BEETROOT, ORANGE AND GINGER DRIZZLE CAKE

I had had my eye on this recipe for some time and eventually got around to making it for one of our last CCC meetings last year.  It comes from a book called "Freeze and Easy" by Sara Lewis, who writes for magazines such as Sainsbury's magazine and has a number of other book titles published including "Gluten Free and Easy" as well as "The Complete Slow Cooker".  I have cooked recipes from all of these books with great success including Sharon's Hotpot which you can see here.

 

The recipe suggests sprinkling pumpkin and sunflower seeds on top of the cake before baking but I didn't because I didn't have any so I just went with the chopped crystallised ginger instead.  The instructions were for an oblong tin but I wanted a round cake so used a 23cm round one.

 

It was lovely and interesting.  Beetroot cakes are not to everyone's taste as they have an earthiness which not everyone likes.  I have friends and relatives who recoil from the very idea of beetroot in any shape or form but we love it.  Maybe because we were brought up on pickled beetroot in salads for Sunday tea when we were small.  Cheese and beetroot sandwiches (on sliced white "wonderloaf" style bread of course) are still regarded as a special treat in this house!

Anyway, it had a lovely texture with a slight purpleness to it and of course with ginger and orange in it, what's not to love?

 

Ingredients

3 eggs

150ml sunflower oil

175g light soft brown sugar

225g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp ground ginger

1 orange, zest and juice

175g cooked beetroot (cooked without vinegar), coarsely grated

40g preserved ginger, drained and finely chopped

140g granulated sugar

 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C / 160 fan / gas mk 4.  Grease and line a 23cm round springform tin with baking paper.

 

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and sugar, briefly.  Sift in the flour, baking powder and ginger and whisk in until just mixed.  Add the orange zest and beetroot and mix until smooth.

 

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until brown and done.

 

While the cake is cooking make the drizzle by combining 3 tablespoons of the orange juice with the granulated sugar.  As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick all over with a skewer and spoon the syrup over the top.  Dot with the chopped ginger and leave to cool in the tin.

 

Cuts into 8-10 slices. 

SALMON PUFFS

This is a recipe of my own invention, if you can call it a recipe.  It's more like a guide for using leftovers.  Leftover salmon, that is.

 

It came about because I bought a pack of four salmon fillets in the reduced section in the local supermarket.  With three of us for dinner that evening, me, Nick and my dad, I cooked them all and that left one piece of cooked salmon to use later.  I had ideas to use it in a salad or pasta dish but a trip to Ikea intervened.

 

For some time we have been buying the pouches of lemon and dill sauce that you can buy in Ikea's food department every time we visit.  They have a good shelf life and can be kept in a cupboard so don't take up space in the fridge.  You can see them here and they also do a tomato and herb version.  You simply pour the sauce over four salmon fillets and bake to get a delicious meal.  I have also used it with chicken pieces and it is just as tasty.  Mostly we use half of a pack for two pieces of salmon (as normally there are only two of us for dinner) and the rest on some chicken a few days later.  I know that this is a cooking cheat but sometimes we can't always be bothered to cook entirely from scratch - plus the fact that this is quick, easy and not too guilt-ridden.

This time I had one cooked salmon fillet and almost half a pack of sauce left in the fridge.   Also part of a pack of puff pastry in the freezer.



 

 

And so a recipe idea came to mind.  I cut the pastry into two oblongs about the right size to enfold a half of the cooked salmon fillet, dolloped the leftover dill sauce on top, created a parcel and baked.  It was absolutely delicious!
We had ours warm with some new potatoes and greens but it would have been just as good cold with a salad.  Or anything you like....baked beans, ratatouille, you name it, the possibilities are many.  I wondered about experimenting by making it into little open tartlettes baked in a mini muffin tray to be served with aperitifs...…..

Ingredients
One cooked salmon fillet, cut into two equal portions
half a pack of puff pastry (ready rolled or otherwise)
half or a third of a pouch of Ikea lemon and dill sauce
1 egg, beaten, to glaze.

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C / 160 fan / gas mk 4.  Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Roll out or cut the pastry into two oblongs about double the size of each piece of salmon fillet.  Place each piece of salmon on one half of each oblong.  Put spoonfuls of the sauce on top of each piece of fish.

Dampen the edges of the pastry and fold it over to form a parcel.  Press the open edges together and seal by pressing with the back of a fork.  Brush with beaten egg to glaze.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisp.  Serve with salad or veg.

