The Cake Slice October 2010: Pumpkin (Sweet Potato) Chocolate Chip Pound Cake (GF)

I’m so excited to be able to reveal that the new cake book that The Cake Slice bakers will be baking from for the next year is…. Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman! It’s a fantastic looking book and absolutely full of all sorts of different types and styles of cakes – not just layer cakes, but loaf cakes, bundt cakes and snacking cakes to name but a few. If they are half as good as this months debut cake then we are going to be in for a treat!

The winning cake from our new cake book was a pumpkin chocolate chip loaf cake, which I was delighted about considering how seasonal it is. The recipe calls for canned pumpkin puree, but it is near impossible to find pumpkin puree in this country and so I substituted this with some pureed sweet potato. This worked really well and resulted in a deliciously moist and tender cake that had a faint pleasing orange colour.

I actually made this cake just a few days after discovering I had to go gluten free and so it was my very first attempt at baking. I decided to substitute the flour for Buckwheat flour, which despite its name is gluten free. This has a subtle nutty grassy flavour to it, similar to rye flour, and a natural sweetness that I thought would go well with the chocolate chips and sweet potato elements of the cake.

The recipe made a lot of cake mix and I was worried there would be too much for the tin but it baked up fine, tall and puffy with a long crack down one side which I actually think improved the appearance as it gave a tempting insight into the melty chocolate chips hidden within.

I absolutely loved the results and would never have guessed it was gluten free. It was light, soft and springy and wonderfully moist. I loved the dark chocolate chips studded throughout the cake which seemed to stay permanently soft and slightly gooey after baking. I couldn’t stop eating it and bizarrely it tasted really good when dipped into hot strong coffee.

Unfortunately the rest of my family had mixed results to this cake. My mum ate it and said it was ok, but she didn’t like the grassy note from the buckwheat. My dad was not a fan but he likes more traditional flavours and was highly confused by the combination of spices, sweet potato and chocolate chips in a cake. However, my lovely grandmother (who shares/shared my tastes for rye breads and other assorted grains) adored the cake as much as I did. She even said that if that’s what gluten free cake tasted like then she wouldn’t mind binning wheat altogether – I love you grandma!

I know that other members of the group loved this cake too, so gluten free or not, this autumnal cake is perfect for this time of year and definitely worth making. Click to see the Cake Slice blogroll.

Pumpkin (Sweet Potato) Chocolate Chip Pound Cake (GF)(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Ingredients

210g plain flour (I used Doves buckwheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground cloves

Pinch nutmeg

100g unsalted butter, softened

280g caster sugar

3 eggs

200g pumpkin puree (I used pureed sweet potato*)

1 tsp vanilla extract

75ml milk

75g dark chocolate chips

75g chopped walnuts (I’d run out of these)

MethodHeat the oven to 180C. Coat the inside of a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust with flour.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.

With the mixer on medium low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the pumpkin puree (see note below) and vanilla. Stir in the milk.

Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, a third at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake the cake until it is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic for up to 1 week.

Makes one 9 by 5 inch loaf cake

Note* It’s very hard to find pumpkin puree in the UK, so I substituted this with homemade sweet potato puree. Simply cut a large sweet potato in half, place in a bowl and add 2tbsp water. Cover the top with clingfilm and microwave on high for 7 minutes until the flesh is soft. Scoop out the flesh and mash with a potato masher (you won’t need to add any liquid or butter) and use as above.

Chocolate & Cherry Mud Fudge Brownies (GF)

It is the last day of National Chocolate Week today and I was determined to bake a chocolate recipe to celebrate. These chocolate brownies are incredibly chocolaty – just the thing! I found the recipe online and believe it originally came from Gourmet magazine, however, I have put my own stamp on it by adapting it to be gluten free and to include some cherry brandy soaked dried cherries for extra indulgence.

It was the photo of the brownies that drew me to the recipe, they looked so moist and squishy that I couldn’t resist trying them out. The brownies were called Chocolate Crack Brownies, which I assume means they are so addictive they are like drugs! I admit that the resulting brownies were insanely good but I have renamed them Mud Fudge Brownies which I think sounds much more inviting. They are soft, squishy, fudgy and intensely chocolaty with that just-cooked tenderness of a chocolate mud cake all encased under a delicate crisp sugar topping.

