Christmas Cake Stage 4 – Covering with Marzipan

Ingredients
500g marzipan
1 tbsp apricot jam
1 tsp water
Icing sugar for rolling

Your Christmas cake should have matured nicely and be rich and moist thanks to its 3 or 4 weekly Brandy feeds. It is now time to cover it with a layer of marzipan. To do this unwrap your cake and carefully peel away the greaseproof paper – mmm doesn’t it smell wonderful! Remember to remove the greaseproof base too (I nearly forgot one year). Place the cake on a 9-10inch cake board. Take a bread knife and carefully trim off the top layer to level the surface – it doesn’t have to be completely flat, just ensure any lumps and bumps are removed. Don’t throw these scraps away – put them on a plate and eat them later as a sneaky preview taster of the kind of flavour you can expect from your cake. (If the top of your cake you’re a little too brown in the oven it might taste slightly bitter, but as you have just removed these bits it doesn’t matter). Once the top is fairly level, turn the cake over and use the base as the top from now on.

If you look closely you will notice that there will be a few tiny holes dotted over the surface. This is just where fruit has cooked down or been accidently pulled out by the greaseproof paper. You want to fill these to prevent the marzipan from sinking into them later. Simply use teeny tiny blobs of marzipan to fill in any of the holes. Don’t worry how many you have, they will not be noticeable once covered.

Next, roll our your remaining marzipan until 3-4mm thick and wide enough to completely cover the top and sides of your cake. To test if it is large enough, hold your cake on its cake board over the top of the marzipan and if you can see it about an inch all the way round the base of the board then it’s big enough.

Heat the apricot jam with a little water in the microwave until syrupy. Then brush the top and sides of the cake all over with warmed jam – this acts as your glue to stick the marzipan to the cake.

Lift the marzipan up with the help of your rolling pin and drape it over the cake (I think it looks like a ghost or a tablecloth). Smooth the marzipan down the sides of the cake using the side of a cupped hand. Trim off any excess using a small round-bladed butter knife – leave ½cm rim from the edge of the cake to allow the marzipan to lay flat against the cake once cut. And you’re done!

Place it in an airtight container or tin but leave one corner slightly ajar to allow the air to slightly dry the surface of the marzipan out. This won’t dry out the cake underneath. Leave to dry for 3-4 days before covering with fondant or royal icing and decorating. This time use a clear alcoholic spirit as your ‘glue.’ The idea behind leaving the marzipan to dry slightly is that if you add the icing on top straight away there is a slightly chance that the colour from the marzipan may leech into the icing and you could end up with a blotchy coloured icing, especially if you use golden marzipan. Final stage to come!

Tana Ramsay’s Cheerio Lemon Cheesecake

I was recently asked if I would like to test out a few recipes designed by Tana Ramsay for Nestle, which looked at ways of including more whole grains in your diet by cooking with their cereals. When I received the recipes, one particularly innovative idea stood out, a lemon cheesecake that used crushed Cheerios as the base.

The cheesecake is a no bake cheesecake and yet does not include gelatin like a lot of no bake cheesecakes, instead it relies on lemons to help thicken and set the creamy top layer. As both a Vegetarian and a lemon lover this was ideal for me.

I crushed the Cheerios with a bag and a rolling pin and this produced a mixture of crumbs and cereal pieces which I think gave a nice rocky appearance to the base. The lemon topping was very quick and simple to put together and within half an hour my cheesecake was chilling in the fridge. My only concern at this stage was that the filling was very soft and I had images of it oozing over the counter when I released it from the tin.

The next day, I cautiously removed the tin and found it had set firm enough to hold its shape, although was still nicely soft. I’m afraid cutting a clean slice was less easy. The Cheerio base had absorbed all the moisture form the creaming topping overnight and as a result, had become quite soft and just fell apart when I tried to remove the slice. This also made it have a spongy, slightly chewy texture of damp cereal which is not really desirable for a cheesecake. The topping however was utterly delicious. Creamy with a strong lemon flavour that helped keep it light. As an experiment I cut a slice and then put it in the freezer for 2 hours before tasting it again. This improved the base and resulted in a very pleasant semi frozen creamy lemon topping too. So if you feel the desire to use cereal as a base I suggest making it a semi frozen cheesecake to prevent it turning soft and chewy.

