge yourself and enjoy as is and without the excuse of a beverage.
Tags: baking, Blog, cake, cake recipe, cakes, carrot, carrot cake, Fairtrade spices, Food, food and wine, foodandwine, foodie, gastronomy, organic, organic food blog, recipe, Recipes, sea salt, spice, spices, Steenbergs, Steenbergs spices, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe
Posted in Recipes, food & cooking | 2 Comments »
Friday, October 8th, 2010
The idea for this cake comes from the wonderful cook book “European Peasant Cookery” by Elisabeth Luard; it is her recipe for Apple Cake or Æblekage, which comes from Denmark. “European Peasant Cookery” is one of those great cookbooks that is packed with recipes that will inspire you and has no pretty pictures to beguile you and get in the way of the cookery.
A Slice Of Rich Apple Cake
I have changed it quite a lot, switching self rasing flour for plain and increasing the number of eggs used, but the underlying concept remains the same – a rich, moist apple cake. The result came out as a rich and fulsome apple cake that can be eaten hot or cold, as a cake or a pudding with custard or cream. It is a delicious balance between the sweetness of the cake with the tart freshness of the cooking apples; it reminds me of Zwetschgendatschi, which is one of my favourite flavour memories buried deep in my soul from holidays spent in Bavaria around the Chiemsee.
Axel’s Apple Cake
500g / 1lb cooking apples, thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
2 pinches of organic Fairtrade mixed spice
1tbsp Fairtrade caster sugar, or flavoured sugar like cinnamon or lemon sugar (if using cinnamon sugar, drop the mixed spice)
225g / 8oz unsalted butter, at room temperature and chopped into cubes
195g / 6¾ oz Fairtrade caster sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature and whisked gently
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
195g / 6¾ oz organic plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp sea salt
½ tsp organic Fairtrade cinnamon powder
75g / 2½ oz organic ground almonds
Preheat the oven to 160C/325F. Take a 23cm / 9 inch cake tin and lightly oil the tin, remove any excess oil, then line the base with baking paper.
Windfall Apples From The Garden
Go pick your apples, peel and core them, then slice thinly. Place in a bowl and sprinkle the lemon juice over them all, then sprinkle with the caster sugar and a couple of pinches of mixed spice. Thoroughly mix it up to make sure all slices are nicely coated with sugar and spice. Leave until later.
Grind the ground almonds in a food processor to make them finer – I know it sounds weird but they are usually just too coarse. Put to the side for use later in the recipe.
Cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and Steenbergs vanilla extract and whisk up fully. Sieve together the flour, baking powder, sea salt and cinnamon powder. Add the flour mix into the cake batter and throughly mix up, then add the ground almonds and mix into the batter.
Sugar And Butter Ready For Mixing
Cream The Sugar And Butter
Mix In The Eggs And Flour Mix
Pour half the cake batter into the cake tin, then layer over half the apple slices. Cover with rest of cake mixture and then layer rest of apple slices over the top of the cake.
Layer The Apples On The Cake Batter
Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. At around 1 hour, sprinkle the top of the cake with 1 tablespoon of sugar and start looking and checking the cake to ensure you catch it just when it is cooked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in tin for about 10 minutes then turn out and cool on a wire rack.
Home Made Apple Cake
Serve warm with custard or whipped cream, or cold as a cake with double cream or on its own.
Tags: apple cake, apple cake recipe, baking, Blog, cake recipe, cooking, Fairtrade spices, Food, foodie, organic food blog, recipe, Recipes, sea salt, spice, spices, Steenbergs, Steenbergs spices, vanilla, vanilla extract, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe
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Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
There has always been a place in my soul for some of the Indian Gods as they remind me of my grandmother, who spent many years in India and so her small flat in Munich had this exotic feel as it was full of momentoes of here years and love of India. For me, Ganesha has perhaps been the most important because of his frivolous nature and exotic, otherworldy elephant head and many arms. So we have a small statue of Ganesha here in my office at home that my grandmother gave me and at the factory, so I love the colourful photos at Mahanandi showing her Ganesha Pooja for the Vinayaka Chaviti Celebrations and Homemade Ganapati Bappa. Indira’s Brinjal Sesame Kura looks good and simple, which cannot be beaten as a combination, and we will have a go at it this year in our Diwali meal.
At Orangette, Molly Wizenberg has been blogging about a recipe taught to her in Paris by a lovely sounding French lady by the name of Corentine and sharing this Leeks Vinaigrette which might also work with celery so I may try that as a variant and delicious sounding Red Lentil Soup With Lemon from “In the kitchen with a good appetite” by Melissa Clark.