I was a little worried that making them gluten free would result in a drier brownie as gluten free flours have a tendency to absorb the excess moisture out of foods but brownies are actually one of the best baked goods to make gluten free as the proportion of flour called for is usually very low compared to the vast amounts of butter and chocolate, meaning soft and tender brownies are almost guaranteed. Just look at the slice – so good!

I decided to add some dried Morello cherries to the batter as I love the combination of cherries and chocolate together and I found a small snack pack of them lurking near the back of the cupboard. They were a little too dried to add straight in, but a short soak in some cherry brandy plumped them back up and added a fantastic fruit boozy hit every time you unexpectedly bit into one.

Using a good quality, high cocoa content dark chocolate is what makes these brownies so satisfyingly chocolaty. I used a 70% Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference dark chocolate which was described as having ‘fruity red berry notes.’ I was generously sent a free sample to try after the re-launch of the Taste the Difference range (along with a hazelnut Swiss milk chocolate, also delicious) and was pleasantly surprised at how well it seemed to enhance the flavour of the brownies.

So whether you are making the brownies gluten free or not, I urge you to give them a go and bet you won’t be able to stop at just one!

Chocolate & Cherry Mud Fudge Brownies (GF)

Ingredients
135g butter
135g 70% dark chocolate
240g caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
3 eggs
50g gluten free flour (mix of rice, potato & tapioca flours)
OR 50g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
30g dried Morello cherries
1 tbsp cherry brandy

Method
Pour the cherry brandy over the dried cherries, cover with clingfilm and leave for 3-4 hours to plump up.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 7-8inch square baking tin and line the base with baking paper.
Gently melt the butter and chocolate together in a pan set over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Once melted, remove from the heat and beat in the vanilla, salt and sugar (it will go grainy – but this is normal)
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. The mix should go thick, glossy and smooth.
Scatter over the flour and cocoa powder and mix until combined. Finally, beat in the soaked cherries and any remaining liquid.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. They will look slightly puffed with a dry sugary topping and be soft and moist underneath (not raw or molten though!)
Allow to cool in the tin for at least an hour before turning out and slicing. Delicious eaten at any temperature and with anything!

Gluten Free Apple & Blackberry Buckwheat Crumble

I want to start by thanking everyone for all their kind comments and words of encouragement during the past week. All the blogs, recipes, hints and tips you have given me will be enough to keep me busy in the kitchen for a very long time and I’ve got lots of new ideas and ingredients to experiment with.

A couple of nights ago a good friend of mine invited me and a group of our friends round for dinner. We all get together about once a month for an informal dinner and chat which is a great way of keeping up to date with everyone’s latest news. This was going to be the first time I had seen any of them since being diagnosed as coeliac and I was a little unsure how they would take it. The meal had been planned for some time I felt rather bad about having to phone the host up and explain I wouldn’t be able to eat the pasta dish she was planning. However, she was really supportive and didn’t mind in the slightest and quickly changed the menu to a delicious vegetable curry with rice. As a thank you I told her I’d bring a dessert choice.

We had a small pile of cooking apples sitting on the counter from my grandmothers garden as well as some late blackberries so an apple and blackberry themed dessert was the obvious choice. I decided to turn them into a crumble as I felt sure I would be able to make a suitable crumble topping using my new range of gluten free flours. I decided to use primarily buckwheat (my new favourite) as I thought its natural sweetness and nutty flavour would go well with the fruit and a little potato and rice flour for their crumbliness. I also added some ground almonds for flavour and to help mask any strange flavours that I thought the flours might produce – I’m happy to say there were no strange flavours.

I decided to puree the blackberries and use just their juice in the base of the crumble, rather than add the whole berries. I love the flavour and colour blackberries give but I know some people don’t enjoy their seeds so I though this would be a good compromise. I also stewed most of the apple beforehand and then stirred through some raw apple at the end for texture. The blackberry puree bubbled up through the apple during cooking and dyed all the fruit a gorgeous bright shade of purple which made it look so inviting when you broke through the golden crumble topping.

I’m please to say that everyone loved the crumble and said if they hadn’t been told, they wouldn’t have known it was gluten free – hurrah! If you really thought about it there was a slightly sandy texture from the rice flour but when mixed with the fruit this was not noticeable. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I used the rest of the fruit to make another crumble the following day which I enjoyed with my family after Sunday dinner last night.