All in all a mixed result. That topping I would make again and maybe serve in glasses to eat on its own but I don’t think Cheerios are really cut out to be a cheesecake base, although the idea is certainly innovative. However, in terms of its ability to include more whole grains in your diet, I can’t help but wonder if the traditional digestive biscuit base doesn’t do as equally well. Some of the other recipes sound good and for more information on Tana Ramsay's recipes and Nestle's Whole Grain Initiative click here.

Tana Ramsay’s Cheerio Lemon Cheesecake
Ingredients
175g Nestle Cheerios
100g butter or low fat spread
400g light cream cheese
Grated zest of 4 lemons
200g fat free Greek yoghurt
100g caster sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
184ml whipping cream

Method
Whiz or crush the Cheerios until they are broken down but still remain some texture.
Melt the butter or spread and stir in the crushed cheerios. Mix until well coated and then press into the base of a 9inch/23cm springform tin. Place in the fridge to firm up.
Meanwhile beat the cream cheese, yoghurt, sugar and lemon zest until smooth.
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and then stir into the lemon mix along with the lemon juice.
Pour over the chilled base and smooth the surface. Place in the fridge to set overnight.
Serves 10-12

Apple Date & Raisin Chutney

This is a lovely winter chutney, sweet and fruity but with a gentle warming glow from chilies and fresh ginger. It’s the perfect accompaniment to cheese and some good crusty bread but would work equally well with ham or a wedge of pork pie. It’s extremely quick to make; in less than an hour you can have 4 jars of chutney cooling on the counter.

You can make it your own by replacing the raisins with dried apricots and one of the apple with a couple of pears. If you don’t like the idea of the chili, then just use one or remove it altogether and add some cloves or mixed spice instead. The only drawback to the chutney is that you will need a change of clothes and shower after making it as the steaming vinegar tends to permeate into your clothes, but that’s a small price to pay for such a yummy reward.

The chutney can be eaten after two weeks but the vinegar may still be quite sharp, the longer you leave it to mature the stickier and mellower it will become. Presented with a little spoon, it would make the perfect addition to a homemade hamper of Christmas goodies.

Apple Date & Raisin Chutney
(Recipe adapted from Tesco Food Club Magazine)
Ingredients
500g stoned dates
150g raisins
1 large onion (150g)
2 cooking apples
3 red chilies
50g chunk root ginger
3 cloves of garlic
300ml water
150g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
600ml (1pint) distilled vinegar

Method
Place four large jars and their lids on a baking tray in the oven. Then turn on the oven to 100C and heat for 10 minutes once the oven has reached temperature. Then turn off the oven but the leave the jars inside to keep warm until required.
Chop the dates into small pieces and place in a large saucepan. Peel and finely dice the onion and apples and place in the pan along with the raisins.
Prick the chilies with a knife, but keep them whole and add to the pan.
Grate the ginger and garlic and add to the pan along with water.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and heat for 15 minutes until the onion and apple are starting to soften. Then stir in the sugar, salt and vinegar.
Bring up to the boil then reduce slightly and allow to bubble for 20 minutes, stirring almost constantly until everything is mushy and thickened.
Keep stirring until a spreadable consistency is achieved and there is no excess liquid.
Remove from the heat and fish out the chilies and discard.
Take the warm jars from the oven and carefully spoon the hot chutney between them.
Screw the lids on immediately, using rubber gloves, and leave to cool before applying a label and storing for at least 2 weeks (preferably a month) before opening.
Once opened, store in the fridge.
Makes 1.5kg (3lb) chutney

This is also my entry to Homemade Christmas Gifts event by My Kitchen Treasures. Click here to see the details and here to see the enteries as they get submitted.

Christmas Cake Stage 3 – Feeding the Cake

Just a reminder, don’t forget to feed you Christmas cake. Unwrap it, prick the top with a skewer and drizzle over a few teaspoons of Brandy. Then wrap it back up and keep it in a cool dark place until next week, when it will be time for another feeding.

Award
On another note, the lovely Antonia from Food Glorious Food awarded me the ‘I love your blog’ award. Thanks Antonia it really made me smile.