At Smitten Kitchen, Deb has made a lovely simple, but extremely tasty, Peach Shortbread, which links to her earlier recipe from Thick And Chewy Granola Bars that seem just amazing and a Single Crust Plum And Apple Pie that solves my abundance of fruit problem (bizarrely this recipe came via a Nigel Slater recipe in The Guardian, so it travels from UK to New York and back to the UK – I like that shrinking of the globe that the Internet can do). The Beef Chili With Sour Cream And Cheddar Biscuits is something for this coming weekend as it sounds spot on (even if wrong to any Texans who might stumble on this blog which I somehow doubt). I liked the sounds of Skirt Steak With Arugula And Blue Cheese (but I would make you own dressing as I am unsure of the one posted which perhaps could do with some soy sauce and possible some crushed chilli) and Linguine With Tomato-Almond Pesto which sound delicious and so, so much better than the standard quickly made homemade tomato sauce we serve at home.
Ree Drummond at Pioneer Woman Cooks has been industrious like the supermum that she seems to be with recipes nearly every other day. Ree made these Chocolate Chip Cookie Sweet Rolls that sound supersweet and referenced into her Cinnamon Sweet Rolls (plus additional notes on Cinnamon Rolls). She shares her version of Meatloaf from her book which is different as it is shaped out of a loaf tin and is wrapped in bacon like a monster sized sausage roll, which might just work; by the way, I love meatloaf and terrines generally and feel they are much underrated, perhaps as they smack of being poor-man’s food rather than posh-nosh and they are great as you can take them to work and eat cold as packed lunch rather than eating a soggy sandwich – bring back the meatloaf should become a new campaign by the celebrity cooks and newspaper columnists. Finally, there are simple but classic recipes like Burgundy Mushrooms and Roasted Vegetable Minestrone and the homely Sugar Cookies.
And finally, at The Wednesday Chef there is an interesting recipe for Ragu di Pesce and at Wild Yeast Brunkans Langa bread.
Tags: baking, Blog, Food, foodie, foodie news, Ganesha, Mahanandi, Molly Wizenberg, Nigel Slater, Orangette, Pioneer Woman Cooks, recipe, Recipes, Ree Drummond, Smitten Kitchen, spice, spices, The Wednesday Chef, Wild Yeast Blog
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Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
September has been a busy month for food bloggers. I think that is partly as many have had a holiday in August and recharged their batteries, but also it is harvest time and so there’s a huge amount of culinary stimulation in the fields, gardens, markets and shops. For me, harvest time is perhaps the most wonderful time of year as the earth’s bounty repays the effort you have put into the soil; perhaps not as light and joyful as spring and as full of promise, but fulsome.
At A Slice Of Cherry Pie run by Julia Parsons, there are a couple of a nice and simple looking recipes – Autumnal Welsh Lamb Steaks With Butter Beans and Baked Figs With Maple Syrup.
At Cannelle et Vanille (how come the photos are just so beautiful – it is just not fair as mine look like an amateur has snapped them however hard I try), Aran has been still enjoying her vacation in here native Basque region in Spain and wrote a beautiful piece about apples and an apple cake, which puts my efforts on apples to shame; I must try Aran’s recipe as I am on a quest for a decent apple cake at the moment. Also, I love her post about mushroom picking with her father as my mum enjoys her mushroom foraging at this time of year, which earths her back to the soil; I am so pleased that the mushrooms were cooked in a simple risotto dish as good food should be simple and natural and not overfussy. Finally, the Leek, Butternut Squash and Potato Soup with the Apple and Gruyere Muffins have a delectable, autumnal feel about them, but with the amount of apples I have got at home an apple soup recipe would have been welcomed with open arms.
At Chocolate And Zucchini, there is a really useful post called Tomato Burger Buns, which sounds intriguing as a title. What interested me the most was the links into an article in the New York Times about the perfect hamburger. So I feel minded to rekindle my quest for the perfect burger, which can restart now that the nights are drawing in and I have some inspiration for the buns’ component, which was where I had been struggling for a way forward.
At Chubby Hubby, he and his wife flew off to Bangkok to eat at David Thompson’s new restaurant and has shared the recipe for Grilled Pork Neck With A Spicy Sour Sauce, which has that wonderfully Thai feel to it. This links in nicely to a pre-press viewing at Delicious Days of David Thompson’s up and coming book on Thai street food – David Thompson’s Pork Skewers; they also do not seem too hot so would be great as children’s food.
At CookSister, there is a fabulous round up of braai recipes in celebration of national (South African) barbecue day; I like the sticky pork ribs from Simply Delicious and a Kudu Potjie which is a really traditional South African type of pot cooked casserole and Cooksister’s own Whole Leg Of Lamb Barbecue and later her Lamb Sosaties. There is a definite autumnal, harvest-like feel to Stuffed Courgettes and inspires me to cook up our marrows from the garden.