Gluten Free Apple & Blackberry Buckwheat Crumble

Ingredients
450g cooking apples
150g eating apples
150g blackberries
50g caster sugar

Buckwheat Crumble
100g buckwheat flour
30g potato flour
20g rice or maize flour
40g ground almonds
70g butter
50g caster sugar
1 tbsp water

Method – Crumble Topping

Measure out the flours, ground almonds and sugar into a bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes, add to the flour and rub it through the flour using the tips of your fingers. Lift the flour up as you rub the butter in, letting it fall back into the bowl. Continue until you have no large lumps of butter left and the mix resembles fine bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the water and squeeze the mix together so you get a few bigger clumps. Set aside for later.

Fruit

Preheat the oven to 190C.
Peel, core and roughly dice the cooking apples. Place into a large pan, cover the base of the pan with 1cm of water and heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the apple is mushy and soft. Peel, core and roughly dice the eating apple and stir through the stewed apple. Set aside.
Meanwhile, place the blackberries into a separate small pan and add enough water to cover the base of the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes until the berries are beginning to break down and release their juices. Remove from the heat and transfer the blackberries into a sieve set over a small bowl to catch the juices. Crush the blackberries with the back of a spoon, pressing all the juice through the sieve and into the bowl below. Continue until you have only the seeds left behind. Discard these.

Assemble
Pour the blackberry puree into the base of a pie or pudding dish. Spoon the apple mixture over the top and scatter over the crumble topping.
Bake in the preheated oven (190C) for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden in colour and crisp.
Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. The blackberry puree should have bubbled up through the apple and stained it all a gorgeous shade of purple.
Serve with custard, cream or ice cream if desired. Also tastes great cold.

A Dramatic Change of Lifestyle: Getting to the Grain of the Problem

I have some news so share with you all. At the end of September 2010 I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease. When I was told I was completely flabbergasted – I think I almost laughed in disbelief and my first words were ‘Oh my word!’ Then my brain started to kick in with what this meant – no wheat flours, no bread, cereals, pasta or cakes. My second thought that flashed through my mind was ‘but… I was planning a trip to Paris to eat my way around all the patisseries!’ Hmm guess that’s out the window.

However, despite feeling a little overwhelmed I also felt incredibly thankful. For the past year I have been loosing weight for no apparent reason with the last 9 months resulting in quite a dramatic and alarming weight loss. At first I was not too bothered and put it down to stress of finishing uni and searching for work but when it got to the stage where friends and family began making comments and I got dangerously thin I became very scared. I went to the Dr’s and had a range of blood tests done for various things – thyroid, diabetes and they all came back normal. I was told just to try and eat more. I had already tried this myself and so my mum had helped me to devise some high calorie meals, I was eating enormous breakfasts, cooked meals at lunchtimes and I knew I already ate plenty of cakes, bread and desserts (just look at my blog contents) – but still the weight was falling off.

The person who I feel has suffered the most through all this was my mum. She had the worry over seeing me loose weight while trying to fend off comments from people insisting to her that I was anorexic and why didn’t she do something about it. I felt like screaming at them all – I eat people – it’s not my fault!!

In the end I sought out our old family doctor and within minutes of seeing me he suggested I be tested for coeliac disease. Having done a 4 year food & nutrition degree at university I was well aware of this disease but had discounted it as a possibility as I didn’t fit all the symptoms – sure I had a fair few of them, bloating after eating, stomach cramps, weight loss and fatigue, but I had accepted this as being just the way I am. I hadn’t been sick or suffered chronic abdominal pain (turns out the disease can present itself in three different ways). However, I was just so greatful he was taking me seriously and so went off to get tested, if not a little skeptically. So when I went to get my results I was astounded to be told it had come back positive, but also immensely greatful and relieved that finally there was an explanation and something that could be done about it. I also felt a little foolish I hadn’t picked it up myself. It just goes to show we all suffer with the delusion of ‘it won’t happen to me.’ You get tested for coeliac disease with a blood test which is usually followed by a biopsy of the gut. They test the blood to see if you have any antibodies, know as TGI’s that try and attack foods containing gluten. These in turn damage the lining of the gut which stops you absorbing all the nutrients from foods – hence the weight loss. A normal person can register between 0-6, my reading was over 120 – yikes!! I guess that’s pretty positive then!