I now wish to pass it on to Gigi from Gigi Cakes – my long time friend (even though we’ve never actually met) who bakes a whole host tempting treats

Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe who proves that Vegetarian food is anything but boring

And The Cake Crusader who bakes delicious cakes and indulgent desserts

Christmas Cake Stage 2 – Baking the Cake

After soaking your fruits overnight it’s time to bake them into a cake. A fruit cake such as this is really fruit held together with cake, rather than a cake containing fruit as it’s very densely fruited. The cake mix itself is still very flavoursome in its own right as it contains mixed spice, black treacle, brown sugar and little nuggets of almonds.

It’s important to line the base and sides of the cake tin with greaseproof paper as this stays on the cake right up until you are ready to ice it, and helps keep it moist. Once you have prepared your cake mix, added your boozy fruits and spooned it into the tin it’s a good idea to create a little hollow or dip in the centre of the cake as this then compensates for the normal doming effect during baking and you should end up with a lovely flat surface on which to decorate later – we don’t want any wastage!

The wonderful rich and spicy aroma given off by the cake permeated throughout the whole flat, making it smell very festive. Once baked, it’s drizzled with a little extra Brandy before being wrapped and stored away to mature for several weeks. All you need to do now is nurture it by ‘feeding it’ once a week with a few extra teaspoons of Brandy – which helps keep it moist and develop in flavour.

Christmas Cake Mix
For an 8inch/20cm round cake
Ingredients
225g plain flour
1 ½ tsp mixed spice
40g ground almonds
40g blanched almonds
165g soft brown sugar
165g butter or margarine
1 tbsp black treacle
3 eggs
1 lemon - zest
(Your pre-soaked mixed fruit)
Feeding
1 ½ tbsp Brandy

Method
Grease and line bottom and sides of an 8 inch tin with greaseproof paper, allowing the paper to rise a little way above the rim of the tin.
Pre heat the oven to 140oC.
Measure the lemon rind, flour, mixed spice, ground almonds, sugar, butter, treacle and eggs into a very large bowl and mix together. Beat it for 3 minutes until mixture is smooth. (It will be quick stiff)
Roughly chop the blanched almonds and add to the mix along with the soaked fruits. Mix everything together using a spatula, making sure the fruit is evenly distributed.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, pressing down gently and smoothing the surface. Then create a little dip in the middle to compensate for doming in the oven which should result in a flat surface when baked.
Bake the cake for 2 hours and 45 minutes. (After 2 hours you can quickly cover the tin with foil if it is becoming too brown before baking for a further 45 minutes).
Check the cake with a skewer, which should come out clean.
Measure out the ‘feeding’ Brandy into a small bowl and prick the top of the cake all over with the skewer. Evenly drizzle over the Brandy using a teaspoon.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin before removing from the tin but leaving the greaseproof paper on.
Wrap it up well in clingfilm and leave in a cool place to mature for several weeks. Feed once a week with a few more teaspoons of Brandy until required.

Christmas Cake Stage 1 – Preparing the Fruit Base

I’m so excited – it’s time to start preparing the fruit ready for the Christmas cake. Making the Christmas cake each year symbolises to me that the holiday season is nearly here and its time to start thinking about festive food and presents. It may seem early to start thinking about Christmas cakes, but they like to sit tightly wrapped in a cool place for several weeks before eating. A weekly feeding of Brandy keeps it moist and helping it mature into something special.

I know many people who say they don’t like Christmas cake but I’m sure that’s because they have only ever had shop bought cake which can be dense, dry and nothing like a good Christmas fruit cake should be. Make your own and be rewarded with a moist rich, lightly spiced, Brandy infused, plump fruit studded cake that will knock the Christmas stocking off any store bought creation.

To start, you need to soak your fruit base in brandy overnight to become all plump and flavoursome. I prepared mine last night and the aroma of all the sweet fruits, orange zest and brandy is wonderful and unlike no other. It smelt so good that I left the bowl containing the soaking fruits in my bedroom overnight so I could breathe in its Christmassy scents.

Christmas Cake Fruit Base
For an 8inch/20cm round cake
Ingredients
175g raisins
175g sultanas
175g currants
85g dried apricots
100g glace cherries
35g mixed candied peel (or zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon)
2 tbsp Brandy

Method
Weight out the raisins, currants and sultanas into a bowl. Sort through the fruit a handful at a time, removing any stalks still attached to the fruit (these won’t be nice to crunch on).
Cut the apricots into small pieces and same size as the raisins, chop the cherries into quarters and add to the other fruit.
Add the candied peel or if you don’t like candied peel, grate over the zest of an orange and a lemon.
Pour over the Brandy, give everything a stir and then over the bowl with clingfilm and leave for at least 4hours or preferably overnight to allow the fruit to absorb the brandy and plump up.