Serves 2 as a main meal.  (Smaller parcels could be made to serve more as a starter.)

RHUBARB AND VANILLA CRUMBLE CAKE

At this time of year I always find myself lingering over the bundles of pink rhubarb that appear in the supermarkets - and thinking that they are a bit pricey.  Luckily they frequently turn up in the bins of items reduced for quick sale.  So the other day I swooped and bought myself two bundles.

As it happens, I had been talking to a friend of my brother about rhubarb a few days before (we had all gone out for a curry and conversation centred naturally around food of all kinds).  This lady recommended a recipe for a rhubarb crumble cake that she had in an old Prue Leith cook book but when I later Googled it nothing that sounded like it appeared.  What did appear was a recipe by Rachel Allen, which has, in the usual way of things, disappeared from the internet. However, it turned out to be a recipe in this book, "Entertaining at Home" which, as it equally happens, I had bought for £1 in a charity shop recently. 

 



So, with all the stars aligning in the direction of a rhubarb cake, I made one, but with a slight amendment to the recipe.

Rachel's recipe is actually for a rhubarb and ginger crumble cake, but I wanted the rhubarb itself to be the star of the show, so I omitted the ginger and added vanilla extract to the cake instead.
I gently cooked the rhubarb in sugar and two tablespoons of water until soft as per instructions, which resulted in quite a lot of liquid.  The recipe doesn't say whether you should add the liquid to the cake along with the rhubarb so I didn't, thinking it would have made the whole thing very soggy.  Even so, spooning the rhubarb out of the pan on top of the cake mixture inevitably meant that a certain amount of liquid went in with it.  As the cake turned out just right, that's what I would do again.  The baking time given was 45-50 minutes but mine was quite well done (not too well done) after 45 minutes so I would check after 40 minutes next time.

 

 

It was lovely!  It had a nice, even texture, just the right amount of tartness in the rhubarb balanced by the sweet crumble on top.  We had ours whilst it was still warm with some cream.  It was just as lovely the next day when completely cold.

This is definitely a cake I shall be making again and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some green rhubarb later in the year and trying the original version with ginger instead of vanilla.

 

Ingredients

400g rhubarb, wiped and trimmed into 2-3cm chunks

100g demerara sugar

 

For the crumble topping

100g plain flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

75g cold butter

75g light soft brown sugar

25g flaked almonds

 

For the cake

100g softened butter (I used Flora Buttery)

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

2 tblsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

175g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

 

Method

Put the rhubarb and demerara sugar into a medium saucepan with 2 tblsp water, simmer on low heat until the rhubarb is just softened, not mushy.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

 

Preheat the oven to 180 C / 160 fan / gas mk 4.  Butter a 23cm springform tin and line the base with baking paper.

 

Make the crumble topping by putting the butter, flour and baking powder into a food processor and pulse briefly until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs (or rub in by hand).  Add the sugar and almonds and pulse very briefly again (or stir in).

 

To make the cake, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy using an electric whisk (or wooden spoon and muscle power), beat in the eggs one at a time.  Whisk in the milk and vanilla.  Sift over the flour, salt and baking powder and fold in.

 

Spoon the batter into the tin and level the top.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer the rhubarb over the cake mixture in an even layer.  Sprinkle the crumble mix as evenly as possible over the rhubarb.

 

Bake for 40-50 minutes until golden brown and done.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before releasing and turning out onto a wire rack.  Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with a dusting of icing sugar if you like.

 

Cuts into 8-10 slices.

SMOKED MACKEREL PATÉ

This has to be one of the least inspiring photos I have ever posted in the blog but don’t let it put you off……..

At a couple of events in France last summer bowls of this stuff appeared on the table with the other nibbles.  When I said how delicious it was the ladies who produced it told me how easy it was to make.  I next encountered it when we went to a restaurant for a pre-Christmas meal with family where it was served as a starter and I thought it was time to have a go myself.

Dead easy it really is and tasty in measures well beyond the level of competence required to make it.
The first time I made it I blitzed it in my food processor and it turned out really smooth.  The next time roughed up the fish with a fork then processed it only a little so that it turned out more rustic in appearance.  I preferred it this way, although it did leave the odd tiny bone.