After a brief moment of panic I am actually feeling very positive and even a little excited by the prospect of a gluten free diet. Yes I am going to miss some foods terribly, especially sourdough and rye breads, breakfast cereals and cakes – some of my all time favourite foods – and the t.v. seemed to suddenly be full of baking programmes or adverts for bread which is just cruel… but I also feel lucky that I have such a great interest in food and knowledge gained from my uni course. I am actually looking forward to experimenting with recipes and finding out about new flours and ingredients – I already know and love buckwheat scones and pancakes and have used maize meal to make vegetable fritters but it’s the others – tapioca starch, rice flour, gram flour and the exotic sounding xantham gum which have me daunted.

It’s going to take ages to go food shopping now, reading all the ingredients lists. Aside from the obvious ones, wheat, rye, barley, couscous, semolina, bulgar, spelt and malt, manufacturers seem to have a knack for hiding gluten in the most unlikeliest of foods – soy sauce (made from fermented wheat), rusks in sausages (vegetarian ones too), thickers in soups, sauces and stews, coatings on potato wedges, malt vinegar in chutneys and dressings, its even hidden in some chocolates and ice creams and in the coating added to the skin of fruit to make it shiny.

This of course means that some gluten free recipes will probably start to creep into the blog too. It’s almost ironic that a blog dedicated to cakes, breads and desserts turn out to be the foods I’m not allowed to eat. I am not going to stop baking some ‘normal’ cakes and desserts for my family as they can still enjoy eating them and I still enjoy making them and seeing them devoured, but I have no doubt that future Daring Bakers challenges or The Cake Slice cakes might often make appearances as gluten free varieties. I have a few backdated recipes to post about but after this if things get a little quiet in the next few weeks I hope you’ll bear with me. I already have a great gluten free cake recipe but if anyone’s got any T&T recipes for breads, breakfast ideas, pastry or crackers etc I’d love to hear from you. My first attempt at bread has turned out with a crumb rather like a gummy wallpaper paste. Thankfully I’m not a lover of fluffy white breads, but I had to toast it to make it edible. I get the feeling I’m going to need all the hints and tips I can get.

I know its going to be hard and I’m sure at some point in the next few weeks it will truly hit me what this diagnosis means but for now with the wonderful support from my family I’m just focused on dealing with it and getting back to being healthy again. I’ve only been gluten free for a week and already I’m starting to feel a bit better in myself which is a great incentive to carry on.

If anyone wants any more info the Coeliac UK website is a great place to start.

Blackberry & Lime Cake with Walnut Streusel Topping

I made this cake a couple of weeks ago for my grandads birthday. I had just been blackberrying and so was primed with lots of fresh berries to use. I decided to pair them with some lime zest as I think this helps bring out the berries natural zing and sweetness. The amount of lime zest stated in the recipe may seem small, but it’s amazing how much flavour this small amount provides, it really was quite apparent in the finished cake.

It’s an unusual cake in that when it comes to mixing in the flour you are actually after a slightly lumpy batter as over mixing it will result in a dense heavy cake. In this respect it’s more like a muffin mix where the little lumps of flour help give the crumb its airy texture and springiness. My grandad is also diabetic (diet controlled) so I liked the fact that the recipe didn’t contain too much sugar and that it made use of a nutty streusel topping instead of a buttercream or frosting.

The streusel topping bakes into a delicious crispy crumbly topping and the added nuts get a gentle toasting making them even more flavoursome and nutty. The cake itself was studded with the blackberries which were full of flavour and added little pockets of bright purple juiciness. It was delicious when served slightly warm – we even reheated slices the next day in the microwave, the perfect accompaniment to a cup of afternoon tea.