If you run out of one or more of the fruits dried cranberries, peaches, pears, prunes and dates also work well.
If you don’t want to use Brandy then a spiced fruit tea or apple juice would work just as well.

Daring Bakers October Challenge: Pizza Dough

This month’s challenge was to make an authentic pizza dough that had been allowed to age and mature overnight. As an extra challenge this month our host Rosa from Rosa’s Yummy Yums, said we had to attempt to toss the dough in true Italian style!

Although we had to make an authentic pizza dough, our toppings were allowed to be as unauthentic and experimental as we pleased. So running with this freedom I chose to top my pizza with pureed apple for the sauce element and spinach, pumpkin, ricotta and walnuts for the toppings. Sounds a little crazy I know but I was thinking autumnal foods. Apple and pumpkin go together and so do the nuts. The ricotta works well with sweet and savoury flavours so that was in and the spinach, well it added a nice colour and it goes well with ricotta. No matter how strange the combo might sound it turned out to be a hit. I especially loved the apple ‘sauce’ – apple on a pizza who knew?!

I was also very impressed with the dough. It was a little sticky to work with at first but produced a great soft and stretchy dough. I froze most of my dough balls for future use but kept one in the fridge overnight to ferment and mature. I ended up leaving it for two nights and when I peeked at it after the two days it looked like it was trying to make a bid for freedom out of its bowl and was full of large air bubbles.

Tossing the dough was fun although I need to improve my technique as the middle ended up nice and thin but the edges stayed fat and puffy but I just squished it into place. Also, how do you produce a round pizza base? Mine always turn out oblong. I’m afraid the photos of me tossing the dough aren’t great, I was on my own and had to set balance the camera on the back of a chair and then try and catch the timer – but you get the idea.

I adored the flavour of this pizza base. Letting it mature really improved the flavour, it was almost like a sourdough, crisp brown crust, slightly chewy texture and full of air pockets. I had worried my apple topping would result in a soggy pizza base but it crisped up beautifully. All the toppings worked well together and when it came out of the oven I gave it a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg – essence of autumn on a plate.

Click here to view more daring bakers pizzas.

Pizza Dough

From “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).Ingredients:

620g white bread flour

1¾ tsp Salt

1 tsp Instant yeast

60ml olive oil

420ml water, cold

1 tbsp sugar

Semolina or cornmeal for dusting

Method – Day One:

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

Day Two or After Proving:8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and re-flour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully, then try again.You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.
For my toppings

1 large cooking apple
50g ricotta cheese
2 handfuls fresh spinach
25g walnuts
75g pumpkin or squash
Freshly grated nutmeg

Method
Peel and core the apple and cut into small cubes. Heat in a pan along with 1tbsp water until soft and mushy. Allow to simmer gently until thick. Taste and if very sharp add a little sugar to sweeten (but you don’t want it too sweet). Leave to cool.
Cut some slices out of the pumpkin and remove the skin. Cut into small dice sized pieces.
Wash the spinach in hot water to wilt it slightly and remove any dust or grit.
When ready to top the pizza spread the apple puree evenly over the surface of the dough leaving a 1inch gap around the edges.
Lay the spinach leaves over the top of the apple. Scatter over the pumpkin chunks and distribute dots of ricotta in-between.
Break the walnuts into pieces using your fingers and scatter over the top.
Bake as instructed. (My pizza took nearly 15 minutes but I suspect this was because the apple was quite wet, but the base was wonderfully crisp).
Makes enough topping for one large pizza.

Spiced Cranberry & Orange Bread

It has been a hectic week and I was in the mood making some bread to help get rid of the built up stress. I was walking back from uni and thoughts of cinnamon and raisin bread kept running through my head. I started to gather my ingredients and went to get the raisins, only to find…I’d run out of raisins. Humph. I had a rummage around and found some dried cranberries and so decided to make a spiced cranberry bread instead. I added ground ginger, mixed spice and the grated rind of an orange as I adore the flavour of orange and cranberry together.