David Lebovitz has been busy travelling to Ireland and showing folks around Paris on a chocolate tour. In amongst it all, he has included some great recipes – a recipe for a brown soda bread inspired by his trip to Ireland and a lovely post about making butter in Cork, as well as a perfect sounding Plum And Rhubarb Crumble cooked by the lovely Rachel Allen, who is one of my favourite cooks.
Helen at Fuss Free Flavours has cooked a healthy and wholesome courgette and red lentil dhal and a Four Seed Tapenade that would be excellent on pasta, plus a Harissa Lentil Salad With Lettuce which (I must declare an interest here) uses my Harissa With Rose Seasoning. I like the idea of the Polenta Bread that uses this corn meal staple within the bread; with Helen Best-Shaw and David Lebovitz baking bread, I reckon this winter is going to involve experiments with bread making, something which has been hold for a couple of years now.
…continues in part 2 [lots of activity in blogosphere this month]…
Tags: A Slice Of Cherry Pie, baking, Blog, Cannelle Et Vanille, Chocolate And Zucchini, Chubby Hubby, cooking, Cooksister, David Lebovitz, David Thompson, Delicious Days, Food, foodie, Fuss Free Flavours, Julia Parsons, organic, organic food blog, recipe, Recipes, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe
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Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
For whatever reasons, I have not been quite happy with the original teabread recipe that I created and posted a few weeks back, so I have been playing around with the recipe now and baking away. Now several teabreads and a family of very happy tasters later, I think I have cracked it.
The key is still in the tea – the better the tea, the more interesting the tea, the better and more interesting the end result. I have now made it with breakfast tea, Assam tea, Christmas chai tea and Redbush Chai tea and they all come out with slightly different flavours, but they are all great. The tea should always be made with loose leaf tea as you lose that fustiness from the tea bag, plus why use good ingredients then spoil their subtleties with the imperfection of the flavour from a bag. The other addition that I have made is I have substituted buttermilk for the butter, which adds a different richness to the cake that was not completely right beforehand, however you can either substitute this for a full fat milk or omit this ingredient but then add extra tea to compensate, otherwise the teabread loses some of its moistness, which is part of the joy and vital to the texture.
The other part that I have played with is to work on variations of the steeping of the fruits. Firstly, I think it is better to boil the fruit for 10 – 15 minutes, then to leave the fruit to cool and steep in the brewed tea ideally overnight, but certainly until the fruit has cooled to a warm to the touch temperature. The alternative of steeping in freshly brewed tea did not seem as successful, although fine; perhaps the initial boiling softens up and gets the fruit more receptive to taking up the flavours of the tea.
Finally, I have upped the quantities, the better to fit my loaf tin. The end result is moist, rich and moreish, tasting great with butter.
Revised Ingredients And Recipe For Axel’s Teabread
175g / 6 oz / 1 cup sultanas
125g / 4½ oz / ¾ cup raisins
50g / 2oz / ¼ cup currants
175g / 6 oz / ¾ cup light brown muscovado sugar
250ml / 8 fl oz / 1 cup strong, freshly brewed tea
1 egg free-range, at room temperature and lightly beaten
50 ml / 3½ tbsp buttermilk
230g / 8 oz / 1 cups plain white flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp Fairtrade cinnamon powder
½ tsp Fairtrade nutmeg powder
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.
Place the dried fruit and muscovado sugar into a heavy bottomed saucepan, then add the strong tea, heat and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes until the fruit has plumped up. Leave to cool in the pan, ideally overnight.
Sieve together the plain flour, baking powder, Fairtrade cinnamon and nutmeg powders. Make a well in the centre of the flour, then add in the egg and stir thoroughly with a spatula. Add the buttermilk and stir until you have a soft dough. Add the fruits and throughly beat together with the silicone spatula.
Stirring Up The Fruit Bread Mix
Pour the fruit teabread mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, remove from the oven then leave to stand in the tin for about 10 minutes, before turning out and leaving to cool on wire rack. Start checking the consistency of the teabread towards the end – when it is springy to a light touch on the surface of the teabread, it is done.
Yorkshire Teabread
You do not need to leave this to cool down completely as it is lovely eaten warm.
Tags: baking, Blog, cake, cake recipe, cooking, Fairtrade blog, Fairtrade spices, Food, food and wine, foodandwine, foodie, gastronomy, organic, organic food blog, recipe, Recipes, spice, spices, Steenbergs, Steenbergs spices, teabread, teabread recipe, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe, Yorkshire
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