You can make it look much fancier by adding herbs or salad.  I liked serving mine in my ancient lidded dish made by Pearsons of Chesterfield, the maker of rustic cookware now sadly long gone.  I could just pop on the lid and leave it in the fridge where it kept well for several days allowing us to dig in as and when we wanted.

Ingredients

A twin pack of smoked mackerel fillets
1 tblsp crème fraîche
1 tblsp full fat cream cheese
1 tsp French mustard
1 tsp horseradish sauce or creamed horseradish
a few drops of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Remove the skin from the fish and place in a small bowl.  Mash it with a fork to break it up then transfer to the bowl of a food processor.  Blitz briefly for rustic looking paté or for longer for a smoother paté.
Stir in the other ingredients and mix until well combined.
Serve chilled to spread on toast, bread or crackers, or as a filling for a jacket potato.  You can dress it up with herbs or by serving with salad and a lemon wedge on the side. 

Serves 6 with an apéro, 4 as a starter, just 1 or 2 as a jacket potato filling.

APPLE AND BANANA CAKE

 





 

Some time ago I was looking at some rather tired apples and bananas in the fruit bowl and wondered what I could make with them.  I am still searching for the “perfect” apple cake recipe and I love banana cakes so I wondered if I could combine the two.  I looked up “apple and banana cake” on the old laptop and up popped a really good recipe in a blog called “feeding boys” dating back to 2010.  The author tells us that it’s adapted from a recipe in a book by Tana Ramsay called “Family Kitchen” and you can see it here.

The recipe is for a loaf cake but I wanted to make a round one.  I have found that an 8” (20cm) round tin usually works perfectly well for all 2lb (900g) loaf tin recipes so that’s what I used.

 

I also decided to add the zest of a small orange to the mixture and some slices of apple on the top, just for the fun of it.

 

It was delicious!  It had a nice, moist, even crumb that cut well without crumbling too much.  The flavour was lovely and it kept well in an airtight tin.
In fact it was so good that I have since made several variations of the recipe:

Apple, banana and blueberry cake, made by adding a handful of blueberries to the basic cake mixture.

Pear and banana cake made by substituting chopped pears for the grated apple – only because the pears were too ripe and juicy to grate.

I made this one using the all-in-one, beat it all together, method, which may account for why it turned out a bit more rustic looking.  It was still delicious though!

I love versatile recipes like this one.  There aren’t many cakes that I make more than once or twice but this is a simple recipe that always seems to turn out well and be endlessly adaptable.  In fact I tend to think of it as my “fruit bowl cake” as it seems to work using whatever fruit is in need of eating up.

Mind you, I have yet to make it as the banana and apple loaf cake in the original recipe.  Soon, possibly!

Ingredients

150g light muscovado sugar

85g softened butter or spreadable butter

2 large eggs, beaten

4 medium ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

1 dessert apple, unpeeled and grated

250g self raising flour

½ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C / 160 fan / gas mk 4.  Grease and line a 900g / 2lb loaf tin or 20cm round springform tin.

Cream the butter and sugar and gradually beat in the eggs.

Sift in the flour and spices, add the banana, salt and apple and mix well together.

Transfer to the prepared tin and bake for about an hour.  Check after 45 minutes and cover loosely with foil if the top is browning too much.

When done, remove from the oven and cool in the tin for 20 minutes.  Turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling and dust with icing sugar before serving.

Cuts into 8-10 slices. 

APPLE, ORANGE AND CRANBERRY CAKE and home made cake release paste

This cake came about because when I was rummaging in the fridge veg drawer for a carrot or two I spotted the box of fresh cranberries I had bought for Christmas.  I had been full of good intentions of making my own cranberry sauce to go with the turkey but then I completely forgot and we had a jar of sauce instead.

Wondering what I could do with them two weeks after the event, I had an idea.  There were also some apples and a large orange looking unloved in the fruit bowl so I decided to adapt the Mary Berry recipe for the apple and apricot cake and see how it turned out.  You can see that recipe here.  I substituted cranberries for the apricots and orange zest for the almond essence.  I used a ring tin instead of an ordinary round tin.

It turned out beautifully, in two ways.  I have to say that this is probably the nicest cake I have made in a long time.  The cranberries gave little bursts of sharpness in every mouthful, in contrast with the sweetness of the apples and the warmth of the orange. 

Quite delicious and one to add to my list of cakes that I shall definitely make again.
The other way it turned out really well was in using a home made cake release paste.