Feeling happier I set about making my bread, breathing in the orange and spices. It was then able to sit happily on my windowsill while I got on with an essay before being baked and devoured as a reward.

I was a little worried that I had overcooked the crust slightly, but upon slicing I found it to be perfectly soft and tender within, the egg keeping it moist and springy. The zesty orange is the first flavour to hit your palate, closely followed by a sweet tangy cranberry and a subtle spicy after-note. The bread is not overly sweet so I won’t feel at all guilty having it for breakfast tomorrow, lightly toasted with some jam.

This is also my entry to Zorra’s 3rd World Bread Day. Click here for all the info.

Spiced Cranberry & Orange Bread
Ingredients
250g strong plain flour
45g caster sugar
1tsp dried yeast
40g butter
1 egg
125ml milk
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ground ginger
1 orange
50g dried cranberries

Method
Add the flour, yeast, mixed spice, ginger and sugar to a bowl. Grate in the rind from the orange. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub through the flour mixture until its evenly blended in.
Heat the milk until warm to the touch but not hot. Beat the egg into the milk and pour over the flour mix.
Bring it together with your fingers until it forms a soft dough. Add the cranberries and kneed until well distributed.
Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to prove for 1 hour until.
When the hour is up, turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and knock it back by kneading gently.
Shape the dough into a log and place into a 450g/1lb loaf tin. Leave it a warm place to rise and double in volume for 1½ - 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Bake the loaf for 22-25 minutes until a deep golden brown in colour and hollow sounding when tapped.
Allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire wrack to cool.
Serve with jam or a light spreading of cream cheese.

Update: The complete roundup of all 246 entries can be found here.

Caramel Apple Cakelettes

I was flicking through a cook book looking for inspiration for a quick dessert and came across a pear and ginger cake. It looked delicious but I wanted something lighter and a bit more dainty and so moved on, but I couldn’t get the cake out of my head so I decided to alter it by using apples and cinnamon instead.

I hit upon the idea of baking them in individual tart tins and placing the apple in the base instead of on the top, turning them into upside-down mini cakelettes. I also added a layer of caramel syrup to the base, to create a sort of take on tarte tatin only with cake instead of pastry.

For the apple I used Red Delicious as its deep red skin and firm flesh make it ideal for maintaining its shape and colour during cooking. I’m not a fan of the apples to eat raw as they can sometimes be a bit fluffy, but this they were perfect. Golden syrup formed the base of my caramel syrup which does away with the need for a sugar thermometer and speeds up the process no end.

Once baked, I nervously upended the cakelette onto a plate (with the help of rubber gloves) and it came out perfectly – hurrah! It looked so pretty and smelt gorgeous, all apple, cinnamon, moist sponge and sweet sticky caramel.

Caramel Apple Cakelettes
For the sponge
110g self raising flour
100g butter
75g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 level tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 eating apple (I used Red Delicious)

For the caramel syrup
2½ tbsp golden syrup (100g)
55ml single cream or whole milk
10g butter

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and arrange 4 small tart tins on a baking tray.
First make the caramel syrup. Add the golden syrup, milk and butter into a small pan and heat gently, stirring until all the ingredients have melted together.
Then increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil and allow to bubble for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
To make the sponge, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs and beat again. Sift over the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and beat together along with the vanilla.
Then cut the apple into quarters, remove the core and slice into very thin slices, so you end up with crescent shaped apple slices.
Drizzle a few spoonfuls of the syrup over the base of the cake moulds, until the bottom is covered, but leave a couple of spoonfuls left over for decoration.
Arrange the apple slices neatly in the syrup, so that they overlap slightly. Remember, this will become the top once they are turned out.
Spoon over the sponge mixture in small blobs, spreading it out into an even surface right to the edges of the tin to form a seal. If possible make sure the syrup does not rise up above the sponge layer.
Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes and golden and springy to the touch.
Allow to cool for 3 minutes before running a knife around the rim of the tin and turning out the cakes onto a plate, bottom side up. (Wear rubber gloves to hold the moulds)
Decorate the plate with a few dots of the remaining syrup and serve straight away.
They also taste great cold.
Serves 4

Banoffee Pie

I made this dessert a few weeks back for a family BBQ. It was very quick and easy to make, mainly because it was more a matter of putting components together rather than baking, especially as I cheated slightly with the toffee sauce. I used Dulce de Leche rather than make my own, which saved time.