Blackberry & Lime Cake with Walnut Streusel Topping

(Recipe adapted from Delia Smith)

Cake

250g blackberries
Zest of ½ lime
275g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
75g caster sugar
170ml milk
110g butter

Streusel

75g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
25g butter
50g Demerara sugar
50g walnuts
1 tbsp water

Method – Streusel Topping

Place the flour, baking powder and butter into a bowl. Use the tips of your fingers to rub the butter into the flour, lifting it up and letting the mix fall back into the bowl. Continue until you have no large lumps of butter left and the flour is starting to look like crumbs.
Chop the walnuts into small chunks and mix through the flour mixture along with the sugar. Add the water and rub briefly so the mix forms little into little clumps. Set aside until required.

Blackberry Lime Cake

Preheat the oven to 190C. Grease a deep 8inch springform tin and line the base with baking paper.
Whisk the eggs, sugar and milk together until combined and just starting to look foamy. Melt the butter until liquid, then pour into the egg mix and briefly whisk again.
Sift the flour and baking powder over the top and add the salt and lime zest. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon in a folding motion until no flour streaks remain – it should look lumpy – this is ok – don’t try and beat them out!
Add the blackberries and gently fold them in, don’t mix too much or they will break down, but a few purple streaks are quite pretty.
Pour the cake batter into the tin and scatter over the streusel topping.
Bake in the oven for 1 hour until the top is deep golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin for 30 minutes before removing from the tin and leaving to cool to room temperature.
Delicious served still warm with cream or crème fraiche
Serves 8-10

Red Pepper Pumpkin Soup

I love pumpkin and all the different shapes, sizes and colours they can come in. When I recently spied an unusual looking bright yellow skinned pumpkin at a farmers market, I was quick to snap it up. Upon slicing into it I was disappointed to find a very pale flesh that was rather watery. It smelt and looked very much like melon but I decided not to judge it too harshly and roasted some in the oven to taste. This improved the flavour and texture but it was still rather watery rather than being rich and fluffy. I knew instantly what this particular pumpkin was destined for – soup!

Soup is a wonderful thing and can make even the most bland, old, shrivelled or oddly shaped vegetable taste delicious. I really wanted my pumpkin soup to have more of conventional pumpkin colour and so I decided to add some red pepper and carrots to enhance the colour and bulk out the texture. I decided against adding onion or potato which often form the base of most soups as I wanted the veg to the star flavours.

Once blitzed together the pepper and carrot transformed the soup into a gorgeous deep orange colour that was flecked here and there with little shreds of yellow and red from the skins of the peppers and pumpkin – which I chose to leave on. It really looked and smelt so inviting and the taste was delicious. The pepper added a lovely sweetness while the pumpkin added its famously smooth and creamy texture. It was the perfect consistency and made for a very tasty lunch on a cold and windy autumn day.

Red Pepper Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients
1 small-medium pumpkin
2 red peppers
2 carrots
2 tsp dried oregano or thyme
2 pints vegetable stock

Method
Cut the top and base off the pumpkin. Cut into quarters, scoop out the seeds and fleshy membrane and discard. Slice the pumpkin into 2cm strips and place in a large saucepan, skin and all.
Do the same with the red pepper.
Peel and roughly chop the carrot and add to the pan along with the herbs.
Pour over the vegetable stock and bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and leave to bubble for 25-35 minutes, until the pumpkin and carrot pieces are soft when tested with the sharp tip of a knife.
Once ready, remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Then ladle the mixture (you may need to do it in batches) into a liquidiser and blend until smooth.
Season to taste and serve with crusty bread for dipping.
Serves 4-6

The Cake Slice September 2010: Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

This cake was particularly special this month as not only did it feature apples – one of my all time favourite foods, but it is also the last cake that The Cake Slice group is baking from our currant cake book - Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott. We have been baking from this book for the past year which means next month we will start baking from an exciting new cake book!! As a result we are now accepting new members, so if you are interested in joining The Cake Slice and baking with us then please see the end of this post for details.

Anyway, back to this month’s apple cake. This cake turned out to be the best cake we have made all year – it was divine, the perfect cake to end with on a high note. It consists of a thick glossy batter that it liberally studded with chunks of fresh apple and walnuts which add a wonderful moistness and texture. A brown sugar fudge-like glaze is then poured over the still hot cake and left to absorb and set into a delicate toffee flavoured sugary crust. The cake is then served in generous squares straight from the pan – delicious!