I do find preparing Bundt tins a real pain.  Getting melted butter into all those nooks and crannies, then dusting with flour, is a messy job and not easy to get right.  Turning them out is always stressful and I have had to disguise many a damaged cake with crafty icing in the past.  Equally I have had success with bought cake release in spray or liquid form but have been somewhat unsure about some of the ingredients and frankly some of them smell slightly unpleasant.
This stuff is a revelation, easy to make from storecupboard ingredients.  I put equal quantities of each component in my mini chopper and blitzed them to a paste.

It was easy to brush onto the tin and get into the crevices in a nice, even layer.  I cooled the cake in the tin for ten minutes and it slipped straight out on inverting it.  No tapping, shaking or cursing needed!  I can’t wait to try it on one of my more intricate Bundt tins.

You can see numerous recipes for it on the internet and most suggest it can be stored in a jar at room temperature.  That’s the only bit I’m unsure about.  It’s good that it’s completely natural with no added chemicals, but logic tells me I should keep it in the fridge.  But then it might be too stiff to use next time I need it.  So it resides in my kitchen cupboard for now and if it turns into something green and triffid like I’ll report back!
The cake had a nice, golden and slightly crisp outer crust which I attributed to the cake release.  It was not at all unpleasant, in fact it gave the cake a nice finish.  It will be interesting to see if the same kind of crust occurs every time I use the paste.

Update - on reading about the cake release in other places I decided to keep it in the fridge after all.  I'm pleased to say that it is still easy to brush into the tin straight from the fridge.

Apple, orange and cranberry cake

Ingredients
250g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
225g caster sugar
2 eggsfinely grated zest of 1 orange
150g butter, melted and cooled
225g apples, peeled*
120g fresh cranberries (I expect frozen ones would work too)

Method
Preheat the oven to 160 C / 140 Fan / gas mk 3.  Grease a Bundt tin or ring tin with home made cake release (see below), or butter and line the base of a 20cm round loose bottomed tin.

Put all the ingredients except for the fruit into a large bowl and mix well together to combine then beat for one minute.  Add the cranberries, slice the apples into the bowl and gently mix them in. 

Spoon into the tin and level the top. Bake for 1-1½ hours until done.  Cool in the tin for ten minutes before turning out by placing a cooling rack on top and flipping it over. 

Serve warm or at room temperature.

*The recipe says cooking apples but I used  dessert apples and they were fine.
Cuts into 10-12 slices.

Cake release

Measure 50g each of plain flour, vegetable oil and white cooking fat (I used Trex) into the bowl of a food processor or mini chopper.  Process until smooth.  Store unused paste in a jar in the fridge.  Bring out of the fridge for a few minutes before using.

LIGHT FRUIT CAKE or a tale of two fruit cakes #1.

The first fruit cake I made in 2018 was for my dad’s 90th birthday last November.   He wanted a small family party and when I asked him what sort of cake he would like he said a fruit cake.  This rather took me by surprise. 

All the years since Mum died I have been making him chocolate cakes, ginger cakes and many others, but never a fruit cake.  Maybe he was hankering after one for ages but was too polite to say!

I rarely make a fruit cake so I looked in my cook books and on the net for recipes and settled on one by Mary Berry called “Easy Fruit Cake”.

It comes from one of her cookery books that I don’t actually own called “Mary Berry’s Cookery Course” and you can see it on the internet here.

It really was delicious.  It had a lovely almondy flavour and nice light texture with the fruit evenly distributed.  (I have noticed that almond essence appears regularly in Mary’s recipes.)  It also kept well in an airtight tin.  I decided this would be my go-to fruit cake recipe for whenever I wanted to make another one – then along came fruit cake #2, Sandringham cake, as per a previous post……

Ingredients

225g softened butter or baking spread (I used Flora Buttery)

225g caster sugar

4 eggs

225g self raising flour

100g ground almonds

½ tsp almond essence

450g mixed dried fruit

25g flaked almonds to decorate

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C / 140Fan / gas mk 3.  Butter a deep 20cm springform cake tin and line the base and sides.

Cream the butter or spread and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Fold in the flour, almonds, and extract and mix thoroughly.  Add the fruit and mix well.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top.  Scatter the flaked almonds evenly over the top.

Bake for 1½ – 2 hours until done.  (Mine took 1¾ hours.)  Cool in the tin.

Cuts into 12 slices.