I did make my own pastry and used a third of the recipe given here for cinnamon hazelnut pastry as I thought these flavours would go well with the toffee and bananas. After the pastry had blind baked it was simply a matter of adding the toffee sauce, some sliced bananas, fluffy mounds of whipped cream and a light shaving of chocolate to finish the dish. You could speed up the process even more by using ready made pastry or even just a crushed biscuit base.

Banoffee Pie

Ingredients
400-500g shortcrust pastry
400g Dulce de Leche
200ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 large ripe bananas
20g dark chocolate

Method
Roll out the pastry and line a 9inch/22cm fluted tart tin with it. Then place in the fridge to firm up for 15-20 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 200C.
Prick the base of the pastry and blind bake (with baking beans or a bag of rice) for 12 minutes before removing the baking beans and baking for 10 minutes more until crisp and golden in colour.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Spread a thin layer of the toffee sauce over the base of the tart.
Slice the bananas into thick rounds and arrange over the toffee sauce.
Spread the remaining toffee sauce over the bananas until they are well covered.
Add the vanilla to the cream and whip until soft peaks forms. Spread over the filling and decorate the top with a little grated dark chocolate.
Refrigerate until required.


If you want to make your own toffee sauce, here’s how:
Ingredients
115g butter
115g light brown sugar
400g sweetened condensed milk
Method
Place all the ingredients into a pan and heat gently, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved and the ingredients well incorporated.
Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to the boil, stirring constantly until it changes to a deep caramel colour.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool before using.
DO NOT touch the caramel it will be extremely hot!

Special Spiced Carrot Cake with Ginger Cream Cheese Icing

It was my Grandmothers birthday a few weeks ago and I had promised to bake her a cake. Like me, her favourite cake is carrot cake, however I have made her carrot cakes in the past and wanted to do something a bit different this year. I trawled through my many books looking for inspiration and although I found some delicious sounding cakes they didn’t seem to match up to the spicy fruity nuttiness of a carrot cake. I was getting quite frustrated and decided to go ahead and bake my usual carrot cake when I hit upon the idea of changing a few of the recipes supporting ingredients and baking a special spiced carrot cake.

I switched the walnuts for pistachios, the raisins with dried cranberries, added some ground ginger along with some finely chopped stem ginger for extra flavour. I also added the rind from an orange as I think orange works brilliantly with cranberry and ginger flavours. Feeling much more content I baked away and the cake seemed to be celebrating too as it rose so tall and proud that it was reaching up above the rim of the cake tin and filled my whole kitchen with a warm spicy aroma. After it had cooled, I sliced it in half and was pleased to see the cranberries and the pastel green pistachios scattered within. I filled and covered it with a generous layer of ginger cream cheese icing, scattered over a few chopped toasted hazelnuts and decorated it with some sugar flowers I made. (Thanks for the flower mould Gigi) I know blue flowers are not very realistic but I think they look pretty.

My grandma was thrilled with the cake and I loved how the alternative ingredients gave it a different flavour and appearance while still maintaining its carrot cake status. It was wonderfully moist and full of warming spicy flavour. I was particularly fond of the cranberry and stem ginger additions, which provided little nuggets of flavour hidden amongst the spicy crumbs.

Special Spiced Carrot Cake
For the cake
250ml vegetable oil
250g light soft brown sugar
3 eggs
300 - 350g (3-4) grated carrots
50g shelled pistachios
50g dried cranberries
1 orange – rind only
375g self raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
40g stem ginger in syrup

Method
Grease and line the base of a 20cm 8inch springform cake tin. Preheat the oven 180C.
Place the oil, sugar and eggs into a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until thick and creamy.
Peel and roughly grate the carrots, chop the stem ginger into small pieces and finely grate the rind off the orange. Fold the pistachios, dried cranberries, stem ginger, orange rind and grated carrot into the cake batter.
Sift over the flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, ginger and bicarbonate of soda and fold into the mixture using a spatula, turning the bowl as you go until no flour streaks remain, but do not overwork. (The moisture from the carrots will help slacken the mixture).
Spread the batter evenly into the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes, then cover loosely with foil and bake for a further 30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 15 minutes before un-moulding and cooling on a wire wrack. Once cool, cut the cake in half and fill and cover with the ginger cream cheese icing.