I was tempted to add some cinnamon to the mix as I always feel this should be the natural accompaniment to anything containing apples, but I managed to restrain myself and I’m glad I did. Although the ingredients look fairly simple, this allowed the nuts and apples to really shine through and be the star flavours. I used fresh apples, picked from a friends garden. They were quite sharp and tangy when raw but mellow and softened beautifully in this cake and were the perfect contrast to the sweet sugary topping. I was also surprised at how much flavour the walnuts contributed and it was wonderful to suddenly bite down on a little nugget of one, hidden amongst the light cake and squishy apple pieces.

The batter looks a little strange in its raw state, it was a little gloopy and sticky and reminded me of a choux pastry batter. I was a little dubious it would work but it baked into a lovely textured moist cake. Some of the other bakers had said it was a little oily so I replaced some of the oil stated below with water and this worked well and I didn’t find the cake greasy at all. I also reduced the sugar quite considerably as I didn’t want it too sweet, especially as it had the sweet sugar glaze on top. Even then I still found the cake sweet but the sharp apples balanced it out nicely.

I can’t recommend this cake enough, everyone who tasted it loved it and if you’re an apple fan then I’m sure you’d love it too. Click to see our blogroll for everyone else’s apple cakes.

Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

Fresh Apple Cake

360g plain flour

450g caster sugar (I used 300g)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

3 eggs

330ml vegetable oil (I used 250ml oil & 80ml water)

2 tsp vanilla extract

450g finely chopped, peeled & cored apples (5-6 apples)

115g coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Brown Sugar Glaze

225g light brown sugar

75g butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp evaporated or regular milk

Method – Fresh Apple Cake

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 13 x 9 inch pan or two 8-9 inch cake pans. (I used a 13x7 inch pan and got a deeper cake.)

In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Stir with a fork to mix everything together well.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a mixer at low speed until pale yellow and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well. Stir in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon and continue stirring the batter just until the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts, stir to mix them into the batter until fairly uniform. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the cake is golden brown, springs back when touched lightly near the centre and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. Place the cake (still in the pans) on a wire rack and spoon over the glaze while still hot.

Method - Brown Sugar Glaze

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Then cook for 3-5 minutes.

To Finish

Spoon the hot glaze all over the hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.

Makes one 13x9inch sheet cake or two 8-9inch round cakes

New Cake Slice Members: Now onto the exciting bit! If you are interested in joining The Cake Slice group and baking delicious cakes with us for the next year than please email me your name, blog name and blog URL to ‘appleandspice[AT]hotmail.co.uk’ with ‘Cake Slice Member’ as the subject and I will contact you with the details of how to join us! You have until October 20^th to sign up.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cupcakes

We are nearing the end of National Cupcake Week, only two more days eat as many cupcakes as possible and shrug it off with a ‘well it is National Cupcake Week.’ In the end I didn’t manage to organise a cupcake party (everyone was busy) but I did manage to bake a batch of cupcakes to share around and spread the cupcake yumminess.

As cupcakes are an American invention I decided to go with chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes. Not only a delicious combination, but also one that is decidedly American.

The chocolate cupcakes were good, but to me their main purpose was as a carrier for the divine peanut butter frosting. This is a recipe I have adapted from a standard vanilla buttecream recipe and one I have made lots of times in the past few months. It produces a thick, yet creamy peanut butter buttercream that’s not too sweet and is intensely flavoured with peanut. There is nothing worse than being promised a peanut butter flavour only to find it practically non existent.

After a swirl of the frosting I added some chocolate covered peanuts to decorate and add a bit of crunch. As I’m sure everyone has got their own favourite chocolate cupcake recipe I am only giving the frosting recipe below (leftovers taste great on toast too – shh!)

Peanut Butter Frosting
Ingredients
70g butter
80g smooth peanut butter
260g icing sugar
25-40ml milk

Method
Make sure the butter is soft. Cream the butter together with the peanut butter until smooth and well combined.
Add the icing sugar, a third at a time, mixing well until incorporated. Add the milk as and when needed if it becomes a bit stiff.
Use more milk to slacken the frosting to the right piping consistency.
Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle. Pipe on top of your chosen cupcakes and decorate with a few chocolate covered peanuts to decorate.
Eat and enjoy.
Makes enough for 12 cupcakes

National Cupcake Week!