For the ginger cream cheese icing
60g butter
160g cream cheese
500g icing sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ginger syrup from stem ginger jar
50g chopped toasted hazelnuts

Method
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese together in a bowl until smooth.
Beat in the ginger and ginger syrup. Gradually sieve and beat in the icing sugar into the cream cheese in batches until it’s all combined.
Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up if a little soft, before using to fill and spread thickly over the cake.
Scatter the chopped nuts over the surface of the cake and in a rim around the bottom edge to conceal any drips of icing.
Will keep for up to 5 days if stored in the fridge.

Grape Jam / Jelly

My grandmother has a friend who is very self sufficient and grows most of her own fruit and veg. Think Tom and Barbara from the old TV series The Good Life and you get the idea. She has just had a large harvest of black grapes, more than she could use herself and so gave some away to family and friends. I love how my bunch came with some leaves still attached and even a few wisps of cobweb from the spiders who like to live amongst the vines – you can’t get more natural than that!

The grapes themselves had crisp skins, were plump and very juicy. They had a good flavour, although it was a little sharp. The grapes also contained small seeds which after being used to seedless grapes from the supermarket, were a bit of a surprise. Due to this I decided to turn my bunch of grapes into grape jam/jelly. I say jam/jelly because here in the UK we call our fruit spreads jams, although I know in America they known as jellys. Now I would normally stick to calling it a jam but as the fruit in question is grape I feel I should also call it jelly because as far as I know we (in the UK) do not make any jam using grapes but I know it is a very popular fruit jelly in America. Keeping up so far?

I have never tasted grape jam/jelly before and was excited about trying it out with some peanut butter in another much loved America classic, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I am happy to report that it is a delicious combination.

I loved how vibrant and glossy the resulting jam/jelly turned out, the colour of a light red wine. My jam/jelly turned out softly set, suitable for easy spreading or pouring over yoghurt, but if you want more of a thick spread then I suggest using equal quantities of sugar to fruit.

I made little labels for the jars and gave one away to the friend who provided the grapes and I was rewarded with another bunch. I think I have read of an Italian grape tart somewhere, so that might be next on the list.

Grape Jam / Jelly
Ingredients
850g black grapes
650g caster sugar
1 lemon
1 tbsp water

Method
Cut the grapes in half and remove any seeds if necessary.
Place the grapes into a large saucepan with the juice of the lemon and the tablespoon of water.
Heat gently with the lid on for 10 minutes until the juices have been released from the grapes and they are turning soft.
Add the sugar and stir until all the granules have dissolved. Then replace the lid, leaving it slightly off to allow steam to escape.
Allow to simmer for 40-50 minutes until slightly reduced and syrupy.
Meanwhile, wash and dry 4 jam jars in hot soapy water and then place them in a cold oven and turn it on to 160C and heat for 15 minutes to sterilise the jars.
Test the jam for setting by placing a small spoonful of the jam onto a saucer and place in the fridge for 5 minutes until cool. Then run a finger through the middle of jam and if it is ready it will ripple on either side. If it ripples, remove the jam from the heat, if its too runny, then continue heating for a further 10 minutes before repeating the test.
Remove the jars from the oven and immediately ladle the jam into the jars. Be careful the jam will be extremely hot! Screw the lids on using rubber gloves (the jar will be too hot to hold).
Leave the jars to cool before storing in a cool dark place. Refrigerate once opened.
Makes 4 x 425g jars.

Raspberry & Almond Cupcakes

I am lucky enough to have a small mountain of home grown raspberries, thanks to my aunt who has quite a jungle of raspberry canes growing in her back garden. I think raspberries are a beautiful fruit, so unusually constructed with their plump little pockets of sweet juice surrounding tiny seeds and so pretty in colour. Another bonus is that they grow surrounded by flat greens leaves rather than the prickly thorns of blackberries meaning they are far more enjoyable to pick. I have frozen a few for future use and enjoyed some raw but I also wanted to use them in baking and these cupcakes were the result.

At first I planned to make raspberry muffins but I find raspberries can sometimes have quite large seeds which are not nice to chew on, so instead I decided to use one baked into the centre of a cupcake and then make a raspberry cream topping with the rest.

I used ground almonds in the cake mix which I find always gives a lovely moist texture and is a perfect flavour pairing with raspberries. The raspberry baked into the cakes centre is a nice surprise when bitten into and it seemed to have intensified in flavour. For the raspberry cream I used a base of an Italian style meringue but whisked it with the juice of lots of raspberries which I pureed first. I was worried that this would be too wet and I would end up with liquid goo but it actually whisked up to be wonderfully light and fluffy. I added some whipped cream to give it extra stability and this transformed it into a light and airy raspberry mousse which tasted divine. The sweetness of the meringue base really enhanced the raspberry flavour and it turned a lovely pretty pink colour and was so creamy and smooth In fact it was so good that I spooned the leftovers into little glasses and served it as a raspberry fool.

Topped with an extra raspberry they encompass the joys of fresh summer berries, now I just wish the weather would take the hint and stop being so cold and wet.

Raspberry & Almond Cupcakes
For the cake
100g self raising flour
115g butter
115g caster sugar
2 eggs
25g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp almond extract
12 raspberries

For the raspberry cream
2 egg whites
150g caster sugar
200g raspberries
200ml double cream

Method – for the cake
Preheat the oven to 175C and line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases.
Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each one.
Add the ground almonds and almond extract. Sift over the flour and baking powder and mix well to combine.
Spoon a teaspoon of the almond batter into the base of each of the muffin cases. Place a whole raspberry in the centre of each spoonful of batter. Divide the remaining batter evenly between the muffin cases, covering each raspberry.
Bake in the oven for 22-25 minutes until risen and springy to the touch.
Transfer to a wire wrack to cool.

For the raspberry cream
Take 12 of the best raspberries and set to one side for decoration later. Then place the remaining raspberries in a pan along with the water and 50g of the caster sugar.
Heat until the raspberries are mushy and thick, then remove from the heat. Push the raspberry mush through a sieve, collecting the juice in a glass bowl. Discard the seeds.
Place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water and add the egg whites and rest of the sugar.
Whisk the mixture over the heat until it turns very fluffy and has tripled in volume, around 4 – 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and continue to beat for a few minutes more until nearly cold.
Whisk the double cream until it forms soft peaks and then whisk it into the raspberry mixture. It will turn creamy and deflate slightly, but this is ok. Whisk until thick and mousse like.
Chill in the fridge to firm up for at least two hours before spreading or piping onto the tops of the cooled cakes.
Top with the raspberries saved from earlier.
Makes 12 cupcakes

Date Streusel Squares

These squares were the other sweet treat given to the refreshment stand for last weekends fete. They consist of a shortbread style base, a sticky date filling and a coconut streusel topping. The original recipe called these ‘crumble slices’ but as they also have a base (unlike a crumble) I think calling them streusel squares is better.

I really liked all the different textures of each layer and the coconut in the topping added extra flavour and its own unique texture. My only criticism is that the squares were quite sweet, but then dates are very sweet by nature. Next time I might try reducing the sugar a little.

Other dried fruits such as apricots or figs would also work well in place of the dates. Adding a few finely chopped nuts might be good too.

Date Streusel Squares
(Recipe adapted from Simple Slices by Australian Women’s Weekly)
For the base
90g butter
150g plain flour
75g caster sugar

For the date filling
250g dates
250ml water
20g caster sugar

For the streusel topping
90g butter
30g desiccated coconut
15g shredded coconut
75g plain flour
20g rolled oats
110g soft brown sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a rectangle pan, around 20cm x 30cm.
To make the base, melt the butter and then add in the flour and sugar and mix well to create buttery crumbs.
Press the crumbs into the base of the tray and pat down firmly.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until crisp and golden brown in colour.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Chop the dates into small pieces and add to a pan along with the water and sugar.
Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook until the dates have broken down and the water has been absorbed.
Continue to heat, stirring constantly until you have a thick pasty mixture, around 10 minutes.
Spread the date mixture evenly over the surface of the baked biscuit base.
Now make the topping. Melt the butter and then pour over the rest of the ingredients and mix together, ensuring everything gets evenly coated. Press together gently with your fingers to form small clumps.
Scatter the streusel over the date mixture and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the topping has turned golden brown.
Allow to cool completely in the pan before transferring to a board and cutting into squares with a sharp knife.
Makes 12-15 squares.