Today is the start of National Cupcake Week 2010 here in the UK!
It runs from 13th - 19th September. It's only the second year of this event organised by the British Baker Magazine to highlight the joys and delights of all things cupcake.

I might try to arrange a cupcake party with some friends to celebrate before the week is out, or at least eat a fair few cupcakes. The perfect excuse to indulge!

Spiced Apple & Plum Butter

Apples and plums are at the height of their season and the trees roundabouts are bowing under the weight of their fruit. We have a few tiny apples trees in our garden and some of our friends have trees too and as a result I ended up with a glut of apples, far too many eat and so I decided to turn some into jam.

While hunting for recipes I came across several recipes for a preserve called apple butter. I have heard of this before, but never tasted it. It turned out to be a smooth apple puree which is thick – the texture of softened butter – and often spiced with cinnamon and cloves, which many of you will know I absolutely adore. This seemed the perfect way to make use of the apples.

I was initially a little apprehensive about the recipe as I had read on several blogs that it can be quite time consuming and difficult to make. The process involves stewing the chopped apples, skin, core, pips and all until mushy and then pushing the mixture through a fine sieve to remove the ‘unwanted bits’ which results in a thick apple puree. Sugar and spices are then added and the mix is stirred constantly over the heat until thick.

This did indeed sound rather time consuming but it turned out to be remarkably easy and straight forward. I think it was actually easier than regular jam making, as not having to peel and core all the apples saved a lot of time and there was no tricky setting test to perform on the jam as its obvious once the puree has got thick enough to spread.

The resulting butter was gorgeous! It was smooth and thick and nicely spiced with the apples favourite accompanying spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. As I also had a large bag of plums from another fruit foraging trip I substituted a quarter of the weight of apples called for with plums. This along with the russet red skins of the apples produced a lovely pinkish blush colour of the puree.

As its called butter I had my first bite of it spread thickly on bread and for an apple lover it tasted delicious and absolutely jam packed with fresh apple flavour. I’ve since used it on top of porridge, swirled in yoghurt and as a filling for a cake. My meat eating family have also had it with their Sunday roast pork and declared it ‘fabulous.’

My only slightly negative comment is that a little apple vinegar is called for in the recipe. This helps preserve the apple butter but means a slight vinegary taste is noticeable if eaten straight away – only very very slight though. This didn’t bother me but I’ve found that this mellows out and disappears if you store it for a while – just like when making chutney. If you too have a glut of apples or fancy something a bit different to marmalade on your toast in the mornings then I highly recommend you whip up a batch of this.

Spiced Apple & Plum Butter

Ingredients
1.5kg apples – skin, core and all
500g plums
450ml water
225ml apple cider vinegar
400-500g caster sugar
2tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground clove
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Method
Remove the stones from the plums and place into a large saucepan. Roughly dice the apples, leaving the skin, core and pips in. Place into the pan with the plums and pour over the water and vinegar.
Bring to the boil and allow to bubble for 20 minutes until the fruit is very soft and starting to break down.
Place a sieve over a large bowl and spoon in some of the fruit mush. Use a ladel to push and press the fruit through the sieve, catching the thick puree in the bowl below. The skin and pips will be left behind in the sieve – discard these before adding the next batch of fruit.
Weigh your finished puree and add 150g caster sugar per 500g of fruit puree. (I had 1.5kg fruit puree, so added 450g sugar).
Place 5-6 jars and their lids into a cool oven and set the temperature to 120C. Allow the jars to heat up with the oven and then sit for at least 10 minutes in the heat before using – this sterilises them and will prevent them from shattering when you add the hot apple butter later on.
Return the puree to the pan, add the sugar and spices and heat, stirring constantly for about 30-40 minutes. Don’t neglect to stir or it will start spitting at you or stick and burn to the base of the pan.
Once the puree has thickened to a spreadable consistency, remove from the heat.
Remove the hot jars from the oven and divide the hot apple butter between the jars. Screw the lids on while the contents are still hot, wearing rubber gloves to protect your hands. (Screwing the lids on while the contents are still hot will create a vacuum inside the jar as it cools down. This will seal the jars and mean they can be stored without spoiling for several months).
Allow to cool on the side before storing in a cool dark place until required. Once opened, store in the fridge.
Makes 5-6 jars

Note: You can of course use all apple in place of the apple & plum combo above